5 Tips for Better Digestive Health

When your digestive health improves, so does your overall health -- so today we look at 5 quick ways to stop ignoring, and start looking after, your gut!

1. Go pro!
   As long as you buy a reputable brand of probiotic dietary supplements, which contains a wide variety of different probiotic strains, there is little that science has to say about probiotics that could be construed as negative. It seems that it isn’t just your body you need to look after, but the little critters living inside it also!
2. Look at your lactose
   It is estimated that around 80% of people over the age of 2 (yes, 24 months) are intolerant of dairy foods to some degree. This is more prevalent in people of African descent, of whom almost 100% are dairy intolerant. That means watch your cheese, yogurt and cream as well as your milk.
3. Watch your solids
   Fried foods and your gut don't mix. Fats are very difficult to break down and digest; there isn’t anything wrong with giving your body a workout every so often, but eat too many fried foods and you could be in for some serious gut problems, like IBS.
4. Watch your liquids
   Water is the only drink our body is designed to have on a regular basis. Unfortunately, most of us drink far more coffee, tea and alcohol than we do water. Keep a water bottle next to you at your desk, and in a handy spot at home so you can sip as you need to … and you won’t quench that thirst with a less healthy liquid.
5. Check your meds
   The most common group of side effects in medications are gastro-intestinal ones. If you constantly feel nauseous, often get diarrhea or constipation, or always get heartburn, check those little pamphlets that come with your medication. Probiotic dietary supplements have a hard time overcoming the effects of many ordinary medicines.

The Five Best Foods for a Detox Diet

There’s a lot more interest these days in the benefits of a Detox Diet to regain the vibrant health that is lost through the ingestion of so many chemicals in our food these days. This is something that could be valuable when you find yourself feeling drained all the time, unable to concentrate, when your hair has lost its shine, your eyes their sparkle.

While there are many approaches to Detox Diets, they all aim to lessen the “body burden” that makes us more vulnerable to illness and decreased well-being through these three elements: Increase in the consumption of foods that cleanse the system; minimize the food “pollution” (i.e., artificial chemicals) by sticking to organic, whole foods; and eat more high fiber foods and water that draw out and eliminate toxins by increasing the frequency of bowel movements and urination.

You can get a lot of help from whole foods vitamins shops and their health newsletter for figuring out what to eat. Here is a list that will get you started.

Vegetables: Eat your veggies! Make them fresh, and especially go for the cruciferous vegetables (high in anti-oxidants) such asbroccoli and cauliflower, as well as broccoli sprouts, onions, garlic, artichokes, beets, red and green vegetables. You can make beautiful, colorful salads that are good as good for the eye as they are for you!

Rice & Grains: Enjoy all forms of rice, including rice cakes, rice crackers and rice pasta, and especially whole-grain brown rice. Many North Americans are discovering the taste and value of the more exotic grains such as quinoa and amaranth, which can be eaten hot or cold. Don’t forget the old-fashioned ones as well, e.g., millet, and buckwheat. You’ll find all these at most health food store or in some grocery stores.

Beans: If you have problems with gas from legumes, start with the split yellow and green peas and lentils as they are easiest to digest, and have the added benefit of requiring the least soaking time. You can also use kidney beans, pinto beans, mung beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and adzuki beans. Again, you can use these hot or cold. A sprinkling of beans in a soup or salad is a great touch of fiber, protein, color, and texture!

Nuts and Seeds: The virtues of these are not as appreciated as they should be! Eat them unsalted as a snack, or in salads. Try flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews and walnuts. While some nut butters are permitted, peanut butter and peanuts themselves are not included in this diet.

Oil & Condiments: If you are not already using extra-virgin olive oil for its taste and nutrition, this is the time to make it a habit for cooking and salad dressings. For more flavor (with very few if any calories!) you can add vegetable salt, sea salt, vinegar, soy sauce or tamari, as well as aromatic herbs or spices.

Many people choose to supplement their cleansing diet with organic products (e.g., DetoxiFiber).

Here’s to the new, vibrant you!

Whole Foods Can Be a Whole Lot of Fun

I met a most fascinating man on a business trip this month, and I can’t stop thinking about him. (No, it is not what you think!) During our cross-country flight, I happened to ask what he did for fun.

“I cook! In fact, that is one of our favorite activities as a couple. We love trying out new recipes. On weekends, we love going to the farmer’s market together, picking out the best-looking produce, doing the grocery shopping. Then later we put on some music, pour some wine, and start cooking. Then we light the candles, sit down, and enjoy something special together! It’s a high point of the week for us both!”

His face lit up as he talked about the joys of mushrooms, tomatoes, and leeks, of soups, salads and risottos, pestos and bruschettas, and the pleasure of sharing it with someone special. We both discovered that we have a passion for cookbooks—especially those with lots of great photos to inspire us to cook.

I loved hearing this guy talk about knives and pans and mandolins the way some guys talk about football or cars. It reminded me that it’s best not to stereotype or prejudge. People of all kinds who care about what they put in their bodies take the time to learn to cook and do it well. And it isn’t just about nutrition. It's about digestive health, too.

There’s something really great about taking the “long-cut” when you can in the kitchen. Have you noticed how a person can get excited about their culinary adventures? How about the pride in serving a steaming homemade clam chowder with a thick crusty slice of homemade bread? Or a crispy medley of greens tossed with other colorful vegetables, and maybe a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds? And the satisfaction from offering it to family and friends, whose gratitude is really the best dessert?

If you are at all like me, it can be all too easy to fall into a routine and start thinking of cooking as a chore. So talking to this fellow reminded me that if you add some spice, fixing food from scratch can be a meaningful part of the day. Furthermore, as we both agreed, we like using whole foods because we know that they offer us more nutrition, including those valuable micro-nutrients.

Of course it’s not always possible, and that is when I rely on whole food supplements and organic vitamins. As one wise person said, if you were given a car at age 18 and told it would be the only car you would ever have, how would you care for it? Would we do any less with our bodies? And why not make it fun?!

Making up for Stress

So many of us live with high levels of stress, and being under constant stress is very hard on our bodies and is a contributor to many health issues. The more stress you have the more likely you are to suffer weight gain, insomnia, migraines, and heart related illnesses. If you are one of the thousands of people who have very stressful lives you might want to consider adding dietary supplements to your diet to help battle the effects of all that stress.

After extended quantities of stress you may begin to feel the effects; it generally shows up in your sleep patterns first. You may find it difficult to fall asleep. Once you start losing sleep other systems of your body begin to get affected, such as your immune system and digestive health system. When your body gets weak from lack of sleep it has to work harder to battle infections. It can’t always keep up with the demands and you become prone to easily avoided illnesses such as colds and flu.

Adding things like whole food supplements is an excellent way to avoid getting sick while under tremendous stress. It’s also highly recommended that you get some sort of exercise daily which is a good way to help relieve the stress in your life. Exercise tends to help you sleep better and if you can keep yourself from falling into an insomnia pattern, the risks of getting sick lessens.

It’s very hard to avoid the stress we deal with in our daily lives but there are plenty of ways to avoid the effects of stress. A healthy diet, plenty of exercise, proper sleep, and adding herbal supplements as needed to give you an extra boost, will help you stay healthy during your very stressful times.

What is Good Health?

Certainly you can’t turn on the evening news without hearing something about the debate on health care reform. It is top priority in Washington these days but I often wonder if they aren’t taking the wrong approach. As a nation we need to be trying to get ourselves to that perfect weight America that is the foundation of a healthier population which will then reduce illnesses that are directly related to obesity and poor diets.

We can’t expect to fix the financial problems with health care if we don’t fix what is causing people to have to spend so much on health care; that is, we need to get people healthier. That can be achieved by educating people on proper diet, the importance of adding whole food supplements to that diet, getting proper exercise, and changing the way people look at food.

Food has been used as a crutch for far too long. People are driven by four basic needs; food, water, sex, and money. The problem is most people can’t control many aspects of their lives but they can control their food intake. So when they aren’t getting enough of the other things that drive them, they turn to the one thing they can control and that’s food. Weight loss diets don’t work because people look at food as a reward or for comfort. When they are denied the foods they enjoy they give up on the diet. We need to teach people that moderation is the key to weight loss and a healthier body.

I believe it’s vitally important that people understand about how food functions once it’s consumed. These are the things we need to be teaching those who are looking for a healthier life style. We need to show them how adding things such as dietary supplements and drinking more water can make a world of difference in how they feel. Health care reform needs to start with getting people healthy.

Can’t run without Fuel

You wouldn’t expect your car to run well if you didn’t put the right kind of fuel in it and you shouldn’t expect your body to run well if you don’t put the right kind of fuel in it either. Our bodies are made up of millions of cells that carry the fuel from our food to the different organs of our bodies. These cells have to be nourished properly by eating the perfect foodcombinations. This doesn’t mean you can only eat these types of foods; it just means you need to include these types of foods into your diet.

Understanding how each of the systems of the body functions and what kind of fuel they need to function correctly is the most essential part of a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle. As a nutrition expert for over thirty years I have written countless articles praising the effects of whole food supplements and proper diet. It is never too late to change a bad eating or unhealthy lifestyle for a healthier more fulfilling lifestyle. The first step is often the hardest and that’s changing your attitude and thoughts about the foods you eat.

I enjoy rich, high cholesterol, fatty foods as much as the next person and I don’t always turn them down. I have found that I can have good health and still enjoy some of the bad foods in life as long as I take that in moderation. When you mention weight loss and diet to people they automatically think of having to eat tasteless meals and never getting any sweets. Food should be enjoyed; just not over enjoyed.

When you become disciplined in your eating habits and get into a good exercise routine you will notice a marked change in many different aspects of your life. Adding whole food vitamins to your routine adds even more benefits to your healthy lifestyle. You will likely see a change in your weight, energy level, the texture of your skin and hair, your sex life will improve, and you should notice that you are sleeping better. There are so many benefits to leading a healthy lifestyle.

Changing Lifestyle to Improve Life

There has to be a conscious decision to make lifestyle changes to improve the quality and quantity of your life. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, eating the right foods, or getting enough exercise, your body will turn on you and essentially send out warnings that you need to make changes in your lifestyle. This is what happened to me and made me make drastic changes and to move into what I call my garden of life.

I wasn’t eating correctly nor getting enough sleep or exercise. I started my new life by changing the way I eat and addingwhole food vitamins to my daily routine. I started eating only organic foods and cut back dramatically the amount of red meat I had in my diet. I wanted to feed my body and not my emotions so I changed my thinking about the foods I ate and how they made me feel.

You see, so many people eat because they have cravings for certain types of foods. Even if they aren’t hungry, people will find themselves putting away donuts or chips because they satisfy a craving for sweet or salty. These can also be considered comfort foods which may comfort you but they also work against your body’s natural systems. By addingwhole food multivitamins to my daily routine along with healthy foods such as organic vegetables and fruits, I was able to use that food as the fuel for the important systems of my body, such as the immune system.

Not eating enough is just as bad as eating too much. Everybody is looking for perfect weight America and they think they can achieve this by starving themselves. It’s very important to make sure you are getting enough of the essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs. To live healthy and happy there has to be a medium of good food, good exercise, and good nutrition.