Here are 13 Evidence Based Medicinal Properties of Coconut Oil to help motivate you to eat it! There are a minimum of 13 scientific studies that show the value of coconut oil, and the reason I encourage those I love to eat raw chocolate with coconut oil!
Sayer Ji from GreenMedInfo has compiled this list with all the references if you are the type of person who likes to read all the background research!
I’d rather go make some more raw chocolate!
According to current statistics nearly 1 out of every 2 people in the USA will wind up hearing the dreaded words, cancer. Despite all the money contributed to cancer research over the past 50 years, and all the money insurance companies pay for cancer treatments, the rate of cancer and the survival statistics have never been worse.
Every time I see an appeal for help to a cancer patient or help to find the cure, I want to shout – THERE ARE MANY CURES ALREADY! It’s just that they don’t make the headline news. They are happening though – without a doubt. If you, or a loved one, has heard those dreaded words, don’t believe the standard rhetoric. Look for all the cures. Here is one great story by a 26 year old that was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer and decided not to go with his oncologists treatment plan. Today, nearly 10 years later, he is completely cancer free and speaks, coaches and encourages others to pursue healing. I love the fact that he is unashamedly a follower of Jesus Christ.
I also encourage everyone who does not have a cancer diagnosis to watch this 4 minute video in advance. You need to know all the options before you ever hear the dreaded words. If you follow the same health plan outlined by Chris, you need never hear them!
G U I L T F R E E ! ! !
You know the adage, if it sounds too good to be true then it is probably….
But, not in this instance! Truly this chocolate is good for you! It will stem your cravings, it will feed your brain, it will send great messages to your metabolism, it might even help you lose weight! I take no responsibility, but urge you to do your own experimentation!
A lady in front of me at the local grocery store yesterday semi-apologized for hoisting three enormous boxes of a popular beverage aka, canned liquid poison (one of many toxic-liquid-evils widely marketed around the world by those who have a taste for death) onto the check-out conveyor belt. “One of my few vices,” she said. Out of the blue, because I had not tried to offer any health education AT ALL – ask my daughter. I sometimes want to, but in this case I hadn’t even gotten that far. Then, as she was leaving she says in a very friendly way to the cashier, “But you have to watch chocolate because it makes your clothes shrink!” I’m sure you’ve heard that before. It took me awhile, and then I thought out loud “Not raw chocolate! If you eat raw chocolate your clothes get baggy. In fact, you might even need to buy new clothes because you may drop a size or two!” At least, that’s what happened to me!
So here is yet another way to roll up the raw chocolate, courtesy of my client who liked my ideas and then experimented a bit more!
Just four ingredients. Each one has a smaller amount. So if you start with 2 huge spoons of coconut oil, add 2 spoons of peanut butter, one spoon of honey. Mix the first three ingredients completely, then add 2 huge spoons of cacao powder, or add the amount to give you the darkness you desire. The ratio will probably be just less cacao powder to the combined amount of coconut oil and peanut butter. Experiment with the ratios until you get it just like you like it! You could even add more ingredients, but I’m trying to keep it really simple!
Mix or stir well.
Refrigerate briefly to help it get itself together (depends on the temperature in your kitchen).
Roll out onto a plate (pre-cool the plate in the freezer in warm weather) like a snake, or roll into balls.
Refrigerate or freeze to harden. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer and have a slice when you are craving a treat!
Hide all evidence, or else the next time you have a craving you are going to find your family has completely consumed it! But hey, it’s good for them too! So I guess it’s time to make some more!
More raw chocolate ideas here and here and here… Just for a taste!
I’m on a chocolate journey! Where has your chocolate journey taken you?
Instead of cooking, how about food preparation?
Instead of rigidly following a recipe, what about having a look at the real food available to you and saying, “how can I combine these foods to make something delicious?”
If you bake so you can have “treats” or snacks, what other foods could you begin to enjoy that would be a treat or snack?
Make a list of all the foods you love that are good for you and figure out creative ways to recombine them!
The possibilities are endless. Share your great ideas with others. Our creativity can be contagious. We need to
get out of the ruts we’ve formed for ourselves.
