Diet advisor

Hi Annemarie

The recipe is based on ratios. We use the following 3 ingredients according to the following ratio:

4 parts hempseed oil
1 part melted beeswax
1/8 part essential oil

So for example, to make several containers of salve, you could do the following:

200 ml henpseed oil

50 ml melted beeswax

6 ml essential oil (usually we use lavender)

Have a nice day

Dan

Hello,
It really depends on how much you drink.  The ideal daily amount is one or two glasses.  This will give you plenty of vitamins and minerals without too much sugar.  If you don’t like drinking pure vegetable juice, it’s OK to add in a piece of fruit.  Regarding the shelf life of fresh juice, it should be consumed within 24 hours to retain all the nutrition.

Susan

Hello,
It’s good that you are eating only whole-grain breads. But the question is whether or not it is truly whole-grain bread or just white bread that had been dyed darker.  The best way is to bake your own bread so you know it is truly whole-grain.  This kind of bread you can safely eat several times a day.

If you’re worried about eating too much bread, you can easily replace some of it with other healthy options.  For breakfast there are many types of porridge (oats, millet, or rice), along with oatmeal in yogurt, cottage cheese with fruit, and whole grain crackers.  For a snack, you could replace the bread with fruits and a handful of nuts or seeds.   You could also try kefir milk with fruit.  For dinner, you don’t always have to have bread.  What about trying goat cheese with fresh vegetables.  Other options include mozzarella with tomatoes and fresh basil, mixed vegetable salad with eggs, or scrambled eggs with crispbread and vegetables.  You could also try different salads, like pasta salad, salad with bulgur or couscous, or a bean salad.

Also, in reference to your daily schedule, it might be better not to follow the traditional three meals a day plan.  In your case, I’d suggest six smaller meals spread out throughout the day.  Don’t worry about eating a light late-evening snack.

Susan

Hello,
If you are following this juice regimen, you don’t need to dilute the juice.  The only time you ought to do this is for small children, in a 1:1 juice to water ratio.  Regarding infants, just add the diluted juice gradually and monitor your baby for possible adverse reactions.

Susan

Hello, 
Unfortunately since I don’t know your current diet or daily routine, I can only give you some general recommendations.  If you’d like to get more specific advice, you should visit a nutritional counselor in your area.

It’s always important to make sure your caloric intake is roughly equal to your caloric expenditures.  If you spend most of the day sitting behind a wheel (assuming you don’t have time for more physical exercise), your energy expenditure is minimal.  One thing to do is to eat small amounts of food more often, instead of one or two big meals when you are really hungry.  Try to add as many fruits and vegetables to your meals.  Also try to drink a lot of water, and minimize sweetened or carbonated beverages.  Also avoid fried or fatty meats as well as sweets.

Regarding detoxifying your body, I would suggest you try young barley or chlorella.  In addition, a daily glass of fresh vegetable juice.  Finally, start your morning with a big glass of water with lemon.

Susan

Hello,
If you suffer from recurring bronchitis, the first thing you need to do is strengthen your immune system.  Regular consumption of fresh fruit and vegetable juices would be helpful.  For fruit juices, I would recommend grapefruit, lime or lemon, blueberry, black currant, strawberry, or sea buckthorn.  On the vegetable side, I’d recommend a combination of carrots, celery, and beetroot.  If you have a strong cough, strangely enough onion juice has been found to be effective in quelling it.  Take a teaspoon three times a day, and don’t be afraid to sweeten it up with some maple syrup to make it more palatable.

Regarding your allergies, unfortunately I don’t have experience with this.  I know a few people who cured their allergies through changing their diets, but it was a radical and complete change.  They eliminated all meat, dairy products, eggs, sugar, and white flour.  They only eat grains, beans, and vegetables.  These are mainly professional nutritionists who are able to create a diet that contains all required nutrients.  Also, some people have good results with allergies using homeopathy or Chinese medicine.  I would recommend contacting a natural medicine practitioner who deals with allergies.

