Shortcut info sheet for health 

 

Hydration

- **Balances body fluids:** Proper hydration helps regulate body temperature, transport nutrients, and improve digestion.

- **Supports organ function:** Adequate water intake supports the efficient functioning of organs such as the kidneys and liver.

- **Enhances physical performance:** Hydration can help prevent fatigue, muscle weakness, and dizziness during exercise.

- **Aids weight management:** Drinking water can promote a feeling of fullness, helping to control calorie intake and manage weight.

- **Blood pressure regulation**: Proper hydration helps maintain blood volume and viscosity, promoting healthy blood pressure levels.

- **Blood sugar regulation**: Water helps metabolize sugars, which is crucial for optimal blood sugar regulation.

- **Flexibility and joint health**: Water helps lubricate joints, reducing stiffness and promoting flexibility.

- **Cognitive performance**: Proper hydration can enhance focus, memory, and reaction time, ensuring peak mental performance.

Remember that individual water needs vary, so aim to drink enough water to maintain a pale yellow urine color, which is a good indicator of adequate hydration.

To stay well-hydrated, aim to drink at least 8 cups (64 ounces) of water daily and increase intake during exercise or in hot weather.

More crucial info on hydration: 

• https://www.amazon.com/Your-Bodys-Many-Cries-Water/dp/0962994235

Alkalizing Foods

- Fresh fruits: Berries, watermelon, lime, avocado

- Vegetables: Spinach, kale, broccoli, carrots

- Spices: Turmeric, ginger, cinnamon

- Nuts and seeds: Almonds, chia seeds, flax seeds

- Herbs: Parsley, basil, cilantro

 

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Acidic Foods

- Refined grains: White bread, pasta

- Processed foods: Fast food, microwave meals

- Meat: Red meat, pork

- Dairy: Cheese, milk

- Sugar: Sweets, soda

 

Inflammation Triggers

- Food: Sugar, processed foods, trans fats, red meat, refined grains

- Lifestyle: Smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, stress

- Environmental factors: Air pollution, heavy metal exposure

 

Non-Mucus Forming Vegan Foods

- Fruits: Apples, grapes, oranges

- Vegetables: Bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes

- Whole grains: Quinoa, brown rice, oats

- Legumes: Lentils, chickpeas

 

Mucus

Mucus is a slimy substance produced by the body to protect and lubricate tissues. Excessive mucus production may lead to various health issues and diseases. An unhealthy diet rich in acid-forming foods can contribute to mucus buildup.

Acidity and Inflammation

Inflammation is also called the "mother of all diseases". Every disease started and is combined with inflammation.

Acidity in the body can result from poor dietary choices, smoking, alcohol consumption, and other factors. High acidity may lead to inflammation, which has been linked to chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

 

This concise list provides a quick reference for promoting health through better food choices. To reduce inflammation, increase alkalizing foods in your diet, and opt for vegan, non-mucus forming alternatives.

 

What is Inflammation?

Inflammation is a natural response of our immune system to injury or infection. It is a complex process that involves various cells, tissues, and molecular signals. While inflammation is necessary for our body to heal and fight off infections, chronic inflammation can lead to various health problems.

 

Our bodies naturally inflame when the body is injured or ill.

This is called acute inflammation.

Acute inflammation may manifest as swelling, redness, heat, as well as pain, and discomfort. Like when you stub your toe, that immediate pain you feel is the body working in action to help fix whatever just happened. It is a normal and effective response that facilitates healing.

Unfortunately, chronic inflammation is a different story.

 

Chronic inflammation is largely caused by poor diet, stress, lack of exercise, smoking, pollution, and lack of sleep. It is often seen in those with leaky gut syndrome, arthritis, fibromyalgia, celiac disease, and irritable bowel disease. It can also play a part in asthma and diabetes where the body continuously tries to heal tissues but fails.

As for weight gain and its connection to inflammation, inflammation makes our weight control hormone (leptin) to be less effective, which therefore causes weight gain. Thus, the two often come hand in hand.

 

10 main foods that are known to cause inflammation and also provide information on the foods that can be included in your diet to help reduce it.

One of the first, and worst offenders is refined sugar.

 

1. Refined Sugar

Sugar, found in soda, baked sweets, candy, and snack bars, all increase glucose levels in our bodies, which we often cannot process quickly enough. This increases levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the body, increasing levels of inflammation in the body.

Studies have reported that sugar consumption in the diet causes inflammatory processes to become more active in humans. 

Sugar also suppresses the immune system, making your body more susceptible to diseases and infection (3✓).

Satisfy your body’s natural need for glucose by eating fresh, ripe organic fruit, or opting for natural sugar sources that are rich in alkalizing minerals like maple syrup, coconut sugar, and yacon syrup.

