The Benefits of Eating a Raw Foods Diet

Looking at the current state of health in the United States, you can really see that we are in need of a diet and nutrition overhaul. The increase of viruses, parasites, cancers, and chronic health problems are clear warning signs, and perhaps we would all find that fountain of youth if we turned back the clock on our food preparation methods. Highly processed foods lack the nutritional value and benefits of raw foods, which add a healthy host of beneficial micro-organisms to our diets. These micro-organisms make foods easier to digest, and increase healthy flora in our intestinal tracts and help to kill the bad bacteria that can leave us looking as sluggish and weak as we feel.

Both raw natural foods and certain fermented foods provide the body with soluble fiber, which prevents constipation by stimulating peristalsis, increases the balance of good bacteria (such as E. Coli) in our gastrointestinal tract, and helps the body eliminate toxins, acting like a broom to sweep our colons clean of waste residue and fecal matter.

So what is the main reason it’s so important to eat raw foods? Most vitamins and micro-nutrients are either damaged or destroyed when heated above 130 degrees. Many of these are newly discovered micro-nutrients, and quite possibly preventatives to cancer and other harmful diseases. Eating fresh, raw fruits and vegetables increase the vitamins and micro-nutrients in your diet. Enzymes are the most sensitive, and are damaged or destroyed when heated above 118 degrees. Enzymes are an important part of digestion and without them the body must work harder to process the foods you take into your system. Eating a diet made up of mostly raw foods will increase the enzyme levels in your body, and help eliminate toxic buildup in the gastrointestinal system, improving your overall health, as well as keeping your immune system healthy and strong, reducing the incidence of illness and the likelihood of developing chronic diseases.

Becoming More Alkaline, Avoiding an Acidic Body, and Maintaining Proper pH Levels

Acidic pH levels in the body cause strain and stress on the organs, affecting a person’s overall health. It forces the body to borrow calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and other valuable minerals from vital organs in order to neutralize the acid and force it out of the body. If the condition is allowed to continue over a period of years, it can cause premature aging, immune deficiency, joint pain, aching muscles and lactic acid buildup. Yeast and fungal overgrowth is very common among people who are over-acidic, as well as low energy, chronic fatigue, weight gain, obesity and diabetes.

Health Problems that are Caused by an Acidic Body

Because the organs are being overworked and strained, it can easily lead to cardiovascular damage, including the constriction of blood vessels and the reduction of oxygen, bladder and kidney conditions, including kidney stones, acceleration of free radical damage, possibly contributing to cancerous mutations, and hormone concerns. The least of the problems one might experience would be slower digestion and elimination, which could cause constipation and buildup of toxins in the digestive system.

Most people who live in industrialized countries have become too acidic, and suffer the health problems that are associated with high acidity, such as depression, chronic fatigue, back pain, arthritis, cancer, ulcers, brittle bones, yeast infections, and premature aging. To balance the body, foods high alkaline foods must be eaten to counteract, or neutralize the acids. Most meats and sugars should be avoided, as well as milk products other than goat milk and cheese, which are low alkaline foods. If you do eat animal products, try to follow up or combine with high alkaline foods, or alkaline water, to balance out the pH level in your body. Test strips to determine the pH level in your urine or saliva are available in most health food stores, and can help you monitor your alkalinity, or to determine if your body is too acidic - and make healthy dietary changes that will help to become more alkaline. 

  

Foods that Cause your Body to be More Alkaline

Foods that are considered low alkaline foods, but not quite acidic: Raw honey, raw sugar, oranges, bananas, cherries, pineapple, peaches, avocados, carrots, tomatoes, fresh corn, mushrooms, cabbage, peas, potato skins, olives, soybeans, tofu, chestnuts, canola oil, amaranth, millet, wild rice, quinoa, soy cheese, soy milk, goat milk, goat cheese, whey, and ginger tea. Foods that are higher in alkaline include: Maple syrup, rice syrup, dates, figs, melons, grapes, papaya, kiwi, berries, apples, pears, raisins, okra, squash, green beans, beets, celery, lettuce, zucchini, sweet potato, carob, almonds, flax seed oil, breast milk, and green tea. Some of the most alkaline foods include: Stevia, lemons, watermelon, limes, grapefruit, mango, papaya, asparagus, onions, vegetable juices, parsley, raw spinach, broccoli, garlic, olive oil, herbal teas, and lemon water.

