Raw Children

We are making our way to the South Island in New Zealand and we stopped in a small town called Turangi. The walks here are absolutely breathtaking. In the photo to the right, I am the little point in the middle of this bridge we crossed today.

Mary Jo wrote:

How long did you stay on your Juicefeast last year? I just started and with the Global Feast coming next week could you dicsuss in your daily updates.I heard you speak in Davenport,Iowa a year or 2 ago and you have been a huge inspiration in my life!! thanks much and many blessings to you and Angela!

I did a Juice Feast for 30 days. While doing this Juice Feast, I saw where it was taking me and I didn't want to go any further. Most people go on a Juice Feast to clean themselves out while coming out the other end with an improved diet. They try to get somewhere close to near the vicinity of how clean I am now ;). I have been doing this for 8 years, while doing periodic colon cleansing. My body is always trying to move forward and cleaner. I have already reached a point to where I can't eat much. During this Juice Feast, my body took full advantage. If I did the entire 92 days, my body would be demanding even less food than I eat now.

Bonnie wrote:

Hey Matt,This Intermediate diet sounds interesting. I'm trying to follow a vegan whole foods diet, but not necessarily raw, and this diet sounds like it might be useful for me. Where can we get more info? Does Dr. Bisci have a book on it?Thanks!

The diet is in my book Raw Spirit. Dr. Fred Bisci doesn't have a book out yet but he does have it on paper. If anyone ever wants to make an appointment with him, his number is 718-979-7950. If you or anyone in your family ever develop a degerative disease, this number can save your life. I am so close to getting Dr. Fred Bisci to come to the Raw Spirit Festival with me this year. I'll know more this week.

I am so glad to hear that you are on a WHOLE FOOD Vegan diet. What you are doing is pretty much Fred's Diet. Some people become vegan and eat lots of refined sugars and processed starches. They end up eliminating the Animal protein and compensate by adding more of the processed starches, which is actually more damaging to the system than the animal protein. A vegan can experience tremendously more vibrant health by dumping the processed starches that contain wheat and gluten (wheat contains gluten). The starches included in Fred's diet are Brown Rice, Baked Potato, Basmati Brown Rice, Millet, Buckwheat, Quinoa, Corn Meal, and Tinkyada Pasta (which is wheat and gluten free). None of these foods can be eaten with animal protein which his diet includes (all except red meat). If you want to take the diet to the next level, you get rid of these starches. I know there is a lot of controversey on soy products but Soy and Rice Milk can be used on grains (White Wave Soy Milk, Westbrae Rice Milk or Silk Milk (1% or low fat). People do extremely well on his diet.

Lorna Wrote:

Hi Matt , I love your Blog , my husband John & I live in Yuba City Ca. ...I sure wish you would speak out hear ...I'm ready to go "Raw" but I have no idea how to go about it or what to eat . I really Not a meat & potoes type a person , so I know the transformation would be easy. I'm ready to go Raw. But I have no idea , what I would eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner that would be Raw ..can you give me some idea's / oh I signed up for your news letter ,like for dinner give me a good idea to start OK ...ha-ha...please help me to go Raw ....Lorna

I suggest going to my earlier blog posts and you will see what I generally eat. When I first became 100% Raw, I ate a lot more than I do now. I Iike to recommend people to take it slow and easy. Focus on what not to eat before you focus on what to eat. Becoming younger happens when you eat fewer kinds and quantities of foods, consistently. When you do this, you create less obstruction in the body, which enables you to detoxify, heal and regenerate. Refined Sugars and Processed Starches are the two most damaging foods. Let's say you start eliminating Processed Starches first. Since you are eating less detrimental foods you will start to become younger. This process of becoming younger may take 3 years or more (depending on your age, weight, etc.) Then at some point you will stabilize out on your new diet and catch up with what you are doing. Now you and your body may be ready to eliminate the next damaging thing, such as refined sugar. You will then become younger again for another 3 years (give or take) until you stabilize out and catch up with what you're doing again. The process just snowballs if you truly eliminate certain foods from your diet WITHOUT ANY EXCEPTION.

Make the commitment to omit certain foods from your diet completely without any exceptions and your diet should automatically change on its own. For example, let's say you eliminate all processed starches that contain gluten. When you are about to have your afternoon sandwich with meat and bread, you realize that white wheat bread is a processed, gluten-containing starch in that meal. You can then replace it with 7 grain bread, big lettuce leaves, or even just eat the meat with a salad instead. Although, I don’t recommend eating animal protein with any starches, that is still a HUGE improvement, if you are consistent.

If you really want to go raw, just omit everything but Raw Food. You'll figure out what to eat. Many people don't understand the ongoing detoxification process and this is why I believe many people don't last long on this type of diet. Have you ever seen a movie where they put a heroin addict in the hospital and they are forced to abstain from their drug of choice? They go absolutely !NUTS! from withdrawals. Not as extreme, but it is the same thing as the refined sugars and processed starches. If you eliminate them completely without any exceptions, you are going to go through major withdrawals. Additionally, other toxins that would not have left will also leave during this process and your body will just start to become cleaner and cleaner. The longer you do it, the cleaner you are going to become. At some point, your body may become so clean that it will ask you to eliminate the next most harmful food, such as the Animal Protein.

The following is a great question from a reader who read my book Raw Success. To understand this more clearly, in Raw Success I suggest that the more you leave out of your diet, the more healthier and sensitive you will become. However, I state that the "optimal diet" is the diet that you don't want to eat less than, as you may become so sensitive that it will affect your longevity, due to the poor environment. The optimal diet is the point at which the poor environment may actually age you more than the food you intake, in the LONG-RUN. (You may become younger by eating less than the optimal diet at first, but when you stabilize out and catch up with your new diet, it may effect you in the long-run) John Wrote:

Matt,

I just completed Raw Success - very interesting. Have been 90-95% raw for about a year, regular colonics/enemas, weekly fasts, and quarterly detoxes. My wife has been doing similarly. Your discussion on environmental buffering is (very) interesting, and timely.

