Raw Gourmet Newsletter, October 5, 2004 This newsletter is sent to all who have taken the FREE seven part email course offered at The Raw Gourmet website. This is a private list that is not shared with anyone for any reason. As a private list, certain specials are occasionally offered that may not or can not be offered to the general public. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the delete line. If you wish to sign up for this newsletter or change your email address for this newsletter, the one and only way to do it is to go to www.rawgourmet.com and sign up or re-sign up for the FREE 7 part class called The Raw Truth. Please do not sign up other people. This newsletter is the exclusive copyright of Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (©2004, Nomi Shannon). No part of this newsletter may be passed on to other lists without the express consent of its author. Please do not take any part of this newsletter and broadcast it in any way or you may be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This is a members-only private newsletter. Note: The major article in this newsletter: Ten Things to be Aware of in the Raw Food Arena is repeated from April 15, 2003. It will be placed in the newsletter archives at www.rawgourmet.com. If you would like your friends to read it, please direct them to it rather than emailing any portion of this newsletter to them. It is important to the author that she is not misquoted nor taken out of context in this article therefore the copywrite laws will be enforced. Written by Nomi Shannon, author of The Raw Gourmet www.rawgourmet.com nomi@rawgourmet.com order line: 888-316-4611 Mon-Fri 10-5 MST Table of Contents Ten things to Be Aware of in the Raw Food Arena FAQ Apple Season The following article was first sent out as a newsletter on April 15, 2003. (It was subsequently published in Get Fresh! magazine in the UK.) It is by far the most popular article that I have written, I received much positive feedback about it. It was also the most difficult article I have ever written as it mentions things that are going on in "the raw food world" that are critical of other people. Because I mention some things that I find fault with absolutely in no way means that I don't love and respect my peers: other authors, teachers and chefs that are involved, as I am, in "the Raw Food movement". I very much love and respect my raw food peers, it is possible to disagree with a person's theory while still loving that person. Below please read a brief comment I received the day the article was first sent out, which makes such an important point: Ms. Shannon Thanks for your good article on 10 things.... I appreciate your positive attitude and stance regarding controversy and those spreading it. There is so much good and true that so many people agree on that it is quite sad that we can't be more united, rather than fighting amongst ourselves about details. Too much time is spent on the last 5% of the diet while the other 95% goes ignored, and quite possibly, undone. Meanwhile people continue to get sick and die when they don't need to. There is a much better way, and we would do well to stress what we know does work, and help people now. May God bless you, Michael Donaldson Research Scientist Hallelujah Acres Foundation www.hacres.com/foundation.asp The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him.-Pr 18:17 Ten Things To Be Aware Of in the Raw Food Arena: 1. Be Aware of "three week wonders" Definition of a three week wonder: someone who has taken a three week class in raw food (or anything) and is now dispensing information, classes, written a book etc based on those three weeks. So much misinformation is being passed around by these well meaning but inexperienced people who pass themselves off as experts with limited knowledge and little if any real life experience. For example, a few weeks ago I heard an explanation of why we soak nuts and seeds. It seems according to this "teacher" that the part you soak off is what keeps animals from eating them. (Real reason: with soaking you are washing off the growth inhibitors -which in quantity are toxic to us- that keep the nut or seed from sprouting out of season if a few drops of rain fall on it-soaking and sprouting also change the nut or seed to a more digestible food as the fats are being broken down into fatty acids, the proteins into amino acids.) Another less amusing example is a three week wonder becoming so enthusiastic about the wonderful results achieved from going raw (this may have been a bit more than three weeks, but not much experience, just a lot of enthusiasm); that they created educational materials and programs that many people purchased only to -after a few years- totally reverse their stand on raw food, now claiming that raw food is harmful. What is wrong with this picture? First of all, they went into "business" with just a tiny amount of experience. They did not expand the variety of foods they ate, but ate the same things day after day, and when they began to feel ill from lack of variety, perhaps developing deficiencies, rather than take a good look at what they were eating, they blamed "raw food". No food can make you healthy. Not carrot juice. Not green juice. Not wheat grass. Not algae. What contributes to your good health is giving your body the chance to cleanse and heal itself. Raw Food can no sooner "make you sick" than fresh air can. One needs to exercise some common sense. You always need a large variety of foods to be healthy. Think of the rainbow and eat foods of each color. Don't forget protein, don't forget fat. Don't forget carbohydrates. Don't listen to any one person about anything, including me. Whenever you hear a story (being widely passed around on the internet) about sick vegan babies, sick infants of vegan moms, deficiencies on a raw diet, etc. Ask yourself: What exactly were they eating? That part of the story never gets told. There are many people who have been all raw or high raw for well over ten years, including myself, Brian Clement, Anna Maria Gahns Clement, Doug Graham, Viktoras Kulvinskas, Reverend George Malkmus and Cherie Soria. There are other "three week wonders" who have propelled themselves into thriving raw food related businesses and, while they do a lot of good, in their limited knowledge and experience also perpetuate misinformation that could turn out to be harmful. For example one raw food proponent indicates that daily enemas are part of their ongoing daily routine. Enemas are useful, perhaps even lifesaving, while on the cleanse phase of a raw food program and for serious long-term programs such as the Gerson Therapy, which is closely monitored. But it is never a good idea to use enemas as part of a daily routine once the cleanse phase is over. Lack of education and experience is starting to manifest itself all over the raw food movement. The very leaders you may be looking up to perhaps belong in this category. Know where you information is coming from and don't put all your faith in just one source. My last example today of a "three week wonder" (I am being selective, there are many more examples of misinformation coming from supposed 'experts' in the field.) is a recent self-published food preparation book that tells the reader to dehydrate at 98 degrees. This is erroneous and potentially harmful advice. Dehydrating at too low a temperature leaves the food open to developing mold. If you use common sense, you will realize that food does not become the temperature an oven is set at. Roasting a turkey (this is an example to illustrate my meaning only, hold off on the critical emails to me please) at 350 degrees never results in the turkey being 350 degrees. Likewise the dehydrator. You want to dehydrate at the highest temperature possible while keeping the food itself below 115 or 110 degrees. When I dehydrate flax seed crackers, which are cold and very wet at first, I start the machine at 120 or 125, and as the crackers become dryer and I can feel that they are getting warm to the touch (don't forget how hot a 103 degree jacuzzi feels), then I turn it down. Dehydrators work differently in different climates. You can expect your food to be done sooner in dry hot Arizona than you can in cool damp England. Please do not make the mistake of creating moldy food just because some "expert" who wrote a book tells you to set your dehydrator at 98. 2. Be Aware of useless "certification". On a related theme, I am noticing every Tom Dick and Harry of raw food information (and misinformation) is now getting into the concept of offering "certification". Well, who is certifying you? What are their credentials? One such "certification" is adding up to close to $6,000.00 (for about three weeks). For that kind of money you can take the 9-week program at Hippocrates Health Institute which has been around for a long time and has a good history and track record. Certification from someone who has a recognizable name and has been around for some time; with something that says something about their area of expertise such as a book, or someone who has been teaching for a long time might be worth your while, but don't waste your time and money on a "three week wonder". 