Foods That Give You Lots of Energy

Eating for the sake of Energy; Energy foods

When I'm exhausted I turn to broccoli and nuts. First, they're so easy to prepare, or in the case of nuts just eat fresh from the grocery store. I prefer broccoli lightly steamed, and by lightly I mean that when I bite into the broccoli it's still very crunchy. Steaming broccoli to the point it falls apart in your hands or fork will kill a lot of the energy giving properties and benefits. And when I'm super tired I need those benefits as quickly as possible. A side of ranch dressing is a perfect compliment. Just be sure your dressing isn't loaded with additives. If you just need that hidden-valley taste here is a great raw ranch dressing recipe you can dip that energy giving broccoli in. And what a great way to avoid excess fat in and on your beautiful body!

Raw Ranch Dressing Compliment of Sunny Raw Kitchen

Soak time: 1-2 hrs
Preparation time: 5 Minutes
Number of Servings: 24 (or 3 cups)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups nuts (cashew or mac or combo) soak them for a creamier dressing (1-2 hrs is fine, then drain)
3/4 - 1 cup filtered water for blending
3 tablespoons lemon juice (translates into approx 1/2 lemon)
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons agave (or 3 soaked dates)
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon garlic pwd
3 teaspoons onion pwd
1 teaspoon dill
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon basil

And to add after it's done:
1/4 cup finely minced parsley
another 1/2 t dill, minced

Directions
Vitamix blend all ingredients till creamy and smooth except the last 2, then once blended, stir in the last 2 ingredients.

Thickens in fridge.

Thin to desired consistency if using as a dressing- or toss into wet lettuce leaves as is.

Carmella's Notes:
~ This yields quite a bit of dressing, so you might want to consider halving the recipe.

I like raw almonds. They are known to help reduce risk of heart disease and they have a very distinct, nutty taste that lingers. For those of you who haven't tried raw almonds you're missing out. Most people think of almonds as salted, roasted treats...and while those are delicious they miss out on getting your body the benefits. Be sure you get real raw almonds, not almonds that are touted as raw but have gone through processing. Real, genuine raw almonds are rich in magnesium, Vitamin E, protein, and antioxidants.

Finally, of course I recommend alkaline ionized water throughout the day.

Inflammation Kills - Foods that reduce inflammation, part 1

What Inflammation Is and How You Know You Have It - And what healing foods can help reduce inflammation right away

So what is inflammation? Well, it's a reaction locally within your body - and adverse reaction that can manifest either in one place or several at the time time. Inflammation can occur due to injury, or an infection - and can even occur from an irritation such as (you may not want to hear this) too much sugar, processed food, coffee and some teas. It can, and does, occur when you're not feeding your body enough healing foods. Often we think of inflammation in regards to what we can see with our eyes: a swollen ankle, red areas about the skin, and painful arthritis for example. Inflammation can, and will, often cause loss of mobility to the affected area. No fun. If you've experienced any of symptoms just mentioned then you've experienced inflammation.

But inflammation isn't always so obvious, or painful, and all too often we're not even aware of its presence until its too late. Inflammation inside the body can start off as a soft whisper - but by the time its run its course and done its damage by compromising your vital organs - inflammation sounds more like a roar than a whisper. We all need to be educated on inflammation so that we can reduce it as much as possible. Did you know that asthma, digestive disorders, hormone imbalance and cancer are linked to the whisper of inflammation? These common diseases, recent research is finding, are linked with, yes you guessed correctly: inflammation.

Those of you who have been around 40 years or so might remember going into your family doctor's office for a routine checkup and being asked to stick out your tongue. It was commonplace for a doctor to look at your tongue and ask "So what are you eating"? In my own experience with my HMO, I haven't even heard the question asked recently, let alone be asked to stick out my tongue. Why bother looking at a tongue? Because the condition of the tongue can give immediate clues into our body and what's really going on in there. The signs of inflammation and stress manifest there too.

Sadly, these days some HMOs, in particular, simply rely upon volume of patients while the 1 on 1 intimate relationship between doctor and patient takes a back seat.

Be your own advocate in the fight against inflammation - Modifying your diet may be your biggest weapon against disease

A few important questions you can ask yourself, when no one else will, are:


What Am I Eating? Am I eating too much junk, sugar, processed foods, sodas, or "health foods" packed with sugars and hidden ingredients? Am I eating healing foods? Am I drinking enough water? What kind of water am I drinking? Is it quality water? Is it alkaline ionized water?

How's My Stress Level? Is work stressed? Are my family obligations overwhelming me? Am I able, and educated, to effectively face the stresses I'm under?


Take a moment and take stock of your answers because they're begging you to be heard. You matter. Your health matters. Your diet - recent research has found, and finally medical experts are conceeding - is a key factor when addressing inflammation at any and every stage.

The Main Inflammation Causing culprits

In no particular order - really, they're all bad for you on a very basic level

Candies, Cookies, Cakes (The Three C's. Yummy, yes. Inflammation causing culprits? Yes again)

Soda - Even "healthy" sodas often contain too much sugar or, eek, aspartame!

Chips - Yes, even those "healthy" chips should be closely scrutinized for alarming sodium levels, and certain spices, which can give inflammation a leg up!



Do you love Salads? A big green salad chock full of life giving, anti-inflammation foods such as Cauliflower, Chopped Leaks, Olives, Garlic, and Spinach leaves can be injected with inflammation causing foods simply by drenching it with the wrong kind of -

Salad Dressing - check that label - does your salad dressing contain inflammation causing ingredients like sugar or refined or hydrogenated vegetable oil?


A delicious and surprisingly simple time saving alternative is chopped garlic added to some virgin olive oil with a slight dash of sea salt. Very tasty!

Other foods that can reduce inflammation are healing foods you probably already eat - but perhaps are unknowingly adding stuff to that doesn't belong, such as margarine (loaded with the wrong kind of oil!) or sauces that may also be loaded with the wrong oils or ingredients. Sauces - can we live without them? I think not! But we can start to pay attention to what's inside them. Modifying your diet may be your most powerful weapon against disease.


A big plate of lightly steamed green veggies like red bell peppers and broccoli can be appreciated with a drizzle of organice Garlic Gold olive oil and sea salt.


We'll be talking more about inflammation in our next post. I realize that this information can be overwhelming. When I started my quest to reduce the inflammation plaguing me like a stalker I was overwhelmed - with a Capital O. I slowly began to take notice of what's inside that food? Is it a healing food or an inflammation culprit? Is it going to alkalize my body or send it into an acidic state, perfect for...no I won't say the word; I think you get it. One of the easiest changes I made, and saw quick results from (a matter of weeks) was drinking alkaline ionized water. The taste is amazing so it just goes down so smoothly that I don't even think about it. For those of you who might be going "Water, no thanks! I don't like how it tastes" - well, you haven't tasted Our Water.


We invite you to come to our office and try our water. As always, the information we'll give you is free and we provide water classes to the surrounding community to educate on the benefits of healing foods and alkaline ionized water. Visit healingwatermachines.com for more information. If you're in the Southern California area feel free to drop by and pick up a few gallons of our alkaline ionized water.

The Miracle Of Alkaline Water Isn't Just In The Water - It's In The Community

Another small step toward an all alkaline water community!

It's been a little while since I last updated. Things have been very busy over here at Chanson Alkaline Water, to say the least! We've been busy livng out our favorite topic, alkaline water machines, and we've also been ungergoing major changes in our corporate office; we added a brand new warehouse. Being busy is good. Sometimes it's a little like getting exercise but without all the formality of going to the gym.

Today's post is interesting to me because it really does illustrate the healing power of both naturally alkaline rich foods combined with alkaline water. This testimony comes from one of our happy alkaline water machine drinkers. I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I did.

"Dear Nedalee,

It was so good to meet you this weekend. I still remember the look on your face when you saw that I was drinking bottled alkaline water. It's pretty amazing to me that something so simple can connect people together in such profound ways.

I want you to know that shortly after that weekend I found out that a good friend of mine has one of your Chanson Water Alkanizers. It was one of those things where you just sorta think to yourself...OK, this isn't a coincidence. I was pretty curious about your water by now, so I "borrowed" 3 gallons from her water machine.

Well...wow. The first thing I noticed was the total difference in taste between the bottled alkanized water I was buying from the store and the taste of the water in my
glass. Now several months later I look back and without a doubt it was the taste that hooked me. But I'm getting ahead of myself in this story, so let me back up. For the next month I hit my neighbor's whole house filter up for a gallon of water daily...and some to cook with...some to wash my fruits & veggies...and after I found out about the benefits of acid water, some of that too. I will admit that I was impressed at first that my good fortune was free of charge. I guess for some of us it takes a little community outreach to get the gospel of alkaline spread! I jokingly refer to my ionized water as 'My consant flowing living water stream' and I call the acid water 'My free beauty makeover'. Please forgive me, I'm getting to the point, I promise.

Within about a month of switching from the bottled alkaline water to your Chanson alkaline water I noticed that a burning I often have inside my stomach was greatly reduced. I didn't pay close attention to this really. I figured it was probably also because I had recently cut from my diet both sugar and white bread and started eating more green things, and I'm sure that's part of it...but then I started doing some research on the difference between the water I was buying from the store and the stuff I was siphoning from my neighbor. I don't pretend to understand structure and molecules and all the scientific facts about this water...the thing that stuck out to me is how ionized water can actually lose its molecular structure (yes I had to spell check that!)

I would like to write more about how your alkaline water has improved my mind and started my quest for more knowledge about diet and water...that is if you won't be too imposed by my excitement.

I know my journey has just begun. And I know it's not going to be easy switching from my junk food diet to a more healing foods type of diet.

Your new alkaline convert,
Tracy Gomez"

Thank you so much Tracy for that inspiring email. Please feel free to write as much as you want. I am always so happy to hear from people like you who see the power in making small changes to their diet.

In my next post I'll be talking about trading refined sugar loaded foods ...







...for something just as pretty but a lot easier on the digestive system

I receive a lot of emails from people concerned that they just can't make the number of drastic changes required to regain or improve health. My response is always the same. I just tell these people that change takes time. Start with small changes, adding in a few healing foods here and there. Feel the difference the small changes can make and focus on the small victories. Drink your alkaline water daily. And remember, alkaline water benefits come from fresh alkaline water straight from you tap. The fresher the alkaline water the batter. If you don't have a whole house water filter or even a below the counter water ionizer and you want to try this amazing water, reach out to your community. Or just drop by our coporate office if you're in the area and grab a few gallons. We promise you the taste of our Chanson Alkaline Water cannot be compared!

Top Foods for Sight

What we breathe drink and eat helps us maintain our biochemical composition and our body functions - and ionized alkaline water can speed the process of healing diet along!

Water, not strictly considered a food, should be the most important constituent in our diet and we should drink six glasses of alkaline ionized Chanson water a day while minimizing caffeinated and sugar-laden drinks. With the degradation of the soil, contaminated with pesticides and manufacturing chemicals, as well as processed food, we must be selective in terms of the foods we eat.

Here, then, are the top recommendations for food for sight:

Cold water fish (sardines, cod, mackerel, tuna): Cold water fish are an excellent source of DHA, which provides structural support to cell membranes, and is recommended for dry eyes, treatment for macular degeneration, and sight preservation.

Spinach, kale and green leafy vegetables: These plants are rich in carotenoids, especially lutein and zeaxathin. Lutein, a yellow pigment, protects the macula from sun damage and from blue light.

Eggs: Eggs are rich in cysteine, sulfur, lecithin, amino acids and lutein. Sulfur-containing compounds protect the lens of the eye from cataract formation.

Garlic, onions, shallots and capers: These items are also rich in sulfur, which is necessary for the production of glutathione, an important antioxidant for the lens of the eye, and the whole body.

Soy: Low in fat, rich in protein, soy has become a staple in vegetarian diets. Soy contains essential fatty acids, phytoestrogens, vitamin E and natural anti-inflammatory agents.

Fruits and vegetables: Our mothers always told us about these -- they were right. Fruits and vegetables contain vitamin A, C, and E and Beta-carotene. The yellow vegetables, such as carrots and squash, are important for daytime vision.

Blueberries and grapes: These foods contain anthocyanins, which improve night vision. A cup full of blueberries, huckleberry jam, or a 100 mg bilberry supplement should improve dark adaptation within 30 minutes.

Nuts and berries: These are nature's most concentrated food sources. Grains, such as flaxseed, are high in the beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids, which help lower cholesterol and stabilize cell membranes.

Virgin olive oil: This is a mono-unsaturated oil, and is a healthy alternative to butter and margarine.

Apart from the above foods that are considered great for your sight, a general precondition to good health is drinking adequate amounts of water. Alkaline ionized water is drinking water at its very best! Visit this site to learn more.
http://www.chansonwater.com/

Eating Before Exercise - Athletic Competition And Alkaline Ionized Water

Professional athletes understand the importantace of drinking the right kind of ionized alkaline water - and you should care too

What an athlete consumes before, during and after exercise is absoluately vital for comfort and performance. While eating soon before exercise doesn't provide the bulk of the fuel needed for the activity, it can prevent the distracting symptoms of hunger during exercise. The major source of fuel for active muscles is the carbohydrate which gets stored in the muscles as glycogen in the days before exercise. This is one reason that the post-exercise meal is critical to recovery and being ready for the next exercise session.

When To Eat
Exercising on a full stomach is not ideal. Food that remains in your stomach during an event may cause stomach upset, nausea, and cramping. To make sure you have enough energy, without causing stomach discomfort, you should allow a meal to fully digest before the start of the event. This generally takes 1 to 4 hours, depending upon what and how much you've eaten. Everyone is a bit different, and you should experiment prior to workouts to determine what works best for you.


If you have an early morning race or workout, it's best to get up early enough to eat your pre-exercise meal. If not, you should try to eat or drink something easily digestible about 20 to 30 minutes before the event. The closer you are to the time of your event, the less you should eat. You can have a liquid meal closer to your event rather than a solid meal because your stomach digests liquids faster.


What To Eat
Because glucose is the preferred energy source for most exercise, a pre-exercise meal should include foods that are high in carbohydrates and easy to digest. This includes foods such as pasta, fruits, breads, energy bars and water.


Lactic acid gets secreted during exercise which makes your muscles stiff. Lactic acid can make a happy performed downright miserable when it accumulates. This inhibits performance at the gym and in athletic competition. Have you ever had a lactic acid crisis right after a hard workout? Anyone who can answer YES! understands why this is something to be avoided at all costs. I sense someone just nodded. The good news is that lactic acid accumulation can be avoided, easily and economically by drinking Alkaline ionized water. Alkaline water water should be consumed by athletes - and in fact by a growing number of professional athletes is being consumed during exercise because, among other benefits, it rids the body of that often pain inducing lactic acid. Why don't Gyms have an in house alkaline water filtration system? They should. Obviously we recommended gyms to have water ionizers (not just plain old filtered water) installed for their members. It's a win-win situation. And we all want to win and keep winning.


For more information on alkaline ionized water, please visit http://www.chansonwater.com/

Green Tea Health Benefits.

Green tea doesn't just taste good. It does good. Make green tea with some freshly drawn ionized alkaline water!

The Chinese - who have a knack for great reverence toward the ancient ways while always seeming to remain on cutting edge at the same time - have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since, well, ancient times. They have been using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.


Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.


To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:


cancer
rheumatoid arthritis
high cholesterol levels
cariovascular disease
infection
impaired immune function


A great supplement to green tea is alkaline ionized water. This is also a powerful natural antioxidant as it helps wash away harmful toxins from the body. This water is electrically charged and is up to six times more hydrating than tap or bottled water. To know more, please visit http://www.chansonwater.com/

Eating For a Healthy Skin

Your beautiful skin is the biggest organ in your body. You can really help it to breathe with plenty of alkaline water, with nothing added. Just pure ionized antioxidant goodness.

I hate to admit this, but it wasn't until recently, oh 7 years ago or so until I realized that skin is the biggest organ in the body. If you didn't know...it's okay. You're not alone. When most people think about the body's organ systems, the skin does not readily come to mind. However, the skin is the body's largest organ. It is the protector of all of the internal functions that occur. When things are not right in the inside, the skin is the first place they manifest themselves. As the protector of the human body, it is important to take care of it so that it can accomplish its job. Like for any other organ system, adequate protection for the skin starts from the inside. Thus, there are a number of foods for healthy skin that we need to consume.


This probably isn't a revelation to a lot of people but so often we just need a gentle reminder that the primary substance we should be ingesting for healthy skin is water. The general rule of thumb that applies to a healthy body is simple: drink half of an ounce for every .lb of body weight. Water - although not officially a food, it is necessary for proper tissue function and your body demands to be watered properly. People who don't drink enough water often suffer from dehydration and may have excessively dry skin and overal lower daily performace. Water is life. Pure and simple. Drink enough of the right kind of water. The right kind of water is like a natural makeup kit with Hydrated skin often has a glow to it as well, and healthy hydrated skin . This is likely because water drinkers don't often drink too many sugary substances, which damage the skin. Alkaline ionized water is 6 times more hydrating than normal bottled or tap water. It has powerful anti-oxidant properties and prevents the skin from free radical damage. A water ionizer therefore; may be prove to be a sound investment. Consuming alkaline ionized water does you skin a world of good. Without water, the skin cells cannot regenerate.


Foods rich in vitamin A help the blood and skin. Carotenoids, which the body converts to vitamin A, act as natural protectors for the skin. Foods rich in vitamin A include carrots, pumpkins, potatoes, squash, mangos, greens, and cantaloupe.


Vitamin C is another food for healthy skin. Because of the benefits of vitamin C to the skin, many topical lotions are not infused with extracts of the antioxidant. However, the best way to get vitamin C is in the diet. In addition to citrus fruits, sources of vitamin C include strawberries, kiwis, tomato juice, broccoli and kale.


Foods containing vitamin E also promote healthy skin. Vitamin E has properties that serve as skin conditioners. This vitamin can be found in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, olives, spinach and asparagus. Because it is hard to get this particular vitamin in food, an additional supplement may be necessary.


Tea is another substance that can promote healthy skin, particularly green tea. Tea contains antioxidants and phytonutrients that fight acne. It is also a healthy way to maintain hydration in the skin. There is still a debate over how much tea per day to drink, but at least two cups support healthy skin.


Overall, a diet rich in whole, organic foods is good for the skin. Because they don't contain pesticides or additives, they benefit the entire skin. It is important to avoid processed foods as much as possible so as not to negate the benefits of a healthy diet.