Frederic Patenaude Raw Foods Diet

- Frederic’s Update

-  What’s Wrong With Eggs, Glycemic Index, and more questions answered

Today I’m answering your questions on the raw food diet, and more!

If you’d like to send me a question, just go to www.replytofred.com

Better yet, come to California this summer and meet myself and my team in person. The only raw event to attend this summer is the Vibrant Living Expo, on August 21-23, in Ft. Bragg, Northern California, organized by Cherie Soria and her team. I’ve attended many raw food events for the past 10 years and this one beats them all, hands down.

I will be there giving two lectures, and with a booth where you can meet me and get to chat a bit in person. Other lecturers include:

•    Dr. Doug Graham
•    Kevin Gianni
•    Howard Lyman (the Mad Cowboy)
•    Victoras Kulvinskas
•    John Robbins (author of “Diet for a New America”)
•    Matt Monarch & Angela Stokes
•    Don Weaver
•    Brian Clement
•    And many others

Get more information and sign up at www.rawfoodchef.com.

Other News and Announcements:

- A quick reminder: my friend Roger Haeske recently released an amazing program called the Savory Veggie Stews. If you think Green Smoothies were great, wait till you try this. This recipe system enabled me to totally eliminate my dinnertime salt and cooked cravings! After the Green Smoothie Revolution, I’m sure we’ll have a Veggie Stew revolution, thanks to this great new product by Roger. It’s launch week so you’re getting a better price if you order now, plus a bunch of freebies. Check it out here:

http://tinyurl.com/mjq7r4

- Probably the best week-long raw food seminar I ever attended to was Health & Fitness Week with Dr. Doug Graham. Imagine a week of exercising several hours a day with your own world-class trainer who takes you from where you are to where you want to be, and eating gourmet, organic low-fat raw food meals, and attending great lectures and entertainment every day for a week, while making new friends.

A lot of people can’t go to these events because of the price. At $4000, it is completely worth it, but a little out of budget for most people.

In any case, Doug recently sent me this note and asked me to pass it along, which I’m happy to do. The offer may already be over but there’s no harm in asking. Just contact him at www.foodnsport.com

My events usually run full, and they are the most fun when they are full. Often, they fill up WAY in advance. Already the 2010 fasting event is almost completely filled, with interns as well as fasters. But there is one drawback to filling early. The number of people who have to cancel, for one reason or another, invariably rises when people register 6-9 months in advance.
My summer events this year are no exception. We have had cancellations, and they came late. So, I am offering one really special deal to fill those spots.
$1000 rebate, given to you at the event, to the next three people that register for H&F, based on paying full price for this event. This means that no other discounts will apply, even those offered by FoodnSport.
$1500 rebate, given to you at the event, to the next three people that register for H&F plus either of the other two Sedro Woolley seminars, based on paying full price for each of these events. This means that no other discounts will apply, even those offered by FoodnSport.
$2000 rebate, given to you at the event, to the next three people that register for H&F plus both of the other two events, based on paying full price for each of these events. This means that no other discounts will apply, even those offered by FoodnSport.
Please, tell everyone you know. Give them the chance of attending.

Dr. Doug Graham
www.foodnsport.com

One of the biggest problems with trying to follow a raw food diet in a “cooked” world is the lack of live supports and friends who can encourage you along the way and share their experiences with you.

Subscribing to newsletter, participating in discussion forums on the Internet, listening to audio MP3, all that is great… but there’s something lacking — the human contact.

That’s why I recommend doing everything you can to meet other like-minded people, and if possible attending some live events.

But the big problem with live events is that they’re often poorly organized and only feature speakers who put down the high-fruit diet, only to backstab you by selling their expensive supplement or superfoods.

What if there was a live event that was not only superbly organized, but also featured excellent speakers such as Dr. Graham, John Robbins (author of “Diet for a New America), Don Weaver, Howard Lyman (the mad cowboy) and myself? Of course, many other well-known names such as Briant Clement, Matt Monarch and others.

I’ve been to a lot of raw food festivals and events and let me tell you that none can rival the Vibrant Living Expo, organized by Cherie Soria and her team, on August 21-23, in Ft. Bragg, Northern California.

