Living food is the concept at the core of GT’s Living Foods—it’s right there in our name and links everything we create, from SYNERGY Raw Kombucha to COCOYO Living Coconut Yogurt. Living foods are natural foods, as close to their original pure form as possible to retain all their active ingredients and nutrients. This includes whole fruits and vegetables, fermented fruits and vegetables, sprouted nuts and seeds, fish, poultry, and whole grains. These foods are rich in inflammation-fighting antioxidants, phytochemicals (compounds produced by plants), and often active enzymes. Living foods help your body produce and activate its own naturally occurring enzymes that are necessary for hormone production and chemical reactions in the body to keep it operating optimally. Fermented foods, like raw kombucha, are considered alive because they are packed with living probiotics and prebiotics to promote healthy bacteria in your gut, where 70% of your immune system lives.
But if there are living foods—are there “dead processed foods,” too?
Dead Foods Beware
Dead foods are everywhere. Any food or drink that’s processed, considered fast food, contains fillers or additives, and all synthetic snacks are dead foods. As the name implies, unlike living foods, dead foods are little more than dead energy. Void of minerals, vitamins, and fiber, dead foods lack the nutritional value needed to fuel our bodies: think processed crackers, chips, cookies, and more. They’re health depriving and usually manufactured for long shelf lives, addictive taste and additives, low nutritional value, and synthetic ingredients. In contrast, living foods are grown for your benefit. Every nutrient is actively used by the body to support and sustain healthier, happier living bodies.
Now that you know what living foods are, and what they aren’t, here’s why you should make them a key part of your diet.
Why Eat and Drink Living Foods?
Living foods are easier to digest and provide the maximum amount of energy to fuel your body with minimum effort. They also contain large amounts of essential nutrients, micronutrients, and active probiotics. Together, they fortify immune health, support a healthier GI system, and sustain a better mood. The antioxidants in living foods fight oxidative stress (the imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body) and help your body achieve homeostatic balance (the body’s natural process of self-regulation). The homeostasis of your microbiome can be directly linked to your overall wellness, immunity resiliency, and, especially, your mental wellness. This is often referred to as the gut-brain connection where the balance of microbiomes in your gut transmits signals through the nervous system that influences your brain and how you process emotions. A happier gut fosters a happier, healthier mind, full of electric vitality and bioavailable energy.
Living bodies love living foods. Here’s how you can add them into your routine.
How Can Living Foods Work Best for You?
Try starting your day with a living food first thing in the morning. A plant-forward breakfast of COCOYO (our probiotic yogurt), fresh fruit, and sprouted granola can help to support a healthy microbiome. Living foods are known to calm gut inflammation which is a great foundation for a healthy day. Dead foods like coffee and flavored instant oatmeal or sugary cereal aren’t as soothing and can lead to late-morning energy crashes, dips, and valleys. Living foods are easy to recognize because you’ll be able to understand every ingredient listed. You can just see it, too, in a food or drink’s vivid, natural colors, and smell it in their fresh, inviting scent.
At the onset of a cold, try a raw, fermented IMMORTAL Wellness Shot and a SYNERGY Raw Kombucha along with a handful of local nuts and seeds. For the most nutritional benefits, soak the nuts in purified water for a few hours or overnight before eating to activate their germination cycles and increase their enzyme activity. Consume living foods as often as you can to take advantage of the beneficial antimicrobial and antibacterial effects of the acetic acid found in fermented living foods. And for mental clarity, the good bacteria, B vitamins, polyphenols, other phytochemicals, and enzymes may help clear brain fog. Try substituting one of your unhealthier cravings for dead foods with something real and living. Positive transformation of the mind, body and spirit begins with changes from within. Unleash the benefits of kombucha and other living foods today.
We believe Mother Nature is our world’s greatest healer. We don’t presume we can do it better than She. Eliminating dead foods in favor of living foods is what we strive to share far and wide for your benefit. Buy whole and organic, eat raw and sprouted, drink what’s real, living, and actively energized. Shop locally. If you want to eat and drink the freshest, most bioavailable living foods: grow your own food. Whether you're reaching for fresh produce of your own, at your local market, or buying something ready to drink at the store, incorporating living foods into your diet will elevate your mind, body, and spirit.
