Feb. 5, 2013 /RawFoodHealthWatch/ — Nwenna Kai announced a 7 day raw foods cleanse course that begins Sunday, February 10th, that will be delivered via live teleseminar, digital documents and daily emails.

The accompanying digital guide includes 100 pages with raw food recipes, shopping lists & meal planners, pages for journaling and affirmations, nutritional information, breath and exercise regimens, and information on how to apply the principles towards cleaning the body, mind and spirit.

Journaling and community support is an important part of any positive transformation, and overall weight loss “is so much more than about eating the right diet,” says Kai. Registrants are given access to a forum for posting questions, break throughs and overall community support.

The cleanse runs from Sunday, February 10th through to Saturday, February 16th.

About Nwenna Kai

Nwenna Kai is an award-winning wellness entrepreneur, known for creating the Taste of the Goddess cafe, one of LA’s pioneering organic raw foods cafes. Kais’ book, The Goddess of Raw Foods has earned her awards, but it was her expertise delivered to patrons, such as Forest Whitaker, Derek and Sophia Luke, Sanaa Lathan, and Angela Bassett, of Taste of the Goddess that earned her an appellation of the same. She has written for Purely Delicious, The Shuttle, and Heart & Soul Magazine. Her catering company was responsible for providing raw vegan entrees, spreads, and desserts to more than 30 Whole Foods markets in the southern California area. Her drive towards raw foods came from the power she realized that foods delivered in her previous battles with chronic fatigue syndrome, hyperthyroidism, constipation, depression, sciatica, migraines, and vertigo. She is a featured chef in The Ultimate Encyclopedia of the Raw Food Lifestyle DVD series. Sponsored by Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), the 2007 Elizabeth Dole Young Entrepreneurial Scholarship was awarded to her for her work as a health and wellness entrepreneur.

More information can be found here: http://www.nwenna.com/livewell/detox/

This article you are reading includes the very words I tell family and friends when they say to me “I feel like crap, how can I get healthy?” They usually follow with “…but keep it simple.” So, here it is, a simple approach to begin a healthier lifestyle, from my family to yours.

Let’s start talking about healthy snacks. Just the other day, Madame Scott, the JK teacher of my youngest daughter Maizey, sent home a note asking us to send in a treat for Maizey because the class will be sharing a birthday cake. We alerted Madame Scott on Day one that “junk foods” and “hot dogs” weren’t on the menu for Maizey.

My daughter is completely comfortable saying “no thank you” and never complains, however, I want her to enjoy food as well, so we learned to make snacks that she loves and is excited for. To be honest, her and my son both see raisins and other dried fruit as a treat, but we have found we need to kick it up a notch when going to school. We have to make it “special” in some way, but still keep it simple.

So, together my daughter and I made some “raw candy balls” as she calls them. Essentially, for the first step, we soak different nuts and/or seeds in salt water over night (to remove any enzyme inhibitors or other anti-nutrients that are said to exist in them, and explode the locked nutrition that creates the life force for a plant or tree). For school treats we cannot use nuts, so chia, pumpkin and sunflower seeds are often used.

Then, we drain the nuts and seeds, and although some suggest they must completely re-dry to be “ready”, we use them wet. We combine them with something gummy and sweet… Dates, figs, raisins and other sulfite-free dried fruits work well. We form them into balls, bars or hearts and serve. They stay best in the fridge. Sometimes they are hard, sometimes gloopy, but who cares… just enjoy

Going overboard with diet rules… I think that getting “religious” with food has it’s place for the truly ill, but I also feel that having guilty feelings and alienating oneself from loved ones has the opposite effect to what I think we are looking to achieve.

I feel that if you are hungry and want to eat, and eating raw or “100% healthy,” whatever that means to you, isn’t prudent at the current juncture, take it down a peg and choose something you can consume that is close to Your 100%… all the while not alienating yourself or stressing out with the sole purpose of “perfection”. You won’t ever achieve perfection anyways, so don’t sweat it

Besides… eating “too clean” in this world, some have admitted, forces them to “live in a bubble” of sorts.

My Definition of Healthy Eating – primarily consuming a balance of foods that are GMO-free, organic, non-toxic, raw (or lightly processed) and plant based, or more simply: wild! [WILD FOOD EXPERT: SERGEI BOUTENKO]

I think it’s important to get regular probiotics into your body, for a multitude of reasons, including recolonization after antibiotics usage and for digestion and more importantly assimilation.

I have a routine that I follow for getting probiotics in my diet daily. I make a delicious drink by fermenting water kefir grains.

The process I use is as follows:

1) I have a glass jar on my counter top full of water that I will use in 24+ hours after the chlorine has mostly evaporated
2) I have another jar with some water kefir grains at the bottom
3) I pour in some sugar (that the kefir grains consume, then evacuate to produce a healthy by-product)
4) I sometimes add a bit of fresh ginger and/or a pinch of aluminum free baking powder to further feed the grains and keep them hearty (healthy, hearty grains are NOT mushy)
5) I pour in some hopefully chlorine-free water to the top of the jar (I use 1L or 2L jars)
6) I stir the water with a wooden spoon (using metals can harm the grains)
7) I place a loose fitting lid on the jar (just the disc part of a Mason jar lid works) then I place the jar in a cupboard to begin fermenting
8) After a couple days, I pour some off the top, add a piece of frozen fruit (for flavour and an ice cube) and I drink

The flavour varies based on the length of time allowed to ferment, and the type of frozen fruit used.

Warning: Using a tight lid (and fermenting longer) runs the risk of “explosion” as pressure builds and also increases alcohol levels to mild-medium intoxication levels.

Consult a natural health care practitioner before considering any changes to your diet. Please learn more about water kefir and it’s by-product (including but not limited to the use of sugar, the creation of alcohol, and beneficial bacteria), before including it in your or your loved one’s diets.

[Part 2 here]

This is a continuation from a post that I published late last night, which can be viewed here.

I like the idea of green smoothies immensely… First, they are convenient once you get a routine down. Also, they are a great way to sneak lots of greens in, in an often delicious way. They can help to regulate weight and they could potentially be used as one’s only source of calories and nutrition for a length of time. I know because I went 2+ months on just green smoothies all day every day, while running a full time business, going to the gym regularly and spending lots of time with friends and family. I had an abundance of energy and felt great, plus it was simple to stick to, providing I had smoothies on hand regularly.

[SMOOTHIES EXPERT: VICTORIA BOUTENKO]

Before I get into Donna’s quick tips which kept her and our children consuming daily green smoothies for the past 4+ years, I will share with you a few tips of my own.

I like my smoothies fresh, but that isn’t always practical when I’m working or out somewhere, so what I generally do is make at least 1L-2L of green smoothie in one go. I usually finish 1L in a short time, but otherwise I just keep it in the fridge and consume throughout the day.

When I’m out hiking or something I will bring one or more liters along with me. I usually have a a backpack with some energy bars, so I also pack in glass jars with smoothies and water as well. I may or may not add a cooling pack into the bag along with it. The smoothie lasts a surprisingly long time without fermenting or losing flavour.

A typical smoothie is water, fruit (frozen or fresh) and dark leafy greens. The ratio depends on your “taste for greens” which I found improves dramatically over time.

A great starter smoothie that I still consume today has blueberries, water, freshly squeezed orange juice, a banana and parsley. When made right it tastes a lot like bubble gum.

Donna, My Children’s Mom, Shares Her 14 Pound Green Smoothie Weight Loss Tips!

My children’s mom and I were consuming green smoothies regularly before our children were born. We would go through stages where we would have one each day for a month, then we might stop for a week or two then get back into it. Donna consumed green smoothies daily during both pregnancies and still enjoys regular smoothies now. Our kids drink them daily and have since mother’s milk (and in mother’s milk).

