Eating Well and Within Your Budget

I am sometimes asked if my diet (high raw vegan, about 95%) is terribly expensive.  My usual reply is that I don’t know, as I am among the 10 worst shoppers in the world.  The issue for me is to buy foods with high nutrient density, mostly organic, in ways and places that fit with the rest of my lifestyle.  Truly, I don’t think my way of eating is any more expensive than anyone else’s, especially given that I don’t eat meat, drink alcohol, or buy any processed food – well, very little processed food. 

I do believe that on either large or modest food budgets, we can eat poorly or we can eat well. In these days of ubiquitous pesticides, genetically modified foods, and questionable soil conditions, it’s more important than ever to eat the right foods in order to maintain physical health and a high level of immunity. So, I may pay the higher prices for produce, but have good clean food to show for it, and I don’t buy low quality foods that have been highly compromised, and which, I might add, come at a very high price for their “convenience.”, but certainly not for their nutritious superiority.

Of course, it makes good sense to be a more discriminating shopper than I am, for sure.  Just don’t sacrifice relative cost for nutrient dense, life-giving food.

Here are a few tips to help you eat in a way that you can develop and maintain the energy and vitality to function on a high level – with peak performance, as it were, and still honor your budget.

1.  Take advantage of seasonal produce and sales.  For example, eat lots and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables during the summer when they are plentiful and inexpensive.  Try some new varieties while you’re at it. Each one has its own set of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, and they’re all good and valuable in some way for our bodies.

2.  Shop around.  Visit different stores and observe different pricing schemes and sale schedules. Visit ethnic markets and local farmers markets, too.

3.  Grow some things yourself.  I am an anomaly  in the Midwest, where virtually everyone has a garden.  I’m not a gardener, but even I can plant some fresh herbs in a pot, and occasionally tomatoes.

4.  Some produce – apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, and cabbage are available year round and are usually reasonably priced.

5. Get together with a group to purchase your food.  Belonging to a food co-op can be a money saver.

6.  Eat mono-meals several times a week. A mono-meal is simply eating one food at a meal.  So….all peaches, all apples, all greens, etc.  Doing this occasionally will give your digestive system a break and help your budget as well. 7.  Take some time to learn as much as you can about local foraging.  There are many edible, nutrient dense plants to be had probably very close to your home, and are very well –priced. If you have an herbal medicine class, or wild edibles class available to you, it would pay big dividends.

Summer is a great time to experiment with new foods, because they are so plentiful in number and moderate in price. Be creative. You may find some new very fine “bargains!”

About That Protein Question

It happened again at a conference that I attended recently.  An acquaintance of many years, in a discussion about eating healthy, asked me about getting enough protein on a plant based diet.  While it’s true that protein is an important component of any diet, we do seem, in this country, to think that the best way, if not the only way, to meet our protein requirements is to eat animals and/or the products they produce, such as milk, eggs, and cheese.  Maybe it’s time to write a little about this subject. 

First, protein is present in all food that grows.  Good sources of non-meat-based protein include kale and other greens, cauliflower and other vegetables, garbanzo beans, sprouted, almonds and other nuts, sunflower seeds and other seeds, almond butter and other nut-butters, and peaches, bananas, and other fruits.

Second, the quality of the protein is also good to consider.  Protein from animal sources takes lots of energy for the body to convert to usable protein.  The best source of easily absorbed protein is from dark leafy greens.  A green juice or green smoothie and a big salad and/or vegetable-based meal would be a good idea every day! 

Third, consider this nugget of truth.  Mother’s milk has the same protein content as fruit, approximately 3%.  A breast fed baby doubles its weight in one year of drinking ONLY mother’s milk.  It may therefore not be necessary to eat foods high in protein, but rather more of the foods that have a more ideal protein concentration for humans.

All of that said, for those of you who are comforted by numbers, the following list of some raw foods and their protein content is worth pondering. 

Nuts, Legumes, Seeds

1 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans) – 39 g;  1 cup almond butter – 36 g;  1 Tbs cashew butter – 3g; 1 cup almonds – 30 g; 1 cup filberts – 17 g; 1 cup sunflower seeds – 29 g; 1 cup pumpkin seeds – 24 g.

