Frederic Patenaude Raw Foods Diet

I’m in Venice right now. No, not Venice, California, but Venice, Italy! Check out the video below for cool information on what it’s like to travel throughout Europe as a vegetarian, vegan or raw-foodist, and some tips I’ve found along the way that worked.

This is the second part of the interview with Albert Mosséri, where he goes into more details about the diet he recommends. The second video that follows is one where I offer more clarifications about what Mosséri has explained.

If you’d like to ask some questions to Mr. Mosséri, you can write them in the comment and I will send them over to him, for a possible future inclusion in the ezine.

Comments by Frederic (Next Video)

I first discovered Natural Hygiene and the raw food diet in 1996, when I came across the writings of Albert Mosséri, an Egyptian-born, French hygienist who has written more than 25 books and supervised over 4000 fasts in his career.

I just got a chance to finally meet him in person in France. Mosséri is now 85, but still took some time to meet me and answer my questions in this interview. The second part will be coming soon.

Sometimes people tell me: “Fred, I know that you believe in the low-fat raw diet, and the natural hygiene approach. But your way doesn’t work for every one. We have to do what works for us.”

My current knowledge and ideas didn’t come to me randomly, but through witnessing for many many years how crazy and destructive some raw food, vegetarian and vegan diets can be (when done poorly) and also how powerful and healing they can be when done properly.

I’ve nearly destroyed my health by eating raw food the wrong way, and I’ve seen thousands of other people do the same.

I started on this path in 1996, which is nearly 15 years ago. And I see the same mistakes being made over and over again by the people following the approach of “just do what works for you”.

The truth is, I’ve never really told my story.

I’ve met some CRAZY raw-foodists!

I’ve seen some really DISTURBING things happen to people who follow the wrong advice in the fields of health and raw veganism.

And I have myself experience my fair share of problems until I figured out how to make this diet work in the real world.

And honestly, I’ve never really told these stories before. I’ve just told you the conclusions I came to after seeing all of these things happen.

But after all these years, I’ve been thinking that it might be time to tell my story, the whole story.

To do so, I started writing a brand new book, which is tentatively called “Raw Food Controversies Exposed“.

Could it be time to tell my story to the world of how I got into the raw food diet, what exactly happened to me that nearly destroyed my health after 3 years of strict high-fat raw-foodism, the story of the wrong advice spread in the raw-food movement, and more importantly, what I’ve learned along the way?

For a long time I’ve been thinking that there was no point in telling the whole story. “Why would anyone want to know that?” I wondered.

But as I was telling all of these stories to my wife, she kept saying that I should absolutely share this with the world. “This is what people need to know!”

So I started writing the books, and now I’ve got over 150 pages written, and that’s just about half of what the book is going to be like.

I’ve been thinking to start posting unedited chapters from this new book on my blog, as I’m writing it.

But I’m not sure if you REALLY want to know my story.

I have to warn you: It’s a bit shocking and crazy! But for someone interested in raw foods and healthful living, it can also be very interesting and informative.

I know some people will NOT like what I have to say, and it will create quite a controversy.

In fact, I’m quite certain that some people would definitely prefer if I shut my mouth and never told the story of what REALLY happened to me back then.

What about you?

Would you like to hear the full story?

Let me know by leaving a comment.

If there’s a country and culture that is universally admired and hated at the same time it’s France.

I’m here in Paris right now with my wife as part of our Raw Trip Around the World, trying to avoid the temptation of freshly baked croissants and instead wondering why everybody loves France and it’s cuisine (except raw-foodists).

Because French is my first language, most Americans I meet confess to having taken French in high school. They seem really proud of the fact, even though they couldn’t order an orange juice in Paris to save their lives.

But they took French. Not Spanish, but French. It’s strange because Spanish is practically the second language of the United States, yet most Americans would rather learn French.

If you ask an American what is one city they would like to visit before they die, I can predict that in the vast majority of cases they would answer, “Paris”.

Read an American novel and you’ll be surprised how often the writer likes to boast his knowledge of French culture by sprinkling a few French expressions here and there, without bothering to translate them, implying that he probably speaks fluent French (even though he doesn’t).

France is THE number one most visited country in the world by tourists. And the Eiffel Tower is the most visited building in the world.

I was really surprised when I learned this. I thought maybe those sunny destinations would be more popular, or even Italy. But no, it’s France.

Something like 30 to 40% of the English vocabulary comes from French.

The claim is that the French invented modern gourmet cuisine. (We also think that they invented French fries, when it fact the Belgians did.)

At the same time, the French people have a bad reputation. They smell bad because they don’t bathe often or use deodorants. They’re rude. And unless you speak perfect French to them, they will snub you.

Are these things true?

When it comes to diet and nutrition, there’s also a common belief: French people are healthier and slimmer than Americans even though they eat fatty and rich foods. It’s the French paradox!

Is it the wine that’s protecting them?

Are fatty foods actually bad for us?

Before I get into that, let me tell you about my first few days in Paris, and trying to eat raw here.

Two days ago, we took a bicycle tour of the city with a group. We were gone all day, biking all over the city, and unfortunately the group did not plan to stop at at any raw food restaurant or juice bar.

Instead, they wanted everybody to taste the French lifestyle, so they stopped at a café, and later at an outdoor market where everybody was ordered to buy as much bread, cheese, wine and meat as they could, for an afternoon picnic

It’s true, waiters working at French cafés are absolute snobs, even if you speack perfect French to them.

In one café, every single salad on the menu contained either cheese, eggs or meat. When we asked the waiter if we could modify any of the salads, he answered “order something else!”

But since we took an extra 20 seconds to look at the menu to see if there was anything else we could order, our waiter looked irritated and left to serve someone else!

Talk about an attitude!

Every French café serves freshly squeezed orange juice. However it comes in the tiniest glass you can imagine, and probably contains the equivalent of one and a half oranges. And for that, they will charge you almost 6 euros (or $7!).

When we went to visit the beautiful Chateaux de Versaille near Paris, we stopped at a big town market, where locals and tourists buy gourmet baguette, wine, cheese, meat, and other delicacies. There was one stand of fresh fruits and vegetables, which sold super-high quality, fancy produce.

Everything looked amazing: the best peaches you’ve ever seen. The sweetest plums imaginable. Several kinds of cherries, and more.

However, the prices were truly out of this world! It was like a nightmare…

The average fruit cost the equivalent of $5 a pound or more. The most outrageous were the ranier cherries, imported from Canada (of all places), which cost almost 40 Euros per kilo, which is the equivalent of almost $25 per pound!

At that price, I calculated that it would cost about 50 cents per cherry! Are you kidding me?

We ended up buying some watermelon, and some truly delicious small yellow plums called “mirabelles”. I won’t tell you how much it cost for that. But let’s just say my wallet was bleeding.

However, I’ve never had such nice treatment at any fruit store, anywhere. The girls working there were super polite and smiling, almost as if they were treating for royalty. At those prices…

After those adventures, we discovered that inside Paris the prices were much more reasonable, more than 2 to 5 times less than that fruit stand in Versailles.

We found a place called “Le Palais du Fruit” down the street from our apartment, which translates as “The Palace of Fruit”, where they have an endless supply of the most delicious fresh figs, white peaches, and French plums.

By the way, French plums are truly amazing. There’s one type called “Reine-Claude”, which is green with a tint of yellow, and bursting with flavor and sugar.

We also found a juice bar called “Wanna Juice” that offers very large smoothies and juices, made with fresh fruits only, at very reasonable prices.

So in the end… it’s possible to eat raw in France, but you have to avoid all restaurants and cafés like the plague.

Why French People Stay Thin

It is true, French people are much slimmer than Americans overall, even in 2010.
Yet, they eat some of the most decadent, fatty foods known to mankind, and they do that on a regular basis.
I’m talking about butter in everything: sauces, croissants, meat… everything contains a ridiculous amount of fat, that would make any nutritionist cringe.

They have hundreds of types of cheese, and they love to talk about them too. Being vegetarian here is a laughable idea, as almost no traditional meal is vegan.

The wine here is dirt cheap, being taxed less than most countries in the world. And French people love to drink alcohol, and even give it to pre-schooler kids!

And to smash all possible proof for the Atkin’s diet, we should note that French people also love their carbs. 80% of them eat baguette or bread with every single meal.

With all that fattening food, you’d expect the French to be at least fatter than Americans, but the contrary is quite true. Obesity rates are less than 10% here, compared to 30% in the US.

And also rates of heart rate disease (by number of deaths every year) is almost a third of what it is in the US.

Cancer rates are also a little lower, but not dramatically.

So…. qu’est-ce qu’il se passe!? (What is going on!?)

Some have said that the reason French people stay relatively healthier is that they drink so much wine, and wine somehow protects them and “cleans their arteries”.

However, further research disproved this theory.

What is clear now is that French people stay slimmer and have less heart disease because they eat less in general, and they care more about what they eat.

One of the main factors is QUANTITY.

In French, the word for lunch literally means “breakfast” because it was the first meal of the day.

However, when people started eating a little something in the morning, they called that meal “little breakfast” (petit déjeuner).

The average breakfast in France is still pretty light. Maybe a croissant with some coffee, but many people skip it entirely.
Lunch is a big thing. They take their lunches seriously, often taking 2 hours or more to eat and chat.

Dinner is traditionally simple, and many smart French people eat almost nothing for dinner — maybe some fruit and yogurt. However, it’s becoming popular to have bigger dinners nowadays.

My other theory on the French Paradox is the love of food that people have here.

People still like to shop like in the old days, buying their bread at the boulangerie (baker), their produce at the fruit shop or the market, their meat at the butcher, and so on.

Food is a big topic of conversation, and don’t be surprised if you get caught in a conversation with a French person where they’ll literally spend half an hour to describe their particular method for picking the best wild mushrooms, or making a particular recipe.

Because of this obsession for food, they also tend to care a lot more about food quality, by buying local products they can trust, and even harvesting and growing produce themselves as much as possible.

Also, the SOCIAL aspect of life is extremely important here.

For our stay in Paris, we rented a small studio with a kitchen in the heart of the city.

When we arrived, the landlord, a friendly lady called Dominique, was waiting to greet us.

Normally, people just hand you the keys, maybe say a few words and leave as soon as possible.

However, Dominique literally spent half an hour talking to us, going through every single aspect of the apartment and it was a small studio!

For example, when she showed us how to use the Internet or even the key to get in the place, she didn’t just explain us what to do. She made sure that the Internet worked on my computer, and stepped outside with us so we could “test” the keys and make sure it worked.

On top of that, she greeted us with a gift: a little box of expensive French cookies, just purchased from the baker.

I didn’t have the courage to tell her we wouldn’t eat those cookies because of our special diet, because her gesture was so sweet and so French.

When I told Dominique that this kind of welcome was quite uncommon in this business, she was very surprised.

“Oh yeah, why not?” She was truly startled.

We rented a similar place in London, and all we got was the key and a printed sheet of paper with a lot of details to figure out ourselves! (Just the basics, 1 towel each, and no soap, no cloths and no new bed sheets!)

People here tend to spend more time together. When they eat, it’s not the same rushed experience you would get at a fast-food restaurant.
Taking two hours to enjoy your lunch with your friends will certainly enhance your digestion, as opposed to angrily and hurridly eating a burger alone.

In the end, it’s nothing magical that makes French people slimmer and a bit healthier, in spite of all that fattening food.
It’s a combination of:

Reasonable portions
Food quality
Social context

*Are French People Truly Healthy?*

In spite of everything I have said, we should not conclude that French people have found the secret to good life and good health by eating this way.

Cancer rates are still very high in this country — almost as high as they are in North America.

The medical industry thrives here, and even French people can’t escape the consequences of eating animal products and fatty foods on a daily basis.

All the ailments that are common in Western countries are very common here, but the situation is not as out of control as it is in the USA… at least for now.

People living in the city tend to be healthier than those living in the country-side, but that’s a world-wide trend.

Here are some final points of advice, translating everything to the raw food world:

* Spend more time to enjoy your meals in good company.

* Make your meals look beautiful, in order to enhance the appreciation of the whole experience, and even improve digestion.

* Care about what you eat. Discover as many fruits and vegetables as you can, and become a fruit expert!

* Grow your own food if you can, or buy from local farmers that you know personally.

The low-fat raw diet works. Animal products DONT work. Even the French can’t escape the consequences of animal products, whose consumption leads to cancer and a wide range of health problems.

To discover my high-raw, high-fruit, low fat method of success, check out the Raw Health Starter Kit: http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/starterkit.html

(taken by me while sitting on top of a moving double decker bus!)

By Veronica Grace Patenaude

After our short stay in the Czech Republic for Freshness Week we headed off to Budapest, Hungary.

We had not planned anything in advance and had no idea what to expect. But we had heard that everyone said it was a beautiful city.

Boy were they right!

Every day was over 35 C / 95 F and it was hot hot hot! But not as humid as a lot of other cities so it was actually quite enjoyable.

We had the pleasure of staying in a hotel with an ideal city centre location, just steps away from the St. Stephen’s Basilica, the largest church in Hungary.

While we did not venture inside, we thoroughly enjoyed marvelling at the impeccable architecture with our heads titled all the way back gazing up in awe at this behemoth of a structure. It is one of two of the tallest buildings in all of Budapest at 315 ft! (The other being the Parliament building) Both of which can be seen from most every part of the city, so it was a great way to orient ourselves each day!

In our 2 days we spent in Budapest we spent most of our time walking around and touring the city. I have to say that Budapest is a very walkable and easy to get around city. You can see most of the sites in Buda from across the Danube on the Pest side, which made it easy for us to decide where to go first.

We visited the Castle District, the Citadel, the Danube, the Central Market and passed by the famous Heroes’ Square and Szechenyi Thermal Baths to name a few of the highlights of our trip.

We didn’t get a chance to actually enjoy Szechenyi, but if you visit Budapest you definitely have to check it out. The Széchenyi Medicinal Bath in Budapest is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. The water is supplied by two thermal springs underground with temperatures above  74°C/165°F! Wow that’s hot!

There is simply too much to do and see in Budapest that we plan on returning again in the future to fully enjoy everything that the city has to offer.

One of the best things though, was how CHEAP everything seemed to be. Well inexpensive compared to a lot of other countries in the European Union. It was much more affordable buying fruits and vegetables than previous places such as Copenhagen, Malmo and even Berlin. We definitely would have saved a lot more money on food if we had stayed here longer than more expensive cities like Paris and London.

The Central Market is going to be one of your must see’s when visiting this city because it’s open all week long, is fully indoors and you will find the largest number of fruit and vegetable vendors you will find anywhere in Budapest. It’s simply the place to go for fresh food.

What impressed me the most was the amount of pride each vendor had for their produce. Displaying all of the items pristinely so that everything catches your eye and you can tell that everything is very fresh. They even pick out any squished, mouldy or wilted fruits and vegetables throughout the day and would never even consider selling it! (Unlike our mishap in Berlin, where a fruit vendor proceeded to sell Frederic an entire bag of golden kiwis that had all fermented and wouldn’t budge on the price…)

In Europe the produce stands are run differently, it is not like your grocery store where you can pick and rifle through all of the produce looking for the best or ripest specimen.

No, in Europe you have to actually get in line and point to what you would like, no touching, no tasting, no smelling before you buy. So this can be a little tricky if shopping at a small produce stand on the street. But this is not so at the Central Market where everything is top quality and a lot of it is locally grown as well.

We did not see anything really exotic there, but we didn’t mind in the least. The watermelons we bought were absolutely amazing, much more reliable than the ones we get in Canada. And the navel oranges were huge and juicy sweet. We also bought blueberries, raspberries and blackberries which were pretty reasonably priced considering the fact that they are usually the most expensive of fruits by weight.

Some of the prices we got:

1 pint of blueberries 2.50 euros
watermelon 0.46 euros/kilo
peaches 1.06 euros/kilo
plums 0.53 euros/kilo
blackberries 1.96 euros/kilo

Converting that to USD per lb:

1 pint of blueberries $3.21
watermelon $0.27/lb
peaches $0.62/lb
plums $0.31/lb
blackberries $1.15/lb

These are specialty fruits and aren’t even as cheap as apples, oranges and bananas, so you can only imagine how inexpensive buying these things regularly in Hungary would be.

The Central Market is also famous for having typical Hungarian (meat based) food stands, paprika, crafts, clothing, collectible dolls, knickknacks and anything else Hungarian you’re in the mood for.

Overall, as a big city with a warm climate it is pretty darn liveable and affordable! It’s also not as small and compact in regards to living space compared to other European metropolises.

We will definitely be back!