Donna recently decided to shed some more weight and chose to replace 2 meals each day with green smoothies and eat “healthy-ish” for the rest of the day, but have an “anything” goes day one day over each weekend. She managed to drop 14 pounds in 3 weeks, and people noticed!

I emailed her and asked her if she’d share some tips for simplifying the process of having green smoothies daily for her and the children, and replacing meals to help her lose weight in three weeks. Here is her response:

It wasn’t actually 3 weeks, it was 24 days so stop telling people 3 weeks

Ok…

I’ve got “green smoothies” down to a science now. It helps to have a big blender, I’m glad Matt sent us the bigger Blendtec.

To prepare for the day, the night before I fill the blender with the ingredients and keep it in the fridge ready to blend in the morning. Depends on how many I need to make I might make a fresh batch mid-day sometime too.

In the past it was always better to start with water or other liquid at the bottom, but it doesn’t much matter with this blender, but I still do out of habit. I choose fruit to add at random, but always a low glycemic berry of some kind. Then I choose a handful or two of greens at random. Sometimes I will add vegan DHA oil, ground flax, chia gel, a scoop of raw hemp seeds, a scoop of Vega, an avocado, maca root, or some other strange ingredient you sometimes bring over but mostly it’s just fruit, greens and water.

I always have fresh greens on hand. It helps when buying the greens with the ball root in tact because it stays healthy longer. Growing some of my own in the house or back garden would certainly help keep fresh stock, but I don’t count on it. Occasionally I’ll pick wild dandelion or other green.

As for fruit, I like to juice fresh oranges sometimes to add in. Plus, I like to peel and cut up fresh fruit, especially mango, pineapple and banana, but I always try to add in berries. Worse case, I use frozen fruit. When using fresh, I like to add ice cubes.

It helps to have a lot of Mason jars around, but when I had only 3 or 4 I made sure I always cleaned them immediately. Also, cleaning the blender immediately helps when extra motivation is needed to make the next smoothie. Like you, I agree that smoothies “hit the spot”, and I also agree that if a smoothie is not readily available when hunger strikes, that other more convenient, less healthy options seem more desirable and sometimes even strangely justified! So, to avoid falling in that trap I always prepare ahead of time. I’m at the stage now where I’ll stand on my head and make a smoothie with my feet if I have to but the first couple years weren’t so easy.

I definitely say not to try to “blend salads” like we tried to do before learning about green smoothies from Victoria’s book. I don’t want to plug my nose and resist the urge to vomit to try to be healthy. Green smoothies when done right taste great. I have a bunch of recipes that I use regularly, I will copy them down one day and send them to you, but whenever I am “testing” a new green, I always just put a higher ratio of fruit in than normal and go from there.

Oh, it also helps in public to have a non see-through drinking container. I used to worry more about that than I do now, now I bring a Mason jar full of green liquid to work, it’s definitely a conversation piece!

I have no real tips to share about encouraging kids to drink smoothies. Ours have always just drank them and they always ask for more. Your ideas for encouraging them to drink juiced greens could probably help with smoothies as well.

A few more tips… the kids like it more thin and “juice like” then they do thick and “smoothie like”. I don’t know if that will be the same for others though. Also, with the old blender I had to rip apart the greens into smaller peieces before blending. Dandelion and other bitters are best used in small amounts. Even though we crave greens, our palettes do not appreciate dandelion greens as much, but they are super healthy so we include them in small amounts regularly. Bananas, all berries, parsley, kale, and spinach are all staples in our green smoothie household. A big container of spinach never goes to waste. And although we have never fell victim to it, according to Victoria, it’s always good to “rotate” greens to avoid that build up of any particular toxin that nature injects into a green to avoid over eating in the wild. It makes sense to me not do the exact same thing day in and day out anyway so we use different greens and other ingredients regularly. Don’t drink them too fast either. They do seem to digest easily enough in general but I found that downing them causes a belly ache and it just doesn’t seem to have the same positive effect overall. That’s all I’ve got for now, if I can think of anything else I’ll let you know. And I’ll send the recipes over when I finish writing them out.

See ya,
Donna

Good stuff! I’ll keep on Donna about those recipes and send them out to you as soon as possible.

Hope you enjoyed this quick guide. More great information to come so stay tuned!

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To your continued good health!
~Keith and family

Drinking more water is a great start to a natural health lifestyle. My youngest sister and I are the same in very many ways. We confide in eachother, and a lot of times have realized we have or had the same struggles as each other in life, and within the conversations often sort out ways to break through them. As an example, we came to realize that we both often felt that if we weren’t achieving perfection in a certain area, our default behaviour was “inaction”.

Let me say that a different way. We have felt that if we weren’t doing something to “perfection” (whatever that means), we didn’t do it at all.

Even something seemingly simple as drinking enough water. I for one felt that if we weren’t getting water direct from a spring and storing it in light impenetrable glass that we were drinking inferior water, and while that may be true, I failed to drink sufficient amounts of water each day.

I’m excited for you if you live near a healthy natural spring that you could get your drinking water, or perhaps your bathing water from, and perhaps one day I will as well. At the moment however, I do not. But water is damn important, so drinking the water I have available is going to have to do.

I remember buying a book one time, with a title similar to: You’re not sick, you’re thirsty… the bodies many cries for water.

I’m not even sure I got past the first chapter, but I think the lesson was in the title anyways. I didn’t need to read the negative things I could potentially be doing by not drinking sufficient pure water, I just needed to know that drinking enough water is important.

It’s generally accepted that taking your body weight (in pounds) and dividing by 2 that you arrive at roughly the number of ounces appropriate for you. From there you can determine how many times to fill your favourite drinking vessel.

Well, when anyone asks me one thing they could change to improve health, one area I feel could have significant impact is to drink enough water. Choose the rough guide above if you aren’t sure what’s right for you, or listen to your body.

I recall hearing Tony Robbins say, if I’m not mistaken, that it’s a good idea to keep water by the bed and to take a sip upon awakening, and in fact sipping water every 20 minutes might be necessary.

Avocados

More water, that’s change #1. I think that for change #2 I might suggest picking one food, a food that you know has many health benefits, and learn to include that food into your diet more regularly.

The avocado is a great choice. It is a great plant source of an important macronutrient: fat. For many reasons, including brain health, eye health, energy, healthy fats are a must in the diet. And as people move further away from consuming meat regularly, being in the habit of consuming healthy plant based fats could prove beneficial.

Mind you, the avocado does not have the all important DHA component, but the body does have the ability to manufacture it with the right building blocks. However, many vegans can supplement with a DHA oil derived from algae, and potentially avoid fish altogether, if they so desire.

I enjoy avocados by themselves, or with salt or dried, powdered herbs (Herbamare). Eating a food alone is said to allow the body to catalogue the nutritional value of that food over time, thus allowing it to generate cravings for that food when the need arises for some or all of the nutrient profile of that food.

Any food can get boring consumed the same way all the time though, so finding recipes that include that particular food is a great idea. Guacamole is a great dish that can be made raw. One variation has mashed up avocados, a bit of garlic, some lemon juice, and crushed tomatoes, and perhaps some salt.

Lemon squeezed on top can help keep from browning. Placing the pit inside can do the same. Also, laying plastic wrap directly on top can keep the air from oxidizing your creation.

Opening avocados is pretty simple. You can cut a circle around the center, making sure not to cut through the pit if planning to grow an avocado tree using the instructions shared below.

Once the avocado is in half, try to loosen out the pit from the one side that it remained on, then use a knife to scrape the inside of the skin all the way around and you could often loosen the flesh all in one piece. Repeat for the other half.

