As a vegan chef, I’m always in search of high quality organic ingredients, especially for an episode of The Sexy Vegan or a recipe that I’m developing for Vegin’ Out. I was recently testing a recipe for a homemade BBQ sauce that was to adorn a new tofu dish, so I went out to pick up the ingredients. Organic ketchup? Check. Yellow mustard? Check. Orange juice? Check. I continued checking off the ingredients as I filled my handheld basket, when I realized that it was getting pretty darn heavy with all those liquids. I quickly concluded that I was ‘gonna need a bigger boat.’ I reluctantly went back to the front of the store, and traded up to a cart. With what now seemed to be a ridiculously over-sized shopping vessel (considering my express-line-worthy number of items) in tow, I finally came to last ingredient on my list: apple cider vinegar. It’s what gives BBQ sauce that unmistakable tang, and if you don’t use a good one, well, I hope your dog likes BBQ kibble.
When I arrived at the vinegar aisle, I didn’t even have to give my brand selection a second thought. I zeroed right in on that large glass bottle with the yellow label, and that smiling, radiant, golden-locked lady with the flowery hat: Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar. I’ve always known it to be of high quality and great flavor, and I use it in all kinds of dressings and sauces. However, if someone was standing next to me in the vinegar aisle that day and told me that I was going to interview and write an article about the woman on the label who happened to be a life extension nutritionist, author of ten self-health books, a lecturer, health crusader, educator, daughter of health pioneer, originator of health stores, Paul C. Bragg, fitness advisor to world leaders, Hollywood stars, singers, dancers, and athletes, I’d say, “Why would that ever happen? That makes absolutely no sense! Get away from me, strange person!” Well, it did happen. I interviewed Patricia Bragg, and here’s what went down:
Vision Magazine: Tell me, Patricia, about the Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother?
Patricia Bragg: Well, the old adage is so true: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Hippocrates, the father of medicine, used apple cider vinegar in 400 B.C. because he recognized its powerful cleansing and healing quality. He was a nature boy, and he treated his patients naturally. Apple cider vinegar is a naturally occurring antibiotic and antiseptic. It fights germs, viruses, bacteria, and even mold. With the apple cider vinegar, you’re getting the essence, the mother enzymes from the apples. The mother is the miracle enzyme that makes the miracle in Bragg’s Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, and it is all organic.
VM: Now, I’m not positive, but if I remember correctly, the “mother” is the growth of acetic bacteria which is responsible for turning alcohol into vinegar, and when the vinegar is left unfiltered, gives the final product countless health benefits, right?
PB: Yes, and in the old days it was the only type of vinegar people had, but in modern times and as machinery became more advanced, what started to happen is people would say, “Oh, what’s that floating in there? It looks like it’s dirty, what is that?” That was the mother. So the manufacturers said, “Okay, we’ll take care of that.” So they boiled it and they filtered it, thus killing the mother enzyme. To me, it’s dead vinegar, not alive. Our vinegar is alive, and live foods make live people. We haven’t killed it, and we don’t boil it or filter it. It’s organic and all-natural.
VM: It’s amazing that they did that purely for aesthetic purposes.
PB: Well, why do you think they did that to white bread? They called it the white wonder bread. My father called it the “staff of death.” He would roll the Wonder Bread up like a ball and it would bounce. He would say to keep your life simple as 1-2-3. I also don’t believe in any liquids that are fluoridated or chlorinated. They use fluoride to make rat poison of all things. I believe in purified water. The less you do to food, the better it is for you.
I’ve made over thirty trips around the world, and some of the countries I’ve visited don’t even have a drug store. They don’t know what aspirin is. And, guess what? A lot of these countries don’t have arthritis or neuritis, or any of the joint disorders that Americans are burdened with.
VM: We’re such an advanced country; we have the ability to create things like iPods, iPhones, iPads, and many other things that begin with a lower case “I”, so why do you think we have so much trouble taking care of ourselves?
PB: Somewhere along the line we became engulfed in drugs, in pharmaceuticals. Big business saw the money they could make with synthetic treatments as opposed to natural remedies, and many Americans bought into it. The two biggest sellers in drugstores today are laxatives and aspirin. You see, the fast foods, high sugar foods, and refined foods cement in the colon.
