Archive for July, 2009

How Goji Berry Benefits Can Dramatically Improve Your Health

The many Goji berry benefits to be had begin first with their intricate collection of molecules, including polysaccharides, which are sugar molecules believed to support the body’s immune system. Polysaccharides are also known to be a great source of probiotic fibers, which are the fermentable portions of soluble fiber that are processed into SCFAs, or short-chain fatty acids, within the intestines. This then provides beneficial nutrients for the probiotics within the intestinal tract to aid the body with vital functions like digestion and the absorption of nutrients.

Offering numerous health benefits, Goji berries are touted as a tonic for helping keep the internal organs functioning properly as well as for keeping the body’s energy in tune.

Highly regarded as China’s national treasure, the Goji berry is finally getting much needed attention in the West. Containing an impressive concentration of iron, they are also important to the circulatory system as well.

Healthy Snacks – Why They Are Important For a Healthy Diet and How to Get Their Maximum Benefits

Our problem is that we often make unwise choices when picking our snacks. We tend to grab convenient, high-calorie foods like chocolate bars, donuts or chips. It’s okay to have these every now and then, but if they are every single snack you eat, you consume them way too frequently and they may well make you pick up weight.

Snacking is actually a very clever and helpful eating habit. We use to have three main meals a day but we often get a bit hungry in between, especially if we work hard and use lots of energy. If you then wait until the next mealtime comes along, you will be so hungry that you wolf down your food and end up eating much more than you would need, simply because you are so hungry that you lose control. But when you have a little snack as soon as the first hunger hits you, you will easily survive till supper and be happy with your normal amount of food. And even if you add the snack, you will still have eaten less all in total than with that severe overeating at mealtimes.

You Really Are What You Eat – And It’s Not Good

First of all, immediately stop eating all processed foods. That means pitch all those cans of soda, snack cakes, candy, cookies, frozen meals, boxed side dishes and snack chips. Consume as many organic foods as you can afford to buy. Eat only eggs that are labeled as organic and free-range because these chickens are healthier since they are not kept in cages where diseases are spread. They are also fed natural diets which are free from toxic chemicals and pesticides. Read food labels and avoid artificial food additives including monosodium glutamate (MSG) and all artificial sweeteners.

Although fish provides healthy omega-3 acids for your heart and brain, most all fish is contaminated with mercury and PCBs. Instead, go to our local health food store and start taking a high-quality purified fish oil supplement.

Get as many chemicals out of your home as possible by using only natural cleaning products. Things like baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, lemon and orange oils are really all you need to clean and disinfect your home. Don’t contaminate your air with artificial room fresheners and dryer sheets because they contain chemicals you don’t want your family to be breathing in.

What is Whole Food Nutrition & Why is it Better For You?

Why are whole foods better for you than factory made foods? There are too many reasons to list. And, in my mind, the vast amount of information out there today telling us all the reasons we should eat an apple instead of potato chips has created too much confusion around a very simple concept. A concept that, in its purest form, is nothing more than good old common sense. Plain and simple: whole foods created by nature are better for you. Ok, for those of you who need a little more convincing, one of my favorite explanations about why to eat whole foods is provided by health and wellness author Johnny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S., in his book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth:

Eat real food. Stuff your grandmother would have recognized as food. Stuff that usually doesn’t come in a package. What you eat probably doesn’t ultimately matter as much as how much processing it’s undergone. Real food – whole food with minimal processing – contains a virtual pharmacy of nutrients, phytochemicals, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and healthful fats, and can keep you alive and thriving into your tenth decade.

Why a Lack of Minerals in Our Food is a Global Health Problem

It appears that the majority of nutritionists and medical doctors believe that the daily recommended diet of 2000 to 2500 calories (for women and men respectively) is easily enough to supply us with all the essential minerals and nutrients we need to live healthily. They say this because they reckon that more than this number of calories will make a person who is not physically active, fat. This is clearly a gross oversimplification because it is physically impossible to consume 2000 calories and at the same time obtain the recommended daily amount (RDA) of essential nutrients from today’s foods.

Our planet Earth is made of rock, which is the parent material for the soil in which plants grow and is therefore the chief source of nutrition for all life, including man. While it is common for soils to be deficient in the odd mineral here and there, if they are low in a number of them then the plants will become deficient, too. And when the plants are poorly the animals that eat them also become poorly – and that includes us humans. When we lack certain minerals we become ill. We get headaches and feel lousy and run-down. We also get colds and flu.

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