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Forever young: The “beauty” of a plant-based diet

9/12/2019

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Weary of cosmetically hiding physical flaws and imperfections to create and retain a youthful look? Spackle, dye, spray or cosmetically augment, but Naturopaths agree natural, authentic, physical beauty is the result of eating a plant-based diet. (PBD).

Looking in the mirror, are there grey-green circles under dull eyes; pale, ghostly, blotchy, dry skin, age spots, dull hair, brittle nails, low energy levels and extra chunk in the trunk?
All the diet fads, expensive lotions and man made elixirs promising lasting youthful looks don’t hold a candle to the ultimate cosmetician, Mother Earth.

It’s human yearning to stay young and ageless. America is infatuated with their exterior appearance: more concerned with the outside than inside where all the beauty happens. Natural beauty comes from within, but cannot fully surface until each healthy cell is content with a belly full of energetic, plant-based vitamins, trace minerals, good fats, enzymes, and plant compounds.

Mayo Clinic stresses regular aerobic exercise teamed with a PBD diet as the perfect anti-aging, youthful approach to awakening your natural beauty. Sparkling eyes, shiny hair, glowing, alabaster skin, healthy nails and teeth, a trim physique, and mental clarity are Mother nature’s gifts to us.

As a rule, PBD followers don’t eat processed foods that damage their skin, and instead subsist on healthier plant-based nutrients that ensure glowing health. The healthier the diet, the healthier we look. How can anyone enjoy their birthright of health and beauty when the trillions of cells that repair, rebuild and sustain are corrupted by poor nutrition? Can’t build or maintain a house without tools. So, to speed bump the aging process, we might consider evolving to a plant based diet.

A PBD does not include red meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, refined grains, sugary pastries, candy, booze, tobacco, diet sodas, fast food. refined AP flour, sugar, white rice and hydrogenated oils (trans fats). It does Included an occasional local egg and raw honey.

It’s not, however, the same as a vegan diet, which is defined only by what it eliminates. A PBD focuses on a large, colorful variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, dark leafy greens and green herbs, herbal and chai tea, berries, nuts and seeds, beans, fermented foods, healthy fats, filtered water, reasonable sunshine, sleep, meditative practices and surrounding one’s self with a supportive community.

The American College of lifestyle medicine explains: “phytonutrients in plant foods counteract age, deeply nourish our cells, and reduce inflammation leading to chronic illness. Unstable free radicals damage our cells, contributing to wrinkles, blemishes, age spots, and other signs of aging. Lack of proper plant-based nutrition can bring on other symptoms of premature aging, like hair loss, grey hairs, sagging skin, obesity, and more. Mother of four and grandmother of seven, author of LIVE RAW, organic, vegan raw food enthusiast Mimi Kirk shares, “I’m more of an inside girl than an outside one. I believe diet is key for good skin, and I use 100% organic coconut oil on my face and body.”

Neal Barnard, MD of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine states, “A vitamin and fiber-rich PBD can help anyone lose weight. We believe if people focus on what they’re eating and not how much they’re eating; they will have weight loss with a plant-based diet.”  

The Global Healing Center adds, “Based on everything we have learned about the beneficial properties of the phytochemicals found in plant-based foods, we should not be surprised a vegetarian or vegan diet can improve overall health.” Large studies published by The American College of lifestyle medicine, also found those who followed a healthy PBD had a significantly lower risk of developing heart disease, cancer, cognitive decline, stroke, diabetes, depression, and anxiety.”
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To receive mankind’s gifts of health and beauty, we can let nature do its thing only after we release our grip on the health-depleting American diet of processed, vitamin-deficient foods.(JAMA) Reconnecting to earth will set us free from the daily spackling drudgery and chronic disease. We just need to get out of our own way.

More than ever, folks are supporting community farmer’s markets peaking with a kaleidoscope of garden goodness straight from the local vine, pleading to be consumed as vitamin nutrition, energy and medicine. Perhaps now might be the ideal time to embrace the beauty-creating benefits of a plant-based diet.

Join me on Instagram: chef.wendell.fowler

 
 
 
 
 
 

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Taking Vitamins is a thing: Multi-vitamin supplements vs. Individual vitamins

9/4/2019

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At the gym, a curmudgeonly 60’s something gentleman was overheard grumbling, “Aww…  I don’t take vitamins. They are a bunch of hogwash. Just gimme a pill. My grandparents didn’t take vitamins and they lived to 104, smoke Camel non-filters, and drank whiskey!”  

Well, the times they’ve been a-changin’. Due to monocrop farming, modern industrial agriculture, genetic manipulation, processing, and agrichemicals like Roundup’s carcinogenic glyphosate, todays distorted plant-food has but 50% of the nutrients there were 50 to 100 years ago.

Our body intelligence cannot synthesize everything it needs to function, ergo essential nutrients we must supplement through plant food to maintain optimal health. Plant based vitamin nutrition is compulsory to sustain human life, growth and mind-body development; the language our cells and DNA speak fluently.

