Gain health with the power of green foods

Monday, November 01, 2010 by: Dr. David Jockers
Tags: green foods, health, health news

(NewsTarget) Go green, eat green, drink green, be green, and live green. This is the anthem of a new generation of conscientious people who desire to live healthy and in harmony with nature. Living green means living closer to nature and the abundance it provides. The term 'green' in relation to food encompasses nature's most abundant superfoods. Green foods exist in the form of plant vegetation, sea vegetables and fresh water algae. These green foods are found in almost every region and exist to support life at all levels.

One of the most powerful life-giving substances on the planet is chlorophyll. This is the pigment that gives green foods their color. Chlorophyll is the major player in the photosynthetic process which allows plants to obtain energy from light by converting the sun's rays into chemical energy.

The chlorophyll content of a food is a major indicator of the health attributes of any given plant based food. Chlorophyll rich foods have a very deep green color, and they are extraordinarily useful in building new blood cells and purifying the body from cancer and radiation. Chlorophyll also assists in wound healing, intestinal regularity, detoxification, and deodorization of the body.

Green foods have a strong impact on the quality & purity of our bloodstream. Chlorophyll has been called 'green blood' due to its similarity to the oxygen carrying molecule in blood: hemoglobin. The foundation for both of these is a structure called a porphyrin ring. The only major difference between the two is the binding mineral in the center of the ring. Chlorophyll is built around magnesium while hemoglobin is built around iron.

Magnesium deficiency is a common-day epidemic due to diets high in sugar and low in green foods. Magnesium is essential for healthy brain, muscle, and nervous system function. Green foods also contain other major nutrients that are essential for a healthy bloodstream and nervous system such as vitamins A, C, K, folic acid, B6, copper, potassium & calcium.

Studies have shown that chlorophyll found in food or small purified amounts of chlorophyll have a favorable effect on red blood cell formation in the bone marrow. In 1936, Dr. Arthur Patek found that green foods combined with iron rich foods such as red meat and beans increased hemoglobin and red blood cell counts faster in patients with iron-deficiency anemia than iron supplements alone.

Green foods also supply essential fatty acids, amino acids, and trace minerals that are critical for life and optimal function. Approximately 85% of all mammals can thrive on a diet of solely green foods. This includes cows, elk, moose, deer, giraffes, gorillas, elephants, and horses. These animals become robust when fed a green based diet because the essential nutrients are easily absorbed and utilized.

Green foods contain an abundance of powerful phytonutrients and trace minerals. Cruciferous veggies such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens, and broccoli contain isothiocyanates & sulfuraphane which are some of the world's hottest cancer fighting nutrients. Spinach provides an abundance of magnesium rich chlorophyll and the anti-oxidants lutein and zeaxanthin. Sea vegetables like kelp contain iodine, vanadium, and fucoidans. Single celled algae such as chlorella and spirulina are rich in enzymatic pigments phycocyanin & phycoerythrin which help carry out essential metabolic functions.

Action Steps:
1)Use dark-green leafy veggies like kale, collards & spinach in salads
2)Juice dark green veggies as often as possible
3)Use a SuperGreens powder or capsule supplement that is loaded with chlorophyll rich plants, sea vegetables, algae & cyanobacteria.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foo...
'Green Foods' Healing Our World; Hippocrates Health Institue: Vol 30:3, pg 33-34
http://www.naturalways.com/spirulina-analysi...

About the author

Dr. David Jockers owns and operates Exodus Health Center in Kennesaw, Ga. He is a Maximized Living doctor. His expertise is in weight loss, customized nutrition & exercise, & structural corrective chiropractic care. For more information go to www.exodushc.com To find a Maximized Living doctor near you go to www.maximizedliving.com