You can find out more and sign up at:

http://www.rawfoodchef.com/events/rawFoodsExpo.html

I’ll be there presenting two talks:

-    How to Make a Living in the Natural Health Movements
-    How to End Confusion About Nutrition and Eliminate Cravings in 72 Hours or Less

Many other speakers will be there. Some of them might present different philosophies, but it won’t be the circus of supplement-pushers you see at so many seminars.

The best part about the expo is of course, meeting other people.

I encourage you to come by and hang out by our booth, by Dr. Graham’s booth and others, and meet a ton of new raw food friends.

This will be a great experience, and I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

http://www.rawfoodchef.com/events/rawFoodsExpo.html

Frederic

PS: Normally the discount for signing up early is over. But I’ve asked Cherie to extend it until the 24th. Just mention my name when you sign up. Looking forward to meeting you there in person!

http://www.rawfoodchef.com/events/rawFoodsExpo.html
 

- In this issue

- What’s Wrong With Wheatgrass?

- Questions from the readers (that’s you!)

Dear raw-food enthusiast,

I hope that you’re enjoying the summer. Here in Eastern Canada we don’t have a summer at all. If the planet is truly warming up, somehow this spot must have been left out because it feels more like October than July!

But it’s perfect temperature for running and so I’m not complaining.

I also had the chance to visit the beautiful country of Thailand in June and bring back many good memories of the beautiful places I visited and great people I met. I’m still sorting through my pictures and videos and hopefully I’ll share some of them with you soon.

Our featured picture on the right is the “durian truck”, a common sight in the province of Chanthaburi about three hours south of Bangkok. I discovered this place thanks to my friend Harley “Durian Rider” (check out his wonderful forum at www.30bananasaday.com), where more durian is grown than anywhere in the world. As low as 50 cents a pound, we couldn’t complain.

A quick reminder: my friend Roger Haeske recently released an amazing program called the Savory Veggie Stews. If you think Green Smoothies were great, wait till you try this. This recipe system enabled me to totally eliminate my dinnertime salt and cooked cravings! After the Green Smoothie Revolution, I’m sure we’ll have a Veggie Stew revolution, thanks to this great new product by Roger. It’s launch week so you’re getting a better price if you order now, plus a bunch of freebies. Check it out here:

http://tinyurl.com/mjq7r4

Frederic

PS: Remember the price goes up almost every day during launch week, so the sooner you get it, the better.

http://tinyurl.com/mjq7r4

If you’re curious about the prices in the picture, $1 = 34 Baht, and prices are for one kilo (2.2 pounds).

“Who Else Wants to Watch Professional DVDs and Become Confident in the Kitchen With the Most Amazing, Simple and Delicious Low Fat Raw Recipes Ever?”

Watch the preview YouTube Video to get a peak at what’s inside this DVD series. For more information on the Low Fat Raw Vegan DVD Series, click here. On the video, click “HQ” after it has started for better quality.

To order the Low Fat Raw Vegan DVDs, click here.

The following except is taking from the Raw Vegan Mentor Club newsletter, a monthly printed newsletter I send to members of my Raw Vegan Mentor Club only. To learn more about this newsletter, go to www.fredericpatenaude.com/mentorclub.html

Wheatgrass: Nature’s Perfect Food?

Thanks to Dr. Graham for his help in helping me revise the latest version of this article.

Wheatgrass used to be the big “superfood” promoted by popular raw-food authors. Nowadays, you don’t hear much about it since they are too busy selling raw chocolate and other more lucrative items, but it’s more popular than ever in the mainstream.

Jamba Juice sells it.

You can find frozen wheatgrass juice in most health food stores and most of the popular raw food rejuvenation centers offer wheatgrass juice as part of their therapy.

Why would you want to drink such a nasty beverage?

Let’s look at the claims made by wheatgrass proponents one by one.

1-Chlorophyll

One of the big claims made about wheatgrass juice is that because it’s rich in chlorophyll, and that chlorophyll is similar to hemoglobin in structure, that somehow it helps “build your blood”, because hemoglobin is an important component of blood. Some authors have even claimed that the “only” difference between hemoglobin and chlorophyll is the center element, which is iron for hemoglobin and magnesium for chlorophyll.

What is chlorophyll? It’s of course the substance that converts sun energy into chemical energy through the process known as photosynthesis. Without this process, human life would not be possible! Only plants can make carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water.

Hemoglobin is a protein that transports oxygen into the red blood cells. It makes up about 35% of the blood. Without hemoglobin, human life would also not be possible. It transports oxygen from the lungs to every cell of the body that needs it.

So what’s the link between the two? They are certainly similar in structure, but with very important difference. The main difference is that hemoglobin is built around iron, while chlorophyll is built around magnesium. But to claim that the two molecules are easily interchangeable is really oversimplying things

We know that if you need iron, you cannot just take magnesium and expect your body to convert it like an alchemist would convert lead into gold.

Certain elements that help build the blood (such as iron, calcium, vitamin C, folic acid, etc.) are found abundantly in chlorophyll-containing foods such as green vegetables, so it’s easy to understand that these foods can have some benefits. But the claim that chlorophyll can be converted into hemoglobin is simply not supported by science.

Chrolophyll is not a necessary nutrient in human nutrition. Many populations throughout history have gone for years, or even decades on restricted diets of various foods that do not contain any chlorophyll (such as fruits, root vegetables, grains, etc.), with no apparent difficiency.

But the big misunderstanding about grass as part of the human diet is that we’re simply not grass-eating creatures. All of the various vitamins and minerals that are found in wheatgrass can be found in much more succulent and easily digestible fruits and v

2-Enzymes

Perhaps you should drink wheatgrass juice for enzymes?

First of all, the enzymes that are destroyed in the food are NOT the same enzymes that are required by your body to digest the food you’re eating.

For the sake of clarity, let’s define an enzyme. An enzyme is essentially a protein that helps make a specific chemical reaction occur.

Food enzymes are those found in foods, and their purpose is to carry out the chemical reactions necessary for the existence and life of the plant itself.

They are also destroyed by stomach acids upon ingestion by humans. Even if they could somehow survive the acidity in the stomach, these enzymes were designed for the plant. They helped the plant to grow, and would continue to help the plant carry out its life cycle. They play no part in the human digestive process.

The plant enzymes found in wheatgrass are in no way special. Lettuce and other vegetables contain the same enzymes.

3- Most Nutritious Food

The biggest claim about wheatgrass is that an ounce of wheatgrass juice is worth more than 2 pounds of fresh green vegetables. Is this true? Let’s see how this claim stands scrutiny.

Below you’ll find the nutritional data (taken from USDA databases) for one ounce of wheatgrass juice, compared to 2 pounds of two different vegetables. I threw in the typical carrot in there, just to see, even though it’s not a green vegetable.You’ll find that your typical ounce of wheatgrass juice is nowhere close to replacing the 2 pounds of vegetables, as wheatgrass promoters have claimed.

Wheatgrass Juice (1 ounce)

Vitamin E, 880 mcg (that’s “microgram” not milligram)
Betacarotene,120 IU
Vitamin C, 1 mg.
Vitamin B12, 0.30 mcg (that’s “microgram” again)
Magnesium, 8 mg.
Calcium, 7.2 mg.
Iron, 0.66 mg.
Potassium, 42 mg.

Raw Spinach (2 pounds)

Vitamin E, 18400 mcg.  (I converted to micrograms, for easier comparison)
Betacarotene, 85,066. IU
Vitamin C, 254.9 mg.
Vitamin B12, none
Magnesium, 716.7 mg.
Calcium, 898.1 Mg.
Iron, 24.6 mg.
Potassium, 5,062.1 mg.

Raw Carrots (2 pounds)

Vitamin E, 6000 mcg.  (I converted to micrograms, for easier comparison)
Betacarotene, 152,506 IU
Vitamin C, 53.5
Vitamin B12, none
Magnesium, 108.9 mg.
Calcium, 299.4 Mg.
Iron, 2.7 mg.
Potassium, 2,903.0 mg.

