Food as Medicine - Dandelion

“Dandelion…not just a Pesky Weed”

The healing power of foods is emerging from scientific research, due in large part to the growing interest of health minded consumers. In fact, the foods provided by Mother Nature also share with us the energy found in the resilience of a weed?

“Foods with a purpose” is a new term awakening in the food industry. In the scientific world these are known as “functional foods.” These foods supply a therapeutic health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients they contain to mediate many diseases of the modern age, as defined by the Institute of Medicine.

Weeds are defined by their tendency to flourish at the expense of human intervention. A dandelion is a plant that is a weed only within a certain context. In a sense, weeds are harbingers of uncultivated earth, pushing their way into the human order of gardens and well-ordered plots, undermining our human supervision. In the wild, there is no such thing as a weed because the overall vision is in the hands of Mother Nature, which accommodates and incorporates all forms of life. The next time you see a weed, you might want to look deeply into its roots, discover its name, its habits, and its possible uses, rather than seeing an unwanted intruder. You may be surprised to find, like the dandelion, this plant you call a weed can share with you healing properties offering its leaves for medicinal tea or its flowers for a colorful salad.

One cup of raw dandelion greens provides 535% of vitamin K and 112% of vitamin A, according to RDA standards. Dandelion greens are one of the best source of beta-carotene, and additionally a good source of vitamin C, calcium, iron, potassium, and fiber.

Dandelion has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine to treat kidney and liver conditions such as kidney stones, jaundice, and cirrhosis. Dandelion supports the entire digestive system as a natural diuretic. The properties in the dandelion increase urine output and help flush toxins and excess salt from the kidneys.

Inulin, found in dandelion, is a natural soluble fiber, which is also found in the Chicory root. Inulin not only has a surplus of fiber, but also has prebiotic properties that provide healthy bacteria for the intestinal tract. Dandelion roots, leaves, and pectin are all parts of the plant that provide various health benefits to our bodies. Dandelion is excellent for reducing edema, bloating, and water retention; therefore it helps reduce high blood pressure.

Dandelion greens are considered a specialty item in some areas, which can be difficult to find if you do not have a Whole Foods Grocer in your area. They also have a pungent taste, a flavor people either like or dislike. But here is a tip for you to try in order to incorporate dandelion is your eating plan. If the raw leaves are too bitter for you, try lightly steaming or sautéing them; heating seems to calm the bitter components in the leaves in order for your palate to accept and enjoy.

The dandelion is more than a weed….it is a plant that provides remedies and bountiful health to our bodies, thanks to its tenacious existence as a weed.

“Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food”
- Hippocrates

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Local Austin people can order Food Consciousness (the book) at: shannon@mindurfood.com

Weight Loss....always part of New Year's Resolutions. Why?

Before I give you my first blog for the New Year….I want to announce that the blogs for 2013 will focus on a new theme called “Food as Medicine,” which is an aspect of eating from your Higher Self in a state of mind you know as Food Consciousness. I will also intersperse some spiritual titles and themes as the year goes along. Be Well……may you find vibrant health body, mind, and soul.

Our bodies are living temples, and they deserve all the loving care we can give to them. This should include as our number one priority….eating consciously (from our Higher Self with Consciousness). Our bodies allow us to experience the world at different levels of longevity and quality, depending on how we treat it. Unfortunately, our bodies have had to act as the proverbial compensator because most Americans don’t treat or embrace their bodies as a temple. Are you not feeling your best? Have you put on some extra weight? Have you had to buy a new wardrobe because your waist line has increased? Do you continually go on the latest diet because the last one and the one before that was not sustainable?

You can make the choice to be good to your body and eat consciously starting today – if you are willing to go within and stop looking for answers outside of yourself that tell you to count calories/points, starve yourself eating less than 1000 calories, or eating pre-packaged food that isn’t even food.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) includes: 62% processed foods and sugar, 25% animal proteins/products, 10% fresh produce/plant foods, and 2.5% whole grains.

 A Conscious Eating Plan includes: 62-67% fresh produce/plant foods, 25% whole grains, and 5-10% animal proteins/products, and 2.5% processed foods/sugar.

Going to our center and practicing being in the silence are the first two steps that move us to create conscious choices and work from a deeper place of improving our health and embracing our bodies as temples. From this place, we can be gently honest with ourselves about the reasons we over-eat, eat certain foods, and follow the tribal mind of the Standard American Diet (SAD). Our bodies have a great wisdom within them when we pay attention and do not follow the tribal mind conditioning we were socialized with. A Food Conscious mindset invests in love and attention to the care and support of a beautiful creation that helps us experience this thing we call life with longevity and grace.

Women are told we cannot lose weight as easily as men, NOT TRUE!

We are told that once we reach the age of 35 our metabolisms become slower and slower, NOT TRUE!

We are told that if we want to lose weight we have to work out like maniacs, NOT TRUE!

 We are told that if you only have 10 to 15 pounds to lose - its harder than if you’re obese, NOT TRUE! 

How do I know this???? I switched to a mostly whole food/plant based eating plan to clear up my digestive issues and without it even being my intention – I lost 15 pounds within 4 months doing no exercise due to back pain. I now weigh what I was in high school and have kept if off for a year easily. When you eat as God intended these “untruths” are no longer barriers…..that is the real truth! 

Contest:

The first (13) people to provide two answers (both correct); to the one question below – will win an  E-version of my book Food Consciousness. Email your answers to shannon@mindurfood.com. Make sure you email from a viable and active email address as this will be the address the E-version of the book will be electronically sent. Only if you are a winner will you be contacted. The contest will go on until (13) submissions have correct answers. The conclusion of the contest will be announced on Facebook.

What makes a plant based eating plan easily bring forth weight loss and vibrant health?

#1 PHYTO - __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ S  

#2 MICRO - __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ S

Know Where to get Good Nutrition Information

There is a vast amount of mis-information on what constitutes good nutrition in this country. I am going to point out some of the misgivings that will become more obvious to you as you continue shifting to your True Self/Higher Consciousness that recognizes "real truth." I am going to provide you guidelines to use in order to decipher intellectually whether or not the information you are hearing or reading about involving good nutrition can be relied on as truth. American’s nutritional information has been compromised by “nutritional experts” who construct the standards of good nutrition (The Four Food Groups and the Food Pyramid), and at the same time, sit on boards of big food and biotechnology companies. Therefore, providing the real truth to Americans is in conflict with the big food company’s profits and agendas. Imagine these experts telling Americans that a mostly wf/pb based eating plan was the most favorable and healthful eating plan to adopt. What would happen to the dairy industry (milk/milk product) and the meat, poultry, egg, and seafood industries? Obviously this change in nutrition policy and guidance would not be good for the profits of these billion dollar industries, just as stop smoking bans have affected the tobacco industry which was killing people for years on end. Americans are confused about good nutrition because science seems so unreliable. However, science isn’t perfect because the human body is so complex and the nature of scientific research that is supposed to be curious is sometimes hi-jacked by scientists who have an agenda and are looking for their study to be well received. Add insult to injury, and we have medical doctors that are not trained to prevent or reverse disease in medical school; instead they are trained to heavily rely on pharmaceuticals and surgery. If nutrition were better understood, and prevention with natural treatments were more accepted by the medical community, we would not be trying to save people’s lives through pills and surgery in the late stages of deadly diseases. The status quo has miserably failed and it is time to make a shift in our food consciousness toward eating from our Higher Self by eating Mother Nature’s bounty of a mostly wf/pb eating plan.

The answer of where or who to get good nutrition information from is not simple, but I will give you a framework of guidelines to help you decipher if you are getting the truth.

Guideline #1 – Check Your Source

Look for proper credentials (Ph.D, MS, RD, LD, LDN). If someone claims they are an expert without proper credentials, be wary. A certification in nutrition without a degree in nutrition means that individual spent minimal hours compared to an academically trained individual. Chiropractors or nurses teaching nutrition seems reasonable, but they are not  experts and neither are M.Ds. Personal trainers and Life Coaches are typically among the worst sources you want to get your nutrition advice or plan from, although Americans seem to do so a lot. Be careful of individuals who do not have a nutrition degree, who interpret research. First of all, scientific literature has a language of its own and the average person is not going to be able to understand or interpret most nutrition studies. Look for the academic institution where the persons earned their credentials; there are a lot of online degree programs these days, which do not hold the reputations of brick and mortar colleges and universities. Tufts University and Cornell have one of the most prestigious nutrition programs in the country and of course there are others. If your source is an organization, do not assume that if it is a government agency that you can rely on the information to be true. If the information from a government entity is raw data like the USDA National Nutrient Database or Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity Values (ORAC) – then you are pretty safe with that data being reliable. Otherwise, look to organizations that conduct research like the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) or independent watch dog organizations like the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) for more reliable and neutral advice and recommendations. 

• Guideline #2 – Listen to the Language Used

If the information being presented is sensationalized with words “like poison or supernatural,” be wary. If it sounds like a panacea, be wary. If it sounds like it’s a magic bullet that requires restriction, special foods, or a special routine, be wary. If the information sounds “black or white” with no grey area, be wary. Look for information that can present both sides of an issue or provide an outcome or opinion that is passionate, but balanced at the same time. There is a difference between presenting vague information and neutral information, you want neutral.

• Guideline #3 – Always be Cautious

Be a super sleuth! Do not take information to heart without taking time to look into it more. If your intuition is making you wonder, that’s your Higher Self asking you to check in with your resonance of truth, just as I did with the Stanford scientist for the Atkins study.

A Conscious Cleanse can be Transformational

Most cleanses involve starvation, but a conscious cleanse goes far beyond the narrow emphasis of other cleansing programs that offer just food intake strategies, tonics, or pills. A conscious cleansing plan integrates mind, body, soul, and only whole food. A conscious cleanse is a holistic approach to cleansing that is a rare gift, encompassing a process that is more involved than the usually unconscious route of just focusing on foods, tonics, restrictions, and starvation.

Why do I believe in a cleanse? First, it is a way for your body to recharge, rejuvenate, and renew. The word cleanse stems from the word clean. Therefore a cleanse will clear your pipes, and  “clean” your cleansing organs along with laying down a foundation of new healthy flora for your gut (just as a gardener lays down nutrient rich soil). Once you embrace a state of food consciousness which encompasses a mostly whole food/plant based eating plan, a cleanse prepares your body to fully absorb and receive Mother Nature’s bounty more than if you did not make the choice to journey on a cleanse. 

Second, a cleanse is much more than a nutritional body cleaning, it is also a spiritual experience. I recommend either a 4 or 7 day cleanse of ingesting only whole/raw plant foods and plants in freshly blended juices, smoothies, soups, salads, or raw state. A conscious cleanse may bring up  emotional and soul level layers that require your attention to go to your center, use meditation, and utilize energy healing tools. Feel your feelings fully….you may want to journal what comes up for you and the food combinations that excited this transformation. Explore and love what is awakening in you, as your cleanse may feel difficult to complete because your mind may play games with you by trying to interfere with the process and make you feel uncomfortable. As with most spiritual experiences, your cleanse will connect you deeply with your body, mind, and soul which offers you improved energy, mental clarity, and anchoring to your God-self. Cleansing has the potential to awaken your body to heal on many levels. Almost every religion has some type of fasting or cleansing ritual – Lent, Ramadan, Yom Kippur, and the Buddhists and Hindus as these spiritual teachings recognize purification within starts with food energy.

A body cleanse is an ancient practice of the Egyptians and the Greeks. They would target specific organs that can putrefy and produce toxins and then utilize a cleanse with plants to purify the body and detoxify cellular accumulations that would otherwise harm the body. Our bodies naturally cleanse every day. It is a normal process that goes on within the cleansing organs of the skin, colon, liver, lymphatic system, and lungs. These systems and organs perform functions on our behalf every second of the day just as our heart beats without any thought given to that physical miracle beating in our chests. However, modern life and the tribal mind of socially conditioned eating interferes with our natural cleanse, hindering what our bodies truly deserve. Pollutants, chemicals, and other synthetic substances have burdened our natural cleansing system with more than it can handle. Therefore, the body has made an adjustment of storing these toxins in body fat, which is stored in a manner outside the regular elimination system, so we do not get poisoned. As you can imagine, these adjustments our bodies make because of our unconscious choices are not good for our health in the long run. 

You are what you eat….and what you have eaten and not eliminated! Animal foods and animal products such as beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, shellfish, milk, dairy products, and eggs all create acidic blood. Other foods that affect your cleansing organ systems are: sugar and sugar substitutes, baked goods, processed and fast foods, soft drinks and sports drinks, alcohol, coffee, prescription drugs and recreational drugs, cigarettes and other forms of tobacco. A conscious cleanse relieves the body of the stagnation that is created with foods that metabolize acidicly and elevates the soul with clean pure energy from Mother Natures bounty.

Recognizing Your Body as a Temple

Out of all the blogs I have covered so far....none are more important than this foundational concept. It is the Divine key to realizing wholeness and consciousness. This ideology is the closest to my heart and the essence of Food Conscousness.

 I have a strong resonance with this bible verse: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16. This scripture is the very reason that I pursued two nutrition degrees and dedicated my life’s work to health care. It was very apparent to me as a youngster that health and a healthy body would be my passion and driving force in life. There is an old Arabian proverb that embodies a universal truth: “He who has health has hope; he who has hope has everything; so guard your health as your most precious possession”.

