A good homemade treat is much more substantial than a store-bought one.
Look at the ingredients on the package of your favorite cookies. I’d bet you can’t pronounce half of them! These are the ingredients that can cause food allergies. They also cause addictions to simple carbs. The more we get, the more our bodies crave!
A homemade cookie is made of butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda and a good chocolate chip. Stay away from artificially flavored chips which usually have waxes and a long list of additives. One good cookie can satisfy the sweet tooth if we allow ourselves to enjoy the moment instead of just quickly gulping it down.
Less is more when dealing in whole foods!
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Click here for the best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. ============================================
Click here for a super Monster Cookie recipe. ============================================
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Power of Whole Foods
When the Power Team was here, we saw for ourselves that whole foods will fill you up more efficiently. I packed their lunches for the week, and I can tell you that the first day they kind of freaked out!
They were each used to 2 or 3 sandwiches on white bread with lunch meats. Instead, I gave them one and a half sandwiches consisting of 2 thick slices of homemade oatmeal bread, 1/3 of a pound of real meat (sliced beef or oven-roasted turkey), Romaine lettuce, cheese and tomato. A bag of whole grain chips and a good homemade cookie finished off the meal.
They all were surprised at how satisfied they were! Whole foods are filling foods!!
They were each used to 2 or 3 sandwiches on white bread with lunch meats. Instead, I gave them one and a half sandwiches consisting of 2 thick slices of homemade oatmeal bread, 1/3 of a pound of real meat (sliced beef or oven-roasted turkey), Romaine lettuce, cheese and tomato. A bag of whole grain chips and a good homemade cookie finished off the meal.
They all were surprised at how satisfied they were! Whole foods are filling foods!!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Let's Talk Fats!
We have been conditioned to believe that dietary fats are the primary culprit in our fight with obesity. The answer lies in a hormone called insulin. Insulin is essential to life in proper amounts, but detrimental when produced in excess. Approximately 75% of Americans produce too much of this hormone when they eat a diet of refined foods and simple carbohydrates.
Both complex and simple carbohydrates turn into glucose (blood sugar) once they enter the bloodstream. Simple carbs cause a very quick rise in blood sugar and trigger the pancreas to rapidly release insulin. Its main task is to convert glucose to glycogen (the stored form of sugar), which is typically stored in the liver. When carbs are consumed in excess, especially simple and refined, some are used immediately for energy and some are stored as glycogen. Since only 2,000 calories can be stored as glycogen in the body at a time, the excess is stored as fat. As long as the body continues to get a steady supply of carbs for energy, it will be not need to tap into the fat-storage to utilize fat as an alternative form of fuel. This is why eating a diet that consists of mostly simple carbs makes weight loss very difficult.
We are in a no-fat, low-fat mindset, yet have more and more difficulties losing weight. Why? Regular sour cream, for instance, has about three ingredients! Low-fat contains about 10-12 ingredients, mostly adding flavor with sugar. Fat-free contains 20-23 different ingredients adding many chemicals with the sugar. This taxes the pancreas and the liver as to how to break all this down to utilize it most efficiently.
Remember this train of thought: the closer to God-made the better for the body, the closer to man-made the more difficult for the body to break it down and use it to our best advantage.
Therefore, butter not margarine; regular, not no-fat or low-fat; non-hydrogenated oil and little to no preservatives and additives are going to make your body run most efficiently.
People are under the faulty thinking that artificial sweeteners (aspartame, saccharine, sucralose) are a dieter's dream. Dr. Sandra Cabot, a medical doctor for 23 years states, "There are logical reasons to explain the fattening and bloating effects of aspartame. The liver metabolizes aspartame to its toxic components- phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol. This process requires a lot of energy from the liver which means there will be less energy remaining in the liver cells. This means the liver cells will have less energy for fat burning and metabolism which will result in fat storing. Excess fat may build up inside the liver cells causing 'fatty liver' and when this starts to occur it's extremely difficult to lose weight. Aspartame also causes weight gain by causing unstable blood sugar levels which increase the appetite and cravings for sweets and sugars. Thus it is particularly toxic for those with diabetes or epilepsy…it causes fluid retention, giving the body a puffy and bloated appearance and increasing cellulite.
