Healthy You Healthy Planet

Healthy YOU Healthy Planet Lifestyle PlanrnFor looking great, feeling great and leaving a smaller eco-footprint.rnBy Dr. Karen I. Shragg Follow these basic guidelines and get off diets forever, feel and look great, age gracefully and avoid getting on prescription medications. Growing old does not have to equate to obesity, heart disease, aches and pains and greater intake of pharmaceuticals. The way we eat is NOT just about feeling good; our diet has a huge impact on the environment. (That is because with 7+ billion of us all wanting to eat we ask more of the planet than she can give when we eat as we did traditionally) Included in this grid: WHY to stick to these habits which include health environmental and ethical reasons. FOOD should be REAL, nutritious, TASTE GOOD, and not be entertainment based on its high fat content. Our whole health care system could be a lot less expensive if we followed the advice in this grid. We are not eating food anymore, we are eating over-processed food-like substances as author Micheal Pollan likes to call them. FAST FOOD is a FAST track to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and more. They also contribute to our waste stream with added organics to our watersheds. In addition able-bodied people need to commit to exercising 1.5 hours EVERY DAY. Our bodies are designed to move. Try to combine Eastern and Western styles of exercise. Use weights, various aerobics, yoga, qi gong and tai chi. ( slow moving, fast moving, stretching, muscle building and meditation are all important) Make filtered water and herbal tea your main way of staying hydrated. Avoiding bottled drinks saves on the use and abuse of plastic bottles. You will SAVE MONEY TOO! Supplements and spices that can help an already healthy diet include: Nutrition flakes with its full complement of B vitamins, flaxseed and hemp seed for Omega 3’s which your body needs if you are going to limit fish ( I like fresh garlic, ginger, Tumeric, Stinging Nettle great for iron, Astragalus an immune system booster,) Some of the worst toxins bio-accumulate ONLY in animal tissues. Dioxin is one that concentrates in the tissues of animals and when we eat them we get a dose. A North American eating a typical North American diet will receive 93% of their dioxin exposure from meat and dairy products and dioxin is a known carcinogen. This was not true in the early years of America, but in post WWII America it is. That means that EVEN organic meats while better are not able to avoid the toxic effects of bio-accumulation. Eating to avoid poisons is NO substitute for trying to use our diminishing political clout to stop the production of these toxins, however. If you do not pay attention to the sources of your food you are destined to be subject to the failures of factory farming which include: Mad cow disease, ecoli bacteria and others. Selecting your farm is much easier when you shop at a co-op. A co-op has a process that it goes through to make sure it is bringing you the best products available that support best farming practices and good health. If you are concerned about the health of your local economy than investing in your community by keeping the dollars local is great too. When you shop the big box stores to save a few dollars they send their profits back to their home base which is often states away if not in other countries. Become a member of as many co-ops you can afford and watch yourself save as they profit share at the end of the year. Now how many times have you gotten a check from a big box grocery store? AVOID This WHY BENEFITS EAT/DRINK THIS BENEFITS RED MEAT AS WELL AS OTHER FLESH FOODS ( DIOXINS AND OTHER CHEMICALS TRAVEL UP THE ANIMAL FOOD CHAIN) WHILE MANY DIETS ASK YOU TO EAT LEAN CUTS, OR TELL YOU THAT WE ARE GENETICALLY SET UP TO EAT IT… THIS IS A CALORIE DENSE FOODrnRED MEAT IS HARD ON THE ENVIRONMENTrnAND IS LINKED TO HIGHER RISKS OF HEART DISEASE MANY CHEMICAL EXPOSURES LOWER CHOLESTORAL YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE LESS CARBON INTO THE ATMOSPHERE A VEGAN SAVES 1.5 TONS OF CARBON DUE TO THE FOSSIL FUELS NEEDED TO RAISE CATTLE LESS CALORIES LESS CRUELTYrnLESS DIOXIN IN YOUR SYSTEM SEITAN ( IF YOU ARE NOT GLUTEN SENSITIVE)rnTHIS IS PRESSEDrnWHEAT GLUTEN