I’m extremely picky when it comes to what I put on my skin, and even more picky when it comes to suggesting brands to use, whether they’re vegan or not. Just because a product is vegan doesn’t mean it’s good idea to put it on your skin. Enter beauty buff and holistic entrepreneur Sam Sample and her 100% vegan and natural skincare line Be Genki. This is one range I’m happy to give some blog love to.

Sam follows a simple philosophy when it comes to beauty and believes you can ‘be’ it, rather than ‘achieve’ it.

“Beauty comes from within,” she says. “Being happy and healthy on the physical, emotional and spiritual level is what I believe makes a woman truly beautiful.”

With her natural approach and holistic know-how, Sydney-based Sam (pictured left) developed her beauty range, Be Genki. The collection brings together her deep interest in aromatherapy, well-being, meditation, and beauty care into a holistic synthesis to “promote optimum inner health and harmony amidst the fast pace of contemporary life”.

Each element of Be Genki, she says, has been carefully and thoughtfully selected for its excellence in design, quality, healing benefits, and ability to capture the senses.

“Be Genki is the only bath and body care brand to offer a complete 360 degree approach to holistic well-being, identifying four key areas that contribute to an individual’s well-being and providing products that help create balance with a lifestyle approach,” Sam says.

The product line includes bath and shower oils, body oils, body creams, hand creams, face mists, oil blends, herbal teas and candles.

Sam studied make-up artistry and image training, nutrition, physical education, access energy transformation, aromatherapy, and skin care, and is also an avid proponent of Vipassana meditation. She says the peace and tranquility she found in meditation greatly influenced her products and their simplicity of use in daily life.

I caught up with Sam to get an overview of the ranges — Vitality, Tranquility, Serenity and Sensuality — each attracting a huge following in Australia and abroad.

SHANNON: What’s the Be Genki story?

SAM SAMPLE: For the past 10 years I have been studying various disciplines of health and wellbeing – make-up artistry and image training, nutrition, fitness, meditation, access energy transformation, skin care, and aromatherapy.

Whilst I was finishing up my Diploma of Nutrition and experimenting with aromatherapy one of my girlfriends was suffering from anxiety and depression and was taking anti-depressants. It upset me that a young woman in her mid-20s could be prescribed pharmaceutical drugs without her lifestyle being taken in to consideration first. No-one sat down with her to address what she was doing on a daily basis.

So I made her a blend of essential oils (the Serenity blend) and we chatted about taking time out at the end of each day to have a bath with the essential oil blend, shutting the bathroom door, turning the mobile phone off and creating a spa like experience in the comfort of her own home. We also spoke about nutrition, exercise and lifestyle choices.

Two months passed and she came to me one day to tell me how much better she was feeling within herself and that she was thinking of going off her medication. Whether it was the act of running a bath and watching the water flow, having that half-hour by herself to relax and inhale the oil blend, or exercising, or eliminating processed foods from her diet it didn’t matter to me. What mattered was that she was feeling more confident and happy. I believe it was a combination of all the new wellbeing rituals that she had started to implement in to her daily life. You can only imagine how happy this made me feel. Whatever it was that gave her the confidence to take control of her anxiety and depression and ultimately her life, was enough to inspire me to think of other areas of our lives that we need help with improving in today’s fast paced world.

Whether it’s reaching for that third cup of coffee during the day to get a burst of energy, tossing and turning in bed at night or relying on sleeping tablets to get to sleep, suffering from anxiety and depression, freaking out at the “little things” or losing your temper at those that you love most because you haven’t dealt with the issue appropriately, or simply “beating yourself up” and criticising yourself over something that really isn’t that big a deal in the scheme of things; that is not what life is all about! So, I developed Be Genki – to help inspire and bring about holistic happiness by focusing on four key areas of wellbeing:

-    Vitality to help improve our energy levels.
-    Tranquility to help prepare for a peaceful night’s sleep.
-    Serenity to help us cope with everyday stress (the blend that I gave to my girlfriend).
-    Sensuality to help nurture the loving relationships that we have with our partner, and more importantly our Self.

In my opinion, these are the four key areas that bring about holistic happiness.

The Japanese word “genki” means to be happy, healthy, and in harmony with oneself. It suggests wellbeing is achieved by balancing physical, emotional and spiritual elements equally to create an integrated and tranquil Self.

SD: What are the core ingredients?

SS: There are four Be Genki ranges – Vitality, Tranquility, Serenity and Sensuality – each contain a blend of 100% pure essential oils to specifically target four key areas that contribute to your well-being.

Vitality: Lemon, Peppermint, Eucalyptus and Rosemary, renowned for their uplifting properties.
Tranquility: Lavender, Roman Chamomile, Sweet Orange and Sandalwood, renowned for their sleep-inducing properties.
Serenity: Neroli, Rose Otto, Rosewood, Palmarosa and Bergamot, renowned for their calming properties.
Sensuality: Rose Otto, Ylang Ylang, Jasmine, Lavender, Bergamot and Melissa, renowned for their nurturing properties.

These four oil blends are the core ingredients that are included in each product in varying proportions. Essential oils stimulate receptors in the nose which relay messages to the limbic system, the part of the brain that regulates those emotions.

SD: Why is natural beauty so important to you?

SS: If you truly value the long-term health and appearance of your skin and would like to treat your body holistically then natural and organic ingredients are a better option from my point-of-view. Our skin is our largest organ, protecting us from the outside world and reflecting our inner life. It puzzles me why one would choose products that contain synthetic chemicals which may be carcinogenic, contribute to allergies and which strip the skin of its natural oils when there are so many great natural alternatives that nourish and complement the function of the skin. For example, petroleum based products, such as mineral oils, sit on the surface of the skin, preventing the skin from breathing and have the potential to block pores. In contrast, natural plant oils allow the skin to breathe working with the body’s natural physiology to improve the condition of your skin and are also a lot friendlier for the environment.

Natural ingredients are sourced from plant, flower and mineral sources and therefore are biodegradable. Complex chemical structures (found in non-natural products) are created in a laboratory and are non-biodegradable. They accumulate in soil, water and air, and may become toxic, which in turn affects the physiology of living organisms in contaminated ecosystems. There is countless research out there in reference to the damage that man-made chemicals have had on our environment.

SD: Do you think more people are starting to understand there are harmful chemicals in many beauty products?

SS: Yes, certainly. There is growing number of consumers that do their research. With the internet and worldwide focus on health and well-being there is no shortage of information regarding the potential effects of using beauty products containing harmful chemicals.

SD: What products are in the Be Genki range and what are your absolute favourites?

SS: Be Genki is the only bath and body care brand to offer a complete 360 degree approach to holistic well-being, identifying four key areas that contribute to an individual’s well-being and providing products that help create balance with a lifestyle approach. Our products include bath and shower oils, body oils, body creams, hand creams, face mists, oil blends, herbal teas and candles.

My absolute favourites … that’s a tough one! I go through phases of being OBSESSED with a couple of products at a time, and I think that all comes down to my body gravitating towards the range that I require at that given point in time. I use the Be Genki essential oil blends every day in my oil burner, particularly the Vitality blend when I first arrive at the office. I apply Be Genki body oil every morning as I love the subtle scent that it leaves on my skin and always have a fresh pot of Be Genki herbal tea by my side. I particularly love the Tranquility blend before slipping in to bed.

SD: What do you believe is the biggest beauty myth?

SS: The unrealistic images portrayed in the media. We live in a world where we are faced with so many images, everywhere we look, of women and girls who are our supposed “beauty icons.” The reality is that these women have spent hours of preparation with hair and make-up artists and then the images have been digitally enhanced so that the final image that we see in magazines and on billboards looks very different to what the actual woman/girl looks like every day. Then add to that the pressure to retain that youthful teenage complexion by running and getting our faces cut open with scalpels and injected with poisonous concoctions. All in the name of beauty?

SD: How do you define beauty?

SS: I believe that beauty comes from within. Being happy and healthy on the physical, emotional and spiritual level is what I believe makes a woman truly beautiful.

SD: Who are some Be Genki fans?

SS: Be Genki has fans of all ages, from girls in their teenage years to women over 60 years of age. Women tend to gravitate towards the more floral scents of Sensuality, Serenity and Tranquility, whereas men go for the Vitality range which has a fresh and uplifting scent. (NOTE: There are also a growing number of celeb fans who swear by the Be Genki range).

SD: And lastly, I love your business cards…

SS: They’re made from the off-cuts of board—waste material that was to be thrown in the trash—from other jobs that the printer does. A great idea of James’, our designer for Be Genki.

To find out more about Be Genki and to order products, head to: www.begenki.com

Celebrate your true nature. Watercolour courtesy noomiedoodlesfashion

One of my favourite blogs is Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits. It’s simple, to the point, and best of all, packed full of useful information and insights that help you to ponder and, at times, put things into action.

I wanted to share a post from Leo about living the simple life. Letting stuff go that no longer serves us. In a world where we are constantly bombarded with messages and images to entice us to want more, it’s a refreshing piece of advice that I hope you enjoy.

What is the Simple Life?

There is no single definition of simplicity. My vision of a simple life will be different than yours, or anyone else’s — and none of us is wrong. I’ve read about someone living in a log cabin in Alaska, with no electricity or running water or television or Internet. They chop wood from the forest outside to burn for heat and cooking. They use water from a nearby stream for drinking and bathing. They walk or bike to town to go to the library or to use the Internet. That’s a pretty simple life by most definitions — but when I talk about leading a simple life, I don’t mean you need to live in a log cabin in the woods — I certainly don’t.

I’ve also seen photos of pretty expensive houses, decorated in a very minimalist fashion, spartan in their simplicity, but also decorated with expensive furniture. These houses are gorgeous, and their minimalist interiors are extremely attractive … but it takes a lot of money to get to that point. This is one kind of simplicity, but it’s not for everyone.

I’ve also read about people who live extremely frugally, rarely buying new items, making things last as long as possible, re-using plastic bags and bottles, growing food in a garden, buying things second-hand in thrift shops when necessary. This kind of frugality is one kind of simplicity, and to some extent I use many of these ideas myself. But it’s not the kind of simplicity for everyone.

So what’s my idea of a simple life? Again, this isn’t what you need to shoot for, and it’s not even what you need to agree with. We can each have our own vision. My idea is that I make room in my life for the essentials — the things I love to do and the people I love to be with. I remove the non-essentials as much as possible, and leave a life that isn’t overwhelmed with tasks and projects and errands, but has space … space for what I want to do, and space between things. So that I can live a peaceful life, move slowly, work happily, and spend time with the people I care most about.

This might mean that I live frugally (so that I can work less, or save for what’s important), or it might mean that I sometimes splurge, because life is too short not to enjoy things while you can. I find ways to enjoy myself without spending money, but at the same time I am not afraid to treat myself and my family now and then.

What’s your idea of a simple life? It’s almost certainly different than mine. And that’s good — we don’t want cookie-cutter approaches here. We want something that makes sense to each individual person, that fits their personalities and dreams and life situations.

Think about what your idea of a simple life is, so that you can find your path to get there.

The Many Paths to Simplicity

So with each person pursuing a different destination to a simpler life, how can we find the paths to those destinations? There isn’t one answer.

We must each find our own path, obviously, but we can still learn from others. I’ve learned from many people along the way, and in fact I still learn from all of you each day. I think I learn more from the comments of my posts than you learn from the posts themselves, but that’s what makes this conversation a wonderful thing.

My best overall advice is to think about where you want to go, and then figure out a path to get there. And then take the first step. Once you’ve done that, you can worry about the next step. You will probably take a different path than the one you first envisioned, and in fact you may get to a different destination than you first imagined. Just take it one step at a time, and see where you get.

That said, I’d like to offer some ideas that may help you find your path. These are not to be adopted wholesale, and in fact some of them contradict each other. That’s because they represent different paths — and again, there is no one right path. Take inspiration from them, try some out if you like, but don’t take this list as a prescription to anything.

• Take it slowly. There is no need to rush to a simpler life. Take deep breaths, and take things one step at a time. Baby steps. Enjoy the process.
• Do a major rehaul. Sometimes it can be revitalizing to do a rehaul of your entire life. Wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. Now, that might mean moving to a new house and only bringing the possessions that mean the most to you. Or it might mean getting a new job that you love and setting your own schedule around the things you love doing. Or it might mean doing a major cleansing of your house, getting rid of most of your junk. It could mean just dropping all commitments except the things you love most.
• Remember what’s important. Why are you trying to simplify? Is it to make room for the things you love? Then be sure to identify those things, and keep those things in mind during this process. Is it simply to reduce your stress and live a more peaceful life? Then remember that on your path to simplicity.
• Adopt changes gradually. As one commenter pointed out, and as I have said in the past, if you adopt one small change at a time, you can make major changes over the long-term without the changes seeming very big at all. Make one small change, and soon that becomes the norm for you. Then make another, and that becomes the norm. Each step seems small, but they can add up to really big progress over months and years.
• Try different types of simplicity. You don’t have to pick one way. You can try frugality, then minimalism, then cabin-in-the-woods simplicity, then chuck all your responsibilities and hang out on a beach all day. See what works for you.
• Join a community. There are online communities and maybe even groups within your neighborhood that are going for a common goal. That might be frugality, or decluttering, or living with a minimal impact on the environment.
• Take assessment. I’m a big fan of stepping back and taking a look at my life in general, reflecting on what I want my life to be like, on what kind of progress I’ve made, on what needs to be done. It’s good to do this at the beginning of your path to simplicity, and every now and then along the way.

What’s your path to simplicity? What have you learned along the way? Share in the comments!

By Leo Babauta of Zen Habits. Visit Leo at www.zenhabits.net
Photo courtesy of alicepopkorn

As a journalist, you get to meet people from all walks of life. Over the years I’ve met some wonderful souls, been welcomed into people’s lives in the name of a story, learned many things and questioned much.

In the 15 years I’ve been doing this, there have been a few incredible people who have, just by their very nature, etched their message into my heart—some, albeit few, have even influenced me to change my life.

Once such interview was about five years ago: “Come along and meet this guy, he’s amazing,” the publicist promised. She was talking about Don Tolman, a guy from Utah known fondly by many as the Indiana Jones of Wholefoods. I’d never heard of him, or his message.

His message, I soon learned, is simple: live with nature, by nature and from nature. Understand what foods benefit particular body functions and eat them. Stop putting chemical pills and potions into your mouth. Drink fresh spring water. Stop brushing your teeth with fluoride. Listen to your great grandmother and use her natural remedies. Know that your body’s symptoms are your body’s cures. Eating meat causes putrification and dis-ease. Question everything.

A 30-minute meeting with the Stetson-wearing cowboy felt like five minutes. His message spoke directly to me, as if what he was saying I already knew on some deep level. I’d already been following some of his recommendations, purely on instinct, such as never taking a pill to relieve a headache or antibiotics to fix an ill, and no longer eating red meat.

If you haven’t had a chance to hear Don Tolman speak, below is an interview he did with Samantha Backman. I hope you enjoy hearing his message, as much as I always do.

Why it’s great: Packed with a gold mine of information that will change the way you look at your body and the food you put in it, forever. Tolman also talks about how every wholefood has a signature that corresponds to parts of the body, such as an avocado, which looks like a pregnant woman and takes nine months from blossom to ripened fruit. If a woman eats just one avocado per week, she is helping prevent cervical cancer.

Who’s watching it: Health care professionals, university lecturers and doctors who are realising the Western way of healing with pharmaceuticals doesn’t work. Also anyone who is interested in honest-to-goodness nutrition and how it greatly improves life through diet and exercise.

What you’ll learn: How your body actually works, why disease is not a mystery and how wholefoods, water, sunshine and clean air can prevent just about any disease.

Want to know more? See www.dontolmaninternational.com

Photo by Wheeloflife.tv

In a sleepy lagoon off the coast of Japan was once a shocking secret. A secret that a few desperate men made sure would be no longer kept hidden from the world: thousands of dolphins were, and still are, being captured and sold to the world’s theme parks. Those who don’t make the cut are horrifically tortured and slaughtered—their mercury-laden meat sold under the guise of being “acceptable” flesh for consumption to an unsuspecting Japanese public. It’s a real life horror story—one that is now well and truly public.

The men who risked their lives to tell the world about this atrocity include Louise Psihoyos, a director with a cause who has not only caught the world’s attention, but also the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences, with his film, The Cove, which is up for best documentary at the Awards this weekend (March 7).

The Cove begins in Taiji, Japan, where former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry has come to set things right after a long search for redemption. In the 1960s, it was O’Barry who captured and trained the five dolphins who played the title character in the international television sensation “Flipper.” But his close relationship with those dolphins – the very dolphins who sparked a global fascination with trained sea mammals that continues to this day — led O’Barry to a radical  change of heart. One fateful day, a heartbroken Barry came to realise that these deeply sensitive, highly intelligent and self-aware creatures so beautifully adapted to life in the open ocean must never be subjected to human captivity again.

It wasn’t until years after this realisation that Ric met Louie and the idea for The Cove was born, and more importantly, put into action.

With Jim Clark, Louie also created The Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), in 2005. The non-profit organization provides an exclusive lens for the public and media to observe the beauty as well as the destruction of the oceans, while motivating change.

I recently caught up with Louie to talk about what it took to plan, shoot and promote the eco-thriller film. Stay tuned for an interview with Ric O’Barry in the coming days.

Firstly Louie, congratulations in such an incredible documentary. How long did it take to make from idea to final print?

The film took about three and a half years to make, but Laurie David, who produced An Inconvenient Truth told me a year ago that when you’re done making a documentary you’re only halfway there.  The film came out a year ago this week and I’m still out promoting the movie. But fortunately most of the traveling is going to film festivals around the world that are in amazing beautiful places meeting great people who are passionate about films so I’m learning a lot at the same time, and not just talking about our film. And at the film festivals the film has been received very well, mostly standing ovations.  Even at the Tokyo Film Festival the response was amazing – we had as much media coverage as Avatar.

How did the idea evolve?

I had just started a non-profit organization called The Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) with the help of my dive friend, Jim Clark who is an extraordinary visionary. When president John F. Kennedy called for Americans to put a man on the moon back in 1961, it was Jim, at age 26 created and sped the computers to make that possible. Jim is now an inventor and a venture capitalists, kind of a serial entrepreneur. He founded Silicon Graphics, which was the Apple Computer of it’s day, the chip Jim built allowed objects to be constructed in 3-D which allowed movies like Jurassic Park to be made. The day he quit that business he started Netscape, the first commercial Internet browser which was the first avenue that many of us got on the so-called information super highway. The third billion-dollar company he created he joked that he started to prove that the first two were not just luck, but I used information from that medical website to save my mother’s life last year. When Jim funded OPS to make films and create still images to try to create awareness about ocean issues, I reminded him that saving the oceans wasn’t going to be a billion dollar industry and he told me, “I’m not worried about making money, just make a difference.”

There is much responsibility in being entrusted with funds from a friend and a man I regard so highly with so many personal accomplishments but making a difference is the driving motivation for OPS to do everything we do. I always told the film crew that we’re not making a movie, we’re starting a movement to save the oceans. This higher goal informs all of our decisions.

How did you come to meet Ric O’Barry?

Two months after starting OPS I was at a marine mammal conference in San Diego and Ric O’Barry was supposed to be the keynote speaker at the event of mostly PhD speakers. I was looking forward to hearing someone from popular culture speak after a week of quite a few fairly boring talks. But at the last moment, the sponsor of the event, SeaWorld, cut him from the program. I was curious why so I called Ric and he said that they wouldn’t let him talk because he was going to speak about the captive dolphin industry and the world’s largest slaughter of dolphins on the planet.

I had never heard about the captive dolphin industry nor killing of dolphins so I asked him who was doing anything about it and he said right now it was just him and he was going next week, would I like to come to Taiji with him. Driving into Taiji was like driving into a ready made horror film set. On the surface they appear to love dolphins and whales, there’s even a sign coming into town with Anime-style drawings of dolphins that says in English, “We love dolphins.”  However right in the center of town lies the Cove. This is in a Japanese National Park, where even Japanese people can’t get into because of the steel gates, keep-out signs, barbed wire, dogs and guards. This is the cove where these crimes against nature and humanity occur – right in the middle of a nature preserve!

What did you learn, personally and professionally, from the whole process?

Ric is the one that taught me to appreciate dolphins from the moment we visited him in Taiji. He opened my eyes. And whales I learned from the grandfather of modern cetacean research, Roger Payne just a few months later.  Roger led an OPS expedition to record humpback whale song at the Silver Banks Marine Sanctuary in the Dominican Republic. I’m a lot more sensitive about animal rights now. Once you learn that these animals sing, in fact just about all animals sing, it turns out that we just have not been listening, it’s difficult for me to imagine killing them.

After photographing a slaughter house 25 years ago, I have not eaten animals that walk. I’m transition now to non-leather shoes and suitcases and eating far less fish and certainly no large long-lived fish like tuna, swordfish, marlin shark or large sea bass. I’m not militant about others not eating animals, my wife and kids eat meat, but I have vegan friends that I’m trying to emulate because I think if the planet is going to survive with humans on it we’re all going to have to stop eating animals not just because it’s inhumane but because the planet can’t survive with all the destruction.

Has the public response to The Cove been as you expected or greater?

We have seen footage this year of the dolphin hunters releasing bottlenose dolphins after taking some for dolphin parks. So, some show dolphins have been saved from the cove but they are still killing many others like pilot whales and Rissos dolphins which are true dolphins and some of the most toxic.  Unfortunately we may not be able to shut down the killing cove this year but we hope to have a Japanese distributor soon that can help us get the word out.

Because of the film a health agency was assigned to assess how poisoned the people of Taiji are and they discovered a massive epidemic of mercury poisoning, some with extremely high Minamata levels of mercury in their blood.

Also, for the first time the Japanese media is covering the issue.  Ric is followed around by the media like a celebrity now. When I went to Tokyo for the Tokyo Film Festival last October, there were about 90 news media outlets covering the film.

If you win the Oscar you’ll be given a platform to speak directly to millions in Japan and the rest of the world. What do you think you’d say?

Mark Twain said it best, “I would have written a shorter letter but I didn’t have enough time.” Here’s the deal though, I’m not in the movie business as much as I’m in the save the world business — you are too. I’m thanking you all now here, thank you all! But if you had 45 seconds to talk to the world — what would YOU say?

The Cove director, Louie Psihoyos

In Green Tea Living: A Japan-inspired guide to eco-friendly habits, health, and happiness, author Toshimi A. Kayaki shares timeless wisdom from her native Japanese culture through useful tips and anecdotes. Not only are they oh-so handy, but most are also vegan.

Toshimi recently shared a few of her earth-loving beauty, health and household basics with me, straight from the pages of her new book…

Create smoother, younger-looking skin with a green tea face pack. Grind up used green tea leaves into a powder, then mix with water and flour until it forms a paste. Wash your face, and then apply the pack for 10 minutes. Rinse off with water and follow up with your favourite lotion.

Drink green tea to lose weight. Drinking five cups of green tea a day can burn up to 80 extra calories!

Use wet green tea leaves to clean your house. Green tea is not only an eco-friendly cleaning option, but will leave your rooms sparkling and smelling fresh! Squeeze most of the water out of wet tea leaves, and then place on dirty floors or dusty surfaces. Brush the leaves back and forth in small strokes, allowing the tea leaves to pick up dust and dirt. Sweep everything into a dustpan when finished.

Use vinegar for even the most heavy-duty cleaning! Vinegar will shine up sinks and counters, as well as kill bacteria. Scrub the slime out of your bathtub, disinfect cutting boards; even combine 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar to wash your floors. Simple, cheap and most importantly, not harmful to the environment.

Mix your own vinegar conditioner for soft, shiny hair. In an empty plastic bottle combine 16 oz water, 4 tbsps white or rice vinegar, and 3 or 4 pieces of fresh rosemary or sage. Just as effective as expensive conditioner, but far more economical.

Make your sweaters look like new. Rub a sweater with the rough edge of a dry sponge to easily get rid of pilling fabric.

Repair dry or damaged skin with a soothing green tea bath. Steep one green tea bag in boiling water for 15 minutes, then pour the tea water into your bathwater. The vitamins and catechins in green tea will kill bacteria on your skin and smooth away imperfections, not to mention contribute to a relaxing bath!

Mix homemade sake lotion. This simple lotion and moisturiser only requires two ingredients and some time in the fridge. Mix 7 oz cold sake and 1-½ pints water, then allow the mixture to sit in the refrigerator for a few days. Dab onto skin with a cotton ball. (Make sure to test this out on your hands before applying it elsewhere!)

Drink vinegar and water for better health. Just sipping a little vinegar every day can improve your digestion and skin complexion. Combine 1 part rice or apple cider vinegar with 7 parts water.

Main image (St John’s Wart) courtesy lepiaf.geo

I love eating out and especially if what I’m eating is going to contribute to great health! If you’re ever in LA, check out Planet Raw in Santa Monica—one of the best known raw vegan restaurants around. I’ve reviewed it to whet your appetite…

A NATURAL STATE If you hadn’t heard of raw food aficionado Juliano and happened to stumble upon his restaurant in LA’s famed seaside suburb of Santa Monica, you’d be forgiven for wondering where the grills and ovens are. Here, words such as bake, boil, steam and barbeque are left at the door of the nearest fast food joint. At Planet Raw, it’s all about food preparation that keeps nature’s (organic) food in its natural state, with life-giving enzymes kept fully in tact to give you a boost that, quite simply, no other form of food preparation could. Yet, it’s important to know that carrots and beans on a plate it’s not. Food here is prepared with loving care, with many ingredients spending long, lazy hours in food dehydrators before being whipped up into gourmet works of art at the instruction of the “guru” himself, Juliano.

GOOD TIMES While optimal health through good eating is obviously important at Planet Raw, this is one must-visit restaurant that also knows how to have a good time. From organic espressos to the wine and elixir bar, a night (or day) out with Juliano is guaranteed to put a spring in your step.

MENU FAVORITES Whatever your pre-conceived ideas are about raw food, be prepared to leave them at the door. The Planet Raw menu is packed with incredible flavors in a menu that literally has a dish for every taste—from the “bacon” western double burger, with its side of more-ish zucchini fries to the green curry pasta (made from zucchini) dripping with a Thai nut curry kream and topped off with coco-noodles. Dessert (which Juliano suggests you eat at the beginning of your meal for your health’s sake)  is also an experience to behold. I say go for the chocolate parfait or the “best ever cheeze cake”.

THE LITTLE EXTRAS Planet Raw is more than just a restaurant with great food and friendly service. Here, you can sign up for Juliano’s raw food classes, his seven-day detox program and stock up on all sorts of healthy goodies from kombucha
(a cold Chinese tea packed with probiotics and natural vitamins) to the God of all food processors, the Vita-Mix, should you want to give raw food preparation at try at home. While you’re there, be sure to grab a copy of Juliano’s “un”cook book, titled Raw: The Uncook Book: New Vegetarian Food for Life—also available on Amazon.

TIP For those who are serious about raw food, inquire about Juliano’s certified raw chef program, which is said to be one of the world’s best.

609 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90405, U.S.A
Phone (310) 576-3180
www.planetraw.net

Juliano’s butternut squash soup pic courtesy: Swellvegan.net

As television screens around the world tonight flash news of this tragedy, it brings an immensely important issue to light: animals in captivity and the cruelty that is imposed on them in order to perform in the name of the almighty dollar.

President of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Jim Atchison said the company was investigating the incident and would review its operating standards. How’s this for a review, Jim: release the animals back to their natural habitat. Get a job doing something that doesn’t hurt and exploit animals.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our employees, guests and the animals entrusted to our care,” he said. If this were truly the case, Jim, you wouldn’t be caging animals in bodies of water that are nothing more than a puddle, surrounded by slabs of cold concrete—no resemblance to their ocean home (never mind that we humans have done our best at turning that into a junk yard too).

It’s not the first time these beautiful animals have back-lashed against their human torturers. The video above was shot in Southern California in 1972 (click here to view if the above doesn’t load). As part of a publicity stunt a park secretary took a “joy ride” on the back of an 8,000 pound killer whale. A whale that had its breaking point. It attacked the girl. She survived. But what about the whale? More torture ahead?

Something urgently needs to change. That change can only start with you and me. Governments won’t change it. Theme parks won’t change it. Circuses won’t change it. The public needs to stop supporting these ridiculous displays of cruelty masked as “entertainment for the whole family”.

Ric O’Barry, who was a dolphin trainer for the Flipper television series in the 1960s and appears in The Cove, says that parks and zoos “want you to think that God put (dolphins) there or (that) they rescued them … if people knew the truth, they wouldn’t buy a ticket.”

In the wild, orcas and dolphins swim up to 100 miles per day, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). But captured dolphins are confined to tanks that may be only 24 feet long, 24 feet wide, and six feet deep. They navigate by echolocation—bouncing sonar waves off other objects to determine their shape, density, distance, and location—but in tanks, the reverberations from their own sonar bounce off the walls, driving some dolphins insane.

Jacques Cousteau said that life for a captive dolphin “leads to a confusion of the entire sensory apparatus, which in turn causes in such a sensitive creature a derangement of mental balance and behaviour.” Tanks are kept clean with chemicals that have unknown side effects. Because of high chlorine levels in their tanks, dolphins at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium were unable to open their eyes, and their skin began to peel off.

Killer whales, or orcas, are members of the dolphin family. They are also the largest animals held in captivity. In the wild, orcas stay with their mothers for life. Family groups, or “pods,” consist of a mother, her adult sons and daughters, and her daughters’ offspring. Members of the pod communicate in a “dialect” specific to that pod. Dolphins swim together in family pods or tribes of hundreds. Capturing even one wild orca or dolphin disrupts the entire pod. To obtain a female dolphin of breeding age, for example, boats are used to chase the pod to shallow waters, where the animals are surrounded with nets that are gradually closed and lifted onto the boats. Unwanted dolphins are thrown back. Some die from shock or stress, and others slowly succumb to pneumonia when water enters their lungs through their blowholes.

Helping doesn’t have to mean donating hundreds or thousands of dollars in the hope someone else will fix the problem. Helping starts with word of mouth. Tell your friends, your neighbours. Heck, even tell a stranger if you feel the urge. Capturing, breeding and torturing these majestic, wild animals for a few kicks and giggles and a lot of cold hard cash is no longer tolerable. It really never has been. We—you and me—are the only chance these beautiful animals have. Please, do your bit, however big or small, to make a difference in the lives of these animals.

Head to PETA, check out the Oceanic Preservation Society for tips on how to help, or sit down and have a chat with your kids to explain why sea parks, circuses and the like are not cool. It all makes a difference.

Also, check back in the coming days to read my interview with The Cove’s Ric O’Barry and Louie Psihoyo.

Obtaining optimal health, eating living foods and detoxifying isn’t as difficult as it may seem, says New York-based clinical nutritionist and yoga instructor to the stars, Kimberly Snyder. It’s all about knowing how and having fun with it. The result—radiant beauty that glows from within—is well worth the effort.

I was fortunate to meet with Kimberly while she was in LA last year. During our chat (and snack of delish homemade raw cacao balls she brought with her) Kimberly shared all sorts of great tips about veganism and the raw food lifestyle.

Below are some of her top tips for staying young and healthy. For more fabulous vegan and living food insights head to Kimberly’s blog at www.kimberlysnyder.net. Enjoy!

1.    Max out on raw greens. Uncooked greens and vegetables are a powerful beauty secret.  The living enzymes in uncooked greens and vegetables contribute to skin health by acting as catalysts that assist body processes like digestion, detoxification, and rebuilding.  For example, by assisting the body’s energy-intensive digestive process, enzymes free up energy for other tasks, like repairing and rebuilding the skin- the largest organ of all.  Unfortunately, the valuable enzymes, proteins and vitamins found in plants are heat sensitive and can be damaged or destroyed by normal cooking temperatures.  In fact, cooking can easily destroy a food’s entire enzyme reserve.  So pack as many completely raw greens, salads, veggies, sprouts and fresh herbs into your diet as you can! An easy way to get a large amount of easily digestible greens is from a green smoothie.  The simple recipe is available online at www.kimberlysnyder.net.

2.    Add açai to your diet. Açai is loaded with beneficial nutrients and antioxidants, including Omega 3 fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, key vitamins and fiber.  The Omega 3 fatty acids found in Açai maintain the structure and fluidity of cell membranes, facilitating the inflow of nutrients and the outflow of waste products, promoting youthful, smooth and radiant skin by keeping skin cells hydrated and strong.  Acai is a key component of The Solution, as it is also extremely beneficial when applied topically.

4.    Drink detox tea. Our bodies are constantly exposed to toxins from the environment, our diet and chemicals from products we put on ourselves.  Over time, these toxins promote illness and can accelerate skin aging.  The liver is the blood’s filtering system, and when it becomes overloaded, the liver stops effectively filtering and neutralizing the toxins that enter the body. These excess toxins continue circulating and are deposited in fatty tissue, building up over time. The long-term effects of toxic overload are manifested externally in the form of wrinkles and spotted, leathery skin.  One of the easiest and tastiest ways to promote healthy liver function is to drink detox tea 2-3 times per week.  The recipe is available online.

3.    Switch to Celtic sea salt. Celtic sea salt is unique among salts because it is a sun-dried – a process that allows 70 minerals and trace elements, enzymes and even marine microorganisms to remain intact.  Other sea salts are kiln-dried, which causes valuable magnesium and most other minerals to evaporate.  Normal table salt is the worst of all, being irradiated and denatured sodium chloride.  It not only has no nutritional benefit, it depletes the skin’s natural hydration.  So make the switch to Celtic sea salt!

5.    Eat more onions. This everyday food has a considerable amount of sulfur, which helps cleanse the skin and liver and rebuild connective tissues like collagen. Onions are also an exceptional source of usable quercetin, which works to eliminate free radicals, protects and regenerates crucial Vitamin E and decreases capillary fragility.

6.    Add sea vegetables to your diet. Sea vegetables are about 12 times richer in minerals than average vegetables.  They are an especially good source of iodine, which regulates the metabolism by feeding the thyroid, iron, B6, B12, and magnesium, which opens over 300 different detoxification pathways in the body. You can throw sea vegetables such as dulse, hijiki and arame in salads or make nori wraps stuffed with salad.  All are available at any health store.

7.    Sprout your seeds and nuts. A raw, dry nut is dense in calories and encased in inhibitor enzymes, which keep it from sprouting before it is in a safe environment.  The sprouting process changes the constitution of the nut, making it more like a plant.  The nutritional benefit is that the proteins in sprouted nuts are more easily assimilated by the body.  Here is a simple method for spouting almonds: Cover almonds in filtered water in a bowl and place in your refrigerator for 24 hours. Rinse well several times. You should peel off the outer coating of the almond before eating.  A handful is a wonderfully nutritional, filling snack. Throw a few in a bag and take them to work!

8.    Snack on figs. Figs are an excellent blood purifier. Since blood transports nutrients to cells throughout the body and face, the cleaner the blood the more beautiful the skin. The tiny seeds in figs are not only packed with nutrients, they help draw out and dissolve waste, mucus, and toxins from the intestinal tract. Raw and dried figs both give these great benefits.

9.    Eat olives and olive oil. Olives are the most mineral and calcium-rich fruit of all. They are high in magnesium, amino acids and beneficial omega fatty acids. Olive oil is a superior source of squalene – an unsaturated oil and an oxygen carrier that smoothes the skin and is an excellent antioxidant.

Photos courtesy Kimberly Snyder

As more Westerners begin to embrace the life-enhancing benefits of natural therapies, understanding what treatment works best for what condition can cause a headache itself.

Holistic health care, unlike Western medicine, treats the whole person to identify the cause of each symptom. As each body is different, treatments are then tailored to the individual—to not only cure dis-eases but also help people live continually in optimal health.

The Health and Vitality Center’s Dr Shiva Lalezar says many people who deal with fatigue, for example, may overcome it with controlled doses of Vitamin C—a common vitamin which has a profound positive effect on immune cells and is specifically anti viral when given intravenously.

“It helps patients live a vibrant life filled with energy, stamina and mental clarity through diverse natural treatments including infusion therapies,” she says.

“A 24-year female was presented to my clinic with worsening fatigue in the past six months. She also had enlargement of one lymph node in her neck which was biopsied and found to be non cancerous.  All her blood work was also normal.  She was however feeling worse each day and had quit working out and was dragging herself at work.  She could not get out of bed in the morning and this was affecting her work.

Dr Lalezar said she did a series of blood work and found two viruses to be extremely high (Epstein Bar Virus and Cytomegalovirus).

“She also had high Candida antibodies and a low Vitamin D level. I placed her on high dose Vitamin C intravenously once a week and gave her Ribose powder (the monosaccharide sugar backbone for RNA and DNA), probiotic and placed her on a Candida-free diet.”

The doctor says within three weeks the patient’s energy level went from 50 percent to 80 percent and has been able to work out and function better at work.

According to life food expert, David Wolfe, switching from a junk food diet to a completely raw lifestyle, without adding supportive herbs such as reishi, may relax the body’s immune system and create a breeding ground for Candida.

“Whenever we have eaten anything in our life, our immune system is reactive to it,” Wolfe says. “Why? Because it’s Shakey’s Pizza, it’s Fruity Pebbles, God knows what else … Hershey’s chocolate bars, and our bodies go what the heck is this? The food comes in, the immune system is activated, white blood cells multiply—this happens every meal for years.”

“When we get on raw food, we don’t have that reaction and our body goes ‘whoa’ and it can be lulled to sleep. So our immune system can become susceptible because we’re not crying wolf on it. Very important concept. The mushrooms (reishi) keep all that buffered so our immune system doesn’t go to sleep.”

I recently caught up with Dr Lalezar to chat holistic health care:

What is one natural therapy everyone should know about and why?

DR LALEZAR: High dose Vitamin C because Vitamin C boosts up the immune system, fights against bacteria, viruses, and cancer. Vitamin C can be taken orally in the form of buffered Vitamin C up to 10,000mg per day. Oral Vitamin C however can be hard on the stomach and may cause diarrhea. Patients who need high doses of Vitamin C (10,000‐75,000 mg) can be given IV infusion. They see immediate improvement in their health.

Explain allergies and how they can be best treated?

DL: There are different forms of allergies. An IgE mediated allergy causes hives, swelling, throat tightening, and shortness of breath. This is seen with bee sting, certain medications, and highly allergenic foods such as shrimp, peanuts, strawberries, and shellfish. Allergies of this nature can be quick in onset and cause anaphylaxis and death.

Another type of allergy is IgG or IgA mediated and they are more insidious and less obvious. Patients may not be aware that their daily symptoms are due to an allergic reaction or food sensitivity. Milk, wheat, soy, eggs, beef, and citrus fruits are the most common food allergens.

Patients may experience vague symptoms such as fatigue, muscle aches, brain fog, irritability, mood fluctuations, dark circles under the eyes, inability to lose weight or gain weight, and many more! Allergies are best treated with elimination of the food, and strengthening the immune system with (omega oils), probiotic, Vitamin C. Antidote drops are also very powerful in treatment of allergies.

For someone who has only known the Western way of medicine, can you explain holistic care?

DL: Holistic care is combining the best of conventional medicine along with natural and nutritional medicine, and tailoring an individualised treatment plan. A holistic medical doctor is well aware of the benefits and side effects of medications and can use alternative medicine to treat a patient and gradually wean them off medications in a safe manner.

A holistic approach is to investigate the causes of the disease and encourage lifestyle modifications to treat and prevent disease. Orthomolecular medicine is a field that uses diet and vitamins to open up healthy pathways in the body and optimise functions of organs. Holistic treatment approaches are highly individualised for the unique needs of each patient.

What is your definition of an optimal healthy lifestyle?

DL: My definition of an optimal healthy lifestyle is eating (organic, natural) foods including  fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates and raw nuts. Moderate exercise including aerobics, weight training, yoga, and Pilates is encouraged. Meditating at least 10 minutes per day and most importantly practicing self-love. Balance work with fun. Spend time with family and friends. Take a good multivitamin and (omega oil) daily.

How connected is the food we eat to the way we think, move, react etc?

DL: We are what we eat. The food we eat directly affects our way of thinking, actions, and behavior. A diet high in sugar causes mood disturbance, fatigue, memory impairment, brain fog and muscle spasm to name a few. If we don’t expect an alcoholic to behave normal, why do we expect a sugar addict to do so?

What ailments would people would be surprised to know can be reversed?

DL: Many ailments can be reversed if they are properly diagnosed and the causes are investigated and eliminated. Rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, Diabetes, Hypertension, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Menopause and Andropausal symptoms, attention deficit disorder, depression, and anxiety can all be reversed with proper diet, nutrients, detoxification, vitamin infusion therapy and lifestyle changes.

What factors do you believe are contributing to the explosion of cancer cases?

DL: Poor diet, nutrient deficient soil, pesticides, chemicals, fumes, plastic, and toxins are contributing greatly to the explosion of cancer cases. Today one in every seven women is diagnosed with breast cancer. By 2010, 50% of the population will be diagnosed with one form of cancer.

For more information on the Los Angeles-based Health and Vitality Center visit online at www.healthandvitalitycenter.com

Main photo courtesy lepiaf.geo

Eating raw, live foods enliven cells and contribute to a better functioning body. As more people awaken to the incredible benefits of this natural way of eating, the global ecology also begins to flourish. But besides grabbing an apple, how can eating raw become convenient to keep up with a busy lifestyle?

While mastering dishes such as sun-baked pizzas, mock salmon sushi or gourmet tacos (such as the delish one above, from Gourmet Vegan Chef) can undoubtedly take a little time, there are high quality options for raw foodies on the run.

Registered nurse and natural foods chef Alice Benedetto turned her passion into an organic raw-food product that gets my seal of approval (I’m addicted, actually). Raw Revolution Organic Live Food Bars, available at various international wholefood retailers and on Amazon.com, are gluten free, vegan and free of wheat, corn, soy, trans-fat, cholesterol and refined sugar.

“When I made raw snacks for my son as an alternative to high sugar processed snacks, friends also loved the taste and suggested selling them. That seemed impossible. As a single mother of an active two year-old, working full time, how would I start a business?” Alice says on her website www.rawindulgence.com.

“I found time to develop the Brownie, tested them out and got great response. Even the average person, not just a health food nut, loved the taste.”

Raspberry & Chocolate and Spirulina & Cashew are a must try, as much for the superb taste as for the health-boosting enzymes that are very much left in tact in this generous-sized bar.

Some of my other faves include:

Pure Bar — made with cold-processed fruits and nuts, these organic, vegan and kosher-certified bars were also created by a busy mother after her daughter decided to become a vegetarian at six. Available at selected retailers and also from Amazon.

LÄRABAR — is simply fruit and nuts. Each bar has no more than seven ingredients. There’s no added sugar, is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, vegan and kosher. Available internationally at natural, conventional and specialty grocers.

Righteously Raw Maca Bar — Vegans everywhere, rejoice. This decadent, raw, organic food bar has no sugar, no dairy, and isn’t pasteurised or homogenised. With ingredients such as cacao butter, cacao powder, khadrawi dates, lucuma, coconut oil, agave nectar, vanilla bean and Himalayan pink alt, it’s little wonder The Health Ranger named it his favourite too.

Main photo courtesy Geoff Peters 604