Alex: What are some of your favorite raw foods?

Carol: I like raw cheese that I can get at whole foods. I get a really great caramel nut crunch from good stuff from mom and me. Oneluckyduck.com has these really excellent cookies. In terms of staple foods, I am mostly a sashimi eater, tartars and carpacio's. (raw fish and meat) Fish is the big thing, especially for fish oil and ofcourse fruits and vegetables.

Alex: Are you %100 raw?

Carol: Actually no, I am 90-95% raw. There are days that I am 100% raw and there are days that I eat a little bit of cooked food to shock my body so it doesn't become complacent.

Alex: What kind of cooked foods would you eat? Anything?

Carol: I have my favorites... If I'm going to cheat. I'll do a little bit of rice with sushi or when in season, I will have a little bit of popcorn at a hockey game. But in every case when I eat my cooked food I pop my enzymes for sure.

Alex: How did you hear about the raw food diet?

Carol: I had a girlfriend who was diagnosed with cancer. And they wanted to do a radical hysterectomy on her and her boyfriend called me 6 months ago after she has been diagnosed and said she has gone to this amazing doctor in LA and he helped with her condition and know she has tested completely clean. So I thought if this doctor can do that for her when she's covered with cancer, can you imagine what he can do with somebody like me who is just getting stupid little things like head aches and acid indigestion, colds/flus. Basically I just decided to go see... and the same with Dr. Timothy Brown who is out of LA. I have not had a head ache, cold/flu, sinus infection, allergy, asthama attack or anything for the 10 years I've been raw.

Alex: Can you describe a typical day in your life?

Carol: Well, see... I don't have typical days. I travel, I'm in different countries, different cities, different studios everyday. Sometimes when I go to studios they will ask me what I want ahead of time and they will order raw food for me and I will tell them what I want. Sometimes people panic and they say I'll take you for sushi and I go out and have sashimi and they feel comfortable with that.

When I travel to foreign countries because you never know when you'll get a meal that you can eat. I carry my own stuff with me. I carry staple things with me like germinated nuts like almonds for example. I'll bring cheese with me. Sometimes I would bring sprouted breads and crackers with me. I always make sure I have something on hand with me just in case. The strange thing is... you would not think this is so... but many raw foods like good stuff from mom and me, one lucky duck or rawfood.com, they travel very well. So I mean you don't have to go shopping for these things. You can order them online. Go to CarolAlt.com and we'll hook you up with everybody.

Alex: What was your main intent in writing your first book, Eating in the Raw?

Carol: I think I owe the favor who is a little bit bigger than me. I think it was a thank you to God for saving my life. Below that I think that so many friends were coming to me and saying you look so amazing, you have so much energy. How do you do it with your schedule? I just got tired of telling people over and over again what I had done and why I had done it? So, I just basically wrote it in a book. And now when people tell me I have this allergy or this cold or this is happening. I just say, 'Listen, buy my book. It's sold through amazon and I donate a portion to alternative cancer research so it's all good. You can learn how to do this yourself. It's really the easiest thing I have ever done in my life. It's just that people get freaked out when they see the word ??RAW ?? and they get a little nervous but once you understand what it is and that anything you eat cooked, I can find you raw no problem... pretty much. People come down... it's just when you introduce new ideas it's easier to have a book that tells you where, how, when and why.

Alex: I heard you are working on a second raw book? Is that right?

Carol: I am working on a second book and this one will basically be the question you asked me, what I eat in a typical day? It's about being healthy and keeping your weight down and just pick things from the menu because I think people start thinking, ??Oh you just eat carrots but I have tirimisu for example if it's all raw. All kind of great drinks, all kinds of snacks and nut mixes but when you're eating raw you really don't need snacks.

Alex: When will this book be out?

Carol: It will probably be out... We are aiming for spring 2007, but it may be out by summer depending on my schedule and how quickly we can get it done. The other thing by the way I am putting in is testimonials from people who have gone raw and cured a multitude of different diseases that they had. I think testimonials from other people just besides me but just normal everyday people will be very powerful.

Alex: How do you keep looking so beautiful and what types of excercises do you do?

