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QUANTITY: Counting calories can be deceiving. Rather than focusing on numbers, consider the value these calories offer.
Vitamins
Vitamin A: Deficiencies cause vision trouble, hardening of the nails, dry skin, brittle hair, nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, headaches,
Vitamin B: Deficiencies may lead to nervous disorders, digestive problems, ulcers, and chapped skin. It is the most complex vitamin and has several categories:
Vitamin C: Deficiencies affect the teeth and gums, muscles, blood, and structure of the bones. It is found in all fresh fruits and vegetables,
Vitamin D: It is one of the elements needed for calcium absorption. Deficiencies may lead to rickets, abnormal bone development, tooth decay and fatigue.
Vitamin E: Deficiencies may lead to sterility, eczema, and ulcers. It is found in sprouted wheat, cold-pressed vegetable oils, lettuce and watercress.
Vitamin F: sesame and olive oils
Vitamin K: A deficiency may cause hemorrhaging and anemia. It is found in cabbage, parsley, spinach, brown rice, and carrot tops.
Minerals
Calcium: Calcium is needed for strong bones, teeth and tendons. Without calcium, blood does not coagulate and the body has a generally low resistance.
Iron: Lack of this causes anemia. Good sources come from sea vegetables, parsley, watercress, dandelion, lentils, nuts, and all grains.
Magnesium: A lack of this may cause degenerative diseases, weak bones, and anemia. This is found in sea salt, all grains, nuts, cabbage, and spinach.
Phosphorus: This is found in all grains, miso, soy sauce, parsley, and lentils.
Silica: This is needed for bones, teeth, heart, kidneys, and tendons. It is found in the peel of fruits and vegetables and also in
Iodine: This is important for the thyroid gland. The best sources come from sea vegetables, grains, nuts, and fish.
QUALITY IS PRICELESS: Choose your ingredients wisely, for they will determine the taste and nutritional value of your meal. Organic food has a superior
Prepared Foods: As a means of educating the public, we have been advised to read the nutritional information listed on the packaging of prepared foods.
and premature aging. It is present in all vegetables, especially dark leafy greens. Parsley is the richest: 30,000 IU; carrots, 21,000; dandelions, 12,000;
lettuce, 4,000; watercress, 4,000; escarole, 15,000; spinach, 25,000; yellow fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, whole grains, pumpkin, radish leaves,
cabbage, cauliflower, chickpeas and egg yolks.
especially the skin; parsley; watercress; cabbage; onion; radish.
It is found in the sun; all grains, mostly oats; vegetables; oil; sardines and chicken.
The highest amounts of calcium in any food are found in the sea vegetables. It is also present in sardines, nuts, seeds, parsley, amaranth and watercress.
whole grains, garlic, apples, and strawberries.
quality and taste. The soil these fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains have been grown in is alive with the minerals necessary to sustain health. Mass-produced
fruits and vegetables are grown in chemical and demineralized soil, and then they are irradiated. The size and shape of these fruits and vegetables are manipulated
into a designer look that many people have come to recognize as normal. They lack energy, taste and nutritional value. Organic produce and products may cost more,
but it is well worth it. My motto is:
'Why spend good money for bad quality?'
If your local markets do not carry organic foods, then all and everything is available on the Internet.
However, is this information really valuable, or really misleading? Does it reflect quality or merely quantity? Many of these ingredients have gone through
numerous refining processes that have destroyed any nutritional value they may once have had. And as a result, vitamins and minerals, from dubious sources,
must then be added to 'enrich' the product. Once a vegetable is harvested, it begins to lose its nutritional value. In the end, many of these packaged foods
do not carry the power of naturally grown whole foods prepared from your kitchen. Read labels carefully.