Everybody already knows we need healthy bacteria in our gut. Well almost everybody.

Yogurt has been a popular gut bacteria building food, but not everyone does well with dairy.

Fermented foods were widely used as a means of preserving food, before refrigeration was invented.

Sauerkrout is a classic fermented food. There are many others as mentioned in this video.

These types of fermented foods help to build healthy gut flora. Problem is many store products have been pasteurized, killing any beneficial bugs. Homemade is always a better way to go, unless you can verify that a fermented food still contains live healthy bacteria.

Fermented Food List

• Sauerkraut
• Table olives
• Salami
• Kefir
• Yogurt and cheese, from quality sources, if not sensitive to dairy.
• Fermented fish
• Miso
• Tempeh

If you take probiotic pills it is important not to start out too aggressively.

Growing your own food is one of the least expensive ways to get organic, locally grown produce without even having to go to the store.

Container gardening allows you to grow herbs and vegetables even in a small space. Herbs are easy to grow and are great for beginners.

Herb Container Gardening For The Apartment Owner – How to have a garden without a yard

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If you are starting from seeds, you want to think about getting started now, depending on what area of the country you are in. Seeds can be started indoors in a well lit window.

For the instant version of the garden, you could buy plants and put then in a container, like the lady in this video. Herbfest has a great variety of plants and a wealth of gardening information. It is held every spring in Wake Forest, NC. Use the form above, next to the video to get tips on growing, using, eating herbs, as well as a host of information you didn’t know that you never knew.

Get started with container gardening, here is what you need

• A pot with good drainage
• Potting soil
• Some plants

Stick you potting soil in the pot, leaving room for the soil around the roots of the plants. Remove your plants from the containers and check the roots to be sure they are not root bound. They may need a little massaging or trimming. Stick your plants in and water. Do not over water.

Different plants require different amounts of water, sun and fertilizer. Do a little research on what you are growing and have fun with it.

Enjoy your freshly harvested organic plants!

We would love to hear your container gardening tips.

Check out the huge stash of fruits and vegetables he has in his kitchen.

And in one marathon juicing session, he juices it all down to several large jars of juice.

There is way more that 5 servings of fruits and vegetables here.

Consuming huge amounts of vegetables is one of the quickest ways to get the body alkaline.
Juicing allows you to consume way more vegetables than you could ever chew.
And it’s a lot easier for the nutrients to get into your bloodstream.

I can tell you from experience, I have more energy when  I juice regularly than any other thing.

It is a lot of work and expense to juice however. It is well worth the time and effort.

Making smoothies is a runner up. A smaller volume of veggies is required and smoothies are less time consuming.

You are not supposed to be tired in the afternoon, you are supposed to be alive and vibrant.

This clip is from the Food Matters movie.

What you eat really does matter and it has a direct impact on your energy.

One of the things that they talk about in this segment is eating raw food vs. cooked.

I have personally been shooting for 80% raw foods at most meals for the last few weeks. It makes a noticeable difference.

In the video they talk about the benefit of eating at least 51% raw foods. That is just over half of the diet, eaten as raw foods.

One way to boost up your raw foods is to drink smoothies loaded with raw fruits and vegetables.

They also talk about how the soil is deficient and how food is shipped long distances to the grocery store.

One good way to get good fresh nutrition is by sprouting. You can’t get anymore locally grown than your own kitchen. I recently bought a large sprouting jar at the health food store. It makes more than double the amount of a regular sprouting jar. It’s great for keeping me well stocked in sprouts, especially handy in the winter, when fresh veggies are the most scarce.

Sprouting video page here.

I learned a lot from this video interview with Dr. Tom OBryan.

He says gluten can cause all kinds of problems from autoimmune to gut problems like irritable bowel. It is not just a gut problem.

The base of the food pyramid tells to eat lots of whole grains, but it may be time to rethink this strategy.

I don’t know if it really affects 7 out 0f 10 people, but Dr. Tom is the expert on gluten sensitivity, not me.

I like what Dr. Tom says, ” You should feel like a million bucks. If you don’t we are missing something.”

Check out the video for information about testing and learn more about gluten sensitivity and Celiac disease.

It may just be that that health problem you have is related to gluten intolerance.

This video gives us some great insight into the nutritional value of foods and calorie density.

We all know that junk foods are bad for us and the term superfoods, gives the impression of a high quality food that is going to do something good to the body, and maybe the mind and spirit too.

We would love to hear about your favorite super healthy food and maybe even the junk food that you hate the most.

Salads made with fresh herbs are my favorite superfood. See a list of info on salads and herbs here, special thanks to HerbFest.net I’m still getting a few fresh herbs out of my Carolina organic garden, even in this colder weather. Herbs are great for growing indoors in a pot also.

Junk Food Characteristics

• Low nutrient density
• High calorie density
• Low fiber
• High glycemic index rating
• Processed

Superfood Characteristics

• High nutrient density
• Low calorie density
• Low glycemic index
• Natural, organic, whole food

So personally I am going to load up on the superfoods and stay away from the junk foods. ( Something I have been doing for years anyway, at least most of the time, no-one is perfect )
 

If you have blood sugar or yeast issues, you may want to avoid or go easy on this.

That being said, this dessert is still way better than cake, ice cream cookies and other standard desserts.

The lady in this video gives us some good tips on how to pick out good fruit at the grocery store.

• Oranges
• Strawberry
• Pineapple
• Kiwi
• Frozen Mango
• Juice of 1/2 lime

Slice up the fruit and arrange pineapple, a few pieces of the mango and oranges in the bottom a bowl. Put the frozen mango and lime juice in a food processor or blender and blend up till smooth.  This makes the sorbet. Place the mango sorbet in the center of the bowl. Then top with the remaining fruit.

Why not take the Traditional Chinese concept of the 5 elements and apply it to a smoothie.

In Chinese thinking there are 5 elements that correspond to 5 tastes of food.

To be healthy and have good life force energy, you need some of each taste.

Five Element Smoothie Recipe Ingredient List

• 1 Peeled Lemon
• Sweet Fruit
• Sea Salt
• Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
• 1 Cup Purified Water
• Flax Oil or Flax Seed

The Chinese five energy fields: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Here is how they correspond to taste:

1. wood element – Sour
2. fire element -  Bitter
3. earth element -  Sweet
4. metal element – Spicy
5. water element – Salty

Pay careful attention to what he says about flax oil. It goes bad quickly and you can’t necessarily detect it by smell. I prefer to use whole flax seeds in my smoothies, although some people do not like the chunky texture.

You could substitute sea salt for the Krystal salt.

Dairy allergy or sensitivity is not just limited to being lactose intolerant.

So for today, here is a video on how to make dairy free cheese.

The recipe uses nuts as the main ingredient.

More info about herbs and cheese together at HerbFest.net
Part one show the basic vegan cheese recipe. The second two videos show some variations you can do.These recipes would be great for Holiday parties and get togethers. Part 2 shows how to make a crusted cheese and part 3 shows how to do soft herbed cheese spread.

The lady in the video uses almonds to make the cheese, but other kinds of nuts and seeds can be used as well. A pro-biotic is used for the fermenting process.

Part – 2
How to Make a Hard Raw Vegan Cheese #805

Part – 3
Raw Vegan Dairy Free Herbed Soft Cheese #806

The lady in this video has a very interesting perspective.

If you you eat healthier food, maybe you will not have to go to the doctor quite so often for nagging health issues.

Makes sense when you look at the big picture. I would love to hear your opinion and experience on this. Are your medical bills higher than your grocery bill? Can that trend be reversed?

What is better about organic food?

• The taste, does organic food taste better?
• No unnatural pesticides, chemicals, herbicides
• Possible better nutritional value

Upgrade the quality of your food.

What is the food that you eat most often? Switch your most consumed food item to organic.

Laura Klein share with us in this video.She seems to love cheese. Many people are sensitive to dairy products and do better without cheese.

I would love to hear your thoughts on organic food. Please use the comment box below.