Tag Archives: vegan lifestyle

DC Raw/Vegan Spot: District Tea Lodge (Cont’d)

health

Not too long ago I posted about District Tea Lounge because of their incredible tea and one of my favorite things in the universe: kombucha on tap. Since then I’ve been back often because I love the vibes and wanted to try a few things on their menu. In addition to the local kombucha, they tend to have a few raw dessert options, a super cheap “Buddha bowl” which will only run you nine bucks for a large bowl of organic veggies and quinoa, at least one raw meal option.

On the most recent trips back I tried the raw zucchini pasta with peanut sauce, the raw brownie, and the raw carrot cake bar. All were pretty good. I really enjoyed the zucchini pasta which was a really light and good alternative to a basic salad. A friend who I visited with me ordered a pu-erh tea, which is a special fermented black tea that originates from China and has almost as much caffeine as coffee. In the past it used to take up to fifteen years to properly age pu-erh teas, but with new technology the process can be accelerated. What struck me about this tea was that it also has strong medicinal properties. In traditional Chinese herbalism it has been used to open the meridians and facilitate ‘blood cleansing’ and optimal digestion. Some studies also have shown that pu-erh may lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and increase metabolism.

If you haven’t visited District, I definitely recommend you check it out. It will be one of the places I will miss frequenting when I leave DC. -XoXo Raw Girl

To learn more about District you can visit their Website.

7 Steps to Pursuing Your Passion

goal setting

What does diet have to do with pursuing your passion? Some may say nothing, I say everything. How you think, your self-image, and your motivation are all directly tied to what you put your body and how that makes you feel and the choices you make. Put in bad fuel, and you may feel depressed and unmotivated. On the contrary, good fuel, can brighten your spirits and give you the energy you need to push on towards that finish line. Below is a post I wrote last year for Abiola.TV about pursuing your passion that I am finally sharing on the blog. It’s three months into the New Year, but its never late to set a new goal, reinvigorate your passion, and last but not least, EAT TO LIVE. -XoXo Raw Girl

1. Discover It.

Some people come out of the womb knowing what they are meant to do. There are countless stories of young prodigies or people who say that even as a child they showed some inclination towards a particular passion. On the other hand, there are also people who discover their passion later in life, or have absolutely no clue what their passion is.

Not knowing at all is definitely not the end of the world. If you don’t know what your passion is and you haven’t been led to it yet, you must simply cultivate the desire in yourself to find it. If you pose the question, the answer will come.

Leave yourself open to trying new things, going new places, and trusting your gut instinct no matter how silly it seems. You’ll find it, eventually, and you may also have a lot of fun stories to tell in the end.

2. Nurture It.

So now you know what your passion is? You’re excited to wake up every morning and do that particular work or expression. Now it’s time to put in the work. As the saying goes, you reap what you sow.

All of the greatest artists, innovators, entrepreneurs started with their raw talent and passion but they usually found training, or got life experience that allowed them to deepen their craft and cultivate discipline. Your passion is like plant. You have to make sure it has the right nutrients and nourishment to flourish. Every person is different so figure out what works for you, and get started RIGHT NOW.

3. Make a Committment.

When things go awry or get difficult, it’s easy to throw in the towel. There are countless examples of innovators and personalities who found that passion, but then had to face years of rejection. Bestselling children’s author Dr. Seuss’s first book was rejected by 27 publishers. Twenty seven rejections! In a recent video entertainment mogul Tyler Perry spoke of six years in his life when he was promoting shows and no one would come.

The only way to continue following the passion even in those times when it feels like the passion for doing the work is gone, is making a commitment. You must decide now, that come what may, if the roads are smooth or rough, you will prevail. When you do this, you can surmount obstacles and rejection much easier because your eye is on the prize, the bigger vision.

4. Find Your Cheerleading Squad.

You are now super excited to be pursuing your passion and so you want to run and shout it from the mountaintop! You get there grinning, sweating profusely, panting, and full of all this positive energy and sometimes you find a really somber audien

ce staring back at you. Some of these people may be your family or even close friends. Even worse, you may have someone flat o

ut tell you that your passion is absolutely crazy and that you will never reach your goal. Your grin quickly melts to a frown, maybe even a grimace.

