I’m reading a book right now which is blowing the lid off my mind.

Bear with the hokey title:

“The Vitamin Cure for Alcoholism” by Dr Abram Hoffer Md Phd and Andrew W Saul PhD.

The authors claim with such certainty that alcoholism is a result of hypoglycaemia, nutritional deficiencies, allergies, aside from the obvious environmental issues.

In it, the authors make some bold claims:

• “I tested over 300 alcoholics with a glucose tolerance test and did not find even one patient who had a normal result.
• “The treatment was to avoid sugar, which is very difficult especially for alcoholics.
• “Alcohol…is basically liquid sugar…and a slow-acting poison.
• “When malnutrition or nutrient starvation is present, it is impossible to respond effectively to any medical treatment.

These statements are reminiscent of Dr Russell Blaylock’s lecture called “Nutrition and Behaviour” which details a study of alcoholic inmates.

95% of them were hypoglycaemic.

They separated them into two groups, fed one of them a healthy diet, and allowed the control group to continue eating their junk food diet.

Those who stayed on the healthy diet had a 71% success rate of sobriety – compare that to AA’s sobriety rate of 25%.

Back to Hoffer’s book:

• “Alcoholism and drug addiction, so often portrayed as without cure, can indeed be ended with high-dose nutrient therapy.

It gets bolder:

• “We are convinced that healthy people will not become alcoholics.
• “Only people who are not healthy become alcoholics.
• “We would go so far as to state it as a law: only the sick become alcoholic.”

They go on to describe the megadose or Orthomolecular treatment plan which has worked to help their patients, including Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, use vitamins such as B3, B6, Vitamin C, and others, to effectively kill off any cravings for alcohol, even when one has achieved sobriety through AA, and also eliminate any negative side effects from long-term alcoholism such as depression, anxiety, fatigue, and so on.

Bear in mind that this book is written by two of the heavyweights of Orthomolecular Medicine.

Dr Hoffer pioneered the field and conducted psychiatry’s first randomly controlled double-blind placebo trial ever in the 1950s.

Andrew Saul was on the faculty of the State University of New York for nine years, and taught nutrition, health science and cell biology at the college level.

What do you think? Excitement or Quackery?

These groups are not for profit and run on a recurring basis.

The goal is to bring together like-minded folks to create a supportive community.

• Toronto Raw Food Potluck Group
• York Region Raw Food Potluck Group
• Mississauga / Brampton / Oakville Raw Food Potluck Group
• Barrie Raw Food Potluck Group

Have fun!

Here’s how to identify your local native plants, the health benefits, and how to consume them.

This season, we’ll have lots of wild harvested food on the House of Verona retreat menu.

We’ll also be offering wild edible walks in the Blue Mountain area for our guests to pick and discover their own wild, highly nutritious foods.

Book a customized retreat by emailing bookings@houseofverona.com or call 1-800-252-2826.

Disclaimer – NEVER eat anything unless you are 100% sure what it is – consult a field guide or herbalist expert if you are not sure.

Greens

Dandelions

Health benefits: High in vitamin A and protein; good to cleanse the liver.

To use: throw flowers in salads or dehydrate the roots to make an instant coffee substitute. Use the greens in smoothies or salads. Pick them in the spring so that they’re not as bitter.

Clovers

Health benefits: calcium, chromium, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, niacin, thiamine and phosphorus, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center.

To use: the flowers and leaves are edible in salads, smoothies or teas.

Wood sorrel

This clover look-a-like tastes very lemony and has darling heart shaped leaves.

Health benefits: high in vitamin C; also used by Native Canadians to relieve thirst.

To use: Throw in salads or smoothies.

Wild garlic mustard

Health benefits: shown to reduce “bad” cholesterol and strengthen immunity

To use: add to salads, soups, or anything else you’d use garlic or mustard in.

Wild leeks

Found in forests particularly in damp conditions.

