DJ Ariel Launches Raw Food Consultancy Service (interview)
London based Argentine expat DJ Ariel has published an ebook and launched a new web portal www.nutritionraw.com on which he offers his services as a lifestyle coach for people interesting in switching to a raw food diet.
Writing on the site he explains in detail why he decided to switch entirely to fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, after touring the world relentlessly as one of the most popular international DJs of the 90s.
“In 2004, by the age of 37, this life of late nights and extremes was beginning to take its toll on my body. I felt generally run down and had an increasing number of health issues such as allergies, indigestion, gum disease and widespread joint and back pain. Ear infections regularly lasted for months, making my work virtually impossible,” he recalls.
“Throughout my life I had eaten what I thought to be a healthy balanced diet and I weighed a fairly constant 67 kg (145 lb). I always looked healthy but the older I got the harder it became to keep fit and control my weight, even though I continued to eat the same foods. By 2005 my weight had ballooned to 84 kg (185 lb), and I thought “This is it, I’m never going to look as good as I did in my 20′s”. Culturally we take this physical deterioration for granted as we grow older,” he continued.
Dismissing ‘fad diets’ as well as fine dining (‘look no further than the chef Jamie Oliver, he is in fact technically obese’), Ariel says raw foods took him back to his earlier 67kg.
“Eating the correct raw food diet means you will lose the unhealthy fat you don’t need, while you keep the muscle tissue that you do. This is due to the simple fact that raw fruits and vegetables are high nutrient foods.”
Chatting to Skrufff this week he was even more candid; “Nutrition and Natural Hygiene has been my passion for many years. It has also saved my life,” he said.
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): How mainstream – or not- is this concept these days?
DJ Ariel: “It is more popular now than when I started eight years ago, but there is still a long way to go. There is lots of misinformation out there about raw food and people get confused.
I waited eight years to set up this business because I wanted to study and understand many aspects of health, not just nutrition. It’s not only about food. There is a saying in Natural Hygiene that goes: your health is as strong as your weakest link.”
Skrufff: How about the reported dangers (wiki says: ‘food poisoning is a health risk for all people eating raw foods, and increased demand for raw foods is associated with greater incidence of foodborne illness,[106] especially for raw meat, fish, and shellfish. . . Food poisoning attributed to contaminated raw produce has risen tenfold since the 1970s. Salad, lettuce, juice, melon, sprouts, and berries were most frequently implicated in outbreaks . . ,’)
DJ Ariel: “Firstly let me remind you that I eat and teach a raw vegan diet, which means, it is free of all animal product.
Secondly and regarding food poisoning, the opposite is true. People eating cooked, processed and refined foods are many times more likely to get poisoned than people who eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
I never got any food poisoning in 8 years since eating raw foods but I got food poisoning a few times while eating my previous diet. We can have a lengthy conversation about the origin of disease, so I advise people to subscribe to my mailing list. I will send important information on this and other health issues.
Skrufff: How are you prioritizing between this role and DJing/ music?
They complement each other well because I don’t study or work late at night. It’s also nice to get out and hang out with people. I have been playing mostly London clubs since I began studying because it allows me to get up and carry on with my work the next day.
Ariel’s online story in full: (http://www.nutritionraw.com/coaching.php )
Jonty Skrufff: https://twitter.com/djjontyskrufff
