Health tip #7- Spring means it’s time to go green with our bodies. Try some new leafy greens and see how your body’s garden of health grows. Meet Dena Mendes, a Highland Park native and mother of two, who holds a Doctor of Naturopathy Degree. Dena is also licensed and certified as a Health Coach, Holistic Yoga Instruction, Holistic Chef and Pranic Healer.

Dena is committed to guiding others towards a healthier U. Dena’s book, The Wellness Cookbook for a Healthy U, shares quick, easy, healthy and absolutely delicious recipes with U! Be sure to visit Dena’s website for more health and wellness information at www.denashelathyu.com.

Your Body is Your Garden!

All gardens must be cultivated with sunshine, water and good quality alkaline soil to ensure the growth of sweet fruits and vegetables.

What does this mean to us? It is imperative to have a balanced terrain/body. A good quality lactobacilli is a great way to feed the gut and intestines the flora it so desperately is in need of and is typically depleted in due to our acidic way of life. Just remember that flora, while great for you, is simply a band-aide if you are consuming beverages and foods that are acidic, like fast food or soda, MSG or chemicals and drugs prescribed or recreationally. Whatever your weakness is my motto is greens, greens and more greens! I incorporate greens in almost everything I eat.

Now that my favorite season is upon us we can revel in the season’s bountiful harvest of greens, sprouts and seasonal fruits by juicing. My favorite juice recipe is offered in this month’s recipe section. Its Yummy and Pure alkalinity in glass!

Alkalinizing our garden/body helps ward off yeast and fungus as well as a variety of dis-ease and health related issues such as arthritis, bone loss, tooth decay, liver and kidney failure, irritable bowel, crones, chronic acne, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, arthritis, psoriasis, and cancer and a multitude of other diseases too numerous to mention

Acid forming foods include: * asparagus, barley, beans (dried), beechnuts, BEEF, BREAD, buckwheat, BUTTER, cashew nuts, Cereals, CHEESE, chestnuts, Chicken, CHOCOLATE, clams, cod liver oil, Cottage Cheese, Cornmeal, cottonseed meal, crab, cream, EGGS, farina, FISH, FLOUR, frog legs, Halibut, HAM, hazelnuts, hickory nuts, hominy, HONEY, horseradish, Jell-O, kohlrabi, lamb, lentils, lobster, mackerel, Macaroni, maple syrup, Margarine, MEATS, mussels, Mushrooms, OATS, pasta, peanuts, Peas, pecans, pistachios, pomegranate, PORK, prunes, quinces, Rice, rutabagas, Rye, sauerkraut, SALMON, scallops, smelt, smoked herring, sole, spaghetti, SUGAR, syrups, tapioca, turkey, walnuts, WHEAT, wheat germ & WINE, alcohol.

Alkaline forming foods include: * agar, ALFALFA(sprouts), almonds, APPLES(apple cider), apricots, artichokes, BANANAS, beets, beet tops, blackberries, blueberries, BROCCOLI, Brussel sprouts, burdock, cabbage, cantaloupe, carob, CARROTS, cauliflower, CELERY, celeriac, chard, cherries, chives, COCONUT, CRANBERRIES, cucumbers, currants (fresh), dandelion greens, DATES, dill, dock, endive, figs (dried), flaxseed, GARLIC, GRAPES, Grapefruit, green beans (fresh), guava, huckleberries, Irish moss, KELP, kohlrabi, leeks, LEMONS, lettuce, LIMA BEANS (fresh), limes, loganberries, loquats, mango, MELONS, millet, mint, molasses, mulberries, muskmelons, mustard greens, nectarines, okra, Olives, olive oil, ONIONS, ORANGES, papaya, parsley, parsnips, passion fruit, Peaches, Pears, persimmons, PINEAPPLE, plums, Pumpkin, radishes, RAISINS, Raspberries, rhubarb, Romaine lettuce, rutabagas, sea grass, sorrel, Soybeans, Spinach, squash, Strawberries, Swiss chard, tangerine, turnips, Vegetable oils, water chestnuts, watercress, watermelon.

Eat more raw, fresh, organic foods!

Dena's Spring Awakening Green Goddess Juice

1/2 bunch kale
1/2 bunch collard greens
1/2 bunch swiss chard
1 apple
1/2 pear
1 small, walnut sized piece of fresh ginger
1/2 lemon squeezed into juicer
a pinch of sea salt

Combine ingredients in a juicer and enjoy your liquid life juice!

Health tip #6- Health and wellness begins from within, not what we put on our plates. Next time you are taking a walk alone, driving alone or in your home alone for a moment(folding the laundry, for example), try shifting your focus to positive thoughts. Meet Lorri Newman, LCSW, who resides in Highland Park with her husband and 3 children. Lorri has devoted her whole life to counseling others on walking that path of positive growth. She works at the Highland Park Hospital Eating Disorder Unit and is back at school gaining another degree to further her goals of counseling students.

Health is an overall mind–body connection. It is important to exercise, eat healthy, nutritious foods and seek good medical care; however, without positive thoughts and a healthy emotional life, we can ultimately sabotage our efforts.

According to Christiane Northrup, M.D., “The simple truth is that the people who heal fastest, and remain healthiest the longest are those who feel that their lives are fulfilling and joyful.” We can start improving our overall mental health by focusing on the positive, giving ourselves loving and accepting messages, and surrounding ourselves with supportive friends. It is important to eliminate negative self talk and tendencies to focus on blame or shame.

For today, try to be mindful of your thoughts, and reframe them from the negative to the positive. Notice how this effects how you feel emotionally, and from there if it impacts how you eat and what you eat. It’s all related…..

Now, after starting your day on a positive note, enjoy Lorri’s recipe for her favorite:

Morning Mango Smoothie

1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into chucks
juice of 1 lime
½ c. organic apple juice
2 T. honey/agave nectar
1 T. flaxmeal(or chia seed or hemp seed)
1 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup coconut milk(or alternative milk source)
Blend and enjoy!