Millions of people are dependent on multiple drugs to treat depression, anxiety, crippling fatigue, allergies, asthma, learning and attention deficits, and other afflictions to get through each day—drugs that pose significant dangers alongside their marginal helpfulness.
Discover the Nutrients in Nature’s Best Superfoods
Much of this has to do with what we eat—more specifically, what our food lacks: vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, and substances we have yet to discover; and what it contains too much of: antibiotics, radiation, hormones, pesticides, herbicides, additives, artificial colorings, trans fats, artificial sweeteners, industrial wastes, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Our food supply is over-processed, contaminated with chemicals, and permanently compromised by GMOs.
This is why we need to make major changes in the foods we cultivate and consume. In doing so, we’ll take in less chemical toxins that damage reproductive and immune health and less foods that clog our arteries and set the stage for cancers.
A World Apart from Isolated, Synthetic Nutrients
Concentrated green foods are unlike vitamin pills made from synthetic nutrients. They are pure food—food that can adequately nourish the underfed and the overfed.
Since the 1950s, processed food has become the standard fare in the US: limp produce grown in depleted soils, sprayed with chemicals to keep bugs away, and picked far too soon.
According to research surveys from 1997, 74 percent of Americans did not meet the government standard for five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Today, the government recommends seven to nine servings daily. It’s too soon to know whether more people are following these recommendations. For now, consider yourself. Are you getting enough fresh vegetables and fruit?
If you’re like most people, you aren’t. And when it comes to these foods, more is always better. Have you ever finished a meal and thought, “Man, I shouldn’t have eaten all that salad”?
Living Green
Within weeks of transitioning to a diet rich in green superfoods, you’ll experience reduced inflammation, improved elimination, and fewer adverse affects of oxidation. As green foods boost your intake of enzymes and alkalinize your body, you’ll lose weight and reduce your risk of chronic diseases. You’ll think it’s worth sacrificing sugar and junk food to have all this.
So, what does a diet rich in greens look like? Along with popular superfoods like spinach, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, lesser-known items include cereal grasses, micro algaes, spirulina, chlorella, and sea vegetables. While these may sound more exotic than standard supermarket fare, once you feel the difference in your health and quality of life, you’ll realize you should have been eating these all along.
>>Cereal Grasses
There are several varieties of grasses from grains—which are generally referred to as cereal grasses—to choose from. My favorites include barley grass and a special form of wheatgrass, green kamut. These have similar healing properties and have been used successfully within natural medicine to aid in healing from allergies, anemia, arthritis, asthma, chronic fatigue, constipation, skin injuries, or infections caused by fungus or bacteria and yeast infections.
>>Green Tea Seed Oil
When compared with other cooking oils, green tea seed oil is extremely healthy—it doesn’t lead to inflammation in the body. This is important to note because inflammation plays a villainous role in almost all diseases and illnesses, and cooking oils of all types create inflammatory responses in our bodies. Green tea seed oil could play an important role in food preparation in kitchens across the world for those seeking a healthier lifestyle.
>>Chlorella
This is your all-purpose health enhancer. Along with the usual vitamins and minerals found in deep green plant foods—like B vitamins, carotenoids, vitamin C, and magnesium—chlorella contains some potent flavonoid nutrients. These are plant pigments that have powerful antioxidant effects and help to strengthen the walls of blood vessels. It is also believed that chlorella is incredibly efficient at detoxification, binding to toxins and carrying them out of the body. Furthermore, chlorella extract has been found to possess immune-enhancing benefits and to promote faster tissue healing, support healthy growth in young humans and animals, and even slow the signs of aging. Chlorella is proving useful for re-establishing balance in many of the body’s systems, including the immune system, the digestive tract, the endocrine (hormonal) system, and the cardiovascular system.
>>Spirulina
Spirulina is one form of blue-green algae, the planet’s most ancient form of plant life. It is extremely nutrient-dense, containing high concentrations of chlorophyll, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Users often report dramatic improvements in their energy levels. Athletes use it to improve performance and endurance for training, and generally find that it also aids in faster recovery from tough workouts. Spirulina is rich in iron and magnesium, and is an excellent source of trace minerals. It’s nature’s multivitamin!
>>King Cabbage
Did you know that cabbage contains more vitamin C than oranges? They’re a superlative source of essential minerals, including potassium and calcium, and contain abundant levels of vitamins B1 and B2. The outer leaves contain more vitamin E and calcium than the inner leaves.
A few ideas to add cabbage to your daily fare include:
>>Mix brown rice with raw cashews, shredded red cabbage, and chunks of tofu. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of oil and vinegar dressing and toss thoroughly to make a delicious rice salad. Add grated raw beets, carrots, and crunchy sprouts (like those from chickpeas, green peas, or pumpkin seeds).
>>Instead of lettuce, pile shredded white or Savoy cabbage into tacos.
>>Add shredded cabbage to soups for great flavor and added nutrition.
>>Collards
Collards are comprised of big, dark, oval green leaves with thick stems. They have a subtle taste somewhere between cabbage and kale. The vitamins and minerals in collard greens are more bioavailable when cooking breaks down the cell walls in the leaves. This makes the vegetable preferable in its cooked state because cooking quadruples its bioavailable protein content per cup, while the availability of vitamin C triples.
>>Watercress
Watercress has such a wide range of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements that it is good for multiple conditions and should be regularly present in your diet. It contains natural phytochemicals that stimulate cell defenses against carcinogens, and like other bitter greens, watercress promotes good digestion. It also has as much vitamin C as oranges, and more calcium than milk. Eating watercress leaves daily is said to relieve migraines in some people, and is the leaves are also brimming with beta-carotene and iodine—which are great for healthy skin, eyes, and proper thyroid function.
>>Swiss Chard
This leafy green is a member of the same family as spinach and beets. A single cup of cooked Swiss chard supplies nearly one-third of your daily potassium requirement—something to consider if you are hypertensive. It’s packed with minerals and is an excellent source of vitamins C, K, and E, along with a full complement of carotenes and other antioxidants. Eating chard regularly promotes the health of the eyes, cardiovascular system, and immune system.
Hardier than spinach, chard requires slightly longer cooking times. Prepare it like kale, or use it in pasta sauces, soups, or egg dishes.
>>Beet Greens
The greens of beet plants are actually better for you than the beet itself; they have blood-cleansing qualities and taste great when prepared right. Beet greens have traditionally been used as a natural remedy for anemia; circulatory problems; kidney, liver, and bladder problems; skin problems; eye fatigue; menopause; general tiredness; and to improve the circulation of lymph (the fluid that carries immune cells around the body and helps to eliminate waste and toxins from the circulatory system).
Pure Food Crisis
I always say the quality of the food we eat will equal the quality of the life we live. The aforementioned foods contain the necessary nutrients for our fullest, healthiest, and happiest lives.
Unfortunately, there’s a threat to the very food that nourishes us. It’s a threat that I call the Pure Foods Crisis. Food has become a commodity to be traded like gold and silver and the emphasis on its ability to sustain life has diminished—overshadowed by the emphasis on its ability to sustain profitability.
While most of the world has rejected GMOs, a few nations allow their populations to be exposed to this potential danger. Unfortunately, the United States is one of them. There have been no significant safety studies required before these sophisticated and potentially dangerous bio-organisms were unleashed, which means potentially dangerous GMOs are in your food right now and you don’t even know it. Moreover, GMOs threaten the very existence of organic agriculture.
It is time for each of us to begin effectuating positive change in the world by altering our lifestyle and our actions. When we choose food for its ability to nourish our bodies and to keep us pure, we create a demand for pure, wholesome foods. That demand will create agriculture built around producing pure and wholesome crops, which will create a pure and wholesome planet; thus, our very buying decisions dictate the future of the earth and its ability to support us.
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