The Role of Juicing in Reversing Chronic Degenerative Disease

Chronic degenerative disease in the United States has far superseded an epidemic. As a US citizen you have a 75% chance of dying from a chronic degenerative disease (see chart below). That is a staggering number! You only have a 25% chance of dying from old age or natural causes, the way most of prefer to exit this life. According to former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, of the 2.4 million deaths that occur in the United States each year, 75% are the result of avoidable nutritional factor diseases. That is a very different picture than one gets from visiting with your local MD or at the time of diagnosis. When you are diagnosed with a chronic degenerative disease, whether it be cancer, heart disease or Alzheimer's, how often are you told by your doctor that there is a 75% chance that your current disease was caused by a problem with your diet? If you WERE told this how much differently would you approach your disease? It is not entirely your medical doctor's fault. Less then 7% of MD's have any nutritional training in medical school and of the 7% that do most do not complete more then 1 semester of training in nutrition. If the disease they are trying to treat is caused by something they have no training or experience in how skilled are they at treating and reversing the root cause of your disease? The answer is not very. The responsibility for seeking out treatment and care relevant and directly related to reversing and healing the body lies with the consumer or patient. But if the patient is given false and misleading information, such as your disease is caused by heredity or unknown causes in totality, and not given the correct information, that there is a 75% chance your disease is caused by your diet, the consumer has no way of knowing.




If the cause of your disease is almost completely caused by what you are eating does it make sense to ingest a pharmaceutical medication to treat the root of the disease or does it make more sense to correct the cause of your disease, your diet? The answer seems straight forward yet most individuals facing a chronic degenerative disease do little to nothing to change their diet. This in turns continues feeding the root cause of the disease. When the root of the disease is never addressed or corrected how likely do you think it is that your body will be able to heal or reverse the disease?

The epidemic of chronic degenerative disease mainly lies in what it is we are eating and what we are not eating. For thousands of years our ancestors lived off the land. They grew and raised what they ate. They didn't use chemicals or advanced growing techniques, such an genetically engineered growing methods. Their livestock lived and fed on the open range and they ate in tune with the seasons. If it couldn't be grown in the current weather, in the area in which you lived you didn't eat it! Most of the diet was comprised of fruits, vegetables and grains. There was meat consumption but it was limited and eaten for special occasions. Processed and refined foods were unheard of, if you wanted a snack you didn't open a package, you went out a picked it.

The more we learn the more we know about the body. We know the body needs a plentiful supply of vitamins, minerals and trace elements to function optimally. It needs foods that it can digest and eliminate effectively. In very recent time we are now learning the body also needs phytochemcials. We still know relatively little about the these amazing chemicals but the more we learn the more in awe we become (phytochemcials are discussed in detail a bit later). So without giving the body what it needs it cannot run effectively or optimally. On the other side of the coin what does the body do with all that it can't use or doesn't need? Well for instance, and as one example, we know that white and processed foods, such as white breads and pastas clog and become stuck in various regions of the digestive system most notably the colon. Just take a white piece of bread and place it in a cup of water and see what it turns into. This will give you a good idea of what it turns into as it enters your body. A pasty, thick, sticky substance. When this occurs the body is unable to eliminate waste the way it should and everything gets congested. When waste does not leave the body in a timely manner it begins to putrefy and you can only imagine what happens during the putrefaction process. It doesn't take a Ph. D., just a trip to your out to your trash can on a hot day, to know you don't want purification going on in the body for even a moment, let alone a day, a month or longer....ewwww!!!! 

Giving the body what it needs is vital to the prevention and treatment of the root cause of chronic degenerative disease. Raw and living foods is at the very top of the list for giving the body what it needs. Now let's specifically look at the role of juicing and why it is so effective at treating and preventing chronic degenerative disease.

Much of degenerative disease lies in the inability of the gastro-intestinal tract and the cells to absorb nutrients and eliminate toxicity at the cellular level. When this occurs there is an imbalance at the cellular level between sodium and potassium. The cells swell with sodium and their ability to produce energy and function effectively is diminished. When this occurs cellular changes happen and degenerative disease can begin. Fresh living juices flush the cells of sodium and restore potassium levels at the cellular level. When this occurs cells begin producing energy effectively again and can heal and repair themselves.

Fresh, live juices, are rich in enzymes (amylase, protease and lipase), which are destroyed when heated at wet temperatures higher than 45ºC/117ºF and 85ºC/150ºF with dry heat. Processed juices found in the store have been heated, and therefore all the active enzymes have been killed. Enzymes are the catalyst within the body that make all internal processes work. Diets that are high in cooked foods are completely enzyme deficient. When the body becomes enzyme deficient it must pull its own enzymes from other processes and processes begin to slow down and work ineffectively. Giving the body lots of fresh and living juices provides the body with living and active enzymes, allowing the body processes to again begin working optimally.