Carol: Well, first of all, thank you for the compliment. But really, I have to say, it's been the raw food. The best thing that has ever happened to me in terms of eating the raw food is eating the correct kind of raw fat. It really boosted my immune system, it keeps my weight down and it really made my skin look incredible and gave me a lot of energy. I don't think that fats get a really good rap because we always try to do low fat, no fat diets then that's the wrong thing to do. I think we need raw fats to keep our health up. Seconf part of the question is if I exercise. Well, I found a really great exercise regime but I do it not to keep myself thin, I do it to keep myself toned and also to keep my head straight. I think a lot of stress happens when we are thinking a lot and not spending physically what we are spending emotionally. I think when you can balance the physical with the emotional it's a lot better for the body. So even though for a really long time I said I don't really work out because I am thin and healthy without exercising. I found a really great exercise machine that I really like a lot and you will be hearing more about it because I will be doing an infomercial on it.

Alex: Do you hang out with or know any other raw foodists in your field or celebrities?

Carol: I know quite a number of celebrities who are raw. In fact I saw Jimmie Fallon one day. I have seen Christin Glover. I know that Demi did with Juliano to get her self in shape for the angels movie. There is quite a number of people besides Woody Harrelson who has been very verbal for what it did to him. Do I hang out with them? No, I have my friends. I know all these people because it's a small business basically. Pierce Bronson... all these people. You run into them everywhere but the truth of the matter is that I have my family, my boyfriend and his family. And I have my work which keeps me busy 24/7. So in terms of hanging out with a lot of people that eat raw, no. You can eat raw and hang out with people that don't eat raw and that's fine too. My book teaches you how to eat in restaurants that you can eat with whoever whatever you want.

Alex: Are your family into raw food?

Carol: My sister is nearly %100 raw. My mother does what she can but truthfully all the women in her circle keep saying how can you look so good? My mom looks the best that anyone in her little circle. It's great because I can see the results in terms of what my family looked like before and what they looked like now. My sister had a huge positive response to raw food. I am still working on my older sister. She's a nurse and she is very busy and is a little nervous trying things but everything she tries she loves and I don't think it won't be long until I get her going.

Alex: How do you come up with a raw recipe?

Carol: Truthfully, I don't actually come up with raw recipes. What I do is speak to all my friends who are raw chefs, people in Quintessence, Pure Food and Wine, Juliano, Jubbs... their's some really amazing... and now RAWvolution actually ships raw food right to your house. The thing is that I don't really need to come up with raw food recipes and since my sister has gone raw she's gotten really kookoo. She makes stuff, changes stuff, she is really making a lot of things. I personally don't have time for that and that's why I've touted how easy it is and quick it is and how you can just buy things at the store. There are people out there who are gourmet cooks and love doing that it's just not me. I need something quick and easy and I can carry with me. For me the convenience of it was really the biggest thing. In terms of recipes I just give promotion to other people. I got products to sell really. I don't make cookies... all I'm talking about is the health benefits on how it can absolutely change your life and change the course of your destination of life and for me that was the biggest thing. I just think that this is the best thing that has ever happened to me and therefore I want to give this info to other people.

Alex: What are some quick tips and hints you can share for other raw foodists that are just starting out?

Carol: The first thing is not to panic. I mean if you start weeding out cooked things and replacing them with raw things and we need to do 1-2 a day or 1-2 a week even. If your headed in the right direction you'll get their eventually. Any raw food that you can add in your diet will benefit you. If you can find a great doctor is always first. You can have a great doctor that you can ask questions of... I think everybody needs a reference point and a resource. A really good doctor that knows about raw food is always beneficial so you have somebody right there. My family has me so they ask me but you should always have somebody that you can talk to. Beyond that if you can start putting little things here and there like from Good food from mom and me and go to carolalt.com and hook yourself up to these places they can ship stuff, it's easy to do. Take enzymes to help digest any cooked food that you are eating and so you are not depleting your own body. Relax about it. Don't panic. People panic when they are doing something life altering. This is a lifer altering result although it's not life altering in terms of what you have to do to get those results. It's really very easy. I did it literally cold turkey practically.