Love Your Mouth, Love Your Body

I recently subscribed to a "Daily Raw Inspiration" email list via the website http://www.thegardendiet.com/, a site run by a husband-wife team of raw foodies. I sort of found the site by accident and though I don't buy into a lot of the "philosophy" behind the web-authors' diet/lifestyle choices (I'm an egotistical raw vegan, remember?), I figured, what the hell? Let's see what resources these raw foodists have to offer. Just because I don't completely agree with you, doesn't mean I can't learn something from you - even if it's learning how I don't want to live my life.

These emails are like mini-blogs. Sometimes there's a recipe, sometimes it's the authoress' thoughts on some larger raw eating topic, sometimes it's links to other raw websites and groups.

The very first email I recieved was a story about the wife drinking a, "nasty green juice - mustard greens, dandelion, kale, chard, celery, and broccoli." She goes on to say that while she was complaining about how hard it was to choke down, her husband (also a raw foodist) had this advice to give: "Now you see why people are kind to their mouths at the expense of their bodies, rather than kind to their bodies at the expense of their mouths." The wife replied that she might never be able to drink green juice again. "He continued to lecture," she writes, "telling me that this was so good for me because I might now transform my relationship to food from one of eating for pleasure to one of eating for power!" (my bold emphasis added).

This anecdote got me thinking. Actually, it really kind of annoyed me. The (perceived) gap between what tastes good and what is good for you is one of the largest roadblocks a vegetarian/vegan/raw foodist has to overcome - both for themselves and when dealing with others. The stereotype of vegetarians who eat grass and leaves, or "tasteless" blobs of tofu and steamed vegetables is a pervasive one. But there are lots of people who buy into the idea that it doesn't matter what food tastes like - if it's good for you, eat it. And many of them aren't even remotely vegetarians. I have body builder friends who eat raw eggs and powders that taste and look like soggy chalk dust. Blech. The myth that eating healthy has to taste horrible will never go away if the people who are eating healthy are the ones perpetuating it.

I see no reason why being kind to your mouth and kind to your body have to mutually exclusive. Or why eating for pleasure and eating for power can't be one and the same. I drink green juice every single morning. Here's my basic recipe:

Green Lemonade

1 large or 2 small apples, any kind
1 lemon
1 good sized bunch of kale (green or purple)
1 bunch of celery

Juice everything in the order above and enjoy. Sometimes I use spinach instead of kale or romaine and cucumbers instead of celery. Somtimes I'll throw in a bunch of dandelion leaves or parsley if I have it around. I've put a couple of carrots in before or a few crowns of broccoli. Whatever I'm in the mood for. It's sweet-sour, refreshing, hydrating, and I've yet to find a better hang-over remedy.

One time, I was visiting my mom and asked her to pick up some juice supplies for me. She accidentally bought mustard greens instead of kale and I didn't notice when I was juicing. Drinking mustard greens is AWFUL! It's like adding tabasco to apple juice - horrible. If my first experience with green juice had been with mustard greens I wouldn't be the raw foodist I am today. One sip of my mustard juice and I poured it down the drain and made myself some fruit salad. I didn't feel like I had to "choke it down" just because the greens are high in vitamins K and A. Why juice mustard greens if they taste awful that way? Why not eat them raw with some sweet onions, tomatoes, and a creamy vinaigrette dressing?

I'm not a complete "eat whatever tastes and feels good" hedonist, though. I realize that often we have to give up things or eat things that don't make us completely happy in order to acheive some goal that will. All I'm saying is that there's no reason to place an added hurdle in your way by forcing yourself to eat things that make you completely unhappy. Especially when there are so many delicious, raw and veggie foods out there to enjoy.


To do my part in dispelling the misconception of bland health foods, I'll be trying to add nutritional information for my recipes when I can. It probably won't be calorie counts or fat grams (despite my obsession with food and my body, I rarely think about those things anymore). Rather, I'll try and include vitamin and mineral content and the possible benefits of eating a particular dish.

If it's going to be healthy it's going to taste good. If it's going to taste good it's going to be healthy.