Category: Food

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Cleanse and Detox

Cleanse and Detox.  The words cleanse, detox, diet, for some can be quite emotive, even scary, or a potential joy for remedying digestive issues.  What you eat, drink and inhale, literally forms the building blocks of your body, therefore, it’s important to know how to help your body to swap some of the shady, polluted or diseased blocks with healthy ones to keep the body functioning optimally.  Not a lot of people are aware of how joined up our emotional states are to what we eat; it still surprises me when I talk to people who aren’t nutrition aware about how powerless they believe they are for their own state of health through what they eat and drink, think diabetes, cancer, skin conditions, arthritis to name but a few conditions which can be both caused and remedied using food.  Your body is super intelligent, give it good fuel and it’ll work the rest out!

I’ve tried pretty much every diet going, from the ketogenic to the vegan, paleo, low fat, low sugar, ayurvedic, no carbs, juice, G.A.P.S. (Gut And Psychology Syndrome); I’ve attempted intermittent fasting and dreamt about doing the lemonade, juice, water and a whole host of others cleanses too.  With fasting, I’ve never gotten too far as my BMI is always generally healthy but on the low side and to be honest, with past eating disorders, I don’t think this is something I want to put myself through (again, lol).  Dieting, wow, trying to heal my gut of Crohn’s, IBS, incessant bloating and skin conditions, that’s why I’ve tried a lot of them.  Before I go any further I’d like to acknowledge that we’re all so different and thus if you find something which works for you, go with that, go with your gut.  It’s only when things aren’t working out and your digestive, mental, emotional, skin and joint health aren’t feeling so good that you can be aware it’s time to change what you’re doing around your diet.  Google define for:

diet noun
 the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.  e.g. “a vegetarian diet”

So by me talking about diet, I don’t mean you go on it only to lose weight or with a short term goal, as even if you’re starting out at 20 Stone, there’s going to be a point at which losing weight is no longer a goal.  Therefore, diet in that case isn’t looking long term and is probably unsustainable as starving yourself to get a goal can only lead to HAnger (Hunger Anger) and falling off the wagon due to being hungry, then eating, punishing yourself, crying, trying again, failing and falling into a trap of disempowerment and buggering yourself up.  With any food, aim to get it as close to it’s natural state as possible, and it’ll have less rubbish in which stresses out your body.  Whole grains, real food, produced by decent farms, being wary of big brands where mass production can dramatically decrease the quality of your ingested building blocks.  Just because an ad or packaging tells you something it’s healthy doesn’t mean it is; there’s a lot of advertising loop holes and if it needs someone to advertise it then clearly it’s not selling itself..  Most diet foods are full of chemicals and synthetic fillers, derived of nutrition and shoddy building blocks for your human organism!  So, have a good diet, and the cleanse and detox are a part of it, with less need to starve yourself or drink psyllium husks for a week.

The cleanse and detox I’m on at the moment involves:

  • Cutting the crap.  Phase it out to start, then simply, cutting foods which are processed, containing refined sugar, fake table salt and E numbers.  Also, alcohol, caffeine except a treat green tea if going out.
  • Switching to Fish, Olive, Coconut and flaxseed oils, reducing vegetable, sunflower, canola oils and animal fats.
  • Eating FRESH food everyday, cut up real veggies; make soups, salads, steam things, stirfries.  For animal protein (if you eat it) then eat fresh fish, lean poultry, eggs (if you can tolerate them), minimally so as to not over load your system during this time.  Make soup out of chicken with the bones in.
  • Having a large vegetable juice every day, on an empty stomach, adding wheatgrass powder, incrementing how much each week (up to 20g).
  • Being mindful of portion size, stop eating when full and save left overs for later.  Not being worried to clear the plate.
  • Probiotics, probiotics, probiotics!  In capsule, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, natto, miso, which ever but take a little bit with each meal to aid friendly bacteria and digestion.
  • Drink plenty of water or herbal teas.

So my cleanse and detox is pretty much the diet I hope to continue on, but the forward diet being one which has space for the odd night out with my friend gin, or going out for a curry or tea and cake; it just won’t be every week as the healthier I get, the less I want to go back to eating how I know doesn’t make me feel my best.

The more simple the better with diet and cleansing, in my opinion, you just need to know why you’re doing it and the consequences later on.  Trust your gut and think about your whole picture, not just how you want to look on your next beach holiday.

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The Way ‘back?’ to Health

The way back to health, or is that, the way to health?  As I’m not sure I’ve been at my best yet..

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Having visited the M&S at Westfield recently, I bought up as many carrots, organic cucumber, organic spinach, lemons, ginger and a couple of other veggies as I could carry, and it’s brought up some questions.

I stand at the check out, my shopping all veggies, lemons and some organic milk to make my kefir with and look around to everyone else’s containing bread, cakes, chocolate, sausages, ice-cream, potato salad and it reminds me of my cravings, when I’ve been at my most unwell.  When you’re healthy sure, enjoy these things on the odd occasion (if your taste desired them when you are healthy is another question!) but if these are in your everyday?..  How was I surviving before?  Why is it that I used to eat so much which I now know can cause me pain and discomfort?

About this time last year, I was getting into good health, bone broth, Kefir, juices (some but not done right for me I now realise), but I let this go due to some personal reasons.  Now, I’m bloated, always tired, have a foggy head, and seem to have intolerance to eating a LOT of different foods (I.e. pain from too much citrus or other fruits, eczema and random spots, constipation and bloating from other seemingly healthy eats, bacteria and yeasts having a party on my insides!), enough is enough.

Detoxes are at a plenty out there but to be honest, my gut instinct is that these aren’t all for me (having a super active job).  Now, the words diet and detox can trigger some pretty whacky or scary ideas.  I’ve had issues eating enough and too much, in the past and detoxes seem to send my sensitive system into shut down, so this time I doing things differently.  If you want to read my definition of a cleanse or a detox, clicky here.

Diet is about the way you eat, not a fad you do for a week or two.  Detoxes don’t have to mean starving yourself, but they do mean having discipline to not intoxicate your system with what can cause it to become disrupted in the first place..

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Probiotics, are they useful?

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I’ve been recommended to take probiotic supplements for years; ever since I learnt that I had Crohn’s disease, friends and teachers have advised me to take this product or that product to repopulate my flora.  The doctors have never told me to do so, I didn’t really appreciate what my flora is and it all seemed a bit much, so I didn’t bother.  Still having symptoms and issues with digestion a few years ago, I was decided to try them! But, they didn’t seem to do anything (I got a generic Holland and Barretts one, I don’t think this is perhaps a good quality).  People still kept talking about these things to me!  At the start of the year, I bought some more, of a good quality from a health food shop.  It was horrible!  I was more bloated and farty than before so I didn’t take them for many days!..

A few months ago I came across the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet, it described my problems, was written by a doctor and thus seemed like my prayers for  improved digestion had finally been answered!!   Except, I had to go on a hugely restrictive diet with a shed load of animal fats included, which seemed counter intuitive to what I had learnt about alkalising and not going too heavy on animal fat (due to it’s inflammatory and acidifying effect on the body).  There was so much science and sense in the ideology of it for the most part that I took the fundamental points, which were easy to apply into my daily life, and carried on being allowed to eat out and with friends!  The main thing I took, ditch grains (even gluten free), unless you NEED that cake or pasta meal for mental health reasons haha, and consume a lot more probiotics.  But note, that’s what’s currently working for me, we are all so different that it may or may not help you to try this.

You’ve possibly seen my post on Kefir, this book got me back into making my own (I flushed my milk mushrooms when I moved home last because EVERYTHING was too much of an effort when you have to move home), but also I started to use Sauerkraut (a live one) and to be able to continue with probiotics without making symptoms of bloating, constipation, gas, etc (all the things which make you want to die or simply NOT have a life in public!).

So, WHY take Probiotics?  Why am I still pursuing and now publically sharing about this?

If you’ve had anti-biotics (i.e. kills bacteria, even those helpful ones in your gut which help digest and absorb the right stuff from your food), steroids, parasites in your gut, some kind of poisoning, constant IBS symptoms (Irritable Bowel Syndrome, i.e. just a shit digestion and the doctors can’t say why, hence it’s a sydrome..), any type of strong cancer or other therapy drug or treatment, wasn’t breast fed, regularly consumed NON-ORGANIC dairy or meat (as these too contain a heap of anti-biotics), been constantly or regularly sick with something it’s possible that your gut is imbalanced.  As literally, you aren’t so much what you eat more than, what your gut is absorbing from what you eat (clearly if you’re living on burgers and chips, there’s not much nutrition there to start with!)..  It’s what gets into your bloodstream through your intestines which is what is powering your body and mind; what gets into your bloodstream is controlled by what bacteria are in your gut, if they produce good nutrients on breaking down your food or, if they produce alcohol, opiates or other things which can plainly cause you to feel mental and not very nourished; it’s going to make a difference to the sensitive biochemistry of your body.  This biochemical ‘fun’ can be expressed as skin problems like spots, rashes, welts, dryness; brain fog, sore joints and muscles, vision issues, and many more mental and physical disturbances.

Basically, bacteria are awesome, they’re on everything too.  This is a good thing, we work in harmony together and help keep each other alive.  It’s just when too many selfish/bad/pathogenic bacteria (rather than the symbiotic/good/healthy ones) end up making residence in our guts, we can feel less than our best and they basically run our show!   IF we have a good amount of healthy bacteria, our guts are healthy, then we are healthy and, these good bacteria help to keep not just the ‘bad’ bacteria in check but also our immune system can stay fully optimal and we have a lot less physical and mental issues and dis-eases.  Simple.

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If any of this resonates with you, yes probiotics might well be helpful, if not then probably not.  Mindset ALWAYS makes an X-factor of difference.

From my own trial and error, you read, I had issues at first but here’s some tips I learnt to make it easier, if you do want to try yourself, to see if they can help you a little (or a lot).  Note, I’m not a doctor, this isn’t cause to bin your GP, don’t be a dickhead, use some common sense, especially if currently taking any medication or suffering from any condition, check with your doctor first!.

  • Consume first thing with some warm (not too hot as it’ll kill the little lovelies) lemon water, as I found if taken with lunch, those little darling just make a party in my guts and I bloated like a balloon (update, now my gut is more balanced I tolerate them at anytime).  Eat something soon enough after to help them to have something to fuel them but go easy.
  • Get a good brand like Bio-Kult, one you know is going to still be alive and well and able to reach your intestines and not just give up half way.
  • To gently try first and support your bacteria day to day, try probiotics like Kefir, miso, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi.  ALWAYS look for organic, where possible, especially for the kefir, as if not, you have antibiotics in the milk from the poorly treated cows; so it’s kind of an oxymoron to consume non-organic kefir!
  • Start with less, build up to ‘full dose’ after a few weeks, the packet should have instructions, if not check the manufacturer’s website.
  • Try for a few weeks to cut out refined sugar and minimise grains, this is because the ‘bad’ bacteria thrive on these products, as well as the bi-products of them, if you are imbalanced can just make things feel harder biochemically than they need to be.  I cut out most sugars ages ago, have been a bit more diligent with sugar (added/refined) and sweet fruits (rather than acid ones which seem better on my digestion at least) and notice a massive decrease in bloating symptoms, bloating from gas is usually a bi-product from bacteria processing the foods in your gut.  Apply common sense here.
  • If you’re on a healing drive, add a little miso, sauerkraut or something like that with each meal, keep topping up those symbiotic bacteria, moderately, if it feels good to do so.  If not, then don’t!
  • Pre-biotics like different fibres etc can be useful to feel the bacteria, if you’re diet is a bit rubbish, look it up and balance this too.
  • Go easy.  You can apply this to everything, less stress in your head = less stress in your body = healthier body which is better able to manage itself and balance appropriately.
  • Keep trying things out!  Be consistent with any changes/additions/removals of dietary things for a couple of months to see if it does help but else if it’s not working, “next”!  As I said before, you have a different life, body and needs to me, I can tell you what’s helped me but there’s no saying if it’ll work for you.  Try it and see for yourself!

Happy bloat-free pooping!

