12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Addiction to Cooked Food

The book is interesting and introduces many beneficial concepts. However, it has only one point of view of good health. For Victoria, it's the raw way or the highway, which I can understand b/c it worked so well for her family. Victoria doesn't address risks and the many factors that need to be taken into consideration if/when you go raw. I developed problems with body temperature and parasites after eating so much raw. There are MANY people who would not benefit from much raw food at certain times in their life because of a condition/illness (e.g., hypothyroid) or body temperature or composition, or b/c of the season we are in. To illustrate: I had my baby on raw for a long time and caused him a LOT of damage with Vit D and calcium deficiency and anemia, etc. MY SON was 12 months old, and was at 7 months for height and weight, and his bones were so feeble that he took a long time to recover and didn't walk until he was 16 months old. I want to cry every time I remember his tiny little legs. The doctors were very kind, supportive and respectful towards me, but I could see how astonished they were at how lethargic and feeble he was. At 2.5 years he is doing much better (I thank the Good Lord!), since I varied his diet much more and with the medications. However, he still needs a few more months to recover from the ordeal. I still can't believe the harm that I could've caused him; I still almost can't talk about it. I didn't see how fanatical I was being. I mean, just comparing eating cooked to being an alcoholic, I think, says it all. Going raw is not a universal truth and it will not solve all your life and health problems, but eating a good amount of raw foods CAN be excellent and very beneficial. However, I do love the green smoothies and still give my kids a good amount of raw foods. Also, I'm glad that there is a more of tendency to eat raw, and that we're moving away from the typical rich Western diets of this past century. But, whatever the diet, it need never be all or nothing. Balance and perspective are always important.