The Healthy Benefits to You of Eating Fruits and Vegetables
In Season
Pesticides and toxins used on conventional fruit and vegetable farms
make you sick. Read about how to choose healthier fruits and vegetables
for you and your family!
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Earlier generations were much more in tune with the Earth's natural seasons
and cycles. What they ate was determined by what could be grown locally and
what could be grown, stored and preserved thru the cold winter months. In
today's world, we've gotten used to having any kind of food we want, whenever
we want it.
Gone are the days when walking to the local market was the only way
to purchase fruits and vegetables that were available and in season. Today's
consumer knows that the bounty of produce in their local supermarket is just
as likely to include broccoli in July as it is in December.
Yet fruits and vegetables in season are much more supportive of not only
your health, but also the health of the planet.
When you buy fruits and vegetables that are NOT in season:
- They have to be brought to you across long distances, if not from across
the globe. In fact, some statistics suggest that fruits and vegetables
at your local supermarket travel between 1500 and 2500 miles before they
get to you.1 Doesn't suggest "fresh,"
does it?
- They are picked while still immature, to ensure that they don't spoil
along the way. Not only does this affect the fresh taste and aroma of your
fruits and vegetables, it causes vitamin degradation and nutrient loss.
In fact, researchers from the Austrian Consumers Association have confirmed
that vegetables picked and frozen while in season are actually higher in
nutrients than the same ones that were transported off season, from abroad!2
- Shipping fruits and vegetables over long distances has a huge impact on
our planet: increased greenhouse gas emissions, atmosphere pollution, and
depletion of the earth's limited energy resources!
The Body Ecology system recognizes that for us to have a healthy inner ecology
(inner ecosystem), we must respect the Earth's ecology.
Pollution, pesticides and farming practices that strip the soil of minerals
lead to foods that do not support our health. It is no surprise that people
are experiencing mineral deficiencies and poor health.
For this reason, it's not just fruits and vegetables in season that is important,
it's also choosing organic fruits and vegetables.
Why Choose Organic?
A multitude of studies have found that fruits and vegetables grown organically
contain significantly more nutrients such as vitamin c, magnesium, iron, phosphorus,
and other essential phytonutrients.3
By eating organic fruits and vegetables you:
- Reduce the amount of harmful pesticides and artificial chemical treatments
you expose you and your family to.
- Increase your consumption of natural antioxidants, called flavonoids,
found in fruits and vegetables.
Researchers have found that organic fruits and vegetables are higher
in natural anti-oxidants than conventionally grown fruits and vegetables4
- Support agriculture that increases the health of our soil, which in turn
grows more vitamin and mineral rich foods.
Large conventional crops deplete the soil of friendly bacteria and minerals
essential to our health and to biodiversity5
I always recommend organic foods as part of your healthy Body Ecology program.
As you reduce environmental toxins and processed foods along with following
the 7
principles of Body Ecology, you can begin eliminating toxins, fighting
candida,
and treating mineral deficiencies.
One of the principles of the Body Ecology system is to have land and ocean
vegetables compose 80% of each meal. So you can see how choosing the most
vitamin and mineral rich vegetables is important to your health and immunity.
As for fruit, if you are on stage one of The Diet, we recommend that you
eat only those very sour fruits like organic lemons, and limes, or the
very sour juice from unsweetened cranberries, pomegranates and black currants.
When your symptoms of candidiasis have disappeared and you have been eating
and drinking
probiotic foods and liquids you can begin to add small amounts of fruits
to your diet again. Their natural sugars will help feed the beneficial microflora
in your intestines and help them grow and multiply.
It is important to know that while fruits are healthy and full of vitamins,
minerals and fiber, the natural sugars in most fruits (except those just mentioned)
feed pathogenic yeast or candida.
For more information on how to make the most of your vegetables in season
and how to include fruit in your healthy Body Ecology program (including delicious
recipes!), read The
Body Ecology Diet.
