Foods Alive Feature Recipe & Newsletter
PANCREATIC TIME OUT
I don’t write much about Cancer for a combination of reasons, but when three people in my network of friends are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in one month it’s time to ring loudly a crystal clear warning bell. I don’t really believe that fear instills the greatest motivation to change, so I am shooting for education.
The pancreas, cradled behind our stomach, secretes digestive enzymes that emulsify and cut up the food we eat in minuscule particles that become the building blocks for the new you. Yes, truly! In two years time you will be the food you ate! Considering the amount of food we eat in our lifetime (between 5 and 7 tons of it) this small gland has a big job to do. I always think of the pancreas as feminine, sorry guys, as it efficiently and simultaneously juggles the production of digestive enzymes and balances stable blood sugar levels. Well we know that there is not much room for error in that system. A little too much or too little glucose in our blood is fatal. I wanted to focus on that for a minute, hoping to encourage an increased appreciative level of consciousness that will ultimately result in more better-er food choices.
Lipase enzymes break fats into fatty acids; Amylase breaks starches down in to glucose and protease splits proteins into amino acids. There is limited supply of enzymes available for this process so does it make sense to ease the daily workload? As with all things in life, too much of a good thing creates a problem and a backlog. Think of backlogs as, blockages and you will get a picture of a major cause of pancreatic shut down and disease. Over eating, and the consumption of too much cooked and processed
food, puts tremendous strain on the pancreas and the gallbladder. (The pancreatic warning bell is ringing when you suffer from gallstones and or need tums after every meal.) So be kind to your pancreas this week, or better-er still the rest of your life.
1. Go on a juice fast for a few days once in awhile. Go for a walk in the sunshine.
2. Stop all alcohol consumption for the time being.
3. Eat only fresh organic veggies, fruit and sprouts.
4. Eat a quality pro-biotic and eliminate sugar.
5. Take digestive enzymes, or just power up your blender and create green smoothies. Eat or sip small meals.
6. Take EFA’s, Flax and borage oil helps to reduce inflammation.
The list in Brenda Watson’s book “Gut solutions” is actually quite a bit longer, but I have an aversion for too much information when it starts to read like a pharmacology textbook and empties your wallet at the speed of a flying bullet.
FAST SMOOTHIE
1 apple, or pear, or berries
1 banana
1 orange with the white pith and grated rind
5 leaves romaine lettuce
2 leaves of green kale
1 cups of spinach
2 cups of water
dash of cinnamon, salt, and cayenne.
Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and process until smooth. I often relegate the greens that are not good looking enough to star in a salad for our smoothies. Have a fast smoothie for breakfast, lunch and dinner and give your pancreas time-out.