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About
Cathrine-Mette (Trine) Mork
I’m a Canadian teacher who’s been living in Japan since 1995. I’ve been vegetarian since 1989, but started eating fish now and again once I arrived in Miyazaki (southern Japan); I simply found it too hard back then! Over the years, despite eating a lot of junk food, processed food, and indulging in alcohol and tobacco, I never had any major problems with my health other than being overweight. I always kept fairly active with lots of sport (I even participated in triathlons) and considered myself very lucky. I still consider myself very lucky to have been blessed with a good, healthy constitution.
In 1998, I protracted an intestinal worm of sorts after having eaten some sprouts that were a tad dodgy (the issue was never properly diagnosed), and I spent a year thereafter consulting with different doctors to get better. I had cameras shoved down to explore my insides, but nothing was found. A Canadian doctor told me I had IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and that it was caused by stress, though I didn’t particularly feel I had a great deal of stress in my life at that time. I also was not convinced that IBS could properly explain the reoccurring fevers and general sense of ill well-being I had. In the fall of 1999, an American friend recommended I go on a fast in Thailand. I thought she was a nut - who in their right mind could go to Thailand and not enjoy the local cuisine? But I ended up taking her advice and fasting for 12 days, and like that, the whatever-it-was bug or illness that had been disturbing my life over the past year simply vanished.
Since that time I have successfully completed several water and juice fasts, some over three weeks long, all making me feel fantastic and allowing me to shed weight. Unfortunately, once I returned to my pasta, bread, rice, chocolate, chips, cookies, etc., the effects would fade. I would not only start to feel “down” again, but would gain more weight back, perhaps due to changes in metabolism. I knew deep down that what my mind and body would really benefit from would be a change in daily eating habits, but I didn’t have the resolve to start. I would try, but then go back to eating my treasured junk food within the week.
Approaching my 40s, I noticed I was no longer so vibrant or energetic as I was 15 years ago. I refused to believe this was simply due to aging. When I moved from rural Kyushu to Tokyo, my lifestyle changed dramatically - less exercise, less fresh produce, less surrounding greenery, longer work hours, long commutes in congested trains, more stress, and more pollution in every form. I started smoking more, too, though rarely more than a pack a week. I did manage to quit smoking completely, though, after I changed jobs, and moved outside the city to a quieter, greener area where I could cycle to work. However, I’d already formed the habit of eating out many times a week, and I was working even longer hours at my new job. I had replaced cigarettes with more junk food, and was in denial as the weight started to really pile on in 2007. In spring of 2008, I stepped on a scale and was shocked by the figure! My body was in a bad state: I had slightly high cholesterol, I tired easily, I had very poor digestion, my arms were numb every morning I awoke, pain in my knee joints continued to worsen since an accident years earlier, my skin was pasty and full of liver spots, and I felt… old.
Late 2008, I knew I had to make changes if I wanted to look and feel wonderful and full of energy again, so I decided to quit my job and become part-time so I could take stock of where I was and what I wanted. It took a few months to start my raw food journey, but once I made the decision, that was that. I am still at the beginning of my diet transformation, but it is going well so far.
What prompted me to go raw? Why didn’t I just cut out the processed food and just be a cooked-food vegan? Well, there were many reasons. First, a couple of friends of mine had been very sick and turned to a raw foods lifestyle that helped them recover. They looked and said they felt fantastic, and I decided that I wanted that too. Second, I have always known how great raw fruits and vegetables are, but have always preferred to eat cooked food when there was a choice. The basic tenant of going raw would eliminate that option. Third, I wanted to lose weight without feeling deprived. I know that it takes a heck of a lot of eating to get your calories from raw produce, so I figured, rightly so, that I’d be able to eat all I wanted and still lose weight, as long as I stayed clear of too many fats (which, to be honest, is proving trickier than I thought - raw foodists can easily intake over 40% of daily calories from fat, a big no-no.) Forth, although just cutting out the processed stuff would certainly do me good, I had been down that road before, unsuccessfully going back to junk food in the end. I wanted a different approach. Last, I really felt I needed a good detox, and I understood that going raw would a great way to slowly detox without having to fast and rebound in weight once the fast was complete.
The Raw Food Diet is the new health buzz at the moment, with celebrities hopping like mad onto the bandwagon. And with good reason. Here are 10 to start:
1. Raw (or Live) food is rich in enzymes (proteins comprised of amino acid chains) and the essential nutrients required for vitality and longevity. Many of these essential nutrients and enzymes are destroyed by heat, light, oxygen, conventional farming methods, and food manufacturing processes.
2. Food enzymes which have not been destroyed can pre-digest your food in the upper part of your stomach, promoting easier digestion and the assimilation of nutrients.
3. When food is in a pre-digested form, it eases the burden of the pancreas and the entire digestive system. The pancreas does not have to manufacture & supply the digestive enzymes to digest and assimilate the food. Over-working the pancreas several times a day causes it to swell, which contributes to pancreatic and digestive system malfunction.
