Honey by Hillary Stein

The other day I was reading about natural honey (since I love sweets!) and came across some really cool facts I thought I would share. Natural honey is wonderful as a food and also as a medicine. There are many different grades of honey, depending on factors such as where it is sourced and what containers it was stored in.

• While honey is sweet like white sugar, it is unique in that it also has small amounts of nutrients our bodies need for healthy living including: calcium, potassium, magnesium, and folic acid.

• Honey is a source of antioxidants which aids in protecting against some diseases. The quality of the antioxidants depends partially on the floral source of the honey. The darker honeys are known to have a higher antioxidant content.

• Honey is a great sports activity enhancer because of its high energy boosting ability. Plus, it is a lot cheaper than commercially sold sports bars and drinks. Because honey is in a pre-digested form it is directly absorbed into the body unlike refined sugar which needs to go through normal digestion.

• A recent study showed there is an antibacterial property to honey which makes it a better choice than refined sugar when it comes to tooth decay. Fruit juice starts to erode the tooth enamel ten minutes after consumption. Honey showed a delayed reaction on the teeth of 30 minutes, and the prominence of the erosion was less.

These facts make it highly worth substituting honey in some foods for other sweeteners. So for that next peanut butter sandwich opt out of jam and bring on the honey!

Because of the possible presence of botulinum , infants under 1 year old should not be feed honey.

Great Grains!

Grains that I have tried and really liked:

• Spelt               Pricey, but delicious in bread, use in cookies but you need a little more flour than if you use wheat flour. (grind)
• Quinoa          Considered a perfect food–I put a small amount of quinoa in with rice every time I cook rice.
• Kamut          Use in coffee cake, muffins or bread. (grind)
• Oats               The less processed the oats are, the better they are for you (for instance, rolled oats are better than quick).
• Buckwheat Use in small amounts because of the strong taste. (grind)
• Wheat          Substitute out some white for wheat flour in most everything you cook.  Use White Wheat, it is more alkaline (which is what you want), Red Wheat is more acidic. (grind)
• Corn              Try ground corn in corn bread with spelt flour. (grind)
• Brown Rice Cook a little longer than white rice.
• Barley           Use whole barley for sprouting.

Add grains in SLOWLY if you are not used to them.  If you don’t, you may end up with a stomach ache.

Alkaline or Acidic?

What is pH?

“A quick chemistry lesson: pH is a measurement of acidity or alkalinity. The pH scale runs from 0-14 with 7 in the middle being neutral. Everything below 7 is “Acid”, the lower the number the more acidic and everything above 7 is “Alkaline”. Most experts agree that ideal health exists when the pH of the general body fluids is around 7 or slightly above.”

If you are eating too many acidic foods you may be setting yourself up for illness. Here is a list of alkaline and acid foods. Lists don’t always agree but this list will give you a general idea of what you need to be eating more of. You may be eating all the wrong foods.

You can balance out higher acidic foods by eating more of the alkaline foods within reason. Just remember a healthier diet consists of more alkaline foods.

It is amazing how much better you feel when you eat more alkaline foods.

Image by Janielle Beh

I have discovered a powerful means of achieving a high sense of wellbeing. Would you believe that it comes through breath? I first started to experience this when I began doing Yoga. Yoga consists of a breathing technique.

Take a deep breath!

http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/running-air-breathing-technique the following is a quote from this webpage:

“From the Belly

Before learning the rhythmic patterns that will take your running to a new level, you must first become a belly breather, that is, learn to breathe from your diaphragm. When you inhale, your diaphragm contracts and moves downward, while muscles in your chest contract to expand your rib cage, which increases the volume in your chest cavity and draws air into your lungs. Working your diaphragm to its fullest potential allows your lungs to expand to their greatest volume and fill with the largest amount of air, which of course you need for your running. The more air you inhale, the more oxygen is available to be transferred through your circulatory system to your working muscles. Many people underuse their diaphragm, relying too much on their chest muscles and therefore taking in less oxygen, which is so important to energy production. The other downside of breathing from your chest is that these muscles (the intercostals) are smaller and will fatigue more quickly than your diaphragm will. To rely less on your chest muscles to breathe, you’ll want to train yourself to breathe from your belly, that is, with your diaphragm. Practice belly breathing both lying down and sitting or standing, since you should be breathing diaphragmatically at all times—whether you’re running, sleeping, eating, or reading a book. Here’s how to learn the technique:

• Lie down on your back.

• Keep your upper chest and shoulders still.

• Focus on raising your belly as you inhale.

• Lower your belly as you exhale.

• Inhale and exhale through both your nose and mouth.”

There is so much more I want to say on this subject but will save it for  a later post.