How to grow new capillaries

Bottom line: intense endurance training can lead to more & healthier capillaries, which leads to more nutrients being delivered to your tissues, keeping you younger, longer.

Join one of our spring retreats and get plenty of exercise outdoors in the fresh, warm Blue Mountain air.

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

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

Hope you’re enjoying the winter!

How to reverse wrinkles using food (and only food)

I visited my doctor this week and noticed some brochures about botox, microdermabrasion, and restylane fillers. I asked the resident aesthetician if she thought it was possible to reverse wrinkles using food only, and she replied, “No. There’s no way. Fillers are the only way.”

I have to respect that she’s trying to make a living, but since I personally know several women who indeed have reversed their wrinkles using only specific food choices, I thought I’d post about how one can do this at home, using a grocery store in place of a needle.

Why are wrinkles caused?

Our skin has 3 layers: epidermis on top, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue underneath.

The dermis contains the structural elements of the skin, the connective tissue. Collagen is one protein that is a type of connective tissue which gives the skin its strength. Elastin fibres are another type, which lends to elasticity.

Where the dermis and epidermis meet is where connective tissue delivers nutrients from blood vessels to the epidermis. The stronger the connective tissue, the more nutrients reach the skin, giving it a youthful appearance.

As we age, less collagen is produced by the body, and the elastin fibres wear out. The connective tissues weaken without a diet high in minerals. These changes in the scaffolding of the skin cause tiny sags, which are wrinkles. Other factors leading to breaking down our body’s collagen are the sun, pollution, free radicals, and toxins.

Imagine it as a building that has pillars keeping the roof up: if the pillars weaken over time and the roof starts to sink, the thing to do would be to rebuild the pillars – we wouldn’t put something on top of the roof to fix the pillar. So, anti aging serums and creams fill in the holes temporarily, but cannot restore the youthful plumpness, stretched look, and elasticity for the long term.

Many people are starting to discover this and reverse their wrinkles themselves, at home, simply by instituting a simple change in nutrition.

Foods & minerals that erase wrinkles

1. Sulfur-residue foods

Sulfur-residue foods contain enzymes that help keep the skin flexible and the collagen strong, rebuilding it and protecting it from damage. Many people are deficient in sulfur because it’s extremely volatile: it’s either evaporated or destroyed by cooking.

Sulfur-residue foods:

• Bee pollen
• Cabbage
• Hot peppers
• Broccoli
• Garlic
• Horseradish
• Radish
• Kale
• Onions
• Pumpkin seeds
• Spirulina
• Watercress

2. Foods containing the mineral Silicon

Silicon maintains the strength and elasticity of cell walls and connective tissue. It directly aids in the regeneration of tissues, and thus makes a direct impact on the skin’s wrinkles.

Sources of Silicon:

• Radishes
• Romaine lettuce
• Burdock root (can be consumed as a tea)
• Cucumber skin
• Bell pepper skin
• Tomato skin
• Young leafy greens
• Steel cut oats
• Barley
• Spinach
• Bananas
• Apricots
• Nettles
• Red lentils

3. Foods containing the mineral Zinc

Zinc is essential for skin beauty. It promotes cell repair and growth, and is a key member of a group of enzymes that helps to maintain its collagen supply.

Without zinc, the enzymes that rebuild new collagen do not function properly.

In addition to preventing wrinkles, Zinc also prevents and aids in the healing of stretch marks, cellulite, and other outward signs of aging.

Great Zinc sources:

• Poppy seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Pine nuts
• Cashews
• Macadamia nuts
• Sesame seeds
• Young coconuts (“old” ones are the brown ones we see in regular stores, and won’t do. “Young” ones can be purchased from Asian markets).

We highly recommend that these foods are eaten raw, since heating foods over 118°F causes the enzymes to be denatured, and destroys 50% to 80% of the nutrients.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Sources:

• Dr. Heather Brannon, MD
• Dr. Gabriel Cousens, MD
• Jessica Moore, Registered Holistic Nutritionist
• Eating for Beauty, by David Wolfe, Nutritionist
• Victoria Boutenko, Author, Green for Life, and a woman who reversed her wrinkles naturally
• Cambridge University Press: A provisional database for the silicon content of foods in the United Kingdom http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=924600

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.

