Nutrition

Experts Endorse Nutrient-Packed Pine Nuts For Weight Loss, Healthy Heart

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

NaturalNews  August 3 2013

Nutritionists from Washington recently announced the significant role of pine nuts in ensuring health and wellness over and above their value as a flavoring ingredient in Mediterranean and Italian cuisines. Results of a series of independent scientific analyses of its components revealed that the popular spice is packed with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

Among the many health benefits which may be derived from sufficient amounts of pine nuts in the diet are: anti-oxidative properties against aging; more energy for daily activities; enhanced immunity to diseases; good eyesight; strong bones; and as a feel-good food. Additionally, research evidence suggests that its fat content is heart-friendly, and that eating these nuts facilitates weight loss, promotes normal blood circulation, and is good for the nervous system.

Nutritional Highlights of Pine Nuts

Experts in natural medicine, including educators Dr. Michael Murray and Dr. Joseph Pizzorino, maintained that a hundred grams of the European pine nuts called pignoli delivers 24 grams of protein. This amount is by far the highest among nuts and seeds. Pine nuts are also excellent sources of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, D and E, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, potassium, and zinc. The European variety also contains less fat in monosaturated form, fiber, and carbohydrates than the American species of pine nuts called pinons. These nuts also contain lutein, pinoleic acid, and free radicals.

Continue reading →

Seven Amazing Spring Superfoods

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

NaturalNews May 2 2013

NutritionIn Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), spring is a time for rejuvenation and regeneration. Outdoor nature reflects this as foliage returns and flowers blossom while birds fill the air with their celebratory singing.

We should also follow this seasonal event by practicing dietary cleansing and rejuvenation. TCM considers spring to correlate with the liver. So foods that help cleanse the liver are appropriate, in addition to using liver herbs dandelion and milk thistle as extract supplements or teas.

The foods that are harvested during spring are the most appropriate. Make sure they’re organic if they’re in the EWG’s (Environmental Working Group) Dirty Dozen. If listed in EWG’s Clean Fifteen you can save a couple of bucks (http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/).

Here are those seven springtime food tips

(1) Sweet potato or yams are year-round superfoods. Not many are aware of how much nutrition is packed into these inexpensive veggies, but they are packed with nutrition. And TCM has them in its spring foods list.

Continue reading →

6 Crucial Things To Watch Out For When Buying Vitamins And Supplements

~ admin ~ Leave a comment

NaturalNews February 27 2013

Not all vitamins and dietary supplements are the same. Many popular supplement brands, in fact, contain artificial additives, synthetic flow agents, chemical colorings, and even imitation vitamin compounds that your body does not recognize and cannot fully process. So how can you know whether or not the vitamins and supplements you buy are safe and effective? Here are six helpful tips on what to watch out for when buying vitamins and supplements.

1) Synthetic vitamins. There is a big difference between the natural vitamins found in food and the so-called vitamins added to many popular dietary supplements. Whole-food based vitamins are uniquely bioavailable, and occur naturally in foods, plants, and herbs. Synthetic vitamins, on the other hand, are produced in a laboratory, and may be derived from toxic sources such as coal tar and petroleum.

How can you know the difference? Synthetic vitamins are typically listed on ingredient labels by their isolated names — ascorbic acid (vitamin C), riboflavin (vitamin B2), and dl-alpha tocopherol acetate (vitamin E) are all examples of synthetic vitamins commonly added to vitamins and supplements, including multivitamin formulas. Stick with whole food-based vitamins and supplements, including those that clearly delineate their being derived from plants or other natural sources.

“In addition to being synthetic, isolated vitamins are missing all their naturally occurring essential synergistic co-factors and transporters,” explains the Organic Consumers Association (OCA). “A synthetic vitamin can stimulate a cell’s metabolism, but it cannot upgrade or replace the cell’s components with superior, better quality elements. The results? A degraded cell.” (http://www.organicconsumers.org/nutricon/qa.cfm)

Continue reading →

Moringa Health Benefits – The Superfood You Don’t Know About

~ admin ~ 8 Comments

Natural Society February 17 2013

In the world of nutrition and natural health, there are some foods that come out of nowhere and then BAM – one day it’s all you hear about. One of those foods is Moringa, often referred to as the Miracle Tree. But unlike some of the hyped up trend-foods of years past, there really are some benefits worth noting when it comes to this one. Without further ado, here are some of the many unknown moringa benefits.

Praised for its medicinal value and ability to purify the body while boosting energy levels, Moringa oleifera, is native to the Himalayas of India. Currently, it’s growth is most prevalent in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia. But it’s effects are being felt around the world.

Thanks to it’s powerful nutritional profile, which includes nine essential amino acids, protein, and a number of vitamins and minerals, the Moringa tree is becoming known as the next “superfood”. Nearly all of the tree is edible; the bark, flowers, and roots all offer some sort of use or benefit to humans or animals.

Moringa Benefits

Continue reading →

Top Six Alkaline Foods To Eat Every Day For Vibrant Health

~ admin ~ 7 Comments

Natural News | December 7 2012

The typical American diet is a deadly one, consisting primarily of toxic and acid-forming foods like processed sugars, artificial sweeteners, refined grains, conventionally produced meats and dairy, and hidden genetically modified organisms. All this, combined with a plethora of other challenging environmental factors (such as lack of rest, psychological stress, and pharmaceutical drugs), mean it’s no wonder that more and more people are being diagnosed with chronic, degenerative illnesses or otherwise deadly conditions for which modern conventional medicine claims to have no known cure.

One of the basic underlying problems with this unsustainable lifestyle – and there are many – is the average consumer’s lack of understanding that the body must balance the blood’s pH levels at a slightly alkaline level of 7.365 in order to survive. When a person ingests food to “burn” for fuel, the digestive and metabolic process transforms it into a kind of ash which is either acidic or alkaline. The laws of modern biochemistry further explain that it is not the organic matter of foods (whether the food itself is acidic or alkaline), but their inorganic matter (such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, sulfur, phosphorous; that is, how they break down in our bodies), that determines either the acidity or alkalinity of this ashy residue.

For this reason, and because all foods in nature contain both acid and alkaline-forming elements according to the Conscious Living Center, balance is either achieved or thwarted as a direct result of the foods we choose to eat. Too many acid-forming foods can have dire consequences for our health, with “acidosis” being a common diagnosis in diabetics, for example. This is because when the nutrients required to maintain this slightly alkaline state cannot be obtained from food, the body will instead draw from its own stores, like the bones or other vital tissues – damaging its ability to repair itself and detoxify heavy metals, thereby making a person more vulnerable to fatigue and illness. And the margin for error is small. Even an only slightly acidic pH of 6.9 can actually lead to coma and death.

Continue reading →