Vegetables

1 large head cauliflower - 2 g; 1 cup cauliflower – 2 g; 1 cup kale – 2 g; 1 cup spinach – 1 g; 1 cup vegetable juice – 2 g; 1 cup alfalfa sprouts – g; 100 gm seaweed – 2 g.

Fruits

1 cup orange juice – 2 g; 1 cup oranges – 2 g; 1 cup bananas – 2 g; 1 peach – 2 g; 1 apple – 1 g; 1 cup grapes – 1 g; 1 cup fresh coconut water – 8 g.

These and other foods can be seen along with other nutrient values at http://nutritiondata.self.com/

In a day, then, if you were to eat a cup of soaked chickpeas, 2 cups of vegetables, and 3 fruits, you would have all the protein you need if you are a woman.  Or, you could eat 1 large cauliflower, 7 cups additional vegetables, 2 cups orange juice, and 6 peaches.  A man could add 5 bananas or a cup of almonds to that and have more than the required amount of protein. 

So, rest easy on concerns about protein.  Many authors say that in this country there just is no protein shortage.  Keep eating lots of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and you’ll have plenty of protein, along with many, many other very valuable nutrients which are unavailable in animals and/or their products.

 

Garbanzo beans are as high in protein as nuts, but have much less fat.  They are a great protein source for anyone incorporating more raw food into their diets, especially those who are avoiding fat or have trouble digesting nuts.Try this recipe on tomato slices, topped with olives.  It’s is a lovely way to serve a protein-rich snack or lunch.

Sprouted Hummus

1 ½ cups garbanzo beans, soaked for 24 hours (Change water every 12 hours).

Juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Dash of paprika 

Mix garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, and salt in food processor, until texture is smooth.  Serve with paprika garnish.  Use as dip for crudite`, as a stuffing for tomatoes, or a filling for wraps.  Enjoy! 

Let me know how you like it!

While it’s Still Spring – FLING!

March and April are the typical months for spring cleaning.  Everyone knows that early spring is a good time to declutter closets, donate things for garage sales, and scrub nooks and crannies to squeaky clean.  Now that the season has ripened and greened, consider these three things that you can fling this spring to restore your confidence, boost your energy and take the weight off your shoulders!

 

1.  Indecision

“Maybes” are  time-sucking, attention-draining, problem-creating trouble makers!.  If you have areas of your life where you’re feeling undecided, uncertain, or wishy-washy, then watch out!  Self confidence has a whole lot to do with your ability to DECIDE.  Clutter, for instance, is a sign that you’re having a hard time making decisions.  Take a look at your thinking processes and see if you’re feeling stuck in a rut, unclear and undecided.  Then DECIDE and start moving forward.

The good news here is that you don’t have to have everything all figured out.  You don’t have to see the view from the top before you start climbing the mountain. Once you take the first step out of inertia, you’ll be in a new place with a new view, and the next step or steps will become more clear.

Making decisions is a great energy, confidence, and certainty booster.  Go for it.

2.  Secrets

It doesn’t necessarily feel good to admit to past wrongs, but keeping them inside is not healthy. Nobody likes to be wrong, but a humble heart which is willing to take responsibility for what’s gone awry is a lovely thing to behold.

If you have something  weighing on your heart, tugging on the edge of your tear ducts – something old, something new, something you knew you shouldn’t do but did anyway, it’s time to let it out and let go.

You don’t have to say it just right.  A good attempt at reconciliation trumps not making any attempt at all. Even the worst possible consequences will pale next to the cost of keeping it festering inside of you .

Your secrets wouldn’t bother you like they do if you weren’t a good person.  Free yourself, and let the new light and weightlessness of truth shine in. 

3.  Incomplete Projects

Those half-done photo albums and unwritten birthday cards may look benign, but they are not.  An accumulated collection of incompleted projects is the perfect invitation to feel lethargic, burdened, overwhelmed and unhappy!  Incomplete projects leak a slow, but strong energy drain on your life, your confidence, and your health.

Finish what you start.  Keep your commitments.  Clean up your unfinished business and make things feel right.

 As summer now approaches, take inventory on your life and personal choices – not just what you eat and how much exercise you get, but what you complete.  Not just what you wear, but what you hide inside and how you decide rather than letting things ride both sides of the fence. Then you’ll be ready to great the summer of full bloom, with an internal full bloom of life lived abundantly! 

Kombucha, the Tea of Gods

I was six or seven months into a high raw food diet several years ago, when I discovered Kombucha.   Kombucha is a fermented, sweetened tea that employs a colony of bacteria and yeast to consume sugars and transform the tea mixture into a living drink.  The microbe colony responsible for this friendly ferment forms a gelatinous layer that floats on the surface of the tea.  This floater is referred to as the “mother” of living vinegars and is often referred to as SCOBY, “Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast.”

As with all living foods, enzymes, probiotics, and concentrated nutrients engender these foods with health-supporting properties.  Research in Europe has shown Kombucha to be supportive of digestive function.  Other potential benefits include immunity support, cancer prevention, and improving liver function.

What a wonderful beverage!  I bought several bottles from our local health food store, and then learned how to make it myself.  Since then it has been a staple in my refrigerator that I enjoy often, particularly in warm weather.  It’s tart and tingly, reminiscent of champagne, soothing as it travels down the channel into the belly where it does its job of providing pro-biotics, positive, digestion-enhancing, constipation-relieving  microbes to the system.

For those of you who would like to make your own Kombucha, here’s how.

Equipment

A one gallon GLASS jar.

6 air tight bottles suitable for bottling liquid.  (I use bottles saved from my store-bought Kombucha – they’re perfect.)

Plastic spoon

Kombucha in starter tea
 

Ingredients

1 Kombucha culture* in some starter tea

4 black or green tea bags (black is best)

1 cup sugar (organic is best)

The best water available; spring water is wonderful, otherwise filtered is good.

 

* If you don’t have a Kombucha mother in some starter tea, you can often find one by asking at your local health food stores.  People there often have them in their refrigerators waiting for good homes.  Some health food stores sell packaged Kombucha starter kits.  Alternatively, the bottled kombucha available in health food stores, if it is unpasteurized, can be used to grow a culture (“mother”).  Just one bottle will do it, along with some patience.

Empty the bottle of Kombucha into a glass quart jar, and cover it with a cloth or paper towel (so it can breathe) and an elastic band. Keep it at room temperature for two weeks without touching the jar.  The culture is slowly growing.  That “baby” can be used, then, to start your own batch of Kombucha. 

Directions

Boil 1 gallon water

Remove from heat and add 1 cup sugar.  Stir until it is dissolved.

Add the 4 tea bags and stir gently.  Let steep until the mixture is room temperature.

Pour the liquid into the gallon jar.

Add the mushroom and the starter Kombucha.

Cover with a towel or paper towel….something that breathes.

Label the mixture with the date. Let sit at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.

Taste it after about a week with a non-metal spoon.  If it tastes like vinegar, it’s ready.  If it’s still quite sweet, taste it every couple of days until the tastes suits you.  When you think it’s right , (and it really is all about taste here), remove the mother and ½-1 cup  liquid to a jar.  Cover with a tight lid and store in refrigerator until you’re ready to make another batch of Kombucha.

Decant the new Kombucha into glass airtight bottles. Refrigerate. 

That’s it!  You have Kombucha. 

Notes

The mother must be stored in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make more Kombucha.  It will grow at room temperature.

 The next time you make Kombucha using that mother, it may grow so much that it grows a “baby.”  If it does, you can peel the baby off for a second jar.  If it doesn’t detach easily, just leave it attached, and it should be easily detached after another batch or two.

 

If you like your drinks on the fizzy side, just leave your freshlybottled batch in a warm place for 3 or 4 days, and then checkon it.  Be careful, as they might get really bubbly  or even explode if left for too long.

Enjoy!

Form

 

What's Gluten All About?