Growing an avocado plant is simple, it just takes awhile and sometimes a few attempts. It many never bear fruit but it ends up as a beautiful lush green plant.

Be sure you are working with a nice healthy pit with little to no blemishes. About half way down, evenly spaced out, poke 4 sharp toothpicks into the side just deep enough to stay in place.

This creates a stand that allows you to place the pit in a glass of water, where only the bottom half of the pit stays moist. Keep the water in the glass full to be sure the bottom portion is continuously wet.

Put in dirt when it begins to sprout and give it sufficient water and light, and healthy soil.

Vitamin B12

One Vitamin often missing in a vegan diet, depends who you ask, is Vitamin B12. Many turn to supplements so I wanted to briefly discuss the different types of B12 and the different supplements available.

There are two common forms of B12 used in supplements. One kind begins with “cyan” and the other begins with “methyl”. “Cyan” is synthetic and requires extra work by the body to convert it into a usable form. “Methyl” is correct from the beginning, but it’s more expensive than the inferior kind which is why manufacturers often use “cyan”.

My mom has B12 shots administered to her and I saw on the vial that the “cyan” type is used, I’m not sure if that is common or not. There are two supplement types in regular use for those that do not opt for the shot. One type is tablets. This can be destroyed by the stomach when swallowed and rendered useless, so it is recommended to let it dissolve under the tongue so that the B12 is absorbed “sublingually”. Another approach, said to be more effective, is transdermally, involving the use of a B12 patch (looks similar to a small round bandage) placed in an inconspicuous place on the skin.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed the information and I’d be interested if you had anything to share on the above topics.

Stay tuned because we have some exciting material coming your way!

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To your continued good health!
~Keith and family

Image sources:
[The Hungry Mouse] How to Grow an Avocado Tree from an Avocado Pit
[Morgue File Free Stock Photos] http://morguefile.com/

In this post we have a few videos documenting our raw meal one evening which consisted of raw vegan fettuccine Alfredo, and to follow, the popular raw food cookies: raw blondies.

The fettuccine literally smells like the real thing. I’ve had it a couple times before, and I was more patient with it and let it marinate, so in the past, the consistency was spot on too. This time, the zucchini may have been a little thicker than normal, or with lack of marination time, the “noodles” were a little more crunchy. But it still tasted fantastic and I went back for thirds. Unfortunately my kids didn’t like the raw pasta as much because of the strong garlic taste. My son did have a few bites though.

Making raw fettuccine alfredo

Raw vegan fettuccine alfredo recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchinis
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 large clove mashed garlic
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg or cinnamon, to garnish (optional)
• 1 tbsp parsley, to garnish (optional)

This raw fettucine recipe comes from Rawified. Rawified is a raw food blog dedicated to creating and perfecting rawified versions of favorite traditional recipes, everyday staples, comfort food, and desserts. More recently, a Raw Banana Cream Pie was added to the blog. Yum! Another raw recipe on the raw recipe bucket list.

Raw cookie recipe: raw blondie

I don’t recall ever hearing of blondies before this raw dessert experiment. Here is how they are defined by Wikipedia.

A blondie (also known as a “blond[e] brownie” or “blondie bar”) is a rich, sweet dessert bar. It is made from flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder, and vanilla, and may also contain walnuts or pecans. Chocolate chip blondies may contain white or dark chocolate chips. A blondie may have a taste reminiscent of butterscotch.

For raw foodists, the “rich, sweet dessert bar” part is certainly true, but the raw ingredient list gives “blondies” a far different meaning.

Raw vegan blondies cookie recipe

In this video my kids and I whip up a raw blondie recipe that we found here: Amber Shea Crawley & Almost Vegan Chef’s 5 Minute Raw Blondies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry raw macadamia nuts
• 1 cup dry raw walnuts
• 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 cup pitted dates

I think that all of the above ingredients are key to make the blondies delicious. The sugar can be experimented with with healthier sweetener options I’m sure. I found one recipe (mentioned below) that uses raw agave syrup. Also, pecans could work well in place of the walnuts. And if your nuts aren’t raw, use them anyway. Less nutritious perhaps, but still tasty I’m sure!

Our raw vegan blondies

I managed to get a picture of the blondies before everyone ate them all. Here’s how they looked:
Note: glass containers are best but the intention was to send the leftovers to go, but, nary a leftover in sight!

I have since found another recipe that I plan to try very soon. Same raw food chef (but adopted from Matthew Kenney’s creation), and very similar recipe. With the one above we let them set in the freezer, this one however is dehydrated, and Chef Amber tops them with her raw chocolate-hazelnut ganache, which created a treat that Amber refers to as “otherworldly.” Definitely something we’ll be trying very soon!

You’re a conscious lover and an Earth-friendly one at that. In the spirit of love, today we’ve compiled a list of green, Earth-friendly gift ideas for Valentine’s day, or anytime really.

Get your sweetheart something this year that shows your softer environmentally friendly side.

Your purchases may save a child, save the rainforest, plant a tree, or go towards donations to those in need, and most importantly melt your lover’s heart.

1) Raw vegan Valentine’s day gift basket – Well Baskets has packed a gift basket full of raw goodies perfect for your lover’s raw, vegan diet, male or female.

The handmade basket includes: Laughing Giraffe Raw Cookies, GoRaw Cookies or Flax Snacks, Himalania Raw Vitality Mix, Kaia Kale Chips, and ChocAlive Raw Truffles.

2) Women’s undergarment love bundles and Men’s undergarment heart packs – Pact has some sexy undergarments available for both genders, available at WearPACT.com. Choose from bikini love bundles, boyshort heart bundles and thong love bundles, but probably skip the socks. And make sure to get the right size. No pressure. For men, pick from the boxer-brief love packs, or the trunk heart packs. Again, skip the socks.

With every single purchase you are contributing to Urban Gardens across America. You are essentially feeding people with your underwear purchases.

3) Rainbow sprouts pride seed bombs – These gay, lesbian, eco and rainbow friendly party favor love gifts come in all colors of the rainbow, except maybe indigo. Each heart measures about 1″ x 1″, and are made of recycled paper, non toxic paint and wildflower seeds.

Plant these beauties in the closest guerilla garden to bloom some gorgeous colored flowers.

4) Certified gluten-free, kosher chocolate (not raw, not vegan) – Adopt an Elephant and Adopt a Gorilla packages include the options of Smooth Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate w/ Mint (Rainforest), and Milk Chocolate (Otter).

Your lover will receive a 1-year AWF e-membership, an AWF plush elephant, and 3 Endangered Species Natural Chocolate Bars.

Ingredients are sourced from ethically traded cacao farms, which ensure fair trade, sustainable farming and responsible labor practices.

Donations from your purchases are made to African Wildlife Foundation.

5) The gift of custom love jams – With a blank CD in hand from the local dollar or department store, you can download and burn a custom mix CD with songs purchased from Spotify.

6) Hand and body bars, assorted 3-pack – At a cost of $27.00, Hand in Hand offers a 3-pack of ethically harvested hand and body bars. In white tea, orange blossom, and lavendar, the triple milled shea butter soaps are soothing to the senses and the skin and gentle on the environment.

For each bar purchased, a bar will be donated to help save a child’s life, and also save 50 square feet of rainforest. In addition, a portion of the purchase amount goes towards micro-credit loans to help alleviate world-wide poverty.

The bars are petrochemical and paraben free, as to be expected.

by Christian Leeby

There are two basic ingredients to good health; exercise and diet. If you eat unhealthy food you’re making your body work extra hard to assimilate what little nutrition is available, but you’re also forcing the body to use energy to cleanse and detoxify the impurities.