VM: As much as I would love to talk about things being cemented in colons all day, I’d really like to know what would be the first step for repairing one’s body?
PB: Make a pact with your body, and tell your body that you love it. Say, “I love you, I thank you for being a home for my heart and soul, and I want to keep you in good working order so I can have a healthy, happy, long life.”
Be sure to keep your life simple. Go through your pantry, your refrigerator, your entire kitchen. I used to go to a lot of our clients’ homes and become their kitchen police. If you read the ingredient list and there are words on there you can’t understand, it’s not worth keeping.
It comes down to my father’s healthy lifestyle philosophy: “You are what you eat, drink, breathe, think, say, and do.” What you eat and drink today, walks and talks tomorrow. It’s as simple as that. Your food and your drink is what keeps you going. I have people open their mouth and tell them, “This is your fuel tank, and this is where your digestion begins. Remember, your stomach has no teeth, so chew your food thoroughly. What you put in your mouth is going to either bring you health or sickness. It’s up to you. You are the captain of your life.” The Bragg book, Apple Cider Vinegar—Miracle Health System, has sold over 8 million copies in the United States alone. Famous Dr. Gabriel Cousens (and many other doctors) recommend Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar to help stop GERD and heartburn, and help with digestion, sipping ½ tsp before meals.
I tell new mothers, “With your two hands, you can either bring your family health or sickness through what you prepare for them.” It actually starts before the womb. I tell prospective mothers to prepare to carry their baby three months before they conceive. And how should they do this? By fasting and cleansing, and eating 100 percent organic healthy food.
VM: It’s well documented that you fast at least one day a week. Why fasting?
PB: The miracle of fasting has been proven throughout history for physical, mental, and spiritual rejuvenation. It’s been around since the beginning of time. Practically every religion around the world has their periods of fasting. Why do they do it? To improve their bodies physically and mentally, to get closer to their spiritual beliefs and to get closer to Mother Earth. Paracelsus, a 15th century physician, and the father of body chemistry said, “Fasting is the greatest remedy the physician within.” Our Miracle of Fasting book has been the #1 health book in Russia for over 35 years! We have millions of Bragg health followers throughout Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Europe, and more world-wide.
VM: Can you give me a personal story of someone you know who turned their life around by adopting the health philosophy that you promote?
PB: One of the finest examples, who I talked to last night, is Jack LaLanne. He was a puny, sickly little boy. He was so weak, he had to have a back brace to sit up. He had boils, pimples, and blinding headaches. It forced him to stay out of school for a year and a half. Then one day, the neighbor lady insisted on taking Jack and his mother to my father’s Health Crusade in Oakland, CA. Jack said, “I won’t go, I won’t go, no doctors have helped me!” After some persuading, they agreed to go to the lecture. My dad loved teaching people. He’s the father of the health movement in America, and on that night Jack LaLanne’s life was turned around. Many years later, Jack said to me, “Patricia, if I hadn’t heard your father’s lecture that night, I would have been dead by seventeen.” He’s now going on ninety-six. He has sold more juicers than any one man in the world. He believes, as my father did, that people need more fruit and more vegetables in their diet, and juicing is a simple way to get more in your diet.
I also have quite a few people of prominence that I counsel, like The Beach Boys, Jane Russell, Tom Selleck, Clint Eastwood, and since you mentioned iPods earlier, I’m reminded that Steve Jobs has been reading Bragg books since high school. I bought pop-star Katy Perry her first guitar at 12 years old and got her first big singing appearance at 13, on the 4th of July, singing “God Bless America” at a big sporting event in a Los Angeles stadium. Her parents were my ministers in Santa Barbara. She loves our Bragg vinegar drinks that she drinks daily, and does the Bragg deep breathing exercises we teach in our Bragg Super Power Breathing for Super Energy Book. Also, Cloris Leachman has followed us for forty years, and she tells me not a day goes by that she doesn’t thank me and my father.
VM: You have so much energy. How do you kick off each day to get that long lasting boost?
