Tim Shaddock of Live Raw has a very inspiring story of how he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Bowel Cancer and decided to take a holistic approach to healing instead of going down the conventional road of treatment.

Here in this interview Tim tells us how he did and how he maintains a healthy life, plus he gives us plenty of tips on how we can too!

I’ve watched and read your amazing story, its a story I want to share with everyone as your raw journey is truly inspirational. You were diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer in early 2000, what made you decide to not take the Western medicine approach to treating the cancer?

Thank you so much. It warms my heart that others might be inspired to embark on a natural health journey. It is so important for ones self, to others and to the entire planetary ecosystem to which we form a part.

The Stage 4 of my cancer diagnosis was not until a few years after early 2000, however I had been on a natural health journey for most of my life. My original cancer diagnosis was actually in the 90’s back in the last millennium and I had embarked on many natural health programs being an athlete in my youth. I just wished to clarify this as it was not apparent in the YouTube of the media interview.

In truth, upon being diagnosed with Stage 4, I had originally decided to proceed with full Western medical care as I was in a lot of pain and had isolated myself from friends and family to afford myself the space to heal in my own way. Additionally, my field of work was in Information Technology at the time as a career IBM’er and I was involved with many Western Medical technologies as part of my work.

Many are surprised at my seemingly opposing passions for technology and that of nature and natural healing. It’s actually all about technology for me, it’s just that nature has profound technology embodied in it when you know how to apply it.

So, that being said, my story is somewhat unique. In answer to your question however, at the time I felt that my diagnosis was so severe, that I really did not have that much to lose by going right out on a limb with natural health. I intuitively and rationally knew the consequences of current cancer treatment and was not offered much of an outcome at the end of it really.

A more graceful way to approach the situation was to right down everything I wanted to achieve before checking off the planet ( a basic bucket list ) and go do them, then at least, despite the early departure, I had done many cool things and had become me. Interestingly, many items on my bucket list were to do with natural health and healing as it intrigued me.

I gradually found myself applying more and more health ideas that I discovered in my travels and before you knew it, I was still alive despite the lapse of time and things were getting better each moment.

I actually went to many doctors. I recommend everyone do the same. Many of the diagnosis tools are actually very good. I had to change my doctor regularly as they were naturally shocked at the dire results and in their capacity as professional practitioners, were very forceful in their manner that I take their advice immediately.

I therefore chose to appease them and gracefully exit without engaging them further. There are many hard working men and woman in this profession who have only the best of intentions. It would not have helped my own health to engage them further by questioning their profession by indicating my intended health strategy and then possibly to question my own health strategy.

Another important point to make was that I was one of the few who were armed with Information Technology tools back in those days. I found myself sometimes more informed than the doctor could possibly be on specific subjects as I had researched them deeply doing online searches of medical journals and databases which were not common place back then.

What did a typical day of raw foods look like for you while on your healing journey?

It changed and evolved throughout my journey. When my health was at a critical stage, it involved a lot of fasting, juicing and smoothies.

I recall spending over three months living solely on green vegetable juice at one stage. As my health improved it evolved into more building raw and whole foods. I also spent much time in nature grazing on food grown straight from the garden and also wild foods in Australia’s bushland.

I’ll try and pick a typical day in more of my ‘building’ period in my health journey.

I would wake, do various natural movement exercises, drink about 1 litre of water, then graze the garden for lemons, celery and various green cruciferous vegetables and herbs.

I would have kind of a lemon blended drink with some herbs, a pot of herbal tea (tea is not strictly raw, but hot water extraction is something that works for me), a green superfood smoothie, later graze on an avacado salad then maybe finish the day with another green juice and herbal tea.

Do you believe that all disease stems from the body being in acidic state for too long?

Yes, the acid / alkaline balance certainly plays a strong part, however I do believe that many are over simplifying the acid / alkaline approach. Different parts of the body require different PH levels and where I’m at now on this issue is that it is very hard to hydrate with alkaline water.

This being said, most people are way too acidic, as I was. The blood only needs to be a PH of 7.36 which is just on the alkaline side. Maybe some of the readers out there might over do as I did and become too alkaline, however, you don’t want to be too acid at all.

Do you think it its important to incorporate and build other aspects of the self, i.e. emotional and spiritual to allow the body to fully heal from an illness?