Every successful person needs someone that they can call on, who will be their number one fan. We all have doubts, some days we feel brilliant and others rejection may make us feel less than. The key is choosing to get back up again.Having a cheerleading squad that is genuinely excited for our triumphs and helps us put into perspective our low moments is a key element in staying the course to living a passion filled life.

5. See the Vision. Have a Game Plan.

Having a passion is one thing, but sustaining the pursuit of it can be another. In order to have a destination, you need a vision of where you are going. Not just any vision, but a specific, juicy, mouth watering, heart thumping vision that really puts you on edge. You think about achieving that thing and your heart flutters a little bit.

Once the vision is clear, then it’s time to make a plan. You’ve got to take some action. This action plan isn’t rigid at all. Depending on your type of personality “plans” may freak you out. That’s okay. I’m a firm believer that with the vision in place, you can be led and even draw the things you need to you, but you have to be open to them.

“Coincidences” surrounding your vision may happen, and you have to be there ready to notice and act on them. Perhaps that’s partly what the saying means: “luck is preparation meeting opportunity.” Prepare yourself by seeing the vision, cultivating your talent, and knowing the specifics of what you want.

6. Work Hard. Persevere. Be Flexible.

Most people who love what they do say it doesn’t feel like work at all. It doesn’t feel like work and because of that they may work all the time! Working hard when you are pursuing your passion should be like breathing. It’s not something you have to force yourself to do. You become engrossed and you want to do your best because it’s what you love. Then there may be moments that are trying where you may have to call your cheerleading squad or recommit to your purpose, but you must stay the course.

You must persevere. Flexibility is key. Sometimes you are lead one way that isn’t at all the way you planned but leads you straight to your goal. Joel Schumacher, now an award-winning producer and director once upon a time ago was a costume designer who wanted to be a director. He started there, then wrote scripts, but kept his eye on his goal of directing. Sometimes to start just getting close enough to observe the thing you want is enough.

Don’t assume it’ll be hard, and don’t assume it’ll be incredibly easy either. Some paths are long highways, and others are short alley ways. Just have your vision, stay on your particular path, and enjoy the ride!

7. Celebrate the NOW. Propel Into the Future.

Accept that wherever you are right NOW is perfect. It’s exactly where you should be. It’s so easy to get sucked into the trap of comparing our journey to other people’s journeys, or holding ourselves up to cultural or societal standards that make us feel like we should be, should do, or should have done already.

Focus on the NOW, where you are, and do the best you can. Live in this moment and love what you can do today, what are doing right now, and that energy will help propel you along your path. Every passion needs revisiting and sometimes reviving.

The beauty of being alive is that each moment we have the gift of creative imagination, we have the ability to desire and pursue. If you’ve found it, don’t take your passion lightly. Treasure every single moment you get to be alive and do what you love, and you will truly LIVE.

The Supernatural Strength Building Benefits of Pilates

ab workout

If you had to imagine what exercises someone with supernatural or superhuman strength would practice on a regular basis what would you guess? Probably a lot of weight training, and maybe some intense cardio. The truth of the matter is that if Superman was alive and flying through our skies, he probably would be doing Pilates on his off days because of its incredible abilities to generate strength, prevent injuries, and encourage movement control.

I broke up with Pilates about a year and a half ago. It got me through hard times, as I had to practice it order to rehabilitate myself from a car accident that wreaked havoc on my lower back. Pilates not only got me back to one, I was left feeling taller, longer, and leaner because of it. Here’s the thing, I hated every minute of it! It was like taking medicine that’s so foul you have to plug your nose to get through it. Recently I’ve been cultivating my super vegan powers, and I decided to hook up with Pilates again. After learning the story of its founder, I’m seeing it in a completely different light.

