Building Immunity to the Flu

For most of us, as the temperature drops, so does our immune system. Fear of the flu has us getting flu shots while casually standing in line at the grocery store or waiting for our connecting flight at the airport. We willingly inject ourselves with viruses and stock up on antibiotics. As a result, bacteria have continued to evolve building antibiotic-resistance, further weakening our immunity.

Getting a flu shot often protects you from coming down with the flu. Once you have the virus in your system, you develop antibodies against it so that you are protected the next time you are exposed. Ideally, we want our immune system strong enough to build the antibodies upon exposure to the virus so that we would be immune even without a flu shot. The focus here is not whether or not to get the vaccination. That is a personal choice. The real problem is the vulnerability of the system that has lead us to need the vaccine. Rather than depend on shots and medications, the idea is to strengthen the immune system through a natural way of living.

Getting the flu is usually an indication that the body needs rest, replenishment of vitamins and minerals, and time to re-bolster the immune system. Holiday stress, over consumption of low quality foods, and lack of movement all contribute to impairing our immunity.

The media isn’t helpful either as it is flooded with ways to get sick:
1. Consume lots of sugar, particularly soda.
2. Eat processed food, as it is so convenient.

3. If something about eating these foods isn't working for you, have some Prilosec or a Tums and keep doing the same thing.

The main reasons for the flu & What you can do differently
A Toxic Diet: Not eating enough nutrient- dense foods and/ or Eating too much sugar	* Increase your intake of nutrient-dense foods * Use appropriate natural supplementation. * If taking a supplement, find a natural one which is not filled with sugars, artificial colors or flavors. * Reduce/avoid your intake of sugar, caffeine, chemicalized foods, and refined white flour foods. * Reduce/ avoid your intake of mucus forming foods such as dairy and fatty meats. * Take soothing showers/baths and exfoliate the skin with a wash cloth to aid the body in cleansing. * Drink warm/room temperature water with lemon, for vitamin C & alkalinity.
Not Enough Sleep	* Get plenty of sleep. Try to be in bed by 10PM and up by 7AM. * Start drinking calming herbal teas such as chamomile, skullcap, oat straw, or valerian in the evening hours if you are having trouble resting.
Emotional Blockage, Limiting Beliefs, and Downward Trending Thought Patterns	* Create a positive support system to address stagnant emotional circuits * Generate positive and resourceful states of mind as a daily practice * Put your legs up against the wall for at least 10 minutes a day (if you can, do this twice). This aids in supporting the lymphatic system in draining and cleansing.
Lack of Proper Exercise	If you are not setting aside time to exercise, be sure to take a walk at least once a day to increase blood and oxygen circulation.
Structural and Energetic Misalignment	Get shiatsu, acupuncture, chiropractic work, or massage to unlock stuck physical/ energetic pathways.

Food Focus: Herbal Immune Boosters

Ginger aids with digestion, Cayenne invigorates the immune system, Cinnamon increases circulation, and Turmeric is a potent immune booster and virus fighter. Garlic is a natural antibiotic which contains properties that help to boost the body’s levels of antioxidants, which work as a defense system against viruses.

Oil of Oregano is known to be a potent antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic oil that can reduce pain and inflammation and effectively fight off infections. Some of the specific benefits of Oil of Oregano are:
* Destroying organisms that contribute to skin infections and digestive problems.
* Strengthening the immune system.
* Increasing joint and muscle flexibility.
* Improving respiratory health.

Also, be sure to get vitamins through vegetables and fruit. We can find Vitamin C in steamed broccoli, boiled brussels sprouts, papaya, boiled asparagus, steamed swiss chard/collard greens, or grapefruit. Get Zinc through crimini mushrooms, boiled spinach, broccoli, collards, chard, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds.
Herbal Ginger Tea
Grate some ginger and add to hot water. Have a ginger and cinnamon tea or try ginger, lemon and a pinch of cayenne. For sweetness, use honey (preferable raw honey).

Yogi Tea

Try this instead of a daily coffee:(You can adjust the amounts)

5 to 6 cups water
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
10 to 20 cardamom pods
2 Tbls to 1 cup fresh ginger
3 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon black or Assam tea

Put all ingredients except for the black tea in a pot and simmer (for as little as 20 minutes and up to a whole day). Add the tea during the last few minutes of simmering... strain and add honey and milk of any kind to taste!

Carrot Ginger Soup
6 carrots
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups water
6-inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated
Fresh parsley to garnish

Wash, peel and cut carrots and onion into chunks.
Place vegetables and salt in a pot.
Add water and bring to boil. Cover with a lid.
Simmer on low heat for 25 minutes.
Transfer soup into blender, adding water if necessary to achieve desired consistency.
When blending is done, squeeze juice from grated ginger and add to soup.
Garnish with parsley.

Hearty Banana & Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 ripe bananas
1 3/4 cups of quick oats
1/2 cup of rye flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/6 cup of agave nectar
1 tsp of pure vanilla essence
1/3 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips
1/2 cup almond/ rice/ soy/ cow's milk

Preheat oven to 375.
Mash bananas.
Mix in with oats. Then add flour, baking powder and baking soda.
Mix in the rest of the ingredients except for the milk and then stir the milk in last.
Separate batter into four muffin baking cups and bake for 20 minutes.

Finding Certainty in Times of Challenge

With the US presidential elections next week, powerful change is upon us.

Over the past months, many of us spent a lot of our energy and focus following the presidential campaign, as well as the stock market. Mixed emotions of hope and fear have popped our dreams of freedom and abundance.

Weaving the dreams of our future into external circumstances causes us to direct the spotlight off of ourselves, and can leave us in a darkness of dependency.

Although we thankfully live in a democracy in which our voices can be heard, it is important to check in and notice if our involvement is leaving us with a feeling of empowerment or of discouragement. Are you focusing your energy on what you don’t want to see, or on the vision that you do want to create? Be sure you are tending the right garden. Whichever you attend to will be the one that grows.

“The external” is not the primary circumstance that determines your personal health or happiness. You are. Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Stress can block the flow of positive change. Doubt can only block the manifestation of what you want in your life.

But how do we create peace at such difficult times, with the political and financial situation being as it is? Are you haunted by a future that may never happen?

Living in fear is never going to produce inner peace. These fears are excuses for us to not take control.

If you are feeling your finances are shaken, this is a message for you to reevaluate your expenses. What habits do you finance that don’t bring you any closer to your higher self? Are your daily spendings at the vending machine or at a take-out counter more important than expanding your awareness and education? Be sure not to give up the things that connect you with your inner peace. Your yoga class, dance class, gym membership, a massage, or the donations you make that open your heart to the gift of giving. These are the investments that will give you the greatest return in the long run. When we give to ourselves and to others from a place of love, we open ourselves to the possibility of trust rather than fear.

Your quality of life is not determined by your future savings as much as it is by your current enjoyment of life. When we allow worry to weigh on our shoulders and lower our head down to the ground, we are likely to miss the subtle opportunities that come our way. Look up! When you see something that helps your spirit thrive and makes you feel good, act upon it or buy it. It will increase your energy vibration and open your channels to inspiration. The higher your “vibe”, the brighter you shine, the more you will attract the abundance you desire.

When we are respectful to money and respectful to ourselves, we invest wisely. We all have an idea of what we are doing and not doing to support our higher self. Seek the support you need to create the change you want to see in yourself and your environment.

Winter Squash

Winter squash originated in the Andes of South America over 3000 years before Columbus. The word squash comes from the Narragansett Indian word askootasquash for "eaten raw." Indians baked winter squash in hot ashes and sweetened them with maple syrup or honey. Squash seeds were toasted or ground for pastes and hard shells used for containers.

Some winter squash is available year round but the season runs from August through March with the peak period from October to December.

Winter squash is a naturally sweet vegetable and can be seasoned in a similar way to sweet potatoes. To emphasize the sweetness; flavor with maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove and ginger. Try cooked garlic for a nutty mellowness or Chinese five-spice powder for an exotic note.

The exception is spaghetti squash. After baking a spaghetti squash (in a similar way to how the squash is baked in the recipe bellow), the flesh can be scooped with a fork like strands of spaghetti. Top it with a pasta sauce like tomato or pesto.

Toasted Winter Squash Seeds: Before cooking a squash, the seeds are removed. Rather than discarding them, rinse the seeds well in a colander and dry. Spread them on an oiled sheet pan and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, raising the temperature to 400 degrees during the last 5 minutes to brown lightly. Salt if desired and store in an airtight container.

Stuffed Winter Squash

2 large acorn or small butternut squash
Salt and pepper to taste
1 6-ounce package wild rice
4 cups vegetable stock or water
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces mushrooms, any combination of domestic and wild, sliced
1 cup chopped onions
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup toasted nuts, any combination of pine nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons fresh herbs such as thyme, chives or marjoram, chopped
1 egg

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half, lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and put it in a roasting pan, cut side down, with 1/2-inch of water. Bake about 40 minutes or until just tender. Remove, season with salt and pepper and lower oven to 350 degrees.

2) Meanwhile, rinse wild rice and cook in stock or water about 45 minutes or until tender. Drain and put in a mixing bowl. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms onions and celery. Cook until mushrooms wilt and onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add to wild rice along with nuts, parsley, herbs, salt and pepper. Add eggs and mix well.

3) Put stuffing into squash cavities, mounding slightly. Cover with foil and bake in a lightly greased baking dish 25 minutes or until heated through.
Serves 4.

Recipe courtesy of Sam Gugino of Sam Cooks.

Falling Into Reflection, Finding Balance With the Season

With the arrival of fall and winter coming around the corner, our body and mind, day by day, make gradual adjustments.

In nature, fall is a time when everything begins to slow down. The weather cools, day light shortens, and the trees and animals begin their preparations to conserve their energy for the winter season. While nature may be slowing down, our schedules often don’t allow us to do the same. Commonly this is the time of year where we fall out of sync with the natural cycle around us.

As the heat settles, so does the expansive and moving energy that it carries. Water is a perfect example of this; as it is heated it will expand into evaporation. Cold has a contractive affect, turning water molecules into solid ice. (Let us not forget that our bodies are more than 75% water.) Summer heat provides a high energy time of year and as the days cool, our energy begins to withdraw inwards and movement begins to slow down. We find ourselves in a more internal, reflective time of year.

Consciously preparing for the transition into winter can help make the darker and colder season a time of beauty and comfort instead of a time to dread. Fall provides us the time of transition into a new state of mind. Just as water does not go from boiling to ice with the change of only one degree, our bodies do not make the transition from summer to winter immediately. Fall provides us with the process of cooling and slowing down.

We must be extra careful to take care of ourselves and find time to restore. Choosing and preparing food according to the season is part of that process.

All foods and flavors have different effects in the body. Some foods are warming while others cool the body’s thermal temperature. Here in New England, the vegetables that grow in the summer cool our bodies during the hot and humid season while the fall vegetable harvest has a more warming, dense and stable balance. When we eat seasonal, local foods, we receive the energies that naturally balance out the seasonal shifts that occur within our bodies.

The way we prepare our food also plays a role in the effect they have on our body. Rather than keeping to the raw foods and grilling methods of summer cooking, which keep the cooling properties, fall and winter are about slower cooked meals that are cooked on a lower heat for a longer period of time. This releases the more warming qualities of our food and provides a settling affect on the expansive (and sometimes scattered) patterns of the warmer seasons.

Baked foods, sautéed foods, heartier foods, and root vegetables all contribute towards the thickening of the blood. If one lives in a cold climate, it is necessary that the blood get thicker as the weather grows colder.

Traditional Chinese Medicine suggests that we can use different flavors to synchronize the body’s energy with the seasons. During summer, pungent, spicy foods may have served a purpose as they provide an outwardly expansive energy; causing us to break into a sweat. Since fall is a process of contracting our energy inwards, we want to incorporate flavors that effect us in a similar way. Sour foods are a good example of a contracting food (think of the face you make when biting into a lemon!). Sour foods include sauerkraut, olives, pickles, vinegar, leeks, adzuki beans, yogurt, lemons, limes, sour apples and sourdough bread. Extremely sour foods should be used in very small amounts as they have a strong effect.(*1) Salty is another flavor that is helpful in balancing the body during the fall and winter. Wholesome salts are found in foods such as unrefined salt, seaweeds, barley, millet, soy sauce, miso, or pickles that are prepared in salt water.(*2)

In modern times it is easy to create a routine that lasts all year round. We can have the same temperature in our house, the same foods in the fridge and the same long working days even when it is dark outside. Internally our body is changing with the seasons and the more we can adapt to those changes, the more we can maintain our vitality and health.

(*1) Caution: Minimize sour foods when feeling a “heavy mind or body” or constipation.

(*2) Caution: Minimize salt in conditions of over weight, edema, lethargy, or high blood pressure.

Curried Lentil & Butternut Soup

1 Tbls, olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 sweet potato, diced

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced

1 cup red lentils

1 Tbls. Curry

1 Tbls. Garam Masala (Indian spices). (If not available, add 1 more Tbls. Curry)

Salt and Pepper

4 cups of water or Vegetable broth

Heat oil in large pot and sautee garlic and onion until tender.

Add curry and masala spices and cook for 30 seconds.

Add sweet potato and squash and mix.

Add lentils, salt, pepper, and broth/water.

Bring to boil and then simmer for 40 minutes.

This soup is delicious when pureed.

Optional: add 1 Tbls. Lemon juice right after taking the soup off the stove.

Optional: add dried or fresh coconut while cooking.

The Natural Choice

When walking down the aisles of a supermarket it can be very confusing to figure out what we should eat in order to be maximally healthy. The shelves are stocked with edible food-like substances packaged in pretty boxes and decorated with endless amounts of “health claim” advertisements.

A box of cereal can have up to 15 health claims on its box while the unpackaged vegetable has none. Am I to understand from this that a processed cracker is by far the healthier choice?!

While the poor silent carrot sits in silence in the produce section, the sugary cereal is screaming in aisle four about its whole grain goodness. This might be good for business, but is it good for us?

If you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid most food products that make health claims. Such claims on a food product are a good indication that it’s not really food, it’s a scientific invention. Food is what you want to eat.

As a general rule of thumb: the more a food needs to be advertised, the less healthy it probably is for you.

To make things simpler, forget the advertised nutrients and look out for the hidden anti-nutrients. If nutrients help us live a healthy life, anti-nutrients are the substances that cause the opposite effect.

These anti-nutrients include:

Poor quality fats:Most packaged foods contain fats such as hydrogenated oil, partially hydrogenated oil, cottonseed oil and olestra. These are the fats that have given all fats an unjust reputation.

Poor quality sugar: Look out for ingredient names such as high fructose corn syrup, white sugar, glucose, Florida Crystals and ALL artificial sweeteners. Sugar is a cheap and addictive ingredient that some companies add to their products in order to boost sales.

Poor quality white flour: Most mass-produced breads, cookies, muffins, bagels, crackers, pastries, donuts and breakfast cereals are made from this highly processed flour. Similar to processed sugar, this food-like substance provides no nutrients. When we eat, we use some of our stored nutrient resources to digest our food. When eating white sugar and flour we get no nutrient resources in return. This leaves us more depleted of energy than we were before we ate.

Poor quality dairy:The meat and dairy industry in our country has reached a point where the animals are treated so inhumanly that they must be pumped with antibiotics and hormones in order to keep them alive. These added hormones, combined with the animals’ high level of natural stress hormones, are found in each of these products. Thankfully, due to customer demand, most supermarkets are now offering affordable organic milk, yogurt and cheese. You can also look to leafy greens, nuts and seeds for excellent sources of calcium.

Poor quality meat:This is the meat found in fast-food, processed meats (such as packaged cold cuts) and commercially produced hot dogs. Similar to the dairy industry, any meat that is not raised without the use of antibiotics and hormones is of low quality. Would you like a side of fries with your antibiotics?

The quality of your food defines the quality of your life. The food that you eat is broken down in your body and is used to build your cells and tissues. If you want to feel energized and alive you must build your body from foods that contain energy and life.

Foods that are alive have life force. They are often raw and will spoil if left out. Let’s put it this way; if microorganisms cannot thrive on it, what makes me think I can?

Foods that don’t go bad are usually already dead. They have had all life processed out of them and are packed with preservatives to keep them from decaying. Processing foods removes the natural elements of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Our cells need these nutritional elements to communicate with each other. When they are processed out of our foods, our systems are unable to function at their best. We start to fall apart both physically and emotionally. Our cells don’t just build our muscles and bones; what we consume feeds our brain cells, our nervous system and hormonal system. If your cells are regenerating from processed foods alone, how healthy do you think you will feel?

If you want your body and your every thought to vibrate with life force, you must feed it life, not science.

Natural Sweeteners

Who among us doesn’t love sweets? The sweet flavor releases serotonin in our brains, the chemical responsible for our sense of well-being and contentment. But when it comes to sweeteners, not all are created equal. There are side effects and health risks from refined sweeteners like white table sugar and high fructose corn syrup, and from artificial sweeteners like NutraSweet, saccharin and Splenda. Because they have been stripped of vitamins, minerals and fiber, refined sweeteners can spike blood sugar. This can often lead to cravings and mood and energy fluctuations. Instead, if we use naturally and minimally processed sweeteners, we can reduce cravings for sugary things, level blood sugar ups and downs, stabilize moods and have a dramatically positive effect on long-term health.

Here are a few natural sweeteners to substitute in food, drinks and baking. Since they are all approximately 1.5 times sweeter than refined sugar, you can use less. These sweeteners can be found in most supermarkets or natural food stores. When replacing sugar with liquid sweeteners in a recipe, reduce the amounts of other liquids.

Raw Honey:Honey is one of the oldest natural sweeteners on the market. Depending on the plant source, honey provides a variety of flavors for you to choose from. Whenever possible, choose raw honey as a sweetener. Raw honey is unrefined and contains small amounts of enzymes, minerals, and vitamins.

Agave Nectar: Agave is made through the extraction and purification of the juice of the agave cactus. It does not stimulate insulin secretion as other sugars do, so it does not create a "sugar rush" and spares you from the “sugar crash.” It has a delightfully light and mild flavor.

Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is the concentrated extract of the sap of maple trees. It adds a rich, deep flavor to foods and drinks. Make sure to look for 100% pure maple syrup, not maple-flavored corn syrup. As with all sweeteners, organic varieties of maple syrup are best.

Maple Fruit Compote with Honey-Ginger Toasted Nuts

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

2-3 apples

2-3 peaches or pears

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 cup raisins

juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup walnuts, or nuts of your choice

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

2 tablespoons honey

1. Wash, core and chop fruit into slices or chunks.

2. Place in a large saucepan with 1/3 cup of water. Add the maple syrup and raisins.

3. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.

4. Add lemon juice and cinnamon. Cook for another 10 minutes, until soft.

5. While fruit is cooking, place chopped nuts in a skillet over medium heat and toast, stirring often for 5 minutes.

6. Drizzle honey over the nuts and add ginger, but keep stirring since the honey can easily burn.

7. Top warm fruit with toasted nuts and enjoy.

The Intelligence of Our gut Feeling

The term “gut feelings” is commonly used to describe intuitive insight. But how does a feeling originate from our belly?

The digestive system houses a whole network of the nervous system which senses and controls events in the digestive tract as well as in the rest of the body. Scientists have found that there is a greater flow of neural messages originating in the belly and flowing to the brain than from the brain to the belly. With more messages coming out of the belly center, it seems we do not only have one brain in our head controlling and supervising our physical and emotional body, but a second brain in our gut.

In relation to digestion, this means that the digestive commands originate from our belly, and it is not the head that is in charge of informing the digestive system what to eat and how to metabolize.

So why are we constantly relying on our “head-brain” by reading every diet book and calculating each gram of protein, fat, and carbs? While there is definite value in taking such things into account, when we do so with no conscious connection to what our body is actually asking for, we stay imprisoned to external dictatorships rather than free within our inner-knowing.

Do you have the guts to trust?

Are you going to keep looking to others to tell you what to do? If you don’t want others to tell you how to think and live, why are you so dependent on others to tell you how to eat?!

Just as the brain gets smarter over time by storing new information, your gut accumulates information over time about what dietary choices have been beneficial and detrimental to your constitution. Your body has already written your own personalized diet book _ and you don’t have to wait until it comes out in paperback.

How do I access my intuition?

To begin to access our inner wisdom, we must learn to slow down and listen.

Before deciding on your next meal, take a few deep breaths into your belly. Similarly to the brain in your head, the “gut-brain” will be more responsive and alert when receiving a strong supply of oxygen. This awakens the gut and ignites metabolism.

After a few breaths, ask your belly for advice on what foods and quantities will be good for you at this time. Ask yourself if this is the right time to eat? Once you have decided on a meal, imagine swallowing a bite of it and notice if it makes you feel nourished.

This is like learning a new language; expect to feel uncertainty. Any mistakes are just learning opportunities. They are just another small paragraph written by your gut in your diet book of inner-wisdom.

Trust yourself enough to simply call upon your inner wisdom. The more you call on it, the louder it will begin to speak.

Trust your intuition. When you feel you got it right, what could be more empowering?

Summer Cooling

The heat of summer can have us reaching for the cold and creamy... commonly in the form of ice cream.

To satisfy the craving in other ways, keep cold apple sauce or your favorite yogurt in the refrigerator. Often a serving of these moist cooling foods will meet your needs. For a cooling crunch, freeze fresh blueberries and eat them right out of the freezer. This is also the perfect time to get creative with smoothies.

Blueberry Smoothie recipe from: Ani's Raw Food Kitchen 3 cups of water 2 cups blueberries 1/2 cup cashews 1/2 pitted dates 1 Tbls. pure vanilla extract In a blender, blend 2 cups of water with berries, nuts, dates and vanilla until smooth. Add last cup of water and blend again. Will keep for 3 days in fridge.	Mango Smoothie recipe from: Ani's Raw Food Kitchen 3 cups of water 2 mangoes, peeled & cubed 1/4 cup almonds 1/2 cup pitted dates 1 Tbls. pure vanilla extract In a blender, blend 2 cups of water with mango, nuts, dates and vanilla until smooth. Add last cup of water and blend again. Will keep for 3 days in fridge.
Creamy Coconut Pudding recipe from: Ani's Raw FoodKitchen 2 cups cashews 1.5 cups water 1/4 cup pitted dates 1/2 cup shredded dried coconut Blend water and cashews until smooth. Add coconut and dates and blend again until smooth. Will keep for 3 days in fridge.	Chocolate Mousse 3 avocados 1/2 cup cacao powder 1/4-1/2 cup agave nectar or maple syrup Blend in food processor avocados and cacao with sweetener of choice. Start with less sweetener and add more if necessary. variations: add vanilla extract, banana, coconut, or dried fruit. Will keep for 3 days in fridge.
Banana Ice Cream 4 ripe large bananas 2 Tbls. pure vanilla extract 1 tsp. ground cinnamon Peel & cut bananas into chunks. Spread chunks on a plate and freeze for 1 hour. Place in food processor/ blender with vanilla and cinnamon. At first, process in "burst mode" until bananas soften and then process continuously until creamy smooth. Top with either chopped walnuts, tahini paste, or maple syrup. Serve immediately. Variations: add cacao powder and agave nectar, add berries, or add spirulina.

Food for Thought or Thought for Food?

Have you ever finished a meal and noticed that the belly is full but the mouth is still hungry? Most likely you were not paying much attention to your meal while eating it. If the brain does not experience the pleasure of the eating through taste and smell, it will remain hungry, searching for that satisfaction by longing for more food.

Scientists estimate that 30-40% of our digestive response starts in the brain, and by putting our attention elsewhere, the digestive system does not receive the blood and energy it needs to properly assimilate food. This results in symptoms such as digestive upset, bowel disorders, fatigue, weight gain, or the inability to absorb vital nutrients.

Many people who describe themselves as having a problem with overeating actually have a problem of awareness; they don’t eat when they eat. While eating, their attention is on watching TV, reading, checking email, or perhaps driving.

To find the answer to “how much should I be eating?” change the question to “how am I eating?”

If you love food why do you rush through every eating experience?

Most people eat until they "feel full." To digest a big meal we must generate more metabolic force by pulling more blood and oxygen into the stomach. As a result, other parts of the body such the arms, legs and brain lose blood supply. This translates as a feeling of being tired and sluggish.

Instead of eating till full, eat until energized.

