For anyone who wants a boost of energy, I highly recommend becoming a raw food vegan. I've been leaning this way for about a year now (with a couple of relapses along the way) and can't speak highly enough about it.
When I was 10, I made the decision to become a vegetarian. I grew up with chickens as pets and remember that horrifying moment of truth when I realised that the food called chicken is the same thing as the adorable Cluckerberry and Sally who scamper up to you and attempt a jovial squarking conversation every time you go outside.
My moment of conversion came when I saw a clip of a chicken slaughter house on television at my grandmother's house in Germany. I don't think I'll ever forget the horror I felt as I saw the helpless chickens hanging upside down on a conveyor belt moving towards a machine that would chop off their heads. For me it was a real-life horror movie and even at 10, I felt completely devastated and appauled.
So for 10 or 11 years I was a super strict veggy... probably up to about 20 years old when I travelled to Amsterdam with some friends... and of course like any young tourists, we hunted down a coffee shop to smoke a doobie (wild! Lol)... But for me, the really wild thing was eating a chicken drum stick from a road-side vendor. At the time, I just thought, 'what the heck' and tentatively picked bits off it, being a little grossed out by the feeling of tissues and tendons... But at the same time feeling completely malnourished like this chicken drum stick was *everything* I ever needed from life.
And so (unfortunately) I gradually got back into eating meat... right up until the age of 30. I was never a big meat eater and always felt guilty every time I munched on the leg of a dead animal that died especially for me. I'd hazard a guess that this overwhelming guilt isn't a healthy way to eat. And I also always questioned what made my life so much more important than this animal that suffered intense pain and death for me. But in my 20s I just kind of thought, 'well what the hell, I've done my part for the animals... why should I be the only human who thinks about these things... and what about me for once...'
So I really put the ethical thing to the back of my mind and carried on munching away thinking I was doing a world of good for my nutrition. Well, the other part of the equation is that I was one of these home-alone kids probably from the age of about 13 or so, and mostly lived off frozen ready meals that my parents packed the freezer full of every time they came to visit. And as a kid, I really believed that frozen veggies would do me a world of nutritional good.
Anway, skipping ahead to the age of 20, it's hardly surprising I felt so totally malnourished as I picked at my chicken drum stick in Amsterdam. I'd grown up on frozen microwave meals and my body was crying out for nourishment.
Soooo, skipping ahead another 10 years, to 30... I like to think I know a little more about nutrition now than I did as a kid – in fact it's a hobby of mine – if that doesn't sound too dorky! Lol And these days I've learned that there's barely a jot of nutrition in meat. In fact it can cause havoc with your digestive system – leading to all sorts of illnesses and diseases like cancer. Quinoa for example is a far superior sauce of protein than any meat.
Which brings me up to this raw food, vegan, gluten-free thingy that I've been experimenting with of late. So these are a few of the effects that a raw food diet can have on you:
• Cures acne (I've had really mild adult acne for years that I've always had to cover with a thick layer of makeup.... no more!!!! :)
• Prevents cancer – Raw, enzyme-rich foods create an alkaline environment in the body. Meats, starches and dairy cause an acidic environment. Cancer only grows in an acidic environment when the cells are clogged with goo that they don't know what to do with – thus causing cancer and other illnesses.
• There have been *many* instances where terminal diseases have been cured by changing the body's pH levels and switching to a raw food diet.
• Raw foods give you a healthy beautiful glow and make your skin (and you) exude health.
• Raw foods give you energy – and a lot of it!!
• Raw foods make you high – on life! :) Well also rather high – at least when you first make the switch and your body is experiencing so much pure energy for the first time... You will literally be bouncing off the walls or hitting the gym for a couple of hours a time! All good stuff! :)
• For me, raw food also makes me want to reach out to people, to smile a whole lot more, engage with people and start conversations in situations where I normally wouldn't... in the lift, at the gym etc...
• Generally fills you with nature's life force... eliminates tiredness etc...
A couple more points:
• Chimps are 98% genetically similar to people and eat a mostly raw food diet – with a few termites thrown in for good measure. Wild chimps have none of the health complications that people do. Captured chimps, however, that are fed on more of a man-made diet, do start to get ill with cancers etc...
• And lastly... if everyone in the world switched to a raw food vegan diet, just think what a beautiful place the world would be!!! There would be fruit trees growing everywhere, people would grow their own veggies, and the world would be abundant and green once again... What a beautiful way to heal the world! Lol
So anyway, these are just a few of the things I wanted to share about my food journey... Not an expat issue, I know, but hopefully interesting nontheless... I will keep you posted on my progress! :)
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