Photo Credit

This is a guest post by Veronica Rousseau from Life With Nature.

Sugar is omnipresent in our food culture. Just for fun, next time you go to the grocery store, pick any of the packaged food and look at the nutritional label.

I bet that any food you’ll pick up actually contains sugar in one form or another. And while it’s not rocket science to understand that high sugary treats are not part of a healthy diet, most people don’t realize how much it can sabotage their health.

Why avoid sugar?

Sugar is a potent pro-inflammatory substance that has a significant effect on your body. Sugar stimulates a physiological chain reaction that provokes adrenaline and cortisol release, and thickens the blood. This means that eating sugary food can actually have the same effects on your body as stress does. Eating too much sugar could make you sick more often, as it might lower our immune system by interfering with white blood cells’ function.

Sugar is also one of the worst foods for your skin. It induces severe oxidative stress, which is linked to premature aging. Sugar also fuels cancer cells, promotes fat storage, and prevents amino acids to effectively reach muscle tissue. Over time, sugar intake can lead to insulin resistance, which is linked to type II diabetes, and plays a role in many other health conditions including nerve damage and cardiovascular diseases.

What’s The Deal with HFCS?

High fructose corn syrup, aka corn sugar, or glucose/fructose, is basically glucose syrup made from corn in which about half of the glucose is converted in fructose. While fructose might sound not so bad as it is the form of sugar contained in fruits, in HFCS, it appears to be the key element behind the many negative health effects that gives bad press to this sweetener.

HFCS can contribute to liver diseases, get your bad cholesterol levels higher and can lead to leptin resistance. Leptin is the hormone in charge of telling your body to stop eating. When your leptin doesn’t function properly, you continuously feel hungry, no matter how much you eat. HFCS can also be contaminated with lead, adding to your toxic burden.

What you must understand is that too much sugar, even from natural sources like agave nectar or dried fruits, can have a negative impact on your health. That being said, life should be fun and so should be your diet. If you kill all the pleasure of eating, chances are that you won’t be able to stick to your healthy diet for very long.

The key here is not to demonize all sugar forms, but rather to understand the health impact they can have on our body. Choosing natural sweeteners with beneficial nutrients in it like raw honey, maple syrup, dry fruits, or stevia are by far the best option to safely satisfy your sweet tooth once in a while.

Want more tips to detox naturally and natural living info, plus a free detox guide featuring delicious recipes? Visit Veronica’s blog at lifewithnature.com. Veronica Rousseau is the health nut behind lifewithnature’s blog where she shares her never-ending passion for natural detoxification, healthy eating and green living.

Today I am doing a little something special on the blog. I know that a lot of people come to raw foods when they need to lose weight, almost like a last resort. But what happens when you’ve tried all the diets and you still cannot lose the weight?

Photo credit: Victoria

Since I’m no expert on weight loss surgery, I brought in my good friend Linda Eaves – here’s my interview with her. Be sure to read till the end to find out more about her support classes for weight loss surgery.

What do people need to know about weight loss surgery that they might not get from their initial research?

The amount of mental and emotional change that is involved with having this surgery. This is as much about your mind and emotions as it is post surgery diet and exercise. Most surgery approvals require a very short social worker evaluation in order to get your procedure. This is not enough. Many people who get this surgery are then left to figure out things completely on their own. The psychological impacts and adjustments to be aware of like mood swings, transfer addiction, anxiety, grief, and fear can be daunting.

Mindset and emotional well being are key to long lasting success and mastery of your health. When eating is used as a coping mechanism and that is suddenly taken away you experience your emotions full force sometimes for the first time in your life. Support in the way of a coach, online, or in person group will improve your likelihood of success by 75 percent.

Tell us your story, what has been your experience and how are you feeling now?

Since age 16, I’ve done everything you can imagine to try and lose weight: The Cambridge fast. The Atkins diet. Weight Watchers. Jenny Craig. Exercise. Portion control. Thinking myself thin. I also tried just living with it and getting involved with the size acceptance community. I’d have some success but nothing worked long term.

In 2008 I was having joint pain which kept me from wanting to move. Because of my health issues I stopped doing the things I loved and began staying at home more and more. This was affecting my quality of life, so I took charge and called my doctor.

The turning point was with my physician, who said….”Obviously you’ve tried to lose the weight with all the programs you’ve done through the years.”

“Maybe it’s OK to get a little bit of help. “

After hearing those words I was finally able to release my guilt and begin to see weight loss surgery simply as a treatment option and not a sign of failure.

After that, my physician’s office wrote the surgical referral letter and I was approved for the Bariatric surgery program. The approval process was next, with all the required tests, consultations, and a large group pre surgery orientation. On March 4th, 2009, I had the surgery and quickly started to feel better. As of this writing I’ve released 140 pounds and I got back a quality of life that I never thought I’d have. I feel great!

Who should consider weight loss surgery?

Note: I’m not here to sell you on surgery. I am here to tell my story from one patient’s point of view. This treatment was right for me. Having surgery is a personal decision that only you can make.

• People who have dieted repeatedly with intense calorie restriction and exercise that hasn’t
  worked. Please see your doctor and ask about metabolic syndrome.
• People with a BMI or Body Mass Index greater than 40 or who is 100 pounds or more over
  their ideal body weight. This is considered morbidly obese.
• People with a BMI of 35, with medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or
  sleep apnea, are also considered candidates for weight loss surgery.

The reason the weight keeps coming back isn’t a lack of will power, discipline, or following the programs perfectly. Morbid obesity is a condition that for some people needs to be addressed with surgical intervention.

How has the surgery changed how you interact with food?

Surgery is a tool; afterward it was a big reset button for me around appetite and food choices. I feel best when I eat non processed foods, the simpler the better. I crave vegetables and fruit. I can eat normal portions. I feel empowered and calmer around my food choices.

What can you teach others from your experiences with food?

That food is not an enemy, it’s a choice to have or not have and you can master it simply. That you are intuitive and there are answers inside you about why you eat what you eat. Nothing is off limits.

Tell us about your upcoming classes, and how people can get more good stuff from you.

I’m excited to offer you three classes beginning in November 2010!

Introduction to Weight Loss Surgery – An Emotional Perspective

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 from 8:30-10pm EST – $23

• Strengths and drawbacks of each surgery type from a weight loss surgery patient’s
  perspective.
• Emotional Considerations
• What to Expect 1st Month
• Resources [I’ll also give you my favorite list of positive, discreet, and free online resources
  for support.]

Joyful, Mindful Eating over the Holidays

Wednesday, November 17 2010 from 8:30-10pm EST – $23.

I don’t know about you my dears, but the minute I’m told I can’t do or have “a thing” – it becomes the most enticing thing in the world and I must have it, or do it. Food is neither good nor bad. It’s simply there to be eaten or not, and you’re the one in charge. Join me as we look at the connection between holiday eating and our experience. Family gatherings have special significance and emotional meaning. Learn how to balance your goals for healthy eating and still enjoy the season. Even if you over-serve yourself at the banquet table or bar!

Body Image: View from the Funhouse Mirror.

3 session course is offered on Wednesdays (December 1, 8, 15 2010) from 8:30-10pm EST. The cost is $73

We all know the media promotes an image that for most people – is thinner than natural. The theory is you can’t be happy unless you fit within a specific cookie cutter body size, shape, and height. Who is this mighty they? The advertisers and builders of products, whose main goal is to get you to buy their product through any means necessary. This includes playing on emotions and twisting things around to make you feel inadequate and unsure of yourself. Of course the solution is readily available with product X.

This class explores the possibility of celebrating and turning up the volume of your own uniqueness. Learn how to break the cycle of comparison and be done with wishing you were different.

Linda Eaves is known as a “Professional Wish Granter” and loves consulting, nurturing creativity, and connecting people with what they need to help make their dreams come true! Check out more of my story, thoughts and advice at LindaEaves.com

Photo by Rachel

I write a lot about green smoothies and the benefits of drinking green smoothies. I’m also a huge advocate of juicing your greens. But one of the important aspects of drinking your greens is the rotation of plants.

Let me explain.

When you consume the exact same variety of green leafy vegetables, your body is always getting the same nutrients. Each variety of plant will give you different nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants.

But it goes even further than that. You see, each plant has a self-defense mechanism to keep animals from completely devastating their favorite plant. For example, if monkeys loved spinach and decided to eat all the spinach around then the plant could not procreate and it would die out.

Nature’s system is so smart because it knows that it’s important to keep greens around (hello! most nutritious food pound for pound!). So green leafy plants actually have a minute amount of alkaloids, which act like a poison if ingested regularly.

That’s where rotating your greens comes in! If you switch between different types of green plans, your body’s immune system is actually getting a boost because it is working on different alkaloids all the time.

So my recommendation, backed up by Victoria Boutenko is to switch between at least 10-12 types of greens. You can have say two or three days on one green like spinach, and then two or three days on kale, then two or three days on gai lan, you get the picture.

This actually ties in well with the Traditional Chinese Medicine system of hot and cold foods. Some people do well on certain types of greens, while others are better off with different types.

I think it’s super important to swap greens regularly! Oh, and the reason we don’t need to focus on swapping fruit as much as greens is that fruit were designed to be eaten and spread by animals. Greens would rather grow, and have their seeds blow in the wind or be pollinated by insects.

Greens are the most powerful healing foods out there, so it’s great to make them a staple part of your diet!

List of Greens to Get You Started

Your best bet is to go to a farmer’s market and look a the vast array of colorful greens. Pick some up, smell it, ask the farmer what it tastes like, and give it a try! If you’ve got the space and inclination, I’d highly recommend you start a garden. Plant a few of these vegetables and see which ones you like!

• Spinach
• Swiss Chard
• Kale
• Bok Choy
• Gai Lan
• Dandelion Greens
• Mustard Greens
• Carrot Tops
• Yu Choy
• Sunflower sprouts (sprouts in general)
• Romaine lettuce
• Buttercrunch lettuce
• Boston lettuce
• Arugula (Rocket)
• Collard greens
• Cabbage
• Watercress
• Purslane
• Sorrel
• Tatsoi
• Turnip Greens
• Radish Greens
• Beet Greens
• Basil leaves
• Coriander / Cilantro
• Parsley
• Mint leaves

What other greens do you enjoy?

There are literally hundreds of different green edible plants out there. Which ones are your favorites and what have you tried that you didn’t quite like?

This is a guest post by Dawnmarie, read on to hear her story of transformation with raw foods.

The year 2006 was the worst year of my life. My best friend of 15 years and I had a falling out. My Grandmother died. I lost my job. I opened my own practice only to close 9 months later in near bankruptcy because of low reimbursement from insurance companies. My husband left. I found a new partner. He left. My dog was diagnosed with ehrlichia.

My life was starting to sound like a country music song. But perhaps the most devastating news came from my ob/gyn.

“You aren’t fertile. Your FSH is too high. You need an egg donor.”

Having wanted children all my life, now 37 and without a partner, my chances were quite grim.

Not only would I need a sperm donor, but also an egg donor. There must be a way to restore my fertility.

In addition, at the time, I was taking a pharmacy load of medications:

• Wellbutrin for ADHD and depression.
• Lamictal for refractory depression (standard antidepressants no longer worked).
• Strattera for ADHD.
• Klonopin for anxiety.
• Citrucel for my irritable bowel with constipation.
• Bottles and bottles of Advil for various aches and pains, headaches and menstrual cramps.
• Glucosamine for joint pain.
• Coffee to wake me up in the morning.
• Sleeping aids to get me to sleep at night.

I was 155 pounds, heavy for my 5″7 frame. My cholesterol was elevated. And, I had acne. All of the time. I didn’t recognize who I had become. And I didn’t like her.

Discovering Raw Food

My friend Leslie, at the same time my husband left, decided to “go raw” for a few weeks to do a “cleanse.” I thought this was ridiculous and unnecessary.

Meat and dairy are essential to a balanced diet. Its good for you. Or so I thought and so I had learned.

While my world continued to spiral down, I noticed Leslie’s was improving. She became my emotional rock and she was no longer so fragile.

She continued to tell me about “raw” and I continued to dismiss her. But for Christmas, to support her, I bought her Gabriel Cousens’ book Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine. And I did myself the favor and read the introduction.

There was one thing that he said that I wanted to hear, you can “change hormone production with a living food diet.”

A month later, when I arrived in California for a job so that I could prevent bankruptcy, I “went raw.”

After three months, I was no longer anxious. I didn’t need Klonopin.

After six months, I didn’t feel depressed. I stopped the Lamictal. Several months later, I didn’t need the Wellbutrin, either. Strattera was causing my blood sugars to rise. I stopped it, and they normalized. The Citrucel sat on my shelf.

Eating fibrous foods was not constipating. I wasn’t buying Advil, either, as I no longer ached. I didn’t get headaches anymore. I replaced coffee with green smoothies. I slept well every night.

Testing The Raw Boundaries

One day, early in my raw journey, I was overtired and decided to get a latte prior to work. Within hours, I was doubled over in pain.

All along, I had been lactose intolerant, and didn’t realize it. So that’s why I wasn’t farting anymore.

I lost weight. All of it. And I was back down to my prior college weight of 125 pounds. I looked and felt fantastic.

