07:13pm 02/03/2009

Okay, so I've been sifting through the Gone Raw site tonight looking for easy recipes that my boyfriend can make with just a blender or a knife or both because he doesn't have any of the other tools required, and I'm starting to get a little miffed. I keep seeing recipes that call for maple syrup because-- oh no!-- We can't use honey because it's not vegan! In fact, I've seen discussion topics on the honey debate, and it seems that these people would rather make their recipe less raw in order to keep it vegan. I'm on the side that thinks that there's nothing wrong with getting your honey from a good, local apiary and scrapping the vegan bit to keep the recipe 100% raw...

Then again I just ate a big slab of raw salmon too.

What do you guys think?


-Unseeliekin

mood: 👁 irritated irritated music: Caramell Dansen

05:17pm 06/07/2008

I stole this little one from Raw Food Talk also. You know, I get bored with that board quick, but every now and then I go back and find some nice gems!

What are your favorites?

fruit:
veggie:
spice:
dessert:
berry:
flavor:
ethnic cuisine:
"weird" food combination:
drink:

what is one food (raw) you can't live without?
what food has never struck your fancy?
do you prefer savory dishes or do you have a big sweet tooth?

I'll reply with mine, you reply with yours. This could be fun!

mood: 👁 creative creative music: Escaflowne Theme

04:49pm 06/07/2008

I was cruising Raw Food Talk (That's Alissa's community site) and I found this link to a cute little raw eBook with some nice recipes. And best of all it's FREE!

Get "Raw Britannia" FREE now!

mood: 👁 creative creative

07:32pm 04/06/2008

Okay, I've got a medical question for the group.

I appear to be exhibiting symptoms of dehydration, and I'm not getting any better. I'm actually getting worse. I'm tired, but I can't sleep at night, I'm thirsty, and I get dizzy when I stand up. The idea of going to the doctor makes me feel nauseaus and scared. Then again, so does being dehydrated...

I drink plenty of water, eat lots of watery fruits, and I've started rinking kombucha again, but nothing seems to make it better.

PLEASE HELP

mood: 👁 tired tired

09:24pm 23/05/2008

http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/processing

Here's a good link if you're looking to see just what's lost beside livwe enzymes when you cook. Interestingly many things are lost during drying, too, which makes dehydrated quite inferior to raw. When you dehydrate at least the enzymes are still active.

Also of interest on nutrition data, look up something (I did mushrooms) and open a tab for raw, a tab for cooked and a tab for microwaved. Move the pages down so that you can flip through looking at the nutrient color graph.

(Since this post had to do with watching what you eat ::snickers:: I went with this icon!)

05:04pm 15/05/2008

So these days raw is expensive. I thought maybe we could talk about some affordable options and share recipes using them.

Green squash makes nice elbow pasta. That's coming into season.
Carrots are always cheap even organic, and they make good noodles with nuttier sauces or a great slaw with an avocado dressing. Even cheaper whisk some olive oil and apple cider vinegar mix with a little seasoning.
The secret to keeping the interest in the slaw season is in the little things you can add. Sunflower seeds are cheap, raisins can be too. Well soaked rasins are great in an oil and vinegar slaw, because they add the sweet that reminds us of the sweet tart combo of SAD slaw dressings.

Pumpkin seeds are one step up and make a nice seed burger.

03:06pm 12/05/2008

Anyone have any slogans to cheer themselves on for eating raw?

01:37am 10/05/2008

I miss cheese.

I know, it's my own fault I gave up dairy.

I don't even miss yogurt.

Yogurt could suck my $!*% if I could have cheese.

*sigh*

Dear Cheese,

I miss you SO much.

Love,
Angie

mood: 👁 tired tired

02:48pm 03/05/2008

Never had it before but it almost killed my blender. Bout to look up ideas on how to eat this stuff. Why is it the better it is for you the more difficult it is to choke down? Seriously, I don't know if I horse could chew this let alone me O.o

05:14pm 01/05/2008

With regards to health benifits, detox is the other side and this was very helpful to me. http://drbass.com/symptoms.html
For once I was delighted to have checked off all the symptoms. ROFL What a creepy and weird relief.

In addition to comfort being gained here, I also have surmised a little something with regards to food combining...

I think raw is about health, combining is about effency. In she does specify that you can loose weight even properly combining bad foods, but they're still bad foods. Due to my weight this makes me more inclined to respect some of it a bit. I still retain my typical platter of objections, refusals and personal rules, of course.

