Cleanse America Starts June 20th!

Join me and hundreds of people across the country on a 10 day raw cleanse. Get awesome recipes, daily videos and inspiration and be connected in a supportive online community where you can ask questions, make friends and be transformed.

I'm very excited to be one of the featured Wellness Warriors and to be a part of this amazing program!!

Click here to view more details

Best Stevia Ever

The new kid in town.

I was at the Longevity Now Conference this past weekend where one of my favorite things to do is check out the latest, exciting new products from all the exhibitors. One of my favorite vendors at the conference is Omica Organics. They make a variety of high quality supplements like MSM crystals, magnesium oil, zeolite and fulvic acid. They keep expanding their line of unique products and this weekend they debuted their latest creation. Introducing the BEST STEVIA EVER! Stevia Botanica is unreconstituted liquid stevia. Unlike other brands that take powdered, refined stevia and turn it into a liquid, this has never been in powder form. It has no bitter flavor and is absolutely fantastic. I have been using SweetLeaf for years and did a taste test when I got home. The flavor is night and day. Stevia Botania is smooth and clean with no bitter aftertaste. It is still intensely sweet, though, as stevia is known for being 30 times sweeter than sugar. One drop goes a looooong way which is good, because at $20 a bottle you want this liquid goodness to last you a long time. It's zero glycemic, vegan, organic and gluten free. It's also not for sale on their website yet, but keep an eye out for it. It's a game changer.

Latest News - Dr. Don Show next week

Great news! I am almost done writing my new book, Raw & Simple. Though the recipes are easy, writing a whole new book was not. I've gone to great lengths to bring you the most up to date nutritional information on eating raw and over 100 fresh, new recipes to get you glowing. The book is slated to be released March 2013. Also, Going Raw is back in stock. It seems to be selling faster than they can print it! Thanks so much to everyone for your support and spreading the word.

For anyone interested, I'll be coaching clients again in mid July if anyone needs support with their diet and reaching their health goals. I've also got a couple other projects in the works that I will keep you posted on.

I'm also going to be on the Dr. Don Radio Show next week, Thursday May 17th from 3-4pm PST. Listen in live if you are in Arizona and you can even call in with questions. I think you might be able to listen to it streaming from the station website.

KAAA am1230
KZZZ am1490

You can check out the Dr. Don archives which I found to be super informative and interesting. My episode will be on there as well if you miss it next week.

March Update

OMG, I'm a terrible blogger. I can't believe it's been two and half months since I last posted. And how is it possible that it's almost April 2012?! I've been completely immersed in book writing. My deadline is fast approaching and I am only half way done. It's going very well, though, and I'm completely thrilled with the new recipes and the ease of the directions. Everyone's been waiting for a new, easy raw food book and I believe it'll be much appreciated when it comes out next spring. Very fresh recipes with no dehydration. Who's excited??!!

Aside from book writing, I have also been busy with commercial auditions and print jobs. I've had to go to castings almost every day this month which cuts into my time in the kitchen and can be an exhausting commute some days. I also had some personal things go down which I will write about down the road. Major girl talk that I think will be really beneficial to a lot of the readers. It's gonna be one juicey blog post that is going to take me days to write. Days of which I do not have right now to spare. 

One of my rad readers asked if I was still on the Body Ecology Diet. Because of the recipe writing, I'm not following it. I have to test a lot of sugary foods like desserts and fruit smoothies but I still drink coconut kefir and take probiotics to keep things in check. My skin has had some breakouts but it's not that bad. I am looking forward to finishing up the book and getting back to my regular low sugar routine. FYI I'm addressing the sugar problem in the new book and many recipes are BED friendly.

Before I head back to the kitchen, I wanted to tell you about my Saturday night. I had an opportunity to make a raw dinner with Matthew Kenney for supermodel Gisele Bundchen and her husband, New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady. Gisele is totally down with raw and is very passionate about health. We got to talk for a while about food and health and she really knows her stuff. Both of them loved the food and asked me to become the family chef. I, unfortunately, can't commit to a long term chef position, but am so flattered to have been asked. They are my dream clients and I hope they continue following a mostly plant based diet. There couldn't be two more beautiful people to exemplify the benefits of raw foods.

Alright, back to the kitchen I go. My next post will most likely be June 1st when I deliver my manuscript. There's going to be some major celebrating!!

Till then....xoxo

Raw Judita's New Year Giveaway!

I'm giving away a bag of raw food fun to kick off 2012 which includes a signed copy of my book plus some tasty Navitas Naturals superfoods. There are many ways to enter including tweeting the giveaway every day to gain more chances to win. Winner will be chosen at random Jan. 2nd.

Click below and good luck!

P.S. Open to US residents 18 and over only.

Body Ecology Diet Results

After I did my 3 week detox back in October I transitioned into the Body Ecology Diet, a book from Donna Gates I read almost 2 years ago on rebuilding gut health for optimal wellness. I regret I didn't try this sooner because my results were phenomenal. First let me give you the overview of what the diet entails:

1. Cut out all sugar. This means fruit, dates, goji berries, agave, coconut water and pretty much all the fun things that raw foodists love. It also means no foods that turn into sugar like: rice, potatoes, bread, alcohol, you know, the "bad" carbs. Sugar feeds bacteria/yeast/candida so you want to starve them out.

2. Eat an alkaline diet.  Land and sea vegetables are alkaline so if you're a veggie lover like myself, you will enjoy this. Gates recommends 80% alkaline foods, 20% acidic foods which can be animal protein, tempeh, natto, beans and buckwheat. Alkaline seed grains are allowed like quinoa, millet and amarynth.

3. Eat probiotic rich foods. This can be cultured vegetables like sauerkraut and kimchi or fermented coconut water or milk kefir. Probiotics are okay but best taken with fermented foods. Eat/drink these foods soon as you wake up, with each meal and before bed. This will replenish your gut with good bacteria, help you to assimilate nutrients better and improve your overall immune system.

There's a lot more to it but that's the diet in a nutshell. It's a bit challenging to follow it perfectly, so I recommend taking one step at a time. Read the book, plan a strategy and go for it. There's a quiz to see if you would benefit from the diet and I didn't even score that high on it. I never thought I had a candida problem but after trying the diet it really was a bigger deal than I realized.

The first few days were tough without sugar. I missed fruit the most. I sipped on tea with stevia and made chia pudding with stevia and xylitol (it's allowed). After a week, the cravings subsided and I was feeling great. I followed it for 3 weeks almost perfectly. I had a wedding to attend each weekend so I let myself have a cheat meal once a week (mind you, I said cheat meal, not cheat day) but I still had awesome results. My face, back and chest were almost flawless, I had the flattest tummy ever and my energy level was at eleven.  My husband was also amazed how great I looked in such a short amount of time. On top of that I had zero PMS and cramps that month. That's a first for me. The only problem was just at the peak of all of this we went to Costa Rica for 10 days. It was hot and I was craving my fruit smoothies. I figured what was the harm but by the end of the trip my skin was broken out again. So frustrating. We had Thanksgiving (four of them, actually) when we returned and then I had a quick NYC jaunt where some raw treats and coffee accidentally slipped into my mouth. I don't know how that happened. Seriously. Now it's back to square one.

What's great about the diet is that anyone can adapt to it. Whether you are raw, vegan or omnivore you can make it work. Some days I ate all raw but found it a bit heavy since I was getting most of my calories from fat. I started adding in cooked quinoa and baked and steamed vegetables and felt great. If you're an omnivore, you have many options and there are lots of great recipes listed in the back of the book. I found it all very satisfying.  My typical meals were:

Breakfast: 
chia pudding with cinnamon and chopped nuts (this is my dessert too)
puffed millet cereal with almond milk
quinoa porridge
green energy soup (from my book)
leftover veggies from night before

Lunch/Dinner:
a lot of the recipes in my book Going Raw were B.E.D. adaptable so I had soups, salads, and wraps. I ate tons of kale salads with avocado and dulse, tabbouli, zucchini hummus wraps
steamed/sauteed/baked veggies and squash
cooked quinoa and millet

Quinoa with roasted beets, butternut squash and Brussels sprouts

Raw kale salad with hemp seeds, roasted butternut squash and millet

With every savory meal I had a side of sauerkraut. In the mornings and evenings I sipped on fermented young Thai coconut kefir. My favorite brand is Inner Eco (plain). 100 billion colonizing probiotics per tablespoon! I use it as a starter to make my own coconut kefir (recipe in my book). Making my own helps save money as I drink about 1/2-1 cup per day.

For best results follow it for at least 3 months to a year. Yeah, that's a long time but Rome wasn't build in a day. It takes time to rebalance the body and gut. I did it for my acne but most people who go on it suffer from digestive problems, fatigue, headaches, depression, autism, cancer, food allergies, joint and muscle pain and menstrual irregularities. Even if you don't have any health issues, eating less sugar and more fermented foods is going to serve you better in the long run.

So now I'm back home for a while and back on the program. The problem I face is that I'm writing my next book and will have to  bend the rules as I develop some of my recipes, especially the desserts. The diet has really influenced the direction of my recipes. I'm going to be using way less sugar and address the candida issue in my book. I haven't seen anyone talk about the sugar problem in the raw diet except Gabriel Cousins and I think it's one of the reasons many people don't thrive on all raw. I spoke with a few people at the Longevity Now Conference and learned that many women were having skin, weight and hormonal issues because of the sugar overload. I know Elaina Love is also doing a lot of sugar free recipes these days. Visit her site as well as Body Ecology to get more info and recipes.

The Healthy Holiday Survival Guide

As the holidays quickly approach, you might be feeling anxious about what you will eat on the big day(s) of feasting, especially if you're trying to maintain a raw food diet. Well worry no more, the Healthy Holidays Survival Guide from Raw Bay Area has you covered from the stuffing to the pumpkin pie. It features 50 recipes from some of the best raw food chefs around *ahem* as well as tips on how to get healthy and avoid weight gain during the holidays. This is a must have for every raw foodie and makes a great gift too!

Pumpkin Pie

Cranberry Sauce

 

Stuffing

Available as a print copy or E-Book. Click here to view more details!

Product Review - Frank's Finest Spirulina Gamasio

I picked this up three weeks ago and have since been sprinkling it on just about everything savory. A lovely, emerald green mixture of hemp seeds, spirulina, Himalayan crystal salt and onion powder, it's a brilliant twist on a popular Japanese sesame seed condiment. Spirulina is an excellent source of protein, minerals and B vitamins and contains a full spectrum of free radical fighting carotenoids. It aids in removing toxins and promoting beneficial bacteria in the gut while hemp seeds are rich in essential fatty acids and protein. Try it on your salads, quinoa, eggs or whatever for a great boost of nutrition. It's absolutely delicious, vegan and gluten-free!

Shop Frank's Finest

21 Day Detox - Conclusion

Last Friday marked the end of my official detox so I just wanted to share my final results. All in all it was a great experience and I feel amazing. 14 days of juice is challenging but such a great reboot for the body. I'm lighter, more energized and my skin has improved considerably. In the end, I had a net weight loss of 5 pounds and my blemishes have improved 50%. My skin has been much less oily and congested and I'm nothing short of thrilled.

I'm glad I did the work necessary but won't be doing anything that radical for at least another 6 months, which will be the perfect time of year to do some 'spring cleaning.' I've officially switched over to the Body Ecology diet and so far I'm loving it. It's a bummer not having my fruit smoothies but I'm enjoying it and feel very grounded.

The premise of the B.E.D. diet is to cut out all forms of sugar and yeast and consume a highly alkaline diet of mostly vegetables, some seed grains (like quinoa and buckwheat) as well as eating cultured vegetables with each meal so you replenish the beneficial gut flora. I happen to love sauerkraut and kimchee so I'm eating it like it's going out of style. I'm also making my own coconut kefir to drink in the mornings and evenings. In addition, I'm also taking oregano oil capsules. Just an FYI the Oreganol brand capsules I recommended in my past post are NOT vegan. I've switched to Gaia Herbs brand instead which is in a vegetarian capsule but not quite as potent. Right now I'm taking 2 capsules 3 times a day. My typical meals so far have been:

chia pudding
green juice
kale salad
seaweed soup
green energy soup
cooked quinoa
some lightly cooked veggies
flax crackers
sunflower seed pate

I'm keeping it pretty simple and working on some sugar free desserts using stevia and xylitol instead of agave. A lot of the recipes from my book work well on this diet or can be adapted to be B.E.D. friendly. For fermented foods I have a whole chapter on making your own.

For those considering trying this diet I would like to mention that you do not need to do a 14 day juice fast as I did to start. The B.E.D. is a very cleansing diet on its own. I'll post more about it in a few weeks with my results and some photos of what I've been eating.

Detox Days 16-18

Day 16

My appetite is back and though I feel like I could eat a huge meal, I can't. I had fruit for breakfast, a couple small collard wraps for lunch and another two for dinner.

Today is my last day of fruit and sugar of any kind for several weeks. I'm transitioning to a Body Ecology Diet where no sugar, alcohol, yeast, vinegar or any other substance that feeds candida is allowed. It's going to be a challenge but I think it'll be fun to come up with some raw B.E.D. friendly recipes. I stocked up on flavored stevia, xylitol and Lakanto and I'm ready to get creative though I am certainly going to miss my fruit. I already know I'm going to slip up once persimmons are in season.

Day 17

Surprised to find I lost another pound. I like the way my clothes are fitting so I don't mind at all. I'm working out so I'm sure it will come right back in the form of muscle soon enough.

I went in for colon hydrotherapy this morning and kept my intake light all day. I had chia pudding for breakfast (sweetened with xylitol), 1 quart of green energy soup and some nuts and kale chips. I had a busy day of auditions and appointments so I had to keep it simple by preparing portable meals. Today was stressful and ended with a couple new zits by the end of the day. My husband says my legs are looking f.i.n.e so who cares about some pimples. :)

Day 18

I feel awesome and strong. Had more chia pudding for breakfast, salad with beets, avo and tomato for lunch. I was on the phone all day coaching clients so I missed dinner but I did sneak in some sauerkraut, coconut kefir and berry sorbet. According to the B.E.D. diet, berries, pomegranate, lemons and limes are allowed. Hallelujah!!