“Step One: Healthy Nutrition” is Dr. Diana Schwarzbein’s #1 objective in her Schwarzbein Principle Program. When you listen to her explanation, you understand why.

Recall that her overriding goal is to build/rebuild your body, not break it down. Nutrition is no exception. The goal is eating to build, not break down. “Help yourself to rebuild.”

I took LOTS of notes in this section of her three-part Menopause Power Webinar Series:

Consuming smaller meals more frequently allows your hormones, transmitters, and enzymes to rebuild. Food is what you use to build with. Smaller meals more frequently allows you to process the food well.

We age because we lose the ability to rebuild.

Consume at every meal and every snack: 2:1 complex carbohydrate to protein ratio – 15 grams of carbohydrates to each ounce of protein.

A woman between 5’6” and 5’8” and between 125 – 160 pounds should consume 2 – 3 ounces of protein at meals and 1 – 2 ounces of protein at each snack. The ratio would be 2 ounces of protein and 30 grams of carbohydrates or 3 ounces of protein and 45 grams of carbohydrates.

Consume at every meal: plenty of non-starchy vegetables.

Add a “splash of healthy fats” at every meal.

Usually in a high quality protein, the fat is already there. You can add a little more nuts, seeds, avocado, sour cream, butter, or olive oil.

Complex carbohydrates include whole grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables.

Fruit is a simple carbohydrate, not complex. Fruit is a sugar.

Lower glycemic fruits (better for you) include: berries, grapefruit, and melon.

The following vegetables contain very little sugar, help to slow digestion, contain minerals, antioxidants, and fiber: sprouts, lettuce, cauliflower, spinach, green beans, and broccoli.

Avoid or decrease eating protein that is hard to digest like gluten, casein, and unfermented soy.

As you age, you lose the ability to make enzymes and HCL. As you age, protein foods are hard to digest. You want to avoid inflammation.

Undigested food creates an immune reaction/response when it hits your small intestine, causing inflammation. Undigested protein reaching the small intestine causes inflammation, and cortisol is released.

Gluten is protein found in wheat grains. Cut back on gluten; it releases cortisol.

Processed casein as in cow dairy is hard to digest. Drink milk raw.

The body can’t digest soy protein, soy isolates, soy milk, or even tofu. Use fermented soy as in tempeh and miso.

Meal hygiene: chew food thoroughly before swallowing. Sit down and take time to eat in a relaxed setting.

Chew, chew, chew: that’s the cheapest thing you can do for yourself to keep you healthier and decrease inflammation in the body. By chewing the food, your body releases digestive enzymes.

Hot flashes are caused by changes in adrenalin and cortisol levels, not by low estrogen levels. Foods/chemicals that increase hot flashes (increase adrenalin) include: red meat, dairy, alcohol, sugar, tobacco, artificial sugars & chemical preservatives, and caffeine.

Stay tuned tomorrow to hear what Dr. Schwarzbein has to say about toxic chemicals.

Countless articles caution about the dangers of high fructose corn syrup, but check this one out if you are still a non-believer: “Cancer Cells Feed on Fructose, Study Finds.”

See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38528161/ns/health-cancer/

Some of the words in the article jump right off the page: “Research shows the refined sugar helps cancer cells proliferate.” “Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate.”

Patrick Swayze is one of a long list of celebrities to be stricken down with deadly pancreatic cancer. The disease is the same one that killed Michael Landon in 1991. Other stars who have died from pancreatic include Fred Gwynne, Jack Benny, Rex Harrison, Donna Reed, Fernando Lamas, Richard Crenna, and Joan Crawford. Pancreatic cancer recently claimed the life of Luciano Pavarotti. President Jimmy Carter lost four family members to pancreatic cancer. Who do you know who has been stricken with this deadly disease?

The research findings demonstrated that tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the sugars in two different ways. “Tumor cells thrive on sugar but they used the fructose to proliferate.” Their findings, published in the journal Cancer Research, “may help explain other studies that have linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.”

High fructose corn syrup is also attributed to the obesity epidemic in America. Obesity has been well established as a key contributor to diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

The article states, “U.S. consumption of high fructose corn syrup went up 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, researchers reported in 2004 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.”

