Welcome to the VIBRANT LIVING NEWSLETTERI don’t know about you, but here on the west coast of the USA we are very excited to have summer finally show up, and in its full glory. My veggie garden is going wild and the farmers markets are full of ripe delicious fruits and veggies. What more could a person ask for. :-) This issue of Vibrant Living is a good one! I’ll share some exciting upgrades to the website that I’m making, and as always share some new recipes. There’s an article on how we can change the world....really no kidding. Another article on sprouts, and a few quotes to round out the field. Enjoy! ********************** Website Improvements I have some exciting news about changes I’m making to the website. First I’m adding more recipes. Most of the recipes are quite simple, making them quick and easy to prepare. There’s now a feature at the bottom of the recipes page that allows you to directly submit your recipes. Looking for your 15 minutes of fame…hey this could be it, a yummy recipe that everyone is enjoying submitted by you. If you submit a photo of your dish with your recipe and are unable to down load it due to sizing just send it to me by email and I’ll see if I can resize it on this end. There is also a “What’s new” page on the website that I’ll be adding nutritional and natural health posts to on an ongoing basis. And as new recipes are added to the raw food recipe page they will also go on the “what’s new” page as well. And last but not least, I’ll be adding some new web pages to cover new topics and go further in depth on some topics already covered. Check out the changes to the raw food recipes page and the new "What's New" page at the links below.
Check out the changes to the raw food recipes page here. Check out What's New here.
********************* “Of all the self-fulfilling prophecies in our culture, the assumption that aging means decline and poor health is probably the deadliest.” ~Marilyn Ferguson ******************** How We Can All Help To Change The World They say if you throw a frog into boiling water he’ll jump right out, but if you put him into cold water and gradually bring the water to a boil he’ll sit there and cook. In other words slow change over time can go un-noticed. And so it is with our society, as things change the number of people alive still able to remember events or conditions gets smaller every year. In 1960, American women in their 20’s averaged about 128 pounds. By 2000, women of the same age weighed an average 157 pounds. In 1960, American women in their 40’s weighed an average 142 pounds. By 2000, American women of the same age weighed an average 169 pounds. This is according to Dr. David Kessler, former head of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Dr. Kessler attributes these alarming statistics to social norms today that allow eating any time of the day or night, and the availability of highly palatable foods sold everywhere. I believe that we have become a society of grazers. From the time we get up to the time we go to bed we are not long without either food or drink. If you look around today you’ll notice that people are eating and drinking everywhere they go. From school, work, shopping, lectures, workshops, everywhere. People eat dinner then go out to catch a movie and down another 1200 – 1500 calories in treats and think nothing of it. Thousands of years ago our ancestors may have done considerable “grazing” depending on what the faire of the day was. If we’re talking blueberries and micro greens, a person could eat until satiated and not be over consuming calories. Perhaps as man evolved over time cultivating crops and raising livestock, consuming more calorically dense foods, he quickly realized he didn’t need to put on the feed bag, but 2 or 3 times per day. And of course back then whole foods with much higher nutritional content were the mainstay so our nutritional needs were closer to being met than today. Over the last 50 years with the 24/7 availability of calorically dense and addictive food, the endless advertising blitz, our bodies not getting real nutrition so still looking for another meal to be satisfied, and what I believe is part of the consumer madness of continually consuming everything and anything in our immediate surrounds, have brought a huge problem to our society and not just in the explosive rise of disease and spiraling cost of health care which we all pay for in every product or service we buy. In terms of social acceptability it’s a snow ball effect, as our society gets larger as a whole it becomes more acceptable to be overweight. That's the new norm. Meanwhile those that carry weight more consistent with the norms of the 60’s and earlier are looked upon as skinny or under weight. It’s become so upside down it would be funny (and sometimes I do have a good laugh about it all) if it were not such a serious social issue. During the early 60’s when I was in grade school and a typical class was made up of about 30 kids all the kids were “skinny”, except for maybe one kid who was overweight, not obese, but over weight. As we look around today we clearly see there’s an explosion of overweight and obese children. Obesity has become an epidemic in the U.S. and other developed countries. As many as one-third of all Americans are obese based on the BMI (body mass index) criteria. In addition to body image issues, obesity causes significant health issues. It is the second leading cause of preventable death (after smoking), and is associated with type 2 diabetes, mental health, coronary artery disease, arthritis, gallstones, depression, certain types of cancer, and God knows what else. My hope is that as health conscious people we can be positive role models for all of society and particularly children as we choose healthy whole foods, at least 50% to 75% raw. This means not eating after dinner or over snacking between meals and choosing healthy snacks if we need to. And don’t forget the exercise, even if it’s only walking ½ hr per day. Exercise is critical to good health. We have the power to heal a nation and makes people’s lives so much more enjoyable as they leave their prescription drugs and disease behind. You need do no more than model healthy eating choices and offer advice if asked. People will watch what you do and see how good you look, how much energy you have and want that for themselves. Even a perfect stranger may take notice of your dietary choices and decide to make a change in theirs. I was out at our local town festival the other day and dropped by my natural foods grocery to get a fresh green juice. The person behind me at the checkout saw my bottle of fresh juice and asked about it. He then went back to get his own fresh green juice. Now did I solve world hunger or make a huge contribution to humanity? No, but I did help one person make a better choice at that moment, and perhaps he’ll continue to make better choices and influence others. All change in this world has always started with a grassroots movement and we are that grass roots movement in the realm of personal, nation, and world health. Get out there and enjoy some healthy meals today, and as you do remember 70% of disease is related to what we eat and drink. We can make a difference.
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“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” ~Satchel Paige
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HEALTHY RECIPES Orange Tomato Soup 3 medium tomatoes 2 oranges ¼ cup sun dried tomato slices Small chunk of ginger Fresh basil leaf Re-hydrate the tomato slices in pure water and process all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Garnish with fresh basil leaf. A side of fresh sprouts would go very nicely with this summertime soup.
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Blueberry Shake 2 cups fresh blueberries 1 banana 1 orange Place all ingredients into the blender and blend til smooth. *********************
Apricot Coulis
3 cups of apricots 5 dates 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Blend all ingredients or use food processor. A little bowl of this would make a nice treat for a special occasion. Although fresh whole apricots by themselves would be my first choice for an everyday snack.
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Green Juice Cooler
1 cucumber 8 stalks of celery 1 bunch spinach Juice all ingredients and enjoy. Use the celery to push the spinach through the juicer. This is a favorite of mine. There is a juice shop I frequent that has this organic juice on the menu and it makes a nice mid day or afternoon pick me up.
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Fresh Salsa Wraps
1 grated carrot 1 grated cucumber 1 celery stalk small dice 1 grated zucchini squash 2 diced tomatoes ¼ bunch cilantro chopped ½ avocado cubed 1 lemon or lime juiced whole lettuce or collard leaves large handful fresh sprouts (optional) dulse flakes (optional) hot pepper (optional) Mix first 8 ingredients together in a bowl, spoon onto leaves and roll up. This is another great summertime meal that’s quick and easy. I prefer to use Japanese, Armenian or other soft skinned cucumbers which are softer on the palate and easier to digest. Enjoy!
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“It’s supposed to be a professional secret, but I’ll tell you anyway. We doctors do nothing. We only help and encourage the doctor within.” ~Albert Schwitzer
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Sprouts the Miracle Food As most of you know by now I am a huge proponent of veggie gardening and growing as much of one’s own food as possible. One often overlooked aspect of growing your own food is sprouting. Some sprouts are quite easy to grow and it takes up very little space in the kitchen or near a window. Sprouts are also a super source of nutrients, enzymes and life force. According to Steve Meyerowitz, The Sproutman, “Sprouts are baby plants in their prime. At this stage of their growth, they have a greater concentration of protein, vitamins and minerals, enzymes, RNA, DNA, bio-flavinoids, T-cells, etc., than at any other point in the plant’s life—even when compared with the mature vegetable!” Dr Brian Clement of the Hippocrates Health Institute, says sprouts have far more nutritional value than vegetables, even those grown in your own garden, and that sunflower and wheat grass sprouts have 30 times the nutritional value of other sprouts. Wow! I personally include sprouts in my diet almost every day. That’s how important I think they are. There are a number of books, and internet sites, that can supply you with all the information you need to get you started. Or perhaps you’re lucky enough to have a local sprout source you can trust. I see them in natural food markets, but prefer to buy mine direct from my “Sproutman”, Jim, who comes to my local Farmers Market. Jim is knowledgeable about his sprouts and he and his family bring fresh vibrant sprouts to farmer’s markets around our area throughout the week. I do on occasion grow some of my own sprouts, however my kitchen is a little dark, and……..OK, I’d rather buy from Brooks and Daughters (Jims company) because even though sprouting is a simple process it does take some time and attending to. I say if you have a good thing, go with it! And Jim’s family operation is definitely a good thing. At any rate sprouts are a very good addition to any diet, raw or not. The tender sprouts are easily digested even for those with digestive issues. If you need to start out slow and build up to handfuls a day. I’ve literally put a large mound of sprouts in a bowl and added one of my raw dressings for a complete meal. Although it’s a light meal it can carry for hours due to the nutritional wallop fresh sprouts provide. Sprouts are particularly nice during winter months when garden fresh produce is unavailable in many parts of the world, unless you’re in a year round warm climate. I would like to encourage you to look into including fresh sprouts into your daily diet. I think after a little research you’ll find them as irresistible as I do. And to those of you already enjoying sprouts, right on, you know what I'm talking about.
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“More people die today of too much food than too little.” ~ John Kenneth Galbraith
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*********************** Be Well and Wonderful, Hugh
https://www.raw-foods-diet-center.com/index.html
hugh@raw-foods-diet-center.com MEDICAL DISCLAIMER The contents of my website and my newsletter are gleaned from my experiences and observations, meant only for educational purposes and not intended to replace medical advice, consultations, or treatment of any kind. I recommend you see your professional health care provider if you suspect you have an illness or disease of any kind. I'm not medically trained, and I would never suggest or imply that I know what is best for someone else's body or overall health, ultimately each of us is the only one who knows what's best for us. New! CommentsHave your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. |
