Tag Archives: vegan diet

The Alkaline Diet

10 October
Alkaline Raw Vegan Pizza

Alkaline Raw Vegan Pizza

The Alkaline Diet is pretty simple to follow: eat and do things that are highly alkaline. That’s it! So as long as you remember what is acidic and what is alkaline, you’re good to go. Whether is raw or cooked, the most important thing is that you stay highly alkaline, say 80% alkaline and 20% or less acidic. But there are some important things to keep in mind too that most diet either frown upon or don’t take into account that are critical to the Alkaline Diet.

Elements in the Alkaline Diet

There are four elements that one must follow in the Alkaline Diet: Healthy Oils, Chlorophyll, Salt, and Water. I’ll discuss each element below.

Oils

These is always a point of disagreement in a lot of diets and lifestyles. Most people think of oils as the oil they use to fry french fries at McDonalds or any fast food place.  But our bodies, and specially our brains need oils… Healthy Oils! We find this is an area where most people are not educated in, and we get a lot of questions about it. We need omegas (3, 6, and 9) to function well and regenerate brain cells. Because of combining the vegan diet and the Alkaline diet, we only take vegan oils that offer a good healthy amount of omegas. Most people think vegan oils with omegas don’t exist, they believe they have to get them from fish. You can if that’s what you want. For spiritual reasons, I don’t consumer animals. So I choose vegan oils such as Hemp Seed Oil (2 to 1 ratio), Flax Seed Oil (3 to 1 ratio), and Chia Seed Oil. Omega 5 oils are Avocado, Coconut (which helps to absorb omega 3 oils), and Pomegranate Seed Oil.

Chlorophyll = Greens

Green Juice Cold Pressed

Green Juice Cold Pressed

Most people and people eating the SAD don’t get enough servings of healthy greens (Chlorophyll). These include plant foods (Kale, Lettuce, Chard, etc), vegetables juices, and green powders (Alkavision or Dr. Brocs). Even vegans may not be getting enough alkaline vegetables or green juices.

Salt

Another topic that is very tabu in the health community is Salt. Most people think we Alkalarians mean the disgusting Morton salt most people have in their kitchens or some may imagine we refer to the “healthier” version: sea salt. Just two days ago someone told me that they don’t eat salt because it shrinks their organs! Again, if a person is eating the SAD, they eat a lot of sodium from processed foods and drink non-hydrating liquids, well yes, salt will not be healthy for them. For those of us in the Alkaline diet, salt is critical. The best salts are Real Salt from Utah and Red Alaea Salt (Hawaiian Salt). These Hawaiian salts can be found in different types. Another type of salts that are crucial in the getting healthy are Magnesium and potassium salts which are key minerals for the body and the nervous system.

Water

I’m not talking about drinking 8 cups a day, I’m referring to the quality of the water and the pH of the water. Pure alkaline IONIZED water with a high pH such as 9.5 and an ORP of 150mV. That’s the kind of water! Your body will thank you for it. In fact, if you are planning in making one change today, this is the most critical in my view. Start by getting an ionizer and if you can afford it, a nano filter too. If you are not able to afford purchasing these two, you can buy bottled water with high pH like Essentia water. Don’t trust what it says in the bottles of the water you buy, do your research. Right now, Essentia is the only brand left in the market that you can trust.

 

The Alkaline diet is not just a fad diet, is a new LIFESTYLE! And not just for those with illness or disease but for anyone who wants to improve their quality of life. So let’s summarize this, to start the Alkaline diet:

Even one change you make today will start improving your health!

