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Category Archives: Health
Fighting the Flu
A study in the Journal for Infectious Diseases in Nov 2009 has tested mice with infecting them with H1N1 and seeing how they fared based on their exercise habits before and during the infection. They proved that the ones that were exercising prior to being infected showed far less symptoms and were able to fight it better.
They also proved that the ones that were exercising for a long time before they were infected showed even stronger signs of recovery and fighting the disease.
These results are a good excuse for staying healthy for the long term, So get at it!
What I’m trying to get out here, is to exercise friends! Your health will thank you, and it’ll increase your chances of fighting the flu this year, and every year to come. Start these good habits and you’re life will thank you later.
Consult some of our eating right choices for staying on top of the health game.
Fasting
Fasting is done for a variety of reasons, each of which is held only by the faster, who is the most important person were concerned with. When undertaking the challenge of a fast, do not be afraid: its not as horrible as some might lead you to believe.
In accordance with blogs and articles, the best way to enter and exit a fast is with a gradual reducing of food going in, and a gradual increase of food going out, which should last about 2 days on either side.
Going in to the fast will be the harder one to achieve, for your stomach is still calling for its next feeding, but when coming out, usually you will not even be able to eat a giant steak and potato dinner.
At both times, eat healthy, avoid any junk food or fast food and stick to meals consisting of raw vegetables and fruits, or small portions of grains or rice, but the key is to eat as healthy as possible.
This is especially important for the detox faster, for the healthier you eat the better you will feel as well. Eating healthier foods will, as happens even when you’re not fasting, make you feel healthier, and your stomach will not speak to you in loud groans trying to digest the junk just fed it.
Many experts talk about fasting to lose weight as well. One even claimed to have done the 40 day fast, with nothing but water, tea, and diluted juice. He lost 150lbs, which brought his weight down to 80lbs. If it’s a diet you’re looking for however, I would suggest a more practical way such as exercise and eating healthy as first steps towards loosing the weight.
In most corners, however, one thing is common: is it as much a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge. Stay focused! This is a mind exercise!
Most bodies are capable of doing the fast (check with your doctor if you are on any medication or are experiencing health problems), it’s the challenge of not letting your mind get carried away with longing for hunger.
Key factors to this success are keeping yourself busy, and knowing your goals. Some fasts, especially the longer ones, recommend lots of bed rest. This could be a good thing for people that can handle inactivity without going crazy, but that’s not something I particularly fancy. I am a firm believer that activity stimulates the mind, and keeps the body aware. It doesn’t necessarily have to be lifting weights, which is very dangerous when fasting, but reading, cleaning, organizing: going about regular daily activities. Yes, it is true that in the longer fasts one will lose not be capable of much strenuous activities, but each person should test the limits their body is capable of achieving.
Please, consult a physician if you have any medical history, or continual health problems. I am not to be held responsible. If you start feeling heart palpitations, black outs, or other various very unhealthy conditions as a result of the fast, don’t be stubborn, break the fast and keep yourself alive.
On this note, some circles claim that long extended fasts can cure diseases of all sorts: Mental illnesses, cancers, old football injuries (i.e. broken bones), etc. This I cannot attest to, but if a person were in the position of either living with cancer or trying a 40 day fast, I think it’s easy to see which way would be more enviable.
Most of all stay strong in your quest, for whatever reason you seek to undertake the fast, know why you are doing it, and stay positive. You’re doing it for yourself and yourself only. Good luck!
Eating Right
To stay healthy you DO NOT need to have vaccinations and drugs. A body is an amazing thing, and fed with the proper food, you can fight off nearly anything.
We’ll list some of the healthiest foods that if eaten, will provide your body with the necessary nutrients to fight off most colds, and keep the immune system alert and strong.
Garlic: Garlic is one of the healthiest foods you can eat. If you’re feeling a slight sore throat or cough, eat about 3 or 4 cloves of garlic. Warning: don’t do this on an empty stomach, you’ll get major heart burn, do it with a meal, after or just before a meal to allow other food to get digested with it.
Onion: Onion is also a magic food where it helps fighting off all sorts of sickness and disease.
Broccoli: Broccoli is one of the most nutritious vegetable there is. Try sticking some into most of your dishes, if you break it up small enough, it’s hard to even notice its introduction into your meal.
Fruits: Having fruits will give you your vitamin C requirements, as well as many other nutrients. They don’t say an apple a day will keep the doctor away for no reason.
Meat: If you are exercising regularly, to gain that muscle mass you’re looking for, you need to give it the proteins it needs. A can of tuna is always a very good choice, but a steak or a chicken breast will also do the trick properly.
Rice: Rice is a marvelous addition to any meal. My secret is for any amount of rice, is the amount of water you put in, bring it to a boil, then turn heat as low as it can get and wait 20 minutes for it to be done. I use basmati rice most often.
I feel it very important to stay away from the following foods: sugars, chocolate, potato chips, canned foods, pre-packaged dinners, and dairy products. Just by staying off of these foods you will notice a difference in body weight, energy levels, and skin complexion. Just simply removing dairy products will reduce body fat, clear complexion and eliminate upset stomachs in many cases.
Remember, you are seeking to better yourself, and stuffing yourself silly will not better yourself. It will give you a bloated stomach and a lack of motivation for a very long time, but nothing more.
This is not just a change of a few little foods that you eat, this is a major shift in your thinking habits. You want to be stronger, you want to be thinner, you want to grow your mind and body into a force to be reckoned with, so don’t kid yourself with over eating or being lazy.
Eat Right!
Eating Habits
Eating right is the key to staying healthy mentally and physically. If you are stuffing cheeseburgers and fries down your throat every day, this is basically putting rotten oil into your car. After a while, it will simply shut down and tell you no more.
You need to fill your body with healthy foods that give it the proper nutrients needed to sustain an active mind and body. It is hard to get your mind able to accept the healthy track at the start, but you will find it will soon become a exciting challenge to find great foods to eat that are healthy and nutritious.
A few tips for scheduling your eating are simple.
- Spread out your meals. All the food, at one sitting is not healthy. If this is your regular habit, try storing half of the food in a container for a few hours and finish it off later.
- Don’t buy the un-healthy foods at the store. Finish off what’s left in your cupboard and don’t buy it anymore.
- Keeping three or more meals a day is a good tactic. If you keep more than three, you can reduce the amount at each sitting you eat, and allow your stomach to digest smaller bits of food more thoroughly. NOTE: This takes practice, and time for your body to get used to it.
- Do not mix eating habits, if you’re pecking at food all day, do not have three big meals too.
Having a blend in the morning is a great way to get your day started off right with healthy foods and a big meal. The following is my favorite blend recipe:
- 1 cup almond milk
- 2/3 cup of rolled oats
- ½ tablespoon of flax seeds
- 1 banana
- ¼ cantaloupe
- ½ cup of blueberries
I often substitute in papaya, apple, kiwi, raspberries, or strawberries for the cantaloupe.
This very healthy, and it’s very low in the carbs that you find in most traditional meals like cereal or toast have. This means you’ll start to become thinner with only changing what you eat for breakfast.
Dairy Is Bad
Dairy is dangerous. It is filled with hormones, fat, cholesterol, herbicides, pesticides, dioxins, antibiotics, bacteria, viruses, feces, pus, and blood, to mention a few. Each one of these substances lead to very unattractive side effects like cancer, obesity, bacterial infection, diabetes… the list could go on. The point is, it’s not healthy for humans to consume.
Clearly, I have been off of dairy for many years now, and will continue to stay clear of as many dairy products as I can. I find in myself that consuming an ice cream, cheeses, or a glass of milk lead to acne, upset stomach, and excess body weight, so for me it was an easy choice to try something different.
They may be beautiful animals when kept in range conditions, in large pastures, and fed proper foods, but when they are stuffed into an over-capacity barn and hooked up to milk sucking machines on a rotation schedule while being fed hormones to increase output of abnormal quantities, they are not as cute anymore.
Studies have proven that there are many diseases that come from, or are linked to dairy proteins: “Loss of appetite, growth retardation. Upper Gastrointestinal: Canker sores (aphthous stomatitis), irritation of tongue, lips and mouth, tonsil enlargement, vomiting, gastroesophageal reflux (GERD), Sandifer’s syndrome, peptic ulcer disease, colic, stomach cramps, abdominal distention, intestinal obstruction, type-1 diabetes. Lower Gastrointestinal: Bloody stools, colitis, malabsorption, diarrhea, painful defecation, fecal soiling, infantile colic, chronic constipation, infantile food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES), Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis. Respiratory: Nasal stuffiness, runny nose, otitis media (inner ear trouble), sinusitis, wheezing, asthma, and pulmonary infiltrates. Bone and joint: Rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Beheta’s disease, (possibly psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis). Skin: Rashes, atopic dermatitis, eczema, seborrhea, hives (urticaria) Nervous System (Behavioral): Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, autism, schizophrenia, irritability, restlessness, hyperactivity, headache, lethargy, fatigue, “allergic-tension fatigue syndrome,” muscle pain, mental depression, enuresis (bed-wetting). Blood: Abnormal blood clotting, iron deficiency anemia, low serum proteins, thrombocytopenia, and eosinophilia. Other: Nephrotic syndrome, glomerulonephritis, anaphylactic shock and death, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS or crib or cot death), injury to the arteries causing arteritis, and eventually, atherosclerosis.
I know, that list is meant to be overwhelming.
References are available through the National Library of Medicine, http://www.nlm.nih.gov – Search cow’s milk and any of the diseases listed above.” (The Pus-Bacteria Moustache, John McDougall, MD. 6.11.2003)
Here are some web pages to read some more on dairy, and why you should switch to an alternative today: www.notmilk.com & www.rense.com So I choose to go with almond milk. Thanks.
Cliff Bars
I am a fan of energy bars. There are some out there that simply do not agree with my stomach, like Vector, but there are some that work, like Clif Bars.
The folks at Clif are environmentalists wanting to make a difference. Directly from their webpage I shall quote: That’s why we’re working to understand our impacts from the field to our final product, and helping to create healthier, more sustainable communities in the following ways:
- Sourcing organic ingredients and supporting organic agriculture
- Engaging the people who grow, make, package, transport, and eat our food
- Partnering and collaborating with innovative people and organizations
- Encouraging hands-on volunteer service
In the thick and thin of things, every company that’s smart will boast that their product is organic, hands down, which is a good thing. Having an organic meal is second to none. Clif bar packages are stamped with a 70% organic emblem. What makes me like Clif Bars so much, is that they do indeed fill me up with one bar. I find with other bars I have to always eat at least two, and I don’t like to eat two.
The ingredients of their Clif bar are (which will vary slightly depending on the bar: Organic Brown Rice Syrup, ClifPro® (Soy Rice Crisp [Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Barley Malt Extract, Calcium Carbonate], Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour), Organic Rolled Oats, Dried Apricots (Apricots, Evaporated Cane Juice, Rice Flour, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid), Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, ClifCrunch® (Organic Oat Fiber, Inulin [Chicory Extract], Organic Milled Flaxseed, Organic Oat Bran, Psyllium), Organic Dried Apples, Organic Date Paste, Organic Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Salt, Colored With Annatto.
My favorite right now is the chocolate mint or the chocolate almond fudge.
I highly suggest you take one for a test meal. They are a great meal on the go, and they cost $1.25~$2.00 in Canada which means you won’t be breaking the budget compared to a cafe where you’ll be paying ~$10 for a meal.
If you’re going on an outdoor adventure, these are a great small item to bring for your meals, but never forget the water!
However, I have been finding that staying on a steady diet of these over a month tends to make my stomach a little bit upset, mostly just making loud noises. You might want to try changing it up with other nutritious bars available out there, or more solid forms of food that aren’t processed like apples, bananas, oranges, etc.. Your local health store, or even supermarket will have an isle full of them!
Remember, eat right!
