Here is what she bought:

• Bananas
• Organic Oranges
• Organic Lemons
• Organic Kale
• Organic Pears
• Organic Pickles
• Organic Roasted Red Peppers
• Organic Cayenne
• Raw Honey
• Organic Grade B Maple Syrup
• Coconut Oil
• Organic Vanilla Extract (without alcohol)
• Organic Stone Ground Mustard
• Kombucha
• Organic Almond Flour
• Organic Coconut Flour
• Tapioca Flour
• Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
• Organic Almond Butter
• Wild Planet Albacore Tuna
• Organic Ghee
• Caveman Cookies
• Organic Chia Seeds
• Almond Milk (Silk brand, we chose this brand because it does not contain carrageenan)
• Citrus Press
• Natures Path Gluten-Free Vanilla Sunrise Cereal
• Natures Path Gluten-Free Waffles

Nature’s Path is one of, if not the only, brand of breakfast cereal that is 100% non-GMO and 100% organic across their entire product line. If you buy breakfast cereal, and you don’t want to eat Monsanto’s GM corn, always choose cereals from Nature’s Path. Many “natural” brands that appear to be healthful and natural are actually not organic or GMO-free. For example, “Barbara’s Bakery” cereals are not organic. Although they are positioned in store shelves alongside other organic cereals, they are actually made with conventional crops grown with pesticides which may include Monsanto’s Roundup.

The lemons, cayenne and citrus press were purchased so she can drink her lemon and cayenne water every morning. The coconut oil and ghee will be used for baking and cooking.

She bought the ingredients for a Banana Orange Kale Smoothie and a Banana Almond Smoothie. Smoothies are a great way to start adding veggies and fruit into your diet, so you get the recommended amount per day. It is really hard to eat the amount of fruits and veggies we are supposed to each day, but the smoothie makes it doable. If made with the right combination of ingredients, you will never know you are drinking spinach, kale, etc.

We also bought ingredients for her to make some Grain-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. She is going to make these and package them individually so she can grab-and-go in the morning. She is also going to make Egg Muffins and package those individually (bags of 2) to have for an easy breakfast in the morning.

She bought the gluten-free cereal and waffles for her 3 children. Ideally, she will start making grain-free cereal and pancakes/french toast sticks to freeze. But we are starting slow, and having things on-hand is a key for success so you don’t stress yourself out by not having conveninet food in the house. “Gluten-free” foods are often made with rice flour, cornstarch, tapioca starch, or potato starch. These powdered starches are among the few foods that increase blood sugar higher than even whole wheat. It means these foods trigger weight gain in the abdomen (“gluten-free belly”), increase blood sugars, insulin resistance and diabetes, cataracts, and arthritis. They are not healthy replacements for wheat.

She bought Kombucha to have another drink option other than water. Kombucha is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) and it has the fizz you may miss when weaning off soda. It is known to improve joint function, digestion, immunity and help the body cleanse. We chose GT’s Organic Raw Kombucha, which is minimally processed and contains only the following: 100% gt organic raw kombucha, klamath valley blue-green algae, spirulina, chlorella. Many other brands of Kombucha contain a load more sugar than GT’s.  There is also citric acid in some Kombuchas, which is at risk of being genetically modified if the ingredient list does not indicate “organic citric acid.” 

She is super excited to get started and I have super excited for her!

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The GEFU Spirelli Spiral Slicer makes it easy to prepare vegetable pasta and strands in minutes! This gadget is small enough to pop in a kitchen drawer. It is 4 3/4 inches tall and about 2 3/4 inches wide. It has two openings that cut different size strands. One end cuts 2×3 mm strands, and the other end cuts 3.5×5 mm strands. Simply place your veggie  into the slicer, twist in your vegetable with a mild pressure and you have beautiful long strands of vegetable pasta!

Product Features:

• Special sturdy japanese stainless steel blades
• Creates endless julienne strips
• Finger guard
• Stainless steel/Plastic
• Dishwasher safe

Giveaway Terms (see further Terms and Conditions at the bottom of the entry form):

* The giveaway is for one (1) GEFU Spirelli Spiral Slicer. 5 people will win!

* You will receive an entry for each of the following options:

•   Like WholeFoodRealFood.com on Facebook (this is required, worth 2 entries).
•   Follow WholeFoodRealFood.com on Pinterest.
  
