Food, Glorious Food!

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” ― Hippocrates

Unfortunately the typical American diet – factory farmed meats, saturated fats, too much sugar, processed foods, hidden GMOs, artificial preservatives and pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables – is hardly thy medicine.  An organic, whole foods diet however, can be.  Below are two common and often interrelated conditions, which with the right foods can be helped.

Insomnia:

“They” say that sleep is the new water; experts are talking about the negative effects on our bodies from lack of sleep and are recommending we get 7 – 8 hours of sleep every night for optimal health.  Many Americans are chronically sleep deprived however.  Consuming the right food is part of the answer. Eating a small snack – not a heavy meal – at least an hour before bedtime can help you fall asleep.  Tryptophan and carbohydrates, often found in comfort foods, maximize the release of serotonin, the feel good hormone, which helps you sleep.  Foods containing these two things are sleep inducing.  For example, bananas contain tryptophan, serotonin, and melatonin, the hormone that controls the sleep and wake cycles; oatmeal is a complex carbohydrate; yogurt, warm milk, and other dairy products contain tryptophan; humus, turkey (You know how tired you feel after Thanksgiving dinner!) nuts and seeds, honey, and eggs also contain tryptophan. Try it and see if it works – don’t you like having permission for (a not too) late night snack?

Main health effects of sleep deprivation (See Wikipedia:Sleep deprivation). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stress:

In today’s complex, fast-faced, high-tech, and often-uncertain world, we all fall prey to stress from time to time.  A certain amount of adrenalin and cortisol, the stress hormones, are motivating, but too much is a problem and actually can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure and even cancer.  Avoiding or minimizing your intake of certain foods like caffeine, alcohol and sugar, which produce highs and lows, is key.  Incorporating foods high in folic acid, B vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, zinc, iron, magnesium, potassium, anti-oxidants and omega 3 into your diet on regular basis will stabilize your mood and fight free radicals associated with stress.  Good examples are asparagus, blueberries, avocados, oranges, papayas, red peppers, cottage cheese, milk, almonds, salmon, spinach, whole grain cereals and breads, and black tea.  Crunching raw vegetables is not only nutritious, but helps release your clenched jaw and curb tension.  Of course alleviating stress also helps with sleep.

Another benefit of healthy eating?  The same foods prevent and treat a variety of ailments, as well as ward off premature aging.  It’s kind of like one stop shopping.  Now that’s a powerful medicine!

Information compiled from: http://www.webmd.com/, www.oprah.com/oprahradio, www.thedailymeal.com, http://www.sheknows.com/

 

“GREEN” COFFEE (AND TEA)

 

Image by Peter Wild

 

After crude oil coffee is the world’s most commonly traded commodity, and tea is the world’s most consumed beverage after water.  Making an “eco-correct” purchase of these mainstays of the American diet, however, can be complicated.

There are several categories for coffee. “Fair Trade” applies to coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, handicrafts that are produced in a way which ensures living wages and safe working conditions for farmers, promotes sustainability and usually includes rigorous environmental standards.  “Shade Grown” coffee refers to the traditional method where coffee beans grow in shade and mature slowly, creating richer flavors. Coffee farmers were encouraged to replace shade grown coffee with sun cultivation in order to increase yield.  To do this, over 2.5 million acres of forests in Central America were destroyed, which caused an immediate loss in biodiversity, both in the many types of trees and plants that were eliminated and the animals that depended on them.  When I visited Brazil, we saw sun cultivated coffee plantations everywhere and were told that 95% of the Atlantic rainforest has been destroyed.  Coffee and tea with the organic certification are ecofriendly, grown without toxic chemicals, thus sparing workers from exposure to the harmful pesticides and herbicides.  They are also harvested in a way that protects the environment.

In summary, most fair trade coffee is also shade grown and organic.  Otherwise, you choose which of the certifications is the most important to you and buy accordingly. Fortunately, you can now buy coffee and tea with these green certifications at most grocery stores, Starbucks, Peets Coffee and Dunkin Donuts.

One more tip, coffee grounds and tea leaves make outstanding compost!