Notice to all readers of Carol’s Blog About Raw Food

Hi, there!

I’m sending a big “Thank you!” to so many of my fans who have written to me. I want to take a moment to tell you that I do read a great deal of my mail…not all of it, of course, as that would be a practical impossibility, since I am still shooting movies, and modeling, and promoting my skin care line, and oh, dear…my next book is due! But I read enough of it to know that I have some detractors and naysayers out there! So, I’m going to take a pause, albeit a boring pause for some of you, to address a couple of blogs that caught my attention.

Who knew that raw food would arouse so much controversy? The emotions run the gamut from anger, curiosity and judgment to absolute joy and grateful disbelief from the people who actually did try eating RAW before they wrote to me! Those “pioneers” who stuck with it did experience some of the same kind of amazing results that I did! And when I write “grateful disbelief”, I mean it! Many people could not believe that the simple act of changing the preparation of their food could alleviate so many health problems. Certainly I didn’t believe it when I started! But boy, what great results I got from taking that first leap of faith! The changes in my health were so numerous and incredible to me that I have documented some of them in my book, “Eating in the Raw”! Not only did I get relief from certain health problems, but in the 12 years I have been eating RAW, they have not come back! And some of these were chronic problems that had persisted for years before I went RAW!

Now, let me state the obvious: I am neither a doctor nor a scientist and I do not speak (or write) in specific doctor or scientific language. To put it more clearly, I cannot and don’t really want to speak in language that normal, everyday people find difficult to understand! To speak of primary, secondary, or tertiary protein links when speaking of enzymes – well that is boring even to me, an old hat at this who loves to learn new stuff about foods and the human body! Imagine how boring that is to people who are just starting out learning about raw food?

So for those of you who have written in and asked – and not for those of you who could care less “how” it works, but rather “that” it works – I respond in the following way:

Enzymes are of course protein links!
The body uses proteins (amino acids) and fats (essential fatty acids) to rebuild and regenerate the tissues, muscles, tendons, bones, and other systems of the body, skin, hair and nails. It uses only trace amounts of carbohydrates (glucose) for cell metabolism. And those carbohydrates are best coming from long chain carbohydrates such as veggies – not short chain carbs such as breads and pasta, etc.

Enzymes are what make fruit appear to go bad. When air hits the meat of the fruit, the enzymes start to “digest” the fruit. This is when I want to eat it!! When the nutrients are released. The easier it is to get at the nutrients, the better for me – as I need to be ‘nutritioned’. Same idea for nuts: A raw nut (say an almond) can germinate when put in water – meaning it can start to grow, releasing the nutrients. That is when I want to eat it; when the nutrients are easier to get at! A cooked almond will not germinate – go figure! Heat causes that much of a chemical change that a cooked nut will never grow again!! Man, you killed it!!! I am a ‘living’ being; why do I want to eat dead food?

Whatever heating does on a molecular level, I don’t need to have explained to me nor do I need to explain it to anyone else in detail.
All I NEED to know and all I ABSOLUTELY DO know is this: I digest raw food better and it makes me feel better. Period!

(By the way, if you do want more info on enzymes, I found the following website to be very informative and easy to follow: www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/enzymes.htm — It covers much of the information that I really don’t have the time to write about….I mean, come on guys, I can’t do it all!!)

As for heat changing minerals, I am sorry I did not get specific enough!! Of course heat does not change minerals! In any case, I said it “denatures vitamins and minerals”, not wanting to go into specifics there again. I did not realize that the “scientists” in the group would want to take me to task for not being clear.

What I understand is that the “bonds” between the vitamins and minerals and proteins are very sensitive to heat. When heated, these bonds can be altered or broken. As any woman who takes Calcium knows, Calcium can be absorbed more readily in the presence of Vitamin D and Magnesium. That is supposedly the way they are found in nature – with bonds linking them together, helping to make them easier to absorb. (Also fat plays a role here, but I digress.) So, by heating them and breaking the “bonds” between the vitamins and minerals, we have essentially “denatured’ them from the way they are found bonded together in nature. (Again, I have found other websites that explain this better and in more detail. But for a general explanation of how this RAW food stuff works, take a look at www.rawguru.com/reshape.html – it may help you understand it better and me explain it better, too!

To any of you raw-food naysayers I say this: If eating processed, preserved, non-organic, chemically induced, altered, cooked or GMO’d food makes you happy and feeling healthy, go for it!!

However, please do remember: When (and notice I did not say “if”, but “when”) you are not feeling so well, and when you start to take that first over-the-counter med (assuming you are not taking any already i.e. stomach remedies, aspirin, allergy/sinus meds, sleeping aids etc. etc!!), please, please, please, let go of your ego and your anger towards the idea of RAW food, and just try it! It is an inexpensive way to help your self!

You see, even if I don’t know the scientific terms for every chemical process that happens with food in the body and even if I am not a doctor, I do not need to be one to know that I have reversed my own problems and taken myself off of all the over-the-counter meds I was taking – and I have never looked back! Nor do I miss those meds or their side effects! (or the expense!)

Bottom line: Whatever the scientific explanation – and yes, some, if not all of you can explain it better than I can! In the end, when you don’t feel well… remember RAW FOOD. Regardless of HOW it works, just remember THAT it works!! And it may just save your life!!

- Carol