http://www.ardisheights.org/christian-literature
http://steeplemedia.com/blogs/ccl/default.aspx
http://www.gracegems.org/28/Mason_Believers%20Pocket%20Companion.htm
Friday, April 8, 2011
8th grade reading list
Providence Christian Academy
TITLE AUTHOR
Appointment in Jerusalem Prince
Boy of Old Prague, A Ish-Kishor
Complete Tales & Poems Poe
Crucible, The Miller
Dark is Rising, The Cooper
David Copperfield Dickens
Death Be Not Proud Gunther
Early Moon Sandberg
Ethan Frome Wharton
Fahrenheit 451 Bradberry
Fun of It, The Earhart
Gift of the Magi & Other Stories, The Henry
Good Earth, The Buck
Great Expectations Dickens
Great Gatsby, The Fitzgerald
Harriet Tubman: Conductor Petry
House of Seven Gables, The Hawthorne
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Hugo
Ivanhoe Scott
Journey Home Uchida
Kim Kipling
Kon-Tiki Heyerdahl
Last of the Mohicans, The Cooper
Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Rip Van Winkle, The Irving
Les Miserables Hugo
Lost World, The Doyle
Madame Curie: A Biography Curie
Midsummer Night's Dream, A Shakespeare
Moves Make the Man, The Brooks
Mutiny on the Bounty Nordhof & Hall
National Velvet Bangold
Neighbor Rosicky Cather
Night Journey, The Lasky
Northanger Abby Austen
Old Man and the Sea, The Hemingway
Plague, The Camus
Pride and Prejudice Austen
Eighth Grade Literature List
Eight Grade Literature List, page 2
Profiles in Courage Kennedy
Raisin in the Sun, A Hansberry
Separate Peace, A Knowles
Silver Sword, The (aka Escape from Warsaw) Serraillier
Story of King Arthur and His Knights, The Pyle
Story of My Life Keller
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Stevenson
Tempest, The Shakespeare
Through the Looking-Glass Carroll
To Kill a Mockingbird Lee
Up From Slavery Washington
Virginian, The Wister
Washington: The Indispensable Man Flexner
Wizard of Oz, The Baum
Wuthering Heights Bronte
http://www.providencechristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/eighth_grade_literature_list.pdf
http://www.providencechristian.com/students/literature-list/
TITLE AUTHOR
Appointment in Jerusalem Prince
Boy of Old Prague, A Ish-Kishor
Complete Tales & Poems Poe
Crucible, The Miller
Dark is Rising, The Cooper
David Copperfield Dickens
Death Be Not Proud Gunther
Early Moon Sandberg
Ethan Frome Wharton
Fahrenheit 451 Bradberry
Fun of It, The Earhart
Gift of the Magi & Other Stories, The Henry
Good Earth, The Buck
Great Expectations Dickens
Great Gatsby, The Fitzgerald
Harriet Tubman: Conductor Petry
House of Seven Gables, The Hawthorne
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Hugo
Ivanhoe Scott
Journey Home Uchida
Kim Kipling
Kon-Tiki Heyerdahl
Last of the Mohicans, The Cooper
Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Rip Van Winkle, The Irving
Les Miserables Hugo
Lost World, The Doyle
Madame Curie: A Biography Curie
Midsummer Night's Dream, A Shakespeare
Moves Make the Man, The Brooks
Mutiny on the Bounty Nordhof & Hall
National Velvet Bangold
Neighbor Rosicky Cather
Night Journey, The Lasky
Northanger Abby Austen
Old Man and the Sea, The Hemingway
Plague, The Camus
Pride and Prejudice Austen
Eighth Grade Literature List
Eight Grade Literature List, page 2
Profiles in Courage Kennedy
Raisin in the Sun, A Hansberry
Separate Peace, A Knowles
Silver Sword, The (aka Escape from Warsaw) Serraillier
Story of King Arthur and His Knights, The Pyle
Story of My Life Keller
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Stevenson
Tempest, The Shakespeare
Through the Looking-Glass Carroll
To Kill a Mockingbird Lee
Up From Slavery Washington
Virginian, The Wister
Washington: The Indispensable Man Flexner
Wizard of Oz, The Baum
Wuthering Heights Bronte
http://www.providencechristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/eighth_grade_literature_list.pdf
http://www.providencechristian.com/students/literature-list/
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Never get a cold
Pop a Probiotic
The buzz around gut-friendly probiotics just got a little louder. Not only do some of the microorganisms combat gastrointestinal woes, but they can also influence your body's T cells, the crucial white blood cells that help power your immune system. According to recent research published in the journal Postgraduate Medicine, women who downed daily probiotics saw their T-cell count skyrocket, making them much less vulnerable to infections. Though you can score some of the healthful stuff in a variety of foods like yogurt, miso, and tempeh, you're better off taking a 60- to 90-milligram supplement every morning during cold season, says lead study researcher Mira Baron, M.D., an internist in Cleveland.
Raise Your D Levels
Supernutrient vitamin D strengthens bones, fights inflammation, and boosts your mood. Turns out, it can also help slay infections. In a national study, people with low D levels were 36 percent more likely to catch respiratory ailments. Other current research shows that, when people with ample D do get sick, they may recover faster. "Vitamin D helps your body produce a protein called cathelicidin that fights bacteria and viruses," says Carlos Camargo, M.D., an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Because it's nearly impossible to get enough D from food—even if you regularly nosh on salmon and dairy products—it's best to invest in 1,000 IU supplements. Take two a day in the winter months, when the sun's rays aren't as strong. (Soaking up natural sunlight prompts the body to make its own vitamin D. However, experts caution against too much D-producing sun exposure because it can lead to a heightened risk of skin cancer.)
