Raw Food Happiness

If you are full of optimism, loving life, fulfilled, happy and overflowing with energy,
I am pretty certain your diet is primarily raw, fresh and probably organic
Happiness is a state of mind. However, your mind and the state it is in has been cultivated, and eating brain developing, mood enhancing food certainly are the major factor in this creation.
The body is designed to stay healthy, to efficiently repair and renew itself as your life proceeds.
The materials to aid this process are your food and your environment. These absolutely affect how you feel, think and move, and what you put in your mouth determines exactly how you look after yourself.
“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food” is as sound and wise today as it was when it was promulgated thousands of years back
The condition of your health and mind in virtually every case can be improved by eating raw, sun ripened food.
Y’know, the stuff you can see everywhere, here in this paradise of Andalusia, developing in gardens, blooming in trees, growing on the land, wonderful, nourishing food that grows abundantly.
Carob, pomegranates, figs, dates, grapes citrus, almonds, avocados, olives, melons, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, the list goes on.
Our bodies have been loaded with foods, containing reactive chemicals, life diminishing additives, cancer triggering toxins, for so long that we no longer use the alarms a healthy system would give out to stop us from making ourselves poorly.
We buy prepared supermarket food labelled ‘healthy’ or ‘natural’ or even ‘wholesome’
Trust me on this
An apple you pluck from your tree is wholesome, the tomatoes from our gardens are healthy, and the figs grown on the hillside are natural,
They are soooo good for you they don’t need wasteful packaging, expensive marketing, irradiation or horrid gases to ripen them up, they don’t need mixing with chemical fats, salts and sugars to make them palatable. The fruits of this lovely land are ready for you to enjoy as they are, and your body is crying out for their healing goodness.
How astonishing that we talk of our food using words like junk, crap, rubbish and proceed nonetheless to eat it!
It has been estimated that we carry inside between 3 and 30 kilos of faecal matter, the term ‘full of shit’ is no coincidence.
Our bodies are in such shock they don’t function properly. Distended bellies, aching joints, poor sleep, organ pains, fogginess, nausea, are not normal.
Normal is waking up refreshed and raring to go, drinking and eating raw fresh fruits & vegetables, knowing that these are just the best things to consume to have the best of days.
Adjusting how and what you eat and drink will manifest wonderful changes in your body and mind within days
Health Care is not a subscription to BUPA or Sanitas. It is a daily loving regard for what you have - a wonderful, beautiful creation that with good food, exercise and sleep remains a faithful and reliable friend.
You are the caretaker of your body and mind, from your birth to your death.
It would be reasonable to assume that no-one knows or cares more for and about them than yourself, they should be your pride and joy

If you are interested in learning how to enjoy the best life, there is a raw food talk & tasting (lunch) every month between Torrox/Competa
www.theorangegroveretreat.com or telephone Jane 952030161

My energy and good health is my joy and delight.
For whatever the reason, I have an horror of being ill, sick or diseased and have spent much of my life trying to ensure I do not succumb.
Having acknowledged that the best of food gives me the best life, I would say that it is not the be all and end all of my existence. I regard it as one of my tools for living, as is exercise, the air I breathe and the water I drink.

I have been interested in healthy living for decades, I enjoy green smoothies, fresh fruit and vegetables and relish the energy and optimism it manifests.
However, there is so much more than focusing on grub, life is for living not eating.
I have a passion to demonstrate how straightforward the way can be and yet regularly feel how resistant the most interested folk feel about changing, so how to simplify?

The ideal is 100% raw. Body, Mind and Spiritually it has it all.
This way to good health and happiness is physically the least problematical.
However emotionally and culturally there are potential traps that will hold you back from this target
We are addicted to raw food.
Should we start from the premise, that we do not want to be hooked, we can begin to alter the chemical balance of our systems and change pretty rapidly.
That is, within days, less than a week, energy levels rise, sleep improves, aches and pains reduce. Pretty Good Eh?