There’s simply nothing more important than what you put into your body, which is where raw foods come in. As far as diet goes, nothing is better for the body because raw foods only give and support the body, without making it work harder.

When it comes to exercise, just about any movement is going to be better than none, however some exercises are clearly better for the body than others. Running for example is very healthy, but it’s also tough on the joints. Lifting weights is obviously good for the body, but at the same time it tends to create stiffness and can reduce flexibility.

Yoga can be considered the ideal exercise for health because, like raw foods, it doesn’t take a toll on the body, but instead it fully supports the body.

Practicing Yoga poses correctly develops strength, flexibility, balance, and concentration. As long as you know what you’re doing and you follow the correct alignment in the practice, you will always help the body’s natural healing abilities, without taxing the body in any way.

Yoga Poses

A lifestyle that includes eating raw foods and practicing Yoga is optimal for developing, building, and maintaining optimum health. You don’t have to be 100% raw and dedicate hours per day to doing Yoga, even just a little of both will support your overall health greatly. Taking small steps is the way to go, because it’s easier to accomplish and the positive results give you motivation to do more.

One way you can introduce a little more raw foods and Yoga into your life is by dedicating a weekend for example, to focus on practicing both, together. Think of it as a personal holiday that revolves around your own decision to improve your health. Make sure you plan it in advance so you can be sure to arrange your schedule accordingly, and have the food and yoga program ready.

Setting aside one day, a couple of days, or even a week to focus on these healthy habits is a great way to either get started, or if you’re already on a good program, to deepen your practice and get a deep cleanse. Plan your meals and set aside a specific time to do your Yoga. If you have everything arranged you’ll be a lot more likely to accomplish your goals, which is a big part of succeeding. With that in mind, don’t make plans that will be hard to achieve, instead, focus on doing what you know you can handle, and from there if you do more great!

Yoga Flu Shot

Yoga and the raw food diet are like peas in a pod for health-conscious folks. Experiment with making your own healthy holiday and see how you do. Let the first time just be a trial, so you can work the kinks out. As you get more accustomed to eating raw foods and practicing Yoga, you’ll no longer have to make a plan to do it, as it will become an easy and natural way of life, and your goals of being healthier will come to fruition.

Christian Leeby is an expert Yoga instructor, visit him at www.miracleofyoga.com

Russell James, “the raw chef” discovered raw food in 2004 when he was 28 years old. He was in Koh Samui in Thailand performing a cleanse to clear up a skin condition that had been ailing him.

The health benefits, creativity and vibrancy of raw food got him excited and drove him to where is now, which is “living” the raw foods lifestyle and showing others how to get involved, with his growing list of recipes, and his live and online teachings.

Below is the line up of raw food courses available online from Russel James for 2013. There are 4 online programs of Russel’s worth reviewing.

1) Weekday Raw – This is the completely “on line” raw course that Russell calls his “Weekday Raw Course.” The course was created entirely from feedback from Russell’s Facebook fans, blog commenters and those on his mailing list.

The goal here was to provide people with quick and easy recipes, that didn’t require much equipment, to help them stay raw during the week, when life is most busy. While the intent was to provide free recipes like this one and this one, the people wanted more, so the course was ultimately born.

The course provides seasonal recipes so you can eat in-season, and other from scratch recipes that could be considered “raw staples” that are great to have on hand to include as part of larger recipes, or used for quick on the go foods.

He also includes a small section of lightly cooked foods because he found that, besides convenience, people wanted to achieve not a 100% raw diet, but more of a “high raw” diet, while maintaining the goal towards a “healthy diet.” He also takes into account families that are “mixed raw and cooked” and provides strategies to satisfy them as well.

2) Raw Food Home Study DVD – This is a full at home DVD study course (or online if you choose) to bring you from the very beginning of stages raw to some more advanced stages, at your own pace. It is a 10-week course and the proper name for it is “How to be your own raw food chef and still have time to eat.”

The techniques you learn in this course are not intended to make you a professional raw chef and start your own raw food business ready to cater large events, but more to be the “professional” at-home raw chef who has mastered the basics. However, many professional techniques have been implemented into the course to bring about some advanced mastery and highly prepare you for the beginning stages of something further if that is the desire.

Whether leveraging the DVD course or online course you have the convenience of pausing, starting, rewinding, fast forwarding and replaying at your leisure. With the online course you can watch on a mobile device making it simpler to bring Russell into the kitchen with you, rather than having to run back and forth from the computer to the kitchen.

Plus the recipes in the workbook for the online version are printable, and questions can be asked as well under each video that will be answered. With the DVD course, you are given a beautiful workbook with the recipes inside already printed for you. But you have the option of also printing the recipes from the PDFs on the accompanying CD’s, ones that you won’t mind getting dirty in the kitchen, whilst keeping the workbook neat and clean.

You also have the option for getting both the physical and digital courses as a bundle at a discount.

3) Raw Desserts Home Study DVD – This is the 10-week raw desserts course. The goal is to provide guilt-free, nutritious dessert recipes for you and your family without processed sugar and processed dairy that does little to provide nutritional support for our bodies.

Raw food desserts certainly are a gateway into the raw food lifestyle. Russell was sure to include simple desserts for snacking, and complex desserts allowing you to create raw birthday or wedding cakes, plus there is a nut-free dessert week included for those who dislike nuts or have an allergy towards them.

There is a physical DVD course, an online version and a combination package for both. These options are very similar to the offerings for the course described in course #2 above.

4) Raw Food Online Study – Upon entering the site from the link, to find this course, first hover over “HOME STUDY COURSES” then click “Raw Food Online Study.” This is part of The Raw Chef Academy Online Courses, a $4.95 per month course that sends you a video every 2 weeks explaining how to make the recipes found in Russel’s eBooks, and also provides you with up to date techniques for preparing raw meals.

With each video recipe sent you also get PDFs that can be printed out, for those that don’t like to bring their computers in the kitchen. Or you can also download the videos to be viewable offline or stream them to a mobile device (like your smartphone). So that you don’t feel that you are at this alone, beneath each video you are invited to ask questions and answers will be provided.

When looking through the comments on blogs and Facebook pages related to raw foods, there were a great number of people that were talking about how they would consume more raw food meals, if only they were more convenient.

It made me think, is raw food convenient? I always considered it to be, but at the same time I could see how some might not look at it that way. Remembering back, I haven’t always felt like that.

Several years ago, when my children’s mom and I were still together I invited some vegan friends over for dinner. Being that I was the one that made the invite I was left to prepare the meal. Normally eating conveniently and mostly grazing, I knew I had my work cut out for me.

I’ve made full out meals for guests before but that was in my BBQ and stir fry days. Cookie “vegan” wasn’t entirely new either. Some of the stir fry’s were vegan, and I had prepared chili and soups without meat as well. But I just felt out of practice, and to be honest I was a little nervous.

I really wish I could remember what I had planned to cook, but I do remember getting up early to go shopping early, so that I could start preparing early. While shopping though, I remember I had a change of heart.

I had been doing all sorts of research about raw foods around that time, reading ebooks and taking online raw food courses, so I decided to call up our friends and ask if they would be interested in a raw vegan meal instead.

They were excited at the idea so I used my phone to hunt down some recipes and get my ingredient list together while I was at the store.

Again, I can’t for the life of me recall what I made but I do remember I prepared a raw apple pie for dessert. The whole house smelled like I had been baking apple pie all day. And I remember distinctly that dessert was a big hit and we all liked the meal as well, even the kids.

But… it took so long that I didn’t revisit raw foods again until sometime later. I did remember watching some of the videos that showed quick 10 and 15 raw meals, plus I was reading a lot more about green smoothies, so I decided to give those a try.

