Aussie Observations

Hello all, I have been absent for a while, my apologies. I am now in Australia, and have been here for a month today actually. I will update every once in a while about what I see and eat here.

What people seem to eat most of here would be junk food, in all forms. Chips, crisps, hamburgers, fried chicken, meat in all possible ways, chocolate, ice cream... The list is never-ending. One thing that I find extremely annoying is that they don't really seem to have understood that you can actually make smoothies without dairy or sugar. I tried asking for one made with soy milk (which is definitely not ideal, but still) and what I got was a yellow sugary mass I had to struggle really hard to finish. I'm really missing my favorite smoothie bar in Finland at the moment. I have to admit, I have definitely not been good about my eating here, but I'm improving every day. The one thing that is huge here is juices, you can get freshly squeezed juices pretty much anywhere, so that's a definite plus. Superfoods are definitely not as visible here as they are in Finland, but there are some awesome places for that too, I will be back with reviews at a later point. Everything is pretty expensive here, I thought Finland was expensive, but this does seem to be a bit worse. What I'm struggling with most is to find something healthy and cheap to have for breakfast. At the moment I start my days with muesli, some fruit and almond milk with a cup or two of green tea. I would like to get rid of the muesli, I will see what I come up with. I'm gonna try a banana pancake recipe soon, will get back with details on how it went!

Below is a pic of my very first meal in Australia, buckwheat blueberry pancakes with berries, mango and organic mashed apples.

love,

anna

Is change a personal threat?

When people notice that I eat differently from the norm they usually seem to take it as some kind of a personal threat. They are instantly ready to defend their bad eating habits by all costs and often get insulted if I criticise something they eat. Why is it that eating is so personal? By common sense one would think that if you are told that what you consume is bad for you, you wouldn't want to eat it anymore, or at least you'd want to find out more. Or do they think I just make it all up because I have nothing better to do? And people are very suspicious towards my food, even if I don't say anything about it or about their microwave crap. The brave ones ask me what I eat, and sometimes they get interested and want me to tell them more, while at times they again take the difference as a personal threat and start talking about how good their food is while at the same time condemning me as some strange new-age hippie. I don't really mind all this, people can eat what they want, but I'm just a bit confused by this phenomenon of seeing eating as such a personal thing. To be honest, I hardly ever even criticise what people eat, and yet they still react as if I do. So could it be that somewhere underneath these people know they could be eating in a much healthier way? But if that's so, then why not change? Is it really that scary?

Emma

Paula Heinonen

This is another Finnish food guru. On Tuesday she gave a talk at my brother's gym and he invited me to come and listen. It was well worth it, she confirmed what other gurus are saying, but she also enlightened me on a few new things. This woman's got energy, she was bouncing around the room and talking and talking about everything and she almost couldn't stop in the end. The feeling I got was that she really knows what she's saying and is passionate about making people happy and healthy. She's done a lot and whatever she claims is from personal experience and experiment. She has studied biochemistry, microbiology and biomechanics amongst other things, and she has worked in several relevant places, as well as in industrial law. She has also studied functional medicine and is training others in the field. She's written 3 books and there are several more to come. This post is a summary of her talk, which couldn't possibly include everything she's said, which you can read more about here and here (unfortunately this is all in Finnish).

- The first thing she said was that you can always get rid of all symptoms. Taking care of eating well is the most important thing here.

- Our most important organ is our bowel. If our bowels are not well, we can never feel good.

- The atkins diet or whatever it's called, when you eat only red meat and fat, is extremely dangerous because it builds a community of toxic bacteria in your stomach. These then move to your liver because that's the organ that deals with toxins, and after the liver can't deal with it, the bacteria finally moves to your brain. This can be referred to as self-toxification.

- Health is not the absence of disease, it is feeling great. But even so, health naturally includes ups and downs, so don't think you have to strive towards being full of energy and perfectly happy every second of your life.

- Just because you don't have a disease does not mean you're healthy, which is what people often think. We experience headaches, bloating, irritable bowels, wind, fatigue, slight depression, lack of energy, etc. and think it's all just normal and part of being human. Well, you don't actually have to experience any of this. But if you go to a doctor they will give you a bunch of pills for the symptoms instead of revealing their source. And the pills do not even work, and if they do, they usually only give temporary relief until the symptoms return, often stronger. The key is nutrition, but without stress of course.

- Things we can influence in order to feel better: the blood sugar roller-coaster, our bowels, fatty liver disease, immune defence, brain function, hormone function, stress, exercise, getting fresh air, smoking/alcohol/medicine use.

- Vitamin D is the only nutrient we normally need to take as a supplement. It is a multifunctional hormone that for example prevents autoimmunal diseases. It is best taken in the mornings with fats, and at least 50 micrograms per day is recommended.

- Our brains are 60% fats, so you can imagine how well they might function if we consume only bad fats...

- In order to produce serotonin, which makes us happy, we need B-vitamins and zinc, which can be found in natural food.

- Cola drinks (coca cola, pepsi, or any other non-organic ones) contain phosphoric acid which is a rust-prevention substance and is extremely dangerous.

- Fat is normally stored in the buttocks in women and in the stomach in men. While none is good or looks nice, the difference is that the tummy-fat in men is more dangerous because it surrounds our vital organs and helps maintain a chronic inflammation.

- We should eat 3 tbsp of cold-processed high-quality oils every day, and never eat processed vegetable fats, which are treated with hexane.

- In the olden days when milk was still milk and not a pasteurised unidentified liquid, we got enough lactic acid bacteria from our food. Now that's not the case and as such eating these as a supplement is recommended to keep our bowels happy.

- The Finnish wheat is a different species than the one cultivated elsewhere. It is apparently worse than others which could explain the high proportion of wheat allergies in the country.

- Allergies are possible to get rid of. The way to start is by leaving out milk and all cereals from your diet. That is also the way to cure your bowels of problems. Later, when you feel better, you can reintroduce some good-quality cereal and dairy products to your system.

- Raw cacao should not be eaten in excessive amounts as it contains oxalic acid which in the long run burdens our kidneys.

- Eating calcium as a food supplement is risky because it can result in calcification. Normally we don't need to take calcium tablets because a healthy diet gives us all the calcium we need. It is also a myth that milk is the best source of this nutrient, which is found in many vegetables.

This is everything I had time to write down, the pace of this talk was not the slowest. I hope I get another chance to see Paula and I'll definitely try and get hold of her books.

Have a happy weekend full of love!

Emma

Samuli Perälä on nutrition

This food guru firstly highlighted 2 perhaps obvious attributes concerning food: the best food is original and natural. Food that is neither can be classed as fake and includes synthetic, human-made substances and overtly processed products such as white sugar, table salt, flours, and dairy products (including supermarket milk). The processing of foods destroys vital nutrients and such 'foods' are then stuffed with other substances instead, which burdens the body, often leading to liver and kidney symptoms. Ridding your body of such toxins and changing your eating habits to a healthier direction is actually very easy:

Mineralisation

Our bodies are largely composed of minerals and therefore the mineral balance in our bodies is of extreme importance. The easiest way of obtaining most vital minerals is by eating high quality salt. This can be either mountain salt (often called Himalayan rose salt or the like) or sea salt (this is gray in colour and crude, and has not been 'cleaned' with harmful synthetic substances). In contrast, 'normal' table salt is bad for us and should by all costs be avoided as it is highly processed, and sodium is often added in excess, making our bodies very confused. Minerals keep our bodies free from impurities, and as such pure salt is not harmful to us, we can gladly eat plenty.

Vitamination

Many of the vitamins and nutrients vital for our well-being are found in fresh and living food. The smallest and most sensitive nutrients are destroyed by heat, and food containing them should thus be eaten raw. Such foods are berries, all the greens that are fresh from nature, local vegetables, and sour fruits. In the northern hemisphere raw food often feels too cold and insufficient, but even so it is important that some uncooked food is added to each meal. This can be a salad composed of different greens.

Fats

Fats do not make us fat, that is a myth and a lie. This concerns cold-pressed, organic, natural and aboriginal fats, not the processed transfats that are continuously sold to us as healthy, although they actually are deadly. We need both 'hard' and 'soft' fats, which balance each other. Hard fats are for example butter and coconut oil (which is antibacterial and an excellent purifier), while soft fats include cold-pressed vegetable oils. Soft fats are especially important for women's hormones and they should be eaten by women in daily abundance. The balance between Omega 3, 6, and 9 is important, which highlights the importance of eating different kinds of oils and fats. These might for example include fish or fish oils, flax seed oil, avocado oil, hemp seed oil, coconut oil, and olive oil. Brassica oils (includes rapeseed oil and are very common in Finland as cooking oils = rypsi) are not recommended as the plant is of a highly refined species and as such not very aboriginal. This can be replaced with sunflower seed oil. Good fats can be eaten with a good conscience because we need much more of them than the current western diet suggests.

Purification

Green is the colour of pure, and as such all deep greens purify our bodies. Perhaps the most efficient food for this purpose are green powders, which can be anything from wheat grass to spirulina. Also, fresh greens are very good and recommended, for example nettle and other leaves. These should be chewed well to increase their force (all food should be chewed well and eaten slowly to lessen the burden on our stomachs). However, all purifying plants are extremely effective, and should be eaten in small amounts, especially in the beginning. Otherwise a risk of intoxication becomes relevant.

Superfoods

Superfoods contain ancient wisdom and act as acute aids to quickly provide us with missing nutrients and purify our intoxicated bodies. But in a natural state, when we are pure and gain all our necessary nutrition from pure, natural, organic, high quality foods (which is currently hardly the case) superfoods are generally not needed.

Other points made by Samuli:

- The best food for each person is usually the food that grows closest to our place of birth. This highlights the value of local food, which should definitely be taken into consideration when shopping for food.

- Herbs have subtle effects which we often do not notice because our bodies have been numbed by bad food and alcohol. But even if they go unnoticed, the effects do take place in our bodies.

- If you are tired, do not look for stimulants, what you need is sleep. When you wake up you can begin changing your diet to a more energy efficient kind.

- Concerning carbohydrates: again, high quality is what matters. Wild rice, quinoa, amaranth, etc are good sources.

- The most important nutrient addition to eat is vitamin D, especially in a country like this where we don't see the sun during half the year. This vitamin cannot be taken in excess and can freely be eaten in abundance.

- Fanaticism and absolutism is usually not good, they only increase stress, which is the worst state in which to eat.

- New things should be introduced slowly and moderation is the key.

- By far the best way to know what to eat is learning to listen to yourself. You know what you need, and you feel what is right.


If you have any questions or would like a personal consultation with Samuli, do contact me. I'll be back soon with more superinformation.

Love to all,

Emma

David Wolfe in town

So, Anna gave me a ticket to this event as a graduation present (although I haven't yet officially graduated). Off we went and it was simply super great. Not only Mr Wolf (whose middle name btw apparently is Avocado..), but also all the people present made the energy feel like a party full of happiness. It was fun and new and cool, and I learned a lot and got inspired to implement it all into my life. The whole point is really to activate the genius you already are, through eating the most amazing things on the planet and living the best way possible.

Here are some key points that found their way to my notebook during the course of the evening:

- Shoes disconnect us from the earth and therefore from the earth's life force, and as such walking bare footed in nature is the best way of grounding yourself and becoming re-connected.

- Growing stuff in your back garden (or wherever) connects you with the earth too.

- If you don't want to eat fish, eat what the fish eat, i.e plankton, to get all the great fishy nutrients you need.

- There are 3 types of Omega 3 oils which are all vital for our well-being: ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), EPA (epicosapentaeonic acid) and DHA (docosaheaenoic acid). ALA is found in chia-, flax-, and hemp seeds, and EPA and DHA in fish or fish food (algae, micro-plankton). These fats can be mixed with wild berries and raw chocolate to create a super source of nutrition. If omega 3s are mixed with saturated fat (such as coconut oil), the absorption is doubled.

- Mushrooms are great. They're the only biological organism that can survive the vacuum of outer space, and the whole atmosphere of our planet is covered in mushroom spores. The reishi mushroom is very nutritious, as is our very own chaga (=pakurikääpä) (which I'm drinking right now for breakfast). Chaga has been shown to prevent and heal cancer, amongst numerous other illnesses, and has been used in the northern hemisphere as a medicine for ages. Vitamin C makes mushrooms 3 times more powerful. A tip: pick rosehips in late summer, dry them in the sun or a drier, ground them to powder in a mortar, and use as vitamin C powder throughout the winter.

- Horsetail (=peltokorte=åkerfräken) is a great herb full of medicinal properties, that can be mixed with chaga tea for example, and is found growing everywhere around you.

- Chocolate (cacao) trees can be grown inside our houses, and are great house plants (I want one now).

- The only thing that should be imported to any place is cacao. We have everything else we need where we are born, such as berries and mushrooms.

- Be aware of your metabolism limits: use the trial and success method.

- People need different nutritional ratios: protein-fats-carbohydrates, found out yours (through the t&s method) and eat according to it.

- Stable blood sugar activates your genius and produces energy, while too much sugar makes you cuckoo.

- Trouble with digestion and absorption is linked with kidney problems, which is linked with low yin (life force) in Chinese medicine, which might all be linked with having a judgement about diet, such as being a vegan. Some people need animal fat (I personally think it's those people with blood group O). If you notice you have low yin but don't want to kill animals, eat butter or ghee (purified butter).

- Low hormone production means bad bones. It is not natural to get bad bones when you're middle-aged, this can be prevented. The best way is by grounding yourself. If oestrogen dominates progesterone in women it creates problems. This happens for example if you eat soy or ddt/dde. ----> ground yourself.

- For cleansing yourself of bad hormones and all the rest of the toxins absorbed from this crazy world, go to the sauna, eat raw food, drink raw juices, eat oils (because toxins are oil-soluble and are absorbed into us through oils, and therefore also come out of us through oils), and once again: ground yourself.

- All diseases - all limitations - are psychosomatic. It doesn't matter who taught them to you or from where you got them or the ideas of them, they are only created through the mind and are not real and you can rid yourself of them all.

And finally: my name is Emma and I'm a genius.




Emma

21 day cleanse

On Monday I embarked upon my very first 21 day cleanse, which I found in a book called Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr. The deciscion to do so had been made a long time ago, when I bought the book, and I'd just been waiting for "the right time" which we all know is whenever you want it to be. So I quit making excuses, and decided to go for it.

The cleanse in the book isn't really what I was expecting, I thought it would be more like fasting. Turns out it's just 21 days on a vegan, whole raw food based diet. Low-carb, no alcohol, no nicotine, no caffeine, no sugar, no nasties. This is actually exactly what I need, and a super good way to start your new life. A life in which I plan to ditch pretty much all carbs, all gluten, definitely all dairy, and try to have an about 70% raw diet. Nothing too challenging you know.

The first day I started with was is to be my breakfast every day for the coming three weeks, a green juice filled with veggie goodness. It was the first time I used my brand new juicer, which I fell in love with immediately. If there is even the slightest bit of the "destoyer" gene in you, you will love this appliance. Can there be a better way to start your day than to watch celery, broccoli, apples, kale, romaine lettuce and ginger be shredded and pressed for every single drop of juice in them and the end result is you left with a big glass of green tastyness? The answer is no.

For lunch I had an eggless-egg-salad for two days, and for dinner a huge kale salad and some quinoa salad. This has all been quite a winning combo, and today I had one of the tastiest quinoa beetroot salads I've ever had. I still haven't managed to buy a blender (my old one is at my sister's apartment as my living arrangements at the moment are quite a mess) so I haven't had that big of a variety in my foods. What strikes me as the biggest change with this diet is, once you let go of basing your whole meal around carbs, which is what we do most of the time, you are left with so many choices I sometimes have a hard time choosing what to eat. I have the entire produce section of the store available to me, and my options are limitless, so I don't see it as a very hard thing to continue with these eating habits for a long long time.

I have also noticed a lightness i haven't had before, my body feels weightless and I feel like I', able to do pretty much anything. So to conclude this post, I can say that, three days in, I can definitely recommend this to everyone.

Anna