VEGGIE GREETINGS, as summer is finally approaching, we hope you take time each day to enjoy the simple things, like sunshine and fresh fruits at your local farmer's market!

We, at HappyCow, have had a busy yet rewarding year so far, with thousands in daily visitor traffic from folks worldwide as well as floods of emails. Thanks to your updates, we've increased our database to include vegetarian restaurants and health food stores in 78 countries!

In this issue, we are excited to bring you a feature on Raw living foods. We've also uncovered some awesome finds in veg-friendly supplements, must-read books, noteworthy websites, and summer travel tips... all vegetarian, of course.

Moo thanks for your continued support in keeping HappyCow on the internet. By providing you with the most up-to-date and complete online directory, while supporting businesses that promote vegetarianism & health, we strive to create a more compassionate, earth-sustainable, and healthier way of living.

the staff volunteers,
HappyCrew

- Thai Tsunami Workers Turn Vegetarian

- Vegetarian Mothers More Likely to Give Birth to Girls

- J. No! Actress Gets Heat for Wearing Fur

Raw Living Foods

To call food "living" is a rather new and radical concept. It was only in recent years that numerous books and websites have emerged, advocating eating a plant-based raw foods diet as the only really natural way of life. Supported by a small group of alternative lifestyle advocates, nutritionists, and celebrity enthusiasts, the raw foods movement piques our interests and warrants the following questions: Could this be another passing hype? Could eating a raw diet be the next step in the evolution for us vegans, vegetarians, & health-minded folk? What are raw foods?

Life promotes life
Plants-based foods in their original, un-heated state are considered raw. Raw foods contain a wide range of vital life force nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, oxygen) and live enzymes. Their nutritional properties are essential to the proper maintenance of human bodily functions. Raw foods are easy to digest, and they provide the maximum amount of energy with minimal bodily effort when taken properly without haphazardly combining with other foods (see: food combining chart). Their healing powers can alleviate many illnesses from low energy, allergies, digestive disorders, candida, to obesity. Research and real life experiences have shown that a person can prevent the body's healthy cells from turning into malignant cancerous cells by consuming a diet consisting of mostly raw & whole foods!

Can human beings survive on eating solely raw foods?
Critics say that there are many foods one cannot consume raw all the time (grains, beans, etc.) and that for some body types, a mostly or completely raw diet is insufficient & lacks many nutrients a body is accustomed to getting from eating various cooked foods. Further arguments insist that eating mostly raw foods creates an imbalance of too much yin (cold energy) in the body. I personally know vegetarians, who turned vegans, then progressed to eating only raw foods. But after a while, they found it difficult to sustain a complete raw diet, either they felt unsatisfied or were tempted by the foods they used to like, and eventually went back to eating some cooked foods.

Those who are able to stay with this diet, the raw foodists (also called "rawists"), proudly proclaim their successful break from the addiction to cooked foods and traditional foods fed to them by their parents. Raw foodists thrive on live food energy, and they tell us that we don’t have to adopt a completely raw diet to feel the healing nourishment from whole food in their natural raw form. In fact, incorporating a few raw meals a week will bring changes to the body to feeling better and having more energy. Even if you have a busy schedule, you can still find raw & whole foods available at the produce section of your local health food market. Some catering services offer to deliver raw meals to your house. A few websites, like EatRaw.com, carry exclusively raw goods (foods, juicers, books, etc.).

What's wrong with cooked foods?
Heat changes the makeup of food. Foods that have been heated have lost all of their life force, and their beneficial enzymes are destroyed. The digestive system has to work harder and longer to process cooked foods to get nutrition & energy from it. Once cooked, a food can lose up to 85 percent of its nutritional value. Raw foodists called that "dead food." Since we are essentially what we eat, we consume dead energy when we consume dead foods. We become heavy and tired.

Renowned raw foods advocate and author, David Wolfe, recently spoke at the opening of a local raw foods shop in trendy Southern California. Wolfe has written best sellers such as Sunfood Diet Successful System and Eating For Beauty. Here are a few notes:

According to Wolfe, one should eat as natural as possible, as close to what nature intends. The body acquires all its essential needs from nutrients in natural, uncooked foods. While most people may think of raw foods as boring salad & fruits, Wolfe touted the wonderful tastes of wholesome foods, like raw cacao (chocolate) which contain healthful antioxidants. He further suggested that eating foods in their raw form are very sensual and fulfilling experiences, and the variety of foods available to us are countless.

Most importantly, Wolfe revealed that the key to a successful change in diet is to to let go of our pre-conceived notions and traditions and that we should dare to try new things. Try different raw foods to see what works the best for your body, because what works for one person may not work for another. He suggested for interested parties to start by eating one raw meal a day, and increase gradually as see fit.

In response to an audience inquiry about the high prices of organic & raw foods during the Q & A, Wolfe replied that eating the best foods is actually cheaper in the long run. Not only will money be saved from frivolous snacks & processed foods purchases or going to your local Starbucks, tens of thousands of dollars will be saved from hospital stays as a result of eating poorly & getting sick. There was no doubt in Wolfe's mind that money should be spend on the best nature has to offer. Rawfood Website

EatRaw.com (Raw Vegetarian & Vegan Living Foods, 718-210-0048) offers a huge selection of everything raw-related for the lowest prices on the internet.

