More on The "Raw Food Diet"

My Dear Readers,

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. It has been hot and dry in our neck of the woods, but we're used to that here in Idaho!

The children and I have just spent a pleasant morning picking apples off my aunt's Transparent tree (No, you can't see through it, that's just the name of the apples!). We are going to freeze most of the them to make "apple ice cream", which brings me to the title of my post.

Yellow Transparent Apple

I was introduced to a live-food regime through Dr. Christopher's School of Natural Healing, back in 1998, but then Dr. Christopher called it the Mucusless Diet, whose title is a bit on the unappetizing side! How do you tell someone you can't eat pizza, because you're on the "Mucusless Diet"? The health benefits sounded wonderful, but getting my husband and daughter to eat soaked wheat berries and honey for breakfast, with a low-heated lentil casserole for lunch just WASN'T going to work! At least for dinner one was allowed a baked squash or potato (skin included), with a big salad.

Dr. Christopher and Grand Children

I did my best to include as many fresh fruits and vegetables in our diet as possible,and cut out white sugar, white flour, dairy, and processed foods, but as I mentioned in my last post, being from Idaho, getting those Russet potatoes out of the bloodstream is tough going! Fried potatoes, hashed browns, mashed potatoes, potato soup, baked potatoes, oven fries, potatoes au gratin, etc. etc. Talk about a staple food! It probably didn't help that they were of the genetically-modified, chemical-laden variety, either. Only when AnnaMarie was diagnosed with Diabetes, did I learn after researching on the internet that Russet potatoes are as damaging to the pancreas as white sugar.

Russet Potato, in all its glory

My good friend, after hearing of AnnaMarie's condition, gave me a book called "Raw Family", by the Boutenko family. It was very eye-opening and refreshing to read, especially with the testimony of their son being healed of Type I Diabetes after being on an all-raw diet for a few months.



The book had a section of recipes in the back, which were exciting and actually looked like something my family would eat! Wow! Raw cakes, pies, "burgers", and so on. Real food! I couldn't wait to try it. Well, the desserts were a hit right off, but some of the meat substitutes were dubbed "too strong" by certain members of the family, while the littlest ones ate them without complaint. So, we do what we can, and are incorporating more and more of these foods (trying to not make them so strong)into our diet, and are definitely noticing results.



Last summer I was totally raw (diet, that is!), and for the first time since I was twelve, I didn't have one pimple on my face. Now THAT's cause for celebration! I had so much more energy (Which I needed, starting a huge garden by myself.), and could stay up till eleven, wake up with Frankie at night, and then be out working half the day outside.

But, then the fall came, and with it COLD weather. And then I started to realize a few short-comings of this wonderful diet. I believe in eating things seasonally as much as possible, and as locally-grown as possible. Most of the raw food books have recipes with exotic foods that cost an arm and a leg, such as young coconuts (definitely not Idaho-grown). Also, most of the filling foods are full of nuts, which are fattening, also not Idaho-grown, and also cost an arm and a leg for a big family.

So, I began to go back to doing the best I could, but when things like squash and beans are winter keepers, it's hard to not include them in one's diet when it's freezing outside! At least carrots can be stored, and they can be eaten raw. I guess you could eat squash and beans raw, too, but it'd be awful hard to fill up on them that way. I noticed my energy waning (and pimples returning), but didn't really know what else to do.

So, that's my conundrum now, which I'm still trying to figure out. Spring and summer are to me the ultimate time for eating raw foods (Who wants to cook when it's hot anyway, right?). But, unless one lives in California (Not a possibility), Florida, or the Phillipines, it's pretty darn hard to eat that way all year!

Wow, this post is pretty long. I hope I haven't bored anyone. I did want to include a few resources, if you wanted to do some more research. I love Hallelujah Acres, since they are a Christian ministry. Most of the raw food gurus out there are some of Heavenly Father's more "interesting" children! Above Rubies
has a helpful dvd and raw food book called Rejuvenate Your Life, which is also from a christian perspective. The girls love watching it, especially the parts about opening young coconuts and making raw pizza.

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." ~3 John 2

May we all learn to enjoy the simple and nourishing foods that the Lord has provided us!

Love,

Marqueta