veganism

Was Da Vinci a Fruitarian? Beautiful quotes about Da Vinci’s Love of Animals and Incredible Genuis

Guys,

I had heard Leonardo da Vinci was a vegetarian, but would you believe he was a raw foodist???

“It appears from Corsali’s letter [Andrea Corsali’s letter to Giuliano de’ Medici] that Leonardo ate no meat, but lived entirely on vegetables, thus forestalling modern vegetarians by several centuries.”

-Eugene Muntz, Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Thinker, and Man of Science, 1898

How amazing is that?

Also how incredibly beautiful is this quote about Da Vinci :

The mere idea of permitting the existence of unnecessary suffering, still more that of taking life, was abhorrent to Da Vinci. Vasari tells, as an instance of his love of animals, how when in Florence he passed places where birds were sold he would frequently take them from their cages with his own hand, and having paid the sellers the price that was asked would let them fly away in the air, thus giving them back their liberty.

-Edward MacCurdy, The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci, 1928

I feel like that is every vegetarian and vegans dream. To be able to open the cages and free the animals.

(I found these quotes on this interesting article about famous vegetarian writers and artists)

In case you are in doubt of the genius of Leonardo da Vinci, I have never forgotten this letter I read by him that I found on one of my favorite blogs “Letters of Note” (the blogger is now preparing his book so isn’t posting as much)

This is a letter you won’t soon forget:

Letters of Note writes:

 

Some time in the 1480s (experts tend to agree with 1483/84, at which point he was approximately 32-years-old) Leonardo da Vinci applied for a job at the court of Ludovico Sforza, the then de facto ruler of Milan. He did so by way of the following application letter — essentially a fascinating CV which, in an effort to appeal to Sforza’s needs at the time, is dominated by his undeniably impressive military engineering skills and doesn’t even hint at his artistic genius until the end.

Da Vinci’s efforts paid off, and he was eventually employed. A decade later, it was Sforza who commissioned him to paint The Last Supper.

(Source: Leonardo on Painting: An Anthology of Writings by Leonardo da Vinci with a Selection of Documents Relating to His Career; Image: Leonardo da Vinci, a self-portrait, via.)

The Letter:
My Most Illustrious Lord,

Having now sufficiently seen and considered the achievements of all those who count themselves masters and artificers of instruments of war, and having noted that the invention and performance of the said instruments is in no way different from that in common usage, I shall endeavour, while intending no discredit to anyone else, to make myself understood to Your Excellency for the purpose of unfolding to you my secrets, and thereafter offering them at your complete disposal, and when the time is right bringing into effective operation all those things which are in part briefly listed below:

1. I have plans for very light, strong and easily portable bridges with which to pursue and, on some occasions, flee the enemy, and others, sturdy and indestructible either by fire or in battle, easy and convenient to lift and place in position. Also means of burning and destroying those of the enemy.

2. I know how, in the course of the siege of a terrain, to remove water from the moats and how to make an infinite number of bridges, mantlets and scaling ladders and other instruments necessary to such an enterprise.

3. Also, if one cannot, when besieging a terrain, proceed by bombardment either because of the height of the glacis or the strength of its situation and location, I have methods for destroying every fortress or other stranglehold unless it has been founded upon a rock or so forth.

4. I have also types of cannon, most convenient and easily portable, with which to hurl small stones almost like a hail-storm; and the smoke from the cannon will instil a great fear in the enemy on account of the grave damage and confusion.

5. Also, I have means of arriving at a designated spot through mines and secret winding passages constructed completely without noise, even if it should be necessary to pass underneath moats or any river.

6. Also, I will make covered vehicles, safe and unassailable, which will penetrate the enemy and their artillery, and there is no host of armed men so great that they would not break through it. And behind these the infantry will be able to follow, quite uninjured and unimpeded.

7. Also, should the need arise, I will make cannon, mortar and light ordnance of very beautiful and functional design that are quite out of the ordinary.

8. Where the use of cannon is impracticable, I will assemble catapults, mangonels, trebuckets and other instruments of wonderful efficiency not in general use. In short, as the variety of circumstances dictate, I will make an infinite number of items for attack and defence.

