Protection from the sun inside out!!

Protecting the skin from the inside out is not that difficult. What you need to do is eating a lot of orange and yellow foods, which contains the most beta-carotene, which will not only protect the skin but also the eyes from the damage of the sun (I still recommend to wear sunglasses and sun cream if you are in the sun in the hottest of times such as from 11am till 3pm or and for a long periods of times). The foods that you should include in your diet in greater quantity for your protection are the following: carrots (juices or slightly cooked you absorb the beta-carotenes better), squash, pumpkins, cantaloupe melons, apricots, mangoes, yams, sweet potatoes, spinach and green peppers. To protect your eyes a bit more, blueberries and berries in general increase the range of antioxidants and therefore protect them more from the damage of the sun. In general colourful fruits and vegetables will be full of antioxidant and vitamins and you might also eat less of the sweet foods that do not contain any or little nutrients, therefore loosing weight as well, without much effort.…. Enjoy your spring and summer with the most nutritious food and you will see and feel the difference as well as getting a safer tan……

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Easter time and lots of Easter eggs around

Easter is back again, and for most kids and some chocolate fun people, Easter is about chocolate eggs rather than any of the religious part of Easter. Nutritionally chocolate has been the bad and the good food. Even though, I think there is not as much as good and bad food but healthy and unhealthy food. Even the healthy food for some can be unhealthy if they are allergic to it. I had treated a little girl with NAET (see my website for more information), just before last year at Easter time. The girl, who is now 12 years old, had been having terrible headaches since she was 6 years old when she ate even a small piece of chocolate. Naturally for her was not as nice when she went to parties when Easter time would come and she could not have much of the Easter eggs!! I treated her a week before Easter and when she came back from the Easter holidays last year for a check up, she said she had had a big chocolate egg with some more small little eggs, with not so much approval from the mother obviously!! But the girls was very very happy, and in some way even the mother as she did not suffer of headaches anymore if she had any chocolate. I saw her a week ago and she is still eating her chocolate almost every day (not a big portion) with no headaches or any other problems at all (she is very healthy and active so no problems in having a bit of chocolate as a dessert). Now I love chocolate but unfortunately my liver does not, so I cannot eat a lot of it. But when I do eat it, nutritionally,  the darker the better, because it contains a good amount of antioxidant and iron (even though you do not absorb much of the iron!). Well I think if you do not exaggerate with the chocolate a little bit of Chocolate Eggs is not too bad for anyone and not even unhealthy, as long as you have a good healthy meals in between... Enjoy your Easter and the Easter eggs!!!!!

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An apple a day!

One apple a day
Almost everyone know the expression ‘one apple a day keeps the doctor away’, even in Italy when I grew up! Being lucky enough to grow up in the countryside in Italy and near the seaside I did not realize then that not everyone had the same fortune of picking up their own fruits and vegetables from their front yard. I remember just going under the tree and picking up the fruits of the season wash eat or clean it and eat it. I don’t think I have ever tasted the same fruit ever again really. Or I still do when I go back to Italy and my parents still pick up pears from the tree for our breakfast. But all fruits have really a good amount of nutrients and vitamins, so why just apples are the ones that are so important or why the expression. I am not sure where it started or when but here are some apple history and qualities:
There are about 25 types of apples and they vary in colour and texture, from green to red. Some are sweet such Red Delicious, Royal Gala (my favourite) to Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Cox Apple, etc.. It seems that the original apple tree comes from Eastern Europe and Southwester Asia. Because of the cultivations and hybridization (is the process of combining different varieties or species of trees and make a new type) there are now many more varieties of apples from the first original apple tree. In the past the apple was thought to keep people forever young. Scientifically the consumption of apples in many studies have show to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, asthma, type 2 diabetes (as it releases the blood sugar slowly). Here are some of the nutritional benefits of apples. Apples contain high amounts of flavonoids especially quercetin. Quercetin is an antioxidant that protects the integrity of the cell membrane. Our body is formed of millions of cells and the outside of the cell can be under oxidation attack all the time. Quercetin and other antioxidant such as vitamin C, and many more flavonoids found in coloured fruits and vegetables, protect our cells from being destroyed. Quercetin also blocks the inflammatory cascade, which involves quite a lot of the inflammatory disorders such as asthma, arthritis, allergies, etc... Of course you could be allergic to the apple and so in that case you need to find the solutions for that (see my website for treatments). Pectin is another ingredient in apples; pectin can help lower cholesterol levels by improving the intestinal motility and reducing therefore the reuptake of fat and toxins (in few words good for elimination of food waste). One medium whole apple supplies 3 grams of fibres; eating about two apples a day will reduce the cholesterol up to 11 percent. Pectin is good not only to relieve constipation but also diarrhoea (Kaopectate is an over the counter medication for diarrhoea that contains pectin). Nutritionally raw apples contain vitamin C, pectin, fibres, potassium, phytochemicals such as ellagic acid (anti-oxidant) and quercetin. So really when they say that one apple a day keeps the doctor away is quite true but it is also true that many fruits also contain some sort of nutritional value, antioxidants, and fibres and therefore is worth to vary and combine our fruits to get the most of goodness from them. So hopefully the above has convinced you a bit to start eating keeping an apple or two in your lunch box or bag or any other fruits. Fruits salads are really good to have and enjoy!!!!

