Thursday, January 31, 2008

Cacao is a Healthy Weigth Loss Food



Finally the best excuse ever to eat cacao. In this video David Wolfe talks about the health benefits of raw cacao. Cacao is a true health food, that can even help us to lose weight! Can you imagine?

Recipe for Raw Almond "Peanut" Sauce

This raw almond "peanut" sauce it a variation of the traditional peanut sauce everybody knows.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw almond butter
2 tablespoons of fresh grated ginger
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon sea salt or 3 tablespoons nama shoyu
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 gloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

This sauce tastes like commercial peanut sauce, but it's much healthier because it's raw. It doesn't contain transfats, which are bad for us. But it does contain essential fatty acids, which most western people have a lack of and which are very good for us.
You can eat this sauce with zucchini spaghetti, as a dip with your vegetables, inside wraps or as a salad dressing.
You can vary the consistency by adding more or less water.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Dr. Mark Hyman about Functional Medicine


Yesterday dr. Mark Hyman talked about Functional Medicine and Ultra Wellness during the free podcast event "The Healthiest Year of Your Life", organized by Kevin Gianni. This talk was a very interesting one. In this video you can get an idea of what it was like. At the moment that I write this, this call is still available through the link below.

If you are interested in following this free podcast event, that just started, take a look at:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=714745

In this event you can hear interviews with dr. Gabriel Cousens, David Wolfe, Bob Doyle, Dax Moy, dr. Carol Look, Jesse Cannone, dr. Maria Grace, Danny, Dreyer, Donna Krech, Phoenix Gilman, dr. Michael Breus, dr. Roberta Temes, Ryan Lee and Tellman Knudson.

You can listen to each call at the time mentioned on the website, untill 24 hours after the event. These calls are free. You can buy an upgrade if you want to listen later, but this is not necessary, if you want to listen now.

I wish you the healthiest life imaginable and a great time listening to these podcasts!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

What is a live-food diet?

A raw diet consists of food that is not heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius). It consists of foods in their natural state or close to their natural state.

What does “live” have to do with this? Live-food is food full of life force. Fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds from your garden are live-foods. So are freshly picked seaweeds, natural spring water and sprouted seeds from seeds, nuts, beans, grains and vegetables. The fresher the food, the more alive and the more energy it has. The more energy it has, the more energy it can give to you.

Pictures taken with Kirlian photography clearly show this life force. This life force is the same as prana or chi in eastern philosophies. Modern science is able to measure this energy nowadays.
If you compare commercially grown food with organic food, the organic food has much more of this life force than the commercial food. Wild plants have even more.

For all our bodily processes we need energy. Without energy life stops. If you have too little energy, you get sick. So … to turn around the negative spiral of sickness, make sure to get more energy by eating a raw live-food diet, full of energy.

The most important source of energy on earth is the sun. Sunlight is transformed by plants into energy we can use. Some people can live on sunlight alone, but this is very exceptional. Plants are the next best source of energy for us. The more energy the plant has, the more energy it can give you. This is the whole concept of a raw live-food diet.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Banana Smoothie



p>Cut up the banana, put it in the blender,
And shake it all up, shake it all up [x2]
You got a banana smoothie (banana smoothie)
You got a banana smoothie (banana smoothie)

Drink up, taste it, swallow it
Get up, get on top of it
Feels right, aloha and ohalo...
Stay straight, right now it is
Have faith, getting out of it
Feels right, aloha and ohalo...

Cut up the banana, put it in the blender,
And shake it all up, shake it all up [x2]
You got a banana smoothie (banana smoothie)
You got a banana smoothie (banana smoothie)

Die high, bird is flying now
See straight, seems OK now
Feels right, aloha and ohalo

Cut up the banana, put it in the blender,
And shake it all up, shake it all up [x2]

Banana smoothie... (repeat as the background sings the chorus)

Blending up a Wild Weed Smoothie

My favorite YouTube video!

Raw Food Detox Diet Plan

Do you want to eat a raw food diet and don’t know where to start?
Here are some basic steps, that can help you.

Why do you want to eat raw?
Are you overweight, do you need more energy, do you feel depressed, are you fed up with your binging, do you secretly know you are eating the wrong foods?
There are many reasons to start with raw food.

The raw food diet is the eldest diet known to people all over the world. It’s the food of the garden of Eden, the food many great philosophers ate, the food many spiritual traditions advocate and the food getting more and more scientific attention, because of all its health benefits. Raw plant food is also the best food for animal lovers.

How do you start a raw food diet?
If you start something new, you need a plan, in this case a diet plan.
Let’s start simple: decide now to add more fruits and raw vegetables to your diet. You can do this by adding fruits to your breakfast and salads to your lunch and dinner. Eat the fruits and salads (made with different vegetables, especially greens) before your meals. By eating them first, you make sure to eat them. Eat whatever you like after your fruits and vegetables.
In between meals take fruits, raw vegetables and raw nuts as snacks, if you need them.
Make sure to drink enough water before and in between your meals! Many people think they are hungry, when they are thirsty. First try water or herb tea, when you feel hungry.

You can also introduce some superfoods to your diet, like raw cacao, goji berries, maca, hempseed, flaxseed, spirulina, chlorella, MSM, aged garlic or medicinal mushrooms. These foods are very nutrient dense and help you to get rid of cravings.

Take time to adjust to a raw food diet. Your body needs time to get used to it and to get rid of toxins. If you go too fast, you make it more difficult for yourself, because you start to detox fast. After some time, you will get used to your new habits and you can take the next step. This is the easiest way to change to a raw food diet, lose weight and get more and more energy.

You can find much more information about all this in my new e-book, that will soon be available. The first part of this e-book explains all the raw food basics, like diet plans, weight loss, weight gain, detoxing and optimum health, as well as psychological and spiritual issues concerning diet. The second part contains all the basic recipes to make sure your raw food adventure will be a great success.

