Raw Food at 68: Axay Shah on Energy Bankruptcy and 16 Years Off Cooked Food

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Axay Shah was sitting at his mother's birthday dinner on December 5, 2009 when he announced his plan. He would switch to raw food on January 1. His brother-in-law cut him off mid-sentence. What is January 1? Today is your mother's birthday, and you already ate. The line landed. The next morning, Axay started. He has eaten exclusively raw food for 16 years and has not looked back.

In this episode of Fountain of Vitality, host LaMont Leavitt sits down with Axay Shah, founder of Raw Foodiest and author of In Nature We Trust, a 16-year inquiry into raw food, energy production, and human longevity now accepted into the Library of Congress. Axay shares why he calls cooked food a curse, why he refuses to track protein, and how he runs marathons and lifts his 170-pound son at 145 pounds, all without supplements or medications.

 The Energy Crash at 50   

Axay had no disease pushing him toward change. He had something fewer doctors flag in a chart. The energy he had at 30 and 40 was gone at 50. He looked at older friends in their 60s. Arthritis, obesity, diabetes, cancer. He saw freedom and confidence draining out of people who had quietly accepted decline as the cost of aging.

He refused. He looked at the natural world and noticed humans are the only species cooking food. Other animals eat raw meat. Other animals eat raw leaves. None of them strike a match first.

 Cooked Food Then and Now   

Axay does not romanticize the past. Cooked food was the right choice for ancestors a thousand years ago. Refrigeration did not exist. Every meal had to maximize calories because the next one was not guaranteed. The brain consumes 20 to 25 percent of the calories the body produces. Cooked food fed brain expansion, and humans pulled ahead of chimpanzees.

The 4 percent DNA difference between humans and chimpanzees was paid for in cooked calories. That advantage is now spent. Brains are no longer enlarging, but cooked food calorie patterns continue. The same fuel that built modern intelligence is now overloading children with diabetes at 8 and adults with hobbies they never get to enjoy because they are tired by 5 PM.

 Energy Bankruptcy at 5 PM   

Axay calls this energy bankruptcy. The piano you wanted to learn. The book you keep restarting. The hobby that keeps slipping. None of these are character flaws. They are downstream of fatigue. Cells die in the body each day, and replacement requires energy production that cooked food, in his framing, does not properly support.

He runs a city budget analogy throughout the conversation. A city without revenue cannot pave roads, light streets, fund parks, or run schools. A body without surplus energy cannot heal cells, sustain hobbies, or hold a conversation past dinner. His own city, Diamond Bar, subsidizes public transit because it can afford to. Axay thinks bodies work the same way.

 The Protein Hype Problem   

Axay has heard the protein question hundreds of times. He answers it the same way every time. He does not measure his protein. He gets it from nuts and vegetables. His doctor confirms his numbers are good. His proof point is not a chart.

In 2004, at his son's wedding, Axay lifted him onto his shoulder and danced on the street for 5 minutes. The son weighed 170 pounds. Axay weighed 145. He has run 8 marathons since, the most recent in March. His position. A horse in the wild does not run blood panels and does not need supplements. The body asks for what it needs and the natural world supplies it.

 Three Steps to Start   

Axay does not recommend his own approach to anyone. He went cold turkey. For most people, that backfires. The first step is not eating raw at all. The first step is mental acceptance. Cooked food, in his terms, is an addiction comparable to alcohol or cigarettes. Until the mind is ready, the diet will not stick.

The second step is awareness. Begin adding 10, 20, or 25 percent raw to existing meals. This is not deprivation. It is addition. Three weeks in, the body has adjusted enough to make the rest a discipline question. The third step is action. Ongoing choice, party by party, lunch by lunch.

 Snacks and Social Pressure   

Axay carries almonds and walnuts. They sit in the car for the snacking moments most people fill with chips. They sit in his pocket at parties when nothing on the table fits his pattern. They travel internationally when restaurants only serve cooked food.

He does not negotiate with social pressure. In 16 years, he has refused birthday cake at his own birthday parties. He brings his own snacks to weddings. The freedom he describes is not about what he avoids. It is about what he keeps having. Energy at 8 PM, focus at 5 PM, range of motion at 67 going on 68.

 Key Takeaways 

• Humans are the only species on the planet that cooks food. Every other animal eats raw, including the carnivores.

• Cooked food was a survival blessing for ancestors without refrigeration. The brain consumes 20 to 25 percent of the body's calorie production, and cooked food fueled human brain expansion past chimpanzees.

• What worked then has become the curse now. Childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes at age 8, and adults with no energy past 5 PM are all downstream of the same caloric pattern.

• Energy bankruptcy explains why most adults stop pursuing hobbies after work. The piano stays untouched not because of motivation but because the body has nothing left.

• Behavior change runs through three stages. Mental acceptance, awareness, and action. Adding 10 to 25 percent raw is the safer entry point than going cold turkey.

• Three weeks is the threshold where the body has adjusted. After that point, it becomes a discipline question rather than a physical one.

• Cooked food is an addiction comparable to alcohol or cigarettes. Until the mind is ready, the diet will not stick.

• Protein hype is overblown in Western culture. Axay does not measure protein and gets all of his from nuts and vegetables. His proof point is lifting his 170-pound son at 145 pounds and running marathons at 67.

• Snacking culture can be redirected with raw substitutes. Almonds and walnuts in the car or pocket replace chips and cake at parties without deprivation.

• Energy is the single variable that opens up the rest of life. Music, reading, gardening, hobbies, and creativity all require fuel the body has to actually produce.

Learn more about Axay Shah at rawfoodiest.com and follow his work on YouTube @rawfoodiest and LinkedIn. Listen to the full conversation on Fountain of Vitality, available on all major podcast platforms.

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