Eat Fresh

The optimal combination is to be eating fresh local organic produce. Farmers markets are now in full swing around the city and provide us urbanites with the opportunity to eat from the farm. For locations around the city and beyond check out: http://www.eatlocal.org/index.html

You may even want to start growing your own food! Imagine…eating food that YOU GREW! Wake up your “inner farmer” and celebrate mother earth by creating your own patch of eden. Even if your space is limited you might surprise yourself at how much you can get out of a small space. Look for helpful tips online or pick up a copy of Garden Anywhere by Alys Fowler.

Another option is to apply with a CSA, community-shared agriculture program. These programs share the bounty and the risk of a harvest between farmer and consumer. Most CSAs put together a box of fresh local produce every week, depending on the harvest, and either have a pick up site or a delivery system. The cost of CSAs varies from farm to farm; a deposit or full payment is taken in the spring once the share is purchased.

Life Without Sugar

Excess sugar eventually affects every organ in the body. Initially, it is stored in the liver in the form of glucose (glycogen). Since the liver’s capacity is limited, a daily intake of refined sugar (above the required amount of natural sugar) soon makes the liver expand like a balloon. When the liver is filled to its maximum capacity, the excess glycogen is returned to the blood in the form of fatty acids. These are taken to every part of the body and stored in the most inactive areas: the belly, the buttocks, the breasts and the thighs.

As it is metabolized, sugar bypasses many parts of the digestive process, and is absorbed directly into the bloodstream, raising the blood sugar level. It also produces a sharp rise in insulin, which is used by cells to absorb the sugar. Raised blood insulin levels depress the immune system. If your immune system is depressed, then your ability to fight disease in weakened. Not only this, but sugar also causes the brain to release the chemical serotonin, boosting a person’s mood, and causing a mild feeling of happiness. This feeling is temporary, and soon after you’re left feeling tired and irritable.

Refined sugar contains no vitamins or minerals, so in order for sugar to be metabolized it must draw on the body’s reserve of vitamins and minerals.

In addition to throwing off the body’s homeostasis, sugar may result in a number of other significant consequences.

· Sugar causes tooth decay

· Sugar can upset the body’s mineral balance

· Sugar can suppress the immune system

· Sugar contributes to hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, concentration difficulties and crankiness

· Sugar can promote an elevation of harmful cholesterol

· Sugar can cause hypoglycemia

· Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium

· Sugar can speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair

· Sugar contributes to weight gain and obesity

· Sugar can contribute to diabetes

· Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis

· Sugar causes food allergies

· Sugar can cause free radical formation in the bloodstream

· Sugar increases bacterial fermentation in the colon

· Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance