Slow Aging

Modern advertising is constantly pounding us with ads about how and where to eat. Or what we should be eating. Common sense tells us that a much of this “food” is unhealthy but it taste so good that you can’t resist. What is sure to eventually happen is a downward spiral of your physical health if you are not willing to change your diet.

As scientific research figure out what foods promote a strong and vibrant body, it is becoming clear that many of diseases that are connected to aging are the result of a poor diet. Eating a diet high in raw veggies and fruit would lower the risk of most of these diseases but are overlooked as refined sugar and starches are the preferred food of westerners. A diet abundant with raw food everyday will cleanse your body and began to normalize your body fat levels. By spending less energy on digestion, your body can detox properly and spend time repairing damaged cells.

The most important of the anti aging foods are the ones that are high in antioxidants. Free radicals are damaging to our bodies always being produced as a result of metabolism, so antioxidants are needed to remove the free radicals from the body before the particles can damage body cells. You should eat as much raw plant life as possible, particularly raw fruits, vegetables, and whole grains contain antioxidants. Eating raw nuts will introduce unheated vegetable oil to your body, which supplies lots of enzymes and antioxidants.

Eating 100% whole grains should be your focus because the body converts the sugar in these carbohydrate sources at a slow rate. The fiber from these grains can help you to quickly eliminate toxic waste from the body and the grains themselves are full of antioxidants much needed by the body. This is the type of diet consumed by our ancient ancestors, who stayed youthful and hard working into their senior years. Health food experts have claimed for decades about the benefits of a diet high in whole grains and the evidence is now overwhelming. Whole grains are the best way to get your daily supply of complex carbohydrates.

Proteins should come from beans, nuts, and seafood. Healthy fats include olive oil and, to a lesser extent, other vegetable oils. Try to avoid fat from land animals. I personally endorse a diet of 50-70% raw food, just to give you a way to fit some of your favorite foods into your new way of living. Most people come to enjoy eating these wholesome foods. And they are able to enjoy good health longer into their senior years. An anti aging diet would really go a long way toward feeling the way a person should as they age.
by: Randy Powell

Juice Products VS Cancer

Can juice products cure my cancer? Probably not by themselves. Beating cancer with nutrition almost always requires these things:

• Daily consumption of raw plants from the allium family (garlic is best)
• Daily consumption of raw cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli)
• Massive intake of vitamin D (under supervision of a naturopath)
• Daily consumption of raw, freshly blended fruit and vegetable juices (including beet, ginger, kale and all the superfruits you can find.)
• Total body cleansing, including liver cleanse, kidney cleanse and digestive cleanse
• Supplementation with trace minerals like selenium
• Regular physical exercise that makes you sweat (sweating is the body's way to eliminate toxins)
• Completely eliminating all smoking, eating processed foods and using common personal care products or cosmetics (which contain cancer-causing chemicals)
• Daily consumption of medicinal mushrooms
• Daily consumption of anti-cancer rainforest herbs

As always, be sure to work with a naturopathic physician if you're battling cancer.

Watermelon: An Insight

Watermelons are summer crops that need effective handling for quality production. To produce the red, juicy, crispy variety of melons, special care and attention is obligatory. To determine the quality and ripeness of watermelons without tasting is not an easy task as external color or appearance does not actually reveal the quality of the flesh inside. This task of determining the quality of watermelons without tasting requires the aid of a skillful hand.

Watermelons are warm, long season crops and grow best on well-drained sandy loam soils with slight acid. Sandy soils with adequate fertilizers yield very fine quality watermelons. Watermelon is fairly tolerant to soil pH as low as 5.5. Watermelon grows best where soil pH is between 6.0 and 7.0. Application of lime to a low pH soil can yield better results. Before planting the seeds of watermelons, much labor is invested to prepare the soil. In addition to plowing and disking, sub soiling beneath the row promotes deeper rooting in soils having a compacted layer. In case of strong winds, windbreaks of fall-planted wheat or rye or spring-planted hybrid Sudan helps to provide some protection to young plants. The windbreak crop between the rows is cultivated or disked out as the watermelon vines begin to run. A narrow windbreak strip can be left standing between rows for wind protection later in the season, but it should be undercut or killed with chemicals to reduce competition with the watermelon crop.

Depending on variety and season, watermelons reach harvest maturity five to six weeks after pollination. Different varieties of watermelons carry different characteristics, thus indicating different levels of maturity. Experts on the field can easily identify a ripe melon just by glancing at its glossy rind surface. Other indications of ripeness include a change in the color of the ground spot from white to light yellow.
by: Suzanne Macguire

Guava

Pomegranate

Are the health benefits of pomegranate really so miraculous? Yes they are. If the drug companies had come up with this, they'd call it a miracle drug and try to get it prescribed to everyone. But it's from nature, not a drug company, so it can't be patented, marketed and sold at ridiculous profits. That's why this genuine natural medicine is only a couple of bucks per serving (or dose).

