Frederic Patenaude Raw Foods Diet

There is a myth currently being spread in the raw food movement , hurting people as it goes.

It is the myth of overeating.

The myth of overeating goes like this:

- The cause of all diseases is overeating

- Even when people eat raw, they still overeat, therefore that’s why they don’t do as great as they expected

- Try to eat less and less, and you will feel better. Eventually, you might even need to eat only tiny amounts of food, because your body is utilizing the calories better. Who knows, one day you might even become a breatharian, living on nothing but air?

Someone recently forwarded me a link from a popular raw food forum, where a raw-food author criticized my recent article on “Why I’m Mad at a Raw Food Movement.”

The funny thing is that he didn’t want to say my name, but gave away the name of my book. Not so subtle…

In any case, the entire conversation revolved around overeating.

The author in question blamed me for promoting a diet that includes a lot of fruit, and said that under no circumstance should you eat 4 bananas in one meal, because that would be “overeating” and therefore “bad”.

Of course, nowhere in the article was “overeating” defined. So why not start there?

Here are several definitions I have found for overeating:

-    gluttony: eating to excess (personified as one of the deadly sins)

-    Overeating can refer either to eating too much at one time, or to eating too much on average.

-    Gluttony, the act of eating to excess (either to discomfort or more than required for proper health)

So basically, overeating is simply eating more than what the body needs to maintain proper health, or eating too much at one sitting, and therefore going over the digestive capabilities of the body.

So if everybody agrees that overeating is simply eating “too much”, then maybe we should figure out “how much” we need to eat, in order to know what’s overeating and what’s not.

Why Calories Are Important

The most important element we get from the foods we eat is energy, or calories. That comes in the form of carbohydrates, fats or protein.

Then of course our food provides us with the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that we need.

The calorie concept is still extremely valid even when we analyze raw food nutrition. Why? Because it is a fairly accurate evaluation of the amount of food a person needs to eat every day to meet her needs.

A calorie is simply a unit of energy. Because our cells need simple sugars to live, there is certainly a certain amount of energy that we need to get from our food every day. If we go under this amount, the body will break down its own fat reserves to meet its needs. If we go over this amount, the body will accumulate fat reserves for the future.

It’s best if you think of calories as simply “energy”.

The amount of energy (calories) that a person needs every day will vary greatly according to these basic factors:

-    Height, weight and muscle mass (each pound of muscles requires an additional 25 calories per day to “maintain”)
-    Gender (men will generally need more calories than women)
-    Activity levels (athletes need more calories than sedentary persons)

There are many ways to calculate how many calories you need per day. You can use simple calculators (for example, at www.fitday.com) to figure out your basic metabolic rate (the number of calories you need every day, without any physical activity).

You can even go to a gym and step on a special machine that will measure your body fat, your muscle mass, and your basic metabolic rate.

So you will get a certain number, for example: 1500 calories per day.

That will be your minimum to maintain your weight and muscle mass. Then you will need to add on top of that any physical activity you have for the day, and add in calories for that.

An easy but imprecise way to figure this out is to simply take your ideal weight, and multiply it by 10.

That’s your basic rate.

Then add to that basic activities (walking, working, etc.), and fitness training (running, yoga, etc.)

The online fitness calculators can help you figure out these numbers.

In general, a fit and active woman who doesn’t need to lose any weight will want to eat around 2000 to 2500 calories per day.

A fit man will probably want to eat anywhere from 2500 to 3500 calories per day.

If you have three meals per day, that means each meal could be between 600 and 1500 calories each.

-    One banana is 100 calories.
-    One apple about 60.
-    One large mango: about 150 calories
-    One avocado: about 250 calories (mostly coming from fat)

So if “overeating” is simply eating more than your body needs, why would it be “overeating” to eat 8 bananas at one sitting?

Is there any logical reason to think that this might be “too much”, other than the irrational fear of fruit?

8 bananas gives you about 800 calories. If a person has three 800 calorie-meals per day, they will get 2400, which is about what the average person needs.

But can you digest 8 bananas at one sitting?

Although this may seem like a lot of food for someone new to the raw diet, the body has the ability to digest a fairly large amount of fruit. It’s easy to see from how light you feel, even after a fairly large meal, and how easy it is to digest it.