Question: my wife and I are thinking about children. Having read RS, I'm wondering about your thoughts on raising children raw? From a "function" point of view, that would be terrific. From an environmental-buffering position, what are your thoughts?

Do others who have thoughts on this - or better, do additional books exist, about pregnancy, and raising children?

Many thanks,
John

Yes, it should be a great concern about raising children 100% Raw.

I have come across many healthy Raw kids among my travels. For example, Jinjee and Storm's kids are vibrant and healthy. They get so much exercise all day throughout the open space in their Ojai home. However, sometimes I see a Raw Child with teeth issues or something else. Many parents who raise their children Raw are new to eating Raw themselves and their eating habits aren't necessarily optimal. It is not easy to be balanced when adhering to a 100% Raw Food diet. These parents may overlap meals and eat all day long causing much fermentation and gas. Then to make up for their mistakes they will do enemas and colonics.

A child may pick up their parents habits. Sometimes children are even living in cramped, confined homes without the ability to get much exercise. The parents clean themselves up with cleansing the colon, while their kids' stomachs get bloated with gas. Raw foods are very powerful and if you have an unbalanced kid eating an avocado, then 15 minutes later a cacao/nut bliss ball on top of the still-digesting avocado, and just continual non stop eating throughout the day, it can result in an issue over time.

Below is an excerpt from my book Raw Spirit. It will explain about how we become sensitive to harmful foods and chemicals along with going into more depth about children. Depending on where you reside, the environment can be an issue in the long-run. I recommend living in a clean aired environment. A city life is not conducive to this type of lifestyle. Also, the same "rules" apply. A child could eat the "optimal diet", or more, when they get older. They just don't want to end up eating less than that or they may become sensitive to the point where it may affect their longevity. I would make sure they eat nuts when they are capable of doing that. The mother's milk will suffice for now. In the "Must-See" video, "The Story of Stuff", Annie Leonard states that mother's milk is at the top of the list of foods which have the highest level of toxic contaminants. It seems to me that this is one measure to prepare our children for this toxic environment and your child will be fine as he grows up.

Here is that excerpt from Raw Spirit:

Medical Drugs, Recreational Drugs, Cigarettes, and Alcohol

The chemistry and condition of one who has lived Raw for many years has reached a level of unparalleled sensitivity. What scares me the most about being Raw long-term is our increasing vulnerability to concentrated chemicals that in this day and age are used in minor surgeries, routine medical testing, and emergency procedures. When someone gets into a nasty car accident or medical emergency, doctors often use intravenous drugs in treatment. For the long-term 100% Raw Foodist, those concentrated chemicals can present a problem.

Here is a comparison: a person doing narcotics for 15 years has built up a certain tolerance and can handle much more than an individual trying them for the first time. In much the same way, a Raw Foodist is like a first time user. But the drug in this case is not crack or heroine; it is Western medicine.

What about raising children Raw? Imagine that you have a 10 year old child who has been 100% Raw since birth. He would be so clean and tight on a cellular level that it could be dangerous for him. Let’s say, for example, that he just met some new friends and is tempted to eat a hamburger. One or two bites and he may end up in the hospital. Raw children must be well educated about how their chemistry is different from the mass majority. And what about the possibility of your child in a car accident? If your Raw Foodist son or daughter was given a concentrated chemical such as morphine, there is a possibility that he or she could experience serious side effects.

There are special medical tags that withhold permission for use of hospital drugs. I have one that I wear around my neck, it reads: anaphylactic to pharmaceutical and intravenous drugs. Wearing this tag is a serious choice with life or death consequences. One would not want to revoke medical assistance unless they were sure their body was at the point where it would do more harm then good. 99% of those reading this book will not need to wear a medical tag. Although I want to share all the information I can, I do not and cannot accept liability for anyone who may choose to withhold permission for use of hospital drugs.

What about pets? The same rules of sensitivity apply to pets on an all Raw Diet. I just heard a story recently about a man and his dog. The poor dog was limping and had cyst-like bumps all over his skin, both signs indicating an overly toxic system. The Veterinarian said the dog's leg would need to be amputated. Desperate for an alternative, the man started feeding his dog all raw foods, including raw meat. On this 100% Raw Diet, the dog was back to normal in no time, and all the bumps disappeared. The man continued feeding his dog raw foods and many years later when the animal needed to be brought in for age related problems, the Veterinarian suggested a drug that might help. Even though the man didn’t feel good about it, he gave his permission. A few hours later, the dog died.

We all know that recreational drugs such as marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol are not good for us. For someone that eats a Raw Diet, the harmful effects from these types of drugs are multiplied. If someone has a chronic substance addiction or habit, it is best for him or her to not become 100% Raw until they are through their addictions.

I met a woman the other day who was a chain smoking Raw Foodist. She doesn’t realize how much more harmful smoking is for her than the average person. If I were her, I would choose to either quit smoking or stop being 100% Raw. In my own experience, it’s painfully obvious that being around cigarette smoke hurts me a great deal more now then when I ate cooked food. When I became a Raw Foodist I stopped partying. Honestly, I just lost the taste for it. I remember the first drink of alcohol I had after becoming Raw. It was a small glass of natural, organic red wine. I didn't get tipsy or drunk; I got ill. My body can no longer handle alcohol, even if I wanted it to.