Plant Based Cancer Success Story

As a forward, this site does not claim to cure or prevent any disease. I am not a doctor or a medical professional. 

With that being said, this is an amazing story this man is sharing about his plant based success story. Personally I do believe in a mostly plant based diet that includes some fish (similar to the Chris Wark diet). Anyways, here's his exciting story!

Long Term Health. Raw Food Inspiration.

All of the following people have found success on a high raw diet. Basically, most of their food is uncooked and vegan, yet they also tend to include some cooked foods. While fruit is a part of their diets, they do not eat fruit as their primary source of calories. Instead their diets tend to focus on foods like avocados, salads, vegetable juices, cooked beans, green smoothies, nuts, seeds and even some oils. 

Annette Larkins, Born in 1942: "She's been a vegetarian for 54 years, but over the last 30 years she has perfected her raw vegan diet. Her plant-based diet does not include any animal products. The food she eats is unprocessed and uncooked. Her dishes include vegetarian nut loaf, zucanni chips, and savory okra crisps. Annette says it's never too late to reap the benefits of a vegan lifestyle." (Link)

Mimi Kirk, Born in 1938: “I’ve been a vegetarian or vegan for the better part of 40 years. However, when I turned 69, I became a raw vegan because my blood pressure and cholesterol were up and I was starting to feel arthritic pains in my joints. Six months later, at my doctor’s appointment, everything was normal. And the best part: I didn’t have to start taking any prescriptions drugs.” (Link)

Dr. Robert Cassar, Born in 1961

Markus Rothkranz, Born in 1962

Karyn Calabrese, Born in 1947

Sunny Griffin, Born in 1940

The "Half Raw Diet"

Why Raw Foods?

Generally speaking, the more that a food is processed, the less the human body recognizes it as food. "Many processed foods are stripped bare, rendering them of little or no nutritional value" (Link). Raw fruits and vegetables are the least processed foods on the planet. They have not been preserved, canned, boiled, sliced, or irradiated. "Cooking for long periods of time can destroy some of the vitamin content of produce. This is well-established in the scientific community" (Link).

"Living Foods for Living Bodies"

Raw foods are also living foods. For example, if you cook a sunflower seed, that seed is now dead, and cannot grow. Literally, the life is gone from that seed. Raw food author and speaker Jay Kordich is now 90 years old (in 2013). He says that raw foods helped cure him life-threatening cancer in his 20's. He documented his experiences in an excellent book called "Living Foods for Living Bodies".

Then Why Not 100% Raw?

"Most adherents of the raw food diet strive for 75 to 95 percent compliance. For most people, this would require too much effort and too great a shift in dietary habits and desires. For this reason, dietitian and raw food coach Linda Ruff encourages people to adopt a 50 percent raw diet. This half-raw diet ensures adequate intake of enzyme-rich foods while leaving room for the cooked foods familiar to most people. A 50 percent raw diet may be your final goal, or a transitional step toward a more fully raw diet" (Link). A half raw diet also allows for very healthy cooked foods such as beans, stir fry, soup, rice, potatoes and many others.

What Else is Allowed on a "'Half Raw Diet"?

Your remaining food can include more fruits and vegetables if you want. Or it can also include healthy vegan foods such as potatoes, rice, beans, grains, nuts, seeds, soups, stir fry, healthy cereals, healthy breads, hummus, nut milks, healthy oils, etc. Non-vegans can also include organic and humanely attained eggs and dairy. Personally, I currently promote a vegetarian diet, but non-vegetarians can include wild caught fish and even organic meats if they choose. But again, on a Half Raw Diet, you want to make sure that at least half of your calories come from raw fruits and vegetables.

What are Some Great Raw Foods?

