7 Reasons to grow your own organic vegetable garden

During the last decades there has been a change towards mechanization and homogenization of farming, which uses pesticides, additives, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers and mass-production techniques. All this is clearly affecting mankind's health, and new diseases are spreading rapidly amongst humans and animals (bird's flu being the most recent one).

The World Health Organization produces reports to show how the use of chemicals and other products on food, coupled with the manufacturing processes involved, are actually a threat for our health.

If you have space for a few pots or even a small piece of land, it is a wise decision to grow your own organic vegetable garden. Today I'm presenting you with seven reasons for doing this:

1. You will have no additives in your vegetables. Research by organic food associations has shown that additives in our food can cause heart diseases, osteoporosis, migraines and hyperactivity.

2. There will be no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers used. These chemical products are applied to obtain crops all the time regardless plagues or weather conditions, and affect the quality of the vegetables. Besides, pesticides are usually poisonous to humans.

3. Your vegetables will not be genetically modified (GM). Antibiotics, drugs and hormones are used on vegetables to grow more and larger ones. One of the consequences of this practice are vegetables which look all the same and are usually tasteless. Besides, we end up consuming the hormones that have been used on the vegetables, with the potential risks for our health.

4. Eating your own organic vegetables will be much more healthy for you. They will not contain any of the products or chemicals named above, and they will be much more natural than any ones you would find at the supermarket. Your health will not be at risk because you will then know that nothing has been added to your vegetables.

5. Your own organic vegetables will be much more tasty. The use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics make vegetables grow unnaturally and take the taste away from them. With organic vegetables, your cooking will be enhanced as their flavour will show fully.

6. Organic farming is friendly to the environment. Because you won't use pesticides or other equally harming products on your vegetables, you will not damage the soil or the air with the chemical components.

7. When you grow your own organic vegetables you are contributing to your own self-sustainability and the sustainability of the planet. Small communities have been founded where members exchange products that they grow naturally, thus contributing to create a friendly and better place for us all.


In the end, eating organic products only means that we do not add anything else to them than they would naturally have. As you can guess, additives, fertilizers, pesticides or hormones are not components of naturally grown food. To better care for your health, grown your own organic vegetables -and a few pots is all you need.

10 Tips to a Healthy Football Season

From the word go, the Football season seems provide a plethora of reasons to eat badly. It starts near Labor Day, and goes right on past to New Years. Typically during this time of year our eating habits include foods and drinks that are so delicious, yet carry negative effects. 
So I thought how could someone have a fun football (holiday for the Ms.) season, and still fit in their clothes that they wore during pre-season. Below are 10 that could possibly help you reach that goal they may seem like no brainers, but if you take heed you will survive another year without moving to the next waist size. Enjoy the season.

1. First things first, don’t even think about dieting during the holiday season. That is, don’t start a new diet. Your biggest goal during our most favorite season is to maintain your weight. This way you can partake in your favorite beverage and snacks without any guilt. 
2. Another good way to avoid packin’ on the pudge is to stay seated, and far away from the food table.
3. Something simple and delicious. I would recommend bringing a light dip with either multigrain or wheat bread, so you have something that is somewhat healthy to munch on. There is a company (I think it has the title of chef in its name) that sells dips and breads that anyone can make, and are a healthy alternative to normal snacks. Just ask your wife, girlfriend, or any woman where you can find a beer bread mix.
4. The beverages tend to favorites for many during this time of year, so be wise in your selection. If you must have a mixed drink, try something like a clear liquor and diet soda, a light or ultra light beer, or a nice glass of wine. I know wine doesn’t scream manly, but it is an alternative. Remember this shouldn’t be painful, just well thought-out. 
5. Good or bad, football games tend to be lengthy, use this to your advantage, and take part in the eating and drinking at a slow pace. The slower your intake, the better chance you will fit in those size 38’s come spring time.
6. Chase the kids, or take a walk, whatever it is, make sure you keep up on some type of activity other than couch coaching, and channel surfing. Winter time is hard enough for many people with the cold and darkness, so some activity will help you gain or maintain physical and mental acuity. 
7. Eat at home before you head to the football stadium, or over a buddies house. This should help prevent a complete submersion in to the food and drinks. Believe me when I tell you, you will feel much better knowing you don’t have to drive home with your pants unbuttoned, either because of pressure or an untimely stomach pain.
8. Eat some chicken wings, not the entire chicken. I think that’s clear, and best of all it applies to all food! And anyway, who wants to get stains all over their new Dallas Terrell Owens jersey.
9. If you have the chance to host a football game, stack the odds on your side by putting veggies, and light snacks out rather than the pizza and wings. I mean really, do we as men pay any attention to what we eat while we are watching a game. So long as the drinks are cold, and our food crunches, we are in heaven. 
10. This rule applies all year long. Stay far and away from fast food joints. It may seem like a good idea while you’re on your way to the game, but we all know it’s not filling, and it’s to exit.