I like to substitute the word “gift” in the place of “possession,” as the word possess is of the ego and the word gift comes from a giver, which is of high vibrational energy. Your state of health is determined by the absence of symptoms in your body. Your health and your body are almost synonymous, so the Arabian proverb is stating the obvious truth that your life will not exist if you do not take care of your body. Yet, we have more than fifty percent of Americans slowly killing themselves and their soul purpose with every unconscious lift of the fork, among other low vibrational choices.

All the moments of your life - from enjoying the flavors of food, listening to music, and observing the beauty of a sunset - were all made possible because of the magnificence and complexity of your body. Our bodies create life and give birth to soul and flesh. It can create Egyptian pyramids and Golden Gate Bridges from our imagination. The body can run 100 meters in 9.72 seconds and climb the highest mountain in the world. In order for our bodies to perform any of these gifts they must send thousands of electrical signals known as neuro- transmissions throughout the body and maintain a rhythmic heart beat, which are by and large molecular miracles.

You may forget about these miracles happening inside your body and take them for granted, but why do we do this knowing the quality of our health is determined by how we take care of our bodies? This is where the disconnect to Source will lower your vibration and, as a result, your food choices will be less than Divine. Your body is always trying to maintain homeostatic health and metabolism for your optimal well-being, no matter how badly you treat it. Your body is always talking to you, although most of the times you choose to ignore what it is saying.

Symptoms, pain, and illness will eventually surface in order to get your attention. Illness is a mirror of your inner thoughts and beliefs, which tells you there is a false idea in your consciousness. In other words, something that you are saying, believing, taking on, or doing that is not for your higher good must be taking place – otherwise the symptoms, pain, or illness would not be created in your body. Your body, mind, and soul are all vitally involved in creating or healing illness. If you want to heal an illness, yet you still believe the answers are outside yourself and you do not clear the emotional or spiritual issues that surround that body ailment, it will remain in your body or reoccur again and again. Illness can be your greatest teacher. When you realize that every cell in your body responds to every thought you think….then your life, your health, and your spiritual well-being will be forever changed.

The Two Connections to Conscious Eating & Consciousness: The Second is.....Self-Worth

The philosophical journey to conscious eating and consciousness continues.....see if any of these portrayals look familiar to anyone you know in the mirror.

Although much of who you are changes as you journey through life, your inherent worth remains constant. You may have heard the term self-esteem to mean self-worth because the two are used interchangeably, but to your surprise they are quite different. Self-esteem is the measure of how you feel about yourself at any given time. However, your self-worth is not a product of your health, looks, talent, intelligence, or accomplishments. It is how you perceive your oneness with Source and the infinite power of that realization. Your self-worth cannot be taken from you or damaged by life experiences, yet it can be disconnected and hidden as if not there.

You are born worthy – your self-worth encompasses every fabric of your being. Your perception of your own self-worth is reinforced by your thoughts, words, choices, and actions. Each day that you appreciate yourself, treat yourself kindly, define your personal boundaries, be proactive in taking care of your body temple, and put God first in your life, you express your gratitude for your innate value. During periods when you lose consciousness of your self-worth, you may feel a lack of energy in your body temple from that disconnect. Simply awakening to this concept can allow you to rediscover your awe-inspiring self-worth within you because now you realize that your self-worth is not based on the fulfillment of expectations.

There may be times when you question….why it is that you do not know more about yourself and how you have been living. You may even criticize yourself for repeating the same mistakes of low vibrational food choices regarding your health. From the minute you are born, your God essence is yearning to have you connect to that oneness which builds your self-worth and helps you to support your spiritual self and your human self. You always know as much as you are meant to know at any given moment. Sometimes your self-worth can be attached to things like feeling you have to be perfect or the most popular of all….comparing yourself to others.

Having to be perfect is certainly not in alignment with your Oneness and value of self-worth. Yet, many people have this character or aspiration. When you are in the mindset of perfection, making mistakes and not measuring up are seen as failures. But if you remember life is an experimental journey of learning, then to be imperfect should be a prerequisite. Life becomes much more interesting once you let go of your quest for perfection. Perfection is an impermanent state. Your life changes more than it stays the same and even in this moment your hair is growing, your cells are dividing, and your blood is moving through your veins. Trying to hold on to perfection or forcing it to happen may just cause stress on the body and lay the ground work for dis-ease.

You are unique. There is no one like you in the entire universe. One way to honor your unique oneness is not to compare yourself with other people. It is human nature to want to compare yourself to others….especially if you think that they are better than you or have more of something you want. Your Creator thinks you are incomparable, thus it is not a good use of time to compare yourself to others. You may do this because it is easier to look outside yourself and feel like you’re deficient to others rather than realizing your desire for wholeness and embodying your self-worth. Every one of us is here for very specific reasons. Each of us has a life purpose to fulfill and with this comes the experiences and lessons made just for you in order to evolve as a spiritual being having human experiences. To compare your life to others when you have no idea what they are here to experience or fulfill does not benefit anyone – especially you. Realizing your value brings out the best in yourself, so that you can get on with living a high vibrational life, rather than preoccupying yourself with meaningless comparisons.

