Life Changing Documentaries

I have these ones listed on the side of my blog, but I decided to go through them all and put links to Amazon.  These definitely shifted my perspective about food and health, and in combination with the results that I've seen with my grandmother, who has reversed her cancer growth in about a month time, from following advice found in these films (plus of course a lot of research, check out "Super Immunity" by Joel Fuhrman.  She was given new life.  If you have a loved one dealing with a lot of health issues and a lot of pain, this is definitely worth checking out.  If it doesn't work it doesn't work, but there's no way to know unless you give it an honest shot.  But at this point I can't help but trust it 100%, it's cleared up any and all health problems I ever had, I've witnessed the results in many others apart my grandmother.

Pretty cool, that we have the ability to take charge of our health, and we don't always have to be convinced by a completely dismal outlook of never getting off meds, never getting healthy, and more and more surgeries.


Here are some of the top health documentaries:

Forks over knives:
This documentary is probably the most well developed on the topic, they also have a cookbook.

http://www.amazon.com/Forks-Over-Knives-Colin-Campbell/dp/B0053ZHZI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366982079&sr=8-1&keywords=forks+over+knives+dvd



Fat Sick and Nearly Dead:
A journey of a man who cures all of his ailments through juicing and gets super fit.  This story is amazing and inspiring.

http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Sick-Nearly-Dead/dp/B004O63TX6/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1366982079&sr=8-6&keywords=forks+over+knives+dvd

Food Matters:
Convincing arguments on the importance of raw food.

http://www.amazon.com/Foodmatters-Andrew-W-Saul/dp/B001B3XZAW/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1366982079&sr=8-9&keywords=forks+over+knives+dvd

Got the Facts on Milk:
This has a bit of a quirky edge, but their overall message is convincing and direct.  It exposes some things about the USDA and food guide pyramid - through their direct experience with them.

http://www.amazon.com/Got-facts-Milk-Documentary/dp/B005GX3HJM/ref=sr_1_5?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1366982396&sr=1-5&keywords=milk



Eating:
awesome documentary, definitely recommend seeing, exposes a lot of information especially about the medical industry.

http://www.amazon.com/Eating-3rd-Mike-Anderson/dp/B001CRQ8K6/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1366982586&sr=1-4&keywords=healing+cancer+from+the+inside+out

Healing Cancer from the Inside Out:
great documentary, sequel to eating.

http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Cancer-Inside-Out-2nd/dp/B002UURCAO/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1366982986&sr=1-1&keywords=healing+cancer+from+the+inside+out

Hungry For Change:
This documentary talks about the issues of processed foods, junk foods, it doesn't get into the details as much of health, but it could be an easy introduction.

http://www.amazon.com/Hungry-for-Change/dp/B009KBQNGA/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1366983229&sr=1-1&keywords=hungry+for+change


Also wanted to post this, a great summarized food reference:

"Here are 5 simple rules for a powerful immune system that you should commit to memory:

1. Eat a large salad every day.
2. Eat at least a half cup serving of beans/legumes in soup,salad or another dish once daily. 
3. Eat at least three fresh fruits a day, especially berries, pomegranate seeds, cherries, plums, oranges.
4. Eat at least one ounce of raw nuts and seeds a day.
5. Eat at least one large (double size) serving of green vegetables daily, either raw, steamed or in soups and stews.

Avoid these five deadliest foods:
1. Barbecued meat, processed meat, and commercial red meat
2. Fried foods
3. Full-fat dairy (cheese, ice cream, butter, whole milk) and trans fats (margarine)
4. Soft drinks, sugar and artificial sweeteners
5. White flour products. "

Excerpt from Super Immunity by Joel Fuhrman.

Journey to Sustainability

I grew up in a very conservative town, conservative state.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with being conservative, however, now that I look back on my education, I realize how much I feel was left out of a proper 'science' education in highschool.

Growing up in a place with virtually no diversity, and really no variance in religions or opinions, I knew I needed to move.  As soon as I was 18, I packed up and headed for college- I chose a Binghamton University in upstate NY.

It was definitely different, and I would be lying if I said that my first year there was all roses and no thorns. It felt like a different world.  But once I got the hang of it, I fell in love.  I loved the open minds, I loved the freedom of expression, it was for me, a very liberating experience!

Of course, my choice of study was anthropology and I wanted to a do a minor in linguistics.  I absolutely love foreign languages - today I study German on Monday, Hindi on Tuesday, French on Wednesday, Danish on Thursday, Swahili on Friday, Spanish on Saturday and Italian on Sunday :)  

It's a bit of an obsession.  However, my love for culture and language pales in comparison to my love for nature and animals.  

In my first year, I needed to take at least 1 science course.  I chose biology.  I have never been too fond of science, but it was beyond fascinating to me.  They never taught science like this at my high school!  On top of that, they never not once spoke about some of the global catastrophes we are facing today!  

To be honest, I was actually a bit horrified with the realities that were happening on earth due to our lack of connection to earths cycles, rhythms and natural processes.  

How could humanity be on the brink of collapse and not be taking these issues more seriously?

It baffled my mind.

It was no later than one semester after that I had met someone who was studying environmental science, and she inspired me to do the same.  At the time I was actually terrified of the sciences.  It wasn't my strong suit, but I made the decision that I would rather push myself for a reason greater than myself, than to have an easy life laid out in front of me, with perhaps little meaning.. especially if the existence of humanity itself was dependent on our ability to confront these issues and to rise up together to change our habits.  

In the beginning of my studies I felt so much anger and hatred towards humanity.  I would come home crying every day because of what I was learning.  I know right.. it's pretty pathetic, if you have never tried studying envi science in school as a major.. please do so.. hahah you might understand my extreme dismay for all of civilization.  

I decided that change needed to start from above.  Our leaders needed to lead the way and it was their responsibility.

Hence - I specialized in policy and law.  

After four years of studying politics.  I realized, our government is a mess, policies are a joke, law doesn't necessarily mean action, and to even get things as far as policies and law - a hell of a lot of convincing, debating, lobbying, advertising, persuasion, campaigning, etc, etc would first need to take place.

We've created one heck of mess for ourselves!  

This swinged me in the complete opposite direction.  If our leaders don't have the capacity to do change things, who does?  WE DO!  

more importantly, I DO!

