Tag Archives: vegan health

Nutritional Benefits of Eggplant

personalpowertraining.net

personalpowertraining.net

If you need a nice way to bulk up meals and are transitioning to veggie livin’, you may be trying everything from tofu to soy meat products to fill the void. Eggplant is a wonderful, whole food option that is low in calories and high in fiber and makes a great meat substitute without the added chemicals and preservatives in faux meat.

Eggplants belong to the nightshade vegetable family which also includes tomatoes and potatoes, and grow on vines. They are most comprised of carbs which are essential for optimal body functioning and energy, but one cup will only run you somewhere around thirty calories and two grams of fat.

If you are looking to lose weight, obviously consuming eggplant will assist you in cutting back on the wrong kinds of calories and getting a filling nutrient dense food with little to no fat. They contain very little protein so you would want to ensure to include them into a diet that includes other protein rich foods to find balance. Besides a good amount of fiber, eggplant contains manganese, potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, and smaller amount of B3 and B6, niacin, and folate. The added bonuses are omega-3 and omega-6, also known as the essential fatty acids, and phytonutrients and antioxidants which support proper brain functioning, prevent free radical damage, and have anti-cancer properties. If that all sounds groovy to you, thankfully there are many ways to skin an eggplant.

If you want to try them raw, eggplant bacon is a fun and easy to make with the use of a dehydrator. If you are more of a cooked foodie try adding eggplant into veggie stir fry dishes, or baking them. The only word of caution that comes with this veggie is that it has high levels of oxalates, which can crystallize and cause health problems. For the general health individual, this isn’t a problem, but if you have pre-existing kidney or gallbladder problems you should avoid eating them. -XoXo Raw Girl 

Don’t Microwave Your Health Away: The Perils of Americas Favorite Appliance

What ever happened to the hunter gatherer days where we sought our food and gathered sticks and wood and lit a flame to heat it? We are living in a world of fast fixes, and the microwave has become the replacement for the stove in many American homes and the answer to eating warm food in office settings. It’s always hard for me to fathom that a large portion of Americans microwave most of the food they eat, until those random moments when I’m standing in line at a conventional grocery store behind someone who has eight different versions of microwaveable Lean Cuisines in a cart. What is wrong with this picture?

Most people are not hip to the fact that when you microwave, you are not eating food perse; microwaves have the power to mutate the cells in food. I hate to break it to you, but what you put in is not what you get out. In addition to this, even if you are microwaving some fresh organic veggies, what you get out will not only have dead nutrients, but it may be carcinogenic! One of the first things I did when I got seriously raw and vegan was give away my microwave. It really is  best to just not have it around. Even if you yourself do not use the microwave, and others do, the bad news is the radiation from the microwave can still have adverse affects on your health. A friend passed along an extensive article written by Dr. Mercola on the hazards of microwaving, which you can access via a link below. Just to drive it home if you can’t read the whole thing, here are some of the main points you need to grasp concerning this dangerous appliance. -XoXo Raw Girl

  1. Microwaves change the molecular structure of your food! Meaning, what you put in is not what you are getting out.
  2. When you microwave in plastic and paper containers carcinogens can leach out of them into your food. Some common toxins include BPA (found in plastic), beneze, toluene, xylene, etc.
  3. Microwave radiation leakage—-or waves that leak out while your appliance is in use can cause long-term health damage to the heart, and the eyes (cataracts), and also general sickness including: insomnia, swollen lymph nodes, nausea, depression, vision problems, and dehydration to name a few.
  4. When you microwave your food, you kill the nutrients, or in the worst cases make your food carcinogenic.
  5. Radiolytic compounds, which are not found anywhere in nature or in food are created when food is microwaved, and it has yet to be determined how exactly this adversely affects one’s health.

