Natural Health and Wellness

Oh those sweets! We love them. We hate them. We love the taste of sweets. We love the feeling of sweetness in our mouths. In fact, we love the " feeling of sweetness ". Oh but the guilt that follows the bite down is enough to spoil that love affair with each swallow. I can hear it now... " this is bad for me, I will gain weight, my face will break out, where is my will power, this causes inflammation, this causes addiction, this causes disease ..!" * Gulp! * You just ate that, all that. The guilt is punishing enough to make you never eat another sweet again. That is, until the next bite tempts us. "Oh, hello my sweet love!" Sweet food is, for many of us, a love-hate relationship . We crave sweetness for many reasons. One reason people eat sweets is that we have become "programmed" unconsciously to do so. We have become mindless when it comes to putting something inside our bodies based on triggers that aren't the hunger triggers. How many t...

Ok kids (and adults), it's time to give Brussels Sprouts a try. Believe it or not, my daughter was first exposed to Brussels Sprouts on a cartoon show. (It amazes me the vegetables I have YET to introduce to her... I'll be on a mission now to expose the fruit and vegetable world!) So after seeing those green little veggies on Olivia , she said... "Mom, what are Brussels Sprouts?" Knowing she was a huge fan of raw food and cabbage, I said "They are like little baby cabbages". Then she immediately asked to go to the store and buy them. So we did. We brought them home and she looked at them with a smile. She immediately bit into one and was thrilled! They did taste like baby cabbages! And how fun they were too. Eat them in balls or peel them and eat the leaves one at a time! That was two days ago. Since then, she's asked for them over and over again. The lesson? Continue to introduce new foods to your children. Just because you don't eat them or don...

Natural Remedies for Radiation and Toxic Overload Here is a great Care2 article by Bridgitte Mars that will help our bodies, even without if we aren't in high radiation exposure areas... as we are constantly bombarded by toxins. Here's an excerpt: "The seed buckwheat is high in rutin, helps to protect against radiation and stimulates new bone marrow production. The mucilaginous fibers in seaweed (such as kelp, kombu, arame, nori, sea lettuce, dulse, wakame and hiziki ) help to prevent the reabsorption of radioactive strontium 90, barium, cadmium and radium by binding with them and carrying them out of the body. Sea vegetables are also high in natural iodine, which can load the thyroid, so that radiation is not absorbed. Eat two tablespoons daily for protection and be careful of overdoing. Be sure seaweeds are from clean waters like www.seaweed.net , or www.seaveg.com . Following the bombing of Nagasaki, a group of surviving macrobiotic doctors and their patients avoid...

Give kids a chance to like fresh, living foods. Beyond the regular finger foods of carrot and celery sticks, expose them to tasty salads. It's ok. Let them play with their food. The other night I served my 6-year-old some rice pasta and marinara sauce along with a small bowel of cabbage, carrot, and cilantro salad (no dressing). After only 2 bites of the pasta, she literally pushed her bowl aside and grabbed her bowl of salad. Gobbled it down and had 2 more helpings! This is now one of her favorites! "I could sing my mouth is so happy!" she told me. So how do you get kids to like more raw fruits, vegetables and salads? Expose them to the salad at high-hungry times (after physical activities, snack times, before meals). So what if they fill up before dinner... it's the best thing they can eat! Eat living salads yourself, and often (do as I do, not as I say) Make games of it: "Are you a rabbit?? Here's your munchy, crunchy meal!" Ask them intriguing quest...

Want or need to boost your energy? Besides... getting enough sleep (going to bed and getting up at consistent times), drinking plenty of water throughout the day (at least every two hours), maintaining a balanced, whole-food, plant-based diet with regular feedings - but not too much, avoiding excess stimulants (like caffeine and sugar) here are some other helpful energy boosters! (Whew, as if all the above wasn't enough, right?) Goji Berries High on my list of amazing super foods, goji berries pack a healthy punch as being one of the most nutritionally dense foods in the world, and they make a great snack! They contain a healthy balance and dose of both macro- and micro-nutrients, including a high-quality, plant-based complete protein content containing 18 amino acids (and all 8 essential amino acids) along with a rich source of antioxidants (including carotenes, beta-carotene, and zeaxanthin - great for eye health). Goji berries also contain up to 21 trace minerals, like zinc, ir...

A new analysis study done by researcher Ian Reid, MD, of New Zealand’s University of Aukland, found that women who are taking calcium supplements are increasing their risk of heart disease by 20-30%. Dr. Reid told WebMD, “I think we need to seriously consider whether calcium supplementation is a good thing for most people, given that it is associated with a very small decrease in fracture risk." He went on to say, which we've been learning for years...“We encourage our patients to get their calcium from the foods they eat and not from supplements.” To read the entire article on WebMD, click here . Dr. Carol Watson, ND says "Doctors who study calcium now understand that the amount of calcium absorbed depends on its interaction with other dietary constituents. In other words, the absorbability of calcium is mainly determined by the presence of food constituents. One study (taken from a research article written by Robert Theil, Ph.D., N.D.) found that whole food calcium i...