Get Pampered
Regular 20-minute, moderate-pressure rubdowns decrease the body's level of cortisol, a stress hormone that can take a toll on your immune system, says Tiffany Field, Ph.D., director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine. "Massage stimulates your nervous system to slow the production of cortisol," she explains. "And by lowering cortisol, you're increasing your immune response." No time to squeeze in a spa appointment? Lie faceup on the floor with a foam roller positioned perpendicularly under your back and slowly roll over it in an up-and-down motion
Cut Some Calories
Even slightly overweight people who slashed their caloric intake by just 10 percent ended up with heartier T cells, according to the Journal of Gerontology, possibly because a little extra weight can prompt the body to release a certain immune-suppressing hormone-like compound. Stash a pack of sugar-free gum in your bag and reach for a stick when you crave a midafternoon snack, says Sharon Zarabi, R.D., a nutritionist in New York City. Or swap your regular latte for plain green tea; you'll not only save hundreds of calories but also ward off infection. (The brew is brimming with antioxidants called catechins, which may have serious immune-aiding abilities.) Or, when you're lagging, take a 10-minute walk—even if it's just around the house—instead of reaching for a sugary pick-me-up.
Clock in Face Time
Surprise: All of your friends come with benefits. People with the most types of relationships—everything from close friends to neighbors—have a greater resistance to infectious diseases, according to Health Psychology. Conversely, that same research shows that loners' immune systems suffer. "Lonely people often have high stress levels, which can have a negative effect on the immune system," says Sheldon Cohen, Ph.D., a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University. The exact number of friends you need to help you stay cold-free is unclear, but don't let that stop you: Set a goal of making one new connection a month, whether it's at the office, the gym, or the coffee shop
The buzz around gut-friendly probiotics just got a little louder. Not only do some of the microorganisms combat gastrointestinal woes, but they can also influence your body's T cells, the crucial white blood cells that help power your immune system. According to recent research published in the journal Postgraduate Medicine, women who downed daily probiotics saw their T-cell count skyrocket, making them much less vulnerable to infections. Though you can score some of the healthful stuff in a variety of foods like yogurt, miso, and tempeh, you're better off taking a 60- to 90-milligram supplement every morning during cold season, says lead study researcher Mira Baron, M.D., an internist in Cleveland.
Raise Your D Levels
Supernutrient vitamin D strengthens bones, fights inflammation, and boosts your mood. Turns out, it can also help slay infections. In a national study, people with low D levels were 36 percent more likely to catch respiratory ailments. Other current research shows that, when people with ample D do get sick, they may recover faster. "Vitamin D helps your body produce a protein called cathelicidin that fights bacteria and viruses," says Carlos Camargo, M.D., an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Because it's nearly impossible to get enough D from food—even if you regularly nosh on salmon and dairy products—it's best to invest in 1,000 IU supplements. Take two a day in the winter months, when the sun's rays aren't as strong. (Soaking up natural sunlight prompts the body to make its own vitamin D. However, experts caution against too much D-producing sun exposure because it can lead to a heightened risk of skin cancer.)
Get Pampered
Regular 20-minute, moderate-pressure rubdowns decrease the body's level of cortisol, a stress hormone that can take a toll on your immune system, says Tiffany Field, Ph.D., director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine. "Massage stimulates your nervous system to slow the production of cortisol," she explains. "And by lowering cortisol, you're increasing your immune response." No time to squeeze in a spa appointment? Lie faceup on the floor with a foam roller positioned perpendicularly under your back and slowly roll over it in an up-and-down motion
Cut Some Calories
Even slightly overweight people who slashed their caloric intake by just 10 percent ended up with heartier T cells, according to the Journal of Gerontology, possibly because a little extra weight can prompt the body to release a certain immune-suppressing hormone-like compound. Stash a pack of sugar-free gum in your bag and reach for a stick when you crave a midafternoon snack, says Sharon Zarabi, R.D., a nutritionist in New York City. Or swap your regular latte for plain green tea; you'll not only save hundreds of calories but also ward off infection. (The brew is brimming with antioxidants called catechins, which may have serious immune-aiding abilities.) Or, when you're lagging, take a 10-minute walk—even if it's just around the house—instead of reaching for a sugary pick-me-up.
Clock in Face Time
Surprise: All of your friends come with benefits. People with the most types of relationships—everything from close friends to neighbors—have a greater resistance to infectious diseases, according to Health Psychology. Conversely, that same research shows that loners' immune systems suffer. "Lonely people often have high stress levels, which can have a negative effect on the immune system," says Sheldon Cohen, Ph.D., a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University. The exact number of friends you need to help you stay cold-free is unclear, but don't let that stop you: Set a goal of making one new connection a month, whether it's at the office, the gym, or the coffee shop
Foods that fight infections
Chamomile, according to researchers from London's Imperial College, is the one that'll help prevent sickness. In a recent study, they found people who drank five cups of the brew a day for 2 weeks had increased blood levels of plant-based compounds called polyphenols, some of which have been associated with increased antibacterial activity. Levels remained high for 2 weeks after subjects stopped drinking the tea, says lead researcher Elaine Holmes, Ph.D. (Bonus: chamomile tea also raised levels of glycine, a mild nerve relaxant and sedative.)
So eat your oatmeal.There's a killer living in all of us. Known as a macrophage and produced deep in your bone marrow, it's a white blood cell that roams the body, picking fights with bacteria, viruses, or any other intruders. But it only works if you help it. These killer cells are activated by beta-glucans, a component of fiber foods. The best source? Oats, steel-cut oats, like McCann's Irish Oatmeal, have double the amount found in the rolled, quick-cooking kind.
salad for lunch is smart. Drowning it in fat-free dressing isn't. A recent study from Iowa State University found that without dietary fat, your body doesn't absorb some of the disease-fighting nutrients in vegetables. Researchers fed seven people salad for 12 weeks and tested their blood after each meal. Those who topped their salads with fat-free dressing consistently failed to absorb carotenoids, antioxidants that have been linked to improved immunity. Fat is necessary for the carotenoids to reach the absorptive intestinal cells, says lead researcher Wendy White, Ph.D. Choose dressings with healthy fats from olive or nut oils, such as Many Seeds of Change (available at Whole Foods or in the crunchy section of your neighborhood market) and many Annie's Naturals dressings. If you're feeling adventuresome, try making your own. For an Italianate, try 2 or 3 parts extra virgin olive oil to 1 part balsamic vinegar; for something with an Asian influence, go 3 parts sesame oil to 1 part rice wine vinegar.
whey protein is a much more effective immune-boosting cocktail. Whey is rich in an amino acid called cysteine, which converts to glutathione in the body. Glutathione is a potent antioxidant that fortifies cells against bacterial or viral infection. For the highest concentration of protein, try something called powdered whey protein isolate, which is more pure—and more expensive—than concentrate. Fortify your morning smoothie with whey protein powder or try another source: yogurt. The clear liquid that forms on top of most cartons of yogurt is pure whey protein—so don't drain it off, just stir it back into the yogurt.
To beat back a cold, you slurp chicken noodle soup. To avoid getting sick in the first place, ladle out some tomato. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 10 subjects ate a tomato-rich diet for 3 weeks, followed by a tomato-free diet for 3 more weeks. While subjects were on the tomato diet, their infection-fighting white blood cells sustained 38 percent less damage from free radicals—atoms in the body that damage and destabilize cells—than when they ate no tomato products. Researchers speculate that the lycopene in tomatoes acts as an antioxidant, helping white blood cells resist the damaging effects of free radicals.
Butterbur may sound like something that makes you sneeze. But the herbal supplement actually helps you fight allergies. Scottish researchers found that patients with grass and pollen allergies who popped 50 mg of the plant extract twice daily had 13 percent better nasal airflow than those who took a placebo. Another study published in the British Medical Journal reported that butterbur treated seasonal allergies nearly as well as the prescription medication Zyrtec. It's effective against all symptoms of allergic rhinitis, including sneezing, itching, and conjunctivitis, says Andreas Schapowal, M.D., Ph.D., the author of the study. Butterbur is believed to block leukotriene, a chemical that causes allergic reactions, while at the same time controlling eosinophils, the white blood cells that accumulate when allergic reactions take place, says Dr. Schapowal. What's more, there's no drowsy effect with butterbur. You can buy the supplement ($25 for 60 capsules) at most health food stores or at iherb.com.
Gatorade help your body recover from a tough workout, but it may also protect you from the latest strain of the flu. According to a study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition, when 10 triathletes drank more than 1 cup of sports drink every 15 minutes during intense exercise, they had significantly better immune response than they did when they drank a placebo.
Drinking wine with your meal, in addition to being good for your heart, may help ward off food poisoning before it happens. Scientists at Oregon State University recently found that wine can put the kibosh on three common food pathogens: E. coli, listeria, and salmonella. In lab studies, the wine's combination of ethanol, organic acids, and low pH appeared to scramble the bugs' genetic material. All wines have some effect, say researchers, but reds are the most potent.
Several animal and laboratory studies have shown that capsaicin—the compound that gives chili peppers their fire—can help stop sickness before it starts. Mice in one study were given a daily dose of capsaicin and had nearly three times more antibody-producing cells after 3 weeks than those given no capsaicin. More antibodies mean fewer colds and infections. Results of other studies suggest that eating food containing hot components such as capsaicin may improve immune status, says Rina Yu, Ph.D., of the University of Ulsan in South Korea, the lead researcher. The point is, it can't hurt. At the very least, a dash or two of hot sauce might help flush out some toxins.
Losing a little extra baggage will not only reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but also will help shape up your immune system. Researchers at Tufts University asked a group of slightly overweight people to cut 100 to 200 calories from their daily food intake. The result, in addition to weight loss and a drop in cholesterol counts? Participants boosted their immune system response to disease-causing microorganisms. Researchers aren't exactly sure why, but speculate that the benefit comes from a combination of effects. One thing is certain: Cutting 200 calories out of your daily diet is easy. At your next restaurant meal, ditch the baked potato with sour cream and order steamed vegetables instead.
So eat your oatmeal.There's a killer living in all of us. Known as a macrophage and produced deep in your bone marrow, it's a white blood cell that roams the body, picking fights with bacteria, viruses, or any other intruders. But it only works if you help it. These killer cells are activated by beta-glucans, a component of fiber foods. The best source? Oats, steel-cut oats, like McCann's Irish Oatmeal, have double the amount found in the rolled, quick-cooking kind.
salad for lunch is smart. Drowning it in fat-free dressing isn't. A recent study from Iowa State University found that without dietary fat, your body doesn't absorb some of the disease-fighting nutrients in vegetables. Researchers fed seven people salad for 12 weeks and tested their blood after each meal. Those who topped their salads with fat-free dressing consistently failed to absorb carotenoids, antioxidants that have been linked to improved immunity. Fat is necessary for the carotenoids to reach the absorptive intestinal cells, says lead researcher Wendy White, Ph.D. Choose dressings with healthy fats from olive or nut oils, such as Many Seeds of Change (available at Whole Foods or in the crunchy section of your neighborhood market) and many Annie's Naturals dressings. If you're feeling adventuresome, try making your own. For an Italianate, try 2 or 3 parts extra virgin olive oil to 1 part balsamic vinegar; for something with an Asian influence, go 3 parts sesame oil to 1 part rice wine vinegar.
whey protein is a much more effective immune-boosting cocktail. Whey is rich in an amino acid called cysteine, which converts to glutathione in the body. Glutathione is a potent antioxidant that fortifies cells against bacterial or viral infection. For the highest concentration of protein, try something called powdered whey protein isolate, which is more pure—and more expensive—than concentrate. Fortify your morning smoothie with whey protein powder or try another source: yogurt. The clear liquid that forms on top of most cartons of yogurt is pure whey protein—so don't drain it off, just stir it back into the yogurt.
To beat back a cold, you slurp chicken noodle soup. To avoid getting sick in the first place, ladle out some tomato. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 10 subjects ate a tomato-rich diet for 3 weeks, followed by a tomato-free diet for 3 more weeks. While subjects were on the tomato diet, their infection-fighting white blood cells sustained 38 percent less damage from free radicals—atoms in the body that damage and destabilize cells—than when they ate no tomato products. Researchers speculate that the lycopene in tomatoes acts as an antioxidant, helping white blood cells resist the damaging effects of free radicals.
Butterbur may sound like something that makes you sneeze. But the herbal supplement actually helps you fight allergies. Scottish researchers found that patients with grass and pollen allergies who popped 50 mg of the plant extract twice daily had 13 percent better nasal airflow than those who took a placebo. Another study published in the British Medical Journal reported that butterbur treated seasonal allergies nearly as well as the prescription medication Zyrtec. It's effective against all symptoms of allergic rhinitis, including sneezing, itching, and conjunctivitis, says Andreas Schapowal, M.D., Ph.D., the author of the study. Butterbur is believed to block leukotriene, a chemical that causes allergic reactions, while at the same time controlling eosinophils, the white blood cells that accumulate when allergic reactions take place, says Dr. Schapowal. What's more, there's no drowsy effect with butterbur. You can buy the supplement ($25 for 60 capsules) at most health food stores or at iherb.com.
Gatorade help your body recover from a tough workout, but it may also protect you from the latest strain of the flu. According to a study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition, when 10 triathletes drank more than 1 cup of sports drink every 15 minutes during intense exercise, they had significantly better immune response than they did when they drank a placebo.
Drinking wine with your meal, in addition to being good for your heart, may help ward off food poisoning before it happens. Scientists at Oregon State University recently found that wine can put the kibosh on three common food pathogens: E. coli, listeria, and salmonella. In lab studies, the wine's combination of ethanol, organic acids, and low pH appeared to scramble the bugs' genetic material. All wines have some effect, say researchers, but reds are the most potent.
Several animal and laboratory studies have shown that capsaicin—the compound that gives chili peppers their fire—can help stop sickness before it starts. Mice in one study were given a daily dose of capsaicin and had nearly three times more antibody-producing cells after 3 weeks than those given no capsaicin. More antibodies mean fewer colds and infections. Results of other studies suggest that eating food containing hot components such as capsaicin may improve immune status, says Rina Yu, Ph.D., of the University of Ulsan in South Korea, the lead researcher. The point is, it can't hurt. At the very least, a dash or two of hot sauce might help flush out some toxins.
Losing a little extra baggage will not only reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but also will help shape up your immune system. Researchers at Tufts University asked a group of slightly overweight people to cut 100 to 200 calories from their daily food intake. The result, in addition to weight loss and a drop in cholesterol counts? Participants boosted their immune system response to disease-causing microorganisms. Researchers aren't exactly sure why, but speculate that the benefit comes from a combination of effects. One thing is certain: Cutting 200 calories out of your daily diet is easy. At your next restaurant meal, ditch the baked potato with sour cream and order steamed vegetables instead.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Eat and live long
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/16/hispanics-live-longer-than-us-caucasians.aspx
Here is a summary of the most important and most effective dietary and lifestyle measures I know of:
* Determine your nutritional type, and eat accordingly. This will tell you which foods are ideal for your unique biochemistry. This will also help you optimize your insulin and leptin levels, which are paramount for good health. Additionally, eating the right foods for your chemical makeup will help you maintain a healthy weight
* Eat at least one-third of your food raw
* Avoid processed foods and all artificial flavorings, colorings, and artificial sweeteners. Instead, seek out locally grown foods that are in-season
* Enjoy fermented foods like kefir and cultured veggies
* Make sure you eat enough healthy fats, including those from animal sources like omega-3 fat, and reduce your intake of omega-6 from vegetable oils
* Drink plenty of pure, clean water
* Manage your stress levels
* Exercise regularly. For optimal health benefits and longevity, make sure you incorporate high-intensity, sprint-type exercises, such as Peak 8
* Optimize your vitamin D levels, ideally through appropriate exposure to sunshine. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a vast array of diseases, and has been shown to increase your risk of death from any cause by 150 percent!
* Limit your exposure to toxins
* Get plenty of good sleep
Following these guidelines is a powerful way to avoid premature aging and disease of all kinds, so that you can far exceed the U.S. national average life expectancy, regardless of your financial- and educational status, or your racial heritage.
Here is a summary of the most important and most effective dietary and lifestyle measures I know of:
* Determine your nutritional type, and eat accordingly. This will tell you which foods are ideal for your unique biochemistry. This will also help you optimize your insulin and leptin levels, which are paramount for good health. Additionally, eating the right foods for your chemical makeup will help you maintain a healthy weight
* Eat at least one-third of your food raw
* Avoid processed foods and all artificial flavorings, colorings, and artificial sweeteners. Instead, seek out locally grown foods that are in-season
* Enjoy fermented foods like kefir and cultured veggies
* Make sure you eat enough healthy fats, including those from animal sources like omega-3 fat, and reduce your intake of omega-6 from vegetable oils
* Drink plenty of pure, clean water
* Manage your stress levels
* Exercise regularly. For optimal health benefits and longevity, make sure you incorporate high-intensity, sprint-type exercises, such as Peak 8
* Optimize your vitamin D levels, ideally through appropriate exposure to sunshine. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a vast array of diseases, and has been shown to increase your risk of death from any cause by 150 percent!
* Limit your exposure to toxins
* Get plenty of good sleep
Following these guidelines is a powerful way to avoid premature aging and disease of all kinds, so that you can far exceed the U.S. national average life expectancy, regardless of your financial- and educational status, or your racial heritage.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Dear Diary,
been crying a lot today; cause of reading that damn MRI report; nothing like a big dose of reality to bring you down. I don't need to know how bad Nadene's injury is - it doesn't make a difference and i won't give up hope anyway! But, i was hoping that the MRI report wouldn't be so dismal...maybe I just don't know enough big words to know what they mean ? N E Way, the stem cell treatment can't hurt, and I think it's the only thing left to try. So, we will, if we can get over the passport hurdle and the money hurdle and the actual traveling on a plane with a 25 year old wearing a diaper who throws up if she needs to poop and can't be changed. It may be a bad trip, but it's only 10 hours or so, anyone can get over that. Maybe I'll just make it her night and feed her her meals the night before and then when we get there. She can have two 4 or 5 meal days and only water when we travel? Just praying that we get to that point. To get legal guardianship adds another $1200 to the cost of the whole thing. guess I need to make some calls tomorrow; praying the passport agency calls soon. guess a lot of people are traveling now.
Please, God, help us be strong and courageous and take what comes, knowing that you are with us - and if you are with us, who can be against us?
Please, God, help us be strong and courageous and take what comes, knowing that you are with us - and if you are with us, who can be against us?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Good and bad vegetables
There's little doubt that one of the best ways to improve your health is to make sure you're eating plenty of fresh, minimally processed high quality vegetables, ideally locally-grown and organic, with a majority of them consumed raw.
One simple way to boost your vegetable intake is to juice them.
Juicing organic vegetables is highly recommended to patients in our clinic who are working to restore or improve their health.
I am firmly convinced that juicing is one of the key factors to giving you a radiant, energetic life, and truly optimal health.
I simply do not know of any other single nutritional intervention that has a more profound influence on health than eating and/or juicing fresh, organic vegetables.
You can review my comprehensive approach to how to juice on my vegetable juicing page.
Are All Vegetables the Same?
If you were to get all of your vegetables from conventionally farmed sources, this would be better for your health than eating no fresh vegetables at all. However, conventionally farmed vegetables are not your best choice. Organic vegetables are a much better option.
Why?
USDA Organic farmers (and many small, local organic farms working without certification), must use different standards when growing vegetables. These standards include never using:
* Pesticides
* Synthetic Fertilizers
* Sewage sludge
* Genetically modified organisms
* Ionizing radiation
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 60 percent of herbicides, 90 percent of fungicides, and 30 percent of insecticides to be carcinogenic, and most are damaging to your nervous system as well. In fact, these powerful and dangerous chemicals have been linked to numerous health problems such as:
* Neurotoxicity
* Disruption of your endocrine system
* Carcinogenicity
* Immune system suppression
* Male infertility and reduced reproductive function
* Miscarriages
* Parkinson's disease
This information alone should give you pause when considering whether to buy local, organic vegetables or not. But I encourage you to do further research about organic versus conventional farming conditions. I believe that after researching the facts and statistics, you'll come to the conclusion that organic vegetables are far more nutritious than conventionally farmed vegetables.
Conventional Fruit and Vegetable Pesticide Loads
Certainly helpful to your decision about which vegetables should be purchased organic and which conventional veggies may be safe, is the measured pesticide loads found on conventionally farmed fruits and vegetables.
Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories tested by the Environmental Working Group and included in their Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce, these 12 fruits and vegetables had the highest pesticide load, making them the most important to buy or grow organic:
* Peaches
* Apples
* Sweet bell peppers
* Celery
* Nectarines
* Strawberries
* Cherries
* Lettuce
* Grapes (imported)
* Pears
* Spinach
* Potatoes
In contrast, these foods were found to have the lowest residual pesticide load, making them the safest bet among conventionally grown vegetables:
* Broccoli
* Eggplant
* Cabbage
* Banana
* Kiwi
* Asparagus
* Sweet peas (frozen)
* Mango
* Pineapple
* Sweet corn (frozen)
* Avocado
* Onion
So if you need to work within a certain budget, use this information to help guide you to the best choices when it comes to lowering your overall pesticide exposure.
The Importance of Fresh Vegetables
Buying your vegetables from a local organic source is the ideal way to ensure that your vegetables are both fresh and high-quality. I strongly advise you to avoid wilted vegetables of any kind, because when vegetables wilt they loose much of their nutritional value. In fact, wilted organic vegetables may actually be less healthy than fresh conventionally farmed vegetables!
Another reason to buy your organic vegetables from a local source is that fresher vegetables also contain the highest amounts of biophotons.
What are Biophotons?
Biophotons are the smallest physical units of light, which are stored in, and used by all biological organisms – including your body.
Dr. Fritz-Albert Popp was the first to suggest that this light inside all biological organisms must originate, at least in part, from the foods you eat. When you eat plant foods, the light waves (photons) are thought assimilate into the cells in your body.
The purpose of these biophotons is much more important than many have realized, because they are the transmitters of important nutritional bio-information used in many complex vital processes in your body.
Every living organism emits biophotons, or low-level luminescence (light with a wavelength between 200 and 800 nanometers). It is thought that the higher the level of light energy a cell emits, the greater the vitality and potential for the transfer of light energy to your body.
In other words, the more light that a food is able to store, the more nutritious it is when you consume it. Fresh, organic vegetables are naturally rich in this biophoton light energy.
Illness Can Occur When Biophoton Emissions are Out of Sync
Research by Dr. Popp also showed that the light emissions of healthy people follow a set of biological rhythms by day and night and also by week and month.
However, in his studies, the light emissions from cancer patients had no such rhythms and appeared scrambled, which suggests that their cells were no longer communicating properly.
Likewise, according to Dr. Popp's research, multiple sclerosis patients were taking in too much light, leading to what he considered confusion on a cellular level.
Even stress can influence your biophoton emissions, causing them to increase when stress increases.
It's also known that cancer-causing chemicals alter your body's biophoton emissions, interrupting proper cellular communication, while certain natural substances can help to restore proper cellular communication. For instance, Dr. Popp found that mistletoe appeared to restore biophoton emissions of tumor cells to a normal level!
Interestingly, even conventional medicine confirmed that mistletoe extract does appear to have a beneficial effect on cancer, with one study published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine showing that mean survival rates nearly doubled among breast cancer patients who received mistletoe extract.
An Important Tip for Gathering Valuable Light Energy
As regular readers know, I've long recommended eating a diet of mostly RAW food to stay optimally healthy. This is because living raw foods contain the most biophoton light energy that your body needs.
The greater your store of light energy from healthy raw foods (this should not be confused with your vitamin D status, which is produced by the sun on your skin), the greater the power of your overall electromagnetic field, and consequently the more energy is available for healing and maintenance of optimal health.
I firmly believe it's only a matter of time before the importance of light energy in your health and well-being becomes more widely recognized and applied in the field of medicine. Until then, remember that your body is not only made up of tissue, blood vessels and organs. It's also composed of light.
Reasons to Juice
As I mentioned at the beginning, one of the best ways to get ample amounts of raw vegetables into your diet is through juicing. Many people see juicing as inconvenient, but with the proper juicer it really is not very time consuming at all.
The fact is, many people initially think that juicing will be a real chore, but most are pleasantly surprised to find it's much easier than they thought.
There are three main reasons why you will want to consider incorporating organic vegetable juicing into your optimal health program:
* Juicing helps you absorb more nutrients from the vegetables.
* Juicing allows you to efficiently consume more vegetables.
* Juicing can add a wider variety of vegetables into your diet.
However, you should only start by juicing vegetables that you enjoy eating non-juiced. The juice should taste pleasant -- not make you feel nauseous.
It is very important to listen to your body when juicing. Your stomach should feel good all morning long. If it is churning or growling or generally making its presence known, you probably juiced something you should not be eating. Personally, I've noticed that I can't juice large amounts of cabbage, but if I spread it out, I do fine.
Please review my comprehensive vegetable juicing instructions for more information.
What are the Best Vegetables for Good Health?
Whether you're munching them raw or juicing, some vegetables contain more health building nutrients than others. This list details some of the best and worst vegetables for your health.
Highly Recommended Vegetables
Asparagus Escarole
Avocado (actually a fruit) Fennel
Beet greens Green and red cabbage
Bok Choy Kale
Broccoli Kohlrabi
Brussel sprouts Lettuce: romaine, red leaf, green leaf
Cauliflower Mustard greens
Celery Onions
Chicory Parsley
Chinese cabbage Peppers: red, green, yellow and hot
Chives Tomatoes
Collard greens Turnips
Cucumbers Spinach
Dandelion greens Zucchini
Endive
Use sparingly due to high carbohydrate levels
Beets Jicima
Carrots Winter Squashes
Eggplant
Vegetables to Avoid
Potatoes
Tips to Make Your Juice Taste Better
If you would like to make your juice taste a bit more palatable, especially in the beginning, you can add these elements:
* Coconut: This is one of my favorites! You can purchase the whole coconut or use unsweetened shredded coconut. It adds a delightful flavor and is an excellent source of fat to balance your meal. Coconut has medium chain triglycerides, which have many health benefits.
* Cranberries: Researchers have discovered that cranberries have five times the antioxidant content of broccoli, which means they may help protect against cancer, stroke and heart disease. Limit the cranberries to about 4 ounces per pint of juice.
* Lemons and Limes: You can also add half a lemon or lime (leaving much of the white rind on)..
* Fresh ginger: This is an excellent addition if you can tolerate it. It gives your juice a little "kick"! And, as an added boon, researchers have found that ginger can have dramatic effects on cardiovascular health, including preventing atherosclerosis, lowering cholesterol levels, and preventing the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL).