Aloe Vera to Cleanse the Colon and Detoxify the Digestive System

Using aloe vera for skin care and sunburns is well known, but did you know that you can also drink the juice of the aloe vera plant? Aloes are some of the most healing plants found in nature, made up of a large variety of amino acids, enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Aloe vera juice can be it is also beneficial when taken internally, drinking it either an hour or two before breakfast, or just before going to bed.

Aloe is considered a bitter herb, and a cathartic – which means it is an excellent laxative. Aloe vera helps to ease constipation and prevent ongoing diarrhea, and promotes healthy regularity in the bowels – without drugs or chemical additives. This makes it an excellent choice, over and above some of the synthetic laxatives on the market, which can often send you running for the bathroom!

Aloe has natural healing and detoxifying properties, working gently within the intestinal tract to help break down impacted food residues and morbid matter from stomach, liver, kidneys, spleen, bladder and colon, thoroughly cleansing the bowels. Since it has such a positive effect on the digestive system, aloe is an excellent remedy for irritable bowel syndrome, better known as IBS. Since this process helps to reduce intestinal bloating, as the symptoms begin to ease – so do the stress and discomfort. A toxic colon is the cause of a wide variety of illnesses, and aloe vera is one of the best single herbs to clean out the colon.

Get the Real Skinny on Acai Berries and Belly Fat

Let's take this topic head-on, and instead of talking about all of the false claims about acai berries, we'll just stick to the basic facts. So what can the acai berry really do for you, and what are some facts about the properties of acai berries?

Most people have already heard the claims that acai berries are a super-antioxidant, which can be considered true. The acai berry, according to the ORAC, contains a much higher level of antioxidants than most other fruits.The USDA uses the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, or ORAC method to measure antioxidant capacities of different foods. But according to that same method, the coffee berry ranks as one of the most powerful antioxidants on the foods list. The marketers of acai berry products would have you believe otherwise.

But what are some of the other beneficial properties that acai berries can provide? Acai berries are high in Omega-3 oils and fiber. In combination with each other, these two will provide you with a fuller feeling, which - when eaten before a meal, can lower the amount of food consumed during the meal. This has helped fuel the claims that acai berries will lead to a slimmer waistline. However, along with any dietary supplement, a healthy, well balanced diet and plenty of exercise will do much more than any single "miracle" food. Let's face it, if we eat cookies, cake, ice cream and chips on a daily basis, even fire-roasted acai berries couldn't melt away those pounds. Reducing body fat has a direct correlation to reducing unhealthy doses of dietary fat. Replacing sugary snacks with healthy food choices like acai berries, you will gradually see a reduction in the amount of fat you store on your body.

Acai berries, like many other healthy fruits, should be considered a great source of nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber. While you shouldn't buy into the plethora of claims that surround the acai berry, supplements can be taken with the confidence that you will be receiving a healthy dose of antioxidants, as well as promoting a healthier you. All supplements should be used in addition to a well balanced diet that supports a healthy digestive system, which is key to staying in great shape.

The Flu and the Common Cold - What the Difference is and How to Deal with Them Naturally

Each year, as the weather changes and the kids are back in school - we are all suddenly exposed to people getting sick all around us, including the workplace. Weather has a lot to do with it, as well as the viruses you are exposed to, but how well you are able to fend off the bug is up to you, and your body.

The key to minimizing your chances of contracting either a cold or the flu is prevention. Not just in the form of avoiding sick people, but preventing your body from being susceptible to the viruses that you are being exposed to. Your immune system depends largely on your digestive system. Keeping your body free of toxins, harmful foods, and clear of mucus is essential, and cleaning out the digestive tract can be extremely beneficial.

The Common Cold	The Flu (Influenza)
Symptoms: Runny nose, sneezing, scratchy or sore throat and nasal passages, stuffy nose, fever, mucus buildup in the nose, throat, and bronchial tubes A cold can be treated successfully in just one day with the right care and treatment. Eliminate all toxins in the body, and thoroughly cleanse the digestive tract, and rid the body of phlegm.	Symptoms: Chilly feeling, backache, headache, ringing in ears, dizziness, cough, stuffiness, sore throat, cough, “all over sick feeling”, muscle aches and pains, pain in joints Complications such as pneumonia are most common among heart and lung disease patients, as well as women during pregnancy.
Herbs for Colds: Garlic, elderflower tea, organic acacia honey, lemon, echinacea, sage, thyme, rosemary, basil, red sage, hyssop, yarrow, black cohosh, peppermint, chamomile, bayberry bark, catnip, wood betony, angelica, blue violet, butternut bark, ginseng, lungwort, nettles, white pine, pleurisy root, prickly ash, rosemary, saffron summer savory, sweet balm, tansy, valerian, vervain, water pepper, wood sage, masterwort, pennyroyal (not during pregnancy or breast feeding!), wild cherry bark, horehound, spikenard, sarsaparilla, ginger, gentian, goldenseal, saw palmetto berries Foods for Colds: Protein (Such as chicken, fish, or vegetable – not dairy), fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh juices	Herbs for the Flu Sage, horehound, marshmallow, echinacea, yarrow, pleurisy, cayenne, peppermint, white pine, poplar, butternut bark, lungwort, nettles, saffron, sweet balm, tansy, ginger, goldenseal, cinnamon, bay leaves, wild cherry bark, skullcap, lady’s slipper, valerian, vervain, feverfew, boneset, Culver’s root, saw palmetto berries, wood betony, angelica, hyssop Foods for the Flu: Fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh juices, Hot vegetable or chicken broth.
Fresh orange juice will provide strength. Lemon juice will reduce fever. Avoid all sugar and sugar substitutes, other than what naturally occurs in fruits.

Diet and Exercise to Relieve and Control Restless Legs

Eat a whole foods diet, including plenty of foods high in B vitamins, such as sunflower seeds, cashews, brewers yeast, and whole wheat flour, as well as meat products such as beef kidneys and liver. High iron foods such as: red meat, black strap molasses, nuts, legumes are extremely important, and provide a wide variety of other naturally occurring nutrients necessary to maintain proper health.

Antioxidants, such as green tea, cranberries, cherries, and deep colored greens such as broccoli and collard greens should become an important part of the daily diet, as well as foods high in bioflavonoids with naturally occurring vitamin C, folic acid, and vitamin E.

Avoid constipation and greatly reduce the intake of refined sugars, drinking coffee, caffeine, cola and soda. Eat and drink foods that are rich in Vitamin A and beta-carotene, along with naturally occurring vitamin C and bioflavonoids, such as carrot, parsley, and celery juices, rhubarb, plum and prune juice can be especially helpful.

Along with proper diet, you may find it helpful to wear supportive leggings or stockings, which will help to increase circulation. Propping up the legs at night or adding a small board under the foot of the bed can reduce the buildup of excess fluids in the legs, which can also cause varicose veins.

Developing a daily exercise routine is essential to maintaining proper circulation in the legs, as well as throughout the body. Yoga, ballet, pilates, and tai chi are all excellent forms of exercise for the toning and strengthening of the leg muscles, followed by massage before you relax for the evening. If you don’t have access to a personal masseuse, you can opt for the store bought version!

