Whipped Strawberry Smoothie with Ginseng

Ingredients:

Meat of about a half of one young coconut
3/4 c. Spring Water
1 c. Fresh or Frozen Organic Strawberries
1 Scoop Cold-Processed Strawberry or Vanilla Flavored Organic Whey Powder from Grass-fed Cows
1 T. Raw Honey
1/2 tsp. American Ginseng

Blend till smooth and enjoy.  This has a 'whipped' texture thanks to the cold-processed whey powder.
Note:  If you don't have a young coconut, use a base of organic coconut milk instead (available at most health food stores).  I try to use young coconut meat whenever possible as I aim to eat as much fresh, 'alive' food as possible, but always use the best ingredients you have available to you at the time and you'll get GREAT results- I promise!  Intention is everything! 

ABOUT WHEY:
Whey has been used as medicine for ages;  In fact, Hippocrates, known as the 'father of medicine', recommended whey for its health-boosting properties.  In Ayurvedic medicine, whey is said to purify the nadis, or energy channels throughout the body.

The amino acid content of cold-processed whey powder makes it one of the best foods ever studied for muscle recovery/muscle-building, making this a great post or pre-workout shake.  It also makes a great breakfast because it keeps your blood sugar levels steady throughout the day (preventing sugar, caffeine, or junk food cravings and promoting body repair).

According to one of the largest, most respected natural health resources on the web, www.mercola.com,
Cold-processed Whey Powder
(NOT the whey isolate powder that you'll find in grocery stores or GNC!)...

• is extremely high in antioxidants
• supports balanced blood sugar levels
• enhances muscle endurance
• aids in liver detoxification
• supports immune function

Pro-optimal whey is sweetened with xylitol, a healthy, low-glycemic sweetener that feeds the friendly bacteria in your GI system and helps curb tooth decay- 














ABOUT GINSENG:

Ginseng boosts energy and endurance.  It also enhances your body's use of oxygen, providing support for aerobic activities, casual exercise, performance training, and sexual vigor.  It also helps to raise dopamine utilizations (improving mood!) and foster the growth and repair of tissues.
Source:  Power Juices Super Drinks: Quick, Delicious Recipes to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Steve Meyerowitz


 











Interested in making more POWER JUICES AND SUPER DRINKS???
Check out Steve Meyerowitz's new book- complete with a foreword by Gabriel Cousens, M.D.  Steve Meyerowitz is a veteran natural health promoter and Bestselling author of Juice Fasting and Detoxification.
 

Clary Sage Essential Oil Calms, while also Boosting Women's Health

Clary Sage

Clary sage essential oil has a calming, nurturing aroma and is especially beneficial for women.  It is simple to apply, allowing you to benefit from its properties almost effortlessly!


Clary Sage...

•  is a tonic, meaning it boosts overall well-being regardless of the challenges being experienced
•  contributes to the health of the female reproductive system, having a hormone-balancing effect for many that assists with cramps, menstrual pain, and perimenopausal hot flashes
• can be helpful in cases of low sex drive in women or impotence in men - partly due to its hormone balancing effects, and partly because of its ability to alleviate stress and fear, which can contribute to these challenges as well
• is an excellent relaxant, with aphrodisiacal and antidepressant characteristics 
• helps induce sleep for people experiencing insomnia
• alleviates feelings of paranoia, panic, or hysteria
• helps relieve post-natal depression
• assists with labor and alleviating labor pains for women giving birth
• assists general recovery and healing from illnesses and injuries of any type
• is a general tonic for the stomach and digestive system, relieving problems created by tension in this area (such as indigestion)
• helps keep the skin healthy when applied topically because it can regulate secretions of the skin
• on an emotional level, is known to increase feelings of confidence and courage, while decreasing feelings of nervousness, irritability and anxiety
• relieves stress
• can be beneficial for nervous disorders accompanied by weakness and debility
  
  
  Application Suggestions-
  
  1. Apply Clary Sage essential oil topically,
  2. Benefit from Clary Sage through inhalation by diffusing it into the air with one of Young Living's diffusers. 
  3. Apply to your wrists and temples.
  4. Use it as a perfume.
  5. Put a few drops on the bottom of your feet and it will enter your pores and circulate throughout your entire body.
  6. Add a few drops to a warm bath.apply at the wrists as a perfume or at the wrists, temples, or bottoms of feet for relaxation. 
  7. Put a few drops on your pillow at night for its dream-enhancing or relaxation properties.
  
  
  Sources:
  Advanced Aromatherapy, Dr. Kurt Schnaubelt
  Aromatherapy Scent and Psyche, Peter and Kate Damian
  
  Safety Information: Test a small amount of essential oil on the inside of your arm to check for allergy/sensitivity before applying to your body.  Always use oils in the recommended amounts (do not overuse them):  Your body will tell you when you've had enough in general, but it is important to note that using too much of any substance, natural or otherwise (even water!), will give you adverse effects.
  
  
  Where do I find Clary Sage oil?  
  
  
  The benefits above only apply to properly distilled, therapeutic grade essential oils.  The quality of oils in the general marketplace varies.  Many oils are distilled in a way that retains their scent, but not the therapeutic chemical constituents that give them their effectiveness.  Still other oils are cut with other ingredients or chemicals that reduce their potency and may have adverse effects.  At this time, these 'extra' ingredients are not required to be labeled.  Therapeutic grade essential oils are pure (meaning free of fillers) and are distilled using a process that was developed over many years and determined to optimize the measurable levels of therapeutic constituents of the oils.
  
  Therapeutic grade, pure essential oils that are regularly tested and researched for their potency are available from:  
  
  Bridget's Young Living Essential Oils Affiliate Webstore
  
  

The Multivitamin Myth

The Nutrition in the Bottles Above are Nothing Like the Nutrition Conveniently Packaged in Fruits and Vegetables...

When it comes to health, don't believe everything you hear on TV!  This is especially true when it comes to multivitamin supplements or cereals that are "fortified" with vitamins and minerals.  As it turns out, research would suggest that these things may do more harm to your body than good...

Despite massive amounts of vitamins consumed by first world societies, overall health is declining everywhere except in countries that still rely mostly n farm-fresh foods.  Whereas vitamins in food are balanced bio-chemically, vitamin pills lack such balance and taking them outside of their 'food packages' perturb the body's balance of antioxidants and pro-oxidants.  Disturbing this balance can lead to many and varied negative side effects.

Real vitamin C, for example, present in foods like goji berries or oranges, has a much different biochemical effect than vitamin C made in a laboratory.  A 2004 study appearing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that women with diabetes who took high doses of synthetic vitamin C were more than twice as likely to die of heart disease or stroke compared with women who took no supplements or ate a diet high in vitamin C rich foods.  Every isolated vitamin has a similar story with different side-effects in the long term.  Read Supplements Exposed by Dr. Brian Clement for more information on this subject.


Vitamin B3 supplementation, which is commonly known as niacin, has been linked to hepatitis and other liver problems.  And, it's commonly added to processed foods, like breakfast cereals.  Among other symptoms that occur with niacin poisoning are hot flashes, itching skin, arrhythmia and nervousness.  (Meats like hamburger, by the way, are sometimes illegally colored red with niacin.  If you experience hot flashes after eating meat, you have likely eaten niacin-treated meat.)


Multimineral supplements, as well, are most often formulated with inorganic minerals that are different in structure than the organic minerals (structured by plants) that our bodies actually require.  Subsequently, calcium pills, which are made of the 'wrong' kind of calcium for our bodies, have been linked to arthritis- also known by some natural health professionals as calcification occurring in the joints. 

According to some of the world's most successful natural health professionals, vitamin deficiencies and health problems in general are in actuality NOT caused by insufficient intake.  They actually occur due to a congested capillary network that is unable to diffuse sufficient amounts of the vitamins to each cell.  How do these networks become clogged?  A diet rich in protein foods such as meat and pasteurized milk and processed foods of all types.  This would explain very well why Americans on the whole are not thriving, despite grocery shelves filled with enriched foods and 'megavitamins'! 

Source:  Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation by Andreas Mortiz
Simple Steps to Total Health by Andreas Moritz and John Hornecker
















An additional note...   Instead of taking conventional multivitamins, take whole food nutritional supplements OR superfood powders instead.  As a result of pollution and modern agriculture, it is true that our normal daily meals (even if we eat organic) supply much, much less in the way of vitamins and minerals than they did even 50 years ago:  And, as a result, most benefit from taking extra nutrients, provided that they are in a BALANCED, whole food form! 

Some suggestions for whole food supplementation are below:

Raw Vegan Jumbleberry Upside Down Cake

Pictured above is the final course of a raw meal I made this summer with the help of my dad in Wisconsin... called "Jumble berry upside-down cake."  A delightful dessert, I highly recommend it to anyone as a wholesome way to satisfy a sweet tooth!   Because the recipe is based on almonds, honey, and fruit, it is very nutrient-dense and has many cancer-protective properties.

