Healthy Eating Resources

If you want to have a healthy heart and good blood circulation throughout your body, you need to regularly supply your body with flavonoids, which are natural nutrients that have antioxidant properties.

Raw, organic chocolate is one of nature's most flavonoid-rich foods. When eaten on its own or with other healthy foods, raw, organic chocolate can help keep your cardiovascular system strong and healthy.

Hardly a day goes by in the summer where you won't find a watermelon in our home. Watermelon is hands down, our family's favourite summertime fruit.

Not only is watermelon packed with thirst-quenching water and natural sweetness, it is an excellent source of two powerful antioxidants: lycopene, and beta carotene.

Peppermint and other mints are among the healthiest herbs that you can include in your diet. What if your body doesn't react well to ingesting mint-flavored foods and beverages? Before you say no to mints forever, I encourage you to consider that some mint-flavored products (especially candies, chocolates, and low quality teas) use synthetic menthol to create mint flavor and scent.

Synthetic menthol is created by using a crystallization process that generates contaminants, and these contaminants can affect the scent and quality of synthetic menthol.

Before we take a look at some of the best and worst foods for your heart, let's make one point clear: a healthy heart is useless without several other well functioning organ systems.

A strong heart can only keep you healthy if the following parts of your body are functioning properly:

• Nervous system (cerebrum, midbrain, spinal cord, vagus nerve, and sensory fibers)
• Respiratory system (nasal passageway, nasopharynx, oropharynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli)
• Digestive system (digestive tract, liver, gall bladder, and pancreas)
• Blood vessels (arteries, arterioles,capillaries, venules, and veins)

Assuming that all of the above components in your body are functional, some of the best foods for your heart and blood vessels are:

If you love spinach dip but your body doesn't love the milk and sour cream that are often used to make most commercially prepared varieties, give this tahini-based spinach dip a try.

Not only is this raw spinach dip out-of-this-world yummy, it's rich in tryptophan, which means that when eaten with a carbohydrate-rich food (like baked, whole grain crackers), it makes for an excellent evening snack that promotes deep sleep.

Though hummus made with chickpeas is a favorite dish in our home, occasionally, we like to mix things up and make different types of hummus that are chickpea-free.

If you're a fan of almonds, I encourage you to give the following almond hummus recipe a try - it's rich in naturally occurring vitamin E, magnesium, and calcium, all of which can help keep your heart and blood vessels healthy as you age.

On days when I feel like having an all-raw and relatively light meal, I turn to some type of salad with a handful of raw nuts. Yesterday, I found a recipe for baby spinach salad with pecans and Bosc pear in a wonderful raw foods cookbook called Living Cuisine. I tweaked the recipe a bit, taking into account the ingredients that we had on hand in our kitchen, and proceeded to have a truly memorable salad meal.

If you enjoy healthy salads that provide a number of contrasting textures and flavors, I encourage you to give the following recipe a try. Did I mention that it's really good for your health? It's rich in calcium, iron, folate, healthy fatty acids, healthy protein, and complex carbohydrates, including fiber.

For most of us, there's no denying that mayonnaise makes everything better. And if you make healthy, homemade mayonnaise using extra-virgin olive oil, organic eggs, and other simple ingredients, you can continue making everything better with mayonnaise without compromising your health.

If eggs aren't your thing, a great alternative to egg-based mayonnaise is the following vegan mayo made with avocados and basil.

If you want to significantly lower your risk of developing cancer, consider eating cabbage at least a few times a week. Cabbage belongs to the Cruciferous family of vegetables - other vegetables that belong in this family include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, Brussels sprouts, Bok Choy, watercress, and arugula.

Phytonutrients found in cabbage and other Cruciferous vegetables stimulate your genes to increase production of enzymes that detoxify your cells, resulting in elimination of free radicals, toxins, and potential carcinogens from your body.

One of our readers, a professional photographer named Julia Mazza, surprised me a short while ago with a gift of several photographs of our Authentic Tibetan Goji Berries and Raw Chocolate (Cacao) Nibs.

Nutrient-dense foods never looked so beautiful, wouldn't you say? Many thanks to Julia for generously sharing her work with our readers.