Frederic Patenaude – Raw Food Controversies

Frederic Patenaude – Raw Food Controversies

For Frederic Patenaude – Raw Food Controversies

On a beautiful late afternoon in 1998, I was walking down a hill in sunny San Diego, California.

I had been a 100% raw-foodist for over two years, and thought I was on the best diet in the world, one that would bring me optimal health and longevity.

Yet that fateful day, as pretty as it was, a mysterious ailment struck me and left me crippled in bed for a month.

All of a sudden and without warning, all of my energy was drained out of my body. I felt so weak that I could barely walk a few steps without feeling exhausted. On top of that, my blood sugar was completely out of control.

Before this day, I never told the story of what really happened and how I almost destroyed my health on the raw food diet. Now I am ready to reveal it all and expose some of the most well-kept secrets of the raw-food movement that other raw-food leaders don’t want you to know.

This mysterious illness lasted a few months and included many other frightening symptoms.

Even when it was all over with, I still did not feel the benefits that were promised to me by the raw food gurus. I was looking for better health, less sleep, more energy and vitality… and yet I needed more sleep, had less energy and was increasingly worried about my long-term health.

I thought 100% raw was the only answer… yet my health was still in obvious decline, and I was only 22 years old!

Yet, a few years later, I was still not doing any better. To add insult to injury, I eventually developed almost 40 cavities after a few years of strict raw-foodism.

The story I’m about to tell will not only expose all of the lies, misconceptions and controversies about the raw food diet, but also reveal in details the truth that many other raw-foodists try to hide… which is that the raw-food diet, when done improperly, can lead to horrible health problems.

Although I’ve written many books on the raw food diet, including my popular book The Raw Secrets, I’ve never told my entire story. I was afraid that some of the raw-food gurus might be upset if I told everybody what really went on behind the scenes.

But after nearly destroying my health following the wrong advice, and having seen hundreds of others do the same, I’m ready to break my 14-year silence and expose the lies and debunk the most damaging myths that are spread in the raw-food movement in a way that has never been done before.

Who Is This Guy, and How Can What He Says Be True?

14 years ago, I was an unknown 21 year-old French Canadian with a passion for health and raw-foodism, who decided to move to California to learn with the best of the best about the raw food lifestyle.

I did not just passively do this diet on my own, but rather I worked with the top raw-food leaders, such as David Wolfe, Gabriel Cousens, Juliano, David Jubb, and many others.

I was truly behind the scenes of the raw-food movement, and over the years have had the chance to witness the dramatic difference between the ideal of raw-foodism and the reality.

Often people ask me, “Fred, maybe you just had a bad experience… everybody is different. Maybe what didn’t work for you works for other people.”

To that I say: Yes! But what doesn’t work doesn’t work in general. It’s just that some people are slow to show symptoms and negative results.

In 1997, I was a young raw foodist in a personal quest for health. This is me with David Wolfe and Stephen Arlin, authors of Nature’s First Law.