Health in High Heels

Before you think about your dollars on roses, chocolates or Hallmark cards, we suggest you spend some TIME to send a letter to someone who may not have heard from you in a long time.

Maybe a long lost lover, an old friend or granpdparent. Relationships are the gifts that shape our lives and while Valentine's Day brings thoughts of love and romance, it can also serve to inspire us to value the importance of our relationships and maintain healthy communiction with others.

As you know we've got two new contributors to our Health In High Heels Newsletter and are we ever lucky! Since the nutritional questions are pouring in, we want you to know that we'll do our best to get them all answered, but we really need you to take a moment to read this important note regarding any information about our site and resources:

No material in this newsletter or any of the materials associated with The Raw Divas is intended to replace professional medical care. Always work with qualified medical professionals, even as you educate yourself in the field of Raw Food Nutrition. We are not medical professionals and are not offering medical advice of any kind, nor can we attempt to treat, diagnose or prevent disease or illness.

The information in Health and High Heels and in The Raw Diva's products and programs are offered for informational purposes only and the user of this information assumes all risks for its use or misuse. In no event shall The Raw Divas, or any other person or entity involved in the production of this information, be held liable for any damages stemming from the use or misuse of this information.

Your continued reading of this website indicates your acceptance of these terms and conditions. While every attempt has been made to ensure the information on this site is accurate, it is not guaranteed to be free from typographical errors, incorrect statements, or errors in reporting or research.

That having been said, we do hope you'll enjoy this week's Feature Article on the importance of clean, quality water; Tracy's Beauty Tips; and Monique's amazing nutritional feedback! We hope you enjoy this week's newsletter and we'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future issues!

Whether you're looking to grab the attention of a new beau, rekindle the spark in an old flame, or simply radiate as the confident, sensual woman you are, then you've GOT TO CHECK THIS OUT before Valentine's Day!

More Easy Raw Food Recipes

Apple-Green Smoothie
Chef: Katherine Young

Servings: 1

Ingredients:
1 Apple- recommended is Fuji or Granny Smith
1/2 a cucumber
1/4 cup of lemon juice
3/4 cup of water OR grapefruit or orange juice
Handful of Fresh Cilantro
1 teaspoon of grated ginger or 1/2 inch ginger chunk.
Sweetener to taste (optional)

Directions:
Cut up the apple and cucumber. Add all the ingredients and blend.

If you're looking for the low down, cold-hard facts on nutrition, then you're going to love the fact that Monique Bastien, Raw Diva and in-house nutritionist is on board, ready and willing to answer your burning questions! Last week's article on the importance of Sulphur prompted some further questions on the subject.

I have begun adding MSM (sulphur) to lemon water in the morning. I am currently adding about 1/2 tsp to 1 litre of water. My girls (ages 12&13) are asking for some too. Do I have to worry about adding sulphur to their diet? Thanks. ~Kathy Wierenga

Answer:

Hi Kathy,

First I'd like to say, that it's great that you are trying to make sure that you and your girls are getting the nutrients that you need each day.

If your girls are eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, then they are getting their sulphur and much more. Check over the list of foods from last week's newsletter and you'll see that they are getting what they need. If you are still want to supplement them, give them some dulse or other seaweed to snack on. My boys love it, but my daughter Kaylee does not. So I hide it in her food, she doesn't even know it's there. If your girls feel the same way as Kaylee, then hide it in their food.

Make a large salad and add small slivers of dried seaweed, mix it all together, pour on the dressing. They will not know unless you tell them.

Kale is another very good source of sulphur. Most kids have never tried it and are usually hesitant to try. But if you can get past the mind block with them, they'll try it. I did this with two grade 5 classes and a grade one class, by making what I call a Shrek smoothie, out of all the things that I made for them; the Shrek Smoothie was their favorite. All it is is coconut water (or water), banana, frozen mango, and the star; Kale. Try it.

I checked into MSM sulphur (both) sides of the story, and I have to say that I feel strongly about getting what we need from our food, not a supplement.

Here's why, real food contains more than one nutrient. There is much that we know about the nutrients in our food, but there is so much more that we don't.

There was a time when we knew nothing about phytonutrients, and now we do. We are learning more and more all the time.

One thing that is constant is that a nutrient does not act on its own. In our food these nutrients act together in just the right amounts so that they can be assimilated and used by the body. We can not duplicate it the same way; not in a bottle and not in a supplement. There are good supplements out there, but that's all that they are; supplements. They are a far cry from the real thing; our food.

I'm not saying not to use any supplements at all, just be careful what you are using. Some supplements (sulphur) in too high a dosage can be toxic the our bodies. When we get these same nutrients from Raw/Living food it is not toxic. There are no side affects. I could go on and on. But I think you get the idea.

Real whole raw/living food is our best medicine

Thank you for your information on Sulfur. I would be curious to know how heat affects sulfur? It's valuable to learn about vitamins and minerals, but as a Raw Food enthusiast, I am specifically interested in understanding how these elements are affected by the cooking process.

This is a quote I found from: Part I. Techniques for Protein Quality Evaluation: Background and Discussion

"Processing can also damage the sulphur amino acids of foods, and the full extent of the damage through oxidation of the amino acids cystine and methionine will not be detected by specific procedures for measuring the sulphur amino acids in proteins that themselves determine the oxidized forms, cysteic acid and methionine sulphone. Severe heat treatment in some forms of processing can damage the protein of foods, and the availability of all the essential amino acids may be affected in large part as a result of a decrease in the digestibility of the proteins."

To make it simple here is a list of some of the things that happen when foods are heated, (studies on sulphur on its own; heated in a lab, have shown some interesting stuff as well). But for this we will focus on what happens to it in regards to heating are food:

Cooking deranges the molecular structure of the vitamins and minerals, (this includes sulphur in our food). Heating fuses the protein molecules together, making the protein unavailable to our bodies.

The bacteria that feeds on the indigested protein gives off toxic carcinogenic by-products. They become inorganic, the ash-like form found in soil. (Note we can not assimilate inorganic minerals, otherwise we could just eat the dirt. In large amounts this would kill us. That is why we need to get them from plants. Plants take up these inorganic nutrients and change them to an organic form that our bodies can use to nourish us. Plants are amazing!!)

Here is another quote:

"According to the textbook Nutrition Value of Food Processing, (which is written for food chemists in the industrial processed food industry), changes that occur during processing either result in nutrient loss or destruction. Heat processing has a detrimental effect on nutrients since thermal degradation of nutrients can and does occur. Reduction in nutrient content depends on the severity of the thermal processing."

There is a lot more information out there, but one of the best ways to know anything is to ask yourself, "How does my body feel after I eat this food."

Iam expecting baby #5, yes 5, and I am desirous to eat a raw diet. I am 30lbs overweight. I am very concerned about dumping toxins into my system while supporting a growing baby. I have also read that elevated ketones (from weight loss) can damage my baby's brain. I want to give this baby the best nutrition possible. I believe raw is it, but I don't want to hurt him/her. It seems no one wants to speculate about raw nutrition during pregnancy. I know there have been many successful raw Mammas, but all of these were raw before conception. Can you please give me some guidance? Thank you.
~ Adrie

Answer:

Hi Adrie,

Congratulations on the coming baby.

Obviously, it would be very hard for me to make a complete assessment about your situation without knowing some very important information, like your age, whether your doctor is concerned about your weight, what your diet has been like thus far, what is an average day's food consumption like, do you have high blood pressure, or any other medical problems?

Without scheduling a complete consultation, which would obviously be ideal, here's what I can suggest:

I'm assuming that you've just started on raw foods. If this is the case, then I would suggest that, first, you don't panic. Second, even though raw foods are the best foods you can eat, I want you to ease into it slowly. I suggest that you have one meal cooked. Vegetarian is preferable. Your other meals and snacks can be raw. Also make sure that you are getting enough calories each day, this is important. Make sure that you also inform your doctor about any changes you've made in your eating habits.

I would like to reassure you by telling you that my second, third and forth pregnancies were fine. I was eating a raw/vegan diet. Mind you I was not 100% raw that whole time. But each pregnancy my diet was better and better. The doctor that I had when I was pregnant with my forth child did not know much about vegan's, let alone raw food, so she asked if she could do a full blood work on me to make sure that the baby and I were getting everything we needed. I said, "no problem" as I was fine and I knew that it would make her feel better.

Funny thing, when I had my next appointment she was going on and on to (doctor in training), about my blood results, the two of them had their noses in my file. Here I was wondering what was wrong. She finally looked up and said that nothing was wrong and everything was great, She had never seen blood work like that in her life. She also told me that whatever I was doing to keep doing it.

Hope this helps you to feel more confident. I only urge you to please inform yourself, as I've seen people go vegan and raw as well--that didn't know what they were doing and they ran into problems.

Of course, you're welcome to contact me and The Raw Divas team to schedule a more complete consultation.

Take Care
Monique.

Over Half The Spots Have Been Filled!
There are less than 30 spots remaining for our
Body Enlightenment System

After a recent interview with Stever Meyerwitz, also known as the Sproutman, I was reminded of something that I tend to overlook.--the importance of water. In that call he said that given the fact that more than 60% of the body is composed of water, what we drink is even more important than what we eat.

In this raw food world, we easily get obsessed about the importance of food, but what if just by changing our water alone we could have a REMARKABLE effect on our overall health. In order to understand how that could be possible we have to examine the latest evolution in water technology!

Most of us have heard mention of and know the importance of eating alkaline foods. But let's face it, between the endless raw food theories and personal preferences, it can be tough to make head's or tails about it. Well, rather than obsess about fruit or fat or sprouts or supplements, we SERIOUSLY think you should just change your WATER!!

