Tag Archives: healthy foods

Three Little Things You Can Do Every Day to Improve Your Health

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Everybody is looking for ways to improve their health. Many of us look for the newest exercise fads and celebrity diets, while scouring the shelves at the supplement shops, all in the search for ways to get a bit of an edge.

Now a healthy diet rich in nutrients and some exercise can improve your health; there’s simply no denying it. Continue reading →

Sprouting Seeds Unlocks Dormant Enzymatic Potential

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 Natural plants have unique ways of protecting their offspring and guaranteeing the future of their species. Grains, nuts, seeds and legumes all contain special agents protect the precious seeds and poison predators in order to ensure the continuation of their plant. The process of soaking, fermenting and sprouting these seeds removes the poisons and unlocks the dormant nutrient potential Continue reading →

Two Fruits That Could Kill Cancer

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Texas researchers have found that extracts from peaches and
plums killed breast cancer cells, even the most aggressive kinds.
Not only did the cancerous cells die, but also no nearby healthy
cells were affected. A targeted kill by fleshy fruit.

The study suggests that Continue reading →

The Lifestyle Villains that Trigger Headaches

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To many headache sufferers, headaches seem an inevitable part of life. In fact, you can take preventive measures to reduce your pain or completely escape it. But first you have to recognize what is bringing on those debilitating aches.

A Self-induced Problem

Millions of headaches strike Americans each and every year. As a matter of fact, hundreds of thousands of headaches pound inside the heads of people daily. Most of these episodes are completely preventable and are caused by the choices each headache sufferer makes. Yes, I am saying that we create, cause and trigger our own headaches. And because of that simple truth, you can stop doing what you are doing and prevent your headaches from ever coming back. That’s a fact.

Serious biological conditions that cause headaches, such as meningitis and tumors for example, are rare. Only about 12 percent of all headaches are caused by them, and those are confined to a very small proportion of people with those diseases. Headaches caused by physical trauma, such as a fall or impact, are not typical and also not thought of and treated in the general way other organic headaches are. So, if we remove serious disease and physical trauma from the headache equation, then we are left with 80 percent of headaches being self-induced.

Accountability Continue reading →

How Diabetes Could Rob You of Your Hearing

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One of the big problems with diabetes is that it can trigger complications that affect certain areas of the body. A new study has delivered health news having to do with hearing: diabetes, if not controlled well, boosts your risk of hearing loss.

The health breakthrough came when examining women between 60 and 75 years of age. Researchers found that those with well-controlled diabetes had better hearing than women with poorly-controlled diabetes. They also found far worse hearing in women younger than 60 who have diabetes.

(Strangely enough, men had worse hearing loss compared to women, regardless of age or if they were diabetic.)

The normal process of aging includes a certain degree of hearing loss. But it is often accelerated in patients with diabetes — especially if blood-glucose levels are not under control with diet and medication. Their study was published last week in Miami at a medical conference.

This study Continue reading →

“Healthy Foods” Now Containing Excitotoxins Which Can Lead to Brain Damage

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Did You Know…that dozens of everyday “health” foods containing brain-damaging poisons, which seriously threaten your health—and such foods are not regulated by the FDA or other government agencies?

“Your food can be a killer—and I don’t mean just the junk food”, says Dr. David Blyweiss. That’s because processed foods—even so-called healthy foods—contain additives known as “excitotoxins” that cause serious neurodegenerative damage like Parkinson’s disease…Alzheimer’s…dementia…Lou Gehrig’s…multiple sclerosis…lupus…and more.

“The main culprits are the additives monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartate (a component of NutraSweet) that lace our foods to enhance their taste,” says Dr. Blyweiss. Excitotoxins have been used for decades to pump up the flavor of processed foods like soups, snacks, sauces, gravies, and also many low-fat and vegetarian “health” foods. Continue reading →

Use the Magic of Why to Get at the Root of your Health Issues

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To many adults, that fact that young children insatiably ask, “Why?” over and over again can be maddening. But if you try that open-ended questioning technique on yourself to discover the roots of your health problems, you might be shocked at what you find. And a path to better health may open up before you.

Many children ask, “why?” again and again and again until the routine grows annoying. But children are still in their inherent genius stage and have not yet learned to inhibit their curiosity. So when a child incessantly asks, “Why?” he is authentically seeking to understand the deep root reason for things and the relationships that exist between the various causes and effects in a chain of circumstances.

Embracing the Why Continue reading →

Vitamin A found in these Healthy Foods

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Many plant-based eaters are under the impression that they can obtain all the vitamin A that they need from plant foods that contain carotenoids, particularly beta carotene found in foods like spinach, sweet potatoes, and carrots.

It’s true that some carotenoids like beta carotene can be converted to vitamin A in your body once they make it into your blood. What you may not know is that carotenoids are not always absorbed efficiently into your blood.

Given that vitamin A deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in the world and is also a leading cause of death in young children, it’s critical for the general public to know that relying solely on carotenoids in plant foods for daily vitamin A needs may lead to any of the following health problems over time:

Skin Lesions Like Acne and Acne Rosacea: Vitamin A is needed to develop and maintain moist and healthy epithelial tissues, including your skin. Many long time vegans find it difficult to understand why they have acne while on a whole food, plant-based diet. Vitamin A deficiency is undoubtedly a common cause of acne for all acne sufferers, but particularly for people who eat mainly a plant-based diet and don’t include a reliable source of vitamin A in their diets.

Poor Night Vision: Vitamin A combines with a protein in the back of your eye to enable night vision.

Weak Bones, Weak Teeth, and Poorly Spaced Teeth: Vitamin A is needed for proper growth and maintenance of bones and other soft tissues throughout your body.

A Weak Immune System: Because vitamin A is needed for the development and maintainance of all of your body’s barriers to infection like your skin, lungs, and the mucosal linings in your digestive and urinary tracts, a deficiency almost assures you of an immune system that is not as strong as it can be.

Cancer: Since vitamin A is essential to the health of your immune system, a deficiency could increase your risk for developing certain forms of cancer, such as breast, lung, stomach, and cervical cancer.

Anemia and Associated Fatigue: Vitamin A is needed for proper red blood cell formation.

Vitamin A is actually a group of compounds that includes retinol, retinal, and the carotenoids. Retinol and retinal are found in animal foods such as liver, eggs, and butter. Because these forms of vitamin A are ready to be used by your body straight from their food sources, they are often referred to as pre-formed vitamin A.

Carotenoids, in turn, are often referred to as provitamin A since they are precursors to Vitamin A and need to be converted in your body.

The total vitamin A in your diet is therefore a combination of the pre-formed vitamin A and provitamin A in your diet.

It’s important to note that optimal absorption of retinol, retinal, and the carotenoids into your blood requires an adequate amount of healthy fat in your diet. This is because pre-formed and provitamin A are fat soluble compounds that are best absorbed into your blood in the presence of digestive juices that are needed to digest fat. The more healthy fat you include in your diet, the better you will absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K into your blood.

It is not practical to offer a chart that lists specific amounts of useable vitamin A in different foods because the amount of vitamin A that ultimately reaches your blood depends on the variables described above.

So, here are two simple lists of healthy foods that contain significant amounts of pre-formed and provitamin A. I believe that it is best for most people to eat foods from both groups on a regular basis to to meet their daily vitamin A needs.

Pre-formed Vitamin A:

  • Organic beef liver
  • Organic lamb liver
  • Organic eggs
  • Organic butter
  • Cod liver oil

Provitamin A:

  • Sweet potatoes or yams
  • Cantaloupe
  • Spinach
  • Carrots
  • Butter nut squash

What About Toxicity?

With the exception of cod liver oil, all of the other foods listed above have virtually no potential to cause vitamin A toxicity in your tissues. So long as you stick to an appropriate dose of cod liver oil, you can rest assured knowing that you aren’t getting too much vitamin A each day.

Every study that discusses the potential for vitamin A toxicity looked at synthetic sources of vitamin A. Clearly, it is best to get vitamin A from the healthy foods listed above and to avoid synthetic sources at all times.

Fabulous Power Foods for a Healthier Life

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The following power foods can claim big bragging rights: They can fend off serious diseases like diabetes and cancer and heart problems; fortify your immune system; protect and smooth your skin; and help you lose weight or stay slim.

1. Eggs

Egg yolks are home to tons of essential but hard-to-get nutrients, including choline, which is linked to lower rates of breast cancer (one yolk supplies 25% of your daily need) and antioxidants that may help prevent macular degeneration and cataracts. Though many of us have shunned whole eggs because of their link to heart disease risk, there’s actually substantial evidence that for most of us, eggs are not harmful but healthy.

People with heart disease should limit egg yolks to two a week, but the rest of us can have one whole egg daily; research shows it won’t raise your risk of heart attack or stroke. Make omelets with one whole egg and two whites, and watch cholesterol at other meals.

