Truth or Dairy

Got Milk?

Milk has become a hot topic in the world of health and wellness. Some believe dairy to be the healthiest of foods while others believe it to be a major culprit of disease.

According to recent studies, the majority of the adult population of the world cannot biochemically utilize dairy products. People of Northern European descent are unique in retaining the ability to produce the lactose-digesting enzyme, lactase, into adulthood. Meanwhile 95% of Asian Americans, 74% of Native Americans, 70% of African Americans, 53% of Latin Americans, and 15% of Caucasians suffer from lactose intolerance.

Dairy products are a recent addition to the human diet that came along with domesticated animals about 10,000 years ago. While milk has been used widely during this time, it has not always been used wisely. The cruel treatment of animals as well as the chemicals and hormones used in the cows’ feed all contribute to the growing health hazard effects of milk and other dairy products. Due to the poor living conditions and unnatural diet, cows receive antibiotics that prevent illnesses. Even higher amounts of hormones are present in the milk due to the common practice of milking pregnant cows. All of these hormones, antibiotics and chemicals are transferred to us through the milk.

Calcium, especially from milk products, is recommended as the main element to reduce the risk of bone fractures. However, there are far more fractures in regions that consume milk products (US, Great Britain, Canada, Northern Europe) than there are in regions that do not (Traditional Africa and China). While calcium may contribute to bone strength, if we are not eating the foods that build collagen, the bone will have no flexibility and can still easily fracture.

These days more and more health conditions have been linked to dairy such as common digestive disorders, cardiovascular disease, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, tumors and diabetes.

If you are experiencing symptoms of digestive disorders, intestinal disorders, congestive disorders and mucus, or skin conditions, eliminate dairy from your diet for at least two weeks and see if conditions improve. Gradually introduce various forms of dairy back into the diet and notice any changes.

The main problem with dairy today is its over-consumption as well as its lower (processed) quality.

When butter, yogurt, and ghee are made from pasture fed organic milk they can be some of our most nourishing and healing foods. Dairy MUST be of finest quality!

Lower your intake of dairy. Use dairy as a condiment, not a major ingredient.

The FDA’s recommendation of 3 glasses a day is far more related to its political obligations to the subsidized dairy industry than it does to the concern of your health.

For most, I would recommend avoiding milk and consuming fermented dairy products, such as yogurt and Kefir. Try a variety of milk substitutes such as unsweetened rice milk, almond milk, oat milk or hazelnut milk. Experiment with goat milk products as they are often much easier to digest by the human body and are found to be far less mucus forming than cow’s milk.

Non-dairy foods that are high in Calcium include:

Beans and nuts

Greens, especially broccoli, collards, kale, mustard and turnip tops, parsley, watercress, dandelion.

Sea vegetables

Sesame seeds and tahini

Canned salmon and sardines with bones

Soups made with the bones of fish, fowl, or beef. One tablespoon of wine vinegar will help draw out the calcium into the broth.

The Ultimate Outcome

Setting goals is a way of focusing the mind on a desired result. In a goal oriented culture such as our own, the teaching of “the law of attraction” has found its way into business schools, holistic circles and pop culture alike.

The law of attraction says “like attracts like”; you get what you put your energy and focus on. No matter if you want it or not, how you think creates your reality.

The beauty of applying this knowledge is that it brings us to reflect on our own thinking patterns. We begin to notice a space between ourselves and our thoughts so that we can now watch each thought rather then lose ourselves in it. There is an awakening in which we come out of the constantly thinking mind and into the meditation of consciousness

As we deepen our reflective practice, we may notice that we put more focus on the problem or on what we don’t want rather than the solution, thus creating more of the same.

We manifest what we think about all the time. On the simplest level; you get a call from someone just as you’re thinking about them or something shows up just when you need it. But how many times have we achieved goals or gotten things we thought would make us happy and yet we still felt unsatisfied?

The danger of the realization of our own power is that for many who practice the law of attraction, the basic focus seems to remain in the consumer mentality such as how to get a new sports car, or a vacation home in the tropics. We can get trapped even further in our dependencies of the material to make us happy.

While it is true that the mind is powerful and we can create and attract what we want, what else are we creating in the process? When we believe we must achieve something in order to make us happy; we experience a feeling of lacking something. We may manifest the things we ask for but the law of attraction also attracts more of the same; we attract more of the feeling of a void that needs to be filled.

Rather than focusing on getting “things that make us happy”, I suggest we make happiness itself be the goal. If the goal is our own inner peace, no matter how things unfold, we still stay in a place of calm and trust. Rather than seeing no result, we rest in the knowledge that we are in the process of creating the result, allowing something better to evolve.

We never know what happiness is going to look like. We may be missing the biggest gifts because we are trapped in our preconceptions that we need something else.
Or perhaps we truly are not achieving what we want because were too focused on what it feels like when we don’t have it.

The spiritual satisfaction comes when our desire becomes ‘to give’ rather than ‘to get’. When we feel that we can afford to give away, we are trusting in abundance. Feeling abundant creates abundance. Here we can still achieve all our goals while meeting our true desire of satisfaction.

Rather than being careful what you wish for; be careful how you wish for it.

Breakfast

As a way of tuning into your body and learning to listen to its messages, explore eating a different breakfast every day for a week. Jot down what you eat and how you feel, both right after eating and again two hours later. Sit quietly after you eat and reflect. Note how your energy level, your moods, and your physical symptoms are affected by the food in your body.

Day 1: fresh fruit salad or fruit smoothie or baked fruit
Day 2: rolled oats (not instant) with nuts and dates or dried fruit
Day 3: egg scrambled with veggies (try tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach)
Day 4: coffee, orange juice, tea or milk, muffin
Day 5: whole grain toast with nut butter
Day 6: whole grain cereal with fruit on top
Day 7: fresh green salad or dinner leftovers

Breakfast in a Rush: Overnight Oats

Breakfast in a Rush: Overnight Oats
If you are in a hurry in the morning, prepare this for the morning before going to bed.

Mix 1 cup of oats with 1-1.5 cups of water. Let it sit over night.

While preparing, add various additions:
• When mixing with the water try adding some vanilla essence
• Mix in cinnamon
• Mix in your favorite nuts and seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower, and flax
• Add some cocoa nibs or a teaspoon of cocoa powder
• Add dried coconut flakes
• Add dried fruit such as dates or raisins. Throw in some dried figs- they will rehydrate in the water and provide sweetness.
• Fresh fruit such as apple or banana…
• Sweeteners: Try 100% pure maple syrup or raw honey.
• Have fun & get creative each day!

I'll Have the Happy Meal

Enjoying food doesn’t mean giving up on health or weight loss. Counting every calorie, crunching numbers instead of nutrients, and living in deprivation; all these can take all the joy out of eating.

Rather than constantly stressing about what not to eat, shift your focus onto what you should be eating that you are not.

This will take away some of the confusion around diet. If your focus is, for example, on avoiding fat, you might be unknowingly consuming quantities of extra low quality calories through added sugars, or even worse: artificial ingredients. The continuous rise in obesity suggests that diet foods, sugar-free soft drinks and low-fat snacks are not helping people manage their weight.

Fortunately, these days people are rediscovering seasonal vegetables, nuts, berries, organics, whole grains, fresh, home-cooked meals and other healthful foods.

By adding nutrient rich foods, we can meet our hunger while eliminating unhealthy cravings and curve binge eating. No matter how much we eat, if our body does not get the nutrients it needs, it will continue to hunger for more. This is one of the reasons why caffeine, sugar and other processed carbohydrates can be so addictive. Providing an immediate but false sense of energy, the body is thrown into a cycle of a constant search for sustainability. Teasing the body into feeling it now has the fuel to charge forward, we continue to run on empty while wearing and tearing ourselves down in the process. Adding more plant-based and whole/ unprocessed foods to our diet can help keep us satiated, naturally regain portion control, regulate our hunger, and enhance our energy, vitality, and health.

The more energy we put into preparing our food, the more energy our body puts into assimilating it. Food is not our enemy. The 'enemy' is the “food-like” packaged products that has made it to feel that way.

Don’t skip out on the pleasure of home cooking. Keep it simple enough for you to handle and enjoy. Enjoying a home cooked meal creates feelings about food that makes you feel cared for. What are we telling ourselves if we mostly eat meals that were mass produced with no thought of our individual selves? Eating a home cooked meal is a vital key in creating a positive relationship with what is on the plate. These days it’s a miracle if a plate is even involved with your meal at all.

Food Focus: Brown Rice

Brown rice contains the highest amount of B vitamins out of all grains. Additionally, it contains iron, vitamin E, amino acids, and linoleic acid. Brown rice is high in fiber, extremely low in sodium and is composed of 80% complex carbohydrates. Because brown rice is a whole food, it takes longer to digest than white rice, providing the body with sustained energy throughout the day.

Brown rice is known to generates energy, promote good digestion, quenches thirst, alleviate diarrhea caused by spleen-pancreas deficiency, and relieve mental depression.

When you cook enough brown rice to last you for several days you can add it to different meals: Add it to stews, cream it in a soup, layer it in a casserole, stir-fry it, roll it up in a tortilla, mix it in a loaf, toss it in a salad, make a morning porridge (adding raisins cinnamon, nuts, etc’), press it down in a pie plate as a crust for a pie (such as steamed mashed yams), blend it with miso and turn it into a gravy for vegetables, blend it into your morning smoothie, or blend it adding into a dip (adding tahini or a nut butter for richness, perhaps seasonings such as garlic, parsley, or dill).

Basic Brown Rice
Yields 3 cups
1 cup brown rice
2 cups of water or broth
seasonings to taste

1. Rinse rice in a bowl of cool water and strain.
2. Place all ingredients in a pot with a tight fitting lid.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat.
4. Cover and let simmer for 50 minutes. If this is your first experiment with rice you’ll, want to check the rice 10 minutes before the anticipated finish time so you don’t burn the rice (If you do burn it, it is okay, just try it again!)
5. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes
6. Fluff with fork and serve
(May also be prepared in a rice cooker with the same ratio of ingredients.)

Seasonal stir fry with garlic sauce
Serves four
1 onion, cut into thick crescents
2-3 carrots, cut on thin diagonals
8 oz. shrimp (or diced chicken, beef, tofu, tempeh)
2 stalks broccoli, florets plus stems cut in thin diagonals
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 Tbs. tamari/ soy sauce
1/2 -1/3 cup water
1 Tbs. maple syrup
2 Tbs. toasted sesame oil
1-2 scallions, minced

Add a small amount of water to a frying pan and water sauté onion for 2 minutes. Add carrots and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add shrimp and broccoli cook for 2-3 minutes. Combine garlic, tamari, water, maple syrup and toasted sesame oil. Pour over stir-fry, cover and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Lay stir-fry on top of cooked brown rice and garnish with scallions.

Brown Rice Pudding
Serves four
2 cups leftover brown rice
1 cup milk (rice milk, almond milk, or organic dairy milk)
1/2 cup raisins
2 Tbs. maple syrup/ other natural sweetener
1 tsp. vanilla essence
2 Tbs. dried shredded coconut (optional)
1 Tbs. tahini

Combine all ingredients and heat on stovetop for 5-7 minutes or bake in the oven at 350° for 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Variation: no tahini, add cinnamon.

Let the Sun Shine Out

One of the beauties of the holiday season is that we celebrate light during the darkest time of the year. Often though, these celebrations serve as a distraction to keep us moving at our usual fast pace, avoiding the natural rhythm of winter.

Winter is a time for us to slow down and explore deeper aspects of who we are. While New Year resolutions can be the push we need to take care of ourselves, the commitment to the treadmill is often just another way to keep us running from our own inner sense of self.

The holiday season of lights is there to remind us that our inner light burns bright in the darkest of times. Bringing light into the darkness is the act of making the unconscious conscious.

If we light a torch in a dark room we can see clearly the contents of the room and which obstacles stand before us. Internally, as we direct our attention onto the light of consciousness, we gain a deeper perspective of the content of our mind.

Identifying and letting go of our limiting beliefs allows our entire self to become free to expand in new areas and to breathe in the greater experience of life. Even if we know this to be true, we may continue to avoid engaging such a process since a new state of uncertain possibilities tends to be more threatening than the familiar and comforting (however damaging) current beliefs.

The narrowness of our minds believes that we are not smart enough, don’t know enough, aren’t worthy enough, not good-looking enough, or that we are selfish. We spend our energy trying to cover up this dark truth in the hope that others won’t find out. We are scared of being exposed for what our narrow-mindedness has convinced us be the truth about ourselves.

In our culture it is very common to address isolated symptoms rather than address the underlying cause. By labeling people by their faults rather than their virtues we are able to temporarily boost the ego. We rationalize each situation without addressing the constant trigger that is our own limiting belief about ourselves.

Once we acknowledge that we have limiting beliefs, we free ourselves from thinking that we are these beliefs. Then we can feel far more comfortable slowing down and tuning into self. Such a realization invites a true sense of freedom. Not the freedom that comes from defending our belief systems, but the freedom that no conflict or idea can dissipate, and no schedule can bury.

As you make your New Year resolutions, make sure they serve the unlimited you. Rather than declaring yet another tiring war against your own body image or life situation, connect to motivation that it rooted in love.

For myself, when I exercise and eat healthy, I feel calmer, clearer, and lighter in both mind and body. Taking care of my body is a way of taking better care of my spirit.

Happy New Year. May the pure light shine within you, and guide your way on.

Food Focus: Salt

Salt is one of life’s most vital elements as it contains over 60 essential trace minerals. The energy of salt is grounding, it aids in stronger digestion, helps to detoxify poisons, and it stimulates the kidneys which create moisture that helps combat the dryness of winter.

If salt has so many benefits why has it been labeled one of the most dangerous foods of our times? One reason is because of the salt that has been studied in relationship to hypertension is low quality refined salt eaten in excess. Common table salt is stripped of most of its beneficial minerals and is adorned with anti-caking chemicals, free flowing agents, ammonium citrate, and so on.

One of the main misconceptions about sea salt is that it doesn’t contain essential iodine. Iodine is a mineral that supports thyroid and lymphatic system health. The amount of iodine that we need to consume over our life time to support proper functioning is properly met by consuming unrefined sea salt in moderation and adding seaweed to our diet.

To receive the benefits of salt, choose high quality sea salt crystals that are produced without much processing. Keep in mind that local sea salt might have added benefit since it is harvested in the same environment you live.

Recipe of the Month: Vegetarian Hearty Soups

Lentil Vegetable Soup

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. curry powder (or ground cumin)
1 carrot, diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 cup dry red lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups chicken/ vegetable broth or water
¼ tsp. pepper
Salt to taste
1 Tbs. lemon juice
Dash of Tabasco sauce

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender.
Mix in curry powder and cook for 30 seconds, then add carrot & potato. Add lentils and broth/ water, salt and pepper.
Simmer; covered for 30 minutes.
Turn off heat. Puree and add lemon juice and Tabasco.


Gypsy soup

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 cups sweet potatoes -- chopped &
peeled (Or winter squash)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
3/4 cup chopped sweet peppers
1&1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can)
3 cups organic vegetable stock or water
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
dash cinnamon
dash cayenne
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce

In a soup kettle or large saucepan, sauté onions, garlic, celery and sweet potatoes in olive oil for about five minutes.
Add seasonings (except tamari) and the stock or water.
Simmer, covered, fifteen minutes.
Add remaining vegetables and chickpeas.
Simmer another 10 minutes or so - until all the vegetables are as tender as you like them.

NOTES : The vegetables used in this soup are flexible. Any orange vegetable can be combined with green...for example, peas or green beans could replace the peppers.
Carrots can be used instead of, or in addition to the squash or sweet potatoes, etc.
(Moosewood Cookbook)

Building Immunity to the Flu

For most of us, as the temperature drops, so does our immune system. Fear of the flu has us getting flu shots while casually standing in line at the grocery store or waiting for our connecting flight at the airport. We willingly inject ourselves with viruses and stock up on antibiotics. As a result, bacteria have continued to evolve building antibiotic-resistance, further weakening our immunity.

Getting a flu shot often protects you from coming down with the flu. Once you have the virus in your system, you develop antibodies against it so that you are protected the next time you are exposed. Ideally, we want our immune system strong enough to build the antibodies upon exposure to the virus so that we would be immune even without a flu shot. The focus here is not whether or not to get the vaccination. That is a personal choice. The real problem is the vulnerability of the system that has lead us to need the vaccine. Rather than depend on shots and medications, the idea is to strengthen the immune system through a natural way of living.

Getting the flu is usually an indication that the body needs rest, replenishment of vitamins and minerals, and time to re-bolster the immune system. Holiday stress, over consumption of low quality foods, and lack of movement all contribute to impairing our immunity.

The media isn’t helpful either as it is flooded with ways to get sick:
1. Consume lots of sugar, particularly soda.
2. Eat processed food, as it is so convenient.

3. If something about eating these foods isn't working for you, have some Prilosec or a Tums and keep doing the same thing.

The main reasons for the flu & What you can do differently
A Toxic Diet: Not eating enough nutrient- dense foods and/ or Eating too much sugar	* Increase your intake of nutrient-dense foods * Use appropriate natural supplementation. * If taking a supplement, find a natural one which is not filled with sugars, artificial colors or flavors. * Reduce/avoid your intake of sugar, caffeine, chemicalized foods, and refined white flour foods. * Reduce/ avoid your intake of mucus forming foods such as dairy and fatty meats. * Take soothing showers/baths and exfoliate the skin with a wash cloth to aid the body in cleansing. * Drink warm/room temperature water with lemon, for vitamin C & alkalinity.
Not Enough Sleep	* Get plenty of sleep. Try to be in bed by 10PM and up by 7AM. * Start drinking calming herbal teas such as chamomile, skullcap, oat straw, or valerian in the evening hours if you are having trouble resting.
Emotional Blockage, Limiting Beliefs, and Downward Trending Thought Patterns	* Create a positive support system to address stagnant emotional circuits * Generate positive and resourceful states of mind as a daily practice * Put your legs up against the wall for at least 10 minutes a day (if you can, do this twice). This aids in supporting the lymphatic system in draining and cleansing.
Lack of Proper Exercise	If you are not setting aside time to exercise, be sure to take a walk at least once a day to increase blood and oxygen circulation.
Structural and Energetic Misalignment	Get shiatsu, acupuncture, chiropractic work, or massage to unlock stuck physical/ energetic pathways.