A Healthy Snack?

For some reason Spirit wants me to write this. So I am.

CoCo Orange Mango Happy Squeeze vs. Pomegranite Lifeway Kefir:

• I am a label reader. The first says, on the front (and you know you should only read the BACK!!) 'good source of calcium and magnesium' and '2/3 cup of fruit' and USDA Organic.  On the back there is a WARNING: CAPS PRESENT CHOKING HAZARD. KEEP CAP AWAY FROM CHILDREN. Choking always gets my attention; I can't help it, I'm an anesthesiologist and keeping the airway open is my specialty. The good thing is this snack is vegan, and vegetarian by default. It's about three mouthfuls of product in one pouch, at ninety calories. It's low sodium. And only one gram of fiber. What caught my attention is seventeen grams of sugars! It's from the organic pear juice concentrate...The calcium is fifteen percent USRDA, Magnesium ten percent, Vitamin A eight percent, and Vitamin C one hundred fifty percent (it's supplemented as ascorbic acid, most likely to preserve fruit). I was disappointed at how 'unnatural' this 'natural' snack is, especially at one dollar fifty a pouch. (Total volume is 99 grams--it's sold by weight--or 3.5 oz)
• The kefir, on the other hand, has the same twenty grams of sugar in eight ounces (240 ml)--so actually the product is less concentrated sweet than the coconut milk. The calories are one hundred forty, but eleven grams of protein and thirty percent of USRDA for calcium are in it too. It is not vegan, but is vegetarian and also is probiotic. It is also kosher, gluten-free, and made with renewable energy (wind).  It also is USDA Organic.
• I had them both <3

Go RAW Real Live Apricot Bar vs. Organic Dried Turkish Apricots

• both on front are USDA Organic
• The Raw bar is very small, only twelve grams (recall one gram is the weight of one small paper clip). It's three bites, and has fifty calories. Except for the one hundred milligrams of Omega 3 fatty acids, two grams fiber, six grams sugar, one gram protein, and ninety milligrams potassium (3% Daily Value USRDA). Everything else was less. It is vegan and gluten free.
• The actual dried apricots are vegan, raw, and gluten free. One serving is only eighty calories, and you get twenty-eight grams--more than twice the bulk of the Raw bar. There is three grams of fiber, eleven grams of sugar, and one gram of protein. The highest nutrient value is iron (4% Daily Value).
• I had them both. <3

Alka H2O

This is naturally alkaline artesian water--from the ground in Puerto Rico. The pH is 9.5. The bottle is BPA free.  The purpose of alkalinizing the body is to 'neutralize the effect of free radicals and their associated acidity of the body due to modern foods.) As a physician, I know what the kidneys do, and that is maintain homeostasis in pH. The lungs and the kidneys work together to maintain pH of the bloodstream within the optimum levels for all enzymes to function. When there is lung disease, the kidneys compensate, and vice-versa--to approximate a normal pH. I need to do some more looking in to alkalization. I have heard that some cancers do not grow well in a mildly alkaline environment. Your body is in pretty tight equilibrium at 7.40--I know, I've taken the blood gases of my patients my whole career...perhaps I can sit next to a nephrologist one day at lunch next week and find out the real story behind all of this! <3

Aloha and Mahalos,

Namaste,

Peace,

Reiki Doc

Energy Update: Natural Products Expo West

Last year I went as a guest of a friend of mine who owns a restaurant. I was new to RAW vegan, vegan, and the naturopathic way of life. I was overwhelmed with the choices, and for the most part, looked to see what 'medical claims' there were being made, as in 'practicing medicine without a license'.

What a surprise to me today when this year I returned as the guest of the same friend!

At first it was 'trick of treat' from the bus stop to the Anaheim convention center! So many samples being handed out! There was an Australian Yogurt, Nooni, there was Brown Cow Yogurt (both lemon, my favorite). There were squooshy things in those odd pouch drinkable containers. There was coconut chocolate milk and coconut tiny ice cream sandwiches.

It was delightful and fun.

Inside, it was mayhem!

What I saw were some very fascinating 'sales pitches'--and my bottom line assessment is that there was not much whole, raw, 'living' food present, no matter what the labels were.

The foods were processed, frozen, but with different ingredients. Mostly Gluten free. There also was a lot of Alkaline Water.

What I did not experience at any of the booths was nurturing, warmth, love or compassion.

There was no 'Light' present at any of the booths!

Instead I felt the 'buzz' of 'business', of fortunes to be made, and also, acutely, of the great expense for one to travel and represent their business here.

I saw Paleo next to Vegan, with lots of meats offered. There was one item, a 'straw' filled with powered balls 'with vitamins' you sip through, so that the milk becomes 'flavored' with banana, strawberry, chocolate, or peanut butter.

I think the entire event is a peanut allergy patient's worst nightmare! LOL.

