ras- I buy some organic(carrots, apples etc) and everything I grow both in my garden and what I eat from other's gardens is all organic. There are some things that I can't justify buying organic because price wise it's just awful. Fortunately I do have access to alot of organic foods because of family(berry farms, orchards, and large organic gardens are all in the family) and my own garden.

anyone use E3 Live??

ras-saadon ~ Hemp protein powder is what is left over after processing out the oil; the oil they sell. Basically, it's a waste product from the oil production. As for fiber, Manitoba & Ruth's both remove the hull before processing; Nutiva leaves the hull on, which results in much higher fiber (and much lower protein, which baffles me since it's called a "protein powder").

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In reply to the original question: I try to keep a green powder around, for when I am unable to get to the store for fresh greens. I have found that if I don't keep greens in my diet, it is problematic for me. Sure, I could just supplement with magnesium, but prefer to get it from food. Right now, I have barley grass powder & chlorella in the cabinet. I do try to change up my foods, so that I get different greens, fruits, etc, and not the same things every day.

I do use a small amount of a variety of nuts and seeds, and that includes hemp seeds.

I also like to try things! (Like all three of those hemp powders I mentioned above!) I've tried mesquite (ok), carob (fairly good), goji berries (yuck! LOL), and others- so far the only one's I plan on buying again are the powdered greens (I lick the barley grass off the spoon!), raw honey, and coconut butters & oils. Otherwise- the produce department does me just fine. [EDIT: oops, I left out mulberries. Not sure if anyone would consider them a "superfood" or not, but I will be getting *those* again.....and again.....and again... lol. I used to have a tree in my backyard, but have sorely missed them since moving. Fresh are way better, but dried ones are better than nothing!]

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Lulushka8~ "now even weddings are on the market" Yes, I was a bit appalled by that, myself.

Hey Sypita, and ras-saadon, I would look into Community Supported Agriculture, in austin. I saw you were both from austin, in a different forum. We found one, that is $50 a month, and gives you a grocery bag full of veggies/fruits every week. We haven't done it yet, but we should, as we also spend $120 a week for two of us, at the grocery store, and buy almost all organic. We also eat alot more seeds/nuts than Troubles. If i come across it, i'll post the link.

Lux - I used to belong to a CSA back in MASS and have been wanting to join one here in Austin. It is a bit more challenging as I don't have a car (only bike) and the ones that deliver have a year long waiting list. They are suburb though. I'm still exploring my options. U live in Austin too? Does you BF pedi cab here?

This is a really interesting topic.
As a herbalist, I was just a bit concerned by KarinaFireBreathers comment that herbs are drugs. This is really not the case at all! Drugs are synthetically modified where as a herb is the whole plant as it occurs in nature.

Its a fine line between what is a herb and what is a food. Some herbs are nourishing e.g. you can eat them every day such as dandelion leaves, nettles, chickweed etc. Whilst others are medicinal and used for short periods of time when the system is out of balance to help it regain equilibrium. We all have individual constitutions and certain herbs can bring amazing benefits to people's lives when they are well matched. I eat them every day in one form or another, mostly those grown in my garden, and I truly believe they are a gift from mother earth if we use them wisely and with gratitude.
And when you learn more about wild plants then you don't have to worry about marketing, money or any of that either!

Tulsi - what are good herbs to take for your skin/breakouts? I've heard burdock root is good but have no idea how to use it.
Any suggestions?

Hey Sypita,
Yep, it's jimbo. I'm sure you know him. I think I remember seeing you now at the wedding of andi and nathan. small world. I think the pickup for the one we found is actually in central austin. As soon as we get another email about it, we'll forward it on. cheers :)

I find this topic really interesting because when you read/hear about these so called "superfoods" it makes you wonder what about them is so super? I am glad to read your guys opinions on this because recently my mom and i looked into buying goji berries and i was about 7 dollars for a teeny bag! I am so glad that we didnt buy them. The only think i take daily is my manitoba harvest hemp protein powder which i love.

http://lilearthmuffin.wordpress.com/

Hey Lux! Small world indeed! Yeah that was me...dancing up a storm, misbehaving and whatnot... I think I recognize you as well, SUCH a fun wedding.
I work for Nathan...Love it!
If you ever want to hang....go swimming, eat at Daily Juice, create some yummy food.... hit me up ( the_syp@hotmail ) I would love to have some more raw friends in Austin.

hi tulsi! it's not that herbs are drugs, but the idea is the same. treating someone with herbs is the same principle as treating someone with drugs because it doesn't cure the cause of the problem, it cures the symptoms. diet is the sole cause of most disease and if you go around that and treat someone with herbs instead of changing their diet then it's the same thing as allopathy. i once heard someone say it's a form of "green" allopathy and i fully agree.

here's a great write-up about herbs http://www.rawfoodexplained.com/why-herbs-should-not-be-used/int...

I definately agree that herbs are medicinal, but I believe they can assist to balance the body where as synthetic medications cannot. I use a female balancing raw herbal formula from www.herbsoflight.com and I love it. I also take a kelp capsule and coconut oil for thyroid function.

diet balances the body more than anything

Nope, it certainly isn't an herb, but I do use it for thryoid function.

Kellyanne: I absolutely agree that diet balances the body. I was 100% raw, but was working in a constant stressful situation which seemed to pull me out of balance. Through diet, meditation, exercise and herbs I was able to work through it and become balanced again. It 's wonderful to have something so powerful from the earth when you need it.

