BOTTLED WATER

I have always been amused by people who can drink nothing but bottled water as I have always wondered how do they know what they are drinking and now where I`m presently living as I watch huge water trucks fill from my river daily I`m even more amused........
Buying bottled water is not only the wasting of money but half of the time people say they do it because its easier, easier than what? Carrying your water in a use-again container? Attaching a filter to your tap ? Because of my immune system I drink purified water so I have my water delivered to me in huge 5 gallon containers from the plant where I went and saw what they were doing.
A lot of these waters that say spring water what's in the spring ? When you leave your plastic bottle in the hot car what are you drinking?
I`m amazed at people who come to my country and are so scared of drinking our tap water yet they go to a restaurant and drink the water and they drink the water in the hotels - where do they think that water came from ? Yes some countries you shouldn't drink the tap water but you are told........
Have a look at this video: The Story of Bottled Water and have a good laugh at yourself then promise to do your part to save the planet that we are destroying day by day!

FOOD AFFECTS YOUR MOODS?

I LOVE THIS COMMENT FROM Dr.Ritamarie "Besides rhyming, do you know what food and mood have in common?" But read more and you'll see she gets down to the real seriousness of the matter and we need to pay attention:

If you suffer from any of the following, it would be a good idea for you to understand the food mood connection:

*Irritability
*Fatigue
*Mood swings
*Brain fog
*Impatience
*Frustration

You may not realize it, but your mood has a lot to do with what you eat. Stimulants like caffeine, chocolate and sugar can trigger mood swings and cause irritability. Other foods slow you down, and leave you feeling depressed and unmotivated. There is a specific link between what you eat and how you feel. Some foods feed your brain, some drain it!
If you're in a perpetual state of brain fog, or find yourself depressed or irritable much of the time, your brain chemistry is in need of a tuneup. Medications may make you feel better temporarily, yet in the long run can lead to further imbalance.

Most of the time we feel a way and can`t understand why, just not able to put our finger on it ....well if we focus we will learn. Sometimes everything someone says to you causes you to fly off the handle good or bad, and another time we are so serene ...just notice how you feel when you eat certain things then don`t eat them and see....bloating especially.... watch what causes your stomach to bloat, watch what causes your sinuses to drain......it's amazing to eat then watch your body react.... when we learn, we know what to do next time!
Not everything we love, loves us....I learnt that the hard way!

NB: My Holistic practitioner says i musnt worry about Indian Food(March 12th blog) as its balanced with great stuff like Tumeric!!!!!!!!

FOOD REVOLUTION

Please watch Jamie Oliver (he's the chef that is changing how children in England eat) 'Food Revolution' premiering on March 26th on ABC.....there will be a sneak preview at 10pm on Sunday night (ABC). It might be the most important food show you have ever watched ....I love the clip of a man saying "I can`t eat lettuce leaves all day" - nobody is asking you to do that sir!
I really also want to give thanks as I tend to take my health for granted and I have come to realize in a big way how much if you don`t have health you have NOTHING........
I left my house and drove the 120 miles to Kingston on Sunday afternoon to see the Beres Hammond show where I danced from 7pm till 12am as the music in between acts was oldies so my kinda music, went to stay with a friend in Kingston and we chatted till about 1:30 am - woke at 4am and drove back to Montego Bay reaching at 7am as I had a function at 8:15am.....went to my bed at 10pm after being at work all day ........
Father I give you thanks as I know many a person young or old could not have done that and don`t mash up and truly I felt no way, just went to sleep like a baby when I hit the sack on Monday night......is it the food and the supplements???
YES.....and the Spirit.....
Thank you Father!

FOOD INC.

A friend of mine keeps telling me she is tired of reading what not to eat she wants to know what can she eat?? I thought I had already written about that in my blogs in so many ways, so many times.....
She keeps telling me about her granny who lived to a ripe old age in the country parts of Jamaica and ate yam and chicken etc etc...she is just emphasizing my point. Her granny wasn`t eating processed foods, she grew her chickens, they weren`t being pumped with antibiotics so that they reach fruition in 49 days instead of 70, she went to her land and dug her yam, her plantains and bananas came off her trees.......Her granny wasn't eating a bag of Doritos and dinner from KFC, she never had Pepsi, her lemonade had lots of lime to balance the acidity of the sugar as I can imagine she wasn`t having white sugar either, that sugar must have been brown till it's black.....our grandparents and us are eating two different foods and having two different results.
We can eat all the "junk" food in the world if we make it ourselves......by that I mean if you are a healthy person take the time to do your own fries, your own burgers, buy chicken that's not grown on antibiotics to make their breasts bigger, in Jamaica that means "scratch fowl" chickens that grow in the yard (Americans would call them organic). Eat lean meats and fresh fruit and vegetable that you have soaked or washed properly if you didn`t grow them yourself and they are not organic...I just got a bag of grapefruit and a bag of ortaniques from a the farmer who told me the trees weren't sprayed.....know what you are putting in your food, season from your herb garden not from bottles with chemicals as added ingredients, let no corporation cook for you.....I see they have found salmonella in black pepper....I learnt from my Raw Food teachers after my most recent bout with cancer in 2006 that black pepper musn't be eaten, cayenne pepper is the healthy pepper. And if you are like me and have a compromised immune system whether from cancer, the treatment of cancer or any other disease......eat plant food,80% raw!
We are suffering because it all boils down to convenience......We need to spend more on food and less on health-care......and we really need to watch the documentary FOOD INC.

STIFFNESS AND DAIRY

This little tip from yogabodynaturals.com didn`t make my day as I’m a born Indian food addict. Dhal and roti must be, as far as I’m concerned, the foods of the gods..........well when I read things like this I understand why I’m in my present position...is there anything I truly love that’s good for me?

Well, Indian food tastes amazing, but for yoga and flexibility, it's death!
The Indian diet consists mainly of wheat, rice,and dairy - three of the most mucus-forming foods known to man (think of mucus like glue smeared throughout your body).
Lots of Mucus = Lots of Stiffness
So why do yoga teachers always recommend that you drink milk, eat yogurt, and suck down spoonfuls of ghee every day?
Probably because they've never tried giving it up!
Here's a quick tip: give up dairy for 1 week and see how much more flexible you feel. Most people notice a HUGE difference within 3 days (I'm talking night-and-day difference)
Mucus sucks! That's the straight story. Give up dairy, go deeper in your backbends, and your sinuses will be so clear, you won't believe it.
After 1 week, if you just can't go another day without Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey, well then at least you'll know why your hamstrings are so stiff when you wake up the next day.

DIET FOODS & OBESITY

I want to congratulate Michele Obama on her drive to curb CHILDHOOD OBESITY ! It is not only a problem in the United States it's creeping into every country that has adopted the western diet...the easy way out is killing all of us, most children sit in front of a computer all day , when last have you seen children playing 'hop scotch'? The only thing that gets exercise is their fingers as they send their text messages.
Again my favourite Doctor Dr. Mercola is spot on.......... here is what he has to say about how diet foods and drinks CAUSE weight problems.

In recent years, food manufacturers have increasingly focused on developing low-calorie foods and drinks to help you maintain a healthy weight and avoid obesity. Unfortunately, the science behind these products is so flawed, most of these products can actually lead to increased weight gain!
For example, researchers have discovered that drinking diet soda increases your risk of metabolic syndrome, and may double your risk of obesity – the complete opposite of the stated intention behind these “zero calorie” drinks.
The sad truth is that diet foods and drinks ruin your body's ability to count calories, and in fact stimulate your appetite, thus boosting your inclination to overindulge.
Unfortunately, most public health agencies and nutritionists in the United States recommend these toxic artificial sweeteners as an acceptable alternative to sugar, which is at best confusing and at worst harming the health of those who take their misguided advice.
Non-Acceptable Alternative Sweeteners
I have written a few articles on fructose earlier this year, and I will be writing many more, so please be aware that I am absolutely convinced that fructose ingestion is at the core of our obesity epidemic.
And I’m not only talking about high fructose corn syrup, which is virtually identical to table sugar. The only major difference between the two is HFCS is much cheaper so it has contributed to massive increase in fructose ingestion, far beyond safe or healthy.
Please understand you need to keep your fructose levels BELOW 25 grams per day. The best way to do that is to avoid these “natural” sweeteners as they are loaded with a much higher percentage of fructose than HFCS.

Fruit Juice

Agave

Honey

Please note that avoiding these beyond 25 grams per day is crucial, even if the source is fresh, raw, and organic. It just doesn’t matter, fructose is fructose is fructose…
Acceptable Alternative Sweeteners
For those times when you just want a taste of something sweet, your healthiest alternative is Stevia. It’s a natural plant and, unlike aspartame and other artificial sweeteners that have been cited for dangerous toxicities, it is a safe, natural alternative that's ideal if you’re watching your weight, or if you’re maintaining your health by avoiding sugar.
It is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar and truly has virtually no calories.
I must tell you that I am biased; I prefer Stevia as my sweetener of choice, and I frequently use it. However, like most choices, especially sweeteners, I recommend using Stevia in moderation, just like sugar. In excess it is still far less likely to cause metabolic problems than sugar or any of the artificial sweeteners.
Lo han is another sweetener like Stevia. It’s an African sweet herb that can also be used, but it’s a bit more expensive and harder to find.
So if you struggle with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or extra weight, then you have insulin sensitivity issues and would benefit from avoiding ALL sweeteners.

And here is my take on the matter - PULL THAT SWEET TOOTH !!

SWEETENER UNDERGOES NAME CHANGE

AMERICA`S DEADLIEST SWEETENER IS PULLING A NAME CHANGE ON US. THANK YOU FOR THE HEADS UP DR. MERCOLA - here is the report from FoodBev 2010 -

Aspartame producer Ajinomoto is launching a new initiative that will rebrand the sweetener as “AminoSweet".
Aspartame is used in many foods and beverages marketed as low calorie or sugar-free. However, its reputation has been clouded somewhat by studies that have investigated reports of ill effects.
Just to remind you, the side effects of aspartame can include:
* Headache
* Change in vision
* Convulsions and seizures
* Hallucination
* Nausea and vomiting
* Joint pain
It can cause many, many other problems as well.

This is what Dr. Mercola has to say on the matter:

Aspartame is the most controversial food additive in history, and its approval for use in food was the most contested in FDA history. In the end, the artificial sweetener was approved, not on scientific grounds, but rather because of strong political and financial pressure. After all, aspartame was previously listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent!
It’s hard to believe such a chemical would be allowed into the food supply, but it was, and it has been wreaking silent havoc with people’s health for the past 30 years.
The truth is, it should never have been released onto the market, and allowing it to remain in the food chain is seriously hurting people – no matter how many times you rebrand it under fancy new names.
The Deceptive Marketing of Aspartame
Sold commercially under names like NutraSweet, Canderel, and now AminoSweet, aspartame can be found in more than 6,000 foods, including soft drinks, chewing gum, table-top sweeteners, diet and diabetic foods, breakfast cereals, jams, sweets, vitamins, prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
Aspartame producer Ajinomoto chose to rebrand it under the name AminoSweet, to “remind the industry that aspartame tastes just like sugar, and that it’s made from amino acids – the building blocks of protein that are abundant in our diet.”
This is deception at its finest: Begin with a shred of truth, and then spin it to fit your own agenda.
In this case, the agenda is to make you believe that aspartame is somehow a harmless, natural sweetener made with two amino acids that are essential for health and present in your diet already.
They want you to believe aspartame delivers all the benefits of sugar and none of its drawbacks. But nothing could be further from the truth.
How Aspartame Wreaks Havoc on Your Health
Did you know there have been more reports to the FDA for aspartame reactions than for all other food additives combined?
In fact, there are over 10,000 official complaints, but by the FDA’s own admission, less than 1 percent of those who experience a reaction to a product ever report it. So in all likelihood, the toxic effects of aspartame may have affected roughly a million people already.
While a variety of symptoms have been reported, almost two-thirds of them fall into the neurological and behavioral category consisting mostly of headaches, mood alterations, and hallucinations. The remaining third is mostly gastrointestinal symptoms.
Unfortunately, aspartame toxicity is not well-known by doctors, despite its frequency. Diagnosis is also hampered by the fact that it mimics several other common health conditions, such as:
- Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease
- Alzheimer's disease , Fibromyalgia
- Arthritis , Multiple chemical sensitivity
- Chronic fatigue syndrome , Attention deficit disorder
- Panic disorder , Depression and other psychological disorders
- Lupus , Diabetes and diabetic complications
- Birth defects , Lymphoma
- Lyme disease , Hypothyroidism

I remember having an argument with a doctor when one of my female students started having convulsions after she had taken a drug with aspartame in it that the doctor had diagnosed for her skin problems ...Said doctor told me no way could it have been caused by the aspartame. Thank God I have some influence over the young lady and she listened to me and stopped using the drug. The side effects stopped immediately!

CHEESE PLEASE?

I got a bbm from a friend vacationing and she said "u want to see the cheese every night, about 20 kinds to choose from in this hotel.....the offerings here are unbelievable,indulging big time every night in good food and wine!"
Want to take bets that she comes back sick ?
Did I hear anybody say gout ? Have you noticed that gout is usually a rich man's disease because they can afford to indulge ?
Well it's a good thing I`m not there....20 kinds of cheese ? I would be coming back as a tub of mucus which she certainly is going to be coming back as. Cheese has to be the most addictive foodkind in the world, just think, sprinkling a little cheese on everything doesn't it taste better ? But what kind of cheese are we sprinkling ? What pack did we open ? Don`t start, you will only end up like me not being able to give it up and no matter how clean I get , cheese and bread can get me off track in a second....I dislike lobster but give me lobster thermidor and I`m in heaven. I keep telling you that food addictions are just as bad for us as a lot of the other addictions that we fear so much but we think nothing about pushing all this processed food in our mouths and food, the more delicious the better, makes the world go around......now what I`m talking about is not to be confused with the Mediterranean diet that is one of the healthiest diets ever, goat cheese one of the healthiest cheeses......I`m really talking about indulging in even the best cheese there is combined with the typical western diet which has to be the worst in the world.....plus do we know the difference between real cheese and processed cheese ?
I just don`t know how we are going to fight this battle our taste buds are so addicted. The raw food world is trying to make things as delicious as they can but cashew cheese pales in comparison to a ripe brie, and the ripe brie is usually paired with a salad drowned in ranch salad dressing (my all time favourite )olive oil and cider or balsamic vinegar (NOT white vinegar) is the answer people to what to put on the salad.....
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER so lets make ourselves powerful!