Hello beautiful friends,
Food, food, food. What can I say? It’s your mainstay to health and wellbeing in your body, in your mind and in your spirit. It’s no coincidence that yogic and spiritual traditions have for years practised very specific eating guidelines based mainly on different vegetarian diets. For millennium they have been aware that plant-based foods nurture more desirable states in both body (flexibility) and mind (calm).
I for one have noticed a big difference in my body at yoga since being on so much raw food. I’m definitely more flexible, I feel stronger and my endurance has increased. Furthermore, when I’m holding poses, it’s much less of an effort to do so. IT’S JUST SO MUCH EASIER. And on the whole I’m doing less yoga than I used to. Less work, easier, nice.
Since being on raw foods I also feel more emotionally balanced and resilient (love that word), my thinking is clearer and I’m spontaneously more positive. I see the funny side more often and readily laugh at myself. Ditto.. nice.
So would you like to improve your health?
Maybe you want to feel less tired and have more energy?
Do you experience digestive disorders, skin rashes, headaches, arthritis, allergies, sinus problems and other physical conditions?
Do you want to leave the blues behind and lighten up?
Well would you be surprised to hear that the causes of disease can be counted on two fingers?
Malnutrition and Toxicity
I could list a few others such as poor digestion, poor absorption, bacterial imbalance, inflammation and stress but all of these are related to the first two. Yes, even stress! When your body is lacking nutrients and you’re full of toxins it affects the quality of your thinking not to mention your emotional states. Mind and body … there is no separation. So let’s have a look at these two important issues.
MALNUTRITION
Many of you may say, “I’m not malnourished, I eat a really good diet.” And you may be eating really well with lots of fresh, alive and minimally processed foods. However it’s well established for example, that there is now a shortage of at least 3 important minerals in soils all over the world- magnesium, zinc and selenium. Also most conventional (non-organic) food is less than ideally nutritious or "mineralised" because of the depletion of soil quality with modern farming practices (chemical fertilisers, pesticides, insecticides).
Furthermore a recent study I read found that most Americans were deficient in protein at a cellular level. How can this be when the USA is one of the top meat-eating nations in the world? Here’s your answer.
Most people are eating more energy-dense foods than nutrient-dense foods.
Energy-dense foods are higher in calories per volume of food and generally have fewer nutrients whereas nutrient-dense foods are higher in nutrients and generally have fewer calories.
Nutrients, or more precisely, ‘micronutrients’, consist of minerals, vitamins, enzymes, phytochemicals and antioxidants and are essential for our food to be digested, broken down, absorbed and assimilated at a cellular level.
NUTRIENT DENSE FOODS ARE ESSENTIALLY ALL YOUR RAW DELIGHTS- FRUITS, VEGETABLES, SEA VEGETABLES, FERMENTED VEGETABLES, NUTS AND SEEDS.
On the other hand, energy-dense foods – grains, legumes and all animal protein (eggs, fish, chicken, red meat), are higher in carbohydrates, protein and fats. So if you’re eating cereals, bread, noodles, pasta, eggs, fish, chicken and red meats, you’re getting plenty of food to sustain your energy but without adequate quantities of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables, your cells may still be starving.
TOXICITY
Toxins are created naturally in the body as a result of metabolic processes and they are also taken in through the air we breathe, the water we drink, processed foods and drugs including pharmaceutical and recreational varieties. A toxic build up occurs when the body is unable to eliminate them completely or at an acceptable rate and the result is dysfunction and disease.
So to nourish and detox your way to vibrant health check out these foods and find ways to include them daily in your diet as a greater percentage of your plate (eg:- 70% minimum) than the energy-dense foods. Nutrient-rich foods are much lower in calories than energy-dense foods too, so you can eat guilt-free.
THE TOP 10 NUTRIENT-DENSE FOODS
For a rich supply of minerals, vitamins, enzymes, anti-oxidants and phytonutrients, eat plenty of these wonder foods:-
1. Avocado
2. Bananas
3. Berries– acai, blackberries, blueberries, goji berries, raspberries, strawberries,
4. Cacao– raw organic cacao beans or powder
5. Coconut Oil
6. Green leafy plants and vegetables– spirulina, chlorella, wheat grass, barley grass, spinach, silverbeet, kale, rocket, lettuce, parsley, coriander, nettle, collard greens, wild edible greens, celery, cucumber, green capsicum, broccoli
7. Nuts- almonds, brazil, walnut, macadamia, cashew, pecan,
8. Orange coloured foods- carrots, pumpkin, oranges
9. Sea vegetables- dulse, wakame, arame, kelp, nori
10. Seeds- chia, flaxseeds (linseeds), pumpkin, sesame, sunflower
THE TOP 10 DETOXIFYING FOODS
To cleanse and remove toxins from the body, see how many ways you can include these foods in your diet, for example as a snack, in a juice or smoothie or in salads:-
1. Apples
2. Beetroot
3. Blueberries
4. Cabbage
5. Coriander
6. Fermented vegetables
7. Garlic
8. Lemon
9. Kale
10. Turmeric
So if you want to feel incredibly alive and full of life, nourish and cleanse your body daily with the foods you eat. And remember, basically you can’t go wrong with any fresh, raw, organic fruit or vegetable for a rich supply of the essential micro-nutrients, combined with a natural cleansing and detoxifying action.
How much fresh, natural, raw, unprocessed food can you eat?
Munching my way to vibrant health & JOY,