To read the full article visit the link below:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx?aid=CD945

Raw Girl’s OWN Audition & Impromptu Ambulance Ride

Hey there raw vegan lovers. I have had a CRAZY past couple of days, and so I have been M.I.A. First off, I was trying to get my video together in time for yesterday’s deadline for the Oprah Winfrey Network, and secondly I was in a car accident that could have been fatal but thankfully I emerged with all of my raw self in tact and fully functioning. I am sure you may have heard by now, that Oprah is looking for new shows, and she had in-person, and on-line open calls for people to submit ideas. My idea was an extension of this here lovely blog. Basically Raw Girl In a Toxic World, but live and in-color. You know you want to see it!  Please check out my video via the link below, and if you likes what you see, VOTE for me!  YOU CAN VOTE MULTIPLE TIMES. (PS I had an enormous amount of technical difficulties in the making and delivering of this audition video! It was crazy! Hope you will forgive anything noticeable and vote for me anyway 😉

http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=882&promo_id=1 

Now…back to the accident. All you DMVers may have heard about slugging? It’s an organized system where you can park your car in a commuter lot and hitch a ride on HOV with drivers so that you can all get into DC faster. I love it, it’s saved me a ridiculous amount of time and energy getting into Georgetown on a regular basis. Well on Tuesday, as I was doing my regular slug-a-lug— and the driver of the car I was in was not very focused. She’s chatting away with the passenger in the front seat, and talking to her like she’s chatting with a girlfriend at Starbucks over a frappucino, eye contact and everything. In my head, I’m thinking: “Watch the ROAD woman!”

Anywhoo, we are on 395 in the HOV lane, and she, not paying any attention steps hard on the brakes, just before hitting another car. The car behind us, misses the signals and slams right into us! Mind you, I AM IN THE BACKSEAT. All I remember was feeling a very HARD thrust in my back, jerking forward, calling out to God and grabbing my head before it hit the seat in front of me. Luckily, I did have my seat belt on. Next thing I know my lower back is throbbing, and my neck feels really odd. Tears were streaming down my face and the ambulance workers arrived and began firing questions at me. What’s my name? Where does it hurt? On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is the pain? etc. Long story short this Raw Girl ended up with a neck brace on, strapped to a board and staring into the sea of unrecognizable faces and then the blue sky as I was lifted into the ambulance. Destination: INOVA hospital in Fairfax, Virginia.

We reached the hospital and my tail bone was burning. I couldn’t tell if it was from the board, or if somehow the crash broke my sitting bones!  I was laying there and I hear this loud, almost sexual sounding moaning around me. Mind you, I was still strapped to the board and couldn’t move my neck at this point even if I wasn’t to see what it was. The moaning was getting louder and louder, and started to make me uncomfortable. Finally a doctor arrived and started asking the son of the wailing woman some questions. Apparently her knee was swollen and filled with liquid. Doctors confirmed with her son that she did have high blood pressure, and perhaps some history with diabetes. In that moment I was thankful that although I may have something broken, at least I was not in the severe pain that woman seemed to be in.

 After a while and two examinations from different doctors, I got an X-ray of my neck. It was really funny because the woman who X-rayed it was so excited about how “nice” my neck was that I had to see it. So she showed me what the bones looked like on the monitor. That was cool. She also asked me how my hair was attached! Not so cool. Even though I was a little peeved, I flashed a smile and explained that I had dreadlocks, and that my hair was attached at the root. Back on the gurney I’m rolled back to wherever I was to begin with and my mother is there. The doctor approaches us and says my neck may be broken, they saw a line that may be some sort of breakage in the x-ray. My mother gasps, but in my mind at that very moment, I was repeating the mantra: “I am well, there’s nothing wrong with my neck, I am well…” So, I am off to get a cat scan. More waiting, and we find out…it’s normal. All is well, I just have cervical whiplash. Finally I left the hospital, wearing a neck brace just for stability, thanking God that the only thing that would bring me to the hospital is a severe out of the ordinary accident.  I thought of the wailing woman, and wondered what became of her. At least at the end of the day, I know that I step up and take responsibility for my well-being so that I will not contract a terminal DIS-EASE, and  I am grateful to know that I have some guardian angels that take care of the rest. So thankful to be living and have my spine in tact! ~ XoXo Raw Girl

