Monday, March 22, 2010

Have You Lost Your Mind?

If you have, you have a treat in store for you!

Food that is ‘good for you’ no longer has to be the dreaded and disgusting tasting stuff Grandma used to feed us. Today’s powerhouses of health pack fun and excitement in amazingly beneficial ways.

Today’s example is coconut oil. It has MCT, or medium chain triglycerides that feed the brain and body in ways that prevent/reverse heart disease, and surprisingly, Alzheimer’s.

In a case study by Dr. Mary Newport called ‘What if There Was a Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease and No One Knew?’ we are introduced to her husband, age 58, who suffers from dementia. She goes through the study medications, although she is heavy on the amazing benefits they found just adding 4 tablespoons of coconut oil to their daily diet. Unable to draw a picture of a clock on the first day of his study, three weeks later and 84 tablespoons of coconut oil later, his image of the clock had improved greatly, as had his ability to concentrate and focus.

Coconut oil cleans toxins out of the body and kills most STD bacteria, inactivates measles, e-coli, salmonella, H1N1, and yeast infections. Candida, clamidia and eczema find coconut oil a hostile environment to grow in.

Coconut oil also has medium chain fatty acids, the ninja warriors in the battle against lipid-coated viruses such as herpes, cytomeglovirus, influenza, helicobacter pylori (the cause of ulcers), giardia, and of course, HIV. (Yes, you read that correctly, there is something you can do for HIV!)

Coconut oil literally sneaks up behind these nefarious characters and taps them on the shoulder, then proceeds to break them limb from limb. And the best part is that since this is a naturall process, the virus is unable to build resistance to this process. Coconut could actually mean the end of drug-resistant superviruses.

And did I mention that coconut oil is yummy? Use is for cooking, it has a much higher tolerance for heat. Add it to anything that requires oil, margarine or just add it in for the fun of it! Cooking is much more fun with coconut oil. And it is available at Cali’s Natural Foods. Go in and get the ingredients to make their Breakfast/Bedtime Snack Bar cookie recipe and get 10% off the ingredients!

You’re gonna love getting healthy!

We, the undersigned, are shocked and appalled at the battered and bruised condition of Chard – our produce guy extraordinaire.  We hereby Demand a speedy and healthy recovery!  We further demand that all bicycle vs. street wrestling matches cease and desist forthwith!  Thank you!

Not your parents' Reuben sandwich!

If you haven’t been to the Vertical Diner in a while, maybe it’s time to check out their latest creation.  It’s called the Ruebina, a take-off of the very popular Reuben sandwich.

I tried mine with their famous breakfast sausage and added the Ranch dressing.  Reubens normally come with sauerkraut on them, so I wasn’t too sure about the pickles since I’m not a big fan of pickles.  I’m glad that I was open-minded because the whole thing was a treat I wasn’t expecting and very glad I got!

The pickles, locally made at Cali’s Natural Foods, are sweetened with agave and gave the whole sandwich a zing I found utterly irresistable!  What a find!

My dinner partner tried his Ruebina with Cali’s chick’un.  He enjoyed his meal also, and both of us decided that we would eat them again, and gladly!

Now here’s the good news:  After you eat your sandwich at Vertical Diner, take your receipt over to Cali’s Natural Foods to get the ingredients to make these delectable little treats at home.

When you take your receipt from Vertical Diner (or Sage’s Cafe, for that matter!) you get 10% off your purchase at Cali’s Natural Foods!    Get your local, organic agave sweetened pickles and breakfast sausage and chick’un and many other items that you’ve seen from those two restaurants.

Support local, organic food providers!

Soft, mellow, unassuming. Those are the words that come to mind as I eat coconut milk kefir.

Kefir is one of those superfoods – loaded with tons of nutrition. It has beneficial bacteria to promote healthy digestion and as a wonderful bonus that most people would welcome, if they knew, is that kefir also has beneficial yeasts which take control and rid the body of destructive pathogenic yeasts. (Raise your hand if you have candida!)

Kefir is very similar to yogurt in texture and consistency. Coconut milk kefir is the mild-mannered cousin in the pro-biotic family.

And for those people who don’t do dairy, coconut milk kefir is a very welcome addition to the diet. The live cultures in kefir differ from yogurt in that yogurt’s cultures are transient in their ability and kefir’s are more permanent.

And since we all want to end the problems of the ‘A List’ (asthma, allergies, autism, auto-immune diseases) kefir fits wonderfully into the mix. The more you can do for those little symbiotes in your body, the better you feel! And the variety helps you from getting tired of any one thing.

I, for one, am glad that I have access to coconut milk kefir at Cali’s Natural Foods. Very few places would take the time or the effort to provide me with the alternatives I need since I don’t do dairy. Finally, a place where there are options to the standard American diet. Please support Cali’s if you feel the same way! I say we keep a place like this around!