Day 19

Thoughts: Ginger! but you may not believe the many health benefits of ginger!I love to cook with fresh ginger or cut it up and put it in my green tea! And it's awesome in fresh juice too, if it burns your mouth, its ok, its killing the bacteria!

It has been used in Asian, Arabic, and Indian cultures as an herbal medicine since ancient times. For thousands of years, ginger has been used to aid digestion, nausea, menstrual cramps, and flu symptoms, but did you know it's been traditionally used to treat arthritis and heart conditions too? The REALLY interesting thing is that, more and more, studies are proving these traditional uses to be scientifically sound!

Nausea...
Probably the most widely-known of the health benefits of ginger is it's ability to relieve nausea. In addition to helping relieve the symptoms of nausea from a common stomach bug, or flu, ginger can be used to combat nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, pregnancy (morning sickness,) and post-surgery. Drinking Ginger ale for nausea is NOT just an "old wives' tale" afterall!

Motion-Sickness...
The travel industry is using ginger more and more to combat nausea caused by motion-sickness.

Migraines...
Ginger may help prevent a migraine from fully developing if taken at the onset of migraine symptoms.

Arthritis...
Studies of people with osteoarthritis have shown ginger to aid in inflammation and pain, without the side effects of many anti-inflammatory drugs.

High Cholesterol & Blood Clots...
Numerous studies have suggested that ginger may have an effect on blood clots that is similar to that of aspirin. And unlike aspirin, ginger has a calming effect on the intestinal tract. Ginger also lowers Cholesterol levels by interfering with cholesterol biosynthesis. These effects may prevent blockages of the blood vessels, which can lead to heart attack or stroke. Ginger's antioxidant properties may also strengthen the heart muscle.

Other Health Benefits of Ginger ...
Studies are underway which aim to clarify ginger's anti-cancer and immune-system enhancing properties. Ginger may also enhance the effects of antibacterials, such as antibiotics by as much as 50%. Another cool tidbit I read somewhere (not yet substantiated) is that ginger digests parasites and their eggs.

ALL herbs can cause side effects or trigger reactions when taken with other herbs or medicines. If taken is high doses, ginger has been known to cause mild heartburn or stomach upset. Do NOT take ginger if you have a bleeding disorder or if you are taking blood thinners, including aspirin. Contact your health care provider to be sure ginger is safe for you.

For more ginger info check out http://www.gingerbread-house-heaven.com/health-benefits-of-ginger.html (ginger bread is not good for you though!It is processed and sugary!)

Challenges: no challenges what so ever today! How can I be challenged when it is day 19 on only whole foods from the earth! I am feeling so alive, free and excited and oh so healthy! Truly reccomend it to everyone!

Triumphs: I walked past KFC today and it smelt sooo good, and then tonight my friend and fatmate Omar was cooking olives on pitta bread with butter, it smelt like a pizza shop mmmm but you know what, as good as they smelt and my body reacted and was like yeah I would like to taste those senastions, it was easy to choose not to, because the peace, freedom and health I feel around eating healthy out weighs eating junk food by a trillion!

What I Ate Today:

Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs

Lunch: 2 of my cookies I made from yesterday (recipe in blog Day 18) and peanut butter (pure peanuts crushed), and a juice (beetroot, carrot, orange, ginger and celery).

Dinner: mmm it was sooo good! Organic Free Range Chicken with brown rice, brocoli, and a ginger sauce (recipe below!)

Dessert: I made my homemade chocolate! woooo (recipe is in yesterdays blog! Day 18) It's so cool that you can actually eat chocolate and feel good about it, because it is actually giving your body nutrients! In fact it has aminos, protein, omega 3, calcium, chromium, zinc, iron, copper, sulphur, potassium and magnesium! woooo hooooo!

Snacks: 1 more of my cookies before bed, to put my body into a relaxitive state! Is relaxitive state a word? sounds like laxative! hehe! speaking of laxative, I used to have to take them to poop because I was so congested from all the crap I was eating, and now I'm pooping at least once a day, mostly twice a day AND sometimes 3 times a day! I have never pooped so much in my life!!! woooo! My poop maker it working and I love it! ;)

Cost: well to make the chocolate is cheap, buy cocoa beans and roast them and then grind them (or buy the Cacao powder which is already grinded for you) it is about $7 for 175 g at an organic store, that will make you alot of chocolate! Extra virgin olive oil is like $7 and Agave syrup is $7. This is all you need to make chocolate and you will make a lot of batches out of this! So it actually works out cheaper for you too because you eat less of this chocolate because it is whole, and you feel so greatly fufiled and satisfied! Dinner cost was: organic free range chicken $7, brown rice bag $3, ginger 40 cents, wheat free organic soy sauce $4, brocoli $2, spring onion $2 = $18.40 but you wont use all these ingredients in one hit,obviously you can use the soy sauce again and the brocoli etc, so i worked it out and the total dinner for two people cost $7.50! What a cheap yummy dinner!

Recipe: Ginger chicken!
Ingredients:
1. Free range organic chicken thighs or fillets or whateverrrr
2. ginger piece, go nuts...ginger is awesome and will clean ya out!
3. spring onion
4. brocoli, or what ever veggies you love!
5. wheat free soy sauce (soy beans, water and salt)
6. brown rice (or white)

Directions:
1. Cook brown rice (it takes twice as long as white rice...you know why?! Because it's not bleached!)
2. Fry chopped ginger and spring onion in olive oil or extra virgin cocnut oil.
3. When golden add chicken pieces.
4. When golden add brocoli and some soy sauce (you choose how much, i did 2 tablespoons),
5. When rice is cooked add it to the ginger chicken.
6. Serve. Mmmmmm very simple dish! And so it should be, life can already be complicated enough, so simple meals rock!



Exercise: 3 hours of holding modelling poses! Hehe I know not much of an exercise, but hey I reckon yoga could be interpretted (interpretted, probably the wrong word to use here) in modelling, I had to hold some poses in some stretchy positions and breathe! hehe. (The shoot was for hair extraordinare Jessica Danger Kirkman and GHD!




347 days to go!