Twins: Our Raw Food Journey
Michelle & Lori Corso
By Michelle & Lori Corso
We are twin sisters and we are also best friends. Our story has been a long and interesting one, but we will try to keep it short! Our journey to better health started at a young age. Our family has a history of stomach problems, mainly constipation, and the constipation led us to other health issues, including acne, hormonal imbalance, yeast, depression, and a constant battle over what foods to consume.
We understand constipation is not a fun topic for people to discuss, but we feel it is necessary. With so many over-the-counter treatments for constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and upset stomachs on the market, it is proof that this is a topic that requires addressing. We admit to falling into the ‘marketers’ trap of believing pills or powders would help our constipation, but they did not. These ‘so-called’ magic pills covered up our symptoms, while never reaching the core problem, and we were tired of being sick without getting any results. We had tried everything! As we grew older, we decided it was time for us take our health into our own hands.
Since traditional medicine was not working, we started looking into alternative treatments. Finding a more natural approach seemed to fit us, but it took over 20 years of suffering from constipation, acne, hormonal problems, and depression to come across the raw foods lifestyle. Transitioning into the raw foods lifestyle was easy because we had already eliminated so much out of our diets. Now, we are high raw vegans who eat gluten, wheat, peanut, corn, soy, yeast, egg and dairy free! After many long hours of research and personal trial and error, we realized our main solutions would be to clean out our colons and better support our livers, which are two main organs for toxin elimination and strong digestive health.
Tips to help cleanse the liver and colon:
1. Drink a glass of warm lemon water to help stimulate the liver and break down mucus
2. Drink a glass of 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar mixed with water to help with digestion
3. Eat choline rich foods to help the fat accumulation in the liver, including raw sauerkraut and fermented veggies
4. Swallow a small clove of garlic to help the colon
5. Drink pumpkin seed milk to kill off parasites in the colon (and follow up with a colonic)
6. Make flax seed tea by pouring a cup of boiling water over 1 tbsp flax seeds and steep for 10 minutes. Drain out the seeds and drink the water
7. Beet, carrot, celery (or cucumber) juice is great for the liver
8. Eat lacto fermented foods, like kefir or kim chi, to help normalize the acidity of the stomach
We have been on our raw foods journey to better health for two years, and we still have a long journey ahead of us. We finally feel we are on the right path to heal our insides (colon and liver), not just cover up the symptoms by using traditional treatments. We document our journey on our blog, pure2raw.com, because we hope that we can help others with their digestive issues, let them know they are not alone, and show them that you do not have to live off of pills to get relief. When given the proper care, your body can heal naturally! On our blog, we share more of our story along with tips, our daily eats, recipes and mostly recently, our story of completing our second marathon.
Currently, raw foods, yoga, reducing stress, colonics, fermented foods, proper hydration, and exercise are a part of our daily lifestyle, and we are starting to see improvements, which, for us, is worth all the ‘detoxing’ symptoms, struggles, and criticisms from others, even our family. It has taken our family two years witnessing positive changes in both of us to understand the choices we have made, and we know our journey is not over. We are starting to see our skin clear, we are going to the bathroom more often, we sleep better, and we have more mental clarity. We are happy!
Some say they found raw foods, but raw foods found us. We hope to inspire others to be more open-minded and aware of digestive health because we believe in prevention. Take care of your liver and colon because they take care of you!
Michelle and Lori Corso are fraternal twins who are raw gluten free vegan chefs/bakers. They are living their life long dream by running their own bakery – Twin Cakes and raw uncooked bakery – Pure2raw. Learn more about the twins at their blog.
17 Comments
Congrats on your business. While I’m not vegan, the idea intrigues me. I have 2 nephews who are severely allergic to many things. It’s awesome to know that there are some people (besides their parents) who can cater to their needs. For a long time, it was my older nephew’s dream to open an Allergy free resturant. Sadly, he doesn’t like to cook. Good luck on your business!
Eat and drink more plums. They are a great source of soluble and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber is a natural laxative.
Michelle – yay for twins! Yes keep up with the raw foods, take it slow. You will see benefits over time and will crave raw foods more.
Elizabeth – Thank you!! And starting up an allergy friendly was not easy but is very rewarding! We love to help others
Thanks for the tip on plums!!
Hi Ladies!! Congrats on your post, best wishes and hugs always!!! :)
whoo hoo!!! my favorite twins :)
just want to throw it out there that the pure2raw goodies that these girls make are AMAZING. you can order them through their website :)
xoxo
I love the Raw Twins!
You girls are such an inspirational duo! Keep up the good work and spreading the love..
deb xoxo
Thank you for sharing your story and your great tips. My health concerns initially moved me to an animal-free diet and in the last 5 years a high raw one. I have really enjoyed feeling like my body and I are finally on the same team.
I love your blog and your honest account of your journey.
Take care,
Veganlisa
Lovely spokeswomen for vibrant healthy living! Great tips for cleansing the liver and colon.
xoxo
Thanks for sharing your story and tips! I found raw for relief of my digestive problems as well. However, it still acts up from time to time for whatever reason. Recently I switched my digestive enzymes to change things up a bit as I usually take Healthforce Nutritonals. I have been wondering why I have been having AWFUL stomach aches again and I feeling “plugged up” like I used to feel after eating tofu. Then, last night, it clicked, it was my new enzymes. Trial and error, such is life.
Question: what does flax seed tea do?
Never heard that one before!
Thanks again, love the blog!
Thanks for the article! I have struggled with acne for over 20 years and need to be reminded to try and work on my liver – perhaps this will help with my skin…
Thanks everyone the support!
Alysha – yes trial and error…everyone is different. The flax seed tea is just a gentle way to get things going, so to speak. I cannot handle any laxative teas, so this is more natural.
Robertsons of Mumbai- Yes try helping out the liver because it helps with detox and the skin has a big part of detox too.
Yay! You’re famous! Great post! Great information!
The Twins are a great inspiration and resource.These gals turned me on to raw veggie flat breads and crackers and numerous vegan and raw desserts and treats. I happen to live near them and get to sample their goodies each week at the local farmers market. Glad you made it to Crazy Sexy Life.
How can I get the recipe for your bread you speak about. I would be so grateful. Thank you.
veggan foods are always the best for anyones health because it is low fat and low sodium `
well, if you really want to be healthy, i believe that veggan foods are the best `’*
Congrats on all your progress! I have a twin sister too, and her support has been invaluable to me throughout my healing from digestive disease and other autoimmune problems. I am now vegan and allergen free, but stories like yours inspire me to keep adding more raw food.
February 16, 2010