Soon, Child Protectiv e Services (CPS) arrived at my house with a warrant to 
seize me for a psychological evaluation and possibly put me into a mental i llness lockdown facility! In the kitchen (while peeling the 
first orange for my breakfast meal), I heard the argument between my pa rents and the officers, and I shot out the back door. With 
the help of my brother and my cousin, who understood that I was not mentally il l but just wanted to be healthy, I ran away to 
Canada, accompanied by my brother. My brother and I made up fake names and identities, and we became known a s the “Wild Bush Boys of BC.” I was forced 
into this fugitive role, having been told that if the American auth orities got their hands on me they were going to make me eat 
“normal” food and force-feed me Ensure (a “liquid meal replacement” dri nk that is extremely  loaded with refined sugar and artificial 
additives—designed to “ensure” proper nutrition) through a tube i f I refused to drink it! Still dealing with constipation, when I got to Canada, I went for a colonic i rrigation. After studying my eyes, the colon 
hydrotherapist (who also happened to be an iridologist) told me that my bowels ha d been left with no options other than to balloon 
out and form “pockets.” If she was right, then I may have to deal with thes e pockets for the rest of my life. If I had read Dr. 
Graham’s book Grain Damage,  I would have known better!!! On the road, and with limited funds, I didn’t have access to all the fruit I  wanted, so I started losing even more weight. Eventually I was put into a Canadian hospital through the efforts of a v ery concerned woman who helped and befriended us. My 
body had unwittingly wasted, losing mass until my weight plummeted to onl y 84 pounds. Even I was shocked! At first I was absolutely panic stricken with the thought that they  were going to make me eat cooked processed hospital food, 
but to my utter relief, this hospital let my brother go to the health-food st ore daily and bring me the raw organic foods that I 
requested! Having lost faith in the fruitarian diet that had failed me, and being  in such a vulnerable state, I was completely open to new 
ideas. Following the advice of many raw food books, I decided to gain weight “the  healthy  way .” In addition to the green leafy 
vegetables, I began eating TONS of fat. Some days I was wolfing down 6 or 7 avoca dos a day, not to mention all the nuts, seeds, 
nut butters, and oil I used in my dressings. Having abandoned some of my previou s dietary dogma, I felt that I had opened a 
window and had “seen the light.” I thought that I had finally found what w orked for me. Little did I know what I was getting into! Because I was already in a hospital (just as the American doctors ha d wanted), and because I thought I had nothing to lose, I 
agreed to risk blowing my cover to be filmed by the Canadian media. Sure enough , this event led to my discovery, and nine months 
after I ran away, my family finally found out where I was. When my parents came to visit me, I told my mother that I wasn’t a fru itarian anymore, but now I was a raw foodist. With 
some prodding from my mom, I completely gave up the fruitarian ideology by adding  some cruciferous vegetables and roots (eating 
roots requires the death of the plant) to my diet. With this new identity of  being a raw foodist, I tried to prove to everyone that I was 
flexible in my eating habits. At this point I subscribed to the “ ism” of raw, pretty much eating anything as long as it was “raw.”  
Hempseed butter … tahini … cacao … “Is it raw?” became the ultimat e question. Everything so far was in accordance with 
the raw books that I was reading. However, my mother encouraged me to eat sus hi, raw eggs, and raw dairy, which were forbidden 
by many raw foodists. Although I agreed in theory to eat these foods, it was more of a put-on than an ything else. There was no raw dairy to be had, 
and the hospital wouldn’t allow raw eggs (or raw milk for that matter). M y mom got me some raw smoked salmon, but I gladly used 
the excuse that it contained table salt as my reason not to eat it. Howev er, despite my aversion to animal foods, I did include some 
fresh raw egg yolks when I got home, because some raw food authors approved of the m, and because they seemed to be less of a 
taboo in my own mind. Despite gaining weight very rapidly in the Canadian hospital (in onl y a couple of months I was up to 110 lbs. and rising), and in 
spite of how far I had come from being a fruitarian, those meddling Americ an doctors had me flown to America in an emergency 
supersonic jet (flown in from Japan), where they unjustly locked me in a  mental institution and tried to coerce and trick me into 
eating cooked hospital foods! My mom adamantly warned them what a raw food expert told her—that raw foodi st’s bodies have a tough time adjusting 
cold turkey to a standard diet. Since they have less of a mucosal lining as  a barrier from allergens and toxins, they need to gradually 
introduce cooked foods, starting first with lightly steamed vegetables, a nd should also avoid glutinous grains. Her words were 
utterly disregarded ! I could fill pages expressing the horrors of my experience with this loc kdown facility. As soon as I got there, I was offered a 
plate of chicken, milk, greasy rice, canned green beans, and chocolate cake! The nurses led me to believe I had  to eat what was on 
my plate or drink Ensure. Faced with these options, both of which were wretch ed nutritional abominations, I started to panic. Thinking that all my previous attempts at eating healthy and my run ning away to avoid the hospital and its food may have been in 
vain, I almost had a nervous breakdown. Now under the control of CPS, I felt vulnerable without the protection  of my parents. But I didn’t lose my wits and give in. Seeing as how this American hospital was much different from the C anadian one, I realized that I would have to be persistent. Eventually, after much persuasion, I was given raw food. How did I finagle myself out of cooked food and Ensure? My guess is that my weig ht wasn’t low enough to warrant force 
feeding, and I was willing to eat what little variety of raw foods the hos pital offered (mainly walnuts and some poorly ripened 
bananas, apples, and oranges). Much to the disappointment of the psychiatrist who was in charge of me an d was planning to starve me into submission, a 
judge ordered that she must let my parents bring me more variety of what  I would eat. Finally, the psychiatrist realized that her plans 
to control me and make me eat cooked food were futile, so I was released under many  conditions. Having achieved one victory, I was soon faced with a new challenge. Not l ong after I was released from the hospital, I had my 
body-fat percentage tested, and it was 25%!!! (Conventional “wisdom” c onsiders body fat in the mid-teens to be healthy for men; 
however, I later learned from Dr. Graham that single digits—under 10%, i deally about 4 to 8% for an athletic male—is a truly 
healthful level of body fat.) The lady who tested me was shocked that such a skinny person could be so fat! Sh e said I was looking at increased chances 
of heart disease and many other health challenges as I got older. It looks a s though my weight-gaining strategy was working all too 
well! During a visit to the doctor who was appointed to oversee my weight gain, my m other expressed deep concern about my 
25% body fat and the substantial abdominal cellulite I had developed. But my doctor  showed no concern and even told us that it 
was “anorexic thinking” for us to be concerned with my body-fat per centage! I’m not surprised that I became fat, considering that neither hosp ital would let me exercise. The American hospital even went 
so far as to tell me to sit down if I was caught idly standing!!! This is w hy I blame the doctors for my exceptionally high body-fat 
percentage. For the second time, they had blatantly ignored my mom’s r easoning—she had forewarned the doctors what she had 
read—that it was vitally important for emaciated people to exer cise while they gain weight or they would only gain fat—not muscle. Even knowing that my body-fat percentage was high, I forced myself to gai n more weight every day, to meet the demands of 
the doctors (they wanted me to be in the 10 th  percentile of BMI charts—where 10% of males my height and age weig h the same as 
I do—even though the 5 th  percentile is normally considered acceptable). This was absurd, s ince I didn’t have enough muscle for my 
age to meet this requirement without having an excessively high  body-fat percentage. I always feared being put back in the mental facility, because one of the  conditions of my release had been that if I went four 
weeks without weight gain they could put me back … only next time I wou ld have to cooperate and eat hospital food! They should have known that this was unreasonable, because muscle is s low to gain. I heard that even the best bodybuilders 
rarely gain more than a pound of muscle a month. I felt trapped, and I continue d to eat unhealthy amounts of avocados, nuts, seeds, 
and oils to gain this weight within deadlines the doctors had set for me. In  the back of my mind, I was scared by the thought that 
every pound I gained would even further add to my already-too-high body-fat per centage. I knew that I should be exercising to gain 
muscle, but I was not in the best of shape, and I didn’t have enough ene rgy to motivate vigorous exercise. Further adding to the problem, I became introduced to raw potlucks. The dishes th ere mimicked all my favorite cooked 
foods, only this time, they were “healthy” (… not!) Luckily , I was too lazy t o make them at home, or else I probably would have 
eaten nothing else! I had completely forgotten my hygienic background of  mono fruit meals, and I had lost the euphoric joyful feeling 
of simple eating. Many raw food books had it so backward, even as to proclaim fruits as the enemy beca use they had too much sugar. Thank 
goodness I was never strict enough to exclude fruits, but I did limit them , which even further added to the number of calories I 
consumed from fat. I felt heavy, had lots of extremely foul-smelling ga s, my acne returned in full force, and I once again suffered 
from constipation. I didn’t feel healthy anymore. So, what did I do? I turned to superfoods. I thought that I wasn’t getting enoug h minerals or that I must be deficient in some 
nutrient. Raw food books told me that organic food wasn’t enough, and that I mus t have wild food, and more variety , including the 
full array of superfood products they sold. So I ordered jars of powdered wild vegetabl es, bags of cacao beans, and many other 
“extreme” foods that were supposed to solve all my problems. But none of t hem could offset the effects of my poorly combined, 
high-fat diet. It wasn’t until I met Tim Trader and Laurie Masters at the Nation al Essene Gathering in July of 2004 that I got my first dose of 
811 . Laurie told me that she was editing Dr. Doug Graham’s book entitled The 80/10/10  Diet. The two of them described for me 
the basic concept behind the book—that “Fruit or Fat?” are real ly the only two choices for getting calories as a raw fooders. I 
immediately knew that I was on the extreme fat side of “Fruit or Fat?” I told them about my situation, and they showed a gen uine 
concern for my health. At Tim and Laurie’s urging, I got myself to Dr. Graham’s lectures at  the International Festival of Raw and Living Foods in 
Portland later that summer. Though the event left me feeling more i nformed, it was eye-opening to see all the different opinions and 
conflicting advice among the speakers. To my relief, it seemed as though Dr. Graham had sorted all this confusin g mess of information into a clear, sensible plan. Especially convincing, was his description of how blood-sugar problems, common ly blamed on fruit, are actually caused by the 
impaired function of insulin due to excess fat consumption. I knew I had to ma ke some changes if I was going to be healthy. If I was 
going to succeed as a raw foodist, I would have to be more discerning in my food c hoices. I would have to ask more than, “Is it 
raw?” 
Even after hearing Dr. Graham’s compelling speeches, I continua lly struggled with 811 . I must admit, that it was at that very 
same festival that I left with a CASE of cacao beans! Let me tell you , it is HARD to get over addictions. I would be lying to say that I didn’t attend the very next local raw food p otluck after my return home from the Portland 
Festival. But something had changed. I was no longer ignorant. Now I knew  that this fat-laden, “combo-abombo” gourmet food 
was not furthering my goal of ideal health. There’s no way I could enjoy m y raw pizza as I had before after hearing Doug’s “if it 
looks like pizza, and tastes like pizza, you can be sure its going to dige st like pizza”  speech! Now I knew what I should be 
doing, and if I did slip up, at least I knew  it was a slipup. At the end of August, I attended Raw stock for the first time, and it was a bl ast. Seeing 811  being practiced up close and 
personal was so inspiring! I was reminded of how natural and fun it was to e at simply. Knowledge is empowering, and it really does 
inspire change. After Raw stock, 811  really hit home for me. Now, it was only a matter of correcting bad habits, bat tling past 
addictions, and striving for 811  every day. Whenever I have a question about 811  or other related topics, I can refer to Dr. Graham’s V egSource messag e boards. Dr. 
Graham himself takes out of his own time to offer his best advice. Many peopl e on the boards offer expert advice and truly speak 
out of experience. People there are friendly; no matter how silly or triv ial the question seems, usually someone can relate or offer 
their piece of useful insight. This board continually inspires me to con tinue with my goals, teaching me new information and equipping 
me with the knowledge to solve my own health challenges. Knowing what I know now, neither my psychologist nor my mother was righ t about why I couldn’t maintain my weight. I 
didn’t need grains, and I certainly didn’t need hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cr eam, and donuts! All I needed was a little understanding, 
and a LOT more calories! I just assumed that because I always ate whe n I was hungry, I was getting enough calories. However, Dr. 
Graham pointed out that on the standard American diet, the food is dense, h igh in calories, and doesn’t take up a lot of room in the 
stomach compared to lower-calorie, water-rich fruits and vegetables. H e explained that in order to get enough calories on 811 , you 
need to expand the stomach back to its natural size and elasticity in order  to fit in a lot more fruit. Not having this little piece of 
information was, perhaps, the primary cause of my downfall as a fruitari an, second to not including greens. I thank Laurie Masters, Tim Trader, and Dr. Graham for empowering me to ma ke the right choices. Because of their help, I 
am no longer ignorant of the consequences of my actions. 811  taught me how to manage my calories without overeating fat, so I 
have no problem keeping on the weight. The more fruit and less fat I eat, the more energy I have, and the more I f eel like exercising, which is precisely what I need to 
convert my high body-fat percentage into lean muscular weight. The c loser I eat to 811 , the more all of my health challenges fade. Clearer skin, better-functioning bowels, and increased energy are a g reat payoff for my efforts. It feels good to eat simply, and I LOVE fruit! Unfortunately, I LOVE fat t oo! I am still struggling, but I am doing my best, and 
my best gets better every day. At least now I can see where I am going, and I am not walking around with a blindfold on. Because of past experiences of letting other people influence my decis ions and consequently falling into many traps, I have 
learned to become a very independent thinker. My grandma used to get mad that  my parents paid for so many avocados when I 
could have saved them some money by using olive oil instead. Now, after being  a fan of 811  for quite some time, my mom just told 
me that my grandma says that I’m “mentally ill” because I eat s uch an abundance of fruits, because I avoid grains, and because I 
believe Doug Graham. I just have to smile. ☺ 
 
Theresa Remley, Sacramento, California 
Finally, I can hear what my body is telling me after a lifetime of conf usion and pain. After first experiencing trauma-induced 
illness at about age five and my health spiraling downward into debilita ting physical and mental disorders, I searched diligently for 
answers. I saw psychologists as a child and psychiatrists as an adult w ho could never pinpoint the reason for my depression and 
anxiety because my underdeveloped mind as a child suppressed what happened t o me. I was often ill, eventually missing nearly one 
day out of every week of school in the tenth grade due to sore throat and fever, y et I still managed to excel academically. In high school, I could not play soccer without having muscular-skeleta l pain and spiciness the rest of the day, and 
chiropractor visits could not repair this continuing problem. At age sev enteen, I awoke to severe pain in my lower chest over the 
course of several nights. An endoscopy located a preulcerous condition, and I  received antacid pills as treatment instead of dietary 
advice, although I was already a vegetarian due to my own conviction. My general tiredness and sore throat intensified into acute, mono-like  symptoms when I was nineteen, so I went to yet another 
doctor and found out that I had an abnormally high Epstein-Barr lab result. H owever, this was not explained to me. I thought I had 
chronic fatigue syndrome, but this illness was widely misunderstood; t hus, my symptoms were largely ignored. My college 
attendance plummeted because of insomnia, mental fogginess, and overwh elming fatigue and pain, and my depression intensified due 
to my increasing sense of helplessness. In 1997, I saw a clinical immunologist who finally diagnosed my physical il lnesses as chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction 
syndrome, fibromyalgia, and allergic rhinitis. He told me that I was an  “extreme case” with a foreseeable future of having only 
chronic, disabling illness. I then applied for Social Security income bec ause of his diagnosis which gave credence to my inability to 
work productively since I was nineteen, and after ongoing battles with t he court system, I received the aid. I never knew how I was supposed to get better, and by fate, I met a chiropractor tw o years ago who practices neuro- 
emotional technique, which involves muscle-testing to uncover subc onscious thoughts. My childhood trauma finally came out after 
three months of twice-weekly sessions. The experience was draining , but I was relieved to find out the root to all of my problems. The experiences as a child were more than I ever could have imagined h appening to me, so I understood why my once fragile mind 
could not deal with it all. I realized then that I had post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociat ion, which gave me new focus in consequent emotional/ 
cognitive therapy and EEG brain-training sessions. It all makes sen se  now— all of my heightened senses, panic attacks, low self- 
esteem, difficulty concentrating, depression, anger, insomnia, and ea ting disorders—I can finally see that I reacted normally to 
something that was not my fault, and I am now taking care of myself out of l ove that I did not know how to have before. To think that my doctor once wanted me to take intravenous AIDS medicine— No W ay! As if more poison could heal me? I 
have learned that the band-aids that are put on illnesses do not make them  really disappear. I am extremely sensitive to any form of drug, even those in foods. During t his time of illness in my adult life, my vegetarian diet 
transitioned toward vegan, and I frequented the V egSource.com website f or general, vegan recipes. I then went to Dr. McDougall’s 
low-fat whole foods forum and tried that diet, thinking this was the healt hiest one for weight loss and vitality, although my body told 
me otherwise through its digestive upset. I did not understand that this  was a big problem, since I had more pressing burdens in my 
life. When I spent the time and emotional energy to seriously turn inward an d peel away layers of toxic perceptions, I could see 
more about my eating habits. I saw that I needed sugars for energy, yet I c ould not eat enough fruits if I ate a cooked food diet 
because of my digestive troubles due to improper food combinations. I thus felt c ompelled to eat processed junk food or drink 
caffeinated tea for stimulation (which made me feel sick too). After two years of eating that diet (which barely gave me benefit), a nd finding my identity, I was finally ready to take Dr. Graham’s forum on that website seriously . His knowledge of exercise a nd food-combining principles that consist of low-fat, raw 
foods with emphasis on fruit fit wonderfully with my newly found focus on h olistic health. I researched the general raw food scene during my immersion into this  new lifestyle over one year ago, and I made a few 
recipes from other leading raw foodists who limit fruit and increase fa ts and protein. I felt heavy and sick from nuts and oils as well 
as their improper food combinations, harsh flavorings, and unnecessary foods . I noticed how my candida also flourished while eating 
that way . Additionally , it was easy for me to overeat the dehydrated and “g ourmet” meals, which is something that does not happen 
when I eat whole, raw fruits and vegetables. Because I have such a sensitive body , shouldn’t all “nutritionist s” test their theories on someone like me who can best show if 
their diets cause harm? Dr. Graham is the only raw food teacher I will heed because he teaches i n accordance with my innate need to eat primarily 
fresh fruits and tender greens in proper combinations, or just one type of fr uit for an entire meal. By eating this way, I obtain instant 
physical and mental energy that is sustained throughout the day—n o more naps and no more aches and pains after eating! Only by eating this diet can I exercise without stimulants, and my r ecovery time is much faster with much less pain than if I 
