Today I worked in the "garden" as I call it. I live in an apartment with a courtyard, so there is no official garden. However, I do grow corn, carrots, tomatoes, kale, lettuce, coriander, mint, catnip, and spinach in pots. My neighbors give me funny looks sometimes, but that's been my whole life anyway.
I cleared out the corn, lettuce, and carrots as they were done for this part of the season. I harvested about 4 edible ears of corn, lots of good sized carrots, and the lettuce that was left was bolting to seed. I had harvested lettuce several times already this year. Once I cleared out the pots I planted new spinach, carrots, and lettuce for fall. Hard to believe we are moving into fall already! As I was working, I kept stepping over a pile of carrots. I thought, "I'm hungry and these are in the way," so I just brushed off the dirt and ate most of them as I worked. I then grabbed a few cherry tomatoes and some corn and had a truly raw lunch right there. That's when it dawned on me to explain to you fine folks why I eat the raw beegan way.
So most of you know what a vegan is, but for those who don't; A vegan is one who doesn't use any animal by-products. A true vegan doesn't wear leather, eat honey, or in some cases even eat a certain kind of date that is pollinated by a type of wasp that dies in the process apparently. Most vegans I've met simply don't eat any type of meat, any type of dairy, eggs, or anything with animal broth in it. The vegan lifestyle is difficult, but has become more popular and therefore has gotten easier. Many restaurants now have vegan menus upon request.
The raw foodie has it a little harder. They only consume foods that have never been heated over 118 degrees. The temperature will vary anywhere between 105-130 depending on the type of food and the individual's research and preference. These folks can still eat fresh caught raw fish, raw milk and even raw cheeses. Some restaurants will have salads and other options available, but it's not as common as the vegan requests.
I, however, have chosen one of the most difficult paths to walk as a raw beegan. I have chosen this path mostly for health reasons, but also in consideration for our environment. Watch a film called "Cowspiracy" on Netflix for the best understanding of the environmental effects of your diet.
As a raw beegan I have about 2 establishments that I can eat at and it's usually just one. However, today I discovered that the one main place I can eat has been cooking some of their options for awhile now. I had been eating cooked food and didn't even realize it! I know you feel so sorry for me don't you ;-) I had had some suspicions which led me to ask, and they looked at me like I was dumb. They started out as a fully raw vegan restaurant; I just hadn't heard that things had changed.
This diet is healthy for 2 big reasons:
First, eating living foods creates life where eating dead cooked foods causes death. We have enzymes naturally in our body for things like repairing damaged tissues and cleaning up the blood stream. However, when we eat food in which the enzymes have been cooked or irradiated to death, then our body has to stop it's repairs and work on digesting food instead. Then as we age we have fewer and fewer enzymes to digest out food and repair our problem areas. Many people even have to start taking a digestive enzyme supplement to even digest their food at this point. This is why a kid can eat anything without a problem but adults can gain weight by looking at food. It's also why so many people get achy and crackly as they age.
Secondly, this diet very closely resembles Dr. John R. Christopher's version of the Mucusless Diet. As you may have picked up by now, I'm a big big big big big fan of Dr. Christopher and the School of Natural Healing. Most and nearly all cooked foods create mucus in the body which interferes with nutrition assimilation and greatly slows toxin elimination.
As you may have read in a previous blog post, I fully intend on living to at least 150 years of age; and the only way I can reach this goal is by maintaining a mostly raw beegan diet most of the time. I admit that I'm really only about 90% raw, but cut me some slack; I've come from pizza and root beer beginnings. I think I'm doing alright.
I challenge you to give this life a try. It's definitely not easy, but I know you can do it!
Well, it's late and I still need to prepare all of my meals for the week. This raw beegan... be ...gone!