Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution – Rave!

Jamie Oliver, world renown chef who has written many food-based books http://bit.ly/aSZqO0 and hosted several cooking shows has now taken America by storm with his new television show “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.”

He wants to challenge most Americans’ perception of food, and demonstrate how eating real food can diminish our country’s problems of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. He believes that this is especially true for children, so their lives are not shortened by the bad habits of their families, schools and society.

In the six-part series, Jamie heads to Huntington, West Virginia because it has been called the unhealthiest city in America. Jamie wants to do something about that. The 3 main challenges that Jaime wants to take on in Huntington in hopes of inspiring the rest of the nation are:

School Meals: To replace the processed school food with meals that were cooked from fresh ingredients, met the nutrition standards, and appealed to the kids. The school meals I trialled are now being rolled out to the rest of the school district.

Home: To show families that cooking at home from scratch is better for them, not to mention cheaper. We set up a community kitchen in Huntington that holds two cooking classes a day for local families. It is now being run by a local healthcare charity.

Main Street: To get the whole town cooking again and show people that they do have an alternative to the processed and fast food that’s invaded the American main street. We went into churches, colleges, workplaces, the local fire station, and as many places as we could think of, to teach as many people as possible a few quick and simple meals. That has changed people’s lives.

Kudos to Jamie Oliver for taking such an interest in teaching children about nutrition, food and cooking so that they will be able to reverse the foods trends taking over the country and the world. Through this television show he is opening people’s eyes to the dangers of unhealthy eating and the nutritional superiority of real food.

To learn more about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution visit:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

And don’t forget to watch the show on Fridays at 9:00 PM on ABC!

You can get a glimpse of it here:

Healthy Recipes - Raw Oatmeal in a Drink

This recipe gives you the nutrition and fiber of oatmeal in a tasty, raw smoothie!

Ingredients:

1 c. oat groats – soaked overnight in water
1/4 c. almond butter
1-2 Tbsp. agave nectar
1/4c. regular unflavored almond milk (use as much as you want to get consistency you like)
1/4 raisins or any fresh or frozen fruit (fresh tastes better) such as blueberries, raspberries, peaches, melon
1/2 banana
2-3 scoops BoKU Super Food

Directions:

Blend to desired consistency in food processor and enjoy!

Remember to Eat Your Greens!

Everyone is crazy about “Going Green” to save the environment today.  But “Going Green” is not just for our environment…Going Green inside is just as important for your health!

No one can refute, the foundation of great health is great nutrition…And the best way to fight disease, is to prevent it.

In the beginning of time, our ancient ancestors ate up to six pounds of green leaves per day.  Imagine them walking along from one place to another, just picking and eating leaves as they went. Can you imagine eating a grocery bag full of greens each and every day? Very few of us even eat the minimum USDA recommendations of 3 cups of dark green vegetables per week. And yet, these vegetables deliver a bounty of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.

Why are Greens so good for you?

Dark green leafy vegetables are, calorie for calorie, perhaps the most concentrated source of nutrition of any food. They are a rich source of minerals (including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium) and vitamins, including vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which protect our cells from damage and our eyes from age-related problems, among many other effects. Dark green leaves even contain small amounts of Omega-3 fats.

Perhaps the star of these nutrients is Vitamin K. A cup of most cooked greens provides at least nine times the minimum recommended intake of Vitamin K, and even a couple of cups of dark salad greens usually provide the minimum all on their own. Recent research has provided evidence that this vitamin may be even more important than we once thought (the current minimum may not be optimal), and many people do not get enough of it.

Vitamin K:

•  Regulates blood clotting
•  Helps protect bones from osteoporosis
•  May help prevent and possibly even reduce atherosclerosis by reducing calcium in arterial plaques    
• May be a key regulator of inflammation, and may help protect us from inflammatory diseases including arthitis
• May help prevent diabetes

So, what now?  Eat a grocery bag full of greens everyday?

The reality is, it’s nearly impossible to eat a grocery bag full of green produce per day, but there are options for the consumer:  Fresh Juicing Greens is a terrific method of preserving all the natural goodness of greens, but most people find this inconvenient and very expensive.  My preferred method of getting my greens is in quality powder form, such as BOKU Superfood.  BOKU Superfood is rich in natural greens, but also much much more.  It also saves me money because it is basically $1 per serving. 

No matter what method you choose, make sure all your greens are certified organic!