Hey, it’s Dr. Ariel checking in! I want to feature some of the incredible women who are in the raw community, and share some of my personal experiences with these amazingly talented folks.  One of the first women I wanted to introduce you to is Laura Bruno!

Well, to share this I need to let you know that I’ve been going through a whole lot of changes recently! So many decisions and surprising twists in the road. I have personally found that it is really helpful to have a coach or someone that I can bounce things off of who can give me an informed and definitely a more  objective perspective. I really got some wonderful guidance recently from coach and medical intuitive Laura Bruno. She combines an excellent pragmatic business sense with an incredibly astute intuition. For me, Laura really dialed right in to the key issues. I was then able to look at my choices and make some “informed decisions”.  Laura has been a guide and coach for many in the raw food world including the talented Shazzie, who co-authored “Naked Chocolate” with David Wolfe. Thanks, Laura! You were right on, as usual! I am really feeling much more back on track and that feels like as important to good health as eating wonderful raw foods…

Laura has a pretty incredible story to tell of her journey to raw foods. Here is an excerpt from her bio:

After completing a Masters degree in English at the University of Chicago, Laura spent two years in the corporate world. Just before her return to graduate school, her dream to become an English professor came to a sudden halt. She suffered a brain injury and could no longer read without debilitating migraine headaches.
Unable to read print, Laura tapped into her ability to “read” in other ways. She began to feel people’s energetic fields and used her heightened intuition to access the mental, emotional, and spiritual patterns affecting their physical health. In some cases, Laura has even predicted future health issues before they manifested in the body. She eventually became a Reiki Master Teacher and dedicated herself to helping others. (She has since fully recovered.)
Over the years, Laura has helped people deal with cancer, addictions, endocrine imbalances, grief, infections, fibromyalgia, stroke, and weight loss. Specialties include diet and herbal remedies, menopause, animal communication, spirituality information, illnesses that baffle doctors, dream interpretation, and finding blessings in times of crisis.

Laura is a Life Coach, Medical Intuitive, and Reiki Master Teacher who loves eating and teaching about raw food–particularly the spiritual, energetic and emotional transitions going raw affords. She has been vegan since 2003 and involved in a high raw/100% raw lifestyle since late 2004.

I was truly impressed by Laura’s ability to accurately see the situation as it was and offer some really practical advice to get to the place that I wanted to be…

WOWZA! Amazing example of the power of women and raw, living foods! You can reach Laura at 775-750-9140 or at her coaching website:

www.internationalrenaissancecoaching.com

Laura some other impressive websites…check them out!

http://laurabruno.wordpress.com,http://lazyrawfoodist.com,

www.ifionlyhadabraininjury.com and http://SchizandraSeries.com

http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/secrets-to-a-5-day-fun-juice-fast/8162029

This is no ordinary fast! The recipes are incredibly original and always evolving. Teresa uses the creativity from her cleansing experience to further evolve the juice recipes and tips. Incredible! So enjoyable! She even created delicious”juice soups” for those who would like to warm up their juicy experience. As if that were not enough, she then invented a combination of juice/tea using some of the most delicious teas from Celestial Seasonings. These are all caffeine-free of course!!!!!! Enjoy these recipes and watch your health transform and your age reverse!!!

Teresa Jordan shares her recipes from her 5-Day Juice Feast!

Today there is more buzz about “re-wilding” and it is not just about stripping down to your free self and bounding through the Forrest. Although that is much needed! Adding more truly “wildly grown” foods into your daily meals will take your raw food meals to the next level. So how do we re-wild ourselves while in the city habitat? Well, here is what I did today and I am certain you can do the same.

I live just outside Santa Cruz in a small neighborhood and have a large untamed yard. Our space around our home was just dirt when we moved in nine months ago. We have not sprayed, dumped any yuck into the soil or used city water. Aside from planting our own garden beds, we let what wanted to grow just GROW for it! We had kamikaze tomato plants under the deck, wild roses springing up next to the kale and huge thistles the size of Christmas trees bushing out amongst the peppers. It was like a treasure hunt.

