People seem to have an infatuation with everything that comes out of Dr. Oz’s mouth and are quite quick to jump up and do what he says. Working in health food stores the last few years has been crazy, seeing how the crowds come trampling in to buy whatever is on his show. I can not stress how dangerous this is.
The other day at work I noticed a plethora of people asking for brown seaweed. Here is how the conversations went:
Customer: I need brown seaweed.
Me: Ok, is there a specific one you are looking for?
Customer: Yes brown seaweed.
Me: well there are many types, kelp, kombu, is there a certain one you prefer?
Customer: I dont know
Me: What are the properties you are looking for?
Customer: I dont know
Me: Why are you seeking to take it?
Customer: It was on Dr. Oz
Me: Ok, what did he say it should be used for?
Customer: i dont know
I then had one customer tell me it was for radiation from Japan, and then another tell me it was for weightloss.
This is scary. This man is on TV, knowing society blindly follows the media without first educating themselves, and having them raid health food stores in search of products they are unsure why they are taking.
The truth is, they were looking for seaweed with high concentrations of fucoxanthin, a substance that helps activate the thyroid in people with a sluggish one. To use this as a weight loss tool is dangerous, as it can leave you with a hyperactive thyroid. If you were to take this supplement and have a normal functioning thyroid, you can really screw up your adrenal system. For so many people to be blindly taking this now really troubles me. Just because he is a doctor people will listen to everything he says, and sometimes it is not for the better.
I am begging you, please before you listen to what Dr. Oz, or for that matter ANYONE says about health please research it out yourself and make the decision on your own. Dont let someone else make the decision for you.
Today as I went for a hike with my dog, I sat in the woods and looked around me. The plants, the trees, the earth. Its the most beautiful thing ever to be. I started to think about my journey of raw foods, and about myself as a child, a teenager, and now as an adult. I have always had a connection with the earth, but not like I do now. I thought about my personality, and how it has changed and how it hasnt. What I noticed most was my change in attitude, temper, stress level and inner strength. Since being a raw foodist, I noticed that my stress levels have dropped drastically, my temper is non existent compared to what it was, my attitude is always positive, and my inner strength is as strong as it has ever been. I feel more spiritual than ever, almost the way I was as a small child. I truly believe all of this has come about due to my increase in raw plant foods and a decrease in flesh consumption. Here are my thoughts on the matter.
Temper: When we think about where our flesh product comes from, most of us consume it from factory farms. We have to think of the animal we are consuming in order to better understand its emotion. When an animal is being tortured, fed the wrong food, and witnesses the death of its friends, it no doubt feels anger and resentment towards humans. If this does not seem possible to you I encourage you to watch videos of animals being slaughtered in front of one another, and you will see their reaction highly similar to that of humans, only difference being of course, animals do not speak the same language as us. When we then consume that animal, we are consuming all of the negativity inside that animal. We are consuming the DNA of another creature. It has now become a part of us. We must also take into consideration that the burger you are eating does not have the DNA of just one cow, but the DNA of up to 1,000. Consuming this much anger from many different animals has got to take a toll us in some way whether it be physical or emotional. When looking around the woods at all of the living trees and plants, taking in their beauty, and feeling their vibrations, it is great to think that I take on that positive high energy vibration.
Stress Level: Animals endure intense amounts of stress when they are being bred and slaughtered and therefore release a lot of cortisol into their system, which we then consume. Many people complain of their increased levels in cortisol from their own stress, but then proceed to consume more of it at their meals. Eating a diet rich in raw plant foods not only eliminates this factor, but also builds your stress defense shield. Foods such as Maca and Goji Berries do just that and increases your bodies ability to cope with stress.
