My Life and Health as a Raw Vegan by Karen Ranzi

 

Hi Friends, Here we are in the Fall of 2018 and I’m 24 years raw vegan in November. Many are wondering why I choose to be vegan and raw for over two decades, what it brings to my life. So I’ve thought deeply about it this month and I think my health and happiness goals may help you to look at your life and health goals and where you may want to go with them in the next years. When you are young, you feel invincible, like you can eat and drink and do anything and it will not make a difference. But the truth is that what you put into your mouth is even more important than chemicals we breathe. Unfortunately, outside our homes we don’t have much control over the chemicals we breathe, but we do have control over what goes in our mouths. At 64 years young I’m feeling so much better than I did at ages 30 and 40. Back then, I had chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome and cystic acne for all the years leading up to 1994 when I went to a raw food lifestyle to help my son heal from asthma, chronic ear infections, and allergies. I have sadly and very tearfully lost some of my closest peers, from ages 44 to 65 who did not believe that diet and lifestyle would have a huge impact…for chronic conditions like heart disease, asthma, pneumonia, back surgery and getting an infection in the hospital, and urinary cancer. Some people ask why I continue with the raw food lifestyle through the years, that I’m going to die some day like everyone else…Yes, that’s true, but while I’m living this fantastic life I want the absolute best quality of life I can have, and diet and lifestyle are the major key players. I want to share with you, my friend, my 24th year of following the power of raw food, and I know you’re here because you are aspiring to similar health goals. My desire is to continue to maintain this excellent energy and feeling of vibrant health through the years, something I could have only wished for decades ago when I did not have the health I wanted.  And now for my Cold Weather Simple Kale Salad For those of you living in the colder northern climates it’s wonderful to have go-to recipes for those challenging months when you say it’s more difficult to stay high or fully raw. The first two years of staying raw in the winter, the cold weather greatly affected me, but after that second year it got easier and easier staying raw year round. I capitalize on leafy greens during the cold weather to give me the abundance of vitamins and minerals I need at a time of year when good ripe fruit isn’t as easy to get in the northern part of the world. I have a video I did back in 2013 on the creation of a simple and delicious kale salad that many of my class students and clients say has been extremely helpful, as well as tasty, to sticking with a plant-based whole food high or fully raw lifestyle. Click on the link below to see each basic step to its easy creation:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYQpTx5HUo&t=46s   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYQpTx5HUo&t=46s Marinated Kale Salad (This recipe is in Raw Vegan Recipe Fun for Families) which has 115 easy raw food recipes for busy people and families!  (There was a little left of this salad and I had it the next day. I think it’s even more delicious when it marinates longer.) 1 bunch kale (I used a combination of curly kale and lacinato kale, also known as dinosaur kale and Tuscan kale.) 1 avocado, cubed 1 large tomato, chopped Juice of 1 lemon Optional: 1/2 cup dulse seaweed, rinsed (This is whole dulse, not the flakes I’ve used in other recipes) Remove the thicker part of the kale stem and slice the kale leaves chiffonade style into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and massage the kales leaves well until they wilt. Add the avocado cubes and massage again. Massage to completely coat the kale leaves. Marinate for at least half an hour so the kale leaves soften. Cover with diced tomato and diced red bell pepper and optional dulse. Wishing you a very beautiful day! With love and light, Karen