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The Journey from MAD to RAW
If you are looking for more energy and health in your life, having breakfast with Supermodel Carol Alt will change all of that in an instant.
For a normal person like me, you can imagine that having breakfast with a supermodel can be a little intimidating, but it turned out that we had more in common than I thought – we both made the same journey from MAD (Modern Acid Diet) to RAW, and it changed our lives!
Carol shared with me her story from a ‘save the rainforest’ shoot in Venezuela years ago. She was 35 at the time and was hiding behind a rock in utter shock at how a 25 year old model was stealing her show, not so much in her looks, but in her youthful attractive ENERGY, happiness, and vitality that she had brought to the shoot, that Carol admitted had been missing from her life for years.
Carol informed me that models are faced with a relentless and never-ending pressure to be thin. At the time, starving herself was the ‘only way’ to maintain the model physique.
In that moment on the photo shoot, the cumulative toll of all the years of strict dieting with processed foods and the related impacts on her health and figure came crashing down, not just physically, but more so emotionally.
She left the shoot that day and went into isolation in the Palm Desert where no one could find her, and she prayed.
Well, that prayer was answered when she received a call from a holistic doctor who introduced the raw food lifestyle to her. What amazed Carol the most was how this doctor, from the list of foods she was eating on a daily basis and nothing else, was able to predict the top 5 health issues that Carol was struggling with.
I always say – show me your plate, and I will tell you where you are having challenges with your health. We don’t “catch” colds and viruses and bad skin and stomach bugs – we EAT them.
Acidic foods and toxic thoughts lower our immune resistance and create a breeding ground and unhealthy terrain for things like yeast, bacteria, mold, fungus, and infections to flourish.
After only 3 days of fully living this lifestyle consisting of raw foods, green juices, herbs, and cleansing, Carol’s vitality quickly returned along with her rejuvenated, glowing skin and a new lease on life – she had found her answer and her future calling.
The fact that she didn’t have to starve or deprive herself anymore, and could feast on as much “real” food as she wanted unlocked a whole new meaning on her life.
She went from being hungry and exhausted all the time, to being healthy and gratified with nutrient-dense, enzyme active food. The key to her happiness and health was the raw food diet and an alkaline lifestyle.
We swapped stories and I shared with Carol how I became a chiropractor. As I started to take on the many new healthy habits I was learning, there was still one skeleton in the closet – my long standing addiction to sugar.
The average American consumes an astounding 170 pounds of sugar every year – take that number and multiply it by 3 and you have a good idea of what my diet looked like; 3 cokes every day, boxes of cereal, chocolate bars, gummy bears…I think you get the picture.
I tried to kick the habit SO many times, but deprivation NEVER worked.
In your teens and early 20s, your metabolism can get away with this type of eating most of the time. But as the years gained, so did my weight and my waist-line.
Similar to Carols ‘moment’ in Venezuela, I had one as well.
I was leaning down to adjust a client in my Upper East Side Wellness Center, when I hear “rippppp”…my pants had split down my entire backside (Carol could not contain her laughter).
Beet red in the face, I managed to deliver a terrific adjustment, and unfortunately, so did my pants! It was in that moment I drew a line in the sand and decided to change my life and try a different approach.
Like Carol, I started eating raw and uncovered the POWER of the alkaline diet. Within just 6 months of living this lifestyle, I lost 42 pounds, 3 inches in my waist, and had discovered massive amounts of new-found energy.
What I love about the approach Carol and I had fatefully discovered, is its simplicity. It focuses on the one universal constant regarding your health – the more alkaline your body THE BETTER, the more acidic THE WORSE!
So, what can you do make sure you are moving in the right direction?
- Keep it simple! It doesn’t need to be complicated, and the days of counting calories are OVER. Use the 80/20 rule in favor of alkaline to acidic foods. Super-hydrate and eat more raw organic greens, healthy fats, nuts, seeds, green drinks, and minerals. Eat less sugar, trans-fats, dairy, meat, processed foods, soda, coffee, and you will be amazed at how quickly you can reclaim your health and energy.
- Don’t deprive but moderate. Deprivation never works. By slowly adding healthy foods and habits into your lifestyle, eventually the good will outweigh the bad and it will sustain itself.
- Reduce (or eliminate!) the 3 Ps—Packaged, Prepared, and Processed foods
- Know your pH! Track the pH levels of your urine and saliva on a daily basis. This is how you can determine if you are acidic OR alkaline. And once you know, this is how you can determine if what you are doing is working (or not working).
- Action is Power! There is a saying – knowledge isn’t power, its potential power. Action is power! Having a solid action plan is important, but it is what you do with that information that will really change your life.
Carol has written 3 books on Raw Food and Health, with another on the way set to be released May 12, 2015 called ‘A Healthy You – Boost Your Energy, Live Cleaner, and Look and Feel Younger Every Day’.
She hosted the informative and innovative ‘A Healthy You & Carol Alt’ on Fox News, and is the creator of the Raw Essentials Skin Care Line.
Not only was I fortunate to have breakfast with one of the most gorgeous woman to ever walk this planet, but oddly enough, what I remembered MOST about that morning was her glowing skin, radiating smile, and an ENERGY and PASSION for health and life like no other.
I was amazed at how much KNOWLEDGE she had about food and health – more than most doctors I know. She has more energy NOW than most 20 year olds and this energy is contagious. Carol is a prime example of raw and alkaline lifestyle in action and she walks the talk.
We are fortunate to live in a time where there is so much information at our fingertips on how to live healthy and prevent premature aging. You can’t go more than a block these days in NYC without seeing someone with a fresh green drink in their hand.
The resources are limitless on raw food, the alkaline diet, and other ways to GET OFF YOUR ACID™. Go out there and find it like Carol Alt did and your life will never be the same!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Daryl Gioffre is a chiropractor, alkaline lifestyle expert, health coach, certified raw food chef, triathlete, ultra-marathoner, author, and lecturer who founded AlkaMind™ with the goal of optimizing your health and energy by simplifying the pursuit of an alkaline lifestyle. A former sugar addict turned health machine, Dr. Daryl knows firsthand what it takes to overcome adversity and challenges in your health.
