Diet

Herbs are high in most valuable nutrients and thus have great healing properties besides improving the flavor of foods. Spices & herbs make digestion easier. They help burn toxins found in food. Some spices warm the stomach & blood, stimulate the senses and increase the appetite. Herbs strengthen the immune system and have an antibacterial effect on the body. Some herbs help eliminate mucus and waste from the stomach, intestines, lungs and respiratory tract. Generally, herbs and spices stimulate digestion and circulation, thus contribute to purification of the blood.

Here are examples of some herbs and spice, their description, how best to use them in our diets, and their possible healing effects on the body.

Ginger: is an outstanding remedy for many ailments including colds, travel sickness, and warming purification drink. If you have nausea, add some sliced ginger to hot water and drink it.

Turmeric: is a mild digestive and it simultaneously improves the intestinal flora and strengthens the liver. It helps with excessive or abnormal functioning of any organ and inadequate functioning of any organ and helps with the digestion of proteins.

Cilantro: helps cool the body. Combined with cumin and fennel it helps alleviate intestinal problems.

Garlic: is recommended for carnivores, since it improves digestion and lowers blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglycerides. Garlic stimulates the immune system and fights infections and colds. Some people find that it prevents blood clots and the cardiac and circulatory problems experienced by carnivores

Cayenne: stimulates circulation and intestinal fires. It is believed to have a cleaning and strengthening effect on the lungs, promoting clearing of mucus, alleviating chronic bronchitis and helping to dissolve blood clots

If you would like to know more about helping your body heal itself, contact me at (714) 784-0474 or arlanmurata@gmail.com

Food types include living foods, raw foods, cooked foods and processed food.

Living foods are foods that are still growing and consumed within 48 hours of being picked. Examples are: apples picked off the tree and vine ripen tomatoes that are both enjoyed immediately. Living foods are the best sources of enzymes, oxygen, vitamins, chlorophyll, fiber and essential fatty acids. They contain the proper balance of alkaline to acid minerals.

Raw foods are less nutritious because they are reaching you after48 hours after being picked and longer before you eat them. Cooked and processed foods have no healing powers according to how many doctors feel. These foods contribute to the acidity of your body, which are the causes of many of our degenerative diseases.

Enzymes are protein catalysts that have to be present for life to exist as they perform the multitude functions in the body, digestive and metabolic. They are needed for our bodies to function. Without them our body functions stop. Living foods have the most enzymes and raw foods have less but cooked/process foods have none. Enzymes play a key role in our digestion, assimilation and elimination of food and food by-products. Our energy levels and happy feelings are a direct relation to the amount of enzymes in our bodies.

Dr. Edward Howell in his book, “Enzyme Nutrition”, says that people with low-enzyme foods will experience degenerative diseases and poor health. You rebuild your enzyme supply by eating living and raw foods.

Healthy living is the results of balancing the alkaline and acidic foods. Most health professional recommend a balance of 80% alkaline and 20% acidic foods in your diet. Eating a good portion of alkaline foods is important.

Alkalizing Foods are:

Vegetables (Including Oriental Vegetables): Garlic, asparagus, fermented veggies(EM-Effective Microorganisms), water cress, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, chard, chlorella, collard greens, cucumber, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens. Dulce, dandelions, edible flower, onions, parsnip, peas, peppers, pumpkins, rutabaga, spiriluna, alfalfa, barley grass, wheat grass, wild greens, maitake, daikon, shiitake, kombu, reishi, nori, umeboshi, wakame, sea veggies

Fruits: Apple, apricots, avocadoes, banana, cantaloupe, cherries, currants, dates/figs, grapes, grapefruit, melon, nectarine, orange, lemon, pear, pineapple, all berries, tangerine, tomato, tropical fruits, watermelon

Protein: Whey protein powder, cottage cheese, chicken breast, yogurt, almonds, chestnuts, tofu (fermented), flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, tempeh(fermented), squash seeds, sunflower seeds, millet, sprouted seeds, nuts, eggs

Spices & Seasoning: Cinnamon, curry ginger, mustard, chili pepper, sea salt, miso, tamari, all herbs

Other: Apple cider vinegar, bee pollen, lecithin granules, probiotic cultures, green juices, veggie juices, fresh fruit juice, organic milk, mineral waters, alkaline antioxidant water, green tea, herbal tea, dandelion tea, ginseng tea, banchi tea, kombucha

Acidifying Foods include:

Fats & Oils: Avocado Oils, Canola Oil, Corn Oil, Hemp Seed Oil, Flax Oil, Lard, Olive Oil, Safflower Oil, Sesame Oil, Sunflower Oil

Fruits: Cranberries

Grains: Rice cakes, wheat cakes, amaranth, barley, buckwheat, corn oats, quinoa, rice, rye, spelt, kamut, wheat, hemp seed, flour

Nuts & Butters:  Cashews, Brazil Nuts, Peanuts, Pecans, Tahini, Walnuts

Animal Protein: Beef, carp, claims, fish, lamb, lobster, mussels, oyster, pork, rabbit, salmon, shrimp, scallops, tuna, turkey, venison

Pasta: Noodles, macaroni, spaghetti

Drugs & Chemicals: Drugs, medicinal drugs, psychedelics, pesticides, herbicides

Alcohol: Beer, spirits, hard liquor, wine

Beans & Legumes: Black beans, chick peas, green peas, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, pinto beans, red beans, soy beans, soy milk, white beans, rice milk, almond milk

Waters: Rain water, certain backwash filtered water, distilled water, reverse osmosis water, bottled water

Dairy: Cheese, cow cheese, goat cheese, processed cheese, sheep milk, butter

Other: Distilled vinegar, wheat germ, potatoes

Did you know that SWEET POTATO (kamote) far exceeds the nutrition and health values of rice? Here are the benefits of substituting rice with kamote:

1. Sweet potato is more filling and suppresses hunger pangs longer. It is also cheaper than rice.

2. Unlike rice, it is easy to grow. It grows in backyards with or without fertilizers. Local government executives can provide their poor communities with idle government land for planting kamote which the entire community can share.

3. Unlike rice which needs to be eaten with a dish, Sweet Potato tastes good and can be eaten by itself. Thus, substituting rice with sweet potato saves money for other needs.

4. Rice cannot match the nutritional values of potato. Because rice converts to sugar in the body, the Philippines register as a top producer of diabetics in the world. The poor tends to load up on rice and less on the dish which are more expensive. That makes them vulnerable to diabetes, an ailment known in developed countries as a rich man’s disease.

5. The nutritional values of a 3 oz. baked sweet potato are: calories 90, fat 0 g, saturated fat 0 g, cholesterol 0 mg, carbohydrate 21 g, protein 2 g, dietary fiber 3 g, sodium 36 mg, vitamin A 19,218 IU, folic acid 6 micrograms, pantothenic acid 1 mg, vitamin B6 <1 mg, vitamin C 20 mg, vitamin E 1 mg, calcium 38 mg, manganese 1 mg, carotenoids 11,552 mcg, potassium 475 mg and magnesium 45 mg. Compare that to a 100 g serving of white rice with: calories 361 kcal, water 10.2 g, total fat 0.8 g, dietary fiber 0.6 g, calcium 8 mg, phosphorous 87 mg, potassium 111 mg, sodium 31 mg, vitamin B1 0.07 mg, vitamin B2 0.02 mg, niacin 1.8 g, protein 6 g and carbohydrates 82 g.

6. Too much rice consumption can make you sick, but sweet potato (kamote) can bring you to health and keep away some health problems. These have been proved medically.

In a recent medical documentary on KBS World (the South Korean TV Network), The results of the research the Koreans conducted on the nutritional and medicinal benefits of kamote (which they refer to as sweet potato) was impressive.

In that Korean medical documentary, they presented the research findings on people with established health problems who were placed on a kamote/sweet potato diet.

Believe it or not – Sweet Potato (kamote) lowers hypertension, bad cholesterol and even blood sugar when eaten as SUBSTITUTE TO RICE! The purple sweet potato (kamote) is particularly effective for lowering hypertension.
Not only that, the Korean medical documentary credits the sweet potato (kamote) as high fiber and is one of the best foods that one can eat to prevent cancer!

For those who are only impressed by US doctors, read this: the North Carolina Stroke Association, American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association have all endorsed the sweet potato for its disease prevention and healing qualities.

The Americans, the South Koreans – both progressive nations – have raised the kamote to a high pedestal. Many of them even call the sweet Potato a “super food that heals.”

Here is what George Mateljan, Biologist, nutritionist and author of “The World’s Healthiest Foods” says about the sweet potato. A great source of good nutrition, as sweet potatoes are an Antioxidant-Rich and Anti-Inflammatory Food that is a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, manganese, copper, dietary fiber, Vitamin B6, potassium and iron. Antioxidant food have healing properties that eliminate free radicals that damage cells and membranes associated with the development of conditions like atherosclerosis, diabetic heart disease and colon cancer. Also, the nutrients in sweet potatoes are anti-inflammatory they can be helpful in reducing the conditions where inflammation is the cause of asthma, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The rich Vitamin A content in sweet potatoes helps protect us from cancer and emphysema.