It is not as easy to buy raw food as you might think when you start out on a raw food or master cleansediet. Many items on the supermarket shelves appear raw when really they are not. Some, like cashews and many other nuts, may even be labeled raw when in fact they have been subjected to very high temperatures in the process of extracting them from their shells.
The good news is that it is possible to obtain many of these items in their truly raw form. You may find some things in your local health food store, but it is often easier to order online. It is so easy these days to buy items like this on the internet and you can find many sites that will cater to people wanting to buy raw food to get the benefit of a non cooked, non processed diet.
There are many online raw food suppliers in the USA and a quick search on Google for whatever you are looking for will quickly produce some online stores. David Wolfe's sunfoods.com specializes in raw cashews, chocolate/cacao and superfoods. In the UK, detoxyourworld.com provides most of the ingredients you could need to stock your raw kitchen. In Australia you can use getprice.com.au to find suppliers of just about anything.
As we have said, there are many foods that you might need to buy from a specialist raw food supplier if you want to be 100% raw. These include olives. Raw olives can be bitter so most of the olives that you find in the store have been cooked. However, there are a couple of varieties that taste wonderful in their raw form and you can find these online. Order plenty because you might find they disappear very fast!
The law now requires that all almonds produced in California must be pasteurized. This means most of the almonds sold in the USA and Canada, so check packaging and order from overseas if you have to. In other countries, almonds are extracted from the shell without using heat. However, of course you want to buy them with their skins on. White, skinless almonds, including chopped and ground, have been blanched in boiling water to remove the skins. And if you don't like the skins, you can remove them quite easily after soaking the almonds overnight.
If you are not planning to be a raw vegan you may want to find a source of raw dairy foods to add enzymes and calcium into your diet. Unpasteurized milk is illegal to be sold in stores in many jurisdictions although you can still often buy it direct from the farm. Unpasteurized cheese is usually easier to find since many specialty cheeses are traditionally made raw. Be aware that as well as extra enzymes, raw dairy products can contain unwanted bacteria. Pregnant women in particular are usually advised not to consume raw dairy products.
Finally, have you thought about toothpaste? OK, you probably don't eat it, but you must be ingesting some of it and if you buy any kind of commercial brand it will not be raw, even if it is fluoride free. Many people who go raw switch to Toothsoap which is free of undesirable chemical ingredients. It may take a few days to get used to the taste but it is not unpleasant and it is getting rave reviews. So that is something to add to your list when you go online to buy raw food.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Healthy and unhealthy diets
We all want to lose weight and lose it quickly, but there are healthy ways to do it and unhealthy ways.
The fact that a product is being sold on a pharmacy shelf, or written about on the internet, does not mean that it is safe and healthy.
Here are some diet shortcuts that are decidedly dangerous and should be avoided if you value your health.
1.) Diet Pills. They are a short term fix only. Once you stop taking them, you will be hungry again and will go back to your normal eating patterns, which means you will regain all of your weight. They are not well regulated by the FDA and their diuretic effects can cause you to become dangerously dehydrated, especially in the summer. Their side effects can also include headaches, dizziness, nausea, and heart palpitations.
2.) Health food fads like ephedra. “Herbal” and “all-natural” does not mean safe. Deadly Nightshade is all natural. So is rattlesnake venom. Ephedra has been tied to a number of deaths, and is now banned for sale in the United States. Don’t assume that because a diet supplement is being sold at the grocery store, it’s healthy.
3.) Fasting. Fasting quickly sends your body into starvation mode, and your metabolism slows down so that when you start eating again you will be astonished at how fast the pounds pile back on. And it may take a long time for your metabolism to return to normal again. Fasting also causes your body to start burning muscle for fuel; you don’t want less muscle, you want more! Long term fasting can cause serious health damage. Your heart is a muscle, and your body does not differentiate between what types of muscle tissue it raids for fuel.
4.) Fad Diets.Trendy diets come and go. The Scarsdale Diet and the Atkins diet although maybe not the South Beach Diet as a couple of examples. Although those diets aren’t good for you, because of their heavy reliance on protein, they are not as bad as diets like the grapefruit diet, or the cabbage soup diet. The problem with all of these diets is that they often rely heavily on changing your diet in an unnatural way and consuming mostly one kind of food, which does not give you the variety of nutrients that you need and which are impossible to follow long term.
5.) Eating prepackaged diet foods. Yes, they are convenient, but these meals are surprisingly high in sodium and fat. Sodium contributes to high blood pressure, and people who are overweight are already at risk for high blood pressure. The American Heart Association recommends not exceeding 2000 mgs of sodium a day, but many prepackaged diet foods contain that much in a single meal.
There is one diet that works. Click that link and check out all the comments and positive reviews.
The fact that a product is being sold on a pharmacy shelf, or written about on the internet, does not mean that it is safe and healthy.
Here are some diet shortcuts that are decidedly dangerous and should be avoided if you value your health.
1.) Diet Pills. They are a short term fix only. Once you stop taking them, you will be hungry again and will go back to your normal eating patterns, which means you will regain all of your weight. They are not well regulated by the FDA and their diuretic effects can cause you to become dangerously dehydrated, especially in the summer. Their side effects can also include headaches, dizziness, nausea, and heart palpitations.
2.) Health food fads like ephedra. “Herbal” and “all-natural” does not mean safe. Deadly Nightshade is all natural. So is rattlesnake venom. Ephedra has been tied to a number of deaths, and is now banned for sale in the United States. Don’t assume that because a diet supplement is being sold at the grocery store, it’s healthy.
3.) Fasting. Fasting quickly sends your body into starvation mode, and your metabolism slows down so that when you start eating again you will be astonished at how fast the pounds pile back on. And it may take a long time for your metabolism to return to normal again. Fasting also causes your body to start burning muscle for fuel; you don’t want less muscle, you want more! Long term fasting can cause serious health damage. Your heart is a muscle, and your body does not differentiate between what types of muscle tissue it raids for fuel.
4.) Fad Diets.Trendy diets come and go. The Scarsdale Diet and the Atkins diet although maybe not the South Beach Diet as a couple of examples. Although those diets aren’t good for you, because of their heavy reliance on protein, they are not as bad as diets like the grapefruit diet, or the cabbage soup diet. The problem with all of these diets is that they often rely heavily on changing your diet in an unnatural way and consuming mostly one kind of food, which does not give you the variety of nutrients that you need and which are impossible to follow long term.
5.) Eating prepackaged diet foods. Yes, they are convenient, but these meals are surprisingly high in sodium and fat. Sodium contributes to high blood pressure, and people who are overweight are already at risk for high blood pressure. The American Heart Association recommends not exceeding 2000 mgs of sodium a day, but many prepackaged diet foods contain that much in a single meal.
There is one diet that works. Click that link and check out all the comments and positive reviews.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Detoxing ideas
I'm not a big fan of detoxes. I think that in most cases, they're unnecessary for the average person. With that being said, there is nothing wrong with adding some good fruits and veggies with detoxifying properties to your existing diet to help keep things moving along.
You just don't have to torture yourself by drinking an unappetizing lemonade/maple syrup mixture for two weeks to gain the benefits. Yahoo has listed its top 10 detoxifying foods that you may want to think about adding to your diet. Here are highlights:
1. Green leafy vegetables: Eat them raw, throw them into a broth, add them to juices. Their chlorophyll helps swab out environmental toxins (heavy metals, pesticides) and protects the liver.
2. Lemons: Its vitamin C, considered the detox vitamin, helps convert toxins into a water-soluble form that's easily flushed away.
3. Watercress: The peppery little green leaves have a diuretic effect that helps move things through your system. And cress is rich in minerals, too.
There's more so read more.
4. Garlic: In addition to the bulb's cardio benefits, it activates liver enzymes that help filter out junk.
5. Green tea: This antioxidant-rich brew is one of the healthiest ways to get more fluids into your system. Bonus: It contains catechins, which speed up liver activity.
6. Broccoli sprouts: They pack 20 to 50 times more cancer-fighting, enzyme-stimulating activity into each bite than the grown-up vegetable.
7. Sesame seeds: They're credited with protecting liver cells from the damaging effects of alcohol and other chemicals.
8. Cabbage: There are two main types of detoxifying enzymes in the liver; this potent veggie helps activate both of them.
9. Psyllium: A plant that's rich in soluble fiber, like oat bran but more versatile. It mops up toxins (cholesterol too) and helps clear them out.
10. Fruits, fruits, fruits: They're full of almost all the good things above: vitamin C, fiber, nutritious fluids, and all kinds of antioxidants.
So if you are going to try a cleanse or detox there is one method and that is the master cleanse detox. Check out more if you are interested in trying it.
You just don't have to torture yourself by drinking an unappetizing lemonade/maple syrup mixture for two weeks to gain the benefits. Yahoo has listed its top 10 detoxifying foods that you may want to think about adding to your diet. Here are highlights:
1. Green leafy vegetables: Eat them raw, throw them into a broth, add them to juices. Their chlorophyll helps swab out environmental toxins (heavy metals, pesticides) and protects the liver.
2. Lemons: Its vitamin C, considered the detox vitamin, helps convert toxins into a water-soluble form that's easily flushed away.
3. Watercress: The peppery little green leaves have a diuretic effect that helps move things through your system. And cress is rich in minerals, too.
There's more so read more.
4. Garlic: In addition to the bulb's cardio benefits, it activates liver enzymes that help filter out junk.
5. Green tea: This antioxidant-rich brew is one of the healthiest ways to get more fluids into your system. Bonus: It contains catechins, which speed up liver activity.
6. Broccoli sprouts: They pack 20 to 50 times more cancer-fighting, enzyme-stimulating activity into each bite than the grown-up vegetable.
7. Sesame seeds: They're credited with protecting liver cells from the damaging effects of alcohol and other chemicals.
8. Cabbage: There are two main types of detoxifying enzymes in the liver; this potent veggie helps activate both of them.
9. Psyllium: A plant that's rich in soluble fiber, like oat bran but more versatile. It mops up toxins (cholesterol too) and helps clear them out.
10. Fruits, fruits, fruits: They're full of almost all the good things above: vitamin C, fiber, nutritious fluids, and all kinds of antioxidants.
So if you are going to try a cleanse or detox there is one method and that is the master cleanse detox. Check out more if you are interested in trying it.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Six tips to drop some weight
These days, people are making weight loss as complicated as possible, while in reality losing weight is very simple. All you need to do is set a weight loss goal and then take steps to achieve it. In this article I will tell you about my 6-step weight loss formula that can help you lose pounds pretty quickly!
1. Consult with your doctor before choosing a weight loss plan: Far too many people make the mistake of listening to dishonest marketers rather than to doctors or nutritionists. I would advise you to take your time and consult with a professional nutritionist to discuss what kind of a diet your body is comfortable with! There is one popular diet that many people seem to be finding success with
2. Combine different diet plans: In my research, I have found that almost all diet plans suffer from deficiencies of some kind or the other. Hence I find it better to combine the best concepts of three or four diet plans and then work on my own. If you have found three or four diet plans that seem to be suitable for your body, take the time to pick the best features of each and then combine them all into one!
3. Drink as much water as you can: Your doctor will perhaps recommend you to drink at least eight glasses of water per day. If you cannot drink that much water, drink at least four or five glasses. Once you start drinking water, you will feel much better and more energetic!
4. Don't try to be rigid with yourself: No one said that you need to follow a weight loss plan to the letter. You are free to modify it as much as you want based on your body and its needs. Even if you follow a diet plan rigidly during the first phase, you should modify it considerably once you start understanding your body and its requirements!
5. Don't set unrealistic goals: Do you know why people fail to lose weight? It is because they set totally unrealistic goals for themselves. Having a goal of fitting yourself into a bikini within a month is an unrealistic goal. Having a goal of losing 20 pounds in three months in a realistic goal. Unless you set realistic goals for yourself, you can never really succeed in losing any amount of weight. Setting unrealistic goals for yourself will only bring depression and disappointment for you!
6. Increase your daily activity level: Leave your couch and take a walk-that is the least you can do for your body. You should, as a matter of fact, increase your daily activity level in any way you can. Whether it is in the form of exercises, walking or sports, you should try to be as much active as possible.
Once you follow the six steps above, getting rid of the extra flab won't seem very difficult!
1. Consult with your doctor before choosing a weight loss plan: Far too many people make the mistake of listening to dishonest marketers rather than to doctors or nutritionists. I would advise you to take your time and consult with a professional nutritionist to discuss what kind of a diet your body is comfortable with! There is one popular diet that many people seem to be finding success with
2. Combine different diet plans: In my research, I have found that almost all diet plans suffer from deficiencies of some kind or the other. Hence I find it better to combine the best concepts of three or four diet plans and then work on my own. If you have found three or four diet plans that seem to be suitable for your body, take the time to pick the best features of each and then combine them all into one!
3. Drink as much water as you can: Your doctor will perhaps recommend you to drink at least eight glasses of water per day. If you cannot drink that much water, drink at least four or five glasses. Once you start drinking water, you will feel much better and more energetic!
4. Don't try to be rigid with yourself: No one said that you need to follow a weight loss plan to the letter. You are free to modify it as much as you want based on your body and its needs. Even if you follow a diet plan rigidly during the first phase, you should modify it considerably once you start understanding your body and its requirements!
5. Don't set unrealistic goals: Do you know why people fail to lose weight? It is because they set totally unrealistic goals for themselves. Having a goal of fitting yourself into a bikini within a month is an unrealistic goal. Having a goal of losing 20 pounds in three months in a realistic goal. Unless you set realistic goals for yourself, you can never really succeed in losing any amount of weight. Setting unrealistic goals for yourself will only bring depression and disappointment for you!
6. Increase your daily activity level: Leave your couch and take a walk-that is the least you can do for your body. You should, as a matter of fact, increase your daily activity level in any way you can. Whether it is in the form of exercises, walking or sports, you should try to be as much active as possible.
Once you follow the six steps above, getting rid of the extra flab won't seem very difficult!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
What to look for in diet pills
These days, when most weight loss programs are suggesting people to go the hard way of diet and exercise, people are looking for easier solutions.
They are actually looking for products that can help them lose weight without them having to exert any effort at all! And rightly so! If you can get pills that can automatically shed your pounds, why would you trouble yourself by going through the severity of diet and exercise? In this article I will tell you about the three things you need to look for in a diet pill.
There are certain questions you need to ask yourself before buying a weight loss pill. Will the pill actually help you lose weight? If yes, how? And does it also help you in keeping weight off in future so that you don't get back all the weight you had lost?
Good news is that there are indeed some diet pills which have been clinically proven to help one lose a considerable amount of weight. The bad news however is that it is hard to get hold of these drugs unless you are knowledgeable in this field.
The number of ineffective diet pills is much greater than the effective ones, so you will probably spend so much time in getting hold of an effective diet pill that you will become totally tired and try to use the 'bad' pill instead.
While it is quite hard to get hold of useful weight loss pills, here are three things you can look for when buying one:
1. Pills that speed up your metabolism: You might be aware of the fact that when your metabolism speeds up, you are able burn fat at a greater than normal rate. Believe it or not, there are pills that can actually help you achieve this! Look for pills containing ingredients that are known to increase one's metabolic rate, such as lipoic acid, green tea extracts etc.
2. Pills that suppress your appetite: Then there are diet pills that can actually suppress your appetite. This doesn't mean that you can go on fasting; it simply means that you won't feel hungry as often as you used to.
One of the reasons behind your obesity is overeating; if you can cut down on your food intake considerably, you will automatically start losing weight. Unfortunately, reduction on food intake comes with the additional burden of hunger pangs, and this is where an appetite suppressant can help you!
3. Diet pills that block calories: There are some diet pills that can block or restrict the entry of calories inside your body. As you know, the more calories your body receives, the fatter you become. A calorie blocker will help you by slowing down the entry of calories into your body!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Great Green tea ingredients
Green teas contain a bunch of really good-for-you type ingredients and I thought that I would try to bring them up for you to help you realize the great health benefits of green tea based products. Products like Avatrim for Example.
Tannins - A group of simple and complex phenol, polyphenol, and flavonoid compounds. Produced by plants, all of the tannins are relatively resistant to digestion or fermentation. All tannins act as astringents, shrinking tissues and contracting structural proteins in the skin and mucosa.
What Do Tannins Do For You?
Having a cup of green tea after a meal can aid in digestion. Green tea has been used for thousand of years in Asia as a digestive.
Catechins - Catechins are a category of polyphenols. In green tea, catechins are present in significant quantities, more specifically; epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG makes up about 10-50% of the total catechin content and appears to be the most powerful of the catechins - with antioxidant activity about 25-100 times more potent than vitamins C and E.
A cup of green tea may provide 10-40mg of polyphenols and has antioxidant activity greater than a serving of broccoli, spinach, carrots or strawberries.
What Do Catechins Do For You?
Well having a powerful anti-oxidant coursing through your system after a heavy workout is just what you need to curb free radical damage.
Flavonoids - Flavonoids are plant pigments, and are the brightly colored chemical constituents found in most fresh fruits and vegetables.
What Do Flavonoids Do For You?
Obviously your workouts will suffer if you are sick.
Theanine - An amino acid that produces tranquilizing effects in the brain, theanine is a unique amino acid found in the leaves sencha. Theanine is quite different from the polyphenol and catechin antioxidants for which green tea is typically consumed.
What Do Theanine Do For You?
I can personally attest to the good feelings you get after a couple cups of green tea. It leaves you with a peaceful feeling without compromising motivation and mental activity.
Bodybuilding & Fitness Uses
Pre-workout - Green tea is a great alternative to the ECA stack. Yeah I know nothing beats the ECA stack but hear me out. A number of people, including myself do not like how the ECA stack makes us feel.
I get jittery and easily angered for some reason. The green tea is great because it does have some caffeine and the Theanine really relaxes you mentally but lets you perform physically.
Cutting - Research suggests that supplementing with green tea can raise your resting metabolic rate by 3%. In order to get this benefit you must have about about 3 glasses a day. If you have a bmr of 2000 or so that means 60 extra calories a day. Why do you see so few obese Asians. Its not the kung-fu. It's the green tea!
All About Tea
All teas come from the same source. The tea plant is a member of the Camellia family (Camellia sinensis). Black tea, oolong tea, and green tea are all derivatives of this one plant.
It is the way the tea is prepared that determines its color. After the tea plant is picked, it is fermented, and then heated to stop the fermentation process. This fermentation process is responsible for the caffine content of the tea. The longer it is fermented the more caffeine the tea will have.
Green tea has the least amount of caffeine of all the teas because it is the least fermented. The reason why green tea has the most health benefits is because a longer fermentation process destroys many of the beneficial substances in the tea plant. That is why chugging your Lipton tea is not even remotely comparable to having a cup of green tea (Lipton is made from black tea).
For more information visit: http://www.avatrim.com
Tannins - A group of simple and complex phenol, polyphenol, and flavonoid compounds. Produced by plants, all of the tannins are relatively resistant to digestion or fermentation. All tannins act as astringents, shrinking tissues and contracting structural proteins in the skin and mucosa.
What Do Tannins Do For You?
Having a cup of green tea after a meal can aid in digestion. Green tea has been used for thousand of years in Asia as a digestive.
Catechins - Catechins are a category of polyphenols. In green tea, catechins are present in significant quantities, more specifically; epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG makes up about 10-50% of the total catechin content and appears to be the most powerful of the catechins - with antioxidant activity about 25-100 times more potent than vitamins C and E.
A cup of green tea may provide 10-40mg of polyphenols and has antioxidant activity greater than a serving of broccoli, spinach, carrots or strawberries.
What Do Catechins Do For You?
Well having a powerful anti-oxidant coursing through your system after a heavy workout is just what you need to curb free radical damage.
Flavonoids - Flavonoids are plant pigments, and are the brightly colored chemical constituents found in most fresh fruits and vegetables.
What Do Flavonoids Do For You?
Obviously your workouts will suffer if you are sick.
Theanine - An amino acid that produces tranquilizing effects in the brain, theanine is a unique amino acid found in the leaves sencha. Theanine is quite different from the polyphenol and catechin antioxidants for which green tea is typically consumed.
What Do Theanine Do For You?
I can personally attest to the good feelings you get after a couple cups of green tea. It leaves you with a peaceful feeling without compromising motivation and mental activity.
Bodybuilding & Fitness Uses
Pre-workout - Green tea is a great alternative to the ECA stack. Yeah I know nothing beats the ECA stack but hear me out. A number of people, including myself do not like how the ECA stack makes us feel.
I get jittery and easily angered for some reason. The green tea is great because it does have some caffeine and the Theanine really relaxes you mentally but lets you perform physically.
Cutting - Research suggests that supplementing with green tea can raise your resting metabolic rate by 3%. In order to get this benefit you must have about about 3 glasses a day. If you have a bmr of 2000 or so that means 60 extra calories a day. Why do you see so few obese Asians. Its not the kung-fu. It's the green tea!
All About Tea
All teas come from the same source. The tea plant is a member of the Camellia family (Camellia sinensis). Black tea, oolong tea, and green tea are all derivatives of this one plant.
It is the way the tea is prepared that determines its color. After the tea plant is picked, it is fermented, and then heated to stop the fermentation process. This fermentation process is responsible for the caffine content of the tea. The longer it is fermented the more caffeine the tea will have.
Green tea has the least amount of caffeine of all the teas because it is the least fermented. The reason why green tea has the most health benefits is because a longer fermentation process destroys many of the beneficial substances in the tea plant. That is why chugging your Lipton tea is not even remotely comparable to having a cup of green tea (Lipton is made from black tea).
For more information visit: http://www.avatrim.com
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Acne information
Well this is not Avatrim related but I just noticed a new great acne info site, Actually it is called acne info today.
It is interesting to note that the site seems to have a lot of content on it already which is nice even though I know that it was launched just a few day ago.
Great stuff there for acne.
It is interesting to note that the site seems to have a lot of content on it already which is nice even though I know that it was launched just a few day ago.
Great stuff there for acne.
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