Food For Your Heath!

Hope everyone is enjoying the pre-Spring weather!

You are what we eat! Milk does a body good! An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

How many times have we heard these expressions?

Your heart is the size of your fist!

Did you know that a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day.

Did you also know that the endothelial lining is what protects our blood vessels.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn calls it "the life jacket of our blood vessels." The endothelial cells which line our arteries produce this wonderful molecule of gas called nitric oxide, which protects our blood vessels.

Why is nitric oxide so important, you ask?

Well this molecule protects us from ever having a heart attack or stroke.

Here's the problem, everytime we eat certain foods, they begin to injure this endothelial lining and ultimately, our levels of nitric oxide get lower.

Then what happens when there is little nitric oxide? Our arteries begin to form plaque which starts at childhood and continues into adulthood.

What foods harm our endothelial lining?

Meat, dairy, all oils, sugar, and salt.

Funny, these same foods cause other chronic diseases such as obesity diabetes, asthma, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, and of course, cancer!

Am I just making this stuff up as I go along? What would be my motive, other than to inform others about what I've learned.

What have I learned?

That heart disease can be prevented, reversed and is the #1 killer of people!

That cancer growth can be turned on and off!

That dairy products cause osteoporosis!

That plant protein is all we need in order to be healthy!

Have you ever seen an unhealthy elephant? I wonder how he gets his protein and calcium?

He's a herbivore! How can an elephant be so strong just by consuming plants?

Think about it, all we need is what nature gave us...

Whole, plant-based foods!

The next time you decide to eat something, ask yourself, is this food going to injure my endothelial lining?

"Make yourself heart attack proof" by giving it what it so desperately needs, whole, plant-based foods!

Take the first step...

I know it will be hard at first, but once you eliminate all animal products, your body, especially your heart, will thank you!

Here are 3 great books to own and 2 informative videos! I love the yummy recipes!

What a great family!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYTf0z_zVs0


http://nutritionfacts.org/?s=what+causes+chronic+diseases


To your health,

Sandra Perri

Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Thy Medicine Be Thy Food!

Welcome back!

Sorry I couldn't post anything last week as life just got too hectic!

"Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food?" Was Hippocrates ahead of his time or just plain crazy?

Hippocrates: Father of Medicine

I think the "Father of Western Medicine" was onto something, don't you?

What powerful words he uttered more than 2000 years ago. Fast forward 2300 years and where have we arrived? This is the generation of uncertainty, especially where food and health are concerned.

Thanks to the media, we are so confused about the amount of dietary cholesterol, fat, protein, and carbohydrate intake we should consume in order to be considered healthy!

"Let food be thy medicine", let's start here...

We are educated enough to know that saturated fat is bad for our body as it raises our cholesterol and clogs our arteries. What foods have the most saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol? Meat, eggs, dairy, and junk food.

What foods give us the necessary protein, calcium, and carbohydrates? Foods that are whole and plant-based.

The media has done a good job to confuse us with the latest fads and headlines such as "Wheat belly", "Grain brain", and that "Butter is back" gimmicks! These fads are not based on any scientific proof!

Eating a whole, plant-based diet is not the latest fad, it's a lifestyle change that cannot happen overnight but has been proven by many doctors to prevent and reverse all of our wonderful Western American chronic diseases!

Need I mention them?

Follow the link below. Great informative site about the latest medical studies!

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/trans-fat-saturated-fat-and-cholesterol-tolerable-upper-intake-of-zero/

As I promised in my first post, I will be sharing some of family's homemade Italian recipes which have a plant-based twist!

Nonna Anna's Pasta Fazool Recipe

This is my mom's recipe passed on from her mother when she was a little girl in Italy. Back in the day, meat was only a garnish, not like today when the average person consumes 50g of protein from animals daily.

The tomatoes,beans, and garlic I used were from my dad's garden, 

This recipe is very easy!

Boil your beans until tender as shown below.

For the sauce, I sauteed 2 cloves of garlic with minimal olive oil, adding some hot pepper flakes to taste and then added my tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and oregano which I simmer for 20 minutes, since the sauce is homemade and was already boiled in mason jars when preserved.

Next, choose your favorite pasta. It wasn't hard to switch from white pasta to whole grain pasta. I love Catelli pasta!

Cook until al dente and drain, reserving some water in case it's needed later.

Add the beans, along with the juice it made when cooked.

Add your sauce and mix. here is where you add more water left over from the pasta, if necessary.

It should be soupy like below!

Now the hard part, eliminating Parmesan cheese and finding something that is plant-based!

I found it and my kids prefer this version over the cheese! Who would of thunk it!

Thank you, Vegan Insanity for the recipe!

http://www.veganinsanity.com/recipes/vegan-parmesan-cheese/

Let whole, plant-based food be thy medicine and thy medicine be whole, plant-based food!

Your journey to optimal health awaits you...

Open wide and take a bite...

You will never miss animal products and processed food again!

To your health,

Sandra Perri