Life in Alignment

Natural, Holistic Cleansing & Detoxification with Living Foods

2012-02-28T09:02:00.000-08:00

Even if we follow the very best diet and lifestyle practices, we are living in a highly toxic and polluted world. Eating inorganic foods heavily laden with toxic chemicals, breathing air saturated with petro chemicals, drinking contaminated and chemically treated water, and living in stressful, unhealthy environments take a toll on our body, mind and spirit.

Cleansing is an important practice to periodically engage in to take care of our total health and wellbeing. It is a period of time designated and set aside to specifically to re-align our ways of eating, lifestyle practices, body rhythms and attention to self, with a way that is more healthful and healing to us personally. Each person's time of cleansing is a little bit different, and listening to what your body needs specifically is one of the most important elements to remain connected to doing the period of cleansing.

On the physical plane, health symptoms are what begin to appear when our body is internally out of balance. Toxicity and deficiency are the two root causes of all health issues. The human body is made to function at optimal levels of health at all times. The body isn't able to function as it should when it becomes too deficient in needed nutrients or becomes so overly toxic that essential processes cannot function as they should. When sickness, unwanted symptoms, low energy levels and weight issues begin to appear we know we have become deficient or too toxic. Living foods help to restore and correct both deficiency and toxicity at the cellular level. Living foods supply the body with the highest level of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and enzymes and at the same time flush, hydrate and alkalize the body, detoxifying and restoring balance to all physcial processes, while encouraging cells to release stored toxins and build healthy new cells.

Whether it is a small or large health symptom, one of the first holistic approaches to take in healing your body is to undergo a period of cleansing and detoxification. Eating living foods and drinking raw juices are the most important and effective elements in detoxifying and reversing deficiency.

If you are looking to heal, reverse health symptoms, experience more energy and establish healthy eating practices, living foods are your answer!

Come to our free upcoming talk with Candice Marley, Holistic Health Practitioner, Nutritionist & Raw Food Chef, on Living Foods and how they work to restore deficiency and cleanse the body of waste and toxins on a deep level.

Natural Cleansing & Detoxification with Living Foods Free Talk
Wednesday March 21, 2012 6:00pm
Coda Raw Food Kitchen - Downtown Denver
1245 E. Colfax Ave., Suite 301
Denver, CO 80218
There is no cost but RSVP is required!
Call 720-277-9124 or email codakitchenmidtown@gmail.com to reserve your place today

Essential Fatty Acids ~ Weight Management & Athletic Performance

2012-02-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

We need lots of Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) in our diet. More, in fact, then any other single nutrient, and that need increases as we train athletically. EFAs are essential because the body cannot make them on their own, so they must be gained through our diet. There are several types of EFAs, most important are Omega-6 and Omega-3. Omega-6 is fairly readily taken in through the diet, but Omega-3 is harder to get. There is a high percentage of Omega-6's in refined and vegetable based oils such as corn, soybean and canola, all used predominately in refined and processed foods. The Omega-3's are routinely processed out of most foods. The Western diet is very heavy in these types of foods. Because of this, most people are out of balance, having too much Omega-6 and not enough Omega-3. This can lead to inflammation problems, which are especially of interest to those training and putting more stress on joints and tissues. When the tissues are not receiving a enough of the right balance of EFAs there is not as much elasticity and cell function is disrupted.

EFAs help to construct the membranes of every cell in the body. They are involved in energy production, transportation of oxygen to the blood, muscle growth and nerve functioning. Omega-3 and Omega-6 are used by the body to make hormone like substances, which go on to regulate a host of functions in the body. Some processes EFAs are directly involved in include:

Decreasing Inflammation
Increasing Muscle Growth
Speeding Recovery time
Supporting Health Joints and Connective Tissue
Aiding in Nerve Impulse Transmission
Enhancing Cardiovascular Health

Fascinating new research in the world of nutritional therapy suggests EFAs exert significant control over key metabolic genes in our cells. Particularly those involved in fat storage, fat burning and glycogen synthesis. Glycogen is stored carbohydrate energy. Fats high in Omega-3 play an essential role in maintenance of energy balance and glucose metabolism.

Recent research findings in the study of essential fatty acids has given us some interesting finding. Researchers discovered that these fats, particularly those of the omega-3 family, play essential roles in the maintenance of energy balance and glucose metabolism. In particular, they observed a phenomenon known as ‘fuel partitioning’, whereby dietary EFAs were able to direct glucose (from digested carbohydrates) towards glycogen storage while at the same time directing other fatty acids in the body away from triglyceride synthesis (ie fat storage) and towards fatty acid oxidation! In addition, these studies suggested that omega-3 fatty acids have the unique ability to enhance thermogenesis (the burning of excess fat to produce heat), thereby reducing the efficiency of body fat deposition. In simple terms, this fuel partitioning phenomenon appears to conserve carbohydrate while simultaneously shedding fat

In a study carried out last year, scientists studied the effects of omega-3 fat supplementation on swimming performance in rats . By comparison with a control group of unsupplemented rats, there was a 300% rise in the ‘swimming muscle’ levels of FABP, a protein that binds fatty acids and transports them to the mitochondria for oxidation, but no increase in muscle triglycerides. In a study on rat muscle fibers, high omega-3 and omega-6 diets produced 16-21% more muscle tension and up to 32% greater endurance during high frequency stimulation. Moreover, when these rats resumed their standard diets for a period of six weeks, their muscle function returned to the level of un-supplemented rats.

Your EFA intake should primairly be comprised of raw foods such as nuts and seeds. Of main not are chia, hemp, flax and sunflower seeds. Walnuts are especially high as are pumpkin seeds. Make sure to buy these nuts and seeds "raw" because of the complex structure of these fats, it also makes them very chemically reactive. They readily degrade when exposed to heat, light and air. Which means storing, cooking or in any way processing these fats from their natural state renders them almost useless. Commercial oils are refined, processed and stored so their EFA content is significantly degraded. So trying to get your daily intake of EFAs through tinned, dried, frozen, fast and processed foods is moot-it isn't going to happen. Instead turn to raw nuts and seeds.

Dietary sources of EFAs

Food Omega-3 (grams per100g) Omega-6 (grams per 100g)

Chia 62-64%

Flax 20.3 4.9

Hemp seeds 7.0 21.0

Pumpkin seeds 3.2 23.4

Salmon 3.2 0.7

Walnuts 3.0 30.6

Wheat germ 0.5 5.5

Sunflower seeds 0 30.71

Below are some dietary tips which can help to boost your EFA intake. (1)

Use fresh raw seeds sprinkled on salads, especially hemp, pumpkin and sunflower;
Use raw nuts in salads or mixed with raisins as snacks, especially walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts;
Switch to wholemeal bread – the wheatgerm in whole wheat is a good source of EFAs;
Eat whole grain breakfast cereals, such as Shredded Wheat, Weetabix and oat flakes, rather than refined cereal, such as cornflakes;
Use brown rice and wholemeal pasta instead of white varieties;
Use a cold-pressed seed oil in salad dressings, but make sure that it is fresh and has been packaged in an oxygen-free container that is also opaque to light;
Eat fatty fish at least once a week. If you can get fresh mackerel, herring or unfarmed salmon and trout, so much the better;
Don’t rely too heavily on low fat/diet foods and shakes for your calories – these are nearly all devoid of EFAs;
Choose free range chicken and wild meats where possible – these generally contain higher amounts of EFAs than their intensively-reared counterparts;
Choose organic free-range eggs if you can get them. Free foraging hens fed on natural foods lay eggs containing up to 30% of the fat as EFAs.

If you choose to supplement EFAs additionally, the best way to do this is with a bottle of proprietary seed oil blend. These tend to contain around two thirds omega-3 to one third omega-6. This is the reverse of the recommended dietary ratio, the idea being that you need extra omega-3 because it’s harder to obtain from normal dietary sources than omega-6. The ideal ratio balance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 is 2:1. Flax seed oil is also an excellent source of omega-3 but contains very little omega-6. Whatever you choose, it should be fresh and packaged in an oxygen-free container that is also opaque to light. Ideally, the oil should have been kept refrigerated since production and should be stored in your fridge and used within four weeks of opening. Remember that EFAs (especially omega-3) are chemically very fragile and spoil rapidly if not stored correctly. For this reason you would be wise to avoid seed oil or fish oil capsules, which will almost certainly have been processed and stored at room temperatures for long periods of time! (1)

Reference

1. http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/omega-3-omega-6.html

Electrolytes, Balanced pH & The Athlete

2012-01-25T11:07:00.000-08:00

Electrolytes make substances electrically conducive. All known higher lifeforms require a subtle and complex electrolyte balance between the interior and exterior of cells. Electrolyte balance affect and regulate the hydration of the body as well as blood pH, and are critical for nerve and muscle function. The primary electrolytes in the body are sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Various mechanisms exist within the body to keep the concentrations of different electrolytes under tight control. Both muscle tissue and neurons are considered electric tissues of the body and therefore require electrical impulses to flow throughout, electrolytes allow these electrical impulses to take place. Muscles and neurons are activated by electrolyte activity. For example, muscle contraction is dependent upon the presence of calcium, sodium, and potassium, all electrolytes. Without sufficient levels of these key electrolytes, muscle weakness or severe muscle contractions may occur.

Proper pH balance is a key component of good health and vital to athletic performance. pH is measured on a 14-point scale, with 7 being neutral. The lower the pH value, the higher the acidity; the higher the pH value, the more alkaline. pH values vary throughout systems in the human body, however blood pH is tightly regulated. Optimal human blood pH is slightly alkaline at a reading of about 7.4. To maintain the needed blood pH balance, acid wastes must be removed from the body or neutralized, to bring the blood back to 7.4. The body has numerous ways to flush acidic wastes out of the system including; breathing to remove carbon dioxide, the kidneys to filter blood and excrete acids through urine and the skin to sweat acids out of the body. The body also uses these same electrolytes, sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium, to buffer acids in the blood. Maintaining a 7.4 pH is a important indicator to long lasting good health but also to increased athletic performance. When the body pH becomes too acidic the enzyme activity in the body is thwarted, when enzyme activity is thwarted so is energy production at a cellular level, translating to lower energy levels and lowered athletic performance.

Dr. Robert Burns discusses what else occurs in the body when exercise throws body pH out of balance. Most serious athletes are familiar with the phenomenon known as “muscle burn.” Muscle burn is largely the result of lactic acid which indicates hydrogen ion buildup in the system. Acid concentration increases when an athlete exceeds what is called the “lactate threshold,” the point at which the body can no longer flush or neutralize acid wastes as fast as they are being produced. When an athlete crosses the lactate threshold for a sustained time, acid accumulates in the muscles and can lead to cramping, severely compromising athletic performance. Contrary to popular belief, lactic acid is not, in and of itself, the cause of acidosis. However, elevated levels of lactic acid in the system are an indicator of lactic pH imbalance.

Prolonged aerobic exercise is not the only contributing factor to acidosis. Diet and aging also play key roles. As we age, the systems that rid the body of acid waste don’t work as efficiently. Furthermore, the western world’s diet, with its overemphasis on animal protein, fats, processed sugar and flours, is likely a contributing factor in acidosis. Because elite and endurance athletes often burn through exponentially more calories than the average person does in a day (a 175-pound athlete can burn approximately 6,000-8,000 calories in the course of a 60-mile bike race alone), they should be particularly concerned with pH balance and dietary health. Also, the endurance athlete’s often-accelerated intake of protein and carbohydrates can produce surplus acids. (1)

Electrolytes are lost both through sweating and through buffering acidic metabolic acids during exercise. Lowered electrolyte levels mean lowered muscle and nerve functioning, all resulting in lowered athletic performance. Replacing electrolytes naturally is easy and comes through foods and drinks we bring into our body.

Natural sources of sodium include seaweed, celery and vegetables. Natural sources of potassium include most fruits and vegetables. Calcium is plentiful in leafy green vegetables, legumes, and nuts. Magnesium is found in leafy green vegetables, nuts, and whole grains.

Natural Electrolyte Sources:

Electrolyte content of some foods (note 100 g is about 3.5 oz)
mg/100g                                 Na        Cl         K
Wheat flour (whole)                    2         38     290
Rice (polished, raw)                   6         27     110
Potatoes                                    3         79     410
Carrots                                    50         69     311
Apricots                                   0.6        —      440
Dates (dried)                              1       290     790
Oranges                                     1          3     170
Bread (whole meal)                 540       860     220
Bananas                                     1        93     467

Coconut Water 18 15 220

Coconut water is the very best natural sports drink because it is naturally high in all the electrolytes including 220mg potassium, 18mg calcium and 15mg of sodium. Coconut water is a natural rehydrator and the perfect drink before, during and after any intense work out.

Citrus fruits are naturally high in electrolytes. Do you remember the lemon used as a battery science experiment in school? If not, here is a recap. A lemon can be used as a battery to light a light bulb because of its ability to conduct electricity. Often you see athletes eating orange slices. Not only are they high in water content, they are also high in needed electrolytes.

At Align Holistic Health & Well Being we offer individualized athletic nutrition plans which will take all of your individual qualities and biochemical make-up into consideration to develop a nutrition plan that supports you in reaching your health goals and intentions. Contact us today to get started on your own Individualized Athletic Nutrition Plan.

candice@alignholistichealth.com

720-277-9124

www.alignholistichealth.com

References:
http://www.girlslax.org/ph_health.html

A Healthy Approach to Your Child's Diet...

2012-01-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

We all want our children to be as happy and healthy as possible. The foods our children eat and their eating habit patterns all determine how healthy our children will be as kids and even as adults. Here are some tips of children’s nutrition and how to help our kids be as healthy as they can be!

Children’s bodies are small, growing and highly sensitive to everything from stress, noise and emotions to the foods they eat and the environment. Kids are especially sensitive to white sugars, genetically engineered foods, food chemicals, additives, preservatives, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and man made food products. It is important as parents, to take the time to read the labels on foods and drinks that you plan to give to your children, and is as important to build a foundation in natural foods. Most children’s food products contain toxic and harmful ingredients. It is important to know what your child is ingesting. Avoid foods that have partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose sugar/corn syrup, colorings, preservatives, chemicals or ingredients you can’t pronounce and sugar substitutes such as nutra sweet. It is also important to buy organic foods. Children's bodies are smaller and still developing. They amount of food they ingest per body weight is much higher then that of adults. In addition, their developing organs are much more sensitive to toxic chemicals used in and on non-organic foods. Non-organic foods contain high levels of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, hormones and antibiotics all of which are extremely harmful to a growing body, especially to developing brains, nervous systems and detoxification organs such as the liver. This is one of the reasons we see a higher incidence of appendix related conditions in small children. The appendix is an organ of detoxification and it is also very small. As it swells with unprocessed and eliminated toxic chemicals it degrades and ultimately bursts under the impact of these toxic chemicals. This is a clear sign of something amiss in the child's diet.

Preschool Children (ages 1-5)

It is important to remember that children, especially small children, will imitate and acquire the eating patterns of those they eat with and around. Be a good example and eat a variety of foods, try new foods, eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and avoid junk foods and drinks.
Preschool aged children bodies have a great and wide variety of nutritional needs since they are growing at such a rapid rate. Especially important is good structural growth, brain and emotional development and building a strong healthy immune system. Kids that eat a high sugar, highly processed diet are nutritionally deficient which will slow and can hinder their growth in all of these important areas. The body needs lots of nutrients to grow strong and big.
Of special need to this age group is calcium, iron, zinc, protein, B12 and vitamin D (see the end for a list of these important nutrients and foods to get them from). Giving children fresh fruit and vegetables and juices, nuts and seeds, cold water fish such as salmon, organic soy products, beans, lentils, whole grains and oats will help support their body in healthy growth.
Avoid white breads, boxed and packaged foods and snacks, soda pop, sugary juices, and refined foods such as chips and candies. All of these have very low nutritional value and contain many ingredients that are toxic.
Develop sensible healthy eating habits with your child. Lean their natural flow, their energy patterns and their needs. Create habits that help support who they are and what they need. These habits will form the basis of their health habits as they grow older.
Little kids have lots of energy that comes in bursts. Kids can play and play and then crash out suddenly. Help support this natural process with frequent nutrient dense high energy meals and snacks. Let your children eat when they are hungry and eat as much as they want. Little kids are still very much living in the moment and are in touch with what they feel and need. They will eat when hungry and stop when they are full. Never force your child to eat or not eat as this will override this internal natural process and create a life long struggle with poor eating habits for your child. Instead encourage and support your child’s own process and the ability to hear and heed their own needs.
Many kids refuse to eat certain vegetables and fruits and this is when most parents start serving their kids what they like and not serving what they don’t but this is an unhealthy pattern to get into. If you only feed your kids what they like their pallet will continue to shrink and be very limited overall. Offer a fresh fruit and vegetable at every meal and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, even the ones they won’t eat. Over time, as they continue to see these foods they will become more and more drawn to them.
Cook your children’s foods with extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil on low heats. Both of these oils are highly nutritious and provide a good dose of healthy fats that help support a high functioning brain and energy life, but make sure to include lots of uncooked foods like nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables. Fresh foods should make up the bulk of your child's diet.
Make all your own baby and toddler foods with organic fresh fruits and vegetables and a high speed food processor. Not only is this highly cost effective and quick, it takes most harmful food chemicals out of your child's diet. It also gives them high doses of living active enzymes, vitamins and minerals, phytochemicals and everything nature gave to us to support strong health.

School Age (Ages 5-12)
Continue in the same patterns and suggestions as the pre-school age group. With a few reminders….

Focus on reducing and eliminating unhealthy fats and cooking methods which come from junk, processed, refined and fried foods.
Increase the amount of fiber intake through lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Give your child a wide variety of these foods to choose from.
This is the age when kids will begin to make their own foods choices at school and when they are away from their parents with friends. The healthy foundation you built during the early part of their life will begin to serve them well now. Don’t be discouraged if they make unhealthy choices and experiment with new foods and eating habits. Allow them to explore but continue to remind and serve them healthy foods when they are eating with you. Talk a lot about foods, what we need, why we need them and their effects on the body and mind. Always offer a fresh fruit and vegetable at every meal and as snacks. Fill your fridge with the good stuff and don’t bring the bad stuff into your home. Offer lots of choices and variety so they can make their own choice but limit the choices to the healthy options.
Children of this age group continue to need lots of nutrient and energy dense foods and a focus on purity. Concentrate on pure water and pure foods - Water that is filtered and foods that are organic.
Also focus on a varied diet. Kids like what they like but can get stuck eating too much of the same things which leaves holes in their diet, where they are missing valuable and needed nutrients. Change things up a lot and buy and offer a wide variety of foods.
Choose foods that are whole, which means closest to their natural state. Every form of processing, whether it is cooking, canning, boxing or freezing, removes valuable vitamins and minerals and inactivates enzymes and phytochemcials. Stay away from refined grains such as white breads and pastas. Refining removes the essential fats, proteins, complex carbohydrates, fibers, vitamins and minerals and only leaves the starchy part of the grain which has little nutritional value and clogs the digestive system.

Teen Years (Ages 13-18)

During this time of life children are especially vulnerable to health changes because of all the significant changes going on inside their bodies. In addition kids are faced with a high amount of external pressure and stress.
It is imperative that children in this age group are getting all of the nutrients they need. Sure signs of poor nutrition or nutritional deficiencies are mood swings, acne, emotional outbursts, poor concentration and lethargy. A good diet can help to combat these common teenage problems and support your child grow into a healthy and strong adult.
Children of this age will eat and are in need of large volumes of food. Don’t discourage your child from eating a lot, just be mindful of what they are eating. Remove foods that are high in fat (dairy, animal products, fried foods,) junk, refined and sugary foods. Let them eat as much of the good stuff as they want.
Exercise becomes increasingly important during these years. Get your child involved in sports activities or something they enjoy that requires them to use and move their bodies and mind. Riding a bike or taking the dog for a walk are also a few good ways for your child to get some exercise and movement in their day. Also remember that role modeling activity and movement will be one of your greatest assets and tools for getting your child motivated and involved.

A Special Note About Commercial Juices..
Commercial juices that you find most commonly in your grocery store do not add much nutritional value to your child’s diet. Most brands usually contain sugar, artificial colorings, additives and preservatives, pesticides and herbicides. In addition, most of the fruits and vegetables have been through so many processes at this point, their nutritional value is very low. Drinking lots of these high sugar juices, in small children especially, will reduce their appetite preventing them from getting all the nutrients they need. Taking in large quantities of these high sugar juices can also increase your child’s susceptibility to yeast overgrowth which can cause behavioral problems such as ADD, chronic nasal congestion, frequent colds and infections. Instead, choose whole fruit juices don’t add anything. Naked and Odwalla are good brands.

A Special Note on Dairy...
Milk ends up comprising a large part of many children’s diets, but really is very low on the nutrition scale for the human body. Milk has a poor vitamin and mineral ratio, especially when it comes to magnesium and calcium. The best ratio for the human body is 2:1 (calcium:magnesium). When this balance is disturbed health problems can arise, especially later in life. The calcium from cow’s milk is also not well absorbed by humans. In fact, we are able to absorb more calcium from kale then we are from milk! Dairy milk is also very high in saturated fat (an unhealthy fat for the human body). Many studies have also linked milk to health problems including iron deficiency, anemia, gastric bleeding, cramps and stomach upset, chronic diarrhea, chronic nasal congestion, chronic ear infections, allergies, asthma, colic, rheumatoid arthritis, musculoskeletal pains, kidney disease, and heart disease. Dairy is also highly acidic, throwing the internal pH of the body out of balance. Milk was designed for baby cows and fits their physical make up just right but our needs, as humans, are very different than that of a cows.

A Special Note About Water...
Our bodies are mostly made of water. Water in the body is needed for almost every process and function that we move through each day. Without enough hydration our bodies loose strength, the ability to repair and function properly. Kids in particular forget to drink water throughout the day but need it the most since they are so active. The type of water children drink is important. Since their central nervous system, in particular, is still developing, they are especially sensitive to water pollutants and chemicals. One such chemical that is in unfiltered water is fluoride, which is toxic to the human body and children are most sensitive to its toxicity. In fact, the US is one of the only developed countries that fluorinates our water. Give your children plenty of filtered or bottled water each day. A good practice is to have them carry a water bottle with them which will remind them to drink when thirsty.

A Special Note About Organic Foods...
Our foods are some of the most contaminated products in this country, due to the amount of chemicals and toxic substances this country allows food industry to put into our foods. Chemicals that are in our foods include poisonous herbicide and pesticides, as well as toxic chemicals used to grow and preserve produce and food products. In addition, the soil where most of our produce is grown is over used and abused so depleted of essential vitamins, minerals and micronutrient which in turn translates to low quality fruits and vegetables. Our animal products are also just as toxic. Most animals that are sold for meat live in the most deplorable conditions and are under an extreme amount of stress and emotional trauma while they are alive. Because of the animals living conditions and environment, they are highly susceptible to sickness and disease. To combat this, animals are fed large amounts of antibiotics which then end up in our bodies. Constant low level doses of antibiotics in our body, destroy beneficial bacteria which reduces the effectiveness of our immune system and digestive process. Then to make animals grow faster and produce more meat, animals are also given hormones and growth stimulants. All of these come into your child's body when you eat these animal meats. Growth hormones in the body throw our hormone balance out of balance, when this occurs hormone related issues can set in and long term hormonal cancers become of concern. Organic foods are not more expensive then conventionally grown foods if the entire cost picture is taken into account including the cost to our health, environment and food quality. A price cannot be put on the health of your growing child.

A Special Note About Good Fats vs. Bad Fats...
Not all fats are bad, in fact some are very good for our body and are are needed. Reducing your child’s intake of bad fats while increasing their intake of good fats will help insure the highest levels of health. Good fats are especially needed for the nervous system and brain and heart and cardiovascular system. Bad fats include margarine, dairy, animal meat, processed and refined foods and sweets and junk foods. They are the vegetable, soy, canola and corn oils. Good fats are included in flax seed, coconut and olive oil. Good fats are found in cold water fish, nuts and seeds. Include lots of good fats in your child to support a healthy central nervous system, heart and immune system.

Important Nutrients, Vitamins & Minerals for Children...
Protein is essential for growth. The highest quality proteins (those that give the body the amino acids it needs while having little detrimental effect on the body) can be found in raw plant based foods. Animal proteins are a complete protein but are hard to digest, high in saturated fat and contain little to no other vitamins and minerals. In addition, amino acids are destroyed in heats above 160 degrees, so the form your amino acids are in, is important. Foods that are most notable low in protein include sugar, fruits, fats and oils. A variety of vegetables, nuts, beans and lentils are all high in protein and should be consumed regularly.

Iron is essential for healthy bones and blood and is most readily available and easily absorbed by the human body when coming from non-animal sources. The acidity created when digesting animal meats, combats the ability of the body to adsorb iron. The iron is instead used immediately to buffer the acidity.

Vitamin C is essential for a healthy immune system and helps in the absorption of iron from plant based foods. You can find vitamin C in fresh fruits and fresh fruit juices.

Calcium is needed for healthy bones and teeth. The best forms of calcium come from nut and seed milks, soy products, organic cheese, green veggies, whole grains, beans, lentils, almonds, sesame seeds and tofu.
Zinc is needed for healthy growth, cell division and healthy immune system functioning. Nut and seeds (especially pumpkin seeds), legumes and tofu are all high in zinc.

B12 is an essential B vitamin needed for healthy growth in the body and especially in the healthy development of the brain. B12 comes mostly through animal based foods but can be found in fortified foods including soy milk, low salt yeast extract (Brewer’s yeast) and many fortified breakfast cereals. If you are a vegan, you may need to consider taking a supplement. Contact your nutrition expert for more details.

Omega 3’s are an essential fatty acid needed by the body for a variety of healthy functions. Children that have a good intake of Omega 3’s have a 4 time lower risk of developing asthma, show less hyperactivity and improved brain function. Omega 3’s can be found in flax seed, walnuts, cold water fish such as salmon, soy, navy and kidney beans, winter squash and olive oil.

Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption and a healthy immune system. We moistly get our vitamin D from the sun but during the winter months children can become low in vitamin D. Choose juices and milk products that are fortified with Vitamin D and make sure your children get out in the sun and play as often as possible. The sun is our friend!

Many childhood related illnesses and symptoms, such as allergies, eczema, chronic colds and flus, ear infections, ADD and ADHD all find their roots in child's nutrition. Drugs are not the answer. Drugs are especially toxic to small bodies, nor do they work to restore health and heal the body of the health symptom. A more comprehensive, holistic approach is needed with its foundation in nutrition. If you or your child need a more personalized nutrition path, please contact us at Align Holistic Health & Well Being. Together we can find the natural solution to your child's health problems.

Raw Chocolate (Cacao) Cherry Smoothie Recipe

2012-01-18T13:41:00.000-08:00

Smoothie's are a favorite of mine. They are so versatile, filling, so healthy, so delicious! My most recent creation is this Chocolate Cherry Recipe. Choclate, in its raw natural state, is called Cacao and is a Superfood. It has many and wide ranging beneficial health effects. It is one of nature's most fantastic superfoods due to its high mineral content and enormous amount of antioxidants. Since many of the special properties of cacao are destroyed or lost by cooking and refining, commercial chocolate products are nutritionally degraded, and have many health harming ingredients added. Raw Cacao gives hope to chocoholics everywhere.

Sunfoods discusses the health promoting benefits contained within Cacao. "Raw Cacao is packed with antioxidants, including polyphenols, catechins and epicatechins that help to fight off free radicals, giving you a healthy, complete superfood known as the Food of the Gods. In addition, flavonols help the body produce Nitric Oxide, a compound essential for proper heart function. Clean and microbe-free, cacao nibs offer a powerful boost of phenylethylamine (PEA) and anandamide, which both enhance positive feelings. Raw cacao is also a natural source of trace minerals, such as manganese, zinc and copper, which help to maintain healthy blood while theobromine, iron, chromium, magnesium and omega-6 fatty acids play an important role in heart health, brain function, growth and development.

Magnesium: Cacao appears to be the #1 source of magnesium of any food. Magnesium is one of the great alkaline minerals. It works to support the heart, boost our mental focus, and relieve constipation. Magnesium, along with other components of cacao, has been linked with a lessening of PMS symptoms. This is likely the primary reason women crave chocolate during their monthly cycle. Magnesium balances brain chemistry, builds strong bones, and has been tied to increased happiness and improved mood. Magnesium is the most deficient major mineral on the Standard American Diet (SAD); over 80% of Americans are chronically deficient in Magnesium! Raw cacao has enough magnesium to help reverse deficiencies of this mineral.

Antioxidants: Cacao contains the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food in the world. This point is so astounding that it bears repeating: No food exhibits greater antioxidant capacity than cacao! These antioxidants include polyphenols, catechins, and epicatechins. By weight, Cacao has more antioxidants than red wine, blueberries, acai, pomegranates, and goji berries COMBINED.

Iron: Raw Cacao contains approximately 314% of the U.S. RDA of iron per 1 ounce (28 gram) serving. Iron plays an essential role in the body, working to carry oxygen from the lungs to every part of the body. Consuming cacao is one of the best ways to keep our blood healthy.

Zinc: Many of the enzymes in the human body would not exist without the presence of zinc. This mineral is a vital component in over 200 enzymes throughout the body, and it is a cofactor of hundreds more. Raw Cacao contains zinc, which plays a critical role in the health of the immune system, liver, pancreas, and skin. Additionally, zinc is essential for sexual development, fertility, and cell growth.

Manganese: This mineral plays a crucial role in the formation of bone, cartilage, and connective tissue. Manganese helps assist iron in the oxygenation of the blood and formation of hemoglobin, and helps to promote healthy joints.

Copper: Traditionally known as a powerful antimicrobial, copper also works to cleanse the lymphatic system and stimulate peristalsis. In the human body, copper helps to build healthy blood, making it a natural partner to iron and manganese.

Phenethylamine (PEA): Raw Cacao contains high levels of Phenylethylamine (PEA). Often known as The Love Chemical, PEA is the chemical produced in our bodies when we fall in love. This is likely one of the main reasons why love and chocolate have such a deep connection. PEA also plays a role in increasing focus and alertness.

Tryptophan: An essential amino acid which is transformed into important stress-protective neurotransmitters including serotonin and melatonin. Tryptophan is heat sensitive and therefore it is cooked out in many high protein foods and in conventional processed chocolate products.

Serotonin: The primary neurotransmitter in the human body, Serotonin is similar in its chemistry to tryptophan and melatonin. Serotonin helps us build up our stress defense shield which supports our immune system in times of high demand.

Omega 6 Fatty Acids: Raw cacao contains essential omega 6 fatty acids, which form an integral part of our cell walls and allow for more efficient communication between cells.

Anandamide: The human body naturally produces endorphins after exercise, neurotransmitters which flood our brains with positive feelings. One of these neurotransmitters is Anandamide, also known as The Bliss Chemical. While humans have to work hard to produce enough Anandamide to reach higher levels of ecstasty, only one plant produces this chemical as part of its normal metabolism: Cacao! Not only does Cacao contain Anandamide in high concentrations, it also contains enzyme inhibitors that decrease our bodies' ability to breakdown The Bliss Chemical. When we eat raw cacao, the Anandamide produced by our brains along with the Anadamide found in cacao may continue to circulate in the body for extended periods of time, helping us feel great all day long.

Theobromine: Cacao contains about 1% theobromine. Most commonly found in cacao, this chemical element is an effective anti-bacterial substance which works to kill Streptococci mutans (the primary organism responsible for cavities). Theobromine is a chemical relative of caffeine but it does not act as a nervous system stimulant. Theobromine dilates the cardiovascular system making the hearts job easier. The combination of Theobromine and Magnesium make Cacao an important part of a heart-healthy diet.

You can find and purcahse raw organic cacao powder, of the highest quality and most reasonable price, here:

http://www.sunfood.com/food/cacao-chocolate-cocoa/cacao-chocolate-powder-2-5-lb-bag-sunfood-raw-certified-organic.html

Chocolate Cherry Smoothie Recipe

1 organic ripe banana

1 c organic red raspberries

1 c organic cherries (stems and pits removed)

1/2 c organic strawberries

1 tsp. golden flax seed

1 tsp. chia seeds

1 tbs. almond butter

1 tbs. cacao nibs

Cacao Almond Milk to cover (receipe below or alternately use 1-2 tsp raw cacao powder and almond milk)

Blend until smooth and creamy.

Cacao Almond Milk Recipe

4 cups soaked almonds

2 tablespoons raw cacao powder

2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract

2 teaspoons of raw honey, grade B maple syrup, vanilla stevia (optional)

8 cups of purified water

Directions:

Put soaked nuts, cacao, vanilla and optional sweetener into the blender.

Cover with half the water.

Blend until creamy.

Add the rest of the water, blend until creamy and thoroughly blended.

Place a mesh bag over the top of the blender container and pour the liquid though the mesh bag to strain any nut or seed pieces.

Keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Why Living Foods are So Powerful

2012-01-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

Raw food are not the latest craze or diet trend, in fact they are the oldest and most natural ways for our body to eat. When we eat raw foods, we are eating foods left in their original, natural state. In this state, foods are left as potent energetic forces that when brought into our body, interact with our systems, organs and cells in a very healing, balancing and transformational way. It was Hippocrates, the Father of Western Modern medicine, who said that foods were medicine, and we should look to foods to be our medicines. What he saw, is what anyone one of can experience on a first hand level when we make a shift to a more natural living diet.

Raw foods specifically are beneficial to the body in the following ways:

1. Raw Foods Have a Higher Oxygen Level - Living plants circulate and utilize energy in a very real way. This living energy creates plant structures that posses a living component called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll has the almost identical molecular structure to hemoglobin, a protein of our very own red blood cells. Our red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen and carrying away wastes. As we take in larger amounts of living chlorophyll, it is almost as if we are getting a cleaning blood transfusion. Our blood is cleansed and we are infused with the highest most pure oxygen levels. Disease thrives in a low oxygen environment, and the wastes that they give off steal oxygen from our own bodies. When we are high is pure oxygen our body is able to operate in the most healthy, clean internal environments and at the same time our energy levels are increased and toxins are removed more effectively.

2. Raw Foods Contain High Levels of Living Enzymes - The new frontier of medicine, even possibly Western medicine? The use of enzymes in the treatment of diseased states. Why is this? Because enzymes are the power of life. They are what make every function within our body work, they are the catalyst for living. It has been found, through promising new enzyme research, that most all disease states can be traced back to a lack of or a malfunction of body enzymes. When we eat cooked and processed foods we are taking in no living enzymes and at the same time we are asking our body to produce enough new enzymes to digest and assimilate all the nutrients we just took in and enough to expel all the toxins contained with these foods. Over time, this leads to an enzyme deficiency in the body and disease begins to evolve. Raw foods on the other hand contain within them the exact combination of living enzymes to fully digest and assimilate that particular food. When mixed with our own naturally present enzymes, the process of digestion is expodentially enhanced and we experience greater levels of health while at the same time re-routing conserved digestive energy to other body processes such as cleansing and re-building.

3. Raw Foods Contain Living Phytopigments and Phytochemials - Phytopigments, the pigments naturally present in pant foods, each contain specific, diverse purposes. They contain within them a multitude of phytochemicals, or active living plant chemicals. When we think of chemicals we think of pharmaceuticals, but these are made made chemicals and they are incomplete which is why they don't work to heal. Most pharmaceutical drugs contain one or maybe two potent plant chemicals, which are them mixed with synthetic compounds, filler, additives, preservatives and then sold as a drug. Plants on the other hand don't just contain one or two chemicals they contain literally thousand. Each plant food has a different portrait of living plant chemicals and each chemical has a different function. Some lower blood pressure, other regulate hormones, others balance the nervous system. Their functions are diverse and voluminous. Left in their raw state, these plant chemicals are still living and currently doing their intended process as they are brought into our body, so their effect is powerful. These chemicals balance, regulate, and "tune up" our internal processes. Without them we are left without anything to internally balance.

These are just 3 of the ways in which living food heal, restore and revitalize. Raw foods contain many more health promoting benefits. I will be writing about more of the ways in which living foods are so powerful to health, in coming days and weeks.

Blessings of health.

Finding Your Perfect Weight ~ The Raw Way

2012-01-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

It is a New Year and many of us may have already given up on our New Year's resolutions set only 6 short weeks ago. Many of our goals centered around being more healthy, loosing weight, becoming more active and eating better. Yet only after less then 60 days we have decided it is too difficult and given up on our own intentions! Intentions that were important and held meaning for us. Well it is time to revive those health intentions! Many times we give up when we feel discouraged, stressed or confused. Maybe we set intentions to eat more healthy, but after 45 days of endless salads, we became bored and didn't really know what else to make. Maybe we set intentions to be more active, and while we got into the groove and started moving early on, now the busy schedules and long days have us worn out and our goals just seem to impossible to attain. The good news is that is not true. The goals you have for yourself can be attained, without feeling overwhelmed or stressed out about it if you have the right tools, knowledge and support. Our 12-week, Your Perfect Weight program was designed to do just that. In 12 weeks you will have the knowledge you need to be confident, the tools you need to be prepared and the support you need to successful.

Our Group Working series focuses on giving you in-depth knowledge about what your body needs to be healthy and the foods to eat to support your health, which will help you be confident in sticking with it. Tools such as Individualizing Your Diet, Grocery Store Learning Expeditions and Healthy Cooking classes, prepare you for how and what to eat once you leave the comfort of the group setting. Our weekly group setting allows you to be supported by a knowledgeable coach and teacher but also from other individuals that are making the same journey.

Our Holistic focus is very different from the conventional mind set of caloric restriction, counting calories and a one size fits all approach. Your Perfect Weight is all about you finding what works best with your unique body type and individual biochemical make-up so you can integrate it as a way of life long term.

Your Perfect Weight is not a conventional "diet" and that is because conventional diets miss the big picture, COMPLETELY. They focus on ways to restrict caloric intake while completely ignoring what it is participants are eating and how they eat it. Ads for Nutrisystem show microwavable dishes that are overcooked, over processed and completely enzyme and nutrient deficient. It is impossible to keep weight balanced with enzyme and nutrient deficient foods. The body sends hunger signals out not only when it is lacking calories, but most importantly when it is lacking the nutrients it needs. Your hunger response is a signal to you that your body is in need of essential nutrients. You can eat 2,000 calories and still feel ravenously hungry if you body has not received the nutrients it needs to live and be healthy. The body will continue to send out hunger signals until the nutrients it needs are fulfilled, not just until your stomach is full, and it will also begin storing fat because it feels it is in danger of starving. Your body will begin storing fat even if you are eating an excess number of calories. Trying to restrict or control one's caloric intake while not giving the body what it needs is a losing battle. You hunger response is a natural healthy response and trying to control it with the mind without satisfying its cause is not only unhealthy it is impossible long term. You should eat when you are hungry and only when you are hungry. If you learn to control and override that natural response your natural body rhythms and signals will forever be out of sync leading to lifelong problems. In addition, not listening to your body's needs will result in keeping you out of tune with your own natural body rhythms which will keep you locked in an unhealthy cycle. The best approach is to listen to your body and respond by giving it what it needs. And what does your body need? High energy, nutrient dense living foods which gives your body everything it is asking for. The best approach to finding and staying your perfect weight? The answer is through raw living foods.

Raw foods are foods that have not been altered or processed in any way from their natural state. This includes not cooking any foods above the heat of the Sun here on Earth, or 118 degrees. The reason for this is simple. Once foods are heated or processed they loose up to 80% of their nutrients, almost all of their natural pure water content and most of the oxygen content, vitamins are destroyed, minerals loose their catalytic effect, which is needed in order for vitamins to work in the body and most of their fiber content, all of the living enzymes and phytochemicals are completely destroyed. Leaving you with a food that is lacking in most nutrients the body needs and is asking for. Cooked foods also take energy from the body because they take longer to move through the digestive tract and digestion is the number one energy consumer within the body! When foods are heated above 118 degrees most of their nutritional content is completely destroyed.

Living foods come pre-packed with the enzymes within them to fully digest that particular food. Our body also makes enzymes to help in the digestive process but when we eat foods that are already pre-packed with the unique and complete enzyme package needed to fully digest the food our overall digestive process is enhanced. This frees up energy that otherwise would be used in making enzymes and digesting food that can then be used for other processes such as removing toxins and breaking down unneeded fat stored in the body. Once foods have been cooked above 118 degrees the natural living enzymes and completely destroyed. Raw fats, for instance, contain within them the enzyme lipase which completely metabolizes the fat allowing the body to use it as energy instead of storing. Heated fats on the other hand are not readily metabolized by the body and end up stored within the body tissues because they have no enzymes left within them to help break them down once inside the body. Cellulite is now being seen as heated fats that have been unmetabolized and stored in the body tissues. This is one of the reasons raw foodists lack any visible signs of cellulite, even if they are in the later years of life. When you eat enzyme deficient foods the body is forced to make its own enzymes and energy is diverted from other important processes. In addition when you eat enzyme deficient foods they may not be fully and completely digested which leads to these foods being stored in the body resulting in excess pounds.

Foods that have been changed from their natural state and non-organic foods also have added chemicals, preservatives, additives, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and other toxic chemicals. All of these chemicals are toxic to the body. If the body becomes overwhelmed with these toxins, as is the case in most individuals on a Standard American Diet, the liver is no longer able to neutralize these toxins and they are stored. The body likes to store these toxins in fat cells because the fat helps to neutralize the toxins. Without a weight loss system that first detoxifies the body and then focuses on only bringing in non toxic foods, you are sure to continue in this cycle and increase the amount of fat and toxins stored in your body all resulting in more pounds on your body.

Living foods are nutrient dense foods. For instance look at the following list. These are the nutrient and natural chemical components found in just 1 fresh clean apple:

WHAT’S IN A FRESH WHOLE CLEAN APPLE?

(FROM “Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) Herbs”)

ABSCISIC-ACID FR NAP

CIS-2, TRANS-4-ABSCISIC-ACID BK NAP

TRANS-ABSCISIC-ACID FR NAP

ACETIC-ACID

ACETIC-ACID-AMYL-ESTER

ACETALDEHYDE

ACETONE

N-ALPHA-ACETYL-AGGININE SH NAP

ADENINE RT NAP

ALPHA-ALANINE FR

BETA-ALANINE FR

ALANINE 70-435 FR USA

ALUMINUM 0.4-129 FR AAS USG

ALPHA-AMINOBUTYRIC-ACID

AMMONIA(NH3) 235-1,029 EP (FR)

AMYGDALIN 6,000-13,800 SD

AMYL-ACETATE

AMYL-BUTYRATE

AMYL-PROPIONATE

ANILINE 1.7 EP(FR) NAP

ANILINE 1.5 FR NAP

ARABINOSE

ARGININE 60-373 FR USA

ARSENIC 0.00055-0.43 FR AAS USG

ASCORBIC-ACID 20-402 FR USA

ASCORBIDASE

ASH 2,300-43,000 FR USG

ASPARAGINE 171 FR

ASPARTIC-ACID 210-2,115 FR USA

AVICULARIN FR NAP

BARIUM 0.22-8.6 FR USG

BENZOIC-ACID

3,4-BENZOPYRENE FR NAP

BENZYL-ACETATE

BENZYL-AMINE 0.6 EP(FR) NPA

BENZYLAMINE 0.3-3.0 FR NAP

BIOTIN

BORON 1-110 FR AAS BOB USG

BROMINE <1 FR AAS

BUTANOL

N-BUTANOL

1-BUTANOL

2-BUTANOL

BUTYL-ACETATE

BUTYL-BUTYRATE

BUTYL-CAPROATE

BUTYL-PROPIONATE

BUTYL-VALERIANATE

I-BUTYL-OCTANOATE

I-BUTYL-PROPIOANTE

N-BUTYL-DECANOATE

N-BUTYL-FORMATE

N-BUTYL-N-HEXANOATE

N-BUTYL-OCTANOATE

N-BUTYL-PROPIONATE

CADMIUM <0.002-0.0258 FR AAS USG

CAFFEETANNIN

CAFFEIC-ACID 85-1,270 FR CRC(FSN)

CALCIUM 43-570 (-1,376) FR AAS USG

CALCIUM-OXALATE

CAPROALDEHYDE

CAPRIOIC-ACID-AMYL-ESTER

CAPRYLIC-ESTER

CARBOHYDRATE 152,250-948,550 FR

BETA-CAROTENE 0-76 FR

CAROTENOIDS 0-126

CATALASE

D-CATECHIN FR NAP

CHLOROGENIC-ACID FR NAP

CHLOROPHYLL 0-1 FR

CHROMIUM 0.005-0.3 FR AAS USG

CITRIC-ACID

CITRAMALIC-ACID

COBALT <0.005-0.043 FR AAS USG

COPPER 0.24-4 FR AAS USG

COUMARIC-ACID

P-COUMARIC-ACID 15-460 FR CRC (FSN)

N-COUMARYL-QUINIC-ACID

P-COUMARYL-QUINIC-ACID FR NAP

CREATINE SH NAP

CUTIN EP(FR) NAP

CYANIDIN LF NAP

CYANIDIN-3-ARABINOSIDE

CYANIDIN-7-ARABINOSIDE

CYANIDIN-3,5 DIGLUCOSIDE CY NAP

CYANIDIN-3-GALACTOSIDE

CYSTINE 30-187

I-DECANOIC-ACID

N-DECANOL

DECENOIC-ACID

1-DECYL-ACETATE

DEHYDROASCORBIC-ACID

DIASTASE

DIETHYLAMINE 3 FR NAP

DIGALACTOSYL-DIGLYCERIDE 49-107 FR

3-BETA-19-ALPHA-DIHYDROXY-2-OXOURS-

12-EN-28-OIC-ACID 1,000 WD NAP

DIHYDROXYTRICARBALLYLIC-ACID 1 FR

DIPHOSPHATIDYL-GLYCEROL 4-6 FR

EO 25-35

L-EPICATECHIN FR NAP

5,6-EPOXY-10’-APO-5,6-DIHYDRO-BETACAROTENE-3,10’-DIOL 20,000

EP(FR) NAP

ESTRAGOLE TR EO

ESTRONE 0.10-0.13 SD NAP

ETHANOL

ETHYL-ACETATE

ETHYLAMINE 3 FR NAP

ETHYL-BUTYRATE

ETHYL-CAPROATE

ETHYL-CROTONATE

ETHYL-DECENOATE

ETHYL-DODECANOATE

ETHYL-HEXANOATE

ETHYL-ISOBUTYTRATE

ETHYL-METHYLBUTYRATE

ETHYL-NONANOATE

ETHYL-OCTANOATE

ETHYL-PENTANOATE

ETHYL-PHENACETATE

ETHYL-PROPIONATE

ETHYL-VALERIANATE

FARNESENE EP(FR) NAP

FAT 3,210-34,200 FR FNF PED

FAT 180,000-230,000 SD

FERULIC-ACID 4-95 FR CRC(FSN)

FIBER 131,000 FR PED

FIBER 5,200-49,636 FR USA

FLUORINE <0.1-2.1 FR AAS

FOLACIN 0.02-0.2 FR USA

FORMIC-ACID

FRUCTOSE 50,100-60,800 FR

FUMARIC-ACID

GALACTANASE

GALACTARIC-ACID

D-GALACTURONIC-ACID 13-54

GERANIOL

D-GLUCITOL

GLUCOCEREBROSIDE 34-49

D-GLUCONIC-ACID

GLUCOSE 17,200-18,200 FR

GLUTAMIC-ACID 156-1,244 FR

GLUTAMINE 20

GLYCERIC-ACID

GLYCINE 80-497

GLYCOLIC-ACID

GLYOXYLIC-ACID

GUANIDINE SH NAP

GUANIDINOACETIC-ACID SH NAP

GAMMA-GUANIDINOBUTRAMIDE SH NAP

GAMMA-GUANIDINOBUYTYRIC-ACID SH

NAP

GAMMA-GUANIDINOPROPIONIC-ACID SH

NAP

GUANIDINOSUCCINIC-ACID SH NAP

HEMICELLULOSE

HEPTACOSANE

N-HEPTANOIC-ACID

HEPTENOIC-ACID

2-HEPTANOL

N-HEPTANOL

N-HEX-1-EN-3-OL

CIS-N-HEX-3-EN-1-OL

TRANS-N-HEX-2-EN-1-OL

TRANS-N-HEX-3-EN-1-OL

HEXACOSANOL

N-HEXANOL

7-HEXANOIC-ACID

I-HEXANOIC-ACID

HEXANOL

2-HEXENAL

TRANS-2-HEXENOIC-ACID

HEXYL-ACETATE

HEXYL-BUTYRATE

HEXYL-FORMATE

N-HEHYL-N-HEXANOATE

N-HEXYL-OCTANOATE

N-HEXYL-PROPIONATE

HISTIDINE 30-187 FR

P-HYDROXYBENZOIC-ACID FR NAP

HYDROXYCINNAMIC-ACID 1,340 FR

4-HYDROXYMETHYLPROLINE

3-HYDROXY-OCTYL-BETA-D-GLUCOSIDE

FR NAP

19-HYDROXYURSOLIC-ACID PL JSG

20-HYDROXYURSOLIC-ACID PL JSG

19-HYDROXYURSONIC-ACID PL JSG

HYPERIN

HYPEROSIDE FR NAP

IDAEIN

INDOLE-3-ACETIC-ACID PL PAS

INOSITOL

IODINE

IRON 1.1-123 FR AAS USA USG

ISOAMYL-BUTYRATE

ISOAMYL-PROPIONATE

ISOBUTYL-ACETATE

ISOBUTYL-BUTYRATE

ISOBUTYL-FORMATE

ISOCHLOROGENIC-ACID PL PAS

ISOCITRIC-ACID

ISOLEUCINE 50-497 FR

ISOPROPYL-BUTYRATE

ISOQUERCITRIN FR NAP

JASMONIC-ACID FR NAP

KILOCALORIES 3,419 FR PED

LACTIC-ACID

LAURIC-ACID 10-63 FR

LEAD 0.002-64 FR AAS USG

LECITHIN

LEUCINE 120-746 FR

LINOLENIC-ACID 870-5,411 FR

ALPHA-LINOLENIC-ACID 180-1,120 FR

LITHIUM 0.044-0.172 FR USG

LUTEIN 0.4-5 FR JAF37:657

LUTEOXANTHIN FR NAP

LYSINE 20-746 FR

MAGNESIUM 48-478 (-860) FR AAS USA USG

L-MALIC-ACID

MALVIDIN-MONOGLYCOSIDE

MANGANESE 0-29 FR AAS USG

MANNOSE

MERCURY 0.00011-0.02 FR AAS USG

METHANOL

METHIONINE 20-124

METHYL-ACETATE

METHYL-2-XI-ACETOXY-20-BETAHYDROXY-URSONATE EP(FR)

METHYLAMINE 4.5 EP(FR) NAP

2-METHYL-BUT-2-EN-1-AL FR NAP

2-METHYL-BUT-3-EN-1-OL FR NAP

D-2-METHYLBUTAN-1-OL

2-METHYLBUTAN-2-OL

METHYL-BUTYRATE

METHYL-CAPROATE

2-METHYL-2,3-EPOXY-PENTANE FR

NAP

24-METHYLENE-CHOLESTEROL PO

NAP

METHYL-FORMATE

METHYL-GUANIDINE SH NAP

6-METHYL-HEPTEN-5-EN-2-ONE FR

NAP

METHYL-HEXANOATE

N-METHYL-BETAPHENETHYLAMINE 1.2 FR NAP

METHYL-PROPIONATE

METHYL-2-METHYL-BUTYRATE

METHYL-I-PENTANOATE

2-METHYLPENTAN-2-OL

N-METHYL-PHENETHYLAMINE 1.3

EX(FR) NAP

N-METHYL-PHENETHYLAMINE 1.2

FR NAP

GAMMA-METHYLA-PROLINE

2-METHYL-PROPEN-1-AL FR NAP

METHYL-VINYL-KETONE FR NAP

MEVALONIC-ACID 30-36 FR

MOLYBDENUM 0.077-0.43 FR USG

MONOGALACTOSYL-DIGLYCERIDE

12-42

1-MONO-LINOLEIN SD NAP

MUFA 150-935 FR USA

MYOINOSITOL 4,500 PO NAP

MYRISTIC-ACID 20-124 FR

NEOCHLOROGENIC-ACID

NEOXANTHIN EP(FR) NAP

NIACIN 1-7 FR

NICKEL 0.004-0.645 FR AAS USG

NITROGEN 280-4,000 FR AAS

NONACOSANE

D-L-NONACOSANOL

N-NONANOIC-ACID

N-NONANOL-2-NONANOL

NONENOIC-ACID

I-NONYL-ACETATE

OCTACOSANOL

OCTA-CIS-3-CIS-5-DIEN-1-OL EO

NAP

OCTA-TRANS-3-CIS-5-DIEN-1-OL EO

NAP

OCTA-CIS-3-CIS-5-DIEN-1-OLACETATE EO NAP

OCTA-TRANS-3-CIS-5-DIEN-1-OLACETATE EO NAP

N-OCTANONE

N-OCTANOL-2-OCTANOL

OCTENOIC-ACID

1-OCTYL-ACETATE

OLEIC-ACID 140-871 FR

OXALIC-ACID

OXALOACETIC-ACID

ALPHA-OXOGLUTARIC-ACID

PALMITIC-ACID 480-2,986 FR

PALMITOLEIC-ACID 10-62 FR

PANTOTHENIC-ACID 1-4 FR USA

PECTASE

PECTIN 1,400-66,585 FR USA

PECTIN-DEMETHOXYXYLASE

N-PENTANOIC-ACID

I-PENTANOIC-ACID

PENTANOL

I-PENTANOL

2-PENTANOL

3-PENTANOL

N-PENTENOIC-ACID

N-PENTYL-AMINE 0.3 FR NAP

PENTYL-BUTYRATE

N-PENTYL-DECANOATE

N-PENTYL-FORMATE

I-PENTYL-FORMATE

PENTYL-HEXANOATE

N-PENTYL-2-METHYLBUTYRATE

I-PENTYL-I-PENTANOATE

N-PENTYL-OCTANOATE

PEROXIDASE

2-PHENETHYLACETATE

PHENOLICS 1,100-3,400

PHENYLALANINE 50-311 FR

PHLORETAMIDE FR NAP

PHLORETIN LF JAD

PHLORETIN-4’-0 BETA-DGLUCOPYRANOSIDE 6,486 FR NAP

PHLORETIN-XYLOGLUCOSIDE FR

NAP

PHLORIZIN GLYCOSURIC

PHOSPHATIDYLIC-ACID 3-6 FR

PHOSPHATIDYL-CHOLINE 189-214

PHOSPHATIDYL-ETHANOLAMINE

101-124 FR

PHOSPHATIDYL-GLYCEROL 8-27 FR

PHOSPHATIDYL-INOSITOL 53-59 FR

PHOSPHATIDYL-SERINE 4 FR

PHOSPHORUS 68-925 (-1,548) FR AAS

PED USG

PHYTOSTEROLS 120-745 FR USA

PIPECOLINIC-ACID

POLYGALACTOSYL-DIGLYCERIDE

POLYGALACTURONASE

POLYPHENOLASE

POMOLIC-ACID PL JSG

POMONIC-ACID PL JSG

POTASSIUM 1,110-12,140 (-17,630) FR AAS USG

PROCYANIDINS LF NAP

PROLINE 20-435

PROPANOL

2-PROPANOL

N-PROPANOL

I-PROPANOL

N-PROPIONIC-ACID

PROPYL-ACETATE

PROPYL-BUTYRATE

PROPYL-FORMATE

PROPYL-2-METHYLBUTYRATE

PROPYL-N-PENTANOATE

PROPYL-PROPIONATE

PROTEIN 1,870-12,800 FR PED

PROTOCATECHUIC-ACID FR NAP

PUFA 1,050-6,535 FR USA

PYRROLIDINE 1.5 EP(FR) NAP

PYROXIDINE

PYRUVIC-ACID

QUERCETIN 58-263 PC PAM

QUERCETIN-ARABINOSIDE

QUERCETIN-3-O-ALPHAARABINOFURANOSIDE PL JSG

QUERCETIN-3-0-ALPHA-GALACTOSIDE EP(FR)

NAP

QUERCETIN-3-O-BETA-D-GLUCOSIDE PL JSG

QUERCETIN-3-RHAMNOGLUCOSIDE

QUERCETIN-3-O-RHAMNOSIDE PL JSG

QUERCETIN-3-RUTINOSIDE

QUERCETIN-3-O-XYLOSIDE EP(FR) NAP

QUERCETIN FR NAP

L-QUINIC-ACID

REYNOUTRIN FR NAP

RIBOFLAVIN 1 FR

RUBIDIUM 0.27-10 FR AAS

RUTIN TR EP(FR) NAP

SELENIUM 0.000055-0.00043 FR USG

SERINE 80-497 FR USA

SFA 580-3,610 FR USA

SHIKIMIC-ACID

SILICON 1-70 FR AAS

SILVER 0.011-0.086 FR USG

SINAPIC-ACID FR NAP

SODIUM 0-133 FR USG

SORBITOL LF NAP

STEARIC-ACID 70-435 FR

STRONTIUM 0.165-8.6 FR USG

SUCCINIC-ACID

SUCROSE 24,000-36,200 FR

SUGAR 60,100-166,000 FR

SULFUR 1.65-23 FR USG

TETRADECENYL-ACETATE LF NAP

TETRADECYL-ACETATE LF NAP

THIAMIN 1-2 FR PED

THREONINE 30-435 FR

TITANIUM 0.055-3 FR USG

ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL 2-37 FR TOT USA

TRIACONTANOL

TRIGLYCERIDE 45-50

1,3,3,-TRIMETHYL-DIOXA-2,7-BICYCLO (2,2,1)

HEPTANE FR NAP

TRYPTOPHAN 20-124 FR

TYROSINE 40-249 FR

URONIC-ACID 7-1,440 FR

URSOLIC-ACID EP(FR) NAP

VALINE 40-560 FR

VIT-B6 1-3 FR

VOMIFOLIOL-1-O-BETA-D-XYLOPYRANOSYL-6-

0-BETA-

D-GLUCOPYRANOSIDE FR NAP

WATER 809,000-896,000 FR USG

XYLOSE

ZINC 0-35 FR AAS USG

ZIRCONIUM 0.22-0.86 FR USA

Quite the impressive list! Plant foods have been intelligently designed and include a whole host of properties we are still only beginning to discover the functions of. Besides your standard vitamins, minerals and fiber content, plant foods contain active living chemical components called phytochemicals whose properties are voluminous in function from hormone regulation to tumor regression to blood pressure regulation. These active chemical components are completely destroyed in heats above 118 degrees. Once they are destroyed by heat or processing they can no longer carry out their intended function within the body. Our body needs these phytochemicals to keep itself in balance and to heal. What properties these phytochemicals hold to helping us maintain our balanced weight are still unknown but the possibilities are endless and exciting!

Living foods are used immediately by the body. They are digested and assimilated with nothing left over to store. Once your body begins getting all the nutrients it needs you begin eating less and releasing fat that was stored while your body was not getting the nutrients it needed. If you are getting all the nutrients your body needs within 1,000 to 1,500 calories that is all your body needs, you are satisfied, the hunger response is shut down and the body begins to release stored fat. This is why when going to a raw diet people many times loose a substantial amount of weight within a very short period of time, 30-45 pounds in 30 days is not uncommon or unhealthy using this approach.

Raw foods act in multiple ways to help you loose weight rapidly and completely. Raw foods:

1. Detoxify and cleanse the body of toxins and accumulated fat

2. Are nutrient dense allowing the body to get what it needs and release stored fat

3. Balance and heal the body with living chemical and nutrient components

4. Are packed with living enzymes which help foods to be completely digested and assimilated

5. Are pure with no toxic chemicals for the body to store within fat tissue

If you are looking to loose weight and keep it off the best approach is to use a program that balances your body and restores you from the inside out.

At Align Holistic Health & Well Being we have created the Your Perfect Weight Program that is based upon everything just discussed. We first start with a 30 day raw food and living juice cleanse to clean the internal environment of stored toxins while restoring balance to your entire being. We then learn how to individualize your diet so you are eating what and how your unique biochemical make up needs. We learn how to eat seasonally and how to shop and live the raw food lifestyle. Included is raw food cooking classes and grocery store tours. Giving you all the tools you need to find your perfect weight and stay at it for good.

Get off the weight loss roller coaster ride and live at Your Perfect Weight! You can find out more information about Align, our health philosophy and Your Perfect Weight Program here:

http://alignholistichealth.com/YourPerfectWeightProgram.aspx

Happy Healthy New Year!

References:

A Healthy Way to Loose Weight Fast. Better Nutrition. January 2012

http://www.communicationskillsinfo.com/the-essential-secrets-to-fast-and-natural-weight-loss-that-nutrisystem-and-weight-watchers-are-missing

The Secret Key to Balanced Weight & Weight Loss ~ Living Foods

2011-11-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Whether you are someone who seems to gain weight by just looking at food, gains weight every time they eat, finds it difficult to loose weight and keep it off are one of the millions who just constantly have to think about every thing you eat to keep your weight in check, there is good news! Loosing weight, keeping it off and keeping your weight balanced shouldn't be rocket science nor should it be a constant struggle. So why do so many of us find ourselves in a never ending battle? Because we have fallen far from the natural laws of eating and health.

The key lies in eating living enzyme rich foods! Foods that are alive, that have not been cooked or processed in any way, and that are still in their natural state hold the answer to the ability to live at your perfect balanced weight without any thought or struggle. Funny how nature always knows best!

Famous model Carol Alt, author of Eating in the Raw, said she used to have to starve herself and exercise constantly to stay thin. Once she transitioned to raw foods she found she could eat whatever she wanted and however much she wanted as long as it was raw. She also found is effortless to maintain her model-like physique and has seen better ab definition without exercising than she did when she exercised and ate cooked foods. Why is this?

Living foods contain active living enzymes. What are enzymes? Enzymes are the power of life. They are living forces that direct and conduct every process and action within the body. Enzymes are needed for every single processes within your body. Without them everything would stop. Digestive enzymes help to quickly convert the food we eat into available nutrients and to utilize and process the food completely, without any left over for storage. Living foods contain within them all of the enzymes needed to digest that particular food. For example the enzyme needed to digest, metabolize and distribute fat, lipase, is contained within raw fats such as coconut oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. When you eat these foods raw you are eating the enzymes needed to completely break down the fat and your liver is able to immediately convert these fats into energy with nothing being stored. Not only do you get a boost in energy when eating raw fats, none of the fat eaten is stored. When you eat the same fat without the presence of liapse, the fat stagnates, is stored and accumulates. Your body can make lipase but only under the most healthy and balanced conditions. If your body's health is compromised in any way, your digestive system isn't completely healthy and strong or your body is enzyme deficient after long periods of eating enzyme deficient foods, your liapse production may be compromised which leaves you unable to process fat as energy and it is stored.

You can also see this process of natural and complete digestive and the active enzymes contained in living foods at work if you leave an apple out on your counter for a few weeks. The apple will degrade and actually digest itself. This is because within the apple it contains all of the active living enzymes to complete the process of digestion of that apple. Same thing happens when you eat a living apple. The enzymes are contained within that apple to fully digest and use all of the nutrients contained within an apple. When you eat foods that are dead, cooked, processed and refined, your body must make all of the enzymes needed to digest and assimilate the dead foods your just ate. If your diet is predominately cooked dead foods, than over time your body falls into enzyme deficiency. This means you are eating more foods then your body is effectively able to, first make all the needed enzymes for and second to fully digest and process. It is a new phenomenon in our civilization to eat predominately processed and cooked foods. Foods that have been cooked, processed and refined have been changed completely at a molecular level, leaving the body unable to process and utilize fully if at all. Man made chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, white flour pasty concoctions, refined sugars, refined meats and dairy, and on and on are all molecular structures that the body is unable to utilize. In addition to be structurally changed, they are enzyme deficient foods and are unable to be fully digested. All foods not fully digested or utilized are left in the body and stored. Toxins especially are stored in our fatty tissue, the more toxins in the body the greater the volume or weight of fatty tissue. When you begin loosing weight and burning fat all these toxins are released into the body. So in addition to burning fat, when losing weight, your body must be effectively ridding itself of the toxins that are being released. Protease is the enzyme that helps to break down proteins and is essential to the body in eliminating toxins. Protease is found in tact in protein rich plant foods that have not been cooked or refined. Once cooked or refined protease is also destroyed.

Living foods also help you to loose weight and keep your weight perfectly balanced naturally because they help to reduce hunger and cravings and prevent fat storage. When the body does not get all that it needs, first it will send hunger signals and second it will send signals that the body is starving and to begin storing fat for later use. This can lead to a vicious cycle of perpetual hunger and fat storage. Many people who can't seem to loose weight or continue to gain (store) everything they eat are many times right in the middle of this cycle. Only when the body gets all of the nutrients it needs does it shut down the hunger response. This is not a caloric measure but a nutrient measure. You could eat 2,000 calories at one sitting and still not have received any of the nutrients your body needs which will leave you continuing to feel hungry. As your body's needs increase your hunger response is turned on again. This continues until all of the nutrients it needs are received. Eating foods that are nutrient deficient does not give the body all of the nutrients it needs and thus from a biological perspective, you are starving your body and creating this hunger and fat storage cycle. The way to break this cycle is to give your body all that it needs. Living foods are the answer! They not only have not had any of the nutrients altered, degraded or destroyed by heating or processing they bring vital energy and active living enzymes into your system. Living foods give your body the highest possible level and quality of nutrients so bodily needs are quickly and easily met, hunger and cravings are turned off and fat is utilized instead of stored.

When you eat living enzyme rich foods first, the food is fully digested. Second, all of the nutrients are released and the body is able to use them immediately. Third, because of the high fiber and water content of living foods the remaining portion is easily moved through the digestive track and eliminated, cleansing and cleaning along the way. Nothing is able to get stuck, be stored or left unused. The digestive process is complete. In addition, the body did not have to make any enzymes to digest the food so no energy was diverted or used additionally in the digestive process so you are left feeling refreshed and with heightened levels of energy, just the way you should feel after eating!

At Align Holistic Health & Well Being we offer a 12-week journey into finding and living at Your Perfect Weight through the use of living and whole foods. During this 12-week journey you will learn what your body needs on a bio-individual basis from nutrients to protein, carbohydrate and fat ratios, you will also learn how and what to eat by your body type, eating locally and with the seasons, and how to shop, cook and live a living food lifestyle all resulting in Your Perfect Weight! Contact us today if you are ready to begin your journey to balanced natural health!

Align's Your Perfect Weight!

Why You Should NOT Get the Flu Vaccine

2011-11-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

Vaccinations are a controversial topic. For those in the natural living and health fields it is counterintuitive to inject the body with foreign contaminants in an attempt to trick the immune system into doing its job. It goes against the fundamental premise that the body is intelligent enough to heal itself and will heal itself if given the right tools and building blocks. Currently we see these vaccines being dispensed with no medical oversight or caution. You can walk into your local drug store and be injected on the spot by a pharmacy tech with no rhyme or reason other then to sell a vaccine. It has been found without question time and again that there are many adverse side effects, especially for children and their effectiveness is scantly supported. Even on the CDC's web site it states, "How well the flu vaccine works (or its ability to prevent influenza illness) can range widely from season to season and also can vary depending on who is being vaccinated. During years when the viruses in the vaccine and circulating viruses are not well matched, it’s possible that no benefit from vaccination may be observed.However, even during years when the vaccine match is very good, the benefits of vaccination will vary across the population, depending on characteristics of the person being vaccinated and even, potentially, which vaccine was used.

Here are just a few reasons why we recommend not getting your flu vaccine:

A new scientific study published inThe Lancetreveals that influenza vaccines only prevent influenza in 1.5 out of every 100 adults who are injected with the flu vaccine (1)
Neurological problems due to nerve damage after vaccination are a fairly common adverse event with flu vaccines. In 1976, there were more cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome reported after vaccination than there were confirmed cases of Swine flu.(2)
The Sanofi-Aventis flu vaccine known as "Fluzone" is causingfebrile seizuresin children, said the FDA According to the FDA, 42 cases of seizures have been reported in children receiving the Fluzone vaccine. Most of the children suffering seizures are under the age of two. (3)
A new study just published in theCochrane Systematic Reviewconcludes: "Evidence for the safety and efficacy of influenza vaccines in the over 65s is poor, despite the fact that vaccination has been
recommended for the prevention of influenza in older people for the past 40 years." (4)
You may not even get protection against the intended virus. Why? First, because viruses change over time. The piece that was in the vaccine may not 'look' the same (chemically) as the real thing (months
later, after all!). Second, the vaccine may not have given you enough stimulation to fight off the disease.
There is no single virus that causes the flu; there is no one flu vaccine that protects against all of them.
The vaccinated population has a much higher rate of infections than the non-vaccinated population. For example, research shows that vaccinated versus unvaccinated children suffer:
Vaccinated children also have 317% more ADHD, 185% more neurologic disorders and 146% more autism than non-vaccinated children.

It is a better overall health approach to strength your body and your immune system so that you do not get sick to begin with. Although the flu germ is powerful it will not find ground to take root and grow in within a healthy body. Here are a very great ways to strengthen your immune system.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an immune system power hours. It helps to protect you from getting colds and flus and in large quantities can cure the same cold and flus. For immune system support take 1,000mg for every decade you have been alive. To cure take 1,000mg every 3 hours from the first symptom and for 7 days following your sicnkness.

B-Complex

B-complex vitamins are what help to create energy at the cellular level and help the immune system stay strong and active. Take 2 capsules daily, increasing your intake during stressful times. Take 1 capsule every 3 hours from the first symptom and for 7 days following your sicnkness.

Zinc

Zinc is a helpful mineral for protecting against colds and keeping the immune system strong. Take 25mg daily for maintenance and increase to 60mg per day from the first symptom and for 7 days following your sicnkness.

Vitamin D3

If you live in a year round warm sunny area, you'll need to make sure you get plenty of sun to skin exposure daily, without sunscreen. If your regional climate restricts sun exposure, as during the winter months, take 5,000-10,000 units of Vitamin D3 daily.

Probiotics

Your body contains ten times more bacteria than cells. Most of them have to be friendly. Friendly bacteria not only attack pathogenic bacteria and fungi, but also they trigger appropriate white cell reactions to invaders and they influence your mental/emotional state. You can get probiotics through yogurt, Greek yogurt, Kefir, Kombucha or through supplementation.

Exercise
Moderate exercise, even walking a mile or two at least three times a week, helps your lymph system cleanse impurities to boost your immune system. Get and keep moving!

Elderberry for Cures

Elderberry extracts or syrups have been clinically proven to help get over colds and flu. Elderberry is an all natural herb. It's not a drug. Take 1 dropperful of the liquid herbal extract every 3 hours from the first symptom and for 7 days following your sicnkness.

Echinacea

If your cold or flu is viral in natural taking the herb Ecinacea prevents the virus from proliferating once it has invaded your body. This cuts down on the duration of time you will stay sick.

Eliminate Sugar

Sugar slows down the immune system and prevents it from doing its job. It also contributes to catching a cold or flu bug so switch to natural sweets during the winter months.

Go Raw

Eating raw foods and drinking raw juices helps to cleanse the body, provides the body with a huge amount of living vitamins, minerals and phytochemcials and gives you active enzymes to help the immune system stay strong and fight off nasty bugs. Drink at least 1 glass of fresh veggie juice a day and eat at least 50% of your daily foods raw. If you do get sick, drink a glass of fresh fruit and veggie juice every hour and eliminate all cooked foods except warm nourishing soups.

Eat more Garlic and Onion
Besides being rich in antioxidants and selenium, garlic is antibacterial and antiviral. Both garlic and onions are part of the Allium family, which is rich in sulfur-containing compounds responsible for many of their health-promoting effects.

Strengthen your body, strengthen your immunity.

References:
http://www.naturalnews.com/033998_influenza_vaccines_effectiveness.html#ixzz1d2cMcc7r
more:http://www.naturalnews.com/031316_flu_vaccines_neurological_problems.html#ixzz1d2eFwdYv
http://www.naturalnews.com/031075_vaccines_seizures.html#ixzz1d2ehKA5Y http://www.naturalnews.com/028248_flu_shots_scientific_evidence.html#ixzz1d2f0YwMG

Why Holistic Health Care is the Only Health Care Worth Investing In

2011-10-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

There is a health care crisis in this country, that is not news to anyone. Rising costs, lessening care plus skyrocketing disease and chronic degeneration rates equals a recipe for absolute disaster. The US life expectancy is 42nd in the world among developed countries. The World Health Organization, in 2000, ranked the U.S. health care system as the highest in cost, 37th in overall performance and 72nd by overall level of health. 72nd in overall level of health! That should stop any one of us dead in our tracks. 62.1% of all filers for bankruptcies were due to high medical expenses. The system is broken that is obvious and cannot be denied. In no other sector of business would consumers continue to flock and spend their money, massive amounts of money none the less, on a product that was rated a dismal 72nd in overall production. In addition, it is estimated that doctors are now spending less then 10 minutes per patient per visit. How much information can a doctor gather about the total picture of what is happening within your body in less than 10 mintues? Yet with every sneeze, cough and fever we run like drones to our local medical office spending thousands of dollars, filling our bodies with overpriced toxic drugs and continuing to stay blind to the fact that although we are one of the most developed and wealthiest nations in the world we are the sickest. It may actually be because of this low level of health we each experience that we are not able to clearly see the reality of our situation or maybe it is simply we do not want to see the dismal state of our current situation.

We have become mindless in the face of medical doctors, their word is gold, they not only are god's they are in a position to not be questioned. We no longer use our own intellect, reasoning or judgement nor do we listen to our own body's wisdom. Western doctors are trained in two main areas of treatment, drugs and surgery. The pharmaceutical companies are big and they are powerful. Americans now spend a staggering $200 billion a year on prescription drugs, and that figure is growing at a rate of about 12 percent a year (down from a high of 18 percent in 1999). Drugs are the fastest-growing part of the health care bill—which itself is rising at an alarming rate. The increase in drug spending reflects, in almost equal parts, the facts that people are taking a lot more drugs than they used to, that those drugs are more likely to be expensive new ones instead of older, cheaper ones, and that the prices of the most heavily prescribed drugs are routinely jacked up, sometimes several times a year. Before its patent ran out, for example, the price of Schering-Plough’s top-selling allergy pill, Claritin, was raised thirteen times over five years, for a cumulative increase of more than 50 percent—over four times the rate of general inflation. (1)

Yet prescrption drugs do nothing to heal a condition. In fact over time they usually make the condition worse. Symptoms are none other than a built in alarm system genuisly engineered by the body. When something is wrong the alarm is sounded. This is an alarm meant to get out attention in order to correct a problem. Prescrption drugs are not made to solve the problem causing the alarm to sound, rather they are made to silnce the alarm. What would hapen if instead of reacting and solving a fire alarm we only turned off the alarm? Would the fire be put out? Would the damage being done cease? Or would the damage escalate while the alarm was silenced? The same analogy can be used within the human body.

The answer to our health care problem is simple yet overlooked. The answer lies in the ability to prevent disease before it occurs and heal and reverse symptoms that are present before they become worse and pervasive, extending throughout one's life. To do this you do not need a pill or a knife rather you need a mechanism that pinpoints the cause of the symptom and an approach that then removes the cause. That mechanism and approach is one and the same, holistic health care.

A holistic approach takes the broadest possible view of illness, disease and symptoms, identifying multiple root causes (both internal and external), and then offering multi-dimensional healing approaches. A holistic approach is as concerned with one's propensity towards disease as it is with its transmission. Why does one person get colds or infections more easily than another, or at different times? Can we render ourselves stronger and more disease-resistant before medical intervention is necessary, and more resilient when illness does occur? Are we able to identify the cause and then able to uproot and remove that cause rather then just removing the symptoms? The fundamental premise in holistic health care is that your body knows how to be well and will naturally align with perfect health and balance when given the proper support and when the causes of such imbalances are removed. The body was created in a state of perfect health and that is where it is most comfortable which is why the body will do everything in its power to return to a state of health when imbalance begins to occur. We can see the body's own intelligence and power when we get a simple cut. Without any instuction or outisde intervention the body will automatically begin healing and knitting together the cut and within a few days the body is restored to its original state, whole. This is the body's natural process whether it is a cut or a rouge cancerous cell.

Holistic health takes into account the entire person, one's body, mind, emotions, and spiritual life and sees all parts as important to the process of health and sickness, rather then just looking at symptoms. Holistic health combines the best of modern scientific diagnosis and monitoring techniques with both ancient and innovative health promotion methods. These include natural diet and herbal remedies, spinal adjustment and alignment, energy work including acupuncture and reiki, nutritional supplements, exercise, relaxation, psycho-spiritual counseling, meditation, exercise, breathing exercises, and other self-balancing and healing practices. Holistic health does not only look to remove symptoms, but rather looks to bring into balance one's entire being, body, mind and spirit, and knows that when all three of these are in balance disease cannot begin or flourish. The emphasizes is on prevention, balance, and achieving the highest levels of health and well being through bringing one's life into balance and harmony. Symptoms are also not viewed independently but rather completely. Each symptoms is part of a bigger picture of imbalance and once that imbalance is corrected all symptoms begin to clear up. The responsibility is also shifted in holistic health from the practitioner or drug to the individual themselves. It views the individual as an active participant in the healing process, rather than simply a passive recipient of care. The power lies within the individual and the holistic health practitioner, in whatever form they may take, is a guide and coach that helps to activate and awaken the individual's own power and natural healing responses.

Holistic health care is also natural health care. Approaches chosen in the healing process are those that are the least invasive and the most natural. The purpose in holistic health is to facilitate the body's own natural healing process not to override that process. Foods, herbs or exercises are chosen specifically to help remove the blocks that are preventing the body from self healing and then strengthen and support the body's natural processes. Because holistic health care is based on natural sources, their cost is very low. The Earth has provided to us everything we need in order to be healthy and whole and those are all of relatively low cost.

The two systems of medicine, allopathic vs. holistic are compared in the below chart.

Two Systems of Medicine (2)

* ALLOPATHIC *	* HOLISTIC *
Focuses on MeasurementsSYMPTOMS	Focuses on ExperienceCAUSES & PATTERNS
Disease as EntityPAIN AVOIDING	Disease as ProcessPAIN READING
General Classified Diagnosis	Specific Individual Needs
Technical Tools	Integrated Therapies
Remedial / Combative/ Reactive	Preventive / Corrective/ Pro-Active
Crisis Oriented: Occasional Intervention	Lifestyle Oriented: Sustained Maintenance
Radical. Defensive.	Natural. Ecological.
Medicine As Counter-Agent	Medicine As Co-Agent
Side Effects. Chemicals, Surgery, Radiation, Replacement	Low-Risk. Conservative. Organic.Purification, Manipulation, Correction,
Emphasis: "CURE"	Emphasis: "HEALING"
Speed, Comfort, Convenience	Restoration. Regeneration. Transformation
Practitioner as Authority PACIFYING	Practitioner as Educator ACTIVATING
Patient as Passive Recipient	Patient as Source of Healing
Mechanical / Analytical/ Bio-Physical	Systemic / Multi-Dimensional/ Body-Mind-Spirit
*Best For:* Infectious Diseases, Trauma, Structural Damage, Organ Failure, Acute Conditions.	*Best For:* Degenerative, Chronic Stress & Lifestyle Disorders, Toxemia, Glandular Weakness, Systemic Imbalances, Immunity.

When we value and respect our being we understand the great power it holds for complete health and healing. Understanding that the body has its own innate self healing process we see that drugs and surgery (unless in life threatening or trauma type situations) only circumvent and override the body's own self healing process, are costly and counter productive to the body's innate and natural processes. Balance and harmony within can never be achieved by a drug or surgery no matter how much money we throw at it. The only way to truly heal our bodies and bring them back into a state of wholeness is to find the causes of imbalance and then restore balance, naturally and holistically. Holistic health care is not only less expensive it is the only form of health care that can ever support us in living at our highest levels of health, vitality and wellness. It is time we each wake up, stop being drones, take our power back and begin respecting our body's. Until we achieve our own highest levels of health and well being the ability to achieve the purpose we were sent into this life to achieve will go unfulfilled. You are important and being at your healthiest and completely whole is the only way to be truly successful!

At Align Holistic Health & Well Being our mission is to provide you with natural holistic health care. We specialize in helping you attain complete balance and wholeness through nutrition, herbs, Ayurveda and other natural healing modalities. Our vision is to help individuals prevent and heal from disease, sickness, symptoms and chronic issues through natural holistic means.

Contact us today for a complimentary 60 minute consultation to lean how holistic health care can assist you in meeting your health care needs for you and your entire family!

Much love and health!

www.alignholistichealth.com

candice@alignholistichealth.com

References

The Truth About the Drug Companies

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2004/jul/15/the-truth-about-the-drug-companies/

What is Holistic Health?

http://www.holistic.com/holistic/learning.nsf/ed8732a8bed2f2a4872569060015ca74/6d6ad242c4e75c9c87256b8f00021919!OpenDocument

A Nutritionist ~ Your Biggest Health Ally

2011-10-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

A nutritionist is your biggest ally in reaching your health goals, helping to heal your body of chronic disease or symptoms and helping you to attain the highest levels of health and vitality. Your diet is the absolutely basic foundation of your health, whether that be good or poor health. The reason for this is simple, you are what you eat. What you eat dictates who you are, from the physical level, the shape and structure of your body, to the way it operates, how much energy you have, how well and clear your mental processes work, how good or poor your organs and systems function, how balanced your weight stays and how strong or weak you become. Your body is dependant upon what you bring into it for repairing, day to day functioning, healing and building. Without needed nutrients your body slowly begins to perish. In recent years as we have begun to learn about the importance and wide variety of functions pytochemicals perform, the active chemicals within plants, we have begun to see why it was said “Let thy food be thy medicine.” Take for instance an apple. There are literally thousands of photochemicals that have been identified within 1 apple. Each chemical having possibly hundreds of functions from regulating hormones to preventing tumor growth. Many of the functions of phytochemicals are still a mystery but as we begin to learn about these various functions we really begin to see how and why food is so important. Not only does it give us the building blocks we need for basic life and functioning, it gives our body the things it needs to heal and remain balanced and healthy. There is no pill or Earth that could ever provide the variety and diversity of even a single phytochemical and that is just one component of our food! Each of us is highly unique and individualized. What works for one person may fail miserably for another. Each of us also needs a specific combination of vitamins, minerals and nutrients to operate at our best. This is where a nutritionist can help!

Here we explore the top reasons why a Nutritionist is your biggest ally for long lasting health and vitality.

1. Nutrition is the Best Preventative Medicine - While heredity loads the proverbial gun of giving you a propensity toward cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease or obesity it is your lifestyle that pulls the trigger. It is estimated that up to 90% of all cancers are caused by nutritional factors and 75% of all causes of death are related to nutrition related factors. Putting your focus and attention on your diet, what and how you eat, is the number one way to prevent disease and pain in later life, and for some not so later. Our diet is the most important factor to preventing disease but the one most of us most often overlook. A nutritionist can help create a nutrition plan for you that is easily integrated into your life and works to prevent disease and pain.

2. Nutrition is the Key to the Highest Levels of Health & Vitality - Feeling sluggish and run down? Need more energy? Feel depressed, anxious, irritable or angry? Feel ok but not fabulous? Look to your diet. Your diet is the key to experiencing the highest levels of vitality and health. When your diet is properly structured you should have abundant levels of energy and clarity. You should feel clean and clear and well balanced. Each of us is highly unique and individualized as should be our diets. Each of us require different levels of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Our diet is dependant on who we are, our lifestyle and our unique biochemistry. Diets and certain ways of eating may work for some but usually fail for others. The reason for this lies in our individual biochemistry. A nutritionist is the one person who is trained in knowing how to determine your exact unique biochemical make up and what your specific needs are, which results in you attaining the highest levels of vitality. A nutritionist also helps you to understand the way food interacts within your individual body and how to live the best life you can through the foods you eat.

3. Nutrition Heals Chronic Pain, Symptoms & Disease - When sickness arrives and stays within the body is not because of bad luck, a germ, bad genes, heredity or an unknown cause. The body is designed to remain in a homeostatic state, perfectly balanced. We also know that heredity may give someone the propensity toward a certain type of deterioration but it is not the reason why the deterioration occurs. The body becomes sick, pained and diseased for 2 reasons - over toxicity and deficiency. When the body is properly detoxified and receives all the nutrients it needs even if a potent germs comes along or heredity has given us weaknesses, the body is able to stay strong, heal itself and return to homeostasis, that is it very nature. Both toxicity and deficiency come through the foods we eat or do not eat. Eating a healthful healing diet reduces and eliminates toxicity in the body and restores deficiencies allowing the body to operate at its most healthful state and heal areas in need. Diet is the number one way to heal and reverse chronic degenerative disease, pain and chronic symptoms. Nutrition based approaches to healing and reversing disease are far more effective at healing and are the only way to truly restore the body to complete health. Other approaches work to reduce symptoms, which are merely our body’s way of telling us something is wrong. Eliminating symptoms does not heal the body. Healing comes through reducing toxicity and restoring deficiencies which can only be achieved through nutrition.

4. Nutrition is the Key to Reaching Your Health Goals - Whether your goal is to return to your balanced weight, gain more energy, build muscle or stay healthy long term nutrition is your answer. It is what you eat that gives your body what it needs to maintain health. When your body isn’t getting what it needs energy levels plummet and sickness and pain begin to form. When your body is getting too much in certain areas and not enough in other weight becomes imbalanced. Once your body begins getting exactly what it needs, in the right amounts and at the right times every area of health begins to balance. What your body needs is highly individualized. Only though testing and the expertise of a trained nutritionist can you structure your diet in a way that will give you exactly what you need resulting in meeting your goals. A nutritionist acts as your guide and coach helping to align your diet with your specific wants and needs which results in you attaining your health goals. A nutritionist also acts as your educator giving you the knowledge you need and shows you details you may have overlooked .

Why should YOU visit with a nutritionist? Here are just some of the benefits:

Lower total cholesterol •Higher HDL cholesterol •Lower LDL cholesterol •Higher energy levels •Improved sleep •Better concentration •More stamina •Of course, loss of body fat (if needed) •Improved appearance •Longer lifespan •Decreased occurrence of illness •Shorter duration of illness when it does take place •Softer skin •Better hair •Stronger heart •Improved digestion •No lethargy after meals •Delayed menopause •Less acne •Regular bowel movements •Decreased risk of heart disease •Decreased risk of cancer •Fewer visits to doctors •Better self image •Improved attitude towards others •Less severe PMS •Increased ability to fight infections •Decreased risk and occurrence of prostate trouble •Enhanced athletic performance •Better performance in the workplace •Improved memory

Certainly, this is not the entire list, but you are beginning to see the light.

Call or email us today to see how a nutritionist can help to meet your needs and attain your health goals and intentions.

www.alignholistichealth.com
candice@alignholistichealth.com

Balanced, Healthy Youthful Skin Natually

2011-10-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

Balanced radiant skin is not achieved by lathering on creams or stocking up on expensive products. The key to balancing your skin is found in balancing the internal environment and caring for your skin in a natural way. Our skin is one of the main organs of detoxification. The condition of the skin is a good indicator of what is going on within the body. As the body becomes overwhelmed with toxins it pushes them out through the skin. Chronic skin problems are indicative of internal over toxification, imbalances and a sign the body is not thoroughly cleansed and detoxified. The first step in remedying any skin problem is to cleanse and detoxify the internal environment. Cleansing helps to remove accumulated toxins and to re-balance the internal environment. No cream, serum, cleanser or other skin care product can treat the root of a skin health. Once the internal environment is cleansed and purified naturally and holistically caring for your skin will keep in youthful, radiant, soft and glowing.

Here are some natural ways to care for your skin. From foods that support skin health, to herbs that cleanse the skin to natural cleansing and hydrating recipes for keeping your skin looking as amazing as you are.

Foods for Healthy Skin

Although the cosmetic industry would have us believe otherwise, beautiful skin doesn't come from a jar full of perfumed chemicals. Beyond being born with great genes, the best thing you can do for your skin is to eat a healthy diet. Learn how to enhance your skin from the inside out by eating foods that will make your epidermis glow with health. Try adding these foods to your diet to both feel and look better.

Chia Seeds: Chia offers a multitude of health benefits. The word chia derives from the Aztec word for oily. Chia seeds offer high levels of omega-3 acids which the human body needs but cannot produce and which only come from a few dietary sources.

Without omega-3's, people can suffer from poor circulation and dry skin, as well as heart problems, fatigue, depression and a feeling of mental fogginess. Chia seeds help keep skin (and the rest of the body) hydrated because they are hydrophilic, absorbing more than 10 times their weight in water. You can sprinkle chia seeds in your hot cereal, add a teaspoon of the tiny seeds to a glass of juice, or add a few to add extra texture to a salad or vegetable hot dish.

Almonds: These nuts are an excellent source of vitamin E which helps minimize the negative effects of sun exposure on the skin, as well as aiding against certain types of skin cancer. They also provide a quick source of strength and energy, providing fuel for exercise which also benefits the skin. Additionally, almond skins benefit human skin through their high levels of antioxidants.

Dandelions: If you look at dandelions as annoying weeds, you are missing out on a tremendous healthy food. Dandelions cleanse the liver of toxins. If you have a congested liver which cannot effectively cleanse the bloodstream, your skin is more likely to show wear and tear whether through breakouts or the effects of aging and pollution. Dandelion greens contain high levels of several of the vitamins and minerals known to contribute to healthy skin including Vitamin A, B, and C as well as copper and zinc.

Think of dandelions as the dietary equivalent of a refreshing face mask. Dandelions can easily be grown or foraged, so you can add them to your diet without adding to your grocery budget. Spring and early summer are the best times to harvest the greens. You can use them in salads or juice them. In early fall, gather dandelion roots which you can chop and dry-roast in the oven, then use to make a rich, chicory-like beverage. You can add honey plus coconut or rice milk for a dandelion latte. Just be sure not to use dandelions which have been sprayed with chemicals.

Cucumbers: These vegetables provide abundant vitamin C and silica. The trace mineral silica is essential for strong connective tissue and supports the ability of skin to heal. Without silica, skin loses its elasticity and becomes more prone to wrinkles and age spots.

Turmeric: The spice which gives curries an orangey hue derives much of its nutritional value from polyphenol anti-oxidant phytochemicals called curcuminoids. Curcuminoids provide as much as 8 times the antioxidant power as that found in most other antioxidant foods. Turmeric aids in the treatment of psoarisis, rosacea, acne and other inflammatory skin conditions. Plus, turmeric contributes to skin elasticity. It also helps to support the natural flora which can provide form a barrier on the skin protecting it from dangerous microbes. To use: Mix turmeric with coconut or other edible oil. Apply to the skin and let sit for 15-20 minutes then rinse with warm water. This type of preparation and use will help reduce acne scaring and leave your skin glowing and radiant.

Silica: Silica is a trace mineral that strengthens the body's connective tissues - muscles, tendons, hair, ligaments, nails, cartilage, and bone - and is vital for healthy skin. Silica deficiency can result in reduced skin elasticity and can hamper the body's ability to heal wounds. Food sources of silicia include leeks, green beans, garbanzo beans, strawberries, cucumber, mango, celery, asparagus and rhubarb. In its natural form, silica is found in the horsetail herb.

Zinc: The mineral zinc is an important component of healthy skin, especially for acne sufferers. In fact, acne itself may be a symptom of zinc deficiency. Zinc acts by controlling the production of oil in the skin, and may also help control some of the hormones that create acne. Zinc is also required for proper immune system function, as well as for the maintenance of vision, taste, and smell. Zinc consumption is also strongly linked to a reduction of prostate cancer.

Foods rich in zinc include fresh oysters, pumpkin seeds, ginger, pecans ,Brazil nuts, oats, and eggs. Zinc can be purchased in supplement form, in both liquid concentrates and tablets.

Tips For Keeping the Skin Healthy Naturally

As a natural alternative to topical application of benzoyl peroxide, use calendula, commonly known as pot marigold. Calendula is a popular ornamental plant that you can buy for your garden at most nurseries in the spring. Its bright orange flowers can be made into tinctures, lotions and creams. Try washing your skin with tea made from the flowers, or buy ready-to-use calendula skin products at health-food stores.
Tea Tree Oil has antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties and stimulates the immune system and is an effective remdy for healing and keeping the skin free of harmful bacteria. California aesthetician Brenda Harper says she believes that tea tree oil should be in every medicine cabinet. She uses it regularly with clients who suffer from acne, with "wonderful results," she says. "Used in conjunction with glycolic acid, which is an exfoliant, tea tree oil helps destroy the bacteria that can cause acne flare-ups," she explains.Harper says that a severe case of acne will respond to daily treatments within 6 months. She recommends dabbing tea tree oil on the affected areas, waiting 15 minutes, and then applying glycolic acid. Make sure the skin is perfectly clean before beginning, she adds. Tea tree oil can also be used preventively, Harper says. "If you're acne-prone, apply it regularly to keep breakouts from occurring." For occasional flare-ups, an application of tea tree oil should show results within a day. "Just make sure that you don't pick at your skin," Harper warns. "Too often, people can't keep their hands off their face and they wind up making the situation worse, or causing scarring or hyperpigmentation, which will then call for peels to even out the skin tone."
Try astragalus (Astragalus membranaceous) from the root of a Chinese plant that can help fight chronic infections. The dose is two capsules or tablets twice a day unless the product label directs otherwise.
Increase your consumption of antioxidant-rich foods, including fruits and vegetables.
Include omega-3 fatty acids such as wild Alaskan salmon or freshly ground flaxseeds to help reduce and prevent inflammation.
Drink lots of water to keep the skin hydrated and healthy.
Limit processed and refined foods, and opt for whole, healthful foods instead.
Don't be afraid to eat a piece of dark chocolate now and then - there is no link between chocolate and acne, and dark chocolate actually has antioxidant benefits!
Healthy oils such as Vitamin E, Grapeseed, safflower, sunflower and Apricot Oil all are high in antioxidant that work to repair and heal the skin. People tend to shy away from putting oils on the skin but natural oils do not clog the pores and bind to natural oils on the skin to wash them away without over drying or causing imbalance.

Oil ~ The Missing Link to Healthy Balanced Skin

Many believe and see oil as the culprit in skin problems and outbreaks but in reality oil may be the missing link in balancing the skin. The fear of oil has led to skin products that are detergent based and absent of oil. But when you put oil and oil together they bind to each other. Oil in cleansers attach to oil in and on the skin and rinse both off effectively leading to deep-pore cleansing without leaving the skin parched and overly dried. Oil gently yet effectively removes make-up, dirt, sweat and excess natural skin oils without irritating sensitive skin and maintains the skins natural level of moisture. Cleansing the skin with an oil based cleanser results in visibly better hydration, quicker healing of acne and plumper skin with fewer lines.

Cleansers that are detergent based, non-oil based, have a tendency to over dry the skin which leads to irritation, redness, acne and flare ups of eczema and psoriasis. These types of cleansers also leave the skin depleted. When the skin is depleted it produces more oil to compensate contributing to an unhealthy skin cycle. Oil based cleansers work effectively for all skin types because they work the balance the skin and leave it supple and pliable, not taut and stripped of moisture. Keeping the skin soft and supple keeps the skin youthful and helps prevent fine lines and wrinkles from developing over time.

Natural Cleansing Oil

Use fresh pure cold pressed oils not oils that have been sitting around or exposed to heat or the sun. Blend antioxidant rich olive and castor oil which effectively draws out dirt and bacteria.

Oily or acne prone skin:

75% castor oil

25% olive oil

Dry Skin

25% castor oil

75% olive oil

For a lighter blend use grapeseed or jojoba oil in place of olive oil.

Natural Green Tea Toner

To balance pH of skin and heal the skin.

1 cup green tea in distilled water

5 drops of lavender oil

5 drops of geranium oil

Vitamin C - A Nutrition Powerhouse!

2011-09-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Vitamin C is by far one of the most valuable and versatile nutrients for the human body, it is integral to life itself. We know and hear frequently about it's role in immunity and a healthy strong immune system but here are some additional facts about vitamin C you may have not known:

1. Cell Regulator - Out of 880 substances it was vitamin C alone that was responsible for the conversion of new generic cells into heart, brain and bones cells in a recent study.
2. Energy - L-carnitine is an amino acid that helps turn fat into energy. Vitamin C is used by the body to make L-carnitine. Fatigue in fact is one of the very first signs of vitamin C depletion and deficiency. In one study, 44 workers received 6 grams of vitamin C daily. After just 2 short weeks, their fatigue had decreased by more then 1/3.
3. Skin & Bones - Collagen is the predominant protein in the body used to form part of all tissues, including skin, organs, cartilage and bone. The body needs vitamin C to make collagen. Vitamin C has been shown in studies to improve skin tone, reduce fine wrinkles and reduce the risk of bone fractures!
4. Mood & Mental Health - Vitamin C is needed to manufacture several important mood-enhancing neurotransmitters, including dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine. One of the first signs of vitamin C deficiency is irritability. In a recent study taking a small dose of only 1,000mg led to significant reductions in anger, anxiety and depression.
5. Infection Fighter - Vitamin C has been shown to reduce the symptoms of the common cold by about 1/3. The most beneficial daily dosage range is 2,000-6,000mg spread out over the day.
6. Cancer Treatment - Considerable research is currently being done on the benefits and role of vitamin C in cancer healing. Ten grams of oral vitamin C has been shown to reduce nausea, improve appetite and enhance the overall quality of life in cancer patients.

