Let's Talk Blenders

If you're going to eat raw, you're going to need three appliances: a high-speed blender, a food processor and a dehydrator.

You need a blender to turn your vegetables, especially greens, into soup, to turn nuts into cheese, and to make smoothies (which are a whole lot better when you use fruit so I make those for the kids and myself).

In the world of raw, there are only two blenders worth considering: Vitamix and Blendtec (formerly known by the company name K-TEC). Vitamix is without a doubt the more popular. Anyone who knows blenders, knows Vitamix. And it looks really good. The company has many celebrities endorsing it and offers a free 30-day trial. That was tempting, but I ordered the Blendtec anyway.

Reason #1: Money. The Blendtec is cheaper. I got the newest model online for $350 with free shipping and no sales tax from Harvest Essentials. It arrived in seven days. The cheapest Vitamix model costs $450.

Reason #2: Height. The Blendtec is shorter - 15 inches compared to 19 inches. That makes it easier to use for those of us who stand at 5'4" or lower. Also, the standard kitchen cupboard starts at 18 inches above the countertop. That means a Blendtec blender will fit on the counter underneath a cupboard, but a Vitamix won't.

Reason #3: POWER! The Blendtec has a 3-horsepower motor. It can blend a cell phone to dust if that's your thing. Practically speaking, it can grind dry beans and grains to a fine powder. To do that in the 2-horsepower Vitamix, you need to buy an additional "dry blade" for about $100.

Not Just Any Raw Will Do

If you want to go raw, there are hundreds of fabulous cookbooks filled with delicious recipes. And the internet, of course, is overflowing with recipes and websites and videos devoted to the preparation of food in the raw. But if you want to go raw the diabetes way - on a low-glycemic therapeutic diet - your options are extremely limited. There is, as far as I know, just one cookbook - "Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine" by Gabriel Cousens, MD, founder of the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center.

You see, according to Cousens' program, my husband can eat green vegetables; sea vegetables; non-sweet fruits: tomato, cucumber, avocado, red bell pepper, lemon and lime; most oils, seeds and nuts; a few cultured foods; apple cider vinegar; sprouted lentils and mung beans; all herbs and spices; and caffeine-free herbal tea (not that he would drink tea, caffeine or no).

He cannot eat meat, dairy, eggs, grains, soy, corn, mushrooms, sugar, alcohol, coffee, caffeine, most fruits or sweet vegetables such as carrots, beets, hard squash, yams, potatoes, parsnips, and so on.

Over time (read: months and years) certain foods, including grains, are added back in. But I've been too busy preparing enough raw food each day to read that far ahead in Cousens' book "There is a Cure for Diabetes" which explains the program in detail.

The Movie That Rocked My Kitchen

We just watched the most amazing DVD: "Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days." The documentary follows six people who travel to the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona for 30 days. There, they follow a strict diet consisting of only nuts, seeds and vegetables. During the month, all six people stopped or drastically reduced their insulin. Their blood sugars and blood pressures normalized. And their total cholesterols dropped by as much as 60 points. One person, who started the month taking 19 medications, didn't need any of them by the end. Oh, and they each lost 20 to 30 pounds, except for one man who started at a healthy weight. He gained two pounds of muscle.

My husband was diagnosed with diabetes in 1992. He has all of the problems we saw in the movie: high blood sugars, borderline high blood pressure, borderline high cholesterol, excess weight. His health history includes a heart attack and a double bypass heart operation. Over the years, he has tried many diets to bring his body into balance - Atkins, Ayurvedic, Genotype and so on. None worked. This one made sense to both of us. We dove in headfirst.