Nutrition

Thursday, March 14, 2013


Mindful Eating

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Do u wanna know the NR. 1 trick to lose weight? Do you wanna feel sexy, get rid of a few pounds or just hate the dieting cycle? Here is the trick that will change your life, your body, your attitude and you will be a brand new person!!!

Do I sound like a late night TV commercial?
I know, just had to be a little silly.




 Now,lets get a little serious.

How many of you are desperately starting to lose weight and they last exactly until noon?
Are u on a constant diet and after you had the cookie you just blew it and went straight back to your old habits.
Or lets come the weekend, ladies night, a couple of cocktails and you feel like you just awakened a raging monster inside of you that wants to gorge on nothing more than fries, tortilla chips and of course chocolate cake.
The next day you tell yourself you will never eat again and swear you will only drink water, lemon juice and syrup for the rest of your life.

We women are a mess when it comes to food. No matter what we do, we can't seem to win the food fight! We are happy-we eat! We are sad-we eat!We are bored-we eat! We worked out- we eat!
Lets just be honest, there is always a reason for us to eat, every day, all day 24/7!!!

If we use all the energy and thoughts we have about food and invest it in something that really matters, ladies we could change the world!

So here is my Tip, that I personally found will make a huge difference in your eating habits.

Eat and think!!!

Eat when you are hungry and for no other reason!

Cook yourself a beautiful meal and savor every bite. Smell it, look at it, really taste the flavor.
Chew it at least 20 times if not more, and after you swallowed it listen to your body and see how it makes you feel. Does it make you feel light, gives you energy or do you feel heavy and sluggish?

Put down the fork and take a break, how full are you? Do you really need to consume everything that is on your plate? You shouldn't feel stuffed, just satisfied.

Don't have any distractions while you eat, no TV, radio, book or anything else that makes it hard for you to focus on your meal. Eat slowly, don't just mindless stuff your face.

If you prepared yourself a tasty meal, remember how much love you put into it. Where do the ingredients come from and how they will heal and nourish your body.
There is not much love in a frozen pizza!

We always overeat, that is why we gain weight. We think we deserve the cookie or reward ourselves with food but ruin our health. We stuff our feelings, so we don't have to deal with them, but this to shall pass. We have to learn to cope with uncomfortable feelings. Food is not the answer. Sure it is easy, but it doesn't solve the problem. It just makes us feel guilty.

Even if you eat a a double fudge brownie! Savor it, enjoy every bite, listen to how it makes you feel.
Always ask yourself why you want to eat the burger or the peanut butter cups? Is it a reward, are you bored or stressed?

We all have to learn that food is not our enemy, it is there to nourish us and it is fun and yes on special occasions it is there for celebration but it should never be an excuse or replacement for human connection and self love.

One more thing, throw out the scale!!! It is just a stupid number on the scale that doesn't define you.

Love, Cookies and Just Live

Jen



Thursday, February 7, 2013


Sugar!!!!

Sugar- sweet, delicious, evil friend. A delightful minute on the tongue in exchange for what feels like a lifetime on the hips. But weight gain isn't the only think of eating too much sugar!

Over consumption of processed sugar can contribute to a number of conditions, including tooth decay, type 2 diabetes, hormonal imbalances, overgrowth of candida yeast, chronic fatigue, more severe PMS symptoms, anxiety and even wrinkles. On the other hand, if you start to cut sugar out of your diet, you can shed excess weight, increase your energy, improve your concentration, improve your moods, and possibly steer clear of diabetes. To help you out, I'll let you in on some reasons why we get addicted, and how to read food labels for hidden sugars. I'll also give you some tips on how to start your sugar detox so you'll have a much better chance at living a long, vibrant, and disease-free life.
 
 Say No to processed Sugar!


Sweets trigger an increase in the hormone serotonin—a mood-elevating hormone. The body and brain get used to this higher level of serotonin and even depend on it for a sense of feeling good. So when our serotonin level dips, we wanna kill the donut. Candy also trigger the release of endorphins, the brain's natural narcotics, helping you to relax when stressed.
Ever noticed that you get ''high'' when u had a dose of sugar, that is caused by a rapid spike in your blood sugar, after a while you just feel like taking a nap and the only way to avoid that is to eat some more of the white sweet stuff. Sugar takes away more energy than it gives. Eventually, you find yourself exhausted, anxious, and moody. Yes, I eat way too much sugar and I cannot stand the way I feel after.

You not only gain pounds, but sugar also has some serious side effects.

Suppresses the immune system's defenses against bacterial infections
Increases the risk of blood clots and strokes
Contributes to hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, and difficulty concentrating
Can lead to hypoglycemia, kidney damage, an elevation in harmful cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, and tooth decay
Helps speed the aging process, including wrinkles and gray hair


So how do we get rid of the sugary cravings!?
The first step in breaking a sugar addiction is making the decision to stop eating it completely for at least a few days to start to get it out of your system. While it's usually best to make dietary changes gradually, sugar has the unique ability to inspire cravings that are refueled every time you give in to them. The only way to break the cycle is to stop feeding the sweet monster in you. Then the cravings will fade.. Continue to resist large amounts of sugar and actively avoid situations that cue you to eat sweets. Don't buy ice cream, candy and cookie, don't have it in your house.You know you cannot resist it, so don't buy it.

Are you eating out of habit? Because of circumstance? For a special occasion? Because everyone else is? Journaling can be helpful preparation for stomping out your sugar habit by making you aware of why you're eating it.

 
 Say Yes to Fruit!


For thousands of years, people ate whatever sugar occurred naturally in their diets, and it didn't seem to be a problem, it was a treat. The typical American now eats the equivalent of about 31 teaspoons of added sugar every day. Our bodies simply weren't designed to handle this massive load. The American Heart Association recommends that added sugar should be limited to no more than 6 to 7 percent of your total calories. Cut out foods with sugar, white flour, and high fructose corn syrup—including cakes, cookies, pastries, and most desserts. It's okay to have a dessert or sugary snack on occasion, but make sure it's not your main dish. Although sugar is generally found in desserts, added sugar can also be found in your main and side dishes, and even sauces. Look closely at the labels of processed foods, cereals, and sauces—like ketchup, barbecue sauce, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, and dressings. 


These sugar substitutes are all still sugar!
  • Agave nectar/syrup
  • Cane juice crystals
  • Cane sugar
  • Caramel
  • Corn syrup
  • Corn syrup solids
  • Carob syrup
  • Dextrin
  • Dextrose
  • Fructose
  • Fruit juice concentrate (apple, grape, or pear)
  • Galactose
  • Glucose
  • High fructose corn syrup
  • Honey
  • Lactose
  • Maltose
  • Malt syrup
  • Molasses
  • Sorbitol
  • Sucrose
Trick your taste buds. Using spices and herbs can trick your taste buds into thinking you're eating something sinfully sweet. Try adding cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, or other sugar-free flavors and spices to your coffee, cereals, or other dishes and drinks that could use an extra kick.

Eat a healthy breakfast. What you eat for breakfast will actually influence your food choices for the next 12 to 15 hours,and influence your energy levels, moods, and overall sense of well-being.  Typically, your blood sugar is at fasting levels when you wake up in the morning. If you start the day off with a muffin and a latte, you're choosing to ride the roller coaster for the rest of the day. If, on the other hand, you begin your day with a tofu omelet and fruit or some oatmeal, you're opting for a balance of foods that will be absorbed at a slower rate. Then you'll have a steadier flow of blood sugar that's far easier to keep balanced than if it were fueled by a muffin, a bagel, or a cup of coffee dosed with sugar and cream.

