This topic is far more controversial than I ever could have imagined: food.

It rates up there with politics and religion for “topics to avoid at any social function”.

Yes, food.

Not in the way you’re probably accostomed to - as in, “That new Italian restaurant is excellent.”

No, I’m talking about clean food.

Fresh, nutrient-dense, RAW food.

As you may know my wife is a physician and she loves experimenting with diets to see how we feel. Forget the research, the propaganda to sell books, and the agendas of food growers. We want the truth.

NOTE: For us, diet is about feeling optimal - mentally and physically.  It’s never been about weight-loss.  Weight-loss is just a side effect of what we’re doing.  Weight-gain has also been a side-effect of a few diets we’ve tried and a sure sign it’s not a good thing.

I became a bloated whale on “The Makers Diet” - a diet with lots of meat and butter and all the good stuff we’d like to believe we really need.  NOT!

I became more acutely aware of how different foods made me feel on the “Eat Right for Your Blood Type” diet.

We tried a lot of diets and sometimes I felt better, but I never felt great. I never felt as good as I hoped or thought I could until we tried the “raw diet”.

It’s been transformational in how I feel, what I do, and how I relate to food. After eating 100% raw food for a period of time, even something as seemingly harmless as a little salad dressing (that’s been cooked in processing) makes me sick.

Headache, foggy-thinking, flu-like symptoms.

Essentially, cooked food is addictive food. And that’s why people fight so hard at the mere suggestion that it isn’t good for you. Ever seen an alcoholic or drug addict fight for and defend their addictions? Even to the point of saying “everyone else has the problem - not me!”

It’s the same with this food thing. Simply showing up to lunch with my raw juice seems to offend some people. Hey folks, eat whatever you like - but I want to feel my best and please don’t mind me if that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Really, I’m going to do what I’m going to do because that’s what works for me and I’ve tried a lot of different avenues.  I’m not here to sell anything to anyone - there is no agenda.

I could write a book about the experiences, questions, objections, etc, that come up on this subject. Others have done a plenty good job of that already - I just want to give you something important to think about today.

Objection #1:

How do you get enough protein?

Have you ever noticed the largest, strongest animals on this planet are herbivores? Protein isn’t a problem WHEN YOU DON’T COOK YOUR FOOD. Cooking food causes a chemical reaction that denatures - or changes - naturally occurring proteins into something else.

Haven’t you ever wondered WHY food needs to be supplemented and fortified?  It’s because after it’s been  cooked (ie, processed) there isn’t much nutritional value aside from fat and calories left.

Objection #2:

Don’t you get sick from not cooking your food?

Never, not even once - for me or anyone else in my family.  And we’ve been doing this for four years now. I have had food poisoning at least a half-dozen times in my life from eating cooked food though.

Objection #3:

Isn’t it hard to sit there and watch everyone else eat?

Yes, and no. I’ve gone through the process of eating raw, then cheating by eating something cooked many times. Each time it’s like hitting myself on the head with a hammer - it hurts. And I tell myself, “I will never eat that again”. Of course, I do on occassion still - but I’ve learned to associate “feeling like hell with eating that smell”.

It is much less difficult now to choose feeling good over a temporary satisfaction. And the funny thing is, the cleaner I am with my diet the more I actually like things that are green! (Hey, this is a guy who wouldn’t eat more than 5-6 vegetables about 10 years ago - I’ve come a long way and I feel great).

Objection #4:

This is a mainly a guy thing, just like the protein question. “Dude, I don’t want to get emaciated looking.”

Listen, if you take all the fat off your body (much of it is really toxic holding) then you are what you are - most people aren’t nearly as big as they look without the fat they carry around. You still have to work your body if you want to be strong and fit looking - but you’ll have a lot more energy to just naturally do it. There are times I cannot NOT workout.

Like I said in the beginning, this diet thing is like preaching politics and religion. I try not to do it - but at the same time I feel so much better than I used to that I’d be doing you a disservice to not share this with you.

Going from where you are to being 100% raw in your diet is a big step - the easiest way I found to approach this is with raw juices. You’ll begin to acquire a taste for your new diet and you’ll notice the immediate increase in energy (which comes partly from having nutrient-dense, “live” food in you and partly from not heavily taxing your digestive system with things like wheat, meat, dairy products and etc - I could give you a list of reasons I refuse to eat those things that are directly related to how lousy they make me feel and always did - I just didn’t realize it at the time).

One last thing . . . after Tara and I had Aric last October we got off our diet - I was the cook! That meant whatever was easy … after 2 months on this “standard American diet” we both felt so awful we couldn’t stand it ONE MORE DAY.

On December 20th we re-committed to our raw diet (HAPPILY) and we’ve both lost in the over 20 pounds. I’ve gone from 198 lbs (my all-time high) to 176 lbs and if I might say, the most fit looking 40-year-old dude at the pool.