Raw & Healing Foods Discussion
Some people may consider raw or live foods as the same thing. My own thoughts and preferences regarding eating raw foods do not include eating raw meat, fowl, or fish; consequently I will only discuss fruits and vegetables, including nuts and seeds on these pages.
My electro-medicine friend, researcher, and aide in healing my body and many others, Jone Schramm, Ph.D., introduced me to a book written by Marcia Acciardo, who previously worked at the Hipprocrates Health Institute in Boston, Massachusettes, which was founded by Ann Wigmore. (Dr. Wigmore's teachings are based on Natural Healing, Raw Foods and wheatgrass therapy). Marcia's book is Light Eating for Survival. The copyright is 1978. It was published by Omango D'Press, Publishers, P. O. Box 255, Wethersfield, Connecticut 06109. I do not know if it is still in print. However, I encourage you to research books and recipes that emphasize healing, that include Ann Wigmore's endorsement.
I will be including here some of the recipes in the collection, along with suggestions for adaptations. As with most recipes, personal taste can alter the measurements and selections of original ingredients. I have already discovered certain raw foods combine better for digestion, as well as taste. A sick and toxic body will not readily adapt to the healthier lifestyle and change in food choices. Patience and a willingness to work are required. After years of neglect and bad habits, our bodies seem to say processed and cooked is what they need. Wrong. All pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, parasites, and mold seem to thrive on saturated fats, sugars, and other "dead" foods. Consequently, we tend to crave the very foods which do us harm and perpetuate a cycle of physical and mental complaints. Yes, our body includes many systems attempting to work together, but also suffering together. A headache may mean a sick digestive and elimination system, polluted and backlogged with wastes. A headache remedy may mask the complaints but do nothing to reverse or correct the problem!
Cancer has become one of the most dreaded and familiar of diagnoses that puts fear in the hearts and minds of those afflicted, but seemingly gold in the pockets of pharmaceutical and medical institutions. Even where traditional and alternative or complimentary medicine join forces, changes in eating habits can mean the difference between life and death, and many times add quality and longevity to life. There have been many stories reported of reversals in prognoses previously considered "hopeless." Nine years ago, I was told I had 3-6 years to live. Well, I'm still here, albeit worn and tired from being given the discouraging and all too familiar dialogue, which did not include help in changing my eating patterns or life style. I believe that most of the medical practitioners I consulted were more interested in writing costly prescriptions. Yes, many times I have been totally discouraged and depressed, not only because of the lack of empathy from the medical world but also because of the insensitivity and callousness that exists within many of those same groups. An all too familiar situation exists, when there are no ready answers, that a health practitioner is ready to assume and label a condition as a problem in the patient's "head." As it turns out, those very attitudes (along with lack of support) frequently contribute to problems in the "head" that may not have originally been there.
Why raw? Bottled enzymes will rarely if ever compete with those found in organically grown, fresh foods. A body that has been inundated with antibiotics, antacids, laxatives, poor food choices and/or nutritional starvation on any level needs many enzymes for all systems to function well, let alone heal. And no, illness did not occur from a day or week of bad ingestion selections. Consequently, it will take time to reverse and improve any physical or mental condition. Logically, all should recognize one is never too young to begin healthy choices. A child with frequent constipation, resulting from too little fiber, poor nutrition and too little "good, safe water" is already well on his way to serious illness.