Tongue Scraper made from copper

The first time I ever engaged in tongue scraping pretty much sealed the deal, I knew there was no going back. I was going to do this every day for the rest of my life.
Now, if you don’t know what tongue scraping is, or why you might be even remotely interested in it, let me ask you something. Would you be willing eat something for breakfast every day that you knew was loaded with bacteria? And I’m not talking about the beneficial, gut-friendly bacteria that you find in healthy fermented foods like yogurt. I’m talking about the kind of bacteria that smells bad, and makes you sick.

So, back to my question. Smelly bacteria for breakfast? Umm, not so appetizing? Actually, my answer to the question would have been something along the lines of, “oh gross, no way!”. If you too answered firmly in the negative, you might want to get into the habit of scraping your tongue.

Tongue scraping involves using a long, thin, flat piece of metal, which is bent in the shape of a ‘U’, to scrape the surface of your tongue. It doesn’t hurt at all. You scrape firmly, but gently by dragging the scraper from the back of your tongue to the front. The effect is similar to using a rake to scrape the cut grass off of a lawn. Only in the case of your tongue, what you scrape off is bacteria. Probably hundreds of thousands of them. So many in fact, that you can see them, even though you would need a microscope to see each individual bacteria.

You know how everyone has bad smelling ‘morning breath’? Well, it’s mostly caused by these bacteria that are hanging out on your tongue. So when you use a tongue scraper (also called a tongue cleaner), you literally scrape the bacteria up and dispose of them by rinsing them down the sink. Because if you don’t, guess what? They go right down the hatch with your morning coffee, or juice or whatever you have for breakfast. Yuck.

So isn’t brushing your teeth in the mornings before you eat enough? No. It’s great if you do that, because the bacteria are also on your teeth, so you are washing those bacteria away. But even if you brush your tongue with your toothbrush, it’s hard to do as good a job as you can with a tongue scraper. Besides, if you see what’s coming off your tongue every morning it provides really powerful incentive to do it again tomorrow morning.

So where do you get a tongue scraper? I got mine from a local health food shop. But I was lucky, because they are usually hard to find. The last one I had to get from a friend who was traveling back to China. I found some on Amazon, and here’s a link to the one that looks the most like mine. The style I’ve got works really well, and I can’t recommend any of the other styles simply because I’ve not tried them.

Tongue scrapers are really inexpensive, and the ones I’ve had have lasted for years. I got my first one over 20 years ago, and I’m now on my third. I hang mine in the holder right next to my toothbrush. I even bring it with me when I go backpacking.

If you think you might like to start the day with your tongue feeling fresh and clean instead of furry and stale, try a tongue scraper.

Donna Miller enjoys creating delicious, healthy vegetarian food and posts many of her vegetarian, vegan and raw vegan recipes, as well as informative articles to her website The Healthy Eating Site.

Where to get tongue scrapers
If you can’t find them locally, or just want to know what you’re looking for, here are 2 recommended models of tongue scrapers. A metal one and a plastic one.

Metal Tongue Scraper from Amazon
Plastic Tongue Scraper from Amazon

Image by raleighwoman via Flickr

Researchers have long known that the foods you eat during your premenstrual cycle can influence PMS, but with recent studies they now have a better idea of what foods will alleviate the symptoms of PMS, and here are the top eight best foods to even out those mood swings.

Studies have revealed taking double the amount of calcium found in the typical American diet, can relieve menstrual pain, water retention and mood swings, especially when taken with magnesium. It’s common for women to crave carbohydrates during the premenstrual phase of their monthly cycle. A study done at MIT and a British study both show that consuming carbohydrates every few hours during this phase of the menstrual cycle makes a significant difference in combating PMS mood swings, as well as other symptoms.

The Top 8 Foods For Alleviating PMS Mood Swings:

1. Greens: such as kale, bok choy and collard greens are very high in calcium. They can be used in a stir-fry, steamed, or finely chopped and added to salads, or freshly squeezed juice.
2. Sesame seeds: are very high in both calcium and magnesium. They can be lightly toasted and sprinkled over salads, stir-fries, and steamed vegetables. Ground sesame paste, known as tahini is delicious in salad dressings, hummus, and as a spread or dip. Adding a couple tablespoons of tahini to smoothies gives them a rich, creamy texture.
3. Milk and dairy products: it’s not surprising that dairy products top the list of food sources of calcium. Whole milk, fruit yogurt and cheese are all good sources of calcium. With Edam cheese having the most calcium per weight, followed closely by Cheddar cheese.
4. Steamed tofu: is high in calcium and omega 3 fatty acids. It’s delicious added to soup or broth, or eaten on it’s own with a dash of shoyu (soy sauce).
5. Sardines in oil: are high in calcium and magnesium, and extremely high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids. The healthiest sardines are the ones packed in their own oil, which helps your body to absorb the calcium, but they can be hard to find. The second best choice is those packed in olive oil. Avoid sardines packed in vegetable oil, it’s highly processed and high in inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. You may also be able to find sardines packed in tomato sauce, which is also preferable to vegetable oil. Sardines make a great food to travel with, or to keep at the office because they come in convenient tins that are easy to store.
6. Dried figs: are high in calcium and magnesium, as well as fiber. They are great as a snack to stave off sugar cravings. Or serve them on fruit and cheese platters, along with bread and crackers as a complete PMS-busting appetizer.
7. Swiss muesli: can be bought ready-made, but it’s also quick and easy to make your own, adding your favorite ingredients in the amounts you like. Serve with yogurt or milk. You can make it up the night before, add the yogurt or milk and leave it to sit overnight to soften the oats, nuts and dried fruit if you prefer a creamier, softer texture. In wintertime, or any time you want something warmer, add a couple handfuls of muesli to a wide-mouth thermos. Then add enough boiling water to cover. You may want to add extra hot water if you want a porridge-like consistency. Leave overnight, the muesli will still be warm in the morning just add milk or yogurt to taste.
8. Carbohydrates: studies have found that eating carbohydrates every 3 hours during the premenstrual cycle can significantly improve mood. Carbohydrates include the starchy carbs such as bread, pasta, potatoes, oats, rice. One study on the effects of carbohydrates on PMS symptoms included sweet carbs in addition to the starchy carbohydrates. It found that all the carbohydrates, including desserts, candy and chocolate, helped women to recover from PMS symptoms within an hour of consuming the carbohydrates.

If you are vegan, a good way to get many of these foods in your diet quickly and easily is to drink a green smoothie every day. I like to have mine first thing in the morning. Use one of the smoothie recipes on this site and add greens, dried figs for sweetness (soak them first, you can soak overnight and put the water and figs into the smoothie) and ground raw sesame seeds (a coffee grinder works well to grind the seeds) will make your smoothie thicker and creamier. Swiss muesli can be made with nut milk instead of dairy milk, especially sesame seed milk.

So during the premenstrual phase of your next monthly cycle, try catering to your carbohydrate and sweet cravings, eat ample amounts of the high-calcium foods and see if it doesn’t help with your mood swings and make life a little easier for you and everyone around you.

Honeybees at work making honey

By Suzi Franks

Here in New Zealand we have a secret, it’s called Manuka honey and it can heal our bodies both externally and internally, but thats not all, some honey when tested in the lab has been found to contain a second unique healing factor which enhances the uniqueness of this wonderful natural healing nectar.

Manuka honey is a ‘mono-floral’ honey, meaning it’s made predominately from one flower, in this case it’s made from the delicate small flowers of the Manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium) or Tea tree as some call it . Native to the shores of New Zealand, its a pretty low growing tree which has an abundance of tiny white or pink flowers in summer, and it’s wood is highly prized for its aroma and is used in wood fired pizza ovens or in the smoking of many food items, but it’s the nectar we are interested in today.

Two Types of Manuka honey

According to New Zealand scientists, there are two types of Manuka honey; one is an ‘ordinary’ Manuka honey which contains a natural hydrogen peroxide antibacterial property, this is not unique to Manuka honey, it’s found in most honeys.

The second type is the special ‘active’ Manuka honey which contains a natural non-hydrogen peroxide antibacterial property, the scientists call this UMF, translated as the Unique Manuka Factor. The difference in the two honeys cannot be determined by taste, texture or color, to determine if the honey is active requires clinical testing and then the activeness’ is rated.

Different strengths of ‘Active’ UMF

There are different ‘degrees’ of UMF activity and this is rated on a numbered scale:
0-4 UMF is not detected and therefore jut ‘honey’
4-10 UMF is present in a ‘maintenance’ level only, so good for when all healing os completed and just tops up the bodies levels
10-15 UMF is present in ‘healing’ amounts
15+ UMF is present in super healing amounts and can be used to fight active bacterial infections or correct health issues, like stomach ulcers etc.

What makes ‘Active’ Manuka honey special?

UMF, is a special property which inhibits the growth of certain ‘resistant’ bacteria’s, the most common being helicobacter pylori which is responsible for stomach ulcers, staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus pyogenes both bacteria’s cause nasty throat infections.

The UMF property in active manuka honey has been found to fight these otherwise resistant bacteria’s with excellent results, the reason being it is resistant to heat and is slower to be broken down by the internal working of our bodies, therefore able to put up a stronger fight.

Specific Uses for Active Manuka honey

A spoonful of active manuka honey daily is a good overall health tonic, but sometimes it can be used on specific problems and reduces the need for a ‘chemical’ ‘pharmaceutical’ antibiotic.

Stomach Ulcers:
Research has shown that active manuka honey inhibits the growth and kills off the helicobacter pylori bacteria which are commonly responsible for stomach ulcers. The ‘normal’ honey with hydrogen peroxide properties was not effective in this case.

