Ray's Health» Vegetarian

Raw Sauerkraut Recipe

Ray — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:36:38 +0000

Sauerkraut is amazing Health Food, tastes great and is easy to make yourself.

Traditionally lacto-fermented foods have amazing health benefits and they can help you lose weight and have more energy.

The sad state of our American Diet means that all sauerkraut found in stores is not truly fermented and is useless. The sauerkraut found in stores is pasteurized and devoid of the enzymes which make it so healthy, hence why this is a “Raw” Sauerkraut Recipe. We must make it ourselves to enjoy the immense health benefits sauerkraut has.

Scientists at Seoul National University in South Korea fed an extract of kimchi, a spicy Korean variant of sauerkraut, to 13 chickens infected with avian flu, and a week later, 11 of the birds started to recover
Another recently released study at the University of New Mexico indicates that sauerkraut may reduce the risk of breast cancer by up to 74 percent
Of the hundreds of Polish women and Polish-born U.S. immigrants observed in the study, those who ate four or more servings of sauerkraut and cabbage per week during adolescence were 74 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than those who ate 1.5 or fewer servings per week.

Raw Sauerkraut Recipe

1 Cabbage – Red or green doesn’t matter, you can even combine them to get pink Sauerkraut
1 Onion – optional
1 Cucumber – optional
3 cloves garlic – optional
4 tablespoons of Sea Salt – The only requirement next to the actual cabbage
1 Big Glass Jar – Always use glass, never plastic

Directions

Cut the Cabbage in half
Cut out the hard base steam in a v shape, do this for both sides. You can throw it away
Cut the cabbage up into slices small enough to fit into your food processor
Put the cabbage into the food processor such that it dices it into long but thin slivers
Do the same for the onions cucumbers and garlic if you choose to use them
If you don’t have a food processor then you will have to cut it up yourself with a knife
Stuff the slices cabbage into a jar an inch high at a time and then add a table spoon of Sea Salt.
Repeat until you put all the cabbage in and use up all the salt. The salt will make the water rise up out of the cabbage, this is good and the jar should be very moist now.
Your jar should be full now and the water should, put a napkin on the top then put the jar lightly on top such that air can get in and out
Put the jar in a cool dry place away from sunlight and at room temperature for at least 5 days.
After five days your sauerkraut should be ready. Eat and enjoy it and let it stay in the fridge to last longer.

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Dangers of Soy for Men – Estrogen Up and Weight Loss Down

Ray — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 06:04:57 +0000

Soy beans were not meant to be consumed in mass quantities by humans, nor were they meant to undergo the harsh processing and genetic modification they do in the USA. Soy is no longer health food.

Many of my readers have asked “Is soy milk ok?”

The answer is NO.

Soy Milk and most soy products are to be avoid or limited to condiments only, such as soy sauce as Asians do, or raw unprocessed soy such as edamame.

Consuming soy milk and soy products can raise your estrogen levels. Estrogen is a feminizing steroid and it just makes you retain more water and fat. Even worse is that your body naturally drops your testosterone levels if your estrogen levels are high. This is a disaster if your goal is to build muscle and lose fat. Soy is bad for both men and women but men have more to lose.

Testosterone helps build bigger and stronger muscles in addition to many other positive effects, especially for men. Estrogen makes you retain more water and fat. If you consume soy products several times a week or worse daily, your estrogen levels will quickly rise and your testosterone levels will fall. The result is it will be harder to maintain your current level of muscle or put on new muscle. Your mood will also degrade since testosterone is a mood enhancer.

My personal top 5 worst soy side effects

Soy raises your estrogen, which causes you to retain more water and fat.
Soy lowers testosterone in men which shrinks your muscles, degrades your mood and weakens cognitive functions. So you are weaker, more depressed and can’t think straight. Not Good! Read below to see what happened when an entire prison was put on an all soy diet.
Soy foods lower your sex drive (Japanese housewives would feed more soy to their husbands to reduce their virility when they feared infidelity or pregnancy) Soy’s has also been proven to lead to infertility in males.
Soy milk and soy foods are not complete proteins as soy beans are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine. The soy processing treatments also damages the essential amino acid lysine. Relying on soy for your protein is a mistake.
Soy carbohydrates are the king of flatulence. You produce exceptional amounts of musical gas on soy. Not the best thing for your social life.

