How to Make Raw Almond Milk

Almost four years ago when I started this health journey that The Lord put me on one of the first food groups to go for me was processed cow dairy.  It had my lymphatic system completely inflamed and clogged. I was constantly full of mucous, and whenever I got a cold I remember it would sometimes last a month. My immune system was so weakened it was difficult to heal and recover. I always woke up in the morning with gunk in my throat even when I didn't have a cold.

Initially for a few months to heal and detox I ate a raw vegan diet. Raw means not eating food prepared over 118 degrees F and vegan refers to not eating any animal products. This is the best way to eat to heal from most diseases and cancers. I say most, but always listen to the body. Everyone is different, and depending on what you are dealing with you may heal better from soups and cultured foods.

I remember how excited I was to learn new recipes, and how much I enjoyed them. It wasn't a huge struggle for me to change. I recognized how much better I felt each day, and the food was delicious! A recipe I learned early on was how to make raw almond milk. The benefits to consuming raw foods are maximum nutrient content, nothing destroyed by heat or extreme cold, especially enzymes. Enzymes are extremely important catalysts for digestion of the foods we eat. If there aren't any enzymes in our food we aren't able to digest properly. Lack of enzymes creates great agitation in the body.

The benefits to making your own almond milk are the enzymes are in tact, it's much fresher, there are not any extra ingredients, stabilizers, or preservatives, and the healthy fats are left intact as well as the natural vitamin E. also almond milk in the store I suggest storing it in a glass carafe or mason jar. It's much safer to store liquids in glass rather than plastic. Liquids absorb and soak up toxins like
biphesnols A (makes plastics hard) and phthalates (make plastics soft) very easily.

Here is what you will need to make your own almond milk at home:
1 cup raw almonds
Blender, preferably high speed
3 cups filtered water
Glass bowl
32oz glass jar
Nut milk bag

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar Part 2

Sugar addiction, the need to consume overly sweetened foods, usually with artificial sweeteners as well as sucrose that has been bleached, and stripped of its minerals due to processing, is wide spread among our nation. It really is a tremendous issue plaguing our country specifically our youth. 

I am so sorry and wholeheartedly apologize for missing my blog post the last two weeks. Life got away with me. I'm am sure you can relate. So I wanted to update you on my situation with sugar. I am happy to report that the yeast imbalance is gone, and I am back to normal. I was seriously uncomfortable during the die off time. I could feel the little infected buggies screaming for sugar. It was awful. I was diligent though, and refused to feed them what they wanted. If you missed the prior posts, do go back and read them. I discussed what I did to starve and recover from a yeast infection/flora imbalance.

After a month and a half, I slowly started to introduce high carbohydrate foods and sugars back into my daily consumption. I haven't eaten fruit yet. I may save that for next week. I love it so much, and really want to be diligent to make smart choices about when I eat it, with what, and how much. First I started with beans again...slowly. I noticed I was doing well with them, so that was an encouragement.I really missed the beans. I had one gluten free chocolate cupcake that I had made Thursday a week ago.  Yesterday for Thanksgiving I had made my sweet potato and quinoa patties, so I ate some of those and didn't experience a problem. For dessert yesterday I made vegan pumpkin mousse and these fabulous gluten free chocolate chip almond cookies. I have to say I really enjoyed these immensely. 

All this to say that if you are dealing with yeast imbalance or infection that there is light at the end of the tunnel. The infected yeast can die, the uncomfortable feeling, lethargy, acne, stress, and more can all go away if you are willing to make the commitment to your body to take care of it properly.

I applaud anyone interested in making and learning about better sweetener choices. When we remove the unhealthy options we improve our immune health and digestive health, which both go hand in hand to keep the rest of our body strong. As for suggested sweeteners I am just going to list what to leave in the house and which ones should be avoided.

Safe:

• Maple Syrup (great to cook and bake with)
• Organic Whole Cane Sugar (also called Rapadura) (great to cook and bake with)
• Coconut Crystals (Coconut Sugar) (great to cook and bake with) (low glycemic choice, better for diabetics)
• Coconut Nectar (great syrup substitute) (low glycemic choice, better for diabetics)
• Date Sugar (great for raw desserts)
• Raw Honey (do not heat or bake with this; great for raw desserts, fine in tea, great on plain yogurt)
• Fruit
• Brown Rice Syrup (I don't suggest using this one a lot, but its ok here and there)

Avoid:

• White Sugar
• Evaporated Cane Juice (even if its organic, this is still white sugar, it isn't bleached though, gmo, or sprayed with chemicals, it is still processed, and no nutrition to be had, and it spikes the blood sugar very high; usually found in lots of store bought organic treats, especially lollipops)
• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
•  Corn Syrup
• Agave Nectar (has more fructose than HFCS; is processed, not really raw)
• Glycerin
• Malted Grain Sweeteners
• Sugar Isolates: maltodextrin, sucrose, dextrose
• Fake Sugars: aspartame, sodium saccharine, sucralose