The Raw Vegan Network e-newsletter
April 2005
Welcome to the Raw Vegan Network e-newsletter. This newsletter is for informational purposes only. It is not intended for diagnosing, prescribing or healing.
***********************************************************************
In this issue:
-Network Happenings
-In the News
-Health Tip
-Recommended Reading and websites
-Featured Network Member
-Favorite Recipes
-Products
-Raw Food Hike
-Coming Attractions
************************************************************************
NETWORK HAPPENINGS
-We provide online raw food certifications for those who wish to expand their portfolio of expertise enabling them to serve others in there locale that wish to experience the health benefits of living a raw food lifestyle. For information: www.therawvegannetwork.com
-We also provide free contact services for people desiring help in there local area for raw food services. For information: www.therawvegannetwork.com
-Check out the “member’s events” page at www.therawvegannetwork.com/events.htm. It has the latest on what members are doing, such as raw food classes, retreats, raw food delivery, etc.
************************************************************************
IN THE NEWS
The most exciting news about berries is their abundant anti-cancer and anti-aging benefits! Our bodies need antioxidants to protect us from diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Scientists have developed a way to measure the antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables, called oxygen radical absorptive capacity (ORAC). Scientists have found berries have some of the highest antioxidant levels of any fresh fruits, and kale and spinach are the only vegetables with ORAC values as high as fresh, delicious berries. Fresh berries are some of the most powerful (and delicious) disease-fighting foods available.
. 'Purple Berries' Rank High In Antioxidants, USDA Study Says ( Science Daily December 23, 2004) — You may not be familiar with “purple berries,” but new research by a group of USDA scientists suggest they are among the highest fruits for antioxidants, even higher than blueberries and cranberries. > full story
Eating Berries Can Help Lower LDL Cholesterol Science Daily October 5, 1998) — Fresh berries can significantly reduce the buildup of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, a culprit that contributes to heart disease, stroke and atherosclerosis, a form of arteriosclerosis, according to an international team of scientists writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. > full story
Black Raspberries Show Multiple Defenses In Thwarting Cancer ( Science Daily October 30, 2001) — A cup of black raspberries a day may help keep esophageal cancer at bay. Researchers found evidence in rats that black raspberries may both prevent the onset of esophageal cancer as well as inhibit precancerous growth already underway. > full story
Black Raspberries A Potentially Powerful Agent In Fight Against Colon Cancer (Science Daily May 2, 2002) — There is a potentially powerful biological weapon for health -- a mix of compounds suspected of thwarting colon cancer -- hiding deep inside the juicy sweetness of a black raspberry. And if it can be harnessed, it could play a major role in preventing the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. > full story
Editorial (Vickie Fisher, owner Raw Vegan Network): What’s in berries that help us?
Vitamin C: natural antihistamine properties, helps protect the fat-soluble vitamins A & E and fatty acids from oxidation, aids in neutralizing pollutants, needed in antibody production, aids in fighting off foreign invaders, and is vital to the production of collagen involved in the building and health of cartilage, joints, skin, and blood vessels.
Fiber: lowers risk of heart disease by lowering LDL-cholesterol levels, regulates diabetes blood sugar levels, and protects against colon cancer.
Phytochemicals: prevents high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and helps reverse the effects of aging by improving memory and motor skills.
Folic acid: controls your appetite by creating a feeling of fullness, lowers risk of heart disease by lowering LDL-cholesterol levels, protects against colon cancer, and regulates diabetes blood sugar levels.
************************************************************************
HEALTH TIP
Vickie Fisher, owner Raw Vegan Network
As spring approaches and the weather gets warmer, it is time to think about planting a garden. The way to ensure you are getting the most nutrients in your food is to grow your own organic garden. Surveys show that most people have a garden for vegetables with homegrown flavor, to save money, to have a hobby that provides satisfaction and pleasure, and to have some control over what they eat.
Why organic? Organic gardening works with natural systems to grow healthy gardens with nutritious tasting food without dangerous chemicals and pesticides. Composting, crop rotation, and cover cropping help build and maintain soil fertility. Healthy soils naturally produce plants rich in nutrition and flavor. Organic gardening and farming promote a healthy non-toxic environment using mulching or cultivation to control weeds and beneficial insects for pest control.
Most people today don’t have the space, time or patience to maintain a garden. For those of us who desire to have a garden, but don’t have the space, square foot gardening could be the answer. You can grow most vegetables and flowers in minimal space using this method. According to Mel Bartholomew author of Square Foot Gardening, this method “will save at least 80% of the space, time and money normally needed to garden, and at the same time will produce a better and more continuous harvest with less work.” He also says, “you’re going to eliminate all of your thinning, most of your weeding, and a lot of your watering, and will do it all in only one fifth of the area you need for gardening. It will cost much less because there are no elaborate structures, tools, or equipment to buy.”
What is square foot gardening? It is a garden based on squares instead of rows, and where larger plants are trained to grow vertically saving space. Growing crops vertically also results in better sunlight and air circulation for plants.
Why compost? Composting can save you money by reducing trash, providing free soil amendment, and retaining soil moisture which saves on your water bill. Composting can help your garden by feeding the soil, preventing soil erosion, and improving yields of fruit, vegetables, flowers and herbs. Composting can improve our environment by recycling nutrients back into the soil, turning waste into a valuable resource, and saving limited landfill space. Composting makes clay soils airy so they drain, and gives sandy soils body to hold moisture. Composting reduces stress from freezes and drought. Composting attracts and feeds worms. Composting improves mineral and vitamin content in foods grown in compost-rich soil.
Live in an apartment or on the go? Then an indoor sprout garden may be the way for you. Sprouting is inexpensive, easy to grow, and provides a good source for vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids. There are several methods of sprouting: sprout bags, tray-type and the most common, the jar method. Electric automatic sprouting machines are also available. You can harvest such sprouts as alfalfa, broccoli, radish, buckwheat lettuce, sunflower greens, mung beans, grains and legumes.
Organic seeds verses non-organic seeds. Organically grown seeds come from plants that are grown without the use of man-made pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. They are balanced seeds grown on balanced soil. It is the very balance between the plant and the soil that protects it against disease and pests. Non-organically grown seeds usually come from plants that are grown on soil heavily sprayed with a battery of harmful chemicals to ward off weeds and pests.
So whether you are wanting to produce foods rich in vitamins or minerals, to save money, to have a hobby that provides satisfaction and pleasure, or to have some control over what you eat, now is the time to plant that organic garden.
************************************************************************
RECOMMENDED READING AND WEBSITES
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
The Sprouting Book by Ann Wigmore
Sproutman’s Kitchen Garden Cookbook by Steve Meyerowitz
Backyard Composting: Your Guide to Recycling Yard Clippings by Harmonious Technologies
Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening by Howard Garrett and C. Malcolm Beck.
Learn about edible/medicinal wild plants and mushrooms with New York's favorite naturalist. www.wildmanstevebrill.com
Organic gardening made fun. www.goingorganic.com
Organic seeds: www.seedsofchange.com
Organic sprouting seeds www.sprouthouse.com
Links for composting www.homecompost.com
************************************************************************
FEATURED NETWORK MEMBER
COMING FULL CIRCLE
"the subtle art of self-evolution"
Erica Albanese
I became my own doctor long before I was graced with the knowledge of living foods. I didn’t have any other choice.
For as long as I can remember, I always knew something was wrong with me. I’m thirty now and I can’t remember a life that wasn’t symptomatic. I suffered from feelings of non-reality, depression, chest tightness, extreme restlessness, insomnia, lack of concentration, anxiety, panic, hypersensitivities, eye pain, cravings, hives, addictions, blurry vision, swollen eyes, crawling skin, chronic fatigue, suicidal feelings, extreme irritability, hot flashes, slurred speech, extreme mood swings, neck pain, dizziness, uncoordination, and more. As I progressed I developed a tingling in my legs, poor circulation, and arthritis. At times, I even felt and acted drunk without ingesting a drop of alcohol. None of these symptoms made any sense to me. They only made my life a nightmare.
From countless shrinks who put me on tons of medications (including speed) to in-dept testing and even locking myself up one particularly rough summer, I always had a hunch that I was merely being compartmentalized and not really heard. Shuffled around. When one pill didn’t work they just tried another. I finally stopped attending the western medical circus when my already fuzzy brain learned that the next act was lithium. Alarms went off inside of me. I knew this wouldn’t help me, that my brain already felt disfigured enough. I realized with a start that if I was ever going to figure out what was wrong with me, let alone find relief, I was going to have to discover it on my own.
Piece by piece, I began to put the puzzle together. It took years and it was by trial and error. Over the course of time, while whittling away at the branches of natural health to find it’s few authentic contenders, I discovered that I was not suffering from “depression”, “attention deficit disorder”, “anxiety”, “bi-polar disorder”, “borderline personality disorder” or anything else. At long last I learned that I was suffering from systemic candidaiasis (as well as the ensuing parasites, bacteria, and mycotoxicosis). As a result I also have hormone imbalances, a common side effect of chronic candidaiasis. Between the two, no wonder I was such a mess!
I discovered raw foods by accident. I read an article in a free magazine about Karyn Calabrese. It made sense. I had already evolved to full veganism for purely ethical reasons, and I was open to evolving my diet even further. After studying the philosophy, it wasn’t long before I quit my job running a busy chiropractic office and moved to Michigan to attend Creative Health Institute, where I studied and worked for 7 months. By way of “accidentally” falling into my natural role as a facilitator and coach, I realized that this was the field I was meant to work in as well as the powerful lifestyle I am meant to live.
Right now I am in Oregon, furthering my healing and career. Research, experience and common sense cause me to believe that a careful living foods diet accompanied by water fasting, herbs, a positive attitude and the next wave in all natural healing---bio-energetically enhanced plant-based minerals ---is what will reverse my health challenge(s) in full.
Currently I am happily busy designing two new and exciting living foods institutes. Angel’s Health Food Institute is a healing center and educational facility located in the foothills of the gorgeous Cascade Mountains in southern Oregon that has a strong Ann Wigmore influence. I am equally excited about designing “The Best Me Ever” program for the up-and-coming David Wolfe Rejuvenation Center, an energizing, invigorating retreat in the lovely Indiana countryside that focuses on the raw nutrition expertise of David Wolfe. Both institutes will open later this year and feature extensive hands-on courses in live food preparation. I will also be happily directing at both institutes, where my education and certifications from The Raw Vegan Network surely will come in handy!
Also in the cards for me this summer is a 3-week water fast at True North Health, the National Animal Rights Conference in July, and a tentative AIDS outreach effort in Jackson County, OR, to reach the community with the truth about their healing options. I also look forward to teaching local food prep classes as well as submitting articles on candida, water fasting, AIDS and more to future issues of this newsletter.
I must say that inherent to trusting the healing process is trusting the life process! It is easy to say that you believe everything happens for a reason but now I can truly appreciate how my health challenges have guided me to my true calling as well as gifted me with the tools for optimum health, no matter how insufferable they have felt for so long. I am thrilled to be able to teach, to help people help themselves, to promote animal compassion and environmental awareness, and to help raise the consciousness in this world. To be a candle in the darkness. To help light the way for others. And my adventure is only just beginning!
***********************************************************************
FAVORITE RECIPES
Almond Joy Smoothie
Erica Albanese, Raw Vegan Network member Gold Hill, OR
8 oz Almond Milk
2 Tsp Carob
2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp Coconut Oil, liquefied
Combine Almond Milk, Carob, and Agave Nectar in blender. Add liquefied Coconut Oil last and blend. Drink soon! The coconut oil begins to solidify fairly quickly which can feel like you're drinking candle wax. Ideally use room temperature almond milk to help prevent this from occurring. Tip: If your coconut oil is solid, put it in a small jar and set it in a dehydrator for a few minutes to liquefy it quickly. All ingredients can be adjusted to taste. This drink is so rich it feels sinful, very filling, exceptionally healthy and even accelerates weight loss, so drink it guilt-free Enjoy!
Carob-Mint Candies
Erica Albanese, Raw Vegan Network member, Gold Hill, OR
Bars
1 Cup Coconut Flakes
1 to 1 ¼ Cup Agave Nectar
3 ½ Cups Pecans
1 Cup Raisins (unsoaked)
3 Tbsp Carob
Blend Coconut Flakes, Pecans, and Raisins in food processor using “S” blade. Gradually blend in Carob and Agave Nectar. Pouring in as little Agave Nectar as possible, continue blending until mixture forms a ball in the processor. Using your hands, form pieces of the batter into little 2” by 2” square bars, or smaller if desired. I prefer using Agave Nectar rather than honey but it does make them stickier. Remember that the refrigerator will also help to firm them up. Set on a platter, putting ground almonds down first to prevent sticking.
2 Tsp Coconut Oil (liquefied)
2 Tbsp Carob
½ Cup Agave Nectar
1 Tsp Peppermint Extract
Blend ingredients in food processor using “S” blade. Frost bars and refrigerate the bars before serving.
************************************************************************
PRODUCTS
-Need help getting started with incorporating healthy raw food choices into your diet and maintaining the raw vegan lifestyle? Put together an entire holiday feast or a light meal. Mostly Raw Recipes by Vickie Fisher (owner of The Raw Vegan Network) is available at www.therawvegannetwork.com (scroll to the bottom of the home page).
-The Raw Vegan Network is offering juicers, distillers and dehydrators for sale. Products are available at www.therawvegannetwork.com/products.htm .
************************************************************************
RAW FOOD HIKE
The
Amazing Raw Food Hike-a-thon
A 3,000 Mile Fundraising Hike along the Spectacular Continental Divide on a 100%
Raw Food Diet.
Check out www.rawhike.com
************************************************************************
COMING ATTRACTIONS
-If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email us at info@therawvegannetwork.com and we will try to include them in our questions and answers and letters to the editor sections.
************************************************************************
You are receiving this e-newsletter either because you have subscribed freely or a friend forwarded to you. If you received this e-newsletter from a friend and wish to subscribe, please email info@therawvegannetwork.com . If you wish to change your email address or unsubscribe please email info@therawvegannetwork.com .
At no time does The Raw Vegan Network spam anyone nor will your email be shared with any other listing. If you feel you have received this newsletter in error, please let us know at info@therawvegannetwork.com.