Do you like strawberries, peaches, pears, bell peppers? Do you know why you should buy them only organic.

Summer is a time when we can enjoy lots of fruits and vegetables, and use them for natural weight loss and detox. Unfortunately, even healthy foods can be dangerous for our health. Why? All fruits and vegetables are treated with pesticides and chemicals, and some of them contain a high level of toxins that can cause cancers, allergies, hair loss, heart disease, headaches, hormonal imbalance, etc.

If you want to stay healthy, you must buy the so called “dirty dozen” fruits and vegetables only as organic or locally grown, and without fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.

The good news is that we do not need to buy all fruits and vegetables organic, only “the dirty dozen“.

Here is a list of “clean foods” – fruits and vegetables with the lowest level of pesticides, that we can buy  in any grocery store (from Environmental Working Group – EWG), which means that we don’t need to buy at an organic market, organic shop or organic food stores.

List of the “clean fifteen” fruits and vegetables with low levels of pesticides and toxins:

• Onions
• Avocado
• Sweet corn
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Sweet peas
• Asparagus
• Kiwi fruit
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Cantaloupe
• Watermelon
• Grapefruit
• Sweet potato
• Sweet onion

P.S. Summer is the time to visit farmer’s markets as often as possible for really fresh produce.

P.P. S. Click to learn more about natural detox -“Detox – 101 – Super Simple Detox, The Ultimate Guide for Beginners”.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition and Relationship Coach and Counselor

What are some of the reasons to change from a low fiber diet to foods high in fiber?  Well, for those looking for constipation cures, selecting your foods with fiber from a list of high fiber foods may provide you with one of the constipation solutions you seek.  As a side benefit, by selecting your foods for constipation in mind, you you will be able to achieve natural detox via the regular bowel movements you will be able to have.

In addition, high fiber diets can be used lower blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol level.  Picking high fiber food from a high fiber foods list will also help you reduce risk of colon cancer, heart attack, diabetes, and help you to loose weight naturally.

Listen to my Podcast above for some more tips.

So, to feel and look fabulous you should strive to incorporate foods high in fiber in your meals.  When selecting from the high fiber foods list below, don’t forget to use organic high fiber sources when you can.

High fiber sources that can be used to create high fiber diets include:

organic whole grain food selected from a whole grains list such as: brown rice, barley, buckwheat, oats, millet, rye, etc. that can be found in many rich in fiber cereals;

organic legumes (all beans, such as kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, lima beans, garbanzo beans, etc. and lentils except for green beans);

organic fruits and vegetables;

organic nuts and seeds.

Fiber helps as a natural easy detox and holistic cleanse our body as well as slow the speed at which it absorbs sugars from food.

Doctors recommend consuming at least from 20 to 30 grams of fiber daily to stay healthy. Here are some foods high in fiber and (approximately) their grams of fiber per 1 cup (cooked):

Beans, soybeans or lentils from 10 – 15 grams

Grains:

• Oats – 4gr
• Barley – 13 gr
• Buckwheat - 4-5 gr

Fruits and vegetables:

• Raspberries – 8 gr
• Blueberries – 4gr
• Blackberries – 8 gr
• Avocado – 7-8 gr.
• Papaya – 5gr
• Apples – 2-3 gr
• Mangoes – 4 gr
• Banana – 3- 4 gr
• Brussel sprouts – 4 gr,
• Cauliflower - 3 -4 gr
• Broccoli - 4 – 5gr
• Cabbage – 3.5 gr
• Beets – 3 – 4 gr
• Carrots – 3 -4 gr
• Oranges – 3-4 gr
  
• Green beans – 4gr
• Spinach – 4.5 gr
• Figs fresh – 7-8 gr.
• Pear – 3-4 gr.
• Yam -5-6 gr
• Sweet potato – 3-4 gr
• Collard greens – 5 gr
• Turnip greens -5 gr
• Winter squash – 5-6 gr
• Prunes 3-4gr

Seeds and nuts:

• Sesame seeds – .25 cup 4-5 gr.
• Flaxseeds – 2 tbsp. 5-6 gr
• Walnuts -1 oz – 3 – 4 gr.
• Pumpkin seeds – ¼ cup – 4 gr

Herbs and Spices:

• Cinnamon -2 tbsp – 2.5 gr
• Basil dries, 2 tbsp -1.5 gr.
• Corinander 2 tbsp - 1.5
• Cloves, dried 2 tbsp. 1. 50
  
• Black pepper 2 tbsp. – 1.10

For more information on foods high in fiber and how to use them to naturally balance your hormones, download my free Report Hormones – Survival Kit for Women.

Fiber can be insoluble or soluble and works differently inside of our body but we don’t have to worry about it because these fibers are mixed in foods. If we eat a great variety of high-fiber foods, we can all get  the benefits of it.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health Coach, Counselor and Radio Host

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