2 DISCLAIMERS: Firstly: I'm neither a Doctor nor a Nutritionalist, but I am an eater and a 'digester' ;) I have, however, spoken to many of them and these are the tips I've got from them as well as gleaned from the internet and I practice these tips myself.
Secondly: I think it takes all kinds to make a world and each one of us is magnificently unique and therefore different to others. There are some general rules but "what is food for the goose may be poison for the gander" so what works for me may not work for you. I've spent years of trial and error exploring and these are my tips for exploration. I'd just like to share what works for me and some awesome links I've found that furthered my understanding. Please feel free to Google things for yourself and figure out what works for you ;).
For many years I suffered from IBS, which has now completely gone. I also smoked and drank for about 23 years (most of those years doing both heavily!), which I no longer do. The upside to that was that I knew I was putting my system under strain and I needed to clear my body of those toxins, so I resolved to eat as healthily as possible to make up for that - I bought food as close to it's original state, with as few preservatives, as possible - so I mostly made my own meals from scratch. That way I'd know what went into it, as opposed to buying prepackaged meals and not understanding what half of the additives were on the labels. I also get food triggered migraines so I have to be incredibly careful about what I eat. Simple things like custard or cheese flavoured chips can knock me flat out for days on end.
1. If you only take one supplement, make it probiotics. (this was told to me by a Doctor who specialises in nutrition). I took it to heart and found me a lovely liquid probiotic that I try to take daily.
2. Eat as alkaline a diet as possible: Despite being vegetarian and sprouting my own beans (which I then consume raw) I still find I'm slightly acidic because of an extreme aversion to exercise. About a month ago I decided to boost my alkalinity with half a teaspoon of Epsom Salts (magnesium laden to help prevent migraines) and half a teaspoon of Baking Soda (NOT Baking Powder, which may contain aluminium and is more acidic). I feel better than I have in ages, less stiff and my digestive system is less sluggish. In fact, since I've started doing this the weight that I gained by moving my addiction from cigarettes to chocolate is now finally budging!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgBql4N9xGs
3. Cut out as much sugary junk as possible. (that doesn't mean go for the sweetener option). Try to get your sugar from fruit. Watch "Sugar, The Bitter Truth". They explain it better than I could. You do need an hour and a half to watch it, but in the grand scheme of things this is a fantastic hour and a half well worth spending doing this! So I cut out a lot of unrefined sugar, but I'm still working on this one
4. Omega 3's 6's and 9's. Chia seeds and Acai Berry are my friends. With an eating disorder at a young age and an preferrance for low fat food, I also starved my body of all the good Omegas. Lack of these internal lubricants left me stiff and sent me running for fat laden snacks out of desperation. My body knows what it wants and sends massive craving signals, that's a good thing though - i.e. I know when I'm low on iron because I'll crave things like spinach or broccoli, so ultimately it's an extremely handy thing. I now listen to my cravings a lot more consciously than I used to - i.e. craving for chocolate is probably magnesium and, rather than reaching for the soya lecithin laden bar of hydrogenated stuff I can eat Raw Cacao or take a magnesium supplement. Same as if I'm craving fat I'll try chia seeds first. Again if you watch "Sugar, The Bitter Truth" they explain how fat digestion triggers the full response and sugar doesn't. I'm no longer constantly snacking like I used to!
5. Drink loads of water, preferrably find your nearest spring if you can or else boil all water once before you drink it. Every night I boil a full kettle before I go to sleep and I leave the lid off so that the chlorine can evaporate. I then fill up my water bottle for the day (I don't believe in buying bottled water and adding to the plastic problem in the environment). Make sure your bottle is Number 2 plastic (I can't remember why, I'll find out again LOL). Spring water is better if you get it. It is more alive that way (refer the movie Water).
6. Use soap and beauty products that you could eat. Your skin is your biggest organ and absorbs loads of nasties into it from beauty products. What's the point of eating all this healthy goodness, exercising and then slathering on products to be absorbed into your system that are not good for you. In South Africa we have Faithful-to-Nature. If you live overseas Google is your friend LOL. I started with with things you do daily like a flouride-free toothpaste and paraben free face cream. Now I make my own homemade deodorant and I can feel the difference.
7. Learn how to make your own household cleaning products. I have terrible allergies to shop bought household cleaning products and have learned to make my own. Perhaps I'll do another blog on them but there is a ton of information out there on what to use. Main ingredients are vinegar, lemons, borax and baking soda. Cheap, healthy and will make a MASSIVE difference to your life if you suffer with allergies like I do.
8. Do some type of detox once every six months. (Once again speak to your doctor before you do anything - I'm just sharing what works for me).
There are too many different ways to detox to mention and I'm no specialist so I'm not going to go there. Plus there are two types of ways to detox: The push detox, which is when you eat loads of antioxidants/minerals, which stimulate your body to health and your cells get moving on getting healthier and do a cellular springclean, and the pull detox, which is when you actively take products to help you chelate nasties and shift them out of your system. You should most certainly be helping your liver flush the toxins rather than having to put them back into storage again for the next spring.
I do a Gall Bladder Cleanse annually and I love it. It really helps boost my system and 'un-sluggish' me. I did a Parasite Cleanse and it was unbelievably hard, but totally worth it. Yes, our bodies are detoxing all the time. We live in cities, breathe exhaust fumes in traffic, our bodies take in Oxygen and put out Carbon Dioxide etc etc etc. For me, after abusing my body for years, I just find it is just good to help my system along once in a while. (i.e. You can run barefoot or with takkies/trainers/sneakers on - which would you prefer?).
We should service our bodies way more regularly than our cars. I also take Zeolite and liver support to boost my system while I detox.
9. Superfoods. What a win!!!! Things like this: Baobab powder has more calcium than milk. Awesome!!!! I am lactose intolerant and, while I refuse to give up my cheese or yoghurt totally, I have now found that as a vegetarian nowadays I have so many options for nutritional input available to me than I did when I was younger and trying to be a vegetarian then. I ended up being pescatarian then, with the occasional steak craving every 6 months or so, now you can get so many vegetable proteins it's awesome!!!!! I started off trying each one out and now I've built up a stock in my kitchen - every month I buy one superfood bulk so I'm always stocked up and it's not a 6 monthly whack to the wallet.
10. Try eat more raw and at least try to get organic water-based foods - i.e. those foodstuffs that will really soak in the pesticides and do more harm than good eating. I sprout my beans and add them to my soups or stews after cooking those. I have a serving of fruit and salad daily. I can't stand the taste of cucumber, but it is a superfood too. There are ways to eat foods that are good for you that you don't like the taste of. I now cut up my cucumber and make the salad the night before, so that the apple cider vinegar has soaked into it properly and gives it a more tangy taste as opposed to the slimy taste I hated! Eating raw is not something you jump into overnight as your digestive system needs to adapt, as does your kitchen. Raw nuts are fabulous sources of protein and other goodies, as opposed to cooked nuts have destroyed a lot of the goodness with the heat and hydrogenated the fat. Raw food has more bio-available enzymes and minerals. I eat half-cooked & half-raw and I love it. Some food is better for you cooked like tomatoes (NOT canned!!!!!)
11. Apple Cider Vinegar. Awesome for system alkalinity, preventing heartburn and getting rid of warts!!! Magic stuff. Do be careful to water it down if you drink it for heartburn or clean teeth after use to prevent it damaging your teeth enamel.
12. Non-irradiated herbs and spices. Ok so I do own and use a microwave on occasion (always wait 2 minutes after you've taken the item out of the microwave before consuming it otherwise you're putting radiating products into your body), but the wonders of non-nuked herbs and spices is phenomenal. (Also I just read somewhere that if you add black pepper to tumeric you exponentially increase it's 'absorbability' - is that a word? ;) Also things like Dulse and Oryx Salt that haven't been messed around with have vast bio-available minerals in them to remineralise your body! Loving it!!!
13. If you hate to exercise AT LEAST try to stretch 5 mins in the morning and 5 mins in the evening. At LEAST do that to stimulate flow in your lymphatic system. Your lymphatic system is not attached to your heart like your blood system and needs your movement to boost it. (Note how I've left this right until the end LOL ;)
PS: If you are considering being vegetarian but aren't sure how to get your proteins consider that Brad Pitt is vegan and get a load of him!!! He stopped eating meat after watching the movie "Forks Over Knives". Not preaching here, just sharing that I love the fact that nothing has to die in order for me to live. The food I eat is generally still alive and I know that I am what I eat and I absolutely love eating the way I do. I feel better now in my fortieth year than I did at 30.
PPS: I see I've left off meditation. We are mind, body and soul and all three need to be nurtured and kept in balance. Stress manifests itself physically, so meditating, grounding and centering help me physically JUST as much as awesome nutrition - if not more...
PPPS: FLOSS!!!
Some more links to informative videos you might want to watch:
One Answer to Cancer
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