One headline suggests that drinking wine can fight diabetes and the next says alcohol causes cancer; another headline says coffee is great for your health and then another tells you that it is not.
What about high fat diets, or low fat, or Paleo? Do you choose to eat plant based or animal products? What about taking supplements? Does it sound all too familiar?
Contradicting information is coming from everywhere, all the time, and most people are confused. I don’t blame them.
The worst thing you can do, however, is to think you have no power over the progress and state of your health because the opposite is true. My life story, like those of many other people out there in this world, only serves to prove that.
I never had time to wonder about conflicting health data in the past because I was too involved in the music business. I thought: well, medicine will deal with my problems when they happen, right? And sadly, this is how most people tend to think.
Well, eventually health problems did come, and I’ve developed a long range of diseases that were crippling my body, such as peripheral neuropathy, arteriosclerosis, severe gum disease, widespread joint and back pain, and ear infections that would last for months at the time, to name just a few.
In my late 30s, I did something remarkable in order to deal with my diseases. I chose not to rely on medicine’s methods to merely treat symptoms with drugs but instead to attack the root causes of my problems: diet and lifestyle.
Learning these new skills wasn’t that straight forward though. It took me 5 years of studying natural health and reading over 400 books; in fact, my library of health books exceeds 9,000 titles.
And in case you ask, as many people do these days, ‘what is natural health?’ To answer that question: natural health is essentially “self-care”; as oppose to “disease-care”, which is what medicine is.
As a result of putting all the various natural health recommendations I learned throughout the years into practice, not only have I managed to overcome ALL of my health issues without medicine, but I did something even more remarkable: thanks in part to my health guidance, my mother overcame cancer.
Whom should you trust with health advice is an important issue, and since I’ve been “independently” studying health sciences for many years, I believe I am in a position to give you unbiased, useful information:
– Should you trust someone simply because they are a medical doctor?
Had I followed the doctors advice, and treated my symptoms with drugs, I‘d probably be dead today.
Much of modern medicine is based on the use of drugs to eradicate symptoms, but not heal or eliminate the cause of the disease. Practicing medicine is fighting fire by dissembling the smoke alarm.
I believe it’s important to listen to your doctor because they have a lot of experience spotting signs, but when it comes to taking action, I’d rather choose to correct the cause of diseases, which in most cases is diet and lifestyle.
Having said that, I should clarify that I am not strictly anti-medicine. I believe that natural healthcare means, in essence, being able to make well informed and intelligent decisions that may or may not include the use of drugs.
What about following the “qualified” advice of dieticians, you may ask? I always giggle when I hear the word “qualified”. Qualified by whom, may I ask? Certainly not Mother Nature.
The global food industry is a multi-trillion dollar business; so powerful that their lobbies and interests affect the food and health policies of every government in the world. They also conduct and fund most of the research done on food, and are responsible for creating all the conventional nutritional courses.
In other words, your average dietician and nutritionist attended courses that were designed and approved by the mainstream food industry at large, so don’t expect for them to approve the idea of eating a raw food diet anytime soon.
– Should you trust scientific studies?
Corporations pushing processed foods will always have more money to lobby congress with than regular people and the scientists promoting whole foods. The system is flawed due to the effect of money in politics.
I wouldn’t dare make any decision about my health based merely on “scientific” studies, unless those studies are in accordance with natural laws and whose sources I trust.
In case you wonder, by “natural laws” I mean the scientific principles found in nature related to the preservation and restoration of health.
– Should you trust someone’s health advice because they look healthy?
Believe it or not, there are tons of people out there in our society that follow someone’s health advice because they merely look healthy, and they think they will achieve the same physiology as their “heroes” should they follow the same theories without understanding we each have different genes and look different.
Some people are born with extraordinarily good looks and some choose to exploit those looks for profit gain by promoting a diet they may or may not believe in or follow.
Similar things can be said about the many pretty faced chefs out there, starting food empires by promoting the standard western diet that so often gives you cancer and a plethora of other diseases.
– Should you trust someone who calls him or herself “an expert”?
I was watching a news channel the other day when they interviewed a person who called herself a drug addiction “expert”. She admitted to never trying the drugs she was discussing and she only holds a university title.
While looking at this person, I started giggling, as you can imagine. How can someone be an expert on cocaine if they have never tried the drug themselves? This summarized the stupidity of that world we currently live in.
I could never call myself an “expert” when it comes to matters of health; I consider Mother Nature to be the only true expert, while some of us are merely students of natural laws.
– Should you trust celebrities or people with large followers on social media?
We live in a world where most people are so ignorant and blinded by the cheap celebrity culture that dominates the media that I guarantee the people at the top of the fame game are often the least qualified to give reliable health information.
When I started researching the raw food diet, back in 2005; the most famous celebrity in the entire raw food movement -a person whose name I dare not mention, and someone I consider to be a clever con artist- was selling half-truth theories to the masses; they still very popular to this day. I bought some of his books at the time only to sell them straight back, as they were full of nonsense.
The most quality natural health information I managed to obtain over the years came in fact, from the literature works of dead people without social media followings or YouTube Channels.
Conclusion
Whom should I trust with health information then?
After reading my article so far, you may be wondering if there is still hope to be found, but I believe you’ll find the answers you are looking for when you connect with your instincts and pay attention to anyone or any science that speaks plain common sense. It’s as simple as that.
Have you ever wondered how wild animals distinguish between edible food and inedible? They don’t have the so-called “dieticians” in white coats within their ranks to tell them what foods to eat; they choose their foods according to their senses and their instincts.
Have you also noticed how wild animals don’t get fat? In fact, the only animals in the entire planet that get fat are humans and the pets we feed, such as dogs and cats. Can you spot a pattern there?
One of my readers sent me a message a while back: “Ariel, not everyone appears to have had such a smooth and quick transition to raw foods as you apparently have…many of us struggle…”
It’s a good point and should I ask: Who are you listening to? Who is your teacher? How do you get your health information?

Herbert M Shelton
One of my many teachers is Herbert M Shelton (1895 – 1985). He was modern founder of the Orthopathy science and has dedicated most of his life to running a fasting institute in Texas, USA, which has helped many thousands of people overcome disease through fasting and diet.
He has also published over 40 books that serve as a cornerstone of the Natural Hygiene (Orthopathy) science we teach today. During his life and thereafter, Shelton has had a huge number of followers, including Mahatma Gandhi himself, who looked solely to Shelton for advice on fasting.
I must point out that Shelton alone did not create the science of Natural Hygiene. His work also included the compilation of extensive literature that preceded him and reflected the work of those early “Hygienist” pioneers; medical men who became disillusioned with medical practices and decided to leave a legacy in the form of writings.
The work of Shelton, as well as the work of many of his contemporaries and the various health mentors that have guided me over the years, such as Allen Carr, Doug Graham, T.C Fry, T. Colin Campbell, Neil Bernard, John Robbins, and Jeff Novick, to name a few, all had one thing in common: they all spoke easy to understand simple truths and common sense.
I should clarify that sometimes, I don’t 100% agree with some of my teacher’s views, but that’s OK. It’s imperative that we think for ourselves, listen to our own bodies and make the most intelligent decision, at any given time.
It’s also important to remember that Nature does not complicate things. It is the world of commerce and man’s own pursuit of greed, that make things confusing.
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Excellent article, Ariel – and very well presented. I totally agree with you!
God bless you for sharing your heart, your thoughts, and the TRUTH!
~Pam Bristow
Thanks Pam, more power to you
That is one of the best articles I have read in a while. I am enjoying your new series very much. God bless.
Elle
I am very interested in your program but want to know if you have any of your books in print version.
I often do not have access to the internet,
sincerely,
Elinor
P.S. I am already subscribed to your newsletter
Very soon it’ll be a physical version available. Make sure you sign up to our email list to find out. Thank you
Hello Ariel,
This is sooooo true! When I started to eat raw food more than 6 years ago, I read a lot of books on this topic. I saw many opposite ideas and I was totally lost not knowing who to believe. I started to follow advices of one author, but the food he suggested was so full of nuts and seeds that I started to have liver pain. Then, I started to follow my own insight by looking how monkeys feed themselves in nature. I started to feel so much energy in my body that I could sleep only 5 hours a day. During the day, I never felt tired until last year when I overpass my limits in a particular situation. I had not been able to recover my previous evergy level ever since.
I want to say to people who are new with raw food diet, that it is important to follow advices from someone like Ariel who had been able to overpass his health problems.
I have a friend who has been a type 2 diabetic for several years. He injects on average 42 units of insulin spread throughout the day. To help him improve his situation, his doctor ( a specialist) recommended that he eat a slice of white bread topped with peanut butter and a large glass of milk before bed. No need to tell you that he has never seen his condition improve! As Ariel said, pay attention to specialist advise! His advice shows how he doesn’t understand human body at all.
He came to see me to help him eliminate diabetes. I recommended that he go to a more experienced person than me, but he insisted. So, I told him what to eat. He was very worried about eating a lot of fruits, but he still followed my advice. Two weeks later, the amount of insulin used each day decreased to 9 units. Now, some days he doesn’t have to use insulin at all. He is not done yet with his issue, but he is on the way. Moreover, he lost his big belly and he look very handsome! He is so encouraged!
If you are new with raw food, it is a good idea to start with an experienced person. You won’t make all the mistakes I made at the beginning.
Another point.
If you want to read by yourself how works the so called Healing System, please read the book: The China Study written by T. Colin Campbell. You will understand what Ariel said about Food industry and researches.
As we say in good French if you read that book « Tie your tuque with spindle because this information dishevels! » You will fell off your chair!
Hi Ariel..
Great article! As a natural juice therapist, I very much agree with this approach to health. But may I be cheeky? Who is the person you ‘dare’ not mention, that his books are full of nonsense!? ?
Fantastic article and so true word-for-word.
I am so thankful that there are guys like you with a REAL testimony of what fantastic benefits there are by living on a plant based lifestyle. I am not a RAW-tarian but I do implement more raw food in my vegan diet than before and the benefits are amazing
you are such a good writer. Every article you post is worth reading. kudos!
I loved your article so much I shared it on Facebook, it sums up what I have learned during my research throughout the years, in 2000 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, got operated and was on meds for 7 years until I fasted and repaired my gland in the brain that doctors told me couldn’t be repaired… Thanks, Ariel, very well written!
Thank you