Was it easier to be fitter in the 80's?

Looking at old family, you see happy smiles, trips to visit the Easter bunny, but have you noticed how amazingly fit everyone looks? People were eating butter, lots of red meat, and they weren’t really hitting the gym. Is just our imaginations? No, scientist have recently confirmed people today, who eat and exercise the same amount as people 20 years ago, are actually bigger.

A study published recently in the journal Obesity Research & Clinical Practice found that it’s harder for adults today to maintain the same weight as those 20 to 30 years ago did, even at the same levels of food intake and exercise.

The authors examined the dietary data of 36,400 Americans between 1971 and 2008 and the physical activity data of 14,419 people between 1988 and 2006. They grouped the data sets together by the amount of food and activity, age, and BMI.

They found a very surprising correlation: A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher. In other words, people today are about 10 percent heavier than people were in the 1980s, even if they follow the exact same diet and exercise plans.

This note blew me away. You could be eating and exercising in the exact same way, but your 1988 self would be smaller than your 2015 self. So what gives? You’re eating the same amount of calories, burning the same amount of calories, but your size would be different. It doesn’t make sense. 

Research finds it’s a combination of increased exposure to hormone-altering chemicals, the rise in prescription meds like antidepressants that can lead to weight gain, and changing gut bacteria from our meat- and sugar-heavy diets. Plus, stress, eating later, and exposure to light at night, which can mess with your sleep rhythms. 

Think of the number of nights you have laid in bed, with the tablet on your lap watching Netflix. Bet you’re also scrolling through your smartphone while you’re watching your favorite tv show. This new technology behavior sadly isn’t good for us, and our bodies are letting us know.

When it comes to medication, hey, if you need it you need it. Where we can make a difference is what we’re eating, finding a way to unwind, not eating late night, and putting away technology before we’re ready to call it a night. Treat your 2015 body likes it 1988 again.

Add more organic food staples into your life. Those everyday items are the ones with hidden with additives. If you’re drinking cow milk, you don’t know what kind of chemicals may have been injected into it or what kind of feed it’s grazing off. It’s scary when you think about it. It explains how you can be eating the same things in 1988 and 2015, but your body will look different.

Scientist also said adding a little zen to your life is necessary. The driving here, driving there, the constant hustle. You have to stop. Give your body a chance to let go of all the tension life gives you day to day. Try some of these tips to bring some more ‘om’ into your life. Don’t carry around those knots you get from sitting on the freeway during rush hour.

After all that sitting on the freeway the last thing you want to do is cook as soon as you walk in the door. It’s why we’re having all these late night meals, which doctors are telling us need to stop. Maybe dinner isn’t the huge meal we think we should be. Who says you need a huge plate of food to end your day? 

There is no such thing as the perfect size, but we can work towards leading a healthy life. Scientists are telling us we need to take away some of the modern conveniences since they’re actually harming us instead of helping our bodies. We keep hearing natural, raw, organic, and it really could be a better way of life.  

Raw Coconut Vinegar is taking over ACV’s territory.

I remember when I learned about the Native Americans’ hunting practice of everything serving a purpose. Nothing went to waste. I was in awe of their ingenuity. I recently had the same spark when I discovered raw coconut vinegar. Haven’t we done everything we can with coconuts?

You’ve tried coconut water, coconut oil, but have you tried coconut vinegar? Try replacing your apple cider vinegar shots with fresh coconut sap vinegar and you’ll be getting more vitamins, minerals, and amino acids than you ever would with ACV. According to the USDA Nutrient Database, apple cider vinegar has no measurable vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, or vitamin E. 

Coconut vinegar also leaves ACV in the dust with it’s 17 amino acids. In comparison, apple cider vinegar barely registers on the scale with it’s low count. Amino acids supply nutrients to nourish the skin, hair and nails from within the body. They also work to strengthen connective tissue which keeps our skin smooth and elastic, the nails firm and the hair strong. 

Coconut vinegar gets it’s amazing powers from coconut trees growing in rich volcanic soil. This environment contributes to the liquid’s high mineral content, low glycemic index, and nearly neutral pH balance to help alkaline our bodies. It also contains Fructooligosaccharides or FOS for short. FOS cannot be digested or absorbed by the human body, and must pass through the digestive tract to the large intestine where they act as a food source for probiotics. 

Our bodies need probiotics to keep everything moving in our digestive tract, and raw coconut vinegar is an excellent prebiotic to start this process with one tablespoon. Like I said, I thought we had discovered everything there was about the coconut, but learning about raw coconut vinegar made me realize we really should be more like the early frontiers people and use every little piece of nutritious food supply.

Coconut vinegar is made from the sap of the coconut tree (called Tuba). Tuba is collected from the stem that "feeds" the coconuts. A "Tuba Collector" climbs to the top of the coconut tree and clips the stem that contains flowers and baby coconuts. Then a collection vessel is hung from the tree and the stem placed so the sap will run into it. Every day a collector travels to collect the sap from each tree.

Once collected, the sap (or tuba) is allowed to ferment into a natural coconut vinegar. Unfiltered and unheated, the color of the vinegar changes as it ages, from cloudy white to light yellow to a clear light brown as it further matures. As the vinegar ages, sediments will appear at the bottom. This is called "mother vinegar,” as we’re familiar with ACV.

If you want to try coconut vinegar for yourself, make sure you’re buying a product which comes from sap vs. coconut water. The sap is what contains all these health benefits we’ve been discussing. Sap vinegar is naturally aged for 8 months to one year, with no additives, enhancing it’s nutrient-rich properties.

On the other hand, coconut water-based vinegar undergoes an “assisted” fermentation process. This happens by adding a fermentation starter, either apple cider vinegar, or muscavado cane sugar to catalyze fermentation. Because of this, water-based vinegar is not capable of forming a “mother” culture, resulting in a less nutritious end product. You could save a couple of dollars buying the lesser product, but you’d be better off using it for salad dressing. If you want to receive the health benefits, definitely splurge for this tasty detox remedy. 

If you’re currently using ACV for your daily cleanse, you’ll love the taste of coconut vinegar. It has a much sweeter taste in my opinion. A contributing factor to this opinion could be the fact you only have to use one tablespoon of coconut vinegar, in comparison to the two tablespoons of ACV for a single serving. One tablespoon, two tablespoons, what’s the difference? When you’re drinking raw vinegar, it definitely makes a difference on your tastebuds.

I’ve swapped out my ACV with raw coconut vinegar, and I can say after a week of doing this, I’m extremely happy with the results. I’ve been drinking ACV every morning for the last eight months, and have noticed I have more energy. My sinuses are getting rid of all the toxins. I’d also agree with other users who report eating less. Coconut vinegar contains acetic acid, an organic compound studies show suppresses appetite. It must the pH balance I tell ya. Whatever it is, raw organic coconut vinegar should be your new best friend.

Baobab : More health benefits than the acai and goji berries you know

When I was younger I could spend hours in the cosmetics section of Thrifty’s learning about skin cleansers and moisturizers. Now imagine the same enthusiasm for exploring the aisle of superfoods, organic extracts, and natural health remedies at the market. It’s how you discover new things, such as the amazing South African superfruit baobab. The market employee couldn’t stop raving about all the benefits this citrus flavored superfruit. 

Into the cart it went, and after a few weeks of trying it, I was left wondering, “Why I had I not discovered this earlier?” I ventured into the world of baobab by trying out Powbab’s superfruit chews (It sounds like a tongue twister). When the label promises a 100% of my recommended daily antioxidant dosage, along with daily serving of Vitamins C, E & A, I figured why not. These bitesize nibbles combine baobab along with pomegranate and acai berries. The health benefits of the acai berry are well known, so I figured I had nothing to lose, and a whole lot to gain. It was was one of the best gambles I took. 

Among some of the most notable health benefits of the African superfruit are:

A single serving of offers 25 mg of Vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid, a naturally occurring organic compound with antioxidant properties

• Up to 7 times more Vitamin C than goji berries

• 25 times more Vitamin C than acai berries

A single serving offers 3 grams of soluble fiber and 1 gram of insoluble fiber, which reduces cholesterol levels and to reducing risk of heart disease

• 19 times the amount of fiber of goji berries

• 8.5 times the amount of fiber of acai berries

Being high in antioxidant levels means baobab reduces free radicals, the molecules you hear referenced in beauty treatments. Free radicals are responsible for damaging our body cells. The oxidative stress that oxygen-free radicals cause is held as reason why our bodies age. This superfruit fills your body naturally to fight the anti aging process.

This little African fruit contains so many health and beauty benefits, your body will love you for adding it into your diet. Foods rich in Vitamin C are a cornerstone of the anti-wrinkle diet. Vitamin C, whether derived from foods or dietary supplements, helps your body form collagen and elastin, two structural proteins that give your skin support and elasticity. 

Adding Vitamin C rich foods such as baobab to your diet might also enhance your body's fat burning capabilities during a workout. A team of scientists from Arizona State University discovered that people with low blood concentrations of Vitamin C burned 25 percent less fat during a 60-minute walk on a treadmill, compared with those who had adequate levels of Vitamin C in their blood. 

The potential weight loss effects of Vitamin C may be linked to the fact that it is needed for the production of carnitine, a compound that encourages your body to turn fat into fuel, rather than to store it as body fat. Also, Vitamin C rich foods also combat varicose veins because they help our cardiovascular system work more efficiently. Vitamin C keeps our body working smart, regenerating, and maximizing how our processes work instead of slowing down as we age. 

If you’re still not sold on the superfood benefits of baobab, what would your liver say when it heard this superfruit will help realign it’s internal cleansing. It works hard detoxifying toxic substances, including metabolic wastes, and excreting them from your body. Over time, high exposure to toxins such as cigarette smoke, chemicals, alcohol and other substances can cause damage to the liver and limit its detoxifying capabilities. 

Help your body get it’s groove back by fueling it with restorative superfoods like baobab. This superfruit comes from a tree referred to as “The Tree of Life,” which usually are over 1,000+ years old. They supply your body with a myriad of beneficial minerals including calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc. 

Human beings have been on this planet for a long time. Before there were planes, trains, and automobiles, we had to look to our backyards to feed ourselves with goodness. Let’s embrace what modern technology has given us. Now we can visit every global ‘backyard,’ and learn about their wholesome native foods. The magical African fruit, baobab, comes from a tree named after life. After trying it, my body knows why. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Artificial colors and preservatives found in your 'fresh food' choices

Food oh glorious food. It nourishes our body and keeps us alive. Modern living has changed the way we eat. Take a drive during the work week, and you’ll see cars lined up around the corner waiting to order their combo meals. Take a walk down the grocery aisle, and you’re surrounded by colorful labels making claims ‘low cal, fat free, and healthy.’ Unfortunately, sometimes these manufacturers need to add chemicals, preservatives and additives to make those 99 cent tacos or the meat in the refrigerated section look look more colorful.

It’s not a pleasant thought, but it’s the truth. As you journey towards eating healthy, the motto is “if you can’t pronounce, don’t eat it.” When you’re picking up boxes in the grocery store, you can read the ingredient list, and make your healthy choice. When you’re ordering off a menu, you have no idea how your food got to your plate. Where did it come from? How was it manufactured? The fluffy bread you’re snacking on, maybe it has azodicarbonamide, a chemical used in yoga mats and Subway sandwiches. 

Yes, you read correctly. Ordering a sandwich from the “healthy” fast food chain included a side of rubber with your order. Last year’s scandal rocked American consumers. Subway addressed customers concerns, and said they would be taking the chemical out of it’s products. Azodicarbonamide isn’t the only chemical used by the sandwich maker. Recently, the franchise has decided to remove all artificial colors, flavors and preservatives from its American menus by 2017.

What are they taking out? The chain is cutting artificial flavors and caramel coloring from its new roast beef recipe that involves roasting beef "with increased levels of garlic and pepper." Vinegar will replace propionic acid, a preservative in its turkey. Banana peppers will be given their fluorescent sheen with turmeric, often used in Indian curries, instead of food dye Yellow No. 5.

