To help keep all of you inspired, we’ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!

I grew up as a typical meat eating child, and thought at the time that eating lots of animal products was necessary for good health. With time though, my health complaints started to multiply. By age 12, I had severe heartburn which kept getting getting worse until I was forced to take antacids 6 times a day to manage the symptoms. I was already very skinny, but eating became more and more of a nightmare. Also, at age 15, I got a very painful ovarian cyst which required surgery and, for as long as I could remember, I had persistent acne which caused me much distress.

Really, what teenager wants to suffer with such problems and feel that there is no way to get better? I did not understand why I was feeling so sick. After all, I slept 8 hours a day, ate ingredients from every food group, and exercised. When I left my family to study Law in France, things only got worse. I was not gaining any weight, and my heartburn became so debilitating I had trouble even sitting at my desk to study. My acne became so bad that a friend once asked me if I was having allergies. I wasn’t 14 anymore and couldn’t understand why I still had breakouts. It never occurred to me that maybe the food I ate was to blame!

Fortunately, I met my husband to be, Matthew, at the age of 19. He was a vegetarian, and to get closer to him (before we started dating) I quit eating meat. I wasn’t comfortable eating animals anyway, and seeing him so healthy convinced me that I could still get all the nutrition I needed without having to eat flesh. As soon as I went vegetarian, my heartburn went away. It was wonderful, but I really couldn’t believe it at first. I kept taking my medications “just in case” and soon realized that they didn’t make much of a difference anymore. It was great! But I still had acne, and my stress had led me to have painful stomach cramps all the time. I went to see a doctor thinking that I had an ulcer, and he agreed that it could be the cause. I had to undergo a painful procedure where a tube is inserted down my digestive tract to check for problems, but the doctor couldn’t find anything, and told me I was simply too stressed out. He gave me anti anxiety drugs which I accepted to take since I couldn’t take the pain anymore.

Shortly after this, we moved to the US where I realized that taking anxiety medications would prevent me from driving, and therefore go to school, to the supermarket etc. I started doing lots of research to see what was wrong with me, so that I could be medication free. IBS? Gluten intolerance? Candida? Deficiencies? Nothing I tried seemed to work.

To manage my stress, I enrolled in yoga classes at the local YMCA, and thought I might as well start weight lifting a few times a week. This led me to join the website bodybuilding.com, where many interviews of vegan and vegetarian athletes are posted. One day, as I was browsing through them, I came upon Tonya Kay’s interview. She did not eat meat, she did not eat dairy, and she did not even cook her food! I was intrigued. She looked so great, and mentioned that eating raw helped her get rid of her acne and go off medications for her manic depression. I really hoped that her diet would work for me, as I felt I had tried everything and was at the end of my rope. I started drinking more green smoothies, and created Facebook’s first Green Smoothie group for support. I started eating more salads, and a lot more fruit. Slowly, I also got rid of soy products, cut way back on gluten, and drastically reduced my intake of dairy and eggs.

The results were quick to notice, and within days my acne had disappeared, except for a few pimples when I didn’t eat all raw. Even better, my anxiety and mild depression completely lifted. I started gaining a little bit of healthy weight (I was really underweight) and my stomach cramps were a thing of the past. I couldn’t believe it but was very grateful to have come upon such a wonderful diet. I even joined with Tonya Kay to write a series of eBooks (shown at left) on the raw diet and its nutritional value to inspire others as she had inspired me. Yes, we can get 100% of everything we need on raw!

I now eat a high raw diet with lots of green juices, green smoothies, hemp seed shakes, salads, and some nuts and seeds. And with the help of the Raw Freedom Community, I learned to make delicious and beautiful raw cakes that my husband and friends love!

Going raw has helped me more than I ever could have imagined, and has led me to meet some amazing and very kind hearted people who make the journey so easy and enjoyable. My only regret is not having discovered raw foods earlier!

You can find out more about Joanna by visiting the following links:

• Blog: www.joannasteven.blogspot.com
• Store: www.sirova.com
• Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/jlsteven
• Kayos Market: www.kayosmarket.com
• Green Smoothie Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2386608573

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Hi Everyone! It’s been a while since we’ve run a “My Raw Story” feature. So, here’s one from my good friend Chris Paris, who I met and hung out with at the Raw Spirit Festival this past summer. I think you’ll like his take on raw, his before & after pics, and the personal topics he covers such as the role raw foods played in his spirituality. -Jim

 
To help keep all of you inspired, we’ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!

My raw story. Where to start? Well my raw journey has really only just begun. I started eating raw in February 2009. At that time I was around 240lbs (down probably around 10 lbs. from my heaviest point) and was tired of feeling tired. My joints ached, I had gout and my blood pressure was around 160/120 during my pivotal moment. I’ll go into that shortly, since it was, quite literally, my “wake up call”.

I had been turning the corner emotionally at the time, had started reconnecting with old friends and becoming more active. I had even been working out and was starting to feel better than I had, so I knew that moving and connecting was a good thing for me to do. However, I still felt “old” getting in and out of my truck. I remember that I would grunt sitting down and getting out of the truck. It’s a fairly high truck so it’s not like I was squatting way down into some tiny little car. In fact, it’s a climb up into the truck. My clothes (waist 41, extra large everything) were all tight and clingy even though I had bought them previously because of their function to drape over me and hide my lumps. I was “dressing to hide”.

Anyway, I knew the exercise I was starting was good, I could feel the benefit, but after 2-3 months of it, I was only down 10 lbs, my blood pressure was not down, and I had a sense that I really needed to do more. I meant to be moderate about things this time because I tend to be a “flash in the pan” kind of person when it comes to diet and exercise. Also, it’s not as if I have a sedentary lifestyle. Despite my weight, I have been pretty active. I live on a horse farm and take care of anywhere from 12-18 horses before and after my day job programming and database design. So there’s lots of walking around the farm tending to the critters, fixing things and other odd jobs. However, the tight schedule also lent itself to my hitting drive-throughs for breakfast. Lunch was often taken out with coworkers at one of the many huge-portion restaurants or buffets. Dinner at home was always good, my wife is an awesome vegetarian cook, but sometimes I’d supplement it with other “snacks” like chicken tenders or prepared subs from the grocery store. Even when I cut down on snacks and portion sizes though, my weight really did not change much. I seemed destined to be large and I had made peace with it mentally, I didn’t feel bad about myself, I just wanted to feel better, hence the exercise.

Early one morning, at about 3:00 am I woke up with my heart racing and just not feeling right. I took my blood pressure, laying in bed, and it was 160/120 with a heart rate of around 115 BPM. This troubled me quite a bit because I knew that was not a good sign. I was not ill, didn’t have anything hanging over my head that I knew of, so why did I feel this way? I took an aspirin and went back to bed. Over the next couple of days, I would relax myself and sit there for about 30 min and then take my blood pressure. It was still somewhere in the neighborhood of 140/100 – 160/120. I decided that I needed to change my diet. I had dieted before and my blood pressure responded well to weight loss. For some reason I just had a gut feeling that I needed to do something different than I had in past, so I started researching for diets specifically designed to heal or reverse heart disease.

I found information on Dr. Dean Ornish’s diet and took another look at ketogenic/low carb diets, etc. However, I was leaning towards Ornish’s principles because I knew that even though low carb was great for me to lose weight (had worked in past), I thought putting a whole lot of extra fat and cholesterol into my system wasn’t a good idea. My cholesterol was already 240 or so, I didn’t want that to go higher. I just had this feeling that my plumbing was clogged, I’m not sure how to describe it, but I had a very strong sense of it. I often felt weak, faint, on exertion. I remember taking a camping trip a few years ago, I actually had to stay laying in the tent while my wife and daughter went for a hike because I felt so bad, it just wasn’t fun.

