Carrot Ginger Soup

I haven't posted anything in a while. So much happening. I haven't cooked much lately either. SO today was the day to change that. If you're in the mood for a soup, this one will fit the bill perfectly.

Ingredients: - 10 carrots - 1 green apple - 1 avocado - ½ lime (I used a whole lime) - ½ tsp sea salt - ½ tsp chopped ginger - Pepper to taste (optional) (I also took the liberty of adding a tiny bit of curry and cayenne pepper - I like my food spicy)

The original recipe says to juice the carrots and green apple and to place them into a blender. (I blended carrots and the apple and added some water) Next, add avocado, the juice from the lime, sea salt, chopped ginger, and a small amount of pepper to taste. Blend up until a relatively thick consistency is formed and then place in a pot and heat until slightly warm. Serve.

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Mysterious science of pH explained!

I'm attempting to plainly explain what is a pH scale, how it relates to your health, weight and how to maintain a healthy pH. {some info found on www.thebestofrawfood.com}

What is the pH Scale
pH {Potential for freeing Hydrogen ions.}

The difference between acidity and alkalinity is based on the ability to free hydrogen ions.
Very simply put, the pH scale measures the amount of oxygen in your blood. When your blood is too acid it will not carry enough oxygen. When it is too alkaline, it will carry too much.


The scale goes from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral, a pH of 0-7 is acid. A pH of 7-14 is alkaline. Each unit of change represents a tenfold change in acidity or alkalinity (the difference between a pH of 4 and 5 is much greater than the difference between 6 an 7)


What is the Importance of Your pH
Your body's pH is a indication of health. Different organs have different pH levels, but the average pH should be 7. The pH of healthy blood is 7.35 (slightly alkaline)

pH scale is used to find out how alkaline or acid a certain food is after digestion. There are foods with a low pH (acid foods) and foods with a high pH (alkaline foods). {in a different post I will list those food items}

pH Scale and Health
Your body functions best when the pH of your blood is 7.35. If your blood pH gets below 7 or above 7.45, your body cannot function.
Because of our Western diet high in refined sugar, processed food and animal protein, most people are too acidic. Put on top of this stress (very acidifying) and pollution and it's a recipe for problems.

Symptoms of a Person with Low pH
Typical characteristics of an acid person are: low energy, no enthusiasm, tires quickly, irritable or poor sleep. Acid people are often sensitive to cold, brittle teeth, weak nails and bones or dry skin, sand and stones in organs. The immune system weakens which makes your prone to viruses (cold and flu) and recurring infections (bronchitis, urinary tract infection). Minerals and vitamins don't absorb well.

If acidity becomes chronic, an amazing variety of illnesses may occur and shows up in your bodies weakest spots. The result is cancer, diabetes, PMS, arthritis, heart problems or allergies.

{Back in 1932 Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the determination of conditions of life of malignant tumors. Tumor cells (as well as bacteria and pathogens), beautifully developed when acidification of blood, ie a fall of pH below 7.2 - 7.3 units. With the normalization of the pH of the tumor initially stopped growing, and then regressed! If blood pH is normal, alien bacteria and germs do not have the conditions for reproduction.}

Balancing Your pH
Since it's so extremely important for your body to maintain a healthy acid - alkaline balance. Your blood will immediately correct even the slightest change in pH.

Your body has two ways to do this:

• to eliminate acids from the body (through sweat, urine, breath or store them as body fat)
• to neutralize the acids with alkaline minerals such as calcium (from your bones and teeth)

Weight Loss and pH
If you're too acid and there are not enough alkaline minerals to buffer the acids with, your body will store some of these acids in your fat. It will only release them if there are enough alkaline buffers to neutralize them.

Now, if you want to lose weight and go on a diet of unhealthy food (sugar, high animal protein, junk food) you will lose even more alkaline minerals and your body cannot release it's excess fat with the stored acids. Because if it does release the fat with its acids you become too acidic. If you don't eat enough calories and loses weight (fat) nonetheless, the released acids cannot be neutralized. This is very dangerous. This explains why some people just can't loose weight.

Maintaining a Healthy pH

Fortunately, it's easy to stay healthy and get back to balance by eating a raw food diet. A balanced raw food diet is rich in alkaline minerals such as organic, plant based calcium, sodium, silica, magnesium and potassium.

It is known that more alkaline pH in contrast to the acid prevents the development of aging. In a more neutral pH human bodies have an amazing ability to heal itself.

P.S. I will be writing more about how Ph affects the processes in our bodies, how to determine your pH and how to get it to where it should be.

P.P.S. This post came about because of the question someone asked me. If you have any questions, please do ask.

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Does freezing raw fruits and berries kill their enzymes?

After reading my post about the importance of enzymes and how heating/cooking kills them someone asked me about freezing. Here's what I found.

Answered by Certified Personal Trainer/Fitness Counselor, Health Advocate, Recipe Developer, Soy Food Connoisseur and the author of: Virtues of Soy: A Practical Health Guide and Cookbook.

Question: Does freezing raw berries and fruits kill the enzymes in the same manner that heat does?

Answer: No, freezing raw berries, fruits and vegetables does not kill the enzymes contained in these foods like heat does. A vast majority of the enzymes stay intact. According to Ron Radstrom of Health Freedom Resources, only "some of them are destroyed (20 to 30%) but not the same amount as cooking. The quicker you freeze them the better and thawing them out gently is easier on the cell walls."

Fresh raw berries, fruits and vegetables are the best choice in obtaining essential nutrients and enzymes. The next best is frozen, especially if they are frozen immediately after they are picked.

Frozen fruits, berries and vegetables are often more nutritious than produce that has been shipped a long distance. In order to transport well, produce
needs to be picked before they fully ripen to minimize bruising. Plus, with the time involved transporting produce cross-country, what you think are fresh fruits, berries and vegetables may actually be 1-2 weeks old, if not more. This causes them to lose much of their nutrients. On the other hand, frozen produce is usually frozen right after it has been picked, thus preserving many of their nutrients and enzymes. To ensure that your berries, fruits and vegetables are of the highest quality, try to buy locally grown fresh produce whenever possible.

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Jicama mama

While at the grocery store I noticed a new for me produce, that claimed to be a fruit: Jicama.

Curious, as always, I didnt resist buying it.

Nutritionally: It is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium.

It is a good source of Potassium, and a VERY good source of Dietary Fiber and Vitamin C.☺

here's more nutritional info - great for those who are counting their calories

Often paired with chilli powder, cilantro, ginger, lemon, lime, oranges, red onion, salsa, sesame oil, soy sauce.

I stuck it in my yday's salad, but first, of course, tried separately. It's delicious! I could eat it by itself all day long. A cross between a pear and a water chestnut. I give it a 5 out of 5.

If you cut it in a certain way it could pass for raw fries!☺

Pair jicama with lime juice and cayenne pepper and you won't find any more delicious food for weight loss (may be I should invent my diet)

Another idea, use jicama as your substitute for chips and dip it in salsa or guacamole.

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Everything salad

I made a salad out of almost everything I had in the fridge.
The root grading process is not easy. I struggled with grader, then what-you-call-it cutter... when I was just about to give up because my arms were falling off a brilliant idea of using the blender came to me (why so late!!!).
I love blenders even more now.

So here are all the ingredients:

Chinese cabbage, jicama root, rutabaga root, fennel, reddish, carrots, celery root, spinach, cilantro, dill, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, soy nuts, sesame seeds, flax seeds, cumin, curry powder, thyme, paprika, soy souce, extra virgin olive oil.

It is truly delicious! Right, Em?

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Smoothie that is not a juice

Today I blended my smoothie instead of juicing. And I conclude that I like it much more.

In smoothies I get in all my fiber and blender is so much easier to clean! ☺

So unless its some vegetable that I cannot blend I will be going for the blender :)

There was no cilantro in my smoothie today. ☺

Spinach, dandelion, grapefruit and a mango ... and voilà

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my very first green smoothie

Today I made my very first green smoothie!

{green smoothies are the most nutritious things on this planet - why they are called superfood}

I will write in a separate post about all the health benefits - its gonna blow your mind.

They normally recommend 60% fruit and 40% green leafy vegetables.

I went all out and did quite the opposite.

1 mango, 1 grapefruit and lots of asparagus, cilantro, parsley, dill, spinach, dandelion.

First of, I realized, smoothie making is an art. ☺

Secondly, smoothies are delicious.

Said that... I did go a little overboard with greens. Especially strong ones like cilantro and parsley. Next time I would just add another fruit and may be put a little more spinach and a little less cilantro (it was A LOT of cilantro :)))))

P.S. I must come up with a faster way to wash the juicer.

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Hippocrates, who, mind you, is considered the father of modern medicine, said: "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food."

raw foods variety: {fresh fruits, berries, vegetables, nuts and seeds. soaked and sprouted wheat, rye, quinoa and buckwheat. milks, cheeses and yogurts from nuts and seeds. superfoods, sea vegetables, sauerkrauts, sprouts. dehydrated truffles, crackers, burgers, granolas. etc.}

not raw: {pasta, baked goods, junk food, anything pasteurized: most juices, drinks, milks, commercially processed products}

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To raw or not to raw? Getting the terminology down

After reading all I could find, its been established that raw means not cooked. Surprising ))))))

The main differences in raw and not raw are:

• enzymes. {proteins that speed up the chemical reactions, including those in digestion and metabolism} many of these guys die when heated over 116°F. ☹
• phytonutrients. {these guys participate in preventing of the development of such yuckies as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers and more}
• blah blah blah ...in general uncooked foods consist much vitamins and minerals, water and water-soluble nutrients ☺

Raw vs. Living

Even though the terms are used interchangeably they are different.

If raw means uncooked food in its natural state, live food has more vital nutrients promoted through the process of soaking, sprouting, blending, and culturing {introducing the natural bacteria to create enzymes and natural fermentation to grow good bacteria. recipes of self made plant cheeses, yogurts and kombucha on the way}

P.S. I wanted to draw some illustrations, but enzymes aren't very inspirational. Next time

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Raw Food and Cooked Food Comparison

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The first post that never comes out right

The rumor has it that I'm a pretty good cook, anyone? :)

However, I know very little to nothing when it comes to the raw food diet.
I suppose, that was one of the reasons why upon hearing about my interest in raw food my boss got me this book. He is a wonderful boss.

Why?
I have always been interested in the healthy life style... researching, reading, experimenting, making choices. The benefits of the raw food diet have grabbed my attention awhile back. In the past two months I met a couple of people that not only implement that life style, but also have cured numerous sicknesses that the modern society cannot seem to conquer, while looking great and feeling fabulous.

In attempt to be a good steward of my body, Im going to go through the book, sharing my findings, thoughts, recipes.... my personal experience with it.

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