Staying healthy and enjoying extended years is not rocket science. It’s about performing the basics, about how we live life on a daily basis and what kind of habits control our actions.
One of the most important things we can do for our health is keep ourselves from becoming toxic. What can we use to keep our systems clean and non-toxic? Food of course and physical activity.
Not just any food, but foods that contribute to our health and longevity! Human beings are designed to eat a very limited selection of food. If you were a caveman you would have only eaten wild meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, seafood and perhaps ancient grains. That’s it! There would be no chemicals, packaging, pasteurization, refining or processing. That’s what clean eating is.
Foods like an apple, a carrot, a piece of grass-fed beef, a tomato, a bunch of spinach, fish from the ocean, a banana, a handful of nuts, free range poultry and eggs and so on. In other words, Foods that nature gives us – Nature’s Bounty.
Eating the least processed foods helps control blood sugar, stabilizes energy, and provides your body with sufficient amounts of fiber to help keep food moving through your digestive tract, moving harmful compounds out of your body quickly before they can cause damage. The wrong food (processed, refined) will have the opposite effect and only contribute to the toxicity of our bodies and shortening of our years.
Here are some basic rules to use food as your weapon to stay strong and fight aging:
Stick with the basics. A lifestyle to keep you clean and non-toxic starts with clean natural food. This means avoiding all processed foods.
Keep your bloodstream alkaline. Disease loves an acidic bloodstream. Clean food that includes lots of vegetables and some fruit will help keep the pH level of your blood in the alkaline range.
Cook your food properly to retain nutrients. Foods that have become toxic from high heat and have had their nutrients destroyed by the microwave are no use to us. Keep cooking temperatures as low as possible and avoid using a microwave.
Eat raw foods. Raw vegetables, nuts, seeds, coconut and fruit are more beneficial than their cooked counterparts.
Eat organic. Consuming foods laden with herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and other dangerous chemicals can turn us toxic and create acidity in the bloodstream. Eating for health and longevity means consuming clean and natural food.
Eat local. Food that is close to its source has traveled less and will retain more health building nutrients and anti-oxidants.
Consume organic and free-range grass fed meat where possible. Cavemen would have consumed animals that had lived off the land and eaten the foods that were natural to them. This would have kept animals in a perfectly healthy state. Non-organic meat can contain dangerous and toxic chemicals as well as the animals that may have been farmed in a non-humane ”cruel” way that is simply not acceptable to the majority of us.
Choose foods that boost your health
Your immune system keeps you healthy by identifying and fighting off unwanted invaders in your system, everything from cold and flu to stray cancer cells. Eating a colorful variety of foods gives you the best protection.
Boost your antioxidants. Antioxidants are powerful vitamins that protect your health and help the cells in your body function optimally. Vegetables and fruits are the best sources of antioxidants such as beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium.
Eat a wide range of brightly colored vegetables which are rich in phytochemicals a potent disease–fighting and immune–boosting nutrient. The greater the variety of colors that you include the more you will benefit, since different colors are rich in different phytochemicals. male aging-what you need to know to reverse the trend.
Flavor with immune-boosting spices and foods. Garlic, ginger, and curry powder not only add flavor, but they add a punch of valuable nutrients. Other good choices include turmeric, basil, rosemary, and coriander. Use them in soups, salads, casseroles, or any other dish.
If your current diet has a high percentage of processed, refined foods, over time this is going to rob you of your health so we need to get to work changing the ratio and swapping out this non-nutrient food and replacing it with REAL FOOD.
You might start off with 20 percent compliance (or even less) to a healthy eating plan but over time you increase this percentage. It may end up at 80 percent compliance which is very healthy level to aim for. It still gives some “wiggle room” for going out to dinner, to a party or going on holiday. It simply gives you the freedom to eat anything you like. It may not be like it is now, eating whatever, whenever but eating
this way is very doable.
When you do this you can improve health and lose weight without having to eat less. Simply by making smarter food choices it really is a lifestyle change that leads to healthy, steady weight loss and healthy eating for life.
The key is to choose a variety of foods that are natures finest (foods grown locally and in season are best because they don’t have to travel far) – whole brightly colored fruits and veggies along with high quality proteins, fats, nuts, seeds and grains.
Even desserts and treats can be healthy and offer the essential nutrients your body needs to operate efficiently.
Pick up your personal copy of “Blended Bites” where veggies play a starring role in many of your favorite desserts or treats.
For more tools and resources from Carolyn Hansen to assist you in attaining your health and fitness goals and achieving the success you desire in life, please visit:
