The Fresh Network Blog

Our bodies are supposed to be beautiful!

Eight years ago I was at a corporate event having lunch with a group of female friends when the topic of cellulite came up. It has stuck in my mind because it wasn’t long after this that I discovered, and started following, the raw diet and lifestyle. The conversation went something like this:

“Did you see those photos of [X celebrity] in the papers the other day? She has cellulite!”

“And she’s really thin and she’s always on a diet.”

“It just goes to show it’s true what they say – you can’t avoid it.

“No, every woman has it.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it.”

“No, nothing.”

And so we carried on downing our wines and our coffees as we digested the three-course wheat, meat and dairy-based meal we had just enjoyed. And we continued discussing how our thighs had one day been attacked by some mysterious and malign force over which we had no control.

What I’ve since discovered is that once you stop consuming the foods that cause cellulite, you stop having cellulite! But I'll save the rest of my cellulite story for another time...

Today a new book by Susie Orbach, author of the 1978 classic Fat is a Feminist Issue, was released. It’s called, simply, Bodies. Orbach has long been vocal in condemning the pain and suffering women put themselves through in order to conform to the culturally-defined dictates about how the female body should look.

In this new book she argues that this problem is now more all-pervasive than ever. The preoccupation we have with our bodies – which manifests in dieting and gym memberships and also in eating disorders and surgical procedures – is a very troubling collective neurosis, she points out. And one which now affects not only women but ever-increasing numbers of men, too.

Monkey training, by Debbie Took

He’s there, on your shoulder, if you’re eating cooked food. Some of you will feel he’s not a problem, you rather like him, and are quite happy to have him around – he’s a pet.

But he’s a pest if ever there have been occasions when you’ve eaten cooked but would have preferred to eat raw. He scratches, he prods, he wants to play! Sometimes he sleeps for long periods, only to wake and cause havoc.

Here’s the good news: that monkey can be trained. This short course in Monkey Behaviour will show you how to resist his prods until he becomes not only docile but may even become so bored with your lack of response that he packs his bags and leaves.

A physical prod is hard to ignore. The reason given for eating cooked food that seems to trump all others is: ‘But I get hungry!’ Stomach sensations persuade us that we ‘must’ eat – and now!  And, if we’re in a situation where it isn’t ‘easy’ to eat raw, or if we’re ‘so ravenous’ we tell ourselves raw just won’t cut it, we eat...whatever’s at hand.

We’re conversant (ish) with the 98+ emotional/psychological reasons for eating when we’re not hungry but these stomach sensations are physical and are therefore, undeniably, signs of hunger. Aren’t they? We dutifully make the super-large salad but when two hours later our tummies are rumbling, surely we’re right to complain that, ‘I’m hungry – raw food just doesn’t seem to satisfy me!’

We-ell…

There are two main stomach sensations that we associate with hunger.

These are:

• Hunger Pangs

• Empty Stomach

Debunking detox

The organization Sense About Science has put considerable effort into convincing us that detoxing is just a big old waste of time and money. This year's offering was entitled “Debunking Detox”.

SAS's message on the subject of detox is essentially (to paraphrase the gist of their comments over the last three years): "Detox" products don’t work, our bodies are quite capable of handling anything we ingest, there’s nothing we can do to help them, and the notion that we can "go on a detox" to do so has no scientific validity.

And they are far from alone in claiming all of this; these are the views of many scientists, doctors and dieticians. For example, Ben Goldacre, an NHS doctor writing in the January 18 edition of The Sunday Times, chimed in with the following: “The notion of detox is medically meaningless […] That burgers and beer can have negative effects on your body is certainly true, for any number of fascinating reasons; but the notion that they leave a specific residue – toxins – that can be extruded by a specific physiological mechanism is nothing more than a marketing invention.”

Now, we can certainly agree with these folks in white coats on some of the points they make. Yes, the majority of the “detox” products on the market really are a waste of money. Especially those that are made of synthetic, manmade ingredients, as many of the detox products Sense About Science covered in their recently published “Detox Dossier” were. 

They are also quite right when they point out that the “quick fix” that allows you to eat and drink rubbish 360 days of the year and undo the effects of that in the other 5 truly does not exist.

But the anti-detox lobby takes it much further than this. They rubbish the entire notion that we can detox and worse still, inherent in their statements are some very questionable assumptions about health and nutrition.

Now, I’m no scientist myself and I have nothing but the greatest of respect for sound and sensible scientific endeavours. But science can be and often is anything but sound or sensible. The scientific mindset can allow very clever people to overlook the obvious, the likely and the logical in favour of the improbable or even the ridiculous. Here are some detox-related examples, all of them from Sense About Science's first press release on the subject:

1. “Our bodies are very good at eliminating all the nasties that we might ingest over the festive season.” Dr John Emsley, Chemical Scientist, Popular Science Writer

Really? Really? Get in your car now, drive to any public place, get out and look around you at the faces and physiques you see. What do you think about how good our bodies are at eliminating all the nasties we ingest over the festive season, or any season for that matter? Are we to believe there is no link between the nasties we ingest and the nasty distended stomachs, puffy faces, bags under the eyes (and so on) that we see everywhere?

And those are just the outside manifestations of the much bigger problems going on inside (more about those below...) If we consider all of the evidence, it is pretty clear that our bodies can’t keep up with the quantities of nasties many of us are ingesting and that they really could use our help.

Compassion

In the Brad Pitt movie Seven Years in Tibet there is a memorable scene where the garden of a Buddhist monastery is to be bulldozed but the monks won’t allow the machinery in until they have spent days painstakingly picking through the soil to remove worms from the danger zone and transport them to safety. We see them gently placing the creatures back into the earth and even thoughtfully sprinkling them with water. (Watch the clip).

Since most of us are not living at a level of consciousness where it would even occur to us to go to such lengths, it is easy to scoff at this as a bizarre cultural idiosyncrasy that has no relevance for us. Yet it shows a respect and reverence for all of life that is sorely lacking in our world. The monks were practicing ahimsa, which is the Buddhist tenet of not causing harm to any sentient being.

Most of us lead lives that don’t permit us to get down on our hands and knees multiple times every day to search out and rescue otherwise non-visible insects or invertebrates that may be lying in our path. Yet if every human being lived with a fraction of the compassion demonstrated by these monks it would transform the world – not because of the way we’d be treating worms but because of the way we’d be treating each other! However, we don’t have to take it that far in order to achieve transformation on a massive scale.

Imagine the world we would live in if enough of us simply decided it is not acceptable to knowingly treat any sentient being, whether human or animal, with disregard for its needs and rights, let alone with any form of violence? And crucially that it is just as unacceptable to buy products which involve such violations as it is to commit those violations ourselves?

Think about it for a moment. If enough of us lived with a respect for the sanctity of all of life, everything would change. Factory farms and sweatshops wouldn't exist in such a world, and neither would famine or war.

If you are conscious enough to recognize dogs, cows and chickens as beings which deserve gentle and kind treatment, how would you ever commit any act of violence or cruelty towards another human being?

You just wouldn't.

You just couldn't.

And I think we can all agree that this world needs more people like that.

Top 5 books on compassionate living

1. Animals Like Us by Mark Rowland

2. The Pig Who Sang To The Moon by Jeffrey Masson

3. Diet For A New America by John Robbins

4. The Great Compassion by Norm Phelps

5. Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating by Erik Markus

Please help us to help John Robbins and family

Author and campaigner John Robbins has motivated more people to go vegetarian or vegan than perhaps anyone else alive today. Thanks to his books (including Diet For A New America and The Food Revolution), millions have been encouraged to make kinder and more sustainable choices. John is the founder of EarthSave International and his son, Ocean, founded the organization Youth for Environmental Sanity.

Sadly, John and his wife Deo have recently been victims of a great injustice. Last month, they learned that they had lost their entire life savings as a result of the Bernard Madoff investment fraud, with very little chance they will recover any of it. Since the family was living off these savings, it has put them into a sudden and severe financial crisis.

To economize, they immediately rented out every extra room in their house and every spare space on their property. Still, it is not clear whether they will be able to keep up the mortgage payments on the home they share with Ocean, his wife Michelle, and their two special needs grandchildren. Both Michelle and Deo have taken on part time jobs, and Deo has also taken over the formerly paid-for day care for the children. John is writing a new book, but it could be many months before any income may come from that effort.

Last week, the US website Vegsource leapt into action and coordinated a campaign to raise funds for the family. They are accepting donations by cheque, which is great for the many in the US who want to do their bit to help. So if you are in the US, please hop on over to the Vegsource website and give whatever you can afford.

But it's not an ideal way to send funds from the UK, since the fees US banks charge to clear a foreign cheque are so high that they would wipe out smaller donations entirely.

That’s where we come in.

We are offering a credit card donation facility that you can use to efficiently get your money to this family no matter where in the world you live. We are also able to accept donations by cheque from those in the UK. Since The Fresh Network operates in both the UK and the US, we can process cheque donations in the UK and send the money on to the Robbins family in dollars.

