Dear Dr. Ruth,
Saw your website and was wondering why you switched to an all raw diet. This is ideal but I tend to crave sturdier food in the winter months.
Also, I was wondering what aspects of aging have you accepted. I am 44 and I run at least 5 days a week, though I don’t come even close to the mileage you log. Lately, I’ve noticed a little stiffness and a little knee pain going DOWN stairs. No problem going up. Any insight?
Finally, how do you take care of your skin. Your skin is beautiful!
***
Dear Susan,
Thanks for your very nice email and the opportunity to answer your questions. I went raw because when I first heard about it, it sounded interesting, easy, and made a lot of sense. I decided to try it for 30 days and totally forgot when the 30 days passed. I was convinced — and that was about 8 years ago. It’s so simple and I discovered that I hate to cook! That said, it’s not a religion with me, so if I’m out somewhere and there’s cooked vegan food, I will indulge. But at home there’s not even a working stove, so there aren’t exceptions there.
It’s a nice lifestyle I’ve developed. As far as accepting “aging,” I was asked to write an article on that very subject by Living Nutrition Magazine and just submitted it yesterday. I’ll pass on the unedited submission to you as an attachment. But to answer your question directly, gray hair, bifocals, some sagging of skin on thighs and backs of arms, and hardest of all, a slowing down of my times and distances. Much of this may be due to accidents, however, as doctors have told me, the body never forgets injuries.
As for your knees, you might have injured the cartilage somehow, possibly not turned vegan soon enough (animal proteins are not good as I said in Senior Fitness), or you may have some biomechanical imbalance. You might consider consulting with a physical therapist to see if your quads and hamstrings are strong enough and more importantly, in balance. You even need to be sure the quads (which are really four muscles) are balanced. Have your running form analyzed to see if your gait could be causing problems for your knees.
As for skin care, I don’t use cosmetics or any special procedures. I really believe that a raw vegan, low-fat diet and daily vigorous exercise supplies the skin with all the healthful nutrients it needs.
Again, thanks for asking!
Dr. Ruth