Wounds, burns and many skin irritation complaints:
Because of it’s increased anti bacterial qualities, active Manuka honey can be used directly on the surface of the skin to treat many skin conditions like acne or eczema which are often created by skin flora bacteria.

It is also extremely effective in the treatment of a variety of open wounds, like burns, boils. It’s used extensively in the Health profession for treating infected leg ulcers, often infected with resistant bacteria’s like staphylococcus aureus or pseudomonas aeruginosa which have not been controlled with ‘pharmaceutical’ antibiotics.

I personally cannot think of a nicer way to heal my body, internally or externally than the natural aromatic active Manuka honey.

Suzi Franks, a former ER Nurse with over 15 years experience is now a healer of The Earth. I have now dedicated my life to tending my piece of paradise and returning the chemical torn landscape back to its former glory with lovingly applied organic principles and tender loving care. I am on a quest to help share my knowledge of organic vegetable growing, so you and others may feel the goodness of Mother Nature and eat her bountiful gifts.

Click here to read more articles by Suzi Franks

.

Food Matters: The Must-See Movie that may save your life

Sometimes I feel that it would be infinitely easier to pretend that our world’s healthcare problems do not exist. It would be bliss to trust that our food industry operates with the public’s best interests at heart and that the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry are committed to human health. I suspect however that you already realize that this is currently a fairy tale dream. Or perhaps you’re like many others and understandably feel confronted by criticism of these paradigms. Whatever the case may be, James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch have learnt the hard way.

In 2003, James’ father experienced a severe health crisis. After decades of working in stressful conditions and consuming a typical western diet, Roy Colquhoun’s body completely shut down. Bedridden for months with depression, chronic fatigue, anxiety and severe flu-like symptoms, Roy sought the best medical care available. Psychiatrists and medical specialists recommended a myriad of drugs that did nothing to alleviate Roy’s physical ailments and, Roy asserts, actually worsened his mental condition.“My life was a psychotic daze and spiraling downward out of control,” Roy recalls. “Ultimately, this lead to my psychiatrist admitting me to a specialist psychiatric hospital for a period of thirty days. This hospitalization did not help and all that was achieved was a change in the ingredients of my cocktail of prescription medication… Feelings of hopelessness started to predominate my life. Suicide was becoming a frightening and very real option.”

As a professional businessman with obstinate faith in conventional practices, Roy was initially very unreceptive when James and Laurentine encouraged him to read about the natural health methods they were learning about. Roy explains his attitude at the time was, “If the best of the medical profession could not help me, how could my son and daughter-in-law with their nutrition and vitamin-based approach help?”

James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch producers of Food Matters

James and Laurentine understood that it would take powerful measures to shock Roy into kicking his dangerous pharmaceutical drug habit. After realizing that he wasn’t reading the books that they sent him, the duo set off around the world interviewing experienced doctors, researchers, naturopaths and journalists. Their reasoning was that if Roy wouldn’t read the books then maybe he would listen to these experts on DVD.

“They arrived on my doorstep and I was told they were not leaving until I recovered,” Roy remembers. Seeing the filmed footage of all these experts clearly had its desired effect. “After five years on heavy doses of anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, anxiety medication and sleeping tablets, I started taking therapeutic doses of vitamins and minerals and within a week had withdrawn from all prescription medication.” Also, with some not-so-gentle persuasion according to Roy, “I was ordered onto a ten day detox, eating only raw food and no alcohol and continuing on a special cleansing diet thereafter.”

The results? Nothing short of spectacular. Roy suffered none of the serious drug withdrawal side-effects cautioned by the medical profession. Today, he is disease-free, drug-free, twenty kilograms lighter, running twice a week and enjoying a happy retirement. Roy’s return to health was incredibly inspiring evidence of the power of nutritional therapy. “What we learned throughout this journey was so astounding that we wanted to share it with others, and so Food Matters the documentary was born,” James explains with his characteristic passion.

The beauty of Food Matters is that its message has ubiquitous relevance – not only to those who are as sick as James’s father was but also to those looking to prevent illness in their lives but who seem to have become bewildered by the often contradicting health information available to them. With raw honesty, Food Matters cuts through this confusion to reveal how a poor diet coupled with a pill-popping dependency serves the longevity of big business – but not you. In the words of featured nutritional therapy expert Dr. Andrew Saul, “Good health makes a lot of sense, but it doesn’t make a lot of dollars”.

“We’re not suggesting that pharmaceutical drugs don’t have their place, we’re suggesting that our overburdened healthcare practitioners perhaps do not have the time to educate people about nutrition and healthy living,” James points out. “Food Matters was created to help fill that void”.

Food Matters available on DVD

Experts such as Charlotte Gerson explain that the human body is self-curative when it functions in good health. She is adamant that “a normal healthy body can not and will not develop cancer or any other illness for that matter”. Conversely, when our innate healing systems become damaged by an un-natural diet and a toxic environment, disease manifests. Whilst drugs have their place in medical emergencies, chronic use merely masks the symptoms of disease and impedes profound healing.

The journey to good health can sometimes feel too overwhelming to start. Part of the magic of Food Matters is that it is an entertaining and solution-oriented springboard for taking your first step toward feeling good. Food Matters does not involve hours of lecturing scientists or extremist New Age diet ideas. It’s just eighty minutes of powerful common-sense, practical solutions to our current health crisis.

It is very seductive to pretend that our current healthcare problems do not exist. What I’m beginning to realize is that I may never be able to change the way people eat but I can do my very best today to make choices that serve my body and our planet. Food Matters delivers the message that only you are capable of transcending the madness of our current ‘sickcare industry’ and reclaiming the vibrant health that is rightfully yours.

Visit the official Food Matters website to watch the trailer to the movie and discover for yourself why this film managed to gain such strong momentum worldwide and sparked a revolution in natural healthcare solutions.

written by Kali Gray

Delicious, nutritious, green smoothie

Green smoothies are a delicious blended drink made from fruit and leafy greens.

We all know if we want to be healthy we should eat more greens. But many people don’t like greens. Even if you’re one of the people who does like greens, the secret to getting even greater nutritional and health benefits from them is to eat them raw, leaving all the nutrients intact, and to chew them very thoroughly to rupture the cell walls and expose the nutrients within. But the amount of chewing required makes it difficult. Green smoothies are a perfect solution in both cases.

I must admit that when I first heard about green smoothies I thought, yuck! It took me a while to get to the point of trying one. Now, I’m a convert. Not only do they taste great (if you follow my tips for making them), but the benefits are amazing. One of the most noticeable benefits for me has been vision. I’ve been nearsighted (myopic) since I was 12 years old. When I’m drinking green smoothies every day I definitely notice an improvement in my vision.

What If You Don’t Like Greens?

If you gag at the thought of blending up greens and drinking them, here’s the good news. In a green smoothie you use more fruit than you do greens. The fruit masks the taste of the greens, and neutralizes the bitter taste that some greens have, and adds natural sweetness to the drink. There’s a technique to making tasty green smoothies, but it’s simple. Once you’ve mastered it, even kids will love the taste of them.

Because you’re blending the greens in a high-powered blender, the blades are able to liquefy the greens far more thoroughly than we can by chewing. This releases the nutrients from the indigestible cellulose, making them more easily available to our digestive system.

The Trick To Making Tasty Green Smoothies

There are three important tips for making sure your green smoothies taste great. The first, is make sure the fruit you use is ripe. Second, always use one either bananas or mango in your smoothie. Finally, don’t add too many leafy greens.

The sweetness and taste of the fruit will override the taste of the greens, but only if the fruit you use is flavorful to begin with. That means the fruit has to be ripe. Ripe bananas, for instance, are the ones where the peel has started getting brown spots. A ripe banana will be sweeter and more flavorful than when it’s green because as it ripens the starches will convert to sugars. Ripened fruit is also easier to digest, and has greater nutritional value. Where possible, grow your own or shop for your fruit at farmer’s markets where the fruit was more likely to be ripened on the tree or vine.

Always use mango or bananas as a base for your smoothie creation. Because of their consistency both fruits create a smoother texture and keep the ingredients from separating so much. They also both have a strong, sweet taste that will help to mask the taste of the greens.

If you hate greens, or if you’ve already had a green smoothie and it was too ‘green’ for you, don’t give up on them, just add fewer greens next time. It’s better that you start off slow and have fewer greens than abandon greens altogether. As your body starts getting the nutritional benefits from a daily green smoothie, your tastes will change and you’ll find yourself wanting more green in your smoothie. It’s important to listen to your body and do what works for you.

What Goes Into A Green Smoothie?

The basic ingredients of a green smoothie are water, bananas or mango (the base), leafy greens, other ripe fruit that you like or have available. Berries are a great addition to your green smoothie, and most are high in antioxidants and other important nutrients.

What Exactly Are Leafy Greens?

This is an important distinction to make, leafy greens are not vegetables. You want to make sure that you add leafy greens and not vegetables to your green smoothies.

Vegetables as we know them, fall into 4 categories:

• Roots: are the vegetables where the part we eat grows underground. Carrots, potatoes, beets, and turnips are examples of root vegetables.
• Fruit: these are the vegetables that are not sweet but have seeds inside them, just like the sweet fruits which we commonly call fruit. Zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, eggplant, pumpkin, beans and peas.
• Cruciferous: these are vegetables in the Brassica family, such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts.
• Leafy greens: as their name suggests, leafy greens are the green leaves of edible plants. Some of these leafy greens are grown specifically for the leaf itself, such as lettuce, kale, spinach, celery, and parsley. Leafy greens can sometimes be found as the green leafy tops of root vegetables, such as carrots, beets and turnips. There are many wild edible plants (i.e., weeds) that produce leafy greens too, such as dandelion leaves, plantain, chickweed, purslane, yellow dock. If you decide to try wild edibles please be certain that you’ve correctly identified the plants and that they aren’t in a area where they may have been subjected to chemical sprays and other poisons. When picking dandelion, plantain and yellow dock try to find the young leaves they’ll be the best tasting.

What Not To Eat

Be sure to avoid picking and eating the leaves of the nightshade family. Many of our common and favorite vegetables belong to the nightshade family, and the leaves are poisonous. So NEVER put potato, tomato, eggplant, or bell pepper leaves in your green smoothie!

How To Make A Green Smoothie

To make a green smoothie add 4 cups of water to your blender. Rinse a handful of greens, and remove any thick or fibrous stems. Add greens to the blender. Put on the lid and blend, starting on low and turning your blender up to high. Blend until you can’t distinguish any bits of leaf. Add 3-4 bananas (or one mango) depending on how thick you like your smoothies. Add other fruit and berries as you like, removing pits, cores and peels if necessary. Blend again until smooth. Serve and drink fresh.

Some greens that go particularly well in green smoothies are kale, spinach, parsley, Swiss chard, Romaine lettuce, and young dandelion leaves.

Frozen fruits works well in green smoothies, especially in warmer weather, it will make a nice cold refreshing drink. You can also substitute some of the water with ice cubes.

High powered blenders (at least 1000 watts) are best when it comes to making green smoothies. But if the blender you have isn’t that powerful, don’t worry. You may just have to chop the ingredients into smaller pieces so you don’t put too much strain on your blender. It might also work better if you add half the water and the leafy greens to start, blend them as thoroughly as you can, then add the rest of the water and the fruit and blend again.

How Much To Drink And When

Green smoothies are a meal in themselves. They are packed with nutrition, and because they are a blended drink they include lots of fiber and are therefore very filling. They are great as a meal replacement for one or two meals a day. Drink a cup or a quart (liter) at a meal.

They are best consumed on their own, rather than with food. By not mixing them with other, solid food, you ensure that your body will have an easy time digesting them and get the maximum nutritional value. Because they are so easy to digest may find that you have more energy than if you ate a heavy meal, because your body doesn’t have to expend as much energy digesting.

The Easiest Way To Get Started With Green Smoothies

Well, this was what worked for me anyway. Like I said at the start of this article, I had a bit of, um, resistance to green smoothies. What helped convert me was a fun and informative ‘challenge’. It’s called the 3-Day Green Smoothie Challenge. It’s fun, and it’s free. I decide to do the challenge after finding out about it while searching for more information about green smoothies. The nutritional information about green smoothies impressed me so much I just had to try it. I figured I could handle it for 3 days. Well I loved it so much I just kept going after the 3 days was up. I did that for a couple of months. They’ll explain everything you need to do to get started, and send you a daily support emails with information and 3 recipes a day to choose from (or you can create your own of course).

Then for some reason I eventually stopped doing the green smoothies. I started doing more superfood smoothies, things like maca, mesquite and raw cacao. At first I mixed them into the green smoothies, but then I don’t know exactly why, maybe the greens were coming to an end in the garden, anyway, I stopped doing the green smoothies. I was drinking these expensive superfoods instead – supposed to be totally awesomely nutritious. And you know what? I actually feel more benefit from the green smoothies. The maca did have huge benefits, I just sailed through menopause quite easily once I started having it every day in my smoothies. But it’s really nice added to green smoothies too.

I’ve started up with the green smoothies again, and it’s the best thing I could have done. Do you ever notice how you can make positive change in your life or diet, and you feel good because of it. But then for some reason you stop and fall back, and don’t feel so good. Then you start implementing the positive change again and you really notice the benefits so much more the second time around. Does that happen to anyone else? Or is it just me? Anyway, I’ve been drinking green smoothies for about a month now. Every day. I’ve been listening to an interview from the Women’s International Summit for Health with Victoria Boutenko, the raw food pioneer who discovered and popularized green smoothies. I went back and read all of the books I got when I did the green smoothie challenge. The challenge is free, but there is also a very affordable book, Green Smoothie Queen’s Complete Guide to Green Smoothies. It has tons of information, recipes and an interview with Victoria Boutenko. There’s also a Q&A with Victoria, and they are well worth the price. I’ve just learned so much more in the past couple of days by reading them, I highly recommend them.

So are you up for a challenge?

Do your body a favor and sign up for the green smoothie challenge.

Related posts:

1. Strawberry Superherb Green Smoothie There are some tasty foods that just don’t look that appetizing, and certainly are not photogenic. This is one of them. We stopped by our local orchard yesterday and were...
2. Green Smoothie of the Day Today’s green smoothie (breakfast of Champions!) came out really creamy. I’m not sure why, but I’m sure enjoying it. I’ve got 2 superfoods packed in this one, goji berries and...

