:) Hello wonderful Philosophie lovers! :)

Beginning TODAY, APRIL 1st, all LONG DISTANCE CLEANSES are on sale!!!!

do you live outside of Los Angeles but want to get healthy and ready for summertime? Have you been curious about a cleanse or ready to get back on track but need a little push and guidance? I'm here to help! All you need is a blender, a local grocery store/farmers market to get fresh, organic produce and a computer!!!!! Spots are limited!*

*I can only take a few clients each week so that I can give you unlimited attention (i.e. skype chats, instant messaging, gchat, email, phone calls) so book your spot TODAY!

$149 (regular $199)

for more information or to book your long distance cleanse contact: Sophie@thephilosophie.com

Other than the fact that juices can take an enormous amount of fruit and vegetables--an entire counter-full(!)--and be consolidated into one beautiful glass, they have incredible health benefits as well.

If you're curious about drinking a fresh juice, go to a juice bar and pick up one of the below combination's! If you're ready to commit, buy your own juicer and get your own produce from the farmers market. Always make sure to get as many items as you can organic.

You should have at least one fresh juice a day to maintain the proper nutrients and vitamins your body needs and craves. If your body begins running slower or you eat badly for a period of time, juicing can help cleanse the system very quickly. Just replace a few snacks and meals with a juice and in no time you'll be feeling great again.

Here's just a few of the powerful combination's, full of health advantages:

• Carrot, Ginger & Apple: Boosts and cleanses our entire system
• (green) Apple, Cucumber & Celery: Prevent cancer, reduces cholesterol, and eliminates stomach upset and headaches.
• Cucumber, Celery, Spinach, Kale, Parsley, Lime: alkaline entire system, cleanse and detoxify organs
• Tomato, Carrot & Apple: Improves skin complexion and eliminates bad breath.
• Orange, Ginger & Cucumber: Improves skin texture, moisture and reduces internal body heat.
• Pineapple, Watermelon & Apple: To dispel excess salts, nourishes the bladder and kidneys.
• Apple, Cucumber & Kiwi: To improve skin complexion.
• Carrot, Apple, Pear & Mango: Clear body heat, counteracts toxicity, decreased blood pressure and fight oxidation.
• Papaya, Pineapple and Milk/Almond Milk: Rich in vitamin C, E and Iron. Improves skin complexion and metabolism.

Once you start exploring on your own, share your favorite combination's and recipes here!!! Have a BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY DAY!!! :)

Other than the fact that juices can take an enormous amount of fruit and vegetables--an entire counter-full(!)--and be consolidated into one beautiful glass, they have incredible health benefits as well. 

If you're curious about drinking a fresh juice, go to a juice bar and pick up one of the below combination's! If you're ready to commit, buy your own juicer and get your own produce from the farmers market. Always make sure to get as many items as you can organic.

You should have at least one fresh juice a day to maintain the proper nutrients and vitamins your body needs and craves. If your body begins running slower or you eat badly for a period of time, juicing can help cleanse the system very quickly. Just replace a few snacks and meals with a juice and in no time you'll be feeling great again.

Here's just a few of the powerful combination's, full of health advantages:

• Carrot, Ginger & Apple: Boosts and cleanses our entire system
• (green) Apple, Cucumber & Celery: Prevent cancer, reduces cholesterol, and eliminates stomach upset and headaches.
• Cucumber, Celery, Spinach, Kale, Parsley, Lime: alkaline entire system, cleanse and detoxify organs
• Tomato, Carrot & Apple: Improves skin complexion and eliminates bad breath.
• Orange, Ginger & Cucumber: Improves skin texture, moisture and reduces internal body heat.
• Pineapple, Watermelon & Apple: To dispel excess salts, nourishes the bladder and kidneys.
• Apple, Cucumber & Kiwi: To improve skin complexion.
• Carrot, Apple, Pear & Mango: Clear body heat, counteracts toxicity, decreased blood pressure and fight oxidation.
• Papaya, Pineapple and Milk/Almond Milk: Rich in vitamin C, E and Iron. Improves skin complexion and metabolism.

Once you start exploring on your own, share your favorite combination's and recipes here!!! Have a BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY DAY!!! :)

[caption id="attachment_653" align="alignleft" width="206" caption="Philosophie Green Juice"][/caption]

Where the laws of nature have been overlooked we find disease (dis-ease: a disruption to ease). There is only one disease: toxicity and enervation, a lack of nerve force.

Alkaline foods are foods that raise the the amount of oxygen that your blood takes in. The most alkalizing foods are RAW green leafy vegetables, non-sweet fruits and (wheat) grasses. The opposite of alkaline foods are acid foods.

How much oxygen your blood can absorb is measured on a pH scale that ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 0 is most acidic while a pH of 14 is most alkaline.

Eating alkalined foods is good for you and the Earth because it is completely in harmony with natural law. Fresh, delicious, organically grown alkaline food that is good for the land, promoting shade-bearing vegetation that rejuvenates soil and contributes to purifying lakes, rivers and oceans.

This way of eating is the ultimate healing program. Start with a Philosophie cleanse to experience this way of eating yourself!

The Acid - Alkaline Balance

Our blood is in balance when we're slightly alkaline: with a pH of 7.365. The blood is an organ-a liquid organ. It streams through the vascular system, throughout the arteries, away from the heart, and returns via the veins to the heart once again.

In the beginning of the 20th century, very smart scientists and nobel prize winners made a great discovery. If our blood cannot absorb enough oxygen we get sick: cancer, heart issues, arthritis and candida infections and diabetes are the result.

You know that our body tries to maintain a constant temperature 98.5F or 37C. But but do you know that your body tries even harder to maintain the right amount of oxygen in your blood (a pH of 7.365)? When our pH is too high or too low, we don't feel well, we feel tired, gain weight, have poor digestion and get aches and pains.

Most people in the US and Europe are too acidic: they cannot absorb enough oxygen. That's why cancer, heart disease, arthritis and diabetes are epidemic.

Why are we too acidic?

* Stress

* Toxins

* Parasites and

* The FOOD we eat.

Acid Foods List

It seems that what we eat is more of a health factor than people have thought. Common reasoning is that there is a multitude of disease. However, keeping blood and body tissue at a proper pH seems to keep premature death at bay and makes the difference between vitality and death. This is the secret of an alkaline body. It's too bad that the foods most people like make us most acidic and thus sick. What are these food? You guessed right:

• Junk & Processed foods
• Sugar (raises insulin levels)
• Coffee & Tea
• All animal food/flesh (meat, eggs, chicken, fish, lobster, oysters)
• Grains: (white) wheat, rice, pasta, flour, bread etc
• Some Fruits
• Dairy products (milk, cheese, butter)
• Bad fats
• Peanuts, cashews.

Alkaline Foods List

During most of our lives, the majority of the foods we eat are (highly) acidic. These make us sick and tired. By eating raw alkaline foods and drinks, we can help our body to heal it self from most dis-eases:

• Vegetables - especially raw green leafy vegetables
• Fresh Herbs & Spices - parsley, basil, cilantro, cayenne, ginger
• Fruits - watermelon, avocado, cucumber, young coconuts
• Wheat grass
• Sprouts: i.e. alfalfa, mung bean, broccoli etc.

The best alkaline drinks are alkaline water, vegetable juices and wheatgrass juice.

How Acidic Are You?

How do you know your body pH? I love this one, because it's incredibly easy to find out what your alkalinity is. You simply buy some pH test strips (also called litmus paper) at a health store and pee on it. The paper will tell you instantly what your pH is and thus, how alkaline or acid you are.

The Best & Easiest Alkaline Foods

Would you like to know the best and cheapest alkalizing foods? Edible wild plants. They're highly alkaline, abundant, fresh and free!

Just throwing a few of them in your salad will help balancing you. Try sea veggies for a great alkaline food!

Go to a local farmers market and check out the local organic produce.