The Spiritual Vegan Diet

21 August

Ahimsa The Spiritual Vegan Diet

Last year at Bhakti Fest, one of the MCs talked about a lifestyle challenge he entered as a way to improve his health. As he started the new vegan raw diet, he realized that his new diet is part of what Ahimsa in the yoga world means: Non-violence towards animals. I connected to that because being a vegan for me now is more of a choice-of-energy that enters my body than non-cruelty towards animals. But I knew Ahimsa meant much more beyond food. I was inspired by this topic and wrote about it on my post for MentalBlox.com. Here is a copy of the post:

 

Ahimsa | The Non-Violent Spiritual Diet

If you are a student of Yoga, whether it’s the asana practice only or all the other parts of yoga, you have heard the term Ahimsa. It means non-violence and avoiding harming ourselves and others including animals. Many yogis and yoginis are vegetarian or vegan, because, a true practitioner of yoga will take a vow of non-violence. Eating animals is part of Ahimsa because of the suffering and the violence animals are submitted before they died to become food on a plate. Vegetarism is a start, but Ahimsa is much more beyond being a vegetarian.

You Are What You Eat

I chose to become a vegan many years ago, at the beginning for health reasons, but now I choose to stay vegan for energy reasons. I don’t want the energy of another being in my body; I feel it affects my spiritual path, especially if the animal was hurt and tortured during the dying process to become food for humans. I’m fortunate to be allergic to eggs and dairy and therefore I’m not able to eat those either. Many of my friends have been able to get deeper once they adjust their diets to the principal of Ahimsa. And it’s no surprise that many religions avoid eating certain animals because they might not be as “pure” as others or because some animals are sacred and cannot be consumed.

Walking The Walk

When I started learning more about yoga, deepening my practice thru my teacher training, I became more aware of the term Ahimsa and why it was important in order to advance in my spiritual path. I felt great I was a vegan and thought that was all to it. Ahimsa doesn’t just refer to food and the killing of animals for food. It refers to everything in our lives, not having harmful thoughts about ourselves or others and other violent actions that lead to negative emotions like anger, frustration, fear, rage, and anxiety. So I had to stop wishing people on the road traffic tickets for bad driving, getting angry at my cat for spitting hairballs on my white couch, or killing roaches that come in to my house after a rainy day.

But the most difficult part has been not wounding and hurting me with my thoughts. Every time we judge ourselves and say mean things, we hurt our souls and self-esteem. I know it sounds corny but it’s true. Saying “I’m fat and ugly, nothing fits me”, or “I have a horrible hair day”, or “I’m so stupid”. Even not saying it out loud but thinking it, we are hurting ourselves. And if you have children or siblings that look up to you, they are learning from you to say those things about themselves too.

The Process

It may take a while for us to get used to being more loving towards ourselves and others. I started moving to the middle lane when I see a car coming fast behind me on the left lane, so instead of wishing them a ticket, I let them pass me. I stop telling myself how “fat I feel” when clothes don’t fit or calling myself “stupid” for closing a drawer on my fingers. One might be clumsy at times but it doesn’t mean we have to call ourselves a name or attach a negative feeling to that. Love your clumsy curvy self and the roaches or other animals that share this earth with us. That is the first step to Ahimsa.

Are there other ways you have come to realized Ahimsa applies in your life? Share with us!

Zen and Diet: Can Food Assist You on Your Spiritual Path?

22 July

denis sunduki

Denis and his friends started this project last week. It’s a documentary on whether a person with a strong spiritual practice can take their practice to a higher level with the introduction of a healthy diet. Here is some information on the current project as described by Denis below.

Outline for the Documentary

  • Carlos Londono as Director/Star, Frank Padron as Director of Photography, Denis Soukhanov as Producer/Expert
  • Daily spiritual practice should include: meditation, yoga, satsang, kirtan
  • Weekly recorded conversations
  • Expert Interviews
  • Daily Video Journal
  • Diet is based on pH Miracle by Robert Young

Phase 1: Yogic Diet (30 days)

  • End of First Week: coffee replaced with green tea
  • Whole Food Vegetarian Diet
  •  “Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible, before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain added ingredients, such as salt, carbohydrates, or fat.” – Wikipedia
  • Organic when possible
  • Avoid stimulants (coffee, alcohol, drugs)
  • Multi-vitamin whole foods supplement
  • “In the Ayurvedic tradition, foods that are considered sattvic include most vegetables, ghee (clarified butter), fruits, legumes, and whole grains.” – Yoga Journal
  • Learning Ahimsa
  • Fasting on Ekadashi days (11th lunar day, twice a month)