 

References:

Gut and Psychology Syndrome (available on Book Depository, Free delivery!)

http://www.bio-kult.com/

 

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Vitamin D

sunshineD

Vitamin D requirements in the UK is my main focus for this post, as well as any other part of the world where we don’t recieve adequate sunshine during winter and changing months to keep ones body topped up with vitamin D.

Considering our change through the industrial and agricultural revolutions over the past few hundred years (or perhaps longer, don’t quote me and feel free to correct me on that one) we don’t get out so much.   Particularly during the summer months when we could probably accrue a nice stock of Vitamin D to see us through the winter.  Our bodies need vitamin D to:

  • Support a healthy immune system and therefore not be so sick prone
  • Help build/maintain healthy bones (along side calcium)
  • Promote healthy muscle function, including the heart muscle and respiratory/breathing tissues!
  • Work with brain development
  • Manages calcium levels in the blood and all over the body, calcium not only important for bones but for functioning and communication of the bodies vast nervous system.

So all pretty important things.  If you’re deficient in Vitamin D you can bet you feel

  • Tired and unable to get moving
  • Unexpected weakness
  • Chronic pain
  • Easily broken bones

Generally, unless you eat enough oily fish (with the bones of the small guys like sardines, mackerel or tinned salmon* – be mindful of choking hazards) and/or get enough sun, or live in a country with better sun UV penetration, Vitamin D can be something we’re lacking, especially the bulk of us who usually work indoors.

What to do about Vitamin D if you’re deficient?

Most likely your doctor will tell you to buy some supplements, unless it’s a really severe case of deficiency and they may give you an injection.  Both are fine.  Just be mindful you can take too much of this good thing and it is a fat soluble vitamin and therefore will store in the body in an unhealthy manner if you have an excess.  There are generally 2 different varieties and 2 different strengths you can get, get the lower strength (0.010 micro grams/day) unless advised otherwise.  The type needs to be D3, not D2, here’s why:

Ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) which is derived from plant sources also known as Viosterol and is produced by yeast and fungi. Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3),   which used to only be derived from animal/fish sources such as cod liver oil, is now also found in vegan form from the microorganism, lichen.  Vitamin D, (D2 and D3) are also fat soluble vitamins which means they require  some dietary fat to be present for their absorption (hence another reason oily fish rocks).

Vitamin D3 is produced in your skin when UVB  rays in the sunlight interact with 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) present in the skin.  D3 has a much larger efficacy (i.e. is much more effective) that D2, about 4:1 ratio of doses needed to achieve the same results, so don’t waste your time with a D2 supplement.

*Mushrooms are also reported to contain vitamin D – to give yours a boost, sun dry them in direct sunlight (of course if in UK needs to be done in the summer months) and store in an airtight container (if you can wait that long to eat them!) for consumption through later months of the year to ad a natural boost to your levels.

Hope that helps.  Always remember moderation, and natural balances are always better than supplements, get out in the sun when you can, remembering to take care during 11 – 2pm during summer months when the sun is the most hot, seek shade and plenty of water.

https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/what-is-vitamin-d/

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vitamins-minerals/Pages/Vitamin-D.aspx

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/84/4/694.full

http://www.powerofmushrooms.com.au/health-nutrition/health-nutrition/vitamin-d/

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Brilliant Buckwheat

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Why it’s Brilliant:

  • Gluten free
  • Complete, vegan protein (contains all essential amino acids)
  • Iron, zinc, manganese and magnesium rich (essential minerals)
  • Makes excellent pancakes (taste and consistency)
  • Easy to digest

Buckwheat, NOT a member of the wheat or grasses family but actually related to rhubarb or sorrel, the parts of it generally eaten are it’s triangular fruit seeds (groats), it was one of the oldest crops but became less and less grown recently due to it not thriving so well when used alongside lots of nitrogen fertilizers (bit strange to consider if it doesn’t need it then why use it!.?).  It’s thought to have originated in South East Asia and is the primary ingredient to the Japanese Soba noodles.  Yum.

 

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NRMdXx8fC8kC&pg=PA138&dq=soba+Japan&hl=en#v=onepage&q=soba%20Japan&f=false

http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreeingredien2/p/buckwheatisgf.htm

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5681/2

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=11

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Make your own hemp milk

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Hemp is a legal, non-psychoactive* cousin of marijuana.  Some of the benefits of ingesting Hemp:

  • One of very few vegan sources of complete protein (and is easy to digest)
  • Has balanced omega 3 and omega 6 profile (very important especially if you’ve dry skin, sore joins and/or high cholesterol)
  • Contains the highest amount of essential fatty acids from a plant source
  • Seed shells are also super high in fibre

I wont go into the industrial, commercial and other such amazing benefits of it as many people are already sharing this..

If you choose to make milk from hemp seeds it’s amazingly easy, tasty (has like a nutty, yummy taste) and nutritionally balanced; no need for added sweeteners either in my opinion!

Ingredients:

  • 1 part raw, happy, hemp seeds
  • 3 parts filtered water
  • A blender/food processor to blitz it all up and a fine mesh sieve/muslin cloth

Methodology:

Put seeds in a blender (start out with max 4 Tbsp, I’ve just got covered in the mix trying to make too much!), add 1 part water and blitz for a few minutes or until the water looks really thick and creamy.  Add the rest of the water and gently blitz for a little bit longer (you can add less or more here depending on how thick you want it).

Strain the milk from the bashed up seed shells, voila!  Store the milk in a recycled jam jar if you like..

Personally, I keep my seeds and milk in the fridge to help keep them from denaturing the delicate fatty acids into something not so great, using the milk within 3 days seems to be fine, use your brain if it doesn’t seem ok!

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So you’re then also left with the crazy shells pieces, keep it and use it!  Why not make the most of food?  Especially when it has a great nutritional value!  Put it into a clean jar for use in baking, adding to smoothies for extra fibre, or I like to add mine to my kefir with some other goodies as a part of breakfast.

Enjoy! 🙂 x

 

*There maybe a teeny tiny amount of THC present maybe but this generally isn’t enough for you to even notice it unless very sensitive to THC!

 

http://bodyecology.com/articles/hemp_nutty_food_source_good_for_you.php#.U3coAIE7ssA

http://www.seedguides.info/hemp/

 

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What is Kefir and How does it work!?

Milk Kefir
What is Kefir and How does it work??

Kefir comes in 2 forms, milk or water kefir.  I personally love the thick, and creamy milk Kefir; a super probiotic, tangy, thick and creamy yoghurt/drink, but on a more recent drive to lessen or stop (I’m going to listen to my body here and go with its flow) animal products consumption I’ve moved onto water kefir.

Hence, here I’ll share about both with you depending on your taste..

Eating Kefir can be of benefit to your body in many ways:

  • Helps to optimise good digestion
  • Regulate bowel movements
  • Heighten immunity
  • Help balance the guts in dysbiosis (imbalance between the good and bad bacteria in the gut)

For more information on Milk Kefir go here!

For Water Kefir head over here! 😛

I personally have found drinking it on an empty stomach first thing in the morning is the best, especially if your newer to super pro-biotic drinks, as depending on your internal bacteria and composition, it can have an adverse effect in needing the bathroom or feeling bloated. It’s probably important to add that not one glove fits all with foods and drinks, I love this stuff, it’s really been a help to me, I can drink it any time of the day without unwanted repurcusions but then I’ve been working with probiotics for about the last decade, when I learnt that they might be the key to helping me with my digestion and multitude of disorders which can come when the body is struggling to process foods. It took me a couple of years to work out my rhythm and what works best for my body. I see this as a bit of a medicine, in that not everyone needs it. As a child I suffered from a lot of ear aches and so had a lot of anti-biotics, as well as always having a fussy tummy (not being breastfed is one thing I’m curious if lead into this but can’t be sure) but having a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease in my 20s was a sure sign that my processing internally needed some additional support. This may resonate with you, it may not, if you feel the impulse to try, then try! There’s no harm in it, so long as if it doesn’t feel right that you discontinue trying 🙂

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Turmeric, the wonder spice

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Turmeric (Curcuma longa) has been renowned for it’s anti-inflammatory and healing properties for thousands of years.  It’s a relative of ginger and can come in its fresh root form or more commonly as a dried powder.  Both the oil and the yellow-orange pigment (curcumin) parts of tumeric have been much researched and have been found to have significant anti-inflammatory effects, as well as anti-oxidative, antiseptic, antibacterial and antifungal effects; especially the curcumin.