The minimum you start with is eating 50% raw.
What does this mean?
It means EVERY DAY you eat
FIVE pieces of whole fresh ripe raw fruits and
FIVE pieces of whole fresh ripe raw vegetables -
Plus at least half a kilo/1lb of green leaves.
Thus a large fruit salad and a large vegetable salad is the order of the day.
These can be served a smoothies or cold soups (gazpacho).

This would be equivalent of a minimum of 3lbs of Life Enhancing, Health Improving, Happiness Increasing, Wonderful Raw Food.
Not really so Difficult Hey?

The following weigh about 1lb or 0.5 kilo

1 Large Grapefruit
1 Large Mango
2 Large Apples
2 Large Oranges
2 Large Bananas
2 Large Pears
1 Punnet Strawberries

I estimate the above 7lbs/3kilos fruit would cost you perhaps 4 bucks/euros/quid, however I do urge you to look for organic produce, it is more expensive, possibly 50% extra, but nutritionally truly better for you.

These weigh about 1lb or 0.5 kilo

2 Cucumbers
2 Red Peppers
2 Medium Tomatoes
2 Large Carrot
1 head Broccoli

Currently this 5lb/2k lot is less than 3 bucks/euros/quid, organic maybe 4. see above

These weigh about 1lb or 0.5 kilo

1 large Lettuce
1 head Celery
I bag Spinach

The cost of these is about 3 bucks/euros/quid, organic maybe 4 see above

1 Medium Pineapple 3lbs or 1.5 kilos costs 2 bucks/euros/quid,
1 Medium Melon ditto

Please note,
With regard to your eating, non-organic raw is still better than cooked. Buy, Eat whatever raw foods you can get.

Spring is here and Summer is a-coming so produce is plentiful and therefore cheaper.

Thus if you eat an
apple, pear, orange, banana and the strawberries the cost = 3.00
cue, pepper, tomato, broccoli and carrot 2.50
I bag /big bunch Spinach 1.50

This is the most you will pay - works out at 50 quid/euros/bucks a week.

Blending green leaves with a sweet fruit makes a delicious (trust me on this) green smoothie for breakfast, energising and sustaining you for hours.
Making gazpacho for lunch will have the same effect and eating pieces of fruit or crudités as snacks will ensure you will easily consume your raw food daily.

This will not impinge on your family, working or social life.

Eating some GOOD cooked food, steamed vegetables, boiled quinoa or whole rice with a good salad might be what you desire for dinner to keep family, friends and inner whinger quiet.

Although the idea of eating raw food to start with is to squeeze out a lot of the less wholesome stuff without being aware of deprivation,there are some foods that cause your body and mind real damage.
These are refined flour, refined sugar, and pasteurised dairy products.
Avoiding these will improve EVERYTHING – yep, even that! - in your life dramatically

Having said that, the increase of raw foods particularly the green leaves will have such a beneficial impact upon your system that it should be more than able to cope with the takeaway meals and other dubious foods that may make up your current diet.

Commit to eating like this for three weeks, just 21 days. I guarantee health and happiness will become your joy.

I would love you to let me know.

“it is easier for a man to change his religion than change his diet”

Good food aids better mental, physical and spiritual function.
It is key to improving probably every health situation.

.

It is delicious and refreshing, It is reasonably priced and easy to make
It is phenomenally wholesome and fantastically good for you.

All Raw, No Cooking, Fresh n Fabulous. Gorgeous Green Smoothies

To thrive, the human body needs Chlorophyll, Fruit & Fat That’s it!

Some young green leaves, juicy sweet fruit and a little fat to achieve optimal health and happiness
Chlorophyll, comes from any dark green leaves, spinach, parsley, romaine & butter head lettuce, kale, chard, carrot tops, celery, rocket, herbs and, for the very best - any wild leaves.

Fruit comes from all fruit and generally speaking vegetables that are grown above ground,

that wonderful cold summer soup, Gazpacho, the greatest lunch in Andalucia is primarily a fruit dish!

What a fabulous array of fruit we have available, oranges, lemons, limes, pineapple, mango, peaches, plums, bananas, papaya, apples, cherries, tomatoes, peppers and melon.

