Why Eat Whole Foods Instead of Processed Foods? Here's an Example...

How are these "fortified" elements in any way bioavailable to the human body? If we are to absorb minerals like iron they have to be in natural ionic form, like in green leafy vegetables, or in an appropriate dietary supplement... not actual metallic filings. Even colloidal minerals are to big for absorption in most cases...

And just like that, I'm back...

Needless to say I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, lol... but I've gone from this:

To this:

So, yeah... been busy, lol.... This is Aiobheann Isabella, aka 'Evie', and she's BEAUTIFUL, welcome her to earth!! Born 5am Halloween morning, (fun birthdays ahead ;) at 10lbs. 12ozs *yikes*... yep, ya heard me, she's already a toddler, lol... :/

   Anyway, I couldn't find the energy for barely anything the whole 9 months almost and, unfortunately, also couldn't be bothered to type any new posts with the way I was feeling, BUT I am feeling better now that she's OUT.

    I must say, though, she's the best thing to happen to my anemia,(and me) my body took over and, although I had to keep taking my iron tabs, the whole not bleeding every month thing kinda helped (sry, TMI) as well as the internal boost in absorption of nutrients from the state of just being pregnant. I did make sure I got the vitamins and minerals I needed: iron, vit D3, b vits etc. and, regardless of my cravings, I was very concious about getting AT LEAST 5 a day of fruit & veggies and I made sure they were raw... I didn't deny myself most of the cravings but I was aware of what was an 'addiction' craving (and adjusted/substituted accordingly) & what was a 'baby' craving...

Example:

Chocolate bar w/ nuts = addiction

Sardines mixed w/ avocados = baby

Yes, I did eat that... on crackers... and, yes, ew. <><

BTW, before my hiatus I was awarded the undeserved 'Beautiful Blogger' Award by my friend Evelyn Parham from naturalrawliving.com and I never was able to thank her properly, I need to make a post about it soon.

   I will be back to posting relevent material that inspires me(and you, too) to get on/back on the healthy choices wagon working up to high RAW... I am making the commitment again, starting out slow because I'm breastfeeding the wee one. See you soon!

Where Have I Been? Well...

Well, THIS has been what's going on:

My cravings have been HAYWIRE and it's been sooo hard to stay raw, I wouldn't have felt honest being 'The Raw Panda' and posting things with all these cravings I've been having... the stomache upset is *almost* over, though, give or take another week or 2 then I will be back onto my RAW foodie-ness! (WOOHOO!) I have been unable to tolerate apples, bananas, lettuce, zucchini(spell check?) and any of the usual good stuff... I had a salad w/ fresh fennel in it and got reeeeally sick, then caught some stomache bug which gave me diarrea(TMI, & more spell check, lol) for, brace yourself, TWO WEEKS! the only thing that kept me from throwing up was organic baby food... apples&bananas, oatmeal etc... I have been craving pasta... yeah, I know.. and BOILED spinach and, get this, a 1 inch thick steak, MEDIUM-RARE?! Haven't had it, I resisted, but I'm beginning to think the anemia has something to do with those last 2. Needless to say it's been a weird first tri-mester... what I have also been craving, thank goodness, (and yet cannot FIND) recently are MANGOES!!! I need a fricken mango, daggummit.

Anyway, I have been feeling wierd and crappy and only have the patience for facebook... I haven't even been playing my FB games either, which is weird for someone like me, lol... so in a nutshell, I'm still alive and The Raw Panda still exists, just having some slight delays ;) I also was given an award from a dear fellow blogger which I will post about soon! (I ♥ you, woman!)

Much love to all,
Me

Not Taking a Hiatus... Just Been Busy :)

Had a huge post I was working on then the computer crashed, went back to my post to continue, accidentally published it, deleted it while having it open in another tab, wrote some more, but I didn't notice that the draft stopped saving after the [delete] and when I closed my browser... I lost it... grrrr.... also I haven't been on my blog for several days because my 4 year old was sick with a fever AGAIN... I guess he has to get used to these english germs, then he gives them to me. It's not like Florida, lol.. I've been giving each of us daily doses of ionic minerals and I've noticed we're going through shorter periods of illness. The lack of sunlight is bugging me as well, but there is SUN OUT TODAY!! WOOHOO!! When you spend your whole life in a sunny state you get aggravated at the constant heat, but now I realise how much I like the sunshine!

That's all for now, will be more forthcoming with posts when I catch up on my 'chores' lol..

Just Thought I'd Say...

I almost forgot how great Alissa Cohen was... I FINALLY got around to watching her Living On Live Food DVD (see below) and was happy to see that she used the food processor for 95% of her food prep. I've been thinking about #4 of my 'Things I've Found Difficult' list... I like that the food processor is one of those things that isn't too expensive, if at all, and yet is so versatile. Mine was less than £20 and comes with a citrus juicer attachment(among others, hehe) AND a rubber spatula, hehe *woohoo!* I REALLY want to try her mock tuna with the sprouts... I would just like to get a hold of some raw Kelp powder... Alissa makes everything on her DVD look so easy and after watching it I don't understand now why I thought RAW was difficult, lol..  I did make a 'something' the other day, don't know what to call it, but it was 2 carrots in the FP, 5-6 sprigs of parsely, garlic, onions and sun-dried tomatoes and I WISHED I had some lettuce to wrap it in, but I just ate it out of the bowl *teehee* It was GOOD! Saying that, I must admit I haven't been very good today because we do need to go shopping... I've got lots of bananas and apples, dates, raisins, parsley and cilantro and onions... there's only so much you can make with that :/... ;) and I'm over carrots right now... I've tried processing bananas & apples together, and, well, did I like it? .... not so much, lmao ... I still ate it, I hate wasting food ;) I did, however aquire a sprouting jar which my lovely sister-in-raw gave me(Thank you!!) and I've got some alfalfa sprouting in it already!! You can see the teeny root feet coming out of the seeds, lol.. I can still make a smoothie, although I am out of Maca :((( ... sorry, I just LOVE the stuff!! I've been through 1 1/2 kilos of it since December!! I'm telling you it's amazing!

Well, that's it for me for tonight, gonna watch a flick with mah hubby! ♥ U!

Part 3...

 Finally, the 10th difficulty on the list:

10. Living/working/socialising with non-RAW-foodies!

•  This can be the major trip up(for lack of a better term, lol..) for most starting out on a raw diet. I consider myself lucky because my husband is supportive, but I have had judgemental comments and a lack of  support from some (but not all) members of family & friends... usually from those who have a cosistant diet of meat and bread... not that I'm judging, of course ;)  

    I've heard "If God wanted us to be vegetarians he wouldn't have made animals out of meat!" or "Your body NEEDS meat!" and "Well, where did you get that from? How do you know if that's true?"... (personally I think they thought I was still just a kid believing everything I hear because it sounded good, not realizing that I'm very much into doing my own independent research as well as being a 35 year old woman with a family of her own, lol! BUT... I'm not bitter ;) Anyway, there is pressure, but you HAVE to stick it out. You are the only one who keeps yourself on or OFF the wagon, no one else! Choose health or choose dis-ease. If you find yourself in a debate, instead of arguing about nutrition, don't say a word! Show them! If anyone asks about your clear skin tell them RAW foods! If they ask about your new svelt body shape, say RAW foods! You get the idea.

   Well, there you have it... the things that make it kinda difficult for me on the RAW, but I am perservering(sp?) !!! The key is motivating yourself... listen to podcasts, watch the movies and documentaries, have a raw food party, lol... mp3's and putting the movies on while you clean the house is what I do a lot... even if you can only get involved on a forum on the net you're still getting involved! Remember you don't HAVE to have the most expensive appliances, you just have to be determined! Really, all you need are your hands and mouth... your MOUTH is the BEST JUICER IN THE WORLD! And... it's FREE! Think about it... want some wheatgrass juice? Chew on some wheatgrass until all the flavor's gone and you've had your wheatgrass juice for the day! If you've had the same difficulties I have, do something about it, don't just give up!

There is a way around EVERY obstacle! So FIND IT!!

Be happy and 'Have the 'Best Day Ever!'

♥x♥x♥x♥x♥x♥x♥x♥x♥x♥x♥

-The Raw Panda

Things That I've Found Difficult Being on the Raw Path and What I've Learned..... PART 2

 Cont'd...

6. The Detoxification Process

• Now, the 'Healing Crisis' is a little hard to take... but as long as you keep taking your mineral supplements you won't have to worry and assume that what you're feeling is a mineral or vitamin deficiency or that you're dying, because you're not! I've realized I can get through it if I keep myself mineralized and get a colonic or, if you're poor like me, eat lots of organic fruit like apples... apples have LOTS of pectin and helps your body clear out the waste products in the colon...  If you don't clear out your colon the best you can during this process then those waste products from your liver can end up in your blood and thicken it into something almost like a sludge... this happened to me. That's why I kept feeling my extremeties getting numb, I could also feel 'things' flowing in my blood... that may not have been the case but that's what it felt like.  I believe the order for cleansing is: Colon, Kidneys then Liver. I am NOT an expert, I'm still learning, and doing so by experience. You can find out more about the healing crisis here, and here and here.

