Interview
of David Wolfe, co-author of
Nature's First Law: The Raw Food Diet
by Bob Avery
Q: Who is David Wolfe? How old are you? How were you educated
and what do you do for a living?
A: I am co-author of the controversial new book Nature's
First Law: The Raw-Food Diet. I have also recorded an audio cassette series entitled
"The Systemless System Of Success." I have been around the Sun 27 times! I have
degrees in Mechanical and Environmental Engineering and Political Science. I have studied
at many different institutions including Oxford University. I concluded my formal
education with a law degree from the University of San Diego. I am co-founder of Nature's
First Law, a raw-food organization based in San Diego which hosts events and distributes
an enormous selection of Raw-Food Diet books, videos, and audio tapes world-wide. I
co-founded the group three years ago with my partners Stephen Arlin and RC Dini. Our goal
is to bring The Raw-Food Diet to a mass audience. We are currently engaged in a massive
multi-media campaign to bring this message to the world. We can be reached in the United
States at 1-800-205-2350. I host seminars around the country and my goal is to become the
greatest promoter of The Raw Food Diet in the history of the world.
Q: Do you eat 100% raw foods?
A: I've been eating 100% raw plant foods exclusively for
about 3 years now. There is a magic to 100% raw which is indescribable. Everything keeps
getting better; my life has improved in every way and in every direction many times over.
Raw food is FUN! Cooked food is dead, lifeless, and boring. No amount of cooked food is
ever benign. Nietzsche said, "God is dead." We say, "Cooked food is
poison!"
Q: What inspired you to become a raw-foodist?
A: A 100% Raw-Food Diet is the greatest secret in the world
today. What we eat deeply and radically affects the way we think, feel, and behave. It
radically affects the entire life process of planet Earth. 90% of the Earth's abundance is
being burned up in the kitchen fire. Ann Wigmore did a study which demonstrated that 83%
of the food's nutritional value is lost in the process of cooking. That means that 83% of
the TIME, LABOR, and RESOURCES which went into creating that food are also destroyed by
cooking. This idea affects everything! It affects all agriculture, all politics, all
business, all economics, all over the world! The global impact of humanity's eating habits
prompted me to dedicate myself to this message of physical and planetary rejuvenation. A
100% raw plant food diet IS the greatest discovery in the history of the world. It is THE
path which will lead humanity out of the present chaos into a bountiful future.
I have always been health conscious, being the son of two
medical doctors. I saw ill people my whole life and naturally wanted to avoid going down
the same path. So, I stopped taking medicine at 10 years old against my parents' wishes,
and stopped dairy products at 19. Then I gradually cut out the dead animal muscle (meat)
and was a vegan for a time, until exposed to the raw-food idea by reading Bircher-Benner's
Nutritional Diseases which we had in my home. After which, I became a raw-foodist
overnight.
Q: What is your current height and weight? What changes have
you noticed, both subjectively and objectively, pro and con, since before you went raw?
Can you give us any data on personal biomarkers, like pulse rate, body temperature, vital
lung capacity, various blood parameters pre- and post-raw?
A: I am 6 feet tall, 155 pounds. The changes I've noticed are
so intriguing, it is tough to put into words! The only way I can describe it is that a
100% raw plant food diet liberates your natural self, mentally, emotional, spiritually,
AND physically. I don't look anything like I used to. I definitely understand now how
cooked food blocks natural beauty and hinders the true manifestation of what we can be. I
can't say there are any cons to what I have experienced. In terms of biomarkers: I've
always had low blood pressure which hasn't changed from before raw to after raw. My body
temperature is about 1.8 degrees lower than it used to be! My vital lung capacity has
increased dramatically. I really agree with Joe Alexander when he mentions in his book
Blatant Raw-Foodist Propaganda that the lungs and digestive organs work in a tandem sort
of way. When one is overburdened the other is not able to function properly. I have been
doing at least 30 deep breaths every day for about 6 years now and I discovered one day
after doing 100% raw-food for a few years, that I was suddenly a diaphragm breather--I had
such a tough time with chest breathing and the problem just one day disappeared. I went to
have my blood viewed under a microscope/television setup a few months ago, and the guy
could not get a sample of blood to drip from my finger.
Q: Do your parents approve of what you are doing? Have you
been able to get through to them about the importance of raw foods? Has your example worn
off on them at all?
A: They've seen the transformation I have gone through over
the past 3-4 years and are now getting the picture. My dad had a heart attack and a stroke
a year ago and after coming out of that bought 30 fruit trees which he planted in his
yard. So things are definitely changing in the right direction.
Q: How did you arrive at your philosophical selection of the
raw-vegan diet as optimal for mankind?
