Medical Information

Fruits, vegetables, whole foods, natural foods, organic, GMO free, grass fed, free range, super foods, raw foods, seeds, nuts, clean water, alkaline water and everything else you can think of when eating healthy is mentioned. Can all this be done on a budget or low income? Are there hidden cost's? Should it be considered?




We have all walked into a grocery store to find all the choices available to you. The variety to choose from can be intimidating when not understood, especially when it comes to price. Where to start, in the fruits and vegetables section, the healthy section if you will or in the convenience processed food isles. Let's be honest, the choice is entirely yours to make and that choice will play a part in what you pay, both in the price of the food itself, the way it makes you feel, and another hidden cost you may not be aware of.



Now let's talk about price: is it a factor in what we choose to eat? Research shows several points to consider about junk food being much cheaper than whole food. Really? Many well written articles mentioned that junk food is cheaper than fresh whole food. How can this be and why does it not make sense to me? Stronger arguments were also made that the true price of junk food is actually much higher when taken the subsidies; our government pays to the farmers who grow this food, into account. An idea was mentioned, that would put mathematicians and economists in a room and have them figure out what all the junk food produced with subsidized crops should really cost if there were no subsidies. Then make retailers include the real price on the price tag along with the actual selling price. Maybe it's time to implement truth in pricing policies; to take out the mystery, that junk food, is actually cheaper than whole food?



Think about this, take the Twinkie for example, a food like substance with some kind of synthetic cream like substance inside, involving no fewer than 39 ingredient's, and those ingredient's must be grown somewhere, harvested, trucked to the plant, and this is only the first step. Once at the manufacture they must then be handled, blended, baked, packaged which also has ingredient's in the packaging itself and then shipped, again, to the store where the lucky recipient can make his or her purchase.



Now consider, say a bunch of carrots, a whole food that is good for you. What is involved with getting them to market? Yes they must be planted and cared for and then grown, harvested and washed off, and then trucked to the grocery store. There is also the cost of, are they organically grown or not. Pesticides also cost money. Compare 39 ingredients in a Twinkie, probably not all grown in the same spot, with a bunch of whole real food carrots, grown in one spot ready to go to market. Can you see that something is wrong with the price we pay?



Subsidies are hidden costs to the real price, we all pay, for the food we eat but it's not the biggest hidden cost of all. Here is another, I believe, that all this subsidized, pesticide laced, GMO altered food is really doing to our bodies, and that is making us sick? Take a look on the shelves of the medicine cabinet and in the draws and on the counter tops in your homes. Look at all that "prescription medication" could this also play a part in total cost of the food we eat? How about the doctor's visits for the high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and everything else with the food we eat? And let's not forget all the time off, being sick or for the doctors' visits could this also play a part in the total cost of that same food? Look at how much money is being spent after the fact, in an attempt to get well, from the food eaten in the first place?



Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. Was quoted by Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, in about 460 B.C. Isn't it time we returned to this advice, stop thinking that junk foods are cheaper, pay the price for the whole real foods we should be eating and use this amazing real food as the only medicine we really need, for in the long run, it really is all about the price we pay?



Today I am a living example of what whole foods can do for your fitness and lifestyle needs with the energy and the years younger look that is often commented upon, but it was not always that way. When my best friend was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease a few years ago, I decided to do something about it, What to do I was unsure of. Looking in the mirror convinced me that I to needed to work on myself as well. Out of shape, overweight, unhappy and depressed, I went to work not only on myself but started reading about nutrition,whole foods and the effects they have on your body and seeing if they could help my best friend.



Now as I write this I am a whole new person, 76 pounds released and more confident then ever and with knowledge and information about whole food that people need to know about. Unfortunately my friend has since passed but in his memory and honor I created a web site to help bring this knowledge to those who wish to use it. My web site is http://www.mymiracleoflifenetwork.com.



Have a look, see if this information would be helpful to you or someone you know. All the resources on my site gave me my life back and I believe can also play a part in your wellness plan for your mind,body and sole. Like me on face book at http://www.facebook.com/wholefoodmedicine



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Timothy_J_Smith

We've been told since birth to eat our vegetables and yet far too few of us actually do it. Even when we do get around to eating our vegetables it's only after we've cooked out most of the natural nutrients that our body is desperately craving.




Keep in mind, as you proceed, that while all raw vegetables are incredibly beneficial, raw green vegetables actually serve as the basis of nearly all life on this planet. That may sound a bit extreme to you, but stop and consider for a moment that almost every organism on this planet survives by either eating raw green vegetables or by eating an animal that eats raw green vegetables...they really are that important.



I know, you've probably eaten most of your vegetables cooked since you can remember. Simply put, just because something has "always" been done a certain way doesn't mean that it's the best way to do it. You will get a lot more out of your vegetables if you consume them raw.



I specifically used the word "consume" because, in reality, you get the same benefits from raw green vegetable juice as you do from eating them whole and usually you get it faster. This is because raw vegetable juice takes less internal work to digest and is absorbed into the body almost instantly.



It seems that most people only know that they should eat vegetables because they remember mom telling them to; very few people seem to have a grasp on the amazing nutritional value of vegetables.



Raw vegetables are extremely rich in minerals, vitamins, trace elements, enzymes and natural sugars. All of these are things that your body needs to function properly and the raw veggies will help stabilize and normalize your natural bodily functions. They actually help pretty much ALL of your natural bodily functions operate.



You've probably heard about the necessity of vitamins and nutrients to your overall health your entire life, but the concept of enzymes may be new to you. Basically, the enzymes in raw vegetables help your body digest food. This is one of the reasons that green vegetables are sometimes considered "nature's laxative," because they get your stomach working properly.



The average American diet is actually comprised of quite a few foods that are incredibly difficult for our bodies to digest properly. When we aren't digesting properly, the food sits in our stomach longer than it should and we miss out on any nutritional value it did possess.



Okay, so at this point, you may have started to become convinced about the necessity of vegetables...but why raw?



All of our cooking methods have been shown in scientific studies to reduce the amount of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes in vegetables. Of the cooking methods, steaming has been shown to retain the largest amount of vitamin content although it still reduces it.



Vegetables begin losing their valuable nutritional elements as soon as they are plucked, pulled or picked from the ground. For this reason, the additional loss of nutrients during cooking would be a smaller problem if we grew our own vegetables and cooked them the same day we harvested them.



However, most of us don't live that way. The largest majority of us purchase our vegetables at the grocery store after they've been shipped hundreds or thousands of miles. During that time, the nutritional value has been seeping out of them.



Finally, to make matters worse, repeated studies have shown that commercially grown vegetables, right out of the ground, aren't as rich in nutrients as they were 50 years ago. One large contributing factor to this is that farmers have found so many ways to make their crops grow faster that we aren't receiving the full benefit of naturally mature vegetables.



It is admittedly extreme, but not that extreme, to state that any vegetable you get from the grocery store and then cook at home probably has the nutritional value of cardboard by the time it hits your stomach.



Start eating (or drinking) raw vegetables as soon as you can. Whenever possible, grow them yourself or purchase them from local farmer's markets.



Gray Rollins writes for http://www.SecretsOfTheHealthy.com. For more great health tips like this one, visit our blog, and if you want a health tips like this one, visit our blog great tasting green drink, watch this video.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gray_Rollins

Everyone eats fruits, vegetables and meat, but no one knows they can use these foods in different ways to take control of their weight related issues. Actually, there is a specific way of eating all types of foods to make them beneficial for weight reduction. Although you can switch to all fruits, meat or veggie diet, you will always be better off using a vegetable diet. And, if you don't know much about the reasons, here is why vegetables reduce weight in effective and natural way.




The simple truth about vegetables is that the higher consumption of vegetables will always help losing more weight. The reason is that vegetables come with high minerals and nutrients, and it is due to high nutritional value that you should never overlook the importance of adding vegetables in your diet. The great thing about losing weigh through vegetable diet is that you can eat to your heart's content, especially the vegetables with green leaves.



Vegetables are perfect to get super energy, especially when you eat specific vegetables like bananas, apples, broccoli, beans, etc. And, your gains will get doubled by including salad in your diet. For salads, don't forget to mix collard greens, spinach, cabbage, kale and radishes. Cucumber and celery are other good options because they are fully loaded with water and keep your body away from dehydration.



So, now, you must have understood how vegetables help you reduce weight in a simple and natural way. Same thing holds true for all fruit diets, but you need to learn a bit more about the types of foods and the time to eat different foods.



If all that matters to you is weight reduction, then get ready to eat piles of vegetables to achieve your objective. But, to know the right way of eating vegetables you should visit Fat Loss Consumer Report where information is available in quality programs.



So, visit now to get started



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Patterson