Hey Sypita,
It really depends on the cause of breakouts as to what you would take. Often its hormonal but the main reasons the hormones are out of balance are diet and stress. The body uses hormones in the production of cortisol when they need an excess, which can throw things out of balance, so ongoing stress or adrenal exhaustion is a big cause of skin problems. Skin problems are always a part of the bodies detoxification process so obviously a pure diet is the best thing you can do. Often hormonal imbalance can lead to liver congestion which is another big cause of skin problems. And all those things are caused by constipation too.
So if stress is a factor for you I would think of some relaxing herbs that would help balance the nervous system like oatstraw or lime flower (linden). I'd have those in combination with blood purifiers like nettle and red clover and liver herbs like dandelion root and burdock root. You can get powders which is the whole herb dried and ground or tinctures which are water and alcohol extractions. Powders are great for people who have strong digestions but tinctures can be better for those who are convalescing, have poor digestion or elderly. Most of the herbs I mentioned can be easily gathered in local hedgerows, woodlands meadows etc, just make sure the area you gather from wont have been spayed with pesticides e.g edges of farm land. An awesome book on making your own medicines is called Hedgerow Medicine but I cant remember the author of the top of my head.

Hi Kellyanne, I understand your point (and will read that link later!) but its important to understand the difference between treating symptomatically, which is the way you are describing where the symptoms are treated rather than the underlying cause, and treating holistically, where the whole person and all the factors of their lifestyle, diet etc are taken into account. In Chinese medicine they call this treating the branch (symptom) or root (cause). I don't believe in treating symptomatically as it only papers over the cracks. All food has medicinal benefits and herbs fit into a whole spectrum of foods/ medicines/ seasonings etc. It is impossible to lump everything together under one heading and say 'herbs are bad'. I also studied naturopathy as part of my course so detoxing and pure diets are the cornerstone of our philosophy but some people also need some extra help from time to time as our lives are not always perfect just as Spirit says.

One of the best arguments for herbal medicines is that animals in the wild use them to treat themselves when they are injured or sick! I think thats so amazing!

Sypita, mos def :) Yea the wedding was super fun. Me and jimbo are going to do our best to have a "raw" wedding..It should be interesting. and fun! Lucky for us we gave ourselves tons of time (18 months) and if we can pull it off we're gonna grow some of our own food for it too..

I tend to think that an herb leaf is similar to a lettuce leaf, and an herb root, similar to a carrot or radish. They are all plants= food. No, I would not make a meal of echinacia or licorice root, but neither would I of radishes or olives. I do, however, often make a meal of red clover (in sprout form- but an herb nonetheless).

Yes, proper diet does balance the body and herbs can certainly be a part of diet.

i take;
a multi-vitamin
a super antioxident supplement
cinnamon
acidophlus
MSM
cayenne pepper
cranberry extract
garlic extract
flax seed oil

I also take melatonin sometimes for sleep aid
kava kava extract for anxiety
& extra potassium at nights some times because i sometimes get these terrible cramps in my calves at night.

This is a Very interesting post! I myself don't take any supplements. As for superfoods, I don't really know what to believe (and I'm not entirely sure what and which are superfoods) but I'll try different things and keep eating them in moderate amounts if they taste good, if my body doesn't react badly to them, and if they don't cost a ridiculous amount of money. As for herbs, I do believe that they can have healing abilities and be quite beneficial to our bodies, and as much as I'm interested in herbs, I don't know much about them. That's something I'll read into in the future.

You always gotta wonder about all those superfoods and supplements out there... Where's all this information coming from? Who sponsored the research and surveys? Lots of it goes without much to back it up, and for the products that might actually be pretty decent, there are many look-alike fakes for those too. Then there's the placebo effect, and salesmen impersonating customers for reviews to take into consideration, as well as how a certain superfood's history of being processed might mean you're not actually getting much out of it... Also to be taken into consideration - Everyone's body works differently, so what might seem great and super healthy for one person might be an unhealthy choice for another. Beyond all that, there's so many products to choose from, it can feel hopeless, and most of them are quite expensive.

Whenever I do research on certain types of food, I'm bombarded with articles on both sides of the fence, making it hard for me to truly know what to think of it, because I only know so much myself. It's frustrating, so I try to stick with simple, wholesome foods that work with my body.

In the end, if you need to take a bunch of supplements, doesn't that mean that there's something wrong with your diet? Unless you have a specific health problem...

I'm starting to realize that I really don't think I need as many supplements as I thought. I have stated eliminating a lot of what I had been taking, realizing that I am eating extremely healthy now and I am getting just about everything I need.

About the only thing I won't be eliminating is B-Complex and Omega 3. And the only reason I need the Omega 3 is I'm an athlete and deal with a lot of inflammation. I'm not longer going to be buying vitamin C, B12 or Calcium supplements. I think I get plenty of them (B12 throuth Nutritional Yeast and the b-complex).

I will keep a couple things on hand for situations where my body may need something a little extra. That would be b-12 for when my body is under a lot of stress and some herbs called InflamEzz from North American Herb and Spice that I use for inflammation and head aches.

For the most part thought I really don't buy the super foods, except for the occasional batch of goji berries. I think they are overpriced and unnecessary. I see no problem with buying them on occasion as a luxury item to treat yourself well, but overall I think it's a huge marketing ploy to make a buck.

Oh and if you count' greens powder and hemp seed protein as supplements I guess I do use those too, but only use the greens powder because I can't afford enough leafy greens for my once-twice a day smoothie.

p.s. trouble, how the heck are you spending $25 a week? I can't even get away without spending at least $50-75, most of the time it's closer to $100, and I even still eat out on occasion. I meal of fruit and a LaraBar alone will cost me $6 and I consider that pretty cheap.