If you want to balance LDL/HDL, regulate Diabetes II, or eradicate menopause symptoms, Chinese yam should be your staple food! Foods that keep your liquid household running smoothly are loaded with quick soluble minerals and nutrients. Everyone knows that keeping hydrated is important, but very few respect that eating foods within the blue element can restore strength, libido and protect your knees!
Spleen balancing foods (depending on the condition to achieve): Organic lightly steamed vegetables, corn, celery, watercress, turnip, pumpkin, alfalfa sprouts, button mushrooms, radish, caper, brown rice, barley, amaranth, rye, oats, legumes, kidney beans, adzuki beans, lentils, a small amount of lean organic meat, poultry and fish, tuna, a small number of whole fruits, lemon, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, seaweed, kelp, green tea, jasmine tea, raspberry leaf tea... read the blog about Spleen and consult with your medical professional before consulting with me for a personalized recipe journey!
Foods that nourish the liver are green, lime/lemon, ginger, artichokes, dandelion and asparagus. Most garden herbs have an impact on liver health; eat them generously. When food is used for medicinal benefit, you will most likely “break down” your greens and never eat spinach, cabbage, broccoli, or kale (void!!) raw: They cause liver distraction.
The Red Menus selection for the Heart-Element nourishes the circulatory system, promotes heart strength, aids the small intestine, enhances kidney activity, and boosts the spleen to produce red blood cells and lymphocytes. These recipes are "identified" with symbols (right top corner) for the organs they foremost nourish. Yin Menus "reduce" energy, Yang Menus "enhance" blood energy.
Lung nourishing/strengthening foods are naturally fresh and often “white” or have white centers like Rhubarb, onion, kohlrabi, celery root, cauliflower, almonds, daikon radish, potatoes, turnip, parsnip, Basmati rice, apple, pear, oats, sesame seeds, garlic, and tremella mushrooms.
All recipes and highlighted items in this selection are intended to treat the lung/large intestine relationship. In traditional food medicine, our digestion and smooth bowel transport are directly linked with skin health. If you aim for elastic, soft and healthy skin, you must nourish your large intestine. This is important for people with eczema, psoriasis, or afflicted by asthma and seasonal allergies.
For "food-medicine," the vegetarian menu selection is often utilized as a "vehicle" to add an herb or mineral with specific health benefits. It is healthy to cut down on animal proteins, even reducing fish and dairy intake as a general lifestyle. However, the opposite is encouraged; when specific animal fats can aid or nourish. Even a Buddhist will adhere to a nutrition plan that includes animal protein if it is necessary to correct or boost recovery. Vegetarian menus should be plant-protein rich and include sufficient minerals, vitamins and be rich in colors.
Fish needs to be consumed in the correct combination to achieve the best health outcome. This protein-rich menu selection with easy recipes is a great introduction to combining seafood with vegetables that harmonize the body. Each menu will highlight a specific health benefit and help understanding why it is important to void side dishes that stress the digestive system. If you would like to understand better the "Mercury" or "Cesium" levels of fish and how they affect the human body, please read my blog about Thyroid and Cancer.
These Menu selections are intended as Keto-Based high protein snacks. They can benefit throughout any health-goal journey. I prepare them for my work-out buddies or eat them before, during, and after extreme bicycle training. These recipes are intended to provide slow absorbable energy for endurance and benefit anyone that wants to add fuel to their activity-high day.
If you're attempting to go on a KETO diet, please read my blogs on this topic and consult with your doctor!
Let me sum up KETO rule #1:
If you’re not 100% serious about doing it scientifically correct - that must include your personal medical/physical data - and just “sorta” follow some of the trends you like on the internet (or a cool gym buddy told ya...) - you will do damage to your system and NOT gain any long-term benefit from your experience. Keto done wrong is actually super dangerous!
You cannot just "go Keto" and not exercise... You're eating healthy, that's good, but you will NOT achieve a beneficial ketonic state; never!
It is super important to have a good relationship with your body/mind when adapting to a Vegan lifestyle. The health benefits are enormous when consuming a balanced diet that is only plant-based. When reducing animal fats and protein from your diet, you must be informed and monitor your physical and psychological response. Avocados, quinoa, white yam, and legumes can substitute for proteins and fats, but eating high amounts of beans will change your estrogen or weaken your bones. Vegan is extreme. As with all extreme lifestyles, it is not ideal for everyone.