Bacteria: Friend or foe?

How do you feel about ingesting a few billions of bacteria every day?  Hard to swallow?  A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that you can treat and even prevent some illnesses with beneficial probiotic bacteria.

Probiotics are living microorganisms that help us maintain a healthy immune system and overall health.  This is because probiotics have many positive effects on the body: They improve the function of the mucosal lining of the intestines; they hinder the growth of pathogenic bacteria; they stimulate the production of immune enhancing substances; and they enhance the overall immune response.

Probiotics defend against invading organisms by creating a barrier that prevents harmful bacteria and viruses from multiplying in the body.  Also, they alkalize the intestines, creating a less favorable environment for harmful organisms to develop.  Probiotics also help break down food for digestion, produce the lactase enzyme which helps to digest lactose, and produce vitamins in the intestinal tract. 

Probiotics have many functional benefits:

• Aid in digesting food, particularly hard-to-digest foods and foods to which some individuals are more sensitive
• Alleviate diarrhea
• Help in the treatment of Crohn’s disease
• Heal irritable bowel syndrome
• Prevent vaginal and urinary infections in women
• Enhance the synthesis of B vitamins and improve calcium absorption
• Help keep a healthy balance of intestinal microflora
• Support the overall immune function

There is increasing evidence that probiotics can strengthen the immune system which helps in alleviating allergies, which are misguided reactions of the immune system in response to (what should be harmless) particles. 

Probiotics are found in different forms.  Fermented foods such as yogurt, cheese, kefir. miso, tempeh (fermented soybeans) are good food sources of probiotics.  Probiotics can also be found as dietary supplements in capsules, tablets, and powders.   Below are some four simple tips on choosing a probiotics supplement:

1. Choose powdered probiotics or probiotics in capsules.  
2. Pick a probiotics supplement that has at least 1 billion organisms per gram. 
3. Choose probiotics that are uncentrifuged, as noted on the label.  Centrifuging destroys cells and makes the living organisms useless.
4. Opt for a single-strain probiotic, such as L. acidophilus or B. bifidum, but not both.  This is because often one strain overpowers the other, rendering one of the strains ineffective.

The why of food combining...

Your digestive system may not look like a car wash, but it sure acts like one.    As your car goes through the car wash, a sequence of chemicals squirts out of different nozzles, aimed at cleaning various parts of your car.  Your digestive system does the same thing.

In the mouth, our saliva mixes with the food.  The enzymes in our saliva partially break down the starches before the enzymes in the stomach can break them down completely.

In the stomach, glands in the stomach lining secret acidic gastric juices to begin the breaking down of proteins.

As the food enters the duodenum, bile produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder digests the fats.   Enzymes secreted by the pancreas breakdown the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

The final stage of digestion takes place in the small intestine.  Additional enzymes combine with the bile and pancreatic juices to reduce the food to molecules which pass through the wall of the small intestine. Here, nutrients are carried by the blood stream to the liver for storage and distribution. Undigested food residues pass into the large intestine.

What does this matter?  When you eat proteins like poultry, fish, meat, and eggs, your stomach secretes hydrochloric acid and the enzyme pepsin to break down the food in a highly acidic environment.  When you eat starches like potatoes or bread, your stomach secretes the enzyme ptyalin to create an alkaline condition.  Hence, when you eat starches and proteins together two categories of digestive juices (acidic and alkaline) are secreted and end up neutralizing each other.

But your body is a stubborn soul.  It then secretes more digestive juices, and more, and more.  Several hours later, the body is still working hard without much progress made in the actual digestion of the food as the digestive juices kept neutralizing each other.  Animal proteins, under normal circumstances, can take up to 24 hours to digest. But when you ingest them with starches, this time period may be doubled.  As a result, we begin to experience indigestion or heartburn (feeling of heaviness).   Eventually, the food--even those that are only partially digested or undigested--are “forced” out of the stomach by the peristaltic action of the intestines. 

Imagine this:  Much of the protein, after so many hours, has putrefied and turned completely rotten and toxic.  The carbohydrates have also fermented, since no digestion has really taken place, despite volumes of juices having been generated and precious vital energy used up for the attempts at digestion.  Because of this putrefaction and fermentation, gas pains flatulence, more heartburn and acid indigestion occur so very frequently.  This also creates a toxic environment that makes your blood more acidic and allows yeast, viruses, cancer cells and parasites to grow inside you. In essence, your inner ecosystem is damaged and you are more prone to illness.

Most of our every day comfort food is a deadly combination of starches and proteins:  hot dogs, hamburgers, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, even ethnic food like sushi, wonton noodles, etc.

This is why food combining is important.  But how do we combine food properly?  There are three simple guidelines.

1.     Eat fruits alone on an empty stomach

2.     Eat proteins (including animal protein and fats containing proteins such as nuts, seeds, dairy products) with non-starchy vegetables*

3.     Eat grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables** with non-starchy vegetables

*Non-starchy vegetables Include: Leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, bok choy, cabbage, celery, lettuces, green beans, garlic, fennel, onions, chives, turnips, sprouts, red radish, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumber, beets

*Starchy vegetables include: Acorn and butternut squash, lima beans, peas, corn, water chestnuts, artichokes and red skinned potatoes (red skinned potatoes have fewer sugars than other kinds of potatoes).

Additional tips:

·      Wait 3 hours after eating a grain-based meal before you have a protein meal.

·      After a protein meal, give yourself 4 hours to fully digest.

·      Try not to drink iced or cold water during meals. A cup of warm tea, however, will aid digestion. Do not drink for at least 15 minutes before you eat or 1 hour after a meal.

Know your pH...

Do you know that alkaline foods may be helpful in fighting cancer?  Nobel Prize winner Dr. Otto Warburg said that cancer cells cannot survive where there are high levels of oxygen.   Alkalinity helps to increase the body's oxygen level since alkalized blood can carry more oxygen.

pH, or “potential hydrogen,” is a measure of acidity or alkalinity.  A pH of 7 is neutral; neither acidic nor alkaline.  A substance measuring a pH level between 7 and 14 is alkaline.   Our blood pH has a very narrow range of around 7.35 to 7.45.  If our blood pH falls below 6.8 (too acidic) or above 7.8 (too alkaline), our cells will stop functioning and death will follow.  A healthy pH 7.4 helps to saturate red blood cells with the needed oxygen.

An acidic pH can occur from emotional stress, toxin overload, immune reactions, or any process that deprives the cells of oxygen and other nutrients.  Eating a diet that is very acidic can change your pH levels.  The body will try to compensate for an acidic pH level by utilizing alkaline minerals it has stored.  If the diet does not contain enough minerals to compensate, a build up of acids in the cells will occur, starving it of oxygen.  Hence, people with cancer generally have high levels of acid in their system as oxygen is driven out of the body..

Introducing alkaline foods into the diet is both easy and delicious.  Here is a list of some of the most alkaline foods:

• Leafy vegetables such as spinach, mustard greens and kale

• Cucumbers, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, cabbage, onions, radishes, peas, leeks, watercress, turnips, carrots, chives, green beans, beet root, celery, avocados, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts

• Lemons, limes, grapefruit, dried figs, apricots, dates

• Wheatgrass and chlorella

• Garlic and ginger

• Almonds and seeds such as sunflower, sesame and flax

• Sprouts

• Organic cold-pressed oils such as olive, coconut, flax, borage

• Grains such as millet and quinoa

• Organic, raw apple cider vinegar

• Miso

• Green tea

Drinking a glass of water before or after meals with a half lemon or lime helps to alkalize the system.  A half-teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in a glass of water does the same.
 

A glass of lemon water a day...

Drinking a glass of fresh squeezed lemon juice in warm water every morning is extremely beneficial to health, perhaps even more than having an apple a day!

Lemon is a rich source of vitamin C. It also contains vitamins like vitamin B, riboflavin and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium as well as proteins and carbohydrates.

Daily consumption of lemon water provides a number of health benefits like:

Good for stomach

Lemon can help relieve many digestion problems when mixed with hot water. These include nausea, heartburn and parasites. Due to the digestive qualities of lemon juice, symptoms of indigestion such as heartburn, bloating and belching are relieved. By drinking lemon juice regularly, the bowels are aided in eliminating waste more efficiently. Lemon acts as a blood purifier and as a cleansing agent. The intake of lemon juice can cure constipation. It is even known to help relieve hiccups when consumed as a juice. Lemon juice acts as a liver tonic and helps you digest your food by helping your liver produce more bile. It decreases the amount of phlegm produced by your body. It is also thought to help dissolve gallstones.

