Scott's Raw Journey

Agave nectar comes from the agave cactus that grows wild in Mexico and is used to make tequila. In recent years it has entered the marketplace as a sweetener, having shown to be low-glycemic, and a healthier choice than processed sugar, artificial sweeteners, and other options. When processed at lower temperatures, it can be labeled and sold as “raw”. Raw agave nectar has become a popular ingredient among raw foodists as it brings out the natural flavors of whatever it is combined with, and it is easy to use.

In November of 2008, an article was published called “Agave Nectar, the High Fructose Health Fraud” which seems to have been taken to heart by many in the raw foods community. A week later, a rebuttal was issued by the president of Madhava, one of the larger agave nectar companies. This rebuttal doesn’t seem to have been read by many as I continue to hear comments such as “I heard agave isn’t raw” or “I heard it has corn syrup added to it”. Where did you hear this from? What is the source of that claim? Finding myself explaining this over and over again, and feeling annoyed that people just blindly accept something as true without applying any sort of critical thinking of their own, I decided to write this article, combining the original article, the rebuttal, and my own notes. Let’s examine this issue further and see if agave nectar is really the bugaboo that some people are claiming it to be.

The article “Agave Nectar, High Fructose Health Fraud” appeared in November 2008 and was written by Ramiel Nagel. He is the author of two books, Healing Our Children and Cure Tooth Decay. The bio on his website has this to say:

“I want to tell you about myself briefly to establish some type of credibility. I am Rami Nagel, a father devoted to spreading Indigenous health wisdom. I have no affiliation with any type of organization, and I do not have any official medical training. I stumbled across preconception health in researching the cause of my daughter's tooth decay. I learned that her condition, like countless other conditions faced by infants and toddlers, could have been prevented during the time prior to conception, or pregnancy. I did not know this at the time, because hardly anybody else knows this either, at least in the Western world.”

Rami is suggesting that having healthy babies is primarily dependent on the health of the parents prior to conception. To me, this is a no-brainer. But I guess it can be a revelation to some, just as the idea that one’s diet actually has something to do with one’s health is an earth-shattering paradigm-shifting concept. I find it strange, RED FLAG! RED FLAG! that Rami needs to point out that he has no affiliation with any type of organization. Of all the things one can say about oneself, to mention that so early in a bio makes me think he actually DOES have an affiliation and is going to lengths to obscure that fact. Most citizens do not have affiliations to an agenda, so why even mention it at all?

Rami submits his articles as a Citizen Journalist. According to Wikipedia, “the idea behind citizen journalism is that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own.” They can also quite easily be planted by organizations with an agenda to spread disinformation. If I was the owner of a large corporation and I wanted to discredit somebody or something that was a threat to my profits, I couldn’t just come out with a press release and say slanderous things against my competitor. But if I hired some “citizen journalist” who could pass as an independent thinker and concerned citizen to write up a little article to serve my agenda, then hey, nobody would know, right?

Now I am not accusing Rami of doing this. In fact, if you look at his website, I have to agree with most of the things he discusses. Vaccinations are bad. Duh! Processed food is unhealthy. Duh! Pregnant women shouldn’t smoke or drink alcohol. Duh! All children deserve to be healthy. Duh! I can’t help to wonder if all of these “obvious” truths, (obvious to those who have already done the research and live a natural lifestyle) aren’t simply there to lend credibility to some of the other ideas that he promotes, such as his special pre-conception diet. How does this sound?

2-5+ years prior to conception
Begin Preconception Health Program (ed. Note: Does anyone even know this far in advance they are going to get knocked up?)

2+ years prior to conception
Use raw and fermented vegetables and raw animal foods to help heal the body. Eat building and nourishing foods, like oysters, raw or fermented grassfed milk, raw grassfed butter, raw grassfed cream, fish eggs, farm fresh eggs, grassfed liver, and wild octopus

6 month's prior to conception
Eat at least one special food regularly (several times per week to several times per day)
1. Fish Eggs (from wild fish)
2. Grassfed Yellow butter (as well as grassfed milk, cream, and cheese made during the spring and summer when the cows graze on rapidly growing grass)
3. Crab and Lobster including the “mustard” and “tomalley” (from clean waters)

3 month's prior to conception
Men, eat soft roe (milt) and/or other foods listed just above (1.2.3.) daily or almost daily
Women, eat fish eggs and/or other foods listed above (2.3.) daily or almost daily

Hmmm, how do I catch me some wild octopus? And what are wild fish eggs? Is he suggesting eating cavier everyday? Maybe the cavier industry financed his book. Rami obviously hasn’t read The China Study.

Well, most vegans will cringe at this diet regimen. By calling it “grassfed” (he used to call it “organic” but changed it recently), it will be more accepted as healthful and lend credibility to those who are still dependent on dead animal flesh and processed animal products. Maybe this is his true belief system and maybe it works for him. That’s fine if it is. I really want to believe that he has good intentions. But it all seem rather wild fishy to me. Anyone who has looked at the use and history of propaganda will know that the best way to make something credible is to embed your lies (propaganda) within things that are commonly held to be true. The reader of the propaganda then associates that which they know to be true, with that which the author of the propaganda would like them to accept as truth. In other words, Justin is cool. Justin hangs out with Todd. So Todd must be cool too! Rami does this quite effectively in his article when he associates high fructose corn syrup with agave nectar, as we will see shortly. Another good trick is to roll out an expert to support your particular view. Rami does this in his agave article, and we will take a closer look at the “expert” on agave nectar a little later.

Enough about Rami. I vote his victory and I send him my love! Let’s now take a closer look at the article he chose to write. The title itself raises a big RED FLAG for me: “Agave Nectar, the High Fructose Health Fraud”. Poor agave nectar, can’t defend itself. It was just called a FRAUD in the title of the article. This is an example of an absolute statement. An absolute statement is one that is absolute. There is no possibility that it is wrong. There is no flexibility. It is aggressive and supremely right in its mandate. Don’t even bother to question it. FRAUD is a strong accusation, but hey, a Citizen Journalist can get away with it. Does that mean I can call this article a propaganda piece and Rami a fraud? No, I wouldn’t do that. But you can if you like.

From the original anti-agave article:

“Agave nectar is advertised as a "diabetic friendly," raw, and a "100% natural sweetener." Yet it is none of these. Absoulte statement. The purpose of this article is to show you that agave nectar is in reality not a natural sweetener but a highly refined form of fructose, more concentrated than the high fructose corn syrup used in sodas. Refined fructose is not a 'natural' sugar, and countless studies implicate it as a sweetener that will contribute to disease. Therefore, agave nectar is not a health building product (ed. Note: IN and of itself, agave nectar would never be considered a “health building” product, even by those who use it), but rather a deceptively marketed form of a highly processed and refined sweetener.

“The principal constituent of the agave is starch, such as what is found in corn or rice. The process in which the agave starch is converted into refined fructose and then sold as the sweetener agave nectar is through an enzymatic and chemical conversion that refines, clarifies, heats, chemically alters, centrifuges, and filters the non-sweet starch into a highly refined sweetener, fructose. Here, a distinction must be made. Fructose is not what is found in fruit. Russ Bianchi is Managing Director and CEO of Adept Solutions, Inc., a globally recognized food and beverage development company. Russ explains:

"If fructose were natural, I would be able to go out to corn field and get a bucket of sweetener. I can go to a beehive and get honey that I can eat without processing it. I can go to an apple tree and pick an apple and eat it. I cannot go out into a cornfield, squeeze corn, and get fructose syrup, and I cannot go into an agave field, and get the product sold on retail shelves, as agave nectar. Falsely labeled agave fructose and high fructose corn syrup are both products of advanced chemistry and extensive food processing technology." Mr. Bianchi has an insider's view of the health food industry and the food creation industry, having worked in the industry for decades.”

MORE about Mr. Bianchi, the sole expert on agave nectar in this article, a little later. We’ll see just how “insider” he is in the food industry. But a quick preview about Mr. Bianchi: he endorses the use of natural cane sugar. I wonder if he has ever tried to pick a stalk of cane sugar and hand-squeeze juice from it? When I was in Peru, I drank fresh cane sugar juice and it had to be pressed through a special machine to extract it.

Now here is a rebuttal to the above claims by the president of Madhava, Craig Gerbore:

“In response, I must first point out that Mr. Nagel's article is based on the view of a sole individual, Russ Bianchi. I suppose we should thank Mr. Bianchi for pointing out some issues that may have contributed to Iidea's (the initial manufacturer of blue agave nectar) demise from the market, however I want to be clear, this is not about Madhava or our agave nectar. Once a dominant supplier, as of this past summer Iidea is no longer a major supplier in the agave syrup business. The distributors using them as a supplier have quietly switched to newly formed blue agave companies for their supply. Madhava has always worked exclusively with Nekutli, the producer of agave nectar from the agave salmiana, a very different species of the agave.

