Can you Thrive on A 100% Fruit Diet?

Just heard this amazing interview on Frederic Patenaude's health website.
"Fruitarian" Anne Osborne talks about how she has thrived on a 100% fruit diet for the past 17 years and has raised two healthy children on the same diet as well. Incredible and eye-opening for me.

She's a big proponent of following your instinct and passion when eating. Anne also talks about trying out this diet by eating each fruit (including tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocados - all technically fruits) by itself and just listening to what your body tells you after.

Check out her website FruitGod.com.

Here's Anne Osborne speaking about her lifestyle on YouTube;

Bamboo Bikes in Africa

I came across this awesome project after I saw a really cool bamboo bicycle parked on the street in my neighborhood and immediately had to do a Google search to find one. Couldn't find any that you could purchase, but I found out about this organization that is helping to build bamboo bikes in rural Africa.

Started by scientists and engineers at Columbia University and initially funded by the Earth Institute there, the projects main objectives are to "introduce greatly improved bicycle design to improve transportation and health care delivery," and to "ensure that semi-literate people in Africa, with limited access to electricity (no power tools), can build bicycles from locally available materials and components." - bamboobike.org

On their website they explain that most people in poor rural Africa can't afford cars or even mo-peds for that matter and the bicycles that they predominantly have there are not only of a design meant for recreation and not critical transportation, and they are mostly shipped completely assembled from Asia. Introducing the design and construction of bikes with the main components made from locally grown bamboo could create a sustainable business model through out Africa. The organization views these bikes as a "necessary and viable form of transportation that will contribute to alleviation of economic and health issues." - bamboobike.org

After reading about the project, I think they are right and I hope they are successful.

Read more about the Bamboo Bike Project here.

An Answer to the Blending Vs. Juicing Question

I often get into the discussion of of whether juicing or blending is better for you. I usually say that with blending you retain the fiber, but that's just one of the benefits.

In a chapter from her upcoming book Victoria Boutenko of RawFamily.com consulted a professor of chemistry at Southern Oregon University who explains that blending causes reduced oxidation and the idea that blending a fruit or vegetable actually releases more antioxidants from the cells.

Read the whole article in Raw Family's latest e-newsletter here.

More Incredible Resourcefulness from Africa

Boy Selling Ice Cream in Ghana

Had to share this article I read in the international issue of Utne Magazine.

This 14 year old from Malawi basically read a U.S. text book and taught himself how to build a windmill using whatever he could find and generated enough power for his family's house that they could stop using "the toxic paraffin candles they previously used". The windmill eventually generated enough power for other electrical appliances too. Imagine if we all had the self-reliance and creativity this boy had.

Read the full article here.