Quick and easy Avocado and Olive salad

"I never have time to cook but I also want to eat healthy!! I ran across this recipe that is a quick and easy lunch for me to make. It tastes great and its easy to make!" - From Infinity Health and Wellness Blogger - Shantee Tyler 



It has only five ingredients—anyone can make it! The other day, a friend told me that many guys want to go raw, but have a hard time finding simple recipes with easy-to-find ingredients. Let’s face it—only a few of us use Irish Moss, and how many more even know what it is? This salad is a pretty hefty, but refreshing dish complete with two fats—from the avocados and olives. While it makes a good side dish, I’ve had it as a complete meal many times, especially when there wasn’t much time to prepare anything. I have a section in my website called “Da Power-Five,” featuring meals using only five ingredients, so no more excuses to be deliciously healthy! Prep Time: 5 minutes Yield: 1-2 servings


Ingredients 

1 cup cucumbers, cubed
1 cup tomatoes, cubed
1 cup avocados, cubed
1 cup olives, cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil *Optional black pepper

 
Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and serve. Note: If you are not going to eat this salad right away, save the avocado until last so it doesn’t turn brown.




Jennifer McClelland 

Jennifer McClelland is an international leader in raw food cuisine, and her passion is to merge gourmet eating with optimal nutrition. She is a graduate of Living Light Culinary Arts Institute and is a certified Raw Food Chef and Instructor. Pioneering the raw food movement in China, Jennifer has been featured on CCTV (China Central Television), ICS TV (International Shanghai Channel) and BON TV (Blue Ocean Network), and in publications such as Global Times, Lifestyle, and Time Out. Jennifer divides her time between the U.S. and China teaching classes, consultations and events for individuals, corporations and embassies. Jennifer also hosts the TV Show, Be Deliciously Healthy™ on Youtube. Visit her website: www.jennifermcclelland.com to check out her raw resources, healthy food tips, natural beauty tips and blogs.

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"I always wondered why after a meal at Taco Bell, or a bag of chips and a soda, I was never really in the best of moods!! Then I stumbled upon this article! Must Read!" - From Infinity Health and Wellness Blogger, Shantee Tyler

People who eat processed junk food are angry, irritable, say scientists

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) The things you eat have a direct effect on your state of mind, and even have the power to drastically alter your behavioral patterns. These are the findings of a new study out of Oxford University in the U.K., which revealed that processed junk food consumption can lead to aggression, irritability, and even violent tendencies.

According to Dr. Drew Ramsey, who led the study, nutrient deficiency is a major cause of behavioral abnormalities. Without the proper nutrients, he says, the body cannot produce the appropriate chemicals and hormones required for clear thinking and healthy mood, which in turn can lead to irrational and even dangerous behaviors.

To back up these claims, Dr. Ramsey decided to study how diet affects mood and behavior in a group of prison inmates. According to CBS Boston, Dr. Ramsey gave certain vitamin supplements to some of the prison inmates, and compared their behaviors and thinking patterns to those of prison inmates eating typical junk foods.

Upon analysis, it was determined that those inmates who took the vitamin supplements were far less aggressive and angry than those eating primarily processed junk food. According to Dr. Ramsey, the findings indicate that nutrient deficiency, which is becoming increasingly common in the modern world, is directly correlated with erratic and violent behavior.

"Deficiencies in nutrients, magnesium or manganese, vitamin C, or some B vitamins may make a person hyperactive towards a stressor, a short fuse so to speak," says Nicolette Pace, a nutritionist, concerning excess consumption of empty carbohydrate junk food. "[Carbohydrates] don't give your body what you need to cope with day-to-day stresses."

Several locals interviewed as part of a CBS Boston report on the study agree, having told the news station that specific foods identifiably alter their moods and thoughts. One woman explained that her diet noticeably affects her moods, with junk foods bringing out the worst in her thoughts and perceptions of the world around her.

A similar study recently put out by researchers at Penn State came to similar conclusions, having found that individuals already prone to moodiness are even more likely to be in a bad state of mind if they eat junk food. According to that study, negative moods are amplified considerably following junk food consumption.

"Cutting back on high-sugar foods such as chocolate, sweets and sugary drinks can help prevent the mood swings," says Amanda Ursell, a nutritionist, as quoted by The Sun back in 2009. "Replace them with foods that have a low glycemic index (GI). These foods are digested slowly, preventing big changes in blood sugar levels that accompany high-sugar food."