Sources:

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

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

Shiitake logs: the hot new accessory for spring

In terms of having the latest new accessory, having your own shiitake log is right up there with the new McQueens or a foursquare app.

Shiitakes reduce the appearance of wrinkles and crows feet (say Japanese and Chinese researchers), and American botanists have reported that they decrease cholesterol, fight candida, inhibit the growth of cancer tumours, and have radioprotective properties: mice exposed to x-rays had a higher survival rate when shiitakes were part of their diet.

Plus, they’re anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal.

The beauty is that all you do is throw the log under your deck (or anywhere dark), keep it wet, and it fruits for up to 5 years if you take care if it properly. Yes, you heard us – bundles of organic top-quality shiitake mushrooms (store-bought ones are grown on just sawdust).

We got ours from the Young Urban Farmers (who we adore).

Shiitakes will be making an appearance at our Staying Young Retreat this year – for more info on this 5-day raw vegan vacation, visit http://houseofverona.com/retreats/stayingyoung/.

Berries Prevent Sun-Induced Wrinkles

We know you.

You love the golden look of a natural tan, but hate the fact that it makes your skin wrinkle. It’s scary how you can see the aging immediately after spending an extended period in the sun, unprotected.

We posted earlier on about how tocotrienols (i.e. raw coconut oil) can help to prevent sun damage when ingested or applied topically at night.

Now, new research coming from Koren and American researchers found that myricetin, a major flavonoid found in berries, grapes, tea, red wine, fruits, vegetables, and walnuts, inhibited UVB-induced wrinkle formation in the skin of mice.

What’s really interesting is that myricetin was shown to interfere with the chemical reaction that takes place when UVB interacts with skin to form wrinkles. The flavonoid literally nips skin aging in the bud:

There’s also evidence that myricetin is one of the flavonoids which helps to fight cancer cells.

These foods all have a high source of myricetin:

• onion leaves
• papayas
• guavas
• raspberries
• cranberries
• black currants
• crowberries
• blueberries
• bilberries
• fresh fava beans

Ingrid’s got a great recipe for a berry tartlet here. Enjoy!

By the way – our Hot Yoga Retreat in April is filling up quickly. Grab one of the last spots before prices go up April 1st!

Sources:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf9811065

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11410016

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf00024a011

How “Glycation” Causes Wrinkles

A large reason why we obtain wrinkles is as a result of glycation, a side-effect of cooking food, says Dr Laurence Anderson of the Cosmetic Physicians Society of Australia.

Glycation is the result of a sugar molecule bonding to a protein or lipid molecule without the controlling action of an enzyme.

Dr. Gabriel Cousens MD also reports that glycation is a hazardous thing for our bodies: it gets in the way of our vital organs functioning, damages internal tissues, and impairs proteins from doing their job inside our bodies.

Most people are unaware that we ingest tens of thousands of glycated molecules through all food that has been processed.

The more pure, whole, unadulterated food you can eat, the more you can prevent A.G.E.s from creating new wrinkles in your skin:

• Raw fruits & vegetables: negligible amounts of A.G.E.s
• Steamed veggies: 10 to 100 A.G.E.s
• Any food that comes in a box or package: 1000s of A.G.E.s
• Dairy or meat: 10,000s of A.G.E.s
• Traditional thanksgiving dinner: 100,000s of A.G.E.s(Source)

The Journal of the American Diabetic Association advises that it’s better to eat things raw, steamed, boiled or lightly roasted – once it’s going past 100°F through broiling and frying, the A.G.Es quickly pile up.

We’re hosting a live-food detox retreat with Marni Wasserman, CNP, on the weekend of May 14 to 16, 2010 – all foods will have virtually no A.G.E.s, and the exercise and spa treatments we chose actually help to naturally create new collagen in the skin. Learn more here.

10 Health Myths Debunked

There’s so much confusion in the health sphere. Here’s our take on some of the biggest misconceptions out there.

1.    Myth: Just wash & moisturize, and your skin will look great

There is a direct connection between the health of your skin and what you put in your mouth. The more strain is put on the large processing units of the liver & kidneys through an unhealthy lifestyle, the more it shows up on your skin, since it’s also an organ used to eliminate unnecessary waste.

Sugar, alcohol, fat, junk food, and dairy all contribute to poor live health and poor skin. Eating a healthy diet to relieve the burden off the liver would help.

