Living Foods, Enzymes, Raw Food, Acidic or Alkaline

During my Acid Reflux distress I had read Natural Cures"They" Don't Want You to Know About. It was a stepping stone to where I am today. In the book he says that we do not eat enough living food or foods with active enzymes. Most of the food we eat today is processed, microwaved, pasteurized or cooked until there is nothing left that is living in the food. In Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life Brendan Brazier touches on the same subject and speaks of sprouting nuts, seeds, beans and grains and eating them in their living raw form. He also talks about the pH of food and our bodies. Our bodies should be more alkaline to operate properly and most of us have bodies that are in an acidic state. This interests me, but I have only begun to investigate and educate myself on the subject.

Lately, I have been adding more raw foods and fermented foods into my diet. Stores like Healthy Living in South Burlington have a whole section dedicated to raw foods. Here are a few of my favorite raw food brand names Lydia's Organics, Lulu's Raw Chocolate, Brad's Raw Chips, Ruth's Hemp Foods and Vega. They all make excellent products that are good for the body. Another website that has the most amazing raw recipes is Raw Amazing. I will let you know how things are as time goes on and who knows? You may be eating some of my "raw" recipes soon!

Acupuncture, Holistic Health Coach and Camping

For a healthy person it seems that I have a lot going on in my life as far as preventive maintenance. Last week, I went to my naturopathic physician for a check-up and a seasonal acupuncture. After checking my pulses she found that the pulses were finally balanced, but a little weak. The acupuncture this time was to strengthen my spleen qi. The needles followed my lower rib cage and my lower legs. I felt really good after it was completed. Dr. Miller-Lane provided me with a tincture to strengthen my digestive tract and spleen qi. Per her direction I have also been avoiding fruit at night, gluten and processed corn while adding green tea and lemon water to my daily beverages.

This week I had my third visit with the holistic health coach. We talked about some of the changes that I have made in diet, energy levels, weight loss and exercise. One of my challenges has been eating healthy snacks at work. I continue to struggle with this and have traded the nightly bag of Fritos or brown rice chips for barbecue potato chips. I want to break this habit of eating commercial chips. One of the ideas that I had overlooked from the previous session was fresh vegetables with hummus. Instead of hummus I have brought fresh vegetables with horseradish mustard and also an Indonesian dipping sauce. Another idea that I came up with is dehydrated sweet potatoes; they are drying as I type. I continue to make dehydrated kale chips and eat them faster than I can make them! The fresh greens I chose for this week was Swiss chard; sauteing it the same way I did the collard greens last week. Very good! Lindsay provided me with a book to read, of my choosing. I chose Food Energetics by Steve Gagne'.

Another step in the "Journey to a Healthy Life" is to just get out and have fun. Last weekend, I went camping with a friend. We shared laughs, good food and a love for the outdoors. Sunday morning was a perfect Vermont day with blue skies and a cool breeze. 

We could have stayed in the woods all day, but had to pack up camp and return to reality. We had one last brownie and cup of peppermint tea It was an exceptionally good time.

For the Love of Dirt: For the Love of Dirt

This is a blog I am following. I have often thought that I would enjoy living a life off the grid and away from people. Would it be a healthier way of life?

For the Love of Dirt: For the Love of Dirt: "When I began to tell people that I’d be spending part of my summer living in a cabin with a composting toilet and no running water, ..."