My Old China

I have used Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture several times in my life, for a variety of problems and I've always found it helpful.
One of my reasons for not employing a raw approach to food for the past couple of decades is the Chinese Doctor's assertion that I should eat warm foods to improve my spleen energy.
The Spleen, in Western medicine is not considered very important. It is regarded as a rather vague organ with some connection to the immune system, but many people seem to manage very well without it, due to disease or injury, etc. However, in TCM it is a vital part of the whole digestive area and plays a part in the development of muscles. Practitioners have told me for years to eat hot foods and keep the lower half of my body warm especially during the winter.
But I no longer believe this to be incompatible with the raw food lifestyle. I have made nourishing soups, which I've then warmed gently to blood temperature and this is very warming. Some foods such as ginger and chilli have a warming effect.
And then there's tea. I like mixing my own blends of tea, using herbs, barks, berries as well as green, black or red tea, sometimes. One particular favourite of mine is this. I call it Blueberry Power Tea

Blueberry Power Tea
1 pinch Pau d'Arco
1 bag Blueberry Tea (black tea mixed with dried blueberries)
Steep these in a cafetiere for five minutes and drink hot.
Sweeten with agave or stevia if sweetness is required.

I've also mixed Pau d'Arco with green tea. Chinese doctors would like this, since tea is a central part of traditional Chinese culture.

Pau d'Arco is really great stuff. It is the inner bark of the Taheebo trees and contains anti fungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-parasitic compounds. I drank it for a couple of days recently when everyone around me was streaming with a nasty cold. I had that back-of-the-throat feeling, so out came the Pau d'Arco and Zap! Cold gone! It comes from South America, so obviously it's imported. I bought mine from Funky Raw.

Another area of contention for me in terms of Chinese Medicine has always been my decision to follow a vegan diet. Several Acupuncturists have shaken their heads at this decision (Vegetarian - fine. Vegan - no!) And they are not alone. Doctors, family members, friends and even complete strangers have lectured me on my diet because it is commonly (and incorrectly) believed that it's not possible to get the full range of nutrients entirely from vegetables. It is possible, but it is important to be careful, generate a knowledge of nutrition, eat as wide a range of foods as possible and ensure food is of a good quality. I managed to become a bit deficient in Vitamin B12 once because I was using the wrong brand of yeast extract in my gravy! It was easily rectified.
Protein, for example, comes up all the time. "Are you getting enough protein?'
We need a lot less protein that many people believe (it's different for children of course,) and this is easily  obtained through vegetables, beans, seeds, grains, fungi... after all, plants need to grow too, so we simply ingest their growth chemicals = amino acids!
B12 is harder to obtain in vegetable forms and a lot of vegans rely on supplements. I did for years until I discovered that B12 comes from the dirt vegetable grow in! (Animals get this from the vegetation they eat, which is why meat contains B12.)
so now I don't scrub every last scrap of dirt of my vegetables. I pick leaves straight from the garden and put them into salads and smoothies. I brush the dirt off mushrooms instead of thoroughly peeling them as I used to and I brush my carrots with a dry brush before juicing them. you need to be careful though. "You eat a peck before you die" may well be a true adage, but a gritty smoothie is not pleasant!
no wonder some pregnant women start eating dirt - baby knows best!

And while we're on the subject of children. Should kids be brought up on a raw diet? I'm in a quandary with this and don't know where I stand. There is an argument that the raw diet is healthier, contains more nutrients and is therefore better for children. but there have been cases of kids becoming malnourished (although as far as I've been able to determine, it seems their diets really were limited, which is not going to work anyway.)
Certainly, I believe it is better that a diet of ready meals and MacDonald's, but I wonder, since children are growing, they should have a wider range of foods? And maybe they should be given informed choices from a young age?
It's a difficult issue, and one I'm no doubt I'll return to. One thing is for sure though: Right here, right now, the raw diet is working for this adult. =)

Salad Dressings

Surprise surprise! I've been making a lot of salads lately!
Sometimes I don't pour and sprinkle stuff on top of my salad, but more often than not, I do. Here are some of my favourite mixings:

Kiwi Mint Dressing:
1 Kiwi Fruit, chopped
wine vinegar
mustard
hemp seed oil
lemon juice
agave nectar
chopped fresh mint
A few garlic flakes
All of these are to taste. I like mine really minty, so I chop up loads of fresh mint.
Blend everything with a hand-held blender and pour or dip to your heart's content!

Tahini "Special" Sauce
This reminds me of the 'special sauce' I used to pour on my houmous and falafel, back in the day...
2 dessertspoons raw tahini
1 teaspoon chopped chilli
olive oil
lemon juice
paprika
chopped coriander
Blend everything together and dream of the Middle East! =)

Simple Salad Sauce
This one is easy. The old ones are the best, eh?
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil
Mix in quantities to suit. Usually more oil than lemon juice works best.
Sea Salt
Ground Pepper
Ground Mustard
Garlic flakes
These are to taste, so don't overdo it.

Tomato Treat
6 small plum tomatoes, cut into quarters
1/2 cup olive oil
1 generous pinch of: seaweed, pumpkin seeds and garlic granules
1 crushed Chlorella tablet
Blend together and mix into salad.

Mr H's Raspberry Relish
My lovely man first made this for me with tinned (!) raspberries, but he's seen the error of his ways now and makes it with fresh!
1 punnet raspberries (this is a good thing to do with those raspberries that really should have been eaten yesterday... you know the ones!)
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil (although probably he'll use hemp oil from now on - it's his new favourite!)
Blend and season to taste (not that it needs any!)
Yummy on any salad and quite nice just licked off fingers... but I digress! =)

Taking It On The Road

Mr H and I went out today to visit an old friend of mine, whom I've not seen for many years. He's married now with no less than five children and they live in Australia. I got back in touch with this friend just in time for one of their rare visits back to Blighty and today we went to meet them.
Why am I telling you this? Well, naturally, we needed a packed lunch, so I put the following together:

The Mighty Salad
In a large box, combine:

2 avocados, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
handful mixed seeds
1 red or yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
1 apple, chopped
1 handful mushrooms, chopped
several mixed olives, chopped
Lettuce leaves to scoop and wrap the salad, wrapped separately.

For the dressing I used hemp seed oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, agave nectar and lemon juice.

We also took about 8 pieces of fruit with us and a bar of raw vegan chocolate, together with a Tupperware cup of (probably not raw) Karo milk for our tea.

Mr H carried this lot, because he is much stronger than me and we did get several "ooh, that looks tasty" comments as well as my friend's wife telling me we look "very healthy... for vegans!" Which I'm going to take as a compliment! =)

My Detox

I've been "off-grid" for a few days whilst undergoing a mini detox.
My raw food journey thus far has been interesting, enlightening and sometimes challenging, but I am loving it and learning more about myself than I thought possible from a diet!
I've lost just over half a stone in weight, but that's not my main reason for doing it, although I had started getting a bit "chunky" with all those cakes! I feel that I need to become healthier and I'm noticing changes.
My headaches are decreased and my aches have almost gone, but these past few days I've discovered the most so far.
Part of my detox was to avoid technology. I sat in bed reading, exercised and mostly just drank smoothies for 3 days. When I returned to 'civilisation', I had no emails, no phone messages, 1 text and only 2 updates on Facebook, so clearly the world can manage without me!
I felt very cold towards the end of my first day and this, apparently is normal. My sense of smell has cranked up a notch. Some smells are now simply disgusting to me, where they were relatively unnoticed before. And I discern some pleasant scents more clearly than before and this is nice.
On the second day, I experienced intense lower back pain which was only slightly relieved by applying a hot water bottle. This has mostly gone, after 3 days, but I clearly need to identify the root of my joint pains. The consultant has ruled out any degenerative disease, which is a relief, but I do see a physiotherapist so I hope he can help me unravel my problems.
Mentally, with no computer or mobile phone to distract me, I managed to read 1 1/2 novels and sort out a lot of worries which had been playing on my mind.
And I slept... oh how I slept! I must have had a lot of healing to do because we heal in our sleep.
I feel really good now, both physically and mentally. I'm much more positive, and looking forward to another detox in a few weeks!