The Body Ecology Guide To Growing Younger

Healthful, high-quality condiments can mean the difference between an average meal and an inspiring one. From starter herbs and spices to delicious finishing oils, these culinary niceties should never be left to chance!

We don’t typically think of condiments as anything more than flavor-enhancing substances that we add to foods to make them taste better. But many are healthy and life giving! This chapter reviews some of the little-known health secrets of a few of our favorite condiments.

Apple-cider vinegar is rich in potassium and helps reestablish a healthy inner ecosystem with friendly bacteria. Thanks to apple-cider vinegar’s mineral content (especially potassium), it has the ability to normalize your body’s acid/alkaline balance. Its antiseptic qualities cleanse the digestive tract. The acidity aids in the removal of calcium deposits from joints and blood vessels, but has no effect on normal calcium levels in the bones or teeth. Pectin in unfiltered apple-cider vinegar promotes elimination and healthy bowels. The potassium in the vinegar regulates cell growth, hydrates cells, balances sodium, and enables proper performance of the nervous system.

Sipping on a glass of apple-cider vinegar and water during a meal will help increase stomach acid.

Vinegar is also linked to satiety—the feeling of being full. Researchers at the Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition at Sweden’s Lund University recently reported on a study in which 12 healthy subjects ate four “meals” of white wheat bread. One of the meals consisted of bread alone (a control meal), while the others were supplemented with different amounts of vinegar: 18, 23, and 28 grams. Each meal was separated by a week, and each was eaten in the morning after an overnight fast. For two hours, at specific intervals after each meal, subjects rated their feelings of satiety, and researchers took several blood samples from each subject.

The results: Compared with the control meal, the highest level of vinegar intake (between two and three tablespoons) was associated with significantly lower blood sugar and insulin responses and an increased satiety score.¹

While you may have seen apple-cider vinegar in the grocery store, it may not be the raw, fermented kind that has so many medicinal benefits. Several different companies manufacture apple-cider vinegar. Some bottles are labeled “filtered,” but the recommended kind is labeled “unfiltered.” Select unpasteurized apple-cider vinegar, which contains the “mother” of the vinegar (a natural sediment with pectin, trace minerals, beneficial bacteria, and enzymes) that you can see floating at the bottom of the bottle.

Adding one tablespoon of apple-cider vinegar to water (you can add stevia to soften the sharp taste) can help alleviate arthritis, aid digestion, combat a sweet tooth, and balance your body at the first sign of cleansing (when it is overly acidic). In fact, sipping apple-cider vinegar in water can be used as an antidote if you’ve overindulged in sugar or salt. If you feel as if you’re coming down with the flu or have signs that a fever blister is about to break out anywhere on your body, immediately sit down to rest and sip on a glass of water with apple-cider vinegar.

One note of caution: Brush your teeth after drinking water with vinegar, as the acid can slowly eat away at the enamel on your teeth if you don’t. Another option is to use a straw to protect your teeth.

Apple-cider vinegar is good for your liver and can help with insulin sensitivity (too much blood sugar). You can use it drizzled on your vegetables and as a dressing. It is just one more way to add the sour taste, and it supplies more of those important beneficial microbiota that the body needs and loves.

High-quality, mineral-rich sea salt is essential for life and has medicinal value. It is grounding, contractive, and stimulates digestion.

The conventional wisdom calling for avoidance of salt because it raises blood pressure is a grave misunderstanding that surfaced when medical research showed that the “salt” Americans were consuming (in large amounts) did indeed increase blood pressure. But here is where we were duped. We were not actually eating salt. The salt in processed foods and in those dark blue cylindrical containers is so refined that none of the beneficial minerals remain; and it is loaded with additives, including sugar, chemicals, bicarbonate of soda, and preservatives. Perhaps the cute little girl on the package should be replaced with a skull and crossbones.

Salt does not raise blood pressure. If yours is high, ask yourself these questions: “Am I drinking enough water for maximum hydration? Do I drink alcohol and wine, causing further dehydration?” These are usually the true underlying causes of elevated blood pressure.

Because salt has an alkalizing effect, we naturally have an innate desire to sprinkle it on acid-forming foods such as animal protein. In fact, salt is the most alkalizing of all foods and can help correct an over-acid condition in the body.

If I could prepare an evening meal for you, I’d serve an appetizing entrée using a grain-like seed (such as quinoa); a dark green, leafy vegetable (such as kale); and a tasty (naturally salty) ocean-veggie dish (such as arame). Of course, a serving of cultured veggies and a champagne glass of one of Body Ecology’s probiotic liquids (such as InnergyBiotic) would accompany your meal. Everything would taste wonderful, I promise. Spices and herbs and a high-quality sea salt (Celtic) would be added during cooking to give the dishes more delicious flavor and medicinal value. There would be a nice “finishing salt” (such as Selina Naturally’s Hawaiian Makai Pure Sea Salt) on the table to use as you wish. Your body naturally knows how much salt it needs, and when the salt you sprinkle on your food is of excellent quality, you will flourish upon it.

When using sea salt, listen to your intuition and add just enough of this true salt to make your food taste delicious. This means that the flavors will be enhanced, but your food won’t taste “salty.”

Naturally occurring sodium is an important mineral for the adrenals—remember those two little organs that are responsible for much of your energy? They naturally crave the minerals that sea salt provides. While this alone won’t resolve your mineral deficiency, your craving for salt is a “sign” that you need to add many more minerals to your diet and focus on nourishing your adrenals in other ways as well.

But don’t forget the Principle of Balance. If you eat too much salt, you may find that you start to crave expansive sweets, as salt is contracting and your body will always seek balance. Do you remember going to the movies when you were a kid and eating a greasy bag of salty popcorn, then rushing back to the concession stand for a sweet soda to wash it down? If so, then you are already familiar with the body’s built-in urge for balance.

That question is impossible for me to answer because according to the Principle of Uniqueness, your need for salt will be unique for you and will fluctuate. We all require differing amounts of sea salt, so there is no “one size fits all” approach. In the summer you will find you desire less salt, and in the winter you’ll be using more, especially if you live in a cold climate. Our need for salt becomes more and more intuitive as we create a healthier body.

Men need more salt than women, and children need the least of all. Babies don’t require any additional dietary salt during the first two years of life and can obtain their minerals from the foods they’re eating. In fact, too much salt can stunt a baby’s growth. This can be seen in Japan, where high-salt diets before the Second World War contributed to shorter, stockier adults. After the war, milk (a more expansive food because of the fat) was introduced into the diet of Japanese children, and the next generation grew much taller.

When a woman’s body becomes too contracted from a lot of sea salt, she will have extreme cravings for sugary, sweet foods as it attempts to balance itself. This can even affect her temperament and cause mood swings … making her feel uptight and cranky.

A woman should be especially mindful of her salt consumption during her monthly cycle. She should cut way back on the amount of sea salt she eats from the moment she begins to ovulate until the beginning of her period (monthly cleansing). This way her body will relax and easily “open up,” expanding ever so slightly to release the uterine lining. When a woman eats too much sea salt during her monthly cleansing, she can become too contracted, perhaps bringing to a halt this important opportunity to shed the lining and even eliminate toxins. After the lining is shed and her period is over, she can increase her use of sea salt and contracting foods a bit. Doing so helps the ovary contract and release the tiny egg smoothly at ovulation.

Buy the best-quality sea salt available—one that retains the high percentage of minerals, trace elements (including iodine), and nutrients that are inadequately represented in our diets today. Minerals, in particular, balance the sodium and chloride in our bodies, and they can’t be found in traditional refined salt. A plethora of sea salts are available on the market today, but not all are equal. The ones used in Body Ecology recipes are from Selina Naturally (www.selinanaturally.com).

