Food for thought…pardon the pun. We kill 4 million homeless abandoned dogs and cats in our animal shelters each year.
We eat more meat than we need to. It is bad for our health and contributes to heart disease and cancer because of the hormones artificially fed to fatten the animals.
We are disgusted that the Chinese eat dogs…yet we eat pigs and goats and cattle.
According to renowned research doctor Dr. Walter Willett who is chair of the nutrition department at Harvard’s School of Public Health the amount of red meat we eat is directly linked to a rise in risk of premature death from disease such as coronary heart disease and cancer.
Dr. Willett and colleagues, who have studied the link between diet and health for decades, published a study that followed more than 100,000 people over more than 20 years.
They looked at total mortality of people in the large study and found a linear, step-wise increase in risk of dying prematurely with higher red meat consumption.
In addition they compared one serving of red meat to other major protein sources, like poultry and fish and legumes. In every instance there was an advantage to consuming something else instead of red meat.
If we get down to one serving of meat, or less per week the risk gets pretty low. If we really want to go for the lowest possible, the study shows not consuming red meat at all is best for our health.
Preaching about what not to eat is a futile attempt…and I never do it. All I do is share what I have learned and what I do, and the benefits I derive from it. I have eliminated beef and chicken from my diet. I eat fish once a week, and maybe once a month have a piece of chicken. Since I have been following this routine I have felt healthier, and can walk farther and faster before getting winded.
It took severe heart disease to change my ways, but almost dying was the best thing that ever happened to me health wise. By following a Plant Based diet I believe I can live healthy and actively another 30 years. It’ s worth giving up the hamburgers and beef to see my grand-daughter grow up to be a beautiful young woman.
Cucumber and Lemon Water Detox
Detox water – helps you maintain a flat belly, cleans your body of chemical carcinogens and toxins and contributes to an excellent overall feeling of lightness and well-being. Your skin will radiate as well.
To make it use 2 lemons, 1/2 cucumber, and 3 quarts water.
Let it sit overnight outside the refrigerator to create a natural room temparture detox to naturally flush impurities out of your body.
You need both the lemon and Cucumber combined to assist in the detoxification process. Lemon alkalizes in the body thus supporting proper pH in the small intestine. Lemon is a natural anti-microbial detox.
Cucumber naturally reduces inflammation in the body and is effective as a diuretic and detox aid by excretion of wastes through the kidneys, thus avoiding your body’s need to purge waste through your skin. Rich in Potassium, Sodium and phosphorous, any form of cucumber, either as a juice or in its natural state will effectively neutralize blood acidosis. ….To your good health.
As part of our – 365 days to perfect health diet – We take Juice Plus daily
And Experts agree: the best way to reduce your risk of disease is to eat healthier. Almost every day, another piece of research or another news story touts the importance of our dietary choices — especially the benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables.
Whether it’s a new vitamin, an antioxidant, or some other phytonutrients not yet “discovered” by science, fruits and vegetables contain an unparalleled array of nutritional elements that offer numerous health benefits for our bodies. And, the thousands of nutrients found in fruits and vegetables work together in ways that science is just beginning to explore.
The message is clear: we need more of the healthful whole food nutrition of fruits and vegetables in our diets, every day. It’s the one thing everyone agrees we can do to improve our health and reduce our risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
Maintaining a healthy diet is difficult, at any age. From eating out, to the shortcuts we take to meet a hectic schedule, good nutrition often takes second place. Juice Plus+ offers a simple solution.
While nothing can take the place of eating a diet rich in whole foods, taking Juice Plus+ is a convenient way to get whole food nutrition from 17 fruits, vegetables and grains.
Please order your Juice Plus from us at our Juice Plus Web-site atSteveMonahanJuicePlus.com
You will feel healthier and glad you did.
sweet dates
eco healthy diet.com
Dates are a sweet Middle Eastern fruit rich in vitamins and minerals (like calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, iron, selenium and potassium – all of which work together to help lower blood pressure).Their fiber content also helps to improve our digestive system. In addition dates are high in fiber, and the natural sugars won’t send your blood sugar soaring.
Dates are rich in dietary fiber, which prevents LDL cholesterol absorption in the gut. Additionally, the fiber works as a bulk laxative. It, thus, helps to protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time and as well as binding to cancer-causing chemicals in the colon.
Fresh dates compose of soft, easily digestible flesh and simple sugars like fructose and dextrose. When eaten, they replenish energy and revitalize the body instantly. For these qualities, they are being used to break the fast during Ramadan month since ancient times.
They contain health benefiting flavonoid polyphenolic antioxidants known as tannins. Tannins are known to possess anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemorrhagic (prevent easy bleeding tendencies) properties.
They are moderate sources of vitamin-A which is known to have antioxidant properties and essential for vision. Additionally, it is also required maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in vitamin A is known to help to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
They compose antioxidant flavonoids such as ß-carotene, lutein, and zea-xanthin. These antioxidants found to have the ability to protect cells and other structures in the body from harmful effects of oxygen-free radicals.
