Even though many people eat healthy, they often put toxins in their body by unknowingly using harmful skin care products (lotions, perfumes, soap, makeup, etc.). Reading the label on your skin care products is just as important as reading the label on the foods you eat.

According to studies done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, levels of toxic metals and pesticides can be found in the blood and urine of most Americans. Harmful chemicals are found in many skin care products including shampoos, soaps, shower products, and toothpaste. Over a period of years of applying these products directly on your skin, or in your mouth, the buildup occurs in the system since the skin is a highly absorbent organ.

Not only is the skin highly absorbent (I've read studies that say within 2-3 minutes whatever is applied to the skin is absorbed into the bloodstream) but it is also the body's largest organ and is used for elimination of toxins. Instead of using lotion sold in the grocery store, consider using organic virgin coconut oil, instead. Pure coconut oil is known for its benefits to the skin. For soap, I use 100% pure olive oil soap (the soap itself is green and can be purchased at local health food stores such as Whole Foods).

***

Press release below from a new line of natural skin care products called Raw Gaia.

Raw Gaia, a Brighton-based natural skin care company, announces the launch of an unusually pure range of hand-crafted creams, moisturisers, lip balms and massage bars made using only 100% organic, raw and vegan ingredients.

The main benefit of a skin care product made with raw, living ingredients — such as cacao butter, cold-pressed oils and essential oils — is that the body is nourished from the life force, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals present within these substances. In contrast, a high temperature treatment — such as that used to make the vast majority of skin care products — destroys most of this goodness.

Managing director Lisa Lennon comments: "Our products are made by hand, carefully avoiding temperatures above 40°C, to ensure the ingredients retain all their living energy. This makes Raw Gaia truly different."

Raw Gaia's skin care range is free from petrochemicals, artificial colourants and parfums, glycols, lauryl sulphates, parabens, preservatives, synthetic additives, bulking agents and hidden ingredients. Products do not contain any toxic transfatty acids, as the oils are not heat treated.

Hector Bolanos, sales and marketing director, adds: "Our products are absolutely pure — so pure that you could in fact, eat them. As a result of their purity and living nature, they are highly nourishing and effective. Many people have said their skin starts to feel firmer and softer, blemishes and dark patches start to disappear, that their eczema has improved after using our products."

All Raw Gaia products are available at selected stores or can be bought online.

About Raw Gaia
Raw Gaia was started in Brighton by Lisa Lennon and Hector Bolanos during 2006. For many years, the couple searched for the ideal moisturiser, made with ingredients as fresh and close to nature as possible. Unable to find anything suitable, Lisa started experimenting in the kitchen and making her own creams. Eventually, she came up with a product that is one of the purest creams on the market. The success with this cream led her to develop a range of other skin care products.

A recent press release published by "Drinks Media Wire" highlights RAWvolution, a new raw food cafe, in Santa Monica, California.

Raw Food Café Brings Food and Consciousness Together in One-Stop Shop

New raw food cafe and market in Santa Monica serves up prepared raw food to dine in or take out and raw food snacks and treats.

Not your typical raw food restaurant, Euphoria Loves RAWvolution L.A.’s healthiest hangout is a haven for food lovers to enjoy a prepared meal or purchase snacks and ingredients to create their own meals at home.

“We wanted to create a space that could exist as a community center where customers come to share food and consciousness together,” says Euphoria Loves RAWvolution Owner and raw food lifestyle coach Janabai Owens. “Euphoria Loves RAWvolution’s approach to the raw food movement is non-dogmatic. We want this lifestyle to be accessible to everyone so people can eat healthy and get on with their lives.”

The café, which is open for lunch and dinner, features raw entrees, side dishes and desserts prepared by co-owner and renowned raw food chef and “RAWvolution” author Matt Amsden. To meet the needs of busy locals, the café offers food by the quarter pound or meal specials that feature an entrée and two or three side dishes. Chef Amsden creates a selection of entrees such as Big Matt with Cheese, Italian Pizza or Stir-Not-Fry and side dishes include Cucumber Dill Salad, No-Bean Hummus and Eggless-Egg Salad, to name a few.

"The flavor of raw food is so fresh and alive because it is as nature intended full of living water and life force,” says Amsden. “We shop local farmers markets and Santa Monica Co-Op for the freshest and finest organic ingredients. We want our customers to know that the food they purchase from Euphoria Loves RAWvolution is the best they can get.”

