How milk initiates diabetes

This week, we’re featuring a very compelling excerpt from The China Study, an acclaimed book written by Dr Colin Campbell (who grew up on a dairy farm). The New York Times called it “the grand prix of epidemiological research.”

Start of excerpt:
–
In the case of type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreas cells responsible for producing insulin.

What most people don’t know, though, is that there is strong evidence that this disease is linked to dairy products.

The ability of cow’s milk protein to initiate type 1 diabetes is well documented. The possible initiation of this disease goes like this:

• A baby is not nursed long enough and is fed cow’s milk protein, perhaps in an infant formula
• The milk reaches the small intestine, where it is digested down to its amino acid parts
• For some infants, cow’s milk is not fully digested, and small amino acid chains or fragments of the original protein remain in the intestine
• These incompletely digested protein fragments may be absorbed into the blood
• The immune system recognizes these fragments as foreign invaders and goes about destroying them
• Unfortunately, some of the fragments look exactly the same as the cells of the pancreas that are responsible for making insulin
• The immune system loses its ability to distinguish between the cow’s milk protein fragments and the pancreatic cells, and destroys them both, thereby eliminating the child’s ability to produce insulin
• The infant becomes a type 1 diabetic and remains so for the rest of his or her life [editor's note: find out how some people have reversed type 1 diabetes through diet here.]

This process boils down to a truly remarkable statement: cow’s milk may cause one of the most devastating diseases that can befall a child.

For obvious reasons, this is one of the most contentious issues in nutrition today.

[...]

A study in Chile considered the first two factors, cow’s milk and genes. Genetically susceptible children weaned too early onto cow’s milk-based formula had a risk of type 1 diabetes that was 13.1 times greater than children who did not have these genes and who were breast-fed for at least 3 months (thus minimizing their exposure to cow’s milk).

Another study in the U.S. showed that genetically susceptible children fed cow’s milk as infants had a risk of the disease that was 11.3 times greater than children who did not have these genes and who were breast-fed for at least three months. [...] anything over 3 to 4 times is usually considered very important.

To put this into perspective, smokers have approximately ten times greater risk of getting lung cancer, and people with high blood pressure and cholesterol have a 2.5-3.0 times greater risk of heart disease.

– End of Excerpt

Find another excerpt of the book on The China Study’s website.

2 Ways to Self-Motivate

This spring, we hosted a remarkable guest on Marni Wasserman’s retreat with us.

Yvonne Camus is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met.

Yvonne competed in Mark Burnett’s televised Eco-Challenge, where she completed a 500km race in Borneo, racing 24 hours a day, and burning over 23,000 calories each day.

She’s also a mother, wife, successful nutritionist, and an agency-repped motivational speaker. She continuously pushes herself physically.

I asked Yvonne how she motivates herself to stay healthy, and she had some great insights.

#1 – Develop Strategies to Nudge Yourself on Track

“It’s about progress, not perfection,” says Yvonne. “A big misconception is that people ‘on the outside’ look at healthy individuals and assume that it’s easy for them to stay on track, and that they’re always perfect.

That’s not true – in fact, those people fall off the wagon as well. But those people are just better at bringing themselves back on track more often.”

A 2009 House of Verona Poll found that only 13% of self-defining “raw vegans” are actually 100% raw. The reality is that people fluctuate between 50% and 90% raw, and have ways to get back on track when they’ve eaten a little too much SAD food.

#2 – Talk Yourself Into It

Yvonne goes on: “I’ve noticed that when you’re at a place of indecision, you either talk yourself into something or talk yourself out of it.

With healthy eating, I’m amazed at how many people talk themselves out of eating well. For example, ‘I had a glass of wine, so I might as well give up on the whole day.’”

Practice talking yourself into healthy eating; build up ammunition of talking points. Here’s what has worked for me in the past:

• If I work out, I’ll naturally wake up early, and stamp out some negative thoughts.
• If I eat that burger, I’ll have indigestion. But if I have the salad, I’ll feel light and energetic.
• If I have even a small green smoothie in the morning, I’ll be in a happier mood.
• If I bring easy-to-carry fruit to the office, I won’t crave something sweet at 3pm.

The very inspiring Yvonne can be reached for nutritional consultations in Toronto at 416-618-9242 or yvonnecamus@hotmail.com.

Also, sign up for Marni’s upcoming fall retreat at the House of Verona and join the company other highly inspiring guests. Book at 1-800-252-2826 or email bookings@houseofverona.com.

It’s never, ever too late

We’ve met plenty of women at the House of Verona who are in their 50s and just did their first Triathlon this summer. They have a day job, kids, a cottage, and some of them never joined a single sport growing up.

How chlorophyll inhibits cancer

The link between chlorophyll and cancer has been studied in the scientific community since the early 1900s, and studies consitently show that it has powerful anti-cancer properties.

Most recently, the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University found that chlorophyll provided significant protection against a very potent carcinogen called DBP (found in nail polish) in pregnant mice. Chlorphyll also reduced lung cancer multiplicity by 50% (Source).

Another recent study from the same university found that chlorophyll greatly reduced the expression of human colon cancer cells (Source).

One of the easiest ways to obtain natural chlorophyll is to consume fresh, organic dark leafy greens in liquid form.

Although greens can have a bitter taste, there are many ways to prepare them raw in a way that’s palatable. If you’ve never done this before, a great starting point is Nutritionist Meghan Telpner CNP’s Green Smoothie Cleanse. It’s packed with 100 pages of tremendously valuable information, and definitely provided me with a boost of health inspiration when I read it. Meghan is also running a group cleanse starting on August 6th where her and her staff will provide support along the way.

Fresh or Frozen?

Fresh. Definitely Fresh.

Ask any food scientist – all food manufacturers must blanch produce before freezing them.

We recently sat down with Food Scientist Jinny Lok, B.Sc., MBA. She explains, “vegetables contain enzymes. If enzymes are not deactivated through blanching prior to freezing, they can cause vegetables to rot, lose colour and flavour even after the vegetables are frozen.”

“Blanching vegetables means submitting them briefly to boiling water or steam. The heat treatment destroys the enzymes, changes the texture and sets the color.  For extended storage, this improves the keeping quality of the vegetables.”

In addition to the loss of nutrients due to blanching, the freezing process also degrades certain vitamins. An Italian university published a finding in the Journal of Food Science that freezing broccoli caused a decrease of 39% of vitamin C and a 29% decrease of sulforaphane (an anti-cancer compound).

The argument against eating fresh produce stems from a concern that produce loses nutrients when it travels for a week across a continent, as well as the fact that unripe fruits are more acidic than ripe ones.

If you’re able to buy locally grown produce, and eat it fresh, you are able to save a large amount of nutrition versus eating frozen vegetables.

Here are some links to farmer’s markets in Canada and the U.S. to find a market near your home:

• Farmers Markets in Canada
• Farmers Markets in Ontario
• Farmers Markets in the USA

Follow Jinny’s blog or Tweets here.

High Tea Recipes

We served a raw vegan High Tea this weekend while the football game was on. It went over so well, so we thought we’d share the weekend’s favourites with you.

We’ve designed them to be easy, quick, and require minimal kitchen equipment.

Handmade Tea

It’s very easy and inexpensive to make your own tea. Here’s what we came up with.

The House of Verona Costa Rican Blend – the crowd favourite

• Green tea leaves
• Cacao nibs
• Whole vanilla bean, chopped into little pieces
• Dried mangoes
• Whole cinnamon sticks, chopped small pieces

The House of Verona Ontaio Cottage Blend

• Green tea leaves
• Fresh mint
• Chamomile flowers
• Lavender petals
• Dried cherries

Mix ingredients together and steep as you would any other loose-leaf tea.

Canapés

• Cucumber gazpacho cup
• Herbed salad in a sesame-date crust
• Fresh organic watermelon slices
• Cacao-maple brazil nut truffles

Cucumber gazpacho cups

• Slice an English cucumber into 1-inch pieces. Scoop out the centre with a spoon.
• In a blender, blend the cucumber centres with half an English cucumber, half a tomato, half a red pepper, a bunch of mint, sea salt, ground pepper, flax oil, and a spoonful raw honey.
• Spoon the gazpacho into the cups and chill until you’re ready to serve.

Herbed salad in a sesame-date crust

• Create your favourite salad
• In a food processor, add in 1 cup of sesame seeds until they are slightly ground. Add in 10-15 soft medjool dates one at a time until the mixture becomes a mould-able crust.
• Press the crust into small bowls and fill with the salad you created. Serve with forks.

Cacao-maple brazil nut truffles

• In a mixing bowl, add in 4 heaping tablespoons of cacao powder
• Add in 4 tablespoons of maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of liquid coconut oil
• Mix until it forms a chocolate sauce.
• Add in chopped brazil nuts, and any other nut or seed you like. Coat with the chocolate sauce and serve in small paper cupcake cups.

Have fun!

An Inspiring Guest Who Eliminated Cravings

One of our retreat guests inspired our team so much that I want to share her story with you all.

In 1982, she was 5’5” and weighed 230 lbs. Being overweight was causing her some depression and low self-esteem.

One day, in 1982, she was sitting on the subway, eating a chocolate bar, and thinking about how she desperately needed to lose weight.

Suddenly, in a moment of clarity, she looked at the chocolate and realized that junk food certainly wasn’t helping her lose weight. In that moment, she resolved to stop eating all types of dessert altogether, and see what happened. She didn’t change anything else – just eliminated sugar.

Amazingly, she stuck to it: she hasn’t had a drop of sugar since that day in 1982. For 28 years, she has been ‘sugar sober’.

What is wonderful is that she didn’t set out to cut out sugar for life – she just took it one day at a time.

When we hosted her, she was as slim as can be – not too skinny, but absolutely within her normal BMI range.

The other guests were curious when she declined all raw desserts that were offered – she simply explained that she treats herself as a recovering alcoholic would treat alcohol – not one drop.

“Don’t you miss desserts?” they’d ask. “Not at all – I don’t even notice it. I much prefer being healthy and happy.”

The thought of cutting out sugar completely can be scary when we’re starting a new cleanse. However, every single person I know who has cut out sugar or junk food reports:

• After 1-2 weeks, cravings vanish
• They have a higher level of happiness
• They can enjoy the smell of tempting foods without needing to eat them
• They are infinitely happier this way than experiencing mood swings which sugar contributes to

To learn more about how to kill cravings, have a look at our 3-part series here:

http://houseofverona.com/how-to-kill-junk-food-cravings-part-1/

http://houseofverona.com/how-to-kill-junk-food-cravings-part-2/

http://houseofverona.com/how-to-kill-junk-food-cravings-iii/

French Countryside Raw Recipes

I made dinner for my housemates last night – who aren’t raw vegans – and they adored the recipes, inspired from the French countryside. I looked through Julia Child’s classic French cookbook and modified recipes – for example, by using healthy raw fats instead of butter (i.e. macadamia nuts), and eliminating the heating process. Et voila.

The menu (all raw vegan):

• Creamy leek soup
• Loaf of sprouted bread with a strong ‘cheese’
• Friseé salad with almonds, raspberries & ice-wine vinaigrette
• Summer vegetables in a basil cream sauce
• Red ice wine gelato

I’d love to share these recipes with you. All are for 4 people. If all you have is a blender, you’re good to go.

Creamy leek soup

Blend together:

• 1 large leek
• Handful Brazil nuts
• Salt & pepper
• Spoonful honey
• 1 shallot
• 1 bunch basil
• Spoonful olive oil
• Cup of water

Garnish with chopped Brazil nuts and sliced basil leaves.

Strong ‘cheese’

Throw these in the food processor:

• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 2 tbsp macadamia nuts
• A whole lime, with the peel chopped off
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bunch basil
• A little water to get it all going
• 1 clove garlic

I purchased the sprouted loaf of bread from The Big Carrot, who sources them from Patricia – here’s her website: http://www.naturallyalive.ca/Products.aspx

Friseé salad

Blend these together for the dressing:

• 1 whole lemon, peel removed
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp white ice wine (or regular wine if unavailable in your region)
• 2 tsp salt
• Ground pepper
• 1 tbsp honey
• 10 macadamia nuts

Salad ingredients:

• Friseé, washed and chopped into very small pieces
• 1 large bunch of fresh mint
• 1 carton of raspberries
• 1 handful of chopped almonds

Pour the dressing over the body of the salad and serve. Mmm.

Summer vegetables in a basil cream sauce

This was everyone’s favourite, by far.

The vegetables I used:

• Asparagus (each spear sliced into 4 long strips)
• Snow peas (each sliced into 4 strips)
• Heirloom carrots (sliced into strips)
• Radishes (cubed)
• Shallots (sliced into thin coins)
• Endive (sliced into thin strips)

Marinate the vegetables in olive oil, lemon juice, and honey while you prepare the sauce.

The sauce: throw the following into a blender:

• 2 cups water
• Handful macadamia nuts
• Whole lemon (peel removed)
• Salt & pepper
• 1 bunch basil
• Clove garlic
• 1 small spoonful nutritional yeast

Pour the cream sauce over the vegetables and serve. If you have time, let marinate for 30 minutes.

Red ice wine gelato

Blend the following together:

• 1 branch of red grapes
• Vanilla
• Half cup almonds
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp red ice wine

Pour into a container and freeze, stirring every hour if you have the time. If you don’t have the time, after it’s frozen, place it in the fridge to thaw for a few hours, or outside for 1-2 hours. Serve into bowls and before giving to guests, add on 1 tbsp red ice wine and a few grapes.

Bon appetite!

Kill Exhaustion With Enzymes

One reason why one can feel exhausted is a lack of enzymes in the diet.

Enzymes are catalysts in chemical reactions. Our body is full of chemical reactions taking place all of the time, such as the one that uses vitamin C to create cartinine, to turn fat into fuel.

In chemical reactions, if enzymes are not present, the reaction requires twice as much energy to take place than if an enzyme was present, like the following chart demonstrates:

Raw foods are absolutely abundant with thousands of enzymes. When we eat enzymes, our body uses energy more efficiently because we are physically using less ATP to facilitate chemical reactions.

Heating food over 115F denatures enzymes: it breaks bonds, changes their structure, and leaves them unable to bond to other molecules in order to do their job.

So, eating raw veg & fruits replenishes your body’s enzymes stores, and thus amps up your energy levels.

(Source)

Depressed? Easy on the steak

In March 2010, French researchers found that cooking beef lead to a significant degradation of tyrosine and tryptophan in meat.

Why should you care? Because these are two critical amino acids which help fight off depression.

Why care about tyrosine?

• Tyrosine is an amino acid which is a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine.
• Dopamine deficiencies have been linked with depression (and sugar cravings).
• Here’s the thing: depressed people are often told to eat more tyrosine-rich foods. However, most go-to tyrosine foods are animal proteins – steak, fish, etc.
• Of course, everyone who eats meat cooks it first – which we now know strips the food of the tyrosine that they were trying to get in the first place.

Why care about tryptophan?

• Tryptophan is an essential amino acid which functions as a biochemical precursor for the neurotransmitter serotonin.
• Serotonin deficiencies have been linked to depression.
• Serotonin is often recommended as a supplement to depressed individuals, typically in the form of animal proteins. As this research shows, it’s better to get tryptophan from raw, plant-based foods.

Eat these instead to get your tyrosine:

• Raw almonds
• Raw avocadoes
• Raw pumpkin seeds
• Raw sesame seeds
• E3 Live Blue-Green Algae

Eat these instead to get your tryptophan:

• Raw cacao
• Sprouted Oats
• Raw Sesame seeds
• Sprouted chickpeas
• Raw Sunflower seeds
• Raw Pumpkin seeds
• Spirulina
• Bananas
• Sprouted lentils

We’re currently developing an advanced retreat program at the House of Verona to help depressed individuals. If you’d like to hear more about this, click here. Thanks!