Tired of the same old salads? If your taste buds are begging for something new, then most likely your body would love a change too. There are only so many combinations you can toss together using the same leafy greens available organic in most supermarkets. Growing your own will increase variety, of course. But, you might not have thought to pick the green plants that pop up uninvited in your yard. Edible weeds are one of the most economical, nutrient dense, ecological, delicious, healthy for you and the earth foods you can consume!
Depending upon where you live, you likely have access to dandelion greens, purslane, lambs quarters, amaranth, chickweed, nettle, clover, shepard's purse, and so many more varieties of greens right in your own backyard and neighborhood! In any given location there exist over 75 different varieties of edible plants. I found nasturtium, purslane, and lambs quarters in Arequipa, Peru, nasturtium, purslane, and pigs face in Sunshine Coast, Australia, and dandelion, purslane, and lambsquarters in Connecticut, USA just while walking or engaging in daily activities. If I were hunting, I could have found a whole lot more. Now that spring is upon us, picking wild greens is a fantastic way to improve our nutrition in the best possible way for our planet. Zero packaging, zero shipping, zero human watering, zero cents involved! Not even the paper from a seed packet.
Throughout history, humans have always been healthiest when consuming a wide variety of plant foods. Wild greens have more phytonutrients, which help the plant to fight off pathogens and competition in nature, and help us consumers to help fight off illness and poor health within our bodies. Most wild greens have higher vitamin and mineral content than their conventional grocery store vegetables. And your backyard plants can be consumed just after picking, meaning that they wont have lost any nutrients. Most vegetables we purchase in the supermarket have been shipped and stored for long periods of time, which means their nutrient content is vastly degraded. Spinach loses 80% of its vitamin content by the first two days after harvest. And some supermarket produce is stored in warehouses for months prior to your consumption! Additionally, many wild greens have a higher nutrient content than conventional vegetables to begin with. For example, Lambs quarter is related to spinach and has a similar delicate earthy flavor and tender texture, but it has far more calcium and vitamin C and is an excellent source riboflavin, thiamine, vitamins E, A, and B6, potassium, and magnesium.
If you want to create the most varied, nutrition dense, environmentally friendly, economical, delicious meal possible, I advise you pick up an edible field guide at your local library or do some online reasearch and start incorporating edible weeds, the true vegetables of the earth, into your diet. Children love learning to identify and harvest wild greens from the yard and will gladly spend hours on their edible scavenger hunt. Purslane, high in omega three fatty acids, is a particular favorite among the kids. And the use of wild greens doesn't stop at salads...put some in your sandwich, scrambled eggs, frittata, stir fry, or anywhere you use vegetables!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Ditch Dogma
Insight of the moment: Ditch Dogma.
It is really liberating when you realize that the reasonings and thoughts in your head telling you what is "good" and "bad" are really just someone else's dogmatic doctrines. Without these, you are free to dig for, find, and ultimately follow your own intuition and what's really right for you.
Next time you find yourself governed by some statement that pops into your mind about the right or wrong ways to eat, move, breathe, live, be...ask yourself if it is really YOU thinking and feeling this "rule", or is it someone else's statements stamped onto your brain? Why do you believe you have to eat 30 bananas a day despite the fact that the more bananas you eat the less satiated you feel until you feel like vomiting and go to bed sick and tired? Only to wake up and do it all over again for a few years because you want the promised results but never quite seem to get there? Or why do you feel you can't eat any fruit at all even though you're literally sick of avocados, expensive "superfood" powders, and sprouts and don't have the energy to get through your day and all you want is some sweet fruit? Just because someone tells you that's what THEY do and that's what is right? So you keep convincing yourself that you're "doing it wrong" or you need to try harder...or, even, that you ARE getting the results by justifying everything wrong with excuses. These are just dietary examples based on frustrations I've been witnessing online throughout the internet raw food community.
And when I say "you", I just mean we, us, or some undefined person that could be anyone.
When we ditch dogma we can view situations through an objective lens, and truly gain wisdom and learn from our experiences and those we observe in others. Clear your head, take a deep breath, and experiment with an open mind and fresh eyes. How else can we truly learn what is right and true for us?
So here it is. I am right here right now committing to exercise at least 6 days a week AND regularly include raw animal products into my raw diet for at least 2 weeks. If I am truly going to experiment with the inclusion of small amounts of high quality (NEVER factory farmed) animal products, then I have to do it for at least two weeks (probably longer) in order to decide whether it works for me or not. I sense the emergence of a dietary revolution...its fruits have been growing in my mind for a couple months now and it's high time I committed to picking them rather than allowing them to rot inside me.
It's really hard for me as a an ethical vegan of six years. But I am also interested in researching and uncovering the optimal diet for myself...so that I can live in peace and move on to greater things.
Low fat raw veganism has helped me in so many ways, but now it seems my intuition is telling me its time for a bit of a change. Let's see how it goes.