Salads
Fresh Juice (I recommend purchasing an affordable juicer at your local Wal-Mart or similar store)
Fruit Smoothies (I also recommend purchasing an affordable blender)
Green Smoothies (75% fruit, 25% green vegetables of your choice)
Fresh Fruits and vegetables
Avocados
Raw nuts and seeds

Tips for Starting a Raw Foods Diet

Interested in starting a raw foods diet or a high raw foods diet? Here are a few helpful tips!

photo by muammerokumus on flickr

1) Try to avoid combining fruits with fats during a meal. Because fruits are fast-burning sugars, they do not mix well with slow-burning fats. Combining them can create digestion discomfort. 

2) To avoid fast food places such as McDonalds and Taco Bell, consider traveling with some water, a cutting board and a knife. This way you can stop at any grocery store and eat "fast food"... the raw way!

3) If you have trouble eating 100% raw foods, try going "raw until dinner".

4) Find a friend or two who will encourage your "healthy habits". Joining a raw food meetup group (www.meetup.com) may be a great place to start!

5) Be flexible. While some people thrive on a 100% raw vegan diet, it is not the only healthy option. Other similar diets that are healthy are the High Raw Diet, a Whole Foods Vegan Diet and a Whole Foods Vegetarian Diet.

6) "Supplements" is not a bad word. Deficiencies are common in any diet and can be easily avoided through some simple supplementation. Check out my list of beneficial supplements Here (This website makes no money from promoting any supplements).

7) Avoid stomach discomfort by limiting your intake of nuts to a handful or two per day.

8) Forgive yourself if you "mess up" by eating unhealthy food sometimes. While raw foods do help increase our health and vitality, it is also helpful to not freak out about maintaining complete perfection! That being said, lots of "cheating" on any diet will likely delay the positive results we are looking for.

9) Finding enough calories on a raw food diet can be tricky. Some great raw, vegetarian calorie sources include:

- fruits (bananas, dates, figs, mangoes, watermelon, cantaloupes, apples, pineapple, etc.)
- green smoothies (50% fruit and 50% greens plus water, blended). A green smoothie makes a great breakfast (and lunch if you want)!
- salads (click Here for many different salad ingredients!)  
- juices (carrot celery juice, apple cucumber juice, etc.). 
- fats (Up to 1-2 avocados daily, nuts, seeds, etc. For Ovo Lacto vegetarians: raw milk cheese, raw free range eggs, etc.)

10) Variety helps. A balanced raw food diet includes fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Also, people on a high raw vegan diet should include healthy foods such as beans, rice and baked potatoes. Ovo Lacto vegetarians can also consider grass fed dairy and/or free range eggs.

Amazing Success Stories from Long Term Vegans and Vegetarians

"In 1991 Mike was aged 69. “I contracted a cancer which the Cleveland Clinic said would kill me in 3 months unless operated upon. I said no, I was going on a diet! The tumor had metastasized into my lymphatic system and would have required efforts to treat the metastases with radiation and/or chemotherapy (with questionable results in those earlier days). In 2 and a quarter years the tumor began to bleed, I was operated upon.”

“The surgeon looked for metastasis in 35 places and found zero. In other words my Macrobiotic Diet, becoming a Vegan Diet, becoming a whole-Foods Plant-Based Diet, killed the metastases! The results of the diet have been perfect and it has been since that diet that all my world records have come about as well as such distinction in the U.S.” (LINK) (LINK)

Dr. Ellsworth Wareham is 98 years old, and has been a vegan for 50 years now. He takes a B12 supplement.

Jay Kordich is 89 and has been a vegan (eating about 75% raw foods) for the past 65 years. Kordich had bladder cancer in his 20's and says he cured his cancer by eating raw fruits and vegetables. Kordich promotes juicing and eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. In his book titled "Power of Juicing" he says, "I consider myself a fruitarian when I eat and a vegetarian when I juice. Vegetables are the body builders; fruits are the energizers and cleansers" (p. 219). On his blog, Kordich states, "Eating a diet rich in vegetarian foods/vegan foods is KEY to staying vitally healthy.  If you cannot give up dairy, please know that cheese is loaded with saturated fats that hurt our arteries. Cheese especially has casein in it that is basically glue.  If you must eat dairy products, butter, cheese and milk are the worst culprits. Yoghurt and fermented milk products would be the only dairy products acceptable, but even then, only 5% of our diet should consist of these products. The other 95% should be: fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, legumes and vegetables." (Link) Kordich promotes getting vitamins D from sunlight (or a supplement if necessary) and B12 from nutritional yeast or tempeh (Link). 

