David Wolfe Brings Raw Food Workshop to Royal Oak

Andrea McNinch said she was “falling apart at the age of 25.” She had a couple of college degrees and a good corporate job, but she also had migraine headaches, acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome. She had a lot health problems for someone so young.

A visit to the doctor didn’t give her answers, just excuses.

“I was told, you’re a woman. You’re stressed. This is normal. It’s a part of aging,” McNinch said. “Doctors are trained to give you a prescription and put you back together, but they don’t teach prevention.”

McNinch begged her doctor to do blood work and discovered at age 25 that she had the DHEA (a hormone that is naturally made by the human body) level of a 75-year-old. She decided her body was giving her a warning and she changed her diet. She eliminated dairy first, then went vegan. She said she felt better in a week.

It’s been a 10-year evolution. Today, McNinch is the owner of Regeneration Raw and the new Heal Yourself Institute that will open in a few weeks at 412 E. Fourth St. in downtown Royal Oak.

McNinch is an enthusiastic cheerleader for listening to your body. “I look and feel better today than I did when I was 19,” she said.

This week in Royal Oak, you can find out what makes McNinch tick — and why raw foods are the rage. Regeneration Raw and the Heal Yourself Institute are presenting “David Wolfe Raw” from Friday through Sunday at . As a bonus, there will be a screening Thursday of the film Food Matters at the . After the 80-minute film, there will be a 30-minute question-and-answer session with Wolfe.

Wolf is an authority on nutrition and longevity. He’s the author of several best-selling books: Eating for Beauty, The Sunfood Diet Success System, Naked Chocolate, David Wolfe on Raw Foods, Superfoods and Superherbs, Amazing Grace, and Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future. Wolfe also counsels Hollywood celebrities and top CEOs, including Apple’s Steve Jobs.

“He’s a serious encyclopedia of cutting-edge knowledge,” McNinch said. “We are so lucky to have him. This will be his only Midwest appearance.”

Wolf figures prominently in Food Matters, a documentary that gives people scientific solutions for overcoming illness naturally. 

McNinch said the screening of Food Matters sold out the last time it was shown at the Main Art Theatre.

At "David Wolfe Raw,” attendees will learn why raw foods are essential to healthful living and to preventing and reversing disease. There will a guest appearance by Hollywood raw chef Jason Wrobel as well as optional morning yoga, tonics, smoothies, a bevy of prizes and an intimate gourmet birthday dinner for Wolfe on Friday.

Find more details and register on Regeneration Raw's Facebook page (look under info), visit how2eatraw.com or call 248-470-4290.

If you go

Food Matters (featuring David Wolfe, among others), followed by Q&A with Wolfe
7:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday

Tickets: $10; partial proceeds benefit David Wolfe's nonprofit Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. For film trailer, visit www.foodmatters.tv.

Gourmet raw dinner, book signing and birthday celebration with David Wolfe　
7-10 p.m. Friday
212 W. Fifth Ave. (formerly Mezza Grille)
Tickets: $150 (limited to first 100) Includes four-course gourmet dinner, fresh raw alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, mingling, dancing and live music.

Conference Day 1 with David Wolfe
9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday
Auditorium
Tickets: $125　

Conference Day 2, with David Wolfe and guest appearance by Hollywood raw foods chef and educator Jason Wrobel　
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
Royal Oak Middle School Auditorium
Tickets: $100　

A two-day pass for Saturday and Sunday may be purchased for $199.