My friend Jonathan Barbeau (better known simply as “Mr. Jonathan”), from the radio program “The Cigar Authority,” recently shared with me an exclusive interview he did with Nicolai Volkoff, a world-class professional wrestler. Today, at 68 years old, Nicolai is in great shape. He still wrestles. He’s never broken a bone. And he’s almost never sick. I’ll tell you his secret to staying strong and healthy in a moment. But first, let me tell you a little bit about Nicolai’s fascinating background…
Nicolai fled Communist Eastern Europe when he was 19 years old. He began his career as an expert in Judo. And had his first professional wrestling match in 1968 against Bruno Sammartino, known as the “Living Legend.” Later, he had a long-running “stage feud” with Hulk Hogan. Nicolai was known for using the “Russian Bear Hug” in his matches.
He chose his wrestling character to help educate average Americans about the evils of Communism, which he actually calls, “the worst form of capitalism.”
Nicolai actually became a U.S. citizen in 1970. He first lived in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Interestingly, my grandfather emigrated to this same small PA town. And my father grew up there too. My uncle still runs the family farm outside of town. Later, Nicolai moved to Baltimore, Maryland.
Clearly, Nikolai isn’t a product of the American school system. He didn’t attend medical school. Or graduate school. And he’s not a scientist. Nor is he a product of the new, trendy American movement for holistic or natural approaches.
Instead, he comes from a down-to-earth family who always lived close to the land. He has a simple, brilliant philosophy. He says food has healing powers. And it’s been that way since the beginning of time.
And interestingly enough, Nicolai knows a lot about what I call the “Bear Diet.” My daughter Alicia actually coined the name for this diet when she was in middle school. To learn more about it, see my special report called The “Top of the Food Chain” Cure for Obesity. Subscribers to my newsletter get this 7-page report for free. If you aren’t yet a subscriber, now is the perfect time to get started.
But back to Nicolai…
For him, the secret to staying strong and healthy is simple. And it works.
Nicolai only eats whole foods.
(But not from that shamelessly overpriced chain of supermarkets.)
Nicolai eats food as nature intended. He says we should think about how cavemen hunted. And about how cavewomen gathered berries and wild greens. And then, we should think about how they prepared that food.
If they spent time and energy to hunt and kill wild game, would they throw away the dark meat, the skin, or the bones? When they happened upon a wild crop of root vegetables or berries, would they waste time removing the skin?
Of course not.
They used every possible part of every edible item. And what was left over ended up in a soup pot. This drew out every last drop of nutrients from the food.
Nicolai estimates that we throw away more than half of our vitamins and minerals by “skinning” our meats and vegetables.
Of course, this isn’t new advice. Just advice that many of us have forgotten. My grandfather and father always said that the skin of the apple contains the most vitamins. And the skin of the chicken contains important nutrients as well. Including good fat.
The good fat found in chicken contains fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D and E. In fact, in healthy, wild game, the fat resides right under the skin. But you lose these nutrients when you remove the skin.
At the end of the interview, Mr. Jonathan asked Nikolai, “What do you eat when you do get sick?”
Nicolai answered, “like your Grandmother used to make…chicken soup!”
The Russian Bear went on to tell Mr. Jonathan about his recipe for “cure-all” chicken soup. He claims it can cure everything from the common cold to cancer. In fact, Nikolai says when he gave this soup to his dog dying of cancer, the dog dramatically came back from the clutches of death.