Health: Take Your Power Back

One of the most frustrating things in the world is the belief that we are all doomed for cancer, diabetes, autism, and the list goes on. All of those people who need help but seem to think they are incapable of helping themselves. Despite the fact that we live in a topsy turvy world, I am telling you it is time to take your power back when it comes to health. People are already starting to wake up and see what it truly means to be healthy. Amidst the tragedies that are still going on the world, it is still one of the greatest times to be alive because this is only the beginning of rediscovering what it means to be healthy and its something everyone can do themselves. This is our time to take our health back. You have the power to change your health for the better, but only if you let yourself. And if I could sum up "health" in just three ideas, they would be...

Food

Get reconnected with the Earth. Start improving your diet with small steps. If you're just starting out on this journey, first start off by eating more vegetable (or should I say starting to eat vegetables period). Falling back in love (or in love for the first time) with vegetables is usually the first step for most people. Work your way up to trying to eating a salad at least once a day. Then if you're ready for the next step, start getting rid of processed food from your diet. That means buying more produce and making more meals from scratch. You keep building from there, based on what you think is necessary. Don't be afraid to listen to your body. Work with your body instead of against it. If your body is telling you something isn't working with your diet, don't be afraid to experiment with what you eat. That's just your body's way of letting you know something is off, so you can then acknowledge and fix the problem.

Stress

Stress is just as dangerous as poor diet and can lead to just as many physical illnesses as poor diet. It is crucial to get rid of all that stress in your life or find a means of coping with it. Take up yoga, meditation, gardening, etc. Do more of what you love. Get rid of those toxic relationships! We all know how draining bad relationships are for your energy. You'll feel so much better when you cut those people out of your life. Meditation alone can get rid of high blood pressure, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, and depression. You deserve to be free of all that self-inflicted stress. Start being happier today.

Love

You may not think of love as being as fundamentally important to health as say nutrition is but let me convince you otherwise. Self love (and lack of self love) can affect your digestion. Eating when you're in a bad mood will lead to less effective digestion and nutrient absorption. The energy frequency associated with love has been proven to restructure water in a form that's more hydrating, similar to the structure of spring water. In fact, water exposed to bad emotions becomes toxic to the human body. So when you are thinking negative thoughts, you are actually polluting the water in your own body. Which is why its so important to truly love and respect yourself and others. If you want to learn more about this phenomenon check out the movie Water: The Great Mystery. In one particular part of the movie, they talk about Masaru Emoto, a scientist who does research specifically on how emotional energy (and even just words) cause different snowflake patterns. Interestingly, the water exposed to emotions associated with fear and anger had very amorphous shapes but those exposed to emotions of love formed intricate six pointed snowflakes. Even more interesting, his research concludes that water exposed to both emotions of love and gratitude seem to form the most intricate and beautiful snowflakes.

Emoto's "Love & Gratitude" Snowflake Crystal

Emoto's "You Disgust Me" Snowflake Crystal

This just shows how important love and gratitude are to energetic health. I also believe that practicing gratitude is what leads to more happiness, not the other way around. Expressing gratitude or praying before every meal will make your food more nutritious. I believe it also helps to keep cravings at bay by making you more mentally present, instead of mindlessly scarfing down your food in 10 seconds flat (which we're all guilty of at some point). I don't mean to get all religious on everyone but we do live in a quantum physics world where we're discovering all of this and much more is possible. You don't even have to be religious when it comes to this because its all about intention. The intention of love for others and yourself while expressing gratitude whenever possible. So just remember to go easy on yourself and others because your actions really do affect others.


Taking your power back when it comes to health means changing your lifestyle, even just small changes. Notice I said "lifestyle" because health is not just nutrition. Its taking all of these ideas that come from your lifestyle into consideration. Healthy lifestyle is healthy mind AND body. You have my complete permission to take your power back. In fact its been long overdue.

My Top 10 Detoxifying Foods

Toxicity

Your body is quite frankly smarter than you give it credit for. Its constantly detoxifying itself, cleaning up after you, while also taking care of your nutritional needs. It likes a clean ship, if given all the necessary resources. The problem is that we don't always give our bodies the "necessary resources" to be able to properly detox which leaves you in a state of constant toxicity. Toxicity is when you build up more toxins than your body can get rid of. Otherwise known as just feeling like poop.