We Love Farmer's Markets!
Consumers are beginning to realize the importance of organic foods.
In fact, the organics industry has mushroomed in the last couple of decades,
and as a result, large companies are going organic too.
This means it's becoming more likely that your organic fruits and vegetables
are coming from a mega-farm that transports its product across long distances,
burning diesel and spewing pollution along the way.
By seeking out your area farmer's market, you can enjoy the wide array of
bright colors and fresh smells you'll encounter from fruits and vegetables
in season - knowing they've been picked just for you!
They types of fruits and vegetables in season will depend on where you
live, but some general guidelines would be as follows:
- Spring represents renewal and fresh new growth, so choose leafy, vibrant
greens like dandelion, spinach, kale, swiss chard, or romaine lettuce that
aid in cleansing the blood to help you renew your body's vibrancy.
Keep in mind that you'll want to cook
cruciferous vegetables because they have thyroid suppressing properties.
- Summertime is when our bodies usually desire more cooling foods, like
cucumbers, zucchini, or red bell peppers.
- Fall and winter are when we need to eat foods that warm us and that means
more cooked foods that often grow below the soil. Dense, nutrient and antioxidant-rich
foods like onions, garlic, squash, turnips, potatoes and carrots to keep
us warm and protect us against illness. These vegetables were also easy
to store in root cellars during the cold winter months.
But perhaps the healthiest of foods that our ancestors ate were fermented
foods. And while they did not know exactly why these foods kept them
hardy and strong, they certainly knew it was of vital importance to eat them.
Preparing them in the fall (when food was abundantly available) was often
an important family or community event. Only if they "put them up"
would they have certain nutrients like vitamin C for the long winter months
ahead. And while our ancestors most likely understood that fermented foods
created immunity, they wouldn't have known that they also nourished their
inner ecosystems.
Feed Your Inner Ecosystem with Fermented Foods
Cultured vegetables
have been around for centuries, long before refrigeration was an option.
And even though they were important foods for our ancestors they were completely
forgotten as refrigerated and processed foods began to dominate our "modern"
world.
Unfortunately, our bodies are suffering from their loss.
They are an excellent source of vitamin C, and the fermentation process significantly
increases the nutrients in the vegetables! The Chinese and the Russians cultured
cabbage each fall to ensure that they had a source of fresh greens throughout
winter.
Fermented foods aid your digestion, boost the growth of healthy microflora
in your inner ecosystem and aid your digestion.
Fermented foods like cultured vegetables are a great way to take advantage
of organic vegetables in season.
You can use Body
Ecology's Culture Starter to start creating delicious raw cultured vegetables
full of healthy, immune boosting microflora.
Another way to enjoy fruits and vegetables for longer periods, without
sacrificing their nutritional content, is to dehydrate them.
Dehydrated fruits and vegetables make tasty, healthy, on the go snacks. We
recommend the Excalibur
9 tray Dehydrator.
But
please remember that when you dehydrate a vegetable or fruit it becomes much
sweeter. They would not be recommended on stage one of the Body Ecology Diet.
Healthy Earth, Healthy YOU!
The wide array of fruits and vegetables are nature's most precious gift to
us.
Demand healthier, fresher, local fruits and vegetables in season. This will
support the Earth's healthy ecosystem, which in turn supports a healthy you!
Sources:
Local is the New Organic. The Growing Movement to know Your Farmer And Your
Food
www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4410.cfm
2 Seasonal Foods: Better for your Body
www.saga.co.uk/health/healthyliving/healthyeating/seasonalfoodsbetterforyourbody.asp
3 The Benefit of Organic, from the Organic Trade Association
http://www.ota.com/organic/benefits/nutrition.html?PHPSESSID=e8ffc00c61cd5541e3f9c60718e435c6
4ibid
5 Soil Health, from The Organic Trade Association
http://www.ota.com/organic/benefits/soil.html
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