Got digestives and health issues?

How to create our uber powerful herbal psychoactive tincture.

Directions on how to make our psychoactive herbal tincture.

1. Take about 250 grams of goji berry and soak them for 8-12 hours in half a litre of coconut water. The next day blend them all up with the soak water then strain out the juice with a sieve or nut milk bag. You can either eat the goji fibre or dehydrate it and make goji powder.

2. Make a couple batches of coconut kefir by fermenting coconut water for 24-48 hours in two separate jars with water kefir grains (easily obtainable on ebay). Once they are ready, take the 1st batch, separate it from the culture, then add the goji juice along with 2 teaspoons of Korean panax ginseng into a kilner or mason jar for 48 hours. With the second batch of strained kefir you add some chaga tea grounds that are left over from tea that you have previously boiled and thus extracted the water soluble triterpenes from. About 2-3 teaspoons is sufficient. Leave this for 48 hours also. The slight alcohol content of the kefir and the secondary fermentation will extract some of the other triterpenes that according to research coming out of Russia primarily, are potent medicinal compounds that are reported to be very effective at reversing various kinds of cancer, this you also let sit for 48 hours.

3. Once enough time has passed (48 hours) strain the chaga grounds from the kefir. (You may see a few white spots appearing at the top of the liquid, don't be alarmed this is normal for coconut kefir). combine the goji ginseng mixture with the chaga kefir infusion and voila!

4.Add 1 or 2 capsule of mega hydrate which is an amazing advance in the technology of supplementation you can read about online just googling. This next stop is optional but to guarantee the tinctures preservation especially if you are going to drink it over a long period of time like say a month or more, we highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading and watching our video please feel free to subscribe to our blog and youtube channel if you would like to get more content like this.

Kenny interviews Theo broma on anti aging

Lacto fermented mint Salsa

Theobroma at the Avalon hemp fest.

Fats that heal, fats that thrill

by Kenny Sunshine and Holly Paige

These days within the raw food movement there are numerous different approaches as to how one can attain vibrant and dynamic health, some of them sane and some of them other than sane.
In regards to the latter, e.g. "You should cut down drastically from your fat intake and predominantly eat fruits and maybe a few greens here and there", we felt it necessary to express our concerns and highlight not only the massive importance of having healthy fats in one's regime of eating but also some suggestions that are perhaps new to you and some strategies for you to implement them into your culinary adventures.

ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS
We think this is a good place to start because having the right balance of these essential fats is crucial in allowing ANY nutrient to transmit its signals correctly to our cells. Omega 3 - omega 6 ratios have impact on brain, endocrine, cardiovascular and mental health,they are defined as essential fatty acids because we cannot function as healthy human organisms without them, we cannot manufacture them from other raw materials and we have to get them from food. Scientists have quite recently termed omega 3 deficiency as: FADS.  Fatty Acid Deficiency Syndrome.
The typical western diet has insanely unbalanced omega 3 - 6. ratio's, generally around 1- 20 or even as high as 1- 30. It is thought that a healthy ratio is 1- 3 or 1-4. Doctor Tom Gilhooly a researcher from Edinburgh who markets an essential fatty acid blood test called the ideal omega test. http://www.idealomega.com/ suggests that a healthy ratio is 50% omega 3 going up to an optimal level of 70% omega 3 in the cellular membranes. The point is WE NEED MORE OF THEM IN OUR DIET.
An inflammatory response is created in the body by large amounts of omega 6 and that inflammation is counteracted or dampened by omega 3's. The raw food diet is already much improved from the standard western diet by the fact that there is a reduction in omega 6's and the quality of these fats is also improved. Often though adequate amounts of omega 3's are not present unless people aggressively supplement with flax and or algal oils, even then, depending on your genetics, you may not be able to convert the short chain (18 carbon) ALA(Alpha Linolenic Acid) into EPA (Eicosapentanoic) and DHA (Docosahexanoic Acid)
Generally only about 5% of ALA s converted to the necessary EPA and DHA anyway! Certain ethnic groups including: British Columbian Inuit (Eskimo), Scandinavian, Scottish, Welsh and Irish cannot convert plant based ALA's into the usable forms of EPA and DHA. Compounding this is the fact that 80% of the population ( Definitely in the USA and probably most other western countries) have elevated insulin levels. This in effect means that the ability to convert these 18 carbon short chain ALA's into the 20 and 22 long chain EPA and DHA is reduced due to the fact that the enzyme delta 6 desaturase is inhibited
In order to have proper neurological function the brain needs EPA and DHA. Without an adequate supply, the cell membranes/synapses etc do not work properly. Proper absorption of nutrients depends on cellular membrane functionality. The omega 3-6 ratio also affects the nuclear and mitochondrial membranes. The bottom line is when these ratio's are askew our ability to deal with inflammation at a cellular level is compromised. It is thought that inflammation is at the source of almost all diseases that afflict western society.

IMPORTANCE OF ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS FOR BRAIN FUNCTION AND MOOD

Everything we have said about the importance of the omega 3 fatty acids in relation to body cells in general applies to the cells in the brain with extra significance. The brain is the fattiest organ in our bodies consisting (after water) of about 60% fat. The omega 3 fatty acid DHA makes up about 15% - 20% of the cerebral cortex (“grey matter”) of the brain. It also makes up about 30% to 60% of the retina of the eye.  DHA has an important role within the membranes of brain cells as well as in the cells of the rest of the body. “Brain cells” otherwise known as 'nerve cells” or “neurons” are electrically excitable cells that transmit information in the brain through electrical and chemical signals. If there is not enough DHA available in the membranes of these neurons (“neural cell membranes”) then cholesterol and omega 6 are used to make up the neural membranes instead. The nerve cells then become too rigid and the transmission of electrical and chemical signals becomes compromised. Low DHA levels have been linked to memory loss, Alzheimer's disease, depression and bipolar disorder.  DHA has been found to significantly improve cognition in the elderly.

WHY WE NEED ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS IN UNDAMAGED I.E. RAW FORM

Now we come to a very important point, the significance of which is often lost. The omega 3 fats are part of a class of fats called polyunsaturated fats which are very volatile and easily affected by interaction with heat or other substances. They are particularly susceptible to the changes that all foods are subject to when they are heated above biological temperature (i.e. about 40 degrees). Cooking, heating or processing fats produces chemical reactions and the molecules of the fats are changed into forms that cannot be properly assimilated by the body since there are no enzymes adapted for their digestion. Basically they accumulate in the body and brain and potentially cause problems. In particular they can become part of neural cell membranes and compromise electrical signalling in the brain as described earlier. For example French researchers found that dietary trans-fatty acids (processed fats) find their way into the myelin of the brain cells where they change the electrical conductivity of the cells especially when the cells are already deficient in essential fatty acids. Therefore it is important that we consume these essential fats in pristine fresh and raw form.

WHY RAW FOODISTS STILL NEED TO BE AWARE...

Simply not cooking or overheating food does not guarantee that we will be taking in the types and rations of fats that we need for optimal function. We need to ensure that we are taking in adequate undamaged omega 3 oils and as mentioned, in the forms DHA and EPA. It is speculated and very possible that humans once got their omega 3 essential fatty acids from leaves plus some seeds but clearly we do not have the capacity to assimilate the fats that we need from these sources in our current situation.

