The Superfood Debate: Part Three (Gina Responds)

In May I posted two blogs describing my concern about all this interest in superfoods. (See The Superfood Debate: Parts One and Two). In all fairness I offered my daughter Gina an opportunity to respond to my blogs and give an alternate perspective. The following is the first of three guest blogs that she has written.

A brief introduction of the defense…

At the young age of fourteen, my father decided it would be a good idea to expose me to John Robbin’s Video of “Diet for a New America”. For any of you who have ever read the book, or worse, seen the movie, you can imagine the horror I felt. I’ll never forget the nausea as I tore into a piece of steak later that weekend. That was that, for the last eighteen years the thought of eating an animal has completely revolted me.

For many years I ate a pastatarian diet, which also consisted of bagels, pizza and coffee. As I progressed through my college years I began to learn about “health food”. I ate tofu, whole wheat, stir-fry, soy substitutes, and veggie burgers. My now husband and I experimented quite a bit with a vegan diet, but really, we were far from healthy.

When my oldest daughter was born we knew that we couldn’t raise her on these foods. Through Ruth Yaron’s “Super Baby Food” and Cynthia Lair’s “Feeding the Whole Family” we began to learn the value of a whole foods diet. We switched to brown rice, steamed vegetables, beans, lentils and homemade bread. We felt much healthier than we had for the years we survived on a processed vegetarian diet. We were learning the flavors of real food and the art of food preparation.

Four years ago I started learning the amazing benefits of a raw food diet. I became serious about it when I learned I had a health issue that required medical attention. One month later that issue was almost completely resolved and I was feeling better than I ever had in my entire life. I feasted on many varieties of greens, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds. What an amazing summer! I was so full of energy and was at the top of my game.

Then came the fall. Living in New England, winter is when the weather gets colder and signals the time for heavier foods. Our bodies need warmth, grounding and the raw food was making my body cold, and a bit spacey. I transitioned to a cooked foods diet. I inevitably began again with wheat, cooked oils and dairy. These were substances that my body had already proven to me to be sub-optimal. I pushed through the winter, and in the spring we started the transition to a new level of health.

Each year the cycle was the same. Spring brought a new level of health, leading into an amazing living food summer. This was followed by a fall and winter that would leave much to be desired.

A raw foods diet is a detoxifying diet. It is an amazing tool that can do WONDERS for our health. The lightness, freedom and strength that accompanies living food is beyond anything that can be described. The speed in which this live food can heal dis-ease is astonishing.

Our bodies need to follow the seasons in their own right. They need a cycle of detoxifying, building and maintaining. Spring has an abundance of wild and cultivated greens and liver cleansing herbs. Summer brings its bounty of fruit, carrying vibrancy to every cell in our being. Fall is a time of rebuilding, grounding the lightness of summer for the hibernation of winter. In New England, we see this with our winter squash, roots, and autumn olives. They are crops that root us in the earth and supply us with our stores for the winter. Winter is a time for maintaining our connection to the earth and of feasting on stored grains and legumes.

The challenge that I face is that consuming starchy vegetables, legumes and grains on a daily basis keeps my body, mind and spirit feeling sluggish and puts my body in hibernation mode. Winter for me needs to be home-centered, nesting with my family. However, like many folks in this current paradigm, I cannot spend my winters following the rhythms of the sun. I am awake well after the last glimpse of sunlight and in the morning I wake while the stars are still bright in the sky. I am a mother of three wonderful and energetic children and need to be a bit on my toes during those winter months.

This winter I made new discoveries. I explored new passions. These connections made for winter months in which I felt a strength I had yet to experience. I stayed grounded and focused and accomplished more than I ever imagined.

And this leads into…

THE GREAT SUPERFOOD DEBATE!

The Superfood Debate: Part Two

Somewhere along the line, some brilliant marketing person (David Wolfe maybe), began calling supplements superfoods. And now the line is blurred. I would like to clarify the distinction and explain why I have no problem "eating" superfoods but do have a concern about "taking" supplements.

