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1 December, 2006
Sharing with you a day in the life of my family:
I am a lazy bagger so I don't prepare
a lot, except for the recipes aiming at pleasing my family. The
weekends are exception, then I play with various, often new recipes.
Early morning - water, as I wake up thirsty. My kids usually have a banana smoothie in the morning. Today, it was banana-mango (mangoes are in season here now). I pack a lunch for my 6-year-old daughter Julia. Today, it was chopped up mangoes and raw Christmas pudding (my recipe). My 15-year-old som Odys packs his lunch himself. Usually, it is lots of apples and some sweet raw treats.
I pack a bag of goodies to take to work and eat them all day, when hungry. Today it is: watermelon, mangoes, apples, bananas and a few carob balls (just in case I feel like having them). If I don't eat it all, I leave it in my office, it will be OK to eat tomorrow.
When I get home, I like having vegies. Yesterday, I got home really really hungry. So, I made something quick. Sushi rolls and lettuce wraps filled with whatever I had and found appealing. Julia joined in the sushi bonanza. She loved sushi with chopped up lettuce, tomato, avocado and cucumber. I had in mine some mushrooms and parsnip as well. Odys made himself a salad - lettuce, tomato, cucumber and tahini dressing. My husband was busy making a netting for our ripening apricot tree and not hungry anyway, cause he ate something earlier. Later on, he had some raw pizza (he makes the base himself, my recipe) with avo and vegies on top. Julia ate also some bananas and Odys kept munching on his favourite apples.
Fruit is good. Without it, I feel hungry! My body demands fruit. The trick is to be able to hear that (Sometimes intelect thinks it knows better than the body.).
Early morning - water, as I wake up thirsty. My kids usually have a banana smoothie in the morning. Today, it was banana-mango (mangoes are in season here now). I pack a lunch for my 6-year-old daughter Julia. Today, it was chopped up mangoes and raw Christmas pudding (my recipe). My 15-year-old som Odys packs his lunch himself. Usually, it is lots of apples and some sweet raw treats.
I pack a bag of goodies to take to work and eat them all day, when hungry. Today it is: watermelon, mangoes, apples, bananas and a few carob balls (just in case I feel like having them). If I don't eat it all, I leave it in my office, it will be OK to eat tomorrow.
When I get home, I like having vegies. Yesterday, I got home really really hungry. So, I made something quick. Sushi rolls and lettuce wraps filled with whatever I had and found appealing. Julia joined in the sushi bonanza. She loved sushi with chopped up lettuce, tomato, avocado and cucumber. I had in mine some mushrooms and parsnip as well. Odys made himself a salad - lettuce, tomato, cucumber and tahini dressing. My husband was busy making a netting for our ripening apricot tree and not hungry anyway, cause he ate something earlier. Later on, he had some raw pizza (he makes the base himself, my recipe) with avo and vegies on top. Julia ate also some bananas and Odys kept munching on his favourite apples.
Fruit is good. Without it, I feel hungry! My body demands fruit. The trick is to be able to hear that (Sometimes intelect thinks it knows better than the body.).
My November "body-mind before/after" drawing is of course a simplified illustration of an idea. The reality is that there is a gradual transition from one (before) to the other (after). As I go, I learn to pick up more and more signals, which results in various new changes in my lifestyle. This is why gradual improvements are observed in the lifestyles of people who have grasped the idea that the body is the primary guide towards their health. So, as long as one is aware of this important truth, one can expect to progress. The direction of that progress will be, as far as nutrition goes, towards simplicity. As far as myself, I have still a fair bit to go, and I feel blessed that the awarness is in me!
4 December, 2006
Sharing my thoughts with you:
I have never classified myself as NH or fruitarian. If I observe that the bulk of my diet is sweet fruit, then this is the result of a spontaneous transition and not a decision to become someone I am not. In my view, the majority of all the problems with transitioning that raw foodists face is the result of a struggle that is born when one forces oneself to become someone they are not, while ignoring their body signals. On the other hand, spontaneous transition is effortless. In my case, I discovered that I feel best on fruit. Of course, I am still going and expect more changes as I go.
It's got absolutely nothing to do with "religious behaviour" or "striving for absolute dietary purity" except for those who think that becoming a fruitarian is an intelectual and decision-based process.
The law of gravity is something we observe, rather than decide, when we let the apple go. In a similar way, when we follow our own body, the natural instincts will emerge.
7 December, 2006
I got a pressie from Renee from Raw Pleasure forum!!! Here it is:
Isn't
beautiful? It makes me feel like a goddess!
One of my favourite movies, "Hair":
One of my favourite movies, "Hair":
13 December,
2006
The sensitivity that I am discovering in my body is astounding. I absolutely cannot feel fine on any cooked food. Even vegies will make me feel lethargic. Spices will make my sleep disturbed. I find salt untolerable. On the other hand, spice and herb free raw foods are full of taste! I am enjoying the real taste of unprocessed fruit and vegies. They are absolutely delicious! This morning I chewed on some baby spinach leaves in our glasshouse. I feel that I now give my body a chance to progress in the healing and cleansing process, as I finally feel effortless desire to eat raw foods only (which I attribute to the change in my attitude). For months, I had been feeling as if I was on the edge of a cliff, very close to the final jump into the sea of change, but not quite there yet. I am finally disconnecting myself from my past patterns and expectations. I am also OK now with letting my body go where it needs to go.
18 December, 2006
Modern science says:
"The widespread prevalence of diet-related health problems, particularly in highly industrialized nations, suggests that many humans are not eating in a manner compatible with their biology."
Nod nod nod!
"Anthropoids, including all great apes, take most of their diet from plants, and there is general consensus that humans come from a strongly herbivorous ancestry."
See:
Milton K, "Nutritional characteristics of wild primate foods: Do the diets of our closest living relatives have lessons for us?", NUTRITION 15 (6): 488-498 JUN 1999
Abstract: The widespread prevalence of diet-related health problems, particularly in highly industrialized nations, suggests that many humans are not eating in a manner compatible with their biology. Anthropoids, including all great apes, take most of their diet from plants, and there is general consensus that humans come from a strongly herbivorous ancestry. Though gut proportions differ, overall gut anatomy and the pattern of digestive kinetics of extant apes and humans are very similar. Analysis of tropical forest leaves and fruits routinely consumed by wild primates shows that many of these foods are good sources of hexoses, cellulose, hemicellulose, pectic substances, vitamin C, minerals, essential fatty acids, and protein. In general, relative to body weight, the average wild monkey or ape appears to take in far higher levels of many essential nutrients each day than the average American and such nutrients (as well as other substances) are being consumed together in their natural chemical matrix, The recommendation that Americans Consume more fresh fruits and vegetables in greater variety appears well supported by data on the diets of free-ranging monkeys and apes. Such data also suggest that greater attention to features of the diet and digestive physiology of non-human primates could direct attention to important areas for future research on features of human diet and health. (C) Elsevier Science Inc. 1999.
Also, my recent searches on databases of scientific published papers resulted in finding this paper, authored by a Nobel prize winning professor Dehmelt. I think that his brilliant mind helped him realize the shortcomings of the cooked food meat and potato diet. I also think that science may just be beginning to realize what the optimum human diet really is.
"YOU ARE A PRIMATE: LIVE AS ONE!
Hans Dehmelt
Nobel Prize 1989
Professor
Department of Physics, University of Washington
HEALTHIEST DIET HYPOTHESIS:
How to cure most diseases
From the earliest times to about 5 million years ago our ancient primate ancestors had been living exclusively in the deep tropical forests of Southern Africa. Here, for about twenty million years, evolution had superbly developed their fruit spying and picking skills to a degree that their numbers increased to taxing the limited food resources [1]. This in turn encouraged some of their more adventurous members to venture out into the surrounding savannas and scavenge the carcasses of large grazing animals brought down by predators and to ignore the shortcomings of this new diet that they were less well adapted to. This group probably originated the line leading to Homo sapiens, us. As we nevertheless more and more multiplied this pattern repeated, and again and again we were forced to subsist on even less and less desirable diets until today a large fraction of the population has adopted variations of the Big Mac diet. Those remaining in the forests on the frugivorous diet changed very little and became Homo troglodytes, the chimpanzees, and our closest relatives whose DNA is 99.4% identical with ours. Their well-known current, obviously raw diet is composed [2,3] approximately of 75% ripe wild fruit, 20% of leaves and pith and 5% foods of animal origin. By dry weight wild fruit contains fats, proteins, carbohydrates, digested and undigested fiber in the approximate proportions 5 : 7 : 14 : 17 : 17. The two essential fatty acids contribute nearly half of the fat component, about 23% linoleic and 16% alpha-linolenic. It is hypothesized that it is still the healthiest diet also for Man because for about twenty million years it has been eaten by the common ancestors of Man and Chimp. They did not fall for the extremely unhealthy practice of cooking their food. All later diets up to the current big Mac diet of the broad American masses increasingly rely on foodstuffs such as meat, grains, beans & potatoes that have to be made edible by cooking and were only adopted under exponentially increasing population pressures. Consequently, all are less healthy and moreover they are the less healthy the later they were adopted. Approximating the Chimp diet by suitably supplemented supermarket items may give us the best of both worlds. See the sample meal in the Appendix. The following work [4,5] supports the hypothesis.
1. Cohen M. N. The food crisis in prehistory: overpopulation and agriculture. Yale University Press, 1977
2. Milton, K. Nutritional characteristics of wild Primate Foods: Do the natural diets of our closest living relatives have lessons for us? Nutrition 15 (1999) 488-498.
3. Conklin-Brittain, N. L., R. W. Wrangham, and K. D. Hunt, 1998. Dietary response of chimpanzees and cercopithecines to seasonal variation in fruit abundance: II. Nutrients. Int. J. Primatol. 19(1998) 71-987.
4. Ehret A. Kranke Menschen (Rational Fasting). Benedict Lust Publications; 1912
5. http://www.waisays.com/
Hans Dehmelt
Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Appeared in the Journal "Medical Hypotheses" Volume 64, Issue 4 , 2005, Page 882"
(source: http://faculty.washington.edu/dehmelt/INDEX(1A)%20(3).htm)
The frugivorous origin of the humans has been mentioned in:
"Fruits, fingers, and fermentation: The sensory cues available to foraging primates", Dominy NJ, Integrative and Comparative Biol 44 (4): 295-303 AUG 2004;
"Ferment in the family tree: Does a frugivorous dietary heritage influence contemporary patterns of human ethanol use?", Milton K, Integrative and Comparative Biol 44 (4): 304-314 AUG 2004;
"Ethanol, fruit ripening, and the historical origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory", Dadley R, Integrative and Comparative Biol 44 (4): 315-323 AUG 2004,
"Evolutionary origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory", Dadley R, Q Rev Biol. 2000 Mar;75(1):3-15.
According to
"Origin of Human Bipedalism: The Knuckle-Walking Hypothesis Revisited", BG Richmond, DR Begun, DS Strait; Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 44:70-105(2001),
the morphology of the early humans implies "a fairly frugivorous diet".
22 December, 2006
This is so good, I have to share it! I don't have enough time to upgrade the recipes section at the moment, so at least here I will mention two yummy things I invented (well, I am probably not the first one who did that) recently:
Lazy bugger's salad:
On my way home, back from work, I decided that I want to have a salad and I wanted it quick. So, I went to the supermarket and bought packets of pre-cut Ceasar (cabbage, carrot etc), baby greens and herbs, mixed salad (various lettuces). Then, at home, I blended a SMALL handful of macademias and cashews with some raisins, 1/2 lemon and 1 orange juice, to make a dressing. I tossed it in the salad, and that's it. Well, I gave half of my salad to Luke, and he devoured it. Me too. Mmm.
Creamy fruit salad:
This one is a total delight. I wanted something gourmet and fruit. So, I cut up some mangoes, papaya, bananas, a few cherries, and then blended the meat from 1 young coconut with some water from it for a dressing. I had it last night and this morning I made another one again. This is total bliss.
The sensitivity that I am discovering in my body is astounding. I absolutely cannot feel fine on any cooked food. Even vegies will make me feel lethargic. Spices will make my sleep disturbed. I find salt untolerable. On the other hand, spice and herb free raw foods are full of taste! I am enjoying the real taste of unprocessed fruit and vegies. They are absolutely delicious! This morning I chewed on some baby spinach leaves in our glasshouse. I feel that I now give my body a chance to progress in the healing and cleansing process, as I finally feel effortless desire to eat raw foods only (which I attribute to the change in my attitude). For months, I had been feeling as if I was on the edge of a cliff, very close to the final jump into the sea of change, but not quite there yet. I am finally disconnecting myself from my past patterns and expectations. I am also OK now with letting my body go where it needs to go.
18 December, 2006
Modern science says:
"The widespread prevalence of diet-related health problems, particularly in highly industrialized nations, suggests that many humans are not eating in a manner compatible with their biology."
Nod nod nod!
"Anthropoids, including all great apes, take most of their diet from plants, and there is general consensus that humans come from a strongly herbivorous ancestry."
See:
Milton K, "Nutritional characteristics of wild primate foods: Do the diets of our closest living relatives have lessons for us?", NUTRITION 15 (6): 488-498 JUN 1999
Abstract: The widespread prevalence of diet-related health problems, particularly in highly industrialized nations, suggests that many humans are not eating in a manner compatible with their biology. Anthropoids, including all great apes, take most of their diet from plants, and there is general consensus that humans come from a strongly herbivorous ancestry. Though gut proportions differ, overall gut anatomy and the pattern of digestive kinetics of extant apes and humans are very similar. Analysis of tropical forest leaves and fruits routinely consumed by wild primates shows that many of these foods are good sources of hexoses, cellulose, hemicellulose, pectic substances, vitamin C, minerals, essential fatty acids, and protein. In general, relative to body weight, the average wild monkey or ape appears to take in far higher levels of many essential nutrients each day than the average American and such nutrients (as well as other substances) are being consumed together in their natural chemical matrix, The recommendation that Americans Consume more fresh fruits and vegetables in greater variety appears well supported by data on the diets of free-ranging monkeys and apes. Such data also suggest that greater attention to features of the diet and digestive physiology of non-human primates could direct attention to important areas for future research on features of human diet and health. (C) Elsevier Science Inc. 1999.
Also, my recent searches on databases of scientific published papers resulted in finding this paper, authored by a Nobel prize winning professor Dehmelt. I think that his brilliant mind helped him realize the shortcomings of the cooked food meat and potato diet. I also think that science may just be beginning to realize what the optimum human diet really is.
"YOU ARE A PRIMATE: LIVE AS ONE!
Hans Dehmelt
Nobel Prize 1989
Professor
Department of Physics, University of Washington
HEALTHIEST DIET HYPOTHESIS:
How to cure most diseases
From the earliest times to about 5 million years ago our ancient primate ancestors had been living exclusively in the deep tropical forests of Southern Africa. Here, for about twenty million years, evolution had superbly developed their fruit spying and picking skills to a degree that their numbers increased to taxing the limited food resources [1]. This in turn encouraged some of their more adventurous members to venture out into the surrounding savannas and scavenge the carcasses of large grazing animals brought down by predators and to ignore the shortcomings of this new diet that they were less well adapted to. This group probably originated the line leading to Homo sapiens, us. As we nevertheless more and more multiplied this pattern repeated, and again and again we were forced to subsist on even less and less desirable diets until today a large fraction of the population has adopted variations of the Big Mac diet. Those remaining in the forests on the frugivorous diet changed very little and became Homo troglodytes, the chimpanzees, and our closest relatives whose DNA is 99.4% identical with ours. Their well-known current, obviously raw diet is composed [2,3] approximately of 75% ripe wild fruit, 20% of leaves and pith and 5% foods of animal origin. By dry weight wild fruit contains fats, proteins, carbohydrates, digested and undigested fiber in the approximate proportions 5 : 7 : 14 : 17 : 17. The two essential fatty acids contribute nearly half of the fat component, about 23% linoleic and 16% alpha-linolenic. It is hypothesized that it is still the healthiest diet also for Man because for about twenty million years it has been eaten by the common ancestors of Man and Chimp. They did not fall for the extremely unhealthy practice of cooking their food. All later diets up to the current big Mac diet of the broad American masses increasingly rely on foodstuffs such as meat, grains, beans & potatoes that have to be made edible by cooking and were only adopted under exponentially increasing population pressures. Consequently, all are less healthy and moreover they are the less healthy the later they were adopted. Approximating the Chimp diet by suitably supplemented supermarket items may give us the best of both worlds. See the sample meal in the Appendix. The following work [4,5] supports the hypothesis.
1. Cohen M. N. The food crisis in prehistory: overpopulation and agriculture. Yale University Press, 1977
2. Milton, K. Nutritional characteristics of wild Primate Foods: Do the natural diets of our closest living relatives have lessons for us? Nutrition 15 (1999) 488-498.
3. Conklin-Brittain, N. L., R. W. Wrangham, and K. D. Hunt, 1998. Dietary response of chimpanzees and cercopithecines to seasonal variation in fruit abundance: II. Nutrients. Int. J. Primatol. 19(1998) 71-987.
4. Ehret A. Kranke Menschen (Rational Fasting). Benedict Lust Publications; 1912
5. http://www.waisays.com/
Hans Dehmelt
Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Appeared in the Journal "Medical Hypotheses" Volume 64, Issue 4 , 2005, Page 882"
(source: http://faculty.washington.edu/dehmelt/INDEX(1A)%20(3).htm)
The frugivorous origin of the humans has been mentioned in:
"Fruits, fingers, and fermentation: The sensory cues available to foraging primates", Dominy NJ, Integrative and Comparative Biol 44 (4): 295-303 AUG 2004;
"Ferment in the family tree: Does a frugivorous dietary heritage influence contemporary patterns of human ethanol use?", Milton K, Integrative and Comparative Biol 44 (4): 304-314 AUG 2004;
"Ethanol, fruit ripening, and the historical origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory", Dadley R, Integrative and Comparative Biol 44 (4): 315-323 AUG 2004,
"Evolutionary origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory", Dadley R, Q Rev Biol. 2000 Mar;75(1):3-15.
According to
"Origin of Human Bipedalism: The Knuckle-Walking Hypothesis Revisited", BG Richmond, DR Begun, DS Strait; Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 44:70-105(2001),
the morphology of the early humans implies "a fairly frugivorous diet".
22 December, 2006
This is so good, I have to share it! I don't have enough time to upgrade the recipes section at the moment, so at least here I will mention two yummy things I invented (well, I am probably not the first one who did that) recently:
Lazy bugger's salad:
On my way home, back from work, I decided that I want to have a salad and I wanted it quick. So, I went to the supermarket and bought packets of pre-cut Ceasar (cabbage, carrot etc), baby greens and herbs, mixed salad (various lettuces). Then, at home, I blended a SMALL handful of macademias and cashews with some raisins, 1/2 lemon and 1 orange juice, to make a dressing. I tossed it in the salad, and that's it. Well, I gave half of my salad to Luke, and he devoured it. Me too. Mmm.
Creamy fruit salad:
This one is a total delight. I wanted something gourmet and fruit. So, I cut up some mangoes, papaya, bananas, a few cherries, and then blended the meat from 1 young coconut with some water from it for a dressing. I had it last night and this morning I made another one again. This is total bliss.
I wish
you a Merry Every Day!
Love,
Gosia.
next
Love,
Gosia.