Eating raw foods. The ultimate choice in optimal health.

TODAY we're talking about juicing!!!

2010-07-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

[THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE! THIS PAGE IS STRICTLY POSTED TO OFFER NEW AVENUES TOWARDS OPTIMAL HEALTH. IF YOUR ARE GRAVELY SICK PLEACE CONSULT WITH A TRUSTED PHYSICIAN. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ACHIEVING OPTIMAL HEALTH AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ON THE SUBJECT, CONTINUE TO READ ON. WE ENCOURAGE THE READER TO RESEARCH FOR THEIR SELF THE CLAIMS THAT ARE HUMBLY POSTED IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES.]

Yup! You guessed it, I'm going to ramble on about Juice! And NOOOO I'm NOT talking about using steroids! It's actually sad that when I mention "I juiced this morning" more people think I'm talking about abusing steroids. Any way, Lets get into it shall we?

"Juicing, the short cut to maximum nutrients!"

In an ideal world we would each have enough land to agriculturally produce enough food for ourselves in our own gardens, sufficient to the point of human sustenance. Not only would we be sustained by our own food but we would be thriving from it. Our own gardens would be the key to vibrant health and extended longevity. We know that permaculture is a difficult topic to master. This would be the ability to strategically plan your land and agriculture in a way that a small ecosystem is created in the likeness of nature.

What does this have to do with any thing? Well, frankly I believe this was the exact principal that manifest destiny and the american dream were built on. Each family able to take care of them selves on their own property independent of government, food peddlers, and the like. If your wondering where your food is tied in, allow me to break it down.

Many of you have heard that food loses nutrients after it is picked and while it's waiting to be eaten. The common scenario is usually from the branch to the truck, next to the supermarket, then to your house, and finally to your mouth. After this rigorous journey many nutrients are gone! Nutrients that your body craves most.

RULE OF THUMB: "Fresher is ALWAYS better" Basically what I'm saying is when you eat LOCAL, FRESH, ORGANIC, and HOME GROWN foods you are receiving high nutrient density foods!

Next, if you cant get home grown vine ripened fruits, greens, herbs, sprouts, beans, etc. then your next choice is to shop ORGANIC! I know, I have listened to all the hype, every one thinks that organic produce is a sham and is just another term for "twice as expensive". Any one who is familiar with organic produce knows it defiantly tastes better. Organic on wikipedia is listed as:

Organic foods are made in a way that limits or excludes the use of synthetic materials during production. For the vast majority of human history, agriculture can be described as organic; only during the 20th century was a large supply of new synthetic chemicals introduced to the food supply. This more recent style of production is referred to as "conventional." Under organic production, the use of conventional non-organic pesticides, insecticides and herbicides is greatly restricted and saved as a last resort.

It's relatively safe to say that Organic produce is NON-GMO (not genetically modified) and is also synthetic pesticide free. Genetically modified foods have shown trends to lower immune systems. Congruently, so have processed foods. I mention these two specifically because it seems that most processed foods contain GMO produce. One would consider not ingesting processed foods particularly because they are a double whammy when it comes to immune system malfunction. A simple indicator might be, as the rise of GMO foods, processed foods, and high animal fat/high animal protein intake increases, so do cancer, illness, and coronary heart disease rates. We strongly recommend staying away from these types of foods.

On the last rung of our produce ladder would certainly be conventionally grown produce. In a perfect world we wouldn't have conventional crops, but somewhere along our history things got botched and now we have to pay a premium for produce that isn't grown in an unhealthy fashion. The problem with your conventional produce is literally rooted in. . . . the roots! J/K its more so the nutrient deficient soil that the roots are absorbing their nutrients from. Human nutrient intake is analogous with plant nutrient intake. If the plant has healthy soil than the plant it self is stronger, more disease prone, and yields higher crop outputs. Nutrients could be considered to pass on in this fashion.

Example of common nutrient transference: Dead soil that has been farmed on for 30 years lacks most vitamins and minerals which creates a plant that has a weak "immune system" and needs pesticides to ward off insects and diseases. This weak plant is corn in this example. Genetically modified corn to be exact. Which then goes on to feed a cow. Now this cow is becoming sick from ONLY eating this poor quality corn. This cow is slowly passing away and before it dies of sickness, we process it and chop it up and turn it into hamburgers. Does this burger maintain all the minerals, proteins, and fatty acids that our body wants? Of course not! On another note, as far as we know, fat cells tend to be a great place for toxins (such as pesticieds) to stay hidden. So your beef burger is nutrient deficient, and harboring pesticides that are harmful to the human at the miniscule size of say, a complex carbon based molecule. All around bad news bears.

The best example I have to change your mind would be to watch this video.

On a final note, I would say it is most certainly better to eat conventional produce if there are no other options because it is still better than eating a cheeseburger from the dollar menu.

So finally you know WHAT types of produce to eat whenever possible. Now lets talk about JUICING THEM UP!!!

