Healthy Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet
Dear HLife: What is the Deal with Candida?
Dear HLifer,
Candida sounds like the name of a hot girl who lives next door right? And that’s not far from reality. It lives closer to us than we know it, but it is not a human being. Candida Albicans is a yeast, a type of fungus that lives naturally in all human bodies of all ages from birth on. Here is the ‘big deal’ with candida and health:
If you live in a healthy body: It lives symbiotically in a balanced environment as a yeast in the gastrointestinal tract, on the mucus membranes and on the skin, causing no problems for the body. Living in a healthy body implies that you have a strong immune system via a nutrient-dense, conscious diet and high-frequency thought patterns.
If you live in an unhealthy body: This harmless ‘yeast’ (single-celled organism) can overgrow, turning into an extremely dangerous pathogenic fungus with roots that can attack any organs or systems in your body. This fungus uses its roots to dig and create holes into the intestinal lining, where it and its by products can then infiltrate the blood stream. more …
You see something. You think it’s yummy (or you say, “this is healthy for me!” Thumbs up.) You put it in your mouth. It disappears. Now what happens? Let’s follow some food down the rabbit hole.
The digestive system starts in the mouth, the place where ingestion (you putting your food in your mouth for it to enter your body) takes place. The first thing that happens is the secretion of saliva. Saliva is actually pretty amazing: It lines and protects the inside of the mouth from superficial damage, makes the food easier to swallow, and has chemicals that help neutralize acid and prevent tooth decay, as well as antibacterial agents that get rid of many of the bad guys that come in with food. Probably the most known action of saliva is that it contains amylase, an enzyme that digests carbohydrates. So, of all the macronutrients (carbs, proteins and fats) the carbs (sugars and starches) are what gets digested first chemically, starting in your mouth. Physical digestion (the actual breaking down of foods into physically smaller pieces by a force exerted on them) is what your teeth are for. Chewing is a crucial part of digestion, so spend some time there and chew your food well, because food has to be in very tiny molecules before it can be used by your body. After your food has been partially chemically digested and you have chewed and physically broken it down, your tongue helps shape it into a bolus, and then pushes this bolus (ball) down the pharynx. more …
Your body is a reflection of your mind, your emotions and, of course, the food you choose to put in it. Here at HLife, we do not believe in diets or any other temporary ‘fixes’ – those days are over. The truth is that health is a lifestyle, and part of that lifestyle is NUTRITION – conscious, balanced, nutrient-dense eating. It’s time to change the way your look at food and get active about how you nurture your body.
Yes, everyone knows that with exercise you will lose some weight and get toned, but if your nutrition is not great, even exercise won’t keep you at your optimal, healthy human-machine level. Every day we look at ourselves in the mirror, and what do we see? A figure, a form, a dense silhouette of compacted matter. We think, “There I am, that’s me, the dense mass in the mirror” and either “I look fat” or “I look skinny”. But, what is the problem with this picture? Generally, people seem to look only at the external part of the body, the end result, but in order to change the outside (what we see in the mirror) we need to understand and be conscious of the INSIDE of our body, where all the magic happens on both an electric and chemical level. more …
Image by Jesse Wight
If we say “digestive system”, you probably think: stomach. We get it. It’s definitely way cuter to say “belly”, “tummy”, or even “gut” than to say “intestine” or “esophagus”. But to think of your tummy when you think digestion is a completely incomplete picture, and we’re gonna amplify that perspective for you a little bit here at HLife.
First, let me explain why you should care about understanding how your digestive system works. Of all the daily activities you do that affect your health, eating/drinking is the most critical one. Breathing is important – can’t live without it for very long at all – but inhaling and exhaling are automatic processes that you do without any effort, not even a thought. Sleeping is important, but you do that once, maybe twice a day (nap time!) and it normally doesn’t require much thinking other than “hey, I think it’s time for bed.” more …
The liver is the human body’s most functionally diverse organ. Not only does this guy multitask, it also interacts with most of the body’s organ systems for various reasons. To make this ultra clear, let’s pretend it is an employee that wears many hats and works different jobs:
- The liver is like Fed-Ex. It interacts with the circulatory system as it picks up glucose (simple sugar that acts as fuel for your body) from the blood.
- The liver is a gas station. It holds glucose that your body doesn’t need at the moment in the form of glycogen, and then, when your body calls for it, changes it back glucose so that it can be distributed through your blood as the fuel (energy) you need in order to, for example, go for a run.
- The liver is a manufacturer. It synthesizes (makes) plasma proteins important for blood clotting and for the osmotic (fluid/water) balance of the blood.
- The liver is an executive assistant. As one of the major glands that aid in digestion, it produces bile that helps digest fats.
- The liver is a janitor. It detoxifies your body of poisons and prepares metabolic waste for disposal. more …
