In my continuing quest to learn more about raw food eating, I checked out Natalia Rose’s Raw Food Life Force Energy. It was meant to be interim reading while I waited for the other Carol Alt book, but I found it to be really captivating. Basically, Rose says that we are all made of Life Force Energy and to operate at our best (healthiest, most energetic, happiest) we must eat foods high in Life Force Energy, and avoid processed, low energy foods that drag us down. Yes, a lot of it comes off as very New Age-y, and she suggests things that are the opposite of conventional health wisdom: don’t count calories or fat, eat your heaviest meal at the end of the day, get your colon cleaned on a monthly basis, etc.

But, on the other hand, she recommends a primarily raw, vegetarian diet (there are exceptions to both) that is heavy on the fruits and veggies and limits snacking. She is also big on food combining. According to Rose, waste equals weight, and the standard American diet (the acronym is SAD, as she points out) heavily taxes the digestive tract. She recommends “quick-exit” meals that leave your stomach fairly quickly, and she cautions against eating again until those foods have cleared through. She is big on elimination, explaining how and when to do it properly, and she also recommends full-body dry brushing, massages, and soaks in Epsom salts for further detoxification. She is a big proponent of getting the body clean, so that it becomes light and balanced, which in turn brings about great joy.

It is a very compelling read. I admit, I had my skeptical moments, since a lot of what she says is very unconventional. Then again, I exercise regularly and eat a healthy, balanced diet, and I am still plagued with excess weight and low energy. I feel as though I have nothing to lose by trying her method, and I may have health and happiness to gain. The book outlines a 21-day plan, which includes recommended meals, breathing techniques, detoxifying applications, Life Force Energy exercises and journaling activities. It is a comprehensive, holistic plan, and I can’t wait to see how I feel in three weeks.

Carol Alt’s The Raw 50 is actually a recipe-based sequel to her first book, Eating in the Raw, which I have never read. I just happened to stumble across this book at work and thought it looked interesting, even though I’ve never really been into raw eating. However, after glancing through these recipes and reading Carol’s suggestions and the testimonials of raw food eaters, I’m more than intrigued. First off, I guess a definition of raw eating is in order. Essentially, these are foods that have been uncooked and unpasteurized, and when warmed, are done so at very low temperatures. For a more complete explanation, click here. I guess the next question is, what’s so great about it? Well, this is how Carol explains the importance of raw food:

I explained things to Christine the best way I knew how. I told her the body needs nutrients to make enzymes to digest food. The body does this because its most essential function on earth is to digest and utilize food and water…The problem with cooked food is that it no longer has any enzymes of its own. So in order to digest cooked food, the body pulls nutrients from the most readily available source, itself. The body then produces enzymes to digest the cooked, nutrient-depleted food, which no longer has the nutrients to replace the nutrients in the body that were used to make the digestive enzymes. It’s a big vicious cycle! As a result, the body begins to break down and age.

But Carol’s not the only one advocating the raw food lifestyle. The book’s forward was written by Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, also a proponent of the plan, and the book is sprinkled with testimonials from people who say the eating plan changed their lives and cured a variety of ailments: cancers, leukemia, irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, depression, and thyroid disorder, not to mention aided in weight loss, increased energy and fewer mood swings. The very last testimonial is by Amanda Sager, who (with the exception of being vegan–I still eat dairy) could easily be describing me:

In college, Amanda exercised regularly and ate what is commonly considered a “balanced diet.” She had been a vegetarian since age sixteen and became completely vegan at twenty, but Amanda knew she was still not right with food. “I always had this feeling that my diet was not working. I was overweight, puffy, and pale. My emotions were all over the place, and I was often depressed without good reason or explanation. My energy level was low, and I felt somewhat trapped by my eating habits. It’s frustrating to think you are following the healthiest diet and then realize you are not,” she says.