Subway is joining a list of fast food restaurants and manufacturers taking note of consumers want for ingredients they can name in their food. To name a few, Diet Pepsi is taking out aspartame from their sodas. Not because it’s unsafe, but because consumers have been letting them know they want products without artificial sweeteners. 

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is removing synthetic coloring and preservatives from it’s beloved kids’ dinner. You have to admit, there was something not right about the strange orange powder you mixed with your milk. Another popular coloring used is caramel by companies like Subway and Newcastle Brown Ale, who have decided to no longer use this additive. 

Knowing what is in our foods is not a passing trend. Consumers are becoming more vocal about having natural products, and spending their dollars on companies who are answering this need. Chipotle will not be serving any GMO ingredients in their fare. McDonald’s has also decided not to serve chicken treated with antibiotics. Shockingly these antibiotics are also being used as prescription drugs for humans. Tyson will also be removing human antibiotics from their chicken products, along with Costco.  You have to wonder how Costco can have so many rotisserie chickens in their stores for only $4.99.

The large candy manufacturers are also taking part in the preservative free revolution. Hershey’s will start using more natural sugar, than high fructose corn syrup in it’s products. Nestle is removing artificial flavors and colors from Butterfinger, Crunch, and other chocolate candies. Think of when you’re in the kitchen baking, most recipes call for vanilla extract. Nestle has been using something called vanillin. At least they’ve been using a cool name for this scientific ingredient.

Lastly, we have Panera Bread dropping roughly one-third of the ingredients used in its food by instituting bans on the likes of saccharin, aspartame, synthetic benzyl peroxide, and maltodextrin. This place always seemed like a good choice when you were looking for something, but like Subway and all these other manufacturers, chemicals are hidden everywhere.

Many of these manufacturers are changing their practices because consumers are speaking up. Food blogger, Food Babe, is credited for blowing the whistle on Subway’s ‘yoga mat bread’. She started the petition on her website which garnered international attention. You have to applaud her efforts. Companies listen to consumers when they speak with their dollars. 

Rose Hip Oil: The Fountain of Youth

In search of living an organic and preservative-free lifestyle, coconut oil became the magic product to buy. It seems there are over 1001 uses for this tropical plant, including  wrinkle fighter, nutrient dense protein, and excellent source of healthy fat. In terms of a beauty product, it might have to let the crown go for ‘best natural beauty moisturizer’ found in nature to rosehip seed oil. Kate Middleton is a fan of the dry oil. She used it during her pregnancy, as part of her daily skincare regiment . Like most of us, Middleton is concerned with where products come from, and how these treatment ingredients are absorbed into our bodies.

What makes this oil from the Chilean Andes so wonderful? So many reasons, first off it’s a natural, vegan, single ingredient beauty option. It’s relatively inexpensive when you compare it to a lifetime of spending hundreds, probably thousands of dollars on expensive moisturizers. Thanks to this extract oil, you can now have a wrinkle free complexion with it’s concentrated Vitamin A and C properties. You’ll see a rejuvenation of your skin, as your wrinkles and sun spots fade away.

“Rosehip seed oil contains a blend of bioactive ingredients that can potentially be beneficial to the skin, for example vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids, and essential fatty acids,” says Dr. Julia Tzu, a dermatologist who is also an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York University. “It may be potentially beneficial as an anti-aging product because of the antioxidant ingredients it contains. Its high vitamin C content suggests that it may also be useful for treating dark spots, since vitamin C decreases the pigment-producing ability of the skin.” 

The benefits of this natural oil make it a favorite among pregnant women and people suffering from skin conditions like eczema and rosea rash. When your hormone levels are changing or skin has bouts of flare up, rose hips can balance and calm your skin. Remember back to when you were a teenager, and the advice everyone would give you was to keep it simple and natural with your changing skin. The philosophy still holds true, even if we have all these scientifically formulated beauty products available. RHSO is nature’s simple and pure moisturizer.

Even if you aren’t suffering from problem skin, rosehip seed oil is the serum to use. The oil can penetrate deep into your skin due to the vitamin A properties. Its molecules are small enough to be deeply absorbed by the skin, and improve the skin’s moisture levels.  Having well hydrated skin means you’ll be reducing wrinkles and fine lines. With its anti-aging, antioxidants benefits penetrating deep into the layers of skin you’ll see a more refreshed and glowing you in no time. In addition to vitamin A, its vitamin C antioxidant properties stimulate collagen production. RHSO is like having your own dermatologist in a bottle morning, noon, and night.

Not only does roseship seed oil fight wrinkles, but it also helps even out your skin tone and erase any facial scarring you might have. It contains essential fatty acids, which  regenerate your skin cells and repair damaged skin tissue. Regenerating skin means the appearance of burns, scars, wrinkles and stretch marks will fade with continued RHSO use. This is an amazing product for everyone to have in their beauty arsenal or first aid kit. 

As the name implies, rosehip seed oil comes from fruit oil extracted from the hip of the rose. The hip is the fruit that is left after a rose has bloomed and the petals have fallen. It has been used by indigenous population of Chile for hundreds of years, and not just on their faces. Other uses of rosehip seed oil is nail care and hair care treatments.  

Are all RHSOs the same? No. Just like our fresh juices, you want to buy organic, cold pressed oils when possible. There are tons on the market right now, so read those ingredient lists and processing details throughly. If want to feel like a royal, at a fraction at the price, try Trilogy’s Certified Organic Rosehip Oil. It’s Duchess Kate’s favorite, and luckily, not on back order anymore. After her beauty secret got out, this product become hard to find.

If you want the same power of Trilogy’s RHSO, but not sure if want to put down $45 for an experiment, try Mountain Rose Herbs offering. It’s only $16 for a 4 oz. vial, and when you see the magic of this natural moisturizer, you can move up to the larger sizes. Not sure if we’ll order the gallon size, but if you’re a esthetician, this is probably good news.

Not completely sold on this oil as the fountain of youth. Supermodel Miranda Kerr swears by RHSO. She’s developed her own skincare line, KORA Organics. Several of her products contain rosehip seed oil as a main ingredient. Her Luxurious Rosehip Oil contains noni extract, organic rosehip oil, jasmine, sea buckthorn, rose and pomegranate oils for multi purpose use.

Inspired to try something new? We've turned a couple of our friends onto RHSO, and we’ll always get a text the next morning saying, “OMG, it looks like I woke up and spent the night at the spa!” When your friends send you those messages, you know you have a beauty winner product on your hands.

Edible Beauty: From the kitchen to your vanity

Spirulina, Coconut Oil, Agave Nectar, Olive Oil, and Apple Cider Vinegar. Sounds like a grocery list, along with apples and pears to make a salad. Actually, we’re making a list for five natural ingredients you would find in your kitchen, but should also have a place in your beauty routine. Eating natural, organic, and whole foods have been proven to be the best for our bodies internally, why not the same philosophy for taking care of the outside of our bodies? 

Dr. Alkaitis, of Dr. Alkaitis’ holistic organic skin food, spoke with The Chalkboard Mag about his ‘edible’ beauty products. His answer made sense to us.

“The simple answer is that whatever is put on your skin is absorbed into your body, it is ‘eaten’. So if one is interested in maintaining a healthy skin and health, then they should follow this simple guideline: ‘If you can’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin.”

It got us thinking, what steps can we take to bring this way of ‘living’ into our lives, in a simple manner. If we should be able to eat it, let’s find out what we should have in our cupboards, and buy extra for our ‘natural beauty’ regimen. No special equipment, beakers or AP Chemistry classes needed.

First up, spirulina, your new favorite Super Food. It is highly digestible, but it also helps the body absorb minerals, lowers cholesterol, and protects the immune system as well. Have a half teaspoon in your breakfast smoothie. You’ll notice a healthier skin tone, dark circles fading away, and your hair looking glossy. Or make a paste by mixing some spirulina with water, and apply it on your face. Keep on for 20 minutes and wash off. This will make your skin amazingly soft, smooth, and you’ll also be preventing signs of aging by eliminating free radicals. Yes, spirulina prevents ’wrinkles.’

Another amazing anti aging natural beauty ingredient, coconut oil. It’s used from baking, cooking and dessert making, but as wrinkle fighter? It sure is. Use a lil coconut oil underneath the delicate area of your eyes to keep them line free or use it for preventing dark spots or stretch marks. You can also take coconut oil and blend it with several edible ingredients to create power punch beauty products. 

Use coconut oil with agave nectar, aloe vera, and vegetable glycerin to make a curl conditioning and defining serum. All edible ingredients. Or you can also use it with olive oil to create a moisturizer. Don’t worry your skin will love it instead of breaking out. Just start off a few times a week. Your skin will let you know you’re doing right when you see a glowing and dewy complexion. 

From making your all-natural defining hair serum or vegan facial moisturizer, what to do with your agave nectar or olive oil beauty wise? You can make an oatmeal and agave facial mask to combat irritated skin. Mexicans have been using it for hundreds of years to relieve skin infections and kill bacteria. If a oatmeal and agave mask is the secret to a beach kissed look, we’re in! Use the rest of your olive oil to soften your hands, remove your makeup at night or moisturize your skin after a hot shower.

Last, but definitely not least, on our list we have apple cider vinegar with the mother. From some our visits to the grocery store, seems this item is hard to keep in stock. It’s always a toss up whether or not you’ll find it. There is an overabundance of goodness in this vinegar. You most likely have heard about it when you’re suffering from allergies, and everyone will suggest you use it to kill bacteria in your throat. 

When you use it as a beauty product you can use it as a skin toner, spot treatment for acne, residue remover for hair, and even a natural deodorant. Just like coconut oil, ACV has a mile long list of beauty solution to try. This blog lists just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of what edible beauty can do you for you.

Hope we inspired you to restock your kitchen pantry and bathroom cabinets with these multi purpose natural ingredients. Buy organic, all natural, cold pressed, or extra virgin when it’s an option. If we’re feeding our bodies the best we can, let’s do the same for our skin. A fresher, healthier, glowing outside you will match how amazing you feel in the inside as well.

"Raw. Vegan. Not Gross." plant based life made fun.

We’ve all been there, it’s late night, you’ve had an action packed day of work, pilates, and errands, but somehow you can’t bear the thought of going to bed. You can’t have it be a Groundhog Day. Queue the Apple TV for some late night surfing. Are those new channels? Yes. The new HBO, but hmm, you want to explore something new.

Tastemade? What’s this about? A channel dedicated to food. Ok, and they’re featuring an episode for Raw Vegan Pad Thai by Raw.Vegan.Not Gross. You chuckle a little. The show name lures you in, and you think, is it even possible to make raw vegan pad thai?

Laura Miller of Sidesaddle Kitchen makes it a reality. She makes living a plant based diet fun, exciting, and mouth watering. Whether you’re watching her online or reading her blog, Miller changes what you think of the vegan life. She inspires you to try new things with common dishes. Changing the picture in your head, when you think of plate tacos.

Raw.Vegan.Not Gross. came from Miller’s time at San Francisco’s Underground Market.

“Essentially I sold the only vegan food at the farmer’s market. I was in between fried chicken and meat sandwiches, and tried to have a sense of humor and self-awareness about what I was selling. Everyone in San Francisco has tried raw food, and maybe didn’t like it. So I was trying to poke fun at myself, and get people to not just walk around my booth because they thought I was really intense,” she says. 

By that point, I had some demoralizing experiences with culty, judgey, sickly-looking, and humorless raw food culture, and I wanted to differentiate myself.”

Laura definitely takes a different approach to her cooking show. It’s informative, fast-paced, and makes you feel like you’ve known her forever. She grabs you from the other side of the screen and brings you into her kitchen. She teaches you how to make vegan creations such as Beet Lasagna or Cauliflower Pizza to name a few. 

With a smile on her lips, her hands in a bowl mixing ingredients, she makes it ok to experiment with dishes and ideas. We see it in her Cauliflower Pizza video, as the finished pizza slides off the platter. Raw. Vegan. Not Gross doesn’t cut out the mistakes, it actually embraces them. 

