Preparing Fermented Foods for Better Digestion

Add this kid and family friendly kimchi recipe to your salad and noodle dishes for great health benefits

Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish (more precisely fermented condiment) that is prepared with some type of cabbage, onions, garlic, lots of spices and of course with some type of fish/shrimp sauce (which makes this not a  vegan dish). It has so many nutritional benefits: rich in vitamin A, B1, B2, calcium, iron and lactic acid bacteria.

Recently I have listened to Donna Gates’s interview on W.I.S.H. (Women’s International Summit for Health) where she talked about the benefits of fermented foods in our diet in great detail. We love kimchi in our house and so I was very happy to find this great family/kid-friendly version our own Raw Mom, Carissa has created for us.

Sesame Noodles with Kimch

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Put Watercress In and Keep Cancer Out!

We’re all pretty good at adding spinach and lettuce to our salads and smoothies, but you can broaden your green horizons and your anti-cancer food arsenal with this peppery partner.

Watercress is one of the many incredible edibles that are scrumptious to eat and stupendously good for you.

This green powerhouse contains 15 essential vitamins and minerals. It packs more vitamin C than oranges, more calcium than milk, and even more iron than spinach. Read more »

3 Deficiencies You Can Develop on the Raw Food Diet (Two of Them Will Surprise You!)

by Dr. Ariel Policano

So, you are loving the raw diet, right?

You’ve lost weight, you have more energy, and a positively juicy new outlook on life. Fantastic!  A raw vegan diet is filled with nutrition, vital force, enzymes and is free of nasty preservatives and chemicals.  It is truly amazing.

Still, even on a raw or high raw diet, it is good to have a health “check-in” from time to time. The fact is there are actually a few deficiencies that could develop on a raw, vegan diet if you aren’t aware of them.  They can develop if you are not meticulous about having diversity and perfect balance. And really, who is?

Here are 3 markers I feel are crucial to keep your eye on. This way, you can be sure you are staying healthy in every way on your raw vegan diet.

1) Ferritin (your iron stores).

2) B12 Levels, measured as methylmalonic acid (MMA).

3) Cholesterol (wait to be surprised here!).

1) Ferritin.

It is important to keep your levels of iron healthy.  Of course, iron allows the transport of oxygen to your cells via the blood.  Low iron levels are commonly referred to as anemia.  One of the most common signs of iron deficiency anemia is Read more »

Nettles – The Holistic Health Hero of Our Wastelands

by Fiona  Hollis

Nettles, nettles everywhere! ‘Ouchy’ weeds that grow in and on anything. Resilient and persistent, nettles grow tall and proud in almost any location. This mysterious plant has some of the best security systems in place, designed to protect their precious leaves with millions of tiny syringes loaded with poison. A veritable electric fence of defense surrounds this plant.  Who would have thought this needle wielding warrior could be such a holistic health hero!

Aside from being a super plant – vitamin and mineral packed with many, many healing and therapeutic values – nettles are used to make paper, dye, rope, linen like fabric, and insect repellent. A green that serves many a need.

In England, there is an annual nettle eating competition at a pub called, The Bottle Inn. I called and asked them about the art of eating raw nettles – it seems that as the sting is only on the upper side of the leaf – the trick is to  fold the sides of the nettle in, and then roll the nettle up – so there is no upper side exposed to the mouth. I was a little confused, “Doesn’t the sting escape when chewed?” I asked… “Yes, sometimes  - your mouth goes kind of numb,” was the reply. If that option sounds a little unnecessarily traumatic, – why not make a smoothie, juice or tea? Read more »

The “Green” on Spinach: History, Use, Benefits, and Nutrition!

- by Echo

Green history of spinach

Spinach, the Queen of the garden patch, is an original vegetable of the East and many believe its origins to be from Persia. Spinach grew wild in Europe, where it was appreciated for its medicinal characteristics; however, it was the Arabs who introduced the cultivation of spinach in Europe around 1000 BC. Read more »

The Popeye Punch!

by Kate Nicholson

As a long-term vegetarian, I’ve suffered from chronic mild anaemia for the last ten years or so. It wasn’t until I switched to a raw vegan diet at the end of last year that my iron levels rocketed from a low-energy haemoglobin level of 10.4 to a ‘got to take the stairs at a run ‘cos I’ve got so much energy‘ 13.7!).  I’m attributing this to a regular intake of my favourite green smoothie – the Popeye Punch!

The Popeye Punch

(By Kate Nicholson)

1 cup of mixed organic berries
1 organic Fairtrade banana
2 handfuls of organic spinach
1 handful of organic parsley
1 tsp spirulina
filtered water to top up
splash of Agave (optional)

The vitamin C rich berries enhance the absorption of the bio-available iron from the spinach. There’s also a host of other health benefits to be gained from this delicious refreshing smoothie – spinach maintains good eyesight by helping to prevent age-related macula degeneration, and also protects against cancer and heart disease.

Bananas contain the mood-enhancer tryptophan and as Fairtrade bananas ensure better wages and working conditions for plantation workers (which consequently has a beneficial knock-on effect for their families) every one benefits! Karma points!

Enjoy!

References:

Adnani, S.  Health benefits of spinach.  Retrieved from

http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/health-benefits-of-spinach.html

Raw Dinner Party & Sweet Potato/Apple Juice Recipe

“Good job, Raw-Vegan Chef,” my husband said to me as he left for work this morning. He was referring to the all-raw dinner party I hosted last night in honor of his parents and two dear friends of ours.

What was on the menu?

Zucchini pasta with tomato sauce, kale/avocado/tomato salad, green salad including romaine lettuce, shredded carrots and grapes (my son’s favorite), pear cobbler, and papaya/banana pudding topped with walnuts.

We had kicked off the cold evening around the cozy fireplace, chatting and reading a few poems from the 2008 Edition of Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans; one of my son’s poems (from 6th grade) is published in that wonderful book of children’s poetry.

We ended our evening with a round of Green Smoothies!

Before our dinner guests relocated to the dining room table for the main meal and dessert, I said “here’s to your health” as I passed out samples of sweet potato/ apple juice with a little cinnamon sprinkled in. I had never thought to juice a sweet potato until I saw Shannon Leone with one in her hand on her video that was recently on Toronto’s W Network website.

Since then, I’ve begun making it for myself and for a customer who supports my new “Bottling Health” business. That website — www.bottlinghealth.com — is coming soon.

Sweet Potato/Apple Juice

Juice a large sweet potato and about two apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and stir. Enjoy!

(Of course, for a larger juice, you may want to juice a couple of sweet potatoes and either two or three apples. Simply adjust to your needs.)

Well, off I go……. My husband has just called from work asking if I would e-mail some pictures of last night’s get-together to him; he wants to share the evening with some co-workers. Yay…another opportunity to spread the wealth about Raw-Vegan living! Maybe I’ll also land some new Bottling Health customers in the process!

In Sweet Potato Health!