Although, I was diagnosed with Hashimotos (likely induced prior to going raw, by the large quantities of dairy I used to consume, as dairy promotes autoimmune disorders), my thyroid hormones stabilized quickly, and I haven’t yet needed a prescription for thyroid replacement.

Once I stopped gluten, I no longer had acne.

The Ever After Part…

It’s four years later, and I’m still mostly “raw” and definitely only consume a whole food plant based diet. I feel better now at 41 than I did at 31.

Another fertility specialist just informed me that my AMH is zero and that I have only one follicle producing in my left ovary per month.

He says I need an egg donor and he says I have a non-significant very small external fibroid on my uterus.

My mother lost her uterus to fibroids at 37. I believe had I not turned my diet around, I, too would be getting a hysterectomy.

While all of my other health problems have cleared, the fertility issue is still a challenge. I’m not giving up.

I’ve been to Clear Passages for 30 hours of physical therapy to prepare my ovaries and uterus for pregnancy. (A pleasant side-effect of this treatment, now that my uterus isn’t nailed to my abdominal wall from adhesions, is that I can now orgasm on intercourse).

I’m taking DHEA, which has been shown to improve egg quality and follicular production. And next week, I fly to Seattle to attend Randine Lewiss course for women with reproductive challenges like my own.

Whether or not I become pregnant on my own or by a donor egg, my raw food journey has lead me to a better place, to better health. This physician, healed herself, with a whole food, plant based diet.

Thank you Dawnmarie!

I just want to take a moment to thank Dawnmarie for sharing her story with all of us. It’s amazing what a whole food diet can do, and I am so blessed to be able to share this message with the world!

Photo by M. I. Zuhair

Today’s post is a treat for those of you who are struggling with cravings or emotional eating.

Peggy Carey, the author of this article, is also offering a special promotion to Raw Foods Witch readers so be sure to read till the end!

This is a guest post by Peggy Carey also known as The Zest Lady.

I have been a yo-yo dieter all my life… losing 50 pounds and then gaining it all back in a couple of years.

As a result of my desperate quest to reach my ideal weight I ruined my health.

I finally found the secret to losing excess weight and keeping it off in a way that also promotes vibrant health and fitness. I lost 45 pounds using a combination of raw food and essential oils.

Achieving your ideal weight can be challenging, but there are many tools that can help you reach your goal. Let’s look at aromatherapy and how essential oils can be used as a weight loss and maintenance aid.

Using Essential Oils for Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance

As a result of his research Dr. Alan Hirsch says that we feel full because of a special mechanism in our brain.

One reason we stop eating comes from signals designating being full or a sense of being satisfied.

An emotional state can also trigger a desire for food and we can control these feelings by inhaling certain scents.

The sense of smell can help us suppress appetite and all those irrational emotional responses we have to food.

Using our sense of smell consciously can give us control where our will power fails. For most people, using scents can curb cravings.

The Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Institute of Chicago found that by inhaling an aroma throughout the day, you can inhibit the desire to eat.

Dr. Hirsch, in his study, found that the more people used scent to control their appetite, the more weight they lost.

The key was to vary the oils used to prevent becoming desensitized which would reduce the effectiveness of the inhaled oils.

How to Use Essential Oils to Keep Your Irrational Hunger at Bay

Experiment by choosing three essential oils to use throughout the day.

Put a couple drops of each one of the selected oils on the cotton wick of your Be Lean Whiffer™ aromatherapy pendant.

Hold the Whiffer™ close to your nose when you feel you need a stronger scent.

The more you use these scents, the more effective they will be. Each day change the oils you used previously with three different ones.

This can be done easily by unscrewing the cap and inserting a new wick. Save the used wick for another day in a glass vial. (Oils can dissolve most plastics.)

Recommended Essential Oils for Weight Loss

• Peppermint: Is a digestive aid that soothes an upset stomach and helps with digestive problems.
• Grapefruit: A natural weight loss appetite suppressant through a process called lipolysis dissolves fat. (Combines very well with lavender in a Whiffer aromatherapy pendant).
• Bergamot: Stimulates your endocrine system and produces a sense of calm and well being and alleviates stress. Lavender can be combined with bergamot to enhance this calming effect.
• Tangerine: A diuretic and is also used to calm the nervous system.
• Orange: Helps overcome depression and gives emotional support.
• Ylang ylang: Used to clarify thoughts and assist in a feeling of wellness and calm.
• Patchouli: Used as a sedative and relaxation aid.

It is suggested you start with peppermint oil, because it provides unique weight loss benefits.

Dr. Alan Hirsch’s study found that inhaling peppermint can directly affect your brain’s satiety center, the ventro-medial nucleus of the hypothalamus.