• Eat a whole foods diet high in greens, vegetables and low-sweet fruit
• Cut out sugar – even agave, honey, maple syrup, and high sweet fruit
• Drink plenty of clean water and eliminate caffeine
• Take a probiotic daily for 1 month
• Eat liver-supporting foods: dandelion, rosemary, nettle & milk thistle

Your skin might get worse before it gets better, but that’s just your body using all elimination channels to kick the toxins out of your body. It may sometimes take up to a year, but once your diet is clean, your skin will follow.

2. Myth: If I just restrict my calories, I’ll lose weight

Although it’s important to manage calories, it’s much more essential to watch your sugar intake. An excess of glucose (sugar, which comes from bread, rice, pasta, honey, maple syrup, and high-sweet fruit) is one major cause of fat storage, so minimizing glucose will significantly help your weight-loss battle.

It’s also extremely important to engage in weight training and engage in long periods of moderate cardio, as they are the most effective exercises to burn fat.

There is a growing tribe of people who believe that old emotions are stored in cells, and dealing with those unresolved memories can help to shed weight. There are numerous examples (Brendan Bays, Philip McCluskey), but Deepak Chopra is the authority on this topic.

3. Myth: Alcohol is good for you

“Binge drinking alcohol is like sending a halt-all-processes memo to your liver,” advises Mogelonsky.

Your body recognizes excess alcohol as a result of binge drinking as a poison, so the brain signals the liver to stop processing any food and only focus on dealing with the alcohol, since it’s such a threat. As a result, the liver prioritizes processing alcohol first, which would lead to a higher likelihood that more food recently eaten will be stored as fat.

Alcohol is also high in sugar, and consumption leads to accelerated aging, sugar cravings, and weight gain.

Finally, alcohol is highly acidic; the body leeches minerals in order to neutralize it the acid and maintain a slightly alkaline state.

Although many studies have praised alcohol for its anti-oxidant and cholesterol-reducing benefits, eating fruits and vegetables can provide the same or superior result.

4. Myth: Wrinkles and gray hair are permanent.

There are always strong genetic factors associated with aging, however, it is possible to prevent and mitigate some signs of age.

In the raw foodist community, it’s common to meet folks who have “before” photos that look older than their “after” shots. View these articles on wrinkles and gray hair to learn more.

5. Myth: All fruit is good for you

Yes, fruit has amazing nutrients that are highly beneficial. Just don’t binge on high-sweet non-organic fruit, such as bananas, dates, and mangoes.

An overabundance of sugary fruits without a balance of low-sweet fruit and greens can lead to a weaker immune system, since the body uses its mineral stores to neutralize high-sugar, low-nutrient (i.e., non organic) foods.

Lower-sweet fruits include:

•    tomatoes
•    avocadoes
•    cucumbers
•    green peppers
•    lemons & limes
•    apples
•    berries

The high sugar content also fuels sugar addictions and lends to a weaker immune system, according to Dr Brian Clement PhD ND.

6. Myth: There is no cure for diabetes

If you still believe that diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases are a permanent death wish, I urge you to watch this trailer on a documentary that shows proof that the opposite is true.

7. Myth: There is no cure for depression except for meds

We conducted a poll in April 2009 of 100 raw vegans, and found that 35% of those people had reported “elimination of depression” as a benefit of “going raw.”

Further, 70% of respondents reported an “improved outlook on life” as a result of switching their diets.

For years, Gina Silvestri was chronically depressed, suicidal, and taking 6 medications. When she ‘went raw’, she lost 110 lbs, and her depression lifted – she is now happily self employed and helps others overcome their depression.

8. Myth: You should take a multivitamin every day

A few studies have come out recently to suggest that multivitamins have little to no effect over the long run. In fact, one long-term study found that they can actually be harmful when too many supplements are taken. It’s much healthier to just get the vitamins from your food – so eat an orange instead of popping a vitamin C.

9. Myth: Milk does a body good

Dr T Colin Campbell PhD grew up on a dairy farm, believing that milk was essential. He spent his career studying the link between nutrition and cancer. At the peak of his career, he wrote The China Study, which the New York Times called the “grand prix of epidemiology research.” He found that casein, the main protein found in milk, “turns cancer on like a switch.” Abstaining from drinking milk, and consuming any form of animal protein, halted the growth of tumours in their tracks.

