RawandJuicy.com - Curing Disease Naturally With Raw Food

MEET CECELIA BENJUMEA

Just Imagine...

At twenty-four, I had given up on the ideal that I would have a happy or healthy life. I figured that I would never get married or even have a boyfriend again and that I would be extremely lucky just to be able to have enough energy to keep a full time job to support myself. Since the age of twenty-two I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for lack of a better name. I was tired all the time. I would drag myself to my college classes and then come home and sleep. I didn’t work or have a social life. I was lucky if I had enough energy to do my homework on the weekends. Reoccurring bladder and yeast infections that seemed to never go away plagued me. Colds and sinus infections were a part of life, and my asthma was at its all time worse. I would use my inhaler up to five times a day. My menstrual cycles were sporadic; sometimes I would only get my period once every three to six months. My digestion was extremely weak. After eating something I would become so tired that I would need to lie down for a few hours, not to mention the horrible embarrassing gas. I was also very depressed. My mother committed suicide when I was a teenager and everyday I cried and relived the horrible pain I felt when she left. I also mourned for the person I used to be. I used to play soccer and dance in a student flamenco company. I remember crying because I wanted to go dancing with some people from school but I was shaking and too tired to make it out the door. Alone, weak, depressed, and hopeless were the adjectives that described me.

Perhaps the roots of my illness stemmed from childhood. Since seven years old I had taken at least one kind of asthma medication everyday of my life. I had up to three types of inhalers for my mouth, one for my nose, and I was subscribed up to three types of pills to take on a daily basis to control my breathing. I remember always being sick in elementary school. Some of the kids in my fifth grade class made up the nickname, sickie, for me. After my mother died, right after I graduated high school, I began eating away the pain of her death and I gained at least twenty pounds. At my heaviest I was 150 pounds and a size fourteen. I ate anything thing I wanted but my favorites were ice cream, yogurt, pasta, rice, cheese, and seafood. Then at twenty, I started working with young children and I became sick a lot more often. Often the doctors would prescribe me antibiotics and I took them willingly not knowing the side effects. At twenty-one I started dating an alcoholic and started to develop bladder infections; I remember going to the emergency room urinating blood. The doctors would prescribe me stronger and stronger antibiotics each time they occurred. I also developed a chronic vaginal yeast infection that was misdiagnosed so I was given even more antibiotics. Finally one day I couldn’t get out of bed. I tried to stand up but my legs would shake from under me. I didn’t know what was happening, I was so scared. My voice became week and I couldn’t stand up for more than a short period at a time. My whole life changed from that moment on. I had to quit my job at the preschool, which I absolutely loved. My boyfriend at the time left me. I had to quit my passion, flamenco dance, because I didn’t have enough energy and the area around my vagina and bladder burned all the time. With my mother gone and no one left to take care of me I never had felt so alone and scared. I no longer could depend on even myself.

When I first became ill with chronic fatigue I was under the impression that a doctor would be able to prescribe me something that would make it all better. One doctor prescribed me a small dose of antibiotics that I could take everyday. Another doctor gave me an anti-fungal pill that did nothing. I even tried the over the counter yeast suppositories and creams that just irritated me even more. But most doctors told me it was in my head and suggested I see a counselor. I took their advice and went to counseling consecutively for four years. Even though all the health problems I was having weren’t in my head, the counseling gave me extra support as I was struggling with my chronic fatigue and depression. After giving up on the medical profession, I turned to alternative medicine. This time I was under the impression that all I had to do was take the right herb or get the right bodywork done and I would be healed. I tried acupuncture, herbs, energy healing work, meditation, network chiropractic, colonics, and homeopathy. They might’ve alleviated my symptoms for a little while but none really made a dramatic difference. When supplements didn’t work I tried to change my diet. I started to follow the anti candida diet which prohibited fruits and recommended meat and eggs. I followed the diet strictly for six months and I ended up more exhausted than when I started. Luckily though, it got me into the habit of not eating refined sugar, wheat, or dairy. Through the anti-candida diet I learned the principles of proper food combining and the importance of probiotics, vegetables, and sea vegetables. Even though the anti-candida diet didn’t work, it laid out for me some of the basics of eating well.

After trying what seemed like almost everything to get better, I thought that I would have to live with my condition for the rest of my life. When one of my friends told me about a friend of his who had chronic fatigue and was greatly helped by the raw diet, I thought why not? I’ve tried everything else. He simply told me to do a search on the Internet for raw foods and see what I come up with. At the time I had no ideal that his advice would change my life.

When I did a search on the Internet I discovered a site called rawfoods.com. On the site there was a bulletin board where people talked about the raw vegan diet and lifestyle. I asked many questions and then I went to a health food store and bought a few a raw food recipe books. I started my journey with a lemonade fast called the master cleanse for nine days and then I started the raw food diet on Jan. 13, 2002 and have been raw ever since. The first few days on the lemonade fast I felt like I had more energy than I had had in three years. I attributed it to the power of the raw lemon juice and I wondered if eating raw fruits and vegetables would have the same affect. When I began eating only raw organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. I felt an immediate change. I felt energy begin to come surging back into me. I literally felt that the life force energy of the food I was eating was being transferred to my cells. It was an incredible feeling and for the first time in a long time I felt hope and excitement that I could get better. Then things started happening really fast. I started writing poetry to record my journey and all the things that were happening to me. I started feeling lighter and brighter. I felt more in tune and connected to nature. I started becoming more perceptive and my dreams became more colorful and vivid. In about four months I no longer needed to use my asthma inhaler and my asthma symptoms have never come back. In about 8 months I lost twenty pounds and went down to 115 pounds and a size 6. The acne on my arms and back started disappearing. At about 10 months my menstrual cycle started to come in fairly regular cycles. At about a year raw my energy levels shot up. At about a year and four months raw I rarely feel any irritation in my vaginal area. Throughout this whole process my digestion continually improved and my depression continued to lift.

Because of all the changes I was going through, I started wanting to meet new people and to socialize more. I hadn’t dated in three years and for the first time in a long time I thought I actually might enjoy some male companionship. With a little courage I contacted someone on the rawfoods.com personals. About a month later we met and to my surprise he was a gentle loving soul who’s main goal in life is to educate people about raw foods. I met him when I was about four months raw and we have been together ever since. Because my boyfriend is very active in the raw community I have had so many wonderful opportunities to interact with other raw foodists. Some of the highlights have been helping Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet, at a health festival or eating raw food at a party at Juliano’s house. I have had so many opportunities to meet other raw foodists at potlucks and raw food festivals and try wonderful raw food restaurants throughout the United States. My partner and I continually support each other in our health and in our dreams and we both have a passion for educating the world about the simple power of raw foods.

I went from a lonely, sick, and depressed girl to a vibrant, radiant, person with a wonderful life. I just moved to a beautiful rural area and look forward to teaching a raw cooking class for children. My goal is that every child will eat at least nine servings of fruits and vegetables everyday. If my mother knew that my asthma would disappear with the raw diet I know she would’ve done what was best for me. I am so grateful to the rawfoods.com website for letting me know about this wonderful diet and I’m grateful to my boyfriend for being so loving and supportive as I struggled with my health challenges. I feel that everyday I get healthier and happier. When I look in the mirror I think how beautiful I look, even without makeup. I always struggled with my weight but now I weigh less than I did in high school. I’m so excited about the future and raising a beautiful raw family. I plan to get seriously back into flamenco dance now that I have the energy for it. I feel like I’m a raw food Cinderella story and that miracles can happen. They may not happen overnight but they will happen. The rewards of changing to the raw food lifestyle is worth any struggles you might face. I never thought that I’d be writing this amazing success story because a year and four months ago I was a different person with a different life. The living foods lifestyle has changed every single aspect of my life. Just imagine what it might do for you . . .

To return to REAL LIFE RAW FOOD TESTIMONIALS main page click here.

MEET SHELLY - Meet the owner of RawandJuicy.com and find out how she reversed her LGS (Leaky Gut Syndrome), Fibromyalgia, insomnia, migraines, and chronic sinusitis with a raw foods diet and other natural steps.