The One Day Natural Cold Remedy Provides Relief

In today's busy world, one day could cost you more than a day of pay. If you're like most of us, you can't afford to be away from the office or the job for a whole work-day. But colds and coughs have a way of lingering, and sometimes could get worse and become a more debilitating illness. We have a doctor in the family who used to say to us, "If you have a cold and do nothing - it will last about a week. If you have a cold and go to the doctor, he will prescribe something for it - and it will last about a week." In other words, there is no cure for the common cold. However, there is relief.

A cold is a virus that typically causes inflammation in the nose, throat and bronchial tubes. The inflammation causes mucus to form, which the body tries to loosen and expel through coughing and sneezing. Coughing can cause further irritation in the throat and airway, which in turn will produce more mucus. The key to reducing and easing the symptoms of colds and coughs is to eliminate the mucus and reduce the inflammation. Although there is no actual "cure" for the cold, you can greatly reduce the misery you suffer while the virus runs its course.

I must warn you, this may make some people uncomfortable - even just thinking about it, so if you are sensitive - please look away now. Okay, I realize you can't read the rest of the post while you look away, so be warned that the rest of this post describes information about cleaning mucus from the nasal passages, and should not be considered medical advice.

While there are utensils on the market that are intended for cleaning the nasal pasages, you will find that they do not cleanse as thoroughly as the following method. You can actually do a better job of cleaning your nasal passages with a teaspoon of salt and a pint of warm water. Sniff the water and blow it out, repeating until your nasal passages are free of mucus. This will not only help to cleanse the mucus you currently have, but also work to "dry out" the nasal passages. This can also work in the case of sinus congestion.

A Few Things You May Not Know About Parsley

Parsley is quite a wonderful and nutritious herb! Most people know that it's great for the breath after eating garlic, but not too many know what a power packed veggie it really is. Parsley is loaded with vitamin A, just like it's relative, the carrot - but parsley contains nearly 30,000 I.U. per ounce! Parsley is loaded with calcium, phosphorus, and potassium, and would be similar to eating the same amount of spinach. It is also quite rich in vitamin C and iron.

But what else could parsley help you with? Parsley is a diuretic, which means that it can help you shed extra water weight, or help combat water retention, especially during menstruation. But don't over do it, just drop a teaspoonful intoboiled water, and slowly simmer for 10 minutes. You can drink it like you would any other herbal tea.

If you prefer fresh parsley, try adding a small handful into your salad, or drop it into your soup as you would with fresh kale. For an extra special treat, you can eat your parsley in a wonderful dish like tabouli (which is made with lots of parsley), falafel (also contains parsley), hummus, and lettuce folded into flatbread, and either topped with tahini or yogurt mint sauce. Yum!

---

Technorati tags:
alternative medicine, diet, food, health, healthy foods, herbal remedies, nutrition, recipies, vitamins

Natural Food Sources of Calcium

Most people assume that to increase their intake of calcium, they should drink more milk. Milk from a cow is not the healthiest beverage, and in fact can cause more harm than good. The pasteurization process and homogenization destroy enzymes and vitamins, and supplements are added to create the illusion of nutrition in milk. If your body does not receive enough calcium from your diet, it will begin to take calcium from your bones. If your body takes more calcium from bone than it replaces, bones can become weak and brittle, causing them to break easier and more often. Calcium deficiency could also cause muscle cramps and spasms, and eventually lead to osteoporosis. Calcium is necessary for proper muscle contraction, blood clotting, nerve function, regulating the passage of nutrients through cell walls, and even helps prevent and ease insomnia.

It is entirely possible that a person can obtain nearly all of their daily requirements of calcium through other foods, and the end result would be a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. Of course you can eat and drink the foods that taste the best to you, but knowing the choices that are available and which ones you like can help you alter your diet without sacrificing taste. Below are some healthy choices of natural sources of calcium, as well as other vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that lead to a healthier body. Remember that even when fruits and vegetables of your choice are out of season, you can still find fresh-frozen alternatives in your grocer's freezer!