11:23am 01/05/2008

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, mostly to myself, but Unseelie liked it:

Remember that just because you reach off the wagon to get a pastry from a street vendor doesn't mean you have to fall off the wagon.

01:49pm 29/04/2008

Being the on the run woman that I usually am I've found the best thing to do in order to eat raw while at school is to pack a bento when I have the time.

It has really helped me monitor what I am planning on eating. Since it tastes and looks good I even forget sometimes that it actually is raw. When I'm not on raw I try to eat asian style foods (mostly tofu and rice) because it feels like that style of eating is less in conflict with a raw food diet.

Does anyone else here pack a bento or lunchbox of some sort?
Any tasty tips to share?


( my bento todayCollapse )

mood: 👁 busy busy

10:10pm 28/04/2008

I noticed that when I was 100% raw, my asthma went away. This actually seems to be fairly common with banishing toxins from the body. Here's a little article on asthma if anyone's interested:

"Asthma
by Roe Gallo, M.A.

More and more babies, children and adults are suffering from asthma. More than 17 million Americans have asthma. The number of cases increased by 75% between 1980-1999; it continues to increase. According to the just-released report from the Pew Environmental Health Commission at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, "America is in the middle of an asthma epidemic--an epidemic that's getting worse, not better."

What is asthma? The word asthma originates from an ancient Greek word meaning panting. Essentially, asthma is an inability to exhale. When you inhale, you breathe oxygen into your lungs through progressively smaller airways called bronchioles. Your lungs contain millions of bronchioles, all leading to alveoli: microscopic sacs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. Once the exchange is made, you breathe out carbon dioxide.

While inhaling oxygen, you are also breathing in other airborne
particles, which I'll refer to as "irritants." In the body's natural
survival system, the lungs respond by constricting when exposed to any irritants. If the body is working properly, the irritant is either
coughed or sneezed out or the bronchioles relax so that the irritant can be released with carbon dioxide. People with asthma are unable to relax the bronchioles; the breath gets trapped and the panting begins. Because the bronchioles cannot relax, they become inflamed. This signals the immune system to deliver white blood cells and other immune factors to the airways. These so-called inflammatory factors cause the airways to swell, to fill with fluid, and to produce thick sticky mucus. This not only makes the breathlessness and the inability to exhale properly worse, it also creates a phlegm-producing cough and wheezing. If the breath cannot get out, you suffocate and die.

Twenty-five years ago, when I was told I was going to die because of this disease, I did research on the cause, treatment and cure of asthma. I found that the cause was unknown. The triggers were pollutants (air and household), animal dander, emotions, hormones, and food allergies. The treatment was usually oral and inhaled corticosteroids and there was no cure. Twenty-five years later, I find that the cause is still unknown to orthodox physicians and researchers. The triggers are still pollutants (air and household), animal dander, emotions, hormones, food allergies and everything from thunderstorms to cockroaches. Researchers attribute the escalation of the disease to the increase of pollutants in the air.

The treatment is still oral and inhaled corticosteroids along with one or more of the following: antileukotrienes, cromolyn sodium, nedocromil, inhaled beta2-agonists, methylxanthines, and anticholinergics. And there still is no cure. Interesting! I had asthma. I had allergies to animals, dust pollen-- almost everything. I spent most of my younger years in bed or visiting the doctor. I couldn't run and play with the "normal" kids because my asthma was so bad my chest would constrict with pain and I would wheeze and gasp for breath.

After 25 years of trying to cure me, the doctors gave up and admitted that the drugs that were keeping me alive were also killing me. Dissatisfied with the results of my own research, I studied how the human body works. I found out the facts about health and disease. I discovered that most disease is preventable and that the cause of most disease is toxicity. The only diseases that are not preventable are rare degenerative genetic conditions. Common diseases and conditions such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, asthma, and the rest, are pervasive, preventable and totally unnecessary. I also found that the mind and emotions play a large part in the overall health of the body. I knew the first thing I had to do was believe I could get better. It took only two weeks on a water fast for my body to clean up most of the toxins. I can still remember the first deep breath I took without pain. I cried. Now I eat mostly organic fruit because fruit provides the organic nutrients supplied by nature, without toxins. Also, learning to breathe properly is a must. I used yoga and visualization. My friend Anita worked with the Boteyko Breathing Method and has had incredible results. Taking responsibility for my body was the most frightening thing I have ever done, because it went against everything I was told. Remember that the research told me there was no cure and the doctors told me I was going to die. But I made changes, and the rest is history. I'm alive today, I'm healthy--and I have two dogs!