10 Diet Rules You Can Break

There are actually diet rules out there that are meant to be broken? Yes, recently many dated diet guidelines and myths are up for speculation. You’ve probably heard all these silly rules before, but experts weigh-in on the worthiness of these supposed truisms - most of which won't help you lose weight or make dieting any easier.

10 Food Rules You Can Ignore:

1. Eating at night will pile on the pounds. The total calories you consume over a 24-hour period or over a week is what causes you to gain weight, and when you eat these calories doesn't matter.

2. It's best to eat at the same times every day. Eat when you're hungry, not when the clock says it's time to eat.

3. Dieting with a buddy always makes weight loss easier. Common goals may pay off but weight loss is a personal journey.

4. Dietary fat keeps you feeling full longer, so you'll eat less. Fat does take longer to digest, but it will not help you control your appetite. Foods likely to fight off hunger the longest are protein foods, followed by carbohydrates, then fats.

5. When you blow your diet, you might as well wait until the next day to get back on track. Nothing could be farther from the truth- always try to get right back on track with your next meal.

6. Refusing food at a party or when visiting is rude. Turning down food that you know will blow your diet is socially acceptable.

7. Skipping a meal every now and then will help you lose. Skipping a meal means you will be so hungry at the next meal that you are likely to overeat. This can also  help lead to a slowdown of your metabolism.

8. Bread is fattening, nuts are fattening, pasta is fattening. Whole-wheat bread/pasta is a great source of nutrients, and it won't make you gain weight more than any other food with the same number of calories.

9. All calories are equal. This is somewhat true, however; you'll get more nutrients from a 100-calorie apple than from a 100-calorie portion of white bread. Choose healthier items if you are losing weight, or controlling your hunger.

10. If you don't clean your plate, you're wasting food. If you just don't feel right leaving the table until you've cleaned your plate, underestimate your hunger and put less food on your plate to begin with, or you may overeat.

Don’t believe everything you hear! Much of it is just superstition. Now you can tell your friends the real truth. In the end, nutrition experts say, many of the food and dieting rules we hold dear are meant to be broken - without guilt!

Correct Your Acid / Alkaline Balance with the Water You Drink: What the Experts Say

In health circles there has been much recent talk about acid /alkaline imbalance. Let's see if we can clarify how experts recommend we correct this imbalance.

The problem
Your body functions best when neither too acid nor too alkaline. Unfortunately almost all of us have become acidic due to diet, drinks and stress -- both psychological and from pollution. Acids can build up in our body, causing systems  to be out of balance.

The effects
According to Dr. Stefan Kuprowsky, "Acid wastes build up in the body in the form of cholesterol, gallstones, kidney stones, arterial plaque, urates, phosphates and sulfates. These acidic waste products are the direct cause of premature aging and the onset of chronic disease."

When this occurs, the body will restore its optimal pH by depleting certain minerals, such as potassium, calcium and magnesium, from organs and bones. In addition, your immune system may become fatigued from dealing with an excess of acid. Your body then stores acidic wastes in 'hiding places' such as muscles etc. rather than releasing the acids into the bloodstream.

As Dr.Robert Atkins, the well-known author, health and diet expert, notes: "Just about every condition I can think of, from arthritis to diabetes to cancer, is associated with acidity."

