THE PROMISE I MADE

You know, sometimes doing what is right is the most difficult thing in the world. When I went raw (about 13 years ago now), I made a promise to God that if he saved me and saved my life, that I would take whatever little celebrity I had and I would try to do good in this world. I just asked Him to show me the way to do that good, to show me where I could be helpful.

Since, as we all know, God works in mysterious ways, it was a full 9 years or so before he took me up on my offer. The way it began was so innocent and so natural that at first I did not realize what was happening.

I moved my office to New York City from Los Angeles, but I was quite upset, because I wondered where I would get my RAW milk, cream and cheeses, as L.A. is far ahead of NYC in the ability to obtain raw dairy.

Then I received a phone call from the NY Post Newspaper, asking if I would let them shoot a photo of me at a RAW food restaurant. I was shocked: First, that they knew I was a RAW FOODIST, as I had not yet gone public with this info and second, that there are RAW food restaurants in NYC.

When the paper called, I thought, “Not for nothing, but this I have to see.” So I agreed to do a photo I would not normally have done, just to get to see and eat at a RAW food restaurant.

I am very glad I did that photo shoot, because besides finding a whole network of RAW friends in NYC, that photo started me on the path to becoming a very outspoken advocate of raw food.
Prior to that event, I had not intended to write books on RAW food; I was writing another book inspired by my friend Bill O’Reilly- and only one chapter in it was about RAW food. Instead of selling that book, however, everyone I pitched my idea to wanted me to write about the chapter I was most passionate about: RAW FOOD! I immediately sold a book (or two) on RAW.

The letters from the Ottawa Citizen were depressing in more than one way. As each letter seemed to say that I was crazy and that I was the only one in the world who was doing RAW and that I was out of touch with the real human condition. These particular letters pointed out how in shape I was, how lucky I was, how rich, able to have chefs, that I had no kids and my lifestyle was such that no one else could do what I was saying they should do! They picked on everything, including the fact that I had a great boyfriend, that I was genetically blessed and that I did not know how to live life like a “normal” person, etc., etc., etc.

They were going after ME. They were not listening to the message. Therefore, I started to think that perhaps I was the WRONG role model for this lifestyle.

People are used to seeing “fat” people say they lost weight and apparently “ill” people say they found a cure for something. But I was silent about my cancer and I fought it not on the front page of People Magazine, but in my home, working diligently with the most brilliant minds in medicine. Yet, when I changed ALL that afflicted me and I came out to tell the world, I was told that my message was not worth listening to because I was SUPER MODEL Carol Alt, who was soooooo genetically blessed that I could not possibly have problems and I was soooooo blessed with my job and my boyfriend and my family, etc., that it could not BE that I did not really have a fairytale life!

In other words: “How could a famous supermodel possibly have human afflictions?” EVEN PEOPLE MAG WOULD NOT PUT MY STORY ON THE COVER AND I DID SPEAK TO THEM ABOUT THIS MIRACLE!

Of course, worse than being a super model, I was not a doctor, so how could I possibly find a cure for cancer? Therefore, anything I did was looked at with a wary eye, which I do, on a certain level, understand. Perhaps if I had started out fat, for example, and not just sick, tired, bloated, and aging rapidly with digestive problems, headaches, weight gain and skin rashes, and ultimately cancer — perhaps if I had gone to the press with my diseases and put my sick face on the cover of People Magazine, instead of coming forward with a possible cure – people could more easily believe my message. Perhaps if I were a secretary, or a teacher, or a factory worker, they would hold me up as “The Everywoman” who could make a difference.

It has been so depressing for me to hear comments like the ones from the Ottawa Citizen, because people attack the messenger and do not listen to the message. (And trust me, I do not mind that people attack me as crazy, as I have been called everything from a “Tsunami of stupid” to doing a “disservice to women”! The only thing I really mind is that they do not hear the message!) It has been SO demoralizing that I wanted to stop doing this work. And believe me – it is WORK.

Fortunately, I understand that it is in God’s hands and that it is progressing as God intended it to. I understand I was afflicted with cancer and was able to change my prognosis because that would make me a stronger, more credible advocate for this way of eating. (I mean, I understand free will – I got cancer because I CHOSE to eat badly and to stress my body, and starved myself on every diet there was!) I believe God has been able to use my mistakes to put me on a path to help other people.

I also understand that God’s intent with this way of life is because it changes a person SPIRITUALLY and that is probably one of His goals. I mean just LOOK at this world! So I cannot and do not question God. I cannot question the things I think He is asking me to do in order to get the word out. I can only thank Him for bringing me this knowledge and saving my life with it (and giving my life back to me, which is a whole other thing!), and then trudge on ahead, with all the slings and arrows that come with this journey.

I must say at this point, that the following incredible e-mail (which is one of many positive ones) was a real boost to me personally. It made me cry with sadness for all of the Lisa’s (see “Ottawa Citizen”) in the world; at the same time it made me cry with happiness for all of the Susan’s (below) in the world. Sometimes it is hard not to lose hope that people will see how polluted this world is, and how sick people really are, and how our food has changed so much in the last years – and how EDUCATION is REALLY, REALLY needed.