Pilates was created by German born Joseph Pilates, who as a child was incredibly sick and struggled with rickets, asthma, and rheumatic fever. Because of his sickly childhood he developed an obsession and determination to strengthen his body and achieve superior health, which lead him to study and master a wide range of exercise disciplines until he finally created his own system. During World War II, he was able to use Pilates to rehabilitate bed ridden soldiers! Even today, at most hospital rehabilitation centers Pilates is used to help patients regain strength and recover. Later he opened up a studio in New York City and began to train some of the most renowned dancers at the New York City Ballet who loved the exercise which allowed them to build incredible strength and recover from injuries more quickly. Sometime after Pilates made its way to Hollywood, and it’s been a staple in our exercise culture ever since. Cool story right? But you might still be like me and loathe getting on the mat for a class. Below are a few awesome reasons, why you should go ahead and bite the bullet. -XoXo Raw Girl

It’s a Complimentary Full Body Workout. No matter what you love to do whether it be run, bike, swim etc. integrating Pilates into your lifestyle will only enhance your performance in your other exercises disciplines. Pilates exercises train several muscle groups at once in smooth continuous movements but still allows your body to recuperate. These exercises are great for injury recovery and prevention, sports performance, good posture, and optimal health.

Stabilizes and Develops a Strong Core. If you’re in need of a little tummy tuck, you may want to skip going under the knife and get on a mat. Pilates strengthens the core muscles and abdomen like no other exercise and in doing so helps to improve your posture, and leave you feeling longer, leaner, and even taller.

You Can Do it Anywhere. Once great thing about Pilates is how accessible it is and how cheap it is to start. You can take a class at your local gym or studio, or break out a mat in your home and pop in a DVD or watch a routine on YouTube.

Guaranteed Results. The great part about this tried and true system is you don’t have to guess whether or not your body is going to change for the better. It will. All you have to do is commit to regular practice and you will begin to see positive changes in your body and feel shifts in your posture and alignment throughout your day.

Challenging Mind/Body Workout. Just like yoga, Pilates requires the use of the breath during the exercises and thus helps to integrate mind and body, and help you develop control over your movements. Doing the exercises gives support to the spine and creates space between each vertebrae which makes you appear taller and allows you to move with more ease. The other great thing about Pilates is that similar to yoga, you can never get bored. There are always modifications to make exercises easier or more challenging depending on your fitness level.

***3 DAY & 7 DAY DETOX PLANS are now available for purchase on the BLOG!!***

Recipe: The Most Bangin’ Vegan Spinach Quiche EVER

healthy cooking

Okay so the title for this post may seem a little too boastful, but seriously this quiche tasted like a slice of HEAVEN. Made it for Christmas, for my mother who wanted to have some sort of spinach pie. I looked up a few different recipes and improvised the one below, and I must say, when I finished I was pretty darn pleased with my Vegan Rachel Ray skills. The best part about this vegan quiche is that it actually tastes “cheesy” !

If you are vegan or raw, you know that strange longing sometimes to have something that really gives the same euphoric feeling that cheese used to give, sans the chemicals, hormones, and damaging preservatives. Well, the secret ingredient to this quiche is actually tofu. I’m not a regular tofu eater, but I can handle it in small amounts occasionally. For this quiche, the tofu is not only worth it but absolutely necessary. Important thing to note is that the tofu you must buy to make this recipe work is the packaged tofu that is NOT refrigerated. Firm works best, but even if you accidentally get extra firm it’ll still work. I also added king mushrooms which was a great choice and made it more “meaty”, and used a spelt crust rather than whole wheat. Spelt seems to have a bit less gluten and therefore does not bother me as much. It also pairs well with the spinach. We really enjoyed our Christmas dinner, and I was proud of myself for giving my mother more evidence that she can still make the things she loves to eat sans meat and dairy. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think! Best part about it, took very little time to prepare. -XoXo Raw Girl

Ingredients:

2 16 oz Bags of frozen Organic Spinach

1 package King Mushrooms (as much as you prefer)

Red Onion

Spices: 1 teaspoon Curry, 1 teaspoon Sea Salt, Dash of Red Pepper or Cayenne, Braggs Liquid Aminos to taste

1 Package of Firm Tofu (packaged but not refridgerated)

2 Spelt Crusts

Place crusts in oven and set somewhere around 375 – 425 degrees. While crusts are thawing in oven, sautee spinach with onions, and mushrooms. At some point remember to check on your crusts and poke holes in them with a fork. Add Braggs Liquid Aminos for flavor, and Cayenne or Red Pepper. I used my mother’s special red pepper from Nigeria that is ridiculously awesome but sorry, you can’t find it in the grocery store. In the blender put in your package of tofu, add 1 heaping teaspoon curry (gives it the yellow color like eggs) and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Blend tofu untilsmooth. Don’t add any liquid just work it with a spoon or blender accessory that allows you to work it all in until creamy. In a large bowl mix the spinach and tofu together. The filling is done! Take your crusts out of the oven. Fill one crust with the spinach mixture. Now, what I did next is take the remaining crust carefully trying NOT to break it (it will still be somewhat soft and place it on top of the quiche. Then stick in the oven and back until crusts are cooked and brown. Let it cool for fifteen to twenty minutes at least. Serve & enjoy the BEST VEGAN QUICHE EVER!

Veggie Love: Why I’m Deeply Enamoured With Avocados

avocado

It is officially AVOCADO WEEK! If I had to profess my undying love to any particular fruit or veggie, it would be a hard call between avocados and coconuts. What is not to love about this amazing creamy fruit that can be combined with both sweet and more bitter meals. Plus I can make yogurt or pudding with it, smoothies, and add it to salads. Since I have long been rescued from the hell that is processed food addiction, I would say avocados do for me what ice cream or yogurt does for die hard dairy lovers. The creamy texture, literally makes my heart sing, and ears perk up when I hear someone say the lovely name avocado. Oh, and the joy of cutting one open and it being completely perfect! I could go on and on. I know I’m tripping, but I really love them that much. They are also on my list of aphrodisiacs, so perhaps (***clears throat and bats eyelashes***), avocados are exciting for me in more ways than one. For grown folks only: the name avocado comes from the Aztec word ‘ahuacatl’ which, um, literally, um, means testicle (I don’t like that word, hence the hesitation). I assume you can guess that avocados got the name from the way they look. So beyond just eating avocados, you also have the option to make some dirty jokes about them.

You know that saying: “Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it?” Well, for a year or so I’ve had this amazing dream that I have mentioned to friends about owning a farm somewhere tropical that produced avocados, bananas, and coconuts. The reason for this is because I feel my life would elevated to a new level of bliss if I could have all of those things in unlimited amounts year round. Especially since avocados and coconuts are getting pricy these days. Well, the wish partly came true in a roundabout way. A family friend happens to have avocado trees amongst other trees growing in their backyard in Florida! And guess what? They have way too many avocados to eat. The surplus is so bad they have to give them away. So right now I have a a giant moving box FULL TO THE BRIM with huge Florida avocados. Seriously, Raw Vegan Santa must’ve answered my wish before Christmas! These aren’t the dark green small ones (Haas) we get in the grocery store. They are the mammoth avocados that are a lighter green color. Amazing right? So now, I got to figure out what to do with all these avocados! I’ve been having one a day and luckily a ton of them are still not ripe yet. I say all this to warn you, because avocados have consumed my kitchen, there are a few more avocado posts coming to the blog, but I’ll mix it up and also do a recipe or two.

So what groovy benefits do you get from eating avocado, which is also known as ‘alligator pear’? Well, they happen to be one of the healthiest foods on the planet! Avocados contain 25 essential nutrients including vitamin A, B, C, E, K, copper, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, protein, phytochemicals, and fiber. You would actually need to eat at least two bananas to get the amount of potassium in one avocado. Avocados have a large fat content, almost twenty times the amount of fat in other fruits but they are extremely good-for-you monounsaturated fats. People often worry that because of this avocados will make you gain weight. Not the case, I’ll get to that in another post soon. If you eat avocados from Florida which are huge, note that they have 50% LESS fat than the Haas kind, so they are sort of the “low-fat” brand of avocados.

Onto the long list of fabulous things the wonderful fruit named avocado can do for you. Some key benefits include: maintains a healthy heart and reduce risk of heart disease, efficiently lowers bad cholesterol and can boost good cholesterol, helps to regulate blood pressure levels, has anti-inflammatory properties that help ward off inflammation related diseases, promotes eye health and prevents macular degeneration, regulates blood sugar levels, reduces the risk of stroke because of high levels of folate, protects against breast cancer and has been shown to inhibit prostate cancer, contains glutathione which fights free radicals in the body, boosts immune system, slows aging, and encourages a healthy nervous system. If all of those benefits alone were not a mouthful add to that the fact that avocados are known the world over for boosting the health and natural glow of your skin.

So my challenge this week is: How many ways can you eat an avocado? While I go off to work on that, I hope you have now been convinced that avocados are an awesome food to add to your diet. As much as I would love to keep my love for them all to myself, I know there’s more than enough love to go around so you can count on me to continue spreading the gospel. -XoXo Raw Girl

Nutritional Benefits of Starfruit

antioxidants

I was just introduced to the strange-looking greenish colored fruit called starfruit also known as carambola. Starfruit is native to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. My family was sent an entire box of these funny looking fruits, in addition to two GIANT boxes of avocados from our new friends in Florida who have starfruit trees growing in their backyard. I’ll get into the absolutely insane amount of avocados I have right now in another post sometime soon. When I first saw the star fruit, I was totally turned off. It looks really strange! At least to me it looked like some sort of alien fruit. Finally I got the nerve to look up more about it and how to eat it. When I took my first bite I was pleasantly surprised! To me it tasted something like a pear, plum, or grapefruit. It has a slightly sweet but sour taste. The coolest part about the fruit is the reason why it got its name. When you cut across it, it literally forms pieces of fruit in the shape of a star! You may have seen starfruit used as a garnish for cocktails for this reason.

Starfruit has some great nutritional benefits including providing 75% of the RDA of vitamin C, vitamin A, E, B complex, iron, fiber, and trace amounts of calcium, magnesium, selenium, copper, and zinc. The fact that starfruit is loaded with antioxidants and has a nice amount of zinc, makes it a great addition to an acne-free diet. There is also research being done on the fruit, because researchers believe that consuming starfruit helps to slow the aging process and delay the appearance of wrinkles. Some additional benefits of eating starfruit include: lowers your cholesterol, prevents heart disease, prevents and treats constipation, slows down agin, promotes weight loss, boosts immune function, and is useful for treating infection from bacteria like salmonella and e.coli. Starfruit has also been used as a natural remedy to recover from a hangover.

***WARNING!*** The only thing that is frightening is you should NOT consume this fruit if you have kidney failure, kidney stones, or are on dialysis. Starfruit contains oxallic acid which can be dangerous and harmful for anyone with kidney issues and cause hiccups, vomiting, numbness of limbs, decreased muscle power, mental confusion, and in bad cases, DEATH. This does not sound like something you want to mess with. In my research I read several accounts of people with kidney problems who died after consuming starfruit. If you do not have kidney problems, please don’t worry, you’ll be completely fine.

If you are interested in trying this funny looking fruit, there are a few ways you can eat it. You can wash the fruit, and remove all blemished parts and eat as is, add it to fruit salads, smoothies, or use it as an exotic salad topping. You can juice starfruit as well, and it makes a great light sweetener for your green juices instead of apple. Hopefully, the next time you see this exotic fruit you won’t run for the hills like I almost did; I recommend you try it to add some variety to your fruit choices and get a nice serving of antioxidants to keep you youthful. A starfruit a day can apparently keep the plastic surgeon away. -XoXo Raw Girl

7 Essential Tips for Going and Staying Raw for Life

diet

I’ve been doing this whole pseudo-raw foodist thing now for four years strong, and I’ve been vegan now for over ten years. One question that always seems to come up is how do you go the distance? Especially with raw foods it can be extremely daunting at times to stay on the path, because doing so is never what is most convenient. It would be way more convenient to shove your face with processed foods, meat, dairy, and everything else widely available and cheap in our toxic world, but if we did, we would loose our sexy vegan badges quick! Besides that along with convenience comes bad skin, sour moods, and maybe even the inconvenience of a very large hospital bill years later. What you eat catches up with you. To help you stay on the sexy and raw track below I’ve listed some tips that I hope may be useful to you.