In fact, when I first moved in my own place, I was on green smoothies for almost 2 months exclusively! I got some advice direct from Matt Monarch on how to beef the smoothies up with high calorie additions so that I didn’t lose any weight, but I’ll tell you, those two months convinced me that raw food was in fact convenient. It was just so easy and became routine.

But I know, it’s much easier for a single guy not having to feed an entire family right? Yeah probably, but I’ll tell you something. When my kids are here, I lay out healthy raw snacks (vegetables, fruit, sometimes sweets) and we graze, conveniently. And we also have smoothies and green juice. And on occasion we’ll head outside in the field and find some red clover and dandelion greens to munch on. Can’t get anymore convenient that that!

With that said, and as I mentioned, there are video courses that show you how to prepare convenient raw meals for the whole family. Granted, there are also meals for larger families or when guests are coming over, but there are many quick, easy, convenient meals as well.

Truth be told though, I’d pick a piece of fruit from a tree and call it the best of raw food convenience any day of the week.

Image sources:
http://tumbleweedinfanthouse.blogspot.ca/2011_07_01_archive.html
http://artofbalancedliving.net/2008/02/08/raw-apple-pie-recipe/
http://www.kleijnnurseries.com/tips-fruit%20trees.htm

The process for making green smoothies is very simple. The hardest part is cleaning the blender, but even that gets to be routine, habitual and easy after doing it long enough. Don’t be like my dad, actually take it apart completely when cleaning it!

Now, depending on the width of the bottom of the smoothie jar you will likely want to start with some liquid. The cleanest water you can find does the trick. If you decide to use coconut water, keep in mind the sweetness of it when considering the ratio of greens to fruit later on. Now, a lot of people like to include freshly squeezed orange juice for the base but for a quick fast convenient green smoothie, water is the way to go really.

Ratio of greens to fruit

When first getting used to “drinking greens” a higher fruit-to-greens ratio is probably appropriate. Starting with spinach, being mild flavored is a good choice. For convenience sake, dumping in frozen fruit is an OK option. For health sake, picking wild fruit from a tree in a nearby forest might be more appropriate. Somewhere in the middle doesn’t hurt either.

A handful of greens to start is fine, but jumping up to two, even three or four might be something to strive for. I found that “adult” kale was the hardest to get used to (plus bitters like dandelion greens), but parsley and spinach were some of the simpler tastes to accept in the beginning stages.

Gaining weight or losing weight

Adding a handful of soaked figs adds to the calories, nutritional value and fiber of the smoothie. Adding them regularly can actually encourage weight gain, and that’s fine if that’s your goal. Other weight gain smoothies might contain ingredients such as gobs of coconut oil, vegan protein powders (Vega Sport Performance Protein, pine pollen powder or RawMeal are good choices), bovine colostrum (non vegan), and butter (non vegan obviously).

For green smoothie weight loss, simply replacing meals and sticking to just water, fruit and greens, the weight will likely come off.

Cleaning up and storing

It’s best to get in the habit to clean the bender right away after use, especially if you are trying to make a go at drinking smoothies frequently. It’s harder to stay motivated on a green smoothie cleanse or way of life having to clean the blender before making the smoothie, than it is cleaning it after.

Also, I have found that Mason jars work great for storing extra in the fridge (for half a day usually at most), and also for drinking from. It’s cheap enough to get a box of 500 ml, 1 L, and 2 L Mason jars, and they are so versatile, the jars will all come in handy for other things. I use them to store things that are normally stored in plastic, for example.

This year, for Christmas, we rescued a rabbit from the local humane society. Not knowing a great deal about rabbits, during my shopping trip before picking up the rabbit from the humane society, I grabbed 3 rabbit books and a magazine.

Taking cues from the pet store employee on what to feed the rabbit, I bought some hay, pellets and snacks. I was told “only give greens in moderation.” What?!

After reading through the books there was mixed messages. Greens are good, greens are bad. No greens. Some greens. No fruit. Lots of fruit. And so on.

One common thing throughout the books was that domesticated rabbits fall victim to cancer, and that is one of the main conditions that bring them to their demise. No wonder! You should see the ingredients in the recommended foods, some of the main ingredients involving some form of sugar. And to suggest that greens aren’t appropriate regularly, again, no wonder the animals are getting human diseases, they are on SAD diets!

Finally, online I found some resources about how to raise a happy healthy rabbit, and the message was something that made a great deal of sense to me.

Eating carrots in moderation

One strange thing to me, at first, was the suggestion that carrots should only be fed to rabbits in moderation, because after all, aren’t we trained to think “rabbits eat carrots?” That is why they don’t wear glasses after all right? But the reasoning behind it made a great deal of sense to me.

Sugar. The evil sugar in it’s many forms. Sure, there are natural sugars in fruits and root vegetables, but too much of a good thing isn’t a good thing at all right?

Give starchy vegetables (e.g., carrots) in moderation, and use bits of fruit only in very, very small quantities, as special treats. Too much sugar and starch can cause cecal dysbiosis, and all its associated problems. Source

When I think of how a rabbit should probably be eating, I think of how they might eat in the wild. Do they have direct access to carrots? Not really. They have to “work” for them in most cases. They can eat dark green leafy vegetables all day long because they grow above the ground, and they do. But carrots, they deserve that sugary snack after digging it up. They worked through the dirt, played with the Earth, and now they can enjoy a snack with sugar.

Like nuts for humans. I have said it before, I think raw foodists eat too many nuts. Our ancestors had to work for the nut by getting it out of the tree perhaps, or even if it was laying on the ground, they had to work away the shell to get to the nut. So my guess is, they ate a lot less than we do, especially the typical raw foodie. Know what I mean?

Greens in abundance

Domesticating rabbits and trying to decide what’s best for them to eat, that’s what is leading them into early graves riddled with cancer, I’m certain of it.

Poor things. Give them greens. Let them thrive.

Look at the ingredients of the “snacks” and decide, as a raw foodist, if that is something you think is natural to be feeding to any living creature.

Inspirations for this article include:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html
http://www.mybunny.org/info/rabbit_nutrition.htm
http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/diet/fresh-greens-bunny

Meet ‘Fuzzy Ears’

Here’s Maizey and Garyn’s rabbit chilling under the bed. Maizey named him Fuzzy Ears.

He’s shedding a bit of hair, they say because of the cold weather.

I had him waiting at the front door when they came to visit a few days before Christmas, they were really excited. For awhile, he was all Maizey could talk about. She still wants to make sure everyone who visits comes in the room to “see Fuzzy Ears.”

We feed him Timothy hay, pellets, greens and, in moderation, fruits and root vegetables.

I discussed how to prepare green smoothies in a recent post, and today I’d like to talk about the green smoothie app by the Raw Family (Victoria, Sergei, and Valya Boutenko).

The Raw Family suffered from a variety of illnesses, but after discovering raw food and an overall “green” lifestyle, they essentially “reversed the irreversible” as they say. Sergei had diabetes, but does no longer. Other ailments the family suffered from include obesity, hyperthyroidism, chronic fatigue syndrome, arrhythmia, arthritis, asthma, and allergies, but again, through nutrition, green foods and wild foods, they have achieved great health and share their experiences and knowledge with the world by leveraging the Internet as their main medium.

From rap songs on YouTube, to “how-to” videos about raw foods + wild foods + green smoothies and more, to apps, and devices that re-teach people how to chew (digestion starts in the mouth, don’t ya know?), they’ve shared a great deal of information in numerous ways.

What is the raw family green smoothies app?

