Green Light To Health With Mother Nature's Food
My Food Doesn’t Grow in Dirt! It Comes From a Factory!
This is the reply Bill received from a group of kids when he asked them the question, do you know where your food comes from? Pretty scary answer right? The soil is a living thing, a specific ecosystem comprised of billions of living creatures.
In general, most plants as we all know grow by absorbing nutrients from the soil. Their ability to do this depends on the nature of the soil. Organic farmers of course know the difference between soil and ‘dirt’ but not to put too fine a point on it, the kids didn’t even believe that the food they eat is grown in ‘dirt’.
That was what inspired me to create my ‘Tasty Tips for Kids’ Workshops in many countries. The first thing I do to is have my young students plant some seeds in some ‘dirt’ and then see the beautiful foods that grow from nature. I then have them washing, slicing and cooking greens, dress the greens with some sweet dressing and sprinkle with some sesame or pumpkin seeds and hey presto, their happy. Many families move forward, changing their diets just by seeing how much their kids enjoyed the session. So my message to you all is to get your hands in some ‘dirt’ and grow some greens and teach all and sundry to do the same. Here is my absolute favourite greens dish of all time. Enjoy the recipe: instructions below.
Energised Greens & Hijiki Saute
Imagine if you could eat something that would help your liver, act as a gentle diuretic to purify your blood, cleanse your system, assist in weight reduction; cleanse your skin, eliminate a host of health problems, improve your bowel function, prevent or lower high blood pressure, prevent anaemia, lower your serum cholesterol by as much as half, eliminate acid indigestion and gas build up by cutting the heaviness of fatty foods, and, at the same time, have no negative side effects. I am literally handing you good health on this very lovely silver platter here.
Don’t give sickness the green light to establish itself in your body. Use green foods to alkalise and reduce acidity, because even a slight rise in acidity can turn your body into a breeding ground for illnesses and disease.
Chlorophyll is rich in all green foods. Green foods are the closest component to the human body. If there was a perfect food for the body it would be green food. As you know chlorophyll delivers oxygen to the plant so anything green is like having the life blood of the plant. This helps us create healthy vibrant blood cells which then give us vibrant health and a disease free body.
If you eat Mother Nature’s food it is alkaline food which is the way nature intended us to eat ‘unprocessed’. Alkaline foods deliver good health and a natural slim body. What makes the food alkaline is enzymes, it’s like an electrical charge in the food. Green food is one of the most alkaline foods you can put in your body because it is oozing with enzymes.
I use bitter greens at least 3 times a day and have done for decades. This food tastes good in salads, stir-fry’s, stews, soups and teas and thankfully you have nature on your side, providing these miracle plants in abundance during each season.
Dark and leafy greens; Here are some great examples; spring greens, kale, broccoli, rocket, watercress, parsley and coriander and a plethora of others are powerhouses of chlorophyll. In addition to being vitamin-rich (like most greens), bitter greens are exceptionally beneficial for digestion. Raw leafy greens are the top of my list, solid green vegetables second, non-green, non-starchy vegetables third and starchy vegetables fourth.
Here are the top health benefits of eating energised bitter greens:
- They’re a nutritional powerhouse
Bitter greens are packed with vitamins A, C and K, and minerals like calcium, potassium and magnesium. Filled with folate and fibre and low in fat and sodium, these greens are a nutritional powerhouse! They promote great skin (beta-carotene), a strong nervous system (folate), healthy blood clotting (vitamin K) and contain phytonutrients shown to support eye health.
- They’re digestive magic.
Eating bitter food activates taste buds that simultaneously stimulate enzyme production and bile flow, which promotes digestion. The better your food is digested, the more nutrients you’ll absorb from your food. It doesn’t matter what you eat, if you can’t absorb it, it won’t be of much benefit to you. The high fibre content in bitter greens also helps to eliminate waste through the digestive tract.
Bitter greens also promote natural detoxification of the liver, which regulates cholesterol, balances hormones, detoxifies the blood, and metabolizes fats. We need to eat more bitter greens to digest fats in a more efficient manner.
- They’ll balance your taste buds and reduce cravings.
Unfortunately, a western diet primarily consists of sweet and salty tastes, and is lacking in others. It is to our benefit to eat foods that activate all of our taste buds and start with incorporating some seriously healthy bitter greens! It’s also been suggested that consuming bitter greens daily may also reduce food cravings and aid in weight loss!
Greens will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days, but it’s best to use them as soon as possible. To prepare greens for cooking, wash or “bathe” greens in a sink full of water and then remove any hard stems or stalks.
Steaming greens reduces bitterness, enhances digestibility, and even releases nutrients for easy absorption. The more alkalising foods you eat, the less sugar you will crave. Easy! A delicious topping or side dish to greens is my favourite sea vegetable that I use on my ‘Natural Woman’ workshops. Hijiki is an ‘ace’ hormonal balance food.
Hijiki Sauté
1 cup hijiki soaked until tender 20 minutes
2 tbsp rice mirin
Filtered water
3 shallots thinly sliced on the bias
1 carrot cut into julienne
Soy sauce (tamari or Shoyu)
Heat a splash or two of water in a pan over medium heat. Add drained hijiki and cook, stirring about 5 minutes. Add the mirin and enough water to half-cover the seaweed and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Add shallots and carrot, season lightly with soy sauce, cover and simmer for 10 minutes Remove the cover and allow to cook until any remaining liquid has been absorbed. Transfer to a bowl and serve with toasted sesame seeds.
In good health
Marlene x
