Animal, Vegetable, Mistake...I Mean Miracle.

Will someone tell bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver that the fats in dairy products are not healthy fats?! My God, okay, so yes, it's a good thing to buy local food. Yes, it's a great thing to grow your own food. But, because chickens and lambs live close by does that mean you have to eat them? And since cows are neighbors you have to make cheese and eat dairy products even when you are lactose intolerant like half the country? But, please! Do not eat any bananas from Guatemala or avocados from Mexico because of their carbon footprint. Lady, you have your priorities wrong.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (a year unless you are one of the chickens and turkeys that are going to get eaten) is Kingsolver's latest book. She is a wonderful writer and at times is inspiring. I can't wait to turn over the soil in my garden. I want to grow more of my own food after listening to her and will support my local farmers market more deliberately. But I will not stop eating pineapple and goji berries in the winter.

Barabara, if you really want to make the world a better place, and I think you do, forget about extolling the necessity of being "locavores" (one who eats mostly locally grown food) and write about the ethics of eating animals, about considering people in other countries ( buy local and help your local farmer send his kids to college, buy from Latin America and help farmers feed their kids).

Kingsolver writes about living on food that her family grows or is grown locally. When you live on a hundred acres, as she does, it is a little easier than for us urban dwellers. In order to be a locavor the family eats little fruit and leafy green vegetables in the winter. But, but they can freeze plenty of meat from their turkeys and chickens. In order to live more environmentally friendly they eat more animals and less fruit. They eat more cheese, probably the worse food product on the planet, and less lettuce.

While I'm on the topic let me say this to everyone who feels no guilt in eating animals as long as those animals have lived good lives on free ranging farms and such. First of all, only a small percentage of the earth's people can eat like that, most people couldn't afford what you can. Secondly, what does it matter if you have a good life and someone comes along when you are 20 and says, "okay, now, time to die so we can eat you. I hope you appreciate that you've had a good life up to now."

Whatever. There are so many arguments for not eating animals, from the ethics of it, to the huge consumption of fossil fuels, to the major health issues. Why would someone who seems to be writing to improve the planet end up promoting such...shit?

Elixir Smoothies

I've never been big on elixirs, but I attended Franky G's raw food class this weekend put on by the Rhode Island Raw Food Enthusiasts Meetup Group, and Franky taught us all how he makes his. (Check out rawfoodfrank.wordpress.com for more on Franky G.) Since I recently had a great experience with my daughter's elixir giving me more energy I've decided to incorporate some of the elixir components into my afternoon superfood smoothies.

The changes I am making involve having the smoothie be lighter (not as heavy on the bananas) and more superfoods. I've written and videoed previously (youtube video) what I put into my smoothies so I won't do that here but just having more liquid, and less banana feels good. (I have a regular green smoothie with lots of fruit and berries in the morning for breakfast.) I'm thinking of this now as my elixir smoothie.

Okay, now here is the best thing of all! I added some nutmeg to my drink and it is out of this world! I am totally in love with this new afternoon beverage. I've got the best of both worlds. In the morning I get my shot of fruit for the day and in the afternoon I keep going with a little banana and superfoods. Both drinks are totally delicious!

If you want to see how Franky makes his elixirs I've posted a video of the class on youtube. Just click on the link: Franky G Elixir.

The Cure for Jet Lag

I have made a number of trips to Asia in the past year and every time I go I have had terrible jet lag. Before going on this last trip I read everything I could on how to cope. I did all that was recommended and it did not work. However, when I came home, my raw food guru daughter Gina made me two elixirs.

I didn't think much of it until the day was almost over and I realized that despite having hardly any sleep the night before and my body being completely 12 hours ahead of my new time zone I had absolutely no jet lag! I had gotten up at 4 am and finally went to be at 10 pm, and fell asleep nicely. I had taken a short nap after dinner. That was it. No tiredness at all! I am not a big fan of superfoods but this is making me rethink things.

So, for anyone wanting to avoid jet lag here is what you do:

Take one shot of this tonic. Basically it's half an ounce of Island Fire, half an ounce of Colloidal Gold, a little ImmuneDetox, and some Marine Phytoplankton (all available from Elements For Life at www.noblelifeelements.com/ourlittlesprouts).

Second, drink a superfood elixir. Gina made me one with an herbal tea nut milk base, some maca, slippery elm, vitamineral earth, Irish moss, blue green algae, cacao powder, cacao nibs, figs, dates, lecithin, and cordycaps mushroom powder. This tasted delicious! For more info on this check out Daniel Vitalis and his Elixir Alchemy. Gotta love the energy these two superfood drinks gave me! Next time I travel I am definitely bringing this with me!

Raw In Vietnam

I have been here in Vietnam now for almost a month. And it has been really hard to eat raw. The biggest problem isn't Vietnam but that I've been in school here for four weeks, going 10 hours a day. I leave the hotel at 8 am and don't get back until 7 pm. I have just enough time to make a smoothie and that's it. I do take bananas and a carrot with me and it's down hill from there.

