Food can cause harm and food can heal. This is a fact that everyone can agree on. Food can bring about health, and food can also cause disease. Hippocrates’ saying, “Let your food be thy medicine, and thy food be the medicine,” is well-known to all. Although the quote does not provide any explanation or evidence for his suggestion, we still quote it over a thousand years later.
Did you know?
Our bodies are made up of what we ingest through our intestinal walls. This means that every cell in our bodies is made up of recomposed molecules that were derived from the food that we eat. This is why Hippocrates’ famous quote is so universally understood by everyone. As you read my 4 Tips to Nutritional Healing, I hope you will keep this idea in mind.
Hydrate upon Waking. Water isn’t technically food but it is important for our metabolism and digestion. Hydration is important for proper digestion, assimilation, and transport of molecules throughout our bodies. It flushes out waste from the body. Proper hydration is essential because we want food to be in our bodies, as well as the waste products that result from digestion and absorption.
Take into account
Hydration can be achieved by drinking water that has been properly filtered and spring water. There are many other delicious and tasty options. Here’s a list of hydrating beverages that provide additional nutritional benefits. I believe that you can get twice the benefits from one drink. Herbal teas such as peppermint, ginger and dandelion have many minerals and antioxidant properties.
A juicer machine will make green juice from a vegetable or fruit. It will separate the fiber from the water. Many nutrients are lost into the water making it a great source for vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients. This water is considered more hydrating than tap water or bottled water. It is raw and living, which means that it has a slightly different molecular structure as well as fewer inorganic mineral. Lemon Water is an easy and quick way to hydrate. A squeeze of lemon to water will give you an extra boost in vitamin c. It is also said to aid the liver with detoxification.
Good to know
Raw Organic Coconut Water contains about 770mg potassium per 11.7 oz container and 37 mg sodium (according the nutrition label on my coconut waters). Coconut water isn’t man-made, so it contains many of the natural conutrients our bodies need to rehydrate fully. You can order frozen coconut water online, both certified organic and raw. Yes, I will tell you to eat your vegetables! I’m not referring to green beans or broccoli. The mother of all greens, the pungent and bitter leafy greens, is what I’m referring to.
These include kale, parsley and sorrel. You might not have heard of half these foods so go to your local grocery store and browse the produce section! For goodness sake, go to a farmer’s market! These greens can be used to make delicious green juices and salads. A combination of spinach, mint and honey mustard dressing is my favorite. For the sake of brainstorming, you could incorporate greens into your daily diet by drinking green juice, making green smoothies, and eating greens in green juice, green salads, green smoothies, or steamed, sauteed, or adding to soups.
Probiotics
Probiotic foods can be called a variety of names such as cultured vegetables, lactofermented beverages, fermented food, and include delicious treats like sauerkraut and kim chee, yogurt, kombucha and amasai. Each of these foods has a long history in traditional cultures around the world.
Probiotic foods are beneficial because they have three main benefits: they have a long shelf-life, so they can be used as a source for nutrition during the long winter months; they provide beneficial bacteria to aid digestion and immunity; and they contain more nutrients than their unfermented counterparts. Sauerkraut, a European traditional fermented food, is made by shredding, salting, and packing cabbage in a ceramic crock. It is then left to sit in a cold place for several weeks or even months.
The fermentation process creates b vitamins, various organic acids, and keeps the ph in balance. Sauerkraut is a long-lasting food and cabbage has vitamin c. This made it a staple food on long ocean voyages to prevent scurvy. Sally Fallon asks in Nourishing Traditions: “Could it possibly be that by abandoning the ancient practice lacto-fermentation, and insisting on a diet where everything has been pasteurized and maintained, we have compromised our intestinal flora, and made ourselves more vulnerable to legions pathogenic microorganisms?”
Fermented foods are becoming more readily available in health food stores as well as farm coops. These books will help you make fermented foods at home. David Wolfe was the first person to mention this term.
Superfoods
Superfoods include chlorella, aloe vera, maca and royal jelly. Some of these superfoods have a high nutrient level. David Wolfe, for example, lists the nutrients found within camu camu berry as: “calcium and phosphorus; potassium; iron; the amino acids serine and valine and leucine; small amounts of vitamins thiamine and riboflavin and niacin.” Duke University ranked hundreds upon hundreds of botanicals based on their effectiveness in treating various health conditions.
Camu Camu berry was the number one antiviral and cold-fighting botanical. For more energy, weight loss, and heart health, we all know that healthy fats are good for us. I believe that many of us still fear fat because of our lifetimes of being exposed to misguided information, doctors, and weight loss programs. Let me first define healthy fat. A healthy fat is one with a long history of human consumption. The most well-known oils in modern diet are coconut, olive, and sesame oils. They all have ancient historical uses.
Oils
Coconut oil, which is made of medium chain fatty acid, has been used in tropical cultures for centuries. It has the same molecular structure and molecular structure that fatty acids found within human breast milk. This type of fat feeds our immune system and metabolism efficiently and effectively. Sesame oil, a seed oil, is not very stable.
However, “the high vitamin E content and antioxidants in sesame seeds oil makes it resistant from rancidity,” Sally Fallon Morell explains in her book Nourishing Traditions. Because they are not resistant to oxidation during extraction, newer oils such as vegetable oils blends, sunflower, grapeseed, grapeseed, and canola, as well as refined versions, like refined coconut oil, are likely to go rancid by the time they reach the grocery store shelves.
These oils were not extracted back when money was more important than health. Ghee, butter, and (gasp!) lard are all oils that have a long history. Other fats that are important in the human diet include butter, ghee and lard. Traditional cultures would gather butter fat from goats and cows in the summer to use during winter months.
Final note
We now know that this was a source for vitamin d for them during times when the sun was not available. It seems that the number of diseases, such as heart disease, that traditional fats are responsible for, has increased alarmingly over the past century. This rise in disease is due to the decline in some of these fats, such as butter and lard, and the increase in oil consumption like soy, grapeseed and sunflower. Fat is essential for many biological processes, including cell membrane function and cell structure integrity. It also provides long-lasting energy for the body and building blocks for hormones, immune cells, and a healthy nervous system. You may be blessed with good health and good food!