"Happy birthday to Loreen Dinwiddie, who has an awesome name and just turned 108 years young! She credits her vegan diet, which she started in 1922 with her husband, for her longevity. Loreen, a Seventh-Day Adventist, says she draws her diet from biblical teachings” (Link). A 7th Day Adventist diet is vegetarian and also may include occasional eggs, dairy and honey (Link).


Victoria Moran has been a vegan for 30 years (in 2013). She went from obese and depressed to healthy and happy. She gives a vegan diet much credit for this:

Karen Calabrese is 65 years old and she has been a vegan for 40 years. She has been a raw vegan for 30 years. In her book, "Soak Your Nuts", she says she gets most of her B12 from fermented foods such as raw sauerkraut, rejuvelac and kombucha. Yet for most people, she encourages taking supplementation of vitamin B12, vitamin D, flax seed oil, probiotics and digestive enzymes. 


Markus Rothkranz was sick and dying at 30 years old when he switched his diet. He has been a raw, whole foods vegan for ever since, and is now a thriving at 50 years old (in 2013). Rothkranz eats "green smoothies" for most meals (half fruits, half vegetables). He also promotes taking a B12 supplement.
\
John Kohler was on his death bed when he discovered the raw, whole foods vegan diet. He claims that this diet has healed him. Kohler recommends that vegans take a B12 supplement.


Reverend George Malkmus is 78 years old in 2012. When he was 42 years old, his doctor discovered a life-threatening, baseball sized tumor in his colon. At that point, George decided to start eating a raw vegan diet. According to his report, the tumor disappeared within one year! Malkmus has been a raw vegan ever since. On his website, George recommends taking a B12 supplement, flax seed oil, alfalfa, vitamin D and daily carrot juice (Link).


At 6:42 in the following video, 71 year-old Barry Koral talks about his raw vegan lifestyle. Koral looks much younger than his age, and he has been a 100% raw vegan since the year 2000!
At age 26, Christina Pirello was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. By the time her illness was identified, the cancer had already advanced to an acute stage. Her doctors gave her little reason to have hope for the effectiveness of conventional medical therapies and told her she had only months to live. Initially, she was discouraged and uncertain. Then a co-worker introduced her to Robert Pirello, a whole foods advocate who helped her adapt her lifestyle and diet based on whole, unprocessed food. With love, dedication and death-defying discipline, Christina overcame the odds, and in the process developed an expertise in cooking with whole, vegan foods. After just two months of eating beans, grains and vegetables, her doctors noticed a significant improvement in her condition. In fourteen months, her cancer was gone. From that time, she was utterly convinced of the close relationship between diet and health. She knew her life’s calling was to help others discover the importance of this relationship in their own lives. To that end, she studied and became an expert in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, acupuncture and earned a Masters Degree in Nutrition. Today, almost 27 years later, Christina is a glowing example and inspiration on the power that our food choices have on our overall health and well being (Link).

Gabriel Cousens is a Medical Doctor who is 69 years old (in 2012). He has been a raw vegan for 28 years. Cousens encourages supplementation in B12, vitamin D and Omega 3, vitamin C, vitamin A, carnosine and vitamin K. He promotes this supplementation both for vegans and for meat eaters.


Bernando LaPallo is 111 years old in 2012, as he was born in 1901 (link). He eats mainly raw fruits, raw vegetables and fresh juices. LaPallo also eats wild caught fish about 3 times per week. LaPallo is the world's oldest blogger.


