Did you eat a rainbow today?

Foods for beauty

Beauty Foods

While beauty is very much in they of the beholder, there are several traits that seem to be generally acknowledged as appealing.  Clear skin, strong teeth, bright eyes and shiny hair ar the indicators of good health.  They are attractive traits regardless of individual or cultural origins.

Foods to enjoy for beauty:
Grapes, strawberries, pineapple:
Use these fruits as topical skin exfoliants, as the contain alpha hydroxyl acids that help dissolve the dead skin cells that clog oil glands and cause pimples, whiteheads and blackheads. Eating all sorts of fruit in general is great for skin, as fruit is both nutritionally dense and hydrating.

Almonds, beets, cashews and Swiss chard:
wile poisonous in larger quantities, small amounts of the oxalic acid contained in these foods have been shown to clear the skin and heal blemishes.

Apple cider vinegar:
Apple cider vinegar is a natural tooth whitener and contains mild acids that remove stains from the teeth.

Barley, crimini mushrooms and Brazil nuts:
These foods contain selenium, a mineral essential to immune function that can protect the body from cell damage. Sufficient selenium intake also encourages healthy thyroid functioning, which prompts the growth and regrowth of hair and nail cells.  

Goji berries:
Research has found a link between goji berries and the reversal of skin damage, particularly damage caused by sunburn and UV radiation.

Foods to avoid:
Those looking for a glowing appearance should avoid smoking, refined sugar, and processed foods. The chemical in cigarette smoke narrow blood vessels in the top layer of your skin, which limits the blood flow and thus the transportation of nutrients to those areas.  This causes premature aging and wrinkles.  cigarette smoke also yellows the teeth, and may reduce the body's overall nutrient absorption. 

Others: Avocado, Cucumber, Radishes


Did you know?
Drinking 3 cups of oolong tea a day can suppress symptoms of the imflammatory skin disorder eczema.

Digestion takes more energy than any other body function

Nourishing your digestive system

Role of the digestive system

The digestive system allows us to eat, breakdown, and absorb our food, as well as eliminate food waste. It converts compounds in the foods we eat into the energy that supports all of our other bodily functions.

When fed properly, the digestive system powers us through life, but it is not magic. It can’t make quality fuel out of unhealthy ingredients, which is why we must eat healthy foods if we want to run at optimum health.

Digestion itself uses more energy than any other process physiological in the body, making it even more important to consider the nutritional value of everything we eat. Although a cupcake may be delicious, it contains few nutrients and is not worth the effort required to the digestive system to break it down. All of the energy exerted in digesting the cupcake literally gets flushed down the drain, without any benefit to other areas of the body. The better the fuel be consumed, the better we will operate.

Did you know? The intestine replaces its lining every 72 hours.

Components of the digestive system

Made up of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, anus, and liver, each organ of the digestive system plays a specific role to ensure that the body receives enough nutrition.

Digestion begins in the mouth, where we chew food into smaller pieces, break it down the saliva, and swallow it through the pharynx. Once past the pharynx, the swallow food moves down through the esophagus into the stomach. In the stomach, food mixes with hydrochloric acid that kills potentially harmful germs and starts to break proteins down to be absorbed. This acid – food mixture, known as chyme, then passes through the stomach into the small intestine where food is further digested, and nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. Any food particles left unabsorbed move through the small intestine into the large intestine. A large intestine pulls water out of the unabsorbed food, and condenses the remains into solid waste that is removed from the body through the rectum and anus.

Why consume nutrient extracted food?

Even the healthiest foods require a lot of digestive work in order to be broken down into particles small enough for the body to absorb. This is especially true of fruits and vegetables, which contains half, rigid fibers that are difficult to digest. Consuming nutrient extracted food is a great choice for anyone in any state of health, because extracted food is virtually predigested – allowing your body to effortlessly absorbed and utilize all the nutrients the food has to offer. When we extract foods we consume them in their most observable states, receiving optimal nutrition without having to rely on showing, stomach acids, or digestive enzymes to break down her food.

Digestion part 3

Common digestive disorders

The digestive system involves many organs, and issues can develop in any of them. Some, like stomach ache and constipation, can be self-contained problems or symptoms of more serious disorders.

Here are several of the most common digestive disorders:

dry mouth

Gerd/heartburn

bloating

indigestion

nausea

dyspepsia or stomachache

peptic ulcer

appendicitis

colitis

celiac disease

constipation

Crohn’s disease

diarrhea

diverticulitis

hemorrhoids

irritable bowel syndrome in the large and small intestine.

Prevention of disorders of the digestive system

while some digestive issues are caused by disorders and other areas of the body, many can be soothed or healed with proper dietary eating habits. In general, eating more fiber from low – calorie fruits and vegetables and drinking more water can help food move through the digestive tract efficiently.

Certain foods can also trigger unpleasant digestive reactions, and it is extremely important to pay attention to your body’s response to eating. Even healthful foods like tomatoes, whole wheat, nuts, and garlic can cause issues and people with sensitive digestive tracts.

Food intolerances can cause quite a bit of discomfort and can lead to other more serious problems, like chronic inflammation, so please consult your doctor regarding any specific food issues you may be experiencing.

Immune System Part 1

Nourishing your immune system

 

The immune system protects the body from illness, infection, and disease. This complex system uses different body tissues and chemical reactions to defend our bodies from harmful invaders like bacteria, viruses, microbes, free radicals, and parasites. Different types of invaders trigger immune responses and produce antibodies – proteins produced by the immune system to defend the body. Over time, the body builds memory of which antibodies to use for each kind of invader, so protection becomes routine.

Components of the immune system

The lymphatic system plays a large role in the immune function. When vessels circulate and drain body fluids known as lymph to one from our organs. Lymph transports nutrients to the organs and removes any excess substances from them. Lymph also contains white blood cells – the soldiers of our body that kill a wide range of harmful invaders. White blood cells are manufactured in the finalists and bone marrow, then released into the lymph and circulated through the lymph vessels to their final destination.

Your blood contains roughly 50 billion white blood cells with the sole responsibility of maintaining your body’s natural defenses.

Risk factors for the immune system

Diet and lifestyle play a huge role in our immune system’s ability to keep our body functioning at its best. Unhealthy habits significantly increase the number of harmful chemical compounds our body takes in. These compounds, known as free radicals, are present in abundance in processed foods and alcohol. Free radicals also enter the body when we breathe in cigarette smoke, paint fumes, exhaust fumes, and other gasses and pollutants in the air.

Free radicals destabilize healthy atoms in the body, causing cell damage they may eventually lead to disease and illness. When our immune system constantly works to defend against free radicals, it has fewer resources available to fight off other invaders like viruses and bacteria, which is why we tend to get sicker when we fail to eat healthy or live a wholesome lifestyle.

Basically, the more free radicals we take in, the harder it becomes for our immune system to keep us healthy. If you are free radicals be taken, the more available our immune system is to seek and destroy other harmful invaders.

Immune statistics

• The immune system is closely linked to cancer – the second leading cause of death in the United States. CDC 2011
• An estimated 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease, and incidences are on the rise. US Department of Health and Human Services, 2010
• Autoimmune diseases collectively rank as a top 10 causes of death in women from ages 10 – 64. American Journal of Public health, 2000.
• Approximately one in two males and one in three females will contract cancer over the course of their lifetime. American Cancer Society, 2011
• Over 40 diseases have been classified as having autoimmune roots; these diseases can be both chronic and deadly. National Institute of allergy and infectious diseases, 2004.

Got insomnia? Juice foods for better sleep!

Don't let this happen to you!

Foods for Sleep:
Sleep plays a huge role in personal health. Maintaining a regular sleep schedule gives the body time to rest and rejuvenate Cells grow, woulds heal faster, memory sharpens , and muscles repair and strengthen when the body get adequate sleep.  While researchers make new discoveries about the purpose of sleep every day , the fact that every living animal sustains its own cycle suggests that sleep is hugely important for a walks of life.

Sleep apnea inhibits normal breath during sleep, which results in oxygen deprivation and causing sufferers to awaken suddenly, gasping for air.  Sufferers may not remember waking up at any point during the night, but will experience symptoms on insomnia like sluggishness lack of focus, and moodiness.   Depression may result, as sufferers cannot identify the cause of these issues.

Sleep apnea is associated with serious medical conditions like high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease.  Sleep apnea can also greatly inhibit a person's REM (dream) sleep, and in doing so has been linked to an increased risk of developing extreme psychological disorders. Obesity increases a person's risk of experiencing sleep apnea, as excess fat inhibits the diaphragm from fully expanding. 

Preventing sleep problems:
Diet, nutrition and eating patterns have a large effect on sleep quality.  Foods and drinks contain compounds that can either keep you up at night, or help you sleep soundly. Mealtime also play a role in a person's sleep cycle. As a general rule of thumb, stop eating at least two hours before going to bed, and to not consume caffeine, smoke cigarettes, or ingest any other stimulants after 2:00pm in the afternoon. 

The amount of sleep needed differs between individuals, most adults function best on 7-8 hours of sleep.  The sleep cycle will repeat roughly four times in an eight-hour sleep.

Foods:
Dates, cashews, oats, spirulina, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds all contain amino acid called tryptophan that releases chemicals melatonin and seratonin in the brain. Both chemicals give the body a happy drowsy feeling and play a large role in maintaining the sleep cycle. 

Pumpkin seeds, swiss chard and spinach all contain high magnesuim levels known to relax the muscles, strengthen the bones and encourage blood flow to all areas ot the body.  Due to its role in muscle relaxation, magnesium is linked to Restless Leg syndrome.  Increasing magnesium intake may help prevent instances of the condition. 

Did you know?
Staying awake for over 17 hours impairs your brain functioning the same amount as have blood alcohol content of .05%.

Falling asleep withibn five minutes of lying down indicates sleep deprivation.  Individuals with a healthy sleep cycle generally take 10 to 15 minutes to fully fall asleep.