Interview with Katya

QUESTION 1. WHAT ARE SOME RAWFOOD STAPLES IN YOUR CURRENT?

It’s winter here in Australia. I live in a tropical state, Queensland, where the winter is not harsh. Right now I particularly enjoy custard apples in fact all exotic tropical fruits, bananas, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, ( my Russian background?) beets, leafy greens, nettles ( in juices) sauerkraut, fresh wheatgrass juice and other green based juices, Papayas, turnips and rocket, I eat every day. Grapefruit, mandarins, avocados, almond, brazil and macadamia nuts. In summer I eat and love mangos, papayas, pineapple, grapes, cucumbers, watermelon. rockmelon, tomatoes, apricots and lots of leafy greens.

B) ARE YOU 100%?
I have eaten 100% raw foods for almost 4 years now.

C) HOW DID YOU START?
Since I was a very young girl, I was drawn to learn about the cultures that lived closed to Nature. When I was 8 I would pick flowers and study them, noting the shapes, colors, smells and textures. Much later in my life I would be guided to study and teach the emotional, physical and spiritual healing abilities of plants and flowers. In my teenage years, (the early 1970’s) I would frequent the local health food shops and read Paavo Airola, Bernard Jensen, Paul Bragg, Dr. Norman Walker, Arnold Ehret. In 1978, I obtained a copy of Survival into the 21st Century written by Viktoras Kulvinskas. The world of living foods opened up to me and I resonated with the truths contained within the pages. I knew that I was ‘destined’ to work at a Living Foods Institute and eventually create my own Raw and Living Foods Education Centre and Retreat at a future time in my life. I have studied, researched and applied many health regimes over the past 32 years in a quest to find a way of eating that delivered what it claimed.

I also studied Classical Homeopathy and taught Flower Essence Therapy. Although I ate a predominantly cooked vegetarian and vegan diet, at around 44 I began to suffer with the common ailments my meat eating relatives had. Arthritis, hormonal imbalances, digestive disturbances, and stimulant addiction. I spent 2 weeks at a Raw Food Health retreat and experienced such a dramatic improvement in my body, mind and spirit that I decided to keep going 100% raw. It was like stepping into ‘the fountain of youth’. For the first year I experimented with long periods of all rawfoods then added small amounts of cooked foods. Each cooked food episode brought me down, mentally and aged me physically with a return of arthritis and hormonal chaos. I have modified my diet through experimentation since I began to eat all raw. I sometimes eat a mono diet and rarely mix fruit and vegetables together. Cutting right down the amount of dried fruits, and eating more greens and weeds have given me gratifying results.

In fact I had a thorough blood test recently and my B12 levels were great! The doctor was certain my diet would show a deficiency.

WHAT IS YOUR NEW BOOK ‘RAWJUVENATE with KATYA’ ABOUT?
The word Rawjuvenate appealed to me as an apt way of referring to the rejuvenating process that takes place from eating all raw foods. It certainly lives up to this interpretation as I demonstrate the rawjuvenating abilites of a Rawfood lifestyle.

My book is very comprehensive and discusses topics not covered by other Rawfood Lifestyle books on the market.

I discuss what is going on in the world today such as the appalling statistics of the nations declining health. The disconnection from Nature and the Earth, our home. The prolific consumption of dead food creating dead looking youth. Obesity, diabetes and premature aging. The escalation of plastic surgery and cosmetic enhancements performed on young people is an attempt to conceal the external results of internal pollution. It’s their diets and lifestyle habits that really need ‘an extreme makeover’. I am passionate about educating young people and baby boomers about the endless benefits of a Rawfood diet. They need roles models who exude authentic health and beauty available through Rawfood nutrition. I present amazing photos of baby boomers who have transformed themselves on all levels through Rawfoods. I discuss the epidemic of stimulant addiction ( sugar, caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, legal drugs and chemicals ) and how Rawfoods can liberate you from these debilitating and enervating substances. I give my own experiences of freeing myself from stimulant addiction, as an example. Raw Menopause is another area I cover. Millions of women are entering this phase of their life some much earlier than ever before. Again Rawfoods can not only restore ‘lost’ beauty and balance hormonal chaos, it can change the scenario that awaits most of the population of being sick, medicated and living out the latter part of their lives suffering, either in nursing homes or being dependant on medical support. I discuss fasting, making the changes successfully to high raw or all raw, detox symptoms, how to spot imbalances, staying raw easily, switching others on. I include scientific and medical research that backs the Rawfood lifestyle, green foods and common weeds, raw beauty, seasonal eating and as they say SO MUCH MORE!