So during that time of researching diets, I remember randomly thinking “hmm.. I wonder what Alanis Morisette is up to these days?” So I Googled her and saw a headline that read “Alanis Morisette loses 20 lbs on Raw Diet”. I remembered reading something about Woody Harrelson talking about eating raw foods, but had dismissed it as celebrity stuff. For whatever reason though, I was more receptive to it this time. So then my thinking shifted and I thought maybe it was something I should look into. A few days later, we were going to the bookstore to get someone a gift or something and my wife said “Hey you still have this gift card from Christmas, you should bring it!” I was like “you can use it to get the gift” and she said “no, it was for you, you should use it for yourself”. I like books, I like CDs, I like DVDs, but at the bookstore, there is so much, I often leave with nothing. But as we were walking around, I remembered the book Alanis had read, Eat to Live, by Dr. Joel Furhman. I looked and they had it!

I read that book in one night, well at least the “idea” content part. There were a lot of recipes and other supporting info, but I read all the testimonies and the premise behind eating more whole, raw, unprocessed, foods. The book advised to read it all before doing anything but I couldn’t wait. I knew I could eat salad and the next day I bought a big tub and started. I also made a few of the vegan, cooked recipes, but after a few days and more reading and re-reading, decided I wanted to try 100% raw.

While doing this, I started looking around on the web for raw food and saw Angela Stokes-Monarch’s story. It was amazing to me how much weight she lost and how she did it. I had been losing weight fast and my body looked so much different to me than it did in my “mind’s eye”. So I found I was amazed and drawn to the before and after pictures. then I started looking at all these before and after pictures from other people on various raw food websites. I just couldn’t get enough. It was like there were these beautiful souls inside these bloated, tired, bodies, just wanting to get out, wanting to manifest physically who they “really were.” I was amazed when I would see differences in their eyes. For me looking at the pictures was like looking at the caterpillar emerging from a cocoon all beautiful form and vibrant colors. It also gave me a good feeling, sort of validated my own experience. I’m not sure why I would need that external validation, maybe because it all seemed so fast and unreal for me. In any case it made me feel good.

As I ate raw, I wanted to eat more and more raw. I discovered some of the things I thought were raw really weren’t, like canned beans, etc. I didn’t obsess over it, still don’t. I try to be pragmatic about eating and eat the best I can with what’s on hand, but I just felt so good that anything I could do to feel even better, I wanted to do. Also, I found it was fun learning the new way of eating and discovering what effects different foods had on me. What was really cool was the longer and more I ate raw, the more feedback I got from my body. It was like “coming alive” for me. I describe it in my blog as like riding on a soft suspension as opposed to a tight, performance suspension. When not raw I was cushioned, the feedback wasn’t there. The more I ate raw, the more I got feedback from my body.

This feedback in turn made me feel more connected, more alive. So before when I was on a SAD diet, I wanted to disconnect, to numb down my pain. Now, I wanted to live, to connect. When I went raw initially aches and pains got worse for me, probably during the detox process. I really wanted to clean up though and I knew that not taking any medicine for a few weeks would not kill me. I had been on ibuprofen 600 – 1200 mg/day for years and years. I also regularly, often daily, took decongestants. I also had some strong Nsaids for when my gout acted up and took aspirin as a preventative. So when I detoxed from all that plus my old foods, I had pretty strong hip pain. The hip was a present I got from one of my motorcycle crashes, it had been getting more and more painful and I took more and more pain killers for it. There was also pain in my feet from being smushed one in one motorcycle accident, the other in another accident. So all these really troubled me during detox, but I decided to feel the pain instead of running from it. It was tough for a few days, hard to sleep. But thankfully I did not have a gout flare up and I was able to just live with the pain by focusing on it experiencing it and then releasing it from my concern. It was a sublime experience for me. It began to transform from a troublesome nagging to a message from my body that I am alive, that all systems are go. When I turned and faced the pain and embraced it as feedback, it hung out for a while letting me know I was alive and then quietly “slipped out the back door when I wasn’t paying attention”.

I still have some bothers from time to time, but nothing like before and I don’t pop a pill or a supplement to dull it, or hide from it. I haven’t been mostly raw long at all, so I don’t have a nailed down “practice” or tip for others in dealing with pain. However, where I think I am headed, is in using pain/discomfort feedback as an indicator that I need to pay more attention to something, to how I am sleeping, to what I am eating, to how I am exercising or not exercising, etc.

Raw Food and Spirituality

Another area of life unexpectedly impacted for me since starting on the raw path is in my spirituality. I totally did not expect anything at all spiritual in going raw. I started out to lower my blood pressure, period. To me, what goes in the mouth passes through the body and comes out the other end. It does not make you spiritually clean or unclean. I still believe that and yet I do think that when you detox, your clarity increases, the feedback gets better as I already mentioned and it gets better in many areas. At least it has for me and from what I have now read, it does for others also. This makes sense to me as I think about it, especially as I reflect on how most spiritual traditions seem to include fasting in one form or another, as a spiritual discipline. It is something I have looked at in the past, but never beyond a quick glance.

As part of my spiritual awakening, I have felt much more connected to others on a raw path and many of them come from traditions and/or philosophies that have traditionally been viewed as opposed to my own Judeo-Christian frame of reference. I have always had this notion that we humans really are all meant to be one big family. This was actually encouraged by my parents and in much of what I learned through my religious practices. However, at some point, it always seems to get twisted, historically, corporately and on a personal level. These walls go up to protect one from being influenced by “unhealthy” ideas/attitudes/beliefs that might distract or drag one from the good path they have found. It starts as a protection of self and then turns into a “looking down the nose” at others. It’s really ironic, at least from my perspective, because all I have read and learned tells me I am supposed to be doing for others, helping others, loving others. Yet if in protecting my beliefs, I look down at others, or fear others, or cut off from others, am I *really* protecting my faith, my beliefs?

No, in that case, they seem to have changed into something else. In Law of Attraction terminology, I have stopped asking/striving for something and started protecting something. I have switched from wanting something to wanting not to lose something. In other philosophies what started out as a high frequency somehow transformed into a low frequency, the positive was turned into a negative. This has caused me to look at this, just as I look at and experience pain and use it to my benefit. Moreover, I am getting this kind of feedback from another place, from the raw movement itself.

Please bear with me here, I am not trying to proselytize, but I am going to speak from my own religious point of view because it is a big part of how I understand things. I think this will contain some valuable things but if you are offended by religion in general or specifically turned off by Christianity, you may want to skip this. Actually I would encourage anyone with a really strong negative reaction to especially read this part because for me strong negative reactions, I am finding, tell me there is something for me to learn about myself. But it has to be something you choose to do, of your own accord, I would not presume to force anything on you, I hate that feeling myself, perhaps something I should look at for me, but there it is.

In my personal spiritual life and practice I have identified legalism as the spiritual phenomena where a person does things to be as good as possible and then somehow the tables get turned and this strict adherence becomes the vehicle not of enlightenment or salvation, but of spiritual downfall. This is what Jesus was trying to tell the Pharisees. They didn’t start out being holier than though, judgmental, I believe it evolved. Modern Christians often read about Jesus and look at the Pharisees as these bad guys, mean people. I think that in fact if Jesus came in this age, many of us would be the Pharisees, even though we pay lip service to keeping Jesus’ teachings, hence followers of Christ, Christians. Anyway, I believe the take home message was that we are supposed to be in relationship with God, not following some prescribed, pre-packaged set of rules to get us entrance into heaven while all the poor sods not knowing the right rules get burned forever. Believe it or not I am going somewhere raw with this I promise!

