About Us

I'm Aileen de Guzman,  vegetarian for about 8 years, a Wellness Advocate and Green Living proponent... finding out the tastiest and the easiest way for me to sustain this lifestyle led me to become a Raw Foodist. I studied Bio Nutrition at Wellness Institute, got my Raw Food instructions with a Chef at The Farm, Sun Cafe & Nourished Kitchen in US and continuing my studies with various health and wellness gurus. September last year I attended a Wellness Conference in California featuring the SuperFoods and Chinese Herbalism.
  
I have been teaching Raw Food and Nutrition for about 4 years, conducting workshops and demos on RAW FOOD preparation and discussing its benefits at our center also on Wellness venues, Earth Day events, vegetarian groups and  restaurants. Featured in Cook Magazine, Food Magazine, Money Sense, Good News of GMA, Salamat Dok, Mornings at ANC and Ma-Beauty Po Naman with Cory Quirino. As an advocacy I would like to see more people try turning raw and be successful with it !! 
  

Some people would think twice about eating raw food. Why should they re-consider this proposition?

In a nutshell, eating raw food is the best way to get maximum benefit  from everything we eat. It is based on the belief that it is the most healthful food for the body. Though heating food is acceptable as long as the temperature stays below 104 to 118 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cooking destroys most vitamins in the food and enzymes which is the life force of foods. Enzymes are naturally present to  help us digest and absorb nutrients.  If we over consume cooked food, our bodies are forced to work harder by producing more enzymes. Over time, a lack of enzymes from food is thought to lead to digestive problems, nutrient deficiency, accelerated aging, and weight gain.

By eating food raw food, the nutrients are preserved. But most of us are weaned to eat cooked ones, and that the loss of nutrients can be compensated by supplements. What are your thoughts on this?


Cooking food can diminish its nutritional value. For example, the cancer-fighting compounds in broccoli, sulforaphanes, are greatly reduced when broccoli is cooked. Certain vitamins, such as vitamin C and folate, are destroyed by heat. Others however, become more healthful after cooking, because the fibrous portion is broken down. For example, cooked tomatoes contain three to four times more lycopene than raw tomatoes.

Though we can always supplement, the raw foodist believe that the best source of nutrients should come from nature. Because in nature, everything is designed to be bio available and compatible to our body. For example, if we eat” talbos” in it's raw form ( specially through juicing or blending) all the nutrients, co-enzymes and co-factors are present for the body's easy absorption and metabolization. There's also the cleansing and  detoxifying benefits that we can get when we do juicing since it hardly requires digestion while providing high levels of nutrition.         Since most of us grew up eating cooked food, how long does it usually take for one to "transition" from an omnivorous diet to an organic-based one? Do you recommend abandoning meat-based food or can one go "back-and-forth" from his old diet to being a vegan? 

There are different ways and paths to transition to a raw food diet. It varies according to the need and condition of a person. It is best to start slow,  learn more  and  to listen to what your body needs and go from there. But in case of medical emergencies transition maybe abrupt with the help of a  health care professional.

Most people who follow a raw food diet are vegan. Some consume raw animal products, such as raw milk, cheese made from raw milk, sashimi, ceviche (raw fish), or carpaccio (raw meat). Some people eat only raw foods, while others include cooked food for variety and convenience. The percentage of raw food is usually 70 percent or more of the diet.
Raw food detox diets or cleanses are entering the mainstream. People typically go on a detox diet for 3 to 21 days. After the detox diet or cleanse, they may continue a raw food diet, return to their regular diet, or try to improve their daily diet by consuming more raw and whole foods of at least 25%  to 50%. 

Those concerned about loss of flavor and taste of food in a raw, vegan fare, what do you tell them?One might decide to pursue a raw food diet because of the taste experience. Even if you don't care about benefits, the taste experience is incredible. A raw food diet is not about eating salads, carrots and celery sticks all day long. It's nothing of the kind. A raw food diet is about haute cuisine -- like smoothies and blended recipes – food combinations that you do not ordinarily have, it is something you have to experience!

If you think you've tried all types of foods, cuisines and never tried raw foods, you are in for a big surprise!  You are missing out on a whole universe of taste experience.  Tasting raw food for the first time is a totally new adventure.  it is a journey into a new realm of food experience that will expand your reality because you will be living with some of the most exciting food in the world.

Food provided by nature   -- raw, natural  (unprocessed) fruits, vegetables ,berries, nuts, seeds, roots, anything in its natural state, this is how they are meant to be taken, so it makes sense that raw food offer perfect compatibility with the human body.

In general, what to you constitutes healthy eating?

