Detox

We just had a fantastic lecture on how the food choices we make play such a HUGE role in arguably EVERY chronic disease we face. It made me a believer in one thing. Detoxifying eating habits.
I always turned my nose up to those expensive drink mixes and the like that claim to clear the body of its build-up of toxins. I thought the people who did all that stuff were extremists. Maybe I'm just becoming one of them now. Except I will never give up on candy bars. Or cookie dough...

But, Dr. Meulendyk scientifically and clearly explained why these veggie and fruit diets can prevent us from killing ourelves slowly from the inside out.

For example, studies have been done on our fat cells that tell us they are responsible for housing most of the damaging chemicals we ingest on our food and from our environment. The chemicals get stuck inside of them. So, you may ask, how do we get them out? Well, first, we diet too quickly, thus breaking the fat cells open and releasing tons of nasty toxins, and second, we get older and these same cells break down and release their contents. Like we're supposed to, our bodies react to them and a massive detoxification battle takes place resulting in increased inflammation and other deleterious mechanisms to try to cope with all these toxins. Enter chronic diseases that seem to exponentially increase as we age. Or. We take action now to help our bodies get rid of this nasty stuff. How? (For all my nerdy friends out there, give me a call and we can talk about this in more depth, it's fascinating! And makes so much sense!)

By eating things like this:
- Pomagranate juice
- Green tea
- Dark, leafy greens
- Berries
- Brocolli (little buds are better...)
- watercress
- Cabbage
- Brussel sprouts
- Kale!
- Curry and rosemary
-N acetyl cysteine (NAC) supplements

So, all this to say, I went and bought kale. Last time I ate it, it was too hard and cruchy and tasted bitter. THIS TIME, I did my research.

Try this kale salad recipe to get some of it's great detoxifying effects. My next goal is to try to make cabbage taste good. The key is to massage it, who knew?!