Last night I attended a raw food workshop in Newbury with the infamous Stephanie Jeff from Explore Raw. What a woman!
I had heard about fermenting (Kombucha, Kefir, Nut cheeses etc) and its probiotic values but until now have not embarked on my fermenting journey. Steph made the whole experience hilarious talking about her fermentations like her little family of nurtured bacteria.
Stephanie reinforced my view on the importance of focussing on the inside not the outside when making nutritional changes. When she started a raw food diet she lost nine stone as a by-product and confesses that her weight still fluctuates. However the health benefits she has gained from eating a raw food diet are immense, she suffered from debilitating PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and now she is full of life, happiness and vibrancy - a very inspiring lady, I would recommend her workshops or retreats to anyone. She emphasises the gut, brain relationship that, as you will know, is dear to my heart.
The other MAJOR piece of information I got from my evening was to activate my nuts and seeds. Steph explained it in such a way that it made perfect sense (not going to lie, before it all just sounded like a big unnecessary faff) however when Steph explained the need to soak your nuts and seeds to ‘bring them back to life’ so the nutritional energy and enzymatic properties you are putting into your body are more beneficial, it made perfect sense. She used the visual concept of fruit, vegetables etc taking on the appearance of what they are good for e.g. when you cut a carrot and look at the cross section it looks a bit like an eye, a tomato looks a bit like a heart and when you activate nuts you can see the veins more prominently on the skin denoting the benefits for your vascular system and thus your whole being!!!! This visualisation will stay with me – Love it thanks Steph. I have now purchased a dehydrator and am keen to get started.
**Update (July 24th) - my nuts are soaked and dehydrated (thank goodness I'm female or that would invite a whole barrage of lewd comments!) and I CANNOT believe the difference - crunchier, creamier and yes they taste cleaner!! Oh, I did my seeds too but *mental note to oneself - find out about linseed as, when soaked, they pretty much turn into frogspawn!!!! Really hoping that activating my seeds will have a profound affect on the seed cycling challenge!