RawFamily.com Newsletter, February 2006

Raw Family Newsletter, February 2006
http://rawfamily.com
 
In this issue:
1. Raw Family’s All New: Stupendously Magnificent, Outstandingly Exceptional, Green Spinach Soup
2. Cartoon by Victoria
3. February’s  Popular Green Smoothie Questions
4. AMAZING TESTIMONIALS RECEIVED IN FEBRUARY
5. Victoria’s new audio CD: “Spiritual Awakening With Raw Foods”
6. Tips on flying, cruising and staying raw! Contributed by Lynn Krokenberger RN, CCH
7. Recipes with wild edibles wanted for our up-coming book
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Raw Family’s All New:
Stupendously Magnificent, Outstandingly Exceptional,
Green Spinach Soup
 
3     Small avocados (or one extra large)
  2    Red bell peppers
½   Bunch cilantro
½   Bunch Organic Spinach
2         Small lemons (without seeds)
3         Cups pure water
1         Small jalapeno pepper
½   Teaspoon celtic sea salt (optional)
                             
Put all the ingredients in a Vita-Mix blender and blend well using the tamper.
Once the ingredients are well blended, pour the soup into a large bowl.
Add thinly sliced napa cabbage or red cabbage and dulse leaves or flakes. 
Serves 6
============================================================
           Cartoon by Victoria:
? 
My daughter packed my lunch, and I totally forgot she is a raw-foodist…
 
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February’s Most Popular Green Smoothie Questions Answered by Victoria:
 
QUESTION: I have been on raw food for eight years and feel that my body is very clean. Why do I feel
nauseous from drinking wheatgrass juice?
 
ANSWER: If you have read my book Green for Life, you are familiar with the part where I speak about
all greens, without exception, containing alkaloids. Alkaloid build up is toxic. Wheatgrass also contains a small
amount of alkaloids. If you begin to drink it on a regular basis, the alkaloids accumulate and the body rejects it.
This is why people get nauseous after drinking wheatgrass regularly for a while. When they take a break and
come back to it, they can tolerate it better. Many people do not consume enough greens, and due to the fact
that wheatgrass juice is almost 100% chlorophyll, the benefits of chlorophyll override the drawback of poisoning
by alkaloids. That means, that even though people still get the alkaloid poisoning, the presence of chlorophyll in their body
still helps to heal cancer, makes the body more alkaline and has other healing effects. That is why the green smoothies
are so helpful, because when one begins to use a larger variety of greens in the form of green smoothies,
one doesn’t have to constantly drink wheatgrass juice. Just keep rotating and get as many different greens as you can.
 
QUESTION: I tested my urine and my saliva. My urine is very alkaline and my saliva is very acidic. I think I am still
detoxing (four weeks raw now) because I have cold sores, rashes etc. Could that be why my saliva is acidic or is it not a
good way to judge your PH level? I just don't understand why they are both so completely different.

ANSWER: Measuring your body pH by testing your urine is much more accurate than testing saliva. Alkalinity in
saliva appears only after having the body’s alkaline pH established for some time. Also, saliva changes more rapidly and
more often than urine. You can do some experimenting: for example if you put a drop of honey on your tongue, the saliva
instantly becomes very alkaline because the alkaline solution amylase (that helps digests sugar) will be present in the saliva.
If you put a teaspoon of any green smoothie or wheatgrass in your mouth, your saliva instantly becomes acid, because in
order to digest greens, the saliva first has to become acid. Of course, greens are alkaline-forming once digested. So, testing
pH by checking saliva is tricky. It has to be a long time between meals, you have to have your mouth clean and empty,
and not even have food in SIGHT. That is why I don’t recommend it. Urine doesn’t change by what we look at, and thus is
more reliable. The most accurate time to test saliva for alkalinity is in the morning as soon as you wake up.
           
QUESTION: What information can you give me about juvenile diabetes?
 
ANSWER: Here is a wonderful source for information on diabetes: http://www.diabeticwarrior.com/
Patrick Lecky runs this website and he collects success stories of diabetics who have healed themselves in alternative ways!
Also, be sure to check our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on our website: http://www.rawfamily.com
 
QUESTION: Why is it so important that humans model their diet after chimpanzees?
From my understanding, they only live an average of 50 years. They are usually riddled with parasites too.
 
ANSWER: Chimpanzees are genetically the closest creatures to humans. They share 99.4% of genes with humans.
That is why, unfortunately, chimpanzees are used for medical research. However, chimpanzees have often demonstrated
such a strong immunity, that doctors were not able to infect them with HIV or hepatitis C. In my book, I brought up the
point that instead of making chimps ill with human diseases, researching how they are able to stay healthy may reveal
immensely valuable information on human health. In captivity, chimpanzees do live much longer than in the wild because
they are guarded against accidents and environmental dangers.
            Chimpanzees are not only healthy, but have the ability to intuitively find and use healing herbs. Scientists from the
Jane Goodall Institute described in their research that chimpanzees are familiar with natural ways of parasite control by eating
medicinal herbs. On the other hand, any colonic therapist will tell you how so many humans are laden with all kinds of parasites.
 
QUESTION: I drove to three towns, at least eighty miles apart from each other and looked in more than five different
health food stores. When I asked the produce person for lambsquarters, plantain, chickweed, stinging nettles, purslane, etc.,
they looked at me like I was nuts! For lambsquarters, they kept sending me to the meat department. Where, and how can
one find the wild edible greens?
 
ANSWER: Even though it can be difficult for one to buy wild edible greens in the store, one still would greatly benefit
from consuming them. That is why I put wild edible greens in my smoothie recipes. Here in Oregon we are already picking
miner’s lettuce in the woods, in fields, and along the rivers. This is the very first wild edible green in the season here, and it
will be a whole month before we have chickweed. (yum!)
            I don’t have a way of recommending which wild plants are edible in your area since I am unsure of what weeds grow
in your area. The best thing to do is to talk to people who plant flowers and bushes in parks. They can usually identify edible
plants quite well. Another way to find out which plants one can eat is to talk to farmers, who need help weeding their organic
gardens. In the summer, my children pick lambsquarters and plantain from a local farmer who pays them to pluck these pesky
weeds from his fields. Once you learn to recognize a couple of edible weeds, it’s a good idea to share your knowledge with
others so that you can learn about sill more scrumptious plants. This year, I plan to plant lots weeds in my own garden. I will
report back to you how that works out for me.
 
QUESTION: How long should I blend my ingredients to make the green smoothie?
 
ANSWER: I usually blend my greens and fruits for 30-45 seconds.  I always start on the low speed and turn it up to high. 
 
QUESTION: How important is it to make good tasting smoothies?
 
ANSWER: Very important! Research shows that every delicious food leaves an imprint on the human brain, and as
a result we only desire the most palatable foods. If the smoothie is not tasty, it is likely that one will stop drinking it. If it
is palatable one will crave it!
 
QUESTION: It seems you talk about having an entire bunch of chard, or other greens, daily. Yet in your recipes, a
smoothie only has 3-5 leaves from an entire bunch. Are you having more than 1 smoothie a day?
 
ANSWER: The goal is to eventually consume more greens in the smoothie than fruit. However, many of us are not
used to consuming large amounts of greens. Also many don’t have adequate hydrochloric acid to digest greens. For this
reason, I recommend starting with more fruity green smoothies and slowly using more and more greens. As the body
finds out the many benefits of greens, it becomes very excited and starts craving greener smoothies. Experiment with
what amount of greens you find palatable and gradually add more greens so that you work up to the equivalent of
one average-sized bunch of greens per day.
It is possible that you will start with a fruity green smoothie and progress to extremely green smoothies. Yet,
there will be another change later. As you keep consuming green smoothies on a regular basis for many months,
you will eventually reduce the total amount of green smoothies that you consume daily. This happens because the
assimilation of nutrients increases and the body can get more nutrients from less smoothies, your body satisfies
the most urgent needs for nutrients, it also becomes more alkaline and doesn’t need as much greens as before.
Please remember to keep rotating your greens for variety!
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AMAZING TESTIMONIALS RECEIVED IN FEBRUARY
           
