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University of Cambridge Proclaims the Benefits of Chocolate

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Thank you University of Cambridge for adding more evidence that my best friend Chocolate is good for me. They studied more then 100,000 people which did or didn’t have existing heart disease and found that those with the highest levels of chocolate consumption had a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease! There was also a 29% reduction in strokes. Of course we all need to realize that the quality of the chocolate and the darkness has an impact on it’s health benefits so we don’t pound calorie packed treats from the gas station every day.

I think one of my favorite things about chocolate is the versatility of benefits that you can receive from chocolate and that it’s also considered a luxury to eat. I can’t think of anyone who would complain at having to eat chocolate even the darker chocolate is delicious to eat!

For a constipation killer you can try crushing 2 squares of a darker chocolate bar and adding it to a cup of cold coffee, throw some almond milk and ice into the blender with the chocolate and coffee and you will have a yummy treat that has healthy properties and can be made in minutes.

You can read about the benefits of chocolate to treat constipation here:

Which Constipation Cures are in your kitchen

Home Remedy for Hot Days

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The heat in California is killing me!
I can only pretend that I am at a spa enjoying the sauna for 2 days and then I give up all hope of happiness! The worst part is the initial impact of the heat as you walk out the door which is like an oven reaching out and slapping you. The only good part has been that the heat and humidity have been kicking me into gear for keeping us hydrated and healthy. We’ve been drinking a ton of water and use popsicles and smoothies to cool off. I have found the perfect way to use up any left over smoothie is to pour them into a popsicle mold to enjoy in the afternoon and evening.

You can try the recipes below as a smoothie or to make a large batch of popsicles to help beat the heat!

Kiwi Smoothie Recipe

Fresh Apple Smoothie

If you want to have a popsicle with more flavor you can always add in some mango for sweetness or raspberry for a tart kick. I have actually been cheating and throwing in a spoon of organic raw sugar when blending fruits for a Popsicle and we have really enjoyed that extra sweetness in the popsicles. I’m sure some molasses which is one of my Top 4 Natural Remedies for Constipation or a sweet fruit could accomplish the same effect. Be sure to avoid Artificial Sweeteners because of the negative effects they can have on your general health and digestion.

Maximize Hydration with these 5 Hydrating Treats

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Beat the heat with these tips to maximize hydration and health!

Here are my 5 favorite ways to stay hydrated and add energy, anti-aging benefits and flavor to my diet.

Top 5 Summer Treats for Hydration

1. Watermelon! My favorite Summer Hydrating snack!  Eat it as it, throw it into a smoothie or make watermelon balls and freeze them for an amazing snack on a hot day. Not only will it refresh and hydrate you but it also has many other benefits including reducing inflammation, fights colon cancer, loads you up on Vitamin B for energy and also works as a natural laxative so don’t over indulge on this treat. More natural laxatives are given in this article: Top 3 Effective Home Remedy Laxatives

2. Kiwi! Also my favorite. Intensely refreshing and hydrating you can eat kiwi by itself or toss it into a smoothie like I do in this Kiwi Smoothy Recipe . Kiwi also has high antioxidants to ward off any skin damage from your fun in the sun. Kiwi is also an excellent constipation relief for children.

3. Salad. A crisp salad added to your plate will help hydrate you and also be an excellent source of raw vegetables in your diet.

4. Cucumbers! I love a fresh cucumber dipped in homemade hummus. You can toss cucumbers into salads, use in a dip, or blend them up into a fruit smoothie.

5. Tea! Drinking some green tea through out the day is not only hydrating but incredibly healthy for you. You can drink it as an iced tea or a hot tea and enjoy the amazing health benefits and additional energy it provides.

 

 

 

Why I Hate Aspertame

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To me, aspartame is the equivalent of that popular pretty blond girl that shows up at every party and utterly ruins your day.  The one who smiles and laughs with everyone else and then does nasty crap to you when everyone else isn’t looking. If you even tried to tell anyone they wouldn’t believe you because it’s so much fun for them to be around her.

People seems to think I am just a paranoid health freak when I mention I avoid aspartame at all costs because they don’t have any problems they recognize from it.  Aspartame  flavors their gum, sweetens their soda and aspartame or another artificial sweetener is included in nearly every single box and bottle in the middle of the grocery store.  Every party I go to Aspartame is there taunting me as everyone around me drinks and eats it up and I dread even a drop hitting my lips.

Sometimes I will loose my resolve and have a mint or drink a soda and maybe even chew a stick of gum. That’s when the fun starts and re-instills the ill feelings I have towards the chemical sweetener.

  • First, the headache. It’s more like a pulsating burning that starts in my forehead and slowly works its way around to the back of my head.
  • Second, sharp intense pains in my abdomen which have a pain level nearly as high as passing a gallstone.
  • Third, the swelling. My Stomach will begin to swell up to a few inches making me look pregnant (a skeptical family member viewed the size of my stomach after I had chewed a few sticks of gum and finally believed me and was convinced I needed to go to the hospital)
  • Fourth, 2-4 days of pain and bloating while I wait for the symptoms to subside and then I once again strive to avoid an attack.