Even on an apparently 'healthy' raw food diet it is easy to neglect the need for omega 3's and particularly EPA and DHA. Most seeds and seed oils for example sunflower, pumpkin and sesame are predominantly omega 6. Fatty fruits such as avocado and olives are predominantly omega 9 (mono-unsaturated) oils. So although by eating our fats raw we may avoid the worst of the damaged and damaging fats such as trans-fats we may still be consuming an unfavourable ration of omega 6 to omega 3 and be consuming very little amounts of DHA and EPA. Traditionally flax seeds and flax oil have been used by raw fooders to up the ratio of omega 3's in their diets. Flax seeds make great crackers and supply fibre which can cleanse our digestive tracts but whether we can actually extract undamaged omega 3 from them is doubtful. Dehydrating them potentially causes the oils in them to turn rancid especially if they are ground. Flax seed oil has many beneficial properties in its own right but still only gives us ALA not EPA and DHA. The same can be said of chia seeds and oil.

GOOD SOURCES OF OMEGA 3.
Marine phyto plankton is a very small single celled micro algae that makes up a quarter of all vegetation on the planet (land and sea) and is responsible for 90% of all oxygen production, more than all forests on the planet (according to NASA).  It is 9 times smaller than a red blood cell making it the smallest food source that is known anywhere.  It has a very impressive nutritional profile. It contains all amino acids, vitamins, minerals,vital trace elements, anti oxidants, phospholipids, nucleic acids, pigments, enzymes etc. An amazing thing about phyto plankton is that is does not have to be processed through the mitochondrial "machinery" of our cells in order to be utilised as energy! It contains nucleotides that feed our cells directly with ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) which most food we eat has to be converted into in order for our body to use it as energy. An analogy would be, like going to a foreign country with a universal currency that allowed you to spend money with out needing to go to a bank or a bureau de change.

In regards to the subject matter of this article we are very intrigued by its profile of essential polyunsaturated oils,  particularly its EPA and DHA content. The whole food algae as opposed to the liquid "oceans alive" product contains 10% EPA by dry weight matter (according to David Wolfe). We intuitively feel like this is a better choice as a source of omega 3's than ALA based flax, chia or even hemp but it seems like there isn't enough scientific data upon which to come to an irrefutable conclusion, it may be an excellent choice for people who adamantly want to remain raw vegetarian/vegan.  We think it is very promising and sincerely hope it works as an adequate medium for supplying these essential human building blocks.  It has to be said though that these ways of getting our fats are at an experimental stage and haven't been tried and trusted over generations.

ALGAL OILS
The ideal ratio of EPA to DHA is supposed to be 3-1.  It seems like proponents of these products have latched onto the scientific observations that view the brain and see that it is mostly comprised of DHA.
What they fail to mention is that this DHA has been oxidised from EPA through its natural process and pathway. Algal oils have a far greater representation of DHA than EPA and our body needs them in the right proportions (3-1) in order to function optimally. This is not said to diminish the efficacy of vegan DHA and algal supplements, as we are sure they have benefits in their own right, but as means of supplying us with these compounds all the evidence points to the fact that they are other than adequate

NON VEGAN SOURCES:
KRILL AND PHARMACEUTICAL GRADE FISH OIL.

For those who don't have spiritual, ethical or moral issues regarding the consumption of animal products there are other options that do supply these essential nutrients in adequate proportions.
Like marine photo plankton krill doesn't have a massive amount of independent scientific studies to warrant us hanging our hat on it.  It appears based upon the research that has been published that krill oil could perhaps be potentially a better source of omega 3's than the more common fish oil, based upon claims that say the phospholipid content allows for more efficient absorption and thus smaller dosage etc.

This information maybe marketing propaganda though. One thing that we would look out for when selecting a brand of krill is look to see again how it is extracted and processed. Based upon some lab testing that was done on one of the brands out there we would suggest that there may be some ocean toxicity issue's with krill - unless the manufacturer has taken the time to have the oil purified of likely contaminants.
Pharmaceutical grade fish oil on the other hand does have a massive amount of published and independent scientific studies that have been conducted (over 10,000) and there are due to the exponential technological expansion of recent decades ways to process it that remove all detectable particles of mercury, cadmium, PCB's, PVC and the various other toxic components that make up today's waterways, seas and oceans.  We thus recommend that if you seek out such a product, that you find a source that has been molecularly distilled or uses molecular distillation as a means of filtering out the potential harmful components that otherwise could be there.

It's recommended that we consume at least 1500 mg of EPA and DHA per day. Whilst cod liver oil has many benefits we cannot consume it in this kind of quantity as we would likely overdose on the large amounts of vitamin A that are present within it and so we need to consume the oils that have been taken from the whole fish as opposed to just the liver.

Professor Saldeen of university Uppsala Sweden along with various associates concluded that some ordinary fish oils on the market may due to their unstable nature produce free radicals and can ultimately be detrimental to the cardiovascular system. There are stable good quality brands on the market which have noticeable effects in humans and have demonstrably significant advantages over ordinary more commercially available brands. Here are some of the reported benefits of pharmaceutical grade fish oil according to Dr. Dave Woynarowski author of the book The Immortality Edge.

Helps prevent recurring heart attacks better than any pharmaceutical drug it was tested against

Probably the most effective protection against sudden cardiac death

Makes the blood thinning properties of aspirin look like a joke

Is used effectively in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Improves memory IQ and age related memory lapses

Helps with MS

Plays a key role in brain development

Lowers blood pressure

Reduces the incidence of stroke caused by clotting of the brain blood vessels

Lowers triglycerides and raises good HDL cholesterol lowering the risk of heart disease

is a potent anti oxidant and one of the few that cross the blood brain barrier

Improves personality mood and mental disorders

Improves cartilage and joint health

Since experimenting recently with over a teaspoon (over 1500mg of EPA and DHA) pharmaceutical grade fish oil a day and encouraging family and friends to do the same we have reports of noticeably softer skin and hair, sharper memory, improved mood and reduced chronic inflammation. What a wonderful gift to bring to loved ones. In particular we are excited about potentially giving a new lease of life to the older generation and also the benefits for children.
Fish oil is absorbed much better with food and so we have been incorporating it into our meals and have been creating delicious salad dressings along with flax oil (for the plant based ALA's) so as to up the amount of omega 3's in our diet.

Anyway we hope this information helps you make the right decision in regards to choosing the best source of omega 3 fatty acid for your particular constitution.  We have tried our best to convey the facts that are out there in as succinct a way as possible so that the information is comprehensible and easy to act on.

Holly has been passionately engaged  in a raw food lifestyle in the British Isles for over a decade and has brought up two children this way, giving her a unique insight into the practicalities of making raw nutrition work here. Kenny returned to Britain after a decade of adventures in the cutting edge US raw food scene and now shares the wealth of nutritional and culinary expertise he acquired there.You can find more content from them here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Juicetasticcoach?feature=watch

http://www.foodforconsciousness.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25&products_id=93

New to raw food/living cuisine?

New to raw food/living cuisine? like trying anything new, often times when we are excited about something that we want to implement into our lives we are also at our highest level of anxiety about it. This is called fear of the unknown! Kind of like when we first began to learn how to drive a car, the task at hand seemed to be of such magnitude part of us naturally had resistance. Now i'm kind of exaggerating to make a point, but to most people it is the same when they think about making changes in their diet especially one that involves going onto predominantly raw /living plant food. What I would suggest to people is that trying to conceptualize this whole approach to lifestyle and the way one feeds oneself [not just literally but on many levels] in one big bite [no pun intended] is enough to put anyone off and in quitting mode before they have even started! Really I believe it's best to be gentle with ourselves and rather than being overly disciplinary and admonishing with ourselves, which does have it's place.We should focus more on self acceptance and self love during our transformational health process. And realize just that, IT IS A PROCESS that definitely will take time. For some people the "all or nothing" types in our world, it seems easy to go from eating macdonalds hamburgers to 100% perfect raw foodists overnight. But I know my own process of transitioning onto mostly around 98%- 100% was not so clear cut, that journey [over the past 15 years] has been affected by many factors, where I was living, if I had somewhere to live, who I was living with, who I was hanging around with etc etc. I guess the point i'm trying to make is this: Every great journey begins with a single step and often times if we think about the whole thing in it's entirety a lot of the time we will let our ego talk us out of it! I usually advise people who are thinking about going raw to do 60 - 80 percent raw for about 3-4 months, I know for me at this point my body began to differentiate between live and not so live foods.There were a few incidents where this was PAINFULLY obvious. Then for me the cooked food and the activity of indulging in it began to yield diminishing returns. WE ARE NOT PERFECT. As soon as we accept this fact of life it becomes so much easier to be a raw foodist and in the process of letting go of that little ego game we let go of the charge we have around perfection, which is attainable when it comes to inanimate objects, but fortunately for us as spiritual beings [who's prime motivation for being is to grow] not attainable as humans! Guy's believe me the time it takes you to transition is worth it,but like anything that you want to create YOU have to do it and there is nobody out there that's gonna do it for ya! The great thing about it is that there is more information than ever at the click of a few buttons and countless resources from which you can access the information [like this blog] that you will need in order to master this stuff and make it work in your own very unique and particular lives.Enjoy the journey and remember,a spiritual teacher once said: "The steps to getting there are the same as the qualities of being there" peaceout!

Wild food hunting on glastonbury tor. pt 2

Re-populate and propogate healthy probiotics daily for pennies!

It's been said before and we agree unanimously that most disease commences in the gut. This truth was touted by Hippocrates over 2000 years ago and is now being validated not only by science,but by individuals like me and you. Science has conclusively demonstrated that 90% of all cells and genetic material in DNA originates from the micro flora of the gut.i.e. we as humans (in terms of our biology) are just a vehicle primarily for our consciousness but also for a plethora of other consciousnesses! This is why we recommend people get ample amounts of fermented foods of various kinds into their eating activities and thus into their bodies! Here is a pic of some of the stuff we've got going here in Somerset:

Why raw foods?

A raw, living-foods diet focuses on uncooked, unheated, unprocessed and organic foods. Raw and living foods contain valuable living enzymes that assist in digestion and absorption of food. They taste great, too. Why would you wanna eat any other way once you get a taste of what this kind of diet feels like?There are countless other fad ways that people have come up with in the realms of nutritional feeding,but none really are as effective or make as much sense as a raw/living foods approach.try it out and prove it to yourself! the worse thing that could happen is: You will have more energy, your skin will be more vibrant and begin to glow, you will crave cooked/dead foods less and less, more magic and synchronicity will begin to happen in your life, you will be more hydrated, all of your negative and unsavory friends will begin to exit your reality, you will experience greater inner peace, you will experience greater abundance,you will grow spiritually, your body will become pain free, you will gravitate more towards nature, you will materialize more opportunity.Need i say anymore?

Englands David Wolfe? (Graham Jevon)

Wild food in Glastonbury with Holly Paige.

Love dance Bristol raw clubbing.

Don't you get cold in winter? an article by Holly Paige

Answering the perennial question rawfoodists get asked! 

As someone who claims to prefer tropical sunshine somehow I find myself yet again doing winter in the dark and cold of these magical isles. By now I have a strategy and each year I seem to put together more of the pieces. In the process of being raw at a latitude such as that of Britain we can learn much about human needs that we would never need to even think about if we lived in a biologically more suitable climate.
Something I personally noticed the first winter I was completely raw was how much warmer I felt in the colder months. I had always been the kind of person who felt the cold pretty extremely – I like to be very warm. Now I found I could enjoy treading out in the frosty garden with bare feet and that I no longer needed to soak in hot baths to restore my circulation after a trip out. I noticed that eating raw food gave me a kind of summer feeling, leading to the conclusion that much of the apparent effect of winter is to do with stodgy food and disconnection from nature. I know that people vary in the way that a raw diet affects them. There are many ways to do raw food and many different constitutions. Sitting writing this in a sleeveless top on a December evening, I am hoping that some of the suggestions in this article will help you experience some of the same benefits.
As well as stodgy food, potential disconnection from nature and lack of exercise by staying indoors there are of course two major hazards associated with winter – lack of light and lack of warmth. These are real biological concerns for our species. We could be said to de designed for a life in the tropics or sub-tropics where the amount of light, warmth and tropical fruit is ideal for us. However, as a supremely adaptable species we are capable of flourishing in a wide variety of circumstances if we put our minds to it. In this article we will look at how we can happily eat raw food in winter and thereby enjoy that summery feeling inside. Also we will consider how we can boost our metabolisms to help us keep warm and help our immune systems functioning optimally. Then there is the question of how we compensate for reduced sunlight. Last, but not least there is the importance of maintaining connection with the earth and exercising.

Raw does not mean cold! 

When people think of the horrors of eating raw food in winter they are in all likelihood thinking of limp salads straight out of the fridge and missing the rich foods and warming soups and drinks that we find so comforting in winter. Actually there is no reason at all not to have warm foods and liquids as part of a raw food diet. In our natural environment our food would all be slightly warm anyway so it would seem to be an ideal way to consume it. Warm superfood elixirs and vegetable soups can be made by using herbal teas as a base or even heating very carefully over a low heat. The key point is to keep the food at or below 'biological temperature' which is around 40 degrees celsius or the temperature of your body. Above that temperature the actual structure of some of the nutrients can begin to change. Dehydrators are another way of warming food if you like more solid foods. Spices such as cayenne and ginger boost the circulation and help keep us warm.
Coconut butter/oil and creamed coconut are great ingredients because they support the thyroid and therefore boost metabolism, helping us produce more energy and heat. Iodine is important for the function of the thyroid too and most of us lack it. This is largely because of depletion of mineral levels in the soil, the minerals have been effectively swept out to sea, sea vegetables and particularly kelp are some of the best sources. We need to be cautious about habitually eating large amounts of cruciferous vegetables raw because they contain goitrogens, compounds which interfere in the uptake of iodine by the thyroid. However small amounts of goitrogens may have a beneficial health effect if balanced by ample amounts of iodine in the diet. Examples of cruciferous vegetables include kale, spinach, broccoli and cabbage. In traditional diets they were often fermented which introduces helpful probiotics. You can watch how to make cultured vegetables here: www.tinyurl.com/rawcultured
Animals who live in cold climates and fish who swim in cold waters have a high percentage of omega 3 fatty acids in their bodies, and in the case of animals, especially in their feet. Many people notice that when the weather gets colder they are drawn to foods that contain these oils. Omega 3's are polyunsaturated fats which stay liquid at low temperatures and it would seem that they help our bodies function in these circumstances. Seed oils such as those of flax and hemp and also fish liver oils are examples. It seems like we need denser foods in general in winter to compensate for the lack of warmth and sunshine in the outside world. If you think about it the energy, nutrients and genetic life information are stored in the seeds of plants during the winter season, ready to sprout forth in the spring. Along similar lines, 'medicinal' mushrooms such as reishi, lion's mane, chaga, tremella and cordyceps feel particularly good in winter and help our immune system. The dried mycellium powders (mycelia are the underground or root-like portions of the mushrooms) are delicious in marinades, dehydrated breads and elixirs. Herbs which boost the immune system also include echinacea, ginseng, garlic, astragalus and cat's claw.
Emotional comfort is important too. There are plenty of raw food snacks we can make and now buy in winter that will help us get through. Green powders such as barley grass, chlorella and spirulina can make up for the reduced availability of salad and wild greens and also help us keep alkalised if we are eating more nuts and seeds than in summer.
Also I have found just imagining being somewhere warm, and putting pictures up of sunny holiday travel destinations radically changes how I feel. They say that you feel the effects of bar of chocolate even when you are thinking about eating it, even taking the first bite, I have found that making plans to visit tropical locations has the same effect on me! Also when we are connected to the nature and the Earth our imaginations are much more connected to reality and therefore more powerful.
Personally I am for keeping ourselves as physically warm enough as we want to be when we are indoors. Below 28 degrees Celsius our bodies go into a mild form of stress maintaining our body temperature. By keeping warm we are allowing our parasympathetic nervous system to operate which means that both our bodies and brains function better. It may be more practical to keep just one part of our dwelling super warm - one of the benefits I have noticed living in a caravan in winter is how much warmer I can keep this small space and there fore how much more relaxed I feel.

