Cleanse Your Liver & Gallbladder!

Please note that I recently changed the instructions of the actual
liver/gallbladder cleanse and inserted the instructions from Andreas Moritz's book called The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush to avoid any confusion. I highly recommend reading this book and following the directions to obtain the best results. You can order it here at www.rawlife.com.

Paul and I recently decided to do a liver/gallbladder cleanse together. It's always more fun to have someone to cleanse with! After a few weeks on the road, we felt like our bodies deserved a kick start, and this liver/gallbladder cleanse is pretty simple too, so we thought it would be easy to do it in between trips.

The liver is one of the most vital organs in the body. It is the largest organ and also performs the most functions. It filters the blood and excretes waste through bile, which is then sent to the gallbladder. When oil or fat is present in a meal, it signals the gallbladder to contract and squeeze bile, which helps the oils and fats to be properly absorbed by the body.

There are six fundamental things that tend to damage the liver:

1. Overeating
2. Eating and drinking refined white flour products, processed foods, junk foods, white sugar, and fried foods.
3. A low-protein, high-carbohydrate and fat diet.
4. Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, theobromine, and hard, recreational drugs.
5. Medicinal drugs and pharmaceuticals.
6. Consuming insecticides, preservatives and other cumulative poisons.

You can also help your liver and gallbladder by eating foods high in potassium, like brown rice, bananas, blackstrap molasses, almonds, seeds, kelp, dulse, prunes and raisins. Drinking lots of pure water, and eating mostly raw, organic foods and fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

It is important to be nice to your liver! If the liver is functioning properly, most illnesses and cancers can be eliminated!

While it is possible to control a few aspects of your health, like what you eat and drink, there are a few things that you cannot control, like environmental toxins, and damage that may have happened before your health journey. This is why it is important to cleanse and fast. Your body needs a break and an opportunity to do its job!

Fasting and cleansing is not for everyone, and I do not advise pregnant and nursing mothers to do any heavy cleansing or fasting. I am currently nursing Noa, but this cleanse is pretty simple and gentle, so I did not have an issue completing it. But it is important that if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, that you do major cleansing when you are finished. That way you do not jeopardize your health or your baby's, by dumping too many toxins into your blood too fast.

There are many websites online that describe different ways to do this liver/gallbladder cleanse.

Here are the directions from The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush:

You will need:

• Apple juice: 32 ozs. a day/for 6 days
• Epsom salts: 4 TBSP dissolved in 3 8-oz. glasses of water
• Extra virgin olive, cold-pressed: one-half glass 4 oz.
• Either fresh grapefruit (pink is best), or fresh lemon and orange combined
• 2 pint jars, one with a lid

1. Drink 1 container of 32 ozs. of freshly juiced apple juice, use packaged apple juice if not juicing.

2. Avoid foods that are cold or chilling, animal foods, dairy products and fried foods. Eat normal, but do not overeat.

3. Plan to do the actual cleansing on a weekend. That will allow you time to rest if needed.

4. Avoid any medication, vitamins or supplements.

5. Cleanse your colon before and after your do the liver flush. Either by colonics or enemas.

6. One the 6th day:

• Drink all 32 ounces of apple juice in the morning. Eat a light breakfast, juice, fruit or oatmeal. Eat a light lunch of plain cooked or steamed vegetables and white rice preferably basmati. Do not eat protein foods, butter, or oil. Do not eat or drink anything (except water) after 1:30 p.m.

The Actual Flush:

• Evening:
• 6 p.m.: Add 4 TBSP of Epsom salts to 24 ounces of water (three 8-oz. glasses) of filtered water in a jar. This makes four 6-oz servings. Drink first portion (3/4 glass) now. This will open the bile ducts, making it easy for stones to pass.
• 8 p.m.: Drink second serving.
• 9:30 p.m.: Do a water enema if you have not had a bowel movement or colonic.
• 9:45 p.m.: Wash and squeeze grapefruits by hand and remove the pulp. You need 3/4 glass. Pour the juice with 1/2 cup of olive oil into jar. Shake hard until it is watery.
• 10 p.m.: Stand next to bed, and drink concoction while standing, without interruption if possible. Some people use a large plastic straw.
  
• LIE DOWN IMMEDIATELY! Turn of lights, lie flat on your back, with one or two pillows propping your head up. Your head should be higher than your abdomen. Or, lie on your right side with your knees pulled toward your head. Lie perfectly still for at least 20 minutes, and try not to speak. You may feel the stones traveling along the bile ducts like marbles, but there will not be any pain.
  