GAINED FIVE KILOS AND AM VERY GRATEFUL
I lost a lot of weight on a raw food lifestyle and my relatives were very concerned about my health. After
I added green smoothies to my diet, I gained already 5 kilos! I make my smoothies of greens and bananas.
Thank you so much for your help and good luck for you and your family and with everything you're doing!
~A. G.
 
LIFELONG ANEMIA, FATIGUE AND DEPRESSION IS GONE
At Christmas time I was given the book Green for Life by my mother.  I live up in Seattle. My mom came
up to visit and she gave me your book and showed me how to make a green smoothie.  I've had one almost every
day since then (about a month).  Within 2 weeks of starting them, I had an incredible energy boost.  All my life I've
been severely anemic and tremendously fatigued.  This resulted in depression, emotional dependencies, and feelings
of being afraid and overwhelmed by life.  It felt like I was relating to people from a far distant place because I knew
I didn't feel like they did and I didn't have a lot of energy to engage with them. I felt somehow outside of the human
experience. Sometimes I wondered if I was going to make it. 
          Now, after drinking green smoothies, I have steady, reliable energy that carries me through the days with
enthusiasm.  I feel like I have a new chance at life - at age 44.  I finally get to see what it is like to live with an
adequate supply of energy.  I can be more neat and organized and do much more than I could before.  I drink
less coffee and need less sleep.  I wake up feeling alert in the mornings.
~K. B. (Seattle)
 
CRAVINGS FOR HEAVY, FATTY, SUGARY FOODS TURNED OFF
The past three days I've drastically increased the amount of greens in my
smoothies...and...MY CRAVINGS TURNED OFF. Just stopped. Bang. They're just gone.
I've now decreased the amount of fruit I was eating, and am finally losing weight!
BROADCAST THIS INFORMATION TO THE WORLD! Do you know how exciting this is?
To have long-standing, strong cravings just vanish???? After years of cravings hell? There are
millions just like me, who've suffered cravings hell. This is the solution! Thank you, Victoria,
for a wonderful book!
          ~R. J.
 
          STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS ENJOY GREEN SMOOTHIES
Hi Victoria, I just want to thank you for all the research and work that you have put into learning
about the benefits of green smoothies, so that confused raw foodists, such as myself, have an understanding
of what our bodies really need.  I am so excited that I have learned about such an important food group! 
I was also able to get my husband to start drinking 1 quart of green smoothie a day as well...yeah!!  I also
have to tell you this story.  I am an orchestra teacher in Las Vegas.  In the beginning of one of my classes,
I was drinking my green smoothie in front of my students.  They were grossed out and shocked that I would
drink something so green.  I told them that the smoothie was delicious and very healthy and that they should
try it.  Immediately, the entire class was anxious about what fruits and greens to use and how to make their
own smoothies.  So I gave them a 5 minute lesson on why green smoothies are important and the variations
they can use when creating their own smoothies.  I've never seen a class so anxious to take class notes before
to learn about the smoothies!  The following day, half the class came back to tell me how they made the green
smoothies at home and that they all LOVED it!  They also gave some of the smoothies to their parents and
they LOVED it!  They then thanked me for taking out class time to tell them about the yummy drink and said
that they are going to start drinking green smoothies from now on!  ?  That made my day!  Thanks again
for all that you do and I'm looking forward to seeing you again in Las Vegas. ?  
 J. W. (Las Vegas)
 
          HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER SHARES HER HEALTH WITH STUDENTS
I am enjoying reading Green For Life book and sharing it with friends. I am a teacher in a High School.
Some of my students are discovering the benefits of smoothies. We had a GIANT SMOOTHIE PARTY in our
class: Each student brought their own cut up fruit and we enjoyed a healthy breakfast. I brought my Vitamix
to school and it performed wonderfully to everyone's amazement. The green smoothies were delicious, and
the kids will never forget this experience. I had also brought Sergei and Valya's Eating Without Heating book
to show my kids the various delicious and healthy recipes. They all wanted to try something from the
book..... I am really surprised at their reaction.
CONGRATULATIONS, Dear Victoria, for this wonderful book.
I wish you and your family all the very best of HEALTH, and the rest usually follows naturally!
From all of us here, to you, lots of love, hugs and good thoughts.
D. G. (Canada)
 
MY BUSINESS ROCKS BECAUSE OF THE GREEN SMOOTHIES!
Hi, Victoria! Only words like unbelievable, fantastic, incredible come to mind when I am writing to you. 
My business has literally gone bonkers since the introduction of the green smoothies.  It is now my number 1
seller. My business has gone up at least 25 to 30 percent in just the last month and a half.  That’s just the
business aspect.  Everyone who is drinking the green smoothies is getting a lot of energetic transformation. 
I have even featured your message of drinking two smoothies per day as part of my mission statement! 
My business rocks because of the green smoothie.  Generally on a Saturdays we average from
30 to 40 customers, last Saturday we had 81 customers!   It is a green smoothie revolution! 
I would be honored if you used my comments, yes you could use my telephone 215-361-0116
and even my website: http://www.arnoldsway.com. It is going “nuts” here in Lansdale.
Yesterday we had a potluck about 30 people. Every person gave a testimonial on the green smoothie.
With much respect, Arnold (Lansdale, PA)
 
COMMENT FROM VICTORIA: Curiously enough, the other most interesting experiment with selling green
smoothies is also happening in Pennsylvania. A man bought an ice cream truck, painted it green, decorated it
with quotes from my book, and is selling green smoothies to students at a university campus. What a neat idea!
Ever since I wrote the Green For Life book, I have been holding a vision that there will be green smoothie
bars everywhere, and that people don’t even have to have a Vitamix blender; they could go anywhere and buy
a freshly made green smoothie at a reasonable price. In my dreams I came up with different names like for
example “Weeds for Kids” or “Greens for Teens” in hopes to attract children and teenagers. My office assistant
Vanessa came up with a nice name for the green smoothie bar: Sweet Greens. Everyone! Please help me to
make this dream come true.
 
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Victoria’s new audio CD:
“Spiritual Awakening With Raw Foods”
 

? 
· Does diet influence the depth of our spirituality?
· Why is clarity better than knowledge?
· How do we make right choices in our life?
· What is the difference between pleasure and happiness?
· How can we find out our true life mission?
 
Victoria addresses these and other issues in one of her most inspiring talks,
illustrating it with anecdotes from her own life.
 
Running time - 1 hour.
Price - $11.95
 
This CD is currently available at our website: http://www.rawfamily.com
 
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©2006 Copyrighted material! Please reference this source when sharing this information: http://www.rawfamily.com
 
Tips on flying, cruising and staying raw!
Contributed by Lynn Krokenberger, RN, CCH
 
Since becoming raw in September of 2005 due to severe seasonal allergies, concern grew about how
I would handle two upcoming business cruises, one of which was with Sunrider International. The first cruise
was my learning curve where the dining staff explained what I needed to do. Voila! I was able to attain the
necessary information to make the second (7 day Caribbean) cruise a complete success. I will also share how
I gracefully passed through airport security having my food hand checked (without denaturing enzymes by radiation).
After arriving on the ship, I was greeted by the dining staff with eager anticipation of making and serving my
green smoothies and salads. First I created a letter for airport security. (One should preferably have it written
on the letterhead of a doctor, naturopath, homeopath etc.) This letter was effective for me at both airports.
The inspectors know x-rays nullify homeopathic remedies. This is how the letter goes:
 