Planting 101 Cont’d: How to Transplant

We are back to planting 101… here’s more highlights from my Memorial Day rendezvous in the garden. In this video, my mother broke down how to transplant, or move one plant from the location where it was planted elsewhere, to avoid crowding and suffocation of the roots. I thought I got a workout from this planting session, only to find out, it’s only the beginning. The weeding is where the real back-breaking fun begins, apparently. Looking forward to it? I guess I should be since I plan to seriously chow down on the harvest. Now I am thoroughly convinced that if we all only ate what we sowed, there would be no obesity in this country. Luckily Big Macs don’t grow on trees!  – XoXo Raw Girl

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njE_Bj30Nzw]

Missed the first planting session? Check it out here:

http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2010/06/02/raw-girls-planting-101/

The Wonders of Organic Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar: A Parasite Killa’s Best Friend

 
 
 

(scrapetv.com) Do you want to be a Ghostbuster or Parasite Killa? Hint: one of them may still have intestinal worms.

  If you ever catch me on the go you may see me guzzling a 16 oz Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar drink like I’m the loser at a beer pong party. (FYI: I don’t drink alcohol, so I only know about gatherings such as these from movies and programming on MTV, no firsthand beer pongage going on over here.) I drink them in the morning, in my car, while catwalking on M Street in Georgetown, and sometimes when the sun goes down. Why you ask is this Raw Girl so gung-ho about vinegar?  Well, ever since I improved my overall health and well-being by taking on a parasite cleanse, I have grown wary of letting the suckers come back and get the best of me ever again. That means adopting a mostly green diet, limiting sugar intake, and regularly incorporating foods I know they don’t like, just in case.

Remember Ghostbusters?  If you don’t for some odd reason it’s about a trio of misfit parapsychologists start hunting ghosts for a living in this science fiction comedy. Although I wish the existence of parasites was limited to fiction, my first parasite cleanse  proved the opposite, and converted me from an average girl to a bona fide  Parasite Killa. I learned quickly that if you were about to be taken out by parasites, Apple Cider Vinegar is like a Parasite Killa’s best ammo. Although there are many types of parasites and different foods irritate different worms, there are some parasites that will die automatically just with persistent consumption of apple cider vinegar. I can personally attest to this without giving you any wormy details. This should never be the only remedy you use if you do have worms, as additional herbs and cleansing will be needed depending on the types in your body. For prevention, a daily concoction of this diluted in water and drunk straight or mixed with honey definitely gets a gold seal.   

   

Why is this exactly? Apple Cider Vinegar helps restore a proper hydrochloric acid balance in the body, and therefore promotes good bacteria and creates an environment in which parasites cannot thrive. It is a fermented drink, and if you remember my previous post, consumption of fermented foods is essential for great colon health. (Check out link below if you missed it.) In tandem with these benefits that give strength to a budding Parasite Killa, apple cider vinegar also provides a host of other benefits that may appeal to any health enthusiast:   

  •  Aids proper digestion and can cure constipation
  • Can help fight bacterial and fungal infections
  • Can relieve join pain
  • Balance cholesterol
  • Can help heal skin conditions such as acne. age spots, and reduces the appearance of cellulite
  • Protects against food poisoning
  • Increases stamina
  • Boosts metabolism and assists with weight loss
  • Prevents bladder stones and urinary tract infections
  • Known to be helpful with a host of ailments: constipation, headaches, arthritis, weak bones, indigestion, high cholesterol, diarrhea, eczema, sore eyes, chronic fatigue, mild food poisoning, hair loss, high blood pressure, obesity etc.