Juicing your fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to receive nutrients from them. When juicing, nutrients are delivered to your blood stream within minutes. If you wanted to get a high amount of chlorophyll (a phytonutrient) from a fresh bunch of kale it would take massive amounts of time to chew up the leaves properly to receive maximum nutrition. However, if you take a juicer and juice the whole bunch of kale, you can consume the juice in a few moments. According to Jay Kordich, one of the new pioneers in juicing, humans would have to eat five pounds of fruits and veggies a day to intake sufficient nutrients. I know if you were to try to eat five lbs of fruits and veggies your body would be wasting a tremendous amount of energy to process and digest everything properly. So this is where getting your juice on comes in. Juicing removes all the fiber so your body only has to process the liquid nutrients. Removing fiber occasionally and drinking juice allows for your body to waste very little digestive energy while allowing maximum nutrients to be assimilated.

The human body has to break down all the food you put into it until it is liquid. Only then can your liver and kidneys be able to process the nutrients. Fiberless juice is already at optimal absorption. Any one who has drank a fresh raw green juice can feel the difference almost instantly. How do we know it's important? My first discovery was stumbling upon the gerson therapy. If you aren't privy to the information pertained in the therapy I strongly suggest purchasing the book "Healing the Gerson Way". Not only in the Gerson therapy, but also in Hippocrate's health program, patients who suffer from cancer and most other fatal illnesses are treated to copious amounts of fresh organic vegetable juices. Some times patients receive up to 13 juices a day. These enzyme rich nutrient packed juices are a key element in bringing back suffering people from the cusp of death.

Juicing in the opinion of Brian Clement the director of Hippocrate's Health Institute, is imperative to survival rate, unless there was an instance where the patient couldn't intake fresh juices. He also firmly believes that juicing is a healing modality, but blending is not. He states that blending at high speeds produces great friction and heat which destroys vital nutrients. He also mentions something along the lines about how large amounts of blended fruit sugars can ferment in the stomach because they aren't being processed quickly enough. This is bad. His suggestion is a slow masticating juicer that resembles something like chewing.

These topics are what moved Vicky and I towards purchasing a Greenstar Juicer.

This Juicer is about 550$. I know that is a lot to pay for high quality juice, but once you have it, you will never go back. This is what is called a twin gear masticating juicer. It has two spiral cylindrical stainless steel blades that sit remarkable close to each other. Produce is pressed into them, smashed and mushed up and then pushed forward through a screen like a corkscrew. This system destroys far less nutrients and yields the highest amount of juice, particularly in the case of leafy greens, micro-greens, herbs, and sprouts.

Vic and I have been juicing for almost two years now and can safely say it has worked wonders.

We didn't start out with a Greenstar. We actually bough a 30$ one from Target. After a few months we burnt out the engine on it. We were also unsatisfied with how poorly the juicer performed. The juices were chunky, and the pulp was always quite soggy. Soggy pulp means that you aren't extracting the juice from the fiber efficiently. This cheap juicer is called a centrifugal juicer. Meaning the juicer has a grated blade that spins and chops the plants down while rapidly flinging the pulp into a screen which separates the juice into a tray.

Not only were we wasting money on produce by not effectively juicing it, we were also damaging the nutrients that we sought after most. Our next juicer was a Jack Lalanne. This juicer was easier to clean, and yielded more juice, but was still destroying nutrients. This was also a centrifugal juice extractor. Now if you want to start off juicing I always suggest to get what ever you can get your hands on. Even if it is a cheap juicer at least you are still learning how to juice while gaining the benefits of juicing. Some juice is better than none! Do like we did. We tried it out. We loved it. We upgraded. Then we upgraded again to the best one we could find. Since then, we couldn't been happier. Remember the age old adage: "You pay for quality".

Before I go on, I have to mention that STORE BOUGHT JUICE IS PROHIBITED! As far as im concerned fresher is ALWAYS better. With store bought juice you can certainly expect that the juice has been pasteurized. Pasteurizing is essentially cooking your product just below boiling. Cooking raw juices kills off almost all the enzymes. Everyone in the raw community agrees that enzymes die off once they are cooked above 118 degrees fahrenheit. Some argue that they die off around 105. And some people believe in only sun drying foods. Its up to you to make the call, but I suggest that you try to keep your raw food under 115 to be safe. Some rumor that on Louis Pasteur's death bed he made a comment that he may have been wrong about pasteurization. I tend to agree.

Now you know what to juice, and which juicer to juice with. Its time to give you some juicing rules, and a recipe.

One problem with the SAD (Standard American Diet) is that it lacks phytonutrients, particularly, chlorophyll. This nutrient is abundant in any thing that is dark or vibrantly green. This type of nutrient is also said to be an important catalyst in cellular regeneration. Your mother was right! Eat your dark green vegetables! If you were to examine what a gorilla eats you would notice about 40% of their intake is leafy green vegetables. The gorilla is 95% vegan animal with the exception of small rodents and insects in a very small quantity particularly in times of lessened foliage abundance. I bring up the gorilla because it is the pound for pound strongest mammal, and its DNA is said to be only 2% different form ours. It is true that their strength may be a result of astronomically high testosterone levels, but I like to note that they are vegetarian animals and are incredibly strong on without meat. Also, you may want to notice that their digestive systems are incredibly similar to ours as well. If an ape/monkey/chimp/gorilla can thrive off of raw foods, so can we.

Here are some great greens to juice!

KALE - Truly a superfood, this green is mineral abundant, antioxidant rich, and chock full of chlorophyl. If you go to Whole Foods markets it is rated on the highest level of nutrient density. Other leafy greens of a similar caliber are COLLARD GREENS and MUSTARD GREENS. These few greens tend to be a staple in our juices. Others are CILANTRO and PARSLEY, which both help to detox your liver. Another liver cleanser is DANDELION GREENS. Other acceptable greens that make their way into our juices include, WATER CRESS, BOK CHOY, SPINACH, GREEN LEAF LETUCE, SWISS CHARD (any color), WHEAT GRASS, BARLEY GRASS, BASIL, FENNEL and many more.

RULE OF THUMB: Be sure to switch your variety of greens for juicing so that your body can receive different nutrients from different plant based sources. You also do not want your body adapting to the intake of the same nutrients repeatedly.

What else should we put in our juicer? Well, I can't tell you what EXACTLY to put in because each person's body is different, but also because different ailments require higher intakes of different nutrients. For example, if you were very phlegmy and wanted excess phlegm removed from your throat you may want to consider a, celery, watercress, dandelion, sour apple, garlic, ginger, and lemon juice to help break down the congestion.

With that said we will mention other things you may want to juice for overall health promotion. APPLES and CARROTS are a staple in our refrigerator because they taste great and they juice surprisingly well. A simple carrot and apple juice is very common in the Gerson therapy. I prefer sour apples because they are lower in fructose (natural fruit sugar) than most other apples. The tartness described in a green apple is actually a higher amount of malic acid. Malic acid is a natural fat burner and is quite alkaline forming on the body.

Other acceptable produce for juicing includes: BEETS and the BEET GREENS. Beet greens are the leafy green part of the beet, also known as beet tops. The tops of the beets are actually thousands of times healthier for you in some nutritional instances. The same principal can be applied with CARROT GREENS, or carrot tops. These too maintain far greater nutrients.

MOST FRUIT IS ACCEPTABLE, but you should remember that you do not want to intake a large amount of sugars ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE IN CANCER THERAPY. We enjoy

LEMONS, ORANGES, GRAPES, BLUEBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES, and others in similar nature. Vegetables that frequently find their way into our juicer are, CABBAGE, BROCCOLI, PARSNIP, ROOT VEGETABLES, CUCUMBER (which is a fruit), ASPARAGUS, and CELERY.

FUN ONES TO JUICE include WATER MELON, CANTALOUPE, AND HONEYDEW.

RULE OF THUMB: Be sure to juice all of the usable parts of your produce. This may include the whites of your oranges (not the orange part of the peel, it is toxic) the skins of apples, the rind of watermelon, and the skins of organic carrots. Normally there are many great nutrients to be had within these parts of your produce. Many nutrients are housed in the skins of fruits and veggies. A watermelon's majority of nutrients is held within the rind and the white of the rind. So don't forget to get the most out of your foods.

The last group of things that we put in out juices are miscellaneous. These things include GARLIC, GINGER, or even ONION. All of which are incredibly powerful in the world of healing.

Here is a FUN RECIPE: 10 Carrots, 2 Green Apples, Half Bunch of Kale, Half Bunch of Cilantro, one lemon (with or with out peel) and 2 cloves of garlic. This drink should be sweet to the taste with an interesting "greenish" taste that you will soon come to crave. Try out making your own juices with the produce mentioned and see what fun flavors you can come up with. You may find your juice tasting pretty awful at times. Its best to try adding more tasty produce to the drink to make it taste better. First time is certainly not a charm when it comes to juicing. Continue to experiment. You are bound to find new combos that will excite the senses and provide you will a great deal of energy.

SIDE NOTE: Juice that is well strained is juice that is more fiberless. The smoother the juice on the pallet, the easier it is for your body to absorb. A helpful tool Vic and I purchased was a loose leaf tea strainer. All the juice we drink is strained through a similar strainer to help remove even the finest bits of fiber from our juice. A nut milk bag would also be an acceptable substitution.

STORAGE: When it comes to consuming your fresh organic raw fruit and veggie juice again we'll have to harp "FRESHER IS ALWASY BETTER". So try to drink your juice as soon as your done juicing. With juice you are literally racing the clock against oxidation. You may notice a 4 day old carrot juice left in the fridge is brown in color. This is due to oxidation of the juice. We all can agree a 3 day old juice is still better than no juice at all, so keep in mind drinking it quickly will hold better results. Furthermore, one has to consider the differences in oxidation speed between different produce. I'm not certain exactly what rate each veggie oxidizes at but I was told leafy greens oxidize the quickest. Approximately 50% of nutrients are lost in the first 15 minutes when it comes to greens. I continued to learn that carrots and other fruits are the next quickest but at a much slower rate than greens. Followed by high fruit acids which take the longest. A couple pieces of produce at oxidation rates in order of fastest to slowest would look like, Kale > Carrots > Apples > Garlic > Lime. Im Sure you can plan accordingly. I think its agreed upon that juice is still decent to drink up to 4 days or so, depending on the produce within said juice.

HOW MUCH TO CONSUME?

Knowing how much to consume is very tricky. Some experts say 2 ounces of wheat grass is enough for your green nutrients a day. I tend to disagree. I have always said it is better to bombard your system with nutrients and let IT decide what it wants to use. Chances are you still aren't receiving enough. Vic and I tend to drink about a liter of juice a day. Some days we have more. If you are familiar with Angela Stokes Monach then you know the benefits of juice feasting/fasting. It is very easy and considered remarkably healthful to live off of natural fruit juices alone for periods as long as 40 days. I would consider this to be a sort of powerful cleansing that gives your digestive system a break while providing a great deal of healthy vitamins, minerals, and natural fruit sugars to survive on.

What it all comes down to my friends, is making sure you receive the nutrients that your body needs. Juicing is one of the best mediums out there. In my humble opinion if you are juicing frequently and properly, it is unnecessary to take multivitamins because you are receiving a bountiful amount of nutrients in a format that is highly absorbable (or bioavailable) and are predigested. We'll speak another time about supplements that cannot be attained in you juicing, but for now start utilizing the power of juicing.

Make juicing a part of your life, it truly is one of the most important parts to optimal health.

Kyle C. Simmons

I did it! My very first step towards eating raw foods.

2010-07-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

On my journey to eating raw foods, I have decided to take baby steps rather than 'take the plunge.' Obviously it is different for each individual. I do not want to hate eating raw so much that I say F@#$ it and just remove the idea of optimal health from my life.

So for 1 month I will remove all meats from my diet. No beef, pork, lamb, or seafood. I am still debating on cheeses and eggs, however I will try to avoid them. When completed, I will take another test for my glucose and cholesterol levels. Also, I will try to document online, what I have eaten.

Since today is july 3rd, let me first tell you what happened on the 1st. I did not cheat however, it was brutal. On my way to work, I ate a protein bar. I made sure to buy the ones that did not contain any cholesterol. I cannot remember the brand, so I will have to post that later. In any case, this was very helpful. Just eating anything in the morning/for breakfast can be very helpful. I was not hungry until the afternoon. I drank as much water as I could to stay hydrated, and then I ate an orange. I cannot believe I was still OK.

On the drive home, then it started to hit me. Addiction, routine, what ever you want to call it completely slapped me in the face.

Here's how it goes:
1) I'm driving home,
2) get hungry
3) realize the thought of having to make sure I have enough ingredients to prepare then cook a meal seem WAY to time consuming.
4) stop by the closest fast food joint and get anything off the value menu for instant gratification. Seriously, you know how much time that saves me? And you know how much value I get? I can buy 6 crunchy tacos for $5!

So I tried to NOT think about fast food. I started to think about fruits, vegetables, a green drink, maybe a salad. Every time I did that, my mind went blank, then changed about other stuff, then went back to thinking about fast food. It was was literally a struggle to think about healthy food when I got hungry. I realized that crap (but delicious) foods have now reached my affect and cognition. My affective response to fast food were strong emotional feelings. If you do not know, emotions effect you physically, depending on the level. With greens, my affect was on an evaluation level; there was no real involvement so id become almost apathetic to it.
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UPDATE::

I apologize that I was not more informative. I have one more day to go and I did not eat any meat. Let's see I did eat an egg once, I ate fish, and cheese/dairy. This was only my first step towards eating raw foods only. I did consume more fruits and vegetables. However, I found that when I did not eat any meat, I did consume a lot of cheese and carbs (from potatoes and breads).

Towards the end of this month's challenge. I have to say that it DID get easier. What is even better is that the people close to me want to try it too. This is great.

So what is next? Well, I will continue but I will adjust my challenge further. I had this feeling that cheese was even worse for me than meat, but I have no hard evidence. So starting August 1st, this is how it will go.

Monday - Friday: No Dairy, No Meat, No Fish
Saturday: No dairy,
Sunday: Anything I want (yes, I will add meat once a week)

This is to now prepare me to learn how to prepare and understand what foods have no dairy. I have to say, that I feel this is going to be worse than not eating meat!

In September, I will have to take it a step further.

So, what changes do I feel after a month of no meat?

I do not feel any skinnier. This could be because of all the dairy and carbs. I've actually gained weight. When I started I was about 182lbs. Now, it is close to 190lbs.
I still get hungry sometimes but I know that if I eat a fruit or a small portion of food, I will be OK. Also, I know that I should be eating more throughout the day.
I guess I feel more energetic, meaning I do not have to sleep numerous times in the day. I do not feel 'bogged down.'

I am proud of what I accomplished this month, and I am excited to take it a step further.

Basically that is all for now. I apologize for the un-organized content. I promise next month will have more up to date posts that brings you along my journey towards eating raw foods.

2010-07-01T03:10:00.000-07:00

Alright everyone it's time to step out of the "Meatrix" and learn a bit about the protein myth.

Where do I begin? Hmmmm. Well, first off I'd like to reiterate that this page is NOT medical advice, and isn't about diet/weight loss; this page is about HEALTH! Not just any health, but striving for optimal health. In your journey to unravel the truth about health it is paramount that you make it your personal goal to continue researching. Of course, I don't claim to be an expert of any kind. I like to think of my self as an active participant in a research experiment orchestrated for the sole purpose of achieving higher levels of health while passing on personal insights regarding health and longevity.

When I'm casually overhearing conversations of so called health enthusiasts I frequently hear the words "I NEED PROTEIN". The voice in my head gives a slight chuckle then humbles it's self. For those who actively follow raw food know that the societal conditioning of the western or the affluent world know that it is very difficult breaking routine habits, especially ones pertaining to food consumption. It seems like decades of misinformation and reductionism have carefully molded the masses to firmly follow the status quo blindly.

The hardest feat in breaking the paradigm of the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) is lodged deep within the mental constructs of who ever is choosing to challenge it. Once one can beak the habits and accept change then he/she can begin to move in the direction of health. I'm no psychologist, but we all can agree, the only person who can change you. . . is you!

On to the insight.

What is protein? 1 : any of various naturally occurring extremely complex substances that consist of amino-acid residues joined by peptide bonds, contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, usually sulfur, and occasionally other elements (as phosphorus or iron), and include many essential biological compounds (as enzymes, hormones, or antibodies)

2 : the total nitrogenous material in plant or animal substance

I'll go on to further mention that is essentially comprised of amino acids. Branch-like groupings of amino acids in a multitude of combinations. We consider there to be 23 amino acids. Eight essential, and 15 non-essential. The non-essential amino acids are important as well and are given less credit than they deserve. All nutrients play a roll. Most every food contains amino acids. The fresher, healthier, organic foods tend to have the highest density of amino acids. These amino acids can be tampered with by heat, electricity, radiation and a plethora of other circumstances. Proteins can be structured grouped together in numerous fashions which are diversified by multiple different amino acids, different molecular bonds styles, and many other scenarios. Complete proteins are considered to have adequate amounts of the essential amino acids. This link will discuss more on the topic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein .

This is what protein is as far as Merriam-Webster and my self are concerned. What YOU should be concerned about is what are the healthiest sources of protein?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, meat sources aren't the best source of protein. I'd actually have to consider sea algae to be the best source of complete protein, but we will discuss this later. What is the problem with meat you might say?

Lets present this in bullets shall we. . .

- Meat, like any carbon based living creature will decompose after it has died. Any one who works or has worked in the food industry knows that bacteria growth stagnates in environments above 155 F, and below 40F. Your body is about 98.7F. When you consume a piece of meat and your body doesn't produce enough enzymes to break down the poorly chewed animal flesh which is now slowly moving thorough your digestive system (or G.I. track [gastrointestinal track]). These meats in your system now begin to continue to break down while enhancing their ability to host bacteria. Your body now is combating possible bacteria build up while robbing you body of boosting its immune system. A great example of this would be to leave a piece of raw beef out for a day at room temperature and smell it after a days worth of decomposition and oxidation. Then pick it up and tell me if you would eat it? My guess is no. So tell me why you would want that in your system when the difficulty of processing meats is known to possibly take up to weeks in some instances.

[Side note: Think about the saying "there could be old hot dogs in your colon". Also, remember that John Wayne passed away with pounds of undigested meat in his intestines.]

- Animal Protein detriment is quite vast. Not only is it difficult on your body to produce the enzymes to break down meats, but they are also very acid forming on your system. You want your body to be alkalized, which basically means to pH balance your body more towards a base/alkaline state (we'll discuss this another day).

- The book "The China Study" will go on to explain that animal protein was found to be a highly usable source of food for cancer growth. It also goes on to show the areas of china where people who ate the most animal fats and proteins maintained an alarming amount of diseases that were all similarly linked with specific eating and lifestyle habits. In a nutshell the book shows how a whole foods plant based diet proved to not only retard cancer growth but in most cases actually reverse cancer and disease. This scientific finding coincides with the fact that most natural cancer healing is comprised of remarkably healthy eating and detoxification.

I highly recommend this book and wholly endorse it by saying this material should be the catalyst which ignites your passion for health and that children should be brought up on it's teachings.

- Cooking meat also destroys proteins I don't know the exact figure, but it does vary between types meats, how long they are cooked for, how they are cooked and what they are cooked with are. A rough estimate would be about 30-45% of the protein is compromised by being cooked and altered.

OKAY OKAY OKAY! You get it . . . no more meats. But what about all these sources saying we neeeeeeedddd protein? To them I say your RIGHT! I also believe that some people need proteins more than others, while others need more fats and oils, and some more carbs/sugars. When it comes to how much protein consumption one needs I think it best to listen to your body. You body is the best indicator of what you need. Weather it is through feeling, cravings or intuition, one way or another you will tune in to what your body is telling you. There are possible blood tests to perform to be a bit more accurate on how much to consume. My humble advice is to not listen to the recommended daily allowance that the FDA is soliciting. If the whole food pyramid is wrong, then it is possible the RDA's for nutrient in-take may be faulty as well. I do know that over the years the RDA's have changed and been revised. This alone makes me curious, especially when they trend with the food marketing campaigns.

An interesting tid-bit on why it's possible people were sold on meat as your protein source could be attributed to this: In terms of what food on the planet would most likely contain an EXACT branch-chain amino acid complex that is identical to what a human consists of is actually human flesh. Your human flesh if consumed would contain the exact proportions of amino acids that comprise the proteins of your body. Unfortunately these highly complex strands of proteins would be very difficult for your digestive system to break down and by due process be rearrange back into a usable form which would be now bioavailable (absorbable or biochemically usable would be other good synonyms). Animal meat, being that it is closer to our human flesh would be thought to be a worthy protein source. Which it actually is, but its detriment out weighs its benefit.

Now lets look at the animal. Where does the animal that we eat get it's nutrients to create proteins? If you guessed plants and grasses, than you are pretty much right! In the like you would want to imagine that if you were to eat the right kinds of foods then you would be building protein the proper way. Natures way!

Here is the grey area. You might say come on!!! No MEAT? Actually I have a couple small contradictions. The first is that all of the studies done in "The China Study" noted that test subjects that ate under 5% of their calories as animal proteins seemed to be in the least harm. While the other subjects that ate 20% of their calories as animal proteins had a far greater cancer rate, especially the ones who were genetically predisposed to having cancer. So you may be able to safely have a miniscule amount of meat less than frequently. The second grey area is consuming healthy hormone and antibiotic free meat that is, for lack of a better term, organic. This instance is interesting because we know how unhealthy the animals are that we are given as food at your restaurants and fast food places. This poor quality meat is made of sick and dying animals pumped with antibiotics so that they live long enough to reach weight and size to be sold. This is a due greatly to GMO (genetically modified organism) corn. For info on genetically modified corn and foods check out the documentaries "The Future of Foods" and "King Corn". If a cow continues to eat this GMO corn with out antibiotics it will die. Another fun fact is 90% of chickens have cancer before they are processed/slaughtered. I'm not trying to scare you, I'm just informing you of what is going. The world should know. Actually 60% of the world is vegetarian. So the world already knows and some how we didn't get the memo. Another fun story I heard once was about a group of people who live to great lengths over their 100's in perfect health. Almost like how an animal hardly ages physically then just passes on. These people consumed a whole foods plant based diet with meat on a once a month sort of occasion. I'd like that kind of health wouldn't you? Another sort of grey area has to deal with types of meats and how they are processed in your digestive system. I am not certain but through reading and my own personal experience if I were to have to eat meat I would first and foremost consider if it were healthy high quality meat, and second, which meat is easiest to process for my system. Through my own feeling and research I believe that eggs are close to the easiest on the sysetem. Then fish, which vary between type. Then chicken, then pork, then lamb, then beef. I don't know how lobster, crustaceans, mollusks etc. come in but i do know that they are very acid forming on your body which is bad. So if i had to choose it would be a healthy, organic, wild sort of egg or fish if i had to eat meats. And further more in this grey area is food pairing. If you were to eat water melon, cucumber, papaya, or guava while eating meat the enzymes in the fruits would help your body break those down. So while eating this healthy meat source I would strongly consider using a sort of enzyme rich food source to help break this meat down so that my body could better use its nutrients!

I could speak volumes on protein but fear that it may result in a loss of interest due to lengthy blog articles. Bare with me, i'll get to the good news now.

WHAT SHOULD WE EAT!!!!

Well knowing first and foremost almost all live food contains amino acids. If you are eating an uncooked form of plant it certainly has amino acids. Most plants don't contain a broad balance of aminos so they are not considered a complete protein. If you combine your foods properly for instance, leafy green vegetables, a nut source and a seed source, along with a fruit you most likely have a significant source of amino acids that would be now rebuilt into highly usable proteins. The fact that these amino acids are plant based makes their ability to be digested very simply. They would be more absorbable if they were uncooked and untreated, and even more absorbable if they were properly cultured. A good example of a combo would be a smoothie or a meal that consisted of Kale, flax seeds, almonds, a banana and an apple. As we know nuts and beans have protein in them, along with flax seed, hemp seed, quinoa, and algae. Algae is a remarkable source of complete protein. Unfortunately, algae tends to be expensive, and also would need to be consumed in great volumes to attain it's benefit. Fortunately for us we can substitute our protein with more soaked and sprouted nuts, and other great plant based sources like hemp seed and quinoa. If you were looking to gain weight and add muscle mass I would strongly consider eating these things in a larger number along with supplementing additional protein. A daily example would be a large bowl of quinoa for breakfast. A cup of nuts as a snack. A green shake with hemp seed, fruits and greens for lunch. A sun warrior protein shake after work out. (http://www.sunfood.com/Catalog/CategorySearchResultsView.aspx?CategoryId=0&SearchTerm=sun+warrior&Cid=&gclid=CMXNroqqyqICFQ8mbAodRUAmwg) . And a nutritious meal including some sort of natural plant based protein and maybe a bit of algae before bed.

For weight gain and strength training it's necessary to consume more clean carbohydrates as well.

This is all I have for you today. Hopefully we all can make conscious efforts towards eating healthier sources of proteins. I also hope this blog may help guide you when your lost. If any thing is unclear in the aforementioned article I encourage you to go out and research as much as you can and if you find something to be of error or interest let us know so we all can reap the reward. Until then continue to strive towards a new you. The transformation is never instant and the information is never ending. Don't lose hope! Keep on truckin' and gradually transition into feeling better all the time.

Kyle C. Simmons

WELCOME!!! its time to get in the world of HEALTH!

2010-06-23T14:04:00.001-07:00

First off i'd like to mention that this page is NOT about medical advice! This page is also not about dieting! This page is strictly for HEALTH! From now on you do not focus on weight loss or dieting. Weight loss can result from many many many different situations. The problem with this is being absolutely positive which weight loss plan is HEALTHY!!! In my experience and the experience of those around us, and in congruency with the underground health movement "weight loss should be a positive side effect to healthy eating". Basically we're saying don't change your food intake for the loss of weight, change it for optimal health and just let the weight loss happen.

Of course we will focus specifically on different subjects as we continue on, but for now we will be taking our time trying to answer questions that you might have.

I think the best person that ANY ONE could ever listen to is their own selves. The only way you can find out how your body will respond is by actually trying that certain thing and monitoring the reactions. I suggest NOT TAKING EVERYONES ADVICE ALL THE TIME. This includes the advice from so called published papers, magazines/internet articles, in addition to television programs etc. The best thing any one can do is go research these claims and then experiment with your self and see how it works. Everyone's body is different and ONLY YOU HAVE YOUR BODY, no one else! So get closer to your own temple and learn how it works.

My Highlights: I had taken asthma medication for 23 years. I went raw and looked more into natural cures and what would help aid respiratory function. After Diligent research and self-experimentation I slowly waned my self off of my asthma medication and no longer take it. Is my asthma Cured FOREVER?! Yes, and no. I've found that maintaining my 75% Raw foods 99% Vegan diet (we eat raw honey and occasional bee pollen) my asthma is non-existent. BUTTTT when i falter (and we all do every once and a while) i notice that some of my asthmatic symptoms begin reoccurring. In short, maintaining my new lifestyle proves to completely heal my asthma. Even when in contact with chemicals which gave me the worst asthma attacks earlier in life, now the reaction is minimal or nonexistent.

Next is my favorite! With out focusing on getting skinny, it resulted as a side effect!

This is me when I was on my way to my heaviest. which was 197 LBS. This photo I believe I was around 180. By the time I was close to 200 I wouldn't let any photo's be take of me HAHA!

Now this is me at around 150 LBS after a solid month of diligent eating. I currently fluctuate between 140- 145

Apart from Asthmatic recovery and some weight loss, I can tell you the other positive effects I've experienced.
My skin is healthier, clearer and more moist. My body feels awesome all the time. I haven't had the SLIGHTEST inkling of sickness, cough, cold, or any other ailment of a similar nature. I'm very rarely sore or have muscle tenderness. My legs never ache at night, which used to be a problem that I was told was a result of having flat feet which proved costly and time consuming as child. My sleep is much better and more rejuvenating. My mental clarity is much more focused. I'll stop here because the list of positive side effects I have experienced since I went raw 6 months ago is quite lengthy.

Ok here are the downers that I have experienced. Whenever I eat poorly, I feel terrible. We (my girlfriend Vicky and I) have detoxed heavily and noticed that the cleaner your system is, the greater feeling of detriment poor food will play on your body. I have lost a small amount of muscle mass which is a result of not eating certain foods in proportion to the rest of my caloric intake. Which also coincides with me not working out at ALL any more; which is a vital part to optimal health. So I DO NOT blame a raw food/ vegan lifestyle for my loss of muscle mass. I ONLY BLAME MY SELF for not working out and not in-taking sufficient sources of natural raw vegan proteins. We will discuss proteins on a later blog so stay posted because we will be delving into the whole "Protein Myth" a little later.

This is a good start and now you have a little background on my experiences. My blogging is very unorthodox and poorly streamlined so bare with me. And bare with the poor grammatical structures because I do not contest to being a great author. Hopefully my editorial prowess improve as we progress with this blog.