Selina DeLangre, who has followed in the footsteps of her father-in-law, Jacques DeLangre, owns Selina Naturally. More than 30 years ago, Jacques founded the Celtic Sea Salt Company and introduced the original brand of Celtic sea salt to Americans. From his own study of the human biological terrain, Jacques realized that we were consuming the wrong type of salt, not only for flavor but also for optimal health. The premium sel de mer from Brittany, France, was made famous through his efforts, and he established the standards that all other sea salts with that name attempt to duplicate.

The Truth about Sea Salt and Iodine

There are many misconceptions today concerning salt and iodine. As Selina DeLangre puts it, “It is my intention to sprinkle the truth about salt out of our shakers.”

Because of salt’s unfortunate link with hypertension, many people have gone to great lengths to reduce their sodium intake. This has resulted in an iodine-deficient diet. One of the most-often-asked questions about Celtic sea salt and Selina Naturally Hawaiian Makai Pure and Portuguese salts is, “Do they have iodine?”

Selina, who has researched this subject for many years, has been kind enough to share her thoughts:

“Iodine is not salt, and all salt does not have adequate levels of iodine. In other words, you cannot meet your body’s needs for iodine with sea salt alone. You must obtain it from other sources as well. Nor can all salts be measured equally.

“There exists in the public eye (and ear), a huge discrepancy and a confusing conspiracy regarding the facts, probably because the FDA, American Heart Association, and the Surgeon General’s office are all proclaiming to the public that one must reduce sodium/salt intake. This stigma has had a detrimental effect—people assume this also means reducing or completely eliminating all salt from their daily diets.

“The confusion resulting from the various claims is understandable—one source states: ‘Get your iodine from salt,’ while the other states: ‘Reduce your sodium intake.’ Thus, through the elimination of both substances, we’ve neglected to accept the importance of each of these sacred substances and how they define our well-being.

“According to Dr. David Brownstein, author of the book Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It, iodine is a very important nutrient, essential for proper thyroid function and brain development. In addition, he maintains that all glandular tissue, including prostate, breasts, ovaries, and all white blood cells, needs sufficient iodine for optimal health.

“Did you know that only 20 percent of all the salts Americans consume contain this important micronutrient? Did you know that most of the popular ‘designer salts’ usually do not have iodine in them? The type of commercial table salt to which iodine is added is in itself highly toxic!

“Due to the toxicities we are exposed to on a daily basis, such as bromide, fluoride, pesticides, and chlorine derivatives, we require iodine to assist in purging these from our systems. Many ‘iodine-fortified table salts’ fall short of the nutritional-recommended levels required (and found) in the diet—particularly if you tend to follow a diet without ocean fish or sea vegetables, low-sodium diets, strict vegan diets, or if you just generally consume a diet high in bakery products (such as breads/pastas) that contain bromide.

“In order to help purge your body of toxic buildup, you must increase your body’s iodine levels. Be mindful and proactive in helping your body get rid of its toxins. Create more energy so that your body has the strength to detox, drink plenty of water to help move out the toxins, eat antioxidant-rich foods (fermented foods and liquids), take antioxidant supplements like vitamin C, and cleanse your digestive tract with colon therapy. But also consume sea salt, and take an additional iodine supplement. It must be unbleached, unrefined, pure sea salt.”^ⁱ

ⁱInformation on iodine provided by Selina DeLangre in conversation with Donna Gates, March 1, 2010.

Selina Naturally Celtic Sea Salt is unprocessed whole salt from one of the most pristine coastal regions of France, harvested by salt farmers using the same method employed by the ancient Celts more than 2,000 years ago. This farming method preserves the purity and balance of ocean minerals. It also contains no anticaking agents, bleaching agents, or other additives.

With the same dedication and passion as Jacques, Selina has developed an exciting selection of salts from natural sources around the world. They can be purchased in health-food stores or from www.selinanaturally.com. Look for Celtic, Portuguese (a very light and delicious “finishing” salt), and Hawaiian salt; and Organic Herb Blends made with Celtic sea salt. Today, more than 600 medical professionals use and recommend the Selina Naturally brand.