The meals can be taken to-go or eaten in the bright, bohemian café. In addition to the prepared meals, the growing grocery section features a host of superfoods including raw chocolate, exotic fruits, futuristic supplements, organic treats and radiant body care. Shoppers can explore the products and learn about the health and beauty benefits from the knowledgeable sales staff.

For those raw food fans who are unable to regularly visit the café or live on the other side of the country Euphoria Loves RAWvolution also offers “The Box,” a food box filled with a selection of two soups, four entrees, four side dishes and two desserts, designed to feed a customer for four to five days. These boxes, which have a celebrity and local following, can either be picked up at the café or are delivered via Fed Ex to the customer’s home. The Box allows raw food lovers to easily eat healthy delicious meals, prepared by Amsden, in their own home.

Michael Kenney, founder of Pure Food & Wine in New York City, has opened a new Blue/Green cafe at Equinox (an upscale gym) on Heights Road in Darien, Connecticut. Darien, CT is a small suburban community located just outside NYC, and is home to many Wall Street fund managers and "high finance" types.

The cafe serves raw juices (fruit, veggie, and nut milks) and appetizers (raw spring rolls, summer rolls, salads) and offers "Blue/Green To Go," where for $40 customers can pick up a day’s worth of raw food meals, including a green juice, a smoothie, two meals and dessert. The menu changes daily.

The raw food article below is excerpted from The Darien Times.

Darien Goes Raw, Gets Healthy
by Susan Chaves

So long fast food. Adios junk food. Good-bye carbs. Hello raw foods?

Noshing on portobello fajitas and sipping coconut water has become a popular alternative for people seeking a healthier lifestyle.

Darienites Michelle Mauboussin and Kim Walsh are two faithful followers of such cuisine that uses organic fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts and sprouted greens.

“I love to eat this way,” said Mauboussin, adding that the change in her diet has resulted in clearer skin, a need for less sleep and an increased energy level. “It makes me feel so good that if I veer off it, I really feel the difference.”

Mauboussin was turned on to raw foods two years ago by Walsh, who began eating vegan-style a year earlier. Although initially skeptical about the practice, Mauboussin agreed to attend a raw food preparation class with her friend in New York City.

“I was immediately hooked,” Mauboussin said. “The food was so delicious and tasty. It wasn’t like I was being tortured.”

The positive experience prompted bringing a raw food juice bar to Darien. After a trip to the city last spring for another raw food class — this one led by Michael Kenney — approached the chef about opening a fourth Blue/Green cafe at Equinox on Heights Road.

“A lot of his restaurants are high-end and very expensive so I never thought he would come to a gym,” Walsh said. “When he said he would, I was thrilled.”

Blue/Green debuted in town last November and, due mostly to word-of-mouth, has experienced a steady increase in the number of customers.

“I’m amazed and thrilled with the response,” Kenney said.

This is Kenney’s first dalliance outside of the city since opening the first of 11 restaurants specializing in Mediterranean- and American-influenced entrees in 1993. After a successful seven years, during which he published two cookbooks, launched a catering and events company and created a line of gourmet food products for retail stores, Kenney’s culinary career began to crumble. His restaurants closed one after the other, leaving him in financial straits.

By 2004, Kenny bounced back with Pure Food and Wine, a raw, vegan restaurant in Gramercy Park he ran with his then-girlfriend. The pair also wrote a cookbook Raw Food, Real World.

Today, Kenney has left Pure Food and Wine and established Organic Umbrella, which oversees several business ventures focusing on a raw food lifestyle, including vegan and juice cafes, a raw food cooking class and a retail line of prepared foods. He also owns The Plant, a kitchen that, among other things, supplies food to Blue/Green and offers weekly raw food cooking classes.

“Getting into raw food had changed my personal life and my business life,” Kenney said. “I was definitely skeptical first, but the food changed my life. I’m never sick, I require less sleep, I have tons of energy and I’m 42, and never had a gray hair.”

He attributes the benefits to the fact that the foods are not processed, pasteurized or cooked above 118 degrees, meaning all essential vitamins and enzymes are left in tact. He said preparing the food is not difficult, just replace the stoves, ovens and microwaves with a dehydrator, Vita-mixer and juicer.

“The most challenging aspect is creating new cuisine that is tasty,” Kenney said. “You’ve got to be creative when putting things together.”

Some favorites at Blue/Green in Darien include the spicy mango spring rolls, vegetable summer rolls, Mexican salad, the all green juice and the mango, the raspberry and almond milk smoothie and the pear almond milk, cinnamon and hemp protein smoothie.

If people do not have time to dine at the cafe, there is Blue/Green To Go, where for $40 customers can pick up a day’s worth of raw food meals, including a green juice, a smoothie, two meals and dessert. The menu changes daily.

“It’s really about convenience and healthful food,” Mauboussin said. “So many people want it, but they can’t do it.”

That includes Mauboussin, a mother of five, who came up with the concept after finding she had little time to prepare the food she enjoyed. More recently, she started doing the Blueprint Cleanse, wherein people have nothing but six shakes a day for five days. Both the shakes and the program were developed by Zoe Sakoutis and are currently only available at Blue/Green for $300 for a five-day supply.

The New York-based raw food nutritional consultant has created four cleanses that increase in intensity. Raw 101 consists of raw food solids that are easily digested for people who are unfamiliar with healthy eating. Walk the Line is half solids and half blended drinks and serves as a segue to Blended & Smooth, offered at Blue/Green, is nothing but liquids and blended soups. Easy Being Green is the highest level and finds only the people most experienced with cleanses drinking green juices and coconut water.

“I wanted to bridge the gap between starting the cleanse and the extreme,” said Sakoutis, who launched her line two weeks ago after a year’s worth of trial and error. “It’s been a slow humiliation. I used myself and my mom as guinea pigs.”

Her cleanse, inspired by what she learned during time spent at the Anne Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico, incorporates a lot of papaya, sprouts, greens and coconut water as well as a little bit of health science and a touch of behavioral science.

“When people understand what certain foods are doing for them, they want to go out and eat it,” Sakoutis said. “So I’m really interested to see how the cleanse does. I think it’ll be really great.”

Mauboussin and Walsh rave about the cleanse, saying the drinks are “very satisfying” and curb hunger throughout the day. In fact, Mauboussin said one Blue/Green customer has lost 35 pounds doing the cleanse and eating raw food.

“Blue/Green is the talk of the town,” said Mauboussin, noting that she has received e-mails, phone calls and letters thanking her and Walsh for “making Darien a healthier place.” “It’s great to see other people feeling good and being so enthusiastic about it.”

That bit of news is music to Walsh’s ears.

“It has been my dream that people in town would start feeling the way I feel every day,” said the mother of three boys. “Two weeks after I started eating raw food I felt 15 years old and was begging my kids to play with me.”

While raw food suits her just fine, Walsh said eating it all the time is not for everyone. However, she said introducing just a small amount into one’s diet can make a difference.

“It’s not all or nothing,” she said. “You can add more raw foods into your lifestyle and you’ll feel better.”

The Ottawa Citizen, a Canadian newspaper, recently published an article profiling a 45 year-old woman who says she has eaten raw (almost exclusively) for the past 14 years. Story excerpt below…

Dining in the Raw
by Louise Crosby

Natasha Kyssa is lean, fit and glowing. At 45, she is a picture of youth and vitality. She says it's the raw food. For the past 14 years, this Ottawa woman has eaten "living foods" almost exclusively. In the vegan raw foods culture, this means only fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and grains, much of which is made more digestible by soaking, sprouting, blending, juicing and fermenting. That means no meat, chicken or fish, obviously. No dairy foods, sugar, coffee or tea. No canned fruit or vegetables or commercial fruit juices that have been heated or pasteurized. No bubbling macaroni and cheese, wood oven-fired pizza or sizzling stir-frys. No steaming, roasting, grilling or baking.

It sounds restrictive, but raw foodists have come up with clever and imaginative ways of turning raw ingredients into gourmet masterpieces.American celebrity chef Charlie Trotter, a huge fan of raw foods (although he is not a vegetarian), has added raw dishes to the menu of his fine-dining restaurant in Chicago. His 2003 cookbook, Raw, has recipes for Bleeding Heart Radish Ravioli with Yellow Tomato Sauce, and Salsify with Black Truffles and Porcini Mushrooms.

Raw foods are also turning up at the world's most luxurious spa retreats, along with the detox and yoga. And at the monthly raw vegan pot-luck hosted by Natasha and her husband, Mark Faul, at St. Giles Presbyterian Church in the Glebe, people bring everything from lasagnas and sushi rolls to mango pie and carrot cake.