A: The structure and function of humanity's teeth, digestive
canal, sense organs, nourishment for the young, children's development, sexual desire,
mental set, emotional feelings, as well as the cause and cure of disease and unhappiness
all demonstrate that humans are biologically frugivorous (an eater of fruits and
vegetables) and are neither carnivorous, herbivorous, nor omnivorous.
It is just simple common sense.
Q: Archeological research indicates that man has been a
hunter for perhaps hundreds of thousands of years. Why shouldn't raw animal foods play a
role in a raw food diet?
A: It is a well-known fact of biology that environmental
toxins accumulate in animals, especially in animal fats. All the toxins being poured into
the atmosphere end up being collected in the tissues of animals. Eating those animals,
whether they be insect, fish, or mammal will also give you a strong dose of toxins. John
Robbins mentioned in Diet For A New America that dead animal muscle (meat) contains ten
times the pesticide level an equivalent weight of commercial plant food would contain;
dairy products contain four times as much.
Additionally, raw dead flesh is loaded with worms and
parasites; even someone who eats McDonald's three times a day knows that!
Eating raw animal foods is not only unnatural, but also quite
dangerous in the present world we live in.
Omnivorous feeding patterns discovered in the genus Homo (by
nescient researchers in archeological digs) before the discovery of fire in scattered
places throughout the world dating back from the 100,000's to millions of years do not
signify anything of significance except for the fact that some humans were living in
contravention to their natural design, perhaps due to terrestrial disasters, confusion, or
unknowable factors. Also, there is no evidence that we modern humans are directly
descended from any such Homo progenitors.
Q: No evidence? The M2M's founder, Ward Nicholson, summarized
the known widely accepted scientific archeological evidence in favor of such a
genealogical linkage in his very well researched and massively footnoted 3-part interview
in Chet Day's natural hygiene newsletter Health & Beyond.
The most recent study I've seen on the subject analyzed the
DNA of chimpanzees, Neanderthals, and modern humans. The study found (and because this is
off the top of my head, the numbers could be slightly off here) 56 differences between
chimps and modern humans along a certain segment of DNA, 27 differences between
Neanderthals and modern humans, and 8 differences among all modern humans.
The researchers suggested that such a great variation
indicated that Neanderthals were a different species and that modern humans are not
descended from Neanderthals. And don't share a genetic development into modem humans.
This is just one example of a lack of genealogical linkages
between other Homo species (Neanderthal, Erectus, Habilis, Archaic Sapiens, etc.) and
modern humans. There are many more.
I would like to point out the evidence which demonstrates
modern Homo Sapiens have been around for millions of years and did not appear 100,000 to
200,000 years ago as Ward and many evolutionary scientists are suggesting.
Professor of Geology, Gene Ragazoni discovered in
Castenedolo, Italy in 1860 and 1880 the remains of at least four anatomically modern human
skeletons in undisturbed Miocene strata. Such formations date back at least 2 million
years.
In Buenos Aires, in 1896, below a hardened limestone layer of
tasca 35 feet down, dock workers unearthed the crown of an anatomically modern human. The
rock formations dated back 1.5 to 2.5 million years ago.
In Trenton, New Jersey, researchers unearthed an anatomically
modern Homo Sapiens femur dating back 107,000 years ago.
When the gold rush began in California in the 1860's, miners
unearthed inexplicable artifacts. "Inexplicable" because they were so old! In
1877, John H. Neal entered the Montezuma mine shaft in Table mountain in California. He
discovered at the leading end of a mine shaft a mortar and pestle layered in the late
Miocene formations of gold-bearing gravels. This would indicate the objects could be seven
to nine million years old. Miners made similar discoveries at dozens of nearby locations,
including Kincaid Flat, Goldspring Gulch, Oregon Bar (in Placer County). These findings
were all reported by J.D. White, the State Geologist of California.
Ward's scientific evidence is simply "research"--he
has researched other people's theories, concepts, and ideas. I would highly recommend that
he and others read Joel Barker's famous book The Business of Paradigms. Barker
demonstrates how preconceived ideas can literally blind us to evidence staring us right in
the face. I tell my audiences, "They don't believe what they see, rather they see
what they already believe!" We may well remember that the Theory of Evolution was
formulated before archaeologists began digging into the Earth--thus, the idea of what they
should find was already firmly embedded in their minds. It is in this way that much
evidence in contravention to the Theory of Evolution has been passed over or ignored by
many scientists (but not all!) because it doesn't fit the paradigm!
Q: What is your general opinion of raw animal food
consumption and instinctive eating in particular?
A: The raw animal eating fad is the result of people trying
to go raw the easy way (the new magic pill). Eating raw animal food instead of cooked food
is just replacing one toxic substance for another. If people want to eat animals, they
should do it in exactly the same fashion as every other carnivore/omnivore on the
planet--freshly killed and raw--if they can. Humans can't and are averse to it by
intuitive nature.
Q: But don't all primates eat insects, including all of homo
sapiens' progenitors? They are even eaten to this day in many human societies.
A: Many primates eat their own feces too. Soon. We'll have
people claiming we need to eat our own feces to be healthy! The fact that we are naturally
averse to eating bugs speaks strongly. We have a natural biological design for certain
types of foods (raw fruits and vegetables). If we want to actualize our true potential we
need to obey that design--this is Nature's First Law.
I believe very strongly in the dictum "Water seeks its
own level.²
Oral fixation is the primary problem facing humanity. People
cannot or don't want to control what they are putting into their mouths. Raw animal eating
is another manifestation of oral fixation. We are currently publishing a book entitled
"Primal Mothering In A Modern World" by Hygeia Halfmoon. In the book, Hygeia
makes the incredible observation that it is a lack of breast-feeding which is the primary
cause of oral fixation later in life!! I believe cooked-food addiction also plays a major
role as well.
To overcome oral fixation, one must realize that food is not
an end in itself: but a means to an end!!
Q: How do you respond to the charge that the vegan diet is
unnatural because there do not exist, nor, it appears, did there ever exist, any
predominantly vegan societies?
A: That is an assumption based upon inaccurate data. My mom
is from Persia, and in that country they have vegan communities dating back thousands of
years. They also have raw-vegan communities with similar traditions. In fact, Farsi (the
Persian language) is the only language with a specific word for a rawvegan and every
Persian knows what it means! The word is: "Khom Gia Khori."
Q: Hmm, almost looks like three words to one who speaks no
Persian. Ward Nicholson and others have determined that flesh-eating is much more common
than not throughout man's history and that the proportions in the diet were not
insignificant. Doesn't this indicate that we have adapted to such foods? How can this
evidence be so easily dismissed?
A: Ward Nicholson has been sold--fruit, stem, and root--on
the Theory of Evolution. He has made the enormous assumption (as have many other
scientists of this age) that species gradually evolve and adapt, which is not at all
supported in the fossil record nor in the experimental laboratory.
Q: Don't you believe in the Theory of Evolution?
A: No. The most obvious refutation of the Theory of Evolution
is paleontology itself. Simple probability indicates that fossil records can only be test
samples. Each sample, then, should represent a different stage of evolution/adaptation,
and there ought to be "transition" types, not particularly of one species or
another. Instead, what we find, in the actual fossil record, are genus forms that have not
developed themselves on the fitness principle, but appear suddenly and at once in their
definite shape; that do not thereafter evolve towards better adaptation, but become rarer
or finally disappear, while quite different forms arise again.
The species that we know today are all stable, and no case
has ever been observed of a species "adapting" itself to change its anatomy or
physiology, which "adaptation" then resulted in more fitness" for the
"struggle for existence," and was passed on by heredity, with the result of a
new species.
Darwinians cannot get over these facts by bringing in great
spaces of time (concepts like "millions of years"), for no one has ever
discovered any transition types for any organism--only distinct species exist. Nor are the
extinct fossil plants and animals any simpler than present forms, although we are told the
course of evolution was from simple to complex life-forms. This is crude
anthropomorphism--humans are complex, other animals are simple, and they must be tending
towards more human-like form and "intelligence," since humans are
"higher" biologically.
If the Theory of Evolution were correct, species ought to be
fluid at the present time. They should be "adapting" and turning into one
another. There should actually be no species, but only a surging mass of individuals,
engaged in a race towards complexity," "humanity," and
"intelligence." This, of course, is not the case. The "struggle" is
quite inconclusive. The lower forms, simpler--less fit?--have not died out, have not
yielded to the principle of Darwinian evolution. They remain in the same form they have
had for eons. Why do they never "evolve" into something "higher?"
The utilitarian aspect of the Theory of Evolution is also
quite subjective. A species without hands has no need of hands. A hand that slowly evolved
would be a positive disadvantage over the "millions of years" necessary to
perfect the hand. Furthermore, how did this process start? For an organ to be utile, it
must be ready; while it is being prepared it is not utile. But if it is not utile, it is
not Darwinian, for Darwinism says evolution is utilitarian.
A species appears suddenly, both in fossil-finds, and in the
experimental laboratory. Sudden or quantum mutation is a legitimate description of the
process, if the idea is free from any mechanical-utility causes, for these latter are only
imagined, whereas quantum mutations are a fact.
