Great Article About How to Stay Organic During Winter!

On Discovery's Planet Green site, writer and healthy living spokesperson Laurel House poses the question: What's a green produce devotee supposed to do when farmer's markets close down during winter months? 

"You leave your home, reusable bag in hand, to take your weekly stroll over to the local farmer's market to load up on farm fresh organic produce. There is a slight chill in the air but the weather has yet to make an impact on your life. And suddenly, now it has. Your farmer's market is shut down for the season. For the next 6 months it will be markedly harder to get green greens into your diet. What's an organically obsessed veggie lover to do?"


House continues by giving some awsesome tips for keeping your diet greena and organic when the farmer's markets are no longer an option, and even a super healthy smoothie recipe!


Read the whole thing here: 
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/powdered-greens-farmers-market.html

Remember to Eat Your Greens!

Everyone is crazy about “Going Green” to save the environment today.  But “Going Green” is not just for our environment…Going Green inside is just as important for your health!

No one can refute, the foundation of great health is great nutrition…And the best way to fight disease, is to prevent it.

In the beginning of time, our ancient ancestors ate up to six pounds of green leaves per day.  Imagine them walking along from one place to another, just picking and eating leaves as they went. Can you imagine eating a grocery bag full of greens each and every day? Very few of us even eat the minimum USDA recommendations of 3 cups of dark green vegetables per week. And yet, these vegetables deliver a bounty of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.

Why are Greens so good for you?

Dark green leafy vegetables are, calorie for calorie, perhaps the most concentrated source of nutrition of any food. They are a rich source of minerals (including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium) and vitamins, including vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which protect our cells from damage and our eyes from age-related problems, among many other effects. Dark green leaves even contain small amounts of Omega-3 fats.

Perhaps the star of these nutrients is Vitamin K. A cup of most cooked greens provides at least nine times the minimum recommended intake of Vitamin K, and even a couple of cups of dark salad greens usually provide the minimum all on their own. Recent research has provided evidence that this vitamin may be even more important than we once thought (the current minimum may not be optimal), and many people do not get enough of it.

Vitamin K:

•  Regulates blood clotting
•  Helps protect bones from osteoporosis
•  May help prevent and possibly even reduce atherosclerosis by reducing calcium in arterial plaques    
• May be a key regulator of inflammation, and may help protect us from inflammatory diseases including arthitis
• May help prevent diabetes

So, what now?  Eat a grocery bag full of greens everyday?

The reality is, it’s nearly impossible to eat a grocery bag full of green produce per day, but there are options for the consumer:  Fresh Juicing Greens is a terrific method of preserving all the natural goodness of greens, but most people find this inconvenient and very expensive.  My preferred method of getting my greens is in quality powder form, such as BOKU Superfood.  BOKU Superfood is rich in natural greens, but also much much more.  It also saves me money because it is basically $1 per serving. 

No matter what method you choose, make sure all your greens are certified organic! 

Healthy Recipes - Fruity Veggie Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 banana
1 cup favorite fruit
(grapes, nectarines, apples)
3 big leaves of anything dark green and leafy
(spinach, Swiss chard, amaranth)
1 heaping scoop of BõKU™ Super Food
2 cups almond milk

Directions:

Blend the fruit using just enough water to cover it. Then add the greens (cut up into medium size pieces) and BõKU™ and blend until it’s completely blended.
Pour a tall glass about 2/3 full of this mixture, top it off with almond milk and stir!

Breast Cancer Diet Connection

In honor of the 25th National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this article will discuss the likely relationship between breast cancer and diet. While there may be nothing that we can do guarantee that we will not get breast cancer in the future, there is a host of studies that report that there are several lifestyle changes that we can make to reduce risk.

As far as diet is concerned, research seems to confirm common sense. According to a September 2009 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, (Meat, dairy, and breast cancer: do we have an answer?) that women who stuck to what they called a “prudent” diet tend to have a lower risk for breast cancer. Researchers Eleni Linos and Walter Willet define this “prudent” diet as one that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish and low in red and processed meats, starchy carbohydrates and sweets.  During their study they found that with pre-menopausal, normal-weight women the risk for cancer declined as their scores on the “prudent” diet scale rose. In fact, those with the most prudent diets lessened their risk by a third!

There was little evidence that the more “prudent” diet lowered risk among postmenopausal or overweight women, although it was liked to a generally lower risk of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer — an aggressive type of tumor that accounts for about one-third of breast cancers.

Some common healthy foods that are believed to help prevent cancer are whole grains, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower), spinach, berries, tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms, ginger, green and black teas. Some foods to avoid or cut down on would be red meat, sugar, anything fried, foods that contain hydrogenated oils, such as stick margarine.

However, eating healthy food is not the only lifestyle choice that one can make that may reduce their risk of developing cancer. Another is exercising regularly, the American Cancer Society suggests 45-60 minutes of exercise 5 or more days a week. Losing weight if you are overweight is also beneficial, as is maintaining a healthy weight after menopause. Limit your intake of alcohol. Studies have found that having one or more drinks a day will increase a woman’s risk of developing hormone-sensitive (ER+/PR+) tumor, this type accounts for roughly 70% of women diagnosed with breast cancer.

It is also very important to obtain a breast cancer risk assessment from a physician as well as an annual clinical breast exam. One should also remember to perform monthly breast self exams and make sure to get regular mammography screening once turning 40 years old.
Also, try to find a healthy way to manage the stress in your life and try to keep a positive mind set as often as possible. There isn’t a lot of evidence that this keeps the cancer away, but it certainly couldn’t hurt!

Where Does Your Sugar Come From?

Pictures are worth thousands of words. Just something to ponder from sugarstacks.com...