Quite a few years ago, one of our children, a baby we adopted , was quite ill with a blood problem. We moved to a small acreage in the country, planted a very large garden and learned to eat natural foods. We dumped the sugar totally, used honey, and bought wheat from farmers that didn't use chemicals on their farms. We ground it and made bread from scratch. All our fruits and vegetables were home grown. We bought goat milk for the sick child, and used it for ice cream and baked goods. From this venture, we found out a lot of things. None of us had a cold, or flu etc for all the years we ate this way. Sugar, is like poison in your system, leaving you open for all kinds of illnesses. Oh, I know, what good is life if you can't eat what you like. But what good is life if you are sick from doing just that? As we get older, our body's work less well and we need to protect ourselves from aches, pains, cancer etc.
Yesterday for the first time in a long while, I watched Dr. Oz. Because my favorite doc was on the show, Dr. Andrew Weil. He was a regular medical doctor at one point, but became aware that the meds he was handing out did not cure anything, and often added more problems. So he has traveled around the world, finding cures for illnesses, not just band aids. We are an impatient people, who go to our doctors with a problem and ask for a pill to instantly make what ever is wrong better. Fact is, those pills just mask symptoms and often cause another problem, thus another medicine. Like ripples in a pond where you toss a pebble, it goes on and on. And you don't feel better.
Again, Dr. Weil stressed that almost all illness is caused by inflammation in the body. And inflammation comes from diet. Processed foods and trans-fats are the worst offenders.
Here are 5 rules to get you back on track and help yourself to glowing health.
1. Be sure you eat 5 to 7 vegetables and fruits a day, the brighter the color, the more anti oxidants.
2. Eat only whole or cracked grains, no chips, crackers or cookies unless they are 100% whole grain. Those white ones with all the fat and ickies in them cause sugar spikes. Eat 3 to 5 servings of whole grain per day.
3. Oils . Good oils are like olive oil, nuts, avocados. The Mediterranean diet is the best one to follow.
4 . Sea food. Black cod is best, but I sure never saw that in any store. Look for good quality salmon or tuna, the safe ones.
5. Herbs and Spices. These are truly wonder foods, that help your body heal many problems. Some to try and use on a regular basis are rosemary, basil, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and ginger. People who eat these have the lowest rate of Alzheimer's.
Now a recipe, for soup that will help heal aches and pains. Its made with cauliflower. Dr. Weil uses yellow, but I have not seen that in the store. Regular will work. In your food processor, put 1/2 cup of raw cashews, and 1 cup of cold water, blend until creamy and smooth. In a skillet, sauté a sliced onion in olive oil until caramelized. In a pot, put your chopped up head of cauliflower, add 1 Tablespoon each of turmeric and curry powder. 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and cumin, a touch of salt. Cover with water and simmer until soft. Add a small pinch of organic sugar. Then with an immersion blender, blend until smooth, add the cashew milk, blend again, and serve with the onions on top. I don't have an immersion blender, use my Magic Bullet and get the job done, you can always just work with what you have some way or another.
A new secret elixir for pain is sea buckthorn, interesting fruit, ages old in other countries, but just now becoming known here. Again we are behind in natural helpers.
It's been a difficult week here on the mountain, my lovely daughter in law became very ill last Thursday and ended up in the CCU at the hospital. She is home now, but still weak and tired and trying to recover from this serious illness. Will be so glad to see her on her feet, her old smiling self again, hope it's not a long time coming, take care dear one, want you better.
Some of the Maple trees have a few red leaves already. I took out a good share of the garden last week, the constant rains caused leaf mold on a lot of the squash and big leafed plants. Still have okra, tomato and pepper plants, and of course herbs. School has started, which always makes it seem that fall is near, and sadly winter follows. At least the winters here are not as cold as the Midwest ones I grew up with.
Hope you have had a good week, please listen to your body, feed it nourishing food and feel better. We are the most overfed, under nourished country in the world. Looking at the grocery store products you can see why, most of our foods are over processed and not healthy. Try cooking from scratch with real food, your body will love it. Til next time, take care.
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