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/039655_processed_food_irritability_research.html#ixzz2Owh7IjLy

Microwave Destroys Cancer-Fighting Nutrients!!!

Darn there goes my hot pockets!!!!!!!! Enjoy this article and use it to your benefit!!! From Cheryl of Infinity Health and Wellness Center.

Why cooking with a microwave destroys cancer-fighting nutrients in food and promotes nutritional deficiencies

Friday, March 08, 2013
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com


(NaturalNews) Microwaves absolutely decimate the nutritional value of your food, destroying the very vitamins and phytonutrients that prevent disease and support good health. Previous studies have shown that as much as 98% of the cancer-fighting nutrients in broccoli, for example, are destroyed by microwaving.

To understand why, you have to understand the nature of vitamins and phytonutrients (plant-based nutrients). These are very delicate molecules which are fragile. They are easily destroyed by heat, which is why raw plant foods contain more plant nutrients than cooked foods. Carotenoids, antioxidants and other molecules like DIM (in broccoli) or anthocyanins (in purple corn) are all easily destroyed by microwave energy.

Microwaves "nuke" your food at a cellular level

Microwaving is the worst way to cook foods because microwaves excite the water molecules inside whatever you're cooking, causing heat to be formed from the inside out. This results in a cell-by-cell "nuking" of the food (such as broccoli, carrots, etc.), causing the near-total molecular decomposition of the vitamins and phytonutrients that promote disease.

Microwaved food is not merely "dead" food at every level, it is food that has been molecularly deconstructed, leaving nothing but empty calories, fiber and minerals. Virtually the entire vitamin and phytonutrient content has been destroyed.

Anybody who says microwaving food is a healthy way to cook is wildly ignorant of nutrition and cooking methods. While steaming vegetables is, indeed, a good method for some veggies to help make certain nutrients more bioavailable, microwaving destroys veggies from the inside out at a cellular level.

Don't be fooled by appearances

What's really deceptive about microwave cooking is that the food still appears to be basically the same, but at the cellular level, it's like a nuclear war has taken place. The actual molecular structure has been decimated. If you could see microwaved foods with a powerful microscope, you'd never eat them again because you would recognize just what a nutritional wasteland they really are.

If you want to eat in a healthy way, make sure a significant part of your diet is raw plants. It's okay to eat some steamed, stir-fried or even grilled veggies, but when grilling foods, avoid burning them because all burned parts contain toxic, cancer-causing chemicals that promote colon cancer.

Personally, I am absolutely astonished that more people don't already know all this. I'm even having to talk with my own staff about these issues, as they don't seem to know the full story on microwave cooking. Spread the word: Microwaves promote death because they turn nutritious, healthy food into empty, decimated calories. I gave up using a microwave well over a decade ago, and I don't even own one.

Remember, a person who cooks a lot of their food with microwaves will inevitably have chronic nutritional deficiencies that promote cancer, diabetes, bone diseases, loss of brain function, heart disease and many other health problems. The least healthy people of any society are typically the ones who frequently use the microwave oven to "nuke" their foods.

Waste Loss for Weight Loss

"Waste Loss for Weight Loss 
and Optimal Health"

presented by Infinity Health and Wellness Center

Saturday, March 23rd from 12:00 pm - 2 pm 

Hosted at Infinity Health and Wellness Center 
3502 Scotts Lane, Bldg 17, Unit 1721 Philadelphia, PA 19129

Non-Member Cost: $25 at the door.MEMBERS and their guests are FREE when you register now. That's right, the $25 fee is waived for members (clients) of Infinity Health and Wellness.

Reserve your seat now!

"Becoming One With Your Temple"
presented by Heru Heq-m-Ta

Heru Heq-m-Ta is originally from Chicago, Illinois and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at Temple University, in the Department of Africana (African and African American) Studies. His research to date examines a much-neglected topic in the academy – the historical genealogy of an African holistic health tradition that exists in the United States and is linked to antecedent ways of healing. 

