A list of the top 5 raw health foods may seem unbelievable, but there are foods that possess such strong health benefits, that they are referred to as "superfoods".
This healthy raw food list consists of foods that have more nutrients per calorie than most other foods. They have also been shown to contain vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that prevent disease: from cancer to heart disease to arthritis, and many more. These super foods are ideal for quick and easy raw food recipes. We should include these super foods as part of an all raw food diet on a regular basis.
A great way to eat these raw health foods - whether you just begin a raw food diet or whether you are 100% raw already - is to add them to your daily smoothy. You can also add some raw honey and roll them into a raw health food bar.
If you are looking for improvement of health on a raw food diet these are the superb raw uncooked food to eat!
Top 5 Super Foods
Goji Berries
Tibetan goji berries are extremely rich in anti-oxidants which help protect the cells in our bodies from diseases like cancer. They are also an excellent source of Vitamin C and soluble fiber. They have more amino acids than bee pollen, more beta carotene than carrots, more iron than spinach and 21 trace minerals. Goji Berries contain of 13% protein! It's been used to treat eye problems, skin rashes, allergies, insomnia, liver disease, diabetes, cervical cancer, to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It's a powerful anti-fungal and anti-bacterial food.
Maca powder
Maca has important nutrients like trace minerals, EFA's, amino acids and vitamins. It increases strength, stamina, energy, libido and fertility (called "natural Viagra"). Maca balances body systems: it will raise low blood pressure and lower high blood pressure as needed. Maca boosts immunity and harmonize the overall vitality of the body.
Bee pollen
Bee pollen contain more than 96 different nutrients, including every single nutrient that you need to live. It's made up of 40% protein. It's a natural energizer, slows down the aging process, and lowers cholesterol levels, It reliefs discomfort from PMS, prevents prostate problems, improves sperm count, boosts the immune system, and detoxifies your body. It alleviates allergies, improves endurance, strength and mental clarity. It promotes weight loss: the rate at which your body burns fat and it reduces cravings. It regulates your mood and helps control stress in your life.
Hemp seed
Hemp is one of the purest, most complete plants on earth. It has the perfect balance of Omega 3 and 6 for sustainable human health. It's a high quality, complete raw food protein and has a massive trace mineral content.
Wheatgrass Juice
Wheatgrass contains most of the vitamins and minerals needed for human health. It's a whole meal and complete protein with about 30 enzymes. It has up to 70% chlorophyll (which builds the blood). It's an excellent source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. Wheatgrass cleanses the body (natural raw detoxer) and it eliminates body and breath odors. The natural value of wheatgrass juice is so high that many people do not feel the "cravings" that lead to overeating. It's great for the skin and first and second decree burns.
Esme Stevens and Annet van Dorsser are the founders of Raw Food Europe. We want to share what we know about raw food, a healthy lifestyle and ... superfoods. We create video's, articles and audio for this purpose. Read more on our free blog http://www.RawFoodSuccess.blogspot.com/
You are free to use this article for your Ezine or Blog, as long as you don't alter it, mention this Author Bio and our blog http://www.RawFoodSuccess.blogspot.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Annet_Van_Dorsser
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Organic Food Nutrition Revealed
Organic food items are showing up all over and gaining a lot of attention. Large supermarkets such as Whole Foods and many other chains are growing in popularity and the public is extending their purchasing power to more healthy choices.
But why?
What is organic? Organic farming has to follow very strict guidelines and a provision period of 3 years to carry the Certified Organic label - not an easy process, but one the farmer knows is right to control food safety and to deliver nature's intention free of pesticides, fertilizers and a list of other unnatural treatment protocols. Real whole foods that your body recognizes have digestible energy to carry life to your cells. You are a live cell being and you need live cells, not chemicals and dead nonliving processed, denatured, so-called food items.
Why is organic so special? It's in the soil! Nature's ecology, the earth worm, the dense nutrients, the vein like roots of the plant suck life to feed its growth. Without the use of chemicals on the plant, it's able to function and develop. When bugs land on the plant it releases a chemical of its own to defend itself against the invaders. This by-product is available to you and I when we eat the plant source as an anti-oxidant, the very thing that battles free radicals (cellular degeneration/rapid aging), not to mention the taste, the smell, the presentation of the food and above all the quality - more nutrient/mineral dense than its counterpart minus the toxins. The way things are meant to be, not by alteration or genetic modification. Organic animals live and grow in thriving cruelty-free environments where they are fed their normal, healthy dietary requirements. Not a mix of fatten quick toxic feed and various injections to hasten them to the slaughter house, which in turn shows up in the by products we buy and eat.
Shortly after World War II there was a movement towards mechanization and homogenation of farming. Larger and increasingly more automated farms popped up across the landscapes of the United States. These factory farms put the synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and mass-rearing techniques developed in the 1920's into widespread use. Over time the food supply has had its soil drastically become less and less nutrient dense due to over-farming and the use of synthetic chemicals to hasten growth at all costs and compromise the health of a nation. Amidst this agricultural revolution, several astute pioneers of the organic movement emerged, heralding the dangers of ecological insensitivity and calling for a return to the responsible farming methods of our past.
One such person was Weston A. Price, a dentist by trade who traveled the globe studying cultures and tribes. Dr. Price's findings were documented studies in his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. As a dentist he realized that the mouth, teeth and gums are a direct reflection of the health of the internal system of the body. By taking riveting photographic images to reveal isolated tribal men, women and children and the results that take place when they eat what is considered to be the modern diet of processed and refined foods that have no place in there genetic ancestry. When he cross-examined geographic areas throughout the world he documented the available food supply with other factors such as how distant they were from the equator influencing seasonal crop growth and available protein sources. By simply stating a vegetarian diet suits all or the Mediterranean diet is what most should eat is extremely misleading as Price revealed. Today food supply is growing in its contamination with no regulated commercial farming that is dominating the market place. We are all faced with poisonous confrontation of one or the other. It's really up to how we choose to limit and reduce our exposure to chemical components and, in turn, how it affects our aging and well-being.
If you consider your food quality and safety a concern, conventional farming offers extremely little and pales in comparison to organic farming. When you get a visual tour of these two types of farms it becomes a real eye-opening experience. A few large organic farms exist, but for the most part comparing the organic farm to the conventional farm would be like comparing a lemonade stand to multiple, extremely large warehouses.
Organic farms are much cleaner and control their inventory with compassion and care and every organic farmer I have talked to has been eager to share his land and passion with me. I guess what it really comes down to is do you shun the small family organic farmer and their strict standards; and therefore support radically high prices that are preserving nature's balance in an ever-growing population and aligning food supply or support the conventional machine with its controlling power that practice little if any ethical standards toward the soil, animals and the health of your body with utilizing foreign chemicals that increase volume and prolong the life of food at a reduced cost to you. As a nation our health is in rapid decline and processed food sales is at a high - conventional farming pockets are getting deeper. Is what we really need to spray pesticides on crops, not exercise crop rotation, and cram animals in cages and pump them full of hormone cocktails (RBGH, RBST)?
To make a point, in my years of experience having my own health compromised and seeking alternative ways to sustain a functional life and working with thousands of clients with health challenges that were getting absolutely no results following typical nutritional guidelines and eating mass produced conventionally farmed foods. Most consumers would agree the 15% cost increase is minimal when compared to the downward spiral of health issues that lie ahead. However, these disconnected propaganda screaming consumers upon failing allopathic approach healthcare start looking for the magic pill or one-shot fix all medication that was advertised on TV last night - you know the same one his neighbor is taking that has lost the meaning of the term lifestyle and creating a nation of zombies.
If you look at our health as a nation with obesity, diabetes and a long list of terrible health problems and then look at how much organic produce and hormone-free meats are ending up in shopping carts (less than 5% of the total food sales) that means that a whole lot of commercially-farmed, conventionally processed food are being consumed. To top it off, a shopping cart leaving the market place on average contains 8 items with the first one being soda! If you stop and think for a moment, by choosing to pollute your body with a long list of chemicals, preservatives and other genetically modified creations, what are you saying about your life and your children's? Doesn't your genetic structure, your life's experience and your legacy mean something? Population, growth and corporate farming along with global warming are creating a large impact on the environment and your health regardless of who you are. The quality, quantity and frequency of the safest most beneficial nutrition that you have chosen to supply your body functions with will determine your quality of life. By simply consuming convenience foods and non-organics with no nutrition we are telling the environment and our bodies we would rather not bother and we will suffer while the corporate giants expand and increase profits and destroy our beautiful planet.