In addition to these zany health benefits, the nutritional profile of apple cider vinegar is quite impressive. The vinegar contains a host of vitamins, beta-carotene, pectin and vital minerals such as potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, chlorine, sulphur, iron, and fluorine. Pretty gangsta, if you ask me. If you’re ready to start killin’ those worms, or if you just want to incorporate something groovy that’ll enhance your health, get on the apple cider vinegar bandwagon.  Two tablespoons added to a glass of water is sufficent. You can try a little more if you like, but make sure there is a LOT more water than vinegar. Make sure you always dilute the vinegar, as it is highly acidic when not diluted and if consumed straight in large amounts can lead to loss of teeth enamel or a yellowish color on your teeth. Always buy only the ORGANIC and UNFILTERED kind. The others will not give you the same benefits and do not have the same vitamins and minerals in tact.  – XoXo Raw Girl  

P.S. My cheesy Raw Girl Parasite Killa soundtrack:  

When there’s something strange rumbling in ur tummy – Who u gonna call? PARASITE KILLAS! When ur energy’s low & you don’t feel good – Who you gonna call? PARASITE KILLAS! (I ain’t afraid of no worms)  

Want to know other foods that help you keep a balance of good bacteria in your gut? Check out my past post on fermented foods: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2010/03/22/new-article-the-benefits-of-fermented-foods/  

To find out about more foods parasites don’t like check this post: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2010/03/15/the-anti-parasite-diet-foods-that-make-parasites-run-for-cover/
  

5 Principles of Yoga: Living the Life of a Yoga Warrior

Beginning in February, to show myself some love, I started my 30 day Yoga Challenge, and practiced 1.5 hours of hot yoga three times a week for the month. Check out the post via the link below.

It was definitely a challenge, I was VERY sore for most of the month, but of course inspired, and to make a long story short by the time the challenge was over I was already hooked. I still go at least two times a week and LOVE how it makes me feel. My mind is clearer, moods are even more even kilter, and also I am more productive in general! So, no more challenges, now I am just living la vida yoga. I always thought of yoga as a way of life, and was committed to being a “yogi” in my own way, following a spiritual path. I started doing yoga almost everyday but fell of the wagon, got into raw foods to further purify my diet, and began regularly meditating. Not until recently has it all come together again that my diet, exercise, and meditation have  aligned in regular practice. I’ve been falling off the meditation wagon lately, because things are getting busy, but it shows… it’s usually when we are the busiest that contacting stillness does a whole lot of good for us in our daily lives. So, I’m working on carving out time!

Below are the Five Principles of Yoga. They are so simply summed up, but at the end of the day it takes a long-term commitment and consistent effort in all of these areas to attain the goal of true self-realization. Good news is, living La Vida Raw definitely puts you in the game. – XoXo Raw Girl

Proper Breathing

Most of us go through life not really breathing. In fact a lot of people look like they are holding their breath. Breathing in yoga is deep abdominal breathing which supplies the body with a flood of oxygen, and brings air to the deepest part of the lungs. Yogic breathing or pranyama is a lesson to us on how to recharge our life force using just our breath, and also helps us to calm and control our minds.

Proper Relaxation

Our crazy, toxic, and hurried world, definitely lends itself to being stressed out. The sad thing is the majorities of people are stressed out ALL THE TIME, and have to be taught how to relax. When we try, sometimes we find our minds are racing and we cannot truly be at peace.  All of the tension created from bad moods, worry, anger etc. can lead to lethargy, headaches, and even terminal illnesses. In yoga, when your body becomes completely relaxed, no energy is being dissipated. This state of relaxation revitalizes the nervous system and brings an overall feeling of “inner peace” which carries over into your daily activities and helps you easily relinquish worries and fears.

Proper Exercise


If you’ve ever practiced yoga, you should be able to attest to the fact that it differs from other physical exercises which focus on developing the body through mechanical movements. During yoga, because the body is completely relaxed, there is practically no energy consumed or expended. This means that the body has a chance to recharge on the spiritual, mental and physical level, which in turn leads to more vitality in our daily lives.

Proper Diet

The proper diet according to yogic principles is a vegetarian diet consisting of pure, simple, and natural foods which can be digested easily. This diet aligns one with the true purpose of eating, which is to supply the body with the cosmic energy “Prana” or life-force. Eating this highly alkaline diet and avoiding over stimulating and acidic foods like: meat, eggs, fish, coffee, refined sugar and carbohydrates, and free of alcohol and drugs, also assists the yogi in maintaining stellar health. An acidic environment in the body is the root of all disease, so adopting this alkaline diet, minimizes or virtually eliminates toxicity in the body and keeps one dis-ease and ailment-free.

Meditation


The gift of meditation allows us to easily see through the fog of problems and mental chatter that creates agitation and reactivity. The act of stilling the mind, which in this state has no thoughts or desires, we contact the true Source which is us, and where all answers lie. When the surface of a lake (the mind) is agitated by waves (thoughts) we can’t see the bottom clearly. But when the surface of a lake is still, we can see the bottom easily and all things become clear. Meditation shows us that we all have the inherent ability to contact this stillness,  shut out thoughts, and control our minds.

Check out the previous post on my 30 Day Challenge:http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2010/02/14/raw-girls-30-day-warrior-challenge/

Need inspiration to get started? I was inspired by Tonya Zavasta, one of my anti-aging she-roes (who has fake titatium hips!) and healed herself with raw foods and hot yoga:

http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2010/02/09/anti-aging-she-ro-5/

Diary of My 7 Day Spring Cleaning

maids-express.com

I feel like I’m a little late on my annual spring cleaning, but better late than never, as they say. The best way to gauge whether or not you need to detox or cleanse is really to listen to your body, and last week my body was screaming “STOP EATING FOR A MINUTE.” So, I listened. Another factor that always plays a huge part in my personal desire to fast is what is happening  in my life at the time. If I feel like things are in transition, or new projects and opportunities are in  a very important incubation phase, sometimes I use fasting like a form of prayer. It keeps my thoughts still and positive, vibration high, and allows me to hear clearer guidance from the universe.

Fasting, as I have mentioned in previous posts, is a sure way to increase longevity, rid the body of stored toxins, and  awaken a deeper spiritual connection.  In Dr. Gabriel Cousen’s book, Spiritual Nutrition, he discusses fasting as, “the ultimate way to reactivate the youthing gene expression.”  he goes on to elaborate that research has proven that fasting actually allowed a “youthing gene” to be turned on, and people were literally “reverting to an earlier stage of their gene expression.” They were getting younger! If none of those reasons appeal to you, then perhaps you would just like to have a natural glow–after and sometimes even during every fast–my skin always gets just a little bit more radiant and people often comment on it. Below is the regimen I followed on my own Spring Cleaning. I didn’t really plan it out, just kind of went with the flow.

Usually it is best to ease into it, having less and less solids and more liquids, then do liquids alone all day, and then transition back out of the fast easily. In total my spring cleaning was 7 days, 2 days transitioning into it, 3 days of liquid only fasting, and 2 days to transition off of the fast. Fasting for up to seven to ten days is generally considered safe by many fasting experts, but if one has an acute disease it would be wise to fast in conjunction with a health professional.

For more info on Juice fasting check out this previous post/article I wrote: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2009/11/18/my-article-on-the-benefits-of-juice-fasting/

For tips on how to make your fast stress free check out this previous post: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2009/11/18/tips-for-a-stress-free-fast/

Hope you will be  inspired to tailor your own personal spring cleaning and move into to summer glowing and toxin-free. -XoXo Raw Girl

Day 1

Morning: lots of water, Around 12pm: Watermelon (it was a huge piece like 1/3 of a whole watermelon :), Around 3pm: Water & Meat of 1 Thai Coconut, Around 6pm: one large spinach/kale/avocado salad w/ pine nuts and red bell pepper