•   Leave a comment on this blog post about why you want to win a Spiral Slicer.
•   Tweet about this contest on Twitter. Example text: “Win a GEFU Spirelli Spiral Slicer and make vegetable pasta in minutes! WholeFoodRealFood.com is giving 5 away!”

* Contest is open to Continental US residents only, in the 48 contiguous states. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, etc. are excluded due to the cost of shipping. Winners must have a legal US mailing address in the 48 contiguous states.

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When purchasing your honey, raw unprocessed honey is a good choice. 75% of all honey sold in stores contains no honey at all. A comprehensive investigation conducted by Food Safety News (FSN) has found that the vast majority of so-called honey products sold at grocery stores do not contain any pollen, which means they are not real honey. “Raw honey is thought to have many medicinal properties,” says Kathy Egan, dietitian at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.  ”Stomach ailments, anemia and allergies are just a few of the conditions that may be improved by consumption of unprocessed honey.”

Cacao Benefits

Cacao contains a naturally rich supply of antioxidants and is a good source of dietary fiber.  Raw cacao contains the highest concentrated antioxidant of any other food.  It is also known to be one of the highest dietary sources of magnesium, flavanols and polyphenols. Cacao polyphenols may improve the health of your heart and brain arteries by serving as antioxidants and inhibiting blood platelets from forming a clot. If your blood cholesterol is somewhat elevated, cacao polyphenols may also lower your low-density lipoprotein, or “bad” cholesterol, and raise your high-density lipoprotein, or “good” cholesterol levels.

Cacao may help to keep your bowel movements regular. A 1-ounce serving of raw cacao nibs contains 36 percent of the recommended daily intake of dietary fiber, or 9 grams. Adding as little as 6.6 grams of cacao fiber per day to your diet may improve your bowel habits, according to a clinical study appearing in “Nutrition and Metabolism.”

Cacao products appear to be heart-healthy as well. One of the main health benefits of cacao is for the arteries in your heart and brain. Eating cacao foods such as chocolate several times per day may decrease your likelihood of having a stroke or heart attack, according to clinical studies published in the “Journal of the American College of Cardiology” and the “Journal of Internal Medicine.” In both studies, the frequency of stroke and heart attack in human subjects declined with an increase in chocolate intake. (Source)

Swiss Miss

The Rich Chocolate version of Swiss Miss hot chocolate contains the following ingredients (items in red are at risk of being genetically modified):

SUGAR, NONFAT MILK, MODIFIED WHEY, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CORN SYRUP, HYDROGENATED COCONUT OIL, LESS TAHN 2% OF: SALT, DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, SODIUM CASEINATE, CARRAGEENAN, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE.

Besides being full of GMOs, this hot chocolate also contains carrageenan.  All forms of carrageenan are capable of causing inflammation, specifically gastrointestinal inflammation… chronic inflammation is a root cause of many serious diseases including heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and cancer. Further, carrageenan is used in animal experiments to predictably cause inflammation, which allows pharmaceutical scientists to test the effectiveness of new anti-inflammatory drugs. In a report Cornucopia released, there is indication that scientists have raised concern about carrageenan’s safety for decades.  These concerns are based on their research linking the common food additive to gastrointestinal disease in laboratory animals, including colon tumors.

Swiss Miss also contains hydrogenated coconut oil, which is not a good choice. Hydrogenated oils and trans fats are especially unhealthy because they both raise our LDL “bad” cholesterol while lowering our HDL or “healthy” cholesterol. If you purchase coconut oil, look for labels that say “virgin” and make sure it’s not hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated and contains no trans fats.

Raw Cacao

Here is the ingredient breakdown for Navitas Naturals Cacao Powder: CERTIFIED ORGANIC CACAO (THEOBROMA CACAO). Theobroma Cacao is a small evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae native to the deep tropical regions of Central and South America. Its seeds are used to make cocoa powder and chocolate.

This recipe is as easy to make as a Swiss Miss packet, I hope you enjoy it!

