Edible rubies (summer of 2015)
In the childhood, my inherited or acquired atopic diathesis manifested itself in the form of severe eczema. Although the condition did not seem to get worse with what my mother consumed while breastfeeding or what I consumed when I could ingest solid food, there was one food that made my baby face look like destroyed field of red tulips – strawberries. In the summer, countless hours spent outside in the countryside, fresh cow milk, cherry plums, up to ten varieties of apples, Jerusalem artichoke, raspberries offered only a slight and temperate improvement. Once the fall hit, the city life deepened the condition to the level that the face looked like one raw wound with constant seepage of watery fluid (serum).To the God’s mercy, it all lasted only until two years of age, the end was similar to the end of a rain – fast and unexpected.
However, when I was sixteen years old atopic diathesis showed its presence again in the form of extreme sensitivity and inflammation when skin was exposed to cold and hot temperatures. This condition marked the very beginning of my journey to a raw food lifestyle, however I would realize that only five years later. Although I ate very little junk food during those dark times I was old enough and I guess lucky enough to understand that the root cause of atopic diathesis or predisposition to inflammatory skin diseases lies in my diet. I eliminated all processed food – granola bars, “healthy” cookies, candies and sausages. For the next five years my diet consisted of oatmeal, buckwheat, brown rice, steam-cooked chicken, nut butters, fruits, vegetables and occasionally eggs and cheese. I did not care about food combining – fats, carbohydrates and proteins always were inseparable friends in my mouth at that time.
In spring of 2012 when I was 21 years old I stumbled across the fact that it is possible to eat exclusively raw food and some individuals follow this so called raw food diet. At the beginning, I found this way of life to be very extreme and could not imagine myself going that far. Nevertheless, not even a month passed since my little introduction to the raw food world when I came across a video of the famous raw food pioneer. Her appearance contradicted her age so much that I decided to try eating only raw fruits, vegetables and nuts just for a few days. However, those few days are continuing up to these days…
* atopic diathesis – predisposition to inflammation, itching, dry skin and exudation