Since time immemorial, people have been looking for ways to stay fit and healthy for as long as possible. The Chinese were definitely not left behind in this search for immortality.

For thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine experts have taught that each day you should eat 5 different types of food. It’s not quite like our regular food pyramid- it’s more color based. It is said that the white foods (like radish/jikama), are good for the lungs, while red things (ex: radish/tomatoes) are good for the heart, green food (like veggies etc) are good for the gallbladder, yellow food (like Bananas, sweet potato, or squash) are good for the liver, and finally, black foods (Ex: black beans/seaweed) are good for the spleen. It’s a very interesting science of health.

This little article is quite a nice reminder of it:

Back in Black: Your Favorite Foods, Only Healthier
Tips and tricks from our resident dietitian, Julie Upton, RD

When it comes to plant-based foods, deep, vibrant colors are one of the best indicators of what’s healthiest. The pigments that give plants their color also provide the antioxidants that protect against heart disease, inflammation, and certain cancers. A simple swap can provide a big nutritional payoff, like choosing pink grapefruit over white, or dark greens over pale lettuce. So it may come as little surprise that black foods can pack a potent health benefit too. That’s exactly the case with the midnight-hued rice, beans, tea, and berries I can’t seem to get enough of lately. Here’s why:

Black rice
This grain—along with the red and purple varieties—is becoming increasingly popular in the United States, and has long been consumed throughout Asia. Black rice is a 100% whole grain food just like brown rice, but it is thought to have a higher anthocyanin content due to its deeper color. A study in China found that when people’s diets were supplemented with black-rice pigments, their risk factors for cardiovascular disease decreased–including levels of C-reactive protein in their blood, an indicator of inflammation.

Black beans
These high-fiber antioxidant powerhouses pack more disease-fighting power than lighter-colored beans. New research shows that the black skins contained 24 plant compounds including 12 terpenoids and 7 flavonoids. The researchers also found that these compounds halted the growth of colon, liver, and breast cancer cells.

Black tea
It comes from the same plant as green and oolong tea, but the dark stuff has a slew of good qualities all to its own. Numerous studies have shown that drinking several cups of flavonoid-rich black tea a day may provide heart-health benefits, offer protection against neurological decline as we age, and provide anticancer properties. Plus it’s got the added benefit of being calorie-free (as long as you don’t drink it with milk and sugar), and its caffeine may help improve your workout.

Blackberries
These tangy treats are rich in polyphenols that have been shown to have antioxidant activity. University of Kentucky researchers isolated blackberry extract in lab studies, and found that its chemicals stopped the growth of colon-cancer cells. They may also help prevent diseases related to chronic inflammation. Don’t like them on their own? Pair them with blueberries and ginger syrup in this light and fruity dessert.

Black mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, and many other specialty black crops are, well, cropping up these days. Let us know if you’ve seen any at your local farmers market and whether you’ve tried them.

By Julie Upton, RD

From: Health.com

Food, (pun not intended) is an all devouring topic and issue in our world today. Time has a very interesting photo gallery of what people from around the world eat. I posted some of those pictures here. It’s interesting that my diet is most similar to the people from Shingkhey Village- wherever that may be.

Here in the Philippines, as of the news report the other day, hunger has gone up by 18.74 percent. It is too bad that people have become so dependent on what has been referred to time and time again as the “colonial mentality”, and so they starve. In a tropical country like the Philippines, almost all the weeds that grow quite abundantly around are edible. Of course it is not just ignorance that has brought about hunger in my country, but also the corruption of our leaders. Of course the next question will be – “Then who put them in power?” And so it goes, the endless cycle.

In my own little ways I work to help educate the Filipinos about their previous way of life, when food that grew around them would be eaten, and not sold and exchanged for store bought foods wrapped in plastic or packed in cans.

What I find most ironic however, is that it seems sometimes, that the bigger problem in our planet is obesity and weight control rather than hunger! For the most part, there seem to be more people running around and trying to lose weight rather than gain weight. Then again, I suppose that is a good thing… but still points down to very basic yet deeper problems/questions that none of our educational systems tackle or even dare go near.

Sweet potato.  Yep, you heard it.  Sweet potato’s not only high in fiber, antioxidants, potassium, glutathione, it also helps reduce and keep blood sugar levels and arthritis at bay.  My dad was right, – sweet potatoes, aka “Kamote” in Tagalog, is a wonder food.

For more information on the nutritional values of sweet potatoes, go here.

