The V Word

Is it just me or is everyone going vegan these days? I am hearing the term tossed around like crazy. Of course it could be one of those things that once your mind is on it seems to appear everywhere- like a car you like and you suddenly start seeing them everywhere on the road. But it has got me thinking. I spent a lot of my time over the holidays pondering my own diet as well as the human diet as a whole. (In reality, I would say a good 75% of my thoughts go there anyway.) But at this time of year when there seems to be extra time for walks and an inner desire for reflection, on the year past and on the one to come, food and diet were extra predominant for me as I am sure for many of you too.

I see many things in my life as synchronicities so that my sister had just happened to rent "Food Matters" on Netflix the week before I visited her in Massachusetts and had not yet watched it, it seemed like I was really ready to recieve the message of the movie. We had seen the previews of this film at IIN back in 2008 and here I am 3 years later (?!) finally watching it. Perfect timing. The main message I recieved, though there were many, was that of including more raw foods in the diet. One of the men in the movie stated that he believed the diet should be at least 51% raw. A lightbulb when on for me. That seemed doable. The going 100% raw seems scary, intimidating and limiting. So here is step one. 51% RAW.

So then we have to think about WHY. Of course we need to know why this makes sense. So here we go:

#1. Enzymes-there are naturally occuring enzymes in raw fruits and vegetables that help us with digestion and nutrient assimilation. When we cook foods past a certain temperature (117-118 degrees fahrenheit), these enzymes are denatured and cannot preform their vital function. So in essence, God/Nature/Mother provides us this awesome food with all the perfect combos of nutrients and enzymes for our bodies, and when we cook it too hot, we destroy it all. Womp, womp.

#2. Nutrients-Just like with the enzymes, the higher the temps we use, the more nutrients that seep out of the food or are denatured. ALSO-when we don't have adequate amounts of enzymes to properly digest foods, we tend to get an accumulation undigested food film along the sides of our intestines. Nice huh? Well this causes an issue for the water/moisture needed to get INTO the intestines to move things along (hello constipation) as well as the blood that needs to get through to carry the nutrients from newly-eaten food out to the cells of the body (and hello to you vitaman/mineral definciencies, inflammation and free-radical damage). 'Nuff said?

#3. Energetics/Prana-Oh the prana! This is a yogic term for 'life-force energy'. It's the stuff that makes us alive vs. dead. Think of it like the electricity running your computer. No battery/electric, no running...dead. Soooo...we want to be alive and energetic?!!? YAYA! So we should eat food that is just that? YAYA! Awesome.

Now back to veganism. Pretty much if you go raw, you may as well be vegan. Ideally I would eat a gluten-free, vegan, >51% raw diet...and someday I am sure I will. I would take all the correct vegan Omega-3, whole food vitamins, trace minerals from the earth, and B12 supplements. But I am finding this hard and expensive at the moment. So there has to be STEPS. I want to take others along this path of discovery and in the finding/creating the steps to living this way in the 'real world'. And so THIS is what I am working on. You hear me 2011?! I want to bring to the world easy steps to get to the highest vibration diet that is still FUN, YUMMY, AFFORDABLE, SUSTAINABLE and (mostly) EASY. In the meantime, I think it's great for everyone to give your body a break from animal products for a week or two at a time. This can be a very nice, slow and easy cleanse. For now I go egg-free vegetarian with limited dairy and 51% raw :)

Thinking about going vegan? Check out these resources:

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

Vegan Action

My last word & current thoughts on veganism are these: when profits and animals become intertwined, then there is likely to be exploitation. If your reasons for a vegetarian or vegan diet have anything to do with ethics and karma, this is something to think long and hard about. And even if it's purely for health reasons, it would still be good to think about how our subconscious mind, knowing of the partaking in animal exploitation, effects our health.

All for now. Om tat sat. (FYI-that is Sanskrit and means "All that is the Truth" and while I don't claim what I speak is Universal Truth, it is my Truth).

To a Happy, Healthy and Simble New Year!