January 07, 2010
Superfood Evolution Ezine -- Issue #001 Digesting Your Superfoods!
January 7, 2010
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Table of Contents:
- Digesting Your Superfoods - The First Step to Superhealth!
- Tips To Help Imbalance
- Book Review - The Body Ecology Diet
- Recipe of the Month
- Announcements
- Film of the Month
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Hello friends,
Welcome to the very FIRST issue of Superfood Evolution! This newsletter came about as a result of overwhelming requests from my Superfoods-for-Superhealth site visitors. Many of you expressed great interest in learning more about superfoods, superhealth and achieving optimal states of aliveness! So here it is by popular demand! It is my intent to uplift and empower your true health potential to create the best life ever. "You are what you eat" is the first rule of thumb here, the rest just falls into place!
Digesting Your Superfoods!
Yes it is true, superfoods are the highest forms of nutrient dense foods we can eat. But if our cells are unable to pull them in they don't do much good. Just like any natural system, if there is a stagnation things get overburdened and effect the health of the "whole".
When I first started to embark on my path to superhealth I was constantly plagued with some kind of digestive upset that completely effected my state of mind. I felt like I was walking around in a fog most of the time, unable to really to focus on my dreams and passions with much success.
It all changed for me after meeting my husband, who at the time was very strict about dietary rules, food combining, etc. He is more relaxed and playful about the subject now, but back then I needed a bit of a push to see that "what I was eating" and "how I was eating it" was not working for me.
I believe this is the case for a lot of people. They go for years with chronic digestive imbalance and think it is just "normal" to have unpleasant side effects after eating a meal.
That is because probably everyone they know experiences the same. But I can tell you from my own life experience and experiments.....it is Not normal!
When we are constipated, gaseous, bloated or over-acidic....these are signs that something has gone wrong. The good news is it can be changed and corrected! We don't want to beat up on ourselves about it, but instead realize that we are in control and can take necessary steps to greater digestive health and thus greater clarity in all aspects of our lives!
The disruption occurring on the inside effects our thoughts, attitudes, moods and emotions on a deep level. I have found that starting from the inside out is the way to go to achieve the best life ever!
Ensuring proper digestion is really at the heart and cure of all disease and ailments in the body. This is the place where things usually fall out of balance first and cause further havoc in all other systems.
The solution is to create a healthy natural movement and unobstructed flow. This is the way our bodies were designed, to experience peak health with optimal digestion... a nice even distribution of all the nutrients and lifeforce that our food and all the amazing superfoods provide!
Some of us have chronic digestive upset and some have occasion bouts. (including myself) However, the idea is that they are more of a rare occurrence rather than a daily one. We are all unique but there are some general rules that can help the worst of cases to the most acute and everything in between.
TIPS To Help Imbalance:
1) For Immediate Shifts:
- Stop eating solid food; take a break and do a juice feast or drink cleansing and nutritive herbal teas. Blending your food is also a great way to ease the digestive process.
- Depending on how severe the upset, usually ranging from constipation to diarrhea, Aloe vera is one of the best and most gentle ways to relieve and sooth.
- Drink water with lemon in the morning, first thing. This helps things to move and lemon is cleansing to the liver.
- If you do eat solid food, eat simple foods and combine them well.
- Try doing an enema. I know, it sounds like a crazy concept, or at least I thought it was for a
long time. But actually, if you can do it, it is very helpful at especially relieving constipation and stagnation.
*For those of you who do not know, an enema is a liquid solution or tea that is inserted into the rectum via an enema bag tube. It takes less than a few minutes but can really let go of a lot of stuff stuck in the lower half of the colon and provide immediate relief.*
2) Watch Your Stools!
Bowel Movements - too hard or too soft? "BM's" are kinda like the Three Little Bears story. You don't want them "too Hard" or "too soft" but "just right". They are the bodies "report card" as to the effectiveness of our nutritional intake. It is good to become your own doctor and analyze them often, you don't even need lab equipment for this one.
