Basic Health Habit No.2: Digestive Health and Nutrition Part One

  

 What You Eat Today Walks and Talks Tomorrow

A Natural, Whole Food Diet

A natural, whole food diet is the best possible lifelong diet for nutrition. Natural means food that is without hormones, antibiotics, colourings or added flavours, sugar, salt, or fats. It also means food that has not been processed or refined mechanically, chemically, by temperature, or contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. It is real food that has not been altered genetically or irradiated. Whole, means food that does not have any of its parts removed. 

Nutrition and digestive health is a Basic Health Habit, necessary, universally for human physiological health. Basic Health Habits create and maintain the resilient health needed for life in the 21st century. 

This type of diet will supply you with all the nutrients needed for health, growth, development, healing, good sleep, and anti-aging. A natural, whole food diet will increase your resilience to disease and will contribute to your emotional stability and happiness. You will be vibrant and beautiful and weight control will happen naturally. It is an interesting, and satisfying diet full of natural flavour, colour, and variety.

Basic Health Habits Have Seasons

Four times a year as the seasons change, I make adjustments to my diet. In the winter I bake more, and I eat, hot, complex stews and casseroles, and my fresh salads become hardier with the addition of different vegetables like cabbage and arugula, quinoa, beans, nuts, and seeds. In the summer I eat simpler meals and more fresh fruit. Spring and autumn are transitional months between winter and summer.

Nutrition Part 1-3

In this three-part feature about the basic health habit of nutrition and digestive health, you will learn about the importance of digestive health, the proper balance of the different food groups,  food combining and digestion,  alkaline-acid pH balance of food and their relationship to disease, soluble and insoluble fiber, healthy carbohydrates, healthy fats, essential fatty acids, antioxidant phenolics, phytochemicals, pro-biotics, supplements, allergies, and essential nutrients.
 

Prayer Soup

Cooking for someone you love is a sacred thing. Think of it as a prayer ritual. Start with gratitude - for your family, or the friend you're helping to heal; for the bounty and your ability to put it to good purpose; for the good smells and tastes and for variety.  

Garlic, leeks and onions are high in flavonoids and phytochemicals for healthy cholesterol levels. Highly coloured vegetables are rich in other phytochemicals with benefits including cancer prevention. Parsley and peppers are high in vitamin C. Rosemary is said to aid memory. Dried beans, peas and lentils are little gems of nutrition. With little or no fat and no cholesterol, they are rich in complex carbohydrates, fiber, iron and folate. Research suggests they reduce bad cholesterol; help prevent certain cancers and normalize blood sugar. Tomatoes get their red colour from lycopene which is cancer protective. Chicken and beans supply protein, which, along with complex carbohydrates, provide sustained energy. Turkey contains a substance that can ease depression.

From Unfamiliar Territory by Mary Campbell 2006, 
Sister Alma Rose has the Last Word

Gut-Healing Bone Broth 

1 organic whole chicken

8 c of water

4 -6 stalks of celery, finely chopped

½ white or yellow onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 T chopped fresh parsley

1 inch ginger root, finely chopped

½ t sea salt

½ t of apple cider vinegar

Place all of the above ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low heat for 8 -10 hours. 

Bone Broth Soup:

1. Repairs digestive tract - aids digestion: the gelatin (collagen) in bone broth protects and heals the mucosal lining of the digestive tract and helps aid in the digestion of nutrients. 

2. Fights bacterial and viral infection: the bio-available protein in collagen and the minerals in the broth support white blood cell antibody formation and function.

3. Heals: the glucosamine and collagen in bone broth stimulates the growth and repair of damaged joint tissues, and reduces pain and inflammation. 

4. Tissue health: the collagen and minerals in bone broth supports hair, nail, teeth, skin, and bone growth and health. 

5. Bone health: the calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus in bone broth helps our bone formation, growth, and repair. 

6. Save money: homemade bone broth is cheaper and healthier than store bought. 

7. Easy to make: add all of the ingredients to a slow-cooker crockpot. It can cook while you sleep. 

8. Healthier than supplements: homemade bone broth has a rich supply of bio-available protein and minerals.  Slow cooking preserves the nutrients better than the high heat extraction used to make supplements. 

9. Fights inflammation: bone broth is very high in the anti-inflammatory amino acids glycine and proline.  

10. Promotes sleep and calms the mind: the amino acid glycine found in bone broth can be very calming. Mind Body Green

Quote: What you eat today walks and talks tomorrow - Gaylord Hauser

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