So if your body needs it… and you can digest it, is it overeating? Absolutely not.

Undereating is the Real Problem

There is certainly a problem with “overeating” in the raw food movement, but it’s not what our raw-food author thinks.

The real “overeating” problem is the excess of fat, in the form of avocados, nuts, seeds, oils — which almost every raw foodist eats in rather large quantities, because they are not used to eating appropriate amounts of fruits and vegetables.

As they are overeating on these foods, which the body only needs in small quantities, they are also “undereating” on the real nutrient-rich foods: water-rich fruits and vegetables.

What tends to happen is a pattern of “undereating” on small, insufficient meals of fruits and vegetables, followed by binges on nuts, seeds and fats to compensate on the lack of calories.

For example, a lot of raw foodists eat ridiculously small quantities of food in one sitting, leaving them malnourished and hungry.

For example: a small salad containing lettuce, dressings, and a few fruits.

A few hours later, they are hungry… but they’re also afraid of overeating, so they try to eat this ridiculous small meals again. Eventually, the caloric deficit becomes so great that they binge on a 3000-calorie meal to compensate.

Stop These Anorexic Behaviors!

With a normal, cooked, Standard American Diet, high in fat and salt, it doesn’t take a lot of food to reach your maximum number of calories per day.

In other words… the food doesn’t weigh a lot, but is rich in calories.

So because of that, we’ve been accustomed to exercise a certain restrain when it comes to eating, because we know from experience that eating a large amount of food leads to digestive problems and weight gain.

That’s because the food is dense in calories. But another problem with it is that it’s also has a low nutrient density. For the same amount of calories, you get fewer vitamin, minerals and anti-oxidant.

With fruits and vegetables, it’s completely different.

The food is low in calories, but nutrient dense.

A pound of food doesn’t contain a lot of calories, but for the same amount of calories, it contains more vitamins, minerals and other nutrients than any other food!

Therefore… you have to eat more! And at the same time, you are better nourished.

For example, let me show you how you could get 2000 calories on a Standard American Diet:

BREAKFAST:

-    3 medium pancakes, whole wheat
-    1 cup of orange juice
-    1 sliced pear
-    3 Tbs. fruit jam

LUNCH:

-    1 mixed salad
-    3 Tbs. salad dressing
-    1 roll
-    4 ounces tuna fish
-    1 apple

DINNER:

-    Plate of spaghetti with sauce
-    No dessert

Now let’s take a look at the “raw” equivalent, while keeping our fat percentage fairly low.

BREAKFAST:

-    Smoothie made with 6 medium bananas, 1 apple, 3 cups of spinach

LUNCH:

-    5  big mangoes eaten with celery and lettuce leaves

DINNER:

-    Large salad with ½ avocado, three large tomatoes, and an entire head of lettuce
-    2 cups of freshly squeezed orange juice

So… what’s your reaction when you compare the amount of food in the first, pretty Spartan menu, and the second raw, low-fat menu.

It’s a lot more food! In fact, most people when they look at the first menu, will think they will starve on that amount of food. There are no desserts and no snacks, and the amounts are pretty normal.

Yet on the second menu, most people will think they cannot possibly eat all of that!

But the amazing thing is that both menus provide the same number of calories… with important differences.

Let’s take a look at the nutritional analysis for the first menu:

Now let’s take a look at the food from the second menu:

Here are some important differences:

-    The raw menu contains 4.5 times the vitamin A, twice the vitamin B, almost twice the vitamin E, 50% more copper,
-    Both contain the same amount of calcium (which is still adequate), almost the same iron
-    The cooked menu contains twice the fat
-    The cooked menu contains an amazing 4172 mg. of sodium, compared to less than 200 on the raw menu (which isn’t completely accurate because I didn’t add in the celery). The official recommendations for health are now less than 1500 Mg. per day!

Overall, it is clear that the raw diet is more nutritious, and also more balanced. Actually, I was a little lazy and didn’t put all the greens in. The actual values are even higher than what’s being shown.

And an interesting fact: the raw diet contains more than twice the natural water, even without adding any liquids. With a lower sodium content, this makes the raw diet clearly more hydrating.