As of 2012, Dr. Stanley Bass is a 91 year old raw foodist. His diet mainly consists of raw vegetables, a smaller amount of fresh fruit, and 1-2 raw egg yolks every day for vitamin B12, Omega 3, vitamin D, etc. He also occasionally eats chicken liver for extra B12.


Dr. Robert Lockhart is 68 years old. He's been vegan for 45 years and eaten only raw foods for 30 years. Though he used to be a "fruitarian", Dr. Lockhart eventually learned that greens are an essential part of a diet. Lockhart eats green smoothies almost on a daily basis. His smoothies include about half fruit and half leafy green vegetables. He also eats lots of fresh fruit.



Jack Lalanne invented the "Jumping Jack"and is known as the "Godfather of Fitness". He recently passed away at the age of 96. He promoted a high raw diet of 10 raw vegetables and 5 raw fruits a day. He also included fish in his diet.



Lou Corona is 60 years old and he's been a raw vegan for 40 years:


Dr. Aris LaTham has been a vegan since 1970 and a raw vegan since 1976.


Mimi Kirk is 72 years old and has been a vegetarian for over 40 years. She has been a raw vegan for a few years as well.



Joel Brody - Raw Vegetarian for over 40 Years.

Eat When Hungry (Not When Bored)

1) Don't Starve Yourself. Enjoy Eating!

"Train yourself to not starve yourself when you are truly hungry. There might be a plethora of reasons why one doesn’t eat when hungry but in the end you have to remember you are not doing yourself any favors with this behavior...My #1 solution in all situations? Fruit and veg. If you find yourself hungry but you, for some reason, have to wait with eating, munch on fruit or stuff like cherry tomatoes, paprika and carrot." (Link)

2) Don't Eat Just to Eat

While it is important to eat when hungry, it is also important to not overeat. Some people who eat healthy may still have issues with energy. Overeating, especially right before bed, is likely one significant reason why. In order to help your body digest your food, it is a good idea to avoid eating your last meal within 2-3 hours of bedtime.

Dr. Stanley S. Bass puts it well: "Each morsel we consume beyond what is absolutely necessary to sustain life, wastes physical and mental energy at a fearful rate. If any single factor were to be considered as the most important for health and happiness, this would be it.

Those who are compulsive overeaters should study, restudy and ponder deeply upon this question, for herein is contained the key to the solution of most of their daily problems

The Two Rules for Maintaining Health and Prolonging Life: quality and quantity. The first, namely quality, consists in not eating foods or drinking liquids harmful to the stomach. The second, which is quantity, consists in not eating or drinking more than the stomach can easily digest." (Link)

Paul Nison, author of the Daylight Diet, "identifies typical industrialized eating patterns as the most common cause of bodily stress. To reduce this stress, the diet advises you to choose healthy foods, reduce your overall food intake and, most importantly, increase the amount of time between meals. Eating less frequently and avoiding snacks allows your body time to thoroughly digest each meal and to take a break. The purported benefits of this diet include greater energy, enhanced immunity, deeper sleep, improved digestion and relief from a wide range of ailments." (Link)

Raw Food Day - High Raw Vegetarian and Vegan Meal Plans

Below are some of meal plans that leaders in the raw food movement follow -

Meal Plan 1

(75% Raw, 100% Vegan - Promoted by 

raw food authors Natalia Rose and Jay Kordich)

"Raw Until Dinner"

Green Smoothie - (Need some variety? Vary fruits and green vegetables - or try one or more of the following: Raw Oatmeal. fresh juice. fresh fruit and/or Raw Muesli! For extra protein and energy, include some raw protein powder with your smoothie!)

Lunch: Fresh salad (for daily variety, click Here for many different salad ingredients!), or another smoothie, or some fresh fruit.

Dinner: For those following a Raw Until Dinner approach, feel free to be more flexible with your dinner meals. Some examples might be: stir fry, soup, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, brown rice, white rice, corn, fruit, salad, oats, quinoa, fresh juice (fruit juice, carrot juice, green juice, etc.), hummus, guacamole, etc. 

Note: (Long Term raw foodist Jay Kordich promotes only a High Raw vegan diet. I also think this is the best approach. However, Non-vegans may can include free range eggs, raw milk cheese, kefir or raw milk with dinner meals).

Optional Snacks: 

- fresh fruits and vegetables
- raw trail mix
- Lara Bar 

- fresh green or carrot juice

- raisins

- raw nuts

- seeds

- kombucha tea

- raw honey as sweetener 

Meal Plan 2
(followed and promoted by raw food chef Cara Brotman)

Breakfast - Fruit Salad
Dinner - Vegetable Salad

Meal Plan 3

(100% Raw, 100% Vegan - followed by famous 
raw foodists such as Tim Van Orden and Paul Nison)

Green Smoothie - (Need some variety? Vary fruits and green vegetables - or try one or more of the following: Raw Oatmeal. fresh juice. fresh fruit and/or Raw Muesli! For extra protein and energy, include some raw protein powder with your smoothie!)

Lunch: Fresh Fruit (To add variety, vary the fruit and also feel free to include some vegetables)

Dinner: Salad with avocados (Need some variety? click Here for many different salad ingredients!)   

Snacks throughout day: 

- fresh fruits and vegetables
- raw trail mix
- Lara Bar 

- fresh green or carrot juice

- raisins

- raw nuts

- seeds

- kombucha tea

- raw honey as sweetener

Meal Plan 4
(100% Raw, 100% Vegan - Smoothies All Day or Fruit plus Green Juice - 
Promoted by Markus Rothkranz and "Life Regenerator")

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner: Green smoothie - or fresh fruit with fresh green juice - (For extra protein and energy, include some raw protein powder with your smoothie)!

Meal Plan 5

(Points System)

Eating a diet consisting of 100% raw foods can feel overwhelming. So to simplify things, I created the below points system to remind myself and others what an energizing meal looks like. I recommend to try aiming for at least 8 points for at least 2 of your 3 meals every day.

For a definition of processed food, Click Here!

10 Points = Most Energizing Meal!

1 Point	2 Points	3 Points	4 Points	5 Points
Plant Based: Meal includes one serving of non-organic meat.	Plant Based: Meal includes one serving of organic meat.	Plant Based: Meal is Completely Vegetarian and mostly vegan (no meat – but some eggs and dairy are allowed)	Plant Based: Completely Vegetarian (no meat), mostly vegan, and all eggs and dairy are organic	Plant Based: Completely vegan meal (Click Here for a list of supplements that vegans might need to take).
1 Point	2 Points	3 Points	4 Points	5 Points
Unprocessed: Meal includes something that is unprocessed.	Unprocessed: Meal is at least 50% Unprocessed	Unprocessed: Meal is at least 75% Unprocessed	Unprocessed: Meal is at least 90% unprocessed and at least 50% raw (uncooked)	Unprocessed: Meal is 100% unprocessed and at least 75% raw (uncooked)

Meal Plan 6

(High Raw Diet, Lacto Ovo Vegetarian Diet

Promoted by Kevin Gianni, Dr. Bass and "Nazariah")

