The New Health Insurance: Eating Like Chimps

I read an article today about a man in Medford, Oregon who lost almost 200 pounds, overcame type-2 diabetes, and climbed California’s Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 U.S. states.  He now claims to enjoy the best health of his life.  How did he do it?   He changed his diet to a raw-food diet that includes copious quantities of green smoothies. Click here to read the entire article.

About a month ago, a new DVD was released called Raw for 30 Days.  It’s a documentary following a group of type 2 diabetics on a raw foods program, including an abundance of greens,  with Dr. Gabriel Cousins at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona.  The people who finished the program had amazing results.  One of the men, a long time diabetic, completely reversed his condition and went on to enroll in naturopathic school so he could help others on their road to health.

A few days ago, I went back to eating solid foods after a week of drinking only green smoothies.  I was joined by at least 50 others who spent last week drinking their greens and experiencing a wide range of health benefits including weight loss, allergy relief, reduction in joint pain, normalization of blood sugar, elimination of depression, mental clarity and abundant energy.

Sounds like snake oil, doesn’t it.  It’s not magic, or placebo or even secret properties of rare and exotic herbs that produce  these amazing results so quickly.  It is the power of green foods, many of them wild and free, often classified as weeds, that produce these miraculous changes.

When you blend the green foods that are too often left as garnish, and mix them with delicious fruits, herbs, and spices, you create a tasty and powerful beverage that can transform your life.  When you remove the foods that drain your health and replace them with foods that fully nourish every cell in your body, miracles can start to happen.

I’ve seen it over and over.  Every two months I lead a group of 50 or so busy people through a 7 day green smoothie cleanse.   During our week together, we each follow our own path and choose the plan that works for us as individuals.  Some of us choose the most rigorous option and replace all of our meals with green smoothies.  Others replace one or two meals a day with green smoothies and eat a high quality diet composed of raw fruits and vegetables.  Still others choose to get their feet wet and replace one or two meals with green smoothies and focus on eating a mostly a whole foods, green vegetable rich diet.

One of the participants last week lost 12 pounds, her allergies cleared and aches and pains that had been plaguing her for months were dramatically reduced.  A participant on one of the previous cleanses reduced his blood sugars by 100 points in just 3 days.  A fibromyalgia sufferer experienced the joy of pain free movement for the first time in years.

I personally know people who have gone off antidepressants and antihistamines after a month of raw foods and greens.  I  know others who have recovered from cancer.

If I were talking about a prescription drug that claimed all the results I’ve seen with whole, fresh foods and green smoothies,  people would be knocking down doors for it.

If this diet is so powerful, why aren’t more people doing it? It’s a question worth exploring and I’ll be doing just that over the next few blog posts, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, learn more about the miracles of green food at www.GreenFoodMagic.com

In this time of political unrest and economic stress, the best gift you can give yourself is health insurance of the most effective and economical sort…taking charge of your health through conscious diet and lifestyle choices and periodic cleansing to counteract the toxic effects of your stressful lifestyle.  Mental clarity, energy and focus will help see you through even the most difficult of times.

Giving Meaning to Halloween: Beyond Candy

I’m finishing up my book about Healthful Halloween rituals and treats and it will be available in a day or so…just in time for Halloween.

How did we end up associating Halloween with gorging ourselves with candy and other goodies?  Do you know the background of the holiday and what trick or treat really means?

Would you like to celebrate Halloween without creating hyperactive, immune compromised kids as a result?

Do you know that absentee rates climb and doctor visits increase the week after Halloween?

I’m working on an article to empower you to take charge and enjoy without compromising the health of you and your loved ones.  Check back later for details.

3 Simple Strategies to Keep Your Waistline from Expanding this Holiday Season

Can you believe it’s already a week into October? Halloween is just a few weeks away. Shortly after that, Thanksgiving rolls around and Christmas is right around the corner. Slip in Hanukah, Kwanza and New Years and the year is over.