One client shared a new adaptation of some of my raw chocolate ideas: mix organic peanut butter, raw cacao powder and honey. Roll it into a snake formation (like when we make play dough snakes with our kids). Store it in the fridge and cut off a piece as needed for your super delicious, nutritious snack! My adaptation would be to add come coconut oil to that mixture! Play with it. Make it your own. Be creative. Think differently!
My friend shared a very powerful story that more people need to hear. We’ve all faced situations where we feel unjustly attacked, or that the reaction we receive is totally over the top. These attacks can cause a physical stress response in our body and leave us reeling for days! We feel shattered. Have you ever felt assaulted by words? Like you’ve been punched in the stomach? Read about Kristin’s experience and how she responded. Just a beautiful story! These are her words, which she has given me permission to share:
Today, a simple trip to the “financial vortex” we like to call Target, ended up being an experience that God would use in my and my son’s life for quite some time. It is NOT a story about me. It is a story about the God that I serve and His infinite ability to make beauty from ashes.
As Luke and I turned off of North Point Parkway and into the strip mall that boasts the big red ball of happy, I noticed that there was a terribly obnoxious amount of traffic. I felt rather sorry for the cars that were trying to exit, (they had a yield sign to us) and so I (not noticing the “keep moving” sign) stopped to let a car squeak by. It was at this point I heard the BLAST of a horn – and when I say blast, I mean it sounded as if the driver had climbed out of his seat and was sitting on his steering wheel. And he didn’t let up. He followed me into the Target parking lot, and followed my minivan until I turned into a parking space. It was at that point that I realized we were going to have to exchange words… because he had intentionally stopped his car right behind mine so that I could not get out. Gulp.
I took a deep breath, I knew I was not dealing with a rational, good spirited person. Nope, this was an angry middle aged horn happy man who was severely enraged by my choice to let a car through traffic. Dear Lord.
My feet had not even hit the pavement before a barrage of arrows came flying from his mouth. This man, I did not know, was screaming at me in the Target parking lot. I watched his mouth moving, his forehead squinched, his cheeks bright red with anger. I heard the words. “Idiot” “You should learn how to drive” “can’t you read?” “It’s people like you who cause accidents.” I stood in disbelief. Was this happening? All I could think was “Why is he so angry?” So, that’s what I asked him In the gentlest tone I possess. “Sir, why are you so angry?” He was so taken aback by my response that he stumbled over the next few words, scoffed a little, and then carried on with more arrows. Ugly arrows. Flaming arrows. Hurtful, sharp and wicked arrows… and then… he was gone.
Luke and I stood in the parking lot hand in hand with our mouths gapping, our hearts pounding, and our spirits completely stomped on. We had just been harassed by a perfect stranger, for being kind to another stranger. (And I admit that technically I had made a traffic mistake, but I am fairly certain that my abuser has made at least one of those in his life time? Just a guess.)
After I collected myself, (and sucked any tears that threatened to fall out – back into my eyeballs) I leaned down and looked into my son’s eyes. “Son, I am really sorry that that happened. You know that we NEVER – no matter how mad we are – we NEVER treat another person like he just treated Mommy, right?” “Yes ma’am” “And son, the Bible says to love our enemies and so I think we really need to pray for that man.” “I do too mommy.” “Alright, I love you so much” “I love you too momma.” “You ok?” “Yup”
And although I had resolved it with my son, I could not quite resolve it with myself. As we got our items from inside the store, a trail of “poor me” thoughts like “How could a person who does not know me or who I am, attack me like that? I’m like the nicest person ever, that wasn’t fair, my saturday is ruined, that was so mean, I’m so sad, tears… uh oh, tears… here they come..” And I burst into pitiful self pitying tears, right there in the happiest store on earth. I was letting that man crush my spirit. I was swimming in the ugliness that he had thrown on me and I was so close to MISSING the beauty that God was, in that very moment, effortlessly replacing it with.
As we walked to the car, I believe God spoke to me. “That man put something ugly into the world, now GO and put something beautiful in its place. I am God – and I turn ashes to beauty, evil to good, hurt to healing… Go and be my light. Go and bless someone.”