I have a family history of thyroid disorder, and I’ve been tested over and over (in fact, I had blood work for it today) and the results are always the same: I’m perfectly fine. But if my thyroid is functioning, then why am I chronically exhausted, cranky, and cold? Why did my hair start falling out? Why is my metabolism practically nonexistent? And most of all, why can’t any of the myriad of doctors I’ve seen answer any of these questions? I eat a “healthy” diet: whole grains, fruits and veggies, no meat or high fructose corn syrup, no juice or soda, very little caffeine and trans fats. So I always assume that I have the food part taken care of. But maybe not. Maybe there really is something to be said for eating raw and keeping enzymes in balance. Another thing that I noticed in these testimonials is that not all of these people eat raw 100% of the time. Many of them are 90% raw, but are always prepared when they eat cooked foods and try to make up for the enzyme imbalance.

This doesn’t, by any means, seem like an easy way to eat. It’s expensive, and, according to Alt, requires some specialized tools: a good blender, a juicer, a dehydrator, a coffee grinder (to process small foods), an instant-read thermometer, a spiral slicer, a mandoline, a vacuum storage system, canning jars, and cheesecloth. Still, I’m open to the idea of gradually replacing some of the cooked foods I eat with raw meals and see where it leads me. I definitely intend to read the first book and see what it says, but in the meantime Alt also has a raw foods website: rawnutrion, which looks as though it aas quite a bit of information.

I’m trying to convince my husband that as a Health Education student and a future Health and Fitness professional, I need this shoe for my career. I wonder if it would count as a tax write-off, because this is a seriously hot shoe. I’m supposed to be saving money for our rapidly impending move, but I REALLY WANT THIS SHOE.

Okay, how to even begin without spoilers?

Finally, with Book 7, J.K. Rowling brings her epic Harry Potter series to a close. For those who complained that Book 6 was all talk, and no action, fasten your seat-belts. Deathly Hallows is just the opposite. It’s fast-paced. Violent. Creepy. It’s good, but also sort of ultimately unsatisfying. I mean, it ended the only way that it could (great battle between good and evil, losses on both sides, some heart-wrenching), but I guess I wished for something else. And while I understand that to give it a sweet, bubble-gum ending would be to cheat the fans out of everything they’ve been waiting for, damn! the death count is high. Rowling admitted in advance to the deaths of two major characters, but there are more. Way more. Some of the deaths I predicted (the one that is handled at the Shell Cottage), others had to happen (and we all knew it). But the very first loss crushed me (hint: the character was in every single book, but never spoke a line–I was sad through the rest of the book over that one), some of the ones at the end just sucked, and I don’t think the ultimate gain was really all that rewarding.

On top of that, the end of the book gets strange. Really weird and sort of hard to understand. The action is rolling along, Harry is after the horcruxes, everyone is fighting an epic battle, and then bam! Harry looks in the Pensieve and sees something that just pisses you off. But he goes with it, only it doesn’t work out as planned, and the book picks up again. There’s just this strange lull in the middle of the climax and the final showdown is kind of a letdown, in my opinion.

But aside from all the fighting, the book wraps up some other loose ends. I have to give Rowling credit for paying attention and tying things together. We learn a lot about Dumbledore and his family, which is great, because he becomes a lot more human, but he also becomes less likeable, and I can’t decide which version I prefer. Aberforth Dumbledore finally gets introduced, even though we all knew he was the bartender at the Hog’s Head. Bill and Fleur get married. Neville gets his chance to shine; Luna proves she’s not so looney; Kreacher warms up to Harry; the Malfoys are the tiniest bit redeemed; and our heroes get the drop on Bellatrix three times! And at last, we finally learn the truth about Snape, and Harry’s reaction is even stronger than I would have expected. His real opinion about Severus is made clear in the epilogue, which is quirky in itself, and makes me certain that if Rowling ever does revisit Hogwarts, it won’t be Harry she’s writing about.

To sum it up? I love Harry Potter, and I devoured this book in 7 hours! It’s great to know how things happened, but I’m not sure how I feel about the resolution. I think I liked it, but maybe I need to read it again!

Note: did anyone else notice that the book is apparently set in 1997?

The Washington Post’s website has a really cool interactive salad spinner. Composed of concentric rings containing a plethora of ingredients, you simply select your favorite greens, vegetable, protein, fruits/nuts, cheese, and dressing, and voila! a delicious customized salad recipe. There are endless choices, so you can really play around with your options and make some unusual salads. Fun!