Absolutely. Using the terms ‘emotional’ and ‘spiritual’ however do not necessarily do the overall natural health context much justice as it could mean many things these days. The mind / body connection, and that connection to all things beyond what we perceive with the basic 5 senses is a good place to start.

This overall ‘connection’ is readily understood in quantum physics and is actually used in many nano technology applications in business now. Instead of mind / body, I prefer to reverse it and describe it as a ‘body / mind’.

Whatever ones personal / spiritual beliefs might be, it is far better to apply these natural laws by consciously understanding and applying the relationship between thought and how it effects everything around you.

For example, I would test my blood with live blood analysis and was intrigued by the results raw and living foods would have on my blood cells. Interestingly, any cooked food would invoke a white blood cell reaction, meaning that my immune system was in attack mode, sensing it was a foreign invader.

What’s even more intriguing was that various thoughts would have the same effect on my white blood cells. There has been much done on this important body of work, including how thoughts we have effect water by Dr Emotto.

This is important considering that we are made up of mostly water. (Well most people are when they are properly hydrated). “The Secret Life of Plants” was a 1970’s book which collected many scientific findings from all over the world showing the relationship between thoughts and plant life.

There is much to say on this topic, however the main point I would like to make is that whilst it is important to pray and believe in a higher power, not to the extent to which you become un-empowered. Once someone believes they are ultimately responsible and ultimately empowered to change themselves, the change becomes powerful and instant, and can be seen at a cellular level with modern equipment. This personal self-empowerment and responsibility is vital.

Did you change other areas in your life as well to help you heal? Perhaps take up yoga or meditation?

Yes, however, the terms of ‘Yoga’ and ‘Meditation’  have been marketed and thrown around in so many ways now. Yoga has become the yoga olympics! only to be accompanied with a stylish Yoga mat and Yoga-latte (just joking).

I do my own kind of natural movements, energy work and meditation. I just want to put something out there to readers to get into movements and routines that work for them with what they have available right now.

Don’t wait until you have that perfect class etc. do something each day which works for you. For example the Tibetan 5 rights has been described as Yoga, but you don’t need to go to class to do it, you can get instructions from the Internet and just get going. Attending a Yoga class under supervision and group support also has its benefits.

It’s important to listen to your body and work with what you can now. I like to approach meditation as focused mind in non-thought. I spent years trying different practices, however focused attention in breath with moving meditation I find very powerful.

Again it is important to realise your own uniqueness and do what works. I find being in nature and in front of a campfire brings me into a meditative state, however my daily routine may not allow this if i’m in the city and I will create an environment which might provide a similar effect to provide for my routine.

How did you initially discover raw foods?

The concept of becoming “fully raw’ as I’ve heard being thrown around (although I don’t really know what that means) did not become a reality to me until I was at the critical stage of my cancer diagnosis.

The first time we really discover raw foods I guess is when we bite into an apple or eat a salad, or maybe even our mother’s first colostrum upon initial breast feeding (if you were breast fed).

However, this being said, I guess there were some defining moments along the way when I realized the relationship between something that hasn’t been cooked and my overall sense of well being. One time I can recall was when I had been studying at university and also at some secret societies or ‘mystery schools’. I had gone vegetarian at university whilst competing in rowing championships, however, I felt somewhat depleted (to say the least).

One of the mystery schools I was fascinated with at the time had an ancient health teaching that stated that you must eat raw parsley, dandelion and watercress to absorb all the minerals you need. I did this and had immediate results but had not made the quantum leap entirely to raw and would undergo an interesting health journey before I optimized my preferred eating to the health I have today.

Another defining moment was when I was in corporate and very busy and quite literally dying. Part of my ritual in those days was to harvest and juice large quantities of wheatgrass and take it with me as well as another blended drink with superfoods.

It would be quite some time before I would make the quantum leap to a more ‘Raw Lifestyle’ but although I did not know this kind of diet had a name back then, it seemed to work for me. I guess I was looking everywhere for someone in a white coat and with expensive clinical trials to deep it as ‘approved’. I know longer look for this kind of justification. I can feel it, and hopefully people can see it in me, although this is no longer a criteria of mine either.

