The big question, of course, is why?  Why go raw?  Doesn’t it seem a little extreme?  The reason is simple:  I want to feel better.  I eat well, and have done for years.  But I suffer from fatigue and persistent runny noses, repeated outbreaks of herpes – on my nose to make it even better – and cellulite.  Now, none of these puts me in danger of a fast trip to the morgue.  But neither are they indicators of robust good health.  My body is communicating to me that something is out of order and if I’m not prepared to listen to my own body’s messages, then who is? I started to notice a few months ago that my “healthy” morning porridge (oats, flax seed, apple and maple syrup) left me feeling like I wanted to crawl back into bed about 15 minutes after eating it.  I also noticed that the lovely plates of pasta dished up by my Italian partner – a food I ate rarely before meeting him – had the same effect.  Fifteen minutes after lunch, I wanted to curl up in siesta land until further notice.  Sleeping and resting is normal and good, but persistent fatigue even when you get enough rest is not normal.  And I have so much that I want to do, so many things I want to accomplish, so many hopes and dreams and so much darn motivation that being hindered by fatigue was becoming terribly frustrating.  The inability to fulfill your dreams leads to a profound sense of internal agitation.  That feeling that something is just wrong.

So why raw?  Well, I know that eating animal flesh is out of the question for me.  And I’m about as healthy a vegetarian as is possible.  So what’s the logical step?  Supplementation?  Unnatural, expensive and devoid of Life Force.  So, for me, raw foods seem the most sensible next step.  I mean, it is patently obvious that no other mammal eats cooked food.  Or rather, the only other ones that do – domestic pets – end up suffering the same chronic illnesses as their cooked food masters.  My mother gave our cat daily insulin shots when she developed diabetes after a lifetime of obesity, so I know of what I speak.  Raw food just feels right.  Crunchy, colourful, tasty, zingy, energetic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, and even raw eggs and milk products, all conserve their vital energy, their Life Force, and then share it with the one eating them.  I look at a plate of cooked veggies and for all their deliciousness, you can tell that they’ve lost something.  Why raw?  It just feels right.

Is it extreme?  No, I don’t think so.  There are far fewer rules of Raw than in the average fad diet or detox plan.  Take, for example, the blood group diet.  You find out you’re Type O and suddenly you’re striking huge numbers of foodstuffs off your list. Or the Atkins diet, which looks simple but you try eating close to 0 carbs…it’s not an easy diet.  Nor is the GI diet, which  requires a detailed knowledge of the glycemic index of all the foods you consume, a simple diet to follow.  As a nutritionist, I know that it’s very, very hard to follow a whole list of do’s, don’ts, sometimes maybe dependings…With raw food you basically eat what you want, as long as it’s raw.  There are lots of raw vegans out there, but there are equally many who eat raw meat and other animal products.  Kind of like bears, you know?  Also, I would not think of converting my daughter to a raw diet until I am fully conversant with the scope and functioning of the scheme.  Of course, she instictively enjoys raw foods like carrots, broccoli, tomato, parmesan (yep, real Parmesano Reggiano is made with raw milk) and sprouts.  So as I incorporate new recipes into my diet, so will she.  But no, I’m not a kook and I don’t experment on the bodies of others…my own physical sheath is my living laboratory.

So it’s been three days…I’m not aiming for 100% right away…or maybe even ever.  But I am eating more than 50% raw already and I feel a difference.  Also, I’m sticking to my New Year’s Resolution to give up English tea, so that helps.  But I already wake up with more energy, move a little faster, a little more lightly on my feet.  I feel the wonderful, gentle energy of the raw foods that I eat nourishing my pranic body and think:  raws feels better, raw feels right.

stuffed dates

Above is my first raw invention:  dates stuffed with hemp seed, goji berries, almonds and stone ground tahini.