The Hydratic Equation

No matter where you live, hydration is everything. And it's not just about drinking enough water.

Water is critical for survival. My grandma once told me about a man imprisoned either as a POW or some other type of political persecution who used water to heal the other prisoners of all sorts of diseases and ailments. When I personally was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease (at the age of 16 no less), they cited dehydration as a severe concern. In fact, I used to suffer from headaches about once a day. And sinus headaches every so often that were so insufferable I would simply go to bed and lose a day or two because the pain hurt too much to function.

By taking time to de-stress my own heart (through exercise, hiking, prayer, etc.) and drinking crazy amounts of water, I was amazed to find my headaches vanished. I literally spent the early part of adolescence certain that they would discover I had a terrible brain tumor. My headaches were severe and frequent. But now they are rare and never the severity they used to be.

Water has done amazing things for me, but I also know that my body needs hydration in other forms, too. Water is an excellent cleansing tool and cell hydrator, but our bodies also need hydration in other forms, like for joints, blood sugar and heart health. Enter: Omega 3 essential fatty acids. Get yours today!!

I was so discouraged when I started experiencing headaches after my yoga classes. I was drinking the water, breathing...I didn't know what was wrong. Then one day I ate an avocado after class and the headache disappeared. I was amazed! Thinking it was just a fluke, I tried it again. And again. It still works.

Here's how you can incorporate more omegas in your raw diet (or SAD):

• Grind whole flax seeds and add them to everything! Your body can't digest the whole seeds but the flax meal can go rancid quickly. So buy the whole ones, keep 'em in the fridge and grind 'em when you need them. I will post my morning flax recipe at the bottom.


• Take an avo with you. In your lunch, in your bag/purse just keep 'em handy. They don't need to be refrigerated and their hard exterior can handle a day of errands like pros.


• Substitute flax/hemp seed oil for olive oil in dressings. The flavors vary but the nutritional values are without compare. They are also slightly more expensive, so go easy at first.


• Make some crackers! Flax seeds and chia seeds make great, crispy crackers that are chock full of omegas and taste wonderful! I'll also post a recipe for those at the end.

Please use today to take control of your health. Someone once said, "If I don't care of my body, where else will I live?" God has entrusted us with so much. But He doesn't want us to do it alone. I encourage you to take it all before Him.

2 Thessalonians 5:24, "Faithful is he who called you and he also will bring it to pass." Let Him start this good work in you and then watch as He finishes it. He is such a loving Father.

Recipes:

Flax seed Pancakes/Cereal:

• 1 cup flax seeds, ground in coffer grinder until flour-like consistency


• 2 tablespoons coconut oil


• Berries/fruit of choice cut up


• Agave nectar or honey (optional)

Cut the coconut oil into the flax meal in a bowl (or if your oil is like mine, pour it in the meal). Mix it by hand with a spoon until the meal is moist. Top with fruit (I love diced apple/peaches/banana) and drizzle agave (like you would pancake syrup, but be careful--it can be overpowering. Start small and add as needed). Voila!

Flax seed/Chia seed crackers:

• 4 cups, whole flax seeds (soaked 4-6 hours--they will become gelatinous! This is really fun for kids to see/play with. It feels much like slime....)


• 1 tablespoon lemon juice


• Pinch of Celtic/Himalayan salt


• Spices/herbs to taste. This is where you let your creativity take over. Add chili flakes/cayenne pepper for some kick (just go slow--they get really spicy), or some cacao and agave for some sweet. You can even just chop your fav herbs (parsley, thyme, basil) for veggie crackers. Incorporate tomato for sundried tomato cracker. Just taste as you go.

Stir all ingredients together and spread thinly and evenly on a teflex dehydrator tray. The thinner the spread, the crunchier the cracker. Dehydrate for 6 hours and then flip and dehydrate that side for another 6 hours or until it reaches the desired crispiness. Voila!

H20, Love and other works of God

I eat raw food because God pursued me in it. The idea of eating salad day in and day out, repulsed me. But how often do we take the word of God and immediately put ourselves in self-assumed bondage?

Do not, thou shalt not...this is how so many of us see God.

Raw food seems like the ultimate expression of that kind of kooky bondage.

But it's not. It's just really not. When it came to eating raw food, all I thought was, "Thou shalt not eat, do not eat, etc." And to be frank, I just wanted one part of my life that was mine! For crying out loud, I do good things. I work on my marriage. I try to be the best sister, daughter, friend, co-worker, employee that I can be. LEAVE MY FOOD ALONE!

But after three very real attempts by the Lord to get my attention regarding eating raw food, I couldn't resist. He pursued and I could not resist.

I started the very day I received the third "message" to eat raw. I didn't read a book on it. I didn't receive an education in it. I went to no one to discuss it. I just did it.

And I found freedom.

Isaiah 55:7-9. "For my ways are not your ways, neither are my thoughts your thoughts, declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

My natural inclination is to see the word of God as bondage, a sacrifice on my part. But it is not. It is a sacrifice on God's part to bring life and freedom to my very being--mind, body, spirit. His ways are not my ways and my thoughts are not his thoughts. I am so blessed that He is willing to use something as simple, yet powerful as food to demonstrate this to me. And set me free in the process.

A new-age raw recipe book talks about the most important ingredient of all: love. No matter what you're making, what you're eating, if it isn't made with love it will not nourish as it should. When I cook/prep out of my own strength, it is rarely made with love. But as the Lord works through me to prepare meals, I am freed to let His love fill our very food. There's nothing new age about that: man cannot live on bread alone, but on the very word of God--who is Christ Jesus!

As a new friend reminded me last night:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength,

but you would have none of it." -Isaiah 30:15

Through drinking plenty of water, letting the love of God through Christ dwell in me and being alive and well, I am free.

So hard...can't go on...

The next raw food book I read better have a whole chapter devoted to sticky social situations as a raw food-er.

We have a friend, whom we love dearly but haven't seen in months, who invited us over for dinner. She and I had gone out to lunch a while back and I didn't make my eating habits main conversation but just ate a huge fruit salad and mentioned briefly that we try to eat raw, vegan food.

I never expected that she would make us chicken for dinner--organic chicken she bought especially for us from Whole Foods. That she was making from a special recipe. That she was trying out for the first time. Just for us.

You know, no pressure.

As we hung out in the kitchen, watching her prepare the poultry, I determined in my heart that I would make no mention of our veganism. But my husband couldn't watch her make it, just to watch us avoid it on our plates. So, he told her. She laughed out loud, certain we were being silly. "You are joking, right?" She laughed, slicing the raw chicken parts into thin strips for the grill.

So hard to say no. We smiled and apologized, I died in my heart, but told her about the vegan thing. So we ate salad and risotto (like I was going to tell her we don't eat cooked rice!) and she felt horrible.

But she brightened up when it came time to serve dessert--special dessert she had bought just for us from Whole Foods. A real treat that she never buys just for herself but wanted to share with us.

When she brought out the caramel custard cups, we oohed, aahed and ate. No questions asked. I couldn't believe I was actually allowing the white satan (refined sugar) to enter my mouth, but it did. And I even swallowed.

I don't ever want my ideals to wound another person. Granted, there is a right and a wrong. Truth is not "up to interpretation." But when someone I know and love has gone out of their way to bless me, I am going to receive it--whether it's what I want or not.

As we left, I still felt guilty for not eating the chicken. But as my husband and I got in the car, he said he almost vomited from the custard. Not that it didn't taste good, but he sad his body just didn't want anything to do with it. Now that's the real victory for me.