Lucid Nutrition

How much water should I drink?

Water Boosts Your Energy

If you’re feeling drained and depleted, get a pick-me-up with water. Dehydration makes you feel fatigued.

Water helps the blood transport oxygen and other essential nutrients to your cells.

If you’re getting enough water, your heart also doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood throughout your body.

Lower Stress With Water

85% of your brain tissue is water. If you’re dehydrated, both your body and your mind will be stressed.

If you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already a little dehydrated.

To keep stress levels down, keep a glass of water at your desk or tote a sports bottle and sip regularly.

Stay Slimmer With Water

Trying to lose weight? Water revs up metabolism and helps you feel full.

Replace calorie-laden beverages with water, and drink a glass before meals to help you feel fuller.

Drinking more water also helps amp up metabolism - especially if your glass is icy cold. Your body must work to warm the water up, burning a few extra calories in the process.

Build Muscle Tone With Water

Drinking water helps prevent muscle cramping and lubricates joints in the body.

When you’re well hydrated, you can exercise longer and stronger without "hitting the wall."

Nourish Your Skin

Fine lines and wrinkles are deeper when you’re dehydrated. Water is nature’s own beauty cream.

Drinking water hydrates skin cells and plumps them up, making your face look younger.

It also flushes out impurities and improves circulation and blood flow, leaving your face clean, clear, and glowing.

Stay Regular With Water

Along with fiber, water is essential to good digestion.

Water helps dissolve waste particles and passes them smoothly through your digestive tract.

If you’re dehydrated, your body absorbs all the water, leaving your colon dry and making it more difficult to pass waste.

Water Reduces Kidney Stones

The rate of painful kidney stones is rising because people - including children - aren't drinking enough water.

Water dilutes the salts and minerals in your urine that form the solid crystals known as kidney stones.

Kidney stones can't form in diluted urine, so reduce your risk with plenty of water!

Stay Slimmer With Water

Trying to lose weight? Water revs up metabolism and helps you feel full.

Replace calorie-laden beverages with water, and drink a glass before meals to help you feel fuller.

Drinking more water also helps amp up metabolism - especially if your glass is icy cold. Your body must work to warm the water up, burning a few extra calories in the process.

Water Boosts Your Energy

If you’re feeling drained and depleted, get a pick-me-up with water. Dehydration makes you feel fatigued.

Water helps the blood transport oxygen and other essential nutrients to your cells.

If you’re getting enough water, your heart also doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood throughout your body.

Lower Stress With Water

85% of your brain tissue is water. If you’re dehydrated, both your body and your mind will be stressed.

If you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already a little dehydrated.

To keep stress levels down, keep a glass of water at your desk or tote a sports bottle and sip regularly.

Build Muscle Tone With Water

Drinking water helps prevent muscle cramping and lubricates joints in the body.

When you’re well hydrated, you can exercise longer and stronger without "hitting the wall."

Nourish Your Skin

Fine lines and wrinkles are deeper when you’re dehydrated. Water is nature’s own beauty cream.

Drinking water hydrates skin cells and plumps them up, making your face look younger.

It also flushes out impurities and improves circulation and blood flow, leaving your face clean, clear, and glowing.

Stay Regular With Water

Along with fiber, water is essential to good digestion.

Water helps dissolve waste particles and passes them smoothly through your digestive tract.

If you’re dehydrated, your body absorbs all the water, leaving your colon dry and making it more difficult to pass waste.

Water Reduces Kidney Stones

The rate of painful kidney stones is rising because people - including children - aren't drinking enough water.

Water dilutes the salts and minerals in your urine that form the solid crystals known as kidney stones.

Kidney stones can't form in diluted urine, so reduce your risk with plenty of water!

Are You Drinking Enough Water?

Generally, nutritionists recommend we follow the "8x8 rule."

Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.

You may need more water if you exercise or sweat heavily.

WebMD Slideshow: 7 Wonders of Water.

Best Common Sense Advice From "Top" Diet Plans

 It's 2009. Almost February.  You are still trying to keep up with your new year's resolutions, aren't you? You want to lose serious weight fast, learn to eat healthier, and how to exercise, but don't have time to read every diet book out there. Well, Health.com has saved us time. They have put together a list that encapsulates the best tips from some of the top diet plans out there—for free—so you can start putting the helpful advice into action ASAP. Swimsuit time is just around the corner and so are all the weddings you've been invited to. 

Skinny Bitch: Best Tip: Read the ingredients. Don’t eat anything you can’t pronounce.

 The Biggest Loser Calorie Counter: Best Tip: Try circuit training. The effective, total-body workouts will help you lose weight and inches, as well as boost your metabolism, strengthen your bones, and may even make you more resistant to stress.

French Women Don't Get Fat: Best Tip: Add “petit” and “peu” to your French vocabulary; you can have a little of everything if you stick to small portions.