The honest way to label these products would be to call superfoods only those that are actually foods. Supplements would be something that has been altered, made into a more concentrated form, no longer in its natural state, and more potent. If you want to call goji berries a superfood I don't have a problem with that. It's a food and a very good one.

Products like Gold Rush Colloidal Gold, Marine Phytoplankton, Island Fire, are not foods at all, but more accurately labeled supplements. To call them superfoods is a marketing ploy. (And why do people who are involved in selling these superfoods called superhereos?)

So what? Who cares, supplements or superfoods, what's the big deal?

Manny Ramirez just got busted for taking a "performance enhancing drug." If he were a raw fooder people might have said he was just taking a superfood. Actually it was a supplement, human chorionic gonadotropin, used to jumpstart the body's ability to produce testosterone. Apparently Manny had been taking a steroid which produced more testosterone than the body would make by itself. When Manny stops taking the steroid no more testosterone because the body forgot how to make it on its own.

That is why I am opposed to taking supplements: they do something for you that your body should be doing on its own. When we eat or drink things that are not foods our body changes. We become dependent on them. Eating our natural foods, our body functions as it is designed to do. We build strong immune systems and live with ease. When we take into our bodies unnnaturally occuring substances, even good things that have been concentrated or significantly altered, we risk screwing up our perfectly created body. Why risk it?

Your body works very hard to get rid of foreign substances, even when they are good. That is just how we are made. If it can't get rid of it, the body will adjust, and that is how addictions are formed. I do not want to be dependent on any man manipulated product, even if it is called a superfood, even if it does give me more energy (so does cafine, cocaine, and nicotine).

If these supplements that are being sold as superfoods are so good, why do they have to be sold through a multi-level marketing system? Historically, multi-level marketing (or fractal marketing as they are calling it with these superfoods) has been used to sell products of questionable value. Selling products with this method is more about earning an income and less about the true value of the item being sold. I am not saying that people who sell these products are intentionally ripping people off. I just think that their thinking is clouded by the potential to make some money on what would be a wonderful thing if it worked.

There is no short cut, no magic bullet, to good health. Ultimately, we have to eat good food, and stop eating the bad. It seems to me that the most ethical and loving way to eat would be a diet that is simple, inexpensive (one that everyone in the world could afford), leaves a small footprint, and is tasty too. I don't think the universe would support a diet that only the well off could consume.

If we eat whole fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, we will be getting nutrients in the form that our body was made to utilize and keep us healty. Why screw around with it? Why take the chance that we may be messing with the system? And why waste your money doing it? Rather than getting all worked up about supplements I would rather have help eliminating the junk food in my diet. Now that would make me a lot healthier!

The Superfood Debate: Part One

The raw food movement isn't only about raw food any more. Yes, we do talk about raw foods and recipes and cooked foods, but the passion has moved somewhere else. It seems like there is more talk these days about superfoods, supplements, elixirs, and teas than smoothies, salads, nuts, and flaxseed crackers. What happened?

I got into raw food after seeing what it did for my daughter and son-in-law. The change in diet immediately made a profound impact on my health. I lost weight and my blood pressure became normal without medication. I started sleeping much better. I felt and looked better, much better. However, as it turns out, raw food isn't enough. And this is where the raging debate lies between my daughter and I.

"But Dad, after a while on raw foods you hit a plateau. That is why we need something more," my daughter told me. She's my guru and worse, she's as stubborn as her thickheaded father. "We need superfoods," she instructed me.

Hum. Ordinarily I would go along with her. I certainly don't want to cause any friction. I really like having good relationships with my three children. So I am going to tread lightly here. And this is the thing: I've been down this path before.

In my twenties I did yogurt because the Hunzas did and they lived to be 120. In my thirties I did juicing because the juiceman cured his cancer that way. In my forties I did tons of vitamins and mineral supplements because I met a man who was in his nineties and super healthy. Along the way I've invested in water purifiers, grown mushrooms, taken up yoga, learned to meditate, jogged the distance around the world at least once, and I'm sure a bunch of other things I've tried and forgotten.

