Healthy stuff ideas

I've been immersing myself in all things "healthy" beginning in earnest when Cedric was born. I get so excited over it and find a lot of satisfaction in making those life changes one by one. Of course, that means I like to talk about it, too. :) I know it can be a boring, if not annoying, subject to some, but since this is my blog, it's probably one of the best places to talk all I want about it. :)

I wanted to share an easy recipe for a breakfast drink that Aunt Margaret gave me. I've begun making it daily for myself over the past few weeks. Fruit is mostly digested in the intestines, so it's best to eat fruit first thing in the morning when your stomach is empty so that there's nothing to impede it's journey straight through to where it can do the most good. Here's the recipe:

10 almonds
1 TB flax seeds
3 to 5 kinds of fruit
A bit of water

I guess soaking the almonds in water overnight in the frig is beneficial, also. I've also begun adding 2 TB of wheat germ. I'll soon be getting my order of brewer's yeast from Azure Standard, so will most likely begin adding some of that as well. I'll have to use another posting to list all of the benefits of wheat germ and brewer's yeast. Or you can look them up yourself. They're amazing! :)

I don't so much like eating fruit, so I find this is a great way to get all my fruit servings for the day taken care of first thing, which also just happens to be the healthiest time to eat fruit anyway. Very convenient and so easy!

I've recently learned and been impressed with the healing power of another "superfood": cod liver oil. Check out some of the benefits:

• Improves brain function, memory, learning disorders.
• Healthy nervous system.
• Prevention and improvement of depression and other mood disorders, including bipolar syndrome and manic-depression.
• Protective against childhood leukemia.
• Improves stress response.
• Improves immune response.
• Allergies.
• Asthma.
• Healthy joints, strong bones and teeth.
• Arthritis.
• Preventing and reversing rickets in children.
• Improvement of muscle pain and muscle strength.
• Healthy skin, minimize wrinkles.
• Improves heart function. Treats heart disease even in advanced stages.
• Healthy lining for your digestive tract.
• Stroke prevention.
• Prevents infections.
• Lowers childhood risk of juvenile type 1 diabetes and onset of adult diabetes.
• Protective against cancer.

Cod liver oil and fish oil have very quality omega-3 fats and are high in vitamin A & D. It's recommended to take cod liver oil throughout the winter and begin taking regular fish oil in the summer if you get a lot of sun. This is because regular fish oil is lower in vitamin D than cod liver oil, and since the sun is another natural source of vitamin D, switching to fish oil in the high-sun exposure months will keep you from getting too much vitamin D. Be aware that wearing sunscreen blocks your absorption of vitamin D from the sun. If you always have to wear sunscreen, you should probably stick with cod liver oil all year.

I found a liquid orange-flavored cod liver oil at Wal-Mart that I give to Cedric. He get's a teaspoon a day and he loves it! Nevertheless, Tim and I stick with the caplets. :)

Ok, enough. It's getting late. Off to a shower and bed.