Read up on your health!

One of the reasons I started this blog was to give you the most up-to-date nutrition and health info. So always keep checking back for more posts. However, it would behoove you to also do some investigating yourself. Be an educated consumer. DO NOT believe everything the newspapers and magazines tell you, because often they are either wrong or are paid by drug and food companies, and thus are completely biased.

The site I use for THE most innovative, honest approach to health and wellness is http://www.naturalnews.com. The founder of the site, Mike Adams, is extremely passionate about health and nutrition, and has set up a team to scour the internet and scientific studies for the most accurate information. Check it out!

All you need is love...

My friend Emma and I went to Joshua Tree for Bhakti Fest, a yoga and music festival, and we met MANY interesting people from all walks of life. These people were so open, spiritual, and absolutely full of love and gratitude for the healthy drinks we were passing out. (Check out my friends' company cell-nique.com for more info!)

One lady stopped by the booth, she was at least 90 years old, but totally lucid and with it! Her face was wrinkled but with lovely smile lines, and I asked her what her secret for longevity was. She chuckled, tilted her head, and answered:

Love. She said you need to have infinite love for everything and everyone. There is no good nor bad, nothing is better than another. Love every moment and everything you do.

I thought that was pretty powerful. I went home and quickly popped in "love and longevity" into Google, and found this guy Dr. Stephen Post who started The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love. I couldn't believe it! He's proving how love affects every area of our lives, especially including our health! The home page of the website asserts that "[a]ll the goodness of life is nurtured in the soil of love, for love comforts, heals, creates, liberates, and elevates our lives in a way that nothing else can."

A quote from one of the full papers: "The evidence to be accumulated herein supports the following hypothesis: One of the healthiest things a person can do is to step back from self-preoccupation and self-worry, as well as from hostile and bitter emotions, and there is no more obvious way of doing this than focusing attention on helping others. This transformation of being and of doing seems to promote emotional and physical well-being, and odds are, will add some years to life."Stephen G. Post, Ph.D.

I'm planning on loving and smiling well into my nineties. How about you?

Still feelin figtastic...

So I'm not much of a dairy person, but I was feeling like I needed some good bacteria for my belly, so I bought plain organic Greek-style yogurt.  If you're gonna have it, this is the best since it's low in sugar and high in probiotics.  

I wanted to share this with you, because it was ABSOLUTELY delicious.  Get this:  I'm still hooked on the figs, so I diced 4 figs  into a cup or so of the unsweetened yogurt, drizzled a bit of agave nectar, and voila!  An unbelievable dessert or snack.  And much healthier than the sugar filled ones.  

Play around with fresh fruit, granola, whatever suits your fancy!

Gimme a F, gimme an I, gimme a G...

The figs was one of the first crops to be cultivated in history, even before wheat and rye! Sciencemag.com reports: "It is generally accepted that the fig tree was domesticated in the Near East some 6500 years ago. Here we report the discovery of nine carbonized fig fruits and hundreds of drupelets stored in Gilgal I, an early Neolithic village, located in the Lower Jordan Valley, which dates to 11,400 to 11,200 years ago. We suggest that these edible fruits were gathered from parthenocarpic trees grown from intentionally planted branches. Hence, fig trees could have been the first domesticated plant of the NeolithicRevolution, which preceded cereal domestication by about a thousand years."

Primarily grown and valued in the Mediterranean, there are now there are over 700 different types and names of figs!  California is the third biggest producer in the world after Turkey and Greece, but mostly we grow the golden, slightly nutty-flavored Calimyrna and the dark, sweet Mission varietals.  

This delicious fruit is high in dietary fiber, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and definitely has a natural laxative effect on the digestive/elimination system. Latin and South American folk medicine uses the figs to treat diabetes, kidney disorders, tumors, and skin issues.

Figs can be eaten fresh or dried.  Eat them by themselves, chop and throw into salads, cook into soups and desserts, and use the puree instead of oil when baking.  Be sure to rinse with cold water and remove the stems before consuming.

Cilantro it up!

Why do I LOVE cilantro?  First of all, I mean let’s face it, it is absolutely delicious!  How can you have good guacamole without some chopped cilantro?  Fresh cilantro has such a cool, crisp taste.

Secondly, little did you know, but cilantro is one of the best foods for detoxification.  Ok I’ve probably lost most of you at this point, I’m sure a lot of you are in your 20s and don’t really care about detox.  Well we’re the ones who should care the most!  With all of our eating out at restaurants, drinking at bars, and dancing our faces off, we can use all the support we can get.  So let me tell you what you’ll be getting from these little sprigs and leaves.

Cilantro is the leafy part of an herb called coriander, and it has: calcium, iron, potassium, lutein, vitamin A, vitamin C,vitamin K, B vitamins, zinc, magnesium, antibacterial properties, and it aids in digestion! WOW! Also many holistic practitioners use it for heavy metal detoxification.  

Throw sprigs into soups and salads, blend into salad dressings, and strangely enough it tastes amazing in omelettes!

How's your body image?

If it's not good, it could be costing you your health.  Worrying and anxiety causes low-level stress in the body, resulting in bone density loss!  Your bones will actually be depleted of minerals that are excreted through your urine!  So drink all milk you want, but if you are constantly berating yourself or you're stressed, you could still get osteoporosis!

When negative thoughts arise, especially those about your body, ask yourself if that is something you would say to a loved one.  If you know about the Law of Attraction, what you put out you get back, so if you're worried about becoming or being fat, you're just bringing on more fat!  So cherishing yourself with love will heal and nourish your body more than any exercise or healthy food can.

Relax with friends, take a bubble bath, get plenty of fresh outdoor air to oxygenate your body as much as possible, take a yoga class, and if you're gonna eat it, love what you eat!  It's that simple!

Trust YOUrself

Ever feel like your body is in conflict?  Like your brain says one thing and your gut says another?  Maybe you don't feel right about doing something but your brain tells you to do it because you have to, or someone won't like you if you don't?

This is a battle between your mind and your intuition.  The mind is tricky, for it processes millions of thoughts, reactions, events, and experiences from the past as a way to guide you.  You may hear your parents' voices in your head, "You need a secure job with a good salary and benefits to be safe."  But you've always wanted to be an actor, your heart and your gut tells you it must be so.

Or you see your parents' and friends' bad relationships and you think, "I will never get involved in a relationship so that I don't get hurt."  But then that perfect person comes along and you start to melt a little.  Though your head keeps putting up distrust as a guard, you want this person in your life.

Most of us go through life never really listening to our bodies, our intuition, what we're feeling.  We're programmed to be logical, and think in a linear fashion.  However if this continues, if you stifle and stuff down your feelings, that is when illness and chaos can occur.  You live your life according to what you think you should do, what you have to do, and then BAM! You've got a cold, or an upset stomach, or you lash out at your loved ones.  

In this society of go go go, push push push, do do do, sit down for a second and ask yourself, "What do I need?  How am I feeling?  What's best for me?" without judgement from the mind or worrying about what others would say.  You have the right and the responsibility to listen to yourself, because at the end of the day, all you can safely say you know and have is you. 

Check out this intuition meditation from Yoga Journal.