Juicing also allows the body to intake a huge volume of nutrients, an amount you could never intake by just eating alone. While it is important to be eating a diet that is comprised of at least 50% and more toward 80% of living foods, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains and legumes, the ability to ingest as much of these foods through eating could not be attained as you can through juicing. Flooding the body with the deficient and needed nutrients it needs to function helps to restore balance and begin the process of reversing disease.

Juicing also removes the fiber from the plant. The digestive system is usually impaired and of small capacity in those that are sick, juicing helps to promote maximum absorption with minimum digestive effort. While fiber is important and necessary for the digestive system and cleansing purposes it also inhibits the ability of the body to absorb all of the nutrients within the foods. By juicing you removing the fiber and the body is able to easily absorb the nutrients without any digestion and little loss of nutrients.

When you juice you are also in taking a large quantity of vitamins, minerals and phytochemcials that otherwise are destroyed through processing or cooking in other vegetable and fruit preparations. Phytochemicals are the active chemical components within plants that interact with our body chemistry and have a variety of functions from blood pressure and hormone regulation to cancer regression.Phytochemicals are most notably known for their anti-cancer properties.There are literally thousands of phytochemicals contained within one plant. These phytochemicals are destroyed through heating and processing but when you juice you are in taking these chemicals unharmed and fully active.

The pH balance of the body is also highly important. Few people know what their body pH is. (I have written a detailed discussion about body pH and why it is important on this blog for more information). The main point is that most people are far too acidic, which mostly comes from dietary factors, but also can occur when disease has been present in the body. If the body stays acidic body processes and organs are worn down and disease is able to thrive. Disease thrives in an acidic environment but cannot live in an alkaline environment. Juicing helps to restore the pH balance of the body. pH strips can be purchased inexpensively at any natural grocer. I recommend testing your pH several times a day until you begin reaching 7.4 which is optimal. All vegetables are alkalizing. So adding in fresh vegetable juices is important. The benefits of making your body pH level less acidic including:

• Improved brain function 
• Improved heart function
• Slowing down the aging process
• Improved joint function – helping with arthritis
• Less disease-prone body environment. Acidic environments breed diseases.
• Better digestion

Green juices help to rebuild the blood and give the body higher oxygen levels which are imperative to restoring cell balance and functioning which in turns helps the body to heal from disease. This is because on a molecular level chlorophyll and hemoglobin (the part of the blood that carries oxygen) is almost identical. More amazingly scientists have found that when you assimilate chlorophyll into the body, it makes the chemical shift and actually becomes hemin. Essentially, taking chlorophyll is almost like getting a blood transfusion! A huge benefit to those with chronic disease.

Juicing also helps to boost the immune system. In chronic disease the immune system has been overrun and unable to effectively rid itself of diseased cells. Restoring full functionality of the immune system is essential to healing from disease. Juices give you a wide variety and large volume of antioxidants which are essential for a healthy immune system. The antioxidants from fruits and vegetables include vitamins A, C, E, plus a wide range of phytochemicals.

The liver has hundreds of functions but most notably it functions to clean the blood and remove toxins and metabolic waste. Diseased cells put off a tremendous amount of toxins that the liver then has to process and eliminate from the body. As the liver becomes overrun its ability to rid the body of this waste is greatly diminished. This means toxins remain in the body which re-enters the blood stream and eventually ends up in other organs and deep within body tissues. It also means the body is unable to keep the body properly detoxified which continues the cycle of disease. Certain nutrients are needed to provide the liver proper cleansing. Antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and N-acetyl cysteine are potent liver cleansers. In addition, B-vitamins riboflavin and niacin also aid liver cleansing. Cabbage, brussel sprouts and cauliflower have been found to be great for the liver. Juicing helps to provide these nutrients to the liver so that it can properly detoxify and keep and stay in optimal health to rid the body of toxic disease waste.

Juicing is a powerful and effective way of restoring balance within the body, correcting the problems of deficiency and toxicity both of which are the main causes of disease and gives the body the abundancy of nutrients it needs to heal. 

If you are looking for some wonderful and delicious juicing recipes there is a great list included on this blog. 

Much health and happiness!

Cleanse Your Way to Perfect Balance & Health!

Cleansing and detoxification is an important element to living a long and healthy life. Even if you have healthy dietary and lifestyle practices the fact is we all live in a toxic environment which touches everything from the foods we eat to the air we breathe. This translates into toxic accumulation within the body. Many of us also find ourselves struggling with pesky health symptoms seen as something we are expected to live with or to take a drug from whether it be recurrent pain, mood swings, blood sugar or weight issues, migraines, allergies, high blood pressure or low energy. The underlying cause and a contributing factor to many of our health problems resides within both toxicity and deficiency. When the body is overwhelmed with toxic substances, coming from food chemicals and additives; stress and negative thinking; poor nutritional choices including unhealthy fats, sugar and processed foods and is also deficient in the raw building blocks it needs to build healthy cells, give us vibrant energy and keep us renewed and revitalized, our body and mind begin to slow and we loose our vibrancy. 


Toxins accumulate mostly in the fatty tissues within our body and organs, think of the heart, liver, brain, and there they remain until we cleanse and detoxify! If we don't cleanse our bodies periodically our body processes slow down, we are depleted of vital life energy, our mind is clouded and pesky health symptoms begin to emerge. Pesky health symptoms are signals from the body that something is wrong or the body is not being given what it needs. These symptoms are indications the body is struggling to maintain health and if not addressed and reversed, these small issues can turn into a full blow health crises. The impact of a deficient and toxic body over time is degraded health, depleted energy, sickness and eventually pain and disease. 

Cleansing is based on the belief that the human body is self healing and naturally has the ability to balance and heal. Sickness, weight retention and healthy symptoms occur when the body is not getting what it needs and/or is so overly toxic it is no longer balanced and able to self heal. The body will self-heal and find balance again naturally when it is cleansed and given the raw building blocks it needs. Cleansing:

• Helps the body remove accumulated wastes and toxins that have accumulated
• Provides the body with large doses of the highest quality and most easily utilized living nutrients
• Restores balance and vitality at a cellular level 
• Helps implement healthy dietary and lifestyle practices 
• Lays a healthy foundation to manifesting your personal health intentions and goals. 

When the body is refreshed through the process of cleansing, it will self heal and balance, resulting in superior health, balanced weight and vibrant energy! The most effective natural way to cleanse the body is through living pure foods and juices that flood the body with high levels of living nutrients and living enzymes, restoring balance and flushing toxins all at a cellular level. 

Many companies offer gimmicky "cleansing and detoxification programs" centered around a product, usually a series of pills. This is a highly ineffective way to detoxify the body and is not cleansing, in the true sense of the word. True cleansing works on all areas of one's being and life concurrently. This includes, diet and lifestyle, movement and relaxation, as well as reducing stress and restoring balance to the body, mind and spirit. Detoxification does not occur on a deep level when the focus is on just one area. Simplistic products also do nothing to teach you how to implement healthy long term living patterns or how to care for your health, body, mind and spirit, in a natural basic way. 

At Align we offer comprehensive Holistic cleansing & detoxification programs that cleanse the body on a deep level. Through our cleansing process you will:

• Set reachable personal goals and intentions for your health and well being!
• Learn simple yet powerful tools to change your relationship with food, your lifestyle and health dramatically!
• Facilitate greater balance, healing, vitality and health through Raw Foods, Juicing & Superfood
• Utilize Ayurvedic Principles & Lifestyle Modifications for Balance & Healthy Living
• Detoxify your Body & Mind
• Balance Body pH and Weight 
• Enhance Energy & Overall Health
• Implement Healthy Lifestyle & Dietary Practices
• Reshape your routine, overhauling your outlook and transform your intentions into action!

Our 14 & 30 Day Personalized Cleansing Programs Focus on all areas including:

• Digestive & the natural rhythms of the body
• Living Foods and Juices
• Medicinal Cleansing Herbs 
• Exercise, Relaxation & Yoga 
• Ayurvedic Lifestyle Modifications

After cleansing you will:

• Increase your energy levels 
• Establishing the most healthful lifestyle and dietary practices 
• Detoxify your mind, purify your body, reshape your routine, overhaul your outlook and transform your intentions into action!

Our cleansing programs are also the first step in our Your Perfect Weight Program. During the cleanse you will have weekly wellness coaching to support you in your journey, keep you right on track and help you succeed in meeting your weekly health goals and intentions!

If there is just one thing you do to better your health and well being, cleansing should be at the very top of your list. Cleansing clears the way for the clear and free flow of energy through all areas of your life, revitalizes your body and mind, and restores balance in every area of your health and well being. The impacts and effects of holistic natural cleansing are powerful and long lasting!

