Keeping your body Alkaline

One of the most important things you can do for your body is to keep your alkalinity in your body high, green vegetables and even alkaline water are great sources. Here is an article I found that explains exactly why;

(NaturalNews) You may not have known it, but keeping your diet primarily alkaline rather than acidic is a much healthier alternative and can add years to your life.

"The human body goes to great lengths to maintain a slightly alkaline PH of 7.35, but poor diet and stress can change the PH to an acidic one in which disease can thrive," says Raw Food Health. You can help your body out tremendously just by adjusting your eating habits.

"Unfortunately many people don't pay much attention to their diet until they experience a major health scare and then, they do so in a desperate attempt to regain their health," adds food lifestyle educator Carol Galanty. "Thankfully, many are able to do so, but it would be so much better all around if diet were treated as a means of preventive medicine before signs of imbalance start to occur."

Here are five reasons to switch to a diet made up primarily of alkaline foods:

Boost your energy dramatically. Tens of millions of Americans consume caffeine (coffee, tea) or so-called "energy drinks" by the gallon each week, despite the known dangers of such products. If you want to boost your energy naturally and safely, stick to an alkaline diet.

That is one composed primarily of alkaline-forming foods like figs, molasses, green, leafy veggies, almonds, beets, dates, celery, cantaloupe and parsley. "In addition to eating these foods, taking one teaspoon of a greens powder every morning mixed into juice or a smoothie can also raise energy" levels, says About.com guide Cathy Wong, a licensed naturopathic doctor and an American College of Nutrition-certified nutrition specialist.

An alkaline diet will also helps you get a better night's sleep and one that is infinitely more restful, helping you keep energy levels high throughout your busy day.

Keep your body functioning at its optimal level. "Our bodies perform optimally when in an alkaline state, yet the majority of food that Americans eat are acidic (meat, dairy, fish, eggs, sugar, soda, coffee, tea, alcohol, nicotine, processed foods, etc)," writes Galanty. "This heavily weighted acidic diet brings our bodies to a state of imbalance and eventually disease."

She and other experts say that by maintaining a primarily alkaline diet - somewhere in the range of 70-80 percent - can help you maintain or return your body to balance (called homeostasis in medical lingo). "A state of wellness where you feel healthy, energenic, have smoothing glowing skin and an alert, focused mind," says Galanty. "Sluggish, tired and overweight is not a normal state to be in."

Slow down the aging process. An acidic diet can take its toll on our bones and muscles the older we get.

"As we age, there is a loss of muscle mass, which may predispose to falls and fractures," says an analysis by the National Institutes of Health. "A three-year study looking at a diet rich in potassium, such as fruits and vegetables, as well as a reduced acid load, resulted in preservation of muscle mass in older men and women."

"Conditions such as chronic renal failure that result in chronic metabolic acidosis result in accelerated breakdown in skeletal muscle," the NIH analysis continued. "Correction of acidosis may preserve muscle mass in conditions where muscle wasting is common such as diabetic ketosis, trauma, sepsis, chronic obstructive lung disease, and renal failure."

Lower your cancer risk. Some research suggests that an alkaline-rich diet is linked to lower rates of cancer, if only because such diets consist primarily of vegetables.

Remember Kris Carr's 2007 film, Crazy, Sexy Cancer? The documentary tracks "the actress and photographer's journey after a 2003 diagnosis of stage-four epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, a rare cancer found in the liver and lungs' blood vessel linings," the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.

Nine years later, eating only a plant-based diet, Carr's health is good - a phenomenon she attributed to staying pH-balanced.

Keep off the extra pounds. By boosting your consumption of alkaline-producing foods, you can naturally shed weight.

"Promoting things like weight loss, improved immunity, and even disease prevention, celebrity nutritionist Dr. Lindsey Duncan is a proponent of the alkaline diet. He says our meals are increasingly acidic, and our bodies are paying the price," ABC News affiliate KTRK reported.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/038437_alkaline_diet_healing_energy_levels.html#ixzz2GGrKXFHE

Organic Flaxseed Oil benefits

I take a couple of table spoons of Flax Oil every day, but this is the only oil I take, not for cooking and keep in the refrigerator. Sometimes I put it in my salad. I found this great article on it's benefits;

Clinical studies suggest that flaxseed oil may be helpful in treating a variety of conditions. It contains omega-3 essential fatty acids, or EFAs. Flaxseed oil has a nutty flavor and can be added to food as a replacement for other oils, or it can be taken as a softgel. Some flaxseeds can be contaminated with lead, mercury and other toxic chemicals, so organic flaxseed oil, which is certified to be free of heavy metals, is recommended.

