Functional Foods...WHAT?

Okay, I am finally getting to this. For those of you who know me you know this is one huge passion for me. Health and Wellness. I am addicted to feeling good!

Soon, I am going to focus on Immune Boosters for this winter season for all of you in cold climates. If you aren't in a cold climate and prone to being sick more this time of year you will still benefit as the health of your immune system affects many things from low energy to cancer, yeast infections, to auto immune issues. Besides I may eventually delve into each these topics on their own as well.

Okay, so what are functional foods and why am I so FREAKED out about them? Functional Foods are foods that may provide medical or health benefits beyond basic nutrition because of the presence of active plant compounds such as phytochemicals. Basically, what I am saying is their are certain foods that have more healing properties than others.

Lets think about a beautiful red juicy apple for a second. And then think about a processed fish stick. You know the kind that you can buy from the freezer section at your local grocery store. Which do you think possesses more health benefits? The apple of course! The apple is amazing. Scientist are now up to finding over 12,000 phytochemical compounds in 1 single apple. Just a couple of years ago it was 10,000 so their is possibly many more.

What are phytochemcials. Phytochemicals are simply active plant compounds that certain plants produce to protect themselves against fungi, bacteria, and viruses. They are not necessary nutrients in the human diet, but they do provide an array of protection against diseases. One example is lycopene in tomatoes that have been proven to reduce prostrate cancer, flavanoids in fruits and so on. Phytochemicals can take on antioxidant, hormonal, stimulation of enzymatic, interference with DNA replication (thus preventing the spread of cancer), anti-bacterial, and physical action "power."

They are found in wholefoods and this is what I predominately move in and teach now. You see at the start of my health awareness journey I was mostly into standard vitamins, minerals, and herbs. Herbs are great. But, I am beginning to realize that synthetic vitamins and minerals aren't as great as we are led to believe. At one time I was comforted by the possibility that I could just eat the way I wanted to since my handful of vitamins would protect me into old age.

Boy, was I wrong. Let me give you a an example. Visualize, if you will, 2 Vitamin C pills. On the back of the bottle it says their are 1,000 mg (or 1 g) in both of those capsules. Now visualize that red juicy apple again. Their is only about 5 mg of vit. C in that apple. Which do you think is better at boosting the immune system?

It's the apple, because it has all those thousands of phyonutrients that man made synthetic vitamin c supplement don't have. Our body is organic and works best with organic nutrients. It automatically recognizes them and absorbs them more readily. All those plant based compounds work in synergy.

Vit. C supplements have never been shown to cure scurvy. Yet Captain James Cook who lived in the 1700's used sauerkraut and limes to cure and prevent scurvy. At a time when other captains were dropping men like flies to scurvy, Captain Cook kept his crew healthy with vit. C rich foods, exercise and sunlight on the open deck. Why would a lime or sauerkraut with much smaller amounts of vitamin C be much more effective against this disease than a synthetic high dose of vitamin C? It goes back to the thousands of phytonutrients that work in synergy to make it a powerhouse medicinal food. And also in the body's ability to instantly recognize it and put it to full use.

So, this is why I am going to take you into the world of whole foods and what they can do for you verses isolated nutrient compounds. I hope you will get as excited about this as I am and begin to realize that health or disease is a personal choice and mostly in your hands. And food is definitely medicine. Just as a car runs better by putting fuel in it and doing periodic oil changes so our body was designed to run more efficiently on good fuel (wholefoods and pure water) and oil changes (cleansing) from time to time.

God wants you to be in good health. It is a blessing as laid throughout scripture. And He gives guidelines for health. Paul even said above all things he wishes that we are in good health. When we keep our health up we are better able to function in every area of our life physical, spiritual, and emotional.
So it is with a lot of joy that I will be empowering you with the knowledge of what creates health in us!

Yours in Health,
Larissa

www.larissak.wordpress.com/

Welcome To My Blog

Hello, and welcome to my blog. My name is Larissa Klusman. I am first and foremost a wife to my husband, David of 7 years, a home school mom to my two sweet children Benjamin, 6 and Hannah 2. They are my pride and joy. I truly enjoy the opportunity to be home with them full time. I would not exchange my job and role with anyone. They are my highest priority and my greatest gift from God.

Yes, we are a christian family. Messianic/christian. I love God with everything and look to Him for the source of my strength and direction. We delight in keeping His Feast (holidays) and sabbath. This is a true pleasure and source of peace in our home.

I have many interest in life. My desire to learn more seems to never really stop. I love: homeschooling in which we use mostly the Delight Directed method, I enjoy reading and researching especially about health, the bible, some self help, bible commentary from a Hebrew perspective, and just about anything that strikes my fancy at the moment. I am a nature person. Love to hike, camp, fish, just be outdoors. Love to garden, although I am by no means an expert. When we vacation we feel most at home immersing ourselves in nature. I do like to sew, have tried scrapbooking which I enjoyed. Love cooking and baking. I love singing (aIthough I am sure I need voice lessson), music in general. I like health and fitness. Just love to have fun and develop relationships. I am also an entrepreneur at heart and have been as far back as I can practically remember.

The entrepreneur desire started for me as a child in play. I was always the one starting little neighborhood clubs, the “leader” of my friends (whenever they got bored or needed something to do they looked to me). I had “counseling” sessions on my front porch when I was in third grade…maybe it was 2nd? Ha! I thought I was something. Always trying to help friends get along with there siblings while I didn’t have any save one that was not with us most the time. And they actually came and followed my recommendations. I started selling cards with a kids program when I was around 12, had my first real job landscaping when I was about 13. And did various thing from there. 18 I sold with Avon for awhile until the company did me in with there continuous mistakes.

I got really serious about a home-based business when I was pregnant with my son about 7 years ago. I started with Melalucea from an add about natural solutions to cleaning. I was concerned with my environment while being pregnant. So, I jumped on board and felt I was pretty successful, especially my first month. Long story short, I just found that wasn’t my home. Basically explored a few different options over the past few years and really tried my hand at a couple. Always around health and wellness. I have now found my home with a nutritional company, Uri International. I absolutely love their products.

Looking back I can now see their were two main problems with my failures with a home based business. 1. Not really having the right leadership and know how and 2. me not really staying focused and being persistent. At the time I really didn’t need to.What, with one child, which I was severly experiencing morning sickness with and some bad health later for a time and David was making very good income. So, I just mostly focused on caring for me and my child and working my business as a “hobby.
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This brings me to now. My true desire is to have a completely online business. I don’t want to be consumed with running around town several times a week, imposing on others with the 3 foot rule, and missing my kids bedtimes with parties. I am not saying those methods don’t work. They can. And they did for me for awhile. And I still enjoy sharing with others about health. But, for the most part I simply want to be home. Believe me when I say I really don’t need a lot of extra add ons. Really just need an efficient and enjoyable plan.

So, I searched for an online program with the intent of helping me create a truly online business. A resource source so to speak . Something I could apply to my nutritional company. And discovered something that I am excited about. I am really excited about this. Mostly because I feel like I now have at my fingertips everything that I need to make me successful and turn me into a successful leader. That is another passion. I really do love to encourage and inspire people. I don’t only want to work from home to make our goals and dreams come true. But, I want to help you to make yours happen as well.

I am learning more all the time not to sale on a product or company. Rather instead to brand myself. This truly positions me to only attract those who really know they are after my products and helps me to leverage my time. After all I don't enjoy barking down peoples throats constantly chasing them around when they are truly not interested. This new trend in marketing online and most specifically with Web 2.0 allows me to expand my creativity and only attracting those who are most compatible with me to me. I am very excited about this!

Well, I think that about sums it up. Please stay tuned to my blog. I will eventually be adding youtube and myspace accounts as well as other blogs so you can get to know me a bit better. :)

Wishing you much success,
Larissa