Healing With The Masters

Since I first found out about the Healing With The Masters teleseminar series a few years I have signed up to listen, and it has helped me change and grow so much in my life. It’s introduced me to amazing healers, including sound vibration healers, intuitives, authors, and coaches. There are 24 awesome speakers in this year , many of these spiritual leaders are found on The New York Times Best Sellers list, many have been on Oprah, and you likely have one or more of their books on your bookshelf. It’s an incredible value that costs you nothing. All the speakers are top healers, authors, and thought leaders in their fields.

This is the 6th year the series has been running. I find it’s a great way to find out who you really connect with now, from where you are in your life, and what you want out of life. The live interviews are free (but you need to sign up once to access them) and you can listen to the replays online for 48 hours in case you can’t make it to the live event, or just want to listen again and take notes. There’s also an option to buy the whole set of recorded interviews as mp3s, with or without transcripts, or as CDs if you’d rather have them available to listen to while you commute, or wash the dishes (that’s one of my favorite things).

Starts September 7, 2010 Sign up here… remember it’s FREE

You can click right through to sign up here, or read the rest of the article to find out more and see who Jennifer has lined up for this year’s series.

Now in it’s 6th year, this series is unique in that the host and interviewer, Jennifer McLean is a powerful intuitive, sound vibration specialist and healer in her own right. She’s built a powerful online community for healing, and personal and spiritual growth.

Who are the guest speakers?

These are just some of the 24 speakers who will be featured.

Gary Zukav: New York Times bestselling author of The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics, Seat of the Soul, and his newest book Spiritual Partnership: The Journey to Authentic Power. Gary has appeared on Oprah many times. His books have sold six million copies and have been translated in 24 languages.

Michael Bernard Beckwith: Founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center, a trans-denominational spiritual community. Co-founder of the Association for Global Thought, an organization dedicated to planetary healing and transformation, and originator of the Life Visioning Process. His books include: Inspirations of the Heart, Forty Day Mind Fast Soul Feast, and A Manifesto of Peace.

Dan Millman: Pioneer in the spiritual movement with his popular bestselling book The Way of the Peaceful Warrior that lead to 13 books translated into 29 languages.

Neale Donald Walsch: author of the bestselling Conversations With God series of books which have been translated into 34 languages.

Caroline Myss: is a five-time New York Times bestselling author and internationally renowned speaker in the fields of human consciousness, spirituality and mysticism, health, energy medicine, and the science of medical intuition. Caroline’s work has earned her an international reputation as a renowned medical intuitive. She is regarded as the leading pioneer in medical intuition.

Chunyi Lin: certified international qigong master and the founder and creator of Spring Forest Qigong. Master Lin is also highly skilled in tai chi, Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture.

Sonia Choquette: a unique and extraordinary spiritual teacher, intuitive guide and New York Times bestselling author of ten books published in over 30 countries: The Psychic Pathway (Three Rivers Press), Your Heart’s Desire (Three Rivers Press), The Intuitive Spark (Hay House), True Balance (Three Rivers Press), The Diary of a Psychic (Hay House/Publishers July 2003), Trust Your Vibes (Hay House 2004), Ask Your Guides (Hay House 2005), Soul Lessons and Soul Purpose (Hay House 2006), The Time Has Come (Hay House 2008).

Guy Finley: best-selling author of The Secret of Letting Go and his new book The Essential Laws of Fearless Living and more than 36 other books and audio albums that have sold over a million copies in 16 languages worldwide. His ideas cut straight to the heart of our most pressing personal and social issues — relationships, fear, addiction, stress/anxiety, peace, happiness, freedom and lead the way to a higher life.

Carol Look: trained in traditional psychotherapy, Carol is an EFT master and specialist in pain relief and abundance. She is the author of two of the field’s classic EFT training manuals, How to Lose Weight with Energy Therapy and Quit Smoking Now with Energy Therapy, and also appears in the EFT movie The Tapping Solution.

David Morelli: an expert in many fields: Intuition and Energy Healing , Reiki, Hands on Healing, NLP, and Biofeedback. David and his wife Kristin Morelli are visionary leaders and co-hosts of the Everything is Energy Radio Show with over 500,000 subscribers in just 18 months, and ranking #3 behind Oprah on iTunes.

Eldon Taylor, Ph.D.: world renowned author (of more than three hundred InnerTalk® personal empowerment audio and video programs), dynamic speaker, former criminalist and one of the world’s foremost experts on preconscious information processing. He is the author of five books regarding the subject of subliminal communication. In his latest International best-selling book, Choices and Illusions, Eldon shares his life story, integrated with his work and research, that reveals how and why we get locked into self-imposed limitations and false self-images—”negative self-talk”—and demonstrates how we can retrain our mind with positive “self-talk.”

Mark Romero: is a Sound Vibration Healer, a Musician, and a Coach. He uses his music to help others realize their ability to construct successful and inspired lives. A former top-consultant from NASA has proven that Mark’s music has frequencies in it that actually put listeners into a higher state of consciousness and helps them to live healthier, stronger, and vital lives. His music can instantly assist individuals to move into a higher state of being that allows the frequencies of their dreams to be in vibrational alignment, through the frequencies of his music.

Each of the speakers put together special offer packages that are discounted by an unbelievable margin. The offers are totally optional of course, but if you really connect with one of the speakers and want to know more, you can usually get an amazing deal on their products that you usually won’t find anywhere else.

Healing With The Masters volume VI promises to help you:

• Identify powerful self-healing techniques that you can use each and every day
• Find and discover your own internal wealth for foundational financial healing
• Find the source of your own troublesome internal blocks…and fully release them
• Master super effective techniques for clearing past trauma
• Implement new healing practices that will allow you to visualize and create your dreams
• Use the Law of Attraction to its absolute maximum
• Learn how to help not only yourself, but your family, your friends and your community as well
• It will be FUN too, I focus on “en-lightening” up–so there is always laughter on these shows

Healing With The Masters Vol. VI September 7, 2010 to November 30, 2010 – Sign up now

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Red Cabbage Sauerkraut

I love sauerkraut (well I love cabbage in general, but that’s another story), and I know that ‘real sauerkraut’, i.e. homemade sauerkraut, is full of not only all the nutrients and phytochemicals that make cabbage a superfood but it contains probiotics as well. It tastes great and it helps with digestion too, well that’s what I notice anyway. The store-bought variety may in some cases taste good, but it’s not that healthy for you, and it’s expensive. It usually has way too much salt, not necessarily good salt at that. And in most cases it’s pasteurized, which means all the healthy probiotic bacteria that make sauerkraut so much more awesome and easily digestible than just plain cabbage have been killed off. Along with most of the nutrients I imagine. Mind you, you could do far worse as far as food choices go. But why settle for mediocre? Why not choose awesome? You’re worth it.

For a very long time I have wanted to make my own sauerkraut. I talked to people who made their own, I read about how to make sauerkraut and watched some videos. It sounded so complicated. I thought it was difficult to make, that there was some ‘knack’ to doing it, and if I didn’t get it right the result would be a mushy, smelly disaster. Well, I finally got up the courage to try, and found out that making sauerkraut is so easy! It’s got to be one of the easiest things to make. It takes a bit of time, not too much considering what you get in the end though. And I chop all the cabbage by hand, so if you use a mandoline* or food processor it won’t take that long at all.

My sauerkraut came out beautiful the first time, using green cabbage. The second time I put in too much salt, but I made both white and red cabbage sauerkraut, and the red cabbage kraut is such a cool color that’s all I want to make. It’s more nutritious too because of the anthocyanins in the red cabbage. So last time I made it, I wrote down the recipe, and I think I got the salt just right.

Now don’t let the length of this recipe scare you off. The process is really easy, it’s just that it looks like a lot because I’ve tried to explain the process really thoroughly. If you have any questions just ask them in the comments area below. And if you want, skip down to the bottom and watch the video by Sandor Ellix Katz, author of one of my all-time favorite recipe books, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods

Ingredients:

8 cups finely chopped cabbage (red/purple or green)
1 tbsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt **

** I like to use coarse sea salt, during the process of massaging the cabbage the grains of salt will break down. I usually put on some good music, or listen to an audio book while I’m doing it and I know I don’t have to pay much attention until all the grains of salt have dissolved. It should work just as well with finely ground salt as well.

Here’s a tip if you’re using red/purple cabbage, as you’re massaging the cabbage your hands will get stained purple. An easy and effective way to get the stain off is to rub a cut lemon on your skin where it’s stained and then rinse your hands. So if you don’t want to have slightly purple hands, be sure to have a lemon on hand (no pun intended) if you’re using red/purple cabbage.

Special Equipment:

You’ll need a 1 litre (1 quart) glass jar with a tight fitting lid. I like the jars with a glass lid and rubber seal that clamp down. A canning jar with a tight fitting lid will work fine too.

Instructions:

Wash and drain the cabbage well. Cut off any outer leaves that don’t look so good. Cut off and save one of the nicer looking outer leaves and put it to one side. After you’ve made and packed all the sauerkraut in the jar, you’ll fold up this leaf and put it on top to help press down the cabbage to keep it under the brine.

Finely sliced red cabbage

Slice the cabbage as finely as you can. You can also use a mandoline*  or food processor to slice the cabbage as finely as you can. The reason you want to slice it so finely is to maximize the surface area. This will make it easier to massage and quicker to ferment.

Add the sliced cabbage to a large mixing bowl, along with the salt. Using your hands massage the salt into the cabbage by grabbing handfuls of the cabbage and squeezing it like you would squeeze out a large sponge then let go and drop the cabbage back into the bowl. Grab another handful and do the same. Repeat this until the cabbage starts to get soft.

As the cabbage softens you’ll notice more and more juice in the bottom of the bowl. The juice will dissolve the salt, which will in turn draw more juice out of the cabbage. That’s exactly what we want. Don’t drain the juice off, it’s the brine that will allow the cabbage to ferment without going ‘off’. You’ll also notice that the volume of cabbage gets smaller as you massage it.

Homemade sauerkraut

Keep massaging until the cabbage is quite soft and limp, almost the consistency it is after being stir-fried or steamed. You want to keep massaging until the volume of the cabbage is reduced by about half. If you used coarse sea salt, it should all be dissolved. If you taste a bit at this point, you’ll notice that the cabbage has lost that sharp, pungent taste that raw cabbage has. I love the cabbage like this, even before it’s fermented. I often use this technique for cabbage and kale when I’m making a salad, sometimes adding a bit of olive oil and massaging that in as well.

Now it’s time to pack the jar that you’ll ferment your sauerkraut in. Grab a few handfuls of cabbage and put them into the jar and add a bit of the brine, just to the top of the cabbage. Reach in with your hand or a wooden spoon and press the cabbage down into the bottom. You want to release any air pockets and pack the cabbage in as tightly as you can. Continue to pack the cabbage into the jar in this way, a few handfuls at a time until you nearly reach the top of the jar.

Add more brine if you need so that all the cabbage is under brine. This prevents bad bacteria from forming during the fermentation process. Take the outer cabbage leaf you saved at the beginning and fold it up so that it will just fit inside the mouth of the jar. You want to use it almost like a lid to keep the sliced cabbage pressed down underneath the brine.

It's easy to make sauerkraut!

Put the lid on the jar, and leave it out at room temperature for about 4 days. Your fermentation time may vary depending on the temperature and how fermented you like your kraut. Keep out of direct sunlight. Take off the lid once a day to release any gasses that may build up from the fermentation process. You’ll notice the color of the cabbage has changed after massaging it, and it will keep changing over the next few days as it ferments. I always do a taste test starting at day 3, and then daily after that. Once the sauerkraut gets to the point that you like it, put it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process. I’ve had some last for about 2 months before I ate it all, and it just kept maturing and getting better.

