Health and Wellbeing: Nutrition, Herbs and Spices

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” – Hippocrates

Nutrients can provide you with optimum energy and health, diet-related diseases increase if underestimate the right food and nutrition.

Macronutrients:
Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are all used for energy.
It is recommended daily calorie requirement for active individuals: Carbohydrates: 50-55% of total calories
Proteins: 20%-30%
Fat: 20%-30%

Micronutrients:
It is comprised of Vitamins and minerals although not used for energy directly but used in the metabolism of energy production which enhances and stabilizes body chemistry.

Two -Time Nobel Winner Linus Pauling quoted as “You can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.” Indeed, while Pauling does recommend taking a mineral supplement every day as part of his “Regimen for Better Health”

Minerals ( macro) and trace elements(minor) are essential for normal body function and require in small amounts are Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Sodium Potassium and sulfur and arsenic, barium, chromium, cobalt, copper, fluoride, iodine, lithium, nickel, selenium, tin, zinc and zirconium respectively. Composed of about 4% of total body weight.

Unfortunately, the vital nutrients especially minerals are no longer present in sufficient quantity in the soil, Thus the fruits, vegetables, and grains that we eat today having a shadow of nutrients as compared to a hundred years ago.

Without the utilization of minerals, our body can not perform the basic functions of life either as major factors or co-factors for Amino acids (proteins), enzymes, hormones, and vitamins.

Over and above minerals play a vital role in maintaining and building the structure of the body as well as proper brain function, intestinal function, and blood sugar function.
For instance, absorption of B12 is dependent upon the presence of calcium, Vitamin A can not be assimilated without the presence of proper levels of the mineral Zinc and so forth.

Therefore, the solution of deficiency of minerals is possible by using Himalayan salt / natural sea salt Brazilnuts, cashew nuts, cheese, eggs, milk, chicken, lean meat, liver, Garlic, onion. Green vegetables. Mackerel, salmon, tuna, etc. and if require supplementing with a balanced proportion of recommended levels of minerals rather than a significantly higher dosage of any mineral.

Simply, Minerals are essential for 95% of the body’s daily functioning and adequate supply of minerals is the best assurance against diseases and degeneration.

Synergise /Pairing your Eating:
Different nutrients paired together are more readily absorbed by the body if just one as nutrients work better together.

Eat carrot with your steak, will absorb twice the iron from the red meat.
Carrots are rich in beta carotene which aids in iron absorption
Chicken with broccoli releases up to 13 times more cancer-fighting compounds than eating the broccoli alone.
Vitamin C (from Citrus fruits and dark green vegetables) enhances the body’s absorption of iron ( found in meat, fish, beans, and some leaf green vegies) when these foods are eaten at the same time.
Pairing broccoli with tomatoes could be a good match as Italy, It contains a cancer-fighting substance ( experiment done on rats) and antioxidant plus Vitamin C & E.

Mediterranean style diet is a perfect example of food synergy because it includes several healthy food patterns. It’s rich in plant food, whole grains, legumes and fish whereas low in meat and dairy products and contains more monosaturated than saturated fats – olive oil and walnuts.

Recommendations:

1. Eating a little good fat along with vegetables helps your body to absorb their protective

   phytochemicals.

2. It is important to note that bitter foods help to absorb nutrients, stimulate taste receptors

   on the tongue, which subsequently stimulates enzyme production and bile flow.

3. It is recommended to adopt Medeteranina food Pyramid as a healthy diet plan.
4. Avoid fast food, processed food and hydrogenated oil in cooking.
5. As the enzyme is a catalyst of life. It is recommended to eat raw salads, sauerkraut, Miso,

   Avocado, papaya, apricots, etc or supplement for optimum digestion /absorption of food.

Herbs and Spices for healing:

Essential fatty acids ( Omega-3s -6s)
Essential fatty acids are so labeled because they are essential for life and can not be manufactured by the body. Thus, it needs to be supplied through diet. Flax seeds, Salmon/ Fish Walnut, and cauliflower, an etc rich source of EFA’s.
According to Dr. Robert E. Willner, M.D, Ph.D., writing in his book. “The cancer solution”.
That the essential fatty acids are the core of the answer to the cancer problem.

Probiotics
Probiotics are known as “friendly bacteria “or beneficial microbes linked to the health of the intestine.

Humans have over 100 trillion bacteria as a community like cells in the human body.
For a healthy gut, the ideal ratio of beneficial bacteria to harmful is 5 to1.

The imbalance of good bacteria versus bad bacteria is due to the reason for soil health, the use of pesticides in farming, decrease in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, decrease in consumption of fermented foods and use of preservatives /coloring, and overuse of antibiotics.

Symptoms of an imbalance of bacteria in the gut:

• IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
• Diarrhea and / or constipation
• Skin problems such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis
• Bad breath and foul body odor
• Yeast infections /Candida overgrowth
• High cholesterol
• Chronic fatigue
• Muscle pain, such as fibromyalgia
• Joint pain and arthritis syndromes
• Frequent cold and flu

Some natural probiotics are garlic, homemade Yogurt, fermented Kimchi, Cabbage, and Quality probiotics /supplement can be bought.

1. It promotes healthy bowel regularity and transit time.
2. Increase digestive enzyme activity by up to 85%.
3. Protect against bladder and colon cancer and stimulate the immune system.
4. Prevent urinary tract, vaginal and intestinal candida ( yeast ) infections.

   And also help degrade toxins such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, molds, and yeast.

5. May help promote mental well being
6. Help to eliminate the negative effects of antibiotics.
7. Help to reduce inflammation in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract,

In short, keeping the community of bacteria as well as taking care of the garden is essential for the overall ecology of the gut.