The unexpected benefits of being a raw living fooder

Reprinted by Popular Demand ---

Unexpected Benefits of Being Raw

by James Carey

I live out in the woods of east central Georgia. WAY out in the woods. My driveway is several city blocks long. You can’t even see the house from the road. Every summer I catch poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac at least a dozen times. Seventeen times, one year. Each case lasts about two weeks, unless I catch some more elsewhere on my body and have overlapping cases. I’ve found the Canadian Centre for Disease Control (CCDC) website has the most useful information, and I know all about urushiol and Technu and Clear Caladryl lotion. Did you know that one nanogram of urushiol (billionth of a gram) is enough to cause a rash, the name is derived from the Japanese name for laquer, dead plants can infect you even after five years, urushiol remains potent for several centuries, or that the name Poison Ivy was coined by Captain John Smith in 1609? I could go on…

I’m just careless about it, is all. I stop to admire the sunrise, then realize that the tree I’m leaning against is covered with PI vines. I go crawling under the house to fix something, and realize the next day that the pretty little plants I crawled over were poison oak. I go berry picking, and push right though the poison sumac to get to the blackberry bushes behind. I’ve even caught PI from the dog (the oil can be carried on their fur) and mowing the yard.

Invariably, two days later I start to itch, and when I backtrack my activities I find the cause of infection (the CCDC calls this “vectoring,” in case you were wondering.)

At least I never get PI on my feet or ankles. That’s because I always wear big, heavy boots around the farm. Of course, I’m constantly battling Athlete’s Foot. I wear two pair of white socks, change them at midday (dinner, not lunch), and have a collection of sprays, ointments and powders. I know almost as much about Athlete’s Foot fungus as I do about Poison Ivy.

It’s been different this summer, though. Here it is July already and the one case of PI I’ve had lasted only two days. And I haven’t had Athlete’s Foot since I left CHI last fall. Curious, no? I thought so, especially since spring came a month early and everything’s blooming even heartier than usual.

I mentioned this to Don Haughey, co-founder of Creative Health Institute and he said, “Oh, that’s because your body is more alkaline now.” I checked with a chemist at Georgia Southern University, and, sure enough, that’s correct. An alkaline body chemistry repels skin diseases.

Like the local girls say, “Well, ain’t that special?”

Jim Carey,
Herndon, Georgia

See chiDiet.com for the complete training program.

Here's a directory of Wigmore Educational Resources (all links open in a new window or tab):
AnnWigmore.com - The story of Dr. Ann Wigmore, and a listing of Wigmore Institutes
Dr. Ann Wigmore's Degrees and Awards - probably not a complete list
GrassyRoots.com - The 14-episode TV series I did about raw foods and the Dr. Ann Wigmore Lifestyle
chiDiet.com - The Home Study version of the Dr. Ann Wigmore Raw Living Foods Lifestyle
RawLife.org - I put all of the videos from Grassy Roots TV and the Wigmore Lifestyle Home Study Program online
chiDiet.com/hs3.htm - The Dr. Ann Wigmore DVD video collection
GoRaw.net - Other raw websites I'm involved with or respect

- If you buy anything through these links our commission goes to keeping this website online.

Comments

[Denise @ Raw Brides]

That's really cool! It's lovely to think that the raw foodist lifestyle is the gift that keeps on giving.