Phase 2: Beyond Ahimsa – Vegan Diet (30 days)

  • All of the above
  • Avoid all animal products (no dairy, no honey, no eggs)
  • At least one big salad a day
  • Learning about pH of the foods
  • Multi-vitamin whole foods supplement

Phase 3: Alkaline Diet  (30 days)

  • First week (Green Juice fast)
  • 80/20 pH balanced
  •  80/20 Raw Vegan
  • Green Juices and Green Smoothies for breakfast
  • Multi-vitamin whole foods supplement

 

Eating More Alkaline Vegetables

23 February

Alkaline Vegetables

Until about 4 weeks ago, my diet consisted of raw junk food! Yes, I was eating tons of raw cashew ice cream, raw chocolate bars, and more cashew based foods. I had stopped drinking my Thank God from Josh’s Organic Garden and any other green leafy vegetables. I think the stress of having opened our new consulting firm and planning and traveling to Colombia made me go for easy raw meals that were not alkaline, drinking caffeinated tea with sugar, and tons of Kombucha. I even started to eat corn and mushrooms again! Yikes!

Many health issues I had before when I was on a regular SAD diet came back. Infections, weak immune system, migraines, sinus issues, and low energy. So I took my copy of the pH Miracle book and made a list of all the vegetables that were high int he Alkaline scale and went shopping. But the challenge was that I didn’t want to eat them raw. I didn’t want to eat anything raw that was healthy! Just the junk!

 

Alkaline Vegetables List including Oils and Nuts

  • Cucumber
  • Dandelion
  • Broccoli
  • Endive
  • Celery
  • Sorrel
  • Green Beans
  • Lemon
  • Lettuce
  • Dill, Parsley, and Cilantro
  • Carrots (not carrot juice)
  • Watercress
  • Cauliflower
  • Artichoke
  • Asparagus
  • Lima Beans
  • Snow peas
  • Brussels Sprouts
  • Onions
  • Kale, Collards, Chard, Sprouts, and Spinach
  • Black radish (the rockstar of pH!) I don’t eat this steamed, I eat it raw in salads
  • Hemp oil, Borage oil, Flax seed oil, evening Primrose oil, and Chia seed oil
  • Almonds & Hemp Seeds
  • Avocados too 🙂 Thank you to Lisa for reminding me!

 

I knew the reason why I couldn’t eat these veggies raw and oils was because I had been eating so bad the last 5 months that my taste buds would not allow anything healthy in.

Resetting my Taste Buds

Denis suggested I do a green juice fast but we all know what happened the last time I did that! hah hah! So instead I decided I would steam these veggies for 28 days until I was able to get used to an Alkaline diet again.

The next challenge was that I don’t have a stove in my kitchen. So I went and bought a vegetable steamer for two people. I decided I would eat about 20% of my dinner steamed. That way I would stay mainly raw and 100% Alkaline. That meant no sugar, no cashews, no caffeine, no alcohol, no mushrooms! The only fruit I allowed myself to have was grapefruit everyday and blueberries once a week.

The first few days I went thru sugar and caffeine withdrawals, and I was dreaming of cupcakes and pizza. But after 2 weeks, I was fine.

Results

I’m about 20 days in, just eating alkaline and can see the difference. I haven’t gained any weight even though I have not exercised, and I have been able to heal all health issues I had. I’m drinking/eating hemp and flax seed oil with no issues and feel great!

I’m very excited of returning to my healthy path on the Alkaline diet! I carry this list of vegetables everywhere with me so I don’t forget what is Alkaline.

 

Raw Vegan Cream of Spinach Soup

09 January

Raw Vegan Cream of Spinach SoupI love soups! I think I have mentioned that many posts ago and if you noticed, a lot of my recipes are for soups.

Denis and I recently took a trip to Colombia in South America and had a blast. But after 14 days of plain salads, I was ready for some “fancy” raw food. However, we got home and drove to the Green Wave Cafe right after the airport! Yes, we wanted some raw food!

