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…
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…
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…
Happiness in the Raw : 8 Mood Boosting Foods
It’s scientifically proven that happiness seems to be more plentiful in people who eat a plant based diet. Maybe that’s why so many other folks are so grumpy! Is everyone else just jealous? Is that why they keep pestering us about our weird diets? Yes, our weird diets. Fruits and vegetables. All Natural. Coming from the earth. Weird. Apparently the raw food diet makes people nervous. Even if it’s just raw till 4. It’s not normal. What’s Wrong With Us? Many of us get really tired of people asking us the same old, tired questions about the raw diet: I know it’s pretty much the same way with vegans too.…
Raw and Ready: Eating In and Eating Out
For many, adopting a raw vegan diet – even if it’s just till four – is scariest because it means that, unless you confine yourself to a salad, there is less opportunity to eat out at restaurants. All of a sudden you represent a minority: meagerly represented and majorly misunderstood by the masses. It’s bad enough being a vegan – but if you add Raw into it, you’re really a Wierdo! You would assume that if the celebrities have caught on – and they have – then what’s the deal with everyone else? Suffice it to say, the celebrities have their own personal chefs. Some even open up their own…
In Praise of Slowness: On the Road to More Raw
I love Raw Food. Its that simple. Although ‘More Raw” is my mantra, I’m not a vigilante. Nor am I going to get on my soapbox and tell anyone that this is ‘The Way’: eat Fruits and Vegetables and You Will be Saved. And there’s no reason to tell you that even if it might be true. For me, it kind of is. And for you, it might be too. You’ll find out for yourself, all in good time. Just don’t be in too much of a rush. It’s not all or nothing. The journey to better health is just that: a journey. And, like all journeys, it takes time.…
Eating Raw: A Primer for the Curious
What does it mean to be eating raw food? When you’re eating raw, you are eating food that has not been “cooked”. Typically, you are eating fruits, vegetables, nits, seeds, legumes, sprouts and grains in their natural state. If they are heated or processed at all through blending, juicing, food processing or dehydrating, they are never heated over 118 degrees Fahrenheit. What are raw and living foods? Raw and living foods constitute those foods that are provided by nature, organically grown and consumed in their original, uncooked state. They are the considered to contain the highest nutritional contentment of all plant foods and include fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes,…
What the Hell is a Vegan and How Did I Get So Raw?
Once upon a time, I had never heard of a raw vegan diet… It’s strange that I honestly never even thought about vegetables or fruit being involved as mainstays of a raw vegan diet. Hell, I had never heard of such a thing. But I guess that if I’d been forced to hazard a guess as to what it was, my ideas would have hovered around sushi and steak tartar. Or maybe food you hadn’t cooked and shouldn’t even think of eating. But honestly? I was clueless. My friend, Alisa, changed all of that for me. She alone is responsible. What Do You Feed A Vegan? I operated a Bed…
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…
The Raw Diet: Winterized
It’s winter again and with it comes the quandary about just how far to take the raw diet and where or if to make concessions. There is no sugar coating it: winter is not my favorite time of year. Apart from the occasional awe elicited when my high desert view arbitrarily masquerades as a winter wonderland – usually for all of two hours – I am definitely with the bears on this one and would gladly hibernate if it were at all possible. That not being in the cards, last year I decided to take up skiing again after a twenty year absence from the sport. People told me I…