The fat we require can come from a handful of raw nuts, raw seeds or a small avocado.

How hard would it be to eat this wonderful food so you can experience a wonderful day, EVERY day?

The occasional tomato slice & lettuce leaf served with your steak, fish or jacket potato really is not a healthy meal.
However, instead of NOT eating the food we have come to love let us try another approach by ALSO eating the super nutritious, delicious fresh fruit and vegetables and discover that the good stuff makes us feel fantastic
so we eat more and more of it until the cooked food we are addicted to becomes rather unappealing. (trust me, it will)

How about eating your greens in the sweetest way.

2 big handfuls of green leaves with a juicy fruit each day, chucked in a jug blender with a cup or two of water equals A litre of nutrient dense, life enhancing, NECTAR. Truly!

Drink this every day for a week and you will feel better, as in good, more energetic, and yet more tranquil.

Drink this every day for a month and I guarantee you will be ASTOUNDED at the benefits.
Your digestion, sleep pattern, strength and focus will have markedly improved.
You will be so much happier and your face and skin will glow.

GO ON Waddya gotta lose?
Well, other than a lot of poo, and probably some excess weight.

You dont HAVE to cut out anything from your current way of eating.

Just drink the Green Smoothie litre every day.

It is probable you will reduce some other foods you normally consume as the drink will fill and satisfy .
Your body will not crave food or feel hungry. In fact, it will feel GRRREAT.

With the following combinations, gradually put them in the jug blender and blast until smooth enough for you, they will have the consistency of a yoghurt, so you can spoon them or drink up

A green smoothie:
1/4 peeled pineapple (you can use the core if the blender is happy) - ½ cup of water - 2 fistfuls of spinach, (a fistful means a BIG handful - 5 whole kumquats or 1 small orange, (you can peel it) - sprig of mint
add another cup of water if you want it less gloopy

Another green smoothie
2 cups of water - big bag of rocket/rucula) - a mango - 1/4 lemon including the peel if organic

a third one, Great for summertime
A huge chunk (1lb+) of organic watermelon with the rind for chlorophyll, red flesh for fruit and seeds for fat juiced in a jug blender for a complete meal.

Sweet Stuff
1 Cup or 2 of water - Big Banana - Big punnet of Strawberries - whole Romaine lettuce

These make an excellent first meal of the day, as it should be consumed promptly for optimal nutrition - it also looks a lot prettier when it is bright and fresh.
Whack it into the blender and have breakfast in minutes.

This is fresh food, the green becomes oxidised when exposed to air, like a cut apple turns brown, so if you don’t drink it in one go keep it covered and cool in a refrigerator or thermos.

I cannot recommend organic fruit n veg too highly, i would further say that local prod uceis a good option. however, if you are struggling in the early days to source them don’t worry make the smoothies with whatever fruits n leaves you can.

life is not just sweet, it is good for you!

Let us take the stance that eating
Whole Fresh Ripe Raw Wild / Organic / Local Plant food
is the most Healthy way to treat you body because it contains a higher nutritional profile.
A high nutritional profile means the body is getting loads of the good stuff it needs to function optimally.

For instance, One Day of really delicious raw food that would encompass 3 or more of the following:
Green Leaf Juice
Freshly Fruit Juice
Mixed Fruit Smoothie
Mixed Berry Salad
Mixed Green Smoothie
Mixed Vegetable Salad
Super Food Mix/Drink/Dish

Would give you the Mineral, Vitamin & Phyto-Nutrient intake that most people that is, the vast majority, have in about One Year.

We would be so much happier and healthier if we ate food that our bodies required. We would be Overflowing with Energy, Optimistic, Happier n Healthier, as well as a lot nicer to Look At and Be With, if we did.

However, we actually eat what we have been conditioned to believe is, if not good for us is “OK” for us.
What is more, we are so hooked on cooked food that even when we do suspect and then realize that our headaches, tiredness, moodiness, tummy upsets and elimination woes are in fact due to what we eat, we are so far removed from eating the Best Food Ever that we lack the confidence and thus the drive to make the changes that would make us feel wonderful.
Ask an habitual drunk about changing what and how he consumes his particular poison and his reaction will be the same as yours when that question is asked of you about eating cooked foods.
YES! IT IS THE SAME THING!
Smoking hash, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes or eating cooked foods do not give your wonderful body the caring, respectful treatment it needs to serve you well.

