Archive for the ‘Oxygen’ Category
Conventional food is grown using chemical pesticides, herbicides and insecticides. These chemicals are not harmful in
small doses, but many people fear the long term exposure to them may lead to serious diseases.
If you’re like me, you want to buy organic food only when it promotes health. The EWG (Environmental Working Group) has compiled a list of fruits and vegetables that rate highest in pesticides and refer to them as the “Dirty Dozen”. They did research and found out that some crops demand higher doses of pesticides to ward off unwanted pests, while some produce grows just fine without all the added chemicals. Read on to see the complete list of the “Dirty Dozen”.
Organic food is nutritionally superior because natural fertilizers contain a spectrum of nutrients that add to it’s quality. Non-organic food is grown with extra nitrogen which helps it grow big and look good, but it lacks the antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that come with organic fertilizers. Even if you can get over the idea of eating traces of bug killer, it’s still wise to choose organic for the added nutritional benefits. It’s true that produce today contains only a fraction of the nutrients that our grand parents ate. Quality has been sacrificed for looks and durability.
In addition, fruit and vegetable juices are good sources of the traditional nutrients. Citrus fruits (grapefruit, oranges, etc.) provide a healthy portion of vitamin C. Carrot juice contains large quantities of vitamin A, in the form of beta carotene. A number of green juices are a good source of vitamin E. Fruit juices are a good source of essential minerals like iron, copper, potassium, sodium, iodine, and magnesium, which are bound by the plant in a form that is most easily assimilated during digestion.
While fruit and vegetable juices are the most common form of juice, wheatgrass juice has been getting a lot of attention lately because of the denseness of nutrients it contains.
The primary advantage of truly fresh wheatgrass juice – juice made from raw, live, soil-grown wheat grass, is the apparent high level of life force energy that it contains. It is one of the few truly fresh foods available (sprouts are another). The grass is alive and growing right up to the time it is juiced, and hopefully you are drinking it within a few minutes or so of juicing.
Most of us get our green veggies from markets, and they were picked days ago and refrigerated – losing vitality the whole time. (It is an even worse situation for fruit, which may be picked weeks before you eat it, and in some cases, held in cold storage for months – losing vitality the whole time.) In contrast, one can grow wheatgrass indoors, and enjoy it when it is truly fresh.
Raw food diets are based on unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, preferably organic, such as a variety of fresh fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds, grains, dried fruit, fresh juices and purified water.
Why Uncooked Foods?
Basically a vegetarian diet, the raw food diet encourages eating and drinking ‘living’ foods. Living foods and juices contain the largest amount of fiber found in raw produce, fiber that can be destroyed in processing. Such foods are easily digested and tend to be lower in calories than the average diet.
Heating food above 116°F destroys enzymes in food that aid in digestion and in absorption of food, reducing its nutritional value.
Benefits of a Raw Food Diet
A diet of at least three quarters raw food offers numerous health benefits, such as increased energy, improved skin appearance, better digestion, weight loss and reduced risk of serious illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
A raw food diet contains little or no saturated fats, is low in sodium, high in potassium, magnesium, and fiber.
Raw food diets are also awesome detox diets. Different combinations of raw foods and juices can be used for colon cleansing, liver cleansing, kidney cleansing and skin cleansing.
Raw Food Basics
Any fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, beans, nuts, legumes, young coconut milk – even seaweed – can be part of a raw food diet. Your choice of foods may depend on your reasons for dieting, for example:
- sprouted brown rice slows sugar absorption and improves the metabolism
- cabbage supports healthy cellular function; radish leaves act as an anti-oxidant,as does Shitake mushrooms
Eggs, which for years have gotten a bad rap for being unhealthy for your heart, can actually help prevent against coronary heart disease. Here’s how:
* Eggs are packed with choline and betaine, two nutrients related to Vitamin B that lower high levels of homocysteine. Too much homocysteine can cause inflammation (read: heart attack), as well as increase your chances of stroke, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and peripheral vascular disease.
* Eggs are full of healthy protein. A large egg provides about six grams of protein.
* Eggs contain riboflavin, a nutrient which gives you energy.
* Among the many vitamins and minerals packed into a single egg is Vitamin D, a vitamin that many people are deficient of (especially obese people or people with diabetes).
* Some eggs have high levels of omega-3 fatty acids which is gaining popularity as one of the most heart-friendly nutrients out there.
* Eggs are one of the most affordable forms of animal protein.
* Eggs fill you up and taste delicious! And since they’re only about 75 calories each, it can easily be made a part of a healthy low fat, low calorie meal.
If you do have high cholesterol, or are trying to cut the fat in your diet, then you can still get most of the protein and nutrients from eating the egg white alone. All of the fat is in the yolk.
So next time someone threatens your egg intake, you just tell them that the new research on eggs shows that an egg a day keeps the doctor away! Get this slogan on your wristband today with custom silicone wristbands.