Susan

Hello,
Your decision to de-acidify your body using fresh vegetable juice is definitely correct.  There are many juice combinations you can use, depending on your taste and individual needs.  I would recommend the book by Norman Walker "Fresh fruits and vegatables juices".

Among our favorite vegetable juice combinations are carrots/celery/beet (with a small piece of ginger added).  You can also add some fruits to your vegetable juices.  A great combination os cucumber with grapes or carrots with apples.

Another way to de-acidify your body is with young barley and chlorella.  Strangely enough, lemons and limes are also a very effective de-acidifier.  Mixing their juices with water produces a healthy and refreshing drink.  You can also try apple cider vinegar diluted with water.  Vinegar is very concentrated, so only a small amount is needed in a glass of water.  In addition to detoxification and de-acidification, vinegar reduces cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, destroys yeast infections, and helps with weight loss.

Susan

Hello,
If you get discouraged after a few exercises, it would be better to not try that kind of fitness program.  If you’re not enjoying it, you won’t get the results you want.  The first thing is to find something you enjoy – something you can do naturally in the course of your day.  An ideal start is a brisk 30-minute walk each day.  You can even do a few small changes like using the stairs instead of the elevator, or getting off the bus one stop early.  These things add up.  If you aren’t into walking, you could try cycling, skating, swimming, or a lower speed jog.

Regarding food, my advice is similar.  If you try to force a huge change, the chances of success are minimal.  There’s no way to ban all the things you like – it’s a recipe for failure.  Instead you should start slowly.  Gradually reduce your intake of sweets, sugary sodas, and the like.  Do the same slow process with food.  Another thing is to look for a healthier alternative to things you like.  For example, replace salami with lower fat ham, ice cream with frozen yogurt, and milk chocolate with dark chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa.

If you feel like you can’t do all these changes alone, it would be advisable to contact a nutrition counselor in your area and arrange a personal consultation.

Susan

Hello,
It’s a great idea to make fresh juice every day.  The vitamin A issue is a little more complex.  It is an important antioxidant, strengthens the immune system, improves night vision, and promotes proper development of the skin and mucous membranes. However, it is also true that vitamin A can be toxic in large doses.  It’s most dangerous for pregnant women, as it can cause developmental defects in the fetus.  This “pure” vitamin A, called retinal, is found in animal sources, mainly intestines but also occurs in smaller quantities in eggs, milk, and dairy products.  Of course, there is another form of vitamin A called carotene (also known as beta-carotene).  Our bodies are actually able to produce vitamin A from carotene.  Carotenoids are found in many vegetables including carrots, spinach, tomatoes, kale, and squash.  Fortunately, it isn’t possible to overdose from this form of vitamin A.  The only “problem”, and it’s purely an aesthetic one, is that too much carotene can cause your skin to take on an orange tinge.  So don’t worry about any overdose from carrot juice and keep on juicing!

Susan

Hello,
It’s true that smoking speeds up the metabolism.  Every cigarette does burn a few calories.  So in that sense it is possible that stopping smoking can lead to weight gain.  But the main problem lies in the behavioral aspect of smoking.  When you aren’t able to smoke, you become stressed and often replace that cigarette with a snack – usually junk food.  My recommendation is to make sure to have lots of healthy snacks available for those times when you get the munchies.  One idea would be to chop up fresh vegetables into small pieces that you can snack on throughout the day.  Alternatively, visit a health food store for some healthy snacks that aren’t so full of empty calories..

Susan

Hello,
It really isn’t possible to fully replace animal proteins with juice.  Fruits and vegetables don’t contain protein.  You can use a juicer to prepare soy or almond milk, which will contain protein.  If you are trying to eliminate animal protein, it can be replaced with plant proteins.  They have many advantages compared to animal proteins.  They are easier to digest, have less fat, and contain no cholesterol.  However, these plant proteins do not contain essential amino acids.  If you are trying to increase muscle mass, it is advisable to include some animal proteins in your diet.  I would recommend nonfat meat, egg whites, milk, and other dairy products.  For vegetable proteins, one thing I recommend is ROBI MEAT.  It is a blend of vegetable protein which has the appearance, consistency, and taste of meat.  You can prepare it just as you would a piece of meat – boiled, baked, fried, or broiled – and it is great in salads.  It is available in health food stores.  Another good vegetable protein is SEITAN, made from wheat flour.  Like ROBI MEAT, it is prepared just like meat.  Another good source of protein is tofu, which is made from soy milk.  Available in smoked or other flavors, tofu has the nutritional bonus of being high in calcium, magnesium, and iron.  Another good product is the fermented soy product called tempeh, which can be purchased in health food stores or made at home in the Sana Smart Bread Maker.  Another thing to add to your diet are nuts and legumes.  Just be careful with the nuts, since they are high in fat.  A small handful per day is a good amount.

Susan

Hello,
Exercising on an empty stomach is a big mistake.  It also doesn’t really help in weight loss.  It is true that your glycogen stores are used up during the night.  So you’d think that, logically, the body would turn to the next available source of energy – fat.  But fats aren’t necessarily the enemy.  Exercising on a completely empty stomach can cause a reduction in cortisol, which is a catabolic hormone.  The end result is that the body will burn muscle instead of fat.

Therefore, I recommend that you eat breakfast before you exercise.  If you exercise early in the morning, and you aren’t hungry, at least have a piece of fruit, granola bar, or glass of fresh juice before you work out.  Then, after you are finished, you need to have the rest of your breakfast.

Susan

Hello,
It’s normal for people to not feel like eating during a night shift, because the body isn’t accustomed to eating at such a time.  But if a person sleeps and works, the timing of the work doesn’t get rid of the need for energy and nutrition.  If you try to skip eating, your body will sooner or later force you to catch up.  Before leaving for the night shift, it would be best to have a “normal” warm dinner, something like meat and vegetables.  This is because it is the natural time for the body to eat dinner.  Around 10PM, have something nourishing like some vegetables and maybe a piece of cheese.  At 1AM, something light and liquid like soup or kefir.   At 4AM, have a snack of carrots and apples, or maybe some oatmeal.  And make sure to drink lots of water during your night shift.  After waking up in the early afternoon, have something light like fruit for lunch and then continue with the previous schedule.\\

Susan

Hello,
Cholesterol is considered one of the worst things for our bodies these days.  However, not many people realize that cholesterol is important for our bodies.  Part of the cell structure, it is needed in the production of digestive acids, hormones, and vitamins.  It is produced naturally by our bodies, but also occurs in many of the fatty foods we eat.  The problem lies in this cholesterol that comes from food – this can cause elevated blood cholesterol levels.  So try to reduce your intake of animal fats.  The worst offenders are in liver, kidneys, sausages, and fatty meats.  A good alternative is to eat more fish, which contain omega-3 fatty acids which will naturally lower cholesterol and strengthen the cardiovascular system.  You can also increase your fiber consumption and try to limit your alcohol.

Susan

Hello,
Genetics do play a role in weight gain.  Your weight is determined about 40% by genetics and about 60% by your eating habits.  So you are in control of over half of the outcome.  Sometimes people blame weight gain on heredity – but often i tis not genetic heredity but „heredity“of eating habits.  If your parents had poor eating habits, you’ve likely grown up with those same habits.  The best advice is the most practical: eat a well-balanced healthy diet, drink lots of fluids, and exercise regularly.  This is the best way to avoid any future weight battles.

Susan

Hello,
It really depends on the reason you are drinking the juice.  If you are detoxifying or on a juice fast, the amount will be much more than if you are just trying to follow a healthy lifestyle.  Generally one or two glasses of fresh juice each day is plenty.

Susan

Hello Richard,
You should drink alkaline juices. A great juice for you is a combination of carrot, beetroot and celery. Always try to add some leafy greens (spinach, lettuce, etc.). You could drink fresh fruit juices as well - the best are blueberries, watermelon, grapefruit, or lemon (it´s better to dilute these in water). I also recommend that you drink homemade ginger tea. You could use apple vinegear (teaspoon of apple vinegear mixed in glass of water) or barley grass as well. You shouldn´t drink any coffee, alcohol, or carbonated drinks.
Susan