Cooked food really is not Healthy food,
Twice cooked food like Re-Heated food such as Left-Overs, Supermarket Ready Prepared or Frozen is less healthy.
High temperature cooked foods such as Barbequed, Deep Fried and even Breads are Dangerous for your health

Heating harms your Eating.
Cooking your Food Damages your Food.
It destroys vitamins and minerals it triggers chemical changes in perfectly good raw food that puts you at increased risk of diabetes, cancers, heart conditions, digestive disorders, circulatory conditions and the list goes on and on.

Regarding our eating patterns, maintaining the status quo is not\a surprise. The phenomenal amounts of money the supermarkets take and make on processed food alone is not to be relinquished lightly.
Fast food and Takeaway Outlets, Restaurants, Cafes and Bars , Animal Production & Slaughter as well as Food Processing and Packaging organizations, to say nothing of the promotion and advertising companies are all part of our so-called culture - who we think we are, how we belong are all threatened by the notion that what they are offering is not in their clients best interest.

In this country we have a fairly recent history of, not starvation but having insufficient food, so 60 years ago there was a promise, a decision, after the war that our nation would not again go hungry.
A worthy intention indeed! One that has been to the detriment of the very people it was intended to benefit.
To live a fulfilled and happy existence we need whole, fresh living food.
If we eat preserved, processed which means denatured, dead food we are denying ourselves the opportunity to have a real life.

The argument for a small amount of cooked food has some validity.
Eating an entirely raw diet is an ideal, it is something to work towards.
The current lives and lifestyles we opt for generally preclude access to cheaper home gardening so until there is an infrastructure of local organic cooperatives, allotment sharing or similar subsidized by government for creating better, cheaper local foods we are going to struggle to eat the best food at an accessible price

However, as of today improvement to ourselves, our environment, think global warming and animal cruelty can start by committing ourselves to consuming at least half our food uncooked.

So Why Raw?

Y‘mean other than feeling very well, very fit and very happy?

Well, eating whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic plant food means your energy levels will soar phenomenally

You will look good, people will notice the improvement within days

Your stomach will flatten, (even before you start to exercise)

Your head and thinking becomes clearer

How?

Your body is designed to function perfectly with very little interference from you.

Eating raw food is the most natural, healthy way we can treat ourselves.

However we have managed to learn some very bad habits and harming our best friends - our mind and body - seems to be the number one target for us to molest.

Our system entirely depends upon the function of Enzymes, Metabolic & Digestive they engender all the necessary actions and reactions for bodily activity.

Raw foods contain enzymes, which work with and aid our digestive enzymes to operate optimally.

Heating destroys enzymes and their activity.

Eating cooked, that is food whose enzymatic activity has been destroyed, creates a need that has to be fulfilled by other enzymes functioning elsewhere, and at a price that is too high for the body to pay!

We can entirely understand that we don’t espect a car manufacturers chief designer to wash the mud off the car wheels in the loading bay, he has a different role to fulfil.

Yet we ask metabolic enzymes whose function is to act with the blood, the skin, the heart and other organs to do work they are not supposed to do. They are distracted from their proper role to help digest cooked food.

Meaning crucial work they are designed for is not done.

So no surprise at the manifestation of premature aging, tiredness, unclear thinking, and conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, arthritis all of which are probably avoidable

Therefore?

You can start with simple ideas, like eating something raw before consuming anything cooked, like a carrot, a tomato or fruit juice as you prepare a non-raw meal, this triggers digestive enzyme activity, exactly the necessary reaction.

Increase the amount of your favourite fruit and vegetables, eat them raw, so have fruit always to hand, in the kitchen, the sitting room, the car, the office and your bag and briefcase

Wherever you are with your health and fitness, you can make changes that will make your heart, body and mind fly.