Inner Strength: I feel the reason an individual becomes so much stronger on a plant based diet is the simple fact that it forces the body to create certain things. In other words, it forces it to problem solve and work. Yes, plant foods are much easier to digest, but look at it this way. When you put animal fat into your body, your body recognizes it as fat and processes it as fat. When you put a plant fat into your body, since plants are so low in fat, your body must figure out what the fat is, where the fat is, how it van be utilized, and must use inner power to create the fat. Another example of this could be a caffeinated beverage. (Yes this is a plant source, but it will clear the subject). When one consumes caffeine, your Central Nervous System becomes stimulated. You begin to act quickly without having to put much thought behind your action because the caffeine is forcing you to do so. In a way it is making you lazy. The caffeine is doing all of the work. When you yourself decide to act quickly, steadily, and with high concentration, you take energy from your inner self to create that ability. It is making your inner self stronger. Also think about a plant. They absorb the sunlight and produce their own food themselves. The vibrational energy and cellular activity within a plant is incredibly high due to this fact alone. The reason we feel so energetic is not just based on the vitamin content of the plant, but also based on this fact. When plants are consumed just after being picked, you will notice a completely different type of strength and energy running through your body than if you were to pick it and eat it three days later.
Attitude: With stress levels at their minimum, my temper low, and inner strength high, of course my attitude towards life is going to be quite positive and uplifted.
I am in no way saying a plant based diet is for everyone. I am not asking you to change your diet to that of a plant based one. I will however ask you to think about the people you know who are on a high animal based diet, those on a medium, and those on a plant based diet. Compare them in the above attributes. Do the heavy meat eaters seem lazy with a lack of will power and negative attitudes? How do they compare to the individuals who only consume meat a few times a week. How about compared to those on a plant based diet?
Then do the final comparison: Those on a cooked plant diet vs. those on a raw plant diet.
Im sure your own findings will speak for themselves.
Salt is one of the most important substances we can put in our bodies yet it is the incredibly feared by some and greatly abused by others. It plays a major role in how our body functions, especially when it comes to cellular communication. You do have to be careful… there are different kinds of salt: The good salt, and the bad salt.
The Bad:Table Salt
Table salt is incredibly processed and should be the salt you fear. It is 97.5% Sodium Chloride and 2.5% chemicals. This is incredibly UN NATURAL! It is also dried at temperatures over 1200 degrees, altering the natural chemical structure of the salt. The average person consumes 4,000-10,000mg of this horrible salt per day!
When sodium chloride enters the body your cells need to break it down in order to neutralize it. In order for this to happen water molecules must surround it. The water is stolen from your cells resulting in cell death. For every gram of sodium chloride that your body can’t get rid of it must use 23x the amount of cell water in order to get rid of it. It also will cause water to store in your tissues which causes cellulite, arthritis, gout, kidney stones, and gall stones. It also promotes edema, obesity, hypertension, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, stroke, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, PMS, and manic-depression. Americans are incredibly addicted to sodium chloride and it is causing major problems with the health of our country.
The Good: Mineral Salt
Salt is actually a mineral. When it is unprocessed and in its natural state that is how the body recognizes it. Mineral salt is used in all cellular communication and is important especially when it comes to hormone communication. Salt without water will not work, and water without salt will not work. They are both needed for each other. Your cells and body relies on these two substances in order to have complete communication and function.
My favorite mineral salt is Himalayan Rock Salt. When Himalayan salt is added to spring water it offers all of the natural elements exactly identical to those found in your body. It has amazing benefits for the body, such as:
Balancing blood sugar levels
Balances excess acidity in your cells—particularly brain cells
Helps insulin sensitivity
Regulates water content in body which helps to regulate kidney function and water retention
Where minerals go water goes—sprinkling a pinch of salt in your water will actually make your water more hydrating to your body by actually driving the water into your cells.
Absorbs food particles through intestinal tract
The Conclusion:
USE THE RIGHT SALT! I cannot stress this enough! Stay away from the bad salt and load up on the good salt! We need salt for communication and proper bodily function. If you are not putting in the good salt and you are putting in the bad salt, the body will have to grab the bad salt and try to use that, and this is when all of the problems start. Try adding a pinch of rock salt to your water during the day and see how much better you feel! I guarantee you will feel more energized and more hydrated!
Today it is a common thing to walk around feeling crappy. From runny noses, to sluggishness, to cancers, we all walk around like this is a normal part of life. Like this is something we are meant to be feeling. It becomes a part of our routine.
How many of us grab a cup of coffee in the morning in order to wake ourselves up, and have another at around 12 to keep ourselves going? How about around 2:30 when your crashing and grab that red bull? Americans walk around trying to constantly keep themselves going, often with tissues in their pocket and Nyquil on their bed stand.
THIS IS NOT NORMAL! All though this has become a norm in our society, this is NOT how the body is meant to behave. We should wake up feeling energized and ready to take on the day, with that same energy continuing all through the day. You shouldn’t be blowing your nose or be “fighting something off” all day. You should feel great all day every day!
Let’s think about this. Most of us have not so labor intensive jobs. We sit in front of computers, deal with customers, answer phones, etc. Back some years ago, in “Little House on the Prairie” days, everyone worked on farms. Everyone had labor intensive jobs, waking up at 4 to milk the cows and chucking bales of hay all day. There was a lot to be done. They did this seven days a week. How did they have the energy to do this all day? Well, they most definitely were not running off of a Mcdonald’s Sausage Egg McMuffin breakfast.
The SAD (Standard American Diet) is exactly that. Sad. For most of us breakfast is considered going through the drive thru, eating a donut at the office, or perhaps nothing at all. This is what we are breaking our fast with! Sugar, sugar, sugar, or processed, processed, processed! This is causing an immediate spike in your blood sugar and in about 30 minutes a severe crash downwards! For those of us eating the microwaved breakfasts… think of all the processed ingredients our body is now trying to break down… with no help. The enzyme deficient food you are eating is sitting in your stomach trying to break down all of these chemicals, not knowing what to do with them since these are foreign to the human body, and not meant to be put in it! Here’s where you start to feel sluggish. The body now stores these chemicals as toxins, which causes weight gain, brain fog, acidity, and disease. Those of us who ate that bacon or sausage with breakfast, once the stomach has finally broken this down 3 hours later, it is now sitting in the intestine, will it will remain fermenting for the next few days until you are finally able to pass it.
And we are just at breakfast.
We should not be sick. This should not be our diet. Unfortunately I’m sure 90% of you can read these above paragraphs and say “this is my day”, and this is why we are all sick!
You can change this! Start really thinking about what you’re putting in your body. It’s the perfect time to start! Make this year’s Spring Cleaning about cleaning out your body! Make a goal for ultimate health, and to feel 100% everyday!
Take small steps!
Here are some tips for you to start!
Keep your blood sugar stable.
This means never letting yourself be hungry and eating proper foods! We should be eating every 2-2.5 hours to keep our metabolism running. The first mistake people make is not eating in fear of weight gain. This is dangerous and wrong. You are shutting down your metabolism and telling your body to enter starvation mode, where it will hold on to every calorie in you give it. (I recently came across a story of a woman who weighed over 500lbs and ate only once a day!) After you eat breakfast, in a few hours have a piece of fruit or…. Some chocolate! Yes! Chocolate! 25g of carbs worth of chocolate that is 75% or darker is an awesome way to keep you going… and it will NOT cause weight gain! Start enjoying your favorite foods and enjoy life!
Have balanced meals, not one over saturated with starchy carbohydrates. Put mostly veggies on your dish. Most of us go an entire day without seeing a leafy green! This is SCARY! Greens are very healing to the body! 20% of what is on your dish should be protein, not 60% like most of ours. Small portions of protein balanced out with a bunch of veggies and a small amount of carbs will keep you stable.
NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST!
This is so important! This is where everyone makes a huge mistake… do not start your day off running on empty! You will not get very far! Instead, start your day off with a nice big glass of water! I drink about 1 liter of water before I do anything. Start with a big 16oz glass and work your way up! Start your body hydrated instead of dehydrated and you will immediately notice a difference!
My favorite breakfasts are green smoothies. They are fast, easy, and you can drink them on the go! Throw some fresh fruit of choice into the blender with a few of your favorite veggies (Kale, spinach, Strawberry, Banana is a favorite at the café!) Add some cacao nibs for a nice chocolate crunch and some ice if you didn’t use frozen fruit. Experiment with these until you find your favorite and drink up! Starting your day off with some awesome greens in an enzyme packed smoothie will keep you going throughout the day!
STOP counting calories and START reading labels!
We are in a calorie obsessed nation, and look where it has gotten us. People look for the lowest calorie options and put tons of chemicals into their body—all for what? To fit in a size 2? How about giving your body the best food ever and feeling great and not restricting yourself? The chemicals in these low calories meals are killing us and making us sick.
If you can’t pronounce it—put it right back on the shelf! When you eat whole fruits and vegetables and, well, REAL food, there is no sounding out words! Just simple ones we all learned in first grade! And these are the best ones for our bodies! Things it can actually use!!!
STOP FEELING GUILTY!
Most of us put ourselves on this guilt trip when we eat a “fattening” food. Don’t do this. We control our bodies… actually even down to our DNA… with our thoughts. Think positively about your food and be happy with what you are eating. When you’re eating chemically laden foods, yes this is difficult and you can’t feel good because your body doesn’t. But if you are eating healthy, and you have that piece of birthday cake, enjoy it! Feel happy you are eating it! It will not affect you in the same way as it would if you beat yourself up over it!
Eat Your Veggies RAW!
Most of us cook our veggies literally to death, killing everything they have to offer us. Microwaving is obviously the worse, (you really should just get rid of it) it kills 99% of the enzymes and nutrients in the food and also chemically alters your food so your body can no longer recognize it as a fat, carb, or protein! Steaming is 2nd worse. I’m not sure where we got the idea that steamed veggies were good… maybe because it taste bland and people have this misconception that bland food is better for you. WRONG! If you’re going to cook your veggies, LIGHTLY fry them in a pan with some coconut oil. Make sure they are still crisp. Obviously, the best option is not to cook them at all! Marinating veggies and preparing them in different ways can be fun and tastyyyy!
Pump that Lymph!
Stretching everyday is something great to practice. It will help push toxins through thru body. The lymph system needs pumping as it does not move on its own. Stretching and exercise does this, and it is a must for a pure body! My favorite way to get mine going is with some stretches, jumping on the rebounder (an exercise trampoline) or jump rope! 5 minutes of jump rope is equivalent to a 20 minute jog!
I can keep going on and on, but I guess I stop here… These are all great ways to start getting healthy and to stop walking around sick and tired! Start now! If you have any questions or would like help with a new diet, or just some more tips, email me at eyeofrawfoods@gmail.com! I will be happy to help!
Start your REAL Spring cleaning INSIDE, and watch your outside shine!
Many of us stress over our food intake, and make sure we are only putting in the best of the best into our bodies, I know i do. But when is the last time you have thought about your water? Are you putting the best of the best water into your body? Most of us dont, as we are uneducated on water. These next few paragraphs will help educate and help you decide if you are drinking the best of the best– and what exactly you are drinking… Water or Liquid?
Water was the first thing to be on the planet. No matter what history you believe in, creation, evolution etc, water was the first element to come. We are made up of mostly water, as is our planet. It is one of the most vital things in everything created and has been around for thousands of years. Water has intelligence. It also has memory. A lot of things that make our very computer run are components that are water based. It has the ability to communicate with other cells and tell them what to do. So think about this. When you are drinking the best water ever, one that actually has minerals, has a memory of positive things, and has extreme intelligence, when it is put into your body, it communicates that with your cells and allows your body to function and hydrate properly! However, the majority of us are not doing this.
The Liquid From Your Faucet:
That liquid most of us refer to as water that comes from our faucet is highly contaminated with the worst pollutants of all. The number one contaminant in your tap liquid is actually toilet paper, since they recycle what you flush back into the “water” supply. This leads to the second highest contaminant, Drugs. This happens in three ways:
People who are using prescription or illegal drugs urinate, flush the toilet and that gets recycled
People do not use all of their prescription medications and flush the remainder down the toilet
People flush illegal drugs down the toilet
On top of the contaminants that we ourselves are putting into our water, there are the ones that are being dumped by our governments. Lets start with Chlorine:
This gets put into our water supply to kill bacteria. Obviously, this is something that needs to happen since we are recycling toilet water. If this did not happen we would all be very sick. But that does not mean it is safe for us to ingest.
Chlorine is very toxic. If you were to put your finger into straight chlorine it would severely burn you. Drinking it will burn us from the inside out!
Chlorine was used during World War I as a choking (pulmonary) agent.
Chlorine is highly toxic, and there are many warnings on anything that contains chlorine about the dangers of it and what to do if it is ingested.
Pregnant women in their first trimester who drink five or more glasses of chlorinated tap water a day may be at a much higher risk of miscarriage than women who drink non-chlorinated water.
Thanks to chlorine pollution, Americans ingest a daily amount of dioxin (a chlorine by-product) that is already 300 to 600 times greater than the EPA’s so-called ”safe” dose. Then, we drink more in our water!
You inhale more chlorine than you think! If you do not have a filter on your shower head, or are not on a well, you inhale and absorb a mass amount of chlorine in your shower! Your are inhaling a burning agent and absorbing its toxins into your skin. Most Chlorine exposure is from inhalation.
Exposure to chlorine can cause the following symptoms:
>Damage to the Gastrointestinal Tract
>Severe changes in blood pH levels– becomes very acidic
>Loss of vision
>Burning of the insides
>Damage to the organs
We are becoming more and more toxic with every sip of water. So before you run out and buy a Brita, check if it is actually cleaning our the chlorine. A lot of these filters just cover up the smell of chlorine. Here’s a great fact: Brita is produced by Clorox. Yup, they put in the chlorine, and then give you something to “Take it out” (even though it really does not)
Then there is the good ol’ Fluoride! We are taught since we are little children that we need fluoride and that it is good for our teeth and that the government is watching out for us by dumping it in the water supply. I remember when i was little and the dentist would want to give me a fluoride treatment and my dad wouldn’t allow it. They used to give him the third degree until we left the office.
If you do a little research on fluoride, you will find it has a very interesting history. Fluoride was first used by the Russians, given to prisoners in the prison camps to make them docile. Fluoride was later adapted by the German Nazi’s, which were the first to start adding it to water, solely to make people docile and dumb, making them easier to control.
Fluoride is one of the main ingredients in rat poison and is highly toxic. When you handle fluoride, like at the dentist, it has to be disposed of as toxic waste. So why is it ok to add it to our drinking water? Does it somehow not become toxic?
Fluoride causes the following:
Bone weakening (this includes your teeth– yes, it is actually bad for your teeth)
liver damage
kidney damage
low IQ (yes, many tests have proven this– research it)
decrease in thyroid function
damage to the gastrointestinal tract
Go ahead and check your tube of toothpaste. It most likely has fluoride in it. Then, look at the fine print. It will tell you right on the tube that if a child ingests even a pea size amount of that toothpaste to cause poison control. But yet they are selling us the fact “Fluoride is good for your dental health”
The number one place that absorbs the most fluoride in the body is in fact the Pineal Gland. It causes it to calcify rapidly. The average persons Pineal Glad is calcified by the age 18. I’m not going to get into deep detail about this here, but it is most definitely worth researching.
here is a great video i found on fluoride, definitely worth watching and you should definitely research this more!!
There are no filters available that will remove fluoride from the water except for reverse osmosis. However, reverse osmosis water is not something recommended. For every 3 or 4 gallons of liquid that passes through that filter, there are about 90 gallons it wastes. Also, it completely demineralizes the liquid, and erases its intelligence and memory. Those of you who own one of these filters will testify to the fact that you do not feel very hydrated and have to eat high water fruits. This is because it does not hydrate you! When water has nothing to tell your cells, it is not able to communicate with your body that you are hydrated.