I guess after I fasted for over three months on just green vegetable juice there was the “Ah Ha” moment. I really couldn’t face most other foods after that point. It was at that time also that I had done some travelling and met health leaders from around the world and knew that this kind of nutrition had a name, even if it was a nickname.

So, I guess it was a matter of discovering “More Raw”. This is an important distinction to make. Most would benefit greatly by simply increasing their percentages of raw food in their diet.

When people start to eat more raw, and experience detox reactions they think the raw food diet is making them worse, and then stop and go back to eating their Standard Australian Diet. How did you manage with detox reactions and what advice would you give to our readers about this?

Yes. As a species the human race has been gradually adapting itself to a poisoned lifestyle. Eating real food again will invoke the body into a mode of trying to eliminate as much toxins as it can, while it has the chance.

There are many things that you can do to assist with toxin elimination, including exercise, various herbs, colonic irrigation, deep breathing and saunas, but detox must be done if one wishes to live in a more sustainable healthy manner and be able to handle raw food, and to finally enjoy it, like you’ve never enjoyed food before.

In fact, most people’s taste palette has lost its sensitivity due to chemicals and over cooking. Once you get that back, the subtle flavours of real food starts to become apparent. This was my experience anyway.

It is also a personal choice. Eating predominantly raw food is definitely a lifestyle choice and it does not suit everybody. People need to work with their current environment and decide how much they want to cleanse and what level of raw foods they wish to consume in their diet.

What is your current raw lifestyle like, i.e.. Do you maintain a high raw diet, or a balance between cooked vegan / raw?

A little caveat around the term ‘Raw’ before I start. As I mentioned before, there are many definitions around what constitutes ‘Raw’ and what does not. Many say that if you heat below 40 degrees Celsius that the enzymes remain in tact and that is OK.

Many dehydrated foods are done that way, but my ‘gut’ feeling is that there are many junk raw foods done this way. There are also many foods heated in this manner which agree with me very well. Others say that only living foods that are basically grazed on straight from the garden have the ‘living’ energy that one requires for optimum health.

Others say that if the food matter is not solid and is a hot liquid, being Tea or soup, that is OK. So I guess what I am saying is that there are variations in ‘Raw’. For me personally, I have been predominantly into food that is organic and not cooked for many years now.

I personally am not into cooking my vegetables. My experience is that it creates an instant white blood cell reaction. However, everyone needs to find their own balance, and not everyone has been through what I have, and I would not wish them too by any stretch of the imagination.

I’ve only used a stove to brew a pot of tea now for a good 7 years. In that time, I’ve occasionally cooked for others, but I was never good at cooking anyway 

You have now made your passion your business and have a couple of great products out in the market, can you tell us a bit about those?

Yes. The Live Raw company anchor product is ‘Organic Greens’ made up of Barley Grass, Wheatgrass, Spirulina, Alfalfa and Spinach. This product started as something I was testing on myself as when I was juice fasting, some of the vegetables that I did not grow myself were lacking in sufficient minerals.

When I supplemented the juice with different variations I got different results under live blood analysis. Eventually this work on my own health made it out to a few people I was also assisting with cancer, then a few natural health practitioners, organic shops, and before you knew it, the product had evolved into something quite sort after in vitamin stores and  I decided to pull back on my other work in IT.

Live Raw Organic Greens is great for a wide variety of people. I know mothers who sprinkle it on their kids cereal, to hard core athletes and natural health professionals optimizing their green smoothies or detox drinks.

I have personally worked with this product intimately from the soil right through to the shops. The syndicate of farmers I’m involved with that create the raw ingredients share my passion for purity and nutrient density.

We also sell a variety of superherbs and superfoods to those that I am personally coaching that we make up and many that we do as special orders.

The other two products we sell a lot of is MSM and Hemp Seed Protein. MSM is MethylSulphonateMethane which is basically Organic Sulfur.

Sulfur used to be in much higher quantities in our water supply but has declined over the centuries, particularly in the last few decades. Consuming Sulfur in high dosages increases flexibility, and helps with many other age related conditions relating to hair skin and nails. It helps to fight off the nano-sized bacteria which accumulates into most aged related symptoms but most commonly seen in arthritis.

