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Eat Your Greens

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Explaining the reason to eat your vegetables to children is never an easy task. It’s usually followed by, “because I said so.” We all know how well that works…it doesn’t. We have a little more control over younger children, but teenagers are another story. You can’t tell them anything because they have got it all figured out, right? Most teenagers don’t eat greens because they did not see their parents eat them. Those of you with teenagers can relate. I personally do not like to eat fast foods at all, but there is no short supply of other family members that “live on it” or should we say “suffer needlessly” by eating fast foods daily. I have a teenage daughter and she sees this at home and school. She sees people who are suffering with stomach issues like gas, bloating, nausea, food allergies, intolerances, diabetes, headaches, ADD, ADHD, PMS, fatigue, obesity and the list goes on….yet they keep eating fast foods and the suffering continues.

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Now all is not lost with our teens if we are eating greens at home. I know this because after my daughter consumes enough processed or nutrient deficient fast foods for a while I usually hear, “Mom, I need REAL food!” When I hear this I know she is not feeling good and usually has low energy, fatigue, headache, foggy thinking, bloating, skin eruptions, etc. She has had enough and finally sits down to a great meal of green food that is ALIVE with nutrients and energy that we all need to feel good.

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It’s a challenge for parents to raise children in a fast food society that is eating itself into a life of suffering and early death, but don’t give up…there is hope! If Mom and Dad put the plant foods on the table and eat them, you can bet that the kids will see and do as well. Our kids are watching our choices in food and observing our actions. At some point they will leave the nest and feed themselves according to how they feel.

Try something GREEN!

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Plants like fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, herbs, seeds and others are a complex mixture of bioactive food components like phytochemicals and phytonutrients. Thousands of phytochemicals have been identified. In fact, a healthy diet could provide more than 25,000 bioactive food constituents according to Phytochemicals: Guardian of Our Health 1997, Journal of American Diet Association. So what does that mean in simple terms? Simply stated, when ingesting plants, they not only taste good, but they have an energetic effect and cause a reaction in your living tissues.

Vegetables of the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae) are called cruciferous vegetables.

The family takes its alternate name (Cruciferae, New Latin for "cross-bearing") from the shape of their flowers, whose four petals resemble a cross. cru·cif·er·ous   [kroo-sif-er-uhs] adjective 1. bearing a cross. 2. Botany . belonging to the Cruciferae, the mustard family of plants.

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List of cruciferous vegetables:

horseradish, land cress, ethiopian mustard, kale, collard greens, Chinese broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprout, kohlrabi, broccoli, broccoflower, broccoli romanesco, cauliflower, wild broccoli, bok choy, komatsuna, mizuna, Rapini (broccoli rabe), flowering cabbage, chinese cabbage, napa cabbage, turnip root and greens, rutabaga, siberian kale, canola/rapeseed, wrapped heart mustard cabbage, mustard seeds, black, white and brown, mustard greens, black tatsoi, arugula (rocket) field pepperweed, maca, garden cress, watercress, radish , daikon , wasabi.

Cruciferous Greens and Cancer

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Scientists have identified bioactive compounds in cruciferous vegetables that are specifically responsible for their cancer preventative effects. These compounds are called glucosinolates. We know of 120 different glucosinolate compounds and can be found in plant leaves, roots, and seeds. Growing environment, storage and processing can lead to the loss or enhancement of these compounds. According to Nutrition Oncology 2006 studies have consistently revealed that glucosinolates and their deriviatives do big things in the body like detoxify foreign chemicals, stop cancer activation, detoxify and clear carcinogens from the body, stop or slow cancer cell growth and actually cause cancer cell apoptosis (fancy word for programmed cell death). This is big news, but it is not new…it has been known for years.

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Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) is a compound occurring naturally in cruciferous vegetables and has been indicated as a promising agent in preventing breast cancer development and progression. Journal of Molecular Medicine, 2000 reports the following, “Thus, clinical application of I3C may contribute to the potential benefit from suppression of breast cancer invasion and metastasis.”

Cancer, December 2003 reports, “The results of this study demonstrate the I3C has a potent antiproliferative effect in LNCaP and other human prostate carcinoma cells. These findings implicate this dietary indole as a potential chemotherapeutic agent for controlling the growth of human prostate carcinoma cells.”

New England Journal of Medicine and Gynecologial Oncology report the following, “Results of studies suggest that diets containing cruciferous vegetables – which deliver useful phytochemicals – can have a salutary influence on estrogen detoxification and excretion. Cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and mustard greens all contain the phytochemicals necessary to activate the enzyme necessary to convert estrogen to a less dangerous form.”

Wellness is a Choice Not a Chance

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If you don’t feel well then you might want to see what you are eating and make better choices. Most of society is walking around letting dangerous people lead the way. Dangerous? Really? These people are good people but they are also unconscious and incompetent to make good health choices and that, my friend, makes them dangerous to your health and wellbeing. Have you ever heard this one?.… “Just because everyone is doing it, does not make it right.” Well the same goes for food choices and wellness care. If my dietician, physician, therapist, health coach is grossly obese and in poor health, do you think they are a good choice finding out what is wrong and fixing my health issues? Definitely not! So ask yourself this question… Who are you looking to for the blueprint for a healthy vibrant life allowing you to live out your purpose for being?

Confusion paralyzes people….clarity empowers people…Keep it simple…EAT YOUR GREENS

So, remember to eat your greens. If you cannot eat them then take a wholefood supplement that contains as many cruciferous plants as possible. Check your local health food stores or ask your MD, DO, DC or other holistic healthcare practitioner what they use to get their greens.

Wellness is a Choice….Be Well

By Dr. Susan Duvé, DC, ND, FIAMA, ACN, Acup. Orthopedics, Detox Specialist


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