How do you know how much vitamin C you should be taking on a daily basis? The best method of determination is your bowel tolerance. Too much vitamin C for your individual body will make your bowels loose. You want to be taking just below this threshold. So increase your dosage every day until you find just the right amount for your body's needs!

The Role of Juicing in Reversing Chronic Degenerative Disease

2011-09-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Chronic degenerative disease in the United States has far superseded an epidemic. As a US citizen you have a 75% chance of dying from a chronic degenerative disease (see chart below). That is a staggering number! You only have a 25% chance of dying from old age or natural causes, the way most of prefer to exit this life. According to former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, of the 2.4 million deaths that occur in the United States each year, 75% are the result of avoidable nutritional factor diseases. That is a very different picture than one gets from visiting with your local MD or at the time of diagnosis. When you are diagnosed with a chronic degenerative disease, whether it be cancer, heart disease or Alzheimer's, how often are you told by your doctor that there is a 75% chance that your current disease was caused by a problem with your diet? If you WERE told this how much differently would you approach your disease? It is not entirely your medical doctor's fault. Less then 7% of MD's have any nutritional training in medical school and of the 7% that do most do not complete more then 1 semester of training in nutrition. If the disease they are trying to treat is caused by something they have no training or experience in how skilled are they at treating and reversing the root cause of your disease? The answer is not very. The responsibility for seeking out treatment and care relevant and directly related to reversing and healing the body lies with the consumer or patient. But if the patient is given false and misleading information, such as your disease is caused by heredity or unknown causes in totality, and not given the correct information, that there is a 75% chance your disease is caused by your diet, the consumer has no way of knowing.

If the cause of your disease is almost completely caused by what you are eating does it make sense to ingest a pharmaceutical medication to treat the root of the disease or does it make more sense to correct the cause of your disease, your diet? The answer seems straight forward yet most individuals facing a chronic degenerative disease do little to nothing to change their diet. This in turns continues feeding the root cause of the disease. When the root of the disease is never addressed or corrected how likely do you think it is that your body will be able to heal or reverse the disease?

The epidemic of chronic degenerative disease mainly lies in what it is we are eating and what we are not eating. For thousands of years our ancestors lived off the land. They grew and raised what they ate. They didn't use chemicals or advanced growing techniques, such an genetically engineered growing methods. Their livestock lived and fed on the open range and they ate in tune with the seasons. If it couldn't be grown in the current weather, in the area in which you lived you didn't eat it! Most of the diet was comprised of fruits, vegetables and grains. There was meat consumption but it was limited and eaten for special occasions. Processed and refined foods were unheard of, if you wanted a snack you didn't open a package, you went out a picked it.

The more we learn the more we know about the body. We know the body needs a plentiful supply of vitamins, minerals and trace elements to function optimally. It needs foods that it can digest and eliminate effectively. In very recent time we are now learning the body also needs phytochemcials. We still know relatively little about the these amazing chemicals but the more we learn the more in awe we become (phytochemcials are discussed in detail a bit later). So without giving the body what it needs it cannot run effectively or optimally. On the other side of the coin what does the body do with all that it can't use or doesn't need? Well for instance, and as one example, we know that white and processed foods, such as white breads and pastas clog and become stuck in various regions of the digestive system most notably the colon. Just take a white piece of bread and place it in a cup of water and see what it turns into. This will give you a good idea of what it turns into as it enters your body. A pasty, thick, sticky substance. When this occurs the body is unable to eliminate waste the way it should and everything gets congested. When waste does not leave the body in a timely manner it begins to putrefy and you can only imagine what happens during the putrefaction process. It doesn't take a Ph. D., just a trip to your out to your trash can on a hot day, to know you don't want purification going on in the body for even a moment, let alone a day, a month or longer....ewwww!!!!

Giving the body what it needs is vital to the prevention and treatment of the root cause of chronic degenerative disease. Raw and living foods is at the very top of the list for giving the body what it needs. Now let's specifically look at the role of juicing and why it is so effective at treating and preventing chronic degenerative disease.

Much of degenerative disease lies in the inability of the gastro-intestinal tract and the cells to absorb nutrients and eliminate toxicity at the cellular level. When this occurs there is an imbalance at the cellular level between sodium and potassium. The cells swell with sodium and their ability to produce energy and function effectively is diminished. When this occurs cellular changes happen and degenerative disease can begin. Fresh living juices flush the cells of sodium and restore potassium levels at the cellular level. When this occurs cells begin producing energy effectively again and can heal and repair themselves.

Fresh, live juices, are rich in enzymes (amylase, protease and lipase), which are destroyed when heated at wet temperatures higher than 45ºC/117ºF and 85ºC/150ºF with dry heat. Processed juices found in the store have been heated, and therefore all the active enzymes have been killed. Enzymes are the catalyst within the body that make all internal processes work. Diets that are high in cooked foods are completely enzyme deficient. When the body becomes enzyme deficient it must pull its own enzymes from other processes and processes begin to slow down and work ineffectively. Giving the body lots of fresh and living juices provides the body with living and active enzymes, allowing the body processes to again begin working optimally.

Juicing also allows the body to intake a huge volume of nutrients, an amount you could never intake by just eating alone. While it is important to be eating a diet that is comprised of at least 50% and more toward 80% of living foods, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains and legumes, the ability to ingest as much of these foods through eating could not be attained as you can through juicing. Flooding the body with the deficient and needed nutrients it needs to function helps to restore balance and begin the process of reversing disease.

Juicing also removes the fiber from the plant. The digestive system is usually impaired and of small capacity in those that are sick, juicing helps to promote maximum absorption with minimum digestive effort. While fiber is important and necessary for the digestive system and cleansing purposes it also inhibits the ability of the body to absorb all of the nutrients within the foods. By juicing you removing the fiber and the body is able to easily absorb the nutrients without any digestion and little loss of nutrients.

When you juice you are also in taking a large quantity of vitamins, minerals and phytochemcials that otherwise are destroyed through processing or cooking in other vegetable and fruit preparations. Phytochemicals are the active chemical components within plants that interact with our body chemistry and have a variety of functions from blood pressure and hormone regulation to cancer regression.Phytochemicals are most notably known for their anti-cancer properties.There are literally thousands of phytochemicals contained within one plant. These phytochemicals are destroyed through heating and processing but when you juice you are in taking these chemicals unharmed and fully active.

The pH balance of the body is also highly important. Few people know what their body pH is. (I have written a detailed discussion about body pH and why it is important on this blog for more information). The main point is that most people are far too acidic, which mostly comes from dietary factors, but also can occur when disease has been present in the body. If the body stays acidic body processes and organs are worn down and disease is able to thrive. Disease thrives in an acidic environment but cannot live in an alkaline environment. Juicing helps to restore the pH balance of the body. pH strips can be purchased inexpensively at any natural grocer. I recommend testing your pH several times a day until you begin reaching 7.4 which is optimal. All vegetables are alkalizing. So adding in fresh vegetable juices is important. The benefits of making your body pH level less acidic including:

Improved brain function
Improved heart function
Slowing down the aging process
Improved joint function – helping with arthritis
Less disease-prone body environment. Acidic environments breed diseases.
Better digestion

Green juices help to rebuild the blood and give the body higher oxygen levels which are imperative to restoring cell balance and functioning which in turns helps the body to heal from disease. This is because on a molecular level chlorophyll and hemoglobin (the part of the blood that carries oxygen) is almost identical. More amazingly scientists have found that when you assimilate chlorophyll into the body, it makes the chemical shift and actually becomes hemin. Essentially, taking chlorophyll is almost like getting a blood transfusion! A huge benefit to those with chronic disease.

Juicing also helps to boost the immune system. In chronic disease the immune system has been overrun and unable to effectively rid itself of diseased cells. Restoring full functionality of the immune system is essential to healing from disease. Juices give you a wide variety and large volume of antioxidants which are essential for a healthy immune system. The antioxidants from fruits and vegetables include vitamins A, C, E, plus a wide range of phytochemicals.

The liver has hundreds of functions but most notably it functions to clean the blood and remove toxins and metabolic waste. Diseased cells put off a tremendous amount of toxins that the liver then has to process and eliminate from the body. As the liver becomes overrun its ability to rid the body of this waste is greatly diminished. This means toxins remain in the body which re-enters the blood stream and eventually ends up in other organs and deep within body tissues. It also means the body is unable to keep the body properly detoxified which continues the cycle of disease. Certain nutrients are needed to provide the liver proper cleansing. Antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and N-acetyl cysteine are potent liver cleansers. In addition, B-vitamins riboflavin and niacin also aid liver cleansing. Cabbage, brussel sprouts and cauliflower have been found to be great for the liver. Juicing helps to provide these nutrients to the liver so that it can properly detoxify and keep and stay in optimal health to rid the body of toxic disease waste.

Juicing is a powerful and effective way of restoring balance within the body, correcting the problems of deficiency and toxicity both of which are the main causes of disease and gives the body the abundancy of nutrients it needs to heal.

If you are looking for some wonderful and delicious juicing recipes there is a great list included on this blog.

Much health and happiness!

Cleanse Your Way to Perfect Balance & Health!

2011-09-06T20:17:00.001-07:00

Cleansing and detoxification is an important element to living a long and healthy life. Even if you have healthy dietary and lifestyle practices the fact is we all live in a toxic environment which touches everything from the foods we eat to the air we breathe. This translates into toxic accumulation within the body. Many of us also find ourselves struggling with pesky health symptoms seen as something we are expected to live with or to take a drug from whether it be recurrent pain, mood swings, blood sugar or weight issues, migraines, allergies, high blood pressure or low energy. The underlying cause and a contributing factor to many of our health problems resides within both toxicity and deficiency. When the body is overwhelmed with toxic substances, coming from food chemicals and additives; stress and negative thinking; poor nutritional choices including unhealthy fats, sugar and processed foods and is also deficient in the raw building blocks it needs to build healthy cells, give us vibrant energy and keep us renewed and revitalized, our body and mind begin to slow and we loose our vibrancy.

Toxins accumulate mostly in the fatty tissues within our body and organs, think of the heart, liver, brain, and there they remain until we cleanse and detoxify! If we don't cleanse our bodies periodically our body processes slow down, we are depleted of vital life energy, our mind is clouded and pesky health symptoms begin to emerge. Pesky health symptoms are signals from the body that something is wrong or the body is not being given what it needs. These symptoms are indications the body is struggling to maintain health and if not addressed and reversed, these small issues can turn into a full blow health crises. The impact of a deficient and toxic body over time is degraded health, depleted energy, sickness and eventually pain and disease.

Cleansing is based on the belief that the human body is self healing and naturally has the ability to balance and heal. Sickness, weight retention and healthy symptoms occur when the body is not getting what it needs and/or is so overly toxic it is no longer balanced and able to self heal. The body will self-heal and find balance again naturally when it is cleansed and given the raw building blocks it needs. Cleansing:

Helps the body remove accumulated wastes and toxins that have accumulated
Provides the body with large doses of the highest quality and most easily utilized living nutrients
Restores balance and vitality at a cellular level
Helps implement healthy dietary and lifestyle practices
Lays a healthy foundation to manifesting your personal health intentions and goals.

When the body is refreshed through the process of cleansing, it will self heal and balance, resulting in superior health, balanced weight and vibrant energy! The most effective natural way to cleanse the body is through living pure foods and juices that flood the body with high levels of living nutrients and living enzymes, restoring balance and flushing toxins all at a cellular level.

Many companies offer gimmicky "cleansing and detoxification programs" centered around a product, usually a series of pills. This is a highly ineffective way to detoxify the body and is not cleansing, in the true sense of the word. True cleansing works on all areas of one's being and life concurrently. This includes, diet and lifestyle, movement and relaxation, as well as reducing stress and restoring balance to the body, mind and spirit. Detoxification does not occur on a deep level when the focus is on just one area. Simplistic products also do nothing to teach you how to implement healthy long term living patterns or how to care for your health, body, mind and spirit, in a natural basic way.

Our cleanse is different! Through our cleansing process you will:

Reverse deficiency and toxicity!
Set and reach personal goals and intentions for your health and well being!
Learn simple yet powerful tools to change your relationship with food, your lifestyle and health dramatically!
Facilitate greater balance, healing, vitality and health through Raw Foods, Juices & Superfood
Utilize Ayurvedic Principles & Lifestyle Modifications for Balance & Healthy Living
Detoxify your Body & Mind
Balance Body pH and Weight
Enhance Energy & Overall Health
Implement Healthy Lifestyle & Dietary Practices
Reshape your routine, overhauling your outlook and transform your intentions into action!

After cleansing you will:

No longer be deficient
Increase your energy levels
Establishing the most healthful lifestyle and dietary practices for yourself
Detoxify your mind, purify your body, reshape your routine, overhaul your outlook and transform your intentions into action!

Weekly wellness coaching will support you in your journey, keep you right on track and help you succeed in meeting your weekly health goals and intentions!

If there is just one thing you do to better your health and well being, cleansing should be at the very top of your list. Cleansing clears the way for the clear and free flow of energy through all areas of your life, revitalizes your body and mind, and restores balance in every area of your health and well being. The impacts and effects of holistic natural cleansing are powerful and long lasting!

Individualized Optimal Nutrition Planning

2011-08-29T17:55:00.001-07:00

Each of us has our own biochemical make up. No two of us are exactly the same. We can see this just by looking at one another, but that just scratches the surface. Our differences and unique individuality go far beneath the outer layer, penetrating all the way to our core. As we are each different, we each have different nutritional needs and optimal diet requirements. Without the proper nutritional intake we will succumb to minor sickness such as the cold, flu, allergies, low energy and weight issues as well as more major health problems such as arthritis, diabetes, ulcers, migraines, chronic fatigue, cancer, heart disease, stroke and more. We are facing a health crisis in this country. Living with a chronic issue or sickness is seen by many to still be living in health, while that is not the case. Optimal health is the absence of ALL symptoms, sickness and chronic problems as well as strong and lasting energy throughout the day, the absence of food cravings and sustained emotional balance. Living with pain, chronic problems or on prescription medication of any kind is not living in a state of health. An optimal diet is the foundation of any healthy lifestyle and the cornerstone of good and lasting health. It is what prevents or accelerates health issues and what gives us our basis for optimal health. Without a personalized optimal diet optimal health is not possible.

Ever day we are bombarded with “conflicting” nutritional information, fad diets, pressure and frustration to look and feel our best without knowing exactly how to make that happen. As I have worked with people it has become increasingly clear that diet standards and particular ways of eating are not only an out dated approach to health but just don’t work. It is common for most diets, fad diets such as the Zone or South Beach, to work for about 30-35% of the individuals on that particular diet, while failing for the remaining portion. Why is that? The answer to that question is found in bio-individuality. Bio-individuality is multi-faceted and includes how your body pH responds to your diet, if your body needs a higher percentage of protein or carbohydrates, what your mind and body constitutional make-up is and if there are any existing nutritional deficiencies or physical or mental weaknesses. There are certain nutrients you as a unique individual will need but there are also some foods that help to keep your body balanced and some that will throw you out of balance, there are ways of eating that will stabilize your blood sugar and body pH and others that will make you become acidic and will make your blood sugar tumble around like a roller coaster ride. Again the key is found in your individual biochemistry.

How do you know if your diet is working for you and if you have already created the optimal nutritional approach for yourself? There are several key metrics that indicate your diet is working for you and that you are on the right track to strong and lasting health. These metric include:

You have sustained and consistent energy levels throughout the entire day. You don’t have lulls, 2pm crashes or exhaustion by quitting time. You wake up feeling refreshed, renewed and ready to dive into a new day. You don’t feel cloudy or foggy.
You feel emotionally balanced and stable without intermittent feelings of being blue, depressed, irritated, angry, overly emotional or anxious.
You don’t have food cravings such as strong cravings for sweet, salty or fatty foods.
You easily stay or can return to your perfect weight without much struggle or thought. If you happen to gain a few pounds you easily loose it within the coming days.
Your body pH stays right around 7.46 without much deviation.
You feel calm, balanced and at peace.
You aren’t experiencing any health problems, even minor problems such as pain, skin problems, allergies, headaches, ect.

To help my clients achieve their optimal health and to meet and sustain the above health metrics I have developed Individualized Optimal Nutrition Planning. With IONP you can now live and experience life as you were meant to with the highest levels of health, clarity and energy.

Through Individualized Optimal Nutritional Planning together we will create a nutritional approach and plan that:

Helps you achieve and maintain the highest levels of energy.
Helps you feel and stay emotionally balanced.
Eliminates food cravings.
Takes and keeps you at your perfect balanced weight.
Keeps your body pH optimal.
Helps you feel balanced and calm.
Eliminates and prevents ALL symptoms and health issues.
Teaches you to shop and cook for optimal health.
Assesses your kitchen and prepares you for providing only the highest level of nutrition to you and your family.

Through Individualized Optimal Nutritional Planning we will monitor your body pH as a means of discovering your optimal diet. You will also be taught how to monitor your own body pH which is one of the best indicators of good and long term health. You will learn the proper combination and proportions of proteins, fats and carbohydrates specific to your bio-individuality which will play a key role in meeting the above goals. You will learn your mind and body constitutional make up and the types of foods that best suit your constitution for optimal health and balance. You will discover any underlying nutritional deficiencies and work to restore areas of deficiency.

Included in your IONP is a:

Complete Individualized Optimal Nutrition Plan with 3 one-on-one 60 minute sessions.
Personal one-on-one organic cooking and live food un-cooking class in your own home! I will come to your home and teach you the basics of live and organic food preparation and cooking. After which you will have a strong base of knowledge of how to prepare and make foods that are living, whole and have the highest nutritional value!
Complete kitchen assessment where we will assess your current kitchen offerings, set-up and you will learn how to turn your kitchen into a Natural Health and Healing Mecca, increasing and maintaining the highest levels of health for you and your entire family!
One-on-one grocery store tour. Together we will make a trip to the local natural grocer where you will learn how to shop organic and natural, how to read labels, the health contributions and benefits of various foods and learn about foods that seem foreign to the Western diet but are oh so healthy!

Contact us today to start your very own Individualized Optimal Nutrition Plan!

My Favorite Juicing Receipes

2011-08-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

Drinking live fruit and vegetable juices is an important element to the most healthful of diets. Juicing fresh organic fruits and vegetables is beneficial to your health for so many reasons. Some of the most important include:

Live juices work to flush the cells, organs and systems within the body with living and active nutrients and enzymes. This helps the cells to release stored toxins and to provide them with the living material needed to grow and repair effectively.
You can intake a larger quantity of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes through drinking the juice then you would ever be able to eat alone.
Juices are a raw food and helps you to meet your body and mind's need for 80% of your diet living and raw for maximum vitality and living.
Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are alkalizing to the body which helps to restore and maintain healthy body pH which is essential to good and lasting health.
Because the enzymes and nutrients within the juice are active and alive the body can put them right into use without any digestive energy. Living juices add energy back to the body instead of taking away from it.

