If you’ve been reading my blog lately, you know it’s true. After years of raw veganism, working at the Tree of Life and raw food cafes, I am no longer vegan. I’m still a big believer in a high RAW seasonal diet, but the two things that I could never justify to myself about the vegan philosophy is that (1) there is no long-lived human cultures that is entirely vegan and (2) without supplementation (manufactured powders, pills, superfoods or tinctures) deficiencies can occur. So can this truly be the natural diet of humans? I have seen people thrive on it like Dr. Gabriel Cousens. But in my experience, he has been the exception.

The above and the fact that I was able to cure myself of two dis-eases recently, has convinced me that a vegan diet is not best for ME right now. To give you a brief recap:

Teeth Problems – Ouch!

A few months ago, I had SEVERE tooth pain. It was unbearable! After full mouth x-rays and various tests, the dentists couldn’t see anything wrong. They suggested it might be a hairline fracture and a root canal might be necessary! I was so upset and went home with a prescription for codeine Tylenol to ease the pain. I really didn’t want to take the pain meds, so in my frustration I threw away the prescription and started to research how I could possibly cure my teeth naturally. That’s when I came across Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel.

"Cure Tooth Decay by R. Nagel"

This book was a godsend! It proposed that dietary deficiencies cause teeth to be weak and more susceptible to infection and decay from the INSIDE out. So you can have the best dental hygiene ever BUT if you are nutritionally deficient, you may still get decay.

I was desperate, so I did what the book said and ate meat for the first time in a looong time. I also found a source for raw milk which is just amazing for teeth health. In a matter of days, the pain that had me on the verge of tears every day, subsided. And today 3 months later, it’s totally gone. No root canal, no drilling, no nada. Even the tooth sensitivity I had for years is gone as well. I really do believe that my dietary changes are healing my teeth and rebuilding my enamel.

Acne FINALLY Gone

The other thing that convinced me that a vegan diet was not for me, was my persistent acne. Even on the cleanest 100% raw food diet, I consistently had breakouts. I tried adding tons of fermented veggies into my diet and this helped to some degree. But it wasn’t until I added raw dairy and egg yolks that my face finally cleared up. I can’t tell you what a relief this is!

In my experience, I am finding that dairy products are not mucous-forming if they are raw and cultured and from animals raised ethically in their natural environment and diet. Homemade raw dairy kefir, yogurts, cultured butter and cream rich with healthy flora and fats, are teeming with probiotics multiplying by the minute, nurturing and healing. I recently read that Super Goji Girl had a similar experience with acne too. You can read her story on her blog.

"Yikes - No Make-up & Unretouched!"

Access to Better Quality

It also helps now that animal products raised by traditional methods on their natural diets are becoming more and more available at supermarkets, farmers’ markets, by delivery and through farm shares. This wasn’t the case just a few years ago, so I’m glad I avoided these products for several years. Now I chose very carefully – opting for local, organic and ethically raised animal foods and voting with my dollars to support these farmers.

Still Believe in High Raw

Like I said, I am still a HUGE proponent of raw foods especially lots of seasonal greens and veggies. I love ‘em and they make up the bulk of my diet. And I actually think the raw food diet came at a time in my life that saved me from serious disease. I can’t explain it but it was soooo healing for me at the time, that not until I had the contrast of what REALLY good health is, did I realize how unhealthy I was prior. I believe it’s a great cleansing diet, but after 100% raw vegan, a transition to including some animal products has proven best for me. My interest now lies in making foods traditionally from scratch with the best natural resources I can find.

I know food can be a very personal and touchy subject for a lot of people and I’m not interested in stirring up controversy and starting a debate. I’ve read strong cases for both sides. But at the end of the day, I can only do what feels right for me. Right now that the weather is warming up, I’m feeling drawn to lighter food. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Just trying to keep it real, follow my intuition and feed my body what it needs.

p.s. Check out Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and the Food Renegade this week!!

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Have you heard about the new program called “My Organic Acres?” There’s been quite a buzz about it among the raw food communities but I’ve hesitated joining until now because frankly, it just sounds too good to be true and a little suspicious like an MLM, although it’s not…exactly.

Basically, you can get your own garden (or access to buy organic at member prices) in which you chose what you want to grow and it is shipped to you all year-round. There are 150(?) crops you can chose from and they are guaranteed to grow. If for some reason your plot doesn’t yield a certain crop, than they will take some from a back-up crop and send to you. There is even a video camera so you can watch your crops growing!Along with the garden, there is a general store where you have access to purchase organic products at low prices. Depending on what level membership you chose, you pay a start-up fee and/or monthly fee BUT you get credits in the general store that offset the fees and make them downright ridiculously low. The videos on the website explain it all and it SOUNDS like a great plan. The only questions I have are (1) what will the shipping costs be and (2) how on earth can they offer food and products practically for free? I’m thinking the cost may be low temporarily for the “Pioneers” (as they are calling the first people to sign up) and then these special offers will revert back to full membership prices? I just dunno.

Right now until the end of 2009 (I think,) there’s no obligation when you join. So i signed up for the 12-month General Store membership. I won’t have my own garden to play with BUT I’ll pay $3/month and have a $27 monthly credit to shop with in the General Store and access to the online Farmer’s market. So after shipping, I’m guessing it will be like $20 free groceries monthly? Not sure but I figured I would get in now before the “Pioneer” period is over. Noting to lose, I hope! LOL. Here is the link to My Organic Acres webpage. Check it out and decide for yourself if it’s real or a scam(?)  I would be curious to hear what you think of it.

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If you missed the deadline for the awesome Real Time Physique Transformation contest, well you’re out of luck. But I just got an e-mail from Precision Nutrition and they are about to start up another Lean Eating Program with $20,000 in prize money – cha ching!!

I think the Precision Nutrition (PN) program is very sound and Dr.  John Berardi is tops in his field. He’s the author of The Metabolic Advantage. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s worth a read. If you’re a raw foodist, than PN is not for you. But if your vegetarian, PN can be adapted to your lifestyle to help you lose weight if that’s your goal. It’s probably best for people who currently know they are eating a crappy diet and want to transition and learn more about nutrition and get super fit steadily in a maintainable way for life.

The Lean Program incorporates the PN guidelines but includes 6 months of world class coaching including nutrition AND fitness. It’s kind of a tailor-made personal training program with some of the top professionals in the field AND if you achieve the best body transformation, you’ll win $10K. Wow! Being in awesome shape is motivating enough, but add $10K to sweeten the pot and it’s over the top! (Hmmm…imagining where I could travel with that kind of change.)

A year ago, I would have considered joining in when I had 20+lbs to lose but right now, I don’t think my transformation would be dramatic enough to win, but maybe you’ll want to give it a shot. Registration opens May 26th and because it’s tailormade training, spaces are limited. Here’s my link if you want more info: PN Lean Eating $10K Challenge. Please let me know if you enter. I would LOVE to hear about your experience over the course of the 6 months training.

Speaking of fitness I wish I had bought a TRX before I left Oz. It would have been so sweet to be able to fit in some workouts here in Bali. I do it miss it when I don’t work out regularly. I’m walking everywhere and taking yoga classes, but miss the strength training. I just read a blog post from TRX fitness and they just attached it to tree and go, go, go! Bet that would get some stares outdoors here in Ubud. LOL. But I have a perfect beam in my room that would have worked out great to swing on.

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The young permaculture gardens at Samudra are lush and green! It was planted late last year and is THRIVING! Food is harvested here every day and served up in the Kombie Cafe. When I WOOFed in Kauai, I absolutely LOVED picking my meals every day – mangoes, papayas, figs, lychee; big colanders full of greens, tomatoes, peppers, endive, cilantro, etc, etc, etc. There is NOTHING like just picked food. ;D

Hanging Ten in the Garden

I’m heading off to Bali in a few days – talk about raw food paradise! I’ll be there for 3 weeks and kicking of the first week with a 5 day cleanse. I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile. I hope to blog daily and post tons of pics and rawie tips. Gabriel Cousens and Shanti will be there too. Haven’t seen them since I left the Tree of Life – hope to get to meet up with them too!

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Fred and Me

Last night, Dr. Fred Bisci was a guest speaker at Samudra. He has been a raw foodist for over 40 years, has helped a ton of people and is veritable fountain of knowledge. Truly unbelieveable! He looks at biochemical
interrelationships, rather than taking a simple dietary or nutritional standpoint. And he believes in an intermediate level menu where what to leave out, is as important as what to put.

The audience could have gone all night with Q & A. He is SO generous with his information. I got some alone time with him and he answered some questions that I was contemplating going to see a holistic doc about. Nothing major, but was curious to get them answered.

He’s also from the NYC area, so we got to talking about home – like our favorite raw food restaurant. Caravan for both of us! He even knows my NJ hometown and recommended a brilliant bodyworker there. Oooo – can’t wait to make an appointment!

He’s doing a series of workshops in Australia over the next few weeks – lucky Aussies! Interesting story too. Aussie John Wood turned around his health and fitness with a raw vegan diet by following the advice of Dr Bisci after being diagnosed with prostrate cancer among other ailments. He was SO pleased that he is sponsoring Fred Bisci’s first ever entire tour of Australia. How’s that for an endorsement!

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