BOTTOM LINE:

-    Fruits and vegetables contain more nutrition PER CALORIE. However, it is still necessary to consume enough food to meet your needs.

-    Overeating is consuming more food than your body needs or your body can digest. If you eat enough to meet your needs, you won’t be overeating.

-    A big problem in the raw food movement is NOT overeating, but rather UNDEREATING fruits and vegetables and overeating concentrated fats.

By the way, if that seems like too much food for you, don’t worry. You can eat more often at first.

ANSWER TO QUESTIONS:

Doesn’t eating raw foods require fewer calories?

Because fruits and vegetables are easy to digest, they do require less energy (calories) digest. However, This difference is probably less than 5%. Because raw-foodists tend to have more energy, they will easily increase their exercise and activity by at least that much, so in the end they require the same amount of calories or more than the average person.

How many meals should you eat every day?

Ideally, 2 or 3. But initially, to make it easier to consume a large volume of fruits and vegetables, you can eat 4 to 5 times. Overtime, you’ll be able to make larger meals that will last you several hours, without any digestive issues.

Why did every experiment on life extension found that restricting caloric intake was the only was to lengthen life?

All experiments on caloric restriction were done on animals such as rats, who have a short lifespan. Laboratory rats are not fed their normal foods that they found in the wild, and are not as active as well. So feeding them 30% less of the toxic, artificial food they normally received extended their lives. The same would happen if you would cut by 30% the food intake of the average American.

However, eating a natural diet of fruits and vegetables is completely different. Eating an adequate amount of it will not shorten your lifespan.

The greatest proof that caloric restriction doesn’t work is the fact that almost all life extension specialists end up living an average or below average lifespan.

Is it a sin to eat at night or before going to bed?

Ideally, you want to leave a few hours from your last meal until your bedtime. However, it is not necessary to avoid eating at night completely. To improve your digestion, exercising before meals will do a lot more than avoiding eating at nighttime.

If for whatever reason, your schedule only allows you to have a dinner rather late in the day, you’ll still be fine. Just make sure that last meal is low in fat and easy to digest.

In any case, lunch should be the largest meal of the day.

“Confused About How To Get Started On The Raw Diet?”

Get started with the most complete resource kit available! Kickstart your health, and find out exactly how you can use the power of raw foods to experience: -Boundless energy -Detox and rejuvenation -Reach your ideal weight. Click here to find out more.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about organic v. non-organic raw foods. You’ve been asking me what does *organic* really mean. Organic simply means that fruits and vegetables are grown without using pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, bioengineered organisms, or ionizing radiation. The U.S. government, like many others, has set up a certification system so that, before anything can be labeled “organic,” a government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant also must be certified.

Organic foods are produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to preserve the environment. Converting land to organic status is a three-year process. There is a two-year conversion process that requires building up the natural fertility of the land. Produce grown in the first year cannot be labeled as organic. In the second year, produce may be stated as “In Conversion”. It is not until the third year that produce may be labeled as fully organic.

Well, this all sounds good, but now you should be asking how that affects the quality and prices of the raw foods you are buying.

Well, unfortunately, the answer seems to be *it depends* — there aren’t any studies that say that organic raw foods definitely are better than non-organic, though researchers found that organic tomatoes have higher levels of phytochemicals and vitamin C than conventional tomatoes. But, the truth is sometimes it’s not worth paying extra for organic. For example, with fruits that have a thick inedible skin, like bananas or oranges, studies have shown that applied pesticides do not get through the skin to the edible portions.

But there are times when you should spend the extra money for organic, especially when feeding your babies and children certain fruits and vegetables. Children’s developing bodies are especially vulnerable to toxins, and they may be at risk for higher exposure if the produce has been treated with pesticides and fertilizers. Baby food is often made up of condensed fruits or vegetables, potentially concentrating pesticide residues.

And, with certain fruits and vegetables, even though washing and rinsing them may reduce the levels of some pesticides, it does not eliminate them. Peeling also reduces exposures, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the peel. So, with these raw foods, you should try to buy organic for your entire family: apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, red raspberries, spinach, and strawberries. The USDA’s own lab testing revealed that, even after washing, some fruits and vegetables consistently carry much higher levels of pesticide residue than others. Nectarines especially retain high levels of pesticide residue. Peaches and red raspberries also often are exposed to the most different kinds of pesticides. Celery and spinach often carry pesticides as well. Check out www.foodnews.org for more information on pesticide levels for other types of raw foods.