Now look at the raw food movement. When I first went raw I had this spiritual awakening of a sort. The biggest thing was meeting others on the same raw path but with different philosophies, religions and much like the different gospels giving me a different viewpoints of the same events for a better big picture, I believe that all the different viewpoints on healthy living can join together harmoniously to point out a general direction. I take that *starting point* and go from there, in essence, I enter in to a personal relationship. In spirituality I enter into a personal relationship with God, in health, I enter into or I rejoin a personal relationship with my own body.

On the periphery I see overlaps between my relationship to my body, to self, and to God. Even in my religion the body is referred to as the temple of God. It’s amazing to me how this is all so new to me, at how disconnected I have been, when it has all been there all along. Much of it is still very amorphous to me and yet very exciting because each new straw I grasp at becomes part of the weave and I think the resulting mat is going to be pretty cool.

Anyway, I see very similar things going on in the raw community as I read discussion boards, surf around to different websites, speak to different people. Naturally, as in religion, people approach things in unique ways and different things resonate with different people. Although the path to health may be in a similar direction for many people, some hike, some ride, some boulder, some fly. I see people focusing on the mode of travel, perhaps a little too much, and it seems to fracture things at times. But this need not be so. As in faith, the problems are of our manufacture, it is in our minds (at least they are for me), the problems come from within us as they so often do. But they need not be problems, each path adhered to can be a slightly different point of view giving the big picture better overall resolution, more dimension, a richer tapestry of colors. This so closely parallels what happens in religion that, to me, it is exciting, because I see all these beautiful people seeking, seeking health, joy, happiness. So to me when I see contention in the movement, when things are heated, it means there is movement going on, progress, it is a good thing.

But perhaps most exciting to me is that I see this food/body/spirit overlap, that we are going somewhere, it is exciting. We each do well to consult with the more experienced, glean as much as we can, but in the end each of our journey’s is our own. To be truly healthy we each have to own our own choices, chart our own path, blaze our own trails, make our own decisions. We need to have our own personal relationship, chosen of our own free will. The choice has always been ours and always will be.

So for me, becoming more and more raw has awakened a sense of connectedness in many areas of my life, has awakened the sense that taking my health into my hands, far from being the burden I thought it would be, is actually empowering and the resulting energy it gives me allows me to easily do more. This has been reinforced by the physical transformation that has already occurred in me. It has reawakened the sense I had when much younger, that life is an adventure, that walls are not needed, that things are going to be OK, in fact, they are going to be fantastic!

You can learn more about and connect with Chris by visiting the following links:

• WEB: www.yeowzers.com
• FACEBOOK: Chris Paris
• EMAIL:  cjparis (at) yeowzers.com

Thanks for sharing, Chris!  Here’s another shot, from RSF East this summer!
-Jim

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To help keep all of you inspired, we’ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!

In December of 2007 I was at rock bottom. I was 42 years old and exhausted. I was carrying about 190 pounds on my 5′3″ frame. I had been suffering from fibromyalgia pain for nine years. I had debilitating intense headaches, constant asthma, and was pre-diabetic. I have also had a lifelong struggle with a mood disorder and deep depression. I have taken several different anti-depressant medications over the years and each one worked for a number of months and then I would be worse off than ever. I believe that these anti-depressants caused my memory to be impaired and contributed to my rapid weight gain. As you can imagine, I was becoming hopeless. I’ve been a vegetarian since the age of 12 and as an adult I have eaten organic, healthy foods, but I still felt as though I was dying.

The physical changes continued as I ate raw foods until I felt great and had lost 60 pounds. I felt that I had been given the gift of life and had literally been brought back from a place very close to death. Weight loss and the absence of pain are only two of the gifts that raw foods have given me. The other gifts are more subtle, but no less miraculous. The most wonderful gift that my raw food experience has given me is the ability to care for myself. The process of discovering a new lifestyle and learning how to eat in a new way brought my attention and focus to my own care. In the past, I prided myself on caring for others before myself. This mindset didn’t work so well! I had ignored myself to the point of misery. Eating raw foods finally allowed me to learn how to nurture myself.

Another important gift the raw lifestyle has given me is the gift of mindful eating. I believe that many of the foods that I left behind when I became a raw foodist were foods that I was both allergic and addicted to. I was not able to eat mindfully when I was eating cooked starches, especially wheat. Those foods were like drugs for me. After I eliminated them, my eating became calm and the focus became nutrition rather than cravings. This is a freedom I had not experienced before in my life! The last amazing gift that raw foods have given me is a way to manage my depression without dangerous drugs. When I first went raw my depression vanished and was gone for many months. It has returned a few times, but now that I am raw I experience far less depression and I am better equipped to handle it. I am experimenting with nutritional supports to reduce my depression even further.

The raw foods lifestyle has been a journey of self-discovery for me. I faced my food addictions and cravings, let go of old ideas about myself and my body, and continuously expanded my ideas about food. I encourage all those who are searching for a healthier, happier life to give raw foods a try. You will not only get the benefits of all the beautiful raw foods, but you will experience a journey into yourself. Big changes invite deep inquiry and the results can be profound. I have been on this adventure for a year and 8 months now and I continue to feel the benefits. The raw food path has allowed me to live in a new and joyful way and I am grateful for all it has given me!

Thank you for reading!

~Kendra

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To help keep all of you inspired, we’ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!

My Story of Conquering the Myths of My 50+ Body

I’ve been eating 100% live/raw food for a little over eight months now, and I believe it all started… well…. hmmmm… let’s see. Last summer I was determined to do something once and for all about the weight that I put on since I turned 50, six years ago (well, almost seven years now…). It seemed that no matter how much I exercised or how much I ate – or didn’t eat – nothing stopped the onslaught of impending bulk. Each year added a few more pounds until I hardly recognized myself! What happened? Who was I? Where did this strange body come from? I decided I needed to take this foreign body by the horns and wrangle it back into submission. Actually, I was gentler than that, but the determination was there.

I am a constant gardener in my kitchen. I am planting and harvesting green sprouts daily in my apartment, but that’s a story I can tell you about another time. I am also a constant gardener of my thoughts – persistently planting seeds of gratitude, love, appreciation, and acceptance. I think there’s more to being vibrant and healthy than just eating the proper foods. I also find that I need to clear the clutter of thoughts which aren’t true for me, and replace them – replant them – with thoughts that align myself with who I really am.

I have experienced that my body responds only to my thoughts. So, with some resolve I began to question my thoughts about popular beliefs that I was buying into like, “Women over 50 look matronly”, “Menopause causes every woman’s body to explode into uncontrollable pockets of flab and sag”, “Sex appeal and being over 50 is an oxymoron”, “No matter what you do after 50, a beautiful body is totally illusive”… and guess what? I found out that those beliefs are not true at all!

Eating live/raw food came to me as a result of my learning to constantly question any stressful thoughts that I was buying into. Eating food in its natural state just came to me naturally! Detoxing “whole-istically” is so valuable, because I’ve found that it’s not possible to clean up the body without paying attention to cleaning up thoughts and beliefs, also. In fact, I’ve discovered that when I cleanse stressful thoughts, the body follows – it sparkles easily and effortlessly.

I lost 45 pounds in three months. It just melted away, and has stayed away. I ate (and still do eat) tons of delicious raw foods, and if some judgments pop up like, “I shouldn’t eat after dark” or “I shouldn’t eat too many sweet fruits” or “If I eat ‘that’ I’ll blow everything”, I just question those opinions to see if they are really true for me, or if I might just be latching on to someone else’s beliefs no matter how “scientific” they appear to be!

As I become more aware of the power, beauty, and truth that’s within me, all the “shoulds and shouldn’ts” of the world, which always feel like prison sentences, become flagrant myths – not true for me at all. Discovering what is true for me reveals the most delicious freedom I’ve ever experienced. I also keep my attention on how beautiful l feel, rather than paying any heed to how I look in the moment, because when I feel the beauty from within it radiates outward.

I have found that starting a raw food diet by detoxing a bunch of stressful, untrue beliefs is the most effective way to go. Cleaning out all the old sludge in the body and the mind has ensured me success in staying raw/live and healthy. As I continue to question some of my stressful thoughts on the subject of “my over 50 body”, I can feel this spark of power hidden deep in the recesses of my being, trying to get my attention, only muted under layers of sludge that need dissolving.

Those layers are finally melting away, and that spark (the “sparkle puff” that we are!) is becoming stronger and brighter by the minute. I’ve promised to honor and listen to, and accept the truth of my being, and not allow any false thoughts or beliefs to bury that truth ever again. Finding my power and beauty once more feels magnificent! It’s magical, fun, pure freedom, dominion and joy! I now know that the power and beauty are there, and I have every intention of keeping this bounty upfront and center. Eating simple natural raw foods, and cleansing my thinking has become a way of life for me that I don’t ever want to give up. I feel and look better than I ever have. I love it!

You can find out more about Jacki-Ann by visiting the following links:

• BLOG: www.inspiredrawhealth.blogspot.com
• TWITTER: @InspiredRawDiva
• FACEBOOK: Jacki Harmon

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If you’re like me, you get inspired and motivated when you hear stories of success. It’s thrilling to hear what others have done, how they’ve overcome obstacles in their way and achieved something great. When it comes to the raw food diet, the stories of success seem endless. Here on the Pure Jeevan blog, we’ve been highlighting these raw success stories under our “My Raw Story” series. It’s a popular part of this blog and we’ll continue to collect and share the inspiring stories with all of you.

Another place to find some wonderful raw food success stories is over at the All Raw Directory. We have a category there for raw success stories. You’ll find some of the stories we’ve run here through our My Raw Story series, but you might also find some others that you’ve never heard about before!

Check out these stories that I just found over on the All Raw Directory:

• Audrey Walker’s Amazing Transformation
• Carlene Jones: Lost 132 Pounds In 9 Months
• Julie’s Raw Reversal Of Multiple Sclerosis

If you know of any links to raw food success stories, be sure to add them to the directory to inspire others! Be sure to check it out from time-to-time to see what’s been added, also. There can never be too much inspiration, right?!

Here’s an easy way to link to the Raw Success Stories category on the All Raw Directory: http://tinyurl.com/RawSuccessStories

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To help keep all of you inspired, we’ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!

Healthy, trim, and athletic are not words I’d have used to describe myself during the first half of my life, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to apply for the rest of it.

Before I discovered my raw food diet I was very overweight and suffered from headaches that left me confined to bed. My back would frequently throb for days at a time, and ever worsening constipation and intestinal problems left me dreading my days.

I got sick a lot, and for periods I was depressed and withdrawn because of my troubles.

I look back at that old Andrew and wish I could could walk back in time and slap him across the face to wake him up. “There’s a better way!” I would tell him.

I remember thinking to myself at the time that I was eating a good diet, and to be fair, I probably ate more fruits and vegetables than the average person.

It really made me angry that I suffered from all these health problems when my older brother could eat far worse than me and remain effortlessly trim.

I wondered what was wrong with me. Was I cursed? Why did I get these genes?

I, like many people, just saw myself as a collection of genetic misfortune. I felt trapped by my body.

What I ate was was not particularly horrendous by societal standards, but given just how bad the Standard American Diet is compared to a healthy raw food diet made up of fruits and vegetetables, its fair to say that it was bad enough.

The problem, of course, was not my genes. They’re serving me well enough today.

I know now the problem was the food I was shoveling down my throat and the lifestyle that went with it.

The eggs, salt, meat, dairy, caffeine, processed foods, and mostly sedentary behavior can explain most of my problems.

All I needed to do was start following nature’s laws so my body could heal itself.

Since age 17, when there were 220 pounds on my 6-foot frame, I’ve been been gradually ratcheting up my health. First junk foods were cut out and replaced by more fruits and vegetables. I also started a regular intense exercise routine, and by 18 I’d dropped to 190 pounds.

I felt a bit better, my headaches decreased in frequency and intensity, but there was still a backbone of disease in my life.

There was blood and pus in my stool, and I was frequently constipated. I still had a few headaches, my energy levels were not fantastic, and I was still getting sick several times a year.

By my second year of college I’d spent the better part of two years reading up on the health benefits of a vegan diet. Books like “The China Study” make it clear animal protein is a major cause for most of the western diseases of affluence that affect us, such as cancer, heart disease, obesity and type two diabetes.

I decided to make the plunge and cut out meat, dairy, eggs, and coffee. I also started a daily running tradition that I maintain to this day.

Another 10 pounds flew off me, and my energy levels increased. I got sick less often and my headaches disappeared, but my intestinal problems, which had by this point been diagnosed as colitis, actually got worse because I upped my consumption of grains, which are problematic for the body because of their high gluten content.

I was so tired of being constipated.

I sought advice from a number of cooked food vegan doctors, but none could offer me a solution. Eventually I found a book called “Grain Damage,” by Dr. Douglas Graham, and later picked up his “The 80/10/10 Diet.”

Suddenly had a solution: Cut out unhealthy cooked food, especially grains, and treat my body to delicious fruits and vegetables.

Dr. Graham’s program worked. A diet of just fruits and vegetables cured my constipation and Colitis problems within months, gave me more energy than I know what to do with, and after a brief period of detox, I haven’t been ill since.

At 24 I’m a trim 165 pounds, 55 pounds lighter than my all time high at age 17. My running stamina has easily doubled, and last year I ran a race for the first time, finishing in front of more than half the other runners.

I managed 20 miles without too much of a problem, and hope to do much better soon. My mind is clear and functions better than it did before, and I just feel great most of the time.

Physically, I’m an entirely new person. I climb mountains and do yoga. My flexibility is through the roof. Those headaches and backaches are long vanished.

But looking back, it makes me furious that there was no one around to give me the advice I needed. Where were the trained doctors with this simple but profound formula for health? They were too busy peddling pharmaceuticals. They told me I’d be stuck with colitis for the rest of my life.

Last year I decided it was ridiculous that I wasn’t doing my best to change this sad situation. I’m a reporter by profession, and decided I could have an immense impact by writing articles. I created my website as a free resource to inform people that they don’t have to suffer from diseases or obesity.

I’m considered something of a purist even by raw foodist standards, and I get a bit angry that there are so many raw food gurus out there peddling unnecessary supplements, superfoods, and other unhealthy junk to get rich off the health misfortune of others.

I’ve written article about problems with superfoods, salt, B12, supplements, acne, “raw chocolate,” sun exposure, recipes, overcoming diseases, and dozens of other topics.

I can’t go back and save my wasted youth, but I hope through my articles I can give you the slap in the face you need to wake you up. You can heal, lose weight, and be healthy, if you’re willing to adopt a proper diet.