Where do these Toxins come from?

Toxins come from the natural waste produced from normal cell activity. They also come from our environment. Its the food you eat, the water you drink, and the air you breathe. All of these toxins are just a natural part of life but can be really exacerbated with poor diet and environmental pollution that we're exposed to everyday. To keep this toxicity in check and to just feel better in general, its always great to help your body to properly detox.

How to Detox

Proper detoxification requires foods high in vitamins, mineral, and fiber. The vitamins and minerals give your body the tools to remove the toxins from your blood or soft tissue. The fiber on the other hand helps to literally carry it out of the body. The fiber is really key here. You don't want to detox only to have those toxins reabsorbed into your body before their exit.

There's a few ways you can go about detoxification. You can do a juice or smoothie fast if your very serious about detoxing. The down side to that is you'll have pretty bad detox symptoms depending on your level of toxicity. The more intense you detox, the more intense your detox symptoms. Symptoms can range from feeling like you have a small cold to feeling like you have a bad flu with aches and pains. Another option is intermittent fasting where you don't eat for 1-2 days a week to give their digestion a break. Your probably thinking "What? You want me to starve myself?!" Thats not at all the case. People that do this intermittent fasting report having a lot more energy. But this kind of fasting isn't for everyone. The obvious down side is people don't want to give up their three (or four) meals a day just for a little detox.

In my person opinion, the best way to detox for most people is to slowly add detoxifying foods to your everyday diet. You won't have horrible detox symptoms with this approach and there's no serious changes here. You just do what you can and build from there. The best part is these detoxifying foods are all very familiar.

Common Detoxifying Foods 

Lemon

This common food is antibacterial, antiviral, and helps build your immune system. Lemon juice is high in Vitamin C, one of the most detoxifying vitamins. Its known to to detox the liver and cleanse the blood. Lemon juice can also help to remove calcium stones like kidney stones in the body.

Also here's a fun fact about lemon. Its one of the only negatively charged foods. And if you know anything about electrical charge and disease, most disease is associated with a build up of positive charge. So lemon juice literally helps to ground you and get rid of built up positive charge.

Lemon juice can be easily added to salads or my favorite is just having some hot water with lemon juice.

Sources: http://www.naturalnews.com/036663_home_remedies_lemons_health.htmlv

http://www.naturalnews.com/034249_lemon_juice_energy.html#ixzz2ir6PYy7l

http://www.naturalnews.com/039203_power_foods_detox_leafy_greens.html

Ginger

Ginger is a natural antiviral, antiseptic, and antibiotic. It can be particularly helpful for people with joint and muscle pain because of its anti-inflammation properties. Ginger is great for cleansing the kidneys which means it can dissolve kidney stones. It can even help remove intestinal worms and parasites, if you happen to become a host. (Yuck!)

Ginger can be used in smoothies or even in teas. I personally like to make hot water with lemon juice and diced ginger for twice the detox power.

Sources: http://www.naturalnews.com/037609_ginger_stomach_aches_nausea.html#ixzz2ir4sZ5lx

Cilantro

Cilantro is mostly known for being able to chelate heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, and lead. That basically means cilantro has chemicals that bind to the heavy metals in your body, so they can then be removed. Its also has great anti-inflammatory properties. AND it also tastes great. You can easily add it to a salad or in a smoothie.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/035741_heavy_metals_cilantro_detox.html

Garlic

Garlic is a natural antibiotic, antiviral, and anti-fungal. Its much stronger and more effective than most antibiotics. Just as a testament to its effectiveness, garlic can even "wipe out the bacteria, yersinia pestis, which causes bubonic plague or black death." Nuff said.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/041476_garlic_superfood_natural_healing.html#ixzz2ir2vzS3h