Health benefits: source of manganese, vitamin C, iron, folate, and B6.

To use: use the entire plant just like you would an onion or a clove of garlic. Best picked in late spring/early summer

Wild peppermint

You can tell it is mint because the stem is square-shaped. Some species have purple leaves.

Health benefits: has been shown to soothe stomach aches, and a source of vitamin C and A.

To use: in teas, smoothies, or salads

Burdock

Recognized by its broad leaves and red root, this sucker is all over downtown Toronto.

Health benefits: removes toxins from the bloodstream.

To use: Use the root to make a detoxifying tea, rub the root on hives from stinging nettles to act as an antidote, or use the root as you would any other root vegetable (potatoes, carrots, beets..)

Jewel-weed, aka Spotted Touch-me-not

Crack open the stem and juice oozes out which is the Canadian answer to aloe vera.

Health benefits: Soothing – it treats insect bites, burns and poison ivy.

To use: Cut open stem and apply topically.

Dog-toothed violet, aka Troutlilly

Found in forests under thick canopies.

Health benefits: shown to reduce “bad” cholesterol

To use: Great in salads or smoothies.

Goldenrod

This green has an anise or “root beer” fragrance.

Health benefits: helps to cleanse the digestive system.

To use: Make a tea out of the leaves and yellow flowers.

Wild carrot aka Queen Anne’s lace
This ubiquitous flower is actually a wild carrot

Health benefits: high in vitamins A, K and C.

To use: just as you would any carrot: salads, soups, mixed vegetable dishes.

Careful: There are poisonous lookalikes – only eat this if it actually smells like carrot!

Catnip

Also known as cat-mint, it’s identifiable by its square purplish-green stem and purplish leaves

Health benefits: getting your cat high.

To use: slip under Muffin’s nose and watch her go wild.

Burgamot

Part of the mint family, it’s what many earl gray teas are actually made from

Health benefits: it’s a diuretic, so it’ll clean you out

To use: steep into a tea

Plantain

This little guy is a very common “weed”.

Health benefits: an antidote to skin irritants.

To use: Crush it up and use it to soothe bee stings, insect bites, and poison ivy.

Cat Tails

Called the supermarket of the wilderness, every part can be eaten.

Health benefits: loaded with raw starch, nutrients and carbohydrates to keep you alive in the forest

To use: pull a live green tail out of the water, peel off a few leaves and eat it like celery. Open up the fuzzy brown top to reveal pollen, which can be used just as flour is used – mix into batters.

St John’s Wort

This grows wild but is native to Germany. The green sprouts beside the brown dried seeds are what is used to harvest the herb. The purple dots on the underside of the leaves are what contain the medicinal chemical.

Health benefits: a potent anti-depressant – but never to be used by pregnant women, as there are negative side effects

To use: Don’t. It’s not advised to experiment without knowing the real dosage level. Best to buy a natural supplement instead.

Wild rice (which is actually a grass) and wild asparagus can also be found in Ontario.

Trees

Willow trees

All willow trees are a source of ASA, or a natural source of aspirin

Health benefits: a reliable non-opiate painkiller found in the forest

To use: cut off a branch and steep slowly on medium or low heat for an hour in water. Strain & drink. Never boil.

White Cedar

Health benefits: very high in vitamin C; prevents insect bites when used topically.

To use: crush the greens between your hands and rub on your skin as a natural bug spray, or steep into a tea. Never boil.

All Evergreens

Any evergreen tree is high in vitamin C
Steep needles slowly to make a tea – never boil for a tea it unless you want to ingest a toxic syrup.

Fruit

Black Cherries

These come from the black cherry tree, identifiable by bark that resembles Corn Flakes.

Health benefits: high in antioxidants.

To use: gather the fruit which has fallen at the base of the tree.

Mulberries

Found all over Toronto, ripe mulberries are nature’s gummi bears.

Health benefits: high in antioxidants.