Do you have asthma? You can choose to be part of the epidemic or be free of this crippling and scary condition by taking responsibility for your body, cleaning out the toxins, being positive and trusting yourself."

And if detoxing can do that with asthma, think about what else it can do!

So now for the discussion: What has your faw food detox process helped you heal in your body?

mood: 👁 content content tags: asthma, detox, discussion, health

09:03pm 28/04/2008

Sorry I've been rather scarce but that's just me as some of you know. http://www.recipezaar.com/ has some raw recipes if you don't mind doing a bit of sifting and they seem to be getting more so I'm keeping an eye on it.

12:29pm 27/04/2008

Hi everyone.  I've been vegetarian for over 10 years and vegan for 2, and recently I've been delving into the raw food community. I currently eat about 50-80 % of my food raw, with the goal of being 100% raw in the next month or so. So now that I've introduced myself, I was wondering if any of you more experienced people have any tips on sprouting beans and grains. Everytime I try, I end up with a moldy mess :(

location: so cal mood: 👁 contemplative contemplative

10:42am 26/04/2008

This article's a little older, but I still think it gets the point across. I personally don't get vaccinated... I guess I might if there was a 100% chance of me contracting something deadly without it, but when is that ever going to happen? I wasn't even given all of my MMR vaccines as a kid because I had a really nasty allergic reaction to them. I've been vaccinated against Hep A and B, and had a Tetnus booster right before college, but nothing since then. Admitedly it had crossed my mind when I was sitting with Emily in the Planned Parenthood waiting room that the cervical cancer vaccine might be a good idea, but then I reminded myself that cancer cannot survive in an alkaline system. The last time I checked my Ph, I was at the optimal 7.2, so cancer is the last thing I need to worry about.

But without further ado, here's the article.

"Influenza Shots? No thank you!"

The Flu vaccine is worthless and damaging! It is impossible to prevent disease by artificial means.

Does the influenza virus vaccine really protect us from the flu? Hygienic doctors proclaim “DEFINITELY NOT” Physicians hypothesize: “Yes, Maybe and No! It depends.” Yet, they still recommend that persons of selected groups take the newly concocted flu vaccine. Those targeted for the vaccine range from babies six months or older; to persons age 65 or older; special groups, such as those with chronic disorders of the pulmonary or cardiovascular systems, and others too numerous to mention. Actually, the list takes in practically everybody.

The Hygienic theory of the development of influenza is the antithesis of medical orthodoxy. Physicians believe the disease is due to various and numerous bacteria or viruses. Hygienists realize that the development of any disease is dependent on the lifestyle of the individual. Hygienists live in such a clean manner that their bodies retain no excess toxins and their Defense Mechanisms are in perfect condition!

It is impossible to prevent disease by artificial means. You are a living creature and your body will develop disease when the physical, mental and environmental conditions are so unsatisfactory they force the body to initiate an acute elimination crisis, such as influenza--which, if cared for properly, is not the dreaded disease as pictured by the purveyors of vaccinations. Vaccines add to the toxicity of the body and hence, cause disease. You can't make a healthy person a sick one unless you overwhelm him with poisons. And vaccines are poisons!

Former flu virus vaccines, using “live” viruses, produced too many serious, adverse reactions, so a new one had to be concocted. The latest 2002-2003 formula for flu vaccines is called the “subvirion.” This is a mutilated virus “blended, spliced and macerated” until nothing but bits and pieces of the virus are left. However, splitting the virus makes it no less harmful. The toxic antigens, usually protein or carbohydrate in nature, are still present and are still poisonous. If they were not poisonous they would not cause the body to produce antibodies in self-defense. Medically speaking, this is why they are thought to produce immunity. Physicians are trying to cause a mild disease based on the ancient idea that if you suffer the disease once you won’t get it again. We very well know that flu, colds, pneumonia and other acute diseases can develop in the same individuals multiple times. Although the split virus is purported to be less toxic than former flu vaccines, after scrutinizing and analyzing its components and their chemical attributes, I have serious doubts.

Should We Be Vaccinated?
Is the 2002-2003 influenza virus vaccine helpful or detrimental? Will it protect us or will it cause a great ruckus in the body? Studying the effects of the components of the influenza virus vaccine is not as enjoyable as drinking a delicious mango-banana smoothie, but it will help answer your questions. In fact, learning the contents of this new vaccine may make you want to either retch or shout: “No thank you!”

The flu vaccine contains a variety of other substances besides the molecules of the subvirion that wreck havoc with your health. I am sorry to have to tell you that it is grown in an embryonic chicken or in the allantoic fluids that surround it in the egg. All flu vaccines are manufactured a little differently, and contain slightly different components, but they all contain hemagglutinin antigens that can cause clumping of the red blood cells. If this happens in the bloodstream, it will cause an even greater blockage of circulation than an accident on a busy freeway. The hemagglutinin antigens coupled with the body's antibodies against them can block arteries, killing cells by the thousands. The cells in vital organs will be starved for air, food and water, just as they are in serious cardiovascular diseases. In short, this could easily lead you to premature death and a beautiful but gloomy casket.

It may be difficult to understand how this little 0.5 milliliter dose could be so devastating, but this will become clearer as we explore the disruptive effects of each component of the vaccine on your body.

The 2002-2003 influenza vaccine contains 15 ug hemagglutinin antigens of different viruses thought to cause influenza, such as New Caldonia, Panama, Moscow, and Hong Kong. In addition to the “jet-set” hemagglutinins, the vaccine also contains the enzyme neuraminidase. The hemagglutinins are the factors that are supposed to engender antibodies to render you immune to influenza. Both hemagglutinins and neuraminidases are on the surface of the virus and end up as toxic molecules in the split virus, the subvirion.

Neuraminidase is an enzyme that catalyzes chemical reactions of N acetylneuraminic acid and other neuraminic acids, which are members of a group of substances classed as sialic acids. Neuraminic acid is one of the major species of sugars found in humans and it is a component of practically all the glycoproteins. N-acetylneuraminic acid and other neuraminic acids are the predominate sugars in glycoproteins. Glycoproteins consist of a spine of protein with carbon chains of oligosaccharides jutting off its sides like centipede legs. The enzyme neuraminidase, found in the flu vaccine is very damaging. It can cut out neuraminic acid from any or all of the glycoproteins in the cell membrane just like a good cutting horse cuts out the exact calf wanted by his master. Cutting out one calf weakens the herd. Cutting out neuraminic acid from the cell membrane weakens the cell membrane.vaccine is worthless as well as very damaging to all the tissues in the body.

This gets kinda lengthy, so if you want to read the rest, it's under the following cut:

( More On The Flu ShotCollapse )

So, ladies, how do you feel about vaccinations? Where your thoughts on them different before you read the article?

mood: 👁 pensive pensive tags: discussion, medical procedures

08:51pm 25/04/2008

Here's a snipit from an article in "Living Nutrition" magazine, Vol 19. p. 8:

"There are no pure fruitivores in nature; all partake freely of green leaves and other parts of plants. Man may, also, without violating his constitutional nature, partake of green plants. These plants posess certain nutrients in which fruits are deficient. Actual tests have shown that the adition of green vegetables improves the fruit and nut diet.

As such, a 'modern fruitatian human' who strives to eat according to his/her instincts, generally eats a diet consisting of:

At least 75% sweet fruits... This satisfies daily caloric demands.

Non-sweet and low sugar-fruits

Vegetables

Nuts and seeds... in moderation to keep total calories from fat in the range of roughly 10% to 15% of total caloric intake

Liquids"

So at least 75% of our diet should be sweet fruits. What are your thoughts on this concept?

mood: 👁 content content tags: discussion, fruit

08:41pm 25/04/2008

Spawned from the personal comment earlier, please share some of the raw treats that you like to make ahead of time to keep on hand to prevent yourself from falling off the bandwagon. Include recipes where possible/applicable!

( Here's my raw fudge recipe:Collapse )

mood: 👁 content content tags: discussion, recipes

09:33am 25/04/2008

I've got half a date-nut torte in the fridge beside a whole pan of raw fudge, and two of my favorite flavor Larabars in my Chico Bag, and what am I craving two days before my period is supposed to start?

Apples.

Isn't the body strange?

mood: 👁 awake awake

10:13pm 24/04/2008

I'm posting this because now two of you have posed this question, or shown to be unclear about the processes. This is from Spectrum Organics:

All cold pressed oils are expeller pressed. But all expeller pressed oils are not necessarily cold pressed. It all has to do with temperature.

What is Expeller Pressing?

Expeller pressing is a chemical-free mechanical process that extracts oil from seeds and nuts. This method of oil extraction is an alternative to the hexane-extraction method used for many conventional oils. The temperature reached during pressing depends on the hardness of the nut or seed. The harder the nut or seed, the more pressure required to extract the oil, which in turn creates more friction and higher heat. There is no external heat applied during the expeller pressing.

Why Cold Press?

Delicate oils, or those in which flavor nuances are a key component, need to be treated with greater care in controlling processing factors. Oils that are cold pressed are expeller pressed in a heat-controlled environment to keep temperatures below 120 degrees F.

It’s important to note that, while Europe has rigorous standards in place for the terminology of cold pressing (fully unrefined oil extracted at temperatures below 122 degrees F), the phrase ‘cold pressed’ has been used erroneously in the U.S. for a number of years, often employed as a marketing technique for oils which have been expeller pressed or even refined (which exposes the oil to temperatures of up to 470 degrees F). Spectrum’s founder, Jethren Phillips, led the drive to standardize the term ‘cold pressed’ in the US, to promote truth in labeling for consumers.

So remember to look for both terms on your oil's label... I was just reading about a company that actually makes "Unheated, Unfiltered, UNPRESSED" olive oil. Here's what they say about pressing:

Living Tree Raw Organic Olive Oil -

Unheated, Unfiltered, UNPRESSED Our olive oil too originates in California’s Central valley. It is raw, unfiltered, unheated and UNPRESSED. We call this new oil First Love. Created at room temperature (70 degrees Fahrenheit), extra virgin; instead of pressing the olives under tons of pressure, they are sliced and the slurry is put in a malaxer to churn it slowly. It is then put in a centrifuge decanter, which gently separates solids from liquids. Finally, it is put in a separator to separate oil from water. The old procedure of pressing can easily cause temperatures to exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas now the temperature is kept below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Because the oil is unheated, so much of its subtle essence and flavor is preserved. That is why we call it Living Olive Oil. It is created from Ascalone olives, an old time, heirloom variety grown by family
farmers.

It is interesting that the family farmer who makes our olive oil follows intuitively, the selfsame precepts for good olive oil laid down by the Roman writer Cato the Elder,2164 years ago in his De Agri Cultura:

When olives are ripe, they should be gathered as early as possible, and stand as little as possible on the ground or in the loft. On the ground and in the loft they deteriorate. The gatherers want there to be as many windfalls as possible, so that they gather more. The press workers want them to be in the loft as long as possible, to soften, which makes their work easier. Do not accept that oil yield increases with storage. The more quickly you make it, the better the work will go, and the higher will be the quantity and quality of oil from the same amount harvested. Olives that stay on the ground or in the loft will make less and poorer oil.

I found that in Living Tree Community's online catalog.

mood: 👁 content content tags: article, fats, oils

07:02pm 24/04/2008

This seems to be a heated subject lately (we can heat our subjects, just not our food) so I was looking to get the group to discuss food combining.

Here's a snipit from an article in "Living Nutrition" magazine, Vol 19. p. 6, #3:

The physiology of the human digestive system and abundant experiential edivence clearly indicate that we are not natural omnivores. Omnivorous, haphazardly combined meals always lead to toxemia and disease, while our digestive apparatus works beautifull with simple, properly-combined meals. When, as part of a Hygienis lifestyle, we eat simply, and thus enable complete digestion of all our food intake, the eventual result is a clean internal environment and radiant health.

Also, take a look at this food combining chart for a little extra data.

Feel free to bring in your own opinions, charts, research sources, etc... Remember links are good.

...AND GO!

mood: 👁 pensive pensive tags: discussion, food combining

06:35pm 24/04/2008

Hey everybody! So this is our raw food group mostly just for the 4 of us to talk about how our experiences are going, and to discuss general raw topics. I'll try to post a new topic regularly, so when you see something new, please comment. We don't always get to spend a lot of time together, so this will give us a chance to get our ideas passed around and hopefully make all of us healthier people. Also, if you find a topic that you want discussed, post it!

If you can remember, put "Discuss:" in the subject line before the title of the post so we all know what's coming. I'll be posting one shortly to get us started.

mood: 👁 cheerful cheerful tags: officials