Hi Richard,

>from what ive read - eating raw is treated as a kind of cure all and
>sounds good but lets take someone that has arthritis and or serious sinus
>problems

Eating raw is a fabulous start but it's not the sole agent of health.
Adequate rest, sleep, exercise, emotional poise, clean air, loving
relationships, satisfying work, etc are all part of it.

>what about also using herbs or homeopathy to help the body begin it
>journey towards health and make it slightly more comfortable than just
>quit everything (too much cooked food, liquor, smoking, ect) and go cold
>turkey and lets just suffer thru detox until we are well
>
>so what do people think - what stages would you recommend for someone
>rather than cold turkey - so that it becomes a good experience moving to
>a more raw food diet, rather than an unpleasant

Implementing healthful practices and eliminating detrimental onces
incrementally sounds good. Take away the outright bad stuff like Oreos and
substitute them with something less harmful. One drink per day rather than
three, and then eventually three drinks per week, leading to zero. Work on
each aspect, serially, if needed. Time and patience will win over the most
stubborn habits.

I'm not keen on modalities or therapies but other list members may have
recommendations.

>you see my parents are very stuborn and wont change a thing to help
>themselves so if i can encourage something other than cold turkey - over
>a period of a some months - then they will try it - they hate sudden
>change

I agree that sudden change is an affront to the physical realm as well as
what goes inside the mind. Compassion, love and patience will probably go
long here. I've tried, on myself, both cold turkey and phased change. Both
processes failed miserably when the three elements were missing.

Blessings and Light,
Jo