Additionally, turmeric contains essential minerals Manganese, Iron , Copper and Potassium, as well as Vitamin B6.

Anti-inflammatory medicines (herbal and pharmaceutical) work by helping to decrease swelling.  Swelling is the bodies reaction to tissue damage, this swelling reaction causes increased electrical activity to occur at your nerve endings and thus can increase pain felt.  Research has shown turmeric can be effective to help manage:

  • Osteoarthritis (possibly rheumatoid also but less research on this)
  • IBD: intestinal bowel disease (Crohns and colitis)
  • Depression
  • Gloated/gassy/painful stomach or intestines
  • Headaches

How to use it – Quantity (I never measure but appreciate some do):

  • Fresh root: 1.5 – 3 g per day
  • Dried root powder:  1/2 to 1 tsp per day for general health, I’ve been using a lot more when having active Crohns; but like everything – start modest and check with your doctor if you suspect any untoward reactions are occurring.

You can also buy it as it’s separate oil and curacumin counterparts, if so then reduce the amount slightly as it will potentially be more concentrated.

Methodology:

  • Make a paste* to use as desired
  • Put 1/2 tsp per person into meals when cooking

Studies have shown that turmeric raw and on it’s own not only tastes gak but, its potency is pretty meagre.  I’ve had friends just dumping a teaspoon in tea or milk, trust me, read on and you can make a tasty and much more effective drink or snack with ease.

The turmeric needs to be combined with black pepper, lemon juice, and/or a fat to increase it’s bioavailability and potency hence, making a paste is a super easy way to have a ready supply of turmeric available with maximum efficacy in reaching and helping your blood, digestion and any stressed out body parts in need.

Tumeric Paste Recipe:

Again, I find rough approximations work fine, if you’re making this chances are you’ve been stressing enough already!  Tip, it can be a bit messy, wear an apron 😉

  • 1 Part Tumeric Powder
  • 4 Parts Water
  • Good dose of black pepper ground in
  • Optional coconut oil can be added whilst cooking or after cooking add coconut, olive, flax or hemp oil to your preference
  • Other spices you’re working with, ginger can be good for digestive issues (for some), cardamoms, coriander seed, cumin (I’m not a fan of cumin but some find this works out well), garlic.
    • All of the above suggestions can be added during the cooking process, garlic sometimes is better raw, go with your guts

Put water, turmeric, black pepper and other optional extras in a pan, cook/simmer it for a minimum of 10 minutes.  It’ll make a paste and thicken.  Use immediately or leave to cool in some clean jars and store in the fridge for up to a few weeks (unless of course it seems to go manky before).

Recipes!

Tumeric Latte (great for winter!)

  • 1 – 4 tsps. turmeric paste
  • Cup of milk (your choice of milk, whatever makes you happy and feel good, stress free 😉 )
  • Honey to taste (raw of course is best if possible)
  • Optional coconut oil (find it’s the most complimenting out of potential oils)
  • Little more black pepper, depending on how much was added at time of making the paste, I like it spicy

Heat paste, few grinds of black pepper, and milk in a pan (not microwave, obvious reasons),  add the oil and honey once in the mug.  Stir it, taste it, add more honey maybe! 😉

Turmeric Tea (lighter version, summer vibes)

  • 1 – 4 tsps. turmeric paste
  • boiled water
  • Juice of 1/4 or 1/2 lemon, try it
  • Optional coconut oil (find it’s the most complimenting out of potential oils)
  • Bruised fresh ginger
  • Little more black pepper, depending on how much was added at time of making the paste, I like it spicy

 

The quick and easy method I like for this is to peel and bash a smallish finger of ginger, put it into a mug; add freshly boiled water, stir in some paste and squeeze in half a lemon.  Done.

I have friends who taught me about this who leave out the paste part and put it all in a pan and cook it up as and when.  Something like:

Add turmeric (one way to work with fresh turmeric and to not bother needing to grate it and stain your hands yellow for a week!), cumin, coriander seed, (or not, however you like it), fresh garlic and ginger, and ground black pepper into a pan.  Heat it all up for a minimum of 10 minutes.  Add the watery part to your mug and squeeze in some lemon juice, add some coconut oil here too if that’s your bag.

