Breakfast Fruits Bowl

My breakfast fruit bowl of the day. I take four to five types of fruits. Fruits are Best for breakfast. Preparing a fruit bowl for breakfast is an art. Today I picked up an apple, an orange, one banana, four medium size Ber (Ber is Zizyphus), three dates, two walnuts, five almonds and a piece of coconut giri (meat).

The sequence of cutting depends on the type of fruit - the hardest variety goes first and the softest are the last. The nuts and dry fruits go in for the dressings. The fruits must be cut in a size that can be eaten one at a time.

Golden Rule - Drink your fruits and eat your juices.

I took 20 minutes to eat this bowl. Picking up each piece at a time and chewing till it turned liquid in my mouth. This helps in digestion and the fruits are digested in an hour in our stomach.

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Breakfast - Have only Fruits

Breakfast

The best breakfast for a diabetic patient is fruits. God has been kind and he made the selection of fruits easy by making them in different colours. Select four to five different colours of fruits and prepare a bowl for breakfast. If you are on diabetes medication then 60% of your fruit bowl must contain citrus fruits. There is no restriction of any fruit, one may choose papaya, mango, chikoo and the best is the seasonal fruit. One may have up to one kilogram of fruits before 12 O'clock noon.

Sugar in fruits is natural and body absorption is simple. Refined sugar is broken down by body in two or more processes into sugar which can be useful. Natural sugar is absorbed in a controlled manner by the body whereas the refined sugar goes uncontrolled into blood. Refined sugar is hidden in numerous processed foods and ready-made beverages, whereas fruits are visible and thus enable us to control sugar easily.

Person on diabetes medication will have to eat more fruits to satiate in the beginning because of diabetic medicines. Naturally eating one kilogram of fruit in one sitting is not possible. To start with make two bowls of fruits. Eat the first bowl at about 8 AM and eat the second at 11 AM. Point to note here is to give three hours gap between these two helpings. Second important point to note is - the total quantity of fruits that an individual consumes must be up to one kilogram or less than one kilogram only. When I started eating fruits for Breakfast I used to eat about 900 grams of fruits. Since I was on diabetic medication I had to eat more to satisfy my hunger. Today I can make do with just two bananas and an apple or orange with increased energy levels.

How to Win Over Initial Hunger Pangs

1. Drink your fruits. While eating fruits for breakfast chew them to the extent that they become liquid in your mouth. A medium bowl of fruits must be consumed in 20-25 minutes. By doing so we assist stomach in digesting the fruits faster.
2. Cut small pieces and use a fork to pick each piece - one at a time.
3. Soak 15 to 20 raisins in water for 4 to 5 hours in water. Strain the water and store them in a handy container. Eat one raisin at a time whenever you feel hungry and chew it till it becomes liquid in your mouth. One can have up to 20 raisins in a day.
4. Split your fruits in two helpings. Have one helping around 7-8 AM and second helping after three hours around 10-11 AM.
5. Drink 1-2 glass of water after one hour of having fruits.

Dressing up The Fruits Dress up your fruits with them and let eyes too feast upon them. What's beautiful and tasty is always better for health.

1. Almonds - six (soaked in water overnight).
2. Walnuts - two (soaked in water overnight).
3. Dates/Prunes - three.
4. Coconut Meat/Giri. Add a piece of coconut meat/giri about two inches. This acts like catalyst for all breakdown of food in our body.
5. All nuts and seeds must only be consumed after having soaked in water.

• Hard nuts like almonds and walnuts - 10 to 12 hours overnight.
• Soft variety like cashews and seeds - 4 to 5 hours.

If you start fruits only for breakfast, within a week you will notice a wonderful change. However there is someone within you shouting - Is this my life? Don't listen to that voice. Just carry on, remember it takes 21 days to change habits. Best healthy food stays for lesser time in stomach. Fruits remain in our stomach for one hour and eight hours in our body. Animal protein being complex remains in our stomach for 4 to 6 hours and in our body up to 72 hours.

All and any fruit can be eaten. As mentioned earlier natural sugar never interferes with body functions, it's the refined sugar which causes problems. The selection of acidic or alkaline food matters only when a deficiency or excess of a nutrient exist in the body. For diabetes ideal fruit is citrus fruits. The problem occurs when you consume even one spoon of sugar. The body is lazy and consumes refined sugar first. So remember refined sugar is poison for a diabetic patient.

Eating Fruit on Empty Stomach

We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It's not as easy as you think. It's important to know how and when to eat the fruits. What is the correct way of eating fruits?

1. It Means Not Eating Fruits After Your Meals.
2. Fruits Should Be Eaten On An Empty Stomach.

If you eat fruits on empty stomach, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities. Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so due to the bread taken before the fruit. In the meantime the whole meal of bread & fruit rots and ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil. So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach.

You have heard people complaining - Every time I eat watermelon I burp, when I eat durian my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet. Actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying of other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat. Graying hair, loss of hair, balding, nervous outbursts and dark circles under the eyes all these will not happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach. There is no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic, because all fruits become alkaline in our body. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight.

When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT from the cans, packs or bottles. Don't even drink juice that has been heated up. Don't eat cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients at all. You only get its taste. Cooking destroys all the vitamins.

But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the fresh fruit juice, drink it sip by sip slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. Best is to eat your fresh fruit juices and not to drink them.

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Almond Milk

Almond milk - benefits and recipe

Almond milk is a healthy and inexpensive alternative to conventional dairy that you can easily make at home! Statistics show that many people are choosing dairy free milks and other products due to allergies, concerns about sourcing or just taste preference.

Why Make Almond Milk?

Like virtually every other food or drink, almond milk is both less expensive and healthier when you make it yourself. While there are decent store bought brands available now, many brands contain additives like carrageenan to remain shelf stable and a keep a consistent texture.

Almond milk is a low glycemic alternative to rice milk, and doesn’t cause problems with hormone levels like soy milk does. It can be used in place of regular milk in recipes and baking. It is easy to make and has a light taste.

We used almond milk when we were working on reversing our son’s dairy intolerance and I still often use it (or homemade coconut milk) in recipes, coffee or to drink simply because it is so inexpensive and easy to make.

If you are dairy-free (by choice or necessity), making your own almond milk is a great way to save money and avoid additives. As a bonus, you can use the leftover almond pulp to make almond flour for use in recipes! If you are nut free as well, coconut milk is another good alternative.

Simple Homemade Almond Milk Recipe

This almond milk recipe is super-simple to make at home in just minutes! It is customizable so you can adjust the sweetness and even add flavor, plus it is naturally dairy-free, paleo, vegan and all around delicious!

Ingredients

1 cup almonds - (Organic and raw preferred if available- I use these)
4 cups pure filtered water (plus more for soaking)
tiny pinch of sea salt
For Vanilla Almond Milk: 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
To Sweeten if Desired: Sweetener of choice including 2 dates, 2 Tablespoons maple syrup or a few drops of stevia of choice (omit for an unsweetened almond milk)

Instructions

Optional Step: Soak almonds for at least 12 hours in pure water with 1/2 tsp sea salt. This is an important step as it breaks down the phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors and cultures beneficial enzymes in the almonds. The longer the almonds soak, the creamier the finished milk will be. (Side note: soaking nuts should be done before eating them as well. )
Rinse almonds well. Drain the soaking water and rinse the almonds well. Do not keep this water to re-use as it contains phytic acid and is best to discard it.
Add optional ingredients. If using vanilla, sweeteners or any other optional ingredients, add them now. See the notes below for some flavor suggestions.
Blend well. Mix almonds with pure water in blender or Vitamix. Blend 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. (Warning: mixture will expand some, so make sure your blender is not full before starting it)
Strain almonds. Strain mixture into a large bowl through a sprout bag, cheese cloth or thin kitchen towel.
Store. Pour into glass jar or pitcher and store in fridge for up to four days.

Notes

Reuse the Pulp: Save the pulp of the almonds, put on cookie sheet and dehydrate in oven on lowest heat until completely dry. Run through blender or food processor to make almond flour, which can be used in recipes in place of flour. Alternately, just store in the refrigerator for use in baking or smoothies.

Flavor Variations: Add 1/2 cup strawberries for strawberry almond milk, 1-2 Tablespoons cocoa powder for chocolate almond milk or any other flavor you can imagine!

Imitation Store Bought Almond Milk: This recipe will produce a creamy almond milk that is much better than store bought almond milk (in my opinion). Most store bought milks only use 2% almonds so they are low calorie but you're essentially buying water in a box. If you prefer this type of almond milk, you can reduce the amount of almonds to 1/4 or 1/2 cup and use the recipe above.

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