The Whole Food Blog

Hundreds of studies have been conducted to determine just how and why green tea and various types of herbal tea seem to make such a difference in health and vitality.

Herbal tea is often used medicinally by those who prefer a more natural approach to health.   It is believed that an upset stomach can be calmed by a cup of strong peppermint tea and sleeplessness overcome with a dose of chamomile tea.  It is even thought that various herbal teas, green tea among them, have the ability to prevent cancer.  Just the act of brewing and drinking a cup of herbal tea can be calming, as the aromas delight the drinker and the warm liquid soothes the throat.

Green tea is probably the most well-known and studied herbal tea.  Sources ranging from The Journal of the National Cancer Institute to the Mayo Clinic have found exceptional benefits to green tea and its components.  Coupled with thousands of years of documented anecdotes, the health benefits of herbal tea are compelling. In addition to potentially preventing cancer, green tea has also been credited with lowering the risk for heart disease, lessening symptoms of arthritis, preventing tooth decay, promoting natural weight loss and even eliminating bad breath.

Green tea is made from the Camellia sinensis bush, but an herbal tea can include other botanical elements, including leaves, roots, stems, and even the flowers of various plants.  It is possible to make “tea” that doesn’t use Camellia sinensis at all, although this would more accurately be referred to as an “herbal infusion” or “tisane” rather than an herbal tea.

Food addictions often begin as addictions to sugar.  In fact, alcohol addictions are sugar addictions.  Of course, there are also addictions to salt and fat.  In fact, it’s a constant desire for sugar, salt and fat, that keeps people eating without ever achieving a feeling of satisfaction.

The food addict’s insatiable diet is never satisfied because the body is constantly out of balance.  Unfortunately, by eating more sugar, salt and fat, the addiction only gets worse and the imbalances grow more pronounced.

The trick is to replace all the sugary, salty and fatty foods with healthy, whole foods.  When the food addict begins eating a more balanced diet including plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, the body begins to achieve homeostasis and cravings disappear.

Sugar is one of the most powerfully addicting substances in our food supply. Since it is in so many products, most people don’t know how to avoid it.  The consumer must be diligent, and look for healthy alternatives like stevia.  Stevia is actually 300 times sweeter than sugar, yet helps individuals to maintain normal blood sugar levels without the constant spikes and crashes.

For more information about stevia, read these articles:

Stevia is a Sugar Free Sweetener That is Naturally Healthy

Stevia Sweetener Is Hundreds of Times Sweeter Than Sugar and Healthier

Stevia Sweetener is the Natural Alternative to Sugar and Artificial Sweeteners

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.

Those who understand the power of nutrition and high fiber food know that 25-35 grams of fiber are the daily amounts recommended for a healthy diet.  Here are 5 simple ways to remember to get that much fiber each day.

1.    “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”

An apple is the perfect high fiber food to eat anywhere for a good source of fiber in a convenient, ready to eat package.  Apples provide a quick way to pick up 5 grams of fiber.

2.    “Beans, beans, good for your heart”

Beans are indeed good for the heart and for their high fiber food content.  Few foods with as much fiber are as economical and versatile as beans.  Soups often provide a good source of beans. Some fast food chains have bean burritos, chili or salads with beans, and of course, rice and beans are always popular.  Black beans provide as much as 7g of fiber per 1/4 cup, a quarter cup of pinto beans rings up a hefty 12g of fiber per serving, and Garbanzo beans offer 9g of high fiber food per 1/4 cup serving.

3.    “Breakfast is the most important meal”.

Breakfast is the first opportunity to start the day with plenty of fiber.  A bowl of oatmeal, a piece of whole-wheat toast, and a multi-grain muffin are wholesome high fiber food choices for breakfast. Each one provides 3-5g of fiber or more, and they’re easy to prepare.

4.    “High fiber food is good for your mood”

For a quick snack any time of day without the guilt of eating junk, a high fiber food bar is a good mood booster.  A snack bar should provide at least 4g of fiber in a serving or it isn’t worth the calories.  All too often, people eat candy bars and power bars that offer little or no fiber.  Look for all natural high fiber food bars on the Internet to get the most nutrition for your dollar.

5.    “Shake it up and go”.

Get 5g of fiber in health drinks that provide excellent sources of soluble fiber.  In fact, some high fiber drinks even has FOS, a soluble fiber that is typically found in foods like onion, garlic, oats, and barley.  High fiber foods in a health drink make it really easy to add 5g of fiber to any diet.

Add these five high fiber food reminders to your daily routine and you will easily consume 25-35 grams of fiber each day.

Many people know that high fiber foods are essential for a healthy diet.  However, not as many know about the benefits of fiber rich foods with FOS for the digestive system.  FOS is an acronym for fructooligosaccharides.  These are carbohydrates that come naturally from high fiber foods such as garlic, onions, leeks, oats, barley, rye, and chicory root.