Okay, I’m getting a little belligerent, but here’s my opinion of yoga: yoga is a great physical and spiritual practice, but not a complete exercise it itself!

Don’t turn into a yoga “wimp”.

My tip for today is:

“Whether you’re a man or a woman, whether you’re young or old, lift weights for building strength.”

If you don’t already lift weights, you should start.

The benefits are numerous:

- Weight lifting will energize you, add functional strength that you can use
- It will improve your posture and reduce your risks of osteoporosis
- It will improve your balance and coordination
- It will improve your immune system and make you less prone to low-back injuries
- It will improve your digestion, your resting heart rate, your muscular endurance
- It will help you look younger, and help you burn more calories when you’re at rest (more muscles burs more calories!)
- It will improve your confidence and may your daily activities easier

And that’s not to speak of the cosmetic aspects!

Don’t start thinking that you will look like the pictures of ”Hulk” in the magazines… that’s very unlikely unless you train specifically for that!

Now… when I say weight lifting, I actually mean lifting actual weights, not just your body.

Although bodyweight exercises are great, and I really recommend them, I think everybody needs to actually pump some iron if they want to increase their strength.

Bodyweight exercises mostly build your muscular endurance.

Weight lifting builds your strength.

In theory, you could design some body weight exercises that can also build your strength… but those are too challenging for the average person.

Can you reasonably expect to do a “handstand pushup” (which means you’ll have to stand on hands, against a wall, and push up)?

That’s the way to build strength on your shoulders using body weight exercises only.

But with weight training, you only have to lift a weight above your shoulders to achieve the same benefits. So this is much more accessible to most people.

Don’t think you need any special equipment to start weight lifting, or any expensive gym membership!

All you need are a set of dumbells. Overtime, you can purchase heavier ones or buy a set of adjustable dumbells (If you can save for it… I recommend the best in the world… the Powerblock, a http://www.powerblock.com)

Then you also need an adjustable bench.

And that’s it! That’s all you need to get started.

Of course, you also need to know what exercises to do.

For that, you can learn the routines from a friend. You can buy a book on the subject (a good eBook I recommend can be found at: http://fredraw.westy04.hop.clickbank.net/)

All you have to do is to train for about 30 minutes three times a week, and you will build more strength!

Remember, this is important especially as you get older, and especially if you’re a woman (although men need it too!), because typically women and old people tend to avoid strength-building activities.

So start getting stronger now!

Lots of people are wondering how they can get rid of a cold, or what foods they should eat to get rid of a cold or avoid getting one in the first place.

The truth is, there are thousands of remedies for getting rid of a cold. If you ask 100 people what’s the best way to get rid of a cold, you’re most likely going to get 100 completely different responses. Yet, almost every single remedy is claimed to be the best one.

In reality, there is actually no remedy for the common cold. There’s no pill or even herb that you can take that will get rid of your cold, but there are some simple things you can do to make sure you don’t get one in the first place, and if you do “catch” one, that you heal as soon as possible.

1- Get enough rest. The best way to make sure you don’t get a cold is to get enough rest. Lack of sleep will weaken your immune system. So if you feel a cold coming, go to bed! Avoid going out and get plenty of rest.

If you have a cold and what to get rid of it… the best way is also to get enough rest. Sleep it off! In the end, it’s your body that is going through a healing period. There’s no food or remedy that you can give it to hasten the process. All you have to do is to rest as much as possible. Stay in bed all day if you can.

2-Drink Plenty of Water — That’s a no-brainer, but most people forget to do it. It will help the healing process tremendously.

3-Fast or Eat Only Light Fruits — The quickest way to get rid of a cold or to actually prevent from getting one (when you feel it coming) is to skip a few meals, drink plenty of liquid and stay in bed.

The energy required for digestion will be better used to heal your body.

Note that I’m recommending skipping a few meals, not to fast for weeks. Do that only if your doctor agrees.

