Rhio's Interview with the Raw Guru

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Interview for Raw Guru
www.rawguru.com
2005

Question #1: What are some rawfood staples in your current diet? B) Are you 100% raw? C) How did you start?

My intention is 100% raw, 100% of the time, and when I'm making the food and feeding myself, that's the way it is. But I'm practical enough to realize that sometimes I may not be getting 100%, like when I'm dining out at a raw restaurant. Can I really know that the chefs have followed through and meet all of my standards? At those times, I may ask a few questions like what are the dishes without agave syrup, maple syrup, etc. but beyond that, I choose not to interrogate the waiter and I just make the best choices possible. I don't like to make scenes or draw attention to myself, it's not conducive to good digestion.

Also, since I aim for 100%, I am now cracking my own nuts because some nuts that come already out of the shell may be heated in some way or are sometimes rancid. It is tedious to shell nuts, and so I am searching for a good electric nutcracker, but without much success so far.I love greens like kale, collards and swiss chard, especially when I grow them myself. I find them to be so incredibly delicious. And also at the top of my list are the edible weeds. In my garden I'm like a deer grazing. I eat, and advocate eating, a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, sea vegetables, some fermented foods, sprouted nuts, seeds, legumes and some grains. And I place a special emphasis on growing my own as much as is possible.

My first summer job as a teenager was in a fresh raw juice bar in downtown Los Angeles. As I worked at the bar, serving fresh juices and smoothies, I got to talk to the people that came in and I realized that there existed a whole world of information that I hadn't previously understood. I started making a connection between the food that we put into our bodies and the profound effect that it could have upon us. People with ulcers came in for the cabbage juice. Others with kidney disease were taking home watermelon juice, and still others depended on a combination high in potassium, which consisted of carrot, celery, cucumber, spinach and parsley juices.

Directly across from the juice bar, on the opposite side, was a small health food store. All day long I would serve juices and smoothies, and between customers, I would look across at this fascinating store with intriguing books and strange products. Every week, when I collected my check, I strolled across to the other side and bought books. Some of the books were by Dr. Ann Wigmore. That is how I was introduced to the raw food diet.

Question #2: How did you begin your raw radio show? How can we listen?

My partner, Leigh, is in the process of building two internet radio stations which will be launched next year. When we were in California earlier this year, we met with the owner of healthylife.net and she offered me a radio show on her network. Leigh thought it would be a good idea for me to start getting the experience I need and so we started. It's been quite an experience for me. I'm usually good with words on a page, but speaking on the radio is quite another thing.

My show was on that network for almost a year but in January, 2006, Leigh is launching one of his internet radio stations: TribecaRadio.net and on that station my show, Hooked on Raw, will be heard twice a day at 4 and 8 PM EST. You can calculate the time for listening anywhere in the world by basing it on 4 PM U.S. Eastern Standard Time.

Question #3: What was link appearing in the American Journal and CNN?

Both American Journal and CNN did stories on the raw food diet and featured me as a part of those stories. American Journal had asked me to get them some people who had healed themselves of serious diseases with the raw food diet and I gave them two names. One was Ron Diamond who had healed himself of bone cancer 4th stage (he had been told by the doctors at Sloan-Kettering that he had about 6 months to live). American Journal interviewed Ron Diamond for the story. But when the show came out, the most important part of the story - the part where Ron had healed his bone cancer - was left out. Instead they edited it so that the only part that was presented was Ron's weight loss. You see, in the process of healing his bone cancer, Ron also lost more than 100 lbs. I was very disappointed that AJ edited Ron's interview in such a way, and so subsequently we did an audio tape with Ron to present the whole story, which I now offer on my website's shopping mall. The experience with American Journal and other media opportunities that I've had showed me how the media manipulates information to suit themselves or their corporate bosses. This is one of the reasons that my partner, Leigh Crizoe, is developing his two internet radio stations. We are now fortunate that through internet radio and through Sirius, XM and other outlets, wider views of life, health and other issues can be presented to the public. Mainstream media has a very narrow focus and view, and people will not find the information they need to become healthy there - at least not at this time. Ron Diamond, by the way, is now a 16 year survivor of bone cancer.

