By David Benda

Don’t ask Patricia Bragg how old she is.

She won’t tell you.

“I am ageless; I don’t believe in calendar years,“
Bragg said Thursday morning by phone as she jogged in place.

Bragg — whose father, Paul, launched the family’s storied healthy living legacy 100 years ago — is in Redding this week to give two free talks.

This afternoon, Bragg will be at Holiday Quality Foods on Placer Street. She will speak at the Redding Library on Saturday.

Bragg will sign books from noon to 1:30 p.m. before her 5:30 p.m. talk at Holiday.

“She is a force. She is the right person for the job,“
said Khristopher Balazich, Holiday’s natural food specialist.

Bragg Live Food Products have been stocking health food shelves for generations.

The family business actually started when Paul Bragg, as a teenager, was stricken with tuberculosis.

Bragg said her father developed his own eating, breathing and exercising program to combat the disease. This in a time when people lived out of a frying pan.

“They said, ‘Bragg is crazy. He eats like a rabbit,’” Bragg said. “They wanted steak, fried potatoes, sausages, ham and bacon. But no, Dad said salads, beautiful salads. He started organic farming.”

In 1912, her father opened a small health food store in Los Angeles. Paul Bragg died in 1976. Today, Patricia Bragg lives on a 120-acre organic farm in Santa Barbara but spends much of her time on the road touting the virtues of healthy living.

“Your health is your wealth,” Bragg said. “Why are the two biggest sellers in drugstores aspirin and laxatives? Because people haven’t been living a healthy lifestyle.”

Stars like Clint Eastwood, Cloris Leachman, the Beach Boys and singer
Katy Perry are Bragg advocates, she said.

Balazich has been trying to get Bragg to speak in Redding for years and has known her for some 25 years. He worked for a while on Bragg’s Santa Barbara farm.

“It’s like a dream come true for me to have her come to the store,” Balazich said. “She is a big deal, a world leader” in health.

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Women’s Club poses before touring Patricia’s garden

Enjoying the shade and a beautiful spot

Club tours gardens surrounding cottage

Enjoying the view

Healthy vegetable gardens

They loved the dollhouses

Beautiful Roses

more beautiful roses

3 Tbsps sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, sliver

1 cabbage, slice

5 oz sprouting beans

3 green onions, slice

1 inch fresh ginger, grate

1 carrot, cut thin strips

½ cup unsalted cashews or almonds

SAUCE:

3 tsps Bragg Liquid Aminos

1 Tbsp sesame oil

shake of Bragg Sprinkle

⅔ cup cold distilled water

2 tsps raw honey

shake of Bragg Sea Kelp

Heat oil in large wok and sauté green onion, garlic, ginger and carrot for 2 minutes. Add sprouting beans and sauté for another 2 minutes, stir and toss together. Add cabbage and nuts. Stir-fry until cabbage leaves begin to wilt. Quickly mix sauce ingredients together and pour into wok; stir immediately, coating the vegetables with this delicious sauce and serve. Serves 2–4.

Any mix of tropical fresh fruit: papaya, mango, kiwi, guava, etc

1 large fresh pineapple

1 Tbsp raw macadamia nuts, chop

1 pint fresh strawberries

soy yogurt (optional)

Quarter pineapple lengthwise. Do not peel. Cut away hard core. Scoop out inside. Chop finely. Mix sliced kiwi, guava, mango or any tropical fruit in season and refill shells. Hull strawberries and slice. Lay on top of pineapple to cover top. Garnish with raw chopped nuts and soy yogurt. Serves 4.