Makes 1 litre of sauerkraut

This is a great video by fermentation guru Sandor Ellix Katz that shows you just how easy it is to make sauerkraut. This video was really instrumental in getting me started making my own sauerkraut. It shows just how easy it is and gave me the confidence to try it myself. It does a really good job showing how to massage the cabbage. Some good info on the benefits of fermenting vegetables too.

* What is a Mandoline?

A mandoline is great for slicing fruits and vegetables. They are usually made from plastic, or less commonly from stainless steel, with a very sharp set of interchangeable blades that fit into a ‘ramp’. The best blades are made from surgical steel and will keep their edge for years. They are probably the quickest way of slicing anything. Far faster than a knife, and easier to to set up and clean than a food processor. Those who have and use mandolines swear by them.

The interchangeable blades allow you to slice at different thicknesses, julienne, and shred. Because the blade is so sharp slicing is quick and easy, but it’s also easy to slice your finger. So be sure the use the safety holder. They are not as awkward to use as you might think at first glance. Cleaning is easy, in most cases you just have to rinse.

Swissmar Borner V-Slicer Pro Mandoline V-4000, 7-Piece Set

David Wolfe

If you are interested in eating healthy, you have to know David Wolfe. It’s that simple. He is THE nutrition expert to listen to.

We have been given a lot of misinformation about food, nutrition and health. This misinformation has come to us through governments, the education system, books, and marketing campaigns by food and supplement manufacturers that has seeped into the public consciousness as if it were fact. There are a few tireless evangelists for the real truth about food out there, and David Wolfe is one of them.

He has done an incredible amount of research, much of it on the cutting edge, and he’s not afraid to go against the mainstream advice that is making us so sick as a population, in order to tell the truth. If you’ve never heard him, here’s your chance to listen to him for free. If you have heard him before, I probably don’t need to say any more, I’ll just give you the link. But go listen now, if you procrastinate you’ll miss out. He’s part of the Wellness Revolution Teleseminar series that I posted about previously. He was interviewed today, and the replays are available for free for 48 hours only. So be quick.

You can also buy the series to download, but if you want to listen for free, go sign up here. After you sign up you’ll get an email with the link to listen to the replay. But read the email carefully because there is a link there to his free bonus, which I almost missed. The bonus audio is about balancing hormones, something so important, especially in these times of hormone-disrupting pesticides everywhere.It’s always fun to listen to him, he is so obviously passionate about what his topic. He’s like a walking encyclopedia of information, really it is incredible how much he knows and remembers. His interviews are always packed with so much information. I usually listen once through, then a couple times more taking notes. I have heard him speak so many times I can’t begin to count them, and every time I learn something new, as well as reinforcing what I’ve learned from him before. But I never get tired of listening to interviews with him. We are so fortunate to have someone like this who has the ability to read these scientific studies, extract the information from them and then translate it into laymen’s terms for the rest of us. He just excels at it. If you want to know a bit more about him, here’s a more official bio.

About David Wolfe

With a masters degree in nutrition, and a background in science and mechanical engineering, David Wolfe is considered one of the world’s top authorities on natural health, beauty nutrition, herbalism, longevity, chocolate, and organic super foods. Leading the field with his vision, mission, education, and business, David has over 15 years of dedicated experience and understanding of the inner workings, the delicate chemistry, and hardcore mechanics of the human body and how the body is affected by the modern-day stressors of today’s fast-paced, over-worked, and unbalanced lifestyle, which is literally a “killer” to our beauty, health, and longevity.

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Complimentary Medicine Series

I wanted to let you know about a free teleseminar series on Complimentary Medicine called Wellness Revolution.

It will be a gathering of 21 of the world’s leading doctors, healers and authors in the Complimentary Medicine movement. If you haven’t heard the term, Complimentary Medicine that combines traditional western medicine with ancient wisdom healing practices for incredibly powerful and new possibilities.

With names like Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Bernie Siegel, David Wolfe (top nutrition and raw food expert), Carol Look, Dr. Sue Morter and Dr. Alex Loyd (to name just a few) get ready to share with you the latest in complimentary (traditional plus naturopathic/holistic) medicine healing techniques.

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By Donna Miller

Tongue Scraper made from copper

The first time I ever engaged in tongue scraping pretty much sealed the deal, I knew there was no going back. I was going to do this every day for the rest of my life.
Now, if you don’t know what tongue scraping is, or why you might be even remotely interested in it, let me ask you something. Would you be willing eat something for breakfast every day that you knew was loaded with bacteria? And I’m not talking about the beneficial, gut-friendly bacteria that you find in healthy fermented foods like yogurt. I’m talking about the kind of bacteria that smells bad, and makes you sick.

So, back to my question. Smelly bacteria for breakfast? Umm, not so appetizing? Actually, my answer to the question would have been something along the lines of, “oh gross, no way!”. If you too answered firmly in the negative, you might want to get into the habit of scraping your tongue.

Tongue scraping involves using a long, thin, flat piece of metal, which is bent in the shape of a ‘U’, to scrape the surface of your tongue. It doesn’t hurt at all. You scrape firmly, but gently by dragging the scraper from the back of your tongue to the front. The effect is similar to using a rake to scrape the cut grass off of a lawn. Only in the case of your tongue, what you scrape off is bacteria. Probably hundreds of thousands of them. So many in fact, that you can see them, even though you would need a microscope to see each individual bacteria.

You know how everyone has bad smelling ‘morning breath’? Well, it’s mostly caused by these bacteria that are hanging out on your tongue. So when you use a tongue scraper (also called a tongue cleaner), you literally scrape the bacteria up and dispose of them by rinsing them down the sink. Because if you don’t, guess what? They go right down the hatch with your morning coffee, or juice or whatever you have for breakfast. Yuck.

So isn’t brushing your teeth in the mornings before you eat enough? No. It’s great if you do that, because the bacteria are also on your teeth, so you are washing those bacteria away. But even if you brush your tongue with your toothbrush, it’s hard to do as good a job as you can with a tongue scraper. Besides, if you see what’s coming off your tongue every morning it provides really powerful incentive to do it again tomorrow morning.

So where do you get a tongue scraper? I got mine from a local health food shop. But I was lucky, because they are usually hard to find. The last one I had to get from a friend who was traveling back to China. I found some on Amazon, and here’s a link to the one that looks the most like mine. The style I’ve got works really well, and I can’t recommend any of the other styles simply because I’ve not tried them.

Tongue scrapers are really inexpensive, and the ones I’ve had have lasted for years. I got my first one over 20 years ago, and I’m now on my third. I hang mine in the holder right next to my toothbrush. I even bring it with me when I go backpacking.

If you think you might like to start the day with your tongue feeling fresh and clean instead of furry and stale, try a tongue scraper.

Donna Miller enjoys creating delicious, healthy vegetarian food and posts many of her vegetarian, vegan and raw vegan recipes, as well as informative articles to her website The Healthy Eating Site.

Where to get tongue scrapers
If you can’t find them locally, or just want to know what you’re looking for, here are 2 recommended models of tongue scrapers. A metal one and a plastic one.

Metal Tongue Scraper from Amazon
Plastic Tongue Scraper from Amazon

Thick & Creamy Vegan Vanilla Shake

I wasn’t sure whether to call this a shake or a smoothie, because it reminded me so much of a vanilla milkshake so I opted for calling it both. This is one of the best smoothie (shake) recipes I’ve come up with so far. I was actually going to call this a breakfast smoothie until I decided to have it for dinner too because I enjoyed it so much.

This is one of those quick and easy smoothie recipes that is just so delicious and nutritious that there’s no excuse not to make it any time you need a quick meal or pick-me-up.

Vanilla, honey, maca and lucuma are all superfoods. Sesame seeds have more protein than any other seed or nut, are loaded with calcium, iron, and magnesium. Plus they contain lignans that can help burn fat. Flaxseed (also called linseed), is high in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and fiber. Oats are the king of the grains, they help lower blood cholesterol, are a good source of magnesium, zinc and vitamin E and are also very high in fiber. And the humble banana… contains potassium and vitamin B6, which the body needs to make serotonin the brain-chemical which makes you feel good. Bananas also have plenty of fiber, and it’s a particular type of fiber that aids bowel health, and has been found to lower the incidence of bowel cancer. Whew! And if you need any more convincing, just taste it.

