Kale: The Most “Used to Be” Loved Green Veggie of All!

- shared from Veraveg.org

Go to any salad bar or fast sandwich place and chances are, if you’re going to see something green and leafy, it’s likely going to be iceberg lettuce.  Now, there’s nothing wrrrrong with iceberg lettuce, but if your goal is to add more greens and nutrition to your diet, you’re just not getting much vitamin or mineral bang for your buck.

In fact, if you’re at that same salad bar, chances are, you’d be better off eating the fresh leafy garnish that the bowl of iceberg lettuce is sitting on because it’s likely kale!

This dark leafy green comes in a variety of types, but they’re all packed with power and, comparatively, make iceberg lettuce seem about as  worthwhile as munching cardboard.  If you’re curious, just click the links to compare the nutritional value of 1 cup of iceberg lettuce compared to 1 cup of kale. Scroll through and compare the vitamins and minerals for each of these leafy greens!  You’ll see that kale is by far the winner.  You can also see how much more kale will do for you to reduce inflammation in your body.  It’s a fabulous leafy green to help with detoxification! (Speaking of which, keep reading and find out how you could win a free detox program!!)

Yet, everywhere you look, it’s good old iceberg lettuce that people eat and recognize most often.  But did you know that kale, yes kale, used to be the green champion and choice of vegetables throughout Europe?

So… what happened???  Read more »

Don’t Turn Down Those Turnip Greens!

- by Maureen Lauder

This just in:  Turnip greens might be the king of greens.  It would take a lot to end my love affair with kale, but I just got a load of the nutritional info on turnip greens and hoo boy!

Here’s why they look so good: Read more »

Postpartum Healing & Natural Vitamin K

by Ruth
There are many traditional therapeutic treatments around the world, specifically designed to heal a woman’s body after she gives birth. A lot of them are in contrast to more modern western medical approaches.

Most ancient healing systems see placing anything cold (an ice pack for example) around the reproductive organs a really bad idea.  If you happen to tear or graze a little, then the ideal solution is to use RAW, fresh honeycomb spread liberally over a sanitary pad, changed a couple of times a day ideally along with some sunshine on your ‘bits’ everyday.

My other favorite tip is something called a ‘java wrap’.  In Indonesian culture its customary to wrap a new mother’s abdomen tightly in cloth after massaging it with special oils. Its such a lovely thing to do for yourself for at least half and hour each day:

? Find a long sash in some nice natural breathable fabric

? Mix together equal parts of ground pumice and red clay, store this in a jar

? Mix together 10 drops of geranium, 5 drops of eucalyptus and 5 drops of peppermint essential oil into 50mls of your favorite cold pressed unrefined carrier oil

? When you have a spare moment, mix together equal parts of the clay and oil blend

? Massage your belly with this mix in a clockwise direction, focusing on firming up the skin

? Take the length of fabric and wrap it over the bare skin on top of the massage mix

? When you’re done, shower off or just wipe any excess clay of with the fabric. I guarantee you’ll feel so revitalized and uplifted and your belly will be well on its way to regaining its former shape.

Increase your Vitamin K Levels Ready for Birth Through Nutrition

The issue of whether or not to administer vitamin K to your newborn is entirely a personal choice and one well worth researching.  No matter how you approach this, increasing vitamin K levels in your own body will still be of great benefit.

The top 2 sources of vitamin K happen to be dried alfalfa and sauerkraut.

The alfalfa is best made into a tea, I like to brew mine in a glass jar in the sun along with nettles and red raspberry leaf for the last month of pregnancy.  The nettles supply Iron and the raspberry leaf tones the muscles of the uterus.

Increasing your vitamin K stores is such a good excuse to chow down on some fermented cabbage, yum!

Teleseminar Q&A with Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo: Your questions answered

Morning Beautiful Mammas!

Pregnancy month has been so much fun! and thank you for your kind words of appreciation and support. I love receiving your questions and endeavor to reply to everyone. However, there are a few recurring questions we have saved for our Q&A call with the one and only, Dr.Ritamarie.

Today we will look at raw vegan baby  nutrition requirements, raw pregnancy nutrition requirements, plus a little magic that will be sprinkled throughout – as is the way with Dr.Ritamarie

If you are struggling with a pregnancy related health issue and would like some professional advice – email your questions ASAP to info@rawmom.com!

Tuesday 27 July – 1pm central time – click here for call details

About Dr.Ritamarie

Fresh, joyful, and vibrant, brimming with energy and wisdom to guide you gently back to health, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo combines experience, education, and practical advice to make healthful eating fun again.

For over two decades, Dr. Ritamarie has provided chiropractic care, health guidance, and nutritional advice to countless people just like you who want to make healthy changes but don’t know where to start. She motivates and inspires both fellow health coaches and individual clients by making healthy changes fun.

As a health catalyst, Dr. Ritamarie provides the transformational spark to ignite the desire of change in her clients. Using education, inspiration, natural therapies and loving coaching, Dr. Ritamarie combines the latest scientific health knowledge with a dash of humor and warmth to support her clients in their journey to good health. She practices Integrative Health Care, using her knowledge of nutrition, herbs, homeopathic and chiropractic treatment to return the body to a state of natural, vibrant good health.

Because most people bite off more than they can chew when they embark on a new health regimen, Dr. Ritamarie focuses on simple, effective ways to change your diet to achieve optimal good health. She dishes out simple steps with a dash of daily fun to motivate people to achieve their health goals.

Dr. Ritamarie became interested in living foods and healthy eating after her own bout with illness that transformed her understanding of the relationship between diet and health. After recovering her health through fasting and raw foods, she began her formal training in diet, nutrition, and natural medicine.

Dr. Ritamarie holds a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree with Certification in Acupuncture, and is a Diplomat of the American Clinical Nutrition Board. She is a Certified Clinical Nutritionist, with a Master of Science in Human Nutrition. She also holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from New York University. She is also certified as a living foods chef, instructor, coach and teacher.

Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Nutritional Perspectives, Natural Awakenings, Purely Delicious, and many other national magazines as well as countless online publications. She is in great demand as a speaker at conferences nationwide. She is the founder of the International Association of OnLine Holistic Nutrition Professionals (AOLNP) and the author of several books. Visit her site.

Raw Nutrition: Protein & Raw Food Pregnancy

by Karen Ranzi

Protein is often a source of concern for those working with women following a vegan or raw vegan lifestyle. I have had midwives, doctors and other practitioners contact me to alleviate their concerns about the inadequacy of protein requirements during a raw vegan pregnancy.

There are proteins in everything that grows as long as it’s not refined. If some of our foods are deficient in certain amino acids, this will be compensated by their abundance in other foods. Protein is required for the development of the human baby, but the protein consumed should be of the highest quality. Green leafy vegetables and smaller amounts of a variety of nuts and seeds provide this high level of nutrients. For example, spinach contains 49% calories from protein, kale contains 45% calories from protein, and hemp seeds contain 22% calories from protein. Sprouts are also an excellent source of protein. A pregnant and lactating woman can get all the protein she needs eating whole, raw vegan foods.

Eating meat floods the body with protein waste products. The kidneys then need to eliminate these acidic wastes, requiring calcium as a buffer in the process. Calcium is continually lost in the urinary waste, and may result in osteoporosis or bone loss. Vegetable protein is much more easily absorbed into the bloodstream without the loss of calcium from eating animal protein. Animal-based protein places a great stress upon the liver and kidneys. We should eat the food to which we are naturally adapted: fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Karen Ranzi, author of Creating Healthy Children: Through Attachment Parenting and Raw Foods www.SuperHealthyChildren.com

10 Reasons Why You Should Eat Spinach at All Ages and Stages!

- by Zannie Rose

One of my early food  memories is helping my grandmother in her kitchen by popping pea pods and collecting the peas in her colander. At home, we had boiled carrots and tinned peas, at school we had over cooked cabbage  and at my auntie’s I discovered the more exotic kidney bean.

Nowhere did spinach feature on the menu. The closest I got to spinach was watching Popeye. Even when I lived in  a vegetarian household in my 20′s where we shared an evening meal, spinach never appeared. With all its health benefits, it is a wonder I got this far in life without major problems due to insufficient consumption in the first half of my life! Read more »

The Art of Eating Properly: Ayurveda Nutrition Quiz

by Carissa

We all basically know WHAT to eat, but we rarely hear about HOW to eat.  So, I’ve come up with a few fun Questions and Answers based on Ayurveda Nutrition to see how much we all know about HOW to properly eat.  Here it is!

We all love our nutritionally rich raw green smoothies, but which would better feed our bodies?  A raw green smoothie prepared by:

a. a loving child on Mother’s Day

b. a mother who woke up in a bad mood and was upset we had spilled the first smoothie she made

c. either a or b because it doesn’t make a difference – the smoothie will feed our bodies the same way.

Read more »

Hail to the Kale!

- by Shari Hearn

Okay, perhaps “Hail to the Kale” is an insipid title for an article.  Let’s face it; kale is a hard word to rhyme.  But, it’s better than the title I first came up with:  “If kale had a degree, it’d be from Yale.”

I guess what my feeble attempts at a clever title are trying to achieve is to convey kale’s amazing qualities.  And, yes, a vegetable can be amazing.  Particularly when it’s loaded with substances that can help protect one from cancer, cataracts, emphysema, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Kale is not particularly a staple in most American households, but, after reading this article, I hope kale becomes a staple in your house.  Some may consider kale bitter, and, admittedly, some varieties of kale are on the bitter side.   The secret to eating kale, then, is to Read more »

Post Workout Green Smoothie Nutrition to Keep You Going and Going!

- by Tami Groth

This morning after my workout I knew I would need something to keep me going for awhile without stopping to eat, so in addition to lots of good carbs to help my muscle recovery I wanted to add some protein and healthy fats. In the process I came up with a recipe that is not only versatile and nutritious, but also yummy.

The green smoothie recipe, with optional ingredients included, is a powerhouse of nutrition as well. I have been working on ways to get more nuts and seeds into my family’s diet due to all of the nutritional advantages of them — from healthy brains to healthy hearts! However, my family does not actually enjoy eating nuts the way I do so blending them into sauces and smoothies is a great way to add them to their diet. 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 »