OLIVE RETREAT PANTRY
Vitamins & Minerals
If you buy your food in mainstream supermarkets, you won't need to take a blood test to know what micronutrients you are lacking. Statistics from all countries show that you will lack many! Unfortunately, in times when we need more micronutrients than ever due to the toxic environment we have produced, we get less.
We have introduced over 75.000 new chemicals into nature. Not all of them are dangerous, but many of them are, and some are very toxic. For the body to constantly battle the toxins and try to eliminate them we need micronutrients such as antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
Today our food is produced in an industrialized way so disrespectful of nature that it doesn't contain all the micronutrients we need to be fully healthy. No matter which country's statistics you study, we know that in the last 50 years we have lost about 50% of the vitamins and minerals in our food, probably more. If you wanted to compensate for the lack of nutrients compared to only 20 years ago, in most food that we buy, you would have to drink 0.5 liters of olive oil daily, eat 3 times more broccoli and spinach, 5 times more apples, and 7 times more bananas, etc., to get the right amounts of vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients, every day, to avoid the most common disease.
As you see, it's not possible to compensate for the loss by simply eating more. So as long as you can't make sure your food was grown the old fashioned way - where the land was allowed to re-mineralize a few years between harvests, where no pesticides, or chemical fertilizers like ammonia were used, where fruits and vegetables were not picked 4 weeks early so they could be shipped around the world, you need to do something as "unnatural" as to take at least supplements in the form of vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. And if you have a health issue, you probably need some extra.
When you get supplements be sure to buy the natural ones. Even supplements can be synthetically produced, too. They will not harm you, but they won't do much good for you either, so it's a waste of money. For more information on supplements see our "frickn' easy mind-body health guide."
Super foods:
There are always new, fantastic properties discovered in food, but as already mentioned, the most important thing is to eat food and not chemicals, and to let your body tell you what is good for you. But since we always get the question of what to eat, we advise the following as a must in all healthy kitchens.
-Clean (filtered tap) water;
-Unprocessed ancient food;
-Greens & veggies, as much as possible;
-Nuts & seeds;
-Fibre-rich food;
-Algae;
-Herbs: oregano, thyme, rosemary, mint, etc.;
-Spices: ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, curcuma, curry, etc.
We must emphasize however, that all healthy foods are potentially toxic if you don’t tolerate them and if you over eat, so trust your body, not just the experts. Below is a more comprehensive list of must have foods in the best plant-based pantry.
SEEDS
-Sunflower
-Pumpkin
-Sesame White/Black
-Poppy
-Chia
-Flax golden/brown
-Hemp
-Fenugreek
NUTS
-Brazil
-Hazelnut
-Macadamia
-Cashew
-Peanuts
-Almonds
-Pecans
-Walnuts
-Coconut
-Cacao nibs
FLOURS & GRAINS & HERBS
-Buckwheat (wholegrain)
-Soy (use in moderation)
-Rice, black/red/wholegrain
-Chickpeas
-Corn
-Quinoa
-Millet
-Amaranth
-Teff
-Hemp
PORRIDGE
-Oats
-Quinoa
-Millet
-Rice
-Buckwheat
MYLKS
-Coconut
-Hazelnut
-Almond
-There are others, but these 3 are our favorites
CEREALS (puffed cereals)
-Millet
-Quinoa
-Corn flakes
-Amaranth
-Corn Puffs
SPICES
-Cardamom
-Bee pollen
-Cinnamon
-Clove
-Chili
-Peppers (different types)
-Cumin
-Nutmeg (nut rather than the powder)
-Red paprika powder (sweet)
-Hibiscus flower (flavoured waters)
-Rose (flavoured waters)
-Vanilla pod/paste/powder (not the sweet white powder but the proper dried vanilla pod powder)
-Sea Salt - Grey wet kind
-Himalayan salt
-Cacao 100 percent
HERBS
-Basil
-Parsley
-Thyme
-Mint
-Cilantro
-Tarragon
-Rocket
-Micro herbs
SWEETENERS
-Agave Syrup
-Honey
-Maple syrup
-Yacun
-Stevia
CONDIMENTS
-Dijon Mustard
-Tamari Soya Sauce (gluten free kind)
OILS
-Olive oil
-Coconut oil (high temperatures)
-Grape seed oil (high temperatures)
PULSES
-Black beans
-Butter beans
-Chickpeas
-Lentils (red/green)
-Cacao