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Dear Students, Graduates and Friends,

We have so much to be thankful for in this Christmas season!   Not just our health, but to the One who gives us life, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  In these challenging times we live in, nothing can give us the peace that passes understanding but our Friend, Jesus.  The past 5 years Dolphin has gone through significant changes and has transformed from a conventional healthcare only practice to the present that includes a powerful, health and life transforming ministry.  I formally acknowledge God's leading in my life and Dolphin Health & Education.  I am forever grateful.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1.  Dr. Douglas Graham, author of The 80/10/10 Diet and Nutrition and Athletic Performance, has joined Dolphin's Guest Faculty list for 2010.  He will be one of the instructors in the NEW 2010 Dolphin's Healthy Boot Camp.  His focus will be on raw food sports nutrition and athletic performance.

2.  The NEW 2010 Dolphin's Healthy Boot Camp starts January 4 Monday at 5:30 PM.  That's only 3 weeks away!  Registration is now open.  For those of you who have not taken the boot camp or you have a family member or friend who might be interested in the raw food lifestyle, why not start the new year with a NEW YOU!  If you are a boot camp graduate, you are welcome to take this new course as an alumni.  The course recipe book and lecture notes are all new.  Click Here to register online.


Topics covered in this newsletter:

1.  Herbs versus Drugs.

Herbal medicine or botanical medicine employs the use of herbs for the treatment of physical maladies or diseases.  The plant extracts are harvested and processed into a form such as a pill, powder or drink that can be utilized as medicinal, nutritive or immune enhancing substances. The natural compounds in herbs and spices have "defensive mechanisms" that have been observed and applied by mankind for thousands of years. Conventional medicine and the pharmaceutical industries recognize the usefulness of plant alkaloids such as opium and caffeine among many others for treatment of various health conditions.  So there are pharmaceutical drugs that have their origins in herbs.

We are all too familiar with echinacea, goldenseal, and garlic in their ability to support the immune system.  Rose hips can be beneficial for people suffering from osteoarthritis.  St. John's Wort has been used to treat mild to moderate depression.  The differences in herbs and drugs tend to be concentration and isolation of compounds.  The pharmaceutical industry tend to emphasize purity, concentration and isolation of a specific substance while those in holistic natural medicine tend to emphasize using the whole leaf or root of the plant.

As a natural health practitioner, I believe it is always better to use the whole plant rather than break it down to their components for medicinal use because there are so many phytochemicals that are interdependent on each other for their total beneficial outcomes.

The bottom line is this.  If we are eating a balanced diet that is mostly raw to all-raw vegan, along with the proper lifestyle, reliance on medicinal herbs to support optimal health will be minimal.  The food that our bodies are designed to consume brings in the necessary elements used for healing, repairing, and regenerating of damage cells.       

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbal_medicine


2.  How to be successful in the raw food lifestyle.

I have observed numerous times when many boot camp students successfully transition into the raw vegan lifestyle within 10 weeks only to fail a few months later.  How can failure occur when they have been thoroughly instructed and drilled and even experienced the incredible benefits in health?  Here are factors that I believe contribute to failure in the raw food lifestyle.  By identifiying these factors and making appropriate corrections, we are more likely to see more long-term successful outcomes.  When referring to the raw food lifestyle or raw fooder, I am referring to people eating mostly raw foods (at least 85 percent) and vegan to an all-raw vegan diet.  Here are the factors listed below:

Knowledge - The individual must continue to read and learn about the raw food lifestyle, learn more recipes, and health benefits.  The boot camp only provides the initial learning but the learning does not stop at graduation.  There is so much faulty information and misconceptions to unlearn from the previous diet and lifestyle that it will take sometimes years to "dawn" on us that the raw vegan lifestyle gives us the ultimate potential in health and happiness.  We have to keep in mind that the conventional world has educated us from birth that our instinct is to follow what they taught us.  We are not cattle!  Just imagine how many of us can truly break away from that reductionist mindset?

Tools - Any experienced successful raw fooder knows there are basic equipment required to be successful in the raw food lifestyle.  A juicer, blender and food dehydrator are indespensable kitchen appliances.  Opening a young coconut by running a car over it is not applying the right tool for the job!  It will be messy and distasteful.

Food Variety - I have had a few boot camp graduates tell me that they became tired of drinking or eating raw food and eventually fell off the wagon and found themselves caught with a hamburger between their teeth during a family gathering or special occasion.  The reason for their failure is that they have limited themselves to eating the same food without exploring all the other hundreds of varieties and combinations out there.  Eating the same food day after day can be boring.  There are so many recipe books on raw foods.  If you are financially challanged, you can still go online.  There are hundreds of raw food recipes in the internet.  YouTube has video demonstrations.  Why limit yourself?

