Foods That Detox the Body

Detoxing does not have to be painful , it can actually be very satisfying and energizing if done correctly. And believe it or not you DON'T have to starve yourself to do it and there's also a great eating plan at the website www.naturalfooddetox.com.
Additionally, if you need help with your daily "Lifestyle Planning" you can get that at FitToDo.com. There you can plug in your food and exercise and best of all its FREE and for your eyes only!!

The following is a list of foods that detox the body.

Items listed below are most beneficial when eaten in their least altered states: fresh/raw or lightly steamed. If you have the option, vine-ripened and organically grown are pluses.

• Broccoli Sprouts - look for them at your health food store. They have up to 50 times more cancer-fighting power than the full-grown stalks.



• Cabbage - this incredible vegetable increases the activity of both of the 2 main detoxifying enzymes in the liver. Raw or lightly steamed packs the biggest punch.



• Fiber - any kind is beneficial - (also listed below as psyllium). Fiber expands in the digestive tract absorbing toxins along the way. This is probably one of the most important foods that detox the body.

Fruits - loaded with vitamin C, fiber, fluids and antioxidants, to name a few benefits.



• Garlic - the more, the better! The Italians know what they're doing! You can add it to salads, sauces, juices, take capsules. It activates the liver enzymes that help filter out junk.



• Green Tea - this tea is rich in antioxidants; try to find a naturally decaf version. It contains catechins, which increase liver activity.



• Juices - fresh fruit or vegetable juice keep you hydrated and the fluids moving throughout your system.



• Lemons - lemon juice is perfect for cleansing your system. It's also full of vitamin C, and grabs onto toxins that are then flushed out.



• Psyllium - rich in soluble fiber, like oat bran. It absorbs toxins and cholesterol. You can mix powdered psyllium into juice or sprinkle on food. Or you can have psyllium-fortified breakfast cereals, breads, muffins.



• Sesame seeds - did you know this: They are known for protecting liver cells from the damaging effects of alcohol and other chemicals. Tahini paste is the concentrated form of pureed sesame seeds.



• Vegetables - green, leafy is best. Eat them raw, salads, added to soup broth. Chlorophyll helps flush out environmental toxins such as heavy metals, pollutants and pesticides.



• Water - this is THE ultimate body cleanser. Purified or filtered water is even better. Watch 'vitamin waters' so that they don't contain high-fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. Plain, room-temperature drinking water is best.



• Watercress - this can be added to salads, soups. Has a diuretic effect that detoxifies your system.

It is no secret that the average American diet is in completely in the slumps. Consuming packaged foods, fast food, artificially enhanced products, and especially low quality cheap food is the norm, but is it any wonder that being overweight while also falling victim to a host of illnesses is also the norm. Being raised in this era of poor health makes it difficult to know what is truly healthy and unhealthy. Food has drastically changed since decades ago, and so parents often aren’t aware of the severe decline in food quality. Fast food in particular is one of the primary reasons for the drastic health decline seen today.

Why You Should Avoid Fast Food at All Costs

If you haven’t already, take a couple of hours to watch the films Super Size Me or Fast Food Nation. After watching these films, you can see first hand how fast food causes severe damage to your body – even if you don’t consume it for every meal of every day like in one of the films. Fast food is nothing but a concoction of harmful and health-damaging chemicals which can easily be understood if you were to think for a moment how any restaurant could offer a double cheeseburger for only $1.

Most recently it was uncovered that these $1 cheeseburgers, along with the rest of McDonald’s’ beef and chicken, were actually harnessing ‘pink slime’ scrap meat covered with ammonium hydroxide. Not only does this fake meat provide no nutritional value at all, but it is chemically contaminated from ammonia, the toxic cleaning agent found under the sink. The meat is actually fat trimmings and connective tissue that are separated from the bone – scrap meat that is not fit for human consumption. The ammonia treatment is in response to the danger of contamination from salmonella or E. coli, but the scrap meats themselves are more likely to contain pathogens. Despite the chemical treatment, the meat is still in the line of fire for contamination.

Additionally, McDonald’s McNuggets contain 7 different ingredients making up the ‘meat’, many of which contain sub-ingredients. Instead of using real meat, the ingredient list utilizes sodium phosphate, safflower oil, wheat starch, dextrose, and autolyzed yeast extract – a particularly dangerous substance very similar to the toxic MSG. Along side with these ingredients comes the use of dimethylpolysiloxane, a silicon substance used as an anti-foaming agent and often found in breast implants and silly putty.

Of course the use of these ingredients is not limited only to McDonald’s. In fact, all of the fast food restaurants are guilty of using them. The worst part? They are aware of the destructive nature behind these ingredients, but truly couldn’t care any less. The truth behind such a statement can be exemplified by Taco Bell’s attempt to create a drive-thru diet where individuals would supposed to lose weight by eating fast food. It was only a few years ago when Taco Bell announced the “Drive-Thru Diet”, where they showcased their foods low in fat. But what they don’t tell you is that even if their food has 9 grams of fat, it is still made up of numerous ingredients contributing to the global health decline.

While the reasons for the influx of fast food consumption are many, one primary one is the usage of psychological advertising. Being one of the most powerful tools to reach both the conscious and subconscious, advertising plays a huge role in how society is ran today, and that includes which foods we eat. What’s more, children are much more influenced by what they see and hear, and research proves it. A study conduced late in 2011 showed that 71 percent of children will choose junk food like french fries over apple slices when given coupons for each of them. The number dropped only to 55 percent when parents encouraged children to choose the apple slices. But the desired reach does not stop at direct advertising and influence.

A new children’s educational book (see previous blog) has recently been launched by the Council for Biotechnology Information, educating young children on the ‘numerous benefits’ of genetically modified food. Of course genetically modified food has time and time again been shown to cause human and environmental harm, but still the attempt to brainwash young children is carelessly made. The advertising for such food is also heavily tied in with fast food, as virtually all fast food is constructed with genetically modified food and ingredients.

Consumers Ingesting Mystery Meat Treated with Poisonous Gas

From: Natural Society

As a method of passing off decayed meat as fresh, meat industries in many countries are treating meat with highly toxic gas. In fact, 70 percent of all beef and chicken within the United States and Canada are subject to the treatment of the poisonous gas known as carbon monoxide. Add this knowledge to the recently exposed ammonia-tainted ‘pink slime’ used in meat being served to millions of people and schoolchildren, and you may be reluctant to ever eat meat again. 

 

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a toxic colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas which essentially replaces oxygen in the blood. When individuals are exposed to higher levels of CO, it begins to cause detrimental effects after binding to a molecule in the blood that normally carries oxygen, known as hemoglobin. Lower levels of exposure results in headaches, confusion, fatigue, and nausea, while higher levels of exposure could result in unconsciousness, death, or long-term negative neurological effects.

In order for meat to stay fresh, it must be below a certain temperature before being consumed. Even a few degrees above the recommended temperature can result in bacterial growth and hastened spoilage. In addition, grocery retailers face a challenge in knowing the actual temperature of the meat since UV radiation from the display case penetrates the packaging. As a solution, the meat industry decided to use utilize carbon monoxide for atmospheric packaging to extend shelf life. It is also for this reason that meat exhibits a bright red color, even when it has spoiled.

Image provided by PreventDisease

“C. perfringens bacteria, the third-most-common cause of food-borne illness, has been proven to grow on what is considered fresh meat … about half of the fresh meat products [tested for these bacteria] are positive despite them being within the expiry period.  100% of … these cases come from packagers who adopted atmospheric packaging methods such as the use of carbon monoxide gas”.

Although meat itself has many beneficial properties, the processes in which most meat goes through is cause for alarm. Along with poisoning carbon monoxide being used to treat our meat, conventionally raised animals are injected with growth hormones, fed antibiotics, and given genetically modified grain – all of which are being passed along in the food chain to the consumers of these animals — humans. The use of antibiotics are creating drug-resistant superbugs, while growth hormones are causing various health problems due to hormone balance disruption. All the while, these animals are consuming life-threatening GM grain, which they would never naturally consume in the wild.

Being able to know of the many processes, treatments, and toxic ingredients added to meat and food as a whole is more important than ever. The labeling of genetically modified foods is an absolute must, as is the disclosure of the ingredients and processes food goes through before ending up in the hands of the consumer. However, until these changes come to pass, eating a well balanced organic variety of foods will cause avoidance of the numerous challenges which come with the consumption of conventional food.

12 Organic or Pesticide-Free Foods Worth Buying (well.......maybe)

From : SquawkFox.com 

Organic and pesticide-free foods are not cheap.
They can cost double the price of conventionally grown foods and can make you wonder if paying the price for fewer pesticides or better farming practices is worth it.

Image From:
http://www.answer-my-health-question.
info/advantages-of-organic-food.html

It’s hard to ignore the increased availability of organic food on the grocery shelves these days. Just walk into your local produce store to see that foods boasting the “organic” label are quickly taking over the shelves with bright marketing campaigns, pretty green logos, and fat price margins. So it’s fair to wonder if you get what you pay for considering the added premium for pesticide-free and organically grown foods. The answer isn’t simple. Sorry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has found that even after you vigorously wash certain fruits and vegetables, they still contain much higher levels of pesticide residue than others because they absorb and retain these chemicals. I’d love to know if using special produce cleansing soaps helps to remove these chemicals, but I’m no scientist and I doubt that an environmentally-friendly organic liquid soap can remove all pesticide residue.

So in some cases, if you’ve got some extra dollars in your pocket, it could make sense to opt for certain organic foods because their conventionally grown counterparts tend to be laden with pesticides, even after washing. Here are 12 fruits or vegetables worth buying to decrease your exposure to pesticides:

12 Organic Foods Worth Buying

• Apples
• Bell peppers
• Celery
• Cherries
• Grapes
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Pears
• Potatoes
• Raspberries
• Spinach
• Strawberries

If you’re looking to save on your grocery bill, then consider passing on the organic versions of these 12 fruits and vegetables since they tend not to absorb or retain as many pesticide residues as other produce.

12 Organic Foods Not Worth Buying

• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Bananas
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Corn
• Kiwi
• Mangoes
• Onions
• Papaya
• Peas
• Pineapples

Knowing when to splurge on organic food and when to save on conventionally grown produce is an excellent (and simple) shopping tactic for staying on budget at the grocery store (shopping with the Printable Grocery Shopping List (above)  helps too!) Generally, in some cases, paying double for certain organic foods may be worth the added cost if you’re looking to limit your exposure to pesticides. In my case I always try my best to buy what’s local, in season, and pesticide-free.