Chocolate is Good, BUT ...

I would like to share this nice article by Steve Meyerowitz, one of the experts in healthy living promoting organic food. He was pronounced "Sproutman" by Vegetarian Times Magazine in a 1979 feature article that explored the why's and wherefores of his 100% sprout diet.

"Are you familiar with Green and Black? They are the leading British chocolate maker in the organic sector and they are quite successful. Last year the company increased their sales by 69%. (Imagine if you got a raise in salary by that much!) They grossed a healthy 41 million dollars. One of their lead products is a 70 percent cocoa 100 gram bar that is popular with health-conscious consumers. Pure chocolate, without the milk and sugar and the pesticides, contains many antioxidants and flavonols, which have numerous health benefits (see below).

Evidently, Cadbury Schweppes found them delectable, too. The London based company, which manufactures Europe’s best selling Dairy Milk brand, just acquired them for an undisclosed sum.Previously, they had owned a 5% stake in Green and Black. The good news is that Green and Black will continue to operate independently and be able to maintain its ethical values. Green and Black was the first UK company to source its cocoa beans under Fair Trade agreements and its Mayan Gold chocolate was the first organic chocolate product to be awarded the Fair Trade Mark in 1994.

More and more information is coming forth about the health benefits of chocolate. It turns out that cocoa actually contains antioxidants and many different types of flavonols, such as quercetin and rutin, which belong to the larger family of bioflavonoids. Flavonols are famous for their protective properties against cardiovascular disease, but they also have numerous benefits to the immune system, reduce inflammation and increase blood flow to all sorts of important places including the brain.

Buyer Beware- This is good news especially if you buy organic chocolate and avoid the milk and sugar and buy from brands like Green and Black. But beware as other manufacturers try to enter the market to take advantage of this good health news. You see, candy manufacturers have been on the receiving end of a lot of negative criticism for their role in the obesity epidemic and everything else from cavities to diabetes.They see the health benefits of chocolate as a way of improving their unhealthy image.

For example, Mars, the giant confectionary company, wants to synthesize the flavonols and turn them into drugs that can be marketed in their candy bars. “We have been able to identify the molecular structureof flavonols found in nature ....But we are also able to synthesize not only those found in nature but also compounds tailored to specific needs,” says Marlene Machut, communications director for Mars Nutrition.She says they are in “serious discussions with large pharmaceutical companies” for a licensing or joint venture agreement that could see some flavonols extracted from its chocolate developed as prescription drugs.

The problem is that chocolate contains these benefits naturally and that all chocolate companies can claim health benefits. But companies like Mars seek to carve out a unique position in the marketplace by synthesizing and patenting these antioxidants for commercial use.

So, enjoy your chocolate, but choose wisely about from whom and what kind you buy."

LIVE Longer by Taking Care of Your LIVER!

If I can single out one organ in our body that is the key to good health, it is no doubt the liver. If you look at the liver, it is really a highly organized mechanical filter, cleansing the blood of impurities and toxins as it returns it back to the right side of the heart.

Unfortunately, our society today is built on fast-food and refined food and this is not doing any good to our liver. It is NOT true that only alcoholics will be at risk of liver disease - in fact, you and me, even our kids who do not drink alcohol are at risk. Consider the following IFs:

- if your diet is high in refined carbs,

- if your diet is high in bad fats like deep fried foods (fries anyone?), chips (typical school snack), preserved meats (tocino, tapa), and hydrogenated vegetable oils (high in trans-fat which are free radicals),

- if your diet is low in fresh colored vegetables and fruits,

- if your diet lacks antioxidants like vitamin C, and

- if your diet is low in good quality protein (fish, tofu, nuts)

THEN, the risk for FATTY LIVER DISEASE is there.

But what is fatty liver disease exactly?

In the world of medicine, this is referred to us NAFLD or Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. This is the entry-level stage, of which the liver contains an excessive amount of fat, to the point where healthy liver tissues are partly replaced with unhealthy fats. Because of this, the liver becomes enlarged and swollen, and has a yellow greasy appearance.

Now this is a BAD thing because instead of the liver functioning efficiently as a filter, it is not able to properly do its task. And this results in a variety of symptoms, such as: fatigue, abdominal bloating, abdominal fat (pot belly), reflux, hemorrhoids, overheating of the body, excessive sweating, gall stones, inability to lose weight (even if you are eating less and exercising regularly), high cholesterol and triglycerides, and poor memory.