To use: shake the tree & eat. Careful: only eat if it’s ripe. Unripe mulberries and leaves are hallucinogenic!

Staghorn sumac tree

Her fuzzy antler-like branches are easy to spot.

Health benefits: very high in vitamin C.

To use: Steep red fruit & strain to make a tart tea. Chill to make sumac lemonade.

Tip: The berries are the best picked in the fall.

Juniper Berries

These tiny blue berries have a distinct cedar taste.

Health benefits: high in antioxidants, but an old wives’ tale says that too much can make you sterile.

To use: Add dried & crushed berries to sauces

Rosehip

Any rose flowers are edible, regardless of the species.

Health benefits: very high in vitamin C

To use: Rosehips are the fruit when the petals of the flower falls off. The leaves and flowers are also edible in salads or teas.

I wouldn’t eat roses grown for the “love industry” – not sure the dyes or pesticides sprayed on there.

Wild grapes, wild raspberries, and wild strawberry can also be found in Ontario.

In Hawaii, after a couple months of green juicing

I grew up thinking that hair growth is something you can’t change.

Some people would say “my hair just grows so quickly!” and others would complain, “I don’t know, for some reason, mine just grows so slowly.”

I also believed that the thickness of your hair is something that can’t be changed.

That all changed when I started drinking green juices every day.

I went through a phase when I couldn’t even look at a green smoothie any more – I just was sick of them. (I probably wasn’t switching up the ingredients enough, but that’s a different story).

I stressed out for weeks wondering how I’d get in 2 bunches of raw leafy greens per day, to make sure I was getting enough nutrition.

I finally caved and bought a juicer. Not even the “proper” juicer like a twin-gear extractor. I bought the cheapest juicer I could find. $100. Sure, you’ll do.

I did this purely to make sure my sugar cravings would stay at bay, knowing that if I missed a few days of greens, they’d come back.

Here’s how it would go:

• 8:15am: open fridge, take out 1 bunch kale, 1 english cucumber, 1 lemon, and 1 apple
• 8:16am: assemble juicer and wash produce
• 8:17am: juice everything
• 8:18am: pour juice into water bottle and throw out the pulp
• 8:19am: run hot water and rinse the entire juicer. If you rinse immediately, there’s no need for soap (for 1 week) and it can be done in 90 seconds flat.
• 8:20am: Chug.

When I started drinking 1L of green juice per day, my hair doubled in length and strength. You can clearly measure something like this yourself – keep track of where your hair sits (chin, shoulder, back) and check back again in a couple weeks.

I personally went from growing 1 inch every 2 months to 1 inch every month.

Here’s what also helps:

• MSM – natural form of sulfur, an element which helps hair be shiny and strong
• Cutting out any unnatural chemicals (turn up your nose to packaged food)
• Consistency. Do this every day for at least 4 week and see what happens.

Make sure you change up your juice frequently. Some recipes:

• Spinach – celery – carrot – apple
• Swiss chard – cucumber – grapefruit
• Bok choy – cucumber – apple – lemon – mint – sprouts
• Dinosaur kale – celery – watermelon – watermelon rind (tastes just like watermelon)
• Parsley – halapeno – ginger – lemon – apple – cucumber

If you really want to take your hair (and health) to the next level, and can afford to give yourself the royal treatment, the one thing I’d recommend is to join a juice fast.

You clean out your system like you wouldn’t believe, your energy shoots through the roof, you lose weight, cellulite just vanishes, and you become more mindful. It’s also a very powerful hedge against negative emotions.

We’re so glad to be hosting a juice fast at the House of Verona in May 2011, lead by the one and only Philip McCluskey.

Learn more about this rare opportunity to connect with Philip and take back your health here.

To book a spot, call 1-800-252-2826 or email bookings@houseofverona.com.

