Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category

Good health is a reason to celebrate!

National Nutrition Month is a campaign that reminds us of the importance of healthy eating.  We also become more aware of the positive impact nutrition has on our health and well-being.  Due to the efforts of dieticians, this national campaign has become one of the most recognized nutrition awareness-raising campaigns in Canada.

We embrace and celebrate this national campaign because  we know that healthy changes in your eating habits are a major step for you in taking control of your life.

In support of National Nutrition Month let’s take a look this week at the “rainbow of colors” and what this means to you!

A diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables helps prevent many chronic diseases, including

  • heart disease
  • cancer
  • stroke
  • conditions such as macular degeneration and cataracts

This month, branch out of your usual habits at the grocery store.  Buy produce with a variety of colors including red, orange, yellow, green and purple to give your body the full spectrum of plant pigments with powerful antioxidant effects.  Choosing many colors will not only ensure you are getting the nutrients you need for your very best health but by making these choices you will also help your body to protect you against disease.

As well as fighting off disease, do you want to slow down the aging process?  By choosing a wide variety of color with your fruit and vegetable selections you will consume a wide range of compounds known as phytochemicals.  Phytochemicals work in harmony with nutritional antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium to fight against the aging process.

Here is a sample of some colorful foods that you can add to your plate:

  1. Red/Purple/Blue/Black: blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, red apples, red peppers, red cabbage.  These foods contain powerful antioxidants that reduce the risk of heart disease by inhibiting blood clot formation.
  2. Orange: mangos, apricots, cantaloupe, pumpkin, squash, orange peppers.  These contain nutrients that reduce age-related macular degeneration and the risk of prostate cancer, lower LDL cholesterol and blood pressure, promote collagen formation and healthy joints, fight harmful free radicals, encourage alkaline balance, and work with magnesium and calcium to build healthy bones.
  3. Yellow: yellow peppers, some types of golden delicious apples, yellow beets, yellow tomatoes.  The nutrients in these perform the same functions as the Orange category.
  4. Green: Spinach, honeydew melon, artichokes, asparagus, green beans, sugar snap peas.  The nutrients found in these vegetables reduce cancer risks, lower blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels, normalize digestion time, support retinal health and vision, fight harmful free-radicals, and boost immune system activity.
  5. White/Green: includes garlic, onions, celery, pears, cauliflower, white peaches and nectarines. These foods have been shown to have anti-tumor effects.

Happy Spring and may you find many reasons to be healthy.

I came across the most delicious, organic, healthy coffee completely by accident.

My friend told me about a package of coffee that was left behind at her house by her “extremely health conscious cousin”.  She decided to try it and was pleasantly surprised at how much it tasted like regular coffee while being a healthy beverage.  She told me the name was Gano.

Later on I sent a twitter message out asking if anyone had heard of Gano coffee.  Not long after, I got a reply from Parrish and Tammi Strozier of Winstrowellness.  After some communication they were kind enough to send me some samples to try.

They sent me a sample of each of the beverages including gourmet black coffee, gourmet latte, gourmet mocha, gourmet organic green tea and gourmet hot chocolate.  I have to say I immensely enjoyed each one of these beverages and I have been thinking about the Gano black coffee ever since. 

Regular coffee is acidic and toxic, can raise your blood pressure, cause dehydration, increase stress levels in the body and can cause jitters and a caffeine crash. 

Gano coffee and Gano green tea contain Ganoderma – an ancient Chinese herb that has been used for more than 4,000 years to enhance wellness.   In Cantonese, “Lingzhi or Reishi”, is the name for one form of the mushroom Ganoderma Lucidum. It enjoys an honorable place in Asia, where it has been used as a medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 4,000 years. In China it’s known as the “Miraculous King of Herbs”.

Gano coffee is a healthy, nutrient rich gourmet coffee with the following features:

  • Certified organic Ganoderma eliminates the jitters and the caffeine crash
  • Balances your PH levels
  • Contains natural antioxidants
  • Boosts the immune system
  • Provides energy
  • Oxygenates the body
  • Great gourmet taste minus the negative side effects

The Gano green tea is a blend of Ganoderma and organic green tea which makes it a powerful antioxidant.

Contact Parrish & Tammi to order some Gano coffee and Gano green tea and while you are contemplating your new and healthy lifestyle choices enjoy a cup of this Organo Gold.

What exactly does anti-aging mean to you? For some it means longevity anti-aging.

This phrase really encompasses a whole host of meanings:

  • Living longer
  • Looking younger
  • Staying healthy into your later years
  • Staying physically fit into your later years
  • Staying mentally fit into your later years
  • Not appearing to be your “biological” age
  • Slowing down or reversing the process of aging
  • Complete rejuvenation to a youthful condition

Perhaps longevity anti-aging should start with the internal then proceed to the external. If you aren’t looking after your nutritional intake it may be very difficult to control your external appearance, or your longevity factors, regardless of what anti aging cream you use or nip and tucks you participate in or how badly you want to live forever.

As we age, we find it harder and harder to fight the urge to pull out our wallets to purchase anti-aging products in relation to nutrition, physical fitness, skin care, hormone replacements, vitamins, supplements and herbs. These are lucrative global industries. We get so caught up in all the hype and different messages coming from so many sources that we end up very frustrated with all kinds of expensive skin care products, books, cosmetics and fad purchases.

Before you succumb to diet after diet, drawers full of cosmetics, surgery and the like start longevity anti-aging in your own kitchen. It doesn’t have to be complicated:

  1. Stop buying packaged and processed foods as much as possible. I used to love canned soup and ate it almost every day. Now, I could care less if I ever open a can again. It’s not on my shopping list anymore.
  2. Stop focusing on unhealthy foods that you shouldn’t eat anymore and try re-focusing on healthy foods that you can eat. Sure, I don’t want to eat a bunch of salt so I stopped buying salted nuts and now buy unsalted nuts. I still get to eat and enjoy the nuts! I don’t buy yogurt with sugars. I buy non-sweetened and add a little stevia or frozen blueberries.
  3. Stop drinking coffee all day long. Sure, have a cup in the morning. Find something else that’s healthy and that you really like and drink that for the rest of the day. Herbal teas, coconut milk, decaf soy beverages. The list is long.
  4. Stop using sugar and try stevia.
  5. Stop eating luncheon meats, sausages and cured meats. Find alternatives. Cook a chicken breast for your sandwich instead. Cook a roast and use it during the week for sandwiches.
  6. Stop eating commercial breakfast cereals loaded with sugars. Find alternatives that you can eat. Try scottish oatmeal (try Bob’s Red Mill oatmeal cereals) with frozen blueberries or raisins mixed in.
  7. Stop eating fried fast foods. Take a bit of time for yourself and plan properly so you don’t get pushed into the fast food zone.
  8. Stop buying products with food additives such as MSG, aspartame.

The above are only a few examples of looking after your nutritional intake in order to get on the road to longevity anti-aging.  For better health get your mind off what you can’t have and get it focused on what you can have.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised how well this works.

What are you doing now that you believe is helping with longevity anti-aging? Do you think the fountain of youth could be as simple as a healthy diet? I want to hear your thoughts on longevity anti-aging.