A more practical thing to do is to eat a light diet of raw foods and juices for a few days, and stay in bed.

Raw foods are great, but if you want maximum benefits, you’ll want to avoid the following foods:

- Anything acid (oranges, lemons, pineapple, etc.). The acidity is not well supported by a weak person (and you’re weak when you get a cold)
- Anything too sweet (dates, dried fruits, bananas, etc.) — Too much sugar can “feed the fever”. Avoid anything overly sweet
- Anything fatty (avocados, oils, nuts, etc.) — These are too difficult to digest.

Instead, focus on eating very light and non acidic fruits and vegetables (apples, pears, papaya, melon, celery, romaine lettuce, etc.), with some juice (carrot/apple, for example).

In summary, the best way to get rid of a cold is to let Nature do her job, and get out of the way as much as possible by giving your body as much rest as possible, eating only very light foods, drinking plenty of fluids, and avoiding *remedies* which are all unproven and don’t really work.

I first go interested in the raw food diet by reading a very radical book by Arshavir Ter Hovanessian called “Raw Eating”.

The book actually has some great knowledge about raw foods, but its tone is too radical to be accepted by most people. However it’s written with an enthusiasm which is hard to match!

Here’s a quote from the book:

“Raw vegetable food should be the only nourishment taken by man. The habit of eating cooked food should be abandoned in this world once and for all. This is the unerring demand of nature. The consumption of cooked food is the most terrible barbarism in the history of mankind, a barbarism that no one seems to be aware of and to which everybody falls an unconscious victim. No matter how strange the idea may seem to some, it is the absolute truth with which we cannot but acquiesce.”

The author of Raw Eating had recovered from a terrible disease through the raw food diet and later spent the rest of his life promoting it through his book.

The diet of the author was very limited and consisted basically of the following:

Morning: Nothing

Lunch: Meal of fruit

Dinner: Large salad consisting of grated vegetables, sprouts, soaked dried fruits, herbs and olive oil

Snack: almonds mixed with honey, or other nuts mixed with honey or dried fruits.

I believe personally that Hovanessian’s diet worked well for himself, but would not work for most people. Hovanessian had lots of weight to lose, and therefore could afford to live on a very Spartan diet.

Is there some fruits and vegetables you should avoid, or are they all good for you? The surprising answer is that some vegetables are actually toxic. One of them is buckwheat sprouts. In the article below, you’ll understand why buckwheat sprouts should be avoided. Then, I’ll review some other fruits and vegetables we should watch for.

Are Buckwheat Greens Toxic?
By Gilles Arbour

The surprising answer is a clear and unequivocal YES. Due to the growing popularity of sprouts, in general, and a widespread ignorance as to the toxic dangers posed by buckwheat greens, specifically, many people are today suffering unnecessarily.

The basic problem with buckwheat greens is that they contain fagopyrin, a naturally occurring substance in the buckwheat plant. When ingested in sufficient quantity, fagopyrin is known to cause the skin of animals and people to become phototoxic, which is to say hypersensitive to sunlight. This condition, specifically known as fagopyrism, occurs when the ingested fagopyrin accumulates under the skin and is subsequently activated by sunlight, resulting in a toxic reaction within the skin. Typically, exposed areas of skin turn pink or red within minutes and a strong burning sensation accompanies the reaction. Within a few hours, the exposed areas usually appear to return to normal, however, continue to remain ultra-sensitive to cold water, hot water, and to friction. This sensitivity can last for days.

In addition to the burning sensation, people suffering from fagopyrism often complain of feeling a numb, fuzzy, and buzzing impression when they scratch or inadvertently hit their hands on something. Sufferers also report that their hands feel painfully cold when placed in cold water or when in contact with a cold object, even if only for a few seconds. Some have had numbing, itching, and tickling on the face, nose, and ears after sun exposure thus causing a desire to scratch the skin, thereby worsening the condition. The eyes may also become hypersensitive to light. If a large enough portion of the skin is exposed, one may experience dizziness. If a person is forced to remain in the sun for a long period of time, the skin may swell up and remain abnormal for up to several days.

You can read the whole article at http://www.gillesarbour.com/buckwheatArticle.php

Other “Dangerous” Raw Foods

Generally, fruits are not to be feared. They are much less likely to contain toxic components. We have to be careful with some vegetables, and also some rare fruits, including:

- Spinach & Other Greens Rich In Oxalic Acids — Spinach is a healthy food, but it contains a good quantity of oxalic acid. Oxalic acid, a chemical found in many plants. This substance binds with calcium to form calcium oxalate, an insoluble salt. Too much oxalic acid, in spinach for example, can be detrimental.

Here’s a useful table:

HIGH OXALIC ACID CONTENT (Be careful with those, don’t eat in large quantities):
Lambsquarters, beet leaves, purslane leaves, spinach, swiss chard (leaves & stalks), rhubarb, parsley, amaranth leaves, sorrel.

LOW OXALIC ACID CONTENT:
Dandelion greens, most fruits, kale, watercress, escarole, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, broccoli, tomatoes, asparagus, cabbage, and most greens not mentioned.

- Wild Mushrooms — It goes without saying that some wild mushrooms are extremely toxic.

- Acidic Fruits — Acidic fruits are not “toxic” per se, but the high acidity can be a problem when those fruits are consumed regularly and in large quantities. The problems come from the fact that the fruits are picked too green, and therefore contain much more acidity than they would if they had ripened on the plant. Some foods to watch out for include:

- Oranges
- Pineapple
- Tomatoes (yes!, a lot of people eat too many of those!)
- Grapefruit
- Lemons

It’s not a good idea to eat lemons, as some people do, or drink liters of freshly-squeezed orange juice. The best way to consume these fruits are as part of a smoothie or salad that includes other, less acidic fruits (such as pears, apples, etc.)

- Strong Herbs — Typically, anything that tastes bitter or strong has some toxin in it. If you can’t eat it on its own, you should watch out and only use a little.

- Wild Greens —  There’s a lot of tasty wild greens out there, but I wouldn’t recommend to pick them in massive quantities and adding them to your smoothies. These greens are much too strong to be eaten that way. Only use the edible varities and only have a small quantity at a time.

That covers it… Don’t be “afraid” of fruits and vegetables. They are all very good for you. But just be aware of the few ones we should consume with more caution.

Let’s face it, eating a healthy diet with lots and lots of fruits and vegetables DOES cost more money than living on rice, beans and potatoes. And with the higher cost of organic food, and the huge quantities of fruits and vegetables that are necessary to eat in order to be well nourished on a raw food diet, it’s no wonder that many people find this diet a little expensive.

However, when we keep things in perspective, eating a raw food diet ends up being no more expensive than eating a “good” diet that features eating out, drinking good wine and buying delicacies and special ingredients. However, eating raw is generally not a cheap diet unless you live in a tropical country where lots of fruits and vegetables are available at very low cost.

The good news is that you can dramatically cut down on your food bills by following the simple tips I’m going to share in this article.

How to Get Organic Food for Less

We all know that eating more organic food is one of the best things we can do to limit our exposure to pesticides and help the environment. However, due to the cost of organic fruits and vegetables, many people cannot afford to eat organic.

But what if I told you that you can get organic food at the *same* price that your health food store gets it at, or less!

The secret to spending less on food and at the same time have access to higher-quality food is to buy in larger quantities and cut the middleman.

By doing this you will save *at least* 30% on your food bill, if not more.

*Buy Boxes*

When you eat a mostly or completely raw food diet, you can no longer buy foods the way most people do, which is to go to a store and buy a few apples or bananas at a time. You have to stop doing that and buy food by the case.

First of all, you won’t waste any food since you WILL go through a case of food. Raw-food families will tell you they easily go through cases of food in no time, and even single people like me go through cases of food easily.

Second, it’s a lot cheaper to buy by the case. When I buy organic bananas by the case, I get the *same* price for these bananas that the health food stores get, which is the lowest price possible. So instead of paying $1.30 a pound for organic bananas, I pay around 65 cents a pound.

Everything is cheaper by the box, and another advantage is that you’ll have plenty of food. One of the main reasons why people fail on a raw food diet is that they don’t have *enough* food. They live on a starvation diet, or worse, they run out of food completely and end up eating junk!