Boasting the first ever green smoothie app to hit the market, Victoria set out to create more than just a set of on-the-go green smoothie recipes. More than that, the raw family green smoothies app provides in depth nutritional information regarding each of the ingredients to be included in the smoothies for each recipe.

Sergei spent several months with his mom compiling the data needed to launch the app, which first launched on the online Apple Store. It shows what ailments the ingredients are said to help with. As an example, Sergei writes: “raspberries are a great preventive measure for warding off colon cancer.” Data was pulled from http://nutritiondata.self.com/ (if I’m not mistaken).

In addition, each ingredient of every recipe was purchased in order to take professional, unique photos for use in the app. The raw family clearly went to great lengths to make this app available.

There are mixed review on the apps value. Most people in the Google Play app store gave the app just a 1-star rating. Many people declared that the information was valuable and the photos were great, but the app itself contained various glitches that frustrated the users. Additional comments talked about the appreciation for the ongoing improvements and some even stated that the latest version is much faster and carries fewer issues.

Apple users who downloaded the raw family green smoothie app from the iTunes Store seemed to enjoy the iOS version more so than Android users enjoyed theirs. Some even stated “This is the best green smoothie app ever”. They particularly liked the “add a recipe” feature but would enjoy the addition of an “add an ingredient” feature as well.

That app carries some how-to videos as well, The recipe categories include: Beginner green smoothies, For adventurous souls, For children, For pets, Green puddings, Savory soups, Skin care and super green.

The market for the green smoothie app by the raw family

Naturally, fans of Sergei, Valya and Victoria will be among those purchasing the app. Raw foodists, vegans, vegetarians and other natural health seekers are great candidates for this app. And according to the iTunes app store, those who bought or browsed the Raw family green smoothies app also were interested in the Superfood HD app, Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient Rich Program for Fast & Sustained Weight Loss (Abridged Version), Blood Type Diet, Daily Butt Workout and Daily Arm Workout.

They also added a web based version of the app for free, which can be found here.

How to always prepare tasty green smoothies

The above 5-miunte video depicts Valya Boutenko showing what goes into a green smoothie to ensure it tastes great every time.

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Something that one would not expect from a person that has been nearly preaching the raw food diet for the last several years, and that has been 100% raw himself for more than a decade, Matt Monarch’s latest video discusses the dangers of a raw foods diet.

The video below is part two of a series where Matt discusses a whole foods diet as being superior to a 100% raw food diet. His reasoning is that the challenges one must face, including sensitivities, social issues, and physical detox are difficult to balance, endure and maintain, and that 99% of people are better off eating whole cooked foods instead of going entirely raw.

And Matt, the biggest promoter of cleansing the colon also indicates that on a whole foods diet, maybe only cleansing the colon once or twice a year is necessary, rather than more frequently when going raw. The reason being, the detox is less daunting with whole foods vs. raw foods. When switching to raw overnight, being primarily water based foods, the body goes into a massive detox state and starts to dump toxins into the colon, and helping those toxins along by way of enemas and colon hydrotherapy regularly can help someone get through the massive detox.

For those of you that hang on Matt’s every word and consider his diet knowledge golden, this has to be a sigh of relief, as there is a much simpler way to get healthy and avoid the social anxiety, and the feelings of deprivation when going 100% raw and 100% vegan.

Still, suggesting cooked foods doesn’t suggest eating anything and everything, Matt still offers suggestions on what should be included in the diet. Many old favourites can be pulled back in without guilt and there’s really only one simple food combining rule he suggests to follow: don’t mix animal proteins with starches. Other than that he suggests plenty of salads even if they include animal protein. He doesn’t say a lot about naturally raised animals and organically grown foods in these latest videos (that I recall) but he includes eggs, turkey, fish and chicken, and even gluten-free whole grain bread (I never saw that coming), on his recommended healthful diet for most people.

The list of whole foods recommended leave massive amounts of options to fill recipes and menus for weeks without feeling completely deprived. Sticking to lightly cooked, steamed or dehydrated foods is probably best and certainly avoiding deep fried foods, you know, all the stuff we felt good about doing before thinking 100% raw was the cat’s ass.

Incoming search terms:
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In this article we talk about what a beegan is, but first, a quick message on the importance of bees.

Importance of bees

The video below is a couple years old (from 2008) but still conveys a great message. It’s nice to see a positive cartoon that educates children (and adults) on important topics, and even more importantly, healthy eating. You won’t find people in these videos suggesting cookies, cake, ice cream, pizza and pop as being something we should be consuming.

The video was created by Gilmo Media, and although the quality isn’t spectacular like their most recent cartoon, it still discusses something of importance, and I’m happy to let my children watch cartoons with this type of message.

The cartoon (YouTube link) discusses the importance of bees to the survival of ALL living things! It’s the same message we should have gleaned from The Bee Movie back in 2007 (co-written by Jerry Seinfeld who was also the voice of the main bee).

The Adventures of RawMan And GreenGirl: Beware The Beekeeper

What is a beegan?

By definition, an organic raw food vegan will not consume any animal, dairy or even bee by-product. However, someone described as a “beegan” will enjoy bee products like raw honey and bee pollen.

Something else learned (or perhaps suggested) in The Bee Movie is that it’s not necessarily a bad thing, or an unnatural thing, for humans to eat bee products. What might be inhumane is the way in which the honey is harvested.

“Beegans” will choose only products that are “truly raw” (no heat applied) and that were “wild harvested”. Check Amazon for some raw honey options.

NoniLand Black Gold Honey

NoniLand Black Gold Honey is a wild harvested raw honey product. The bees responsible for producing Black Gold Honey have been rescued from the walls of homes and buildings in Hawaii, where they were threatened with destruction by insect exterminators. A team of holistic beekeepers removed the hives from danger and relocated the bees to the Agricultural Research Center in NoniLand, in Hawaii.

These bees were brought to NoniLand to feed exclusively on the blossoms of trees nourished with diluted, Ormus-rich seawater, volcanic rock silt and spirulina. The elevated vitality of NoniLand plants and trees (and the high Ormus mineral-rich content) results in a dark, mahogany-black, wild honey saturated with Ormus elements, high in live enzymes, and overflowing with antioxidants.

“Imagine an Ormus-soaked biology: every cell of your body switched on, happy, juicy, and saturated in Ormus. What would happen?” – David Wolfe, Amazing Grace

Recent studies have shown that dark varieties of honey have more antioxidants than lighter, milder varieties. Black Gold Honey is truly wild, offering a concentrated source of Ormus elements, and a continuously flowing stream of live enzymes and trace minerals.

NoniLand bees are only fed their own honey and superfoods such as maca and spirulina. These are the healthiest bees left on the entire planet.

Due to the presence of antibiotic Noni and Lehua pollens in NoniLand honey, topical applications of this honey will help to heal and soothe abrasions and burns.

According to a recent study published this month in the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), treatment-related leukemia remains as a potential side effect for many cancer patients who have received standard chemotherapy treatment.

“In the course of improving interventions and survival rates in many types of cancer, we have learned that certain chemotherapies can cause damage to cells in the bone marrow, increasing a patient’s risk of leukemia. However, no recent large-scale studies have evaluated how the risk of treatment-related leukemia has evolved with the changing treatment strategies,” said Lindsay Morton, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and lead author of the study.

Dr. Morton and a team of researchers, looked at statistics of 426,068 U.S. people who were cancer patients between 1975 and 2008, that were aged between 20 and 84 years old, and that underwent chemotherapy treatment. Dr. Morton’s team confirmed 801 cases of therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (tAML). The number of patients affected by tAML they feel was directly proportional to the year of diagnosis and the type of initial cancer.

