Zinc and the Raw Food Diet

by Joanna Beujekian-Steven

When was the last time someone asked you how you could get enough zinc in your diet? Most likely, you’ve heard concerns about protein intake, bio-available calcium and heme vs non-heme iron, but zinc is a mineral that seldom ever comes up, even though according to the National Institute of Health “Zinc is needed for the body’s defensive (immune) system to properly work. It plays a role in cell division, cell growth, wound healing, and the break down of carbohydrates . Zinc is also needed for the senses of smell and taste.” Deficiency symptoms include hairloss, slow growth, poor healing rate, depression etc. And what’s more, while we can get nearly every nutrient on a vegetarian diet as easily as or more easily than the Standard American Diet, zinc is actually a little more problematic, and as the Vegetarian Society explains, “Only 20% of the zinc present in the diet is actually absorbed by the body” due to the presence of phytic acid, which is somewhat destroyed by cooking, a process raw foodists try to avoid.

Good sources of zinc usually include liver, oysters, and other foods no vegetarian would want to include in their diet! But even while eskewing meat and animal products, we can get enough zinc. Rich plant based sources of zinc include sesame seeds (14%/oz), shiitake mushrooms (14%/oz), pumpkin seeds (14%/oz and a great source of amino acids). hemp seeds (20%/oz, a source of complete protein), tahini from whole, unroasted sesame seeds (20%/oz), cashew nuts and pine nuts (11%/oz), cacao powder (~15%/oz), avocado (10% per avocado) etc. Raw, organic seeds in general are a very good source of nutrition, and are a valuable addition to any diet.

Nutritional Data courtesy of Nutrition.com.

Here are some recipes loaded with zinc to get you started!

Warm and Frothy Hemp Cacao

This warm and comforting raw vegan version of hot chocolate will be one of your best allies during the cold winter months! Rich in iron, protein and other life-giving minerals, this is a truly powerful drink! One serving will cover nearly half of your protein needs for the entire day. I like my cacao drinks fairly dark and bitter. For a sweeter beverage, use twice as much sweetener. Use hot water for a warming hot cocoa.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup hemp seeds
• 1 cup water, warm or hot from a kettle
• 3 T cacao powder
• 2 T maple syrup or dark agave nectar
• Optional: pinch cinnamon, lucuma, mesquite, maca etc.

Directions

˜ In a blender, combine all the ingredients until smooth. Taste, and pour in a mug.

Calcium-Rich Chia Pudding

Chia seeds are an amazing source of calcium, a mineral which can be a little hard to get in sufficient quantities on a raw food diet. Add to that sesame seeds, and you’ve got more bioavailable calcium than virtually anyone would get in a bowl of dairy and cooked cereal! Sesame seeds also provide a wealth of zinc, which can be a little hard to find in a vegan diet.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2-4 T agave nectar
• 1-inch vanilla bean
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1/4 t cinnamon

Directions

˜ Blend the sesame seeds, water, agave, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth. Strain through a nut milk bag. Add more agave, if desired. Sesame seeds can be a bit bitter, but as the chia seeds absorb liquid, the pudding will be creamy and mellower.

˜ Stir the chia seeds in the sesame milk. Drink right away, or set aside until thickened.

Rich and Elegant Chocolate Mousse

Feel virtuous while you indulge in this decadent chocolate mousse. Loaded with antioxidants and nutrients, your energy levels will soar with every spoonful!

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

• 2/3 cup maple syrup, agave nectar, or raw honey
• 1/2 t organic vanilla extract
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/4 c. to 1/2 c. cacao powder
• 1/8 t. Celtic sea salt
• 1 t lucuma powder
• 2-4 T water
• 2 T goji berries

Directions

˜ Blend the avocados in a food processor until smooth. Add the other ingredients except for the goji berries, and keep blending until you get a uniformly colored and fluffy mousse.

˜ Spoon the chocolate mousse into a bowl, and refrigerate for about an hour. Sprinkle with goji berries just before serving.

Thank you, Sirova Raw Foods for the recipes.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002416.htm

Chummy Chia Pudding Recipe: Easy to Do and Tastes Amazing

By Jamie Abrams

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to jump on the happy chia eating bandwagon! Now that I have throttled myself aboard this merry eating party there is no going back. So if you feel a bit reluctant to try those tiny black pearls, which absorb H2O or any other moisture like it is going out of style, I say dive in and skinny dip. I won’t lecture you about all the healthful qualities of these gems, but I will leave you with one word ~ YUM ~ oh and a recipe to boot!

Chummy Chia Pudding
Rightly named so! If anyone dares to try a morsel from your bowl you will have a best mate for life!

Ingredients:

• ¼ – ½ C chia seeds
• 2-3 C coconut milk (although not ideal you can use tinned if you can’t make it fresh or to keep it completely raw sub any nut mylk)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• agave or maple syrup to taste
• 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin spice

Directions:

Mix the above ingredients together, cover and place in the fridge for 10+ minutes.
Then decorate with anything that gets you kicking in your knickers! My favorite combination is 2 fresh figs, a handful of fresh raspberries and a handful of small chunked raw fudge.

Not Chocolate Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients:

• ¾ C coconut butter, melted
• ¾ C cacao butter, melted
• ¾ C pumpkin seeds, ground to powder
• 1 C lucuma powder
• 1 C mesquite powder
• 3 tbsp agave or maple syrup

Preparation:
Blend melted butters together. Re-blend with remaining ingredients.
Spread into a glass dish or mold.
Place in fridge for two hours or until set.

This fudge will treat any sweet tooth kindly and your body will love all the healing ingredients. By the way, pumpkin seeds are great for keeping your man’s swimmers strong and healthy!

(Please note my fudge is a spin-off of Kate Magic’s Camu Believe It.)

Jamie Abrams can also be found at www.RawYogaTeacher.com .

If it is good enough for IRON MAN…

Glorious greetings, Girls! This has been a most AWAKENING week while undertaking my ‘speaking fast’…which I plan on writing in detail about soon…

In the meantime, there is something I am bursting to share. Because my routine changed somewhat from the shifting into silence – I took in a movie, which is unusual for me – my beloved took me out on a date night and his Mom took our boys for part of the weekend. (Since I wasn’t talking, a movie seemed like a good idea!)

I had heard from Victoria Boutenko’s newsletter, that IRON MAN drinks a GREEN SMOOTHIE, and so I was curious. I just had to see for myself how Hollywood would translate this! Well, it was as quick as a blink practically, but nevertheless…it was true! I was really tickled. That means that DRINKING GREEN DRINKS IS NOW COOL!

What a great thing! Especially for kids, but for US too!

In fact, instead of being ever so discreet carrying my green smoothie out in public in the hopes of avoiding the inevitable stares and comments like, “What is that green sludge you are drinking?” I welcome them!

The last time this happened, thanks to Hollywood, I was prepared! I wrote on a piece of paper “Have you seen IRON MAN yet? It’s what he drinks!”

That started a whole conversation and I was able to hand out my card and invite people to an upcoming recipe class that I teach. Fantastic!

wuhoo!

Another wonderful side effect of not being able to speak, was not answering phones, not helping with homework, not chatting on the phone with my girls…and so I actually found time to get some PAINTING IN!

Living in silence brings a heightened sense of EVERYTHING, especially my inner world. It reminds me of scuba diving in the Philippines. How GLORIOUS it was ‘down there,’ under the water. Soooo quiet, yet expansive, and breath-takingly BEAUTIFUL. A profound experience!

Submerged as I was this week in my own aura, I created these TWO paintings. Neither one was planned in any way, other than the palette (colors) that I chose.

After I determined the palette, I just did a wash. My boys and I were painting all together, all in silence. It was very moving actually.

Anyway, I quietly stared at my wash, and just sat looking to see if any shapes or forms were hiding there…and the entire painting, each time, was ALREADY THERE, just waiting for me to develop for it to be revealed!

The 2^nd one where Gaia (Mother Earth) is watering the world from her body, was a huge surprise to me! When I first ‘saw’ it, I even wondered if I should paint it, but then I decided to just ‘flow with it’.

When I finished, my boys said “I like it, but I don’t get it” and “why is her stomach leaking, Mama?” LOL! When Luke saw it, his reaction really surprised me! He LOVED IT. He said “the World needs the giving of your art!”

Dorit from the raw Film Festival in Hollywood said these paintings are ‘SPECTACULAR’ and that she would love to commission me to design a logo for her ‘GLADLY.’ Other comments have been; POWERFUL”,“PRIMORDIAL” and “ETHERALLY BEAUTIFUL”.

It was the first time in my life I actually FELT like ‘I AM an Artist’.

What a gift the Silence gave.

Bless!

Shannon ‘Shakaya Breeze’ Leone