Hemp protein is a complete protein. It is Australian grown but is not legal for human oral consumption in Australia and is sold for pet use only in this country. Fortunately we have many Raw dog and cat lovers as customers. It’s legal in U.S.A, Europe, U.K. and most other countries for human consumption but this is a hot topic for debate whether we should relax the laws in Australia as we are different from the rest of the world 

What’s your favorite Raw Food Recipe of all time?

I will have to admit, I’m not all that great in the kitchen. Fortunately, a lot of people are these days, so I go eat with them  For me, I tend to build up alchemical elixirs with herbs and my blender and these tend to vary all the time depending on how I’m feeling.

I’m also a big fan of wildly grown local produce. I recently had a salad made up of so many wild indegenous ingredients, only some of which I could actually name, but would know by sight if I saw them growing. So, unfortunately, I can’t give a solid answer to this question.

Some of my most wonderful raw experiences have been eating foods in the wild in very simple combinations and some grazed straight off the plant! My apologies for being unable to answer this question. I ate many wonderful dishes whilst on tour with David Wolfe around Australia, but always have a natural bias to food from my local haunts around Sydney’s Eastern suburbs 

What do you think is currently causing the huge rise in cancer rates in this day and age?

Well, we have scientific record of over 80,000 chemicals that have made their way to our food supply since World War II. Before my Grandmother departed this Earth (from cancer), she remembered a time in Sydney when there were no planes in the sky, there were no fast food, or computers, mobile phones nor television. I guess we have a big choice in poisons, pick your poison!

I’m not saying that we cannot live with all modern forms of high tech living, but what I can say is that I’ve seen medical journals from the 1930’s from the Nobel prize winning Dr Warburgh. Published medical journals showed the relationship between cancer and various Fungi and also the relationship that various other poisons such as sugar that are required for these organisms to ferment and grow.

You can easily plot on a graph of that pre-war era with consumption of sugar and the incidents of cancer rising alone! The two correlate perfectly. That is something to think about, as when you go to an oncologist for a cancer test, one of the tests is to put sugar and die into your blood. the medical profession it appears, knows the relationship to the reaction of cancer with an immediate spike in sugar and is able to pinpoint the cancer virus with the die.

It appears that the cancer organism needs to be starved of what if feeds on, including high glycemic foods, chemicals, electrical fields, positive ionic charge, cancer also needs to be poisoned with various seeds and herbs and it also needs to be isolated physically and hormonally with exercise movement. Finally, due to the relationship with thoughts and our cellular ecosystem, the cancer virus responds very aggressively to negative thoughts. Particularly thoughts that that ones lifespan is about to be cut very short upon advice from a qualified practitioner. The placebo effect is well documented.

Finally, I believe the nutritional theory as we know it today to be flawed. There is a subtle electrical component to food which if corrupted by cooking or chemicalised by various ‘additives’ the body will always engage the immune system in an attempt to reject it.

These natural electrical energies of the earth may be drawn through raw food and the cancer ecosystem can not survive under this electrical environment at a cellular level. Various natural energy movements also assist with this endeavor to get the electrical spin right and have natural cellular charge and avoid nature’s recycling engine of cancer with different electromagnetic pollutive properties from cooked food and modern electrical appliances.

In conclusion, yes the dramatic rise in cancer is caused by modern food and modern living technologies. That is not to say that we can not use the positives of modern technologies and our food industry and turn it around.

And lastly, what advice would you give to our readers to help them stay healthy and happy?

Breath deeply, laugh a lot and do what you love that is unique to you, and also have a strong vision for what you want and raise it far higher than what you have dreamed of. I dreamed of more health and vitality than my youth and to immerse deeply and profoundly in the energy and harmony of nature and to be a living inspiration in that endeavor to others. I was there long before I looked like I was there. Be whatever you want now!

Many records, including DNA, carbon dating and even biblical records state that people once lived youthfully for many hundreds of years, some say longer. I believe our global consciousness is slowly starting to wake up to this and other realisations now. I believe the Raw food lifestyle to be an important part of the overall makeup to raise our most lofty of goals. Keep the vision clear, and keep it strong and do what makes you come alive!

You can check out Tim’s website here://www.liveraw.com.au/

The Raw Food Kitchen will also be selling Tim’s products during workshop times so be sure to check them out!

Do you have an inspiring healing story you would like to share with us? Leave your comments below or drop me a line for a feature article, I would love to hear from you! [email protected]