I was visiting a long-time friend in another city last weekend, and we were chatting about the general proliferation of gluten-free products on grocery store shelves and the rising number of people announcing that they want to avoid gluten.  We agreed that as recently as 5-10 years ago, we didn’t know anyone who was gluten free or who wanted to be.  And we didn’t notice the very few products in the health food stores, noting that they weren’t in the supermarkets at all!  By comparison, even good old Bisquick, (which I haven’t used in 30 years or more,) now has a gluten-free variety among the pancake products.  So what’s the deal with Gluten, and why are so many people avoiding it?

Let’s start at the beginning.  Gluten is a protein composite made of gliadin and glutenin stuck together by starch, and is found in several grains, including wheat, which, by the way, is found in many, many food products. Trying to avoid all wheat is a difficult task indeed.  Gluten is the substance that makes bread dough stretchy and elastic.  Changing the gluten changes the dough—very refined gluten makes chewy bagels, and less refined gluten produces pastry dough.  Bakers measure the dough elasticity with a took called a farinograph.  For years everybody thought that gluten was good news, and before all the wheat in this country became genetically modified in the 50s, it may well have been good news.  It is a source of protein and was sometimes added to food to boost its protein content.  (We’re talking way beyond bread products here.  Gluten is also used in cosmetics, beer, vitamins, soy sauce, ice cream, ketchup, and many other products.)

The problem with gluten is three-fold.  First, some people are allergic to wheat, and all wheat contains gluten.  These words refer to grains of other products that almost surely contain gluten:  triticum vulgare, tritcale, hordeum vuglare, secale cereal cereal, tritcumspelt, wheat protein, hydrolyzed wheat protein, wheat starch, hydrolyzed wheat starch, bulgur, and wheat germ.

Second, the following items may (or may not) contain some gluten:  vegetable protein, modified starch, natural flavor, artificial flavor, caramel color, hydrolyzed plant or vegetable protein, flavorings, seasonings, dextrin, and maltodextrin.

Third, the symptoms of gluten intolerance can be vague, and thus elusive.  If you experiencing any of the following symptoms, you may well benefit by reducing gluten in your diet: chronic diarrhea or constipation, infertility, abdominal pain, bloating, fatigue, and headaches.

While it is not the case that gluten-free diets necessarily  lead to weight loss, as some people believe, substantially reducing gluten in your diet goes a long way towards weight loss, if you increase healthy, life-giving foods in place of it.

Consider these steps

1.  Eat more fruits and vegetables in their natural state.  Raw is definitely best, but if you must cook them, don’t deep fry them or add any kind of dough to them. Plants do not contain gluten until the food industry gets them.

2.  Back out of as much processed food as you can – anything that comes in a box, bag, can, bottle, etc.

3.  Read the labels very carefully on what processed foods you do by, such as ketchup, soups, etc., and be prepared to be astounded.  Wheat is everywhere!

4.  Get out of the cereal aisle and stay out.

5.  Reduce or eliminate your intake of bread, rolls, pizza dough, pies, cakes, etc.

6.  If you want to make gluten-free muffins or breads, alternate flours can be used.  Almond flour is a popular choice, and there are cookbooks to help you learn about the art of gluten-free baking.

7.  Most candy contains gluten, even chocolate, so be careful. 

An excellent resource for learning about the history of our wheat/gluten problem  and what to do about it is Wheat Belly,  by William Davis MD.  I recommend it.

I can’t help but add here that one of the many benefits of a diet high in raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds eliminates all the label reading and angst about hidden ingredients in prepared foods.  For more information about preparing raw foods that are as creative and tasty as they are nourishing, contact me at abundantrawlife@gmail.com  and/or visit my site www.janesmith-healthcoaching.com.

Better health and  more vibrant living is easier than you may think it is to attain!  Move today towards all your health goals!

Spring Cleaning Meets Earth Day

The warmer weather for which we have been eagerly awaiting is here, which means that spring cleaning will be happening in many homes. After being cooped up in an increasingly stuffy house all winter long, it’s time to fling open the windows, shoo away the cobwebs, and take on the annual spring cleaning.  While this is a great and usually refreshing idea, April, and especially Earth Day on the 22^nd, reminds us that the chemicals found in conventional cleaning products can be more dangerous than the dirt they’re intended to clean.  And the way we clean (with lots of disposable paper towels) isn’t exactly earth –friendly either.  Thankfully, there are many  alternatives available that can help us make our homes not only squeaky clean, but green.  This year, make a special effort to clean in such a way that the health of you and your family are not at risk, and the planet doesn’t suffer either.

