STRESS BUSTING NUTRIENTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM.

Food can be medicine in so many ways. If your body is out of whack, oftentimes the physiological issue at hand can be boiled down to a nutritional deficiency. Are you tired? Try eating more spinach and loading up on iron. Is your stomach irritated? Introducing good bacteria via probiotics could be a quick, drug-free fix to a healthier gut.

The same thing goes for stress and anxiety. But when talking about the delicate line between traditional and naturopathic medicine, we thought it best to consult women who are experts in both fields. We talked to a New York-based registered nurse with an emphasis in holistic medicine and a doctor with an MD and an ND (Naturopathic Doctorate), Rebecca Lee, RN and founder of RemediesForMe.com, and Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, a stress management expert and author of The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Women's Health.

Through our talks with these experts, we boiled it down to three nutrients your diet needs to naturally fight anxiety and stress.

EAT THESE FOODS TO LIVE TO 100

                                


Check out this video with some great examples of foods that boost your immune system, fight off disease and have anti ageing properties. Let us know what you think?

11 FOODS TO AVOID FOR ANTI - INFLAMMATORY EATING.

The one type of diet most systems of medicine agree on is an anti-inflammatory diet. Part of activating your full potential requires altering your eating to reduce and eliminate foods that cause inflammation. Inflammation is an immune response that happens when there is a perceived threat in the body.

 Often this shows up as joint pain and swelling, but many other symptoms including brain fog, depression, and anxiety can also be caused by inflammation.

Some people are more sensitive to gluten, while others need to be careful to avoid sugar and red meats. Every recommendation you'll find in the book, Super Woman Rx, is designed to reduce inflammation so your unique potential will be set free. The list below includes the main inflammation-causing culprits.

Gluten

A protein found in wheat, gluten can trigger an immune reaction that damages the surface of the small intestine and can cause a variety of problems including interference with the absorption of nutrients, bloating, diarrhea, and sometimes constipation. People with sensitivity to gluten can experience anxiety, depression, mood swings, brain fog, fatigue, dizziness, migraine headaches, swelling or pain in joints. 

9 WAYS TO A HEALTHIER GUT

Two thousand years ago, Hippocrates is said to have noted, “All disease begins in the gut.” As I see it, he was right: Our intestines contain trillions of microbes of many species that metabolize food and make vitamins accessible to us. Adding up to about 4 pounds of body weight, these good bugs protect us against “bad” microbes like tetanus and E. coli, the culprit behind traveler’s diarrhea. They are central to our health.

“Probably one of the most important services your microbes provide is immunity,” says Martin Blaser, director of the Human Microbiome Program at NYU Medical Center and chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. But for decades, researchers say, we’ve been inadvertently annihilating microbes through various behaviors: excessive use of antibiotics, scrubbing ourselves with antibacterial soap, and more. The microbes that live inside us amount to a vast community, Blaser explains, and when its balance is disrupted, the bad guys can flourish.

What can we do to support our beneficial bacteria? The single quickest way to change gut microbes for the better is to be selective about the foods we eat. Certified organic, high-fiber, and fermented ingredients show promise in helping to bolster gut health. But so does plenty of exposure to dirt, like you get through gardening. Conversely, processed foods and products like hand sanitizers include chemicals that harm good bacteria.

WHAT ARE TRANS FATS?

Really informative video about trans fats in our diet. Let us know what you think.

OMEGA 6 BENEFITS.

Omega 6 fatty acids are essential for our health. But they are healthy only in moderation. More important than to ask the question “What are the health benefits of omega 6”, is to ask “What is a beneficial quantity of omega 6 to consume”?

Omega 6 has without question major benefits: omega 6 deficiency will result in serious health problems. It must be stressed, however, that omega 6 deficiency is extremely rare, because the typical Western foods contain an abundance of omega 6 from corn oil, soybean oil, safflower and sunflower oil, as well as from animal fats. The Western diet is rich in omega 6, because the oils are cheap and stable. They prolong the shelf life of processed foods, and the food industry therefore replaces more healthy fats and oils with omega 6. Having said that, the benefits of adequate consumption of omega 6 fall into three categories.

Omega 6 is essential for three critical health benefits:

Benefits manifest on a cellular level, because omega 6 plays an important role as a messenger. 

TOP 6 FOODS TO IMPROVE YOUR DIGESTION

Have you ever heard the saying, “You are what you eat?” It’s true—and you are what you digest and absorb, too. You could be eating the healthiest food in the world, but if you are not able to break down your food efficiently and absorb the nutrients, then you are missing out on a big opportunity for nourishment.

The first place that many people look for digestive assistance is in the pharmacy or supplement section of a grocery store. But it hasn’t always been that way. Throughout history, different cultures have used various healing foods to aid digestion and other health ailments. If you are someone who experiences digestive discomfort such as bloating, gas, heartburn, acid reflux, constipation, loose stool,or diarrhea, it’s time to start using food as medicine to support a healthy intestinal tract.

Here are the top six foods that can aid with digestion.