The Ultimate Healthy Cupboard

Do you want to eat healthier in the New Year? After you have eaten everything that you have now in your cupboard consider replacing them with these foods which are alkaline and healthier for both you and your kids.
Here is an idea of what should be on your new grocery list –
• Irish steel-cut oats. Oats do contain some gluten, but for most people they are quite tolerable and they are okay for most kids with asthma to have.

• Mixed-grain hot cereals. Be sure they’re gluten- and sugar-free—and this means no honey or maple syrup

• Rice cakes. Stay away from the ones with too much sodium or funky flavorings (like sour cream and onion rice cakes!)

• Flax crackers

• Gluten-free bread. There are many delicious alternatives to the usual bread you buy. Try some sprouted breads, as they are easier to digest and are less processed.

• Sweet potatoes, yams

• Grains: brown or wild rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, corn.

• Nuts: almonds, walnuts, cashews, soy nuts, macadamia nuts, filberts, etc.

• Seeds: sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, hemp, flax. Flaxseeds must be freshly ground rather than eaten whole, otherwise you won't get full nutritional benefit.

• Nut or seed butters: almond butter, tahini, cashew butter, peanut butter (all unsweetened)

• Vegan butter

• Vegan mayonnaise

• Nondairy protein powder (soy, hemp or orris root-based)

• Beans and legumes: black beans, lentils, chickpeas, lima beans, adzuki beans, black-eyed peas, edamame, and fava beans. Dried ones are best

• Tofu

• Tempeh

• Fake meats: burgers, sausage patties, “meat crumbles,” “chicken” patties. Make sure all are gluten-free.
• Artichoke, rice, or quinoa pasta

• Pasta sauce

• Vegetables: kale, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, eggplant, collard greens, squash of all kinds, tomatoes, etc.

• Mushrooms: shiitake, hen of the woods, portobello. Grilled, they make a great main dish and are almost as good as a steak

• Salad: arugula, radicchio, endive, mixed greens, peppers, avocado, tomato, radish,

• Fruits: apples, raspberries, cherries, peaches, blueberries, goji berries; frozen fruits for smoothies

• Citrus and exotic fruits lemons, limes, and unsweetened pomegranate juice for sparkling-water cocktails

• Herbal teas such as mint, chamomile and fennel.

• Nondairy milk, such as rice, almond, hemp, or soy milk (unsweetened)

• Healthy sweeteners: xylitol, agave nectar, and stevia for smoothies, milks, cereals and baked goods.

• Extra-virgin olive oil, expeller-pressed organic canola, high-oleic versions of sunflower and safflower oils, walnut oil, and flaxseed oil (the last is good to pour over things like salad or baked yam, but not to cook with).

• Seasonings: garlic, ginger, tamari; Himalayan crystal or Celtic sea salt. Regular table salt is bleached and stripped of minerals

• Flours to cook or bake with: bean, pea, soy, potato, buckwheat, tapioca, nut and seed, arrowroot, and rice. There are also prepackaged flour mixes that cater to the gluten-free shopper.

• Popcorn

• Corn chips

• Guacamole

• Hummus

• Soy cheese (rennet-free)

• Frozen spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower to throw into smoothies . . . you won’t even taste it!

• Vegetarian stock for cooking
Try some prepared foods from health food stores. They are often very tasty and nutritious too.

Dealing With Caffiene Withdrawal

Going without that cup of coffee is really rough on people the first few days. So is going without cola, dark chocolate and energy drinks. Caffeine is in all of these things.
Hang in there! There is life after caffeine!
When we stop drinking coffee or other caffeinated we get the typical symptoms of withdrawal which include irritability, drowsiness, fatigue, headache, and anxiety.
The side effects of withdrawal are short-lived, and don’t happen at all for many. Some people do not experience them at all.
Nonetheless, caffeine withdrawal is considered serious enough that caffeine addiction was proposed as a substance-abuse problem to the American Psychiatric Association. The duration of withdrawal is estimated to be two to nine days for most people.
Why do we need to quit caffeine? It is hard to believe but it is just no good for you.
Caffeine further exhausts the body by stimulating our adrenal glands to produce adrenaline. Adrenaline is part of the “fight-or-flight response which is a biological reaction to stress. During this response, your body also produces higher levels of the hormone Cortisol—the “stress hormone.”
Cortisol is considered a stress hormone not because it is inherently bad for you; in fact, at normal levels it helps with glucose metabolism, regulating blood pressure, lowering inflammation, and raising immunity.
Cortisol is not all bad. It also has some short-term benefits when it enters the bloodstream in higher amounts: it creates better memory function, enables a quick burst of energy, and lowers our sensitivity to pain.
Substances like caffeine, can all too easily keep our Cortisol levels artificially high. That in turn can cause problem like lowered thyroid function, cognitive problems, decreased bone density and muscle tissue, higher blood pressure, lowered immunity, and an overall inflammatory reaction in the body.
Also if you have a belly roll around your middle you can probably blame that on cortisol overload as well.
To completely avoid caffeine, you will also want to avoid foods that are coffee flavored, such as ice cream and yogurt.
As far as chocolate goes, dark chocolate has the most caffeine. Even a small serving of dark chocolate can have up to30 milligrams of caffeine in it, nearly the same amount as a can of cola (as compared with 90-150 milligrams in a cup of coffee and 30-70 milligrams in a cup of caffeinated tea).
These foods are verboten during the cleanse anyway, but now you have even more reason to steer clear of them.
If you really can't stand the withdrawal you can yourself off coffee. Begin by cutting your regular coffee with decaffeinated coffee. You can create a mix of two-thirds coffee to one-third decaf for the first week. For week two, drop your coffee down to one-third real coffee to two-thirds decaf.