QUESTION 3. WHAT MAKES YOUR EXOTIC RAW RETREATS SO RAWJUVENATING?
The retreats are held in a tropical location with an exotic feel to the experience. The retreat uses foods renowned for their ‘rawjuvenating’ abilities and from my background in Natural Beauty therapy, I emphasise exotic fruits in beauty treatments for their remarkable rejuvenating qualities. I also use flower essences and find they are invaluable for assisting people to sever the ties to emotional eating.
The main thrust of my Exotic Raw Retreats is Education. People learn so much when they spend time with me. I’ve always experimented on myself and I teach only from experience.

QUESTION 4. HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH A RECIPE?
I’ve never followed a recipe as such and use my intuition most of the time. I’ve also been blessed with a gift to be able to create meals with ingredients that complement each other. Sometimes I taste or read a creation of someone else’s and then adjust it to my own tastes. After being on a Rawfood diet for some time your creativity just soars as you reconnect with Earth’s enormous garden.

I advocate and eat a seasonal diet for several reasons. Firstly it reconnects you with Nature in a deeper, meaningful way. By celebrating the changes in Nature you also celebrate the corresponding changes within your self as well. Secondly, you begin to fully appreciate Nature’s changing rhythms and cycles and thirdly you become more adventurous in the preparation of seasonal foods.

QUESTION 5. CAN YOU SHARE A FAVORITE RAW FOOD RECIPE?
Mmmm - I have a few favorites but the simplest and most energising is a drink I call Island Goddess. I often have this first thing in the morning and it gives me such a lift to breeze through the morning activities.

½ small very ripe organic pineapple or rockmelon in Summer
30ml fresh wheatgrass juice
Juice and pulp of a young coconut
1 teaspoon organic virgin coconut oil
Whizz it all together and sip slowly. Wow!

QUESTION 6. WHAT ARE SOME QUICK TIPS OR HINTS FOR RAW NEWBIES?
As more and more people wake up and recognise the truth of the rewards from eating foods in their authentic, natural state, the initial change can be difficult. I have guided people straight into 100% raw with great results. Others have taken it more slowly. I encourage new to raw people to commit to 1 week on all Rawfoods. This will give them a glimpse of what level of energy, alertness and feeling of wellbeing is really available to them. It gives people a comparison to aspire to. This is a personal journey for each person. Even though we are all designed to eat Nature’s uncooked foods, if you have had several stimulant addictions, digestive problems or have eaten a diet of heavily processed foods there will be discomforts as you clean up your internal terrain. Eat simply and go easy on dried fruit and nuts. Read as much as you can about the Rawfood life, surf the net, find Raw role models who exude ‘aliveness’ and radiant health and beauty. You’ll know that what they are doing is working. Above all else be Your own judge of what foods work for you and what don’t. Experiment, experiment!

QUESTION 7. DO YOU HAVE ANY DENTAL PROBLEMS ON THE RAW DIET?
In actual fact no, my gums have become tighter and my teeth whiter! When I was eating a cooked diet I had more bacteria related problems with occasional bleeding gums. Nuts and fibrous foods can get stuck in between teeth, so you do need to floss.

QUESTION 8. WHERE DO YOU SEE THE RAW FOOD MOVEMENT HEADING?
Throughout history whenever a change occurs in a societies beliefs and attitudes, it is preceded by a period of persecution and denial. So it is with Rawfoods. There is so much overwhelming evidence, particularly visual, of the health and beauty restorative abilities of Rawfoods appearing on the internet and in the media as well as being advocated by pioneering scientists and doctors in the mainstream, that it really can no longer be denied or ridiculed as some cultist fad. The state of the world’s health is rapidly spiralling into an abyss, the medical model for health and beauty is failing dismally. There really is no where else to go but back to Mother Nature. There is a groundswell occurring that will expand further and further and I intend to be one of the many people who are leading the revolution.

QUESTION 9. CAN YOU PLEASE TELL US ABOUT SOME OF YOUR CURRENT PROJECTS YOU ARE WORKING ON AND/OR DEVELOPING.
Oh, there are several. I am currently finishing an Exotic Seasonal Recipe Book to accompany my first book. I intend to Educate, educate! A DVD and a series of Island retreats are also in the works at the moment.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD?
Yes, I implore all Raw fooders to get their beloved pets back to eating as Nature intended for them. And that means Raw foods! The change in their health and personality will delight them and YOU. I also want to encourage young people especially, to be brave and stand up for the Earth. Grow your own organic foods or buy organic. Use your God given creativity in an Earth supporting way. Be a Rawfood Role model. There is power in numbers and as the Rawfood movement gains momentum change for the better is inevitable. Thank you Alex, hopefully I will meet you personally one day. Keep up the good work!