How you feed your plants makes a tremendous difference to the quality and quantity of your harvest. Organic fertilizer can provide your plants with the nutrition that they need to grow and thrive, defend pests, and resist disease.
According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic diseases like stroke, arthritis, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease are the main causes of disability and death in the United States. However, unbeknownst to most, a large percentage of chronic diseases can actually be prevented with a healthy lifestyle. The key is to keep all organs – such as your liver and colon happy and supported so that they can do their job keeping you healthy.
Most chronic diseases are associated with unhealthy lifestyles and dietary choices. These include poor nutrition, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking tobacco, chronic stress, and a sedentary lifestyle. These are the major contributors to the development and progression of many preventable chronic diseases, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and many types of cancer.
Fortunately, they are within your own hands to change. By being more physically active, following a balanced diet, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco products, you could reduce your risk of developing many of these chronic conditions and diseases.
Even if you already suffer from arthritis, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or any other chronic condition, eating plenty of nutrient-dense foods and getting regular exercise — whether walking, jogging, or swimming — will help you effectively manage your illness. You’ll also be able to prevent complications and prolong your life at the same time.
Although doctors suggest healthy behavior to help manage or prevent chronic diseases, most patients simply aren’t prepared to start or maintain these healthy changes. Many patients understand the principles behind a healthy lifestyle, but don’t know how to get the help they need. If this is you, consider interventions such as exercise training, nutritional counseling, and stress reduction techniques, like yoga, meditation, tai chi, or spending time in nature.
In addition, consuming raw, organic vegetables can provide numerous health benefits, whether you have a chronic disease or not. However, if you consume more fruits and vegetables as part of a balanced diet, you are less likely to have chronic diseases. This is because raw, organic veggies and fruits provide essential nutrients for overall health and maintenance of your body.
Getting more fruits and vegetables into your diet doesn’t have to hard, either! This recipe will boost your energy, detoxify your liver and colon, improve your digestive health and enhance your vision.
For this recipe, please use raw, organic ingredients for maximum benefits.
Supporting great liver health couldn’t be easier – love your liver and other major organs by feeding them what they crave!!
–Susan Patterson, Certified Health Coach, and Master Gardener
If you aren’t already obsessed with avocadoes, you are in the minority. This precious fruit is full of healthy fat, fiber, potassium, and so much more. How could you not love it? But what can you do with that leftover pit once you’ve enjoyed your green treat? Read on to find out.
Now more than ever, growing your own organic, kitchen garden is essential. With stay-at-home orders still in effect, and grocery store shelves still rather barren, there’s no time like the present to embrace gardening and increase your sustainability to help provide fresh, safe products for you can your family. No matter how much or how little space you have, anyone with a patch of sunlight can grow a bountiful kitchen garden. Here’s how.
Are you ready to be a successful potato gardener? This versatile starchy tuber is easy to grow and can be cultivated by anyone with great success, even the novice gardener. The best thing of all is that there are endless possibilities when it comes to growing potatoes so everyone can get in on the action.
Gardening and health are intrinsically linked. You grow your own fruits and vegetables, so you begin to eat more whole, fresh food. You have to harvest, plant, and tend your garden, so you get more physical activity and daily doses of fresh air and sunshine. However, unless you wear gloves all the time, you probably also experience the dry, cracking hands that come from spending hours digging in the dirt. Thankfully, all the herbs needed to create this soothing hand salve, and make dried out hands a thing of the past, can be grown right in your garden.
The best gardeners in the world have learned from their mistakes, but there’s no reason to repeat them. Learn from the mistakes of others if you’re just getting started in gardening. You can avoid a lot of problems, save time, and prevent the sad death of plants by learning some common and easy-to-make gardening errors before you make them.
A raised bed is a great way to start a vegetable garden. It allows you to create the perfect environment for your veggies, with just the right soil mix and good drainage. You can generally grow any vegetables in this way, but some are superstar producers in a raised bed.
Growing fruit is easier than it sounds, even in a limited space. There are several types of fruit that can be grown in pots. Container-grown fruit allows you to have a little orchard even if your outdoor space is limited to a patio or balcony. And, you can bring the pot in for the winter if you choose a fruit that is not hardy. Check out the best fruit varieties to grow in containers and some tips on how to get a good harvest.
Container gardening is one of the easiest methods for growing herbs. Not only can you move the pots around to catch sunlight or give them a bit of shade, but you also have easy access to all your kitchen herbs right outside your backdoor. If you are in the middle of preparing dinner and realize that that spaghetti sauce needs a hint of fresh basil, you can simply step outside and cut a few leaves.
Container gardening helps keep aggressive herbs such as most mint varieties from spreading and taking over your entire garden. Eventually, the herbs can become invasive and be more of a hassle than a blessing.
Herbs can occasionally be finicky and require varying levels of moisture and soil fertilization. To ensure that you keep your plants healthy and watered properly, it is a good idea to utilize the power of container gardening.
It can be hard to let your perennial herbs die out every winter when you still want to harvest their flavorful leaves. If you have space, simply bring your pots indoors when the weather begins to cool and you can keep your herbs for years to come. Plus, you will have even better access for beauty and culinary uses.
Containers make great patio decorations
If you have an outdoor living space such as a patio, balcony, or porch, it can be hard to figure out how to infuse it with life and make it welcoming. Potted herbs can do just that! You can choose colorful pots that match your patio furniture or simply enjoy the natural green beauty of your fragrant plants
With all that being said, it is important to remember that not every herb will thrive in a container environment. Many need more space or drain soil nutrients too quickly to be contained to a pot.
Here are 5 of the best herbs for container gardening.
Perhaps one of the most versatile and useful herbs in the kitchen, fresh basil adds delicious flavor to any savory dish. Be sure that your basil plant gets plenty of sunlight and is in a container with adequate drainage. Once your plant has reached maturity, it is best to frequently harvest the leaves, as basil does well when trimmed back often. Be sure to pinch off any flower buds before they can develop since they tend to reduce flavor and quality.
Mints are many gardeners top choice for container gardening as they tend to take over whatever space they are planted in. Containers are also useful for those wishing to keep mint varieties separate and prevent cross-pollination. Mints do well when harvested frequently. Use mints in teas, baked goods, or even dinner dishes.
This beautiful, fragrant herb makes an excellent addition to any windowsill or backyard patio. Keep the soil wet, but be sure not to overwater.
Another fantastic culinary herb, thyme is a great choice for those just starting out with gardening, or gardeners plagued with a black thumb, since it is fairly resistant to drought and neglect. This herb looks beautiful in any pot and will thrive under full sun.
Another prolific herb, oregano often does a little too well in the garden and can quickly spread and take over. Growing it in a pot can help control this enthusiastic growth, and provide you with flavorful oregano all year round.
Drainage is the key concern when picking out the pot for your herb. Most herbs don’t do well in standing water and could begin to rot or mold.
As mentioned earlier, it is important that you harvest your herbs frequently. Letting growth get out of control can create bitter, flavorless herbs.
Because your herbs are in containers, it is important that you don’t skimp on the soil. Fill your pots with a mixture of quality potting soil and aged compost for optimal results.
Have you ever planted herbs in containers? Let us know which plants worked best for you in the comments below.
– Taylor Ramsey
Fats, carbohydrates, and protein are the three macronutrients that are essential for human life. Protein is necessary for building and repairing tissue and is also needed to create hormones, enzymes, and other vital ingredients for health and wellbeing.
You may think of meat when you think of protein, but there are plenty of alternatives, including plant protein, that are growing in popularity. But which is better, protein from meat – specifically grass-fed beef – or plants? Let’s take a look.
About 20% of the human body is made up of protein, but we must get it from our diet because the body does not store it. While some suggest that it does not matter where your protein comes from – say, plants vs. animals, others suggest that one trumps the other as far as quality is concerned. But what is the truth?
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein
We use about 20 amino acids to build protein in the body. These amino acids are considered essential and non-essential. We can produce non-essential amino acids but no essential ones, which must come from the diet. It is crucial to have all of the essential amino acids in the proper ratios for excellent health.
Animal sources for protein, such as beef, poultry, eggs, fish, and dairy, are similar to the protein in the human body and are considered complete. They contain all of the essential amino acids that the human body needs to function at its best. Plant sources of protein from sources including, but not limited to, beans, seeds, and nuts, are considered incomplete as they lack one or more of the essential amino acids that meat sources contain.
Note: Some say that soy is a complete protein; however, two essential amino acids exist in only minimal amounts, so it is not comparable to animal protein as far as quality is concerned.
If you eat meat, grass-fed is the ONLY option
Is grass-fed beef a healthy option?