I made the intention from that day forward to be and do everything in my power to live as sustainable as I could, in respect with all of life.

This has led me down the most beautiful journey, the most beautiful life.  I can't claim to be living sustainability as of yet, but it is my end goal, and every day its in my thoughts, every day it's in my questions.... how can I do this better?  How can I do this with as least harm as possible?

One thing that became very clear, fairly soon, was how much a change in diet can seriously positively impact our bodies, our world and of course our beloved fellow beings!  

I know there are many ways to be healthy.  I know there are many ways to save the planet.  But currently in my world view, out of everything I have ever read, I have ever studied.  This by far seems to have the greatest most amazing positive impact.

1-  Eating Local.  --  Is huge, know your farmer -- local does not mean from your 'local' grocery store.   It actually has to be locally made products, otherwise it doesn't count.

2- Eating Vegan -- Many people have a lot of issues towards this.  Being vegan isn't necessarily about being an 'extremist' or ultra fanatic about gaining weight.  This is quite an expansive topic, and many extensive articles can be found online.  Basically -- the dairy and meat industry are destroying our rainforests and pristine lands at a rapid pace.  We have a beautiful opportunity at our door, that we don't have to be a part of it.  We  have the amazing ability to say no to animal abuse, rainforest destruction, loss of biodiversity, polluted waters, displaced indigenous people, mistreated workers.. we have the incredible opportunity to contribute to a world of peace and harmony, and in so doing... through karma.. through science.. (Also many resources on the web on how a plant based diet can cure just about anything) also becoming healthier ourselves!! I first went vegan for the animals.. I was pretty disgusted by the factory farm videos that I saw and then the environmental destruction.  But with time, I came to realize how easy it is to maintain weight.. not have aches and pains.. not have health problems all my friends are experiencing.. or knee surgeries.. hip surgeries.. gall bladder removals.. I mean.. I would have neverrr expected any of these benefits..  Its absolutely beautiful, that this way of living is possible!  <3  

My time spent on farms is as much as possible.. currently living one one at the moment.. but I feel its important.. if not on a farm.. wherever you are.. you can reconnect to nature.  When I was living in India in an apartment.. I started buying pots of soil and planting old veggies!  It was beautiful to watch them grow and to have that connection to the land.. even 4 stories above the earth!  

Now I realize it's about taking actions at all levels.  It's about doing what you can, sharing your journey with friends and family, supporting your community in green and eco events, being involved politically - following stories voting for policies and actions that count, volunteering when you can with worthwhile projects, donating as much as you can afford to environmental organizations.  This year alone I've spent atleast $1000 on green organizations.. and it doesn't include the amount of volunteer hours I've also spent... It's the most fulfilling satisfying heart warming thing to be able to support causes that resonate with your heart!  I am not heavy earner either.. I've definitely earned less than that in the past 3-4 months.  But I have realized the more you GIVE to mother earth, the more she provides you with everything you could possibly need and more.

Money means absolutely nothing.

But if you care for her, she will provide you with clothing, food, shelter, love and warmth.

So far has been my experience at least. 

Many blessings to your Journey to Sustainability.

Also recently posted this on my fb page: Jubilant Life.
Many people may be interested in becoming vegan, but because it's such a dramatic change from the 'common' diet, many people become afraid.  I know I was absolutely clueless when I first started.  I read multiple cookbooks, before I was able to kind of get a feel for what I needed to do and what I was eating.  But every step of the journey was beautiful and eye opening.. I wouldn't change it for anything.  

I started off with being vegetarian-- before I could muster being vegan.. I remember being SOO afraid that I wouldn't get my protein, that I ate soy cereal, soy milk 3x a day.. and every other soy product available.. so I would have enough !  Which was absolute craziness when I think about it now.. but I didn't know at that time.  I actually developed a pretty serious allergy to soy, because I over consumed it, lucky for me I didn't blame the vegetarian diet.. but quickly came to realize that the overconsumption of soy was making me sick!  After I figured that one out.. everything was smooth sailing :)  Unfortunately I wasn't so smart when I finally had the guts to go from vegetarian to vegan.  Well, meaning that once I was vegan.. I actually flip flopped from being vegan to vegetarian on and off because I wasn't convinced at that time that vegan was actually that healthy for anyone.  

And when I finally became vegetarian again after being vegan for a full year.. I got extremely sick.. I suffered from re-occurent yeast infections, depression, low energy.. I mean miserable.. It was a pretty hard 6 months.  But I never actually pinned it on milk!!  Finally I went raw vegan.. and all symptoms magically disappeared almost overnight!  

For some reason I still wasn't convinced that it was the milk.. and once on the road.. raw vegan was a bit hard for me to keep up with so I slipped back to vegetarian.. I got even more sick than previously.. fevers after fevers.. colds after viruses.. for months on end!  Diarrhea and terrible stomach pains.. I even fainted!  It was pretty bad.. I still couldnt figure it out.

It went on for 6 more months of on and off illnesses, finally I attended a seminar by Dr. Nanditah Sha. She was a homeopath doctor until she realized that advising food and nutrition gave her patients more successful results and in the long term!  She currently is the head of Sharan organization in India and teaches workshops all over called, "Peas Vs. Pills"  

I attended one of her workshops.. and it all clicked into place.. Milk is not a natural food.. You can live off of it, but it won't give you superior health in comparison to what kind of health you could have if you replaced those calories with greens.. or other vegetable foods.  

I haven't looked back since that workshop.  I haven't gotten sick either.  My mental health is for the most part awesome -- apart from if I see tooo much negative news in the media.. but I know everything is as it should be.. and I need to trust life, while doing whatever part i can :)  

All is well.

That's my journey, there ya have it.

My ultimate ultimate goal.  Is to someday live in an eco-community where everyone helps and cares for each other.. all of our needs are met by our surroundings in a sustainable way.  Life grows abundantly and perfectly.. :)

That's my dream! Someday :)  

Oh PS. this is what I posted on fb today about protein:

Common myth of today: That by eliminating animal products we won't get enough protein. 

Taken from Super Immunity by Dr. Joel Fuhrman,

"Don't buy the fallacy that you need more protien - protein deficiency does not cause long-term fatigue."

"One of the most common symptoms that occurs when someone lowers the amount of animal protein and eliminates sweets from the diet is temporary fatigue. This is just part of the normal detoxification process that most people have to get through. Again, this process most often results in mild symptoms that last less than 5 days. Reducing salt intake suddenly can also cause fatigue from a lowering of blood pressure, which occurs from a temporary dip of sodium in the bloodstream as the kidneys adjust. It could take a few weeks for the kidneys, accustomed to dumping a huge sodium load, to recognize that they need to stop removing so much sodium from the system. This initial miscalculation contributes to the fatigue experienced the first week after a major change in one's diet. "

Basically as long as you are getting full on whole fruits, vegetables, nuts, lentils/beans, sprouts and maybe some grains minus deep fried or processed foods, you will be getting plenty of protein. Protein deficiency is a deficiency in calories and nutrients - this is what you might see in poverty stricken areas, where all the food they have to eat may be white rice (which is completely void of nutrients - it's empty calories) and most likely not enough to even create the sensation of fullness.

Actually our modern world for the most part suffers the opposite problem, protein overload. A high protein diet is associated with:

-osteoporosis
-strain on kidneys
-cancer
-damage to internal organs
-nutritional deficiencies

Eating animal proteins more than 1x a week, can put someone at risk for these problems. Even on a complete vegan diet, high protein foods such as lentils - is best eaten 1x per day (1/2 cup per serving), and of course nuts and seeds are highly recommended to be consumed at least 1 oz per day - but also not going too much over that amount either.

--read more--
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/5-negative-high-protein-diet-effects.html#b

To see a doctor, or not to see a doctor?

The next time you think, you may have to go to the doctor think again.  Most health issues can be solved with diet alone.  Please don't take this advice in an emergency situation.  But many people go to the doctors for issues that are easily solved through eating healthy.

1. If you have a cold.  Avoid processed food, sugar, baked goods, heavily cooked and oily meals.  Fasting on fruit, fresh veggies and lemon water will significantly if not eradicate symptoms on top of getting plenty of rest!

2. If you have had a concurrent issue of infections, viruses, etc.  Eat only small amounts of your regular foods.  Do avoid milk, meat, processed foods, sugar and oily overcooked dishes. Incorporate  vegetable juice - freshly made - preferably 3x a day.  Invest in a juicer! Your body will thank you :)  have salads more frequently, don't be afraid to fast - however it will work best if you drink plenty of veggie juices, lemon water and tea during your time/days/weeks with no food.  Listen to your body, respect what it asks for, but give it time to detox from heavy sticky foods in the system such as meat , milk, grains and processed foods.  Steamed veggies multiple times a day would also be a great addition - make sure when steamed, the veggies are still crunchy, if they are mushy or soft - they have lost too many nutrients.

3. Sore muscles, broken bones, arthritis, other skeletal issues.  Stop consuming milk, limit meat - if eaten to at most 1x weekly -if you can't go all the way without.  Try to do a cleanse of 21 days without sugar and salt.  See how you feel.  For seasoning - use more fresh herbs and tangy substances such as - tamarind paste, lemon, orange juice plus orange zest.   Make sure to eat multiple servings of cruciferous veggies and greens!  Brocolli, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, daikon, radishes, etc.  Great calcium sources are sesame seed milk-- here is a great recipe: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=332945

It's easier for most people to relate 'physical' issues back to what you eat, but many people don't also see the connection between emotional and spiritual health in terms of food.

Depression, Anxiety, ADD, ADHD, Anger, lack of motivation and energy  -- of course there are multiple ways of overcoming these issues - development of compassion, meditation, determination, inspiration.. the list goes on.  Food happens to be one of the pathways to amazing emotional health!

Not only do you consume the nutrients from your food, but you also consume the karmic load.  This is why, unless you have serious strength of mind and heart or an unfortunate lack of connection to the emotional body, animal products can spiral us downward.  Most animals today are confined in small cages for their entire lives, they are mistreated as 'items', they anticipate their death and they die in unrespected manners.  They release fear throughout their bodies and anxiety.  When we intake that food, we are then promoting a world of hostility, without even realizing it.  We have been taught that these foods are essential to our health - not realizing that we've been taught by the industry itself that.  Who have perpetrated the minds of our mothers and fathers.  But people have started experimenting enough with foods these days, that we can definitely see a straight correlation between optimal health, longevity and happiness through food alone.

Don't take these words for it, please research yourself.  Please read as many articles on the topic as you can.  Please watch videos of factory farms.  This is how we grow, this is how we learn.  :)

We are so keen to follow doctors advice, because it gives us an opportunity to sit back, not evaluate our own mistakes, and let someone else be responsible.  It's an unfortunate event that most doctors either aren't familiar with the benefits of eating right, or they don't have time to teach about it, or it's really not a part of what they know being a doctor is all about.  According to the Self Health Revolution by J. Michael Zenn, "127 medical schools in the nation, 70% do not require courses on nutrition or prevention, and 30% do not even offer such courses."

Let's do what we can and help heal ourselves and our own families naturally.  (except in the case of emergencies of course!)

My own grandmother was given only a few months to live when the doctors diagnosed her thyroid cancer, it was growing rapidly and the only thing they could tell her to do was get a tube directly in her stomach so that she wouldnt have to worry about when it completely would close off and she wouldn't be able to eat anymore.  I offered her an alternative route.. basically to see if nutrition could do anything.

After a month on her new diet, her cancer reduced by half, and every day continues to go down.  She has needed no tube, and she expects to live much longer as a result, she is off of her pain medications, she is much more mobile, her skin glows.  In the beginning I was making all of her food, now she is strong enough to make it herself!  She is even moving out of the assisted living into her own apartment again, and planning trips for next year!

Everything is possible.  You just have to believe.  :)

Facebook.

So,  I thought that I would be pretty good at updating my new blog.  Turns out I'm not doing as much as I hoped.  Most of my time, on the internet actually is now going to my new facebook page.

The theme is sustainability, health and compassion.

I have a serious weakspot for cute animals... so that will also be found there, but I guess that fits under compassion ? :)

Check it out if you feel inclined :)

https://www.facebook.com/Livinitjubulantly?ref=hl

I've also been posting a few images on my husbands page:

which the theme is awareness, happiness, medtation.. etc

The last one I've been updating to is happiness.org - not sure if that is supposed to be top secret or not.
But it's a great a site, started by a wonderful friend of mine and Nithya's

https://www.facebook.com/happiness.org?ref=hl

I also have a vegan blog:
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8239865156419724014#overview/src=dashboard

And a community vegan page:
https://www.facebook.com/cachevalleyvegans

Food Handlers Permit - understanding the underlying unsustainability

It was interesting to me, 3 days ago I recieved a food handlers permit.  The most basic permit you can probably attain in the states.  It was a very simple test, I recieved 100%.  I could credit that to the fact that my dad is a health food inspector, and always used to talk about food safety to me and my brothers growing up. 

The food handlers permit, gives allowance to those wishing to work in a restaurant or cafe to prepare food and or serve food.  Since I recently have gotten hired on with a yoga studio with a kitchen, I decided to get my food handlers permit.  I have started to help the studio create healthy recipes for the menu.  So far it's been a lot of fun!

Something interesting about the food handlers permit training is it pretty much all has to do with having a kitchen with meat and animal products on it.  Some of the regulations:

-Any animal product left out for atleast 4 hours must be thrown away.
-Any animal product not cooled down from 130 degrees to 70 degrees in 2 hours, and further cooled from 70 to 40 at maximum of 4 hours, must be thrown away.
-All animal product foods must be either kept above 130 degrees while being served - buffet style, or below 40 - refridgeration. 
-Every time a different task in the kitchen is taken up, one has to throw away the plastic gloves, wash hands and put on a new pair of plastic gloves - to prevent cross contamination.
- All counter spaces must be sterilized between operations.  Separate cutting boards must be used for vegetables and meat. 
-Sterilization either means by temperature or by chemicals.  (eek) 


I really started thinking about all of this.  Why are we the only supposedly "meat eaters" who actually can't tolerate the germs associated with meat.  Why is that we can only eat certain parts of the meat - only after heavily processing them (cooking, marinating, pickling, drenched in sauces, herbs, oils, vegetables, etc) and without cross contamination at any level.  If we accidently leave it at room temperature for longer than a few hours, it renders it unsafe and deadly for us to eat.

Now, think about how long it takes us to digest food.  Not to get graphic, but they say a typical digestion process can take up to 24 hours.  Now if meat goes bad at room temperature - and our bodies are roughly room temperature.  And if that meat is in our gut, for more than 4 hours, well that meat has technically gone bad.  What kind of health effects happen from that?

Maybe chronic illness?

Who knows. 

Why is it that other carnivores, can let the carcass sit for days before they decide to consume it - dogs bury bones, cats leave prey for a few days so the meat can rot a bit to make the bones separate easier from the flesh.  Why is it so easy for them to eat an entire animal on the spot, guts, bones and all?

Why are our teeth flat edged?  Why are our mouths so small, our intestines healthier when they in an basic environment, as opposed to acidic. 

Ps.  All carnivores have acidic digestive processes, this is why they easily eat rotting meat, with no health ailments.  Their digestive tracts are short, so it takes hardly any time fo the meat to quickly pass through the system.

As opposed to our bodies, if we eat too much meat we become constipated.  Actually more accurately speaking, if we eat too much protein we become constipated.  Now our society has become so accustomed to this constipation, no one realizes that there is a serious problem happening in their guts every day.

Nutritional experts say that we optimally should be visiting the toilet after every meal. 

Why is it that we enjoy eating throughout the day.  When carnivores can usually have a big meal every few days and be fine in between. 

What other kinds of animals like to graze throughout the day?

Anyway.

My whole point was, it would be nice to step back a bit.  Really look at what we are doing, and the destruction being made because of our lifestyles.

Because we have chosen to eat meat, we have made our restaurant industries take up unsustainable practices on a regular and exceeding problematic level in order to meet our demands.
 This shows in their energy consumption - making sure foods are kept at certain temperatures so they don't make people fall ill.  When vegetable foods (excluding oils - which are exceedingly unnatural and unhealthy) don't make people become ill even when they are consumed a little overripe.  In fact - we love vegies and other plant foods which have 'gone bad' - pickles, sauerkraut, beer, wine, vinegar, etc.  And before industries took them over, they were great for our health!  They are full of vitamin B12 and other wonderful nutrients for our digestive systems. 

We use an exorbitant amount of chemicals to clean tables and floors.  We use excess water to wash and rewash dishes and hands after touching 'contaminating' products.

Does this seem a little funny?

At the same time we are experiencing one of the worst health epidemics of our time.  Cancer, heart disease and other serious 'uncurable' ailments are plaguing us!  Who else experiences these kinds of illnesses and why?

Well other herbivorous animals eating meat.

Milk, and egg - act as meat in our bodies.
How does a meat cookie sound?  Great huh... ?  Well that is what we basically ingesting every time we eat them.  Most storebought cookies have milk and egg as the main ingredient.  In other words, meat. 

I am not completely denying that these foods can serve us in one way or another.  To someone who is absolutely starving or someone who only has access to refined foods, these products may save lives.  I am not doubting that.  But we are eating these foods 3x plus a day.  This is not healthy.  This is why both paleo and vegan diets create huge health shifts in people.

However, both diets can lead to traps.  Paleo - being consuming too much animal protein and vegan being consuming too many refined foods. 

The reason both diets have had such wonderful healing and success rates is that if they are done correct, they eliminate refined foods, refined oils and add plenty of vegetables and fruits to the diet.  Which in the end, its the addition of all of the extra plant foods which helps protect the body against cancer and other diseases.

But, be aware if you are already suffering from a degenerative disease, meat and other animal by-products will only fuel the fire. 

I do believe that someone can probably be healthy consuming animal products at most 1 or 2 times a week.  However, I believe that same person will be much healthier if they take them out.

Personally, I don't have an issue with people eating whatever they want to eat.  But my passion in life, is living my truth.  And what I have found beneficial for me is being an herbivore.  I personally love it.  My bones are strong, my mind is clear, my energy levels are great, my joints are fine, I have no complaints. 

I love supporting local organic farmers, I love seeing people around me starting off on plant based diets getting well.  I love supporting a world where no animal suffering is caused - including animal suffering on non-factory farmed animal raised on pasture.  In the end of that animals life - it still experiences pain and it will still experience suffering. 

I love animals.  I grew up on a farm, and I spent much of my free time with chickens and goats.  I used to train the chickens to do tricks and I loved getting to know all of their unique personalities.  No two animals are alike, and until you have lived among them and spent every day with them, you may never get the chance to learn them.  And even if you do work with animals, yet they are confined to unnatural places, you will still never know them, because they won't be able to fully express themselves, and they often develop psychological disorders due to the confinement.  Just like we do. 

Even if you have a so called 'organic grass fed cow pasture', or some other animal.  You are still taking that much land away from indigenous species.  You will still be inclined to shoot wildlife who threaten your livestock.  You will have to manage your pastures meticulously to make sure your cows or animals are getting the nutrients they need.  In the wild, these animals eat a variety of grasses and travel.  It's not natural for them to be in one place for the rest of their lives.  It's not fair. 

I have a beautiful choice to live without consuming these products.  As far as I am concerned these products are created because it's what we are used to.  It's basically for 'texture'.  Who eats plain meat without any kind of condiment?  Who eats boiled chicken?  Who smells rotting flesh and suddenly becomes hungry?  What smells good when we cook something?  It is the vegetables, the herbs the condiments - made from plant foods..

Who enjoys the smell of rotten milk?  No one.

I love having the choice to live off of plants.  Today we live in  world where it's completely possible to do, even in the winter. 

I love that opportunity.

It's a gift.

Sustainable Healthcare

I've recently started taking care of my grandmother who has been diagnosed with Thyroid cancer.  It has been an on and off problem for 15 years.  She has already had all of the conventional treatments multiple times and at this point, there is no more thyroid to be taken out of her system, there is not enough tissue as it is to safely do any more operations to remove the tumors that have taken over her throat.  The doctor roughly implied she may only have less than a year left - perhaps a few months.  The tumors had been getting so large that it has been difficult for her to swallow - and in order to get anything down she needed lots of coffee and dressing on the whatever food she was eating.

She has been on multiple prescription medications for high blood pressure and cholesterol as well as others to make up for her lack of a thyroid in her body.  She even was taking 6 extra strength pain killers daily just to get through the day because she has had severe arthritic pains her joints - due to some previous surgeries after crushing multiple bones in her body from a serious car accident.

At this point, most my of my family had accepted that this is the end of the line for her and that we all just need to enjoy while she is still around.

After spending enough time with my grandmother, I could see that she wasn't quite ready to give up yet.  Although the medical world had completely exhausted their resources on her and had nothing left to help her condition, she still had hope.

The very last thing the doctors were telling her to do, was to get a tube in her stomach, so she wouldn't have to worry about if her throat completely closed off.

This also sounded a little jarring to me.  I took my grandmother aside one day and asked her, if she would be willing to do something a little different and maybe a little crazy to see if it would have any positive impact on her health.

She agreed.

The program consisted of a week long fast on only vegetable juice.

Today is day 5, and I am honestly astonished by the results.

Through only juiced vegetables and few fruits the following has taken place in the last 5 days.

- She is completely off of her pain medication
-She is quit taking one of her cholesterol pills
-She is more mobile than she has been in a long time
-She has more energy
- She is looking brighter and brighter every day - her skin has taken on a glow!
-She is sleeping through the entire night without waking up at all! - She previously had woken up at least 3-4 times in a night because of all the pain she was in, and usually had to switch between the bed and her recliner to relieve different muscle groups
-the tightness in her neck has been reducing
   - even a few of the tumors have felt "lose"
-Her digestive track has been completely cleaned out
- She has lost 9 pounds - she is 5'6 and started out last week at 191 lbs.
-She is swallowing with much less difficulty - she used to wake up in the night and realize that she needed to swallow but took a bit of effort to do so, now she no longer wakes up with this problem.. and doesn't actually wake up at all until morning!
-The swelling in her legs and joints is completely gone!  She has no pain, unless she twists in a certain direction or lifts something really heavy- which she wouldn't do anyway.. so for regular movements there is no pain.
-Previously every few days she would have a sharp pain in her neck - as if it the tumor (s) was (were) growing.. and she hasn't been experiencing that.
-She had previously been saying that she is done traveling- and that she won't be going out anywhere anymore because she doesn't want to be burden to anyone.  Now she is saying that she is feeling so good that she wants to travel, and visit friends and family who don't live in this state!

She has also been recording her own progress in a little journal, which I think is great.  She has been so happy with this week, she is looking forward to more of the program.

I slowly introduced a few solid foods to her in the past couple of days which included : oatmeal and one lentil stew.  She didn't seem to have any issues with that, and she has also be eating small amounts of fruit on her own.

Come Monday I will be preparing solid foods for her, most likely consisting of a :
Steamed vegetable
fresh salad - grated carrot/beet/cucumber - whatever I feel like making
vegetable juice
small serving of a whole grain - or a porridge made of the grain.
lentil or bean soup
Greens! and a green smoothie

- this will most likely be too much food for her, but we will see how it goes come this monday, how she is feeling.  I think what I will do is suggest a fresh vegetable juice fast 1 day per week.

Already she has been getting a bit of attention from the retirement community she is currently in.  One other from the home she is living in his interested in the program.

So this is all very interesting for me.. I am just ecstatic to see such wonderful results.

The book which guided me on juice fast recipes was :
The Juice Lady's Guide to Juicing for Health
by, Cherie Calbom MS

It has some really wonderful recipes!
They mentioned how good artichokes are for cancer in the book, and I was eagerly looking for a juice recipe which included artichokes.

I finally found one and happily made the recipe.. only to find that my juicer almost caught on fire, because of all of the fiber in the vegetable!! I had to do it with extreme care and continuously clean out the juicing filter.

But the funny thing about it was, that they had called for a jerusalem artichoke.. not an artichoke.. ooops.. no wonder.

Anyway.  There are many many incredible reads out there on how diet can cure heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high bp, high cholesterol, etc...  as well as documentaries.. just check out documentaries on netflix --- there is a whole section on health related ones.. which I recommend them all .. It has really been an eye opener for me to learn that many of our current day ailments are not only preventable but also curable and reversible.

All the best,

May we all have good health

Esther

My list of 100 sustainable life options for the year or years to come

So, I am still feeling this tension between going back to school and not going back to school.  My husband gave me a good idea about writing a list of 100 possible things you could do in the next five years:

1- Go back to school in Utah - spend time with family, friends and pets.  Time in Nature, learning about soil science and agroecology.  Will be able to use that knowledge wherever I go.

2- Go back to school somewhere else - for example canada- learn water and land management be able to do city planning work.. or other land development work.  Relatively inexpensive and a one year program.  Or study green technology - green walls and roofs http://agreenroof.com/walls/.  Study sustainability management - the art of helping companies become more green and sustainable.

3- Study live food nutrition.  http://www.treeoflife.nu/

4- Work on a vegan farm     http://www.goveganic.net/article94.html

5- Get a job in a green company - rainforest alliance, greenpeace, etc.

6- Work again for an environmental consulting company, save up for more expensive programs - for example .. like the 2 month long multicourse for permaculture in Australia.
http://www.permaculturenews.org/courses.php

7- Start a vegan cafe

8- Continue on and promote the current vegan catering

9-Spend a few years at Sadhana Forest - really get involved.
http://sadhanaforest.org/wp/volunteers/

10- Spend some months or more at Gorukana - write a book about the indigenous people and draw
up a list of all of their plant species and what they use them all for.
http://gorukana.org/

11- Continue working more proactively with my husbands foundation.  Dedicate myself to helping it become more sustainable. (which basically it really wouldn't be much to do, but maybe things like - order pen and notepads from sustainable contributors, make sure when he travels - he travels by train... etc.)

12- yoga teacher training

13- raw chef training
http://www.radiantlyalive.com/rawfood-training.php

14- Stay in Pune and take a bunch of classes - botany, land remediation, hindi, music classes, dance
    -year long ecological course - with ecological society of Pune

15-Start painting full time for sustainable causes - currently I am working on a painting of horse, once finished it will be sold and all proceeds will go to a horse ranch in New York which saves horses about to be slaughtered or who are badly abused.  They also save other animals like, cats, dogs, goats, sheep, etc.

16. Get Hula Hoop teacher trained.  http://www.hoopnotica.com/teacher-training

17.  Dedicate myself full time to only using sustainable energy, bicycling everywhere, grow as much food in my apartment as possible, no electric appliances and no gas.  Find natural alternatives to food preparation, lights, cooling and heating systems - DIY stuff.

18.  Make seed bombs full time.  Spend all of my time throwing them around town :)
 Or get seeds from Vandana Siva and other organic farms, plant them in otherwise throw-awayables and give them away to people so they can start their porch gardens.

19.  Make a fermenting business - fermented fruit and vegetable drinks for probiotics and health.

20.  Start playing piano again, hold concerts for supporting ecological causes.

21. Continue to network with all of the vegans, raw foodists, permaculturists, organic food producers, sustainable communities, eco-resorts, eco-businesses.  Keep blogging about their work, form stronger networks and pathways between their work.

22. Work on my mindfulness.  Enjoying every moment.  Chewing every bite atleast 30x.  Practicing gratitude everyday.  Working on Inner peace, no matter my outside choices.

23.  Dedicate to learning something new everyday.  Researching where our 'stuff' comes from, how it is made and what the most sustainable options are in terms of, watches, computers, etc.

24.  Take some classes on sustainable technologies, water filtration systems, alternative energy - for example - sustainable dance floors (floors harvesting energy from people!) http://www.sustainabledanceclub.com/news/energy_floors_at_ecomobiel_2012_in_ahoy

25.  My friend is an art teacher who makes art with the kids out of otherwise throw-awayables - pencil shavings, small pieces of paper.. etc.  They also collect used film from movie theatres and create cool things, like lamp shades out of them!

26.  Work/volunteer in an orphanage

27.   work/volunteer at an animal shelter

28.  Study wholistic animal care/ animal nutrition.  Many of our beloved pets are fed sick animals from slaughter houses, and roadkill.  Many of our beloved pets develop all sorts of strange diseases over time due to this unhealthy food.  Is there a better way to care for them?  Can our animals be fed a more wholistic diet?

29.  Another friend here in Pune works in collecting other peoples unwanted stuff, and sells it at huge 'garage-like-sales'  Not only does she re-sell, but she re-creates them into beautiful works of art.  She has a workshop where she cuts glass bottles in half, paints them and puts lights inside of them!  A great decoration for any modern/metro type household or would be fabulous in any cafe, restaurant, bar or club!

30.  Create a recycling center in India.  There are hardly any here.

31.  Travel the world and find communities like Gorukana who have only recently blended with modern society.  How can we learn from them?  Can we show genuine interest in their lifestyles so they can see that their way of life is amazing as well!  How can we work among the indigenous people's so we can get the best of both worlds - westernization and our roots!

32.  Eco fashion - http://www.ecofashionworld.com/Browse-By-Eco-Criteria.html
some the issues with the system we have today: http://www.sponsume.com/project/cotton-film-dirty-white-gold


- I met someone in Delhi who uses natural/plant dyes for all of her organic cotton clothes!  Beautiful stuff and actually affordable!http://www.creativebee.in/news-events.html
Here is another link in the same line:
 http://www.tradeindia.com/manufacturers/indianmanufacturers/natural-dye-sarees.html

33. Exploring energy healing more.  I have my Reiki level II, I use it just about every day.  For everything from minor aches and pains to any emotional or other issue.  I've used it in a few situations and surprisingly I've gotten pretty good results!  Every time I don't take western medicine I support a world which doesn't test animals in a cruel way for all of our medicinal needs.  I support a world where we aren't giving our health into the hands of anybody but ourselves.  I'm not saying there aren't situations in which we need outside support, but just saying, there may be a better way.

34.  Studying holistic teeth care.  Currently finding practitioners who understand the teeth on a much deeper level, than just giving quick fixes or pulling out the problem (root canals) is difficult.  I do believe that teeth are meant to be healthy, and I do believe our diet influences them.

35. Converting my car to work on vegetable oil.  Start a small business in helping other cars convert.

36.  Learn clay pottery.  Many people in the world still use clay pots, they are great for oil-free cooking!  And much healthier than Teflon.

37.  Travel to South America, stay at a friend's organic farm, learn to save seeds and all else that happens there  http://www.ecuadorexplorer.com/guaycuyacu/

38.  Experiment with making homemade soaps, lotions, mixtures or just plain recipes for skincare, shampoo, and other cosmetics.
       - I've already been experimenting with different natural powders for teeth and other products that are organic and traditional, which I've purchased here in India.  Flax seeds - ground mixed with water actually makes a pretty decent soap.  It would be pretty cool to learn more about natural stuff.

39.  Make more of my own household cleaners - to be honest, I rarely buy any kind of household cleaners and if I do, I try to get the most natural cleaner there is.  Mostly I've started cleaning everything with water.  In India, dust settles very quickly all over.  So it's common for the floors to be mopped once a day.  They generally use cleaners, but I've stopped using cleaner, because mostly it's just to get the dust out.  I've also started making my own dish soap - for handwashing.  Basically flax seeds (ground), vinegar and baking soda.  Works as far as I'm concerned :)

40. Collecting as many seeds and plants as I can - just from vegetables bought from the store, allow some to go bad so I can collect their seeds, and start my own container nursery on my balcony!  I could also collect any containers that would otherwise be thrown to plant in :)

41.  Start vermicomposting.  Both in my apartment and maybe I could volunteer at the place down the road which composts all of our food waste with worms :)

42.  Really start promoting my permaculture design business, be serious about it and take on offers - either voluntarily or having costs covered for stay and what not.

43.  Spend more time outside.  So much happens on the streets of India!  Feed animals, bring the really sick ones to shelters, sit with the homeless, sort trash - separate bags from food - some statistic I read was something like an average cow in India, when it dies, 27 plastic bags are found inside of it's belly.

44. Get a translator, and start speaking to the homeless, asking them their stories and how they ended up there, what they used to do and what's the stories of the families, backgrounds, what their skills are.   Maybe even write a book about it.  Similar maybe to the "Help"

45.  Or, even more similar to movie, "the Help", speak to the actual maids and other workers here in India, find out their stories and how they perceive their lives and life in general, how they compare themselves to it all.

46.  run a marathon

47.  Learn to scuba dive.

48.  Visit all of the farms and organizations on my list of permaculture related stuff in India.

49.  Go to Bangalore and learn from my friend the art of container gardening.

50.  Go to Thailand and apprentice at a permaculture farm, they have permaculture teacher training programs in the summer as well, along with apprenticeships to learn natural building. http://www.panyaproject.org/

51.  learn the ins and outs of natural building!

52.  Learn Botany!

53.  Learn wild foods, indigenous foods/ native species of India and what people used to mostly eat from the wild, in all different parts of India.

53.  Learn wild foods from around the globe, what indigenous people eat, and how they eat it :)

54.  Collect seeds of wild foods both for regions and globally. Rehabilitate unused and bare soils by mulching and planting these wild foods!  Allowing for nature to grow as it does, while we can also make use of it!

55.  Create community gardens in my area and offer to other communities as well!  Have residents get together and ask them if they'd be interested in having gardens and signing petitions to get gardens in these communities.

56.  Work together with the government to create more green spaces, especially for kids.  Kids in India tend to have to play on the roads, due to a lack of place to play.  - Maybe if unused batches of lands could be cleaned up into nice parks?

57.  Have a gathering of people bring any old coats, blankets or clothes that are no longer used.  Take a day and give the material out to the homeless.

58.  Open up the apartment to hold regular clothing swaps, everyone brings clothes which are nice, but they would be willing to give away for something 'new'.  So they come and bring their clothes and other stuff, and take a look at everything else to see if they'd want anything else.  No costs.

59.  Find out all the hidden skills of friends, maybe one friend likes to cook, another likes to sew, another is great at poetry.  Every week, a friend can teach and show everyone else their skill.

60.  Do nothing!

61.  Learn to surf.

62.  Move to Auroville, help out with SHARAN http://sharan-india.org/

63.  Learn more about no till farming techniques  http://solitudefarm.blogspot.in/

64.  Go on a huge hiking trek in the Himalayas!  Maybe meet some yogis!

65.  Visit Bhutan, learn the ways of the happiest place on earth.

66. Volunteer at an elephant nature park in Thailand, http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

67.  Volunteer at a vegan community in Hawaii or New Zealand:
http://gentleworld.org/about/community/
The description of the place in New Zealand from the website: 
454 acres of magnificent New Zealand countryside that we call Shangri-La; a private valley, with two pristine rivers. Here we accept volunteers each summer season (from November-May) to help lift Shangri-La up to its name, which includes the planting and maintenance of hundreds of fruit trees, lots of flower gardens and several veganic vegetable gardens.

68.  Study oceanography, learn about the huge pile of trash we have in our ocean.. I think actually it's multiple piles of trash.. :/  Can we turn this into an island or something?  Put an airport on it?  Plant some trees?  What can be donee??  
http://www.squidoo.com/garbage-patch?utm_source=google&utm_medium=imgres&utm_campaign=framebuster
- check out the ted talk on this one!! amazing, yet very sad.

69.  My previous option, inspired this option.  Choose no plastic!  Can it be done, can I live a plasticless life?  I could email all of the companies from which I like to buy products and ask them whether they will take my plastic product back and reuse it once i have finished their product or if they can send it to me refilled with their product.  Maybe I could start petitions, have them go viral about getting companies to switch out of using plastic.  Can we get over our plastic addiction!  Help!
 http://www.squidoo.com/garbage-patch?utm_source=google&utm_medium=imgres&utm_campaign=framebuster
- I pasted the same link from above.. because, yes, it's that good, check it out!

70.  After watching that ted X talk about the state of our oceans and the trash island two times as big as Texas.  I could easily spend the next five years of my life filtering plastic from our oceans.  Hey, maybe we could use plastic as some insulation in our buildings?  Possible?   Maybe I can start a plastic building proposal, and maybe this is our solution for mountain top removals (since currently we are cutting open many mountains for all of their metals and what not for building everything) ?  Maybe we can start making our computers and cell phones from used plastics?  What else.. cupboards, tables, chairs.. hey!  Used plastic could be the new oak.. if we start using trash at at least the same rate as we use pristine ecosystems.. We might be able to rid ourselves of this pollution problem?? Hey maybe we will even save a few forests!

71.  Get into the 'business' (more like NGO) of stopping illegal animal trade.  Teach people alternative ways to make money, in fact ways to make money sustainably and in a much more grandios way then their previous disrupting lifestyle of illegal trade of wild animals.  And of course rescue all the wild animals and help them back to their natural habitats.  I could even be a watchmen for these areas, and make sure no one tries to steal them!  lol.

72.  Travel to China and other countries which eat dog and cat.  Give workshops on raw and vegan food with all of its health benefits.  Charm them into loving our animal friends :)  We could also sneak some really adorable baby cat and dog videos in there, all of the really sappy ones, that show that actually these little creatures are not much different from us.

73.  Organize prayer meetings everyday, to send positive wishes to all of the baby animals in the world.  Send positive wishes to earth and the all the people of earth. (as well as the plants, the bugs, the soil, the water and everything else that makes up this world)  The power of prayer!

74.  I can't believe I made it to 74.  At 34, I thought that I was done for .. meaning I wasn't sure if I'd be able to think of anymore.. haha.  kk. let's see.
I could experiment with eco-friendly paints. I could use vegetable and fruit colors.  I could sell them and maybe even hold art classes, using all of these natural vegan materials.

75.  Find out people creating sustainable packaging, start marketing these packaging to big companies as well as small ones, YAY no more plastic!

76.  Or, for all of our plastics, create a culture of washing things out and sending them back to the company to force them to re-use.

77.  Do something nice for someone else everyday, that normally probably wouldn't have happened.

78.  I could make a list like this everyday.  haha.

79.  Learn to knit

80.  Even better learn to use the hair from my llamas ( I know I am a vegan, but my home in Utah is completely an unvegan home - my mom, dad and other relatives.  No matter what I know they will keep their farm, and the hair from the llamas, they will continue to have anyway.  So might as well make use of it right? )  and learn how to make yarn from it :)

81.  Experiment with alternative refrigerator systems, meaning no electricity.

82.  Start city foraging - find out myself, about plants that grow in abundance in the city, make my own names for them, if I can't find them in a reference guide.  Ask locals about them.

83.  Go on walks in the parks, bring my botany book, further refine my indian plant identification skills.

84.  Learn to make bags and jewelry out of trash.

85.  Start collecting unique small trinkets of throw-awayables.  I could maybe make little puja trays with using them, or I could get creative and make ganesh statues :) or bird baths and bird homes.

87.  Start teaching in schools, I could start an eco club at a local highschool, we could collect trash and then make huge beautiful statues out of them.  Or even better, I wrote about this on one of my older blogs but make a green house from bottles!  When I visited the Nilgiris - Earth Trust, they worked with kids and the kids actually did this project.  Their green house was so cool!

88.  This might be more meaningful in the states, where families are a little more separated then they are in India.  But bring kids in to retirement homes.  Let them interact with the elderly - play games and maybe they could do interviews and what not.

89.  Offer a catering service of healthy organic vegan maybe even raw food to hospitals and prisons.  Maybe it could even be an NGO.  Why are we feeding our patients basically airplane food?
I was actually also even considering introducing health foods to my grandmothers retirement center.  Since they have started living there, it seems they have been experiencing more health problems as soon as they moved in.  Basically the diet is pretty laden with dairy and meats.  Like a lot of America.  When I go home, I would like to offer to prepare food for my grandparents on a regular basis.  It's her wish only, I won't force her to eat my food, lol.  But it might be an interesting thing to watch to see if my grandparents experience any improvement in their health?  Might be interesting.

90.  Live everyday to the fullest, get up early, eat light, exercise more than not, never miss an opportunity for that particular moment.  Smile to the biggest, laugh the deepest, love the fullest.  :)

91.  Almost there! Lol. I could start playing more sports, involve all of the kiddos on the streets.

92. Collect all of my leafy green scraps in a separate container, and take that container out every day to feed the cows.  (which are found all over in India)

93.  Continue to experiment in the kitchen with raw cuisine.  Visit villages and find out if they grow different stuff in their garden from what they sell at the market.  Find as much local/ non gmo produce as possible. Contine to experiment with making raw indian food.
- I made an awesome raw saag paneer recipe today!  haha which is entirely misleading because I didn't use saag nor paneer.  I used amaranth leaves and cashew cheese.  If you are interested in the recipe give me an email, I'd be happy to send it out

94.  Learn how to make coconut chutney from scratch, I love coconut.  They say that eating seeds is karmically not the best, so what is better is to regularly plant trees to make up for it.  Check out David Wolfe - The Sunfood Diet successsystem. Awesome book

95.  My husband teaches a "thank you" meditation.  I could do a "thank you" meditation every day.  Basically it is just saying thank you, over and over again in your mind, for the duration of the meditation.  I can't remember which society it is,but they say if you say thank you 1 million times, your life is changed forever.  It's a nice teaching  :)

96.  I can be grateful for all the ways in which I do live sustainably, and all the ways in which I do help others throughout my day, and all the ways in which I already contribute to society at large.

97.  I can learn the Indian Dandiya dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMgnvtymB28

98.  I could take a weekly fasting day.  Yesterday I fasted, and I found even though I was kinda headachey yesterday, all of today I have felt much lighter as a result, and I found I have been much more aware of the food I have been eating as well as the quantity.  Food in our today's society has become so much of a gobble-it-down culture we really have no idea the work that goes into our food and not to mention the ingredients, many of them pretty toxic to our systems, esp in the quantities that we typically eat.  So I think I could definitely incorporate fasting into my life, if not on a weekly basis a monthly one.  And of course, I can't leave out the impact that regular fasting could have on our world. Everything adds up, and the less we demand from the planet, the better for everyone.

99.  My husband just walked in, and said I could be a meditation teacher. Lol.  I guess I could, what does it take, I guess I would first have to learn to meditate more wholeheartedly.  I have a tendency to get distracted a lot.

100. I finally made it!! this list probably took a good 4 hours.  Which is kind of embarrassing.  But no worries, there were a few breaks in between.  My last one is.. a commitment to having fun, to not taking life too seriously, even with all of my crazy environmentalism shoopla.  I can everyday, remember to be with people I enjoy, relax when needed, laugh at myself, and just have a good time.

Hmm, so I think my husband is right about making a list of 100 answers to a question in your head.  Even if at the end of it, you still feel a little unclear, suddenly the world just doesn't look so black and white anymore... which makes the decision more peaceful.