Crazy Sexy Life/Diet

So there was a woman a few years back who at age 31 had cancer all through her insides, and the docs said chemo wasn't even an option. So she researched nutrition a bunch, and switched to a mostly raw, all-vegan diet, and she's improved her health kept the cancer at bay for years. She made a cable documentary called Crazy Sexy Life, and then a book, then Oprah, and now it's a semi-big deal.

I finally got the book "Crazy Sexy Diet" from the library (huge wait list), and it really has changed how I'm living. The diet isn't rigid, in that she will indulge in every "no-no" from time to time, but it's about getting a lot more raw veg and greens onto your plate and into your body. It's not particularly different from the alkalizing diets that many of us have come across/tried, but something about her approach convinced me to give it a go. I gave the alkalizing diet a try a couple months ago, but I was applying it too rigidly and basically after a couple of weeks I cracked. I've been a vegetarian for years, all organic food as well, so I really never thought there was much I could do to improve my diet anyway. But since getting the CSD book 3 weeks ago, I've drastically cut my sugar and gluten to almost nil, and I don't miss it at all.

I feel like I have a lot more energy, and the meds don't seem to be ripping up my insides as much. I should say that I haven't had any reduction in my Lyme symptoms, but I still feel a lot better.

To get going with the program it really helps to have a blender for smoothies or a juicer. I have a green juice every morning after breakfast, and usually a second one or a smoothie in the afternoon or after dinner. After borrowing a neighbour's cheap juicer (cheap being $100), I decided to buy a $400 hurom juicer, which is some of the best money I've spent in 3 years of Lyme fighting.

So for anyone who has tried the alkalizing diet without success, or is just stuck, I can't say enough about this book. I don't really go for 'inspirational' books, but she's pretty down-to-earth, and doesn't believe in 100% purity, which was a helpful allowance for me. I can answer any specific questions people have about it, or about juicers, since I just did a bunch of research on brands before buying mine.

Happy eating!

Denise,

I'm sorry to hear about your brother, but I know where he was coming from. I really didn't think changing my diet (which was already pretty good) would do much, but I'm glad that I've made the changes. I am not hitting the 80/20 ratio of raw food to other food like the book says we should aim for, but I am coming a lot closer, perhaps 60/40. A quart of green juice every day must be helping, and I've had 3 separate people say that I look healthier. I don't have a blender so I haven't done many smoothies, but I think I'm ready to bite the bullet on that one and get a high-priced one as well.

In any case, I've been inspired to cut gluten and sugar almost completely out, and surprisingly, I don't have sugar cravings hardly at all.

I also got her movie Crazy Sexy Life from the library, and it too was worth a view.

I will never buy into the notion that there is anything good about having this disease or going through this process, but I do think it is exciting to get more into the raw food world, and I never would have walked this path if it wasn't for the bugs. So for people wondering about dietary changes, I re-recommend the book.

1. I've never tested for gluten, but honestly, I've never had a problem with wheat, even when sick. I just go that route cuz the "experts" say to.

2. I haven't heard about Jack's juicer, but I did do a lot of research on juicers. There's some good stuff on youtube, look for videos by a guy called "rawfoods", he's an informative riot. (I don't know the guy, nor did I buy my juicer from him.) There's no such thing as a combo, because a juicer gets rid of the fibre, extracting (wait for it) just the juice. A blender is the whole food. If you're sitting down, I'll give you a not-too-brief explanation.

Juicers are alkalizing goddesses. Because there's no fibre, your body absorbs all of the vitamins and minerals, much more than it ever could if you ate the food. A cucumber, romaine, some other green (kale, spinach, dandelion greens), ginger, lemon juice, sprouts maybe, and away you go. You can add a carrot or apple if you are just getting used to juices, but those have sugar so be careful with them, don't go wild. There's almost no way to get that much alkaline into your system in any other manner, so if you believe in needing to rebalance your pH, this is clearly the way to go.

The thing about inexpensive juicers (by that, I mean anything under $300, such as Breville and probably Jack), is the way they juice is essentially high-speed grating, and it destroys the enzymes a lot more, meaning that you have to drink the juice pretty much on the spot to get the benefits. The augur-type juicers (Hurom, Omega, Green Star) are better in a lot of ways: they get way more juice per vegetable, meaning that in the long run you get your money back in less veggie waste, and since the juice holds is enzyme power all day (supposedly up to 72 hours), you can make just one batch in the AM and have two drinks that day. That's key to me because even though the expensive machines take an extra moment to clean, you only have to do it once a day to get two drinks. They also have 7-10 year guarantees; these guys are built to last.

Blenders give you a different benefit. It's like eating your greens, but again, you'd be hard pressed to eat as many as you can drink. Blenders also help you get all the benefits for the vitamins, since the food is broken down for you, saving your body the effort of that, and letting your body concentrate on the goodness. You still get the fibre with a smoothie, as opposed to juices; a smoothie is closer to a complete meal. (For some, it is a complete meal.)

Blenders also have a wide price disparity, but you can get into the blender market and get a decent one for around $100. (Don't get a $20 one, it won't give you what you need now, or will want once you get into it.) The high-end ones are $400-600, but you don't have to go there just yet. That's different from the juicers, where a cheap one is as likely to turn you off of juicing, so you should start with a high-end brand.

I think I understand the hemming and hawing you're going through, since I did the same thing. Other than one of my bicycles, nothing in my house cost more than my new juicer. (That is no longer the case, with a bottle of Mepron valued at an obscene amount.) But I can say that it is the best investment in my health I've made.

Even if you can't change your diet the way the "Lyme diets" say to, just by adding a quart of green juice a day, you've made a significant impact in your health. I still need a lot of bulk (oats, quinoa, rice, sweet potatoes) to handle the abx, but the juicer (and occasional smoothie in my food processor, which really isn't up for the job) has added a lot of raw goodness to my diet, and is getting me farther on the Lyme diet path.

Any other q's, well, you can see I love talking about food!