Dates are an excellent source of iron. Iron, being a component of hemoglobin inside the red blood cells, determines the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.
Further, they are very good in potassium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that help controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Dates are also rich in minerals such as calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium.
To your health, Steve Monahan – i woman wellness.com
Starting a diet in 2013?
The 5 voices you will hear before change happens.
Voices in Your Ear
Like it or not after a couple of weeks on starting a diet, 5 little voices will start talking in your ears.
Fight through them and reach the state of “Accceptance”
When you get to acceptance your world will change and you will be on your way to long life and good health.
1. DENIAL — This voice says…“I feel fine.”; I don’t really need to diet. “This can’t be happening, not to me”. Denial is a defense for the individual. Denial is a conscious or unconscious refusal to accept facts, information, or the reality of the situation. Denial is a defense mechanism. It protects you from further hurt.
2. ANGER & FEAR “Why me? It’s not fair!”; “How can this happen to me?”; ‘”Who is to blame?”, ” this is not fault”. Once in the second stage, the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue.
3. COMPRIMISE — “I’ll do anything for a few more years.”; “I will give my life savings if…” I can still live heavy” “can’t we just live this way”. The third stage involves hope the individual can postpone or delay the change. Psychologically, the individual is saying, “I understand I just need more time..” People facing less serious trauma can bargain or seek to negotiate a compromise. For example “Can we still be friends?..” when facing a break-up. Bargaining does not provide a sustainable solution.
4. DEPRESSION.. “Everything is worthless, why bother with anything?”; “I’m going to be the same so what’s the point?”; “I miss my lifestyle, why go on?” The little voice will say – ” I have always been overweight, why bother”, Many people get stuck in the depression phase. They are so close to a breakthrough. They would make it if they could stop thinking of their problem, stop being self-indulgent and start thinking instead of those that love them. If you cannot change for yourself, then change for someone who counts on you in life.
5. ACCEPTANCE.. “It’s going to be okay.”; “I can’t fight it, I may as well accept it”, ” I will look and feel better very soon”, “I can see the new beautiful healthy me”
When we accept the event and then turn our situation over to God – or our higher self, and accept the need to change our eating habits, amazing things start to occur. This is the part where real change can now occur. When we get to “acceptance” things start happening in a positive forward momentum. We have passed through the dark valley, and are headed out towards a better, and higher level in our development as a person.
Only when you accept and reach “Acceptance” will your desire to change your lifestyle and your eating an “Eco Healthy Diet ‘ takes permanent hold.
Here’s to your Health, i woman wellness – Steve Monahan
iwomanwellness.com
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Gogi Berries Superfood
Gogi Berries are a new Superfood to the U.S., but very old Superfood to Asia.
Here are 4 things to know about this super healthy asian Superfood
1. What are Gogi Berries?
The goji berry is a superfood, also called the wolfberry. It is a bright orange-red berry that comes from a shrub that’s native to China. In Asia, goji berries have been eaten for generations in the hopes of living longer.
Over time, people have used goji berries to treat many common health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, fever, and age-related eye problems. Goji berries can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried (like raisins) and are used in herbal teas, juices, wines, and medicines.
2. What Are the Benefits of Goji Berries?
Research shows that eating Gogi Berries offers definite health benefits. Ggoji berries are filled with powerful antioxidants and other compounds that may help prevent cancer and other illnesses, including heart disease. Antioxidants may also boost the immune system and lower cholesterol.
Of the many varieties of Lycium, the Tibetan Lycium berry grows in remote unpolluted hills and valleys of Tibet and Mongolia, in soil so rich in nutrients that the berries are exploding with this special nutrient dense vitality.
Here are just a few ways Goji Berries support a healthy life.
Protects the liver — less fatigue, Helps eyesight – supports kidney function, Increases metabolic activity — burns fat and aids digestion, Boosts immune function – Lymphocytes, Interleukin 2, Immunoglobulin, Improves circulation — supports distribution of nutrients and quality energy levels, Improves sexual function and fertility — boosts libido and energy, Promotes longevity — brings life support to the blood and all internal organs,Rich in phytonutrients, antioxidants, particularly carotenoids such as beta-carotene and zeaxanthin.
3. How To Eat Gogi Berries
Savor each berry individually or add to hot and cold cereals, blender fruit juice drinks, add a handful to your water bottle and eat them as you drink, use in trail mix, soups, whole fruit and nut bars, baked goods, tea and fruit juice blends.
Healthy & Delicious. We mix up our combinations and play with the recipe almost every time we make a new batch. Children like it when we add dark chocolate chips to the blend. We use the Tibetan Goji Berries with sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pecans, a small amount of pine nuts, walnut pieces, dried blueberries, apples slices, cherries, peaches, pineapple, and a small amount of coconut shreds.