Letters like the following help me to not lose hope that people will want to look for something to give them an edge in this world.
I found it in RAW…as did many OTHER people. Read the following email to see this truth.

- Carol

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

A letter to all my Fans

This is a letter to all my Fans!!

Last night many of you joined me in a wonderful SOLD OUT debut on HSN of the first four products in my new line of skin care Raw Essentials! Thank you, thank you for your support….

As I realize some questions may arise from that debut I wish to take a moment out of my crazy schedule (I am packing for a 3 month job overseas!) to alleviate some concerns and to answer some questions….

My History in the beauty business is well documented. In fact, NOTHING is secret in this business….
that said, let me get to the meat of your questions:

Did I have a face lift?

NO! I have a problem with keyloiding in my skin. If I had a face lift, I would have scars- and any makeup artist would love to be the whistle blower who becomes famous from unveiling any improprieties…. I do have dermabrasion- every now and again- maybe twice this year. and maybe once last year for a deep clean….

I had no acid peel. I once tried a cool lazer…did not see much change…. My lids are not cut or tucked…. I had an injection of restyln when I made the mistake of injecting a pimple because it became a nagging problem and my girlfriend told me to get it injected- as much as I fought it, I could not see going on the “celebrity apprentice” with a big bump on my face that was not really quite a pimple…. well, the injection ate my skin and collagen… and you know what? The CAUSE of the pimple did not go away (a blocked pore that needed to be cleaned out!! simple problem- simple solution!! but NOOOOO! I had to deal with the symptom and cause my self other problems!! Sound familiar? Go to the cause of problems and save yourself more problems!!)

So I had to have the “hole” left by the injection-filled…. and as it already went against my philosophy to get anything chemical….I kicked myself the whole show and while watching it because you can see the “hole” on the left chin area all the way…. eventually my own collagen filled the spot and the filler-as I am told is normal- disappeared… So injections? Yes….

What else? Ask me by posting your questions on carolalt.com for anything I missed…

Le Mirador

Yes! I was under contract for Le mirador with QVC! Le Mirador was the homegrown QVC brand. I love QVC! They were great with me…. When my books came out, I decided to create my own line! Following the Philosophy of Raw! And QVC was very understanding of that…. I believe you can still get those products from the Spa in Switzerland.

My Raw calling!!

My line is as close as I can possibly get to how I eat! In fact, some of my ingredients are coconut oil and tamanu oil and Aloe Vera in their “purest” form possible and cold manufactured to keep all the integrity of these ingredients-or as much as humanly possible…

I know raw is a controversial subject, I know many people don’t think you get any benefit from raw…. Well, I am a walking bill board to the benefits of raw…. I changed my health…. Not a stomach/acid problem, not a headache, not a flu in 13 years!! (and I was ALWAYS sick with one thing or the other!!)

I had terrible allergies since I was a kid…oh my gosh!!! Terrible- no live Christmas tree for the Alt’s, Carol can’t handle the dust and pollen etc off a live tree…..my brother and sisters were so mad at me…
well, not any more, I have no more allergies!!

I feel better, I think I look better (although there was some debate about that, I will answer that below….) I am definitely healthier…..and I owe it all to the change in my diet… I went “cold turkey” with my diet changes….not everyone can do that!! I understand!! Believe me I have friends and family following in my foot steps and I went thru the changes with them all….. I wrote Eating in the Raw, my first book, as a response to people wanting know how to do it!! I took an non-raw foodie thru the process and we basically wrote about it! All his questions answered for you to read…. but I digress…..

The point is that you just need a little education on label reading and to understand how “normal” food is processed to change… and in fact, if weight is your problem (as it was mine) eating this way is the best way I know of to keep the weight off…and to find your most natural, healthiest weight! And man, I eat like a race horse now….Yum!

So I always suggest if you do not have access to your own “raw food” escort, find a doctor who knows this way of life and ask for help….you can’t believe the benefits and you can’t believe how easy…
I wrote Eating in the Raw to be a guide to helping you find the raw, and I wrote The Raw 50- (meant to be the Raw 50 Menus but hey even supermodels make mistakes…LOL) to help you remain healthy and safe while changing to the raw food way of life…

There has not been a person who has talked to me who has gone raw who regretted it…. And don’t forget, the first couple weeks, you may detoxify! you may feel worse first! Stick to it, follow your “escort’s” guidelines….and you will get thru it…and the “other side” of the detox experience is not like anything you have experienced before…funny, how after I detoxified….and I was feeling great…I then thought back to how I felt before I went raw and was astonished to think that I had THOUGHT I FELT GOOD BEFORE….BUT it was nothing like how good I felt after….

