Fighting the Flu and Ginger Tea

Well it has been a long Winter so far and I thought i might be blessed by not catching the flu at all this winter, however unfortunately I still managed to get it! In fact a lot of people seem to be coming down with a cough or sore throat of some kind. Well today I would like to share with you some of the benefits of the miracle herb ginger.

Ginger root is an excellent source of vitamins and nutrients, something essential when you are feeling run-down. It also contains some natural antibiotics and it is rich in anti-oxidants which help boost your immune system. Personally I love the taste of ginger and always have and so ginger tea is always one of my first choices for a cold and flu remedy. Ginger has also been proven to be effective in treating nausea and settling the stomach(as long as you don't eat to much!). I was curious about any other possible health benefits of ginger and after doing a bit of research, it's obvious why it is called the miracle herb! Ginger contains many beneficial compounds that make it's health benefits range from powerful anti-inflammatory to a possible cure for several types of cancer. Many studies have been done that show ginger does not only benefit people who have a runny nose but also seems to help with conditions such as arthritis. Ginger like many natural herbs may soon prove to be much more beneficial for the body then people think and if you would like to learn some more about it's effect on the body please visit:

Ginger

I have also recently come across an article about milk. Milk is generally accepted as a healthy thing to drink, it is loaded with proteins and beneficial chemicals that can help your body. Many of these proteins are naturally formed to aid growth in the young and increase disease resistance. There was an article in Acres magazine that introduced me to the idea of caseins. Caseins are one of the most important proteins found in milk, they are primarily responsible for the development of children. There have been over the course of history two types of caseins; alpha and beta, both are essential to your health. However over the years the gene pool of cows (our number one source of milk) has been limited by selective breeding and made many cows genetically 'closer'. Many years ago a defect occurred in a cow somewhere that turned the traditional A2 beta casein into what they call A1 beta casine.

Now this didn't really seem to mean much then and I doubt anyone knew about it at the time. Over the years however, the gene that produces this mutation has been widely interbreed into other cattle, especially in areas such as the West where selective breeding has been practiced for generations. The only problem is that the A1 type of beta casein is now being linked to heart disease and autism, which could partially explain why we have such high rates of both in North America. Countries like New Zealand now force livestock owners to test their cows before they are allowed to sell any milk and Australia forces producers to label what type of milk they sell. This story really gives support to women who breast feed their babies, it may be more important then previously thought! For more info on proteins found in milk and their benefits visit: Milk Composition - Proteins and if you would like to further read on links between the A1 type casein and your health visit: Beta casein A1 and A2 in milk and human health: Lay Summary

Besides the health stories, I have quite a few things to tell you from our farm!

Our cow gillian has finally calved, giving birth to baby Willow and we now have added three piglets to the farm for the upcoming season! As some of you may be aware, our family is trying to source only local foods, and this means growing the majority of our greens and raising most of our meat. This will be our second time raising pigs and honestly it is great to have more. Pigs are fantastic animals to have around the farm. Now that we have three more we no longer send out any green waste and our compost piles require a lot less work! As well I can now say I have tried milk fresh from the cow and it was an experience, (Although I did not do the milking, it was good!).

As far as farming in Ontario goes, we are now closing in on a key time for farms around the GTA. Many of the perrenial crops (such as apples and raspberries) need to be pruned before coming out of dormancy in the spring. Home gardeners should also be checking their patches right now. If you are a raspberry grower now is an excellent time to clean up your canes.

• If you are growing raspberries you need to prune them within the next few weeks, while they are still in dormancy. If you wait too much longer, sap will start flowing through the plants again and pruning may cause more damage then good. You must also identify whether or not you are growing early or ever-bearing raspberries.
• If your raspberries produced earlier in the summer then they are an early variety and you must selectively prune. Cut out all the dead canes from the previous year, then you should thin out your canes to about 11 canes per meter.
• If your raspberries produced right up until the first frost they are ever-bearing. This means that it is probably best to simply cut down and remove all the canes and let the plants start fresh in the beginning of the season. You should dispose of all waste canes as they can cause the healthy plants to catch diseases.

Things are also starting to shape up for this years growing season. The farm is being cleaned and we are in the process of planning out what we are growing this year and where we are going to plant it, things are beginning to get busy again! Unlike the majority of people, our family is spending super-bowl sunday building a new pig pen... all part of the journey back to real food! I hope everyone has managed to stay healthy over the past month and if your coming under the weather, you might want to give ginger tea a shot! Until next time,

Good Health & Good Eating!

Working Off the Holidays

Well the holiday season is now officially over, I hope everyone had a good break and remained in good health! The one thing that comes this time of year with all the good food, gifts and family is a bit of a belly and some extra pounds. Of course this isn't too bad but many people do their best to work off these pounds after the season. Being healthy and keeping in shape starts in your diet and conditioning your body also relies on your food.

Of course there are many workout strategies that target certain areas of your body but since this blog is not for personnel training I will leave that to the readers to look up! However I will give you a few tips on how too keep in shape and maybe find a natural alternative to all the creams and medicines that supposedly 'prevent aging'. My first tip starts with working out. First off for a basic overview; when you work out or exercise you are forming many small tears in your muscles, when you consume protein, the proteins attach themselves to these tears and your muscles grow. To get these proteins many people will turn to protein supplements and manufactured products, however with all the new discoveries in the world of health it's looking a lot like these products may actually cause more damage to your body then good. A good alternative of course are eggs, which are naturally very high in protein and other nutrients essential to your health.

Another common problem experienced by athletes is the build up of lactic acids. For those who don't know lactic acid is formed when your muscles are not getting enough oxygen while they are being used. The resulting buildup of lactic acid is what causes the pain in tired muscles. One method to break down lactic acid and combat this pain is to consume potassium rich foods, an excellent source of which is bananas. So a good method for people who are just starting to work out or are looking for alternatives to conventional methods would be to make a smoothie containing two eggs, a banana, cocoa powder and some milk.

Also I have done some research into anti-oxidants and aging. Though the exact cause of aging is not determined, there is a theory now that is rapidly gaining in popularity, and many of the signs are looking like is correct. This theory attributes aging to the consumption of free radicals. A free radical is basically an atom or molecule that has an unbalanced valance shell, or in other words requires additional electrons to become stable. The danger is that when you consume free radicals, they steal electrons from the atoms in your cells forming more free radicals and eventually killing the cell. The damage is accumulative, and occurs over the years. This damage is now being associated with aging, which could help to explain why people who have had a diet rich in anti-oxidants for most their life seem to age better then people who don't. Anti-oxidants enter the body and have an excess of electrons, therefore they can stabilize free radicals without becoming free radicals themselves. So evidence now suggests that by having a diet high in anti-oxidants you may actually be combating the aging process.

So in conclusion, want to start to shape up that body? You will need lots of exercise to start and a diet full of anti-oxidant rich foods. Who knows, if people actually start to eat more fruits and veggies and healthier foods, manufactured and synthetic cosmetics might become a thing of the past. Until next time everyone;

Good Health & Good Eating!

Want more info on the science behind anti-oxidants and free radicals? Visit: Understanding Free Radicals and Antioxidants

Looking To Fight The Flu?

If you are reading this you are probably quite aware of the current swine flu crisis happening in the GTA and around the world. People are going out and getting vaccinations that are killing them, and all sorts of big pharmaceutical remedies for their health.

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!