Raw Foodist Susan Schenck: Live Food Diet Interview

Susan Schenck, LAc, MTOM, is a raw food coach, lecturer, and author of 2-time award-winning book, The Live Food Factor, The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet, known as the encyclopedia of the raw food diet. Go to Susan's site www.LiveFoodFactor.com to get a special offer on her book.

1. Hi Susan, thank you for taking the time today and sharing your live food expertise. Please take this opportunity to briefly tell us about yourself, the services you have to offer, and the websites you write for.

   Answer from raw foodist Susan Schenck

   I am a raw food diet coach, lecturer and author of the 2-time award-winning book, The Live Food Factor, The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet, known as the encyclopedia of the raw food diet. I syndicate articles for ezine.com and am also writing for www.healthnewsdigest.com. I also wrote an article published in this month's hard copy magazine, The Well Being Journal. I have worked in the past as a teacher as well as an acupuncturist and have master's degrees in both of those fields.

2. Many of our readers have heard of the raw food diet, but may not understand the principle behind it. Can you let our readers know the basis of this diet strategy?

   Answer from raw foodist Susan Schenck

   Most foods when heated above 118 F lose 100% of their enzymes. Enzymes are the catalysts, the sparkplugs, of life. Perhaps this is why people who eat raw foods, full of enzymes, report feeling "switched on," as if a key has turned on the light and energy. But when they backslide into cooked foods, it's "power down."

   Food enzymes are active, or "alive," in uncooked food. Once a food is heated, they chemically degrade, or "die." By conservative estimates, enzymes may begin dying at temperatures as low as 105° F; within 30 minutes at 119°-129° F, all are dead. Dr. James B. Sumner, a Nobel Prize winner in 1946, claimed that the easily-fatigued feeling of being middle-aged or older is due to diminished enzymes as you add years to your life.

   Dr. Edward Howell was the 20th century's foremost researcher on food enzymes and their significance to human nutrition. He discovered that food heated above 118° F for any extended period of time is devoid of active food enzymes.

   If we eat cooked food, we force our pancreases to crank out more digestive enzymes than they were designed to. By age 40, the average person has only 30% of his digestive enzyme production potential left. This is a major reason for increasing tiredness with age. Dr. Lorraine Day claims that if you eat 3 cooked meals a day your body does the equivalent of 8 hours of physical labor!

   According to Dr. Howell, "The length of life is inversely proportional to the rate of exhaustion of the enzyme potential of an organism." In other words, the more cooked food you eat, the sooner you exhaust your limited digestive enzyme potential, and the sooner you begin to disintegrate and die.

   Howell believed that there is no way to replenish this enzyme potential. Therefore, the best strategy is not to abuse it with cooked food but to eat solely of raw food and no more of it than necessary.

3. The concept of eating live food for the pristine nutrients is based on the principle that processing alters foods nutritional content. Can you explain to our readers the difference between a raw or live food diet and a diet that has no processed foods?
   
   

   Answer from raw foodist Susan Schenck

   A whole food (nonprocessed) diet that is cooked is superior to a diet of processed foods (which contain many toxic chemicals, typically).

   But a raw whole food diet is much better. It is much richer in not only enzymes, but also vitamins. Studies have shown that on the average, 84% of the vitamins are destroyed by cooking. The minerals become less bio-available. A study at the Max Planck Institute in Germany proved that half the protein is assimilated when it is cooked. Why buy expensive organic food and then cook out the nutrients? It just doesn't make sense.

4. The health changes you personally experienced by switching to a live food diet include increased energy, vitality and a more youthful appearance. What are some other common benefits your clients have experienced?
   
   

   Answer from raw foodist Susan Schenck

   People going on a 100% raw organic diet (especially when on a cleansing diet of very low fat, which is good temporarily while cleansing but not for the long haul) have reversed just about any disease that you can think of: arthritis, asthma, cancer, AIDS, hepatitis, heart disease, etc.

   This happens especially when on a cleansing diet of very low fat, which is good temporarily while cleansing but not for the long haul. But even the minor nuisances vanish or diminish: athlete's foot, PMS, herpes, jet lag, hot flashes, constipation, dandruff, gray hair, cellulite, etc.

   Many women report having no morning sickness during pregnancy, and having brief, nearly pain-free deliveries. I don't recommend going vegan while pregnant, though, unless you are taking DHA supplements which are critical for the baby's brain (and yours!). However, 100% raw, YES! Let that baby get full nutritional support!

5. Today we are so used to cooking our meals. How would you recommend our readers embark in a live food diet without feeling they are missing out on a real meal?
   
   

   Answer from raw foodist Susan Schenck

   The best thing is to get a couple of raw recipe books and a few kitchen gadgets so you can make smoothies, raw soups, raw crackers, and many raw gourmet imitations of your favorite cooked foods. Examples are raw pizza, raw "meat"loaf, raw lasagna, raw cakes, raw cookies, raw "spaghetti," etc. One thing

   I promise you: once you detoxify from your salt/sugar/wheat/dairy/MSG addictions, if you keep experimenting with these goodies, you will NEVER feel deprived.

6. So much of our culture is focused around food; the preparation, serving and even entertaining with food. How do you deal with social settings in a cooked world?
   
   

   Answer from raw foodist Susan Schenck

   BYOF: bring your own food! Since many social events are potlucks anyway, bring a nice raw dish and it will be the hit of the party! Also eat beforehand if you know there won't be much raw food, and bring a little baggie filled with trail mix to munch on just in case. You can make trail mix from truly raw nuts, truly raw shredded coconut flakes, goji berries, sundried raisins, sundried apricots, etc. There are also raw meal replacement bars available at health stores or online. The secret is out that this diet is not just a weight loss fad, but for health, so many are capitalizing on it.

7. Many of our readers may have the idea that a raw diet means you eat only nuts, seeds and salads. What would be two of your favorite meals to prepare that would dispel the myth?
   
   

   Answer from raw foodist Susan Schenck

   I like raw nori roll wraps, seed cheese, raw soups (like cream of celery, my favorite), raw kelp noodles with sauce (instead of spaghetti), raw smoothies and sometimes carob cream for dessert. I also eat some raw chocolate as a treat. I eat a lot more simply now, and spend no more than 5 minutes in the kitchen on a typical day.[Editor's emphasis.]

8. And our last question. Any changes to one's lifestyle can be difficult, even minor changes. Can you let our readers know the most common pitfalls people run into with a live food diet and how to overcome them?
   
   

   Answer from raw foodist Susan Schenck

   You need to be dedicated and that means educating yourself.

   People who keep reading about the raw diet for several months will stick with it longer because they are inspiring themselves. Also, some people do best when transitioning one meal at a time (in which case it is easiest to start with breakfast and then lunch, dinner last).

   Others do better when jumping right into it so they can see results quickly. But the biggest danger is always dinner, because that is when we are the most stressed out and are likely to want the usual comfort foods to help us unwind. Even if you eat raw all day and eat half your dinner raw, you will feel remarkably better!

   Also, seek like minded people. Try to seek out a local raw food meet-up group at www.meetup.com. If there isn't one, start one! Advertise monthly raw potlucks in your area on the meet-up groups and at local health food stores.

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