Healthy Lifestyle Newsletter

Dandelion was used by our forefathers as a salad green and powerful healing herb. Its use has been reestablished once again and dandelion can now be found for free in parks and meadows or even in your back garden. The taste of Dandelion is rich and invigorating and your body will be thankful for this taste experience. Combine it with a clove of garlic and you’ll definitely be on the right track to boosting your health.

Ingredients:

* 8 dandelion leaves, green and the roots
* 6 carrots
* ½ stalk celery
* small bunch of pine needles
* ½ clove of garlic (optional)

Machine set up:
* Maximise the health benefits by using a living juicer. * First place the Juicing Strainer into the drum, then onto the screw. Attach the drum cap onto the end of the drum by turning it counter clockwise until you feel it sits firmly. Then screw the Juicing Nozzle onto the drum cap turning it counter clockwise onto notch 0.
* Place your Juice Pitcher under the Juice Outlet and place the other pitcher under the machines Pulp Discharge Outlet in order to catch the pulp.
* Always be sure to start the machine before you enter anything into the Guide and keep the machine running until finished.

Preparation instructions
* cut the carrots into 4 long slices
* turn the notch on the Juicing Nozzle onto 1
* juice the carrot at the same time as the dandelion by wrapping it around the slices and juice the celery after the pine needles

Preparation time: 8 min
Yields: 2 glasses

Preparation hints:
When you pick your Dandelion be sure to give it a good rinse. The darker leaves are more bitter than the young ones. Bitterness is a taste that we can identify with our taste buds. I often experience a yearning for bitter taste since I started eating and juicing herbs and find it a highly satisfying taste. Use the youngest pine needles from the top tips of the little branches.

Nutritional information:
Carrots are known to have a lot of anti-oxidant properties and they assist in breaking down excessive fats. Dandelion strengthens the immune system, has anti-inflammatory properties and is a good kidney and liver cleanser.

Changes in eating habits and farming methods over the last 50 years may be responsible for the rise in mental health problems in the UK, a new report has claimed.

The Mental Health Foundation and food campaign group Sustain claim unbalanced, less nutritious diets have led to an increase in cases of depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Alzheimer’s disease.

One of the most important findings of the report was a drop in intake by most people of omega-3 fatty acids, so-called ‘good fats’ that can be found in oily fish and nuts - and an increase in the eating of foods containing omega-6 fatty acids, or ‘bad fats’. But the report says that it is not only what we eat, but how it is produced that can also harm our health. Due to changes in the way food is made and manufactured, the amount of essential fats, vitamins and minerals have been reduced and the balance of nutrients has been disturbed, according to the research.

“I have been juicing for around twelve months with the Hippocrates Juicer. There is no way I could eat all of that produce raw, so juicing provides me with the perfect way to obtain the extra vitamins, minerals and enzymes my body needs. Once my body had eliminated most of its toxins, my skin improved noticeably and my eyes sparkled. I have a lot more energy and my emotions have steadied as I do not have the mood swings that I used to. Drinking fruit and vegetable juice works on every level - body, mind and spirit.” L. Chapman - Australia

Opting for more vegetables and less meat could be the route to lower blood pressure.

London’s Imperial College has recently completed a study of over 250000 people, which claims that elements present in vegetable protein, but not meat protein, can reduce or control blood pressure. Researchers suggest that amino acids and magnesium present in vegetables may both contribute to lowering blood pressure.

The findings support the advice to eat more fruit and vegetables. But many of us have difficultly consuming the 5 proportions recommended of fruit and vegetables to achieve this health outcome. The answer? Juicing. And the best juicers Hippocrates Twin Gear Juicer by Green Power and the Oscar VitalMax 900 Single Gear Juicer.

Here’s a great article by Sara Schelle which outlines a juicing program for weightloss.

Juice Fasting: Clean Your Insides

A wise man once said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for they are sticking to their diets.”

What a fit description of the seemingly endless battles that we fight to lose weight and to stay healthy and vital for as long as humanly possible!

Up and down, up and down, your metabolism bounces between walking pace and light speed; you have nightmares about celery sticks; you can work out the exact calorie count of every meal in 2.5 seconds; and the wheels on your exercise bike spontaneously combusted months ago.

In short, you wear yourself out and end up landing on a bottom that, despite all your best efforts, still looks like a pair of bowling balls.

Juice fasting is a great way to get off the dieting rollercoaster and see real results quickly. Safe and effective when carried out correctly, juice fasting benefits your entire being:

Your physical wellbeing increases as the body is rid of toxins and excess fat.

Your mind benefits because fasting creates a stillness that brings mental clarity and helps you to develop will power and to better control your senses.

As you lose weight and feel much better about yourself, self-esteem improves and sets you on the road to what could be a life changing experience, connecting you to your spirit and helping you to achieve balance in your life.

Juice Fasting and Weight Loss

A juice fast is a great way to shed some extra pounds, especially when you’re in a hurry. During the fast the body uses its own stored substances and, at the same time, detoxifies. A healthy combination of juices squeezed from fresh fruits and vegetables add vitamins, minerals and trace elements to the body.

Because your only source of nourishment during the fast is water and the juices that you drink, it’s imperative that the juices you drink contain the maximum possible amounts of enzymes, vitamins and other nutrients in the fresh produce.

Many of the juicers on the market process the fresh fruits and veggies in a way that destroys many of the nutrients in the food. The Oscar VitalMax juicer is an excellent tool for the job because it serves up living juices. The food is processed in such a way that it retains as many nutrients and essential enzymes as possible.

Juice fasting is a much better diet option than fad diets. Fad diets literally starve the body of nutrients. On the other hand, juice fasting provides the body with the nutrients it needs for vibrant health, helping to fix any chemical imbalances in the body - even those created by fad diets.

Juice Fasting and Detoxification

Juice fasting for detoxification is probably the most well-known usage of this particular type of fast. Juice fasting allows the organs of the body to rest, cleansing and revitalising them. The organs functioning is much better, which in turn aids in the digestion of food and production of energy for day to day life.

Juice fasting may also be helpful for the treatment and prevention of fluid retention.

Juice Fasting: How To

Before launching into a fast, it’s a good idea to begin preparing the body a week ahead. Cut out or reduce nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, sugar and wheat. Ideally the diet prior to fasting should consist mainly of fruits, vegetables and beans.

If you’ve never fasted before it might be a good idea to limit your first fast to three or four days. Sometimes abstaining from food entirely is a bit much, so it’s ok to eat fresh fruit or veggies if your stomach is complaining.

Now its time to get juicing! If you can’t make your own juices buy them from a health food shop - the fresher, the better. The Oscar Vital Max and Oscar Vital Max or the Hippocrates Twin Gear juicer by Green Power that even juices wheatgrass give yourself a power up and try a juice fast. Better than any fad diet, you can stop running yourself ragged. It’s a great way to remove toxins from the body, to lose weight, and to improve your health and wellbeing.

Look better, feel better ,be healthier than ever before!

Please note: It always safest to get the advice of a health care professional before making drastic changes to your diet, particularly if aren’t well to start with. Even natural juices can interfere with medication and you should consult your doctor before fasting.

Happy juicing!

Kate

Hi and welcome to Detox.

We all are living such stressful lives and exposed to so many toxins and chemicals these days, as well as facing so many challenging health issues, that detoxing is a choice many are making as part of taking back control over our health.

Hi, my name is Kate, and we at Vitality4Life come across so much information about this subject - personal experiences, articles, resources, that we decided to put it all together in one place.

My background is as a yoga teacher, trained in the Japanese tradition. Part of the focus of my training was “food as medicine” and nutrition. I am also a mother of a beautiful 5 year old girl who has just started at school. Being a parent you become so aware of how our health is being challenged. All last year I had to wash my hands to enter the preschool room because there were two anaphylactic children in my daughter’s class.

Kids are grappling with asthma, allergies, obesity, diabetes and other chronic conditions at alarming rates and it doesn’t have to be that way.

One of the simplest ways people start on a cleanse is to begin juicing. What is the benefit you ask? Well with a recommended daily dose of between 8 - 12 cups of raw fruit and vegetable, most of us cannot keep up the amount. So we are chronically depleted in the goodness we get from fruits and vegetables which leads to a whole range of immune system and hormonal issues. So juicing is a valuable way to increase your dosage of living foods. But then there are things we need to know about juicing…

Only last week I visited my friend, Sally who had decided to put herself on her regular 6 monthly cleanse. She was spending the weekend consuming only juices and water. On the Sunday I visited her. Sally was experiencing common cleanse symptoms - lethargy, claggy mouth, skin irritation. I went into the kitchen and there was a mound of wonderful looking vegetables and fruits. Then she started to juice…and she was using a standard domestic centrifugal juicer which was noisy and churned out the juice. I didn’t have the heart to say that because of the electric motor and heat and speed generated, that the juicer was killing most of the enzymes in the juice -reducing greatly the cleanse benefit of the juice (I told her later when she was post-cleanse!).

I look forward to sharing this journey with you….

Kate Ingham