Why supermodel Carol Alt is putting the spotlight on raw food and healthy living

Carol Alt, who appeared on only about 500 magazine covers during the ’80s, got her big break on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 1982, so she’s been busy lately with the many celebrations surrounding the issue’s 50-year anniversary.

Though she’s not in bikinis as much. A majority of her time now is spent spreading the gospel of raw foods and forward-thinking health solutions via a variety of projects, from her new show on Fox News, A Healthy You & Carol Alt, to her cookbook, Easy Sexy Raw.

We caught up with the legendary model turned healthy living advocate to find out more about her wellness habits, and what she sees as the most important food and health issues of our time.

You’ve been eating a mostly raw food diet for almost 17 years. When you first switched, did you notice changes in your health right away? Oh my god, like everything changed! Even my mother looked at me and said, “What did you do? You look amazing!” I said, “I changed how I ate!” And in that moment, my mother changed how she ate. If you got results like that, that’s worth changing for.

Did you make other changes to your lifestyle, too? I started with food, and then I continued on. I was just so fascinated by how we do such stupid things to ourselves. We go from one mistake to the next, like we’re putting so many chemicals in our food today, it’s crazy. Next I went to air. I started cleaning the air in my office, my home, my car. Then I thought, “What else does my body touch? Water.” So, I started in on my water—I got all very healthy filters and things like that. It wasn’t like I went cold turkey on everything immediately. I found things that looked important to change and changed gradually. People get very frightened of change. They get panicked. I say, “Relax, and take it one step at a time.”

You interview health and wellness experts from all different areas on your new show. Based on all of the information you’re gathering, what do you think are some of the biggest threats to good health today? The biggest issue is that our food has changed, and no one realizes. You really need to keep up with the changes. And the other big thing I see is misinformation. There’s so much out there that people aren’t able to make proper decisions. They think there’s nothing better to do for themselves.

A lot of the healthy practices you advocate for, including eating raw, are still considered “alternative” or outside of the mainstream. Do think people are changing their minds at all about the value of the practices coming out of that world? I think what’s happening is they’re looking at people [who are raw] and going “They don’t get sick, they’re always so happy. Why can’t I be that way?” People used to be like, “Raw?!” and look at me like I was some alien being. Then more [chefs] started making raw food and selling raw snacks, and it’s changing a lot. You can get everything raw now. —Lisa Elaine Held

For more information, visit www.carolalt.com