But for the most part, it wasn't the usual 'spin' on business and expos. There were two 'free massage' stations which were kind, and many more tee shirts and gifts were given out than any medical anesthesia show I have ever been to, and I have been to many for cardiac anesthesia and also just 'regular' anesthesia conferences.

Next year it is my hope that instead of 'natural versions of today's products' in food, cleaning, nutritional supplements, it will be totally new ways of experiencing local community goods, with lots of LOVE built right in to the making of whatever is being sold, and that the Light quotient in the place is really really UP!!!

A woman offered me a popsicle on the way to the shuttle bus. She had a pouch. I took the coconut tea, and it was the best popsicle I ever had in my life! Her energy was the best in show.

I also appreciated the two white roses given to me and my son by the KIND company (I got their shirt too. Their new savory bars will be wonderful for those short breaks in the OR when I can't eat real lunch or dinner.) Like they said, 'do a random kindness'. So when my widowed neighbor was in her car when we came home, I gave one to her and she was delighted! It felt so good to make her smile. She is really nice and I am lucky to have her as my next-door neighbor.

More news updates tomorrow!

For now, that's how I call it! Much more clarity and non-judgement on my part.

Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,

Reiki Doc

P.S. The TEST!!! On the way to the bus stop, there were those 'religious people' who dampen the energy of any event with their fire and brimstone posters. These were huge, yellow, with big black font up as high and as large as a pro basketball backstop! JESUS SAVES OUR SINS, etc etc.

I don't like them. I don't like their vibration. I don't like their righteousness.

Ross called me on it.  He said, 'Love is the Solution For Everything--even THIS'.  He instructed me to smile, to keep my energy pleasant, to make eye contact, and to make sure they get a good look at my face.

I did.

I still was happy to get on the bus! LOL. But I obeyed my 'teacher' husband, who is smart enough for me to listen to even if I don't one hundred percent agree! LOL LOL LOL.

Conversations At The Checkout Counter At The Grocery Store

She was leaning on her forearms on the little counter by the 'slide your credit card through' machine. I heard her plaintively ask, 'Where is the coke at this store? Don't you just carry coke?'

young female cashier: We used to have it, I think.

customer: I looked everywhere and I couldn't find it.

cashier: Our coke is the kind that has Real Sugar in it.

customer: Actually, I was looking for the seven up. I want to make a good Sangria. You know, the kind where you take a bad bottle of wine and make a good Sangria.

cashier: (finishes the order0 Do you want me to ask someone to help you find it?

customer: No, that's okay.

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I don't shop at regular markets.

'Conventional' markets are full of pesticide, GMO, and High Fructose Corn Syrup. From what I understand, there are three basic 'types' of stores:

• The 'health food' kind with lots of supplements and everything is 'safe to eat'
• The 'Trader Joe' kind where there is a little of both and you have to 'look' before you buy
• The 'conventional' and 'big box' type of stores that sell what is 'cheaper'

Apparently this 'second type' of store was converting itself over to a 'first type'!

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Gluten-free dessert made with oats, nuts,and maple syrup in Vitamix

I saw a mother pushing a cart with two teenagers taller than her following in tow, holding a list, and she was asking them, 'What is next on this list?'

They looked embarrassed and totally bored.

'You know what I don't like about shopping at this store?' she asked out loud, to no one in particular as my cart passed hers and we maneuvered, 'The aisles are too narrow!'

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I saw the chakra necklace on the Young Female Cashier at the store when it was my turn. I made a comment.

me: I LOVE you necklace! Where did you get that?

her: my mentor gave it to me.

me: do you do Energy Healing?

her: I do. My mentor doesn't. I am Reiki Two.

me: Wow! Do you put it into the food?

her: well when I work at the supplement aisles I do. I look at them and think, Reiki!

me: You can wave your hands and put it in as you check the items too. You have the opportunity to touch a lot of lives!!!

She looks at me and smiles at this new idea--she likes it!

me: I am a blogger. I am a physician who does Reiki on my patients. I have over seventy-two thousand hits.

her: (is surprised and smiles) That's really good!

me: yes. And I am turning RAW vegan. Not all the way there yet, but working on it.

her: I was vegan once. For about six months...

box boy: I can't spend a day without eating anything that is meaty or dairy! (smiles)

me: (smiles back) some people are like that. It's in their DNA. That's okay.

box boy: I gave up the dairy, though. It makes my skin break out and gives me acne. 

I look and see that he is right. His face is full of acne.

her: You know there is this restaurant...Au Lac....It is my favorite. It is half RAW and half Vegan. No matter what you order, it is okay!

me: (I smile big) I know the owners. They are my best friends.  It is my favorite too. 

her: You know, as you turn vegan I know a lot about nutrition too. I can help. Come talk to me next time.

me: Okay, thanks! I will.

box boy: would you like some help out to the car?

me: no thank you, I am good. Have a nice day.

Times are changing for the better, are they not? It is a very small world in Southern California.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc