genetic disorders

[dreday]

Hi i am new to raw food so i don't really know what to expect, but i was wondering if anybody on here has overcome any genetically inherited disorders by eating raw food. I've read some threads about reversing grey hair and stopping hairloss, but does this happen for people who have inherited the condition?

[Gosia]

Kristin , who suffered from keratoconous, which is considered to be a genetic condition, significantly improved her eyesight:
http://www.hometown.aol.com/kma513/raw.html

Gosia

[alex]

Gray hair and hair that is falling out is not necessarily genetic. Many conditions have a genetic component or predisposition which can be over come through lifestyle changes.

If you have something like Down's Syndrome (three chromosome 21's) it is unlikely that diet will have much if any effect.

There is a whole emerging field of study which is fascinating called: epigenetics, part of which states that what we eat effects our genetic makeup and can also be passed on to subsequent generations - ie. is inheritable.


alex

[Lay-Lay]

I have reversed several things I was told I inherited through genetics such as:

Obesity
currently overcoming many female related illnesses (through raw foods and acupuncture)
Blood pressure
Migraines
Allergies
Double Chin

[maryonherway]

I have had a condition on my upper arms and other parts of my body since 6th grade (I'm now 53) that causes little bumps on the skin. They can get like little pimples sometimes, but mostly just sit there and itch if my skin gets dry. The dermatologists have told me that this is genetic, 80% of Americans have them, no cure for them, and I'd have them all my life - although they said using a loofah and letting my arms get tan would help, but not cure them. Of course, the tanning would increase my chances of skin cancer, so he didn't recommend it. It has to do with the skin not sloughing off they way it should.... anyway, I noticed just today that they are almost gone on my left arm and getting better on the right arm! I was talking with my son, who's been eating well waaaay longer than I and his have gone away. Very cool! I always felt uncomfortable in sleevless tops and maybe by next summer they'll be gone completely. Other changes I've noticed:

weight loss
no more IBS
no more hemorroids
skin is generally better - better color, less breakouts, I've 'got the glow!'
more energy
my knees don't hurt all day, every day (they'd hurt since highschool!)
no bleeding gums when I went to the dentist for a cleaning
gum pockets are reduced in size
no more morning breath
no groggy feeling after meals
blood sugar has stablized

Hmmm, there's probably more that I can't think of right now. But this is a pretty good list after only 100 days! I'm impressed!

[mershwista]

Don't expect anything amazing....I've done the raw thing for about 5 months, and I can barely notice any improvements in anything. I feel slightly more energetic and fresh, but I still struggle with the same old depression and skin problems as before. You have to do it because you want to, not because you're expecting it to perform miracles.

[alex]

mershwista:

If raw has not helped you much than I would suggest that you go see a doctor who specializes in environmental medicine.

Also please read: Toxic or Tired by Sherry A. Rogers

Hope this helps


Alex

[mershwista]

Believe me, that doesn't help either. I've literally tried EVERYTHING. You name it, I can tell you my bad experience with it. Some problems just never go away. I have just come to accept this and deal with it the best I can.

[Shmoopie]

It's been suggested by some in the natural health field that gray hair is actually a condition of being too acidic. It makes sense when you think about that and then see people on the raw diet getting their hair color back. They're not acidic anymore.

I wonder about what we call "hereditary" and/or "genetic" these days. They say heart attacks and blood pressure problems, etc run in the family and are therefore "genetic". Doesn't it just make more sense, and seem less complicated that we are monkey-see-monkey-do creatures? We eat what we're raised to eat. We believe "healthy" is what we're taught is healthy as children by our parents (like someone mentioned the other day about drinking pop when your stomach is upset.). Obviously, there are those of us who question these things and are open enough to learn differently and DO differently later in life, but for a lot of people, that's not the case at all.

My boyfriend is a perfect example of this. His father had a heart attack at around age 55. He's 61 now but looks much older than that. He's got lupus, and who knows what else. Well, on a family type vacation that we went on over the summer, his dad actually told me that he doesn't drink water because he gets enough water from his coffee, and that he doesn't eat vegetables because that's "rabbit food" . So his health problems are really no surprise. And then there's my boyfriend who was raised by this man, and who ate the food that this man cooked, as well as what his mother taught/cooked for him, which is less off the wall, but otherwise not much different. So my boyfriend has eczema, severe asthma, severe allergies, and would no doubt be on his way to a very early heart attack if he wasn't open to making changes...thank God for him being open and willing to make necessary changes. Before we really started talking about these things, I don't think that his diet choices were anything that he even considered. Most of America is raised to believe that "home-cooked meals" of meat, potatoes, and milk (occasionaly with a canned, heated vegetable), and some bread or rolls is a healthy meal. And while doctors make half-attempts at stressing the vegetables, they don't make it very clear as to why it's necessary, and the food pyramid is a horrible disaster, but a guide that people trust nonetheless.

Anyway, that might be a lot of babbling lol. But I think that a lot of our "genetic" diseases aren't genetic at all. It's just that we follow in our families footsteps a lot of times, and we make unhealthy choices. Thoughts?

[rawnora]

Believe me, that doesn't help either. I've literally tried EVERYTHING. You name it, I can tell you my bad experience with it. Some problems just never go away. I have just come to accept this and deal with it the best I can.

Mershwista,
It is the extremely rare case of disease that does not reverse itself when the causes are removed, especially skin issues and depression, which are, respectively, extraordinary elimination and body energy conservation. These are both related to long-standing toxicosis, which takes time to clean out. Five months may seem like a long time if you look at this way of living as something you're doing short-term to fix a problem. If you look at it as the way you're going to live for the rest of your life, it's no time at all. How fast healing happens depends on so many different factors that it's impossible to say why you haven't noticed more improvement in 5 months but even if you were eating optimally (which you most likely aren't), long-standing problems can take much longer to resolve. It doesn't mean you have to accept sickness, it just means you have to be patient while your body does its best to recover from the damage inflicted by your previous lifestyle.

Happy healing,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com

[mershwista]

I've been a health freak for a long time and don't really think it's due to being "toxic"...I was vegan long before I went raw, and I frequently did fasts and cleanses. And EVERY female in my family is affected by the depression and skin issues. It doesn't make sense to say it's something specifically wrong with my life and the way I've been living it. I've done juice fasts, water fasts, herbal cleanses, various herbs, homeopathic whatnot, exercise therapy, alkaline dieting, traditional medicine, sessions with psychologists, now raw foods, essential oils, teas, gluten-free, low-sugar, low-fat, low-carb, low glycemic index, high carb, high protein, reiki, yoga, meditation, spiritual healing, etc, etc, etc.

Somehow I just think it makes sense to accept that I will always be depressed.

By the way, that is not a complete list.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I haven't read it, but I heard of a book called "Depression free for life" by Dr. Gabriel Cousens. Have you heard of it?

[mershwista]

No, I haven't...I'll look for it, though. Thanks.

[michigan roman]

It's been suggested by some in the natural health field that gray hair is actually a condition of being too acidic. It makes sense when you think about that and then see people on the raw diet getting their hair color back. They're not acidic anymore.

I wonder about what we call "hereditary" and/or "genetic" these days. They say heart attacks and blood pressure problems, etc run in the family and are therefore "genetic". Doesn't it just make more sense, and seem less complicated that we are monkey-see-monkey-do creatures? We eat what we're raised to eat. We believe "healthy" is what we're taught is healthy as children by our parents (like someone mentioned the other day about drinking pop when your stomach is upset.). Obviously, there are those of us who question these things and are open enough to learn differently and DO differently later in life, but for a lot of people, that's not the case at all.

My boyfriend is a perfect example of this. His father had a heart attack at around age 55. He's 61 now but looks much older than that. He's got lupus, and who knows what else. Well, on a family type vacation that we went on over the summer, his dad actually told me that he doesn't drink water because he gets enough water from his coffee, and that he doesn't eat vegetables because that's "rabbit food" . So his health problems are really no surprise. And then there's my boyfriend who was raised by this man, and who ate the food that this man cooked, as well as what his mother taught/cooked for him, which is less off the wall, but otherwise not much different. So my boyfriend has eczema, severe asthma, severe allergies, and would no doubt be on his way to a very early heart attack if he wasn't open to making changes...thank God for him being open and willing to make necessary changes. Before we really started talking about these things, I don't think that his diet choices were anything that he even considered. Most of America is raised to believe that "home-cooked meals" of meat, potatoes, and milk (occasionaly with a canned, heated vegetable), and some bread or rolls is a healthy meal. And while doctors make half-attempts at stressing the vegetables, they don't make it very clear as to why it's necessary, and the food pyramid is a horrible disaster, but a guide that people trust nonetheless.

Anyway, that might be a lot of babbling lol. But I think that a lot of our "genetic" diseases aren't genetic at all. It's just that we follow in our families footsteps a lot of times, and we make unhealthy choices. Thoughts?

TOTALLY AGREE with you schmoopie .

its like aquired bad habits not genetics .

and the food pyramids a disaster thats trusted , and the docs dont explain why the vegis are needed , and everyone thinx that meat potato bread etc is a perfect meal .

you werent babbling at all

[rawnora]

To answer the question started by this thread, there are no genetic disorders. Even birth defects aren't really inherited, they are caused by the mother's deleterious health practices during gestation. The only genetic links in disease are inherited weaknesses and learned behaviors. Inherited weakness will determine WHERE in the body disease will strike, but it will not cause disease on its own. Families teach each other how to eat and live, and that's another factor in how certain diseases seem to run in families. We are each the sole creators of our own diseases, there is no escaping it.

Mershwista,
I was vegan and a 'health seeker' before I went raw, too, for 13 years. I'm still healing from it. Although a vegan diet is better than the SAD, it also produces disease. Healing is slow, but if you haven't gotten the improvements you're looking for in 5 months, perhaps you need to change what you're doing. If you believe that those practices you mentioned are healthy (many of them are actually quite harmful), this indicates you haven't yet found the full truth about how to be healthy. This will hold you back.

Although it takes time for the body to reverse long-standing problems, after 5 months of healthful living you should at least be getting glimpses of what it's like to be free of them. If you're not, there's a reason and it has nothing to do with genetics. Nobody needs to accept being sick, especially with problems like skin issues and depression. I can help, if you're interested.

Sincere best wishes,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com