Dandelion

Dandelion is great for liver detox. Those weeds that grow in your lawn every year? Yes! Dandelion leaves and roots can be harvested in early spring and late fall before and after flowering. The leaves can be added to a salad or even steamed a bit for a less bitter taste. Early spring dandelion greens have "historically saved people from malnutrition after long hard winters." But be wary if you are foraging for dandelions outside, so that you don't accidentally eat pesticide laden leaves. Dandelion greens are sold at some health stores, although they are a lot bigger than what you find outside. You can also find dandelion root tea in just about any grocery store, which is always an easy option.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/031904_liver_dandelion.html

Dark Leafy Greens & Veggies

Dark leafy greens like Kale, Spinach, and Chard get their color from the chlorophyll in their cells. Chlorophyll is a natural blood cleanser and blood builder. It also stunts the growth of toxic bacteria in the body. These greens and vegetables in general also have lots of fiber. That fiber is key to keeping those detox processes moving in your body.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/039203_power_foods_detox_leafy_greens.html#ixzz2irGTUHwc

Green Tea

Green tea helps to support the immune system, is anti-allergy, and helps liver detox and function. However this applies to good quality green tea. Not the kind you get free with your Chinese food. Drinking some good quality organic green tea can be a great way to start your mornings.

Sources: http://www.naturalnews.com/041514_green_tea_health_benefits_fluoride_levels.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/035946_liver_cleanse_foods.html

Chia & hemp seeds

Chia and hemps seeds help to cleanse the intestines because of their rich omega-3 fatty acid content. Omega-3 rich foods help to lubricate the intestinal walls and remove toxins so that they can be eliminated. Hemps seeds can easily be thrown in a salad or used in a nut milk. Chia seeds can be added to overnight oatmeal and also make fabulous vegan puddings. The texture can be a little weird if you're new to chia, but that gelatinous texture is what really helps out your intestines.

Sources: http://www.naturalnews.com/039203_power_foods_detox_leafy_greens.html

Water

Its very important to stay hydrated so that these toxins can be properly removed. On top of that, we should be drinking clean water so we're not ingesting even more toxins. If you are on tap water, you need to get a good water filter. Tap water commonly has chlorine and fluoride added to it which is very very bad for the body. Get a filter; end of story. If you have access to spring water, even better. You can find a spring in your area on this helpful website:  http://www.findaspring.com.

Chlorella

Although this food is not as common or familiar, it really can be worth the health benefits to buy some chlorella powder or tablets. It can be as easy as taking a few chlorella tablets everyday, which are completely preservative free.

Chlorella is rich in protein, contains all essential amino acids, and has one of the highest concentrations of that great detoxifying chlorophyll. Its also consider an "intelligent detoxifier" because it has the ability to bind to toxins without binding to nutrients in the body. Chlorella is great for detoxing heavy metals. It also helps to further activate your T-cells, helping your immune system to better fight off bacteria and viruses. Chlorella is also considered a beauty food because of its ability to clean the liver, blood, and intestines which directly reflects healthy looking skin.

Sources: http://www.naturalnews.com/025104_chlorella_body_health.html

I hope you've enjoyed this food for thought or more like thought for food. Happy detoxing!

Raw Food

What does Raw Food mean?

Raw involves not cooking food above 115 degrees Fahrenheit, to preserve the living enzymes and all the nutrients. Whats so bad about cooking you ask? Well cooking causing the formation of harmful compounds in your food. In fact burnt food, in particular, is very carcinogenic. Cooking also destroys the living enzymes in food, which are essential for digesting our food properly. As a result, your body has to work harder to produce those enzymes for digestion. Cooking also deteriorates the nutritional value of food, the longer you cook it. Raw food is basically a whole foods approach (no processed foods), without cooking to preserve the enzymes and nutrients.

Benefits of a (high percentage)Raw Diet

A raw diet, or even just increasing the amount of raw food in any diet, can have a great impact on your health. Everything from weight loss, more energy, clearer skin, improved digestion, and even weight gain for people that are under weight are just some of the benefits. Raw food (and just eating more veggies in general) helps to detox your body. The more you can detox to remove those built-up toxins in your body, the healthier you will feel. In fact, some raw foodists claim to feel more spiritually connected with this diet. These living enzymes really have a life force and eating more of this life force can help you to feel more one with yourself and the universe. AND one of the biggest benefits (at least for me) of raw food is not wasting time cooking! An excuse to not have to cook food during a busy work week? Count me in!