Day 2

Morning: lots of water, Around 12pm: Water & Meat from Thai coconut, Around 4 pm: Water & meat from Thai Coconut, Around 7pm: Miso Soup with seaweed, carrot, scallions, and ginger

Day 3

Morning: lots of water, Around 12pm 32 oz of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, Lots of water throughout the day, Around 5:30 pm around 24 oz green juice: kale, celery, apple, ginger, Late evening: green tea

Day 4

Morning: lots of water, Around 12pm Coconut Water, Around 3pm 24 oz of green juice: celery, kale, apple, lemon, ginger, Around 6pm Coconut Water,  Around 7pm Several glasses of Hibiscus Flower tea

Day 5

Morning: lots of water, several glasses of Hibiscus flower tea, Around 12pm: 16 oz of Cleansing Cocktail (Watch video of how to make in this post: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2010/03/23/how-to-make-a-cleansing-cocktail/),  Around 3pm Green Coconut Water (coconut water and meat blended with spirulina mixed in), Around 7pm: veggie broth w/seaweed

Day 6

Morning: Lots of water, Around 12 pm coconut water and meat, 3pm: coconut water and meat, Around 7pm: 1 guacamole nori roll with shredded beet, carrots, and a little red quinoa salad w/red onion (tastes like heaven)

Day 7

Morning: water, Around 12pm: green juice, 4pm veggie broth, 7:30pm kale & mixed green salad w/ avocado dressing

Yummy Kale Salad

Natural Beauty Highlight: Nia Reid

In this Natural Beauty Highlight I chose to feature model Nia Reid, a colleague  who could almost be one of my anti-aging she-roes, but she’s too young. If you knew her real age, you would understand where I’m coming from because you probably guessed she was in her early twenties, maybe younger. Sorry, think again. I thought of Nia because in the past we have had extensive conversations about health, and she does regularly incorporate raw foods and cleansing to optimize her beauty and well-being. – XoXo Raw Girl

Are you raw and/or vegan &  if so what made you transition into eating raw/vegan? No, I am not 100% raw or vegan. I try to do about 40% raw 60% cooked and if I have cooked food and nothing raw with it, I take vegan enzyme supplements that break the cooked food down and send it to the right places in my body.

What kind of regular detox or cleansing do you do if any? Every once and a while, I will either do the master cleanse for a couple of days or some form of juicing. Usually the beginning of Spring ( I take spring cleaning literally!) Or when I feel like I have been eating something not good etc… It just depends.

What are some of the most immediate benefits you experienced: mental, physical, and/or spiritual you have received from changing your lifestyle to a healthier one?

The benefits I feel from changing my lifestyle to a healthier one or rather just living a healthier lifestyle are: My skin is nice, beautiful, and supple. I heal a lot faster, my hair is healthy and grows faster. I don’t really feel weighed down by what I eat cause I make a conscious decision to eat only what’s good for my body. Even if I must have something sweet, I make sure that its real chocolate or healthier sweets (if there is such a thing!) that won’t do damage and I will eat it in moderation. Also, just in general, I feel ALIVE, like my cells are being fed by eating healthier.

 

Do you supplement? And if so, what supplements do you take?
I have protein/fruit shakes in the morning and I take folic acid vitamins, natural enzymes, and liquid chlorophyll.

What do you believe defines true beauty?….And how do you personally maintain a positive self-image and concept of beauty while working in the modeling industry?
Not to sound like an after school special but what I define as true beauty is how you feel within. If you truly tap into the beauty inside, it has no other escape but out. True beauty radiates outward coming from the source of something beautiful within. I choose to maintain this concept dealing in the modeling industry, where surface is everything; but it’s only possible because I know who Nia is. Meaning I am concerned with being the best Nia I can be. There is no competition, even if there are like fifty or more girls at a casting. If they want me, then they want me and I am hired for the job. It has nothing to do with the other girls there. I look at them as company to speak to while I am auditioning!