Breast cancer patients contributed to 1/3 of the tAML cases. Of the breast cancer patients that did not end up with leukemia, the possible link was the use of cyclophosphamide-based chemotherapy. Cyclophosphamide-based chemotherapy is less likely to cause leukemia than other options.

“Future studies should identify patients at the highest risk of tAML so that the risks can be weighed against the benefits of chemotherapy, particularly for cancers with favorable long-term survival,” said Dr. Morton. “Further research is also warranted to assess the risks associated with new targeted and immunomodulatory agents by including secondary malignancies such as tAML as endpoints in prospective clinical studies of new agents or new uses of standard agents.”

Medicinal mushrooms

In The healing power of mushrooms published on FoxNews.com on April 4, 2012 by Chris Kilham (a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia), there is specific mention of cancer in the list of potential health benefits of medicinal mushrooms. “A rapidly expanding body of research worldwide is finding value in the use of mushrooms for the prevention and treatment of health problems – ranging from immune disorders, viral diseases, high cholesterol, coronary disease, liver disease, and cancer.”

Kilham makes mention of three mushrooms in particular including: Shiitake Lentinus edodes, Reishi, Ganoderma lucidum, and Maitake, Grifola frondosa.

The conclusion in the testing of the edible mushroom Agaricus blazei Murill (ABM) in leukemia mice, in a study published last year, was that it “is likely to stimulate immunocytes and regulate immune response in leukemia mice in vivo [in the living organism].”

The chaga mushroom is considered to be one of the most highly potent and medicinal mushrooms in the world. The healing properties of the chaga are extracted through a boiling process, with others done as a tincture (with alcohol).

A statement pulled from chagamountain.com: “In addition to being used as an anti-cancer, Chaga has demonstrated anti-HIV, antibacterial, anti-malarial, anti-inflammatory and anthelmintic properties. Chaga is also antiviral, antifungal, antimicrobial and anti-Candida. Chaga is an immune system modulator as well as an adaptogen and has the highest level of superoxide dismutase or (SOD) detected in any food or herb in the world.”

In conclusion

Who knows for sure if chemo or radiation therapy are appropriate treatments. Who knows if diet can cure what ails you. Perhaps laughter, positive mindset, and just a strong “knowing” that this is just a bump in the road and that you will be home with your family in short order, is the “best medicine.” One thing is for certain though, when someone you care about gets sick it sure puts things in perspective, life is short and there is no sense in sweating the small stuff. Living life to the fullest every day and surrounding yourself with positive people are two pieces of advice we may all want to consider.

Sources for this article include
http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/content/early/2013/02/14/blood-2012-08-448068
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/asoh-rol021413.php
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/04/healing-power-mushrooms/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22637937
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12770934
http://www.chagamountain.com/health-benefits.html

Over the years, “made in China,” I was taught was a labeling we needed to avoid. If it’s not for the reason that we can get a similar product that was made 100% locally, including all raw materials, it was because, I was told, coming from China, it was a safe assumption that the materials used during production were contaminated in some way.

Whether the concerns were lead in paint or BPA in plastic, especially in children’s toys bought from local “dollar” stores, the notion was to avoid those products completely, but at what price? I want to save money dammit!

Many people pride themselves as bargain shoppers, so much so that when they can save a penny, a buck or two, or even twenty, knowing “it all adds up,” they ignore other important details. Heck if it isn’t going to kill us today then buy it anyway, might be their rationale.

They have coupons in hand to further retain the title of “frugal,” or “bargain shopper,” or “money saver.”

And, well, retailers getting shipments from China have a lot of markup room to play with, and can still be competitive, even when offering items at a buck or two, and even with one or more middlemen profiting from the sale. Why is that? One of a few reasons is that the raw materials aren’t fit to be used and can be attained at very low costs, according to some reports.

We want all toys for our children to be 100% China free

We made a rule when our children were born that no products from China, i.e. toys from the local dollar store, etc. were to be bought for them from well intentioned friends and relatives.

Well, that rule has slowly and surely vanished, to the point us parents are making the purchases. Did we somehow forget, or in our surrendering from the battle with bargain savvy family members wanting to buy cheap plastic toys for our kids, or toys with lead, etc., did that create surrender in ourselves as well? Seems so.

100% China free, heavy-metal free food

Now, let’s look at food. Arguments of “they won’t put the toys in their mouths so there is nothing to worry about” are first of all nonsense, but the same argument cannot be used in favour of food.

I choose gluten-free for a reason, I prefer casein-free, sugar-free, additive-free, basically everything-free and I just want my family to consume whole foods from the Earth that were grown with the least amount of chemicals as humanly possible.

I just want to feed my children nature’s bounty, and I still get grief saying that I am depriving my children, but I digress. The point of this article is to discuss the importance of the label 100% China free, for nearly any product, and especially food.

There’s been discussion about dog and cat food with ingredients from China that is killing the animals upon consumption, or more likely after awhile as disease sets in that could be traced back to the foods they consumed.

If it seems unlikely that a human being, or company, or country would knowingly include ingredients in food that are detrimental to the health of animals, well, first that is a very naive notion when looking at the standard food promoted for humans in schools, and that are promoted as “healthy” across North America and the rest of the world.

Secondly, there is evidence of China including a contaminant in baby formula that resulted in the death of a number of babies.

So, if ingredients for humans matter not, why would they matter for animals?

And well, it’s not just toys and other products, we are getting our foods, and our vitamins from China! Or at least some of the ingredients are sourced from there. Are we making a mistake not paying closer attention to food sources, and is this all hype playing on fears to push products?

It has been recently brought to light again, about the level of contamination and heavy metals that are “allowed” to be included in foods that can still be labelled as organic.

So, yes, contaminants can and sometimes do exist in organically labelled foods according to Mike Adams. It’s almost as puzzling at first as hearing that reality TV is scripted.

Organic food probably still shouldn’t be given a bad rap though, as it remains for many-a-farmer as an attempt to get food as clean, and therefore as healthy as possible, but we certainly don’t want to source products from countries, or companies, or retailers, that exploit the loopholes of “organic” to make more money, or to sell cheaper products, without disclosing that not all measures were made to ensure the sanctity of the foods.

You know something? If some foods were labelled appropriately, such as, “watered with polluted river water,” some people, my guess is, really wouldn’t care, and the product would still sell to the proud “bargain hunters” if sitting on the shelf next to the same product that is labelled “watered with clean pure water,” providing it would save them a penny or more.

Is China really the bad guy, or the only one, in all this?

I want to know, where are the compassionate people that are in a position to make a difference, the people that care about fellow man, and feel that we deserve the right to know where are food, its ingredients, and its seed, comes from, and what it is comprised of, and whether it was modified under a microscope?

Or perhaps, rather than pointing the finger at who is doing what that is wrong, perhaps people should be saying to heck with it all, and just commit to consuming wild foods. Are there people that live completely off wild foods that can show us the way?

In that case, labels such as organic, 100% China-free, gluten-free, pesticide-free, and so on, would be moot.

My guess though, is that very few want to live like that, so what is the next best choice? Whatever it is, I think people are going to have to learn to set aside a portion of the day specifically for food sourcing. Perhaps less time spent reading about the negativity in the world would grant us that extra time!

Photo credits:
cpsc.gov toy recall
adamcohn – flickr
mediaroots.org

There are numerous health benefits of coconut that have been covered time in again, but the reason you are here, my guess is, to ‘crack that nut’ so to speak, so that you can reap those benefits.

There are many ways to open a coconut, and many people suggest opening a coconut with a drill, while others use a hammer, large knives, even butter knives, cleavers, machetes, cork screws, can openers, large rocks, a nail, in the oven, in the microwave, and other innovative ways.

