Vegetables: Secrets for attaining Youth, Health and Beauty with them

Vegetables are one of the primary foods for attaining health, youth and beauty throughout all ages of life.  Just like everything, however, the way in which we consume vegetables is key for best utilization and benefits from their long list of qualities, of which, the following stand out:

• Rich source of vitamins and minerals.
• Their nutrients are easily absorbed and used when properly combined.
• Regulates energy and its usage within the body.  They keep intestinal movement in excellent conditions, and chewing them raw helps the teeth and gums to stay in good condition, healthy, and strong.  They also prevent cavities and gum problems.
• Knowing how to eat them intelligently is number one for achieving youth and for helping rejuvenate deteriorated, sick, weak, or spent organs.
• Rich in enzymes and antioxidants.
• Green vegetables are rich in chlorophyll, an excellent body cleanser and regenerator for weak and deteriorated cells.  They are perfect foods for fighting diseases, for detoxifying the body, and for keeping it in excellent condition.

How to properly eat vegetables:

Choose vegetables

• You should always choose the freshest vegetables that are in the best condition.  Vegetables that have been hit have already begun fermenting.  Search for ones that are not hit, mistreated, and that don’t look too dirty or that have scraped outsides.  Wrinkled or old vegetables have already lost a lot of vitamin C.
• Organic vegetables are the best kinds of vegetables because not only are they environmentally friendly, but they don’t use pesticides or other chemicals that are harmful to health.  When harvesting these foods, certain hygiene rules are obeyed, water is generally from deep wells that are not contaminated, and they are harvested in fertilized land.
• Avoid vegetables that have been refrigerated for too long because they have already lost a lot of vital energy and nutrients.
• Don’t let vegetables soak in water for too long because they will lose a large portion of their properties.  Soak them for 20 minutes and then dump the water.  If you’re not going to eat them immediately, place them in a plastic bag and store them in the fridge.

Washing vegetables:

This step is very important, especially if you don’t buy organic vegetables and you’re going to eat them raw.  You should soak fruit with some sort of natural bactericide like colloidal silver or those that are mentioned below.

Scrub vegetables with a good brush and never use soaps to wash vegetables.  You should buy a soft bristled brush and one with rougher bristles, so you can wash vegetables that need a stronger brush.  Use the soft brush to scrub leafy vegetables like lettuce, and the hard bristle brush for tubers or celery.

To remove parasites and disinfect them in a healthy way, use a glass bowl and add boiling water, covering them completely.  Then add one teaspoon of sea salt and the juice from one large lemon per each liter of water.  Dissolve well and then soak the vegetables for 15 or 20 minutes, no longer.  If you do soak them longer, they lose nutrients.  Then dump the water and do not rinse then.  Leave the layer of water on the vegetables.

• Celery, pepper, and cucumbers, etc., for example.  You need to scrub then with a good brush to eliminate pesticides that easily stick to their skins.  You need to do this to each celery stick, and cut the ends off, where the majority of the chemicals or toxins are.
• Tomato.  You should wash well in order to eliminate toxic residues that are covering the skin.  Because it’s very hard to eliminate the harmful layers on top of a tomato, the most recommendable thing to do is to remove the skin.  This can easily be done if you put the tomato in a pan without oil for a while, and toast it.  Peeling the skin off will then be very easy.  You should also soak them for one minute in hot water, and the skins will soften a bit, making it easier to remove them.
• Lettuce should be well soaked, and each leaf should be carefully washed.
• Carrots and tubers must be scrubbed well with a brush, and preferably peeled before eating.
• Parsley, herbal teas, cilantro, mint, and other herbs: once you have washed them well, moisten them with a bit of fresh water, and wrap them in newspaper so as to preserve them better.  Then place them in a plastic bag and refrigerate.  You will notice that the tea herbs will last a lot longer, and will be in good condition.

Cutting vegetables

Each cut that you make in a vegetable or piece of produce makes it lose vital energy.  That’s why it’s best not to cut them into small pieces, and try to eat them more whole than cut up.

Avoid plastic, glass or metal cutting boards for cutting your vegetables.  The friction of the knife releases materials that contaminate vegetables.  The best cutting boards are those made of natural unvarnished wood.

Utensils for cooking vegetables

The best pans to cook vegetables in are those of thick glass, porcelain or forged iron cookware, pewter or non-oxidizing steel pans.  None of these pans will pass contaminating substances on to your vegetables.  Teflon frying pans are not recommendable because they give off particles of the materials used, and contaminate foods.  Aluminum or plastic pans are also not advisable.

Spoons or utensils used for cooking your vegetables should be made of wood.

Vegetable peels

A lot of the nutrients in vegetables are contained in the peels.  If you buy organic vegetables, try not to peel them, especially cucumbers, potatoes, and carrots.  However, if they are not organic, it’s best to peel them, so as to avoid contaminating your bod with unnecessary chemicals and pesticides.

Cooking vegetables:

Do not cut vegetables until you are ready to use them.  As I’m sure you’ve already heard, it’s not good to cook your vegetables for too long because they lose a lot of their nutritive values through cooking.  Vegetables should be steams and always eaten as crunchy or raw as possible.  When you do cook vegetables, add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil to seal the nutrients around the vegetables.

Raw vegetables are rich in fiber and a lot of them contain large amounts of antioxidants.

Properly combine vegetables

Vegetables should not be combined with fruit because fruits, with their sugars, ferment quickly and will impede good absorption.

The best way to eat vegetables and to take advantage of all their goodness is to eat them in freshly blended juices, without combining more than three vegetables at a time.  Do not add lemon (this cuts vitamins in some vegetables), and do not sweeten it with sugar (which is very harmful for the body and deteriorates the nervous system).

One excellent vegetable for starting the day and to keep you healthy and young every day, is to eat one clove of raw garlic with one glass of warm water.  Garlic has excellent regenerative properties and is one of the most potent antioxidants around.

Vegetables in salads should not be covered with sugary dressings nor with preservatives.  The best dressing for salads is extra-virgin olive oil with lemon, salt, cumin, vegetable salt, and tamari.

Salads are wonderful companions for cooked meals, like fish, whole grain rice, etc.

Tubers like sweet potatoes, potatoes, yucca, beets, etc., are considered carbohydrates and should not be combined with proteins like meat, fish, milk, etc.  This is very hard to digest and leaves a lot of residues.  This should be kept in mind, especially when you are cooking tubers.

If you want to look and feel young and healthy, do not forget about sprouts which are an excellent source of enzymes and are rich in antioxidants and vitamin C.  Alfalfa sprouts, soy and amaranth sprouts, etc., can be combined with other vegetables and seeds, and will make an excellent dish with rejuvenating properties.

Other tricks:

If you want to give your salads a fresh and crunchy touch, get them ready and then cover them with a few drops of water.  Stick them in the fridge for 20 minutes.  Once you take them out they will be very fresh and crunchy.

Sprinkling seeds in your salads makes them a very complete meal.  Sesame seeds, linseed, sunflower seeds, etc., are all good friends with salads.  They give them a special touch and convert them into one of the best meals around.

Because these foods are high in fiber, you must chew them very well when you are eating salads or vegetables.  Chew them slowly, gently, and until you feel that they are a nice paste in your mouth.  This will help your stomach absorb better and will prevent gas or abdominal inflammation.

A few excellent rejuvenating vegetables are: carrots, garlic, onions, radishes, sprouts, celery and alfalfa.

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