Health Practitioners will agree that if we started off with following the simple rules of: A - an Apple a day, B - Breath deeply, C - Chew your food more, D - Drink more water…and E - Exercise we all would be much healthier. It certainly is a good start; and as the law of attraction will have it, once you start on these simple healthy habits, other healthy habits will follow.

Here is what this easy guideline can do for you:

Apples

Apples contain vitamin C which boosts your immune system. They are also high in antioxidants and rich an flavonoids, which helps to prevent heart disease and cancers. Not only does an apple have around one and a half times more antioxidants than a 75 gram serve of blueberries, it has more than twice the antioxidants of a cup of tea, about three times the antioxidants of an orange and almost eight times the antioxidants of a banana (according to the past 10 years of scientific research and published in ‘The Apple Report’)

Breathing

The primary role of breathing is gas exchange: our cells need oxygen and their waste product, carbon dioxide, needs to be expelled. Breathing is an automatic body function, controlled by the respiratory centre of the brain. However, we can also deliberately change our rate of breathing.

Different healing systems, from different cultures, have long realised the healing benefits of the breath, including yoga, Tai Chi and some forms of meditation. Many holistic practitioners believe that the breath is the link between the physical body and the ethereal mind, and that spiritual insight is possible through conscious breathing.

Regardless of the philosophy, scientific studies have shown that correct breathing can help manage stress and stress-related conditions by soothing the autonomic nervous system. (Better Health)

Chewing

Most people think that digestion begins in the stomach. This is not true. Digestion starts in the mouth. Saliva in your mouth contains enzymes that are important to food digestion.

When you do not chew your food thoroughly, this will result in incomplete digestion. Large particles of food will pass into the colon and become a breeding ground for bacteria. This can lead to bacterial overgrowth. Properly chewed food is important for a healthy lower GI tract.

A good way to tell if your food has been chewed properly is to chew until you can no longer recognize the food by the texture. If you are chewing a carrot and are still able to tell it is a carrot by the texture in your mouth, then you need to chew it a lot more before you swallow. (The benefits of chewing properly)

Drinking

How much water should you drink each day? A simple question with no easy answers. Studies have produced varying recommendations over the years, but in truth, your water needs depend on many factors, including your health, how active you are and where you live.

Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don’t have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy, make you tired and influence how well your stomach digests food. Lack of fluid can cause constipation.

To ward off dehydration and make sure your body has the fluids it needs, make water your beverage of choice. Nearly every healthy adult can consider the following:

* Drink a glass of water with each meal and between each meal.
* Hydrate before, during and after exercise.
* Substitute sparkling water for alcoholic drinks at social gatherings.

If you drink water from a bottle, thoroughly clean or replace the bottle often. (The Mayo Clinic)

Exercise

Everyone knows this one. Walking or climbing the stairs is considered exercise. It’s not necessary to spend two hours pumping weights in the gym. Walking 30 minutes each day can reduce and prevent the risk of Diabetes 2 combined with a moderate change in diet, by 50%. Exercise not only benefits your body, but your organs as well. It certainly makes the heart stronger and aids digestion and has been proven to combat depression.

The Law of Attraction

One quick word on the law of attraction … putting aside the rather vague notion that all you have to do is repeat a mind-numbing mantra endlessly and believing that what you want you already have, has never worked for me. Even though, in a Pavlovian fashion, I find myself repeating the mantra “There is a free car space at the front entrance of my bank, nail salon, deli,” whenever I am heading that way. Has it worked? Yes, it has …. once or twice…! So, how will doing A, B, C, D attract more health into my life? First, if you’re not doing any of the above, the apple alone will probably make a huge difference. Second, combining all five, ads up to a hell of a lot of benefits. And third, you are doing something and not just thinking about it!!

Ivan Pavlov

Oh yes, another quick word on Ivan Pavlov after whom ‘Pavlov’s Dog’ or ‘Pavlovian Conditioning’ was termed. It was popularly believed that by ringing a bell Ivan Pavlov had conditioned his dog to salivate in anticipation of food and therefore developed the concept of conditioned reflex. In fact Pavlov was also given the Nobel Prize for his research pertaining to the digestive system. So it kind of ties in with the law of attraction. As we condition our digestive system with healthier foods, it is only natural for health to be attracted to our whole being. As you will, a ‘conditioned reflex.’

Apple and Blueberry Crumble

Serves 4
Filling
1.350 kg (2 lb 11 oz) Granny Smith apples – peeled, diced and cored
200 g (1 cup) frozen blueberries
1 Tbs fresh orange juice
1 tsp lemon rind - grated
3 Tbs honey
Crumble
100 g (1 cup) almond flour
60 g (¼ cup) cold butter
1 tsp honey

Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F
Butter a 20 cm/8 inch square baking tin
Place all of the ingredients, retaining 2 Tbs of honey, in a medium size saucepan and cook covered on medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove lid and simmer on high for another 5 minutes. Drain the fruit of its juices in a sieve. Pour the juice back into the saucepan, adding the remaining tablespoon of honey, and simmer until reduced down by half. Retain this syrup for later. Cool the fruit in refrigerator.
Meanwhile, make the crumble by combining the almond flour, butter and honey in a food processor. Mix until chunky crumbs are formed. Place the crumble in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
When the fruit has cooled down, place it into the prepared baking tin and top with the crumble.
Bake for 30 minutes or until crumble is golden brown. Serve warm, topped with a little french cream or scd yogurt and the retained syrup.

Pro-biotics (For-life) is an essential part of a healthy life. Probiotics, or the study of treatment through helpful bacteria, is gaining more attention as infections increase from overuse of antibiotics or a bad diet.

It may be startling, but according to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) of Maryland, we each house two to five pounds (1.0 to 2.26 kilograms) of live bacteria inside our bodies. Bacteria come in good and bad varieties, or more to the point, can be helpful or harmful. While the vast amount of attention is given to bad bacteria because of their potential for creating illness, humans share a necessary symbiotic relationship with many types of helpful bacteria. Some are crucial to our very survival.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) uses yogurt as one of the vehicles of introducing good bacteria back into the body.

(Read what Elaine Gottschall had to say about using yogurt.-click here)

It is also helpful to (find a practitioner-click here) who understand the importance of probiotics. So many times do I hear that doctors do not recommend probiotics when placing a patient onto antibiotics. Which is extraordinary considering all the research that goes into probiotics.

(Read some of the most recent article written on this subject-click here).

How to Make SCD Yogurt

I have recently discovered a great new kitchen gadget the Excalibur Food Dehydrator. Well, it’s more than a gadget it is a ‘power house for healthy food production’. You can make incredible dried snacks, but ALSO YOGURT!

(Check out the details here-click here).

In the beginning making yogurt can seem quite daunting, but after your first couple of batches it will become quite easy.

1. Heat the milk to 80°C/180°F, which is about as hot as it would get before it starts to boil. Be careful not to boil the milk, especially goat’s milk.

2. Let the milk cool to room or around 45°C/113°F temperature. I whisk it occasionally, which stops the skin from forming on top of the milk.

3. Mix in the appropriate amount of yogurt, or yogurt starter. Rule of thumb for using a natural yogurt as a starter is 1/4 cup per liter.

4. Place into the Excalibur Dehydrator and turn the thermometer to 115°F, making sure to place the door back onto the unit.

5. Set the timer to 24 hours and leave the yogurt to ferment undisturbed. It is important to have the dehydrator in an area where there is no airflow and where the back of the unit is not against a wall, as this might interfere with the temperature settings.

6. Remove the yogurt after 24 hours and place undisturbed into the refrigerator for at least 8 hours for it to set.

If you don’t have a yogurt maker or the excalibur check out this (yogurt making tutorial-click here) using a small kitchen cupboard and a table lamp (until recently this is what I was using).

Happy Cooking,
Sandra