This is the Padua Podcast Network. If you don’t have energy, you become so tired, lethargic, your mental fog, you don’t feel good. It is like being rich is wonderful. Now everything is at your fingertip, you know, you can get whatever you want.

If you are poor, You have to now compromise your life wherever you are. Energy is the currency for the life. His website is rawfoodiest.com, tagline, In Nature We Trust. He’s Akshay Shah, and he’s, as you would guess, a staunch advocate of a plant-based raw food diet.

He’s also a health coach, author, blogger, and speaker, and has appeared on numerous media outlets, as well as his own YouTube channel, spreading his message of advocacy for living a raw food lifestyle. He’s been living this lifestyle since 2009. He’s an avid marathon runner and has, as he says, embraced the pure joy of living life with energy and clarity. For over 16 years, he has been a raw food guru.

At 66, he is training for his eighth marathon, manages type 2 diabetes without medication, just by diet. His resting heart rate, blood pressure, and BMI are all within the optimal range. Born in Kolkata, India, Akshay now lives in Los Angeles and is also a singer, poet, percussionist, gardener, and beekeeper. His books include The Raw Food Revolution, Harness the Power of Living Food, and the upcoming In Nature We Trust, a raw food manifesto for energy, healing, and longevity.

I really think you’re going to enjoy this interview. He’s got a lot of energy, and he’s got a really good attitude about life, and he can tell us a lot about this raw food lifestyle that he’s talking about. I learned a lot, and I think you will, too. Enjoy.

So what’s it like to be a raw foodiest? Take us through your day and just tell us, you know, how you get your food, what you eat and how you eat it. Hello, Michael. OK, that’s a good question.

What is the raw food? How I survive and what I’m eating. So raw food is basically is a plant based raw food. and not anything not cooked and anything not processed that is what I call plant-based raw food and basically what I eat fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds 24-7, 365 and I’m doing this for last 16 plus years No meat, no dairy, no milk, no dairy.

Yeah, absolutely zero. OK. And that I started even before I became raw foodist, because for some reason, 20 years back or 25 years back, I don’t even remember. I started lactose intolerance.

Oh, OK. So I quit dairy. And then I realized that Dairy is not good for health, that later on, but well I left that way before. So, you live in Los Angeles now, is that correct?

I am in Los Angeles, correct. Okay, but you have moved around a little bit. A lot. I used to travel and still I’m traveling.

So, even with the raw food, most of the people have that question, how can you survive? How can you travel? And I went to Bahamas, I went to Punta Kana, even in the USA, I’m traveling a lot. I even went a few times India and not for a couple of days, for a month.

And not, I mean, I don’t have to worry about my food no matter where I am. Yeah, so I’m in Arkansas, but my audience is all over the world. What advice can you give for trying to find good healthy food locally? That’s a very good question.

Raw food is not only just raw food, you know, you just eat particular kind of food. Eat whatever available locally, fresh. That and keep changing. because everywhere, no matter where you are, fruits and availability of fruits and vegetable is changing based on season.

So, keep changing the fruits, keep changing the vegetable, whatever available is good. Once you start it and you feel comfortable, then what you do is try to see, you know, you don’t have any deficiency. That is very important. Not in beginning but once you start and you feel comfortable, let’s say 90 days.

Now after 90 days you want to go see your doctor, check it out, have your blood work done and the doctor will tell you what is good, what is bad and you have to follow it. And even after 16 years, I’m following my doctor’s instruction. It is not just blindly just do whatever, you know, you like it. No, you do it what you like it.

But still, at the same time, you monitor. You have to see what is good. Now, lately, I see I saw that, you know, I have a B12 deficiency. So I started taking the supplements and nothing wrong about it.

Wherever you are, some people, you know, have a D3 deficiency. Just take it. Now, having that, having said that, that is something which is if you have deficiency. But if you are eating plant-based raw food, now, basically, you are not eating any poison.

What I mean poison… What I mean poison is is I define five poison most of the people are eating I was eating I was eating before you know a lot so I say it like refined sugar refined salt all processed oil all then dairy and the grains these are the five poison now you don’t have to give up everything at a time whatever you feel comfortable, start doing that and even, you know, you have to evolve. This is not a one day shot or one month shot or, you know, even one year.

It takes time. Gradually. Yeah. Gradually because our body is, is habitual to do certain things, right?

From the birth, you, we are doing certain things. and then let’s say 30, 40, 50, 60, whenever you want to change it, it’s not going to accept it right away. It is going to revolt, you know, no, no, I want this and I want that. Body is going to demand that, your brain is going to demand that and we are, we are, you know, we become unknowingly, unknowingly addicted to certain things.

Like we all are addicted to cooked food, which is very normal, you know. As I said, I used to eat cooked food a lot and since I changed it, I feel so wonderful, it’s so good. Instead eating so much food, I’m eating now very little. So my body don’t have to process and digest that much food.

Now my body have to digest very little food. But even with that little food, I am getting so much of energy. That’s the bottom line. Because whenever anybody asks, why you are eating raw food?

I ask, why you are eating any food? If you tell, okay, I’m hungry, that’s why eating or to survive or for immune system or whatever, but bottom line is we are all eating to create energy in our body. That energy maybe is the long run energy or temporary energy, but we are creating that energy. So food is the source of fuel.

Gotta have fuel. Right now. To do anything. Right, yeah.

I just ran this morning 10 mile because my marathon is coming on 8th of March. I was going to ask about that. You’re training right now. Yes, absolutely.

And I have no issue in running 10 mile. It’s good. I’m going to go out and do my work and right now I’m working and so everything is It becomes so easy once you have enough energy. But if you don’t have energy, you become so tired, lethargic, your mental fog, you don’t feel good.

It is like being rich is wonderful. Now everything is at your fingertip. You know you can get whatever you want. You can get help even.

Everything is possible if you have money. If you are poor, you have to now compromise your life wherever you are. Same situation, energy is the currency for the life. Now, if you have ample energy, you can do so many things.

do podcast, I can do writing, I can run, I can do my beekeeping, I can clean my pond, I am going to go to get the grocery and even at the evening you know I can still write some blogs and stuff and I have energy to work 10, 12, 15 hours a day and you and me and no matter who the even any king or any president, they have only 24 hours a day. We all have 24. That’s right.

Time is the most valuable thing we have. Right. And so when you have 24 hours and you want to use it in a much optimum way, what do you have? You need it.

You need maximum energy to use it. Otherwise, you are going to either sleeping or sitting on a couch. Yeah, you’re right, you’re right. You need energy and sounds like raw food is doing it for you.

Isn’t your wife a caterer? Yes. How does that work out? That’s another thing, you know, it’s like, yeah, my wife is a professional cook.

She is not anymore, but she used to do catering business. Even today, when we have a party in the house, and she cooked food for you know our guest, invited guest and we want to see that everybody is happy in the party. My nephew, my nieces and everybody they call, hey auntie make this and this and so she takes the request from the people and she makes it and she makes it so delicious that nothing stays behind, nothing, everything they pack it up and they take it. and I am the idiot.

I help her to cook but I’m not eating. Yes, that’s why people are saying, telling me, hey you are, you’re idiot, you are crazy, you know, your wife is such a nice cook. We wish, you know, we can have this kind of food in our house. You are getting it and you are not eating it.

Yeah, that’s who I am. Got to be who you are, that’s for sure. One of the things you said is that our eating desires come not from just our own experience, but from generations before us. Tell me what your formative years were like and when you were growing up, what did you eat and what were you taught to eat?

Well, as a person in a Hindu family, you know, it’s like most of them are vegetarian. So I was vegetarian. But then in college years, you want to break the rules. So I ate meat.

I used to eat that time meat, chicken, fish, everything. And that just because it was taboo to eat meat in family was like that. And because of my few friends in college days, they were eating meat. So try it.

And whenever you go to their house, they ask you to eat. And so I ate. Four years of college, that’s it. Then I stopped.

Nobody asked me to start it. Nobody asked me to stop it. So I did it on my… I didn’t feel that good.

I was eating just to see, trial. So I did it and then I quit and since that day I didn’t touch any animal product. But then it’s eating cooked food as a family, you know, that’s very common. Any party, it’s a cultural thing.

Anywhere you go, if the food is not good, the party is not good. That’s right. First thing, if you come from any party at home, the first question, how was the food? And if you said the food was lousy, the party was lousy.

So it is that important. And that is what our culture is, everybody’s culture, eating. And when you get together, you celebrate things, and you eat a lot. So I was eating a lot and I was enjoying, I was eating a lot of spicy food even.

And my quantity was big. So anybody who invites me, they have to prepare 2% food, not 1%. I was eating that much. But as age 50, I realized that I’m eating a lot.

And I don’t have energy what I used to have at 20, 30, 40. At 50, I was seeing that energy is depleting. And I even went to doctor to see, you know, what doctor says, you are all fine. There is nothing, you know, wrong with your body.