“However, there is no mention of our agave nectar from salmiana in the article, nor of the differences in the plant, the collection and production of our product. So, the author has blurred the line with his all encompassing attack on blue agave nectar, by his failure to present complete information on the subject of agave nectars. For what purpose was this article written? If it were to educate the public, I think it would include all the information available. With the errors and misstatements and half-truths, I don't think this article is about education, it is an all out shotgun attack. Mr. Gerbore is too nice. This is a propaganda piece with an agenda to create confusion and spread disinformation.

“I believe Mr. Bianchi, presented as the sole authority on agave nectar, was initially introduced to Iidea's blue agave syrup product on their entry to the market in the late 90's. At that time, Iidea was promoting a 90% fructose agave syrup. This is what I believe Mr. Bianchi is referring to. Unfortunately, he ignores the fact that this is not the agave sold on the market today, nor is it representative of Madhava's product. In fact Mr. Bianchi has never even acknowledged the existence of our agave nectar from the salmiana variety. So, all his comments are apparently based on his experience with Iidea's product.

“In their zestful attack against the blue agave syrup he was introduced to initially, Mr.'s Bianchi and Nagel have also made inaccurate comments which reflect on agave nectar generally. As such, I take issue with several of their statements and claims and want to clarify some things as regards Madhava's Agave Nectar from agave salmiana.

“Their discussion of the processing of agave nectar is in no way reflective of how Madhava's agave nectar is produced. There are three ways to convert complex sugars into a simple sugar sweetener such as agave syrup. It can be done thermally, chemically, or enzymatically as ours is. There are no chemicals whatsoever involved in the production of Madhava's agave nectar from agave salmiana, nor is it cooked. Our agave is subject only to low temperatures during the evaporation of excess water from the juice.

“The author states "The principal constituent of the agave is starch, such as what is found in corn or rice." This statement, which is the foundation of much of their argument comparing agave nectar to corn syrup, has no basis in scientific fact, THERE IS NO STARCH IN THE AGAVE. How can the author and his source be so mistaken on this statement on which he bases his attack? The whole foundation of Rami’s article is based on this assumption. Without it, there’s absolutely nothing supporting his claims.

“All plants store energy in one of two ways, as starches or fructans. All agave plants create fructans as their energy storing means. So, agave plants have fructans, not starch. From Wikipedia: Inulins are a group of naturally occurring polysaccharides produced by many types of plants. They belong to a class of fibers know as fructans. Inulin is used by some plants as a means of storing energy and it typically found in roots or rhizomes. Most plants which synthesize and store inulin do not store other materials such as starch.

“There is no starch in either species of agave, and agave nectar is not from starch as the author and Mr. Bianchi claim. They have tried very hard to propagandize the public with a false fact, either by design, or ignorance, for which there would be no excuse. (ed. Note: Mr. Gerbore is being too polite. I say this is by design.) Such an error of fact certainly casts doubt on the validity of the rest of Nagel's article, as the lack of depth of his research has to be apparent to all. Really, he is just regurgitating the singular views of Mr. Bianchi."

Back to Rami’s article with the help of Mr. Bianchi, we see how they start associating agave nectar with corn syrup. The unaware reader naturally makes the connection.

“Take water for example. We all know that the chemical formula for water is H2O: two hydrogens and one oxygen. The opposite would be O2H, which is nothing close to water. Likewise, man-made fructose would have to have the chemical formula changed for it to be levulose, so it is not levulose. Saying fructose is levulose is like saying that margarine is the same as butter. Refined fructose CORN STARCH lacks amino acids, vitamins, minerals, pectin, and fiber. As a result, the body doesn't recognize refined fructose. Levulose, on the other hand, is naturally occurring in fruits, and is not isolated but bound to other naturally occurring sugars. Unlike man-made fructose, levulose contains enzymes, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and fruit pectin. Refined fructose is processed in the body through the liver, rather than digested in the intestine.(5) Levulose is digested in the intestine. Refined fructose robs the body of many micronutrient treasures in order to assimilate itself for physiological use. While naturally occurring fruit sugars contain levulose bound to other sugars, high fructose corn syrup contains "free" (unbound), chemically refined fructose. Research indicates that free refined fructose interferes with the heart's use of key minerals like magnesium, copper and chromium. (6) (ed. Note: This whole paragraph is about the problems of CORN STARCH) The reason why refined fructose is used so commonly as a sweetener is simple: it's extremely cheap in cost. (ed. Note: It is not extremely cheap to make agave nectar,)

“Agave nectar, as a final product, is mostly chemically refined fructose, anywhere from 70% and higher according to the agave nectar chemical profiles posted on agave nectar websites. Which websites Rami? The refined fructose in agave nectar is much more concentrated than the fructose in high fructose corn syrup. For comparison, the high fructose corn syrup used in sodas is 55% refined fructose. High fructose corn syrup is made with genetically modified enzymes. Is agave syrup (refined fructose) made the same way?

"They are indeed made the same way, using a highly chemical process with genetically modified enzymes. (ed. Notes: prove it Rami) They are also using caustic acids, clarifiers, filtration chemicals and so forth in the conversion of agave starches into highly refined fructose inulin that is even higher in fructose content than high fructose corn syrup", says Mr. Bianchi. Inulin is a chain of chemically refined fibers and sugars linked together, and, this bears repeating, high fructose inulin has more concentrated sugar than high fructose corn syrup!"

Since Rami needs the expert opinion of Mr. Bianchi to support his claims, and relies on no other source, let’s take a closer look at Mr. Bianchi.

Russ is the formulator of the Zija® beverage, and the founder and Managing Director of Adept Solutions, Inc., a global product development, formulation, creation, and existing brand conversion firm. He is an expert in nutritional bioavailability, and a highly respected formulator of many recognized nutritional branded products worldwide. Adept Solutions, Inc. expertise includes, but is not limited to, food, beverage, bakery, sweeteners, fruit, frozen, microwavable, ambient, aseptic, confectionery, chocolate, dairy, cereal, bars, tableting, capsules, meat, poultry, fish, cosmetic, nutritional and dietary supplements, pharmaceutical, pet products, sports, diet, medical, reliable co-packing, and many other categories. Adept Solutions, Inc. is an active member of the Institute of Food Technologists, and the American Association of Cereal Chemists, the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering, the American Association of Candy Technologists, and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. Adept Solutions, Inc., specializes, and is the technological leader in product development and conversion of proven significant shelf life extension, water activity control (Aw), higher yields, proven sports and dietary energy, satiety, crystal inhibition, efficacious diabetic products, functional bar manufacture, low calorie sweetening without adverse costs or side effects including heated products, flavor improvement or masking, fat reduction, high fiber, microwavability, equilibration, oxidation, anti-staling, shelf life extension, and many other disciplines.

Sounds to me like this guy is really into PRESERVATIVES and unnatural foods. Yet he is on a mission to discredit a health(ier) option, agave nectar, that is now available to people. He even has time to post anti-agave messages on various message boards! This is our agave expert upon which Rami’s article is based. Mr. Bianchi’s latest contribution toward the health of his fellow humans is the product called Zija, which is marketed as a miracle energy drink and sold in a multi-level marketing scam, ur, I mean format. This product is also flash pasteurized. Maybe it’s an upgrade for most people, so I shouldn’t be so harsh, right?

Craig Gerbore, the president of Madhave, now continues to create clarity from the confusion:

“I personally spoke with the author (Rami) during his "research", as did at least one other in the industry. He chose not to include one word of the information given to him by us, which I will repeat below, and failed to make any distinction between Madhava's Nekutli agave nectar from salmiana and that from the blue agave plant. He only mentions blue agave. The plants differ, the locations differ, the methods and production differ greatly. The information we gave him did not fit his purpose and so was omitted in favor of a generalized attack.

“Madhava's source is exclusively agave salmiana. If you haven't already reviewed our site at www.madhavasagave.com , you will find background information there. Briefly though, the native people supplying the juice collect it from the live plant, by hand, twice daily. There is no heat involved in the removal. The juice is immediately brought to the facility to remove the excess water as it will ferment rapidly if left standing. It is during the removal of the moisture that the only heat is applied. The juice is evaporated and moisture removed in a vacuum evaporator. The vacuum enables the moisture to be withdrawn at low temperatures. The temp is closely controlled. Subsequently, our agave is handled and packaged at room temperatures. No other heat is applied. And, rather than convert the complex sugars of the juice thermally, we use gentle enzymatic action. Just as a bee introduces an enzyme to flower nectar to make honey, we introduce a natural organic vegan enzyme for the same purpose. The technical term for the conversion of complex sugars into their simple sugar components is hydrolysis. Inulin is a fructan which is hydrolyzed into the simple sugars composing agave nectar, fructose and glucose. Honey is composed of the same simple sugars.

