MSG. Read Labels!

Do you read labels closely?

Do you get a feeling sometimes that food is like a drug. You go to one of your favorite restaurants and their food seems so intensely delicious that you dream about it all the time until you come back and eat there again.  

If you do get that sensation, it may be for a reason.  An array of food chemicals have been created in the last few decades.  Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is one that often used in food industry.  This substance makes our taste buds feel wild and happy and it’s found in fast food, regular restaurants, packaged and processed foods, sushi, Chinese food, etc.  It is created to bring exciting taste to very cheap, low quality food. 

I once saw a Russian movie which performed an experiment on MSG. A lady had a bowl of a natural veggie soup and the same soup with MSG. She said that the one with MSG was so much tastier and the one without it had a plain boring taste. 

MSG is usually disguised under some names like textured vegetable protein or plant protein extract that would seem more or less safe to the unaware consumer. It has many more names and you can read more about it in the article below. The saddest part is that even though it is so harmful for a human brain to consume the FDA approves it and even allows it in some kids meals.


Here is a great article from the Food Matters Movie Blog. The article is long but it is worth reading for your own awareness and safety. It also gives a long list of foods to pay close attention to: http://www.foodmatters.tv/_webapp_378860/The_Dangers_of_MSG


Here is an excerpt:
“The term MSG is seldom seen listed on a food label, but MSG is most likely contained in the food, in a disguised form. Here are some of its many disguises: hydrolyzed vegetable protein, autolyzed vegetable protein, textured vegetable protein, hydrolyzed yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract, plant protein extract, sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, yeast extract, textured whey protein, and textured soy protein. Even the innocuous terms spice and natural flavor can designate the presence of MSG.”

Zero Waste Initiative

Zero Waste Initiative in Steamboat Springs Ski Resort Area

Steamboat Springs Ski Resort in Colorado is

#1 Resort for Environmental Responsibility 

This post is not about Becoming Raw but about Green Living.

We spent two wonderful weeks in the Steamboat Spring, CO recently and inevitably fell in love with it. There were many reasons for it – beautiful weather and fantastic living conditions at the Christy Club right at the foot of the Mt. Werner with great biking trails along the Yampa River. However, the main reason I was impressed by it was their Zero Waste Initiative in the Ski Resort area:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=123950830800

National Ski Areas Association awarded Steamboat Ski Resort as the best resort in Reduction and Recycling Program in North America. They’ve put a huge effort over the last year and reduced their land fill by 63%. They also reduced their recycling by 73%. They have moved from 374 garbage loads two years ago to 79 this year. They have been able to achieve it by creating a composting facility and switching to compostable items. This page caught my attention at the local coffee chop that won award for environmental responsibility. It has some items that I would never thought as compostables.

You can watch a video about it: http://videos.apnicommunity.com/Video,Item,1702238407.html# 

What is a compostable item? Here is a great definition from The Green Office: http://www.TheGreenOffice.com  Turns out it’s better then recyclable and even better the biodegradable!

COMPOSTABLE:
'Compostable' products are biodegradable, but with an added benefit: when they break down, they release valuable nutrients into the soil, aiding the growth of trees and plants. These products degrade within several months in an industrial composting facility and produce no toxic residues. Compostability is a desirable feature in traditionally-disposable products such as plates, bowls, cups and cutlery. These products are commonly made out of PLA (Polylactic acid), bagasse (sugarcane fiber) or vegetable starch. It is environmentally-preferable to use disposable products that are labeled 'compostable' rather than just 'biodegradable'.

Products that are labeled 'compostable' must enter an industrial composting facility in order for it to fully degrade into organic matter. If your city has a composting facility, place these products in your compost bins to be picked up. Compostable products will typically degrade in 30-120 days in an industrial composter, depending on the product size and material used. If your city doesn't provide industrial composting, you can dispose of compostable products in your backyard or home composter, but they will take longer to biodegrade. If you do not have access to a compost facility or a home composter, dispose of the compostables in the garbage. This option should be your last resort as waste does not easily biodegrade in landfills. Remember: do not put compostables into your recycling! They are not recyclable and will contaminate the recycling process. 

Pine Nuts

I always loved pine nuts as a kid growing up in Ukraine.  When I moved to the US, I was pleased to learn they are available here as well.  Most pine nuts come from China. They are delicious and a great addition to a raw food diet.  However, there is good and there is bad about these nuts.

The Good:

Pine nuts are packed with a long list of great vitamins and minerals.  One cup has at least 10-20% of our daily dietary value of each of the following: healthy fatty acids, protein, fiber, iron, Vitamin E, Potassium, Phosphorous, Magnesium, Copper, and especially Manganese.  They are also a great appetite suppressant, thanks to penolenic acid that stimulates hormones sending a message to our brain that we are full.

The Bad:

They spoil fast!  Unshelled nuts become rancid within a few weeks or even days in warm humid conditions. So it’s important to buy them in a store with a quick turnover rate and store them in the fridge with a tightly sealed container.

Be aware of Pine Mouth!

Ever since I’ve been experimenting with raw/vegan lifestyle, I occasionally notice a bitter taste in my mouth that lasts for about four days.  Unsure of what was happening inside my body (I was afraid of possible liver or digestive problems), I began research online. I found out that a lot of people who eat pine nuts get an unpleasant bitter/metallic taste in their mouth a day after that and it lasts from three days to a few weeks.  Interestingly, everyone complains that sweets and wine are especially terrible in taste during those weeks. There is even a term now – pine mouth. What a revelation! 

There have been a lot of cases of pine nuts over the last ten years, but unfortunately, there is no scientific research to explain the taste and the harm it does to the human body.  There are people in the US, Europe, South Africa, and other countries who have experienced the same problem.

 

If you had the same problem please share where are you from and where you bought your pine nuts? Were they organic or not? How long did the bad taste last?

It’s sad to leave such a tasty food item out of my diet but I’ll have to until I find the source of fresh nuts!

Sources:

http://www.mothernature.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nut

http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/nut-seed-nutrition-chart.html

The Future of Food

"The choices we make at the supermarket
determine the future of our food" 

- "The Future of Food" movie

 Director: Deborah Garcia.

I highly recommend watching it

to increase the awareness of food quality we buy on daily basis.

My grocery trips are longer because I made it a tradition to read the ingredients. For example, I was in the grocery store searching for ricotta cheese without a strange name  in the ingredients list.  All the brands had carbon dioxide as an ingredient so I didn't buy it.  I couldn't find online on carbon dioxide in food but so far I know it is the same gas that comes out of our cars, CO2. It's also used in sodas and beer to make it fizzy. One person argued that it's good for you, but I am still puzzled. If you know of a helpful article about the subject please let me know. Another example is bread. The whole bread isle (at least 50 kinds of bread) in my grocery store contained preservatives.  I had to make an extra trip to a local bakery.

This is just an example to show why we cannot allow ourselves mindless shopping if we care for our children's future.  There are many reasons to buy only organic and natural products. They may seem more expensive to buy, but when you know at what expense you are getting a cheap product, you'll realize, it's actually worth it.  Here are a few of many reasons to buy natural products:

- clean and free of pesticides, fertilizers, genetically grown products, and other unnatural substances.

- if you eat more green and less meat, you safe your money. Meat is more expensive to buy and especially much more expensive to make. 

- you shift the culture towards a healthier lifestyle where big corporations that control the food market have to become more mindful and ethical on what they offer to the society hence create a healthier environment for our children and grandchildren.
- there is already an epidemic of obesity in the U.S. Adding genetically grown foods to the picture has a potential of creating unstoppable mutation in species effecting the whole living world in horrific ways.

I'd love to continue adding more reasons on why should we choose natural and organic. If you have a reason in mind, please add it to the comments section!

Juicing with Toddler or Becoming Raw, Tip 4

My toddler is not into raw. In fact, she is a regular picky 2.5 year old. Thankfully, she loves fruits. However, I am always thinking how to make her interested in raw veggies. The problem is that whenever there is a birthday party or family gathering she is always exposed to a cake, ice cream, or cookies. If she forgot her first bite of cake when she turned one, she surely remembers everything now at this age and veggies are not the first thing she desires when hungry. Does it sound like your toddler too? If it does, please share how you make veggies attractive for your kids. Here is what works for us. 