So don’t worry about it. But then I, as a human, as a person wants to think about it, I thought there has to be some reason, let me try raw food because most of the other animal is eating raw food except human. So let’s try, nothing, no harm in trying but there also is the problem. When I announced in one of the party, my mom’s birthday it was in the 5th of December 2009, I said okay I’m going to go on raw food from 1st of January.

that’s a new year resolution and my my brother-in-law says hey you know today is your mom birthday and what is in first january and it hit me in my mind is oh yeah what is in first january let’s start so next day 6th of december I’m on raw food I was not knowing how far I’m going to go whether one week whether one month whether one year I was not knowing anything I just started out of experimentation out of curiosity and that experimentation you know paid me I really they gave me the new life because I felt so wonderful first month second month and now wow I’m now back I’m getting more energy I have full freedom I can eat whatever I want I don’t have to prepare anyone you know, open the refrigerator and fruits and vegetables there. If you’re hungry, eat.

If you’re not hungry, don’t worry. And that simple, you know, and that gave me, you know, and of course, I used to go doctor every year to see my blood work and everything. And thank God I was doing that. They kept the record and that record I put it on my website.

I had no intention. I was not knowing even that I’m going to go this far and this is going to be a movement for me, is a passion for me and I’m going to inspire other people. I was not knowing all these things. But then you know people are everywhere where I go, even the doctor.

On the dining table we are sitting and I’m eating the fruits and vegetables and they are eating their food. And the whole 45 minute on dining table they discuss nothing but my food. So that was the reason I said, okay, I have to give this information out on form of videos and even now as a book. Hey, did you write a book of poetry?

Yes. So that’s another thing. My sister-in-law says all the crazy people write poetry. It’s a special type of person.

Yeah, it’s like this. Whenever anything comes in my mind, I write it. Because if I tell somebody, maybe they will not understand. And maybe it’s not the right time to tell.

Because everything is timing. So, I kept writing and then I realized that whatever I wrote, even 20 years back, 30 years back, it holds the philosophy. It holds the value, not something because I said it, but that is because something I learned and I expressed whatever I learned, this is what it is. So, I wrote lots of poems about that.

My poem is all about death and this is the reality of the life. After the birth, the only and only constant reality is, I mean is the reality, not constant, but is the only reality is, is the death. I mean, once I understood that kind of, nothing is not bothering me, but it is more I study it. I value my life more because now you see that this limited time you have, everybody have, you have to use that limited time in such a meaningful, give meaning to the life, make some purpose, you know, do something to make yourself happy and other people happy.

And this is what giving me happiness by eating raw food, writing poem. I write it and no expectation. I don’t expect that people say, oh, your poem is very good. I don’t care whether you like it or not.

I wrote it. I wrote it for myself. I wrote it for the people who want to read it. And that’s about it.

I think that’s great. So, it’s not in English though. What language is it in? So, originally, I wrote lots of poems in Gujarati.

In India, Gujarati is one of the languages. In India, there are 22 languages. English is my fourth hard-learned language. I knew it.

And in India, because basic, my study was in vernacular language, Gujarati. So till college, you are in Gujarati school. And then English is one of the subject. So only it is like if you, at that time, not anymore.

OK, right now, almost all school got converted into English school. So it is different now. But at that time, only elite people can go to English school. So my elder brother, they used to go to English school because at that time my father was alive.

And when I was four and a half, my father passed away. Now my mom, four boy and one girl, five kids. And to survive in India, five kids, single mom. Very, very difficult.

So my mom put us, me and my brother, in vernacular language and so that’s what it is. I learned English hard way after coming here in Los Angeles. Wow. Well, your English is fantastic.

I’ll tell you that. Especially when reading your e-book and your website, you’re a very good writer, I think, and very good speaker. I wrote one English poem, not actually one, maybe now two, three poems. One is going to be in this book.

It is about the nature. But one poem I wrote when one of my friends passed away in 2020. He was my running buddy, but he passed away in a heart attack. And between my two appointments, I had a time.

So on the road, I just wrote a poem. And my kids, they said, hey, you know, Dad, you are a singer. I’m singing. I’m a singer also, karaoke singer.

Make a song out of it and sing. So the first time in my life, sang English song, I got it composed and I dedicate it to my friend. And anybody can check it out, you know, on YouTube, My Life is Beautiful, the name of that song. And by Akshay Shah, you find out, you know, is it, anybody can see that.

Yeah. Great. I’ll have to look that up. We will have a link to the poetry book on the website at runningafever.com.

I’m saying I gotta tell you, I gotta, you know, confess something right now. I love pizza and tacos and steak. What can I do about this? You know, let’s say I’m on board with you and I want to switch to a plant-based raw food diet.

I feel like I can’t switch to raw food when there’s all this delicious food available that’s not raw food. What advice can you give me? So first of all, I was also like you. Between me and my son, we used to finish whole large pizza.

And I used to do it quite often. So it is nothing wrong. As a piece of advice, I can tell you, don’t do that. First thing, before even you try physically and actually, you have to Convince yourself mentally.