Eat throughout the day. The best way to avoid impulse eating when you're overly hungry is to eat several small meals, spaced throughout the day. This will keep your blood sugar more stable than eating the traditional two or three large meals spaced farther apart from one another. Schedule your meals around your body's needs rather than around your to-do list if you can. You'll find it much easier to stop eating once you're full; to make smart food choices from a rational, calm place; and to maintain even moods and energy levels. Eating balanced meals is essential for getting real satisfaction from what you eat and leaving cravings behind.
High-fiber foods fill you up—yet they bring less fat to the table.Plus eating high-fiber foods allows you to eat a higher volume of food while ingesting fewer calories. Some examples of energy-dense foods are: apples and bananas, avocados, flax meal, and kidney beans.

Happy Sugar Detox

Love and Cookies

Jen






Saturday, September 1, 2012




Why Milk Sucks!!!!




So once and for all, milk and dairy sucks! If you want to do something for your health and your children's well being, cut the white poison. You will be amazed what a huge difference it will make.
I listed a few reasons on why, once and for all you should skip the Moo-juice!!!
1. Cows are not milk machines. After years of living in filthy conditions, being kept constantly pregnant, and being forced to produce 10 times more milk than they naturally would, dairy cows are slaughtered.
2. "Moo" is not your first language. Human babies are not calves, so why treat them like it? Humans are the only animals who drink breast milk after infancy and the only animals who drink milk from a different species. It makes as much sense for people to drink cow's milk as it would for dogs to drink giraffe's milk!
An activist sucks on the teats of 'Freeda the Cow' as part of Animal Liberation Victoria's 'Milk Sucks' campaign launch on February 9, 2007 in Melbourne, Australia.  The Demonstration is aimed at increasing the general awareness of how environmentally damaging dairy farming is, and how it affects the animals themselves.
4. Studies show that over 75 percent of the world's population is lactose-intolerant. Can you say abdominal cramps, bloating, and diarrhea? The reason for this, is a lack of the enzyme ‘lactase’ which is responsible for breaking down the lactose (a sugar in milk) in the digestive track.
5. Dairy is scary. There's more to that glass of milk than you think. Dairy products are commonly contaminated with blood, pus, pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics.
There's veal in your cereal. Milk fuels the cruel veal industry. Considered byproducts of the dairy industry, male calves are dragged away to veal crates when they are just hours old.
6. Milk is bad for your bones. Instead of preventing osteoporosis, milk is a big cause of it. Dairy is highly acidic and to bring your blood back into a alkaline or neutral balance, your body leeches calcium from your bones.
7. Milk does the planet bad. Bad for mother cows, milk production is also bad for Mother Earth; it's a disastrous source of water pollution. Just one dairy cow produces 120 pounds of waste every day—as much as two dozen people could produce—but with no toilets, sewers, or treatment plants.
8. The white stuff isn’t the right stuff. Milk is formulated to meet the nutritional needs of calves—who have four stomachs and gain an average of 115 kg in their first six months. It's crazy for humans to chug moo-juice, and you wonder why people are obese!!
9. No grain means lots of pain. Every glass of milk takes a meal away from the hungry. Crops that could be used to feed the hungry are instead used to feed dairy cows. It takes a huge amount of grain cycled through cows to produce a very small amount of milk.
10. If you haven't read the China Study yet, please put it on your ''must-read'' list. Devoid of fiber and complex carbohydrates but loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol, dairy products have been linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

Have a beautiful and save Labor Day weekend

Love and Cookies

Jennifer







Tuesday, May 29, 2012




Healthy Travel Tips

 

My little trip to ''Sin City'' got me thinking about what our body has to go through while being up in the air. Dry skin and eyes, clogged ears, germs and jet lag are only a couple of stress factors our immune system has to deal with.






Here are some tips on how to stay healthy while traveling:

Drink, drink, drink!

Staying hydrated is key.
Drink plenty of water throughout the flight. Stay away from alcohol, coffee and tea. Don't worry if you have to keep getting up to go to the lavatory - the exercise might help prevent deep-vein thromboses.

We usually feel most comfortable when the humidity in the air around us is about 40 to 70 per cent. In an aircraft cabin it falls to about 20 per cent. It is common to suffer from dry eyes (which can cause serious problems for contact-lens wearers) and a sore or dry throat and nose. This dryness is often uncomfortable, but it might also make you more prone to infections. So drink up!




Eat light!

Remember our body uses 70 percent or more of our energy for digestion. Don't eat big meals, so your body can focus on keeping you healthy during a flight.
Eat light before arriving at the airport. You’ll need energy when dealing with long check-in lines and security and will want to avoid the airport’s fast food options. Load up on fruits and veggies. These types of foods will help you avoid dehydration.
You can bring light snacks in your carry-on, like a homemade cereal bar, made out of oats, dates and nuts or grab some fruit like bananas and oranges. These healthy snacks are easy to carry and are perfect in a hunger pinch. Make sure you don't over eat or gorge on rich foods before your flight. A bloated tummy in a pressurized airplane cabin isn’t something you want to deal with on vacation.
Once again-drink plenty of water before and during your flight.




Move around!

This is the biggest issue for most travellers. Apart from the sheer discomfort of minimal legroom - cramps, neck cricks and so on - long periods of immobility lead to a higher risk of DVT, and the risks may be greater at lower pressure.
DVT occurs when blood in the lower leg flows sluggishly and eventually clots, causing pain and swelling in the short term and a risk of sudden death from clots reaching the heart or lungs.
- Buy as much legroom as you can afford- especially on long distance flights.
- Wear comfortable, non-restricting clothes.
- Get up and walk around the cabin at least once every hour and exercise in your seat by alternately tensing and relaxing your calf muscles.
-Avoid crossing your legs, or keeping the same position for a prolonged period.
-Stretch as much as possible.



Sleep!

Get as much sleep as you can before your trip and while on the airplane. Being exhausted and stressed weakens your immune system, making you more prone to infections. Don't stress out about any delays that may occur - life is to short and you will get to your destination sooner or later but you will be way more relaxed.




Use a neti pot before departure!

The air at altitudes of 30,000 to 35,000 feet, where most commercial airlines fly, is extremely dry, and the recirculation systems used in airplane cabins dry the air out even more. The lack of humidity sucks moisture from the tissues of the nose and mouth, compromising the body's natural defense system. And if you're already congested from allergies or a cold, the problem is even more acute.
Neti pot or other nasal irrigation devices, alleviate congestion, facial pain and pressure.

You can also get a natural nose spray to keep the nose from drying out during the flight
This one is a great alternative to chemical nose sprays!
Sinol, Sinol M, All Natural Nasal Spray with MucoAd, 15 ml



Germs-Awwww

I think germs are overrated. Our body has an amazing ability to fight them , but with your immune system already compromised and an airport full of people better save than sorry!
Airplanes seem to be the breeding ground for many viruses, in part because so many people are confined to such close quarters and viruses thrive in a dry environment like the one on an airplane.
One of the simplest ways to avoid germs on a plane flight is to follow your mother's advice: wash your hands! Wash your hands with warm to hot water and soap, lathering and scrubbing for at least thirty seconds. If you are washing your hands in the airplane restroom, make sure that you open the door with a paper towel upon exit, because not everyone is likely to be quite so conscientious!
Another important factor when trying to avoid germs on a plane flight is to keep your hands away from your face. If you touch the tray table, the armrest, or the magazine, you are essentially touching everyone who has touched these things before you. You absolutely do not want to put your fingers in your mouth or rub your eyes or nose after this — at least not until you wash your hands thoroughly.


Happy Traveling


Love and Cookies

Jennifer






Tuesday, March 27, 2012




The Biggest Loser and Subway!!!

The Biggest Loser

I love the Biggest Loser! Love to watch it, love the message, love how they push the contestants to work out and be the best they can be, love the transformations, but it makes me really upset how they keep on promoting Subway sandwiches as a health food...there bread is full of crap, preservatives, dyes and even high fructose corn syrup!
You want to call that health food, I don't think Mc Donald is much worse.




Subway promotes their wheat bread as whole wheat. It is just as bad as white bread, with enriched wheat flower being the first ingredient. Anything that is stripped of its fiber will be recognized by the body as pure sugar. You might as well eat that cake!

High Fructose Corn Syrup really!? I am sure you have all seen the Pro High Fructose Corn Syrup commercials. It is just like sugar and fine in moderation!Ugh..does that mean you have to add it to everything from bread to jelly and ketchup! It is not fine, not even in moderation. It causes obesity, Type 2 diabetes, Hypertension, long term liver damage and studies even found high level of mercury in HFCS, which can cause irreversible brain and nervous system damage.


Their sauces and dressings are not much better. Full of chemicals, preservatives, sugars and saturated fats.
The first ingredient in their ''Sweet Onion Dressing'' is sugar! The first one in their ''Honey Mustard Dressing'' is High Fructose Corn Syrup. Healthy is different.
Even the veggies, like the pickles are full of preservatives and even food coloring.


I am not a calorie counter and I don't believe in counting calories, but 1200 calories, 12 grams of saturated fat and 1560 g of sodium in a meatball sandwich, that is promoted as ''fresh and healthy'' gives me the chills. Crazy world we live in!


We all have to learn to stop believing in commercials and junk people want to sell us. It is all about money and profit!
Nobody gives a sh... about your health!!!
We have to educate ourselves and always, always read ingredients and ask questions. Be in charge of your own health and future.
Make yourself a healthy sandwich with some sprouted, organic bread, hummus, avocado and tons of fresh veggies..that is what I call ''eat fresh''!


Love and Cookies

Jennifer





Sunday, February 26, 2012




Food Combining-who would have known!

 

Just finished up a report on food combining.It amazes me over and over again how food combining affects our health and beauty.So many people know so little about it, but it has a huge effect on our digestion and our well being. It is a little secret that can make a huge difference.

So what exactly is food combining? Every food we eat is classified in different food groups, like carbohydrates, starches, proteins and fats.
There are different kind of digestive juices in our stomach that helps to break down the foods we eat and each kind of food calls for its own specific modification of the digestive juice.. to say it simple if we mix up food groups we greatly impair the efficiency of digestion. Nutrition will be enhanced, because only food that is digested is capable of nourishing us. Various disease of the digestive tract are increasing at an alarming rate, for example colon cancer.Rather than pop a pill to suppress the symptoms of indigestion, it would be wiser to apply food combining practises. Anybody can benefit from it.
If you think about our ancestors, they never had a meal made out of steak, french fries and overcooked broccoli. They usually ate one thing at a time, eating from and apple tree until they were full, giving the body enough time to digest properly until they introduced another food group.
Benefits of food combining include: better digestion, increased energy, weight loss, clearer skin and a sense of well-being.
So what are the food combing rules?
I will try to make it as simple as possible.





1. Eat fruit only by itself
That is a rule I live by, you can combine fruit with other non starchy vegetables, like greens, but don't mix fruit with any other food group.The reason behind it, fruit digests so quick (30-45 min) and if you would eat it with other foods it will ferment and be stuck in your digestive system like a traffic jam.Best time to eat fruit is for breakfast. And don't have fruit for dessert.


2. Eat veggies with everything
Non starchy veggies combine well with every food group.That doesn't include potatoes, squash or other starches.


3. Eat protein with unlimited non starchy vegetables
Protein combines well with all kinds of raw or (cooked) vegetables.
Eat up!


4. Don't combine animal protein and starches
Don't eat a steak or chicken with potatoes or rice. Protein requires a highly acidic hydrochloric acid for digestion. Starches require a nearly neutral medium for digestion.Because of these differential working conditions in your body, the digestive process becomes very complicated. It can take double the time to digest the food properly.


5. Don't combine fat and animal protein
Fat slows down the flow of gastric juice interfering with protein digestion. Extra fat intake makes digestion difficult.


If you feel bloated and tired after a meal give these food combining tips a try and see how you feel.


Have a beautiful Sunday.


Love and Cookies

Jennifer









Friday, February 17, 2012




Scary Food Additives





Good Morning America...
Oh Oh the scary and toxic world of food additives.They live in everyday foods like breads,cereals,lunch meats,cookies and many many more wanna be foods.
Food additives function as emulsifiers, stabilizers and thickeners. They are used to modify taste, texture, color, nutritional value, as well as improve flavor and prevent spoilage.If consumed on a regular basis these ''FRANKEN FOODS'' can cause serious health issues.
There are more than 3,000 substances used as food additives that can either be natural or synthetic.


Additives that you should not consume are



Artificial Sweeteners
Acesulfame potassium is a non-caloric sweetener that is about 200 times sweeter than sugar, so only a little is needed to get a sweet flavor. Tests done in the 1970s indicated that acesulfame potassium may cause tumors.

Artificial Colors

Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 3, and Yellow 6 are all suspected carcinogens. They can be found in a wide range of products to include beverages, baked goods, candy, gelatin, certain cereals and sausage. There is concern that not enough testing has been done on these additives. Use of artificial colorings in beverages indicates that natural ingredients or real fruits are not used.

Preservatives

Sodium nitrite is used to preserve meats and can be found in lunch meats, bacon, hot dogs and canned meats. Sodium nitrites are a concern because when they mix with stomach acids, they are converted to nitrosamines which have carcinogenic properties, or also called cancer causing effects.

Butylated hydroxyanisole, or BHA, is used in many processed foods such as potato chips, chewing gum and certain cereals. This preservative is used to prevent oil from becoming rancid. BHA has been shown to cause cancer and also seems to affect sleep and appetite.

Fat and Fat Substitutes

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is used in many baked goods, margarine, crackers, snack foods, salad dressings, fried foods and microwave popcorn. Trans fat is formed when vegetable oil is converted into a solid by adding hydrogen. The newly created trans fat raises cholesterol levels. Trans fats are also associated with heart disease, breast and colon cancer and atherosclerosis.

Oxidizing Agents

Potasium bromate is an oxidizing agent used in the bread-making process to make the bread stronger and more elastic. Bromate has been shown to cause cancer in animals and has been banned in several countries to include Canada and the European Union. In California a warning label is required when bromated flour is used.
So what is the best way to avoid these harmful chemicals!!Eat whole unprocessed plant foods and if you don't understand what is on the ingredients list and it sounds like you need a degree in chemical science don't buy it.Pretty simple!!

Love and Cookies
Jennifer








Friday,October 14, 2011


Heart Attack Grill...you gotta be kidding me!!!












I stubbled across this on Kris Carr's blog and I still can't believe it!!