	MEET CECELIA BENJUMEA Just Imagine... At twenty-four, I had given up on the ideal that I would have a happy or healthy life. I figured that I would never get married or even have a boyfriend again and that I would be extremely lucky just to be able to have enough energy to keep a full time job to support myself. Since the age of twenty-two I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for lack of a better name. I was tired all the time. I would drag myself to my college classes and then come home and sleep. I didn’t work or have a social life. I was lucky if I had enough energy to do my homework on the weekends. Reoccurring bladder and yeast infections that seemed to never go away plagued me. Colds and sinus infections were a part of life, and my asthma was at its all time worse. I would use my inhaler up to five times a day. My menstrual cycles were sporadic; sometimes I would only get my period once every three to six months. My digestion was extremely weak. After eating something I would become so tired that I would need to lie down for a few hours, not to mention the horrible embarrassing gas. I was also very depressed. My mother committed suicide when I was a teenager and everyday I cried and relived the horrible pain I felt when she left. I also mourned for the person I used to be. I used to play soccer and dance in a student flamenco company. I remember crying because I wanted to go dancing with some people from school but I was shaking and too tired to make it out the door. Alone, weak, depressed, and hopeless were the adjectives that described me. Perhaps the roots of my illness stemmed from childhood. Since seven years old I had taken at least one kind of asthma medication everyday of my life. I had up to three types of inhalers for my mouth, one for my nose, and I was subscribed up to three types of pills to take on a daily basis to control my breathing. I remember always being sick in elementary school. Some of the kids in my fifth grade class made up the nickname, sickie, for me. After my mother died, right after I graduated high school, I began eating away the pain of her death and I gained at least twenty pounds. At my heaviest I was 150 pounds and a size fourteen. I ate anything thing I wanted but my favorites were ice cream, yogurt, pasta, rice, cheese, and seafood. Then at twenty, I started working with young children and I became sick a lot more often. Often the doctors would prescribe me antibiotics and I took them willingly not knowing the side effects. At twenty-one I started dating an alcoholic and started to develop bladder infections; I remember going to the emergency room urinating blood. The doctors would prescribe me stronger and stronger antibiotics each time they occurred. I also developed a chronic vaginal yeast infection that was misdiagnosed so I was given even more antibiotics. Finally one day I couldn’t get out of bed. I tried to stand up but my legs would shake from under me. I didn’t know what was happening, I was so scared. My voice became week and I couldn’t stand up for more than a short period at a time. My whole life changed from that moment on. I had to quit my job at the preschool, which I absolutely loved. My boyfriend at the time left me. I had to quit my passion, flamenco dance, because I didn’t have enough energy and the area around my vagina and bladder burned all the time. With my mother gone and no one left to take care of me I never had felt so alone and scared. I no longer could depend on even myself. When I first became ill with chronic fatigue I was under the impression that a doctor would be able to prescribe me something that would make it all better. One doctor prescribed me a small dose of antibiotics that I could take everyday. Another doctor gave me an anti-fungal pill that did nothing. I even tried the over the counter yeast suppositories and creams that just irritated me even more. But most doctors told me it was in my head and suggested I see a counselor. I took their advice and went to counseling consecutively for four years. Even though all the health problems I was having weren’t in my head, the counseling gave me extra support as I was struggling with my chronic fatigue and depression. After giving up on the medical profession, I turned to alternative medicine. This time I was under the impression that all I had to do was take the right herb or get the right bodywork done and I would be healed. I tried acupuncture, herbs, energy healing work, meditation, network chiropractic, colonics, and homeopathy. They might’ve alleviated my symptoms for a little while but none really made a dramatic difference. When supplements didn’t work I tried to change my diet. I started to follow the anti candida diet which prohibited fruits and recommended meat and eggs. I followed the diet strictly for six months and I ended up more exhausted than when I started. Luckily though, it got me into the habit of not eating refined sugar, wheat, or dairy. Through the anti-candida diet I learned the principles of proper food combining and the importance of probiotics, vegetables, and sea vegetables. Even though the anti-candida diet didn’t work, it laid out for me some of the basics of eating well. After trying what seemed like almost everything