LET'S COMPARE: THE ORGANIC FARMER TO THE CONVENTIONAL FARMER
ORGANIC
A lifeline to a healthier future for you and your family
Small farms often run by families who love what they do. Producing nurtured food product in a long way for a valued profit.
Crop rotation consideration for the living organisms of the soil, respecting the life of the ground and what it means to protect our wildlife habitats for our health. Working with, not against.
CONVENTIONAL
The corporate machine pumping out a sea of what is attempting to be food by disconnected farm workers with volume in their sights. For a profit at all cost.
Destroying soil, pumping endless chemical products to produce products that go against nature such as GMO's - genetically modified organisms.
Ramsay Mead is a personal trainer and wellness coach with a holistic approach who works out of the offices of Signature Wellness in Charlotte, NC. He is a certified nutrition and lifestyle coach, a master of fitness sciences, and is certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. For more information visit http://www.vitalitytrainer.com or http://www.signaturewellness.org 704-752-9346
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ramsey_Mead
But why?
What is organic? Organic farming has to follow very strict guidelines and a provision period of 3 years to carry the Certified Organic label - not an easy process, but one the farmer knows is right to control food safety and to deliver nature's intention free of pesticides, fertilizers and a list of other unnatural treatment protocols. Real whole foods that your body recognizes have digestible energy to carry life to your cells. You are a live cell being and you need live cells, not chemicals and dead nonliving processed, denatured, so-called food items.
Why is organic so special? It's in the soil! Nature's ecology, the earth worm, the dense nutrients, the vein like roots of the plant suck life to feed its growth. Without the use of chemicals on the plant, it's able to function and develop. When bugs land on the plant it releases a chemical of its own to defend itself against the invaders. This by-product is available to you and I when we eat the plant source as an anti-oxidant, the very thing that battles free radicals (cellular degeneration/rapid aging), not to mention the taste, the smell, the presentation of the food and above all the quality - more nutrient/mineral dense than its counterpart minus the toxins. The way things are meant to be, not by alteration or genetic modification. Organic animals live and grow in thriving cruelty-free environments where they are fed their normal, healthy dietary requirements. Not a mix of fatten quick toxic feed and various injections to hasten them to the slaughter house, which in turn shows up in the by products we buy and eat.
Shortly after World War II there was a movement towards mechanization and homogenation of farming. Larger and increasingly more automated farms popped up across the landscapes of the United States. These factory farms put the synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and mass-rearing techniques developed in the 1920's into widespread use. Over time the food supply has had its soil drastically become less and less nutrient dense due to over-farming and the use of synthetic chemicals to hasten growth at all costs and compromise the health of a nation. Amidst this agricultural revolution, several astute pioneers of the organic movement emerged, heralding the dangers of ecological insensitivity and calling for a return to the responsible farming methods of our past.
One such person was Weston A. Price, a dentist by trade who traveled the globe studying cultures and tribes. Dr. Price's findings were documented studies in his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. As a dentist he realized that the mouth, teeth and gums are a direct reflection of the health of the internal system of the body. By taking riveting photographic images to reveal isolated tribal men, women and children and the results that take place when they eat what is considered to be the modern diet of processed and refined foods that have no place in there genetic ancestry. When he cross-examined geographic areas throughout the world he documented the available food supply with other factors such as how distant they were from the equator influencing seasonal crop growth and available protein sources. By simply stating a vegetarian diet suits all or the Mediterranean diet is what most should eat is extremely misleading as Price revealed. Today food supply is growing in its contamination with no regulated commercial farming that is dominating the market place. We are all faced with poisonous confrontation of one or the other. It's really up to how we choose to limit and reduce our exposure to chemical components and, in turn, how it affects our aging and well-being.