There is a place outside Phoenix, Arizona, whose name, and I am not making this up, is the Heart Attack Grill. The restaurant is very often packed. It offers what owner Jon Basso calls, “an environment of acceptance to overweight customers who are typically demonized by society.”
But at this restaurant, it’s a little more than acceptance. The Heart Attack Grill literally celebrates obesity. Customers who are over 350 pounds eat for free. A scale is strategically placed at the center of the restaurant, so other diners can watch the weigh-ins. When customers exceed 350 pounds, says the restaurant’s owner, “Everybody applauds and cheers
Waitresses, all of them young and slender, are dressed as nurses, wearing high heels, thigh-high stockings, and skimpy outfits revealing lots of cleavage.
It sounds like fun.
Except when it isn’t.
Several months ago, the 575-pound spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill, a 29-year-old man named Blair River, died. It wasn’t a heart attack, it was pneumonia. He had been the public face of the restaurant and the star of its advertising. He was also the single father for a five-year-old girl.
At nearly 600 pounds. Blair River ate all his meals free at the restaurant.
Heart Attack Grill owner Jon Basso did not deny the link between the young man’s excessive weight and his tragically premature death. “I hired him to promote my food,” said Basso, “[but his] life was cut short because he carried extra weight.” Ironically, the restaurant’s motto is “Food Worth Dying For.”
Of course, no one is forcing anyone to eat at the Heart Attack Grill or to stuff themselves full of unhealthy food. It’s a free country, and we’re free to eat ourselves to death if we want to do so.
Some would say that the Heart Attack Grill steps over a line, to the point of enabling dangerous food addictions. There is certainly nothing remotely resembling healthy on the menu. Customers can purchase cigarettes, but only the non-filtered type. On the wall are prominent displays advertising menu items such as “Quadruple Bypass Burgers” that carry 8,000 calories, and “Flatliner Fries” that are deep-fried in pure lard. Perhaps joking, owner Basso says, “We’re in the front lines of the battle against anorexia.”
But Blair River’s death is no joke. And it would be a mistake to make light of the medical consequences of obesity. The Centers for Disease Control tells us that obese people have a substantially higher risk not only for heart attacks, but also for diabetes, most cancers, and many other types of cardiovascular disease.
Heart Attack Grill owner Basso doesn’t plan any changes on account of the young man’s death. Scantily-clad waitresses will still regularly exhort customers to eat all they can. He’s making money, and thinks the restaurant is great fun.

UNBELIEVABLE...I HAVE NO WORDS!!!!

Love and Cookies

Jennifer




 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011




Jillian Michael's opinion on ''Vegan Raw Food''


Let me first start by saying that I love Jillian Michaels.I think it is amazing what she did on all the seasons of Biggest Loser.How she helped out hundreds even thousands of people mentally and physically.She is an amazing women and an inspiration to a lot of people.I read her book ''Unlimited'' and the way she approaches life and tells you how to be the best you can be and reach your full potential is very motivating.She knows how the human body and mind functions and as we all know when she has a strong opinion about something, she will let everybody know and doesn't sweet talk anybody about it.You go Girl...

Which brings me to the topic I wanted to talk about.
Ever since leaving Biggest Loser Jillian is on the WCIU Show ''The Doctors''.The show is hosted by 3 doctors plus Jillian and the main subjects are health,beauty,nutrition and exercise.So today they discussed the raw vegan diet.And let me tell you Jillian had a very strong opinion about the vegan diet.She got really upset!She said that the human body is not meant to thrive on a vegan diet,that we can get E.coli from a raw vegan diet,that we are missing out on important B vitamins and that most of the vegetables we eat are better when they are cooked...
Well everybody is entitled to have their own thinking...I just wonder why she is so against it.As far as I know her once Co- Partner on BL Bob Harper is a Vegan or at least a part time Vegan(-;

We can argue back and forth if we are meant to eat meat but everybody knows that we should eat more plant foods and less animal products.If we all would lean more towards a plant strong diet,obesity rates would go down quickly.Nobody ever got fat and unhealthy from raw fruits and vegetables,whole grains,beans and legumes...burgers and hot dogs on the other hand..well that is another story!!!

The reason why there are E.coli outbreaks and people have gotten sick from eating spinach or cucumbers is because factory farms dump millions of gallons of putrefying waste into massive open-air cesspits,which can then contaminate the water that is used to irrigate the crops.E.coli is a bacterium that comes from poop..from animal poop.You can even get it if you swim in water that is contaminated.So lets not blame our beautiful raw veggies...

The list below shows all the important B Vitamins our body needs,besides Vitamin B12 we can obtain all these B Vitamins from a plant based diet.The reason why Vegans don't get enough B12 is because microorganisms, primarily bacteria, are the only organisms that manufacture B12. These bacteria often live in bodies of water and soil. Animals get B12 by eating food and soil contaminated with these microorganisms.Since Vegans don't eat any animal products and usually wash vegetables before consuming we hardly get B12.If we would still all have vegetable gardens and healthy rich soil there would be no Vitamin B12 issue.

Vitamin B1 (
thiamine)
Vitamin B2 (
riboflavin)
Vitamin B3 (
niacin or niacinamide)
Vitamin B5 (
pantothenic acid)
Vitamin B6 (
pyridoxine, pyridoxal, or pyridoxamine, or pyridoxine hydrochloride)
Vitamin B7 (
biotin)
Vitamin B9 (
folic acid)
Vitamin B12 (various
cobalamins)

There are 2 vegetables which nutrients are better absorbed when the are cooked.Carrots and Tomatoes.Carrots do release more of that beta-carotene and other phenolic compounds when they are cooked rather than eaten raw.Cooked tomatoes are also higher in lycopene than raw ones.
Those two vegetables-well tomatoes are actually a fruit are the only exception of the rule.Raw vegetables are far more nutritious.Overcooking veggies can rob them of much of their nutritional content.

I respect and appreciate when famous people have their own opinion,but they also have to understand that they have a big influence on people. Saying that a Vegan Diet is unhealthy is plain and simple ignorant!


Love and Cookies

Jennifer











Friday, September 23, 2011




Bad food-bad skin

For all of you who ever wondered if your food choices affect your skin.Yes they do..everything you eat your skin absorbs from your bloodstream.Sugar,dairy and processed foods are your biggest enemy,when it comes to beautiful,healthy,glowing skin.Here are some tips on what to avoid and what to eat if you want to avoid breakouts.



Choose Low Glycemic Foods

Eating foods with a lot of sugar (as well as refined carbohydrates such as white bread that are broken down quickly into sugar) causes your blood sugar to spike.Elevated blood sugar stimulates your body to pump out insulin,which then triggers a cascade of hormonal effects,including elevated levels of the male hormone androgen,excess oil and increased skin cell production,all of which lead to clogged pores and breakouts.


Quit Dairy

Milk is full of growth hormones,which will be absorbed into your bloodstream and will affect your skin.Milk can affect your Insulin.Even if it has a low GI it still affects your blood sugar and will affect your human hormone production.Especially whey protein which comes from the whey of cow's milk and is added to protein bars,cereals and is a by product of cheese,has a lot of male growth hormones which cause acne.And lets not forget all the other steroids,antibiotics and chemicals that we ingest if we drink cow's milk,even pasteurization and homogenization can't destroy these compounds.


Avoid Iodine

To much salt in processed and canned foods,Iodine in cow's milk and table salt are all linked to acne.
Iodine is a mineral that has been clinically proven to aggravate acne. The biggest source of iodine is iodized table salt. Avoid that salt. Other food sources of iodine include oysters, lobster,seaweed, shrimp and milk.Try to limit these foods.


Eat Zinc-Rich foods

Zinc is natural anti-inflammatory as well as an inhibitor of acne causing bacteria.No wonder a lot of people with acne have a zinc deficiency.Before you go out and buy a zinc supplement,be careful because excessive zinc intake can actually be toxic.Get your zinc through foods, like lentils,kidney beans,almonds,cashews,tempeh,sunflower and sesame seeds.I know that red meat is a source of zinc but it is also very high in saturated fat and cholesterol which can lead to heart disease.


Omega-3s to fight acne

Omega -3s actually reverse the damage caused by a diet high in inflammatory foods.It is a natural anti-inflammatory,so it has the potential to calm broken out skin.Omega-3 may also decrease the hormone that causes increased oil production and clogged pores.And last but not least,Omega 3s may act as a natural mood booster.Well if that is not a good reason to eat your flax seed.Vegan sources of Omega-3s are flax seed,walnuts,hemp oil,pumpkin seeds and soy beans.


Let's eat our way to beautiful skin



Love and Cookies

Jennifer







Thursday, September 1, 2011


What’s up with the meat!!! 

Ok let's discuss the big meat subject...I could never live without meat. Where do you get your protein from? I am a guy I need meat. Vegans are sick and unhealthy. Our ancestors ate meat....yadayadayada
Heard it, done it let's talk facts!!
Let me start by saying, I am not here to judge anybody, my husband eats meat, my whole family does and most of my friends do. I stopped with the preaching a long time ago, doesn’t get you anywhere. If people ask me about the way I eat or have health related questions I love to answer, otherwise I don't even mention it. I used to be a steak and potatoes girl. Some fillet mignon and some creamy mashed potatoes-perfect I was in heaven. Top it off with some sugar, dairy cows blood dessert and I was all good to go, at least until I had to take a nap or spend the next hour in the bathroom...well let’s not go there.
We all know that meat is very hard to digest, that is why we often feel sluggish and tired after a big steak. Meat putrefies within 4 hours after we eat it and the remnants cling to the walls of the intestines for 14-21 days. If a person is suffering from constipation the rotting meat can stay in the intestines for months or years. Our small intestines are about 23 feet long. A tiger on the other hand has a very short digestive tract, so he is able to absorb and break down the flesh he eats quickly. Also the saliva in humans is more alkaline, whereas in the case of animals that eat flesh, it is clearly acidic. The alkaline saliva does not have the ability to break down the meat.
We also do not have any sharp long claws or teeth to hunt, catch and kill our prey. We would all be vegetarians if we would have to start hunting our meat all by ourselves just with our own human strength. Pretty crazy, knowing that some people can hardly make it to the fridge!!!!
We are not meant to eat meat because all omnivorous and carnivorous animals eat their meat raw. When a lion kills an herbivore for food, it tears right into the stomach area to eat the organs that are filled with blood (nutrients). While eating the stomach, liver, intestine, etc., the lion laps the blood in the process of eating the dead animal's flesh. Even bears that are omnivores eat salmon raw. However, eating raw bloody meat disgust us as humans. Most off you would end up with food poisoning in the hospital or would throw up from the smell before you could even ''enjoy'' the taste off it. This is why humans must cook it and season it to cover the taste of the flesh.
 Those are the facts of the human body-it is not an opinion it is the way we are born. PERIOD!!

 
There is no longer any doubt about the fact that eating meat is bad for your health.
Meat contains absolutely no fiber and nothing - no protein, vitamins or minerals - that your body cannot obtain perfectly happily from a plant based diet.
The list of diseases known to be associated with meat, which are commoner among meat eaters, looks like the index of a medical textbook. Anemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostate, constipation, diabetes, gall stones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins are just some of the well-known disorders which are more likely to affect meat eaters than vegetarians.
It is not just how our body is designed that causes those diseases, but also that we consume animal products way too often, sometimes with every single meal and whatever crap the cow, pig or chicken ate you will eat too.
Foods that animals get to eat can contain cattle manure, swine waste, and poultry litter. This waste may contain drugs such as antibiotics and hormones that have passed unchanged through the animals' bodies. Animals raised in humane conditions with appropriate space and foods rarely require medical treatment. But animals at animal factories often receive antibiotics to promote faster growth and to compensate for crowded, stressful, and unsanitary living conditions. An estimated 13.5 million pounds of antibiotics—the same classes of antibiotics used in human medicine—are routinely added to animal feed or water. This routine, non-therapeutic use of antibiotics speeds the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can infect humans as well as animals.
One last surprise. While grain may sound like a healthful food, the excessive quantities fed to some animals are not. This is especially true for cattle, which are natural grass eaters. Their digestive systems are not designed to handle the large amounts of corn they receive. As a result of this corn-rich diet, cattle can suffer significant health problems, including excessively acidic digestive systems and liver abscesses. Grain-induced health problems, in turn, ramp up the need for drugs.
Everything is a big circle...sick cow..sick human!!
There is no hiding from the truth. If you care about your health and still want to eat meat, eat it only once or twice a week and choose USDA organic grass fed meat. Know your sources, know your sources with everything, educate yourself and don't tell me you don't care about your health. You will one day for sure!!
To all the men out there, who still believe they will fall apart without meat-there are some great vegan athletes and body builders that are doing better than ever on a plant based diet. Yes, it requires some planning and you have to eat a lot of food, if you are very active but the results will amaze you. There is a great book out there called Thrive-the vegan nutrition guide to optimal performance in sports and life by Brendan Brazier. Forward by Hugh Jackman who had to get back in shape for another X-Man movie. He was looking for an alternative to the meat-protein heavy diet he had to consume, to get big and bulky again and was introduced to the plant based diet. To me Hugh Jackman looks pretty healthy and very manly...don't tell my husband I said that!!!
Every plant based food contains some protein. Our body is able to build ''complete protein'' by absorbing the amino acids from different foods.
Beans:
Contain a more complete set of amino acids than other plant-based food and they are high in iron, B vitamins and fiber. Try substituting beans in recipes that call for meat.
Grains:
Whole grains are an excellent source of nutrition, as they contain essential enzymes, iron, dietary fiber, vitamin E, and the B-complex vitamins. Because the body absorbs grain slowly, they provide sustained and high quality energy. Try quinoa, a complete protein source, and super easy to make.
NUTS AND SEEDS
The best protein source in this category is hemp. Sprouting your nuts and seeds makes the protein extra easy for your body to absorb and also boosts the nutrient content.
Green Vegetables:
Nutritionally, greens are very high in protein, calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc, and vitamins A, C, E and K. They are crammed with fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll and many other micro-nutrients and phyto-chemicals. Simply add to smoothies, salads or steam some broccoli, kale, bok choy, or cabbage.
Sea Vegetables:
As this planet’s singularly most nutritious food, sea vegetables contain protein and all of the minerals needed for health. With 10 to 20 times the minerals of land plants, plus the added punch of a range of vitamins, the addition of sea vegetables to your diet will help meet your nutritional needs.

Try to substitute some of these foods for meat and see how you feel.
Plants rock!!!!

Love and cookies
Jennifer





Sugar for my honey and my money

As you might recognize I changed my blog name into SWEET HEALTHY LIFE.
Why? I think life is sweet as cookies and cakes..but we all have to stay healthy to enjoy it
I love desserts, especially healthy raw vegan desserts. I have always been a sugar addict, no not fries, not burgers...sweet sugary yummy bad for you things like donuts, cakes, pies and of course chocolate. I could eat chocolate all day and night, if there would be a chocolate shower I would be the first one jumping into it every morning. And of course I would take a chocolate bath at night!!
But guess what white sugar is bad for you, there is nothing about it that makes your life sweeter, it makes you sick, obese, it gives you bad teeth and it even ages you. But not all sugars are created equal; there are some great healthy alternatives out there, which even have some health benefits to it.

My favorite natural sweetener is DATES and DATE SYRUP.I use them in all of my raw desserts, if I need to add a liquid sweetener I blend a cup of dates with 2 cups of water and make date syrup. It is one of the most natural sweeteners you can get. Dates are one of the best natural sources of potassium. Potassium is an essential mineral your body needs to maintain muscle contractions including the vital heart muscle. Potassium is needed to maintain a healthy nervous system and to balance the body’s metabolism as well. Dates also contain a variety of B-complex vitamins – thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 and pantothenic acid. These vitamins have a variety of functions that help maintain a healthy body – to metabolize carbohydrates and maintain blood glucose levels, fatty acids for energy, and they help make hemoglobin, the red and white blood cells. Dates also contain Magnesium which is essential for healthy bone development and for energy metabolism and Iron which is essential to red blood cell production. Red blood cells carry all the nutrients to cells throughout the body.



Date tree




COCONUT NECTAR
Coconut nectar ingredients include an abundant source of minerals, 17 amino acids, Vitamin C, B Vitamins, naturally contains a prebiotic and it has a nearly neutral ph. Raw coconut sap is grown without chemicals, pesticides or herbicides and the process does not require heating and extensive processing as do other syrups such as maple and agave.



RAW ORGANIC HONEY
Yes I know, honey is not vegan and some of you might not like me anymore but raw honey has amazing health benefits. Raw honey is the concentrated nectar of flowers that comes straight from the extractor; it is the only unheated, pure, unpasteurized, unprocessed honey. Honey’s nutritional profile is primarily carbohydrates, water, vitamins and minerals. These vitamins and minerals include: niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.
The following lists some of the health benefits of raw honey
-Excellent source of antioxidants. Flavonoid pinocembrin is unique to honey, which optimizes health benefits; whereas, pinostrobin supports and promotes healthy enzyme activity.
-In sports and endurance, honey can provide 17 grams of carbohydrates per tablespoon, and can be an inexpensive alternative to commercial sports gels.
-Supports "good bacteria" like Bifidobacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, which is essential for efficient digestion and good health. Honey contains pre/pro biotic that helps the growth and activity of Bifidobacteria because it is an alkaline-forming food, and is similar to ingredients found in fruits. It doesn’t ferment in the stomach and it can be used to counteract indigestion.
-Raw honey has inherent anti-fungal properties, can treat allergies by promoting a strong immune system, and has powerful anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties.
-Aging is the slow depletion of enzymes from the body, and raw honey is one of the few foods that can be ingested to get a surplus of amalase. Amlase is the enzyme that breaks down sugars and carbohydrates. It can restore damaged skin to give softer, younger look.



MAPLE SYRUP
Pure maple syrup contains significant amounts of both zinc, an immune supporter and helpful to male reproductive health, and manganese, which is good for bone health. The sugars in maple syrup are absorbed more slowly by the body than refined sugar.
Maple syrup grades have nothing to do with quality or nutrition. Instead, they simply refer to the color of the syrup, and thus, its flavor.
The lightest and mildest syrups, which are generally harvested at the beginning of the season, are called "fancy grade A" or sometimes "grade A light amber"; At the middle of the spectrum are "grade A medium amber" and "grade A dark amber."
Finally, there's "grade B", the dark, thick syrup that packs a strong maple punch with caramel undertones.
Just make sure you buy the real thing, pure organic maple syrup and nothing else.




Then there is AGAVE

I know that agave is very popular and common in desserts that are called healthy. The problem with agave is that it is processed at high temperatures. The process by which agave glucose and inulin are converted into ''nectar'' is similar to the process by which corn starch is converted into HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. That is all I need to know!!

I hope you guys enjoy the sweet life!!!

Love and cookies

Jennifer



Fasting, let’s give our body a break

Hey guys

How are you doing? I am a ''moving'' mess right now...moving, work, the heat and stress!!I am trying very hard to keep my balance and relax. I feel like I am not on top of my game right now and I need to give my body a little break. This brings me to the topic of today. Fasting!!!
Juice fasting, water fasting, soup fasting, fruit and veggie fasting...and so on. There are so many ways of fasting out there that it is hard to figure out what is wrong or right and if it does your body good or not.

Here are the facts-Our body uses up to 70% of its energy for our digestion. It works so hard to break down our food and get rid of chemicals in our food or toxins in our environment. Why do you think you want to take a nap after a huge meal of steak and mashed potatoes? Or why do we so often feel heavy, bloated and gained a few pounds after the holidays, even get sick a lot!!Our bodies are tired and need a break. A break from heavy fatty, sugary food.

Our liver, lungs, kidneys, colon, skin and our lymphatic system are constantly working to detoxify our body. All the environmental stress, lack of exercise, bad eating habits and negative thoughts can clog up all those organs. If these channels of elimination are clogged, toxins can build up and back up into our system. If you constantly eat junk, garbage foods that are combined badly, wash it down with some toxic sugar water crap and have a smoke after, I can guarantee you will get sick sooner or later.
If your dog Marley (love the movie) has a stomach ache he doesn't eat anything besides some grass, drinks water and he will feel better pretty quickly. Why do you think you lose your appetite when you are sick? Your body wants to focus on healing itself rather than on food or chemical pill bullshit (sorry for swearing but that is what it is).Now when I am sick I rather have some green juice than stuff myself with Aspirin, Tylenol and Nyquil.
Why is fasting so good for you and your body?
In the fasting state, the body scours for dead cells, damaged tissues, fatty deposits, tumors and abscesses, all of which are burned for fuel or expelled as waste. Diseased cells are dissolved, leaving healthy tissue. The result is a thorough cleansing of the tubes, membranes and cellular structures. Eating mucus-forming foods like dairy clogs the body's tubes and membranes, all of which are the highways used by the immune system. During a fast it is common for the nose, throat and ears to pass sticky mucus, clogging the sinuses. Headache, fatigue, skin breakouts and even getting sick are normal symptoms of a fast, as your body is trying to get rid of old toxins and depending on how messed up your body is you will have more or less side effects that will fade after 3-4 day. The body hangs on to precious minerals and vitamins while catabolizing on old tissue, toxins and inferior materials.

The body tears down and rebuilds damaged materials. For this reason fasting is famous for its ability to rejuvenate and give the body a more youthful tone.
Now fasting has nothing to do with starving yourself or restrict yourself until you go crazy and go on the next dunking doughnuts binge. Fasting is simply resting from solid food and healing our bodies. I personal think that green juice fasting or green smoothie fasting is a great method for your body to take a rest and still get great nutrition. It gets all its minerals and vitamins from liquid nutrition and doesn't have to worry about breaking down food and can instead focus on repairing your organs, cells and skin. If you want to fast one day or five days is up to you but I would try a juice fast once a week and if you have serious health issues start slowly...
Don't think fasting gives you a free pass to eat all the junk in the world and then take a break from it by fasting...no ladies and gentlemen that is not how the world works!!!It is not a weight loss solution either. You will gain the weight back as soon as the burger is back in your belly! Fasting only works if you have a healthy plant based diet already. Are we on the same page!!!Thank you
If you decide to try a fast drink plenty of purified water and have a fresh pressed green veggie juice or green smoothie every 2-3 hours. Do things that you enjoy, like reading, getting a massage or taking a hot bubble bath.
And the most important think....just chill!!!Your body and health will thank you...


Love and green juice

Jennifer




The Alkaline Body, why it is the fountain of youth

Hope you guys had a fun weekend. I and my husband finally found a house and we are so happy and excited about it. The house has a big yard where I can plant a vegetable garden next summer. Cannot wait to eat my own fresh organic berries, herbs and tomatoes and it will save us a lot of money too. If you have a nice yard even if it is just a little one make sure you plant some veggies even if it is just a few herbs. They just need a lot of sun and water to grow and thrive. You can even plant them in a pot and let them grow on your balcony.


Today I would like to tell you something about the alkaline-acidic body today and why it is so important for your health and your wellness to keep the right pH balance in your body. You might remember chemistry class at school where a substance was either acid or alkaline. The pH is measured on a scale from 0-14.If something is neutral it has a pH of 7.Above 7 means alkaline and below 7 means acidic. The lower the number the more acidic a substance is and the less oxygen it has. The higher the number the more alkaline it is and the more oxygen it has.
What does all this have to do with your body? Your fabulous body constantly works on keeping you alkaline with a pH of 7.365.The most important thing is your blood even a slight difference in your bloods pH creates stress on your body. If your blood becomes too acidic all body functions work on bringing your blood back into an alkaline state. First there are little symptoms like a runny nose, heartburn or a rash and then they get worse as your immune system weakens and can ramp up to a major disease like cancer or heart disease. A blood pH lower than 7 can be extremely dangerous. It is much easier to become too acidic than too alkaline. What can you do to prevent that? Help your body out!!Eat a more alkaline diet with lots of greens, vegetables, low sugar fruit, smoothies, certain grains and fresh veggie juices and other plant based foods. Your body will scream of joy and will have tons of energy.