Being a heavy diet coke drinker, I was challenged by a doctor back inthe 80's to get off of it due to memory loss. I lost 10 pounds almost instantly due to swelling. God has created us in such an amazing way. In a very short period of time of giving my body the nutrients that it needed and taking away the over-abundance of chemicals, my memory returned along with many other benefits. A renewed vitality and determination to become a healthier me had begun!
Both complex and simple carbohydrates turn into glucose (blood sugar) once they enter the bloodstream. Simple carbs cause a very quick rise in blood sugar and trigger the pancreas to rapidly release insulin. Its main task is to convert glucose to glycogen (the stored form of sugar), which is typically stored in the liver. When carbs are consumed in excess, especially simple and refined, some are used immediately for energy and some are stored as glycogen. Since only 2,000 calories can be stored as glycogen in the body at a time, the excess is stored as fat. As long as the body continues to get a steady supply of carbs for energy, it will be not need to tap into the fat-storage to utilize fat as an alternative form of fuel. This is why eating a diet that consists of mostly simple carbs makes weight loss very difficult.
We are in a no-fat, low-fat mindset, yet have more and more difficulties losing weight. Why? Regular sour cream, for instance, has about three ingredients! Low-fat contains about 10-12 ingredients, mostly adding flavor with sugar. Fat-free contains 20-23 different ingredients adding many chemicals with the sugar. This taxes the pancreas and the liver as to how to break all this down to utilize it most efficiently.
Remember this train of thought: the closer to God-made the better for the body, the closer to man-made the more difficult for the body to break it down and use it to our best advantage.
Therefore, butter not margarine; regular, not no-fat or low-fat; non-hydrogenated oil and little to no preservatives and additives are going to make your body run most efficiently.
People are under the faulty thinking that artificial sweeteners (aspartame, saccharine, sucralose) are a dieter's dream. Dr. Sandra Cabot, a medical doctor for 23 years states, "There are logical reasons to explain the fattening and bloating effects of aspartame. The liver metabolizes aspartame to its toxic components- phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol. This process requires a lot of energy from the liver which means there will be less energy remaining in the liver cells. This means the liver cells will have less energy for fat burning and metabolism which will result in fat storing. Excess fat may build up inside the liver cells causing 'fatty liver' and when this starts to occur it's extremely difficult to lose weight. Aspartame also causes weight gain by causing unstable blood sugar levels which increase the appetite and cravings for sweets and sugars. Thus it is particularly toxic for those with diabetes or epilepsy…it causes fluid retention, giving the body a puffy and bloated appearance and increasing cellulite.
Being a heavy diet coke drinker, I was challenged by a doctor back inthe 80's to get off of it due to memory loss. I lost 10 pounds almost instantly due to swelling. God has created us in such an amazing way. In a very short period of time of giving my body the nutrients that it needed and taking away the over-abundance of chemicals, my memory returned along with many other benefits. A renewed vitality and determination to become a healthier me had begun!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Liver & Gallbladder Flush
Cleansing the liver and gallbladder dramatically improves digestion, which is the basis of your whole health. You can expect your allergies to disappear, too, more with each cleanse you do! Incredibly, it also eliminates shoulder, upper arm, and upper back pain. You have more energy and increased sense of well being.
It is the job of the liver to make bile, 1 to 1.5 quarts in a day! The liver is full of tubes (biliarytubing) that deliver the bile to one large tube (the common bile duct). The gallbladder is attached to the common bile duct and acts as a storage reservoir. Eating fat or protein triggers the gallbladder to squeeze itself empty after about twenty minutes, and the stored bile finishes its trip down the common bile duct to the intestine.