If you consider your food quality and safety a concern, conventional farming offers extremely little and pales in comparison to organic farming. When you get a visual tour of these two types of farms it becomes a real eye-opening experience. A few large organic farms exist, but for the most part comparing the organic farm to the conventional farm would be like comparing a lemonade stand to multiple, extremely large warehouses.
Organic farms are much cleaner and control their inventory with compassion and care and every organic farmer I have talked to has been eager to share his land and passion with me. I guess what it really comes down to is do you shun the small family organic farmer and their strict standards; and therefore support radically high prices that are preserving nature's balance in an ever-growing population and aligning food supply or support the conventional machine with its controlling power that practice little if any ethical standards toward the soil, animals and the health of your body with utilizing foreign chemicals that increase volume and prolong the life of food at a reduced cost to you. As a nation our health is in rapid decline and processed food sales is at a high - conventional farming pockets are getting deeper. Is what we really need to spray pesticides on crops, not exercise crop rotation, and cram animals in cages and pump them full of hormone cocktails (RBGH, RBST)?
To make a point, in my years of experience having my own health compromised and seeking alternative ways to sustain a functional life and working with thousands of clients with health challenges that were getting absolutely no results following typical nutritional guidelines and eating mass produced conventionally farmed foods. Most consumers would agree the 15% cost increase is minimal when compared to the downward spiral of health issues that lie ahead. However, these disconnected propaganda screaming consumers upon failing allopathic approach healthcare start looking for the magic pill or one-shot fix all medication that was advertised on TV last night - you know the same one his neighbor is taking that has lost the meaning of the term lifestyle and creating a nation of zombies.
If you look at our health as a nation with obesity, diabetes and a long list of terrible health problems and then look at how much organic produce and hormone-free meats are ending up in shopping carts (less than 5% of the total food sales) that means that a whole lot of commercially-farmed, conventionally processed food are being consumed. To top it off, a shopping cart leaving the market place on average contains 8 items with the first one being soda! If you stop and think for a moment, by choosing to pollute your body with a long list of chemicals, preservatives and other genetically modified creations, what are you saying about your life and your children's? Doesn't your genetic structure, your life's experience and your legacy mean something? Population, growth and corporate farming along with global warming are creating a large impact on the environment and your health regardless of who you are. The quality, quantity and frequency of the safest most beneficial nutrition that you have chosen to supply your body functions with will determine your quality of life. By simply consuming convenience foods and non-organics with no nutrition we are telling the environment and our bodies we would rather not bother and we will suffer while the corporate giants expand and increase profits and destroy our beautiful planet.
LET'S COMPARE: THE ORGANIC FARMER TO THE CONVENTIONAL FARMER
ORGANIC
A lifeline to a healthier future for you and your family
Small farms often run by families who love what they do. Producing nurtured food product in a long way for a valued profit.
Crop rotation consideration for the living organisms of the soil, respecting the life of the ground and what it means to protect our wildlife habitats for our health. Working with, not against.
CONVENTIONAL
The corporate machine pumping out a sea of what is attempting to be food by disconnected farm workers with volume in their sights. For a profit at all cost.
Destroying soil, pumping endless chemical products to produce products that go against nature such as GMO's - genetically modified organisms.
Ramsay Mead is a personal trainer and wellness coach with a holistic approach who works out of the offices of Signature Wellness in Charlotte, NC. He is a certified nutrition and lifestyle coach, a master of fitness sciences, and is certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. For more information visit http://www.vitalitytrainer.com or http://www.signaturewellness.org 704-752-9346
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ramsey_Mead
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Is Aspartame a Good Idea?
What is Aspartame? According to Wikipedia, aspartame is an artificial sweetener derived from aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol. The first two chemicals are naturally occurring amino acids and methanol is also known as wood alcohol, not the ethanol found in adult beverages.
Where is it found? Aspartame is found in 6000 foods and beverages worldwide. It is also known as Equal, NutraSweet, and Canderel. You are most likely to consume it in a diet soda (even though most sodas are terrible for you). Read labels carefully if you wish to avoid aspartame.
Why should I be concerned? Aspartame is something you should make an INFORMED choice about. Realize that it is a huge money maker so there is going to be a positive spin on it from many sources. Scientific literature and health professionals worldwide raise concern about aspartame safety.
