The Whole Food Blog

Do you realize how important your health food choices are in the health care reform battle shaping up in Washington?  You probably understand that whatever the government does it will be insufficient to insure your health.  You know that it’s smarter to take responsibility for your own care by managing your life the healthiest way possible.

Here are 5 ways you can shop intelligently for health food products:

1.  Eat more alkaline foods-Experts recommend a balance of 80% alkaline foods to only 20% acid forming foods for optimal health.  Most people eat far too many acid-forming foods.  Do you know how your health food choices influence your pH balance and your overall fitness?  Take the free Alkaline Food Test to find out.

2.  Drink natural health drinks-Avoid sugar, artificial sweeteners, isolated vitamins and caffeine.  Instead, when shopping at health food stores, load up on drinks with antioxidants, live enzymes, and whole food ingredients.  There is a health drink that was named to a list of Top 100 Health Food Products in the World.  However, not that many people in America are familiar with it because it’s not sold with slick TV ads.  Look beyond the hype and convenience store candy-colored vitamin waters for real, natural healthy drinks.

3.  Maintain a diet closer to nature-All natural health food is considered to be minimally processed and does not contain artificial ingredients.  It is not “enriched” with man made, isolated vitamins and minerals.  All natural health food does not include ingredients such as refined sugars, refined flours, milled grains, hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, artificial food colors, or artificial flavorings. Supporters of natural, health food diets point to numerous facts that show refined ingredients promote obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

4.  Use environmentally friendly household and personal care products-You can’t easily get them in stores, but on the Internet you can find natural skin care products, soaps, shampoos, laundry detergents, multi-purpose cleaners and natural toothpaste without harmful chemicals.  Search online health food stores instead of shopping for the usual mass-produced items at grocery stores.

5.  Buy from responsible manufacturers-Stop giving your money to corporations that are making products filled with trans fats, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, too much sugar, genetically altered ingredients or toxic chemicals.  Shop differently from companies that use natural ingredients and environmentally responsible manufacturing processes.

Again, you won’t easily find them locally, but you can find products made by responsible manufacturers at online health food stores and at some of the more sophisticated local health food stores.  Use care with what you put in your body, on your body and in your immediate environment, and you will have more control over your own health care.

The optimum nutrition for athletes contains live enzymes which allow nutrients to be absorbed most efficiently by the body.  Live enzymes are not like vitamins and minerals, but they are the catalysts to get those nutrients into the cells.  Think of them as the key that opens the door to the cell and lets the vitamins and minerals in to do their work.

From ‘The Nutrition Almanac-4th Edition‘ (1996 McGraw Hill, Gayla J. Kirschmann and John D. Kirschmann), here is the definition of live enzymes: “The active chemicals in the digestive juices which cause the chemical breakdown of foods are called enzymes, combinations of amino acids that are capable of inducing chemical changes in other substances“.

The importance of live enzymes in nutrition for athletes cannot be overstated, “In short, virtually nothing happens in the body without the help of enzymes“, says Ellen W. Cutler, co-author of ‘Micro Miracles‘.  For the body to function at full potential, experts agree it is a good idea to load up on nutrition for athletes with live enzymes.

While there are 1,300 different kinds of live enzymes that help your body function, the most familiar are digestive enzymes.  If your body does not have enough of these then the organs change functions. The liver and the pancreas switch from making metabolic enzymes, so tasks like converting fat into energy are given a lower priority. That is not good for athletes requiring nutrition to burn fat and generate energy. Live enzymes help provide essential nutrition for athletes to most effectively burn fat and create energy.

According to Joseph Brasco, M.D., Gastroenterologist at the Center of Colon and Digestive Diseases in Huntsville, Alabama, “Because the pancreas and liver need energy to produce enzymes, the resulting drain renders the organs temporarily unable to perform their functions of detoxification, blood sugar control and fat burning“.

Fortunately, live enzymes are abundant in whole foods that provide perfectly natural nutrition for athletes.  Now, it is easier than ever to find concentrated nutrients with live enzymes from whole food sources.  Some of the best natural foods and health drinks, available online, have a strong regenerating effect on the liver and pancreas, as well as the adrenals, reproductive glands, nervous system and kidneys.

To get the right digestive juices for turning nutrients into energy, discover nutrition for athletes with live enzymes.  Look for natural foods and health drinks that are made from whole food ingredients like real fruits and herbs. Feed your body the nutrients it is crying out for along with the live enzymes to absorb those nutrients more effectively, and it will perform better for you over the long term.

This whole food recipe is in honor of Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sotomayor.  It’s based on a traditional Puerto Rican soup that is typically made with pork. However, this vegan dish calls for green plantains molded into shapes resembling meatballs and gandules, a favorite of Sotomayor as well as many other Puerto Ricans.

In a recent speech, Sotomayor proclaimed, “For me, a very special part of my being Latina is the mucho platos de arroz, gandules y pernir — rice, beans and pork — that I have eaten at countless family holidays and special events.”

Gandules, or pigeon peas, and green plantains are a staple in Puerto Rican dishes. This soup is a healthy, whole food that is loaded with plantains and gondules, but avoids the use of animal products.

Sopa de Platanos Verde con Gandules
(Plantain soup with green plantains and pigeon peas)

Gandules:

* 1 lb.gandules (fresh or frozen or canned)
* 2 Qts water
* 2tsp sea salt
* 4 cloves of chopped garlic
* (If using canned you can skip to making the sauce. Otherwise, use the water from the can and add 1 ½ quarts of water.)
* Fresh or frozen-rinse and cook in 2qts of water for about 45 minutes, or until the peas are tender.

Sauce:

* 1 green pepper chopped
* ½ onion chopped
* 2 cloves chopped garlic
* 1 Tablespoon capers
* ½ C green stuffed olives
* 8oz canned tomato sauce
* 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
* 1 Qt vegetable broth
* 2-3 large very green plantains (peel and cut into pieces)
* 1tsp sea salt
* 1/3 Cup water or rice milk

Saute peppers, onions, capers, and olives in olive oil for 5 minutes, place in large soup pot, add broth, then heat to simmer. Add cooked gandules. Cut off the ends of the plantains and score the skin with a sharp knife. This makes it easier to remove the peels. Place plantain pieces in a food processor, add sea salt, and slowly add water to make a soft mixture. Form mixture into round balls, a little smaller than golf ball size. Drop the balls into the heated soup. Simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Makes 6-8 servings