I did have cancer…in 1990 I had cervical and in 1999 I had uterine. I got help from both sides of the issue: conventional doctors and homeopathic. As I had gotten rid of all my “little” problems: allergies, sinus infections, colds, flu, headaches, stomach acid…with raw I called my homeopathic doctor who taught me raw and said: how can this be? I am raw 3 years…..he told me the following:

“Carol, I am surprised that is all you have!! When you came to me with your little aches and complaints, i knew you were in for a long haul. You had so many illnesses about to happen that i could not tell you because I did not want to scare you. But, I knew if you did not go raw, you would have had a very different future than you have now. you would have had many more problems than this and far more serious problems (more serious than cancer?? wow!!). Stay the course, and keep diligent, follow my Protocol for you and we can beat this!”

and I did- it was a roller coaster ride, but I followed my path of raw and supplements and enzymes and herbs, and I have had clean tests for the last 5.5 years. No surgery, chemo or radiation….This was my path….

Then I wanted to keep my environment clean, too, chemical free to help my healing and healthy process… Well, when it came to looking at all the things around me that had chemicals, the research that I did, in order to help save my own life, led me to understand that the air and water is polluted and that the body ends up trying to clean this…and it is taxing on the body…. And then I looked at skin care and realized that whatever we put on the skin goes into the bloodstream and becomes part of the body!! Scary!! Even more scary? THE FDA DOES NOT REGULATE SKIN CARE OR BEAUTY PRODUCTS!!!!

So, I decided that if I am putting it on my skin, I want the cleanest possible, most raw possible, most pure possible products…. Well, nothing that existed passed my test! So I made my own! In my home, in my blender!! And everyone loved them… And then I got the chance to make it for you! or as close to what I was making as possible! The biggest tests were the preservatives!! And the cold processing!! And we pioneered both. I believe this is the future… OH- and so does some of the other cosmetic companies… as they told me to my face, that in 5 years, they will be copying me… So draw your own conclusions!!

The before and after photo on HSN….

The before and after of me seemed to be of big debate online… Well here it is- first of all, the lightening in the photo was a yellow light and HSN has a more FLAT blue light! Better to show you FAB products!! But well, Yellow light is much more flattering for people and skin. I did the best with what i had….LOL

I had no foundation OR blush….I wanted to show you clean skin!!

I am 26 years older than that photo- so you need to separate the maturing of a “look” and the “quality” of the skin…. I was trying to show you that my skin quality is just about the same…as 26 years ago- as any makeup artist can tell you- I mean any artist who has been up close and personal with me that is!!

My raw line:

I will have another 7 products in the normal to sensitive line in January on the 27th…I will fly in from Europe and go right on air….so please be kind if i look stressed!! Listen to the message and stop picking apart the Human messenger…. We will have a melting scrub….I hope….I am working on it NOW!! We will have body moisture, masks, toners, scrubs….bath products…..what ever you need to start your Raw Skin Care Regime! I did the work for you…. join us and learn more!!

OK, OK…. I am not a scientist, but I hired the best, most unbelievable scientist!! One who loves natural ingredients and was up to the challenge of making a natural preservative and pioneering the cold process of mixing the line… In March, I will come out with my FAV line- as I have mature and ageing skin!! It is the Anti-aging line…

Do they Work? I aim for all the best results you need for skin, and then I work backwards to find the ingredients that are in nature that do this!! Then I work forward again to create a LUX, elegant, sexy line that is easy to use (no refrigeration!!) try it!! You will not go back……
AND JUST WAIT ’til you see my testimonials in January 27/28th! (most after two weeks of use only- some only 10 days of use!!) Even I was most pleasantly shocked at the results!!! I knew this line was good…..but THAT GOOD???? Wow!!

Feed your skin…. I am trying to educate you to make the right choices in your skin care and food regime…. Education is the beginning of change. it was for me…. and I do not force this philosophy on anyone….it is just that I had such amazing, incredible results from it, I cannot imagine that other women-IF THEY KNEW ABOUT IT- would not want those same changes…

Do I get too thin on raw, yup! I do- minor side effect….

I am happier, healthier, more aware, in less pain, more clear in my thinking and my spirituality than ever before….than even when I was 20!! I thank God for that… all I am doing is “Paying it Forward…”

SUMMERTIME AND RAW EATIN’ IS EASY

When the subject of summer vs winter raw foods is brought up, Carol Alt knows that in this day and age, there is virtually no difference between the two in terms of easy availability.  Access to foods that are grown internationally and transported all over the world is commonplace and relatively inexpensive, thanks to modern transportation methods.  No more waiting for the first warm days of summer if you crave strawberries, grapes or asparagus.  Winter vegetables?  No longer any different than the summer ones.  With very few exceptions, all fruits and vegetables are now available year-round.

What does seem to be seasonal, however, is the way many people think of summer vs winter meals.  In the wintertime, nothing seems more inviting that a hot cup of soup, followed by a rich, heavy, warming plate of…well, you name your favorite foods.