Nutritional Typing and Juicing Vegetables
According to Nutritional Typing principles, if you are a carb type, vegetable juicing is STRONGLY recommended. With patients in our clinic, we strongly encourage it if they expect to regain their health.
If you are a mixed type, it is certainly useful to juice. However, protein types need to follow some specific guidelines to make it work for them, which I'll review below.
I used to charge a fee for my nutritional typing program; however I'm now able to offer this exceptional tool for FREE, so I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity. You can find the free online typing test here. This program can help guide your food choices even further. We use to charge $29 for this test but I wanted to make it available for everyone, so please take advantage of this free test to help you learn what foods will improve your health.
Protein Types and Juicing Vegetables
If you are a protein type, juicing needs to be done cautiously. The only vegetables that should be juiced are your prime protein type vegetables, which are celery, spinach, asparagus, string beans and cauliflower (including the base).
Also, to make drinking vegetable juice compatible with protein type metabolism (which needs high amounts of fat), it is important to blend a source of raw fat into the juice. Raw cream, raw butter, raw eggs, avocado, coconut butter, or freshly ground flax seed are the sources of raw fat I most recommend.
In addition to adding a source of raw fat to your juice, you may also find that adding some, or even all, of the vegetable pulp into your juice helps to make drinking the juiced vegetables more satisfying.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/29/recommended-vegetable-list.aspx
One simple way to boost your vegetable intake is to juice them.
Juicing organic vegetables is highly recommended to patients in our clinic who are working to restore or improve their health.
I am firmly convinced that juicing is one of the key factors to giving you a radiant, energetic life, and truly optimal health.
I simply do not know of any other single nutritional intervention that has a more profound influence on health than eating and/or juicing fresh, organic vegetables.
You can review my comprehensive approach to how to juice on my vegetable juicing page.
Are All Vegetables the Same?
If you were to get all of your vegetables from conventionally farmed sources, this would be better for your health than eating no fresh vegetables at all. However, conventionally farmed vegetables are not your best choice. Organic vegetables are a much better option.
Why?
USDA Organic farmers (and many small, local organic farms working without certification), must use different standards when growing vegetables. These standards include never using:
* Pesticides
* Synthetic Fertilizers
* Sewage sludge
* Genetically modified organisms
* Ionizing radiation
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 60 percent of herbicides, 90 percent of fungicides, and 30 percent of insecticides to be carcinogenic, and most are damaging to your nervous system as well. In fact, these powerful and dangerous chemicals have been linked to numerous health problems such as:
* Neurotoxicity
* Disruption of your endocrine system
* Carcinogenicity
* Immune system suppression
* Male infertility and reduced reproductive function
* Miscarriages
* Parkinson's disease
This information alone should give you pause when considering whether to buy local, organic vegetables or not. But I encourage you to do further research about organic versus conventional farming conditions. I believe that after researching the facts and statistics, you'll come to the conclusion that organic vegetables are far more nutritious than conventionally farmed vegetables.
Conventional Fruit and Vegetable Pesticide Loads
Certainly helpful to your decision about which vegetables should be purchased organic and which conventional veggies may be safe, is the measured pesticide loads found on conventionally farmed fruits and vegetables.
Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories tested by the Environmental Working Group and included in their Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce, these 12 fruits and vegetables had the highest pesticide load, making them the most important to buy or grow organic:
* Peaches
* Apples
* Sweet bell peppers
* Celery
* Nectarines
* Strawberries
* Cherries
* Lettuce
* Grapes (imported)
* Pears
* Spinach
* Potatoes
In contrast, these foods were found to have the lowest residual pesticide load, making them the safest bet among conventionally grown vegetables:
* Broccoli
* Eggplant
* Cabbage
* Banana
* Kiwi
* Asparagus
* Sweet peas (frozen)
* Mango
* Pineapple
* Sweet corn (frozen)
* Avocado
* Onion
So if you need to work within a certain budget, use this information to help guide you to the best choices when it comes to lowering your overall pesticide exposure.
The Importance of Fresh Vegetables
Buying your vegetables from a local organic source is the ideal way to ensure that your vegetables are both fresh and high-quality. I strongly advise you to avoid wilted vegetables of any kind, because when vegetables wilt they loose much of their nutritional value. In fact, wilted organic vegetables may actually be less healthy than fresh conventionally farmed vegetables!
Another reason to buy your organic vegetables from a local source is that fresher vegetables also contain the highest amounts of biophotons.
What are Biophotons?
Biophotons are the smallest physical units of light, which are stored in, and used by all biological organisms – including your body.
Dr. Fritz-Albert Popp was the first to suggest that this light inside all biological organisms must originate, at least in part, from the foods you eat. When you eat plant foods, the light waves (photons) are thought assimilate into the cells in your body.
The purpose of these biophotons is much more important than many have realized, because they are the transmitters of important nutritional bio-information used in many complex vital processes in your body.
Every living organism emits biophotons, or low-level luminescence (light with a wavelength between 200 and 800 nanometers). It is thought that the higher the level of light energy a cell emits, the greater the vitality and potential for the transfer of light energy to your body.
In other words, the more light that a food is able to store, the more nutritious it is when you consume it. Fresh, organic vegetables are naturally rich in this biophoton light energy.
Illness Can Occur When Biophoton Emissions are Out of Sync
Research by Dr. Popp also showed that the light emissions of healthy people follow a set of biological rhythms by day and night and also by week and month.
However, in his studies, the light emissions from cancer patients had no such rhythms and appeared scrambled, which suggests that their cells were no longer communicating properly.
Likewise, according to Dr. Popp's research, multiple sclerosis patients were taking in too much light, leading to what he considered confusion on a cellular level.
Even stress can influence your biophoton emissions, causing them to increase when stress increases.
It's also known that cancer-causing chemicals alter your body's biophoton emissions, interrupting proper cellular communication, while certain natural substances can help to restore proper cellular communication. For instance, Dr. Popp found that mistletoe appeared to restore biophoton emissions of tumor cells to a normal level!
Interestingly, even conventional medicine confirmed that mistletoe extract does appear to have a beneficial effect on cancer, with one study published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine showing that mean survival rates nearly doubled among breast cancer patients who received mistletoe extract.
An Important Tip for Gathering Valuable Light Energy
As regular readers know, I've long recommended eating a diet of mostly RAW food to stay optimally healthy. This is because living raw foods contain the most biophoton light energy that your body needs.
The greater your store of light energy from healthy raw foods (this should not be confused with your vitamin D status, which is produced by the sun on your skin), the greater the power of your overall electromagnetic field, and consequently the more energy is available for healing and maintenance of optimal health.
I firmly believe it's only a matter of time before the importance of light energy in your health and well-being becomes more widely recognized and applied in the field of medicine. Until then, remember that your body is not only made up of tissue, blood vessels and organs. It's also composed of light.
Reasons to Juice
As I mentioned at the beginning, one of the best ways to get ample amounts of raw vegetables into your diet is through juicing. Many people see juicing as inconvenient, but with the proper juicer it really is not very time consuming at all.
The fact is, many people initially think that juicing will be a real chore, but most are pleasantly surprised to find it's much easier than they thought.
There are three main reasons why you will want to consider incorporating organic vegetable juicing into your optimal health program:
* Juicing helps you absorb more nutrients from the vegetables.
* Juicing allows you to efficiently consume more vegetables.
* Juicing can add a wider variety of vegetables into your diet.
However, you should only start by juicing vegetables that you enjoy eating non-juiced. The juice should taste pleasant -- not make you feel nauseous.
It is very important to listen to your body when juicing. Your stomach should feel good all morning long. If it is churning or growling or generally making its presence known, you probably juiced something you should not be eating. Personally, I've noticed that I can't juice large amounts of cabbage, but if I spread it out, I do fine.
Please review my comprehensive vegetable juicing instructions for more information.
What are the Best Vegetables for Good Health?
Whether you're munching them raw or juicing, some vegetables contain more health building nutrients than others. This list details some of the best and worst vegetables for your health.
Highly Recommended Vegetables
Asparagus Escarole
Avocado (actually a fruit) Fennel
Beet greens Green and red cabbage
Bok Choy Kale
Broccoli Kohlrabi
Brussel sprouts Lettuce: romaine, red leaf, green leaf
Cauliflower Mustard greens
Celery Onions
Chicory Parsley
Chinese cabbage Peppers: red, green, yellow and hot
Chives Tomatoes
Collard greens Turnips
Cucumbers Spinach
Dandelion greens Zucchini
Endive
Use sparingly due to high carbohydrate levels
Beets Jicima
Carrots Winter Squashes
Eggplant
Vegetables to Avoid
Potatoes
Tips to Make Your Juice Taste Better
If you would like to make your juice taste a bit more palatable, especially in the beginning, you can add these elements:
* Coconut: This is one of my favorites! You can purchase the whole coconut or use unsweetened shredded coconut. It adds a delightful flavor and is an excellent source of fat to balance your meal. Coconut has medium chain triglycerides, which have many health benefits.
* Cranberries: Researchers have discovered that cranberries have five times the antioxidant content of broccoli, which means they may help protect against cancer, stroke and heart disease. Limit the cranberries to about 4 ounces per pint of juice.
* Lemons and Limes: You can also add half a lemon or lime (leaving much of the white rind on)..
* Fresh ginger: This is an excellent addition if you can tolerate it. It gives your juice a little "kick"! And, as an added boon, researchers have found that ginger can have dramatic effects on cardiovascular health, including preventing atherosclerosis, lowering cholesterol levels, and preventing the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL).
Nutritional Typing and Juicing Vegetables
According to Nutritional Typing principles, if you are a carb type, vegetable juicing is STRONGLY recommended. With patients in our clinic, we strongly encourage it if they expect to regain their health.
If you are a mixed type, it is certainly useful to juice. However, protein types need to follow some specific guidelines to make it work for them, which I'll review below.
I used to charge a fee for my nutritional typing program; however I'm now able to offer this exceptional tool for FREE, so I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity. You can find the free online typing test here. This program can help guide your food choices even further. We use to charge $29 for this test but I wanted to make it available for everyone, so please take advantage of this free test to help you learn what foods will improve your health.
Protein Types and Juicing Vegetables
If you are a protein type, juicing needs to be done cautiously. The only vegetables that should be juiced are your prime protein type vegetables, which are celery, spinach, asparagus, string beans and cauliflower (including the base).
Also, to make drinking vegetable juice compatible with protein type metabolism (which needs high amounts of fat), it is important to blend a source of raw fat into the juice. Raw cream, raw butter, raw eggs, avocado, coconut butter, or freshly ground flax seed are the sources of raw fat I most recommend.
In addition to adding a source of raw fat to your juice, you may also find that adding some, or even all, of the vegetable pulp into your juice helps to make drinking the juiced vegetables more satisfying.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/29/recommended-vegetable-list.aspx
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