Light is a nutrient

Now onto the issue of light. It seems that we assimilate food quite differently when we are in sunshine. Most people notice that they eat differently in summer and when on holiday somewhere hot. There are many clues about this by looking at the traditional diets of people around the world, for example in the work of Dr Weston Price. Basically, the further away you go from the equator, the higher percentage of animal foods including dairy products were traditionally included in the diet. It is as if when we moved away from our biological habitat we had to use the resources of species who could assimilate nutrients from plants that grew there, function successfully in the lower levels of sunlight, and could live unclothed outdoors to make use of the light there is. One of the factors involved is so-called fat soluble vitamins. They are principally vitamins A, D and K, which although found in plants, are in the form we can use them in animal products such as dairy. These vitamins are essential for the body to actually make use of minerals such as calcium. Of course we can get vitamin D from sunshine but the fact is that between about September and March in the British Isles, the sun is too low to shine UVB light on our skins to make vitamin D. So – either we need to eat vitamin D rich foods or use a supplement. Sun-showers (a kind of stand up cubicle version of a sun-bed which emits carefully regulated doses of UVB) are also helpful if there is one in your area. Of course many people find that full-spectrum lighting really helps them maintain a good mood throughout the darker months.

Charge up from the Earth not the mains!

It is tempting in winter to hole up indoors but actually if we can get out for a brisk walk in nature, even the local park, we are going to feel a whole lot better. Of course regular exercise improves our metabolism and makes us feel significantly warmer. It also helps us generate the feel-good brain chemical serotonin out of the amino acid tryptophan, get the lymphatic system moving and boost endorphin levels. We need connection with nature for mental well-being and, hesitant though I am to mention it, barefoot connection with the earth is as beneficial to us in winter as it is in summer. If you have not heard Clint Ober talking about the health benefits of earthing it is well worth listening to this fascinating interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY3w8kDn2Eo With all the preceding suggestions in place maybe a barefoot foray outdoors will seem appealing. Putting in all the components to keep well in winter takes more self-discipline and conscious awareness than in summer but is well worth the effort not least because it gives us a good start in spring.
On this note, I have noticed a strong if subtle difference to my experience in winter through wearing natural fabrics such as hemp, linen, organic cotton, bamboo and wool. They seem to help us keep a connection with the natural life force, the connection we take for granted in summer when we automatically tend to expose bare skin to the elements. Living structure has a pattern based on a ratio named the golden ratio which allows energetic information to flow freely through their material.
Enjoying the magic of winter We are very lucky in the British Isles to experience a kind of roller coaster of light levels which influenced the magical traditions and spirituality of the indigenous peoples for example the Celts. In summer we are very aware of the beauty of nature in the outer world. As the light levels fall in winter our melatonin production increases. This makes us feel more sleepy but also induces a more meditative state and gives us the chance to experience the magic of the inner worlds of our imaginations and psychic awareness. The more natural and nourishing we can keep our diets, the more elevated and relaxed we can keep our brain chemistry, and the stronger we can keep our connection with the Earth, the greater the chance we have to experience this.

Two delicious vegetable soups for winter

 From Kenny Sunshine

Alkalising soup with vegetable juice and cucumber.

16 -20 oz juiced celery, beet, onion, garlic, ginger and lemon

1 avocado

half a red bell pepper

half a cucumber (English)

pinch salt

pinch cayenne

Blend all ingredients and warm gently if desired

Garnish with some tasty dehydrated crackers, cubed raw goats cheese and alfalfa sprouts

Rich and warming soup made with tea

1 sweet potato

1 courgette

1 leek

60g creamed coconut

40g seaweed – wakame or sea spaghetti recommended

yogi or other tea

salt and pepper to taste

soak seaweed in tea

blend everything

serve with garnish of sprouts or yoghurt .

Written by Holly Paige for funky raw magazine                                 
www.foodforconsciousness.co.uk          

Dr Robert Cassar: Stimulating your Hormones for Women + Men Part 1/2

The art of fermentation

Five Additions to your Raw Diet that could make all the Difference

Written by Kenny Sunshine and Holly Paige 
 Have you reached a point of diminishing returns with your raw diet? If so (and even if not) you might want to consider some of the incredible technological breakthroughs that have occurred and continue to occur in the field of raw food nutrition and herbal supplementation. We are very excited and enthused about some of the discoveries that have been made in this field and the implications they have in regard to increasing our health, well being and our ultimate longevity. Below are a few suggestions we want to make to you so as to hopefully enhance your life and the lives of those you love.

Royal Jelly
All bee products in general have an incredibly vast array of health benefits but royal jelly has been hailed by some authorities as the crown jewel of them all; because so little is produced, the nutrients are concentrated into a very small amount The queen bee's reign of a hive (most of her lifespan) is around four years, generally 20 – 25 times longer than the lifespan that of the infertile worker bees. Why is this? Well one reason that seems pretty obvious is that once she is selected as a baby, she is fed on royal jelly exclusively. The queen is genetically the same as the workers or drones, what happens is that the chemical cocktail present in the royal jelly effectively reinterprets the way the DNA is read to produce a very different bee. Because of the royal jelly the baby queen's body changes significantly in form and becomes 40% larger, longer and noticeably more elegant. Royal Jelly contains a chemical called 10-HDA which is only found in Royal Jelly and cannot be made artificially. It is believed that 10-HDA is responsible for the many health benefits that Royal Jelly promotes. Fresh royal jelly is extremely antibacterial. "The food and drug administration (a US based governing body that regulates the food and pharmaceutical industries) has stated that fresh royal jelly is a more powerful germ killer than most forms of commercial disinfectant for example Formalin which is used for body preservation and also carbolic acid. It is very high in Pantothenic acid or B5 which is proven to increase the life span of animals that are fed it as opposed to those that are not by 18 per cent! If you compared this to the average human lifespan it would be about 13 years longer. Royal jelly also contains a form of gelatin that is a precursor to collagen production. As we get older our ability to produce collagen diminishes hence wrinkles, crows feet and blotchy skin start to turn up on our faces. Royal jelly, because of this can help to maintain the elasticity of our skin and keep us looking young. Other proven and reported benefits from using royal jelly are increased and improved neural transmission, better short term memory, reduction in cholesterol deposits, reduction in risk of heart disease and improved endocrine/glandular function. Our DNA is read, not only when we are developing as babies but all through our lives as our bodies and brains are being regenerated. Because of its ability to enhance bees DNA expression the same may be true for humans.

 TA65
In 1984 at the university of Berkeley, California Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn discovered an enzyme called telomerase. This enzyme plays a vital role in the function of our DNA/RNA make up. At the end of our DNA, separate from the helix, there are single strand repeats of DNA that in the past seemed to have no obvious function and were originally coined by scientists as 'junk DNA' Telomeres are part of this 'junk DNA'. Every time cell division occurs (approximately 1 million cells per second) these single cell repeats become shorter. By the time we get to our later years the telomeres become very short and pave the way for all kinds of physical problems and degenerative diseases to commence. The enzyme telomerase is able to add length to the telomeres. A common denominator of people who live longer than average is that they have longer telomeres. Telomerase contains the instructions on how to add back cell division repeats on the end of the DNA. According to the research if you can keep adding these repeats then the cells can keep dividing indefinitely. So what does this have to do with the supplement TA65? Researchers at the cutting edge of nutritional science some time ago discovered a saponin that exists in a certain strain of the Chinese herb astragalus that has the capacity to turn production of telomerase on. TA-65 is the first well studied and proven substance to add length to these telomeres. It is made by a company called T.A. Sciences (Telomerase Activation Sciences) who have been granted exclusive rights to market it from the originating company Geron Corporation. A massive amount of astragalus is used in order to extract this compound and each capsule contains around 90%. Because of this a years supply could currently cost around £1700 to £5000. Now this may seem bit steep. But the question I would ask myself is “How much is an extra 10 – 30 years of lifespan worth to me? Older people generally have the fastest reaction to this substance as they are the ones with the shortest telomere length. Even better news – there may well be, before too long, much more modestly priced versions available – watch this space for news!

Zeolites 
The emergence of zeolite as a supplement has been a great affirmation that every crisis produces its own miracles. It has come as a wonderful gift to us in these times of seemingly all-pervading pollution. Used in the clean-up after Chernobyl, zeolite began to be sold as a supplement for detoxifying the human body in the 1990's. Simply put, zeolite looks like a honeycomb and carries a charge that allows it to capture toxins. At the same time it is inert and therefore does not react chemically with food or body fluids. Zeolites have many health benefits and uses. They bond with and remove a variety of toxins including heavy metals (e.g. lead, cadmium, aluminium, arsenic and mercury), nitrosamines and radioactive metals such as strontium-90 and caesium. They act as a powerful antioxidant and help buffer body pH to healthy alkalinity. They help remove pesticides, herbicides and dioxins, reduce viral load, help buffer blood sugar levels, improve nutrient absorption, promote healthy gut flora, reduce allergic reactions, enhance immune system and generally help prevent premature ageing. Like many people, I had been feeling amazing benefits with powdered zeolites for years and was looking for a liquid zeolite which had preserved the structure that is so crucial to its action and also was affordable on an everyday lifestyle. To produce 'Pure Body' liquid zeolite the company that make it, Touchstone, have managed to reduce the particles to a small enough size to enter the bloodstream (0.3 microns) without crushing the zeolite cages. The majority of the particles are between 0.1 and 0.5 microns. The particles over 0.3 microns in size proceed to the large intestine where they trap toxins in the colon. Many people on trying this product report clearer thinking and lots more inspiration and ideas,also a resulting detoxification of their lives in general. I can personally testify to the astonishing effects this zeolite has had on my life increasing my work stamina, reducing my need for food and bringing to a head for clearing situations in my inner and outer world that had lingered in my life for years. This nutritional journey is a a spiritual as well as a physical one! There is now available a colloidal version which is faster acting and extra strength and in a league of its own. The particle size has been reduced to under 10 nanometers and suspended inside water molecules to quickly travel throughout the body reaching places other zeolites cannot reach... you can find out more here http://www.foodforconsciousness.mytouchstoneessentials.com/ 

Co Q10 
 Fourthly we come to co-enzyme Q 10, or the form which is more easily utilised by the body, especially as we get older, ubiquinol. Co Q 10 is used by every cell in the body to produce energy and helps convert food to energy. It is anti-oxidant and anti-aging. After the age of 30 production of coQ10 in the body begins to decline and the only substantial dietary sources are really found amongst meats especially organ meats. This may be one of the reasons former vegetarians are drawn to meat as they become older. If we chose not to eat flesh foods then it would be wise to consider supplementation of certain nutrients. In their pristine biological state it is likely that humans were and would be more able to assimilate and/or synthesis nutrients in a way that is difficult for most of us today. Supplementation can certainly be part of our journey back. Fast and phenomenal benefits can happen with ubiquinol, quickly regaining youthful speed and stamina that is such a boon in life. The ubiquinol form has been available since about 2006 and some health food shops stock it; if is not available in your local area you can find it online.

progesterone cream 
 Last but not least and especially for the many women who unnecessarily suffer at the hands of their own hormones, progesterone cream! It's a simple fact that humans today generally have unbalanced sex hormones - we have unbalanced levels of oestrogen and testosterone and this causes us more problems than are generally understood. This has been the case to some degree for thousands of years and is due to the reduction of flavonoids (fruit compounds) in our diets and the reduction of melatonin output by the pineal gland. Flavonoids and melatonin help keep the levels of oestrogen and testosterone in balance with other biochemicals in the body. In women now there is too much oestrogen compared to progesterone. This is an increasing problem even for young women and as women go through the years, this imbalance, or 'oestrogen dominance', gets more extreme eventually producing 'peri-menopausal' and 'menopausal' symptoms. To further compound the situation, in modern times we have the arrival of oestrogen mimicers, xenoestrogens, in chemicals in our environment, including plastics. The unpleasant symptoms of oestrogen dominance/progesterone deficiency can include depression, anxiety, premenstrual syndrome and excessive bleeding, inability to maintain pregnancies, interference with thyroid function and increased risk of reproductive cancers. Fortunately there are some simple things we can do to alleviate these symptoms and a natural progesterone cream is one of them. Wellsprings Serenity cream is probably the best one currently available and is very affordable. http://www.progesterone.co.uk/progesteronecream.htm. By rubbing a tiny amount into the body for half or more the days of the cycle, progesterone levels are gradually restored. The benefits may be noticed very quickly and also increase over a period of time. We sincerely hope you benefit from this information and add just one note, the best results come with consistent use over a long enough duration in time. Persistence with all aspects of nutrition and lifestyle habits can work miracles! You can find more information and links at our websites: www.foodforconsciousness.co.uk 
 Written by Holly paige and kenny sunshine Originally published in funky raw magazine http://www.funkyraw.com

Interview with coach Anna Middleton

Life is a precious gift.

Here on planet Earth in the 21st century there seems to be an epidemic of various physical diseases. But what about the underlying emotional malady that is also running rampantly in our society? Here in England when you ask people how it’s going the response more often than not goes something like this “not too shabby” of “I’m coping” or “I’ve been better” etcetera. Self-pity, victim-hood or the ‘poor me’ syndrome is probably the most prevalent emotional state you will find as you interact with people on a day to day basis. Well instead of going into a long discourse on the reasons for this and focusing on the problem more than is necessary we want to outline some of the things that can be done on a regular basis so that you can feel good most of the time as opposed to that ‘ down in the dumps’ feeling that for so many people has become a habit and subsequently a way of life. When you are consistently hanging out on the lower end of this emotional scale i.e. self- pity, overwhelm, blame, frustration, depression, hopelessness, helplessness let’s face it, your life doesn’t work as well as it could. On the other hand when you get into a more positive state of mind and feeling on a consistent basis everything changes and life becomes easier and so much more fun. There are many techniques we can use to bring ourselves into alignment but here we want to suggest several that pretty much anyone here is the western world can access and apply immediately.