Wild greens are easy to find when you consciously look and notice they are everywhere for the grabbin’! Thing is, most people today pull up, burn or spray these nourishing plants because they don’t recognize them as food or even “pretty” for their landscape. It is a shame we have been programmed to snub our noises at these wild foods commonly referred to as pesky “weeds”. Wild edibles are free food! These amazing plants do not need to be cultivated in order to offer abounding health benefits. Unlike our average food supply that would not last in the wild, these “weeds” are far more superior when it come to nutrition.

Wild greens are packed, I mean super pumped with protein and other medicinal properties from the wild. This is great news for women and mother’s to be especially. Here are some examples of wild greens even you could find right this nano-second by rooting around in your back yard or un sprayed hiking trails.

Meet the Mighty Mulva: This “weed” grows like wildfire! The petals are all sizes and resemble a Lilly pad. Malva Leaf is said to help loosen and expel phlegm and congestion from the lungs. It aids the body in expelling excess fluid and mucus, and because of its soothing, demulcent qualities, it not only removes phlegm, it also acts to soothe and relieve inflammation of the larynx and tonsils, dry coughs, sore throat, hoarseness, lung catarrh, bronchitis, asthma, emphysema and irritation of respiratory passages.

Lovely Lambs quarter: Sometimes growing as high as waist high with thin branches, this very common walk way snack strengthens our immune system. The only weed that round up cannot kill is you guessed it! Lambs quarter! This tender leaf is high in Vit A and C and calcium.

King Daddy Dandylion: The leaves amongst this ever famous yellow flower use to be used to treat liver issues such as jaundice, gall stones. This thin bitter green works wonders for a congested lymphatic system, breast sores and swelling, and ulcers. Good news for breastfeeding mother’s! The dandylion can help with suppresses lactation, as well as come to the rescue with delayed menstruation.

With all the magic that awaited in these free greens, who can turn down a delicious wild green smoothie everyday to support your health?

Here is the recipe or the WILD smoothie I made today.

Wild thing smoothies Served 2 or 1 very hungry yard snacker

2 c tree ripened organic mangos

1/2 c local frozen strawberries

1/2 c organic blueberries

2 loose cups of back yard kale with stem

3 palm sized mulva leaves

2 c pure water

½ loose cup lambs quarter leaves only

1 TB truly raw honey (for optional sweetness)

Step 1: Place all ingredients into blender. Blend till smooth.

Step 2: Pour into your favorite recycled glass jar and enjoy! Snap on lid for safe keeping in fridge up to 3 days.

Melissa Mango

For 112 more recipes visit www.MelissaMangosGreenCuisine.Blogspot.com

Bok choy is high in Vitamins A & C, beta-carotene, calcium and Vitamin B6. Sesame oil has both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and is actually less prone to oxidation than flax oil because sesame oil contains sesamol and sesamin which are natural antioxidants. The ginger in this recipe acts as a digestive aid, and garlic has innumerable health benefits ranging from antibiotic to cold preventative to promotion of healthy cholesterol levels.

Marinated Bok Choy Salad
by Andrea Livingston of Phytofoods in Portland, Oregon www.phytofoods.blogspot.com

5 baby bok choys
1/4 c sesame oil
1 tbsp nama shoyu or wheat free tamari
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1-2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
1-2 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
optional:
1 garlic clove, minced
shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes or other vegetable
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Keeps in refrigerator for 3-5 days. Serves 4

1/4 cup chia seeds
2-3 cups coconut water (or filtered water)
meat of one young Thai coconut (you could also use a tablespoon of your favorite nut butter)
1 vanilla bean (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1 tablespoon raw honey (or agave, maple syrup, or other favorite sweetener)
pinch of sea salt

Blend coconut water and meat, vanilla, honey and sea salt in a blender until smooth. Pour over chia seeds and let set in refrigerator for thirty minutes to two hours (the longer the better). Once again…you can make this recipe using any ingredients that make a smoothie like texture. Sometimes I add fresh or seasonal berries, apples, pears, almond butter, lucuma, carob powder, cacao powder…..etc.
Good luck! Let me know if you try it and what your favorite chia recipe is.

Raw Nori Rolls

Amazing! The word is out now that women do not need to start mammograms until the age of 50. To do so before 50 leads to false alarms and unnecessary biopsies. To be more specific, beginning at age 40 would prevent one additional death but also lead to 470 false alarms for every 1,000 women screened.The US government task force of doctors and scientists that led the study concluded that the risks of receiving the mammograms themselves outweighed the benefit received by having the screening for women from 40-49.

The task force did recommend that women from the age of 50-74 should get screened every other year until they turn 75, after which the risks and benefits are unknown. Interestingly, they said that the self-breast exam is completely useless and that women should not be taught to do it! I actually found the “should not be taught to do it” part funny. I do think that doing self-breast exam could be helpful in one aspect. And that is that it helps to massage the lymph tissue of the breast leading to more effective elimination of waste!

On that note, I want to recommend frequent self-breast exams! Or I should say breast massage. I also want to recommend something really wonderful from my friend Dae Williams. She formulates pretty incredible organic skin care and cosmetic products for women. She has the coolest Breast Balm made with herbs that help to increase lymphatic flow and support the health of the breast tissue. Check the Breast Balm and her other stuff out at www.daewilliams.com

I also think we need to continue to look a the research being done about breast thermography. The use of infrared imaging in thermography is based on the understanding the metabolic activity is almost always higher in places of developing cancer. The process of rapid cell division and the related increased circulation usually leads to an increase in the surface temperature of the breast. Very sensitive technology used in thermography detects these changes. Translation: the hot spots show up on the imaging. The areas detected may allow us to detect cancer at a much earlier stage than mammograms with no radiation exposure.

The concerns about thermography are more those of false positives. So, the jury is out on breast thermography thus far. It is also very difficult to get recognition of a new test like this. If it proves to be as useful as it shows promise to be, insurance companies will be required to cover it as a screening test. Wow! The resistance to new required testing is high due to the $$$ in new cost.

I think that we cannot have a discussion about breast health and breast cancer without mentioning iodine. This mineral is so incredibly important in the immune system of the body, but there is a special connection here to the health of the breasts. I have found that nearly 80% of the women I have tested for iodine have turned out to be deficient. What does this mean? First, it has implications for the thyroid so let’s get into that.

The thyroid gland is the gland in the body which has the greatest need and the greatest stores of iodine. Active thyroid is called triiodothyronine. Notice the “iodo” in there stand for the iodine! So, there turns out to be a connection between iodine deficiency and low thyroid function, Grave’s Disease, thyroid cytsts, and maybe even thyroid cancer. The toxins in our world contribute to this deficiency in addition to insufficient intake. The reactive halogens knock the iodine off the receptor. Translation: when you shower (chlorine), brush your teeth (fluoride) or eat a cooked, baked muffin (bromides), you displace iodine in your body. Then…who eats iodized salt? Don’t do it! And…if you do eat sea veggies as many raw foodists do you do get an A PLUS. However, depending on your deficiency you may need some help with high doses of iodine in order to get you to baseline.

So…what does all this have to do with breast cancer? Quite a bit. When, in a woman’s body, the thyroid becomes deficient in iodine it looks to grab it from other tissue in the body. Guess what the next richest source of iodine is in a woman’s body? Yes, the breast tissue. So, when the breast tissue become deficient in iodine, the cells begin to change. This is called hyperplasia, and may be the first sign of cancerous changes.