A more severe form of fatty liver is called NASH or Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis and is characterized by more inflammation. The real danger here is if not treated, it will progress to sever liver scarring known as Cirrhosis.

My advise is at least once a year, have your liver checked with blood tests, and an ultrasound scan of the abdomen. Better to be safe than sorry.

I've been often asked why some people who are overweight have a harder time losing weight than others. With a strict diet and regular vigorous exercise, someone who has a fatty liver will take a longer time to slim down vs another with a non-fatty liver. This is because it is necessary to remove the fat first from the liver before it can function properly. A fatty liver has forgotten how to burn fat because it has been accustomed to storing fat. But once it is rejuvenated and detoxified, weight management becomes easier as the Yo-Yo effect is avoided.

Taking wheatgrass daily as a supplement helps the liver rejuvenate as wheatgrass cleanses the blood. I have said before that if you just drink it daily, in 20 days, you would have consumed 350 lbs of the choicest vegetables !!!

I highly recommend this book by Dr. Sandra Cabot. I've read it and I know it will help you to be a healthier person.

https://www.liverdoctor.com/index.php?page=shop&subpage=cat1&id=3

To Your Good Health,

Wheatgrass Man

The "So Easy" Way To Detox

When I lost 20 lbs and 4 inches off my waistline over a 5-month period, it wasn't solely because of drinking wheatgrass daily, eating properly and going to the gym twice a week. I also did a detox program, which I want to share with you today.

Detox can be done in a variety of ways. If you have the time and the money, you can enroll yourself in one of the health and wellness spas in the country, like San Benito Farm in Batangas (Email: info@thefarm.com.ph Tel: +63 2 884 8073 / 74 / 75). Or, if you want to prepare your own diet, there's an excellent 8-week plan from Dr. Cabot in her best-selling book called The Liver Cleansing Diet. It's a very good book that I highly recommend. Another book which I encourage you to read is called Detox, by Rosalyn Patrick.

If you are a busy professional like me with a modest budget and don't want the hassle of having to prepare your own diet and have only 3 days to detoxify, then the So Easy Cleansing program is for you. You can do this at home, which I advise you to do since you need to have ready access to the rest room.

But why detox in the first place?

Over the years of eating acid foods, our colon is not able to properly expel these waste materials. This build up of mucous, dead cells, and impacted waste covers the inner lining of the colon which over time if not removed will eventually cause auto-intoxication. This has been researched by Dr. Bernard Jensen, DC, ND, Ph.D. in his book Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management. No wonder why most diseases like cancer start from the colon!

There are ways to remove this mucoid plaque. One is through Colon Hydrotherapy, which is a medical procedure involving the safe and gentle infusion of around 95 to 130 liters of water into the colon via the rectum. Another is by going through a home-based detox program which I did.

Going through the So Easy Cleansing program first involves fasting 2 days before. This means reducing your food intake by 50% on the first day and 75% on the second before the actual start of the detox. You also need to prepare yourself mentally for this, as it will not be a walk in the park.

The detox program follows the schedule below:

All ingredients of this detox package are all-natural, so you can be sure it is safe for your body.

One of my tips during the detox phase is to do abdominal massages, you can do this by yourself, just make circling motions with your hands on your abdomen, to assist the flow of mucoid plaque out of your colon. It is also very important to drink lots of water. You shouldn't feel hungry during this time, as the detox program contains complete nutrients. However, if you do feel the need to eat, it is largely psychological in nature. Instead of eating, just drink water and remember your ultimate goal - to be healthy! Discipline is key.

On my second day of detox, that's when I began to release mucoid plaque. I went to the rest room 7 times in 2days, and you can be sure it is mucoid plaque by the way it looks (like the shape of your colon) and the way it feels (rubbery, which I didn't touch btw - you can use a barbeque stick like I did). For those who want to see how mucoid plaque looks like, here are some pictures from the Internet:

I lost between 3 to 4 lbs during my 3-day detox. My abdomen also became "soft" and I felt lighter. In fact, in the weeks that followed my body began to search for different kinds of food. I used to be a chocoholic before, but after detox, my craving for chocolates disappeared. I still enjoy eating it though, but now it is more controlled as I don't have to give in to this craving after every meal. I also began to look for more greens and fish, which in turn resulted to me losing more weight. Call it a psychological effect, but in my opinion, it is more than that. I guess after you've seen all these junk released from your body, you will be more careful in what you eat.