Raw Food/Detoxification
Obviously it’s going to be pretty difficult for you to be in a high vibration emotionally if your body is in pain so we think this avenue is a priority. Switching over to a predominantly raw plant based diet of vegetables, fruits, seeds/nuts, superfoods, herbs, seaweeds, wild foods and maybe raw/fermented dairy products can be one of if not the best decisions a person ever makes! Aside from stating the obvious reasons for these lifestyle changes i.e. avoiding disease, a compromised food chain, toxic environment etc. there are of course the incredible benefits that have been reported by innumerable raw food veterans such as increased energy levels, a feeling of being lighter and stronger, greater bone density, greater levels of happiness and joy, pains and ailments completely disappearing, greater endurance, weight loss, clearer glowing eyes and skin, drastically improved digestion, clearer more cognitive thinking, greater ability to create abundance and prosperity, increased libido, increased ability to attract the opposite sex, terminal illness disappearing, more harmonious relationships, more real friends, greater spiritual connectedness, a feeling of being more psychic, less need for sleep, greater sensuality (touch, taste smell etc.), greater productivity, greater self-confidence and esteem, happier children and appearing to be younger. Added to all this is an indefinable feeling of well-being, happiness and optimism often referred to as the ‘raw high’ and particularly noticeable when keeping to an all raw diet. This phenomenon is an intriguing one and there is an actual chemical shift in the brain when we take in nutrients undamaged by heat. For example, in response to increased amounts of the undamaged amino acid tryptophan, levels of the pleasure neurotransmitter serotonin go up resulting in increased feelings of happiness and well-being. Raw food does indeed support a natural high and one that is really our natural state. To get the full benefits from a raw food diet it's worth bearing in mind three foundational principles that actually can be applied without going fully raw: hydration, alkalinity and fatty acids. To feel our best we need to make sure we are taking in plenty of liquids – there can be in the form of juices, smoothies and teas as well as water. We need to alkalise our bodies by taking in plenty of greens. And we need to make sure we are ingesting adequate essential fatty acids - these are nutrients which are crucial to brain function and that we cannot manufacture in our own bodies. Omega 3 is the one most likely to be lacking and is found abundantly in hemp, flax and chia seeds, fish liver oil and vegan DHA supplements.

Walking outside, preferably in nature
 Walking is one of the most underestimated activities there is with regards to our health and well-being and unfortunately due to reliance on the auto-mobile one of the most underused. Medical science now knows that walking on a regular basis cures depression in more than ninety per cent of cases! Preferably go out into nature or, within a city, find a park and go barefoot. We are more electric than we are chemical and if we were living more as nature intended we would spend far more time walking on the earth, lying in grass, swimming in natural bodies of water and so on. Indeed we would be conceived, born and sleep in contact with the bio-electromagnetic aura of the earth. Planet Earth is like a giant nuclear reactor that emits negatively charged electricity or electrons. These electrons are there in nature as a way for us to be 'grounded' and connected – you could even describe it as 'charged'. Within the charge of the Earth our vibration is modulated so it is in harmony with the circadian rhythms or our environment. Shoes and also our homes for the most part act as insulation from this natural defence mechanism. To find out more about this fascinating subject listen to Clint Ober in a revelatory interview about Earthing here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY3w8kDn2Eo. There is now a lot of information on this subject on the web including the healing of chronic apparently incurable conditions. On the more esoteric side of this subject we receive information and guidance in the day to day living our lives through contact with the Earth, it is almost our original internet connection. Our desires become more health and life-affirming when we are immersed in the Earth's field rather than that of the artificial electric grid. Many years ago Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, in his book Body's Many Cries for Water, made known the crucial importance of drinking adequate water in the maintenance of basic health and prevention of disease. Now we are learning that 'earthing' is a similarly crucial requirement for health. The recommendation is at least 20 minutes twice a day for basic health needs. Of course we all know that spending extended times of time in nature can take us to new heights of well-being. Walking in nature also has a psychological effect due to the effects of moving and looking into the distance and widens our mental horizons and sense that we can move forward in life. When we are walking we are focused on what is in front of us whilst staying subliminally aware of what we are actually doing – in this way it resets us with good mental habits and clears our minds for inspiration.

Smiling and Laughing
 Have you ever noticed how it is impossible to be depressed or feel constricted when you are laughing or smiling? In fact there is a reason for the existence of the saying 'laughter is the best medicine'. If you're feeling out of sorts remember to smile it will instantly make you feel better. You could also watch a funny film or if you haven't got time for that go onto you-tube and find something to entertain you for 15-20 minutes. Laughing, whether it is spontaneously occurring or even if you force it by at first pretending creates an electromagnetic response in the brain that subsequently stimulates a chemical release of peptides that have a profoundly beneficial effect in our physical bodies. There are numerous cases people being cured of terminal diseases because they employed a regime of regular laughter instead of scalpels, drugs and radiation. Prove it to yourself by trying it out. Remember the more regularly you do this the better you will feel more of the time.

Thought Field Therapy or Emotional Freedom Techniques
TFT or EFT as it is more commonly known or recognized is one of the most powerful tools that we have personally come across during over a decade of research in the field of energy medicine and transformation. It is a blend of Chinese medicine and modern psychology in which you take two fingers and tap on specific parts of the body that are located on what Chinese medicine calls meridians. According to Chinese medicine these pathways often become blocked which leads to problems in the physical organism. Traditionally Chinese medicine uses various techniques to rectify these blockages most notably acupuncture. Roger Callaghan discovered this technique basically by accident during the earlier part of his career as a psychologist. He was working with one of his clients who had severe phobia of water to the point where she couldn't even give her children baths. One day he asked her where exactly on the body was the source of her emotional distress. She replied “in my gut around the solar plexus area”. He had just come back from Asia where he had been studying rudimentary Chinese medicine and he remembered that the point on the bone below the eye corresponds to that part of the body. He got a hunch and told her to tap the point while thinking about her phobia. She did as he instructed and, to cut a long story short, her phobia was gone permanently! He later went on to experiment with other acupuncture points and various sequences of tapping and came up with the modality called thought field therapy. One of his students, Gary Craig later came up with emotional freedom technique or EFT which is just a slight variation but is basically just as effective. This kind of technique can seem kind of strange and is easy to miss or disregard but it is one of the most powerful and effective ways to change your emotional state and can even transform long standing core beliefs. It is very easy to learn and can be applied in a few minutes on most issues. A friend of mine in California who is a trained practitioner works predominantly with African Americans who are underprivileged (and a lot of the time homeless) in the ghetto of the bay area cities Oakland and Berkeley told me a few years ago that since he switched his modality from NLP to EFT he has had a 95% plus success rate with clients regardless of the issue! He was getting about 70% with the neurolinguistic programming which is pretty good but going up more than 20% is a very significant increase and so he has never turned back. I have met lots of people who missed this one simply because they didn't really apply it in their lives long enough or consistently enough for the effects of it to register on their senses. Don't be one of those people! Check out these links and learn how to apply this technology in your life. What happens may amaze you. You can download a free guides to tapping AT Roger Callahan's site, www.rogercallahan.com and www.thetappingsolution.com and a free guide to EFT at Gary Craig's site www.garythink.com. The tapping routine is very quick, simple and straightforward and moments when we are emotionally uncomfortable become ideal opportunities to permanently clear long-standing issues and access resources within ourselves that we never realised we had. Discord with or the loss of another person from our lives is the hardest pain that most of us experience and there is even a tailored tapping routine that can relieve this kind of trauma that might otherwise take months or even years of grieving.  

Exercise.
Now a lot of people are resistant to this topic mainly because it is often looked upon as something that is to be tolerated and endured. This is mostly a mental block and is often based upon how we think things should be. A great approach is to choose a form of exercise that is (a) fun for you and (b) rather than punishing yourself and telling yourself you have to go through some long drawn out ordeal realise that you can get a lot done in just 10 – 15 minute bursts which can be repeated several times a day . In fact this is the way children naturally exercise and is the best way to stimulate the production of human growth hormone, essential for not just growth of children but also the maintenance of our bodies. For us this approach works very well but others may prefer the structure of a yoga class or a personal trainer. There are myriad of choices, for example walking, martial arts, bike riding, resistance exercise, yoga, weight lifting, running, gymnastics etc. Choose one or a combination that you can consistently apply and your emotional state is going to improve. The yoga swing is a fun, easy way to get those minutes of exercise that make all the difference. Hanging upside down in it also lets blood flow to the head, moves lymph fluid and so detoxifies the body. You can see a video of its use here: http://rawrecipesforsuccess.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/yoga-in-park.html. In fact one of the great benefits of exercise is to move our lymph fluid. Like our blood, lymph fluid has a job to do of carrying around nutrients and removing toxins but unlike blood it is not pumped around the body and we need to move to make lymph move. Another mechanism by which exercise makes us feel better is that it increases endorphin levels. It also helps in the uptake of tryptophan to make serotonin, that chemical messenger of happiness and well-being mentioned earlier. As time passes you may find that you get hooked on working out and thus will want to spend longer times at it. As we obtain more helpful information and improve our lifestyles, our addictions and resistances have a tendency to be replaced by what could be described as an addiction to feeling better.  

Sunshine
It's well known that we all feel better when the sun is shining, but what to do about it in a country such as Britain when it's not?! There is actually a lot we can do to compensate for the lack of sun. If available in your area a sunshower is a wonderful way of getting a blast of much needed UVB light on the skin of your entire body. It involves entering a cubicle wearing eye protection and being exposed to 3 to 6 minutes of UVB. Between September and March in Britain, varying slightly according to latitude, the angle of the sun is such that we do not actually receive UVB light rays. As well as making you feel like you've had a day at the beach, a sun shower can have an amazing effect on food requirements as food is assimilated differently when we get sunlight. Because of this it can help prevent weight increase in winter and also takes away that pasty look it is so easy to get. Wait a few hours after a sunshower before showering or bathing to let the vitamin D be assimilated. Taking vitamin D in the form the body can use i.e. D3 is important for those of us living in this kind of climate. Vitamin D is a hormone as much as a vitamin and has been dubbed the 'happiness hormone' Incidentally walking outside early in the morning and going to bed reasonably early at night aligns our circadian rhythms and can have miraculous effects on our happiness and productivity levels and is so often overlooked in the distractions of our 24/7 culture.  

Mental Attitude.
As we become lucid enough to see how much creative input we have into our life experiences and start to make more informed choices regarding our thoughts and actions our lives can become so significantly better that it becomes obvious on a moment by moment level that life is indeed a precious gift and not the burden that we have at times experienced it as! The very fact that we have choices makes it a gift rather than a burden. The trick is really not to get caught up in physical circumstances rather take a mental step back and think about how we would like life to be and work from there, weaving this into what we currently have on our plates. There are many unhelpful things we have been told but perhaps the most insidious one is that it is somehow virtuous to suffer and it is through doing so that we will deserve reward. Actually nothing could be further from the truth and if the most significant spiritual truth is that we are all connected then surely the best thing we can all do for ourselves and each other is feel better. In addition to the physical things we can do to make ourselves better there are some mental habits we can adopt that can transform the quality of our lives.

Gratitude. 
Soon after waking if we can think of a few things or at least one thing we are truly grateful for it starts the ball rolling for the day. When we focus on gratitude it automatically attracts more things into our lives to be grateful for and also connects us in an appreciative way with other people. Choosing to think about what we want rather than what we don't want is a related practice.

A Sense of Purpose.
This may even be the starting point of it all and the main key to happiness. It is a way of channelling our desires in a constructive way that benefits ourselves and others long term. It can begin as a simple desire to feel good. Our goals connect us to our purpose in life. They need to be big enough to excite us and manageable enough so that we know we can achieve them. Then we feel good thinking about them and working toward them thus enabling us to delay some gratification in order to experience greater reward in the future. This practice in itself significantly increases our sense of well-being and keeps levels of dopamine, the enthusiasm neurotransmitter, high.  

A Commitment to Turn all Circumstances to our Advantage.
When things fail to go according to plan or 'go wrong' we decide that we will create something beneficial out of whatever has happened. Not only does this create great benefits for us in our lives but it also gives us an inner confidence that no matter what happens, all will ultimately turn out well. This attitude in itself can bring miracles into our lives. Originally published in funky raw magazine by Kenny Bountiful Sun and Holly Paige              http://www.foodforconsciousness.co.uk
      http://www.funkyraw.com

Beauty Salad with David Wolfe

Marvelous Malva in Portugal

Found this plant yesterday while walking along the coast in the algarve,and used the flowers to garnish our salad.

Dr joel furhman longevity now

Chololate Love Temple in Somerset virtual tour.

My world is a friendly place.