Find a Distributor

In order to buy food by the case, you will have to find a distributor or a food co-op. Distributors or food co-ops will be different in each city, but generally, the process is the same.

You will likely have to drive to a larger town in order to get food directly from distributors, but as I have found, by buying larger quantities you won’t be wasting time going back and forth to the store several times a week.

I live in a small town and about once a week or less, I drive to the city in order to renew my supply of food.

Organic Food Distributors

The first type of distributor that you should look at are organic food distributors. Basically, those are the companies that health food stores deal with in order to get their food.

For example, in the Montreal area (and Quebec in general), the main distributor for organic food is called Distribue-Vie or SunOpta. In other cities, there are other distributors, but the idea is the same.

You can set up an account directly with them and cut the middleman. For example, when I was ordering with Distribue-Vie, they were sending me a price list once a week by e-mail. I would reply with my order, they would prepare it for me, and I’d go pick it up. I was able to order a case at a time or even half a case.

The good thing about this is that if you order in larger quantities, for a minimum of a few hundred dollars generally, they will deliver the order for you. If you can’t meet the minimum to get free delivery, all you have to do is pool with other folks who want organic foods, and ideally those who’ll eat them in large quantities.

To find the organic food distributors in your area either look in the Yellow Pages and/or ask the people who work at health food stores who their distributor is. Tell them you want to start a co-op. Then contact the distributors and ask them what you need to do to set up an account with them.

Produce Stores

In most cities, you’ll have to “supplement” your organic food supply with some commercial fruits and vegetables, since there isn’t a big enough variety of fruits sometimes.

The way to get great food at low cost is to go to certain produce stores. These stores are generally next to each other in an area where there’s a Farmers Market. They sell to restaurants and individuals, and can sell you cases at a time at a good price.

For example, in Montreal, near the big market called Jean-Talon, there are several such produce stores. I used to go all the time to a place called Leopoldo, where an Italian guy knows me.

The advantage of dealing with these merchants is that they’ll eventually get to know you and give you better deals on food, since you become a “great customer.” They’ll also let you know what their best stuff is each week.

Discovering Shangri-La

For many years, I dealt only with the resources I mentioned above. I would go to the organic food distributors, buy all my boxes of fruits and vegetables, then go to the market and buy more boxes of non-organic produce, and finally stop at the health food store to buy the few vegetables I couldn’t buy elsewhere in large enough quantities.

That was until I discovered another kind of distributor.

With the popularity of organic food, distributors of conventionally-grown foods now carry organic fruits and vegetables too. These distributors typically sell both organic and non-organic foods to produce stores. Supermarkets generally have their own distribution system.

This for me was the missing “link” – the place where many produce stores get their own food!

In Montreal there’s an area called the “Marché Central” – central market – which is not the Farmers Market, but a place where tons of distributors are located.

What I found out is that I could just walk into one of those distributors (I go to Gaetan Bono), and buy all the food I wanted without ever setting up an account with them!

The place is like a huge fridge, and there are cases and cases of fruits and vegetables. They have mostly commercially-grown food, but also organic.

The prices are lower than organic food distributors and lower than produce stores that sell by the case. For example, cases of organic bananas are $25 to $26, while the organic food store sells them at $29 to $30.

When I discovered this, it was like Shangri-La for a raw-food enthusiast!

To locate these distributors in your area, the process is the same: ask around, or look in the Yellow Pages.

By following the simple tips I have outlined in this article, you’ll be able to easily cut down your food bill by at least 30% while gaining access to better, fresher and more nutritious organic foods.

I’m going to be frank and honest with you, in a way that many “gurus” of raw foods and natural health never are. I’m not perfect with my diet and healthy lifestyle. Who is, anyway? But I am very committed to improving myself all the time, and learning from my mistakes, but also sharing the results of my experience with my readers.

So today I want to tell you about my “experiments” in the wonderful world of coffee and caffeine over the past years and especially of last year, and why I’ll never put that stuff into my body again.

My Little “Caffeine Background”

Growing up, I was never a soda drinker. My mom didn’t buy sodas, and when I did drink it, it was generally the brands that didn’t contain caffeine.

After high school, I enrolled in music school, and noticed that most of my friends in college started to drink coffee. I remember to give it a try one day, thinking it would improve my concentration while practicing.