Why raw food? Raw foodists say enzymes — catalysts that aid digestion and the absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream — are destroyed at temperatures higher than 118 degrees F (48 degrees C). A raw food diet, along with other good habits like getting lots of sleep, fresh air and exercise, contributes to exceptionally good overall health, increased energy, a strengthened immune system, resistance to colds and flu and better concentration and mental clarity.

Natasha's earliest influence in the whole-foods department was her Austrian-born mother, who for many years ran The Pantry, a mostly vegetarian tea room in the Glebe Community Centre. Today, Natasha and Mark run SimplyRaw, which offers personalized healthy lifestyles coaching and workshops on preparing raw foods. They recently gave a presentation to medical staff at Elizabeth Bruyere Health Centre.

Adopting a completely raw food diet is a serious commitment and not for everyone. But if you'd like to increase the amount of raw food you're getting every day, you may want to re-stock your pantry and invest in a few essential pieces of equipment: a high-speed blender and food processor; a jar with a mesh lid for sprouting beans and seeds; a spiral slicer for making "noodle" strands out of zucchini, beets and other vegetables; fine mesh bags for making nut milks; a dehydrator, which gently removes the moisture from foods and turns out things like crackers, pizza crust, granola, cookies, dried fruits and vegetables. Natasha and Mark sell many of these products through their website.

A few weeks back, Natasha whipped up this Angel Hair Pasta with Marinara Sauce in my kitchen. It was room-temperature but tasty, with strong, bold flavours. I made the almond milk and it was quite delicious in banana-strawberry smoothies. Despite long soaking and prolonged blending, however, my dates didn't puree successfully. If you don't like chunky bits of date in your smoothies, but want to stay "raw," use a couple of tablespoons of wild raw agave nectar instead. It's made from agave cactus plants and rates very low on the glycemic index.

Angel Hair Pasta with Marinara Sauce

Serves 6
For the marinara sauce:
2 cloves garlic
1 cup (250 mL) sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in water until soft, drained
4 dates, soaked in water until soft and drained, or 2 tablespoons raw agave
4 to 6 medium ripe tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 cup (50 mL) minced fresh basil
2 tablespoons (25 mL) fresh oregano, or 1 teaspoon (5 mL) dried
1 teaspoon (5 mL) dried thyme
1 teaspoon (5 mL) onion powder
4 tablespoons (65 mL) cold-pressed olive oil
1/4 cup (50 mL) lemon juice or unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Celtic sea salt, or 1 tablespoon (15 mL) Nama Shoyu or Nama Tamari, to taste
1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) black pepper
Pinch, cayenne

For the topping:

1/2 cup (125 mL) pine nuts
Fresh basil
Olives

For zucchini pasta:

4 to 6 large zucchini

1. In a food processor or blender, chop garlic. Add soaked sun-dried tomatoes and dates; blend. Add all remaining ingredients; blend, adding filtered water or the sun-dried tomato soaking water for a smoother, thinner consistency, if desired. Season to taste.

2. Slice the zucchini crosswise into quarters. Use a spiral slicer, shred zucchini into thin "noodles." Place noodles in serving bowls and top with marinara sauce. Garnish with chopped pine nuts, basil and olives.

Vanilla Almond Milk

Makes 3 cups (750 mL)
1 cup (250 mL) almonds with skins, soaked overnight
3 cups (750 mL) filtered water
6 dates, soaked until soft
1-inch (2.5 cm) piece vanilla bean, or 2 tablespoons (25 mL) wild, raw agave nectar
Blend almonds and water at high speed until creamy. Strain using a nylon nut bag or fine sieve. Return milk to blender, add remaining ingredients, and blend again. Serve over cereal, in smoothies or alone.

Bradley Saul, a former pro-cyclist, raw vegan and founder of Organic Athlete was recently profiled in The Arizona Daily Star. According to its website, Organic Athlete organizes bike races called Tour d'Organics in which participants race from farm to farm to promote organic foods and athleticism. Upcoming races are planned in Austin, Texas, Portland, Ore., and Santa Cruz, Sebastopol and Santa Barbara, Calif.

Excerpt below from The Arizona Daily Star…

On Pace: Can Vegan Diet Fuel an Athlete? He says yes.
by Jennifer Duffy

What did you eat yesterday? Bradley Saul, a former pro-cyclist and founder of Organic Athlete, stopped in Tucson last week to talk about his organization and told me what he had munched on that day: half of a case of strawberries, two heads of lettuce chopped into a salad, some oranges and about 50 small dates.

