Superfoods

I'm sure you’ve all heard or read about superfoods. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that blueberries and broccoli have been classified as superfoods due to their high content of antioxidants and cancer fighting properties. Other common superfoods that have been well-hyped in media are almonds, flaxseeds, apples, beans, avocados, beets, cranberries, olive oil, fatty fish, garlic and ginger. These foods are full of good stuff, and essential part of healthy diet. But did you know that eating raw chocolate can actually help you to lose weight and is full of nutrients? Let me list you some superfoods you might not be so familiar with:

Chlorella 

Chlorella is a genus of single-celled green algae. Chlorella is considered as a healthy natural supplement. But in truth it is actually a whole food. It contains 60 percent protein, all essential amino acids, and high levels of beta-carotene and chlorophyll. And because it is a whole food, it also satisfies the appetite while providing the energy from good nutrition, which is perfect for those dieting. Chlorella is also a powerful detoxifier of heavy metals and pesticides. Numerous research projects in the U.S. and Europe indicate that chlorella can aid the body in breaking down persistent hydrocarbon and metallic toxins such as mercury, cadmium and lead, DDT and PCB while strengthening the immune system response. Chlorella also detoxifies bowel, liver and blood, improves your digestive system, balances your body’s pH because it’s alkaline (most diseases thrive in acidic environments but not in alkaline ones) and also normalises blood sugar levels. You can get Chlorella in tablet, capsule or powder form, the latter can be added to smoothies and green juices.

Maca 

Lepidium meyenii or maca is a cruciferous vegetable in the mustard family, related to radishes and turnips and native to the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru. Maca comes under the herbal classification of being adaptogenic. Adaptogens are herbs such as ginseng that are traditionally thought to help the body to adapt to increased or ambiguous stressors. Maca is a very densely nutritious food that contains high amounts of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and all the essential amino acids. The amino acid content of this plant gives it an average bioavailable protein content of around 14% of the entire weight of the plant. Maca certainly has an impressive array of minerals, with notably high levels of bioavailable calcium. This powerful food is also a libido stimulant! Maca can be bought from whole food retailers in tablet, capsule or powder form. It can be added to smoothies, cakes, raw bars, salads and cereals.

Goji Berries 

By now surely everybody’s heard about goji berries, and how good they are for you. Goji Berries contain over 18 amino acids and all nine essential amino acids: Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan and Valine. These are essential for proper body functions. Goji's have higher levels of vitamin C than oranges and contain 21 trace minerals, including germanium, a trace mineral rarely found in foods. Goji's also contains Beta-Sitosterol, an anti-inflammatory agent. Goji berries help stimulate your body’s natural human growth hormone which is critical in anti-aging and longevity. Can be bought as dried berries or in capsule.

Raw Cacao 

Raw Cacao is one of the most powerful sources of magnesium available. Not only does magnesium help with alertness and activity, it also helps elevate your mood. Studies show that 80% of us are chronically deficient in Magnesium and it is the most deficient major mineral in the standard UK diet. As well as Magnesium, most people in the west also have a lack of the mineral sulphur in their diets. Raw cacao is also high in sulphur which is one of the most important building blocks in our bodies, being present in every single cell. It is known as the 'beauty and healing mineral' as it helps to build strong nails, shiny hair and beautiful skin. It also detoxifies the liver, supports healthy pancreas functioning, promotes circulation and decreases inflammation. Raw chocolate containsTtryptophan, an essential amino acid, which helps naturally produce serotonin in your body. Raw cacao is one of the greatest sources of anti-oxidants to be found in any food, nearly twice the anti-oxidants found in red wine and up to three times the amount found in Green Tea. Raw cacao also contains:

• Monoamine Oxidase Enzyme Inhibitors (MAO inhibitors) which allow more serotonin and other neurotransmitters to circulate in the brain. These natural chemical are associated with happiness. MAO inhibitors may also be facilitated with youthening and rejuvenation. 
• Phenylethylamine (PEA) – known as the ‘love’ chemical because it is released when we are in love.
• Anandamide - known as the ‘bliss chemical’ because it is released while we are feeling great. 

The quantities of these feel-good chemicals found in pure cacao far exceed the amounts in conventional processed chocolate.