One reason that natural fructooligosaccharides are good for digestion is that they are probiotics.  They help the body create its own healthy bacteria, which is necessary to fight off the unhealthy bacteria in the digestive system.  This is especially beneficial in a world where so many antibiotics have entered the food supply.  Antibiotics not only destroy the bad germs, but the good bacteria, too.  Additionally, when there are enough friendly bacteria in the colon, the body is able to produce a healthy dose of B vitamins.

Most high fiber foods sweep the intestines, but FOS also works like a scrub brush for the intestinal walls.

Here are several good reasons to consume high fiber foods with FOS on a regular basis:

1.    The body can absorb nutrients more efficiently as food passes without difficulty through the intestinal walls.
2.    The growth of good bacteria, such as Acidophilus, Bifidus, and Faccium will be stimulated in the digestive system.
3.    Cholesterol and triglycerides may be reduced as fat is more easily trapped in the intestinal tract where it can be flushed out faster.
4.    Better assimilation of complex carbohydrates from high fiber foods that take longer to digest will provide longer lasting energy, which is good for blood sugar regulation.
5.    Probiotics from FOS can minimize yeast infection, Candida, and bloating.
6.    Symptoms of constipation, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and lactose intolerance may decrease.

Unfortunately, onions, leeks, barley, oats, rye, garlic, and chicory root are not high fiber foods that the average person will eat often enough to get all the benefits of FOS.  Fortunately, there are other ways to get fructooligosaccharides.  Search the Internet for natural high fiber foods with FOS.

Alkaline foods are an essential consideration for many health conscious individuals.  Now that more people understand the benefits of maintaining a healthy pH balance, they realize they can enhance their nutrition by learning more about the benefits of alkaline foods.

In order to manage a healthy pH balance, nutrition experts recommend a diet consisting of 80% alkaline foods and only 20% acid forming foods.  Foods are either alkaline or acid forming based on the type of ash that is left in the body after your digestive system processes them.  For example, a lemon may seem like an acid food, but after it is digested, it leaves an alkaline ash behind.

Most people eating a typical diet today, have this 80/20-Alkaline/Acid balance reversed.  It’s rather obvious that foods and beverages such as meat, coffee, alcohol, sugar, dairy, and refined flour products are not alkaline foods, but also some healthy foods are acid forming.  Things like whole grains, beans and even fruits such as cranberries, blueberries and green bananas can leave an acid ash behind.

No matter what foods or drinks are consumed, the body must maintain a blood pH level of 7.4.  A deviation of as little as two tenths from that balance and the body shuts down.  If the body has to neutralize more acid than it is designed for, it searches for alkaline elements to maintain that delicate pH balance.  When there aren’t enough nutrients from alkaline foods, then the body has to use calcium from bones in order to neutralize the overly abundant amounts of acid ash.

Some will argue that the body has mechanisms in place to take care of pH balance despite what is digested.  However, doesn’t it make more sense to give the body some assistance?  Others will argue that an overly alkaline diet can be just as unhealthy as one that is too acidic. While that is true, most people will never encounter this problem.   That is why striving to reach a healthy 80/20 ratio of alkaline foods to acid foods is an important element of sound nutrition.

Take the free Alkaline Food Test at www.BestHealthFoodStore.net to see if your diet tips the scales to the acid side or the alkaline.

While some of the health drinks you find are useful in different ways, alkaline drinks have added benefits that their counterparts do not.  Alkaline drinks are unique because they utilize naturally alkaline ingredients. Fruits, such as lemons and peaches, and herbs like jasmine or cinnamon are alkaline ingredients that you might find in these types of health drinks.

To maintain their alkaline state, the various ingredients also need to be processed very carefully. Close attention must be paid to temperatures used in the formulation and packaging processes in order to keep the completely natural structure of the whole foods intact.  When most health drinks are bottled, this is just not possible.  That is why alkaline drinks that utilize powder formulas mixed with water by the consumer may offer greater nutritional benefits.

Unfortunately, much of the typical twenty-first century diet is made up of acid forming foods.  By utilizing alkaline drinks, we are able to help the body maintain its natural pH balance.  The result is better overall health, as well as more energy.  With the consumption of alkaline health drinks, the body doesn’t have to work as hard in order to manage a proper pH balance.

In most cases, alkaline health drinks also offer a more natural energy boost without a sugar crash or a caffeine buzz.  This is because the whole food ingredients provide elements such as antioxidants, live enzymes, and chlorophyll, without sugars or artificial sweeteners.  Alkaline drinks are almost always made with whole food ingredients. Keep in mind that many convenience store sport drinks and enhanced waters are made with acid forming ingredients, which are just the opposite.

When you take the time to learn more about how your health drinks are processed and what ingredients are used, you begin to understand the real differences between typical sports drinks you can buy at the convenience store and alkaline drinks you may only be able to find online.