In addition, Heru is a holistic health practitioner with over seventeen years experience, having been trained as both an autodidact as well as being educated by a licensed Naturopathic physician. During his stint as a collegiate student, Heru has given numerous lectures on the importance of various alternative health practices and the need for individuals to take matters of health into their own hands. His most recent lecture was entitled, Excess Mucus, The True Pimp in the African Community: A Conversation on the Necessary Epistemic Break from Allopathic Notions of Health. In addition to completing his academic studies at the undergraduate and graduate level, Heru has also served as a personal holistic health consultant for hundreds of clients, spanning various communities.

"How to Achieve Clearer Skin with Colonics"
presented by Cheryl Tyler

Cheryl Tyler, Certified Colon Hydro Therapist, and Certified Nutritional Consultant, is one of the partners at the Infinity Health & Wellness Colonic Center, Philadelphia, Pa. Ms. Tyler received her Colon Hydro Therapy training at the acclaimed Awareness Institute For Wellness & Education in Marietta, Ga. and The Nile Wellness Center, Atlanta, Ga., under the direct tutelage of Dr. Michael Imani, Ph.D. Mind/Body Medicine & author of “The Diet Code.” She received her Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition with the esteemed Cornell University under the renowned Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of “The China Study." She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Business Administration and Accounting with Regis University, Denver, Co. Ms. Tyler has practiced in the area of holistic health, wellness, & fitness for the past 15 years, after serving her country for 9 years as a soldier in the United States Army.

Her motivation for holistic wellness: Loosing family member after family member to cancer, heart disease, drug addiction & psyche disorders, & suffering all of her life with digestive system concerns. Ms. Tyler found that helping others live a healthier lifestyle was the most productive way to deal with familial deaths. She accomplishes this mission while servicing clients with COLON HYDRO THERAPY, and giving the clients a laymen’s education in what it takes to maintain a healthy digestive system. As goes our digestive system, so goes our health. Cleansing the colon, detoxifying the body, regular exercise and eating primarily plant-based nutrition is the solid and proven key to longevity, sound mind, and healthy, & fit body. Ms. Tyler and the staff at Infinity Health & Wellness Colonic Center, Phila., Pa. speaks at health & wellness events to get the good news across to as many people as possible. The Good News: We can beat CANCER & other chronic diseases.

"Fitness and a Slimmer Wasteline"

presented by David Miller

Recognized as one of the top trainers in Philadelphia, David A. Miller and D.A.M. Good Bodies Elite Personal Training has been featured in Heart & Soul magazine, OXYGEN MAGAZINE, MENSCIENCE.COM Blog, Health Quest magazine, Philly Health & Fitness magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News, and The Philadelphia Tribune. He has appeared as a guest on such radio shows as Power 99 FM and Philly 103.9 (Philadelphia), NJN Radio 88.1 (New Jersey), WLIB 1190AM (Manhattan), 99JAMZ (South Florida) and The 10 Show!, NBC10 (Philadelphia).

In 2009 David realized his dream of opening his own personal training studio. D.A.M. Good Bodies Elite Personal Training Studio is a private one on one and boot camp training facility located in the East Falls section of Philadelphia.

Since 1985, David has used a combination of knowledge, personal experience, and understanding to help his clients achieve exceptional fitness and optimal health. As Physical Director & Coordinator of Personal Training and Fitness Testing at the Central Branch YMCA in Philadelphia, PA, he performed fitness appraisals, exercise prescription and developed personalized fitness programs for the YMCA.

Miller, who holds a B.S. in Exercise and Sport Science with a concentration in Exercise Science from Penn State University also spent time training athletes competing in several different sports at Temple University and Penn State University.

Chocolate: What is the Optimal Dose?

Chocolate Is Not Considered Essential … Yet

Chocolate has not yet been recognized by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies as an essential nutrient. We haven’t either: Our food plate lists it among “pleasure foods,” which are healthful but optional.

However, we are becoming ever-more chocolate friendly. In the new edition of our book, we list chocolate among our “supplemental foods” which we recommend consuming regularly. But our suggested dose is “as desired.” Perhaps we should narrow that down a little.

Chocolate Against Cardiovascular Disease

We’ve previously warned of the danger of chocolate deficiency, based on a systematic review that found: “The highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke.”

Click to read more

Zen Mind in the Middle of Chaos & Stress

By Leo Babauta

What do you do when your job, or your personal life, is a constant source of busy-ness, rushing, nose-to-the-grindstone work, and stress?