For many persons, including children, the biliary tubing is choked with gallstones. Some develop allergies or hives but some have no symptoms. When the gallbladder is scanned or X-rayed nothing is seen. Typically, they are not in the gallbladder. Not only that, most are too small and not calcified a prerequisite for visibility on an X-ray. There are over half a dozen varieties of gallstones, most of which have cholesterol crystals in them. They can be black, red, white, green or tan colored. The green ones get their color from being coated with bile. Other stones are composites- made of many smaller ones- showing that they regrouped in the bile ducts some time after the last cleanse.
At the very center of each stone is found a clump of bacteria, according to scientists, suggesting a dead bit of parasite might have started the stone forming.
As the stones grow and become more numerous the back pressure on the liver causes it to make less bile. Imagine the situation if your garden hose had marbles in it. Much less water would flow, which in turn would decrease the ability of the hose to squirt out the marbles. With gallstones, much less cholesterol leaves the body, and cholesterol levels rise.
1/2 Cup Olive Oil Extra Virgin
1 Big grapefruit (2 small) (Or 3 lemons)
4 tablespoon EPSOM salts
3 cups water
Choose a day like Friday for the cleanse, since you will be able to rest the next day.
Eat a no-fat breakfast and lunch such as cooked cereal with fruit, fruit juice, bread and preserves or honey (no butter or milk), baked potato or other vegetables with salt only. This allows the bile to build up and develop pressure in the liver. Higher pressure pushes out more stones.
2:00 PM. Do not eat or drink after 2 o'clock. If you break this rule you could feel quite ill later. Get your Epsom salts ready. Mix 4 tbs. in 3 cups water and pour this into a jar. This makes four servings, 3/4 (three fourths) cup each. Set the jar in the refrigerator to get ice cold (this is for convenience and taste only).
6:00 PM. Drink one serving ¾ cup of the ice cold Epsom salts. You may add 1/8 (one eight) tsp. vitamin C powder to improve the taste. You may also drink a few mouthfuls of water afterwards or rinse your mouth. Get the olive oil and grapefruit out to warm up.
8:00 PM. Repeat by drinking another ¾ cup of Epsom salts. You haven't eaten since two o'clock, but you won't feel hungry. Get your bedtime chores done. The timing is critical for success.
9:45 PM. Pour 1/2 (half) cup (measured) olive oil into the pint jar. Wash grapefruit twice in hot water and dry; squeeze by hand into the measuring cup. Remove pulp with fork. You should have at least 1/2 (half) cup, more (up to 3/4 (three fourths) cup) is best. You may use part lemonade. Add this to the olive oil. Close the jar tightly with the lid and shake hard until watery (only fresh grapefruit juice does this).
Now visit the bathroom one or more time, even if it makes you late for your ten o'clock drink. Don't be more than 15 minutes late. You will get fewer stones.
10:00 PM. Sip a little water and take capsules that help you to sleep, something with valerian and 4 capsules specifically for liver function, with milk thistle and dandelion root. Lie down immediately. You might fail to get stones out if you don't. The sooner you lie down the more stones you will get out. Be ready for bed ahead of time. Don't clean up the kitchen. As soon as the drink is down walk to your bed and lie down flat on your back with your head up high on the pillow. Try to think about what is happening in the liver. Try to keep perfectly still for at least 20 minutes. You may feel a train of stones traveling along the bile ducts like marbles. There is no pain because the bile duct valves are open (thank you Epsom salts!). Go to sleep, you may fail to get stones out if you don't.
Next morning. Upon awakening take your third dose of Epsom salts. If you have indigestion or nausea wait until it is gone before drinking the Epsom salts. You may go back to bed. Don't take this potion before 6:00 am. 2 Hours Later. Take your fourth (the last) dose of Epsom salts. You may go back to bed again.