Question #4: How do you come up with a recipe?

This is going to sound a little crazy, but my best recipes come when I'm fasting and I can't even taste them at that time. Somehow when I'm fasting, I get very creative and good ideas come to me. Then days later, when I finish my fast, I make the recipe again and then I can taste it. But fortunately, my partner Leigh is always around as a taster.

I also come up with good recipes by looking at the ingredients in a cooked food recipe and then trying to convert the whole thing to raw. This will only work when cooked food recipes have real food in them. If a recipe has white flour, white sugar, baking soda, eggs, butter and cream - well - there's nothing there to start with, so nothing to convert.

Question #5: Can you share a favorite raw food recipe?

Cream of Cilantro Soup
by Rhio
Cilantro is Reputed to be a Heavy Metal Detoxer

3 cups of cilantro
3 cups of filtered water
1 avocado
4 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2-1 tsp. Celtic sea salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder or granules

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend well.
Serves 2.

Question #6: What are some quick tips or hints for raw newbies?

Read as much as you can, go to lectures and educate yourself about health. In the raw community there are many different versions of the raw food diet. Sometimes it can be confusing. Who are you to believe? I say, begin, where you are, keep adding more raw into your diet, and at some point, your own body will become your teacher and your guide. Know that there will be a necessary period of transition and that there will be some detoxing symptoms to go through. Pass all information you receive through the sieve of your own intelligence.

Question #7: Do you have any dental problems on the raw diet?

I have not had any dental problems on the raw diet. Prior to becoming a raw food enthusiast I had a couple of deep cavities and one tiny one. The 2 teeth with the deep cavities were lost. After becoming raw, my teeth stabilized and I have not developed any more cavities.

Question #8: Do you take any raw supplements or super foods?

On an on again, off again basis, I take some raw food supplements. (Usually two weeks on, two weeks off). I also rotate supplements, so I'm not always taking the same ones. Among the supplements I might take are fresh wheatgrass juice, VitaMineral Green, Greener Grasses (from HealthForce Nutritionals), bee pollen, propolis, royal jelly, Thyrocare (an herbal support for the thyroid gland), and colloidal trace minerals.

Question #9: Where do you see the raw food movement heading?

The raw/live food movement will explode into the mainstream consciousness within the next 5-10 years. We can see signs of that happening now. A societal structure will arise to give the movement credibility. That structure will strengthen over the years to the point that people will generally accept that there are two models in effect and available in the United States. One model is the cooked food, allopathic, drug system and the other model is the raw/live food, wholistic and drugless system.

Question #10: Can you please tell us about some of your current projects you're working on and/or developing?

I have too many projects going but I'm very happy and elated that some of them are coming to fruition. By Summer of next year I will have a set of 3 videos/DVDs on raw food preparation available for purchase. At the same time a TV pilot will be produced entitled "Rhio's Place". I am also working on two song albums that will come out at about the same time. One is called: Time to Start Believing Again with environmental and raw food themes.

Leigh and I are also developing a farm using Nature's methods as a guide. Of course it will be organic, although we may not be able to certify organic because to do so, the USDA requires an enormous amount of paperwork and for a tiny operation it is not feasible. So we might opt to go with a private certification label rather than through the USDA program. The USDA program looks like it might be weakening the organic standards anyway, so a private certification will probably mean more in the future.

Last Spring on our farm we planted 112 fruit and nut trees and bushes, and this Spring we hope to plant twice as many. We are especially looking into producing the hard to get items like mulberries, unusual fruits, open pollinated and heirloom vegetables and edible weeds.

Alex, thank you for the opportunity to share some information with your readers. God bless you and your work.

Rhio's Raw Energy
www.rawfoodinfo.com