10. Myth: We need animal protein because we’re omnivores

Our bodies break down protein into amino acids, and then re-assemble those amino acids into the proteins that our bodies need. There are thousands of different proteins that our body uses, not 1 universal ‘protein’ that aids all bodily functions.

It’s actually more energy efficient to consume the straight amino acids and have our body assemble them into the proteins we need.

Amino acids are highly abundant in raw fruits, vegetables, greens, and seeds. Once they are heated above 110F, they are denatured, and harder for the body to utilize. The irony is that those who consume much animal protein and not enough raw produce become deficient in amino acids.

Fight Wrinkles with Chocolate

A Japanese study published in the Journal of Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine found that the topical application of xanthine extracts onto skin suppressed wrinkle formation in hairless mice, after exposure to UV rays.

Xanthine is a chemical compound found in the following food sources:

• Cacao beans
• Tea leaves
• Coffee beans
• Yerba maté

We recommend 3 ways that you can mimic this effect with your own skin:

1. Cacao mask

Throw the following items into your blender, grinder, or food processor:

• Raw cacao beans
• Raw coffee beans, if you can find them (green, not brown).
• Whole leaf black tea
• Raw yerba maté powder
• Drop of vanilla to scent

In a mixing bowl, mix the resulting powder with 1 spoon of a natural emulsifier. Here are some options, depending on what you have in your pantry:

• Cold-pressed coconut oil or coconut butter
• Raw honey
• Raw shea butter
• Any natural lotion you own – the more natural, the better, as unnatural lotions actually contribute to wrinkles.

Apply onto areas of your skin that you’d like to protect from wrinkles. Leave on for 20 minutes and rinse. Ideally, you’d do this immediately before sun exposure.

2. Cacao bath bomb

In a blender, grinder, or food processor, add the following items:

• Raw cacao beans
• Raw coffee beans, if you can find them (green, not brown).
• Whole leaf black tea
• Raw yerba maté powder
• Drop of vanilla to scent

Add this mixture to your next bath and soak for 15 minutes. Rinse off with a cool shower.

3. Anti-wrinkle cocktail

In a blender, add the following items:

• Raw cacao beans – the taste is over-powering, so start off with 1 bean and add more as needed.
• Spring water
• Organic spinach
• Organic apples
• Drop of stevia
• Drop of vanilla

Be careful not to add other natural sweeteners to this cocktail, as sugar – any sugar, even in the form of honey, agave, or maple syrup – will definitely contribute to wrinkles.

Source:

Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine. 23(2-3):86-94, April/June 2007.
Mitani, Hiroaki; Ryu, Akemi; Suzuki, Tadashi; Yamashita, Mika; Arakane, Kumi; Koide, Chiharu

Living to 1,000 years

A brilliant researcher from Cambridge University named Aubrey de Grey shocked the crowd at the TED conference in California when he proposed that it is possible and within reach for humans to live until 1,000 years old.

He narrows down bodily damage, and thus aging, to “7 deadly things”:

1.    cell death / atrophy
2.    death-resistant cells
3.    nuclear mutations
4.    mtDNA (mitochondrial) mutations
5.    protein crosslinks
6.    junk inside cells
7.    junk outside cells

He purports that all of these things can be easily managed by therapies that are within are grasp within the next decade.

They’ve already been able to slow and reverse the 7 things in mice, and although a zoologist would avoid gratuitously extrapolating findings to humans, de Grey argues that it’s a promising start.

As a raw vegan watching his presentation, I saw absolute beauty in this talk, simply because our community already understands that many of the 7 things are mitigated through a raw food lifestyle.

• We’re less likely to have protein crosslinks (#5) because we consume few A.G.E.s (advanced glycated end-products), which are cross-linked proteins with sugars as a result of cooking. A.G.E.s are responsible for tissue damage, wrinkles, age spots, and much more. To give you an idea, a raw orange has 1 A.G.E., while a sausage cooked for 5 minutes has 10,000 A.G.E.s.
• Also, we’ll experience less mutations in our cells because we do not consume items that cause mutations, such as foods that have been microwaved, or MSG, which is a natural by-product of cooked soy (Source: Dr Gabriel Cousens MD).

Next Page »