Photo: My Tartelette

Photo: Cannelle et Vanille

New Wave Organics (+1-519-492-2990) is a Guelph-based CSA which will be growing heirloom produce with OceanSolution, which is a type of water that contains 90 trace minerals.

Photo: Cannelle et Vanille

Wild food:

Stewart, Farmer at New Wave Organics

• Get Juicy! Juice Fast in May, 2011 (100% raw juice)
• Spring Cleanse (100% vegan, 95% raw)
• Fight Cancer with Food (100% vegan, 50% raw)

Call 1-800-252-2826 or email bookings@houseofverona.com to reserve a spot.

We were thrilled to learn that model and blogger Anthony Anderson (also known as the “raw model”) has recently come out with a line of superfood seeds which can be grown even in a Canadian climate.

Growing your own food is not only extremely rewarding, but so beautifully sustainable – even in a city, you can help local insects and birds thrive while improving your personal air quality, well-being and self esteem.

If you’re looking to jump-start your motivation to be healthy, join one of our spring retreats and eat fresh, local, wild & organic foods on our gourmet menu where many items are made with food we grow ourselves.

Coming up:

Philip McCluskey’s Juice Fast Retreat – May 5-8 or 5-11
Eva Sue Wah Sing’s Fight Cancer w/ Foods Retreat – June 3-5
Marni Wasserman’s Spring Cleanse Retreat – June 26-30

Or, customize your own private retreat for a group of 4-100.

Give us a ring at 1-800-252-2826 to book a spot.

In the spirit of the holidays, your favourite raw/vegan vacation property is giving away extra gifts with each purchase of a gift card for the holidays.

Gift cards can be put towards either:

• an upcoming group retreat; or,
• a private retreat for your family or group of friends

When you purchase your card, we’ll send you a personalized wooden gift card in the mail on the same day, with a personalized note for your recipient.

Here’s how to order a card:

• Call 1-800-252-2826
• Email bookings@houseofverona.com
• Tweet at us @YafaSakkejha
• Pay with PayPal
  
  
  

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and Happy Holidays!

Jen Laur - After (corrected eyesight)

Jen Laur, owner of Raw Love, Life Food, a Toronto-based catering company she owns with her husband Mike, recently lead a raw food retreat with the House of Verona. On that retreat, she shared her story of how she corrected her eyesight after going raw.

Like so many, Jen suffered from poor eyesight. Once believing eyeglasses were a permanent sentence, her perspective shifted after attending a vision-correcting seminar. She was surprised to learn that a traumatic event is often a trigger to bad vision and immediately thought back to a stressful event, which seemed to affect her vision overnight.

Jen and Mike Laur - before going raw (poor eyesight)

She began looking into alternative therapy for eyesight, including the Bates method, which takes a proactive, holistic approach to correcting eyesight that includes exercise and nutrition.

Jen took full responsibility for her eye health and realized that in addition to exercises, her diet was a crucial component of her healing.

Jen’s raw vegan diet was full of nutrients her eyes needed to repair themselves. She noted that the most important nutrients for her eyesight included:

• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C
• Omega 3 Fatty Acids (sprouted chia seeds are the highest food source)
• Zinc

Eating foods whole and raw ensures that the maximum amount of nutrients remain intact.

According to Dr. Mercola, lutein is also an essential nutrient for proper eye health. Lutein is found in dark leafy green vegetables and produce with a strong yellow colour, such as papayas, oranges, squash, and carrots.

Just like an athlete needs to support strength training with proper nutrition, Jen continues to fuel herself with eye-supporting foods (the eye is, after all, part muscle!) Now, Jen enjoys vision that is better than when she wore glasses.

Jen’s top foods and supplements for eyesight:

• Gogi berries (high in beta-carotene and antioxidants)
• Chia seeds (excellent source of Essential Fatty Acids)
• Marine Phytoplankton (incredible rich source of nutrients, supports cellular health)

To contact Jen Laur, or put in an order for organic raw food to be catered to you in Toronto, email rawlovelivefood@gmail.com or call +1-416-551-8820.