Realizing consciousness awakens conscious living which urges conscious eating. Self-love and self-worth are part of realizing your consciousness. As your spiritual well-being begins to elevate, you will strongly resonate and utilize the component of wholeness from Chapter One (recognizing your body as a temple). As you fully embody this component, conscious eating will be one of the gifts you will adamantly give your body in order to experience vibrant health. 

The Two Connections to Conscious Eating & Consciousness: The First is.....Self-Love

Within you are voices that often compete for your attention. It can be difficult to decide which one to listen to, particularly when their messages are all quite different, and sometimes conflicting. The One Voice however, only speaks the language of truth. Among all your inner voices, the voice that IS quintessential LOVE is the one that encourages you, gives you hope, and urges you to trust and believe in yourself. Struggle within oneself is often caused by conflicting voices inside of you. As you move through life, you get an assortment of messages from the various aspects of yourself. Some of your voices, such as the saboteur and the victim can speak so loudly that they drown out the voice of truth. Listening to the voice that IS quintessential LOVE will help you resolve internal conflict, so that your every expression is that of God’s love emanating self-love. The more you listen to and believe in what the One voice is telling you about your value (self-love and self-worth), the stronger that voice will become. Saying NO to the voices that are judgmental and make you feel ashamed will help you stop being afraid of taking the next step to realize your wholeness, raise your consciousness, and thus improve your food relationship, struggles, and bring forth vibrant health.

Many people, in seeking out love, tend to look outward rather than inward. Yet falling in love with yourself can be just as wonderful an experience as falling in love with someone else. While the idea may seem odd at first, even conceited or selfish, choosing to fall in love with who you are is a powerful act of self-love. When you fall in love with yourself, you can’t help but experience God. When you begin to look at yourself with fresh eyes, noticing the magnificence of what makes you unique, you discover how much there is about you to fall in love with and you can’t help but want to treat your body temple as lovingly and respectfully as you would treat anyone else who is special to you. Upon this revelation….being overweight, taking medications for hypertension, high cholesterol, being in-active and the other things that you have created with low vibrational choices – you won’t want to continue any longer. You will not tolerate this expression or ignore it anymore. You will be pro-active in making the necessary changes to elevate your consciousness and it will involve a mostly whole food/plant based conscious eating plan that is your Divine Self expressing.

Choosing to fall in love with yourself is a very personal process that takes time. There is no “genie in the bottle” that will snap its finger to make this happen. But there is the power of intention and the power of your Divine Self expressing that will motivate you to make necessary changes, encourage you to treat yourself with love, help you to take inventory of all your wonderful qualities, and teach you to nurture yourself with nature’s bounty, meditation, and physical activity

Self-love is really important in a world still comprised of low vibrational people who may not like you. Remember like attracts like, so when you run across a person who does not like you – it is most likely because they are not like you. Rather than taking it personally you can let them be who they are accepting we all have different perspectives. But more importantly you are not taking it personally because you love yourself and do not need their approval.

While approval from others is a nice feeling, when you come to depend on it, you weaken your foundation of self-love. As you reap the benefits of loving yourself, one of the most rewarding benefits will be your relationship with God that has a direct connection to all your other relationships in your life including food. The need for you to have everyone like you will be replaced by the joy of discovering that you are attracting like minded people to your life – people who are like you and understand and appreciate the truth of who you are. Living your life in the light and love of God transcends limitations and empowers you to “NOT live to eat”, but rather, “eat consciously to live.”

Begin a new conscious routine of attracting the natural bliss of life into your being by starting each morning taking several deep grounding breaths. Reaffirm the love you have for yourself. Say aloud a self-directed loving prayer that enables you to access and awaken your soul into making choices for your spiritual well-being and body temple health. Before you leave the warmth and comfort of your bed, be sure to tell Spirit that you are eager to accept the blessings “It” has set aside for you and that you will be operating during this day in consciousness. As you prepare to meet the day, visualize yourself enveloped in the energy of God with a bright light guiding you to fulfill your spiritual well-being. Gradually widen the circle of light until you are able to send it ahead into your future and then “be” in awe of what awaits you. Each morning as you acknowledge your love of self and love of Spirit, this practice will ensure that your day is suffused with grace and movement in consciousness.