…To your Health, Steve Monahan
eco healthy diet.com
Scientific studies and research in the last 5 years has demonstrated that only 30% of heart disease and cancer in America is due to our genes. We now know that 70% of heart disease and cancer in America is caused by what we eat. This means that we as Americans can take control of our health, and reverse the terrible epidemic of heart disease, cancer and diabetes in America.
Cutting edge scientific research, endorsed by prominent doctors such as Dr Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr Dean Ornish, and Dr Stephen Sinatra concludes that a “Plant Based Diet” is the best way to accomplish prevention, and even reversal of heart disease.
Our Eco Healthy Diet is both a lifestyle, and a plant based diet. We incorporate both the science of the plant based diet, with the spiritual love of all living things – ourselves, our animals, and our planet.
A Plant Based Diet is based on whole or minimally processed plants, primarily fruits, vegetables, whole grains, tubers, and legumes. It excludes or minimizes animal-based foods such as meat (including poultry and fish), dairy, as well as refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.
The idea of a plant based diet is of immense value; it is based on great reverence for all Life. – Steve Monahan
iwomanwellness.com
Tumeric
EcoHealthyDiet.com
Overview:
Turmeric has been used for thousands of years around the world. Studies show that turmeric helps fight infections, and reduce inflammation – the real culprit in cardiovascular heart disease. It also stops platelets from clumping together to form blood clots.
Early studies suggested that turmeric may help prevent atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque that can block arteries and lead to heart attack or stroke. In animal studies, an extract of turmeric lowered cholesterol levels and kept LDL “bad” cholesterol from building up in blood vessels. Because it stops platelets from clumping together, turmeric may also prevent blood clots from building up along the walls of arteries.
Turmeric is widely used in cooking and gives Indian curry its flavor and yellow color. It is also used in mustard and to color butter and cheese. Turmeric has been used in both Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine as an anti-inflammatory.
In addition to helping Heart Disease, recent studies have found that turmeric and its active ingredient curcumin have anti-inflammatory properties, making it helpful in reducing pain in some people who have osteoarthritis and other chronic pain conditions. Recent studies indicate that turmeric might also protect against Alzheimer’s disease, possibly through antioxidant properties that can reduce damage to brain cells.
“The Great Spirit is in all things. He is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us…..That which we put into the ground she returns to us.” – Big Thunder
Original Plant Based American Indian Diet
American Indians were a healthy and vibrant people. They had and still hold a reverent respect for the earth, animals and one another. The native forefather’s of America lived predominantly on an earth safe Plant Based Diet.
The main part of their diet consisted of protein food sources.
Their diets were virtually sugar and salt-free.
Only very small amounts of natural sugars (honey and stevia)
Their diet consisted mainly of
• Fish • Corn • Beans • Squash • Root vegetables • Wild greens
• Herbs • Wild game • Nuts • Seeds • Berries • Mushrooms
• Prickly pears • Jerusalem artichokes • Watermelon • Pumpkin
• Wild grapes • Rose hips • Cactus • Water
In addition they had a high level of physical activity
Since they were forced to leave their homelands and be confined to barren lands reservations, they had to adopt a typical western diet. And because of that change of diet their health has severely diminished as a society.
The American Indians current non plant-based diet, consists of.
• Fat intake makes up 31-47% of calories in the diet
• Their typical diet is low in fiber, non-starch vegetables and fruits
• A large segment of the Native American community obtains most of their food from commodity food programs, and supplemental food programs.
• Large portion sizes at each meal.
• Access to food is frequently restricted to convenience stores due to isolated community locations.
Their current diet is now primarily.
• Tortillas • Fry Bread • Fried potatoes • Mutton
• Processed meats • Fried eggs • White bread
• Dessert food • Canned fruits • Canned Vegetables
• Macaroni • Soda and sweetened drinks
• Coffee • Tea
And instead of an active life style, their current physical activity is now like most Americans, mostly sedentary.
Conclusions
Because of their forced shift from a plant Based fresh food diet to the typical American processed food, high sugar diet American Indians now experience excessively high mortality due to heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
The 3 leading causes of death for American Indians are now.
1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Diabetes mellitus
• A Plant based Diet, their traditional way of eating was much healthier, and physical activity was part of daily life.
• Currently Native Americans eat a high fat, high sugar, high
Sodium, highly processed diet and are mostly sedentary.
• Because of leaving their rich heritage of a Plant Based Food Diet, and now eating a typical American diet, American Indians health has severely diminished, and they are now tragically dying from heart disease, cancer and diabetes because of adapting our western eating pattern.
There is a vivid lesson in this story for all of us. It again points out the need for all Americans to return to a Plant Based healthy food diet and an active lifestyle.
“Out of the American approach to life there came a great freedom, an intense and absorbing respect for life, enriching faith in a Supreme Power, and principles of truth, honesty, generosity, equity, and brotherhood as a guide to mundane relations.” – Sioux Chief Luther
Green Living 365 