One way to get fresher and more nutritious produce is to shop locally. Not your local grocery store :), but local farms, co-ops and farmers markets if available in your area.

Here in Arizona we're in the midst of citrus season (among other crops) and it's easy to find plentiful oranges, grapefruits, tangerines and lemons. We recently had the opportunity to visit a friend near Phoenix that grows all the above and it was a memorable visit. Our friend informed us that he fertilizes the trees with an organic compost every season and waters regularly. We tasted most of the fruit and noticed how dramatically different it was from even the organic produce at our local co-op. Fresh off the tree taste can't be duplicated.. just delicious! We went home with bags full of fresh fruits and have enjoyed them for weeks.

Our friend's dogs are also vegetarian... they eat all the fruits off the trees and any other vegetable growing in the garden. The neighboring mule 'Burrito' also enjoys the grapefruits and oranges. It's amazing how animals thrive eating what nature has to offer instead of man-made 'byproducts' and other animal products that give them 'man-made' diseases just like humans get. Coincidence?

Enjoying the tastes of local produce, I also found a nearby farm that is currently growing a mixture of green vegetables, including green onions, mixed greens, brocolli and assorted green lettuce. The tastes are equally fresher and it's a pleasure to support local farms in growing sustainable, organic and fresh fruits and vegetables. With the massive proliferation of factory farming, it's more important now than ever before to support your local farmers and keep them growing!

To find a farm or farmers market near you, visit LocalHarvest.org

To your best health!

Mark

Just ran across this introductory video of some tasty and healthy holiday recipes. The recipes are made from fresh, raw ingredients and made to satisfy anyone, raw or not. Dorit, the guest chef, shows you how to make a complete holiday meal, from soup to dessert. She also gives you tips on why presentation is important, especially when serving family and friends. This video is one of many raw and vegan health related educational materials from Storm and Jinjee Talifero of The Garden Diet. View the introduction video at RawFoodHowTo.com and to download the complete video, visit Natural Paradigms.

Giving you thanks and joy-filled holidays!

Mark

If you're wondering why eating more raw and living foods is beneficial, view this insightful video from Brenda at Living Foods Institute and find out about cancer, doctors, prescription drugs and more. Select 'click to play' below. Enjoy!

Mark

80-10-10 author, 27 year raw foodist, athlete, coach and raw food expert Dr. Doug Graham will be online tonight for an exclusive one hour audio and video presentation and interview, and available at no cost for the next 24 hours.

Read more...

One of the things many talk about when transitioning to a raw food diet is 'how do I travel when eating raw?'.

Some look at it as a challenge, some as an obstacle, some as the natural thing to do.

Read more...

With spring warming up the Arizona environment, I decided to go for a hike today. Unlike 99% of Arizonan's, I enjoy hiking when it's warm... or better yet, hot, so today's higher temperatures and sun made it a perfect day to head to one of my favorite hiking spots, South Mountain.

Now, I haven't been hiking for about 4 months, partly because of the lack of heat as I mentioned, and expected to take a leisurely hike to 'break' myself in to a new season.

Well, it wasn't a leisurely hike, and not by choice.

You see, as soon as I started up the mountain, I had an urge to move quickly. I felt light on my feet and ran in parts up the mountain. Then it happened.

As I passed a group of hikers one gentleman who was trudging along mentioned that I resembled a 'billy goat climbing up the mountain without hesitation'. We all laughed and I continued on, like a 'billy goat'.

Then I got to thinking. 

Never in my 13 years of hiking had I ever felt this energentic. Especially after taking the winter off. I mean, there were times today when I felt I was gliding up with energy that didn't stop. I'll say this... it was near effortless. And this is 13 years after I starting hiking regularly.

I ran up many parts on the way up, and all the way down. I wasn't tired and felt I could continue after the hour long excursion up and down the mountain. Here are some pictures and video:

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So why am I telling you this?

Well certainly not to impress you, but instead to impress upon you what is normal for a person that eats a natural diet and stays active. A raw vegan diet mainly consisting of fresh fruits, vegetables and a small amount of nuts or seeds. A low fat raw diet. I say this because there has been controversy within the raw community lately on which is better. More about that in another post coming soon.

You see, the longer I've followed eating simple whole foods and stayed active regularly, the more benefits I experience. Not a 'hollywood' style raw diet, or the gourmet raw food diet, or a high fat raw diet, or the raw junk food diet. Mainly simple fruits and vegetables, leafy green salads, and smoothies. This goes along with the theory I uncovered in Arnold Ehret's Mucules Diet Healing System and in Paul Nison's talk 'The Formula for Health' that the less obstruction you have in your body, the greater the power and more importantly, the vitality you experience. You see, the fewer obstructions you 'put' in your body, ie, cooked and processed foods, stress and toxins in the form of mucus, the more vitality you experience. And after almost 5 years of being 100% raw, with many adjustments, tests, trials and errors, I've finally and clearly experienced that greater vitality. It's been sneaking up on me the last few months and none clearer than today.

Another factor was conditioning. Although I hadn't hiked during the winter, I stayed active working out at least 6 days a week. Normally 30-45 minutes a day including running and body weight exercises. I do and recommend the two exercises fellow raw vegan coach Roger has put together, and added my own twists to expand them and create a quick routine where I can exercise at home fast or at my local park. No equipment or health club expenses, just a quick daily workout routine.

You can learn more about what I've learned, what I recommend, get regular and exclusive meal recipe videos, meal plans, shopping tips, eating tips, your questions and answers and much more at our new site, Learn Healthy (Raw) Meals. This makes transitioning to a raw vegan diet straightforward with a plan and gives answers to your questions.  Check it out while the free trial is available. The feeling is incredible, share in this amazing experience with me!

To your best health!

Mark (aka the billy goat)

P.S. If you liked this post, Stumble it and share it below to help others learn more.

• Learn Healthy (Raw) Meals

More evidence that vegetable protein is the healthier choice and actually protects against developing heart disease. Good long term study (15 years) that suggests by avoiding red meat and dairy in your diet, your reduce your chances of developing heart disease by 30 percent.

Yahoo! News - Too Much Red Meat Bad for Long-Term Health:
"After following nearly 30,000 women for 15 years, investigators found that women were more likely to die from heart disease if they often substituted red meat for carbohydrates. In contrast, swapping vegetable sources of protein for carbs appeared to protect women from heart disease.

'Our main finding was that animal compared to vegetable sources of protein seem to have a different effect on dying from heart disease,' study author Dr. Linda E. Kelemen from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota told Reuters Health.

For this reason, she recommended that people who want to follow high protein diets should stick with vegetable proteins such as tofu, nuts and peanut butter, or healthier meats like chicken or fish."