How Are You Spending the International Day of Peace?

Hurray!  The weekend is finally here (and it couldn't come soon enough!).  What a beautiful morning we have here in North Carolina.  This is my favorite time of year when it is still really warm in the day but the mornings are perfect for sitting out on the porch. I love it so much that I almost forget I'm really a Californian!  I will say that a bright morning like this was often rare on the beaches of SoCal - normally it takes a few hours for the marine layer to burn off.
To start the day, I enjoyed a little morning Vitamin D session on the screened porch with one of my favorite green juice (celery, cucumber, green apple, and spinach) and my lazy cat, Audrey. :-).  With the UN International Day of Peace happening this weekend there are a ton of celebrations going on.  I will be attending one in Cary, NC but if I had my druthers I would be at the California Roots & Shoots Peace Festival in Santa Monica. Enjoy your Peace Day!

Raw Foodist Celebrates his 109th Birthday

This will definately give you some RAW inspiration.  The beautiful gentleman lives in Mesa, AZ, eat a primarily raw diet, still walks a mile and a half each day, and more.......

Interestingly, I've done a fair bit a reading about "blue zones" in the world (BTW - Mesa, AZ is not a Blue Zone).  Blue Zones are places were people live insanely long and relatively free of the ills that plague our society (cancer, Alzheimers, diabetes, CVD, etc.).  There are seven blue zones in the world and the common denominator of is that in these areas people grow, harvest, and consume a mostly organic, plant based diet. Hmmmm..........could everywhere be a blue zone if we change our evil ways????

Raw Foodist Celebrates 109th Birthday

MESA, Ariz. - On August 17, Bernando LaPallo turned 109 years old! This Mesa resident lives on his own, still drives and walks around just fine - it's incredible, so I asked him to share some of his secrets.

Bernando eats primarily raw fruits, veggies and fish. Meat is a treat only once a year.

"This is my lifesaver, it keeps me alive..superfood..plus I take it everyday since 1979 - I never miss." said LaPallo.

He believes his clean lifestyle is why he's still alive.

"Well, I don't think I know that eating it's what you eat, you've heard people say you are what you eat, well you are."

Bernando reads daily, walks a mile and a half as soon as he gets up and his favorite product to use on his skin is olive oil.

Extra virgin olive oil is an age old secret he's practiced for years.

His faith is his foundation and his father his role model.

At 109, he's a popular man. He consults people who are trying to change their life for the better and makes speeches around the country. He's written one book, Age Less and Live More and is working on a second. His phone never stops ringing.

"I get calls from all over..Miami, Italy..I'm on TV in South America."

I asked him if he thinks about his final days.

"I never gave dying any though. I still don't. I know I've got to die. Everybody dies." said Bernando.

So what's next for a man who's lived over a century?

He wants to open a restaurant here in the valley with raw foods on one side and healthy American food on the other. But on his birthday, he's going to take a break from his busy days and celebrate another year of life.


By Bernando LaPallo

Juicing for the Homeless

How cool is it that on September 5th three hundred homeless men, women and children in downtown Los Angeles got to take in a glass of wonderful, fresh organic vegetable juice? The man who made the morning a little brighter for these folks is Q-Mars Imandel who started the very first 100% completely transparent non-profit dedicated to putting together projects that directly benefit and enhance communities and the environment.  The organization is called The G.I.V.E Project and this was their very first event. On the GIVE website Q keeps a running tally of contributions and expenses so you can see right where your donations are going.  You can even suggest a project for them to consider!!

In the City of Angels, almost a quarter million people experience homelessness during some part of the year and 82,000 people are homeless on any given night.  Undoubtedly quality nutrition, much less freshly squeezed juice, is difficult to come by.  If you want to see how everyone liked the juice go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve1sfO4sNEI

This makes me so proud to be a Californian!!

High Fruit Raw vs. High Fat Raw

I've been doing a ton of reading and research on the biggest controversy in the raw food world - high fruit vs. high fat.  Both sides have very compelling arguments.

Of course High Fat Rawist I ndulge in tons of seeds, nut butters, avocados, raw chocolate yummies and more.  I analyzed my diet and, in fact, at least 60% of my calories given the day come from fat  - good fat but fat nonetheless. Critics of the High Fat Raw diet content that fat (whether cooked or raw) in high amounts is not good for the body and has a laundry list of ailments associated with it - included are many of the diseases that we, as raw vegans, are trying to avoid.

The High Fruit Rawist adheres to an 80/10/10 philosophy of 80% carbs, 10% protein, and 10% fat.  The only way to have those types of percentages is to incorporate a large amount of fruit. Critics will site all the disadvantages of a diet with sugar - tooth decay, addition, sugar highs/lows, pancreas problems, etc.  Critics may also attack the low protein levels as problematic.  Interestingly, wild fruit has a much lower sugar content than our cultivated fruits.

So, what make the High Fruit Rawist think this is the right approach?  In one word - NATURE......

