Healthy eating

I've been studying for my Nutritional Excellence Trainer exams, and was reminded that most cancers are initiated in your childhood and puberty, when the body is growing fast. It is kind of depressing to think I didn't adopt a healthy lifestyle until I was 45 years old. So that reminds me that I should really try to be as healthy as I can to give my body the opportunity to reverse whatever cancers may have been initiated in me. Dr. Fuhrman recommends juicing vegetables, blending salads into smoothies, and eating lots of raw and cruciferous veggies. I've been lacking in the first two. I don't like vegetable juice. But, usually when I make soup, like today, I juice veggies, so I'll do some extra and drink some and freeze some, and maybe I can manage a few servings a week that way, which is what Fuhrman recommends. And I'll start eating the spinach/berry smoothies again. Spinach is great for long-term memory and learning ability (in middle-aged rats anyway). And it has lutein which is good for the eyes (to fight macular degeneration). You don't want to overdo spinach because the oxalates interfere with calcium absorption, but a couple oz a day in my smoothie at brekky should be okay. Fuhrman's top 7 foods for longetivity are black raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, flax seeds, leafy greens, tomatoes and broccoli sprouts. hmmm, last time I ate broccoli sprouts I got diarrhea. Maybe I ate too many.

According to one review article, raw veggies are the most cancer fighting, followed by allium (onions & garlic), carrots (yea!), greens, cruciferous veggies, and tomatoes. Looking these up just now, I came across the right answer for one of the exam questions I got wrong. Oh well, so far I've passed two of the exams, but I think the hardest one is yet to come. Anyway, suggestions for raw veggies include: raw sweet potato sticks (yum), asparagus (raw? never tried that), green beans (never tried that raw either), jicama, red pepper rings (yum), zucchini (pretty good raw), broccoflower (I don't like broccoli raw but I like cauliflower raw), and carrots and celery sticks (yum, yum).

Here's the juicer in action. I made carrot, kale, celery juice for my black-eyed pea soup:

I decided I'll drink one of these today and freeze the other. I drank one today and it was better than I expected. Maybe the celery juice diluted it enough. It was actually pretty good.

Here's a review of Dr. Fuhrman's recommended eating plan.