An 80% Raw Food Diet is a More Realistic Goal

There are all kinds of raw food teachers exclaiming the benefits of a 100% raw, vegan diet. Most of them, however, cheat. It is fortunate that they cheat, or some of them might have ended up with health problems. Why? Because most raw food diets emphasize too much (hybrid) fruit, dates, nuts, and nutrient-deficient veggies. This is eventually going to get you into big nutritional trouble! Hardly anyone mentions the importance of eating wild green foods. The only way to make a raw food diet work is to include substantial amounts of wild plants and small amounts of fermented raw milk kefir! That way, the diet becomes more balanced and the body receives important nutrients that otherwise would be missing.

A landmark German study conducted on raw fooders in Germany, showed that most had developed massive deficiencies of Vitamin B-12, B-2, zinc, chromium, selenium, iron and calcium. This study gave raw food a bad name. It is constantly being cited as showing what dangers lurk if you eat a raw food diet. However, the study does raise serious questions that need to be addressed.

Our experience is that it is difficult for most people to follow a 100% raw diet. 80% usually will work for most people most of the time and is far more realistic. A few cooked foods such as millet, brown rice, buckwheat, beans, and hard veggies, like Brussels sprouts and broccoli will make things a whole lot easier. The highly respected nutritionist Paavo Airola, ND, also recommended an 80% raw food diet. This also allows some leeway for social occasions.

Look at how contented cows and sheep are when they are out grazing in the pasture. They seem so much at ease. They are totally balanced. They radiate a sense of calm. Put them in a barn without grass and feed them corn and soy and they won't be so happy. In fact, they will start to get aggressive. They need their fresh grass daily in order to feel at peace with themselves. The same is true for monkeys and humans. Without chlorophyll from greens, we are not going to find our inner balance.

Monkeys in zoos usually are hyperactive because they are given bananas and other sweet fruits without having the chance to balance the fruit sugar with wild green leaves. This often leads to hyperactivity. They also can develop cravings due to a shortage of nutrients. Monkey's have even been seen eating the cardboard boxes the fruit came in. The fruit and broccoli they were given obviously did not satisfy them. They were looking for minerals!

Your Body Also Cries out for Organic Minerals and Trace Elements

Our estimate is that 99% of all people lack organic minerals and trace elements. Professor Linus Pauling once said that diseases can only develop when certain minerals are missing. A lack of certain minerals is a prerequisite for diseases to arise.
Most people's bodies are crying out for organic minerals and trace elements. We normally don't eat cardboard boxes, but many of us do go after potato chips, chocolate, sweets, ice cream, French fries, pizza, hamburgers, alcohol, and cigarettes. All these cravings arise due to a lack of organic minerals in the diet.

Getting more minerals into your body, especially when transitioning to a more optimal diet, will make things a whole lot easier. This is why we recommend including an organic mineral concentrate when making the wild green smoothie. The minerals help to eliminate cravings and hunger pains. We recommend is the Phyto-Micromineral Primal-Essence, 2 tablespoons is usually sufficient to provide the body with the mineral balance it needs.

Cooked Versus Raw Food

We shouldn't damage the nutrients of wild plants by cooking them. Processing them with a blender is all that is needed. A bit of high tech comes in handy in order to make these bitter-tasting wild plants tasty.

Blending the green leaves tears up the cell walls, giving us access to the plant's nutrients. Blending basically accomplishes the same thing as cooking. Using a high-speed blender such as a Vitamix® or Tribest Personal Blender® will make cooking superfluous. For example, nettle leaves had to be cooked in order to eliminate their sting. By blending the leaves, we achieve the same effect, without requiring heat.
The foods we still need to cook are legumes such as lentils, chick peas and beans. Also, hard veggies such as broccoli or Brussels sprouts can be steamed. Or we can let the sun do the cooking for us. We can also blend up a hummus dish made out of sprouted chick peas, tahini, raw sesame butter, and various spices. Just pour it out on an oiled pie dish and set it out in the sun. Eight hours later you have a delicious Middle Eastern style, sun-baked hummus dish.

Or steam the chick pea sprouts in a steamer for about ten minutes. When they are finished cooking, take them off the stove and put in some nettles or other wild green plant leaves along with a few spices, see the recipe. That way you have a warm, hearty soup that has been upgraded with the addition of a few raw and wild green leaves.

We don't have to follow a 100% raw food diet in order to gain health benefits. By eating a high percentage of wild green plants every day, you will reap far greater benefits than 100% raw food obtained from a health food store. This is true even if your diet is only 60% raw. The wild plants make a huge difference. They are unmatched.

80% raw, live enzymatic food including 20% wild plants would be a good ratio we could pursue. 20% of the food would be made up of cooked soups, beans, lentils or casseroles. Cooked food is needed by most people to ground and balance their energy. Small amounts of high enzyme kefir, some tahini, fish, and gelatin can be helpful for many people. Supplementation with Vitamin B-12 is a must due to our polluted environment.

The Downside of Cooked Food:

• Starch becomes sticky and plugs up our intestines;
• Unsaturated fatty acids become saturated, clogging up small capillaries and raising the level of cholesterol;
• Proteins begin to coagulate and change their configuration, making it difficult for assimilation;
• Loss of heat sensitive vitamins, such as folic acid, vitamin C and B12;
• Complete destruction of enzymes;
• Loss of high energy bio-photons;
• Creation of highly toxic cancer-causing compounds such as acrylamid;
• Loss of oxygen content of food allows foods to putrify in the gut.

These are some of the reasons why we need to eat a diet high in raw foods. Eating more than 20 % of our food as cooked dishes causes metabolic toxins to form. Cooked animal protein and fat seem to be a particular lethal combination, especially when cooked at high temperatures. Fried and grilled meats and fish are especially toxic and should be avoided.

Conclusion: if you need some animal protein, as I do occasionally, go for raw sushi style fish, cold-smoked wild salmon, or raw egg yolks. Occasionally lightly steam some frozen green lip mussels long enough until their shells pop open. New Zealand mussels are the most piure because of the clean water in the South Pacific. Otherwise we must be a bit careful with shell fish as they can filter and store pollutants.
As our body becomes cleaner and cleaner, we will require less and less animal protein. The human protein requirements have been totally exaggerated. 30 to 40 grams of protein per day usually will suffice, unless you are an athlete.

Excess animal protein, especially from pasteurized milk products, can lead to all kinds of trouble, which was pointed out by Professor Campbell, author of the China Study. He was able to show scientifically that animal protein increases the rate of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic, degenerative diseases. But I believe that animal protein, when consumed in a raw state, such as the Japanese do when eating raw fish, is much less toxic than eating cooked fish.

The ultimate goal is eating a raw, vegan diet, as recommended in Genesis 1:29, as well as the Essene writings. 20% of the diet could be made up of cooked lentils, chick peas and other legumes, as well as steamed hard vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts will make us feel more balanced.

If this discourse was difficult to assimilate, we suggest to simply introduce the green smoothie into your diet and see what it does for you. If you make a good experience with it, you can continue to upgrade your diet so that it includes a higher percentage of raw food.