2. Certain vegetable Oils

Vegetable oils from corn, canola, soybean, and safflower and all the products that contain them (yes, even vegan items like “butter” spreads), are high in omega-6 fats (the bad ones, not the good ones like those found in evening primrose oil).

The body needs a healthy balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, but many people currently consume more 6’s than 3’s. This imbalance can contribute to chronic inflammation.

Excess consumption of omega-6s can trigger the body to produce pro-inflammatory chemicals. And while omega-3s are anti-inflammatory, scientists have hypothesized that eating too much omega-6 counteracts these beneficial effects (5✓).

 So a diet with a lot of omega-6 and not much omega-3 will increase inflammation, while a diet high in omega-3s and low in omega-6 will reduce inflammation. Making sure these levels are in check is a crucial step in fighting inflammation.

Instead of certain vegetable oils, opt for healthier, anti-inflammatory oils like avocado, coconut, olive, and sesame oil. Note that boiling heating these oils ( except coconut oil) will make them transfats de) 

3. Dairy Products

All dairy products are high in saturated fats, which are naturally inflammation-causing.

Large observational studies have shown direct associations between plasma saturated fatty acid status with markers of low-grade inflammation in both overweight and lean adults (7✓), and children (8✓).

Dairy products contain lactose and casein proteins, both common allergens. When an allergen interacts with the immune system, it promotes the release of inflammatory neuropeptides, thereby triggering a cascade of unfavorable reactions in the body (10✓).

There are plenty of dairy product alternatives out there such as plant-based milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. For example, oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, and walnut milk

4. Wheat, Rye, and Barley

These wheat-containing grains all contain a common allergen – gluten.

When gluten enters the body, particularly in gluten-sensitive people, it responds by firing up the immune system and setting off an inflammatory cascade (11✓).

5. Fried Foods

Fried foods are another major trigger for inflammation, which can become chronic if consumed daily. Fried foods contain high levels of inflammatory advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which are formed when anything is cooked to high temperatures, smoked, dried, fried, pasteurized, or grilled. See more at nr. 10: transfat

6. Refined Flour

Refined flour, in other words, anything that is white and not whole-wheat, has been stripped of slow-digesting fibers and nutrients, which means your body breaks down these items very quickly. This will spike insulin levels, resulting in a pro-inflammatory body response (17✓).

One study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that a diet high in refined grains, such as white bread and pasta, was associated with higher levels of CRP, a marker of inflammation.

Furthermore, refined flour lacks the fiber and nutrients found in whole grains, which can help to reduce inflammation and promote good health. Whole grains contain beneficial nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, as well as fiber, which helps to slow down the absorption of carbohydrates and reduce inflammation in the body.

7.  Meat

There is some evidence to suggest that consuming meat may be associated with an increased risk of inflammation. This is partly due to the fact that red meat is high in saturated fat, which has been shown to promote inflammation in the body

8. Processed Corn

Corn is in so many products. You really need to be careful to avoid this one. There are a variety of corn derivatives like high-fructose corn syrup, corn starch, and corn oil. Eating corn in these refined forms spikes blood sugar and as we have seen above, spiked blood sugar leads to an increased insulin response, which creates a major inflammatory response

The resulting effects of gluten sensitivity range from body pain to mucus production (runny nose, coughing up mucus), and tiredness.

9. Artificial Chemicals and Additives

Anything artificially created, like chemicals and additives in foods, are not recognized by the body. They are foreign, and so naturally, the body needs to defend itself from these synthetic compounds, which means an inflammatory immune response.

10. Trans Fats

Trans fats, also known as partially hydrogenated oils, are a type of unsaturated fat that have been chemically altered to improve the texture and shelf life of processed foods. However, numerous studies have linked the consumption of trans fats to inflammation and an increased risk of chronic diseases.

Given the negative impact of trans fats on inflammation and overall health, it’s important to limit your intake of processed foods and choose whole, unprocessed foods whenever possible

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Good fats

A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that replacing trans fats with healthy unsaturated fats, such as olive oil and nuts, can reduce inflammation and improve cardiovascular health 

 

You can fight inflammation by slowly ditching the foods above, and incorporating the 10 foods below.

 

Remember that inflammation is also caused by stress, lack of sleep, pollution, smoking, and lack of exercise (as mentioned below), so it isn’t just about fixing a poor diet. Practice stress-reduction techniques, go to sleep earlier, quit smoking (if you do), and start walking if you’re not active

 

 

Gratitude for the information at this life-changing website by Carly Fraser. She has an incredible newsletter that is very informative and uplifting 

• https://livelovefruit.com/tonic-removes-toxins-that-accumulate-lymph-glands-overnight/