When we eat more water-rich foods, we absorb water more slowly because it is trapped in the structure of these foods.
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Let us clarify, this does not mean chew your water (though, now that you mention it, maybe it’s worth a shot?). What we mean by eating your water is to consume enough water-rich plants like cucumber, romaine lettuce, fresh berries and melons— all over 90% water. The water that’s trapped in fresh plants is caught in a phytonutrient-rich web of vitamins, minerals and fibers that help your body absorb more water more slowly, which means you’re more hydrated for longer periods of time!
Before Whitney and Danielle started Sakara, they thought they we’re eating “healthy”. They ate avocado toast on Ezekiel bread, trail mix, organic fiber cereals and energy bars. Basically, food groups lacking in one of the most vital nutrients-- H20! Eating water is one of the ways Whitney finally healed her cystic acne. It forced her to focus on fresh, organic and vibrant plants that not only drenched her cells with hydration but also came with all the incredible benefits of getting enough phytonutrients and plant fiber, which in turn helped to heal her gut. She likes to say she didn’t have a skin issue, she had a gut issue. So, get ready to enjoy a plethora of organic, water-rich plants in all of your Sakara meals and expect to reap all the dewy benefits!
From the experts:
Dr Howard Murad, M.D.
"Anyone knows that eight glasses of water – while still a way of putting water into your body – also means eight trips to the bathroom. When we eat more water-rich foods, we absorb water more slowly because it is trapped in the structure of these foods. That slow absorption means that water in food stays in our bodies longer, with a multitude of additional benefits.
A cucumber is a great example of this. Because cucumbers are 96% water, eating a three-ounce cucumber is almost the same as drinking three ounces of water, but better. Besides being full of hydrating H2O, raw fruits, vegetables and other key water-rich foods contain nutrients, vitamins, minerals and fiber that can improve your health, develop your immune system, strengthen your muscles and boost your athletic performance.
Dehydration can contribute to loss of energy, headaches and general sluggishness. This is why drinking water has been typically recommended by healthcare professionals for decades. However, to keep our bodies in optimal health, we not only need to stay hydrated but also ingest enough vitamins and nutrients to help our bodies function properly.
By eating your water, you are not only hydrating with H2O, but are also filling your body with everything it needs to become strong and healthy. Our bodies are constantly regenerating, creating new cells to replace old, damaged ones. So, it is important that we eat and drink with a deliberate focus on promoting cellular health. The best way to do this is to keep our body saturated with cell-building elements such as vitamin A, alpha lipoic acid, oleic acid, polyphenols, folic acid and vitamin C. These nutrients can all be found in water-rich foods such as raw fruits and vegetables.
Drinking too much water can actually cause a loss of vitamins and minerals as they get flushed out as the body voids excess fluids. Many people who train for marathons or other long endurance fitness activities have experienced this damaging depletion of vitamins and minerals which can lead to exhaustion, muscle cramping and even heart palpitations. The key is to “strategically hydrate” by eating your water throughout the day so that your body has a steady stream of hydration and nutrients to keep it energized and working optimally."
Howard Murad, M.D. is recognized as a leading visionary for his scientific innovations, total body approach to youth building and overall wellness. His mission and passion is to help people unlock their potential to look younger, to feel younger and to live healthier, happier and more rewarding lives.
If you eat a variety of whole foods of plant origin (vegetables, legumes, 100 percent whole grains and fruits) and not refined food-like products, it is very unlikely that you could be deficient in protein intake.
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One of the number one questions we get is “but will I get enough protein on a plant-based diet?”. The answer is YES!! In fact, you’ll get about 40% more than your daily requirement (42 grams) and you’ll be getting all the amazing benefits that come with eating plants, like lots of important fiber (97% of people are deficient in this key nutrient!), phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and water. In fact, 97% of American get more than enough protein every single day, so why is everyone so obsessed? Well, protein does play a vital role in thousands of biological processes like giving cell walls their structure, transporting and storing key nutrients, repair tissues (such as bones, skin, hair and muscles) as well as helping the body rid itself of toxins and waste.
But the protein myth is real. Almost all of us have been taught that more is better, and that protein only comes in the form of animals or dairy. We (along with thousands of medical doctors and scientific studies) are here to dispel that myth and confirm that plant protein is abundant, powerful and nourishing:
"If you eat a variety of whole foods of plant origin (vegetables, legumes, 100 percent whole grains and fruits) and not refined food-like products, it is very unlikely that you could be deficient in protein intake, even if your needs are higher (after major surgery, for example). In other words, if you get enough whole plant foods everyday, you get enough protein.
The more protein—especially animal protein—one eats, the higher the risk of different chronic diseases. For example, in a recent study of more than 6,000 people in the best nationally representative dietary survey in the United States, those between 50 and 65 years old who reported high protein intake had a 75 percent increase in dying from any cause, a four-fold increase in cancer death risk during the following 18 years, and a five-fold increase in death from diabetes. Those with moderate intake had increased cancer death risk three-fold when compared with the low protein intake group! It is important to note that these associations were either abolished or attenuated if the proteins were plant derived. The composition of amino acids, building blocks of protein, derived from animals is different than from plant proteins. What we need are amino acids, not the proteins themselves. As for the amount of protein we eat, it is not practical or very accurate to measure that on a daily basis. 0.8 g/kg is generous. According to the World Health Organization, 0.5 g/kg is adequate for good health. Make sure you get enough calories from unprocessed whole foods of plant origin and you will get more than enough protein.” — Dr Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, Cleveland Clinic
https://youtu.be/2m4p8s7xskQ
"Low-carb, high-animal-protein diets promote heart disease via mechanisms other than just their effects on cholesterol levels. Arterial blockages may be caused by animal-protein-induced elevations in free fatty acids and insulin levels and decreased production of endothelial progenitor cells (which help keep arteries clean). Egg yolks and red meat appear to significantly increase the risk of coronary heart disease and cancer due to increased production of trimethylamine N-oxide, or TMAO, a metabolite of meat and egg yolks linked to the clogging of arteries. (Egg whites have neither cholesterol nor TMAO.)
Animal protein increases IGF-1, an insulin-like growth hormone, and chronic inflammation, an underlying factor in many chronic diseases. Also, red meat is high in Neu5Gc, a tumor-forming sugar that is linked to chronic inflammation and an increased risk of cancer. A plant-based diet may prolong life by blocking the mTOR protein, which is linked to aging. When fat calories were carefully controlled, patients lost 67 percent more body fat than when carbohydrates were controlled. An optimal diet for preventing disease is a whole-foods, plant-based diet that is naturally low in animal protein, harmful fats and refined carbohydrates. What that means in practice is little or no red meat; mostly vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and soy products in their natural forms; very few simple and refined carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour; and sufficient “good fats” such as fish oil or flax oil, seeds and nuts. A healthful diet should be low in “bad fats,” meaning trans fats, saturated fats and hydrogenated fats. Finally, we need more quality and less quantity.” - Dr Dean Ornish, NYT
EAT YOUR WATER
GREENS
NUTRIENT RICH & CHEF CRAFTED
In the perfect, most beautiful setting, can exist only the most amazing restaurant. What started out as a personal desire for quality vegetarian and vegan restaurant food options, has turned into a thriving family-owned restaurant. We take great pride in offering only the freshest organic foods and maintaining five-start quality ratings.
About the Organic Meal Prep Lifestyle Read More organic prepared meal prep
OUR 9 PILLARS OF NUTRITION
NO CALORIE COUNTING
Feeding You Clean
vegetarian cuisine
The organic meal delivery program is based on a whole-food, plant-rich diet that includes fresh, nutrient-dense, and delicious ingredients. Our nutritional pillars form the basis of each and every meal that comes to your door.
INGREDIENTS YOU CAN TRUST
To ensure your meals are as delicious and nutritious as possible, we source all of our ingredients from trusted suppliers and organic farms that use healthy, sustainable agriculture practices.
DELIVERED FRESH TO YOUR DOOR
Within 48 hours of fresh, locally-sourced ingredients arriving at our kitchens, your meals are on their way to you, packed in chic, eco-friendly cooler bags or boxes (depending on location).
PLANT PROTEIN
Greens are the least consumed food in the standard American diet, and the most essential for inner and outer health.
chitdetoxifyingskin-foodtaught
BENEFITSChlorophyl
Detoxifying
Skin food
Prebiotic Fiber
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One of our favorite pillars (if we had to choose). Eating enough greens (4–6 cups!) every single day is one of the secrets to getting that Sakara Glow. Greens are one of the most potent and powerful foods on the planet. This doesn’t mean you’re only eating salads (though if you’re new to eating greens, it may feel like it!). Instead, you’re eating your meal AND greens.
"Greens are the least consumed food in the standard American diet, and the most essential for inner and outer health. They come the closest of any food to meeting our ideal nutritional requirements. It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that romaine lettuce has more fiber than sirloin, but you may not know that calorie for calorie, it has double the protein, ten times the amount of iron, and a hundred times more calcium. If you asked me to recommend the one thing that would have the biggest impact on the health of your gut and skin, it would be to eat as many leafy green vegetables as you can.
If you want to encourage the growth of good bacteria, heal inflammation, improve motility, crowd out parasites, eliminate yeast, get rid of belly fat, dissolve gallstones, balance your pH, quiet down your irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), prevent diverticulosis, cut your risk of colon cancer in half, boost your energy, lose weight, banish your bloat, and really glow from the inside out, then the single most important thing you need to do is eat greens every single day.
There’s a lot to choose from: kale, spinach, chard, collards, parsley, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, beet greens, arugula, broccoli, bok choy, and all kinds of lettuce. And a lot of ways to fix them: steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, boiled, roasted, raw, in salads, in smoothies, or on their own. However you eat them, leafy greens are the embodiment of food as medicine. You don’t have to like them; you just have to eat them. If you do nothing else, commit to eating leafy greens every day for the next ten days and I promise you, amazing things will start to happen inside and out." — Dr Robynne Chutkan
Some calories are addictive, others healing, some fattening, some metabolism-boosting. That’s because food doesn’t just contain calories, it contains information.
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We could go on and on here, but we’ve listed the top 5 reasons we don’t want you to count calories:
They’re a metric of energy, not nutrition.
Calorie in does NOT equal calorie out. Most people count calories when looking to lose or maintain weight, but that is not safe because the way we assimilate nutrients and absorb calories depends on the quality of the food and the makeup of your microbiome! A study published by Dr. David Ludwig (a professor in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health) and colleagues in The Lancet in 2004 suggested that a poor-quality diet could result in weight gain even when it was low in calories.
Your microbiome (that 6 pounds of bacteria living in your gut!) is a huge determining factor as to how many calories you will absorb from your food. The best way to create a healthy and diverse microbiome is to eat a plant-based, whole-food diet (hello Sakara Life!).
Restricting calories is a stressor. When your body is stressed and believes it is starving, it wants to hold on to fat. By eating more of the right foods, you tell your body it’s okay to burn fat. Many times the body resists long term weight loss by increasing hunger.
Nutrient dense foods are often sacrificed when people restrict calories. Our salad dressings are some of the highest nutrient content of any food. They’re also high in calories, which is why misinformed calorie-fearing people may not eat them. Without proper nutrients, your body won’t efficiently burn fat or build muscle. It’s food quality and composition that matter, not volume
In order to cut calories, many people resort to things like 100 calorie snack packs, diet soda, and fat free yogurt. These foods might be lower in calories, but they make you crave more food and can be extremely harmful on your body and microbiome.
Thoughts from our experts:
Newton’s first law of thermodynamics states that the energy of an isolated system is constant. In other words, in a laboratory, or “isolated system,” 1,000 calories of broccoli and 1,000 calories of soda are, in fact, the same. I’m not saying Newton was wrong about that. It’s true that when burned in a laboratory setting, 1,000 calories of broccoli and 1,000 calories of soda would indeed release the same amount of energy.
But sorry, Mr. Newton; your law of thermodynamics doesn’t apply in living, breathing, digesting systems. When you eat food, the “isolated system” part of the equation goes out the window. The food interacts with your biology, a complex adaptive system that instantly transforms every bite.
The same number of calories from different types of food can have very different biological effects. In a study of 154 countries that looked at the correlation of calories, sugar, and diabetes, scientists found that adding 150 calories a day to the diet barely raised the risk of diabetes in the population, but if those 150 calories came from soda, the risk of diabetes went up by 700 percent.
"Some calories are addictive, others healing, some fattening, some metabolism-boosting. That’s because food doesn’t just contain calories, it contains information. Every bite of food you eat broadcasts a set of coded instructions to your body—instructions that can create either health or disease."– Dr Mark Hyman, M.D., Medical Director, Cleveland Clinic