The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person Best Tip: Differentiate between cravings and hunger. If you can tell the difference between wanting to eat and needing to eat, you can cut out unnecessary calories.

The Thrive Diet: Best Tip: Eat less processed food. Sticking to whole, fiber-rich foods will help you lose weight.

You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management : Best Tip: Pick a range for your ideal weight instead of fixating on a particular number. You’ll feel guilt-free when faced with the small fluctuations that occur naturally day-to-day.

Dr. Phil's The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide: Best Tip: Reduce your exposure to unhealthy foods and to the cues that cause you to eat. You can’t eat what isn’t there! (in other words, stop buying junk or fast food when you know it is not worth your money)

The advice above also includes a "Worse Advice from Top Diet Plans" (according to Health.com) but some of those "worse tips"...I actually agree with...with some flexibility. For instance:

The Thrive Diet: Worst Tip???: Eat raw. Didn’t the raw food trend already come and go?

My answer to that question is NO NO NO. I mean does the girl in the picture above look like she is gonna give up that celery stick? The raw food 'trend' should not be labeled as one in my opinion. Every BODY needs whole raw unprocessed foods. I am not saying that one must eat ONLY raw foods, but I think it is so important for us to eat a greater amounts of fruits and veggies in their raw state. Fiber, Nutrients, Detox, Energy. Need I say more? Check out Dr. RitaMarie's Recipe E-books if you are new to raw foods. They will come in handy.

Skinny Bitch: Worst Tip???: You must eat vegan. The dairy- and animal-products-free lifestyle is just too extreme for many dieters.

Well, I don't think anyone must absolutely follow a vegan diet, but being a vegan since 2004 and feeling great makes me a lil' biased. So I will let you decide. I think you should try it for a month at least.  See if it makes a difference in the way you are feeling physically and the way that you think about animals. Here is a link to a great vegetarian starter kit which is always in my sidebar. Also, you should read World Peace Diet by Dr. Will Tuttle and see if that won't turn you into a vegan :)

You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management : Worst Tip???: Eat the exact same thing for lunch—and breakfast too if you can stand it—every day. The lack of variety may bore you to the point of giving up on your diet.

I am not so sure this is a bad idea. If you were to eat the same thing everyday for breakfast and lunch which includes a colorful array of mixed vegetables, fruits, and grains... how could it bore you? You get satisfaction every time you eat. You look forward to your bowl of oats in the morning, your blueberry on mixed greens salad for lunch. And whenever you do have other (healthy) foods, your taste buds will be soooo stoked. You will learn to appreciate your taste buds and the cravings for the unhealthy junk will most likely be obsolete; vanished. Also, you might be just like my guy who actually LOVE's eating the same thing everyday for breakfast: Bowl of oatmeal, slice of HealthNut lightly buttered, with a whole banana and a cup of fresh squeezed juice, sometimes a small apple.

The Biggest Loser Calorie Counter:: Worst Tip??: Start your own competition à la Biggest Loser, complete with group meetings and registration fees. If you’re into the kitsch, go for it, but without producers, camera crew, and a six-figure salary, it’s not worth the trouble.

I think the underlying point here is to create a support system of people who can encourage one another to stick to their healthier diets and lifestyles. Beyond the registration fees and winning a lump sum of money in this silly tip, is the notion that humans are by nature compassionate beings who will oftentimes do a better job of achieving their goals with the help of a community (even if it is only you, your best friend, and your sister on the healthy transformation mission) For the record, I've never seen an episode of The Biggest Loser, so I might be completely off here.

The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person Worst Tip??: Just say, “Oh well.” If you’re really dreading going to the gym, or just dying to have a few more fries, are you really going to be able to just say, “Oh well,” and stick to the rules of your diet?

Here's is what I take from this tip. Do NOT get so down on yourself when you give in to a temptation, craving, or the sweet pressure in Grandma's kitchen for pan dulce or homemade buttery tortillas. Just DO NOT let it happen as frequently as you let it before. It's all about finding a comfortable balance for you and staying focused. No person, book, or TV show can tell you exactly what you should be eating and when. A magazine, blog, not even a doctor, can know your body the way you do OR are learning to.

I think it's safe to say that  people can begin to suffer from serious mental illnesses (i.e. depression) all because of their supposed dieting failures. Many people start to feel like they have no control over their bodies and lose touch with the reality that they DO indeed have the will power to switch from bad eating habits to GREAT ones. Many people (men, women, and sadly children) have turned the comfort, joy, & energy food brings us into an addiction. The problems escalates. Pounds & toxins added to the body makes a person less likely to work out, to feel their bodies. I think it is natural for a person to want to lose excess weight gain. Your body can not handle being sick anymore. It wants and needs to be free. You are your body. You want to be free. 

And If you don't feel like exercising today or tomorrow, you may be lacking some key nutrients. Eat more greens. Drink more water. Nothing from a box. Nothing from a bag. Unless of course you picked up some nuts, seeds, or dried fruit (in moderation). Tell me if I am missing something...is there anything else that is TRULY healthy that comes from a bag or a box? I dare you to come up with something

Good food makes us happy. Healthier food makes us happier. Bring awareness to your plate. Be a lucid eater.

Raw Food Cooking Class

Yesterday I attended a raw food cooking class in Austin Texas taught by Dr. RitaMarie Roscalzo. She titled the name of the show "Magic in the Kitchen" and gleefully donned her favorite wizard tee for the occasion. :)

Wait, what do you mean, Raw Foods?!

The raw food diet is a diet based on unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, and seaweed.

Heating food above 116 degrees F is believed to destroy enzymes in food that can assist in the digestion and absorption of food. Cooking is also thought to diminish the nutritional value and "life force" of food. Typically, at least 75% of the diet must be living or raw. 

Proponents of the raw food diet believe it has numerous health benefits, including:

Increased Energy, Improved Skin Appearance, Better Digestion, Weight Loss, and a Reduced risk of heart disease...

The raw food diet contains fewer trans fats and saturated fats than the typical Western diet. It is also low in sodium and high in potassium, magnesium, folate, fiber and health-promoting plant chemicals called phytochemicals.

These properties are associated with a reduced risk of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. For example, a study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that consumption of a raw food diet lowered plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. Source: Cathy Wong

I believe eating more raw foods will help you live as lucid as you can live. The ingredients are fresh & alive, not burned or on fire. But what the hell is a raw foodist supposed to eat then? No bread. No pasta. No tofu chicken. No nothing? No.

BACK TO CLASS

Before the event Dr.Ritamarie asked us to clean out our refrigerators and bring in items (still fresh) that might typically be found in our homes. I brought in rainbow chard, fresh spinach, a yellow bell pepper, a large juicy mango, cilantro, fresh ginger, and lemons. Her mission was to take our grocery bags full of.....whatever we stuffed inside of them, and show us how to turn them into a quick healthy "raw" meal. What followed was the tastiest Thai "Soup" ever.

If you have a food processor or high speed blender this can work for you to. Try it.

Chop one large mango and lemons and add to blender to form a juicy base. The lemon juice counteracts the bitterness of some greens. Chop or tear pieces of rainbow chard, spinach, cilantro and add to blender. Add chopped yellow bellpepper and a good size chunk of fresh ginger. In come the secret ingredients: Add about 2 tsp of coconut butter, 3/4 tsp tumeric, and 1/2 tsp dulse (optional). You can also add a kefir lime leaf or lemongrass for the ultimate thai flavor. Now all you do is Blend It until you reach a desired consistency and enjoy. It is so savory and deliciously Green! As Green and Simple as it gets actually.

With what was left of  the greens I brought in, she made a simple salad. She chopped the rest of the rainbow chard and spinach, added lemon, and then massaged the greens with her hands. Finally she added olive oil and a lil sesame oil to give that Asian flavor, tossed on some sesame seeds and passed the salad around for us all to partake. A few women suggested adding ground nuts or ginger juice to top it off. It thought it was great as is. I never realized how easy it was to make a soft Asian salad.

Did I mention we also learned how to make the most delicious chocolate frosting in the world AND also witnessed a fabulous recipe redo: lemon fluff delight. Yeah, you can have it all raw. It is amazing how much creativity goes into this way of preparing food and the joy you get when eating it. With all the right equipment, and information abut what ingredients you will need to have in your kitchen, you will be all set.

If you are at all interested in learning more about raw foods, I highly recommend a visit to Dr. Ritamarie's website and blog. It contains an awesome collection of FREE articles, e-books, green cleanse videos, and all the inspiration you need to transition to living a healthier lifestyle. Also, if you are in Austin, consider attending a raw food POTLUCK. 

One farmer says to me, "You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make the bones with;" and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying himself with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle.  ~Henry David Thoreau

iHealthTube

Hi. I just wanted to tell you about this new site I recently came across. If you ever find yourself looking for straightforward information regarding a wide range of natural health topics, check out IHealthTube.com and follow them on Twitter too. The online video site is supported by Swanson Health Products who carries products such as stevia! (for a reasonable price too). iHealthtube is aiming to be the Internets leader in health videos and conversations. I felt like I was actually sitting in a doctors office as I watched the first video. They are not even trying to do the spunky cyber fame thing. There is nothing flashy about it, which could be a good thing. We need these no-nonsense, 'serious about our health' blips.

Videos I've watched so far:

Thyroid and Weight Gain where Dr. Stephen Langer explains how nutritional imbalances and low thyroid produce symptoms similar to that of fibromyalgia.

How to Know if You're Really Hungry where Ori Hofmekler explains how you can know the difference between real hunger and false hunger and cravings. (Good one) Cookies and cake are false hungers and most processed foods are addicting. (Damn) Also, explains ways to break the vicious cycle of the junk food habit.

Why Sugar is So Bad For You where Frank Murray explains why the sweetness is bad for our health and what to do to prevent diabetes. Also the video provides details on how to prevent diabetes and the best exercise for diabetics.

I could sit and watch these videos all day. Here's their extensive topic list. Maybe one day, they will allow for us to embed videos directly onto our sites.

Anyway, hope you are feeling great!! My mom gave me a box of 88 apples the other day that I have to attend to. I'm thinking of apple butter, apple sauce, apple juice, and apple chips. 

Mindful Eating Inspiration

By Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindful eating is very pleasant. We sit beautifully. We are aware of the people that are sitting around us. We are aware of the food on our plates. This is a deep practice. Each morsel of food is an ambassador from the cosmos. When we pick up a piece of a vegetable, we look at it for half a second. We look mindfully to really recognize the piece of food, the piece of carrot or string bean. We should know that this is a piece of carrot or a string bean. We identify it with our mindfulness: "I know this is a piece of carrot. This is a piece of string bean." It only takes a fraction of a second.

When we are mindful, we recognize what we are picking up. When we put it into our mouth, we know what we are putting into our mouth. When we chew it, we know what we are chewing. It's very simple.

Some of us, while looking at a piece of carrot, can see the whole cosmos in it, can see the sunshine in it, can see the earth in it. It has come from the whole cosmos for our nourishment.

You may like to smile to it before you put it in your mouth. When you chew it, you are aware that you are chewing a piece of carrot. Don't put anything else into your mouth, like your projects, your worries, your fear, just put the carrot in.

And when you chew, chew only the carrot, not your projects or your ideas. You are capable of living in the present moment, in the here and the now. It is simple, but you need some training to just enjoy the piece of carrot. This is a miracle.

I often teach "orange meditation" to my students. We spend time sitting together, each enjoying an orange. Placing the orange on the palm of our hand, we look at it while breathing in and out, so that the orange becomes a reality. If we are not here, totally present, the orange isn't here either.

There are some people who eat an orange but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future. They are not really present, with body and mind united.

When you practice mindful breathing, you become truly present. If you are here, life is also here. The orange is the ambassador of life. When you look at the orange, you discover that it is nothing less than fruit growing, turning yellow, becoming orange, the acid becoming sugar. The orange tree took time to create this masterpiece.

When you are truly here, contemplating the orange, breathing and smiling, the orange becomes a miracle. It is enough to bring you a lot of happiness. You peel the orange, smell it, take a section, and put it in your mouth mindfully, fully aware of the juice on your tongue. This is eating an orange in mindfulness. It makes the miracle of life possible. It makes joy possible.

The other miracle is the Sangha, the community in which everyone is practicing in the same way. The woman sitting next to me is also practicing mindfulness while eating her breakfast. How wonderful! She is touching the food with mindfulness. She is enjoying every morsel of her breakfast, like me. We are brother and sister on the path of practice. From time to time we look at each other and smile. It is the smile of awareness. It proves that we are happy, that we are alive. It is not a diplomatic smile. It is a smile born from the ground of enlightenment, of happiness.

That smile has the power to heal. It can heal you and your friend. When you smile like that, the woman next to you will smile back. Before that, maybe her smile was not completely ripe. It was ninety percent ripe. If you offer her your mindful smile, you will give her the energy to smile one hundred percent.

When she is smiling, healing begins to take place in her. You are very important for her transformation and healing. That is why the presence of brothers and sisters in the practice is so important. This is also why we don't talk during breakfast. If we talk about the weather or the political situation in the Middle East, we can never say enough.

We need the silence to enjoy our own presence and the presence of our Dharma brothers and sisters. This kind of silence is very alive, powerful, nourishing, and transforming. It is not oppressive or sad. Together we can create this kind of noble silence.

Sometimes it is described as "thundering silence" because it is so powerful.

Magic in Eating

excerpt from Bob Makransky’s book Magical Living

We all know that "you are what you eat"; and many of us are becoming aware that this maxim has a spiritual as well as a physical dimension. We know we feel better when we eat well – when our bodies, rather than our minds, dictate what we should or should not eat. Many of us have experienced a complete change in attitudes and outlook on life by simply changing our diets. Whole bodies of thought, such as the Jewish kosher laws and macrobiotics, have evolved to stress the spirituality of food, to emphasize its sacredness.

The "spiritual quality of food" is not a metaphor: food contains a light fiber energy which is as important to our sustenance as vitamins and proteins, but which is not susceptible to chemical analysis. And just as the vitamin and protein content of food can be diminished by processing or overcooking, so too can the light fiber content (energy) of food be diminished by disrespect.

Light fibers can be thought of as good feelings. When we feel good, we can literally glow. When a food plant or animal feels good, it glows.

Love from the Roots

Not all cultures have been so cut off from their true feelings about food as ours is today. Many Native American tribes had a deep awareness that they were a part of what they ate – e.g., the buffalo. They lived with the buffalo, followed the buffalo, prayed to the buffalo. They were one with the buffalo, and thus to them eating was a sacrament. Many modern Native Americans maintain this same attitude of reverence towards maize.

But in America today, we mine food, extract the nutrients out of it, strip it, rape it, and throw it away. What little nourishment for the spirit is left in food, by modern agricultural and processing methods, is completely destroyed by the way we eat it. We use food in a most disrespectful manner – stuffing it in gluttonously whether we are hungry or not, whether it tastes good or not, whether we really want it or not; and then we waste food as if to piss on it. Like sex, we have turned the sacredness of eating from a joyous, spiritual act -- into a source of great shame.

Eat for Nourishment, Gently

An infant doesn’t conceive of his food or his mother as something separate from himself; he doesn’t feel more important than his food, and therefore doesn’t feel disconnected from it. When an infant eats, he mingles with his food: he touches it, he gets to know how it feels. It’s pretty, it satisfies his hunger, it makes him happy. But when an infant first sees adults eat, it makes him feel shame. This is because we adults don’t identify with our food. It’s as if our food is not a part of us, like what we are putting into our mouths is something foreign to ourselves. We attack our food as if it is separate from us, and it is the act of eating which allows us to use it. We bite it off in huge mouthfuls like ravenous hyenas, chew it and swallow it with gulps of contempt. We come together in great rituals like Thanksgiving and Christmas in which we engage in orgies of gluttony and wastefulness to jointly validate our shame, all the while calling it glory. And that lie makes us even more ashamed; so we lie about that one too, and call it glory. And so on. And nobody will look at what they are really feeling, because if being pigs has brought us glory, why look at what pigs we are?

Respect your Food

While it is true that the original light fiber energy in food can be vitiated by disrespect anywhere along the line – in handling, processing, cooking, or eating – it is also true that light fiber energy, being more flexible than vitamins or proteins, can be restored to food by respecting it and treating it as sacred – by sort of ritualizing the activities connected with it.

First of all, it’s important that you try to grow some of your own food, even if it is only a couple of pots of herbs or jars of sprouts grown on a window shelf. Try to throw in at least a pinch of homegrown herbs or sprouts into every meal you cook (not necessarily into every dish, but every meal). Can you visualize yourself casting fibers of light (positive energy) into the food as you add your home-grown herbs or produce? Can you, in your own way, bless your key, staple ingredients – salt, flour, sugar, honey, etc?

Be a Happy Cook

Observe that you should never be in a bad mood when you cook, nor must you eat food cooked by someone who is in a bad mood, or even an indifferent one. A burger from a McDonald’s where the employees are a light, happy bunch can actually be better for you than a plate of organic brown rice from a vegetarian restaurant where the cook is bored or is angry at the manager.

You can easily tell when food has bad vibes. It’s not that it tastes bad per se; rather, it feels wrong or out of place in your mouth – there’s no incentive to chew it and swallow it. Whenever you get a feeling like this about something you are eating, spit it out. Don’t swallow it, not even to be polite. Much processed, convenience food tastes like this – bland, insipid, effete, enervated – but people get so used to this kind of food that they can’t tell the difference any more. They just assume that feeling lousy all the time is how you’re supposed to feel, and they cease to notice that it's their food which is bringing them down.

Finally, talk to your food. Thank it as if it were alive and could understand you. Not a long conversation, just a simple acknowledgment that you are aware you are in the presence of something that is worthy of your respect, and from whom you wish a favor. You wouldn’t ask a human being for a favor in a surly, disrespectful manner. On the contrary, you would ask humbly and respectfully, and feel gratitude for the favor when granted.

And this is how you must address your food: take small bites, chew it slowly and mindfully, eat in silence paying attention to the act of eating, and never eat until you are full.

15+ Tips for Dealing with Rising Food Costs

How will a country with astounding rates of obesity deal with rising food costs? I just read about a woman who can no longer afford milk but has decided to give her children soda to drink instead? I personally do not think either one of those options is good for a child. Can we as a nation (taxpaying) even afford for health to worsen? Of course not.

So why are food prices soaring?

• Ethanol. The ethanol boom has driven corn prices up 70% in a year. Now more land is planted in corn, and soybeans, wheat, oats, and barley are all up from 5% to 35%. Plus, higher corn prices mean higher prices for animals in the food chain that eat it - such as chickens, cows, and hogs. Corn is also a key ingredient in a long list of processed foods like breakfast cereal, and so far, producers have been able to pass these cost increases on - another sign of a fundamentally inflationary environment.

• Higher distribution costs. Energy hits on two fronts: It costs more to process food and it costs more to move it all to market.

• World demand. The "China effect" on energy prices has been well documented. But it also affects food. Food exports have grown as living standards in China, India and other growing economies have risen. That's good for the economy but not for prices.

How to deal with rising food costs: (in any order)

1. Don't be embarrassed to use coupons. Find them, Clip them, Save them, Share them. 

2. Leave the junk food on the shelf. It makes no sense whatsoever to buy food that will not nourish you. Limit your caffeine and muffins, doughnuts and candy.

3. Learn the shelf life of the foods you buy. Pick out the healthier stuff that can last. The shelf-life of food will depend upon the food itself, packaging, temperature, and humidity. Some examples:

Veggies:
Most fresh vegetables may be stored up to 5 days in the refrigerator wrapped or covered in moisture-proof bags. Root vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, etc.) and squashes, eggplant should be stored in a cool, well-ventilated place between 50°F and 60°F. Tomatoes continue to ripen after harvesting and should be stored at room temperature. Removing the tops of carrots, radishes, and beets prior to refrigerator storage will reduce loss of moisture and extend shelf-life. Lettuce should be rinsed under cold running water, drained, packaged in plastic bags, and refrigerated. Proper storage of fresh vegetables will maintain quality and nutritive value.

Fruits:
Ripe eating apples should be stored separately from other foods in the refrigerator and eaten within one month. Apples stored at room temperature will soften rapidly within a few days. Remember to remove apples that are bruised or decayed prior to storage in the refrigerator. Do not wash apples prior to storage.

Green pears and apricots should be ripened at room temperature and then stored in the refrigerator. Expect a 5-day refrigerated shelf-life for these fruits. Unripe peaches may be ripened at room temperature and eaten after 2 days. Store ripe peaches in the refrigerator but consume at room temperature. Grapes and plums should be stored in the refrigerator and eaten fresh within 5 days of purchase. Store unwashed grapes separately from other foods in the refrigerator and wash prior to consumption. Ripe strawberries can be stored in the refrigerator separately from other foods for approximately 3 days. Strawberries should be washed and stemmed prior to consumption.

Citrus fruits, such as lemons, limes, and ripened oranges, can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. Grapefruit may be stored at a slightly higher temperature of 50°F. Melons, such as the honeydew melon, cantaloupe, and watermelon, may be ripened at room temperature for 2, 3, and 7 days, respectively. Store ripe melons in the refrigerator. Avocados and bananas should be ripened at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. Never store unripe bananas in the refrigerator, since cold temperatures will cause the bananas to rapidly darken.

4. Cook the food you purchase. If you don't think you and your family will really eat something before it spoils, don't buy it. Research shows the average family wastes nearly $600 a year on food. Don't buy and cook food for the garbage can.

5. Learn to grow your own fruits and veggies. What a great hobby it could be and also it's good for the body. Learn your Plant Hardiness Zone to know what to plant and when to plant in your area.

6. Find your local farmers market in town. There, you can typically find fresher produce at better prices and you might even be able to negotiate for those apples. Find or add a place to The Eat Well Guide.

 

7. Take turns and share costs. Host Healthy Dinner Night parties with family and friends. Well, maybe its not such a good idea as people tend to eat more food in the relaxed company of others. What do you think?

8. Ditch the alcohol. It lowers your inhibition and makes you eat more, talk funny, and will eventually lead to some serious problems mentally and physically.

9. Quit smoking. Save your money, you might need it.  I'm not trying to wag my finger at anybody here. Just a friendly lil' reminder that we quit and haven't given up on you.

10. Ride a bike. It's liberating and somehow and in someway, it will make a big difference.

11. Forget drive-thrus. Detox from fast food. I remember when Happy Meals used to cost $1.99. Who knows how much they are now? And you've heard the story, it makes you fat.

12. Become a Vegetarian and I guarantee you can save some bucks. Unless of course, you go splurging in the tofujerky, tofuturkey, meal replacement bar industries. Don't fall for it.

(Pictured below is a delicious vegetable medley of sweet potato, black beans, and zuchinni cooked over fresh diced onion and minced garlic and spiced with a bit of cumin, pepper, and curry powder. It was served with warm pita bread and quite delicious. Try it.   

13. Understand the Nutrition Facts Labels and make it a habit to read them.

14. Eat Enough, But Less and live longer. Try using smaller plates. Eat slower. And get your fork into something green. Anything with a high fiber content is a great way to fill up and be sustained throughout your days. Tips: Oatmeal for breakfast. An apple as a snack. Spinach in your salad. A handful of mixed nuts.  Whole grain breads and pastas.

15. Money left over? Not worried about the rising food cost phenomenon. Congrats! Can you please consider chipping into to your local food banks? There are hungry people (and don't forget the children) all over the world. Riots and instability are spreading as food prices skyrocket.

Second Thoughts:
Read Some Good News on Food Prices
Listen to NPR: World Bank Chief says Biofuels are Boosting Food Prices.

The Homely Potato as Part of the Solution
AGFLATION: The Real Cost of Food Prices- MAP

MEATOUT 2008

Meatout is an international observance helping individuals evolve to a wholesome, nonviolent diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains. The purpose is to expose the public to the joys and benefits of a plant-based diet, while promoting the availability and selection of meat and dairy alternatives in mainstream grocery stores, restaurants, and catering operations.

On (or around) March 20 — the first day of spring — thousands of caring people in all 50 US states and two dozen other countries will host informative and educational Meatout Events. Activities will include colorful 'lifestivals,' street theater,  lectures, public dinners, cooking demos, food samplings, leafleting, information tables called 'steakouts'. Visitors will be asked to "kick the meat habit on March 20 (first day of spring) and explore a wholesome, nonviolent diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grains." 

This occasion known as The Great American Meatout, is the world's largest and oldest annual grassroots diet education campaign. Every spring, thousands of Meatout supporters educate their communities and ask their friends, families, and neighbors to pledge to "kick the meat habit (at least for a day) and explore a wholesome, nonviolent diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains."                        
Why MeatOut?

"Kicking the meat habit" holds lasting benefits for consumer health, world hunger, resource conservation, environmental quality and animal welfare.

Kicking the meat habit reduces our risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and other chronic diseases that cripple and kill nearly 1.4 million Americans annually.

Kicking the meat habit decreases our exposure to infectious pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter, which kill several thousand Americans annually and sicken millions more.

Kicking the meat habit raises our energy level, lowers our food budget, and simplifies food preparation and cleanup.

Kicking the meat habit frees up grains and other foods that can be used to feed the world's hungry. Animals are extremely inefficient "protein converters;" it can take up to 16 pounds of grain to make 1 pound of beef.

Kicking the meat habit preserves our topsoil, water, and other food production resources vital to the survival of our children and their children.

Kicking the meat habit protects our forests, grasslands, and other wildlife habitats from encroachment by cattle ranchers while reducing the polluting effects of methane, soil particles, manure, and pesticides on our air and water.

Kicking the meat habit saves animals from caging, crowding, deprivation, drugging, mutilation, manhandling, and agonizing slaughter. Each person who adopts a plant-based diet saves over 80 innocent, sentient animals each year. Over a lifetime, an individual can save more than 6,000 animals just by going vegan.

Find MeatOut activities in your area or plan on organizing your own event. If nothing else, why not try an animal free recipe? And, if you happen to be in the Houston area, join the Society of Peace, a very kind and active organization for the "Earth, Animals, Compassion, & Enlightenment". Happy Spring!

More: The World Peace Diet

 

Drugs in Our Drinking Water

"We know we are being exposed to other people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment of the State University of New York at Albany.

Why are there drugs in our water?

Prescription drug use is on the rise!!

Seems like everyone is "on" something these days. From your typical ADHD child to the all to common "depressed" adult. There is a name for every lil' symptom we have and certainly the "perfect pill" to treat us. Between 2000 through 2004, the number of pharmaceutical prescriptions increased 109% (source). On average, each American was given 10.9 prescriptions per year. This increasing reliance on pharmaceuticals suggests a growing number of unused drugs in households across the U.S. This inevitably leads to traces of drugs in our water and in our food.

Drugs most commonly enter the environment in two ways:

• Humans pass medicines and supplements through their system.
• Unwanted drugs are improperly disposed of in the toilet or trash.

What do you do with your old medicines? Roughly 54% of consumers dispose of their unused pharmaceuticals in the trash, and 35% flush them down the toilet (source). "Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems".*

In the U.S. there is a lack of safe drug disposal programs, therefore most residents throw their unwanted medicines in the toilet or trash where they contaminate our waterways. Did you know 40% of medicines prescribed and purchased in the U.S. have never been used! In 2007, the elderly population alone wasted over $1 billion on unused drugs (source). 

Why do drugs go unused?

• Drugs expire or are outdated
• Doctor discontinues drug
• Doctor orders new drug
• Patients feel better
• Adverse or allergic reaction
• Patient dies or moves away
• Patients stop taking it
• Doctors prescribe too many pills

How does this affect human health?

The evidence for the direct consequences of PPCPs on humans is only beginning to be investigated. (But it can't be good, can it?) A landmark study in 2006 found that a mix of 13 common medications common to drinking water inhibits cell growth in human embryonic cells. This is one of the few studies that looks looks at how mixtures of prevalent medications can affect biological activity even at low concentrations. The affects on aquatic life suggest we take precaution and prevent pharmaceutical pollution from further damaging our environment.