If you would like to speak with me more about Iodine Testing, please contact me at ariel@womengoraw.com

In the meantime…eat lots of sea veggies in the form of dulse, nori, hijike, kombu and arame. There are many good raw recipes that have these sea vegetables. A common favorite in the raw food world is adding chopped veggies to a nori wrap! Yum. I enjoy those often with veggies, sprouts and a filling nut pate. Here is one recipe for nori rolls.

Serves 6

• 2 cups sunflower seeds
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic
• 6 collard green leaves
• 8 sheets raw (untoasted) nori
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into thin strips
• 1 avocado, halved and thinly sliced

Directions

1. Place sunflower seeds in large bowl, cover with cold water, and soak 4 hours. Rinse, and drain.
2. Transfer sunflower seeds to food processor, and add green onions, cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, and ¼ cup water. Mix in food processor.
3. Cut collard green leaves half the size of nori sheets.
4. Lay 1 nori sheet, rough side up, on cutting board. Place collard leaf piece on nori sheet, covering half of sheet nearest you. Put 2 Tbsp. of sunflower “pate” on nori sheet. Place carrot strip, cucumber strip, avocado slice, green onion on nori sheet. Fold nori sheet over vegetables, and roll sheet away from you as tightly as possible. Dab edge of nori sheet with water to seal and close. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cut each roll into 6 bite-size pieces with serrated knife. .

I used to think that green smoothies were the love of my life. I still love them but I have a new joy…green juice! I have always juiced and enjoyed it but I decided to make it a daily thing in my diet recently. I try to have at least one quart of green juice a day, preferably first thing in the morning followed by a chia seed pudding a couple of hours later (recipe to come in next post). Last week I participated in my first group cleanse with Elaina Love, David Rainoshek, and Chris Whitcoe. It was all raw and living foods for a week, one day of blended food and one day of juice and water followed by a flush (Kris Carr who wrote the book Crazy Sexy Cancer has a great article on her site at crazysexylife.com/2009/the-gallbladder-flush). Back to the green juice. I have been enjoying the same juice every morning now for about a couple of months and it looks like this:

Green Juice
1 bunch of celery
1 cucumber
7 kale leaves (curly or lacinato kale)
1/2 bunch of parsley
1 lemon
1 apple

I have a greenstar juicer and I absolutely love it. Its the only juicer I have owned so I’m not sure if there is something better out there but most people who have the greenstar also give it a thumbs up. If you don’t have a juicer you can always blend up your vegetables and then strain them through a cheesecloth or better yet a nut milk bag which you can purchase on Elaina Love’s website at www.purejoyplanet.com.

See more about Andrea and her amazing recipes at her blog: www.phytofoods.blogspot.com

We are in San Francisco and visit with Absolutely Abeba. Abeba took her love for chips and her love for raw food and created something truly beautiful. There are no crackers like Krazy Krackers. The raw food community needs to take note! Abeba puts her mix in the BLENDER so her crackers are razor thin. Her recipes have just the right crunch as well! I personally LOVE Krazy Krackers.

Her book is: Absolutely Abeba’s Krazy Krackers, by Abeba!

Here is one of her incredible recipes:

CORN CHIPS! (These are WORLD FAMOUS!)

6 to 8 ears—Corn
3/4 cup—Sunflower Seeds (Soaked overnight)
1/3 to 1/2—Red Onion
1/3 cup—Ground Flax Seeds
1/4 tsp—Cumin
Cayenne—dash
Celtic Salt—to taste

Mix corn, onion, sunflower seeds in food
processor (can use blender), but I prefer
processor, the crunch is better. Add,
remaining ingredients and process well.

Drop by spoonfuls on Teflex sheet.
Dehydrate for 10-12 hours at 105 de-
grees. Flip krackers and remove Teflex
sheet. Continue dehydrating for 8—10
hours or until desired crispness is ob-
tained.

Yields 2 trays or approximately 90-100
krackers

ENJOY ALL OF ABEBA’S INCREDIBLE RECIPES. GET YOUR OWN COPY OF HER BOOK BELOW!!!!!!!

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