Andrew Weil's raw food concerns answered

[RawFoodieMom]

Sharon, thanks for sharing this!

[greeninlosangeles]

Unfortunately money is very big temptation, so even if he doesn't think this way anymore, he won't say it, because his books are still making money...
Sorry to say, but the same goes for doctors and even raw food bussiness owners - even if they were against supplements before, after they get a store, they endorse them a lot, because supplements are the best money-take little space, shipping is cheap and prices are high!

[Eveleaf]

AW: By the way, I've gone to a few upscale raw food restaurants on the east and west coasts. The food was tasty but seemed to me very labor-intensive to prepare and contained way too many nuts.
in order to make their foods unique, artistic, and tasty.

This cracked me up, too! LMBO!

Eve says, "By the way, I've gone to a few upscale cooked food restaurants all over the US. The food was tasty but seemed to be very labor-intensive to prepare and contained WAY too much fat, salt, sugar, and empty calories in order to make their foods unique, artistic, and tasty."

LOLOLOL!! Imagine the degree of denial this doctor must be living in to have actually Made That Statement without realizing the perverse irony involved!

[RowanC]

I'm not saying one should not be empathetic to people who are overweight. As a middle-aged, post-menopausal woman who now weighs 18 pounds more than I ever weighed 9 months pregnant, I empathize more than you'll ever know! Especially since I eat a good diet and I walk 2 to 5 miles each day!

HOWEVER, I do look healthy for my age.

And ... your husband, who is overweight, isn't writing a book on health saying "Do things my way" is he?

That's my only point... that a person should walk his/her own talk, or not publish it maybe?

[Sharon in Colorado]

Thanks for all the feedback. I agree that it is important to follow a person's health advice who looks healthy.

Looking at healthy-looking, vibrant, fit and trim people like Alissa, Dr. Graham, Prof. Gruben, Storm & Jinjee Talifero, and a handful of other 10+ year raw fooders, I tend to want to pay more attention to what they do and use their own applications for my lifestyle.

[Svadhyaya]

I am a long-time fan of Dr. Weil's, and over the last year or so I've become increasingly turned off by his bowing to commercialism. His site has turned from thought-provoking and informative into one big ad for his books, supplements, products, skincare line. He's relaxed his views on dairy and most meats, too, now talking more "everything in moderation." I'm very disappointed in the turn he has taken, and now I rarely read/pay attention to him anymore.

I try hard never to judge people by the way they look, health book authors or otherwise. I would not presume to judge someone's wisdom by their outward appearance. Physically and genetically and environmentally, people are far too different for that to ever be fair. It would be nice if we all looked like that lovely Sarma girl from Raw Food, Real World, but most of us never could. So what if health book authors are a little pudgy? That doesn't nullify the wisdom inside their head. It doesn't mean they are eating Happy Meals, they may eat perfectly healthy and simply be predisposed to being heavy and aren't willing to starve themselves in order to legitimize their books with a thin author on the back cover.

[Conscious Midwife]

"The so what if a health book author is a little pudgy"
is actually a big deal!

So what if your pilot on the next plan you flew on didn't pass the test for licensure?

So what if the term "organic" were utilized without regulation, and you just had to believe it?

So what if your kids teacher had a dynamic personality and a great cool way of taking attendance but couldn't read or do simple mathmatic computations?

So what if your dehydrator said max temp 102 but really got as hot as 120?

When wisdom is marketed as the gospel truth and a nation has an obesity crisis of epidemic proportion, the appearance, attitude and philosophy of the messenger is just as critical as the message.

Just my slightly pudgy but getting slimmer opinion :)

[Sunshine9]

Hm. Personally I found both Dr. Weil and Dr. Graham's sides of the article to be a bit negative for my tastes.

But then I would not want to look like either of them. Just me though.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I think it is a challenge to stay postivie within a debate, even though they weren't in a real debate.

However I've seen Graham answer questions probably for the 10,000th time in his lectures and he remains so calm and unphased it is unbelievable. I guess as a speaker on raw food one gets used to the same questions over and over again, maybe he just goes on automatic when answering questions and concerns that he's heard many times before.

[learningrawways]

RowanC--I am sorry, I did not mean to put you on the defensive. I am sensitive to the issue of obesity--that is MY problem. I did not take offense to what anyone on this thread said--I was just trying to look at things from a different angle. And I thought it was funny that AW doesn't like the raw diet--of course he wouldn't--he has his own agenda--HIS diet lol.

[sport]

There is a saying "you should never thrust a skinny chef" and I suppose that the opposite is true of health food authors.

[Svadhyaya]

Some people cannot help but be pudgy, even if their diet were perfect they just physically, genetically tend to hold onto weight. I think to judge your health specialist according to their weight/looks is pretty condescending and shows very little sensitivity. I stand by my "so what" concerning pudgy nutritionists. I don't think that weight is a complete barometer for assessing health.

What about Boutenko? She's many years raw and someone mentioned her being quite overweight. Does this make her many years worth of studied raw wisdom completely without merit? Just because she is not thin?

It makes me ill how obsessed our society is with weight.
I've seen many thin people who are terribly sickly and some overweight ones who are very, very fit. I'm still no longer a fan of Weil's, but it has nothing to do with his weight.

[Sylvanring]

This was GREAT to read, Thank you! I am going to post it in my personal journal.

[Sharon in Colorado]

What about Boutenko? She's many years raw and someone mentioned her being quite overweight. Does this make her many years worth of studied raw wisdom completely without merit? Just because she is not thin?

But there is a difference between "not thin" and "clearly overweight"... 10-20 extra pounds might not be a big deal or noticeable, but when someone is clearly overweight and teaching about health there is a discrapancy.

Boutenko had lost quite a bit of weight which showed in her pictures in the books she's written about 5 years ago, however the recent photos and videos I've seen of her looks like she's gained quite a lot back.

I don't know her current health practices besides drinking green smoothies, which I practice myself. I don't follow much of what she says besides the smoothies, and found the meal I was served at their lecture to be very fatty and nut-heavy .

[luckitri]

There are many diseases out there that can change your weight and if you are in the health business you might not want to advertise your illness unless you found a cure. My family is hostile to fat people. They are more tolerant now since I acquired the Cushings disease which caused me to nearly double my weight. Personally, over the last week or so that I have been trying to learn about raw - many of the proponents of raw foods look horrible to me. I don't want to look weak, pinched and worn out like they do. (Well I do already but it is not my goal.)