Well if there is one thing that this real food experience has taught me; it is that as far away from nature as people stride for their remedies; the natural solution always seems to work better. We are a part of nature and trying to avoid that is pathetic. Now obviously modern medicine has worked miracles for the world and I would be the last to dispute that, however if you live a healthy lifestyle you might not need modern medicine at all.
If you have had hesitations about getting the swine flu vaccination or even a vaccine for the regular flu, well then you might be interested in keeping yourself healthy. Especially during these winter months when people tend to stay inside and eat quite a bit of prepared or imported foods. Vitamin D has become somewhat of a star over the past few months, with ties to reducing the risks of heart disease, osteoporosis and preventing and helping to fight cancer. Winter is a bad time for us Canadians because many of us will spend the next few months indoors. Vitamin D is essential to a healthy immune system, in fact it is recommended that you spend up to two hours a day, naked, in the sun to get a full dosage of vitamin D.
You may also resort to taking vitamin supplements or even natural substitutes for the vitamins(fortified milk has about 100 IU of vitamin D per glass, it is recommended you have a minimum of 200 IU a day). Vitamin D is now believed to be one of the most important nutrients used by the body to fight off the flu. It greatly boosts your immune system and often if your getting it from the sun, you are probably doing physical things as well; which obviously helps keep you fit. Unfortunately getting sun in the winter will usually result in a bad sunburn and serious frostbite.
Our family is taking this into consideration and we try our best to spend as much time soaking up the natural source as we can. Also as of recently we have started to follow a diet 'challenge' to help us eat more of the healthy foods, in an attempt to stay healthy this winter. This entails mainly removing foods that contain a lot of grease and sugars and replacing them with more fruits and vegetables. It also involves limiting the amount of meat you take in a week to a maximum of two pounds(this is probably what we would consume anyways). It has been about a week since I started and already the results are obvious. I used to have a small patches of acne on my cheeks and neck; ever since starting this challenge they have completely disappeared. I find that I have more energy during the day and the combination of the two has lead to me losing several pounds. The results have been similar with the rest of the family. Don't get me wrong, this is by no means one of those weight diets designed to make you look like Reese Witherspoon in a week. This was purely to see if it had an effect on our daily lives and so far we have found that it has. For a long time it has been said that you are what you eat, and I truly appreciate the relevance of that now.
I will keep you updated on our progress as well as anything interesting or any tips that I have. All in all, while the weather is still mild, get outdoors as often as you can. It's good for you, it can help you fight off disease and in the end a day spent outside generally makes you feel better then a day infront of your computer! It's a shorter one this week but I'll end it off with a recipe full of healthy vitamins and a great way to start off the morning. The following are two types of smoothies we have recently been eating. Just add the ingredients to the blender and mix them up!
Mango Smoothie
-mango
-plain yougurt
-frozen banana
-apple juice
-honey
Blueberry Smoothie
-blueberries
-almond milk
-yogurt
Add milk to these to make them less viscous, you will also be adding calcium and a variety of other important nutrients. Adding more fruits and a variety of them will change up the nutrients you consume and better affect your health. It is a good idea to eat as much fruit as you can; especially during the flu season when our bodies tend to be down on nutrients as it is. Smoothies are just one of the many ways you can do this. Remember everyone a healthy body starts with a healthy diet! I hope you have managed to stay healthy over this fall season, and I hope to get some more healthy recipes up here soon.
Until next time everyone,
Good Health and Good Eating!
Absolutely, it is so important to include a variety of foods in your diet to help ensure this. One of the best methods for people just entering the health food world is to judge by colour. Have a variety of fruits and veggies each day, try to mix in as many colours as you can; seeing as different coloured produce generally contain higher amounts of different beneficial chemicals. Darker fruits such as black currents or purple raspberries usually tend to be very high in antioxidants, while darker greens like kale are extremely good for maintaining your digestive track(particularly your colon) and for men the chemical capsaicin, found in hot peppers, is showing results of being a good defender against colon cancer. The bottom line is that is important to keep a variety in your diet. You need carbs and you need protein, however it is better to balance them out with an assortment of fruit, veggies and cultured foods(such as yogurt) then to make them the mainstay of your diet.
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