Eating your way to a healthy body

If you’re a doctor, nutritionist or simply someone who is very conscious of their health, it comes as no surprise that the key to reducing and even preventing illnesses has to do a lot with what you eat.

According to specialists and experts in the field, what a person eats can help his or her immune system by being the energy or fuel to fight off sicknesses, infections, illnesses and diseases caused by bad bacteria and or viruses.

It’s ironic how people take lots of medicine when they are sick when the fact of the matter is, a lot of foods have the same building blocks or functional properties as that of medicine. What’s more, food that is natural like fruits and probiotic food stuffs, are not synthetically made, often cheaper than medicine and do more than one function as compared to medicine.

Going back on topic, diet is the key to staying healthy and even fighting off sicknesses. Diet is what provides the building blocks for the immune system to function.

For example, food like oranges, carrots, orange cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, and other “orange” colored food give the immune system much needed beta carotene and carotenoids.

Another example is our favorite friendly bacteria. According to Patti Milligan, a registered dietician, “immunity starts in the gut, and there’s always a war between the good, friendly bacteria and the bad bacteria. So eating yogurt, kefir and fermented food like sauerkraut and tofu help cultivate the army of friendly bacteria.”

Mushroom and nuts on the other hand have zinc and selenium that also build the immune system. While garlic is another often overlooked food that has been proven time and time again to be able to combat viruses and stimulate immune cells into action.

Another immune system booster is green tea. There’s a reason why the Chinese have been drinking this stuff for centuries and it’s because green tea is wicked high in antioxidants. It has flavonoids and polyphenols that keep the immune system nourished and functioning properly.

Other food stuffs that are good for the immune system and body in general are naturally Vitamin C, Zinc lozenges, chicken soup made with garlic and ginger, vitamin D and so forth.

In lasting, if you’ve been a regular reader of this blog, you must know that I am a true advocate of eating healthy food to become healthy. With this post, I simply would like to reiterate that and want to urge you to switch to a healthy food lifestyle instead of a junk food + medicine lifestyle.

With this I leave you with a word of advice from Shannon Parnett, who is a registered dietitian and clinical nutrition senior manager at Banner Boswell Medical Center at Sun City.

“In order to maintain a healthy immune system you must maintain a healthy lifestyle,” Parnett said. “Choose more nutrient rich foods, maintain a healthy weight, be physically active, minimize stress, use good hand hygiene and get plenty of rest.”

A lot of people are interested in kefir and in fact drink this stuff for its health benefits. We know that the health benefits of kefir are a result of it being a probiotic beverage. Unfortunately, few realize just how this “probiotic” thing works.

The biggest misconception when it comes to probiotics is thinking that all probiotics, like yogurt, kefir, kimchi, are the same and even interchangeable. They’re not.

The term probiotics is simply a term coined for thousands of different bacteria. In fact, the FAO/WHO defines probiotics as “Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.” That’s any health benefit, not some magic cure for all.

There are simply thousands and thousands of strains of bacteria and each one may offer a variety of health benefits. Some may colonize the gut, others may live in the stomach, others may even have an affinity for your nose and each one may improve your health substantially. Other bacteria that are still considered “live and active cultures” may absolutely do nothing and moreover, others may even harm you to a certain degree.

Take for example your yogurt. Yogurt is very similar to kefir and even looks pretty darn close to it. But the health benefits you get from kefir are different from yogurt. This is because of the strains of bacteria in yogurt and kefir. Both may have lactobacillus bacteria, but not the same strain. Heck, even kimchi has lactobacillus bacteria in it.

So where am i going with this?

I think probiotics is a very complex topic, but I feel that we need to clear the shroud of misunderstanding even bit by bit. The more we understand how the food we eat can ultimately affect our well being, the better we can be in control of our health and our life.

My take on all this is simple. It’s hard, impossible even, to compare one fermented food from another. The best thing to do is to eat a variety of fermented foods, which provides a wider variety of bacterial strains, which may likely offer a wider range of health benefits.

I was surprised that Giselle emailed me recently to do a guest post about muscle building. She told me about how lots of people sent her emails asking about how to build muscle, Muscle Building Workouts, Muscle Building Diet and putting on weight.

I think this was because of her recent email about MP’s Ultimate Workout Program (which is GREAT by the way) where she mentioned that it’s not for those that want to build muscle mass or something like that. I got that email too because I’m also her subscriber as I too, love kefir.

I think Giselle chose me because she knew that I was the right person for this. She knew me ever since when I was still that skinny guy trying to pack muscle and doing things the wrong way. I’m glad that phase is over with

With that out of the way, there is only one program on the internet that stands out above all the others when it comes to muscle building and it’s been the top program for over 4 years. They Update it regularly with new content and the Private Member’s Area is a goldmine for new information and people with the same goals which helps keep you motivated.

I learned about it years ago, and up until now still teach it to most of my students (the same Muscle Building Workouts And Muscle Building Diet) that want to put on weight, or get some muscle for showing off.

It’s Vince DelMonte’s No-Nonsense Muscle Building Program.

Why No-Nonsense? It’s because he shows everything to you step by step, start to finish. From proper mindset, motivation, the RIGHT information about Do’s and Dont’s, the most frequently asked questions he gets ( example shown below)

the right Nutrition, a boatload of recipes, why you must stay away from supplements like weight gainers (I was guilty of this before when I was starting out and got nothing for it except a pot belly!) If you must take a supplement, kefir or wheatgrass are great too.

You also get the Upside Down training program to get your body into condition. Let’s say you’ve never worked out in your life, or haven’t for a long time, then that is the perfect way to start. You WILL know when you are ready to go to the next step and take on the Core No-Nonsense Program. (Shown below is a day for the beginners-intermediate program) All these  take less than an hour each workout session, around 3 times a week. Plus you get to eat more, lots more! How’s that sound for Muscle Building Workouts And a Muscle Building Diet? :)

I wouldn’t want to drag this and make it boring. So I’d like to tell you some more real life stuff before ending this post.

Most of the fitness stuff sold out there are good or just so-so, BUT they are Sugar Coated and Made To Look SO Awesome that people can’t resist to not buy it! I mean, switch to the Home Shopping Network and see how awesome those videos look! The sad part is the people that buy it, either doesn’t do anything with it, or they do it and don’t get the results.

That’s why I recommend Vince’s program so much because I’ve personally seen results for many years on different kinds of people.

Follow it, step by step, get a training partner if you need one, and be better both inside and out. You WILL see results.

By this time, it doesn’t matter what other people say. You are king.

Visit Vince DelMonte’s Website and see his other Unmatched Bonuses if you take Action Now!

My name is Ed Armstrong, and I hope you enjoyed this. I’d be glad to come back and write again maybe about my experiences on kefir and why I love it so much like Giselle. For now, please visit me and Kelly in the AZ Fitness Health blog. It’s kind of new so we still only cover the topic of getting thin thighs for women. Just wait for it, it will be a monster fitness site in the future. http://www.azfitnesshealth.com

I’ve been getting a lot of emails on the topic of “How Safe Is Kefir?” so I’m dedicating this post to answering it.

If you’re new to kefir and haven’t consumed homemade kefir, much less made kefir from kefir grains at home yourself, you’re probably wondering as to how safe kefir is for yourself, for your kids, for your family and for your friends.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

In general kefir is safe. Many people have and are still making and drinking homemade kefir. And there are little to none reported events regarding food borne illnesses and kefir.