Natural News has an kindly published an excerpt from an interview I did with Kevin Gianni's Renegade Roundtable, (thx Amy). In the excerpt, Dhrumil Purohit (that's me) talks about what it means to have a beautiful relationship with food and how to deal with cravings.
If the excerpt makes no sense what so ever, which occasionally happens when I get really excited, check out this essay that I wrote for WLIR that covers the same topic, but with a little more clarity: Struggle vs Challenge: my road to completion
Big ups to Kevin G and Mike Adams for all the great things they are doing in the world of natural health.
Disqus is a third-party blog commenting system. We've been using it here at WLIR for 11 months to host all of our blog comments. It's simple to use, it has a ton of cool features and more blogs are singing up to use it everyday.
Most blog commenting systems, like those on wordpress, typepad and blogger, aren't very easy to use. They all have their own sign-ons, their interface is often cluncky and they lack the ability for people to reply directly to one another in comment threads.
Disqus not only allows commenters to reply directly to one another, but it also:
Does a way better job blocking spam comments
Allows blog owners and commenters to reply to comments directly via email (my favorite feature!)
Allows blog owners to block the ip addresses of ego's with malicious intent
Allows bloggers to re-blog great comments they see on their site
And it allows your readers to share the same sign-on/avatar for other sites that also use Disqus. That means less logging in and out to blogs to share your opinion!
We use Disqus here, but there tons of other blogs that use it too. Including a few other health blogs like, Crazy Sexy Cancer by Kris Carr and Raw Model by Anthony Anderson to mention two!
Before I installed Disqus on WLIR, posts would average about 3 comments each. Now, we're easily averaging 10 comments a post with about two posts a week getting 20+ comments. A lot of that is due to the fact that I'm participating in commenting more often than I use to because makes it easier to do so.
Disqus won't make you a better writer : ) but it will make you and your readers better commenters.
Here are a few great raw food blogs that I'd love to see using Disqus in the next few weeks:
We Like It Raw has a twitter account. On on that twitter account we occasionally call upon the community for some collective wisdom. Two days ago that wisdom was requested on the topic of Green Smoothies.
Green Smoothies are essentially shakes that make it easier to increase your green intake. Even though they often have quite a bit of greens in them, they taste slightly sweet because they also contain some element of sugar - in the form of fruit, coconut water, agave or honey. Green smoothies are considered to be the best way for people to get started with raw food. Over time green smoothies increase alkalinity, mineral content, digestive fire and overall sexyness. Nah I mean?
But the thing is.... even though a lot of people know about the benefits of drinking green smoothies, many of them are still struggling with the 'how' aspect. Just how exactly do you make one? Actually, correction... how do you make one that taste good!?
To help with the how, and to show beginners how easy and fun green smoothies are, I asked the raw twitter community to post their favorite recipe to our account in 140 characters or less, (because that's twitter's limit).
Here's what the community came back with:
via Rawbin: 10iceCubes,1/2VanllaBn,1cupH20,1tspSalt bnana+1/4cupEA:almnds/spinch/kale/AgaveNectr/carrots :)
via brookthere: banana, pear, 3-4 cups of kale or spinach, and thai basil, fresh. 1/3 cup water.
via louloulou: breakfast smoothie = 1 banana, 2 white peaches, 3 handfuls spinach, 1 tsp maca, 2 tsp cacao, cup or 2 water.
via sidawson: banana, spirulina, lsa, silverbeet, spinach, ginger, dates, water & a splash of love. Mix well. Serve to someone special.
via dealivinglotus: spinach, banana, mango, handful of almonds, tablespoon of honey, tblspoon of maca, tblspoon of cacao blend w/ice and water
via SabiOne: 1 Tbsp Vitamineral Green, 1 Tbsp Horsetail powder, 1 oz Chia Seeds, 1 L Water. Shake.. Hardcore & easy, but super alkalizing!!!
via debbiedoesraw: frozen banana, strawberries, acai juice(frozen),coconut water, coconut insides,hempseeds, spirulina, squirt of agave, kale(3) :)
via projectdenied: spinach, kale, 1 frozen banana, 1 apple, wheatgrass powder, coconut flakes, and almond butter!! mmmm!!!!
There you go beginners! Simple green smoothie recipes that you can make in just a few minutes with just a few ingredients and a blender.
Big thanks to all the twitter buddies who participated in our green smoothie request. If you have a green smoothie recipe you'd like to add to the list, just post it here in the comments or hit us up on twitter.
One of my more recent travel adventures brought me to Woodstock, NY. That’s right, I said Woodstock… you know I’m a hippie at heart. Just a modern day iPhone-talking, MacBook Pro-walking hippie.
Hosts The hosts for my adventures in Woodstock were author and international motivational speaker Victoria Moran, and her husband William. Victoria has penned 10 books, including Creating a Charmed Life, has been on Oprah, and loves raw food! Sounds like the perfect combination to me (now if I could just get on Oprah).
The Past Woodstock is what you might have imagined it to be, a place living in the present, while still tied up to memories of the past. Some locals came to the original Woodstock in 1969 and have never left. Some are still hanging around the downtown area wearing the same clothes from that era.
One part of me loves being in that space, interacting with interesting and beautiful people who carry such vivid and fond memories. Another part wonders if they are resisting change by creating a safe place to “live in,” even if that past era doesn’t exist anymore. Of course we want to be present to the love that was felt, but also facilitate the best way to experience that love together as a whole. (This of course does not exclude me from wearing hemp pants, or giving hugs)
After all, yesterday’s flower children are today’s parents and grandparents – who birthed a new generation of conscious, present, powerhouses of love and light, ready to “create the change” we want to see in this world. We are the drummers, the dancers, the spiritual entrepreneurs, the Raw Spirit Festival attendees, the carriers of the torch.
Hiking With all the traveling I have been doing hiking has been a rather sporadic occurrence. Since I had some free time I decided to take the opportunity to hike up Mead Mountain with my friend Amy (pictured at the top). We were slightly challenged with a rather constantly uphill hike to the top, but were pleasantly rewarded with an amazing steel tower to climb up, and the best lookout around.
I am in love with Trees.
Presence To conclude the trip I visited Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery set right in the heart of the Catskills Mountains. This is the North American monastic seat of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
The place was so serene. We were allowed to roam the property and explore their two temples. Surrounded by candles, statues, and Buddhas, I felt a quiet stillness as I knelt down on a mat and experienced “presence.” One of the monks was chanting and I thought that was a nice experience to be apart of, but overall I was impressed the most with just silence. Quiet a nice change from the hustle of NYC.
Kris Carr, Philip McCluskey, Anthony Anderson, Karen Knowler, Kevin Gianni, Steve Prussack, Angela Stokes, Matt Monarch, David & Katrina Rainoshek, David Wolfe, Dr. Cousens, Dr. Thomas Lodi, Mike Adams, Hira Ratan Manek...
These folks are going (and these guys too), will you be joining?
Whether you're planning on going to the 2008 Raw Spirit Festival (wlir affiliate link) or you're just looking to be convinced, we've setup the perfect place for you to network before hand.
Find & share rooms, find & share transportation, see who else is going and make friends before hand.
Of course there are tons of other great conversations happening about the festival on other forums too (feel free to link to them in the comments), we just wanted to get in the mix since we have so many fantastic, and good looking, people who are part of our community.
If you’ve been reading my blog lately, you are probably well aware that I’ve been a little bummed about my little one started kindergarten. I’ve done okay on the days when I work, but I miss him when I don’t.
Always one to look on the bright side, I look forward to the time he comes home and tells me about his day. I’m also trying to be more constructive with my time, getting more done around the house, and most importantly, letting my creative juices flow.
For instance, on my first day solo, I watched some adult television. Now, get your mind out of the gutter; I’m referring to Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart, as opposed to Cartoon Network.
To start, on my blog I posted a “rawified” version of one of Rachael’s (I sound like I know her personally or something) recipes, after seeing her put Duff from Ace of Cakes up to the challenge of replicating this meal out of cake.
In colder months, I would’ve chosen to make my raw version out of a raw nut and date-based “cake” or “brownie.” But since I usually go easy on these “gourmet” raw creations during the warmer months, I opted to lighten it up a bit with fresh fruit.
The simplest way to mimic this idea is to just use a banana chunk as the base, cap it with an upside down strawberry and top it all off with a blueberry. To make it seem more like a cupcake, you can even put them in mini cupcake liners (although not necessary). Then, keep it all intact with a skewer, lollipop stick or wooden dowel (like the ones used to make candy/caramel apples – they’re good raw, too).
As it turns out, these fruity treats make a great after-school snack. Just be careful that you’re little ones don’t poke themselves with the skewers.
For some reason, everything is more fun on a stick (or at least that is what they try to convince you at the Renaissance Festival; unfortunately, most of their fare is far from raw vegan). When I was on vacation recently, I saw tons of examples on the boardwalk, like candy/caramel apples (there they are again), frozen chocolate-covered bananas (with or without nuts; another easy snack to make raw) and plump chocolate-dipped strawberry kabobs.
