Radiant on Raw Blog

Natural Ways to Overcome Depression

Conventional medicine tells us that depression is caused by an imbalance of a neurotransmitter in the brain called serotonin. Most pharmaceutical advertisements claims that drugs that flood the brain with serotonin are the answer to depression. However, some studies found that dramatically increasing serotonin levels in the brain failed to relieve depression.

So why do doctors persist in prescribing medications with side effects ranging from mood swings to suicidal or homicidal behaviors when those drugs may not even work?

Many of the symptoms of depression can be directly linked to vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the standard American diet. Depression, mood swings and fatigue often have a common cause: poor nutrition.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Raising Healthy Kids

Mark your calendars! Starting Monday, June 22nd you are invited to join in on a one of a kind discussion about raising healthy children with raw foods!

The Raw Mom Summit is an online event starting on June 22nd and ending on June 30th. For 9 days and 9 nights the wisdom, experience and understanding of over 30 passionate health pioneers and some of the world's leading experts in alternative health, are bringing their voices together in the name of building healthy families and empowered leaders of the next generation.

Learn from top experts…

• What to do about fertility, ovulation and conscious conception?
• How to prepare for a healthy pregnancy, labor and childbirth?
• What is attachment parenting?
• Which natural remedies to use when your children are sick?
• How to feed a meat-eating partner if you are vegetarian or vegan?
• What should you feed yourself when you're overwhelmed with cravings?
• How to get kids excited and involved in their own food-prep?
• What to do when our kids rebel against our healthy diet?
• What is going on with the bees and why is it so important?
• How to shrink our carbon footprint?
• What is sustainability and permaculture?
• What superfoods are best for kids?
• Exactly what is the healthiest diet?
• What are the best ways to raise children naturally?
• What are the lesser-known common pit-falls of a raw food diet?
• Which foods help or hinder our hormones?
• What are the issues around veganism, B-12 and protein?
• What do raw children eat?
• How to get picky eaters to crave their veggies?
• Which foods help kids transition and stick to a healthier diet?
• What are the other top lifestyle factors besides diet for longevity?

Raw Mom Summit - Register Now!

With this many of the world's top health and wellness experts gathered together in a mom-friendly format, can you afford to miss out?

Dental Care for Raw Foodists Made Easy

These days it's almost impossible to find a person with perfect, cavity-free teeth. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in America, anywhere from 75% to 95% of all people are prone to periodontal diseases.

Unfortunately, in the raw food movement, there's a higher incidence of dental decay. This is typically due to high fruit consumption and incorrect dental care. And there are still, unfortunately, some people who believe that if they just eat clean diet, they do not really have to take care of their teeth, that the food will do it for them (a "rumor" started by natural hygienists a while ago). And it's a pricey mistake to make.

Taking care of our teeth is crucial. If we learn how to take care of our teeth, not only can we prevent problems, we can also heal damage that is already done. There can be healing.

First, let's look at the cause of dental decay.

Why Grow Your Own Food

"The only way today we can guarantee our foods are not pesticided, irradiated, herbicided, or GMO is to grow our own food."

- Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, MD

Gabriel Cousens, MD, the creator of Tree of Life Foundation in Arizona and the author of such wonderful books as "Conscious Eating" and "There Is Cure for Diabetes", states that learning to grow your own food is absolutely essential. With constant food recalls, salmonella contamination, and now Swine Flu, learning why we need to grow our own food is of utmost importance.

Here are just a few reasons why growing our own food is an important step towards great health and also independence:

Food is grown in nutrient/ mineral deficient soils (even organic)!

It's a fact. Our soils are depleted and depleted soils do not produce healthy, nutrient-rich plants. It's also a fact that crops produced in depleted soils are more prone to the invasion of insects, viruses, fungi, etc. Much of the modern world is now aware that our industrialized methods of farming have depleted the soils and created a cycle that requires pesticides to protect the unhealthy crops grown on depleted soils.

Prior to the 1800s, farmers fertilized their crops with organic substances. But modern, economic-based agriculture has virtually replaced all of the critical organic complexes with inorganic fertilizers, which cause toxicity in water runoff and further imbalance the delicate nature of our soils.

Diabetes Awareness Day - Take Action and Change Your World!

Do you know what happens when you bring together 53 experts from the raw food world in support of The Movement to Reverse Diabetes Naturally?

YOU get a lot of cool stuff!

Get Your Bonuses Now

These 53 experts are giving away a TON  of goodies in support of Reversing Diabetes Action Day and the film "Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days."  There are 11 E-books, hours of audios, hundreds of recipes, an entire magazine, valuable coupons and more!

This film is a must see for diabetics AND non-diabetics. If  you haven't yet seen this film NOW is the time!  
Just click  on this link to learn more about the film and all of these goodies:

Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days

If you have picked up a copy already then get another copy of the film for a friend, neighbor or your  local library so that you can get all of these bonuses for yourself!   :)

This film is SO powerful in opening up people, both diabetics and non-diabetics, to the importance of raw and living foods and we need to get it out to more people!

Help us spread the word!

Check it out right away and make sure to support The Movement to Reverse Diabetes Naturally.  It is doing some important and powerful work!


Related Posts:
Diabetes Total Cost: $218 Billion!
The Raw Food & Diabetes

Paul Nison's Advice on Eating Healthy and Going Raw

Two days ago I had a pleasure of attending Paul Nison’s lecture in New York City hosted by www.beamgreen.com for Earth Day Celebration.

Paul has been traveling and promoting the raw food lifestyle for over 15 years. New York native, he now resides in Florida with his family.

What follows is my cliff notes from his lecture. The topic was the Daylight Diet, a new insight on how to be healthy, to stay fit and energized. Paul’s book with the same title is due this July.

• The biggest contributors to obesity and poor health are overeating and eating last at night (9 pm through 5 am are the best hours for good quality sleep).
• No daylight animal in nature eats after dark.
• Get up with the sun. This is important because you are in better position to go to bed early and not stay up late overeating.
• Eat your first meal during the 3rd hour of daylight.
• Stop watching TV late at night, especially stimulating shows. TV is loaded with commercials of food and they motivate you to overeat. What is more important – your health or a TV program? Pay attention to the word “program”.
• Do your best not to eat after the sunset. However, it gets dark late during summer months, so it would benefit you the most not to eat after 6 – 7 pm.
• Two meals per day are ideal, but you can eat three if you have a demanding schedule. Eating more than that is unnecessary. Snaking is considered a meal.
• Drink plenty of filtered, ionized water for optimal hydration.
• The three things Paul recommends to everyone: probiotics, digestive enzymes, and B12/Vitamin D supplementation (both are abundant in blue green algae).
• Don’t take supplements just because you think something is missing – do a blood test and then see what needs to be added.
• Eat lots of salads – find dressing recipes that appeal to you and use them to avoid boredom.
• Take time to relax in the evening – listen to classical music, go for a walk, drink herbal tea.
• If you are really hungry in the evening, have a glass of green juice.
• Sleep with windows open.
• To make sure you are having a well balanced diet, 75% of what you eat should be greens.
• The worst thing to put into your body? Raw Chocolate! Yes, you heard right – raw or not, chocolate is still a stimulant that overburdens the adrenal glands.

Paul will be back in New York at the Raw Food & Yoga Expo on May 29th through May 31st and then in August promoting his new book.

Earth Day Celebration

Today is the Earth Day, a perfect opportunity to be reminded that this planet is our home and we need to take proper care of it.

So here's my 10 easy ways to be more green:

1. Turn OFF the lights when you leave the room, simple.

2. If you work in an office, do turn off your computer at the end of the day and on the weekend - if you are not there, there is really no reason for your equipment to be working (plus you'll save on electric bill, your boss will appreciate it).

3. Don't charge your cellphone overnight - these days most cellphones only take a couple of hours to charge so don't keep your phone connected to an outlet all day (and you'll save the battery life).

4. Replace light bulbs with long-lasting fluorescent bulbs in areas like hallways, storage rooms, and garage (many people say they are sensitive to fluorescent lights and get headaches so don't install them in rooms where you spend a lot of time, just a precaution).

5. If you are still getting it, cancel the phone book delivery. I mean, seriously, when was the last time you looked anything up in a phone book? Google it!

6. Sign up for getting your bills electronically to eliminate paper statements. Most banks and credit card companies already provide such services. Also, embrace online banking to cut back on paper and postage.

Quick Fact: Approximately one billion trees-worth of paper are trashed each year in the U.S., and hard copy bills alone generate almost 700,000 tons of waste and almost two million tons of carbon dioxide. Both you and the planet will be happier without the excess garbage.

7. Fight junk mail with all your might: cancel magazines you never read, catalogs you never look at, credit card promos you don't really need. Here's a wonderful website that gives you all the information on how to do that - Stop Junk Mail

8. Recycle. I can't believe how many still don't do it. Shame.

9. If you are going to buy groceries, bring re-usable bags with you to use instead of plastic: most big chain supermarkets now sell them and some (like Super Stop & Shop here in NY) even pay you back for every bag you use.

Quick Fact: Amount of plastic bags used in the US annually - between 500 billion to a trillion (according to Environmental Protection Agency). Amount of oil it takes to manufacture 100 million bags - 430,000 gallons!

10. Finally, my personal favorite and the easiest tip of the day - while you are brushing your teeth, turn off the water! If you do what the dentists recommend and brush for 2 minutes, well, you just used 18 gallons of water. It adds up to 547 gallons per month, just from leaving the water on while brushing your teeth! Think about it, people!

And if you are curious how much water you consume on a daily basis, here's a fun calculator - Water Consumption Calculator.

Check out EarthDay.gov for more helpful tips on how to reduce your environmental print.

Happy Earth Day!

Color Your Raw Food Diet Green

In the world of raw foods green is a new black. Thanks to inspiring work of Viktoria Boutenko, who started the "green revolution" four years ago, everyone now knows how important eating lots of greens is to us.

Why Greens are Important?

According to Boutenko's research, greens are the primary food group that match human nutritional needs most completely.

Greens are very high in amino acids, the building blocks our body uses to create protein; these amino acids are easier for the body to utilize than complex proteins that come from meat, fish, and dairy. Can greens really supply enough protein for the body? Well, yes! Just look at the largest vegan on earth - the elephant.

Greens are also high in fiber, the necessary component of elimination process. Without fiber, our colon fills up with toxic waste and we eventually become sick and chronically tired. Insoluble fiber in greens acts like sponge that takes the toxins out of our colons and helps us stay healthy and vibrant.

Greens supply our bodies with many vitamins and minerals necessary for optimal functioning. They also have an ability to make our bodies alkaline - an extremely important factor if you want to enjoy disease-free, youthful, energetic body. Consuming lots of greens on a daily basis is the most important step to maintaining good alkaline pH balance.

The last, but not least, benefit of consuming lots of greens is chlorophyll, the sunlight in liquefied form. No life is possible without sunlight and no life is possible without chlorophyll.  The molecule of chlorophyll is almost identical to the molecule of human blood, so when we consume lots of chlorophyll-rich greens we are literally consuming "plant blood" that adds to our own.

Green is a color of the heart charka, according to Yogic teachings. When we consume lots of greens, we come to experience being peaceful, centered, connected to our body and our heart, and we experience being more open to the world around us.

So Where Do I Start?

To truly enjoy all the benefits the greens can bring us, we have to consume at least a pound of greens a day. That sounds like a lot, doesn't it? But there is a solution to this problem.

A Growing Movement Against Mandatory Vaccines

By Melanie Segala
Managing Editor, Total Health Breakthroughs

I used to think that only people with ultra-conservative religious beliefs or anti-establishment opinions home-schooled their kids. But after reading an October 2008 article in USA Today,¹ I learned differently. Debra and Curtis Barnes are part of a growing number of Americans who home-school their three children solely to avoid having them vaccinated.

Debra Curtis is hardly a fringe member of society. She has a busy chiropractic practice in Mississippi and is president of the Mississippi Vaccination Information Center, a group of 159 concerned parents who believe that mandatory vaccinations for school-aged children are a dangerous over-reach by state governments.

Raw Food for Beginners 1-Day Class

 Do you want to upgrade your diet but don't know where to start?

Are you curious about the raw food diet but don't know where to start? Or maybe you tried the raw food diet before but with little success?

Do you want to learn quick, simple and easy healthy recipes to bring into your daily life that will allow you to spend less time in the kitchen and more time doing the things you love?

Then the Raw Food for Beginners class is perfect for you!

I will be preparing an impressive selection of quick, easy and healthy recipes (breakfast through dinner, plus mouth-watering deserts!) and also discuss such important topics as raw food shopping, menu planning and support.

This class will cover:

* Why raw?
* What to expect when you go raw
* How to transition safely and sensibly
* What's raw? (there are 20+ raw food groups, surprised?)
* Where to buy the best produce no matter where you live
* What a typical raw kitchen would contain - ingredients and equipment
* How to use a juicer, blender, food processor etc.
* How to use a dehydrator
* How to sprout seeds and beans, plus how to grow wheatgrass and sunflower greens
* How to make delicious raw food such as raw veggie-nut burgers, pizza, soups, nut milks, smoothies, flax crackers, raw vegan ice-cream and much more.
* How to come up with a daily/weekly menu that works for you
* PLUS Extensive Q & A session

What's included?

* 1 full day of teaching from 10:30am - 5:00pm
* Abundant amounts of delicious tasters throughout the day
* A substantial lunch featuring a raw food pizza (you have never tried anything this good before!)
* A Raw Food for Beginners recipe packet and class notes to take away with you

All this for just $127 - incredible value for the amount of food and information that will be presented to you!

Hurry! Only 10 places available (8 Remaining)!

To reserve your seat please go to http://www.radiantonraw.com/classes.html.

See you there!