They are called supplements because as we age, our bodies can no longer produce what we lack. Therefore we ‘supplement’ what we’re lacking. Colligan for aging skin, hair, nails, and joints, B-12 for red blood cell formation and cancer prevention, DNA synthesis, nervous system and brain function, omega 3 and 6 for brain and joints, and the micro-nutrient magnesium for the heart and prostate is involved in hundreds of biochemical reactions in your body. Most “vegephobic” Americans are significantly deficient in these nutrients—malnourished.Scientific America reports, “Because of soil depletion, crops grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us get today. Modern intensive agricultural methods have stripped increasing amounts of nutrients from the soil in which the food we eat grows. Sadly, each successive generation of fast-growing, pest-resistant carrot is less good for you than the one before. So even if we ate bushels of today’s organic produce and such, we’d still need to supplement to fill our daily RDA’s.

Since childhood, we were programmed to pop a pill to cure our ills, and to dutifully take our daily 1-A-Day multiple or Flintstone’s chewable. Even Wonder Bread advertised it replaced the 7-10 vitamins destroyed during manufacturing. Suggesting there are more vitamins available in unprocessed food than processed, high-heat-treated, preservative-laden machine cuisine.

Fresh garden produce is naturally rich in vitamins, fiber, and minerals. Processing fruit and vegetable DNA in a laboratory diminishes vitamin, mineral, and digestive enzyme content, making them less healthful than their fresh, energetic counterparts.

We’ve heard about the disease-preventing abilities of certain vitamins, antioxidants, digestive enzymes, amino acids, probiotics, and trace minerals. But, are pharmaceutically grade, synthesized supplements effective as Earth’s apothecary? Synthetic vitamins contain chemical compounds not meant for human consumption and don’t occur in nature. The Global Healing Center proclaim, “Evolution dictates we eat food we can gather from the earth, not food created in a lab.” https://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/synthetic-vs-natural-vitamins/

With the medical fraternity warning vitamins are useless, in today’s social media world, it’s easier than ever to find “facts”, but increasingly difficult to figure out which are actually true. Indeed, there are many bad vitamins out there, but some good ones too. Anti-supplement crusades will never be in the best interest of American health.

The Washington Post reported GNC, Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens were accused of selling adulterated herbals. Of the four retailers, Wal-Mart was the worst offender: None of its six supplements that were tested was found to contain purely the ingredient advertised. Target’s supplements were the least misleading of the lot — though that isn’t saying much, since tests on six of the brand’s products resulted in only one unqualified positive. Two of Target’s other supplements contained DNA from other plants alongside their purported ingredients, while the remaining three tested negative.

To insure the multi or individual vitamin is safe and effective, make a friend at the locally owned vitamin shop, ask questions, and preform your own due diligence.

Individual supplements can also put us at greater risk of overdose. In a society where more is better, striking mindful balance between all nutrients is crucial. This is automatically done for you when you take food-sourced multivitamins, which usually includes a cornucopia of necessary vitamins.

Convenient multivitamins cost less. Taking individual smart-bomb vitamins is much more expensive than a multivitamin, plus, unbalanced, over and above what a multi offers, excessive nutrient intake can be harmful.
Some people ask why vitamins are bad for us. Actually, it's not vitamins per se - it may be too much of a good thing and cause harm.

  • Vitamin A overdose can cause severe abdominal pain, mood swings, exhaustion, decreased appetite and if not corrected, can lead to serious liver problems.
  • Vitamin D overdose may result in excess calcium. Calcium deposits can form in the lungs, heart and kidneys. Kidney stones or other conditions may develop. Symptoms can include bone pain, muscle loss, sudden weight loss, and extreme fatigue.
  • Extremely high doses of vitamin E can cause diarrhea and stomach cramps. The most severe side effect is an increased risk of bleeding, since too much vitamin E can interfere with your blood's ability to clot. Sometimes people who overdose on vitamin E need medication to prevent bleeding problems.
  • Seniors and infants may be especially prone to vitamin K overdose, so do not give excess vitamin K supplements unless under the supervision of a physician. Symptoms may include profuse sweating and jaundice. The skin can also flush and turn bright pink, Seniors taking coumadin warfarin know K is a clot coagulant and must consider K-rich plant foods.
Annual reports of the American Association of Poison Control Centers clearly show nutritional supplements are much safer than over-the-counter drugs, even aspirin. Vitamin supplements aren't harmful like drugs. Even though vitamin supplements are not regulated as drugs, vitamin supplements also don't cause deaths.

“So, the claim that vitamin supplements are a significant danger to public health is wrong,” asserts Andres W. Saul’s book, "No Deaths from Vitamins. None."  Research each vitamin supplements origin. China’s top vitamin and supplement production areas are among the most polluted. Epoch Times reports most vitamins are from China—it’s a bigger problem than we realize. 

Taking a reputable, made in America, third-party inspected, quality supplement and eating a healthy plant-based diet are relevant to good senior health. Whether or not to take extra vitamin supplements is a personal choice, but most of the time, mindfully researched vitamins will do no harm in proper dosage and moderation, and can potentially do much good to ward off everything from the common cold to many of today’s disease of vitamin deficiency.

If experiencing an energy shortage and think it might be from a supplement, stop taking it immediately and call your doctor. Vitamins alone are not a panacea. We must live symbiotically with nature as well as vitamin supplementation. We live in different times than our ancestors. So, taking vitamins is a thing but more is unquestionably not better
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Listen to or podcast, "Live Right Now."  #LIVERIGHTNOW

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