Health Spotlight: Garlic

What smells wonderful when you cook it, stinky on your breath, and has almost too many health benefits to even count?

Garlic

According to NaturalHealthRemedies.org, garlic can improve your health in the areas of: 

Acne

Cholesterol

Cardiovascular health

Slows aging of liver

Combats damage from nicotine use

Increases antioxidant enzymes

Blood pressure and blood clots

Is anti-bacterial

 

This chart from The World’s Healthiest Foods shows the nutrient make-up of garlic:

So, adopt the philosophy of the Italians and the Texans:

Eat garlic.  And more is better!

Health Spotlight: Brown Rice

If you are gluten-sensitive like me, you may have found that many of the products you are substituting gluten with contain a base of this food.  Cookies, snack bars, crackers, bread, pasta. . .so what am I speaking of?

Brown Rice

First, an interesting note, from “The World’s Healthiest Foods” website:  “Our food ranking system qualified brown rice as an excellent source of manganese, and a good source of the minerals selenium and magnesium. The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids. By law in the United States, fully milled and polished white rice must be “enriched” with vitamins B1, B3, and iron. But the form of these nutrients when added back into the processed rice is not the same as in the original unprocessed version, and at least 11 lost nutrients are not replaced in any form even with rice ‘enrichment.’”

They go on to say that brown rice (in part due to its high fiber content) can help to lower cholesterol, maintain a health body weight, reduce the risk of colon cancer (due to being a source of selenium), and possibly protect against “hormone-dependent cancers as well as heart disease.”  That’s pretty good for a simple bowl of rice!

And if you get really ambitious and want to do a whole body cleanse (and to see the health benefits of cleansing, click here), a doctor I take a lot of nutritional advice from has outlined a Brown Rice Cleanse that I am getting ready to try in a couple of weeks.  Here is what Dr. Linda Page has to say about her cleanse:  “A brown rice cleanse is based on macrobiotic principles for body balance. It’s cleansing, yet filling. You don’t feel like you’re on a cleanse at all, yet it does the trick. It’s a diet that uses rice as a nutrient building food, and vegetables and vegetable juices as concentrated cleansing supplements. A brown rice cleanse is high in potassium, natural iodine, and other minerals, so most people notice improvement in their hair, skin texture and nail growth.”

A meal that is a staple in our home is teriyaki chicken with stir fry onions and bell peppers on a bed of brown rice.  My mouth is watering already!  So with many different uses and many valuable benefits, have fun experimenting with brown rice!

Health Spotlight: Berries

Today we are going to spotlight one of our family’s favorite foods.

Berries

I confess that, even though I have a master’s degree in nutrition and should know better, I don’t always make the best of choices in what I eat or what I feed my family, but one thing we do is have berries every single day without fail.  If my son had to pick one food to subsist on for the rest of his life, I have no doubt that he would pick blueberries.

Here are some of the benefits of berries:  They are a good source of fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants.  According to OrganicFacts.com, blueberries can help with aging, urinary tract infection, eye care & macular degeneration (can prevent or delay all age related ocular problems), brain function, memory & Alzheimer’s disease, constipation & digestion, cancer, and heart disease.  “They keep you fresh, active, fit, sharp, close to nature and in a good mood, as they are very good anti-depressants. The deeper the color of the blueberries, the more they are rich in antioxidants and other medicinal values.”

So what about raspberries?  With their good sources of potassium and calcium, they “are good for those suffering from inflammation and pain. It helps prevent cancer, inhibit the growth of cancer cells, prevents damage to cell membranes and the formation of tumor in various parts of body including the colon. It reduces the risk of heart diseases and delays the effect of aging. Raspberries protect the body tissue from oxygen related damage” (source).

Berries make Dr. Oz’s “Anti-Cancer Shopping List” and are among Dr. Mercola’s “Best Overall Fruits for Your Health“.  They are great on your breakfast cereal, mixed in your yogurt, thrown into a smoothie, or plain.  What a beautiful thing God has given us in berries!

Health Spotlight: Almonds and Walnuts

Today’s Health Spotlight feature is all about a couple of small foods packed with big nutrients. 

Almonds and walnuts

Almonds have been said to “lower the risk of gallstones, weight gain (instead makes you lose weight), high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It reduces blood sugar level, weight and LDL (bad) cholestrol, including almonds in your diet keeps heart and blood healthy.”

You can find them raw, roasted, salted, sliced, or even flavored with tamari. 

Walnuts are rich in Omega-3, an unsaturated fatty acid with many health benefits in and of itself.  According to OrganicFats.net, “regular consumption of walnuts helps in lowering cholesterol levels, controlling high blood sugars, and improving cardiovascular functions. It is good for various hearth problems. The reason for these benefits of walnuts is that they contain unsaturated fats and little cholesterol, significant amount of omega-3 and antioxidant properties. Walnuts can help prevent gallstones.”

And do not be scared off by the word “fat.”  These are good fats and will do far more good for you than you can measure.  Don’t believe me?  Read “Fats 101.”

 My new favorite snack is called Mrs. Mays Naturals Almond Crunch.  I have to cut myself off after a few because I would keep eating them, they are that good!  They have many different flavors, including options with walnuts and cashews.  So for your snack today, pick up a bag of almonds or walnuts, and get a fair share of fat today!  And try your best to resist the ones covered in sugar or chocolate. . .tasty, yes, but good for you?  Not as much.

Health Spotlight: Green Tea

Today I’m going to spotlight something that has been getting a lot of attention the past few years for its health benefits.   

Green Tea 

This warm, relaxing treat has powerful antioxidants that have been shown to fight those dreaded (and deadly) free radicals in our body.  For a refresher on what free radicals are, click here.  Dr. Mercola has article after article about how green tea is good at protecting against heart disease, skin cancer, oral cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.  Ok, so now you are intrigued.

University of Purdue researchers have found “there is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.”

Look here at how green tea surpasses the antioxidant levels of some of the most nutritious vegetables.  This is not to say abandon these vegetables, but is more of a testimony as to the antioxidant rich nature of green tea.

So, today as you wind down from a hard day of work, grab a cup of green tea and know that you are doing your body a favor.  But please, choose organic.  No sense in wiping out many of those great green tea benefits with all the chemicals used in growing and processing it.

And wouldn’t you know. . .I’m drinking some right now.

Come back for the next 5 days as I feature a new food in the Health Spotlight.

Cancer Takes Too Many of Us

Today I am a little bit sad. . .as well as a little bit mad.

Yesterday afternoon, a woman I know and respect from church, who served as my Mentor Mom in a Mother’s ministry group, lost her lifemate and husband of 47 years to liver cancer that had spread to his lungs.  Today I grieve with her and her family, and I’m also mad at cancer.  As Christians, we know that to be “away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8), so I hope and pray that John’s family is rejoicing today that he is out of pain and dancing with Jesus!  But in honor of him and the battle he fought against a disease that ravaged his body, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight a few things from a phenomenal book I am just finishing up.

It is a book called Knockout, by Suzanne Somers (yes, Chrissy from Three’s Company).  She is a breast cancer survivor and has made it a life mission to inform herself about everything there is to know about cancer and its prevention.  Knockout is an excellent (cannot stress that enough) and resourceful book in which Somers interviews a dozen or so doctors and nutritionists who are curing cancer, treating patients to “manage” their cancer (live symptom free for decades) and teaching the average layperson simple things they can do to prevent cancer in the first place.  

One of the doctor’s that she interviews is Dr. Russell Blaylock, with whom I was thoroughly impressed.  Of all the things he reveals in this book, some quite shocking, these were some of the most informative:  

1.  Prostate and breast cancers are being overdiagnosed.  “If you look at a woman age fifty, about 40 to 45 percent of them will have breast cancer cells in their ducts.  Most of them will never get breast cancer, or at least it won’t spread.  The same thing is true for prostate cancer.”  He goes on to say something even more shocking.  “By overdiagnosing, they improve their statistics.  It makes it look like the war on cancer has made headway, when in truth they haven’t made any headway.  And then these poor patients go through all this hell” (p. 149). 