Green Powder Smoothie

There are many varieties of green powders. You can use them instead of greens, when you are travelling, at work or when you don't have time to make fresh green juice. Green powders are a great natural supplements, containing many vitamins, minerals and enzymes. They are often made of wheat- or barley grass and other green ingredients.
You can drink green powders with cold or lukewarm water, mix them with fruit juices or make smoothies with them. Green powder is a great superfood for children.

Ingredients smoothie:
1 cup fresh apple juice
1 pear
1 tablespoon flax seeds (soaked) or flax oil
3 mint leaves
1 - 2 teaspoons green powder

Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Healthy Salad Dressings

Fantasy Dressing

Ingrediënts:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1/4 orange
2 teaspoons mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or Himalayan pink salt

Mix and pour over your salad. Very special!

Surprising Dressing

Ingrediënts:
1/2 mango
1 tomato
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Blend and pour over your salad. Surprising ....

Avocado Mayonnaise

Ingrediënts:
1 avocado
1 tomato
juice of ½ lemon
handful of fresh parsley
sea salt or Himalayan pink salt

Mix all ingredriënts with a food processor or (handhold) blender.
The consistency should be like mayonnaise.
Tastes great with dehydrated crackers, in sushi or wraps or as a salad dressing.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Gabriel Cousens on Juvenile Diabetes, Autism, ADHD and Vaccinations



Part of our interview with Gabriel Cousens on autism, ADHD and juvenile diabetes in children.

Vaccinations seem to be connected with autism. The rate of autism is greatly increasing since people started vaccinating. The rate of juvenile diabetes, as tested in Finland, increased 154% after they added 3 different vaccinations. In New Zealand they added 2 vaccinations and they got a 62% increase in juvenile diabetes. There is a lot of reasons for that, but the point is that vaccinations seem to disorder the nervous system and seem to be connected to some level of autism. As is Candida as well. That’s one issue.

The second issue is, that kids are just having way too many sweets and their mental states are very agitated. By now the sweets have pesticides and herbicides. Some research suggests that 50% of the hyperactivity would be relieved, if they had organic food. Put them on an organic diet and a low sugar diet and look at certain allergies, that may also cause nervous system or cerebral allergies.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Healthy Fruit Juice from Pear and Pine Nuts

Ingediënts:
2 pears
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 slice of ginger
a few mint leaves (optional)

Juice the pears and ginger.
Pour in the blender, add pine nuts and blend.
Garnish with mint leaves.

This is a sweet, pungent and nourishing drink.
Great if you need instant energy.

Enjoy!

Shazzie Makes a Salad with Wild Herbs

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Recipe for Walnut and Dulse Seaweed Salad

Ingredients:
2 ounces of arugula, wild greens from your garden or baby greens
1/4 cup dulse flakes or 1/2 cup fresh dulse
2 tablespoons olive or hemp oil
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
cayenne
1/2 cup walnuts

Place the arugula, wild greens or baby greens and the dulse in a bowl. Mix the salt, oil, lemon juice, agave nectar and cayenne. Add to the salad and toss. Garnish with the walnuts.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Kiwi-Appel-Dandelion Juice

Ingredients:
2 kiwi's (peeled)
2 apples
6 leaves of dandelion

Juice all ingredients and enjoy!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Gabriel Cousens on Homeopathic Immunizations



This video is part of the interview that Annet van Dorsser and Esmé Stevens had with raw food teacher Gabriel Cousens in Israël.

Quotes & Thoughts from Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra is one of the teachers, I studied with. He teaches Ayurveda, modern western medicine and spirituality. Here are some great quotes & thoughts from Deepak Chopra concerning diet and health.

Most people think that aging is irreversible. We know that there are mechanisms even in the human machinery that allow for the reversal of aging, through correction of diet, through antioxidants, through removal of toxins from the body, through exercise, through yoga and breathing techniques, and through meditation.

You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.

The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years.

The possibility of stepping into a higher plane is quite real for everyone. It requires no force or effort or sacrifice. It involves little more than changing our ideas about what is normal.

Silence is the great teacher, and to learn its lessons you must pay attention to it. There is no substitute for the creative inspiration, knowledge, and stability that come from knowing how to contact your core of inner silence.

In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.

Wakame and Cucumber Seaweed Salad

Ingredients:
1 cucumber
1 cup wakame seaweed (soaked)
4 tbsp lemon
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp seasalt or Himalayan salt

Cut the soaked wakame seaweed into pieces, about 1 inch long.
Slice cucumber.
Put salt over cucumber slices and set aside for 15 minutes.
Squeeze cucumber slices to remove excess liquid.
Mix lemon and agave nectar in a bowl.
Add the wakame seaweed and cucumber and mix well.

Enjoy!

Healthy Mango-Cashew Breakfast Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 ounce cashews, preferably soaked
1 mango
teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup water or herb tea
4 drops of stevia (optional, depends on the sweetness of the mango)

Blend and serve for breakfast or as dessert.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Health Benefits of Good Quality Structured Water


Video thumbnail. Click to play
Click To Play

Last November Esmé and I went to Israel to interview Gabriel Cousens. This is part of these interviews. More will be available soon.

Drinking good quality water is the key to a healthier and longer life. We are made mainly out of water.
Water is essential for all cellular and bodily functions.
Water helps to keep the blood thin, so that it can flow well.
Water is important for the elimination of toxins.
Water helps the body to metabolize stored fat and therefore to lose excess weight.
Water helps to relieve constipation.
Water suppresses appetite.
And water does many more things in the body.

Listen to Gabriel Cousens on how he creates the best quality drinking water:
"Because of all the pollution in the world, the best water is distilled water. But distilled water by itself is aggressive and immature. I out a formula in the book “Spiritual Nutrition”. You take a gallon of distilled water, add a pinch of salt or 12 drops of active ionic, so that you get 50 parts per million. This way you create H3O, the best water there is. With 50 parts per million, you don’t have the aggressive pulling out of minerals out of the body.
Then you structure this water by putting it out in the moonlight overnight. The moon structures water, not the sun. Then you bless it and you have good quality water. Crystal energy from micro crystals is also very good to structure it.
So first you heat the water and take out all the herbicides and pesticides, and destroy all the homeopathic pattern of the herbicides and pesticides. Then you restructure the water with salt, crystal energy, moonlight and by blessing it."

Personally I think that natural spring water is also a good quality water, if you can find a natural spring in the neighborhood. It's pure and alive, full of energy. Look at the power in a natural spring. This structured water sounds as a fantastic alternative though, if you life in the city or have no natural springs in the area.

Monday, January 21, 2008

3 Step Formula for Creative Success

This easy formula for success works in every area of your life. You can use it for great health, to reach your ideal weight, to manifest fantastic relationships, to create wealth, to live your dream life or for whatever is needed in your life to be happy and successful. Try it and see what happens ..... Success comes from within.

Cheap Nut Milk from Coconut and Sesame

Daniel Vitalis shows the recipe for a cheap nut milk elixir with fresh spring water, coconut flakes, sesame and herbs (you can add the ones you like).
Coconut flakes are a cheap substitute for coconut oil. Coconut contains a good quality oil with medium chain fatty acids, which form a great source of energy.
Sesame has always been a staple food for the people of India. It’s very rich in calcium.
You can use any nut for this raw food recipe. If you use almonds or cashews, you can use the meat again for other recipes. You can dry it for instance, to make flour for pies. If you use coconut and sesame seeds, you can compost them.
The base of the drink is spring water. Fresh spring water is the best water, you can get.
For this raw food recipe Daniel uses 2 cups of coconut flakes and 1/3 cup of sesame seeds. He adds apricot kernels, a cacao bean (?) and some ginger. If you use more coconut and sesame, the milk will be creamier.
After blending he uses a strainer to get a nice creamy milk. You can also use a cheap paint strainer for this purpose. An expensive nut milk bag is not necessary.
Nut milk is a great substitute for milk in the raw food diet.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Goji Berries, Lycium Fruit, Frustus Lycii Chinensis, Wolfberry Fruit, Guo Qi Zi

Worldwide goji berries are used for thousands of years already, because of their healing properties. In Chinese medicine they are called lycium fruit, one of the most often used herbs. They nourish the kidney and the liver, are good for energy, blood, water metabolism, low-grade abdominal pain, impotence and especially good for the eyes.

In the book "Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine" Gabriel Cousens tells about goji berries: “Clinical analysis shows that this unusual berry is a powerful antioxidant that contains eighteen kinds of amino acids (six times higher than bee pollen), more beta carotene than carrots, and five hundred times the amount of vitamin C by weight than oranges. It’s loaded with vitamins B1, B2, B6, and E. It has been found effective in increasing white blood cells, protecting liver function, lowering cholesterol, relieving hyper-tension, and helping strengthen the immune system while building muscle tissue and burning body fat. Goji berries are known for enhancing longevity.”

Goji berries are one of the superfoods, that I use on a daily basis.
They taste great with raw chocolate and agave nectar.

Healthy Coconut Porridge

Ingredients:
Coconut meat of 1 coconut.
The amount differs for each coconut. You need about 1 cup of coconut meat.
1 cup of warm water.
2 medjool dates (big and juicy dates)
Optional some cinnamon

Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy.
This porridge tastes like oatmeal.
My kids love it.

The fat in coconuts is made of medium chain fatty acids, which are a great source of energy.
Tip: If you combine coconut(oil)with hemp oil, you get all your essential fatty acids.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

The Benefits of Wheat Grass

Goji Berry-Orange-Kiwi Juice

This is a great juice, full of vitamin C and other nutrients. You can drink it in the morning or at any other time. Very nice for kids, family and visitors. This way you can introduce them to superfoods (the goji berries)

Ingredients for 1 serving:
3 oranges
1 kiwi
30 goji berries, soaked for 15 minutes

Start soaking the goji berries.
Juice the oranges.
Combine the orange juice, the peeled kiwi and the soaked goji berries in the blender.
Blend for 1 minute.

Drink before a meal or during the day.
This juice is especially good, if you have a cold.

Enjoy!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Delicious Nori Rolls or Raw Sushi

Ingredients for 1 nori roll or sushi:

1 sheet of nori
1 leave of iceberg lettuce
¼ avocado
1 medium size tomato
4 olives
4 radishes
some chives
some alfalfa
some sauerkraut
30 pine nuts

Put the sheet of nori on a flat surface.
Make a second layer with the leaf of iceberg lettuce. Leave the lower and the upper part of the nori uncovered.
Cut avocado and tomato lengthwise. Put them in the middle from left to right on the iceberg leaf. Add small pieces of olive and radish.
Place the chives on top of this. You don’t need to cut them.
Add some sauerkraut, alfalfa, mustard and pine nuts.
Don't take too many vegetables. If you have too many, you can't close the roll.

Take the lower part of the nori and cover the vegetables.
Moisten the upper part of the nori.
Roll the upper part of the nori over the rest and press gently.
The moist nori sticks to the rest.
This way you get a nice roll.
You can eat it like this (as a nori roll) or cut it in pieces (as sushi).

We usually have 2 or 3 nori rolls a person.

You can also use the nut pâté, that you can find elsewhere on the blog inside the sushi.
Put the nut pâté on the nori sheet with iceberg leaf, and add vegetables and herbs.
This is also a great way to make sushi, but a little more time consuming.

Enjoy!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Raw Apple Pie by Dorit

This video comes from the new Raw For Life DVD.
To see more of this new raw food DVD, click on the link.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=694701

Raw For Life DVD on Diabetes

This video comes from the new Raw For Life DVD.

To see more of this new raw food DVD, click on the link.
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=694701

Raw Food Diet for Diabetes

Program created by Gabriel Cousens, MD, MD(H), & Helen Ross, MD

Over the past 20 years years, a significant number of people have returned to a normal non-diabetic physiology from the diabetic physiology through the anti-diabetic program at the Tree of Life in Arizona.
According to the research of the New York Times, there are 21 million diabetics and 20 million pre-diabetics in America, the same in Europe, and more in India and China. At the current trend, 1 in 3 children born after 2000 will have diabetes, but it was under 1 in 100 at the turn of the century. Yet still many say life-long medication is required, and diabetes is “incurable” by nutrition.
Something is very amiss in our lifestyle of the current culture. Dr Cousens' experiences with the reversing diabetes protocol has clearly shown that this is not the case. We have broken the 4 minute mile of diabetes.

Summary of the clinical experience in Arizona (U.S.A.)

In order to stress test our clinical experience, in February, 2006, the Tree Of Life invited six people who were eating the traditional American fast and junk food diet. Approximately half of them had been insulin-dependent diabetics for an average of five years. It represented a final test of the program.
An independent movie producer was invited to film the month-long program and “before and after” studies were done, regarding the effect of a month of raw food and specific supplements. The results were outstanding.
Although one person whose blood sugar dropped from 500 to 200 in two weeks dropped out of the program, because he was not willing to do the live-food program, the others had exceptional results. Within four days, all participants except one type-1 diabetic were off insulin and oral anti-diabetic medications.
By the end of one month, two people had blood sugars regularly averaging between 70-85. Two had dropped from an average blood sugar of approximately 250-450 to around 120. All their blood tests became essentially normal. In other words by the end of 1 month the type 2 diabetics had achieved a level of health, according to their blood tests and daily blood sugar readings, that was considered comparable with a normal non diabetic physiology (the physiology of a healthy person).
The type-I diabetic went from an insulin intake of 70 units to 5 units. The other type 1 diabetic remains completely healed of diabetes. Succeeding with a group who knew virtually nothing about live foods or the live-food lifestyle, and who had no particular interest in it, was a real test for this program and it shows it's strong effectiveness.

Although no program can guarantee any results for healing diabetes in one month, it is clear that this program offers a reasonable, healthy, optimistic, and realistic way to ameliorate diabetes.

Of course one can only stay in a non diabetic physiology, if he or she continues to follow the healthy program outlined and experienced in the 21 day program. If someone does not stay on this program we cannot expect, he or she will stay with the normal healthy physiology.

For more information, contact us at: info@rawfood.nl

Testimonial about the Raw Food Diet for Diabetes by Nicole.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Romaine Lettuce-Carrot-Cucumber Juice

Ingredients:
1 cucumber
1 big carrot
8 big leaves of romaine lettuce.

Juice and drink right way.
Serves 2.
Very refreshing and alkalizing.
A great boost if you feel tired.

Enjoy!

Raw Food Recipe for Pineapple-Orange Juice


This morning Annejet (almost 6 years old) and I were preparing our breakfast juice and decided to film it for you. We peeled a pineapple and 2 oranges. Annejet shows you here how to make the juice. It's real easy. The juice tastes great, it's very creamy. A special treat for your children and visitors.

We use a 750 Watt Philips juicer, but you can also use a lighter juicer for this juice recipe, because the fruits are very soft.

Try it out and enjoy!

Raw Food Recipe for Vanilla Ice Cream

This recipe uses both vanilla extract and vanilla beans, because the beans are expensive. If you want, you can also use just beans.

2 cups raw cashews, soaked 4 hours or more
2 cups coconut meat
1 cup filtered water
1 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup coconut butter
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean, or 2 additional teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

In a blender mix all ingredients until totally smooth.
Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator and then process in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

This recipe comes from "Raw Food, Real World" by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis.
This is one of my favorite raw food cookbooks.

Another great raw food cookbook is:
"Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine" by Gabriel Cousens.
In the first part of this book, you can find scientific information about the raw food diet.
In the second part, you can find great raw food recipes.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Raw Food Recipe for Cucumber Pickles

Use a fresh organic cucumber.
Slice the cucumber.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of lemon.
If available, you can add some dill.
Mix all ingredients and bring under pressure in a pickle press, if you have one.
If you don't have a pickle press, you can use a bowl, that you fill with the ingredients and cover with a plate and a stone on top of it.
Let it sit like this for a day.
This makes a great and very tasty pickle, rich in enzymes.
You can keep it in the fridge for a few days.
The salt and lemon act as preservatives.

Quit Smoking with Acupuncture

Acupuncture can be of great help, if you want to quit smoking. Acupuncture helps to trigger the body to release natural endorphin, which can decrease cravings of nicotine and decrease withdrawal symptoms, like irritability, anxiety and insomnia. It has a success rate of about 80%. Usually about 4 sessions is enough. For each person a different emotion can be involved, as a reason to smoke. Every emotion is connected to different organ and meridian. Because of this, the treatment is different for each person.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Raw Food Five Element Smoothie

Ingrediënts:

1 peeled lemon
sweet fruit
1 teaspoon krystal salt brine solution
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup pure water
1 or 2 tablespoons flax oil

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there are five tastes: sweet, sour, pungent, salt and bitter. Every taste corresponds to certain processes in the body.

Sweet belongs to the earth element, corresponding to the stomach and spleen.
Sour belongs to the wood element, corresponding to the gallbladder and liver.
Pungent belongs to the metal element, corresponding to the colon and lungs.
Salt belongs to the water element, corresponding to the bladder and kidney's.
Bitter belongs to the fire element, corresponding to the small intestines and heart.

This smoothie recipe contains all five tastes. Bananas are sweet, lemon is sour, cayenne is pungent, the crystal salt brine solution is salt, flax oil is bitter. The blue green algae, that go with this smoothie, are bitter as well.
By combining the five elements in your dishes or meals, the flow of life energy (Chi) in the body is strengthened.

Raw Vegan Macadamia Nut Pâté

2 cups macadamia’s, soaked
1 tomato
1 cup bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup basil, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
cayenne
sea salt or himalayan pink salt

Mix all ingredients, except for the basil, with a handhold blender or food processor.
Add cayenne and salt to taste.
Add minced basil afterwards.

This pâté tastes great on a dehydrated cracker, in a wrap or in sushi, or with a salad.
You can keep it in the fridge for about 3 days.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Sprouting Radishes for Your Fresh Green Salad

Both the red and black radish (Raphanus Sativus) make good sprouts. Radish is a member of the mustard family and has a tangy, peppery taste. It's best to combine them with other sprouts, because of their strong taste. They taste great in green salads.

Radishes are easy to sprout. They are very good, if you have eaten a lot of animal food and dairy in the past. They help you to get rid of the stored animal fat. Harvest when they are 1/2 - 1 inch long.

This video shows how to grow them.

Raw Food Chocolate-Orange Snack

This recipe is made with the leftover almond pulp from the nut milk recipe, that you can find on the blog.
You can also use 3 ounces of soaked almonds instead. Take the brown skins off (see nut milk recipe).

Ingredients:
leftover pulp of 3 ounces of almonds for almond milk
1 orange
1 heaped tablespoon raw chocolate
10 drops of stevia
shredded coconut
30 koji berries

Mix everything except the koji berries and shredded coconut with a handhold blender or food-processor.
Mix the dry koji berries in by hand. They take up water, which makes your snack a little dryer. I'f your snack is too wet, use more of them.
You can also use dry raisins instead of koji berries.
Form little balls (about 2 inched diameter) and roll them through the shredded coconut.
Cool and store in fridge. They keep for about 3 days.

Enjoy!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Seven Ways to Increase Your Brain Power

Dr. Mercola gives you Seven Easy Ways to Increase Your Brain Capacity.

1 Exercise.
This brings more energy to your brain.
2 Get outside, especially in the daylight.
3 Get a good night's sleep, between 6 and 8 hours.
Go to bed before midnight, earlier is even better. Don't sleep more than 8 hours!
4 Stay away from processed foods.
Unprocessed, raw, organic food is best.
5 Improve the fat content in your diet with a high quality fish or krill oil.
6 Keep your brain active.
7 Use the right visualization techniques.
If you didn't see the movie "The Secret" yet, take a look.
This movie is about “The Law of Attraction”.
You manifest, what you focus your intention on.

I hope this information will benifit you in this fast 21th, information age.

What Can a Raw Food Diet Do for You?

Some of you are already very familiar with a raw food diet and some of you may be totally new to it. Here I will explain a a little about raw food and how to introduce it into your diet. If you know a lot already, maybe you can find some helpful information to get friends and family started.

Why rawfood?
Of course there are many theoretical answers to this question, that you can find everywhere. But my best answer to this question is always: try it for one week and see what happens. For most people, there is no return afterwards. If you are not used to eating any raw food, try adding some fresh fruits and vegetables to every meal. For instance fruits for breakfast, and an extra salad with greens, tomato's, avocado's, cucumber and fresh herbs for both your lunch and dinner. In the meantime avoid chemicals and preservatives as much as possible, and take less sugar, coffee and alcohol. Just try this raw food diet for a week and feel the difference.

A mistake which is often made, is changing too quickly to a different diet. The body starts to detox very fast with a lot of trouble, that could be avoided. Changing slower is always easier and causes less stress to the body. If you want to go faster because you have a certain health challenge, make sure to have the appropriate medical support.

I know that there are people, who just want to use supplements as quick fixes and don't want to bother with raw food or special diets. To those people I want to say: It's not just what you add to your diet, that makes the difference, but what you eat on a daily basis and (very important) what you don't eat. Just adding artificial supplements (whatever you call them, supplements made up a different vitamins and mineral are artificial) is not comparable to eating a good diet with a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and avoiding "all the bad stuff".

Yes, you can feel better by adding supplements, but until you try a natural raw food diet with a lot of fresh organic vegetables and fruits, you don't know what you are missing. There is a difference between feeling good and feeling super energetic and happy. Of course feeling super not only depends on your diet. There are many other important factors like exercise, balancing your emotions, good relationships with your friends and family, spiritual practise, and doing what you really love. But a good diet can make a huge difference. And I know what I'm talking about, having much more energy for my four children, my a household, my a business and all the rest, since I eat a raw food diet.

For now I would say, try it! Add more fruits and green vegetables to your diet and feel fantastic! If you are already doing this: great! For the longterm rawfoodists amongst us, make sure to include enough green vegetables.

Have a fantastic day!

Raw Food Diet Inspiration

Mouthwatering Raw Food Dishes. They look fantastic!

Friday, January 11, 2008

100 Life Saving Health Food Tips

Water promotes weight loss, combats cancer, conquers kidney stones and smoothes the skin. See what cherries, oranges, apples, watermelons, lemons, strawberries, bananas, pineapple, tomatoes, chili peppers, broccoli, avocado and mushrooms do for you.

Most Astonishing Health Disaster of the 20th Century

Just watch and think of all your friends and relatives. I think of my father who died last September at the age of 86 after having had many useless and cruel cancer operations. He finally died from (an overdose of) morphine given by a physician, who didn't even know him.

Take responsibility for your own (and your family's) health. It's your everyday lifestyle that counts. Eat healthy, exercise, avoid stress and do what you love. Don’t expect doctors and medicines to save you, once you get into trouble. Yes, sometimes they can help you, but not always ….. Watch the video.

Recipe for Cream of Parsley Soup

Ingredients:

1 bunch of parsley, chopped
1 avocado
1 tomato, cut in small pieces
4 cups of water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of agave nectar
Salt or shoyu and pepper or cayenne

Mix everything, except the pieces of tomato with a blender or handhold mixer.
Season with salt or shoyu and pepper or cayenne, as you like.
Add pieces of tomato.
Garnish with some parsley.

Enjoy your delicious raw soup!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Green Smoothie with Victoria Boutenko

Greens contain all the nutrients we need, except vitamin B12. By mixing greens with fruits in a blender, the greens become very easy to digest and taste great. Victoria describes how she lost all her cravings by adding green smoothies to her raw food diet. Her grey hairs disappeared, red dots on her chest disappeared, moles fell off, her vision became clear, her nails became stronger, she didn't lose hair anymore, her weight feel down without effort, her mood got better, she got so much energy.

Especially for compulsive eaters a raw food diet is very good. They tend to intoxicate themselves by eating too much of the wrong foods. If they keep a raw food diet, this doesn't happen. For normal eaters it's less important to be all raw. They stop eating when they have had enough. They have a natural pattern and don't intoxicate themselves so easily.

Health benefits of a green smoothie:
1 It is extremely palatable
2 It is extremely easy to make
3 It cleans the blood
4 It is without oil or salt
5 A green smoothie protects itself from being oxidize for 3 days

Nourishing Green Salad with Tahini Dressing

Ingredients:
2 ounces of baby greens (different kinds of lettuce)
young dandelion (optional)
1 tomato
5 olives
cucumber and/or paprika
parsley, cilantro, chives or dill
1/2 ounce of arugula (optional)

Tahini dressing:
2 tablespoons of tahini (preferably raw)
some lemon juice
some salt or shoyu
3 tablespoons of water
a pinch of cayenne or white pepper

Cut the tomatoes, cucumber, paprika and olives in small pieces.
Make the herbs fine with your scissors.
Mix everything together in a nice bowl.

Mix the dressing in a little bowl with a spoon or fork.
Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix everything thoroughly.

This is a very nourishing salad.
If you add some dehydrated crackers or some of your favorite nuts, it’s a complete meal.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Gabriel Cousens: Organic Raw Food for Children

Gabriel Cousens speaks about the importance a organic compared to commercial food.

The main cause of death and disease among children under 15 is cancer. Commercial food contains many pesticides and herbicides, which are carcinogens. By giving your children organic raw food, the amount of carcinogens in their blood drops to 1/4 to 1/6. Children are small. This means that the same amount of carcinogens has a much greater impact on them than on us.

Inspiration from the Kabbalah

I just received a great raw apple ;-) quote from the Kabbalah:

A worm inside an apple has a limited view of the world. When it works its way out, it discovers a landscape far beyond what it imagined.

This is how we live. We have limited perspectives, and we don’t see what we’re missing. We only see what we are — we don’t see what we can become.

Today, worm your way outside your apple. What do you want to become next week, next month, next year? Where can you grow more, do more, be more? Dream big and you will be big.

By Jehuda Berg from the Kabbalah Centre International.

Note from Annet: It would be even more interesting, if this worm would be a caterpillar on it's way to become a butterfly.

Easy and Fast Green Smoothie

Inspired by yesterday's green smoothie video of Victoria Boutenko on the blog, I just made a nourishing green smoothies from a banana and endive. I takes about 1 minute to prepare.

Ingredients:
1 banana
5 leaves of organic endive (or less if you prefer)
1 cup of water

Blend with a handhold mixer or blender until smooth.
Enjoy!

Raw Food Recipe Orange-Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:
fresh orange juice of 2 oranges
1 banana
1 tablespoon of hemp oil (if you don't have this, you can do without)
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
optional: some fresh mint

Blend with handhold mixer or blender untill smooth.
Garnish with some orange or fresh mint.

Coconut oil and hempoil form a great combination.
By taking them together, you get all your essential fatty acids.
This is a great breakfast smoothie, also for children.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Green Smoothie by Victoria Boutenko

Recipe for a Healthy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
3 dried tomatoes (soaked in little water for at least 15 minutes)
soaking water of dried tomatoes (not too much)
2 fresh tomatoes
small handful of fresh basil
cayenne
optional: a small handful of soaked nuts

Blend with handhold mixer or food-processor.
Great with pasta or as a salad dressing.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Raw Food Diet for Diabetes, Miracles do Exist!

By Esmé Stevens and Annet van Dorsser

Yes it is possible, healing with raw food, losing weight, and detoxing. Read the stories below of four people who were diagnosed with Diabetes II. They were told by their doctors that this horrible disease is not curable.

In November 2007, we interviewed them at the Tree Of Life in Israel near the Dead Sea. Here Gabriel Cousens - one of the most respected living raw food diet gurus - runs a pilot for diabetes. The results are incredible! It proofs that healing with raw food is possible! Within a week!
A man with 20 years history of diabetes and a woman with blood sugar levels as high as 700 could throw away their medication within ONE week of green juice fasting... And as a bonus, they also lost weight and detoxed.

Nissim's story
20 years ago, Nissim was diagnosed with diabetes. He tried all the medication to get rid of it. He always looked for the best professors, and newest medication. His fasting blood sugar was always around 300. Since nothing else helped and he decided to give the Tree of Life Juice Fasting Program a chance.
He was quite sceptic when he started, but the two detox weeks were a miracle. On the first day he got rid of his medication. After 4 days his blood sugar values where in the 70's. After 2 weeks they were stable and have not been higher than 80 anymore!
He now knows that he cured his so called "incurable disease" and can't stop talking about what a miracle it is.

Meira's story
Meira found out she had diabetes 7 years ago. First she took homeopathic medicine. That helped for a while, but then, her blood sugar went up, and up, and up. She said, she made the mistake of starting to use drugs. But then, it only got higher, and higher and higher. Eventually her blood sugar levels reached 700. She got desperate, even after eating very small amounts of food such as a table spoon of rice or even an egg, her blood sugar would jump up to 500.
Her doctor told her she could not be cured and really had to go on insulin. That's when decided to do the juice fasting. This was her last resort and hope to avoid the insulin.
She wasn't disappointed. Today, she is so, so happy. Her blood sugar went down to normal levels within days and she doesn't need medication anymore. For her it is a miracle also.

Dalia's story
5 years ago, Dalia was diagnosed with diabetes. She too took all the medication there is, except for insulin. She didn't want to suffer from the side effects of the diabetes. Then her son found out about this raw food diabetes program. She decided to give it a try. To her surprise she was never hungry during the fast and it was all very easy.
Today, she cured herself from diabetes, she does no longer need any medication. She now knows about healing with raw food.

Chava's story
Ghava was a vegetarian and always ate relatively healthy organic food. She believes, her diabetes was caused by stress and lack of exercise. Her blood sugar was 150, not as bad as the others, but she knew it was time to do something. She came to the Tree of Life because of the holistic approach and thorough support. First juice fasting, than clearing negative emotions. Next are the cooking classes and for the next year, she'll get monthly check ups by the medical support group in Israel. She even gets weekly meetings with other raw food people in her city. She's so exited about the program. She made it her mission in life to tell others about the healing with raw food for diabetes. She tells everybody not to take medication but come to the tree of life first!

The stories here are success stories about raw food and diabetes. However, you can cure yourself from many more chronic illnesses with raw food. Raw food and health go hand in hand! Will these people miss their steaks with French fries, sure they'll miss them. But all of them say it's a small trade compared to what they got back: their health, energy, weight loss and a better clarity of mind.
If you'd like to know more about the juice fasting or about the Tree of Life Program for Diabetes you can send an e-mail at: info@rawfood.nl.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Nutrients in Raw Food and Cooked Food

This is a video everybody should see. Storm Talifero compares the amount of nutrients in raw food compared to the amount in cooked food. It's really convincing. A raw apple pie has a much greater nutrient density than a cooked apple pie. It's easier and faster to make a raw pie. So ... why bother to bake it any longer.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Free Raw Food Recipes

Do you want to eat raw, but you don't know what to make?
Do you feel bored with all the lettuce you are eating?
Are you hungry all the time?
Do you lose too much weight?
Do you look for more variety?
Are you doubting, whether you get all your nutrients?
Do you want to know, what to do, to succeed on a 100% raw food diet?
Do you want to make something special for your friends?
Do you look for recipes to get healthier?
Do you look for recipes to lose weight?

Fill out your name and email below and receive your free raw food recipes.
I'm sure they will help you to find your way in the raw and health food world.

Sign up here and receive your first free raw food recipe today.

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Natural Raw Food Cure for Diabetes in Israël

From 19-02-2008 till 10-03-2008 by Gabriel Cousens and the staff of Tree of Life.

A 21 days healing vacation near the Dead Sea in Israël, featuring deep body cleansing and advanced treatment for diabetes. We will shift to a healthy lifestyle, based on live-organic raw food nutrition and conscious transformation of habits. After the 21 days there is a one year follow-up support.

This is a medical breakthrough for success in treating diabetes, based on 35 years of experience in reversing diabetes naturally with groups and individuals. We are regularly achieving these results:
Get people off of their insulin and oral medications within 1- 4 days
Return most people to a blood sugar below 100 within 21 days.

The challenge is to stay balanced by maintaining a healthy raw food diet and a healthy lifestyle as we share in detail at the program. A year follow up of monthly consultation with our Naturopath is included for your support.

The program addresses the medical, emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of diabetes. It offers a rapid shift in the quality of life. The impressive results are maintained by a one year follow-up support.

For more information or if you would like to participate, contact us at info@rawfood.nl
We made great video's from this raw food program in Israël last November, that will be on the blog soon.
Keep checking the blog for more information.

Free E-book about a Healthy Raw Food Diet

"Have you tried one diet after the other, without being satisfied?"Then you’re at the right place: We will send you the new E-book “The 7 Secrets of a Good Diet” for free.
Is raw food healthy? Do you need animal foods? Are supplements necessary to meet your nutritional needs? Is it possible to live on a vegan diet? Is it better to cook foods or eat them raw? Can you enjoy eating a raw food diet in a cold climate? What's important to know, if you want to live on a 100% raw diet?
These questions and more are answered in: "The 7 Secrets of a Good Diet" by Annet van Dorsser MSc
Receive your free copy now, by filling out your name and emailaddress.


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Demi Moores Raw Food Diet

By Esme Stevens, TheBestofRawFood.com

At 40, Demi Moore makes a comeback in the movie "Full Throttle". She's walking in her bikini and looks better than people half her age. Her secret? The raw food diet! Many celebrities follow this diet now, because raw food makes them feel and look fantastic, the natural way.

Here's a list of some raw food celebrities:

Actors:

  • Woody Harrelson
  • Lisa Bonet
  • Robin Williams
  • Alicia Silverstone
  • Chalie Trotter
  • Uma Thurman
Singers:
  • Sting
  • Beyonce
  • David Bowie
Other:
  • Donna Karan (Designer)
  • Charlie Trotter (Chicaco Based Celebrity Chef
  • Jack Lalanne (The famous 90 fitness trainer and juicer)
  • Carol Alt (Elite Top Model)
  • Steve Jobs (Apple CEO)

If you're interested in Demi Moore's raw food diet, you’ll need to say goodbye to processed food, breads, and almost everything else in the grocery store. No food is cooked above 118 degrees.

According to conventional medical and nutrition scientists there is no benefit to raw food: the human body doesn't need enzymes from raw food because it produces its own enzymes that allow us to digest food. In addition, they believe that cooking actually increases the nutritional value, because cooking breaks the tough cell wand of raw uncooked food. Examples are lycopene from tomatoes and beta-carotene from carrots.

However, raw food gurus disagree. Experts like Gabriel Coussens M.D., Robert Young M.D., Ann Wiggmore and David Wolfe - together about 80 years of research and experience - proof the contrary. They say that even though your body can produce its own enzymes, this cost a lot of energy. Eating enzyme-dead foods places a burden on your pancreas and other organs and overworks them, which eventually exhausts these organs.

More and more studies bring to light that all heated and most processed foods do indeed contain carcinogens, a brand of toxins that are often cancer-causing in tests on mice and rats.

Further these experts agree that lycopene in tomatoes and beta-carotene from carrots don't have to be cooked to be absorbed by the body. If you juice or blend them they will be absorbed by the digestive tract within 20 minutes.

It is becoming increasingly clear that one of the major reasons juicing works is that it is living raw food. Most people notice significant improvements in our energy and health if we increased the amounts of living raw foods in our diet. If you juice vegetables on a regular basis, it is quite easy to consume over 50% of your foods as raw.

Of course, following a raw food diet, you have to make sure that it's balanced: you should ensure that you eat enough greens, germinated nuts and seeds, superfoods and fruits. A balanced raw food diet meal plan is key to get the right raw food results. And of course use common sense: a raw diet of only raw sugars and fats, with little nutrition can't be healthy for you in the long term.

If you want to go on Demi Moores raw food diet and loose weight healthily, you will benefit from a raw food coach. A coach can help you transition to a raw food diet and assist you with a balanced diet plan A coach can determine how to modify the diet or what foods to choose in order to meet your needs for key vitamins and minerals including calcium, iron, zinc, B12, and protein.

For example, you may decide to be a semi-raw eater and include some cooked whole grains. While you may lose weight and feel more energetic by eliminating processed foods, meeting your nutritional needs is equally important, and finding a way to eat that you can live with long-term is the ultimate goal of success.

There are many great books that will support you and help you getting started. Carol Alt's "Into The Raw" is a great book if you want to begin a raw food diet, and there are many courses and retreats you can follow so you'll start off in a fun and healthy a way. Then, you'll see, that loosing weight will be as easy and effective as can be on Demi Moore's raw food diet.

For more information about the raw food diet and weight loss Click Here!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Raw Food Recipe for Strawberry Shortcake

I just took a look at a great website: http://www.thegardendiet.com/. Very inspiring, especially their documentary Breakthrough, that you can find at Google Video. Here is a great raw food recipe for a vegan strawberry shortcake from their website. Enjoy!

This recipe serves 4-6
You need a blender and a food processor

Ingredients:
20-30 strawberries
3 handfuls of your favorite nuts
1 handful of dates
2 tablespoons of honey
2 dashes of salt
a dash of olive oil

Put the nuts into the dry bender.
Add a dash of salt and blend until powder.

Pit the dates and process until mushy in a food processor
Add ground nuts and process a bit.
Add a spoonful of honey and process until soft and doughy.
Put the “cake” into a large bowl.

Put a big handful of strawberries into the food processor.
Process until chunky.

Put the rest of the strawberries in the blender.
Add a spoonful of honey, a dash of olive oil and a dash of salt.
Blend until creamy.
Add processed strawberries. Do not blend.

Pour strawberries over the cake and mix together.

Raw Food Diet for Children

Fresh vegetable juice by Annejet.
Annejet, 5 years old, makes her own vegetable juice from organic carrots, kale and white cabbage. Here you can see, how easy it is.
A raw food diet is great for kids. They love to make raw food recipes themselves. And ... their own creations taste always better, than the ones we serve :-)

David Wolfe - Seaweeds & Glyconutrients in the Raw Food Diet

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

David Wolfe: Raw Food Diet for Success


David Wolfe explains how your personal mission and values will help guide you to success in diet, health, and life.

Being on your mission creates vibrant health. You need the right nutrition to support you on your mission. This way you can never be sick again, work as much as you want, have an infinite amount of energy and inspire always.

What is your mission? That what feels good. Your mission is what you love to do more than anything, even if you don't get paid for it. If you do what feels good, you are guided all the way to paradise. If you do what feels bad, you will be guided to hell. That what it is all about.

Line up your food with your destiny. What you put in your mouth is sacred. It's the basis of your thinking. Attention goes, where energy flows. If you change your food, you will change your thinking and level of consciousness. Your values will change. All you have to know is your destination.

Come out of dogmatism as far as food is concerned. Your food is sacred. Get rid of guild, fear, shame. Laughter heals, loves heals, food filled with light heals, food that is fun to eat heals.

This is what Raw Food Success is all about!

The "Eat Your Vegetables" Vitality Race

Here you see the vitality race between a fruit/vegetable fan and a junk food addict. One loves raw foods like bananas, oranges and watermelons, the other one sweets, like ice cream, chocolate and cake.
Who do you think will win this race? I think the distance between the two should be much bigger.

What if the winner would have added superfoods, like raw cacao, maca, bee pollen, marine fytoplankton, MSM, spirulina and chlorella? Can you imagine?

Recipe for a Healthy Cream of Tomato Soup

Ingredients:
2 medium size tomatoes
3 dried tomatoes, soaked
1 handful of fresh basil
20 macadamia’s, soaked
1 tablespoon of hemp oil
White pepper
Soak water of the dried tomatoes
Warm water
Salt, if needed (dried tomatoes are salty)

In a blender (handhold or normal) mix all ingredients until smooth and creamy.
Save some fresh basil to garnish the soup.
You can soak the tomatoes in little water and add warm water, while preparing the soup. This way you get a nice warm raw winter soup. It’s also possible to warm the soup slightly on your stove after preparing.
In summer you can eat the soup cold.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Alkaline Foods and Positive Thoughts

Keeping your body alkaline is the key to good health. You can do this by eating lots of green leafy vegetables, non-sweet fruits, specific herbs and superfoods, sea vegetables and drinking enough water. This lifestyle is promoted in the raw food diet. Positive thoughts are also a very important factor.

Avoid as much as possible: all animal food and dairy, sugar, coffee, alcohol, smoking, highly processed foods and chemical additives, which create an acid condition in the body. This acidity is the basis of all modern diseases. Negative thinking also contributes highly to an acid condition.

Become aware of your thoughts and if necessary, change them. It is possible and it will benefit your health greatly.