The next day though we had no food in our refrigerator but fortunately it was Sunday and time for shopping at Josh’s Organic Garden. He had everything I wanted and more! The spinach, for some wild reason, looked amazing to me. I’m not a big fan of spinach but once in awhile I go crazy for it. And when I saw last Sunday at Josh’s, I wanted Cream of Spinach.

So I googled it and then modified the recipe for my raw lifestyle and here is how I created my own Raw Vegan Cream of Spinach Soup.

Ingredients:

Fresh Organic Spinach (about 2 handfuls – about 1/2 of your vitamix)

1/3 cup of cashews (you can also use 1/2 cup sun flower seeds instead)

1/2 cup of water

1/2 Tb Spoon of white miso paste

Onion (I did one large amethyst/green onion, but it could be about 1/4 medium size onion)

Garlic to taste (I did a small clove)

Bariani Olive Oil to taste

Real Salt to taste

Black Pepper to taste

 

Add everything in the vitamix and blend until smooth. If too much water or not enough spinach, add more spinach or cashews. I also like to add a celery stalk and some Italian seasoning even though the common cream of spinach soup doesn’t call for either.

Let it blend until it has the consistency that you like, if you want more creamy add more seeds or cashews. I let it blend until is a little warm or sometimes I add warm water so that it’s a little warm.

Serve with some raw crackers or raw bread and sprinkle some black pepper. It’s delicious and nutritious!

 

 

 

Before and Way Before

26 June

Many friends have been asking me to post pictures of Denis and I when we first began our journey in the health food path. But first, here is one of my favorite clips from the Sopranos that kinda reminds me of the pictures you will see below. I call these pictures, the pictures of when we were over weight: the Sopranos… you’ll see why.

Denis lost a total of 93 Lbs

I lost over 50 lbs.

 

Most of the weight loss came after we switched to raw vegan, but the first weight we lost was after we switched from red meat to only poultry and fish. After a few years on just fish, we lost more weight again.

I do have to confess that being only raw vegan, can also add weight. I’ve been able to keep my weight stable for 2 years and continue to stay on that weight. I have also been able to build muscle on just raw by adding vegan protein. However, the minute I stop exercising to build muscle and didn’t change my way of eating, my weight changed.

Each person is different as I always say, so we all must find what works for us.

Arugula Dandelion Dip

14 June

On the way back from the market Saturday, we were having a discussion in the car about creamy sweet dishes vs. creamy salty dishes. We all agreed we liked both. And that brought a memory of spinach dip. So I went to Josh’s Market Sunday but wasn’t able to find spinach to make it. Instead, I decided to change the recipe and get dandelions and arugula, which I very often don’t buy because I’m not a fan of them even though I know they are good for you.

Here is what you’ll need:

Arugula (abut a handful or two)
Red and Green Dandelions (about a handful)
6 leaves of basil
6 shitake mushrooms cut (as big as wanted)
4 mini sweet peppers (red and orange) chopped
4 green scallions chopped
6 stalks of broccolini chopped

For the sauce:
1/2 cup of cashews
1 TBS unpasteurized white miso paste
1 Tea spoon olive oil
1 Tea spoon sesame oil
Italian seasoning to taste
Salt to taste
water (as needed)

I like to start with the sauce so that I can let the veggies soak the flavor, so blend all the ingredients from the sauce until smooth. In a mixing bowl, add the mushrooms, peppers, broccolini and scallions and mix with some salt and oil.

Take the dandelion, basil and arugula in the food processor and pulse until obtaining the desired consistency for the dip. Ensure that the leaves do not become liquid but chopped enough for the dip. Mix in with the vegetables and pour the sauce and mix well. I let it sit there for a few minutes to soak the flavors. You can also add garlic to the sauce before mixing.

Serve with other veggies or raw crackers.

Almond Ginger Kelp Noodles

12 June

I love kelp noodles! I have them at least once a week, and this past week I made the best ones so far. So I felt I should share with the world. Plus a few friends on Facebook wanted the recipe as well. So here it is.

1 bag of kelp noodles (16oz bag I believe)
1 cup of red shredded cabbage
6 mini sweet peppers (red and orange)
1 cup of Kale sliced or shredded
4 Scallions chopped
Olive oil to taste
Salt to taste
Cilantro

For the Sauce:
2 Tbs almond butter
1 Tbs unpasteurized white miso
1 clove of garlic
1 cube of ginger (about 1 inch)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs coconut oil
1 Tea spoon sesame oil
Thai seasoning
Salt

 

Rinse the noodles and soaked for about 10 or 15 minutes. Mixed the onions, peppers, cabbage, and cilantro in a mixing bowl and sprinkle some salt, olive oil and Thai seasoning to taste and mixed well. Leave aside and prepare the sauce.

Put the sauce ingredients in the blender and mix well until smooth. Pour about half on the mixed vegetables and let is soak in the sauce while you rinse out the noodles again. Strain the noodles and put in mixing bowl. I like to cut the noodles so that they are shorter than how they are packaged. Mix well and add remaining sauce.

Sprinkle some black sesame seeds when serving. You can also add a jalapeno pepper or any spicy pepper to the sauce to make it hot. This serves about 2 big people like Denis and I… but if you love kelp noodles, you can have it all and not share it 😉

Raw Tomato Bisque Soup

14 February

I was on my way from work to home while Denis was driving and we were talking about food. Whenever I get bored of the same thing over and over and I believe I’m done with raw food, I come up with an amazing recipe!

Tonight, I came up with a delicious and simple tomato bisque recipe. I love soups, specially for dinner on a cold night.

Here is what I used (makes enough soup for 2 people):

4 Skinny carrots
1 Medium red tomato
1/2 Medium red pepper
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional to make it creamy)
2 Celery stalks (cut is smaller pieces for easier blending)
1/2 cup sun dried tomato flakes (you can also use whole sun dried tomatoes)
1 Tbs miso paste
2 Tbs coconut oil
1 Tbs Italian seasoning
1 tea spoon garlic powder
Pinch of organic cumin seed powder (optional)
Sesame oil, flax seed oil, and salt to taste
1/2 cup Water

I like to put the nuts in the blender first for any recipe but you can just drop all the ingredients in your blender and blend.

Since tonight was a cold night, I wanted my soup a little warm. My vitamix is able to warm up my soup without cooking it.

You can add any herbs like cilantro, parsley, or dill to decorate when serving.

It was so good that I decided to share the recipe immediately. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Raw Anniversary!

25 November

Thanksgiving Lunch Nov. 2010

Today Denis and I celebrated Thanksgiving and our 3 year anniversary of being 100% raw vegans.  I didn’t want to put a big production as I usually do every year so we kept it to just the two of us today.

Last week, I got asked: “What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?” and it’s been so overwhelming for us in the last month that I realized I was not planning ahead for this weekend. I answered back: “I’m just trying to get thru today!” Which was true! I’ve been so busy with my school and work and life that I’ve been just taking it one day at the time.

Oh and no, I’m still not ready to share what I’m going to school for… in case you were hoping I spilled the beans here 🙂 .

So I woke up this morning and I asked Denis what he wanted to eat. His response was: “Nori rolls!”  I smiled and got my phone to show him pictures of last year’s Thanksgiving food and even what I made for Christmas last year to see if it would inspire him to ask for something other than nori rolls. But he still wanted nori rolls and instead he said: “If you feel inspired to make something, go ahead.” And I did.

After all, I was grateful that I didn’t have to stress about having people over, clean the house, and roll out the “big carpet” as I always do for my guests. I LOVE having people over, but with all the weekends I’ve had to give up, I haven’t been able to rest. So these four days were strictly for me and Denis to rest, spend time alone, and beach! And that’s what we did!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Three Year Anniversary to Denis and I! Here is what I wind up “putting together” for today’s holiday:

Avocado Steaks with Sun-dried tomato gravy, cranberry sauce,  stuffing, and salad with hearts of palm and olives on the side and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Raw Thanksgiving Dinner in Islamorada, Nov. 2007