Ingredients:

4 cups water
4 ripe bananas, peeled (fresh or frozen)
1 cup oats *
4 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp flaxseed (linseed)
2-3 tbsp honey or agave nectar (to taste)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 teas natural vanilla extract
dash of Himalayan sea salt
1 tbsp maca-root powder or lucuma powder (optional)

Instructions:

Grind the sesame seeds and flaxseed to a fine meal. A coffee grinder works beautifully for this, otherwise use a high-powered blender (make sure the inside of the blender jug is dry). Grind the oats to a fine meal in a coffee grinder or a high-powered blender.

Add all the ingredients to the blender. Blend well until, rich and creamy.

Makes 5 cups.

* Oats are almost always cooked, even when you find them as oat groats. It’s very rare to find truly raw oats, but if you want a 100% raw shake and can’t find raw oats you can substitute buckwheat groats instead. Just soak and sprout them for a day or two, but make sure to use them before the tails get longer than the buckwheat seeds. You can dehydrate the sprouted buckwheat and grind it, or just add the fresh sprouted buckwheat to the blender. The result is not as creamy in texture, but it’s still really nice and super healthy.

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Image by raleighwoman via Flickr

Researchers have long known that the foods you eat during your premenstrual cycle can influence PMS, but with recent studies they now have a better idea of what foods will alleviate the symptoms of PMS, and here are the top eight best foods to even out those mood swings.

Studies have revealed taking double the amount of calcium found in the typical American diet, can relieve menstrual pain, water retention and mood swings, especially when taken with magnesium. It’s common for women to crave carbohydrates during the premenstrual phase of their monthly cycle. A study done at MIT and a British study both show that consuming carbohydrates every few hours during this phase of the menstrual cycle makes a significant difference in combating PMS mood swings, as well as other symptoms.

The Top 8 Foods For Alleviating PMS Mood Swings:

1. Greens: such as kale, bok choy and collard greens are very high in calcium. They can be used in a stir-fry, steamed, or finely chopped and added to salads, or freshly squeezed juice.
2. Sesame seeds: are very high in both calcium and magnesium. They can be lightly toasted and sprinkled over salads, stir-fries, and steamed vegetables. Ground sesame paste, known as tahini is delicious in salad dressings, hummus, and as a spread or dip. Adding a couple tablespoons of tahini to smoothies gives them a rich, creamy texture.
3. Milk and dairy products: it’s not surprising that dairy products top the list of food sources of calcium. Whole milk, fruit yogurt and cheese are all good sources of calcium. With Edam cheese having the most calcium per weight, followed closely by Cheddar cheese.
4. Steamed tofu: is high in calcium and omega 3 fatty acids. It’s delicious added to soup or broth, or eaten on it’s own with a dash of shoyu (soy sauce).
5. Sardines in oil: are high in calcium and magnesium, and extremely high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids. The healthiest sardines are the ones packed in their own oil, which helps your body to absorb the calcium, but they can be hard to find. The second best choice is those packed in olive oil. Avoid sardines packed in vegetable oil, it’s highly processed and high in inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. You may also be able to find sardines packed in tomato sauce, which is also preferable to vegetable oil. Sardines make a great food to travel with, or to keep at the office because they come in convenient tins that are easy to store.
6. Dried figs: are high in calcium and magnesium, as well as fiber. They are great as a snack to stave off sugar cravings. Or serve them on fruit and cheese platters, along with bread and crackers as a complete PMS-busting appetizer.
7. Swiss muesli: can be bought ready-made, but it’s also quick and easy to make your own, adding your favorite ingredients in the amounts you like. Serve with yogurt or milk. You can make it up the night before, add the yogurt or milk and leave it to sit overnight to soften the oats, nuts and dried fruit if you prefer a creamier, softer texture. In wintertime, or any time you want something warmer, add a couple handfuls of muesli to a wide-mouth thermos. Then add enough boiling water to cover. You may want to add extra hot water if you want a porridge-like consistency. Leave overnight, the muesli will still be warm in the morning just add milk or yogurt to taste.
8. Carbohydrates: studies have found that eating carbohydrates every 3 hours during the premenstrual cycle can significantly improve mood. Carbohydrates include the starchy carbs such as bread, pasta, potatoes, oats, rice. One study on the effects of carbohydrates on PMS symptoms included sweet carbs in addition to the starchy carbohydrates. It found that all the carbohydrates, including desserts, candy and chocolate, helped women to recover from PMS symptoms within an hour of consuming the carbohydrates.

