How I Finally Got on the Raw Food Bandwagon

I first heard about Raw Foods back in 2005 when I was studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. You can learn more about IIN and my nutrition training by clicking here. One of the unique things about the school is it’s philosophy: there is no one diet that is right for everyone. And so IIN aims to educate its students about a variety of dietary theories (versus other schools that focus on teaching one specific way to eat). Raw foods was but only one of the dietary theories we studied.

For three hours, David Wolfe, the darling of the Raw Food movement, inspired us all with the amazing health benefits of eating raw. For the uninitiated, a raw foods diet consists of unprocessed raw vegan foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius). "Raw foodists" believe that foods cooked above this temperature have lost their enzymes and thus a significant amount of their nutritional value and are harmful to the body, whereas uncooked foods provide living enzymes and proper nutrition. Proponents of a raw food diet claim that there are many benefits to eating raw foods, including weight loss, more energy, clear skin, improved digestion and improved overall health. Who doesn’t want that??

But it was December, in New York. It was cold. I was pregnant at the time. I just could not fathom skipping soup, or cooked quinoa, or black beans, or tea. Or chicken on Shabbat. Among my other reasons for resisting going raw: I don’t normally eat a lot of fruit. Eating a lot of exotic fruits and superfoods from far away places went against the “eat locally” philosophy. And I felt like I was cheating on my macrobiotic roots. (Macrobiotics is a dietary theory stressing the importance of cooked foods!)

So, I added some raw cacao and goji berries to my diet (not much of a sacrifice-let me tell you!) and that was about as far as raw foods and I went.

Fast forward almost three years: my husband and I are headed off to Miami for a much needed mid-winter weekend getaway without kids. I’m feeling burnt out by winter; run down and frazzled. He buys me a few magazines for the journey, one of which is a raw foods lifestyle mag. All the folks featured in the magazine looked radiant; they were so healthy they were practically glowing. I was totally inspired and intrigued by raw foods, but not yet completely won over.

Fast forward another year and a half. Now we’re living in Israel, enjoying warmer weather year round. The shift to include more raw foods in my diet feels natural, organic, and inevitable. Suddenly, opportunities to learn hands-on techniques for incorporating more raw foods into my diet present themselves. Not nursing or pregnant for the first time in nearly 10 years, I do a major detox, eating mostly raw foods for a month. I start sprouting, pickling and fermenting, and juicing. I make smoothies, soak nuts and seeds and and turn them into nut milks and raw pates. While I would never claim to be a raw foodist, I can say now that I eat a high percentage of raw, vegan, unprocessed food, most of which I make myself. And, I feel great.

This slow acceptance of more raw foods into my diet was the right way for me; perhaps it’s more your style to go full throttle straight away. But for me, the changes I adopted feel right, and more importantly, like they are here to stay. I still eat cooked food, and I’m not at all a vegan, but I’m grateful for the folks who taught me about raw foods the techniques to prepare them simply at home.

In my effort to pay it forward, and share the raw food love, I invite you all to a hands on workshop at my house this Sunday evening, March 13th. Join me at 8:30pm to learn why sprouts are a great first step to eating more “live” foods, how to make sprout in your own kitchen, and how to serve up sprouts so even the pickiest of eaters will enjoy them. Your investment: 55 nis.

Feeling intimidated by raw foods? Click here to clear up any myths about a raw food diet.

Why am I giving a workshop about smoothies?

Many people have jumped on the smoothie bandwagon; just Google “smoothies” and you’ll get a ton of hits. It seems too simple an idea to have to teach; just throw a few things in a blender and there you go. But it’s quite easy to make a nutrient-void smoothie (overloaded with dairy and sugar) and more of an art form to create a blendable meal that meets your nutritional needs on any given day.