This was just an except of my monthly newsletter. The same issue also contained a complete description of detoxification, how it works, what to expect, what to avoid, and more description of other symptoms. If you liked it, learn more about subscribing at www.fredericpatenaude.com/mentorclub.html

Eating Olives

Hi Frederic! I really enjoyed reading your “Raw Secrets” book. What do you think of eating olives? Do olives have a high nutritional value? Some of the gourmet olives taste great although they use too much salt so I usually soak the olives in water and rinse them before eating to reduce the salt. I like olives, but I am just concerned about the excess salt. Since olives are also high in fat, how many do you recommend eating for one serving? Thanks.

ANSWER: I don’t recommend olives, except as an occasional exception. Olives are quite inedible when picked right from the tree, and must be cured and preserved in salt. That makes them quite unhealthy in the first place.

I also know that some people sell sun-dried, salt-free olives. I personally find them bitter as hell and am not attracted to eat them at all. But if you like them, you can certainly enjoy a few (maybe 6-12) with a salad meal. But remember, they should be sundried and salt-free. Maybe if you try them in that state you’ll come to the same conclusion I did, which is that they’re nothing special!

How Much Protein is Enough?

Frederic, I have just received your lesson 3 about protein…that surprised me more than anything so far. I am just curious how you came to this conclusion of less than 6% protein is optimal. I tried to remove proteins from my meals and I felt miserable because I fell eating too much starch and weakening my bodies. An ND told me because I am a blood type O+, I had to have my daily proteins!!…suggesting to go back to meat. Because I am vegetarian, I refused to eat meat no matter what….

ANSWER: 6% of protein in total calories consumed is plenty, for the following reasons:

1.    Human milk only contains 6% protein (by calories). We know that babies are growing fast and need more protein than adult. So there is no reason to think we would need more protein than a growing baby.
2.    Vegetarian and fruitarian animals on the planet all eat a low-protein diet and yet build tremendous strength and muscle.
3.    Proteins in fruits and vegetables are of higher quality than proteins in grains or beans. They contain all necessary amino acids and are not processed, cooked or coagulated by heat. Therefore, they are easy to assimilate.

In the 11 years I’ve been on a raw diet, I’ve never known any raw-foodist with a true protein deficiency.

However, I’ve met plenty of people who consumed too little food and wasted away, in addition to suffering from many deficiency-related problems.

It’s essential to consume enough calories to meet your needs. If you do that, you’ll automatically get enough protein, along with most necessary nutrients (one exception is Vitamin B12. I recommend supplementing for that).

As for the blood type diet, I have debunked it many times, in details in my program the Raw Health Starter Kit.

Do you find it easy to eat raw during the daytime, but find that when dinner comes, you’re tired of just eating fruit and you’re craving something more substantial and savory?

If you do, you’re not alone!

Dinnertime is a very difficult part of the day to stay raw.

I used to have this problem for years.

Breakfast was easy, I just had my favorite smoothie or fresh fruit.
Lunch was also easy, once I learned how to eat enough bananas and fruit to sustain myself for the day.

But dinner has always been hard, until recently (keep reading to discover how I beat those cravings using a special recipe).

First of all, I’ve never really liked salads without salt or vinegar.

Sure, you can make a dressing of mango and tomato, but it quickly gets boring after a while.

Starting the dinner with fruit helps… but after the fruit I was always craving something more. I missed the savory flavors I used to enjoy every day.

When I tried to make a big salad with avocado (or other types of fat) spices, salt and seasonings… I was satisfied, but I also felt bad the next day, with low energy due to the excess fat, and thirst due to the salt.

Plus… that satisfaction only lasted an hour or so, and soon after I was craving something else.

So for a long time my best compromise was to eat some cooked vegetables and starches, instead of the high fat dinner, but it still wasn’t optimal.

Once I started experimenting with having more fruit at dinner, my body was satisfied… but I was still deeply missing that savory taste, and the spinach salad just didn’t do it for me.

Then one day, my friend Roger Haeske told me about a recipe he’d been making for years. He called it the Savory Veggie Stew, a type of blended salad.

He told me that he loved this recipe so much that he had it every night, and had become an expert at making them over the years, after making thousands of them.