Don’t be a Raw Natzi. There are so many people out there preaching the gospel of raw like it’s a religion, and the best one at that. Please don’t let yoursellf turn into one of those preachy people. Nobody likes a Raw Evangelist anymore that they like Jehovah witnesses pounding down their doors every single day. I find the best way to make an impression on people with any ideology is to live it, not preach it. When you are preaching it a lot of times you are even trying to convince yourself. There is much more power in just doing your thing, and not feeling the need to impose your beliefs on others.

Release The Obsession With Being 100% Raw. It’s really funny how no matter who you chat with if you say you are a raw foodist they eagerly chime in “Are you 100%?” Please do not stress about this! At the end of the day your goal should be to be the healthiest version of you by any means necessary. When you are just starting just keep eliminating foods one at a time and keep increasing your amounts of raw foods. Maybe you’ll wake up one day and realize, that you are 100% raw and have no cravings for cooked food. Or perhaps you’ll end up eating 80%-90% raw foods and some cooked food and feel awesome! We all know there are benefits to eating raw and of course those benefits increase the more you eat that way, but you can be optimal without it. So, relax, please, and enjoy the process of adding living foods to your diet.

Find your SHE-ROES/ HEROS. This is something that always helps me get back on track. You don’t have to personally know a raw foodist who can mentor you or “show you the ropes” so to speak, but you can find online and through research stories of incredible people walking the path. Part of why I have the SHE-RO section on this blog is that the women I feature all inspire me to stick with it so I can see the same awesome results that they are experiencing long term. Watching a video on Annette Larkins, for example, always immediately makes me up my raw game. It’s visible proof of what is possible for you. Find those go to people and tap into their stories whenever you are feeling weak or you have fallen off the path. If other people’s stories don’t work, think about putting a visible reminder of your personal reasons for going raw on your fridge or in your kitchen. It’s all about staying in touch with your motivation long term.

Get Your Nutritional Balance Act Together. It took me a whole year of being 100% raw when I first started to realize something was starting to be out of whack with my body. The major problem was that I was not supplementing B12 and I was not eating enough superfoods to ensure well rounded nutrition. This is incredibly important. When you are doing any diet/lifestyle right, your body is getting the nutrients that it needs which makes you in turn less susceptible to craving the bad stuff you left behind.

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare in Advance. If you really expect to have any success being raw and not immediately give in to cravings that come up on a whim, you need to be prepared. This is not a fly by the seat of your pants kind of diet. If you know you are going on a road trip and you pack nothing, guess what, you will be cranky, and your stomach will be growling the whole way. If you are making more elaborate raw meals, which can be fun, you need to soak things sometimes days in advance or at the very least one day. Think through your schedule every day to make sure you are never stranded without raw rations. This will save you from caving in and eating fast food or whatever processed junk is at the only convenience store you can find.

Don’t Get Hung Up on Gourmet Meals. If you are just starting out I think its awesome to experiment and create some of the more gourmet raw meals that take a great deal of time. You may start doing it and fall in love with preparing food and have the time to do it. If you are a busy body like myself, please don’t feel bad that you are not feeling up to being Raw Rachel Ray today. Go easy and have meals that are quick but pack a strong nutritional punch like smoothies, sprouts, super foods, and power-packed salads. Then when you get a little breather time you can always make something more elaborate or take your sexy vegan self out to a nice raw restaurant and experience the bliss that is gourmet raw foods.

Surround Yourself With Positive Energy. This is definitely crucial. You do not want to be in an environment where people are intentionally or maliciously trying to keep you from sticking to your raw plan! It is already tough enough to commit to a raw diet, Lord knows you don’t need additional help falling off. When you begin this path, your family and friends may not understand, that is typical. Its up to you to gradually get more comfortable in your reasons for sticking to your diet, (you may want to start rehearsing a “Where do you get your protein speech”), and also ensure that you take care of yourself at social gatherings. Bring something with you to eat, or make something over the holidays so you won’t be starving. You’ll be surprised, some family members may end up eating more off of your plate. -XoXo Raw Girl

Juice! Sandy’s Cilantro Detox and Benefits of Cilantro

cilantro

Sandy’s Cilantro Detox

1 Bunch Green Kale Leaves (5-7 Leaves)

1 head of Celery

1 or 2 Limes

handful cilantro

handful parsley

1 apple (optional)

Juice, strain, serve. Enjoy! 🙂

To pay homage to the unfortunate Hurricane headed for the East Coast as I wrote and scheduled this post last week, I’ve named today’s juice Sandy’s Cilantro Detox. Cilantro also known as coriander is a lovely addition to a juice or smoothie. Full of antioxidants this herb also has a nice amount of vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, C,E, B6, K, phosphorous, iron, zinc, magnesium, potassium, manganese. The iron and magnesium make cilantro great for fighting anemia. Ladies! Take note, adding cilantro into your diet once a month prior to the onset of PMS may be beneficial because it can relieve menstrual cramps and reduce hormonal mood swings of the condition I like to call Vegan Bi&% Syndrome. In addition to this, along with aged garlic and chlorella, cilantro is great at removing heavy metals from your body like mercury, aluminum, and lead. Incorporating cilantro in your diet will also natural remove accumulated pesticides from your body as well. Other benefits include reducing cholesterol, aiding production of digestive enzymes, promoting liver function, disinfecting and detoxifying the body, relieving arthritis, reducing nausea, lowering blood pressure, reducing cellulite, lowering blood sugar, and being an effective natural fighter of salmonella. Keeping all of these awesome benefits in mind, you may not want to reserve cilantro only for your salsa. Toss it in your juice, smoothie, or salad for a fresh green taste with great nutritional benefits to boot. -XoXo Raw Girl

Principles of Proper Food Combining (Cont’d)

food combinations

Dear Veggie Lovers: Below is a guest post from a new contributor, Lulu. You may want to read this article and also read my past post on the basic principles of food combining HERE. The biggest food combining mistake most of us are trained to make while eating the Standard American Diet is combining dense carbohydrates (like bread & rice) with dense proteins (beans, meat). If you are are experiencing problems with gas while eating raw foods, it may have to do with the fact that you are not combining your meals well. Learning to food combine is an essential as eating the right foods for optimal health, so don’t take it lightly. -XoXo Raw Girl

The food combining system is simple and easy to understand. Basically, food combining is based on the discovery that certain combinations of food may be digested with greater ease and efficiency than others. Correct food combination leads to an immediate improvement in health by lightening the load off the digestive organs. Better nutrition is achieved because of better digestion, better assimilation, less fermentation and less gas. So-called food allergies often disappear as a result of proper food combining. In his book Food Combining Made Easy, Dr. Herbert Shelton explains that starchy foods have to be eaten alone because starches are digested with enzymes different from those used for any other food group.

Dr. Shelton has found that combining green, leafy vegetables with every food group produces favorable results.There are several benefits of adding greens to other foods. Besides having high nutritional value, greens contain a lot of fiber. The fiber in the greens slows down the absorption of sugar from fruit. This makes drinking green smoothies, for example, possible, even for people with high sensitivity to sugar. Vegetables such as carrots, beets, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, eggplant, pumpkin, okra, peas, corn, green beans, do not combine well with fruit due to their high starch content. While these veggies are nutritious, their high starch content makes them unsuitable for use in sweet smoothies. If you do not want to mix sweet fruit into your green smoothies, you can use non-starchy vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, avocados, celery and others. You can also consider using low–glycemic index fruit such as berries (any kind), apples, cherries, plums, and grapefruit.