Since I was not used to drinking coffee, it gave me an instant buzz. My heart was racing, and when I sat down to practice the guitar (I was practicing 5 hours a day at the time), I noticed that my hand was shacking! I certainly couldn’t practice like this, so I didn’t try coffee again.

Later a friend of mine told me that some Flamenco players drink a lot of coffee in order to be able to play in a very fast, jittery style. I remember thinking, “this doesn’t make sense! I couldn’t even play a arpeggio right when drinking the stuff!”

Later I got into raw and healthy foods, and so I wasn’t enticed to drink coffee (even though I met many raw-foodists who were fond of black espresso coffee).

I eventually slipped off when a girlfriend introduced me to the wonderful world of gourmet coffees: lattee (you could even order it with soy milk!), capuccinos, espresso, mokaccino, and so many more delicious combinations.

I instantly became a coffee fan. So I drank it occasionally for a number of years, but eventually gave it up, as I realized the stuff wasn’t doing me any good.

But for some reason last year, I started drinking coffee again. The old addiction came back! One day I woke up, had a cup of black coffee, was instantly hooked again, and drank it every day for months in a row!

I loved the buzz of caffeine, the taste of coffee, the so-called “enhanced mental clarity” and basically everything about it.

But as I quickly realized (and actually already knew, but I was fooling myself)… the “energy” you get from coffee is actually false energy. It’s sort of like borrowing from the bank… you later have to pay it back, with interest!

Little by little, I was drinking more coffee, and the negative effects showed. I was no longer waking up in the morning “happy and ready to meet the day”.

Rather, it was more that I was half-somatic until I put some java in my system again.

Even though coffee can make you very “active” and productive… like all stimulants, they lead to a crash. The subtle symptoms are depression, “the blues”… and just not feeling like yourself anymore.

I tried to blame it on stress.

I tried to blame it on a lot of stuff… because unconsciously, I’d love the idea that I could somehow still drink my morning coffee and be okay. Everything in moderation, right?

So I decided to give it up… for good! I had done that before, but this was the first time in my life that I was definitely drinking coffee on a regular basis.

I did the transition gradually, using Teeccino (a wonderful replacement you can find at: www.teeccino.com), but I would say it took me about 2-3 weeks to come back to my “normal self” with natural energy. That’s one of the reasons why people are NOT able to give up coffee: because of the withdrawal symptoms.

Of course, the system has to adjust. But there is no doubt that I DO feel much better now, without any caffeine in my system.

Now, let me answer a few questions you may have:

“Why did you drink coffee? I thought you were an advocate of raw foods and good health?”

Everyone has different things they “compromise” with, wherever they are in their path to health. I’m not going to judge anyone for that. It’s perfectly normal and human. I’m open about my own process so to me saying that I was drinking coffee even though I am advocating a mostly raw diet is not dishonest. I know plenty of so called “raw-foodists” who drink espresso coffee. I won’t name anyone but some are pretty big names in the raw-food “business”.

“What are some of the negative effects of caffeine?”

There are so many. Most people are familiar with the “caffeine headache”, but the list is actually much longer, and includes depression (which is contradictory but makes sense once you think about it).

For the full details, check out the article I published in my magazine Just Eat An Apple, “Coffee, the Great Energy Sapper”, where you will learn more about caffeine side effects and caffeine withdrawal symptoms.
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/articles/coffee.html

“If I go raw or go on a cleanse, should I also quit coffee?”

Yes! But not cold turkey. That’s a recipe for disaster. Do it gradually over three weeks, using the program at: http://www.teeccino.com/quitting.aspx

“If I have just one cup of coffee a day, is it still okay?”

I suggest you read the book “Caffeine Blues”. You’ll realize what negative effects a “cup” can really have on your system. I believe caffeine is best left out of the diet entirely. Try it for a month, and notice the difference (but give it at least a month!).

“What about the caffeine in green tea?”

Depending on the method of preparation and the type of tea, green tea can contain very little caffeine or actually quite a bit. If you prepare it from loose green leaves, and let it steep in near-boiling water for about 2-3 minutes, the caffeine content is small (about 15 mg. per cup, versus 80-140 for coffee).