Fruits

Oranges, blackberries, kiwi fruits, tomatoes (yes, they are a fruit!), limes, strawberries, lemons, grapes, apples, cantaloupes, bananas, avocados (not a vegetable!), and peaches.

Vegetables

Artichokes, peas, summer squash, broccoli, kale, collard greens, lima beans (actually they are a legume), winter squash, spinach, carrots, and asparagus.

Nuts and Seeds

Almonds, brazil nuts, pistachios, peanuts, walnuts, chestnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, filberts or hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, cashews, and pine nuts or pignolias.

---

Technorati tags:
alternatives, diet, fruits, good foods, health, health foods, natural, natural foods, vegetables, vitamins, wellness

Proper Food Combining Can Dramatically Improve Your Health

Why Food Combining is Important

When it comes to cooking healthy, beginning with the right foods is a must. Certain foods are most beneficial when eaten in the right combinations. Certain other foods may even prevent absorption of vitamins and minerals if not eaten in the proper combination, sometimes even wreaking havoc on your digestive system. In some people it can cause serious weight gain. In many cases, when people eat wrong combinations of foods they can suffer indigestion, bloating, and foul smelling gas - all of which are indications of fermentation or putrefaction occurring in their digestive system. Quite a few foods won't digest in combination with other foods, and some things we eat don't digest at all. Pickles and olives are prime examples of foods that won't digest well in our system, and in fact pass through the body undigested similar to the way a small pebble or a penny would. It is important to our overall health to choose healthy combinations of foods, and to learn which foods digest well together, and which foods don't.

Basic Food Combining

The main rule of thumb is that carbohydrates and proteins should be taken into the body separately. This is mainly because these two food types are digested in completely different ways. When eating carbohydrates, the body begins working on the food immediately, while it is being chewed. Saliva acts as to "pre-digest" the sugars in the food, working to break down the carbohydrates before they are introduced into the stomach. The saliva used to break down carbohydrates is entirely different from the saliva produced while eating a high protein meal.
When protein is eaten, the saliva has a different job, which wets the food with slippery substances that enable the food to pass easily into the stomach, where the digestive acids go to work on breaking down the protein. If carbohydrates and proteins are eaten together, the body enters a state of confusion, unable to sort through mingled foods in the mouth in order to facilitate the breaking down of carbohydrates, and they will most likely pass into the stomach with the protein. Once in the stomach, the gastric acid will have trouble properly digesting the protein due to the presence of undigested carbohydrates. At this point, the undigested mass of food will quite often sit in the stomach for many hours, causing the carbohydrates to ferment and the protein to putrify.

You can basically eat whatever you want while still eating the right food combinations. The key factor in combining foods properly is knowing which foods can be combined, and which food combinations will cause improper digestion. There are many ways to catagorize the foods in which you eat, but the main categories should be proteins, carbohydrates, and neutrals. Make a list of your favorite foods, separated into the three categories. Proteins would be foods such as cooked chicken, beef, lamb, or cooked meats, milk, eggs whites, low fat cheese, some fruit, wine, beans (legumes), and fish. Carbohydrates would be cereals, grains, sugars, breads, potatoes, rice, bananas, and dried fruits. Neutral foods are those which are either rich in both protein and carbohydrates, or are low in both protein and carbohydrates, and can therefore be used as meal enhancers when putting together a balanced meal, and can be foods such as milk products, fatty cheeses (over 60% fat content) raw meats and fish, vegetables, salad, coffee, and tea. Make a list of your favorite foods, separating them into the three categories. Experiment with different food combinations and discover how creative you can be, and you may even start to see some extra pounds falling off!

Getting Nutrition When Fresh Fruits and Vegetables are Out of Season

For thousands of years, people have lived and trived in farming communities and eating the food that grew well in each season. This meant that to get certain fruits or vegetables year round, they had to be preserved, jellied, canned, or in some of the colder areas of the world, frozen. In many regions across the globe, people have adopted super fast eating habits and forgotten what it means to really eat healthy.