Himalayan Goji Berries

Goji berries (Lycium barbarum) are the most nutritionally dense fruit on Earth. They are a member of the nightshade family (Solonaceae), which contains many other common vegetables such as potato, sweet potato, tomato, eggplant, and pepper, as well as some poisonous plants like belladonna and deadly nightshade. Native to the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet and Mongolia, the goji berry is now grown in many other countries as well.

Although they have only been introduced in Western countries in recent years, gojis have been used for thousands of years in Tibet and China, both as a culinary ingredient and medicinally.

Unique among fruits because they contain all essential amino acids, goji berries also have the highest concentration of protein of any fruit. They are also loaded with vitamin C, contain more carotenoids than any other food, have twenty-one trace minerals, and are high in fiber. Boasting 15 times the amount of iron found in spinach, as well as calcium, zinc, selenium and many other important trace minerals, there is no doubt that the humble goji berry is a nutritional powerhouse.

This amazing little superfruit also contains natural anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal compounds. Their powerful antioxidant properties and polysaccharides help to boost the immune system. It’s no wonder then, that in traditional Chinese medicine they are renowned for increasing strength and longevity.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the goji is said to act on the Kidney and Liver meridians to help with lower back pain, dizziness and eyesight. They are most often consumed raw, made into a tea or extract, or as an ingredient in soups.

Gojis are most commonly available in dried form, and make a great snack eaten as is, added to trail mix, muesli or oatmeal. They can also be soaked for a couple of hours in enough water to cover them. Then the soak water can be drained off and makes a delicious drink, or both water and berries added to smoothies.

Please note that there can be adverse interactions if you consume goji berries while also taking medication for diabetes, or blood pressure, or take the blood thinner warfarin. So be sure to consult your health care provider if that is the case.

Gojis can often be found in Asian food stores, but most of these come from the commercial growing regions of China and Tibet, and contain high levels of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Even some brands which claim to be organic may not be, so be sure to source your goji berries from a reputable source.

Related posts:

1. Apricot Goji Gelato I often get sweet cravings at night, when I really shouldn’t be eating at all. We were lucky enough to find apricots at a local orchard just a couple days...

Based on all the information that’s been gathered during that time, the report concludes that these frankencrops have done little to increase overall crop yields.

While Big Agriculture has touted that GMO crops will save the world, the report says they are largely failing to do so. GE (Genetically Engineered) soybeans have not increased yields, and GE corn has only marginally increased yields. While corn and soybean yields have risen substantially over the last 15 years overall; that hasn’t been the result of GE traits, but due to traditional selective breeding or improvement of other agricultural practices.

The report says that organic and other methods that use reduced amounts of fertilizer and pesticides compared to typical industrial crop production generally produce yields comparable to those of conventional methods for growing corn or soybeans.

Non-transgenic soybeans in recent low-external-input experiments produced yields 13 percent higher than for GE soybeans.

So why does Big Agriculture continue to push the GMO envelope if this is the case? It’s all about control – these companies through their tinkering own the species they create - they are patented.

These frankencrops can then infect traditional crops (that they don’t own). When this happens, they in effect own that crop too. That is beyond frightening and if you think this view is rather paranoid, there are documented cases of this “infection” happening and then the farmer (who is the victim) is then sued for infringing on the company’s patent.

I mentioned a short while ago about the situation regarding our vanishing food crops. Companies pushing GE crops want to see this happen. Control the food, control the world. All the environmental issues aside, this alone is a good enough reason to ban GMO crops.

While that’s not likely to happen, we can do our bit to preserve traditional food crops by planting gardens with heritage and heirloom seeds.

You can read the entire Union of Concerned Scientists report “Failure To Yield” here (PDF).

Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com
Green Living Tips is an online resource powered by renewable energy offering a wide variety of earth friendly tips, green guides, advice and environment related news to help consumers and business reduce costs, consumption and environmental impact .

Dogs pick up more toxins than we do

Well, you would never guess from the weather today, but it’s spring here in New Zealand, and if you’ve read my article from yesterday you’ll know that we’ve already been exposed to toxic chemicals from neighbors spraying. I was really concerned about our animals, especially our dogs, after reading that in studies looking into how toxins affect pets it was found in general our companion animals had about twice the level of toxins in their bodies that we do. It makes sense when you think about it, our pets are closer to the ground and a lot of toxins come off carpets (including fire retardants) if they spend time inside. Or outside everything that comes in as an airborne toxins will eventually settle on the ground. Since they are living, breathing, lying on and often eating and drinking off the ground – or close to it, it makes sense that they would be exposed to a much higher level of these toxins. So what can you do about it?