“The blue agave plant is harvested and the blue agave nectar is produced by a completely different method. I will have to leave it to the blue agave nectar sellers to comment on the production themselves. While I know of it, I have not witnessed it as I have Nekutli's. Unlike the author (Rami), I won't comment publicly on something I cannot verify.

“To clarify further on another claim, "Agave Nectar as a final product is mostly chemically refined fructose". As regards Madhava's agave nectar, there are no chemicals involved in our production whatsoever. The sugars in our agave nectar come from the breakdown of the inulin molecule through the introduction of the enzyme to break apart that molecule. It is in no way chemically refined, there are no chemicals involved in any part of the production or packaging process. Our agave nectar is refined only in as much as the excess moisture is removed from the juice of the plant.

"HFCS is made with GM enzymes". Bianchi's states "they (agave and corn syrup) are indeed made the same way" This is another false assertion as regards Madhava's agave nectar at least. Our agave nectar is certainly and clearly not made the same way as corn syrup. There is no starch in our agave. There are no chemicals, no refinement beyond the evaporation of water. And, there are no GMO's whatsoever. The agave salmiana has never been subject to this and the enzyme is a natural, non GM organic, vegan enzyme.

“Other points regarding fructose apply to sugars in general and are a consumption, or overconsumption issue. Certainly consuming large amounts of sweeteners of any kind will be detrimental to one's health. Suggesting fructose could cause health issues when concentrated amounts are eaten is a statement which should really apply to the overconsumption issue. The information the author links to agave nectar is the result of megadose testing of pure clinical fructose. Not the same thing as normal daily use of agave nectar in the course of our meals.”

RAMI’S article continues rambling on about the problems of corn starch and even addresses how the FDA needs to step in and start saving the public from being duped by poor labeling practices. So now he’s acting as a spokesperson for government control and regulation? We all know whose interests the FDA is serving, don't we? I won’t reprint this stuff here nor MADHAVA’s final argument. Here are the links to both articles in their entirety as they appear on NaturalNews.com

Original article http://www.naturalnews.com/024892.html

Rebuttal http://www.naturalnews.com/025060.html

To conclude my thoughts on the subject, yes, there is poor quality agave nectar on the market. As consumers learn which companies they can trust, they will start to purchase higher quality products. They will also notice the difference in how they feel after consuming certain brands. I have been using agave nectar for many years now, and I am sensitive to poor quality agave nectar that’s been denatured by overheating. Some companies are selling a clear agave nectar and claiming that it’s completely raw and has not been exposed to heat. Other agave nectars on the market are exposed to a certain amount of heat to vaporize the water content. The nature of the agave cactus itself makes me think that it can tolerate higher levels of heat without destroying its nutrients. (It grows in the hot desert and is exposed to the hot desert sun for years.) By definition, if it’s kept under 118 degrees it can still be called “raw”. But then again, most people aren’t taking agave for its inherent nutritional content, but rather because it is an upgrade from other processed sweeteners, OR because it brings out the flavors in such a way that other sweeteners (such as dates, yacon syrup, xylitol, or stevia) are unable to do. Agave nectar allows many people to improve their diet by making foods more palatable. As a transitional ingredient, it can be indispensable for those who choose to eliminate low vibration, processed food from their diet.

The purpose of this article, however, hasn’t been to defend the use of agave nectar, but rather to put things in perspective. As always, it is important to remember that everybody and every body is different. Some people thrive on less sugar, some people seem to require more. And people are allowed to change and evolve. I can attest personally that my overall health has improved over the past three years, during which time I have used raw agave nectar quite consistently in my diet. I have also eliminated processed food, flash pasteurized beverages or cooked food. I am not LIVING on raw agave nectar, but it has been supporting me on my dietary transition to optimum health. If Rami Nagel or Russ Bianchi would like to come meet me in person, and see for themselves, that it is possible to consume agave nectar and be extremely healthy, then I invite them to do so. But since this would contradict their apparent agenda and discredit those they are choosing to align themselves with, I highly doubt they will take me up on this offer.

Recommended reading:
Trust Us We're Experts

We praise the healers of the earth,
Those who know the secrets of the herbs and plants…
The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth,
And he that is wise shall use them.
---The Gospel of the Essenes, Book 3

In a previous blog, I attempted to define herbs in the overall context of nutrition, and how I feel they are a missing link in the raw food diet as they contain easily absorbed micro-nutrients that feed the body directly on a cellular level. In this article, I would like to discuss the different ways of preparing and using herbs in the diet, as well as some other considerations when using herbs. But first, a little history.

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This is a subject I have wanted to address for some time now. It seems to me that there is a common misconception by raw foodists about the use of herbs and their role in health and nutrition, one that I held for quite a while. After I started learning more about herbs and taking them myself, I began to realize how this misconception is preventing many aspirants of optimum health from obtaining it. By not using herbs, the journey towards optimum health is bumpier than it needs to be. Let’s start by trying to understand what an herb is by comparing its similarities and differences with what we consider to be food.

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I can’t imagine somebody not interested in avoiding meat, dairy, coffee and alcohol bothering to read this. Many years ago, when I had little interest in avoiding these things, I certainly didn’t want to feel like I was being preached to. I was just fine set in my ways, or so I thought! Sometimes on the vegan path, there is a need to re-enforce our personal convictions. Sometimes we forget why we avoid certain foods. Or maybe we never looked into a why, but just became vegan out of a well-intentioned idealism. For me, I found it was important to continually remind myself by reading and RE-reading books about health and nutrition, to be continually inspired by this information until I got to the point where my deep-seated culturally-sanctioned habits had been completely eliminated, and re-wired with healthier habits. Think about it; I had been eating animal products (meat and/or dairy) and cooked food, my entire life! For over 36 years I lived until I decided to stop completely (meat and dairy) and gradually (cooked food) food that was not healthy. I needed all the help and inspiration I could get just to stick with it. And I’m sure I’m not alone.

One of the things that I found helpful, in re-enforcing my commitment, was to get a thorough grasp on the mechanism of the human anatomy and how various food items interact with it. In my studies, I have read books that addressed coffee specifically, meat and dairy specifically, and alcohol specifically. There is another work that I’ve studied extensively that actually addresses all of these together and shows the reasons to avoid them from a physiological perspective. In this article I am merely re-wording this thoroughly researched work by Richard Anderson from his books Cleanse and Purify Thyself Volumes 1 and 2. His writing style can be a bit disjunct, so hopefully this presentation will be simpler to grasp, or at least a worthy introduction to his work. Either way, I highly recommend reading these books, and I want to thank Dr. Joe Fossett for introducing me to them.

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There seems to be a rift in the raw foods community over the nature and use of raw cacao. Some people see it as a nutrient-dense superfood and one of the most powerful antioxidants known. Others are calling it addictive and harmful and go so far as to say nobody should take it, despite the enormity of health benefits.

Here’s a quote from the recent issue of the Hippocrates Magazine, Volume 28, issue 4. “…historic summits were held at the Hippocrates Health Institute…on January 2006 and April 2007. The summits convened to unify the leadership in the Living Food Movement, establishing scientifically based common standards for optimum health. Leaders from eight countries…agreed on the following standards. (Compiled and Organized by Jameth Sheridan, N.D.)”

This group makes recommendations that most people reading it will easily agree with; such as eating vegan, organic, highly mineralized whole foods, etc, etc. Nothing really too outlandish or controversial to those already steeped in the living foods lifestyle. But then, under the paragraph titled “We Also Agree That” is something that made me go “huh?!?” “Caffeinated and/or addictive substances (even in their raw form), such as cocao/chocolate, coffee, caffeinated teas, etc., if consumed at all, are to be used only occasionally and consumed in minimal quantities.”

I feel compelled to scrutinize this recommendation. But first off, why wasn’t I invited to participate in this summit? No, but seriously, where’s David Wolfe or Gabriel Cousens or David Favor? Perhaps they wouldn’t agree to this statement and were forced out of the summit. Before I continue, let me just say that I have nothing but respect and admiration for the individuals who participated in this summit. As far as I can tell they are all amazing people who’ve contributed so much to the evolution of the raw foods movement, and more importantly, to the healing of countless people. In no way am I intending to demean them or their contributions by writing this article. Rather I hope this apparent rift can be smoothed out before it becomes unnecessarily divisive.

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