Obtaining optimal health, eating living foods and detoxifying isn’t as difficult as it may seem, says New York-based clinical nutritionist and yoga instructor to the stars, Kimberly Snyder. It’s all about knowing how and having fun with it. The result—radiant beauty that glows from within—is well worth the effort.
I was fortunate to meet with Kimberly while she was in LA last year. During our chat (and snack of delish homemade raw cacao balls she brought with her) Kimberly shared all sorts of great tips about veganism and the raw food lifestyle.
Below are some of her top tips for staying young and healthy. For more fabulous vegan and living food insights head to Kimberly’s blog at www.kimberlysnyder.net. Enjoy!
1. Max out on raw greens. Uncooked greens and vegetables are a powerful beauty secret. The living enzymes in uncooked greens and vegetables contribute to skin health by acting as catalysts that assist body processes like digestion, detoxification, and rebuilding. For example, by assisting the body’s energy-intensive digestive process, enzymes free up energy for other tasks, like repairing and rebuilding the skin- the largest organ of all. Unfortunately, the valuable enzymes, proteins and vitamins found in plants are heat sensitive and can be damaged or destroyed by normal cooking temperatures. In fact, cooking can easily destroy a food’s entire enzyme reserve. So pack as many completely raw greens, salads, veggies, sprouts and fresh herbs into your diet as you can! An easy way to get a large amount of easily digestible greens is from a green smoothie. The simple recipe is available online at www.kimberlysnyder.net.
2. Add açai to your diet. Açai is loaded with beneficial nutrients and antioxidants, including Omega 3 fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, key vitamins and fiber. The Omega 3 fatty acids found in Açai maintain the structure and fluidity of cell membranes, facilitating the inflow of nutrients and the outflow of waste products, promoting youthful, smooth and radiant skin by keeping skin cells hydrated and strong. Acai is a key component of The Solution, as it is also extremely beneficial when applied topically.
4. Drink detox tea. Our bodies are constantly exposed to toxins from the environment, our diet and chemicals from products we put on ourselves. Over time, these toxins promote illness and can accelerate skin aging. The liver is the blood’s filtering system, and when it becomes overloaded, the liver stops effectively filtering and neutralizing the toxins that enter the body. These excess toxins continue circulating and are deposited in fatty tissue, building up over time. The long-term effects of toxic overload are manifested externally in the form of wrinkles and spotted, leathery skin. One of the easiest and tastiest ways to promote healthy liver function is to drink detox tea 2-3 times per week. The recipe is available online.
3. Switch to Celtic sea salt. Celtic sea salt is unique among salts because it is a sun-dried – a process that allows 70 minerals and trace elements, enzymes and even marine microorganisms to remain intact. Other sea salts are kiln-dried, which causes valuable magnesium and most other minerals to evaporate. Normal table salt is the worst of all, being irradiated and denatured sodium chloride. It not only has no nutritional benefit, it depletes the skin’s natural hydration. So make the switch to Celtic sea salt!
5. Eat more onions. This everyday food has a considerable amount of sulfur, which helps cleanse the skin and liver and rebuild connective tissues like collagen. Onions are also an exceptional source of usable quercetin, which works to eliminate free radicals, protects and regenerates crucial Vitamin E and decreases capillary fragility.
6. Add sea vegetables to your diet. Sea vegetables are about 12 times richer in minerals than average vegetables. They are an especially good source of iodine, which regulates the metabolism by feeding the thyroid, iron, B6, B12, and magnesium, which opens over 300 different detoxification pathways in the body. You can throw sea vegetables such as dulse, hijiki and arame in salads or make nori wraps stuffed with salad. All are available at any health store.
7. Sprout your seeds and nuts. A raw, dry nut is dense in calories and encased in inhibitor enzymes, which keep it from sprouting before it is in a safe environment. The sprouting process changes the constitution of the nut, making it more like a plant. The nutritional benefit is that the proteins in sprouted nuts are more easily assimilated by the body. Here is a simple method for spouting almonds: Cover almonds in filtered water in a bowl and place in your refrigerator for 24 hours. Rinse well several times. You should peel off the outer coating of the almond before eating. A handful is a wonderfully nutritional, filling snack. Throw a few in a bag and take them to work!