Any non-starchy vegetables (greens) may be combined with proteins or starch. Tomatoes should especially not be used with starches. The use of fat (avocados) with starch is considered acceptable, provided a green salad is included in the meal. Since avocados are high in fat, they tend to slow down the digestion of foods that normally require a shorter digestion time. They are only a fair combination with sub-acid and acid fruit. They are usually considered a poor combination with sweet fruit, especially dried sweet fruit.

Dr. Vivian Vetrano says that exceptions may be made in combining avocados with fresh sweet fruit, such as bananas, but that they should not be combined with dried sweet fruit, unless the fruit has been soaked overnight. The next best combination for the avocado is taking it with sub-acid or acid fruit. Avocado should never be used with nuts, which are also high in fat, nor should they be used with melons.

Melons are best eaten alone or with other melons. They are more than 90 % liquid and leave the stomach quickly if not delayed and fermented by combining with other foods. This is because the sugars in melons are in a less stable form and decompose quicker than those of other fruits. Alfalfa sprouts may be combined as a green vegetable. During the sprouting process, the carbohydrate and protein components of the sprouting seed tend to diminish, and the composition becomes more like a green vegetable instead of a legume, grain or seed.

In summary, all raw, fresh, whole, ripe fruit; chlorophyll, vitamin, and mineral-rich raw, leafy green vegetable, sprouted seeds and raw, unsalted nuts and seeds are valuable. Eat lots of them according to food-combining rules. Do not complicate them with oily dressings and your body will easily adjust and progress toward optimal health. -XoXo Lulu, signing in for Raw Girl

11 AM EST Today Raw Girl on the Radio!

aging

Good morning Veggie Lovers:

Today my radio show Healthy Living in a Toxic World will premiere on WKCW 1420 AM and on Blog Talk Radio simultaneously at 11 AM EST. This morning’s show focuses on Bernando LaPallo who I wrote about in the past. Bernando was 109 years old when I first interviewed him for this pilot episode, and now he is 111 years old! You can listen in via the blog talk radio link below at 11 AM, and if you miss it, the show should be archived for a few more weeks. Would love your feedback. Please post comments on the blog or Facebook or send me direct mail rawgirltoxicworld@gmail.com. Twelve more incredible episodes coming soon. Below is the show schedule so you know what to look out for, on Blog Talk Radio, the show will air every Saturday at 11 AM for the next 13 weeks. -XoXo Raw Girl

TO LISTEN IN at 11AM CLICK BELOW:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rawgirl/2012/10/27/longevity-series-bernando-la-pallo-1

SHOW TOPICS – SEASON ONE

Longevity Series, How to Quit Smoking Naturally, Natural Solutions for ADHD, The Power of a Plant Based Diet, Colon Health: What is a Colonic, Simple Ways to Reduce Stress, The Benefits of a Vegan Diet, Internal Parasites, Effective Exercise, The Benefits of Juicing.

SHOW SCHEDULE – SEASON ONE

Show 101 Longevity Series. Featuring Bernando La Pallo, 109 year old raw foodist
Show 102 The Benefits of Juicing. Cherie Calbom – The Juice Lady
Show 103 How to Quit Smoking Naturally. Yuma Bellomee, Naturopath
Show 104 Internal Parasites. Timothy Sehoon, Parasite Specialist
Show 105 Effective Exercise. Mocha Lee, Celebrity& Group Fitness Trainer
Show 106 Natural Solutions to ADHD. Alice Maher, Holistic Practitioner
Show 107 Longevity Series. Featuring Mimi Kirk, PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian over 50
Show 108 The Power of a Plant Based Diet. Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Researcher/Author
Show 109 The Power of Adequate Sleep. Dr. James Maas, International Authority on Sleep
Show 110 Colon Health: What is a Colonic? Scott W. Web, Colon Hydrotherapist
Show 111 The Benefits of a Vegan Diet. Victoria Moran, Author/ Lifestyle Coach
Show 112 Simple Ways to Relieve Stress. Alice Maher, Holistic Health Counselor
Show 113 Longevity Series. Featuring Annette Larkins, “The Ageless Woman”