You know more and more it is being confirmed to me that the pronoia concept i.e. the world is a friendly place or the universe is conspiring to do me good is one of the most powerful, beneficial and useful belief systems or philosophical foundations that a person wanting to tap into a more magical life experience can cultivate. Smile and the world smiles back. This was shown to me a just over two years ago in a very demonstrable way. Mysteriously I fell into the clutches of US homeland security while boarding a domestic flight from San Diego to San Francisco as a result of my tea tree oil being flagged as ‘suspicious’. Anyway this article is not about politics or terrorism but the point I am trying to make is that those corporate/federal agents were actually doing me a favour when they politely asked me to buy a plane ticket back to my country of birth even though it is really cold in the UK in mid-January. After the cultural shock of coming back to England was done I went to stay with my friend Love Sky Dancer who is a raw food shaman. Sky has been drinking 100% spring water for 16 years. I can actually verify this fact because I’ve known him for around the same amount of time. When I was living in the US I was drinking some spring water but never really found a consistent source. Thus I usually ended up with filtered water. Little did I know how much of a difference it would make. I heard David Wolfe speak the summer before last at Cafe Gratitude and in his talk one thing he said that really stood out that night was “you heard about the benefits of wild food but what about wild water?”. A few days later I was driving up to Oregon with my friend Jared and we stopped at Mount Shasta to fill up. I was still thinking about what David said that night and I proceeded to drink about half a gallon. Let’s just say that it created a very different response in my body than water usually does! From that point on during the rest of my stay in California my body was wanting this experience. Subconsciously I think this is what helped catapult me back into my present state of dominion in the UK. As a result of hanging out with my shaman/druid friend I managed to become a 100% spring water drinker and within about 2 weeks of being back in the UK noticed a huge physiological difference, I think mostly because of the water. Also I think the soil in the UK is more densely mineralised than it is in California. Intuitively I was eating mostly kale in my salads which grows all year round in this climate. My body felt like it was generally more fortified than it had been for a long time. We gather water from quite a few springs, some from the village of Doulting which is about 10 miles from Glastonbury, also from the Wye Valley. My friend Laxmi who started on the raw food path about the same time as me and Sky, probably about 14 years ago has a beautiful cottage in this area which has some of the best water in the country gushing out of the ground in his garden. Its amazing to me how easy it is to drink large amounts of spring water of this calibre! My body feels like it completely opens up when I drink, even in a cold climate like this one! There are definitely some minus’s comparing the UK to America but when you start to look for the plus’s they are there too. In spring time all the amazing wild food starts to proliferate in the fields and woods in the beautiful Somerset countryside, one of the most prominent being the stinging nettle and also the less common white nettle. Nettles are really high in chlorophyll and can contain up to 10mg of vitamin C per 100g, they contain glucocinins which can aid in lowering high blood sugar levels. Nettle roots are extremely good for issues of the prostate. I clearly remember my daughter’s Mom and her practice of drinking nettle tea while pregnant with Eden. The midwives were astounded at the amazingly high levels of iron in her blood. Another wild green I have been consuming is wild garlic (allium ursicum). When I ate these for the first time I was surprised to notice that there was not so much odour apparently as is usually the case with our traditional agricultural grade allium sativum garlic bulbs Upon further investigation I discovered via my trustworthy friend google that the sulphur compounds in wild garlic leaves more readily bind to proteins where as in common garlic there is a more free form of sulphur and so the odour tends to linger more ( I actually am not offended by the smell of garlic on people. But I know some folks are and thus might find this to be useful information). Wild garlic also has a greater concentration of minerals than common garlic, one of them being magnesium. This is why it is sometimes referred to as the ‘magnesium king’. Magnesium is fantastic for opening up avenues of detoxification in our bodies. But also it is anti-stress medicine strengthening our heart and our whole circulatory system. There are 1700mg of magnesium per kilo of allium ursinum leaves. As we get deeper into the wild food season’s proliferation here in the UK in spring we progressively decrease the amount of store bought organic produce while at the same time increasing our wild food intake. For instance in our juices we do less celery and apple and more and more of the amazing herb clivers. This plant is also known as ‘sticky willy’ and has an amazing ability to cling onto other plants so it can grow taller. Clivers is a great substitute for celery/apple/carrot as it tends to yield a lot of water - this i why we feel less need for the traditional organic ‘fillers’ for our juices. Clivers is diuretic, anti-inflammatory, and also an excellent tonic herb. In regards to our lymphatic system it can change the body at a cellular level allowing for the renewal of tissue so as to carry out its workings more efficiently. Some of the maladies it has positive impact on include skin disease, eczema, finger nail ulcer, water stowages, cystitus, kidney stones, bladder stones and obesity to name but a few. These are just a few of the wild food discoveries I have made after being immersed in the UK raw food lifestyle and in particular in northern latitudes. Another very fun, very medicinal and nourishing part of our regimen has been the medicinal herb tea/ superfood cacao beverage we have been creating. In a land where a lot of the resistance to raw food is because of the cold climate I have been trying to show people that you do not have to cook food in order to consume it warm. One of my favourite recipes is this: First prepare nut milk: soak 1 cup of raw cashews, almonds or pumpkin seeds overnight, discard the soak water, rinse, blend with spring water and strain. You want your blender about a third full - if you are using a vitamix, which is recommended it will be about 20-24 oz of spring water that you will use to make your nut milk. Then take the following superfoods: 3 heaped teaspoons of raw carob powder, 1 tablespoon maca powder, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder, 1 heaped tablespoon lucuma, the insides of 2 vanilla beans, a couple of pinches of sea salt; blend all these with the nut milk. Prepare a herbal tea from these suggested ingredients, or others: reishi mushroom slices, liquorice, pau d’arco, cats claw, peppermint, chai spices etc. Combine the tea and milk by pouring the tea slowly into your blender, add a sweetener of preference and serve. I have been gravitating towards honey but sometimes have used the coconut palm sugar at times. I think coconut sugar is a great alternative to agave but honey may be a wiser choice. Those who have issues with candida and other dysbiotic internal conditions may want to be a little more discerning about the quantity and type of sweetener they use if any at all. Written in the spring of 2010 by kenny and later published in funky raw magazine 2012

Wild Water in Doulting Somerset (Aldhelms Well).

Great Tony Wright interview

Are you working harder on yourself than you are on your job?

Are you working harder on yourself than you are on your job? In this world of multi tasking and in the midst of this global financial revolution in which we find ourselves today it is very easy to create a misalignment within our strategy for success. It is so tempting especially as an entrepreneur to spend more time working on our business than it is on personal development, health, spirituality and Building quality relationships with our family and friends. One of the things that I believe it is valuable to remember is that ’all success stems from the person we become and are planning to become’ as a pose to our conditioned response that says ’time is money’ or ’cause leads to effect’. A spiritual teacher and friend of mine once pointed out that the new paradigm of thought that is emerging is one in which we re-evaluate the ways in which we look at our ’reality creation’ from that of a linear logical ’Newtonian physics’ approach, to that of a ’quantum’ more einsteinium approach. Where we realize that the universe does not function like a bunch of ’cogs and wheels’ For example: Past leading to present leading to future. But rather that time is non- linear and is actually ’Spherical’ meaning that all events happen simultaneously! This understanding is now conclusive scientifically and has been for decades. A lot of people nowadays mainly because of movie’s like ’The secret’ and ’What the bleep do we know’ and also because of the internet are beginning to realize these concepts and are also beginning to apply them in their lives. Nonetheless it is so easy to get caught up in the ’illusion’ of ’Time is money’ and ’Cause leads to effect’ because most people on this planet are still basing their reality creation upon these outmoded philosophies/theories. My suggestion to people based upon my experience in the field of metaphysics and personal development is not to abandon our mastery and experience of cause and effect in favor of what quantum physics is telling us but rather to use both avenues as a means of creating the life of our dreams. In other words yes meditate, visualize, say your affirmations, write down your goals, do whatever it is you do to manifest, but don’t spend your whole life there! Working is still something that is quite valuable for more reasons than just paying your bills. But to go at it from the perspective of having less subconscious blockages and a more healthy attitude, can I believe help you to create more results in less time with less struggle than it otherwise would or could. Anyway guys just some food for thought. I hope you are having a blessed day. And remember:" Learn to work harder on your self than you do on your job"

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Wild about Garlic

Wild garlic (allium ursinum) is one of our favourite wild greens and is very prolific where we live in the south west of England. It likes moist soil and tends to grow in semi-shaded woodland areas in Europe, West Asia and the central and eastern parts of the United States. In Britain it grows abundantly in parts of Derbyshire, Cumbria, Wales, Devon and Somerset. Other names for it include ramsons, wood garlic, bear's garlic, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic and field onion. It appears any time from late January onwards and the leaves may last up until June. At some point in the spring beautiful white flowers appear which, like the leaves and bulbs, are edible. Later, the little white petals are shed to leave the green seeds which are also delicious in their own right.

 

 We use the copious green leaves to make into salads and soups and use the leaves, flowers and seeds in place of garlic in raw recipes. A rough rule for foraging is to take only 10% of what is available from any one plant and as the leaves are so delicious we leave the bulbs in the ground for the following year. After collecting leaves they may be kept in spring water to keep them fresh for up to about 2 days.

It may be useful to know that the characteristic garlic smell does not linger in the same way as with common garlic because the sulphur compounds in wild garlic leaves more readily bind to proteins. Wild garlic also has a greater concentration of minerals than common garlic, one of them being magnesium. This is why it is sometimes referred to as the ‘magnesium king’. Magnesium is fantastic for opening up avenues of detoxification in our bodies. But also it is anti-stress medicine strengthening our heart and our whole circulatory system. There are 1700mg of magneium per kilo of allium ursinum leaves.

Here are two delicious raw pesto recipes using wild garlic leaves:

Wild Green Pesto
25g pine nuts
20g hard goat's cheese/parmesan
6 handfuls wild garlic leaves
1 date
3 tablespoons raw olive oil
juice of 1 lime
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
blend all the ingredients together in a mini-blender.

Garlic and Pumpkin Seed Pesto
2 handfuls of wild garlic leaves
90ml  freshly squeezed apple juice or orange juice
90ml olive oil
60g pumpkin seeds, soaked in spring water for  few hours
salt and pepper to taste
blend the ingredients together ,until smooth.

And here's the soup!

Dream of Wild Garlic Soup
1 big handful wild garlic (ramsons)
2 tomatoes
2 sun-dried tomatoes
1 avocado
1 tablespoon or 15 ml lemon juice
750ml water
a dash of sea-salt
blend until smooth - you'll get the best results with a high-power blender or vitamix

Raw Chocolate demo with Holly