DW on Canadian Radio January 2010

8/9/2019 DW on Canadian Radio January 2010

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This transcript has been brought to you by David Wolfes

TheBestDayEver.com

INTERVIEWWITH:

David "Avocado"Wolfe

HOST: Canadian Radio

Host: Right now let's talk a little bit about food, shall we? Onthe line with us is David Wolfe, who is a food andnutrition expert. He is the author of many best-selling

books, such as Eating for Beauty, The Sunfood DietSuccess System, Naked Chocolate and his newestrelease which is calledAmazing Grace, which ispublished by Random House. He's on the line with usright now. Hi David, how are ya?

Avocado: I'm doing great. How are you doing?

Host: Fine. Thanks for being on the program with us.

Avocado: Thanks so much.

Host: One of the things we were talking about is the newnutrition of processed foods. And that almost soundslike an oxymoron.

Avocado: Well, I saw this article that was in I think TheNew YorkTimes recently, and it blew my mind, but my God, they

just do everything to food these days and no one will

even care. I mean, it's unbelievable what is happening.

Host: So processed foods. People are telling us and I'msure you are one of them to stay [00:00:57] awayfrom them.


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Canadian Radio Interview with David Wolfe

Avocado: It seems like every step away from the original, wholeorganic food in its natural state, every step away isusually a step in the wrong direction, and that is why Iam always apprehensive whenever there is something

new on the market. So you know this is a different kindof a thing, but it's definitely probably a step in thewrong direction.

Host: Now what exactly are they doing?

Avocado: They are going to be inserting a type of a pesticideinto a food product like a macaroni and cheeseproduct that is then going to be sold all across quote-unquote "the developing world." And this quote-

unquote "pesticide" is supposed to be a de-wormingagent which is going to go after parasites, and it's acommon food product. It just sounds a little bit toohokey and a little too crazy for me.

Host: You [00:01:52] know, anytime something comes aboutthere is for every action there is a reaction. You look atany kind of prescription drugs or even non-prescriptiondrugs for instance, there is always a list of side effects.

Sometimes people don't take into consideration whenthey start messing around with things that there mightbe some sort of side effect that they haven't thoughtof yet.

Avocado: Yeah. I mean, that's what I would be thinking. But youknow, I don't know. I mean the general population,we're in this race to try to educate the generalpopulation before we get dragged into too many ofthese crazy food projects too many microwavedfoods, too many this, that and the other thing. We aretrying to get back to slow foods instead of fast foodand turn this thing around. So it's just, we are in thisgame of just trying to educate [00:02:40] people andlet people know that it's probably better if it's original,and it's probably worse if it's going you know towards

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some kind of like crazy, unique food additive thing.

Host: You know, as someone who is a food and nutritionexpert, let me give you an example. We are hearing

more and more stories of kids with peanut allergies forinstance.

Avocado: Right.

Host: Now, I remember when I was growing up you neverheard of peanut allergies. Where did all of these comefrom?

Avocado: I think it's liver toxicity. I mean, kids today are born

with something like 60 to 80 different syntheticchemicals in their umbilical cord. And now thisresearch has been, in the last 5 years, beenconclusively proven that the mother is not detoxifyingall the pesticides and chemicals, adhesives, fireretardants, etc. that are in our environment and it isbeing passed along [00:03:37] to kids, and so kids areborn already compromised, battling all thesechemicals and therefore they can no longer develop a

natural resistance to certain complex proteins likethose found in peanuts.

Host: Now we, for instance we know it's not a good ideaduring pregnancy obviously to smoke or drink. Thoseare givens. But it seems to be that the pendulum hasswung so far to the other side, and you just talkedabout what can be in the umbilical cord of a child whenit's born. It seems to have swung so much to the otherside that people are going out of their way to be ashealthy as humanly possible and I use that term ashumanly possible. Is that even possible? Are we goingtoo far?

Avocado: Probably. I'm certainly guilty of that myself I'm sure.Yeah, it probably is going too far, because it's a

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reaction to a very extreme abuse of our trust[00:04:39] in the way that food is pretty food isdistributed, grown and delivered to us today. It's justthe quality is very low if you really look at it.

Host: We are talking with David Wolfe, who is a food andnutrition expert. You can check out his website, by theway, which is www.Sunfood.com that'swww.Sunfood.com [sic; is this really a January 2010interview?]. And I want to ask a little bit about whatone will find when they Sunfoods rather dotcom andI want to talk about what one will find when they go toyour website. We'll take a quick break and we'll comeback.

And we are talking with David Wolfe, who is a food andnutrition expert, as we talk about some of the newnutrition of processed foods among other things hereon CJAD [spelling?] and CFRB. A question David, and Iknow it's a rather broad [00:05:28] one, but do weeven know what healthy looks like?

Avocado: That's a good question. My answer is no. No. We have

gone so far down this track of massively processedfood, microwaving everything, fast food, etc., thatbaseline healthy is usually unknown to most people.

Host: Okay. Now we hear enough about the fast food andby the way, I'm guilty as charged. I love fast food, butyou know, at least I know that I am not supposed to.But there are people who are making an effort to eatbetter and take care of themselves, and yet they areprobably not aware of what it is they are ingesting,that they are not necessarily doing it correctly. I meanit's one thing to know that you know I shouldn't go toMcDonald's every day. Whether I do or not is anotherstory, but I shouldn't. But it's another thing for peoplewho read their packages, think [00:06:20] they areeating healthily healthy and they are not. Is that a

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bigger problem?

Avocado: I always think that every step in the right direction is agood thing, so if somebody is making better choices,

that's a great step and it usually leads to even betterchoices beyond that. I think that fast food you know,obviously it's not where we all want to be, but most ofus cheat and have it, but we have got to be cheatingon the good side too. We have got to have things thatare kind of really extraordinary, exceptional foods thatare exceptionally nutritious very often. And we callthose kinds of foods superfoods. And that is kind ofwhere my work is, is trying to help people balancetheir diets with more superfoods in their diet, because

that is a place where you can really get your vitaminsand minerals where [00:07:06] everything is still therein the original food.

Host: Now is it just the rat race we live in that has made usgo off the track and you know go to fast foods? I mean,we are living longer than our ancestors did. Notnecessarily healthier, but longer.

Avocado: I heard someone say, "We are not living longer, we aredying longer." I don't know how true that is, but I wouldsay this: we definitely have a technology today that isworking both directions. It can deliver to us verycheap, very mineral-deficient foods that taste good say for example you know something that issweetened or has had preservatives put in it that tastegood but it's not good for our health. On the sametoken, we have food today that can be delivered to usthat is absolutely extraordinary for our health and is ofa very high quality and has a long time-proven history.And that's kind of where I focus.

Host: Such as?

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Avocado: For example like raw chocolate nuts. You know,everybody loves chocolate. Everybody is crazy aboutchocolate. It's the world's most popular food. Allchocolate is made out of a nut, and that nut is more

widely eaten than almonds. That nut is called cacao orcocoa, and what I like to do [00:08:19] is feed peoplethe original food. You know, that's it. This is what theymake chocolate out of. Here, try it and see how ittastes.

Host: So is that where the title Naked Chocolate came from?

Avocado: That's where that book actually came from. Thesubtitle is interesting: The Astonishing Truth About

the World's Greatest Food. As we peel back the layersof what chocolate is made out of namely, cacao orthe cacao bean or nut what we found out was thisfood fits almost exactly the mineral requirements ofthe human body on a day-to-day basis based onmoderate stress. For example it is super high inmagnesium, extraordinarily high in iron. Naturally. Thisis not something where you know you have to takethese supplements on top it; the food itself is like a

supplement.

Host: Okay. So let's talk about these, these, these [00:09:07]nuts that you are referring to before somebody runsout there giggly and saying, "Gee, I can have all thechocolate I want." Everything of course is inmoderation. For this what is moderation?

Avocado: Well, 20 cacao beans is a very significant amount ofchocolate. The average chocolate bar, when you takeaway all the sugar and all the additives and all thewhatever has been put in there, only contains about 3cacao beans. So we are not really even getting a lot ofcacao in our diet even if we eat chocolate, and all theevidence is pointing to this cacao being the real sourceof all the good benefits of chocolate.

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Host: Even less if you buy the what we call in this country"candy bars," because they can't legally put the wordchocolate on a lot of them because there is not enough

of it in it.

Avocado: Right. Exactly. See, my feeling is, let's [00:09:59] putthat era of our history behind us. Let's get on to wherethe real food value is, but let's not lose taste. Let's giveflavor back.

Host: We are talking with David Wolfe, who is a food andnutrition expert, here on CJAD and CFRB. So what aresome of the other things? Getting back to nature as

you say, what you just said about the chocolate issomething that I was totally unaware of, that you couldget it in a more natural form. Are there other things weshould be getting in a more natural form?

Avocado: Oooo, good question. Well, I think when you aredealing with fruits and vegetables well, nuts andseeds, let's talk about that. You know, I grew up onthese roasted salted nuts and seeds. You know, I just

eat raw nuts and seeds now and I get the same flavor,but my God is it easier on my digestive system. Andthis might [00:10:45] be something that you can try athome where if you like cashews, hey, that's great.Instead of eating the cashews roasted and salted justeat them raw and see how you feel. That's a simplechange.

Host: Is there a learning curve? By that I mean, the learningcurve of your palate. If you have been accustomed tothe salt for instance. Because what is it that attracts usto some of the foods that we eat? Is it the sweetness?Is it the salt? And if it's not there, how do wecompensate for that?

Avocado: Well, scientifically we know that what is causing our

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eating behavior more than anything else is a desire forminerals. For example iron, magnesium, sodium,potassium, the main minerals that our body runs on.So somebody will reach for something salty when they

need sodium, but usually it's the wrong kind of sodiumand the wrong [00:11:39] kinds of salt. Somebody willreach for something that is high in magnesium forexample a candy bar or a chocolate bar because themagnesium is still present, but unfortunately there is awhole bunch of other stuff in there as well.