Excellent for Skin Care

Lemon, being a natural antiseptic medicine, can participate to cure problems related to skin. Lemon is a vitamin C rich citrus fruit that enhances your beauty, by rejuvenating skin from within and thus bringing a glow on your face. Daily consumption of lemon water can make a huge difference in the appearance of your skin. It acts as an anti-aging remedy and can remove wrinkles and blackheads. Lemon water if applied on the areas of burns can fade the scars. As lemon is a cooling agent, it reduces the burning sensation on the skin.

Aids in Dental Care

Lemon water is used in dental care also. If fresh lemon juice is applied on the areas of toothache, it can assist in getting rid of the pain. The massages of lemon juice on gums can stop gum bleeding. It gives relief from bad smell and other problems related to gums.

Cures Throat Infections

Lemon is an excellent fruit that aids in fighting problems related to throat infections, sore throat and tonsillitis as it has an antibacterial property. For sore throat, dilute one-half lemon juice with one-half water and gargle frequently.

Good for Weight Loss

One of the major health benefits of drinking lemon water is that it paves way for losing weight faster, thus acting as a great weight loss remedy. If a person takes lemon juice mixed with lukewarm water and honey, it can reduce the body weight as well.

Controls High Blood Pressure

Lemon water works wonders for people having heart problem, owing to its high potassium content. It controls high blood pressure, dizziness, nausea as well as provides relaxation to mind and body. It also reduces mental stress and depression.

Assist in curing Respiratory Disorders

Lemon water assists in curing respiratory problems, along with breathing problems and revives a person suffering from asthma.

Good for treating Rheumatism

Lemon is also a diuretic and hence lemon water can treat rheumatism and arthritis. It helps to flush out bacteria and toxins out of the body.

Reduces Fever

Lemon water can treat a person who is suffering from cold, flu or fever. It helps to break fever by increasing perspiration.

Acts as a blood purifier

The diseases like cholera or malaria can be treated with lemon water as it can act as a blood purifier.

Go ahead and splurge on yourself, have a glass of lemon water every day!

Is your coffee too "heaty"?

“Isn’t this heaty?” asks Mae-Yang eyeing her boyfriend Jason’s grand latte.  “What?” says Jason.  “Do you mean it is too hot?” Mae-Yang looks at him and rolls her eyes.


“Heaty” or “heatiness” is a common term that Chinese people use to describe certain food, which leaves many Westerners stumped.   In Traditional Chinese Medicine, food is a balance of “yin” and “yang”.  Yang food is considered heaty, whereas yin food is cooling.   Yang is both the quality of certain food as well as a person’s basic constitution, which is primarily influenced by genetics and upbringing, or temporary condition, which is influenced by lifestyle choices and environment.


This concept of heatiness/coolness is not applied in Western medicine.  However, some believe that acidic food roughly corresponds to heaty food, and alkaline food to cooling food.  Or, positive charges in cells to heatiness and negative charges to coolness. 


A person who is heaty often has the following symptoms:
• Feelings of irritability;
• Short temper;
• Fever;
• Constipation;
• Flushed face or cheeks;
• Dark yellow urine;
• Sore throat;
• Nose bleed;
• Outbreak of pimples and acne;
• Rashes;
• Mouth ulcers;
• Indigestion.


Yin or cooling condition, however, makes us feel weak and tired.


The heatiness and cooling effect does not refer to the temperature of food but to their capacity to generate either hot or cold energy in our body.  To seek a balanced diet, we should consume both yin and yang.  However, if our basic constitution is yang, it may be beneficial to consume more cooling/yin food, and vice versa. 


Heaty/yang foods tend to grow under the hot sun; are sweet; have lots of fats; are rich in sodium; and are hard, dry or spicy.   Cold/yin foods tend to grow in little sunshine; are salty; are lean; are rich in potassium; and are soft and wet.


Below are examples of food that is cooling/yin or heaty/yang.  It should be noted that how you prefer the food matters, for example, beef is considered neural, but if deep-fried it will turn heaty.


Cooling/yin foods which reduce hot or yang symptoms:  Apple, banana, pear, persimmon, cantaloupe, watermelon, tomato, all citrus, lettuce, radish, cucumber, celery, button mushrooms, asparagus, Swiss chard, eggplant, spinach, summer squash, Chinese cabbage, bock choy, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet corn, zucchini, soy milk, soy sprouts, tofu, tempeh, mung beans and their sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, millet, barley, wheat and its products, amaranth, kelp and all seaweed, spirulina, wild blue-green, oyster-shell calcium, wheat and barley grass, kudzu, yogurt, crab, clam.


