Monthly Archives: January 2012

Go! Kombucha
Kombucha is a culture that ‘digests’ complex sugars and produces a drink full of live enzymes, probiotics and nutrients.  When I looked at recipes for making it, I quickly decided not to try because it seems complicated and far too much trouble for someone of leisurely inclination.  But since the nice people at Go! Kombucha have already done the hard work for me, I had a taste and…zing!  It has a refreshing tongue-tingling tanginess, reminiscent of cider with a slightly vinegary bite.  But unlike cider, it has some very cool benefits.

Kombucha is nice to sip in the evening as a healthier alternative to a glass of wine, and I imagine it would be lovely on a summer’s day.  It is described as ‘effervescent’ but don’t expect it to come foaming out of the bottle like cola, it’s much more subtle.  Very similar to kefir in both its taste and its benefits – although sugar is used in the making, it is safe for candida sufferers and those of a sensitive disposition sugar-wise.  In fact it’s apparently a good anti-candida drink.  It provides a useful probiotic and enzyme boost, has vitamins and minerals in it (and anyway is more fun than taking a pill).  Tastes even better with a bit of fresh ginger grated into it, and also yummers with a squirt and/or a slice of fresh lime.  For a tall drink, I’d dilute it with sparkling spring water because you don’t need much - a serving should be about the same as a glass of wine.  We’re told it’s unwise to overdo it when you’re not used to it, presumably because there’d be an uncomfortably thorough cleaning-out effect.  So like wine, one bottle should get you six glasses.

One really excellent benefit that I haven’t seen written up in the product info is kombucha’s ability to kill 99% of sweet cravings dead.  If sweeties are your downfall, I highly recommend it.  I heard Truth Calkins talking about drinking a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a little water to kill sweet cravings, and wondered if kombucha would do the same thing.  Well, I can report that it does, very effectively.  Which means I might be able to stick to my New Year raw chocolate rationing pledge after all.

Recently, there was a lot of negative press surrounding the product Adya Clarity. This was a product that had suddenly become very popular, the new "must have" detoxification tool, that we imported from America.

Our aim at Raw Living is to make the raw lifestyle as easy and accessible to you as we possibly can. If a product is in demand, naturally we will make efforts to source it so we can offer it to you; we source a lot of American products and make it easier for people in Europe to obtain them. But we do not hype anything up or do any kind of heavy sales approach. If we are particularly enjoying a product, we like to share that with you, and hope it will assist you in your decision making process when selecting what to purchase, but generally we steer clear of pushing anything onto you, believing it is better if you decide for yourself what resonates with you and what you feel drawn to.

(As a sidenote, it fascinates me to see what people order. We have hundreds of products in the store, and I love that one person will buy a dozen kale chips and ten chocolate bars, while another only wants medicinal mushroom powders. You can tell a lot about a person by what they put in their Raw Living shopping basket!).

Adya Clarity is not something we had used ourselves a lot, but obviously we believed it to be a good product. When all the furore happened, we had no choice but to remove it from stock, until we could ascertain what the truth was about the product. Personally, I couldn't understand how a product that was so popular could fall from grace so quickly. Wasn't the point about Adya that endless people were coming up with positive testimonials of how it had helped them with long-standing conditions? Wasn't it popular because so many people had benefitted from it already? Where were all these people now, did they suddenly no longer believe it was the Adya that had helped them?

For me, the saddest thing about the whole episode was the way people were so quick to judge, blame and point fingers. The outpouring of emotion around the topic was huge, and it seemed rather than seek out the facts in a calm and balanced way, people were keen to take sides and make others into "bad guys." We received many hostile and unfriendly emails, I can't imagine how the main resellers must have been bombarded.

We are now putting Adya back into stock. We continue to take it ourselves, mainly when travelling. We urge you to do your research, and make an informed decision before you purchase the product. Below is the information we have from the producers of Adya, which we present here so you can be aware of both sides of the debate.

Due to the recent attacks on Adya Inc. and the product Adya Clarity we have had to have our product looked at with a fine tooth comb to prove that it is not harmful and in fact very safe and good for you. The documents below show that we are in compliance with Health Canada and that they have deemed the Adya Clarity safe to drink up to 7 1/2 teaspoons per day for an adult. They have also made it possible for Adya Inc. to now display super shot usage on their labels. In these documents you will see that compared to other fruits and vegetables the mineral content, such as aluminum sulfate, is way below the levels that we would typically see in most produce. In the documents below, Adya Inc. shows certain common foods compared to 8 oz of the Adya Clarity water and a supershot (1 teaspoon of Adya Clarity).

It is too bad that someone who was only trying to hurt such a good product did not show any facts or proof for what they were trying to convey. Here are the facts and it shows that they are totally wrong on their allegations regarding any harmful effects that the Adya Clarity could have caused. The Adya Clarity still remains a superior mineral matrix and an outstanding tool to bring our fresh waters back to a purified, living state that is actually good and healthy for us that nature intended. Please take the time to review these new documents regarding the safety of the Adya Clarity product.

The Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD) has concluded that the product (Adya Clarity) is in compliance pursuant to section 7 of the natural Health Products Regulations.
DIRECT From HEALTH CANADA Recommended Use or Purpose: (Adya Clarity)
Natural Product Number: (active) - 80028256
A factor in the maintenance of good health. Helps to prevent Iron deficient anemia.

Click this link to view this information on Health Canada's website. The page will say your session has expired. Please click 'Return to application', on the next page under 'Search Field' select 'product name', and under 'Criteria' type Adya Clarity - then hit 'Search', it will return 2 results (80028256 & 80024735)

DIRECT From HEALTH CANADA: Recommended Use or Purpose: (Adya Clarity)
Natural Product Number: (active) 80024735
A factor in the maintenance of good health. Helps to form red blood cells and helps in their proper function.
Click this link to view this information on Health Canada's website (see above for directions).

Click Wallace_Labs_8_oz_serving_Calculations for a link to the test report done on a bottle of 16oz Adya Clarity by Wallace Labs on 11.18.2011

Recently I was in West London for a couple of weeks, and I couldn’t take any of my raw staples with me.  I decided to have faith that I would find what I needed and lo, it turned out that Planet Organic was just round the corner from where I was staying.  I knew Planet Organic have begun stocking Raw Living products so I wasted no time in exploring the store.  And there it was, a whole section of shiny packets with the familiar purple labels, and quite a few other branded goodies too.  It was like bumping into old friends in a foreign country.  Actually it was more exciting than that, I felt like Dorothy in a sort of raw food Oz – chia and cacao and maca, oh my!

Everything in the shop is well presented, fresh and appealing, I felt virtuous and lovingly catered for just walking through the door.  First thing you see is the display of fresh organic produce and freshly baked bread.  Then there is a chill case displaying things like raw desserts including slices of raw chocolate tart called Chocolate Blackout.  I just had to test that out (well, it was my birthday and yes it was wonderful.)  There was raw hummus and other spreads too.  There's a counter where they serve fresh juices, smoothies and food, both hot food and salads.  Then of course is the raw section with Raw Living granola and superfood powders, plus a whole lot of other raw staples.  There is a boggling selection of raw chocolate bars and goodies, including Raw Living chocolate crispy cakes and most of the Raw Living chocolate bars.  Planet Organic have their priorities right.

I spoke to Matt, the manager at the Westbourne Grove store.  He said they began on the raw trail about 18 months ago but in response to demand, they now stock a much wider range of products.  He expects the raw section will not only be a permanent fixture, but that they will expand the range even further.  Matt did also say that he often gets people asking about raw foods, they want to know more about it and what benefits they can expect from raw, so education is definitely on the cards, too.

The raw goodies extend beyond just one section, if you have a good look around.  On other shelves I found raw crackers, good coconut butter and nut/seed butters, and oh joyous! - big jars of raw Biona sauerkraut.  There was an impressive range of green powders like barley grass and sprirulina, and green superfood blends.

Beyond my immediate pleasure at being able to easily get hold of good raw supplies while away from home, I find it uplifting to see them on offer in a High Street health food store like this.  It shows that the raw movement is gaining momentum and demand for it increases with each year that passes.  There will come a time in the foreseeable future when we will no longer be seen as a bunch of nutballs by mainstream eaters, but will be catered for in the same way vegetarians are now.  Eventually, maybe we WILL be the mainstream, with a minority of dinosaurs clinging to their cooked habits.  Imagine if you had to wear a hoodie for a furtive visit to McDonalds because it was considered so sleazy and self-destructive to eat stuff like that.  I’m reminded of the Pot Noodle tv ad, a tongue-in-cheek thing that put eating Pot Noodle on the same level as pornography.  But I can imagine a time when ‘eatin’ nasty’ is viewed for real by the majority as being akin to drinking and driving, illegal drugs or smoking.  Okay, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but I can dream.

Here's a new recipe video from Kate, it's a simple inexpensive raw kitchen staple.