What do Raw Foodists eat?

Most raw foodists are vegan, eating mostly fruits, veggies, nuts & seeds, and fermented foods for added gut health. That means no grains and no beans. If you have to cook it, they don't eat it. Some raw foodists do eat raw meat products like raw milk, raw cheese, sushi and other raw meats, and raw eggs. Some very extreme raw foodists don't even eat dehydrated foods (cooked under 115 degrees) or seasonings since those are technically "processed" foods, not in their most natural form. But a lot of people that consider themselves raw foodists don't eat a 100% raw diet, and are more 60%-80% raw. BUT you don't have to consider yourself a raw foodists to incorporate more raw food into your diet.

Raw Food Kitchen Supplies

Raw food can be as simple as your want it. Aside from a basic cutting board and knife, these kitchen supplies are all you need. No pots and pans needed!

1. Food Processor: This is your new best friend. You can do anything and everything with this.
2. Blender: Great for basic fruit smoothies. You can opt for a Vitamix if you want to make raw soups or sauces that require a little more horsepower.
3. Spiralizer: Great for adding texture to veggies like summer squash and cucumbers.
4. Mandoline (optional): Great for making perfect sliced chips for dehydrators, if you have one. I like to use mine for radish salads.
5. Nut Milk Bags: For making Nut Milk, if you don't have a juicer.
6. Juicer (optional) : Great for making fresh fruit juices and nut milks. Also can be convenient for using up produce that is about to bad. Just juice it!
7. Dehydrator (optional) : Can be great for camping and for long term food storage purposes.

Raw Recipes

Here are some basic raw recipes that I really like because they're easy to make and still taste great. I don't mess around with fussy recipes. Less is more in my opinion. Enjoy!

Nut Milks

I cracked open a coconut for the first time!

Creamy Coconut Milk.

Coconut Milk is pretty simple to make, once you figure out how to open the coconut. All you need is a young thai coconut. After you crack it open, dump all of the coconut water into a blender. Scrape out all of the coconut meat and put that in the blender too. Blend and you have coconut milk. (Here's a nice video on how to open a coconut, link here)

Cashew Milk

Vanilla Cinnamon Cashew Milk

Makes about 4 cups

1 cup cashews
4 cups water
1 tbsp agave (or more to desired sweetness)
t tbsp vanilla extract (or half a vanilla bean)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt (optional)

1. Soak cashews in water for at least 2 hours.
2. Blend cashews and water in blender.
3. Strain nut pulp with a nut milk bag (or cheese clothe)
4. Add agave, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt to cashew milk.
5. Store in an airtight container.
6. Shake before using. Separation is natural :)

Juices & Smoothies

Orange Juice is one of my favorite juices to make. You can even switch it up, to make flavored orange juice, like mango orange juice.

Mango Orange Juice:

Serves 1:

 3 oranges
1 mango










My new favorite summer drink. Perfect for a hot summer day.

Watermelon Slushy

Serves 1:
Makes about 4 cups

1/2 of a small Watermelon, chilled in the fridge
Mint leaves (optional)

Scoop watermelon into blender and blend until smooth. Poor into glass, add mint leaves, and enjoy.

Fruit

Fruit is always an easy raw food to incorporate. Its sweet and the ultimate fast food.

It can be as simple or as fancy as you want it. You can eat fresh fruit, a prepared fruit salad, or even a nice carved watermelon cake for special occasions.

Thanks mom for the cake!

Veggies

Aside from basic salads, I love making veggie rolls. They're simple and easy to make. Enjoy with some soy sauce or almond butter for dipping.

Veggie Sushi anyone?

Swiss Chard Veggie Rolls

Spring Rolls with Rice Paper and Almond Butter. Not completely raw, but close enough.

Spiralizing is a great way to add some texture to your veggies. Making zucchini noodles is a great raw substitute for pasta. It can be as simple as zoodles (zucchini noodles), diced tomato, and fresh basil.

Zucchini noodles with raw tomato marinara.

Random Raw things I need in my life.