I was fortunate enough to find Dr Karen Becker, holistic wellness veterinarian who publishes so much great information about taking care of our pets in a natural, healthy way. I found her on Facebook and asked her what I could do to help my dogs avoid or neutralize these chemicals. She came back very quickly with an answer:

…if you haven’t watched my “how to avoid summer chemicals” video (or a title similar to that I’d recommend it. In a nutshell: rinse your dogs off ALOT, give milk thistle daily and also consider chlorella, if you think your water also affected. This is what I do for my pets. I live “green,” but I am surrounded by farms that spray and it all ends up in my pond…the lowest point in the community.

Here’s the video for everyone who’s interested. She makes the really good point that your animals can still be exposed to toxic chemicals even if you don’t use them. This is exactly what’s happened in our case, and it’s so important for animal guardians to realize because of course, these chemicals not visible and it’s not always obvious where they have been used.

If you have pets, and want to keep them healthy too I’d recommend connecting to Dr Karen Becker on Facebook, searching for her on the Mercola YouTube channel or following her on the Healthy Pets area of the Dr Mercola website.

Heirloom Purple Cauliflower

Many of you coming to this site have asked the question, “is eating organic really worth it?”. My answer, “what’s your health worth? What’s your life worth?” For me, yes it’s certainly worth it.

I’ve been meaning to write an article on this topic for a while now, but I’ve just come across an article on Dr Mercola’s site that does a great job of addressing the question, I’d like to share some of it with you, as well as some of my recent experiences with pesticides.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Pesticides and Your Health

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 90 percent of fungicides, 60 percent of herbicides and 30 percent of insecticides are known to cause cancer.

Lab studies also indicate pesticides can cause other serious health problems, including:

• Infertility
• Birth defects, miscarriages and stillbirths
• Learning disorders
• Aggressive behavior
• Nerve damage
• Cancer of the breast, prostate and lymphatic system

Aside from concern about how “safe” a government’s pesticide safety standards really are, the EPA also provides this disclaimer: “You and your family have a right to know under the law that in certain cases, such as economic loss to farmers, a pesticide not meeting the safety standard may be authorized.”

This means you can reasonably expect during your lifetime that you and your family will be exposed to unsafe levels of pesticides in your food, even by EPA standards.

Vegetables and fruits aren’t the only foods contaminated by pesticides. Factory farm animals eat feed full of pesticides, and these toxins accumulate in their flesh over the course of their lifetimes. When you eat factory-farmed meat, you’re ingesting not only the pesticides from the flesh, but also antibiotics and hormones.

This issue has recently had a serious impact in my own life. I live on a 2 acre small holding, in the middle of commercial sheep farming country. Even though we are growing our heirloom fruit and vegetables organically, and buying in organic dry goods, household products and other things we don’t yet produce ourselves, we’ve recently been hit hard by the fallout (known as spray drift) from neighbors who use pesticides such as roundup. Our newly planted heirloom fruit and nut trees have leaf and blossom burn and are dying, our dogs were throwing up all their meals for 2 days, we have been very sick for 10 days and recovering, but still feeling the effects.

The amazing thing is that the neighbors who have done all this damage, did similar last year, after we had nicely asked them to take care with their agri-chemicals to ensure that they come onto our land. We had major damage in our vegie garden (the orchard wasn’t yet planted) and the yard around our house, we were sick for days.

I watched from a window in disbelief as our neighbor, who had appeared to be showing some consideration while we were watching, came right up to the boundary fence to spray thistles (which we had volunteered to grub out by hand for him), with the wind was blowing our way, just minutes after he saw our truck leave. We normally go together, to share driving He didn’t realize that only one of us had left. When he looked up from his spraying and saw me standing in our yard he quickly sped back home on his ATV, not to be seen again that day.

This same neighbor sprays these toxic chemicals, wearing absolutely no protective gear, sometimes from a machine that sprays jets up into the air not more than a meter behind his head.

Having watched a lot of people spraying pesticides in the 4 years I’ve lived rurally and noticing only very few with any protective gear on, I’ve come to the conclusion that in general the people using these toxic chemicals don’t believe there is any hazard involved. Makes sense doesn’t it? If you knew the consequences, would you spray these poisons on a regular basis with no attempt at protecting yourself?

Based on my experiences, and what I’ve witnessed, I really don’t trust that most of the people who are using pesticides/herbicides are going to bother to keep the usage within ‘safe’ limits. They have no concept of the dangers, how can safety even be a consideration?

The more I live in the rural community, the more shocked and disgusted I am at the state of conventional, commercial farming practices that produces the food we put into our bodies.

I’ve always been an advocate of fresh, local, organic food. But I too have fallen into the trap of thinking, “it’s so much more expensive, I can’t afford it”. When I think about it now, I can’t help but feel deep regret at the damage I’ve already caused in my body. I try to just let it go, and move forward, but with a new, much stronger commitment to eat the absolute healthiest diet I can. And I can tell you, the difference is amazing!