The Following Morning:

• 6-6:30 a.m.: Drink your third 3/4 glass of Epsom salts. You may go back to sleep, or do light exercise.
• 8 - 8:30 a.m.: Drink your fourth glass of 3/4 glass of Epsom salts.
• 10 -10:30 a.m.: You drink fresh juice, then 30 mins. later, eat fresh fruit. One hour later you may eat light food. By the evening, you should be back to normal start feeling signs of improvement!

What to Expect:
That is it! The next morning, be prepared to pass gallstones in your stool. They look light to dark green, are very irregular in shape, are the size of grape seeds to cherry seeds, and feel like gelatin.

To permanently cure health issues, all stones must be removed, and this can take up to 8-12 liver flushes! Liver flushes should be performed is 3-week or monthly intervals.

Paul and I were both tempted to take pictures of ours, but I was not sure if I was ready to expose myself so much! But I will post a few pictures of what ours looked like instead.

This really is an easy cleanse, and you only need 6 days to complete it. I encourage everyone to try this cleanse! You will be amazed at the results, and feel energized, lighter, and happier!

What do you feed your baby?

Here is a video of a few commonly asked questions Paul and I receive, and my responses!

Article for EternityWatch Magazine: Growing Your Food; Improving Your Health!

I recently contributed this article to the online magazine, EternityWatch. Click here to subscribe! Check out their website also at www.eating4eternity.org!

Growing Your Food; Improving Your Health!

By Andrea Nison

It is easy to feel a little overwhelmed when you begin your health journey. Sometimes it seems that the more you read and study, the more confused you become about what you need to be healthy. There are so many things to learn, and so many things to un-learn too! Once you jump in with both feet, you soon realize that this journey to a healthier life isn’t just about the food. There are so many other aspects to a healthy life, including emotional and spiritual health too.

Although the food you eat is not the only factor determining your health, you still must take into consideration the quality of the food you are eating. Of course eating mostly raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds play a huge role in determining the quality of your health, and making sure that these foods are organic is of high importance. But what happens when you are not able to receive vital nutrients from these raw foods? What if you are lacking important nutrients and you can’t seem to get them through any of the foods you are eating? This is where the incorporation of supplements into your diet plays a major role in determining how successful your health journey becomes.

The quality of our food is not the same now as it was 100 years ago. Vitamins and minerals have slowly been depleted from the soil. An article in the February 2009 issue of Time Magazine stated that today’s supermarket vegetables are almost 40% lower in minerals than those grown fifty years ago because of soil depletion and harvesting methods. There are more than 70 trace minerals necessary to produce healthy, nutrient-rich crops, yet most current farming methods routinely put back only three to five of them. No wonder our food is becoming less and less nutritious and farmers are forced to apply toxic pesticides to their weak plants to keep insects away so that they can get their crops to the market. It’s a vicious cycle, and we are left with unhealthy plants and depleted soil.

One of the best ways to guarantee that the food you are eating contains high-quality vitamins and minerals is to grow it yourself, using nutrient rich soil. But that is not all! You must begin to incorporate composting methods to help the soil return to its once fertile state after years of abuse and mistreatment. Composting is the decomposition of plant remains and other once-living materials. It is the best way to recycle your yard and kitchen waste, and it plays a critical step in reducing the volume of garbage sent to landfills. Adding the compost back into the garden soil will help enrich and condition the soil and it also works as a natural pesticide. There are many resources and handbooks available to help you get started recycling your kitchen waste. Composting is not only easy; it is fun!

Now you don’t need a lot of space to start your own garden. Square foot gardening is a technique used to help maximize garden space. Square foot gardening is usually done in a small, clearly defined area, using closely planted raised beds with a strong focus on composting. There are many resources online that will show you how to set up a garden bed using a square foot gardening technique to help you utilize your garden area. By growing your own food, you are able to add compost and other nutrient-rich soil to the garden beds, which will then provide you with living foods that are filled with vitamins and minerals.

You don’t even need a garden to start growing your own food! You can easily start growing sprouts and wheatgrass inside your own home. Sprouts are one of the most complete and nutritional foods that exist. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins and enzymes. Some sprouts, like lentils, can be sprouted in jars and ready to eat within 2-3 days. It may seem like a lot of work at first, but by growing your own food, you are taking a step toward control of your health and your life!

I understand that not everyone has the time or room necessary to start growing your own food. And if this is you, then incorporating a few important supplements into your diet will help you obtain these vital nutrients and keep you moving on your health journey. Even if you are growing your food, you may still need to add a few supplements into your diet because some vitamins and minerals are not obtainable by eating a strictly vegan diet.

Everyone has different body chemistries and make ups, so not everyone needs the same supplements. There are a few supplements that I recommend to everyone, including vitamin D, vitamin B-12, probiotics and enzymes. These supplements are beneficial to everyone, but you might need to take a common blood test to help determine if there are any other areas you might be lacking, and then you can take the steps necessary to improve.

