Olive Leaf Extract may well be one of the most significant anti-infection agents ever discovered. …For over 6,000 years, an extract from the leaves of this revered tree has been used as a folk remedy for many types of infections.

Scientific research has now shown that olive leaf extract contains powerful active ingredients, such as oleuropein and calcium elenolate, which actually help destroy viruses, fungi, bacteria, and parasites that cause disease. Although olive leaf extract is capable of killing a broad range of infection-causing agents, it does not harm the beneficial bacteria in your body. Many studies show it to be very safe, nontoxic and effective, even for children.

Research shows a wide range of actions of olive leaf extract. It has the ability to:

• Powerfully strengthen the immune system
• Degrade organisms of all types, without harming the normal flora. Examples include Giardia, Chlamydia, fungi (such as candida), yeast, Clostridium, Helicovacter, viruses, etc.
• Stop arthritis inflammation in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Reduce insulin need in diabetics.
• Eliminate chronic fatigue.
• Reduce elevated blood pressure in high blood pressure patients.
• Normalize abnormal heart beats – arrhythmias
• Clear fungus of all types – jock itch, athlete’s foot, fungal nails, etc.
• Clear viruses of all types – herpes, influenza, colds, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, retroviruses such as AIDS, etc.
• Decrease pain from hemorrhoids.
• Create abundant energy.
• Give permanent relief of malaria.
• Neutralize the production of reverse transcriptase as well as protease.

By interfering with the amino acid processes of pathogenic microbes, olive leaf extract prevents them from reproducing. Some studies suggest that calcium elenolate can enter virally-infected cells in the body and stop them from replicating.

Virus shedding is the process by which viruses reproduce. Calcium elenolate attaches to the cell’s membrane and stops the viruses from multiplying and spreading. Calcium elenolate neutralizes the virus’ production of reverse transcriptase and protease. Without these enzymes, a retrovirus (such as AIDS) cannot alter the RNA of a healthy cell in order to reproduce itself. The virus is stopped cold.

(source: http://www.phpure.com/nutrition_products/oleuropein.htm )

It is also said that olive leaf extract lowers hypertension and improves blood circulation. It also helps in reducing bad cholesterol and at the same increases good cholesterol level. Scientific studies have proven the various benefits of olive leaf extract. Due to the presence of antioxidants, this extract helps in scavenging free radicals, which are responsible for attacking body cells and tissues. Hence, it restores cells by preventing cellular damage.

It is also said to be good in the treatment of ear infections. I encourage you to google ‘olive leaf extract’ and do some research of your own if interested. Or go out and buy some olive leaf extract. (I have the liquid version which is kept refrigerated).

more info:
-http://www.buzzle.com/articles/olive-leaf-extract-benefits.html
-http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-and-side-effects-of-olive-leaf-extract.html

Animal protein causes bone loss.
Read this article about milk and calcium. (it also lists some alternative sources of calcium):
http://www.notmilk.com/deb/092098.html

What else is wrong with milk and why is it not good for us? Read this:
http://www.notmilk.com/kradjian.html

What do I drink as vegan replacement for milk? Almond milk or Coconut milk. Read about some of Coconut milk’s health benefits:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_4744724_coconut-milk-health-benefits.html

“Half the medium-chain fatty acids in Coconut milk are composed of lauric acid, which is anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-fungal. Coconut milk can help boost the immune system.”

and more info in a video about why cow’s milk is bad:

I went to a raw food potluck recently and here’s a photo of what I ate. It was great and I had mango & lettuce salad, asparagus, avocado, butternut squash salad, grapes, strawberries, apples, cucumbers, kale & tomato salad, broccoli, carrots, green beans, a pumpkin seed cracker with nut pate, and a salsa. Very tasty, colorful and nutritious.
Oh and for dessert I had a slice of raw cinnamon & apple pie. =)
Also I had recently… Strawberries and romaine salad with sunflower sprouts, sunflower seed crackers and a tomato basil dressing.
and hummus pizza on onion bread with sprouts, bell peppers and tomatoes. also cauliflower & dill salad and cucumbers.

and a Butternut squash salad with raw stirfry veggies.

also had raw chocolate (cacao) drops with almonds and coconut. And organic fruit (peaches, papaya, mango, banana, cantaloupe, etc.)

And they consume about 140 pounds of sugar each year. That’s the sugar equivalent of 3,628 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in the next 12 months. That’s just crazy. People should switch to raw foods and they’d be alot healthier. Of course the advertisers don’t want you to do that.

There’s even more reasons than that too, such as looking  younger after being on it for awhile (I’ve seen 65 year olds who looked like they were 40 and 50 year olds that looked like they were 30), combatting or preventing diseases (several centers such as Hippocrates cure cancer and other illnesses through raw food), reducing visability of scars after several years, you get to try new food/recipes, and more.

We are the only animal on the planet which cooks its food. Animals in nature don’t seem to have the extensive list of diseases that humans do, including obesity. Note: The consumption of cooked food causes digestive leukocytosis (sometimes spelled leucocytosis,) which is the sudden increase of white blood cells in the bloodstream after consuming cooked food. The presence of digestive leukocytosis suggests that consuming cooked food is foreign to the human body. It also suggests that the consumption of cooked food compromises the immune system.

And food prepared using conventional cooking methods destroys up to 80% of that food’s nutrition. Can you afford 80% less nutrition than is naturally found in your food?

Science proves that cooking not only destroys nutrition and enzymes, but chemically changes foods from the substances needed for health into free-radicals and poisons that destroy our health. Acrylamide and heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are possible carcinogens formed in high-heat cooking. Try to eat more raw food instead.

A RAW-FOOD DIET*
The following should be unprocessed and preferably organic:

• Fresh fruits
• Fresh vegetables
• Nuts, seeds and grains (all preferably soaked to reduce phytic acid which is an anti-nutrient)
• Legumes (peas, carob, etc.)
• Dried fruit
• Seaweed
• Unprocessed organic or natural foods (ie: sprouts)
• Freshly juiced fruits and vegetables
• Purified water
• Young coconut milk
• *SOURCE: About.com: Alternative medicine

Other interesting links:
“Cancer risk found in french fries, bread” (talks about acrylamide).
My list of raw food websites and recipe sites.

Today
Breakfast: big Gala Apple
Lunch: Big salad with lettuce, carrots, broccoli sprouts, sunflower sprouts, avocado, carrots, raw croutons made of various seeds (store bought), and a raw Herb Vinaigrette dressing made with extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, fresh organic basil, parsley, rosemary, garlic, sea salt and black pepper. (raw dressing was bought at Whole Foods)

Some other things I ate lately in April include the following:

Red Cabbage and Romaine Salad topped with sunflower seed croutons and a tomato basil vinagrette dressing.

Raw Pizza topped with spinach

Raw Pizza topped with sprouts, and a mexican fruit salad.

Zucchini Spaghetti with walnut “meat”

Zucchini Fettucini Alfredo with pine nut “parmesan” and a salad.

Mock egg salad, carrot salad and cucumber salad.

Bunny wrappit (raw vegan wrap with carrots, avocado, tomato, nut “cheese”, sprouts and wrapped in lettuce)

raw Key Lime Pie

raw Chocolate; raw banana ball/nut dessert; raw lemon & fig dessert.

Flaxseed crackers spiced with tomatoes and bell peppers

Various fruit: Strawberries, pineapple, plums, oranges, apples, kiwi, bananas.

Pina Colada fruit smoothies

1.  Live Longer
A study from the Loma Linda University has found that vegetarians live about seven years longer, and vegans live about 15 years longer than meat eaters.  These studies are further supported by the Chinese Health Project (the largest population study on diet and health to date). They found Chinese people who eat the least amount of fat and animal products have the lowest risk of cancer, heart attack and other diseases.