It is the job of the liver to make bile, 1 to 1.5 quarts in a day! The liver is full of tubes (biliarytubing) that deliver the bile to one large tube (the common bile duct). The gallbladder is attached to the common bile duct and acts as a storage reservoir. Eating fat or protein triggers the gallbladder to squeeze itself empty after about twenty minutes, and the stored bile finishes its trip down the common bile duct to the intestine.
For many persons, including children, the biliary tubing is choked with gallstones. Some develop allergies or hives but some have no symptoms. When the gallbladder is scanned or X-rayed nothing is seen. Typically, they are not in the gallbladder. Not only that, most are too small and not calcified a prerequisite for visibility on an X-ray. There are over half a dozen varieties of gallstones, most of which have cholesterol crystals in them. They can be black, red, white, green or tan colored. The green ones get their color from being coated with bile. Other stones are composites- made of many smaller ones- showing that they regrouped in the bile ducts some time after the last cleanse.
At the very center of each stone is found a clump of bacteria, according to scientists, suggesting a dead bit of parasite might have started the stone forming.
As the stones grow and become more numerous the back pressure on the liver causes it to make less bile. Imagine the situation if your garden hose had marbles in it. Much less water would flow, which in turn would decrease the ability of the hose to squirt out the marbles. With gallstones, much less cholesterol leaves the body, and cholesterol levels rise.
1/2 Cup Olive Oil Extra Virgin
1 Big grapefruit (2 small) (Or 3 lemons)
4 tablespoon EPSOM salts
3 cups water
Choose a day like Friday for the cleanse, since you will be able to rest the next day.
Eat a no-fat breakfast and lunch such as cooked cereal with fruit, fruit juice, bread and preserves or honey (no butter or milk), baked potato or other vegetables with salt only. This allows the bile to build up and develop pressure in the liver. Higher pressure pushes out more stones.
2:00 PM. Do not eat or drink after 2 o'clock. If you break this rule you could feel quite ill later. Get your Epsom salts ready. Mix 4 tbs. in 3 cups water and pour this into a jar. This makes four servings, 3/4 (three fourths) cup each. Set the jar in the refrigerator to get ice cold (this is for convenience and taste only).
6:00 PM. Drink one serving ¾ cup of the ice cold Epsom salts. You may add 1/8 (one eight) tsp. vitamin C powder to improve the taste. You may also drink a few mouthfuls of water afterwards or rinse your mouth. Get the olive oil and grapefruit out to warm up.
8:00 PM. Repeat by drinking another ¾ cup of Epsom salts. You haven't eaten since two o'clock, but you won't feel hungry. Get your bedtime chores done. The timing is critical for success.
9:45 PM. Pour 1/2 (half) cup (measured) olive oil into the pint jar. Wash grapefruit twice in hot water and dry; squeeze by hand into the measuring cup. Remove pulp with fork. You should have at least 1/2 (half) cup, more (up to 3/4 (three fourths) cup) is best. You may use part lemonade. Add this to the olive oil. Close the jar tightly with the lid and shake hard until watery (only fresh grapefruit juice does this).
Now visit the bathroom one or more time, even if it makes you late for your ten o'clock drink. Don't be more than 15 minutes late. You will get fewer stones.
10:00 PM. Sip a little water and take capsules that help you to sleep, something with valerian and 4 capsules specifically for liver function, with milk thistle and dandelion root. Lie down immediately. You might fail to get stones out if you don't. The sooner you lie down the more stones you will get out. Be ready for bed ahead of time. Don't clean up the kitchen. As soon as the drink is down walk to your bed and lie down flat on your back with your head up high on the pillow. Try to think about what is happening in the liver. Try to keep perfectly still for at least 20 minutes. You may feel a train of stones traveling along the bile ducts like marbles. There is no pain because the bile duct valves are open (thank you Epsom salts!). Go to sleep, you may fail to get stones out if you don't.
