Keep on the Sunny Side

My close friend, Ted, mentioned that he was having difficulty with blood sugar level fluctuation. Mainly that often when he is deep in his work he suddenly finds himself painfully hungry, light-headed and way stressed out. I used to have the same issue - suddenly hungry and weak and stressed and no brain power to get myself fed properly. I promised Ted that I would make some suggestions for dietary changes and snacks that would effectively allay this problem.

I realized, as I sat down to write, that it is easier said than done. One can suggest, for example, that sprouting seeds and legumes is a great way to get a lot more nutrients out of those foods, but such a suggestion might well sound like Greek to someone who doesn’t have any associated context or background.

I believe this may be why so many people who want to “get healthier” find it difficult to do so. There are some fundamental shifts of habit, thought, and/or skill set that may have to be addressed. They are not so difficult as they are just so different.

This is my first draft of an offering of a super basic building block to a nutrified way of life. Because I am starting with snacks, I decided I would deal first with the germinating of seeds and legumes.

Now, now, don’t go rolling your eyes! It may sound really bland and boring, but nothing is what it seems. Even plain and bland, when I leave sprouted sunflower seeds or sprouted lentils out on the counter in the kitchen, they get nibbled by everyone in the house throughout the day. The inner nibbler will often be satisfied nibbling at whatever is easily available, so having healthy stuff around is a great first step to take.

Let’s start with sunflower seeds as a snack.
The roasted nuts and seeds widely available at the store have been processed. Without getting into a dissertation on processed food and chemically refined, heated, overheated, or possibly rancid oils in this article, let’s just say - In general, my impression is that if you want to be healthier, you want to avoid processed foods. You can get raw organic whole sunflower seeds at most markets that carry bulk items, Trader Joe’s, and health food stores. There are also good resources for ordering raw organic nuts and seeds online.

Raw nuts and seeds contain the enzyme inhibitors (my family calls them “phyto-goblins”) that make them last so long, but also make them difficult to digest. Enzyme inhibitors may also be somewhat toxic to us human folks, a situation discussed in detail in my blog article, The Importance of Soaking Nuts.

Not roasted and not raw? What do you do? Well, it is good to know that once they have germinated, seeds and legumes change a great deal. They are no longer just starchy. The amino acid content changes as they start to grow. They are much easier to digest and the nutrients are easier for your body to assimilate.

The absolute easiest things to start with are sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and mung beans.

Recipe for Germinating seeds:
Start with a half cup of sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds or mung beans) and put them into a bowl that holds more than 2 cups of water.
Add 1 1/2 cups of water of water.
Let the seeds soak over night. The next morning, pour them through a strainer (I use one a little bigger than the bowl) and move the strainer under running water to rinse them off well. They are ready to eat. Make only enough for a day or so, as they get brown after a while. If you need help remembering to soak your seeds at night, I have found the easiest solution is to associate the habit with an already ingrained one, like brushing your teeth or washing your face: Clean your teeth, clean your seeds. Soak them at night, rinse them in the morning.

Uses for soaked sunflower seeds:
You can add them to salads to create a much more substantial dish. (You can probably add much more than you think. I often add a half cup of soaked seeds to a salad)
You can add them to your morning oatmeal or granola.
For a quick snack, In 5 minutes you can chop a half an avocado, half a tomato, and toss in your soaked sunflower seeds with a little lemon, salt, and your choice of spices, like thyme for a savory flair, or cayenne for a little spice.

Soaked mung beans can be used in much the same way as sunflower seeds. I have even added a handful of them to my granola. If you are beginning to eat salads because they are supposed to be healthy, try adding some mung beans to “beef up” the nutritional value.

Sometimes, if I am feeling a tad uninspired, I just transfer the sunnies to a clean bowl after rinsing them thoroughly in the morning, and I munch on them throughout the day as a snack. (Keep sunnies and pumpkin seeds in the fridge once you rinse them after the soak) It may seem odd at first, but they do the trick for hunger pangs. Baby carrots are another good thing to have around for such moments. The idea here is to calm the nerves and get you thinking clearly about how to best feed yourself when that light-headed hunger kicks in.

Now, I realize that this may not be the definitive answer to blood sugar fluctuation, but let’s take baby steps, folks.
As we progress with these baby steps, the fundamental shifts in the diet will cause changes in the overall picture.

Next time we’ll get into some chili lime snacks and other yummy stuff in the thrilling adventure: Dehydrator Basics.

Curing Stomach Acid Problems

My friend Adam had serious stomach acid problems. He was chronically on ant-acids, and had a close call when overdosing on baking soda dissolved in water to treat the intense burning symptoms. I encouraged him to heal himself with foods. The Standard American Diet (SAD) has a way of causing too much acid to build up. I simply suggested that his meals should include green vegetables, such as broccoli, green beans, collard greens, kale, zucchini, snow peas, snap peas, salads. I encouraged him to get a lot of celery and cucumber to have on hand - eating a couple of stalks of celery or cucumber quarters in case of emergency, and for maintenance to have one or two stalks of celery with each meal. (He prefers celery to cucumber.  My personal fave is sweet snap peas when in season.)

These super simple practices completely cured him. He hasn’t touched an ant-acid since making this simple change in his diet.

Not all essential oils are created equal

You would think that the essential oils you find in the health food store are the cleanest, highest quality you can get. This is not always so.
Why are some so expensive and others not so? Let me tell you what I have learned so far.

Essential oils come in different “grades.” The safest and cleanest are the “therapeutic grade” essential oils. Any thing other than therapeutic grade are probably blended with a carrier oil, or they could be partially or wholly synthetic and/or have chemically created, fragrant oils added which may smell similar to the real stuff but have no therapeutic value, and can even be dangerous.

The particular species called Lavendula angustofolia is said to have the most potent and therapeutic properties to induce relaxation, to help with sleeping, headaches, and which are naturally antibacterial, help heal burns etc. Perfume copies can’t possibly have the same effects. For example, many have heard that lavender oil is good for burns. However in the synthetic lavender oil, (usually a hybrid called lavandin cut with synthetic linalyl acetate to improve the fragrance and with other solvents to increase the volume) is a substance that can actually worsen the burn wound.

Within the category of therapeutic grade essential oils, however, there is a wide variation in quality. Once upon a time I had misplaced my Young Living peppermint oil. In desperation I went to a health food store and purchased their therapeutic grade essential peppermint oil. I had assumed that therapeutic grade essential oils were created equal. Not so. The indications on this cute little blue bottle said: “For external use only.”

Please! How is inhaling essential oil not considered “internal use?” The vapours of the essential oils we breathe pass into our blood stream via the lungs!

Currently I use Young Living essential oils. I have been trying other brands of therapeutic grade essential oils to see if I can find any as effective and clean. (Suggestions, comments, experiences on this subject are welcome) Young Living is labeled as a food supplement. (IMPORTANT: with concentrated essential oils - check for strength indications in case they need to be diluted before use) If we are inhaling essential oils in order to feel better or to heal, shouldn’t they be totally organic and real?

THE ACTION OF ESSENTIAL OILS
Essential oils work in three ways to deliver therapeutic effects. Firstly when we smell the essential oils, responses are triggered in our brain that can effect hormones, moods and emotions. In this way Aromatherapy can assist in relieving stress, insomnia, mood swings and fatigue. You can see why a synthetic copy would not have the same results.

Secondly, the vapours of the essential oils we breathe pass into our blood stream via the lungs, affecting underlying tissues and organs in a therapeutic way.

Thirdly, when essential oils are massaged onto the skin, blended in a safe dilution with a plant carrier oil, the oils rapidly absorb through the skin into the blood stream and lymphatic system, affecting underlying tissues and organs, and promoting general well being.

Producing pure essential oils is very costly. It often requires several hundred or even thousands of pounds of raw plant material for a just one pound of essential oil. (5000 lbs of rose petals make 1 pint of rose oil) So if you think that little bottle is rather expensive, just think of the little mountain of flowers, leaves, roots, that went into it!

-from www.eleusian.com.au

More on grades of essential oils:

Absolute - A concentrated semi-solid aromatic oil usually obtained by alcohol extraction. Absolutes can be successful in aromatherapy, but they must be handled with extreme care. Examples of absolutes are Jasmine and Rose. They should not be ingested by mouth, but can be applied to skin.
Perfume grade oils may be mingled with chemical pesticides, fungicides, or fertilizers. Chemical reactions can occur with the oils and damage beneficial constituents if processed under high pressure, in high heat and metal distilleries. Additives may be used to dilute the oils or the scent may result from artificial substances created in the laboratory.
Pure grade essential oil bottles claim to be “100% pure,” but regulations enforce that only a minimum of 1% of the contents of a bottle must contain “100% pure organic essential oil” for the bottle to be labeled as such. The remainder is often comprised of carrier oils or synthesized ingredients.

note: I am thinking of setting up an online store with a few of the products I most like to recommend to my readers. What do you think? As a reader would this interest you?