Individualized Optimal Nutrition Planning

Each of us has our own biochemical make up. No two of us are exactly the same. We can see this just by looking at one another, but that just scratches the surface. Our differences and unique individuality go far beneath the outer layer, penetrating all the way to our core. As we are each different, we each have different nutritional needs and optimal diet requirements. Without the proper nutritional intake we will succumb to minor sickness such as the cold, flu, allergies, low energy and weight issues as well as more major health problems such as arthritis, diabetes, ulcers, migraines, chronic fatigue, cancer, heart disease, stroke and more. We are facing a health crisis in this country. Living with a chronic issue or sickness is seen by many to still be living in health, while that is not the case. Optimal health is the absence of ALL symptoms, sickness and chronic problems as well as strong and lasting energy throughout the day, the absence of food cravings and sustained emotional balance. Living with pain, chronic problems or on prescription medication of any kind is not living in a state of health. An optimal diet is the foundation of any healthy lifestyle and the cornerstone of good and lasting health. It is what prevents or accelerates health issues and what gives us our basis for optimal health. Without a personalized optimal diet optimal health is not possible.

Ever day we are bombarded with “conflicting” nutritional information, fad diets, pressure and frustration to look and feel our best without knowing exactly how to make that happen. As I have worked with people it has become increasingly clear that diet standards and particular ways of eating are not only an out dated approach to health but just don’t work. It is common for most diets, fad diets such as the Zone or South Beach, to work for about 30-35% of the individuals on that particular diet, while failing for the remaining portion. Why is that? The answer to that question is found in bio-individuality. Bio-individuality is multi-faceted and includes how your body pH responds to your diet, if your body needs a higher percentage of protein or carbohydrates, what your mind and body constitutional make-up is and if there are any existing nutritional deficiencies or physical or mental weaknesses. There are certain nutrients you as a unique individual will need but there are also some foods that help to keep your body balanced and some that will throw you out of balance, there are ways of eating that will stabilize your blood sugar and body pH and others that will make you become acidic and will make your blood sugar tumble around like a roller coaster ride. Again the key is found in your individual biochemistry.

How do you know if your diet is working for you and if you have already created the optimal nutritional approach for yourself?  There are several key metrics that indicate your diet is working for you and that you are on the right track to strong and lasting health. These metric include:

• You have sustained and consistent energy levels throughout the entire day. You don’t have lulls, 2pm crashes or exhaustion by quitting time. You wake up feeling refreshed, renewed and ready to dive into a new day. You don’t feel cloudy or foggy. 


• You feel emotionally balanced and stable without intermittent feelings of being blue, depressed, irritated, angry, overly emotional or anxious. 


• You don’t have food cravings such as strong cravings for sweet, salty or fatty foods. 


• You easily stay or can return to your perfect weight without much struggle or thought. If you happen to gain a few pounds you easily loose it within the coming days. 


• Your body pH stays right around 7.46 without much deviation. 


• You feel calm, balanced and at peace. 


• You aren’t experiencing any health problems, even minor problems such as pain, skin problems, allergies, headaches, ect. 

To help my clients achieve their optimal health and to meet and sustain the above health metrics I have developed Individualized Optimal Nutrition Planning. With IONP you can now live and experience life as you were meant to with the highest levels of health, clarity and energy.

Through Individualized Optimal Nutritional Planning together we will create a nutritional approach and plan that:

• Helps you achieve and maintain the highest levels of energy. 


• Helps you feel and stay emotionally balanced. 


• Eliminates food cravings. 


• Takes and keeps you at your perfect balanced weight. 


• Keeps your body pH optimal. 


• Helps you feel balanced and calm. 


• Eliminates and prevents ALL symptoms and health issues.


• Teaches you to shop and cook for optimal health. 


• Assesses your kitchen and prepares you for providing only the highest level of nutrition to you and your family.  

Through Individualized Optimal Nutritional Planning we will monitor your body pH as a means of discovering your optimal diet. You will also be taught how to monitor your own body pH which is one of the best indicators of good and long term health. You will learn the proper combination and proportions of proteins, fats and carbohydrates specific to your bio-individuality which will play a key role in meeting the above goals. You will learn your mind and body constitutional make up and the types of foods that best suit your constitution for optimal health and balance. You will discover any underlying nutritional deficiencies and work to restore areas of deficiency.

Included in your IONP is a:

• Complete Individualized Optimal Nutrition Plan with 3 one-on-one 60 minute sessions. 


• Personal one-on-one organic cooking and live food un-cooking class in your own home! I will come to your home and teach you the basics of live and organic food preparation and cooking. After which you will have a strong base of knowledge of how to prepare and make foods that are living, whole and have the highest nutritional value! 


• Complete kitchen assessment where we will assess your current kitchen offerings, set-up and you will learn how to turn your kitchen into a Natural Health and Healing Mecca, increasing and maintaining the highest levels of health for you and your entire family!  