A lot of people blame colds and infections on germs or the weather. In fact, a lot of common infections are caused by bacteria that are part of the normal flora already present in our system. When we are a stressed out junk food eating mess we create a ground for them to grow and multiply in our inside.
Besides our diet thing like stress, lack of exercise, anger cigarettes and alcohol can affect our ph.
You should eat about 80 % alkaline foods and 20 % acidic foods, which doesn't mean that you should eat 20 % junk food. Some foods like beans or grains have a slightly acidic effect on your body but are essential for a balanced diet. It is important to choose alkaline -forming foods. I will list which foods have an alkaline effect on your body and which have an acidic affect.



You can test your pH easily in the privacy of your home. You can find test strips in many health food stores or you could order them online. If your urinary pH fluctuates between 6.5 and 7.0 in the morning and between and around 7.0 in the evening, your body is functioning within a healthy range. If your saliva stays between 7.0 and 7.5 all day, your body is functioning within a healthy range. The best time to test your pH is about one hour before a meal and two hours after a meal. Test your pH two days a week.

ALKALINE FOODS

Alkaline water
Raw nuts and seeds ( almonds, brazil nuts,flax seed, sesame seeds )
Gluten free whole grains like quinoa, wild rice, millet amaranth and buckwheat
Green veggies and all non-starchy vegetables
Low sugar fruits like berries
Lemon, limes and grapefruit
Lentils and other beans
Raw tomatoes not cooked ones
Root vegetables like sweet potatoes and jicama
Seaweed
Sprouts
Stevia

ACIDIC FOODS

Animal protein-chicken,beef,pork,fish,cheese,milk and eggs
Coffee
Alcohol, drugs and cigarettes
Heavily processed foods no matter what they are made off
Corn syrup,sugar,fructose and all processed sweeteners
Some beans like black beans and soy beans but are slightly on the acidic side
Processed oils-hydrogenated oils
Refined grains
Soda and pasteurized juice
Roasted nuts
Salt


Love Jennifer








What not to eat
Hope you guys all had a great 4th of July weekend. Mine was crazy busy, I and my husband had a lot of things planned. From house hunting to barbecues and parades it was all a lot of fun. And yes there was a lot of garbage food involved and even I ate some junk that my liver is still trying to get out of my system. I have to admit that I wasn't really prepared enough. We were on the road a lot and invited to parties where the food had a shelf life longer than my own and ingredients lists to die for. Literally!!
I tried to pick the healthiest options I could but white rice, popcorn and tacos don't really do the job to make me feel on top of my game. I still had my green smoothie every day and drank a lot of water to avoid further junk food hangovers. Tomorrow it is back to big salads, fresh fruit and green smoothies.
Here are my top 5 pseudo foods that you have to avoid if you want to be a healthy and happy person. All these foods are highly processed and / or pumped full of chemicals that get stored as fat and junk in your system. They will make you feel sluggish and sick. I don't even like to call those things food anymore...it is chemical garbage that I wouldn't give anybody to eat so why poison yourself with it.


PROCESSED MEAT
L.A. meat... all your favourite things like hot dogs,peperoni,bacon,ham and sausage are made out of L.A. meat, Lips and Ass.Stuff that the meat industry can't use for anything else will be processed into your favorite bacon or hot dogs and you scarf it down at a barbecue on a white bun or dip it in red high fructose corn syrup wannabe tomato ketchup.You are giving your body and acidic bath without an ounce of nutrition.Meat is high in saturated fat and will clog your arteries which will lead to heart disease and cancer.Processed meat contains sodium nitrite, a chemical which is used to give it the red color to make it look fresh. A 2005 University of Hawaii study found that processed meats increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by 67 percent. Another study revealed that every 50 grams of processed meat consumed daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 50 percent. Please dump the L.A. meat!!If you have to eat meat choose organic, grass fed beef or chicken which is minimally processed.





DAIRY AND EGGS
Milk products and eggs are almost in everything, especially in candies and cakes and sometimes it is very hard to avoid the white poison. Dairy causes allergies, mucus, inflammation, skin problems, ear infections and is even linked to asthma. It is pumped full of antibiotics and chemicals!!Dairy is junk, garbage, crap, dump it and you will feel a huge difference in your health.

PROCESSED CARBOHYDRATES
If you consider how much sugar and processed food many people are eating on a regular basis, the prevalence of obesity and poor health shouldn’t be all that surprising. Sugar and refined carbohydrates are major ingredients in nearly all modern foods and they’re being consumed in record proportions. Many people are unaware of the associated risks and some people even believe that highly refined foods such as bread and pasta are healthy choices! People are so unaware of what they are doing to their health...breads, rice, cookies, cakes and so many other highly processed foods are a shock to your whole system.Your body doesn't know the difference between white bread and a slice of cake...all processed foods will send your pancreas into a shock.These pseudo foods can cause life altering health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, depression, heart disease, and cancer.I always get a little sad when I see people at the grocery store with carts full of white bread,pasta and packaged food which includes high fructose corn syrup,hydrogenated oils and other toxins.Everything that says enriched or bleached flour has been stripped from all its fiber and now acts like pure sugar in your body. Chose whole grains like quinoa, millet and fresh fruit and vegetables as your main staple and you don't have to worry about becoming diabetic.




SUGAR
Oh the white stuff, the crack that is in almost everything, from ketchup to chocolate, from bread to ice cream and so on...sugar is one off your biggest enemies when it comes to your health and sometimes the hardest thing to get rid of. The biggest sugar trap is soda...40 grams of sugar in a Pepsi; you might as well just eat it with a spoon right out of the sugar jar. Here are a few reasons why you should avoid the sweet stuff.


 


Sugar can suppress the immune system.
Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body
Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children
Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases).
Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function, the more sugar you eat, the more elasticity and function you lose
Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium leads to cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, and rectum
Sugar can cause premature aging
Sugar can lead to alcoholism
Sugar can cause tooth decay
Sugar contributes to obesity

Never buy or eat anything that has more than 10 grams of sugar per serving. If you would like something sweet try to make it yourself and use natural sweeteners like date syrup or stevia.

SODA AND OTHER LIQUIDS
Avoid all sodas, milk shakes, fruit juice and fruit drinks and greatly limit or totally eliminate caffeine and alcoholic beverages. One soda, no matter who makes it, is the most acidic beverage you can buy, with a pH of about 2.5, about the same as vinegar. Why does that matter? Acid oxidizes whatever it comes in contact with. If you put soda or vinegar on metal, it will rust it quickly. Our body constantly works on staying alkaline with a ph of about 7.3, with soda having a highly acidic ph you can only imagine what it does to our body. If you drink soda, which also contains high levels of phosphorous, you will leach calcium from your bones. It appears that increased soft drink consumption is a major factor that contributes to osteoporosis. Tooth loss, periodontal disease, and gingivitis can be problems, especially with a high phosphorus intake, particularly from soft drinks. So now we’ve got weak bones, weakened immune system, and dissolving teeth. What’s next? Weight gain! The relationship between soft drink consumption and body weight is so strong that researchers calculate that for each additional soda consumed, the risk of obesity increases 1.6 times. For those of you with a diet soda in your hands, the news isn’t any better, in fact it’s worse! One liter of an aspartame-sweetened beverage can produce about fifty-six milligrams of methanol. When several of these beverages are consumed in a short period of time (one day, perhaps), as much as two hundred fifty milligrams of methanol are dumped into the bloodstream, or thirty-two times the EPA limit. So, you’re poisoning your body, too.
With diet soda, you’ve gone from high calories to poisonous levels of methanol and an increased chance of developing cancer. Not a very good trade.
Then there’s the caffeine. Caffeine withdrawal can strike people who drink a single cup of strongly brewed coffee or drink caffeinated soft drinks every day-withdrawal symptoms include not only headache, but also fatigue, mild depression, muscle pain and stiffness, flu-like feelings, nausea and vomiting. Caffeine causes withdrawal with symptoms mimicking flu and for women it makes PMS even worse. But could caffeine really jeopardize the future of the human race? Yes! A study on the relationship between caffeine and fertility found that… just one caffeinated soft drink per day was associated with a reduced monthly chance of conception of 50 percent.


Your body's an amazing machine with an extraordinary network of systems operating inside you right now. Healthy food provides the nutritional fuel necessary to keep you running smoothly and prevent breakdowns.

Love Jennifer




GREENS BABY GREENS

Hi all of you,
I had such an amazing and fun weekend.I and my hubby are still house hunting still didn't really find the right place for us but I am positive we will get there.
On Saturday we went to a tiny little farm to get some organic produce and I was amazed about how different the fruit and veggies look and taste. They were so much smaller and sweeter like you just picked them from your own garden. The lady even went outside and picked some fresh mint and lemon balm for me. Heritage Prairie Farm is an all organic and family owned farm where you can find fruit and vegetables in season and they have a little store where you can find natural foods like breads or honey.
I always buy organic but I hardly get to the farmers market. Especially in the Chicago area you can't really find a lot of organic farmers market. There is a great market in Chicago which is called ''the green city market'' and all the food you buy there is organic and most of it is grown locally. It takes me about 90min to get there so for me it is more like a day trip that I have to plan ahead. Can’t wait to live closer to the highway...awwww!!
My husband had a very long night yesterday. He wasn't really feeling so well this morning so I made him one of my amazing delicious and nutritious green smoothies. I added some kale, bananas, black and strawberries plus some mint and lemon juice to detoxify his liver. He juggled it down right away and felt better instantly.

Greens are miracle workers, calorie for calorie, perhaps the most concentrated source of nutrition of any food. They are a rich source of minerals (including iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium) and vitamins like vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin E and many of the B vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin which protect our cells from damage and our eyes from age- related problems, among many other affects. Dark green leaves even contain small amounts of omega 3 fats.
They reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer; they are low in fat and high in fiber plus nutrient dense. The high level of vitamin K in greens makes them important in the production of osteocalcin, a protein important for bone health. The risk of hip fracture in middle-aged women was decreased 45% for one or more servings/day of green, leafy vegetables compared to fewer servings. One study showed that an increment of one daily serving of green leafy vegetables lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease by 11 percent.

There are plenty of different types of leafy green vegetables, however the 4 most nutritious have been mentioned below.

Kale is a descendant of wild cabbage and was a very well-liked vegetable among the peasants in the middle Ages. Kale is definitely one of the most nutritionally dense vegetables around. Simply take a look at the nutrition facts and you will see that for just 50 calories, Kale presents 3 times the volume of vitamin A necessary for a daily diet. That’s astounding! Kale also is rich in vitamin b folic acid and has a lot of potassium.

Spinach is believed have originated in Persia. At this time, the USA is among the best commercial producers of spinach across the globe. Popeye references aside, spinach is quite nutritious. It’s high in vitamin A and C and comes with a lot of iron.

Swiss chard is much like spinach. In the fourth century B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote concerning the health rewards of chard. Swiss chard is full of vitamin C and vitamin K as well as loaded with calcium.

Romaine lettuce has been grown since, at the least, 4500 B.C. It was initially cultivated in the USA in 1493 by Spanish Missionaries in California. Currently, California is the lettuce capital of the US. Lettuce is also very balanced. The more dark the lettuce, the better. Lettuce carries tons of magnesium.
                                              


Blended or chewed well, leafy greens cleanse the system of toxins that cause body odor.
The combination of calcium and magnesium they contain make all leafy greens an important component of bone health and maintenance.
When eaten raw, leafy greens stimulate digestion and digestive enzymes.
Reverse greying of hair. Should be well blended to assimilate available nutrients.
Provide a wide variety of nutrients necessary to maintain proper hormone balance.
Provide essential nutrients to the endocrine system and make the body more alkaline, thereby strengthening immunity.
Most provide tryptophan which aids in sleep. They make a light, low-fat meal, which allows for a peaceful night's rest.



When eating a salad, usually people do not sit and chew their greens until it becomes juice. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, people swallow each bite as soon as the food enters the mouth. All leafy greens have cell walls composed mainly of cellulose, which is very difficult for our bodies to digest in order to access the dense nutrients that the greens supply.
So, in essence the greens go in one way and exit the other with much of the nutrients still intact. That is where the green smoothie comes in. If you blend your greens a lot of the chewing work is already done for us by the blender. We are getting much more benefits from our vegetables by drinking them, it is easier on our digestion and we are absorbing the nutrients better.
                                           


Love

Jennifer
 





Hey all of you


How is your week going so far? I have to tell you. It is HOT in Chi-Town. It feels like Florida weather here hot and humid and it was about 100 degrees today. I was lucky that I was able to spend a few hours with my friend at the pool; it was already late afternoon otherwise we would have fried in the sun. Make sure you all drink a lot of filtered or purified water to stay hydrated....please no soda!!!We will talk about that liquid poison another time.


I want to tell you guys something about raw foods, why it rocks and turns you into a glowing, healthy and energized bunny. It gives our cells, organs and brains everything it needs to stay healthy and happy. Raw foods are real foods from nature like fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and also sprouted grains and legumes. Nothing in the raw food world is heated over 116 degrees because it destroys important enzymes in the food that are important for our digestion and our health. You get tons of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, calcium, protein, phytonutrients and so much more from a raw food diet. When we eat uncooked foods our body knows exactly what to do with it and how to break it down and provide your body with the nutrients it needs. We have to stop counting calories and focus on real whole foods. If I would give people the choice between an avocado and a protein bar most of them would choose the protein bar because it has less calories and less fat. What they don't see is all the processed sugar, additives and chemical nonsense that is in it. If we choose to eat the avocado our body recognizes it and knows how to break it down, digest it quickly and it will exit our body easily. If we choose the bar our body thinks’ ‘This is sugar and chemicals I don't know what to do with that’ ‘It will get stored as fat on our thighs and hips. We need to start thinking about where the food comes from and not how many carbs, fat grams or protein it has.
Raw foods are easy to digest and give you tons of energy. Did you know that almost 70 % of our energy is used for digestion! That is why so many of us have to take a nap after a big steak and potato meal or feel like they just got hit by a truck. Meat sometimes rotten weeks in our digestive tract, put some cheese on top and you have the perfect disaster meal for your body. If I say raw food I mean vegan raw foods. There are a few people who eat raw animal products like cheese and beef.. NO THANK YOU unless you want to end up the hospital with food poisoning.
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There are a lot of different views on the raw food diet, like if it is best to eat a high fruit or a high fat(nuts, avocados, oils) diet and that you can only get benefits from it if you eat  100% raw foods. I honestly believe that everything to extreme is bad for you! I can say from my own experience that if you get to hung up on things you can go crazy and an unhealthy mind is worse for you than a little sugary treat every once in a while. I love raw foods and try to eat as much as I candid have a green smoothie for breakfast, fruit as a snack and most of the time a huge veggie salad for lunch. For dinner I enjoy a whole foods plant based dinner with lots of greens. You can't eat to many greens and fruit...anybody ever got sick or obese from natural plant foods. Raw plants keep you alkaline which is the most important thing. If our bodies are alkaline we stay healthy just being slightly acid could cause us getting sick or even disease could thrive. We are what we eat and a lot of our diseases are preventable or can be cured. It is our lifestyle that makes us sick. We don't have bad genes; we just have bad eating habits. There is a great book called’ ‘becoming raw’ ‘which explains the history and science behind raw foods and why they rock.
So the next time you reach for the high protein bar ask yourself if the apple might be the better choice.


Love and raw foods


Jennifer