It’s happened to all of us. You’re excited to share your finished edible creation. “Tada” only to have the crust fall apart. What do you do? Erupt into peals of laughter with your friends, and say, “Hey, it’s fine. It’s still all in one piece!” It’s how the Cauliflower Pizza episode ends. Miller shows you it’s not about being perfect, but about enjoying what you’re making. 

RVNG isn’t only for adults, she’s also modified some of her recipes for the younger ones in our families. She shares her kid-friendly kale chips, avocado-chocolate pudding, and a berry-licious green shake on sites such as Mother Mag. Her goal is to “get as much nutrition as possible into their little bodies, minus the processed foods, chemicals, and preservatives,” 

If you’re more of book person versus video in the kitchen person. Don’t worry she’ll be sharing her passion of the goodness of raw food, and will be coming out with her own cookbook in the future. Will it be 100 percent vegan? No, but Laura’s honesty is refreshing on the topic. 

“I just love raw vegan food. I eat cooked food (GASP!) and that will be incorporated into the book because I think it is just more practical and cost-efficient than eating all raw. And truth bomb here: I also will occasionally eat eggs from my parents' chicken coop and even a cheese stick if one of my adorable nieces hands it to me. I think the introduction to raw vegan food can be hard because it seems very intense and exclusive to outsiders. My hope is that more people will come to see that plant-based diets are not boring, dogmatic, or cult-like, because I see much more benefit for our collective health and environment if most of us eat a plant based diet than if 100 of us are extreme hard-core raw vegans.”

Sharing a new chef or the idea of veganism isn’t revolutionary, but when someone gets you excited and motivated to try something in a new way, you can’t help but take notice. 

When she’s not busy experimenting with recipes, or in the studio filming, she shares her amazing portraits with produce (naturally) to only make you love her more.

We’re off to the kitchen. We discovered this recipe for Beyonce-Probs-Drinks-This green shake, and we have to try it.

Alert: Healthy Snack Addiction Ahead! Living Tree Community's Organic Alive Almond Butter

We feel like the last kid to show up at the party… how could we have possibly been kept in the dark about this amazing healthy food!? It’s been right in front of our eyes this whole time!

We’re talking about almond butter. Yeah, sure, almond butter is no new news to health enthusiasts, and we’ve been adding it to our smoothies and spreading it on apples for years. But we’re not talking about regular, organic, delicious, almond butter. We’re talking about The Most Amazing Almond Butter In The Entire Universe! 

Introducing our new favorite:

Organic Alive Almond Butter from Living Tree Community Foods

The Most Amazing Almond Butter In The Universe! Organic Alive Almond Butter from LTCF

The Almond Butter is so perfectly nutty and fresh, with the most amazing, smooth-but-gritty-at-the-same-time texture. There’s no oily layer, and from the second you open the jar there’s an overwhelming aroma from the “Alive” almonds. Why do they call it “Alive” you may ask? Instead of sprouting their almonds, they slice and slice, and then let the almonds sit overnight. And then slice again, and again. This process takes several days, with no grinding or pressing. Living Tree's method of making their almond butter is so different from other organic food companies, and really special. They make the almond butter in small batches, using a low-temperature process so the almonds are always fresh and alive.

We accredit the amazing texture and fluffiness to this laborious process! Living Tree also says that by making their almond butter this way it preserves the health content of the nuts. No preservatives, no additives-- nothing except for Organic Raw Almonds. They've been using local organic California almonds from the same family farmers for more than 15 years! 

With several options of almond butters now available at most markets, it’s hard to know which one is best. (Especially when they all have an already higher price tag than peanut butter.) And it may be hard to imagine how one brand can surpass the flavor and health of all others. But take our word, once you try Living Tree Community’s Organic Alive Almond Butter, you’ll agree that the difference in quality is undeniable.

Living Tree Community has much more to offer in addition to The Most Amazing Almond Butter In The Entire Universe, and we’re so excited to try more products from the brand! Visit their website HERE to learn more…and shop!