7. Getting off of Wheat and/or Bread!!

• This is, I believe, the HARDEST thing to try to do. Almost everything is made of bread or wheat. It's just WHEAT WHEAT WHEAT(and corn and soy) all over the place! I never knew how when, before, I could eat so healthy and yet be fluffy in the middle with that womanly 'pooch' on the stomach... since cutting out wheat and other grains(as well as sugar)  I've gotten rid of the pooch, the air bloated-ness and have felt clear headed and actually 'awake'. I believe this also maybe due to candida... There is a whole lot of info about candida, just google it(or use scroogle.org if you can't stand google) or even watch some youtube videos on the subject (which google is slowly ruining)
• So, why the wheat thing? Grains have been so inter-bread and hybrid-ized to a point that they're easy now to harvest(un-naturally with machines) and yet without the nutritional value they once had, if any. Gluten intolerance is SO MUCH MORE widespread than we think... I think at LEAST 80% of humans are suffering from gluten sensitivity and don't even know it!

Articles about wheat: RawFoodExplained, guardian.co.uk, celiac.com,

 
8.Getting off SUGAR!

• This one's a doozy... Getting off of it is one battle.. but finding a suitable replacement is entirely another! Sugar itself can be ok in certain forms.. Organic Blackstrap Molasses is good because it's chock full of minerals, that is if you can still eat sugar. On the other hand the replacements of the past have turned out to be horribly toxic... Splenda(or sucralose), Aspartame(now renamed 'AminoSweet' and can now be labled as 'natural', so beware!), Saccharin(just, eeeww..), High-Fructose Corn Syrup (commonly genetically modified with an even bigger EEWW!) and whatever OTHER wool they try to pull over our eyes... baa-aa-aa... if it's made by a pharmaceutical company, or immediately approved by the FDA, I usually don't trust it. Agave used to be great, now there's a controversy about that, too! What's left?! Well, Stevia leaf and Stevia extract is still on my list as ok, (it's 30 times sweeter than sugar so you don't need to use a lot at all) Stevia isn't a sugar, or rather, the molecule doesn't end in '-ose'. Then there's Yacon Syrup. Yacon syrup is made of fructooligosaccharide, which cannot be absorbed by the body and is a prebiotic, meaning it feeds the good probiotic bacteria in the gut (WOOHOO!)

Well,  I have some house cleaning to do so I will see you cats later!  =^x^=

Things That I've Found Difficult Being on the Raw Path and What I've Learned

1. Location

• ... not necessarily WHERE I am, but knowing where to get the things that used to be easy to aquire while living in Florida... There was a locally owned whole foods grocery store called Native Sun that had almost everything organic you could think of... (even daipers and toilet paper, hehe) not that I don't like where I am living, I guess I just took it for granted because I can't just hop in the car and go pick it up anymore, lol... I'm having to improvise! The interwebz is invaluable for this.

2. Getting to know the seasonal veggies.

• Things change ALL the time! It will be root veggies for a while, then greens then herbs... sometimes I can find cilantro, sometimes I can't (and it's called coriander over here... both the seed AND the leaf, not just the seed, lol) Anyway, you should know what the seasonal veggies are... eating seasonally is important!

3. Eating raw foods sometimes WITHOUT exotic ingredients!

• There's the whole superfood thing, which is great to supplement your more 'normal' veggies, but if you run out of Maca you gotta use normal food... I know it can be boring but we've got to get into the habit of eating normal veggies and then supplementing with the exotic, not the other way around... I'm guilty of it because smoothies are my thing... you can put anything in a smoothie and I have a habit of using Maca and spirulina in EVERY smoothie... maybe I can cut down to a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon, lol, otherwise the rawfood lifestyle gets expensive! Although I do think these things should be more 'normal' and more readily available... We should be able to have a tablespoon of Maca or other superfood everyday BECAUSE they are so nutrient dense, but it's not finacially feasible for those of us starting out. Save up some money and get a bunch of superfoods at one time, or ask for them for birthdays or xmas.

4. Not having the right tools

• You don't HAVE to have THE Vitamix... there are others out there that will do just fine for you untill you actually NEED a Vitamix... You don't HAVE to have THE Champion Juicer... the same goes for this thing. You don't HAVE to have THE Excalibur Dehydrator... Through the magic of my own cheapskate-ness, I have found plans on how to build a dehydrator with cardboard and masking tape and a little screen, with the help of the Sun(for summertime) or the radiator(for the wintertime... no, the radiator in your house) these other machines are all 200-300 dollars/pounds a piece!!! NO WONDER there are people falling off the wagon and not eating raw because they can't do the MAJORITY of the recipes that are out there... Just IMPROVISE! :))  If you start small and work your way up you'll be better off for it. When you get the hang of the raw food lifestyle, THEN you can invest in THE machines... And, really, you can only get the hang of the raw food lifestyle if you work with what you DO have.... That's why I've had to start from the beginning, think about what I can do with what I got and go from there.

