Brenda's Candida Wellness Center
Welcome to my Candida Wellness Center. “Healthy and happy people are becoming so rare, one ought to keep a good specimen of man in a museum so that it will be remembered what he looked like.” Quoted from Nyoiti Sakurazawa. BECOME HEALTHY If our desire is to become healthy, we will select the appropriate food for our body. This Candida Wellness Center is designed around nutrition, body type, important facts about food and how our body should be taken care of. It consists of a mish-mash of varying philosophies, some of which will contradict the other. I hope you can use the information from this Candida Wellness Center to help you on your journey in leading a healthy and happy candida free life. I have always said, "as long as I learn one thing that I can use, it was worth going to that course or reading this book" ... or viewing this site on Candida and reading this lengthy page named Candida Wellness Center because it encompasses a lot of information on food and your health. DIETS Food is fundamental to our health. By choosing certain foods, we are already committing ourselves to health or disease. Proper foods make us strong and healthy enough to resist disease in all its forms. America is now experiencing a phenomenon unique in history. We are trying diets of all types. 
There is the raw food diet, the grapefruit diet, the Weight Watcher’s diet, the honey diet, the water diet, the steak and salad diet, Atkins Diet, Vegan diet and without naming them here, we have all heard of more of them.Even though, you may be quite happy with your present eating regime, there is always more to learn about food and our bodies. Here are some of things I like to teach at Brenda's Candida Wellness Center: YIN YANG PRINCIPLE The Yin Yang Principle of choosing foods means, we take into account such factors as;
our personal condition our immediate environment our needs and our goals A person with a Yin constitution and condition (for example, a person with pale skin, low blood pressure and cold feet) should avoid eating Yin goods. A person with a Yang constitution and condition will have to include some fruit and salad in his meal or he will soon experience trouble of some sort. The Yin-Yang Principles is a study in and of itself. I will mention only a few interesting facts here but if it is your desire to study more, I am sure there are courses available to you and I will be providing more information soon. Stay tuned for more info on this Candida Wellness Center Foods are also considered Yin and Yang. All people are physically and psychologically different from each other. Therefore each person requires a diet different in both quantity and quality, depending on his individual constitution and type of activity. Learning the Yin and Yang Principles of your own constitution and that of food, is not to say that health can be achieved solely through this study. However,this approach is an excellent one for the person who is learning to cure himself. Choosing food intuitively with respect to one’s own condition, environment and needs, is along the path of wellness. A Yang vegetable is most likely a plant that grows in a cool place and in the ground –for example - a carrot. A vegetable that takes time to ripen is more Yang than one that grows in a few days. It takes 8 to 10 weeks for a carrot to grow and only a few days for mushrooms and asparagus to reach full size. The part of the plant also determines whether it is a Yin or Yang food. How to Choose Your Foods People who are sick or in delicate health should eat cooked rather than raw vegetables. It is important to understand that all sicknesses arise from excess. In every case of sickness the quantity of eating should be reduced. We can be eating too much Yin foods for a Yin condition and the same for excesses of Yang. Your Body’s Process People who switch from a diet composed mainly of animal food to a grain and vegetable diet generally lose some weight very quickly. This is because the body has been allowed to release its stored excesses. When we choose to eat less or too fast, our body makes blood from stored nourishment. The supply is first taken from the liver, then fat is lost, followed by protein. The body building process follows this order: blood-muscles-fat. When we fast, this process is reversed. If the liver becomes enlarged from overeating, it will contract when we eat less. FASTING Abstention from eating is not such a strain on the body. It is very dangerous to abstain from drinking water. When we fast, we should continue to drink water. Otherwise our organs and cells contract too quickly and all sorts of problems can result. If you are considering fasting because of a weight problem it is better to continue to eat foods that contain less calories, such as green vegetables, in order to strengthen the heart. More info for Brenda's Candida Wellness Center. EATING VEGETABLES Steaming is the healthiest way of cooking most vegetables. Steaming preserves most vitamins and minerals and a good many enzymes as well, providing the process is not too long. Light sautéing in butter, olive oil or coconut oil is also an acceptable cooking method. Some vegetables are best eaten cooked. Cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts and kale contain a chemical that blocks the production a of thyroid hormone. Beet greens, spinach and chard contain oxalic acid that blocks calcium and iron absorption and irritates the mouth and intestinal tract. Raw potatoes contain a substance that can disrupt the proper function of red blood cells. Cooking destroys or neutralizes these harmful substances (as does the fermentation process). Raw spinach salad and raw cabbage salad are popular but should be eaten only occasionally. CATEGORIES OF VEGGIES Foods that Heal All vegetables contain good things and will fit your individual food sensitivities. Dark Green, Leafy Vegetables; Spinach, chard and beet greens contain abundant vitamins and minerals, B vitamins, calcium and trace minerals. Cruciferous Vegetables; Cabbage, chard, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli contain natural chemicals shown to block the formation of tumours in the digestive tract. Tubers Potatoes and sweet potatoes, root vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, parsnips and beets, the squash family, - and - the lily family (onions, leeks and garlic) - and - the nightshade family being tomatoes, eggplant and peppers. Another lengthy topic for this Candida Wellness Center is - FOOD SENSITIVITIES Almost any vegetable can cause adverse and allergic reactions if eaten to excess – that is why variety is so important. Organic or vegetables grown in a chemical free environment are the best tasting. I have heard many people say, when they eat organic food, they tend to eat less than what they would have with chemically grown foods. Vegetables from the nightshade family may cause arthritis and painful joints in sensitive individuals. Cruciferous veggies contain high amounts of sulphur which may cause problems for some. Vegetables from the onion family tend to stimulate the glands and should therefore be avoided by those suffering from fatigue or weak adrenal function. REHEATING VEGETABLES Here is some good advice on this candida wellness center regarding reheating vegetables. Dark green leafy vegetables tend to concentrate nitrites when they are commercially grown with high nitrogen fertilizer. These nitrates may be transformed into potent carcinogens. Nitrates also tend to form in cooked vegetables during storage and we caution you against eating reheated vegetables, particularly green vegetables. FAT-SOLUBLE VITAMINS Put butter on your steamed vegetables. The fat-soluble vitamins need butter so that your body utilizes the minerals. Season veggies lightly after cooking with sea salt. MORE CANDIDA WELLNESS CENTER NEWS! Whole Grains All grains contain phytic acid(an organic acid in which phosphorus is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium copper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. This is the reason a diet high in unfermented whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first, but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome. Soaking allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. The practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight in acidulated water (Acidulated water is water where some sort of acid is added—often lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar) will neutralize phytic acid and improve their nutritional benefits. I used to soak raw oatmeal overnight in pure water and a drop or two of lemon juice, cover it, and in the morning mix organic raisins and organic walnuts in it, sometimes add rice milk but frequently just eat it as is. It was delicious! You could also use dates as the sweetener. The soaking neutralizes enzyme inhibitors, present in all seeds and encourages the production of numerous beneficial enzymes, including vitamins, especially B Vitamins.
Brenda's Candida Wellness Center will be an on-going process, so come back frequently! Staying healthy incorporates the use of diet and exercise and how these could change your life. Food creates your body and serves as your fuel. Daily exercise and movement is important to loosen muscles and joints, stimulate breathing, circulation and the lymphatic system. Today’s lifestyle creates imbalances of
...environmental and food pollutants ...inadequate exercise ...causing waste buildup ...and chronic mental and emotional stress Our daily health is affected and is linked to chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart/vascular disease and even cancer. When illness arises, stop, look and listen! Experiencing dis-ease, is sending a message for us to come to our body awareness and listen! We cannot limit ourselves to treating a disease. We must go further and deeper to understand the process and causative factors and then do progressive work on these. Many times the apparent disease is really a process in which the body is attempting to make itself better. In this section of the candida wellness center is a brief description of different methods for you to use to help you attain better health. Allopathic Medicine Allopathic means “treating sickness oppositely,”ie; giving a medicine for a symptom or illness which may counteract it by causing an opposite reaction. Western medicine has made great advances scientifically and technologically, yet it still has some weaknesses and limitations. Western medicine has made great breakthroughs in acute care treatment and its technological advances in emergency care, it’s antibiotic development for infectious diseases and it’s surgical intervention for trauma and advanced illness. Homeopathy Homeopathic medicine applies the idea of treating ‘like with like'. This means treating someone’s condition with a substance that would cause the same symptom(s) in a healthy person. The effect of this is to undermine the illness and cause its elimination from the body. Frequently, this worsens the symptoms for a brief while, before one begins to improve. Homeopathy, uses minute and frequent doses taken over a longer period of time than allopathic drug therapy. It also takes into consideration the personality, emotional and mental condition of the individual. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” - this is a saying by Benjamin Franklin that we could all benefit from, that is why I am using it on my candida wellness center Prevention Prevention really involves self-education and self-awareness, being in touch with what you need. My purpose for this candida wellness center is to help you become more aware of what is available. Nutrition, Herbology and TCM all incorporate the subtleties of keeping the body finely tuned. Nutrition Food is the body‘s fuel. The quality and quantity you use makes the energy on which your wonderful body machine runs.
Fruits and vegetables help toward good elimination. Bread and cheese may be more binding and create congestion and add weight. Foods such as flesh foods, dairy products, nuts, beans, seeds, avocados, mushrooms, tofu and whole grains. These foods are body builders. Meats and dairy may have a congesting effect Other congesting foods are breads,
...cookies ...candies ...soft drinks ...sugar products ...flour ...noodles ...potatoes ...corn ...all processed and chemical foods Sounds similar to a candida diet doesn't it? Congesting foods in large quantities can lead to stagnation and illness. Oils and butter act as lubricators, aiding the mucous membranes, intestinal elimination, joints, tendons and ligaments. Herbology The original American medicine is the study of plants with medicinal properties and their actions and uses. Using herbs on the whole body will cleanse, build and balance the body over a longer period of time. Herbs have specific properties.
diaphoretics (cause sweating) expectorants (expel mucous from the pulmonary system) alteratives(alter bad conditions to good) demulcent-emollients (soothe and soften tissues) There also herbs that are tonics and cleansers, etc. Herbs can be used to balance certain systemic and/or specific imbalances within the body. Most herbs have multiple effects TCM – Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese system of medicine is thousands of years old and still exists because of its beauty and simplicity. It ties together man/woman and nature and the harmonious communication between them gives their mutual health. The concept of seasonal changes affecting human growth and well-being was rooted and developed in ancient China. The two primary forces of Yang and Yin are dualities or polarities reflecting opposite states in continual interchange.Yang is pure energy corresponding to heaven. Yin is substance and represents earth. Yang, is the ‘male’, active, light principle and Yin is the ‘female’, receptive dark principle. It is the interaction of these two forces that determines the very nature of the universe. I will add an entire chapter on Chinese Medicine to this candida wellness center at some other time. In the meantime, my candida wellness center has a lot of good information for you to peruse and use to keep yourself and your family members on the road to good health. If there is any information that you would like to share with this Candida Wellness Center please go to my contact page. We'd love to hear from you. We can all benefit from valuable nutritious ideas.
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