Vitamin D, the essential nutrient obtained from sunlight, is known for its many wonderful benefits, including protection from multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. Vitamin D is essential for strong bones because it helps the body use calcium from the diet. There are many different causes for a vitamin D deficiency, especially if you are on a vegetarian diet, because most of the natural sources are animal-based, including fish and fish oils, egg yolks, cheese, and beef liver. If you are eating a plant-based diet, then supplementing with vitamin D could be beneficial for you.

Vitamin b-12 is another vitamin that is not found in any plant food. It is, however, abundant in many meats and fish, and in smaller amounts in milk and eggs. This makes it difficult for people following a strict vegetarian diet to get the necessary amount of vitamin B12. Adding a vitamin b-12 supplement to your regime will ensure that you are receiving enough of this vitamin, and there is no risk of taking too much vitamin b-12 because it has a low potential for toxicity.

Probiotics help maintain the natural flora in the intestines, inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria that cause digestive stress, improve digestion of food and absorption of vitamins, stimulate the immune system, and help make vitamins needed by the body. You can purchase Premium Grade Probiotics at our webstore at www.RawLife.com.

Enzymes are an important supplement because the body depends upon enzymes to help purify the blood, break down fats, cleanse the colon, maintain proper cholesterol levels and maintain peak energy levels. Enzyme supplementation with meals is a very good preventive measure, especially if you are eating foods that are nutritionally incomplete.

There are also many different vita-mineral greens on the market now, and these green powders are a simple and easy way to add more vitamins and minerals into your diet. It’s easy to add a scoop to smoothies or nut milks, and even water.

I recommend monitoring your blood work on a regular basis to determine if you have any deficiencies, and until then, start adding these recommended supplements to your diet. Even if you are able to grow your own food, it is still important to monitor your blood work to make sure you are receiving everything you need, and incorporating the appropriate supplements is extremely important and beneficial.

Starting to Eat Healthy

While traveling on the road, Paul and I meet lots of families with concerns about what they are feeding their children. Common questions that both Paul and I get asked a lot are “How do you start feeding young children raw foods?” and “What are you feeding Noa?”

It might seem a little overwhelming at first when you start to make healthy changes to your family’s diet, but once you get the hang of it, it starts to come naturally! A great place to start is to replace a meal or snack that might not be that “healthy” with something that is healthy. If you find a healthy alternative for a food in your diet that you know is not good for you, then you won’t even miss that food!

I know for me that learning how to make a few raw food desserts helped me resist the temptations of the unhealthy desserts I was so accustomed to eating. It is so simple to make a raw, fruit pie using nuts, dates and any fresh or frozen fruit as a topping. I often made these pies for my friends who weren’t familiar with the raw food diet, and they loved them! You can also make date balls with the same ingredients you use in the pie crust; dates and nuts. It is really simple, and children love them!

When we first began to introduce raw foods into Noa’s diet, she had just turned 1. We really tried to hold off on feeding her any foods because we did not feel that it was necessary for her to eat anything other than breastmilk from me. She barely had any teeth to chew any food either! We researched a lot about what age is appropriate to start feeding infants, and we decided that we would not introduce new foods until she turned one, and she was almost two before I really felt like she was actually eating. She mostly put food into her mouth, chewed it up, and then spit it out. I did let her put food into her mouth before she was one, like avocados and bananas, but she was not consistently eating solid foods. I admit too, there was a lot of pressure from family members and friends to start feeding her. I tried to explain nicely that we are waiting, and that she is receiving enough nutrients from me for it to be any concern.

Now that Noa is two, she is eating a diet similar to mine. We drink fresh green juices in the morning, which can include kale, collards, sunflower sprouts, celery, cucumber, apple, and carrot. For snacks, we eat blueberries, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, bananas, apples, cucumbers and lots of other fresh fruit, especially if it is in season. Black sapotes are in season now here in South Florida, they are also called Chocolate Pudding Fruit, and if you aren’t familiar with them, they are a delicious fruit, high in ascorbic acid. We have been making lots of recipes with the black sapotes that I will be posting soon. Noa loves them, and can recognize them in the market too. I love it when she says “black sapotes” and points to them before I can even find them! For lunch, we eat avocados and kimchi, and maybe sprouted and lightly cooked quinoa too. We really try and keep it simple, and we also adhere to the Daylight Diet.

If you are beginning to make the transition to healthier foods for your family, then try and make it fun for them. And try not to use the word “healthy” too, because that might trigger an automatic “ewwww” response. Just have fun and be creative, and your family will follow your lead!

Raw Food Recipe: Spanish Rice

Paul and I have been having a lot of fun lately, making raw food recipes! We will be posting many more to The Raw Life Health Show soon, so stay in touch.