I’ll show you a few of those methods below, and I will also share a way to use a simple dedicated coconut opening tool whose primary function is to quickly and easily (and safely when handled with care) create a straw hole for you to slurp the delicious, electrolyte-rich, coconut water.

SUCCESS: Kimberly Snyder demonstrates how to open a young coconut

In the above video, watch as Kimberly Snyder cuts into a young coconut using a cleaver. She creates four incisions, each with a quick whack of the cleaver around the cone, and with a corner of the cleaver she pries the top off to get at the water and soft meat.

Cocodrill coconut water tap

There is a drill-type, perhaps corkscrew-style kitchen tool that is popular amongst people that eat coconuts regularly. It’s available from Amazon (ships from the U.S.) right now only costing $7 (normally closer to $20). You can click the link (it will open in a new window), get it on its way, then come back and learn more about it, plus other ways to open the coconut today, with or without tools.

We chose this tool because it’s just much safer than swinging a large knife or hammer, and we figured that using a dedicated kitchen tool rather than a dirty drill from the garage was more appropriate.

Plus, it’s cheap, but durable (carries a lifetime warranty), and as the sales page tells you, you just push, twist and drink. However, they left out “insert straw.” (Straws sold separately)

Be sure to pop the cap back on the end after cleaning and drying, to keep the blade and your family safe.

Check out the Cocodrill coconut water tap tool here (opens in new window)

ACCEPTABLE: How to open a coconut with no tools in less than a minute

In this video, “Coconut Chris” demonstrates how to open a coconut “Hawaiian style.” The title says with no tools but the truth is he bounced it on a rock to break away the outer shell, and after a failed attempt to poke through the eye with his finger to get at the water, he used a small twig. Still, pretty impressive, and gaining access to a healthy thirst-quencher in just under a minute. There is no attempt to get at the coconut meat in this video.

FAIL: How to open a coconut without tools

This man sits in silence studying the coconut, probably looking for a weak point to then whack onto the piece of wood placed on the floor. After a few whacks he manages to crack open the coconut to access the coconut meat, but wastes the precious water.

How to open a coconut with a butter knife

Gaining access to coconut water using a butter knife is probably not the best approach, but sometimes if it’s the only tool that you have around, you might as well make the best of it.

While the butter knife is generally a safer knife than say a machete or cleaver, the approach used by some to open a coconut with a butter knife does not seem to be that much safer to me.

Some will use a stabbing motion to chip away at the top of the coconut creating a hole in order to get the straw through to ultimately access the coconut water.

How to [safely] open a young Thai coconut with a butter knife

As you can see in the video above, John uses a sawing motion with the butter knife to chip away at the husk. Then he demonstrates the best place to stick the tip of the knife in and give it a quick hard whack in order to penetrate the nut. After that, you bring the knife parallel to the table and rock it back and forth until the cap flips open.

Photo and reference sources for this article include:
How to Open and Eat a Young coconut
Flickr – @dcwriterdawn

Below is an infographic to compare nutritional value between kale and spinach. Worth noting is the mass amount of Vitamin K present in the kale.

What is vitamin K?

According to Wikipedia, Vitamin K is defined as:

Vitamin K is a group of structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamins that are needed for the posttranslational modification of certain proteins required for blood coagulation and in metabolic pathways in bone and other tissue. They are 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (3-) derivatives. This group of vitamins includes two natural vitamers: vitamin K₁ and vitamin K₂.

So, what is vitamin K used for in the body?

whfoods.com tells us that Vitamin K allows for normal blood clotting, it strengthens bones and helps to prevent bone loss. It is also said to help to keep the arteries clean from plaque.

It is Vitamin K and Vitamin D that work together to produce a protein necessary for bone growth and maintenance.

Dark green leafy vegetables provide for a great source of Vitamin K, with kale, spinach, and collard greens among the best sources. All go great in green smoothies.

Kale vs. spinach nutrition facts

This infographic isn’t really a showdown between kale and spinach because it was made to compare 2x the amount of spinach than kale. However, it still provides an indication of the nutritional strength of both greens when included in the diet.

Spinach and kale, when both full grown can sometimes have a bitter taste, especially kale. When mixed with fruit as part of a green smoothie, raw kale and raw spinach are much more palatable. Both greens, in the younger growth stages taste much better and can be enjoyed alone, even in the raw state. Some say they are even more nutritious at the younger stages because of the explosion of nutrition needed at that time for initial growth, akin to why sprouts are so full of nutrition and vitality.

(Infographic source: Facebook)

BPA, or bisphenol A, is a common hormone-disrupting chemical that can found in the plastic of a water bottle, inside the lining of a food or soup can, in the material used to make cash register receipts, as well as in some of the plastic containers commonly used to store/reheat leftover food.

Canned food brands void of BPA

Eden Organic is one of the most recognized brands that do not use BPA in the linings of their canned goods. They made this choice prior to the publicity that BPA is causing health concerns, and have been putting their beans and other foods in BPA-free cans since 1999.

Those that followed suit after to eliminate or reduce BPA (not necessarily all of their canned items have a BPA-free lining) include: Vital Choice, Amy’s, Muir Glen, Oregon’s Choice, Eco Fish, Wild Planet, Trader Joe’s, Native Forest and Native Factor. Again, not all of their cans necessarily have a BPA-free lining, nor are they always labelled.

Why use BPA in cans at all?

If there are concerns with ingesting the chemical, why do companies use cans that contain it? For one, a BPA lining lasts longer in an acidic environment than that of a lining without it. Additionally, the cost of non-BPA cans cost, on average, 2.2 cents more per can.

Making changes in the kitchen to reduce BPA-exposure

You can make changes in the kitchen to avoid BPA by using storage containers other than plastic, such as glass, porcelain and stainless steel. Additionally you can use a glass (or other BPA-free) drinking vessel, and as long as you are careful, even on-the-go.

While affects may be largely “unknown,” the European Union and Canada have banned the use of BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups, etc. In the U.S. however, BPA-exposure is vast and a statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that an estimated “93% of Americans have BPA in their bodies.”

In a 3-day study conducted with 5 families (2 adults and 2 children) who stopped using canned and plastic goods, the families showed, on average, a 60% decrease in BPA in their bodies.

Study: Eating Fresh Food Reduces Exposure to BPA

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In a similar way to when a right handed person learns to use their “south-paw,” and certain areas of the brain begin to grow (according to some studies), learning a new language is said to do the same thing.

In a research program, published in the journal NeuroImage, studying the brains of students in the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, who learn languages such as Arabic, Russian and the Persian dialect Dari, at a rapid pace, often in just over a year, showed “significant new growth in the hippocampus and in [three] parts of the cerebral cortex.”

The hippocampus is a deep-lying brain structure that is involved in spatial navigation and learning new material.

Brain comparisons were made between students studying medicine (who also must cram a lot of knowledge in a short time), with the “language learners,” and it was found that brain growth was not observed in the medical students, tying the growth of the brain specifically to the new languages learned.

Is learning a new language good for you?

Earlier research from different groups showed a later onset of Alzheimer’s disease in those that are bilingual or multilingual.

“Even if we cannot compare three months of intensive language study with a lifetime of being bilingual, there is a lot to suggest that learning languages is a good way to keep the brain in shape,” said Johan Martensson, Psychology researcher.

		Learn a Language in 10 Days (FEBRUARY 2013) Scientific discovery reveals how you can learn a language in just 10 days using this sneaky linguistic secret. This method was recommended by Forbes and purchased by the FBI. Shocking results… FULL STORY Click here to play this video now

Sources for this article include:
Studying Languages Can Grow the Brain
Video: Pimsleur Approach
New study: Language learning makes the brain grow