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.

"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.

Goodbye Hair Dye, Hello Wheatgrass!

We’ve shared countless benefits of juicing and how important it is to keep a surplus of greens in your diet. It’s not a secret that one of the best things you can do for your body is fuel it properly. Today we want to single out one very special green that has tremendous benefits and nourishes your body in more ways than one: Wheatgrass.

Why is Wheatgrass so special?

-High in CHOLOROPHYLL (nature’s most health-promoting nutrient), which helps to purify the liver and other organs

-Contains 20 AMINO ACIDS

-FIGHTS AGAINST INFECTIONS and improves the body’s ability to heal

-High MAGNESIUM content in chlorophyll BUILDS ENXYMES that restore the SEX HORMONES

-Provides several hundred different ENZYMES NOT FOUND IN OTHER FOODS

-Keeps bowels working properly

-Aids in PREVENTION and FIGHTS AGAINST CANCER and other diseases

Overall, Wheatgrass is a complete food rich in essential vitamins, minerals, complete proteins, fiber, enzymes, fatty acids, phytonutrients, and more!

What might just be the best-kept secret about Wheatgrass is that it has proven to have an incredible ability to restore the natural pigment of hair once hair has started to go gray.

Say goodbye to hair dye, hello to Wheatgrass!

Due to the elevated amount of chlorophyll, which oxygenates the blood and rejuvenates the entire human system, Wheatgrass can actually preserve the natural color of hair.

To get your grays away:

-Drink 1 -2 fluid oz. fresh-squeezed Wheatgrass juice a day

or

-Drink 1 Tablespoon of Wheatgrass powder, 1-3 times a day

or

-Take 7-10 Wheatgrass tablets (500mg) a day

Wheatgrass has seemingly an endless list of benefits! Whether your goal is to be rid of grays or to simply to rejuvenate your body, we hope you give Wheatgrass a chance.

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! 

Sipping on Chocolate while you are enjoying your Coffee

SKIP THE COFFEE...DRINK CHOCOLATE

Rau Chocolate

Who would want to drink coffee to get energized in the morning when they could drink chocolate!

Semi locally this product is made just south of us in San Diego.  It is super tasty!

ZERO DAIRY, SUGAR, GMO, PRESERVATIVES, SOY, ARTIFICIAL ANYTHING

THE STATS ARE EVEN GOOD...DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT GAINING WEIGHT FROM CHOCOLATE WHEN THE CHOCOLATE IS NATURAL

BETTER YET IT EVEN CONTAINS FIBER ALLOWING THE MAGIC TO STILL WORK OUT THE BACK DOOR JUST LIKE YOUR BELOVED COFFEE DOES ;-)

4G PER BOTTLE


START ASKING FOR RAU CHOCOLATE DRINK AT YOUR LOCAL HEALTH FOOD STORES AND YOU'D BE SURPRISED AS TO HOW QUICKLY IT WILL SHOW UP ON THE SHELF!

Dangerously Delicious AND Healthy

I think it is often that a lot of us find ourselves in a pinch for a snack when the hunger strikes when you least expect it to.  It happens to me often, yet I don't always have the best options surrounding me.  Due to most places surrounding us sticking to the American Standard Diet aka 80% junk it leaves less options available for those of us that want to treat our bodies right.

"You are what you eat."

I am a firm believer in this.  Sure we love our treats, but what if I told you there is yet another option out there giving us nutritious ingredients while tasting like we just had the biggest 'treat' of our life.  I have a sweet tooth and this has been a great option for kicking that sugar craving while satisfying that sneaky hunger strike.

My solution is: Elemental Raw Food Bars

These are all absolutely amazing.  Trust me when I say that the Peanut Butter/Dark Chocolate one is dangerously delicious.

The great thing about buying these products from the website is that they are only $29/dozen.  Free shipping over $80 and When you buy 4 boxes you get a free bag of the crumble to top on endless options.

I also encourage you all to click on the link about to read about their story and fall in love with this wonderful company.  Everything is completely raw, dairy free, gluten free but EVERYTHING DELICIOUS.

Artisana Superfood!

Calling all nut butter fanatics!

Nut Butters has reached a new level of awesome!

Artisana, a well known company in Organic Raw (nut insert here) butters has released a new product. On their shelf they have cashew, pecan, walnut, almond butters just to name a few. Under their belt they already broke ground in making coconut butter (which is completely different than oil). Has already became a leader in raw coconut butter, with very few competitors in their way. Added cacao into a line of their coconut butter is another daring move they made with no one else on the shelf competing. Artisana is great at being ahead of the game and introducing great porducts into the health market. Full of essential fats aka good for you fats, this company needs to be in everyone's life. 

Whichever product you choose, you will not be let down. One of them will become a staple in your diet. What is also super great about the pre-existing products is that many of them come in single serving packets, so you don't have to worry about over doing it. If you are like me and one serving of almond butter is actually more like six, the single serving packs are your go to! Lets get on with the new product line shall we... Always amazing the public with new inventive products, they have released a line of nut butters with super foods added into them. Used like a spread, just like you would with any of the other nut butters, you can now add more beneficial nutrients to your midday snacks! For those of you worried about calories, you can enjoy the same creaminess with a lesser amount of calories. Each packet coming in at 100 calories or less. Add some variety into your snacks and check out all the products by Artisana!

Blue Algae  this one to me has a lemon kind of flavor...maybe pair with some fresh berries

Goji and Milk Thistle this one could almost be your PB&J without the J...just spread on whatever you would enjoy PB&J on.

Berry Antioxidant this one fights aging...lets rub it on our faces, just kidding...eat straight out of the packet!

Acai Berry this one would be a great accent to greek yogurt

Marine Phytoplankton  I have not had a chance to check this one out yet

If you weren't sold on their products by now, how about the added fact that they are always giving back to the communities!?!

Follow this link to order some of your next superfoods!

Bella Bars: Belle Raw Snacks!

You all by now know how much I love raw snacks and foods. Well I particularly love raw food on the go, for when you are out on the town or on vacation somewhere awesome.

The go-to snacks for me right now are Bella Bars, luxury raw food bars, which are all natural, preservative-free and vegan, and with no added sugar and only 210 calories. I love these because I am an avid chocolate lover, and this is an easy way to get your choco fix without the stomach aches and calories that come with regular choco bars.

Bars come in chocolate nut and cinnamon nut flavors, both enough to satisfy your sweet tooth or that hunger on the go.

The bar's all natural ingredients include: Dates, Walnuts, Pecans, Agave Syrup, Hemp Seed, Rolled Oats, Hemp Powder, Ground Flax, Brown Rice Protein, Cocoa Powder, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Salt.

Order these online HERE.