3. Be Aware of people who tell you what to do. There is no one pill, no one herb, or collections of pills, supplements, herbs, foods that are right for all people. When you are being told take this for that problem, eat this, drink that then suspect the person is either on an ego trip or looking to make money for themselves, or both. If there were one right way for us all life would be so simple, wouldn't it? If there were one right way to eat then I would be a very rich lady indeed. Do not ask your neighbor or me what they eat hoping to emulate and be just like them. What works for your neighbor or me may not work for you. 4. Be Aware, you need to do your own research. Sorry. You are a unique person. You have strengths and weaknesses, and they are different than your neighbor, your sister, your cousin or your raw food guru. I am talking about physically here, but it is true about all aspects of YOU. There is really no expert that can tell you about you. Wouldn't it be so easy to just follow one way that you hear about from one person? If that worked, there would be far fewer "gurus" out there. You need to understand what it takes to keep you the healthy vibrant person you want to be. Of course generalities like exercise, clean air, clean food, right livelihood, relationship all factor into what makes you you. But the fact is, you need to experiment, research, read, learn, try until you find the right combination that works for you. For example, this week a friend made a smoothie out of nut milk, nuts, bananas, plus three other kinds of fruit. That would be digestive and caloric disaster for me. My smoothies are made out of fruit juice diluted with water, and 2-3 fruits. We are very different from one another and what works for one does not work for the next person. Stop looking for "the answer" from outside of yourself, it is a futile quest. Stop thinking that this one person, or book (or pill) is the one right answer for you. Do not be lazy about looking after your own health. No one can care as much about you, or know as much about you as you do!! 5. Be Aware that some people treat Raw Foodism as a religion. Avoid them. I hope that you understand this without a big long explanation. 6. Be Aware that there is more to life than the food you eat. I hope you understand this without another big long explanation. 7. Beware of Extremism. All or nothing at all isn't necessarily a healthy or logical approach. If someone tells you that eating 95% of your food raw isn't good enough, or that you are literally poisoning yourself if you eat some cooked food those are rather extreme attitudes. My opinion is that those who take these philosophies to heart often feel like failures if they can't be "perfect" and so slide back completely to a SAD diet. I personally would rather see a person consume 50% raw food for the rest of their life than be 100% raw for three weeks. Don't allow extreme attitudes-the all-or-nothing-approach to make you feel like you can't cut it, that you are a failure or less-than in your raw food attempts. Any amount of raw food that you eat daily is better than none at all. Perhaps you could shoot for never any less than 50% daily. Don't allow yourself to feel a sense of failure if you do not follow some ideology perfectly. The greatest cause of depression is striving for perfection and feeling bad when it is not attained. Please do not think that what I am saying is that it is OK (healthy) to eat a lot of cooked food and or junk. What I am saying is striving for perfection can create a lot of unhappiness and feelings of failure which almost always results in giving up on the goal so that you don't have to feel those bad feelings. When someone is telling you that 95% isn't good enough, they are telling you that unless you are absolutely perfect you are not doing it right. This message boomerangs and results in many people giving up on raw food entirely. Do your best!! Choose Happiness!! Do not judge yourself (or others). If you maintain your happy outlook, treat your food as just that-your food, not your religion, you will find that sticking to your goals is much easier. If you can't be all raw, all the time, you can still be high raw most of the time, all raw some of the time and happy with it all of the time. 8. Be Aware of some Strangers. Be aware of people you don't know who want you to pay them large sums of money to teach you how to set up a raw food restaurant, home or health retreat. Call three or four well-known people, such as myself, to be sure that this unknown person has a good reputation. The raw food community is a small one. Unfortunately, I have become aware of some people with talent who have turned out to be very angry menacing people. Check the credentials and most of all the reputation and history of anyone you are thinking of working with, or of allowing to live in your home that you don't know well. Ask for references. Demand them. 9. Be Aware that there are people with eating disorders. Be aware that there are people with eating disorders (anorexia and bulemia) using raw foodism to mask their problems. Being a raw fooder is not going to cure an eating disorder. Anorexics and bulemics have serious psychological and physical health issues that need to be addressed by trained personnel. 