Herbs and spices are a great way to add flavor and medicinal properties to your meals. Organic varieties are widely available now. Body Ecology has always promoted their use as medicinal healing foods; and now research is showing that the phytochemicals in some spices can actually help with inflammatory diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Crohn’s, multiple sclerosis, asthma, arthritis, allergies, Alzheimer’s, psoriasis, and AIDS. Spices mentioned in the studies are ginger, basil, rosemary, garlic, red pepper, cloves, anise, fennel, tumeric, and pomegranate.²

Other great options are bay leaves, chives, coriander, dill, Italian and Mexican seasonings, mustard powder, marjoram, oregano, black pepper, poppy seeds, sage, tarragon, thyme, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

Garlic—Give It a Place of Honor in Your Pantry

Garlic has been around, well, forever! It is noted in 4,000-year-old Sumerian cuneiform records and is depicted on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs. It is mentioned in the Bible as a staple of the wandering tribes of Israel. In America, the early colonists became interested in garlic after they noticed how Native Americans used it to treat everything from intestinal worms to scurvy to snakebite.ⁱ

Chock-full of minerals and nutrients, garlic has powerful antibiotic, antifungal, anticancer, antiparasitic, antioxidant, and antiviral properties. Nearly all cultures attest to its amazing healing potential, and it has been used to treat a wide range of ailments, from athlete’s foot to typhoid. New clinical trials are showing that garlic is effective in preventing cancers of the digestive system, including esophagus, stomach, colon, and rectum.ⁱⁱ

In fact, some people believe garlic should be classified as a drug. If you know someone who eats garlic regularly and rarely gets sick, it may be because of its special ability to heal wounds both on the inside and outside of the body.

Culinary garlic originated in central Asia, but it was transferred to many other cultures. It does not grow wild today, but was one of our first cultivated plants. As far back as the 1st century A.D., Dioscorides, the Greek physician to Emperor Nero’s army, stated that garlic “clears the arteries and opens the mouth of the veins.” Two thousand years later, science confirms that garlic is, indeed, a blood thinner or anticoagulant, and protects against heart disease by lowering blood pressure.ⁱⁱⁱ

Chewing, chopping, or crushing garlic causes a natural ingredient in the plant called alliin to change into the antibiotic substance allicin. When garlic cells are ruptured by cutting, they release an enzyme called allinaise, which chemically changes the inherent alliin into allicin, and is once again being prescribed by doctors as a treatment for colds and bronchitis. Like chili peppers and other hot foods, garlic works by turning on the body’s natural “firefighting faucets” to cool the heat. This prompts the lungs and bronchial tubes to produce more fluids, which in turn thins the mucus and helps flush it out of the body.^iv

In Ayurvedic medicine, garlic is one of the few foods thought to embody five of the six tastes. The only one it lacks is sour … perhaps we should try fermenting it!

ⁱ“Glorious Garlic,” from Optimal Diet website, http://homodiet.netfirms.com/otherssay/letters/garlic.htm, October 4, 2003, adapted from Healing Foods from the Bible, by Bernard Ward (accessed 3/4/10).

ⁱⁱLisa Fayed, “Garlic and Cancer: Can Garlic Prevent Cancer?” http://cancer.about.com/od/prevention/a/preventgarlic.htm, updated May 25, 2006 (accessed 3/4/10).

ⁱⁱⁱChristopher Hobbs, “Garlic: The Pungent Panacea,” 1998, from http://www.christopherhobbs.com/website/library/articles/article_files/garlic_01.html (accessed 3/4/10).

^ivVitamins & Health Supplements Guide website, http://www.vitamins-supplements.org/herbal-supplements/garlic.php (accessed 3/4/10).

• Sea Seasonings Dulse, Dulse with Garlic, Nori with Ginger, and Kelp with Cayenne

Experiment with your favorite herbs and spices as you try various recipes. You can have a new taste experience just about every day as you vary what you cook and how you flavor it.

As you’ve learned from reading thus far, healthy digestion is essential to feeling your best—and fiber goes a long way toward facilitating this process. Fiber feeds healthy microbes and provides bulk so that as food moves through your digestive tract, cleansing is greatly enhanced. Fiber is also very important because it helps the colon to hold water long enough for maximum hydration.

There are two kinds of fiber—soluble and insoluble. Most vegetables are about two-thirds soluble, while fruits are about one-third, so they contain a nice balance of both.

Soluble fiber is fiber that dissolves in water. It can have an almost gelatinous quality, and that’s why it makes you feel full and satiated after consuming it. Soluble fiber slows down the absorption of nutrients in the small intestine and also functions as a food for short-chain fatty acids, such as butyrate, which your cells use as a fuel for keeping the colonocytes (colonic epithelial cells) functioning optimally. These colon cells need to be healthy and strong because they’re being exposed to large amounts of free radicals, as well as microbial by-products and toxins found in semisoft and solid bowel movements that are in close and constant contact with the colonic lining.

Insoluble fiber has great value for digestion. It actually pushes against the muscular receptors of the colon and allows for normal peristalsis. Without enough insoluble fiber, your bowel movement becomes small and hard. The colon has to contract harder to move it. Over time this will predispose people to diverticulosis—small pouches in the lining of the colon or large intestine that bulge outward through weak spots. When these pouches become inflamed, it can result in a condition called diverticulitis, which can lead to bleeding, infections, and small perforations or blockages in the colon.

The other great value of insoluble fiber is that it binds up everything—from fungal toxins to bacteria to heavy metals—that we ingest all the time. The extra bulk in insoluble fiber helps transport these pathogens out in large and healthy bowel movements.

If you’re on a plant-based, high-fiber diet and you’re well hydrated, you should enjoy healthy eliminations all the time. The Body Ecology program is 80 percent plant based, so it offers many good sources of fiber.

Long used by Native Americans in the Southwest for their medicinal and nutritional benefits, chia seeds are rich in omega-3s and omega-6s, calcium, and antioxidants. The soluble fiber in chia seeds is an excellent source of energy and provides a steady release of glucose into the bloodstream. In fact, just one ounce of chia seeds contains 43 percent of your daily fiber! This is great for stamina and strength.

You may be familiar with psyllium or bentonite as a bulking agent for colon cleansing. These substances virtually pull impacted waste material off the colon walls. When using psyllium, it’s crucial to drink a lot of water. Actually, at Body Ecology we try to steer people away from psyllium because it can cause constipation unless you wash it through with at least eight glasses of water per day. We prefer gentler products such as ground flax fiber and EcoBloom (both found in Vitality SuperGreen), along with chia seeds. Plant foods provide the kind of fiber that your body loves best.

Research on flax fiber shows that it protects your colon from cancer and is antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal. The Body Ecology grain-like seeds, soaked and cooked for a long time, porridge-style, also provide excellent stimulation to the intestines, helping to create a really healthy stool.

Chicory inulin (FOS) is another great form of fiber that also acts as a “prebiotic” food for the healthy bacteria in your system. Chicory inulin helps your body remain hydrated. You may see it listed as an ingredient in several products in health-food stores, and Body Ecology has a product that contains it called EcoBloom. FOS also supports your immune system and helps maintain a healthy cholesterol level. Inulin is a good companion with dairy foods and other products that are high in calcium because it assists calcium absorption.

Fiber has been removed from fruit and vegetable juices, flour products, and most processed foods on the market today. Keep this in mind as you plan how you will eat. Choosing foods that are in their natural form, with fiber intact, goes a long way toward achieving and maintaining optimal health.

When you eat the Body Ecology way, oils pressed from olives, nuts, and seeds are used as flavorful toppings to add taste, subtlety, and variety to many dishes.