PB: I’ve never drank coffee, and I don’t believe in caffeine. I’m also not big on a heavy breakfast. I get up at 5 a.m., and mix up a Bragg organic vinegar drink. I stir 2 tsp of our organic apple cider vinegar into 8 oz of purified/distilled water. I then add a little raw honey to taste or I sometimes use stevia powder for sweetness. About an hour later, I have the Bragg Pep Drink, which is a recipe that you can find on our website, www.bragg.com. That’s what gives me energy. I usually take a nap for forty-five minutes in the middle of the day, to recharge my battery, and I’m usually in bed by 9 p.m.
I do a lot of walking and exercising, as well. My father said, “Walking is the king of exercise.” You have 640 muscles, and you can either use ‘em or lose ‘em. Pump your arms, get out, and strut. Your heart is the master pump, pumping every second of your life.
I also never sit with my legs crossed. I just got back from lecturing in five states, and as I looked around the airports and on the planes, I saw people sitting with their legs crossed. This is very dangerous because there’s a major popliteal artery in the back of the knee that feeds your legs and feet. Your heart, then, has a hard time getting the blood down there, and it causes a host of problems. Issues like varicose veins, hemorrhoids, headaches, and backaches can be caused by sitting with legs crossed. They also find that a large percentage of people who have heart attacks while sitting down, had their legs crossed at the time. So, uncross those legs. You have seventy trillion cells, and they all need to be nourished by what you eat and drink, and what you do.
VM: We’re in the heart of the summer, so do you have any favorite foods you’re enjoying right now?
PB: Well, I’m a vegetarian, and I love organic fruits and veggies. My favorite dinner recipe is the brown rice and lentil casserole that you can find in our Vegetarian Recipe Book. My dad gave Jack LaLanne that recipe at that first lecture over ninety years ago, and it’s still his favorite.
I travel the world, and when I’m traveling, if I can’t get what I want to eat, I fast. I was in Texas for two days recently, and I did a watermelon flush the entire time I was there. They had such delicious watermelons. I even chew up the seeds. In the old days they used to make a jelly out of the rinds. They wasted nothing.
VM: I read that you now have an organic teaching farm. Tell me about that.
PB: We have a 120 acre organic farm at our headquarters here in Santa Barbara. We teach our patrons to be self-sufficient and to be able to grow their own veggies, herbs, and even fruit trees. I love being a health-crusading teacher. Just before my most recent lecture tour, I spoke to every grammar school in Santa Barbara. We were teaching them about organic gardening and healthy living. And the youngsters loved it, even the little kindergartners. Sometimes I’d rather teach children than adults. They’re just so excited!
VM: Where does your passion for organic gardening and vegetable growing come from?
PB: Since I was 5 years old, my father taught me to keep my hands and feet in the soil in order to stay connected to Mother Earth and be healthy and happy. Everybody that has children should teach them gardening, to put the little seeds in the soil and watch what comes up. It’s thrilling! Everyday they’ll watch with anticipation, they’ll be so excited about it! They’ll be excited to eat and enjoy the yields of their health garden. This is how they learn to be self-sufficient. It’s simple. If you’ve got a fence, you should grow veggies on it. Many will climb; string beans, peas, Japanese eggplants, zucchini squash, cherry (my favorite), and all varieties of tomatoes will climb! If you’re in an apartment, get a window box and grow some herbs, cherry tomatoes, parsley, and lettuces.
VM: What new things are coming up for Bragg Health Products?
PB: I’m putting together an educational health video for children that we’ll be sending out to schools nationwide. We have Dr. John Westerdahl, PhD, our head nutritionist at the Bragg Health Institute here, working with us and the Santa Barbara County Schools to improve their food selections in cafeterias. We donate everything we grow on our farm to schools and food banks. The children say they’ve never had tomatoes that tasted so good. When it’s organic there’s no comparison!
The other side of that is that it’s locally grown. We pick it and they get it right away. That’s why everyone should have some sort of a health garden. You pick it as you want it. I don’t believe in having things that spend weeks in the fridge.
VM: What do you love most about what you do?
PB: I love being a health crusader, and my love goes out to everyone. Go organic, and get back to Mother Earth and Healthy Living!Brian L. Patton is Executive Chef of Vegin’ Out, Southern California’s Premier Vegan Home Delivery Service: VeginOut.com. He is also the creator of “The Sexy Vegan,” a demonstrational cooking show with an adult twist: TheSexyVegan.com. Visit Bragg.com for more information on Patricia Bragg.