Happy Easter!

Have your chocolate and eat it too

There’s nothing wrong with a little chocolate. Nothing at all.

While we are still delivering over the Easter period (Sydney on Wed & Easter Sun and other locations on Thurs), we recognise that a detox might not be on everyone’s agenda, and rather, chocolate may be the focus.

Chocolate is lovely. Just lovely. The good news is that you don't have to miss out.

Health, not death, by chocolate
Cocoa contains high levels of flavanoids, most commonly known for their antioxidant activity which help to stop those nasty free radicals in their tracks and protect the body from aging. It also has anti-inflammatory properties. Interestingly enough, dark chocolate contains nearly eight times the number of antioxidants found in strawberries.

The darker the better
The darker the chocolate, the more cocoa it contains, which means more antioxidants. Opt for chocolate with >70% cocoa. Generally speaking, more cocoa also means less sugar, which is definitely a good thing when it comes to chocolate.

Love chocolate in moderation
Keep your servings of chocolate down to around 20 grams (Easter NOT included). This equates to about half a small Lindt bar. Most larger bars of chocolate are 100 grams, so a fifth of that is an appropriate serving.*

Make your own raw truffles
If you feel like making your own guilt-free Easter treats, here is a raw chocolate Easter egg recipe from our blog by the lovely Gemma at Naked Treaties.

Book your post Easter cleanse
If you’re planning an indulgent Easter, get in early and book your post Easter cleanse.

*No chocolate bars were harmed in the writing of this newletter, though a little more than 20g of dark chocolate did go to a good home.

Your body is a temple. Keep it clean.

David Wolfe in Byron Bay

The raw food guru himself touched down in Byron Bay last month for his Raw Cacao Party up in the beautiful hinterlands which was a smashing success.

The night kicked off with a tribal ceremony around a roaring fire to give thanks to the cacao gods, then the local sacred cacao bean devotees danced and partied into the night on an intoxicating (but incredibly healthy!) mix of superfoods, medicinal herbs and reishi mushrooms (considered to be the kind of medicinal herbs for its immune strenthening benefits).

For more information about David head to his website. http://www.davidwolfe.com/

Nutritious Information - Raw Cacao

Raw Cacao

Cacao was central to the ancient Mayan and Aztec cultures and was even worshipped as a sacred food! Not only is raw cacao absolutely amazingly fantastic for your body, but they contain an unbelievable amount of:

- Anti-oxidants – way more than any other food, and which are very powerful at healing the skin.

- Magnesium – more than any other food.

- Chromium

- Incredibly high levels of Vitamin C

So if you eat one of these little beans, you are getting a concentrated source of anti-oxidants, magnesium, chromium and vitamin C. More than any other food around and way better than popping a synthetic supplement or pill.

You can find raw cacao in Naked Treaties' Chocolate Snowballs, Chocolate Torte and Superfood Truffles. Visit our website for more information.

Naked Treaties in Grazia

What are Naked Treaties?

Green Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients

2 bananas
2 tablespoons hulled hemp seed
1 bag of frozen blue berries
2.5 cups pure water
1 teaspoon super foods of choice (optional)
5 leafs of kale
Directions

1. Put all ingredients in a high speed blender.
2. Add enough water so that all ingredients are covered.
3. Blend well.
4. You may want to add a little more water if you like your smoothie thinner.

This is a great way to add wild edible greens to your raw food diet. You won't even notice it.

It's a smoothie full of important minerals, vitamins, healthy omega three fats, fiber, protein, enzymes, that is hydrating and easy to digest!

About Naked Treaties - Jemma Gawned

Creator and Director of Naked Treaties Rawganics, Jemma Gawned, shares her experience with raw food and why it is so great for your health.

I‘ve been studying, researching and practising a wholefoods diet for about 10 years and after years of experimenting with how different foods and diets felt in my body and lots of detoxes I never felt totally and completely as vibrant and ‘clean’ as I knew I could.

And so, 4 years ago I went to Thailand and booked myself into a ‘fasting’ retreat and embarked on a 7 day vegetable juice fast with colonics twice a day and herbal supplements to help shift old waste through and clear out those cells once and for all!

Before the fast I prefasted for 2 weeks which meant that I gradually cut out all animal protein (I didn’t eat meat anyway, just some fish) ,grains and anything that wasn’t a ‘sun’ food (raw nuts and seeds, fruit and vegetables).

I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to experience! So much shifted for me, not just physically but emotionally and I realised how much toxic waste (and toxic emotion) is really stored in our cells and our colon and how releasing this brought about a whole new way of being.

I honestly have never recalled having that much energy, even as a child! The first 4 days were tough at times but after that I was flying. My digestive system was getting a much needed rest and some remarkable healing was taking place.

When I finished the fast they told me at the centre that while I continued to stay ‘raw’ I would continue the cleansing process. Well, I felt so good I didn’t want it to stop! And so for the next 8 months I ate an exclusively Raw Vegan diet rich in nuts seeds, avocadoes, fruit and vegetables. I was positively beaming with life force energy! My moods swings and PMT vanished, my thinking was clear, I had boundless energy and my body felt light vibrant and lean. Not even as a child did I remember having so much energy!