Phytonutrients

Get Your 4 Phytonutrients in These Prevention Power Foods

Most people know that we need adequate amounts of oxygen, water, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, and good carbs for great health. But you may not know much about a group of micronutrients, also called phytonutrients, that can help prevent disease and restore health and vitality. Phytonutrient-rich foods are essential to vibrant health and wellbeing, yet they are almost completely ignored by many diet plans.
There are about 2,000 known phytonutrients; many others are being discovered all the time. And, you guessed it, they’re found in fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, nuts, sprouts and seeds. A single fruit or vegetable may contain more than 100 different types of healing phytonutrients that basically make up the immune system of the plant.
Once eaten, phytonutrients impart their incredible healing abilities inside your body. The thousands of phytonutrients are categorized into families, including carotenoids, catechins, flavonoids, lipoic acid, phytoestrogens, polyphenols, sulfurophane, and others. Let’s explore the phytonutrient families and find out how you can include more of them in your diet.
Anthocyanins
These natural, health-boosting substances give certain fruits their purple to reddish color. Not only does research show that anthocy anins have the capacity to boost short-term memory by 100 percent in just eight weeks, they also stimulate the burning of stored fat in the body to be used as fuel.
Up your intake: Anthocyanins are found in dark purple or red grapes, cherries, and berries, including blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.
Carotenoids
Not only do cartenoids help strengthen your eyesight and boost your immunity to disease, they are powerful antioxidants that, in some studies, reduced the risk of cancer and protected against the effects of aging.
Up your intake: Carotenoids are the yellow, orange, and red pigments found in foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots, mangoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, papaya, peaches, and other similarly colored foods as well as dark green vegetables like broccoli and leafy greens.
Catechins
Want to lose weight? Be sure to add catechins to your diet since they activate fat-burning genes in abdominal fat cells to assist with weight loss, and belly fat loss in particular. According to research at Tufts University, catechins increase abdominal fat loss by 77 percent and double total weight loss.
Up your intake: Catechins are mainly found in green and black tea, as well as apples.
Flavonoids
Flavonoids are the miracle nutrients we keep hearing about in the media lately; they interfere with the stages of the development of cancer cells. Resveratrol, a particular flavonoid found predominantly in grapes, has demonstrated its ability to protect the brain from damage.
Up your intake: Flavonoids are found in berries, cherries, currants, pomegranates, red and purple grapes, red onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, apple (skin), and walnuts.
Now you can understand why phytonutrients play such a critical role in your diet. In the coming weeks, you’ll learn more about the disease-preventing and even disease-reversing powers of phytonutrients and how to get more of them in your diet.

To rename a snack...

I would love suggestions on a new name for this snack. It's been called some rather unappetizing names like White Trash and Puppy Chow and I hate both of those. So come, suggest.

1 box of Cinnamon Life cereal (or you can use any kind of Chex or Life or Golden Grahams)
1 large box of raisins
1 cup peanuts
1 stick butter
1 small bag of chocolate chips
2 cups chunky peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 box powdered sugar

Pour cereal, nuts, and raisins into a large paper sack.
In a saucepan, put butter, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and vanilla together. Over medium heat, mix everything very well.
Pour sauce over cereal mix in paper bag.
Pour in box of powdered sugar and shake really well.
Serve when cooled.

REVIEW: Scrubbing bubbles toilet cleaning gel

I'd been thinking about trying this new cleaning product since I first heard about it. I mean, something that keeps me from having to scrub out a toilet used by 4 boys? Sign me up! Unfortunately, it didn't exactly turn out as the commercials said.

According to the official site:
Scrubbing Bubbles® Toilet Cleaning Gel makes it easy to keep your toilet bowl clean and fresh. Simply use the Toilet Cleaning Gel dispenser to stamp a gel disc onto the inside of your toilet bowl. The discreet gel disc sits just under the rim. There's no need to touch the disc or the bowl with your hand, making Toilet Cleaning Gel more hygienic than traditional clip-on bowl cleaners.
The gel disc gradually dissolves with each flush, allowing a controlled release of cleaner and fragrance. Each disc lasts up to seven days and leaves no residue behind. Your toilet bowl will remain clean and fresh — with practically zero effort.
Available in two great fragrances: Fresh Clean and Citrus Action.

First problem: the "clean or fresh" smell of the cleaner mixed with the smell of urine. GAG!
Second problem: If the dispenser isn't lined up exactly, you use way more than is recommended. This usually leads to your first box being used faster.
Third and final problem: The claim is that the disc is "discreet and lasts up to 7 days". My boys promptly noticed the blue jelly like disc and I had to remind them to leave it alone. Also, the disc fell out after a whopping day and a half. Maybe it'd be better for families who have a less used toilet?

I bought my box at the base commissary for $2.68. To me, it's worth way less. I'll stick to my old methods from now on.

Foods for detox

Think of how much garbage you eat. The grease, the additives, the toxins. Now read how to get rid of them. FYI: I detox once a month, usually the week before my period.

Feeling sluggish? Achy? Bloated? Time to detox. But where do you start?
Start now with spring foods that have exceptional natural detoxifying power. In the rainy and muddy months of spring, nature provides a low-fat, low-mucus harvest of sprouts, greens and berries. Use the spring grocery list below and eat more of these foods from March through June to help detox and rebalance your body.
Though these certainly aren’t the only items you can eat during this time, they are the in-season foods most beneficial if you want to detoxify and keep your digestive and lymph systems working at their peak. These foods can help you feel better, boost fat burn and prevent illness during the months of spring!
For a more customized approach to eating for detoxification, find out your Ayurvedic mind-body type profile, or dosha, and use the tips in the Ayurveda for Detox DVD to tailor your eating, fitness and other routines to your mind-body type.
Click here for a list of foods that detox the body.