Dear Ron,
I had been a distance runner since Jr. High School and enjoyed working
out 3 - 4 per week at whatever gym I was living close to at the time.
In 1997 I began to experience some numbness in half of my left hand, half
my left foot and my lower leg. This happened for a period of 60 days or
so and did not affecting my running ability. I figured it was a pinched
nerve or something and ignored it until it went away. 2 years later I
noticed I was tiring easily, and while running I would veer off to the
left and stumble quite a bit. The weakness in my left leg grew steadily
worse until the point that I walked with a limp and had a difficult time
going up stairs. I went to the doctor and was referred to a neurologist,
who made the diagnosis of Progressive MS after my initial MRI. I left
the Dr.'s office with a handful of prescriptions, which I later found
out left me with some very serious side effects. Drugs or not, the disease
progressed to where I lost bowel and bladder control, became severely
fatigued, had a left arm and hand that were weakened to the point where
I could no longer hold a coffee cup, brain fog, and some numbness. That
time in my life was devastating. I began to lose faith in doctors as I
tried to find one that could help me, and I was prescribed more and more
drugs. I felt myself falling into a deeper depression with the more medical
Drs. I had contact with. All I ever heard was the word "incurable"
and "progressive".
When I realized I was getting worse, even seeing some of the best MS
specialists in this State, I desperately began searching the internet
for folks around the world who had overcome serious illnesses, specifically
MS, since I was told there was no cure. The only folks I found were ones
who had made a dramatic change in their diet and lifestyle, going back
to eating the natural foods that our bodies were designed to digest. I
read Matthew Grace's book, "A Way Out", along with everything
I could pick up or send for regarding detoxing, the raw food lifestyle,
and natural healing. I began my healing journey by buying a juicer, growing
wheatgrass, and going cold turkey from all meats, dairy, and processed
and cooked foods.
It's been 3 years and 11 months that I have faithfully (NO cheating!)
stayed on my diet of 100% raw fruits and vegetables and juices--all organic.
The only "cooked" food I consume is an occasional cup of organic
green tea. I drink steamed distilled water that I brew myself, and occasionally
drink homemade colloidal silver. Within a few weeks of being on this diet,
my fatigue and brain fog disappeared, all numbness was eliminated except
for a small area on the palm of my right hand(now it comes and goes),
and I regained bowel and bladder control in about 60 days. I was able
to hold a coffee cup and the strength returned to my left arm. I have
not taken so much as an aspirin during this time. My hair, skin, and nails
look beautiful, and dentist said he has never seen my teeth and gums look
so healthy. I used to be a person who bruised easily, but I've noticed
my legs and arms no longer have 20-30 bruises on them. My menstrual cycle
has involved no PMS, cramping, or blemishes. I have noticed an emotional
calmness I have never experienced in the past, and a significant mental
alertness and memory capacity. I have experienced two MRI's in the past
2 years that showed no active or new lesions and that my disease is in
remission. I guess I already knew this... I now think MRI's are unnatural
and wouldn't have another one. I have no fear of cancer, arthritis, or
any other degenerative disease as long as I continue with the raw food
lifestyle. I wouldn't give this diet up for anything!
Blessings,
Susan
P.S. Last night I was thinking about the letter I sent you yesterday,
and felt it would be important to add that it has taken me 4 years to
achieve the healing I have experienced thus far. I'm certain it took my
body much longer to get to the point where my nerves began to degenerate
and I experienced such a steady decline. The payoff is great if folks
are willing to remain on the raw food diet for a number years and then
stay on the diet to remain healthy. My ND had reminded me that without
the diet change I would have declined to such a predictable degree, I
would probably need a care-taker to get through the day. All the drugs
currently available to treat the dis-ease MS are intended to slow it down.
I wanted it to stop. The raw, organic food diet put me in remission where
I have stayed to this day, and can feel other slow improvements all the
time.
P.P.S. One last thing, I have not experienced a cold or the flu in years
now, and cannot even remember what either felt like. I used to get them
all the time, especially if my husband got sick. During "flu season"
I'm usually the only one at work on a steady basis--it never seems to
get passed to me. I have come to believe if our bodies are healthy enough,
germs and viruses don't have a chance to get a foothold. Boy, I wish I
had known this years ago!
Ron,
Greg and I celebrated being raw for one year as of April 16th, 2003.