Even its vines are good to eat both on the level of taste and health.

A variation of sweet potato fries

There are endless ways to eat sweet potatoes- one way is to make them into fries.  If you’re making it into fries, cut it lengthwise or into thin circular slices.  The thinner the better.  Flavor with curry, salt, and cinnamon, or herbs and salt, or Korean pepper/Korean ketchup sprinkled with sugar is another great way- or go, the rather unhealthy but extremely delicious Filipino way, fry the sweet potatoes in melted sugar.

Another way is to just boil them and eat them- but because boiling brings out the high starch content, it makes it a bit fattening.  Personally I like eating sweet potatoes when they’re baked and coated with honey and/or maple syrup, butter, and cinnamon, or even just plain.  Sweet potatoes are good in pies, mixed in sweets with grated coconut meat, milk, and sugar, and even in savory dishes like another Filipino dish- pochero.

So well, here is, the wonder food.  It’s been recently found that sweet potatoes are also high in glutathion which is used to treat toxicity, acne, cancer, allergies, Alzheimer’s disease, cystic fibrosis, arthritis, diabetes, hepatitis, liver dysfunction, and more. I’m going to include this in the list of “must eat foods” for the nutrition project and I’ll eat more of this stuff for sure. Sweet potato, the ultimate multivitamin.

The old-fashioned way to exercise to relieve pain and muscle tension just doesn’t work. When our upper back muscles hurt, we How to Relieve Upper Back Pain
The old-fashioned way to exercise to relieve pain and muscle tension just doesn’t work. When often try stretching to loosen up. But the pain returns, doesn’t it?
Work, everyday activities, and lifestyles are harder than ever on back muscles. Our activity levels are diminished. Our jobs require sitting for long periods of time, adding to our inactivity. These habits restrict movement, circulation, and metabolism.
Because of the extremely inactive nature of our lifestyles, typical old-fashioned stretches are not effective enough to loosen tight muscles.
Understanding posture, pain and muscle balance.
To know how to use exercise effectively for pain relief, you must understand posture, and how pain arises from muscles out of balance.
Posture is compromised by sedentary jobs, or jobs that put our bodies in awkward positions. Some muscles get overworked, while others get underworked. This creates muscle imbalance and poor posture.
Pain will arise when a muscle imbalance develops. In order to address the imbalance and relieve pain, treatments (like exercise) need to focus both on the overworked muscles and the underworked muscles.
When you feel pain or tension in upper back muscles, you need to also treat the muscles on the front-side of the body. Most commonly, the muscles on the front are tight from being overworked, and the upper back muscles are being overstretched and underworked. When the chest and arms are working hard, the upper back muscles are strained and pulled taut.
Relieving upper back muscles with new exercise rules.
In order to prevent and relieve muscle pain due to postural imbalance, you’ll need to apply some new exercise principles.
1) Don’t stretch the pain away- The old-fashioned way to relieve tension is to stretch the pain away. This is partly why yoga has become so popular in recent years.
For stretching to be effective, we must stretch the overworked muscles. When posture is compromised, causing tension to be felt in the upper back, then we need to be especially conscious to stretch the muscles of the front-side of the body.
2) Getting stronger- Back muscles often feel painful because they are overstretched, or weak. Therefore, exercises to strengthen the upper back muscles often provide instant relief.
3) Move along- Cardio exercise brings fresh blood and oxygen to restricted areas. Cardio exercise increases movement, decreases pain, and naturally stimulates your body’s own painkillers. It benefits both the underworked and overworked muscles, and every cell in the body.
Apply these three fresh principles. Abandon outdated ideas that aren’t helping you.
You can prevent aches and pains, and relieve tension, with a simple shift in your exercise program.

A lot of interesting stuff on this blog about womans health.

What exactly is this world coming too? I work with about 5 people who have absolutely no life. They work all week so they can spend it all on alcohol and drugs. They don’t even like the work they do. They have absolutely no appreciation at all for nature or  the environment. They  are just totally locked into their little world. So many people are like that that I know. They are totally destroying their bodies with the toxins they throw into it everyday. I can smell the toxins on them everyday they come to work. It’s oozing out of them. I wish I could just slap them and tell them to wake up haha.   A few of them are actually really nice people but they just have no purpose for their life. Work, drugs and fishing is about it haha. I’m not trying to criticize them and put them down. They are free to do whatever they want but I would hate to live my live and then look back on it and think “damn, I lived for nothing”.