10. Be Aware That in everyday life, preaching to others is unwelcome and an ineffective way to introduce the concept of raw foodism to anyone. Wait to be asked. Create ways that invite people to ask. Now for some Responses to FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) I receive. Here are the answers to questions that run the gamut from my website, to products to diet. The two free items I offer at my site are the FREE email 7 part class called The Raw Truth and a FREE copy of my booklet, The Little Book of Raw Soups, with purchase of my book, The Raw Gourmet. The Little Book of Raw Soups is not available for free without a purchase. The Little Book of Raw Soups is not available for free with purchase of a saladacco or anything but the book, The Raw Gourmet. If you buy The Raw Gourmet somewhere else, like a store, I can not send you a copy of The Little Book of Raw Soups for free. The free deal is only if you buy the book from me, the author. You can buy The Little Book of Raw Soups for $6.00, within the US. Postage to foreign countries is additional. If you live outside of the US, please go to "foreign" at my website to see the best place to purchase my book and other items. The saladacco makes long thin pasta strands. It also makes spiral slices that I find less useful but cute for decorating. It does not slice, cube or julienne, no matter what anyone says. (Unless you want to spend hours in the kitchen precutting items part way through prior to putting in the machine). It is not dish washer safe, it is best to dry around where the screws are so they don't rust. The blades are high quality stainless steel. Press down while turning the handle especially for the harder vegetables. The mandoline plus slices thinly and makes julienne strips. It is handy for volume use. I personally test all of the new juicers. The Green Star juicer in my opinion is the best all around juicer. I have tested it against many others. The lower priced twin gear and auger juicers do not yield as much from the same amount of produce. Does the machine you are considering buying have one big green plastic augur? Don't buy it -it is very inefficient. The Champion heats up, does not make wheat grass or tender greens juice and does not make as high a quality juice as the Green Star. The Green Star 1000 contains everything anyone who juices needs. You can also make ice cream and extrude out nuts, carrots, onions, for nut loaf. The Green Star 3000 costs about $90.00 more and contains attachments that Americans never use. I have never used them. There are no other juicers at this time that can compare favorably with above, either because of price, limited use in some areas, or quality or yield. I like the K-tec HP3 blender better than the Vita mix for the following reasons: K-tec is 3 peak horsepower. Vita Mix is only 2. K-tec has an 8-year warranty. VM is 7 K-tec has a life time warrantee on the coupling and the blade K-tec lid is much easier on/off than the other K-tec does not use a plunger. It uses pre-set varying speeds to pull the food into the blades. K-tec has a computer chip. It has no knobs or dials to get dirty, just a nice keypad. K-tec stands as high as a normal blender, the other is very high and uncomfortable to work with K-Tec container is lighter and has straight sides making it much easier to get all the food out of the container. Here is what is says on page 209 of my book about the k-tec: K-tec Champ The premier home blender K-tec is the innovative leader in the commercial blender market. This same engineering genius goes into their home use blender, the Champ HP3. Computer controlled blend cycles make perfect smoothies or soups with one-touch operation. No old-fashioned knobs, switches, or dials to wear out or struggle with cleaning. Its half-gallon capacity GE lexan (break resistant) jar is lightweight and easy to clean. Pre-programmed blending cycles direct a powerful 3 peak horsepower motor to change speeds and times, automatically assuring perfect blending consistency-making any blending task a breeze. Complete 8-year warranty on machine and lifetime warranty on coupling and blade for home use. The K-tec can blend frozen bananas into smoothies or large chunks of carrot into soups. Easy on, easy off lid with no need for a plunger type tool to mix ingredients. For daily raw food prep, the K-tec is essential for smooth results and fast preparation. K-tec has revolutionized the commercial blender market. Now all Starbucks, Jamba juice, and Disney use K-tec in place of the Vita-Mix and for good reason. The K-tec at your local Starbucks in encased in a lucite box and its base is black. The one you will get does not have the box and the base is white. The K-tec and the Vita Mix are about the same price, and are considered to be comparable machines. So if you already own a Vita Mix-no need to trade up to a K-tec, but if you are looking for a heavy duty blender I definitely recommend the K-tec over the Vita Mix. Really it isn't difficult at all to be a raw fooder. You do need to have the food in your house. You do not need to make