Topics to look foreword to will include:
- What is a Raw Food/ Vegan life style.
- Protein and the culturally accepted status quo.
- Weight gain, weight loss.
- Natural and acceptable supplements and where to get them.
- Botany and horticulture.
- Gastrointestinal function, immune function, lymphatic function, adrenal function, nervous system function, and over all body system orchestration.
-Healing cancer and other degenerative/debilitating diseases safely and naturally.
- Who to research and look for in the health movement.
- Places to eat, and recipes.
- And MANY MANY MORE!

So stay posted, ask questions! if i haven't already researched and experienced something that you are interested in than we will research and find out more on what you are looking for!

Raw Introductions

2010-05-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, it has been what, a month now? I have to admit, not much has been accomplished. I did not give up McDonalds, or Chicken joints. However, I have added more exercise and raw foods into my diet.

I should go cold-turkey with all the junk, but hey, everyone is different.

so right now I am drinking a "green drink," which was made for me so I do not know what is in it. I did not even bother to ask. It looks like a dull green with a brown tinge. It taste like banana cream in the beginning, but then has a strong carrot after-taste. It is tolerable.

I notice that I have to keep ingesting raw foods; eating it more consistently, to allow my taste buds to adjust.

I saw this show on the Travel Channel, where this guy goes to an Indian Reserve, and they eat everything from a goat, intestines and all. The scramble to get some eyeballs, gallbladder, etc.
Their eyes light up as they devour what I would call 'disgusting.' Do these kids acquire this taste for goat eyeballs? Or is eating so rare that they are just so dang hungry?

So my objective is to eat more raw foods; Increase my intake. If that does not work, then it would be best to start eating raw foods when I am starving. Would it then taste better? I assume so, but when 'junk' food is so readily available, then mental strength comes into play.

Man, there are a lot of things going against me. I guess it is really true that this will be a lifestyle change.

OK so far:

Height: 5'8"
Weight: 185
How I feel:I feel better than a month ago
(1-not a raw foodist / 10- I practice and know more about raw food than ANYONE I KNOW)
Scale: 2

This can be the start of a raw relationship

2010-03-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

OK so I am going to start my journey.

Baby steps my friend; baby steps.

April 1, 2010, I will begin my path (of most resistance) to eat healthier, and eventually go raw foods, foorrreverrr....

why do I love meat so much? Does it really taste that good? can 28 years of environmental training be fixed? Is this chemical addiction stronger than my mental strength? am I analyzing this to much?

In any case, I will keep tabs of my food; buy a nice 5star mead notebook (which I have not seen for 10 years) and remind myself what I did right and wrong. Have you ever looked at an old photo or content that you wrote a long time ago, and just wonder 'that was me? what the h@#% was I thinking?' Maybe if it is written down, I'll only have to go as far back as a few days, not a few years, and make adjustments before it is too late.

Keeping you posted - M

The radio staggers against the backspace!

GOING RAW: Should I, can I, will I?

2010-03-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

OK so, I was invited (by my sister) to contribute to this blog because I am NOT a raw-foodist; not even close. I smoke, drink, rarely excersize, and ate whatever I wanted. I did not care much about my health. Last time I checked, my cholesterol was 279! (If you are over 200 you double your chance of a heart attack. Who knows what 279 would do.) Furthermore I have really high blood pressure, and heart problems run in the family. I am only 28yrs old and I am starting to feel the consequences of my actions. However, now I am open to TRY and get better. My posts will go over the likes, dislikes, and challenges of trying to get RAW.

My impressions of RAW foodist were like most. They seem like the annoying minority of people who only enjoy life in their own little world, and try to force their way of life on us, when we are perfectly content. Left-field hippies and "snooties" who give you the evil eye just because you eat delicious meats instead of celery sticks and green-drink-baby-food-paste. How about not being able to hang out at a restaurant because they cannot eat anything with you; sitting there saying 'it's OK I can wait to eat later..." AWKWARD...

My sister has been a vegetarian for about 2 years now, and very close to become RAW. What is RAW? I cannot explain it just yet, because I still do not really know, but I assume it is consuming only fresh, un-processed foods; no meats or by-products.

In any case, I really did not pay much attention.

About 2 months ago, my g/f asked me to go to this local health fair. I decided to entertain the idea and go. So, I went there and they took my blood pressure. It was high, but what else is new? Then, we got our glucose and cholesterol checked. However, it would take a few days and we would get our results in the mail. Well, after I got the results, I found out that I had really low glucose levels and really, really high cholesterol. I never knew that a 3 digit number could scare the crap out of me. I don't feel like I have high cholesterol...but then again, how would I?

So, I started telling everyone. My family and friends were very supportive, all giving me their own advice, with the consensus on 'eating healthy and exersize." It was too broad for me, where do I start, what do I do? I figured, who is the healthiest among all of them? It was my sister, a non-meat eating, raw foodist, always talking about food I never really cared to touch.

I know she is not a snootie, hippie, and never tried to force anything on me.
All I know is that I needed a change, QUICK. So I guess my journey begins.