But who wants a heavy meal during the heat of summer?  Certainly not raw food enthusiasts and really, not too many other people, either.  We all want to cool off and a terrific, interesting salad, or a plate of fresh fruit, can be just what the doctor ordered.

Carol loves the variety of dishes available during the long, warm days of summer, and is happy to share a few choice ideas.  For example, a beautiful, yet simple salad composed of cucumbers, dill and cold-pressed olive oil.  She sometimes includes her own homemade kefir and a little sea salt in the dressing, for variety.

“I love kefir and since it’s so easy to make, especially during the summer, when it’s warm outside, I keep some going all the time”, says Carol.  “Ask your favorite Indian restaurant to sell you a kefir ‘bud’, which is just a scoop of their own kefir.  Heat your milk  (about a gallon) until just before it comes to a boil, let it cool, and add the kefir ‘bud’.  Set the bowl outside in the sun (cover it with a towel or plastic wrap), come back 8 hours later and voila! you have your own homemade kefir!  If the kefir isn’t quite thick enough, just leave it in the sun a while longer, until it’s the consistency you want”.  Carol likes to add granola to her kefir when it’s ready to eat and of course, you can add whatever fruits you prefer.  “Kefir contains more beneficial bacteria than yoghurt and by making my own, I know that the ingredients are not chemically altered”, something that fits right into Carol’s raw and healthy lifestyle.

Back to the salad dressing, Carol says there are countless variations on the cold-pressed olive oil and kefir base:  Curry, a pinch of cayenne (if you like things spicy), minced onion, garlic, etc., can all be added to suit your taste.  “Experiment with it.  You’ll discover a lot of different tastes that work beautifully with fresh salad greens, as well as other raw vegetables.  By using the cold-pressed oil, you also know that the dressing will be of the highest possible quality, especially in terms of raw.”

If you can’t resist eating pasta, Carol urges you to try rice pasta.  Chop up some fresh tomatoes, a little cilantro or basil, celtic sea salt and cold-pressed olive oil.   “Don’t cook the mixture – in Italy it is called ‘pomodoro al fresco’ or ‘cold tomatoes’”, Carol advises, “but even if you  HAVE to have a hot tomato sauce, which will probably give you heartburn, at least add the oil after cooking…” and toss it with the hot pasta.  “When I gave up wheat pasta, along with the other wheat products that I no longer eat, I never had another cold, or sinus infection, or allergy attack!”, she says.  “Before I changed that part of my diet, I was constantly taking aspirin, cold medicines, allergy medicines – I was sick all the time.  Never again.”

Depending on where you live, the myriad summer fruits – cherries, peaches, mangos, berries, pineapples, etc. – can be cut up, tossed together, and served with a kefir-based “dip” or dressing.  Add a little honey and some of the juices from the cut fruit to the kefir for a lovely, slightly sweet dressing.

Speaking of something sweet, Carol will combine a fresh banana, some fresh fruit, perhaps a little freshly squeezed orange juice and kefir, all whirled together with a little ice in the blender, for a delicious slushy.  And to cover her bets during the winter, or if she forgot to go to the market for fresh items, Carol freezes some fruit (including cut-up bananas) for emergency use.  She also recommends keeping commercially frozen fruits in the freezer year-round, with the caveat that they not be processed with added sugar or syrup.

These are just a few of the ideas and recipes included in Carol’s book, “The Raw Fifty”.  The book covers nearly 130 menu ideas and recipes, which help raw enthusiasts (and anyone else looking for delicious additions to their usual fare) come up with easy, tasty, family-pleasing dishes.

In case you’re wondering – and who doesn’t? – how the calorie count in raw fruits and vegetables stacks up against that of the same foods when they’ve been cooked, Carol has a great analogy.  “I compare the foods we put into our bodies to the gasoline we put into our cars.  It’s all going to be burned up, but if you put cheap gas into your car, it’ll leave a residue and not burn cleanly.  That will ultimately damage your car’s engine.  The higher quality the gas, the cleaner it burns.  With our food, the purer it is going in, the cleaner and more energy-efficient it will be.  What can be more pure than raw fruits and vegetables?”.

One of the things that Carol emphasizes is that “raw” really means “unprocessed”.  Every time you open a can of something – anything! – the food in that can has been processed, meaning that in a very basic way, it has been altered molecularly.  The human body then has to process the altered food differently (and less efficiently) than it would if the same food were raw and unaltered.

Carol has given lectures and even spoken to doctors and other medical professionals about the molecular changes that occur when raw food is cooked.  She is trying to teach everyone that by eating raw, your body receives the purest possible energy source and is really forced to burn it all off in the cleanest, healthiest way.

In a future article on this website, Carol will explore what it was like being a fat – yes! you read correctly! – kid.  But for now, she hopes you’ll push back from the computer, and take a walk…maybe to a fresh foods market nearby, for some of that luscious summer produce she’s been talking about

Eat well stay young

I have been doing much thinking about aging and the effects of food on aging. And if you have not read any books on raw foods, I will tell you what it is that I am thinking.