3) First Steps for Long Term Health:
If you are like me when I first started to clean up my diet, I was extremely acidic and had numerous digestive and stomach ailments every time I ate a meal. For one I was eating way too much cooked and refined foods and for two I was eating too many meals too close together. Live and learn as they say.
- Like we discussed one of the first things to take action on is creating a more acid/alkaline balance in the digestive tract through the intake of more alkaline rich foods.
- Supply the colon with plenty of friendly flora to help reestablish equilibrium of bacteria needed by the body.
- Sometimes an additional supplementation of enzymes can also be of great help. They make up for the enzyme deficiency that most people have when things are out of balance in this area.
- There is nothing quite like juice feasting or fasting to clear the mind and the bowels of toxic waste and debris. I can't really say enough about it really.....it transforms your whole reality so you can start fresh.... so you can go on to digest all the superfoods that will continue to strengthen and rebuild your health to new levels.
- 1T Ginger root - dried or fresh
- 1/2T Marshmallow root - dried
- 1 1/2T Fennel seed
- 1T Peppermint
- 1/8t Stevia leaf
- 1/4t Coriander
- 1/8t Cardamom
- 1 C Hot water
Check out The Juice Feasting Program that is changing people's lives from the inside out!
BOOK REVIEW:
The Body Ecology Diet
by Donna Gates
Many years ago, when I first started making improvements in my dietary habits, I came across
the book: The Body Ecology Diet: Recovering Your Health and Rebuilding Your Immunity
Donna discusses the many ways to bring the inner systems back to a state of health through a number of different approaches. One being the idea of eating a low sugar, more alkaline diet with proper proportions of acid/alkaline foods at each meal. She is a big fan of eating sauerkraut with meals to aid digestion. The main objective of the book is to prevent or decrease candida albicans in the colon and bodily tissues and organs. It can be tremendously helpful for anyone wanting to cure chronic yeast overgrowth.
I began to clean up issues with candida and yeast from a diet of acidic, low quality foods and a large dose of antibiotics I had taken for a staff infection years before. I started to feel less tired and more energized by implementing the body ecology diet plan daily.
It is well known now that achieving this balance is key. And if we are too acidic this feeds candida and causes harmful effects in the body. Thus, it is important to bring in alkaline foods Hard Core. Eating a good ratio of 80% alkaline foods to 20% acidic. Check out Donna's book: The Body Ecology Diet, it might be just what you are looking for to get you back on tract, the digestive tract that is!
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: Stay tuned for the "Superfood Supplements" section on the website....coming soon!
Also check out our new Superfoods Blog - postings with tips, adventures and recipes!
Recipe of the Month:
Digestion Tea:
Sometimes you just need a little help with a nice cup of hot herbal tea to get things moving in the right direction.This tea we have found works for many stomach and digestive issues to calm and sooth.
Boil ginger root in simmering water for 10 mins. Or you could use straight ginger powder and skip this step.
Pour hot water w/ginger over remaining herbs. Infuse in a jar with the lid on OR cover in a cup.
Wait 15-20 minutes and strain.
This is going to be a STRONG tea but it will do the job to help aid digestion. Enjoy!
*See how to make your own herbal tea bags that are quick and easy to use when you need them.*
Film of the Month:
Food Inc.
A revealing look at what is actually going on behind the "supermarket" industry. Super markets that are not so super! It is a 'must see' for anyone who does not know about the U.S. Livestock and farming scene.
Shows how a small group of multi-national corp'a have taken over the food industry producing highly mechanized, mass produced food look-a-likes.
It is far from a "feel good" film, but it is important to see the facts so we can make better decisions for ourselves, our family and the world!
I hope you enjoyed the very first addition of Superfood Evolution. If you would like to subscribe or tell a friend click here.
Until next month...
Here's to your Superhealth!
Much love,
Shira