To book a spot on a raw food retreat at the House of Verona, call 1-800-252-2826 or email bookings@houseofverona.com.

Guest Author Kristen Mehendale is a Holistic Nutritionist in Toronto, Ontario. View her website athttp://www.kristenmehendale.com and follow her on Twitter @HappyCellsKM.

Georges shared that he’s a strict 100% vegan and 80% raw, and he was this way even when he was on the ice.

I asked him how he is able to maintain enough muscle mass while competing in the NHL on a raw vegan diet.

His advice: “Tons of kale. Lots of goji berries, as they’re a complete protein, full of amino acids. It was very important for me to eat a lot of cooked quinoa when I was on the ice. Vega protein powder helped me as well.”

Georges recently competed on CBC's Battle of the Blades

Georges went vegan for animal rights purposes, but now reports that he’s never felt better, and he wishes he had made the decision years ago. A quote from his official website states, “my energy level is stronger and my strength has increased too. My health has never been better in all areas.”

He goes on to say, “If you want to try to be a vegetarian, but are under the impression that you will not get enough protein or that you will look skinny, rest assured that there is tons of protein in vegetarian products that are much better for your health because vegetarian products aren’t filled with the cholesterol that animal protein is filled with.”

Georges Laraque is fuelled by a 100% plant-based diet

“Some of the greatest athletes in the world are vegetarians like retired four-time NBA champion John Salley, Carl Lewis (who was named Olympian of the Century by Sports Illustrated), NFL’s Tony Gonzalez and the MLB’s Prince Fielder among others.”

We love Georges tremendously for his compassion towards animals, his passion for activism, and the fact that although he was the most feared player on the ice, he was one of the kindest ones off the rink.

Have a look at his campaign for Haiti, view the film Earthlings which converted him towards veganism, or book a spot on a raw vegan retreat to learn how to go vegan yourself.

Follow Georges on Twitter here.

Photo Credit: Jannis Tsipoulanis

Tiny, tactical changes in the way you live at work can have a significant impact on your health if repeated 365 times a year.

If you increase activity for just 4 minutes a day, over a year, that could be a pound of fat you kept off. Does a pound sound insignificant? Hold a pound of butter in your hand. You don’t want that on your body, do you?

Here are some ways that you can make minuscule changes to see results.

During your commute

1. Park at the farthest end of the parking lot
2. Get off one station before your subway stop and walk the rest of the way
3. Stand up on the subway instead of sitting down – it burns more calories and strengthens leg muscles
4. Always take the stairs over the elevator or escalator
5. Put a small weight or heavy object in your briefcase and lift it a few times as you walk
6. Strap velcro weights to your ankles
7. Walk back and forth while you’re waiting for your train instead of sitting down – an extra 200 steps a day equals pounds per year
8. Leave your heels or dress shoes at work and walk or bike home

