Chai's Analysis

the 21 day cure.

I am brewing over the CBS' 60 minute segment on the war in Congo. So many thoughts are being processed on my word processing machine that will get published shortly on this blog. But, before I jump into rape and how that segment may have changed my life, I have to share another life altering event that happened to me last night.

Over the past week, through some Internet happenstance of clicking, I clicked my way to the raw food diet. It has been such an interesting dive into this world of eating raw, knowing raw, and becoming one with Mother Earth, that I am beginning to think of ways to incorporate into my partner's and my life.

Not really knowing much about the raw food diet, I signed up to attend a lecture by a doctor who just published a book called The 21 Day Cure. The book is designed for those who have Type 2 diabetes. T's father and all of my aunts and uncles/grandparents have diabetes, meaning we have a high risk of getting diabetes as well. I went in honor of T's dad, who is very special to T, to learn more about the doctor's claims that diabetes can be cured.

I learned so much about diabetes it's wild. Did you know that 1 out of 8 New Yorkers are diabetic? And that 1 in 5 people in East Harlem are diabetic? US is in the top three leading nations of diabetic patients. India is number one, followed by China. I learned about different genes and cell production, the doctor's notions as to why diabetes occurs, and how a raw green plant-based diet can bring down the blood sugar by 95%. He talked a bit about the raw food diet in general and how it helps anti-aging cells which also control diabetes and cancer (in lay person's terms). He showed us a movie that is in response to "Fast Food Nation," where the participants, all diabetic, go on the 21 day diet and how all of them succeeded (it brought me to tears). And, I got the book!

I strongly suggest any diabetic or person who is in risk of diabetes (which is most of us), to go to the 21 Day cure site and learn more about this program. I think T and i are going to invest in a dehydrator this weekend. We are going to discuss more, but I think both of us want to put nutrition as the primary facet in our living, which in turn means more raw foods.

posted by Chai at 1:56 PM | 2 people analyzed.

i owe ya, i-o-wa.

ah, the lovely state of iowa. doesn't all this attention to iowa make you want to visit the state? i want to see how this tiny state gets so much love from all these politicians who are running federal campaigns that, in the large scheme of things, don't affect the local citizen. it does from a military, foreign policy, globalization standpoint. but, what matters to your life is more local, like property tax, education, local farming, zoning, parking regulations, and noise statutes.

but, this post is not about local politics and re-energizing our country to think local. no, siree. this post is about what happened in iowa two days back. i'm sure you have read or heard every talking head mention the historical nature of the iowa caucus (sidenote- doesn't caucus sound so dirty?), what it means to the democratic establishment, and how crazy certain folks (*cough* evangelicals *cough*) truly are (dude, you HAVE to know where pakistan is or, as my friend noted, you are automatically disqualified from any elective position...ever.).

what i think obama and two buck huck's votes mean to me is that people are sick of the establishment. i can speak from the "progressive" side. obama symbolizes, to many of my friends, that we are ready for a change. many of my friends don't look at race, so his racial composition has never been a question for our many conversations on gmail chat or at a bar. most of my generation, from the time they became politically aware, started with Bush. then it went to Clinton. then came Bush junior. now another Clinton is trying to get into the house? it's a bit...i dunno..dynastic.

more importantly, our generation is sick of being told that we are too young. we are sick of being told that our voice doesn't matter. we are sick of the older establishment NOT taking time out of their schedules to MENTOR us, to NURTURE this younger crop, to HELP us out. and when we try to show leadership, this older establishment becomes threatened, vengeful, and ugly. it's sad to see this endemic in all the movements, from feminism, to labor, to political parties. the one movement that has seen an influx of younger folks is the environmental movement and that is solely due to watershed moments over the past years.

but, have the environmental big wigs ever thought that MAYBE if they gave in to certain ideas the younger generation was fighting for a few years back, these watershed moments would not have happened.

personally, i keep voicing my frustration with the feminism movement or lack thereof. lady clinton thought she had all the female votes on lock down. yes, it is really inspiring to see a woman, with such intellectual vigor, be a legitimate candidate for the white house. however, don't think like a first wave feminist that all women are the same, that we all care for the same issues, bouncing yourself on identity politics. third wave feminists are more nuanced, more splintered in their identities, more holistic in their approaches to female concerns and issues. post-modern feminism is raging.

ironically, all these movements that started in the early sixties and seventies were about breaking down walls. they were about the power of the people, the community, the family. and yet these leaders are now the people my generation wants to topple because power has corrupted the movements, the cause, the multiple visions. newer social justice activists know this and try to make a movement less hierarchical, which is why you don't see one leader. instead there are a sea of them, ready to create a tide for change.

posted by Chai at 10:24 AM | 0 people analyzed.