Superfoods in Every Sip

Superfoods in Every Sip

 

Have you ever enjoyed a sweet raspberry smoothie, creamy banana milk shake, rich glass of chocolate milk, or tart strawberry yogurt drink ? Maybe an Orange Julius from the mall, spicy holiday eggnog, or a glass of tangy, dairy-based, peach kefr are favorite drinkable treats. In this blog, I will be introducing you to their raw, vegan cousins — more healthful and nutritionally dense versions that are free of dairy, eggs, sugar, alcohol, and artifcial flavors and colors. They’re chock-full of plant-derived rejuvenating liquids; energy-enhancing live enzymes; easy-to-assimilate vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, fber, complex carbohydrates, natural sugars, and proteins; plus loads of tongue-tantalizing flavor.

Every day there is new information printed and reported on the television, radio, and Internet regarding the benefts of eating a plantbased diet or at least a diet that relies heavily on plants. If you don’t know by now, you should: a daily diet rich in raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, as well as whole grains and other plantderived specialty ingredients such as raw cocoa, carob powder, spirulina powder, goji berries, and rejuvenating herbs, can maximize your health and well-being.

Foods Can Provide Health Promoting and Disease Protective Benefits

Foods Can Provide Health Promoting and Disease Protective Benefits

Historians and Archaeologists have revealed that ancient civilizations all over the world recognized that certain foods could provide healthpromoting and disease-protective benefits. The historically documented use of certain foods and food extracts from dried plants for healing indicates that the early application of the knowledge about the health-giving functions of plant-derived compounds dates back thousands of years.

Natural plants are complex packages of biologically active compounds. The term “phytochemicals,” which means “plant-chemicals,” was coined to represent these thousands of plant-sourced compounds that have functional effects in animal tissues with subtle but profound effects on human health and immunity. With the recent discovery that superior immune function in humans is dependent on a broad array of these plant-derived chemicals, we can appreciate that food supplies us not only with the basic nutritive functions, but also with a secondary level of nutrition that adds a complex layer of disease resistance and longevity benefits. These secondary benefits have not been adequately appreciated until recently.

The American Dietary Disaster or Death from Processed Foods

The American Dietary Disaster or Death from Processed Foods

Because the modern diet in America and much of the world today is so rich in processed foods and animal products and so low in natural vegetation, especially vegetables, almost all Americans are dramatically deficient in plant-derived phytochemicals, and the effects are far-reaching and dangerous.

Twenty-five years ago, we worshipped vitamins and minerals, and nutritional scientists hardly knew phytochemicals existed; now those compounds are considered the major micronutrient load in natural foods, and their effects are recognized as broad and profound. In other words, we now know that vitamins and minerals are not nearly enough. To have normal immune function we require hundreds of additional phytochemicals, found in natural plants. Supplements are appearing in the marketplace that contain these beneficial compounds and they show promise, but nothing can match the immunity-building power of a diet that contains an adequate amount and broad array of these health-enhancing substances fromunrefined plant foods.