That is why I hate aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. I have learned not to trust any processed foods and habitually check every label for anything that ends in “ame”. Now days I can effectively avoid it and only have episodes from mints. Please never offer me a mint: I often feel bad rejecting a mint offer because I am worried the other person is trying to indicate that my breath is bad. It may just be a kind gesture and I always reject my close friends and their offers.

I wrote an article on Aspartame and Digestive Health. Read it and tell me what you think

Is Aspartame Causing your Bowel Problems?

Have you had any problems from ingesting aspartame because sometimes I feel like the only one out there…

6 Steps to Prevent Constipation from Leading to Heart Disease

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A new study has been published in which researchers claim that women who suffer from chronic constipation are at higher risk of heart disease.

Unfortunately, their findings fell flat because they didn’t understand how to link the two factors together or how one could influence the other. When a medical researcher or an everyday person fails to view their body as a fully functioning system they are not able to link up a variety of symptoms to come up with solutions to their health problems.

The two problems have some over lapping causes:

1. Poor Diet

  • Inadequate Vitamins and Minerals
  • Poor Fiber Intake
  • Constant dehydration

2. Lack of Exercise

Both Chronic Constipation and Heart Disease also have similar preventative measure that can be done everyday. You may find that other problems that you didn’t know were linked to diet and exercise will begin to resolve themselves.

You can take small steps to begin your journey towards a healthy heart and digestive system

  1. Start by adding in 5 minutes of exercise a day and slowly increase
  2. Increase fresh fruits and vegetables to increase fiber
  3. Have a variety of grains and legumes to increase your vitamin, mineral and fiber intake
  4. Start eliminating harmful foods (most items in the middle of the grocery store)
  5. Stop Drinking soda
  6. Take time to relax and enjoy life whether it’s going for a walk, seeing friends or enjoying a hobby.

The best part about the 6 steps is that they can be slowly incorporated into your life and will hopefully help inspire you to make broad changes in your lifestyle.  Check out my article on Relief for Constipation for more helpful tips!

 

 

 

Stem Cell FrankenBurgers Coming Soon!

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It’s bad enough that the engineers behind GMO foods like to mix it up by making adding  fish DNA to Tomato DNA but this next science experiment disturbs me to the core.

Ready?

A team of scientist at Maastricht University in the Netherlands plan to make hamburger meat from stem cells to feed to all the cruelty conscious vegetarians out there. I don’t think many vegans I know will be lining up for this abomination. Does this remind anyone else of that movie The Island? You know the part where they are showing the people that pay for their own clones the “product” that they purchased? It’s a pile of flesh that pulsates in a box and I can’t imagine that these franken burgers would look much different.

How could that be healthy for you? Imagine how your digestive system will be ravaged as it processes this unnatural substance. Since nutrients from meat comes from what the animal has digested… how does stem cell meat graze on grains and fiber? Stem cell hamburger meat should be stopped and it’s one more bad idea that engineers have that will negatively impact our health as fast food chains look for more ways to feed us crazy crap and call it food.

Food is going to impact your digestion more then anything else that you are doing. You can read any of our articles discussing the positive benefits of food for your digestive problems including Constipation Cures in Your Kitchen

Top 3 Foods to Revitalize your Digestive Flora

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There are so many supplements on the market to increase your pro biotic flora which often leads people to think there’s no other way but to take a pill to increase your beneficial flora.
I want to introduce you to three foods you can eat to increase your good flora and make your digestive system less hospitable to the bad bacteria.

Food to Increase Beneficial Probiotic Flora

1. Yogurt

But not just any yogurt will make a good impact on your digestive health. Look for yogurts that are organic. These are always preferable because the standards of Organic Yogurts will give you a greater chance to avoid hormones and pesticides ingested by the animal providing the milk. Yogurt will provide  pro biotic beneficial Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus bacteria.

2. Sauerkraut

Stinky as it may be, the health benefits and actual production of  Sauerkraut is amazing. Sauerkraut is simply fermented cabbage. What is so beneficial to boosting pro biotics is that it ferments itself with lactic acid bacteria by digesting the sugar of the cabbage. Not only that but it’s an excellent source of Vitamin B!

3.Miso

Miso is Soy that has been fermented by the aspergillus oryzae bacteria. It is most commonly known in the form of Miso Soup but can also be used as a spread on corn on the cob or toast. Be sure to add the miso last minute to keep the beneficial bacteria from being destroyed by the heat.

I would love to hear from you guys on foods you know of that increase beneficial bacteria.

Leave a comment below!

