“Let Food Be Your Medicine”
by Jon Porter
[email protected]
www.realfoodsjournal.com
“How strange a creature is man, who will at times go to such extremes to preserve his life, only to shorten it at the dinner table!”, according to William H Gordon. It seems to me that wellness should begin with a healthy diet. Ann Wigmore, author of The Wheatgrass Book says that "despite huge medical gains over the past one hundred years, medical solutions to life extension and rejuvenation have all fallen short - the average male lives just 4 years longer today than his ancestor did a hundred years ago.” Sorry ladies - Ann did not reference similar life expectancy information for females. I would suggest that we all can improve our overall health through exercise and proper nutrition which includes live “nutrient dense” foods such as wheatgrass juice, fresh picked organically grown fruits and vegetables, home grown live sprouts, and live microgreens in our diet.
Eating living whole foods have been credited in helping to heal many chronic diseases including various types of cancer, diabetes, migraines, asthma, joint pain, fibromyalgia, colitis, allergies, depression, and anxiety. In my own experience, an increase in consumption of whole raw vegetables including live sunflower and pea microgreens, and wheatgrass juice, along with a reduction in processed foods has substantially increased my vitality along with many other health benefits. I am not advocating some form of nutritional nirvana, but rather an improved diet that includes nutrient dense live foods and less of the lower nutrition processed foods.
You may have heard the notion that “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Life certainly is more than a gathering of various independent organs, but is rather an integrated whole that is vastly more than its parts. In the same way, live food is more than nutritional elements. Fresh live whole foods offer nutrients in their optimal, interrelated natural state that the body can immediately recognize and utilize, so long as they are truly fresh. We know that all fruits and vegetables begin to lose nutrition as soon as they are picked since they are in a process of decay - thus increasing the value of locally grown recently picked produce. In general, the older the produce, the less nutrition it provides no matter how good it looks.
According to Dr. Tom Ballard (and many others), “Nutrition outperforms drug treatments for both prevention and treatment of chronic disease.” This is a very general all encompassing statement and it depends on what he denotes as nutritious. Whether or not you fully agree with his statement, we should be able to agree that a diet that includes substantial amounts of nutrient dense live food will improve our vitality and overall health.
North Idaho has a short growing season. We can only get wonderful locally grown (and usually well grown) fruits and vegetables a few months out of the year. For those that have space to garden, we can use hoop houses, cold frames, and green houses to extend our growing season.But if you grow sprouts in the kitchen and microgreens indoors under grow lights, you can produce nutrient dense live foods for you and your family all year long. You can convert a single closet into a growing space that can feed most families at least half the food they need and at a very low cost. You know what sprouts are, and there is much information available on how to row them on the internet and in books. You may not be as familiar with microgreens.
Microgreens are sprouted seed that is then placed on soil (or hydroponically grown) and grown until the first two seed leaves are fully developed. This usually takes 7 to 14 days to produce fully developed microgreens. Grow lights are only used for a portion of the growing time. I grow Sunflower and pea microgreens because the combination of these in a salad will provide you with as close to perfect nutrition as I can find. They have as much protein as chicken breast, but the microgreen protein is in a highly digestable - almost predigested - form. Simply amazing! I also grow wheatgrass for juicing since it is considered to be as close to a perfect food as we can find anywhere.
Want to grow your own microgreens?
If you are interested in growing microgreens, I have written two articles that will help you get started which are available on the internet at RealFoodsJournal.com. Look on the right side and click on the category “Indoor Gardening”. You will find the articles “Growing Sunflower Greens Indoors” and “Let Their Be Light”. These articles should be enough to get you started. Be very careful choosing seed for sprouting and growing microgreens. I recommend that you use only organic seed because that guarantees that they have not been sprayed with any toxic chemicals. Sunflower seed sold as bird seed is often of very poor quality with a high percentage of broken seed and a low percentage of germination. The standard of quality for bird seed is very low.
Clearly, there are times when we need prescribed pharmaceuticals to help us with our medical conditions. But it is also clear that we can participate in our own wellness through exercise and a highly nutritious diet. Live “in-the-soil" sunflower, pea and wheatgrass microgreens are available in Sandpoint at Winter Ridge, Truby’s, Yokes, and Miller’s Corner stores.
Eat simple food, live a simple life, and be joyful in all things.
Do you want to know more?
The Sprouting Book by Ann Wigmore contains excellent information of growing Sunflower and
Buckwheat greens.
The Wheatgrass Book by Ann Wigmore
Microgreens, A guide to Growing Nutrient-Packed Greens by Franks and Richardson
Microgreens, How To Grow Nature’s Own Superfood, by Fionna Hill
Sprouts, The Miracle Food by Steve Meyerowitz
http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/1002/sc1002-greenmedicine.html - excellent article by Dr.
Tom Ballard
www.RealFoodsJournal.com
Seed suppliers:
http://www.wheatgrasskits.com 1-866-558-6887
http://www.superiornutstore.com 1-800-295-4093
http://www.sproutpeople.com
Note: The title of this article “Let Food Be Your Medicine” comes from the famous quote by
Hippocrates “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food”.
