Tag Archives: healthy foods

E is for Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) – which foods do we Eat?

Posted on February 21, 2012 | 1 Comment

Essential Fatty Acid Foods to Eat for Natural Health

In the last post we saw why Essential Fatty Acids, or EFAs, are so vital to our natural health (see previous post – E is for Essential Fatty Acids – EFAs).

Now we’ll look at the foods you should be eating in order to get adequate amounts of these nutritional giants.

Flaxseed oil which should be refrigerated has the highest content of linolenic acid of any food.  Foods derived from flax like flaxseeds themselves and flaxseed meal are great providers of EFAs.  Other nuts and seeds are also good sources – pumpkin seeds, hempseed and hempseed oil, walnuts, sesame seeds, Brazil nuts and sesame seeds.  Leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale, purslane (verdolagos for those of you in Mexico), mustard greens and collards, etc.  Oils such as canola oil (cold-pressed and unrefined), soybean oil, wheat germ oil can provide EFAs.  And most fatty fishes such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, albacore tuna, and others.
One tablespoon per day of flaxseed oil can give you the recommended daily adult portion of linolenic acid.  If you can’t or won’t eat enough of the foods listed here to get an adequate amount of EFAs, then please consider taking Essential Fatty Acid supplements to provide your body with this vital nutrition!

 

 

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E is for Essential Fatty Acids – EFAs

Posted on February 21, 2012 | 2 Comments

EFAs are vital for your natural health

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) which we often see as Omega-3 and Omega-6, are those fats which are vital to our health but which we cannot synthesize and must get from the foods we eat. EFAs are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids  which are made from linolenic, linoleic, and oleic acids.

EFAs work to keep our cardiovascular, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems in tip-top shape. EFAs are needed to manufacture and repair cell membranes, enabling the cells to get the maximum nutrition from our foods and then get rid of harmful waste products.

One of the most important functions of these essential fatty acids is producing prostaglandins that regulate certain body functions like blood pressure and blood clotting, heart rate, conception and fertility, and help the immune system by controlling infections and regulating inflammations and the diseases caused by it.  EFAs are important to maintain proper growth in children, especially in the development of the neural and sensory systems.

EFA deficiency is common in the United States, particularly Omega-3 deficiency.  We should strive for a ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids 1:1 and 4:1, however most of us actually have a ratio of between 10:1 and 25:1. The minimum healthy requirement for both linolenic (Omega-3) and linoleic (Omega-6) acid via diet, per adult per day, is 1.5 grams of each.

One tablespoon of flaxseed oil can provide this amount, or larger amounts of other linolenic-rich foods.

EFA deficiency and an imbalance of the ratio between Omega 6 and Omega 3 has been shown to increase the incidence of certain diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, asthma, lupus, depression and schizophrenia, insulin resistance,  postpartum depression, ADHD, and Alzheimer’s Disease as well as accelerated aging, stroke, obesity and diabetes, and arthritis – to name just a few!

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Y is for Yogurt – on You, in You, and all over You!

Posted on January 18, 2012 | 7 Comments

Yogurt is Great for your Natural Health and your Natural Beauty

Yogurt is one of the best products you can use for your insides and your outsides when it comes to your natural health and your natural beauty.  Here are some health benefits for eating yogurt (then we’ll go on to the benefits of smearing it all over your face!) -

Yogurt is full of enzymes that will help your digestion, while not putting you at risk of lactose intolerance.   One of the enzymes is lactase, which is the one that people who are lactose intolerant lack.  The other is beta-galactosidase which  helps improve lactose absorption in lactase-deficient persons.   So if you can’t drink milk, eat yogurt.

Yogurt contains friendly bacterial cultures that will give you a healthy colon, and  lower the risk of colon cancer. Lactobacteria, especially acidophilus, promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon and when you put friendly bacteria in your gut, you cut down on the risk of damage by carcinogens.

Yogurt is rich in a bio-available type of calcium, one of the minerals that makes your colon health and decreases the risk of colon cancer.  Calcium discourages excess growth of the cells lining the colon, which can place a person at high risk for colon cancer. People who eat a diet high in calcium have been shown to have a decreased risk of colorectal cancer.

Plain yogurt contains around ten to fourteen grams of protein per eight ounces, which amounts to twenty percent of the daily protein requirement for most persons.  And this is protein that is more easily digested than other types of protein.

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J is for Juicing for Just about everything

Posted on October 21, 2011 | 4 Comments

Juicing - a powerful natural health remedy

Want to get more oomph out of your day, then get it out of your diet!  Although I believe that eating whole fruits and vegetables is the best way to get nutrition and fiber into us, juicing is a good alternative.  It will give you some more liquid (although water is what really counts for natural health) and it will give you the nutrition available in fruits and vegetables.  You can go on a juice fast, if you wish, to jump start your weight loss and diet!

JUICING FOR MORE ENERGY

5 carrots
1 cucumber (English are really good)
1/2 bell pepper
1/4 red,and yellow and orange bell pepper
2 apples
3 stalks of celery
juice of one lime
1/2 bunch of parsley
one inch of ginger root
2 cups Pineapple chunks fresh (optional)

After juicing place juice in a blender add

2-3 handfuls of spinach blend until smooth

Drink daily to every other day for best results and use organic produce whenever possible!

To detox from pollution and chemicals (all around us everywhere), try juicing some organic greens and carrots in the morning.  They will flush out your system and take lots of the bad stuff away with them!

And to jumpstart your weight loss program, have a juice fast for a day or two, just to get your body used to less food and more vegetables and fruits.  It will look good on the scale and on you, too!

 

 

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I is for Indian Food – Intriguing, Exotic and Naturally Healthy

Posted on October 11, 2011 | 2 Comments

Incredible Indian Food for Natural Health

 

Saag paneer is like Indian comfort food – a thick, smooth and spicy spinach puree with little cubes of Indian cheese that will warm you during the coming cool months.

 

Ingredients

    • 1 3/4 lbs fresh spinach
    • 2 TBL. fenugreek leaves, dried of fresh (optional)
    • 1 hot green chili jalapeno pepper
    • 1/4 C. onions, diced
    • 2 TBL. grated fresh ginger
    • 1 C. chopped tomatoes
    • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
    • 2 TSP. ground roasted cumin seeds
    • 1/4 TSP. cayenne
    • ¼ TSP. cinnamon
    • 4 -6 OZ. paneer, cubes
    • 1 TSP. cornmeal
    • 2 -3 TBL. coconut oil

Directions

  1. Boil 1 C. water in a big pot. Add the spinach, chopped pepper, and fenugreek. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 25 minutes.
  2. In a separate pan, heat the oil, add the onions, and fry until they start to brown. Add the ginger and tomatoes, and cook at low heat for 10 minutes, until the mixture thickens a bit. Remove from heat.
  3. When the spinach is done, make it into a coarse puree (you can use an immersible blender or potato masher). Add liquid to make a smooth paste. Add the cornmeal, and cook the spinach gently for another 5 minutes.
  4. Add the tomato mixture to the spinach. Mix in salt, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, and cook gently for another 3-5 minutes. Add the paneer, and cook for another 5 minutes, covered.
  5. Serve with rice.

You can make a buffet table using saag paneer and other dishes like tandoori chicken or chana dal and different condiments and serve it all with a variety of Indian whole grain breads like naan and chapati = for an Incredible Edible and Infinitely Naturally Healthy Indian Meal!

 

 

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