Estimate the point where you feel full of energy rather than full with food. At this point you will feel light and still a little hungry. This slight hunger leaves energy for you to carry into your next activity. It will ensure more blood flow to your brain to make you more alert. When you eat even one bite past the point of energy, you will feel heavier.

Begin your meal by setting an intention to eat to a point of energy. Observe your energy level several times through out your meal. Watch your sense of lightness, alertness and vibrancy. Ask yourself “How do I feel? How is my energy level? Do I still feel light? Am I starting to feel heavy?”* You will know you have gone past the peak energy point when you begin to feel sluggish and unfocused.

Put down your fork and take a moment of gratitude for the nourishment that you have received.

Try practicing this for a week and you will sharpen your ability to instinctively recognize when to stop.

It is my personal experience that as I have practiced this way of eating, I’ve become more intuitive in all areas of my life. After all, such awareness comes from the gut, not the brain. By giving our gut more attention, it becomes easier for us to connect to our “gut feeling”.

(*This exercise is inspired by Marc David, www.marcdavid.com)

Beets

Beets are in season from June to October. The deep red pigment is known as an anti-cancer agent. Beets can aid in strengthening the heart, improving circulation, purifying the blood and liver, and moistening the intestines. Beets can also treat nervousness and congestion of the vascular system.

Beet Salad with Fennel and Mint

(find similar recipes at www.integrativenutrition.com)

This is a great summer salad. The fennel and mint provide a fresh and cooling effect. For variety, try using different colored beets.

2 beets

1 small fennel bulb

1 bunch mint leaves

2 oranges

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1. Place beets in a pot, cover with 1 inch with water and boil for 20-30 minutes, until a fork pierces easily through the middle of each beet.

2. While beets are cooking, wash fennel and slice very thin.

3. Chop mint into thin ribbons.

4. Zest oranges and juice them into a bowl.

5. When beets are cooked, drain them in the sink and rinse under cold water.

6. Peel the skin off beets with hands and chop beets into ¼-inch thick, quarter rounds.

7. Add all ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.

No Matter What You Eat, Choose the Highest Quality of that Food

Eating quality foods is the best strategy we can use to improve our health and lives as well as the health of our planet.

Endless nutritional studies have proven that the diets of cultures that keep traditional diets of fresh, whole, & local foods are dramatically healthier than diets of cultures relying on mostly refined or mass produced foods.

Quality can mean: fresh, organic, lovingly made, homemade, locally produced, free of pesticides and herbicides (these are anti-nutrients and disease agents), free of antibiotics and growth hormones, heirloom varieties, nutrient dense, free of artificial ingredients.

Higher quality food means greater nutritional value. Food provides your body with energy and information. When you eat a carrot, the Beta-carotene in the carrot tells the body how to see better at night, the antioxidants in blueberries demonstrate how to keep your blood healthy and flowing, the B vitamins in brown rice chat with the nervous system on how to relieve depression.

So if your food is telling you its story, don’t you want to hear a happy one?

If your tomato was grown in depleted soils, it doesn’t have much to tell about minerals and vitamins. Through its taste you learn the tale of high acidity rather than natural sweetness, and if it was sprayed with pesticides and herbicides, your body ingests carcinogenic information.

There is more than just nutritional value in your food. There is life experience.

If the chicken you eat was conventionally raised, she probably never saw sunlight, never stood up straight because her cage was too small and crowded, was never healthy enough to grow feathers, was heavily fed with antibiotics and growth hormones so that she could survive long enough, and was then killed in the most inhumane conditions. We all know what it feels like to hold stress and fear in our own bodies… so how much energy of stress, tension and fear do you think you will be digesting in that meal?! As best as you can, replace poor quality meats with ones labeled free range, organic, grass fed, antibiotic and hormone free.

If your tomato was mass produced, picked and packed by underpaid workers, chopped in a machine with a thousand other tomatoes and slapped onto your fast food bun, the cellular information it contains will not be too different form that of our poor chicken. All this information lives inside your food just as surely as you live inside your body.

If your food could verbalize a story about its journey from the seed to your palate, let it be as fairytale-like as possible, filled with care and consciousness.

Upgrade any way you can: whether through choosing higher quality, through adding some Vitamin L (love) to it by preparing the meal for you and your loved ones or by simply expressing gratitude by saying grace before you chow down.

If you want your food to help you feel healthy and happy, you have to start creating it in that image.

Brown Rice & Veggie Nori Rolls

Prep time: 10 minutes

Assembly: 5 minutes

This recipe is a great way to incorporate them into your diet. The rolls are easy to pack up for kid's lunches or to take with you where ever you go. Be creative and experiment with different ingredients like smoked salmon, tofu or other vegetables.

1 – 1½ cups cooked short grain brown rice

1 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 sheets roasted nori
½ seedless cucumber, cut into matchsticks
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
½ peeled avocado, cut lengthwise into thin slices
Sushi mat (a thick but flexible piece of paper can work here as a substitute)

Rice:

* Place rice in a bowl.

* In a small bowl stir together vinegar and soy sauce.

* Pour vinegar mixture over rice, tossing gently with a large spoon to combine.

Sushi Roll:

* Place sushi mat on a work surface with slats running crosswise.

* Arrange 1 sheet nori, shiny side down, on mat, lining up a long edge of sheet with edge of mat nearest you.

* Using damp fingers gently press half of rice onto nori in 1 layer, leaving a 1 3/4-inch border on side farthest from you.

* Arrange half of cucumber in an even strip horizontally across rice, starting 1 inch from side nearest you.

* Stack half of carrot just above cucumber in same manner.

* Stack half of avocado over carrot in same manner.

* Beginning with edge nearest you, lift mat up with your thumbs, holding filling in place with your fingers and fold mat over so that you are rolling the nori away from you. Make sure to keep the ingredients in place and that the rice sticks together.

* Open mat and roll the nori log forward to seal with its border.

* Transfer roll, seam side down, to a cutting board and let it sit for a few minutes.

* Make second log in same manner, then cut each log crosswise into 6 pieces with a wet thin-bladed knife.

* Serve with wasabi paste, soy sauce and ginger

Spring Cleansing: Self-Maintenance Throughout the Year

It is not uncommon for medical test results to show nothing wrong despite the fact that you are not feeling well. No diagnosis and yet you are experiencing headaches, body pains, insomnia, dry skin, rashes, or fatigue. Better than no diagnosis, have you ever heard the not so helpful “it’s just stress…?”

Just as stress builds up in the body over time, so does toxicity. Stress wears down the tissues and impairs the kidneys and liver’s ability to filter and clean our body’s accumulation of daily toxins. This allows the toxins to flow freely through the bloodstream. Our body, which is cleverly trying to heal itself by finding ways to release these toxins, may begin to expel them through the skin. You may then find yourself wondering why “out of the blue” you are experiencing eczema or psoriasis. Without finding alternative ways of escape, toxicity can wear down the tissues of the digestive system, contribute to the creation of an autoimmune disease, or move up to the head manifesting as a migraine or unclear thinking.

Diet plays as a large part in the build-up or breakdown of toxins. Fueled by the correct foods that complement our bio-individuality, combined with the mindfulness of eating, our body is capable of performing a self-healing process.

Are you choosing foods that harm or foods that heal?

Are you eating too much? Overeating contributes to toxicity by preventing the digestive system from properly breaking down the food.

Are you eating too fast? Digestion begins in the mouth through the saliva. When we swallow our food whole, it makes it hard for the body to break it down. This causes the food to ferment in our systems. If you are experiencing gas, it is not necessarily due to the type of food but to the swallowing of air while shoveling it down.

Are you focused on eating when eating? Do you sit down in a calm environment for each meal or are you multi-tasking fighting traffic or sorting through e-mails? Let your body focus on digestion while you eat. A meal is a conversation between your body and the food. Multi-tasking while eating is like having two conversations at once; if two people are talking to you at the same time about two completely different matters, how much of each conversation are you going to process?! And if the larger portion of your energy is focused on the other thing you are doing, your body is not getting the message to activate the digestive system. Shocked to receive food, the body is unprepared to digest.

When are you eating? Just like the sun, the digestive heat is strongest during the earlier half of the day. If we race through our days too busy to eat right, our body will be starving by evening. Eating too much too late, the body ends up focusing on digestion instead of on detoxification. Thus, the following morning we are still carrying yesterday’s toxins in our system. It is time to take a look into what we are doing and how we are doing it.

Recipe for a Spring Diet: A cleansing Meal

As the seasons change, our needs change accordingly. Nutritionally, this is a good time of year to cleanse. Your diet should become lighter, with more foods like greens, sprouts, salads, fruits, nuts and seeds. Incorporate some grains and reduce heavier foods such as dairy and meat. Fried foods, foods containing chemicals, and alcohol should be avoided. Spring is an important time of year to develop a regular exercise program. Creating clarity and developing focus through mental relaxation is important during spring as this is a time of new beginnings. By eliminating excess and congestion, we create room for a brighter now.

Spring Salad:

All ingredients in this salad contain cleansing properties

Dandelion greens
Sprouts (mixes of sprouted beans, lentils, seeds and peas are available at your health food store)
Daikon Radish

Dressing:
Lemon juice (preferably freshly squeezed)
1 clove of garlic (optional)
Drizzle of olive oil (optional) 1 Tsp of Mustard (optional)

This salad can be either warm or cold:

Warm salad:
Sauté daikon radish and garlic in either a tablespoon of olive oil or a little bit of water, then add greens and sprouts for the last 2-3 minutes. Once it is done, season with lemon juice and mustard.

Cold salad:
Slice daikon into rings (as you would a carrot) and cook by either slightly sautéing or baking with olive oil at 375 until tender. Once cooked, mix daikon with raw dandelion, lemon juice and mustard.

Fire Your Metabolism with Breath:

We hear much talk of diet and how exercise burns calories. Yet many people starve themselves on low calorie diets and exercise like maniacs_and the weight refuses to come off. Obviously there must be more to the picture….

A calorie is simply a measure of heat that is released when something is burned.

The amount of energy, or heat, that is released from the foods we eat is the measurement of how many calories those foods contain.

To extract the energy from food, the body breaks it down and sends it to our cells where it combusts with oxygen, releasing the energy.

Our digestive system is like a fire: it needs food for fuel and the right amount of air to maintain its power. Without oxygen we are unable to utilize the energy in the foods we eat. In simple words: Calories need oxygen to burn. With food, quality is vital; with oxygen, quantity is what counts most.

Relaxed breathing during meals strengthens metabolism. If you eat when feeling tense, eat too fast, or are distracted by work, your breathing is shallow and your metabolism weak. The breath is a fundamental ingredient to our meal.

• Work towards a deeper breath that still feels natural and unforced.
• Have meals in an area richer in air when possible, such as in a room with an open window as opposed to one with circulated air, like a sealed office building.
• If dining out, choose a restaurant that has a relaxed atmosphere rather than large and noisy dining area.
• Dine with people who inspire you and keep conversation positive.
• Sitting up straight allows a fuller breath capacity.

Green Foods For Spring

The spring season is a time of renewal. It's a time for spring cleaning, also for the body. Leafy greens are some of the easiest and most beneficial vegetables to incorporate into your daily routine, and provide the materials for a thorough cleansing.

Greens aid in purifying the blood, strengthening the immune system, improving liver, gall bladder and kidney function, fighting depression, clearing congestion, improving circulation and keeping your skin clear and blemish free.

Think of these foods as another way of adding that oxygen into your diet: isn’t that what they produce?!

They are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous and zinc, and are a powerhouse for vitamins A, C, E and K. They are crammed full of fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll, and many other micronutrients and phytochemicals.

Members of this royal green family include kale, collard greens, swiss chard, mustard greens, arugula, dandelion greens, broccoli rabe, watercress, beet greens, bok choy, napa cabbage, green cabbage, spinach and broccoli.

Recipe: Simply Boiled Kale

Step one:

• Boil water in a pot.
• Remove leaves from stems and cut or tear leaves in any size you like. Chop the stems into ½-inch pieces, discarding the bottom as it tends to be tough.
• Add Kale to boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. By the end the leaves should be slightly wilted yet bright green.
• Strain the kale and keep the water

Note: The water you boiled the kale in has taken on a sweet flavor. Sip it as a tea, use it in your next broth or soup, or let it cool and water your plants with it.

Step Two:
Choose one of the following variations:
o Toss with lemon juice and salt
o Toss with a dash of tamari/ soy sauce
o Toss with balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
o Sautee garlic in olive oil and mix kale in on the last minute.
o Top with nutritional yeast
o Drizzle a few drops of sesame oil
o Sauté onions, mushrooms, red peppers, leeks, corn… whatever sounds or looks appealing to you and mix in the greens for the last minute of the Sautéing
o Add some chopped walnuts to one of the variations above
o Toast pine nuts on a cookie sheet in a 325-degree oven for 5 minutes. Then toss with greens, some raisins, and a squeeze of lemon juice

Published in Martha Stewart!

In the News:

Max sense of self is proud to be featured in what we consider to be one of the top and best health magazines available today; Martha Stewart's Body & Soul Magazine, the April addition. In this Article we recommend a simple yoga posture that calms the mind, relieves stress, aids in adrenal fatigue and in optimal digestion. The article is featured on page 88.

Metabolize Your Life

The definition of metabolism is the sum total of ALL chemical reactions in the body.

With the understanding that our thoughts also create a physiological chemical reaction, we might say that metabolism is not tied purely to the physical body, but plays a part at a mental and emotional level as well.

Food that is not properly metabolized and digested may be stored in our bodies as fat or will cause other toxic reactions. Similarly, if we rush through our life experiences and miss the lesson, we do not properly process and digest each situation. Unresolved experiences and emotions may accumulate as tension in the muscles and other tissues of the body.

Racing through life and rushing through our meals puts our body into a stress-response mode rather than a state of rest-and-digest.

If we continue to approach each of our experiences in a fight or flight response, we are expending more energy then we are creating. Our digestive system and metabolism weaken, our breath shortens, and our muscles chronically tighten.

Accumulating energy and bringing metabolism back to its optimal functioning level will happen by finding ways to slow down: achieving more by doing less.

What you eat is only half of the equation; how you eat is the other half.
Let’s work toward stopping the fight. When we love, we are receptive and open to receiving our food and our experiences. By embracing these things, we correctly metabolize because the body wants to integrate them rather than see them as an enemy that it needs to restrict. Can you start to relax enough to choose healthy pleasure over fighting the pain? Life is not working against us and food is not an evil culprit.

It is my personal belief that one of the biggest keys to a strong metabolic rate is feeling personal empowerment. When we feel self-empowered we receive a sudden huge surge of natural energy. When we feel strong, our body feels strong.

Simple first steps toward introducing mindfulness while eating:

* Eat with chopsticks.
* Eat with your non-dominant hand.
* Chew your food 30 to 50 times per bite.
* Eat without TV, newspaper or computer.
* Eat sitting down.
* Put the proper portions of food on your plate and try to make the meal last at least 20 minutes.

Oils and Fats

Not all oils and fats are created equal. Heavily processed, hydrogenated, “trans” fats and oils that are used in prepared, packaged foods can be extremely damaging to the body. However, fats and oils from whole foods and other high-quality sources can steady our metabolism, keep hormone levels even, nourish our skin, hair and nails and provide lubrication to keep the body functioning fluidly. Our bodies also need fat for insulation and to protect and hold our organs in place.

A healthy percentage of high-quality fat in a meal satisfies and leaves feelings of energy, fulfillment and warmth. When there are excess fats and oils in the diet, especially heavily processed fats, symptoms can include weight gain, skin breakouts, high blood pressure, liver strain and an overall feeling of mental, physical and emotional heaviness. Signs of insufficient high-quality fats are brittle hair and nails, dry skin, hunger after meals and feeling cold.

There are many sources of healthy fats and oils. Oils higher in saturated fat such as high quality butter, ghee (clarified butter) or coconut oil hold better at high temperatures. When sautéing and stovetop cooking at moderate temperatures, try organic extra virgin olive oil. Any vegetable oil is best when unrefined. Oils like flaxseed, sesame, walnut and pumpkin seed are best used unheated. Try using less oil with cooking and then add it unheated in sauces or dressings, on top of salads, veggies or grains. Other healthy fats are found in whole nuts and seeds and in their butters like almond butter or tahini. Whole foods such as avocados, olives and coconuts are great sources of healthy fat, along with wild salmon and omega-3 and omega-6 organic eggs. Experiment with these healthy fat sources and see which agree with you and leave you satisfied.

Choose UNREFINED oils.

When selecting oils, buy the highest quality organic products you can afford, since cooking oils are the backbone of so many dishes. Good words to look for on the label are organic, first-pressed, cold-pressed, extra-virgin and unrefined. Words to avoid are expeller-pressed, refined and solvent extracted.
Oil is sensitive to light and heat so those that come in plastic clear bottles are usually oils of a lower quality.

Recipe: Savory Tahini Sauce

Prep time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients:
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tamari
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
pinch of cayenne (to your taste)

Directions:
1. In a bowl briskly whisk together the tahini and water until combined. It will look separated at first: just keep whisking!
2. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until combined.
3. Adjust flavors to your taste. Add additional water if you want it thinner.
4. Serve over grains and greens.
Note: Tahini sauce keeps refrigerated for up to one week.

Soul Food

Think for a moment of a food from your past…one that for no specific reason makes you feel great after eating it. Maybe it is macaroni and cheese, mom’s stuffing or potato pancakes. Eating food like this (every now and then) can be incredibly healing, even though rationally you consider it is not nutritious.

Food has the power to impact us on a level deeper than just our physical well-being. What we eat can reconnect us to precious memories, like childhood playtimes, holidays, our grandmother’s cooking or our country of ancestry. Our bodies remember foods from the past on an emotional and cellular level. Eating this food connects us to our roots and its comforting and nurturing effects reach far beyond the food’s biochemical make-up.

Lily, a client of mine, came to me a few months back wanting to wean herself from her addiction to sugar. She consumed candy, pastries and ice cream on a daily basis. Once we added the foods and lifestyle choices that satiated and balanced her needs, her sugar cravings subsided.