And also, if you don't know what to make other than a try of veggies and some dip, then get the right BOOKS! The BEST ONE for beginners is 'Raw Food Made Easy'. What this book has that not many others do is a shopping list... Basically what you should have in your kitchen.. (for the recipes, too)

This wasn't supposed to turn into a book review, lol, but I just find this book great for being the first one on your shelf to use while you're researching the next step... the many superfoods in existence, that is.

5. Getting the trace minerals your body needs from doing 'RAW' wrong....

•  Even if you're eating organic foods you are still not getting the proper minerals you need. Make sure you have a good trace mineral supplement and that you are absorbing the nutrients you are getting as well as eating those foods in the right combinations

Well, the hubby is home from work so I will continue this later :)

To Be Continued...

Liquid Iron..

   Happy February everyone! It's the month of love and you don't need a significant other to celebrate love in all of it's forms! <3 Let's celebrate love by taking care of our hearts and giving it the oxygen and mineral rich blood that it needs... we do that and it will give us, and others, the love we need! So, about MY blood, as you've seen in a previous post, I've gotten a liquid iron supplement which seems to be helping immensely. It's not vegan because it contains honey and it's not from raw whole foods, I don't think, but only because I can be finacially challenged at times... which, since I only have 2 teaspoons per day, I don't think it really matters if it's made from whole foods as long as it is a higher quality supplement. I'm not going by the 100% RAW rule, because if I start with rules that are, in my head, made to be unbreakable, then I will fail... and I refuse to fail, so I am not going to set myself up to do so! HA!

   Anyway, the iron supplement is called Feroglobin, and it contains iron, zinc, vitamin c, and B-complex... it has made a remarkable difference because it also contains some trace minerals that also help with blood formation. That time of the month, when Aunt Ruby visits, is a LOT more tolerable and the panic attacks are getting fewer and far between, and with shorter durations and milder symptoms... so it IS working. WOOHOO!

   Iron supplement PILLS have not been as effective for me.. Their benefits are barely noticable. When I ran out of the iron pills my doc gave me I felt the low iron and attacks within about 48 hours, but when taking this stuff and then running out, it took more than a week to feel the effects of low iron again, and by that time I got my package in the mail. I will be eating iron and mineral rich whole foods still and taking the 2 teaspoons per day as long as I can until my iron stores are back to optimum levels... not just good enough, but OPTIMUM levels. We should never settle for "good enough". Saying that, I am still looking into getting this Angstrom Iron as well as the Angstrom minerals because anemia is a deficiency and getting minerals is extremely important, but this will do for now and it's much easier on my wallet really, lol..

Heal yourself in 15 days by transforming your blood (part four)

Haven't been around because the computer died, lol... New computer, new post! This article is one of the most important in this series because it has to do with the blood... a very important article if you're anemic like me.. enjoy!
Heal yourself in 15 days by transforming your blood (part four)

Whoa...

Ok, I'm going to try to stay positive in my thoughts, and I won't dwell on it after I write this post, I just have to vent this and I'll try not to be negative, lol... so... well, I had a big attack Tuesday. I was feeling a bit off all day, but usually I can 'think' my way back to normality :/... so as I was drifting off to sleep I felt that intense cold, liquidy feeling and the sensation of all of my blood rushing away from my skin at the same time... it didn't last very long, but it was long enough to freak me out a little. I took a chewable 1000u B12 and felt a little better...

THEN last night my son was on my lap at the computer and I started to feel weird again, so I thought "Hmm, maybe I should get the phone so I can call the in-laws just in case, they're good at talking me through..." and AS SOON as I had that thought then WOOSH it hit me, I tried not to panic if front of the wee one, called Dad-in-law and he came over and talked me down as I was crying my eyes out...

This sucks. I don't want to be a burden but worrying about having an attack or anything else actually zaps your B12 and I don't need another deficiency that's going to cause more of these things... *sigh*  They say anxiety attacks are mostly psychosomatic yet can be caused by anemia, but I wonder why they're so intense, is it REALLY a 'mind-game' your body plays with you or are these episodes more serious? My doctor says no, people who've written books about them say no... it's just normal! Ok, so it's normal...  what can I do about it, how do I make them stop? Still looking for that answer because NOBODY KNOWS!

It does seem to help when I listen to Doreen Virtue or Abraham-Hicks on audio... I feel good after that... I did that last night before bed and I slept like a baby... my unusually firm matress didn't even bother me and I was up before the alarm a refreshed! Woohoo! maybe that's what I'll do when I feel it coming on :)

Happy 2010!

Happy New Year to all of you, and have the best year ever! ....no matter what the circumstances you can decide how this year goes... every situation is an opportunity to spread love and warmth to others. Stay in a place of love every moment, always!

"Make some small effort, every chance you get, at looking at where you stand NOW and doing your best to soothe and appreciate you NOW, to soothe and appreciate your NOW."

Love
The Raw Panda