Digestion is A Bitch: Light to Heavy Eating
My father, who recently passed away at the ripe old age of 92, grew up in Germany. Over there they ate a hot meal in the afternoon and at night everyone had sandwiches – which, not for nothing, could be a pretty big deal as well, what with the endless array of cold cuts and fresh breads and potato salads. Dinner is called Abendbrot which, literally translated, means ‘evening bread’ and that pretty much says it all. I don’t think anyone ever thought about ease of digestion and I know for a fact that Alka Seltzer and Pepto Bismal were constants in my fathers medicine chest. As a kid, it…
Enzymes? The Raw Vegan Booster
I don’t know about your mom but mine was always harping on me to eat my fruits and vegetables. Naturally, she didn’t have a clue about enzymes, but she was, definitely, on the right track. Adopting a diet that’s high in raw vegan foods supports digestive enzyme activity better than any other. Basically, it’s one of the great raw vegan claims to fame. And, undeniably, enzymes are necessary. We need them in the same way that Frankenstein’s monster needed that electrical charge. They give us life. Enzymes are micro-proteins, largely composed of amino acids. They trigger all chemical reactions that go on in our bodies. From digestion , metabolism, detoxification, brain…
Dairy Dangers: 6 Reasons to Say No to Milk
Dairy is a controversial subject these days. Of course, there are a lot of supposed experts who claim that dairy is important for everything – from strong bones, healthy teeth and athleticism to everything in between. And we’ve been bombarded for years with advertisements flaunting stars with milk mustaches. Lately, however, there’s disagreement brewing. Maybe dairy isn’t so great after all? I remember when this information started leaking out; my mom and dad couldn’t believe it. They had spent their entire lives being duped into believing that milk was, somehow, integral to development. Oddly both my sister and I stopped drinking milk immediately and naturally upon being weaned and could…
Finding Yoga and Other Adventures
When it comes to health, food and fitness form two sides of the same coin. We really do need both to keep our bodies and mind functional and vibrant. A vegan diet high in raw foods sets the stage for optimum health but combining it with exercise really kicks everything into high gear. It can be anything from yoga to kickboxing but the fact is that we all really need to get off our asses and do something! Being a country girl and living on a farm has forced me into the inevitability of physical activity. I’m always doing something: stacking hay or shoveling manure or planting a garden. But…
Vegan Kids: Is A Vegan Diet Healthy for Children?
It’s strange that so many single out vegan kids when it comes to worrying about children’s health. Let’s face it: a significant percentage of children in today’s world are in a pathetic shape. And no, I’m not talking about starving kids in Africa; I’m referring to the kids here in ‘our own backyards’. Recent stats show that one in five school-going kids in the United States is obese [1]. Let that just sink in. It’s even worse for the adults. With nearly 70% of adult Americans obese or struggling with some form of weight issues [2], it’s easy to see that we’re looking at an epidemic. So, we need to…
Food Combining : A Potent Combination
On the surface you would think that going raw or vegan would solve all dietary or weight woes. Like you could just go on your merry way eating anything, in any way, that wasn’t restricted by that diet. But it doesn’t necessarily work that way. And it’s most likely that any problems that do ensue, come from really bad food combining. Prominent doctors and nutritionists have studied the whole science of food combining. There are many charts out there reflecting their findings. The general consensus is that properly combining food, whether raw or vegan or vegetarian or omnivore, is essential to good health. This is due to the fact that digestive…
What’s So Great About Fermented Food?
Thousands of years ago when refrigerators were yet to be invented, our ancestors depended on fermentation as a method of preservation. This was especially true when it came to preserving vegetables. They relied on the fact that once triggered, chemical changes activated certain bacteria in fruits and vegetables, turning on the production of lactic acid. When lactobacilli just ‘do their thing’, starch and sugar content in fruits and vegetables transforms into lactic acid, a natural preservative. Voila! We have fermented food! Lacto-fermentation is the process that prevents raw organic produce from rotting. Ultimately this happens through the production of enzymes that keep harmful elements like carcinogens and toxins at bay.…
Sickness, Salt, Spices and Natural Remedies
The world is full of natural remedies, some of them so old that it doesn’t seem in anyone’s best interests to turn a blind eye. If they’ve been around this long. there just must be something to them! Salt Saves The Day Recently one of my close friends gifted me with a bottle of sole (pronounced sole-lay). I had heard about this stuff but never really tried it before. That’s a type of Sea Salt elixir that you are supposed to drink every morning to replace electrolytes, stimulate metabolism and increase energy levels. Sole is a preventative and pretty much great for everything. Anyway, I’m on board! Bet you’re wondering…
Vitamin B12: The Missing Link in the Vegan Diet?
Vitamin B12 always seems to sneak into conversations about the viability of a raw vegan diet. Produced by bacteria that live in the digestive tracts of livestock, Vitamin B12 is present in the muscle meats of these animals. So it would seem that meat eaters reap the benefits. But the fact is that plants have vitamin B12 too – or shall I say, organic and wild plants do. Whether we’re getting it or not, is a different story. It’s All About the Soil… Many take it for granted that simply eating raw fruits and vegetables means you have a healthy diet. And it certainly might present a better option than…
Why A Plant Based Diet?
There’s a lot of arguing that goes on about whether man was designed for a plant based diet or is essentially an omnivore. To add to that pot, I recently heard a new one on a Ted Talks: man is a ‘coctivore’ – the species that cooks. It makes me laugh at times. Because whatever he (or she) is or was, let’s face it: man has proven that he will eat pretty much anything. Are We Made For Meat-Eating? We can look at the basics, though. It took a hell of a lot for man’s jaw to even evolve to the point where meat-eating became easier. There was one indisputable ingredient involved…
