diet and the food industry

[norral]

lately i have thought much about food and about what i am putting into my body.i no longer eat much meat i do eat some but there are many days when i eat no meat. i feel the way we kill animals in this country has turned into a mass production type thing and we are not honoring the spirit of the
animals who are providing us sustenance. it would be more honorable to me to hunt and kill the animals ourselves.
one beneficial thing i think we can do among many others is take our
greens. fresh kale , collard greens mustard greens are all wonderful
foods that we can partake of. pines is a manufacturer who sells
wheat grass and barley grass in tablet form which is do believe is very
beneficial for us.
the processed foods that they sell us are loaded with salt and
sugar and they are dead. they dont have life in them imho . one of the
first doctors said let food be your medicine. i have already decided that if
i had a major health problem i would go to a tibetan doctor and get some
herbs to take and mantras to chant. thats just me . i am not looking to
offend or criticize anybody but the spirit is making it abundantly clear to
me that this is the right path for me

norral

[Lorna]

i think you're absolutely right norral - i feel that the more a food is altered from its natural state the less appealing i find it. i have a weird thing about textures, which contributes to my unease about processed things (and frozen and slow cooked and microwaved foodstuff...!)

anyway, i was replying to suggest that you give sprouting seeds a go - alfalfa, mung beans, fenugreek (my personal favourite), lentils etc. i go through phases when i eat a lot of sprouted seeds and pulses and i definitely get an energetic lift from it as the sprouts are little powerhouses of living foods, full of fantastic enzymes and nutrients - plus it's really interesting for children to watch.

[norral]

thanks lorna for that info. i hadnt thought about sprouts but definitely
they are storehouse of life. i will check that out there are many raw
food websites where i can get info about doing your own sprouting.

thanks
norral

[Joseph326]

Nice topic, Norral

I feel about the same concerning food. I don't think I would be eating any meat at all if the rest of the family wasn't so offended by my dietary choices. I personally feel no need for it. When I do partake, which I try to keep close to once a week, I will only eat free-range, organic, or wild(venison) so at least the animal had a happier life and a more considerate and humane end.

If I could sum up my thoughts on food, it would sound something like: the closer to the Creator (nature), the more nourishing. The more processing, additives, etc, the more distorted the food is and the more likely to cause or support further distortion of the body ingesting it.

A few suggestions, if you are interested or haven't checked this stuff out yet:

-Juicer/Smoothie maker. I recently was given one and now some of my meals are delicious raw-fruit and veggie smoothies. I had been eating a ton of fruit/veggies anyways, but this is a much more efficient and quicker way of consuming a greater amount. I'm about to go blend 2 apples, 2 kiwis, lemon juice, cilantro, parsely, leaf lettuce, dandelion greens, bee pollen and honey into a green dinner smoothie! (just an example that you can mix almost anything and make good to your own taste
-Organic food has now been proven to contain more nutrients than similar conventionally grown food (without consuming the pesticides too). Prices have been going down quite a bit on it here as well as the demand increases.
-Depending where you live, there may be 'wild' food available. Examples that I have found: dandelion greens/flowers, plantain greens from your yard (much much more nutritious than lettuce, don't use if there is possible contamination from chemicals); pick wild berries (early-mid summer) on a hike or walk-Ive brought home buckets of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, wild grapes(very seedy).
-Find a local farm, if available. I found one 5 minutes away that doesn't use pesticides or antibiotics and get fresh milk, eggs, cheese, veggies, etc. I was surprised that prices were either the same or less than stores.
-Consider raw foods, including milk.
-Grow your own food! Even a small veggie garden can be a fun and healthy hobby.
-Check out sungazing for some additional energy, if you are open to that idea. All of our food is derived from light anyways, why not go to the source without having to kill anything?

Concerning sprouting, you can probably find the desired seed at a health food store or even a supermarket (Wegmans has a good selection here, not sure if you have one near you). All you need is a clear jar, water, seed and a sunny window. There's a lot of different opinions on how long to sprout. Some wait till the seedlings are a few inches tall, others consider it sprouted once it starts to grow, some change the water every day too (probably not a bad idea). I have heard recently that non-sprouted grains and nuts can contain natural anti-nutrients that make them difficult to digest and sprouting eliminates that and activates all of the vitamins that are good for you.

Anyway, its always nice to hear of someone being conscious and ethical in their food decisions, I wish you well with your choices and am sure you will enjoy increased energy and health as I have

[Meerie]

Listen to your body, often the body will tell you what it needs... some time ago, I could not eat salad. I had the feeling it literally tore my intestines apart, LOL. Now I am back to craving it...
I read about an interesting method to bless your drinking water yesterday. Write an affirmation on some piece of paper, like "I am light. I am love" and place the glass water on the paper for like 10 mins before drinking it.
of course you can also place the water in the sun to let it soak up the sun energy.

