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Earl Chong's life-giving diet
published: Sunday | December 4, 2005
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- Photos by Carlington Wilmot/Freelance Photographer
Twelve years ago, Earl Chang (left) was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Today he is disease free.
Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
JAMAICAN EARL CHONG will be 66 on his next birthday in 2006. But, according to the records of doctors both here and in Miami, he should have been dead long ago. He should have died and been buried twelve years ago.
The death certificate for this man was all but written in 1994 when he was diagnosed with cancer of the throat and then cancer of the prostate at age 53.
One year before Chong received this appalling diagnosis, another man, 53-year-old Earl Findlay also woke up to the realisation that his life was at risk.
This man was 280 pounds and heading for a heart attack, he felt.
Findlay and Chong both would have almost certainly been dead today, they say, had they not experienced the miracle that changing their diet could bring.
According to Chong, god healed him from cancer and also directed him to radically change his diet after an initial juice fast which left him a new man.
Findlay himself made the decision to become a vegetarian and, since doing so, has become a convert of Earl Chong who is the owner of Earl's Juice Garden restaurants and health food stores in Kingston.
On the day we visited the Juice Garden on Derrymore Road, Earl Findlay <span style="font-weight: bold">had his favourite lunch of steamed lettuce, seaweed and bulgar.</span> For breakfast, he said, he had a 'raw' meal of split peas in Soya milk, mixed with flaxseed and oats.
According to Findlay, dinner would be couscous, bulgar and steamed lettuce, with some tofu in garlic sauce. Added to this diet was the 16 ounces of 'green juice' which he has everyday.
All of this he does, following the counsel of Earl Chong who is the apostle of raw food in Kingston. Findlay is one among followers who number in the dozens.
The beginning
Chong recalls how it all began: After three months at Baptist Hospital in Miami, getting treatment for cancer of the throat, he was told that the cancer had spread to his chest.
"I came home ready to die," Chong recalls. But, he prayed and said he was healed, only to be diagnosed with cancer of the prostate three months later.
This time, he went on a strict juice fast for ten days, after which most of the symptoms went away. The drink was carrot, barley green and callaloo.
The day the doctors declared him free of cancer was the start of a whole new life for him. For others, it has meant a new movement which has also given them a new lease on life.
Earl Findlay, who now weighs 180 pounds, and runs five miles every morning, admits that he has not been able to convert his family to his way of living. But, he has become adept at cooking his meals himself.
According to Chong, he believes in whole foods eaten mostly raw. The body can heal itself with the right inputs, he explains.
Eight hours to digest
One of the secrets of his diet, he says, is that cooked food takes at least eight hours to digest, blocking the digestive system. When every meal consists of cooked food, the system struggles with this burden day after day. Meat, itself, he adds, takes 72 hours to digest.
Raw foods such as fruits and vegetables, however, exit the system in four hours or much less time.
Never eat cooked food without a significant amount of raw food to go with it, Earl Chong advises. He also counsels that certain foods and fruits should not be mixed, as some are acidic and some are alkaline.
He also states that green plants are a better source of protein than meats, making the point that we need much less protein than is generally believed. The proportion of protein in the diet, which is necessary, is four per cent he asserts.
Finally, he states that in nature, herb-eating animals like the elephant are much stronger than meat-eating ones. Man should follow their example, he believes.
published: Sunday | December 4, 2005
<
- Photos by Carlington Wilmot/Freelance Photographer
Twelve years ago, Earl Chang (left) was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Today he is disease free.
Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
JAMAICAN EARL CHONG will be 66 on his next birthday in 2006. But, according to the records of doctors both here and in Miami, he should have been dead long ago. He should have died and been buried twelve years ago.
The death certificate for this man was all but written in 1994 when he was diagnosed with cancer of the throat and then cancer of the prostate at age 53.
One year before Chong received this appalling diagnosis, another man, 53-year-old Earl Findlay also woke up to the realisation that his life was at risk.
This man was 280 pounds and heading for a heart attack, he felt.
Findlay and Chong both would have almost certainly been dead today, they say, had they not experienced the miracle that changing their diet could bring.
According to Chong, god healed him from cancer and also directed him to radically change his diet after an initial juice fast which left him a new man.
Findlay himself made the decision to become a vegetarian and, since doing so, has become a convert of Earl Chong who is the owner of Earl's Juice Garden restaurants and health food stores in Kingston.
On the day we visited the Juice Garden on Derrymore Road, Earl Findlay <span style="font-weight: bold">had his favourite lunch of steamed lettuce, seaweed and bulgar.</span> For breakfast, he said, he had a 'raw' meal of split peas in Soya milk, mixed with flaxseed and oats.
According to Findlay, dinner would be couscous, bulgar and steamed lettuce, with some tofu in garlic sauce. Added to this diet was the 16 ounces of 'green juice' which he has everyday.
All of this he does, following the counsel of Earl Chong who is the apostle of raw food in Kingston. Findlay is one among followers who number in the dozens.
The beginning
Chong recalls how it all began: After three months at Baptist Hospital in Miami, getting treatment for cancer of the throat, he was told that the cancer had spread to his chest.
"I came home ready to die," Chong recalls. But, he prayed and said he was healed, only to be diagnosed with cancer of the prostate three months later.
This time, he went on a strict juice fast for ten days, after which most of the symptoms went away. The drink was carrot, barley green and callaloo.
The day the doctors declared him free of cancer was the start of a whole new life for him. For others, it has meant a new movement which has also given them a new lease on life.
Earl Findlay, who now weighs 180 pounds, and runs five miles every morning, admits that he has not been able to convert his family to his way of living. But, he has become adept at cooking his meals himself.
According to Chong, he believes in whole foods eaten mostly raw. The body can heal itself with the right inputs, he explains.
Eight hours to digest
One of the secrets of his diet, he says, is that cooked food takes at least eight hours to digest, blocking the digestive system. When every meal consists of cooked food, the system struggles with this burden day after day. Meat, itself, he adds, takes 72 hours to digest.
Raw foods such as fruits and vegetables, however, exit the system in four hours or much less time.
Never eat cooked food without a significant amount of raw food to go with it, Earl Chong advises. He also counsels that certain foods and fruits should not be mixed, as some are acidic and some are alkaline.
He also states that green plants are a better source of protein than meats, making the point that we need much less protein than is generally believed. The proportion of protein in the diet, which is necessary, is four per cent he asserts.
Finally, he states that in nature, herb-eating animals like the elephant are much stronger than meat-eating ones. Man should follow their example, he believes.
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