Which brings me to today’s recipe, a coated version of the basic strawberry banana “cupcake.” Serve them on a stick, and have fun with this one : )
Raw Fudgy-Covered “Cupcakes” on a Stick
For the foundation
Banana chunks
Strawberries (tops removed)
Blueberries
For the chocolate
½ cup coconut butter
½ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup grade B maple syrup
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
½ tsp. vanilla
Dash of sea salt
Blend all the ingredients in a high-powered blender. Mold the
chocolate fudge around the banana chunks like a cupcake wrapper. Allow
to set in the fridge or freezer, while you make the maple topping.
* Any extra chocolate fudge can be eaten as is or made into bark by
spreading it into a thin layer, then chilling it in the freezer. I
added almonds and goji berries to mine.
For the maple topping
½ cup coconut butter
2 Tbsp. lucuma powder
2 Tbsp. grade B maple syrup
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
½ tsp. vanilla
Dash of sea salt
Blend all the ingredients in a high-powered blender. Place a small
amount on the top of each fudgy-covered banana chunk (the side that’s
not already covered in chocolate) to glue the strawberry caps in place.
Drizzle more of the maple glaze over the strawberry tops like icing
on your “cupcakes.” Decorate with coconut sprinkles (optional) and a
blueberry on each one.
To add to the fun, display your “cupcakes” in festive wrapper and/or on sticks. Enjoy!
* This maple topping reminds me of the maple donuts I used to love,
or perhaps a maple fudge (yikes, I used “maple” three times in the same
sentence). Feel free to use the leftovers in a similar fashion.
Cows naturally thrive best on grass, but because it's too expensive to raise them that way, most cattle ranchers have moved exclusively to corn, (most of which is genetically modified).
Not only is corn cheaper, but feeding cows corn makes them gain weight faster and also makes the beef fattier. Sure it makes the cows more susceptible to disease, makes their bones crazy weak and removes what little nutrients the meat has in the first place, but boy do you get a lot of beef! Bottom line, if you factory farm cattle, you love corn.
But now corn is becoming too expensive and farmers are looking for other alternatives to bring the cost of raising cattle down. [Video] How about M&M's Potato Chips? (thx Sarma)
Yes, corn has become so expensive that some ranchers have moved to feeding their cattle junk food. Can you even call M&M's food?
I wonder if anyone ever stopped and thought to themselves, "Does it seem weird that we're feeding potato chips and M&M's to these cows and then selling the meat to families who trust us?"
Probably not.
When you're not focused on improving your own health, really improving it, you rarely think about the true effect your product it will have on others. Or, for that matter, if your product is actually contributing to the suffering of the planet, animals and human beings.
If you're a worker at a cattle factory you're just doing job. If you're an owner or an investor you're just doing your job. Everyone's just doing their job, and if you eat beef, even occasionally, you're just doing your job too. Luckily your job (yes you) is the most important of all. Without your vote, your vote of the dollar, the system comes crashing down.
I expect things getting crazier. Crazier than cows eating M&M's? Yes sir! Not only is all this craziness a bi-product of a system that's unsustainable, but it's often the only initial way to get people to pay attention.
Every so often I'll get an email or read a forum posting on GI2MR that essentially asks, why bother?
Why bother eating healthy if someone like Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories of junk a day and can still win eight gold medals.
Why bother when the BBC puts out a report that an elderly women in Japan, who's 101 years old and still very active, has smoked a cigarette a day and drank for the last 30 years.
My answer? Stop bothering.
If your lifestyle is a bother, why are you doing it in the first place? I don't know about you, but I enjoy eating and living the way that I do. It's fun, I feel amazing and I get results.
If you're not getting results or enjoying the process, I would seriously reconsider what you're up to.
Life is short and "killing yourself while trying to heal yourself", as Wolfe says, is not worth it.
And regarding the above situations, training and genetics will always play a major role in fitness and longevity. There will always be that one person here, or those two people there that are getting results that don't seem to make sense. In some cases those results will last and in other cases they will be temporary.
But while we're on the topic of results, let's not forget the results that most of America will experience from being normal:
80,700,000 people in the United States have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular diseases claimed 869,724 lives in 2004 (36.3 percent of all deaths or 1 of every 2.8 deaths) - American Heart Association
In 2008 about 565,650 Americans are expected to die of - American Cancer Society
That's 1,500 people a day dying from cancer
Over 225,000 people will die from medical error this year - American Medial Association
1.07 Trillion Dollars a Year, the estimated cost of managing the reality that 1/4 of America will be living with more than one chronic disease in the year 2020. (SuperFoods Rx by Steven Pratt and Kathy Matthew)