For lunch I end up having rice or rice noodles and a small amount of meat. Dinner is often the same. There are durian here but I just haven't been wanting them. I don't feel physically terrible but when I go to the market in the morning and see the lettuce I do have a craving for it.

My classes end today and tomorrow I leave Saigon and will spend 9 days on Phu Quoc Island. There I will get back to a mostly raw food diet. I'll have time to make salads for lunch and eat more fruit. Not being able to make my own meals has made me appreciate my lifestyle at home, the huge salads and great dressings, my green smoothies, my vitamixer, and maybe most of all the raw cacao desserts that I was just beginning to learn how to make.

It is possible to stay mostly raw when being away from home, but not when you are working 10 hours a day. The only good thing is that it's only been 4 weeks and I have not overeaten, probably because it is so hot here. Well, in two weeks I'll be home and I am determined to find more raw recipes to work on. More than ever I want to be raw!

Raw Food and High Blood Pressure

It is amazing how quickly food can make it's effects know on our bodies. Here I share how eating pizza and chips can raise blood pressure.

Our Daily Meds

"Why is my doctor smiling?" That is what I asked myself when several years ago I was told that my cholesterol was high. He had this odd smile as he told me he would write me a prescription. I said no thank you, I'll change my diet. Now I know why he was smiling. He was seeing dollar signs.

I've just finished reading the book Our Daily Meds by Melody Peterson. The investigative writer for The New York Times documents how the pharmaceutical industry wines, dines, and pays doctors to push their drugs. Is it no wonder my doctor didn't first suggest that I try eating a plant based diet, which when followed does eliminate high cholesterol and heart disease?

I could fill this blog with page after page of evidence describing the corruption rampant in the health care industry, but I won't. ( Read Peterson's book for that.) But I will tell you that if you continue to eat animal products and abuse your body, modern medicine will not save it and it most likely will ruin what is left of your life. You will end up on pills and while the wonderful advertisements on television paint a rosy picture and gloss over the side effects, you will pay the price.

Need a by-pass heart surgery? Did you know that when they open your blood vessels after closing them to do the operation, the broken off plaque goes to your brain and causes little stokes? Say good-bye to some of your memories, as much as 20 percent.

Right now in this country the pharmaceutical industry has so much money and power they pretty much call the shots in our hospitals and doctor's offices. "They decide how patients will be treated, and the doctors follow along." Peterson.

Disguised as educators, these drug salespeople market their pills to make as much money as they can. And doctors are to be blamed also for being corrupted by gifts and money. Prescription drugs are right behind heart disease, cancer, and diabetes and the leading cause of death in our country.

Why am I telling you this? Why do I want you to be afraid of prescription drugs? First of all, because it is the truth and you should know it. Secondly, I am telling you this so you will take your health into your own hands before it is too late. You do not want the operations and pills to fix what you have done to your body. Begin right now to take better care of it. Get serious. Don't wait till you become ill. It may be too late. Things are going to get much worse before they get better. Fear can be a good thing. Let it motivate you to eat better. I do not want to end up like both of my parents taking all the pills that they are on. My father can barely walk ten feet without becoming winded and my mom's memory gets worse every day. They each take about eight pills daily. These are the side-effects.

I am sorry for the poor health of my parents, but seeing how they live truly inspires me to eat a mostly raw vegan diet. It is good for me, the planet, and the economy (health care now costs more than housing, food, cars, anything according to Peterson). So, have your green smoothie today, a nice big salad, some veggies and a raw dip, okay, and even treat yourself to a nice stir-fried rice and veggie dinner.

Surviving

Man, oh man, oh man! This is never easy! I would have given up long ago if it weren't that my life depended on it. Whoever said that going raw was easy should be exposed for fraud! If wanting all the old favorite foods isn't bad enough, how about going out to dinner with friends?

Christmas party at the restaurant begins with talk about raw food, everyone is interested in how we do it. That lasts for about 14.5 minutes...then...that changes to grilling steaks and the best way to cook venison. That conversation lasts a lot longer. The restaurant last night had very little that appealed to me that would have been healthy, so I compromised, I had a burger without the fries. My body is so sensitive these days that even just the burger made me wake up with heartburn (which is really stomach acids eating my esophagus) in the midle of the night.

So, dear friends, I have surrendered again. I know it is impossible for me to be 100 percent raw. I learned earlier this week that I just can't do it. I don't even think I can be 100 percent vegan. Now what do I do? This is what I have decided: I will eat all raw all vegan as long as I can all day long. Then, when I have had my green smoothie, my superfood smoothie, my salad, my veggies and dip, my nuts and seeds, if I am still hungry I will eat something to satisfy whatever craving there is. I am not going to resist the cravings any more.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, the most intelligent person on the planet when it comes to nutrition, says that if you feed your body with nutritious food you will not crave the bad stuff. Well, so far, in my experience he is dead wrong! Yesterday, and everyday, I did feed my body the best foods out there, and I still have those cravings! The only thing I can think of is that it takes time. So, here is my plan: oh, I already said what my plan is, eat raw vegan all day as long as I can, then do what I must. I will try my best to be conscious and not be too naughty. We will see what happens.