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Beauty And Raw Food
By: Elizabeth Kiely
One of the best ways to improve the appearance of your skin is by incorporating raw food into your diet. Beautiful skin starts from the inside out. People who switch to eating mostly raw food often see an improvement in their skin and look younger.
Heating food above 105 degrees Fahrenheit destroys the enzymes as well as up to 50% of the protein and 70-90% of the vitamins and minerals. Eating cooked food overtaxes the bodys enzyme reserves. Eating more raw food decreases the amount of digestive enzymes your body has to produce. Raw foods are foods in their natural state with the enzymes left intact. Enzymes are needed to perform many functions in the body including digestion, assimilation and elimination of food. A drained enzyme supply can result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, premature aging and low energy. Raw foods high in enzymes include sprouts, papaya and pineapple.
Free radicals damage your skin and interfere with collagen production causing premature aging. Antioxidants counteract free radicals that age the skin. Berries, especially blueberries, are potent antioxidants that promote collagen which reduces wrinkles. Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and grapefruit help rid the body of free radicals keeping the skin looking young. Foods high in the antioxidant beta carotene including carrots and apricots protect the skin against sun damage.
CoenzymeQ10 is an effective antioxidant involved in the energy process and present in every cell in the body. CoQ10 levels in the body diminish with age. CoQ10 destroys free radicals and slows aging. Spinach, broccoli and peanuts are foods high in CoQ10.
Alpha-lipoic acid is a powerful antioxidant that boosts the strength of other antioxidants such as Vitamin C and E, and assists the bodys energy production. Alpha-lipoic acid can be found in spinach, brewers yeast, broccoli, tomatoes and peas.
Sulfur is a mineral present in every cell in your body. It is needed in collagen production and for healthy skin, hair and nails. Organic sulfur levels in food are lost when processed, heated or dried. Sulfur is known to help improve skin conditions such as acne. High sulfur content foods include asparagus, broccoli, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, red pepper, garlic, onion, watercress and kale.
Silicon is an essential trace mineral needed for healthy skin, hair, nails and bones. Silicon levels decrease with age. Fruits and vegetables are the richest source of silicon including apples, oranges, cherries, grapes, strawberries, beets, cucumber, carrots and green leafy vegetables.
Phytochemicals are plant chemicals that help the body defend against damage and are said to have anti-aging properties. Phytochemicals can be found in berries, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, spinach, carrots, cocoa and bell pepper.
Raw nuts and seeds are high in Vitamin E which is beneficial to the skin. Selenium keeps the skin elastic and can be found in garlic, onions and shallots.
When the body rids itself of toxins, it passes through the skin which is the largest elimination organ. Raw food increases your detoxification rate. Drinking water helps the body rid itself of toxins. Seaweed is high in vitamins and minerals beneficial to the skin and also helps rid the body of toxins.
To achieve a healthy complexion, drink plenty of water and eat plenty of raw food. What goes into your body is reflective in your overall appearance.
About the Author: Elizabeth Kiely is the owner of EK: www.eklbc.com
Article Source: www.NewAgeArticles.com
Gaining Better Health Through A Raw Food Diet by Lee Dobbins
Chances are that you've probably heard people talk about a raw food diet and how healthy it is for you, but did you ever wonder exactly what it is they're talking about? Perhaps you envisioned raw oysters and beef on your dinner table. That doesn't sound too appealing doesn't?
In fact, a raw food diet is simply eating food in its natural unprocessed state. You probably already are on part of a raw food diet. If you snack on fruits and vegetables without cooking them, then you've eaten raw food.
Raw food, or unprocessed food is much better for you because the act of processing the food strips it of a lot of its vital nutrients. You've probably heard that cooking vegetables can leach out a lot of the vitamins and it can also destroy the important food enzymes as well. Packaged foods, that you find in the grocery store like potato flakes to make mashed potatoes and other foods that have been processed in some way to make an easy package meal not only have little nutritional value, but your body simply isn't made to process these foods.
If you think about raw foods as being the natural foods the way that they come from the earth, then it makes sense that these are easier for our bodies to process as these of the foods are great ancestors ate and there really hasn't been that many generations since grocery stores, and therefore prepackaged foods, were invented.
Raw foods are packed full of vitamins, minerals and food enzymes. These food enzymes are important, although you don't hear a lot about them. One of the things they do is help you digest your food and getting enough enzymes can help your body with the digestion process which takes a lot of energy, and if your body is spending less energy on digestion it will have more energy for you to do the things you like. Did you ever wonder why you feel so tired after you eat a big meal of cooked foods? One of the reasons is because food enzymes are destroyed by cooking, so there are no enzymes to help your body digests that big meal you just ate.
People in a raw food diet eat about 75% of their food as raw and whole foods. This includes fruits, vegetables, sprouts, raw nuts, seaweed and other foods in their natural form.
Raw foods can be prepared in a couple of ways. One of the most popular is juicing. Many people go on a juice fast where all they do is drink the juice of raw organic fruits and vegetables. Even just drinking fresh juice in the morning can give your health a boost.
Another way that people eat raw foods is to use a food dehydrator. This takes all the moisture out of the fruits and vegetables so they can be easily stored for long periods of time without going bad. A food dehydrator uses hot air to dehydrate the food but it keeps the temperature under 116°F so that the vital food enzymes are not destroyed.
Of course, you can simply eat your fruits and vegetables the way nature intended picked straight from the tree. Nuts can be a great raw food that you eat for snacks as well, but be careful because most of the nuts you find in the grocery store are cooked. You need to make sure you get raw nuts which you probably will have to buy either online or from a health food store.
You don't have to all of a sudden start eating 75% of your foods as raw foods in order to enjoy the health benefits of the raw food diet. You can gradually increase the amount of raw foods you eat as time goes on and you will notice how much more energy you have and how healthy you feel. Remember, you are what you eat!
About the Author: Lee Dobbins writes for Natural Health Buzz where you can learn more about your natural health and find out more about the raw food diet.
Article Source: http://newagearticles.com
I've been writing for Suite101 since October 2007. In November, 2007 I was promoted from being a Contributing Writer to being the Feature Writer for the newly created Herbs & Spices section. Herbs & Spices is a subtopic of the Food & Drink category.
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My Bike Diva blog is one year old this month. I have it hosted on the free Wordpress.com site. I would like to be able to add Google ads, and other paid ads to the site. But I would have to upgrade to Wordpress.org and find a site to host it for me
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Mother Earth News is the guide to self-reliant living, covering sustainable homesteading, organic gardening, real food, country skills, alternative energy, green transportation, natural health, environmental consciousness, farming and livestock.
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Comments (1)
Comment by Lynn Smythe
on Squidoo Lens
The Pagan Path
I Love Herbs
I'm glad to hear you've gotten involved with Squidoo. I haven't actually visited my Squidoo pages in quite some time. I need to update all the pages and add some new ones.
Let me know what the links are to your Squidoo pages and I'll check them out!
Take care,
Lynn