Website: www.raw-food-health.net
Email: andrew [at] raw-food-health.net

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To help keep all of you inspired, we’ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!
(Today’s “My Raw Story” is also a special installment for our
Diabetes Awareness Week!)

[Editor's note: The following "My Raw Story" piece isn't necessarily a raw food success story per se. The children in this story have controlled their diabetes using an acid-alkaline balancing diet protocol designed by Dr. Rober O. Young. Since a many raw foods are naturally ph balanced and ideal for the human body, and because these children were healed using a natural diet adjustment, we include it here to further underscore the importance of diet with respect to human health.]

Sometimes wonderful news arrives in unique packages.

I am a registered nurse, and I study alternative health measures and nutrition. My husband and I have six precious children.

The story behind our impressive news began in January of 2008. I thought our youngest child, Gabriel, possibly had a bladder infection. What started out to be a somewhat routine doctor visit ended up with disturbing news. Our family doctor said he suspected Gabriel had Type 1 diabetes. Shock hit me as I tried to absorb the news. We had no family history of diabetes, and overall our family had been very healthy. The extensive tests taken the next day revealed that our six-year-old son would probably be insulin-dependent within six months.

Our pediatric endocrinologist insisted that there was nothing we could do to prevent the onset of Diabetes. He said that no dietary changes were needed or would help.

After scouring all known resources and a lot of prayers, I discovered Dr. Young’s research. Dr. Young graciously invited us to a microscopy class to observe, learn and have a look at both the live and dried blood of Gabriel.

We thought Gabriel had been on a reasonably healthy diet, but as we would come to realize, it was far too acidic with way too many carbohydrates.

We chose to dive head-first into the pH Miracle program. Immediately his blood sugar levels came to within normal ranges. His weak body soon returned to its previous vigor.

Our story took a twist in the road when only four months later our ten year old son, Nathan, was also diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. At the same time, a blood test revealed that Gabriel had no measurable insulin left in his blood. Although we were thankful that Gabriel was maintaining normal blood sugar levels, we grieved at what appeared to be the loss of insulin production. Meanwhile, people were amazed when I told them our story. This seemed impossible according to anyone in the medical field.

Dr. Young invited us out to the pH Miracle Center again. Gabriel’s blood sample showed remarkable improvement. Nathan’s blood sample confirmed his diagnosis. Nathan joined his brother on the pH Miracle pH balancing and nutritional adventure.

In July, after two months of perseverance, we ended up back at our doctor’s office. We were amazed when he announced the results of both boys’ recent lab results. Gabriel’s pancreas had once again begun to produce some insulin. Nathan went from insufficient insulin levels to overproducing insulin in order to compensate for insulin antibodies present. Both were maintaining normal blood sugar levels. We were overwhelmed with gratitude.

Back to the daily routine with renewed vigor, hope kept us lock-step in the COWS plan… Chlorophyll, healthy Oils, high-alkaline Water, and minerals Salts.

We celebrated Gabriel’s six month anniversary since being diagnosed. The pediatric endocrinologist had predicted Gabriel would be insulin-dependent within six months. What a wonderful feeling it was for him to have a normal blood sugar that day and to watch Gabriel playing and swimming so joyfully. Had it not been for what we had so recently learned, that day could have been another sad day spent in the hospital dealing with the grueling struggle of insulin dependence.

September, two months later, brought more amazing news. Our doctor sat us down with their new lab results. He said Nathan no longer appeared to exhibit lab results and symptoms of a Type 1 Diabetic. In their diagnostic and labeling system, he would now be categorized as a Type 2 Diabetic. Gabriel, incredibly, would no longer be considered a diabetic. His fasting and postprandial insulin levels were considered normal!

Now, it is January of 2009, and our journey continues. It has been one year since we found out Gabriel had Diabetes. We are introducing more carbohydrates into Gabriel’s diet. He is tolerating them well. Nathan is doing well and hoping to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

Helping our children with their new dietary opportunity has brought many touching and comical stories. We could write a book. Often the boys hug me and thank me for being on the pH diet and their renewed health. We have adopted an “attitude of gratitude” as our motto.

One key to encouraging them seems to be having a good alkalinizing substitute for different occasions. Gabriel wanted radishes in his plastic Easter eggs. For Christmas, Nathan helped concoct great gingerbread and cutout “sugar” cookies. We experimented and came up with a great alkaline brownie!

Tears well up in my eyes as I remember an incident which happened this past weekend. Gabriel was invited to a slumber party. To prepare for this big event, I called the mom hosting the party to get the menu. We carefully prepared pH snacks and meals that corresponded with the festivities. When I came to pick Gabriel up, he came running towards me with his sweet brown eyes twinkling and a toothy grin.

“Mom!” he exclaimed. “Guess what I got from the piñata? All toys!” The hosting parents had so thoughtfully considered Gabriel’s diet. I asked him to tell me about his favorite part of the party. Without hesitation he shouted with zeal “The FOOD!” He then, with a big bear hug, whispered “My food tasted so much better than their food. Thank you, Mom.”

When people ask me how we could live with a special diet, I answer gently “How could I not with what we now know?”

Sometimes wonderful news does arrive in unique packages. We thank God for ours.

*    *    *

You can find out more about Sally Roman and her children by contacting her:

• EMAIL: SallyRoman [at] cox.net

Story originally published here. Used with Sally Roman’s permission.

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To help keep all of you inspired, we’ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!
(Today’s “My Raw Story” is also a special installment for our
Diabetes Awareness Week!)

[Editor's Note: The following My Raw Story is made up of excerpts from Nancy's blog she has kept at the Reversing Diabetes Naturally community site.]

February 2009: I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes 10 years ago. Diabetes is prevalent in my family; I have two brothers with Type 1, childhood onset & young adult onset. My grandmother, uncle & several aunts have/had it. For the past few years I was fortunate to participate in a study med trial & received great support from a Regional Diabetes Center located in my town. I saw the documentary Simply Raw in early January 2009 & totally changed my diet after I saw it. I had a really good diet in terms of whole fresh organic foods, freshly prepared, just not all raw! And I always had to worry about how much I could eat, & how what I ate would affect my blood sugar levels. There was alot of guilt & shouldn’ts about what I put into my body.

I am now reading, researching & learning so much every day. As a participant of a study med at my regional diabetes research center I have been the “star” student in the group, having had the best “control” over the last few years. BUT my A1C in 12/08 showed an increase to 7.3% {my lowest ever was 2 yrs ago @ 6.2%} so I felt an obligation to myself after viewing this very exciting film, to embark on a raw foods diet. I’ve been going slowly, but my numbers have dropped so dramatically that I’ve discontinued my 1500 mg metformin daily. They are practically normal, & I am able to eat pretty much as much as I want, all my old cravings have disappeared. I attribute this in part to green smoothies twice daily for the last few weeks…I find I now crave them! The more I read, the more I realize I have so much to learn! I would be the first to volunteer to attend Tree of Life. I feel so strongly about all this that I think I’ll somehow be involved in bringing awareness here locally, once I am a bit more knowledgeable. Thanks to Alex Ortner & crew for your efforts & starting this movement~ I’m excited to join [the RDN community].

I received my much anticipated order of books including Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine & There is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program. They all look awesome!! Starting skimming There is a Cure and am learning there is so much more to learn….and feeling a little intimidated by reading it, though I know it is important to start at the beginning & keep on til the end. Am feeling very much “doing this on my own” which is why I am so grateful to have found [the RDN community] & the sharing & support of other folks on a similar journey.

