Last Sunday Dave Karas, our veg-raw listowner, and I attended a lecture
by David Wolfe & Stephen Arlin co-authors of "Natures First Law" (NFL).
The lecture, organized by the Los Angeles Natural Hygiene Society, was
well attended - about 70 people showed up on this windy afternoon to
hear what the authors of this controversial new book had to say.
What follows are some of my impressions:
David & Stephen, who seemed to be in their mid-twenties, looked quite
fit and have been on a 100% raw, vegan diet for 2 - 2 1/2 years now.
David peels most of his fruits - even apples. Stephen works out &
exercises about two hours every day and maintains his 200 lb. body
weight on a 85% fruit diet eating unsoaked nuts for proteins. Going
from 95% raw to 100% raw represents a bigger step healthwise than going
from cooked foods to 95% raw - 100% raw is magical. The trick to being
successful at a raw vegan diet is a strong desire to change. = If the
why is strong enough the how will follow. The appropriate changes will
occur through personal development with success technologies (like
those of Tony Robbins if my memory serves me right) providing
strategies to control the emotional, spiritual & financial aspects of
life. Two cultures have a word meaning raw food-eater in their language
namely the Eskimo (Eskimo = Inuit = raw meat eater) and the Persian. In
some cases small amounts of raw fish or maybe other raw animal foods
are OK. The Juiceman's dad is 103 years old. If a plant or tree is
healthy enough to grow & mature its fruits will not be mineral
deficient.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the authors much friendlier than in
their book and veg-raw postings. They showed a lot of positive energy &
enthusiasm and plan to launch an ambitious multi-media campaign to
spread the word about raw foods. I still do not recommend their book or
diet but after having met two of the authors, I think that the
dedication they show their cause might give raw (vegan) foods bit of a
revival - especially among young folks. Even if this will not always be
for the best, I think as the increasing turn-over rate of information
continues to break down more & more boundaries in the fields of health
& nutrition, it will make it ever more difficult for idealistic diets
with little factual reality to take root in our souls.

Best, Peter
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