Juicy Stuff

If you are still wondering where to get your proteins from when you go raw you can stop now and be reassured that you will get all you need with raw food. And with raw juices. This is one of the reasons why you have to eat a varied scale of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and sprouts. Also eat all the colors in the rainbow to receive all the antioxidants you want to look younger and feel better.

Carrots are sweeties. Not just because of their soothing taste but because of the treasure of nutrients they are offering us in one glass of juice. They provide vitamins A, B1, B6, C, D, E, G and K, minerals such as calcium, potassium, iron and phosphorus, traces of carbohydrates and proteins.

Color your life

If you dream of  a smooth skin; carrots make it look healthy! They have extreme properties for skin health.

• Carrot juice contains carotenoids which reduce risk of a heart attack and regulate blood circulation
• The phytonutrient ‘falcarinol’ helps in the protection against colon cancer
• And yes, it is true that they are good for vision, especially for night sight because of the beta-carotene
• Drink more carrot juice and notice how much better your hair, skin and nails will look
• Carrot juice also contains essential oils. They help digestion and therefor are fighting acne.
• Drinking carrot juice in summer will help you to protect against sunburn. It heals damages caused by the sun
• The antioxidants slow down the aging process and protect you against free radicals
• It lowers high blood pressure and cholesterol
• A load of iron helps to reduce anemia

And again, this is a list that goes on and on. It is good to know what vegetables and fruits can mean for your body. Just juice what you need to jazz up your health and you will feel the difference soon!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer, a sharp knife and a cutting board

INGREDIENTS

• 8 to 10 fresh organic carrots
• A big chunk of ginger

THE MAKING OFF…

• Juice your stuff and feel juicy…

Carrot Ginger Juice

Color your mood!

I have to share these good mood juices. Even if you can almost predict by looking at them what they are. Some got a little twist.

Sweet Fennel Juice

Have you ever thought of drinking fennel just as it is? I mostly add it to salads or to mixed juices to sweeten and freshen it up. But eaten on its own it can be a quiet overwhelming after a while. As a juice though, you can’t get it enough. With its extraordinary anise flavor, it is like no other juice. A great choice if you are longing for a drink in the evening. You can leave that bottle of Ricard; juice a fennel and you have the same taste. With much more benefits! Fennel is very rich in phytoestrogens and therefor helping with a lot of issues such as…

• colic, wind, irritable bowel
• spleen
• liver
• lungs
• kidneys
• digestive system
• menstruation
• increased urine flow

Fennel Green

But fennel is also used to treat…

• asthma
• anxiety
• depression
• high blood pressure
• decreased libido
• coughs
• heartburn

And the list goes on. But let’s juice now and “feel” instead of read about benefits.

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A juicer
• A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

• One big fennel

THE MAKING OF…

Juice and enjoy heaven!

Sweet Fennel Juice

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/08/good-mood-juices/feed/ 5 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/07/electrolyte-shock/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/07/electrolyte-shock/#comments Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:54:24 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=923 When I woke up I had no idea what time it was. It was too dark, too silent, too weary to get up. I notice that I am even more sensitive than ever to the changing hours in autumn. Only one hour, but my whole system still seems disturbed after a week. Even the metabolic clock of my pets is messed up; they start waiting for food one hour earlier than usual.

Electrolytes!

I was wondering what to do about it when it struck me. I would start my day with an electrolyte shock to awaken and coop with the dark weather. So I jumped out of the bed, showered, dressed and took one of my fresh Thai coconuts out of the refrigerator. I grabbed my impressive meat cleaver -with which I will never cleave meat!- and chopped off the coconuts head.  Hmm, have to make a picture of this, I thought. I have to write about all these electrolytes in only one glass! Have you never wondered how this energizing water gets into this heavenly nut? I did!

Electrolytes in a glass

I found the answer when I was reading David Wolfe’s book “Superfoods”. What is so beautiful about coconuts is that they carry and nurture their water as a human pregnancy. Almost nine months is how long it takes to filter each quart in that hard shell. Which must make you wonder how it got there in the first place. Let me quote the master himself here because I can’t think of other words: “The water rises through innumerable fibers which purify the water before it ends up in the sterile nut.”  This water is the most powerful water in nature because of the highest levels of electrolytes.

