Full of Cold and Feeling Low?

Posted on November 25, 2009 by karina

cold remedyTips for increase vitamin C (other wise known as the healing nutrient)  to combat those winter snuffles.

Smoothies

Amazing tool to ward off winter blues, flu and sluggish bowel movements!

Quick easy and fun for all the family to do.

Kids love them and you know at least they have some of their RDA for the day

You can hide some very important herbs and essential fish or flax oils too

They give massive energy boosting nutrients to super charge your day

Method

Use a blender to whizz up your favourite fruits and dare I mention it you can even make orange, green, pink, purple dependent on the ingredients.

Bananas are great as a basic as they have a natural sweet taste especially when first starting out or for children!

Add orange, pineapple, grapes, pomegranate, grapefruit, berries, even add unusual fruits mango, papaya, kiwi just anything you fancy apart from melon as this is best eaten on its own.

When you are feeling good about fruits then try adding greens lettuce chard spinach etc as this really increases the minerals and vitamins due to the chlorophyll abundant in green foods.  Grated beetroot and carrot is excellent as these are quite sweet as starter vegetables to incorporate.

Water melon is delicious whizzed up on its own including the seeds with ice it goes into a pretty pink frothy refreshing drink and is packed with vital antioxidants to help wipe out those free radicals especially if you have indulged over the weekend.

Go on try it. Your body mind and spirit will thank you…..

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The Truth About Salt

Posted on October 6, 2009 by karina

the truth about saltEvery newspaper you pick at the moment seems to be focusing on our high intake of salt

But I thought it was time to share the truth about salt.

When natural sea salt/rock salt which by the way contains all 84 natural trace elements and minerals found in our own body, is blasted with high temperatures and chemically treated what is left is the sodium chloride in a form that is foreign, and therefore toxic to the body.

However in our body it will react by trying to excrete it.  Massive amounts of energy is used to do this. What it can’t eliminate it has to store and this is where the body will start to throw out symptoms.  Every gram of salt must be suspended in 23grams of water in order to neutralize it, a mammoth task if ever for our poor body.

This challenge will predispose us to all sorts of health complaints ie:

  • Dehydration, water retention.
  • High Blood Pressure
  • adrenal stress
  • circulatory problems heart rhythm disturbances
  • muscular weakness
  • bone /joint pain
  • poor digestion

As we heard on the news and papers yesterday we are consuming far too much salt, but lets get one thing straight here.

It’s not just about the amount of salt – but the form our salt intake is in!!

Sodium Chloride is in almost all packaged, canned, bottled, plastic coated (yes even including so called healthy options breakfast cereals/bars, beans) ….and beware also takeaways and restaurant foods.  It has been a modern epidemic of over consuming convenience foods which has led to most of our sodium related health problems.  Manufacturers have poured extra salt into our food to appeal to our ever increasing cravings for salt brought about by consuming too much in the first place!

A regular diet of fresh foods, locally grown and preferably organic is what is needed to maintain a healthy balance of sodium, which is the right type of salt in it’s pure form that we find in nature, one that our body recognises and so can utilise.

All the organic salt our body requires is in our natural foods. Our body cannot absorb any other very well without paying a price to our health.

  1. Eat as close to nature as possible-fruit veg wholegrains.
  2. Use herbs and spices instead to pep up blander foods and get creative in the kitchen.
  3. I use Himalayan rock salt ,if I want to put in for taste. Drying celery and whizzing up into powder is another option.

Hope this has been useful but if you have any questions about salt in your diet, you can email on Karina@EatYourWayBackToHealth.co.uk

Happy healthy eating!

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The Moon and Me

Posted on September 23, 2009 by karina

the moon and meI don’t know about you but there are times when I feel enthuisiastic on top of my game, energised and generally good in mind and body.

However, at other times feel dispondent tired and some what negative (thankfully not too often).

This last year I made the decision to check out these times of  not being my self by looking at dates in my diary of my ups and downs.   Interestingly I  found some very specific cycles where reoccurring bouts of the above took a definate course.

The trigger?

Could it be the moon..

Wait!  Before you conclude that I’ve really lost it let me explain.  The moon is responsible for the:

  • movement of tides
  • menstral cycle
  • seasons

everything in life is cyclic.

I believe that every living thing responds to it’ environment. Certainly through David Attenboroughs fascinating wildlife programmes this shows undoubtful evidence.  Migrating birds etc

The sun moon and earth relationship is one of great syncronisity, and without these life would not exist.  The moon’s gravitational pull on the earth causes tides which move our worlds oceans, so if the force of the moon  move oceans, what effects can it have on us as humans and all living organisms  plants and animals.

My own experiences of  days of  ”yes productive and accomplished my objectives” or “what did I achieve today” were dependant on emotions lurking in the background that hadn’t been dealt with and so were taking away my focus.  Low and behold the patterns were on specific moon times of usually  full moon of new moon!

New moon is a good time for making new beginings or throw away bad habits so when choosing new ideas or routines or even promises to yourself to release old belief patterns  starting a new class changing your diet,  try starting on the New Moon.  This will help support you in your intention.

Full Moon is a time of huge pull on the earth and therefore when referring to my diary these were time of emotional inbalance.  Usually feelings of overwhelm or some sort of doubt.  The moon has an effect on fluids (remember the tides)  so for myself hit into my emotions. feeling of stress…which equals fear.  There is no easy answer but we are one step closer to understanding when we have an awareness that at these times we are possibly more susceptible to stored emotions as the pull of the moon brings them to the surface.

The tsunami happened on Full moon.

What your thoughts? Add your comments on the link at the top of this link

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Seasonal Food at it’s best!

Posted on July 24, 2009 by karina

grow your own foodWhat a Feast!

On 4th July 4pm, with the sun beating down on no 7 Queensgate, Beverley allotment – the party began.  Allotment holders gathered together armed with bowls and plates of delicious home grown food to share with gusto and pride  on our first celebration of all the hard work gone into preparing, growing and nuturing our fruits and vegetables this year so far.

45 people attended, enjoying a taste of the great old fashioned traditional community spirit of home made dishes.   Examples were courgette scones, curried vegetable pilaf, beetroot and ginger salad, red onion tart, salads galore, gooseberry fool, berry and strawberry deserts to die for! and of course refreshing fruit non alcholic punch.

What a wonderful way to meet new freinds with the same passion as ourselves.

I think its called community spirit, share and share alike thats what I say what a difference the world could be!

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Planting By the Moon

Posted on April 14, 2009 by karina

planting by the moonDuring the last 8 months every bit of spare time I’ve headed down to my allotment which is off “Queensgate”in Beverley to clear all the rubbish that had accumilated apparantly over a couple of years during a period of no use.

Shame my daughter lost the photos of origonal state so you could have seen what it really DID look like! Together with mountains of old wood from broken down shed old boots, radio, bottles of whisky, rotting rope, wire, concrete - the list goes on and of course, weeds, frogs, vole, rat/s blakie the blackbird robie the robin etc have just about clearded some space for planting!! My back just about in tact but now suffer with a reoccurring tennis elbow through over use but great excitement and relief now to be planting some seeds..

Having planted up an assortment of alliums “the onion family”  plus carrots beetroot, radishes and parsnips on the most beneficial moon time days, I hope to reap some quality produce.  Now using the moon and zodiac may seem completely wacky and kind of witchcrafty I will explain my reasons for giving this method a go..

I use a biodynamic planting calendar which gives the most favourable days and specific times of planting, working the land, and harvesting the different plants.  The phylosophy behind planting via the moon considers the movement of the planets throughout the year and their effects on the earth during transit with the sun and moon and the planets.

I see the soil as having the same qualities as our human and animal blood, the giver of life, nourishing feeding, protecting. the soil therefore is the life force of our plants but also it responds to it’s environment again much the same a our blood, of which the chemical  environment consists of four elements

AIR (carbon Hydrodgen and oxygen)

WATER,

EARTH (minerals ie copper magnesium zinc selenium etc) and

FIRE.- ( corresponds to temperature). these four elements are where all forms of life originate and are maintained, otherwise we/plant become diseased or die.

The moon has a 27 day orbit round the earth so passes the twelve  regions of the zodiac where vast energy penetrates our earth. These  each have an effect on the above four elements.  Each sign of the zodiac has an element, so when the moon passes through it also brings about enlivening processes on the plants and their particular organs, root, leaf, flower, fruit and seed.

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