Isn’t it about time we speak out to stop the needless suffering attributed to the amount of high fructose corn syrup added to our food in America? Better yet, how about boycotting the “non-food” items in our diet, and instead reach for the organic, non-processed foods?

Last summer Dr. Gabhart, ND, told me not to miss the opportunity to add healthy ingredients to my tuna salad. She opened up my spice drawer and started sprinkling all sorts of things from my then seldom used supply. She asked me what I thought those spices were – dried greens packed full of nutrients/micronutrients. The resulting concoction was delicious!

Last fall at my annual physical, my physician told me to sprinkle cinnamon on my food to help lower cholesterol.

Have you ever wondered about spice benefits that go far beyond taste?

The following excerpts about spices were taken from Dr. Mercola’s web site. According to Dr. Mercola and his research, each spice has a unique set of health benefits. One study, published in the Journal of Medicinal Foods, found a direct correlation between the antioxidant content of many extracts of spices & herbs and the prevention of heart disease and premature aging.

According to this study, the top 10 most potent herbs and spices are:

1. Cloves (ground)
2. Cinnamon (ground)
3. Jamaican allspice (ground)
4. Apple pie spice (mixture)
5. Oregano (ground)
6. Pumpkin pie spice (mixture)
7. Marjoram
8. Sage
9. Thyme
10. Gourmet Italian spice

Choosing Spices for Their Medicinal Benefits

In addition to choosing spices for their flavor and appeal, you can also choose spices for their health effects. The following herbs and spices were listed as some of the best for building a strong immune system that functions correctly:

• Licorice: Buffers the inflammatory response by increasing steroid output by your adrenal glands; a good buffer if your immune system is over responding to the flu.
• Turmeric: ORAC (a measure of antioxidant activity) score of 159,277; general immune system booster due to its high antioxidant capacity, and an anticancer agent as well; turmeric is 5 to 8 times stronger than vitamins C and E, and even strong enough to scavenge the hydroxyl radical, which is considered by some to be the most reactive of all oxidant
• Black Pepper: Increases the bioavailability of just about all other foods — herbs and other compounds.
• Oregano: ORAC 13,970; active agent is rosmarinic acid, a strong antioxidant.
• Cinnamon: ORAC 267,536; powerful antimicrobial agent — found to kill E. coli and many other bacteria, and also has anti-inflammatory compounds.
• Cloves: The ORAC grand prize winner at 314,446, highest of all foods tested! Contains eugenol and its mild anesthetic benefits are useful for toothaches and sore throats, also a good anti-inflammatory.

The Huffington Post was also quoted for featuring the following list of herbs based on their health benefits:

• Rosemary and basil for their anti-inflammatory power
• Cumin and sage for their dementia-fighting power
• Cayenne and cinnamon for their obesity-fighting power
• Coriander and cinnamon for their sugar regulating powers
• Lemon grass, nutmeg, bay leaves and saffron for their calming effects on your mood
• Turmeric for its cancer fighting power
• Oregano for its fungus-beating power
• Garlic, mustard seed and chicory for their heart-pumping power
• Basil and thyme for their skin-saving power
• Turmeric, basil, cinnamon, thyme, saffron, and ginger for their immune-boosting power
• Coriander, rosemary, cayenne, allspice and black pepper for their depression-busting power

Maybe it is time to open that seldom used spice drawer and sprinkle just about anything possible on as many food items as possible. From the above lists, it doesn’t look like we can lose!

Some time ago I was alarmed to read the research stating that washing fruits and vegetable to remove herbicides and pesticides is useless in removing contaminants. The reason? Because the pesticides have already infused into the cells of the fruit/vegetable and thus cannot be removed by washing the exterior.

I likened this information to what happens in the human body. The skin is the largest body organ. Whatever is applied to the skin is absorbed immediately and travels to the blood and all the body organs. That is why so many drugs today are delivered via patches to the skin – because of the immediate mode of absorption.

Why would the cells of the fruit and vegetables be different?

I was intrigued by a story in the 10-13-09 www.mercola.com newsletter titled:

“Most Vegetables and Fruits Have ‘Unacceptable’ Levels of Pesticides”

(See http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/13/Fruit-and-Vegetables-Have-Unacceptable-Levels-of-Pesticides.aspx)

The article includes the following information:

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 90 percent of fungicides, 60 percent of herbicides and 30 percent of insecticides are known to cause cancer.

Lab studies also indicate pesticides can cause other serious health problems, including:

• Infertility
• Birth defects, miscarriages and stillbirths
• Learning disorders
• Aggressive behavior
• Nerve damage
• Cancer of the breast, prostate and lymphatic system

Which Vegetables and Fruits Are Dirtiest?

The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) latest Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides lists the following “Dirty Dozen” fruits and vegetables as the most highly contaminated according to recent testing:

 Dr. Mercola makes the sobering comment: “Whether you live in the UK, U.S. or elsewhere, the important thing to remember about pesticide contamination of your food is that government ‘allowed levels’ do not mean safe levels.”

The bottom line of the article:

1)      Lab studies indicate pesticides do cause serious health problems.

2)      “Allowable” levels do not mean “safe” levels.

3)      Herbicides and pesticides cross the fruit and vegetable cell membranes, thus rendering washing useless in removing all the contaminants.

The above three reasons provide strong motivation for us to consume organic fruits and vegetables. With greater consumer demand, prices will go down, thus making safe fruits and vegetables available for everyone.

Today I ran across the published Purdue University artificial sweetener study from February, 2008. The study, which received a lot of press, compared two sets of rats: those fed yogurt with zero-calorie saccharin, others fed yogurt sweetened with glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table sugar).

When both groups were later given a sugary snack, the rats accustomed to artificial sweetener ate more. In fact, the rats that consumed the zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn’t make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance.

The study theorized that problems with self-regulation might explain in part why obesity has risen in parallel with the use of artificial sweeteners. Quite disheartening, when you consider the number of people using diet drinks as a way to control calories and weight gain.

“Our bodies have ways of judging how many calories a food has from how it tastes, and artificial sweeteners may mess up that natural regulating process,” reported Susan Swithers, Ph.D., associate professor of psychological sciences at Purdue and one of the study’s lead authors.

Well, what about aspartame? I Googled “aspartame” and found a very lengthy research article posted on http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm. The headline reads:

 “Aspartame is, by far, the most dangerous substance on the market that is added to foods.”

Aspartame is the technical name for the brand names NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure.

The article reads:

“Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death.

A few of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by aspartame include: Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.”

Even scarier is the following cited information:

According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame:

1) Brain Tumors

2) Multiple Sclerosis

3) Epilepsy

4) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

5) Parkinson’s Disease

6) Alzheimer’s

7) Mental Retardation

Lymphoma

9) Birth Defects

10) Fibromyalgia

11) Diabetes

Hmm, steep price to pay for all those good tasting diet drinks?

Check out the wisdom in today’s message from tut.com: “You don’t take ‘baby steps’ for the distance they cover, Rosie, but to put yourself within reach of life’s magic.

Just like you don’t hoist your sails to move the boat, but to put yourself within reach of the wind.

Hoist, baby, hoist, baby, 1, 2, 3, 4 -
    The Universe”

[Side note: if you love this guy as much as I do, Mike Dooley, who brings these invigorating messages to us every day, help him out by purchasing a copy of his new release of the long awaited text edition of Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams! Go to www.tut.com to read all about it… Amazon extends 34% off and B&N 35% off today! I don’t get anything for promoting his work. I just love starting each morning with his pearls of wisdom, that’s all.]

Back to the baby steps…it is those baby steps that put us in reach of life’s magic. For example, reflect on your day yesterday. What baby steps did you take at work, in your home, with your kids, with your health? Maybe you took them and didn’t really think about them?

I’ll toss out a few examples to consider. Want to do something about improving your health? Maybe just start with a baby step.

Perhaps the first step is purchasing a bath scales. I know, gross. That will lead to the next baby step that takes tremendous courage: stepping on it. I promise you, once you do, you will be on your way. Actually, perhaps the first baby step is to decide. Decide to purchase that scales. Decide that today is the day to take that baby step towards the magic of your good health.

Speaking of scales, I am having fun with the one I just purchased. For $39 at WalMart, you can purchase a “Healthometer Body Fat & Hydration Monitoring Scale.” This scales will give you not only your weight, but also your % body fat, % body water, % bone mass, and your BMI (Body Mass Index). A brochure is included that explains the normal ranges for males and females.

Take another baby step…post a calendar by your scales and start recording your numbers. The numbers will be an incentive to keep you on your path. Among other things, this simple step somehow stimulates the RAS in your brain – the reticular activating system – that causes your subconscious mind to keep pushing towards your goal.   

Another baby step is to put Dr. Joel Fuhrman on in your car, your automobile university, as you travel to and from work. Thinking I have no time right now to read, I recently purchased his Eat for Health and Eat to Live audiobooks. Well, forget that, I ordered the books yesterday, so intrigued was I over the excellent information I am learning on his CDs.

Dr. Fuhrman’s CDs are full of little baby steps. For example, he teaches the importance of adding foods rich in micronutrients to your diet, such as found in deeply green leafy vegetables. Taking that one little point, here’s a funny little baby step.

Yesterday Dr. Gabhart and I met at my house to work on our book. When it got to be lunch time, we decided to have some tuna and some mouth watering cherry tomatoes, fresh from the garden. I prepared my tuna with nothing in it. Meanwhile, Dr. G. is rifling through my spice drawer.

“Here, put these Marjoram Leaves and Basil and dried Tomato & Garlic mix in that tuna. What do you think all this is? It’s your green vegetables. This is good for you! Where’s your onions? And put a little olive oil in there. You can’t eat that tuna plain!”

Oh my goodness, when she got finished with that tuna, I thought I was at Thanksgiving dinner – and all because of the addition of a few herbs – no egg or mayonnaise – just the healthy micronutrients that I heard Dr. Fuhrman talk about earlier that morning.

Little baby steps… Mike Dooley, you are right! Thank you for helping us see we can put ourselves within reach of the wind!

What baby steps can you take today to put you within reach of life’s magic?

Last year a seasoned teacher filled my ears full on the extensive research she has conducted concerning the alarming growing number of kids placed on drugs for “ADD” or “ADHD.” Her contention was that virtually all of them could be off the drugs if their nervous systems were given the proper nutrients derived from diet, with supplementation as necessary.

 I bet Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of Disease-Proof Your Child would back up her claim.

 I am pretty sure kids don’t have a deficiency of Ritalin. What then is the root cause of the growing number of kids being diagnosed with ADD or ADHD? What is deficient in their diet? Might this dilemma be similar to that of the sailors who developed scurvy when Vitamin C was absent in their diet? When they were given foods with Vitamin C, the scurvy miraculously went away.

 Susan Allport called my attention to an article she wrote titled “The Vanishing Youth Nutrient.” In her article, the Science writer “unravels why the disappearance of omega-3s from our diet may be responsible for the epidemics of obesity, heart disease, cancer. Oh, and wrinkles, too.” (See http://www.prevention.com/cda/article/the-vanishing-youth-nutrient/6dec72fe5deb2210VgnVCM10000030281eac____/news.voices/in.the.magazine/september.2009.issue/0/0/1).

 Allport’s article spotlights a story about 2 year-old Lisa, diagnosed with a neurological disorder. “Lisa’s mother had heard about studies linking omega-3 fatty acids to intelligence and healthy brains, and she thought she’d give them a try. She purchased a bottle of Nordic Naturals’ Children’s DHA in liquid form and began putting half a teaspoon in her daughter’s orange juice every morning. Within a week, the young girl was babbling and her tantrums stopped.”

 That story hit a nerve with me. My own granddaughter was diagnosed with ADHD, and it was heartbreaking to watch what happened to her as she was given Ritalin to control her symptoms. I convinced my daughter to try her on the Nordic Naturals. We called them Sierra’s “football pills” to make it fun and encourage her to take them. Seeing an immediate change, the doctor was then educated, and the Ritalin was stopped.

 Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid critical for the development of healthy brain and other metabolically active tissues…and it is sorely lacking in our average American diet. Conversely, our diet tends to be rich in Omega 6 because of more and more consumption of soybean, corn, and other vegetable oils.

 The imbalance in the ration of Omega 6 to Omega 3 is felt to be a key player contributing to not only neurological disorders like Lisa’s, but also depression, arthritis, obesity, insulin resistance, and many cancers.

 Allport lists the following recommendations for increasing Omega 3 in your diet:

1.    Eat More Greens 

2.    Eat Healthier Meats – grass fed, not their corn-and soy-fed counterparts.  

3.    Eat Fish

Allport lists the following 10 Easy Ways to Reduce Omega-6s:

1. Replace processed cereal with cereal or oatmeal that contains flaxseed.

 2. Make your own salad dressing with a mix of canola and olive oil.

 3. Eat less fast food because it’s all very high in omega-6 seed oils.

 4. Look for potato chips that are fried in canola oil rather than cottonseed, soy, safflower, or sunflower oil.

 5. Substitute walnuts for other nuts when you can because they’re a seed that’s high in omega-3s.

 6. Make your own baked goods, replacing half the butter with canola oil.

 7. Check food labels to avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils.

 8. Avoid omega supplements that contain both omega-3s and omega-6s. You’ll see these labeled with terms like Complete Omega.

 9. Choose grass-fed pork, chicken, beef, or bison whenever you can.

 10. Avoid farmed fish because they are often fed corn and soy. 

Allport’s article is lengthy, but well worth the read. You will come away with a good understanding of the differences between Omega 3 and Omega 6. And, maybe you too can help your own little children and grandchildren to develop neurologically without the use of synthetic drugs that fail to address the root cause of “ADHD” symptoms.

Remember the day care leader who sympathetically and sincerely shook her head and said working parents just don’t have time to fix kids breakfast in the morning? Recall the nutritious breakfast she prepared for them as they were dropped off before school? A piece of white bread slathered in margarine, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar?

A great summary article appeared in our local paper today, written by Pediatrician Dr. Betsy Neahring. The article should be mandatory reading for every parent and every child care her article:

• Years of research demonstrate that children who eat breakfast get an educational boost that jump-starts the learning process.
• Breakfast improves memory and concentration, and studies have documented higher grades and better test scores in children who eat breakfast.
• Improved verbal skills, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving abilities have been noted in breakfast eaters.
• Children who participate in school breakfast programs have demonstrated improvement in attendance and behavior and make fewer visits to the school nurse.
• Children who skip breakfast are at higher risk for certain lifelong health problems, including obesity and tooth decay.
• Breakfast eaters tend to weigh less and have lower cholesterol levels than children who skip this important meal.
• Almost any breakfast is better than nothing, but what your child eats in the morning does influence him in some important ways. The body absorbs the carbohydrates, protein and fat in the food we eat and converts them to blood glucose, the energy we need to function.
• Sugary items like frosted doughnuts may give your child a quick rise in blood sugar, but after this rapid peak the level falls dramatically, leaving your child feeling sluggish and impairing  his mood, concentration, and memory after just a few hours.
• In contrast, breakfast items with complex carbohydrates, protein and fiber provide a slower, steadier rise in blood sugar that can sustain your child for a longer period of time without such a dramatic crash.
• Multigrain cereals and breads, toast, peanut butter, milk, eggs and fresh fruit are good choices for healthy breakfast fare.
• In a recent study looking at memory and other academic tasks, children who ate oatmeal for breakfast, even the sweetened kind, outperformed children who ate a sugary cereal. The protein and fiber in the oatmeal gave it a nutritional edge over the competition.
• Think outside the box to provide variety: sandwiches, last night’s leftover pasta, and cold pizza can also work.

 Having read all this, what if you don’t have children? The interesting thing about all this is that it also works for you and me! Go back and scan through these bullet points. The exact same effect occurs in you and me as it does in the kids.

 If you do have children, by you taking care of you, eating a healthy breakfast every morning, you will also be setting an example for your children. Children model what you do. You have the perfect opportunity to make a huge, lasting impact on the lives of your children – extending well into their adult years. What a powerful impact you can have – on their lives and yours as well!

“Goodbye to the old, hello to the new. You’ve finished one part of your life, and now a new and even better part is beginning.” My morning message was one I randomly selected from Doreen Virtue’s work. What a perfect message to share with you as I wrap up a week that has been devoted to the good, bad, and ugly about certain foods and fake foods – largely about impacting our kids’ lives with food.

This week I have spotlighted the work of several authors, particularly Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Disease-Proof Your Child. When I first read his book, I was overcome with sadness and regret – that I didn’t know or apply this information for my own children as they were growing up, much less myself. I initially felt such deep sadness that it was “too late” for me. But…I eventually turned that feeling around to, “No! It is NEVER too late to become the healthy person you want to become.”