Moreover young coconut water is very similar to the structure of our blood plasma and therefor was even used in  the Pacific battles of World War II as blood transfusion for wounded soldiers. Coconut water in our veins?? Our blood exists of about 55% of plasma (about the same structure as coconut water) and 45% of hemoglobin (for the transportation of oxygen). This hemoglobin is “essentially transformed plant blood”, chlorophyll. So this means that when you make yourself a drink of fresh coconut water (55% plasma) mixed with fresh green leaf juice or the by Dr. Ann Wigmore recommended wheatgrass juice (45% hemoglobin), you will treat your body on a blood transfusion. Isn’t this amazingly easy?!

Blood Transfusion

If you can’t imagine that you will be able to drink a combination like this, let me give you these very simple yet lovely tips.

• Use coconut water as the base of your smoothies. It is delicious and will sweeten it up.
• Take a glass of coconut water and add one table spoon of “green superfood” which is packed with the chlorophyll of barley, wheatgrass, broccoli, spirulena, chlorella and many others. This is what I did here and it tastes… heavenly!
• Drink this is the morning on an empty stomach if you want the full benefits of it and a quick absorption in the blood.
• Oh, and give this magic drink to your children before they take off to school! They will be fit and concentrated and love the taste because it is very sweet.

My body is tingling now and my mind is clear. (I drank the green version while I was writing). The effect of this booster is almost immediately. It only takes five minutes to feel your blood pump. So get those young Thai coconuts, grow your grass, juice your greens and get in tune with your body!

Sources: David Wolfe “Superfoods” and my own experiences.

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/07/electrolyte-shock/feed/ 4 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/04/jazz-up-your-health/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/11/04/jazz-up-your-health/#comments Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:16:08 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=894 Ah juices, aren’t they heavenly. I started a soft and gentle cleanse yesterday with juices, smoothies and simple salads. My purpose is to start slowly and only drink juices for a few days. I abandoned nuts for a while because once autumn, I feel like eating them more and more. I was way passed my one handful a day, so had to say stop! and turn the wheel.

Juice Up Your Health!

The first two days are always the toughest ones, although you don’t have to feel hungry for a bit. Juices are so filling! No, it is your mind, fooling around with you, whispering that you fancy a piece of pie or a dense dish. So what can you do about it?

• Before you start cleansing, put your mindset together.
• Schedule a colonic for after the cleanse.
• When overwhelmed by hunger, ask yourself if you are really hungry. Is it hunger in your stomach or between your ears?
• The moment you start looking for food in your cupboards, take a glass of water and drink it. Often when you feel hungry, it is just thirst. Big chance your ‘hunger’ will calm down after drinking water.
• When you are really hungry, make another juice. You can drink fresh juices as much as you want or need to.
• If you feel the juices aren’t satisfying and you can’t hold on, make a green smoothie. The fiber in them will help you.
• You can start with  juices and some big smoothies a day and replace the smoothies by juices after a few days.

Drink more water than you are used to. How can you know how much water you need for your body? Take your body weight and divide it by two; drink that amount in ounces. During a cleansing, try to add some extra 8 ounce glasses.

Be gentle with yourself during a cleanse -well, always be gentle with yourself…- and don’t do heavy physical efforts. You will be detoxing and you might have a head ache at first, or feel a bit sick in the stomach. Those are good signs! The detox is working!

TOOLS YOU NEED

A juicer

A sharp knife and cutting board

INGREDIENTS

• Two big apples, cored (apple seeds are poisoned)
• One pear
• A chunk of ginger
• One kiwi
• One lime

THE MAKING OF…

Just juice and drink! If you wish, you can add your Maca in your juice so you don’t have to miss your favorite superfood.

Health in a glass.

Chestnuts

I am picking dandelion and stinging nettles where I can lay my hands on them when I am sure they aren’t sprayed. I remember last winter. I missed those two herbs so much that I was looking forward to spring only to pick my power friends for my smoothies. The prices of free herbs are ridiculous so I didn’t buy them out of personal protest. I am not going to let this happen again, this is why I started drying them. I have a dehydrator but you can use a common oven too. Just wash your harvest well,  dry it by dipping with a clean paper towel, tear the leaves into large parts (they shrink a lot) and let them dry overnight on about 107° with the door a little bit open to release humidity.

Dandelion

I dropped by my friends and they had visit from a woman who ones promised me to give her small grapes in autumn. So there she was, with a big bag full of lovely baby grapes. She didn’t know what to do with them and they where just falling off on her terrace. “They make such a mess and they are much too acid to eat!” I was delighted and so was she because she didn’t have to throw them away and her terrace would stay clean. So I came home with many pounds of grapes to juice. The kitchen was one big mess and abundance; free grapes, free herbs, free chestnuts. I saw them priced in the store for almost 6 euro. I was all smiles.