If you’re like most people, your eating goes down the drain right around October 31, and doesn’t seem to get back on track until January 1 when you make the same old New Year’s Resolutions to get in shape…you know, the ones you made last year and the year before that for as far back as you remember.

Starting with the Halloween candy and ending with the New Year’s Eve champagne, with lots of Turkey, cookies, and pumpkin pie in between, there’s no end to the opportunity for expanding your waistline and depleting your energy.

How would it feel to wake up on New Year’s Day feeling energetic, alert and fit? If that’s what you’re aiming for, then here’s a few strategies to keep you on target.

Start out by forgoing the bags and bags of halloween candy to give the trick-or-treaters. They will collect way more candy than they need without your contribution. Instead, go to the dollar store or the party supply store and buy more long lasting things to give the kids—pencils, superballs, whistles, and cool shaped erasers are just a few ideas. Put them all in a big cauldron and let the kids choose. I find that the kids love it. Besides, you’ll be able to save the leftovers for next year, rather than having to eat them.

Learn some yummy, health supporting substitutions for favorite holiday foods. Recipes can be easily found for healthy and delicious holiday treats like chocolate spiders, pumpkin pie, thanksgiving stuffing, gingerbread cookies and latkes.

Exercise at least 4 times a week. Yes, I know you get busy with preparing for holidays, shopping, and going to parties, but this is not the time to let your exercise go. Think about it this way. Every mile you walk burns about 100 calories. The more you exercise, the more you can indulge without guilt.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my strategies through a series of healthy holiday tools, beginning with a live webcast teleclass on October 22 called Indulge Without The Bulge.

Keep your sight on how you want to feel on January 1, and refer to your goals whenever the temptations are about to carry you down the slippery slope to post holiday blues. Make more productive New Year’s Resolutions, and start the year fit, trim and joyful.

Simple Ways To Eat Your Way Out Of Pain And Inflammation

In  all the years I’ve been working with people with autoimmune and inflammatory health challenges, I’ve always been amazed at just how many people believe that what you eat has no effect on how much pain and inflammation you experience. Well, I am here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth.

It breaks my heart to see so many people needlessly suffering. The worst part of all is that it just doesn’t have to be this way. A few simple changes in the way you eat can result in dramatic improvements in how you feel, sometimes in a matter of days.

If you think of inflammation as the fire and your body’s defense against it as fire fighters, you can look at food in a whole new way.  Certain foods increase the fire and paralyze the firefighters. Other foods decrease the fire and strengthen the firefighters.  Wouldn’t if be nice to know the pain-free recipes from the pain-ful recipes?

Anti-inflammatory drugs work by decreasing your body’s production of inflammatory chemicals called prostaglandins. You can think of the inflammatory prostaglandins as the fire. The problem with taking the drugs is that they also disable the firefighters, also known as anti-inflammatory prostaglandins. What that means is that as soon as you stop taking the drugs, the inflammation comes back, sometimes worse than before because now your firefighters are sleeping on the job.

Choosing the right foods can either dramatically increase inflammation, pain and stiffness, or decrease it. There are many ways to manage inflammation without medication. I’d like to share three of them with you.

1) Give yourself an oil change. The fats you eat can dramatically affect the amount of inflammation your body produces. The most inflammatory fats are Trans fats, found in partially hydrogenated oils and all heated polyunsaturated vegetable oils. These are in all processed and packaged foods – cookies, crackers, desserts and prepackaged meals. Meat, poultry, milk and peanuts contain arachidonic acid, the precursor to inflammatory prostaglandins. Avoid these for a few weeks and notice how much better you feel. Deep ocean fish contain anti-inflammatory fats, but the FDA warns against consuming fish more than once a week, due to risk of heavy metal contamination. Flax, chia and hemp seeds, green leafy vegetables and sea vegetables also contain anti-inflammatory fats, and are safe to consume daily.