What Consumers Can Do Now

(Because the government is known to act and implement policy far too slow and way too late)

• Dispose of unused or unwanted medications at take-back sites or events. 
• Contact your pharmacist for drug recycling programs
• Contact hazardous wast facility to see its recommendations
• Do NOT dispose of any medication down the toilet or in the trash
• Purchase drugs in small amounts, limiting expired medications
• Ask for medications with low environmental impact
• Encourage your provider to take-back unwanted drugs
• Share the message of safe disposal with family and friends
• Commit to wellness strategies to reduce your reliance on medications
• Practice healthy product stewardship

What Pharmacists and Health Providers Can Do

• Do not prescribe more medications than can be used
• Prescribe starter packs and refill packs
• Review and regularly reassess the patient's total consumption of medication
• Consider environmental impact when prescribing medications
• Learn more about which drugs have large environmental impacts
• Educate consumers about the importance of proper disposal of pharmaceutical waste
• Host a take-back site. 

How do drugs affect our environment?

If the picture of the angry lil' tree doesn't answer that question, try taking a deep breath. Ten times. Can you? How does it feel? Is it easy for you? Well, it's not for me. We have all been chemically altered against our wills in one way or another. It's in our psychology and written all over our skin. What should we do? At least...talk about it:

Varying concentrations of drugs have been found in nearly every water source in the U.S. and Canada. The EPA has compiled a growing body of evidence demonstrating how Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) affect aquatic life.

Here are some key test results obtained by the AP:

_Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in
treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.

_Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.

_Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.

_A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water.

_The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.

_Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson, Ariz.

The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP. The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix, Boston and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.

For more information:

AP probe finds drugs in drinking water
Symbiosis, The Journal of Ecologically Sustianable Medicine
One Earth: Drugs in our Drinking Water
The Teleosis Institute's Green Pharmacy Program

What do you do with your old batteries?

 Technorati Tags: drugs in drinking water, pharmaceuticals, drug disposal, medication deisposal, drinking water, Teleosis, Symbiosis, Green Pharmacy, One Earth Magazine, prescription drugs

"Sicko" Premiere Night

Whether or not you are a fan of Michael Moore's work, you have to admit, his latest film "SiCKO" is doing a pretty darn good job to either enlighten or make those with vested interests sicker. The film will undoubtedly be watched by the majority of the medical community and all the ill people who might afford a movie ticket. It will also be watched by all of it's critics who want to have a voice against the campaign. It is doing an outstanding job of bringing people together regardless of stance to cure the widespread disease of GREED and CORRUPTION and pointing towards the serious need for repair to the current healthcare system.

A Letter From Michael Moore
Friday, June 29th, 2007
Today is the Day for "Sicko" 

Friends,
This is it! Two years in the making! The day that our new film, "Sicko," arrives in theaters all across North America! Click here to see where the nearest one is to you. 

After you go, let me know what you think. Oh, and send us a photo or a video from your cell phone to show us what it looked like at your theater. We'd love to post a photo from each of the 440 movie theaters showing "Sicko."

Hope you enjoy the movie!

Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com

Check Out Mike on T.V.
'NOW' on PBS at 8:30 PM EST/9:30 PM PST
  'Larry King Live' TONIGHT at 9:00 PM ET

Watch the trailer if you have not yet:

Read about the 'Scrubs for Sicko' Campaign, and don't be surprised to see one of the 17,000+ nurses co-hosting at tonights premiere:)

Looking forward to the future

Once we all have the privilege of good healthcare, the next step will be to integrate unconventional methods for medicine. The day will come when physicians provide more natural options for healing rather than sticking to the sometimes cold nature of standard medicine. Doctors will persistently teach various and useful PREVENTION METHODS rather than just attacking immune systems, suppressing symptoms with pills, and destroying our machines. Educational health classes in schools will be taken more seriously and the children of the future will be born into healthier homes and lead sound lives. There will be no tolerance for unnecessary and preventable diseases in the coming days. With the aid of technology, old school healers and conventional doctors will continue to come together to work it all out.

There is hope for the 9 million uninsured children in the U.S.

And whether or not we are directly experiencing the impact of the film, Sicko, we must not continue to blindly feed the vein of GREEDiness inherent in so many of the tobacco industries, slaughterhouse corporations, and fast food industries. Eating crap food and poisoning our precious bodies is a major determinant for illness and drives the need for healthcare to begin with. Far too many of us are dying from preventable diseases based on diet and lifestyle.

And sure, not all the people who work in the sectors: fast-food, tobacco,  pharmaceutical, slaughterhouses, insurance companies, and government agencies aim to cause harm anymore than we aim to harm the ants we step on everyday. Yet, the corruption of a few eventually seeps through and in one way or another trickles down the stream to distract, disturb, and ruin the lives---body, heart, mind, and soul of so many. We are all in this together and we all have personal choices to make in every moment which effects the health of the whole Earth. So for starters, keep your body moving, make time for peaceful reflecting, cut the junk out of your lifestyle, and try eating organic nourishment as much as possible.

I'm joining the crowds energy to watch the movie tonight, if it's not sold out yet:)