Baby Grapes

Because these grapes aren’t fully grown in the Belgian climate, they didn’t develop their full sweet flavor but they have such a nice tart taste! So I made a wonderful “Grateful Grape Juice” with apples, kiwi and a pear.

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A juicer
• A sharp knife

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Grateful Grape Juice

• A bunch of wild grapes out of your garden (or just organic grapes)
• 2 apples
• 1 pear
• 1 kiwi (if organic you can use it with the peel!)

THE MAKING OF…

Cut large fruits, juice everything, shake it up, pour it into your favorite glass and enjoy!

Grateful Grape Juice

Stinging Nettles

Last week when I working on my website while drinking a lovely smoothie, my father came in. His first question with frowned  eyebrows and a disapproving expression around his mouth: “Why are you drinking mud?” I am still laughing when I think of this. I must admit, the color was dark but only because it was a very wild composition.

One of the great things about smoothies is that you can throw in them whatever you have. Open your refrigerator, check out your deep freezer for frozen fruits, get some fresh wild edibles out of your garden (or  your neighbor’s if it isn’t sprayed:  they won’t be angry with you for weeding their yard), get your favorite superfoods out of the cupboard and start creating.

This is what I do every morning and wow, does it feel good to pick your weeds and looking forward to the energy they will recharge you with! All these greens filled with chlorophyll mean that you will be drinking direct sunlight. What else can fuel your body more than sunlight?!

What did I have in my frig? Kale and Rejuvelac and some fruit on my counter. I have to go get new supplies today! But no worry, nature offers enough to complete your smoothie when your refrigerator is almost empty: wild edibles! I came back with a basket filled with the arousing scents of mint, dandelion with roots and the soft tops of stinging nettles. Put together they make a wild thing!

Dandelion

Oh, almost forgot to give you my great tips.

• When you have a blender with horsepower, throw in a half (organic) avocado pit. It is a very powerful ingredient in the prevention of cancer, a booster of your immune system. It also thickens your smoothie a bit when you like it more creamy.
• When you have a large can on your blender, you can make two different tastes when you get bored easily. I often pour one liter in a bottle as a green smoothie, then add blueberries to the rest of it and blend again. You will now have two different smoothies to consume according to the mood you are in that morning.

You will see, you can’t impossibly eat all these greens from a plate in one day. Liquefied it provides you more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and proteins than you would probably get in a normal week. What am I saying… in a few weeks for the S.A.D eater. You can now understand where your new energy is coming from. Moreover because when you drink a smoothie, the digestion process is halfway, your body can keep its energy for itself and you can go wild!

TOOLS YOU NEED

• A blender
• A sharp knife

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for Wild Kale Smoothie

THE GREENS

• 3 leaves of kale without stem
• 2 big dandelion plants (leaves and roots)
• About 6 tops of stinging nettle
• 2 or 3 sprigs of mint
• 1 pear
• 1 banana
• 1 kiwi (with skin if organic)
• Pure water, Rejuvelac (which is the best in your smoothie! It makes it come even more alive with enzymes and pro biotics) or coconut water. You can also make a combination of liquids.
• Ice (made from pure water, not tap water)  if you want it cool right away.

Superfoods!

• SUPERFOODS of your choice. (I wanted some superpower today so added 2 tsp. Maca for energy,  a handful of chocolate nibs for concentration, 1 TBS Beepollen for immunity before winter, a handful of Goji Berries for testosterone, 1 tsp. kelp granules to maintain healthy thyroid functions, 1 TBS. Green Superfood powder for more chlorophyll,  2TBS. Hemp seeds for proteins.
• A dash of cayenne to spice it up, get the antibacterial benefits and get a deep body glow (it is cold today and my throat hurts a bit)
• If you want it sweeter, add a medjool date (pitted)

THE MAKING OF…

Superfoods on top

• Wash and throw your fruits and greens in your blender
• Add the superfoods of your choice

Filled with abundance!

• Add pure water or rejuvelac till about halfway the content

Up and Running

• Blend, taste and adjust to your own taste if necessary

Two Tastes in One Effort

That’s it! The most nutritious breakfast you can think of and enough valuable content to live on all day long if you have to. Buy a well sealed bottle and take the rest with you to work for a pause. You can drink your smoothie out of a large tea cup if you want to avoid questions or comments from your colleagues.

By the way, don’t pour smoothie away if you can’t drink it all. You can freeze it in ice cubes and use later. Or give it to your pets; they love smoothies and will thrive on them just as much as you do.