“Well, I buy bottled water, I’m Safe”
Wrong. First, most of the bottled water you buy does not come from springs at all. Fiji, Poland Springs, Voss, Aqufina, and many more are actually bottling well water. Yes, Well Water. You are paying up to $3 a bottle for well water! If you are someone who is doing this please, bring me your bottles and I will refill them for you at my house for a much lower price! Many of these companies are also starting to add fluoride to their bottled water! So you are purchasing fluorinated well water that has been sitting in toxic plastic.
So by now im sure your feeling absolutely lost in what to do to even get clean, intelligent drinking water. Here are some options for you:
Find a local spring! You can visit the site www.findaspring.com and it will list some that are in your area. This is where i collect my water from. When you are collecting water that is from the earth that is thousands of years old, its has very high intelligence and is packed with minerals! You will feel such a HUGE difference when you start drinking this water, I promise you!
Your other option is to find a bottling company that uses GLASS bottles and make sure they are using actual spring water. When I am in a pinch, I use Mountain Valley Spring Water, it comes in a green bottle. I have used their water for some time now and it is great. Add a pinch of Celtic sea salt or Himalayan rock salt to it and it will be re-mineralized. Add in a blade of grass or an apple peel and give it back some intelligence! I personally will add some Goji Berries, since they are the most intelligent of all fruits.
Be Safe and Be Smart. Drink REAL Smart Water, not that fake stuff they sell you!
For those of you that live in my area, Syracuse, NY, here were the following contaminents in our water supply. I suggest you all request a list!!
In addition to chlorine, its’ by-products and nitrate, the followingcontaminants were reported in our supply water:
Hydro-flurosilicic acid
Copper sulfate
Orthophosphate
TDS- total dissolved solids- dirt and other solids
So, being a raw foodist it is not possible for me to use animal products because they all need to be cooked in some way for their consumption. I also have a tough time consuming them with out a guilty conscious knowing what happens to them in factory farms and all. I have studied the issue greatly and it is terrible what happens.
Deciding not to use animal products was quite easy for me, and i dont miss it one bit. I didnt realize the ridicule it would bring. People are constantly debating me on the issue and telling me i am “stupid” or “wrong” or many other names that i prefer not to mention. Why is this such a big deal? Are we striking a nerve? Why are we brought up in a society that raises us to believe we need meat survive? Why is it ok to abstain for religious reasons, but not for your own moral reasons?
Please post below your reason for being vegan, vegetarian, or a meat eater, and also, what are some of your “horror” stories behind holding one of these titles? Please keep comments nice, and lets not “bash” one another for our different beliefs. Thanks!
Nana: Mariesa, you need to eat meat to be healthy.
Me: Why did you eat meat a lot growing up? (shes the healthiest 86 year old i’ve ever met)
So i found this link posted on twitter, and it was very informative. I read the bible almost every day and am very familiar with the story of Genesis. i never really put it into perspective like this. I did often have thoughts about how when Adam and Eve were in the garden, they only ate plants and they were obviously not cooked. This guy goes to the extent and explains everything. Now, I am not saying he is correct, because there are other passages that proves him wrong, but he does make sense.
I know that ever since i started raw i have had the energy of a five year old and feel great. thinking about meat or eggs or anything makes my stomach literally upset, and not just because of what happens in the process. All i do is crave fruits and vegetables, which i have never done in my entire life. I have also lost weight for the first time. Now, i never have weighed myself and have never cared at all, but i wanted to make sure this diet was going to make me drop below my set point* body weight by being mal nourished. In the first few weeks i dropped 10 lbs, but am still incredibly healthy. What this means, is that my body was not at the weight it wanted to be so my metabolism boosted when i was eating what my body needed.
*(set point body weight is the weight your body desires to be at, and will increase or decrease your metabolism to stay at this weight. this is precisely why extreme dieting is bad)
