XamDevesh
12-10-2009, 06:05 PM
Hey everyone, I'm a budding raw chef, instructor, blogger and entrepreneur. I'm 21 years old and my health journey started with Yoga, ultimately.
As far as food goes, here's my story: I grew up on the SAD (Standard American Diet) and had all kinds of problems - ranging from IBS (irritable bowl syndrome)/coeliac's disease to heavy acne as a teenager. I thought all this was normal but I was smart enough to realize that there was SOME connection between what I ate and what came out the other end!
At the age of 17 my grandmother decided to quit wheat gluten. I didn't realize that this might be genetic until two years later at the age of 19 when I really started on a spiritual path and taking myself, my body and my health seriously. I quit wheat gluten too - just to try it out. I felt better, but not very noticeably. After 3 weeks I ate a tiny 1/2" by 1/2" piece of bread to see what would happen. I was very aware in meditation after eating it. I felt it enter my stomach, explode and coalesce into a ball 4x the size.
That got me thinking...
Shortly after I started dating a girl who was lactose intolerant. I asked her "What happens when you eat dairy products?" And she replied to me "I break out and have bad digestion." I quit dairy and sure enough, all my acne disappeared quite literally over night.
Now I'm like, "Wait a minute, maybe there IS something to this 'You are what you eat' stuff."
I started going raw with my mom a little bit - as much as we could with no support other than each other. We didn't make it very far, but later on I met one of my now best friends - Sara. And she showed me the way. She showed me that you could be raw and STILL have the wonderful foods.
Having grown up with a culinary background as a chef/cook for most of my working career my creativity was naturally inspired by this new way to make food. I started developing my own recipes and sharing them with others. I've been prodded and prodded and supported to start teaching raw workshops and have since been educating myself heavily on the raw foods lifestyle.
Now I have a raw partner, a fledgling business, a raw recipes & advice blog and I'm holding regular workshops and potlucks out of my house in Asheville, NC - taking over for Philip McCluskey who just moved back up to NYC.
About my personal philosophy and approach to raw foods? Well, I'm 95% - on purpose. I don't believe you can get all the necessary nutrition from a raw foods diet. Over the past 6000 years (no small chunk of time, mind you) we've been cooking food. It's only over the past 50-100 that we've been heavily processing it and making it poison. However, I believe that cooked grains such as Quinoa, Millet and non-GMO, heirloom rice are beneficial as well as cooked lentils/split peas. And they're especially wonderful for the winter season.
This is my raw journey, and I'm happy to share it with others!!
As far as food goes, here's my story: I grew up on the SAD (Standard American Diet) and had all kinds of problems - ranging from IBS (irritable bowl syndrome)/coeliac's disease to heavy acne as a teenager. I thought all this was normal but I was smart enough to realize that there was SOME connection between what I ate and what came out the other end!
At the age of 17 my grandmother decided to quit wheat gluten. I didn't realize that this might be genetic until two years later at the age of 19 when I really started on a spiritual path and taking myself, my body and my health seriously. I quit wheat gluten too - just to try it out. I felt better, but not very noticeably. After 3 weeks I ate a tiny 1/2" by 1/2" piece of bread to see what would happen. I was very aware in meditation after eating it. I felt it enter my stomach, explode and coalesce into a ball 4x the size.
That got me thinking...
Shortly after I started dating a girl who was lactose intolerant. I asked her "What happens when you eat dairy products?" And she replied to me "I break out and have bad digestion." I quit dairy and sure enough, all my acne disappeared quite literally over night.
Now I'm like, "Wait a minute, maybe there IS something to this 'You are what you eat' stuff."
I started going raw with my mom a little bit - as much as we could with no support other than each other. We didn't make it very far, but later on I met one of my now best friends - Sara. And she showed me the way. She showed me that you could be raw and STILL have the wonderful foods.
Having grown up with a culinary background as a chef/cook for most of my working career my creativity was naturally inspired by this new way to make food. I started developing my own recipes and sharing them with others. I've been prodded and prodded and supported to start teaching raw workshops and have since been educating myself heavily on the raw foods lifestyle.
Now I have a raw partner, a fledgling business, a raw recipes & advice blog and I'm holding regular workshops and potlucks out of my house in Asheville, NC - taking over for Philip McCluskey who just moved back up to NYC.
About my personal philosophy and approach to raw foods? Well, I'm 95% - on purpose. I don't believe you can get all the necessary nutrition from a raw foods diet. Over the past 6000 years (no small chunk of time, mind you) we've been cooking food. It's only over the past 50-100 that we've been heavily processing it and making it poison. However, I believe that cooked grains such as Quinoa, Millet and non-GMO, heirloom rice are beneficial as well as cooked lentils/split peas. And they're especially wonderful for the winter season.
This is my raw journey, and I'm happy to share it with others!!