Remember me mentioning the physician who held up the book saying, “Get this book. If you don’t have children, get it and read it for yourself”? There is liberation, hope, freedom, and belief in that statement. No matter where you are today, this is the moment that counts and you can create a beautiful, healthy new you! Wasn’t it Jack Canfield who said not to worry about how to get to California in the dark – just shine your headlights and focus a few feet ahead of you, and you will eventually get there?

I love this teaching from the Budda:

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for
the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate
troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

It is in this moment that you can release an unhealthy old pattern. Today is a new day. All that matters is this moment.

Don’t worry about changing everything at once. To do so would be overwhelming. Empower yourself to pick one or two areas and really focus on them. And, wa la, just like that, one day in the not too distant future you will be amazed at what you have created.

Love yourself for the beautiful being that you already are, just as you are. As Doreen Virtue constantly reminds us, “You are perfect, whole, and complete, and you are very, very loved.” Compliment yourself for caring enough that you have now decided to take even better care of you.

Once you have decided, it’s all over. You are on your way. You have finished one part of your life…and now a new and even better part is beginning.

Blessings to you for a wonderful weekend!  :  )

All week I have shared the dangers and harmful effects of certain food/food groups and fake foods. Today I want to share with you tips on what foods to avoid and what foods to include in your daily diet.

One of the best resources you could ever find is Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Disease-Proof Your Child. Know that when Dr. Fuhrman speaks about “what to feed your child,” simply replace the word “child” with “you.” No matter your age, you will be miles ahead on your journey to live your best life ever if you follow his sage advice.

Dr. Fuhrman’s “The Five Most Dangerous Things to Feed Your Child” are as follows:

1. Butter and cheese – full of saturated fat and fat-delivered chemical pollutants
2. Potato chips and french fries – rich in trans fat, salt, and carcinogenic acrylamides
3. Doughnuts and other trans fat-containing sweets – rich in trans fat, sugar, and other artificial substances
4. Sausages, hot dogs, and other luncheon meats – contain N-nitroso compounds that are potent carcinogens
5. Pickled, smoked, or barbequed meats – places you at risk of both stomach cancer and high blood pressure

Dr. Fuhrman’s “Fab Five” are as follows:

1. Berries –Add berries to morning cereals. Make dessert sorbets from frozen berries. My kids love frozen strawberries blended with an orange or orange juice. We usually add a slice of dried pineapple and use our Vita-Mix to make a smooth and delicious strawberry sorbet.
2. Greens –Make steamed greens with a cashew butter cream sauce. Kids love it. We blend raw cashews and a few dried onion flakes with some soy milk* and make a great sauce for chopped kale or broccoli.
3. Seeds –Seeds are supernutritious wonder foods. Try sprinkling some lightly toasted unhulled sesame seeds and sunflower seeds on salads and vegetables. We like to grind some into a powder and use it like salt on food.
4. Beans –Beans are fiber- and nutrient-packed. They give soups that chewy goodness and long-lasting satiety. Add a mixture of split peas, lentils, and adzuki beans to soups and simmer over low heat about three hours.
5. Tomatoes –Tomatoes are a wonder food in their own class. Whether you consider them a fruit or a vegetable, it matters not. Slice them into pita pocket sandwiches. Mash some almond butter with a fork into some tomato sauce to add the vegetable-tomato-sprout-avocado pita pocket. What a great school lunch.

*Just a note about soy…I personally am concerned about the over-use of soy in our diet today. They are just too many studies speaking to the harmful effects of too much soy in our diet. I personally think it is wise to use soy, like anything else, in moderation. Other “cow-milk” alternatives include rice milk and almond milk, which both have a great taste.

Dr. Fuhrman also lists “Ten Super Foods to Use in Your Recipes and Menus” as follows:

1. Avocadoes
2. Blueberries/Blackberries
3. Cantaloupes
4. Carrots/Beets
5. Flax Seeds
6. Green Lettuce
7. Kale
8. Sesame seeds
9. Strawberries
10. Tomatoes

In the back of his book, Dr. Fuhrman features his child-tested, kid-friendly recipes that are “delicious, easy to prepare, and great for the whole family.” Tomorrow I will cover more about this topic of the “whole family.”

 Dr. Fuhrman’s book is published by St. Martin’s Press, and his web site is www.drfuhrman.com. Check out his information. You, and your family, will be glad you did!