Saturday, March 23, 2013

Raw Food for Children

This week I took a mini-workshop-healthy-food-education-thing for children.

A wise person once said the truth has to be simple enough for a child to understand, so I figured they'd be smart enough to either start or add to their young knowledge of what is good food and why should we eat it.

There really isn't too much difference in teaching that to adults: I just use more complicated words :-)

Kids keep you on your toes: they haven't learnt the art of polite indifference yet; when they're bored or had enough or need a change of pace, they sure let you know.
There's something in the genetic make-up of most kids that tends not to take what a mother says seriously; teachers always know better. Enter, Christine: teacher of healthy food and how to do it. I'm also a mum but the children didn't twig to that. They actually took most of it in (one can't expect perfection), and what didn't settle into their young minds this time laid a passive foundation for a later day.

The gist of it: what happens when you put the wrong fuel in a car? What happens to your pet if you feed it 'people food' or cheap stuff instead of good pet food? What happens to a garden if the soil isn't fed each season? No matter where you look in nature and in man-made products, you get out what you put in - including YOU. If you want to look like a Princess or be a Superman (or an athlete...whatever is applicable to a child) then you have to give your body the food and drink it needs.

Our bodies are marvellously designed to be able to absorb the Good Stuff (nutrients) in our food and food is marvellously designed to be able to supply it. But here's the clincher: you have to put it in your mouth! Osmosis is for trees not people. Nor can you stand outside, and breathe in what nutrition you need.

We made vanilla ice cream sundaes with blueberries and chocolate sauce, with chocolate chips. It was all raw and all good for them. Most liked it, one wasn't a fan of vanilla but she'd probably like it with another flavour. Another one wasn't fond of blueberries (sad child!). No matter, there are so many alternatives. The point was to show them that healthy food can be very yummy indeed and there's no need to give up all your favourites- just find another way of making it.

Then I showed them how I make raw pasta with courgettes. They all wanted a turn, of course. We poured over the Red Capsicum Vinaigrette and they devoured it. Yes,I know they ate the 'hard tucker' after their sweet but it didn't bother them.

Lesson for me - never assume that kids might not like something. They loved it.

Mission accomplished!

Thank you, Rebecca and friends, for the privilege of speaking into your youngsters lives.

Check out my Raw Food Program - many of the recipes are perfect for children - especially the sweets and dressings! Starting a change-over to more raw is so much easier if you start with the sweets!

Christine
www.gomoreraw.com
email: christine@gomoreraw.com

____________________________________________________

The Anglo-Far East Company
The Original Private Gold and Silver Bullion Custodian
Your reference when you order: an-001
____________________________________________________

YOUnique Gold and Silver

Buy small, affordable physical gold and silver or start a savings program towards physical gold or silver grams for as little as US$25 per month.
Blog : www.goldsilver-money.blogspot.com
____________________________________________________

Friday, March 15, 2013

Diabetes and Raw Food

On Thursday afternoon I had my brief moment of radio-fame. It might be the only one I ever get. Hopefully not; I rather enjoyed it, once the first flutter of nerves had gone. One could get used to being on radio, one could. (Listen here)

I had written quite a few notes in anticipation of talking about diabetes and raw food. It didn’t quite work out that way. That’s fine; I still introduced raw food possibilities to radio staff and listeners. And who knows, I might have the opportunity to present Diabetes and Raw Food over the air-waves another day. I’ll let you know.

Not wanting to waste my efforts, I decided to give them to you.

Here’s what I didn’t say:

Why Is Raw Food So Important (For Diabetes)?

The diabetic epidemic currently in the headlines can be mostly tracked back to lifestyle and that would be largely diet.

Eating more raw food is a viable option for those facing the reality of diabetes; in fact, anyone will benefit by learning how to incorporate more raw into their life.

It’s all very well to tell someone who’s pre or fully diabetic to not eat this or that but they need to know what to replace it with. It needs to be wholefood where possible to give their bodies the nutrients they need to improve their life. There’s nothing to lose, and you could get your life back – literally.

That’s what my goal is working with clients – eat real food and see what it can do for your health.

This doesn’t mean one has to stop eating meat but increase the amount of raw fruit and vegetables where possible.

A health improvement may be the motivation you need to adjust a meat intake. Who knows?  The sacrifice may be worth it.

Cooked food and raw food can be successfully combined and the ratio altered as one gets used to it.