Cooked Vegan Food - The majority of people transitioning to the raw vegan lifestyle have been meateaters!  We learn in the boot camp about preparing vegan cooked food.  What for?  That is because not everyone can or wants to follow an all-raw vegan diet.  An 85 percent raw diet means the other 15 percent is cooked.  If we learn how to prepare and eat raw foods, we need a backup plan to prepare tasty vegan cooked dishes.  Otherwise we will default back to our meateating days on the spur of the moment when we fail, since we are not perfect in our ways.  The saying is true that, "a dog returns to its own vomit".  So what do we learn here?  You must have a backup plan in the event of failure in the raw diet.  Expect it!

Support - Most of us need support when we begin a new lifestyle.  A typical scenario is working out in the gym.  When you work out alone, it is hard to push yourself to lift more weights or to run faster unless you are highly self-motivating and disciplined.  The same situation exists in the raw food lifestyle.  We naturally want to be assured we are not the only ones at odds, and that we are truly following the right direction in our quest for health.  Most of us tend to be followers.  Only a few are leaders.  For many "it takes two to tango".  Overall we are not isolationists.  You have heard the saying, "there is strength in numbers".  A support group or support person can be nurturing or source of additional insights in the raw food lifestyle.  If you are not able to join our monthly support potluck groups or are not encouraged by family members, friends or other raw fooders to continue in the new lifestyle, there is a high probability of failure within the first year.  You have invested so much of your time and finance to learn and apply the raw food lifestyle only to fail a few months later.  Don't you remember just a few months ago when you got rid of the symptoms of disease?  Are you willing to get all those symptoms back? 

Firm Foundation - We need to be solidly grounded and unshakeable in the raw food lifestyle.  That means we are fully convinced that this lifestyle is for us.  It is not a blind following of a trendy lifestyle.  Our foundation is built upon the working evidences, our personal experiences, faith, conviction and patience that our bodies are designed by our Creator to eat raw, plant-based foods to attain and sustain vibrant health, longevity and mental acuity throughout life.  This is the Garden of Eden diet and lifestyle as applied in the 21st Century!  The Advanced Directive for health.  As several of successful boot camp graduates have done, we need to actively embrace the lifestyle fully, which means be excited about living it and sharing it with others.  Anything less than full commitment is going to be the "Achilles Heel" and eventual failure in the raw food lifestyle.  And what if you have not experienced this vibrant health for yourself?  Then you do not have a firm foundation from which to stand.

The Body, Mind, and Spirit connection - Many of us who learn the raw food lifestyle do not realize that a "living" person consists of a body and spirit.  The Bible tells us in Genesis 2:7:  "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being".  Anyone who has worked on cadavers (I've had my share in both physical therapy and chiropractic schools) have observed that there is nothing special about a human cadavar.  It is no longer a person!  The "breath of life" has returned back to God.  What makes a person special is the dual nature of our being.  We are made of both body and spirit ("breath of life").  The human body cannot live apart from the spirit and vice versa.  How does this apply to success in the raw food lifestyle?  A sick body will have a sick mind, which affects the spirituality of the person.  In the same equation, a sickened or poor spiritual life will alter one's thinking and eventually sickens the body with evidences of physical deterioration such as depression and cancer.  So having a healthy spiritual life is of utmost importance in living a healthy life.  It is not only about raw food my friends.  If we are doing everything in the raw food lifestyle but do not experience vibrant health, happiness, peace and fulfillment in life, it is because of the spiritual connection that may be missing.  It is about understanding the nature of human existence, where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going?  And how the human existence relates to one another and to our Creator, God.  So ultimately a balanced physical and spiritual life will give us success in living the raw food lifestyle, God's way.

For those of you who are interested (students, graduates and friends), I will be facilitating a Bible Study beginning January 13, 2010 on Wednesday nights (once a week) that will go for 5 months.  The Bible Study will reveal to us who God is, who Jesus is, and how to reconnect to God and live a vibrant spiritual life.  The study will be held at  Dolphin Health & Education and will meet from 7 PM - 8:15 PM.  You are welcome to join this Bible Study.  There is no fee.  Interested persons can sign up by calling the office at 541-857-2678. 


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


Blessings,

Miven Donato, DPT, DC  

  
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