1. Cayenne Pepper – Most cats have an aversion to cayenne pepper. Sprinkling a small amount around your planter can help keep the kitties away from the plant itself.

2. Aquarium Gravel – Unlike other surfaces, gravel is much too grainy for cats to really get comfortable on. It not only makes an uncomfortable bed, they  do not like the feel of the rocks on the pads of their feet. A thin layer on your top soil can be enough to keep them out of the planter.

3. Mesh Screening – Window screen is actually cheap if you purchase it in a roll. By using a few pieces of wood, you can create a mesh box around your plants. TA mesh box will allow sunlight and water in, while keeping kitties out. .

4. Citrus Peels – Citrus peels are a potent way to keep cats at bay. Place peels around your planters or gardens to provide a layer of protection for your plants. Once they dry, these peels double as compost filling in your garden.

5. Tin Foil – Tin foil is another texture that cats find unappealing. Some people have had a degree of success deterring cats by placing sheets of it on or around the area.

6. Coffee Grounds – Kitties don’t like the smell of coffee grounds. Sprinkle them around your garden and most cats will move on to another space.

7. Spray Bottle – And then there is always behavior modification. Arm yourself with a spray bottle and squirt every cat that comes near your garden. They will soon learn that your garden is off limits.

It is in a cat’s nature to use prefer soft soil for a litter box or a bed.  By making the area as uncomfortable or unappealing as possible, you greatly reduce the chance of your planters being used as bathrooms or beds. While not all of the above suggestions will work for every cat, each has been used with varying degrees of success. If any other methods have worked for you, please comment, and let us know.

Foods that have an incredible array of health benefits that go well beyond their nutrient value are considered Superfoods.  These foods are typically loaded with a combination of critical fatty acids, anti-oxidant phytonutrients, and essential amino acids.    Blueberries contain an extraordinary amount of unique phytonutrients and impressive anti-oxidant scores that make them a superfood.

Blueberries are a native plant to North America.  They grow in shrubs from from 8-10 inches tall  up to 5-6 feet tall.  Maine is considered the largest low bush blueberry producing country.  Michigan produces the most high bush growing blueberries.

This summer superfood is loaded with antioxidant phytonutrients called anthocyanidins.  These nutrients powerfully neutralize free radical damage to the collagen matrix of cells and tissues.  In addition, anthocyanins have been shown to improve capillary integrity and enhance the effects of Vitamin C.

Blueberries Boost Brain Function

The anti-oxidant power of blueberries has been shown to be particularly useful in stabilizing brain function and protecting the neural tissue from oxidative stress.   Studies have shown improvements in memory and learning while reducing symptoms of depression. Blueberries also contain other major phytonutrients including pterostilbene, resveratrol, flavonols and tannins.  All of these have been shown to inhibit the development of cancer cell growth.

The riper the berries the more anti-oxidant power they contain.  To assess the ripeness of the berries look at the color.  Riper berries are a darker blue.  Blueberry season is mid-late summer, June – August.  Most frozen berries are picked at maximal ripeness and frozen.

Very Important to Buy Organic Blueberries:

Purchase organic blueberries due to the high amount of petrochemical pesticides that are used on conventional varieties.  In June of 2011, the Environmental Working Group labeled non-organic blueberries a significant concern.  Blueberries grown in the US ranked 10 out of 53 of the most pesticide laden fruits and vegetables tested.  They have made the list of  the “Dirty Dozen” with this finding.

The term “wild” is considered a marketing term that producers of low bush blueberries have used to help sell their blueberries.  Wild blueberries may or may not be organic.  One should always check labeling and certifications.

Frozen blueberries are fantastic in shakes and smoothies.  Blueberry seeds are significantly smaller than that of other berries such as strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.  The small size makes them less challenging to digest and more palatable in a shake than other berry seeds.

Sources For This Article Include

• http://www.naturalnews.com/028923_superfoods_nutrition.html
• http://superfoodu.com/the-superfoods/blueberry-superfood/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry

The Anti-Aging Power of Avocados

Foods that have an incredible array of health benefits that go well beyond just their nutrient value are considered superfoods.  These foods are typically loaded with a combination of critical fatty acids, anti-oxidant phytonutrients, and essential amino acids.  Avocados are one of the best anti-aging superfoods to consume.

Avocados are native to Central America and were a favorite food of the Aztec Indians.  The avocado plant is part of the flowering plant family Lauraceae, which includes camphor, bay laurel ,and cinnamon.  Avocados are considered a fruit.  They are cultivated in tropical climates throughout the world, including southern Florida and California.

Avocado’s Have a Long, Rich History

The oldest known evidence of avocado use as a food was found in a cave in Puebla, Mexico.  The dates of the writings are thought to be from around 10,000 BC.  The two major types of avocados are the Hass Avocado and Florida Avocado.  The Hass avocado was named after Rudolph Hass who developed an avocado farm and obtained a patent for the avocados he was growing.

The Florida avocados are significantly larger than the Hass avocado’s but are lower in overall fat and calories.  The Hass avocado is more dense in monounsaturated fatty acids than the Florida avocado.  The Hass avocado averages between 18-30% fatty acids while the Florida avocado has about 3-5% fats.  This equals out to the Florida avocados being about 25-50% of the total fat content found in the Hass avocados.

Avocados Rich in Healthy Fats & Anti-Oxidants

This amazing fruit is very high in healthy oleic acid.  This is a monounsaturated fat that helps increase fat metabolism.  It is also rich in the powerful carotenoid anti-oxidants lutein and zeaxanthin as well as Vitamin E (tocopherol).

These anti-oxidants decrease oxidative stress and allow for a healthier cellular environment.  Other critical components include ionic potassium and folate.  These elements are alkaline forming in the body, helping to buffer acidic wastes that accumulate within the human tissue and bloodstream.

Avocados Enhance Nutrient Assimilation

Avocados are a terrific complement to a vegetable based meal.  Most vegetables, particularly in their raw state, contain a high amount of carotenoid based anti-oxidants.  Studies have shown that these anti-oxidants are lipophilic (fat-loving) and are absorbed best in the body when combined with a healthy fat such as oleic acid.

A study published in the Journal of Nutrition in March 2005 showed that adding avocados to salads increased absorption of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and lutein 7.2, 15.3, and 5.1 times higher, respectively, than the average amount of these carotenoids absorbed when avocado-free salad was eaten.

Hass avocados have been found to be the most densely concentrated variety of the avocado fruit.  They contain the highest content of lutein and zeaxanthin and other fat-soluble nutrients.  Both types of avocados are terrific for the digestive system as they contain a good variety of both soluble and insoluble fibers.

Avocados’s Have Anti-Aging Nutrients

Avocados are one of the best anti-aging foods that prevent wrinkles and skin aging. The D-manno-heptulose sugar that is found in avocados has been shown to improve the skin’s epidermis by boosting collagen formation.  Avocados also contain specific amino acids and carotenoid anti-oxidants that reduce age spots, soothe inflammation, and heal scars and burns.

When looking to find a ripe avocado, it is best to feel the consistency rather than judge them off of their color.  Ripe avocados that are still good are typically firm but have slight give to them.  Any sort of mushy consistency is a warning sign that the inside meat is oxidized and rotten.

Refrigerating your avocados will increase their shelf life while putting them in a bag with an old banana peel will make them ripen faster.

Sources For This Article Include:

• http://www.superfoodsrx.com/superfoods/avocado/
• http://www.oprah.com/food/Secret-Superfood-Avocados-Dave-Liebermans-Blog
• http://valerietonnerhealthcoach.blogspot.com/2011/06/superfood-avocado.html
• http://www.naturalnews.com/028923_superfoods_nutrition.html

Hawthorn berry is a grouping of tree plants in the rose family that is native to the temperate regions of Europe, Middle East, Asia, and North America.  Parts of the Middle East consider the plant sacred. Many historians believe it may have been the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus during the Crucifixion.  This medicinal herb is known to be one of the greatest natural agents for improving cardiovascular function.

Hawthorn is endorsed as a cardiovascular aid by Commission E- an important branch of the German government that studies and approves natural therapies.  It is widely used in Europe to improve the circulatory system, treat angina, high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, and congestive heart failure.  It is renowned for its ability to strengthen the heart and blood vessels and restore healthy muscular tone to the heart wall.

Powerful Anti-Oxidant Nutrients

Hawthorn berry is loaded with a wide array of powerful anti-oxidant nutrients.  Anti-oxidants neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative stress and tissue damage in the body.  The unique blend of anti-oxidants found in hawthorn come from a group of phytonutrients.  These include tannins, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, and phenolic acids.  The standardization of hawthorn products is based on the overall content of flavonoids (2.2%) and proanthocyanidins (18.75%).

Hawthorn has been well studied in individuals with congestive heart failure.  Five of the six major studies performed found dramatically improved symptoms (such as shortness of breath and fatigue).  One study showed that hawthorn (taken at 900mg/day) for 2 months was as effective as low doses of captopril (leading heart medication) in improving common symptoms associated with congestive heart failure.

Unique Anti-Oxidant Blend

The unique anti-oxidant blend within Hawthorn creates a powerful vasodilating effect.  It acts to improve blood vessel endothelial function to where the vessel is able to open with less resistance.  This allows greater blood flow in working tissues and improves oxygen utilization.  This is primarily due to the flavonoids rutin and vitexin along with the proanthocyanins.

Hawthorn improves heart cell metabolism and enhances the flow of electrolytes across the cardiac cells.  This prevents or corrects heart rhythm abnormalities and strongly encourages a healthy cardiac rhythm.

Hawthorne Improves Cardiovascular Function

Hawthorne contains flavones that enhance the function of certain cardiac enzymes.  This effect increases the heart’s contractile force, which effectively boosts stroke volume while increasing the heart’s tolerance to hypoxic conditions.  It also improves the heart’s ability to create energy through anaerobic metabolism which improves the heart’s ability to withstand stress.

Hawthorn also acts to inhibit angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE).  Elevated ACE causes an increase in angiotensin II and systemic vasoconstriction.  This process elevates blood pressure.  By modulating ACE levels, hawthorn helps to normalize blood pressure and reduce stress on the cardiovascular system.   The body usually takes two to four weeks to adapt to the hawthorn and have lasting effects on blood pressure.

Improves Tissue Collagen

Hawthorn also helps protect joints with its unique blend of antioxidants. These phytonutrients fend off specific classes of free radicals that are known to damage tissue collagen resulting in arthritic conditions.  Natural remedies that support healthy collagen improve the health of joints, skin, hair, and nails.

When getting hawthorn, be sure to get the whole plant – leaves, flowers, and berry.  The berries contain more proanthocyanins while the flowers and leaves contain more vitexin.  The most effective way to consume hawthorn, if you are unable to get it fresh, is in a dried and ground form.

Put the fresh plant or dried form into shakes or teas and consume daily.  Due to its antioxidant and cardiovascular boosting effects it is great to use pre/post exercise.  This improves exercise recovery by improving oxygen flow and neutralizes scavenging free radicals from damaged tissues.

Sources For This Article Include:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crataegus
• http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-hawthorn-berry.html
• http://www.diagnose-me.com/treat/T9668.html
• http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/hawthorn_berry.php
• http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/hawthorne-tree.html

The largest source of calories for individuals living in industrialized nations is sugar.  Sugar increases insulin levels, promoting fat accumulation and inflammation throughout the body.  Sugar consumption and elevated insulin accelerate the aging process and create an environment conducive to degenerative disease.

The chemistry of sugar is based on the number of carbohydrates and includes monosaccharides, disaccharides and oligosaccharides.   The most important monosaccarides are glucose, dextrose, and fructose.  The primary difference in these deals with the way they are digested and metabolized.  Glucose and dextrose are basically the same form of sugar.  Many sugars can be identified by their characteristic “ose” ending.

Many of these sugars also combine to form complex sugars such as sucrose.  Sucrose, typical table sugar, is a disaccharide (2 sugar forms) that is half glucose and half fructose.  Meanwhile, high fructose corn syrup is 55% fructose and 45% glucose.

Massive Increase in Sugar Consumption

In the year 1700, the average individual consumed about 4 pounds of sugar each year.  In 1800, it was about 18 pounds of sugar per year.  In 1900, the average person ate 90 pounds of sugar per year.  In 2009, the average individual consumed 150 pounds of sugar per year.  Half of our society consumes ½ pound of sugar per day.   Most of this is in unnatural, man-made forms such as sucrose and high fructose corn syrup.

Most forms of sugar (other than fructose based sources) metabolize quickly in the body into a simple glucose form.  This glucose is then funneled into cells by the hormone insulin.  This process is performed very well in our bodies when the cells are kept sensitive to the circulating insulin.

Lifestyle behaviors that lead to chronically elevated blood sugar and insulin levels cause a cellular resistance to insulin.  These behaviors include excessive sugar intake, processed foods and sedentary lifestyle.  Elevated blood sugar and insulin cause excessive free radical damage and inflammation throughout the body.

The Major Problems with Elevated Sugar & Insulin Include:

1. Mal-coordinates the immune system and reduces its functional ability.
2. Dehydrates the cells and depletes the body of critical electrolytes such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, & sodium, leading to cell death and chronic muscle spasms.
3. Depletes the body of chromium, copper,and  zinc, and other trace minerals that help sensitize cells to insulin.  This further accelerates cell membrane insulin resistance
4. Induces cancer cell division and proliferation and inhibits mechanisms that slow down tumor growth and inhibit cancer cell apoptosis (programed cell death)
5. Creates tissue damaging Advanced Glycolytic Enzymes (AGE’s)
6. Depletes the body of anti-oxidants such as glutathione, vitamin C, and vitamin E.
7. Inhibits Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and elevates cortisol levels
8. Inhibits cellular protein synthesis which results in dysfunctional bone, muscle, and joint chemistry.  This accelerates the risk of osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and chronic muscle and joint pain.
9. Promotes the growth of pathogenic bacteria and parasites such as Candida and other yeast-like organisms.  This also depletes the body of good bacteria and can lead to chronic infections in the gut, respiratory tissue, and sinuses.
10.  Leads to obesity, elevated triglycerides, abnormal LDL:HDL cholesterol levels, elevated arterial inflammatory risk factors.
11.  Opens up the blood brain barrier, depletes the brain of trace mineral stores, and allows toxins and other heavy metals to accumulate in brain tissue
12.  Destroys nerves leading to chronic pain, neuropathies, vision disorders, and accelerated organ dysfunction.

Sources For This Article Include:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextrose
• http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/20/sugar-dangers.aspx
• http://www.naturalnews.com/009333.html

Holy Basil or Tulsi is one of the most powerful herbs alive.  The name “Tulsi” means “The Incomparable One” because of its unique health benefits.  The herb was a staple of Hindu mythology and considered sacred by the Indian royalty.  Modern science has shown that this distinctive herb is incredibly good for balancing the mind, body, and spirit.

Holy basil, a variety of Ocimum basilicum (basil), is a small shrub with scented leaves that is a part of the mint or Labiatae family.  It grows wildly throughout south Asia where the natives in these areas have been using it for centuries.  It is known to help the bodily systems adapt, balance, and increase resilience.

The Adaptogenic SuperStar!

Holy basil is known in natural medicine as an adaptogenic herb in that it helps the body better adapt to stress.  Adaptogenic herbs don’t affect an individual’s mood, but they help the body function at its optimal level during times of stress.  They do this by modulating the production of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

Chronic, low-grade stress is a modern day epidemic that creates sluggish metabolism, chronic inflammation, and abnormal immunity.  High cortisol creates digestive problems and leaky gut syndrome, increased appetite, weight gain, thyroid disorders, and accelerated brain degeneration.  This is commonly found in the brains of those with anxiety disorders, depression, and other physchological disorders.  Many auto-immune conditions also link to chronically elevated stress hormone production as a catalyst for abnormal immune response.

Stabilize Cortisol Levels

One of the key components that adaptogenic herbs offer is their ability to lower and stabilize cortisol levels.  High cortisol drains the precursers to major hormones such as testosterone, progesterone and estrogen.  With less than adequate raw materials, the body becomes sex hormone deficient.  This process rapidly accelerates the aging process and makes an individual’s life miserable.

Healthy individuals have stable cortisol levels that naturally spike in the morning and then level off and stay consistently low during the day before tapering at night.  This allows us to wake up with energy in the morning and maintain that energy until nightfall when we should naturally be gearing down and getting ready for sleep.  Stable cortisol levels result in improved mental clarity and memory.  The individual feels as though they are less agitated and anxious and therefore able to perform better and have higher quality of life.

Holy Basil Contains Powerful Anti-Oxidants

Holy Basil is rich in aromatic essential oils that have powerful effects on the body.  These phytonutrient rich oils include ursolic acid, rosmarinic acid, caryophyllene, and eugenol, among others.  These oils have a great smell that naturally boosts mood and spirit.  Eugenol has been shown in studies to combat stress and enhance mental clarity.

Holy Basil acts to modulate stress levels and blood sugar levels by stabilizing cortisol and insulin.   A study out of the Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry indicated that holy basil may reverse some of the damaging effects of diabetes like neuropathy and retinopathy.

Holy Basil contains vitamin C, vitamin A, and essential oils, which are all anti-oxidants that scavenge free radicals in the body, improving cellular integrity, blood flow, and genetic expression.   It is particularly good for cardiovascular health and brain function, as it helps protect against heart disease and brain degeneration.

Holy Basil Helps the Immune Coordination

Holy basil helps to strengthen the body’s immune system, helping it to fight off opportunistic parasites such as Candida, viruses, and MRSA staph infections.   As an adaptogen, it is able to modulate the immune system by turning it up higher when it is necessary to fight a toxic invader.  It also has the ability to quiet down the immune system to reduce unnecessary inflammation.

The strength and coordination of the immune system plays a very important role in preventing and destroying cancer cell growth.  A 2007 study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food described holy basil’s ability to combat the development of cancer. The herb significantly reduced the formation of cancerous micronuclei, while increasing antioxidant levels and healthy enzyme activity.

Breakthrough Technology for Herbal Botanicals

My favorite way to consume Holy Basil is in its fermented form, from Beyond Organic Terrain liquid herbals.  These unique products unlock the full nutritional potential of the Holy Basil by putting it through an intense 3-month fermentation process. The Sacred Herbs Terrain combines the extraordinary adptogenic benefits of fermented holy basil with the incredible anti-inflammatory and cancer killing properties of turmeric.

Related Products & Reading:

• Holy Basil – Green Lifestyle Market
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
• Candida, Gut Flora, Allergies, and Disease
• Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases
• Hypothyroidism – Natural Remedies, Causes, and How To Heal the Thyroid

Sources For This Article Include: 

• http://www.medicinehunter.com/holy-basil
• http://www.beyondorganicinsider.com/2013/02/holy-basil.html
• http://www.naturalnews.com/033798_ashwagandha_adaptogen.html

You’re slightly confused. You are not sure who to believe. You are ready to start, but not ready to commit to the whole enchilada. You wonder how you can possibly obtain some free nuggets that will help set you on a track to health, without breaking the bank. I will tell you what you can do. You can learn how to get healthy, and stay on track, by transitioning your food to better options, that don’t insult your taste buds and your account manager.

So how do you get healthy without falling off the wagon?

You stop ingesting toxic ingredients and transition to higher quality foods you can enjoy, so you can stay the course and continue to upgrade your health as you you continue to be empowered on how to get healthy.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients To Avoid

There are several toxic ingredients that are hidden in packaged foods that you have no idea are causing you harm.  How would you know if you either don’t read labels closely or don’t know what you are looking for?

Well, a lot of the confusion has been taken out of what ingredients to avoid, from this A to Z list. This list is very comprehensive, and I would suggest you avoid these ingredients as much as possible, to slow down and ultimately stop the ingestion of toxic ingredients that are damaging your body.

So now that you are aware of what ingredients to avoid in order to get healthy, let’s look at some transition foods.

Grains & Starches

We love wheat.  So much that we typically have it in every meal.  From our toast, cereal, bagel, pop tart, whatever…to our sandwich, pasta, pizza, and wraps.  Not to mention plenty of of other places it shows up.

If it’s not wheat, its potatoes. Easy to grow, cheap, and fill the stomach.  The North American dream meal!

The problem with wheat aside from gluten intolerances is that we ingest it in incredibly large amounts, in an non-organic form, and leave it to be assimilated by a digestive system void of a healthy ecosystem, which in turn results in large, undigested particles that eventually render themselves toxic.

Potatoes are difficult to assimilate as well and often have a nice dose of chemicals on them, including fungicide. Rice is often not much better.

So what transition ‘grains’ should you consider as an upgrade?

• Try quinoa (keen-wa), an ancient grain with lots of protein.  Easy on the palate and easier on the stomach (rinse, then soak in clean water first for at least 2 hours first).
• If you need to make a crust, bread, or cookie, try alternate flours like quinoa, amaranth, kamut, coconut, and almond. They don’t alter the taste much, and are generally easier on the stomach.
• If you want potatoes, eat the red skinned kind and make sure they are as organic as possible. Even better, try sweet potatoes which offer much more nutrition.

Animal Protein

People will sometimes tell you to get healthy you are basically stuck with fruits and vegetables.  Although this has merit, it’s not entirely true.

The problem is with what they call ‘meat’ (like hot dogs for example), the cleanliness of it, and eating too much.

The only real meat you should avoid altogether is anything that comes from a swine. It’s not sanitary and the human body lacks the enzyme to actually digest it. You should avoid it at all costs if you want to get healthy.

So what transition ‘meats’ should you consider as an upgrade?

•  Your best choice is grass fed organic beef (to avoid intaking the grains for reasons mentioned above) as it contains many more nutrients and is easier on the body.
• Your next best choice is fish, caught from an unpolluted source that is not chock full of mercury.
• Finally, organic free range chickens (vegetable fed) are a better choice than the caged, heavily inoculated kind.

Cow’s milk is such a favourite.  We’ve been led to believe it is the purest and only form of calcium on the planet, and if we don’t eat it we are all doomed to broken bones, osteoporosis, and can never get healthy.

The truth is, conventional dairy is very harmful to the digestive system as it is mucous forming, mostly pasteurized, full of hormones, and is actually acidic in nature.  That’s no way to get healthy.

Another ‘dairy’ product people enjoy is margarine.  Margarine became a popular alternative to butter when it got the bad rap, but since then, we have realized margarine is one molecule removed from plastic and largely undigestible.

Finally, lets not forget cheese, the add on to everything.  Hard cheese is another mucous forming food that causes digestive upset.

So what transition ‘dairy’ should you consider as an upgrade?

• Coconut milk, almond milk, or hemp milk, preferably organic.  Check out these recipes.
• Raw organic cows milk if you can handle it.
• Choose organic butter, unpasteurized if you can, as it is way better than margarine.
• Choose raw cheeses that contain bacterial cultures and are more digestible than their counterpart, hard cheese.

Fats have received a bad rap, but as with any essential nutrient, it’s the form of it that’s the issue.

Most fats you are ingesting are trans or hydrogenated fats, which are damaging to many parts of your body, including your cardiovascular system.  These are found mostly in processed and packaged foods due to their extended shelf life.

Good fats help with many functions, including the brain’s.  Want to get smarter? Increase your beneficial fat intake.

So what transition fats should you consider as an upgrade?

• Coconut oil is BY FAR the all around healthiest fat you can take.  It is anti-bacterial and extremely healing. Try it for cooking, in smoothies, and even baking in place of margarine or conventional butter.
• Olive oil is also a good fat to ingest, with antibacterial qualities as well. But you need to navigate between the good and the bad.
• Also try hemp oil and avocado oil which are loaded with healthy fats.

Sugar

The darling of the masses…everything is sweeter with sugar!

It’s not that sugar in and of itself is ‘bad’, it’s just that we eat too much of it in a bastardized form and it feeds Candida, an issue for 80% of the population. Not only that, it has caused other health issues like obesity and diabetes.

When choosing sugar, limit your intake.  Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) or any corn syrup for that matter, and limit your intake of the white refined stuff. You can’t get healthy by eating refined sugar.

So what transition ‘sugars’ should you consider to upgrade?

• Try stevia or xylitol (non-GMO from birch), natural sweeteners with no glycemic index value. They work well in smoothies, teas, and some baking.
• Use coconut sugar, a sugar with a malty taste that is very low on the glycemic index.
• Consider yacon or lakanto.
• Lastly, try raw cane sugar in place of white sugar as another alternative.

Salt

Salt has become the obsession with people starting to take care of their health, and all the talk is about how to reduce it.  The fact is, you require salt and its nutrients for many of your body’s processes to take place and to get healthy.

However, the majority of people are consuming processed table salt, that has been stripped of its spectrum of nutrients and has added chemicals in the process. This salt has little benefits, and you should limit your intake of it until you don’t consume it at all.

So what transition ‘salts’ should you consider to upgrade?

• Use a full spectrum sea salt (pink himalayan sea salt is a good choice) that still contains all the essential nutrients of salt, so you can apply liberally to your food as you would table salt so you can get the taste AND the minerals.

Snacks

Snacks…the focal point of our gluttony.  The snack industry has capitalized on our desire to graze, but has generally made us fatter and more unhealthy than ever before.  This is one of the primary stumbling blocks when trying to get healthy.

The problem with most snacks is that they are full of hydrogenated oils, harmful salt, MSG, HFCS, GMO’s, dyes and colours, wax, and non-organic grains and starches. It’s a digestive nightmare and a dead end road if you want to get healthy.

Some newer “healthier” snacks have come to the forefront, but many of them in fact are not much better than their counterparts.  It’s important to read the top ingredients to avoid above, to understand what is in your snack food and what it is doing to your health.

So what transition “snacks: should you consider to upgrade?

• The only snack that I have found that you could truly enjoy the taste and still feel great about the ingredients is Way Better Snacks which offers a largely organic and sprouted snack that tastes delicious.

Beverages

Two beverages that are crippling our nation can both be made much healthier – soda and coffee.

People are consuming soda at an alarming rate, with little to no idea of how it is slowly destroying multiple areas of the body. Coffee is a 1-5 cup a day habit that is not going away and as a result we are more high strung, anxious, and jittery. You can’t get healthy drinking either conventional versions.

However, both offer alternatives that can allow you to transition to a much better habit.

So what transition “beverages” should you consider for an upgrade?

• If you really need to wean yourself off soda, or replace it with a better habit, try Zevia.  It’s sweetened with stevia and the ingredients are much less harmful than regular soda.
• If you love the taste of coffee, but realize that the side effects are much more damaging than you would like to admit, try SereniGy healthy coffee which gives you your coffee, without the side effects.

Transition is Important

There is a lot of information out there on what to avoid, what to eat, and which are the best products out there. This can be very overwhelming and lead people to give up before they even really start.

The purpose of this article is to provide you with some easy transitions that will keep you on the wagon until you are ready to introduce a higher level of nutrition that involves considerably more fruits and vegetables, super foods, high quality herbs and supplements, and processes that improve the digestibility and nutrients of everything (like fermenting).

Until then, transition as many of the above categories you can, preferably the ones you consume the most, and get ready to progress to the next level when you are ready to feel even better!