Here is a recipe from one of our favorite books, How We All Went Raw, by the Top Raw Men.



Spanish Rice

1 head cauliflower, grated in a food processor
4 green onions, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 Jalapeno pepper, diced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup cilantro, diced
1 avocado (mashed in)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
1/4 cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

Mix together and serve!

This recipe book is simple, and has lots of pictures too. You can purchase it from our web store: www.RawLife.com, by clicking here.

Yummy Kimchi!

Recently, I started adding a little kimchi to my diet, and now I can't stop! I am eating it everyday and loving it!

If you haven't heard of kimchi before, it's a traditional Korean vegetable dish, made with fermented vegetables and seasonings. The most common kimchi recipes are made with napa cabbage, radish, green onion, or cucumber. It is commonly used as a side dish, added over rice, salads, beans, grains and nori rolls. My favorite way to eat it is with avocado. I may even add a little cooked quinoa to the mix, and even Noa loves it! She eats the kimchi alone! She absolutely loves it, and I am thrilled too!

Not only is kimchi delicious, but it is one of the healthiest foods you can put into your body. It is rich in vitamins and minerals, and contains a number of lactic acid bacteria, including Lactobacillus kimchii. Because of the fermentation process, it is full of probiotics and easy to digest.

After spending 3 years working at Hippocrates Health Institute (HHI), I became accustomed to eating sauerkraut daily, which is another fermented food made with finely shredded cabbage. I liked that the sauerkraut was made right there in the HHI kitchen. Once I stopped working there 2 years ago, I also stopped eating fermented vegetables on a regular basis. But once I started adding them to my diet again, I realized how important they were to my overall health!

Kimchi and sauerkraut are also super easy to make! You can find recipes online, or you can try this recipe from our friend Ani Phyo and her book Ani's Raw Food Essentials:

Napa Cabbage Kimchi
By Ani Phyo
Makes about 8 cups
Pickling time: 2 to 3 days

1 napa cabbage, cut crosswise into 2-inch chunks
1/2 medium-size daikon radish, peeled and cut into quarters lengthwise, then 1/2-inch-thick chunks
2 tablespoons sea salt
1/2 cup water
2 green onions, sliced into 2-inch lengths
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon Korean chili powder

Place the cabbage and daikon pieces in a large mixing bowl.
Place the salt and water in a separate small bowl, mix to dissolve. Pour over the vegetables. Set aside at room temperature overnight to soften.

The next day, drain, reserving the saltwater the vegetables were soaked in. Add the green onions, garlic, ginger, and chili powder to the cabbage mixture, and mix well. Tightly pack the mixture into a 1/2-gallon glass jar with a lid. Pour the saved saltwater into the jar, leaving 1 inch of space at the top. Tightly close the lid. Leave the jar in a cool, dark place for 2 to 3 days (depending on the termperature and how pickled or fermented you want your kimchi). Refrigerate after opening. Will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

I am looking forward to making Ani's kimchi recipe soon, and we will be posting a video of it on The Raw Life Health Show too! But before I get in the kitchen to start experimenting, I make sure I keep a few jars of Sunja's Kimchi in the fridge. I found Sunja's Kimchi at Whole Foods, and it contains only natural ingredients, and it is raw too. I am hoping I can make my kimchi taste as delicious. And according to Ani, her Korean recipe is truly authentic. I will keep you all updated, and let me know if any of you try to make it too!

Back Home in South Florida!

We are finally back in sunny South Florida, and we are definitely more appreciative after being away for almost 2 months. Especially with all of these winter storms across the U.S.!

We were so blessed by many of you on this last tour, and are so thankful that we reconnected with old friends and made so many new ones. Although we love being on the road, we are excited to settle down and get back into our routine at home. I hope to start homeschooling Noa soon, and there is plenty of work to get done around the house. And of course, we are always in the process of getting rid of "stuff."

Paul and I are both so excited to announce our new website that we recently launched:

www.TheRawLifeHealthShow.com.

This website is created for all of you who are serious about your health. We wanted to give you access to the latest information regarding natural health and healing topics, recipes and so much more. This site allows us to remain connected to all of you when we are not on the road.

If you are interested in becoming a member to the Raw Life Health Show, then click here!

We also posted our latest e-newsletter that you can view by clicking here!

Now that we are home, there is a lot of work to get done, but hopefully you'll be seeing a lot more of us through The Raw Life Health Show. I hope to get back in the kitchen to make simple and tasty recipes and I will also be answering a few questions each week. So if there are any topics or questions that you want to discuss, just post them below and we will try and answer them soon.

Thanks again to all of you who have blessed us and supported us with words of encouragement, prayers, and in so many other ways!