Ideas to get started

  • Pasta can be replaced with spiralised courgette, and ravioli with sliced courgette. Rice could be replaced with a cauliflower risotto.
  • Depending on the severity of diabetes, one can replace cakes and biscuits with sweet treats such as Chocolate Date and Nut Rolls or banana ice cream. There is a raw version of cheesecake, which is so good.
  • Wherever possible remove food from your life that has artificial sweetener, flavour enhancers and trans fats. That would help a great deal.
  • Avoid preservatives and added anything, including scary numbers and names we can’t pronounce. 
  • Eat foods as close as possible to the original food.
  • Work on changes a bit at a time. Changing everything all at once is overwhelming and sets you up for failure.
  • Replacements for sugar for diabetes: agave can be low GI (depending on the brand and how a body reacts), coconut sugar, yacon and of course, stevia. I prefer not to use artificial sweeteners.


What are some of the best raw foods and why?

Buy what is seasonal. It’s at peak nutrition and probably budget friendly.

The most important raw foods to increase are greens. As this is possibly off-putting to people, let’s leave that for another day. Just start with more fresh fruit and vegetable and feel the difference it can make.

Taking ActionA wise book says to “Buy wisdom.” I agree. It will save you both time and money.

Workshops are coming up; email me christine@gomoreraw.com and I’ll send the dates.

Other options are private consultations and a raw food program available (menu, recipes, shopping list, instructional videos and support).

If you DIY with raw food changes be aware that a raw recipe book or site may advocate dried fruit especially dates; they are the base of a few sweet treats.

Timing is important for eating sweet things, diabetics will know this. You might be able to eat date-based sweets as part of a meal rather than a mid-morning snack that spikes blood sugar.

Most importantly, stay in contact with your doctor and stay on your meds.

Christine
www.gomoreraw.com
email: christine@gomoreraw.com

____________________________________________________

The Anglo-Far East Company
The Original Private Gold and Silver Bullion Custodian
Your reference when you order: an-001
____________________________________________________

YOUnique Gold and Silver

Buy small, affordable physical gold and silver or start a savings program towards physical gold or silver grams for as little as US$25 per month.
Blog : www.goldsilver-money.blogspot.com
____________________________________________________

Friday, March 1, 2013

What about food that is better for you cooked?

I’ve had a couple of interviews with media this week and I noticed some questions common to both.

1. What about food that is better for you cooked? Like tomatoes.  Isn’t cooked food better for some people?

2. What about the busy cook – I don’t want to spend more time in the kitchen than I already am.


3. There were more but I’ll deal with these ones today.

It is true that there is more lycopene in cooked tomatoes than raw. That doesn’t mean there’s none in raw tomatoes, just more in cooked. The mistake here is to assume that cooked tomatoes are superior over raw tomatoes all the time. Or the other way around.

Cooked tomatoes have no enzymes, which are denatured or ‘die’ at about 45C. It is likely their vitamin C content is gone or reduced since vitamin C is killed off (sounds dramatic) at 100C. High heat denatures more than enzymes and vitamin C, so there are other losses nutritionally in cooking tomatoes.

Now, please note I am not saying that one is better than the other. Clearly both raw and cooked tomatoes have their place. The mistake was the assumption that one has to choose one over the other all the time. Polite suggestion: have both! Enjoy the best of both tomato worlds.

I think this question points more to the assumption that raw foodies never have cooked foods at all and could be missing out on ‘something’.

Since the reasoning behind this question shows the askers perception, it is up to me as the answer-er to adjust their perception and so adjust their reality. This can be done in a polite way, not a “for crying-out-loud” attitude. Remember that we all need our perceptions adjusted from time to time. It’s called learning.
So, stir some tomato paste through a raw sauce or dressing. Add chopped raw tomatoes just before you serve a meat sauce.

Now to the second question. Raw food is not that different from cooked. It’s just raw. Many people have a salad with their meal. That’s raw. Make a raw dressing to raise the nutrition level and lower the sugar and bad fats. Ramp up the salad and include a wider variety of vegetables, add some little pieces of fruit and some chopped nuts or sunflower seeds.

Heat a raw sauce to blood temperature and serve it with the meat. Most food is almost at blood temperature by the time you’re sitting down to eat.

Use a Spiraliser to make raw pasta and serve with either a cooked or raw sauce.

The bottom line is you don’t have to prepare two meals. Little bit by little bit you can learn how to combine the two ideas. Cooked and raw can go together.

Christine
www.gomoreraw.com
email: christine@gomoreraw.com
____________________________________________________

The Anglo-Far East Company
The Original Private Gold and Silver Bullion Custodian
Your reference when you order: an-001
____________________________________________________

YOUnique Gold and Silver

Buy small, affordable physical gold and silver or start a savings program towards physical gold or silver grams for as little as US$25 per month.
Blog : www.goldsilver-money.blogspot.com
____________________________________________________