— Olive oil: Extra-virgin olive oil can be drizzled onto everything on your plate. Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and grain-like seeds all complement this almost sacred oil. Use it generously and watch your skin grow moist with each passing day. It’s an anti-aging miracle.

— Flaxseed oil: Use flaxseed oil in salad dressings and mixed into smoothies or as a dip for veggies and bread. Always buy flaxseed oil from a refrigerator case at your health-food store.

— Pumpkin-seed oil: This delicious oil adds a nutty flavor when drizzled over salads and veggies or stirred into milk kefir.

— Macadamia-nut oil: This is another flavorful alternative to olive oil and has been linked to appetite suppression. Use it as you would any other condiment.

— Walnut oil: Produced in California, famous for growing the world’s best walnuts, this flavorful oil is perfect for salads, pasta, grilled meats, baking, or just on its own with bread. La Tourangelle produces walnut oil following the traditional method of their French parent company in order to achieve a delicate roasted-walnut taste. Walnut oil is rich in select fatty acids that are essential to human health. The French not only use their precious huile de noix as a superb alternative to extra-virgin olive oil for an impressive vinaigrette, but they also love walnut oil over fresh vegetables or drizzled over hard cheeses from the Alps, like comté or emmental. For a unique flavor, try cooking eggs, sautéed chicken, or liver with this exceptional oil. Its rich toasted flavor and incredible nutty aroma will win you over to the point that you will never let your cabinet be without walnut oil again. This oil captures the natural essence and flavor of the nut.

Note: Ideally, avoid cooking with these seed and nut oils, as they are unstable at high heats, become toxic, and their nutritional value is destroyed. As with all oils, store in a cool, dry place (away from the stove!). Flaxseed oil should always be refrigerated (or frozen) to extend its shelf life.

What about Salad Dressing?

A very simple blend of apple-cider vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper is an excellent everyday dressing.

For a change of pace, check out Cindy’s Kitchen (www.cindyskitchen.com), which makes an organic dressing of creamy miso, high-oleic sunflower oil, and extra-virgin olive oil. This is the only Body Ecology–approved dressing on the market so far. A dressing with refined sunflower oil would not have obtained our approval, but this one contains high-oleic sunflower oil, created by crossbreeding the sunflower plant so that the oil in the seed has a higher percentage of monounsaturated (oleic) fatty acids—similar to olive oil. High-oleic sunflower oil is also less susceptible to destruction by oxygen than regular sunflower oil, another beneficial attribute.

— Mustard: Mustard made with apple-cider vinegar makes a sweet and tangy condiment that is a great topping to turkey burgers. Add it as an ingredient in your salad dressing. A quick recipe appears on the next page.

Mustard Sauce

1 Tbsp. Dijon-style mustard

1 tsp. dry mustard 8–10 drops stevia liquid concentrate

1 Tbsp. apple-cider vinegar

½ cup olive oil (or 1/4 cup olive and 1/4 cup flaxseed oil)

½ cup chopped fresh dill, or 1 tsp. dried

Whisk the Dijon, dry mustard, stevia, and vinegar together in a medium-size bowl. Slowly add the oil, continuing to whisk the mixture until it is thick and well blended. Stir in the dill. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

— Mayonnaise, with grapeseed oil: If you’re not into making your own, the only recommended store-bought mayonnaise is from Follow Your Heart. Read the label carefully and choose the one that contains grape-seed oil. (The company has other varieties of mayonnaise.) This egg-free mayo is great for vegans and uses minimally refined grape-seed oil (known for its cholesterol-lowering and antioxidant effects). Mayonnaise, diluted with a little water, makes an excellent salad dressing when combined with roasted pumpkin-seed oil, mustard, dulse flakes, sea salt, and a pinch of cayenne.

So, we are ending our discussion of foods appropriately with a culinary “flourish”! I hope you will enjoy experimenting with the wide variety of delicious condiments available on the Body Ecology anti-aging program.