Food Facts
Featured Topic: Liqid Nutrition

Water, fresh juices, teas, smoothies, soups, broths – there are so many ways to nourish our bodies without having to chew! What are the benefits of liquid nutrition? For one, it’s usually much more concentrated in nutrients and healing properties but has much fewer calories. Another major advantage of liquids is that the body has to use much less energy to digest them. These energy savings mean more energy for you to do other things, like exercise. Or, you can sit back and let the body use the extra energy for burning fat and removing toxins.

Teas

Ginger Tea – this classic tea is a must in you kitchen/medicine cabinet. It is a great digestive aid, best before meals. It is also very warming. Try steeping some ginger with rosemary leaves to relieve menstrual cramps. Sweeten with Agave nectar.

Dandelion Root Tea (roasted) – this tea is known as a great liver cleanser. But what we love about it is the deep roasted flavor that can hit the right spot, especially for coffee lovers. Enjoy with a little cinnamon, cacao powder, and Agave Nectar.

Fresh Juices

These combinations are well worth the investment in a juicer!

Apples + beets + ginger
Pineapple + Fennel + spinach + ginger
Carrot + Spinach + lots of Cinnamon powder
Grapes + Pineapple (with a dash of lemon and diluted a little)

Featured Topic: Super Foods

There's been a lot of controversy in our country about portion size. From the fast food restaurants to the movie, the choice to Supersize has become the norm for most Americans. Well, now we have a choice, we can choose to Super Charge our diet instead of Super-sizing it, by simply including small amounts of some Super Foods with amazing powers.

But exactly what makes a Super food Super? Basically, nature has taken loads of nutrition and healing properties and packaged them all in one little food. So, in this case it is true that great things come in small packages. They are packed with essential nutrients, antioxidants, and phytochemicals that your body is craving to give you a power boost.

These super foods are now becoming much more accessible to us, available in stores and online as powders, dried whole fruits, and juices. So make use of some of these superfood solutions and feel the difference they can make to your health.

Food FOCUS !
Featured Topic: Fruit

A healthy lifestyle is the key to longevity, optimum weight, abundant energy and balance. By using fruit to satisfy our taste for sweetness, we can leave behind the use of chemical, processed and refined sweeteners. Fruits are easy to digest, are cleansing and cooling and are great for those who are overstressed and overheated from excessive mental strain or hot climates.

Fruits are filled with fiber and liver stimulants, which act as natural, gentle laxatives. Whenever possible, buy fresh, locally grown fruit as opposed to imported fruits shipped from far-off places. This keeps you eating in season, and more in harmony with your environment and climate.

Eating raw fruit in summer months is highly cooling, while baking it in the winter months neutralizes the cooling effect. Fruit in the form of juice is a great choice for cleansing the body, but be aware that juice rapidly raises blood sugar levels, leading to an energy crash soon after. Frozen, whole, pureed or juiced fruit can make great summertime cool-down treats. Try frozen grapes, banana-coconut smoothie popsicles or lime juice ice-cubes in iced tea!

Whether you are having fresh fruit for a light early morning breakfast, a midday snack or evening treat, enjoy nature's sweetness and whenever possible buy organic. Here are a few summer fruits and their health benefits:

Apricots: Great for lung conditions and asthma; used to help treat anemia due to their high copper and cobalt content.

Bananas: Help to lubricate the intestines, treat ulcers, detoxify the body, and manage sugar cravings; are rich in potassium (which helps hypertension).

Cherries: Slightly warming in nature; increase overall body energy, remedy arthritis and rheumatism, and are rich in iron, which improves the blood.

Grapefruits: Treat poor digestion, increase appetite during pregnancy, alleviate intestinal gas and reduce mucus conditions of the lungs.

Papayas: Tone the stomach, act as digestive aid, moisten the lungs and alleviate coughing; contain carpaine, an anti-tumor compound.

Raspberries: Benefit the liver and kidneys, cleanse blood of toxins, regulate menstrual cycles, treat anemia and can promote labor at childbirth.

Food FOCUS !
Featured Topic: Oils and Fats

Not all oils and fats are created equal. Heavily processed, hydrogenated, “trans” fats and oils that are used in prepared, packaged foods can be extremely damaging to the body. However, fats and oils from whole foods and other high-quality sources can steady our metabolism, keep hormone levels even, nourish our skin, hair and nails and provide lubrication to keep the body functioning fluidly. Our bodies also need fat for insulation and to protect and hold our organs in place.

A healthy percentage of high-quality fat in a meal satisfies and leaves feelings of energy, fulfillment and warmth. When there are excess fats and oils in the diet, especially heavily processed fats, symptoms can include weight gain, skin breakouts, high blood pressure, liver strain and an overall feeling of mental, physical and emotional heaviness. Signs of insufficient high-quality fats are brittle hair and nails, dry skin, hunger after meals and feeling cold.

There are many sources of healthy fats and oils. For sautéing and baking, try butter, ghee (clarified butter) or coconut oil, because they do not break down when used at high temperatures. When sautéing and stovetop cooking at moderate temperatures, try organic extra virgin olive oil. Oils like flaxseed, sesame, toasted sesame, walnut and pumpkin seed are best used unheated in sauces or dressings on top of salads, veggies or grains. Other healthy fats are found in whole nuts and seeds and in their butters like almond butter or tahini. Whole foods such as avocados, olives and coconuts are great sources of healthy fat, along with wild salmon and omega-3 and omega-6 organic eggs. Experiment with these healthy fat sources and see which agree with you and leave you satisfied.

When selecting oils, buy the highest quality organic products you can afford, since cooking oils are the backbone of so many dishes. Good words to look for on the label are organic, first-pressed, cold-pressed, extra-virgin and unrefined. Words to avoid are expeller-pressed, refined and solvent extracted.

Food is a magical precious gift from nature that we take time to appreciate!

This section serves as an introduction to the fascinating world of whole foods and the power they possess to create health. We highlight the ability of foods to support the body in healing and functioning at its greatest potential. Explore a wealth of useful information that focuses on the many nutritional and health benefits of specific foods in their natural state.

So, go ahead.become reacquainted with nature's most powerful disease fighters and health builders: fresh, raw fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods!

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