I am thinking that if cooked food is heated to high temps (in this case, anything over 115 degrees F is considered “high”.);

and if the heat kills ‘most’ of the enzymes(I guess the hardy ones survive?);

and if the heat also denatures some or most of the vitamins and minerals-meaning that vitamins and minerals are changed fundamentally in their chemical makeup so that they are less able to be absorbed by the body;

and if the heating of food effects the PH of the food- changing it from alkaline to acid;

Then the question I have been pondering is: does changing our food this way by cooking it, age the body?

The only conclusion I have come up with is that, yes, it must age the body-it has to; and it probably changes it a lot!

Ok, so again, I am not a doctor, nor a scientist. I am just a woman who is concerned about the effects of aging on her career, life and body. So I, too, am looking for “The Fountain of Youth”. The question is: Is there one and if so, where?

Come on, who isn’t concerned about the effects of aging? Who isn’t concerned about the effects of the ‘degeneration ‘of the body? I think degeneration even effects how susceptible we are to disease in the body. I think as we age, disease has more opportunity to attack our weaker and weaker bodies.

But even so, disease aside, it is such a “young” society and it seems everything is geared toward the young and sexy in this society. Magazines, books, music, movies advertisements- all cater to the younger generation or the desire to be or feel young.

The older I get, the more I notice this: the young have no idea how great it is to be young. I mean, as I got older, every spot, pimple, ache, or pain becomes cause for a call to the doctor.

Your hair, skin and body all change daily-and most times for the worse.

But I don’t mean to be morbid here, what I am getting to is my ‘beacon of light’. I am trying to paint the picture for you: If you don’t know you are in the darkness, how do you know when the light is shone?

Ok? So we are in the darkness of aging and disease.

The light that I shine is raw food and good nutrition.

Ok hand off the clicker!!!

This is really not boring-believe me, and it is not scary or confusing.

Let’s go back to the top of this blog where I said the following:

I am thinking that:

• if cooked food is heated to high temps (in this case, anything over 115 degrees F is considered “high”);
• if the heat kills most of the enzymes(I some of the hardy ones survive, I suppose?);
• if the heat also denatures some or most of the vitamins and minerals-meaning that vitamins and minerals are changed fundamentally in their chemical makeup so that they are less able to be absorbed by the body;
• and if the heating of food effects the PH of the food- changing it from alkaline to acid;

If all this is happening to our food when we cook it, then does eating this food affect our aging process?

And, if we find out the answer to this, will we be better able to control some of the effects of aging?

My opinion is absolutely “yes”!

Here is why I think that:

Let’s start with the last point on the list: PH of food.

First of all, if the body only produces acid (like lactic acid in muscles that make us sore after a work out or hydrochloric acid in our stomach to digest food) and if food gets more acid if you cook it, and acid eats things up-like rust can disintegrate a car or nail polish remover can eat away nail hard tough nail polish- and if our body needs to stay pretty neutral because our organs like to sit in neutral PH, then all that acid running in our blood and being stored in our tissues HAS GOT TO BE EATING THE BODY!

How long can something sit in acid and not basically melt away?

I mean, just in terms of a natural occurrence and common sense, acid on soft tissue has got to be damaging.

So go ahead, drink your ‘acid’ coffee, and eat your ‘acid’ cooked food and pile the acid into your system.

You will give yourself indigestion-yeah.

But you will also wear away at your body. And hey, when the body wears down more and more, then you know what? You may end up looking like what you eat.

Eat acid-look ‘eaten’ up and worn down!

I think that is pretty simple idea- or am I wrong in my thought process?

Think about it yourself and come up with your own conclusions.

Anyway, since this blog has turned out to be so long, and I want to go into more effects of food on aging and what we can do about it, you will have to wait until next time I blog-as I am doing two movies at the same time in Europe, I am blogging around my shooting schedule. So the next time I will go into molecular structure and why when you cook food changing the structure of it can age you

But for now:

Eat well-stay young!

How silly is that circle

I am picking up where my last blog left off.

Just to re-mind you of the facts we established in my last blog:

I am thinking that:

• if cooked food is heated to high temps. (In this case, anything over 115 degrees F is considered “high”)
• if the heat kills most of the enzymes(I supposed this means some of the hardy ones survive?)
• if the heat also denatures some or most of the vitamins and minerals-meaning that vitamins and minerals are changed fundamentally in their chemical makeup so that they are less able to be absorbed by the body;
• and if the heating of food effects the PH of the food- changing it from alkaline to acid;

If all this is happening to our food when we cook it, then does eating this food affect our aging process?

Let’s begin here

So, if in fact, when we add heat to anything we change the molecular structure, then by law of the universe, when we heat food we change its molecular structure, too

For example, in chemistry, you know if you boil water, that its molecular structure changes from a liquid to a gas (water to steam).

That is a chemical change.

So, a heated fat and a heated protein then is not the same as a raw fat in that when you heat them, you change its molecular structure, too-just as it happened with the water.