Dr Russell Blaylock has classified aspartame as an "excitotoxin". An excitotoxin is a chemical that over stimulates the neurons in the central nervous system at the synapses. The term was coined in 1969 in the highly respected Journal Science during a test of monosodium glutamate (MSG) on mice. Normally, glutamate and aspartate bind with receptors and activate the neuron. If they are not quickly removed, or there is a large excess of either amino acid, then cell over excitation leading to cell death can result.
Although not conclusive, there are major journal articles testing the hypothesis that this mechanism may be responsible for disorders such as autism, ALS, MS and Alzheimer's. The glutamate and aspartate may be key factors in the degenerative process.
Another issue is the methanol that results when aspartame containing products are heated above 86 degrees F (Mercola, 2005). Methanol is very toxic and much more toxic when there is no ethanol present as a competitor. Studies have shown that neuropathy can result from chronic methanol exposure.
Now the extra important point. The blood-brain barrier that is present in all people is NOT fully developed until adulthood, and allows seepage of excess glutamate and aspartate in all people (Mercola, 2005). You have even more reason to be cautious with you children and their intake of these excitotoxins. You children's quality of life will be diminished as their brains will not function at the level that they are capable of. If you have sensed a change in the way children behave and think in the last 30 years or so, then chemical toxicity is a very probable contributor. The foods we eat are far different from those available 30 years ago or more.
Chiropractic is all about natural drug-free living. Chiropractors correct subluxations to encourage full nerve signal transmission, but if nerve cells are attacked by toxic chemical intake, your chances of full nerve heath are diminished.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions or are interested in getting more sources of information on this topic. It is my goal to help you make more informed choices about your health and wellness.
Dr. Sue is the owner of LeBlanc Chiropractic in Firestone, Colorado. She can be reached by email at sue@drsueleblanc.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sue_LeBlanc
Where is it found? Aspartame is found in 6000 foods and beverages worldwide. It is also known as Equal, NutraSweet, and Canderel. You are most likely to consume it in a diet soda (even though most sodas are terrible for you). Read labels carefully if you wish to avoid aspartame.
Why should I be concerned? Aspartame is something you should make an INFORMED choice about. Realize that it is a huge money maker so there is going to be a positive spin on it from many sources. Scientific literature and health professionals worldwide raise concern about aspartame safety.
Dr Russell Blaylock has classified aspartame as an "excitotoxin". An excitotoxin is a chemical that over stimulates the neurons in the central nervous system at the synapses. The term was coined in 1969 in the highly respected Journal Science during a test of monosodium glutamate (MSG) on mice. Normally, glutamate and aspartate bind with receptors and activate the neuron. If they are not quickly removed, or there is a large excess of either amino acid, then cell over excitation leading to cell death can result.
Although not conclusive, there are major journal articles testing the hypothesis that this mechanism may be responsible for disorders such as autism, ALS, MS and Alzheimer's. The glutamate and aspartate may be key factors in the degenerative process.
Another issue is the methanol that results when aspartame containing products are heated above 86 degrees F (Mercola, 2005). Methanol is very toxic and much more toxic when there is no ethanol present as a competitor. Studies have shown that neuropathy can result from chronic methanol exposure.
Now the extra important point. The blood-brain barrier that is present in all people is NOT fully developed until adulthood, and allows seepage of excess glutamate and aspartate in all people (Mercola, 2005). You have even more reason to be cautious with you children and their intake of these excitotoxins. You children's quality of life will be diminished as their brains will not function at the level that they are capable of. If you have sensed a change in the way children behave and think in the last 30 years or so, then chemical toxicity is a very probable contributor. The foods we eat are far different from those available 30 years ago or more.
Chiropractic is all about natural drug-free living. Chiropractors correct subluxations to encourage full nerve signal transmission, but if nerve cells are attacked by toxic chemical intake, your chances of full nerve heath are diminished.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions or are interested in getting more sources of information on this topic. It is my goal to help you make more informed choices about your health and wellness.
Dr. Sue is the owner of LeBlanc Chiropractic in Firestone, Colorado. She can be reached by email at sue@drsueleblanc.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sue_LeBlanc
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