Further proof comes from a British research that tracked 6,000 and 5,000 meat eaters for 12 years to find that vegetarians were 40 percent less likely to die from cancer during that time and 20 percent less likely to die from other diseases.

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop has said bad eating habits are the main cause of 70 percent American deaths.  Consuming more fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains are the best source for living a healthy, more enjoyable life.

According to the China Study, the most comprehensive nutritional study: “People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease … People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. These results could not be ignored,” said Dr. Campbell. It’s the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted. The authors conclude that diets high in animal protein (including casein in cow’s milk) are strongly linked to diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and Type 2 diabetes.

2. Raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all cars, planes, ships and trains in the world combined.
You are not only helping your body but you also help the environment by reducing pollution created from animal agriculture.  Also, you may appreciate your healthy meals even more knowing that no animals suffered along the way.

3. You’ll give your body a spring cleaning.
Fruit and vegetable juices contain phytochemicals that help us detox naturally.  Giving up meat helps rid the body of toxins (environmental pollutants, pesticides, preservatives) that overload our systems and cause illness.

4. You Will Look Better And be Skinnier
On average, vegetarians and vegans are slimmer than meat eaters. Their diets are much lower in calories than the standard American diet. They are also less likely to suffer from weight-related disorders like heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

5. More Efficient
Right now, 72 percent of all grain produced in the United States is fed to animals raised for slaughter. It takes 15 pounds of feed to get one pound of meat. But if the grain were given directly to people, there’d be enough food to feed the entire planet. In addition, using land for animal agriculture is inefficient in terms of maximizing food production. According to the journal Soil and Water, one acre of land could produce 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, 40,000 pounds of potatoes, 30,000 pounds of carrots or just 250 pounds of beef.

6. You’ll avoid most toxic chemicals.
95 percent of pesticide residue in our diet comes from meat, fish and dairy products (according to EPA estimates). Fish, in particular, contain carcinogens (PCBs, DDT) and heavy metals (mercury, arsenic; lead, cadmium) that cannot be removed through cooking or freezing. Meat and dairy products are also laced with steroids and hormones. And if you become a raw vegan who eats organic food then you will be taking in alot less toxins and chemicals since there’s no processed food and a lot less pesticides.

7. You’ll help the environment.
-Stop the #1 polluter of water. Animal agriculture is the #1 cause of polluted rivers and streams in the U.S.
- Circle 4 Farms in Milford, Utah, which raises 2.5 million pigs every year, creates more waste than the entire city of Los Angeles. And this is just one farm. Each year, the nation’s factory farms, collectively produce 2 billion tons of manure, a substance that’s rated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of the country’s top 10 pollutants. And that’s not even counting the methane gas released by cows, pigs and poultry (which contributes to the greenhouse effect); the ammonia gases from urine; poison gases that emanate from manure lagoons; toxic chemicals from pesticides; and exhaust from farm equipment used to raise feed for animals.

8. You’ll be more “regular.”
Vegetables are the ultimate source for fiber, which pushes waste out of the body. Meat contains no fiber. Studies done at Harvard and Brigham Women’s Hospital found that people who ate a high-fiber diet had a 42 percent lower risk of diverticulitis. People who eat vegetable rich diets also tend to have fewer incidences of constipation, hemorrhoids and spastic colon.

9. You’ll help save trees. 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared for animal agriculture.

10. It’s The Humane Thing To Do.
Did you know 22 million animals are slaughtered to support the American appetite for meat?  It’s a great feeling to finish a health meal knowing that no beings have suffered. Be being vegan you are saving animals. Stop the violence against other species on this planet. Be kind to animals.

“Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty. Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
- Albert Einstein

Related link: “How to go vegetarian or vegan”.
(vegans don’t eat animals or dairy products. vegetarians don’t eat animals.)