However you do it, living smoke-free is worth the pain and effort. No matter the method you choose to help yourself quit, the same bottom line will always apply: you just have to do it.

A doctor once asked me how many times I had tried to quit. When I told him the embarrassingly high number that I thought proved me to be incapable of ever quitting, his response made me believe that one day I would be successful. He said, “Good job! You’ll never quit if you don’t try. Don’t quit trying to quit! You’ll get it right! The people who don’t quit are the ones who don’t try.”

I did finally get it right. I learned a few lessons along the way.

Addiction is Multi-Faceted

There is so much focus on nicotine addiction, the buzz would have you believe that nicotine, or the lack thereof, is the only reason it is so hard to quit. This belief supports sales of nicotine patches, nicotine gum, and e-cigarettes. But nicotine wasn’t my main addiction; it was gone in a matter of days. There is so much more associated with the habit of smoking that smokers find appealing and habit forming. For me this included:

• The Deep Inhale and Exhale
• The Paraphernalia
• The Camaraderie
• The Break

The Deep Inhale and Exhale

The act of sucking in and blowing out smoke is as addictive as nicotine. Add to this the whole oral fixation and hand to mouth thing and you have a behavior that is hard to replace when you quit. But there is a way to offset some of this loss. And no, I am not talking about e-cigs or vaping.

What To Do: Deep breathing as taught for yoga and meditation really helps replace the loss of the inhale and the exhale of cigarette smoke. If you need the hand to mouth connection as well, buy some short, fat, plastic straws and use them to replicate the action.

The Paraphernalia

Many of us buy things we like that are associated with our smoking habit such as special lighters, ashtrays, and cigarette cases. Sometimes we develop rituals around these items as well.

What To Do: In the weeks before your target date to quit arrives, get rid of every single one of these items.

The Camaraderie

When smokers are forced to ban together in a designated area, an easy acquaintance develops. Small talk flows freely when you have a habit in common. For those of us who are shy, this makes daily interaction in the workplace as well as interaction with total strangers out in the general public much easier.

What To Do: If you miss the companionship and camaraderie of being a smoker, you need to make the effort to talk to others without the excuse. If you find it too difficult, volunteer your time somewhere that has a mission you admire. Shared values breed camaraderie.

The Break

The break is as hard to lose as the action of smoking itself. Unless we smoke inside while we are working or involved in an activity, we have trained ourselves to take a break from whatever we are doing to have a smoke. When frustration rises, you take a break. When you can’t think of what to do next, you take a break. When you get tired or drained, you take a break. When you get angry, you take a break. When you are brain dead, you take a break.

Just the act of getting away from the task, or the desk, helps your mood and helps you redirect. But in all honesty, here is where the nicotine kicks in, in another way. The nicotine boost helps clear your head and helps you feel refreshed. It is, after all, a stimulant. It may help you figure out how to solve whatever problem was giving you grief, and it gives you a jolt of energy.

What To Do: Give yourself permission to take that break. Walk outside. Do deep breathing. If you like, replace the behavior of smoking with something else. Blow bubbles. Play an instrument. Sing a song. If you are at work, take a brisk walk. Just don’t walk by the smoking area. And don’t substitute candy. Putting yourself on a sugar roller coaster will not help your mood or your abstinence.

The Steps That Prepare You for Quitting

Denial is part of the addiction. We sublimate the negative. We ignore the smell, the mess, and the cost of the addiction. And most of all, we pretend we are not engaged in a suicidal act. Yes, it is a slow suicide – a steady march toward heart disease, emphysema, and cancer.

Set the Date

Pick a date in the near future. If you can, pick a date that begins a 3-day weekend. Give yourself a few weeks to prepare.

Reality Check

Take the time to pull your head out of the sand and face the facts. What are the risks of smoking? What do your lungs look like? What are the odds that smoking will kill you or cripple your health? What does that crippling disease look like?

Pretend you are entering a debate on “Why to never smoke” or “Stop now if you’ve started” side. Do the research. Do it like your life depends on it. After all, it does.

Pros and Cons

Complete a written pros and cons list. Dig deep and be honest.

Calculate the Cost

How much money is this habit costing you? What else could you do with that money?

Maybe It’s Not Such a Good Idea To Announce You’re Quitting

You need to decide what works for you, but that also means it’s time to be realistic and stop doing the same thing expecting different results. Many people like to announce self-improvement goals to friends and families, but some studies have shown that doing this does not correlate into greater success.

Mix It Up

In the weeks leading up to your target date, consider switching your brand. One way to go is organic. Organic cigarettes are easier to kick. The other extreme is to change the brand you smoke each and every day, buy brands you hate, or try vaporizing, but be careful not to simply switch one addiction for another (and it should be noted that vaporizing may not be the healthy alternative people thought it was).

Embrace Health

It’s damn hard to be a health enthusiast when you are a smoker. You feel like a hypocrite. When you quit smoking, that conflict is gone. And the more health conscious you are before and during the process, the better you will feel and the easier it will be to quit.

Eating right evens out your blood sugar. A dip in blood sugar can cause an almost unbearable desire to smoke.

Plan ahead and shop ahead. Fill your kitchen with fresh whole foods – organic produce. If possible, cook ahead for your first few days of abstinence and make several salads filled with lots of vegetables.

If you don’t already know what constitutes a truly healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle, now is the time to learn and to start living right. This choice to embrace health will be a major factor that helps you abstain from smoking.

Avoid Triggers

Once you quit, avoid places where you smoked. If there is a place you frequented where there is smoking (like my old karaoke bar) don’t go! Declare your home a smoke-free zone. If you have friends who smoke, let them know you are quitting and that you can’t be around them for a while. Do not put yourself in the position where you could simply ask someone to give you a cigarette. They will.

If you are watching a movie where the characters smoke, change the channel. If you walk by smokers, look away. You don’t know your triggers yet – those sights and smells that make you crave “just one.” Don’t push it. Avoid them.

Don’t Argue With “The Voice”

We’ve all got a voice in our head. Sometimes it is the voice of reason. Sometimes it is our conscience. Sometimes, especially in our younger decades, it is the voice of our mother. But when we are trying to break an addictive habit, that voice is the voice of addiction. Or maybe it is the voice of the devil himself.

• Voice: You can have just one.
• Reality: It’s true. Maybe today you can. But tomorrow one is not enough.
• Voice: You can’t quit.
• Reality: Yes, you can.
• Voice: Not today. How about tomorrow?
• Reality: You’ve been saying this for years.
• Voice: It’s too hard. Cold turkey doesn’t work.
• Reality: The only way to stop smoking is to stop smoking.

