Nature's First Law
Review by Peter Brandt
Last Updated: 03 Dec 96
A plug for a new book "Nature's First Law: The Raw-Food Diet" by Arlin,
Dini & Wolfe, who all reside in San Diego, caused a little stir on this
list not so long ago. Well, I have read the book, and I would not
recommend it, though it does have a few good points and a couple of
interesting references to some studies on raw foods I have not come
across before (and a photograph on the front cover of the 3 authors
foraging naked in a large avocado tree :-)). I find the tone of the
book somewhat preachy and condescending - each of the 40 chapters ends
with the sentence "cooked food is poison" - and without much advice on
how to transition to or maintain a raw foods diet. The book recommends
eating a vegan, whole food mono diet according to the seasons and that
fruit be between 50 and 95% of the diet depending on the climate. For
northern races they recommend small amounts of raw meat as a
transitional food. The authors seem oblivious to the fact that only
very few people seem to be able to sustain themselves on such a diet
for very long and that they themselves have only been on it for a
relatively short time. The confrontational, hard-sell style of the book
is a throw-back to the old fundamentalistic/naturalistic type books on
fruitarianism and natural hygeine and seems very outdated. No place is
left for doubting that a 100% raw vegan, fruit-based diet is for
everyone. I guess if anybody fails with this program, it is either
because they had not freed themselves enough from old habits &
programming and still have some doubt left, or because they did not
want it bad enough, and not because the diet needed some adjusting. If
these guys want to be taking seriously, they will have to wake up to
reality and learn a little humility. Books like this help give raw
foods a bad name. Anyhow, judge for yourself. They have a website,
which I for some reason have not yet been able to access:
http://www.io-online.com/~nature.
I hope Brian Clement fares better with his new book. Is it out yet, and
if so has anybody read it?
Best regards, Peter
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