to get better, I thought that I would have to live with my condition for the rest of my life. When one of my friends told me about a friend of his who had chronic fatigue and was greatly helped by the raw diet, I thought why not? I’ve tried everything else. He simply told me to do a search on the Internet for raw foods and see what I come up with. At the time I had no ideal that his advice would change my life. When I did a search on the Internet I discovered a site called rawfoods.com. On the site there was a bulletin board where people talked about the raw vegan diet and lifestyle. I asked many questions and then I went to a health food store and bought a few a raw food recipe books. I started my journey with a lemonade fast called the master cleanse for nine days and then I started the raw food diet on Jan. 13, 2002 and have been raw ever since. The first few days on the lemonade fast I felt like I had more energy than I had had in three years. I attributed it to the power of the raw lemon juice and I wondered if eating raw fruits and vegetables would have the same affect. When I began eating only raw organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. I felt an immediate change. I felt energy begin to come surging back into me. I literally felt that the life force energy of the food I was eating was being transferred to my cells. It was an incredible feeling and for the first time in a long time I felt hope and excitement that I could get better. Then things started happening really fast. I started writing poetry to record my journey and all the things that were happening to me. I started feeling lighter and brighter. I felt more in tune and connected to nature. I started becoming more perceptive and my dreams became more colorful and vivid. In about four months I no longer needed to use my asthma inhaler and my asthma symptoms have never come back. In about 8 months I lost twenty pounds and went down to 115 pounds and a size 6. The acne on my arms and back started disappearing. At about 10 months my menstrual cycle started to come in fairly regular cycles. At about a year raw my energy levels shot up. At about a year and four months raw I rarely feel any irritation in my vaginal area. Throughout this whole process my digestion continually improved and my depression continued to lift. Because of all the changes I was going through, I started wanting to meet new people and to socialize more. I hadn’t dated in three years and for the first time in a long time I thought I actually might enjoy some male companionship. With a little courage I contacted someone on the rawfoods.com personals. About a month later we met and to my surprise he was a gentle loving soul who’s main goal in life is to educate people about raw foods. I met him when I was about four months raw and we have been together ever since. Because my boyfriend is very active in the raw community I have had so many wonderful opportunities to interact with other raw foodists. Some of the highlights have been helping Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet, at a health festival or eating raw food at a party at Juliano’s house. I have had so many opportunities to meet other raw foodists at potlucks and raw food festivals and try wonderful raw food restaurants throughout the United States. My partner and I continually support each other in our health and in our dreams and we both have a passion for educating the world about the simple power of raw foods. I went from a lonely, sick, and depressed girl to a vibrant, radiant, person with a wonderful life. I just moved to a beautiful rural area and look forward to teaching a raw cooking class for children. My goal is that every child will eat at least nine servings of fruits and vegetables everyday. If my mother knew that my asthma would disappear with the raw diet I know she would’ve done what was best for me. I am so grateful to the rawfoods.com website for letting me know about this wonderful diet and I’m grateful to my boyfriend for being so loving and supportive as I struggled with my health challenges. I feel that everyday I get healthier and happier. When I look in the mirror I think how beautiful I look, even without makeup. I always struggled with my weight but now I weigh less than I did in high school. I’m so excited about the future and raising a beautiful raw family. I plan to get seriously back into flamenco dance now that I have the energy for it. I feel like I’m a raw food Cinderella story and that miracles can happen. They may not happen overnight but they will happen. The rewards of changing to the raw food lifestyle is worth any struggles you might face. I never thought that I’d be writing this amazing success story because a year and four months ago I was a different person with a different life. The living foods lifestyle has changed every single aspect of my life. Just imagine what it might do for you . . . To return to REAL LIFE RAW FOOD TESTIMONIALS main page click here. MEET SHELLY - Meet the owner of RawandJuicy.com and find out how she reversed her LGS (Leaky Gut Syndrome), Fibromyalgia, insomnia, migraines, and chronic sinusitis with a raw foods diet and other natural steps.
RawandJuicy.Com © 2003 \| Privacy Policy \| Terms of Use