2.  Mammograms may be increasing one’s risk of breast cancer–because of the radiation, as well as the fact that “every time they squash it (the breast during a mammogram), the cells are pushed out into the lymphatic system and also the blood vessels, and you are more likely to cause metastases” (p.151).

3.  “Cancer is fueled by sugar,” yet “some of the biggest cancer centers in the world tell their patients to eat sugars. . .so they don’t lose weight” (p. 155).

4.  Some of the things that can help prevent cancer:  folic acid, addressing chronic inflammation, glutathione, melatonin, vitamin D3, omega-3, tumeric, flavonoids

The most disturbing information to me that was revealed in this book is the underlying belief from many of these doctors that chemotherapy and radiation do very little (or nothing) for most cancers, and that it is just the “standard of care” given, even though alternative treatments exists and are working.  Why are they not being used in mainstream medicine to a noteable degree?  Another shock–there is a massive amount of money flowing to medical centers through funding from pharmaceutical companies and a massive amount of money to be made in chemotherapy.  “The government and the pharmaceutical companies are making billions of dollars off the improper treatment of cancers” (p. 156). 

Dr. Blaylock’s website, which includes a wealth of information, appears here.

Another chapter which I found invaluable is one in which Ms. Somers interviews her own personal nutritionist, Cristiana Paul, M.S.  She has created a resource, and it is reprinted in Knockout, that outlines nine interventions for cancer–nine ways to intervene and interrupt the path of a cancer cell before it becomes destructive.  I am thrilled at this information and will be referring to it often for my own health and that of my family.  What I appreciate is that these are things any one of us can do, and can do easily, and they are the same types of things that promote good health in other ways as well.  She addresses the importance of drinking water, of getting adequate protein and fiber, of detoxifying our bodies, enhancing our immune system, supplementing with various vitamins, and more.  You can find Ms. Paul’s website here. 

This book is filled with astounding (and supported) claims that make a whole lot of sense to me, the average reader interested in nutrition.  I highly recommend it.  And to all of those who are struggling with cancer, or know and love someone who is, you are in my thoughts and prayers today as I honor a man whom many termed their “best friend” and a strong man of faith.

Be Healthy: An Easy Reference Guide

I feel a bit like I’ve stumbled upon a treasure chest full of gold!  I stumbled upon it by way of www.NaturalNews.com, an excellent health website I’ve been visiting lately.  It is called the Honest Food Guide, created by a holistic nutritionist named Mike Adams, a.k.a. “The Health Ranger.”  This is an excellent resource to study, keep in your kitchen, or take to the grocery store with you.  It is a handy reference guide as to what food choices can lead to disease and which ones lead to better health, and why.  The only thing I would add to this chart (and this is my personal opinion and choice) is organic, free-range poultry, which I don’t see on here now, but maybe I missed it. 

I’ve included the thumbnail here, but click to visit the full-sized version. 

Back to School Nutrition: Healthy & Quick Choices for Kids

Within a week or two, kiddos all over the country will be heading back to school.  Things will get even more hectic, schedules even tighter, and mealtimes more abbreviated.  The temptation to pack lunches void of nutrition, yet quick and easy will be magnified.  So for moms everywhere committed to good nutrition for their families, I thought I would compile some of the best meal and snack choices that I know of, serve my son, and have found from other bloggers and mothers. . .meals and snacks that are quick and easy but that do not compromise health.

Breakfast:

One of the things your mother probably always told you (and she was right) was to never forget your protein at breakfast.  I’ve been advised to have protein, even if it is just a handful of nuts, within 20 minutes of waking up.  I would think for kids, many of whom expend a whole lot of energy those first 20 minutes already, this is especially important.

