Good health doesn't just happen! It takes positive action and conscious, deliberate effort to achieve. People constantly tell me that I am very fortunate to enjoy such good health. It has nothing to do with good fortune! Two years ago I was seriously ill and became addicted to prescription pain killers. I made an intentional choice to change my health, and thereby my life, for the better. I made serious changes in my diet by eating a high raw, vegan diet. I also threw out all my old personal care and household products with chemicals and in favor of using only organic (certified organic when I can get them) products on my body and in my home. It is a choice I have never regretted.
In my opinion good health is a whole body experience that starts with diet and nutrition. Exercise and lifestyle play an integral role as well. It is only by balancing the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual that we are able to fight off dis-ease in the body.
If you are overweight or struggle with weight issues, suffer from a chronic illness, allergies, arthritis, various aches and pains, or constant fatigue, you may want to take a hard look at your diet and consider making a change. Eating more raw and living foods may be just the answer you are looking for! [Be sure to check out our testimonials page!]
" When diet is wrong medicine is of no use; when diet is correct medicine is of no need."
-Ancient Ayurvedic Proverb-
Diet and Nutrition
Though it is referred to as a "diet", eating raw and vegan foods is not a diet, but rather a lifestyle. The word "diet" implies "sacrifice" or "deprivation", it brings to mind thoughts of something unpleasant that we do for a limited amount of time to achieve a specific goal. Eating raw, vegan foods is both very pleasurable and very satisfying.
So What is Raw Food?
Raw food is living food, it is food that is alive. The raw food diet is a plant based diet. Our body is made up of living cells and therefore requires living foods to keep it working at its best. Foods cooked above 112 degrees are basically dead with no nutritional value, while foods prepared raw maintain all the nutrients and enzymes necessary to build a strong immune system. Raw and living foods consist of fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, sea vegetables, and other organic/natural foods that have not been processed. The Standard American Diet has placed our country's health at risk. An ever growing number of both children and adults suffering from chronic illnesses such as asthma, depression, ADD, obesity and cancer. Our children now suffer from illnesses that were previously typical in old age! It's time for us to break the cycle, and the key is more real, fresh, living foods.
Eating at least 50% raw foods will take your life in a direction you may never have thought possible, one that will empower you to lose weight, heal your body, and achieve optimal health and boundless energy!
If you can't afford prevention how will you ever afford disease?
So What is Vegan Food?
Veganism is a type of vegetarian diet that excludes animals products such as meat, eggs, dairy, and any other animal derived ingredients. Many vegans also exclude foods that are processed using animal products, such as refined white sugar and some wines. Much like the raw food diet the vegan diet is plant based, the main difference being raw food is uncooked and not heated above 112 degrees. Vegans foods include all grains, beans, legumes, vegetables and fruits and the nearly infinite variety of dishes that can be created by combining them. By this definition many processed, pre-packaged foods fit into the vegan category. I, personally, recommend eating as little of these types of foods as possible and eating a higher percentage of real, fresh foods, whether cooked or raw.
So What Do You Eat when You are Not Eating Raw?
When you are not eating raw the healthiest way to eat is a vegetarian/vegan diet. Eliminating meat and dairy (animal products) from your diet will make a world of difference in your health. In fact, many doctors even recommend a vegetarian diet to their patients who have cardivascular disease or heart issues. According to the China Study by T. Colin Campbell, a 20 study done on the relationship between animal protein and chronic illness, and one of the most widely recognized and comprehensive studies on the subject, those who eat a diet high in animal protein (meat and dairy) suffer the most from chronic illness versus those who eat a more plant based diet and avoided those same chronic illnesses. If you have not read The China Study I encourage you to read this very informative book, it is definitely an eye opener.
Should you choose to include meat or fish in your diet try to make the best choices possible. For instance choose free range, grain fed meat, and choose wild fish over farmed fish. When selecting eggs opt for the cage range, vegetarian fed eggs. Always look for the USDC certified organic seal on dairy products.
When eating cooked food you need to start with fresh, whole ingredients. This means ingredients that are not canned, packaged, processed or packaged as these foods all contain a lot of salt, preservatives and other things you do not want in your body. In addition, the packaging these foods come in is not healthy either.
While it is very convenient to use canned foods, and vegetarian recipes are full of canned items, especially beans and tomatoes, cans are typically lined with a highly toxic substance called Bisphenol-A (or BPA). BPA can cause a whole host of chronic illness over time as it accumulates in your vital organs. There are no standards or restrictions when it comes to the amount of BPA that can be used in canned goods and several studies have found that cans contain doses at unsafe levels. (See the study done by the Environment Working Group, www.ewg.org). And those products that are certified organic and contain the USDA seal are not exempt either. While the contents of cans that contain the USDA certified organic seal have certain guidelines they must abide by, the can itself does not fall under these same guidelines.
How about those cardboard containers that hold nut, soy, and rice milks, soups, and other liquids? These containers are known as Tetra Paks or Tetra Bricks. And while you might think that buying in cardboard is a better choice than buying in cans be aware that these cardboard packages are lined in plastic and aluminum!! Unfortunately for consumers there is currently no requirement to list packaging ingredients, only content ingredients. So while you may know the ingredients of the food you are eating, you have no idea about what you are consuming with your food due to the packaging it is in!
That is why it is healthiest to start with fresh, whole food ingredients whenever you cook food. Cooking beans from scratch is simple and takes very little time. Making your own coconut milk is as easy as making your own nut milk. And fresh, whole tomatoes will always taste better than those in a can. And the same goes triple for vegetable broth - there is nothing like your own homemade veggie broth! (Email me if you want to know how to easily make your own broth). Making it from scratch is a whole new taste sensation!
Whether it be raw food in its natural, uncooked state, or vegetarian/vegan food from whole, fresh ingredients, you can choose to eat healthy all the time. Making lifestyle changes is not always easy but it is so worth it healthwise. You will see and feel the difference. Eat as much raw food as you feel comfortable eating and make the rest of your food, your cooked food, from real, whole food ingredients!
Just a note here: try to cook your food lightly. But this I mean do not cook it for hours on end or leave it all day in a crock pot. Overcooking seriously depletes your food and leaves it dry and tasteless. Try to cook your food for 1 hour or less (preferably 30 minutes or less). Or why not steam your food rather than cooking it? Yum!!
Healthy eating IS a choice, a deliberate choice. Make the choice to eat healthy and experience good health and vitality!!
******************************************************
THERMOGRAPHY IN FRESNO C
Check our "Classes" page for July dates for thermography screenings in Fresno.
Want more info in thermography? Be sure to check out our "Thermography" page as well as our "Resources" page for more information about thermography.
****************************************************************** Knancy's Kale Krispies Bet you can't eat just one! Ingredients: 2 cups raw organic cashews, soaked 2 T nutritional yeast Directions: Fresno, CA 93711 Preventative Health Education Whole Body Therapies 559-261-5746 Because good health doesn't just happen - it takes deliberate action!
Nancy Godwin brought these to the May potluck.
1 bunch organic kale (used the kale from the Farmer & the Dale)
4 red organic red bell peppers
Blend peppers, cashews, and yeast in food processor fitted with "S" blade. Pull the kale from the stem and rip into pieces. Mix kale and red pepper mixture until evenly coated. Dehydrate on teflex sheet at 105 degrees for 24 hours. Yum!!
Deliberate Health
1555 W. Shaw Ave
Thermography Screenings
cathie@deliberatehealth.net