[C-JEAN]

Hi, good food fans, and norral.

One way for us, to "settle/fix" the problem of food,
was to go to BIOLOGICAL/ORGANIC food.

This way you do NOT eat (often without knowing) food
with the Aspartame, Splenda, MSG/GMS, OGM/GMO crap$ ! !
Also, do some research on the "Roundup ready" crazyness ! !

We can say we buy 98 to 99% ORGANIC/BIO everything.

This is where we do most of our grocery:
http://www.marchestau.com/en/index.php
And the other way we get our food:
http://www.ecomarchedesolidarite.org/ecomarche
These are "producers", delivering our order to a
"delivery spot". . .

Since we do that, the TASTE of everything is soooooooo good ! !

And, don't forget to eliminate FLUORIDE, too ! !
. . .in water and tooth paste.

Blue skies.

[norral]

thanks everybody for the responses. some excellent ideas which
i am definitely going to follow up on

thanks
norral

[@ndy]

I find green air veg suits me a lot.

I make a fabby curry with Indian cheese perpetual spinach and garlic from our allotment with ginger and spices.

Shame your not closer, you could come to try

[AnthroHeart]

I find green air veg suits me a lot.

I make a fabby curry with Indian cheese perpetual spinach and garlic from our allotment with ginger and spices.

Shame your not closer, you could come to try

Sounds awesome. Can I have the recipe?

[Richard]

I find green air veg suits me a lot.

I make a fabby curry with Indian cheese perpetual spinach and garlic from our allotment with ginger and spices.

Shame your not closer, you could come to try

Sounds awesome. Can I have the recipe?

Didn't we used to have a recipe thread...or did it fall off the edge of the text world? We should probably ressurrect it with all the new folks posting.

Richard

[SomaticDreams]

Thank you for bringing up this topic. It has been of a great concern and interest for me, about how to energize my body.

I dabbled in raw foods for a while, going on and off them for a while, and recently (about 2-3 weeks ago) gotten back into it full swing, 100%. Although this seems 'extreme' I know this is what my body is calling for since I have felt an incredible surge in energy, clarity and vitality. I have only a juicer, and I juice mostly greens with some acidic fruit to cut the bitterness of the greens (Esp. kale). A lime or two really makes it palatable and enjoyable.

If you are going raw, I commend you! You are certainly not alone. I feel this will only increase my meditation, and connection to my higher self. More now than ever, I know we (and myself) need more time for meditation, for connecting to our higher selves for guidance, for reassurance, and cultivating higher vibrations.

Although my detox symptoms are still in full swing, I feel very devoted to this lifestyle after experiencing the benefits of it. I would say I am 99% of the time raw, the other 1% being something cooked without my knowledge, and then ingesting. Even if you can do 75% or 80%, eating more organic, fresh veggies and fruits will do you body wonders. Purified water all day as well, no sodas or processed juices (without the fiber from the fruit, it spikes your blood sugar...better to get your sweet tooth from a ripe organic watermelon or apple!)

Bless you all, love, light, and happiness be upon you all on your path. You have all brought me great joy and peace; I cannot thank each of you enough for the inspiration your seeking gives to my experiences. Thank you so very much, from the bottom of my heart.

[Oceania]

i just ate canned spaghetti in tomato sauce, it's dead but trendy. but yeah, i can't eat emat, and even my kitty is rejecting meat and now only eats fish. it's freaky. i think he senses the pain of the animals, and feels the fish is less bad. so i'm happy if he goes "vegetarian" like his mommy. i also eat fish but not meat. i'm also trying to eat less dairy and eggs for health reasons. also if you eat cheese you can check if it has animal rennet in it. if it says made from non animal rennet that means the baby animals weren't robbed of their mommy milk. i didn't even know that happens.

[kia]

Sounds awesome. Can I have the recipe?

Didn't we used to have a recipe thread...or did it fall off the edge of the text world? We should probably ressurrect it with all the new folks posting.

Richard


[/quote]

That´s such a good idea!!!

[Richard]

Sounds awesome. Can I have the recipe?

Didn't we used to have a recipe thread...or did it fall off the edge of the text world? We should probably ressurrect it with all the new folks posting.

Richard

Kia wrote:

"That´s such a good idea!!!"


Found it...ressurected in the Olio Thread

Richard

[Nyu]

Im proud to say I have finally become Vegan! It took a long time to beat the temptations, but I have the same thoughts about the mass produced food industry, especially meat and the way animals are treated, and I realised by having such a strong compassion yet still ignoring that and eating it anyway, that I'm not being true to myself. So I stopped! I'm definitely interested in some awesome vegan recipes if anyone is willing to share!

[Monica]

Im proud to say I have finally become Vegan! It took a long time to beat the temptations, but I have the same thoughts about the mass produced food industry, especially meat and the way animals are treated, and I realised by having such a strong compassion yet still ignoring that and eating it anyway, that I'm not being true to myself. So I stopped! I'm definitely interested in some awesome vegan recipes if anyone is willing to share!

Congratulations! Me too! I've been vegetarian for 30 years, but on and off on vegan. I was careful to buy organic (humane) cheese, but I don't consider any cheese very healthy, at least not for me. It was a comfort food for me, so I did struggle with it at times. But I feel sooooo much better being totally vegan! I'm working on more and more raw...The energy is incredible!

I just bought a lot of raw vegan recipe books and am dabbling with trying new recipes, and having a lot of fun with it.

---

Although my detox symptoms are still in full swing, I feel very devoted to this lifestyle after experiencing the benefits of it. I would say I am 99% of the time raw, the other 1% being something cooked without my knowledge, and then ingesting. Even if you can do 75% or 80%, eating more organic, fresh veggies and fruits will do you body wonders.

I do well for a few days, 100%, but then often resort to something cooked when I'm in a hurry and don't have something prepared ahead of time. I'm working on getting more organized and having some stuff already dehydrated, when I just want something to munch on besides fruits and veggies. There are some wonderful raw breads, crackers etc. which I want to have on hand on a regular basis. I'm not there yet but getting there.

Let's compare notes! It helps to stay inspired!

I've been reading a lot about the raw vegan diet and have wanted to do it for 30 years. Recently I got re-inspired, when I came upon this website:

http://rawfoods.purejeevan.com/

What really inspired me was Wendi's story, because she had already been a vegetarian (vegan!) all her life, and found a much greater level of health, fitness and vitality when she went raw. I want to be like her when I grow up!

---

If I could sum up my thoughts on food, it would sound something like: the closer to the Creator (nature), the more nourishing. The more processing, additives, etc, the more distorted the food is and the more likely to cause or support further distortion of the body ingesting it.

A few suggestions, if you are interested or haven't checked this stuff out yet:

-Juicer/Smoothie maker. I recently was given one and now some of my meals are delicious raw-fruit and veggie smoothies. I had been eating a ton of fruit/veggies anyways, but this is a much more efficient and quicker way of consuming a greater amount. I'm about to go blend 2 apples, 2 kiwis, lemon juice, cilantro, parsely, leaf lettuce, dandelion greens, bee pollen and honey into a green dinner smoothie! (just an example that you can mix almost anything and make good to your own taste
-Organic food has now been proven to contain more nutrients than similar conventionally grown food (without consuming the pesticides too). Prices have been going down quite a bit on it here as well as the demand increases.
-Depending where you live, there may be 'wild' food available. Examples that I have found: dandelion greens/flowers, plantain greens from your yard (much much more nutritious than lettuce, don't use if there is possible contamination from chemicals); pick wild berries (early-mid summer) on a hike or walk-Ive brought home buckets of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, wild grapes(very seedy).
-Find a local farm, if available. I found one 5 minutes away that doesn't use pesticides or antibiotics and get fresh milk, eggs, cheese, veggies, etc. I was surprised that prices were either the same or less than stores.
-Consider raw foods, including milk.
-Grow your own food! Even a small veggie garden can be a fun and healthy hobby.
-Check out sungazing for some additional energy, if you are open to that idea. All of our food is derived from light anyways, why not go to the source without having to kill anything?

Concerning sprouting, you can probably find the desired seed at a health food store or even a supermarket (Wegmans has a good selection here, not sure if you have one near you). All you need is a clear jar, water, seed and a sunny window. There's a lot of different opinions on how long to sprout. Some wait till the seedlings are a few inches tall, others consider it sprouted once it starts to grow, some change the water every day too (probably not a bad idea). I have heard recently that non-sprouted grains and nuts can contain natural anti-nutrients that make them difficult to digest and sprouting eliminates that and activates all of the vitamins that are good for you.

That's a great list, Joe!

[Nyu]

Hey Monica, I don't know much about the raw food diet, is there an optimal way of heating it up so that its enjoyable, or is it all cold food? And do you know how long to soak grains and rice etc to be usable?

[Monica]

Hey Monica, I don't know much about the raw food diet, is there an optimal way of heating it up so that its enjoyable, or is it all cold food? And do you know how long to soak grains and rice etc to be usable?

Yes, soups and entrees can be warmed without destroying the enzymes. A dehydrator works well for this, since most ovens don't go low enough in temp.

Here is a good book to start with:

Warming Up to Living Foods by Elysa Markowitz

Generally, grains, beans and legumes can be soaked about 8 hours, and then slightly sprouted. Then you can make breads and crackers with them. Most legumes can be eaten as spouts. (Lentils, mung beans, etc. but not pintos or black beans, however. Not sure why.)