"The countless names of illnesses do not really matter. What does matter is that they all come from the same root cause...too much tissue acid waste in the body!" Theodore A. Baroody, ND, Ph.D.

What can be done?
A vast body of research reveals that you can help neutralize acid build-up in the  blood and maintain a balanced pH, by taking some simple steps, such as:
-- Exercise
-- Avoiding highly acid-forming food and drink
-- Drinking the right water

What is the "right" water?
"International studies show that populations with little or no history of illness, such as cancer, drink higher pH (alkaline) waters. After all potential risk factors were considered and factored out, it became evident that they had been drinking waters with a pH of 9.0 to 10.0." Dr. Leonard Horowitz in "Aids and Ebola"

Alkaline ionized water "first came to notice in Japan, where researchers noted that people drinking water that came from certain fast- moving rocky mountain streams enjoyed extraordinarily good health. It turned out that this naturally occurring water was alkaline and had a different structure and electrical properties." Larry Clapp, PhD. in "Prostate Health in 90 days"

Alkaline water is produced at home with a small kitchen appliance called a water ionizer (long in use in Japan and Korea).  As water ionizers have become  popular in North America, more health professionals have had the opportunity to evaluate their effects on clients:

Sue Pollock, N.D. writes, we can "assist the body in being more alkaline with ...drinking alkaline water."

"I believe that the best water is water that is alkaline (reduced) and purified using a small device known as a water ionizer." (Dr. Stefan Kuprowsky)

"It is my opinion that ionized water will change the way in which all health practitioners and the public approach their health in the coming years." Dr. T. Baroody in "Alkalize or Die."

Why not just rely on a change of diet?
According to Sang Whang, researcher and author of "Reverse Aging", the danger is that we might omit important foods:

"Since the waste products that we are trying to discharge are acidic, the right kind of water is alkaline water...My personal recommendation is to enjoy the foods that we like, but do not over-eat or exclude any food. Eat in moderation following the professional dieticians' "balanced diet" concept, and let alkaline water do the job of cleansing acidic wastes."

"Drinking Water Scams Revealed"

Read this article before you consider paying for your drinking
water.

Wouldn't it be nice to stop poisoning ourselves with polluted or unhealthy drinking water?  I, for one, felt that I would love to find a source of safe inexpensive drinking water. (Ideally, I'd love to turn on the tap, and out it would flow!)

Whether it's curing cancer with magnets or herbal wonder-remedies or Vioxx, we've all seen the fantastic claims people make about their health products AND about how your whole life will be changed! I can tell you right now that 90% are frauds.  You may even have fallen prey to some of these scams, selling you the latest fad. Me too. I've bought so many kinds of drinking
water, I can't recall. (If a lie is repeated often enough, it becomes "the truth").

Finally, after many disappointments I got FED UP. I decided to get to the bottom of this desire we all have to make sure that our most basic nutrient -- water -- will keep us healthy, not make us sick.

I checked out endless commercial websites and a number of university and government sites; and I was dismayed at what I repeatedly found:

--Outdated information or info repeated from other websites
--Wild and sensational claims
--No research
--No refunds, etc.

I already knew that we can't trust our tap water because of the presence of up to 2000 contaminants.

Specifically, I found:

a) Bottled Water: a real mish-mash of quality, often no more than filtered tap water sold at outrageous mark-ups and at quite an environmental cost.

b) Reverse-osmosis and distilled water: completely ignored the medical evidence of the dangers in the ongoing drinking of water that is void of minerals, acid in nature and oxidizing.

I quickly realized that these products were either useless, overpriced or potentially harmful long-term.  And the companies were smiling all the way to the bank.

Nevertheless I was able to find products that were well-researched and legitimate: water ionizers and certain filters.  I found two websites providing comparisons of reliable water purifiers: www.waterfiltercomparisons.net and
www.waterpurifier101.com.  (While the first of these sites does not address the problem of acidity in drinking water, it is straightforward in its assessment of what various water filters do.)

I hope that you're not misled by false claims, and take a look at these resources, for the sake of your health.