Balance is the key.  Good quality whole foods is the way to go. With the right preparation you can maximize the benefits of every food you eat at the least cost to you. That is what we teach in all our workshops. We target  dishes with 5 ingredients, 5 minutes to make and 5 minutes to clean up (the 555 rule).  What better way to switch to a healthy lifestyle that will benefit you and the planet.   

Exploring new realms of taste experience with raw foods cuisine. These are foods that awaken your senses. I believe they actually enhance your intelligence, because having sensory complexity is the most effective way to create new connections in your brain. The taste experience can be an enlightening experience, and that's what you get with raw foods.By the way, my diet is currently about 70% raw foods. I make sure to eat a raw food element with every meal, and I drink at least one raw food smoothie (blended with live sprouts that I grow myself) every day.

Remember  it's been said that eating raw maybe dangerous to our health. How do you respond to these kinds of concerns?

When you are on a raw food diet, you may be concerned about e-coli on spinach, salmonella, parasites? You may think: "Is it really safe to eat raw food? I'm sure there must have been a reason why people started cooking their food?"

Before people had a fridge, cooking their food was the best way to kill parasites and bacteria. Louis Pasteur "invented" pasteurization to ensure that food was safe to eat for everyone. However, today this method is obsolete. It doesn't just kill the bad bacteria, it also kills the good ones, as well as the enzymes, makes the food acidic, takes away vitamins and minerals, etc.
Today, we have much better methods for keeping our food safe. Some methods are:

• Refridgeration
• Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide
• Vacuum Sealing.                            We also tackle food safety in our workshops from sourcing, cleaning to storing of our veggies. It is of utmost importance to handle food properly especially raw food.  It may be detrimental to one's health to eat raw when they are not properly cleaned, handled and prepared. A common practice these days is to spray vegetable with pesticides and other chemicals to keep pests off and keep   them lasting longer.

Other relevant information which would help us get into the "vegan" lifestyle.

As what Hippocrates quoted "Let your food be medicine and your medicine be food...."  the Raw Vegan Lifestlye could attest to that. Nothing feels  greater than having great health of the Body, Mind and Spirit.  This type of lifestlye has been life changing to many.
 

At Mercola Consulting Services Wellness Event

 













I currently conduct Raw Food Workshops at our Wellness Place where high quality supplements, supperfoods, rawfoods and other wholistic products will be easily available at very affordable prices.  Future plans include,  a Raw Food Elixir Bar, healthy eating, while listening to wholistic naturapathic lectures and other Wellness activities and events for Companies and like minded individuals.  Like us on FB www.facebook.com/healthsprings or call us at our contact numbers 8909161 / (0919) 2127190 email healthspringph@gmail.com for inquiries..

Juicing Guide!

Since starting the Raw Food Diet, I was always ask many questions on juicers such as “What juicer should I buy?”, “Are some juicers better than others?” and  “What juicer do you recommend?”

Having experimented and used different types of juicers over the past 8 years, purchasing the right juicer is one of the most important investments you’ll ever make for your health. But first, let’s get to the reasons why it’s important to juice...

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Why Juice?

We believe there are three main reason why you should consider incorporating fresh vegetable juice into your lifestyle.

1. Fresh juice is the 15 minute nutrient express to health.

Many of us have impaired digestion which reduces our body's ability to absorb nutrients from vegetables. Fresh juices go directly into your bloodstream and are therefore considered a 15 minute nutrient express to health. The body can quickly absorb large amounts of nutrients from juice including phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, beneficial enzymes and other immune enhancing agents. 

2. Juicing lets you add a wide variety of fruit and vegetables to your diet.

Many of us eat the same vegetables and fruits every day or worse, don't even eat any on a regular basis! With juicing, you can enjoy a wide variety of vegetables that you don't enjoy eating whole. Juicing is also the perfect way to consume the recommended daily serving of vegetables. At the same time the digestive systems is given a rest so that your body has time to put its energy into absorption, metabolization, recovery and healing.

 3. Fresh juice offers incredible health benefits.

After regularly consuming freshly pressed vegetable juices, which are highly alkalizing, you will loose weight, experience improved energy levels, better digestion and mental clarity, clearer skin, and an overall sense of wellbeing. This is due to the restoration of acid-alkaline balance, increase metabolic rate of cells and repair of cell damage of the body.

Reference : 
Myron Wentz, MD, MSc, PhD                                                                Microbiologist / Immunologist

Types of Juicers

Centrifugal juicers
It's the cheaper type to purchase. These machines initially extract juice by pulverizing fruit and vegetables against a round cutting blade that spins very quickly against a metal strainer. The centrifugal force generated by the spinning motion of the cutting surface separates the juice from the pulp.

• PROS •

• Fast juicing time
• Cheaper to purchase
• Easy to use
• Reduces food preparation time as many accept larger fruit and vegetable pieces

• CONS •

• Not well-suited to juicing leafy greens, grasses, sprouts and herbs
• Yields less juice (produces a wet pulp)
• Reduced juice quality due to fast spinning blades producing heat that destroy beneficial enzymes
• Higher juice separation and foaming
• Noisy because of the grinding and cutting action

Cold Presss Juicers
These machines operate via a masticating (chewing) or cold press method to produce a superior juice to their centrifugal counterparts. In contrast to the rough extraction and high speeds of centrifugal juicers, cold press juicers operate at lower speeds and gently compress fruit and vegetables to ‘squeeze’ out their juice. While more costly, their slower and more thorough extraction rates produce a higher-quality juice and more of it.

• PROS •

• Well-suited to juicing leafy greens, grasses, sprouts and herbs
• Higher juice yield
• Juice lasts longer with enzyme integrity keeping for up to 8 hours
• Lower speeds means less heat is generated, preserving more nutrients and enzymes
• Minimal juice separation and foaming
• Offers other food processing functions, such as being able to make nut milk, nut butter, sorbet, pasta and ice cream
• Pressing action is quiet.

• CONS •

• Higher initial cost
• Longer food preparation, as smaller food pieces are required for their narrow chutes
• Slightly higher pulp in juice

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What Should I Look For In A Juicer?

When WE are looking for our perfect juicer here is what WE look for:

• Able to easily juice all greens, herbs and grasses (with a high yield)
• Good to juice fruits, including soft varieties
• Cold pressed, to produce a superior juice
• Low speed (rpm), to minimize oxidation and produce a longer lasting juice
• Able to make nut milks, pasta and sorbet
• Can  also slice vegetables, grind coffee and pepper, shave ice, mince seasonings and extract oil
• Easy to clean

This led us to cold-pressed masticating juicers as the most superior type of juicer!

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“But aren't cold pressed juicers more expensive?”

Yes they are! Up front but it's where you save in the long run that might surprise you! Cold pressed juicers extract 35% more juice out of your fresh produce meaning real savings from the first day you use it!

Let's use an example. If you juice P400 a week worth of fresh vegetables and fruits through a cold press juicer vs. a centrifugal juice you can extract 30% more juice meaning P120 saved!

 

So, if you're juicing for a year with a cold press juicer you can save up to Php1,820!!! (Meaning you’ll pay for your juicer many times over with the savings alone!)

This is because cold press juicers produce a much dryer pulp than centrifugal juicers, meaning that the highest possible amount of nutrients are extracted and there is less overall waste.

“What about nutrient quality?” Specially if I’m spending a lot on organic produce

 We believe this is the most important consideration when buying a juicer.When you’re serious about your health, consuming the highest quality, nutrient dense foods should be your first priority and something not to be compromised. Cold pressed juicers operate at lower speeds (usually around 70-80 RPM), keeping heat generation to a minimum. This not only produces a superior tasting juice with minimal foam and separation, but it also means that the beneficial enzymes and nutrients are retained. This is where all the goodness is!

Nutritional tests* (between a cold press and centrifugal juicer) revealed that cold press juicers extract up to 42% more vitamin C, up to 60% more vitamin A and yield between 35 - 50% more juice.

"How long will cold pressed juice keep for ?"
There are many variables which can affect shelf life (including the type of produce juiced and storage methods) so there’s no definite answer to this!

Our recommendation would be to drink your juice as soon as possible after juicing to enjoy maximum taste and nutritional benefits. 

But don't worry, freshly prepared cold pressed juices can be refrigerated! Fruit juices can last 12 to 24 hours and vegetable juices 8 to 12 hours.

Most cold press juicers are perfect if you want to juice leafy green vegetables, grasses, herbs, sprouts and soft fruits. You can also make nut milk, without having to spend money on two different juicers or a blender as well.
Nut milk made in a cold press juicer typically lasts much longer than when made through the nut bag/blender method.

So What Juicer Do We Recommend

There are plenty of amazing juicers on the market, and lots of new cold pressed juicers. But when asked what juicer do we personally use and recommend then the answer is Matstone.

Why Matstone ?
As a Raw Food Instructor and Wellness Advocate, I have been using Matstone for over 8 years now. Juicing and mincing almost everyday. The motor broke only once but it was serviced immediately and had been running smoothly ever since. I would say that Matstone is the leader in slow juicers which press fruits and vegetables without heat or friction. This preserves the enzymes making the healthiest and freshest juice that taste amazing !
What I look for in a juicers is that it extract the juice of any talbos so easily. Talbos being the cheapest and most abundant source of full pack nutrition our country is blessed with. Maluggay for example is a superfood it has vitamins and minerals from A to Zinc. All we have to do is to maximize and enjoy its benefits. What better way than to juice half a cup of Malunggay with pineapple, lemon grass and saluyot. It’s like a multi vitamin in a glass which the whole family would love !  
All you’ll need is a handful of recipes and the whole family is on its way to better health. I often use Matstone to create my long list of recipes like dressings, nut and seed pate’s,  granola and even ice cream. Enjoy nature’s bounty. It’s good for you, your family, our community and the planet.. – Aileen de Guzman

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MATSTONE JUICER

Two years ago, when my husband suffered stroke, a kind hearted couple gave us MATSTONE Juicer. After his hospitalization, he was given insulin aside from the daily drugs in tablet. I was advised that natural food is best for natural healing, since drugs do more harm than good. I immediately give my husband ampalaya juice daily, extracted using the Matstone juicer. After weeks of drinking ampalaya juice, I was confident he doesn’t need insulin at all and his blood sugar maintained the normal level. For my family, we enjoy juicing fruits and vegetables that are in season, carrot juice even without apple. Ginataan’s are tastier when coconuts are juiced using Matstone. I love its fresh and creamy taste! I can even make use of the pulp as extender to bola –bola, lumpiang shang hai, and many more, that is how great my Matstone Juicer –easy to use, easy to clean, great juice, great added values! Tita Bautista 27 F Basilio St., Acacoa Malabon City

Juicing has been a part of my health and wellness program for the past seven years. Taken on an empty stomach, our body's required daily allowance of fruits and vegetable servings are met within 30 minutes down to the cellular level. During this 7 year period I have tried and bought 4 brands of juicer. But sad to say none of them surpassed the performance of my Matstone juicer. Aside from its durability, what i enjoyed most about Matstone juicer is the big return of investment in the long run in terms of quality and quantity of juices. Further, it's so easy to clean. That's why i recommend Matstone juicer to friends and relatives if they really want to invest in their health. You can try it too to prove to yourselves. Esperanza “Baby” Sosa Housewife

Since our family started using Matstone Multi-purpose Juice Extractor, it became the best machine in our house. We are very impressed at how it helped cleanse our body system and made us healthier. Joann B. Sy Ranvin Marketing

Shaienna, our 3 1/2 year old daughter is very picky when it comes to eating. When we learned that we could make our very own ice cream, soy milk and juice using Matstone Multi-Purpose Juice Extractor, we were more than happy! Now, we are able to make different flavors of ice cream, fruit and vegetable juice, and vary our daily menu with this amazing product. And because we made them ourselves, we know they are 100% natural and healthy." Mary Ann Tabar Young Mother / Physical Therapist

Now you can get the Matstone juicer from the HealthSprings today plus receive some really exciting bonuses!

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When you purchase your Matstone juicer through HealthSprings, you'll also receive these bonuses to help get you started and keep you motivated!

Your Price: Php 14k (Cash)

• Perfect for juicing almost anything
• With free Ice Crusher valued at P1,800
• Along with 5 years warranty on Parts and Service
• Additional 5 years for servicing
• Plus 1 FREE Session on our Raw Food Workshop

Malunggay Juice Recipe:

2 Stems of malunggay
1/2 pineapple (medium)
1 bulb of Lemongrass
1/2 cup saluyot

Place all ingredients in the juicer. Alternating the pineapple with the greens.

Power Smoothie

• 1 cup manga, diced
• 1 cup pineapple, diced
• 2 saging na saba slices
• 1/2 cup dahon ng sili, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup talbos ng camote, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preparation:

Blend all of the ingredients together for 10 to 20 seconds or until the greens have completely blended in. Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

A green smoothie with talbos if one of the nutrient-rich foods. You'll be buzzing with energy after downing this for breakfast, so have a great day!

Pineapple Salsa

• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped small
• 1 cup pineapple, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• Juice of 4 calamansi  or half a lime / lemon
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon minced red onion
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, cayenne, coriander
• 1 teaspoon minced jalapeño or chili pepper
• Dash of salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients of together in a mixing bowl and chill until ready to serve. You may serve it with veggie slices, chips or with your tacos and burritos.

Coconut Lanka Combo

• 1 cup niyog, dessicated
• 1 cup lanka, diced
• 1/4 cup coco sugar or yacon syrup (for diabetic)
• 1/ 4 cup coconut Oil
• 4 singkamas or yacon, 1/4 inch rounds
• Mint leaves for garnish

Mix the first 4 ingredients. Top in singkamas rounds and garnish with mint. 

 PPS: Share this page with your friends if you love juicing ! 

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