When you start arguing with this voice, you often lose. The voice is persistent – relentless, actually. So just shut it down. Don’t answer. Simply remind yourself that you can do this.

The Night Before the Chosen Day

This is it. You’re ready. Your head is in the right place because you have reminded yourself about the reality of smoking – how it is impacting your life and your health. You have chosen health. You have chosen life and a life well lived.

You have already thrown away or given away all of your smoking paraphernalia. Before you go to bed, throw out all of your cigarettes. But tossing them is not enough. Breaking them is not enough. Drown them. And do the same with your cigarette butts. If you don’t, you will dig through your trash. You don’t want to do that. It makes you feel… well… at the very least horribly addicted, which gives that voice energy when it says you can’t quit. Thoroughly wetting all cigarettes and cigarette butts makes smoking them impossible.

Get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow will be the start of your new life.

How To Stay Quit

Okay, you’ve done it. You have woken up to the first day of the rest of your life. You have chosen to live smoke free. For the next 2-3 days, stay home! Do not put yourself closer to a place to buy or bum a cigarette. Besides, you are going to want to sleep a lot for the next few days.

You will be detoxing from nicotine and a host of other chemicals you have been inhaling. There are things you can do to help this process:

• Drink plenty of clean, pure water – distilled or spring water and cranberry lemonade.
• Eat right. You need a nutrient dense diet. The 80% raw diet is great.
• Vitamin C helps with cravings as it flushes out your system.
• Complex B vitamins help you relax and sleep. It’s “nature’s valium.”
• Sleep all you want. Relax. Read. Watch TV. Live in your PJs for a few days.

What To Expect After You Quit Smoking

As the days go by, you will think about smoking less and less. The day will come (fairly soon!) when you realize you had not thought about it all day. Don’t dwell on this thought because “the voice” will kick in. Just acknowledge it and move on.

If you do find yourself next to a smoker, one of two things will happen. You will want to breathe in that smell as if second hand smoke is heaven or the smell of smoke, even the faintest whiff, will make you nauseous. Oh yes, your sense of smell will probably improve. You’ll probably be able to smell a smoker from a distance.

On one day you will see a group of people standing outside smoking and you’ll think about how stupid they look. The very act of doing what they are doing will look wrong and you will feel grateful that you are not one of them. The next time you see a group of smokers you may have the opposite reaction. They may look like the “cool guys” and you wish you were with them.

Unexpected things will trigger you or surprise you. Acknowledge them and move on.

The less time you spend thinking about, talking about, worrying about, or even congratulating yourself about the fact you have quit, the better. You will find weeks pass. Months pass. With each passage of time the pull lessens. Instead of focusing on the issue of whether or not you smoke, focus on ways to improve your health on an ongoing basis.

What To Do If a Crisis Occurs

A horrible fight with a spouse, the death of a friend or family member, losing a job…these are the worst triggers. When something big happens, your instinct will be to reach for that crutch.

What will happen? You’ll get a headache. You’ll feel sick to your stomach. Your heart will race. You’ll have trouble sleeping. And you’ll be trying to bury your guilt and frustration with the fact that you are smoking. How is any of this going to help the situation when you and your family are in crisis?

This is a good time to practice deep breathing. Take extra B vitamins. Handling the stress in a healthy way will not only help you remain free from your addiction, you will actually handle the situation better for yourself and for your loved ones if you use healthy rather than unhealthy coping mechanisms.

What To Do If You Backslide

Stop again immediately! Do not let a little slip define you. Now is the time to review all that information you saved about the horrors of smoking and review your pros and cons list that you haven’t looked at since the day you quit. Drown the cigarettes. Throw away the lighter. Just do it again – now. Don’t wait a week, a month, or a year to start over. Just do it. If you wait too long, it might actually be a year or two before you convince yourself to have another go at it. So why waste the time?

Simple Stop Smoking Protocol

Lots of good ideas right? But maybe a bit overwhelming, so let’s put most of what’s above into a simple protocol, throw in some nutrition, and feel free to make the necessary adjustments that makes this the perfect program for you.

1. Pick a Date

Regardless of which path you take and how you do it, pick a date. Give yourself some time, but burn that date into your subconscious as the date you know that you will be smoke-free from that point on. Remember it. Believe it. Know it. No matter what else you do, no matter what else happens, you will never smoke beyond that point.

2. Learn to Breathe Properly, and Practice Constantly

When you breathe properly, your diaphragm, your stomach, and your ribcage expand, not the upper chest. Fully exhaling is important, too. Remember, you are breathing in oxygen rich air and releasing carbon dioxide and toxins.

Have you ever watched babies breathe? Their stomachs rise and their rib cages fully expand with each breath they take.  Watch and learn.

3. Switch it Up

In the weeks before your target date, try a brand that doesn’t add additives to increase addiction, roll your own, don’t smoke in the car, break up your routine, etc. When you need to smoke, give it 10 minutes no matter what, and spend that time breathing properly.

4. Do Squats

Exercise. Squats help detoxify the body and keep the organs healthy. Work up to a sweat, and breath heavily and deeply.

5. Address Other Issues

If you’re a long-term smoker, you’re likely to be dealing with some health issues like hypothyroidism, hormonal imbalances, periodontal disease, and asthma. Be sure to address them, and address them naturally.

6. Detoxify

Detoxify now, and keep doing it until you quit smoking. The focus should be on flushing out heavy metals toxins, carbon, other carcinogens, and all those other toxins that come along with smoking that increase your body’s cravings. Drink lots of cranberry lemonade and eat lots of salads. It’s also a perfect time to repair the gut and balance your flora, which will in turn heal your endocrine system and balance your hormones.

Also, take a good antioxidant, try Shillington’s Huff and Puff Formula to help detoxify the lungs, and always have B vitamins on hand. Smokers are constantly depleting their B vitamins, which leads to emotional issues and addictive behaviors. See the links above and the related reading section below for more information on breathing, healing the gut, and hormones. See the first article for our salad and cranberry lemonade recipes.

Recommended Supplements:

• CoQ10 50mg with Vitamin C – Douglas Labs (antioxidants)
• Shillington’s Herbal Snuff Formula (clear sinuses and revitalize sense of smell, but buyer beware, it’s not for the faint of heart)
• Shillington’s Blood Detox Formula (detoxify the blood of toxins, stay well while sinuses drain)
• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula (chelate heavy metals, lots of nutrients)
• Shillington’s Tooth Gum Formula

Related Reading:

• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases
• Total Nutrition – Make your own Homemade Multivitamin and Mineral Formula
• Top 5 Foods that Detox Heavy Metals and Toxins – With Protocol
• How to Breathe

As humans, we have endured plenty of experimentation. Too often we have been unwitting test subjects for disease inducing experiments that were lauded as beneficial, and in some cases, even healthy! However, a few people have started to wake up and realize that they were being swindled by a shrewd and strategic plan that lines the pockets of the elite and keeps the rest of the population sick and under control.

Are you ready to wake up yet? If so, get ready to dive into the rabbit hole and discover four of the core experiments that have created disastrous results for our health, even though they have been heavily promoted by the establishment as healthy.

Dental Amalgams

It’s relatively easy to make a living as a dentist today. With the general population wolfing back hordes of processed and toxic foods, largely devoid of any nutrients and absorbing a variety of toxins introduced into the air, water, household, and personal care products, you have the perfect atmosphere for decaying and rotting teeth. With no one to properly explain how to avoid this fate (brushing is not the answer, but a small part of the solution), people continue to willingly parade into the dentist’s office to have restorative work done to keep the damage to a minimum.

But does it?

Sure, filling the holes in your teeth can stop that particular cavity from becoming heavily infected and creating even more issues down the road, but considering most dentists are still using amalgam fillings (comprised of approximately 50% mercury), the solution may be worse than the original problem.

Related: Mercury Fillings, Root Canals, Cavitations – What You Need to Know

For decades dentists have been using mercury based fillings to repair cavities. No one really cared to explore what the effects of an extremely noxious heavy metal placed directly into the mouth. Unfortunately many are now finding out it’s not good.

For example, following the initial exposure during the actual dental procedure, we now know that mercury fillings slowly leech mercury and mercury vapour, which can cause a multitude of symptoms related to the digestive system, nervous system, circulatory system, and reproductive system. It can damage the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and virtually every other organ in the body. It can also cause severe muscle and joint pain and lead to debilitating conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, and multiple sclerosis.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that this experiment is slowly but surely ruining people’s health, many dental offices still endorse the use of mercury fillings, and worse, many people believe and trust their dentist who says they are safe enough to continue using!

As long as this mentality continues, humans will continue to serve as guinea pigs while we continue to learn how deadly mercury can be, especially when placed directly in the mouth.

Fluoridated Water

Sickeningly enough, water fluoridation began in the mid-1940’s as a solution to fluoride pollution created by the Atomic Bomb Program and the aluminum industry. Since this chemical waste had to be disposed of, it was placed in the water supply to dilute it then “sold” to dentists and the masses as a preventative to tooth decay.

I know! Mind blowing, right?

Related: What’s the Best Water for Detoxifying and For Drinking?

Even more ridiculous is the notion that this mass poisoning strategy has been heralded as one of the top 10 greatest public health achievements in the 20th century and is still in effect today despite overwhelming evidence that it not only doesn’t help with tooth decay, but can cause significant health problems.

Most are not even aware that fluoride is a drug that severely damages the brain and thyroid. With it being added to municipal water supplies that reach nearly 211 million Americans, it is quite possibly the most widespread concern of our time. As of 2012, more than 67% of Americans received fluoridated water, while most other countries ban its use.

So how can water authorities be allowed to add a drug that is known to cause health side effects directly into your drinking water?

Add this to the things that make you go “hmmmm”.

Chemotherapy

With toxins permeating our lifestyles at an increasing rate along with consumption of a nutrient and antioxidant deficient diet, diseases like cancer have risen exponentially over the last few decades. Well meaning charity events and researchers have drummed up millions of dollars to find a drug to put an end to this epidemic, but alas, it’s all for naught. We’ll never find a real cure by searching for a drug that uses the same toxic strategy that caused the illness.

Chemotherapy has been used for decades as the premiere cancer killing protocol, but few have fully realized that this “kill all” approach is akin to burning down your house when you find out you have a rat infestation. Certainly, it will get rid of the rats, but then you are left with nothing but rubble. Now you have to try and rebuild –  if you’ve survived the devastation of the fire itself.

To add insult to this widely accepted therapy, research has suggested that when chemotherapy damages healthy cells, they secrete a protein that actually accelerates the growth of cancer tumours! So now, not only have you destroyed your body and severely weakened your immune system, you are left with a new fight with nothing in your arsenal except more of the same poison that ruined your body in the first place.

Related: How to Detoxify From Chemotherapy and Repair the Body 

With this treatment leaving a trail of dead participants and many others who can be akin to “the walking dead”, it is truly baffling that this experiment is still widely accepted and even honoured as the go-to treatment for those with cancer.

Vaccinations

The vaccine debate is one of the most hotly contested issues of our time, and it’s no surprise since it most commonly involves the lives of our precious children. This debate has many points and nuances to consider, and many of them are covered in the articles of Organic Lifestyle Magazine.

However, no matter how deep you want to go into this debate, it is impossible to ignore the fact that diseases such as autism have dramatically increased as the number of  vaccines given at an early age increased. This direct correlation is undeniable to anyone paying attention. The fact that as many as 44 chemicals, excipients, preservatives, and fillers have been identified (such as aluminum, animal tissues and organs, formaldehyde, gelatine, thimerosal, and MSG) as ingredients in vaccines, it makes a person wonder how anyone can believe these injections are risk free. These obnoxious ingredients are very problematic for a grown adult with a mature immune system to detoxify, let alone a newborn baby with a very delicate and developing immune system!

So how does the medical mafia respond to this risky situation? With more vaccines, of course! To the tune of 3-4 times more than we had 30 years ago. All this while we continue to ignore the lack of studies that support the effectiveness of vaccinations and outright refute research that shows that major declines in life-threatening disease we are being vaccinated for were already in major declines before these vaccination efforts.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Although the debate continues over the safety and efficacy of the current vaccine ingredients and schedule, those who have been directly affected and can read between the lines are seeing that this is the most dangerous experiment of our time because it directly affects the next generation (our children) and their ability to carry on healthy and productive lives. The fate of the human race is at stake here!

I suggest you do more research on all of these areas, and not just from “trusted” government and corporate sources. Use your common sense, open your mind, and dare to let logic infiltrate your brain. It just might save you from any future dangerous experiments planned for our already sickly human race.

Oh, and one last thing. If all these efforts are so brilliant, and these are in actuality beneficial practices, why is the population getting exponentially sicker and not better?

Connect the dots, folks. Connect the dots. Check out Two Ways Dental Work Destroys Your Health and How to Repair the Damage and Signs of Mercury Poisoning – Healing the Body, and be sure to check out the Further Reading below.

Sources and Related Reading:

• Mercury Fillings, Root Canals, Cavitations – What You Need to Know
• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children
• How to Detoxify From Chemotherapy and Repair the Body
• Why Water Fluoridation Continues, Despite Flying In the Face of Science
• Top 5 Hospital Procedures That Are Doing More Harm Than Good

How many of these nutrient dense foods have you incorporated into your diet?

Seaweed

Vegetables that are found in the sea contain essential omega 3 fatty acids, which can be great for your body. From combatting heart disease to strengthening your bones, the calcium, zinc and iron packed into seaweed will boost your day-to-day fitness – as well as keep your body healthy over longer periods of time. Seaweed is commonly used as an addition to sushi but, if you’re looking for other ways to get it into your diet, there are plenty of exciting recipes to try out – including some delicious snacks!

Recipe Idea: Seaweed Crisps

Ingredients

• 12 nori seaweed sheets
• ¼ cup of water
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 275°F/140°C. Place nori seaweed sheets on a baking tray and sprinkle with water, adding another layer of nori each time. Use scissors to cut the sheets into your preferred shapes and sizes. Mix the garlic and sesame oil together in a bowl – adding salt and pepper to taste. Gently rub the mixture across the seaweed crisps and bake for around 20 minutes for a delicious snack you can enjoy any time of the day.

Coconut Oil

Many people are put off from incorporating coconut oil into their diets because they’re concerned about the calories it contains, but not all calories are created equal. By restricting your intake, you could be depriving your body of essential nutrients found in more calorific foods. Coconut oil can be used for just about anything. From adding it to a stir-fry to give your noodles an extra kick to injecting some flavour into your chicken satay, the options are limitless.

Recipe Idea: Protein Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 banana
• Handful of blueberries
• 30g oats
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 tbsp. flaxseed
• 1 tsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp of water

Instructions

Chop up the banana and add the flaxseeds, peanut butter, water and oats to a mixer and blend until creamy. Set your frying pan to medium heat and add the coconut oil. Pour in the mixture and cook for one minute on each side. Serve with blueberries for a quick, easy and protein-packed breakfast.

Chia Seeds

Noted as being one of the most healthy foods around, chia seeds are packed with fibre, fat, and protein – among many other healthy nutrients. Like blueberries, chia seeds contain antioxidants, which help to fight off diseases. If you’re looking for healthier after-dinner options, try baking some flapjacks and adding pumpkin and chia seeds for a delicious dessert alternative.

Recipe Idea: No Cook Peanut Butter Dip

Ingredients

• 1 pot Greek yoghurt
• 2-3 tbsps. peanut butter
• 2 tbsps. chia seeds
• 2-3 tbsps. honey

Instructions

Pour Greek yoghurt into a bowl and mix in peanut butter and honey, adding chia seeds as you go. Serve with fruit and use as a dip for a tasty after-dinner treat.

Açai Berries

When it comes to antioxidants, berries are among the best foods around. Açai berries are packed with fibre that’s proven to aid digestion. These berries also contain oleic acid, which is a healthy fat thought to combat heart disease. Açai berries are highly perishable – but you can mix them with other fruits to make tasty juices or shakes, which you can refrigerate.

Recipe Idea: No Cook Açai Berry Truffles

Ingredients

• ½ cup dried açai powder
• 1 tbsp. almond butter
• 2 tbsp. cacao powder
• 2 tbsp. palm sugar
• 1 ½ tbsp. coconut oil
• 8 dates
• 1 small plate of desiccated coconut

Instructions

Add all of the ingredients to a blender and mix until you’re left with a doughy texture. Roll individual balls to a size of your choice and refrigerate. Once chilled, roll in a plate of desiccated coconut to dust and serve as a decadent dessert.

Avocados

Loaded with nutritional values, the avocado has a number of proven health benefits. Avocados are packed with vitamins K, C, and E – among others – and are extremely low in saturated fat. Avocados are an acquired taste – but try mashing up a ripe avocado and mixing in lemon juice and black pepper to make a tasty dip for your snacks.

Recipe Idea: Avocado Baked Eggs

Ingredients

• 1 avocado
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. chives
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to.425°F/220°C. Half the avocado and remove the pit. Place both halves into oven-proof bowls and crack an egg into each half. Bake for around 15 minutes. Finely chop the chives and sprinkle on top, adding salt and pepper to taste, for a healthy, hearty breakfast.

Staying healthy doesn’t have to be about implementing strict diets or spending all of your time in the gym. By mixing some superfoods into your daily diet, you can put your body on the path to a healthier 2016.

Recommended Reading:

• 35 Things You Could Do With Coconut Oil – From Body Care toHousehold
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases
  
• Total Nutrition – Make your own Homemade Multivitamin and Mineral Formula

According to a study of the Harvard Medical School, eating more fresh vegetables, a simple improvement in your diet, can have a tangible effect on your health. Here are a few great vegetables to boost your immune system and a couple of food combos that will enhance their flavour:

Asparagus

Nutrition Facts

Asparagus has plenty of folate, dietary fibre, and iron. The greenery contains selenium, which decreases the risk of bladder, colon, breast, rectum, prostate, and lung cancer. A serving, 242 g of asparagus, provides 74% of the required daily intake of vitamin C and 25% of iron.

How To Cook It

To avoid losing flavour and the nourishing elements of the asparagus, you should not overcook it. Steam for 3 minutes or bake 10 to 15 minutes in the oven at 400 F (204 C). If you prefer, you can also cook asparagus on the barbeque and sprinkle with a few drops of balsamic vinegar.

What Works with Asparagus

The greenery goes well with steak or chicken, as well as with prosciutto, bacon, ham, mint, lemon, toasted almonds and Parmesan cheese. You can also add it to a quiche, risotto, or pasta to give the dish unique earthy undertones.

Almost Raw Asparagus Mango Salad Recipe

Spinach

Nutrition Facts

Spinach is low in saturated fat and cholesterol while it is rich in zinc. It is known for fostering the immune system and speeding up the healing processes in your body. Spinach is also a good source of protein, dietary fibre, folate, iron, and magnesium. In a single serving of 30 g, you get 56% of the required daily intake of vitamin A and 14% of vitamin C.

 

How To Cook It

You can use raw spinach in salads or steam it for a few minutes. You can also sauté the greenery for several minutes or roast it for 10 minutes. It is important to rinse it well before using it in your meals to remove dirt and grit.

What Works With Spinach

You can pair the leafy greenery with butter, cream, bacon, cheese, eggs, garlic, onions, mushrooms, red pepper flakes, anchovies, pine nuts, nutmeg, olive oil, sesame oil, salt, and soy sauce.

Raw Spinach Basil Soup Recipe

Rhubarb

Nutrition facts

Rhubarb is great for your bones and proper organ functioning because of its high vitamin C levels (10% of the daily value per 122g serving size). The vegetable is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. According to expert gardeners and herbalists, it can also relieve women’s hot flashes.

How To Cook It

Although you can eat it raw with a little sugar sprinkled on it, it is generally cooked with other ingredients, most often fruits to enhance their taste. Rhubarb is used for pie fillings, baked sauces, jellies, jams, muffins, cakes, and other desserts.

What Works With Rhubarb

To balance the sour flavour of this vegetable, combine it with sweet fruits such as strawberries. For savoury dishes, you can combine rhubarb with beets, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, or serve it as a sauce for meats and fish.

Beets

Nutrition facts

Beetroot contains a considerable amount of potassium, folate, and vitamin C can and have very few calories (around 50 per cup). However, large portion of the calories in the vegetable come from sugar.

How To Cook It

Baking and oven-roasting are wonderful ways to bring up the natural sweetness of the beets. You can use it raw in salads with some carrots, raisins and sweet dressing or add it in a stew or soup.

What Works With Beets

You can go with the classic combination of beets and goat cheese, especially if the vegetable is slightly older and flavourful. Orange or lemon juice will highlight its flavour. Other complementary herbs and foods are beef, bacon, smoked fish, apples, cheese, cream, chestnuts, honey, cinnamon, vinegar, and vinaigrette. Believe it or not, chocolate and beetroot are a match made in heaven.

Radishes

Nutrition facts

The crunchy, tasteful, and inexpensive superfood, which can be easily grown in your own garden, is full of vitamin C and almost zero calories. Ten radishes contain only 8 calories, and their sharpness will refresh your entire body in a minute.

How To Cook It

Radishes are usually included raw in meals, but they can be cooked just like other vegetables. You can toss them in the pan with some butter, chives, or other herbs that you use for your gardening project and season with pepper and salt. Radishes are great for braising, because they easily absorb the rich flavour of the braising liquid and get sweet and juicy.

What Works With Radishes

Radishes pair deliciously with creamy cheese, quinoa, faro, butter, onions, and citrus fruit. If you are looking for a lighter alternative to potatoes, try braised radishes with your meat or vegetable stew.

For more homesteading ideas and gardening techniques check the Skilful Gardeners Blog.

Editor’s Note: I eat every one of these vegetables raw in my daily salads. For my recipe, check out Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included.

Further Reading:

• The Benefits of Root Vegetables – Recipes Included
• Almost Raw Asparagus Mango Salad Recipe
• 80% Raw Food Diet
• Spinach

Sources:

• University of Illinois
• All Recipes

If we ever wanted to see the end of a piece of legislation, it would be the DARK Act. If you are not familiar with it, this legislation is aimed at taking away our right to know what we are eating. States will not be able to legislate GMO labeling. The DARK Act completely blocks efforts to label genetically modified foods.

What it’s really all about is big business, corruption, and empty biotech promises and lies.

Big Business

This may seem a little off topic, but this fact about big business is really interesting. According to the Small Business Administration, as of 2010, the United States was home to 27.9 million small businesses and only 18,500 large businesses. In this case, a large business is defined as a business employing 500 or more employees. Yes, that’s right; 99.7% of the businesses in the United States are small businesses with 500 or fewer employees. So how and why do these few businesses carry so much weight and influence?

Corruption?

What else could it be other than corruption and payoffs? Why would our elected officials, whose sworn duty is to serve the people they represent, be so hell bent on ignoring the rights and wishes of the American people? Why do they want federal legislation that denies the rights of Americans to know what they are eating and what they are feeding their children?

Do they really think biotech is the answer to world hunger when other countries are seeing through the propaganda and lies and realizing that genetically modified crops are not the panacea they are purported to be. In addition, they are contaminating other crops (heirloom, organic, indigenous) as containment is impossible. (Who can control the wind and the birds?)

According to the Center for Food Safety, here are the results of recent polls of the American people:

When	Who Conducted the Poll?	Pro Mandatory Labeling
11/23/15	The Mellman Group, Inc.	89%
6/9/2014	Consumer Reports	92%
07/27/13	New York Times	93%
2/25/11	MSNBC	96%
10/10	Reuters and NPR	93%
9/17/10	Washington Post	95%
9/21/10	KSTP – St. Paul/Minneapolis	95%

Biotech

They keep telling us genetically modified foods are safe, that fear of them is unscientific and frankly stupid. We know better.

Common sense tells us that growing and eating a food genetically modified to kill life (insects, infection, microbes), or modified to be able to withstand being drenched in chemicals designed to kill, not to mentiona all of the other agricultural poisons (that we end up eating) is not smart. Add to that the fact that the chemicals used to grow these plants are destroying farmlands, and it is a no brainer.

We don’t even need the studies showing us that GMOs cause cancer and reproductive failure in lab animals to know this is a bad, bad idea. And yes, these studies do exist. And yes, the biotech companies know they exist. That’s why they do short term studies to “prove” their products are safe and pretend the long-term studies that reveal the real and present dangers don’t exist.

What Can We Do?

On March 1, 2016, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry again revived the DARK Act by voting on legislation, which is now headed to the full Senate. The bipartisan vote was 14-6 in favor.

This piece of legislation “…directs the Agriculture Secretary, in coordination with other federal agencies, to engage in a consumer education and outreach effort. Information will be science-based and related to environmental, nutritional, economic, and humanitarian benefits of agricultural biotechnology.”

While vague, its purpose is to strike down any attempts by individual states to require GMO labeling for food sold in their state. It claims biotech foods are safe and that this is simply an expensive marketing issue. (With a clear message that the American people are deranged and uninformed).

Tell your elected officials how you feel. Tell them that you don’t care that the World Health Organization claims GMOs are safe or that the Senate committee thinks they are safe. You still deserve the right to choose. We don’t need to be in the dark. Turn on the light. Label GMOs.

Related Reading:

• Understanding and Detoxifying Genetically Modified Foods
• Scientists Against GMOs – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• Doctors Against GMOs – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• How to Detoxify From Antibiotics and Other Chemical Antimicrobials
• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Sources:

• U.S. Polls on GE Food Labeling – Center for Food Safety
• Senate Agriculture Committee Passes Chairman’s Mark on Biotechnology Labeling Solutions – United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry

One of the biggest lies ever told is that vaccines eradicated disease; improved sanitation eradicated disease. This lie is the big falsehood upon which many other myths are propagated. When lies are repeated enough, they come to be taken as the truth.

…in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.” -Adolf Hitler

Though the pharmaceutical industry can fool most of the people most of the time, they cannot fool all of the people all of the time. As Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “No lie can live forever.”

Truth has a way of winning out when given enough time, but time is not a luxury all of us can afford, not with mandatory vaccinations looming. Some of the greatest deceptions have spanned centuries. In every generation, there are people said to have been “ahead of their time.” In hindsight, we honor the most notable historical figures that helped to unravel the delusions under which progress faltered. Racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, superstitions, and other forms of abject ignorance have taken centuries to fade away, these and other illusions die hard. There are still thousands of people who ardently believe the earth is flat, and just as absurd, there are thousands of people who still believe that the sun orbits the earth.

The majority of people believe that the anti-vaccine movement is regressive and not progressive. Pro-vaccine propaganda, propped up by government mandates and CDC recommendations has come to dominate popular opinion. Most people have come to believe these myths and have internalized them. In order for us to get to the truth, we must first absolve others and ourselves of these delusions.

Vaccines are Safe

Like all pharmaceuticals, vaccines can have potentially devastating side effects. Adverse reactions can and often are far more serious than the diseases they are intended to prevent. Your chance of dying from measles with modern healthcare is nearly zero, and yet hundreds have died from the MMR vaccine.¹

Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, testified before Congress that the mass immunizations aimed at eradicating polio caused most of the polio cases since 1961. How can the polio vaccine be safe or effective when it causes the disease it is intended to prevent?²

In a bad year, India has fewer than a thousand cases of polio. In fact, India was certified polio-free in 2014 and hasn’t had a case of polio in three years.³ In their efforts to eradicate polio in India, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s mass immunization campaign permanently crippled well over 50,000 children. It could take more than a century for polio to cause the kind of devastation this polio immunization campaign caused. These are not the results of a safe practice.⁴

Vaccines Are Effective

There is a saying that no vaccine is 100% effective. This saying implies that vaccines are close to this number, but in truth, vaccines are not tested for effectiveness at all. If a vaccine generates antibodies, it is considered effective; however, antibody generation does not equate to a numerical percentage of disease prevention. One of the best indicators of vaccine ineffectiveness is that the same vaccines are given over and over again. If a vaccine guaranteed immunity, why would it have to be given again? Vaccination carries with it serious risk of injury, including death. If you’re going to bet your life on it, wouldn’t you want the vaccine to actually work?⁵

Our immune systems rely on far more than just antibodies to fight pathogens. An individual dying of AIDS has no shortage of antibodies in their blood; their body produces vast numbers of antibodies and yet that doesn’t keep them alive when their white T-cells have been decimated by the HIV virus. Antibodies aren’t everything. Just because vaccines generate antibodies, that doesn’t mean they are effective.

Your Doctor Knows More About Vaccines Than You Do

No doubt your doctor has strong opinions about vaccination; but do they know anything about them? Probably not. The science of immunology, virology, or advanced toxicology is not taught to most medical students. If anything about vaccines is taught, only one side of the scientific debate about vaccines is ever presented to medical students.⁶

If you ask the average medical doctor about MRC-Cells, WI-38 Cells, vaccine adjuvants, or vaccine court, you will probably be met with deafening silence. Doctors are typically profoundly ignorant about immunizations. If you spend ten minutes researching vaccine ingredients, you are likely to know more about vaccines than your doctor. If you read a vaccine insert, you are likely to know more about vaccines than your doctor. If you spend five minutes speaking to a naturopathic or homeopathic doctor or even a chiropractor, you will find that they know far more about vaccines than your conventional medical doctor.⁷

Mercury Was Removed From Vaccines

This actually never happened. Mercury was removed from some vaccines and replaced with aluminum. Other vaccines, like the flu shot, still contain mercury under the name thimerosal. Thimerosal is 49% ethyl mercury. Mercury is 1,000 times more toxic than lead, and it is still present in a number of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals.⁸

If You Are Vaccinated and Get a Vaccine Preventable Disease, You Will Catch a Milder Case of the Illness Due to Having Been Vaccinated

Actually, if you were vaccinated and then caught the disease, you either caught it from the vaccination itself, or if time passed, the vaccine failed and you caught it from someone else who had been recently vaccinated and was shedding the disease.

There is no evidence to suggest that injecting the body with toxins and pathogens makes our immune system stronger, but there is a growing body of evidence that suggests the highly vaccinated are more vulnerable to both chronic and acute diseases.

Vaccine Manufacturers are Held Accountable for Vaccine Injuries

In 1986, the Childhood Vaccine Injury Act made vaccine manufacturers immune from all liability due to vaccines. Instead of holding the manufacturers accountable, vaccines are taxed, and these taxes go to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.⁹ In order to receive compensation for vaccine injury, one must win in Vaccine Court. Vaccine Court is a rigged system of compensation designed to protect the vaccine industry and deny claims brought forth by parents and family members of dead and crippled children and adults. There is a better than 80% chance that a claim will be denied by vaccine court. If claims are paid out, compensation rarely covers medical expenses. If a vaccine kills, the maximum payout is $250,000.¹⁰ Isn’t human life worth more than a quarter of a million dollars?

Adverse reactions to vaccines can also result in agonizing, rare, exotic, and crippling diseases. A few examples of these are Guillain Barre Syndrome (an immune disorder in which the body attacks the nervous system), Transverse Myelitis (a neurological disorder which can result in paralysis, urinary retention, and loss of bowel control), Miller Fisher Syndrome (which can result in respiratory failure, abnormal muscle coordination, and a myriad of other symptoms) and Intussusception (which is caused by the intestine being pulled inward, onto itself, which can be fatal, and it is always excruciating).¹¹

The payouts awarded by vaccine court vary on a case-by-case basis. When considering how miserable these diseases make people, and how expensive treatment is, one would think the compensation would be greater. The following payouts were advertised by Maglio, Christopher, and Toale, P.A.:¹²

• From 2010 through 2015, this law firm won 11 cases that included death. The smallest payout was $100,000 and the largest payout was $400,000. The average payout was $218,792.50. Cases with a payout over $250,000 included payment for injuries as well.
• From January through November 2015, this law firm won 46 cases that included Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). The smallest payout for GBS was $60,000 and the largest payout was $807,000. The average payout was $215,829.70.
• From January through November 2015, this law firm won 6 cases related to Transverse Myelitis. The smallest payout was $85,000 and the largest payout was $537,500. The average payout was $184,750.
• From January through November 2015, this law firm won 2 cases related to Miller Fisher Syndrome. Each had a payout of $125,000.
• From January through November 2015, this law firm won 1 case related to Intussusception. It was awarded an annuity totaling $58,106 to be paid over four years as well as an additional lump sum of $10,221.19 to cover a Kentucky Medicaid lien.

The Anti-Vaccine Movement is a Fad

Objections to inoculation and vaccination have been around for as long as inoculation and vaccination have been practiced. Typically, when we hear the term conscientious objector we think of someone who is opposed to military service during wartime. Centuries ago, the term referred to someone who was opposed to getting inoculated, or getting their children inoculated. The anti-vaccine movement is an old movement, and it is not going away. We will not be silenced, and we know the truth is on our side. We know it is only a matter of time before the truth about vaccines is known by the majority of people, not just by a select few who have taken the time to do the research.¹³

The Internet is Full of Misinformation Regarding Vaccines

Have you heard this tired cliché, “Don’t believe everything you see on the Internet”? Actually this is sound advice, but you shouldn’t believe everything you see on TV either, or everything you read in books, everything your doctor tells you, or even everything you read in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Misinformation is everywhere. Falsehoods, half-truths, and outright lies are not solely limited to the Internet.

An informed opinion demands familiarity with both sides of an issue. No one, not even your doctor will ever care about your health or your children’s health as much as you do. Both sides of the vaccine debate are easily accessible via the Internet. Even anti-vaxxers agree that the Internet is full of misinformation about vaccines.

Misinformation abounds everywhere, especially on websites like the CDC, FDA, and NIH. The truth is out there for those willing to go and find it. A good place to start is to look up vaccine ingredients. Isn’t it a good idea to know what is being injected in you or your children?

The Unvaccinated Spread Disease to the Vaccinated

This lie spread by vaccine manufacturers is another believed and repeated by so many only because they’ve heard it so often. Infectious disease is typically spread by person-to-person contact. A healthy individual doesn’t spread disease; sick people do. Rarely, there are cases of those who are disease carriers, individuals who exhibit no symptoms, but are capable of spreading disease. There is no evidence to suggest that if these individuals were vaccinated, that this would happen less often. On the contrary, it is the recently vaccinated who spread disease through viral shedding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kp7oUvEYGQ

Yes, viral shedding is a real hazard.¹⁴ The recently vaccinated often spread the very disease that the vaccine is intended to protect against. When this happens, the unvaccinated are typically blamed for the outbreak. A good example is the recent Disneyland measles “epidemic”.¹⁵

If there is no vaccine for the strain of the virus responsible for the outbreak, the same tactic is used: blame the unvaccinated. In the absence of television advertisements, every major or minor disease outbreak engenders free marketing. Despite high vaccination rates, it is the unvaccinated who are blamed for disease.

This blame is assigned by the mainstream media outlets whose bills are paid by Big Pharma. Defying all logic, the public is told that vaccines can only work if everyone is vaccinated.¹⁶ Considering how interconnected the world is these days, even if everyone in our respective country of origin were to be vaccinated there would still be unvaccinated foreigners traveling people would encounter, and the gullible could place blame upon strangers in strange lands for spreading disease. The fight for 100% worldwide vaccination is unattainable, so there will always be scapegoats.

Scientists and Doctors Agree that Vaccination is the Best Defense Against Infectious Diseases

Another myth perpetuated by the mainstream media and Big Pharma is that there is a consensus among scientists and medical professionals that vaccines are the best protection available against disease. In actuality, there is no consensus. Vaccination is hotly debated by doctors and scientists, especially those who actually study vaccination.¹⁷ When it’s Mom and Dad against the world, anti-vaxxers are framed by the mainstream media as anti-science.

In order for science to progress, competing scientific explanations must be evaluated on their own merits, not dismissed or accepted based upon their initial popularity in the scientific community. There are, in fact, so many doctors and scientists opposed to vaccines that we have produced an ongoing series of articles giving voice to their expert opinions.¹⁸ We are unlikely to ever run out of new experts we can draw upon to continue this series. Obviously, there are more than a handful of experts opposed to vaccination.

Conclusion

One cannot eradicate diseases by way of immunization. Injecting pathogens and toxins into the bloodstream bypasses the body’s natural defenses, and leaves us more vulnerable to injury and death than natural exposure to the disease ever could. When we are intimidated into vaccinating because diseases like measles used to kill people, we aren’t being given all the relevant facts. Measles are unlikely to kill anyone these days due to modern medical care. It’s true that antibiotics are useless against viral infections, but when someone is battling measles, they are more vulnerable to secondary infections, like pneumonia. It is another modern day myth that the measles vaccine saves lives. Your chances of dying from measles is nearly zero. The same cannot be said of the measles vaccine.

There are many myths surrounding vaccines. They will continue to be perpetuated until those of us who are in the know challenge them wherever and whenever we hear them. The best defense against lies is the truth, and the best defense against bad ideas are better ideas. In the absence of truthful reporting, it is up to us to be the media before vaccine hysteria spreads ever further though vaccine mandates. If we cannot be deceived, we are to be coerced – that is until we can shed light upon these vaccination myths. If you’ve recently been vaccinated, or may be getting immunized soon, check out How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children.

Related Reading:

• Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• Vaccines, Retroviruses, DNA, and the Discovery That Destroyed  Judy Mikovits’ Career
• How Plumbing (Not Vaccines) Eradicated Disease
• The MMR Vaccine – A Comprehensive Overview of the Potential Dangers and Effectiveness

Sources:

1. Can Measles Vaccine Cause Injury & Death? – National Vaccine Information Center   ↩
2. The Polio Vaccine Myth: ‘The Vaccine Stopped Polio’ – Collective Evolution
   Updates on CDC’s Polio Eradication Efforts – CDC   ↩
3. Bill Gates’ Vaccine Program Caused 47,500 Cases of Paralysis Death – NSNBC   ↩
4. Voodoo Science: The Myth of Vaccine Efficacy – Age of Autism   ↩
5. Doctors Learn to Talk Vaccines – Wall Street Journal   ↩
6. Vaccines: What Your Doctors Know and Don’t Know – Vactruth   ↩
7. Ten Lies Told About Mercury in Vaccines – Trace Amounts   ↩
8. Supreme Court vaccine ruling: parents can’t sue drug makers for kids’ health problems – CBS News   ↩
9. History of Anti-Vaccination Movements – History of Vaccines   ↩
10. Studies Show That Vaccinated Individuals Spread Disease – Weston A. Price   ↩
11. Journalist Infuriates Readers While Reporting on Massachusetts Whooping Cough Outbreak – Inquistr   ↩
12. Pertussis Outbreak Among Vaccinated Preschoolers Raises Alarm – Medscape   ↩
13. Doctors Against Vaccines – Organic Lifestyle Magazine   ↩
14. Scientists Against Vaccines – Organic Lifestyle Magazine   ↩
15. Hitler and the ‘Big Lie’ – The Holocaust Historiography Project   ↩
16. FAQ- Topic: Vaccine Injury Compensation – National Vaccine Information Center   ↩
17. Disorder Index – National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
    Our Firm’s Vaccine Case Results – Maglio, Christopher, & Toale, P.A.   ↩

Cacao growers are facing climate fluctuations along with a growing list of diseases and pests that attack their crops. While the Foundation for a Sustainable Cocoa Economy is on the case (breeding new varieties of cacao and looking for locations that will still be able to sustain cacao production, in say, twenty years), no one knows if they’ll be able to meet the world’s ever expanding demand. What’s going to happen when we run out of chocolate? Will we replace chocolate with carob?

Carob Is Sustainable

Humankind’s long, exciting history with chocolate makes carob seem like the quiet, reliable but less dangerous, less sexy option. It is, but it is also a sustainable one.

Carob is a hardy legume originating in the Mediterranean that can stand temperatures as low as 20°F. Unlike chocolate, carob doesn’t contain caffeine or theobromine. There are few pests that affect it, so it is not likely to be treated with pesticides. Though carob does need to be dried, unlike chocolate, it doesn’t need to be fermented, which further limits its contact with animals and insects.

Perhaps the most important feature of the carob plant is its drought-resistance. Cacao is a water-hungry plant that needs nearly eighty inches of rainfall a year. Regions close to the equator where cacao grows are experiencing drier conditions as climate change evolves, making cacao a less sustainable crop as water resources decline. In contrast, carob requires roughly 20 inches of rain a year, and that’s only to produce fruit. A mature tree can survive drought conditions for years. Multiple signs are pointing to water being the most precious resource in the near future. Shifting our dependence to crops that are less water-intensive is critical.

It Doesn’t Have All of Those Pesky Human Rights Issues

Carob also beats chocolate on human rights. Recent investigations into chocolate production on the Ivory Coast found evidence of continued human rights abuse with 12,000 children smuggled in and made victims of modern slavery. The average carob product is much less labor intensive and more frequently farmed in countries with better-regulated labor laws. It is always more likely to be fair-trade.

Nutrition

Sugar is energy, and we’re biologically wired to want it. But all forms of sugar are not equal, and too much of it and many of the modern forms of it combine to feed Candida and cause other damage. Carob pulp is about 50 percent sugars and while gorging yourself on it isn’t recommended, the naturally occurring sugars benefit greatly from carob’s fiber content, which slows down the absorption of said sugars. This sugar content also has the side benefit of lowering the amount of added sugar needed to make carob palatable.

Carob contains a rich array of nutrients. Like chocolate, carob has significant antioxidant activity, but carob has three times more calcium. It’s also a good source of B vitamins, vitamin A, potassium, magnesium, and trace minerals like iron and manganese. It also serves as a protein source.

In natural medicine, carob’s levels of pectin and tannin help stop serious cases of diarrhea. Its antioxidant profile has also been effective in helping lower cholesterol, and some studies suggest carob is capable of attacking cervical cancer cells.

So Why We Aren’t Clamoring for Carob?

Short Answer? It’s not chocolate.

Carob’s natural sweetness actually plays against it in the taste category, as the bitterness found in chocolate gives it a stronger and more varied flavor profile. Chocolate also contains more fat, another food stuff we find hard to resist.

While linking carob with chocolate does garner some positive press, it also creates carob’s biggest obstacle. Carob and chocolate are most often a sweet treat, they are combined with like ingredients, they are usually the same color, and they do have a similar taste.  However, anyone biting into carob expecting it to taste just like chocolate will be disappointed and forever think of it as an inadequate substitute. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Reframe the Situation

So, it’s not chocolate. If you’re able to separate carob from chocolate, carob can be a satisfying treat. It’s great in homemade energy bites, desserts, and even smoothies. Keep an open mind and try it. You just might have a new favorite sweet snack. Here’s a recipe to get you started.

Carob Coconut Rough Slice

Makes 16-20 single-serve squares

This recipe, Carob Coconut Rough Slice, from Be Good Organics, is used with permission. All of the items listed for the recipe can be purchased from their site.  Always use certified organic ingredients whenever possible.

Base Ingredients

• 1c almonds (soaked 8 hrs or overnight, rinsed and well drained)
• 1/2c raw carob powder
• 1c dates (soaked for a few hours then drained – save the water to use as sweetener in your hot drinks or in a smoothie)
• 2c desiccated coconut
• 3/4c virgin coconut oil, melted but cool
• pinch organic sea salt

Chewy Topping

• 1/2c cashews
• 1/3c raw carob powder
• 8 medjool dates, pitted
• 1/4c virgin coconut oil, melted but cool
• c = 250ml cup, tbsp = 15ml tablespoon, tsp = 5ml teaspoon

Instructions

1. Add almonds to a high-speed food processor or blender, and blend until fine.
2. Add the carob powder and salt and blend again.
3. Now add the dates one by one while the machine is running (through the hole in the top), until fully combined.
4. Remove from the processor into a bowl, then mix in the coconut.
5. Finally mix in the coconut oil until well combined.
6. Pour into a glass or metal tin lined with a square of baking paper and press down until really firmly packed – then place in the freezer to set.
7. Now for the topping, add the cashews to your food processor and blend until they become a fine powder. Add the carob powder until mixed, then one by one while the motor is running add your medjool dates.
8. Make sure your second measure of coconut oil is melted but well cooled (not warm, or it will separate). Add to the processor until the mixture becomes one big gooey ball.
9. Take the base out of the freezer, press the topping down on top of the base and smooth over. Place back in the freezer for about an hour until set, then remove, slice, and store in the freezer or fridge.

This will last a couple of weeks in the fridge. If you want it to last longer (or you have limited self-control), it will also keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Raw Vegan Carob Brownie

Recommended Reading:

• Cinnamon – Ceylon Vs Cassia, Health Benefits, and Other Interesting Facts
• Powerfully Healing Raspberry Cream Smoothie Recipe
• 80% Raw Food Diet

Sources:

• Carob: Better Than Chocolate – Gilead Institute
• Carob vs. Cacao – Live Strong
• Carob Health Medicine – Medical Health Guide