3 Day "High Raw" Vegetarian Meal Plan

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
Breakfast	90% Raw Raspberry Green Smoothie with 3 bananas, a handful of kale, 1/2 cup organic yogurt or raw vegan protein powder, ½ cup raspberries and 2 cups water. (Increase or decrease portions depending on body weight).	90% Raw Blueberry Spinach Green Smoothie with 3 bananas, a handful of spinach, 1/2 cup organic yogurt or raw vegan protein powder, ½ cup blueberries and 2 cups water. (Increase or decrease portions depending on body weight).	90% Raw Strawberry Green Smoothie with 3 bananas, a handful of kale, 1/2 cup organic yogurt or raw vegan protein powder, ½ cup strawberries and 2 cups water. (Increase or decrease portions depending on body weight).
Lunch	90% Raw salad with mixed greens, 1 sliced avocado, 1 sliced tomato, 1 chopped carrot and organic dressing of your choice   (preferably whole food dressings with no added sugars, artificial sweeteners, etc.).	90% Raw “Fiesta” salad with mixed greens, cilantro, 1 avocado, 1 ear of fresh sweet corn off the cob, 1 small handful of hazelnuts, 1 sliced jalapeno pepper, sun dried tomatoes and organic dressing of your choice.	90% Raw salad with mixed greens, 1 sliced cucumber, sliced broccoli, 1 hard-boiled egg, sliced carrots, 1 sliced green pepper and   organic dressing of your choice.
Dinner	Vegetable Soup, organic cottage cheese, fresh carrot/celery juice, fresh fruit for dessert.	Stir-fry with sliced peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro and carrots cooked in coconut oil. Cook and mix with 2-3 scrambled eggs (organic). Enjoy some fresh fruit for dessert along with some fresh green and/or carrot juice or water.	Beans, Rice and Cheese Dinner with cooked beans and rice covered with a thin layer of organic cheese. Include   grilled or raw vegetables of your choosing. Wash down with a glass of fresh green and/or carrot juice. :-)
Optional Snacks Throughout Day (use sparingly)	- fresh green and/or carrot juice - fresh fruits and vegetables - raw trail mix - raisins - kombucha tea - raw honey as sweetener (use sparingly) - Lara Bar (use sparingly) - raw nuts and seeds (use high fat nuts and seeds sparingly)	- fresh green and/or carrot juice - fresh fruits and vegetables - raw trail mix - raisins - kombucha tea - raw honey as sweetener (use sparingly) - Lara Bar (use sparingly) - raw nuts and seeds (use high fat nuts and seeds sparingly)	- fresh green and/or carrot juice - fresh fruits and vegetables - raw trail mix - raisins - kombucha tea - raw honey as sweetener (use sparingly) - Lara Bar (use sparingly) - raw nuts and seeds (use high fat nuts and seeds sparingly)

Meal Plan Advice from Long Term Raw Foodists!

Starting at 7:30 in this video, world class athlete Tim Van Orden talks about his daily diet. Basically he starts the day with a green smoothie. Then he eats fruit throughout the day for energy. And at night he has a huge salad.

Starting at 2:09 in the following video, raw food expert and author Paul Nison talks about his daily diet. He talks about how he keeps things very simple every day, and from a day to day basis there is not much variety apart from the fruits and vegetables he might eat:

Starting at 5:25 in the below video, John Fielder - a person who has been eating raw foods for over 40 years - talks about his diet. Basically he only eats two meals a day - usually fruit for lunch then a salad for dinner. Though Fielder is a raw foodist, he is not 100% vegan, as he also incorporates a very small amount of animal products such as goat's milk and occasional fish into his diet. Some people function well on two meals a day, others on three!

Starting at 6:35 in the following video, Dan McDonald (liferegenerator) details a common diet he recommends. Basically it is fruit and green juices until dinner. Then for dinner is a big salad, possibly with raw dressing and avocados.


Starting at 5:10 in the following video, Ka Sundance mentions the importance of fresh, tropical fruits and green juices in his daily raw food diet.

Starting at 1:17 in the below video, Tim Van Orden continues talking about his daily diet.

Raw Recipe - Lettuce Wrap

This is one of my staple raw food meals. In fact, this photo is of my lunch today! It is easy to make, filling and delicious. It includes:

1 romaine lettuce heart

1 large avocado

1-2 tomatoes

1-2 ears of raw sweet corn (optional)

1 green pepper (optional)

Only utensils required - knife, cutting board and water for washing - The simplicity of this wrap makes it a great raw fast food option!