From the book Raw for Dessert by Jennifer Cornbleet.  Jennifer's recipes are delicious, simple, and approachable.   There are a lot of raw 'cook'books on the market with raw recipes too time consuming for most peoples' preferences: This is not one of them.  

Some of my other favorites from the book are banana cream pie, strawberries 'n cream ice cream, and key lime pots de creme.

Watching TV Before Age 3 May Negatively Impact Children's Normal Brain Development, Leading to ADD, Autism, Antisocial Behavior and Slowed Linguistic Development

In 2007, a British publication, The Guardian Unlimited reported new research linking mental and physical problems in children to television viewing while under the age of 3.   The research indicated that early childhood TV viewing slowed linguistic and social development and led to higher risk rates of attention-deficit disorder, autism, and obesity. 

Before the age of 3, children's brains go through rapid development and are being physically shaped in response to whatever they are exposed to, says the report.  It further explains that exposing chidren to fast-moving images for sustained periods at this particular developmental stage can inhibit their ability to sustain attention, also hindering their development of social skills. 

It is not the quality of the content of the programs themselves that children are watching that causes the problem.  Rather, it is how the brain processes television.

Another study, in The World Federation of Neurology, outlined concerns about the impact of visual electronic media (including television) on children because of stunted frontal lobe development which led to anti-social behavior.  (When children watch television, the frontal lobe is not doing anything with the result that over a period of time this part of the brain doesn't develop fully or develops more slowly than normal.) 

What can you do to encourage healthy brain development in children?
Playing and interacting with others is recommended to encourage the fibers in the frontal lobe to develop and thicken and to make stronger connections to neurons.

Sources: "Television may be doing your thinking," by Lynn Berry, www.naturalnews.com.

Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation by Andreas Moritz.

  

Juicing is a Unique Cleansing and Rejuvenation Technology

If I could recommend adding only one thing to your diet this year, it would be fresh fruit and vegetable juice.  Juicing provides benefits that are totally unique unto itself... above a blended drink and beyond whole, raw fruits/veggies.  It is a unique cleansing and rejuvenation technology!

Why do juices live up to their hype on TV?

• Juicing separates the iquid from the indigestible fiber of plant material, allowing their nutrients to bypass the need for digestion;  Unlike any other food, they are absorbed directly into the bloodstream, right away.  That is why you feel the energy of juices immediately after drinking them.
• When you take in nutrients without triggering digestion, your body can focus its energy on cellular cleansing, repair and renewal, and detoxification (all of which have a youthening effect).
• Essentially, juicing gives us the benefits of fasting without depleting the body! 

The action vegetable and fruit juices have on loosening up toxins n the tissues is extremely powerful, so much so that it is used as a cornerstone of the highly successful treatment for cancer and other life-threatening diseases at the Gerson Institute in Mexico as well as the Hippocrates Institute in Florida.  Whatever your current health state is, juicing can take you to a new level of wellness in a relatively short amount of time.  There are tons of GREAT juicing books on the market.  Here are a few of my favorites:
 

Microwave Ovens: Modern Convenience or Modern Health Hazard?

Research shows that microwaved foods are more than "nutritionally depleted," they are literally a modern health hazard.

The following is a summary of Russian researchers' conclusions about microwaved foods, published by the Atlantis Rising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon:  Carcinogens were formed in virtually all foods tested. (No test food was subjected to more microwaving than necessary.) 

* Microwaving prepared meats sufficiently to ensure sanitary ingestion caused formation of d-Nitrosodiethanolamines, a well-known carcinogen.

* Microwaving milk and cereal grains converted some of their amino acids into carcinogens.

* Thawing frozen fruits converted their glucoside and galactoside containing fractions into carcinogenic substances.

* Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.

* Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants, especially root vegetables.

In Comparative Study of Food Prepared Conventionally and in the Microwave Oven, published by Raum & Zelt in 1992, the authors write:

"Production of unnatural molecules is inevitable. Naturally occurring amino acids have been observed to undergo isomeric changes (changes in shape morphing) as well as transformation into toxic forms, under the impact of microwaves produced in ovens. One short-term study found significant and disturbing changes in the blood of individuals consuming microwaved milk and vegetables..."

Source:  "Microwave Ovens:  The Curse of Convenience," Christopher Gussa, www.naturalnews.com.

 Additional Tip:


Replace your microwave with a toaster oven and enjoy better health and flavor: