48 The Complete Home Guide to Herbs, Natural Healing, and Nutrition
Organic Superfood
Buy what is in season at an organic farmers’ market or local health-food
store. Organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains have a very much
longer shelf life than their pesticide-laden counterparts, so even if you
need to buy in quantity at some distance, you can be sure that they will
retain their vitality longer. Store them in a cool environment away from
sunlight.
Organic farmers represented 1 percent of British agriculture in 1995,
but in the same year they received only 0.01 percent of the $2 million in
assistance for farming in Britain; so when I pay a little more for organic
foods, I know I am helping to compensate for this lack of government
assistance to growers. I am also keen to support those in other countries,
including Spanish organic growers, who produce the lemons and avocados
that British farmers are unable to produce.
If you cannot afford the extra that organic foods cost, then add garlic
to your normal supplies; with its sulfur compounds and antioxidant
chemistry, it will detoxify some of the harmful compounds. There are also
fruit and vegetable wash concentrates that help remove chemicals, waxes,
dust, atmospheric pollutants, and exhaust fumes. For those who are able
to do so, growing your own using an allotment or your garden is cheap
and fun. The herb milk thistle can also be useful, as it greatly assists the
liver in its detoxifying role, which is essential for keeping pace with all the
pollutants.
Culinary Herbs and Spices
Culinary herbs and spices are chosen for their fl avors to delight the
palate. To me they also represent fun, color, and health. They are masters
at dancing with our taste buds. They are nature’s aid to the relaxation of
stomach muscles. They also encourage better production of balanced and
suffi cient gastric juices. They contain elements that help counteract toxic
foods. Some contain antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral ingredients,
giving some help to harmonize food combinations that might otherwise
fi ght it out and cause indigestion and gas; still others help the liver with
its job of constantly negating and purifying. You can grow fresh herbs and
spices and use dried or freshly imported ones.
The spice and herb section of any kitchen is one of the major medicine
cupboards for any household. This section should be used for everyday
eating and staying healthy. The whole kitchen should be full of live,
healing, and tasty foods, but herbs and spices have a special gift.
Remember that by adding these to all meals and rotating their use, you
are bringing a diversity of healing chemistry into your diet, thus reducing
the likelihood of disease in general.
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