Kate's Story
I first embarked on a raw food diet in September 1993. I had found myself instinctively wanting to eat a lot of fruit and salads, and had heard from friends how health-giving an all-raw diet could be. As the kitchen of the house I was staying in was out of action for three months while it was being renovated, I decided to try it for myself. I took the plunge, and lived on fruit all day, with a big salad and Essene bread and tahini for dinner (neither Essene bread nor tahini are strictly raw, but I didn't know that then). By the time the kitchen was back in order, I was hooked on my new diet, and have stuck with it ever since. Of course, I have had my ups and downs -it is a huge challenge to stick to 100% raw, 100% of the time. Raw fooders often talk in percentages, claiming to be "70% raw" or "90% raw" but just to achieve 50% long term can make a vast difference in your life.
Although I was convinced of the health benefits, and had experienced for myself how much better I felt, at first the idea that I would stop eating cooked foods altogether was too much, and I would binge on biscuits and crisps. But gradually, my body came to recognise these as the poisons they truly are. However much I would think that I loved a cooked treat, even one as harmless as apple crumble, when I indulged I would be disappointed, as the cooked dishes came to taste lifeless and dull to me. My body was adjusting to the new levels of energy and the sense of liberation that raw foods gave me, and cooked foods left me on a downer. I began to realise that of course I could eat whatever I wanted - but what I really wanted was to feel good all the time. The cleaner my system, the more cooked foods left me with a "hangover"; feeling sluggish and irritable. Gradually, the redundancy of cooking food became a reality to me, and the desire to eat it slipped away completely. Anyone who has become a vegetarian, given up smoking, or overcome any addiction in his or her lives, will understand that feeling of a part of your daily life becoming an anathema.
Personally, I had had a very rocky relationship with food. Some people say that raw food diets encourage or even create eating disorders; for me it was the reverse, as discovering raw foods helped me to overcome my problems with food. Since adolescence I had been trapped in a binge-fast cycle, leading to periods of emaciation, and periods of being overweight. I believe this was due in part to my instinctive recognition that the foods I was eating weren't right for me: I would reject them, only to be eventually overcome by hunger and greed, which would then be followed by repulsion at all the rubbish I had in my body. Raw foods were a revelation: at last I could eat as much as I wanted, and not feel terrible. Eating half a dozen biscuits made me feel sick and tired; eating half a dozen apples left me feeling overfull, but not ill. Over time, as my body got used to being fed, nurtured and respected, the desire to overeat slipped away. As food no longer disturbed my internal balance, my fear of it disappeared.
Now I am astounded at how little I need to eat. I rarely feel ravenously hungry, and feel satiated after relatively small portions of food. Because on the raw diet all our foods are nutrient-dense, the body's requirements are met quickly and efficiently. This in turn means that the body needs less energy for digestion, fighting toxins and excreting poisons, so it is much less demanding in its requirements. If you want to lose weight then stop counting calories and start counting nutrients! Over-eating happens when the body is searching for nutrients - the brain is waiting for the signal to say that the body has what it needs, and it never comes, so you keep ploughing your way through that packet of biscuits, unconsciously looking for the vitamins and minerals you will not find there. In addition, I used to find it very difficult to wake up in the mornings, and needed eight or ten hours of sleep a night otherwise I felt terrible. Now, because my body is working more efficiently, I don't wake up feeling fuzzy, but fresh, alert, and ready to go.
When I adopted the raw food diet, I found, in common with many others, changes happening on all levels of my life. Primarily, I experienced a great leap in energy levels: my body was no longer expending such huge amounts of energy on digestion, and so I felt an almost immediate improvement in my vitality. Also quickly apparent was a greater mental clarity and focus. I felt sharper, more alert, and after a long time on the diet I am really conscious of having the resources to be constantly on the go without flagging. Along with these more obvious changes, I also became aware of changes on a deeper level; I am now much happier and lighter, as the positive energy of raw foods fills my being. I am less prone to bad moods and depression, and more satisfied and content. I have a greater tolerance of difficult people and situations, but at the same time know better where my boundaries lie, and what I am prepared to put up with. I notice things in nature that I never did before: the trees look more green and alive, and the changing of the seasons is more apparent to me. All these elements combine to hugely increase my zest for living, leading to a more positive and productive lifestyle. Because I am eating food that is pure and undamaged, I feel whole - more at one with myself and the world around me.
Many leading raw foodists advocate 100% raw as the only way to go, but I believe this is too difficult for most people. Undoubtedly, the benefits of being 100% are huge, but we live in a world where we are constantly coming into contact with cooked foods, and to refuse them continually is both challenging and awkward. I believe it is as important to have a healthy mind as it is to have a healthy body, and the constant denial of other foods can be more harmful than the foods themselves. If you can maintain just 50% raw, you will experience a huge increase in your wellbeing. Try eating a side serving of raw food with every meal at first, then when you have got used to this, gradually increase the size of the raw portion to the cooked portion, until you have reached a level that you feel comfortable with (many people find this is around 70%). There are so many borderline foods: nuts, dried fruits, olives, seasonings, and dehydrated goodies, that are not strictly raw, making it difficult to be completely sure about what you are eating. Ultimately, so long as you are eating a diet of fresh, organic wholefoods, with fruit and vegetables as the main elements in your diet, you can't go far wrong.
I believe that raw fooders will become more and more accepted over the next decade, to the same degree that vegetarians are now. When I was a child, vegetarianism was still highly unusual and regarded as cranky. Now, every restaurant and cafe has a vegetarian dish, and people are prepared to accept the fact that it is possible, even preferable, to live without meat on a daily basis. I hope that by the time my children are adults, raw foods will be equally integrated into our culture, and people will see the logic of eating food that has not been killed by the cooking process, just as they can now see the logic of not eating an animal which has been killed.
I offer raw food consultations by phone or in person. You can come to my home or I can travel to you, wherever you are in the world! I have no nutritional qualifications, but nearly two decades unrivalled experience in making raw foods work in a family situation. The issues I deal with most frequently are incorporating raw foods into a busy lifestyle, and how to encourage children and partners to include more raw food in their diets. Please go to the coaching page for more information.
"Had some of Kate's Be the Change chocolate on Christmas Day. I think Kate is the change! She understands the things that are going on in this world and remains so full of love and lightness and goodwill to everyone." Holly Paige
"It is wonderful to be aware of you in this world. Your blogs are bliss for the mind." Martha Duval