So, you have a food, perhaps a protein-which is an amino acid and you heat that protein. The heat does ‘its thing’ and changes the molecular structure of that protein.

Now you don’t really have an amino acid any more do you? I mean, how can you? If the structure of an amino acid is specific, then to change that structure is to change that amino acid.

Ok, that established, we now have this non-amino acid that WAS an amino acid before it was cooked going into your system.

The body looks at it and says: what is this? I have enzymes for an amino acid, but this is not an amino acid. What do I do?

The body decides then to break down the non-amino acid into its component parts, looks at it, then recognizes bits and pieces, puts those pieces together again as an amino acid, storing in the process the bits and pieces it cannot use.

Then when it recognizes the re-built amino acid, the body then makes another set of enzymes to break down the amino acid that it just re-built. Once, finally broken down into its component parts a second time, it can now be used to re-build and maintain the tissue and organs in the body or to make new enzymes.

Phew! A lot of work for the body-that creates stress and stress is more acid (see my last blog about the effects of acid on the body)

Ok so what does that mean to your body now?

1. You store whatever it is you don’t use of the original non-amino acid (oh, could this be stored as weight on the body? carrying around all that extra weight is stressful on the body and stress is acid forming-see the effects of acid on the body from my last blog!)
2. You have stressed the body to do all that work breaking down the non-amino, rebuilding it and breaking it down again so you can now use it-just to have a hamburger! (See the effects of acid on the body in my last blog.)
3. you have used up two sets of enzymes

since point 1&2 are about acid which I dealt with in my last blog, at this point, I want to talk about #3 above-Using up two sets of enzymes:

This next thought is simple to understand! (Just relax and follow my thought process to the end. I wrap it up I promise!)

OK here goes!

If enzymes are created from vitamins and minerals and our body is made up of and needs vitamins and minerals too, then our body has to split the vitamins and minerals it does get from any foods you eat.

And if we have established in my last blog (repeated above) that cooking food ‘denatures’ vitamins and minerals preventing the body from absorbing the most it can, then there are very little vitamins and minerals around for the body to use to make enzymes or to even rebuild and MAINTAIN itself.

If you eat only cooked food and there isn’t enough vitamins and minerals to make the enzymes the body needs to digest all the cooked food you eat, then the body will pull vitamins and minerals from the most available source-bones for calcium and teeth, copper from skin and veins (elasticity) vitamin E from cologne (wrinkles) and the list goes on and on because we need a lot of different vitamins and minerals to maintain the body and we need a lot of different vitamins and minerals to build enzymes.

Since the body is an eating machine (think about it, without eating you die; so the #1 purpose of the body is to eat and digest food) then all the other things like maintaining and re-building the body, keeping the immune system up etc., come second to making enzymes.

Here is where I start to wrap it up:

So the body will pull the vitamins and mineral it needs from your body systems and organs thereby degenerating them so that it can make enzymes to digest food that has no vitamins and minerals in it! Degeneration of the body is also called aging-it is also called disease!

Wow!

How silly is that circle?

WRAP-UP

heat=cooked food=denatured, acidic food= making lots of enzymes=pulling vitamins and minerals from body to make enzymes=degenerating body= aging/disease

Yet people insist on eating cooked foods because they like them or just because they are in the habit of eating them.

Well smoking is a habit, too. I would not want to do it! It is bad

And in order to have a healthy life, one must decide to have a healthy life and then do it- quit smoking.

The same with breaking the habit of cooked foods; one must decide what is more important:

Eating cooked foods or have a healthy life.

‘Staying young” for as along as you possibly can or eating cooked foods?

In my book, there is no choice! Be healthy stay young and eat fab. Raw Foods!

However, most of the time, people only change WHEN THEY HAVE TO.

Usually that is when they get sick and are faced with a terminal illness.

But why not prevent all this silliness? Especially when my books: EATING IN THE RAW and the new RAW 50 (which will hit the stores in May) tell you how ‘fab’ raw foods are and they teach you to make some easy and familiar recipes?

I always maintain: anything you eat cooked I can find you raw-

Raw is just a different process then cooking, but the foods taste the same or better-raw unpasteurized milk right from the cow is sweeter and better then it pasteurized counter part. The same goes for cheeses: raw milk cheeses taste great!

Come on, just substitute some raw foods at least and get on your way!

If any of this is confusing, my books explain in more detail especially raw 50 due out in book stores in May. (Eating in the Raw gives you my story and the HOW-TO on eating raw: how to shop, how to eat out etc.)

Next blog, perhaps I will talk about how raw foods stopped my indigestion?

Olive oil

hi again from Italy.

you know, even though this is a beautiful city, I just can’t wait to get home! being out of the house, in a hotel-although it is a beautiful hotel, is just not me!

tom cruise and his fiancé were next door to my hotel while they were in Rome before their wedding. the helicopters buzzed all day long! Boy, all the people and the press blocking everything-so silly.

I could not wait for them to leave. Life is such a circus when he is around!!

Last weekend, I went to a baptism up in Venice and the host, knowing I was a raw “person” (as they call me here) made sure that there was enough raw food for me to eat.

As I eat fish and meats, dairy etc. this was rather easy as he had great tartars and marinated fishes and cured meats-salads, too!

I ate like a queen!

funny how so many people think they will starve if they go raw-I find it rather easy and, oh-so pleasant! I have no problem eating except when it is not in my control-for example, I had been working on two sets and they were confused as to what to serve me. since one film location was far out of Rome, I could not go to a restaurant so I had to eat what they brought me! every day they brought bresaola- a cured meat, and salad. they would argue with me every day abut the olive oil-

“senora” they would say. “we know it does not SAY freddo on the bottle, but believe us it is great olive oil!”

nope, I have to bring my own-even into restaurants as I know the pressing of olive oil has changed over the years-and now they do it by machine and THAT is not cold pressed-at all.

I even had an argument one night-imagine arguing in Italian-with a gentleman who owned the biggest olive oil producing company in Italy. he told me how proud he was of the business. he told me that he made so much money producing oil, that he could revamp his factory and get machines to press the hot oil!

I nearly fainted!

I looked at him and I said, “you will make too many people fat!”

I tried to explain the idea behind raw and cold pressed but he would not hear about it-and of course, I could not expect him to even want to understand since he just invested to revamp his empire!

but really, the people of Italy eat so much olive oil and they liberally pour it on food. and because I USED to be raw and cold pressed, they actually could loose weight on it. but now, they still used it liberally, and they are getting fatter-and they don’t know why.

I mean, they really all the time complain to me about their weight-as they never had before

and I read an article-I forget where-that said that the Italian kids are the fattest kids respectively in growing population, in the world!!

see, their food process has changed, but their habits and their knowledge of their food did not!

this to me is dangerous. if you don’t know how your food is made, or what is in it, then how can you control your health and weight?

like this assistant told me this summer while working with me on my film “twist the cap”

she said she worked in an organic cherry orchid-but the cherries were not organic.

I said how did you do that?

she said, we only said the cherries were organic so that we could collect more money for them. but really, to grow organic is too expensive….

imagine?

You need to Eat Raw

I have to tell you all that I am in the middle of writing my second book! It is due out in April. I have put so much of myself into this book; it is literally years and years worth of fact finding and gathering of info that I have added to the tips in the book. This book is really going to be great!

I have several different whipped cream recipes-and if you love whipped cream like I do, then you are in for a real (healthy) treat. All the recipes are delicious-lemon tarts, pecan pie, ice cream, ravioli and lasagna!

But better then the recipes, I have gathered facts and information that will help you to become raw more easily and to become better educated about your food.

See, that last line is important; we eat out of habit and not out of education. When I cheat-and I teach you how to do some cheating in the new book-but when you cheat, you should know why you feel like cheating and why you chose that certain food you are cheating with.

In my life for example, I sometimes miss lunch. Being so well fed for breakfast, sometimes I just forget or I don’t have the time (both of these excuse are a real no-no!)

In any case, if I skip lunch I usually get in the mood for an Irish Coffee or a Muffin of some sort, corn bread maybe, even pretzels. If I am sitting down to dinner, I want the bread in the basket or I want pasta (and believe me this is the only time that that bread ever looks good to me!)

Seeing how I understand my body and the fact that if you skip a meal the body will call out for instant sugar, I can then understand this desire for an Irish Coffee (alcohol is sugar, whipped cream has milk sugar and usually added sugar)-and I avoid giving into it. I force myself to sit down and eat a salad or other healthy food-

It never fails that after dinner, after I have eaten well (healthy), my body and my brain no longer crave these innutritious foods. In fact, these foods now repulse me-as they should!

You see, Irish Coffee, muffins, corn bread and pretzels are what I ate my whole life for breakfast and snacks before going raw, and what I feel are my comfort foods. Every one has their comfort foods. The foods you remember you ate as a kid or as a teenager; the foods that remind you of better times or less complicated times, these are your comfort foods- and they are usually also the most unhealthy foods for you.

So, when you skip a meal and your body needs instant energy, your brain goes back to a time when you felt comfortable and happy-Viola! My Irish coffee!

For you, your comfort food may be granola or cereal, cookies or crackers-all of which are a form of sugar; as is pasta and bread. Wheat is a form of sugar-especially if it has not been “sprouted” and the grain has been separated (the chaff being thrown away and the more simple, short-chained carbohydrate being left behind)

A simple carbo will get you energy faster-but it is non-nutritious and in my book-empty calories.

The most important job you have on this earth, in my view, is to feed your body good clean nutritious food! Water and proper food, nothing is as important (except maybe clean air-but hey we don’t have that do we?)