This powerful essential oil makes you feel full after a meal. The result is that you can eat less and still feel satisfied.

You can choose to either inhale peppermint oil before a meal or drink a few drops in a glass of water or tea right before each meal.

Make sure the oil is pure enough to ingest. Do not ingest oils that are not marked GRAS (generally regarded as safe) or are not labeled for supplement use.

In Essence…

Essential oils are a terrific and natural way to suppress appetite and calm emotions as they relate to food and stress.

For safety and effectiveness, read the directions that come on the bottles of each essential oil before inhaling or ingesting.

Reaching and maintaining your ideal weight is a very important step towards achieving vibrant health.

Get more health related tips at Peggy Carey’s site The Zest Lady.

The Special Offer I Mentioned

To help you get started with essential oils, Peggy has generously offered to give anyone who buys a Whiffer pendant putting the code “RFW” in the comment-box a free pack of cotton wick storage vials.

Simply enter the code “RFW” in the comment box at check-out to receive you free gift! Click here to pick up a Whiffer and get your essence on!

P.S. I am experimenting with one of Peggy’s handmade Whiffers and will be sharing my experiences in future posts! Join me and get your own Whiffer and oils here.

Photo by Gordana A. M.

One of the reasons people turn to raw food is because they are looking to eat more healthy food. That’s definitely one of my main reasons for giving raw food a try. (Remember that when I say raw food, I don’t necessarily mean 100% raw.)

Lately, I found myself giving out this little piece of advice: eating raw food doesn’t mean it’s necessarily healthier than other ways of eating.

Hear me out…

There are a lot of other things that go into your health, other than just the “label” you apply to your food. Maintaining healthy diets, for most of us can be tricky. So for instance, you might be eating raw food, but eating too much of it. Or you might be eating raw food, but eating too much of one category and not enough of another.

Neither of these scenarios is very healthy.

Or, you might be eating raw food but not drinking enough water, sleeping enough, or exercising enough. And then there’s your emotional and mental well being, all of which play into your overall health.

Now, let’s take a closer look at what healthy foods are.

The Healthy Foods List

Here is a basic list of healthy foods that most people can agree on:

• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Fresh leafy greens
• Cold pressed extra virgin oils
• Raw nuts and seeds
• Sprouts
• Seaweeds and sea vegetables

Now we can split hairs and argue that we should include other foods, depending on what lifestyle you follow. For instance some may want to add superfoods, others may want to add in raw dairy or meat, you get the idea.

But I think we can all agree that these are basically healthy foods. Especially fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Unhealthy Foods List

• Processed “white” foods like white breads, white pastas, etc.
• Refined white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame
• Addictive substances like MSG, and other “taste enhancing” chemicals
• Processed, denatured fats and oils that the body cannot deal with

Alright, so the unhealthy foods list is incomplete. That’s partly because it would take too long to include everything that might potentially be unhealthy. But it’s also because we don’t all agree on what’s unhealthy.

Some people go around telling themselves that they’ll be healthy if they eat “Everything in Moderation“. And while the adage that eating everything in moderation probably held true 100 years ago, it certainly doesn’t hold today.

There are more chemicals and ingredients that I can’t pronounce on a label for dried raisins than ever before. Dried raisins!

Imagine what’s in super processed junk foods for a minute. It’s not pretty.

How to Include More Healthy Foods and Less Unhealthy Foods

I honestly believe that in order to eat more healthy foods we need to leave some of the unhealthy foods behind. If you’re too full from eating an entire bag of chips and a 1L bottle of Coke, then you’re not going to be inspired to eat an apple. Let alone a salad.

Letting go of foods that aren’t good for you is a lot more complex than it might seem at first. Why? Cravings. That’s why.

I’ve been eating healthy foods for over 3 years now, and I’ve learned a thing or two about cravings. Get on The Cue list, and you’ll be the first know about my cravings busting techniques.

Alright, so you’ve read my 13 Witchy Ways Green Smoothies will rock your socks post. You’ve learned about the difference between smoothies and juicing. You’ve probably heard me talk about green smoothies on Twitter (follow me, I’m @hyperlinked) and Facebook.

But are you ready for International Green Smoothie Day – August 15th?

It’s time for the second annual green smoothie celebration. I’m one of the sponsors of International Green Smoothie day, so if you’ve been itching to work with me one on one, you could win a session as part of the celebration! Sign up and you’ll also get a chance to win a brand new blender. To make more delicious green magickal “goop” of course. :)

Enjoy it!