Inflammation- Food and Lifestyle Ways to Fight.

Inflammation has been on the forefront lately as the culprit of many health problems and diseases.

We need inflammation in our bodies to heal but too much causes loads of problems.

What can you do to help your body function properly?

Food-

• Go organic! It will remove loads of pesticides from your diet. (plus it provides micro-nutrients not found in conventionally grown produce.)
• Stay away from GMO's, they wreck havoc on your system because they are unknown proteins that your body is not sure how to handle and is thus constantly battling.
• Eat only whole grains and mostly nut, coconut and gluten free flours and grains- like buckwheat, oat, quinoa, and brown rice
• Limit red meat and eat only grass fed to lessen artery inflammation
• Limit alcohol. 1 per day women and 2 per day men. and better to have red wine.  1 helps, more swells.
• Step away from the fast food! The fat and additives are terrible for you.  Make it at home instead if you're craving it.
• Eat whole unprocessed foods.  Those lucky charms are definitely not lucky. The chemicals and partitioned foods (like corn starch, corn meal, corn syrup and such) are taxing on your system.  Not to mention loaded with pesticides and GMO's usually.

Lifestyle-

• Clean with all natural products and remove the dangerous chemicals from your home.
• Give your office or school cleaning crew a gift of natural cleaning supplies and recipes.  They'll save money and protect their health and yours.
• Garden and Lawn care organically.  Pesticides and dangerous fertilizers should be far away from your home.  You're there the most!
• Stay away from smoke. Quit and stay far away from second hand smoke.  This is a huge stress on your organs.
• Sleep!
• Relax, do yoga, meditate, go for a walk, sit quietly.  Stress causes inflammation.  Control what you can and drop the rest.
• Exercise.  Pick something you like and do it at least 3 times per week.  
• Control your weight. Those excess pounds stress out your system even more than they stress out your jeans.
• Watch your textiles.  Don't go tearing into that old couch to reupholster it.  Don't get that super cheap carpet.  You'll breathe that stuff in everyday.  Pick carefully.
• Keep it dry! Mold causes your system minor to major problems, depending on your sensitivity.
• Heat electrically not with gas if you can.
• Try to minimize your exposure to car exhaust, industrial exhaust and the like.  This one is hard but whenever possible limit and distance.

hungry for more?
The Inflammation Syndrome, by Jack Challem

You are what you eat and you'll eat what you have.

You're starving... to the kitchen you mindlessly wander... your instinct is taking over...  

The question is will you find Cheetos or cashews?  Cheez-its or extra sharp white cheddar from grass fed cows? Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs or Shredded Wheat, with a little sugar even?

We've heard it a million times, "Healthy food tastes terrible!"

May we ask, "What on earth are you eating?!"

Roasted chicken?.

Thick cut bacon on occasion?

Sliced avocados on everything?

Olive oil in everything?

Roasted garlic everywhere?

Vegetables in season roasted until sweet with Parmesan. Any of them and all of them?

Pecans for an afternoon snack?

Apple chips crisped with butter and cinnamon?

Red wine to finish off each day?

Gold potatoes baked and then smashed with olive oil and sea salt until crispy?

Scrambled eggs with grass fed butter?

Salads with red leaf lettuce, rainbow chard, purple cabbage, sliced almonds, fat chunks of tuna & local honey and grainy mustard dressing?

Hummus on whole grain pitas?

Almond Turbino sugar cookies?

Dark chocolate laced with chili spice?

Pray tell are these the gross things of which you speak.

Perhaps you'd like your McDonalds Fries and your Fiery Dorito kindling now.

Fill your pantry and refrigerator with whole foods you'll be happy to gorge on.  Control your portions,  go for a walk, a run, an hour of yoga. And eat yourselves happy on really good food.

Get serious. Switch for the good stuff and stop eating processed inferior food.

Eat whole food.  Eat yummy food that makes you so happy to eat.  Reject the chemical 'food' and get real, Control your portions.  Stop eating fake scientifically made food and eat really good food. 

Enjoy your food. Demand good food.

Go read Real Food by Nina Planck.  Learn to LOVE food.  

Healthy Choices, Marketing Mayhem... The Vitamin Water You Really Need...

Photo: Kenny Louie
His pictures are gorgeous btw, you must go look.

You're trying to be healthy.  It's great.

                     But... (here it comes)

You may be susceptible to marketing claims that know they just need to sound healthy and look pretty to suck you in.

Vitamin Water.

Capitalizing on your great concern for your lack of nutrition.

Problem #1

"Most Americans aren’t vitamin-deficient" Marion Nestle

Problem #2

Vitamin water contains 2 Tablespoons fructose.  That's a lot- especially for a health claiming drink.
(This one's made from corn starch by crystallizing corn syrup.  Not only added empty calories but addictive and dangerous.)

Problem #3

Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble... which means you need to add olive oil or other healthy fat to a food containing these vitamins- and that drinking them does absolutely nothing.

Problem #4

Over-fortification of foods can increase the risk of excessive intake of vitamins and minerals and pose health problems for children 8 and younger. (source EWG)

What Vitamin Water is...

-Something to drink with less sugar than soda.
-A drink with safer colors (They are from vegetables not FD&C dyes.)

But when we say "Eat the rainbow...This is NOT what we mean."

May we suggest hydrating from that source at your kitchen sink?
It's always the best source.

Hungry for more?
We suggest...
http://www.ewg.org/research/how-much-is-too-much/harmful-effects-excess-vitamins-and-minerals



Sources:

http://scienceline.org/2007/12/ask-intagliata-vitaminwater/