So if you’re looking to visit Budapest and want to find the best places to find raw and vegan food check these out:

Central Market
1093 Budapest,
Vámház körút, Hungary

Obviously the best place to get your produce from every week, no raw restaurants here though.

Le-bar
Múzeum Körut 19 (at Brody Sandor, Muzeum krt)
Budapest, Hungary
Vegan, Raw options, Organic, Juice bar, Take-out

This place is rumored to have some raw options on their daily menu along with fresh juices and cooked vegan plate lunches.

Edeni Vegan
Iskola Utca 31 (1011)(at corner of Gyorskocsi utca, 1 block from Batthány tér bus and metro station, 1 blk from the Danube)
Budapest, Hungary
+36-6203077575
Open Mon-Thur 8-21, Fri 8-18, Sun 11-19, closed Saturday.
Vegan buffet, Hungarian and Mediterranean food, Juice bar, Take-out
Cash only.

This place has GREAT juices at a steal of a price… 2.50 euros for a large glass and some inexpensive buffet style plate lunches too. They speak a little English here and can tell you about their menu and fresh juices.

Napfenyes Etterem
Rózsa u 39, District VII (1077) (at Király u.)
Budapest, Hungary
+36-1-3135555
weekday 10:00-6:00pm Saturday 10:00 to 2:00pm

Vegan, Organic, Salad bar, Juice bar, Hungarian, Italian

Hummus Bar – Kertesz
Kertesz u. 39 (1073 Budapest VII) (at Jewish quarter, across Franz Liszt Music Academy, metro Oktagon on M1)
Budapest, Hungary
+06-1-3217477
Daily: 12:00pm-11:30pm, close midnight
Vegan, Middle Eastern, Fast food

Falafels, pita, hummus, soups. English spoken and on the menu.

You will also find several little corner grocery stores, but they are particularly small and only sell the bare essentials of the SAD lifestyle, a little bit of fruit, which can be helpful if you’re in a pinch, but otherwise head to the Central Market.

Here are some more of my photos of beautiful Budapest

I just came back from a raw food event in the Czech Republic, a week long retreat of raw foods, meditation, yoga and other alternative approaches. The event was called “Freshness Week” and I was the only foreign speaker there (everyone else was Czech).

We took a train from Berlin to Prague, where we only got to spend a few hours in the beautiful old part of the city before heading to the countryside where the event was happening.

We arrived late after getting lost! Thankfully our fruitarian friend Petr, who lives in Denmark but is originally from the Czech Republic, could speak to people and helped find out where it was.

When we finally arrived, in the middle of nowhere in the beautiful countryside, our hosts Filip and Veronika welcomed us and served us a delicious green smoothie, “Czech Style!”

Flip and Veronica trained with Victoria Boutenko, the Green Smoothie “Queen”, but tend to use some ingredients I’ve never tried in a green smoothie before.

For example, the smoothie they served us was made with banana, blueberry and… BASIL!

At first, I was put off by the *idea* of this combination, but once I tasted it, I was blown away! It was ridiculously good.

I encourage you to try it. Don’t put too much basil, but just enough to flavor it.

We stayed three nights, giving a series of lectures which were translated into Czech by some of the participants.

I even managed to learn a few sentences in Czech and could recognize an occasional word from Russian or German, so I wasn’t completely lost.

We met some great Czech raw-foodists at the retreat, and overall the food served was quite “low-fat” compared to most raw-food events I have attended in the past.

A lot of people were new to raw foods, and one thing I noticed is that because only three meals a day were served, a lot of people were incredibly hungry between meals.

Has that ever happened to you?

Even though massive quantities of food were served, most of it was gone in 10 minutes and many participants were still hungry after.

The reason was that too many people were eating low-calorie fruits like plums, peaches and apples and not enough of the “real sustenance” like banana-based smoothies.

Also, because they were not used to eating raw, they did not learn to eat enough at one meal to last for three meals a day.

In most cases, I recommend to eat 4 or 5 meals a day to people who are starting out, until they can reduce that to 3 or 4 meals only.

If you’re still hungry after a fruit meal, you didn’t eat enough!

Some of the food they made in at this event was truly delicious and low-fat. They made delicious cinnamon-flavored fruit sauces by blending bananas, apples and other fruits with a sweetener and cinnamon, and people were using that to pour on top of more fruit, bananas, chopped up lettuce and even zucchini noodles.

It sounds a little weird (like basil in a smoothie!), but trust me, it was really good.

After saying good bye to our new Czech friends, we headed to Budapest, the capital of Hungary, where we’ll be for the next two days.

The raw trip around the world continues!

Yours for health and success,

Frederic

PS: As I do every summer — in a day or two we’re going to have a GIANT summer sale, where I get rid of all my inventory of books and DVDs before September. So almost everything will be at least 40% off, or more.

Stay tuned for the announcement in a day or two (the sale will only last 24 to 48 hours).

By Veronica Grace Patenaude

Frederic and I had the chance to spend 5 amazing days in Iceland last week.  I had never really known anything about Iceland or thought to go there before, but I am really really glad we did.  Iceland not being known for it’s vegan-friendly cuisine or fresh fruit worried me a little at first, but the benefits of visiting Iceland far outweighed any negatives we encountered.

I thought I’d share with you some of our amazing photos, some info you may not know about Iceland and how you can eat raw and vegan should you choose to discover Iceland yourself as well!

Impressions and Interesting Facts of Iceland

Iceland is the 18th largest island and second only in size to Great Britain in Europe. Situated along the mid-ocean ridge of the Atlantic Ocean, Iceland is a geologic “hot zone” with volcanic eruptions, fissure eruptions, shield volcanoes, pillow basalts, glaciers, geothermal features, and more.

There are roughly 320,000 people living all over Iceland with less than half of that concentrated in the capital of Reykjavik.

The Icelandic language has remained relatively unchanged in 1000 years due to their isolation from the rest of the world.

People are friendly to outsiders, but rather shy, since everyone knows each other it is not customary to introduce new friends to people, any newcomers typically introduce themselves.

Icelanders speak English very well and most people are bilingual, but they often believe their English is not very good and are very modest about it. Even your average bus driver speaks English very well which makes travel very easy for a newcomer.

Icelanders read and write more than most countries, they have one of the highest literacy rates and they often prefer reading to television. Iceland has the highest per capita number of artists and writers in the world.

Iceland’s hot water contains sulfur and is piped in from geothermal plants, cold water is fresh glacial water and clean for drinking. Your bathroom will smell like sulfur, but this is ok!

All movies in Iceland are left in the original language and Icelandic subtitles are added for those who do not speak the language or are too young to understand. Children’s movies can be dubbed in Icelandic.

Icecream is available EVERYWHERE, gas stations, gift shops and convenience stores sell both soft serve and ice cream bars, there’s also a wide variety of dairy desserts like skyr (skeer, a cheese like pudding flavoured with fruit) available. Many Icelanders seem to eat a lot of dairy and admit to eating ice cream quite often.

No matter where you go in Iceland you always feel like you’re in a small town and the scenery around you is magnificent.

Although Icelanders don’t believe Iceland to be very touristy, you will find free maps, bus schedules and tour information everywhere you go, even in a small isolated town the gas stations will have maps and tour information.

The temperature in Iceland is not as cold as you think it would be since the Gulf Stream brings warm water to the surrounding ocean and geothermal vents and hot water from volcanic activity are present year round. Most of Iceland is heated using geothermal water to heat up fresh water and is piped using thick insulated pipes to all of the towns and main city Reykjavik. The daily temperature in Iceland is usually between 0 and 5 degrees C in the winter, 10 to 15 C degrees in spring and fall and up to 20 degrees C in the summer. Overall it’s a fairly mild climate considering it’s northern latitude.

The colourful Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) appear from the end of August through the winter, which is a great time to visit and see this spectacular wonder.

Wool is a staple in Iceland for providing warm sweaters, outerwear and socks for year round comfort when venturing outside.

Before the 1900’s most Icelandic houses were built from stone and turf (slabs of grass and soil cut from the ground) and it was not until the invention of concrete that they were able to build more modern and larger buildings.

Most of Iceland is quite sparse when it comes to trees and shrubs since a lot of it has been cut down and used for firewood or building over the years. Many tree planting projects are now in place to help restore the lack of foliage.

Icelanders are more adapted to their climate and 20 degrees C in the summer time is a very hot day in their opinion!

Over 50% of Icelanders will admit that they believe in supernatural beings (ghosts) or “hidden people” aka elves. If something goes missing in Iceland people will often joke that it an elf is to blame.  You will often see little colored doors painted on rocks at the base of mountains when you drive by. This is so the hidden people can get back into their homes!

A lot of Icelanders believe they have 100% Viking ancestry, but recent genetics testing has shown than 80% of Icelanders today are descendants of Irish settlers who were brought as slaves (mostly women) when the Vikings first settled Iceland.

While most of the Icelandic diet is based on meat, dairy and bread, there are several vegetarian restaurants, a raw restaurant and a few other restaurants offering vegetarian options in the city of Reykjavik. Outside of the city however, you’re options are basically lacto-ovo vegetarian only as vegetable, cheese and egg sandwiches seem to be the only meal offered for non meat eaters in general. You will find both hard boiled eggs and cheese in almost every sandwich or salad! You can always stop by the grocery store to pick up some fruit such as bananas, oranges or apples though.

Must-See Places in Iceland

The “Golden Circle” – Includes Þingvellir, the waterfall Gullfoss (meaning “golden falls”), and the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur.

The “Blue Lagoon” (www.bluelagoon.com) The Blue Lagoon is a pool of geothermal seawater (2/3 saltwater and 1/3 freshwater). The source of the water is as deep as 2000 meters/6000 feet. The seawater is led directly from its natural source to the Blue Lagoon where guests enjoy bathing enveloped in the warm blue water.

A glacier walk or snowmobile tour.  There are many glaciers in Iceland, even in the summer time. Skaftafell Glacier is one of the most popular and you can see the glacier breaking and dropping off into the ocean!

Other Tips For Traveling in Iceland

Find a place in Reykjavik to stay when you first arrive so you can check out the city for a day or two.  A lot of places will be advertised to be near Reykjavik so just make sure you know where the hotel is before you go.

If you’re staying more than a few days you’ll more than likely want to check out areas beyond Reykjavik in which case you will want to find a hotel in a central area on the south, west, or northern shore to plan some day trips around. It is too far to drive to most places from Reykjavik to check out all of Iceland.

2 to 3 weeks would be the ideal amount of time to visit if you want to check out everything the island has to offer.  It can take over a week just driving around the Ring Road (with stops) just to catch glimpses of how magnificent Iceland is.

A lot of “hotels” are not actually hotels, but guesthouses where people share common rooms like bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms.  Most actual hotels are very pricey and luxurious so make sure you research the place you are staying.

Grocery stores are available in Reykjavik and can be seen from the main road in every little town you pass through so you will be able to fill up on necessities before venturing out.

Car rentals are very expensive starting at $188 a day for a small Toyota Yaris.  Be sure to decide if you want a vehicle in advance, they can go quickly.  You can also just book tours through companies like Iceland Excursions (www.grayline.is) which will pick you up directly from your hotel or a meeting spot in towns outside of Reykjavik.

Vegetarian Restaurants in Reykjavik

Gló
Raw and Vegetarian Food
Rope yoga center, Engjateig 19
Tel: 553-1111
http://www.glo.is/
Mon-Fri 11:30-20:00 and Saturday 11-15

Is the only restaurant that serves raw food, but they also serve some cooked food. Note their website is only in Icelandic. We tried to contact the owner to do an interview with us on what it’s like to be a raw foodist in Iceland, but she wasn’t interested in returning our request. Perhaps it has something to do with her focus on dehydrated and nut based recipes. So we cannot comment more since we did not try the food.

A Naestu Grosu
Vegetarian/Vegan
Laugavegur 20b, Simi
Tel: 354-5528410
Mon-Sat 11.30am-10pm, Sun 5-10pm.
http://www.anaestugrosum.is/

Vegan-friendly, macrobiotic, international, Indian. Buffet style lunch and dinner plates. Seems to very popular, we stopped by and saw it it almost packed and a good variety of salads and vegetable based dishes.

Graenn Kostur
Vegetarian
Skólavörðustígur 8b
Tel: 354-5522028
Mon-Sat 11.30-9.00, Sun 1.00-9.00

Lacto vegetarian options, limited vegan items.

Ecstasy’s Heart-Garden
Vegetarian
Klapparstigur 37
Tel: 354-5612345
Mon-Fri 11:00-17:00, Sat 12:00-17:00, closed Sunday.

Ovo-lacto vegetarian, limited vegan options, some organic, international cuisine.

Madur Lifandi
Health food and Juice Bar
Haedasmari 6, Kopavogur (201)
354-5858710

Fresh juices available as well as health and beauty products.

Iceland Update

I’ve always wanted to visit Iceland, ever since I read about it in GEO (a magazine similar to National Geographic in France), where I learned all about their hot springs, geothermal energy, and saw pictures of the amazing landscapes. Over the years this desire grew… until I was finally able to go as the first stop in my trip around the world I’m doing this year with my wife Veronica.

Iceland did not disappoint! In fact, after a short trip of 5 days I am left with the yearning to come back and discover more of this amazing country.

In case you don’t know, Iceland is an island that is considered part of Europe, but because of its location it’s quite isolated from the main continent. It’s just outside of the Arctic Circle and certainly the most northern place I have been so far in my life!

However, because of the oceanic currents, Iceland is not as cold as you’d imagine. In the winter, we’re told that the weather is often warmer here than it is in New York City and certainly most of Canada. In the summer it doesn’t get very hot either. The average daily high during our trip was about 15 degrees Celsius or 60 Fahrenheit. One day it got to 22 degrees (72 Fahrenheit) and that felt gloriously hot!

Icelanders don’t mind the weather and keep themselves warm in the numerous pools (open year round in almost every town). Because Iceland is so active volcanically, there’s a lot of hot springs everywhere. However, as we’ve discovered, they don’t necessarily take the hot spring water and bathe in it. Instead, they use it to warm up cold glacier water and then use that for bathing, and also for heating their homes.

Most houses in Iceland are heated using hot water. I found that the heating in the house felt pleasantly warm and not drying at all — much better than a traditional hot air furnace.

Because they have so much hot water, they don’t mind using lots of it to run their pools year round. There’s even an ocean beach that’s warmed up using geothermal water!

Speaking of water, the cold tap water is amazing! It’s better tasting and cleaner than your favorite brand of bottled water, and better yet it’s free.

The landscape of Iceland was amazing. Driving on the main road, we saw an endless number of waterfalls, gorgeous mountains and desolate but beautiful views.

Icelanders are quite friendly people. They all speak Icelandic, which is pretty close to the tongue of the Vikings, and unintelligible to everyone else, even those who speak Scandinavian languages. It’s also pretty tough to pronounce all those street names, but eventually I learned basic pronunciation and people were able to understand what I was talking about! However, almost everybody spoke flawless English which came in handy as well.

In terms of staying raw-vegan here, the selection of fruits and vegetables is all-right but some of the produce is not that great. We lived mostly on apples, oranges and bananas, which were tasty and cheap. In fact, we were surprised that the cost of these items was lower than in many supermarkets in North America. The main problem was not the price but the lack of varied ripe and sweet fruits. Vegetables were fairly cheap and some of them are even grown in greenhouses in Iceland.

There’s a few vegetarian restaurants in Reykjavik, the capital, and even a raw restaurant/bar (that we didn’t have enough time to visit.)

At the end of the trip, I felt like we should have planned to stay longer. I will definitely want to be back again in Iceland. Next time you might even catch me speaking some Icelandic!

NOTE: We have a special promotion this week on our Raw Health Starter Kit, the most complete program on the raw food diet available today. Just use the coupon code ICELAND to get $30 off! Go to: http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/starterkit.html

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The 15 most effective things you can do to dramatically boost your health and immune system TODAY

I noticed that I’ve been talking a lot about raw foods and more “advanced” topics, but without revising the basics. The following is a list of reminders for what I consider to be some of the most important steps you can take to dramatically improve your health starting today.

Make no mistake: if you choose to follow all of the steps listed below, you will completely TRANSFORM your health for the better.

You’ll notice however a lot of “negatives” in my list. That’s because I believe that what you DONT eat is much more important than what you DO eat. This is not a “feel-good”, watered down, “comfort zone” advice like the type that is so common nowadays in magazines and diet books.

Things like “eat some blueberries every day” or “eat some green vegetables” will not dramatically change your health. But follow the steps below, and you can expect some amazing results!

I don’t have time or space in this short article to cover all the details however. For more in depth info on what to eat, check out the Raw Health Starter Kit at www.fredericpatenaude.com/starterkit.html

1- Avoid caffeine. In short: caffeine is a drug and a stimulant. The energy you feel from it is a “fight or flight” response to the drug, not true energy. Overtime, consuming caffeine every day burns out your adrenal glands and leads to having less energy, less concentration, headaches, constant pains, depression, and other problems.

Don’t believe the hype! Drinking two or three cups of coffee a day is not “moderation”. Having a drug every single day is never being moderate. Some people are extremely sensitive to caffeine and even the slightest amount will upset their system.

To get off the bean, do it progressively over two weeks using Teeccino (www.teeccino.com) or another herbal (non-caffeinated) tea. When you’re clean, having an occasional cup of green tea and whatnot and then NOT having any for a while will bring a stimulation that can be useful at times, and if you give yourself enough time to recover you will be okay. Just make sure you never get in the habit of consuming caffeine regularly.

2- Eat green smoothies. It’s simple: eating green smoothies is the single best way to transform your diet overnight! Starting today, whether you’re raw or not, replace your breakfast with a giant green smoothie. Make it mild at first, using more fruit than greens. For some ideas and recipes, go to www.fredericpatenaude.com/greenforlife.html

3- Eliminate dairy products. Dairy is a conglomerate of foreign proteins the body can barely process. Research has demonstrated that dairy consumption is linked to increased rates of cancer, osteoporosis (isn’t that interesting?) and other nasty diseases. And YES, that includes all dairy products, including yogurt. Goat products are better, but still not health foods and are not part of a healthy diet.

4- Eliminate meat, fish, eggs and animal products. Excessive animal protein and saturated fat intake leads to all kinds of diseases. All animal products are a culprit, including eggs and fish. How much is too much? Most long-lived cultures ate meat less than 2-3 times a month, and in relatively small amounts. Any more than that is likely to create long-term health problems. You might find it easier to just say “no” and avoid them altogether.

5- (If you still) Cook without oils — Eliminate ALL oils, including olive oil, hemp oil and flax oil. There’s never any reason to consume pure fat in its refined form, no matter how much it’s marketed as a health food! Get your omega 3’s from whole foods like avocados or hemp seeds.

6- Cut the fat! Too much fat in the diet causes insulin resistance. It lowers your health and vitality, and causes candida and other health problems. Limit quantities of avocado, nuts, seeds and other whole food sources of fat to less than 15% of total calories. Fat is fat, whether it’s raw or not!

7- Avoid fake and industrialized foods — It goes without saying! If it comes from a factory, then it’s suspicious, no matter what it is. This includes raw labeled products that are more than likely not actually raw.

8- Eat more fruit. Take massive fruit action! Become a fruit expert. Learn everything you can about fruit. Become a fruit connoisseur the same way some people are wine connoisseur. Try all the exotic varieties, and decide what you like best. Replace your lunch with a fruit meal, and make sure you eat enough to hold you for several hours (that might be more than you think).

9- Eliminate gluten-containing foods, and watch out for grains. A good percentage of the population is either gluten-sensitive or gluten-intolerant. That might be you. Gluten is a protein found in many grains — mainly wheat. Overall, it’s better to avoid grains entirely and instead have fruits and root vegetables. Most grains are slightly acid-forming, while fruits and roots (including potatoes) are alkaline forming. The best of all grains are: brown rice, buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa (if you insist on keeping grains in your diet)

10- Go raw! Try going 100% raw and eliminate all cooked foods in your diet for a period of time. Enjoy the experience by trying out new low-fat recipes every day like smoothies, juices and savory salad dressings!

11- Don’t eat out. Foods at restaurants, no matter what it is, are loaded with salt and fat. If you must eat out, stick with a few simple choices such as salad with dressing on the side, fruit, vegetables, or low fat dishes (rice or potato based).

12- Start a manageable exercise program. Exercise is a necessity! Studies have shown that when we skip even just TWO days of exercise, there is a noticeable and measurable decline in health, especially in your insulin sensitivity (the ability of insulin to carry sugar to the cells). For exercise to work, it has to be fun! Pick and exercise you like, and remember that doing *something* always beats doing nothing every time.

13- Identify stressors in your life, eliminate them! Stress is a killer, and probably the biggest cause of disease besides diet. A little stress is good (like exercise), as long as it’s accompanied by proper recovery. Identify the unnecessary stressors in your life and work and eliminating them. (This is a topic for another, much longer article!)

14- Optimize your sleep. Most people need at least 7 hours of sleep per night, but rarely more than 9, unless they are training or otherwise recovering. There are several tricks and techniques to optimize your sleep. The most important one is to give yourself enough time to sleep, and don’t abruptly wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle with an alarm clock.

15- Fast! Fasting is often the fastest way to improve your health, but a long fast must be supervised. Fasting should be synonymous with resting, so a long fast is really a long “rest” to give your body all the energy it needs to heal. A short fast of 2-3 days is something most people can do on their own and can quickly jumpstart your health. Any longer than this and you should seek out the help of a trained professional.

Want more information to get started on the raw food diet or optimize your existing raw program? Check out the Raw Health Starter Kit at: http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/starterkit.html Use the coupon code ICELAND to get a discount (coupon expires soon).

by Veronica Grace Patenaude

Oh beloved fruit, how I love thee. But these days I am noticing more than ever that you are not being treated properly or even very well in general. Something terrible has happened to our society. People have forgotten how to choose you, take care of you, cut you and serve you.

This has to stop!

To raise awareness for my dear friends I have compiled all of my best examples to help spread the word and educate people on this nonsense.

Here are some recent examples.

#1. The disgusting conglomerate “fruit salad”.

WHY do they insist on adding oranges or other acidic fruits like kiwi or pineapple into these “fresh” concoctions? It absolutely ruins the flavor of everything. Who wants to eat watery orange flavored melons and grapes.  I wish someone would teach them some fruit sense! Not all fruits have to be combined to create a fruit salad, the more fruits the worse the taste.

Preventative measure: If out at a restaurant, ask if the fruit salad is pre made or made fresh. If fresh ask that they only include fruits of your choice or omit the oranges. If at someone’s house where they’re preparing fruit salad tell them about the effects of acidic fruits on sweet fruits and melons and help them design a colourful fruit salad that won’t compromise the flavor of each fruit.

#2. The sad tale of the unripe banana.

Ever seen a co worker tote an unripe yellow banana to and from work every day? Sitting on their desk, and then going into the fridge and then back on their desk and then back into the fridge? Abandoned and unripe… It just never gets eaten despite their “healthy intentions” such a shame.

Preventative measure: Ensure your friends and family know how to select a banana and when it is ripe to each. Tell them that the banana should ripen at room temperature for several days after it turns completely yellow and that it is ripe when there are brown speckles all over it. This is when the banana is at it’s sweetest and the starch has been converted into sugar by the enzymes in the banana.

#3. The overworked grocery clerk that slams your apples down on the scale at the grocery check out.

This is one of the most heartbreaking stories. You spent minutes, yes, MINUTES picking out perfectly ripe, unbruised apples. Each one a delicate work of art. Only to make it to the check out and have them callously tossed around and inevitably bruised before you even make it to the car. How could someone be so heartless?

Preventative measure: Smile and say hello to your cashier. Ask that they be extra careful with your produce and you really appreciate it. Or just use self checkout and avoid the whole situation!

#4. The fruit bowl of death.

You might have seen this at your parents or friend’s house.  The iconic bowl of fruit in the kitchen, yet no one is eating out of it.  The fruit just sits there to get old and squishy and gets brought out to the table when guests are around only to disappoint them with a watered down lacklustre flavor. Grapes and cherries belong in the fridge people!

Preventative measure: Talk about how much you enjoy eating fruit, how easy they are to eat and quick and satisfying. Make fruit sound appealing to those around you to include these in their diets every day. Comment on how you love keeping your ripe fruits (peaches, nectarines, grapes, cherries, oranges, lychees and other perishables) crisp and fresh. Let people know that counters are best suited for slower ripening fruits like bananas, melons and apples.

#5. The moldy produce drawer. You open up the fridge at a friend’s house and notice they have some old decaying fruit or vegetable matter (you can’t tell at this point) in their produce drawer. In fact there’s more than a few abandoned things in here that have seen better days.  Your host told you there was “some” fruit in the fridge… I think you’ll be going hungry at this point.

Preventative measure: To prevent this catastrophe from happening to you inspect your fridge weekly removing any foul smelling or squishy produce. Compost it and make a mental note to only buy what you will consume each week. For friends with mouldy produce drawers tell them it’s too bad their food went to waste. Suggest some recipes or meal ideas for the foods that were spoiled so they have an easier time remembering what to do with them next time around.

#6. The tupperware of old fruit.

Your aunt always keeps some cut up fruit in a tupperware container in the fridge.  The unfortunate part is that it never gets finished and keeps going from fridge to table every meal.  The fruit is cut up but getting mushy and watered down by now and is past it’s prime.  Sadly she does not know that fruit can be enjoyed a better way. (Do not abuse your watermelon this way!)

Preventative measure: Consume cut fruit within the same day or at most 2 days. It is at its freshest and most flavorful the same day. Encourage everyone at the table to take a slice or two of fruit and make sure that it is finished that meal. For the next meal cut up some new fruit and serve it fresh and watch people wonder in amazement at the difference in flavor and texture! Insist that you eat a lot of fruit and enjoy preparing it fresh for each meal.

#7. Eating fruit at the end of a meal.

Quite often people want to end their meal with something sweet, whether it’s a dessert, coffee with sugar or some fruit. What they don’t realize is that eating fruit on top of heavy foods like meat, dairy or bread is really doing your body a disservice. It creates a poor environment for digestion and the fruit sugars begin to ferment on top of the previously eaten food items causing bloating, gas and blood sugar swings.

Preventative measure: Eat fruit first before the meal or as a snack 20 to 30 minutes beforehand. This ensures your body has enough time to digest this water rich food and not cause any digestive upset or blood sugar swings. Encourage your friends and family to do the same. Let them know they’ll crave less heavy foods for their meal and inevitably be more energized and possibly lose weight too!

#8. The notorious garlic-onion fruit.

Have you ever noticed how the taste of raw garlic and onions permeates every food you eat? Especially fruit? Many times restaurant staff use the same cutting board to cut fruit on as they do garlic or onions so inevitably your “delicious” fruit plate ends up tasting like onion watermelon or garlic pineapple. TRULY disgusting.

Preventative measure: ALWAYS use a separate cutting board for vegetables than fruits. Wood and plastic cutting boards retain the oils from garlic and onions and pass them on to other foods. Ask your waitress to ensure that the kitchen staff does not cut your fruit on the same cutting board as those items. Tell your family and friends to use two separate cutting boards when preparing foods for entertaining such as vegetable trays and fruit platters. Your taste buds will thank you.

So now you’ve been informed, help spread the word. Educate your friends and family about proper fruit conduct and how to enjoy fruit at its prime.

Let this be the beginning of a new day for fruits everywhere. A brighter tomorrow where there are more educated people who can handle you and appreciate you properly. Children who will know how to select and when you are ripe for peak enjoyment.

Have you witnessed any fruit abuse?   Report it here!