The tall and lean but strong-looking cyclist is a vegan, and a raw foodist. He promotes organic living for athletes to ensure personal and environmental health. (Being a raw foodist who eats only whole foods, he doesn't touch things like whole wheat bread or tofu, but will eat some brown rice in a pinch, he says.) Chowing down on a few heads of lettuce for lunch and avoiding all cooked and processed foods sounds a little extreme, but the principles of his vegan raw food diet are based on eating whole, organic foods that provide the vitamins, minerals and fiber that we all strive for in our diets.

Everyone's first question: Where do you get your protein? "Where don't you get protein if you're eating whole foods?" said Saul, who started Organic Athlete when he was living in Tucson in 2003 and now resides in California. "Human mother's milk has only 5 to 6 percent of its calories from protein. And that's for babies growing at a much more rapid rate than we are. We get enough protein if we eat whole foods, fruits and vegetables." He eats nuts and seeds in small amounts because they're high in fat.

Fruits and vegetables have a bit of protein per calorie — some more than others — so as long as you're eating whole foods, you can't not get enough protein, Saul says. These foods aren't as high in protein as meat, of course, but that protein is more difficult to digest, according to Saul. But this guy isn't just munching on heads of lettuce and lounging on the couch — he's an athlete. Doesn't he need supplements or a chicken breast once in awhile?

Nope.

He doesn't use supplements when he races, and when he recently ran a marathon he just ate dates for fuel during the 26.2-mile race. "I was fine." I can't even imagine a long run without chocolate energy gel, but Saul's minimalism is inspiring. Celery blended up in water provides the precious electrolytes athletes are always fretting over, although Saul says he really doesn't worry about whether he gets enough electrolytes. "I used to come out of a race all covered in salt. I'm not like that anymore," he said. "Since I've started this, I can say my recovery times are better. I wake up in the morning ready for the day, and I don't need stimulants or caffeine to keep me going."

He says he went through a transition period for a few months, moving from vegetarianism to veganism (no animal products at all), to eating raw, organic foods. "I had always known fruits and vegetables were the healthiest food and I ate a lot of them, but I had never heard of people that just ate them," Saul said with a laugh. Now he does, although he was raised on "traditional American food — but all made from scratch," and his mother still eats the way she did when he was growing up. "We had homemade birthday cakes, meat and potatoes. His friends were eating a lot of processed foods, but I just made everything from scratch. It wasn't necessarily healthy, though," said Molly Savitz.

"I'm surprised at how simple what he does is," said Savitz, of South Carolina, who will prepare food for as many as 700 cyclists at one of the Tour d'Organics race, put on by her son, this year. I'm a vegetarian, and Saul's principles of eating lots of fruit and veggies appeal to me — but I'm not giving up my organic tofu any time soon. What I am going to glean from his purist lifestyle is a focus on organic produce, locally grown foods and choosing nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables over processed snacks.

When Jennifer Pittman moved to Forth Worth, Texas and discovered a lack of organic food providers, she decided to create her own source of raw food produce and products. Pittman started an organic co-op called Blueberry Market…

Beyond the Chains, Local Options Limited
by Amy Culbertson
Star-Telegram Food Editor

When it comes to organic options outside supermarkets and natural-foods markets, Fort Worth and environs aren't exactly overflowing with options. Where in other cities, farmers markets are primary sources for local organic produce, you won't find any organic farmers at the Cowtown Farmers Market, the group of local farmers selling produce on Wednesday and Saturday mornings at the Benbrook Traffic Circle.

Ben Walker, president of the North Central Texas Farmers Market Corp., which operates the Cowtown market, says his group has just one organic farmer, who sells only at the Grapevine Farmers Market. The dearth of organic-food providers was what motivated Jennifer Pittman to launch a fledgling organic and raw-food business from her home near Texas Christian University several months ago. Pittman had been running an "environmentally safe cleaning business" in Austin before she moved here and found the options for her goal of a raw-food diet suddenly limited.

