Let's Talk About Dairy

What did I Eat??

Breakfast:
17 ounces Crazy Cacao elixir with raw cacao powder and nibs, fresh Thai coconut water and meat, psyllium seed powder, flax seeds, raw vanilla bean, raw crunchy almond butter, Revitaphi superfood alkalizer and agave

Lunch:
Sunflower sundried tomato pate with celery and carrots
1 Bosc pear

Snack:
a few handfuls of raw cashews

Dinner:
A big bowl of Seaweed chowder soup (see yesterday's blog for that recipe); DELICIOUS!
Some herbed olives

Dessert:
3 bricks Two Moms in the Raw goji berry granola

24 ounces of water

Did you know that often, when a child (or adult) with asthma is taken off dairy, the asthma disappears? Dairy is both an "acid" food, on the Acid-Alkaline connection, as well as a muccus and phlegm producing food. Because we actually do not have the enzymes to digest cow's milk (not only those who are lactose intolerant; everyone), it creates an acid environment in the body with associated health symptoms. When we cannot effectively digest something (physically or emotionally), it "clogs" us up and produces symptoms. Dairy is really the largest culprit of that. Symptoms that have been associated with high dairy consumption are: Muccus and phlegm; respiratory issues, including asthma; arthritis and bone degeneration...What?? you may say, but it's dairy. It has calcium. Yes, it does, but if we are unable to assimilate the calcium, it does not serve us. The statistics show that the countries with the highest dairy consumption have the highest rates of osteoporosis! If it creates an acid environmant, then the body looks to alkalize. Calcium is a great alkalizer, so the body leaches calcium from the bones. OK, back to symptoms and illness associated with dairy; breast cancer and prostate cancer.
What can I do in place of milk and for my children? Either buy almond, rice or hemp milk, or make fresh nutmilk; once you do that, you'll never go back.
Nutmilk:
raw almonds, cashews or Brazil nuts (not roasted; no additives)
in an open bowl of water, soak a bunch of nuts overnight.
In the morning, drain, rinse and dry. You can put the bulk back in the fridge in a container and they will last about 1 1/2 weeks.
Now you've soaked the nuts and they are a "living" food. The enzymes have been released to help with digestion. Nuts are super high in protein; almonds in calcium.
In a blender, take a handful of nuts. Add 1/2 blender of water. Blend and see it turn into a white milk! Now you can add either agave sweetener, honey or a couple of dates. You can even add Stevia as a sweetener, and some vanilla extract. For a different flavor, toss in a banana. Your kids (and you) will love it!
Just go nuts...

We've got to "Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative"

What I ate today
Today's Raw Rejuvenations:
Breakfast:
28 ounces Brazil nutmilk smoothie with:
soaked Brazil nuts and water; banana; mango; psyllium seeds; flax seeds; lucuma powder; raw crunchy almond butter; cacao nibs; agave
Lunch: at The Stand in Norwalk, CT: Thanks, Carissa!
large salad with tons of sprouts, spiralized beets, beautiful mix of greens, grape tomatoes and avocado with a cashew, garlic, lemon dressing and kelp shake and cayenne
1/2 Curried collard wrap with curried almond pate, red peppers, avocado and sprouts
Snack:
Way too much yummy raw goji berry granola from 'Two Moms in the Raw'
Dinner:
Salad with romaine, radish, carrot, purple cabbage, sunflower seeds with a dressing of nutritional yeast, olive oil, nori shake and sea salt
"Dessert":
4 rolled dates in coconut
12 ounces of water

OK, so someone's gotta talk about this. I always tell clients, when they bashfully ask me if its OK to get a little descriptive about their bathroom habits, "Go for it! This is the place to do it.I love talking about this subject." Then of course we get really graphic! So often, they assume that eliminating (that's #2, people) should be once a day, once every two or three days, and I've heard once a week as well. When I tell them that the rule of thumb is "meal in; meal out," and that could mean three, four or five times a day, they are completely shocked. Yes, that's true, and I'm already up to four healthy eliminations today! Makes sense with my food intake, right?
How to increase healthy elimination? Drink more water, but not during your meals, as it impedes digestion when added to a meal. Start your day with a 32 ounce mason jar of lemon water, and have some at night, too.
I know the psyllium seed powder in my morning smoothie this morning definitely helped, as psyllium is a colon cleanser and sweeps the colon clean. It also contributes to heart health.
Step up your greens: leafy greens, green superfoods (spirulina, chlorella, barley grass), anything green with chlorophyll
Salads are fabulous with all their fiber; so are fruits (unless you are dealing with an inflammatory issue in the body).
Exercise Exercise: Guess why we have legs??? No, not to sit in front of the TV; to move them and bring oxygen into your cells, joints and muscles. Do anything that "moves you," from dance to running to yoga to teaching your dog how to catch a Frisbee; if you love it, you will keep doing it with passion, and passion is the key to health.
See how your mood lifts when you are eliminating regularly. You are letting go of any debris and waste that shouldn't be hanging around, and that includes emotional bagage.
See how your energy lifts.
From what comes out in the bathroom to how we view our bodies in the bedroom, "We've got to...accentuate the positive; eliminate the negative."