Everyone knows it’s healthy to eat fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables every day. That isn’t a new concept. A raw food diet simply says that these foods should be most (if not all) of what we eat.

    Potential Reasons to eat raw: 



·       Vitamins and micro-nutrients:
Most vitamins and other micro-nutrients are damaged or destroyed at temperatures above 130 degrees. Many of these newly discovered micro-nutrients are thought to help prevent cancer and other diseases.

·       Enzymes:
Enzymes are the most heat sensitive of all nutrients, and are damaged or destroyed at temperatures above 118 degrees. Raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds contain the necessary enzymes to make digestion easier on our bodies. 



·       Water:
Our bodies are 70% water. Fruits and vegetables have a high water content, which will keep you well hydrated.



·       Good Fats:
Natural fats are very sensitive to heat (think of avocadoes and flaxseed oil). Heated and processed fats no longer have antioxidant qualities, and can be carcinogenic. Cooked fats are also sticky (think of a lasagna pan), which can cause blockages in the arteries and digestive tract, inhibit the absorption of nutrients, and reduce the body’s ability to transport oxygen.



·       Good Elimination:
The soft, soluble fiber in fruits and tender green vegetables keeps you regular.



·       Proper acid-alkaline balance:
Processed food, pollution, and stress leave most people too acidic, which prevents optimal immune system functioning, and leaches alkaline minerals from the body. Fruits and vegetables help keep you alkaline.



Fruits, vegetables, fats, algae, seaweed, grasses and sprouts and superfoods are the main food groups in a raw foods diet. Some raw superfoods are goji berries, cacao (AKA raw chocolate), maca, bee pollen, coconut water and raw honey. 

From “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon

“Good broth will resurrect the dead,” says a South American proverb. A cure-all in traditional households and the magic ingredient in classic gourmet cuisine, stock or broth made from bones of chicken, fish and beef builds strong bones, assuages sore throats, nurtures the sick, puts vigor in the step and sparkle in your love life–so say grandmothers, midwives and healers. For chefs, stock is the magic elixir for making soul-warming soups and matchless sauces.

Science validates what our grandmothers knew. Rich homemade chicken broths help cure colds. Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily—not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons–stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain. 

Smoothies rock! They’re cooling, totally portable, and you can mix and match tons of different ingredients – including raw superfoods – according to your taste.

Ingredients:

1 ripe fresh or frozen banana, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

8 oz plain or vanilla rice or almond milk (more or less to taste)

1-2 tbsp raw nut butter (almond, cashew, coconut)

1 scoop protein powder (whey, hemp or rice)

Ingredient Options

·      Add 1 tsp agave nectar, stevia or bee pollen for a sweeter taste

·      Add 1-2 tbsps finely ground flax seed for extra fiber and omega-3s

·      Add 1 tbsp dried coconut flakes for flavor and healthy lauric acid

·      Add 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes for additional B vitamins and essential amino acids

·      Use coconut water instead of milk (Highly recommended)

·      Add 1 tbsp cacao powder

·      Add soaked goji berries

·      Add ½ tbsp maca, or to taste

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and whirl at top speed for approximately one minute or until smooth. Pour into a glass and enjoy.

Note:

If you are using frozen fruit in place of fresh fruit you may choose to omit the ice. Another option is to omit the banana and add more frozen berries.

The secret weapon for winter wellness may be vitamin D. Vitamin D is produced when the sun’s rays hit our skin, making deficiencies more common in winter. It has also been found that Seasonal Affective Disorder tends to be prevalent when vitamin D stores are low. Many people report improvement in mood with only 1000mg per day. Check with your doctor to see what dosage might be right for you.

When the air is brisk, the sky is gray, the land is frozen….and SO ARE WE!!

Help!!

Rest easy, I’ve got your cure for the winter blues. Sometimes known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), the blues usually begin when the days get shorter and the sky clouds over into perpetual gray. If we were bears, we could follow our natural instincts and go into hibernation until the temperature warms up again. But, alas, we humans have to keep functioning, even in winter. So without further ado, here are my Top Ten Tips to help make your winter – yes, it’s possible – wonderful.

 1.    Go outside and walk briskly with your face pointing toward the sun—even if it’s gray outside—for 20 minutes every day. Both the light and the exercise will kick up your feel-good serotonin. If the wind chill outside will deep-freeze your face, find a health club with windows, locate a treadmill or a stationary bike in the brightest light, and hop on.

2.    Exercise More besides your 20 minute daily walk make sure to get in at least 3 or 4 days of more intense activity.  Always a good idea to lift your moods, increase your energy and boost your health, no matter what time of year.

3.    Hit the hay! Be like the bears and give in to the dark nights. Don’t push yourself to stay up late.

4.    Eat warming foods like whole grains, free-range organic meats, root veggies and soups.

5.    Add warming spices like cayenne, garlic and ginger to your foods.

6.    Take a quality fish oil supplement to raise your spirits.

7.    Avoid foods that stress your body in the cold like ice-cream, too many raw foods, cold smoothies and too much sugar.

8.    Drink warm herbal teas to meet your water quota.  Try immune-stimulating Echinacea Special Formula from Yogi Tea.

9.    Try a hot water bottle. Sounds a little 1800s, but it works like a charm. You can get a hot water bottle at any drugstore. Toss it into your bed to warm up your sheets, or use it on an achy, crampy belly.

10.  Health-up your comfort foods. We all crave comfort foods in the winter – our serotonin levels are lower due to lack of sun. So the body compensates by craving carbohydrates and sugary foods to naturally boost serotonin levels. Remake your favorite comfort foods with the highest-quality ingredients, and savor them slowly after playing in the snow.