Raw and free

HEALTHY LIVING: Sophie’s family is thriving on a plant-based diet. From left: Eli, Ricardo Christie, Jai, Sophie and Milo. Picture by Lottie Hedley

It was Sophie Steevens’ belief that she could reverse her Graves’ Disease through diet that led her down a path which involved a drastic detox and a total commitment to eating in a new way.

In 2014 she was living in Bali with her partner, professional surfer Ricardo Christie, and her two children Eli and Milo when she suddenly became extremely unwell and was hospitalised with typhoid fever, a life-threatening bacterial infection. While in hospital a doctor noticed a lump on her throat, so tests were done and it was discovered she had an extremely overactive thyroid. She had started to notice symptoms a few weeks earlier, such as a racing heart and feeling jittery.

“My heart rate was always high — it felt as though I’d just been on a long run, even though I was resting. And although I was eating large amounts of food, I was rapidly losing weight,” Sophie says.

“I was really tired, sweating a lot and would get these sudden waves of fuzziness.”

She flew home to New Zealand and saw a top endocrinologist in Auckland who diagnosed her with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid. With this disease, your immune system attacks the thyroid and causes it to produce more thyroid hormone than your body needs.

“I later found out this was hereditary,” she says.

After a year of taking medication Sophie was told the ongoing treatment would involve taking radioactive iodine, which would mean she would then need to take a hormone to replace the function of her thyroid for the rest of her life. The other option was to have the thyroid removed, but this had greater risks involved.

She refused to accept these were the only two options available and started to do some research.

“I was aware of the positive health effects of a plant-based diet and I just felt strongly there must be another way.

“I stumbled across a blog post by Rosanne Calabrese who had cured herself of Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s (another autoimmune disease) by detoxing her body at a clinic in Florida founded by Dr Robert Morse.

Sophie followed a similar detox programme where she ate only raw fruit and veges for nearly six months, while taking herbal formulas three times a day, a combination of tinctures and capsules.

“It was a little challenging in the first few weeks as I was adjusting to a completely new way of eating, but I quickly got the hang of it and began to feel amazing — incredibly clean and clear.

“I had read Robert Morse’s book The Detox Miracle Sourcebook, which explained every system in the body and how detoxing works, so I felt prepared.

“Six weeks into it detox symptoms kicked in as my body was busy cleaning. My glands swelled up, I had headaches and flu-like symptoms. I went through these symptoms on and off for about a month or so but by 14 weeks I was feeling better than ever. I decided to extend the detox for another eight weeks.

“I saw my GP regularly for full blood tests throughout the entire process and after six months, both my thyroid function and antibodies were completely normal.”

The detox had required a huge effort and sheer determination on her part, but she had done it. Getting those results was extremely emotional and Sophie went on to have her third child Jai in 2018 without suffering any negative effects on her thyroid due to pregnancy.

At the time she started her detox programme, she also started a blog on Instagram (@rawandfree) where she wrote about the experience. The popularity of her blog grew quickly and she now has 125,000 followers. It was through her Instagram presence that she was approached to do the book.

“I went to the extreme to get myself into remission but the book isn’t really about that. It is about encouraging wholesome eating in general.

“Whether you are plant-based or not, I wanted to share the importance of incorporating more plants into your diet, especially lots of fruits and vegetables, as well as ditching the highly-processed foods that I believe are contributing hugely to poor health.”

The book begins with a comprehensive introduction explaining how a plant-based diet has the potential to improve long-term health and wellbeing. Sophie outlines 12 tips for a wholesome plant-based lifestyle and explains how to obtain the four essential nutrients of common concern when following a plant-based diet — protein, calcium, iron and B12. The book also contains kitchen and pantry basics so readers can be fully stocked up and ready to embark on this new way of eating.

It was no mean feat to write a book, and create and test 100 recipes, while Ricardo was on the other side of the world and she was home with the children.

“It was one of the most challenging experiences as a full-time mum with my baby on my hip, two bigger boys (my 13 year old was home-schooled at the time) and Ricardo away competing overseas all year long, but it was also incredibly rewarding, fun and exciting at the same time and I am so happy with the outcome. I poured my heart and soul into this book and worked long hours on it.

“I’d have two hours when Jai was asleep during the day and as soon as he was asleep at night I’d go back to the kitchen or type away until at least midnight — towards the end I was up into the early hours.

“I would come up with an idea of what I wanted to create, write it down with a list of ingredients and adjust each recipe as I was making them. Sometimes it could take five attempts to get it perfect and other times it would be almost there first try.

Last year after three and a half months of being based at Wainui, Gisborne, she and the family travelled to Europe to see Ricardo.

“We flew to London, Portugal and France where we spent two months and I wrote the entire time. At that time I’d tested about 80 percent of the recipes, so I was really focusing on the intro.”

Sophie would often send Ricardo drafts of what she had written so he could offer feedback.

The recipes open with smoothies, juices and breakfast ideas before going on to hearty salads with a range of dressings such as aioli made with a base of cashew nuts, vegan sour cream and cashew cheese sauce, hot pots and warming mains, snacks and dips and, for the sweet tooth, raw treats such as blueberry cheesecake, fruit and nut chocolate using raw cacao powder, and gooey caramel brownie slice.

Bali inspired some of the dishes, such as a roast cauliflower salad with curried yoghurt, parsley and toasted almond flakes. Other tasty offerings include a creamy sunflower and vegetable tart which is made with a buckwheat and chia pastry.

“The recipes are all really easy to make — I created this book for any-level cook.

“Plant-based eating can seem a little overwhelming but once you have the staple ingredients you will easily begin to get a feel for it.”

With her long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, Sophie is a vision of health and wellbeing and an inspiration for those thinking about making healthier choices with what they eat. Her book Raw + Free is chock-full of plant-based recipes that not only taste delicious but are also so good for you.

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