“To whom it may concern:
Lynn Krokenberger has a health condition that warrants her eating only enzyme and homeopathically
created foods and nutrients. These foods will be negatively affected by x-rays.
PLEASE HAND SEARCH ONLY. Thank you.
Sincerely, Dr. Van Beveren”
 
Concerning the cruise, I contacted by phone ‘Guest Access Services’ 2-4 weeks ahead of the sail date.
They need this much time for purchasing specific foods. They requested from me a faxed letter outlining the
special meal requests. It begins with SPECIAL MEAL REQUESTS, the ship‘s name, sail date, cabin #,
booking #, contact #, email, then continues with the specifics of my special requests, which were:
 
Vegan RAW. We eat RAW UNCOOKED fruits and vegetables ONLY.
Breakfast and Dinner: Green Smoothie: ½ fruit and ½ green leaves (A PACKED MEASURE OF GREENS)
such as: spinach, parsley, cilantro, romaine, baby greens etc. blended with fruit, water and avocado. This is the
mainstay of our diet! PLEASE ORDER AT LEAST DOUBLE THE GREENS ANTICIPATED.
NO ICEBURG LETTUCE PLEASE
Lunch & Dinner: VEGETABLE SALAD with ½ RIPE AVOCADO, a variety of different vegetables
in a base of green leaves as listed above.
NO ICEBURG LETTUCE PLEASE
Dessert: Ripe papaya and Pineapple w/ lime wedge
 
Find out to whose attention the fax needs to be brought. After faxing the request, I followed it up with a
couple phone calls. I talked to different staff members who assured me by saying "we know who you are".
Remember, if you talk to one person and don’t get the information you want, call back.  There are many people 
handling that department. 
I was more reserved than necessary with my requests. After the first dinner, Luminita, the hostess, asked if they
could make us anything else, for which I gave them a simple raw pate recipe. Next day, Lumi told me they made
enough pate for the whole week, so after the third day, I let her know that it needed to be fresh and she promptly
told me they would start soaking the nuts. Knowing what I do now, I could have faxed or brought a salad dressing
recipe, though we thoroughly enjoyed a delightful mix of olive oil, lemon juice and finely minced fresh herbs.
The Texas red grapefruit was just delicious before our breakfast smoothie, with side of avocado.
On the last day before debarking, the chef peeled a grapefruit, which I cut up and placed in a travel container.
The night before leaving the ship, I handed Lumi a nalgene bottle to be filled with a green smoothie to have while traveling.
The staff was incredibly accommodating and maitr’d Freddy Verwaal said, “any cruise line could do this for you”.
This was their first raw experience. Remember that the maitr’d receives no salary and lives entirely on the tips received.
Despite not having organic (next time I would try requesting it), I feel stronger and everyone tells me how much
younger and well rested I look. Reserve a cabin with balcony for sunbaths and non-stop fresh ocean air.
Plan early and Happy Traveling!!!
 
? 
Photo courtesy of Lynn Krokenberger.  This picture was taken aboard the Carnival Cruise liner “Conquest” and
represents the Maitre ‘De, the Chef and the waiter – all participating in making this 8 day long cruise a delight
for the few people who needed special attention in eating only raw foods.
 
    
     We are extending our deadline for participation in our upcoming book, The Green Smoothie Revolution.
     This book is a compilation of green smoothie recipes that my family has collected over time.
It is a beautiful book decorated with lots of Valya’s drawings. If you have a favorite smoothie and would like to share
it with many other people, please email it to us and we will include your recipe under your name.
AT THIS TIME WE ARE ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN RECIPES CONTAINING WILD EDIBLE GREENS!
In appreciation for your contribution, we will send a complimentary copy of The Green Smoothie Revolution
to everyone whose recipe we will include. Each recipe submitted will be tested and evaluated by the Boutenko family.
     Please submit your recipe via email: recipe [at] rawfamily.com by March 10, 2006.
     Please provide your full name, phone number, and address with your submission.
   ?
     We are looking forward to working together!
     Sincerely,
     Victoria and the Boutenko family

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