Ready to make changes now?? Try a Philosophie cleanse. It is an incredible way to jumpstart any healing program for quick recovery from modern dietary excess. It will leave you feeling rejuvenated and looking radiant!

We are a work in progress, constantly constructing and deconstructing ourselves. Philosophie offers the high quality building materials needed for this constant cycle. It is rich with enzymes, so it costs you nothing to digest, and all of its properties are highly charged and easily used in the body.

Perhaps you are burning the candle at both ends. Maybe you are a workaholic. Whatever the situation, you usually know why you are feeling fatigued.

We may not feel like getting out of bed because of factors such as nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, stress, jet lag, PMS, as well as a diet of too much fat, sugar and food additives.

You can experience fatigue in both body and mind.

You expect muscle fatigue after a hard work out. And mental fatigue is normal after a hard day’s work or after dealing with the typical emotional ups and downs of modern life. Usually, a good night’s sleep or a restful weekend will do the trick. But victims of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) experience endless, debilitating lethargy. Symptoms of CFS include swollen lymph nodes, low-grade fever, recurring sore throat, muscle pain, poor concentration and memory, headache and depression. The most debilitating is the relentless, uncompromising exhaustion.

If you’ve already done a Pure Philosophie Experience or Philosophie Cleanse, you have already experienced the feeling of raw juices instantly supercharging your body. Why do you get this quick jolt of energy? In addition to their bioelectric energy field, raw nutrients are more viable than cooked nutrients. Nutrients such as vitamin C, most B-complex Vitamins, and enzymes simply cannot survive the heat. Proteins may be altered in a way that makes them indigestible, and fats can degrade into carcinogenic forms.

When you consume these foods in a more natural state, you get nearly 100% of their nutrients, including the phytochemicals and enzymes that assist in their digestion. This increased digestibility means you get to use more of what you eat. Since it takes less energy to digest the meal, you have more left over and you feel it. You become more efficient! You need less sleep, have more energy, more stamina, less fatigues and do a better job of fighting disease.

Whatever the cause, good nutrition can reduce and possibly eliminate the symptoms. A high-energy diet that builds the immune system should include complex carbohydrates that stimulate the metabolism, whole grains and beans that add fiber and protein, low fat protein, fish and fish oils for beneficial fatty acids, and lots of water. Use the power of fruits, vegetables, and their juices to provide the vitamins, minerals and fiber to get you going. Start the day with a high protein, high mineral drink that rejuvenates your senses, vitalizes you spirit and sustains your body.

What about Coffee?

Avoid caffeine, as it is only a temporary boost, merely postponing fatigue. Put away the espresso maker and pull out the juicer. Juicing is the best way to get instant energy. Stock your fridge with organic fruits and veggies. Leave sugary foods and high fat, processed foods at the bakery and butcher shops.

See prior posts for raw recipes for energy and to blast exhaustion! (I’d suggest brain food, green smoothie, rocket fuel, bunny love or maca java)

Getting outside and breathing fresh air can do wonders. Take a blanket outside on a sunny day and lay on a patch of grass while stretching and breathing.  It's incredibly grounding.

Check out this recent article on fasting from NPR!

For thousands of years, beginning with philosophers like Hippocrates, Socrates and Plato, fasting was recommended for health reasons. The Bible writes that Moses and Jesus fasted for 40 days for spiritual renewal.

"Glycogen is necessary for thinking; it's necessary for muscle action; it's necessary just for the cells to live in general," says Dr. Naomi Neufeld, an endocrinologist at UCLA. Neufeld says most adults need about 2,000 calories a day. Those calories make energy, or glycogen. Neufeld says it doesn't hurt — it might even help the body — to fast or stop eating for short periods of time, say 24 hours once a week, as long as you drink water.

"You re-tune the body, suppress insulin secretion, reduce the taste for sugar, so sugar becomes something you're less fond of taking," Neufeld says.

Eventually the body burns up stored sugars, or glycogen, so less insulin is needed to help the body digest food. That gives the pancreas a rest. On juice diets recommended by some spas, you may lose weight, but your digestive system doesn't get that rest. Mark Mattson, a scientist with the National Institute on Aging, says that when we convert food into energy, our bodies create a lot of byproducts we could do without, including free radicals. "These free radicals will attack proteins, DNA, the nucleus of cells, the membranes of cells," Mattson says. "They can damage all those different molecules in cells."

And even if you don't fast, Mattson says that simply limiting the calories you consume may be beneficial. He points to studies where rats and mice were fed every other day. Compared with those fed normal daily diets, there was a reduction in disease among the rats that were severely restricted in their food intake. Mattson says those findings hold promise that humans could also benefit from partial fasting.

Mattson thinks partial fasting has numerous benefits, from improving glucose regulation, which can protect against diabetes, to also lowering blood pressure. Some animal studies have also shown that partial fasting has very beneficial effects on the brain, protecting against Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and stroke.

Partial fasting may even extend lifespan because eating less sends a message to the cells of the body that they should conserve and use energy more efficiently.

"When they're exposed to a mild stress, [the body's cells] sort of expect that maybe this is going to happen again," Mattson says. "So maybe next time I may have to go longer without food, so I'd better be able to deal with that when it comes on."

Proponents say small, short-term studies find that complete fasting lowers blood pressure and reduces cancer risk. But Dr. Naomi Neufeld worries that complete fasting could be harmful. After the first few days of liquid only, the body uses up all its stored glucose to make energy. And then it turns to other sources, including fat and muscle. (juice/smoothie fast ensures you get all the nutrients you need while still obtaining the benefits mentioned above)

check out the full article here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16513299&sc=nl&cc=es-20071223&sc=emaf

The first step in taking on any new type of diet or nutritional plan, or attempting to lose weight, is absolutely to cleanse/detox.

My personal training and private yoga clients constantly talk to me about their physical goals, usually losing weight being at the top of their list.

Where to start

My advice is always the same. Start with a cleanse. You need to press the "restart button" before you begin something brand new. Your body, specifically your digestive system, is much like a computer and you're trying to download a new program. If you haven't restarted your computer in months, maybe even years, your computer will be running slow and sluggish.

When we regularly ingest processed foods, meat and dairy products, our digestive and lymphatic systems become overloaded, or congested, leaving excess toxins to remain rampant in the blood and in the digestive system where they cause chronic illnesses and diseased colons.

Great internal healing occurs when we cleanse through organic, primarily liquid based, raw foods. Uncooked foods maintain the enzymes within the food, as oppose to cooked foods which destroy the natural enzymes. After we eat cooked foods, it takes a lot of energy from the body to produce these enzymes in order to aid in the digestive process. In addition, because the raw food is also mostly liquid (smoothies, juices, teas, gazpacho's) it doesn't demand much from the body in order to break it down.

By allowing our systems to work less, we free up that energy to concentrate on healing. Raw vegetables, fruits and their juices, fresh air, and sunlight alkaline the body. They carry a negative charge, magnetically attaching the the acidic wastes and literally puling them into the eliminating channels for release. In addition, alkaline-forming foods are so beneficial because they help magnetize waste matter out of the bodies cells.

Are there any difficulties?

Raw foods help our digestive systems to heal, which allows our lymphatic systems to discharge these congestive toxins. This process can be uncomfortable.

Some possible side effects of detoxification include a temporary loss of energy, headaches, nausea or diarrhea. This is merely evidence that your body is throwing out those accumulated toxins.Some people will experience childhood illnesses or past experiences. If you experience low energy or bowel irregularities over a long period of time, you may have an overgrowth of yeast, or Candida, in your intestines.

How should I cleanse?

There are many different ways to detox. There's the lemonade diet. There's potions and colon cleansers. Fasting. Laxatives.

I personally believe the most gentle and nutritious way to detox is through raw food and juice cleanses. I either provide these cleanses (actually creating and making the cleanse for you) or, if you don't live in Los Angeles and/or it's too expensive for you at the moment, I can consult and guide you through your process via email/phone. See the testimonials page if you want to see what other clients have said - They all agree that with a healthy body come endless benefits.

If eating raw foods isn't right for your body, I can guide and support you through other nutritious cleanse methods, such as body ecology diet, gluten-free, dairy-free, macrobiotic or vegan.

For natural energy, I try and chose natural and healthier options. I have begun thinking about this daily energy as a process of ups and downs, rather than something continuous and constant. It's more natural to have a low period or two during a day versus constant up because of band aids and quick fixes (coffee, stimulants, etc).

Move over, wheatgrass. There's a new superfood in town.

I have been adding blue green algae to my routine for about 2 years now and I've really noticed a difference in my energy level.

There are two kinds of blue green algae: that from fresh water and that from the ocean. The fresh water blue green algae is from a lake in Oregon called Klamath Lake. The blue green algae from the ocean is termed Spirulina and comes in a powder/flake or tablet form. I add spirulina flakes to smoothies and juices or sprinkle it onto a salad. I take blue green algae in liquid form and usually take a shot of it in the morning and mid day during my energy shift. Lately I've been putting the liquid algae (I use E3 Live brand) into an ice cube tray and dropping it into a glass to melt so that I have an ounce or two at my finger tips instead of freezing and defrosting the whole bottle once or twice a day. I found that I got lazy and would rather not go through the process before I was putting it in an ice cube tray.

The technical term APHANIZOMENON (genus) and FLOS-AQUAE (species) are actually zoological terms of classification that literally mean "invisible living flower of water" in Greek.

Algae capitalize on the direct energy of the sun more than any other food. Primitive as they may appear, most are highly efficient photosynthesizers. Algae utilize light energy from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and hydrogen from the water to synthesize its bio-chemicals. Klamath Blue Green Algae is unique among all food grade algaes in that it also metabolizes molecular nitrogen directly from the air to produce proteins and other nitrogen containing bio-molecules.

What are the benefits to adding this to your diet?

• increase in mood and mental clarity
• Immunity booster
• for healthy hair and skin
  
• fights off aging (powerful antioxidants-fight free radicals)
  
• feel good food-helps with serotonin
• detoxifies our bodies: liver, GI Tract
• Green Foods in general help with cholesterol problems (regulates gallbladder and liver)
• 10-30x more nutritious than land vegetables

You can begin feeling the effects of blue green algae by trying Spirulina in your smoothie at a juice bar (most have it) or you can try a shot of E3 live. I would suggest trying it a few times before purchasing it to see how it works with you and if you like the effect on your body. I've tried several supplements or superfoods some people LIVE by, only to find out it makes me feel off. These are all suggestions, find what works with your body, experiment with many options, and ask lots of questions!!

Why Cleanse?

There are so many reasons to detox or cleanse. Some people believe in completely fasting: eating and drinking nothing for a certain amount of time.

We believe it's imperative, to aid in the cleansing process, to consume raw foods to receive an ABUNDANCE of nutrients... saturating your body in health instead of depriving it.

Cleansing and fasting regimes are multi-faceted experiences that have been practiced by an innumerable amount of people ranging from Christian saints to Buddha. These cleanses purify the mind, uplift the heart and heal the body.

In our every day life, we experience many different exposures to toxins. From environmental toxins (pollution) to emotional stresses to the food we eat, our bodies experience this stress daily. There are and always have been stressors in life and today there is no doubt an increase in a multitude of new toxins and stressors that have never existed before.

To restore your health and wellbeing, it is essential to detoxify the accumulation of toxins that absolutely affect each and every cell of your body.

We offer a unique experience by using raw, organic food, superfoods, herbs and supplements to provide a personalized program for you. After having an initial consultation we create a customized juice and/or food cleanse ranging from 3 to 30 days, depending on your needs and goals. You can combine any cleanse with our yoga classes or personal one on one training to get the most out of your detox process.

We look forward to sharing this experience with you!