If there is any truth in the saying, “you are what you eat,” then choosing to eat grass-fed meats and milk products is the obvious choice. Most animals commercially raised for meat and dairy products in the United States come from Confined Animal Feeding Operations, also known as CAFOs. Animals raised in CAFOs often have no space to move around. The stress and abuse of these conditions are truly horrifying, and many meat-eating Americans choose not to think about it, which only perpetuates the cycle of mistreatment.
CAFOs contribute significantly to industrial waste and pollution. Studies have shown that people who live near factory farms may suffer nausea, depression, skin infections, respiratory problems, and sometimes death from the toxicity of their environment.
Commercially-raised animals are fed multiple antibiotics and growth hormones, which end up in the meat and milk. The overuse of antibiotics in the meat industry leads to the growth of drug-resistant bacteria strains, which make individuals more susceptible to previously treatable diseases.
According to the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, the United States spends about 30 billion dollars per year treating antibiotic-resistant infections.
Animals raised in CAFOs are fed diets mainly consisting of GMO grain and soy, far from their natural diets. What’s worse is that the feed often contains ‘byproduct feedstuff,’ which can include chicken feathers, candy, and even municipal garbage.
All of this eventually ends up in consumers’ bodies. The bodies of you and your family every time you enjoy a commercially-raised steak, burger, or glass of milk.
Conversely, grass-fed animals are fed nothing but natural, pesticide-free grasses and are given room to roam and graze. No antibiotics, growth hormones, or garbage are added to their diets. As a result, these animals are not confined and subjected to stress, grow at a natural pace, and are naturally healthy and free of food-borne diseases.
Choosing to eat grass-fed meats and dairy products means significantly more nutrition and eliminates the risks associated with antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides, GMOs, and random feed additives. This choice also benefits the environment and community farmers and ranchers who are working hard to create sustainable and humane agricultural conditions.
The resulting meat from grass-fed animals is significantly higher in nutrients. Grass-fed beef has been shown to contain more vitamin E, vitamin C, and beta-carotene than its commercially-raised counterpart. It also contains omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is a potent anti-carcinogen. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant essential for the proper function of many organs in the body and helps cells live longer. Vitamin A is necessary for both eye and skin health.
A couple of key nutrients are found in meat but not in plants, including:
Grass-fed beef is loaded with glutathione
Glutathione (GT) is a powerhouse protein in foods that can eliminate free radicals within the cell. Grass-fed beef is supremely high in GT and can protect cells from oxidized lipids or proteins, thus preventing DNA damage. Additionally, grass-fed beef is high in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), which work together as superpower antioxidants.
Healthy fat is healthy, and grass-fed beef has plenty of it
Studies done over the last several decades clearly show that neither saturated fat, including fat in meat, nor dietary cholesterol causes harm in humans. The old theory that told us to avoid meat, eggs, coconuts, and dairy stated that saturated fats raise bad cholesterol in the blood, and “bad” cholesterol gets stuck in our arteries which causes hardening and eventually heart disease.
In reality, saturated fats help to elevate good cholesterol and improve the ratio of triglycerides to HDL. They also help change small and dense LDL cholesterol particles that can clog arteries to large, harmless particles.
A study done at Harvard University concluded that “greater saturated fat intake is associated with less progression of atherosclerosis.” In countries where the highest amount of saturated fat is consumed, there is the least heart disease. Saturated fat does not contribute to heart disease.
The documentary Statin Nation: The Great Cholesterol Cover-Up, presented by Rethink Productions, provides strong evidence disproving the widely believed ideology that high cholesterol leads to heart disease.
It details how the scientific groundwork that this belief is based upon was heavily manipulated from the start and presents large-scale studies that clearly show the lack of connection between cholesterol levels and heart disease.
In short, mounting evidence shows that our focus on lowering cholesterol, and our growing reliance on statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering pharmaceuticals, is both drawing research focus away from investigating the actual causes of heart disease and killing us.
Statin Nation interviews medical experts from various fields, who each present a wide array of large-scale studies showing that there is no evidence-based relationship between high cholesterol and heart disease.
Studies have found that LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol is LOWER in heart disease patients than in the general population and that low cholesterol levels are associated with earlier death.
Takeaway
Here is a quick snapshot summary of the top reasons why everyone should include at least some meat in their diet. Yes, plants are important too because they contain nutrients not found in beef but consuming BOTH provides a fantastic basis for amazing health.
Who’s ready for some delicious and nutritious grass-fed beef?
-The Backyard Vitality Team
Additional sources
Susan has been nurturing her gardening tips and advice for over 00 years, it’s fair to say she knows her beans. She’ll be sharing her knowledge from tried and tested methods.
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