For her daughter’s birthday, Lily baked a cake. As everyone was enjoying the cake she too craved a piece. If she ate it, would she be consumed with guilt? If she didn’t eat it, would she be thinking about it all week? Through our work together, Lily had gained an understanding of how to read into the cause of her cravings. When she asked herself why she wanted the cake, she immediately knew that it wasn’t her old sugar craving but a desire to share in the experience of eating something she had so lovingly made for her daughter. There was more love than sugar in that one piece of cake. Eating it made her feel alive rather than ashamed. It was delicious and she did not crave an additional piece.

The guilt or shame that we consume with certain foods is far worse than the food itself. If we eat food we consider bad for us, we are sending a message to our body that there is something harmful entering the body. This prevents us from digesting our foods correctly, causing havoc to the digestive system, preventing the assimilation of nutrients or creating an accumulation of fat.

Acknowledging what different foods mean to us is an important part of cultivating a good relationship with food. This month when we celebrate love and relationships, it is important to notice that we each have a relationship with food—and that this relationship is often far from loving. Many of us restrict food, attempting to control our weight. We often abuse food, substituting it for emotional well-being. Some ignore food, swallowing it whole without even tasting it.

What would your life be like if you treated food and your body the same way you would treat your beloved? With gentleness, playfulness, communication, honesty, respect and love? The next time you eat your soul food, do so with awareness and without guilt, and enjoy all the healing and nourishment it brings you.

Cacao Beans:

Cacao beans are a fantastic food source for Magnesium and antioxidants. These beans can help us stay focused due to their source of PEA, a chemical that increases the activity of certain neurotransmitters (brain chemicals). Cocoa also contains Anandamine, a lipid (fat) known as "the bliss chemical", because it is released while we are feeling great. It supplies serotonin, dopamine, and phenylethylamine, three well-studied neurotransmitters, which help alleviate depression and are associated with feelings of well being.

It is best to have chocolate with no added dairy products/milk or refined sugar. Some studies show that the additions of dairy products block the absorption of all the great antioxidants in chocolate! Allergies to chocolate which were thought to be common have recently been linked more to the milk rather than the cocoa content.
Even better than dark chocolates are raw cacao beans which possess all the magical properties of chocolate without any adulteration or processing!
Power the body by adding cocoa nibs (crushed cacao beans) to your favorite dessert, shake, or cereal.

When giving a Valentine’s gift of Chocolates, make sure the chocolate you choose contains a high content of cocoa. Most fine quality chocolates will list the percentage of cocoa. Check the ingredients and see if cocoa or sugar is the first ingredient listed. Give the gift of health to your loved ones.

Home Made Molded Chocolates:

Basic ingredients:

Unsweetened dark chocolate (100% cocoa bars)
Agave nectar

Choose one of the following additions:
Organic unsweetened peanut butter/ almond butter
Chopped nuts
Plain brown rice cereal
Peppermint extract

Melt chocolate down over low heat (preferably in a double boiler, but a small pot works just as well) and sweeten to taste with agave nectar. Mix in extract, cereal or nuts if desired.

Spoon the melted chocolate into little candy cups.
If you choose to add nut butter; fill the cup half way with chocolate, add a dollop of nut butter and then fill the cup to the top with more chocolate.

Place the cups on a wax-paper-covered cookie tray and place in freezer until chocolates are set.

For gift-giving, you can put these in boxes or use decorative mini Chinese food cartons--I love those! Almost everyone I know is THRILLED to receive chocolate, especially the kind that you put your love and time into creating for them...

The Reward Is In The Process

The New Year caries a powerful energy as many tend to turn inward and reflect upon their resolutions for the upcoming year. Goals can be helpful and yet extremely overwhelming; they invoke a fear of commitment; your mind begins to reason with resistance- “how can I commit to something when I don’t know HOW I’m going to achieve it?”
The good news is that you don’t have to know how. All you need is to be willing.

The fact that you are feeling a reaction to your desired resolutions indicates that the healing process has begun. E-motion equals Energy-in-motion. Since our mind is our creative force, the process begins the moment we think about making a change.

Impatience is another form of resistance. We want to see the results immediately rather than learn the lessons involved in what created the problem in the first place. Our lessons in growth lay in the small steps that will lead us to the solution. These small steps will insure we don’t recreate the problem in the future. It is the journey which reveals and addresses the cause rather than just eliminating the symptom. Through the process, we learn the connection between the outer experiences and the inner thoughts that create them.

This is where affirmations come in. Affirmations are tools to achieve your resolutions. With a consistently positive attitude about your goals, you are more likely to reach them. An affirmation is a statement of a belief you would like to hold about yourself.

Be sure to phrase your affirmations positively. Our thoughts create a mental image in our mind. For example if you say “I don’t want to be so self-conscious” you are still projecting to your mind an image of being self-conscious. If you are saying “I am filled with confidence” that is the image you’re creating. Also, state the affirmation in the present tense; "I am confident" rather than "I will act confident." If you state in future tense, your subconscious is receiving the image that this is something that is always just out of your reach.

Your mind is a tool and it is your choice in how you are going to use it. The thoughts you choose to think create the experiences you have. If you believe that it is hard or difficult to change a habit, then this will be true. If you choose to think “it is becoming easier for me to make changes,” then that is what will be true to you.

The power of change is always in the present moment. You are never stuck. The way you perceived your past experiences is what brought you to where you are today. What you choose to believe and say now will create the next moment and all future moments. You have the power in every present moment as each moment is a new beginning.

I approve of myself
This is the best day of my life
Whatever I need to know now is revealed to me
Everything is working for my highest good
I deserve the best and I accept it now
It’s going to be a happy new year!

Beans

Beans, or legumes, including peas and lentils, are an excellent source of plant-based protein. Beans are found in most traditional cultures as a staple food, offering grounding and strengthening properties that enhance endurance. They offer a highly usable, highly absorbable source of calcium for the body. A very inexpensive source of high nutrition, beans can be rich, delicious and satisfying,

Overtaxed adrenal glands and kidneys can also cause a lack in sexual energy. Beans are notorious for strengthening these organs (ever noticed the shape of a bean?) and can help restore vital energy as well as sexual energy.

Beans have a reputation for causing digestive distress, but this is usually because they have been undercooked or improperly prepared. To help reduce gas-forming properties, soak beans overnight prior to cooking, increase cooking time, add spices like bay leaf, oregano or cumin, or add kombu (a sea vegetable) when cooking.

Side Note: Jelly Beans and Coffee Beans Don't Count....