Aloe Vera: The Superfood

In my last post I  talked about how good Kale can be for you, and one way to consume it is by making a smoothie with many other ve
getables and fruits. One of the things I add into my smoothies would be Aloe and you should to, Here is why.

Aloe Vera is really an incredible plant. and is part of the same family that garlic and onions belong to.Different parts of the plant are used for different effects on the body and Aloe Vera has both internal and external applications. And I use both. Here are just a few of the the benefits aloe provides.

- Aloe Vera Is High in Vitamins & Minerals:

vitamins including A, C, E, folic acid, choline, B1, B2, B3 (niacin), B6. Aloe Vera is also one of the few plants that contains vitamin B12 and minerals include: calcium, magnesium, zinc, chromium, selenium, sodium, iron, potassium, copper, manganese.

- Aloe Vera is High in Amino Acids & Fatty Acids:

The amino acids found in aloe range from 18-20 amino acids, with all 8 essential amino acids.

Alove Vera also includes quite an impressive range of fatty acids. Aloe contains three plant sterols, which are important fatty acids- HCL cholesterol (which lowers fats in the blood), campesterol, and B-sitosterol. All are helpful in reducing symptoms of allergies and acid indigestion. Other fatty acids include linoleic, linolenic, myristic, caprylic, oleic, palmitic, and  stearic.

- Aloe Vera is an Adaptogen:

Aloe Vera is a well-known adaptogen. An adaptogen is something that boosts the body’s natural ability to adapt to external changes and resist illness. It is thought that aloe’s power as an adaptogen balances the body’s system, stimulating the defense and adaptive mechanisms of the body. This allows you an increased ability to cope with stress (physical, emotional and environmental stress like pollution)

- Aloe Helps in Detoxification:

Aloe Vera is a gelatinous plant food, just like seaweeds and chia. The main benefit to consuming gelatinous plant foods in your diet is that these gels move through the intestinal tract absorbing toxins along the way and get eliminated through the colon. This will help the proper elimination of waste from your body and help the detoxification of your body.

- Aloe Alkalizes the Body:

Disease cannot manifest in an alkaline environment. 

- Aloe Helps Boost the Immune System:

I think given the stresses of our daily lives, every one can use a boost to their immune systems. The polysaccharides in aloe vera juice stimulate macrophages, which are the white blood cells of your immune system that fight against viruses.

- Aloe Vera is Great for the Skin:

Aloe increases the elasticity of the skin making it more flexible through collagen and elastin repair. Aloe is an emollient, helping to soften and soothe the skin. It helps supply oxygen to the skin cells, increasing the strength and synthesis of skin tissue and induces improved blood flow to the skin through capillary dilation.

When I peel the Aloe I keep the skins and use it on my face as moisturizer and my skin has never looked better.

- Aloe Helps Reduce Inflammation:

Aloe Vera contains 12 substances, including B-sisterole, which can help to slow down or inhibit inflammation. I have ulcerative colitis and this is probably another reason I don't have to take medicine for my condition. 

- Weight Loss:

Improving your digestion, and detoxifying your will have a secondary effect in promoting weight loss because when we start to improve our digestion we naturally eliminate more efficiently, which is a primary way they we detoxify – through our bowels. This will lighten our toxic load on the body and will give us more energy.

How to peel Aloe Vera:

(might be a different language but its the best quality video I could find.)

With these kind of benefits why wouldn't you add it into your smoothies and cover your skin in it!

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Kale Shakes: Because Eating all these Fruits and Vegetables would be Boring

Kale is being called “the new beef”, “the queen of greens” and “a nutritional powerhouse.” Here are a few benefits of adding more kale to your diet:

- Kale is low in calorie, high in fiber and has zero fat.

- Kale is high in iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Calcium  (more calcium than milk)

- Kale is high in Vitamin K. Eating a diet high in Vitamin K can help protect against various cancers. 

- Kale is filled with powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants, such as Carotenoids and Flavonoids help protect against various cancers.

- Kale is a great anti-inflammatory food. One cup of kale is filled with 10% of the RDA of omega-3 fatty acids, which help, fight against arthritis, asthma and autoimmune disorders.

- Kale is great for cardiovascular support. Eating more kale can help lower cholesterol levels.

Kale shakes are a great way to feed your body and mind which leads to making you more alert, lose weight, and really wake you up in the best way possible. Eating kale and a lot of vegetables and fruits can become really boring and time consuming, so why not just throw everything in a blender and knock out all your fruits and vegetables servings right from the begin. Then you only have to worry about getting enough protein in your diet. Here are a few thing I throw into my kale shake.

Fruits

-  Slice Pineapple ( Vitamin C, Vitamin B6)

-  Handful of Blueberries (Antioxidants)

- 1 Pear

- 1 Peaches (Antioxidant and Vitamin C and A)

- 2 Bananas (Vitamin B6, C, Manganese, Fiber, Potassium)

Vegetables 

-  3 Stalks Kale (make sure to get organic kale because non organic kale absorbs a lot of pesticides)

-  3 Inches of Aloe Vera (Electrolytes and many more health benefits)

- 1 Carrot (Potassium, Vitamin A, B6, Manganese)

- 1 stick Celery (Vitamin K, Folate, Vitamin A, Potassium, Molybdenum, Fiber, Vitamin C, Manganese, Calcium, Vitamin B2, Tryptophan , Magnesium, Vitiamin B5)

-  Handful of spinach (Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Manganese, Folate, Magnesium, Iron, Vitamin C, Vitamin B2, Calcium, Potassium, Vitamin B6, Tryptophan, Vitamin E, Fiber, Copper, Vitamin B1, Protein  Phosphorus, Zinc, Choline, Omega-3 fats, Vitamin B3, Selenium)

Throw it all in a blender and drink daily and you'll be noticing the health benefits in no time. Try to buy as many of the products as you can in organic because of all the harsh pesticides that kill off some of the nutrition stored.  

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Bulletproof Coffee

Disclaimer: This sounds super awful. In fact, when I first heard about it I didn't try it for months because I didn't trust the recipe just the sound of it makes you think it tastes super bad but trust me on this one once you have tired your not going to want to switchback to normal coffee.

Ingredients

-Low Toxin Coffee Beans

-Unsalted Grass Fed Butter

-Coconut Oil

Make sure the butter you use is grass fed. The fat from grass fed cows is not the same as the fat from grain fed cows. Grass fed is far better in every capacity.

How to make it: 

1. Place 2 to 6 tablespoons of grass fed butter in large cup.

2. Place 2-3 Tablespoons of coconut oil in a large cup.

3. Brew 16 ounces of low-toxin coffee pour into the cup.

Mix with a spoon or blend it in a blender
Idea behind it is:

The fat in the butter and the effects of the coconut oil will keep you full and energized for hours. And I call it my secret weapon because it will help you melt fat and build muscle. It’s also extremely good for you, providing necessary saturated fat and CLAs (Conjugated linoleic acids).

I prefer to have my bulletproof coffee for breakfast. It’s also great to use on an intermittent fasting protocol as it will fill you up and revamp your energy without pulling you out of ketosis.

Seriously, coffee is no longer coffee unless it’s bulletproof.

Science behind it:

Greater rise in fat oxidation with medium-chain triglyceride consumption relative to long-chain triglyceride is associated with lower initial body weight and greater loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue.

The application of medium-chain fatty acids: edible oil with a suppressing effect on body fat accumulation.

“Dietary Medium-Chain Triacylglycerols Suppress Accumulation of Body Fat in a Double-Blind, Controlled Trial in Healthy Men and Women”. The American Society for Nutritional Sciences 131: 2853–2859.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid Reduces Body Fat Mass in Overweight and Obese Humans

Sources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12975635

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18296368

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/130/12/2943.full

Products I recommend:  

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Organic Sulfur Crystals (MSM)

Not many people know about organic sulfur crystals or the health benefits they provide, I've been on MSM for 4 months now and I feel like wonderful, I have more energy, my skin and hair looks better and It has even helped put my condition Ulcerative Colitis into remission, at a fraction of the cost that traditional medicine would of cost me.

Some of the many benefits of organic sulfur crystals include:

-Increasing enzyme production within bodily glands
-Increasing flexibility in muscle tissue
-Increasing blood circulation
-Reducing muscle inflammation and promoting muscle healing
-Promoting the healthy growth of hair and fingernails
-Discouraging the growth of cancer cells through oxygenation
-Reversing osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease
-Promoting healthy skin production and reducing wrinkles
-Regulating insulin production
-Improving colon function and eliminating colonial parasites
 -Improving resistance to illness


My dosage is 3,000 milligrams of MSM and 3,000 milligrams of vitamin C 3 times a day, the vitamin C helps absorb the MSM a lot more easily. Upon starting to take it you might notice the side effects like upset stomach, diarrhea and breaking out on your skin, this is only temporary while your body detoxes all the toxins. Once this phase is over you'll notice your hair, skin and nails looking much more vibrant.

The main reason we don't get enough MSM in our daily diet is because modern day farming methods of gathering and processing the foods that eliminates majority the Organic Sulfur. On top of that the last of the remaining sulfur gets eliminated from cooking and refrigeration, so its no surprise we don't  get enough MSM in our diet.

What does Organic Sulfur (MSM) actually do? 

In the body, ORGANIC SULFUR  is used to repair cells, which have been damaged, as well as to promote the growth of healthy new cells by allowing the cells to transport oxygen more effectively. ORGANIC SULFUR also makes cell walls more permeable, thus able to allow more nutrients in and to allow waste materials to pass out of the cells. Studies have shown that chlorine and fluorine are detrimental to such oxygen transport, yet these elements have been added to our water supply to make our teeth “healthier” and our water more “pure”, or free from bacterial infestation. These elements are poisonous at higher concentrations and they block the uptake of both oxygen and sulfur. Hook up a charcoal filter to your faucet and it removes the chlorine before you drink it. (http://hawaiiwellnessmagazine.com/page/what-is-organic-sulfur)

I recommend you getting MSM and Vitamin C from amazon because getting the pure powder form guarantees that you only get MSM and no additives or fillers that most over the counter pills have. If you are having trouble viewing the links to amazon below you might have to disable adsense. 

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