Through her Blueberry Market Organic Rawfood business, Pittman brings in organic produce, seeds, grains, nuts and nut butters, oils, herbs, teas and skin-care products for pickup every two weeks. She gets most of her items from several national distributors but has recently added some produce from a local organic farmer. She's looking for a storefront to offer a retail location in the future and eventually would like to be involved in the growing end of the organic-food business. For now, however, her business is mostly e-mail. Pittman joins a short list of local organic co-ops that includes Monica Brown's Your Health Source co-op, probably the area's largest.

Your Health Source, which Brown started four years ago, provides organic groceries for about 825 families. Brown lives in Weatherford, but her co-op is based in downtown Fort Worth, from which groceries are delivered to a network of "host" sites — homes or small businesses — for pickup within a two-hour radius. At the host sites, members "sort the food and get it ready for the people to come pick up," Brown said. Each member family pays $25 to join and gets a basic box of fruits and vegetables — some weeks include local produce — every other week for $40. Members can order extra shares or whole cases of produce; many members split cases. Other groceries available for order include local pastured meats, eggs and dairy products, along with dry goods such as bulk grains, seeds, nuts and nut butters; local honey; and oils.

Members also have access to e-groups to discuss health issues and share recipes, and Brown does frequent cooking demonstrations at various sites. All the co-ops operate a little differently — some have fees to join; some require that their members work a certain number of hours sorting food or doing other tasks. But all buy in bulk to offer price advantages over retail outlets, and most deliver a basic box of produce at set intervals, usually every other week.

Fort Worth Raw Food Related Co-ops

Blueberry Market
TCU area of Fort Worth: Specializing in vegetarian, vegan and raw-food items. Every-two-week pickup; individual orders; no joining fee. www.blueberrymarket.com. e-mail: blueberry@blueberrymarket.com

Joyful Living
Aledo: Kristy Bell specializes in organic grains and mills. Also produce, grocery items, dry goods. Every-two-week pickup; pre-assembled produce box $25; individual orders and on-site sales. No joining fee or minimum order. (817) 441-7074.

Wonderfully Made
South Fort Worth: Produce; frozen, refrigerated and dry goods; grain grinders and mills. Every-two-week pickup, produce box $20-$36 with a onetime $5 box deposit. No joining fee or minimum order. (817) 294-1873.

Your Health Source
Fort Worth: Produce, dry goods, groceries. Every-two-week delivery, produce box $40. $25 joining fee. (817) 793-3509; (888) 280-0494.

In the article below, a Nottingham woman explains how a raw food diet cured her rheumatoid arthritis which she had suffered from since 13. Interestingly, the arthritis developed after a rubella immunization. (The more I read about vaccinations, the more opposed I become to the practice of immunizing children.)

From The Mirror, a U.K. based publication.

Exclusive: Raw Food Diet Has Cured My Arthritis
By Claire Collins

As the Daniels family gathers round the dinner table it resembles a scene played out in many households. An evening meal shared with loved ones, a time to eat and talk together. But there is one significant difference. All the food laid before mum Jatinder, husband Derek and their three children, Raman, 17, Priyanka, 13, and seven-year-old Mohan is raw. And this unusual diet has been credited with saving Jatinder's life and turning her family's fortunes around.

"I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 16 and doctors said my future was bleak," says Jatinder, a healthy 45. "They said I could be in a wheelchair by the end of my teens, that I would be in varying degrees of constant pain for the rest of my life and, due to aggressive drugs, may not be able to have children. It was like a death sentence.

"But look at me now! I'm a mum of three, perfectly mobile and free from the agony I endured for years. And it's all down to my raw food, low-toxin lifestyle." Jatinder's teenage years in Nottingham were dogged with frustration and confusion over her stiffness and pain until, after endless tests, she was diagnosed.

"I was a healthy until 13 when I was vaccinated against rubella in school," Jatinder recalls."My health deteriorated rapidly afterwards. Suddenly I couldn't do any sports at all. I was persistently tired and regularly in terrible pain. There were days when I couldn't walk, dress myself or bathe. Sometimes my jaw was so stiff I couldn't eat at all or just manage soup." Jatinder went to hospital once a week for six months for injections into her joints yet the arthritis intensified and her knuckles and knees began to deform. She became suicidal.

She says: "The injections offered no immediate relief. I felt alone, angry and full of resentment. I was trying to do my A-levels but I couldn't even carry my own books. "My condition worsened during the winter. The cold wind went straight to my bones and was agony. I became very depressed and often thought about throwing myself into the River Trent."

Despite being in constant pain, Jatinder was determined to live life to the full and at 21 went to London to study computing. She says: "I needed a walking stick by the time I went to university but I refused to use one out of pride. I felt so vulnerable. I was adamant that I was going to be independent." Derek, a 43-year-old computer programmer, remembers the difficulties his bride-to-be faced when they met while studying. He recalls: "She couldn't walk for more than five minutes without pain. I felt helpless and desperately wanted to ease her discomfort.

"It was clear to us that the anti-inflammatory drugs she was taking made very little difference to her discomfort. In fact, the side-effects of stomach ulcers and blinding headaches made her feel worse. I fully supported her decision to stop taking them five years later." The couple married the year after she stopped taking the drugs and Jatinder summoned every bit of grit to walk down the aisle unaided. She says: "The days when I couldn't walk at all were becoming more frequent and I was limping more often than not. "But there was no way I was going to let my illness get in the way of a perfect wedding. "I blocked out the pain, held my head up high and slowly walked to join my future husband. It was very emotional."

Jatinder and Derek set up home in London and Raman was born later that year. But with their new baby came new hardships for Jatinder. She explains: "The doctors had warned that I would have difficulty conceiving because of the drugs I'd been taking, so Raman was extra special. But caring for him was the biggest challenge I'd ever faced. "The normal duties that new mums take for granted like bathing their child was like climbing a mountain. But I had no choice but to cope." Their second child Priyanka was born four years later and developed chronic eczema and asthma at eight weeks. The lack of sleep and stress that caused only made Jatinder's condition worse. She said: "I was beginning to think I couldn't go on. I couldn't see myself reaching my 40th birthday and if I'm honest part of me didn't want to if it meant living with constant pain. "I believed it was only going to get worse."

It was during these dark times that Derek discovered the raw food way of life on the internet. He read claims that nature intended us to eat raw, who le food and that it is unnatural to consume cooked or processed foods. Jatinder explains: "Long-term consumption of processed food will lead to toxicity or toxaemia – when the body is overloaded with poisons. These harmful toxins are found all around us – in our environment, treated water, non-organic fruit and vegetables and cooked food.

"Raw foodists believe that major illnesses like cancer, diabetes and arthritis are often a result of toxaemia and can be prevented and greatly helped by a raw food way of life." Jatinder says she realised the importance of food in relation to wellbeing years ago but the idea of eating only raw food seemed impossible. "I had stopped eating wheat years earlier noticing that wheat flour made my joints flare up and I had become vegan the previous year for similar reasons," she says.

"I put the fact that I wasn't already in a wheelchair down to my healthy diet and generally positive mindset. "I believed that food could have a miraculous effects on health, I just didn't believe I could take such drastic measures." When Jatinder conceived her youngest son Mohan, at the age of 37, she knew something had to be done to improve her health. So, at two months pregnant, she changed her diet to 100 per cent raw for one week. She says: "I had diarrhoea but felt the benefit and the pain reduced. "I went back to 50 per cent cooked until the following summer when the whole family began to detox."

The family moved to Spain four years ago where Jatinder is a raw food consultant. They live in beautiful whitewashed mountainside village on the Costa del Sol and the children attend the local school. "We wanted the children to grow up in a natural environment and I believe sunshine is another key to good health," she says. And the family insists the raw food diet is fun and tasty. "Now the kids love it," Jatinder laughs. "There is so much variety. I make biscuits, crackers, sweets and some really tasty desserts. Friends are amazed when I tell them what they are eating is not cooked.

"Just like you learn how to cook, you can learn how to uncook. It is amazing what textures you can achieve by using a blender or the food you can create simply by dehydrating it. It may sound complicated but once you've got the hang of it, the preparation time is actually less.

"Friends who come around for lunch are amazed when I tell them what they are eating is in fact raw." Jatinder is keen to stress that to truly detox, your whole lifestyle has to be adjusted. She says: "Detoxing is not as simple as just eating raw food — it includes being aware of your environment.

"It means changing you hair gel, your toothpaste, the chemicals you use around the house, chlorinated tap water — even your negative thought patterns. They all introduce toxins into our bodies."

After 12 months of raw food, Jatinder's arthritis all but disappeared. She smiles modestly: "I can now walk and ride a bike for miles, prepare amazing meals and look after my family. And I am pain-free. "We are all so much healthier. Neither myself of Mohan has been treated by a doctor since he was born. I don't believe a doctor will treat me again for my arthritis. I am healing myself.