When I visited a friend recently, I noticed this rather strange contraption next to her sink. i had no idea what it was, until she explained it to me. A water ionizer!

Well, she pushed all the right buttons, pulled the right tubes and before I knew it, I was holding a tall glass of water with a pH of 9.0. Then I tasted it and I have to be honest, I've NEVER tasted water that sweet and that smooth.

And so, I started to do quite a bit of research into the benefits of alkaline water ionizers and drinking alkaline water. Well, to say that I was BLOWN OVER would not be an understatement.

If there is a fountain of youth, I bet my money that it's billowing with alkaline water.

1. Alkaline water is also anti-oxidant water, just as vitamin C and E are anti-oxidant vitamins. Anti-oxidants prevent cellular and DNA damage by neutralizing free radicals. Ionized water also creates energy by giving up electrons to positive ions.

2. Alkaline water that is highly negatively charged or "anti-oxidant" and has the ability to block the attack of free radicals. Anti-oxidants prevent cellular and DNA damage by neutralizing free radicals.

3. The alkaline pH of ionized water assists in preventing fermentation in the gut that leads to “acidosis”. Acidosis is a condition where the blood in its constant effort to maintain pH within an extremely limited range of variation (7.356 to 7.400) is forced to re-absorb alkaline minerals from muscle and bone tissue.

4. The healthful minerals that are retained by the purification process are available for assimilation by the muscle and bone tissue. This helps to maintain bone density and muscle mass otherwise lost in the aging process.

5. Alkaline water has antioxidant properties that inhibit accelerated aging by safeguarding DNA’s ability to re-produce perfect copies of cells that renew the body 300 billion times each day. Regular water is unable to check “free radicals” from damaging cells and their DNA.

6. Water filtering is a process that removes contaminants such as pesticide, benzene, gasoline, tri-halo-methane and chlorine. Certain water ionizers water have an activated carbon pre-filter that removes these contaminants and chlorine ions before it ionizes the water.

7. Reverse Osmosis is a non-selective process that removes anything that isn’t water such as: organic pathogens like bacteria, fungal spores, parasitic cysts, some heavy metal toxins and ions including beneficial nutrient minerals. Life Ionizer and our line of specialty pre-filters selectively remove pathogens, toxins and sodium and sulfur ions (acidic) but retain nutrient ions or “electrolytes” such as calcium, magnesium, in the alkaline water.

8. What the heck does "micro-clustered" mean? Micro-clustered water is a transient property of water as it passes through a micro-pore filter in the alkaline acid separation process. The smooth taste of “micro-clustered” water is actually a property of the high pH alkaline water.

10. Mineral water may be spring water with natural or tap water that has minerals added to it. Some hot spring water is naturally alkaline and effervescent from carbonates (HCO3-CO2 + OH-)but often mixed with acidic minerals. Other mineral waters inject CO2 to make artificial effervescence but not necessarily alkaline water. Life Ionizer water has all the alkaline mineral benefits of carbonated mineral water without the effervescence.

11 Performance water, vitamin water, energy water – These waters are “value added”. But does adding ingredients to the water really add value if the water doesn’t function adequately in delivering that value to your body? Life Ionizer water gives you the best functionality of water. “Energy” waters may even add toxins and adrenal stressors like caffeine.

12. Soft water is a method of removing beneficial alkaline minerals (calcium and magnesium ions) that cause scale and lime build up in exchange for salt (sodium ions). The salt discharge can cause environmental damage, the salt content is not healthful to drink, and can cause the body to deplete mineral from bone and muscle to balance the “salty” water. Properly filtered ionized water has the benefit of minerals without that “slippery” feel of “softened” water. The best models of water ionizers also come with an optional pre-filter for people who have very hard tap water. We also offer a salt-free alternative for scale-free, conditioned water throughout the home with no environmentally damaging salt discharge.

All things having been said, this seems to me to be the next great revolution in health. That's why we've decided to connect ourselves with an incredible team of people who are helping to make this new technology available to others.

Thanks to Raw Diva, Katy Joy Freeman, who's husband works closely with Dr. Robert Young author of The Ph Miracle Diet, The Raw Divas are have now partnered up with LIFE Ionizers and we're very excited to be able to offer you this incredible health-giving tool.

(All Body Enlightenment System and Sisterhood Gold members qualify for an additional $300 off the regular price of a Countertop LIFE Ionizer!)

Love is in the air...

Watch your inbox for a Special Valentine's Day GIFT with love from the Divas on Thursday, February 14th!!

May Cupid's arrow strike when you least expect it!

If you would like to send The Raw Divas feedback, suggest a "Health in High Heels Newsletter" topic, or ask a question that could be featured in a future issue of "Health in High Heels", please do not hesitate to send us a message customerservice@therawdivas.com. Please note that we are unable to offer medical advice.