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December 9, 2006   Table of Contents

One More Benefit of Practicing Gratitude: It Can Help You Stay Raw!

By Victoria Boutenko of RawFamily.com

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." - Cicero

When we adopt a raw food lifestyle, we may feel deprived of our habitual pleasures, especially when we watch others enjoying cooked delicacies that used to be our own favorites. Being hungry, angry, lonely, or depressed at that moment could add even more frustration to our feelings of misery. I would like to share with you a method that can help eliminate feelings of deprivation from your life forever.

We all have different perspectives on life. Some of us feel that life is becoming increasingly more frustrating, especially considering all the natural cataclysms and political challenges. At the same time, others view life as a totally beautiful and enjoyable experience. Initially, I thought that our opinions on the fairness of life depended on the level of our material wealth. Later, I met some poor people who were content with their lives and wealthy persons who were deeply upset about their lives. While watching many people caught in a material pursuit (including myself) I developed a strong interest in the true origins of people's contentment in life. I came to the conclusion that there are two opposite perspectives on life: the materialistic perspective and the grateful perspective.

The materialistic approach to life guarantees discontentment and frustration, as there is no objective limit to the acquisition of personal possessions. There is no constant measure that could be marked as “enough.” At the same time, only the very basic possessions that satisfy our essential needs such as food, clothes, and shelter, can bring us a sensible feeling of contentment. The majority of the items beyond the basic needs convey very little enjoyment to their possessor.

Contrary to this, gratefulness inevitably leads us to becoming aware of the unlimited wealth that life holds for every one of us. Grateful people tend to be happier, more optimistic, more satisfied with their lives, than their less grateful counterparts. Michael E. McCullough, a professor from Florida, provides experimental evidence that gratitude leads to improvements in psychological and even physical well-being. [1]

McCullough's groundbreaking research demonstrates that “people who place too much emphasis on materialistic pursuits - people for whom obtaining wealth and material possessions takes priority over meaningful relationships, community involvement, and spirituality - tend to be unhappy people. In general, they are dissatisfied with their lives, and tend to experience high levels of negative emotion. They are at risk for a variety of mental disorders. In contrast, grateful people - people who readily recognize the many ways in which their lives are enriched by the benevolent actions of others - tend to be extraordinarily happy. They experience high levels of positive emotion and are generally satisfied with their lives.” [2]

Being constantly exposed to a vast variety of advertisement and financial challenges, we may increase our materialistic perception of life. According to McCullough's research, gratefulness is such a powerful approach to life that it may reduce people's materialistic strivings. [3]

I invite you to apply this valuable information about the power of gratitude to any situation in your life. Below, I am presenting two different approaches to watching another person consuming a cooked delicacy.

The materialistic approach:

What is that heavenly smell? Oh no! It's pizza! Look at how they are enjoying it. How come I am not allowed to enjoy it? Am I a monk? They don't look as if they are going to die. Can it be true that I will never again in my entire life be able to partake of such a pleasant meal? Oh, how lucky these fellows are! I wish I could enjoy pizza now as they do! What torture, poor me. Oh that aroma... it brings tears to my eyes. So many of the sweetest memories come to mind, the best times. Now, they are over. E-eh.

The grateful approach:

That smell is oddly familiar. Wow, pizza. I had a lot of it in my life! More than one could dream of. Now it is time to take care of my health. Yeah, health is my priority now. All these people eating pizzas will be delighted to discover a healthy diet in their time. I am grateful that I am on a healthy diet already. I do feel a lot better. I am so glad that I will not have to be sick again. In only fifteen minutes I will be home. What do I have in my fridge? Those Hass avocados I bought yesterday should be perfectly ripe today. It will only take a couple of minutes to prepare guacamole with lemon, tomatoes, and jalapeno. Uh, my mouth is watering! I have fresh romaine lettuce, tomatoes and a giant organic mango that will be so yummy and nourishing. Oh, I am looking forward to my raw dinner that will leave me feeling light and wonderful. I greatly appreciate what the raw food diet is doing for my body and mind. How fortunate I am! What a blessing life is.

To develop a grateful attitude, we need to practice one simple activity— notice the positive sides of events in our lives. The very best way to do this is to keep a gratitude journal. Buy yourself a notebook and start writing three to five grateful notes daily. I think that we should be grateful not only for the positive but also the negative experiences. Often, it is the most painful events in our lives that shape the qualities in ourselves we value most.

Practicing gratitude can make your life on a raw food diet more enjoyable and will have a positive impact on your health, your mood, and your life in general.

[1] Emmons, A., McCullough, M. The Psychology of Gratitude. Oxford University Press, USA, 2004

[2] Polak, E., McCullough, M. Is Gratitude an Alternative to Materialism? Journal of Happiness Studies, 2006, DOI 10.1007/s10902-005-3649-5

[3] McCullough, M., Kilpatrick, S., Emmons, R., Larson, D. Is gratitude a moral affect? Psychological Bulletin, 2001, #127

- thanks to Victoria Boutenko, www.RawFamily.com.

Making Time to Exercise

So many of us are so busy that we feel there just isn't time to exercise every day. Tonight I thought to myself I'll just steal five minutes and work out on the back porch, just move, doing anything. Once I got out there I reluctantly started doing a couple of rounds of weights and sit-ups on the bench but the cold night air felt so good it made me want to do something aerobic and so I did a series of tai-kwan-do kicks and punches that I learned years ago and it felt great! I think I moved around for about half an hour and wanted to keep going!

They say that is a good way to start a lot of things. Just plan on doing it for five minutes. Getting going is the hardest part. But once you start, you sometimes find it is just easier to keep going!

Yours In Health,
Jinjee
http://www.TheGardenDiet.com

Really Raw Weight Loss

By Anne Kasper

Imagine you can eat anything you want. Imagine you can eat as much as you want and not gain an ounce in most cases. Imagine losing between 6 -25 lbs per week AND keeping if off! Imagine a diet of raw foods.

Some with digestive or glandular disorders will not lose weight as quickly or easily, but they will usually still loss unnecessary weight. And their bodies will strive to heal on raw, live foods as it begins to re-balance, repair and rejuvenate. When first start eating raw foods, most people will need time to cleanse, detoxify and rebuild their digestive system before noticing substantial weight loss.

Excess weight is not an isolated issue, but is part of your "whole being.” An imbalance in one part of the body effects your entire system. Weight is a “symptom” of what is going on with your elimination system, glandular system, emotions, sleep patterns, stress levels, liver, colon, skin, lungs, blood, spirit and “chi” or energy levels.

The enzymes found naturally in whole, live, raw foods help with obesity at the "whole being" level. Enzymes do much more in your body than help digest food. Enzymes are responsible for every single chemical reaction in every single cell of your body. All your minerals, herbs, vitamins and hormones cannot do their jobs without enzymes. Your can't lift an arm or think one thought without the help of enzymes. In fact, you could say that enzymes are, biologically speaking, the source of life. A diet without a source of live enzymes is removed from the source of life. All removed from their source of life slowly begin to die. For us, that leads to dis-ease, excessive weight gain, depression - many of the maladies that plague the modern world today.

One of the “magic bullets” for easy weight loss is simply the action of enzymes. For example, lipase, a fat splitting enzyme, is found abundantly in raw, live foods. However, few of us eat enough raw foods to get enough lipase to burn even a normal amount of fat, not to mention any excess. Lipase helps your body in digestion, fat distribution and fat burning for energy. Lipase breaks down and dissolves fat throughout the body. Without lipase, fat stagnates and accumulates. You can see it on your hips, thighs, buttocks and the stomach.

Protease is another enzyme for maintaining a healthy body. Protease helps break down proteins and eliminate toxins. Eliminating toxins is essential when you are burning fat. Your body stores excess toxins in body fat. As your body begins to burn this fat the toxins are released into your system. This can sometimes cause water retention and bloating. Protease attacks and eliminates toxins. It is critical to have plenty of protease during fat loss.

Common sense tells us that if you cannot get enough nutrition from the food you take in, which is what happens when you cook food, your body receives a signal that it needs to store fat to prevent starvation and will hold on to even more fat. It will also send a signal that you are hungry. This results in a vicious cycle of eating more and more and still feeling hungry. Combine the physical effects with the mental effects of poor digestion and insufficient enzymes with your natural reaction to all of this emotionally. You have dis-ease, mental, physical, emotional or spiritual and often, all four at once, because you are an integrated being.

If you eat close to 100% fresh raw, whole foods, then you obtain adequate nutrition and enough enzymes to digest your foods properly. If you eat cooked foods, you'll be eating “dead foods” that have NO enzymes. Your body then must scavenge enzymes for digestion from other metabolic processes in your body, wasting energy and resources. However, living food enzymes will over time restore energy and stamina and rebuild your healthy metabolism of all nutrients, including fats.

Today's modern lifestyle KILLS enzymes in more ways than just cooking food. Stress can damage enzymes. Food additives can kill them. Frequent air travel, work outs, coffee breaks, air pollution, food irradiation and poor sleep - all kill enzymes. No wonder we are enzyme deficient! Eating raw, live, enzyme-rich foods is more than just a weight loss or digestion issue - it affects your whole life, your whole being. When you eat living, raw foods you will begin your life of bliss.

But the fact remains: the easiest, fastest and most natural weight loss program that also nourishes your body is raw, living, whole food.

Anne Kaspar
Health and Wellness Consultant
O: 505.474.9699/ C: 505.690.0169
bodybybliss@aol.com
www.bodybybliss.com

Raw Food TV Shows

Here are the dates of the Raw Food TV show on Al Gore's new TV Network: http://www.current.tv/pods/cuisine/PD04852

Here is the link again if you want to view it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbT-pz40mUI

In The News

Raw Living Food Lifestyle-related news and events are published daily on our blog: http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/.

More Thoughts on Eating Meat

PETA video on turkey farming: http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=shirley_jones&c=weekly_enews.

Backslider's Corner

7 Ways to Think Positive and Raw

Reflect on the raw foods you love.
Avoid thinking about cooked foods.
Cultivate thankfulness for your health.
Remember to enjoy this moment.
Enjoy every bite of goodness.
Look forward to moving your body every day!
Notice that you are abundantly blessed.

In Joy,
Jinjee
http://www.TheGardenDiet.com

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"One kind word can warm three winter months." - Japanese proverb

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Backsliding but progressing is NOT about feeling guilty about slipping. Even if you weren't 100% raw this week, how much better are you feeling than when you were on the SAD?

Every essential nutrient is provided by the raw vegan diet when a good variety of foods are eaten.

"The wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings. Let food be your medicine." - Hippocrates

ADA Recommends Against Fluoridated Water for Baby Formula

In a little-noticed but dramatic turnaround, the nation's leading fluoride advocate, The American Dental Association (ADA), issued an alert on November 9th urging parents to avoid fluoridated water when reconstituting infant formula, warning that "Infants less than one year old may be getting more than the optimal amount of fluoride if their primary source of nutrition is powdered or liquid infant formula mixed with water containing fluoride."

Read more: http://www.ewg.org/newsletter/20061129-fluoride/.

WKRN Nashville video pieces on this subject: http://www.wkrn.com/search/node/fluoride.

- thanks to Barbara Havens

New Congress Scolds FDA for Not Protecting Public Health

Bureaucrats received a kick in the butt this week from Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), the newly elected chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Kennedy slammed the FDA for endangering public health by ignoring science and serving as a puppet for big business.

"The dedicated professionals at the FDA have been pressured to trim their scientific views to the prevailing political winds. These are symptoms of a serious illness, and we should act without delay to provide the cure," the senator said. Kennedy said the committee will hold a series of FDA oversight hearings in early 2007 to force the agency back on track. FDA advocates responded by saying the agency can only become scientifically credible if Congress increases the FDA's budget in order to supplant the millions of dollars it now receives from industry.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_3397.cfm

Events

The Regular Meetings and Events page is at RawLivingFoods.typepad.com/1/regular_meetings_and_events/index.html.

Raw Living Foods Home Study Program

"To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art." - La Rochefoucauld

The Home Study Program was developed from the teachings of Dr. Ann Wigmore at Creative Health Institute. I put this program together because, as Director of Creative Health, I talked to many, many people who either didn't have the time, or the money, to attend the two-week hands-on program in Michigan. I was going over the books this morning, and realized that we've shipped 20,000 videos in the last three years! That truly amazed me. I knew that there was a demand for this training, but I had no idea it would be so popular.

The Living Foods Lifestyle includes other components besides just raw foods. There is the "living" aspect of our foods, as well as internal cleansing, colon health, lymphatic system health, proper exercise, wheatgrass juice, energy soup, proper food combining, dehydrating, nutritional and dietary balance (lots of greens), and yummy food prep. All of this we teach at Creative Health Institute, and in the Home Study Program.

Surrounded, as we are, with increasing toxicity in our food and environment, eating a pure and healthy diet is more important than ever. More and more people are starting to see that, and I believe that's why the Raw and Living Foods Movement is growing so fast.

There's a lot more to being a raw fooder than eating fruits and veggies. Dietary variety, purity, balance, sprouting and personal detoxification are important, too. Now you can learn about the Raw Living Foods Lifestyle in the comfort and convenience of your own home. Learn how to detoxify your body, what to eat, why to eat it, and how to prepare yummy raw food meals that leave you feeling full and satisfied. The home study version of the Dr. Ann Wigmore Raw Living Foods Lifestyle includes over 50 hours of video instruction, and a comprehensive manual.

The Raw Living Foods Lifestyle has been taught by a series of visionaries in the past century. Dr. Ann Wigmore used it to cure herself of colon cancer in the 1950's, and then taught it for decades at Hippocrates Institute in Boston and Creative Health Institute in Michigan, where she taught others to heal themselves naturally.

If you can't get into a residential program, then the home study program is for you. There's so much material in the home study program - 15 lessons, 30+ videos, 350+ page handbook - that you'd have to spend at least a month at a place like Creative Health to learn as much.

The First Lesson is Free - Examine the program in your home for 30 days. Even if you don't elect to continue your subscription, the first lesson is still yours to keep.

SPECIAL BONUS

When you order the complete raw living foods lifestyle Home Study Program this week we'll also include over $100 worth of bonus materials:

Personal Raw Coaching: 30 minutes of free coaching and consultation (by telephone) with Hiawatha Cromer, "The Wise Woman of Raw Foods"
Bonus Book: "Green for Life," by Victoria Boutenko (read the Book Review)
Bonus Video: "Greens can Save Your Life," with Victoria Boutenko (2 Tapes or DVDs)
Bonus Video: "Dr. Ann Wigmore's Kitchen," with Dr. Ann and Dr. Flora van Orden III
Bonus Video: "Out of the Ordinary," with Robert Taylor, Steven Gibb and Dr. Jim Carey
Bonus Book: "Finding Health in Hodunk," by Thom Hartmann
Bonus Video: A surprise title.

For purchase information and more details, please visit chiDiet.com/lessons.htm.

What people are saying about the home study program: http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/1/feedback_home_study_program/index.html.

"The King who cannot rule his diet, will hardly rule his realm in peace and quiet." - Passage from the "Rule of Health of Salerno," author unknown.

USDA Approves Genetically Engineered Rice that Contaminated U.S. Food Supply; Safety Tests Skipped

Rather than penalize the company that slipped an illegal strain of genetically modified rice into the human food supply, the USDA has simply approved the grain for marketing.

Last week, the USDA "deregulated" the genetically engineered (GE) rice known as Liberty Link (LL) 601. The rice's DNA has been modified to help the plant resist herbicides: http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3917 and http://www.newstarget.com/021203.html.

Quick Facts About Genetically Modified Crops

• The biotech industry has officially celebrated the planting of the billionth acre of genetically engineered crops.
• 75% of the world's genetically engineered crops are grown in the U.S. and Argentina.
• More than 90% of world's genetically engineered seeds were developed and sold by the Monsanto Corporation (planted predominantly with Monsanto's genetically modified corn, cotton, soybean and canola seeds).
• Monsanto's GE seed sales alone brought the company over $4 billion last year. Outside of GE seeds, Monsanto's past and present product-line has included Agent Orange, DDT, PCBs, rBGH and aspartame.
• Notable historic quote: "Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job." - Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications. "Playing God in the Garden" New York Times Magazine, October 25, 1998.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

Grocer Takes Truth in Food Labeling to a Higher Level

Hannaford Brothers, a New England grocery chain, has developed a system called Guiding Stars that rates the nutritional value of the food and drinks at its stores.

Items can receive a rating from zero to three stars. Of the 27,000 products rated, 77 percent received no stars, including most processed foods - even those advertised as being healthy: The Ledger (Lakeland, FL).

Raw Living Food Recipes - Fasting and Building - a Two-Week Menu

- from Lesson 9, Food Preparation, of http://chidiet.com/lessons.htm.

Week One

Monday:
Breakfast:  Watermelon juice and mild green energy soup, or apple juice in the fall 
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch:   Mild green energy soup
Dinner:  Mild green energy soup

Tuesday:
Breakfast:  Watermelon juice and mild green energy soup, or apple juice in the fall
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch:  Mild green energy soup
Dinner:  Mild green energy soup

Wednesday:
Breakfast:  Watermelon juice and mild green energy soup, or apple juice in the fall
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch:  Mild green energy soup
Dinner:  Mild green energy soup

Thursday:
Breakfast:  Applesauce, apple pear sauce, or apple peach sauce
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch:  Sprout, lettuce, and wild edibles salad, with avocado dressing.  Green energy soup with more greens and avocado.

Friday:
Breakfast:  Watermelon, melon, or apple, pear, peach, berry smoothie
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch:  Sprout, lettuce, and wild edibles salad, with avocado dressing (tomatoes, cucumbers may now be used).  Green energy soup with wild edibles and avocado.
Dinner:  Sprout, lettuce, and wild edibles salad, with avocado dressing (tomatoes, cucumbers may now be used).  Green energy soup with wild edibles and avocado.

Saturday:
Breakfast:  Rye groat, or Oat groat meal with banana or apple.
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch: Nori rolls, and green energy soup.
Dinner:  Green energy soup with Sprout loaf (lentil, garbanzo, or pea) and sauce

Week Two

Sunday:
Breakfast: Smoothie, Watermelon, melon, or citrus
Noon: Green drink (optional)
2:30: Buffet (seed cheese)

Monday:
Breakfast:  Watermelon juice, or mild green energy soup
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch:  Mild green energy soup (no fat)
Dinner:  Mild green energy soup (no fat)

Tuesday:
Breakfast:  Melon, rye meal, oat meal, fruit smoothie, or citrus
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch:  Green salad with tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, and onions (oil based dressing),  tasty green energy soup.  Crackers!
Dinner:  Green salad, tasty soup, crackers, and seed cheese.

Wednesday:
Breakfast:  Fruit smoothie, melon, or cut fruit
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch:  Green salad, alligator eggs
Dinner:  Green salad, tasty green energy soup

Thursday:
Breakfast:  Smoothie, melon, or fruit
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch: Ice cream social
Dinner:  Green salad, tasty green energy soup, and seed cheese.

Friday:
Breakfast:  Smoothie, melon, or fruit
Noon:  Green drink (optional)
Lunch:  Tasty green energy soup

More Raw Living Foods Resources

For an organized, searchable resource on all sorts of Raw Living Foods Lifestyle information, including the newsletter articles sorted by subject, visit our new website at RawLivingFoods.typepad.com.

Back issues of the newsletter are available at http://chidiet.com/news/.

Why Suffer?: How I Overcame Illness & Pain Naturally, by Dr. Ann Wigmore, ND, is available for free via download (you'll have to supply the printer and paper, or read it on your computer): RawLivingFoods.typepad.com/books/whysuffer.pdf.

Live Interviews with Jim Carey Available Online - Free

On Wednesday, November 8th, I did an Internet radio interview/tele-seminar with Chris Brisson about the benefits of the raw living foods lifestyle. You can listen to the interview here: http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/1/2006/11/jim_carey_inter.html.

On November 1st I did an Internet radio interview/tele-seminar with Michael Snyder. You can listen to the show, or download it to CD, at: http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/1/2006/11/jim_carey_on_in.html.

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