What is your skin care regimen like?
My skin care regimen consists of me using a natural astringent, then washing my face with a natural soap and heavy moisturizer. Especially at night because as we age, we tend to lose the fatty lipids in our skin that help keep our skin supple and hydrated when we are young, which gives off that natural glow look. So as we age, it’s important to pack on the moisture at night where our skin can absorb it and keep hydrated.

How important is your spiritual life & do you think that it has anything to do with your natural beauty & staying young?
I definitely feel like having a spiritual foundation adds years on your life and keeps you youthful as you age. Feeling full of love, life, God, etc… whatever or whomever you want to salute keeps you focused on the inside instead of the outside. And if you focus on spreading love and happiness to others and being spiritually grounded within, there is no way that it will not radiate outward as unbelievably beautiful. I guess that’s the feeling people get when they sometimes meet people who have that inner glow–it’s almost like an aura  follows them and other people  pick up on that vibration.

What do you do for a living and what drives you? I am currently a working model and enjoy spreading my love and knowledge of the industry. What I offer to aspiring models is an inside look at a working models life,  and tips on how to break in and make a successful career. I’m also in the process of writing my first book about my experiences as a model to help others as they build their careers, and will soon have my own blog on word press. In addition, I am conscious of the environment, preserving the planet, and choose to use natural beauty products–hair and skin care–that I make myself at home.  Last but not least, I have also started a clothing line with the mantra “Fashion made simple.” Any woman could wear my clothes and go from day to evening simply and always be fashionably chic! Look and feel good.

Paul Nison: The 100% Raw Debate

Today when I was looking through some you tube videos, I stumbled upon these videos featuring raw food chef and author Paul Nison. I thought it was very interesting that after 15 years of being a raw vegan, Paul decided to incorporate raw dairy into his diet. I personally would never go from raw to eating dairy (I was always lactose intolerant), but I’m not 100% raw, so I would easily incorporate cooked vegan foods before I went to eating foods from the animal kingdom. The biggest point that struck home for me in watching this video is that so many people are caught up on being 100% raw and champion their diet like a religion.  They are obsessed with being able to say that they are 100% raw and keep this up, even if it may not be the best thing for them personally. Paul confesses to the fact that he was shoving himself with dehydrated foods and nuts to overcompensate and stay raw in the winter. I mean really, you can’t have a little veggie broth??

I was 100% raw in the first year I started on this path, and got caught up in the feeling that I needed to stay that way even though I really wanted to get down with some miso soup or veggie broths in the winter. So, by my second year I decided to stop trying to force myself into 100% and go with the flow, while of course, eating as much raw as possible. My personal philosophy now is the more raw the better, (I stay in the 90% raw range and higher in the summer), but I will eat some things cooked like quinoa, steamed veggies, even brown rice in moderation (kills parasites), and  light veggie broths from time to time. That said you will NEVER EVER see me getting down with processed foods or animal products.

If you are going to eat animal products, it would definitely be in your best interest to find the most organic source available. We all need to make sure that as we embark on our personal journeys to health, we don’t get caught up in sticking to something just for the sake of our egos and at the expense of our health.  Paul makes another great point that regardless of our diet, we should all be monitoring our blood work and checking for possible nutrient deficiencies. At the end of the day, most of the food in this world is toxic because of the additives, chemicals, hormones etc., and organic raw fruits and veggies give us access to optimal nutrition and healing–especially when our bodies are already are in a disease state—even when we combine them with cooked foods. So please, get down with the veggie, but get down in a way that makes perfect sense to you and no one else. At the end of the day, I know  that my diet has given me a way to stay ageless, acne-free, and have the energy I need to pursue my dreams, so this Raw Girl is staying on the raw vegan path. – XoXo Raw Girl

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFN3wLPoqZw&feature=related]

Heres an interview with Paul Nison many years before:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHCiU41jq-U&feature=related]