And you know what, sooner or later they all end in a plateau and we come back to one thing: we all still get sick, we all get older, and eventually we all die. So when I consider superfoods and such I have to look back on all the other things I've tried over the years and say: "I'll pass on this one."

Ultimately I'm passing because I don't see anyone in the raw food movement living to be older than my parents and my parents eat more unhealthy food than a manager of Burger King. I just have not met any raw fooders who are exempliars of health. At least not here in America.

The people who are living long lives, well past one-hundred, now they are the ones I want to model my diet and life on. They don't take supplements, they don't eat processed superfoods. The eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. The get a lot of exercise. And they live useful lives. That is what I am trying to do. There is the only proof that I have seen that raw food and a mostly vegan diet make a difference.

There is a lot of talk about superfoods, I want to see results. And not just that they give you a lot of energy. Coffee does that for half the country. If anything, getting a lot of energy may be an indication of an amphetimine type substance. I want balance and strength and flexibility and endurance. The only diet that has proven to work there is the simple diet of the Hunza, the Abkhasia, and the Vilcabamba.

More about this in future posts.

David Wolfe, Superfoods, and the Best Day Ever

The following is a chapter from the book I am writing on raw foods.

“Life is generous to those who pursue their destiny.”

David Wolfe

David Wolfe may very well be the most important figure in the raw food movement. He is the rock star (drummer in the Healing Waters Band), the super food king (Sunfood Nutrition), and the creator of the Sunfood Diet Success System. David Wolfe is the best day ever on steroids. You have to like a guy who has made chocolate into a health food.

For all the hype (he claims to be the world’s leading voice on raw nutrition), the groupies (Goji Girl, etc.), the nickname (Avocado), the unusual hairstyle, the relentless promotion of products (the world’s largest distributor of anything to do with raw food), Wolfe is probably the best overall resource and inspiration when it comes to raw foods. His book The Sunfood Diet Success System is one of the most comprehensive books on raw food available. He not only covers most aspects of becoming a raw foodist, but he offers plenty of motivational material and ideas.

Wolfe gives nearly a hundred lectures a year along with raw adventure retreats throughout the world. His goal, in his own words, is “to become the greatest promoter of The Raw Food Diet in the history of the world.” He maintains at least three different web sites to do this. To his credit he seems to draw from many different raw food authorities and teachers.

While not being a Natural Hygienist, his diet tends to conform closely to its precepts. According to Wolfe in an interview on the Living and Raw Foods web site his diet is made up of 80 percent fruit, 15 percent vegetables, and 5 percent nuts. He promotes a modified fruitarian diet and the more wild food the better. He also believes in just going raw cold turkey. Wolfe quotes Stephen Arlin, “You crave whatever is in your bloodstream.” Better to get cooked food out sooner rather than later. This is easier than becoming raw slowly.

Chocolate

You cannot talk about David Wolfe without first talking about chocolate, or what the Aztecs called cachooatl and the Spaniards called cacao. Cacao is the bean that chocolate is made from. But it isn’t chocolate itself that raw foodists are interested in; it is the cacao bean and its amazing health properties.

The cacao nut was so important in ancient Central America it was used as money. Workers were paid in cacao. Cacao was used as standard currency in Mexico until 1887.

Magnesium is the main reason for eating cacao. According to Wolfe magnesium is the most deficient dietary mineral in America. Cacao is the major source of magnesium in nature. Magnesium is necessary for strong heart muscle, a healthy brain, muscle relaxation, bone formation, and good bowel movements.

The cacao bean is one of the best sources of antioxidants, far superior to blueberries. It also contains tryptophan in large quantities. Tryptophan is necessary for the body to produce serotonin, which is a wonderful mood enhancer. Wolfe calls cacao nature’s Prozac.

For much more on cacao, it’s benefits, uses, and recipes, I recommend reading Naked Chocolate by Wolfe and Shazzie (no last name given).

Superfoods

Cacao is a superfood, but not the only one that Wolfe considers important to human health. Others include fresh water algae (spirulina and blue-green algae), sea vegetables (kelp), maca, goji berries, aloe vera, bee products, hemp seed, and Incan berries.

Superfoods are special because they contain high concentrations of vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, enzymes, and proteins. According to Wolfe they make it easier to detoxify, maintain ideal weight, and transition to a raw food diet. They eliminate the need for food supplements. In a sense, they are food supplements.

Fresh water algae (Spirulina and Blue-Green Algae from Klamath Lake) is a concentrated source of chlorophyll, protein, antioxidants, and omega 3 fatty acids. Algae may be the most nutrient dense food in the world. The soft cell walls make it easily absorbed and utilized by the body. Algae is also a source of B12. In one form or another, algae should be a daily addition to every diet.

Sea vegetables are basically seaweeds used as vegetables. They are neither plant nor animal and are another form of algae. Some sea vegetables are kelp, dulse, sea lettuce, nori, and wakame. Sea Vegetables are the foundation of the food chain and probably led to the formation of the first invertebrates.

The essential elements and trace minerals found in sea vegetables are important to our endocrine system and the regulation of the body’s metabolism. Sea vegetables help cleanse the intestinal tract and lymph system, stabilize blood sugar levels, purify and alkalize the blood, and inhibit cancer cell growth. They also promote healthy thyroid functioning, reduce cardiovascular problems, and have been shown to be anti-inflammatory. Powdered sea vegetables can be used replace table salt and are excellent sprinkled on salads.

Maca is a superfood that is found high in the Andes of Peru. It is a root vegetable and considered to have medicinal qualities. Maca is similar to a radish or turnip. Consumption of the maca root powder is shown to strengthen the immune system, increase energy, endurance and libido. In mice tests have shown that it reduces enlarged prostates.

The major benefits of maca are reduced risk of prostate cancer, increased stamina, improved memory, relieves stress and depression. Maca is touted as an alternative to Viagra. It also improves fertility.

Goji berries, known as wolfberry in America, are touted by David Wolfe as possibly the most nutritionally dense food on the planet. (I think he says this about a lot of fruits and vegetables.) In the Chinese system of herbal medicine Goji berries rank number one out of more than eight thousand. They have been used for healing for over two thousand years.

The goji berry is a complete source of protein, containing all eight essential amino acids. Goji berries have twice the amount of antioxidants as blueberries. According to Wolfe, goji berries are the only food known to stimulate of human growth hormone. This makes the berry “the world’s greatest anti-aging superfood.”

The Food Triangle

David Wolfe teaches that the secret to succeeding on a raw food diet and achieving high levels of health is a balance between three essential classes of food. Those classes make up the raw food triangle. Through his experiences of meeting hundreds of raw foodists and studying what works and what doesn’t he discovered a pattern.

The three essential foods are green-leafy vegetables, sweet fruits, and fatty foods. The three provide chlorophyll, sugars, and fats. Lacking any of these foods results in nutritional imbalance. In Wolfe’s travels, all successful raw foodists followed this pattern. People lacking one of these food groups always ran into trouble.

In most cases Wolfe calls for the three foods to be eaten in equal quantities. And for the best results all three food classes should be eaten every day. David personally suggests having sweet fruits as the main meal in the morning, green-leafy vegetables at lunch, and fats in the evening.

Green-leafy vegetables provide chlorophyll; chlorophyll is the blood of plants. Just like the old Popeye cartoons we get our strength from spinach (and lettuce and kale and parsley and dandelion greens and…). We get calcium, iron, magnesium, and other minerals. Greens help detoxify the liver. They alkalize our body chemistry, balancing acid-forming minerals found in nuts, seeds, avocados, and animal products.

Sugar comes to us through sweet fruits. Sugar is the fuel that runs our bodies and brains. We need fruit for energy. However, too much fruit can overstimulate the endocrine system and acidify the blood. Therefore, fruit needs to be balanced with green-leafy vegetables and fats. (This is something the natural hygiene people would disagree with.)