At the office

1. When you first arrive, fill up 2 pints of water and keep them at your desk
2. Print to the farthest printer from your desk and walk the extra steps
3. Instead of calling or emailing a co-worker, get up and walk to their desk
4. Sit on a swiss ball instead of a regular chair to build core muscles
5. Offer to help anytime someone is moving or lifting anything (safely – use your legs, not your back)
6. Put a small aloe or cactus plant on your desk to improve air quality: CO2 in, O2 out
7. Crack a window to let some fresh air circulate – outdoor air is cleaner than indoor air and helps you concentrate
8. Clean out your desk of clutter – it’ll help you clear up mental clutter and focus on the moment
9. Eat 15 minutes earlier than you normally do – when you’re starving, you’re more likely to make poor choices
10. If you work late, go for a stroll around the block at 5pm when emails die down
11. When cookies are floating around at the office, make sure they don’t park at your desk. Out of sight, out of mind
12. Plan meetings with colleagues off-site at a local café – anything to get outside and walking
13. Strive to meet with superiors over a game of squash, tennis, or golf instead of in a boardroom
14. If you have input into the office social, suggest an activity like rock climbing, soccer, or volleyball
15. Keep your healthy snacks on your desk within arm’s reach. How often have you eaten a bag of chips simply because the bowl was beside you at a party? Leverage that effect in a positive way
16. Ditch the tray. If you eat at a cafeteria, using a tray makes it more likely for you to pile on items that you don’t need, just because you have the space. (Source)
17. Avoid chairs like the plague. Stand up while you wait for someone in the lobby instead of using a chair. Offer your chair to others when there aren’t enough. Studies show that those who have to be on their feet at work have similar levels of cardio health as those who sit all day but work out at night (Source)
18. Pack a healthy lunch. No time? Buy a bag of groceries and assemble it in your work kitchen
19. If your workplace provides snacks, ask them to substitute healthier options in place of pastries without changing the budget
20. Always keep lemons in the fridge to add to your water. This increases your vitamin C consumption and you’re more likely to burn more fat when you end up working out (Source)
21. Set visual reminders: leaving post-it notes on your steering wheel or computer screen can increase motivation. Try: “book a tennis date”, “drink water at 2pm” or “pick up kale tonight.” (Source)
22. If you have to buy your lunch, choose healthier restaurant chains such as Freshii, Fit for Life, Cruda or Fresh
23. Reward yourself with a spa day after every batch of 20 workouts or 20 consecutive healthy lunches
24. Make a deal with your manager where you may work-out during lunch for a hour, take lunch, and stay an extra hour at work. It also makes for a more productive afternoon
25. “Keep the lid closed:” One study found that on days where a cafeteria left the lid open of their ice cream cooler produced twice as many sales of ice cream. When the lid was closed, sales were cut in half. Find ways to make it inconvenient for you to indulge

Using a health buddy

The buddy system – that is, getting a friend to partner in you in your health commitment – is a proven way to exercise more and eat healthier. Here are some ways to leverage it.

1. Take turns making lunch. You make a healthy lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they get Mondays and Wednesdays. The more people are involved, the better this gets
2. Call each other once a week to ask how much they exercised. One study showed that those who reported how much they exercised increased their activity levels
3. If you keep delaying booking an appointment with a trainer or food allergist, book your friend’s and have your friend book yours
4. Set gym dates or jump on the #morninglife trend: Wake up early, work out together, and share breakfast
5. Buy a subscription to a health magazine for your buddy on their birthday. Have it delivered to the office so you can both enjoy the health inspiration
6. Sign up for a triathlon together. If you back-out, you have to pay your friend’s entrance fee.
7. Start an office competition — contribute a dollar every time you do not work out and top 3 contestants split the cash
8. Start an office sports team

At home

1. Drink a pint of water as soon as you wake up and before you go to bed to clean up your system
2. Set your alarm 5 minutes earlier to do 4 minutes of crunches and push-ups
3. Get a mini trampoline: 10 minutes of jumping is the equivalent to 30 minutes of running (Source)
4. On Sunday night, create Ziploc bags full of healthy snacks for the week
5. Make a green smoothie in the morning – it kills cravings all day (Source)
6. Carry a basket instead of pushing a cart at the grocery store to help build muscle
7. Whatever’s on your shopping list, always fill half of your basket with produce
8. Bring fresh workout clothes to the office so you’re always prepared for the gym
9. Sleep in complete darkness to ensure circadian rhythms aren’t disrupted and thus, food cravings at a minimum (Source)
10. Get your organic groceries delivered to your door. Discouraged by the delivery charge? Think about what happens if you don’t buy groceries and end up spending the $10 on junk food at work
11. Get healthy meals or snacks delivered to your desk
12. Studies show that willpower can be replenished and depleted. Replenish your willpower by delaying chores for an hour while you catch up on your favourite blogs or play with your kids (Source)

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