In our family, Applegate Breakfast Sausages–Chicken & Maple or Chicken & Apple–are breakfast staples.

 

 

 

 

 

My husband and son also drink Jay Robb’s Egg White Protein shakes every other morning or so.  They enjoy the Chocolate flavor and mix it in organic cow’s milk or plain rice milk.  (Note:  They do not do this as a meal-replacement and I don’t recommend that.)

 

 

 

 

Turkey bacon is also an excellent choice for breakfast.  It is a big step up in nutrtional value from pork bacon (in part because of it’s lower fat content).

Hard-boiled eggs. . .or deviled eggs (both of which my son devours).  These can easily be made the night before and stored in the refrigerator until morning.

Lunches:

We make wraps in our home.  We use nitrate-free and nitrite-free turkey and ham lunchmeat in Spelt tortillas, sometimes throwing in avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, and especially some melted organic cheese for added appeal.

Almond butter and jelly sandwiches are a great-for-you and tasty lunch.  We tend to stay away from peanut butter for the most part because of how easily it turns rancid, but if you must use peanut butter, try the natural kind and be sure to follow the proper storing suggestions.

Cold smoked atlantic salmon, comes in a package ready-to-eat from Whole Foods, and is nutritious and easy.

Snacks:

We are a smoothie family.  It is a great way to hide a little flaxseed or protein powder unknowingly in your kid’s refreshing summer treat.  One of my favorite smoothie recipe books is “The Ultimate Smoothie Book” by Cherie Calbom. 

  Try her recipes for “Carob Peanut Butter Banana,” “Orange Coconut Creamsicle-in-a-Glass,” and “Strawberry Creamsicles.”  I would also check out www.allrecipes.com as they have some great looking ones too, such as the “Triple Threat Fruit Smoothie,” with berries (antioxidants) and vitamin C. 

One I am anxious to try is from blogger Raw Mom who has a recipe for a Berry-Greens Smoothie (hides spinach among berries).

We also consume a lot of dried fruit. . .apples, apricots, plums, and pineapple. . .our favorite brand is Organic Made in Nature because there is absolutely nothing else added in to the ingredients. 

Cheese sticks are also a fun snack (although I realize I’m not being tremendously original here).

Banana popsicles–peel a banana, insert a popsicle stick at one end and then freeze.  My son jumps with glee when he gets one of these!

So as we get those lunches packed next week and send our little ones out the door, I hope some of these things help you to prepare quick and healthy meals and snacks for your loved ones!

Healthier Snack Choices

My weakness is salt.  That means that I can find the bottom of a bag of chips fairly quickly.  But if we are to eat every 2-3 hours for better health and metabolism, as experts say, how are we to do that without piling on the calories?  We need to have a wide variety of healthy snack choices from which to choose. 

I am not a naturopathic doctor.  I’m just a wife and mom that has studied nutrition enough to earn a master’s degree and then fairly promptly forgotten some of it.  But these are some of the snacks I feed my family (snacks that my 4-year old eats regularly and enjoys); nutritious choices that work in my home to feed the brain and body the protein and nutrients it needs while curbing hunger and staying away from the chips and oreos.