Find rawsome recipes, home sprouting methods, books, and a raw directory at: HappyCow's Raw Living Foods

PS. One More Reason to Incorporate Raw Foods In Your Diet:
Cancer Prevention
Cancer is among the leading causes of death in the USA. One in three Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime! Thanks to Mauris Emeka, author of Fear Cancer No More and Cancer's Best Medicine, you can learn how to stay healthy while beating off cancer. Mr. Emeka’s research has concluded that a vegetarian diet consisting of some r aw living foods and the proper nutritional supplements will unleash healing powers within your body, making a place where the PROCESS of cancer cannot thrive. Easy to read and highly recommended.

Superfoods & Whole Foods: Nourishment for Your Body

Whatever your diet is, we highly recommended improving your diet with nutritional super and whole foods supplements, especially if you are vegetarians & vegans like us at HappyCow. From common green superfoods spirulina, chlorella, wheat and other grasses, to produce like papaya, pineapple, and hemp foods, these superfoods will nourish your body with their powerful & healing properties.
Learn more about superfoods, read a new article by a nutrition consultant, learn about the beneficial properties of green tea, and more at:
HappyCow's Health and Nutrition

For high quality certified vegan supplements, we recommend NuTru, a company whose philosophy embraces sustainable plant resource, energy conservation, the ethical treatment of animals, and veganism!

Summer Travel... Vegetarian Style

Traveling this summer? Be sure to take HappyCow with you! Our database contains over 4,000+ vegetarian restaurants (also veg-friendly) and health foods stores in 78 countries!

For anyone who wants to explore Asia, get in touch with the wonderful folks at VegVoyages, a vegetarian adventure tour company that specializes in off-the-beaten-path adventures to Asia. This summer VegVoyages is offering two exciting trips to exotic India. "Desert Kingdoms of Rajputana" is a 15-day adventure into the heart of princely India (July 10-24 / Sept 18-Oct 2 / Oct 2-16), and "Buddhas, Beasts, Badlands & Beaches" is a 23-day epic journey from the land of the Maharajahs to the coast of the Arabian Sea (May 31-June 22 / Oct 18-Nov 9). Also winter dates and details at: vegvoyages.com

Find vegetarian (veg-friendly) Bed & Breakfast, accommodations, & retreat spaces worldwide, online travel services that offer cheap airfare & car rental services, travel health tips, and the top 5 vegetarian-friendly cities according to your votes at: HappyCow's Travel Directory

If you're visiting France, check out beautiful grounds at Under the Lime Tree Guesthouse in Charente.

Staff Picks

Website: FarmSanctuary.org
In 1986, Gene and Lorri Bauston found a living sheep abandoned on a stockyard "deadpile." They rescued the sheep, named her Hilda, and created Farm Sanctuary. Within ten years, Farm Sanctuary became the nation’s largest farm animal rescue and protection organization.

Video: Peaceable Kingdom
An excellent documentary about Farm Sanctuary & its work; also suitable for young adults.

Non-Fiction Book: Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Are We What We Eat? asks Schlosser. During the two years I spent researching this book, I ate an enormous amount of fast food. Most of it tasted pretty good. That is one of the main reasons people buy fast food; it has been carefully designed to taste good. It’s also inexpensive and convenient. But the value meals, two-for-one deals, and free refills of soda give a distorted sense of how much fast food actually costs. The real price never appears on the menu.

Guaranteed to open your eye to the business behind fast food, this book is a must read!

Cookbook: Vegan World Fusion Cuisine
From the Blossoming Lotus Restaurant in Hawaii comes this inspiring work of art. Simple-to-follow gourmet vegan & raw recipes.

Novelty Find: Gypsytea.com
Fair trade, organic teas in many original, exotic & tasty blends. Good for ya.

Visitors Forum

We asked why you eat/became vegetarian, and here are some of your stories:

"I recall being four years old and eating a piece of fried chicken. I bit into it and noticed a dark red spot. I asked my mother what that could be and she told me it was "maybe a blood clot." I never ate fried chicken after that day..."
Continue this story & also read others.

Post, exchange, solicit ideas, and befriend like-minded folks at:
HappyCow's Discussion Forum

Friends

Asia & Austraila
Green Earth, Osaka, Japan
Mai Kaidee’s, Bangkok, Thailand
Tamarind Café, Bangkok, Thailand
Tamarind Café, Hanoi, Vietnam
Veggie XP, Hong Kong
Vegetarian Nirvana Cafe, Melbourne
Europe
Acafrao, Loule, Portugal
De Waaghals, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dhanya, Lausanne, Switzerland
La Sola Gana, Milan, Italy
OS Tibetanos, Loule, Portugal
Terra, Lisbon, Portugal
USA & Canada
Bay Vege Xpress, Bay Area, CA
Cheese Factory, Wisconson Dells, WI
Food Fight! Grocery, Portland, OR
Foodswings, Brooklyn, NY
Franchia, New York, NY
Go Raw Café, Las Vegas, NV
Leaf Cuisine, Culver City, CA
Green Temple, Redondo Beach, CA
Hangawi, New York, NY
Mother Nature, Albany, CA
Native Foods, Westwood, CA
Sages Cafe, Salt Lake City, UT
Skippy's Veg Out, Rochester, NY
Sublime, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tofu A-Go-Go, Provincetown, MA
Veganopolis, Portland, OR
Vegetarian Haven, Toronto, Canada
Vegetarian House, Portland, OR
Zenith, Pittsburgh, PA

Get involved! with updating HappyCow restaurants & health food stores listings and others ways to support this Project.

Next MooZine August 2005. Moo stories & discoveries!

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All Contents Rights Reserved. 2005 HappyCow's Vegetarian Guide