Blending
Making a blend, smoothie, or shake is by far the best way to start off every morning right. Depending on what the blendee puts in their blend, it can provide fresh fruits for vitamins, oats for sustenance, flax for dietary tract, and milk for calcium to keep the bones strong and teeth white.
I have gotten into the routine of blending about a 5 cup blend every single morning for my breakfast. I used to hate breakfast because it was filled with sugary syrups or cereals, toast and jam, or bland eggs, which is all too much intake of foods I’ve been trying to avoid.
A blend gives energy needed to complete my day very quickly and tastily. The following is a list of items that I will put in my blend, depending on what is in season, or on sale at the market:
- almond milk
- rolled oats
- flax seed
- blueberry
- strawberry
- apple
- banana
- mango
- papaya
- raspberry
- plum
- peach
- nectarine
- watermelon
- melon
- honeydew
- orange
- lemon
- spinach
In almost every single blend I have
- 2/3rds of a cup of rolled oats
- 1 cup of almond milk
- 1 teaspoon of flax seeds
- a banana
From there, I will add two of the other items.
I have experimented with all sorts of mixes, and I find that the banana provides a really great base to my blends.
Another favorite thing to add is the blueberries. They give the blend an amazing purple color, and flavor that sweetens it right up to a very delightful flavor. If frozen blueberries are added, it gives the blend a bit colder taste, which thickens it into a very nice consistency. Sometimes ice cubes can be added if it’s a particularly hot day out, or if that’s the consistency you enjoy.
After you try a few blends, you’ll start to get the idea of how much you can handle. After my usual banana, milk, and oats, I will usually add a full apple and a handful of strawberries for instance, and that will fill me up nicely.
Get adventurous with it and add some cinnamon to the mix to give it a nice flavor, or even some vanilla extract! I hope you enjoy.
I’ve been really enjoying, in the right season, an Avacado Banana Smoothie, which is the perfect late afternoon snack!
All In A Day
Healthy eating is the place to start when you’re looking for a new lifestyle, a new you, or even exercising the best you into a daily routine. So ask yourself, what are staples that you eat every day, and how can you introduce a more healthy collection of foods into your eating habits. A lot of people find that the word ‘diet’ refers to you something that fat people need to do, or uber health conscience people do, but really, what you eat IS your diet. That’s just the plain truth. First thing to think about is the three meals of the day. What do eat? For me, it’s an easy choice.
Breakfast
My breakfasts consist of fruits, oats, flax seeds, and almond milk, all blended together and poured into a full beer mug, and gulped down in a few quick minutes.
Now, I’ve gone through quite the different milk selections, from dairy milk, to soy milk, to rice milk and finally on to almond milk. This is a choice I’ve made because of the calcium. Look on the boxes and you’ll see the content of each. Just take a few minutes at the grocer and look at the content and ingredients of each.
The rest is an easy, bananas, apples, oranges, cherries, melon, watermelon, and blueberries, fruits that are very healthy. For a few years now, I’ve eliminated dairy from the diet, so this means no eggs in the morning, or cheese on those scrambled eggs, or cereal with milk, or.. well, you get the point, this eliminates a lot of things from the menu.
On to lunch.
This is kind of a free for all. But, really think about the traditional meals. Sandwiches, wraps, tuna bowls, well really, put anything into the mix and you have a good lunch. But, what I think really matters, is that you are eating a dish that doesn’t consist of grease, fats, or salts. You most definitely want to avoid the fast food chains like McDonalds, Arby’s, etc. These kind of places will suck you into their fries, or their milkshakes, or their pop. Bad news.
Really good ideas are:
- A cold cut sandwich with lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, meat, mayo and mustard is one of my faves.
- A salad of many varieties.
- Energy bars like Nature Valley, or Clif bars (which are my favorite) are a good choice for lunch, and quick.
- Wraps with left over roast, or chicken salad stuffed in
- A bowl of tuna (I eat it just the tuna, but mayo and lettuce is a good addition too)
- Fry up a some chicken with yams
Dinner
A lot of rumors are out there that you need a lot of proteins to stay alive. These rumors come from the producers of protein shakes and supplements as a propaganda machine, in my honest opinion.
That being said, you still need to get yourself some healthy meat into your body for consumption. I recommend a ranch where they sell range roaming, grass and grain fed, hormone free, and healthy cattle for you to eat.
This ensures that you’re not eating meat that’s been brutalized and lives in a cubicle for its whole life, being fattened with hormones and steroids, and eating pesticide rich grass. It’s very important to purchase good meat.
To go with your meat, make sure you mix up your dishes. I find it really helpful to learn a few key recipes, that you can use frequently and fall back on when you’re in a rush or just want to get it done. This way it’s not such a daunting task to get out the cookbook, buy the spices and ingredients, and the carefully care and attend to the meal.
But if you do want to try something new, you can see some of our recipes.
I’m a cook that likes to be creative in the kitchen. A must have staple for me is to keep at least a dozen different spices to use that I instantly recognize the flavour of. It’s easy to experiment with this kind of stuff, so have fun!
The idea though, is that you are eating healthy dishes. I find that if I eat enough main dish, with maybe sticking an avocado or a carrot in there on the side, I get all the food in my belly to make me feel like I’ve eaten to much, and don’t want or require any junk food or rich desserts.
I always feel like I’m killing my body when I eat the kind of crap that comes in wrappers, so for me it’s always been easy to eat healthy. A policy that I’ve started is that I don’t buy things that come in plastic or metal wrapping. This means no .99c cans of soup, no chocolate bars, chips, gummy bears, etc. but, naturally, I am not an uncompromising human being, and I do have cravings for some chocolate once and a while, in which case I’ll go to the bulk section and stock up with some chocolate covered almonds! Yum.
I have also compromised on chips, I do occasionally buy myself some nachos and salsa and eat those. I usually find when that happens, I get to full to eat a dinner, so it’s a substitute, which isn’t a good thing.
I find it really helpful to buy snacks that are going to be healthy choices, and not even have the option between candy or healthy in the house. I buy snacks like apples, bananas, or bulk trail mix, instead of Lays BBQ chips, or Mr. Big chocolate bars. Hopefully this will give you some inspiration on how to start focusing on your diet.
Remember, water is key, and a glass of wine never hurt anyone!
Health
Health is the single most important factor that keeps humans, and all animals, alive. Strong, healthy, long lives are what most humans strive for, if it’s not, hopefully these pages will help you make it a goal!
Health comes in many forms and ideals. Millions, if not billions of government dollars are spent a year creating and sustaining health systems that keep citizens living long and comfortably. Some people might relate health with health care facilities like the hospital, nurses and clinics for all intents and purposes, but it really comes down to a personal effort which sustains you in the long run. Going on drugs to help combat depression, stress and anxiety are not your answer. These drugs are just a temporary relief of a much much bigger problem that the sufferer needs to combat with all of their might to give themselves a sustainable, healthy life.
Pills are not the answer. Development of health comes from exercising, eating healthy, and always being conscious of what is around you and how it is affecting your whole body. Most health experts will tell you that if you listen to your own body it will tell you when it’s in bad health, alerting you that it is now the time to change for the better to give your body a sustainable level of healthy benefits!
Things like the ecosystem and environment, positivity of your thoughts, and eating properly grown and prepared food all counts towards the goal of seeking health. In these pages we will give you tips and tricks, and open your mind to new ways of achieving a healthy lifestyle some of you may have already known, or provide development to your current health conditions.
Some foods that we’ll focus on are blends, clif energy bars, and vitamin B5, and many recipes can be found in that section of the website, like the Chicken Balsetta.
Also, what does it mean to eat right, and what are proper eating habits that help ensure that a body is fed the right nutrients, and tricks to ensure it’s sustained!
We will discuss our opinion on dairy products, and stress the importance of water for the body, and explain the hazards of pesticides humans face in their every day eating.
Of course, like any healthy lifestyle, all of this needs to be absorbed into what we feel is all in a day, to sustain a healthy life, and live as long as possible!