Now, and this works very well. I gave this advice to many people and that worked. So, the reason is, whatever we do, anything, everything what we do, first we think. The thinking is the mother of action.

Once you think, then you act on it. Now don’t eat raw food because you got inspired by after talking to me. Don’t do that. Now you question yourself as I said you know first question why you are eating anything?

So when you say okay I’m eating this this for just to please your palate is one thing because your brain is asking sugar and your brain is asking for meat or brain is asking for anything dairy or whatever. Now you are the slave of your brain or you control your brain. Actually you know everything even I’m talking right now my brain is allowing me to talk but it is not two separate thing. Once you have discipline, once you have the chemicals in your body, your brain is going to work accordingly.

Because once you drink alcohol, your brain is down, down. Don’t have that much control. So what you eat is going to change your brain too. It is not going to happen automatically.

It’s not going to happen overnight. It takes time. Now once you see that now your brain you see it’s like let’s say your kid want chocolate and you say no chocolate is no good so he’s going to become cranky cry and making scene out of it you know so then that normal that’s what happens we are also kid.

When we need something, we make excuses. We all know because of this and because of that we have to do it and even sometime I go to party, today is your son’s birthday, eat this much cake. I said, forget it. I’m not going to eat even on my birthday.

Forget about my son. If you have that understanding and that discipline, now nobody tells me earlier, this is when I started, everybody, today is your anniversary, eat this much. So now 16 years, people know that this guy is so stubborn. He’s not going to change.

Why to waste my energy? So nobody is right now telling me. But this is what you have to be. Mentally, you have to be strong.

mentally you have to convince yourself that hey I’m doing this to make my life better because I’m seeing this at my age 66, 67 lots of people they are eating so many pills a day their life is almost finished I mean they are sick they have so many complications in the body now they cannot travel Or if they can travel with the very limitation, they cannot go to roller coaster. If I can go, I can do it one way. I have not done yet bungee jumping, but I want to do it.

So, I mean, what I’m trying to say is you become a free man, free person. Once you have a good health, you have your freedom. The first thing people lose at senior age is freedom. Now so much restriction, you cannot drive, you cannot do this, you cannot do that, you need some adult person to monitor you.

Now it’s like whole your life, the freedom which is our birthright, that you are going to give up. Why? To please your palate. You please your palate for a minute or five minute or two hour, whatever time, Now you are ruining your life and now there is no recourse.

Now you cannot go back. So rather you stop it. Whatever damage is done, damage is done. I did it.

I ate 50 years like pig. I was eating a lot. I am telling you, when my family member invites me, they have to prepare 2% food. Guaranteed.

So that is what I realized that, hey, now I can travel. I can work. I can even do business. In fact, just yesterday, I opened a new LLC.

And I said, what? Now you want to? I said, yeah. This is the new beginning.

I’m not retiring soon. I want to work as much as I can, as much as I can take a breath and my body is working, my mind is working. I want to work. Why?

Not to make money. Money is of course important. But once you stop doing it, you lose the meaning. So for you, the piece of advice, if you don’t want to suffer, in your senior age, you don’t want to lose your freedom, you don’t want to lose your privacy, you don’t want to lose your confidence, that you know what, everything is now dicey.

You don’t know whether it’s going to fall in the right direction or it’s going to go wrong. Everything and I’m seeing lots of senior people have this issue and it is traumatic. Because all their life, they are doctor, or they are engineer, or they are businessman, or whatever they are. And now, they are nothing.

Because once you stop doing who you are, I’m a senior person. That’s all they can say. They are not anymore engineer. They are not anymore doctor.

They are not anymore businessman. They are just another very important thing. Mother nature is very kind but at the same time very cruel. If you have not any positive input into the world, they want to take away all their resources.

Nature don’t want to give you anything. Okay, you get out. You are no more in this world of any use. So we don’t want to feed you.

We don’t want to even spend any resources on you. Your time is over. You get out of here. That’s how mother nature is going to treat you.

And this is a fact. Because this is the mentally you feel that okay my time is over. Any day I’m going to go. Why?

I cannot walk. I cannot talk. I cannot go to the toilet. Somebody has to shower me.

Somebody has to feed me. Whatever that situation is. And I’m not saying that it’s not going to come to me. It may be going to come to me.

But at that point, actually there will be no regret that I didn’t take any proper action. at that time I will say okay you know what I did my best and still it happened is happens but maybe not three year maybe for three days that suffering and whatever that the consequences is so that is something I want to see it that is what I am saying you see it and once you see it and and it’s like it gives you yeah this is you know something which is important this is I am not doing for for to make somebody happy. I’m doing this to make my life happy.

