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Tag Archives: Living la Vida Raw
Dandelion Greens for Glowing Skin
Dandelion Kale Acne Fighter
Dandelion has been used since ancient times to achieve a natural glow. It’s official name is “Taraxacum Officinale” which means official remedy for disorders, a well fitting name for a very powerful plant. Dandelion juice is a good detoxifier, diuretic, stimulant, and anti-oxidant. These four properties make it a great treatment for acne. Dandelion root and leaves are very powerful diuretics, meaning they stimulate urinary function and rid the body of excess fluid. This also makes it great for PMS and water weight gain. What makes Dandelion an awesome acne-fighter is that it is a blood purifier and protects, nourishes, and detoxifies the liver which the body uses to get rid of toxins, including those that are causing your blemishes! Dandelion juice can also help regulate proper secretion of hormones, increase sweating and widen up pores to facilitate removal of toxins through sweating. Dandelion greens contain a great deal of awesome nutrients including Vitamins A, B2, C, D, and minerals like potassium, calcium, sodium, phosphorous, iron. It is also natures richest green vegetable source of beta-cartone. Adding this juice and variations of green juices with dandelion with give your skin a major boost and also helps with conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Beyond improving the quality of your skin, dandelion also can assist in weight reduction, relieve constipation, prevent and lower high blood pressure, prevent or even cure anemia, lower your cholesterol, and help control diabetes. When you juice dandelion greens, they have a bitter taste, and they are also very powerful so you don’t want to juice too much in one sitting. A small handful or less is a good rule of thumb. When combined with other veggies and maybe an apple to sweeten, you can easily mask the bitter taste and still get the beauty boosting benefits. -XoXo Raw Girl
Recipe for the Dandelion Kale Acne Fighter & many other juices to help you get that natural glow in The 3 Day Acne-Free Detox Plan!
7 Reasons to Meditate: The Benefits of Mindfulness
Meditation is sometimes seen as a woo-wooey practice reserved for new age hippies, actors who are “spritual”, self-help gurus, and hardcore yogis, but the truth is meditation is for everyone. Just like yoga, which brings the body in alignment with the mind and helps to quite that incessant babbling of thoughts we have going daily that frequently get in the way of our true happiness, meditation cleans house. It’s like setting the reset button for a few minutes daily, that allows you to truly go with the flow, promotes inner peace, feelings of oneness with others, empathy, service, and even boosts creativity. I have experienced firsthand regular daily meditation can be a catalyst for amazing things happening in your life. As you practice and get deeper in the flow of life, synchronicity or seeming miracles became normal every day occurrences.
Going back to daily practice has re-awakened my love and appreciation for meditation as a scientific tool. Every single time you to sit to practice, you are literally rewiring your brain, and tapping further into THE SOURCE of all. As a result of this you may find yourself extremely calm in usually stressful situations, generally happier, optimistic, and attracting people and things that help you achieve your dreams, effortlessly. There are a bunch of meditation naysayers out there who feel like it’s quackery, or object to meditation because they are afraid it contradicts with their religion. This is not the case. Meditation and mindfulness practices have been practiced and incorporated by every major religion. In the Bible it says, “Be still and know that I am God.” My favorite Deepak Chopra quote is: “Prayer is talking to God. Meditation is listening.” Indeed the silence speaks volumes. Creativity can increase and intuition begins to guide daily decisions more strongly. It sounds like a gimmick until you try it. The only way for you to feel the shift in yourself is to sit down and meditate and stick with it consistently. It does not take weeks to start to feel a shift. Each day, you will begin to notice little things. Oh meditation, mediation, how I love thee! Let me count the ways. Below are seven of many reasons (backed by scientific research) why sitting down in silence daily is good for you. Don’t take my word for it, try it yourself. Namaste. -XoXo Raw Girl
- Stay in the Stress-Free Zone. The journal of health psychology published research that not only does meditation make you feel less stressed, it actually reduces the levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
- Rewire Bad Habits. One of the first thing I noticed was that when I kept up with regular meditation it started to shift my emotional responses to situations that were previously aggravating. Going within helps us require bad habits as well as observe our actions and reactions in a way we may have never done before and make conscious adjustments.
- Boosts Your Mental Performance. Research conducted at the University of California, Santa Barbara found that college students trained in mindfulness performed better on verbal reasoning sections on the GRE and also had improvements in retention of material. The outcome of the study suggested that mindfulness improves overall cognitive function.
- Can Keep You From Going Cray-Cray. Mental illness and emotional wellness are two issues that are usually highly medicated when you visit a doctor to address them. Well, according to researchers from the University of Oregon, mediation techniques in the form of integrative body and mind training can result in brain changes which protect against mental illness. Due to meditation practice protective tissue increases as well as signaling connections in the brain.
- Sleep Like a Baby. A University of Utah study found that mindfulness training helps people sleep better at night. You know how sometimes you can’t sleep because of the “monkey mind” that can’t stop making to-do lists and generally stressing about whatever happened that day? Well meditation shuts the monkey up long enough for you to get adequate rest and wake up feeling refreshed.
- Gives You a Major Dose of Happy. In general meditation helps to balance out emotions and moods, and has been shown in numerous studies to reduce the risk of depression. It’s great for pregnant women struggling with post-pardom, teens, and really anyone of any age.
- Boosts Your Immunity. By now you should know that optimal health has to do with emotional, physical, and mental wellness. Just paying attention to your diet alone may still leave you at risk for major terminal diseases if you do not manage your emotions and stress in a healthy way. Meditation and mindfulness practices calm you the heck down, so that you can avoid toxic emotions that may cause disease later on.
Awesome Benefits of Detox Superfood Chlorella
If you are an avid reader of this blog, you know by now how much I love to rave about the health benefits of green algae. Algae and other superfoods can transform your health because they allow you to consume an astounding amount of nutrition in one serving. Spirulina has always been my go-to-green algae because of it’s amazing nutritional profile, protein, ability to boost your energy, maintain a healthy weight, and support high levels of fitness. It’s cousin in the algae world chlorella was always on my list but I never really experimented with taking it regularly unless it was in my smoothie powders. I’ll admit, I kind of compared the two and figured spirulina was giving me the most green bang for my buck. What I have recently discovered is that I have been completely missing out on the wonders of chlorella, and how amazing taking it ALONG with spirulina can be for your body.
Chlorella is a fresh water single cell algae which like spirulina, has a nutritional profile that also catapults it into the category of a superfood. It is high in protein (around 60%), essential fatty acids, 18 amino acids, and more than 20 vitamins and minerals including potassium, zinc, iron, calcium, phosphorous, B Vitamins, vitamin C, D,E, and K. The biggest differences between chlorella and spirulina are that chlorella contains some additional nutrients like vitamin K and phosphorous, a whole lot of antioxidants, and one of the highest forms of chlorophyll. Chlorella also works to synergistically balance and normalize body functions, and has strong detoxification properties which aid the body in removing heavy metals, waste, parasites and other toxins. In addition to being a super detoxifier, chlorella has been shown to stop the development of cancerous cells, can rebuild nerves in the brain after serious nerve damage, strengthen the intestinal wall lining, eliminate constipation, and help to build up the amount of good bacteria in the body which aids in treating digestive and colon related diseases.
All that said, I’m sure you see that chlorella’s got it going on just like it’s cousin. If you’ve never tried it, taking chlorella and spirulina together actually is a powerhouse combination because you get the benefits of detoxifying the body, and also continue to build muscle and boost your energy. Chlorella can be taken in pill or powder form; because I already consume spirulina in powder form I decided to go for the pill option. You can also find really awesome grass powders that include both, along with a bunch of other groovy nutrients. Do whatever works for you, but makes sure to get a good dose of chlorophyll by any means necessary. That essential building block for life is essential for cultivating and keeping your raw vegan superpowers strong. -XoXo Raw Girl
Check out this past article which includes more about chlorella and it’s ability to detox heavy metals.
The Dangerous Ingredient in Your Store-Bought Nut Milk
If you walk into any grocery store and head to the dairy section, the shelves are populated by a plethora of dairy-free milks which started to become all the rage a few years ago. Veggie lovers now have the options to buy coconut milks, almond milk, hemp or rice milks, in addition to soy based dairy-free milks. In our fast paced world, having these options may allow you to breathe a sigh of relief, but unfortunately convenience on American grocery shelves most likely comes with a major health risk. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I knew something was fishy with some of those nut milks. A large majority of the almond milk available has the ingredient carrageenan, which is derived from red seaweed. At first glance, it may seem like carrageenan should be a healthy ingredient, as seaweed is a very nutrient dense food. Not the case. In fact, carrageenan has been proven by research to be linked to gastrointestinal issues, lesions, and colon cancer! Sigh. So much for an easy way to get nut milk!
Carrageenan comes in two forms: low molecular weight or “degraded,” and high molecular weight or “ungraded.” Degraded carrageenan has been shown to cause inflammation in the colons of rodents which resembles what in humans is called ulcerative colitis. Companies that process carrageenan claim that the food grade version is undegraded, but when tested every single sample was positive for degraded carrageenan and had amounts up to 25% of the cancer-causing carrageenan. Another alternative that can be used is guar gum, which is found in a lot of veg-friendly products. I’m not a huge fan of guar gum either, but it’s by far way less harmful than carrageenan. The latter c-word actually contains bonds that are foreign to human cells. When consumed it elicits from our body an immune response and inflammation which can be chronic and lead to cancer. We live in a toxic world my friends but there are brands that are taking care to avoid ingredients like carrageenan. Please read your labels carefully, and worst come to worse, carve out 10 minutes or less in the morning to blend your own almond or cashew milk. All you have to do is soak the nuts the night before and blend in the morning with water and a natural sweetener. For a little extra fun you can also add in cinnamon or cloves if you like. It may take a few extra minutes of your time but at the end of the day you’ll be cancer-free, and the only ingredients you have to worry about are nuts, water, and a whole lot of love. -XoXo Raw Girl
Raw Almond Milk
Ingredients:
1 cup raw almonds soaked in water overnight
3 cups water
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
2 dates (optional) OR natural sweetener like grade B maple syrup or agave
LOVE
Rinse the almonds several times, until the water is clear, Put the almonds, 3 cups filtered water, 1 tsp vanilla, and 2 pitted dates (optional) in high speed blender. Start at low, increase to high, blend for 1 minute. If you have a mesh bag you can strain the milk—by putting blended mixture into the mesh bag, over a tall wide container or a narrow bowl and then squeezing out all the liquid. Serve & enjoy!
Raw Vegan Superhero Highlight: Bernando LaPallo, 111 Years Young
When you are off the beaten path and living la vida raw, it is necessary to find motivation to help you go the distance. I personally have always felt reinvigorated and inspired to continue my journey when I hear the stories of living examples who are reaping the benefits of their lifestyle well into their golden years. If you followed the first season of my radio show Healthy Living in a Toxic World, you may remember my longevity series which focused on interviewing HEROES and SHE-ROES who are on the raw diet, and remaining youthful over seventy. I interviewed two of my anti-aging she-roes Mimi Kirk and Annette Larkins, as well as Bernando LaPallo who was 109 years old at the time of interview. This amazing man turned 111 years old last year. Check out the video below for a sneak peak of how a raw vegan lifestyle has worked for him and if you haven’t listened to my radio interview with him yet, which is full of many nuggets of wisdom, check it out now online: Longevity Series: Bernando LaPallo. -XoXo Raw Girl
Raw Girl’s 21 Day Challenge is On!
Cue the bells, whistles, and trumpets…spring is finally here! For those of you who follow the Facebook page, you know I mentioned wanting to host a virtual wellness challenge. I only moved forward because a nice amount of you were interested, so I hope some of you will come on board for the journey with me.
It is time for a spring cleaning. In this new season, I myself have been focusing relentlessly on wellness mind, body, and spirit. When you embrace making daily progress in each of those areas daily, amazing things begin to happen. The goal of the challenge is to give you an opportunity to see major changes in your mindset, body, vitality, or just simply inner peace by combining living foods, regular exercise, and mindfulness practice. Focusing on all of these areas really gives you an opportunity to “transform;” and by that I mean not just losing weight or boosting your energy temporarily, but seeing lasting changes and adjustments to unhealthy habits and reprogramming new healthier ones to replace them. There is no way you can lose if you are committed to seeing your end result! I will be your guide through the 21 Days, and the package includes one-on-one coaching sessions with me, a detox plan, and additional raw recipes to help jumpstart your raw journey. All of this for about the same price of a one hour consultation.
Very excited to have the challenge sponsored by GAIAM, who will be giving the winner a 3 month subscription to GAIAM TV and a yoga mat up to 60$ in value. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to jumpstart your wellness. The challenge begins on April 25th. I recommend participants register no later than April 21st to have time to get prepared. The first five participants to register will receive an additional hour of one-on-one coaching. This challenge is something new and a way for me to get to know more of you lovely readers personally. I am ready to be of great service to all involved. If you have any feedback on the program, questions, concerns, or suggestions, please email me at rawgirltoxicworld@gmail.com! -XoXo Raw Girl
Visit this page on the blog for more info or to register: http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/21-day-wellness-transformation-challenge/
Cure for the Candida Blues – Part 2
Remember my last post on Natural Cures for the Candida Blues? I just modified it to reflect the new information I recently learned. After my first round of research I wrote that first post with the assumption that the general consensus about candida was true. Which was that in order to beat it you had to avoid all carbs and sugars including fruit sugars. I should have known not to believe the hype. There are so many posts online about people who have been struggling with candida for YEARS with no signs of improvement. Partially because their dietary changes are not addressing the root cause. After two months on a sugarless diet, I kind of forgot about the whole candida thing and went off to make a movie. During the shooting period my sugarless diet went out the window and I ate what was available to get me through the day. Needless to say the symptoms came roaring back early this month and I was not happy. Frustrated I went back to researching. How could it be that there was really no cure? It really made no sense to me that people could struggle with candida for years, because the body is always able to bring itself back to balance.
Finally, a miracle occurred. After resuming the sugarless/carb-less diet and feeling absolutely horrible, I started to research again. Using my intuition I was led to find a bunch of testimonials of people who had successfully cured their candida and even hypoglycemia. How did they do it? By eating boat loads of FRUIT, one of the things that everyone, including my doctor said NOT to do. I listened to the youtube video below where Dr. Douglas Graham discusses how and why our friend candida flourishes and it’s purpose in the body and it made a lot of sense. Basically whether you are raw foodist or not, if you have a diet that is high in sugar and high in fat, you are going to begin to have blood sugar problems, because the high levels of fat prevents glucose from being transported out of the body. Did you know that the average American’s diet is comprised of something like forty percent fat and that raw foodists sometimes eat diets that are as high as sixty percent in fat!? Even if its fat from coconuts, avocados, nuts, it can still throw you body out of wack leave you depleted and lacking energy. This is the major reason why most raw foodists can’t go the distance on the diet and eventually burn out.
According to Graham, fruit is for raw foodists a replacement for the carbohydrate food group. The body needs carbs to fuel our energy and maintain balance. Vegetables are also key, but fruit have the highest calories, so in order to maintain an 80% carbs-10% protein-10% fat balance, which he touts as the ideal based on his research, you will be eating calorically speaking more fruit than veggies. I got all of this information on a Sunday, and then the next day as scared as I was to contradict popular opinion I started eating a bunch of fruit, some greens, and held the fats for the time being. I also began taking a daily probiotic and eating fermented foods daily including kimchi, sauerkraut, or kombucha. After one day my energy shot off the roof. I had a few cleansing reactions on day two and then I felt like new money. By Friday I was completely candida overgrowth symptom-free and somewhat in awe once again with the power of living foods.
We are taught that fruit sugar is harmfully to us if we have candida, blood sugar issues, and diabetes, but this is really not the case. Our major problems are high refined sugar intake along with high FAT intake. If you are struggling with candida, I urge you to look at your diet, minimize your fat intake to ten percent of your calories, eliminate refined and processed sugars, but increase your vegetable and especially fruit intake drastically. You really have to ensure you are getting in enough calories. Making smoothies with fruit can help a lot to get more in one sitting, or you can do it old school and eat mono meals which consist of a lot of one type of fruit at a time throughout the day. Green smoothies are a good way to get in some greens, and also including at least one really large salad or green juice in your day. If you are on a raw food diet and it’s not a low fat diet, if you are experiencing any issues with your energy or otherwise, I recommend you try modifying it to include more fruit and cut down on your fat intake. You may also have deeper issues with your adrenal glands or pancreas that need to be addressed if your condition is really bad.
I don’t believe in becoming a disciple of “diets” or “fads” by I do believe in following what makes sense to me and what my body responds to. Where people go wrong in general and even with principles like this 80-10-10 idea is they don’t really listen completely and implement all of the information. It’s easy to play telephone and hear what you want to hear rather than what is being said. Taking on a low fat raw vegan diet does not mean you are on a fruitarian diet, it just means you lower your fat intake, and increase your fruit and veg intake with an emphasis on fruits to ensure a proper balance with the amount of fats you take in. As someone who works out four to five times a week I have seen marked results in my performance and a boost in my energy with the shift to a low fat raw vegan diet and I am grateful for more confirmation that the body can indeed restore itself to balance when given the right fuel. Listen to your body, always do what works for you, and by any means necessary #EAT2LIVE! -XoXo Raw Girl
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsmcYRSvwGM]
10 Habits for Cultivating Optimal Health
bouldernaturalhealth.com
As we mature the majority of us begin to value how essential having good health is for quality of life. Nowadays you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who is not plagued by a terminal illness or does not know someone in their family, friends, or acquaintances who is dealing with the consequences of bad lifestyle choices or perhaps even what seems to be a bad stroke of luck. Our bodies’ are a complex culmination of the emotional, mental, spiritual, and food choices we have made over our lifespans. It is very easy to get focused on heathy eating and forget that there is so much more that feeds disease including the mind, emotions, and spirit. Even beyond consideration of holistic wellness, optimal health should also include considerations of each of the essential body parts functioning at their best. So not only are you in great physical shape, your teeth are strong, your gums, hair, nails, feet, arms, organs etc function at their best. When anything in our bodies goes awry in just one part it’s amazing what a profound affect it can have on our general well being, livelihood, and ability to perform at our best. That is because each part of our bodies’ inform the whole and vice versa. So as you consider optimal nutrition and what is the best fuel for you, I challenge you to also pay close attention to any other signs that your body is giving you that you may require some TLC.
When you take preemptive measures it will require that you spend extra time and money to maintain a lifestyle that promotes optimal health, but remember that it’s a worthy investment. Wouldn’t you rather add extra time in for flossing that pay for expensive dental work when you have gum disease? Or modify your diet now and avoid diabetes that plagues your family rather than have a limb removed altogether later? The costs of taking your wellness for granted are steep and come with a much higher price tag when things get urgent. In addition to looking at your own habits, knowing your family history is invaluable and essential to ensuring that you stay on the path of optimal health. If you know what diseases an ailments your parents or grandparents dealt with you can take measures now to adjust your lifestyle so that you never have to worry about carrying on that disease legacy. Below are ten simple things you can do to ensure that you are living optimally. These are just suggestions, but these guidelines should help you get an adequate idea of habits you can improve or add to your daily routine. Prevent now, prosper later! -XoXo Raw Girl
- Adequate Supplementation. Eating a well rounded diet that provides your body with adequate nutrition is essential but given our hectic lifestyles we still may fall short of what our bodies’ need. One way to ensure you have all of the right fuel is to supplement using super foods or high quality supplements. If you are a veggie lover, B12 should be on your list, and you may also include a multivitamin, green algae or grass powders, probiotics, flax or algae based omega-3 supplements and others depending on your body. It’s important to get tested regularly by your doctor and rectify any imbalances you may have so that you prevent long term illness.
- Regular Exercise. This is a no brainer, but it’s amazing how quickly this habit for optimal health goes out the window. I know you feel like you don’t have time, but carving out a mere 30 minutes daily to exercise will do wonders for your health, boost your energy, and keep you younger and happier thanks to the serotonin boost. Find a way you love to move and stick to a routine that works for you. If your bored with your workout, change it up and bit and venture out to try fun alternative forms of exercise. Pole dancing, anyone? Whatever floats your boat, is great as long as you commit to #MoveThatBody.
- Practice Mindfulness A.K.A. Manage Your Emotions By Any Means Necessary. We often greatly underestimate the power our emotions have to keep us healthy. Emotional wellness is key in long term health and learning healthy ways of managing our stress keeps us from adopting unhealthy disease inducing habits like overeating, smoking, alcoholism etc. There are many ways to keep your emotions under control but they all involve a daily commitment to a practice of mindfulness. Breathing helps, as does meditation, prayer, or yoga. Find something that makes your spirit sing and commit to it as the daily food for your spirit. Your soul needs food too, and the more you feed it the more peace, health, and happiness you will find no matter what life throws your way.
- Take Care of Your Teeth. Just in case you didn’t know, the health of your teeth and gums is a huge indicator of your overall well being. If bacteria in your mouth is not kept under control in can enter your bloodstream and cause infections or even heart disease. In addition gum issues and infections may be an indicator of problems with your blood sugar levels. Loosing teeth later in life is sometimes an indicator of osteoporosis, and loosing teeth before the age of 35 may increase your risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Moral of the story? Mind your mouth now, and avoid health complications later. Flossing daily, brushing your teeth, regular cleanings, and using a mouthwash are ways you can care for your teeth now and prevent health drama later.
- Eat Whole Foods and Read Your Labels. You should know this by now, but diet does play a huge factor in changing your destiny and moving your compass towards optimal health. I’ve interviewed a bunch of healthy men and women over seventy about longevity and all of them were able to completely outlive their genetic history and avoid diseases that plagued there parents and grandparents by changing their diets. We have yet to see the full implications of eating genetically modified foods, but the signs are already there that it’s taking a negative toll on lifespan and the quality of health of many people. No matter what your diet, these days you have to go out of your way to avoid anything that is not really food. Read your labels and avoid non organic meats, fruits and veg, processed and packaged foods, refined sugars and salt, and unhealthy oils whenever possible. Although the cost of your groceries may increase, there are always ways to get savvy and find a bargain. Remember that eating to live now, is a definite investment in your personal healthcare plan, and the good news is you get to reap benefits immediately.
- Schedule Regular Checkups. When you get centered on a more holistic lifestyle or GO VEG, you may find that you are sick less and less if not at all, and are able to manage health crises with your own intuition and natural cures. We get caught up sometimes in calling our primary doctors the big bad wolves, because of the prescription drugs they peddle for any ailment without dealing with the root cause. And they “the big bad wolves” think that a lot of us veggie lovers have gone completely mad with our juice making, medicine avoiding, organic loving ways. The thing is, medicine has it’s place and is still incredibly useful for all of us to assess deficiencies and catch illnesses if we commit to regular exams and checkups. You should be checking in on yourself regularly, but it is nice to get a blood test that can let you know where you may be deficient and cue some adjustments in your diet or daily health regimen. Every doctor has his or her place, so make sure even if you are like me and love the woo-woo back to nature medicine route, you still engage in regular checkups with your doctor.
- Know Your Status. Sexual health is a huge issue and continues to grow in importance as the number of people infected with sexually transmitted disease is on the rise, and a large majority of people are completely unaware of their status. It is incredibly important for you to take precautions necessary to guard your sexual health, and also ensure that you engage in regular testing. Do you know your status? If you have not been tested and are sexually active, know that by avoiding testing your are playing a very dangerous game. Also ensure that once you do know your status you take the precautions necessary to avoid STD’s. Bad news is there are tons of STD’s nowadays that can be transmitted even with use of condoms etc. so just take care, use your intuition, know the status of your partner, and engage wisely.
- Maintain Colon Health. Colon health is most likely the number one wellness issue in America today, period. The majority of diseases begin with the accumulation of waste in our colon or our “bodies’ sewage system.” When I interviewed Bernando LaPallo who is a 110 year old raw foodist and asked him what he does to maintain a healthy colon he gave a great answer which was if you eat fruits and vegetables and avoid unnatural foods, your colon health will take care of itself. It’s true that the majority of problem begin when our colons get clogged with unnatural or toxic foods that get stuck in your colons as impacted waste and slowly but surely start to cause health problems. Beyond just eating good whole foods there are other things you can do to regularly to ensure your colon is not becoming a cesspool for disease. For some ideas check out this past post: “#1 Health Issue in America: Maintaining a Healthy Colon“.
- Monitor & Value Adequate Sleep. Sleep is another precious commodity we undervalue in our culture. We are obsessed with “grinding,” getting ahead, meeting deadlines, and sacrificing vacations for promotions. It’s important to make sleep a priority so that you can be the best you everyday. Not only does sleep affect our performance, learning retention, and brain functioning, sleep plays a major role in boosting our immunity, weight loss, preventing the onset of many diseases. The best way to get adequate sleep is to attempt as much as possible to stick to a sleep schedule and go to bed and wake up around the same time daily. To learn more about sleep check out this episode of my radio show “The Power of Adequate Sleep,” in which I interviewed Dr. James Maas, an internationally renowned sleep expert.
- Engage in Regular Detoxification. Conducting regular fasts, or embarking on a detox every now and then can do wonders for your health. Your digestive system gets some time to rest, and as you detoxify your body you are taking time to rid yourself of toxins that could have later built up and caused illness and disease. Regular fasting or detox does not have to be crazy and intense, it can be yearly, monthly, or as needed, it’s just one additional way for you to pay it forward and prevent problems before they arise.
To Green Smoothie or Not, That is the Question?
Green smoothies are a great way to get in a good serving or fruit and green leafy vegetables, especially in the morning. Typically they consist of something like l/3 of leafy greens, 1/3 fruit, and 1/3 or less of water. Or some people do more fruit than greens. You can always add more or less fruit or greens to your liking. There is some debate about whether or not green smoothies are healthy, just like with ever other health trend out there. Some say it’s not good for you because the amount of sugar (from the fruit) can make your blood sugar spike. To that I say ba-humbug. After healing myself of candida in a record five days on a high fruit diet (which most sources say NOT to eat), and hearing other people with blood sugar level issues and hypoglycemia also healing themselves by eating fruits, I am pretty sure at this point that the world is either upside down, or that most of the doctors in America are misinformed and need a serious re-education Lauryn Hill style.
Fruit does not metabolize in the body like refined sugars, and when combined with greens as well like in the green smoothie, it should further relieve any fears about your blood sugar spiking out of control. Then there are folks who may say that green smoothies are not enough to live on you must have other sources of nutrition. Well, duh! Of course, our body needs a well-rounded platter of nutrition, but the truth of the matter is that most Americans barely get in the amount of fresh greens and fruits that are in one green smoothie. Sometimes when I randomly pop through a conventional grocery store, I am shell-shocked by the amount of microwaveable, packaged, pre-cooked, pasteurized, high fructose corn syrup and canola oil laden food is in people’s shopping carts. On a good day, it’ll be lucky for me to spot one small bag of fruit in the sea of processed meals piled high in their carts. Green smoothies and even green juices are just simple ways you can get some fresh natural food into your body in the midst of your busy, I have no time for preparing food lifestyle. Blending is also simpler than juicing, for those of us who dread “the post-juice cleanup” or get a strong feeling of laziness just by looking at your juicer which may be growing dust on your kitchen counter.
If you feel sort of gassy or have indigestion immediately after having a green smoothie, by all means, please do not indulge in them or modify them with simpler fruit and veggie combinations until they do not bother you. I find that blending kale into things is just plain bad for me, personally. I prefer using lighter greens like spinach and romaine. You may be too sensitive to fruit and veg combinations and need to save your precious greens for that sexy salad you are whipping up later. If that’s the case do not feel bad about it. If you still love to have something green in your cup blend up a bunch of fruit, add a little water, and a teaspoon or two of Spirulina, or green grass powders you like. Or also try whipping up mostly green veg based smoothies and use veggies like cucumber and celery that have a high water content.
Below’s a simple green smoothie recipe that can be modified sans greens. At the end of the day the point of a healthy lifestyle is to be in tune with what your body needs along with your personal quirky cravings. So by all means necessary spend less time arguing or debating your specific dietary choices with people and just march to the beat of your own drum, or if your me you can shake a tail feather and do the electric slide, whatever works. I find that by following my bliss and my intuition, I honor myself and can never go wrong. Here’s to whatever kind of smoothie you choose to drink today, green or not, and even more importantly, here’s to all of us choosing each and every day to EAT TO LIVE. -XoXo Raw Girl
SIMPLE GREEN SMOOTHIE
2 Bananas
Equal parts frozen strawberry and mango
Large handful of spinach AND/OR 1-2 teaspoons Spirulina or green powder
Purified Water
Blend all ingredients. Serve & enjoy the bliss!
The Dangers of Consuming GMOs
b4tea.com
Do you have any idea how much of the food you eat is genetically modified?? If your answer is no, or if you have never stopped to consider it, join the club. Most Americans have no idea that majority of what they eat is indeed “frankenfood.” Even if you are in the small group of concerned GMO-aware consumers, it still can take some serious leg work to ensure that you avoid eating fake foods and get your natural fix. Several weeks ago, I wrote a long form paper on the dangers of GMO’s. Below is an excerpt from the paper. It’s longer than my usual posts, but if you do not know much about GMOs or even if you think you do, I encourage you indulge me. It may cause you to think twice about what you put in your shopping cart. -XoXo Raw Girl
In our modern day maelstrom of technology and innovation, genetically modified organisms have become commonplace, although they were once thought highly unnatural. A genetically modified organism (GMO) is defined as an “organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.” Organisms that have been genetically modified include microorganisms like bacteria and yeast, insects, plants, fish, and mammals. It is also commonly defined as: “any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.” According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association,” Seventy-five to eighty percent of all processed foods available on grocery store shelves contain GMOs.” In addition the USDA has stated that an estimated ninety four percent of soy and seventy five percent of all corn produced in the U.S. are genetically modified organisms. Most Americans have no barometer as to whether or not the food they are consuming is natural or unnatural. As an average consumer, if you were to closely assess all food intake that may contain GMOs, you may be shocked to discover that the majority of the foods you consume daily are genetically engineered. Although genetically engineered plants and animals have been approved for sale and consumption, genetically modified plant and animal species can have deleterious effects on the environment and on the lifespan of humans.
From prehistoric times until the 1900s humans generally lived on food that was gathered from nature. Around 1900, some variations of species or hybrids were discovered. In 1953, scientists documented their discovery of the three dimensional double helix structure of DNA, but it wasn’t until 1973 that scientists created the first successful recombinant DNA organism or man-made DNA. At the Asimolar Conference in 1975 a group of biologists, lawyers, and doctors convened to create guidelines for safe use of genetically engineered DNA. Five years later the first patent of GMO organisms was issued and in 1992 the FDA declared that genetically engineered foods are “not inherently dangerous” and do not require special regulations. Two years later in 1994 the FDA approved the first genetically modified food to go to market; the Flavr Savr tomato which had delayed ripening. In 1997, due to the overwhelming proliferation of GMOs the European Union ordered mandatory labeling of all GMO foods including animal feed. By 1999, over 100 million acres all of the world were planted with genetically engineered seeds and stores were stocked full with GMO foods.
dailygalaxy.com
Since the inception of man-made DNA leading into the present day where GMOs are commonplace, the United States and the FDA has not called for special regulations nor required mandatory labeling of all GMO foods. Even more important to note, no clinical trials of genetically engineered foods have been conducted to investigate and prove the claims the FDA made about GMOs not having any serious effects on health. Although the European Union has been labeling and creating a transparent system to warn and inform consumers since 1997, the average American consumer has no way to be one hundred percent sure what is in their food without extensive research.
If you look at the trends in health in the United States since the mid 1990’s you will discover that the number of Americans suffering from at least three chronic diseases almost doubled, infant mortality rate has increased, and life expectancy has decreased. Jeffrey Smith, filmmaker and author of Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, asserts that all of these changes in the health of America are due to the change in our food supply. Genetic engineering and GMOs have been the most drastic and major change to the U.S. food supply within this time period. In addition to the increase in chronic diseases the number of people contracting autoimmune disorders has increased exponentially. Genetically engineered foods, are foods that are created by combining or essentially mixing and matching genes from genetically modified organisms. Therefore the final product is something non-existent in nature and foreign to our bodies’ code. Autoimmune disorders occur when the the body begins to attack itself, or is unable to distinguish between foreign and normal matter. If the body takes in food that is unnatural and does not recognize the code it begins to attack it as if it is a foreign invader or toxin, which throws the body into defense mode. An inflammatory response is created, which is the main culprit for all chronic diseases.
In addition to this, in a report entitled “GMOs and Truths,” it was discovered and proven that most of the myths that claim that GMO foods are safe are actually false. GMO foods are less nutritious than organic natural non-engineered foods, they pose real dangers to human health and harm the environment and farmers. With these truths exposed there is a clear moral and ethical dilemma that has yet to be addressed while the FDA and other organizations and brands continue to advertise that GMOs pose no serious threats to long term health, allow for false and misleading advertising to consumers, and do not impose regulations that would at the very least allow each consumer to make a personal and informed decision on whether or not to consume genetically engineered foods. The two major GMO crops are soy and corn. In a scientific study conducted on female rats, the rats who were fed a diet of GMO soy experienced a drastically higher infant death rate. The infants that did survive were smaller and less fertile than the rats fed a diet of non-GMO soy. Male rats when fed GMO soy had a complete color change in their testicles and their diet caused damage to their sperm. Other problems related to fertility have been documented in animals that are fed GMO corn and cottonseed as well. In another study, French researchers discovered that rats who were fed high doses of Monsanto’s GMO corn contracted tumors and also suffered from damage to multiple organs.
Beyond human health, the planting of genetically engineered crops and the farming of animal products has been proven to have adverse effects on our environment. Some of the most dramatic effects documented by scientists include the evolution of GMOs into “superweeds,” the ability for GMO crops to cross pollinate and contaminate normal organic crops producing undesirable genetic traits, and the general harm that can be done to other plants from exposure to GMO crops or their pesticides. In the instance of animal species, there is the danger that genetically engineered animals with new characteristics such as fish which are designed to grow faster, meatier chickens, and disease resistant shrimp could by accident escape their farming grounds and somehow wipe out other natural species of animals and plants. Science advisors have warned that there is not a thorough process in place for reviewing the environmental impacts of genetically engineered species. Thus speculations could be grossly underestimating the harmful effects on the environment. Other scientists assert that some of these fast growing fish for example do have an advantage over other species in the wild but their offspring are not equipped to survive in natural conditions which could lead to the extinction of entire species. In addition to this, wildlife experts have argued that the FDA may be the best regulatory authority on drugs, but should not have jurisdiction on whether or not a product or species could adversely affect the environment.
independentwestand.org
The first proposed solution to the genetic engineering awareness problem, would involve mandatory labeling of all GMO foods sold in the marketplace. There are several ways this could be handled. The first would be for the FDA to buckle down and approve this measure as a standard. If the FDA was unable to swiftly mandate this kind of labeling, a counter-campaign could be run to get all companies that are GMO-free to label their products with a non-GMO stamp. Similar to the “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” campaign, it would emphasize supporting companies who produce non-GMO products. In order for this labeling to have weight, all non-GMO products would have to be verified and their would have to be regulations in place, monitoring, and penalties for companies that falsely use the label on their products. There are major benefits to this proposal including the health and safety of consumers, increasing the transparency and ethical standards of the marketplace, and giving consumers a fair choice whether or not they would like to support GMO products. Another major advantage which may not be able to be quantified immediately would be related to the reduction in healthcare costs and medical expenses that would have been incurred if the continued consumption of GMO foods was increasing.
In addition to open and honest labeling, extensive clinical studies must be conducted especially on the effects of GMO corn, soy, and canola, all of which are the most prevalent derivatives used in prepackaged foods. Considering how much of these products are available to the U.S. public and sold to the masses, it should be a national priority that once labeling of GMOs is complete, a group of top tier scientists spend adequate time testing the long term effects of genetically engineered foods on human health. Equipped with the results from these studies the FDA and consumers would be able to rally for additional regulations and/or banning completely of certain products from the market place.
Similar studies would need to be conducted to assess or at the very least project potential damage to the environment as a result of farming of new species of animals and plants. To begin the most important step would be creating a set of regulations the farming of any such animals that outlines the types of secure breeding circumstances required to minimize the threat of those animals contaminating the natural species. With plants it’s important for scientists to research what the full effects of “superweeds,” pesticide producing plants, and cross contamination of species could have on our environment and human health. It will be especially beneficial to assess potential harmful effects while also keeping in mind climate change. The most direct benefits of these studies may be to prevent mass extinction of natural species of plants and animals, and possibly to create some sort of solution that may counteract any negative effects that GMO farming has already caused our environment.