Benefits

Flaxseed oil contains alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA, which is a fatty acid that the body converts into the omega-3s EPA and DHA. Due to the ALA content of flaxseed oil, it may be beneficial to arthritis sufferers. Preliminary studies suggest that ALA can reduce arthritis-related joint pain and stiffness and improve mobility. The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) says that more research needs to be done, but ALA may also treat autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and may increase lung function in asthma sufferers, prevent breast cancer, prevent and treat depression and reduce menstrual pain.

Bowel Health

Flaxseed oil may be able to heal the inner lining of inflamed intestines, and preliminary research suggests that it may be helpful for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disorders such as Crohn's disease and colitis. UMMC reports that the omega-3 content of flaxseed oil can help to reduce the inflammation associated with these disorders and that many people with Crohn's disease have been found to be deficient in omega-3s.

Colon Health

Omega-3s may also help to prevent the replication of cancer cells in patients with colon cancer, but the studies suggesting this were conducted using fish oil and not flaxseed oil. UMMC notes, however, that although studies have not been done on humans, preliminary studies done on animals suggest that the ALA omega-3s found in flaxseed oil might actually be more beneficial than fish oil in the treatment of colon disorders such as colon cancer.

Cardiovascular Health

According to UMMC, evidence suggests that ALA may be cardioprotective, which means it promotes a healthy cardiovascular system and prevents cardiovascular disease. People who consume an ALA-rich diet are less likely to suffer from heart attacks. The exact mechanism of action is unknown, but ALA may reduce heart disease risk in a variety of ways. It may reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, reduce total and LDL cholesterol levels, promote blood vessel health, regulate the heartbeat and help keep the blood thin and not sticky. Flaxseed oil may reduce the effectiveness of certain medications, and you should talk to your health care practitioner before supplementing with it.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/395385-health-benefits-of-organic-flaxseed-oil/

 

Health Benefits of Potatoes

Potatoes are a part of my daily diet to fight cancer, here is an article I found on potoatoes:

(NaturalNews) The potato is versatile: you can bake it, boil it, mash it, fry it... you can even make pancakes from it. The potato is also (surprisingly) a healthy food that mankind has thrived on for thousands of years, even long before the invention of agriculture.

This fascinating little tuber is actually quite nutritious, containing more potassium than a banana. It's surprisingly high in vitamin C. Boiled or baked with the skin on will provide a multitude of nutrients, plus healthy dietary fiber (although most of the other vitamins and minerals are in the potato flesh, itself).

The potato is also a healthy source of natural starch. The body relies on carbohydrates as its primary source of fuel, and eating a healthy amount of carbohydrates prevents the body from breaking down protein (i.e. muscles and bone) for fuel. The potato is actually one of the safer forms of carbohydrates, as it doesn't contain irritants like gluten which are found in grains. Potatoes even protect us from things like colon cancer because of the cleansing action of the resistant starch, which passes through the digestive tract and into the colon.

Potatoes contain a vast array of important nutrients, including:

- Vitamin C
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin B3
- Vitamin B6
- Iron
- Phosphorous
- Magnesium
- Chromium
- Potassium
- Folate
- Pantothenic Acid
- Riboflavin
- Antioxidants

But what good is all this nutrition if you can`t digest it? Because the potato is mostly starch, our bodies can`t break it down without help, in the form of heat. Cooking releases the nutrients or converts them into a form our bodies can process -- and how we cook the potato has a bearing on what vitamins and minerals we can get from it. Overall, baking, while destroying much of the Vitamin C, probably preserves more of the overall vitamin and mineral content than any other method.

Interesting tidbit about potato color: while the general nutritional components are the same regardless of potato color or variety, purple potatoes are even healthier for your blood vessels and heart because of the extra Anthocyanins (which give the tuber its distinctive color).

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031214_potatoes_nutrition.html#ixzz2Ekvelooi

Diet and Cancer

Here is a great article I found, which tells me I'm in the right path....

A Vegan Diet (Hugely) Helpful Against Cancer

If you're anything like me, the "C" word leaves you trembling. But today there is very good news to report: Research suggests you can improve your odds of never getting cancer and/or improve your chances of recovering from it. Not with a drug or surgery, although those methods might be quite effective. This is all about the power on your plate, and it's seriously powerful.
A 2012 analysis of all the best studies done to date concluded vegetarians have significantly lower cancer rates. For example, the largest forward-looking study on diet and cancer ever performed concluded that "the incidence of all cancers combined is lower among vegetarians."
That's good news, yes. But what if we're looking for great news? If vegetarians fare so much better than meat-eaters, what about vegans? Is that an even better way to eat? We didn't know for sure until now.
A new study just out of Loma Linda University funded by the National Cancer Institute reported that vegans have lower rates of cancer than both meat-eaters and vegetarians. Vegan women, for example, had 34 percent lower rates of female-specific cancers such as breast, cervical, and ovarian cancer. And this was compared to a group of healthy omnivores who ate substantially less meat than the general population (two servings a week or more), as well as after controlling for non-dietary factors such as smoking, alcohol, and a family history of cancer.
Why do vegans have such lower cancer risk? This is fascinating stuff: An elegant series of experiments was performed in which people were placed on different diets and their blood was then dripped on human cancer cells growing in a petri dish to see whose diet kicked more cancer butt. Women placed on plant-based diets for just two weeks, for example, were found to suppress the growth of three different types of breast cancer (see images of the cancer clearance). The same blood coursing through these womens' bodies gained the power to significantly slow down and stop breast cancer cell growth thanks to just two weeks of eating a healthy plant-based diet! (Two weeks! Imagine what's going on in your body after a year!) Similar results were found for men against prostate cancer (as well as against prostate enlargement).
How may a simple dietary change make one's bloodstream so inhospitable to cancer in just a matter of days? The dramatic improvement in cancer defenses after two weeks of eating healthier is thought to be due to changes in the level of a cancer-promoting growth hormone in the body called IGF-1. Animal protein intake increases the levels of IGF-1 in our body, but within two weeks of switching to a plant-based diet, IGF-1 levels in the bloodstream drop sufficiently to help slow the growth of cancer cells.
How plant-based do we need to eat? Studies comparing levels of IGF-1 in meat-eaters vs. vegetarians vs. vegans suggest that we should lean toward eliminating animal products from our diets altogether. This is supported by the new study in which the thousands of American vegans studied not only had lower rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, but significantly lower cancer risk as well.
This makes sense when you consider the research done by Drs. Dean Ornish and Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn; they found that a vegan diet caused more than 500 genes to change in only three months, turning on genes that prevent disease and turning off genes that cause breast cancer, heart disease, prostate cancer, and other illnesses. This is empowering news, given that most people think they are a victim of their genes, helpless to stave off some of the most dreaded diseases. We aren't helpless at all; in fact, the power is largely in our hands. It's on our forks, actually.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/vegan-diet-cancer_b_2250052.html

Benefits of Legumes

This is great info, as a vegan legumes are part of my plant based diet, but in moderation;

Legumes include beans, lentils and peas, including green split peas. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend that healthy adults on a 2,000-calorie diet eat about 3 cups of legumes per week. You can use green split peas as a side dish or in soups, and eating them may provide health benefits.

Blood Sugar Control

People who regularly eat legumes may have a lower risk for diabetes, a disease that occurs when your body can no longer regulate blood sugar levels properly. Legumes may help prevent or manage diabetes because they have low glycemic index, which means they do not cause rapid spikes in your blood sugar. Green split peas have 16.1 g of dietary fiber per serving. Soluble fiber, such as that in legumes, slows down sugar absorption so it does not get into your bloodstream as quickly. If you have high blood sugar, continue to work with your doctor to control it and prevent complications of diabetes.

Heart Health

Eating green split peas may improve your heart health. The fiber from split peas may lower your total and bad LDL cholesterol, thus reducing your risk for heart disease. High blood pressure increases your risk for coronary heart disease, and green split peas may help you maintain a healthy blood pressure. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommend increasing your potassium intake and reducing your sodium, and 1 cup of split peas has about 710 mg of potassium and only 4 mg of sodium. If you have risk factors for heart disease, talk to your doctor about the best way to treat them.

Weight Control

To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn. Green split peas may be able to help you lose weight or avoid gaining weight because they are low in calories and they may help you eat less. A 1-cup serving of cooked green split peas has only about 232 calories. A high-fiber diet may promote weight control. Many high-fiber foods, including green split peas, take a long time to chew, so you feel full before you have eaten very many calories. Split peas are good sources of protein, with about 16 g per cup. The Harvard School of Public Health states that high-protein diets may promote weight control by slowing down digestion and making you less hungry at the next meal.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/354682-health-benefits-of-green-split-peas/#ixzz2ELSjtL7h