Archive for October, 2011

A raw diet saves lives. This is a diet, which is high in nutrition, and low in calories. It usually is a raw vegetarian diet, heavy on fruits and vegetables. What a raw diet may be doing is supplying the body with micronutrients, while getting rid of accumulated toxins.

The Raw Diet

The raw diet, especially if there is juicing and blending involved makes digestion easy, and leaves energy for the body to work on healing. The diet takes the  burden off the digestion system and provides vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that are in short supply.

The raw food movement is a quiet revolution, which is changing the way we think about food. The emphasis is on high quality nutrition. Raw food provides a way to eat that is more in tune with nature.  The diet is trending upward., because it is the living definition of living food.

This is a stand alone diet, it doesn’t depend on any store bought supplements. The only additions are some supper foods, which the diet naturally contains plenty of. The question is why aren’t more people choosing a more raw diet?

Anti-Aging

Millions of people are looking for anti-aging products and procedures, this diet would be the ultimate way to stay young at heart and reverse human aging. When I say young at heart we are talking about the best way to keep your cardiovascular system in peak working order. What is critically important is that you feed the cells so they are powered to provide your body with cellular energy. The mitochandria are the cellular energy generators, which supple your body with all the energy for a long healthy life.

The combination of a raw foods with nutrient dense sources of cooked items may be the way to implement a mostly raw diet for most people. Physical performance depends on a host of bio-active nutrients. It also depends on what you are capable of absorbing from the food. For centuries we had a diet so different from today’s eating. We are starving our body by feeding it calorie dense, nutritionally sparse foods.

Benefits

The truth is people are unwittingly starving their bodies and have no idea of the extent of the problem. At one time we provided nutrition from raw and cooked foods. What has happened is in the the last 70 plus years we lost control of our food supply. Now our cooked food can’t deliver, and even our raw conventional and even organic produce are growing in poor nutrient depleted soil. What this says in today’s world: we are more vulnerable to the effects of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Synthetic vitamins aren’t the answer, only biological active ingredients are bioavailable. The synthesis of these nutrients will depend on all the components of the plant being intact. There aren’t any full spectrum vitamins and minerals except from the source.

In order to maintain mental acuity and physical vigor you have see the fuel you are providing your body with is supporting this. I hope this article gives everyone food for thought.

Remember common sense should prevail. A healthy diet with grass fed beef and some cooked food is still the road to health.

Ashwagandha protects against stress and enhances psychological health. Research is emerging that this natural herb has some unique abilities.

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is also known as Indian winter Cherry. It is a shrub cultivated in India and North America. In Africa, Mediterranean and India it grows as a wild shrub. The shrub is a member of the tomato family, and bears red fruit. Unlike tomatoes Aswagandha fruit are small like berries.

The root of this plant has been used for thousands of years by Ayurvedic practitioners to treat different health condition. The role of ashwagandha is seen not only as calming, but as a tonic to replenish lost energy.

Adrenals

Ashwagandha is sometimes referred as Indian Ginseng. It produces energy in a way that helps the body calm down and sleep. What it does is help the body take care of stress rather than masking it. One of the reasons that ashwagandha helps with stress is in its ability to maintain normal adrenal levels.

The adrenals get depleted when stressed by physical, emotional, and psychological events. Caffeine, nicotine, processed foods and sugar deplete the adrenal reserve, causing fatigue, depression, insomnia, and poor concentration.

Since ashwagandha is used to soothe and calm down a stressed mind and nerves, it not only helps the adrenals, but normalizes the sympathetic nervous system.

Most people in modern society are in the sympathetic mode. This isn’t healthy for long extended periods. This coupled with adrenal fatigue produces brain fog, memory problems, nervous exhaustion and loss of muscular energy. When there are changes in sleep duration it impinges on the quality of life. Sleep patterns change with low adrenal function and an activated sympathetic nervous system.

Cortisol

What ashwagandha does is reduce the cortisol levels in chronically stressed individuals. The body has a built in mechanism for protecting us from acute and immediate stress. The effect is known as the “stress response.” This involves production of what is called the “adrenaline rush” which is a massive release of cortisol or the “stress hormone.”

We are only meant to experience a short term burst of cortisol. What happens is blood sugar levels go up to provide needed energy. Calcium is pulled from storage making it available to muscles for a quick response. In the wilderness this is a plus, but in the asphalt jungle of today it is a determent

Chronic stress in modern society leads to all sorts of major health problems. Cortisol levels never get to return to normal, and overexposure to cortisol leads to a depressed immune response, high blood pressure, loss of muscle mass and cognitive problems.

Modern Science

Modern science hasn’t much to offer, in fact the lowering of cortisol levels, fixing adrenal function and turning off the sympathetic nervous system are not within the realm of allopathic medicine.

The use of ashwagandha is relegated to the medical system of India.It is know as the ginseng of India, and used in Ayurvedic medicine as a general tonic. It is an adaptogen used to rejuvenate, and calm the nerves, and is thought to have a strong and protective effect on the nervous system.

In America it is used by naturopathic physicians and can be bought in health food stores. It is a supplement not a cure all; you have to distress your life, and meet challenges in a productive way. It may seem easy to say and hard to do, with the right diet you can be assured that you will handle things better. Ashwagandha can help clear the way for authentic change.

The power of green smoothies is in the raw greens, which are blended into an very easy to digest form. This is the one place you can super-size and avoid becoming obese.

Nutrition

This is one of the easier ways to take control of your health. It doesn’t take any stretch of the imagination to come up with some wonderful tasty smoothies. This is an easy lifestyle change that may change the way you think about food. Food isn’t a calorie counting exercise, it is meant to feed every cell in your body.

By blending greens and fruits in a high speed blender it breaks oven the cell wall of the plant, and makes it easy to digest. Digestion is a process that takes energy, when you hand your body pre-digested food it makes its job so much easier.

Green vegetables are loaded with calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc as well as vitamins A, C, E, and K. You get all these nutrients with few calories. The greens used in smoothies include: kale, spinach, collard greens, dandelion greens, arugala, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, green and red leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, turnip greens, chicory, beet greens and parsley.

Green smoothies are certainly an easy way to get greens into your diet. In many smoothie recipes greens are paired with brightly colored fruit. When you use vegetables and fruit, the brighter and deeper colored ones typically have the highest concentration of nutrients.

Health Benefits

The health benefits range from the fact that you are replacing poor quality food with highly nutritious ones.  The fiber alone is a reason to incorporate green smoothies into your diet. Blended fruits and vegetables can take the place of supplements. Green smoothies can provide plenty of protein. You can add chia seeds, hemp, coconut, or any combination of things that will add distinct nutritional value.  

Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is what gives green plants their vibrant color, and it is what helps boost our energy and replenish and rebuild our red blood cells. The molecular structure is identical to hemoglobin, except for the center atom. In hemoglobin this is iron, in chlorophyll it is magnesium. The rapid delivery of magnesium has an alkalizing effect on the body, 

Chlorophyll works at the molecular and cellular level, by increasing the health and number of red blood cells.  This important function increases the oxygen utilized by our body. Also, greens help rid the body of heavy metals.

Green smoothies are a source of sustainable health, which does more then help people with weight management. It is a lifestyle change, which improves both the quality and quantity of ones life.

If you really want to consume super foods than go green, no matter how much fanfare a new supper food product gets, the proven fact is consuming greens is vital. Green smoothies satisfy appetite, promote a healthy lean body mass, support healthy blood, control sugar levels, detoxify, and help with digestion.