In my skimming over it I’ve already found out one crucial piece of information I hadn’t gleaned from all my own reading & research the last month since I was first introduced to this whole concept by that amazing film Simply Raw and that is there is no fruit consumed {initially} until the body returns to a state of health & diabetes is reversed….RATS, I love my very green smoothies but they always have a mango or banana or apple in them…but I know I have to be better informed before I am able to embark upon his suggestions & fully reverse the diabetes.

But I AM SOOOO EXCITED, because if I was on the edge the last few years with my whole foods diet {healthy, but mostly cooked, & full of problems w/ certain foods causing high readings, cravings, etc etc etc} I am REALLY on the edge now, because I have dropped 1500 mg of metformin within a week of eating totally raw, I have greatly reduced blood sugar readings~this week’s average was 97~since I started, I eat enough til I feel full & never feel deprived!! ~ and cravings I used to have {for bread or baked goods, chocolate & peanut butter combinations, for ex.} Hmmmm, maybe I’m not on the edge anymore, maybe I’m already falling into a whole new world….I certainly feel in my gut that I can never go back!

March 2009: I just found out my A1C is now 6.3% after about six weeks of eating almost 100% raw & alive foods & also discontinuing 1500mg metformin daily! My A1C in mid-January was 7.3%. So that means the 6.3 level reflects the six weeks of eating raw plus two weeks of my old dietary intake {which was healthful but alot of cooked food} I have also lost about 12 pounds! All that with not even being on the Phase I foods which Dr Cousens recommends!!

My next step is to finish reading There Is A Cure for Diabetes & then embark on the stricter diet until the diabetes is actually reversed…I know it can be done. This is so amazing–THANK YOU to everyone in the world who is bringing the knowledge & information to all of us. Please celebrate with me!

The doctor who heads the regional Diabetes Research Center where I have been participating in a study was TOTALLY SURPRISED at my blood sugar readings & weight loss when I had my appointment on Monday (3/9/09). I would almost say flabbergasted! He kept flipping through my little booklet of finger prick results & saying “These are normal, these are almost normal” with a sense of disbelief. I think it was cosmic intervention that the nurse practitioner I usually see was out that day, so I saw the doctor instead, which is rare. I give him a lot of credit because he wanted to know what I was doing differently and was truly interested. He had never heard of Gabriel Cousens and his work, & asked me to email him with the information…he said “I am open to learning about this.” YEA!!! He also remarked that often people come in & tell him they’re doing this or that “diet” or whatever, but their blood sugars are all over the place. He said “I can’t refute these results~ you are proof of it working.”

April 21, 2009: I dropped the study med I was taking in the beginning of March after my check-in w/ the DRC. Decided to see what would happen since I’d been having such good results. Since then my weekly averages of finger sticks have been between 88 and 93. It’s been challenging sometimes, but to think that all this has happened within a period of three months is pretty amazing, I think! I feel good & continue to lose weight. I go back to the DRC in June for a check-in, & will have another A1C test done. Keeping my fingers crossed for the lowest number ever in 10 years!

*     *    *

You can find out more about Nancy Osborne by visiting the following link:

WEB SITE: http://rdnmovement.ning.com/profile/nancyosborne
EMAIL: vermontgang [at] comcast.net

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To help keep all of you inspired, we’ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!
(Today’s “My Raw Story” is also a special installment for our
Diabetes Awareness Week!)

My name is Zee Charnoe. I am a physicist. I was first diagnosed with Type II Diabetes in 1990. In April of 2007, I was hospitalized with pneumonia. At that time, the hospital staff began using insulin. I continued to escalate the dosage of insulin, until I reached 195 units, of two types of insulin (Novorapid and Lantus), per day, in 5 injections.

At the onset of my diabetes, I had a weight of about 304 pounds. Today, my weight is 227 pounds. Today, my insulin usage was 11 units of Novorapid insulin, in 1 injection. Yesterday, my insulin usage was 10 units.

About 4 months ago, it was established that my kidneys were failing. We began making preparations for dialysis and for a kidney transplant.

I have had two heart attacks. The first one occurred in July, 2005. The second one occurred in September, 2008. When I had my first heart attack, I began to use home oxygen, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at about 4 litres per minute. I still am on that dosage, but I breathe more easily.

Approximately 4 months ago, I used CPAP, at night, to assist with sleep apnea. My renal specialist advised me to have my laboratory blood tests in one particular arm, my right arm, to begin to prepare for the surgical implant of a fistula, in my left arm, for dialysis.

During my earliest attempts to manage diabetes, I used alpha-lipoic acid, which has an effect on the body for only about 3 hours. So, I tended to take one capsule every three hours. I also used L-carnitine, L-taurine, zinc, B50 complex, Vitamin E (both the tocopherols and the tocotrienols), Vitamin D, acidophilus, Klamath lake blue-green algae, selenium, calcium-magnesium, Vitamin C, Co-enzyme Q10, beta-carotene, and a number of other supplements and herbal mixtures.

I took a daily dose of Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s), with poached eggs, in the form of Udo’s Choice Oil. This affected membrane health, in all cells and all organelles within cells, and contributed to cell ‘fluidity’. EFA’s are also the source of all of the Prostaglandins. There are about 30 Prostaglandins, which serve as short-lived, highly local hormones, regulating cell metabolism. Our total daily intake of EFA’s should be about 15 – 20 % of the total caloric intake.

About 132 days ago, we had located an Ayurvedic healer. We began learning from the book, by Dr. Gabriel Cousens, M.D.: There Is A Cure For Diabetes, which I read. Dr. Cousens references a book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., Eat To Live, which I also read. My finding is that you learn a little, and refine your practices, then you learn more, and refine them further.

One of the more important themes that we discovered was to ingest foods that had high nutrient density, a high number of nutrients per calorie. Examples of these high nutrient dense foods are: kale, Swiss chard, spinach, bok choy, romaine lettuce, eggplant. There are many others, referenced in Dr. Fuhrman’s book, Eat To Live.

Quite soon, I learned that the intake of sugar (sucrose), which breaks down into glucose and fructose, on contact with your saliva, and the use of insulin, have an array of effects in your body. One of these effects is glycosylation. You can learn about glycosylation, in the book by Dr. Gabriel Cousens.

There is a substance known as insulin-binding globuler protein, which can be glycosylated and which will cause an over-production of cholesterol. When you commence the high nutrient density diet, you immediately diminish and / or eliminate the glycosylation. In turn, this diminishes or this eliminates the run-away production of cholesterol.

There is a large consensus, on the part of the medical people pioneering high density nutritional intake: pharmaceutical medications are toxic!

We saturate our immune system by virtue of the kind of culture of self gratification and the propagation of profitable food production. This overwhelming of our immune system is given greater capacity by means of the fat cells in our body. These fat cells become the repository for the overload upon the immune system, created by our under-informed eating practices. The fat cell can enlarge by about 2.4 times.

It is well known, by some, that shelf life and distribution of food involves the use of many toxic substances i.e. the resin in some cans that produce psychotic behaviour, in some people with an allergic response, the dimming of one’s cognitive capacities, by means of sugar (sucrose), colouring, flavouring and preservatives.

I was born in 1935. That makes me 73 years old as I report this. I have an education in Life Sciences, more particularly, in biophysics. Since I commenced the deliberate dietary regiment, 132 days ago, I have lost 77 pounds. The first thing that went with the loss of weight:

• the swelling of my ankles diminished and vanished.
• The high level of neuropathy in my feet vanished.
• The parasthesia in my fingers disappeared.

The second thing was the ceasing of the use of the CPAP equipment, for sleeping at night. I diminished my intake of medications, including insulin. And my blood pressure dropped. This was beneficial to my kidneys. My laboratory reports began showing that my blood sugar levels had normalized. And my creatinine level had dropped.

When I first introduced what I intended to do to my family physician, she was distressed and concerned that I was taking an untried treatment and putting my life at risk. The last time I saw her, she was delighted. She hugged me and kissed me. She wanted to know the names of the books that I had consulted.

During this era of extensive and rapid weight loss, I have experienced an excessive amount of phlegm. In most recent weeks, I have had patches of blistery secretions on my leg, on my elbow and on my buttocks. These turned into itchy, scaly, uncomfortable, red zones, that were treated by community care nurses, twice a week. I was discharged from the nursing care today. There still remains a very slight pinkish, scaly patch on my buttocks, on my leg, and to a lesser extent on my elbow, but I am much more comfortable. And the diminishing of the neuropathy on my feet is now so slight, that I can stand and walk with comparative ease.

I have begun to sleep deeply, to dream regularly, and to have pleasant and welcome dreams. I take 5-HTP (5-hydroxtryptophan) and melatonin, each night. My cognitive capacities, my memory, and my mental performance has become progressively better and better.

I regard this whole undertaking as a piece of frontier exploration, undertaken despite most medical advice, that has yielded the most precious dividends for which one could hope.

This account is meant to be some trail-blazing. No one needs to duplicate my mistakes. Please make new ones, and report to me the benefit of your explorations!

Do not eat white flour products. Eat fruit, don’t drink fruit juices. You may benefit if you have any emotional or mental upset, if you read the book by professor George Watson: Nutrition and Your Mind, or the book by Dr. Richard Mackarness, a doctor and a psychiatrist: Not All In Your Mind, or the methodical work of Dr. Rudolf Wiley, Ph.D.: Biobalance I and Biobalance II.

I have kept a methodical health log for many years, that records: blood pressure, blood sugar, insulin intake, temperature, body weight, and the pH of my saliva and sometimes the pH of my urine and any additional notes on my health, for each day.

That provides the commencing markings of my exploration and discoveries. I would be pleased to provide further detail and more explanation, when or if someone wants to explore this same pursuit of health and high level cognitive functioning.

Kind and warm regards,
Zee

ADDENDUM: As of 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 18th, 2009, my weight loss it at 79 pounds, my weight loss is down to 225.6 pounds, from 304.8 pounds at the point of beginning. My blood pressure is 127 / 57, with a pulse rate of 57. My blood sugar is 6.6 or 118.8 (in US terms).

Weight loss is neither the only significant change or the most important significant change that has occured with the high nutrient density diet that we have followed. Fat cells can increase to 2.4 times their incipient size, due to their function in the immune system as the holder of toxins, when there is an overdemand on the immune system’s processing. If, and as, one commences extensive or high rate weight loss, simultaneously, one must arm the immune system, to cope with the increased demand from the toxins being released, from the diminished size or the elimination of fat cells. The eliminatory ablative discharge shows itself in the nitrogenous waste, in the urine, partly, in the kind of protein being broken down, and discharged, in the urine, and in the carbon dioxide levels in the blood, from the high rate of cell respiration required for the processing, and frankly, in the uncomfortable, if not distressing elimination through the bowels and through the skin.

At this point, I cannot trust the knowledge base, nor the paradigm of a medical practitioner, who operates under the paradigm of problem – remedy treatment of the pathology versus systemic physiology, with respect to the patient. Repeatedly, I have encountered physicians who do not have the knowledge base, the care, the concern, nor the compassion, to treat the patient. This is a serious problem in propagating or advocating the use of high nutrient density diets.

I have lengthened my life and I have enhanced my functional and operational abilities e.g. memory and cognitive performance, as well as mobility.

*    *    *

You can find out more about Zee Charnoe by visiting the following links:

WEB SITE: http://ecophysics.org
BLOG: http://rdnmovement.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=1t1hjcfyx0cq2

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To help keep all of you inspired, we’ve asked some
remarkable individuals to share their raw food stories with you. Enjoy!
(Today’s “My Raw Story” is also a special installment for our
Diabetes Awareness Week!)

I want to warmly thank Wendi for allowing me to share my healing journey with you. Over 42 years ago, at the age of two, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Those days were truly the stone age of Diabetes control. My care consisted of a single injection every morning delivered via a glass syringe that my Mom boiled every day for the next day’s use. The dietary guidelines my parents were given were simply to not give me any sugary foods. They were not given many guidelines in terms of how many non-sugary fats, carbs or proteins I was to be given. There was no such thing as home glucose meters to measure blood sugar levels in those days, so they had to guess to figure out when my sugars were low and I needed to be given something containing glucose. They could easily tell when my sugars were high because I would become very lethargic and grumpy and my cheeks would become neon-red cheeks. In spite of knowing my sugars were high, they were never told to administer extra insulin to get my sugars down to a normal level.

As the years progressed, I am very thankful my parents never let my diabetes stand in the way of anything I wanted to do. I attended many overnights at friends’ homes, went to summer camp, and did everything any other child would do. I did have frequent low blood sugars, some of which were so low I even had seizures, and I also had extremely high sugars that caused nausea or vomiting on some occasions. It wasn’t until the 1980s that glucose meters became readily available. Until then, glucose levels were estimated with urine tests which were very inaccurate. I was in the hospital multiple times due to uncontrollable high blood sugars until I got my first home blood glucose meter. As an adult, I took meticulous care of my diabetes and did everything possible to maintain perfect control. In spite of having Diabetes, I had a beautiful son in 1994 and a beautiful daughter in 1995, neither of whom had complications, and I lived a fairly normal life. However, throughout the years other problems began appearing. In 1995 my Thyroid gland effectively died. My doctor claimed he had never seen Thyroid levels that low in anyone who was still breathing. (Gee, thanks, doc!) Around that same time, I began experiencing debilitating fatigue in spite of being on replacement Thyroid hormones. I also began experiencing severe, alternating constipation and diarrhea, my weight fluctuated by as much as 30 pounds every few months, I developed severe hypertension, and my joy for life began to disappear in spite of having two beautiful babies and a life filled with many blessings.

Around that time I developed a passion for herbs and natural healing, but I was too fatigued and busy to apply what I was learning to myself. I first heard about raw foods in 1997 and played around with raw foods in varying degrees starting then. I never went 100% raw and I was never able to stick with a raw food regimen for very long. My health continued deteriorating. By 2001, I was almost completely bedridden. I was on 16 different prescription medications but still felt
horrible. I had been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and had such severe neurological symptoms (slurred speech, inability to walk without stumbling or falling, lack of balance, etc.) that I was incorrectly diagnosed with MS three times. My blood pressure continued to skyrocket; my resting heart rate was over 130 beats per minute; I had food allergies to more than 12 different foods; I had GERD so badly that I vomited multiple times every day; I was clinically depressed; I had environmental allergies to dust, mold and multiple pollens; I had chronic sinus infections that kept me on mega-antibiotics for over 15 months straight; I had chronic insomnia in spite of being exhausted all the time; I had chronic edema in my legs that caused severe pain; I had frequent boils; I had orthostatic hypotension that would cause me to black out if I stood up too quickly; and I weighed 180 pounds. My fatigue was so bad that if I took a shower I had to lie down for four-five hours after that because standing up for that long completely exhausted me. My husband passed away that same year, which sent my health into an even deeper tailspin. I was painfully aware that my kids needed me to be 100% healthy both physically and emotionally more than they ever had before.