The raw cacao has always been and will always be Nature’s #1 weight loss and high-energy food. It’s known as a natural appetite suppressant which aids weight loss. Now you must think I’m kidding, everybody knows that chocolate makes you fat. But virtually all of the “bad” calories that make you fat from eating conventional chocolate bars are from the processed sugar, dairy and unnatural added fats. Cacao in its raw form doesn’t contain sugar. And most raw cacao products use natural sweeteners, like agave nectar or organic sugar cane juice, which aren’t as harmful to your health. You can get raw cacao in several forms from whole food shops: raw cacao nibs (great in mueslis and smoothies), raw cacao powder (smoothies) and raw chocolate bars as a great and healthy afternoon snack.

Sea vegetables

Also called seaweed, it’s one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. They are primitive sea plants which belong to the algae family, and are indigenous to the northern Pacific coasts. Sea vegetables are extremely nutritious, comparing favourably with leafy green land vegetables. An excellent source of many minerals, especially iron, calcium and iodine, absorbed from their sea water environment, they are reputed to contain 10-20 times as much as land vegetables weight for weight. They are very low in calories, fat and cholesterol; they contain a high level of soluble fibre and some are high in protein and certain vitamins. The following are some of the most popular types: Nori: dark purple-black colour that turns phosphorescent green when toasted, famous for its role in making sushi rolls. Kelp: light brown to dark green in colour, oftentimes available in flake form. Hijiki: looks like small strands of black wiry pasta, has a strong flavour. Kombu: very dark in colour and generally sold in strips or sheets, often used as a flavouring for soups. Wakame: similar to kombu, most commonly used to make Japanese miso soup. Arame: this lacy, wiry sea vegetable is sweeter and milder in taste than many others. Dulse: soft, chewy texture and a reddish-brown colour. You can enjoy sea vegetables in soups, stews and salads, use flakes instead of salt or just have some kombu or dulse as a delicious and salty snack (instead of potato crisps).

Bee pollen 

Bee Pollen is one the most unique, powerful and complete superfoods. It is the most nutritious natural substance to be found on the face of our planet. Bee Pollen is a treasure trove of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids and other nutrients, the widest range to be found anywhere in nature. Bee Pollen contains:

• All the essential amino acids 
• A full spectrum of vitamins especially vitamins B12 and E; and significant amounts of B1, B2, B3, B5, C, and vitamin D 
• Various minerals including calcium, manganese, phosphorous, iron, sodium, potassium, aluminium, magnesium and copper 
• Trace elements and enzymes (including antioxidants), and co-enzymes, pigments, xanthophylls, carotenes, and sterols, phytosterols, lignans (dibenzyl butanes) isoflavones and flavonoids 
• Hormone precursors (which stimulate hormone production and help anti-ageing) 
• Carbohydrates and fatty acids 

The nutritional makeup of Bee Pollen is extremely broad spectrum. This nutritional diversity makes Bee Pollen an ideal dietary supplement as a complement and boost to a well-rounded diet. The nutrients in Bee Pollen are very concentrated and extremely high quality. This nutritional density means that even small amounts provide effective and valuable levels of important nutrients. In other words, bee pollen as a food source or as a supplement, provides low volume, but high intensity, nutrition. Not only does bee pollen contain high quality nutrients that can be burned as fuel, it also provides nutrients that are helpful in maintaining and promoting health. Bee Pollen can be eaten raw simply as it is, as a nutritious and healthy snack, or you can try sprinkling it on cereal, muesli, porridge or yoghurt, stirring it into warm drinks or blending it into smoothies and desserts.

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is comprised of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which are immediately converted into energy rather than being stored as fat. Coconut oil also stimulates the proper function of your thyroid gland. Coconut oil is heart-healthy and fantastic for weight loss as it speeds up the metabolism. Virgin coconut oil, unlike other saturated fats, actually contains no cholesterol, so it does not increase blood serum cholesterol level. You can use coconut oil when cooking instead of olive oil, perfect for woks and stir fries as it tolerates heat better than olive oil. You can also use it in smoothies, instead of butter on toast or on baked potato and even as a body cream and hair conditioner!