• One-on-one grocery store tour. Together we will make a trip to the local natural grocer where you will learn how to shop organic and natural, how to read labels, the health contributions and benefits of various foods and learn about foods that seem foreign to the Western diet but are oh so healthy!

Contact us today to start your very own Individualized Optimal Nutrition Plan!

My Favorite Juicing Receipes

Drinking live fruit and vegetable juices is an important element to the most healthful of diets. Juicing fresh organic fruits and vegetables is beneficial to your health for so many reasons. Some of the most important include:

• Live juices work to flush the cells, organs and systems within the body with living and active nutrients and enzymes. This helps the cells to release stored toxins and to provide them with the living material needed to grow and repair effectively. 


• You can intake a larger quantity of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes through drinking the juice then you would ever be able to eat alone. 


• Juices are a raw food and helps you to meet your body and mind's need for 80% of your diet living and raw for maximum vitality and living. 


• Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are alkalizing to the body which helps to restore and maintain healthy body pH which is essential to good and lasting health.


• Because the enzymes and nutrients within the juice are active and alive the body can put them right into use without any digestive energy. Living juices add energy back to the body instead of taking away from it. 

Here are some extra yummy and unique juicing recipes to help get you started. I recommend my client's get 2-3 glasses of living juices a day for optimal health....


Green Peace
8-10 Green Leaves (kale, spinach, lettuce)
Spirulina or chlorella
Kelp Powder
Turnip or beet greens
Cilantro
Parsley
Green Apple
Lemon
Fresh Ginger Root

Pineapple Express
2 Cucumbers
¼ Pineapple
2 limes

Electrolyte Mix
Coconut Water
Lemon
Limes
Pinch of sea salt

Grapefruit Divine
Grapefruit
Fresh mint
Agave nectar

Beet by Any Other Name
Beet
Oranges
Apples (any kind)
Cinnamon
Agave Nectar

The Jack Lalanne
Carrot
Celery
Beet leaves and tops
Parsley
Lettuce
Spinach
Tomatoes
Sea Salt

Asian Pear
Asian Pears
Lemongrass
Celery
Agave Nectar

Twisted Carrot
Carrot
Celery
Green Apple
Mango

Green Goddess
Spinach
Kale
Celery
Lemon
Parsley
Gingerroot
Green Apple

Potassium Plus
Spinach
Parsely
Celery
Carrots

Passionate Melon
Cantaloupe
Passion Fruit
Grapes

Drink to Good Health! 

Why Raw?

A raw food diet consists of uncooked or processed fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains and seeds or any other food that is kept in its natural state. Raw foods are those that have not been cooked over 110-120 degrees which preserves the vitamins, minerals, enzymes and oxygen in the living food. A raw food is the most natural and healthy way for humans to consume food. That is why I am taking the Raw Food 30 Day challenge. For the next 30 days I will eat only raw foods. I will share my journey along the way for others that may be interested in giving it a try. Here are my top 6 reasons to Go Raw! 

1. Essential Vitamins & Minerals - Food has essential vitamins and minerals that our bodies, minds and spirits need to function at the highest levels of being. Vitamins and minerals are small messengers each with different messages to tell within our bodies. Vitamins fall into two categories: fat soluble and water soluble. The fat-soluble vitamins — A, D, E, and K — dissolve in fat and can be stored in your body. The water-soluble vitamins — C and the B-complex vitamins (such as vitamins B6, B12, niacin, riboflavin, and folate) — need to dissolve in water before your body can absorb them. Because of this, your body can't store these vitamins. Any vitamin C or B that your body doesn't use as it passes through your system is lost. So you need a fresh supply of these vitamins every day. Whereas vitamins are organic substances (made by plants or animals), minerals are inorganic elements that come from the soil and water and are absorbed by plants. Vitamins and minerals allow our bodies and minds to perform the hundreds and thousands of tasks they carry out on a daily basis. Without them we begin to become deficient. Any deficiency is extreme for the body as it cannot carry out the tasks needed in a healthy manner without the needed vitamin or mineral. The body is amazing though and will compensate for the deficiency often by pulling reserves from other places within the body or by taking away from less vital organs, systems and processes. Less vital however still very important! For instance if digestion is even remotely degraded we stop extracting, assimilating and excreting in the most healthy way. All areas are degraded. Over time a vitamin and mineral deficiency can add up to tremendous health problems. Because of the way we process and eat our foods here in the US we see a huge number of people deficient in needed vitamins and minerals. We often eat very little nutrient dense foods and the ones we do manage to get into our diet are cooked and processed. Cooking and processing food degrades their vitamin and mineral content many times by leeching the vitamins and minerals out of the food and into the water in which the food is being cooked. High heat further kills and degrades the vitamins and minerals. So by the time we ingest the food the vitamin and mineral content is poor to minimal. Refining also further degrades the vitamin and mineral content. Take bread for instance, the process in which bread is made strips the grain of its most nutritional out layer and leaves a grain that is difficult for our digestive system to utilize or pass. 