Following are several tips for getting your home in tiptop shape.  By implementing some or all of these ideas, you can be satisfied that you will not be causing physical harm to those you live with, including pets, or the environment.

A good place to start in a home “greening “ movement is to consider the actual cleaning products that  you’re using.  The last thing we want to be doing is dumping toxic chemicals into the environment in the name of personal cleanliness.  The good news is that you don’t have to make a special trip to the health foods store, (although I do love to make trips to my local health food store), to find environmentally-sensitive cleaning products.  Seventh Generation, Method, and Biokleen are three companies that make full lines of household cleaners, and they are available in just about every store.  These products work just as well as their conventional counterparts.

Another option with cleaning products is to make them yourself.  Basic supplies include

White Distilled Vinegar (usually found in the cooking section of supermarkets

Baking Soda

Olive Oil

Borax (sold in a box in the laundry aisle)

Liquid Castille Soap (like Dr. Bronner’s brand, found in most natural food stores)

Essential Oils (super concentrated natural plant oils found in natural food stores, usually in the cosmetics section

Microfiber Cleaning Cloths

Newspaper.

Here are some ideas for putting these ingredients to use:

Glass:  Mix ¼ cup vinegar with 1 quart of water in a spray bottle.  Spray on glass and wipe clean with old newspaper or a micro-fiber (lint- free) cloth.

Countertops and Bathroom Tile:  Mix 2 parts vinegar and 1 part baking soda with 4 parts water.  Apply with a sponge, scour, and wipe away.

Floors:  Mix 4 cups of white distilled vinegar with about a gallon of hot water.  If desired, add a few drops of pure peppermint or lemon oil for a pleasant scent.  After damp mopping the floors, the smell of vinegar will dissipate quickly, leaving behind only the scent of the oil

Wood Furniture:  Mix equal parts of lemon juice and olive oil.  Apply a small amount to a cloth, and rub onto the furniture in long, even strokes.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner:  Sprinkle a toilet brush with baking soda and scrub away.  Occasionally disinfect your toilet by scrubbing with borax instead.  Wipe the outside of the toilet clean with straight vinegar.

Disinfectant:  Mix 2 teaspoons borax, 4 tablespoons vinegar, 3 cups hot water, and ¼ teaspoon liquid castille soap.  Wipe on with dampened cloth or use spray bottle.  Wipe clean.

Mold and Mildew:  Wipe with straight vinegar.

Air Freshener:  Sprinkle essential oil on a cotton ball, and stash it in a corner of the room.  Keep out of the reach of children, as essential oils are very strong and could irritate young skin.  Lavender is a relaxing scent that is great for bedrooms, and cinnamon, clove, and citrus oils are nice in the rest of the house.  Also, a few stashed in the car, like peppermint, not only provides a pleasant smell, and may help to keep you alert.

For more tips for cleaning in an environmentally friendly way, see my Abundant Raw Life April 2014 newsletter.  Contact me at abundantrawlife@gmail.com for a copy.

Ann Wigmore (1908-1994): Her Life and Legacy

 The mother of the modern Raw Food Movement is Ann Wigmore, although many of us raw foodists, including myself, know little about her. The raw food story in modern times begins with her story, when she was born in Lithuania in 1908.   She moved to Massachusetts as a teenager, eventually married and lived a simple life about 10 miles south of Boston.

In 1940, while Ann was raising her family, a Danish doctor by the name of Kristine Nolfi was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She refused established medical protocol and successfully treated herself with an exclusively raw food diet.  When she was healthy again, she opened a health center called Humlegarden where she treated many patients with cancer and other diseases.  

Ten years after Dr. Nolfi reversed her cancer, Ann, in poor health and suffering from colon cancer, began to incorporate the lessons she recalled learning as a child in Lithuania from her grandmother, the village doctor, who treated wounded soldiers with herbs during World War I.  Using weeds and wheat grass, she also healed her body and reversed the cancer.  Witnessing the powerful   healing properties of wheatgrass juice and other vitamin and enzyme-rich foods first-hand inspired her to spend the next 35 years of her life studying and educating others about natural healing and optimum nutrition. 