4. The digestion and assimilation of nutrients is a tough job. When over-processed foods are continually consumed, digestion can use as much as 80% or more of our valuable energy. This leaves only 20% for cleansing, rejuvenation, fighting invading organisms and living our busy lives. However, when we consume live or raw food, our body uses approximately 20% of its energy for the digestion process and assimilation of nutrients. 80% of our energy remains for cleansing, rejuvenation, fighting invading organisms and living our busy lives with bountiful energy.
5. Enzymes are catalysts that cannot function without nutrients, which act as co-factors. When we eat toxic empty anti-foods we deplete our natural inheritance of enzyme reserves. Our body must supply the required enzymes and nutrients to process the anti-food.
6. Live food provides nutrients that support enzyme activity including building new cells and tissues. Every minute your body makes 1 billion new cells. You have a completely new body every seven years, all due to nutrients and enzymes.
7. Live food provides nutrients that support enzyme activity which is required for monitoring and destroying invading pathogens, infections, carcinogens and tumors. Without nutrients and enzymes we have no immune system, no protection.
8. Enzymes and nutrients are required for every function in the body including blinking an eye, moving a hand, speaking a word or sentence, thinking a thought or sharing love. Enzymes are the spark of life and without them life would cease and you would drop dead.
9. Enzymes are proteins made from amino acids. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which means your body cannot manufacture it. You must get it from a food source. Tryptophan is required for proper sleep patterns, appetite regulation and mood elevation. Metabolizing tryptophan requires B6, which is unstable in the presence of heat, processing and light. Many people who are deficient in B6 may be experiencing disrupted sleep patterns, excessive hunger and depression, because they do not have enough B6. Recent research has indicated that tryptophan itself may potentially be heat sensitive. Tryptophan is a precursor to the hormone serotonin, which keeps us happy. B6 is required in over 100 enzymes involved in protein metabolism. B6 is found in raw garlic, bananas, spinach, red bell peppers and cruciferous vegetables.
10. Raw Live food provides many phytonutrients that function as antioxidants which protect us from free radical damage created both internally, through metabolic processes or externally through environmental toxic exposure. Live food detoxifies the body on a daily basis, keeping us strong, healthy, and smart!
I have a bit of an issue with using labels to define oneself. Friends would call me a hypocrite for eating an odd piece of fish once in a while when I said I was “vegetarian.” When I cut out the dairy and proclaimed myself a “vegan,” I felt judged for eating honey or wearing leather. Now if my nuts are salted and oiled, in most circles I am not raw. I don’t think one has to be obsessive and fall perfectly into any particular category in order to reap the benefits of a particular way of eating and living. There are certain eating behaviors that I, at least at the moment, am not overly concerned about as a “raw foodist.” These include:
1) As mentioned - honey. I have no problem with eating the vomit of bees, as long as it’s raw, ideally. My reasons for being “vegan” are not for animal welfare rights per se (are bees even animals?), but rather for health and socio-environmental realities. That said, I have learned that bees are in danger of extinction, so when I can get hold of agave syrup at reasonable prices, I buy it.
2) Fermented foods. Some raw foodists do not consider such “rotting” foods as healthy, but I am convinced that they are. Japanese fermented soy beans, natto, are chock full of nutrients and enzymes, as is Korean kimchee. Yes, the sauce for natto and the salt in kimchee is less than desirable, but I am in no hurry to eliminate these foods just because of that. I’m also all for homemade rejuvelac and sauerkraut. I’d like to learn how to make my own kimchee, but I think my roommate may contest, as it can reek to high heaven!
3) Alcohol. OK, I can pretty much cut out most forms, but seeing as red wine is fermented, full of phyto-nutrients, and readily available in organic forms with no additives, I am allowing myself this indulgence, in moderation of course. If my alcohol consumption results in the shaving off of several years of my life in addition to a slight decrease in daily well being, so be it. I am not willing to give up this pleasure at this time in my life. Perhaps if and when it ceases to become such a pleasure (and I’m told it just may as I become more raw!), I will. I’ll let you know if this ever happens, as it will surprise even myself.
4) Imperfectly raw foods. By this I mean nuts that have been salted, oiled, or even roasted, pasteurized juice, slightly cooked foods, and certain condiments. I also am referring to produce that is not organic. Of course, I would prefer that the products I consume be completely raw and organic, and I do indeed seek out the healthier versions, and avoid the bad as much as I can. But if my wallet or my time is severely inconvenienced, or there is simply not availability and I am hungry, I don’t feel too guilty for not adhering to these “rules” as long as it does not become a habit. Japan is notoriously expensive in terms of produce, especially organic, and it is very hard to get your hands on things like properly raw nuts and seeds. If I can get a bag of 10 “normal” apples for the same price as 2 organic apples, I’m afraid I’ll most likely buy the former. What makes my heart bleed is the thought that the 10 “normal” apples are likely more than twice the price of 10 organic apples back in Canada, but, oh well, this is one drawback to living in Japan. All this said, the longer I am raw and the more looking around I do, the more foods and resouces I find in Japan. Also, when I dine out I have no problem giving myself a break once in a blue moon and eating cooked foods, as long as the food is vegan. Currently I am just finding it easier to meet up with friends after they eat, and join them for a good kampai with wine!