A few years ago, I became inspired to add smoothies into my diet after reading Spent, by Dr. Frank Lipman. Spent explains why many of us are exhausted, depleted and suffering from chronic autoimmune illnesses, and offers simple lifestyle and dietary changes for healing. (Dr. Lipman has since changed the name of the book to Revive, which I like, as it reflects a more optimistic outlook.)

Dr. Lipman suggests starting each day with a morning smoothie. We’ve all heard the old adage that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. I‘m not going to go into all the reasons why that’s true now, but I will say that most people would feel a whole lot better if they improved their morning meal. Many adults, and, unbelievably, children too, skip breakfast all together, or eat a nutrient-poor breakfast that can actually do them more harm than good. Think about it: processed, sugary boxed cereals, loaded with preservatives and food coloring, + cold milk = guaranteed low blood sugar and fatigued in about an hour!

Smoothies are ideal in the morning because they are easy to digest; because the contents are blended, the body does not have to work so hard to break down the food and nutrients. It’s also easy to load up your smoothie with nutrients, both in the form of food and supplements.

An ideal smoothie contains high quality protein, some good fat, plus some fruits and/or veggies. Fruits and veggies can vary with the season; protein can come from either the “base liquid”, such as almond milk, from food, such as peanut or almond butter, or from a powdered supplement, in various forms, such as whey or hemp.

Once you get the hang of making smoothies, you’ll know how to customize them to meet your body’s needs on any given day. So, join me on Sunday, January 23rd to learn how to prepare your own non-dairy milks and use them as a base for sensational smoothies.

Again, here are the details:

DATE: Sunday, January 23rd
TIME: 8:30pm
LOCATION: Slav 12B, Yad Binyamin
INVESTMENT: 55 nis for this workshop, 150 nis for the series (see previous post for details about the series)
TO REGISTER: email Arlyn kislev17@gmail.com

Winter 2011 Wellness Workshops

BS”D

First, a huge thanks to all who attended the Fall series of workshops and helped make them such a success! We continue in 2011, moving to a more experiential format and getting our hands dirty in the kitchen!

We’ll offer three hands-on, interactive workshops to build your repertoire in the kitchen and expand your healthy eating tool kit to go beyond basic cooking and learn to prepare healing, super-nutritious foods.

January 23rd: Non dairy milks and smoothies.
Whether or not you are dairy-free, you and your family will benefit immensely from adding non-dairy “milks” to your diet. We’ll make a few non-dairy “milks” and use them as a base for super-food green smoothies. Smoothies are a great way to start your day; you get powerful nutrition that’s easy to digest and assimilate. You can easily adapt these recipes at home to your family’s individual tastes and nutritional needs.


February 13th: Fermented Foods: with fermented foods expert Erika Mizrachi
Learn the benefits and traditional techniques of lactic acid fermentation. Supplementing our diet with fermented foods can help to reduce high cholesterol levels in our blood, and strengthen and support our digestive and immune systems. We’ll learn how to make kefir and sauerkraut; two easy treats that will make your digestive tract very happy!

Erika is a certified nurse who helps people identify food allergies and intolerances, and heal their GI tracts by adding fermented foods into their diet. She is also the former head medical editor of www.grannymed.com.


March 13: Sprouts and raw living foods
You already know that there are tremendous health benefits from eating raw, fresh vegetables and organic foods on a regular basis. Sprouts are a ‘live food’ that offer some essential nutrients and minerals that you won’t get from processed foods and even some fresh vegetables. Sprouts contain several compounds that improve digestion and are rich in antioxidants. While you can certainly buy sprouts, you can sprout at home to create a fresher, more nutritionally potent food. We’ll learn the simple process for sprouting various legumes and seeds and sample some yummy ways to eat sprouts.


Location: Boltax residence, Slav 12B, Yad Binyamin
Time: All workshops start at 8:30pm
Investment: 55 nis per class, pre registered
150 nis for the whole series (all 3 workshops)
Questions or to
register: Contact Arlyn 054 204 4773 or kislev17@gmail.com