 

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Tiredness

Many people are tired nowadays, either they run around too much or try to fit too much in a short period. Also many people wake up already tired. If you are one of the ones that wake up tired, it means that something is not quite right. There are various reasons for that. What I am concentrating on is food that we eat and water that we drink, as well as a possible cause is the liver being sluggish to detoxifying. What I have found that certain foods, and especially sugary foods, wheat, cheese and dairy products can cause water retentions, and also the body to work at a slower rate. Quite often eliminating wheat or reducing it, makes people have more energy during the day and in the morning when they wake. Drinking enough water, which can be between a litre and half to two litres or more, depends if you are working somewhere with air conditioning or heating system, or if you exercise or cycle to work. Dairy and especially cheese, is another food that makes the body sluggish. Try to eliminate some of the food above to see which one gives you more energy and either stay off it for a long time or reduce the amount that you have a day.

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Hypoglycaemia

Hypoglycaemia is a condition where the blood sugar level goes very low. The condition can cause dizziness, moodiness, irritation, tiredness, foggy heads and among others heart palpitation day and or night. I always knew that I could not go without eating for more than 3 hours, if by chance I do, or I have to wait for dinner, lunch or even breakfast, I become a hungry and angry lion!!. Travelling is the worse time when I am not prepared and the only things that you find is fast releasing sugary foods, which makes things better at first and than I get another dip in my sugar level and I start the lion behaviour again!! Now usually to avoid all that, during the day I keep that under control by eating snacks such as seeds and nuts, as well as apples and pears or mandarins. I had a blood test lately as I was having a raised heart beat at night and not sleeping well. I thought I was under stress and that was the cause of it, but to be in the safe side I thought to have it checked with my doctor anyway. Heart is good, which is a relief. The day I did my blood test, I had breakfast which is oat muesli, with nuts and fruits and yogurt, and two hours later I had my blood test. I had a call in the afternoon from the doctor asking if I was ok. I said yes, of course I was. The reason he called was that he was worried as the blood test showed that I was hypoglycaemic and he thought that I was walking around feeling faint or dizzy. I said I was quite well, as I kept my blood sugar level in control by eating my snacks etc. So I had to repeat the blood test, but as I wanted to think why would I be hypoglycaemic after having a slow releasing breakfast, I said to him that I would repeat the test the week after as I wanted to do something before hand. Well thinking of my habit of eating, during the day I was fine, but I eat quite early at 6pm with my son and than I do not eat anything till the next day at 8am. Now for me, but also for many people suffering from hypoglycaemia, that is a long gap. What I did to see if it worked, I ate nuts with yogurt or some slow sugar releasing fruits such as apple, pear and or mandarins around 9pm and see if that will make a change. As vitamin D in England is not made through the skin as the sun rays are not strong enough, from November till March, I decided to take extra dosage. Vitamin D as well as chromium has a very important role in the insulin metabolism. Well on Monday I repeated the blood test, without the breakfast in the morning as suggested and well, no hypoglycaemia, I was fine. This in a way warned me about the long gap without eating, even from the evening to the mornings. Now, my theory on this episode is that it takes two meals for the blood sugar level to stabilize and therefore is an interesting fact. For me and my colleagues at least is a very important point. Many people do not eat breakfast and sometimes skip even the lunch, which it means that the body stays in red alert for many hours after the first meal. This means that if somebody does not eat breakfast it takes two meals for the blood sugar level to stabilize, that might be a reason why many people feel much more energetic after their evening meals, while they feel tired after lunch. Obviously what you eat for breakfast and lunch is as important as skipping the meals to stabilize the blood sugar level. This is especially important in people with a family history of late diabetes (type II) or even type I diabetes. So having breakfast and not leaving a long gap between one meal and the other is as important as eating the right food!!!

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How to improve your immune system to fight colds

January till March most people get a cold for one reason or another. Food that can help the immune system include garlic, onions, leeks, pumpkins and any of the vegetables will gives help with fighting infections and get your immune system strong. Supplement wise, vitamin C (up to 2000 mg a day or bowel tolerance), zinc, echinecea if taking as soon as you get the cold, aconites same as echinecea, wild oregano is very good for fighting viruses, fungi and bacterial infections, colloidal silver, as well. One extra vitamin that is needed during the winter months, especially in England is vitamin D, as the ray from the sun are stron enought to promote the making of vitamin D through the skin. Vitamin D as well as being involved in the calcium and magensium uptake is also involved in the immune system. Have a good supply of the supplements, support your liver always and intestinal tract with probiotics to avoid getting any bug through the intestine and you should get either much healthier or fight the bugs quicker and faster.

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Christmas indulgence and New Year Resolutions!!

Many people, including me, eat too much over Christmas and New Year, and many drink too much to celebrate the new Year. Once all the festivity are done, we realize that we need to go back to not eating drinking too much because we have put on some extra weight. I noticed that eating a lot more bread and wheat as Italian do, as well as plenty of extra salt, did not agree with me at all. Nothing to do with allergies, but pure retention from eating too much carbohydrates. I am also very greedy on chocolate, the darker the better and that for my poor liver and body did not go well either. Now back to my routine of eating food that does not contain wheat or salt seems quite boring. But I do feel much better in the morning, less tired and less water retention! Now I would love to change my entire family way of cooking, but it does taste good when you eat it. My family actually lower down on salt big time since I suggested that, even my father which things that a salad with no salt is like being a rabbit and eating it from the soil directly might have more taste!! Anyway for people that needs to detox after the holidays, eat plenty of fresh fruits (I know is cold but worth it), plenty of freshly cooked vegetables stews, soups and green vegetables. For the once that do not like beans and lentils much, try the chicken or low fat meats or if you like the fish, eat the fish with vegetables, sweet potatoes or rice and after two weeks you will have lost the weight as well as feeling great, obviously no alcohol too for a month to give your liver a rest!!
Buon appetito to all!!

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