Do you Have to be Vegan or Plant-Based to Benefit from Raw Foods?

The world of raw food-ism and the world of vegan-ism are closely related — that much is true. And so it may be easy to assume that I am pitching you to be vegan by going through all of this information.

I would emphasize that this really isn’t a program about veganism, per se. Many vegans, in fact most of them, still eat basic vegan junk foods and cooked food combinations which are detrimental to health. They will wind up with similar problems as the rest of the world and can likely end up needing regenerative transformation from raw foods ultimately just like meat-eaters.

The short answer to this question is that anybody can benefit from the power of raw foods, despite what they’re eating on the side. There are many levels to the power of the process described in Rapid Regeneration, and you can benefit moderately or greatly, depending on how much you commit to feeding yourself these superfoods in contrast with other foods.

After time, I ended up transitioning to plant-based foods exclusively. However, this was never my intention to give up animal foods when setting out to fix my health problems.

I am a country boy originally from Heath, TX. Trust me, I would be the last person who would give up meat. Cold beer, enchiladas and barbecue were always the name of the game growing up in Dallas and into early adulthood — how could I not?

When I first starting getting into raw foods, sometime in the fall of 2015, it was very much a supplemental thing. I would have a big bowl of fruit for breakfast. And perhaps, as a late afternoon snack I would have some more fruit. My lunch and dinner would still typically stay the same. I would oftentimes eat chicken, or fish, or beef, and of course eggs I would eat every day.

At the time, I was already hip to the detrimental nature of dairy so I would eat as little of it as possible. I would also try and minimize eating breads and grains, although I would still eat a lot of tortillas. And of course, corn chips were my big go-to food that I couldn’t get enough of. With my meals on a good day I would cook some vegetables to go with it, and try and work in some raw greens like salad.

At this time I was making an effort to ‘clean up’ my more or less standard American diet. From 2011 to 2015, for about 4 years straight, I had been on a streak of eating pretty terribly, from McDonalds to chocolate candy bars to you name it. I know a lot of people tend to feel good just cutting out the worst type of foods (for more on this, please refer to the segment ‘Top Foods to Avoid’). So I was making improvements at this time, eating more whole, cooked foods which included eggs and meat two to three times daily.

Please keep in mind that at the time I was also investing a good amount in supplementing with herbal products. And, I was putting the time and effort into doing some multi-day cleanses. Both of these were giving me big-time results, and helped motivate me to clean up my diet and eat more healthfully, even though it was still cooked foods, grains and meat, etc. So I was already experiencing momentum, feeling good, and felt like I was making progress towards my health goals.

I started incorporating more fruit into the diet and it was a powerful catalyst. I noticed the effects right away. I felt the cleansing energetic power of the fuel moving through my system. When I incorporated more fruit into the diet, I felt like it took things to the next level. I felt like I was being elevated to a new level of healing and regeneration. I could feel my body working on itself to purge out harmful toxins and repair and revitalize my problem areas.

Personally, I felt like this was my new secret weapon and this would remain my lifestyle for the foreseeable future. I intended to keep eating meat, and cooked foods, but simply supplement with fruits and of course the supplements. I actually felt amazed at the power of this simple combination and felt this would be the winning formula for me.

I believe that each individual is different. But for a lot of people out there, I think that they could have very powerful results just by using this combination. For some, maybe this is all you would need for now. Just to get to the next level, relieve some of your problems and get a big boost of energy and vitality, but to keep on basically with much of your existing carnivorous lifestyle to which many of us have grown attached.

What happened with me was really outside of my own volition. I never intended to give up meat or become ‘vegan’. What I found was that over a period of several months, as I started getting more and more energy, and working in more fruits into my day, and after completing a parasite cleanse, is that I start craving and desiring meat less. I actually lost my appetite for eating it, most of the time. It was very strange because I used to love the stuff.

So, naturally, I stopped eating it as much. I would eat other high-fat, high-protein foods such as avocados, guacamole, olives and nut butters like almond butter, and I would eat a lot of that. Those foods became the objects of my desires more-so than meat and I followed that urge. I would eat meat maybe a few times a week, and then a little less and then a little less.

I reached the point where I was eating meat simply as a formality, or you might say as a social function — if it was being served or if I was out socially and in that type of situation.

Then I started getting these realizations after I would eat it, which started to send me a bit of a message. I recall once I was out with a girl that I was seeing at the time. We were out walking the dog and we stopped at a food truck and ordered a steak burrito, which we shared. After I ate it, that’s the first time I can remember distinctly really feeling bad after eating meat.

It was unfortunate because, prior to that, I was on a bit of a high. That’s what I had been enjoying about eating more raw foods, is that I would feel a sort of buzz like a natural high, all day long. And after we ate this burrito, my buzz totally evaporated. Not only that, but I felt a very disagreeable feeling coming from my stomach, as though my body was not happy with me for eating that. I felt uncomfortable and like my good mood had been ruined for the evening. I still plowed through and everything was fine, but this was a heightened level of awareness that I was feeling about eating meat, for the first time, highlighting the detrimental effects on how it made me feel.

Over this span of time, my body was directing me on what to give it in that way, and I listened to it. It was nothing more complicated than that. So I would eat meat even more occasionally and it got to the point where really I would just eat it in social settings.

The final straw for me, socially speaking, was one time when I was with my family and my grandmother was visiting. My mom, bless her heart, made a chicken pot pie for supper and we all sat around the kitchen table and tucked in. I remember thinking, ‘I really don’t want this, at all.’ I felt as though I was just eating it totally as a formality, and out of courtesy to my family, but against my natural best judgement. After the meal was over and I went to bed, that food did not agree with me. I felt my stomach churning and actually felt pretty bad. I thought to myself, ‘I’m doing this for what? Just to please other people? What about me?’

At that point, I made a decision to selectively start telling people that I was plant-based, just so that I wouldn’t have to eat their cooking if I didn’t want to. It gave me sort of an acceptable excuse, and let me off the hook. That way, I wouldn’t appear rude, as opposed to if I just said, ‘Actually, I would just prefer not to eat your dish, as I don’t find it very appetizing.’

I thought I would still eat meat occasionally, and I think I did a couple more times, but not long after that I really did totally lose my desire to eat it.

I want to make a distinction here, because there are (at least) two types of desire when it comes to food. One is a surface-level craving. We see a commercial for a fast food burger, covered in cheese and bacon and everything else, and our mouth starts watering because sensorily it’s so stimulating and delicious. This surface-level intrigue continued even after I gave up these foods and still to this day I love the smell of a bacon cheeseburger and can imagine the pleasure of biting into it.

But, what I discovered in cleaning up my diet and eating more raw foods is a deeper, more intuitive disposition. It’s a bit tough to explain but I’m doing my best. I have I guess only Nature or God to credit because literally I would look at the same burger, a bowl of ice cream, or macaroni and cheese, and I really had lost my actual physical desire to actually put it inside of me. What could be easier diet-wise than simply having no desire to consume certain foods? That is what happened to me.

I still would eat eggs until eventually I lost my appetite for those too. Eventually, after about only six months after I had started incorporating more raw foods and fruits, and only nine months after I started supplementing and doing some herbal cleansing, I pretty much moved off any animal product foods whatsoever. From that point, I was just eating plant-based foods, which was a good amount of fruits, still a lot of high-fat plant-based foods, plus still some cooked foods and definitely still a lot of corn chips. I was still far away from being ‘all-raw’.

I simply followed my intuition and what felt natural and easy for me. I never set out with any grand agenda, and certainly never made a decision early on to become vegan. I didn’t choose the raw lifestyle — the lifestyle of eating more raw and the power of plant-based foods chose me, you could say. I just went along for the ride, because I was that committed (and desperate, you might say) to solve the health problems that still plagued me. I desperately wanted to transform my life and get back to the old energetic me, before I had gotten sick.

Once I accomplished that a couple years later, which is a whole other story, I suppose I could have given up the plant-based way and gone back to things as normal. In fact, I did have a couple episodes where I did just that, because I craved meat and I gave permission to my craving to do whatever it wanted — but that was relatively short-lived.

Ultimately, my desires have simply changed. A steaming skillet of fajita meat just no longer excites me like it used to. This is a strange concept that is almost impossible to fathom, for a meat-eater, unless you get to this point in your own body transformation to experience it for yourself.

I also think that parasite and harmful organism cleansing definitely contributed to changing my appetites and desires. After all, an intestinal tract full of purifying meat is one of the most prolific breeding grounds for parasites, especially tapeworms and intestinal worms of all varieties. Raw sushi for example has an incredible number of parasite eggs contained in each square inch of it. These specific parasites proliferate within the intestines of an individual, and what do they crave and feed on? Rotting, decomposing flesh. It is my opinion that these parasites influence the host in what they want him/her to eat so that they can be fed. Once these parasites get killed and flushed out, many of these cravings for meat and animal products stop. It’s really amazingly simple.

My message to you is not to become vegan — it’s to do whatever you want. But, my other message to you is about the power of raw foods, herbal cleansing and supplements. If you start going in that direction, and adding more of these things into your life, there is no need to worry so much about cutting things out or making strict rules about what you can’t eat like giving up meat. You don’t have to be a vegan cop about that to yourself at this phase. If you simply focus on the good things, then just buckle up and see what direction that this will take you in.

I leave the rest in your hands. I would just like to play a role in getting you started down that road towards your wellness goals, and away from your health problems. Use the tools I will lay out in this program, and they will take you far regardless of the choices you make about animal products. As far as what will ultimately happen with your dietary choices, I have no idea. I hope you will focus on the Now and be present in your journey towards wellness, vitality and regeneration and use the incredible power of raw foods to transform your life. It will be exciting and maybe even surprising to see what will unfold for you!