Hi Axel...

> i am not sure if it was a month ago or more, one of chet's health tips was
> about a guy who had three main reasons why the typical raw vegan diet
> doesn't work in the long run. and he provided his three solutions, one of
> which was raw whole oats, i think. the guy said he had been eating his way
> for 20 years, and in good health. the diet was raw vegan, i think.

> if anybody knows the health tip i am talking about, please send it to me as
> i accidentally erased it and would like to read it.

Here's the part you want from Health Tip No. 20:

Let's start with the idea that comes from The Rev. Brother David Owen,
the head of the Essene Church of Christ in Oregon. A regular
subscriber to my monthly printed health newsletter (Health & Beyond),
David teaches vegetarianism as the proper diet of humankind. Since I
recently printed an article that suggested minimal consumption of
flesh (no more than 5-10% of the weekly food intake) as possibly being
a good thing in the human diet, David countered with the following
letter, which I present for those of you who want some kind of healthy
substitute for meat in the diet. Let's hear from Rev. Owen:

Dear Chet,
As this letter is written as an act of mercy, please print it even
though it is past the date for response to the Ward Nicholson
interview. After reading the letters from your readers in response to
that interview, I realize many of them are suffering from the results
of following bad versions of the raw food regime. While Ward pointed
out some flaws in the typical raw food regime-especially the lack of
adequate protein-I don't agree with his suggested antidote: the eating
of small portions of meat.

There is a better alternative, and we Essenes have been successfully
implementing this alternative for many generations. There are three
major problems with the typical raw food regime:

1. Not enough protein;
2. Not enough carbohydrates;
3. Too much fruit.

PROTEIN
Rather than Ward's suggestion to eat some meat, we Essenes eat either
raw milk from goats or non-fat plain yogurt. Although health food
store yogurt is not raw, it is very "live." Fermented milk products do
not cause mucous because the lactose has been predigested. Jesus, in
the Essene Gospel of Peace, instructs his students to eat raw
vegetables, fruits, grains, and milk. This is how we Essenes have been
successfully eating raw for generations without having protein
problems: we eat either raw goat milk or the best non-fat plain
yogurt. The problem with Ward's alternative of eating meat is twofold:
1) It is not loving to kill; 2) as documented by John Robbins'
Pulitzer prize-nominated book, Diet for a New America, there are
horrible ecological consequences related directly to the meat and
poultry industries. The problem is not just cattle; one chicken
slaughterhouse can use 100 million gallons of water (enough to serve a
community of 25,000) in a single day. While there are also problems
associated with cattle dairies, we advocate goat milk and yogurt;
goats are far less hard on the ecosystem. (Nuts are too hard to digest
to serve as our primary protein.)

CARBOHYDRATES
The lack of energy and incredible craving for cooked food described by
your readers is due not only to lack of adequate protein, but also
lack of carbohydrates. The answer to this problem is to eat soaked,
blended oats. Organic oats from the health food store (not quick oats)
have been subjected to between seven and fourteen seconds of steam (I
have called the companies). That's not too bad, and they can be
However, I use oat groats because they are 100% raw, not having been
steamed at all. In either case, the oats should be soaked a minimum of
twelve hours (start them in the evening to eat the next morning). When
I soak them, I include two handfuls of raisins. Put the water about
one half inch above the oats to give them room to expand overnight.
The next morning, blend the oats with one banana. If you are not using
the oat groats, you can eat your soaked oats directly from the bowl
with sliced bananas. The soaked raisins cause the water and oats to be
mildly sweet. The key is to eat a large helping of this oat smoothie
each day. This will handle your carbohydrate cravings.

TOO MUCH FRUIT
Because raw foodists are not getting adequate carbohydrates from
non-fruit sources (such as the soaked oats), they tend to eat far too
much fruit in a quest for carbohydrates. Once the carbohydrate problem
is handled by eating the soaked oats, the desire to overeat fruit goes
away.

In summation, I suggest the following daily diet. For breakfast, have
a large soaked-oat-with-banana smoothie. Save some soaked oats in a
bowl and eat them with sliced banana at lunch. For dinner have a giant
vegetable salad with avocado. After dinner, or at some other point in
the day, have a large helping of the best non-fat plain yogurt you can
get, or raw goat milk. If you have any problem with mucous from the
goat milk, have the yogurt instead; the lactose is pre-digested in
yogurt and will not cause mucous. For snacks, have an occasional apple
or other piece of fruit. I eat the above diet (and have for 22 years)
virtually every day and am in incredibly good health. I have never
suffered any of the problems described by your readers. These problems
are the result of lack of adequate protein, not enough carbohydrates,
and too much fruit. Do not eat meat: It is not loving to kill!

Rev. Dr. David Owen
Essene Church of Christ

P.S. There are other ways to get your carbohydrates, including other
raw, soaked grains such as barley (use food processor with barley
rather than blender); oats are just my favorite. I am including info
on how to contact the greatest expert on the use of raw grains, Johnny
Lynch, for a future interview. He makes incredible, soft bread from
raw grains. Also, I do eat other raw foods besides the ones listed
above; they are simply the primary elements of my weekly diet. One
last comment: I include some blue green algae in the banana-oat
smoothie, but it would be just as good to use BarleyGreen powder. Yum!

----------------------------------------

I should add that I've had several letters from folks who swear by
the banana-oat smoothie recommended above by Bro. Owen.

Chet
Enjoy brain-engaging and assumption-busting natural health
articles:  http://chetday.com/