If you have the time get in the practice of soaking your nuts, seeds, grains, beans and other legumes before consuming. This may sound complicated but once you get the hang of it it’s pretty simple.  It just takes a tiny bit of planning ahead…

Here is a little more info on how to do this (from FoodMatters.tv)

Why soak nuts, grains and seeds?

• 1. To remove or reduce phytic acid.
• 2. To remove or reduce tannins.
• 3. To neutralize the enzyme inhibitors.
• 4. To encourage the production of beneficial enzymes.
• 5. To increase the amounts of vitamins, especially B vitamins.
• 6. To break down gluten and make digestion easier.
• 7. To make the proteins more readily available for absorption.
• 8. To prevent mineral deficiencies and bone loss.
• 9. To help neutralize toxins in the colon and keep the colon clean.
• 10. To prevent many health diseases and conditions.

(more…)

Thanks to Josh and the Folks at Pangea Organics for listing 10 easy things we can do that will have a beneficial impact on the planet and our wallets!  www.pangeaorganics.com

1.  Give Up Using Paper Napkins, Paper Towels, Or Both. Get (or make!) a few sets of organic cloth napkins. Do your cleaning with old towels and/or t-shirts cut into smaller pieces.  They are super-easy to throw in the washer to clean!

2.  Use Low-Energy Light Bulbs. Switch to energy-saving light bulbs. They may cost a bit more, but can save you up to 10 times the price over their lifetime and use at least two-thirds of the energy of standard ‘incandescent’ bulbs.

Read this article by George Lundberg, MD, former Editor in Chief of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) for 17 years, and the past President of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. He is an outspoken critic of how medicine is currently practiced. He calls for sharp curtailment of heart surgery, mammograms, PSA testing, and much more in order to save money and lives.   (www.drmcdougall.com)

Seven Ways to Reduce Unnecessary Medical Costs— George D. Lundberg, M.D.
I believe that there are still many ethical and professional American physicians and many intelligent American patients who are capable of, in an alliance of patients and physicians, doing “the right things.” Their combined clout is being underestimated in the current healthcare reform debate.
Efforts to control American medical costs date from at least 1932. With few exceptions, they have failed. Health care reform, 2009 politics-style, is again in trouble over cost control. It would be such a shame if we once again fail to cover the uninsured because of hang-ups over costs.
Physician decisions drive the majority of expenditures in the US health care system. American health care costs will never be controlled until most physicians are no longer paid fees for specific services. The lure of economic incentives to provide care that is unnecessary, unproven, or even known to be ineffective drives many physicians to make the lucrative choice. Hospitals and especially academic medical centers are also motivated to profit from many expensive procedures. Alternative payment forms used in integrated multispecialty delivery systems such as those at Geisinger, Mayo, and Kaiser Permanente are far more efficient and effective.

Fee-for-service incentives are a key reason why at least 30% of the $2.5 trillion expended annually for American health care is unnecessary. Eliminating that waste could save $750 billion annually with no harm to patient outcomes.
(more…)

Memorize these Lists or print this out and take it with you to the store.  You have an impact on the planet every time you shop.

(This is from www.GreenAmericaToday.org)

10 Things you should Never Buy Again:

5 Things you should Always Buy Green:

10 Things you should buy only if they have the Fair Trade Symbol:

10 of the Worst Corporate Criminals to Avoid:

(more…)

Why We Should All Eat More Organic Food (Organic Consumers Association)

Organic Food is More Nutritious

Organic foods, especially raw or non-processed, contain higher levels of beta carotene, vitamins C, D and E, health-promoting polyphenols, cancer-fighting antioxidants, flavonoids that help ward off heart disease, essential fatty acids, and essential minerals.

On the average, organic food is 25% more nutritious in terms of vitamins and minerals than products derived from industrial agriculture. Since on the average, organic food’s shelf price is only 20% higher than chemical food, this makes it actually cheaper, gram for gram, than chemical food, even ignoring the astronomical hidden costs (damage to health, climate, environment, and government subsidies) of industrial food production. Levels of antioxidants in milk from organic cattle are between 50% and 80% higher than normal milk. Organic wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions and lettuce have between 20% and 40% more nutrients than non-organic foods.

Organic food contains qualitatively higher levels of essential minerals (such as calcium, magnesium, iron and chromium), that are severely depleted in chemical foods grown on pesticide and nitrate fertilizer-abused soil. UK and US government statistics indicate that levels of trace minerals in (non-organic) fruit and vegetables fell by up to 76% between 1940 and 1991.

(more…)