Ok loves, I will post my exercise and daily food intake here at the end of each week if anyone's interested to see what I'm up to. I'd love your comments
I'd love to hear what your experiences with the diet and daily activities that work best to keep you feeling healthy. Let's share, debate, and expand our minds (and perhaps our diets)!
Love and Sunshine,
xo Ferrah
(OH and I almost forgot...
Symptoms after 3 years raw vegan [[ 1 1/3 years of which were low fat raw vegan as prescribed by www.30bananasaday.com]] despite initially amazing results)
-Pimples and uneven skin tone
-Sallow skin and dark circles under eyes
-Overeating (never before in my life)
-Lack of satiation despite stuffing myself to death
-Poor digestion and extreme bloating
-Occasional lack of focus or listlessness
-Body fat gain (which is OK since I've always been underweight, but not really all that welcome anyhow)
-Thinking about food a lot, craving "something" but unable to satisfy it
-Thin hair
-Stiff bones
Some of these symptoms were occurring before lfrv, likely due to a period of malnutrition when I was 13. But I'm 20 and I've been vegan since I was 14, raw vegan since I was 17...things should be getting better. Time to shed my fear and dive into the invigoratingly icy waters of uncertainty and experimentation! Let's see what happens.
It is really liberating when you realize that the reasonings and thoughts in your head telling you what is "good" and "bad" are really just someone else's dogmatic doctrines. Without these, you are free to dig for, find, and ultimately follow your own intuition and what's really right for you.
Next time you find yourself governed by some statement that pops into your mind about the right or wrong ways to eat, move, breathe, live, be...ask yourself if it is really YOU thinking and feeling this "rule", or is it someone else's statements stamped onto your brain? Why do you believe you have to eat 30 bananas a day despite the fact that the more bananas you eat the less satiated you feel until you feel like vomiting and go to bed sick and tired? Only to wake up and do it all over again for a few years because you want the promised results but never quite seem to get there? Or why do you feel you can't eat any fruit at all even though you're literally sick of avocados, expensive "superfood" powders, and sprouts and don't have the energy to get through your day and all you want is some sweet fruit? Just because someone tells you that's what THEY do and that's what is right? So you keep convincing yourself that you're "doing it wrong" or you need to try harder...or, even, that you ARE getting the results by justifying everything wrong with excuses. These are just dietary examples based on frustrations I've been witnessing online throughout the internet raw food community.
And when I say "you", I just mean we, us, or some undefined person that could be anyone.
When we ditch dogma we can view situations through an objective lens, and truly gain wisdom and learn from our experiences and those we observe in others. Clear your head, take a deep breath, and experiment with an open mind and fresh eyes. How else can we truly learn what is right and true for us?
So here it is. I am right here right now committing to exercise at least 6 days a week AND regularly include raw animal products into my raw diet for at least 2 weeks. If I am truly going to experiment with the inclusion of small amounts of high quality (NEVER factory farmed) animal products, then I have to do it for at least two weeks (probably longer) in order to decide whether it works for me or not. I sense the emergence of a dietary revolution...its fruits have been growing in my mind for a couple months now and it's high time I committed to picking them rather than allowing them to rot inside me.
It's really hard for me as a an ethical vegan of six years. But I am also interested in researching and uncovering the optimal diet for myself...so that I can live in peace and move on to greater things.
Low fat raw veganism has helped me in so many ways, but now it seems my intuition is telling me its time for a bit of a change. Let's see how it goes.
Ok loves, I will post my exercise and daily food intake here at the end of each week if anyone's interested to see what I'm up to. I'd love your comments
I'd love to hear what your experiences with the diet and daily activities that work best to keep you feeling healthy. Let's share, debate, and expand our minds (and perhaps our diets)!
Love and Sunshine,
xo Ferrah
(OH and I almost forgot...
Symptoms after 3 years raw vegan [[ 1 1/3 years of which were low fat raw vegan as prescribed by www.30bananasaday.com]] despite initially amazing results)
-Pimples and uneven skin tone
-Sallow skin and dark circles under eyes
-Overeating (never before in my life)
-Lack of satiation despite stuffing myself to death
-Poor digestion and extreme bloating
-Occasional lack of focus or listlessness
-Body fat gain (which is OK since I've always been underweight, but not really all that welcome anyhow)
-Thinking about food a lot, craving "something" but unable to satisfy it
-Thin hair
-Stiff bones
Some of these symptoms were occurring before lfrv, likely due to a period of malnutrition when I was 13. But I'm 20 and I've been vegan since I was 14, raw vegan since I was 17...things should be getting better. Time to shed my fear and dive into the invigoratingly icy waters of uncertainty and experimentation! Let's see what happens.
P.S. if you haven't already done so, check out these blogs/websites:
Some really interesting stuff and great insights...plus you can learn about other peoples' experiences.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Wild Smoothie
A few mornings ago I was picking dandelion leaves when I found a bush of beautiful black raspberries growing on the outskirts of my yard. Some of the berries were certainly ripe; all shining in their opal splendor, reflecting the sunlight in their little orbs. Mmm. I picked all the ripe berries and ran back to the house with them. All I had around were some mangos and so I made a mango-dandelion-black raspberry smoothie. Delicious combination of bitter and sweet with that perfect rosy sorbet-like mango texture.
Recipe:
2-3 large mangos
1/2-1 cup black raspberries
1-3 cups baby dandelion greens
Blend until smooth.
Simple (well, you do have to gather the berries and greens), satisfying, delicious.
Nutritional Highlights:
-High in Calcium, Iron, Magnesium (not to mention Copper, Manganese, Potassium, and Phosphorus)
-Good source Zinc
-High in Vitamin E (and in basically every other vitamin as well)
If you want a more detailed description of the nutritional data...check below (if using 4 cups mango, 3 cups dandelion greens, and 1 cup berries) oh and the percentages are based on an 1800 calorie diet.
wild style breakfast =P
Recipe:
2-3 large mangos
1/2-1 cup black raspberries
1-3 cups baby dandelion greens
Blend until smooth.
Simple (well, you do have to gather the berries and greens), satisfying, delicious.
Nutritional Highlights:
-High in Calcium, Iron, Magnesium (not to mention Copper, Manganese, Potassium, and Phosphorus)
-Good source Zinc
-High in Vitamin E (and in basically every other vitamin as well)
If you want a more detailed description of the nutritional data...check below (if using 4 cups mango, 3 cups dandelion greens, and 1 cup berries) oh and the percentages are based on an 1800 calorie diet.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
A Brief Introduction
It's rather late and so my first entry will be short. I guess my purpose in making this blog is to share my experiences, since I've so often made myself a "guinea pig" in health and such, and viewpoints with whoever would like to listen. I have a lot going on in this head of mine and I figured I may as well share.
I've been Raw Vegan for three years, vegan for 5 years, a health enthusiast forever and I'm 20 years old. Recently, I've experimented with adding in VERY small amounts of raw animal products *gasp* which was difficult at first, being a vegan foremost for ethical reasons. However, I only get the highest quality, local, sustainable animal products and I suppose that is more ecological and ethical than eating 30 imported bananas. I was Low fat raw vegan HARD CORE. And I still kind of am. I'm lingering back and forth. But I think it's time to let go of dogma and follow my intuition since I'm not doing so well. It's time to further my experimentation toward discovering the optimal human diet. How am I seeking to discover this? Self experimentation and tons of research. One thing I can say is that although fruit is my absolute favorite food and I believe we are designed to eat it, our digestive systems do differ from those of chimps and other apes in an important way (more on this in my next post!).
So this blog will focus on my experiences and research in diet, lifestyle, physical activity, travel experiences, recipes, arts, etc. because heath isn't only about what we eat :)
And I want to end my first entry with something I have come to learn.
Following an externally imposed set of "rules" endorsed by a doctrine that hasn't really been proven, but is rather preached by certain people, really only disables us. We must keep our minds open, we must keep an objective outlook, else we will be crippled. We learn to see through the lens of the filters set by dogmatic beliefs and then we can no longer make our own decisions. Beware of slogans and repetition. That one person or one faith or whatever it is any one of us might be following to the tee may not really have it right....and you may suffer because of it. We don't want to be controlled like mindless bodies. Let's keep our minds open, let's lift the veils, let us see clearly and learn to follow our intuition and our own evidential findings.
love and bliss
xo Ferrah
I've been Raw Vegan for three years, vegan for 5 years, a health enthusiast forever and I'm 20 years old. Recently, I've experimented with adding in VERY small amounts of raw animal products *gasp* which was difficult at first, being a vegan foremost for ethical reasons. However, I only get the highest quality, local, sustainable animal products and I suppose that is more ecological and ethical than eating 30 imported bananas. I was Low fat raw vegan HARD CORE. And I still kind of am. I'm lingering back and forth. But I think it's time to let go of dogma and follow my intuition since I'm not doing so well. It's time to further my experimentation toward discovering the optimal human diet. How am I seeking to discover this? Self experimentation and tons of research. One thing I can say is that although fruit is my absolute favorite food and I believe we are designed to eat it, our digestive systems do differ from those of chimps and other apes in an important way (more on this in my next post!).
So this blog will focus on my experiences and research in diet, lifestyle, physical activity, travel experiences, recipes, arts, etc. because heath isn't only about what we eat :)
And I want to end my first entry with something I have come to learn.
Following an externally imposed set of "rules" endorsed by a doctrine that hasn't really been proven, but is rather preached by certain people, really only disables us. We must keep our minds open, we must keep an objective outlook, else we will be crippled. We learn to see through the lens of the filters set by dogmatic beliefs and then we can no longer make our own decisions. Beware of slogans and repetition. That one person or one faith or whatever it is any one of us might be following to the tee may not really have it right....and you may suffer because of it. We don't want to be controlled like mindless bodies. Let's keep our minds open, let's lift the veils, let us see clearly and learn to follow our intuition and our own evidential findings.
love and bliss
xo Ferrah
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