[email protected]
www.realfoodsjournal.com
“How strange a creature is man, who will at times go to such extremes to preserve his life, only to shorten it at the dinner table!”, according to William H Gordon. It seems to me that wellness should begin with a healthy diet. Ann Wigmore, author of The Wheatgrass Book says that "despite huge medical gains over the past one hundred years, medical solutions to life extension and rejuvenation have all fallen short - the average male lives just 4 years longer today than his ancestor did a hundred years ago.” Sorry ladies - Ann did not reference similar life expectancy information for females. I would suggest that we all can improve our overall health through exercise and proper nutrition which includes live “nutrient dense” foods such as wheatgrass juice, fresh picked organically grown fruits and vegetables, home grown live sprouts, and live microgreens in our diet.
Eating living whole foods have been credited in helping to heal many chronic diseases including various types of cancer, diabetes, migraines, asthma, joint pain, fibromyalgia, colitis, allergies, depression, and anxiety. In my own experience, an increase in consumption of whole raw vegetables including live sunflower and pea microgreens, and wheatgrass juice, along with a reduction in processed foods has substantially increased my vitality along with many other health benefits. I am not advocating some form of nutritional nirvana, but rather an improved diet that includes nutrient dense live foods and less of the lower nutrition processed foods.
You may have heard the notion that “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Life certainly is more than a gathering of various independent organs, but is rather an integrated whole that is vastly more than its parts. In the same way, live food is more than nutritional elements. Fresh live whole foods offer nutrients in their optimal, interrelated natural state that the body can immediately recognize and utilize, so long as they are truly fresh. We know that all fruits and vegetables begin to lose nutrition as soon as they are picked since they are in a process of decay - thus increasing the value of locally grown recently picked produce. In general, the older the produce, the less nutrition it provides no matter how good it looks.
According to Dr. Tom Ballard (and many others), “Nutrition outperforms drug treatments for both prevention and treatment of chronic disease.” This is a very general all encompassing statement and it depends on what he denotes as nutritious. Whether or not you fully agree with his statement, we should be able to agree that a diet that includes substantial amounts of nutrient dense live food will improve our vitality and overall health.
North Idaho has a short growing season. We can only get wonderful locally grown (and usually well grown) fruits and vegetables a few months out of the year. For those that have space to garden, we can use hoop houses, cold frames, and green houses to extend our growing season.But if you grow sprouts in the kitchen and microgreens indoors under grow lights, you can produce nutrient dense live foods for you and your family all year long. You can convert a single closet into a growing space that can feed most families at least half the food they need and at a very low cost. You know what sprouts are, and there is much information available on how to row them on the internet and in books. You may not be as familiar with microgreens.
Microgreens are sprouted seed that is then placed on soil (or hydroponically grown) and grown until the first two seed leaves are fully developed. This usually takes 7 to 14 days to produce fully developed microgreens. Grow lights are only used for a portion of the growing time. I grow Sunflower and pea microgreens because the combination of these in a salad will provide you with as close to perfect nutrition as I can find. They have as much protein as chicken breast, but the microgreen protein is in a highly digestable - almost predigested - form. Simply amazing! I also grow wheatgrass for juicing since it is considered to be as close to a perfect food as we can find anywhere.
Want to grow your own microgreens?
If you are interested in growing microgreens, I have written two articles that will help you get started which are available on the internet at RealFoodsJournal.com. Look on the right side and click on the category “Indoor Gardening”. You will find the articles “Growing Sunflower Greens Indoors” and “Let Their Be Light”. These articles should be enough to get you started. Be very careful choosing seed for sprouting and growing microgreens. I recommend that you use only organic seed because that guarantees that they have not been sprayed with any toxic chemicals. Sunflower seed sold as bird seed is often of very poor quality with a high percentage of broken seed and a low percentage of germination. The standard of quality for bird seed is very low.
Clearly, there are times when we need prescribed pharmaceuticals to help us with our medical conditions. But it is also clear that we can participate in our own wellness through exercise and a highly nutritious diet. Live “in-the-soil" sunflower, pea and wheatgrass microgreens are available in Sandpoint at Winter Ridge, Truby’s, Yokes, and Miller’s Corner stores.
Eat simple food, live a simple life, and be joyful in all things.
Do you want to know more?
The Sprouting Book by Ann Wigmore contains excellent information of growing Sunflower and
Buckwheat greens.
The Wheatgrass Book by Ann Wigmore
Microgreens, A guide to Growing Nutrient-Packed Greens by Franks and Richardson
Microgreens, How To Grow Nature’s Own Superfood, by Fionna Hill
Sprouts, The Miracle Food by Steve Meyerowitz
http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/1002/sc1002-greenmedicine.html - excellent article by Dr.
Tom Ballard
www.RealFoodsJournal.com
Seed suppliers:
http://www.wheatgrasskits.com 1-866-558-6887
http://www.superiornutstore.com 1-800-295-4093
http://www.sproutpeople.com
Note: The title of this article “Let Food Be Your Medicine” comes from the famous quote by
Hippocrates “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food”.