Ann founded the “Red Schoolhouse” in 1956.  President Eisenhower’s personal physician, Dr. Paul Dudley White, a Harvard University-educated man, was also a member of the Harvard faculty and a founder of the American Heart Association.  He was one of Ann’s biggest supporters and sent patients to her farm who could not be cured using modern medicine. A fellow Lithuanian by the name of Viktoras Kluvinskas also became aware of Ann’s work through a Boston Globe article on the world-famous model Twiggy and the cleansing detox program she went through at Red Schoolhouse. The top computer consultant in the U.S. at the time, Viktoras’ services were coveted by institutions including Harvard, Smithsonian, MIT, and The Apollo Project;  he was also sick and dying from an autoimmune collapse when he came to the Red Schoolhouse to recover.  After three weeks, he experienced a personal revelation, and so when Ann offered him the opportunity to stay, he gave up his high-profile career and joined her to become the science and the brains behind the operation which, together they named and co-founded as Hippocrates Health Institute.

 

Initially, the diet at the Institute was vegetarian, which transitioned into vegan.  However, after noticing the positive changes that occurred from eating only raw and living foods, the permanent diet of raw, life-giving foods was incorporated.  Viktoras spent hours at the Harvard Medical Library, seeking to create a bridge between what they had been experiencing in regards to health and healing, and what was known in the medical and research community. 

Margaret Drumheller, after seeing her friend’s Multiple Sclerosis reversed with Ann’s guidance, invited her to move her healing center to her Boston Back Bay neighborhood.  So, in 1961, The Hippocrates Health Institute was opened in Boston.

For the next 25 years, Hippocrates was literally the face of the alternative health care movement. At their  weekly Sunday Open Houses, hundreds of visitors came to learn more about health and healing.  One such visitor was Brian Clement, a young raw vegan who had planned to eventually open a center in Oregon, but was living in Maine in the interim.  Curious about Hipppocrates, he made the trip in 1975 and never left.

Together, Brian and Ann traveled throughout Europe, hoping to seed the idea of raw foods as a cure-all for a disease-free lifestyle. The Hippocrates Health Institute eventually moved to Florida under the direction of Drs. Brian and Anna Maria Clement, PhD. They continue with Ann Wigmore’s mission today to help people radically change their health by trading nutrient-deficient, “dead” foods to a diet rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and plant based proteins.  In addition to expanding and fine-tuning the Institute’s curriculum over the years to include seminars on such topics as meditation, colonics, and homeopathy, they have also expanded its offerings by adding a chef’s kitchen for raw food preparation lessons, a cutting edge spa and therapy treatments, exercise equipment and classes, ozonated pools, and other healing modalities.

Ann Wigmore’s use of wheatgrass as a key dietary component began a revolution in the world of nutrition.  Hippocrates Health Institute has welcomed people from all walks of life to benefit from her teachings -- from people looking to improve their general health to those with terminal disease.  To date, hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children have visited the Institute and now share stories of recovery, healthy lifestyles, and a rejuvenated outlook on life.

 

Ann’s untimely death in February of 1994 was due to smoke inhalation from a fire at the Ann Wigmore Foundation.  Ann Wigmore’s contribution as a humanitarian, educator, writer, and tireless promoter of natural health lives on at Hippocrates, and other natural healing venues in the United States and elsewhere in the world. She is known for healing the natural way through a diet of organic, raw, living foods.  Through a diet of raw foods, sprouting, dehydration, and vegan living, anchored in weeds and wheatgrass juicing, she healed her colon cancer and promoted natural healing worldwide.  Truly she is the motivational mother of all of us who believe in eating fresh whole foods in as close to their natural states as possible, thereby maximizing our own health,  preventing the slaughter and death of countless animals, and contributing to sustainable thriving planet earth.

 

"I see a world without sickness, sorrow, or mental

disturbance in which we are living in perfect balance,

abundance, health and harmony." -- Dr. Ann Wigmore