• Pistachios–There is almost always a bag of pistachios in our home.  They are “good fats” while being great for your blood sugar levels.  Some call them “super nutrient dense” because they are rich in eight essential nutrients.  
• Turkey (or Buffalo) Jerky (also available in sticks)–We buy Golden Valley Natural because it is preservative-free, unlike so many of these that have nitrites.
• We’ve heard it said that an apple a day keeps the doctor away?  Well, try dipping apple slices in almond butter.  I was taught that almonds are a complete protein, containing essential amino acids, and almond butter is a better health choice than peanut butter.
• Avocado–another “good fat” and incredibly healthy; full of vitamin K, potassium, and fiber (www.whfoods.org).  Mix up a little guacamole and you have yourself a tasty snack that is also great for the heart.
• Rice Dream Supreme–non-dairy ice cream made from brown rice that I have become hooked on!  (The truth is nearly all of us are lactose intolerant to varying degrees, you just may not know it.)  Be sure you get the Supreme, as the originals tend to be a little icy, whereas the Supreme is quite creamy.  My personal favorite is the Chocolate Caramel Chai.
• Brown Rice–It took a little bit of time for me to really enjoy brown rice as a snack, but once I tried it with a tablespoon or two of spaghetti sauce on there and a pinch of sea salt (not table salt), I was sold!  It feels great to actually enjoy eating something that you know is also one of the best foods for you.
• Smoothies–it’s amazing what you can hide in a smoothie and even your kids won’t notice.  My family and I live on smoothies through the summer, and inside ours, you will find a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and ground flaxseed.  Blend that together with a frozen banana, another frozen fruit of your choice, and some rice milk, and you have a refreshing and delicious snack choice.
• Dried Fruits–my son munches on organic dried apples, pineapples, mangos, apricots and prunes often.  We buy the organic ones and we make sure that the fruit is the only ingredient (no added sugar whatsoever).  I recommend this brand, Made in Nature:

Your Health Matters: 10 Simple Things We Can Do

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I have been convicted lately that I am not doing much lately to take care of my temple of the Holy Spirit.  It’s easy to get swept up in the daily grind of life and lose the discipline it takes to really care for ourselves.  We stop doing what we should be doing and start eating what we should not be eating.  I’m ready to return to some of the basics.  Here are 10 simple things that we can do, starting today, to make a difference in our health and to honor God with our bodies.

1.      Cut back on refined sugar.  Sugar has been shown to cause depression, feed certain types of cancer, and adversely affect digestion.  http://rheumatic.org/sugar.htm

2.      Add garlic to your diet.  Garlic is antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal.

http://articles.mercola.com//sites/articles/archive/2009/02/17/Chemists-Shed-Light-on-the-Health-Benefits-of-Garlic.aspx

3.      Invest in organic fruits and vegetables.  They taste better, are free of dangerous pesticides, and although they cost more, we can invest in our health now, or pay for it later.  A great way to clean your conventional fruits and vegetables (if you don’t want to pay the price for organic):  Soak them in a solution of apple cider vinegar and water (1/4 cup to one gallon) for 15 minutes, drain, then soak in clean, purified water for 10 minutes, then enjoy.

4.      If nothing else, drink 64 ounces of purified drinking water a day.  It goes a long way to clean your body of toxins, revive you when you are fatigued, and helps us cut back on drinking other things that are not healthy (coffee, cola).

5.      Set aside time each week to serve someone else.  Getting the focus off of ourselves not only helps our mental health, it helps our spiritual health as well.  Some great organizations to get involved with locally:

Habitat for Humanity—help build homes for others (www.habitat.org)

Salvation Army—organize a clothing drive (www.salvationarmyusa.org)

Meals on Wheels—deliver hot meals to seniors (www.mowaa.org)

6.      Forgive daily.  Unforgiveness is a poison and will cause division in your relationship with God as well as others.  It will also wreak havoc on your health.  (Matthew 6:14-15)

7.      Get 15 minutes of sunshine every day.  Vitamin D from the sun is essential to our health.

8.      Set aside time every day, no matter what it takes, to take in God’s Word, pray, and listen to God’s leading.  This will do wonders for the direction your thoughts take, as well as your actions.  God’s Word is a “lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105).

9.      Add as many antioxidants to your diet as possible (blueberries, raspberries, broccoli, red grapes, spinach, tomatoes).  Oxidation is a chemical reaction that happens in cells that produces what’s called free radicals which damage cells (and cause diseases), and antioxidants naturally fight that reaction. 

10.   Take a digestive enzyme with each meal.  Many of us do not have the adequate enzymes to break down our food enough to get all the necessary nutrients from what we eat.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8).

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