Yeah, well, I am going to give that some careful thought and use my mind because I want to live a long life. I don’t want to retire. You know, I want to I want to do what you’re doing. It’s like this retirement also came in in in the Western world.

Retirement is because at that time, most of the people were doing labor work. There was no laptop or nobody was sitting on the desk. Most of the people, either they are busy in industrial work or agriculture. So at 60, your body is almost, you used it so much.

So now give relax little bit, give them you know some pause so you don’t tear it out you know your body. Now it’s a different thing. Lot of people, a lot of people they think the retirement is reward. I see this retirement is punishment.

It’s not reward. What reward? What do you get? Now you’re retired and you don’t have any work.

Now you’re bothering your spouse or your family members. And sitting on the couch, watching TV and you do certain things and no meaning. Time pass. This is time pass for retirement.

I don’t have time right now. I don’t think about time pass. The time pass you play bingo and you do the cards and whatever. I’m nothing against it.

You know people have to do, they have to do it and I have full respect for that. I see that this is something which is Very unfortunate that culture, the school, the industry, the corporation, they do it. The corporation wants to make you retire so that they don’t have to pay you anymore. Very nicely they say, okay, goodbye.

Now you are of no use. This corporation can, you don’t have any talent or any energy to give to this corporation. Get out of here. That’s a nice way to say retirement.

Right? But at 94 or 93, Warren Buffett, still he wants to work. He don’t want to retire. So retirement is not a reward.

Retirement is not for to relax. I am relaxed right now. I don’t need to retire to relax. I’m very much relaxed.

I do whatever I want to do. I wake up and I thought let me go run and so I ran and I took my lunch and I’m here doing podcast and I’m going to go. So that is a relaxing. That is exactly what you need to do and then I’m very happy with my life and I tell people if you want to be happy and do something.

It’s not going to fall onto your lap. You have to make some effort. Without effort is not going to happen. Yeah.

Yeah. I totally agree. Retirement is punishment. I do not want to retire.

Absolutely. So yeah, we’re in agreement on that. Yes. And for that, if once you think it, once you think about it, Now you see that okay, you love pizza, you love barbecue, whatever you like, why you are eating it and is that giving you the right energy without any side effect, without any issue?

Because more we eat, more poison we take in, our organs are going to fail one by one, little by little. you know, whether it’s your kidney or whether it is your liver or whatever it is, you know, artery and everything, body is the same, one body. The organs are different but it is the one body, one mind and so it is going to take toll, now Alzheimer and Parkinson and all those things. Why?

Why? Because of the poisons. And I see that, you know, most of the, in nature, there are animals, they don’t go to doctor. still they are healthy.

As much as they survive, they are healthy. I want to get your take on something that’s just recently happened. The US government has come out with this inverted food pyramid and it’s got lots of, it’s a recommended diet and it’s got lots of meat and dairy on it and that sort of thing. What do you think about that?

Have you heard about this? No, government can do, yeah, but it is right now what I’m seeing is the reverse way. Even on the Super Bowl, the most watched event in the US, is the government advertising on the halftime, eat real food. That’s what they say.

And real food is what, you go on your website, realfood.gov, It tells you eat fruits, vegetables. They are not saying eat pizza. So, they are doing… There will be a conflict there.

No, but I am not saying this. I am telling. This is not I am saying. This is the government is saying.

Sure. Now, if you watched one week back, the 60 minutes, They are saying, the FDA, you know, to people that, hey, Dr. Kessler, he is saying that we gave wrong information to the society and now those people are used to eat ultra-processed food which is not actually a food. They allowed in America that they opened the floodgate anything is like a GARS, it’s like a food 4000 you know ingredients which is not real food they made it food there is a calorie but it is not actual food our body don’t recognize it as a food in Europe out of that 4000 only 400.

is recognized as a food. So they are more cautious but still it is everywhere whether it is Europe, is America or Asia. We as a human are, we are thinking we are very intelligent species but we are the most confused species when it comes to food. If you see nature all the horse know what to eat, elephant know what to eat, tiger know what to eat, even you know your fish and turtle they know, your cat and dog they know what to eat.

You give something and they come and smell and if it is not for them they walk out. They don’t just gobble it everything what you give. We are the only species in the world, most confused species We don’t know what to eat. And on top of that, the new corporation, they put their agenda on the TV and the school and the university and those PhDs, you know, they are putting few blogs and article and that’s it.

And that people are so gullible, they don’t question it. Whatever they say is right. So once you start questioning it and then you say, And that is what this whole book is all about. I am not against anybody.