That began my journey to better health. I began researching herbs and other alternative healing methods with a new dedication. I devoured everything I could get my hands on and determined to commit everything to memory. I started my own business making all-natural, organic soaps, lotions and skincare products so that I could support my family and still be able to rest when I needed to. Although raw foods kept coming to mind, I was convinced that I didn’t have time to switch to that diet and that I didn’t have the energy to make those foods. I don’t beat myself up about it, but I often wish I had taken the plunge and gone 100% raw back then.

I continued studying as much as possible and began getting certifications to equip me to help myself and help others. Through the years, by using herbs, natural supplements, and making better dietary choices, I was slowly able to reverse many of my health issues and to lose a considerable amount of weight. However, I still battled hypothyroidism, very brittle diabetes, and frequent fatigue that interfered with daily activities. I was overjoyed to have lost about 40 pounds, eliminated my allergies, hypertension, GERD, etc., but was often frustrated that I didn’t feel better. I still played with being raw, and was around 25-70% raw in varying levels throughout 2007-2008. I finally decided that it was time to stop “playing” at being raw and that on January 1, 2009 I would go 100% raw, vegan overnight. My impetus for going 100% raw was the movie Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days. Seeing that movie finally convicted me to not only go 100% raw, vegan but to also follow the strict dietary guidelines that Dr. Gabriel Cousens outlines in his books Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine and There is a Cure for Diabetes. These books encourage those with Diabetes to completely avoid all fruits, mushrooms and other foods deemed “mycotoxins” for a minimum of three months. I’ve now been on that program for over four months and can personally attest that the healing benefits of this program are immense.

To date, the healing I’ve experienced includes:

• A reduction in daily insulin intake from 70 units/day down to 4-8 units/day. I was able to take off my insulin pump forever and now simply rely on 1-2 injections of very small amounts of insulin on a daily basis. My insulin needs continue to drop and I KNOW I will be completely off insulin before June of this year.
• My Thyroid gland completely regenerated itself and I no longer need any form of medication.
• Adhesive Capsulitis (frozen shoulder) in both shoulders spontaneously healed and I regained full range of motion and no longer have any pain.
• Tendon damage that I sustained when I wrecked my motorcycle two years ago completely healed. I’d been told this damage was “permanent” and that I would require Cortisone injections on a regular basis for the rest of my life. I had been unable to write because holding a pen was so painful, but now have zero pain and full range of motion in both thumbs.
• My blood pressure runs a steady 90/70 even when I’m stressed.
• My resting heart rate has dropped to around 80 beats per minute without adding additional cardio, which means my heart will beat 16 MILLION fewer beats this year than last!
• I have ZERO PMS and my periods have shortened to about two days total.
• I fall asleep without any problem and sleep more deeply than I have in years. I also only need about six hours sleep per night to feel fully, wholly rested.
• I am filled with joy every day and have a level of peace and love that spills over into every area of my life. I also have a closeness to God that is profound and incredibly deep.

Switching to a 100% raw, vegan diet completely transformed my health and my life. It not only transformed my life, but also impacted my husband’s life. My new husband, who is the most wonderful man in the world, also went 100% raw, vegan after seeing the amazing healing I received. He shared that he’d struggled with feeling helpless through the years we’ve known each other because he felt so helpless as he watched me battle my health issues. After seeing my miraculous healing and reading several books on the raw food lifestyle, he went 100% raw vegan as a means of supporting me. (Tears are streaming down my face as I write this.) He has stuck with it and is also experiencing healing in amazing ways. Our goal now is to join forces to continue teaching others about the raw food lifestyle and helping them find the healing God desires for them.

I’m mortified by the before and after pictures that I provided, because they don’t show the real me very well. I never wear a dress, yet these pics were the only ones that provide a good example of how much better I look now. LOL … the “after” pic makes me look like the church lady. I promise I’m not that uptight in real life! That was the only picture I had available! I was a size 6 before going raw, and weight loss really wasn’t a goal. I have lost about 10 pounds, but the most amazing thing is that my cellulite is disappearing. I used to have softball-sized lumps of fatty scar tissue on my thighs, called “fatty hypertrophy,” that I developed because I gave my insulin injections in the same spot over and over again when I was a child. Those huge lumps are disappearing. Mainstream medicine claims there’s nothing that can be done to eliminate fatty hypertrophy short of liposuction. I’m living proof that they are wrong.

My sole goal in life now is to encourage and teach other diabetics on how to eliminate Diabetes using raw foods. I currently work with many raw diabetics, am conducting research about Type 1 Diabetes and raw foods, and am writing a book that will provide nitty-gritty, day-to-day advice for diabetics living the raw food lifestyle. I am incredibly humbled and blessed that I will be sharing the message of eliminating Diabetes with raw foods at the Raw Spirit Festival in Arizona and possibly in Maryland. I also hope to be sharing an update from Dr. Gabriel Cousens, as he is unable to attend the Raw Spirit Fests this year. I invite you to contact me if you have any questions. I can be reached via any of the methods below.

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You can find out more about Pamela Reilly by visiting the following links:

WEBSITE: http://www.goodworkswellness.com
BLOG: http://rawvolutionaryhealing.blogspot.com
TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/rawhealer

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All this week on the Pure Jeevan blog, we’ll be focusing on diabetes and the movement to naturally reverse it. We’re working up to April 25th (my birthday!), which has been selected as the official Reversing Diabetes Naturally Day.

A warm, intelligent, and loving individual named Dr. Gabriel Cousens has been doing ground-breaking work and research on diabetes and diet. What he has found is so surprising that many people dismiss what he is saying, believing it to be false. But, I (along with many others in the natural health movement) am here to tell you that what Dr. Cousens has discovered is TRUE! You probably already know what he has discovered, of course: a change in diet (particulary including raw foods) can reverse diabetes!

Dr. Cousens did a small study on some diabetic individuals, documenting his work and findings. The resulting documentary is remarkable. We hosted a viewing of the movie at our home and the room was packed. Everyone sat silently, absorbing the truth of what they were seeing: diet CAN make a difference in a disease that is thought to be permanent and debilitating. Many of us had tears silently streaming down our faces, touched by the moving stories that were shared in the documentary. We were filled with a sense of excitement that there IS hope for those with diabetes!

Diabetes affects millions. Chances are, you either have close friends or family who suffer with the disease, or maybe you, yourself, are either prediabetic or diabetic. Diabetes diagnoses have skyrocketed in recent years, and it’s now showing up at alarming rates among our children, as well. What’s worse, almost every individual affected by diabetes thinks that there’s no help or cure. So, the more we spread the word, the more we can see our loved ones and others regaining their health and vitality along with the rest of us! Let’s not keep this a secret — Diabetes IS Reversible!!

If you haven’t seen clips from the documentary, yet, you can view it on a special page we are going to continue updating over this week. Right now the page is sharing information about the documentary and includes an amazing deal for anyone purchasing the DVD before the end of this month (over $300 in free materials just for supporting the mission to reverse diabetes naturally!). I can’t recommend this DVD strongly enough, as it clearly shows REAL proof of natural diabetes reversal. And, it’s not just any raw foods diet, either. Dr. Cousens has developed a specific treatment protocol.

As the week progresses, we’ll be adding more information about diabetes to that page. Also, check back here at the blog all this week to read some inspiring stories shared by those who have been naturally healing their bodies from diabetes by eating a raw food diet! Tomorrow we’ll be sharing one of those stories, as well as ways that you can easily help support this movement to reverse diabetes naturally!

Together we can all make a positive change in this world!

Lots of love to all of you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

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