That is why I say to think with your head and not with your stomach when you sit down to a meal. Know and look for the most nutritious foods, not the foods that you are craving in that moment because you have skipped lunch, these foods my give you the fastest “Kick”, but they sure don’t keep ya young.

You need foods that feed you and stay with you-rebuilding and healing your body.

You need to eat properly; you need to eat three times a day. And in my book-both my books for that matter, I give my opinion that you need to Eat Raw!

The world traveler

Hi! This is the world traveler returning from shooting a movie in Italy. I shot most of the film in Rome but then I went up to Milan for the weekend. Then I went to Venice for a christening! Boy, a lot of travel and a lot of hunting for food, for sure! But don’t we do that anyway? Hunt for food I mean-whether we eat raw or not!

Italy is great for food. As anyone who loves pasta knows. But what about the raw foodist? What can they eat and where can they eat?

I am going to answer the first question because it really answers the second question at the same time.

Because the Italians really like to cure their food I could eat almost anywhere. They have many interesting dishes and meats that are completely raw-because curing is not cooking. Marinating is not cooking either.

So let’s start with cured foods: Bresaola is a type of meat that is cured. It is dark red in color and tastes a little salty (it is cured by salt- so no kidding it tastes salty!) as is Proscuitto and Carpaccio-my favorite! Carpaccio is cow’s meat and Proscuitto is pig. I was told that Bresaola is venison (deer meat)-so I hope I translated that right!

They also marinate a lot of their fish-especially salmon. Now, don’t confuse marinated salmon with smoked salmon! In fact, many people consider smoked salmon to be carcinogenic (that means that it contributes to cancer in the body) and I do not eat it myself.

But I love marinated fishes. I went to a place called La Rizahaka 6 (and no, I don’t know if I spelt it right so let me tell you how it is pronounced La Riz-ak-a. just in case you go to Milan and need to ask!)

La Rizahaka had not only marinated salmon, but white fishes as well. Spada (swordfish), mackeral or sole all marinated-fabulous! In essence you can marinate practically any fish you would want to. I would think lemon, salt (evaporated sea salt) and a little olive oil (raw, cold pressed of course!) could probably do the job!

And that brings me to my next point: 8 years ago I had an argument with one of the leading olive oil producers in a piazza in Spoleto. Spoleto is outside of Rome about an hour and a half. It is beautiful countryside and I had my gorgeous night ruined by this man telling me how proud he was that he made enough money producing olive oil that he could now buy machines to heat press the oil!

I nearly fainted! I got so upset and he could not understand why. “But, I will make more oil and faster. Isn’t that good?” he asked. “Good for who?” I said, “You make more money because you produce more and you produce it faster, but you will destroy the health of more people!”

He looked at me like I was crazy (and believe me that is nothing new-I am a raw foodist for heavens sake, many people look at me like I am nuts!)

Anyway, I tried to tell him that the result of his changeover would be more fat children in the years to come. (Did you read the article on how the Italian kids are the fattest kids in the world now speaking-relative to the number of kids in Italy? Well, I did and it made an impression on me!) But, he did not believe me. He was too focused on his bottom line-not on his ‘bottom’!

You see, once you change how a food is prepared and you don’t tell people that you have done this, you take their power away from them. Because as we change how food is prepared, the newly formed food has a different effect on the body and its health and well-being. And if you do not know this happened, you will only experience the negative results over a period of time as the body starts to degenerate as you eat more cooked foods that were once a staple in your diet in their raw form.

And because people don’t connect their body’s degeneration with products they have been using their whole life, (albeit in different form, but they don’t know that because they have not been told) they start wondering how “suddenly”, “all of a sudden” everything is changing: How they “suddenly” have wrinkles, acid stomach or ill health.

Darling! We are the accumulation of everything we have done to our bodies through out our lives and this includes what do to ourselves with our food!

Anyway, Italians have always liberally poured olive oil on their food-but years ago it was cold pressed and therefore “raw”. But, as the machines take over and producers look toward the bottom line, they are heating their oil in their pressing machines to get more oil out and to get it faster.

So in short, always ask for “cold pressed”. Or rather do what I did: I carried a bottle with me and didn’t rely on waiters who don’t know their a** from their elbow!

But I digress….

The Italians have great salads and of course ‘fab’ meats and fishes. Many people tell me that they have found that they can go to Italy and eat until they are full and they feel better and lighter then they do in America-yeah! No kidding! They don’t do what we do to our food (hormone additives, spraying the crops, genetically altering God made seeds, radiating. Etc, etc.)

In fact, I still can find unpasteurized raw milk RIGHT in MILAN! But not in New York, however, a huge city in a democratic country!

Naturally, I drank up a storm so I could have my fill and be satisfied enough to face the “New York City Raw Milk Drought” when I got home! By the way, they also have a lot of unpasteurized cheeses, too.

Ok, so you say you have to have your pasta in Italy-go ahead and have it once or twice-but better to eat clean and healthy on your vacation then to have to come home and make up for that vacation with depriving yourself for the rest of your year.

Thanks Greg!

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