Print

Real Hot Chocolate

Prep Time: 5 minutes

See Detailed Nutrition Info on

Whole Food. Real Food. Good Food. www.facebook.com/wholefoodrealfood

Ingredients

• 8 oz Almond Milk (any milk of your choice will work)
• 3 tsp cacao powder
• 3 tsp honey or maple syrup

Instructions

1. Heat Almond Milk in small saucepan on stove.
2. Pour milk into mug.
3. Add cacao and honey.
4. Stir to combine.
5. Enjoy!

Real Hot Chocolate

• 8 oz Almond Milk (any milk of your choice will work)
• 3 tsp cacao powder
• 3 tsp honey or maple syrup

1. Heat Almond Milk in small saucepan on stove.
2. Pour milk into mug.
3. Add cacao and honey.
4. Stir to combine.
5. Enjoy!

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We are currently on a fourth antibiotic trying to kill the bacteria (proteus vulgaris) found in her most recent urinalysis. When visiting her doctor yesterday, we were told to keep an eye on her stools to make sure they are not hard, which is a sign of constipation. If her stools appear hard, we were told to give her Fiber One bars. Yikes! Have you ever looked at the ingredients in a Fiber One bar? After reviewing the ingredients I could not believe they were prescribing this to a 4-year-old or to anyone for that matter.

There are many varieties of Fiber One bars, this particular ingredient breakdown is for the Oats & Chocolate version (ingredients in red are at-risk of being genetically modified):

Chicory Root Extract, Semisweet Chocolate Chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural flavor), Whole Grain Oats, Corn Syrup, Rice Four, Barley Flakes, Sugar, Canola and Palm Kernel Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Maltodextrin, Tricalcium Phosphate, Sugarcane Fiber, Soy Lecithin, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Salt, Fructose, Malt Extract, Caramel Color, Cellulose Gum, Baking Soda, Milk, Natural Flavor, Mixed Tocopherols added to retain freshness.

Besides being a bar filled with GMOs, the bar also contains Caramel Color which is carcinogenic. The artificial brown coloring is made by reacting corn sugar with ammonia and sulfites under high pressures and at high temperatures. This produces the chemicals 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole, which have been found to cause lung, liver and thyroid cancer in lab rats and mice.

This bar also contains Natural Flavor. Natural Flavors as defined by the USDA are, “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolystate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf of similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.”

Often times, “castoreum,” which is emitted from the castor sacs within a beaver’s anus is used as “natural flavor.” For a beaver, this slimy brown substance is used to mark its territory, but for us humans, it’s used as an additive that is often labeled as “natural flavoring” in the foods we eat – vanilla, strawberry and raspberry probably being the most common. Instead of smelling horrible, like most people would expect from an anally produced secretion, it has a pleasant scent, which supposedly makes it a perfect candidate for food flavoring and other products. Yuck!

Lastly, this bar is also loaded with sugar:

1. Sugar is Not Food – It is empty calories with little nutritional value and actually causes your body to steal vitamins from other vital organs in attempt to process the sugar, leaving you undernourished.
2. Sugar Makes You Fat – It is filled with calories that are stored in your fat tissues.
3. Sugar Makes You Nervous – There is a clear link between excess sugar and disorders like anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia, because of extreme levels of insulin and adrenalin.
4. Sugar Causes Diabetes, Kidney and Heart Problems – Excess sugar can damage the pancreas’s ability to function properly.
5. Sugar Kills Your Teeth – Sugar increases the bacteria in your mouth that erodes enamel. The biggest crime is that many popular toothpastes contain sugar which is not required to be put the on the label.
6. Sugar Suppresses the Immune System - Sugar interferes with the body by overtaxing its defenses.
7. Sugar Causes Wrinkles – A high-sugar diet damages collagen.

The average American consumes 20 teaspoons of added sugar each day; that is 2-3 pounds of sugar per week!  This is added sugar; not sugar naturally found in fruit, vegetables, grains and milk. The World Health Organization says no more than 10 percent of calories should come from added sweeteners; that is a maximum of 12 teaspoons of sugar for a 2,200-calorie diet.  Twenty teaspoons may sound like a lot of sugar to get through in one day, but…

Consider the following:

• Low-fat fruit yogurt (125ml) contains 4 1/2 tsp of sugar.
• 2 slices white bread contains 6 tsp of sugar.
• Wheaties (1 bowl & 1/2 tsp sugar) contains 3-4 tsp sugar.
• 1 glazed donut contains 6 tsp of sugar.
• A 12 ounce Pepsi contains 10 tsp of sugar.

That is a total of 29.5 teaspoons of sugar!  It is easy to see why sugar consumption is on the rise when we look at how many foods have added sugar in them.

Instead of a Fiber One bar, we will be making sure she gets her fiber via REAL FOOD. There are two main types of fiber found in foods: insoluble and soluble. 

Insoluble Fiber

Insoluble fiber is found in whole grains and on the outside of seeds, fruits, legumes, and other foods. It is also called roughage. Its job is to hold onto water in your digestive system. It uses this water to move waste through your intestine and get rid of all of the toxins and material that your body doesn’t need. Insoluble fiber acts like a sponge. It absorbs water and then swells up inside of your intestine, producing a “full feeling.”

Soluble Fiber

The other type of fiber is soluble fiber. It is found in fruits, vegetables, seeds, brown rice, barley, oats, and oat bran. It works by passing through the intestine and forming a “gel” like substance. Fiber and digestive enzymes made by the liver form this gel. Soluble fiber works on a chemical level to prevent and reduce the absorption of certain substances that are harmful to the body.

Sufficient daily fiber intake is important, not just because of helping the bowels function, but to provide nutrients to friendly bacteria in the digestive tracts. Low-fiber diets have been connected to numerous diseases and conditions such as colon cancer, constipation, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis, heart disease, high blood pressure, hemorrhoids and varicose veins. 

These are the foods we use to ensure she is getting enough fiber: almonds, almond butter (in smoothies), raspberries, pears, apples, mangos, bananas, oranges, strawberries, kiwis, figs, raisins, spaghetti squash, broccoli, peas and carrots. There are many other sources of natural fiber (grains & legumes), these are the ones she likes best.

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“When you know better, you do better.”

SKIM MILK, WATER, CREAM, SORBITOL, POLYDEXTROSE, WHEY, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: GLYCERIN, NATURAL FLAVOR, PROPYLENE GLYCOL MONOESTERS, CELLULOSE GEL, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CELLULOSE GUM, GUAR GUM, CAROB BEAN GUM, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, SUCRALOSE (SPLENDA (R) BRAND), CARRAGEENAN, SUGAR. Ingredients are current as of 3/1/13. 

Ingredient Breakdown

Sorbital: Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol that is often used to sweeten processed foods. This artificial sweetener can cause severe bowel problems, including diarrhea, pain and extreme weight loss.

Polydextrose: Polydextrose is a non-digestible 1 kcal/g polysaccharide used primarily as a sugar replacer and dietary fiber in foods. At typical use levels, polydextrose provides physiological effects similar to those of other dietary fibers. However, excessive consumption of non-digestible carbohydrates can lead to gastrointestinal distress.

Whey: Whey protein comes from cow’s milk. The process of cow’s milk being turned into cheese creates whey protein as a byproduct. Whey protein is a complete and high quality protein, with all the essential amino acids. Whey protein is a natural food substance, but is not 100 percent risk-free. Excessive consumption may contribute to kidney damage.

Natural Flavor: Natural Flavors as defined by the USDA are, “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolystate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf of similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.”

Often times, “castoreum,” which is emitted from the castor sacs within a beaver’s anus is used as “natural flavor.” For a beaver, this slimy brown substance is used to mark its territory, but for us humans, it’s used as an additive that is often labeled as “natural flavoring” in the foods we eat – vanilla, strawberry and raspberry probably being the most common. Instead of smelling horrible, like most people would expect from an anally produced secretion, it has a pleasant scent, which supposedly makes it a perfect candidate for food flavoring and other products.

Propylene Glycol Monoesters: Propylene glycol monoester is an emulsifier. It is used in cakes, ice creams, pastries, cookies, dips, jams, spreads and many other processed food items. Propylene glycol monoesters are hydrolyzed to fatty acids and propylene glycol, which are normally present in the human body and are easily metabolized. Propylene glycol monoesters can cause mild irritation of the eyes or skin, similar to an allergy, on prolonged contact. It is non-toxic in small doses. It is high in cholesterol. In lethal or near lethal doses, (6 gm per kg or more), propylene glycol mono ester of stearic acid is known to cause kidney damage in several species. No specific data or information on harmful effects is available, however it is advisable to avoid consumption in large doses.

Mono and Diglycerides: Monoglycerides and diglycerides are food additives commonly used to combine ingredients containing fats with those containing water, two types of ingredients that don’t ordinarily combine well. Food manufacturers typically use them to extend a product’s shelf life. Many different chemicals may be used in the process of manufacturing mono- and diglycerides that are still present in the final product. Among the most prevalent of these is hardened palm oil, or palm oil exposed to hydrogen and high temperatures, a process that forms trans fats. Other possible compounds added in the making of mono- and diglycerides include nickel, tartaric acid, synthetic lactic acid, ricinus fatty acids and sodium hydroxide, each of which may pose health risks of its own. Unfortunately, insufficient study has been done on the potential health dangers of these compounds.

Cellulose Gum: Cellulose gum is the common name for carboxymethylcellulose, or CMC. It comes from the cell walls of woody plants, most often trees and cotton. Cellulose gum improves texture, so it is a common ingredient in ice cream and frosting. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Science in the Public Interest consider this plant-derived product as generally safe for human consumption, with some minor cautions. Your body is not able to break down cellulose gum, so it simply passes through your digestive tract and you do not absorb it into your bloodstream. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that cellulose gum appears to have no effect on humans, except that the dietary bulk may fill you up and thus decrease the nutritive value of your diet. Nutrition labels for products containing cellulose gum can be misleading because products that contain cellulose gum sometimes include it in the dietary fiber count even though the body doesn’t absorb it. The FDA also cautions that the consumption of large quantities of cellulose gum may have a laxative effect.

Guar Gum: Guar gum is processed from guar seed extract. It is a thickening agent that is often found in gluten-free foods. Guar gum in low amounts has a minimal effect on the body. Larger doses of guar gum have potentially hazardous side effects. Guar gum is an extremely viscous thickening agent that has the potential to expand up to 20 times its original size. Guar gum is often marketed as a weight loss additive since it has the potential to minimize appetitive by creating a feeling of fullness. However, the possibility that guar gum could expand and completely block your gastrointestinal tract. Diets that utilize guar gum as the primary fiber source might run an increased risk of colon cancer. If you have any history of colon cancer in your family, you should be cautious when consuming large amounts of guar gum.

Carrageenan: Carrageenan is a common food additive that is extracted from a red seaweed, Chondrus crispus. It is a polysaccharide derived from red seaweed and it has molecular qualities similar to plastic. Carrageenan, which has no nutritional value, is used as a thickener and emulsifier to improve the texture of ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, soy milk and other processed foods.  It is also used in toothpaste, beer, and gummy/jelly based products. All forms of carrageenan are capable of causing inflammation, specifically gastrointestinal inflammation… chronic inflammation is a root cause of many serious diseases including heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and cancer.

Sugar: Cancer cells need sugar to thrive. When you consume sugar-laden foods, your pancreas’ beta cells produce insulin. By consuming sugar excessively, an overproduction of insulin may occur and you may become immune to its effects. Reducing sugar intake and normalizing your insulin levels can lower your risk of cancer.

Acesulfame Potassium: Acesulfame-K is a potassium salt containing methylene chloride, a known carcinogen. It is approved by the FDA, but there are several potential problems correlated with consumption of this food additive. Even though there are many studies that attest its safety, acesulfame potassium is still suspected of causing benign thyroid tumors. In rats, the development of such tumors took only 3 months, a period in which the concentration of this additive in the consumed food was between 1 and 5 percent. This is a very short period of time, so the substance is believed to have significant carcinogenic properties. Methylene chloride, a solvent used in the manufacture of acesulfame potassium, is the substance that may give the food additive its potential carcinogenic characteristics.

Sucralose: Sucralose is a synthetic additive created by chlorinating sugar. Manufacturers say the chlorine in sucralose is no different from that in table salt. However, the chemical structure of the chlorine in sucralose is almost the same as that in the now-banned pesticide DDT. Research has shown sucralose can cause shrinking of the thymus gland, an important immune system regulator, and liver and kidney dysfunction. A recent study by Duke University found sucralose reduces healthy intestinal bacteria, which are needed for proper digestion and can impact the effectiveness of prescription and other drugs.

“Avoid food products containing ingredients that are A) Unfamiliar, B) Unpronounceable, C) More than five in number or that include D) High-Fructose Corn Syrup. None of these characteristics, not even the last one, is necessarily harmful in and of itself, but all of them are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed to the point where they may no longer be what they purport to be.  They have crossed over from foods to food products.” – Michael Pollan

Want a quick, natural alternative? Try my one-ingredient, dairy-free banana ice-cream. You can find the recipe here.

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Gatorade was developed in the early 1960s by researchers at the University of Florida. Since its invention, manufacturers have added popular flavors to it. The drink is said to to replace electrolytes lost through exercise and exertion during the course of working out and sporting events. However, there are health risks that may result from the drink.

Gatorade has a high sugar and sodium content. Compared to a soda, there is more sodium in Gatorade, and sodium can lead to high blood pressure. High blood pressure is not usually associated with those under 30 years old, but it can still affect young athletes and endanger older athletes.

Gatorade is associated with significant weight gain. According to a University of California report that was cited in a Sept. 2007 Washington Post article, those who drink Gatorade regularly without engaging in at least an hour of vigorous sports activity can gain weight from the drink. Students who drink 20 oz. of Gatorade every day for a year gained approximately 13 pounds.

Those who drink Gatorade regularly are subject to tooth decay and other dental problems. A 12 oz. bottle of Gatorade Rain contains 21 grams of sugar. In addition to causing cavities, other problems can result as well. According to a New York University College of Dentistry study, prolonged use of the sports drink will cause significant staining of the teeth. NYU used cow teeth in its study (they are quite similar to human teeth) and soaked them in Gatorade and water. Those soaked in sports drinks grew discolored because of the high acidic content, according to NYU professor Mark Wolff. (Source)

The alternative we use for Gatorade consists of the following (it is delicious!):

– 6 oranges, juiced (energy from natural fruit sugars)
– 1 cup coconut water (electrolytes — potassium and magnesium)
– 1/2 lemon, juiced (electrolytes)
– pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt (because a cell’s ability to absorb water is dependent on salt, it’s one of the most essential nutrients to good health. As such, it’s often beneficial to add a pinch of salt to your drinking water, but be sure to use good quality salt instead of refined table salt.)

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When you know better, you do better.

• Juice from 1 small organic lemon (with peel)
• Juice from a thumb-size ginger
• 2 tablespoon raw honey
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon

Many people think taking vitamin C for cold and flu is good. It’s true, however, without bioflavonoids, you will need a lot more vitamin C for healing. When you juice a lemon with the peel, it provides high content of bioflavonoids that help to super-boost your recovery.

Many vitamin C supplements consist of synthetically derived ascorbic acid. This is virtually ineffective. Without the natural citrus bioflavonoids, ascorbic acid is easily oxidized and can actually be harmful to the body. This is why whole food nutrition is so much better than synthetically derived supplements. The best sources of citrus bioflavonoids are in lemons, limes, grapefruits, oranges, & tangerines. (Source)

If you do not have a juicer to juice the lemon and the ginger, a teaspoon of honey (raw is best) and a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon will usually knock out a cold within a day or two if taken twice a day for 3 days. Cinnamon is 26 percent sulfur based and honey is 33 percent sulfur based, making their combination 59 percent sulfur based and the reason why their combination is so effective.  Sulfur stimulates the body’s natural healing powers, causing a general improvement of symptoms.

When coming down with a cold or flu the herb to take is actually a food: scallions. Scallions release the pathogen by inducing sweating. Simmer scallion or other onion along with garlic and ginger and drink the broth to keep a cold or flu from going deeper.

If a cold or flu has gone deeper and has affected the muscles, the herb of choice is cinnamon. Cinnamon is warming and can help when you are feeling weak especially if sweating does not help you feel better. In this case, cinnamon will warm, strengthen and increase immunity.

Fresh ginger is also warm and releases the pathogen. Similar to cinnamon, ginger strengthens the immunity for weaker people who are sweating without relief of symptoms.

A nice tea for the fall, especially when feeling chilled and trying to recover from a cold or flu, is made by simmering a couple of cinnamon sticks and sliced fresh ginger in water for at least 20 minutes, strain and drink as needed. (Source)

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Eat Better. Feel Better.