How I reversed my gray hair – without being 100% raw

I went 70% raw vegan overnight from being a SAD eater, eating maybe 5% raw. Maybe less.

Over the first year, I noticed tremendous benefits: self esteem shooting up, weight loss, a mysterious lump in my back disappeared which had been there since I was 10.

But I still had grays. I would pull them out when I found’em.

Then I started drinking 1 litre of green juice every day. Here’s what happened in 4 weeks:

• My hair grew at double the rate (I calculated the measurement given the time)
• My hair became visibly shinier
• A half-inch of my grays were my natural chestnut brown at the root.
• Between the gray tip and the brown root was an orange/copper inch. Perhaps a transitional period?
• Since then, every time I find a gray, it is followed by a dark root growing in

I’m not 100% raw all the time. In fact, all of this happened when I was still eating cooked vegan food.

Here’s an example of what I put into organic green juice:

• 1 whole bunch of dark leafy greens. Ex. Kale, spinach, chard, etc.
• 1 english cucumber (interchanged with celery)
• 1 apple or orange
• 1 lemon
• 1 thumb ginger

Here’s a shot of a hair in transition I found last week:

Gray strand growing in brown

We can help you with your grays too – join Philip McCluskey‘s juice feast at the House of Verona in Blue Mountain, Ontario, in May 2011.

Book this retreat before December 25th and receive a complimentary $30 gift card to The Big Carrot or Whole Foods – a perfect stocking stuffer – call 1-800-252-2826.

How a 72-year-old stays looking 40

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

How cumin prevents wrinkles

The University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at a University in India recently found that ingesting cumin immediately after being exposed to UV rays significantly prevented photoaging to the skin.

Photoaging is simply skin aging, which induces wrinkles, leathery skin, collagen damage, age spots, and cancer due to exposure to the sun.

The researchers studied what happened to the skin of mice when exposed to UV rays and then immediately ingested cumin capsules, compared with those who received a topical cream mixed with cumin. The cream did not significantly change the results; however, ingesting cumin significantly prevented the formation of lesions and other damage. (Please note that the House of Verona does not advocate the exploitative use of animals in medical testing when harm is incurred.)

Here are some of the favourite raw food recipes from the House of Verona kitchen which incorporate cumin:

Raw vegan sprouted hummus recipe

Ingredients

1 handful sprouted chickpeas
2 tbsp raw tahini
4 tbsp soaked sesame seeds (optional, but gives it a calcium boost)
Half a zucchini
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp hemp or flax oil
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp cumin
Sea or rock salt

Combine in a food processor [or blender, but add some water to start the process] and serve.

Raw vegan falafel recipe

Ingredients

1 handful sprouted chickpeas
2 handfuls soaked walnuts (any other nut or seed can be substituted)
Half an onion
1 clove garlic
Quarter bunch of parsley
Quarter bunch of cilantro
Quarter cup tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp hemp or flax oil
1 tbsp cumin
Sea or rock salt

Combine in a food processor [or blender, but add some water to start the process], form into balls and serve.

Raw vegan Moroccan vegetables

Ingredients

Half head broccoli
1 bunch bok choy
4 stalks celery
Half head cauliflower
Handful soaked seaweed of choice (ex. wakame or arame)
4 tbsp hemp or flax oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp curry powder
1 clove garlic
Dash of your sweetener of choice
Half a handful of raisins
4 black mission figs, quartered
Fistful of chopped mint leaves
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp cinnamon

For the sauce, combine the cinnamon, cayenne, sweetener, garlic, curry powder, cumin, lemon and oil into the bottom of a large bowl and let it marinate while you wash and chop the other vegetables.

Chop the broccoli, bok choy, celery, cauliflower, mint, and figs. Throw them into the bowl along with the raisins and seaweed. Combine and serve.

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Sources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20426620

http://www.skincancer.org/what-is-photoaging.html

Resistance Exercise Reverses Muscle Aging

6 months of resistance exercise training can reverse aging associated with mitochondrial impairment and muscle weakness, reports a joint study from researchers at the Buck Institute for Age Research in California, McMaster University’s Department of Pediatrics and Medicine in Canada, and the Center for Genetics, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California.

When we age, our skeletal muscle atrophies, meaning that a decrease in muscle mass is experienced. This is also known as sarcopenia.

Much evidence shows that a main cause of sarcopenia is mitochondrial dysfunction inside cells. (Mitochondria are the cell’s “power plants” as they generate cells’ chemical energy.)

Researchers took skeletal muscle biopsies from 25 healthy older and 26 younger adult men and women and compared them with gene expression profiling.

14 of the older adults had muscle samples taken before and after a 6-month resistance exercise-training program.

Before exercise, older adults were 59% weaker than younger adults, but after 6 months of training, strength improved significantly such that they were only 38% weaker than young adults.

“As a consequence of age, we found 596 genes differentially expressed.” (To learn more about gene expression, watch this TED video from Dr Dean Ornish on how Your Genes are Not Your Fate).

Prior to the exercise training, a large enrichment of genes associated with mitochondrial function with age was seen.

However, following exercise training, aging was markedly reversed back to that of younger levels for most genes that were affected by both age and exercise.

Researchers concluded that mitochondrial impairment and muscle weakness in healthy older adults can be partially to substantially reversed with 6 months of resistance exercise training.

The best way to start a resistance training program is to partner with a certified personal trainer. This way, they can observe your movement and correct improper alignment, in order to prevent injury and ensure that you see results.

At the House of Verona, we work with Adam Mogelonsky, who is by far one of the most qualified personal trainers in Toronto. He has a degree in Life Sciences from Queen’s University, and can be reached at 647-448-2326 or adammogelonsky@gmail.com.

Source:

Melov S, Tarnopolsky MA, Beckman K, Felkey K, Hubbard A (2007) Resistance Exercise Reverses Aging in Human Skeletal Muscle. PLoS ONE 2(5): e465. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000465