2. Fiber - Cooking also degrades the fiber content of foods. The rough outer layer of most vegetables is an indigestible form of fiber that is much needed by the body to keep the digestive tract and colon cleaned and cleansed. One of the leading reasons we see such high cancer rates of the colon and other digestive organs is because of our lack of fiber ingestion and its regular cleansing effects. Indigestible fiber comes in the form of roughage, the state in which most vegetables grow from the Earth. Eating these vegetables in their natural form is what is most healthy and cleansing to our bodies. It also helps to clean cholesterol out of our blood. 


3. Enzymes - What are enzymes? Dr. Edward Howell, one of the leading researchers in enzyme therapy, stays “Enzymes are substances which make life possible.” They are needed for every chemical reaction that occurs in the body. From digestive processes to neurotransmitter function in the brain. Enzymes are active substance that are catalysts, they make the function occur. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures above 118 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that cooked and processed foods contain few, if any, enzymes. Enzymes are destroyed when food is cooked at a high heat and through the packaging and preparation we typically see in the food industry. Living foods, raw foods, in other wards foods that have not under gone any cooking or processing of any kind, the food in its Natural state, contains active living enzymes. When we ingest these living enzymes our body is able to readily and immediately put them into action. When we ingest foods that are dead or do not have any living enzymes our body then is required to make its own enzymes which takes energy away from other processes. When we take in active enzymes from living foods our bodies are able to correct enzyme imbalance, integrate living enzymes and overall increase the efficiency of digestion and other enzyme dependent processes. 


4. Probiotics - Probiotics are all the rage right now but there is little understanding as to why that is. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria. They help our intestinal tract make vitamins, processes nutrients and rid the body of bad bacteria, germs and parasites. Because our food system is infiltrated with the use of antibiotics our bodies have become filled with second hand antibiotics. Antibiotics are good at killing the bad bacteria but it also destroys all living and beneficial bacteria in the body. Without a new input of beneficial bacteria our body can remain depleted. Raw foods include bacteria and other micro-organisms that affect the immune system and digestion by populating the digestive tract with beneficial gut flora, beneficial bacteria. These are generally killed by cooking. Through eating living and raw foods you help to keep your good bacteria in balance and healthy. 


5. Cleansing - Even if we follow the very best of diet and lifestyle practices we are living in a highly toxic and polluted environment. Eating inorganic foods that are heavily laden with toxic herbicides and pesticides, breathing air that is filled with petro chemicals, drinking ground water that is containment by our own waste and toxic byproducts and living in environments that are stressful takes a toll on our body especially the organs of elimination. Eating and drinking raw foods and juices helps to flush the cells and organs with highly nutrient dense activities living nutrients. This encourages the cells to release stored toxins and build healthy new cells. 


6. Heal & Restore - The human body is made to function at optimal levels of health at all times. The body isn't able to self heal any longer when the system becomes too deficient in needed nutrients or it becomes so over toxified that essential processes cannot function. When sickness or unwanted symptoms begin to appear we know we have become deficient or too toxic. Raw living foods help to restore and correct both deficiency and toxicity. First it supplies the body with the highest level of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and enzymes and at the same times flushes the cells and organs helping the body to remove toxic build up. Once these two areas are addressed the body is able to initiate self healing and corrective measures. Disease cannot exist where there is balance. Raw foods help to bring balance to the body and mind. They also help to balance weight, restore health and reverse unwanted sickness, disease and conditions. 

This free video on YouTube has a detailed and amazing explanation of the Raw Food Lifestyle and the befits to your body, mind and soul! 


Raw for Life


Blessings of Health!

Food PH Chart - Most Alkaline and Acidic Foods

I talked recently about the importance of knowing your personal pH and monitoring the alkalinity level of your body to maintain long term vibrant health and well being and to avoid degenerative diseases and pain. 


I found the following web page to give great continued information of this topic and to provide a detailed and easy to use chart of acidic and alkaline foods.... 



Balanced body chemistry is of utmost importance for the maintenance of health and correction of disease. Acidosis, or over-acidity in the body tissues, is one of the basic causes of many diseases, especially the arthritic and rheumatic diseases.


All foods are "burned" in the body--more commonly called "digested"-- leaving an ash as the result of the "burning", or the digestion. This food ash can be neutral, acid or alkaline, depending largely on the mineral composition of the foods. Some foods leave an acid residue or ash, some alkaline. The acid ash (acidosis) results when there is a depletion of the alkali reserve or the diminution in the reserve supply of fixed bases in the blood and the tissues of the body.


It is, therefore, vitally important that there is a proper ratio between acid and alkaline foods in the diet. The natural ratio in a normal healthy body is approximately 4 to 1 -- four parts alkaline to one part acid, or 80% to 20%. When such an ideal ratio is maintained, the body has a strong resistance against disease. In the healing of disease, when the patient usually has acidosis, the higher the ratio of alkaline elements in the diet, the faster will be the recovery. Alkalis neutralize the acids. Therefore in the treatment of most diseases it is important that the patient's diet includes plenty of alkaline-ash foods to offset the effects of acid-forming foods and leave a safe margin of alkalinity.


A healthy body usually keeps large alkaline reserves which are used to meet the emergency demands if too many acid-producing foods are consumed. But these normal reserves can be depleted. When the alkaline-acid ratio drops to 3 to 1, health can be seriously menaced. Your body can function normally and sustain health only in the presence of adequate alkaline reserves and the proper acid-alkaline ratio in all the body tissues and the blood.
For optimum health and maximum resistance to disease, it is imperative that your diet is slightly over-alkaline. The ideal ratio, according to the world's foremost authority on the relationship between the acid-alkaline ratio in the diet in health and disease, Dr. Ragnar Berg, is about 80% alkali-producing foods and 20% acid-producing foods.


Below are tables of common foods with an approximate potential acidity or alkalinity, as present in one ounce of food....


http://www.alkaline-alkaline.com/ph_food_chart.html#



THRIVE!!!

7 Key Strategies for Superior Health

Staying healthy encompasses so much more then just not being sick. True health gives one the ability and foundation for living life with the highest levels of awareness, consciousness and Being. Vibrant health should make you shine! When you are vibrantly healthy your mind is clear, creativity flows and you are able to accomplish and achieve your personal destiny. Each of us has a unique and special purpose in this life but when our health is not optimal we cannot achieve all we were meant to. Here are my top 7 strategies for Superior Health!

1. Listen To Your Body. Eat when you are hungry and stop when it says it has had enough. Eat until you feel satisfied but not until you feel full. When you are done eating you should feel light and full of energy. Gaze rather then gorge, eating little things often, or eat larger meals with small snacks in between, it depends on what your body needs and it will probably change frequently. Listening to your body takes time and practice only because we have become so far removed from our bodies and their natural innate wisdom. The body is highly intelligent and it knows when to eat, what to eat, when to sleep, when to be active and what activities it prefers if you know how to listen. A good place to start is to monitor your energy levels. A healthy and whole body has clear and clean energy that is consistent all day. Becoming tired after meals, mid afternoon or upon rising are all good signs that something is out of balance and not functioning optimally. It is important to be able to hear your body especially in times of need. If something goes wrong in your body you want to be the first to know and to know before it turns into something very big. The more connected you are to your body the better able you are to hear and feel when things start to veer off even ever so slightly. Spending time checking in with your body through meditative practice, yoga or other forms of self awareness can help you re-connect to your internal wisdom and teach you how to hear your body's needs.

2. Eat a Mainly Uncooked Animal Product Free Diet. Eat foods as raw and unprocessed as possible. Foods eaten in their natural state or closest to their natural state are the most healthful. Cooked foods do not do as well in the body energetically nor do they provide the mineral, vitamin, enzyme or photochemical content that living foods are able to provide. Cooking foods degrades their natural state, healthful fibers and plant materials that our bodies need for healthy maintenance and cleaning. In addition cooking changes the molecular structure of many foods and turns them into substances our bodies cannot utilize or in some cases are toxic to the body. If it isn't broken don't fix it is a good motto to keep in mind when choosing foods. Nature already knows what it is doing with the foods it naturally provides for us. When we start messing with a foods natural state we start to get into health trouble. Animal products are highly acidic which can throw off our natural body pH and are also difficult for the body to process and utilize. Animal products are especially taxing on the digestive body systems and can lead to their deterioration. Animal products also have very poor vitamin and mineral ratios for the human body which leads to deficiencies and excesses within the body both of which contribute to lower levels of health and well being.

3. Don't Ingest Chemicals or man-made concoctions of any kind. This includes "food" items. If the food you are about to put into your body has any ingredients you can't pronounce or you don't readily know, don't eat it. Buy only organic foods. There is much controversy, mostly started by big farming business, as to whether or not organic is really better. Organic is far superior for several reasons. One, organic farming is conscious farming. Organic farmers care about the foods they produce, so much love and time goes into how their plants are grown. Second, organic farmers do not use toxic chemicals. Mass farming uses a plethora of chemical concoctions on the foods they grow and in the soil. Not only do these chemicals get put on the outside of the foods but they also go into the soil and into the plant's cell structure (not to mention our and our animals drinking sources). The cell structure is altered in the chemically treated plant and also in its seeds, so future generations of the plant are also effected. Using chemicals on plants and soils also disturbs the natural environmental balance (weather, bugs, everything!). Lastly non-organic farming soil is severally depleted of much needed trace minerals. The human body is in need of these trace minerals and when they aren't provided through the ground our food is grown in our bodies become deficient over time. Buying local is best as you not only support your local community but you know how your food was grown and cared for.

4. Eat With The Seasons. This may take some time and practice but is the most healthy and natural way to eat. Our bodies are deeply intertwined with the rhythms of nature. Foods grow and are ready to eat at the times are bodies are ready to eat them. There is wisdom deeply rooted within nature's cycles. Our bodies function best when in alignment with Nature's rhythms. Because we have grown so accustomed to just popping into our local mass supermarket and buying produce that is grown in unnatural conditions year round, we may not even know what types of foods are in season and when. The best place to start is to find a local working farm where you can begin buying your produce. They will sell what has just been picked and you will begin to grow accustomed to what foods grow when and can tailor your eating accordingly.

5. Eat a Variety of Foods and Plants. The human body completes and carries out a large number of diverse and various processes within each and every moment. To efficiently and effectively carry out these processes a wide range of different types of substances are needed by the body. Some substances the body needs for these processes are made by the body from the substances we ingest and others the body cannot make at all and is entirely dependent on our intake of these substances. Here in the US we use a tremendous amount of corn and wheat in our food products. Almost every food product sold contains these 2 ingredients because they are cheap to grow and can be "morphed" into a variety of different types of products. That is entirely too much corn and wheat for the body to process and utilize which is why we see the rise of individuals who are gluten intolerant or have food allergies. Our bodies are sick and tired of corn and wheat and crave a much wider range of foods! Your body needs variety for the variety of processes it must carry out. It needs the greens, the reds, the oranges, the blues, the yellows. All of these different types of foods hold different types of minerals, vitamins and energetic components. You body needs them all! If you are sticking to just a couple of different food types it is very easy to become deficient in all the other things your body needs. Change up your foods daily to keep a good supply of all the nutrients your body needs coming in.

6. Find Natural Ways to Heal Your Body. Don't rely on aspirin, Tylenol, or ibuprofen to treat reoccurring headaches, aches or pains for example. Don't run to the doctor or take prescriptions pills to treat health problems. Drugs or surgery are needed in a very small number of cases and only when it is the only viable treatment option usually in emergency or acute type situations. If you are experiencing health symptoms there is a reason. Your body is sending out the symptom as a call to you for attention. "Something is wrong and you need to take notice!" Your body is alerting you to where the problem is, giving you clues as to what the problem may be and asking you to fix it. When you take a drug to "relieve" the symptom or cut out the organ or system that is having issues you have done nothing to resolve the problem, in fact you have just made it worse. You have covered up the signal your body sent you and then further degraded the body by ingesting man made chemicals that are hard for your body to process and throw other areas out of balance or cut out a vital piece of your being. Side effects from drugs are none other then new symptoms appearing from your body being thrown out of balance in a different direction. Instead of entering this vicious and non-healing cycle find the root of the problem and resolve the issue. Your body naturally heals itself. If healing is not happening on its own there is something hindering that healing, a block. It is important to discover what the block is and remove it. Then your body will heal itself naturally and completely. Find a holistic or natural practitioner that really knows and understands the deeper level workings of the body and can assist you in finding these blocks and naturally removing them.

7. Be Active. Life is an active enterprise and keeping both your body and mind active is essential to superior health. Activity helps to clear the body and mind of stress and move through any blocks whether physical, mental or emotional that may be present. It also keeps you connected and engaged to life while increasing strength, flexibility, resilience and resistance to disease, injury and pain. Being active can take on a variety of forms. Most importantly is to find activities that stimulate both your body and mind that are enjoyable, pleasurable and bring a sense of calm and happiness when complete. After an activity you should have a sense of having more energy rather then less. Even if you are tired, on an energetic level you should feel renewed.

These simple 7 strategies can help keep your health in tip-top shape and help to prevent many of the health pitfalls us Americans tend to fall into. Most importantly is to find lifestyle practices that work best for you. Your health and well being are unique to only you as is the journey to finding that place of perfect health and balance.

Enjoy the journey!