Or what do you do if your life is simple and relatively stress-free, but something blows up and you are in the middle of chaos and high stress all of a sudden?

This is when we could use a dose of Zen Mind, or the Art of Letting Go.

What is this Zen Mind? To be honest, I’m still learning what that is, but what I’ve been practicing is a constant letting go. Let’s take an example:

I have a major deadline approaching. It is stressing me out, man! But what is the source of the stress? It’s not the work, which is just a series of actions. It’s not the deadline, which is just a time constraint. It’s my reaction to those external events — my fear that I’m not going to make it, that I’ll mess up, that I’ll look stupid or incompetent. This fear that is causing my stress reaction is rooted in my wanting things to turn out a certain way … wanting to meet the deadline and get things perfect and look good.

What if I could let go of wanting things to turn out that way? This is a fantasy, an ideal, that I’m holding onto. It might turn out that way, sure, but it could turn out a dozen other ways, and the truth is I don’t have complete control over how it’ll turn out. All I can do is do the work, and the fantasy, the fear and the stress are only getting in the way. So if I can let go of this ideal, this fantasy, I can let go of the fear, and the stress.

This is the Zen Mind that I’m learning about. It’s simply letting go, and in doing so, you attain a peace of mind no matter what chaos and seemingly stressful event are going on around you. Again, I’m not good at this yet, but I’m learning. I’ll share what I know with you.

The Art of Letting Go

So these are the steps to letting go:

1. Notice why you’re stressed. What external event is stressing you? Why is it stressing you out? What fear do you have?
2. Notice what you’re holding onto. If your response is fear, it’s because you’re holding onto something. It’s probably a fantasy/ideal, or wanting to control something, wanting something to turn out a certain way, wishing things would meet the expectations you have. If you’re saying, “He should do this” or “It should be like this” then you’re holding onto an ideal/expectation/outcome.
3. Realize that it’s not real. This fantasy, this expectation, this wishing you could control things … it’s just made up in your head. To be fair, we all do it. But it’s not a real thing — and it can be let go of.
4. See that it’s hurting you. This thing you’ve made up is causing you stress, which is shortening your life, and making what short life you have less enjoyable. It’s causing pain in your life. Realize this.
5. Let go. If something you’ve made up is causing pain, why hold onto it? It’s not worth it. By letting go, you release the pain, and are just left with you and the work you need to do.

Zen Mind in the Middle of Chaos

So you work long hours and are stressed out. It’s work you love, perhaps, but still hard work, and still lots of stressors. Maybe you get to take some good breaks during the day, maybe you take weekends off, maybe you get some great vacations.

But the fact remains: no matter what kind of breaks and vacations you take, much of your life is spent doing the hard work, and stressed out. You need to be able to simultaneously work and be on vacation. This is the practice of Zen Mind that we’re talking about — letting go and being able to breathe and smile in the middle of a stressful workday.

It’s only stressful, of course, because of stuff we’re making up in our heads. So if we can create a constant practice of awareness and letting go, we constantly let go of the stress.

Your boss dumps a new project on you with a close deadline. Yikes! You’re instantly stressed. Notice, and let go. Breathe. Feel the stress floating away as you let go of an ideal and an expectation. You are now free, and you can just do the first task — after all, that’s all you can ever do.

Your coworker or client is mad at you, and yelling at you. This is highly stressful. Until you realize that they are probably yelling for some problem that’s not really about you — they are stressed out, they are having a bad day, they have problems dealing with stress. And you are holding onto the expectation that everyone around you should behave perfectly, which of course is an absurd fantasy. You let go of that, and reach out in your heart to this fellow human being who isn’t happy. How can you make things better for this person, with an open heart?

Your son is stressing you out because he’s not doing what he should be doing. You’re mad! Why can’t he just do what you ask? Of course, this is a fantasy. Your kids (or friends, or spouse) are not going to live up to these expectations you have of how they should behave — these expectations aren’t anything real, just fantasies. You can’t control their behavior — wanting to do so just stresses you out. So let go of that expectation and the desire to control, and the stress goes away. Instead, open your heart, and be open to who they are.

OK, so that’s all easier said than done. In the real world, it takes a lot of practice. We often forget about this process when things hit the fan. That’s OK. Life is a constant practice. Keep practicing, and let go of wanting to be perfect at it. Just in the attempt, you’re already perfect.