On that day in 2002, we attended Victoria B's seminar and met you....went
raw cold-turkey. We are each 40 pounds smaller and, outside of the initial
healing crises, haven't contracted any illnesses... even the common cold
or flu while many around us at work were feverish, hacking and sneezing,
etc.! We are so happy with the diet and lifestyle that we're committed
to it indefinitely! We look forward to receiving the e-mail form of "Live
Food Diet & Lifestyle" so we can share it with others.
We appreciate it!
Thanks,
Cookie and Greg
Dear Ron,
In October 2002, I was visiting my family in Pennsylvania and decided
to have some blood work done. My sister worked as an office manager in
a medical facility for over 16 years so there would only be the lab expense
for me.
When the blood results came back, my sister was very alarmed! My blood
sugar was 251... way above the safe range. My cholesterol was 333... once
again, way above the safe range. My triglycerides were 1,107... almost
9 times above the level that was considered safe! Even though those numbers
are very high, I knew I was responsible for that condition. The reason:
I was irresponsible with consuming too much sugar and way to many carbohydrates
in conjunction with proteins and vegetables! Ice cream, brownies, cakes,
rice, pasta, breads, etc. led to this disease of the fork.
She wanted to immediately put me on medications: glucotrol for my sugar
and tricor for my triglycerides. This was even more alarming for me because
I had to drive back to Florida, over 1,000 miles away. Then, I read the
fine print for the tricor medication. It stated that in rare case it could
cause morbidity! That made me wonder if I would even make it to North
Carolina.
The biggest disappointment for me was not that I felt I had let myself
down, because I created this health problem for myself; but that I felt
I had let my wife down, because I may not be there for her. That night
I called her and told her that I loved her very much and that I missed
her.
Needless to say, I did make it back to Florida. One of the first things
I did after deciding to cut out the above mentioned sweets was to throw
away the drugs, glucotrol and tricor that I was given and telling my healthcare
provider that I was going to do what it took to lower my levels and restore
health back to my body.
For nearly every day during that period, I check my blood at home. There
were several things I did, such as Chiropractic, regular exercise (walking
up to 2.5 miles almost daily), sensible eating (very little refined sugar..
keep in mind Thanksgiving and Christmas were my
two favorite sugar holidays, lots of good protein, and vegetable and bottled
water. I also took supplements, some that specifically helped regulate
sugar. I did a far-infrared sauna and colonic back to back almost weekly.
I also started to eat less cooked food and move more raw.
My wife wanted to started eating more raw foods. She had been reading
books on raw food preparation and the health benefits of raw food. I decided
to go along and try raw foods. The reason is quite simple. My body was
toxic. It was a waste dump. What I was eating and how I was eating before
was not successful. The blood test was proof of that!
Well, much to my delight, I actually liked over 90% of what my wife made
for me. There was my favorite almond butter pate' which I relished and
put on virtually everything I ate for almost two weeks. I enjoyed various
dips, "cookies", granola, even pizzas!
When I went for another blood test on the 7th of February, just three
months after I committed myself to my health program and eating more raw
food and less cooked food, my blood sugar had fallen to 126... just slightly
out of what the medical profession regards as safe. This is a drop of
nearly 50%! My cholesterol had dropped to 227... once again just slightly
out of what the medical profession regards as safe. My triglycerides dropped
to 110! That is over 90% from three months ago. Per the medical profession,
0-150 is the safe range.
Sugar and excess carbs pump up one's triglycerides. What I did was safe
and natural. What I did also helped to strengthen up my body and my body's
immune system. Drugs do not do that. By doing what I mentioned above,
I effortlessly and healthfully dropped 10-12 pounds and 1-2 inches from
my body.
I feel it is very healthy to have a raw diet. Even though I still eat
some cooked foods, eating raw foods helped make my goal of having my blood
sugar be in the 120 to 130 range on Valentine's Day. I achieved it a week
before. My next goal is to stabilize my sugar at around 100, have my cholesterol
way in the safe range and for the triglycerides to go under 100 by the
end of April.
My wife and I became more committed to enjoying raw food and getting
educated bout the health benefits of raw food from Southern Botanical
and Ron Radstrom. Thanks Ron for having free samples and stocking many
raw food books. Thanks to all our raw food new friends for being there
helping make my body healthier and for having the courage to put in writing
the true information about food! Thanks, too, for the delicious recipes!
Feeling lighter and better,
A.F.D.
Ron,
Eleven months ago I was having major concerns over the state of my health.
I was 39 years old, overweight, suffering from severe acid reflex,intestinal
discomfort, achy muscles and fatigue. With the problems I was experiencing
the future did not look bright. I was the poster child for the fast&
junk food industry and a future cash cow for the medical field. Then it
all changed!!
I received an email about a workshop on Raw & living foods. This
sounded interesting because I was looking for some truth about how to
get and stay healthy. Well, to make a long story short my wife and I attended
the workshop. For us it was a life changing event.
The following day we emptied out the kitchen of most all the cooked and
processed foods, I couldn't talk myself into throwing it all away. I then
made a trip to the store and went to that unfamiliar section "produce".
I already felt better just buying live foods instead of boxed or caned
goods. The following day we started on a 100% raw food diet and have never
turned back.
During the first week the acid reflex went away, never to return. Over
the next couple of months the intestinal discomfort, achy muscles and
fatigue vanished, along with 20 pounds of fat.
It has now been eleven months and I'm amazed every day with the changes
in my health. I'm 45 pounds lighter and going to the gym four times a
week. I sleep very sound, incredibly relaxed, no longer waking up twice
a night to urinate. I'm excited again about my future and look forward
to the changes that every day brings on this wonderfully simple way of
getting and staying healthy.
Thanks for that life changing email and all the support,
JBC
Dear Ron,
Re: Celtic Salt: I can't tell you what a difference it is to drink this
stuff compared to "sea salt". Peter seemed fine on it and so
I thought, okay. But I felt poisoned and the stomach hurt when I took
it. When I reread the master cleanse, he said he got his salt from a Celtic
salt distributor so I knew he had used Celtic Salt. Boy, what a difference.
It is like putting something alive in the body and the body takes what
it wants and flushes the rest instead of fighting to breathe with the
poison.
M.G.
Dear Ron,
It's amazing how things can change in such a short time! When I was 26
years old, I felt like I was falling apart. I had a bladder infection
that had me in the bathroom every 20 - 30 minutes that my medical doctor
could not get to go away, despite repeated prescriptions for antibiotics
over 2 years. I was working out 1.5 hours a day, but I could not lose
that last 10 pounds, and none of my clothes fit anymore. I had not slept
through the night in over 2.5 years. Although I would go to bed at 10
PM and get up at 9 AM, I was always exhausted. In addition, I had almost
constant headaches and troublesome acne. I had even passed out on 4 separate
occasions. None of the doctors I went to could find anything wrong with
me. Probably the hardest thing for me to deal with during this time was
the constant struggle against anxiety and depression. I had tried the
homeopathic route for almost a year. Some of my symptomologies decreased,
but I was spending a fortune and I still didn't feel much better.
In the spring of 2000, I was introduced to the work of Dr. Young, and
a few weeks later to Dr. Young himself. He teaches that the body is healthiest
if the pH is slightly alkaline and will be sick if it gets too acidic.
I changed my diet to focus on foods that keep the body alkaline, like
raw vegetables and low sugar fruits, and avoided foods that were acidic.
I also used some herbal formulas to assist my body in cleansing.
I started with a 10 day cleanse. I ate raw vegetable soups and vegetable
juices for 4 days and then incorporated some salads in for the remaining
6 days. The results were amazing! I went from 134 pounds with 26% body
fat to 127 pounds with 21% body fat…in just 10 days! I lost 2 inches
around my waist, 2 inches around my hips and 1.5 inches around each thigh.
I went from a size 8 to a 4. My face cleared up; I started sleeping soundly
and waking up rested; my headaches disappeared. All of the physical challenges
I had been struggling with were gone. Even more dramatic than that, I
was not fearful anymore. It was as if someone had flipped a switch. The
depression was gone, and I was looking forward to each day, which I had
not been able to do in years.
Over the next couple of years, I added a few things like salmon and steamed
veggies back into my diet. I felt so much better, but I found myself bingeing
on "comfort foods" like pizza and ice cream - even though every
time I did I got sick. During that time I started hearing more and more
about raw food. I felt better than I had in years, but was constantly
battling cravings. I wondered if raw food was the answer. So I did what
I had done when I first met Dr. Young. I said to myself, "I'll try
this for 6 weeks and see how I feel. If it works, I'll stick with it,
and if it doesn't, then I'll continue on with the way I've been eating."
Well, the 6 week test was telling. I had even more energy and less cravings.
I lost a couple of more pounds and achieved what I believe is my ideal
weight. It's sometimes hard to believe that I'm the same person who just
a few years ago felt so hopeless. It never ceases to amaze me how connected
the physical body is to our emotions. I am so thankful for everyone who
has helped me get to the point where I am today!
J.D.
Dear Ron,
My name is Sofia Menahem. In the spring of 1999, I was diagnosed with
non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I had also previously been diagnosed with Hepatitis
C, most likely caused by serializations performed in the former Soviet
Union.
