Unleash the Healing Powers of Real Food
There is great pleasure in learning new things – new ideas, new habits, new perceptions, new ways, new understandings – I love learning and part of that is, of course, being the student. I love being a student! Over the last 30 years I have been blessed with many mentors and teachers from whom I take their information, experiment on myself (sometimes YIKES!), and pass this information on for others to benefit. That is what I want to share with you in my articles this year – literally, how you can change your life for the better.
In the last article I talked about how food is the foundation of our health and that there are basics for the process. The basics are Remove, Repair and Replenish. All three phases - Remove, Repair, Replenish - involve cleansing. There are multiple ways to cleanse: juicing, fasting, homeopathy, herbs, hydrotherapy, breath work, saunas, mental/emotional/spiritual healing, etc. – what I want to share with you is practical information about using the 4 healing food groups which are fruits, vegetable, herbs and spices – the approximately 50+ foods that act like medicine.
To quote Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine – "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food". We, though, live in a modern world which is a fast-food world and how would you know what food to take for what? How would you know what food acts as medicine? The information IS available and that's what I want to share with you. There are over 50 fruits, vegetables, herbs/spices and wild foods that have extraordinary effect on health. The properties of these 4 food groups relieves and heals symptoms and conditions of our bodies and brings mental, emotional and spiritual benefits as well. The information that will be shared with you is "outside of the box" of our modern-day understanding of nutrition. The standard believed and accepted information currently available to us about what is behind all of the frightening illnesses – is inside a box. Thinking outside of the box includes a bigger and different picture - the 50+ healing foods, spices and herbs affects every single aspect of your well-being. It's not just about getting in or out this or that from your diet for this or that benefit. Yes, those are vital aspects of protecting your health but they are just the beginning. It's also about eating certain foods in certain amounts for maximum benefit, understanding the energetic aspects of foods and how this fortifies, guides and protects you. This is more a way of being, of living with the earth and its "fruits" – this is potent medicine.
So, for this month's sharing, let's talk about one of the common conditions of modern humans – good old GERD. A disruption in our gastro intestinal tract is an underpinning of so many conditions – it has a domino effect through our entire body. The related symptoms and conditions of GERD are colitis, IBS, celiac, diverticulitis, gall bladder issues, diabetes, candida overgrowth, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, food sensitivities, weight gain or loss and sleep apnea.
The following foods are beneficial for a whole slew of other aspects of your health also – but for now we will focus on the reasons why for GERD. Of course there is also a lot more that I could additionally share with you for a more thorough change – but food is a solid start in the right direction. Do your best to incorporate these foods into your daily pattern of eating in the amounts suggested. I've added how much of each is needed for therapeutic benefits and how to easily incorporate them into you daily intake. The top five foods for GERD are bananas, dates, mangoes, pears, leafy greens and onions.
BANANAS: Eat one to two per day – best ripeness is when the skin is yellow with brown speckles. Put on top of other food, in smoothies or as a snack.
Bananas are made up of fiber, pulp, water and sugar. Worried about "too much sugar" – it's an erroneous bad rap. The reality is that the sugar in a properly ripened banana is completely different from the cane sugar and other processed sweeteners in our typical processed foods. Unlike processed sugar, the fruit sugar in bananas is bonded to critical life-supporting trace minerals such as manganese, selenium, copper, boron, and molybdenum and large amounts of minerals such as potassium, which is one of the most critical nutrients for neurotransmitter function. Bananas are also high in amino acids which work with potassium for electrolyte production. In other words, the sugar content in bananas is the very reason bananas have a huge supply of antioxidants, vitamins and other phytonutrients which fight disease and stabilize blood sugar.
Bananas also are antiviral – so powerful that they have the capacity to repel the growth of viruses. They are the ultimate fungus destroyers because they remove unproductive bacteria while feeling beneficial microorganisms in the intestinal tract.
When it comes to digestive aids, nothing beats bananas. They are antispasmodic for hyperactive colons and the small intestine. They alleviate gastric cramps and stress-related gastrointestinal disorders – a secret weapon in reversing GERD, colitis, IBS and Crohn's disease.
DATES: Eat four to six per day – eat them as a snack or blend them with celery juice and an apple.
Dates are amazing for the digestive system: they are anti-parasitical – they bind unto, destroy and sweep away parasites, yeast, fungus, heavy metals, unproductive bacteria, viruses and other poisons from the gut. Dates restore proper peristaltic function (muscle movement of the bowel) in the intestines, they deliver glucose to the liver (blood sugar issues) and they are rich in amino acids and nearly 70 bioactive minerals.
MANGOES: East two mangoes per day – as a snack, in salads or in smoothies.
Mangoes are calming – the phytochemicals along with amino acids such as glycine, glutamine and cysteine combined with fructose and glucose goes directly to the brain and restores depleted neurotransmitters. The pulp of mangos soothes the stomach and intestinal lining to alleviate constipation and they offer protection against viruses, reverses Type 2 and prediabetes.
PEARS: Eat crunchy pears for GERD – eat as a snack in midmorning or midafternoon – add them to salads and smoothies.
Pears raise hydrochloric acid in the stomach and act as an antispasmodic by soothing the linings of the entire gastro intestinal tract. They feed beneficial gut bacteria, kill unproductive bacteria, parasites and fungus and simultaneously reduces the bad acids produced by mucus and pathogens such as H. pylori. The granules in the pear's flesh are loaded with phytochemicals, trace minerals and amino acids which combine and lock onto poisons in the body such as DDT and expels them from your body.
LEAFY GREEN: Two to Three cups per day – vary the types – put in salads or in a smoothie.
Leafy greens are easy to digest and they "scrub" the lining of your gut – they remove yeast, fungus and impacted stool – they heal gut disorders not cause them. They create an alkaline environment and raises hydrochloric acid levels which kills off the bad acids responsible for GERD.
ONIONS: Put onions – all kinds – on everything every day.
Onions enhance your immune system, are anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and one of the best foods for keeping down bacterial overgrowth in your body. If onions upset you it means there is a high level of unproductive bacteria in your gut, the onions work to eliminate the bacteria, causing a die-off which is temporary.
More next month – Bon Appetit!