2) Eat anti-oxidant and mineral rich, alkalizing fresh fruits and vegetables. To make more firefighters, you need B- vitamins, Vitamin C and minerals such as zinc and magnesium. Processed foods are deficient in these key nutrients and they also deplete your stores of the B vitamins. Fresh vegetables and fruits alkalize your body and provide you with the vitamins and minerals you need to make more fire-fighters.

3) Use anti-inflammatory herbs and spices. There are several herbs that are extremely effective at putting out the fire. Among the most powerful are ginger, turmeric, onion and garlic. Other foods, such as berries, cherries and grapes contain bioflavonoids that decrease inflammation. Use generous amounts of herbs and spices in your food preparation.

Living with pain and inflammation is just not fun! While drugs can provide you temporary relief, they are not without side effects. Try these simple tips and as your body comes back into balances, inflammation will become a thing of the past.

I have a chart of anti-inflammatory foods (pain free) and herbs that you can download, print and keep handy in your kitchen. Pick up your FREE copy today by going to

http://www.EatYourWayOutOfPain.com

Lemon & Ginger Beverage: Natural Remedies

I just made the most delicious beverage and set it up so I can drink it whenever I want to. It may sound simple, but it was powerfully energizing and cleansing. I bought a small container of fresh squeezed lemon juice so I could quickly have lemon water when I’m in a hurry without having to squeeze lemons.

Then I had a brainstorm.

What if I pressed ginger and had a jar of ginger juice on hand too? I put about a teaspoon of each juice into 12 ounces of water and drank it. It was delicious. I stored the rest of the ginger juice in the refrigerator. Now anytime I want to, I can make a delicious beverage.

Ginger has very potent anti-inflammatory properties and is also good for helping nausea. It is often prescribed for women with morning sickness. I use it freely in my anti-inflammatory recipes, some of which I published as part of my Eat Your Way Out of Pain Homestudy class.

In addition to being a great source of Vitamin C, lemon juice is also a great antiseptic. For a sore throat, dilute lemon juice 1/2 and 1/2 with water and gargle frequently. Nature makes the best remedies, doesn’t she? Here’s a list of some ideas for using lemon medicinally, according to Jethro Kloss in the book Back to Eden.

• A slice of lemon wrapped overnight around a toe that has a corn greatly relieves the pain.
• A slice of lemon wrapped over a swollen, abscessed finger joint brings the pus to the surface and promotes healing
• A tablespoon of lemon juice one hour before each meal can be used to reduce asthma.
• The juice of the lemon in a glass of hot water one hour before breakfast every morning can be helpful for liver complaints .
• Drinking a large glass of hot water with the juice of a lemon added, while soaking the feet and calves in a deep bucket of water with mustard added can has been shown to relieve the flu.
• A teaspoon of lemon juice in half a glass of water relieves heartburn.
• 1-2 ounces of lemon juice diluted in water, taken three times a day, one hour before meals and at bedtime has been shown to help rheumatism.
• Lemon juice diluted in water and taken as cold as possible can stop hemorrhage .
• The juice of 3-4 lemons a day will help decrease excessive menstruation.

During the 1 week Group Green Cleanse I lead, I plan to start each day with lemon-ginger water and possibly add a pinch of cayenne for a super cleansing effect.

Other ways to drink the lemon and ginger juice:

• spirulina ginger lemon water for a quick pick me up
• ginger-lemonade: sweeten with a teaspoon of agave or a pinch of stevia
• lemon gingerale: use sparkling water instead of plain water. Sweeten if desired.
• lemon-ginger green smoothie: put a handful of grapes and a few handfuls of greens in the blender and add 1 teaspoon ginger juice and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Blend and enjoy. Yum.

Do you have any other ideas? Please share them in the comment section.

If you haven’t signed up for Dr. Ritamarie’s Green Cleanse yet, it’s not too late. The early enrollment discount has been extended until midnight tonight