So what have we gained with this high-technology, super fast paced, eat-on-the-go lifestyle that we've created? Well, not really much of anything. In fact, we are loosing out on some of vital life-giving foods that we were meant to eat. Healthy to some has been reduced to ordering a burger flame broiled instead of fried. It's not that everyone should go so far as becoming lacto-ovo-vegetarians, I mean, you can if you want to, or even vegan for that matter, but everyone can benefit from knowing what foods you can get the most nutrition from in every season. Taking advantage of what is in the store during each season, along with healthy portions of whole grains, protiens, and carbohydrates.

We do have alternatives, some are more nutritious than others. If you have time, you can read the labels on frozen varieties. Not all frozen foods are created equal! Processing can take much of the nutritional value out of foods, and the less the fruits and veggies are processed, the least amount of vitamins and minerals are lost. Canned varieties are also a substitution if necessary, but because most of the products are heated during the canning process, much of the nutritional value is lost. Some of the natural nutrients present in fresh foods are sensitive to heat, and are destroyed when they reach certain temperatures.

For an indepth look into the nutritional content of many of the produce available on the market today, check out Dr. Decuypere's Nutrient Charts. You can learn what produce you may need in your diet to optimize your health. Some people can even get their daily requirements of nutrients by diet alone, without unhealthy chemical vitamin supplements. Keeping brown or whole grain rice and beans, a wide variety of other whole grains and legumes, oats, whole grain flour, and plenty of herbs and spices, you should be able to put together some very healthy meals, and some pretty healthy doses of B vitamins! If you enjoy meat, these ingredients will open up the possibilities of a nutritional meal. Even if you're not a total health nut, and just want to get a little more nutrition out of your diet, your healthy alternatives are limited only by your imagination. Remember this tip when serving up a meal: The more colorful and fresh the food is, the healthier it is. In other words, choose a wide variety of "colors" when selecting produce to get a wide variety of the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that are needed by your body on a daily basis.

Natural Antibiotic Properties of Garlic

I'm sure you've already heard how good garlic can be for cholesterol and high blood pressure, but that's not all that garlic can do. The medicinal use of garlic goes back through ancient history, and has been used to cure and prevent many illnesses for many generations. Most commonly today, it is avoided due to it's reputation for causing bad breath. Some people may even cook with it thinking that they may use "a little extra" for their health, and not just for flavor. But the amount that most people would tolerate as a flavoring is much less than the dosages used for natural healing.

Garlic, or the stinking rose as it is sometimes referred to, contains an antibiotic and anti-fungal properties. To benefit from the antibiotic properties, the garlic must be well guarded from heat, especially the microwave. The chemical, allicin, which is produced when garlic is chopped or crushed, is quite sensitive to heat. While there are many healing properties to garlic even once it has been cooked, the antibiotic properties are greatly diminished during the cooking process. Too much raw garlic is not without side effects, and one should take great care when eating raw garlic, as it can cause irritation to the stomach lining, and even ulcers. Some people can develop skin irritation when coming in contact with raw garlic.

As for bad breath, garlic does not have to be eaten to end up causing the odor - if you put a clove of garlic in your sock you would be able to smell it on the breath in about an hour. Not many people enjoy the smell it can create within a person, however, the power of garlic to enter into the blood stream and saturate every part of the body is nearly unmatched. Using other herbs to counteract the odor can be extremely useful, such as parsley. However, parsley is a diuretic, used in herbal medicine to relieve water retention, could cause dehydration if too much is taken. For a basic rule of thumb when making herbal teas, including parsley, stick to one teaspoon per 8 oz. of water, which is a typical adult dose of dried herb. Take extra precaution anytime you are taking an herb for the first time, and consider the advice of a qualified medical professional whenever you question your body's ability to tolerate medicinal herbs.

---

Technorati tags:
food, food and drink, health, health and wellness, herbal medicine, herbs, life, nutrition