Q: If Soy is so bad for you then why is there so much of it around? Don’t Asians eat lots of soy products?

The problem is that soy is now being consumed on a mass scale as a replacement for animal protein. Vegans and vegetarians have turned to soy as an alternative to dangerous pasteurized milk and diary and naturally the market responded by catering to this demand.

The problem is that soy was never meant to be consumed in such large quantities. If you add up all the soy milk, tofu and other soy products such as tempheh etc.. that the average vegan gets daily it could amount to a thousand raw unprocessed soy beans.

Eating 1000 soy beans a day is NOT natural

It takes many many soy beans to make just a pound of tofu, this is how extreme soy processing is. a 1000 of anything a day is unnatural and it can devastate your hormonal system, digestive track and everyday more negative research comes out about the unnaturally large consumption of soy.

Asians consume on average of two teaspoons of soy daily mostly as condiments. The other soy they get is as the raw edible soy bean, unprocessed and natural.

The politics and economics of this mass soy consumption phenomena deserve their own article but a bit of common sense can show you how we got here. The whole vegetarian craze helped push soy products into the market. They have been billed as a good way for vegetarian and vegans to get their protein. The truth is there are much better sources of protein for Vegans than soy protein.

The soy industry is now big business. Soy products brought in a total of 4 billion dollars last year. This means they can afford their fair share of advertising and propaganda just like all other food industries. Soy is no longer the hip new kid on the block.

Soy is even worse than we thought

New studies are showing us how prolonged soy product consumption can lead to all manner of health defects. For example 288 Studies Showing the Toxicity of Soy in the US Food & Drug Administration’s Poisonous Plant Database (7.5M PDF)

Dangers of Soy Dr Weston A. Price summarizes the dangers of soy very throughly on his website.

High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
Vitamin B₁₂ analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body’s requirement for B₁₂.
Soy foods increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D.
Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

Soy Prison

It might seem like soy is hard to avoid now but what happens when an entire population is forced to consume largely soy foods?

In Illinois an entire prison was put on an almost all soy diet. This was done at the command of the govenor. He claimed with was for financial reasons as soy is far less expensive than animal protein but the fact that Archer Daniels Midland, the main supplier of soy products to the Illinois prisons has donated to his campaign was never mentioned by him.

Prisoner complaints include chronic and painful constipation alternating with debilitating diarrhea, vomiting after eating, sharp pains in the digestive tract, especially after consuming soy, passing out, heart palpitations, rashes, acne, insomnia, panic attacks, insomnia, depression and symptoms of hypothyroidism, such as low body temperature (feeling cold all the time), brain fog, fatigue, weight gain, frequent infections and enlarged thyroid gland. Since soy contains anti-fertility compounds, many young prisoners may be unable to father children after their release. Some of them have even had to have their digestive tracts shortned.

Q: Are there benefits to Soy?

If you are a woman that has reached menopause then yes. Women in menopause experience a drastic drop in their estrogen levels. Thus consuming soy will naturally help balance them out.

If you are a man that is losing his hair and want to have save a bit of hair in exchange for losing muscle, sex drive, cognitive function, bone integrity and don’t mind being bloated and having more belly fat then yes, consuming 20 grams of soy daily can help you keep some more hair.

Q: Is soy formula good for my baby?

NO ! Do not give soy to children!

In test animals, diets high in soy which contains large quantities of trypsin inhibitors led to stunted growth and pancreatic disorders.
Soy foods increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D, needed for strong bones and normal growth.
Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system.
Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system.
Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys.
Is high in sugars that can damage your child’s naturally developing metabolic rate and liver. Too much sugar early can be especially dangerous for infants and younger children. Soy milk is not much better than soda for kids.

Q: So should I cut soy out completely?

No. Soy is to be enjoyed in moderation.

The Soy Bean itself /Edamame. If I am going to have soy it is going to be unprocessed and natural. Sadly 80% of all soy beans grown in the USA are Genetically Modified.
Soy sauce. The only soy sauce I will touch is Nama Shoyu, it translates into Raw Soy Sauce in Japanese. It is uncooked and unprocessed. Other than that I avoid soy completely and so should you.
Avoid Soy Milk, it is high in sugar, spieks your estrogen the fastest of all soy products and can’t hold a candle to raw milk, which is how milk was meant to be enjoyed before being poisoned by milk pasteurization.

-Ray at rayshealth.com on weight loss nutrition anti aging 6 pack abs

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I lost 15 lbs with Cat Erickson’s Raw & Living Foods Lifestyle Cleanse

Ray — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:46:07 +0000

I have known Cat of WorldRedress.com for about 3 years.

We meet in New York and became fast friends. Only recently have I had the guts to really stop, listen and take a chance to learn Cat’s unique way of Living with food. Ironically the food itself was alive.

Cat Erickson is a raw foodist. Her and her ilk believe that a raw food lifestyle is the healthiest and most natural way for humans to sustain themselves. There is a great deal of evidence to back them. More on Raw Foods in my introduction to Healthy Weight Loss and Muscle Building with Raw Foods

Cat is 100% Raw and Vegan. She knows I am just an ordinary guy so she took it easy on me. She said, try my Raw Cleanse for two weeks and see how you feel. I took the dare and you’ve seen the results. In addition to losing 15lbs my energy spiked very high and I didn’t need to nap anymore after my morning workout! WOW It really did change my life.

As for Cat, herself, well guys, she is the hottest little health guru around!

Cat Erickson of WorldRedress.com has to be the sexiest Health Guru Alive

We men can learn alot from women if we just humbly accept that they can help us grow stronger and listen.

Checkout Cat’s Raw Food Cleanse at worldredress.com

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Raw Vegan Dumplings

Ray — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:41:24 +0000

raw vegan dumplings

Dumplings have always been a favorite food of mine.

Sneaking off to NYC’s Chinatown for a feast of these pork filled, deep fried, white flour battered tasty delights brings back fond memories. Well, memories are not good enough. I WANT MY DUMPLINGS NOW!

We all deserve dumplings! Dumplings should taste great and be good for you. By good I don’t just mean made of the best ingredients and “healthy”. Dumplings should put muscle and you and get you ripped! That is what health means to me.

Why are these Dumplings so good for you?

No Carbohydrates
Tons of Protein
Good Fats
Lots of Fiber
Only natural low glycemic sugar

These Raw Vegan Curry Dumplings have NO CARBOHYDRATES!!!! Yes that is right, you can eat these things all day. I skipped my protein smoothie and just ate them yesterday. They are just Protein, Fiber and Good Fats. The only sugar in them is the sugar from the nuts. WOW!!! Lets just do it now.

Raw Vegan Curry Dumplings Recipe

This is a simple Recipe that comes in three parts.

Dumpling Stuffing

Almond Nut Paste – any kind of nut will do. Experiment
1 Avocado chopped
4 Garlic cloves finely chopped
1 Leek finely chopped – I used the white part only and the green part for a salad later
4 Cups Greens finely chopped. I used a mixture of Dandelions, Kale, Celery and Cilantro. Use whatever greens you have.

Dumpling Skin

A whole head of Cabbage ( one whole leaf per dumpling ) Maybe two whole heads of cabbage depending on how much dumpling stuffing you have.

Curry Sauce of Krishna ( Feel free to make much more of this to use in other things

1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
1 Cup of Almond Nut Milk
Coconut Water from a whole young Thai Coconut
1 Teaspoon Turmeric
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Cardamom
1 Teaspoon Grahm Masala
4 cloves of Garlic
1/2 cup Onions
1/2 Teaspoon Cheyenne

How to prepare

First Get the Curry Sauce Ready. Mix all the Curry sauce Ingredients together in a bowl and stir. The tough part here is the Almond milk.

