Could I ask for everyone’s help once again?! Only 8 more days until this contest is over and as long as I stay in the top Kroger might pick my bag to be in their top ten and hopefully number one! Please reblog this to your followers and friends!
http://design.greenbag.softcoin.com/vote-for-designs/bag.aspx?BagId=4740&ad=1
It doesn’t matter where you are eating. Eating clean is about what we can do now to make healthy choices that are simple, nutritious and delicious. You don’t have to deprive yourself of your favorite foods, or feel bound by rigid or unreasonable guidelines. A clean start has to fit your unique constitution and lifestyle, not set you up to fail. All you have to do is enjoy good, clean food, one recipe at a time, and all the other pieces and health benefits that go along with it will follow.
Some things to remember:
Eat the Colors of the rainbow.
Eat dark leafy greens every day.
Eat all five tastes. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent.
Eat foods that are grown, not manufactured.
Skip the package.
Buy clean food and leave the rest behind.
Buy and try one new clean food each time you shop.
Know the source.
Buy local and organic when you can.
Be nourished by your food and make peace with your choices.
Feeling cruddy?
So for the first time in over a year, I woke up with a headache, runny nose, achy body, etc etc. For the past few months I had been boasting about how I had managed to escape my biannual illness that typically meant 2 months with no voice and thousands of tissues being wasted. I contributed this sick-free lifestyle to a few books that have encouraged me to change my eating habits (as much as a college student possibly can) and become healthier overall. One of these books, one that Im still reading, is “Never Be Sick Again” by Raymond Francis. Now I can’t explain everything with the science and depth that he does of course, but I want you to see what I see.
Francis’ primary argument is that ALL diseases and sicknesses stem from one thing and one thing only, a malfunction of cells in our body. For a lot, this doesnt seem that far fetched- but for some, we place blame of our illnesses on a lot of things other than ourselves. We blame obesity on our parents, we blame allergies on the seasons, and cancer on bad luck. However, this book explains that once a cell malfunctions to a degree in which they interfere with your body’s ability to balance and regulate itself, you are diseased. As you can see on the chart above we can be diseased and be really close to optimal health or really close to death, it depends.
What does it depend on? Francis emphasizes “six pathways” that influence are health, but understanding what these are briefly (and maybe more in depth if you pick up the book) we can understand why we suddenly wake up sick after months of being at what we think is optimal health.
1) Nutrition. America’s number of cause of disease is malnutrition, not because we are deprived of enough food, its that we are deprived of quality food. “A shortage of even one nutrient will decrease the effectiveness of all the others.” We must also look out for the foods we eat because a lot of food contains toxins from wherever it was produced, whether it be a factory or a garden.
2) Toxin. Toxins are in the air, drinking water, clothes, foods, etc. “Toxins in our environment can impose an undue external burden on us, while poor digestion, lack of exercise, and negative thoughts and emotions can increase our toxic loads internally.”
3) Psychological. Thoughts, emotions, and behaviors greatly impact our health. “Our thoughts and emotions trigger a cascade of biochemical reactions that either enhance or damage health.”
4) Physical. Understanding the body’s need for physical activity can be used to enhance physical potential and to minimize physical damage. ”Maintenance and care”.
5) Genetic. “Limit genetic damage. Optimize genetic potential.” Our genes should never have the final say and are not the primary cause of disease that modern medicine wants us to believe. It is important to commit to optimizing health, rather than accepting the so called “fate” of genetics.
6) Medical. Limit yourself to modern medicine because becoming completely dependent on the treatments they offer (surgery and drugs) to the exclusion of other considerations can lead to destructive and even lethal consequences. Understand the consequences so that you can reap the benefits of medicine.
Where are you, or where do you think you are on the health scale above? Seriously guys, check out this book and read in more depth about each pathway. Its like the day you woke up and realized that anything with -ose in the ingredients was sugar and should be avoided. You finally will understand that you don’t have to wake up feeling crappy, learn about these things so you can avoid it. It is possible.