It goes without saying that we won't be charging any fees for doing this. So this means that whether you donate £10, £100 or £1,000, 100% of your donation will reach the family. We have communicated with John about this, and we have arranged that we will be sending all the money we raise direct to him. 

We are also offering a special gift to everyone who donates £10 or more through us. Do this and you can pick any Get Fresh! e-magazine from our back catalogue of over 50 brilliant issues and we'll send it to you free of charge. Even if you live in the US you can donate through us and get your free magazine as long as you pay by credit card.  

There are three ways to donate via us:

• On our website 
• By calling us on +44 (0)845 833 7017
• By cheque

If you are sending a cheque, please make it payable to The Fresh Network Ltd and mail it to us at: The Fresh Network, Unit 4, Aylsham Business Estate, Aylsham, Norfolk NR11 6SZ. Please put the cheque in a second envelope that reads "John Robbins appeal" and underneath this write your name and email address, and the issue number of the e-magazine you would like to receive.

Whether you choose to donate online, by post or by phone, you will receive your free magazine as soon as your payment has been processed, and we will also send you a receipt acknowledging your donation.

If you have any questions, just give us a ring on +44 (0)845 833 7017.

You can read more about John’s life and work in our recent interview with him.

We hope you will give whatever you can afford. Together let’s show this extraordinary family our appreciation for all they have done, and carry them through this crisis so that they can continue focusing their energies on their pioneering work.

Sugar loaf pineapple

Have you tried this delectable delicacy yet, also known as Pain de Sucre or Ashanti pineapple? It’s available in selected Waitrose stores across the country and also in selected produce stores. I found it in the tiny organic store in my little village the other day and, having heard the enthusiastic reports about this fruit from others, I had to try it.

The Sugar Loaf pineapple grows in Ghana, and it grows over a 14-15 month period, which is longer than more familiar varieties of pineapple which are often "induced" by chemicals so that they can be harvested sooner. Did you know that an organically-grown pineapple can be green when ripe? It is the widespread addition of artificial colours to non-organic pineapples which makes us think otherwise.

I’m not the hugest fan of regular pineapple but whether you are or not, this is like the nicest pineapple you’ve ever had, and then 10 times nicer. It is much less acidic than regular pineapple and the taste is much sweeter. The flesh is more white than yellow, and it’s also softer, without the usual woody centre. It’s much smaller than a regular pineapple too – about half the size. 

The bad news is that Waitrose is said to be considering discontinuing this more expensive pineapple. So if your local store sells it, and you enjoy it, why not call them or write to them and ask them to keep it on. Waitrose’s organic Sugar Loaf pineapple is grown in Ghana by the Blue Skies Organic Collective which is a fairtrade association of 78 small-holder farmers. By enjoying this beautiful fruit we are supporting them.

Fun fact: In Ghana, Sugar Loaf pineapple is often eaten like a lollipop. Try this in your own home by peeling off the skin, turning it upside down, and using the stalk as the stick!

Refined carbs as addictive as cigarettes, says study

From today's Daily Mail:

Could it really be that sweets and chocolate are as addictive as cigarettes?

That's the controversial conclusion from a study by New Zealand scientists who found that foods made largely from refined sugar and flour have the same addictive qualities as tobacco.

'Heavily processed carbohydrates such as cornflakes, sweets and croissants quickly raise the amount of sugar in your blood,' explains lead researcher Dr Simon Thornley, a registrar with the Auckland Regional Public Health Service.

'This rush of sugar stimulates the same areas of the brain that are involved with addiction to nicotine and other drugs.'

In other words, some of us may be piling on the pounds not just because we are greedy but because we are addicted. 

If Dr Thornley's claim is supported, that would open up new ways of dealing with the obesity crisis, including a food version of the nicotine patch used to help smokers quit.

'Drug addicts have to keep taking larger amounts of their chemical of choice. They find it difficult to stop, they keep doing it despite negative consequences and they feel depressed if they do stop,' says Thornley, whose paper was published in the journal Medical Hypotheses. 'People do all those things around refined carbohydrates.'

Just how big a contribution this could be making to the obesity crisis isn't yet clear. 'We need more research,' says Thornley, 'but the evidence for refined carbs being potentially addictive is growing fast. There's a good case for treating highly refined foods as we do cigarettes - banning TV ads, taxing them and even insisting on pack health warnings.'

Read the rest of the article here.