Archive for March, 2010
Vegetable juices are one of those miraculous foods that could bring health benefits that no pill can. Although vegetable juicing is not a wide spread practice, it is slowing making its way into the natural health and healing community. Americans have become one of the sickest species on this planet to date. Due to the Standard American Diet (SAD Diet) which contains processed food and sugary drinks, disease rates continue to rise. These packages items contain chemicals and preservatives that stay in our systems and disrupt bodily functions. Fast foods contain chemical cocktails that keep people addicted and are toxic to hormonal systems. Aside from having little nutritional value, the items that line the supermarket shelf are full of fructose, MSG, sodium, food dyes, and unpronounceable ingredients. Even the fresh produce is unhealthy to eat because of the conventional farming practices of using chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides. The human body was designed to be healthy and has the ability heal itself from disease, but without the raw material to do so; many have fallen into ill health. Vegetable juicing can provide the body with the proper ingredients it needs to be vital and healthy again.
When the juice of raw organic vegetables are extracted, you have juice that is full of living enzymes, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that are going to be utilized by your body immediately. Many people with chronic health issues also have problems with digestion and absorption. By utilizing the juice of the vegetables, we bypass having to breakdown the fibers to get to the vitamins and minerals. Vegetable juice is also superior to any multivitamin because it is providing the right ratio of nutrition that is best for our bodies. Nature intended nutrients to complement one another and not to be used in isolation. Drinking vegetable juice can reverse malnutrition and provide the body with the materials it needs to detoxify chemicals and heal.
Get started immediately with a juicer from a local retailer. Better yet, invest on a more expensive juicer designed to juice leaves. These would be the twin gear juicers from Omega, Samson, or Greenpower . Use only organic produce because we want to avoid ingesting more pesticides. For beginners start with celery, spinach, green beans, or cauliflower. Notice fruits and underground vegetables were not included because the sugar contents in them will raise insulin levels. Then try kale, collard greens, cabbage (red or green), lettuces (romaine, red leaf, green), dandelion, or mustard greens. Be sure to thoroughly clean the vegetables with vinegar or citrus wash. Also rotate the produce so you body can absorb nutrients from a variety of vegetables.
People drink energy drinks to get a boost and then crash later on. Try a few ounces of fresh kale juice and notice long lasting energy all day. Sluggishness, fatigue, blood sugar imbalances, and weight issues benefit highly from consistent juicing. There are studies that show that drinking 2-4 oz. of kale juice for three months will bring cholesterol levels down to normal. With the many benefits of juicing vegetables, get started today. You will notice your body changing for the better because you are supplying concentrated nutrition as well as balancing pH levels with drinking vegetable juice. Best wishes to your health.
Allergies can be the nuisance that ruins that beautiful weekend or makes the theater experience unbearable. My allergies were so bad that my eyes became uncontrollably itchy and nasal passages plugged up when I went entered the symphony auditorium. The air was dust filled from the audience sitting and moving about the carpeted hall and upholstered chairs. Although the most harmonious music was filled the hall, all I could focus on was when my misery will end. I wanted to tear my eyes out for the itchiness and I couldn’t breathe through my nose. That was 10 years ago and I haven’t suffered these types of reactions in years. After many years of searching for a cure, I have narrowed it down to a few practical lifestyle changes that will help improve and even reverse allergy conditions.
An allergic reaction happens when our bodies produce an immune response to a foreign substance that our bodies see as a threat. This is the bodies’ way of telling us that the substance is harmful and should be avoided. Some of us break out in rashes on the skin and some sneeze uncontrollably. Though when this happens on a daily basis and your body seems to hyper react to almost everything, it is not normal. Chronic allergies stem from an underlying imbalance in the system that could be corrected. I have personally suffered from this condition for over 20 years and have found ways that alleviated these allergies permanently.
When the immune is out of balance and constantly bombarded with toxins, allergic foods, and stress, it will cause your body to be hypersensitive to anything it is exposed to. Even a minute amount of dust in the air can cause a histamine response. Bringing the body back into balance and allowing the immune to respond properly is the only way to treat allergies naturally and permanently. The following are beginning steps to an allergy free life and also better health in general.
- Reduce Stress: The mind-body connection is stronger than what the western society gives it credit for. Emotional, physical and work stress impacts our health. Try to identify your life’s main stressors and reduce them as much as possible. Find time to relax and allow your body to recover from the fight or flight response of stress. Meditation, deep breathing, or listening to calming music is very effective.
- Exercise: Physical activity is a way to reduce stress and allow the blood to flow. The human body was made to move and not sit at a cubicle for 10-12 hours a day. The goal is not to run a marathon or do cardio exercises for 2 hours straight. A good balance of having some cardio, flexibility training, and weight bearing activity each week would be good. Even just walking 20 minutes a day will change your health tremendously. So, dust off that yoga mat and take out those walking shoes. There is no formula that will work for everyone, but movement of any kind will help the immune strengthen.
- Consider food allergies: I never knew I was allergic to wheat & gluten until I was tested. Once I stopped eating wheat & gluten products, the itchy eyes and runny nose stopped. The inflammation these foods were causing on the body caused my immune to hyper-react to everything else. The most common allergic foods are: Wheat, gluten, soy, milk, and peanuts. Allergic foods take a toll on the body and can be the basis for more degenerative conditions like arthritis. Try avoiding a these foods on a rotating basis for a week each and see if there is a difference. Otherwise get tested by a trusted health practitioner.
- Clean up your environment: Decrease toxic exposure from chemical cleaning products and skin care products. Everything we breathe and put on our skin goes into our blood streams. Irritants and chemicals are sources that cause immune responses. If there is mold in your house, pay someone to clean it up. Choose to live in a place that is not carpeted, otherwise vacuum with a heap filter frequently.
- Drink clean water: Our bodies need clean water to keep things moving. Dehydration causes a buildup of toxins that further weakens our immune system. You should be drinking half your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 100 pounds, drink 50 oz. of water every day. Don’t drink tap water. Drinking spring water is the best, but having reverse osmosis or ultra purified water would be good too.
- Take probiotics: 80% of our immune lives in the digestive track. If the intestines are weak, constipated, or inflamed from a poor diet, probiotics will help balance the flora. Many of us have Candida or yeast overgrowth. Probiotics will begin to balance this condition.
For years, I have taken over the counter and prescription drugs to reduce the histamine from my allergies only to find that in two weeks I had to change to a different drug because the effects have worn out. I knew drugs were not the solution, so I began searching for a permanent solution to allergies and found that only lifestyle changes can have a long lasting effect on the allergies that I once suffered from. First avoiding irritants that are causing allergic responses and then building the immune up will help the body heal. If you are tired from feeling sick and not being able to breath, look for an alternative health care practitioner that could assist you with healing. Best wishes for your health.