Simple!

I share this not as a fad but because I know this works!  Since my gastroenterologist suggested turmeric to me about 7 years ago I’ve made a point of using and investigating it’s benefits when I’ve had flare ups of the Crohns.  This has been an un-crippling pain reliever to say the least.  Hope it helps 😉

 

Some resources if you want to read more 😉

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The Simplest way to Healthier Insides

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Eat and Drink Alkaline.

Huh?  Alkaline is the opposite to Acid in terms of pH* levels; pH is a factor which has a large influence on how fast things grow (i.e. protein, bacteria, even cancerous tumors) in nature.  Keep with me here, needs a little science to explain..

So, what’s the point in bothering to eat more alkaline/alkalising foods?

Our blood generally ranges between pH 7.34 and 7.45 (slightly alkaline), this is the optimum conditions for our bodies to synthesise proteins, remove waste, and assist all the chemical reactions essential to our life.

Digestive juices however, are between pH 1.5 and 3.5, due their need to break down food stuffs.  Urine is around pH 6, depending on what you eat; and it’s the mechanism with the kidneys (blood filtering organs which filter toxins out of our blood and into our urine), which helps to keep our blood pH steady; hence you drink a lot of coffee, acidic, you get darker urine.

Why bother?  This is the role of our kidneys??

Yes, our kidneys do help but like us, they’re not infallible; the kidneys/urine excretory system isn’t instantaneous.  The kidneys help to level out the blood as it passes through them for filtering; but if you eat or drink things which are acidic this will also effect your blood pH for a time** (and thus the whole of your body).  This can create an environment where disease thrives and normal chemical and biological processes may suffer; some say then potentially leading to things like weight gain, kidney stones, weaker bones and muscles, arthritis, lower brain function, lower back pain, headaches, colon cancer and type II diabetes!

The good news – Alkaline diets are really easy to work with, the principles are simple: eat things you know are good for your body’s functioning and minimise/moderate the acidic bits.  e.g.

Alkaline foods:

Fresh fruit and vegetables, Lemon/Lime water excellent morning tonic

Soya bean (edemame), tofu

Almonds, chestnuts (most seeds and other nuts are slightly acidic so good in moderation considering their other benefits)

Olive, flax and canola oils

Green and herbal teas

Acidic foods:

Coffee, black tea (caffeine generally, which also can cause mood swings)

Processed foods, refined flours, refined sugars, and stuff that has a way long best before date!

Alcohol and soft drinks

Peanuts, most beans except soya

Potatoes, most grains (especially white wheat)

Meat, cold water fish and chicken are better varieties

Try it for 2 weeks and see if you notice the difference, simples!

SCIENCE PART:

*If you know me, you’ll know I’m a scientist at heart, hence my appreciation of yoga.  Thus, if you would like a little more info about what pH actually is:

‘pH’ is representative of ‘power/potential of Hydrogen’, which looks at the H or Hydrogen ion activity within an aqueous/water based solution

Neutral pH is about 7, this is equivalent to pure (non carbonated) water; totally acid is pH 0 and totally alkaline is pH 14.

**After food has been worked on by digestive enzymes in the stomach and passes into the small intestine (ileum) where you have villi which provide a rich link to the blood for absorption of nutrients from the digested foods.  Its between here and however long and many passes through the kidneys that the blood pH can be effected by what you eat; thus the non-instantaneous pH balancing act.

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Food for Thought

GMO Food for Thought

I got a book from my brother a couple of months back, very provocative – I nearly got too scared to eat anything after I read it.  However, in my opinion, information is power and we deserve more of a say over what we put in our bodies.  ‘You are what you eat’ as the saying goes, and cancer (in my humble and honest opinion), is a man made disease.  Please watch or read and draw your own conclusions.

The World According to Monsanto

Book:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/search?searchTerm=the+world+according+to+monsanto&search=Find+book

Film (free to view):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex9YocKmoMU

New year, new perspectives.

 

Love x