Camu Camu 

Also known as Cacari and Camocamo, it’s a small bushy tree found in rainforests in Peru and Brazil, and has red-purple cherry like berries. Camu Camu is almost unknown in Western world, and not much studied, but well known and prized in Japan. Camu camu is mainly used for its edible fruits. The most important property of camu camu fruit is its extraordinarily high vitamin C content. It also contains powerful phytochemicals with health benefits, including amino acids Serine, Valine and Leucine. Camu Camu is also rich in Limonene, a phytochemical which has shown the ability to reduce the appetite and aid in weight loss. Camu camu fruit has surprising range of health-promoting effects, it helps to strenghten immune system, maintain healty gums, eyes and skin amongst many others. It is also great anti-viral, anti-oxidant, antimutagenic, antiseptic herb, and it helps against colds, asthma, depression, infertility, migraine, herpes, osteoarthritis and edema. You can get camu camu from good online superfood retailers in capsule or powder form, which you can add to smoothies or breakfast cereals.

Spirulina 

Spirulina is a microscopic blue-green algae that exists as a single celled organism turning sunlight into life energy. Spirulina is the richest beta carotene food, with a full spectrum of ten mixed carotenoids. About half are orange carotenes: alpha, beta and gamma and half are yellow xanthophylls. They work synergistically at different sites in our body to enhance antioxidant protection. This tiny aquatic plant offers 60% all-vegetable protein, essential vitamins and phytonutrients, the rare essential fatty acid GLA, sulfolipids, glycolipids and polysaccharides. Unlike other forms of protein, the protein in Spirulina is 85-95% digestible, one of the highest available. Spirulina comes in tablet, capsule or powder form.

Sprouts

When seeds start to sprout, all the stored energy and nutrients become available and easy for us to absorb. Eating sprouts regularly can result in an enormous improvement in general health, boosting the immune system, revitalizing and strengthening the body, improving digestion, combating tiredness and stress. Sprouts grown at home and harvested at the dinner table are the freshest food you’ll ever eat. They won’t have lost vitamins like shop bought vegetables or have travelled round the world. They will be organically grown, full of life and energy. Sprouting is ridiculously cheap! You can get pounds of greens for pennies. It’s also easy - it all comes down to "just add water." With few resources and very little time or effort, you can supply yourself an abundance of live food, in your home, all year round. If you travel, they can too.

So which ones I take at the moment? I use spirulina in my morning green juices, raw cacao in smoothies or with muesli in soya milk, coconut oil in smoothies and in cooking, goji berries with muesli or on it's own, maca in tablet form in mornings, seaweed in salads or snack and sprouts in salad. I've ordered chlorella tablets, bee pollen and kelp capsules. I don't intend to have all superfoods every day, it's best to rotate, different supplements different days. I'd like to get some camu camu as well, it's a bit more pricey though...

Superfood munching toddler - sprouts and dulse are favourites while helping mummy with juicing.

Glorious sun

It's been ages! Now that the weather is beautiful, I just find it difficult to sit behind my laptop, especially as I spend considerable time behind the computer at work. So a quick update how my journey is going.

I think I've figured out what seems to cause my belly ache after my nasty virus attack. It's when I eat lot of fruit or drink smoothies I get quite severe pain in my upper abdomen, so it might be that I'm at the moment sensitive to fructose or something. So I've been avoiding fruit and testing my way around, which means the amount of raw foods hasn't been very high during the past week or so. I've had nut and fruit muesli with soya milk and veggie wraps for breakfast, salad or veggie pot or vegetarian sandwich for lunch, and fish and veggies for dinner with my daily green juice. This weekend the weather has been great so we've had BBQ 3 days in a row! We've had salmon and veggies, yesterday we had lovely BBQ at our friend's place, I had some meat as well, and today we had halloumi, organic chicken kebabs and prawns. Lovely! Made delicious grilled halloumi salad with watermelon, runner beans and mint.

I'm going to try to drink vegetable juice twice a day from tomorrow, as I can't have my smoothies at the moment, I'll start drinking green juices for breakfast as well as before dinner. I've noticed that I'm not that hungry after drinking green juice, so I might even skip some dinners and go to gym instead. It's so difficult to find the time to go to gym, but I have to make the effort, starting next week! Wish me luck...

Anyway, it's past midnight now, and I need some sleep, long week ahead. After that I'm off for a week, and will try to fit in a juice fast, the plan is to drink only vegetable juice for 3 days. Will be interesting to see how that goes - me and not eating anything! My mood has been always very dependant on my food intake, like in mornings before I've had my breakfast, I'm really grumpy. But if I don't try, I won't know =) Nite-nite!

Raw food and health books

I''ve always been book worm. As long as I can remember, I’ve always been reading something. My parents used to bring bags of books home from the library and we all read all of them, so I got taste of crime and horror books early on. A good murder mystery remains my favourite and there is not a day when I don’t read a book.

I’m also obsessed reading books when trying to find out something, so no surprise there that when I decided to go more raw, I ordered heaps of books from Amazon. I thought it might be useful to write a little mini review of each of the books I’ve read, including the cook books I use.

The Complete Guide to Herbs, Natural Healing and Nutrition
by Jill Rosemary Davies

The book is giving you great overview of different herbs you can use for various alignments, but it also discusses nutrition and detoxing. It recommends high raw, vegan diet for best health and weight loss, and describes the down sides with eating gluten, diary and meat products. Informative and easy to read book. Information about herbs might be a bit overwhelming if you’re not into herbalism, but it’s still useful to see what can be used and how it affects your body.

The Raw Energy Bible
by Leslie Kenton

This "bible" believes a high raw diet - in which 50-75 percent of your foods are eaten raw - can help you lose weight, prevent colds and flu, and retard ageing, also help you banish stress and fatigue, and give you a sense of vitality. The book contains recipes and practical information and promotes food combining - no protein and starchy food in same meal.

It’s an excellent book for people who are thinking or are in the beginning of transforming to high raw diet. It’s not as strict as some raw food books are, as it doesn’t banish cooked food completely and allows organic fish and poultry in moderation. The book also promotes vegetable juicing and has delicious recipes. I recommend this book for everyone who wants to find out more about raw food diet, but don’t want to go the “whole way”.

The Eat to Live Diet: Lose 20 Pounds or more in Six Weeks - Safely
by Joel Fuhrman

According to this book you can eat more and still lose weight. Furhman states that as long you eat foods that have high proportion of nutrients and low calorie count, you can eat as much as you want and lose weight. So basically the more nutrient rich food you eat, the more satisfied you’ll be and the less you crave junk food. Furhman has a back-up of his claim in form of 1000 scientific studies which not only showed weight loss but also cured diverse diseases such as arthritis, gastritis, fibromyalgia, acne, diabetes and high blood pressure. Furhman explains which foods are nutrient rich and which aren't, you guessed – raw vegetables and fruits are most nutritional, followed by nuts and seeds and then cooked vegetables. Good book both if you want to lose weight or you just want to find out more about how to switch to healthy diet for life. Great information about the meat and milk industries influential power on our eating traditions and the myths about protein and calcium. Maybe a bit American for us Europeans, but definitely worth reading…

You Are What You Eat
by Gillian McKeith

McKeith has several books on the theme of You Are What You Eat, I've read 3 of these. The title book here contains good information about how various foods can help with minor diseases and conditions, and gives recommendations on food combining - proteins and starchy food to be eaten separately. Her cookbook has several tasty recipes, but she's not concentrating entirely on raw food, mainly on vegetarian cooked food. 

The Joy of Living Live
by Zakhah

Zakhah is a member of African Hebrew Isrealite Community, who live in harmony with nature and eat high raw diet. The book has over 100 delicious raw recipes, my favourites are nut mayo and cheese cake.

The Raw Food Made Easy
by Jennifer Cornbleet

American cooking instructor shares her favourite raw recipes in smaller quantities for 1-2 people. Most of her recipes don't need complicated equipment and take no time to prepare. I'm yet to try most of her recipes but they look good.

The Detox Health-plan Cookbook
by Maggie Pannell

The book describes all steps you need to take for safe detox - how to clean your body of toxins, eat well and lose weight if you need to. The book has a clear two-week diet plan which is easy to follow and has some tasty recipes. It also touches topics such as exercise, relaxation, meditation, massage and aromatherapy techniques. Really good book for some great ideas.

Eat Smart Eat Raw  by Kate Wood and The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose are 2 books I just bought and haven't read yet. Good thing with Kate Wood's book is that it's seen from British point of view, most raw cook books are written by American authors.

Time to go now, read some more books... =)

Belly ache and food pix

So much to say and so little time! That sums up the situation at the moment, haven't had time to blog lately, not that I've been doing something exciting, but I still don't feel 100% well and have been having early nights. By the time I get home from work, do some juicing, cook dinner, play with Maya and check my mails, I'm ready to go to sleep.

My eating has been sporadic: some days have been high raw, others very low raw. As I get my stomach aches just after eating, I've been trying to see if it's certain foods that cause it, but it's hard to tell. I even had a portion of chips just to see what reaction it has, and it had same reaction as salad: 1-2 hours after meal I get rather bad pain just under ribcage, and it lasts about 2-3 hours. No idea at all why, I went to GP, but I have one very narrow minded and arrogant GP who told me to stop drinking vegetable juices as these are acid and are probably cause for my belly ache! How stupid is that? Veggie juices are alkalising, not acid... Went also to walk-in centre at local hospital, and was told that I might have after effects of the virus I had, causing acid reflux, and was described painkillers and Gaviscon. Jeeez.. For the sake of people's health, doctors should have at least basic nutritional education.

Anyway, here are few pix

Kale crisps - best to be done with kale leaves but as kale is not in season yet, I have only been able to get hold of shredded kale. Add some olive oil, salt, lemon juice and sprinkle with parmesan cheese (optional), put in pre-heated over (180C) and heat for 5-10 minutes, depending how crisp you want your crisps. Pure raw foodists use dehydrator, which I'm still to invest in, so meanwhile oven will do. Delicious snack, even Maya couldn't get enough!

Mixed salad with kalamata olive dip (hence the colour...)

No meat balls and spaghetti - walnut pate with raw Mariana sauce and zucchini pasta. Raw food at it's best!

Veggie juice with beet root.

Quinoa with veggies - one my favourite meals!

Is milk good for us?

So is milk really good for you? I have always been a medium milk drinker, even in my adult years. I used to love cold milk with pancakes and strawberry jam, or milk and cookies. I always had milk in tea and coffee, and used to eat huge amounts of cheese on daily bases. So what has changed? I have been reading... and reading. And I’ve found more and more of this:

An increasing amount of research challenges the out-dated notion that cow’s milk is the best source of calcium and in fact shows that our consumption of dairy products is doing us much more harm than good. So why do we all believe that we need to drink milk to get our calcium? It’s simple: similarly to meat industry, milk industry has spent millions and millions on advertisement and campaigns, selling milk is a profitable industry after all.

What the milk industry doesn't want us to know about is the long list of problems related to milk. Here are some of them:

- milk encourages mucus and catarrh
- pasteurised milk can aggravate candidiasis
- the process of pasteurising milk destroys 50% of Vitamin C
- milk is the main cause of infant colic and of allergies in infants and children
- milk drinkers have shown to have higher incidences of ovarian cancer as well as other cancers
- excessive dairy consumption can cause you to loose calcium through the urine and hence actually cause osteoporosis.
- milk contributes to poor liver function
and the list goes on.

But, milk is a natural food, it’s always been there and nobody has ever questioned the consumption of milk? Ok, look at it this way: All mammals drink the milk of their mothers until they are weaned. Unlike all other mammals though, humans continue to drink milk after weaning and even into adulthood, and not only that, humans drink the milk of another species! If you start to think like this, it’s quite disgusting, isn’t it? You wouldn’t drink cats or dogs milk so why cows?

But why then, do so many doctors and 'experts' insist on drinking milk? Traditional thinking, or ignorance perhaps. Being a doctor does not necessarily make one a nutrition expert and even doctors fall for the industry’s hype.

The calcium in dairy products is not absorbed into the body as easily as that in many dark green leafy vegetables. For example, calcium is much more easily absorbed from kale than cow’s milk. And the amount of calcium we get from plants is much higher, for example sesame seeds (670mg/100g, more than 5 times!), sardines (540), Nori seaweed (470), both more than triple, almonds (240, double!), figs (230), parsley, spinach, watercress, kale (200-170), even hazelnuts and oysters (140).

Note: caffeine and smoking has been shown to reduce calcium absorption.

But milk is good for your bones? No, actually osteoporosis occurs most commonly in countries where people drink the most milk! Calcium loss from the bones is promoted by high intakes of animal protein. Research suggests that the more animal protein you eat, the higher your risk of hip fracture becomes. Cross-cultural studies show strong links between a high animal protein diet, bone degeneration and the occurrence of hip fractures.

So to conclude, milk is not a natural food for humans, it’s not the best source of calcium and it doesn’t help preventing osteoporosis. On top of that milk can contain large amounts of hormones, antibiotics and pus. Milk is often so full of pus from infected utters that antibiotics and medicinal ointments are necessary, which are passed on to humans. Yes, the milk is pasteurized, 'sterilized', homogenized etc., but the pus cells are still in it and we drink it - along with chemicals from feed and hormones cows are injected with to produce even more milk.

And if this doesn’t put you off think of poor cows! Milk cows lead a miserable life with restricted movement all their lives. Some are so weak they collapse, they are forced to be constantly pregnant to produce milk and are often suffering from painful mastitis. The average cow rarely lives to 4-5 years. If you want to read more about how milk cows are treated in UK (and most other countries), read here:

http://www.milkmyths.org.uk/intro.php 

I will never drink cow’s milk again, and I will not give it to my child either. M is happy drinking rice milk at the moment, and I’ve given her oat and coconut drinking milk. She'll get her calcium from fruits and vegetables, and her bones are strengthened by lot's of running around and exercise! I sometimes make my own almond milk and I use cashew milk in my smoothies. And if I fancy a cup of tea or coffee, I use soya milk. Hardest part has been not eating cheese, but as I don’t eat bread anymore, it’s actually manageable. So there is really no need to drink somebody else’s milk!

Weekend and a bad-ass virus

Haven't been able to write here for awhile; it's been a bit hectic and I've slipped again a bit with my raw food over the long weekend. And now I'm rather ill, I've managed to catch a stomach bug! Talking about bowel flush - coming out from both ends, there couldn't be anything left inside my bowels! I feel better today, but still not recovered yet.

So I guess eating mostly raw food will not protect you from vicious viruses, or maybe it was my body telling me that this what will happen if you start to eat "bad" food again (I had bread and cheese and even ham - oops!, my old friends, during the weekend). Obviously I had to pick up the virus from somewhere (using my best detecting brain cells I still haven't figured out from where - work? Would be obvious as I work in a hospital, but I'm very careful with my hand hygiene, and we have no known outbreaks), so I can't entirely blame the ham and cheese sandwich, but I should really use this for hammering in to that part of my brain that makes me want naughty stuff: If you eat bad things your body will let you know!

Anyway, once I feel ok again, I'll write more, I had so many ideas about what to write: Cows milk, books I've read, super foods, raw kitchen essential etc. Will have to wait a bit longer. Good night for now!

P.S. Just a tip for a great tasting green smoothie for 2: half a pineapple, half a romain lettuce and pinch of spirulina. So tasty even our choosy toddler drunk a whole cup!

Long weekend ahead

Here in England we have long weekend - May Bank Holiday Monday! Love it, and this time I also look forward the weekend in food wise, as I have few new raw recipes I want to do this weekend. Otherwise just a quick update of the consumed food:

Freshly pressed grapefruit juice, perfect pre-breakfast drink!

Mixed salad leaves with...

...smoked salmon and cream cheese on rye bread with cucumber.

10 am snack - my rawish colleague made a raw cheese cake with strawberry sauce, which I enjoyed with barley coffee and soya milk. 

From Tossed Salad Bar: Greek salad with roasted butternut squash and hummus - best non-home-made salad I've had so far.

Dinner: Thai green coconut curry with white fish and greens: peas, soya beans, french beans, spring cabbage, coriander, bamboo shoot and baby corn served with millet and rice noodles.

My new favvo breakkie: cashew milk with bananas, sesame seeds, dates and RAW CACAO- best thing ever! I'll tell you more about raw cacao soon - powerful superfood. 

Mixed salad from Planet Organic

Pure nutrition. Say no more.

Sprouts have often very strong flavour, I usually dress it up with olive oil, lemon and liquid aminos. Or just mix it in your favourite salad.

Quick pre-lunch nutrition fix.

Dinner again: sprouting yellow broccoli with avocado, olive oil, lemon juice and dill dressing, chickpea and sweet corn salad with red onion, garlic, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, agave syrup, coriander and mint with veggie bake.

Seaweed salad with carrot, onion, pepper, kidney beans, olive oil, soya sauce and lemon juice.

I had some soya latte on the way to work (don't ask me why, not a big coffee drinker), which later caused some belly ache. Tried to neutralise caffeines acidity with coconut water's alkalinity, but belly ache didn't go away until I had my daily fix of green juice later at home. That taught me a lesson...

I've stopped using salt almost completely since eating more raw food,  as I'm using spices, herbs, soya sauce and liquid aminos instead. But our bodies need some good salt, so I've chosen Himalayan Rose Salt, which is unrefined and contains most of the minerals and trace elements our bodies need. Usual table salt is refined and has none of this, hence the bad reputation. Another good salt is Celtic Sea Salt, very high in minerals.