To make Almond Milk & Almond Paste you should

Soak a cup of Almonds in water for at least 2 hours.
Then throw them into the blender with twice as much water and Blend until fine. The VitaMix 5200 is the only blender I know that does this job. It’s expensive but worth it. Once you have it all blended then you will have to seperate the milk from almond fiber. For that you will need a Nut Milk Bag. To get a Nut Milk Bag check out my Tools & Appliances page.
Put the nut milk bag into a pot and then pour the almond milk into it. Watch as the liquid part seeps through the porous nut milk bag. Squeeze the nut milk into the pot by massaging the bag. You will then have a cup of Almond Nut Milk and a bunch of Almond Nut paste. We will use the Almond Nut paste for the Dumpling stuffing.

To make the Dumplings

Take some cabbage leaves and put them in a pot with a little water, put the lid on and put it on the lowest heat you can. Leave them in there until they wilt enough to handle easily. As long as the heat doesn’t go over 118 degrees it is still considered raw and if it isn’t oh well Should take about 10 minutes. It may help to decore the cabbage with a knife before peeling off the leaves.
Combine all the ingredients for the Dumpling Stuffing into a big bowl and mash and stir until it is all nice and consistent. Depending on the ripeness of the Avocado you might need to mash for a while longer.
Mix in the Curry Sauce and stir until the stuffing and sauce are at a good consistency.
Your cabbage leaves should now be ready to stuff. Take a cabbage leaf lay it down and put in a chunk of the Dumpling Stuffing. Try and wrap them tightly.
Put the left over cabbage into the steaming pot so that the bottom of the pot is covered. Then add some Bragg’s sauce or Soy Sauce. This will keep the dumplings from getting too hot or breaking apart from the heat. It also gives you yummy soy flavored cabbage to munch on after all the dumplings are done For me the best part is nothing is wasted.
Put the dumplings back into the pot to steam for a just a little while longer. Take them out and serve on a plate or in the pot and you are done!

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Best Vegan Protein Sources

Ray — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:01:36 +0000

Can vegans really get all the protein they need easily and from what?

Yes! Vegans can easily get all the protein they were getting before they went vegan and even more, way more!

Quinoa: The Incas rolled quinoa up into little “War Balls” and ave it to their warriors before battle. Quinoa is a super grain that is actually closer to grass than rice . I consider it the ultimate replacement for white rice. Quinoa is a complete protein and has all the amino acids. The protein to carb ratio in quinoa, especially Red Bolivian Quinoa is extremely high. Quinoa’s carbs are also of the highest quality and I find they give me an awesome prolonged energy boost. People sprout quinoa and use it in salads. I love adding quinoa to my brown basmati rice with lentils and having an awesome rice replacement with protein galore.
Spirulina: The United Nations World Food Conference in 1974 lauded Spirulina as the ‘best food for the future‘. Spirulina contains an unusually high amount of protein, between 55% and 77%. It is also a complete protein, containing all the essential amino acids. Spirulina also has all the essential Fatty acids. You can buy them as tablets or as flakes. I love sprinkling the flakes in my smoothies, on my salads, on my rice and wherever else it makes sense to try at least once
Blue Green Algae aka AFA: Considered by world-renown health authorities to be nature’s most versatile super food. It is a complete protein source and it’s protein is the most absorbable protein in world; 92% absorbability as compared to 20% absorbability in cooked beef. AFA contains the broadest array of nutrients of any known algae, including vitamins, minerals, rare trace elements, essential fatty acids, including Omega-3, phytonutrients, active enzymes, amino acids, proteins, and complex sugars. This is simply the best source of protein in the world and Vegans get to use it. I put this in my smoothies as a shot, I have also sprinkled the flakes on my salads and more.
Sun Warrior Raw Vegan Brown Rice Protein Powder: My new favorite protein powder is actually Vegan! Sun Warrior protein is vegan rice protein that is one of the best all around proteins I have ever had. I get the natural flavor and use it in all my smoothies. A scoop is 16 grams of highly absorable protein, more absorbable than whey actually. Cat Erickson of World Redress even put this into her raw naked Chocolate Power Pudding.

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