Microwaves were invented by German scientists during World War II to support ground troops or those in submarines. The first one was sold in the U.S. in 1952. They work by a form of radiation, which are waves of electrical and magnetic energy to make the molecules in the food vibrate and move, creating heat. Sounds like a healthy way to cook your food. Zap it. Am I the only one who thinks that sounds like an odd way to heat up the food you’re going to put in your body?

There hasn’t been a ton of research or regulation of microwaves since that time. Mostly they have been more concerned with the radiation leakage from the door vs. the effects of eating nuked food. Can you tell I like saying nuked? It’s nuked, people.

In 1975, the journal of Food Science did a study with nuked broccoli and carrots, revealing the molecular structures of nutrients (the good stuff) were deformed to the point of destroying the cell walls. They found the cell walls staying intact with conventional cooking.

A Spanish study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2003 found that nuking destroys some important nutrients, at least in veggies. Broccoli lost 97 percent, 74 percent, and 87 percent of three cancer-protecting antioxidants (flavonoids, sinapics and caffeoyl-quinic derivatives). In other words, healthy stuff. Steamed broccoli lost 11 percent, 0 percent, and 8 percent of these compounds.

In 1992, Stanford University researchers reported in the journal Pediatrics that reheating human breast milk in a microwave cooking even at a low settings can destroy lysozyme, a compound that fights bacterial infections. Look, I know all about sleep deprivation and “convenience” but…

Japanese research reported in Science News in 1998 said microwaving destroys vitamin B-12 in meat and dairy, a much higher rate than from conventional cooking.

In 1989, the Lancet medical journal reported that heating baby formula in a microwave changed its chemistry. Dr. Lita Lee found that microwaving converts some trans-amino acids into synthetic substances similar to unhealthy trans-fatty acids; one amino acid, L-proline, reportedly converted to a substance that’s reputed to be toxic to the nervous system and kidneys.

OK, OK you get my point. There were other studies showing microwaving reduced availability of vitamins B, C, and E and essential minerals in all foods tested and destroyed the nutritional value of nucleoproteins in meats. This kind of stuff is connected to your immune system. Believe me, when it comes to being healthy, you want to support your immune system, not deprive it.

Don’t let this be bad news, just take it in as news.

We have to be responsible for our own health and not leave it in the hands of government. Let’s not play the blame game, let’s just stay healthy.

Bon appetit and don’t zap.

from yaya

1 bunch spinach, washed, stemmed, and chopped
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1 cup grated zucchini
1 tsp Namo Shoyu (soy sauce) OR ¼ tsp sea salt
1 tsp chopped onion
½ cup soaked sesame seeds
¼ tsp cayenne
1 date, pitted
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried or 2 tsp fresh oregano

Blend all, chill, and serve.

• Americans Eating Fewer Vegetables
  By Miranda Hitti
  WebMD Medical News, 3/20/2007
  Straight to the Source

A new report shows Americans are actually getting worse at eating their vegetables.This is hardly the first study to document dismal diet habits. Last week, the CDC gave U.S. adults poor marks for fruit and vegetable consumption.

Now, researchers from Johns Hopkins University confirm that Americans aren’t getting better at eating fruits and vegetables — even though public health officials urge them to do so.

The Johns Hopkins study shows that, among U.S. adults, fruit consumption is holding steady, but vegetable consumption is headed down — even if you count french fries.

The study appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Fruit, Vegetable Consumption

Johns Hopkins University’s Tiffany Gary, PhD, and colleagues reviewed data from two national health surveys.

The first survey, conducted from 1988 to 1994, included nearly 15,000 U.S. adults. The second survey, done between 1999 and 2002, included about 8,900 U.S. adults.

In both, participants reported everything they had eaten during the previous 24 hours. Then researchers checked how many people met these goals:

• Two or more servings of fruit, including fresh fruit, dried fruit, and 100% fruit juice
• Three or more servings of vegetables (fried potatoes count).

These goals have been touted since 1991 as part of the national campaign to get Americans to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But apparently, most people aren’t heeding the message.

Few Met Goals

In the earlier survey, 27% of participants met the fruit consumption goal vs. 28% in the later survey.

But the percentage meeting the vegetable consumption goal fell from 35% in the earlier survey to 32% in the one started about a decade later.

Fruit consumption basically stayed the same while vegetable consumption dropped slightly, note the researchers.

In addition, vegetable eaters appear to be in a bit of a rut. They tended to eat several servings of the same vegetable, showing little dietary diversity.

In each survey, only 11% met both goals.

Whites, college graduates, older adults, and people with higher incomes were more likely to meet the goals for fruit and vegetable consumption.

New Campaign

Today, the nonprofit Produce for Better Health Foundation launched a national effort to promote fruit and vegetable consumption.

The campaign, called “Fruits & Veggies — More Matters,” encourages Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) gives these tips to help you meet your fruit and vegetable goals:

• Keep a bowl of fruit handy.
• Go for variety.
• Serve a salad with dinner.
• Add beans to chili or soup.
• If you’re ordering pizza, add some veggie toppings.
• Put chopped vegetables in pasta sauce or lasagna.
• Dip fresh fruit in low-fat yogurt or pudding.
• Dip raw veggies in low-fat salad dressing.

Helping Kids Eat Fruits and Vegetables

It can be a challenge to get kids to eat fruits and vegetables, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. moms conducted as part of the “Fruits & Veggies — More Matters” campaign.

In the survey, more than 70% of moms gave their children grades of “A” or “B” for eating fruits and vegetables. But nearly 30% gave their kids and teens grades of “C” or lower for fruit and vegetable consumption.

Those mothers said their children were tempted by other foods and weren’t interested in eating fruits and vegetables.

If that sounds like your family, here are solutions offered by the USDA:

• Set a good example with your own diet.
• While shopping, let kids pick a new fruit or vegetable to try.
• Kids often like foods served separately, so don’t mix vegetables on their plate.
• Offer children a choice of fruits at lunch.
• Top kids’ cereal with berries or a smiley face made of sliced bananas for eyes, raisins for a nose, and an orange slice for a mouth.
• Use cut-up vegetables as part of afternoon snacks.
• Let kids decide on the dinner vegetables or what goes into salads.
• If children are old enough, let them help shop for, clean, peel, or cut up fruits and vegetables.

Whether you have kids or not, pay attention to food safety.

Wash your hands before cooking or eating, and wash fruits and vegetables in clean, running water.

Keep fruits and vegetables separate from raw meat, poultry, and seafood, and heed the expiration dates on canned and frozen items.

SOURCES: Casagrande, S. American Journal of Public Health, April 2007; vol 32. News release, Produce for Better Health Foundation. U.S. Department of Agriculture: “Tips to Help You eat Fruits.” Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide for Fruits & Veggies — More Matters: “Gen X Moms Research — Implications for Driving Fruit and Veggie Consumption.” U.S. Department of Agriculture: “Tips to Help You Eat Vegetables.”

]]> http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?feed=rss2&p=137 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=136 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=136#comments Thu, 08 Mar 2007 19:27:12 +0000 Ginger Uncategorized http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=136 Living Cuisine relies on vegetables, creativity to keep it ‘raw’
By Kathy Stephenson
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:03/06/ 2007 08:21:47 PM MST

Four years ago, Omar Abou-Ismail was working as a geophysical
engineer, analyzing the Earth from the outside in.
Today - through his “raw-food” restaurant - Ismail nourishes the
planet and the human body from the inside out.
“Raw food is all about eating food from nature without
manipulation and fabrication, ” said the 27-year-old chef-owner of
Living Cuisine, located at 2144 S. Highland Drive inside the Herbs
for Health store.
Of course, most people eat some raw foods - salad, salsa,
guacamole and pesto are some of the most obvious examples. But those
who have gone “raw” take it several steps beyond that, avoiding
animal products such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products that are
typically cooked before being eaten.
Instead, they consume only fresh, organic fruits, vegetables,
herbs, nuts and seeds that have been soaked and sprouted. The food is
eaten raw, dehydrated or warmed to no more than 115 degrees.
Loyalists to this unique - sometimes criticized - “living” diet, say
heat destroys the beneficial enzymes, nutrients and vitamins in food.
By eating food in its original state, digestion is easier.
Thousands of people all across the country - including many in
Utah - have chosen this way of life. The reasons vary. Some people
make the switch to lose weight, others find it increases their
stamina and still others see it as the panacea for medical problems.
But those who have switched claim to have more energy, sleep
better and have fewer distractions and stress during the day. They
say their skin glows, their hair shines and their nails are stronger.
All that without the use of a stove and some pots and pans.
With spiral slicers, food dehydrators and heavy-duty blenders
Abou-Ismail can turn fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds into familiar
foods such as pasta and pizza with similar flavors and textures.
For example, Living Cuisine’s menu contains an angel hair “pasta”
entree, made from finely cut zucchini and topped with a
creamy “alfredo” sauce created from a mixture of finely ground nuts.
There also is pizza. The crust is made from flax seeds, buckwheat
and fresh apple that has been ground and then dried in a dehydrator.
The crust is served with a mound of freshly chopped vegetables
and “cheese,” also made from nuts.
Abou-Ismail didn’t always eat this way. As a child growing up in
the mountainous region of Lebanon and later in Ghana, he ate all
sorts of animal products.
“I used to watch my parents slaughter a goat every Sunday,” he
said.
While he visited the United States many times during his youth,
Abou-Ismail moved here permanently when he attended the University of
Utah. After graduating, he worked at the Tooele Army Depot, then in
California and later in Hawaii.
It was while living on Maui that he began meditating and reading
about the food industry and the mass production of meat and dairy
products in the U.S. Then by chance, he was introduced to raw food
and quickly became a devotee.
His resolve to eat better was solidified when he learned his
father had bladder cancer. Abou-Ismail quit his job and returned to
Utah to help his mother, Jinan - the chef at Mazza - and his siblings
care for his ailing father, who died in late 2004.
After his father’s death, Abou-Ismail knew that he couldn’t
return to a job in geophysics. He convinced his brother-in-law to
loan him $3,000 to start a restaurant.
“I wanted people to be aware that they could get complete
nutrition from plant life,” he said.
Abou-Ismail then cajoled Devin Anderson, owner of the Herbs for
Health in Sugar House, to lease him the back portion of Anderson’s
store.
In July 2005, he opened his 20-seat Living Cuisine restaurant,
Utah’s first raw food bar.
Besides fresh, quality ingredients - purchased locally whenever
possible - Abou-Ismail puts a lot of “love” into the food he serves.
Some dishes take days of preparation because of the sprouting and
drying required. He chops all the vegetables by hand and assembles
every dish, which he usually serves on a heart-shaped plate.
“It’s like bathing your organs in sunlight from the inside out,”
he said.
That kind of dedication is the only advertisement Abou-Ismail has
needed to grow his business.
“Once they come in and try the food, they always come back,” said
employee Wilhelmina Sears. “They almost become addicted to raw food
because it tastes so good.”
John Sroka, of South Jordan, is one of the many regulars at
Living Cuisine. He was diagnosed with m yasthenia gravis, a chronic
autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes weakness, often in the
muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression,
chewing, talking and swallowing.
“Eating raw foods is the only thing that I’ve found that helps me
with that,” said Sroka, as he dined on a falafel salad recently.
Sroka said for several months he ate an entirely raw diet.
“It seems like a strange thing,” he said. “But it’s cleansing,
energizing and a great way to lose weight because you can eat as much
as you want.”
—
* KATHY STEPHENSON can be contacted at kathys@sltrib. com or 801-
257-8612. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@ sltrib.com.

]]> http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?feed=rss2&p=136 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=135 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=135#comments Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:30:56 +0000 Ginger Raw Foods http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=135 BY BOBBI SEIDEL
STAFF WRITER

Post Comment
TOMS RIVER — Early on a recent overcast Friday afternoon, a steady
stream of customers is in and out of the East Coast Vegan restaurant.

Many are picking up take-out food. Some enjoy lunch in the small,
light-filled eatery whose front wall is floor-to-ceiling glass.

But East Coast Vegan is unlike other restaurants.

You won’t find burgers, roasted chicken or french fries on the menu.
No fish, either. In fact, you can’t even get a hot meal here.

Owner Michael Pollack says the three-year-old restaurant on West
Water Street is the only raw-foods-and- vegan restaurant in New Jersey
as far as he knows.

“I have no competition, ” Pollack says. “I wish there were some
because people would be eating healthier. There are restaurants that
give you vegetarian or vegan choices. A lot are ethnic, such as
Indian or Malaysian. But this is purely vegan.”

A vegan diet is vegetarian — no animals, including fish — but it also
excludes dairy products and eggs. At East Coast, there’s also no
gluten, soy, beans or refined sugar, says the 43-year-old Island
Heights resident.

“When I first opened, it was a cooked-vegan restaurant. When it
switched to raw, not only did people love the taste, but going raw
has increased business three or four times,” Pollack says.

Dishes made from fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are fresh,
organic and almost all raw. If anything is cooked, the temperature
never goes above 105 degrees.

“Nature has given foods in their natural states the enzymes that your
body needs. Once you cook over 105 degrees, it kills the enzymes.
Some people say it causes us to age, causes obesity,” he says.

Choices include a sweet curry mango chutney, salads, soups, smoothies
and granolas. A peaches and cream pie is made with germinated nuts,
raw fruit and agave syrup.

“We make everything fresh. My raw living bread is made with
germinated flax and buckwheat, vegetable pulp and seasoning. It’s low-
dehydrated at 105 degrees,” Pollack says, holding up a piece of the
crackerlike flat bread, which is crispy and has a tasty seasoning.

“I try to mimic foods so people are comfortable with what they’re
eating,” he adds, saying a “burger” there is a big seller. “It’s made
with a “living’ sweet tomato ketchup, pumpkin and sunflower seeds,
walnuts and veggies. It’s low-dehydrated and topped with our pinenut
cashew cheese sauce.”

Cindy Aldrich of Berkeley eats at East Coast Vegan at least three
times a week.

“I’m not a vegetarian. I just eat organic,” says Aldrich, 31. “All
the nutrients and vitamins come out of food when you cook it. This is
the way God intended.

“The food here is really good,” she says. “The salads are excellent.
Even the salad dressing is from fresh fruit, fresh herbs.”

Pollack opened the restaurant because he needed someplace to eat, he
says with a smile.

“I used to weigh 350-plus pounds. That was about six years ago,” says
Pollack, who was then a caterer in Atlanta. “I did every diet. You
lose the weight, then you go back to your old ways.”

A friend told him about a 10-day detox fast. He fasted, then became a
vegetarian, but he was still eating white flour, dairy and sugars.

“The magic started when I became a vegan. Over three years, I lost 75
pounds,” he says.

After another fast and reading about raw foods, he became a raw-foods
vegan. In six months, he lost another 85 pounds. That was about two
years ago.

“I used to have gray hair. My hair is almost back to brown. I wore
glasses my entire life. I don’t wear glasses anymore,” Pollack says.

]]> http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?feed=rss2&p=135 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=134 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=134#comments Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:50:36 +0000 Ginger Raw Foods http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=134 100 percent raw Toss the oven, microwave and grill. Raw foodists
live well on vegetables and nuts.
By Jan Norris

Palm Beach Post Food Editor hursday, February 08, 2007 PDATED:
12:07 p.m. February 15, 2007

Slaving away in a hot kitchen is never a problem for Cynthia
Aymerich. The 48-year-old West Palm Beach personal trainer hasn’t
fired up her stove or oven in five years. She doesn’t cook anything.

“I don’t even heat tea,” she said. “And I use the microwave for
storage — it’s got Mason jars full of nuts in it.”

Jan Norris muses on the foods, people and places that inspire her as
food editor.

But she’s not lazy, nor does she depend on restaurants or takeout.
Instead, everything she eats is raw.

It’s the same in Rene Oswald’s home in Palm Beach Gardens. The 48-
year-old nurse eats only raw foods, and her husband, Allan, follows a
mostly raw diet.

“I’ve been 100 percent ‘raw’ for three years,” Oswald said. “But
since ‘98, I’ve been eating 75 percent raw, which is, by our
standards, considered a raw diet.”

These people are part of a movement that in some areas of the country
is taking off, said Brian Clement, head of the Hippocrates Institute
in West Palm Beach. The institute, a health and wellness retreat with
a cafe that serves raw foods to the public, has promoted a raw-food
diet for more than 30 years. Clement says he has seen interest boom
in the past four years.

“It’s huge,” he said. “Around the world, hundreds of thousands are
eating a raw food diet. It’s huge in Europe — Sweden in particular.
In Hollywood (Calif.), it’s the No. 1 diet there. And it’s not a fad —
it’s here to stay.”

It’s a drastic diet, a total upheaval from the typical American meat
and starch studded plates commonly found in most homes. But no one on
it complains of the limitations of eating only combinations of raw or
dehydrated fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and herbs.

“I can make almost anything from a standard menu on the raw food
diet,” said Kipper Lance of Palm Beach, a new convert to the
lifestyle. “I don’t miss anything, really.”

Nut “neatloafs,” pastas made from julienned zucchini with raw
marinara sauce, or lasagnas layered with spinach leaves and a cheese-
like paté made from nuts are popular. Tacos with salsa and guacamole
fit the diet; the taco “shells” are made with a dehydrated nut or
seed mix. Party appetizers such as raw sushi-like wraps, and ground-
nut crackers are a big hit with even non-raw foodists, Lance said.

“My parents ask me all the time, when are you going to make those
crackery things again?” she said. “And I make these great nut cookies
every week. They’re delicious.”

Most people eat some raw foods — salads, of course, as well as
salsas, guacamole, pesto and hummus. But sauces, crusts and wraps are
cooked, so raw foodists must get creative to prepare versions of
these foods.

“Dressings are the key to success,” Aymerich said. They’re like
sauces for the raw foodists. “You know you’re going to be eating the
same foods every day, but you can get as creative as you like with
them.”

Like most others on the diet, she has a high-speed blender for
juicing. A “green drink” made from celery, wheatgrass or spinach is a
big part of the diet; it’s a type of detoxing solution for the body
and can be found on many raw foodists’ morning tables. Sprouts and
living plants are essentials, as well.

Aymerich and Lance both have dehydrators in their homes to make basic
foods such as flaxseed crackers, pizza crusts and taco shells from
seeds and nuts.

They swap recipes, and get ideas from recipe books for raw foodists
(don’t call them “cook” books).

The diet goes gourmet

“There are a ton of raw food books out there,” Aymerich said. “Some
are really over the top, but there are solid basic ones, too.”

“You can’t get all wacky,” Clement said. “Raw foods have gone upscale
and gourmet, and some of them are turnoffs because they’re
complicated. You have to have a balance. Some of the books and Web
sites out there are really bizarre,” he said.

He and his family, including four children, have been on a raw food
diet for more than 20 years and still eat fairly simply. “I don’t
even like all the gourmet stuff. All that glop and schlock they put
on it — it’s usually too sweet.”

The number of books and classes available has exploded. It’s a trendy
element to California life, where the bulk of U.S. raw food
restaurants and stores have found success, but it’s gaining ground in
other metro areas.

Becoming popular here

A new raw food restaurant in Jupiter has local raw foodists excited.
The Silver Tray Cafe converts on the weekends to Raw Food
Underground, a raw food restaurant with mostly takeout, but with some
seats.

Vinnette Thompson, former chef at the Hippocrates Institute, turns
out the raw food pizzas, tacos and other foods — including desserts
whose recipes she guards — for enthusiastic diners who have learned
about the diet. It’s new, but already packed, according to owner Judy
King.

“We’re so busy, running food and helping people, and we’re really
small,” she said. “People are coming in from everywhere. They’ve
found us.”

Susan Lerner, a freelance photographer in Royal Palm Beach is a
touchstone for raw foodists looking for others on the plan through
the Web meeting site, Vital Longevity Raw Foods Meetup Group at
www.meetup.com. Every month, Lerner hosts a potluck dinner in Royal
Palm Beach. The group has grown from a handful to more than 60
enthusiasts. “I’m looking at other places to host it now, since the
group has expanded so much.”

Why raw?

Lerner, a five-year raw foodist and longtime vegan, does consulting
work with the Hippocrates Institute. She sets up kitchens for groups
or individuals to make the foods.

“It’s easy once you start doing it,” she said. “I love cooking and
tasting. I can be around cooked foods and appreciate what everyone
else is eating, but I wouldn’t go near it. There’s nothing that would
take me back to it now.”

Health benefits are touted by everyone on the diet.

“We’re the only animal that cooks its foods,” Lerner said. She feeds
her dogs a raw diet, and says that’s as nature intended for humans,
as well.

Clement lectures on the science behind it all.

“The University of Oregon is doing a huge major study on
phytochemicals, ” he said. “Every day, we hear about all the anti-
disease benefits and anti-aging properties phytochemicals provide.
Each and every vegetable and fruit has them. They’re only just
beginning to unlock their benefits.”

Oswald explains the theory simply: Cooking fruits and vegetables
above 118 degrees kills the enzymes in them, and the body can’t
absorb nutrients from so-called “dead” food.

Aymerich takes it further. “You have to get your body to an alkaline
state. Diseases can’t live in an alkaline environment. A typical
American diet makes our stomachs and digestive system acidic. And our
digestive systems are so long — we have 5 feet of intestines — foods
actually become toxic inside the body. They putrefy before we
eliminate them. It makes us sick.”

A healing diet?

Most of the raw foodists find the diet as the result of some extreme
disease that forced them to take stock of their food lifestyles.

“I was diagnosed with mastocytosis, ” Oswald said. It’s a rare cell
disorder that left her with painful hives, and it affected her
stomach and intestines. She put her nurse’s training to work for a
remedy, because, she said, the many medicines the doctors doled out
hadn’t helped.

“I started searching for information about diets, and kept running
across people who had battled all kinds of disorders with a raw foods
diet.

“I had tried everything up to that point — acupuncture, all kinds of
homeopathic treatments.”

She learned about raw foods at the Optimum Health Institute in San
Diego — but only after a rocky start did it work for her.

“I came home and thought, ‘This is helping me.’ I started feeling
better, and then went back to my old vegan diet. As soon as I started
eating cooked food at all, I got sick again,” she said. After that,
she said, the choice was clear.

She claims that after months on the diet, her mastocytosis
disappeared. Her husband, who was eating a healthful diet with mostly
fish and vegetarian foods, now has joined her regime and eats a 75
percent raw food diet.

“He plays tennis, and had joint pain in his knees,” Oswald said. “We
both were playing on soft courts, just figuring that after you hit
40, that’s the way it was going to be. Now, neither of us has any
joint pain, and we have plenty of energy. We’re both playing on hard
courts again.”

A healthy diet

Lance, 38, is the marketing and communications director for the
Norton Museum in West Palm Beach. She heard about raw foods through
her brother, an actor in Los Angeles.

“He’s been raw and vegan for two years. When he called and first told
us that he was going raw, we thought he was crazy — another one of
Declan’s crazy ideas. Little did I know I’d be joining him.”

Lance was feeling fatigued and started looking at her diet as the
culprit. “I was eating mac and cheese at 10 at night, and making a
Saturday night run to Sloan’s Ice Cream. I knew there was a better
way to eat.”

A former Olympic-trained figure and speed skater in her teens, she
had worked with nutritionists before. “My mom was ahead of her time
with nutrition and performance.

“But I had fallen, broken my vertebrae, stopped skating, and gotten
into a bad-girl diet — burgers, fries, pizza.”

As an adult, she cleaned up somewhat, and had better eating habits,
but would fall back into the comfort foods on long work days.
Finally, she says, she got tired of “being droopy all the time.”

Six months ago, she read the book Skinny Bitch. “It’s an in-your-face
kind of read, that says you need a lifestyle change, and part of it
is getting rid of the garbage in the typical American diet and
particularly, animal-based proteins. But it’s not a raw foods book.”

She continued to study, then learned about the Hippocrates Institute
where she signed up for a week’s “life-change” program.

Part of it is “detoxing” the body by eating only raw foods and
drinking specific green “living foods” drinks, like wheat grass and
sprouts juice.

“That really changed my life. It was like an overnight switch,” she
said. “I stopped eating any animal-based foods, I started juicing,
and cut out all but just a little cooked foods. I still have brown
rice now and then, and a cooked sweet potato, but I’m considered a
raw foodist since 75 percent of my foods are raw.”

A life-long diet

Lance doesn’t miss cooked foods.

“I love to cook, and I still do for other people. But I make foods I
can eat, too, for dinner parties and potlucks. I’ve introduced a lot
of people to this diet. They all love my foods. I made a pecan pie
with my niece at Thanksgiving, and my sister and her family just
loved it. They ate the whole thing.”

Aymerich and Lance both have taken classes in raw food preparation
from Oswald. She teaches raw food dieting, with lectures and recipe
demos at Nutrition S’mart in Palm Beach Gardens.

“It’s so exciting,” Oswald said, “getting others to just try these
foods, and to see they’re really delicious. Once they try them, most
of the time, we can at least spark their interest.”

But it’s not an easy diet to convert to, Clement said. “It’s hard. We
have a social break-bread mind-set. It’s a social and psychological
addiction, a pattern we have to analyze. But the rewards are so
great, once you benefit from the diet, you never go back.”

]]> http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?feed=rss2&p=134 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=133 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=133#comments Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:22:11 +0000 Ginger Raw Foods http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=133 Cancer Diet - Include Natural Foods

by Marilyn Bennett

In any cancer diet, there are many factors to be considered. One is
that it is ideal that we get our nutrients from our foods, and that
those foods are in as near their natural state as possible. By that I
mean foods that have minimum processing.
The reason for this is that no matter how clever our scientists are
there is still much they have not discovered about the way vitamins
and the body interact. Every day we hear they have found either a new
nutrient or another factor in how our bodies assimilate nutrients. If
we eat foods that are as close to the state nature produces them we
are most likely to get the nutrients we need together with all the
other factors our bodies need to use them. This is crucial to any
cancer diet.

A shining example is iron. Our bodies need Vitamin C in order to
assimilate iron. However, there are still iron supplements on the
market that do not have Vitamin C included in their mix. Now, parsley
is a very rich source of iron and, you guessed it, is also full of
Vitamin C. To further complicate matters, Vitamin C is heat affected
and water soluble, so cooking, particularly in liquids destroys it -
hence my assertion that eating foods - in this case parsley - in
their natural state is best. Of course this won’t work for all foods -
potatoes for example - but it is a good strategy to keep in mind
when trying to maximize nutrition.

The other reason for eating foods in as near natural state as
possible, is that cooking destroys the natural enzymes. Enzymes not
only play a crucial role in digestion, and therefore influence the
quality of the nutrients we get from our food, but some enzymes,
particularly pancreatic enzymes, play a direct role in the fight
against cancer.

So how do we include raw foods when designing a cancer diet?

The obvious answer is salads. Using as wide a variety of salad
vegetables and incorporating as many different coloured salad
veggies, is an excellent way to increase your intake of live enzymes.

But even with hot meals, many raw veggies can be added as a garnish.
Eg parsley chopped up over scrambled eggs. Herbs stirred in a
casserole after the heat is turned off. A couple of rings of capsicum
on top of cooked fish. Use fruits to dress up a steak or a roast. Let
your imagination go! Look for colour and variety and you will easily
find dozens of ways to include raw foods.

Snacks are another way of getting raw veggies into the diet. Cut up
celery and carrots into one inch/2cm lengths. Even broccoli and
cauliflower are nice and crunchy as a snack. If you must dip them in
something try a little cottage cheese rather than a fat laden dip!

By keeping your mind open and imagination engaged, you will soon be
getting many more raw foods into your daily diet, giving yourself and
your loved ones an edge in the cancer fighting stakes.

Marilyn Bennett’s partner Glenn was declared cancer-free after 11
months using a nutritional approach. They are now on a mission
to “spread the word” re the many things they discovered we can all do
to fight cancer. Please visit www.cancer-einfo. com.

]]> http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?feed=rss2&p=133 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=132 http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=132#comments Mon, 05 Feb 2007 20:37:57 +0000 Ginger Raw Foods http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?p=132 RAW REFINED

By LISA SOKOLOWSKI lsokolowski@ timesleader. com

Diets, ever popular at the dawn of a new year, don’t always guarantee
healthy eating. Like people looking for a get-rich-quick scheme,
dieters often try to find the one plan that guarantees they will lose
the most weight in the shortest amount of time.

Near-starvation and surgery can do the trick, too, but the body can
pay a severe price.

Enter a raw-foods diet.

And meet Toby Landon, a raw-foods chef from Kingston, who says she
lost 60 pounds in five months by following the once-optionless diet.

A salad for dinner was varied only when it had sprouts. Fruit wasn’t
a side with her lunch; it was lunch.

But Landon, a six-year “flexitarian, ” (a word that usually describes
a vegetarian who occasionally eats meat but in this case means Landon
sometimes consumes cooked food) has found a way to make raw foods
more exciting.

Raw foods include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted
grains. The food is not heated above a certain temperature, which
depends on the particular diet.

At a recent class on raw foods that Landon taught at Arts YOUniverse
in Wilkes-Barre, one student couldn’t get over the fact that she
wouldn’t use the stove.

“Just turn the heat in the house on really high and leave the food
out,” Landon’s husband, Jim, also a flexitarian, suggested.

“He kind of had to do it with me,” Landon said. “I was making the
food.”

Landon’s Arts YOUniverse program was themed “Italian Night.” She made
angel-hair pasta with marinara and pesto sauces, lasagna, ravioli and
fettuccini Alfredo – all sans dairy or meat products.

The “noodles” were either zucchini or summer squash. The “cheese” was
a multitude of nuts and liquids that form a crunchy paste that takes
some getting-used- to. The ravioli themselves were sliced turnips. And
it was all raw.

“When you cook, you break down what you need, like whole natural
enzymes,” Landon told the class.

Followers of the diet believe raw food has enzymes that aid in their
digestion, leaving the body’s enzymes to do other things. Cooking the
food, and losing these enzymes, leaves more work for the body.

After a sample of the “pasta” and marinara sauce (made using organic
ingredients found at Wegmans), the class seemed impressed.

“You’re masticating more often,” Landon explained. “The more you
chew, you break down the cells and more is assimilated through the
small intestines.”

Because you’re giving your body what it needs in a usable form,
Landon explained, a raw-food diet is healthier, and some believe it
may help cure diseases such as diabetes.

It also might help that most followers adopt a “white-ain’t- right”
philosophy and nix white products such as rice, sugar and flour.

Landon also has an answer for when you crave sweets. She said it’s
really your body craving calcium, which neutralizes the acids in the
body.

She offered other nuggets of advice: Sesame milk (water and
pulverized sesame seeds) is believed to fight gray hair; fruits are
cleansers and should be eaten between 4 a.m. and noon; vegetables are
nutrients and should be consumed in the afternoons and evenings. They
shouldn’t be eaten together because when you add water, as in fruits,
you digest differently and your body gets drained because of the
assimilation.

She also advised using sea salt, saying it is hydrated and a better
collector of nutrients.

“Raw food is all about everything that’s fresh,” Landon
said. “Organic food has no pesticides or toxins.”

Brocolli Soup
This may well become one of your favorites.

Broccoli is a powerful anti-cancer food. Avocado is rich in vitamins,
minerals and oil and helps lower LDL (bad cholesterol) and heal
peptic ulcers or inflammation of the digestive system. Raw honey aids
stomach and digestion, is good for allergies and burns and has anti-
cancer properties. It also has antiseptic, antibiotic, antifungal and
antibacterial properties.

Ingredients: 3 cups water; 1 cup almonds; 1 tsp. honey; 2 cups
broccoli; 1 avocado; 1/2 garlic clove; 1 tbsp. olive oil; 1 tsp.
onion, chopped; 1 tsp. sea salt; 1/2 tsp. cumin; 1/8 tsp. black
pepper

Directions:

1) In a food processor, blend water, almonds and honey until smooth.

2) Add the remaining ingredients and blend until creamy.

]]> http://spiritquesthealing.com/ourblog/?feed=rss2&p=132