Cherry Tomatoes. I put cherry tomatoes on everything. I can't get enough. Substitute sweet cherry tomatoes for ketchup on eggs, burgers, hash browns, whatever you use ketchup on.

Cocoa Nibs. If you love chocolate, dark chocolate particularly, you'll love cocoa nibs. It's basically the raw form of chocolate. Slightly bitter but pairs well with fruit and sweet desserts. Personally, I really enjoy eating bananas with almond butter mixed with cocoa nibs. Simple and sweet.

Raw Food Take-Aways

Adding more raw food to your diet, particularly veggies and fruit, can really benefit your health. One of the best things about raw food is not having to waste time cooking your food. Busy cooking dinner and forget to cook the veggies? Sorry kids, we're having RAW broccoli tonight! Eventually you'll grow to love raw veggies more. You'll say to yourself, "How is it I forgot how great cherry tomatoes taste?!?!" You can see I've developed a bit of an obsession with cherry tomatoes. At least its a healthy one! haha. Eating more raw foods can be as simple as you want it to be. I hope you enjoy the recipes!

Protein: Setting the Record Straight

One of the first questions you get as a vegan (or vegetarian) is "But where do you get all of your protein?" I'm here to set the record straight and tell you, in fact, where vegans get their protein and other little known facts about protein in general.

Did You Know...

1. Plants do in fact have protein! This is ultimately were all animals get their protein.

2. People don't need that much protein. 

The RDA(recommend dietary allowance) recommends 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram that we weight. So that's about 0.36 grams of protein for every pound.

Taking this into account, vegans do get plenty of protein. Lets brake this down with a chart and some basic math...

If I weight 130 pounds, then I need 0.36 x 130 ≃ 47 grams of protein a day.

And lets say I eat..

• Breakfast: 1 cup of oatmeal & 1 cup of soy milk= 13 grams protein
• Lunch: PBJ Sandwich & spinach salad              = 14 grams protein
• Dinner: Baked Beans, Potato, & Broccoli           = 20 grams protein   

                                                                                       Total = 47 grams protein

As you can see, vegans do get just enough protein. And on a typical day, I eat a lot more than this anyways. But when it comes to most meat eaters, they tend to get too much protein which brings me to my next point.

Food	Amount	Protein (grams)
Plant-based
Pinto Beans, cooked	1 cup	12
Chickpeas, cooked	1 cup	12
Black Beans, cooked	1 cup	15
Baked Beans	1 cup	12
Kidney Beans, cooked	1 cup	13
Lentils	1 cup	18
Tofu	4 oz	11
Tempeh	1 cup	41
TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein), cooked	1 cup	16
Peanut Butter	2 tbsp	8
Almonds	1/4 cup	8
Cashews	1/4 cup	5
Sunflower Seeds	1/4 cup	6
Quinoa	1 cup	9
Brown Rice, cooked	1 cup	5
Whole Wheat Bread	2 slices	5
Oatmeal	1 cup	6
Potato	1 medium (6 oz)	4
Spinach, cooked	1 cup	5
Broccoli, cooked	1 cup	4
Soy Milk	1 cup	7
Animal-based
Beef, lean chuck	6 oz	50
Cheddar Cheese	1 cup	28
Chicken Breast	100 grams	30
Eggs	2 eggs	13.5
Salmon	100 grams	25.5
Pork	100 grams	27.5

3. Too much protein is unhealthy and causes diseases of Over-Nutrition like osteoporosis and kidney stones. 

For nutrition, deficiency (too little) and toxicity (too much) of minerals, vitamins and even protein can cause health issues and is always something to be aware of, especially for protein.

4. Protein Deficiency (called Kwashiorkor) is really the result of a calorie deficiency. 

As long as you are eating enough calories (aka eating until you are full at every meal), this will never be a problem for any one.

My Basic Advice for Protein

• Eating a plant based diet is the best way to ensure you are getting quality protein and just the right amount (not to mention avoiding all that cholesterol). But for meat eaters out there, meat proportions really should be cut down drastically.