2. Greek Yogurt

Yogurt is a great way to get calcium, and it’s also rich in immune-boosting bacteria. But next time you hit the yogurt aisle, pick up the Greek kind—compared with regular yogurt, it has twice the protein (and 25% of women over 40 don’t get enough). Look for fat-free varieties like Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt (90 calories and 15 g of protein per 5.3-ounce serving).

3. Salmon

Salmon is a rich source of vitamin D and one of the best sources of omega-3s you can find. These essential fatty acids have a wide range of impressive health benefits—from preventing heart disease to smoothing your skin and aiding weight loss to boosting your mood and minimizing the effects of arthritis. Unfortunately, many Americans aren’t reaping these perks because we’re deficient, which some experts believe may be at the root of many of the big health problems today, like obesity, heart disease, and cancer.

Omega-3s also slow the rate of digestion, which makes you feel fuller longer, so you eat fewer calories throughout the day.

4. Beans

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect food than beans. One cooked cupful can provide as much as 17 g fiber. They’re also loaded with protein and dozens of key nutrients, including a few most women fall short on—calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Studies tie beans to a reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and breast and colon cancers.

The latest dietary guidelines recommend consuming at least 3 cups of beans a week—3 times the measly 1 cup we usually get. Keep your cupboards stocked with all kinds: black, white, kidney, fat-free refried, etc. Use them in salads, stuffed baked potatoes, and veggie chili or pureed for sandwich spreads.

5. Nuts

In a nutshell: USDA researchers say that eating 1½ ounces of tree nuts daily can reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes. Walnuts are rich in omega-3s. Hazelnuts contain arginine, an amino acid that may lower blood pressure. An ounce of almonds has as many heart-healthy polyphenols as a cup of green tea and 1/2 cup of steamed broccoli combined; they may help lower LDL cholesterol as well.

The key is moderation, since nuts are high in calories. Keep a jar of chopped nuts in your fridge, and sprinkle a tablespoon on cereal, salads, stir-fries, or yogurt. Or have an ounce as a snack most days of the week.

6. Edamame and Tofu

Soy’s days as a cure-all may be over—some claims, such as help for hot flashes, don’t seem to be panning out—but edamame still has an important place on your plate. Foods such as tofu, soy milk, and edamame help fight heart disease when they replace fatty meats and cheeses, slashing saturated fat intake. Soy also contains heart-healthy polyunsaturated fats, a good amount of fiber, and some important vitamins.

Soy’s isoflavones, or plant estrogens, may also help prevent breast cancer. Some researchers believe these bind with estrogen receptors, reducing your exposure to the more powerful effects of your own estrogen, says Prevention advisor Andrew Weil, MD. But stick with whole soy foods rather than processed foods, like patties or chips, made with soy powder. Don’t take soy supplements, which contain high and possibly dangerous amounts of isoflavones.

7. Flaxseed

Flaxseed is the most potent plant source of omega-3 fats. Studies indicate that adding flaxseed to your diet can reduce the development of heart disease by 46%—it helps keep red blood cells from clumping together and forming clots that can block arteries. It may also reduce breast cancer odds. In one study, women who ate 10 g of flaxseed (about 1 rounded tablespoon) every day for 2 months had a 25% improvement in the ratio of breast cancer–protective to breast cancer–promoting chemicals in their blood.

Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of flaxseed a day on your cereal, salad, or yogurt. Buy it preground, and keep it refrigerated.

8. Olive Oil

Olive oil is full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats (MUFAs), which lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and raise “good” HDL cholesterol. It’s rich in antioxidants, which may help reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases, like Alzheimer’s.

Look for extra virgin oils for the most antioxidants and flavor. Drizzle small amounts on veggies before roasting; use it to sauté or stir-fry, in dressings and marinades, and to flavor bread at dinner in lieu of a layer of butter or margarine.

9. Avocado

These smooth, buttery fruits are a great source of not only MUFAs but other key nutrients as well. One Ohio State University study found that when avocado was added to salads and salsa, it helped increase the absorption of specific carotenoids, plant compounds linked to lower risk of heart disease and macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness. “Avocados are packed with heart-protective compounds, such as soluble fiber, vitamin E, folate, and potassium,” says Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet.

But they are a bit high in calories. To avoid weight gain, use avocado in place of another high-fat food or condiment, such as cheese or mayo.

10. Tomatoes

Tomatoes are our most common source of lycopene, an antioxidant that may protect against heart disease and breast cancer. The only problem with tomatoes is that we generally eat them in the form of sugar-loaded jarred spaghetti sauce or as a thin slice in a sandwich. For a healthier side dish idea, quarter plum tomatoes and coat with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Roast in a 400°F oven for 20 minutes, and serve with chicken.