‘home’ Category
Be a good primate and eat your raw food
Saturday, August 21st, 2010
Next time you are at the food market and are reaching for that box, bag, can, bottle, or container, stop for a moment and take a look at what you are about to put into your cart and spend your hard earned money on.
Is that food?
Somehow in the hustle and bustle of our lives we have lost mindfulness of what our bodies need and how best to sustain ourselves. Mindfulness requires a level of awareness of who we are and how we have evolved.
We are primates. And as primates, we do not need processed food and preservatives. Primates do not need food that had been altered, destroyed, modified, desiccated, slaughtered, preserved, sweetened, salted, or configured. Primates do need sustenance in its natural state. It is what our bodies know.
Food used to be living. Food used to be filled with vitamins, nutrients, enzymes, and nourishment in its natural and original forms. It is these forms that our bodies know. When we eat food in its natural state, our bodies recognize it and know exactly what to do with it to be sure it is used efficiently. The food is maximally utilized.
Following the consumption of raw food, our gastrointestinal tract responds with production of the proper ratio of acid, hormones, and enzymes to effectively metabolize the meal into portions that can then be broken down further into its natural components. These nutritious components are then transported across the delicate lining of our digestive tract to be taken up by the blood and then transferred to our many vital organs – organs that are yearning for proper nutrition so that they may function interconnected with other organs to create a healthy, working, energetic living organism.
With raw food, these processes occur seamlessly for it is the precise fuel the body needs. When natural food is adulterated, the intestinal tract, and all other organs, doesn’t really know innately how to respond. Often times, the response is an excess of acid, bile, or metabolic waste production. Our livers have to work over time to break down these foods, rid the body of any unnatural compounds, and find a way to salvage what nutrition may be left. The excess production places an undue burden on the functioning of these organs. When the organs become overwhelmed or tired, disease and poor health can result. And what of those bacterium – our natural flora – that work so hard to live in symbiotic harmony with us. They are left to live on the wastes of these unnatural food products and give us excess gas in return.
But with raw food, a metaphorical party exists within our bodies. These foodstuffs are assimilated so easily and thoroughly that our organs have no choice but to rejoice. So the next time you are choosing what to eat, remember what your body is asking for. Your body, and your whole being, will thank you.
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Defending my food
Friday, April 30th, 2010
My husband (a vegan) and I (a vegan and sometimes raw foodist) often marvel at how our food becomes a topic of conversation in social eating situations. I have been at work, out with friends, or on an airplane, innocently chomping away on my unintimidating meatless, dairy-free meal and someone will invariably make a comment on my food. It is usually in the form of, “Is that all you are going to eat?” or “Don’t you crave meat?” or “Can’t plants feel pain too?” or, my personal favorite, “Aren’t you hungry all day?”
Now, for those who know me, I hardly appear malnourished or underfed. That is not a concern. Plus, my job and goal in life is to care for and cure the masses. So to even imply that I would intentionally risk nutrient depletion and undernourishment would also imply I was misguiding and ill-advising multiples of people. I take food seriously, of course, but only because it is such an important part of our health and our culture.
I think food is our medicine and it should be treated as such. It is not something to taken likely, as we have the options of soothing our body and tending to its needs approximately three times each and every day. And while thinness is associated with fewer health concerns and common disease patterns, then obsession to simply be skinny for the aesthetic sake of being skinny can lead to a range of negative psychological patterns such as stress, anxiety, obsessions and compulsions .
But to eat for one’s health is not only imperative in today’s antagonistic health care climate, but EMPOWERING. To feed one’s body, on a cellular level, so that it has a multi-organ effect, is to give one the physical and mental clarity necessary to be truly present in life and enable one to confront all of life’s obstacles and focal points.
So, then, why do I not take a peek at my neighbor’s plate and make comments? Something like, “Don’t you know what you are doing to your (fill in organ)?” or “How can you eat that?” or, perhaps, “Doesn’t that food make you feel full and stuffed all day?”
Because putting someone on the spot to defend what they have chosen to eat for that particular meal is really not the kind of conversation I hope to have. There should be a certain expectation of respect for personal dietary choices. I sometimes get frustrated at the prospect of having to explain my food choices in a social, non-clinical, setting. I am bewildered by the amount of people who do not seem to appreciate the myriad of food choices there are for those who choose a natural path of eating. I do not want to be made to feel as an outcast at a dinner party or a restaurant gathering (“what are you going to be able to eat, Ilene?” “Should I prepare a different plate for you, Ilene?)
Life is what we make of it and I am trying to make mine consist of a raw, vegan diet. And while I am not always successful, I try to take it one meal at a time and make a good choice for my state of health. If one is interested in alternative food choices and the reasons behind it (of which there are many), I am more than happy, in fact, welcome the opportunity, to engage in a friendly discussion. But, please, not at the dinner table.
Ilene S. Ruhoy, MD, PhD was born and raised in New York City. She received her MD from the University of Pittsburgh and her PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Nevada. Ilene serves on faculty at Touro University Nevada School of Medicine and lectures at venues across the country on the interconnections between the environment and human health. She is passionate about nutrition as medicine and human well-being. Her next clinical endeavor will be a pediatric neurology residency at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Having recently relocated with her husband and six year old daughter to Seattle, she is excited to be plugged into the Thrive community. Ilene thrives on helping other people find their way to optimal health and happiness. Ilene can be reached at ilenesue@gmail.com.
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Dr. Ruhoy received an M.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and received a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the University of Nevada. Her most recent clinical endeavor includes residency training in neurology at the University of Washington. Dr. Ilene has worked with the EPA to correlate ecosystem health with human disease. Dr. Ruhoy's research focuses on the sources and implications for human exposure of pharmaceutical residues and other contaminants in the environment. She has written and lectured extensively on the ecological footprint of prescribed medications. Dr. Ruhoy's work also emphasizes green medicine. Dr. Ilene currently resides in Seattle with her husband and daughter.
What is left to say about a guy whose life motto comes from the lips of Willy Wonka himself? "If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it." There is no better phrase to explain this time in Deane's life right now. He considers his position at Thrive more of a gift and less of a job. Prior to moving to the Pacific Northwest (Aka: Paradise), you may have found Deane in a little corner of Southwestern Ontario molding young minds to reach their full potential, pedaling his way through farm country, or spending time with family. Other than his love of all things young, (i.e. children, children's books, coconuts) he also has a strong passion for all things green (i.e. plants, fresh cut grass, granny smith apples). He sees his future with Thrive in a very bright light and will soon be molding his love for the natural world into a master's degree in a few years time!