• Eat a variety of plant-based foods (grains, beans & legumes, vegetables, & fruit) and limit meat & oil consumption for a healthy diet that provides just enough protein. No counting calories or spending extra money for protein powders.

• Eat until you are full. Listen to what your body is telling you. If you are more physically active, your appetite will make up the difference. Just eat until you feel satisfied.

For more information on protein, Dr. McDougall has a great post here.

I also found some more great info here.

Personal Hygiene

Personal Hygiene

Believe it or not, you can have environmentally friendly hygiene without being a dirty hippy. I was surprised too. Here are some easy and very cheap ways to keep your hygiene green!

Shampoo & Conditioner

This is what is called the No-Poo Shampoo method, which really has two methods. But to understand this, you first need to understand what regular shampoo does to your hair and scalp. The theory is that traditional shampoos strip your hair and scalp of its natural oils. Then your scalp over compensates and produces more oil, giving you even greaser hair than when you started. Then what do you need? More shampoo to get rid of that extra oil of course! So a never ending shampoo-oil battle ensues. 

One method to break this cycle is to simply stop shampoo (and conditioning) your hair, so that the your scalp can rebalance its oils. Eventually your scalp will produce less oil so there's no need for shampooing. But this method can take months before your natural oils (aka nasty greasy hair) goes back to normal. I tried this method once and didn't even last a week. I couldn't stand it! If I didn't have to work or go out in public for a few months maybe I could have succeeded but this method is just inconvenient and I'm sure you'd all agree.

Then I found a different method for the No-Poo Shampoo that won't leave you feeling greasy and smelly! (Link here) Oh joy! lol. 

Ingredients:

Baking Soda

Vinegar (I prefer Apple Cider)

A few drops of Essential Oils (opt.)

Two condiment squirt bottles

1. Mix 1 part baking soda to 3 parts water in one bottle.

2. Mix 1 part Vinegar to 4 parts water in other bottle.

3. Shake baking soda solution, apply to dry scalp, and massage for a few minutes then rinse.

4. Apply vinegar solution for a few seconds and rinse again.

I was surprised how clean my hair was after using this. The baking soda works to clean your scalp and the vinegar helps to get rid of any extra oil. And you don't have to be very strict with the directions. I usually just guess how much baking soda and vinegar to use. Sometimes I don't even use the vinegar solution if my hair isn't too oily. Since finding this No-Poo method, I have yet to buy real shampoo because it works so well and its cheap.

Body Wash / Bar Soap

You can find more eco friendly bar soaps at places like Whole Foods, online, or even at farmers markets. How can a bar of soap be eco friendly you ask? Well I guess what I really mean is soap that is more natural. Less questionable chemicals gives for a better environment and healthier skin (especially for people with sensitive skin).

But if you're more of a Body Wash kind of person, I have a cheap solution for you. You can make your own body wash using your favorite bar soap! Check out this link here for an easy recipe for body wash.

Toothpaste

I just discovered this toothpaste recipe (link here) and I'm really excited about it. There's no bad chemicals, its great for your teeth, cheap to make, and it really does leave your mouth feeling fresh. 

2/3 cup baking soda

3 tsp salt (optional - if you don't mind the saltiness)

2 tsp peppermint extract (optional)
water to desired consistency

Just dip your toothbrush in and brush away. No trip to the grocery store for real toothpaste needed!

Teeth Whitening

Teeth whitening products (strips, paste, you name it) are great for whitening teeth but not so great for your wallet. These products are frankly a rip off and I'll tell you why. The main ingredient in most of these products is hydrogen peroxide. How much does a bottle of hydrogen peroxide cost? Not even a dollar. How much do most whitening products cost? Anywhere from 30 to 100 dollars. If you want white teeth for a fraction of this price, just rinse your mouth with hydrogen peroxide anywhere from once a day to once a week until you reach your desired results. You're welcome :)

Deodorant

Yes, you can even make your own deoderant. I have yet try this but here are a few links if you're curious. Most deodorant recipes call for just baking soda, coconut oil, cornstarch, and sometimes beeswax pellets.

http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/how-to-make-homemade-deodorant.htm

http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/10/make-your-own-all-natural-deodorant-stick-or-spray.html