Here are some extra yummy and unique juicing recipes to help get you started. I recommend my client's get 2-3 glasses of living juices a day for optimal health....

Green Peace
8-10 Green Leaves (kale, spinach, lettuce)
Spirulina or chlorella
Kelp Powder
Turnip or beet greens
Cilantro
Parsley
Green Apple
Lemon
Fresh Ginger Root

Pineapple Express
2 Cucumbers
¼ Pineapple
2 limes

Electrolyte Mix
Coconut Water
Lemon
Limes
Pinch of sea salt

Grapefruit Divine
Grapefruit
Fresh mint
Agave nectar

Beet by Any Other Name
Beet
Oranges
Apples (any kind)
Cinnamon
Agave Nectar

The Jack Lalanne
Carrot
Celery
Beet leaves and tops
Parsley
Lettuce
Spinach
Tomatoes
Sea Salt

Asian Pear
Asian Pears
Lemongrass
Celery
Agave Nectar

Twisted Carrot
Carrot
Celery
Green Apple
Mango

Green Goddess
Spinach
Kale
Celery
Lemon
Parsley
Gingerroot
Green Apple

Potassium Plus
Spinach
Parsely
Celery
Carrots

Passionate Melon
Cantaloupe
Passion Fruit
Grapes

Drink to Good Health!

Why Raw?

2011-08-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

A raw food diet consists of uncooked or processed fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains and seeds or any other food that is kept in its natural state. Raw foods are those that have not been cooked over 110-120 degrees which preserves the vitamins, minerals, enzymes and oxygen in the living food. A raw food is the most natural and healthy way for humans to consume food. That is why I am taking the Raw Food 30 Day challenge. For the next 30 days I will eat only raw foods. I will share my journey along the way for others that may be interested in giving it a try. Here are my top 6 reasons to Go Raw!

Essential Vitamins & Minerals - Food has essential vitamins and minerals that our bodies, minds and spirits need to function at the highest levels of being. Vitamins and minerals are small messengers each with different messages to tell within our bodies. Vitamins fall into two categories: fat soluble and water soluble. The fat-soluble vitamins — A, D, E, and K — dissolve in fat and can be stored in your body. The water-soluble vitamins — C and the B-complex vitamins (such as vitamins B6, B12, niacin, riboflavin, and folate) — need to dissolve in water before your body can absorb them. Because of this, your body can't store these vitamins. Any vitamin C or B that your body doesn't use as it passes through your system is lost. So you need a fresh supply of these vitamins every day. Whereas vitamins are organic substances (made by plants or animals), minerals are inorganic elements that come from the soil and water and are absorbed by plants. Vitamins and minerals allow our bodies and minds to perform the hundreds and thousands of tasks they carry out on a daily basis. Without them we begin to become deficient. Any deficiency is extreme for the body as it cannot carry out the tasks needed in a healthy manner without the needed vitamin or mineral. The body is amazing though and will compensate for the deficiency often by pulling reserves from other places within the body or by taking away from less vital organs, systems and processes. Less vital however still very important! For instance if digestion is even remotely degraded we stop extracting, assimilating and excreting in the most healthy way. All areas are degraded. Over time a vitamin and mineral deficiency can add up to tremendous health problems. Because of the way we process and eat our foods here in the US we see a huge number of people deficient in needed vitamins and minerals. We often eat very little nutrient dense foods and the ones we do manage to get into our diet are cooked and processed. Cooking and processing food degrades their vitamin and mineral content many times by leeching the vitamins and minerals out of the food and into the water in which the food is being cooked. High heat further kills and degrades the vitamins and minerals. So by the time we ingest the food the vitamin and mineral content is poor to minimal. Refining also further degrades the vitamin and mineral content. Take bread for instance, the process in which bread is made strips the grain of its most nutritional out layer and leaves a grain that is difficult for our digestive system to utilize or pass.
Fiber - Cooking also degrades the fiber content of foods. The rough outer layer of most vegetables is an indigestible form of fiber that is much needed by the body to keep the digestive tract and colon cleaned and cleansed. One of the leading reasons we see such high cancer rates of the colon and other digestive organs is because of our lack of fiber ingestion and its regular cleansing effects. Indigestible fiber comes in the form of roughage, the state in which most vegetables grow from the Earth. Eating these vegetables in their natural form is what is most healthy and cleansing to our bodies. It also helps to clean cholesterol out of our blood.
Enzymes - What are enzymes? Dr. Edward Howell, one of the leading researchers in enzyme therapy, stays “Enzymes are substances which make life possible.” They are needed for every chemical reaction that occurs in the body. From digestive processes to neurotransmitter function in the brain. Enzymes are active substance that are catalysts, they make the function occur. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures above 118 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that cooked and processed foods contain few, if any, enzymes. Enzymes are destroyed when food is cooked at a high heat and through the packaging and preparation we typically see in the food industry. Living foods, raw foods, in other wards foods that have not under gone any cooking or processing of any kind, the food in its Natural state, contains active living enzymes. When we ingest these living enzymes our body is able to readily and immediately put them into action. When we ingest foods that are dead or do not have any living enzymes our body then is required to make its own enzymes which takes energy away from other processes. When we take in active enzymes from living foods our bodies are able to correct enzyme imbalance, integrate living enzymes and overall increase the efficiency of digestion and other enzyme dependent processes.
Probiotics - Probiotics are all the rage right now but there is little understanding as to why that is. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria. They help our intestinal tract make vitamins, processes nutrients and rid the body of bad bacteria, germs and parasites. Because our food system is infiltrated with the use of antibiotics our bodies have become filled with second hand antibiotics. Antibiotics are good at killing the bad bacteria but it also destroys all living and beneficial bacteria in the body. Without a new input of beneficial bacteria our body can remain depleted. Raw foods include bacteria and other micro-organisms that affect the immune system and digestion by populating the digestive tract with beneficial gut flora, beneficial bacteria. These are generally killed by cooking. Through eating living and raw foods you help to keep your good bacteria in balance and healthy.
Cleansing - Even if we follow the very best of diet and lifestyle practices we are living in a highly toxic and polluted environment. Eating inorganic foods that are heavily laden with toxic herbicides and pesticides, breathing air that is filled with petro chemicals, drinking ground water that is containment by our own waste and toxic byproducts and living in environments that are stressful takes a toll on our body especially the organs of elimination. Eating and drinking raw foods and juices helps to flush the cells and organs with highly nutrient dense activities living nutrients. This encourages the cells to release stored toxins and build healthy new cells.
Heal & Restore - The human body is made to function at optimal levels of health at all times. The body isn't able to self heal any longer when the system becomes too deficient in needed nutrients or it becomes so over toxified that essential processes cannot function. When sickness or unwanted symptoms begin to appear we know we have become deficient or too toxic. Raw living foods help to restore and correct both deficiency and toxicity. First it supplies the body with the highest level of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and enzymes and at the same times flushes the cells and organs helping the body to remove toxic build up. Once these two areas are addressed the body is able to initiate self healing and corrective measures. Disease cannot exist where there is balance. Raw foods help to bring balance to the body and mind. They also help to balance weight, restore health and reverse unwanted sickness, disease and conditions.

This free video on YouTube has a detailed and amazing explanation of the Raw Food Lifestyle and the befits to your body, mind and soul!

Raw for Life

Blessings of Health!

Food PH Chart - Most Alkaline and Acidic Foods

2011-08-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

I talked recently about the importance of knowing your personal pH and monitoring the alkalinity level of your body to maintain long term vibrant health and well being and to avoid degenerative diseases and pain.

I found the following web page to give great continued information of this topic and to provide a detailed and easy to use chart of acidic and alkaline foods....

Balanced body chemistry is of utmost importance for the maintenance of health and correction of disease. Acidosis, or over-acidity in the body tissues, is one of the basic causes of many diseases, especially the arthritic and rheumatic diseases.

All foods are "burned" in the body--more commonly called "digested"-- leaving an ash as the result of the "burning", or the digestion. This food ash can be neutral, acid or alkaline, depending largely on the mineral composition of the foods. Some foods leave an acid residue or ash, some alkaline. The acid ash (acidosis) results when there is a depletion of the alkali reserve or the diminution in the reserve supply of fixed bases in the blood and the tissues of the body.

It is, therefore, vitally important that there is a proper ratio between acid and alkaline foods in the diet. The natural ratio in a normal healthy body is approximately 4 to 1 -- four parts alkaline to one part acid, or 80% to 20%. When such an ideal ratio is maintained, the body has a strong resistance against disease. In the healing of disease, when the patient usually has acidosis, the higher the ratio of alkaline elements in the diet, the faster will be the recovery. Alkalis neutralize the acids. Therefore in the treatment of most diseases it is important that the patient's diet includes plenty of alkaline-ash foods to offset the effects of acid-forming foods and leave a safe margin of alkalinity.

A healthy body usually keeps large alkaline reserves which are used to meet the emergency demands if too many acid-producing foods are consumed. But these normal reserves can be depleted. When the alkaline-acid ratio drops to 3 to 1, health can be seriously menaced. Your body can function normally and sustain health only in the presence of adequate alkaline reserves and the proper acid-alkaline ratio in all the body tissues and the blood.
For optimum health and maximum resistance to disease, it is imperative that your diet is slightly over-alkaline. The ideal ratio, according to the world's foremost authority on the relationship between the acid-alkaline ratio in the diet in health and disease, Dr. Ragnar Berg, is about 80% alkali-producing foods and 20% acid-producing foods.

Below are tables of common foods with an approximate potential acidity or alkalinity, as present in one ounce of food....

http://www.alkaline-alkaline.com/ph_food_chart.html#

THRIVE!!!

7 Key Strategies for Superior Health

2011-08-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

Staying healthy encompasses so much more then just not being sick. True health gives one the ability and foundation for living life with the highest levels of awareness, consciousness and Being. Vibrant health should make you shine! When you are vibrantly healthy your mind is clear, creativity flows and you are able to accomplish and achieve your personal destiny. Each of us has a unique and special purpose in this life but when our health is not optimal we cannot achieve all we were meant to. Here are my top 7 strategies for Superior Health!

1. Listen To Your Body. Eat when you are hungry and stop when it says it has had enough. Eat until you feel satisfied but not until you feel full. When you are done eating you should feel light and full of energy. Gaze rather then gorge, eating little things often, or eat larger meals with small snacks in between, it depends on what your body needs and it will probably change frequently. Listening to your body takes time and practice only because we have become so far removed from our bodies and their natural innate wisdom. The body is highly intelligent and it knows when to eat, what to eat, when to sleep, when to be active and what activities it prefers if you know how to listen. A good place to start is to monitor your energy levels. A healthy and whole body has clear and clean energy that is consistent all day. Becoming tired after meals, mid afternoon or upon rising are all good signs that something is out of balance and not functioning optimally. It is important to be able to hear your body especially in times of need. If something goes wrong in your body you want to be the first to know and to know before it turns into something very big. The more connected you are to your body the better able you are to hear and feel when things start to veer off even ever so slightly. Spending time checking in with your body through meditative practice, yoga or other forms of self awareness can help you re-connect to your internal wisdom and teach you how to hear your body's needs.

2. Eat a Mainly Uncooked Animal Product Free Diet. Eat foods as raw and unprocessed as possible. Foods eaten in their natural state or closest to their natural state are the most healthful. Cooked foods do not do as well in the body energetically nor do they provide the mineral, vitamin, enzyme or photochemical content that living foods are able to provide. Cooking foods degrades their natural state, healthful fibers and plant materials that our bodies need for healthy maintenance and cleaning. In addition cooking changes the molecular structure of many foods and turns them into substances our bodies cannot utilize or in some cases are toxic to the body. If it isn't broken don't fix it is a good motto to keep in mind when choosing foods. Nature already knows what it is doing with the foods it naturally provides for us. When we start messing with a foods natural state we start to get into health trouble. Animal products are highly acidic which can throw off our natural body pH and are also difficult for the body to process and utilize. Animal products are especially taxing on the digestive body systems and can lead to their deterioration. Animal products also have very poor vitamin and mineral ratios for the human body which leads to deficiencies and excesses within the body both of which contribute to lower levels of health and well being.

3. Don't Ingest Chemicals or man-made concoctions of any kind. This includes "food" items. If the food you are about to put into your body has any ingredients you can't pronounce or you don't readily know, don't eat it. Buy only organic foods. There is much controversy, mostly started by big farming business, as to whether or not organic is really better. Organic is far superior for several reasons. One, organic farming is conscious farming. Organic farmers care about the foods they produce, so much love and time goes into how their plants are grown. Second, organic farmers do not use toxic chemicals. Mass farming uses a plethora of chemical concoctions on the foods they grow and in the soil. Not only do these chemicals get put on the outside of the foods but they also go into the soil and into the plant's cell structure (not to mention our and our animals drinking sources). The cell structure is altered in the chemically treated plant and also in its seeds, so future generations of the plant are also effected. Using chemicals on plants and soils also disturbs the natural environmental balance (weather, bugs, everything!). Lastly non-organic farming soil is severally depleted of much needed trace minerals. The human body is in need of these trace minerals and when they aren't provided through the ground our food is grown in our bodies become deficient over time. Buying local is best as you not only support your local community but you know how your food was grown and cared for.

4. Eat With The Seasons. This may take some time and practice but is the most healthy and natural way to eat. Our bodies are deeply intertwined with the rhythms of nature. Foods grow and are ready to eat at the times are bodies are ready to eat them. There is wisdom deeply rooted within nature's cycles. Our bodies function best when in alignment with Nature's rhythms. Because we have grown so accustomed to just popping into our local mass supermarket and buying produce that is grown in unnatural conditions year round, we may not even know what types of foods are in season and when. The best place to start is to find a local working farm where you can begin buying your produce. They will sell what has just been picked and you will begin to grow accustomed to what foods grow when and can tailor your eating accordingly.

5. Eat a Variety of Foods and Plants. The human body completes and carries out a large number of diverse and various processes within each and every moment. To efficiently and effectively carry out these processes a wide range of different types of substances are needed by the body. Some substances the body needs for these processes are made by the body from the substances we ingest and others the body cannot make at all and is entirely dependent on our intake of these substances. Here in the US we use a tremendous amount of corn and wheat in our food products. Almost every food product sold contains these 2 ingredients because they are cheap to grow and can be "morphed" into a variety of different types of products. That is entirely too much corn and wheat for the body to process and utilize which is why we see the rise of individuals who are gluten intolerant or have food allergies. Our bodies are sick and tired of corn and wheat and crave a much wider range of foods! Your body needs variety for the variety of processes it must carry out. It needs the greens, the reds, the oranges, the blues, the yellows. All of these different types of foods hold different types of minerals, vitamins and energetic components. You body needs them all! If you are sticking to just a couple of different food types it is very easy to become deficient in all the other things your body needs. Change up your foods daily to keep a good supply of all the nutrients your body needs coming in.

6. Find Natural Ways to Heal Your Body. Don't rely on aspirin, Tylenol, or ibuprofen to treat reoccurring headaches, aches or pains for example. Don't run to the doctor or take prescriptions pills to treat health problems. Drugs or surgery are needed in a very small number of cases and only when it is the only viable treatment option usually in emergency or acute type situations. If you are experiencing health symptoms there is a reason. Your body is sending out the symptom as a call to you for attention. "Something is wrong and you need to take notice!" Your body is alerting you to where the problem is, giving you clues as to what the problem may be and asking you to fix it. When you take a drug to "relieve" the symptom or cut out the organ or system that is having issues you have done nothing to resolve the problem, in fact you have just made it worse. You have covered up the signal your body sent you and then further degraded the body by ingesting man made chemicals that are hard for your body to process and throw other areas out of balance or cut out a vital piece of your being. Side effects from drugs are none other then new symptoms appearing from your body being thrown out of balance in a different direction. Instead of entering this vicious and non-healing cycle find the root of the problem and resolve the issue. Your body naturally heals itself. If healing is not happening on its own there is something hindering that healing, a block. It is important to discover what the block is and remove it. Then your body will heal itself naturally and completely. Find a holistic or natural practitioner that really knows and understands the deeper level workings of the body and can assist you in finding these blocks and naturally removing them.

7. Be Active. Life is an active enterprise and keeping both your body and mind active is essential to superior health. Activity helps to clear the body and mind of stress and move through any blocks whether physical, mental or emotional that may be present. It also keeps you connected and engaged to life while increasing strength, flexibility, resilience and resistance to disease, injury and pain. Being active can take on a variety of forms. Most importantly is to find activities that stimulate both your body and mind that are enjoyable, pleasurable and bring a sense of calm and happiness when complete. After an activity you should have a sense of having more energy rather then less. Even if you are tired, on an energetic level you should feel renewed.

These simple 7 strategies can help keep your health in tip-top shape and help to prevent many of the health pitfalls us Americans tend to fall into. Most importantly is to find lifestyle practices that work best for you. Your health and well being are unique to only you as is the journey to finding that place of perfect health and balance.

Enjoy the journey!

Restore your Acid-Alkaline Balance - The Importance of pH

2011-07-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's not often that we hear about or are directed to find out what our personal body pH may be, yet it is one of the most important indicators of good health.

The body's internal environment likes to stay consistent, at a consistent temperature and also at a consistent pH. Without a consistent pH the internal environment would collapse and the body could not continue living.The body's pH is a balance between acidic and alkaline substances. The balance between the two is critical to maintaining good health. Any disturbance in this balance leads to the breakdown of body processes and eventual illness. Disease thrives in an acidic environment as the acid content irritates and changes cell structure and performance because of constant irritation by the acidic substances of the tissue. Health problems that can arise run the gamut from chronic fatigue, depression, rheumatic disorders, tooth decay, cancer and just about any other health issues. So it is imperative for the body to maintain a good balance between acidic and alkaline substances in the tissues and bodily fluids.

A balanced pH within the body registers about 7.39, the lower the pH the more acidic the system is. The primary cause of a departure from a 7.39 pH comes from dietary factors. In the West especially, our diets are extremely acidic. Acidic items include any type of animal products, white flour and sugar products, refined foods, coffee, energy drinks, soda pop, alcohol, tobacco, pesticides, herbicides, prescription drugs, refined oils...so basically everything that most American's ingest on a daily and ongoing basis. The "normal" American pH is about 6.2-6.4 which is far too acidic. This is why here in the West we see a substantial amount of chronic degenerative diseases.

Other factors that lead to too much acidity in the body include poor liver and kidney function and negative mental attitudes. Poor kidney and liver function can be common in those who drink, use drugs, prescription drugs or have bodily disorders that break down the functionality of the liver and kidneys. The liver and kidneys are unable to properly filter out harmful acid and it remains circulating within the body. Organic disease such as cancer and diabetes also raise the levels of acidity in the body because the diseased cells metabolic wastes are acidic.

Negative mental thinking and stress also overload the body with acidic substances. Our thoughts and emotions have a profound effect on our biological structure. When we are stressed the body falls out of harmony and alignment and the biology follows. Negativity, fear, stress, anger and aggression all disrupt the body's function and make the internal environment more acidic.

Because the body cannot tolerate any change to pH in the blood it will "buffer" the acidity to make the blood more alkaline. The body does this in several ways. First, it will pull reserves of buffering agents, sodium and calcium, from other places in the body. Because sodium is used up fairly quickly the body will begin pulling calcium to buffer the acidity mainly from the bones and teeth, which is the main reasons here in the US we have such high rates of osteoporosis. Another mechanism the body employs is to drive the acidic substances out of the blood and deep into the body's tissues. This restores the blood pH however now the tissues are saturated with acidic substances, which leads to their eventual deterioration.

So what can you do to restore and maintain a proper alkaline acid balance? Here are some tips:

1. Change and maintain a diet that is highly alkalizing. Everything natural that comes from the Earth will keep your body in balance. Anytime you start straying form what the Earth provides and grows for us to eat you will begin disrupting your body's balance. Refrain from animal products, processed foods and drinks, white products and sugars, stimulants, alcohol and prescription drugs. If you are currently on prescription drugs seek out natural healing remedies that will help to heal your body and bring it back into balance without the use of toxic substances.

2. Verify you are not deficient in any vitamins or minerals. Especially deficiencies in calcium, magnesium and potassium can lead to a highly acidic internal environment. There are a few ways to check your vitamin and mineral levels. Here at Align we offer the Nutri-Body Analysis which will screen for any vitamin or mineral deficiencies.

3. Make sure your kidneys and liver and functioning optimally. Cleansing yearly or bi-yearly can help to flush these important organs and keep them functioning optimally. Also refrain from drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, preservatives and colorings, as both your kidneys and liver have to work harder to eliminate these toxic substances.

4. Keep your stress levels to a minimum. Find healthy ways of releasing stress and keep your mental outlook positive and harmonious. Meditation and yoga are two types of practices that help to relieve stress and re-harmonize body processes and functions.

At Align we can assist you in naturally cleansing, detecting vitamin and mineral deficiencies and restoring your body's pH so that you live a long and healthy live.

Live consciously and be well!

Ayurveda for a Vibrantly Healthy Balanced Life!

2011-07-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

Ayurveda is a system of medicine that has been in practice in India for over 5,000 years literally meaning “The Science of Life.” Ayurveda is considered by many to be the oldest healing science in the world. It is a holistic approach based on brining balance to the body, mind and spirit through diet, lifestyle and herbs to prevent and eliminate sickness, disease and to help people live a long and vibrantly healthy life.

Ayurveda explores life in all its layers and pays more attention to an organism’s energies and their functions within the body-mind-spirit complex rather then the structure which contains them. Every substance we encounter and every action we perform or that is performed on us influences our inner balance for the good or bad. When we adapt ourselves effectively to changing circumstances, we remain healthy, yet if we exceed our limits in any direction, we are likely to find ourselves sick. Ayurveda teaches us how to eat and live a balanced life in the midst of changing circumstances based on our individual constitution so we never venture off into the uncharted waters of illness. Each of us possess the innate powers for health maintenance and self-healing that we can activate if we learn how to let them flow naturally.

True health is a state of persistent well-being, not a temporary condition or reprieve from illness. It is a state in which one feels well in one’s being continuously, despite what may surrounds us or takes place outside of our being. Ayurveda teaches us what each of us needs individually to maintain a life of balance, health and well being.

Personal Metabolic Make-Up ~ What’s your Dosha Baby?

Ayurveda teaches that each individual possesses certain physical and mental traits that are fixed at the moment of conception and persist throughout that person’s existence. Your constitution is your personal metabolic makeup, your set of metabolic characteristics that determine how your body and mind will instinctively behave and function as well as inherent strengths and weaknesses within your system. To know your inherent strengths and weaknesses of your constitution allows you to understand better how your body-mind-spirit complex functions and how you can use diet and lifestyle changes to influence your health and well being.

Your personal constitution is expressed in terms of the three doshas, or energetic systems and patterns in Ayurveda. The doshas are constantly moving in dynamic balance, one with the other. The three active doshas are called Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Each of us has all three energy systems at play within our system but each of us has predominant dosha and some of us have a bi-dosha metabolic make-up.

Ayurveda views each and every person as unique, with a unique mind-body constitution and a unique set of life circumstances, all of which must be considered in determining either natural healing approaches or recommendations for daily living.

How Does Knowing My Dosha Help Me?

Understanding your dosha, or predominant energy type, lets you know your specific metabolic needs in order to be healthy. Each of the doshas has a set of unique characteristics, lifestyle practices, foods and herbs that bring it most into balance. By knowing your dosha you can learn what foods, herbs, exercises and lifestyle practices will bring you the most balance and health. By keeping yourself in balance you avoid sickness, disease, pain, emotional and spiritual issues from arising and live at the highest levels of health, balance, peace and well-being.

Ayurveda at Align Holistic Health & Well Being

At Align Holistic Health & Well Being we utilize the science of Ayurveda to help you attain perfect balance and health. Ayurvedic approaches are blended with other healing modalities based on a person’s individual constitution and needs. At-home natural health care approaches are also taught to promote health and well being at home.

Our Ayurvedic Consultations will take all aspects of your being into consideration to develop an Ayurvedic Lifestyle plan that includes diet, herbs, exercise and lifestyle practices to bring you the greatest levels of health, happiness and well being!

Contact us today for your free Ayurvedic Personal Constitution Test and to schedule your Ayurveda Consultation!

www.alignholistichealth.com

9 Tips to Reduce & Prevent Anxiety

2011-06-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

Anxiety strikes all of us from time to time while affecting some of us more profoundly and more frequently or for longer durations. The makeup of anxiety can be complex but in essence is triggered by the flight or fight response in the body. Anxiety can be triggered by a thought, sound, emotion or situation that triggers dormant memories or feelings or stirs up current issues that we have not fully resolved within. For others anxiety can be triggered by stress, worry and over thinking or what some call the monkey chatter of the mind. Whatever the cause or personal trigger there are some tips that can help quell the impending anxiety storm and help to restore a sense of peace, calm and balance within.

1) Stay Present – When feeling overwhelmed or the old familiar feelings of anxiety, bring yourself back to the present. Feelings of anxiousness are rooted in thoughts about the past or what may occur in the future. Grounding yourself in the present can help focus your mind and banish anxiety. Focus on what’s in front of you, focus on breathing, immerse yourself in something that is beautiful, pleasing or brings you joy, something that is happening right now. Your child playing, a beautiful sunset, the feelings of growing grass under your bare feet, whatever it may be, bringing yourself back to the present moment can get you out of feel anxious.

2) Resign as General Manager of the Universe – You were not made to control all of the events of the Universe. You cannot control other people, the traffic, your boss, your co-workers or even what will happen tomorrow. Thinking you can, worrying or trying to will cause very strong anxious feelings. When you begin to feel anxious this is a good reminder that you have over stepped your personal bounds of control. All you can control is yourself and what is going on with you right in this moment. Let go of everything else and trust the Universe is big and loving enough to handle all of those events outside of yourself in the best possible way~ a way much better then you could ever conceive on your own.

3) Let Go of the Little Things – Nobody and nothing in life is perfect, it is the shades, grades and unknowns of life that make it exciting and worth living. If you could figure all of life out in this moment what would you have to look forward to? Would life really be all that exciting? Picture your life as a roller coaster ride. If you white knuckle the handle bars, grit your teeth and refuse to open your eyes, how much fun can you really have? Sure it is scary, there are going to be ups and downs and sometimes all you want to do is get off the ride but that is what makes life fun.

1) Create an Island of Clam Within – It is important to be grounded within yourself. Life throws us crazy and stressful events, they cannot be avoided, but it is important to remember it is all happening outside of yourself and is not who you are. When things start feeling overwhelming, find and connect to your center. You can learn to locate the seed of peace inside yourself and cultivate it so it grows into a reliable source of serenity that we can always access, no matter where we are. You can connect and cultivate inner peace through simply meditative practice or just spending quite time alone with yourself.

5) Root Down Deep – It is important to be deeply rooted in what is meaningful and real in life. So often we get lost in events and situations around or outside of us. Emotions are fleeting, situations come and go, and everything will continue to run its natural course whether you worry about it or not. Like a tree in the wind, if your roots are deep, healthy and strong the winds can only ruffle your leaves a bit. Your true being is unshakeable and unmovable, it is able to bend and sway with the winds but no damage can be done to the roots. Connect with what you know is real and most meaningful in your life. When the winds come, dig deep and stay rooted in what you know to be real. Let the other stuff just blow away with the wind.

6) Assess Your Priorities and Learn to Say No – Many times when life is feeling overwhelming and uncontrollable it is because we have over committed ourselves, leaving no room for ourselves. It is easy to get lost when you don’t have any time to remember who and what you are. It is important to be engaged in the world around you but equally important to be engaged with yourself. Schedule time just for you on a regular and ongoing basis. When your life is extremely busy don’t cut out the YOU time, cut out events and commitments your heart is not fully invested in. Balance all your activity with rest. If you are super busy during the day be equally super unbusy in the evening. Keep your life in balance to avoid becoming lost in a whirlwind of activity.

7) Monitor Self Talk – Negative or self defeating talk can also bring on feelings of anxiousness. If your mind is constantly telling you that you aren’t good enough, pretty enough, didn’t do this or that right it is bound to cause anxiety. Negative self talk is monkey chatter at its worst! Tame the monkey and your mind. Act as an observer inside your own head and listen to yourself. What types of things are you telling yourself? Are they positive and life affirming or are they negative and life demeaning? Also watch for excessive self talk which saps energy and mental reserves and leaves you low on energy. Without paying attention our mind can go into overdrive, having opinions and commentary on everything that arises in life. A quite mind brings peace and helps relieve anxiety so take time each day to quite your mind and your body.

8) Meditate – Mediation can take on many forms. Some prefer walking mediation, some prefer long periods of mediation while others like to simply sit and listen to sounds of nature. Whatever form or name it may take, the basic premise is to allow your mind time to be quiet, not to think and just to be. As anyone who has tried mediation will tell you, it is the moment you try to be still that you realize how active your mind really is. Our society tends to value a very active mind and while an active mind can serve us well in many ways it can also be one of our greatest enemies, distracting and overwhelming us from who we truly are and what is truly important. You are not your mind, you are not your thoughts. You utilize your mind, but the mind you are not. Especially for those that do use their minds a lot it is important to have time each day where the mind is quieted and you allow yourself to simply be. Mediation is one of the most powerful tools in ridding yourself of anxiety and preventing it from ever coming back.

9) Take Care of Your Needs – Not getting enough sleep, eating poorly, skipping meals, over eating, not getting enough body movement or sleep and falling into erratic and non-regular habits wreaks havoc on your body and mind. When your body is in chaos so is the mind. When the body is not getting the nutrients it needs especially those that support the nervous system it will begin degrading and not working properly. “Symptoms” are simply loud signal your body sends you to get your attention and make a change. If you are experiencing symptoms of anxiety it is imperative to start by making your foundation healthy and strong, which is done through healthy lifestyle and diet practices.

My Plate by Align Holistic Health

2011-06-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness! The Food Pyramid has finally been ousted by our First Lady Michelle Obama. It was about time! While originally created out of good intentions, giving the general public a guideline for how and what to eat, but it hasn’t been serving this public all too well marked by the continued decline of our health and incline of sickness and disease. We have watched ourselves plummet to the position of one of the most unhealthy populations in all of the developed world. Not so great for this Health Care crazy country!
I have long said we could and should do better. We all deserve so much better! Personal health is not the responsibility of the country, your doctor, the president, the FDA or any other entity outside of your own being. Each of us is the author of our own disease or health (Buddha) and it is about time we each pick up the pen and start composing a new story, a healthy story!
I very much like the new “My Plate” introduced to the public last week. http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-food-pyramid-my-plate-20110602,0,3942518.story

These new dietary guidelines finds us eating half of our daily intake from fruits and vegetables, a quarter from grains and the reaming quarter from protein. It is great to see the previous “meat” category expanded to the new “protein” category indicating and finally recognizing that we as humans can intake our protein from a variety of healthy and complete sources outside of the animal kingdom. The My Plate also includes a glass of dairy off to the side. From my perspective the dairy is included to continue to keep Americans calcium levels high with the thought that this will help reduce skyrocketing osteoporosis statistic here in the US. However, dairy is one of the very reasons we are seeing the skyrocket of osteoporosis rates. Dairy provides a very poor vitamin and mineral ratios as well as makes the human body a much more acidic environment. All of which leads to the further loss of calcium and overall deterioration of the skeletal system. For my complete take on dairy and whether or not it really does a body good please see subsequent article Dairy – It Does A Human Body Bad.
It will be interesting to start looking at health statistic in the next 10-20 years following these new dietary recommendations. I suspect it will take some time for American’s to adjust their diets and begin seeing the true health benefits, but with this transition to less acidic high protein diet and the inclusion of a higher percentage of plant based foods we should begin to see the reeducation of sickness and disease, primarily in the categories of heart and brain degenerative diseases, osteoporosis and arthritic disorders and chronic degenerative disease in general. We should also begin to see the decline of childhood disorders such as ADD, ADHD, hyperactivity, diabetes and obesity as well as allergies, asthma, ear infections and skin disorders such as eczema. All this just from switching to a plant based diet?!?! YES!!!

We have updated the My Plate just a little to include some very important foods we think helps to make the My Plate the ideal optimal nutritional recommendation.

We keep fruits and veggies at 50% of daily intake. This helps to ensure the body is getting all the vitamins, minerals, fiber, active live enzymes and phytochemcials that it needs in order to repair restore and live at the very highest levels of health. We add the words “organic” and “fresh” to the plate because we know that the highest levels of what we need only can come through fresh products that have not been altered, saturated with chemicals or grown in depleted chemical laden soil.

We keep protein right where it needs to be at 20% of the daily diet, but add “high quality” and “organic again. High quality protein is important because 1) high quality protein is more efficient in the body which allows the body need less and 2) high quality protein allows the body to utilize and then eliminate normal metabolites efficiently and without stressing or taxing the body or body organs and systems.

We expand the previous “Grain” group to “Organic Grains, Lentils, Nuts and Seeds” and recommend 20% of daily diet. Lentils provide a storehouse of nutritional value and products including protein, vitamins and minerals. Nuts and seeds are important in the diet for so many reasons because they hold a wealth of nutritional benefits and ingredients. In a recent look at the nutritional differences between tree nut eaters and non-eaters, researchers have reported some pretty notable findings: on a daily average, tree nut eaters take in 5 grams more fiber, 260 milligrams more potassium, 73 more milligrams of calcium, 95 more milligrams of magnesium, 3.7 milligrams more vitamin E, and 157 milligrams less sodium!

We include 10% fresh organic live fruit and vegetables juices because of their important to overall health of the body and mind. Fresh organic juices can be put into the category “super food” because they are highly nutrient and mineral dense. In juice form you can intake a much larger quantity of vitamins, minerals, fresh and active enzymes and phytochemcials then you could simply by eating the same fruits and vegetables. These fresh juices also help to flush the tissues, cells and body organs keeping the body naturally cleansed and hydrated.

Health comes one choice at a time, one plate at a time at the individual level. So take time at each meal when filling your plate to consciously considering the options you select ensuring you are the author of your own best health story!

Consume consciously and enjoy your week!

If you have any questions or would like to consult with us privately you can reach us via email at Candice@alignholistichealth.com or through our web site at www.alignholistichealth.com

Summer Soup Receipe

2011-06-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Cold soups are a great way to reduce heat in the summer while taking advantage of those garden goodies. For those with Pitta constitution* heat can become especially bothersome in the summer months and can easily throw you out of balance. So here is a great vegetarian summer recipe that can help keep you cool and in balance.

*Pitta is one of 3 mind/body types identified in Ayurveda, an Indian system of holistic health and living. To learn your constitution and what types of foods, exercises and lifestyle practices are best suited for you individually email us today for a free test!

Cold Cucumber Soup

Description

Early summer, when cucumbers are cheap and plentiful, is the best time to make this soup. It is so easy that you’ll be making it a lot on warm afternoons or when you feel you want to eat something less than a complete meal. You can make this soup ahead of time and chill it, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Ingredients

3 organic leeks, washed and sliced in rounds
4 cups organic vegetable stock/broth
6 organic cucumbers, peeled, sliced, and seeded
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped green onion or chive
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Cook the leeks in the stock in a large soup pot for 10 minutes. Add the cucumbers.
Pour small batches at a time into a blender and purée until smooth. Add the dill, lemon juice, green onions or chives, salt, and pepper. Stir once or twice.
Chill covered in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
Pour 1-cup servings into each of 6 bowls, garnish with a dollop of plain low-fat yogurt or low-fat sour cream, and sprinkle a few capers on top.

The All Mighty Germ

2011-05-31T08:42:00.001-07:00

Hello and welcome to my blog! I have decided to start this blog to be able to interact more with my audience and provide exciting and useful information to you on health, well being and living your very best life! I am excited to continue blogging and keep your abreast of my thoughts and feelings on health and wellbeing and give you insight into my personal journey along this road to balance and wholeness, well sharing insight, tips, recipes and more to assist you in your journey to health!

As I write my daughter and I are in the process of getting over a nasty sickness that hit us at the end of last week. Right at the start of the glorious first long weekend of summer, Memorial Day, sad to say! All that time laying flat on my back gave me ample time to really think and introspect on sickness and health. At the same time, coincidentally, I have begun reading a really excellent book, "The Naturopathic Way~How to Detox, Find Quality Nutrition & Restore your Acid-Alkaline Balance" by Christopher Vasey, ND. Words from the book ring in my ears as I lay moaning and withering in my sickened state..."Sickness and disease in reality is only the translation of an inner effort to neutralize and clean out toxins, which the body does for preservation and regeneration and is not an effort to destroy health." In effect Mr. Vasey is eloquently saying that all sickness is a detoxification crisis happening only when the body, and I believe mind and spirit, become too overloaded with toxins to continue in a healthy way. The body makes a loud and urgent call that it can no longer continue to perform under such toxic duress. It then forcefully begins to expel the toxins in what we call a "sickness", i.e. coughing, sneezing, congestion, fever, vomiting, ect. It is truly amazing when you stop and think about that concept. Here in the West we tend to put all our faith and belief in the all mighty germ. Germs are the cause of sickness, if we eradicate germs we will no longer be sick! That is our wayward thinking which can be attributed mostly because of our over reliance on drugs, thanks to Big Pharma. Drugs can only be created and useful against a specific germ. If you are unable to identify a germ you are unable to create a chemical concoction to kill that germ. This way of thinking though, the all mighty germ, has been proven to be false.

In one of the most memorable studies I read, cold germs were taken and physically placed inside of the nasal tissue of the study participants. With active cold germs placed inside of the body one would then think all of the study participants came down with the cold virus. This turned out to be not the case, in fact more then half of the participants did not ever come down with the cold virus. Why? I am reminded of Louis Pasteur's famous last words. "The germ is nothing, the soil is everything." Who is Louis Pasteur? The famous chemist and microbiologist AND founding father of the germ theory. Quite a shocking statement from someone who spent his entire life creating a theory that all sickness was created by an outside invader, the germ. "The germ is nothing, the soil everything." It is not the external environment that dictates our health but our internal environment. When the internal environment is healthy and rich, then seeds of sickness and disease are never able to take root. When our internal soil is depleted and overrun with toxins and excess debris, the seeds of sickness are able to take root and flourish. Only by keeping ourselves detoxified and plentiful with the nutrients we need do we find ourselves not succumbing to sickness.

So all of this leads to these final words...It is not what is external that determines our health but what is internal. This can be said for the body but also extended to every fragment of our being, from our mind and emotions to our happiness and wellbeing. It is not external but internal that dictates who and what we are.

So having been clearly reminded of this, I bow my head and humbly continue on in my detoxification crisis and healing process as I get over this nasty "sickness." I come out the other side stronger, deeply reminded of how important each choice I make is and more determined then ever not to allow toxic thoughts, emotions, foods, substances or lifestyle practices to invade my being as I continue on in my quest for living my life in perfect alignment.

Blessings.