Juicing with a Toddler or Becoming Raw, Tip 4

We created a ritual at home of making a fresh juice together - great bonding experience. Toddlers love repetition and she gets excited when I get the juicer out. All the moving mechanisms and the whole process is also pretty cool from a toddler’s eye. You can see it in the video how much she owns the juicing process these days : )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTodtCBzXsU

Even though she doesn't always eat her veggies on her plate, she will happily taste every piece of it and some times even more during juicing. She was so impressed by this large carrot, that she even drank half of my juice. We shared for dinner that juice (1 large carrot, 2 calary pieces, 1 large zuchinni, 2 slices of lemon with the skin, and a little bit of parsley ), avocado straight from the fruit (scooping out avocado with the spoon was fun for my toddler), and a piece of whole grain bread with cheese spread.

Now I have to figure out how to get her drink green juices and smoothies.  

Fasting for 3 days

Detox by Fasting

Has anyone of my blog readers done it? I am contemplating to try going on a fast starting next Thursday, April 22, 2010. Ideally, I would like to be drinking only water with lemon juice for 3 days. 3 days is a maximum of days suggested to fast in a home environment without a therapist involved. I already started to eat much more light food and intend to increase amount of green smoothies instead of meals starting tomorrow. Also endless amount of people suggest starting with............."colonics" or colonic hydrotherapy.. Not everyone can bravely talk about this topic but this is an easy one for all the raw foodists.  I am just a beginner and doing some research on it. I am not sure if I am mentally ready for it myself (bad childhood memories involving enemas) so we will see..

Since it's my first time I am very nervous that I won't have enough will power to restrain from eating. Feeling of hunger is close to impossible to control sometimes. I have learned that first 48 hours is the hardest time to fast as the digestive system keeps searching for food and sends strong messages to your brain - give me food immediately! However, after 48 hours our digestive system shuts off as I described in my article: "Fasting with Loren Lockman" and moves to a state of ketosis –metabolic process of burning primarily fat for energy and getting rid of toxins.  I would love to reach this awesome state!

With this said, if you happen to read my story and have fasting experience in the past, please don't hesitate to comment and give us the readers any advice!

I'll be recording my first fasting experience right here in this blog...

Morning Smoothie

It has been a little more then a year since I started my path to eating raw and growing sprouts and juicing them. After a summer break, I came back to juicing (veggies ad fruits) and increased my raw food intake and decreased processed meals, meats, and added sugars. I gave up on milk, beef, and pork completely. As of today, I have been free of any meat for almost a month now. I'm not trying persuade others to follow my path, rather I hope to share raw/vegan path with those interested in the lifestyle.

I just had a great discovery (it's about time :)) a few days ago! My friend Jaszy McAllister, a publisher of Modern Hippie Mag, told me that she tried her first smoothie at home. To my shame, after all the raw activities, I realized I had never made one smoothie. I always ordered a green smoothie if I saw it at a restaurant, but I never took my time to try and actually make it. I didn't think the green leaves would blend nicely in a green shake and I would have to chew them down. Wrong!

It turns out it's even easier to make than veggie juice! You also get much more in quantity. And how fun it is to experiment with different testes! In addition, you don't have to clean all the parts of your juicer for a change. Now, I have a smoothie for breakfast and a juice with a dinner.

This morning, I came up with a smoothie recipe and it was delicious:

* 3 kale leaves
* 1 banana
* coconut water to teste
* half a lemon

BTW, there is a new product in Whole Foods that I highly recommend! It's called VitaCoco 100% pure coconut water. It tastes great and you don't have to deal with opening coconuts. Here are some facts about coconut water (from the box):

* more electrolytes than leading sports drinks with 15 times the potassium
* has more potassium than two bananas (potassium keeps your body properly hydrated and prevents cramping)

* * * * *

Share your favorite smoothie recipe

here in the comments section!

“Detoxovacation”

I have been contemplating my first ever detoxification and I would love to do it at an institution or a wellness center to learn how to do it right. So far, I know that fasting is the best way to detoxify. You can fast by drinking only juices or you can chose the most effective way by fasting with only water. What a money saver! There is only one little problem – I hate being hungry! So needless to say being in the environment of a wellness center with lots of people like me will be helpful.

Here are four places that caught my attention either online or by recommendations:

• Hippocrates Institute in West Palm Beach, FL: I am dreaming to go there! People get extensive blood work and then customized recommendations on what your body needs or lacks and how to heal your sickness or prevent one. It’s a place to drink wheatgrass and other juices and eat strictly raw meals (fruits and veggies) and get educated on the health and longevity.

• Tanglewood Wellness Center: It's owned by Loren Lockman about whom you can learn more in my previous article. If you love the mountains and seclusion and if you are not afraid of fasting for at least a week on only water, this is the ultimate place to go. It’s in Panama and getting there is not as easy as getting to West Palm Beach J

• Vida Clara in Belize: It is also far away, but one of the things you need is quiet and tranquility while fasting and what can be better then the surroundings of nature in the tropics. I was impressed by their website. They give great information about fasting. For me, as a beginner, it was written in understandable language, precise and clear.

• Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Potagonia, AZ: This center has a very impressive array of services and a great explanation of each of them on the website. There, you can find detoxification programs, spiritual retreats, workshops, and even vegan vacations and spring break vacations. Impressive!

If you have any recommendations about good detox retreats or would like to share your testimonials about the places described above, please leave a comment and I will add it to this article.


“Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease”
– Hippocrates

Dandelion

I just started buying unfamiliar greens in my local produce store. It was recommended by one of the buyers and I decided to try it. Curious about what I have been juicing and putting in my body, this is what I found!

It turns out the name is Dandelion, Yes, that common yellow flower that’s a cute weed for some and a nuisance for others. I could not believe it! The leaves are very nutritious and good for you. The taste may be a little too bitter as we are so used to eating salty or sweet comfortable foods. To offset the taste, I just add some orange or grapefruit juice.




You can find a great article about the plant here: http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html  Here is an excerpt from it:
“The leaves are more nutritious than anything you can buy. They're higher in beta-carotene than carrots. The iron and calcium content is phenomenal, greater than spinach. You also get vitamins B-1, B-2, B-5, B-6, B-12, C, E, P, and D, biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc by using a tasty, free vegetable that grows on virtually every lawn. The root contains the sugar inulin, plus many medicinal substances.
Dandelion root is one of the safest and most popular herbal remedies. The specific name, officinale, means that it's used medicinally. The decoction is a traditional tonic. Itís supposed to strengthen the entire body, especially the liver and gallbladder, where it promotes the flow of bile, reduces inflammation of the bile duct, and helps get rid of gall stones. This is due to its taraxacin. Itís good for chronic hepatitis, it reduces liver swelling and jaundice, and it helps indigestion caused by insufficient bile. Don't use it with irritable stomach or bowel, or if you have an acute inflammation.”

Dandelions are also good for the bladder, spleen, pancreas, stomach and intestines. It is recommended for stressed-out, internally sluggish, and sedentary people. Anyone who's a victim of excessive fat, white flour, and concentrated sweeteners could benefit from a daily cup of dandelion tea.

Dandelion rootís inulin is a sugar that doesn't elicit the rapid production of insulin, as refined sugars do. It helps mature-onset diabetes, and is used as part of a holistic regime for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).”

“They (dandelions) contain 7,000 units of Vitamin A per oz: lettuce contains 1,200 units and carrots contain 1,275 units so the dandelion leaves really pack a punch!. They are also an excellent source of Vitamins B, C and G.” (Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_2101599_eat-a-dandelion.html)

There are so many greens to learn about and I am in the early stages. If you know of a green that you like, please write a name of it in the comments section so all the readers can learn from our personal experience.

To Your Health!

Fasting with Loren Lockman

We had a great speaker in town recently, Loren Lockman, 

Founder and Director of the Tanglewood Wellness Center located in Panama.

About Loren Lockman:
Loren Lockman began studying the relationship between nutrition and health while in college in 1979. He became seriously ill in 1984, ultimately diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Candidiasis, Sinusitis, and almost 60 allergies. In 1987 after three years of getting worse, he gave up on traditional medicine and sought to find his own answers. He went back to, and ultimately, beyond traditional nutritional theory, seeking to discover what was natural to the human body. By making these changes, he was well within six months. Since 1987, he hasn’t been sick a single day.
Since 1993, Loren has been supervising fasts and teaching these principles to many people throughout the world helping more then 4000 people in 32 countries. His natural approach has helped many people gain vitality, youthfulness, and overall health.

Lecture points:

* Our human body has at least 50 trillion cells and each cell performs about one hundred thousand functions constantly.

* Physiologists say that with proper nutritional care, we could live for 125-150 years. Unfortunately, the moment we are born in our society our health starts to decline. From the moment we are born, we are injected with unnatural chemicals called vaccines. We take pounds and pounds of antibiotics whether it’s in the form of a medical prescription or a meal on a plate. Our kids’ favorite meals are pizza, macaroni & cheese, and peanut butter and jelly, and when the kids’ stomachs hurt we suggest they drink soda, Ginger Ale! 70% of people in the US die from cancer, heart disease, and stroke. We live in the polluted environment and we rush to accomplish a task after task.
These are just a few reasons why our health declines as soon as we are born. Loren stressed it more than once that it’s never too late to change your lifestyle and improve your diet and that, “Your past doesn’t determine your future.” He pointed to statistics that if you just give up animal products, you can eliminate the risk of cancer, heart disease, and stroke by 80%.

* Fasting: average person has a 6–8 week reserve without food, if doing it properly.

* Dehydration: most of us are dehydrated. If you are not drinking 8 cups of water a day (preferably 16oz each) and not eating 70% of veggies on your plate – you are dehydrated. In fact, I thought I was pretty good about liquids. However, Loren measured my levels with a special machine and I was only 43.5% hydrated at that moment when the normal is around 70%. My body fat was also pretty high which made me think of the “skinny fat people” expression and feeling guilty for eating really fast not to be late for lecture and having stomach cramps because of it :(. Don't Eat Fast!

* More on dehydration: aging, dry skin and shrinking in height are all results of many years of dehydration. The body has to give up some water in skin, spine and other organs in order to maintain and keep alive main organs like heart, brain and blood. His example isn’t pleasant, but I have to describe it for the sake of better understanding. When you eat a bag of chips – they are really dry, but when those chips come out of you they are not dry at all, so the body had to suck all the waters from other body reserves.

* Fasting: every single aspect improves in your body during fasting but to really start eliminating the toxins, you have to do it for 3-3.5 days at least. Doing it for 1 day only is a “surfing” fasting that doesn’t bring any significant benefits unless you are sick. The body has a 48 hour period when it’s searching for food, realizing it’s not there, it “shuts off” the digestive system moving to a state of ketosis –metabolic process of burning primarily fat for energy and getting rid of toxins– our body can be in this state for many weeks believe it or not!

* Garlic: many cultures love garlic including my Ukrainian culture and there was a question whether it’s good or bad for you. Loren suggested that garlic is a natural antibiotic. It kills bacteria that we depend on, it will help you to eliminate symptoms and will make you feel better if you are sick, but it won’t make you healthier as it’s eliminating symptoms not the cause.

He finished with a great saying from Hippocrates:

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,

But to eat when you are already sick is to feed your sickness”

Papaya Growing

Ever since we moved to Florida, I have been dreaming about growing my own tropical trees. The fact is that some properties in Florida have tropical trees, but as it often happens, some owners could care less about those fruits falling down uneaten. BTW, here it is a great business opportunity for you! Contact several owners and make a deal with them to collect all the fruits and offer us freshly squeezed lemonade! I will be the first customer!

Another fact is that tropical trees/plants grow easily on the Floridian soil, at least in the South West. I am talking about orange, papaya, grapefruit, mango, tangerine, pineapple, avocado, rosemary, etc. I have a friend who successfully planted each of the above from a seed and now she has a beautiful garden in her yard. I had an attempt to grow a mango from a pit but for some reason it did't go well, I never saw the sprouts :). Do you have any experience with the tropical tree growing? Please share.

A few days ago, I found a Best of the Best description with pictures on how to grow papaya. It seems easy, check it out: http://www.all-creatures.org/pics/papaya.html. I really liked the details and the pictures and how they thoughtfully guide you through the process. The site even suggested to collect the seeds for a salad dressing. I did put the seeds in my juicer and added that juice to my salad. It tasted like a tangy black pepper, definitely brought a kick to my salad dressing, pretty cool!

I planted four papaya seeds on Friday, March 19, 2010, as suggested in the website above. We will see in a week or two if I am lucky to see the papaya sprouts :) 

Becoming Raw, Tip 3

Is Raw Boring?

or How to switch to healthy eating..

A few friends asked me, "Are you trying to stay on a raw meal only? Are you kidding?" Unfortunately, living on just veggies, fruits, nuts is not appealing to many of us in mainstream society. For many, it suggests a very boring lifestyle. What is your opinion about it? Please comment!

Here are some ideas to make it more appealing:

First, get into it and make it a goal to learn about one new raw/vegan ingredient a week. You will be amazed how many things you didn't notice before in a grocery store. For instance, I had to learn about tahini for one of the recipes I got online. Turns out it's a very tasty ingredient (sesame paste) and I knew nothing about it as we never used it in my family. These days, it's easy to get a recipe online to learn what you can do with your new ingredient.

Second, if you don't like to eat a lot of veggies, make a juice out of them and drink it. You'll have at least 5 different veggies in your cup and save time and effort since you won't have to be chewing all of those veggies. Just make sure to buy variety of greens.

I personally love juicing. Often in the morning I am thirsty for my juice. Imaging the "REJUVINATION" word, ... literally.... how it sinks into your brain, veins, and the whole body slowly and surely. This is what I feel every morning when I drink that glass of veggie juice. You can put any veggies in your juice, but don't stick with the same thing - variety is better as it gives you different vitamins and minerals, antioixidants and enzymes. Experiment with those green leaves that you saw on the shelves of your store but never bought. Drink it right after juicing as enzymes don't live long. In total, you get to eat about 5 pieces of whole veggies and you don't have to chew any of it, just drink it up an!

Finally, make it a goal whenever you put a meal in your plate to ensure 70% of it is fresh vegetables! At least make it a point to increase amount of veggies on a plate. Imaging that every time yo put those veggies on your plate, someone gives you $1000, be persistent.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is a juice sample from my kitchen:
One piece of some of the following vegetables (carrot, celery, dill, asparagus, cauliflower, green leaves, pepper of any color, watermelon, wheatgrass, parsley) and a slice of beet, lime or lemon with skin. I even tried a slice of onion and garlic once and you can't even taste it in this mix. If you put a few tomatoes in there it will taste like Virgin Mary.

Becoming Raw, Tip 2

Healthy Snacks 

Snacks are an important part of anyone’s life, but they take on even greater importance when you become a parent! We don’t realize how much we actually snack during a day. As a stay-at-home mother (who never stays at home), I am always on the go. Consequently, my toddler is too. While I am not sure if it is a good thing, we have an active lifestyle and need to have snacks in tow. Having a child makes me more responsible about healthier snacks than I ever had been before. I remember the picture from my past career life - about 10 years ago - sitting at my computer desk for at least eight hours straight, six days a week, sipping several mugs of coffee a day, snacking on a variety of cookies with occasional chocolates convincing myself, “Well, working in audit/accounting, my brain works a great deal and it needs energy for thinking so much so the sugar is definitely a must!” I can’t believe I used to think that sugar is beneficial to my body! More importantly, I can’t believe I survived on that diet with no exercise, just long hours at work. 

I know there are millions of professionals, stay-at-home moms, teenagers, and others who are extremely busy and don’t pay attention to their snacking. Maybe they are too busy, maybe they think they have no other choices or they think they are healthy, for now. 

Everything you put in your body leaves an imprint on your health and I would like to share with you a few helpful snack ideas. If you are able to make it your routine, you’ll be better off in the long run creating a younger, healthier, beautiful self! 

Here it is in random order: 

* Avoid the bakery/dessert section in every grocery store at all costs! 

* The nuts section should be your favorite for snacks, especially raw nuts. The intake should be a maximum of a hand full. 

* If you have sweet tooth like me, you can start by having fruits, sweetened nuts or dry fruits and then gradually reduce the amount. Nuts are tasty and easy to pack or store in your cabinet, purse, or car. 

* Avoid vending machines at work at all costs! There is no nutrition in them. 

* When you are hungry and have nothing else in your drawer but cut vegetables – you’ll be happy to eat them! Just try it. Cut them up at home (you can buy already cut veggies like small carrots) and bring them to work. 

As an experiment, I once brought a bunch of veggies and dip for a three hour drive with my business partner and I thought we wouldn’t touch them. To my surprise, we ate all of it in the very beginning of our trip. It turned out no one had the time to eat before the long drive. In this case, people usually drive through a fast food chain. They think, "Oh, it's just today I'll eat here." because it is so important to save time and be efficient. Unfortunately, this scenario will repeat itself until you say, "NO" to fast food restaurants and, "Yes" to veggies! It is hard in the beginning, but later on you'll think that your favorite fast food sandwich tastes like poison. Needless to say, I was happy I didn’t bring chips or crackers to that trip. 

Btw, I do put these snacks to my salads to make them testier – dry apricots, cranberries, all kinds of nuts, sunflower seeds, sprouts, etc. 

Stay healthy and surround yourself with nutrition! Your active body needs it.

Growing Sprouts Video

Growing sprouts is one of my favorite subjects. One of the reasons is because many people think it's very hard. It is NOT! To prove it, I posted a little article on how to grow them in my December 2009 entry. Now, finally I created this video to show the steps. I am using the green pea sprouting seeds as an example but the technique applies to most of them. As soon as they become live (germinated) or open up (which happens after about 8 hrs of being in the water) they are ready for you. You can eat them then or you can keep them on a counter in a wet environment and wait until they grow little tails. Keeping them the fridge will slow the growing process. Rinse them up once a day and cover with the wet paper towel as shown on the video or with a cover with some ventilation. The picture on the right is of the 3 day old green pea sprouts and this is when I prefer putting them in my meals and in the recipe below.

Growing Sprouts Video

Here is one of my favorite recipes, taken from www.vegan-food.net

Sprouted Pea Patties (Raw)

Ingredients

• 2 cups sprouted peas
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1 cup pignoli (pine) nuts
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 1/2 red onion
• Braggs to taste

METHOD

Process peas and carrot until finely minced using s blade. Set aside. Process remaining ingredients. Combine all, add braggs and form into patties. This is what you get on the picture:

HAPPY SPROUTING !!!

Sushi...

I am promoting raw meals eating, 

but there is not a chance I'll ever promote raw meat or fish!

I saw my friend’s facebook’s note that she had sushi that night and it reminded me what I heard about raw sushi from one lady at the Dr. Clement’s talk. We started chatting and she told me about the Hippocrates Institute program and how Dr. Maria Clement takes a complex blood test and can basically tell you your “bio” from it. For instance, she told this lady that she had an injury 5 years ago, just from her blood test! She also told her that horrible things may happen to you if you eat raw fish/ meat from a not legitimate place. I am sorry my sushi lovers (I am a sushi lover myself and digging into a dangerous area) but this blog is meant to bring healthy eating awareness to you and to all my friends and family so whatever I find out – I’ll post it here.

My huge mistake was to start writing this article during my dinner. It was one of the rare opportunities when I was home absolutely alone.. Well,  things that started popping up were not so appetizing so I’ll finish my dinner first…

*****
It's been a week and I still feel disgusted from the photos I've found online. I am going to take a different approach in this article and not write up on everything I find. Instead, I'm going to ask you to goggle "sushi and tapeworms" and you'll understand what I mean. I am not going to even post any pictures here because I don't want you to hate me!  I guess you have nothing to worry about if you go to reputable places. Sushi is a national meal of Japan so they know how to cook it right. However, the internet is full of the articles and images on how raw fish can be contaminated by parasites and bacteria.  The ABC News atrticle says: "The parasite sucks the vitamin B12, and the person with the parasite does not have enough," said Cabello. "This is a worm that can reach 25 feet and it might take months, a year to grow."  So, it can live in a human body and create all sorts of inconveniences from simple headache to stomachache, planting eggs in your body or brain, or filling nauseous, or simply a trip to an ER and the surgery.
We don't have any statistics on how many people fall ill from the tapeworm in the U.S. but there is at least 2000 people in Japan a year that sick medical attention.
With that said, I think we need to be aware of the issue and eat only in reputable places.  I'm pretty sure that major grocery stores cut out any of contaminated areas of meats and present us with healthy meals as they don't want to get into troubles with their customers. This reminds me to wash my fruits and veggies extra well too especially if bought from not my usual vendors... Who knows what was sitting on it a few days ago??