rawfood life

Dry Fasting?

2009-04-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

Well this is bound to be a controversial subject. Definitely, the doctors will have a field day with this one. And can you blame them? If there is a health practice that costs literally nothing--you could even say less than nothing, or rather that it makes you money since when you are not eating and not drinking, you are spending less money than you normally would. And doctors have to eat too (well perhaps that's the whole point is that maybe they don't). Anyway, all joking aside, dry fasting is something you should be aware of but is definitely something you will want to learn a lot about before just jumping in. There are major psychological issues to deal with for many people before they embark on such a journey because if you think you are starving when performing a dry fast, this just won't work. You might break the fast in a terrible way such as by gorging on snack foods and wreak havoc on your body instead of healing it.

So lets back up a little. What is dry fasting? It's simply not eating and not drinking anything for a period of time. Proponents suggest dry fasts lasting between 24-36 hours long on a weekly basis for continued good health. I can tell you right now that I do not practice dry fasts on such a regular basis as they recommend, but instead I use the idea when something happens. Once I had persistent diarrhea and dry fasting cured it within 24 hours. If I feel a flu or a cold coming on, a 24 hour dry fast nips it in the bud, etc. Several raw foods promoters are very keen on dry fasting, namely Tonya Zavasta, a raw food diet promoter whose recent book has a great section on dry fasting. Take a look at her website at http://www.beautifulonraw.com/Quantum_Eating_The_Ultimate_Elixir_of_Youth.html
Also, David Wolfe writes about this practice in a positive manner. The most scientific resources are mostly in the Russian language, unfortunately for most of us. Specifically, Oleg Vinogradov's book Dry Fasting, is the seminal work on the subject.

Why Eat Raw?

2009-03-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

It seems pathetic that we aspire to create a new product as “natural” as possible but destroy the very natural ingredients in the process. New packaged products appear on the market every day. Each time you try one of these new products, you are foregoing the old-fashioned fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. As a result, you will not get enough nutrients from your meal.

Researchers are excited whenever they discover new benefits in produce of particular colors. The bright vibrant colors of fresh produce, such as the deep green of leafy vegetables, the lilac of blueberries, or the red of strawberries are a sign that this produce is packed with antioxidants, called polyphenols.

The brighter the color of the fruit or vegetable, the more nutrient combatants it has to prevent degenerative diseases. Now picture what happens to the original rainbow of colors after cooking. The colors fade like old laundry. How can it not be more obvious to us: by tampering with natural products, we are losing something essential for our health and beauty.

There is a scarcity of nourishment, but not of meals. In this country, we face unprecedented temptations. America is preoccupied with eating like no other country in the world. By giving in to the skillful seductions of the advertisers to try “new food," our bodies are starving while we constantly chew and swallow. Ironically, the variety and affordability of foodstuffs leads us to become overfed and at the same time undernourished. The best way to resist these temptations is to develop an attitude towards cooked food in general and adopt the raw food lifestyle.

Mark Twain wrote: “To eat is human, to digest divine.” We need enzymes to digest food. Our living body also needs enzymes for every other operation and chemical reaction to take place. Enzymes constitute the difference between life and death. Only living organisms can produce enzymes, but their capacity to make enzymes is limited and exhaustible.

Our body hosts two types of enzymes: metabolic enzymes, which run our bodies, and digestive enzymes, which participate in digesting our food. Only raw and living foods follow nature’s design and come with their own food enzymes to aid digestion. They are responsible for the release of nutrients out of the foods we eat.
Dr. Edward Howell writes in his remarkable book Enzyme Nutrition that heat over 118° F kills enzymes. If food is cooked, it does not carry enzymes, and the body is forced to use up its own digestive enzymes.

Only living organisms, be it a human being, an animal, or a plant, possess enzymes. No one would ever argue that a dead person is the same as a living one just because the chemical composition of the body is the same. And yet we never think twice about allegations that cooked food is as good as raw food or better. The plant world possesses integrity and the “life factor.” From an enzymatic approach, a picked up fruit or a cut off green is still alive, even though its own source of nourishment has been cut off. Seeds and nuts will reproduce if put into the soil, fruits will continue to ripen even after they have been picked from the tree, a vegetable--be it a carrot, onion, or potato--when put into the ground will sprout.

Enzymes are combinations of proteins, vitamins, and minerals in an active molecular form. Chemists are able to synthesize some of these nutrients, but they have not been able to “breathe life” into them. The “life factor” has never been and probably never will be re-created.

Enzymes are very particular. They cannot tolerate heat, microwave irradiation, or pasteurization. Cooking always removes or spoils the goodness of food. Cooked food points down to the grave, because it is dead. Only humans apply heat to what they eat. Presently, humans apply heat to most of their food prior to consumption. Humans on average as a race, die at or below half their potential life span of chronic illness that is largely diet and lifestyle related. “You won't be surprised that diseases are innumerable--count the cooks.” -- Seneca (4 BC-AD 65), Epistles

Cooking is the most profound abuse of food. Cookbooks are full of recipes on how to smother the life out of a meal. The more creative they are in doing so, the more honor we attribute to the cooks. The concept of great cuisine is based on the opinion that plain fruits or vegetables are not appealing to the eye or satisfying to our taste.

Natural food is seen as an enemy. The less the dish reminds one of the original ingredients, the prouder the cooks become. Raw produce is treated not like the divine food but as something to be mutilated and manipulated. It is even called “from scratch,” as if it is a second-class product needing an upgrade. And yet, man is not capable of producing even a simple meal without using the basic ingredients he did not make. The talent of the cook should be applied elsewhere, because the basic fruits and vegetables he begins with are nutritionally superior to the most sophisticated creations he ends up with.

Traditional cooking alters the taste buds into being incapable of appreciating the flavor and taste of raw fruits and vegetables. We become more concerned with pleasing our perverted palate and satisfying our coarse sensation than with providing nourishment to our body.

By cooking our food, we are killing nutrients that keep us alive and healthy. After we grill or roast, bake or boil, sauté or stew, we produce some decadent matter with no nutritional value and only by using salt or sugar abundantly can we get it to pass our taste buds. All cooks rely on salt, sugar, and spices to have their creations appreciated. Cooking without spices smells awful. Not surprisingly, spices were originally used to disguise decaying and decomposing food.

How delicious is a fresh apple! But we put it in an oven and it becomes a squashy, mushy, shriveled mass requiring a load of sugar so one can eat it. In cooking, the original colors of fruits and vegetables are dulled and the initial variety of flavors is altered. Make no mistake, the nutritional value is gone as well.

It is ironic, but not incidental, that fresh produce is used for decoration of this bland and dead food. We decorate this lifeless, tasteless, and shapeless mess with fresh green leaves and brightly colored veggies to deceive our eyes. We add spices to disguise the smell. We load it with sugar and salt to cheat our taste buds.
Nowadays, health-conscious people know processed food is devoid of nutrients and try their best to avoid it. But somehow, home cooking escapes the stigma of “processed.” Cooking is processing! And the difference between home cooking and manufactured foodstuffs is the same difference as between “dead” and “very dead.” We hear everywhere the less food is processed, the better. Why process it at all?

Most Americans do not eat the 5-9 recommended servings of fruit and vegetables each and every day. And if you haven’t heard yet…in January 2005 these government recommended allotments have been increased to 9-13 serving. Between the lines government is telling us in order to be healthy we need to go on the raw food diet. Since if you eat 13 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables per day you will not need or want anything else.

Acupressure and Acupuncture

2009-03-12T02:51:00.000-07:00

So everyone's heard of acupuncture and frankly it's a bit too much for most people, definitely too scary for me to try. But recently I read up on acupressure, it's the same basic idea but there are no needles and no skin rupture-so no pain! It's also a kind of traditional Chinese medicine but one that is not at all invasive. As I am a rawfoods enthusiast, I prefer to only use health remedies that are as natural as possible...and what could be more natural than acupressure. I suggest you read more about this idea. There is a great article about acupressure and also talks about a new kind of device that gives you a much simpler way to achieve the benefits of acupressure than having to visit a specialist. This article is on Tonya Zavasta's beauty and raw foods blog: http://beautifulonraw.com/raw-food-blog/rawsome-beauty/improve-circulation-and-rejuvenate-through-acupuncture-and-acupressure/

2009-02-26T05:10:00.001-08:00

Tanning Beds Versus Sunlight - find out the difference! http://tinyurl.com/b9a4k6

2009-02-12T03:30:00.001-08:00

Tonya starts a page in MySpace - http://tinyurl.com/b8ys7t Hurry up to become her friends!

2009-02-04T07:13:00.001-08:00

Age spots are an indicator of health problems that can be solved with raw food diet - http://tinyurl.com/azdlpd

2009-01-21T01:03:00.001-08:00

New book by Tonya Zavasta "Raw Food and Hot Yoga" is featured at Bikram Yoga in Los Angeles (http://www.bikramyogalosangeles.com).

Natural Skin Care and Organic Skin Care

2008-11-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

If you are interested in Natural Skin Care and specifically if you like using organic products, there is a great website run by Tonya Zavasta. Here is the link: http://www.beautifulonraw.com/natural-skin-care-organic-skin-care-products.html
She has written extensively about how to stay beautiful while following a completely natural lifestyle. Te secret to her success is following the raw food diet and using natural beauty products. You can see her pictures at the site. She is 50 years old but does not look a day over 30! Her skin is absolutely radiant and she has never used Botox or resorted to plastic surgery. She now travels around the country sharing with other women on how to become beautiful and has many natural and organic skin care products and books for sale on her site.
For more information on upcoming events and raw food diet with Tonya Zavasta visit http://www.beautifulonraw.com/natural-skin-care-organic-skin-care-products.html

Natural Skin Care

2008-11-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

Today Tonya posted a new page at her site (http://www.beautifulonraw.com). This page is completely devoted to organic or natural skin care. Finally visitors can see how benefits of raw food and holistic approach can resolve many health issues, in this case skin problems. The page contains a well organized list of products available through Tonya’s site with details and descriptions. To heal and maintain your skin in good health follow this link to Natural Skin Care.

Vancouver Raw Food Event with Tonya Zavasta

2008-09-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

Vancouver, British Columbia, was excited to greet Tonya Zavasta on Monday night, September 1, 2008! An energetic group, 77 strong, mostly members of the RawBC raw food support group were present at this event which was organized by Clive and Diane. Tonya expressed her appreciation to Clive Langton, a very selfless person who is also the founder of RawBC.

Tonya gave a scintillating presentation on the benefits of the raw food diet. Tonya's presentation always grabs everyone's attention. This time she demonstrated the effects that diet can have on your internal organs and explained how eating a raw vegan diet can help one be beautiful on the inside and out. She also discussed following a natural diet in the context of history as she discussed Leonardo Da Vinci and Aristotle. As a special treat, Tonya also demonstrated a facial exercise from her new book: Rawsome Flex. After the event, several attendees exclaimed that Tonya's presentation was the best raw food lecture they have attended, and many stayed after the event to ask additional questions.

For more information on upcoming events and raw food diet with Tonya Zavasta visit http://www.beautifulonraw.com.

Below are some comments expressed by those in attendance at this event:

Hi Tonya :)

Thank you so much for your wonderful talk here in Vancouver tonight! So nice to have someone visit with new angles on things & also incredible humor :)

You mentioned to e-mail if we have 2 of your books to receive a copy of your e-book - I have all 3 of your books (they're fantastic!), so would greatly appreciate a copy of your e-book as well :)

Much gratitude & thanks,

Tirra :)

Hi Tonya & Nick,

Thank you so much for sharing your greatness with all of us here in Vancouver, your commitment to changing lives was shining brightly through your heart. I received great new information from you and a renewed commitment to my newly found lifestyle. I have been 100% Raw since February 1, 2008, and I love sharing it with others.

Once again, thank you for a fabulous presentation and I wish you abundant health.

Raw Food Events--Seattle Tonya Zavasta

2008-09-06T00:19:00.000-07:00

Tonya Zavasta was very excited about coming to Seattle on August 31st, 2008 to give her raw food presentation. She has been traveling around the country for 4 years giving seminars, but this was her first time making it to the Seattle area. Other presenters have raved to her about the raw foodist community in Seattle and their enthusiasm for the raw vegan lifestyle.

Even though the seminar was scheduled for Labor Day weekend and as a result she thought that not as many would be able to attend, she was certain that those would be able to attend, would leave empowered by new information about achieving superior health. However, over 90 people came to this event!

Tonya discussed the following topics in her 2-hour seminar: (a) Our body clock and how to tune it to slow down aging, (b) Quantum Eating: lose or gain weight the healthful way, (c) how to look and feel like a young adult at any age, and (d) how to get rid of eye bags, eliminate puffiness, and add a polished glow to your face. Tonya and her husband Nick served a delicious green pudding that will likely become a favorite staple of many attendees' raw food diet.

As a bonus, she showed an original facial exercise that not only will beautify the area around the eyes, but also has the potential to improve one's vision.

For more information on upcoming events and raw food diet with Tonya Zavasta visit http://www.beautifulonraw.com.