9. And should a sea battle be occasioned, I have examples of many instruments which are highly suitable either in attack or defence, and craft which will resist the fire of all the heaviest cannon and powder and smoke.

10. In time of peace I believe I can give as complete satisfaction as any other in the field of architecture, and the construction of both public and private buildings, and in conducting water from one place to another.

Also I can execute sculpture in marble, bronze and clay. Likewise in painting, I can do everything possible as well as any other, whosoever he may be.

Moreover, work could be undertaken on the bronze horse which will be to the immortal glory and eternal honour of the auspicious memory of His Lordship your father, and of the illustrious house of Sforza.

And if any of the above-mentioned things seem impossible or impracticable to anyone, I am most readily disposed to demonstrate them in your park or in whatsoever place shall please Your Excellency, to whom I commend myself with all possible humility.

 Now THAT is a cover letter!!! Am I right??

 

My Non Leather Raw Vegan Life

Hello.

Raw Vegan person speaking.

rawvegan

I have been a raw vegan now for 10 days. I thought I would share with you what it is like if any of you have ever considered giving it a shot.

First of all, raw vegan means you don’t eat anything that is cooked, or heated over 118 degrees, or at all, and vegan meaning no animal products.

Basically that leaves you with fruits and vegetables and nuts.

There are two kinds of raw vegans: High Fat Raw Vegans, otherwise known as “gourmet raw” vegans who make a lot of delicious fancy raw foods like burgers and pizzas made from nuts and Low Fat Raw Vegans who basically only eat fruits and salads and barely any nuts and avocados.

(Low Fat Raw Vegan is definitely the way to go.)

A few months ago when I was first learning about raw foods I did a one week high fat raw vegan trial with my then b/f. It was very diificult! We were quite hungry, but we made it. I kind of liked it–I lost weight and my skin looked great, but I was definitely glad to be eating cooked food again when the week was over.

I continued reading about raw foods though, until one day BAM.

I cam across the blog of this guy Jeff Sanders who was a raw vegan. He recommended this book 80/10/10 saying it was basically the be all and end all book on health.

Being the amazon addict I am, I immediately ordered it with one click.

The book was fascinating. It explained that humans are not omnivores as we all think and are taught in school.

In fact, we are frugivores.

The author does this really cool thought experiment…imagine a landscape…There are wheat fields waving in the breeze, cows grazing in the distance, fruit trees with ripe fruit in the forest, fish in the ocean, seaweed washed up on shore, potatoes and other roots in the ground, vegetables in the undergrowth.

What do you naturally gravitate towards?

Do you start salivating when you look at the animals…no. What about the hard tasteless grains of wheat, or the slimy chewy seaweed. What about the raw potatoes covered in dirt. NO. It is the fruit trees that we naturally gravitate towards. Fruit is THE food for humans. Squirrels have nuts. Birds have beaks for grains. We are designed for fruits and tender leafy greens.

He goes into far more detail and explains the science behind the diet.

Basically I came away from the book thinking…Wow! Duh! Why didn’t I ever think of this before. It makes so much sense that the highest quality vitamins and nutrients aren’t found in a dried up powdered vitamin pill, but fresh fruit and vegetables.

I started researching and watching youtube videos of  the devotees of this so called 80/10/10 diet (stands for 80 percent carbs, 10% fat and protein).

freelee, before and after 80/10/10

They all literally RADIATIED health. They all had stories of how raw foods had cured their horrible diseases, increased their fitness to olympian levels, how they had lost 40 pounds of weight, and achieved pre-adolescent energy levels, mental focus, and extreme joy at being alive.

Roger Haeske, raw vegan

Basically it was like the fountain of youth, the magic pill all the ads on tv are selling.

Except there was one catch. It wasn’t a magic pill. You had to basically give up all the foods you know and love.

And instead eat….FRUITS?? VEGETABLES??? SALADS WITH NO DRESSING???

I decided to give it a one week shot. Just to see if these people were on to something. What was the harm.