Origins are forever hidden from us. How we got here or and
how Life began is an impenetrable mystery. To concoct outlandish theories saying
"this is how we got here" and "this is how we lived in the past" based
on 1,000 pieces of a puzzle containing 6 million pieces seems to me to be very naive.
Q: Do you have any peer-reviewed literature on this subject
we can sink our teeth into?
A: Initially, I would recommend the book Darwin On Trial by
Berkeley law professor Phillip Johnson. Professor Richard Thompson's work, also is very
informative. Hugo de Vries' Mutation Theory is another good one.
Q: Are you against science?
The whole field of Darwinism/Evolution is a product of
scientific materialism. Scientific materialism has a false assumption at its basis. This
assumption is that Life is formed by the outer environment. This generated the sociology
of "environment" as determining the character of living beings. And yet, in a
purely factual sense, what is Life? Life is the actualization of potential. Potential is
actualized in the midst of the outer environment. The environment does not determine the
inner potential--it can only help or hinder its expression. Also, the inner potential can
actually determine and alter the outer environment!
We are interested in a way to manifest our full potential.
And this can be done by obeying the Laws of Nature!! This automatically begins to shape
the outer environment to fit the expression of the inner potential.
In my seminars I teach the basic tenet of all success
information: In order for your life to change...YOU have to change!
The principle I am describing here is very simple. Life
change comes from the inside out. Once you change on the inside, everything changes on the
outside.
The Laws of Nature are there and they stay there. Human
progress through knowledge has been solely and exclusively a chiselling away at the
distinctions which define the Laws of Nature. The greatest insights in history have been
by those who revealed a new distinction about Nature (which was actually there all along)!
Q: Have any of these works or findings you cite appeared in
peer-reviewed scientific publications?
A: Great question. Of course there is a massive body of
evidence to support what I am saying and it appears in peer-reviewed literature. The
premier scientific journals Nature and Science and the somewhat more popular Scientific
American and England's New Scientist carry articles about the precariousness of dating
fossils, the fact that the fossil record runs contrary to the theory of evolution, the
lack of transitional forms, and other articles on related topics I have touched upon. The
story of the controversy at the British Natural History Museum on this subject found in
editorial and correspondence sections of Nature from 1980 to 1982 is very instructive as
to the confusion present in scientific evolutionary circles when confronted with the
evidence.
The best analysis of scientific data gathered on the fallacy
of the theory of evolution is found in Michael Denton's fantastic book entitled Evolution:
A Theory In Crisis.
Another great scientific book completely refuting evolution
is Dr. Duane Gish's Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No!, which blows apart Gould's
"punctuated equilibrium" theory and other attempts to save Darwinism from the
fossil facts.
Both of these books and Johnson's Darwin On Trial can be
ordered directly from the Institute for Creationist Research (which is far more objective
than any Evolutionist Research Facility I've encountered) in my hometown of San Diego.
Call them at 619-448-0900. I highly recommend these books to anyone who believes the
theory of evolution is a fact.
I would like to add here I don't believe the Earth was
created 10,000 years ago. The past history of the Earth is profoundly and deeply
mysterious and not one in ten thousand of its secrets has been revealed.
This information about the fallacy of evolution is
liberating, for it opens up a whole spectrum of speculation and potential!
Q: Your enthusiasm is infectious! What kind of diet,
specifically, do you promote?
A: I promote a modified fruitarian diet of 100% raw plant
foods. Fruit is the staple food of humankind. In addition to that we have green-leafy
vegetables and herbs as well as occasional nuts and seeds. Wild food is by far the best
food. I think it would be great for everyone to seek out and learn about wild foods in
their area. One of our best products is a video called "Edible Wild Plants."
Check it out! Cultivate a taste for wild food and reconnect yourself with Nature. I love
wild food and, if I'm eating food, I strive each day to reach my goal of eating 100% wild
food.
Q: That's quite a goal! Isn't something like that only
achievable for fortunate folks like yourself who live in lush warm places like San Diego?
Where do you go to forage? Is it legal?
A: Actually, San Diego is an arid desert and is not so lush
as one might imagine. However, there is plenty of food to forage. I forage in my own
backyard and in the canyons near and around my home. I don't know if it is legal or not,
but I'd imagine there'll be a law against it soon enough! The wild animals living in every
locale survive on wild food and you can too!
Q: What are some examples of wild fruits and herbs that you
enjoy?
A: I don't know the names of all the wild foods I eat, but
here are a few: dandelion, malva, prickly pear, napolitos, wild mustard greens &
flowers, fennel, wild celery, lamb's quarters, lemonade berry, rosemary, wild oats,
tumbleweed, etc.
Q: How do you feel about raw grains (soaked and/or sprouted)?
A: Many grains are hybrids and don't survive in Nature. I
don't eat raw grains now--except for chewing on wild oat greens in winter time and eating
raw corn which is the fruit of the grain plant. I have eaten grain sprouts in the past and
I think that good hardy sprouted winter wheatberries would be great to get someone through
a tough winter in the northern areas of the United States or the world.
Q: Is there a legitimate place for any animal foods at all in
the human dietary--eggs, milk, honey, bee pollen?
A: Well, here's the test. What foods are we naturally
attracted to? Out in Nature foraging, what do we desire to eat? Bugs? People are averse to
eating bugs intuitively and have to actually force themselves to do it. Eggs? Raw eggs
taste horrible and why eat them anyway?! Bee pollen? Try and get the bee pollen naturally
and see what happens! My answer to the animal food issue is that when you try to eat them
naturally, you realize how ridiculous the whole thing is.
Q: Are sea vegetables important in the human diet?
A: Some long-time raw-foodists include sea vegetables in
their diet for their supposedly high-mineral content. And that is great if they feel
comfortable doing that. I've eaten sea lettuce naturally in the ocean and it doesn't taste
like anything except salt. I personally don't think sea vegetables are important and I
rarely eat them.
Q: How much importance do you place on organically grown vs
commercially grown foods? Hybrids vs open pollinated?
A: The best foods for you are wild foods. Next best would be
homegrown. Organic is great if it has good taste (minerals). Commercially grown raw fruits
and vegetables are better than the most organic cooked foods. Hybridized sweet fruits may
pose a problem for some people and if they do--don't eat them! I would like to add that
the hybridization of natural foods and the fundamental tampering with humanity's food
supply does not in any way make humanity not a biological frugivore! Our biological design
is still the same.
Q: I'm sure you're aware of the instinctive nutrition
philosophy of Guy-Claude Burger and his followers. Do you use this approach--one food at a
time selected instinctively by taste and smell until a taste change occurs--in collecting
and eating your wild foods?
A: The "taste-change" phenomena definitely occurs
when one consumes only one type of food at a time. However, I disagree with the philosophy
that the foods which give the strongest taste-change are the most natural or wild
foods--which I've read in one book. For example, I've found that pineapple gives the
strongest taste change of any fruit and it is a hybrid.
Q: And how many hours a day do you spend eating and looking
for food? Do you always "eat out," as it were, or do you bring everything home
with you and eat it there?
A: I've toyed with the idea of foraging for wild food and
then bringing it home and making a salad with it, but I hardly ever do it. I just eat when
I'm out hiking!
Q: How important is diet to health?
A: Very, very important--the most important element of health
is diet. Food isn't everything, but it is the foundation upon which everything else is
built. Everything that you are right now was once the food that went into your mouth.
Other important factors in health are positive thoughts & associations, sunshine on
the skin, empowering relationships, exercise in Nature, clean air, unpolluted water, etc.
Q: This sounds a lot like the natural hygiene philosophy. Do
you consider yourself a natural hygienist? Do you have any significant philosophical
differences with natural hygiene?
A: I did not come to raw-foods through natural hygiene. I
agree with natural hygiene's holistic approach to health. On the food issue, I don't agree
with natural hygiene's shaky stance for cooked food and their stance against hot peppers,
onions, garlic, and herbs. I believe we need to send hot raw plant food through our
digestive system to clean it out of parasites every so often. And anyone who has a severe
parasite problem (and most people do)--as my partner R.C. Dini had initially--will find
onions and garlic invaluable in clearing up that problem.
Those who try to eat wild foods will realize how essential
herbs are to our health, especially local indigenous herbs.
Natural hygiene is often a bit less than natural for my
taste. but I do totally support what natural hygiene stands for!
Q: When you say you eat occasional nuts and seeds, what
quantities roughly are we talking about? Can you categorize your typical consumption in
terms of percentages of fruits, veggies, and nuts/seeds by caloric intake? Do you eat
sprouts? How do you determine how much of each category to eat, or do you feel it doesn't
matter that much?
A: Over a year's average, my diet consists roughly of 80%
fruit, 5% nuts/seeds, 15% vegetables. Occasionally I'll eat alfalfa clover, or dandelion
sprouts, but very rarely.
I don't really think about what category to eat; I don't
think it really matters, just trust your common sense and instinct.
Q: Have these percentages evolved over time?
I eat more wild vegetables (green-leafy foods) now. The first
year I went raw I rarely if ever ate nuts/seeds, but I have eaten more since then.
Q: Are you satisfied with your current raw food diet or are
there changes you would like to make? (If not satisfied, why?)
A: I am moving in the direction of eating less food. I want
to reach a point of fasting two days a week and then to eating only every other day and
then to eating almost nothing at all.
In our catalog we now distribute a great book entitled Prana
& Immortality by the stunningly beautiful Jasmuheen of Australia, the world's premier
breatharian! I've been in regular contact with her and she is quite a phenomenon. She has
inspired me to eat less and less!
Q: What kind of exercise do you do and how much? What do you
feel is appropriate?
A: My exercise consists mostly of hiking in canyons with my
dogs for one to two hours a day. I have a saying: "Walking heals all wounds." I
surf in the spring and summer time. I lift weights and rocks occasionally, as well.
Q: A skeptic might say, "Walking wounds all heels."
What do you feel is an appropriate amount of sun exposure?
A: The more you can get out into the sun nude everyday, the
better! Our thinly-haired, naked bodies, with a mass of capillaries close to the skin
indicates we are designed for a life of "Fun in the Sun!" You never feel better
than when you have a deep, dark tan (and no tan line!)!
Q: A common problem for people switching to a raw food diet
is periodic strong cravings for cooked foods. Did you have any problems transitioning to a
raw food diet? If so, how did you deal with them? What advice do you offer to others?
A: Anything cooked is a dead, lifeless substance. No cooked
food is benign. Transitioning to The Raw-Food Diet is easy once you are committed. When
you go raw, you stop polluting--zero pollution! When people really begin to focus and
understand the effects of cooked foods on the Earth and their physical, mental, emotional,
and spiritual life, they will begin to naturally avoid them--that is what happened to me.
I think it is great to narrow down the types of cooked foods you will eat as a first step.
Get down to three, then one, then none. Find raw plants foods which replace your cravings
for cooked foods. The real keys are FAITH and COMMITMENT. I have an entire audio tape
entitled: "100% Raw Diet--How To Do It" containing over 30 strategies which I
believe everyone on the "cusp" should listen to!
As Stephen Arlin wrote into our book: "You crave what is
in your bloodstream." As long as those cooked food residues are in your blood, you'll
crave that food. Once they are gone, the desire for cooked food completely disappears.
Q: Some people develop problems over time on raw vegan diets
that cause them either to switch back to some cooked food or add raw animal foods to their
diets--problems like loss of strength, slower recovery from wounds or heavy exercise, loss
of libido, digestive problems, even hypoglycemia and pernicious anemia. When they switch
eating some cooked foods, dairy and/or meat, these problems vanish. What do you think is
going on here?
A: 1. Loss of strength is typically a symptom of
detoxification. Once one starts eating all raw, the blood pools in the internal organs to
heal damage caused by years of unnatural nutrition. This may cause muscular strength to
decrease. Time, a consistent raw diet, and consistent exercise will eradicate the problem.
You can build incredible strength on a raw-diet as my partner
Stephen Arlin has demonstrated.
2. Slow recovery from wounds or heavy exercise-May be caused
by periods of detoxification or by too much sweet, hybridized fruit in the diet and/or a
lack of minerals. I have never actually worked with anyone with this type of problem. My
own and my partners' experiences have shown us that getting sore muscles and healing
slowly are the direct products of eating cooked foods.
3. Loss of libido--This may be a good thing!! It is part of
the healing process. Sexual fluids are highly charged--too many secretions of sexual
fluids can enervated the body. Time, a consistent raw-diet, and the beauty that both of
these bring about in your body will eventually arouse the opposite sex and ignite your own
libido once again.
4. Digestive problems--May be caused by too much mixing of
raw foods or by a corruption in the digestive tract due to fecal impactions. For this
problem I recommend a series of colonics (5 to 10) to clear out the colon of putrefied
waste matter and a mono-diet (one type of food per meal).
5. Hypoglycemia--Typically experienced by those who still eat
bread, other cooked starches, and even refined sugars. This causes a fluctuation in blood
sugar which can never level out properly unless one goes all-raw. I would recommend a diet
heavy in green vegetables and low-sugar fruits, at least initially, for anyone who has
experienced hypoglycemia. I've worked with several people with severe hypoglycemia causing
uncontrollable eating binges who've been able to normalize on the diet I have described.
6. Pernicious anemia--Caused by too much sweet, hybridized
fruit in the diet over a long period of time. Consistently add bulk and fiber in the form
of green-leafy vegetables to the diet to alleviate this problem. Also, drinking
freshly-made green juices will help.
Once any cooked foods or raw or cooked animal products are
eaten detoxification immediately stops, so one may suddenly feel "better!" In
exactly the same fashion, a cigarette smoker might go without cigarettes and feel terrible
(detoxification) and then suddenly feel "better" after lighting up!
Q: Have you experienced any of these problems on the 100% raw
vegan diet?
A: No, but I have worked with many people who have. If they
would have faith and simply stay the course and follow the Sun, the shadows would fall
behind.
Q: Your organization appears to have grown from nothing to
something of significance in just a brief period of time. Has your book had a significant
impact among SAD eaters? Approximately how many copies have you sold? Are you pleased with
your progress so far? Does the raw food movement appear to be growing? What trends do see
in progress, and what is your outlook for the next 5-10 years? Are you generally
optimistic or pessimistic?
A: We've been out there promoting The Raw-Food Diet for three
years, so it hasn't been an overnight success! We used to go to fairs and expos and give
out books and information for free. It wasn't until last year, with the release of our
book that we began to reach a mass audience with this message. Thousands of our books are
out there in the world. We sold out of our first edition in less than six months.
Our book has had significant impact on SAD eaters and we find
that SAD eaters are often more amenable to The Raw-Food Diet than vegans and vegetarians
who may already be confused and overburdened with "health" information.
The Raw-Food Movement is growing MASSIVELY. In the past 3
years, we have networked together more world-wide raw-food activists than anyone in
history. The trend we see is that younger, more dedicated people are getting involved in
The Raw-Food Diet. People are tired of confusion and lies and have discovered (as we did
several years ago) that The Raw-Food Diet is the key which opens the door to get this
world back on track!
Q: Do you see yourself as something of a missionary or
evangelist for raw foods?
A: It is my Destiny to bring The Raw-Food Diet to the world.
I am an evangelist for the Earth. I am true to the Earth and my own instincts and
intuition, which have never led me astray. I inspire people to trust their own inner
guidance and believe in their own potential, which is MASSIVE.
Q: Besides your book, what other publicity efforts have you
been involved in?
A: We have done national radio, television, public
appearances, and special events. We have the most dynamic raw-foods community in the world
here in San Diego! I invite all to come be a part of the fun! Please call us at
1-800-205-2350 and request a schedule of raw events.
The Internet has also been a big hit for us. Our Internet
web-site is: http://www.io-online.com/~nature.
Q: Tell us a little about your partners. How old are they,
and how did you hook up with them? Have they been 100% raw for a similar amount of time?
Are their eating and exercise habits about the same as yours?
A: My partner R.C. Dini (a.k.a. The Raw Courage Vegetable
Man) has been around the Sun 30 times. He is my cousin and we've known each other all our
lives. He was 290 pounds when I showed him a book on raw foods and he immediately realized
the gravity of the situation. In two years he lost 130 pounds; he is now 160 pounds! He
tells people, "I went from 290 pounds to Playgirl magazine in two years!" He has
many recommendations as a weight loss expert and for more about his personal philosophy
and methods, I recommend people should read his book Raw Courage World.
My other partner, Stephen Arlin (a.k.a. Captain Wheatgrass),
has been around the Sun 28 times. He and I have been friends since age ten and he's known
R.C. since that time too. He's been raw for almost three years. He is our weight gain and
strength expert. He's the world's foremost authority on raw-food bodybuilding and on
building muscle and strength on The Raw-Food Diet. He has many recommendations as a weight
gain expert and for more about his personal philosophy and methods, I recommend people
should read his essay "Gaining Weight And Strength On The Raw-Food Diet" or
watch his workout video!
Q: Do you and your partners have distinct roles to play in
your organization? How is the partnership and interplay among you working out? Do you all
pretty much see eye-to-eye on all important matters regarding both health philosophy and
business philosophy, or are there some significant differences? How do you decide what
types of publicity avenues to pursue or merchandize to carry?
A: We all do everything! I do most of the public speaking.
The partnership among us is rawesome. We see eye-to-eye on everything from philosophy to
business and always have.
We generally let the publicity develop itself! Raw Courage
does most of our television bookings. Captain does much of our Internet work &
accounting. I do other forms of publicity. I put together a strategy to get Raw Courage
into Playgirl magazine which worked! He is in the September 1997 issue in the Real Men
Section!!
Q: Earlier you mentioned controversy. Your co-authored book,
Nature's First Law, seems to have created a storm of controversy both in society at large
and in the raw food community as well. Some long-time members of the raw foods communities
have been quite vocal in denouncing your book as being both over-sensationalized and
poorly researched, containing numerous factual errors. Were you surprised by this
reaction? How do you respond to these critics?
A: In the first paragraph of our book Nature's First Law The
Raw-Food Diet we state. "The truth always has enemies." There are very negative,
self-destructive people out there who see our success as their failure--too bad for them.