recipes. Eat fruit and veggies just they way they are. You can shred, cut, grate, puree, liquefy, julienne, mash, juice, pulverize, combine, blend for different tastes and textures, but you don't have to. Fat is good for you. It must be Raw. Cooked fat is very bad for you. All cooked fat. You get plenty of protein from nuts, seeds, nut butters, lots of greens. If you are afraid, and want to eat more protein, then make sunflower pate, nut loaves, nut milks, eat nut butters. If you are afraid, for whatever reason, whether because you think Dr. Atkins is a nutritional genius, or are afraid from all the raw food is bad for you hype-that doesn't mean that you should stop eating a high proportion of raw food! No one thinks that! Everyone agrees that lots of fruits and veggies are good for you! If you feel that you must have a bit of wild caught salmon or an egg or some clean sourced other type of flesh-you will still greatly benefit from a diet very high in raw food. If you are afraid because there are people out there saying you will get e-coli unless you cook everything (the most ridiculous notion I have ever encountered)-wash your food well. A strong immune system does not get sick from the various germs that are out there. A diet without enzymes (cooking food destroys the enzymes) can not contribute to a strong immune system. As individual as you are, that is how unique your diet will be too. If you are not thriving, then something needs to change. Use your noggin. It's all about common sense. Don't be a "three-week wonder". Educate yourself. Apple Season One of the best times of the year, when apples are truly juicy and delicious. Did you know that by June you could be eating apples that are a year or more old? Sad, but true, they are kept in cold-storage for months and months so they can be sold all year. In New England it is apple-cider time. Hopefully there are still some apple orchards left that fresh- press the apple, peel and all for some wonderful home made apple cider. In recent time past, there has been a problem with fresh-pressed cider. A young child became ill from e-coli from the cider. Since then just about everything in the stores has been pasteurized, it is nearly impossible to find unpasteurized juice products. So the caveat here is: Perhaps it would be best to avoid feeding field- made fresh pressed apple cider to the very young and the very old or the very ill. If you make it at home you can avoid problems by doing the following: Very throughly wash the apples, using a safe food wash (I have a wonderful one that I will tell you about in a future newsletter), then process through your Green Star or other type juicer with the skins on. (You may want to remove stems and seeds however). Another really tasty drink is to add a bit of lemon with the peel still on it to the juicer (about 1/8 lemon for 2 quarts juice) along with a handful or two of fresh cranberries. And then there is the applesauce. How wonderful it is when made with fresh juicy apples. Just cut up 2 or 3 apples (3 works best in the heavy duty blenders), add some cinnamon and blend until smooth (or chunky if that is how you like it). With a pokey ol' blender (anything that is not a K-tec HP3 or a Vita Mix in my opinion) cut up 1/2 an apple into bits, turn the blender on until the bits are sauce, then add the rest a little at a time. I have had apple sauce three times in the past week. If you want to add a little more "staying-power" (ie you won't be hungry again so soon) then add in a few walnuts or pecans to be blended in with the apple sauce. Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet, lives in Sedona Arizona. She loves the red rocks and hiking by the creek with Rocky the dog. Besides her book, The Raw Gourmet, Nomi also sells two booklets she wrote: The Little Book of Raw Soups and Raw But Not Naked, The Little Book of Salad Dressings. Other books Nomi carries include: The Fresh Produce Guide and The Complete Book of Raw Foods. Soon Nomi will be carrying several new raw food books by some great raw food chefs. Stay tuned for more information about them. To complement The Raw Gourmet book or as stand-alone information Nomi's three Raw Gourmet videos will answer many of your questions and inspire you in the kitchen. All items are described in detail at www.rawgourmet.com For kitchen equipment, Nomi sells everything one needs for a raw food lifestyle from simple kitchen gadgets like the saladacco spiral slicer, mandoline plus and Toss & Chop, to larger items like the K-tec HP3 blender, The Green Star and Champion juicers, and the Excalibur dehydrator. Please call to order or for more information, or to inquire about wholesale purchasing. Nomi is available from 10-5 MST at 888-316-4611, or you can email her at rawgourmet@aol.com. Please don't forget to Vote on Election Day. My prayers are for peace throughout the world and in all of our heart's too.