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One of my fave vegan celebs, Ellen Degeneres will debut as the new judge on American Idol tonight. It’s a long season ahead, especially for the star hopefuls who will hang on every word she utters, funny or otherwise. How will she do? Have your say below!
Loading ...It seems this is my week to write about actress Natalie Portman. Since penning the article about the protein myth and how being famous doesn’t make you an expert, I’ve noticed there’s a lot of debate about whether Nat is a vegan or vegetarian.
From here, I got to wondering why we vegans care so deeply about celebrity diet choices, particularly once they’ve mentioned they’re one of “us”. And why we want to let meat eaters know their diet choices aren’t optimal for their own health, the health of animals and the planet.
My reasoning came down to this: it’s because we have learned and lived what it means to be animal-flesh-and-product free. It’s like finding the buried treasure, the golden ring, the never-seen-before episodes of Seinfeld. It’s so damn exciting that we want to let the world know, wake up the sleepy and declare our new found clarity and meaning to anyone who’ll listen. And we also want celebrities on our side. They have a bigger reach, they can influence more people. People actually listen to them.
But I also believe the every day person (like little ol’ me) can reach millions too, through tolerance and understanding, but also more importantly leading by example. Everyday actions that come from a kind place add up to be big actions of positive influence. Look at Oprah. She took one step at a time, doing what she believed in while practicing tolerance and understanding. Her little steps added up to be a worldwide phenomenon. Her success, it seems to me, came out of a deep desire to help others and her willingness to let others see her faults. To show that she is human, just like you and me. Most of us vegans were meat eaters and dairy drinkers too at some point in our lives, unless, of course, we were lucky enough to have vegan parents ourselves.
So that’s just it. Just because I’m vegan doesn’t mean I’m right about everything, or have the answers to the world’s diet woes (although I’m certain I could guide and greatly help those who ask for it). And just because Natalie Portman is on her journey between vegetarianism and veganism doesn’t really matter either. It’s the kind actions we take, every day, that add up to make a big difference. If we all lead by positive example, who knows, eating animals could be a habit of the past sooner than we think.
But for the record, in Natalie’s words herself, and thanks to Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals, she is indeed vegan.
I’ve just moved out of one of the most vegan-friendly cities in the world — Los Angeles. I’m now halfway across the globe to a beautiful country where there are actually more sheep than people (guesses anyone?).
While my new city is quite green conscious, its eco-ness hasn’t yet extended into the vegan realm. This of course means rather than eating out at some of my fave vegan restaurants (as I did often in LA), I’ll be at home keeping my food dehydrator company.
To pay homage to the city that supported my vegan lifestyle so well over the past few years, I’ve compiled a top 10 list of things I miss about LA (mostly food, as you’ll see!) in no particular order:
Leaf Organics
From the can’t-get-enough live food wraps to the most incredible smoothies you’ll ever slurp, Leaf Organics is a raw food vegan’s heaven. Besides their cafe-style eateries in Sherman Oaks and Culver City, Leaf Oranics provides their scrumptious raw goodies (including burgers – see below) to many Wholefoods stores. Owner and vegan extraordinaire Rod Rotondi also recently joined forces with Agape’s Dr Michael Beckwith to produce a book: Raw Food for Real People, a guide I’ll be reviewing in the coming weeks.
Wholefoods
Wholefoods‘ aisles are peppered with vegan friendly edibles. From nature’s energy drink of choice — young coconuts — to specialised products such as sausages from the Field Roast Grain Meat Co (go for the smoked apple sage variety, the rest pale in comparison) this market is the place to shop if health is at the top of your agenda. Wholefoods, it’s time you swung open your doors down under.
Erewhon
You could sit for hours at the Eerewhon (pronounced air-ee-won) juice bar, sipping on liquid potions guaranteed to put an enzyme-infused spring in your step. This market is known by health gurus, such as David “Avocado” Wolfe, (who I heard speak there recently … if you ever get the chance to do the same, jump at it) to be at the forefront of real good real food. Really. Sure, it’s a tad pricey, but well worth spending a few extra bucks to get great vegan food and optimal health. Long live Erewhon!
Hugos
Oh Hugos, how I miss you so. Whether you’re in the Valley or on Santa Monica Boulevard, be sure to stop off at this ever-popular brunch, lunch and dinner hotspot. The new American veggie burger (made vegan) is out of this world. Be sure to order it in a spinach wrap with all the extras. If you don’t mind a bit of that evil soy every now and again, add the vege bacon to your order. Having just checked out the menu online, I also see they’ve added new vegan delights to their already jam-packed menu: vegan orange pancakes for brekky and the “best vegan New York style blueberry cheesecake”. Hugo’s how could you? Worth a trip back Stateside just to test these newbies out!
Bodhi Tree Book Store
A treasure trove of all things holistic and spiritual, Bodhi Tree Book Store on Melrose has a special section dedicated to vegans and vegetarians — including must-have cookbooks. Worth a wander, no matter your belief or diet. You might even spot a celeb or three in this local fave.
Vegan Plate
There’s a lot of soy on the menu at Vegan Plate, but there are also other options (including veges and wheat meat) at this Studio City restaurant, tucked away in a strip mall on Ventura Boulevard. It’s clean, the service is friendly and it’s frequented by vegan types and those who simply appreciate good Thai food.
Planet Raw
This Santa Monica restaurant is the playground of raw food god, Juliano. That is, this is his restaurant, where every raw vegan foodie dreams of visiting at least once. While prices are, well, pricey, the raw vegan food served up here is nothing short of sensational. You can also pick up kitchen goodies such as a Vitamix blender or Excalibur food dehydrator — must haves according to any good raw food vegan chef in the know.
Kombucha
Available at select cafes and eateries, I’d usually get my daily kombucha fix from Wholefoods. The multi-green variety from Synergy is my absolute fave, packed with live enzymes, probiotics and everything a body loves. Its founder Dave developed his brand of the cold tea after his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and found it hadn’t spread because of the kombucha tea she had been drinking.
Nutritional Yeast
This stuff is kind of addictive, simply because it tastes so good. Be warned, however, too much vitamin B can be bad, and cause you to break out in an unsightly red rash (speaking from experience). Nutritional yeast (and my fave from Kal’s) has various B vitamins including 1, 3, 6 and 12, which are much needed when you’re living vegan. It’s also packed with other nutrients including phosphorus, biotin, magnesium, zinc, copper and more. With Kal’s nowhere to be found at my local supermarket, I’m now sourcing a local equivalent.
Sunshine
LA is known for pretty well much constant sunshine — and after almost two weeks of rain now — I dearly miss it and have upped mushrooms in my diet, as they boast Vitamin D2. Besides being an instant mood-lifter, sunshine plays a huge role in our lives and isn’t the demon it’s made out to be (no, the sun doesn’t cause cancer, but sunblocks do!). Check out this great article from Health Ranger, Mike Adams.
I often come across do-gooding vegans in my travels, from Hollywood types to everyday bloggers. Actor, raw foodist and long-time vegan, Woody Harrelson has been meat and dairy free long before many had even heard of the term vegan. This makes him the perfect pick for Vegan of the Month.
He recently told Maxim magazine: “It’s been at least 20 years. I used to eat burgers and steak, and I would just be knocked out afterward; I had to give it up.”
“The first thing was dairy. I was about 24 years old and I had tons of acne and mucus. I met some random girl on a bus who told me to quit dairy and all those symptoms would go away three days later. By God she was right.”
Harrelson has also been quoted as saying: “Yeah, milk does a body good – if you are a calf”.
Catch Woody in his upcoming flick Zombieland on October 9. See trailer below.
Glowingly-gorgeous Alicia Silverstone is sharing her beauty and health secrets, with the release of her book The Kind Diet, with a forward by fellow-veg Sir Paul McCartney.
The actress writes about the benefits of adopting a plant-based diet, from effortless weight loss to clear skin. She also spills the beans on how her vegan diet has given her boundless energy and a digestion that works how it’s supposed to.
While her name may be associated with Clueless, the health-happy celeb is anything but. While the vegan diet she recommends will be kind to your bod, Silverstone also explains why chowing down on meat, fish, milk and cheese causes permanent damage to the planet—so deleting it from the diet is a sure fire way to keep people and the planet healthy.
May The Kind Diet hit the bestseller lists everywhere!