So friends, here’s where it gets GOOD. Luke and I prayed right there in the car. Where do we go? What do we do? Who do we bless? I felt the urge to drive across town to the Kroger near my house and so I took that as part of our answer. We prayed on the drive over that HE would lead us, show us who to bless and how to do it. I suspected we would be paying for someones groceries and so I immediately started to plan “Operation Bless A Stranger” Actually, it was more like “Operation bless a stranger who looks sad or down trodden with just a grocery basket, not a whole cart cause we can’t afford it if they’re not in the ten items or less lane.”
God had something else in mind.
After grabbing a very schizophrenic assortment of unnecessary items that I absolutely did not need, we neared the check outs. I started to question what I had heard. I felt nervous and embarrassed. What if this didn’t go down well. Who is it Lord? What if I…
And there she was.
A nicely dressed 50 something. Well put together, a typical southern lady, with a very substantial amount of groceries. Really Lord? She does not look like she needs me to buy her groceries…ALL millions of them. But I knew. The holy spirit was pushing my heart toward this woman, this perfect stranger.
I watched the grocery bill climb higher and higher, a bead of sweat flew off of my forehead, I felt a little nauseous. It was now or never. Her last item had crossed the finish. It was time to pay. “Ma’am?” I said. “My son and I would like to pay for your groceries.” She looked at me like I had just said “My son and I would like to eat your groceries.” Adamant, she replied. “No. You can not buy my groceries, there are way too many here. Someone did this for my mother. No, I can’t let you buy my groceries.” To which I replied “Ma’am, my son and I had a horrible experience today, and we prayed a lot about this, and you, and well, we’re going to buy your groceries.” At this point the woman realized that I was going to buy her groceries. There was no talking me out of it. She grabbed me. She literally wrapped her arms around me and began to sob. I sobbed too. Then she pulled away from me and looked me in my eyes and said this: “My husband is terminally ill, you just, you just have no idea… thank you.” And off she went, pushing her millions of groceries that God had just paid for, out the door.
At this point everyone was crying. The people in line behind us, the checkout girl, the tough guy one isle over “had something in his eye”… (he totally cried). The check out girl looked down at Luke and said “you have a great mom” to which I say this: This is not about me. This is about the God that I serve. This was FOR me from Him. He turns ashes to beauty, evil to good, hurt to healing, pain to laughter, and traffic violations to stories of His immense love – from one perfect stranger to another.
So my challenge? When someone is terribly unkind to you, GO do something for someone else. He has given us the power to replace the bad with something good.
My God is an awesome God. That is all.
I grew up in the USA, but after meeting my husband John in South Africa, we spent 30 years raising our five children there, living in a few different locations, but finally making our home in Cape Town in 2001. We loved serving God and others at Southpoint Church and were blessed in so many different ways. In May 2013 we disentangled ourselves from most of our earthly possessions in Cape Town, South Africa to find ourselves with our three suitcases each, in Warner Robins, Georgia, to begin a brand new season of life where John is serving as Lead Pastor of Longleaf Church, Rachel is excelling at Middle Georgia State College and Leah is enjoying her first school experience two days a week with a hybrid homeschooling program called Veritas Classical Education. We were happy to be close enough to connect more frequently with our three adult sons, two daughters-in-love and three grandchildren – two we’d never met!
It is always difficult and traumatic to move, and moving cross-continentally from a place we loved, full of people we loved, has had the expected challenges. We have learned to play a game I invented called, “It’s good because _______” where everyone takes a turn to fill in the blank.
Sometimes God needs to disentangle us from some things so that He can make us available for MORE. We continue to look for all the MORE He has for us and especially how we can be MORE effective in sharing the love of Christ with others.
For most of my adult life I have been wondering what I was going to do “when I grow up.” Raising five children and homeschooling them has been my focus for many years.This move has caused me to begin seriously thinking about useful ways of using the next phase of life. With only two children remaining at home (Rachel, 20 and Leah, 13), I have more discretionary time than ever before.
In examining my strengths and potential opportunities with many wise people, I was introduced to the field of Life Coaching and have completed my first course towards becoming a Certified Professional Life Coach. I am enjoying all aspects of this endeavor: the learning, the peer coaching, and coaching actual clients. I am realizing that I have been doing coaching for many years in a variety of capacities and I love the privilege of working with clients to discover and achieve their goals.
I am looking forward to continuing my training and personal development through taking more classes while at the same time offering my services at a reduced rate to clients who are ready to make some thoughtful changes in different areas of their lives. I am currently coaching moms with children at home who want to improve family relationships; seasoned executives who want to make wise choices about nutrition and lifestyle so they can enjoy long life AND vitality; and business owners who just want to be better at everything. I continue to pursue my passion for health and wellness through on-line conferences and education and love helping others find practical economical ways to improve their health and enjoyment of life!
‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ is an approach to life that resonates well with me. I do like to get ready, but I like to get into motion and refine as I go. God has been getting me ready for coaching through:
So, as I look back I see that God has been preparing me and getting me ready for this phase of my life. I look ahead with anticipation to how He might use me to help others.
I imagine taking all that experience and using it to help and bless others in 2014 and beyond…
I am completely open to any doors that God will guide me to, but these are some of the things that He has given me a burden for.
So I would value your prayers as I begin this new phase of life and I would also appreciate any referrals you may have if you or someone you know resonates with the type of help I am offering.
I was caught by surprise when Mark Sisson (Mark’s Daily Apple) shared his BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) in his first email of 2014: “Greetings, as many of you know, it’s my life goal to help 10 million people get healthy.”
Wow! My first thought was ‘I wonder how many people I can help?’ If I can help 10 thousand I think I will be accomplishing a lot! But I pray I may be available to truly help as many people as God sends my way! I praise Jesus Christ for all He has done for me and hope I can be a channel to share His blessing with others!
Thanks for your prayers, help and support! Use the contact form below me if I can help you in any way.
Becky Hastings
PS: You might enjoy my latest updated recipe for Raw Chocolate. It is so easy anyone can make it and so delicious you’ll want to have some every day!!
We all know that Snack Attack feeling!
My friend shared this great idea with me. Whenever you feel hungry – like you want some sort of a sweet treat, mix together equal parts:
in a big glass jar, shake and grab a handful – or two (maximum is two!) And your cravings will be gone!
I’m sure you could try different ingredients, like walnuts (brain food), cashews, almonds, coconut flakes, cranberries, whole cacao beans, etc. But since my friend is such a great researcher, I think she might have specific reasons for each of her selections!
I like to do a mix something like this for my husband to keep in his briefcase so he’s not tempted to have processed food snacks at the office! It’s also great to have a mix like this on long road trips. If I’m driving I always like a constant supply of snacks to help me keep awake and paying attention!
Easy, delicious, nutritious, must be more economical than buying the best you can buy in the store, but I confess I have not done a cost analysis!
I have made granola for my family for years. With five children it was one of the most obvious healthy economical things I could do. I loved a recipe I got from the Tightwad Gazette. Also, since I never bought cereal for them because of all the yuck ingredients, I had to have something to give them for breakfast! (I confess, before my enlightenment, I went through a long phase where I did buy corn flakes, but only corn flakes. They would have corn flakes with granola on top!)
When my first two boys were small I only purchased fruit flavored yogurts. I had one friend who had a toddler who happily ate plain yogurt and I thought she was a freak! Now I only buy plain yogurt – and have been for years and everyone in the family enjoys combining their own breakfasts with plain yogurt, fresh and dried fruits, nuts, seeds and granola. I am now making my own kefir so soon I can stop buying large factory produced yogurt!
Since entering my current ultra health (aka crazy) phase I have stopped eating wheat and then removed oats and I feel SO MUCH BETTER that I have never wanted to eat them. My family, however, still enjoys granola so I have been buying the best organic brands I could find and wincing with every expensive purchase! I have been contemplating making my own and wondering how to incorporate coconut oil, which is also part of my ultra healthy phase. Recently my friend shared this great simple granola recipe and I admire her a lot, so I was inspired to start making granola again – immediately!! This is what I did, including some slight modifications, because it is impossible for me to follow a recipe!
In a saucepan melt over very low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon:
Because I hate wasting ingredients in measuring cups, I just eyeballed the amounts straight into the pan! I weighed the pan first, then weighed it while adding the ingredients to give me an idea if I had it right!
I just melted it until it was able to mix thoroughly, then I added 1 tsp vanilla.
In a bowl, mix the following dry ingredients:
Pour mixed coconut oil mixture into dry ingredients and stir thoroughly. I baked it in a roasting pan for 10 minutes on 400 degrees F, then turned the oven off, stirred the granola and put it back into the hot oven for another 10 minutes. after you have achieved the brown color you are looking for, be sure to stir the granola one last time to prevent it from cooling and sticking to the pan! Next time I think I will go for a lower slower cooking. The mixture got a bit too brown, and I remembered it’s always better to cook low and slow!
There was a delicious smell in the house while it was baking and the test taste was great!
I can tell that I might be experimenting often with this recipe! You can eat granola plain as a snack, with yogurt, fruit and nuts, or sprinkle on top of your Chia Porridge! The family is sure to love it! And I may even incorporate a bit of oats into my crazy hectic nutritional plan!
This recipe made 32 ounces of wonderful granola. I’ll try to work out a costing, but I’m pretty sure it is a lot more economical and better than what you can buy! And it is filled with love for those you love!
I’m not sure if that picture looks really really appetizing, but it is delicious AND amazingly nutritious! My friend Simela motivated me to experiment even more with
the idea of “Chia Porridge”
I decided to have Chia Porridge for lunch. It is super easy to make. But you and the kids might prefer to have it for breakfast! I’m giving you the quantities for one serving, to make more just use a bit more of everything!
Allow the chia seeds to sit for 10-15 minutes and they will soak up the water and become gelatinous! So do that first while you are collecting all the other ingredients and chopping whatever you like. Or, make yourself a cup of tea!
I also added cashews, almonds, frozen blueberries, 1 chopped frozen strawberry, 1/2 chopped banana, dried coconut, goji berries, hemp seed and chopped celery (you can never get enough celery and I love crunchy things – and I was having this for lunch, and they do put celery in a Waldorf salad!).
Here is a breakfast version I made for my husband: chia, goji, water, cinnamon, cacao, macs, honey, chopped apple, 2 chopped strawberries, blueberries, coconut, hemp, yogurt, kefir and a tad of homemade granola.
So, get creative and try it! Stock your kitchen with healthy nutritiously dense items and then dream up new ways of combining them! Let me know what you discovery in your experimentation!
One of the easiest things you can do to assist your body in the detox process is to drink a large glass of water immediately upon rising in the morning. It is important to drink the best quality water available. I do not have the definitive answer about which water is best, as I have read about reverse osmosis, alkaline, various filters, spring water, etc. One simple idea that might be the most effective and economical is treating your own water with lemon or wheat grass.
So, begin to make it a habit. Every morning make it easy for yourself to access a large glass of water and drink it down – and then wait at least 20 minutes before eating anything!
Water and food. This is a simple practice which most people are completely unaware of. It becomes critically important for anyone who struggles with chronic heartburn and takes antacids. Try this practice for three weeks and see if you notice any difference. Of course, the quality and quantity of food you ingest will also play a significant role, but this is something easy to start experimenting with. You are a scientist and your body and your intake are your testing ground.
As we get older we need to facilitate our digestion and nutrient absorption in every way possible. One important way to do this is to avoid drinking with meals. Drink water 20 minutes before a meal and wait at least 20 minutes after your meal to quench any thirst you might have.
I realize this is quite counter cultural. In restaurants the first thing they take is your drinks order. When you are invited to a meal at a friend’s house, everyone shares drinks before the meal. Every time I ask for nothing I receive at least two more questions and some strange looks: ‘you’re not going to have anything?’ Now in restaurants it is probably also about the size of the bill and the anticipated tip. Every waitron knows that the drinks portion of the bill can push the total much higher and they look forward to a correspondingly higher tip! For me it’s not about the money, it’s about how to facilitate my digestion and get the most out of my food. My aim is to live vibrantly throughout my whole life! I do not take for granted my current health, but seek to daily invest in my future health!
So sometimes I will ask for a glass of water and enjoy the pre-dinner conversation while my glass remains full!