Next morning. Upon awakening take your third dose of Epsom salts. If you have indigestion or nausea wait until it is gone before drinking the Epsom salts. You may go back to bed. Don't take this potion before 6:00 am. 2 Hours Later. Take your fourth (the last) dose of Epsom salts. You may go back to bed again.
Ginger Bath
If you want a real treat, try a ginger bath. It is marvelous!
I like to take one before going to bed because I sleep so incredibly well. I always do, but the ginger bath cleanses the body (internally as well as externally) and relaxes you. I wake up feeling so relaxed and so great. Make yourself a cup of hot detox tea. You also may want to line your bed with towels to absorb the sweat.
To take a ginger bath, put approximately 1/4 cup of ginger (either grated or powder from the supermarket) running tap. Add ½ cup Epsom salts and run pretty warm water in at first and get in the tub. Once in the tub, let enough hot water run in to make the water pretty hot. Lie back and relax or read for about 20 minutes.
When I'm not going to read, I like to light a candle and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. After the 20 minutes or so, get out of the tub, wrap up in a large towel or sheet that is cotton and crawl into the bed and cover up with your bedcovers. Try not to uncover yourself for the entire hour. If you get to warm simply put out your foot or hand for a short time then back in again. You will usually sweat for approximate an hour. After the hour is up I like to take a shower, however if you are feeling too relaxed just roll over and go to sleep!
This method really helps sweat toxins out of your body.
I like to take one before going to bed because I sleep so incredibly well. I always do, but the ginger bath cleanses the body (internally as well as externally) and relaxes you. I wake up feeling so relaxed and so great. Make yourself a cup of hot detox tea. You also may want to line your bed with towels to absorb the sweat.
To take a ginger bath, put approximately 1/4 cup of ginger (either grated or powder from the supermarket) running tap. Add ½ cup Epsom salts and run pretty warm water in at first and get in the tub. Once in the tub, let enough hot water run in to make the water pretty hot. Lie back and relax or read for about 20 minutes.
When I'm not going to read, I like to light a candle and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. After the 20 minutes or so, get out of the tub, wrap up in a large towel or sheet that is cotton and crawl into the bed and cover up with your bedcovers. Try not to uncover yourself for the entire hour. If you get to warm simply put out your foot or hand for a short time then back in again. You will usually sweat for approximate an hour. After the hour is up I like to take a shower, however if you are feeling too relaxed just roll over and go to sleep!
This method really helps sweat toxins out of your body.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Never Say Diet
Diet is a four-letter-word that needs to be exterminated from our vocabulary! Remove the ‘T’ and you have DIE. That is what we do to our bodies when we jump from one diet to another.
I lived that cycle back in the 80’s and 90’s. I tried and failed them all. So what worked?
Finding a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle of nutrition. Eating whole foods and eliminating the processed foods that are high in empty calories.
Check back soon and I’ll show you how you can do it too!
I lived that cycle back in the 80’s and 90’s. I tried and failed them all. So what worked?
Finding a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle of nutrition. Eating whole foods and eliminating the processed foods that are high in empty calories.
Check back soon and I’ll show you how you can do it too!
Monday, March 03, 2008
The Healthy Body
All disease and sickness happen due to deficiency and toxicity within the body.
In an office or home, everyone will be exposed to germs, viruses and bacteria, but only those whose systems are deficient or toxic will develop a full blown illness. Even if you end up with a mild cold or flu, the body that is properly nourished can bounce back quickly. This is why it is important to continually fuel your body with healthy foods and to occasionally cleanse your body of toxins.
Check back soon for more information on NUTRITION and CLEANSES.
In an office or home, everyone will be exposed to germs, viruses and bacteria, but only those whose systems are deficient or toxic will develop a full blown illness. Even if you end up with a mild cold or flu, the body that is properly nourished can bounce back quickly. This is why it is important to continually fuel your body with healthy foods and to occasionally cleanse your body of toxins.
Check back soon for more information on NUTRITION and CLEANSES.
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