Heaty/yang foods which reduce cold or yin symptoms:  Ginger root, black beans, aduki beans, lentils, cinnamon bark and twig, cloves, basil, rosemary, oats, spelt, quinoa, sunflower seed, sesame seed, walnuts, pine nuts, chestnuts, fennel, dill, anise, carraway, carob pod, cumin, sweet brown rice, parsnip, parsley, mustard greens, winter squash, cabbage, kale, onion, leek, chives, garlic, scallions, cherry, citrus deal, date, hot peppers, butter, and anchovy, mussel, trout, chicken, beef, lamb.

ini mini miny moe, which eggs for my breakfast-o?

Buying eggs used to be easy.  You choose half a dozen or a dozen, brown or white, and just pop open the cover to eyeball the eggs to make sure none are cracked.   As with buying almost everything nowadays, buying eggs can be a confusing feat.   There are now several types of eggs:  regular or factory, cage-free or free-range, and organic eggs, and each may come in brown or white, totaling 6 choices without taking into account all the different brands.  And the price varies greatly:  For example, factory eggs may go for as low as $1.50 per dozen, cage-free over $3, and organic for over $5.

Surprisingly, a study published by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says the different eggs are the same in nutritional level.  The white of an egg is where all its protein is found; it is made of both thin albumen, the watery fluid that runs farthest from the yolk when the egg is cracked into a cold pan; and thick albumen, the more viscous fluid that stays closer to the middle. The greater the amount of thick albumen, the more nutritious the egg.  All things equal, all three types of eggs have the same amount of thick albumen.

But what about safety?  The USDA says hens are not routinely treated with antibiotics, though they may be if they're sick.  So it seems like there is no difference in safety.   As a matter of fact, since environmental contaminants may be the biggest issue, factory eggs may even be the best choice.  Research shows that free-range chickens have higher levels of contaminants, simply because they get out more and can peck almost anywhere.

Also, the color of an egg does not make a difference and brown eggs, even though they are more expensive, are not better than white ones.  Color is determined by the breed of chicken laying it, so it just takes a brown-shell-species hen to lay brown eggs.

But what about which egg-laying conditions is the best for the hens themselves.  It is well-known that factory hens are confined in what are known as battery cages, which reduce them to little more than egg-laying machines.  There's no question it is not a humane way of treating chickens.

So if you are price sensitive but concerned about nutritional value and safety, you can choose to save a few dollars next time you are in the supermarket.  But if you would like to protest against inhumane conditions for the hens, by all means spend a little more and buy cage-free or organic eggs.  Just know what you're paying for.   

There is also another option.  Pastured eggs come from pastured chickens that are raised outdoors on pasture.  They run around and eat grass from the land along with their daily rations of grain, and have a happier, healthier life than free range or cage free chickens that stay indoors.  Pastured eggs are not necessarily organic, but they may be healthier.  Pastured eggs contain up to 20 times more healthy omega-3 fatty acids, have 10 percent less fat, 40 percent more vitamin A, and 34 percent less cholesterol.  The yolk is deep orange, and the white is clear and doesn't spread and thin out.   Pastured eggs are not easy to find, but you may be able to buy them from your local farmers or health stores.

The tooth of the lion

Dandelion, which means "lion's tooth" in French ("dent-de-lion"), got its name from the sharp jagged edges of the leaves. 


Dandelion greens are high in vitamins A, B complex, C and D, and minerals including iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium and zinc. 


Dandelion leaves are used to treat conditions of the liver, kidneys and gallbladder that leads to fluid retention.  The French gave the plant the nickname "piss-le-lit" which means "bed-wetter", due to it the diuretic properties of the leaves. 


Today's herbalists mainly use it as an appetite stimulant and digestive aid. Some research suggests that it may play a role in improving immune system function and promoting gastrointestinal health.


The smallest leaves are most tender and are good in salads. Larger leaves are tougher but good for steaming or added in soups, stews, or blended in smoothies. Greens will stay fresh longer wrapped in moist paper towels until ready to use. Always wash the greens thoroughly under running water.