There are so many different foods & ways to eat it on this planet! And in reality we can eat whichever way we like – there are no “food guards” in your kitchen or when out and about!:) You can choose food from the many different varieties around you: from the different markets, gardens, shops and restaurants! And you are free to consume whichever ones you want any time you really wanted to, even when you decide to eat differently or even detox for a while – you can go and eat something else any minute you really wanted to! Who is to stop you? :) Knowing that you can have that big mac or a big soda drink or sausages late at night if you really, really wanted to, gives a feeling of freedom when it comes to choosing to eat healthier!It is totally about Your freedom of Choice!
Some consistent positive choices do have a way of rewarding us, however! :).
And to make this less of a pressure for yourself, do give yourself a short time during which you will make those choices. And do remind yourself that any time, any time at all you can just go and have something else – no food guards in the kitchen, remember? :)
We can choose to consistently choose something for a set amount of time; say, for just 1 day, or may keep on making certain choices for 7 days, 14 days! And the next time we choose healthier options on a daily basis, we may go on choosing them for longer, like 21 or even 42 days? And then… see what happens and what amazing choices you may want to make from there on! :)
Confused about all the saturated fats that are bad for cholesterol and some are now – apparently good? Omega oils that are essential and other omegas that are not? If so, then read on to discover the two simple things you need to know to stay healthy when it comes to fats. Here are your first little facts:
False:All saturated fats contribute to High Cholesterol.
Truth: Naturally-saturated coconut oil actually reduces cholesterol (and has been found to help with weight loss).
Truth:Only animal-derived saturated fats and artificially created hydrogenated fats cause high cholesterol.
(1) First of all: fats and oils are pretty much the same thing and you will sometimes hear them called “fatty acids”.
(2) There are 2 main types of fats:
Saturated, and these are hard, so you cut or scrape them at room temperature. Examples of saturated fats:
butter
lard
coconut oil
palm oil
2. Unsaturated, these are liquid at room temperature and are normally called oils. Examples of unsaturated fats
olive oil
sunflower oil
flax seed oil
corn/soy oil
rapeseed (canola) oil
(3) Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9 are all Unsaturated oils.
All liquid oils are 60%-99% Omega 6. Therefore there is no shortage of omega 6 in our diets. Omega 6 is not manufactured in the body, so we need to eat it in order to get it. However, we have enough of Omega 6 in our diets, as we use “vegetable oils” and olive oil frequently in our cooking and/or salad dressings.
Most liquid oils have some Omega 9. Omega 9 is non-essential, which means that we can make it from Omega 6 in our bodies.
There is a true lack of OMEGA 3 in contemporary diets. Only a few plants and seeds have omega 3.
All unsaturated, i.e. all liquid oils become toxic when heated, becasue they are not stable (like saturated fats), and therefore easily connect with oxygen molecule sin the air forming toxic free-radicals callsed trans-fats (tranfatty acids). This is why it is important not to cook on any liquid oils, and only use saturated oils for cooking!
Use only naturally hard oils to cook on, like coconut, palm, lard.Never use Omega 3 oil to cook on as it is the fastest to become very toxic and should only be used cold.
Spreads, or “No butter “butter” – i.e. margarine, olive oil or soya spreads are some of the most toxic thingsyou could be eating. As these are manufactured from liquid, Omega 6 and 9 oils, they are artificially joined with hydrogen, instead of oxygen to form HARD SPREADS. When this hydrogenation process takes place toxic trans-fats are formed. Which have been conclusively proven to cause cancer, heart disease and arteriosclerosis. Use butter, coconut oil, or even a slice of ripe avocado, or pour some fresh flax oil, olive oil on your bread instead.
(4) Why are Omega3 oils important???
Omega 3 is found in every cell of our body and our brains use it too, this is why a lack of Omega 3 causes decline in concentration, memory and since it affects hormones, lack of O3 can cause uneven moods and unhappiness. Lack of O3 has been linked with inflammation and cancers. Linseed(also called Flax) deserves special mention, eat it in ground form only, as whole seeds can’t be chewed and we get no omega 3 this way. Linseeds are also rich in calcium, magnesium and other minerals essential for energy production and repair in the body. Milled seeds can be sprinkled on breakfast or else main dinner or soup – just don’t cook with them (it makes them rancid and destroys precious Omega oils)!
Omega 3 is the most important and the least used oil found in a typical Western diet. The following are the sources of Omega 3:
Flax seeds (also called linseeds) – (up to 60% Omega 3)
Chia seeds (found in health stores, from South America) – (up to 60% Omega 3)
Hemp Seeds – (up to 18% Omega 3)
Oily fish – (up to 30% Omega 3)
Wallnuts – (less than 5% Omega 3)
Omega 3 is a polyunsaturated oil, and therefore is VERY unstable, this is why you should NEVER ever cook with it. Store it in the fridge and do not keep the bottle open without a lid on, as air will oxygenate it too (make it rancid).
So, which oils should you ALWAYS have in your home? Which oils to cook on?
Use Flax/Chia or Hemp oil on raw (like salads) and all cooked (on the plate) foods and this way you do not have to cook with oils, just use a little water if you are frying, boiling or steaming your food and then once it’s on the plate – pour flax oil over it!
Use Coconut oil/Palm oil for cooking – as it safe to heat and coconut oil will actually reduce your cholesterol and boost immunity! If you do not like the smell of coconut in your food, buy organic palm oil (you can make sure that it was grown without harming rain forests) and/or better use refined coconut oil – which will not have the smell.
The best way to use Omega 3 oils, such as flax oil, chia oil or hemp oil:
Add to salads, as it’s amazingly tasty!
Pour over any meal, once it is cooked on your plate, such as vegetables, pasta, brown rice, potatoes, etc. Do not use over soup – too hot.
Mix with salsas, and other cold dips in place of olive oil.
Mix into smoothies and green smoothies.
Mill your own linseeds (flaxseeds) in a coffee-grinder and use on food – again do not book or bake with them, and always grid them fresh or, if you are bying them pre-ground, ensure that there is no bitter taste and store in the fridge at all times.
Use chia seeds on your food – no need to grind.
Do not use whole linseeds, as these will not give you any omega oil and will simply pass through your body giving you fiber.
Have you met many thin or truly healthy people who consume zero-sugar or diet soft drinks? :)
I talk about synthetic sugar substitutes quite a lot and quite often get a question: “If sweeteners are that bad, how did they ever allow them to be added to food?” I think the video below explains very clearly how the “sweet lies about aspartame” were delivered to the public and how it by-passed and avoided proper research.
Watch this to judge for yourself, if you would like you or your family to ever consume aspartame. And if consuming it would, indeed, let you lose weight or if it actually saves your kids’ teeth…
Vitamin C…the important and valuable vitamin for our health! This is something that even people who have never pondered and wondered about nutrition know about. So, very recently I have come across this fascinating information:
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Vitamin C
In the 1970s, Dr. Archie Kalokerinos served the Aboriginal people in the mining region of Australia. During his time there he found that 50% of the infants were dying, and the majority of the deaths were the result of SIDS. He discovered that the people and their infants were almost completely deficient of vitamin C. After his findings he began a vitamin C supplement program, and shortly after the infant rate dropped to near zero. Subsequently, no child died of SIDS. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. [Wysong newsletter.]
An interesting thing is that…
If you think you are not getting enough of vitamin C, a pill from the chemist or health store is certainly not the most natural or effective way to replenish your reserves! An orange juice carton may be more effective, however remember that vitamin C with its many important co-factors is destroyed when heated, so every juice from a carton is either pasteurised (heated to 80 Degrees Celsius) or is made from concentrate – which means it is heavily processed, denatured, dehydrated and then simply diluted-rehydrated with tap water to make up that juice you buy off a shelf! Not the easiest way for the body to get that vitamin C into you!
So, what’s the answer? I suggest two most logical and efficient ways (and I will explain why not the pills just after that):
(1)Good raw crunchy (like kale, broccoli and apples) or soft (like avocados and raspberries), shredded, blended and juiced food! Only humans, higher primates, guinea pigs and fruit bats do not make vitamin C in the body, and hence – naturally enough – have to replenish it from food. If you eat plenty of raw fruit and vegetables (think salads, green smoothies and juices) or even if your diet is mostly vegetables (slightly cooked) – then you will be getting your vitamin C – as Nature intended.
is (considered by some accounts to be) the richest source of vitamin C on Earth. It is a berry from the Amazon and can be bought as freeze-dried powder either from health stores, raw nutrition stores or over the internet.
(3) If you feel you must supplement (or you were advised to do so by your practitioner) – there are some Truly Natural Vitamin C you can get in powder or capsules. Lifestream Natural Vitmain C and Health Force Nutritionals Truly Natural Vitamin C – these are WHOLE-FOOD Genuine, full complex, working Vitamin C products, which actually do what Vitamin C is supposed to do in the body. [Click on product names or search google for local suppliers and check health stores in your country.]
So, why not “regular” vitamin C tablets? Why “natural”? Whole Vitamin C + some history.
If you flip your bottle over and read the ingredients, you will see it says Ascorbic Acid. However, is ascorbic acid the same as Vitamin C? Well, as the discoverer of the Vitamin C himself – Nobel Prize laureate, Dr. Albert Szent-Georgi – found: no, in fact isolated Ascorbic Acid cannot even properly cure Scurvy (the disease sailors used to get from not consuming vitamin C whilst on long journeys at sea)! He found that an “Impurer” Natural form of vitamin C found in food – in tiniest doses – was always effective at curing scurvy, whereas he could not cure scurvy with an isolated Ascorbic Acid (which is what we learned to know as vitamin C)! So, he went back to the lab and discovered another part of C – rutin. He quickly realised that all of the different component within the Vitamin C worked together to produce the results that we need. Vitamins are living complexes, they consist of many active synergistic (helping each other) components. Ascorbic acid is not a living complex. It is a synthetic (man-made) copy of a part of a WHOLE Complex known vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is a broken-off, isolate derived and manufactured from corn starch and volatile acids. It cannot perform all of the functions of naturally occurring, whole Vitamin C does!
We find that there is less than 20 mg of ascorbic acid in a potato. Yet this small amount, since it is complexed in a food source, is all the body needs not only to prevent scurvy, but also to cure it, even in its advanced state. Such a remedy is described in detail in Richard Dana’s amazing journal Two Years Before the Mast, written in 1840.
Whole food vitamin C as found in potatoes, onions, and citrus fruits is able to quickly cure any case of scurvy. By contrast, the fractionated chemical ascorbic acid has been shown to be insufficient in resolving a scurvy condition, simply because it does not act as a nutrient. (Lancet 1842)
So, the WHOLE Vitamin C as discovered by science (with all its health properties):
The other discovered parts of vitamin C are (and not limited to): ascorbic acid, rutin, bioflavonoids, Factor K, Factor J, Factor P, Tyrosinase, Ascorbinogen and other components! When we take Ascorbic acid alone, or even with bioflavanoids (as some companies started to artificially “add back” the missing parts of a whole vitamin C, the body must use up its own reserves of the missing co-factors to fully utilise and make up something that resembles whole vitamin C!Ascorbic acid is just the antioxidant outer shell – the protector of all these other synergists so that they will be able to perform their individual functions, such as P factors improve blood vessel strength, J factors oxygen-carrying capacity of red cells, tyrosinase as an essential enzyme for enhancing white blood cells. Ascorbic Acid on its own does not perform these functions!
So, in short, when you tale an isolate man-made, not-found-in-nature in isolation part of a Vitamin C – which the manufacturer claims IS the Vitamin C, you are not taking Vitamin C at all – just a small part, which cannot do everything you would expect vitamin C to do, and which isn’t even taken out of its “whole” natural state, but is synthetically manufactured. Ascorbic Acid and other synthetic isolates of vitamins CAN be toxic in higher doses as the body, essentially, cannot utilise them and “convert them” into something natural, whole and complex that is needed in order to become a vitamin! Hence it must filter it out through the organs of elimination: kidneys, liver, intestines! Remember how your urine goes yellow when you take those synthetic parts of whole vitamins? Think about that… And remember that properly, slowly, naturally grown food provides us with all we need – especially when it is minimally processed, i.e. raw or cooked just a little!
All the very best to you all in finding your perfect nutrition, so it may give you the best Radiant Health nature has to give you! :)
Hello Radiant Readers! :) I would like to share a tasty and powerful chilled smoothie with its super ability to boost immunity, help digestion, complexion, inflammation while tasting like a chilled treat!
This smoothie would be helpful for people with hay fever, sinusitis, digestive problems (if the taste of parsley is too intense, add more spinach initially), eye problems, arthritis, lung and urinary inflammatory conditions.
Pineapples are in season and many supermarkets are selling them off very cheaply in Ireland (Tesco recently had them at 59 CENT!! :) and other places sell them for €1.49). You can peel, cube and freeze pineapples when they are this cheap and later enjoy very quick smoothies, without the need for washing or peeling! :) This recipe allows for a nice break-away from the everyday apples and pears smoothies that most of us tend to make. You can also add frozen or fresh berries to hide the green colours (if you are making this for children or people who are put off by the green colour of the drink). ! If you are craving ice cream or a desert, then add 4 medjool (or Organic unglazed) dates and mostly spinach/ baby gem lettuce with a few sprigs of parsley in this recipe. :)!
Benefits of Pinapples:
Vitamins and Antioxidants:Pineapples are anti-inflammatory and very rich in antioxidant vitamins C (immunity, collagen synthesis), vitamin A [100g contains 58IU], beta-carotene, B-group vitamins [B1, B2,B5, Folic acid]. This powerful combination of vitamins C and A provides a great platform for a strong immunity and skin and mucosal repair health [inflammation anywhere in the mouth or digestive tract, collagen synthesis, eye health, hair and nail health, this will be also fantastic for getting proper tan, as vitamin A and beta-carotene protect the skin from UV ray damage. Both C and A are potent free radical scavengers, which means they destroy substances that damage cells in the body.
Rich in Minerals:Especially Potassium, Copper and Manganese. Bananas aren’t the only food rich in potassium;). We all know how important potassium is (especially when we eat salt as well), potassium regulates proper hydration of the cells and is important in maintaining blood pressure, copper is important for connective tissue repair and is a co-factor in zinc absorption and red-blood cell synthesis and manganese is needed for the Super Oxide Dismutase – a powerful anti-oxidant compound our body makes.
Bromelain: Digestion, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-clotting. Bromelain is an amazing enzyme that helps with breaking down of proteins (a problem a lot of people have, especially with heavier proteins like meat) and can calm the digestive tract. It is a powerful anti-inflammatory and works well for hay fever in combination with quercetin and Vit C. It helps with any “swelling” due to allergic processes and excessive mucous, so benefit sinusitis, IBS, arthritis.
Pineapple has been shown to have a mildanti-parasitic effect.
Benefits of Parsley:
Powerhouse multivitamin and multimineral: it has high amounts of vitamin A, C, E, K, beta carotene, B-vitamins [B2, B3, B5, B6 and B1], folic acid. Minerals: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, potassium, folic acid, sulfur.
Very High Antioxidant levels: very rich in antioxidant flavonoids apigenin, crisoeriol, apiin, luteolin; antioxidant vitamins A, beta-carotene, K, zea-zanathin, lutein, cryptoxanthins. Zea-zanathin prevents macular degeneration in the eyes.
High Vitamin K levels: provides 1640 mcg of vitamin K per 100 g. This is one of the highest sources of vitamin K (cruciferous food, like cabbages are also high in this nutrient). Vitamin K has been recently shown to play an important role in metabolism of vitamin D – both are important for the bone health (osteoporosis), and vitamin D is essential for hormonal and immune health. Vitamin K also increases elasticity of veins, and therefore can have a beneficial effect on varicose veins. It is also used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s by limiting neuronal damage to the brain.
Anti-cancer, antiseptic, anti-tumour, lung-health:Parsley contains beneficial essential oils that have been found to be effective in several ways. Eugenol can work as a local anesthetic and anti-septic for teeth and gum health. IT also reduces blood sugar levels in diabetics. Other unique volatile oils in parsley neutralise airborne carcinogens: from cigarette smoke, grilling and rancid burning oil vapours. This is why parsley helps prevent lung tumours and promotes lung health.
100 g of parsley provides:
USDA RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance – I might as well mention here that when we see RDA ratings, they reflect the MINIMUM, not maximum recommended amounts of elements necessary to NOT develop a disease, so they are not the OPTIMUM amounts of nutrients): RDA: 38% of folates, 220% of vitamin C, 281% of vitamin A, 1366% of vitamin K, 14% of calcium, 77.5% of iron, 5561 mcg of zeaxanthin, 5054 mcg of beta-carotene.
If you’s like to re-cap why green smoothies are important, read my artcle HERE! :)