Eating a raw, vegan, organic diet of freshly picked (you don’t get any more local than your own kitchen garden) fruits and vegetables, along with nuts and seeds and homemade fermented foods, I am experiencing a level of health that makes me realize what an adverse impact these pesticides and herbicides have on my mental as well as physical health.

Having been so healthy through my own efforts, and then getting exposed to these toxic chemicals via spray drift I’m seeing all those old symptoms come back. From the list above I definitely experience aggressive behavior, learning disabilities in the form of inability to concentrate, impaired memory, and inability to focus on and understand what I’m reading. I am convinced that much (if not all) of the aggressiveness, violence and craziness that we see so often in the world today is caused by the pesticides and other toxins we humans have put into the food we eat.

We humans may have no natural predators, but we are our own worst enemy.

If you care at all about your health, or your family’s health, and since you’re here I’m assuming that you do, I highly recommend reading of the entire article:
Most Vegetables and Fruits Have ‘Unacceptable’ Levels of Pesticides. After you do, you’ll be better informed to decide for yourself if organic is really worth it.

Related posts:

1. Why Eat Organic – Does It Really Make A Difference? The organic philosophy is one of nourishing the soil in a natural way, by putting goodness back into it and encouraging the natural microbes and worms and other life that...

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is said to be a natural remedy for many ailments. In 400 B.C.E Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine) knew about apple cider vinegar’s antibiotic properties and recommended it to his patients for its healing properties. Since then it’s been valued by many cultures right up to modern times.

Apple cider vinegar has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Among the ailments it’s said to cure are allergies, acne, high cholesterol, joint pain, weight loss, rheumatism, arthritis, gout, dandruff, chronic fatique, candida, sore throat, gum infection, sinus infection, flu, acid reflux, leg cramps and ear infections. It’s also used to help dissolve kidney stones, lower high blood pressure, and it’s also been shown to help with type 2 diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity.

Even though vinegar is acidic, when we take apple cider vinegar it has an alkaline effect in our bodies. The fact that apple cider vinegar causes our pH levels to become more alkaline could play a large part in it’s curative properties. It also reacts to some toxins in our bodies, converting them into less toxic substances. Our bodies need a slightly alkaline pH balance to be healthy. The typical Western diet creates an acidic pH in our bodies, and many health problems are attributed to this. Taking a tonic containing apple cider vinegar can help restore alkalinity, and therefore assist the body in getting rid of some of the health problems listed above.

In researching the health benefits of apple cider vinegar I’ve found a lot of anecdotal evidence – stories from people of the beneficial effects of taking apple cider vinegar. There isn’t scientific evidence to back up all of these claims, but of course unless the studies have been done there won’t be. Lack of scientific evidence doesn’t imply that it doesn’t work.

There was at least one study done on the effects of apple cider vinegar which used acetic acid – the acid component of vinegars. Now, I’d argue that apple cider vinegar is more than just acetic acid. In fact, apple cider vinegar consists of both malic acid and acetic acid. Being made from apples it would also contain pectin, as well as potassium, which promotes cell and tissue growth. Apple cider vinegar also contains almost all the minerals, vitamins and trace elements that our bodies need. Which leads me to suspect that some of the studies that are being done are fairly worthless exercises in determining the value of apple cider vinegar if they aren’t actually using apple cider vinegar in the study.

Because science allows us to break things down into their component parts in order to understand how things work, I think too often scientists only see things as their component parts, missing the whole concept of the synergy found in nature. Everything has the potential to be more than the sum of its parts.

The health benefits of apple cider vinegar will vary depending on the ingredients and process used in making it. Commercial production can use wood shavings, and other vinegars as the base (speeding fermentation), changing the makeup of the end product. You’ll get the greatest health benefits from apple cider vinegar that is made from organic apples, fermented using traditional methods, raw (unpasteurised) and unfiltered. If you can’t find good quality apple cider vinegar you could try making your own. This apple cider vinegar recipe has recipes for two methods of production. The one which uses whole apples will be of better quality for medicinal purposes, the one using scraps is quicker to make. You could make both so that you have something to use sooner while you wait for the whole apple batch to ferment.

Be sure to avoid taking apple cider vinegar neat (undiluted) as it eats away at tooth enamel and can cause burns to the sensitive tissues in your mouth and throat. There have also been reports of apple cider vinegar supplements (in capsule form) causing permanent tissue damage of the esophagus. So use apple cider vinegar in liquid form, diluted with water.

A simple tonic can be made from 1-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon honey in a cup of warm water.

Apple Cider Vinegar for Weight Loss and Good Health

Related posts:

1. Apple Cider Vinegar Drink Recipe – Basic Tonic Apple cider vinegar is amazing stuff with a myriad of health benefits. This basic apple cider vinegar tonic recipe can help you lose weight, combat fatigue, prevent leg cramps and...
2. Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe Like apple juice, the best apple cider vinegars are organic, unfiltered and raw (unpasteurized). Depending on where you live it may be hard to find really good apple cider vinegar....