I was excited about it because I had been eating fruit for breakfast and lunch for a week or so, and it had made my skin look great and basically cured my horrible cramps. So I was like, OK…I wonder what would happen if I went all the way! If it did this much good in so short a time…let me give this a shot.

Well!

It is now Day 10. No longer a one week trial.

Days 1-7 were a whirlwind of learning and researching and buying these fruit lovers e-books. I was feeling good, and intrigued, and happy…but I couldn’t tell if it was due to what I was doing or the diet.

Suddenly on Day 8 something amazing started happening.

I was walking to the subway and I felt this surge of energy. I was speedwalking and all of a sudden I felt so good I felt like running!

I was running and it felt effortless, like I was floating on air, I wasn’t breathing heavily, I could just run.

It was like those scenes in movies where a person is swimming underwater and they can just breathe!

I got on the subway to my dance class, filled with this secret glee. Could I have found it? Could this be working? Could this be as good as they say it is?

It was like in a movie where everyone thinks this person is crazy, but it turns out they’re not.

Oh yes! You will have your fair share of detractors. FAR MORE than you have being a vegan or vegetarian. People can’t fathom the idea of raw foods.

In my dance class, I felt soooooo good. Like I just wanted to roll around on the ground. I noticed I was a lot stronger too. It was a miracle. I could do the whole ab work out when before I definitely could not.

The next day I went to dance class and I felt even stronger! I could do this move that is super hard that I had never come close to before!

Even thinking about it now fills me with disbelief. I could also do 10 pushups when I couldn’t do 1 before.

It fills me with a feeling of …..HOPE. honestly, hope and optimism and happiness.

I’m continuing!! I can’t wait to see what else happens.

I highly recommend anyone interested just GOES FOR IT and gives it a shot. HOWEVER. This is almost like a skill that needs to be learned. There is a LOT to know and learn before you can do this succesfully. Here are some basic tips.

1. Most importantly, buy the book 80/10/10 by Dr. Doug Graham and read about the rationale behind this way of eating. It will open your eyes. OK. It will probably seem really extreme to you at first like it did to me. He recommends eating all raw fruits and vegetables….I was like HE’s INSANE!! But it takes a while to get used to the idea.

2. Ok, next, you got to get a vitamix! They are the best and you will use it all the time I assure you.

3. Watch youtube videos of Low Fat Raw Vegans like Freelee and Durianrider and Melissa and Tinyfruitlover and fullyrawkristina –some of my faves. Watch the stories of their transformations and have someone tell you to your face how it changed their lives. This is what really motivated me.

raw vegan, before and after

4. Next try eating only fruit for breakfast or just adding in a ton more fruit to your diet. That’s how I started. When that becomes normal, do a 1 week trial of fruit for breakfast and lunch. I did this and my cramps were gone. It’s awesome!!

5. If you are ready to do it….join the Banana Girl Diet Challenge on facebook where they explain how to do a 30 day trial of this way of eating with a meal plan—the meal plan consists of breakfast and lunch of fruit and a fruit meal for dinner followed by a large salad with a fruit based dressing. You can post your diary there and get support. It’s a great resource.

6. If you are really ready to go for it, buy Roger Haeske’s recipe for savory veggie stews. They will save your life! Instead of eating extremely bland salads…he has a secret recipe for a blended salad that is actually REALLY good and you will look forward to eating. It will get in a ton of veggies and greens for you!

7. Finally, very important, download the cronometer app and log all your calories. Make sure you are at very minimum getting 2000 calories a day. This is a lot more difficult than it seems. The more calories you can get in from fruits and vegetables the better you’ll feel. It’s really fun to use this app which tells you all the vitamins and minerals and percentages of fat, protein and carbs you are getting. I love using it!!

If you do this—-I think like me…good things will happen.

I have gotten rid of my cramps, achieved the look of an inner glow, and best of all, drastically increased my fitness in the first 10 days.

Let me know if you guys have any questions–or if you try it, let me know how it goes. I would LOVE to hear about it.

Have you ever considered going raw? Does this sound insane to you?