What we are doing really is just kind of stripping allthat away and going, "Here is how you can get yourminerals with your natural foods and you don't have to

take any supplements on top of it or reach for poorchoices," because when your body really wants saltyou should have this kind instead of that kind.

Host: You have mentioned on a couple of occasions nowinstead of reaching for a supplement, but if someone isreaching for a supplement, is there something yousuggest?

Avocado: I don't want to knock supplements really, but I thinksomewhere in people's mind, in the back of their mind,[00:12:22] they realize like, "Why do we take all thesesupplements? Shouldn't all this stuff be in our food?"And I am a believer in that. I believe that our foodshould actually have everything in it. Unfortunately itdoesn't. I try to make up the difference using otherextraordinary foods, namely superfoods rather thansupplements, but supplements are okay.

Host: Now what exactly is a superfood? I am looking at yourwebsite and I here something here called "Sun isShining."

Avocado: Sun is Shining would be a formulation of 20 differentsuperfoods that have been added and powdered

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[00:12:54] into a glass container and preserved. Andyou just take, I don't know, 2 or 3 tablespoons of that,throw it into your morning drink. It could be even justyour water, and then drink that. And then that is a way

of naturally getting your vitamins and minerals fromfood.

Host: And I see it says here, "a probiotic superfood." Whatexactly does that mean?

Avocado: What that means is that we have put acidophilus inthere and bifidus. These are two different types ofbacteria that inhabit our digestive tract. And this justmakes it a little bit more friendly to our digestive

system. A lot of us have never even had acidophilusand bifidus for example, which are friendly bacteriawhich are extraordinarily important for good healthydigestion.

Host: And where are these bacteria normally found?

Avocado: Well, [00:13:40] they are normally found in the humandigestive system, unless we are under a high amount

of stress; unless we are under attack from food thathas no nutrients in it; or unless we are under attackdue to candida, which is a fungal overgrowth in ourdigestive tract which lots of people suffer from.

Host: Hmm. I notice that people can also purchase this fromyour website. Is that correct?

Avocado: Right. That is a product that we put out on the Internetabout 7 or 8 years ago, and it just has [unintelligibleword; run?] itself. It has been great, great ride.

Host: We are talking with David Wolfe, who is a food andnutrition expert, here on CJAD and CFRB. Again, youcan go to the website, www.Sunfoods.com [sic;Sunfood.com]. That's www.Sunfoods.com [sic;

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Sunfood.com].

Now you spend a lot of time talking [00:14:29] aboutthis on both sides of the border, don't you?

Avocado: In Canada, in the United States, in Mexico, pretty muchall the way through even to Central and South Americaas well.

Host: Now are there different things you have tell people atdifferent levels of their educational system as to howthey are eating, what they are eating? Do some peoplereadily take it more than others depending uponwhere you go?

Avocado: I find that everybody is really open when you talk inthe right kind of language. I mean, I don't believe inbeing a food nazi. I mean, you know, you have got tohave some freedom of choice. And I like to just givepeople some new choices.

Host: Well, let me rephrase the question. Are there placeswhere people are a little bit closer to eating better

naturally without so much nudging from you as itwere?

Avocado: Ah. [00:15:19] Okay. That's an excellent question.Definitely in Central America. In Mexico for example.Not to say that every Mexican is eating better thanevery American, but I have seen in my experience thatin general Mexican eat more fruits and vegetables,they eat more avocados, they have a better sense offresh, raw foods in their diet.

Host: Okay. Avocado. There is a great one. I personally loveavocados, but I often hear people saying well, youknow, it'sit'sit's

Avocado: Fattening.

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Host: Fattening, exactly.

Avocado: Right. And calories.

Host: And calorie, yeah.

Avocado: And what I say to that is it is usually what you areeating with the avocado that is fattening or on top ofthe guacamole for example the cottage cheese orsour cream. That's where the real fattening piece is.Now I know this from experience, because when you[00:16:12] are dealing with raw and living foods likeavocados, I have seen people with eating disorders eat

as many as 8 avocados in a day and continue to loseweight. This happened with my cousin who lost150 lbs., had a very severe eating disorder his wholelife, and gradually lost the weight by eating moreavocados and less of all the other super fatty dairyproducts and for example breads and meats and otherthings.

The avocado is a great step down where you can get

the right kinds of fats and oils, and it's a food, and ittastes good, and it keeps you away from the real thickheavy stuff.

Host: What about this new rage and we've just got acouple minutes here eating raw?

Avocado: Yeah. Eating raw food. Well, that's the most basic,natural thing. I mean, we were not thrown on to theplanet with a stove. You know, what is the easiest foodto eat? Like [00:17:06] if we had to just start fromscratch and go okay, you know, let's clear the slate[recording cuts off here abruptly]

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DW on Canadian Radio January 2010

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