My Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is in remission due to raw foods. While there are other things I have done to get well, this is a consistent thing that I have to do to remain well.
When you think of health food – do you think of raw food? Probably not. It isn’t easy for most of us to think in terms of eating most food raw, the way it came in nature, but that is exactly what I must do. I fall off the bandwagon at times, but I always return to it, because it’s a sure thing that helps immensely.
The explanations behind why it works, are these:
1) Enzymes are destroyed by heat, and raw food contains the enzymes that were meant to help digest the components of the food.
2) The fiber that comes naturally in food helps to stimulate the peristalsis of the colon, and help keep the system cleaner. This is especially true with eating greens. Society in general, is constipated. Processed food has served to make this even worse. A body congested with toxins sends toxins into the bloodstream, and the bloodstream nourishes the glands which produce hormones – with toxins! The fiber gently cleanses and clears away the buildup of toxins.
3) Raw food has a higher alkalinity than cooked food does. This matters because the human body must be slightly alkaline to remain healthy, and for the thyroid to be healthy. Alkalinity or acidity also determines the health and solidity of bones and teeth. If you are too acidic, it prevents other minerals from absorbing. You may see a more thorough explanation of this on the site “The pH Equation and Health,” at http://biomedx.com/microscopes/rrintro/rr4.html. If you are sick, you have a low alkaline reserve and would probably benefit from raw vegetables and/or their juices.
4) Raw food is high in “chi”, “ki”, or “prana”. It carries not just nutrition but also life energy. This life energy is invisible to all those except those with clairvoyant but is no less effective.
5) Because vitamins and minerals work synergistically, if some are killed in the process of cooking, when the food is digested, it must steal from the body storage areas, those vitamins and minerals which were killed through heat, in order to digest properly. So, raw food builds up the mineral reserves, and cooked food can cause deficiency if there is too much of it.
6) One diet famous for helping those with Fibromyalgia is the “Hallelujah Diet.” This diet is composed of the original foods given to humankind and is 85% raw. Here is an explanation of what it is, on their official site – http://www.hallelujahacres.com/diet/explained.asp.
7) By eating food raw we are less likely to need to add other things to it that are not healthy, and we also learn to enjoy the different colors, textures, and tastes of the food. We avoid artificial colors, preservatives, and and flavors.
8) Raw food is a strong defense against chronic systemic candidiasis, which can cause many problems similar to fibromyalgia, and includes causing chronic sinusitis. Raw garlic, especially, is good for combatting chronic sinusitis.
Personal Experiences with Raw Food
I vouch for raw food being helpful for healing, because it was for me. And I recommend the book “The Raw Family,” by Victoria Boutenko, as a resource. There are still some things that need to be cooked if they are eaten, but there are many things that people cook that they don’t need to cook.
Canaries in the Mines – Would More People Do Better on Raw? Are CFS and FMS people the canaries in the mines?
It may be that the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers are like the canaries that were sent into mines. If the canary toppled over dead, the miners knew that they had to get out now, or die. It may be that no one really gets away with the “Standard American” diet and lifestyle, of eating processed food and running on coffee all the time. It may be that raw food would help the health of most or all people, not just those with FMS and CFS. But it takes the sensitive ones of us to draw attention to these things.
Raw Challenges
The hard part of going raw is going against how things operate in the world. And not knowing what to do for a menu, trying to figure it out “by ear”, by what your body tells you that it wants. A challenge comes when someone has poor teeth or dentures that don’t fit, in which case they would need to go with raw vegetable juices and a powdered whole food supplement derived from natural foods. Another challenge is the psychological need we feel for warm food.
Benefits of Going Raw
The benefits of going raw for someone with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia, and for people in general can be higher energy, more dreams, better sleep, balanced hormones, higher alkaline reserve (helps to keep bones and teeth stronger and healthier), a greater level of fitness, less build-up of toxins, clearer skin, power over your own health, less weight gain and a greater ability keep the weight off, not being dependent on doctors for everything, less of a need for nutritional supplements, less dishes to do, no cooking to do, balancing of emotions, looking younger (anti-aging and greater beauty) healing for many chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure – as well as many types of cancers.
For More Information
Search google for more information about the “Hallelujah Diet” and about raw foods in general (you can see the website of the “Raw Family” at www.rawfamily.com. A great book to read which highlights the value of raw and natural food is “Spiritual Nutrition: The Rainbow Diet,” by Gabriel Cousens, M.D. Raw foods is part of the secret of the fountain of youth, because it keeps the body’s energy centers in balance. You may not want to go all the way, as that is a challenging journey, but including more raw fruits and vegetables is healthy and no one can deny that, and even the government is trying to urge people to eat more of them!