After the 3rd day of detox, you have to break in your body before resuming your normal eating habits (which hopefully will change like what happened to me). The 1st day after detox, you need to do a liquid diet - fresh fruits and vegetable shakes. On the 2nd day, you may now eat solid foods, but limit to vegetables and fruits only. On the 3rd day, you may add fish to your diet. On the 4th day, you can resume your normal diet.

I really hope this information will help you to become more healthy. I did this and I know it works for me. May it be the same for you.

To Good Health,

Wheatgrass Man

P.S. We should detox at least once a year ...

Is Wheatgrass Gluten-free?

I've been asked a couple of times by my friends if wheatgrass has gluten. Some people cannot take gluten as their body will react to it, especially since it has the word "wheat". Celiac disease is a medical condition that is particularly sensitive to gluten.

From Cynthia Kupper RD celiac diseaseExecutive Director, Gluten Intolerance Group, 206-246-6652; www.gluten.net:* :

"Q: Is barely and wheat grass safe to use in a gluten-free diet? What about sprouts?*
A: According to information from USDA research chemists, specializing in wheat gluten and cereal proteins and a statement from the American Association of Cereal Chemists, gluten is found only in the seed kernel (endosperm) and not in the stem and grass leaves. If the grass is cut from a growing plant and does not include the seed kernel, it should be safe for persons with gluten intolerance to use."

So juicing wheatgrass should be safe since you consume the leaves only. The powder versions from Easy Pha-Max are also safe since it contains the roots and the leaves when the plant reaches 8 days old.

Wheatgrass Man

Weight Loss Tip: Eat Peanut Butter!

A colleague of mine who competes in Mr. USA would you believe is over 60 years old, but is in excellent health? In his recent trip to Manila, he shared this tip on weight management. Before a competition, if he needed to lose weight, he would take 2 teaspoons of peanut butter (not the commercial ones like JIF or Peter Pan, but those from health food stores) before sleeping. According to him, it really works. I love peanut butter, and I make it a point to snack on peanuts during the day (as much as possible the unsalted, not fried variety). I find that peanuts and peanut butter keep you more satisfied than many other snacks.

"A study conducted at Purdue University showed that those who consumed peanut snacks were more satisfied than those who ate high carbohydrate snacks like rice cakes. Those who ate the peanut snacks lasted about 2 ½ hours as opposed to ½ hour for the high carbohydrate snacks.
Peanuts and peanut butter are high in protein, healthy fats, and fiber. These attributes contribute to helping you feel fuller longer. Eating peanuts and peanut butter will also help to keep your blood sugar more stable partly because they have a low glycemic index (GI). Peanuts have a GI of 14 on a 100-point scale, whereas pretzels have a GI of 83. Eating pretzels would produce a much larger rise and fall in blood sugar than the peanuts, and this is what can make you hungry and sluggish.

Another interesting fact is that peanut and peanut butter eaters tend to have lower Body Mass Index (BMI) values and lower body weights than non-peanut eaters. While those who eat peanuts have been shown to naturally adjust their calorie intakes throughout the day, some evidence shows that resting energy expenditure is actually increased after peanut consumption – so you are burning energy by eating them."

You can read more on this here:

http://www.peanut-institute.org/PDF/PeanutsandSnacking.pdf

Wheatgrass Man

WONDROUS, WONDROUS WHEATGRASS

Sharing this article from the Daily Tribune written by my friend Happy Tugade. - Wheatgrass Man

Colon and prostate cancer, heart disease and diabetes, anemia and constipation, obesity and premature aging, bad breath and body odor: what we would all pay to cure these conditions or at least prevent them from afflicting us?

Not much, it seems, or at least not as much as a lifelong regimen of therapies and maintenance medicines would cost us and that not just in money. A food-supplement remedy for these ills first tested successfully in the US in the 1930s, it has amassed a loyal following over the decades, even with members of the medical community.

Who would think all these restorative properties would be found in grass, specifically wheatgrass (*Triticum aestivum*), the plant that when full-grown yields wheat flour for our bread? This humble herb is said to be effective in detoxifying the body and making it alkaline by eliminating excessive acids and neutralizing the pH level of the body. Too much animal protein, fat, preservatives and artificial sweeteners make the body acidic. Wheatgrass, like greens, unpolished grains, vegetables and fruit, makes it alkaline. It does this through its active component chlorophyll, 17 amino acids, 10 minerals, 13 vitamins including A, C, E, and B complex, fiber and over 100 enzymes.

The wonder herb can be grown and juiced at home. Abroad, it is dispensed in juice bars alone, or in mixed fruit and/or vegetable drinks. It is sold in many health food stores fresh, in tablet form, frozen juice or powder. An average dose of 3.5 grams (powder or tablets) is consumed per day or a fresh-squeezed 30 milliliter shot once daily. A higher dose up to 2–4 oz taken 1-3 times per day on an empty stomach and before meals is recommended for more therapeutic benefits. Users may increase their intake to 3–4 times per day for detoxification. However, persons with a poor diet may experience nausea on high dosages of wheatgrass.

Easy Pha-max, the Malaysian Largest Producer of Wheatgrass and maker of Wheatgrass Powder Drink now available locally, is recognized and certified by the Ministry of Health of Malaysia; the Food and Drug Administration of the US; the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand; the National Agency of Drug and Food Control of Indonesia; the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan; and the Bureau of Food and Drugs of the Philippines.

Easy Pha-max Wheatgrass Powder Drink is mixed with cold or room-temperature water and taken on an empty stomach upon waking up in the morning. Dr. Hans Fischer and associates noticed that the human blood is practically identical to chlorophyll on the molecular level and can stimulate blood production. Increase of blood cells means better circulation and oxygenation and rapid body cleansing. A British study also found that animals made anemic through bleeding sped up their hemoglobin regeneration when fed with raw unrefined chlorophyll, they said. (US studies in the 1930s also found that animals could survive on grass alone but failed on other well-known healthy vegetables like carrots and spinach.) Chlorophyll has also been found by a Texas study to inhibit the activity of carcinogens and (by a Hawaii study) to shield the body from the effects of carcinogens from smoked meats and food molds. Its antiseptic properties were the subject of an article in the *American Journal of Surgery*, which suggested that the chlorophyll helps clear up foul odors, neutralize strep infections, heal wounds and hasten skin grafting. Gahan, Kline and Finkle also reported the benefits of chlorophyll in treating gastro-intestinal ulcers and colitis.

It is also the chlorophyll that, when taken in adequate quantities, reduces or eliminates offensive body and breath odors caused by food, beverages, alcohol, tobacco and metabolic changes. Wheatgrass also contains significant amounts of the antioxidant [Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), which protects DNA from damage by free radicals, as well as the compound P4D1, a glycol protein, which stimulates the repair of damaged DNA. It promotes bowel movement and helps flush out toxins in the liver, and beats aspirin's anti-inflammatory effects through the combines potency of the glycol proteins D1G1 and P4D1 and the antioxidant SOD.

Easy Pha-max Wheatgrass, however, is unique in that it is grown indoors in a sterile, air-conditioned environment aeroponically, that is, without soil, which enables makers Easy Pha-max to use both the leaves and the roots in making the powder. Only balanced and complete nutrients developed in the firm's laboratories using organic raw materials are fed to the growing plants that are harvested after eight days. Japanese research found that eight days is enough time for wheatgrass to maximize its full health potentials. Processing, drying, and packing are also done under low temperatures. Now available in the country, Easy Pha-max Wheatgrass was awarded the silver medal in the 28th Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions, New Techniques and Products 2000 for Indoor Aeroponic Cultivation Method for Wheatgrass. It was also the first wheatgrass tea producer awarded the Superbrands Malaysia 2005 status by the Malaysian Consumers and the Superbrands Council.

"We believe that there is a world trend to change from synthetic to alternative medicine, and we know it's going to be big in Asia," Mr. Edward Ling, CEO of Easy Pha-max Philippines, was quoted as saying. The company reportedly has projects underway to maximize herbal products in the Philippines in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology and Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. Mr. Ling said that 120 local herbal species are proven to be medicinally useful and Easy Pha-max would like to bring these herbal products to the world through our global platform.

"Philippine herbal products will make a big impact and enhance the livelihood and economy (of the country)," Mr. Ling said.

For more information on Easy Pha-max Wheatgrass powder, visit http://www.myeasycenter.com/miraclefood

The Philippine headquarters of the company is at 10/F Herrera Tower, 98 V.A. Rufino corner Valero Sts., Salcedo Village, Makati City, Philippines. Contact numbers are (632) 890-1111 or Toll-Free at 1-80010-890-1111. Mention the code MIRACLE FOOD to avail of a special discount. You may text your inquiries to (0917) 861-2008, (0918) 951-2008, or (0927) 426-0430.