would eat overt, raw fats and cooked foods. I feel only healthful benefits, as th ough my body feels clear enough to start serious 
healing, and my throat and digestive tract began to feel amazingly bet ter within the very first day of eating this way. When I decide to turn to cooked, vegan food as a type of band-aid to numb my emotions and body, I  instantly feel sluggish 
and dull-minded and have fibromyalgic pain and sinusitis. However, I stil l do this occasionally for my evening meal, knowing full well 
that this acts like a drug, because my emotional state is not the strong est. This need for temporary relief sometimes takes precedence 
over the part of me that “knows better,” since cooked food definitely does not  promote health for me. Dr. Graham also showed me 
the addictive power of cooked foods, and my heated supper can easily turn into an al l-I-can-eat, vegan buffet unless I consciously 
plan my meal beforehand. However, even then I end up allowing more cooked food becau se of my addiction, which presents itself 
with the very first bite. It is actually freeing to see this addiction. I am working to be strong enou gh to stop eating cooked foods entirely, for when I 
feel emotionally, spiritually, and mentally secure, I abhor the drugge d effect that cooked foods, especially grains, give me. My goal is 
to be complete and connected, and the 100% low-fat, raw diet is an important truth  in the big picture of health. I emphatically believe from experience, that all of my physical sympt oms, including candida, are secondary to the greater 
picture of my system originally shutting down because of the trauma I  experienced when I was a young child. Our bodies are meant 
to heal when allowed to do so, and now is the time for me. I am happy to have finally  found a teacher in Dr. Graham, who is a 
leader by example and an enthusiastic supporter of the intrinsic wisdom  within all of us to heal. Jacky Dees, West Bend, Wisconsin 
For many years, I had a candida overgrowth with severe symptoms. The sym ptoms were the classic ones—itching, burning, 
that “yeasty” feeling, digestive problems, constipation, acne, f atigue, depression, plus many , many more. In desperation, I tried 
everything I could think of to get rid of it. I read every book, pamphlet, article, a nd website I could find about candida. I spent gobs 
of money and time trying to cure myself. I had tried conventional medicine, alternative medicine, supplement s, therapies, homeopathics, cleanses, mini-fasts, “candida 
diets,” naturopathy , and hypnosis, and I even had my mercury dental fil lings replaced. Y ou name it, I tried it. When nothing worked, 
I had basically resigned myself to the fact that the candida was here  to stay. I would spend the rest of my days feeling like garbage, 
and I was only 33 years old. Depression set in, and my life turned darker and darker . On my darkest day of all, I decided to go 
raw, cold turkey. That was January 2002. During my search for a cure, I had been reading about the raw food diet on the I nternet. I started out using the high-fat raw 
diet, and over the course of the next year or so I lost 30 pounds and looked like a skele ton (I’m 5'3" and I was down to 85 
pounds). About half of my hair had fallen out, my teeth hurt, and I was basica lly an empty, human-shaped shell walking around just 
trying to get through each day. The amount of fat I was eating was incredibly high, but I had no idea that i n reality, I was eating very few calories. During this 
time, on the advice of the high-fat raw diet promoters, I ended up on the “c andida diet” for nearly a year (no fruit, only raw veggies 
and fat and tons of supplements). I was convinced that someday the candida ove rgrowth would just go away and all would be well 
again. But … that day didn’t come. One day I was reading a popular high-fat raw message board, and I kep t seeing people there bad-mouthing Dr. Graham’s 
high-fruit, low-fat diet. I became curious about this guy. I did a search, f ound his website, and eventually found my way to the 
V egSource message board hosted by Dr. Graham. I’ve been reading it  daily ever since. I believe it has literally saved my life. The thing I was struggling with on the high-fat, almost-no-fruit  diet was that I desperately wanted to eat fruit but was frightened 
away from doing so. After reading some of Dr. Graham’s V egSource messag es on candida, I was absolutely thrilled to learn that I 
could eat fruit. Just reading that lifted my heart up to the skies. Also, w hen I read that my candida overgrowth could be gone within 
weeks on this diet, I could hardly believe it. Could it be? I had been fighting i t for six years, and it could be gone literally within WEEKS?! At this point, I figured that I had nothing to lose. Nothing else had worked, why  not try this? I started to eat bananas. More 
and more bananas. I dropped the fats and ate tons of fruit. And guess what? It h appened. Gone. Within weeks. I had a consultation with Dr. Graham in June 2003 and what he taught me was  incredibly enlightening. He educated me about 
80/10/10rv  and suggested healthy changes to my lifestyle. I began working on improv ing these aspects of my life. … And then the bottom fell out from under my world. My father, who had been battling cancer for 14 years, was rapidly 
nearing the end. I was flying home every other month to see him “one las t time.” For comfort, I turned to eating cooked food—and 
not the “good” kind either. I mean junk, and lots of it. My father died a couple day s after Christmas 2003; thankfully I was able to 
be with him during his final hours. I’m happy to say that after I came home from the funeral, I picked myse lf up, dusted myself off, and began 80/10/10rv  with a 
vengeance. I’ve stuck with it ever since, and each day is better th an the last. My junk-food binge put the 30 pounds back on, plus 
more, so I’m working on getting fit and healthy again. One day at a time. I h ave a long way to go, but I haven’t felt this good since I 
was in my mid-20s. Today, I am a 37-year-old female, 5'3" tall, and about 120 pounds. I eat approximately 2,000 cal ories per day and exercise 
daily . Most days, my lunch consists of 11–12 bananas plus celery or let tuce, and for dinner I eat fruit in season and a large salad. I 
keep overt fats to only a couple of times a week. My goals are to lose the excess  fat, build some muscle, and improve my overall 
fitness. Signs of improved health have returned—my hair grew ba ck, my skin cleared up, my teeth stopped hurting, and my digestion 
is improving. I’m also working on getting more sleep, sunshine, and fres h air. It’s been, and continues to be, a fantastic journey . I thought it was worthwhile to tell my story to let people know that this die t and lifestyle do work to get rid of a candida 
overgrowth. I know firsthand. I was severely losing the battle against  candida when I started the 80/10/10rv  lifestyle. Now, I’ve not 
only beaten it, I’ve left it in the dust and gone on to win so many more ba ttles. The weapon to beat candida overgrowth is in the palm of your hand. If you de cide to you use it, I promise you, you won’t be 
disappointed. Valerie Mills Daly, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 
For the first forty years of my life, I was totally immersed in the sta ndard American diet, depending a lot on processed foods 
and, as time went on, the fast food world as well. After the birth of my childr en in my mid-twenties, my body weight gradually 
increased, but my overall health was okay, at least to my way of thinking a t that time. Sure, I would get colds and flu now and then, 
and yes, I wasn’t as eager to run around in the park after my kids, and yes, t he stairs seemed to be more of a challenge, but overall I 
saw myself as a fairly healthy person, even though the excess weig ht (at this time 70 pounds over my lowest adult weight) did not 
please me. Just before turning 40, I married my second husband, and his children were at tempting to be vegetarians, of the egg- and 
dairy-eating variety . As a way of connecting with the kids, I began  to investigate this way of life, and decided it wouldn’t really be 
that hard to change. So, for the next five years, we ate a mostly vegetar ian diet, during which time I put on another 70 pounds. I also 
began to have problems with my health. During this time, I also saw my husband dealing with several health  issues which included high blood pressure, Type 2 
diabetes, and gastric reflux. I also witnessed the severe side effect s of the various medications he began to take to deal with these 
issues, and I found myself wanting to avoid the same kind of experience. However, as time went on, my health problems began to multiply. I became ast hmatic, which was very frightening. I also 
began to have problems with gastric reflux and a hiatal hernia. For the  first time I had problems with blood pressure, and when I was 
41 or 42, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and had to start using a CPAP (continuou s positive airway pressure) machine at night 
to control my breathing. I had very little energy, began to have fairly r egular anxiety attacks, and felt very low emotionally much of 
the time. I had perpetual head congestion, and I continuously cleared my th roat. I began to have problems with dry skin and brittle 
nails, and then psoriasis began to appear. I began to break out with hives fair ly regularly but could not find out what was causing 
them. My hair began to thin very noticeably. Then about five years ago, there was a period of time when I had intense it ching all over my body, but especially in the 
extremities, combined with intense swelling of my hands and feet. The n there was extreme joint pain in my knees and ankles. This 
went on for about a year. My doctor could not diagnose the problem and sent me to a rhe umatologist who suggested that I might 
have something called psoriatic arthritis, and that I should try a c ertain medication. I can’t remember what it was called, but I do 
remember that he said that it would require monthly visits for blood work, sin ce the medication was highly toxic to the liver. So, I 
made a choice—I thought I could better deal with the itching and swel ling than I could deal with not having a liver—so I just said, 
“No thanks!” 
I began to seriously investigate the area of nutrition at this time , and some friends encouraged me to consider going vegan. I 
dropped the dairy and eggs that had continued to be part of my diet. I LOVED cheese , but I hated what was happening to my 
body, so I tried it out. I ate mostly fruits, veggies, grains, legumes, some ra w and some cooked. I began to see some improvement almost immediately; the psoriasis began to fade away, I was able to use th e CPAP less and less, and I began to lose some weight. I was feeling pretty good about what was happening, and continued to do researc h in the area of vegan nutrition. That was 
good, but what was not good was that I began to increase my use of vegan processe d foods, and I began to think I needed certain 
kinds of supplements. My cupboard began to fill with various powders, pills, etc., al l guaranteed to be good for me. I also began to 
experience increased anxiety trying to find the “right way” to b ecome healthy . I also gained another 20 pounds. I then connected with some folks who were following a modified raw diet, aver aging about 85% raw (15% fruit, the rest 
veggies, seeds and nuts) and 15% cooked. They used supplements, but minimally, a nd juicing was a large part of the diet, as well as 
making mock cooked foods, often with the help of a dehydrator. I was intrigued, and I ga ve it a try. I bought a juicer, I bought a 
dehydrator, I bought the books, I bought the special supplements. I dropped processed foods entirely, drank a lot of juice, and ate a lot of salad. Cooked food portion s would often be based 
on potatoes, brown rice, whole-grain pasta, or bread. I began to see improvement ag ain: the weight began to come off, I had 
increased energy, I was able to get rid of the CPAP completely, and my gast ric reflux disappeared. I still had problems with itching, 
but it had decreased. The problem I ran into with this way of life, however, was that I began to ha ve days of weakness and hunger, which I would 
assuage with nuts and dried fruits, or dense foods like hummus, other legum es, tahini, almond butter, etc. And I found I was 
beginning to feel some of the old heaviness and apathy that I remembe red from my SAD days. I couldn’t understand it, because I 
thought I was doing everything right. The other thing was, that I was  simply tired of working so hard to make the right kind of food 
for me to eat, especially since I was still cooking SAD food for my husband. Then, I became familiar with the world of the 100% raw foodists; initially , it was the writings of Victoria Boutenko and her 
family, Alissa Cohen, and Frederic Patenaude that opened the raw food door for  me. Their enthusiasm, their stories, their sincerity 
—all of this inspired me to at least give it a try . So I bought books, milk bags, and slicers, got myself all ready to go … and ran into 
another wall. The more I read, the more confused I got, because there were even more voice s out there in the raw food world, and it was 
hard to find folks who would agree on the constituent parts of the optimal  diet. And I was really afraid of not doing it “right.” I might 
get sick, or I might fall apart. (Funny , how I didn’t worry about this so muc h when I was eating Twinkies and Ding Dongs!) Again, 
anxiety was my friend. Finally, through a friend, I became familiar with Dr. Doug Graham and h is work in the area of raw food and Natural Hygiene. At first, I thought, “This is just way too extreme,” but the more I re ad, the more I was attracted by the simplicity and common sense 
in his information. It was hard to imagine that eating mostly fruit c ould be good for me, and the whole 811  thing was pretty 
intimidating at first. (I am the Almond Butter Queen!) But I came  to believe that it just might work for me. While some other paths 
had helped, I always seemed to come back to some basic problem with all of them. Another part of his program that made a huge difference in my thinking w as his list of the other elements of hygiene. As Dr. 
Doug says, you can eat all the right foods, but you are only as healthy as  your weakest link—whether that be sleep, rest, water, 
sunshine, movement, etc. I could see that I was looking at what I was eati ng to heal me, and I was totally ignoring the other aspects 
of my health. I was trying to function on five hours of sleep each night, n o rest during the day, not enough water, very little exercise 
or activity , no time outdoors in the sun at all (I didn’t want to get cancer  … go figure). I had never come across such a 
comprehensive program, and I decided to give it a try. Well, it has been several months now. I am slowly losing weight (about a pou nd a week on average; I still have over a 
hundred pounds to lose, but I’m not worried … it’s coming off). My skin has imp roved, I am more alert, and my mood is generally 
positive. I have no more anxiety attacks, no more swelling and itching of m y hands and feet. I have no more gastric reflux at all, no 
more joint or neck pain, and my head congestion is minimal at worst (I can si ng again without going into spasms of coughing, much 
to my relief). I am trying to establish a more regular schedule of sleep, and I use my lu nch hour for rest, sitting in my car and listening to soft 
music for an hour each day . I don’t juice as much, and while I sometimes h ave monomeals, I still find myself depending on 
smoothies for a good portion of my food intake. I am not 100% consistent, but I have come a l ot closer to the 811  ideal for my 
intake, and it was easier than I thought. And it is definitely easier  to eat a pile of clementines for dinner, than trying to make a raw 
vegan version of the cooked food I am preparing for my husband! When we go visiting, I just pack a couple of boxes of fruit, and eat that where ver we go; most of my family and friends are 
used to this by now. If I go out for dinner, I just call the restaurant ahead of  time. If they can accommodate me, great; if not, I eat 
before we go out and just go along for the company. Things that I used to think would be hard about this way of life no longer seem  that way to me. I am so tired of being so 
limited, so sick of having to deal with so much pain, that I am no longer wil ling to compromise in the name of “peace” with others; it 
is a false kind of peace that demands that I do something that will ultima tely hurt me. I am going to turn 50 in 2005, and I hope to be 
even healthier and more energetic than I am now. Every day seems to be be tter than the day before, and I find even the hard things 
easier to handle. I would not go back for anything! Kathy Raine, Ithaca, New York 
I went raw six years ago for chronic intense jaw pain, which subsided on t he raw vegan diet when nothing else had helped. My husband and two young children went raw with me, but eventually we fe ll away from it. When my pain came back, we went raw 
again, and I researched a little bit more about the raw vegan diet throug h books and the Internet. I experienced initial improvement, 
but after a while I hit a plateau with my healing, and then started ha ving health problems again. I felt I must be doing something 
wrong; I was sure that raw vegan was my best option, but I was starting t o get frustrated. All along my journey, I had been confronting and clearing up fears, misgi vings, bad habits, and preconceptions about nutrition 
that were ingrained into me for years, and slowly but surely, I was makin g progress. I knew that the more simply I ate, the better I 
felt, but I wasn’t ready to step into Dr. Graham’s 80/10/10 , low-fat diet until after I heard him speak at the raw festival in wes tern 
New York state for the third year in a row. What he says about food and health  makes a lot of sense. He also walks the talk about 
exercise and is very inspiring in that respect. When we got home from the festival, my family and I went right to raw, fr esh, whole, ripe, and organic fruits and vegetables. Our health started improving again right away, and it is slowly gain ing every day. An added benefit is that life is much simpler now. I’m not spending hours prepping, dehydrating, and assembling fancy r aw meals. I buy a wide variety of fruits and veggies, and now 
it’s easier for my family to just look around the kitchen and see what it  is their body wants for nourishment. W e also make sure we 
exercise every day, and have fun doing it. So in the last weeks  that we’ve been eating this way , we’re doing better than ever w ithout all the nuts, oils, and dried “foods” 
we once relied on. W e’ve also been doing very well without supplements  and powders, thank you. Our energy, strength, stamina, 
and even mental attitude are improved. Our skin is healthier, our sleep be tter, and those little and not-so-little health problems that 
were sneaking back are now sneaking away . It’s a great relief to hav e Dr. Graham’s science and experience guiding my family and 
me. Carina Honga, Langley, B.C., Canada 
In January 2005 my alarm clock went off. The time had been long coming, but now my  health was deteriorating rapidly, and 
this time, my body wouldn’t let me hit the snooze. I was 22 years old, a full-time university student, and a  professional model. It was crunch time. I had the biggest project of my 
academic career on my plate, no time for hiccups. However, amidst this ext ernal chaos was an invisible parallel crisis being waged 
inside my body. Health had always been an issue for me; I had been given enough red flag s in my youth to make a bed sheet. Every second 
bite of food I took seemed to bite back, increasingly so as time passed, and I quickly dev eloped an unbalanced relationship with 
food. The bloating of my abdomen would often leave me appearing several months pr egnant. I spent my adolescence hiding my 
inner pain, embarrassed by my symptoms. During this time, I was also very  active as a competitive figure skater, and so my caloric 
intake was incredibly high, which only complicated my digestion furthe r. 
By 2005 I had long since abolished gluten and dairy from my diet of my own volition , and following the indications of “health 
care professionals,” animal meat became the staple of my diet. I w as told I needed it to build muscle for training. I was told I needed 
it because of my blood type (O–). I was told that I needed it for my candida, f or calories, for this and that; in short, meat was the 
answer to all of my problems. I conceded, and reaped the consequences. My symptoms  worsened. So, when my digestion slowed even further in the fall of 2004, and ulcer symptom s mounted, I was not caught off guard. I 
listened to the suggestions of doctors and naturopaths and began to eat meat  several times an hour to subdue the burning in my 
stomach. It was a stressful time, as I was heavily involved in a larg e-scale project that I was in charge of coordinating. Quickly, the 
anxiety attacks began. By now, my outward appearance evidenced my intern al strife, to everyone but me. I maintained focus on 
school and ignored my health, modifying my involvement in projects only to t he extent that I would pause for anxiety attacks. Life 
went on. I made it through that semester with the help of family and friends. Com e January however, the alarm was sounding so loudly 
that it became hard to ignore. My bowels were moving once every 10 days at best , and attempts to medicate my ulcer symptoms 
lead to mouth lesions. I was experiencing dizzy and fainting spells, as m y blood pressure dropped and heart rate plummeted. I was 
forced to drop half of my school course load, as I was all but bedridden. Unable to care f or myself sufficiently, I moved home. The deciding factor came when my mother, a registered nurse, came home  from work one day disturbed by a girl my age who 
had just been diagnosed with colon cancer. Y ou’re next, she thought. E verything I had been told by the medical community had led 
me to this. I dropped everything and began my own research. I soon happened upon information about raw food that changed my life. It didn’t  change my life because it was about raw— 
this is key—but because it described the natural, physiologicall y sound relationship that humans are meant to have with food, and 
with life. I first read David Klein’s Self Healing Colitis and Crohn’ s , which lead me to Dr. Graham. In retrospect, had I found the 
wrong info on raw, I know that I would have continued to worsen. I was very lucky . My diet changed overnight. Let me rephrase that, my life changed overn ight. I stopped eating everything I had been eating and 
started to eat fruit. Within days, I had the first normal bowel movements  I had ever experienced. However, my digestive system still 
on the mend, I followed my instincts and ate  very small amounts of juicy fruit. This continued for about six  weeks, after which  I
finally started to increase the quantity; somewhere between two an d three  months, I added in vegetables. Also after six weeks, I noticed that my eyesight had normalized complete ly, after a decade of wearing glasses. Not just slightly 
improved, but entirely normal. My nails began to grow thick and strong, as did my  hair, which thankfully stopped falling out. (I have 
since learned that this is a common occurrence among people switching  to 811 , predictably followed by a healthy regrowth of new 
hair.) My eyes shone bright, my previously puffy face deflated, and I looked th e picture of health. So much so, in fact, that after a 
few short months on this program, my parents became so convinced, that they  too began with 811 . None of us have looked back. I must stress that I did not only alter my diet; I altered my life. The sc hool year ended for me, and I began a deep, extended 
rest. I was sedentary for nearly six months before I began vigorous exer cise, and I avoided overt fats for this entire period. Each day 
I sought fresh air and sunlight. All of this was made possible by m y family’s love and valuable support. This all began over a year ago. I have since been to Costa Rica as an inte rn for Dr. Graham at his fasting retreat, which 
inspired me to pursue health studies in order to prepare myself for a caree r in the field. My experiences there, and the leadership Dr. 
Graham has provided overall, have  been influential beyond measure. Having found my calling, and my mentor , I can enthusiastically 
say that 80/10/10  was the turning point for the health of my family and me, and provided a founda tion upon which I will pave my 
professional future. Ryan Earehart, Maui, Hawaii 
The low-fat raw vegan diet has given me increased energy, more desir e to perform physical activity, the best digestion I have 
ever had, and complete satisfaction with my pleasurable eating habits . Following a low-fat raw vegan diet has allowed me to achieve 
levels of health I never dreamed imaginable. Overcoming chronic fatigue, severe allergies, annoying acne, and burdensome asthma were just the beginning. Over 3 ½ years 
ago, I virtually eliminated overt fats from my previous raw diet and adopte d a diet of whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic, delicious fruits 
and plants. Now I can eat as much of anything I want so long as it passes my two tes ts: first it mustn’t have a bar code, and second I have 
to be able to make a meal of it by itself. Eating mostly mono fruit meals with  a nonfatty salad later in the day is my recipe for 
success. Eating this way is just so easy— hardly any dishes, no fat t o clean out of my salad bowl, and hardly any time spent 
preparing my food. Ten months ago, I changed my life dramatically and moved from the Arizon a desert to the jungles of Hawaii. I was feeling 
great, excited to live off the land in a remote location without a vehicl e. I soon discovered that I was unable to forage enough 
carbohydrates into my diet, so in order to get enough calories, I chose to eat wh at was raw, wild, fresh, and available. This included 
lots of veggies and garden greens, as wells as non-sweet fruits like t omatoes and cucumbers. Yes, I was eating bananas, papayas, guavas, jackfruit, cherimoyas, orang es, and many other fruits, but not in sufficient 
quantities to meet my caloric needs. However, there were plenty of coconu ts, avocados, and macadamia nuts all around, so I used 
these high-fat foods to meet my caloric needs. I was fine for about the fir st month, then I noticed some wounds not healing very fast 
and even getting worse with time. I had developed a staph infection quite simply by eating lots of fats mixed wi th lots of sweet fruits, and my energy was drained. I was unable to perform intense physical activity, and my wounds were st ill not healing. After a month of trying to let my body heal 
itself while still eating the same way, I realized I was preventi ng my body from healing by eating the coconuts, avocados, and mac 
nuts. So I began a water fast that lasted nine days, during which I got lot s of rest and completely healed all my wounds and gained 
back my vitality. This demonstrated to me once and for all that the low-fat raw vegan diet w as the only way for me. Since the fast, I have 
thrived each and every day by eating large quantities of sweet fruit s and large nonfat salads in the evenings. I keep my fat percentage 
between 7 and 13%, and I have never felt better. Thanks, Doug, for teaching me t he science that makes my body thrive. Julie Wandling, Akron, Ohio 
Four years ago, I weighed 315 pounds, with high blood pressure of 199/100 and very high chol esterol. I was experiencing 
severe chest pains, ringing in the ears, dizziness, and overall body pain . I never slept well and was basically miserable in my own 
body . The doctor told me I was borderline diabetic, and I was living on muscle  relaxers due to chronic lower-back pain—all at age 
35! In 2000, I discovered The Hallelujah Diet and from there Dr. Doug Graham. My m om and I adopted the raw food diet and 
immediately experienced physical benefits. After becoming Health  Ministers, we started a support group and invited Dr. Graham to 
visit. After hearing him speak on the benefits of fruits over fats, I be gan limiting nuts, seeds, and oils and increasing fruits. I had 
always been told to avoid fruit because I was obese, so this was a bit scary at  first. One doctor even told me never to eat bananas as they would cause me to become diabetic! Now I thrive on bananas. Needless to say , we’ve had Dr. Graham come back to 
speak for us several times now! Besides being a great lecturer, he is f un to play with. My two boys, Corbin and Ryan, changed their diets along with me and have exper ienced awesome health ever since. Both 
love when Dr. Graham comes to visit because he plays tennis with  them—soon they will be beating him! They eat cases of fruits 
every week along with plenty of salads and a few cooked vegan foods. They are tr aining everyday and playing tournament-level 
tennis every weekend at ages 13 and 10 respectively . Ask them their fav orite food and they will both reply , “Banana smoothies!” 
Dr. Graham says something in his lectures that really prompted u s to not just exercise but to play hard—he said we need to 
“earn our fruit.” I am happy to report that four years later, I have lost  125 pounds, my blood pressure averages 110/70, and my 
cholesterol is 153! I play hard and live a full, pain-free life! Dr. Samuel Mielcarski, Roswell, Georgia 
As a child, I loved to eat. I was never overweight, but I experienced a plethor a of other problems, such as joint pain, lethargy, 
mood swings, gas and bloating, and feeling feverish, anxious, and sometimes  really depressed. As I moved into to my teenage years, I was informed that these issues we re just part of being a teenager and that I would 
“grow out of it.” When I hit my early twenties, I was still waiting to g row out of the problems I was having, but they persisted and 
eventually worsened instead. I was always a competitive athlete growing up, and after college I deci ded to compete in an amateur body-building 
competition. In 1998, at the age of 25, I found myself on stage holding a second-place t rophy at the Mr. Atlanta Body Building 
Competition in Atlanta, Georgia. I appeared to look great to those watching the show, but this greatness was m erely superficial. I did not look so great on the 
inside, as became evident in the weeks following the competition. It was t hen that my typical childhood and teenage symptoms 
began to worsen, compounded by significant intestinal pains and urogenita l problems, including prostatitis. Prostatitis is a condition where the prostate gland (the chestnut-l ike structure that sits below the bladder and surrounds the 
urethra in a male) becomes inflamed and irritated. This condition can l ead to problems with urination and sexual functioning. It became apparent to me that I had this condition when on several occasion s I felt the need to urinate but was unable to do 
so. This was a most frightening experience at the time. I sought a profe ssional opinion from a urologist, who confirmed the diagnosis 
of chronic prostatitis. When I asked him about the cause of this conditi on, he said, “W e are not really sure, but it appears to be a 
cluster of infections that collect in the prostate region of the b ody .” When I asked about a possible link between my diet and the 
intestinal pains, bowel irregularity , and prostate problem s I was having, the doctor just said, “I suppose there could be a link.”  
I was determined to find the cause and rehabilitate it, and without drugs ! Concurrently with rehabilitating myself from poor 
health, I discovered the science of Natural Hygiene. Implementing t he principles of this true health-care system as part of my 
rehabilitation, I was somewhat successful in conquering the cause  of the problem, as well as preventing other problems from 
developing. I had several signs and symptoms of cancer already, and I was in  the prime age group for developing testicular cancer, 
despite being told by some medical doctors, “Y ou are too young to have such problems.”  
