Bodhimed

Can we really solve the national health care crisis with these two simple words: Real Food? I don't believe I'm oversimplifying things to say that we can make a huge dent in improving public health by supporting and encouraging a return to eating real food. By real food I mean identifiable, beautiful, natural, unadulterated and easy to pronounce food. It's almost hard to find it anymore, but it's out there and it's making a comeback. Do you know the difference when you see it? Is eating whole grain bread the same as eating whole grains? Does your body tell the difference between taking Vitamin C and eating a grapefruit? I'll answer these questions so you can navigate through all the nutritional health information coming at you in the media and make choices that benefit your health and public health policy.

Are you setting New Year's resolutions that are more dream than reality? We all have health goals we'd like to achieve, and it's important to be realistic about what we can change that's practical and easy!  There are simple Ayurvedic ways we can improve our health that don't require massive sacrifice. Ayurveda is full of natural health tips that are actually very easy to integrate and that will totally change your life.  Here's my top 5 Ayurvedic New Year's resolutions that will guarantee you a new level of natural health with very little effort.

1.  Start your day with the right breakfast.

What you eat first thing in the morning sets the tone of your entire day.  Your digestion can either be boosted or totally extinguished depending on what you eat or don't eat in the morning. A hot, whole grain porridge (congee) is the ideal breakfast to kindle your digestive fire, improve absorption, and balance your metabolism.  It's easy to cook in a crock pot overnight so that when you wake up, it's all ready to go! No need to wait on a pot of brown rice and oat groats when you're in a hurry to get out the door.  Congee is easy to prepare and is very inexpensive.  Ayurveda teaches that one of the root causes of all disease is improper digestion, so starting your day with congee will help to heal all types of health imbalances and weight issues.

Do you struggle to align your eating habits with your ideals?  If you're like me, sometimes your taste buds take control and you find yourself eating something you know isn't the healthiest choice for your body and your spirit.  In this post I want to address the timeless question of whether or not to be a vegetarian.  At this moment in history where the environmental impact of every one of our choices, especially the 3-times-a-day ones, is so critical, it's important to examine how we choose what we eat.  The decision affects our health, the environment, the economy, and global society.  Personally, I am the kind of person who needs to gather a lot of information from many different traditions before I make big decisions.  So I've compiled a surprising list of unusual theories  about eating meat.  If you're on the fence about becoming vegetarian or if you go back and forth, the following considerations and anecdotes may help you finally decide what is best for you.

Are you one of millions of parents that have to bribe their kids to eat their veggies?  Maybe you sneak spinach puree into the brownies? Getting your kid to eat green things (and I don't mean M & M's!) can be impossible or easy, depending on how you approach it when they first start eating.  While I may not have the answer to how to get a 10 year old who's never eaten veggies to suddenly like them, I do know that there are simple steps you can take from the very beginning to guarantee that your kids make healthy food choices without a fight.  Giving your child the gift of healthy eating habits is one of the greatest things you can do as a parent to help them achieve their highest potential.

1.  Modeling Is The Most Important Thing You Can Do

Modeling healthy behavior is the single most important thing you can do to inspire your kids to make healthy choices themselves. As they begin to make sense of the world around them, they look to us to learn how to act in the world.  When they see us parents enjoying broccoli, spinach, and even blue-green algae, they figure they might as well enjoy it too!  Eating together as a family is important for many reasons, one of them being the modeling factor.