Green Juice!

So I walked into work yesterday carrying a bottle of what looks like swamp sludge with a big smile on my face.
My co-workers looked at the bottle then at me then back and all asked the same question, "What are you drinking?"
"Green Juice!" was my happy reply. They all gave a weird face and some asked if I meant green tea. "No, Green Juice!"
I have decided to start my days off right with a green juice before I eat (usually eating around lunch time). Since I started this, I have woken up easier in the morning, I feel energized, and I've started having regular bowel movements (I know I know, you don't want to know...speaking of poop...check out this seminar on The Raw Divas this Thursday!)

What is in my green juice?
Orange juice and/or a Morning Vita Juice (orange, pineapple and papaya)
A mix of blue-green algaes (chlorella, spirulina) with barley greens
Pine pollen
And some days I add frozen raspberries but they tend to froth up the pollen even more...
Honestly, it tastes like orange juice! I even had a friend at work try it and she agreed after much frowning and acting like I was giving her poison. 

Now I use pre-made green juices or mixes as I don't own a handy dandy juicer. If I did own a juicer I'd have carrots and spinach (spinach is $2 a large bunch at Kroger!) with orange juice.

I'm also slipping my husband some nutrition with pine pollen in his O.J. ^_^

Random Personal Update

Seeing the doctor today, which is never particularly fun for me but a necessary evil. (Yes I know that's not a good way to react to doctors on a health blog but, doctor offices and hospitals make me nervous and my mind tends to go blank so I seem like a blithering idiot...)

My health hasn't been so great lately, leading to a lil bit of a confession - I have been eating way too much junk food lately, which I am sure has lead to a minor decline in my health. Hopefully changing my diet for the better along with this doctors visit will straighten things out for me.

Sadly, I fell into the rut so many people fall in, making excuses for my poor food choices because I was busy. Its so fast and cheap to grab a bean and rice burrito from Tacohell and make the excuse that its vegetarian, or it has a green vegetable in it...Yes, I know, I need a smack on the hand and my body certainly gave me one.
Since turning Dec 16th, I have been to the Emergency Room, suffered what I guess was the flu, and have gone 2 weeks with hardly a voice to talk with.

Having recognized I have a problem, now I must look for solutions.
Problem 1: making excuses to eat food because its fast and cheap
Solution: quick and easy green juices in the morning, oh and BTW Kroger has a great deal on bundles of spinach for $2 (with tax)!
Problem 2: getting off the normal healthy routine of eating
Solution: get back on the saddle with new foods and drinks!

So no more junk and now I'm starting my morning off with a spoonful of honey for healing and about 12oz of green juice (combo of pineapple, orange, and a mix of blue-green algaes). My snacks are granola and hot tea with honey and I'm still working out my meals.

Problem 3: my husband and I have a different idea of diet
Solution: compromise with no more sodas and at least 1 green food a day (and green food coloring doesn't count).

I suppose this is a sort of new years resolution though I decided not to make any this year as I already have so much to do...BTW www.EcoGoth.org is up and running with its own articles and blog. Product coming soon, I just made a couple of orders from Mountain Rose Herbs and The Raw Food World and have an order for Organic Creations in the making, so samples and the beginnings of some products will be coming soon...

Another resolution...er...goal is to get in with either a belly dance, yoga or kung fu studio around here. We're looking at prices. Hubby and I just know that doing the normal exercises on our own just isn't going to cut it, we need some sort of community support. I'll let you know how that goes when we find one.

Best of Raw 2010!

Best of Raw is a site where YOU can vote the best raw products, people, places, etc.
In response to the voting...Renegade Health and The Raw Food World tv shows have done their own best of shows and I thought I'd share a bit of both with you to give you ideas of some products to try and people to research...

Best Renegade Health Products Show



Best Renegade Health People Show



Best of Raw Food World Tv Show

Healthy Holiday Egg Nog!

I love egg nog and was excited to find soy nog in the store which is super low fat and much healthier for those of you, like me, who can guzzle the stuff...
Here is a raw nog, I haven't tried but I wonder if the dates and avos would make the flavor funky...



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Osteoporosis and Calcium

 I read some interesting thoughts and figures about osteoporosis and where to get your calcium I thought I should share seeing as I have so many people in my life who suffer from this issue.

John Robbins, in Diet for a New America reports:

The National Dairy Council has spent tens of millions of dollars to make us believe that osteoporosis can be prevented by drinking more milk and eating more dairy products. Yet throughout the world, he reports, the incidence of osteoporosis correlates directly with protein intake. Recent research has shown that with a greater intake of meat and diary products, there is a higher rate of osteoporosis…not the other way around! In fact, the world health statistics show that osteoporosis is more common in precisely those countries where dairy products are consumed in large quantities: the United States, Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

In his book, Living Foods for Optimal Health, Brian Clement agrees: “Unfortunately the meat and dairy industries speak louder then medical journals. Their multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns ignore what even the most conservative medical investigators no longer deny - excess protein robs our bodies of strength. With their high protein content, milk and meat actually contribute to the accelerating development of osteoporosis. Certainly most people do not know that one teaspoon of sea kelp mixed in a glass of water gives approximately a thousand times more calcium (without animal protein) then an eight ounce glass of milk. You can bet you won’t hear that information pop up in a catchy jingle.

The more protein in our diets, the more calcium we lose. Eating a high protein diet rich in dairy products is not a good way to get your calcium. Your best sources are green, leafy vegetables such as collards, kale, cabbage, lettuce, along with apricots, figs, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, and other raw foods.

~ Alissa Cohen in Living on Live Food

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that calcium supplementation has no effect on the rate osteoporosis occurs as compared to women who took no supplementation.

Pine Pollen

Interesting sounding new poduct: Pine Pollen.
Considered a superfood, pine product is available through many health food stores such as The Raw Food World.

December Monthly Herbal

So...executive decision...PINE will be the Herb of the month.
Thank you everyone who voted!

Pine

Definition: any evergreen, coniferous tree of the genus Pinus,  having long, needle-shaped leaves, certain species of which yield timber, turpentine, tar, pitch, etc.
More than 100 different types of pine trees are currently known to the world, with 35 different varieties grown in the United States.
Pine trees can grow up to 60 feet high and 30 feet across. Full sun and little water is needed for growth and they can survive in  any type of soil. Fertilizing a healthy tree could actually be detrimental to the tree's health ad should only be done to a tree who's needles are yellowing as a sign of nutrient deficiency.
They are the only plant whose seeds are produced within a cone.
Pine trees are usually only harvest for  reasons: decoration (both indoors and out) and as raw material for furniture.

Consider these interesting facts when you are looking for your Christmas tree this season!