If you are vegan, a good way to get many of these foods in your diet quickly and easily is to drink a green smoothie every day. I like to have mine first thing in the morning. Use one of the smoothie recipes on this site and add greens, dried figs for sweetness (soak them first, you can soak overnight and put the water and figs into the smoothie) and ground raw sesame seeds (a coffee grinder works well to grind the seeds) will make your smoothie thicker and creamier. Swiss muesli can be made with nut milk instead of dairy milk, especially sesame seed milk.

So during the premenstrual phase of your next monthly cycle, try catering to your carbohydrate and sweet cravings, eat ample amounts of the high-calcium foods and see if it doesn’t help with your mood swings and make life a little easier for you and everyone around you.

Honeybees at work making honey

Here in New Zealand we have a secret, it’s called Manuka honey and it can heal our bodies both externally and internally, but thats not all, some honey when tested in the lab has been found to contain a second unique healing factor which enhances the uniqueness of this wonderful natural healing nectar.

Manuka honey is a ‘mono-floral’ honey, meaning it’s made predominately from one flower, in this case it’s made from the delicate small flowers of the Manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium) or Tea tree as some call it . Native to the shores of New Zealand, its a pretty low growing tree which has an abundance of tiny white or pink flowers in summer, and it’s wood is highly prized for its aroma and is used in wood fired pizza ovens or in the smoking of many food items, but it’s the nectar we are interested in today.

Two Types of Manuka honey

According to New Zealand scientists, there are two types of Manuka honey; one is an ‘ordinary’ Manuka honey which contains a natural hydrogen peroxide antibacterial property, this is not unique to Manuka honey, it’s found in most honeys.

The second type is the special ‘active’ Manuka honey which contains a natural non-hydrogen peroxide antibacterial property, the scientists call this UMF, translated as the Unique Manuka Factor. The difference in the two honeys cannot be determined by taste, texture or color, to determine if the honey is active requires clinical testing and then the activeness’ is rated.

Different strengths of ‘Active’ UMF

There are different ‘degrees’ of UMF activity and this is rated on a numbered scale:
0-4 UMF is not detected and therefore jut ‘honey’
4-10 UMF is present in a ‘maintenance’ level only, so good for when all healing os completed and just tops up the bodies levels
10-15 UMF is present in ‘healing’ amounts
15+ UMF is present in super healing amounts and can be used to fight active bacterial infections or correct health issues, like stomach ulcers etc.

What makes ‘Active’ Manuka honey special?

UMF, is a special property which inhibits the growth of certain ‘resistant’ bacteria’s, the most common being helicobacter pylori which is responsible for stomach ulcers, staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus pyogenes both bacteria’s cause nasty throat infections.

The UMF property in active manuka honey has been found to fight these otherwise resistant bacteria’s with excellent results, the reason being it is resistant to heat and is slower to be broken down by the internal working of our bodies, therefore able to put up a stronger fight.

Specific Uses for Active Manuka honey

A spoonful of active manuka honey daily is a good overall health tonic, but sometimes it can be used on specific problems and reduces the need for a ‘chemical’ ‘pharmaceutical’ antibiotic.

Stomach Ulcers:
Research has shown that active manuka honey inhibits the growth and kills off the helicobacter pylori bacteria which are commonly responsible for stomach ulcers. The ‘normal’ honey with hydrogen peroxide properties was not effective in this case.

Wounds, burns and many skin irritation complaints:
Because of it’s increased anti bacterial qualities, active Manuka honey can be used directly on the surface of the skin to treat many skin conditions like acne or eczema which are often created by skin flora bacteria.

It is also extremely effective in the treatment of a variety of open wounds, like burns, boils. It’s used extensively in the Health profession for treating infected leg ulcers, often infected with resistant bacteria’s like staphylococcus aureus or pseudomonas aeruginosa which have not been controlled with ‘pharmaceutical’ antibiotics.

I personally cannot think of a nicer way to heal my body, internally or externally than the natural aromatic active Manuka honey.

Suzi Franks, a former ER Nurse with over 15 years experience is now a healer of The Earth. I have now dedicated my life to tending my piece of paradise and returning the chemical torn landscape back to its former glory with lovingly applied organic principles and tender loving care. I am on a quest to help share my knowledge of organic vegetable growing, so you and others may feel the goodness of Mother Nature and eat her bountiful gifts.

Click here to read more articles by Suzi Franks

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Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

If you love desserts, and chocolate desserts especially, but were afraid you’d have to give them up in order to eat healthier, rejoice! It turns out that in the uber-healthy world of raw food, desserts are some of the easiest and most delicious dishes to make. And if you have a special relationship with chocolate, you’ll be delighted to know that organic raw chocolate is not just good for you. It’s a superfood! It’s that good for you!

Organic raw chocolate, also known as raw cacao, is higher in magnesium than any other food on the planet. Magnesium is the number one mineral deficiency in the world. Raw cacao is also the #1 source of antioxidants, iron and chromium. So if you’re a chocolate lover just trade the commercial, processed chocolate for raw organic cacao. Then trade in the guilt for the satisfaction and joy of knowing you’re eating one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Yes, there is a god!Okay, so if you’re new to raw cacao it comes in a few different forms. There are whole beans, broken bits of bean called nibs, cacao powder, and cacao licqor (no it’s not alcoholic) which is made from beans that have been ground into a paste which hardens into something like a block of chocolate. They are all good for you. The cacao powder is convenient, but it has the cacao butter removed, so you are losing that healthy fat. The nibs, beans and licqor (if grated or cut into small pieces) can all be ground down into a powder in a coffee grinder, so I usually buy the nibs or licqor.

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1 ripe banana, peeled (can use a frozen banana if you want a chilled version)
2 tbsp sweeter (honey, agave syrup, soaked pitted medjool dates)
5 tbsp ground organic raw cacao nibs
1/2 tsp natural vanilla (extract or vanilla bean)
1 tsp maca powder (optional)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of Himalayan sea salt

Instructions:

Add all the ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. You can add a little water, if necessary to keep the ingredients moving so they blend thoroughly. If you used soaked dates as your sweetener, add the soak water.

Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings… if you can share

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Buy Kefir Grains, Make Kefir At Home

Kefir grains are now available through our online store. Kefir is a delicious and healthy probiotic milk drink, similar to yogurt but with even more health benefits. It’s a great way to colonize the beneficial bacteria in your gut. It’s been said that our health begins with our digestive system. A healthy digestive system allows us to extract and assimilate the nutrients in our food. The beneficial bacteria in our gut also produce some nutrients for our body through their normal metabolic processes, and help to eliminate pathogenic (bad) bacteria.

Kefir is even easier to make than yogurt. In fact, it has to be one of the easiest of all the fermented foods to make. Find out more or buy kefir grains here.

Shipping is only within NZ at the moment. I’m currently looking at ways to ship overseas, I’ve dried some grains and just need to confirm that they will reconstitute and work okay before I start selling them.

Related posts:

1. Buy Kefir Starter Grains Kefir GrainsMake your own delicious probiotic kefir quickly and easily. Includes 1 tablespoon kefir grains, and full instructions. Grains can last a lifetime and will grow over time. Shipping within...