Live Life Veg

Newlyweds Portia De Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres have become vegans, because they both love animals so much. read more…

 Blissed Out is dedicated to bringing the purest, most bliss inducing chocolate to the world.  

We specialize in the highest quality organic, gluten-free, dairy-free, raw chocolates.  Raw cacao, the main ingredient in all Blissed Out chocolate is one of the world’s most nutrient dense foods.  Vast arrays of its nutrients are destroyed in the conventional chocolate making process.  We at Blissed Out hand craft each small batch of chocolate in such a way that ensures the over 300+ antioxidants, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals remain intact.

Sounds amazing, right? Inspired by a 30-day vow to live as a raw foodist, Erika Martin started Blissed Out, which is dedicated to bringing hand-poured, raw truffles to the masses. The raw chocolate company is changing the way some cities eat sweets.

“I did the raw food diet on the conditions that I could still have my two vices of chocolate and wine. During that time, I was introduced to raw cacao, which I love. It’s totally different than regular chocolate . . . I almost clung to it in an addictive way,” says Martin. While on the diet, she realized how difficult it was to find raw truffles, bars and chocolates on par with high-end chocolatiers.

The conventional chocolate-making process requires heating, dairy and refined sugars, all of which are eschewed by raw foodies. Eating raw means that 75% to 100% of your diet consists of unprocessed, living, uncooked organic produce; once food is heated above 118 degrees, it becomes more difficult for the body to process.

After staying raw for almost a year, Martin eased up on the restrictions but stuck to gluten-free whole foods. Her chocolate obsession, and dedication to finding a way for raw to taste real, never subsided. It took her one month of research and development, which “consisted of me eating a whole lot of chocolate.”

After putting her tastebuds to the test, she came up with a line of raw chocolate truffles flavored with mint, cashew, goji berry, citrus and, of course, classic rich dark chocolate. Everything is organic, gluten free, dairy free and raw. The ingredients lists on her products are short but sweet: cacao powder, cacao butter and cacao paste, sweetened with honey and agave, which is emulsified with coconut oil instead of soy lecithin. The use of coconut oil makes for a fudgey texture that’s frankly addictive. Instead of refined sugars, she uses local, cold-packed raw honey from Honey Pacifica. The chocolate is treated at a very low temperature to maintain it’s “raw” status. The result is a dense, rich dark chocolate truffle.

The chocolates are available at a few natural foods stores, including Erewhon, Nature Well and Euphoria Loves Rawvolution, as well as a few stores in Austin, Texas.

The Department of Agriculture issued new rules on Friday meant to settle a dispute in the organic agriculture industry over how much time cows at organic dairies must spend grazing on pasture. The ruling was cheered by many in the organic industry who said it would shore up consumer confidence in organic milk and could force some larger dairies in Western states to change how they operate.

“This is the biggest deal in the organic community for many years,” said Miles V. McEvoy, the deputy administrator of the National Organic Program, the arm of the agriculture department that regulates the organic farming industry.

“Because of the controversy and the complaints against some of the larger Western dairies, it has really affected consumer confidence in the organic label. That’s why it’s so important for us to set the standard and say that organic livestock are pasture-based.”

The new rules clarify an older requirement that said only that organically raised livestock had to have access to pasture. That left a loophole for some dairies that would put cows out to pasture only during periods when the animals were not giving milk or would feed their animals almost exclusively on grain or other feeds.

The new regulations, which go into effect in June, are much more specific. They say that animals must graze on pasture for the full length of the local grazing season. The season will be determined by local conditions and agriculture authorities, like organic certifiers or county conservation officials, not by the dairy alone. While the grazing season must last at least 120 days, in many areas it will be much longer. The rules also say that animals must get at least 30 percent of their food from pasture during the grazing season.

Aurora, which supplies organic milk for the private label brands of several supermarket chains, agreed to make significant changes in 2007 after the agriculture department threatened to revoke its organic certification. Among the changes, the dairy agreed to give its animals greater access to pasture.

The new rules also apply to cattle raised for beef. In the case of beef cattle, however, the requirement that 30 percent of food must come from pasture is lifted during the so-called finishing period, which is when the animals are being fattened for slaughter and are often fed on grain. During that period they must still be allowed to graze, however.

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That’s right, if you’re eating the typical standard American diet (SAD), you could be consuming over 12 teaspoons of high fructose corn syrup/mercury a day. 17 out of 55 products rich in HFCS tested showed detectable levels of mercury- one-third of grocery store items. The highest level of contamination found in the study was 0.57 micrograms of mercury per gram of HFCS. The EPA says that an average-sized woman should consume no more than 5.5 micrograms of mercury, meaning that average American consumer may be eating five times the upper safety limit every day due to HFCS consumption if they consume the foods tested in the study. 

The scary thing is, these days, HFCS is in everything. Soda, bread, ketchup, candy bars, salad dressing, fruit drinks, yogurt, granola bars, soups, and thousands of other grocery store items contain it. If it’s processed, it most likely contains the sweetener; and we live in a very processed world today- a world of convenience and pre-packaged foods loaded with artifical colors, flavors, and chemicals.  

Where does the mercury come from?

Many assume high fructose corn syrup is natural. “But it comes from corn!” Far from it. One of the processes involved in the making of HFCS is a bizarre chemical brew involving the creation of caustic soda by exposing raw materials to pools of electrified mercury in a large vat. Through this process, the caustic soda gets contaminated with mercury, and when corn kernels are exposed to this caustic soda to break them down, that contamination is passed through to the HFCS.

Other than the fact that HFCS is literally poison, it also contributes to obesity and diabetes- 2 other reasons to stay away. So eat organic, and avoid processed foods- anything in a box, can, or container. Whole foods, fresh fruits and vegetables are the healthiest and safest foods to consume.

The results of an online poll conducted by The Vegetarian Resource Group indicate that three percent of U.S. adults never eat meat, poultry and fish/seafood. About one-third to one-fourth of those vegetarians (one percent of the U.S. adult population) also never eat dairy, eggs and honey, and are classified as vegan. Additionally, eight percent of the respondents say they never eat red meat.

Those numbers are up from a similar poll conducted in 2006, which identified 2.3 percent of Americans as vegetarian, and 6.7 percent who never eat red meat.

The poll also indicated that five percent of females ages 18 – 34 classify themselves as vegetarian, and 12 percent of females 18 – 34 say they do not eat red meat. The poll also identified nine percent of U.S. males ages 18 – 34 as vegetarians, and 15 percent of respondents identifying themselves as students.

Although this number seems low, three percent of the U.S. population being vegetarian translates into an estimated six to eight million adult vegetarians, which is a very high number. Great news for animals and the environment. People are waking up and becoming more health conscious. Make your new year’s resolution this year to get more healthy, and come join the bandwagon! What do you have to lose?