Negative, self-destructive people weave a web of failure which does eventually entrap
them.
The vast majority of people in the raw-foods community love
our book and are inspired by our dedication to get this information out to a mass
audience. I leave it to the readers to judge our book's merits. The laws of Nature are
unchanging and thus the insights found in our book are timeless (and much needed for a
troubled world). Most long-time raw-foodists and raw-food advocates see our book as doing
for The Raw-Foods Movement what John Robbins' book Diet For A New America did for the
vegetarian movement.
We advertise our book as creating an unstoppable momentum in
every reader. A woman called me the other day just to tell me that it did create an
unstoppable momentum for her and her family and that she was impressed that our claim was
true!
Q: Some say that the advice in your book is too simplistic,
on the order of, "Just eat raw foods and all your health problems will vanish."
Yet it has been the experience of many people who have tried raw food diet that health
problems have occurred that have caused them to abandon the raw food path. Why do you
think this happens, and how does one avoid falling into this trap?
A: None of the important truths of life are complex.
Everything is simple. Nutrition is no science and is so basic it is embarrassing. I read a
quote once which said, "Life is simple, death is complex." You don't need any
special degree or secret knowledge to understand how to eat. Eat for the life-force in
food; it's that simple.
Some people try the raw path and come to believe it is too
difficult, socially unworkable, impossible, etc. Often they are confused by negative
people and information. They don't stay the path through a full-body detoxification. Thus,
they go back to cooked foods, they give up!
Included as a fundamental tenet of every religion on the
planet and every major success book ever written is the concept of Faith! No great
accomplishment is possible without Faith! Only Faith (in yourself, Nature, God, the
Creator, etc.) can push you through the lows of detoxification, the peer pressure, and the
addictive cravings. What pushed a Walt Disney to continue seeking his dream after two
bankruptcies? What pushed Evander Holyfield to knock out Mike Tyson even though every
major expert thought he didn't stand a chance? Faith, only Faith!
My goal is to inspire people to commit to returning to a
natural diet, to begin the process of revitalizing planet Earth. and to face and conquer
their fears. Fear always has been and always will be the great enemy of human potential.
We have a saying: Success leaves clues, so does failure. Good results speak loudly. I
invite anyone to look at my life and see the success and happiness I enjoy each day. Then
they can determine that The Raw-Food Diet is indeed the correct path.
Just because someone tried raw-foods and couldn't maintain it
last week or ten weeks ago or ten years ago, does not mean they will fail now! We are here
to support and inspire you to reach the next level. As we say in our book Nature's First
Law: The Raw-Food Diet, "A raw-foodist is not something you become, it is something
you already are!"
Q: Many people are attracted to The Raw-Food Diet for
spiritual reasons. What are your thoughts on spiritual ascension and The Raw-Food Diet. Do
you think we can ascend and transform into a higher being?
A: I agree we can ascend and be changed to a higher being by:
1. 100% raw plant food diet (which I feel automatically causes you to ascend to some level
and definitely changes you into another being). 2. Positive thinking--rooting out all
negative thoughts and emotions by changing associations, changing informational input, and
by taking full responsibility for our lives instead of attributing events in our lives to
luck (good or bad) or other outside influences. 3. Deep breathing. 4. Being absolutely
true to our own nature. 5. Reconnecting with Nature and wild animals.
I've noticed in my own life that I have seen things (animals,
places, plants, etc.) that I never could or would have seen before. Like attracts like is
the eternal law and by ascending you attract ascended things (animals, places, plants,
etc.) in harmony with your being at that stage.
Q: What advantages do you feel you have you acquired from the
all-raw vegan diet?
A: Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins' mentor says, "For every
disciplined effort in life, there is a multiple reward." A 100% raw-diet gives me a
superior capacity to perform in everything I do. It has liberated my natural self and got
me on track to achieving all my goals and desires. And it will do this for everyone who
commits to The Raw-Food Diet. Because The Raw-Food Diet is the natural way of living, it
brings everything to pass: health, happiness, wealth, freedom, love, and success.
Q: Thank you for taking your time to do this interview,
David, and here's wishing you all of the above!
A: Thank you Bob! It's been a pleasure. Best wishes to you,
M2M, and to all the M2M subscribers!
To book a speaking engagement with David Wolfe and/or
to receive a free copy of our Nature's First Law catalog please call 1-800-205-2350.
Best wishes,
David "Fats Avocado" Wolfe
Nature's First Law
The World's Premier Catalog of Raw-Foods Books, Essays, Videos, and Audio Tapes
http://www.io-online.com/~nature |
