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Loading...5 Ways Powerfoods Help Us
- Diana Herrington
- September 21, 2011
- 3:31 pm
- 57 comments
You may have powerfoods in your kitchen right now and don’t know it.
By eating powerfoods everyday you can energize and balance your body without costly vitamins and medical bills. Foods affect us on many levels and understanding these factors can help you make better health choices.
Before understanding the power of the foods around me, I was unhealthy, unhappy and confused. Constant visits to doctors and health food stores had little effect on my deep fatigue and constant hunger. That was 30 years ago when Western nutritional science was not as advanced as it is now.
It was the 5,000 year old Chinese herbal knowledge that made the difference for me. Using specific foods and food combinations to feed specific systems and create balance brought me back to the energy and joy I had as a teenager.
Since then I learned from all cultures. The message is always the same: Food can heal. Food can be your medicine. Food has POWER!
5 Sources of Power for Powerfoods
1. Broad chemical influences on the body.
These include:
- Alkaline-forming vs. acid-forming
- Organic vs. chemical-infused
- Raw vs. cooked
- Gluten-free vs. gluten-containing foods
- Complex carbohydrates (smart carbs) vs. simple sugars (dumb carbs)
- Whole vs. processed
Each of these factors has multiple influences on the body and a person will respond to these differences depending on their predisposition and levels of health.
Powerfoods are almost always whole but not necessarily gluten-free, raw or alkaline.
2. Specific Chemical Needs: The GAP Theory
Each food has different levels of specific nutrients. If a person has a particular need for a nutrient it will affect them greatly. Powerfoods tend to have very high levels of certain nutrients.
For example: suppose a person has a strong need for vitamin C. It is winter and she is not eating enough fruits and vegetables. An orange has vitamin C, so mandarin oranges that are popular around Christmas, have just the right chemistry to feed her immune system and prevent a cold.
3. Genetic Influences of Food
Scientists have been debating for years what is more important: your genetics given to you by your parents or your upbringing. It turns out that the two are combined. Your environment activates the expression of your genes. This is very powerful.
For example research has shown that a diet high in omega-3 fats reduces the expression of the Alzheimer’s gene APOE4. We can sidestep bad genes by eating healthy.
Read more: Diet & Nutrition, Eating for Health, Food, General Health, Health, Powerfoods, superfoods
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Diana Herrington
Diana Herrington turned a debilitating health crisis into a passion for helping others with healthy, sugar-free, gluten-free, eating and cooking. After testing and researching every possible healthy therapy on her delicate system she has developed simple, powerful principles which she shares in her recent book Eating Green and Lean, and as host to Care2 groups: Healthy Living Network and Healthy Cooking. She is the head chef at Real Food for Life, where she shares recipes and tips. Sign up for the Real Food for Life weekly newsletter or catch her on Facebook or Twitter (@DancinginLife).
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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nice
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Using them as an ointment container while camping is a great idea.
57 comments
+ add your ownThank you! Although I drink white tea instead of green tea. It has even more antioxidants and contains less flouride do to the leaves being picked earlier than the leaves picked for green tea.
Very interesting. Thanks!!
Thanks.
We all seem to be in agreement about this article, in that we liked it. One statement which rings true to me almost every day is :
"Your environment activates the expression of your genes."
My genes seem to have been confused over the last few years.
My health was detrimentally effected after I moved from a sunny Mediterranean climate to a wet and cold temperate climate with grey skies most months of the year. Fortunately, everyone brightens up during the brief summer time...
Excellent article, just what we all need to hear about the foods that keep us healthy. Hippocrates said, "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food." Go plant based by eating 70% of your diet in raw produce and you cannot go wrong.
Doc Blake
I eat a lot of powerfoods every day. My breakfast made of a green smoothie is full of them. Today it was made of: swiss chard, almonds, apples and a concentrated Chinese formula of powerfoods. mmmm
Thanks!
interesting
Thanks for the article.
Thanks!
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