A year after the competition, I was feeling better, but not 100% better. When  it came to restoring my health, I wanted 
perfection. It was at this time that I met Dr. Doug Graham at a Raw Pas sion event. Dr. Graham provided me with profound dietary 
advice. He explained the concept of a raw vegan diet in simple terms, and it  all made sense to me. I realized that although I had 
made many healthful changes in my life, my diet was still in need of s ome adjustment. The ways I ate as a child and during the body 
building competition were not truly healthful, as evidenced by the disea se and distress I suffered while consuming such a diet. After implementing the low-fat raw vegan dietary and lifestyle pr inciples Dr. Graham shared with me, my body was finally 
restored back to optimal health and well-being. Dr. Graham showed me that bodil y building was more important than just body 
building. I still love to eat. The difference now is that I don’t suffer the usual  symptoms and distress I used to experience when doing so. From one doctor to another, thanks so much, Dr. Graham, for all  your help! Laine Smithheisler, Nashville, Tennessee 
I did not become raw because I had any noticeable illnesses, nor did I do it  for animals’ rights. I was young, in good shape, 
mentally stable, and was a member of a loving, albeit somewhat dysfun ctional, family . I still can’t put a finger on why I became raw. I just did, and much of the time that seems like an oddity in the raw communi ty. Yet, I have the feeling that a silent majority of people out there have  had similar experiences of just happening to come into 
contact with the idea of raw foods. I want these people to know that a healthie r lifestyle is indeed relevant to them. However, I 
don’t want anyone to have to make the mistakes I did by following a high-fa t raw diet supplemented with dehydrated foods. Because raw foods is much more widespread and  mainstream today , everyone should be able to find the “right” sources ; in effect, 
bypassing the hurdles that those of us who had no other knowledge ran straig ht into. After two and a half years of eating completely raw (May 2002) and at the you ng age of eighteen, I began experiencing extreme fits of pain, which would endure for entire nights. It felt like  someone was pressing down on the center of my chest while 
thrusting my stomach into my chest—like a heart attack mixed with a cid reflux. For the next six or seven months, I let this continue, 
and continue it did—frequently (cycles of one or two nights a week followe d by a few months of absence). However, I think the 
worst part was that slight pains, similar to acid reflux, would start ea rly in the day before an entire night of full-blown pain. I often 
knew what was coming, imagining and dreading it. In January of 2003, under the pressure of my family (who practice the standa rd American diet) and doctors, I allowed 
doctors to remove my unusually inflamed and infected gallbladder (which  was even worse than that of a person on the standard 
American diet who has gallbladder problems, and certainly abnormal for some one so young). Overwhelmed by a high-fat diet (and, yes, I was 100% raw), my gallbladder had f allen victim to gallstones, which are built 
from bile particles—in my case, mostly constituted from fats. Produ ced in the liver and secreted by the gallbladder, bile helps the 
small intestine digest fats and remove waste products. A gallstone c an grow as liver bile passes through the gallbladder. Consequently, my high-fat diet multiplied this effect, meaning the  more fatty foods I ate, the more bile was released and trapped. Still, the pain failed to cease after doctors removed my gallstones. N ear the end of that January , I developed jaundice—a 
symptom of a gall- bladder infection—which cast a yellow tint to my s kin. It was at this point that the seriousness of what was 
happening hit me. Imagine eating raw foods for so long and being confronted with this situat ion. A year of the most mind-numbing pain had 
deeply affected me, and I gave the doctors permission to operate on my body. Though I  am thankful I do not suffer the pain any 
longer (though there are occasional pangs reminiscent of previous pai ns that continue to frighten me), I still experience mental 
grievances at the thought of what I permitted—no, not allowing doctor s to remove a bodily organ, but rather, letting myself adopt 
the mindset that as long as I followed any raw diet, my worries were over. Though I mostly avoided oils, at one point I had been consuming a small jar of al mond butter a day for several months. I 
should have realized that eating two or three avocadoes a day wasn’t the  answer to Eden. Y et, my answer to high-fat was just as 
detrimental. Instead of focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables, I suppl emented the stimulation and satiation I got from avocados and 
nuts with the quick fix of very high-sugar fruits. I would eat twenty  or thirty dehydrated figs or dates daily. My payment consisted of 
dreaded trips to the dentist and multiple cavities. I know one can be deficient on raw foods, and I struggle just as much as the ne xt person. But, I also know that a sound diet 
can correlate with a sound mind. By learning to appreciate and reward  my body by eating a low-fat, low-sodium diet (Doug 
Graham’s 811rv ), I have learned to love myself by realizing that health is much more  than diet and exercise. For me, health can be 
as seemingly simple as proper sleep or the having a positive attitude, an d as complex as intellectual stimulation or maintaining and 
repairing human relationships. Lori Williamson, Portland, Oregon 
My name is Lori Williamson, and I am a licensed massage therapist. I ha ve been eating raw food since 1997 and was building 
to an all-raw vegan diet. I finally leaped into 100% raw on August 25, 2003. Before I started to eat raw food, I had a whole host of health problems that were  terrible to live with. Vertigo, fatigue, 
depression, carpal tunnel syndrome, stomach aches, sciatica, neck pain, mi graine headaches. Although raw food helped me get past 
these terrible ailments, changing to Dr. Doug Graham’s 811  program took me beyond any diet I could imagine! Still consuming lots of raw dehydrated products and raw fats, when I came a cross 811 , I really started to notice some 
energetic differences. Even though I had been high raw for many year s, I still had some problems. When I went 100% raw, the 
problems lessened a lot, but my teeth were very sensitive and were not doin g as well as I would have hoped on all raw, because of 
the high nut content in my food. My back would be a little stiff from sleeping  on a stomach filled with raw fat or dehydrated food. My periods were still slightly painful, and food did not digest well—un til 811 , that is. Now when the I follow the 811  program, I have this boundless energy that tickles my stomach, and I get s o excited I want to 
laugh and giggle. Maybe it’s because I am so happy that I do not have to de al with health problems anymore. When I think of Dr. Doug Graham’s work, I think of the following quote from Alb ert Einstein: “Nothing will benefit health and 
increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the e volution to a vegetarian diet.”  
As raw fooders, we thought we had it all, but when the 811  program came along, raw vegan truly evolved. I wish everyone 
could experience the way one feels on this diet. It is amazing! Thank you, Dr. Graham, for your continued efforts to help people attain their opt imum health. Petr Cech, Denmark 
I have been incorporating Dr. Doug Graham’s low-fat raw vegan pl an into my life since 2003. At first I had my doubts, and I 
sometimes stepped aside from my path, making lifestyle choices that did not  serve me so well. But I knew the 80/10/10  program 
was right for me, so I have stayed on this diet now for almost two years, lear ning and refining it more and more. I used to struggle with my weight, undereating calories or overeatin g fat. I had no energy and was very thin. I have absolutely no problem gaining weight and muscles on 811 . I have gained 20 pounds on this high-carb, low-fat diet, eating two to three me als 
each day. It takes some time to adjust the (unnatural) body to this (natur al) diet, but it is undoubtedly worth it. If I also meet the other needs of my body (sleep, rest, sunbath, exercise, spir itual needs), this diet plan allows me to focus fully 
on my daily activities, supporting my body’s nutritional requiremen ts and enabling short recovery time after training, better slee p, and 
better resistance  to colds, sore muscles, and sunburn. Dr. D. advises that we get “enough” calories in our main meal. For me, tha t is 1,500 kcal at lunch. Eating a large afternoon 
meal frees me to concentrate on things other than food during the day, lea ving me satisfied for four to six hours after eating. Before, I 
was eating five meals a day; now it’s usually two to three. One thing is for sure, I would never make it without Dr. Graham. His wisdom , experience, honesty, and patience in answering 
questions have helped me through many dark times. The most precious things I have learned from Dr. Graham’s books and p ersonal comments: Keep it simple and see the bigger 
picture of healthful living. I never met Dr. D., but my thoughts and love w ill ever be with him. Dave Klein, Sebastopol, California 
Twenty years ago, after being very sick for eight years with ulcera tive colitis, I saw the light and all at once changed my SAD 
diet to a 95% raw low-fat vegan diet of mostly fresh fruits. I healed up quickl y and went on to experience robust dynamic health. Over the past ten years, I have maintained a 100% raw low-fat vegan diet  and my mental and physical energies have never 
been higher. I am age 46; a friend told me the other day that I look like I am 17. When  I eat nuts, seeds and/or avocado more than 
once per week, my physical energy and mental clarity decrease, an d I don’t feel and look healthy and alive. Eating more fat than we 
can digest and utilize leads to toxemia and subpar health. People forget that there is some fat in bananas and even lettuce, and I e at plenty of those. That is really sufficient, except 
during the winter.
80_10_10_Diet_-_Douglas_Graham.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Soon, Child Protectiv e Services (CPS) arrived at my house with a warrant to 
seize me for a psychological evaluation and possibly put me into a mental i llness lockdown facility. In the kitchen (while peeling the 
first orange for my breakfast meal), I heard the argument between my pa rents and the officers, and I shot out the back door. With 
the help of my brother and my cousin, who understood that I was not mentally il l but just wanted to be healthy, I ran away to 
Canada, accompanied by my brother. My brother and I made up fake names and identities, and we became known a s the “Wild Bush Boys of BC. ” I was forced 
into this fugitive role, having been told that if the American auth orities got their hands on me they were going to make me eat 
“normal” food and force-feed me Ensure (a “liquid meal replacement” dri nk that is extremely  loaded with refined sugar and artificial 
additives—designed to “ensure” proper nutrition) through a tube i f I refused to drink it. Still dealing with constipation, when I got to Canada, I went for a colonic i rrigation. After studying my eyes, the colon 
hydrotherapist (who also happened to be an iridologist) told me that my bowels ha d been left with no options other than to balloon 
out and form “pockets. ” If she was right, then I may have to deal with thes e pockets for the rest of my life. If I had read Dr. Graham’s book Grain Damage,  I would have known better. On the road, and with limited funds, I didn’t have access to all the fruit I  wanted, so I started losing even more weight. Eventually I was put into a Canadian hospital through the efforts of a v ery concerned woman who helped and befriended us. My 
body had unwittingly wasted, losing mass until my weight plummeted to onl y 84 pounds. Even I was shocked. At first I was absolutely panic stricken with the thought that they  were going to make me eat cooked processed hospital food, 
but to my utter relief, this hospital let my brother go to the health-food st ore daily and bring me the raw organic foods that I 
requested. Having lost faith in the fruitarian diet that had failed me, and being  in such a vulnerable state, I was completely open to new 
ideas. Following the advice of many raw food books, I decided to gain weight “the  healthy  way. ” In addition to the green leafy 
vegetables, I began eating TONS of fat. Some days I was wolfing down 6 or 7 avoca dos a day, not to mention all the nuts, seeds, 
nut butters, and oil I used in my dressings. Having abandoned some of my previou s dietary dogma, I felt that I had opened a 
window and had “seen the light. ” I thought that I had finally found what w orked for me. Little did I know what I was getting into. Because I was already in a hospital (just as the American doctors ha d wanted), and because I thought I had nothing to lose, I 
agreed to risk blowing my cover to be filmed by the Canadian media. Sure enough, this event led to my discovery, and nine months 
after I ran away, my family finally found out where I was. When my parents came to visit me, I told my mother that I wasn’t a fru itarian anymore, but now I was a raw foodist. With 
some prodding from my mom, I completely gave up the fruitarian ideology by adding  some cruciferous vegetables and roots (eating 
roots requires the death of the plant) to my diet. With this new identity of  being a raw foodist, I tried to prove to everyone that I was 
flexible in my eating habits. At this point I subscribed to the “ ism” of raw, pretty much eating anything as long as it was “raw. ”  
Hempseed butter … tahini … cacao … “Is it raw. ” became the ultimat e question. Everything so far was in accordance with 
the raw books that I was reading. However, my mother encouraged me to eat sus hi, raw eggs, and raw dairy, which were forbidden 
by many raw foodists. Although I agreed in theory to eat these foods, it was more of a put-on than an ything else. There was no raw dairy to be had, 
and the hospital wouldn’t allow raw eggs (or raw milk for that matter). M y mom got me some raw smoked salmon, but I gladly used 
the excuse that it contained table salt as my reason not to eat it. Howev er, despite my aversion to animal foods, I did include some 
fresh raw egg yolks when I got home, because some raw food authors approved of the m, and because they seemed to be less of a 
taboo in my own mind. Despite gaining weight very rapidly in the Canadian hospital (in onl y a couple of months I was up to 110 lbs. and rising), and in 
spite of how far I had come from being a fruitarian, those meddling Americ an doctors had me flown to America in an emergency 
supersonic jet (flown in from Japan), where they unjustly locked me in a  mental institution and tried to coerce and trick me into 
eating cooked hospital foods. My mom adamantly warned them what a raw food expert told her—that raw foodi st’s bodies have a tough time adjusting 
cold turkey to a standard diet. Since they have less of a mucosal lining as  a barrier from allergens and toxins, they need to gradually 
introduce cooked foods, starting first with lightly steamed vegetables, a nd should also avoid glutinous grains. Her words were 
utterly disregarded. I could fill pages expressing the horrors of my experience with this loc kdown facility. As soon as I got there, I was offered a 
plate of chicken, milk, greasy rice, canned green beans, and chocolate cake. The nurses led me to believe I had  to eat what was on 
my plate or drink Ensure. Faced with these options, both of which were wretch ed nutritional abominations, I started to panic. Thinking that all my previous attempts at eating healthy and my run ning away to avoid the hospital and its food may have been in 
vain, I almost had a nervous breakdown. Now under the control of CPS, I felt vulnerable without the protection  of my parents. But I didn’t lose my wits and give in. Seeing as how this American hospital was much different from the C anadian one, I realized that I would have to be persistent. Eventually, after much persuasion, I was given raw food. How did I finagle myself out of cooked food and Ensure. My guess is that my weig ht wasn’t low enough to warrant force 
feeding, and I was willing to eat what little variety of raw foods the hos pital offered (mainly walnuts and some poorly ripened 
bananas, apples, and oranges). Much to the disappointment of the psychiatrist who was in charge of me an d was planning to starve me into submission, a 
judge ordered that she must let my parents bring me more variety of what  I would eat. Finally, the psychiatrist realized that her plans 
to control me and make me eat cooked food were futile, so I was released under many  conditions. Having achieved one victory, I was soon faced with a new challenge. Not l ong after I was released from the hospital, I had my 
body-fat percentage tested, and it was 25%. (Conventional “wisdom” c onsiders body fat in the mid-teens to be healthy for men; 
however, I later learned from Dr. Graham that single digits—under 10%, i deally about 4 to 8% for an athletic male—is a truly 
healthful level of body fat. ) The lady who tested me was shocked that such a skinny person could be so fat. Sh e said I was looking at increased chances 
of heart disease and many other health challenges as I got older. It looks a s though my weight-gaining strategy was working all too 
well. During a visit to the doctor who was appointed to oversee my weight gain, my m other expressed deep concern about my 
25% body fat and the substantial abdominal cellulite I had developed. But my doctor  showed no concern and even told us that it 
was “anorexic thinking” for us to be concerned with my body-fat per centage. I’m not surprised that I became fat, considering that neither hosp ital would let me exercise. The American hospital even went 
so far as to tell me to sit down if I was caught idly standing. This is w hy I blame the doctors for my exceptionally high body-fat 
percentage. For the second time, they had blatantly ignored my mom’s r easoning—she had forewarned the doctors what she had 
read—that it was vitally important for emaciated people to exer cise while they gain weight or they would only gain fat—not muscle. Even knowing that my body-fat percentage was high, I forced myself to gai n more weight every day, to meet the demands of 
the doctors (they wanted me to be in the 10 th  percentile of BMI charts—where 10% of males my height and age weig h the same as 
I do—even though the 5 th  percentile is normally considered acceptable). This was absurd, s ince I didn’t have enough muscle for my 
age to meet this requirement without having an excessively high  body-fat percentage. I always feared being put back in the mental facility, because one of the  conditions of my release had been that if I went four 
weeks without weight gain they could put me back … only next time I wou ld have to cooperate and eat hospital food. They should have known that this was unreasonable, because muscle is s low to gain. I heard that even the best bodybuilders 
rarely gain more than a pound of muscle a month. I felt trapped, and I continue d to eat unhealthy amounts of avocados, nuts, seeds, 
and oils to gain this weight within deadlines the doctors had set for me. In  the back of my mind, I was scared by the thought that 
every pound I gained would even further add to my already-too-high body-fat per centage. I knew that I should be exercising to gain 
muscle, but I was not in the best of shape, and I didn’t have enough ene rgy to motivate vigorous exercise. Further adding to the problem, I became introduced to raw potlucks. The dishes th ere mimicked all my favorite cooked 
foods, only this time, they were “healthy” (… not. ) Luckily, I was too lazy t o make them at home, or else I probably would have 
eaten nothing else. I had completely forgotten my hygienic background of  mono fruit meals, and I had lost the euphoric joyful feeling 
of simple eating. Many raw food books had it so backward, even as to proclaim fruits as the enemy beca use they had too much sugar. Thank 
goodness I was never strict enough to exclude fruits, but I did limit them, which even further added to the number of calories I 
consumed from fat. I felt heavy, had lots of extremely foul-smelling ga s, my acne returned in full force, and I once again suffered 
from constipation. I didn’t feel healthy anymore. So, what did I do. I turned to superfoods. I thought that I wasn’t getting enoug h minerals or that I must be deficient in some 
nutrient. Raw food books told me that organic food wasn’t enough, and that I mus t have wild food, and more variety, including the 
full array of superfood products they sold. So I ordered jars of powdered wild vegetabl es, bags of cacao beans, and many other 
“extreme” foods that were supposed to solve all my problems. But none of t hem could offset the effects of my poorly combined, 
high-fat diet. It wasn’t until I met Tim Trader and Laurie Masters at the Nation al Essene Gathering in July of 2004 that I got my first dose of 
811. Laurie told me that she was editing Dr. Doug Graham’s book entitled The 80/10/10  Diet. The two of them described for me 
the basic concept behind the book—that “Fruit or Fat. ” are real ly the only two choices for getting calories as a raw fooders. I 
immediately knew that I was on the extreme fat side of “Fruit or Fat. ” I told them about my situation, and they showed a gen uine 
concern for my health. At Tim and Laurie’s urging, I got myself to Dr. Graham’s lectures at  the International Festival of Raw and Living Foods in 
Portland later that summer. Though the event left me feeling more i nformed, it was eye-opening to see all the different opinions and 
conflicting advice among the speakers. To my relief, it seemed as though Dr. Graham had sorted all this confusin g mess of information into a clear, sensible plan. Especially convincing, was his description of how blood-sugar problems, common ly blamed on fruit, are actually caused by the 
impaired function of insulin due to excess fat consumption. I knew I had to ma ke some changes if I was going to be healthy. If I was 
going to succeed as a raw foodist, I would have to be more discerning in my food c hoices. I would have to ask more than, “Is it 
raw. ” 
Even after hearing Dr. Graham’s compelling speeches, I continua lly struggled with 811. I must admit, that it was at that very 
same festival that I left with a CASE of cacao beans. Let me tell you, it is HARD to get over addictions. I would be lying to say that I didn’t attend the very next local raw food p otluck after my return home from the Portland 
Festival. But something had changed. I was no longer ignorant. Now I knew  that this fat-laden, “combo-abombo” gourmet food 
was not furthering my goal of ideal health. There’s no way I could enjoy m y raw pizza as I had before after hearing Doug’s “if it 
looks like pizza, and tastes like pizza, you can be sure its going to dige st like pizza”  speech. Now I knew what I should be 
doing, and if I did slip up, at least I knew  it was a slipup. At the end of August, I attended Raw stock for the first time, and it was a bl ast. Seeing 811  being practiced up close and 
personal was so inspiring. I was reminded of how natural and fun it was to e at simply. Knowledge is empowering, and it really does 
inspire change. After Raw stock, 811  really hit home for me. Now, it was only a matter of correcting bad habits, bat tling past 
addictions, and striving for 811  every day. Whenever I have a question about 811  or other related topics, I can refer to Dr. Graham’s V egSource messag e boards. Dr. Graham himself takes out of his own time to offer his best advice. Many peopl e on the boards offer expert advice and truly speak 
out of experience. People there are friendly; no matter how silly or triv ial the question seems, usually someone can relate or offer 
their piece of useful insight. This board continually inspires me to con tinue with my goals, teaching me new information and equipping 
me with the knowledge to solve my own health challenges. Knowing what I know now, neither my psychologist nor my mother was righ t about why I couldn’t maintain my weight. I 
didn’t need grains, and I certainly didn’t need hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cr eam, and donuts. All I needed was a little understanding, 
and a LOT more calories. I just assumed that because I always ate whe n I was hungry, I was getting enough calories. However, Dr. Graham pointed out that on the standard American diet, the food is dense, h igh in calories, and doesn’t take up a lot of room in the 
stomach compared to lower-calorie, water-rich fruits and vegetables. H e explained that in order to get enough calories on 811, you 
need to expand the stomach back to its natural size and elasticity in order  to fit in a lot more fruit. Not having this little piece of 
information was, perhaps, the primary cause of my downfall as a fruitari an, second to not including greens. I thank Laurie Masters, Tim Trader, and Dr. Graham for empowering me to ma ke the right choices. Because of their help, I 
am no longer ignorant of the consequences of my actions. 811  taught me how to manage my calories without overeating fat, so I 
have no problem keeping on the weight. The more fruit and less fat I eat, the more energy I have, and the more I f eel like exercising, which is precisely what I need to 
convert my high body-fat percentage into lean muscular weight. The c loser I eat to 811, the more all of my health challenges fade. Clearer skin, better-functioning bowels, and increased energy are a g reat payoff for my efforts. It feels good to eat simply, and I LOVE fruit. Unfortunately, I LOVE fat t oo. I am still struggling, but I am doing my best, and 
my best gets better every day. At least now I can see where I am going, and I am not walking around with a blindfold on. Because of past experiences of letting other people influence my decis ions and consequently falling into many traps, I have 
learned to become a very independent thinker. My grandma used to get mad that  my parents paid for so many avocados when I 
could have saved them some money by using olive oil instead. Now, after being  a fan of 811  for quite some time, my mom just told 
me that my grandma says that I’m “mentally ill” because I eat s uch an abundance of fruits, because I avoid grains, and because I 
believe Doug Graham. I just have to smile. ☺ 
 
Theresa Remley, Sacramento, California 
Finally, I can hear what my body is telling me after a lifetime of conf usion and pain. After first experiencing trauma-induced 
illness at about age five and my health spiraling downward into debilita ting physical and mental disorders, I searched diligently for 
answers. I saw psychologists as a child and psychiatrists as an adult w ho could never pinpoint the reason for my depression and 
anxiety because my underdeveloped mind as a child suppressed what happened t o me. I was often ill, eventually missing nearly one 
day out of every week of school in the tenth grade due to sore throat and fever, y et I still managed to excel academically. In high school, I could not play soccer without having muscular-skeleta l pain and spiciness the rest of the day, and 
chiropractor visits could not repair this continuing problem. At age sev enteen, I awoke to severe pain in my lower chest over the 
course of several nights. An endoscopy located a preulcerous condition, and I  received antacid pills as treatment instead of dietary 
advice, although I was already a vegetarian due to my own conviction. My general tiredness and sore throat intensified into acute, mono-like  symptoms when I was nineteen, so I went to yet another 
doctor and found out that I had an abnormally high Epstein-Barr lab result. H owever, this was not explained to me. I thought I had 
chronic fatigue syndrome, but this illness was widely misunderstood; t hus, my symptoms were largely ignored. My college 
attendance plummeted because of insomnia, mental fogginess, and overwh elming fatigue and pain, and my depression intensified due 
to my increasing sense of helplessness. In 1997, I saw a clinical immunologist who finally diagnosed my physical il lnesses as chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction 
syndrome, fibromyalgia, and allergic rhinitis. He told me that I was an  “extreme case” with a foreseeable future of having only 
chronic, disabling illness. I then applied for Social Security income bec ause of his diagnosis which gave credence to my inability to 
work productively since I was nineteen, and after ongoing battles with t he court system, I received the aid. I never knew how I was supposed to get better, and by fate, I met a chiropractor tw o years ago who practices neuro- 
emotional technique, which involves muscle-testing to uncover subc onscious thoughts. My childhood trauma finally came out after 
three months of twice-weekly sessions. The experience was draining, but I was relieved to find out the root to all of my problems. The experiences as a child were more than I ever could have imagined h appening to me, so I understood why my once fragile mind 
could not deal with it all. I realized then that I had post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociat ion, which gave me new focus in consequent emotional/ 
cognitive therapy and EEG brain-training sessions. It all makes sen se  now— all of my heightened senses, panic attacks, low self- 
esteem, difficulty concentrating, depression, anger, insomnia, and ea ting disorders—I can finally see that I reacted normally to 
something that was not my fault, and I am now taking care of myself out of l ove that I did not know how to have before. To think that my doctor once wanted me to take intravenous AIDS medicine— No W ay. As if more poison could heal me. I 
have learned that the band-aids that are put on illnesses do not make them  really disappear. I am extremely sensitive to any form of drug, even those in foods. During t his time of illness in my adult life, my vegetarian diet 
transitioned toward vegan, and I frequented the V egSource. com website f or general, vegan recipes. I then went to Dr. McDougall’s 
low-fat whole foods forum and tried that diet, thinking this was the healt hiest one for weight loss and vitality, although my body told 
me otherwise through its digestive upset. I did not understand that this  was a big problem, since I had more pressing burdens in my 
life. When I spent the time and emotional energy to seriously turn inward an d peel away layers of toxic perceptions, I could see 
more about my eating habits. I saw that I needed sugars for energy, yet I c ould not eat enough fruits if I ate a cooked food diet 
because of my digestive troubles due to improper food combinations. I thus felt c ompelled to eat processed junk food or drink 
caffeinated tea for stimulation (which made me feel sick too). After two years of eating that diet (which barely gave me benefit), a nd finding my identity, I was finally ready to take Dr. Graham’s forum on that website seriously. His knowledge of exercise a nd food-combining principles that consist of low-fat, raw 
foods with emphasis on fruit fit wonderfully with my newly found focus on h olistic health. I researched the general raw food scene during my immersion into this  new lifestyle over one year ago, and I made a few 
recipes from other leading raw foodists who limit fruit and increase fa ts and protein. I felt heavy and sick from nuts and oils as well 
as their improper food combinations, harsh flavorings, and unnecessary foods. I noticed how my candida also flourished while eating 
that way. Additionally, it was easy for me to overeat the dehydrated and “g ourmet” meals, which is something that does not happen 
when I eat whole, raw fruits and vegetables. Because I have such a sensitive body, shouldn’t all “nutritionist s” test their theories on someone like me who can best show if 
their diets cause harm.
Force her to drink Ensure through a tube.
What did the author's parents threaten to do to her if she didn't eat "normal" food?
The colon hydrotherapist told her that her body had been left with no options other than to form "pockets" in her digestive system.
What was the author's experience with a colon hydrotherapist, and what did they tell her about her digestive system?
Her mother suggested she try eating raw dairy and eggs, but the author was hesitant and only agreed to eat fresh raw egg yolks.
What did the author's mother suggest she try in order to add variety to her diet, and what was her reaction to this suggestion?
The author gained weight rapidly, but her body fat percentage increased, and she developed health problems such as acne, constipation, and digestive issues. She realized that her body was not designed to handle the high amount of fat she was consuming and that she needed to make significant changes.
What was the author's experience with the raw food diet, and what did she realize about her body's ability to heal?
The author was forced to eat cooked food in the hospital, but she was relieved when her parents brought her raw food, and she eventually learned to prioritize whole, fresh, and organic fruits and vegetables.
What was the author's experience with the 80/10/10 diet, and what changes did she make to her diet?