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FREE eGuide - How To Help Your Friend During A Difficult Time.

Essential Foods to Help Your Body Heal

October 15th, 2014 | by Pamela Simon | Comments Off on Essential Foods to Help Your Body Heal


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Hello there,

Each week you’ll get a follow up to the main newsletter with a few extra tips to help you heal not just your heart, but your whole body. It may be a simple recipe or detailed information about health (such as this follow up) or wellness practices.

This morning I shared with you the shock I experienced immediately following the death of my husband Larry. If you haven’t read it check it our here.

Once the shock wore off I was left with an enormous amount of grief. The last thing I wanted to think about was food.

I still remember opening the fridge and staring for what seemed like an eternity only to shut it and grab a protein bar from the pantry. I had no energy to think about food, prepare food, or eat food. But I knew I had to put something in my body.

If you’re a relative or friend of someone going through a difficult time this is where you can lend a helping hand. See my tips below on how you can help.

Looking back I now see how my body became depleted of essential nutrients. I was doing the best I could under the circumstances, as I’m sure you are too.

I didn’t realize when the body suffers a trauma, physically or emotionally, it has to work extra hard to repair itself. If you don’t have the right amount of nutrients your body will draw from reserves previously stored.

But there is only so much time before the reserves run out.

While all your vitamins and minerals may need extra nourishing, I’m going to keep it simple today and focus on the two which are predominantly lost when you’re under continuous duress- Vitamins C and E.

Vitamin C is critical to immune function, certain nerve transmitting substances, hormones and helps with the absorption of other nutrients. It’s also a powerful antioxidant.

Vitamin E is another powerful antioxidant. It protects against damage to cell membranes, particularly nerve cells.

Below you’ll find list of common fruits and vegetables that are high in Vitamin C or E. You’ll get the most nutritional value if you eat them raw. The nutrient value tends to decrease in the cooking process. But if you can’t stomach raw veggies, better to eat them cooked than not at all!

What do you do with all this information? It depends on your appetite.

If you’re like me during moments of upheaval and have little or no appetite, I recommend eating smaller quantities more frequently.

Keep it simple. Cut up any fruits and vegetables from the lists below and store them in sealed containers so they will be available to snack on easily throughout the day. If the fruit or vegetables start to turn before you eat them, put them in the freezer to be used at a later time for soup or smoothies.

If you tend to eat more during difficult moments, be extra conscious of what you’re putting into your body and be sure to incorporate a variety of the foods from the list below.

Again, if you’re the relative or friend of someone who is going through a difficult time help out by chopping and storing these foods and drop them off at a pre-arranged time.

Here are some simple grab from the fridge/pantry ideas:

  • Bowl of cut up fruit
  • Handful of Almonds
  • Red and green peppers with hummus
  • Salad of mixed greens, asparagus and tomatoes sprinkled with sunflower seeds, drizzle with olive oil
  • Whole pieces of fruit, orange or grapefruit

In the future I will offer some nutrient rich recipes. For now, the focus is to get you started in nourishing your body.

Be sure to drink LOTS of water. The recommended amount is to drink half your body weight in a day. But if you’re faced with grief and find yourself crying throughout the day drink an extra glass or two. Squeezing lemon juice into your water is a great way to soothe your body and get extra vitamin C.

Here’s another tip for the friend: juice a bunch of lemons, 2-3 lemons per glass container. This way the juice is readily available to add to water. Any juice not consumed within a few days can be frozen for later use.

When a person is recovering from a great shock ANY assistance you can provide is beneficial.

The list below is taken from the Encyclopedia of Healing Foods,

Common Vegetables and Fruits high in Vitamin C,

• Red sweet peppers
• Kale
• Green sweet peppers
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Strawberries
• Oranges
• Lemon Juice
• Grapefruit
• Asparagus
• Cantaloupe
• Tomatoes

Common Vegetables and Fruits with a high content of Vitamin E,

• Sunflower seeds (quality kernels, not the kind you eat at a baseball game)
• Almonds
• Spinach
• Tomato
• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Broccoli
• Lemon Juice
• Grapefruit
• Asparagus
• Cantaloupe
• Tomatoes

As with any dietary recommendations, if you are taking medicine or suffer from a chronic condition, please consult your doctor. There may be adverse effects. For instance, if you are taking certain cholesterol medications you may not be able to eat grapefruit. Citrus may need to be limited if you suffer from kidney stones.

I pray this helps you take a step toward keeping your body nourished.

Pam




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