 

5 Reasons Fried Food Makes You Feel Like Crap

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As the Fair Season comes rolling around the spectacular creativity of the food venders will be displayed once again through a multitude of fried foods. Last year was the first year I tried any of the deep fried fair foods and it may have been my last. The day started with the deep fried Oreos then I continued onto the funnel cake and the awesome blossom along with numerous other treats. Needless to say, I felt like crap!

We will be attending the fair again in a few weeks and it inspired me to research the effects of fried foods on your digestion!

 

Here are the top 5 reasons that deep fried foods make you Feel Like Crap

  1. It’s covered in Fat! Deep frying food is basically just adding a layer of fat around the food you are cooking. Most items that are being deep fried tend to have a high fat content. Onions and Zucchini seem to be the exception.
  2. Obesity: Deep frying foods will lead to weight gain due to the additional fat that your food is covered in. Especially since most people who deep fry are chronic offenders.
  3. Constipation: The common cause of constipation is animal fat and a lack of fiber. Other foods that trigger constipation
  4. Heartburn: Deep fried food lead to an overproduction of acid in your stomach leading to heartburn.
  5. Gout: Deep Fried Foods are very high in purines and produce a high level of acidic waste in your body in general. Anyone with gout I’m sure has found out that deep fried foods are a trigger and a cause of gout.

 

Colon Cleansing Kits: Proceed with Caution

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Here are my thoughts on Colon Cleansing Kits, possible pros that I see and also cons that concern me.

The type of colon cleansing that I am going to discuss will be the means of herbs or other laxatives which irritate the colon into expelling all the waste that may be in there due to lack of fiber or constipation.

Cons:

  • I doubt that any sufferer of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) will ever want to experience an irritable bowel again. Many herbs used in Colon Cleansing kits are meant to irritate your colon so that it will expel waste. This can lead to a lack of nutrition from what you are eating and also dehydration.
  • Due to the prepackaging of a variety of herbs you won’t know which herb you may be having a reaction to if you begin to have bad side effects. This will force you to completely stop the cleansing and be unable to treat the problem because you don’t know which ingredient caused it.
  • You don’t know the quality or freshness of the herbs used and you don’t want to mess around with herbs. Quality and purity are very important especially considering the point above.

Pros

  • If it is a good kit which separates the herbs and causes a gentle encouragement of eliminating it may temporarily assist with constipation which can lead to toxicity.
  • They are an easy sell for companies who don’t care about your comfort or long term comfort because everyone wants a instant cure for a life time of unhealthy eating.

Personally, I believe that if you are nourishing your body with vitamins, minerals, proper hydration, good flora, fiber and enzymes that your body will balance itself out and your digestion will improve with patience. If you think of your body as a delicate piece of machinery and strive to be gentle with what you expose it to in both food and activity your body will function better. Our tendency to traumatize our body for the promised quick results will never yield a properly functioning digestive system.

Here’s a good article which will substitute a Colon Cleanse Kit and the dangers it poses:

5 Steps to end your families digestive problems

Alkaline Water- Is it all a Scam?

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This  is my initial review after being on the Alkaline water which is 9.5 alkalinity and ionized. We are purchasing it from a local water store in our area and we’ve been on it for about 2 weeks. I am trying to approach this Alkaline Water and it’s claims in a cynical manner not just believing the claims because I want them to be true, but I am becoming biased rather quickly especially since my coffee addiction is gone for the first time in years.

The link to my first post on Alkaline Water

Here are the claims that stood out to me from the internet and also from speaking with reps for alkaline water systems.

Better Flavor:  95% of what we drink in our family is water so we can really taste the difference between the variety of waters available. Probably more then most people. Our opinion is that the water tastes softer and sweeter.

Digestive Benefits: Proponents of the Alkaline water claimed  it treats constipation. We both found that we were constipated for the first 4 days on the water and after that initial response everything went back to normal, but not improved. We also began drinking it improperly which may have something to do with it. Also, we don’t have any current digestive issues to treat with the water.

Energy: Increased! I was (shamefully) a 1-5 cup a day person, but after the detox broke I didn’t want coffee and never had any with drawl symptoms. I felt fresh and alert. My hubby barely drank coffee but he doesn’t need his normal “power nap” now. This result is extremely impressive and I hope it helps.

Clarity of Mind: I feel like I had a cup of coffee without the caffeine crash. I also feel sharper. Hubby had the same results and one of my friends thought I had just pounded a cup of coffee I was so alert when I saw her. Words don’t seem hidden in a fog and I just feel brighter

Skin: The water in our apartment actually smells like chlorine so my skin is constantly struggling with dryness. I haven’t noticed any change there, but it seems that my complexion may have brightened up, but it could just be wishful thinking.

I am hoping as time goes on I will notice other improvements in my health. I am also hoping that we will be able to say definitively that this type of water will better treat constipation then regular water so we can offer more help to you.

Here’s an article discussing the importance of water in helping your digestion:

4 Natural Remedies for Constipation