These are the four closest species to humans and what they eat:

Bonobos: Primarily frugivorous (fruit eaters). Supplements with leaves and small amounts of meat from small vertebrates.
Chimpanzees: Mainly vegetarian – raw fruits, leaves, nuts, seeds, tubers, insects and occasionally hunts for meat.
Gorillas: Herbivore – raw fruit, leaves and shoots. Small amounts of insects.
Orangutans: Raw fruit, shoots, bark, mineral-rich soil, bird eggs, insects, small invertebrates.

And here is the Standard American Diet plus the two versions of Raw:

Standard American Diet: Grain-based, processed and cooked carbohydrates, significant animal protein and dairy with minimal amounts of fruit and cooked vegetables.
High Fat Raw Diet: Nuts, seeds, avocados, coconuts with some greens and small amounts of fruit and sprouts. Lots of dried foods.
High Fruit Raw Diet: Primarily fruit, leafy greens, vegetables. Small amounts of nuts, seeds and avocados.

Basically the only diet above that a primate would eat is the High Fruit Raw Diet. Also, in terms of protein I read the most interesting article about protein and breast milk.  The infantile stage is probably the stage where most growth and development occur.  Protein as been anointed as the Bullet that propels strong growth. However, breast milk only contains 5-10% protein.  This is a diet that a baby could conceivably be on for several years if our society was more accepting.  How does that small amount of protein result in a strong, healthy child if protein is so important?  Also, in the China Study, Dr. Campbell studies people living in rural China who eat as low as 6% of calories from fat.

Having been on the "high fat" side of raw food for about four years now, I do have a crazy yearning to go deeper into the world of raw.  It seems that all High Fruit proponents followed the High Fat lifestyle for several years but no "raw newbies" jump in on the High Fruit side.  So, maybe I'm just done with my indoctrination period?

I'm interested in given this a try.  I'm going to do a little more research and then perhaps give myself a little trial period of going High Fruit for a bit.  I don't know why but this makes me nervous........................

Raw on the Road

Since I travel on business quite a bit it is often difficult to maintain my resolve to live as raw as possible.  Between airports, client lunches/dinners, hours in the car and often traveling to smaller towns who don't have natural foods stores or a good organic offering, I certainly have my resourcefulness challenged.

But today that is not the case!  I woke up to a beauiful oceanview sunrise from my hotel room in Jacksonville Beach, FL.  Jacksonville has an incredible raw community.  Within a 50 miles radius of the city there are a ton of natural foods stores, juice bars, and just down the road in St. Augustine's there is even a raw food restaurant (Present Moment Cafe).  The JAX Raw Meetup community is very active and often has leaders from the internationally recognized leaders in the raw community speaking at various venues and locations.  It truly is a paRAWdise.

My absolute favorite place to eat in JAX is at either of the two Native Sun store.  The have a crazy good juice bar, raw entree/dessert offerings from both Present Moment Cafe and Shatki Life Kitchen, gorgeous produce, and a great staff to boot.  So my lunch today consisted of their Green II Juice (kale, cucumber, celery, spinanch, and green apple) and a delicious Pad Thai from Shakti (cabbage, carrot, kelp noodles covered with a sauce of almond butter, garlic, ginger, chili powder, lemon, maple syrup, tarmari, salt, pepper, and olive oil. 

Fast Food and Life should always be this easy!

Zucchini Noodles with Marinaded Veggies

As I type I am delayed in the Charlotte Airport.  I'm suppose to be in St. Augustine, FL to hear Dr. Brian Clement speak at Present Moment Cafe but alas, I'm here so thought I'd blog my dinner from last night to help ease my pain.

Made a great dish with zucchini.  Instead of running the zucchini through the "spaghetti" attachment of the spiroslicer I used the flat blade and made beautiful ribbons.  I marinaded the ribbons in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, fresh basil and some red pepper flakes.  I then took baby portabello mushrooms, onions, and red and yellow peppers and marinades them separately in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, balsalmic vinegar, and agave.  After about an hour, I threw everything into the dehydrator for about an hour.  The result was quite tasty.  If I had more time I would have left it in the dehydrator for at least 2.5 hours.  Next time...........................

Sunday Night Routine

I travel on business quite bit so part of my Sunday night routine is to prep food for the coming week for my family.  If I don't my crew with find their way over to our golf club to participate in Wacky Wing Night, Pasta Night, and other celebrations of food debauchery. 

A few nights ago I had dehydrated some apples that were about to take a turn for the worse.  The apples turnout out so sweet and delicious. I included these tonight in making my daughter's cereal/snack blend.

This cereal is prepared with coursely chopped almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, walnut, pecans, coconut and dried apples. Then the nuts are mixed with cinnamon and a 5-grain cereal blend.  I lightly tossed it in a little agave. 

My daughter is extrememly active and plays tennis and golf several times a week.  This cereal is a great energy booster for her especially is she has a couple of matches in one day.  For the rest of us however...... beware of the calories in this one.  Although I must say, when I am eating a nutritionally dense item such as this I don't feel like eating as much. My body gets everything it needs in a smaller portion.

As a side note, you could add some nut butter or a little nut milk with the cereal to create a dough that can be dehydrated into yummy 'nola cookies!