For 4 and a half years, I used "orthodox" western medicine
(chemotherapy, radiation, and other poisonous drugs). I lost most of my
energy, my hair fell out, and worst of all, the cancer did not go away.
In the summer of 2003, I decided that enough was enough. I wanted to see
my children graduate from college and graduate school, see them get married,
and live as a grandmother.
I made the bold decision to turn to natural healing.
I started with the 30-day cleanse program recommended by Ron. It involved
drinking natural lemonade with garlic juice, Echinacea, and cayenne pepper,
and taking supplements. I ate no solid foods during the 30-day period.
I have just finished my 30-day program and have achieved the following
results: I have lost 15 lbs, my energy has increased tremendously. People
tell me that my skin looks great! I'm so energized by the results I've
gotten that I've decided to make the switch to raw foods. I will be victorious!
S.M.
Ask Kytka:
I heard you were "all raw". Is that a part of the Waldorf philosophy
too and what exactly does it mean? May 12, 2002
Wow! You people know everything about me! <smile> First let me
say that it is definitely NOT a part of Waldorf principles and philosophy.
(Although Rudolf Steiner WAS a strict vegetarian for 25+ years, and he
said "In my opinion there is extraordinary significance in the fact
that the consumption of raw food is much more a remedial process than
the consumption of food that has been cooked. " There is also a strong
Anthro view on the Kingdoms of nature - link to more at the bottom of
this page.) I think that many people who are interested in Waldorf Education
naturally fall into a more holistic, organic, eco-conscious lifestyle.
In much the same way that I soon came to realize when I was a Labor Assistant
that home and birth center mommies also tended to lean towards Waldorf
schools... I think it all goes hand in hand. You make a choice to live
your life in a way that is responsible and beneficial to the future of
the planet for your children's sake, at least that has been my experience
with the majority of the parents I have come to know.
I have been a Vegetarian for 12 years. Of that 12 years, 5 were spent
being a strict Vegan and 2+ years were spent being 100% Raw. About 2.5
years ago we had a terrible flood of our home which caused us to have
to sell off our catalog (yes... Hedgehog Farms!) and relocate to Florida.
We thought that being in Florida would be even better for our raw diet
- which we had been on for just over 2 years) but when we arrived we were
quite disappointed and things changed. The quality of the foods here was
so poor, and the pressures and stresses we were under here weakened our
resistance and we began to eat cooked food again... Nothing like falling
back on the ideas we grew up with about "comfort food". (ugh!)
So, for two and a half years we have all been experiencing aches and pains,
headaches and tummy aches, blotchy skin, rashes, sunburns, etc. It's terrible
and I cannot believe how much time can go by when you tell yourself "...tomorrow
I'll go back to the raw..."Oh well, cannot change that - so better
to concentrate and focus on here and now and what we'll NOT cook tomorrow...
I have just recently implemented a "spring cleaning" and we
are slowly transitioning back to a 100% raw diet. Why you ask? Because
for the first time ever, we have all been sick here in Florida - and I
know it's ALL been diet related... and we are all sick of being sick!
Not to mention the moral consequences!
Dear Ron,
I'm now in my middle fifties. Several years ago, I started getting up
in the middle of the night to urinate. About a year ago, I started having
to get up two or three times at night and then I started to feel pressure
at the front of my pelvis. Very shortly, I started feeling a dull ache
in the same location. The rate of worsening scared me so badly I went
to a medical doctor for tests. He told me it was not cancerous, but suggested
I continue with Saw Palmetto as the drugs or operations (excuse me, procedures)
for handling this condition were not to be recommended.
Some months later, my wife went 100% on the raw diet. I watched her for
three months while she lost 4 dress sizes, gained incredible energy &
vitality, and looked 20 years younger. So, I decided to try it. I began
eating raw at home, but would continue to eat ribs, hamburgers, chicken,
etc. and to drink beer when not at home. However, as I got worse, she
got better. Eventually, each night I'd indulge in my food addiction I'd
be forced to take a hot bath the next morning to handle the immediate
ill effects. (I'd read in Jethro Klaus' Back to Eden that a vegetarian
raw diet and hot sitz baths were good for prostate troubles.)
Eventually, I went 100% raw for three or more weeks. The ache and pressure
went away within days. I was back to only going to the bathroom once a
night and I had much more energy. I now believe that going 100% raw will
handle nearly any health problem short of broken bones. (I don't know
about tooth decay.) The only question is whether the person starts the
raw diet soon enough.
I hope this story helps others with similar problems.
P.G