Ravishing Breakfast!

]]> http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/10/01/drink-it-wild/feed/ 20 http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/08/20/colon-care-with-colonics/ http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/2010/08/20/colon-care-with-colonics/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:50:42 +0000 Marie-Claire http://ravishingraw.com/wordpress/?p=575

All set for a Hydrotherapy Colonic

Colonic hydrotherapy is the best treat you can give your body. About 70% of all diseases find their cause in the colon. A high colonic  is very beneficial in the prevention and relief of many common ailments. You can choose between several options such as an enema which you can do yourself at home or a a colon irrigation with a professional colon hydro therapist. Good colon care means overall health.

I had my first colonic when I was raw for about a year and a half. I scheduled it after a detox on smoothies, juices and mono meals. This was the moment I felt ready and eager to get the old trash out of me. That first time knocked me out completely, physically and mentally. I was exhausted, incredibly sad and depressed. All I could do was stay calm and rest, telling myself this wasn’t me but a heavy detox I was going through. These side effects came as a total surprise to me. I had expected a bit of fatigue, rapidly followed by the euphoric feeling Matt Monarch always talks about. I missed that part. What happened?

I had three sessions that week because that’s what a colon needs the first time to release old waste. It took me a whole week to recover from the first one. I lost four pounds in one hour but that is only little compared to many others, who can lose up till sixteen pounds and more. This is how much plaque can be built up  in the colon due to eating bad food all life long.

Four days later I had a new appointment. I asked the therapist why I was feeling so awful.  She said my liver couldn’t take all the toxins and she decided to support it. I was afraid of the of a second session. It was a relieve that the following bowel rinses had less and less effect on me. I was recommended to schedule one every month to sustain my colon and to remove possible toxins on a regular basis.

Machine for Colon Irrigation

The one I have been looking forward to the most, was right after the liver & gallbladder flush. It was a tough colonic.  It took twenty minutes before stuff started loosening. She said I was so clean but I felt  like I was totally stuffed. Then suddenly a lot of small stones and bile appeared. I felt very sick in the stomach, had cramps, my legs felt weak and weird, I got a heavy migraine. Later on though I recovered very quickly and felt much better than before the colonic.

So what exactly happens during a colonic? When you never heard of it, it might be scary and you don’t know what to expect. But generally it is a very soft procedure. First of all I had to write down a whole week what I ate and drank. They advised me not to eat any meat or fish, lots of vegetables and fruit. I was glad because not all therapists want you to eat raw food before a colonic. During my research I saw certain websites were  they were forbidding raw vegetables and fruits. So you have to find out for yourself who is in alignment with your lifestyle.

After you lay down on your left side, the therapist places a soft tube into you. It is completely painless. You can then lay on your back and relax, covered with a towel. When the session starts, the hydro therapist starts running lukewarm water into you until the colon is full. Then he/she releases the pressure by stopping the flow of the water. The colon releases its wastes. It can take five or ten minutes before waste starts to loosen, depending on the kind of food you eat and the lifestyle you had. It is interesting when you can see the whole procedure and ask your questions, find out what is in your colon, if it is healthy, if there are parasites or -in my case- signs of other issues.

Choose for a hygienic place!

It is amazing how much a hydro therapist can see in your waste. They can track Candida for instance, if you are eating too many sugars, if you are eating healthy or fast food, if you have heavy metals and toxins in your body, or gall stones, protein in your urine, if your colon is active or lazy, how your bowl movement is improving after a few times. So it is very interesting and you learn a lot in forty five minutes to one hour.

Right after the session you have to go to the toilet to release the remaining water and waste. It takes several colonics to get the water up in the appendix and to remove all the old plaque. This is also why it’s called “High Colonic”. My therapist has a start package of three times to be sure you are clean. Others offer each cleansing separate. Also there are several systems. This one is with a machine but a friend of mine is having sessions with a gravity system that works very natural. Here you can’t follow the procedure yourself.

The effects aren’t always predictable. The first time I felt so energized right after the session! Ten minutes later I fell asleep in the car, driving. It is a good idea to take it easy after your first colonic. Schedule it on a day off so you can rest if you need to. And try to find a good one close to your home.

I am convinced that this thorough cleansing is determinative for my health. I might have had some struggle at first but I am feeling the difference now. It sure is a detox that I will build in my daily life by planning one every month. I can recommend to everybody who is on raw. A colon irrigation gives your body a complete new start and an opportunity to go to a next higher level in your raw food journey.

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