He has literally refined the recipe into a formula that he claimed eliminated his salt and cooked food cravings forever.

I was quite skeptical, because I knew how to make a blended salad, and I also knew it’s not the type of recipe I would make every night.

When I told him about my blended salad recipe and the fact that I put avocado, he almost laughed and told me that his Savory Veggie Stew was completely different. He didn’t add any fat in it at all.

I was still skeptical, but I decided to give it a try.

He told me how to make the recipe, and even though I thought it was a lot of food to blend at once (after all it included more vegetables than I typically eat in a day), I gave it a try.

I was completely blown away!

Roger was completely right. The Savory Veggie Stew completely eliminated my cravings for salt and heavy dinners.

It was so satisfying that I started making this recipe every night.

I never got tired of it!

Suddenly, it made staying raw 100% easier and possible.

So what’s the recipe? Essentially, it involves blending vegetables with non-sweet fruit, but it’s not a green smoothie. In fact, it doesn’t really taste like a green smoothie because we include vegetable-like fruit like tomato and even spices.

It’s far from being a green smoothie, and much more satisfying at dinnertime.

My basic recipe used four ingredients: spinach, celery, tomato, and mango, with a few additional veggies thrown in.

But then I got to try Roger’s version, and I realized I still had a lot to learn from him. His was so much better!

Over the years he’s made these stews over 10,000 times, so he’s refined the process into an absolute science.

He’s created a ton of variations, included "Tex-Mex" and "Thai" ethnic versions.

And by the way, if you think you’ll get bored eating yet another blended recipe, keep in mind that it’s not just a soup, but a "stew", so you actually have vegetables and foods to crunch.

Oh, and did I mention that it’s 100% low-fat, savory and delicious?

When Roger visited me last winter in Costa Rica, I pressured him to release this recipe (or shall I say this "lifestyle") in a video or a book. He said he was working on it.

Well, that was 6 months ago, and now I’m really excited that Roger has finally released this program.

For those of you who still crave savory things and cooked food at dinner time, you’ll love it. Check it out here:

http://tinyurl.com/mjq7r4

Even if you’re 100% happy with the raw food diet, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this dinner a lot more than the one you’re currently having.

This week Roger is pre-releasing this program. That means that instead of paying $67, you’ll pay much less.

But, because this is a pre-release, the price will keep increasing this week. So the more you wait, the more you pay. Or the sooner you get it, the less you’ll pay.

For instance the lowest price of all will only be available to the first 20 people to download the program.

Either way, he’s adding a bunch of bonuses, including other killer dinner recipes, and more.

http://tinyurl.com/mjq7r4

I rarely recommend other people’s products (mostly because I don’t believe in what they sell), but this one is different.

I am endorsing it 100% because I’m a believer in the Savory Veggie Stews. I got rid of my cooked food and salt cravings with them… and so can you. Check it out and make sure you grab your copy right now to get the lowest price possible. The price will be increasing not just daily but at any time during the day:

http://tinyurl.com/mjq7r4

Yours for health and success,

Frederic

PS: Again, this is a completely different recipe system than the "green smoothies". Green smoothies are great during the day, but who wants to have a green smoothie for dinner? The Savory Veggie Stews handles the desire to eat something savory and satisfying, while at the same time be low in fat.

PPS: Remember during the pre-release the price is lowered, but each day you wait it will increase. Get it now:

http://tinyurl.com/mjq7r4

PPPS: I promise you that after you’ve had your first Savory Veggie Stew you’ll laugh at all of these high-fat, high-salt recipes, because you’ll get more satisfaction AND you’ll feel great after eating it. This could be a complete revolution in the raw movement:

http://tinyurl.com/mjq7r4

 

- Symptoms of Transition

Symptoms of Transition to a Raw Food Diet

The following except is taking from the November issue of my Raw Vegan Mentor Club newsletter, a monthly printed newsletter I send to members of my Raw Vegan Mentor Club only. To learn more about this newsletter, go to www.fredericpatenaude.com/mentorclub.html

Symptoms of Transition

Let’s take a look at some of the symptoms that you could experience when transitioning to a raw food diet.

Some of these symptoms can appear simply by switching from a typical, high-fat raw food diet to a low-fat diet such as the one I promote.

Let’s review these symptoms one by one, understand them, and know what to do about them, if anything needs to be done at all.

Sleeping More

If you find yourself needing more sleep when you switch to a low-fat raw food diet, it’s probably a normal response from cutting many stimulants. In other words, you’re catching up on sleep debt you didn’t even realize you had.

You want to make sure however that you’re not eating too much fat or nuts and seeds. Analyze your diet to make sure that you’re not above 10% by calories.

If that’s not the case and you still need more sleep, get all the sleep you can, even if it’s 10-12 hours a day. After a month or two you will stabilize to your normal levels.

Also remember that increasing your fitness will increase your sleep requirements.

Sleeping Less (Insomnia)

The opposite, common problem is suffering from slight insomnia when first going raw.

I recommend going with the flow and not forcing any sleep you don’t feel you need.

If you’re truly tired because you were not able to get enough sleep and couldn’t fall asleep, I suggest the following:

-    Make sure you’re eating enough calories. Undereating can cause insomnia.
-    Avoid mild stimulants such as vinegar or spices.

From my experience, this mild insomnia can also be caused by muscle recovery. For example, if you haven’t exercise in a while and suddenly start to go to the gym to lift some weights, you might have trouble sleeping at night because of the stress you’ve recently put your system through. So go progressively.

Depression

Generally, a sudden depression after a diet change can be caused by quitting stimulants such as coffee or alcohol.

Make sure you’re not making major mistakes with your diet and know that this will pass very soon.

If you don’t feel better after a week or two, there might be something else going on.

Constipation

Some individuals may experience a stubborn constipation after changing to a low-fat raw food diet. It’s generally not common.

But if that happens to you, the best advice I can give you is what Dr. Shelton used to say to his patients:

“Do your job and let your intestines do theirs.”

In other words, leave your intestines alone and don’t try to hasten the process with an enema, laxative or colonic.

I’ve know a few people who became constipated after eating only fruit. In one case it lasted over 10 days.

But I told them to be patient and in every single case the constipation was resolved on its own.

Contrary to common belief, constipation has never killed anyone. If try to overcome it with a laxative or enema you will only create bigger problems down the road.

Headaches

Headaches are generally caused by suddenly quitting stimulants like caffeine. But even just an important diet change can also cause headaches.

If it’s a mild headache, spend as much time resting as possible, drink water and stay on the program. It will go away.

If the pain is unbearable, you can take a pain-killer like aspirin. You should only need to take it once though. If you stay on the program, the headaches won’t come back.

Low Energy

This is a pretty common and normal transition symptom, as long as it doesn’t last more than a couple weeks.

If you are constantly tired for a longer period, it could be because of the following reasons:

-    You’re not consuming enough food. Track your calories and make sure you are getting more than enough.
-    You’re consuming too much fat. Track your meals at www.fitday.com and make sure you are not over 10% fat by calories.

Cravings

There are two types of cravings you might experience. The first one is the mild, psychological craving where you’re basically physically satisfied, but your mind wanders and you start being tempted to try something different.

This is purely psychological and perfectly normal after decades of eating in a certain ways.

In future issues and in our bonus features (see the website for one great new feature this month), we’ll give you plenty of strategies on how to deal with the psychological aspects of cravings.

The second type of craving is a strong, physical desire to eat practically anything. This simply won’t go away.

This generally means that you’re not consuming enough calories or in the wrong ratio (too much fat and not enough carbs).

If you’re craving cooked carbs such as potatoes, bread, sandwiches and pasta; it means you are not eating enough carbohydrates.

If you’re craving very heavy, fatty or protein-rich foods like hamburgers, fried chicken or anything of that nature; it means you’re are severely undereating. You need to start counting calories and making sure you are getting enough.

This was just an except of my monthly newsletter. The same issue also contained a complete description of detoxification, how it works, what to expect, what to avoid, and more description of other symptoms. If you liked it, learn more about subscribing at www.fredericpatenaude.com/mentorclub.html