ORGANIC TOFUrn OR BEAN CURD rnTAKES ON FLAVORS WELL,rnHIGH IN PROTEIN,rnLOW IN CALORIES BAKED WITH SEASONINGS AND PUT IN SOUPS AND STIR FRYS ANDS LOW FAT PROTEINrnDAIRY PRODUCTS Dairy is mucous causing and often high in calories and fat. Many chemicals go into processing milk including growth hormones. Experience less respiratory diseasernSave on caloriesrnFeel good knowing you don’t support rnan industry responsible for so much water and soil pollution Coconut, hemp, rice and soy ‘milk’s are tasty and dairy free often with added omega-3’s. Look for low sugar varieties You are able to make great smoothies and have whole grain cereal while avoiding the bad effects of dairy. SODA POP Non nutritive.. you should drink things that have a benefit to your bodyrnPop is hard on your bonesrnAnd digestive system, You will help stop the need to make so much aluminum rainforests cleared for fruit flavoring of pop Easy on your bones Dental issues Herbal teasrnEspecially green and white tea which have many antioxidant benefits Find flavors you like, there are SO many to choose from.rnSweeten with Sweet Leaf a natural plant sweetner ( stevia) Drinking 3 cups of green day a day rnHelps to maintain health by helping to eliminate free radicals which weaken DNA.. Processed foodsrnEspecially anything that has High fructose corn syruprnAvoid things that come in a box with fancy colorful packaging Your body doesn’t need it and it is just wasted calories of too much fat, sugar and saltrnWill leave you feeling sluggish and undernourished When traveling choose the most whole food type raw bars, but avoiding them saves on lots of waste of wrappers WHOLE REAL FOODS likernRaw Nuts, raw or slightly cooked vegetables, berries, fruit Organic and local where possible This is real fuel for your body, avoiding carcinogenic pesticides helps to promote organic farming methods wildlife Refined FlourrnAnd SugarrnWhite breadrnWhite ricernWhite potatoesrnRefined cereals These are inflammatory foods and will predispose you to rnDiseases like arthritis and add rnCalories. They do not have fiber. New research shows them as the substance on which cancer feeds. Food will taste better and you will avoid a lot of calories You will seek out more fiber dense foods Find Sprouted breads/tortillas which do not use refined floursrnEzekiel brand and rnFrench Meadow are two tasty ones These are filling foods because they are which allow you to still have sandwiches without the inflammation rnfactor Artificial Colors and flavorings Your body doesn’t know what to do with them, may lead to behavior problems in children You will automatically avoid the kind of choices which just add unneeded calories to your diet Make your own desserts. When choosing treats make them with dried fruit and lower glycemic agave syrup and coconut nectarrn Fresh berries on coconut yogurt is sweet as well as nutritious. You can have your dessert and eat it too.rnFish Avoid mercury on other chemicals in lakes. All of Minnesota’s lakes have mercury warnings on them Fish are getting depleted due to over-demand due to our serious over-population problem. We often like the predator fish which don’t reproduce fast enough to keep up with our demand! Try tempeh, miso,rnother vegan protein products Use Hemp seed, hemp butter, and flax seed to make sure you are getting your Omega 3’s. Save birds too as they are also caught in nets and killed when seen at competition for human food. If you can’t avoid fish check out SEAWATCH by Audubon for the best fish to eat. rnREFERENCES:rnhttp://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/dioxins121701.cfmrnhttp://www.ejnet.org/dioxin/rnThe Vegan Diet as Chronic Disease Prevention: Evidence Supporting the New Four Food Groups rnKerrie K. Saunders rnFACTS:rnAccording to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, hog, chicken and cattle waste has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states -Every year in the U.S., 25 million pounds of antibiotics, (about 70 percent of the total U.S. antibiotic production) are fed to chickens, pigs, and cows for nontherapeutic purposes like growth promotion, amounting to 10 million pounds used in hogs, 11 million in poultry and 4 million in cattle. –Union of Concerned Scientists, Jan. 9, 2001 rnwww.ucsusa.org