Wolfe warns us to avoid refined sugar, which should not come as a surprise, but he also points out that hybrid fruits (seedless) should be avoided. Seedless bananas, watermelon, grapes, oranges, etc. contain sugar that can act like processed sugar. A diet high in these fruits can lead to constipation, dehydration, and a slightly diabetic situation. This is avoided with lots of dark green-leafy vegetables and exercise.

Natural raw fats are the third part of Wolfe’s health equation. Raw plant foods such as avocados, durians, young coconuts, nuts, seeds, and oils provide essential fatty acids needed lubricate mucus linings and the body joints. They also are critical for skin and hair beauty. These plant foods also contain omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids.

One benefit of having fat with fruits, or fatty fruits like avocado, is that the fat slows the release of sugar into the digestive track. This makes for a longer release time and more energy over a longer time.

Plant fats contain no cholesterol. Raw plant fats help the body access and absorb the minerals in green-leafy vegetables. They will not cause excess weight gain as cooked fats do. Plant fats insulate the nerves and counteract against environmental pollution.

Here is something that those of us new to the raw vegan diet need to understand: when you are feeling hungry and feel the need for heavy protein food, that is not what your body is asking for. At times like those it is not protein that your body wants, it’s fat. Wolfe states that plant fats are an excellent bridge from cooked foods to a raw food diet. And if you are going to be eating nuts and seeds it is best to soak them first. This removes their enzyme inhibitors, their coverings that prevent them from sprouting.

(While Wolfe recommends a diet of one third fruits, one third green-leafy vegetables, and one third fats in his book The Sunfood Diet Success System, in a recent interview he stated that his diet consists of eighty percent fruits, fifteen percent greens, and five percent fats. Go figure.)

Superfood Smoothie

The cornerstone to David Wolfe’s raw food diet, in his own personal life, is a superfood smoothie. In a number of videos and interviews he discusses his daily smoothie and how he makes it.

The following recipe is taken from an interview demonstration Wolfe gave on the Internet television show Healthy Living shown on Supreme Master Television. The smoothie begins with a base of coconut water taken from a young Thai coconut. As an alternative you could use spring water, tea, or even coffee. Along with the water of the coconut Wolfe adds the meat to the drink also.

Next comes cacao. The cacao bean is what chocolate is made from. Wolfe uses about a tablespoon of the cacao nibs, a half-tablespoon of the powder, and a half-tablespoon of the cacao butter.

Following the base of water and cacao Wolfe includes two cups of frozen berries, strawberries, raspberries and or wild blueberries. He suggests that including foods of the full spectrum of color is best because that provides all of the possible anti-oxidants. In addition to the frozen fruit acai and goji berries are used.

Wolfe then puts in a handful of cashews for fat and flavor along with superfoods maca, hemp seeds, and spirulina. And that is it—David Wolfe’s superfood smoothie. David usually has this as a late morning breakfast. He usually has a large salad at 7 pm for his other meal of the day and snacks on fruits, nuts and seeds, and juices in between.

The Best of David Wolfe

Chocolate. Superfoods. Passion. Chocolate added to a superfood smoothie is heaven. When I began adding raw cacao powder to my afternoon smoothie I simply began looking forward to them as if I were having a real milk shake treat, not a substitute. While I don’t want to overdo it with cacao, the addition of cacao to my smoothies and the raw ice cream that I make with durian (another fruit introduced to me by Wolfe) has made eating so much more enjoyable.

The addition of superfoods to my smoothies is another part of my diet that David Wolfe has changed. In the past I took supplements in the form of pills. Now I take them in the form of superfoods. A little spirulina, maca, dulse in addition to lots of green-leafy vegetables and I feel that I’ve cover all my bases.

Finally, I can’t talk about David Wolfe without talking about passion for raw food. Listening or watching him is inspiring to the point of making one get up and doing something. If raw food can make David so energetic, why can’t it do the same for me? I’ve sat through one of his four-hour lectures and he just does not want to stop. He is doing something right.