Healthy Herbivore

“Why buy organic?”

I get this question a LOT. So much so that I realize most people don’t really know why buying organic over conventional is the right choice. Or, they don’t realize the value in buying organic. (The precursor to that question sometimes is “it’s more expensive so..”) So here is a quick little post about why you should value your health, the planet, and future generations by choosing organic.

• Nutrient content - Plants derive their nutrients from the sun and the soil. The nutrients in the soil are in a pH balanced, perfectly textured “solution” that allows maximum absorption by plants. Unfortunately when a chemical cocktail of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides is dumped onto soil the balance is disrupted and nutrients are obliterated. Just take a look at this chart from a Rutger’s University Study:

Organic:1
Conventional: 0

Take a look at how much more iron is in organic spinach! Organic:1 , Conventional: 0. So why buy organic? To get the most bang for your buck.

• Toxic overload – If you read the who, what, and how about the chemicals they are treating your conventional produce with, you’d run for cover. The most commonly used pesticides have been linked to low birth weight, brain disturbance in small children, and infertility. They are hormone disruptors and chemical scavengers. With more and more studies emerging about the severely negative effects of pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides I’m putting my money in organic. Who wants that garbage in their healthy bod? Organic: 2, Conventional: 0.

Get ready, I’m going to give you all the juicy details of  my weekend. To save you the suspense it doesn’t involve partying or last minute trips to Vegas. It does involve drinking however! But not of the alcoholic variety. On Friday I embarked on something I thought I would never do before. That’s right readers, I did…a juice cleanse. I’ll be honest, I was pretty skeptical about juice cleanses. I eat clean, I live clean. What was I really going to get out of a juice cleanse? Would I be tired? Would I get hungry? Would I have to sequester myself in my apartment for three days because I would be tired and so cranky that the rest of the world would be unable to deal with me?  I mulled it over and after talking with Lisa Borden about her positive experience with a juice cleanse from Belmonte Raw , I was sold.

Aside from the fact that I trust Lisa’s opinion, on everything, why did I decide to do Belmonte’s juice cleanse? Well readers, here is why I chose to go with Carol Belmonte’s tried and true cleanse:

• Belmonte Raw is real – which we like here at the Healthy Herbivore. Her juices come in glass bottles and are made from all organic ingredients. (NOTE: you will not, repeat WILL NOT detox if your juice is made with non organic vegetables and stored in plastic bottles. BPA, pesticide juice anyone?)
• Carol talks the talk and walks the walk - Juicing became a very large part of her life after her fasts in Thailand.  When she moved back to Toronto, she just couldn’t break the habit!  Juicing gave Carol the energy to sustain her busy life building Belmonte Raw and working as a personal chef.  She taught herself everything she knows by reading as much as possible from as many different sources as possible. Carol combines what works for her and what works for her clients. In addition she admits she  loves to juice and cannot go one day without her morning green juices. She feels so incredible on juice cleanses (once passed day 2, more on that later), feels so much more focused, more creative and it becomes a way for her to be more creative in the kitchen. She says her senses are heightened which allows her to hone her craft in a way that most do not and can not even think of!
• It’s easy as raw blueberry pie - The juices are delivered to your home, labeled with numbers, and you are given an itinerary on when to drink them. Fool proof.

ready for action

I should preface that by saying that I completely disregarded the fact I wouldn’t be eating did 30 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of interval training. Note to self: do not, repeat do NOT work out that hard on a juice cleanse. When your body expends energy your body wants it back. I was starving all day and it was my own fault. Carol even puts on your juice instructions to “relax” when you have your juice or “do yoga” not chug your green juice after a 30 minute run and 20 minutes of “body rock”. Does. Not. Work.  Either way I made it through the first day. Cranky and hungry, but I made it.

Day 2:

Was better.

Day two was much better. I was a little groggy in the morning but once I started getting my juices in I perked up. After my elixir I was feeling unstoppable. I noticed that as soon as I started to feel a bit hungry it was juice time. Between drinking the juices, the detox tea, and the 3 liters of water Carol suggests, I wasn’t feeling hungry in the least.  Since it was a transition package I had food in the early afternoon. It was quite possibly the best Asian slaw salad I’ve ever had. I savored every bite chewing slowly and mindfully, something I rarely do! Day two was good and only got better. I should note that on day two I noticed my sense of smell and taste were off the chart!

the transition delivery included spaghetti with neat balls – yum!

Day 3:

I was a superstar.

I woke up early, after only 5 hours and 45 minutes of sleep, feeling great. I was pepped for my juice schedule. I actually got behind because unlike day 1, I wasn’t counting the seconds between juices. I became more aware of the sensation of hunger. It sounds strange but until this break from food I hadn’t realized there are times that I eat just because I feel like I should be eating..as opposed to eating when I’m actually hungry. We are all guilty of this. I can tell you this cleanse really got me in touch my my digestion.

day 3 I discovered grapefruit juice and spirulina. so, freakin, good!

I have to admit, I was a little sad it was over on Monday. To celebrate I ate an entire papaya. Don’t ask, I have a weak spot for tropical fruit. Post cleanse I am feeling refreshed and revived. I’m also paying more attention to my hunger and giving my body what foods/juices it needs, when it wants in. In retrospect I can’t believe I was hesitant to get to this point.

I asked Carol if she has any advice for those who are hesitant. She answered “You don’t’ realize how bad you feel until you start to feel good! There is nothing to be hesitant about…life is simply a journey in self awareness. When your body is craving a change, one must listen. Change is never easy, but it is worth it!!” 

Wise words from an awesome lady

Be Well!

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted a recipe, for shame! I admit, I’ve gotten lazy and have been plucking recipes from the hub’s book. Even more shame! Truth be told I was forced back into the kitchen. I ate lunch at a raw food restaurant and ordered a cinnamon bun for dessert. Until that day I hadn’t realized, since going vegan, I haven’t had a tasty, gooey, cinnamon bun! Criminal! Unfortunately the bun there was a let down but no worries I figured I’d look up a recipe in Eat Raw Eat Well. Dismay. There is no cinnamon bun recipe in the book! (I demand answers!) So I picked up my bootstraps and my Blendtec and got down to business. This recipe is not only tasty but it’s actually nutritious. The addition of ground golden flax injects a nice serving of ALA, the needed ingredient for the production of omega 3 fatty acid. Also the star ingredient cinnamon is pro at balancing blood sugar levels. The sweetener I chose to use was Mum’s Original Coconut Sugar. Coconut sugar is full of minerals and is a low glycemic index sweetener (won’t spike blood sugar) with a low fructose content, unlike Agave nectar. So you can indulge without feeling so bad

Raw Cinnamon Buns:

The Bun ~

• 1 1/4 cup ground almonds (I ground up some in the Blendtec. You can also buy almond meal)
• 1 1/4 cup ground golden flax
• 1 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• pinch of finely ground sea salt
• 1 cup medjool dates, pitted and soaked
• 1/2 cup water, divided
• 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped or 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tablespoons coconut sugar syrup (the ratio to make syrup is 2:1 – 2 parts sugar, one part water. You can make and sub for agave)
• parchment paper

In a bowl, combine the ground almonds, golden flax, cinnamon, and sea salt. Stir with a fork to combine all ingredients well. Set the bowl aside.

In a food processor, process the dates, 1/4 cup of water, and vanilla until smooth. Remove the lid and scrape down the sides as necessary.

Transfer half of the date mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Add in 1/4 cup water and coconut syrup. Stir together (I used my hand of course) until a dough like texture is achieved.

On a sheet of parchment paper, shape the dough into a square that is roughly 1/4 inch thick.

The filling ~

• Remaining date mixute
• 2 tablespoons coconut butter
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 2 dates, pitted and soaked
• pinch of sea salt

Add the coconut butter to the remaining date mixture and process until smooth.

Spread the date mixture onto the cinnamon bun dough.

In a food processor, process the walnuts, dates, and sea salt until thoroughly chopped. Spread this mixture onto cinnamon bun dough.

Using the parchment paper, carefully roll the square into a log. From this point you can chill them in the refrigerator for an hour, slice, and enjoy. They will taste yummy however the texture is very soft. I’ve sliced mine into 12 buns and dehydrated them for 4 hours to add a more firm texture.

Cinnamon goodness!

I highly recommend topping with this:

Cashew icing:

• 1 cup of cashews, soaked for 30 minutes
• 1 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 3 tablespoon coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

In a high powered blender combine all ingredients and blend until airy and smooth. Schlack all over the the cinnamon buns and enjoy!

Highly recommend the cashew frosting!

One more, in case you weren't drooling.

I know what you’re thinking “a product review, for BAGS?! What does that have to do with being a Healthy Herbivore?” Well while it doesn’t seem glamorous know that I’ve replaced my purse with a RuMe bag so this review is worth the read my friends! Also, being a Healthy Herbivore is about being real!

Eco-friendly and stylish!

So where did I get my RuMe ? I thieved it from my husband when we were dating, plain and simple. Being the eco-friendly household we are, we always have a surplus of reusable bags filling up our hallway coat closet. He brought this one home from his travels and I plucked from the pile and hoarded for a number of reasons:

• It’s the perfect size: It holds the contents of a single shopping trip. It can also double as my lunch box/purse fitting my Klean Kanteen, Wean Greens, fruit, wallet, and cell phone.
• It’s got a sassy design: Not like the burlap looking bags, or the all black ones. My RuMe has style!
• RuMe is an awesome company: Unbenowst to me when I swiped the bag, was that RuMe is an amazing ethical company. Not only do they support local and national charities, “RuMe’s manufacturing partner in South Korea belongs to the Fair Trade Commission. The KFTC aim is to enhance transparency in business activities and  boost competition in the market environment.”

And you thought it was just a reusable bag?! It’s also incredibly durable and bonus, you can create your own design by adding monograms or photographs to your bag. It even doubles as wrapping paper. Do I need to go on? If you are in Toronto you can go grab your RuMe here! If not you can check retailers here.

The Real Deal Full Disclosure: Seeing as how I stole my bag from my hubs, I did technically get my RuMe bag for free. However, I was not given incentive from RuMe for telling you about how awesome their bags are. But if they need a model for the Spring line I am all in!

In case you haven’t been following along, I’ve been posting my top rules for label reading! These last two rules will wrap up the label reading series.

Label Reading Rule #4: Evaluate Serving Size.

“These cookies are only 170 calories per serving!” “But a serving is 2 cookies”

Who only eats two cookies?! Make sure you look at what you are getting in one serving and if one serving is all you intend to eat.

Label Reading Rule #5: Take a close look at “The Big 4”

Four things that are commonly over consumed in the North American diet are:

• Fat
• Sodium
• Refined Sugars
• Refined Carbohyrates

This is a good time to mention that eating a whole foods plant based diet really helps with all this label reading business as there are no labels to decode.

FAT:

We only really need about 10%-15% of calories from fat per day. Ideally these fats are unsaturated healthy fats. The bad news is we eat more like 35% of calories from fat, and not the healthy kind. There are good fats and bad fats so check ingredient list. Avoid bad saturated fats such as lard, butter, palm oil, and partially or fully hydrogenated vegetable oils. Look for healthy Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats as well as other unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

never, EVER eat trans fat!

SODIUM:

Sodium is an important electrolyte in the body that is crucial for cellular communication. The human body needs a minimum of 250 mg/day. Unfortunately the average intake is more like 3,000-5,000 mg/day. Sodium should be on a 1:1 with calories. If a product is 100 calories it should be no more than 100 mg of Sodium.

This is a little too high..

SUGAR:

Sugar is not the devil! Our bodies need it in fact your brain actually burns around 500 calories of sugar per day! What is the problem is the type of sugar: added, concentrated, refined. When reading a label you want to look for ADDED sugars. Check the ingredient list. Ingredients are listed in descending order according to weight. If sugar is listed first, put it back. If the first is oats, then honey, then brown rice syrup, put it back. You donʼt want any added sugars in the first 3-5 ingredients. If you see evaporated cane juice be careful. Cane juice is evaporated to decrease the weight BUT the caloric content is the same.

Sugar, Corn Syrup, AND Molasses = put it back!

CARBOHYDRATES:

What you need to be concerned with is, again, the type of carbs and how refined they are. Donʼt look at total carbohydrates, look for refined carbohydrates. Look for the words “whole”, “rolled”, “stone ground”, or “cracked” on the label. These are a green light. If something says wheat flour, itʼs white flour! If the word whole is missing itʼs refined. Look for at least 3 grams of fiber per 100 calories. Avoid enriched white flours. They are stripped of nutrients and contain added synthetic nutrients.

Wheat flour = refined blood sugar spiking white flour. This is actually the ingredient list from Kellog's Fruit Loops Cereal Straws. Please don't ever feed this to your children, it's scary. (pic from http://www.eatmedaily.com)

So there we have it. The top 5 rules to follow when navigating a food label!

I figured since I’ve shared label reading Rule #1 with you, we should keep moving right along! I’ve paired #2 and #3 together because they go hand in hand. Let’s re-cap Rule #1 quickly: never, EVER believe what’s on the front of the package. EVER! As harsh as it may sound the truth of the matter is this: Snicker’s wants to sell you a glob of sugar, coated in more sugar, with some chemically ingredients included, wrapped in “health washing” covered packaging. They do NOT want to sell you a healthy product nor do they care about your health. They simply want to make money. Large food corporations love the scrilla. As my husband is fond of saying “everyone likes vacations, Candice”. So let’s move on to #2 and #3.

Label Reading Rule #2: Always read the nutrition facts and ingredients list.

Look at your saturated fats, sodium, and fiber. Think about the amounts of these things in your package of food and ask yourself if it’s worth it to eat it. Sure something may contain 100 calories but if there is no fiber and all calories are coming from sugar. Think twice.

Label Reading Rule #3: If you can’t pronounce and ingredient, put it back.

Period. There are so many food additives and preservatives that are proven toxic and linked to illness. Food should not resemble something I made, or worked with, in organic chemistry lab.

You may feel angry and despaired wondering how you are going to navigate these labels to find something suitable to eat. Don’t fear, there is hope!

• Firstly, fresh organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes don’t have labels. Viola! Choosing an organic apple as a snack gives you 80 calories, 5 grams of fiber, no chemicals and BONUS quercetin!
• Secondly, shop smart. Find trusted brands that you know don’t use toxic chemicals in their foods. Don’t recognize an ingredient on a label? Research, call the company, ask questions.
• Thirdly, shop health food stores. I hate to sound like an elitist but stores like Whole Foods don’t even allow foods through their doors that contain trans fats or artificial dyes. You aren’t going to find M&M’s at Essence of Life in Kensington Market. Shopping at health food stores help you to weed out toxic food simply because it’s not there.
• Lastly, go with your gut. If you are reading a label and the ingredients look strange and you get that “I’m not really sure I should be eating this feeling” go with it. You probably shouldn’t be!

I’ll re-iterate this - Bottom line: When buying packaged foods read the label, know the ingredients, and make wise choices! Your health is literally in your hands.

Speaking of health in your hands, I highly recommend you watch this documentary with your friends or family, asap! It’s free for a few more days: Hungry For Change

Has it been 13 days since my last post? Time sure flies! Been busy here in the world of HH. So what’s new? I’ve been working with Whole Foods Market for their Plant Strong 28 day customer challenge ! We are only two weeks in but so far it’s been great! Full blog post about the whole experience coming soon. Also I’m prepping a talk at Ryerson University’s Free Vegan Week. I can’t wait to share plant based nutrition goodness with fellow veg lovers as well as veg lovin’ newcomers. Also we recently purchased a 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator which actually has been keeping me the most busy!  It’s pretty much kale chip and raw granola central at my place. Like that’s a bad thing?

But now for the important stuff. In our last class at Whole Foods we talked about label reading. I have a list of 5 rules that I follow when buying packaged foods. There is no better example to teach you about my rule #1 than this; The Snicker’s Marathon Energy Bar. Andy Bellatti (one of my most favotire RD’s) tweeted an article from the Chicago Tribune about Snicker’s most recent attempt to market a “healthy” product. Yet another fine example of Health Washing. So what is my label reading rule #1? Never, EVER believe what’s on the front of the package. Or the poster advertising the food, or what you hear in the commercials. Never. Read the ingredients. If a food label says it’s healthy, gives you energy, makes you smarter, question it. Why is the company trying to convince you it’s healthy food? Food like kale, broccoli, apples, etc don’t have health claims on them. Why? Because they are healthy and don’t need to prove it to you! Also, there are only 5 claims allowed by Health Canada on packaged foods. Going back to the Snicker’s marathon bar line, marketers have added buzz words like “smart stuff” and “energy” on the front of the package to make you feel good about buying it. But you know the first rule of food label reading (see above) so you flip it over to check out the ingredients:

Snicker's Marathon Bar, chock full of awfulness!

Quadratein (Soy Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Isolate, Peanut Flour, Calcium Caseinate) {casein is a proven carcinogen, especially in the presence of alflatoxin found on peanuts. Also, protein is isolated using some unsavory methods using things like ammonium sulfate and polyethylene glycol}, Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Skim Milk, Lactose, Milkfat, Soy Lecithin) {Do I actually need to comment? These are the exact ingredients in a highly processed chocolate bar}, Caramel (Corn Syrup, Polydextrose, Palm Kernel Oil, Sugar, Skim Milk, Glycerin, Salt, Whey Protein Isolate, Natural Flavors) {Sugar, oil, milk, water…why am I eating this again?} , Polydextrose, Glycerin, Corn Syrup, Soy Nuts, High Fructose Corn Syrup {yikes! why?!}, Peanuts, Tapioca Starch, Salt, Sucralose {Splenda. More chemicals}, Natural Flavor {This could be any number of ingredients!}, Almonds. Vitamins And Minerals {Because lets face it, without these, it’s a Snicker’s bar with some fractioned protein}: Tricalcium Phosphate, Magnesium Oxide, Sodium Ascorbate, Niacinamide, Vitamin E Acetate, Biotin, Ferrous Fumarate, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine HCl, Vitamin A Palmitate, Zinc Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Cyanocobalamin, Folic Acid

So there you have it, garbage. Sure you’re getting some protein but you’re also getting 40 grams of carbohydrates all in the form of simple sugars. Snickers fail. A better choice would be to grab a Vega energy bar loaded with tons of nutrition!

Vega Bars, a MUCH better choice!

Dates, hemp protein, almond butter, agave nectar, organic sprouted whole flax seeds, cranberries, raisins, almonds, sesame seeds, organic sprouted mung beans, organic wheat grass, natural berry flavor, lemon juice, organic dulse.

Or better yet, make your own! Here is a recipe from Joyous Health  and you can find a great recipe on page 35 of this book

Bottom line: When buying packaged foods read the label, know the ingredients, and make wise choices!