I am not saying that these PhDs are bad or these corporations are bad and none. They have to do what they have to do. They are in business to make money and they are doing this very, very well. They are milking you right from the birth.

Now diaper is start and now baby food is start and formula is start and everything they are milking money out of you right from birth till death. the last five years of the life. People give money to the pharmacy and medical industry. Life-saving is gone in last five years.

Tragic. Very tragic. And then nothing you get. You gain nothing.

You go for this surgery to that surgery to this surgery to that surgery and this pills to that pills and and gaining what? Nothing. Instead If you are aware, I did, you know, it’s like, I don’t want any surgery. I don’t want any medical.

If something happens to me, let’s say, no matter I am eating, let’s say, raw food, but still I’m human. My cells are going to die someday. So if I get, let’s say, cancer, I don’t want. It’s okay.

My life is done. I’m okay. I lived my life so wonderful. Time to go.

Time to go. Why you want to extend another three year, five year and so much suffering and these and that? No. Instead time is up.

Time is up. Respect mother nature and go happily without giving any trouble. Now you are extending it. whoever everybody is doing, lot of people are doing it and I was reading the book, listening the book, Big Mortal by Atul Gawande.

It’s such a wonderful book. Himself is a doctor, his father is a doctor, his mother is a doctor, three, you know, people in the doctor and then this is, we cannot make decision. It is so frustrating when his father had issue. So and he laid out so wonderfully and this is a reminder that trained doctor have this episode in their life.

We are nothing. I have no medical degree. Lots of people they have no medical degree. How they are going to take the life, you know, they are going to take control and it is that’s what Dr. Atul Gawande is saying that, you know, Start thinking.

Yeah, I don’t just take what the government says for sure. You know, you’ve got to do your own research, I think. Yeah, but as a human being, as an independent one citizen, where is your brain? Why you don’t understand?

Why you, as I’m talking as a common people, me also, we have to understand that, hey, this is my life. I run right now and that pain in the feet is giving me so much joy. That is not pain and suffering. That joy, that pain is so good.

That gives me extra mile to run in my life. So that is something which I think, you know, these people when they see this, when they take the control over their life, When they don’t blame their parents or their teacher or their doctor or their politician even. Because they are doing what they are supposed to do. That’s how the world is.

Except the reality, everybody is doing their work. If you do your work, You’ll be happy. I want to pivot a little bit. We’ve been talking about the physical a lot, but I’m intrigued, especially by what you say about the spiritual connection that comes from living this food lifestyle.

You go into this in some detail in your book, your e-book, The Raw Food Revolution, which is on rawfoodiest.com. But can you tell us how the spiritual connection comes to be and maybe some of your personal spiritual philosophy as well. So, as I said earlier, whatever we eat, that gives the chemical to our brain. Our brain is going to react based on that chemical.

Now, when we eat acidic food, inflammation in our body. This is something which people cannot see it. The inflammation on the body outside and inside organs are inflamed because now you ate so much poisons and now your brain is on overdrive. It’s a want to cope.

Every other minute there is 911 call that the 911 center is going to say we cannot do anything. There are so many call 911. Forget it. We are not going to even now pick up the phone.

That’s what the situation is in our body right now. Everything is inflamed because we are eating acidic food. Any cooked food is acidic food. And you don’t have to take that.

This is from me. Go and check on Google and Google, Dr. Google will tell you. So, when you eat acidic food, our basic constitution of the body is alkaline 7.4 your blood and my blood is on pH level no matter what you eat your blood is 7.4 no matter what I eat my blood is 7.4 now the issue is what you eat that the body have to neutralize it the inflammation is so much because of this acidic food now that gives you the mental fog that gives you now the energy is not enough when you don’t have enough energy means the currency money you you are just running on on on

the surface level on on par you know that okay barely you are living yeah you don’t have any saving for some problem occurs So if it is something, some cold or flu or whatever external thing comes in, you don’t have energy to fight with that external force. Now that’s where the problem starts. Now your mind is, your brain is going to be in so much malfunction. that it is just do the basic survival mode that you are breathing, it keeps you breathing, your heart is beating and you are just barely surviving.

This gives you now extra energy. Now you think about life and that is what the spiritual life is because now you have energy. Now you are connecting. Spiritual life is nothing.

It is the connecting with your spirit and your spirit is life. This is nothing to do with any religion. We as a human, we are connecting with ourselves, not barely just living, breathing and reproducing and dying. That’s not a life.

So when you have extra power, now you think about poem, now you think about doing something painting, you want to call your grandson, granddaughter, how was your piano class, whatever, this all comes in and when everything falls in the right direction, life becomes so good. Everything you’re now, you know, grandson and granddaughter is going to be, wow, my grandpa called me. Otherwise you don’t have time or if you have time you don’t have mood. My head is cranky, you know, I don’t want to call.

That is what the spiritual is. Spiritual is connecting with yourself and connecting with outer world. And that gives you, this is not automatically you get it by birth. No, the only way you get it if you have enough energy to work on.

Because everything, this is currency. You don’t have this privilege to spend extra time with anybody and everywhere unless you have that extra currency. I think I get it. I’d say a lot of people struggle with addiction to sugar and I know that, you know, I was looking at one of the recipes in the raw food revolution and it calls for organic cane sugar but I believe you substitute coconut water when you make it for yourself,

if I’m remembering correctly. So, is sugar itself bad or is it okay? Sugar is bad. It’s poison.

So yeah, but it is like this. Now if you take away, because if you are using it and you are used to it for so many years, if that somebody takes it away, then you are going to go in very big trauma for you. So you go little by little. and eliminate because if anybody is smoking cigarette and they say tomorrow you are not smoking anything or not keep smoking from 5 to 2 and 2 to 1 to 1 to 0 that’s how you know it works with sugar.

Sugar is nothing it is as bad as smoking cigarette and the sugar industry you know when it there was no sugar before But when the agricultural revolution started and a lot of sugar and everybody, Europeans started taking sugar from everywhere. And that’s how, you know, even India was the main connection for Europeans to come there and get the sugar. So, and then even, you know, brought so many black slaves for sugar. So the whole thing is because of the sugar.

Now before we used to eat even let’s say half a pound sugar in one year. Now maybe we are eating two pound in one month. I had that number, you know, I don’t remember exactly but it went 20 fold. I mean what?

this kind of 20-fold jump for anything. So now everybody is going for diabetes. Diabetes now is like a most common disease, chronic disease. What happened?

Diabetes. Take this, this, this and this is for life now. So now that pharmaceutical company who is making all those I don’t want to give the name but now you are the cash cow for them. Okay, as far as he is living, he is going to buy this medication and he is going to give me the money.

So that is what is happening. Yeah, the sugar is very bad. Our body is not designed to eat refined sugar. refined salt even is not In nature, whatever you that’s why I say, you know, if it is not not made by mother nature.

It is not going on my plate What I mean is if everything what industrialized world created it to make profit and They have to I mean nothing wrong about it. That’s how you know, it works and But when that industrialization or that corporation is looking only and only and only for profit, not looking at your health or society health or even this is then a global health now is in jeopardy, even the blue zone is now turning in the yellow zone. So why in the world people are using that?

We know that you’re a marathon runner. You’ve said that. I personally like walking and hiking for exercise, but I know you don’t do a marathon every day. So I think you said you’re training for the next one.

What’s your exercise routine like? So, yeah, as a human, we used to run a lot before. Because before there was no refrigerator, no electricity, you don’t have food stored in your house. And before even the house our, you know, the way we used to live is our so much uncertainty that today you eat food and you don’t know when is going to be your next meal after 24 hour or 36 hour, you don’t know.

At that time, you know, we were running a lot for our food. not just walking and you know running was the human’s most common exercise everywhere, doesn’t matter whether it’s Africa or America or India or Asia or anywhere. So this is how we human designed, our body was designed, every animal are running, doesn’t matter who they are, they have to run or walk to get their food. and food is that important.

So, if you don’t like to run, it’s okay and I understand because now body is not going to cope. If you start running, your knee is going to swell, your back is going to hurt, your ankle is going to get twisted or whatever, you know, your feet is going to hurt. Don’t start running. If anybody wants to do a better health, go for a walk and is a brisk walk not walking in just have a pleasure no just brisk walk and you have to have that gasping and you know sweating and that will give you and go for half mile once

you like it go for then one mile then you like it go for two mile increase little by little that’s how your muscles are going to get toned and is going to cope, help you to do, you know, more efficiently. Even when I, you know, you ask me what I am doing, so I just keep running. I take my bottle, water bottle and I just keep running. That’s it.

and by the time you know it’s like a 10 mile okay now this is okay it’s not too much but sometime I go 12 miles some 15 mile so that is you need it now 15 mile if you do in training so 20 mile is going to be okay but 26 mile in marathon Because no matter what you do, at mile 20, your tank is finished. Yeah, mile would be for sure. Right, so your tank is finished.

Now your muscles are, you know, it’s not that in good shape. Now is the mind over body. Still you want to keep running and you run with the gracefully and you finish the marathon 26.2 mile. And that is what I did.

So when I did at age 50, I ran my first marathon. I was not knowing how, what is going to be experienced. But I enjoy it. And I did it right.

And now I’m doing my 8th marathon. And I don’t know, you know, maybe I’m going to do my 10th marathon, whenever 9, 10, 10, 15, whatever it comes. But if I cannot, let’s say for some reason, I get some injury. My doctor, he ran one marathon and said, that’s it, he cannot run anymore.

He got the fracture on the shin and that’s it. The doctor said, don’t even try again. He is my doctor and he is 10 years younger than me. Exercise, running is the best exercise.

So right from the brain to your toe, everything has to be in an optimum level. Otherwise, you cannot run. I just turned 60. And I don’t think that I have anywhere near the energy to do that.

I’ve had some injuries, so I don’t run anymore. But I really admire you for doing that. So by the time this episode comes out, your book is going to be out, your new one, In Nature We Trust. What new information can we expect from that?

So it’s like this, Michael. No matter how much we discuss, one hour, two hours, ten hours, to understand this and digest, because so many things I’m telling. Now, first of all, you have to understand it. After understanding you have to digest it so well that it is now become easy for you to do any action.

This book is because of that, you know, you read one chapter, chapter by chapter, it is step by step, you are going little further by little further. Because as I said, you know, if you are not mentally ready, don’t even try. It is not going to work. It is absolutely, it is like this.

If somebody is alcoholic and he is doing this very well, you know, anonymous alcohol, if somebody wants to get rid of alcohol, other people who did it, they give you moral support first. That hey, you know, this is doable. I was like you before. I did it and it is a horrible life.

You can have life like me better because I did it. Now that guy is giving you moral support. This is the community. The AA is a community.

No hospital or no doctor can give you that support what AA is giving. Exactly same way. This once you understand that hey this is The life which is not good is not going to help me long run. So reading this book give you step-by-step understanding that okay, first I have to understand why I’m eating food.

Then I have to understand how I can take food as the best source of fuel. Then I have to be selective. not just and for the before selective you have to understanding little bit of scientific understanding what is doing what what gives you potassium so I when I run I want to eat banana this is a potassium required otherwise you are going to get you know spasm on cramp on your muscles So you have to drink a lot of water.

Without water you cannot run because dehydration can create and that’s what happened to me one time when I was not knowing. First marathon and I think I didn’t drink enough water after finishing and during. So I had UTI after 2-3 days, 5 days, you know. So this is what happens but once you become aware now you know I know now very well that no matter even if you are not thirsty keep drinking water when you’re running because your body is you know shading the water so much.

So this is all comes with the experience and experience comes only when you is I tell people you cannot learn swimming without jumping into water. No matter how much YouTube you see, no matter how much book you read, no matter how many people tells you and you see it all from outside, you are not going to learn swimming unless you jump into the water. That is that simple. This is exactly like that.

You have to read the book but this book reading is what? Is nothing. If you are reading the book and not thinking about it, not jumping into it, even if you are not trying for a one meal or half meal or quarter meal or whatever, it’s nothing. Well, I look forward to jumping in the pool and seeing what your book has to offer.

Is there anything that I just don’t know enough to ask or that you want to say that you didn’t get a chance to say? No, you cover almost everything and I really appreciate the way you asking question and as the curious person and I am trying to give my best, you know, whatever information I have, I want to give. I want to just tell anybody and everybody, don’t just read book, don’t just listen podcast, don’t just, you know, start thinking. Once you start thinking about it, question yourself, question everybody else and that is the only way you can move forward.

That is the only way you get the right information, the true information, the wisdom and everything else, you know, because a lot of people said so many things and as a common man we get confused. But what is right and what is wrong and it’s like, yeah, another episode, another guy, another diet, another this, that. Yeah, it becomes very, you know, we think like nothing happened and we don’t take it seriously. So, yeah, if you think and if you think this is important, your health is important, think seriously, take some step and move forward.

and everything will be okay. Something different. Exactly the same. It works.

Yeah, I always tell my audience, become an expert at your own health. You know, do your own research. That’s a good note to end on. Thank you so much for coming on the show.

I really appreciate it. It was a good discussion with you. Maybe, can we do this again sometime? Sure.

Once you receive the book, read it, ask me questions, any page, any chapter. Hey, Akshay, I don’t understand what you are saying this, or why you said this, or hey, I think what you said is wrong. And I’m open for open discussion, because I have no agenda. I’m not saying that as a human I’m still learning and I think I’m going to learn till my death.

You know this is learning is important and more and more you read like as I said you know when I was listening Atul Gawande book is open totally different mindset. that how wonderfully being a doctor he is laying out all this stuff because even the doctor is so vulnerable at a certain point. So we have to think and so that exactly you know people think about it and learn and life will be beautiful. I completely agree.

I completely agree. You got to keep on learning. Okay. Goodbye.

Thanks for coming. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.