Eating for Life.

Marion Maki

Eating for Life, just what does that mean? Many illnesses that affect people can be prevented by the way in one eats. Many of the foods consumed in a standard western diet can do more harm than good. Fast food restaurants while convenient, have foods loaded in sugar and fats. These foods can greatly increase your cholesterol and blood pressure while also increasing your risk of diabetes. I hope to help you, in this article, to discover ways to prepare and eat foods that will help your body as opposed to harming it.

I personally eat a diet mainly based upon whole foods and have been doing so for over half my life. While it is not the easiest way to eat all the time, I have developed many recipes over the years that are not only good for you, but also are very tasty. I would like to share some of these recipes with you so that you may enjoy a day nourishing your body with what it needs.

Warm Weather Oatmeal

Salad with Lemon Tahni Dressing

Curried Beans and Rice

Fruit Salad

Combine this sample menu with at least 30 minutes of excercise (walking or yoga) and you will begin to feel much better and you body will feel better.

Above, I briefly mentioned about phytocheicals. Phytochemicals are the chemicals found in plants that give them their taste and color and are also there to help them ward off diseases and pests. Scientists are contionously investigating these phytochemicals for their disease fighting properties. They have discovered the benefits of over 20,000 of these phytochemicals so far, with many more being investigated or "discovered" all the time.

To achieve the benefits of phytochemicals you should eat a wide variety of colourful fruits and vegetables throughout the day. You should also include plenty of greens in your diet, greens are what some call a super food, they are jammed packed with nutrients your body needs. Greens are packed with folate (folic acid) and calorie per calorie contain more calcium than cow's milk without all the fat. Whenever possible, you should buy organic fruit and vegetables as they have more of the phytochemicals and do not have pesticides on them

I have listed below some recipes to help you incorporate more fruits and vegetables, with their phytochemicals, into your diet.

Banana Blueberry Pancakes

Fatoush Salad (Lebanese Tomato Salad)

Italian Greens and Beans