5 Flabbergastingly Good Reasons to Give Up Gluten

1. Boost your health and your energy!

If you are one of the approximately 40% of the U.S. population that has gluten sensitivity, consuming gluten could be seriously draining your body’s energy reserves. Fatigue is one of the top symptoms of gluten intolerance. Eating foods you are intolerant to stimulates the nervous system and adrenal glands to produce stress hormones that will eventually cause adrenal exhaustion. Adrenal exhaustion=fatigue and mood imbalances. Even if you are eating sprouted grain bread made with sprouted wheat, it still counts as eating gluten and could be the cause of your mid-afternoon energy crashes, anxiety, and mood swings.

2. Your hormones and weight will naturally balance. Read more »

Sisterhood Spotlight: Ginger Burr – a truly Raw Diva!

Ginger Burr is our fiery compassionate fashion consultant providing tips, tricks and inspiration for the Diva side of our Raw Diva adventures. You can learn more about her home study course, Who Taught You How to Dress at her website Total Image Consultants.

The truth is that I have been a nutrition nut since I was in my teens – so that would be near about a million years ago!  At the time, available nutritional information (at least in my little town of Feeding Hills) amounted to counting calories and being sure to eat vegetables (I’m not sure canned green beans were on the list but to be fair my mom did make fresh ones, too.)

I was a walking calorie counter and could tell you the calorie count in just about any food.  Cranberry sauce…got it!  Cantalope, easy!  My friends would call me (since there was no internet then…see, it really was a million years ago!) to find out how many calories they had eaten in any meal.

Add to that the fact that I would often sit watching TV at night munching on radishes, celery and carrots and be perfectly content.  To mix it up, sometimes I would eat grapefruit (oh, and an occasional potato chip but not as often as you’d think!)

Sadly, none of this was enough to keep me as healthy as I wanted.  In the Read more »

Sisterhood Spotlight: Vicky controls Gestational Diabetes with diet alone!

Vicky has been a participant in WISH and was gracious enough to share her experience with diabetes.  We felt her experience could be very helpful to others who may need to adjust their diet to help keep their blood sugar in range.  Please post any questions below.  I think this is an area we will want to be exploring more.  xoxoxo  Lyn

Hello, my name is Vicky Glisson.  I am a 42 yr old mother of five children, 4 boys and 1 girl.  Our baby girl Cadence was born at home on July 29^th.  I would like to share my experience with staying on a raw diet when I developed gestational diabetes during my 5^th pregnancy.

Our family has been on a raw diet (75-90%) since January of 2008. When I became pregnant with Cadence I was very excited to have the chance to experience a pregnancy while on a raw diet and give my next child the most nutritious, healthy start I could.

I find out I have Gestational Diabetes….

When it was time to test for Gestational Diabetes I decided not to drink the glucose drink, but to test my blood sugar after each meal with a glucose monitor for one week.  My blood sugar tested higher than normal.  When I took my results to my midwife she explained that I had Gestational Diabetes and that she could not do a home delivery if I could not keep my blood sugar in a normal range. Read more »

Wild Summer Edibles: The Healthiest Foods are Free!

It is often written that organically-grown foods contain two to three times the amount of known vitamins, minerals and other essential health-giving nutrients as foods grown with the help of herbicides and pesticides. But what is unfortunately heard less often is that wild-growing food, that being, foods that spring forth from the power of Mother Earth alone, meaning no fertilizers needed for the soil, no hybridizing, no chemical sprays, no human intervention whatsoever, just natural rain cycles, Sunshine, and whatever soil these awesome plants can sink their roots into, contain more life giving and life-enhancing qualities than even the ‘best’ store-bought organically farmed foods do. Not just vitamins and minerals and all the other scientific discovered elements, but real life-force energy. These are Natural Superfoods. Eating these foods always brings a smile to your face. And that’s the best thing ever!

Imagine if we city dwellers could be so privileged as to be able to include such jewels in our diet. Well we can! Yes, right here in these sprawling giants known as Toronto or Montreal, we have a plethora of high quality foods just waiting for us to discover. City green spaces, thickly forested areas, little back laneways, front lawns, backyards and even our own flower beds and pots, all play host to a wide variety of wild foods. So what are these Magic Wonders? Let’s take a closer look.

Lamb’s Quarters is an incredible green leaf vegetable that Loves to grow from the base of fences in little laneways, usually more prolifically so on the Sunny side. It has a wonderfully salty taste that is NOT bitter. Fresh in a salad it’s dynamite. By mid-June it’s in full swing and lasts that way until well into September when the plants begin to seed. The seeds can be eaten raw and have a great spicy flavour, or they can be boiled for making a breakfast gruel or ground into flour. This plant just Loves to give. Given the right conditions this generous bush can grow up to two meters tall – spilling out into all directions. (Someday it will be illegal to cut this plant down). Lamb’s-quarters is very high in vitamin A, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus and is also a good source of protein, trace minerals, B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, iron, and fiber. (And it tastes great, too!).

A great salad companion to the above mentioned is Wood Sorrel. What’s so amazing is that this little Gem can often be found sprawling about on the ground right around the base of Lamb’s Quarters. Isn’t that convenient? She’s so wonderful! Wood Sorrel boasts a delicate lemony flavour, capable of giving any salad an original twist. As an added bonus, this plant can more than likely be found right in your own flower bed, box or outdoor potted plants. (Its seeds usually come downloaded for free in most bags of potting soil. Lamb’s Quarters, too! So you don’t have to go far. But please take note, if you find Lamb’s Quarters growing in potting soil that has been artificially enhanced with nutrients, it is not advisable to eat it, as Lamb’s Quarters are very adept at drawing nitrates from the soil and will therefore contain an unnatural balance of minerals.)

Let’s move on to one of the most power-packed foods Mother Nature has to offer. Dandelion! Yes, the scourge of many a Lawn Lover, is actually a True Gift. Often thought of as a bitter horror, dandelion can be quite palatable when the leaves are picked young. I’m told the flower buds pickled are great, too. Baked and ground, the roots will deliver an interesting coffee. And if you’re into juicing, even more mature leaves can be used. Combining four to six dandelion leaves with celery, cucumber and an apple makes a splendid juice, chalk-full of nutrients. Dandelion is a proven diuretic and revered liver cleanser.

The great thing about these wild foods is that you know how fresh they are because you picked them. No more wondering about how long they’ve been sitting in cold-storage or on the side of the highway. You can even stand there and eat them straight away. It’s a total blast. I literally do this regularly throughout the Summer in Montreal.

Another dainty treat are Daisies, not only are they exquisitely pretty, but the lighter coloured green leaves are great in salads.

Plantain, is about as common as grass and clover, and can be used in salads, too. But just make sure to use the young tender leaves, as the older ones can be quite stringy. Much has been written of the healing virtues of Plantain and a wealth of information can be found at www.botanical.com in an essay entitled A Modern Herbal by Mrs. M. Grieve.

In only slightly more wild areas and later in the Summer, the velvety red fruit clusters of the Red Sumac shrubs can be used to make the most fantastic ‘pink lemonade’. Gather entire fruit clusters then rub gently to bruise the berries. Soak them in cold water for 15 minutes then strain the water through cheese cloth and chill. Sweeten with Agave nectar or maple syrup and voila, you have a perfect summer drink. It really is good and it’s that easy!

City green spaces are amongst the many great places for finding all the different varieties of clover. They are rich sources of protein and can quickly turn any salad into a visual splendour. The fun just never ends! (Just get there before the lawn mowers do!) Red clover also contains minerals such as calcium, magnesium, chromium, potassium, and vitamins such as niacin, thiamine and vitamin C.

Well that should serve as a good Wild Food in the City primer, but I’m sure there’s probably a lot more goodies springing up between the cracks for us to discover. As wonderful and wholesome as I believe the practice of wild food foraging to be, a gentle word of caution is necessary to share at this point. One must be aware of dogs and their need to pee, seemingly at random, when they are out and about. So, use your best judgement, be particular about where you forage from, and when picking from plants growing along fences, choose leaves from higher up on the stocks.

I really believe that foraging for wild food, even if we are walking along a concrete sidewalk to get there, truly connects us to the energy of the planet or at the very least, heightens our awareness of our home, The Earth. The Earth is warm, giving and vibrantly alive and these qualities are passed unto us to a greater and greater extent the more we engage in a close and caring relationship with Her. The environmental impact of eating wild foods can be profound. Every little bit counts. I’d just like to write that again – every little bit counts. Consider how much of the fresh produce that we in Canada purchase daily, is actually coming all the way from California in a truck and is packaged in plastic. We can collect wild food on foot and it requires no packaging. When you’re finished there’s nothing left. That’s it, that’s all! If those who feel the slightest want decide to take a stroll next Saturday morning down the back lanes behind their homes, they will definitely come home with some interesting goodies for lunch. You might even come back with a whole salad and some herbs for a soup. (Just the other day I came across a substantial amount of Wild Garlic Mustard in the forest on Mont Royal in Montreal. I didn’t even know that garlic mustard existed until I bit into it. And I’ve since been back for more). Now that’s seriously delicious stuff. You can go a long way with that!!

To read more stories about Jimbo’s Journey with Raw Food,  visit his blog at www.jimbolinasunshine.com

Special Teleseminar Guest #4: Dr. Ritamaire is The Glutenator

Actually she calls herself the Gluten Nazi, but we felt that word just leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, so we transformed her into the Glutenator, which is a combo of Gluten and Terminator. What do you think? Either way, Dr. Ritmarie is going to shake the boat, cause a bit of commotion and get you off your “Wheaties”.

YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS CALL!!

Day 7: Easy Does It Every Time

Today is Day 7 of our 90 Day Detox. 90 days is a long time. I thought I’d include a picture of the dreamy wonder boy I had a date with this week. He he… Just kidding. But this picture is important and I’ll explain in a moment. First…

Yesterday I dipped my spoon a few times in the “Cream” of Broccoli Soup I made for the kids, so that’s my official cheat for yesterday. If you want the recipe, it’s a knockout and you can find it here! If you’re not on the 100% raw path for this adventure, this is a great vegan soup that is loaded with greens or whatever good veggies you have in the house.

I sure noticed how it threw me off to eat late the other night. Today I started off with some nibbles of grawnola, but I’d like to stick to water for the rest of the day and evening. I’d like to get back on track to eating first things in the morning and stopping in the afternoon.

3:00pm would be my last meal target.

Do you wanna try that with me tomorrow, Sunshine?

Here’s a very, very, very valuable piece of information that will really help you in life and help you if you’re going to take the 3:00 pm challenge with me this week:

Where you struggle to control some area of your life as you would like, simply approach the situation on a gentle gradient and soon you will have it handled.

It doesn’t matter what the subject is, the approach is the same. It can be a nasty relationship with your ex-husband (I love you, Jason!) It can be a office desk with clutter out of control. Food addictions, personal obsessions and phobias all fall under the same rule. Take change on a gradient. If you can control a small area of something and increate your control by a gradient over time, you’ll eventually master that area of your life and you’ll get it! (Whatever it is you’re trying to get, that is!)

Let’s take the example of eating late. Well, if this happens to be your main area of difficulty, something that you REALLY struggle to control, then gradually move toward your target on a gradient. Don’t jump from porking out on midnight corn chip sessions to expecting yourself to finish your last meal at 3:00 pm. Start creeping toward your target. You’ll get there.

If you’re not sure that you can make it at 3:00pm for tomorrow’s last meal, then how about if you eeeease and creep your way there with me this week? We can just stop eating an hour earlier every day. Then on Friday, you can stop at 3:00. If you think you can do 3:00pm right away, then go ahead! I’m going to try.

I hope you’re still wondering what’s up with that hot stallion above…

On March 7th, my brother, who I TOTALLY LOVE AND ADORE, has invited me to celebrate his birthday with him at a WRESTLING MATCH!! CRAZY! You should see the Facebook invitation he sent. I can’t believe he’s inviting me to get drunk and go wrestling. First of all, a few thimbles of any alcholic drink and I’m on the floor. We’re going to be shopping at second hand stores and dressing the part. Making posters and wearing greasy, neon t-shirts.  It’s going to be the strangest thing I’ve ever done and while a big part of me is completely repulsed by the idea, I loooove the strangeness of it all.

While the chances of me burping back beer are slimmer than he might like to think, I’m thrilled to be included in such a Trashy Adventure in spite of all my eco-obsessions! I’ll keep you posted when it gets a bit closer!

Speaking of wrestling and raw divas… this is so funny! When I first started this adventure, I had no idea that there were some hot wrestling babes known as the “Raw Divas”. Seriously. Anyway, it would perturb me that when people googled “Raw Divas” it came up wrestling babes everywhere. Well, Google says that we win the search engine war. At least, in text we do. While the first 2 listings in Google are our sites now, Google images pops in some hottie photos right on top. Anyway, for March 7th, maybe I’ll wear my “Raw Diva” hoodie and people will think I’m cool!

There’s something really important that I’d like to address tomorrow. A kind of detox that doesn’t get discussed very often, but amidst all that we’ve been doing, it’s the thing I’m most committed right now to “releasing” in the name of detoxification.

I love what we’re doing here, because it’s not just about the food.

I hope you’re doing well, Sunshine. I loooove it when you leave me comments. It boosts me, too. It really does. Like the little “Go, Tera, Go!” that I need to continue and make this my priority.

Thanks.

Tee RAH! Tee RAH!

Today’s Inspirational Story:

(I know I owe you another one from yesterday!) This comes from Alissa Geurink who has been an incredible support to our community and programs behind the Diva curtain. Here’s a story that is at the heart of the things that matter most to me in life–getting people off psychiatric drugs. There are few things that spark my inner fire than knowing people are being put on psychiatric drugs. The fact that the innocent are the primary target through school systems is the kind of thing that would make me a popular writer on Mike Adam’s website. The guy kicks Psych-butt and I love him for it. Around here I try to keep things more positive, rather than rage against the evil of the world. It’s not that I can’t see it, or am not aware of the things that are going on out there–it’s just that I believe that what we put our attention on grows… validate what you want to create more of in the world. There are enough merchants of fear and choas in the world. ‘Round here we like to keep it poppin’ with good vibrations. So give it up for an incredible sister with a powerful story of tranformation: (loooove you like glue, Alissa! Thank you for all you do to support us ’round here!)

When you are on anti-depressants you are treating the symptoms and not the cause. There are several things that can trigger depression from a life changing event to a change in your diet. All of my life I feel like I have suffered from depression. I just did not feel right. Life in general did not click. I managed it pretty well for a long time, often times that would include putting up a fake façade and hiding in the crowd. I started to lose it when I had a year of changes. It was 2002: the year after the terrorists crashed into the twin towers, the year that I got married, the year I moved to a different city, the year my mother died, the year my brother died, the year I started to lose it. I think I pushed that back in my head and didn’t give myself enough room to cope with all of the changes. I went on with life.

A couple of years later, hormones entered my body as I started gearing up for the biggest change in my life – A child. That was it; after Alexander (whom I refer to as my little angel – different story) was born I went into a huge depressive state. It was not a matter of coping – it was hitting me hard. I felt all of the changes that occurred flood back into me. At that time my job was shaky, and I was butting heads left and right with my mother-in-law. I also felt the past depressive state come forward too: all of the feelings that I had all my life – the feeling that life was not clicking, not being worthy to be on the same plane of existence, feeling ugly, fat, the list goes on. I went to the doctor and explained what was going on (at that point I did not want to live). She put me on a high dosage of Lexapro. This helped me to cope with some of the issues that were going on in my life. I tried to go off of it about 6 months after I went on it, but found myself going right back on it. According to the doctors Lexapro is not addictive, but I found myself needing to take it otherwise I would get dizzy and fuzzy minded. I wouldn’t have control over what I was saying. That was about 2 ½ years ago. About 4 months ago, I wanted to get off the stuff. I felt that I was walking around like a zombie; I was in a constant state of “whatever”. I started losing my creativity. I wanted my passion and fire back, only without the ups and downs of my depressive state. I wanted to look in the mirror and love the person staring back at me! I wanted to be the me that I have always wanted and dreamed to be!

They tell us depression can come from a chemical imbalancement. I have explored gluten and dairy free options before and I knew that I had felt so good when I wasn’t eating wheat or dairy. I thought why not give it a try. During my research I came across the raw lifestyle. It clicked. I knew it was going to be an uphill battle with lots of protesting and questions from my meat eating husband (I think we had one of our biggest arguments over raw food), but I wanted to give it a try. And I did… I got tons of cook books (okay, un-cookbooks) and went out grocery shopping for raw food type substances. But it never happened. I was too addicted to cooked food and by that time to wheat and to dairy. Some time in the fall, I received a flyer for the Body Enlightenment System through one of my raw food websites that I joined. It looked pricey, but I knew that this would be the push that I needed! It was a support group for people who wanted to get a better lifestyle through raw foods. I would even get a buddy! Someone who I could get a hold of when I felt like eating a donut! This seemed like an amazing program so I spent the money and joined up.

It is now about 2 months after the program ended. There is a new program starting up in March. I have never thought twice about the money I spent. Going on this program has been the best decision I have made. It connected me with so many wonderful people. Some helped me, and I know that I have helped others. Eating the way that the BES showed us allowed me to lose about 10 pounds and slowly go off of Lexapro! To this day I do not regularly take Lexapro, I am off it and I feel great!!!! But most importantly I feel like I have a grasp of what life is. I feel connected to it and know what path I should take. Every day I wake up smiling and ready to give a big hug to who ever wants it. I can’t help to giggle in the morning when I blend my green smoothie. People have noticed and have asked what my secret is: I tell them the BES system!

making a killing

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you, or someone you know, are currently taking psychiatric medication, I think really think you should see this. It’s a DVD called, Making A Killing and my only professed Raw Food hero, Mike Adams is a shining star feature in this DVD. (He’s even on the back cover, which is what made me pick up the DVD in the first place.) This DVD is a reality-shattering film. It totally uncovers the psychiatric drug story for what it is.

Watch it and get a whole new perspective on life. Buy it, watch it, then leave your copy on a coffee table in the waiting room at the doctor’s office when you’re done.

There is a way out and people deserve to know this.

One more good reason to go dairy and gluten free!

I loved this film so much I ordered a case so that I could help get the message out there. You can order your copy HERE! (only 96 copies available!)

How to give your cells a kick with Spicy Kale Tomato Sprouts Soup

My tongue is happily tingling from the spicy raw Kale Tomato Sprouts soup I made for dinner. I got a sudden urge for a raw soup; perhaps it was inspired by Tera’s Cream of Broccoli soup she wrote about last week. Or, maybe it was my body simply calling out for a dose of dark greens by way of a soup.

So off to the kitchen I went to work with what I had available. In the blender went a few handfuls of kale and a cut-up tomato. I added a cap of extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil, a few sprinkles of black pepper and Himalayan sea salt, and a shake or two of curry powder and cayenne pepper, followed by a bit of water — just enough to help everything blend. I didn’t blend it for too long since I wanted to encounter a few chewable pieces while eating the soup. When I decided to turn the blender off, I ended up with precisely the soup consistency I wanted!

Once I removed the top of the container, the smell was a bit strong, so I thought, “Oh no!” However, I was pleasantly surprised by the taste when I sampled it. It was indeed spicy, but pleasant — the type of “kick” I could tolerate, enjoyably. I poured the soup into a bowl and then decided to place some Alfalfa Sprouts on the top, and that turned out to be the perfect touch once they settled into the semi-thick liquid. The sprouts provided a noodle effect, but then as I ate some more, the soup started to feel like the texture of fish chowder, a staple popular in Bermuda (where I grew up).

Toward the end of my soup adventure, the spice was starting to slightly become a little too much for my palette, so I figured a slice of Ezekiel bread would help balance things. I happened to have one slice left, which I lightly toasted. Viola…that helped me to polish off the meal ever so nicely!

My tongue has now stopped tingling, but it’s as if my cells are singing, joyfully — thanks to that spicy Kale Tomato Sprouts soup! It’s a wonderful sensation, perhaps prompted by the fact that I drank nothing but water from about 1:00 p.m. the day before making the soup through to the next morning! Maybe that mini-water fast has helped me feel my core a little more closely today.

I think my sudden green-soup urge was a friendly reminder that raw foods truly do go deeper into the body and serve a far greater purpose than surface-level foods.

With Gratitude for Raw Bounty,

Penny

Photo by Stef Noble, flickr.com

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Part 2 (two days later) — The Soup Experiment Continues

How to make Carrot Avocado Sprouts Soup!

Photos by me this time!

Well, I thought I was done with this post, but then I went and experimented with a Carrot Avocado Sprouts soup for today’s lunch. Oh my goodness…talk about something good. Wow!

So, how did I make it?

In a blender, I simply put…

~ 2 large carrots I had cut up into chunks

~ 1 avocado

~ approx. 1 teaspoon of cold-pressed olive oil

~ a sprinkle or two of Himalayan sea salt, black pepper, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper (I also added about a teaspoon or less of Apple Cider Vinegar, simply because I’ve wanted to take that, daily, this week.)

~ a tad of water to help move things around in the blender

I started the blender and got a chunky consistency which I liked, but when I poured it into the bowl, some of the mixture stayed in the blender. So, I simply added a little more water in the blender and re-blended that portion. Then, I poured that over what I had already put in the bowl. Oh now it looked like the perfect soup! (Remember, it’s a little chunky underneath. My preference!)

I added Alfalfa Sprouts on top (which give a noodle effect when eating), took a seat that would allow me to look out at nature as I ate, said a prayer full of gratitude, and then that soup was gone in no time. I said “ummm” with just about every spoonful.

I think this is a perfect soup for the fall. I am totally loving this raw-soup experiment.

Have a soup-er raw fall. I hope you’ll enjoy soup-ing up as much as I am!

Love,

Penny