In my view, it's one of the best investments in your health. For less than the price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks, you can have an anti-cancer, anti-Alzheimer's, anti-heart disease, anti-diabetes drink that's delicious and healthful. That beats a can of sugar water soda any day!

Remember. The best medicine comes from nature. Plants are like tiny pharmaceutical factories, and they synthesize natural medicines automatically, using soil, sunshine, air and water. It's amazing, but true. These medicines are what the human body was intended to eat, not the processed factory food advertised on television and stocked in grocery store shelves. Food made by man will probably kill you. But food made by nature will heal you, and pomegranate juice is made entirely by nature. Get it fresh if you can, or mininally processed as a second choice.

Scientists today have only begun to explore the healing benefits of pomegranate juice. In the years ahead, even more medicinal benefits will almost certainly be found. I predict that pomegranate juice will one day be prescribed as preventive medicine to halt cancers and protect cardiovascular health. One thing for sure is that drinking pomegranate juice has no negative side effects. You'll be healthier and happier by consuming this miraculous fruit on a daily basis.

Avocado

Olives

The olive is native to the Mediterranean region, tropical and central Asia and various parts of Africa. The olive has a history almost as long as that of Western civilization, its development being one of civilized man's first accomplishments. At a site in Spain, carbon-dating has shown olive seed found there to be eight thousand years old. O. europaea may have been cultivated independently in two places, Crete and Syria. Archeological evidence suggest that olives were being grown in Crete as long ago as 2,500 B.C. From Crete and Syria olives spread to Greece, Rome and other parts of the Mediterranean area. Olives are also grown commercially in California, Australia and South Africa. There is some disagreement over when the trees first appeared in California. Some say they were introduced in 1769 when seeds brought from Mexico were planted.

Tips

Eat a salad or other high-fiber foods before consuming juices made from concentrate (including pom juice, grape juice, orange juice, blueberry juice or even apple juice). These might include a bowl of oatmeal with extra oat bran, a fresh apple (which contains plenty of fiber), whole grains that are well-chewed, or fiber supplements such as glucomannan. You might also add cinnamon to your oatmeal or breakfast cereal, since cinnamon helps regulate blood sugar and effectively lowers the glycemic index of anything you eat during the same meal.

Avocado

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Persea
Species: P. americana

The avocado probably originated in southern Mexico but was cultivated from the Rio Grande to central Peru before the arrival of Europeans.

Avocados do well in the mild-winter areas of California, Florida and Hawaii. Some hardier varieties can be grown in the cooler parts of northern and inland California and along the Gulf Coast. The northern limits in California is approximately Cape Mendocino and Red Bluff. Avocados do best some distance from ocean influence but are not adapted to the desert interior. West Indian varieties thrive in humid, tropical climates and freeze at or near 32° F. Guatemalan types are native to cool, high-altitude tropics and are hardy 30 - 26° F. Mexican types are native to dry subtropical plateaus and thrive in a Mediterranean climate. They are hardy 24 - 19° F. Avocados need some protection from high winds which may break the branches. There are dwarf forms of avocados suitable for growing in containers. Avocados have been grown in California (Santa Barbara) since 1871.

Pear

Poached pears are a classic fall and winter dessert.

• Core the pear through the bottom using a melon baller, and leave the stem intact for an impressive presentation.
• Peel them and put them in acidulated water so they will not oxidize.
• Heat flavored water, fruit juice or wine to just below the boiling point, and add flavorings like vanilla, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, orange or lemon zest, or honey.
• Serve them whole or sliced with pound cake or ice cream.

Organic Products

There are likely pesticide residues in the non-organic juice products. Pesticides aren't listed on the ingredients label, but they're nonetheless present. However, the benefits of consuming these superfruits far outweighs the health effects of trace pesticide consumption, in my opinion, so from a personal perspective, you're still protecting your health with these juice products even if you consume some pesticide residues. For the record, I do not support pesticide use in agriculture and I believe that consumers should buy organic products whenever possible.

Pear

Anjou pears are the most commonly found pear in the U.S., available in late October to mid-winter. Anjou pears are bell-shaped, with pale green skin that may develop a reddish blush. Anjou pears are delicious raw or cooked.

Papaya

The papaya is believed to be native to southern Mexico and neighboring Central America. It is now present in every tropical and subtropical country. Papayas have exacting climate requirements for vigorous growth and fruit production. They must have warmth throughout the year and will be damaged by light frosts. Brief exposure to 32° F is damaging and prolonged cold without overhead sprinkling will kill the plants. Cold, wet soil is almost always lethal. Cool temperatures will also alter fruit flavor. Papayas make excellent container and greenhouse specimens where soil moisture and temperature can be moderated.

Juice Concentrates

Juice concentrates are never as good as fresh juices. Of all the brands reviewed here, most were made from juice concentrates. This means the pomegranates are harvested, blended and dried (usually at high temperatures), then shipped to another facility where the concentrate is re-hydrated, then pasteurized (heated again) and shipped off to the grocery stores. While this process keeps costs down and makes these products more affordable, it also destroys some of the medicinal phytonutrients found in pomegranate juice.