Digest Number 1169

April 3, 2005

Thank you so much Valerie for sharing your story here - I got so much from

it reading about your journey and your life's process through to raw - I

wondered if I may send this to the friend I was telling you about who has

the arthritic psoriasis - there is nothing like reading someone's personal

experience i have found?

Love lynne

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Message: 2

Sat, 2 Apr 2005 17:27:33 -0800 (PST)

Valerie Mills Daly <valdaly

My story....long!

Hi, folks,

A few folks in a couple of groups I am in asked for more detailed info on my

history with raw foods, and so I share it here. It is lengthy, I apologize!

I'll be glad to clarify anything that seems unclear.

Peace, Valerie

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For the first forty years of my life, I was totally immersed in the standard

American diet, depending a lot on processed foods, and as time went on, the

fast food world as well. After the birth of my children in my mid-twenties,

my body weight gradually increased, but my overall health was okay, at least

to my way of thinking at that time. Sure, I would get colds and flu now and

then, and yes, I wasn’t as eager to run around in the park after my kids,

and yes, the stairs seemed to be more of a challenge, but overall I saw

myself as a fairly healthy person, even though the excess weight (at this

time 70 pounds over my lowest adult weight) did not please me.

Just before turning 40, I married my second husband, and his children were

attempting to be vegetarians, of the egg and dairy eating variety. As a way

of connecting with the kids, I began to investigate this way of life, and

decided it wouldn’t really be that hard to change. So, for the next five

years, we ate a mostly vegetarian diet, during which time I put on another

70 pounds. I also began to have problems with my health.

During this time, I also saw my husband dealing with several health issues

which included high blood pressure, Type II diabetes and gastric reflux. I

also witnessed the severe side effects of the various medications he began

to take to deal with these issues, and found myself wanting to avoid the

same kind of experience. However, as time went on, my health problems began

to multiply. I became asthmatic, which was very frightening. I also began to

have problems with gastric reflux and a hiatal hernia; for the first time I

had problems with blood pressure, and when I was 41 or 42, I was diagnosed

with sleep apnea, and had to start using a CPAP machine at night to control

my breathing. I had very little energy, began to have fairly regular anxiety

attacks, felt very low emotionally much of the time. I had perpetual head

congestion, and was continually having to clear my throat. I began to have

problems with my skin, increased dryness and brittle nails, and then

psoriasis began to

appear. I began to break out with hives fairly regularly, but could not

find out what was causing them. My hair began to thin very noticeably.

Then, about five years ago or so, I had a period of time when I had intense

itching all over my body, but especially in the extremities, combined with

intense swelling of my hands and feet. Then there was extreme joint pin in

my knees and ankles. This went on for about a year doctor could not diagnose

the problem, and sent me to a rheumatologist who suggested that I might have

something called psoriatic arthritis, and that I should try a certain

medication. I can’t remember what it was called, but I do remember that he

said that it would require monthly visits for blood work, since the

medication was highly toxic to the liver. So, I made a choice—I thought I

could better deal with the itching and swelling than I could deal without a

liver---so I just said, no thanks!

I began to seriously investigate the area of nutrition at this time, and

some friends encouraged me to consider going vegan, and dropping the dairy

and eggs that had continued to be part of my diet. I LOVED cheese, but I

hated what was happening to my body, so I tried it out. I ate mostly fruits,

veggies, grains, legumes, some raw and some cooked. I began to see some

improvement almost immediately; the psoriasis began to fade away, I was able

to use the CPAP less and less, and I began to lose some weight. I was

feeling pretty good about what was happening, and continued to research in

the area of vegan nutrition. That was good, but what was not good was that I

began to increase my use of vegan processed foods, and I began to think I

needed certain kinds of supplements. My cupboard began to fill with various

powders, pills, etc., all guaranteed to be good for me. I also began to

experience increased anxiety trying to find the ‘right way’ to become

healthy. I also gained another 20

pounds.

I then connected with some folks who were following a modified raw diet,

averaging about 85%(15% fruit, the rest veggies, seeds and nuts) raw and 15%

cooked; they used supplements, but minimally, and juicing was a large part

of the diet, as well as making mock cooked foods, often with the help of a

dehydrator. I was intrigued, and gave it a try; I bought a juicer, I bought

the dehydrator, I bought the books, I bought the special supplements. I

dropped processed foods entirely, drank a lot of juice, at a lot of salad,

and cooked food portions would often be potato based or brown rice, whole

grain pasta or bread. I began to see improvement again; the weight began to

come off, I had increased energy, I was able to get rid of the CPAP

completely, my gastric reflux disappeared. I still had problems with itching

but it had decreased. The problem I ran into with this way of life,

however, is that I began to have days of weakness and hunger, which I would

assuage with nuts and dried

fruits, or dense foods like hummus, other legumes, tahini, almond butter,

etc. And I found I was beginning to feel some of the old heaviness and

apathy that I remembered from my SAD days. I couldn’t understand it, because

I thought I was doing everything right. The other thing was, I was simply

tired of working so hard to make the right kind of food for me to eat,

especially since I was still cooking SAD food for my husband.

Then, I became familiar with the world of the 100% raw foodists; initially,

it was the writings of Victoria Boutenko and her family, Alissa Cohen and

Frederic Patenaude that initially opened the raw food door for me. Their

enthusiasm, their stories, their sincerity—all of this inspired me to at

least give it a try. So I bought books, milk bags, slicers, got myself

already to go….and ran into another wall. The more I read, the more confused

I got, because there were even more voices out there in the raw food world,

and it was hard to find folks who would agree constituents parts of the

optimal diet. And I was really afraid of not doing it “right.” I might get

sick, I might fall apart (funny how I didn’t worry about this so much when I

was eating Twinkies and Ding Dongs!). Again, anxiety was my friend!

Finally, through a friend, I became familiar with Dr. Doug Graham and his

work in the area of raw food and natural hygiene. At first, I thought, “This

is just way too extreme,” but the more I read, the more I was attracted by

the simplicity of and common sense in his information. (At least it seemed

like common sense to me!) It was hard to picture eating mostly fruit as

being good for me, and the whole 8/1/1 thing was pretty intimidating at

first (I am the almond butter Queen!), but I came to believe that it just

might work for me; while some other paths had helped, I had always seemed to

come back to some basic problem with all of them.

The other part of his program that made a huge difference in my thinking was

the other parts of hygiene; as Dr. Doug says, you can eat all the right

foods, but you are only as healthy as your weakest link—sleep, rest, water,

sunshine, movement, etc. I could see that I was looking at what I was eating

to heal me; and I was totally ignoring the other aspects of my health. I was

trying to function on five hours of sleep each night, no rest during the day

not enough water, very little exercise or activity, no time outdoors in

the sun at all (I didn’t want to get cancer...go figure). I had never come

across such a comprehensive program, and decided to give it a try.

Well, it has been several months now; I am slowly losing weight (about a

pound a week on average, I still have over a hundred pounds to lose, but I’m

not worried…it’s coming off). My skin has improved, I am more alert, no more

anxiety attacks, no more swelling and itching of my hands and feet. No more

gastric reflux at all, my mood is generally positive, no more joint or neck

pain, and my head congestion is minimal at best (I can sing again without

going into spasms of coughing, much to my relief).

I am trying to establish a more regular schedule of sleep, and I use my

lunch hour for rest, sitting in my car and listening to soft music for an

hour each day. I don’t juice as much, and while I sometimes have mono meals,

I still find myself depending on smoothies for a good portion of my food

intake. I am not 100% consistent, but I have come a lot closer to the 8/1/1

ideal for my intake, and it was easier than I thought. And it is definitely

easier to eat a pile of clementines for dinner than trying to make a raw

vegan version of the cooked food I am preparing for my husband! When we go

visiting, I just pack a couple of boxes of fruit, and eat that wherever we

go; most of my family and friends are used to this by now. If I go out for

dinner, I just call the restaurant ahead of time; if they can accommodate me

great; if not, I eat before we go out, and just go along for the company.

Things that I used to think would be hard about this way of life no longer

seem that way to me; I am so tired of being so limited, so sick, of having

to deal with so much pain, that I am no longer willing to compromise in the

name of ‘peace” with others; it is a false kind of peace that demands that I

do something that would ultimately hurt myself. I am going to turn 50 in

2005, and I hope to be even healthier and more energetic than I am now.

Every day seems to be better than the day before, and even the hard things I

find easier to handle. I would not go back for anything!

Better first dates. More second dates. Personals

April 3, 2005

That would be fine, Lynne, use it as you need it...

Peace, Valerie

Lynne <niklyn wrote: