Food activist Vani Hari tells Nona Walia how everyday food habits can make you live healthy and stay slim

Watch what you bite!

Food activist Vani Hari tells Nona Walia how everyday food habits can make you live healthy and stay slim

    Food activist and blogger Vani Hari wants to change the way the world eats as she takes on big food corporations to serve healthy food. She teaches people how to make the right purchasing decisions at the grocery store, how to live an organic lifestyle, and how to travel healthy. Here are five everyday health tips for better living from her... 

Include more green and natural foods: Eat as close to mother nature as possible, avoid processed foods and consume the most nutrient dense plant-based foods on the planet like dark leafy greens, good fats like coconut oil, nuts, seeds and avocado. Limit alcohol, sweets and conventional industrial meat. Wheatgrass juice is one of the best sources of chlorophyll,which detoxes the body completely. 
 
Start your day with warm lemon water and cayenne pepper: Sprinkle some cayenne pepper (lal mirch) in warm lemon water first thing in the morning and have it on an empty stomach. This ritual provides a super stimulant to the liver, the main detoxing organ in the body. Your liver will release uric acid and create bile to safely eliminate environmental and lifestyle toxins that would otherwise be trapped longer in your digestive system. 

Discover the benefits of green juices: Consuming green drinks is the best way to get greens in your diet. They provide the body with a rich source of chlorophyll on a daily basis. 

When travelling, pack these: Homemade, frozen, organic veggies, homemade hummus. Bring your first meal: hummus sandwiches or yogurt for breakfast. Carry an assortment of raw veggies (think carrots, celery, broccoli). Almonds and raisins can last forever in your suitcase. Carry some organic dates, prunes, unsalted walnuts and unsalted cashews and oats. 

Detox your body at regular intervals: You can actually detox all the time if you eat the right foods. Detoxing isn’t about eating healthy and then eating processed and sugar-filled foods – it’s about making sure your body is getting rid of the daily toxins. Eating and drinking an abundance of high liver stimulating raw vegetables like kale (curly greens), dandelion greens, spinach and beetroot is the best way to daily detox. Dandelion tea is a quick and easy way to stimulate the liver to remove toxins. 

Warning: Consult a specialist before making any changes in your diet 
 
THESE PRODUCTS SHOULD ALWAYS BE ORGANIC Dairy products: Studies have shown organic milk has more antioxidants. Says Vandana Shiva, “Dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, etc. should be consumed in their organic form because, they are free of growth hormones or antibiotics that are given to animals.”  

Meat: Says Ishi Khosla, nutritionist, “Organic animal products are better because the animals are raised in a healthy environment, and fed organic fodder with a wider range of nutrients than those raised in factory farms. The chickens aren’t artificially injected with hormones to fatten up.”  

Dirty dozen produce: Some vegetables and fruits, like apples, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, hot peppers and peaches, are heavily sprayed with chemicals. Says Khosla, “Soak them in water for at least two hours, if you can’t buy organic.”
   
 Tea and coffee: They do not wash tea, so pesticides that cause disease can be brewed right into your cup. Adds Khosla, “Everyday, we consume four to five cups of tea. It’s wise to go organic with your tea and coffee, even if you find it expensive.”  

Dried herbs and spices: Non-organic herbs and spices are irradiated, reducing medicinal quality.  

Chocolate: Organic chocolates are made of cocoa beans that have not been treated with synthetic fertilizers. 

 DON’T MAKE THESE MISTAKES WHILE INCLUDING JUICES IN YOUR DAILY DIET
Drinking juice on a full stomach: Fresh juice should only be consumed on an empty stomach. Drinking juice on an empty stomach allows the vitamins and minerals in the juice to go straight to your bloodstream. A good general rule of thumb to follow is to wait at least two hours after a meal. Waiting too long to drink your green juice: As soon as your freshly made green juice gets exposed to air, its live enzymes begin to degrade, therefore decreasing the nutritional content. Using too many sweet fruits and vegetables in your green juice: Sweet fruits and vegetables like watermelon, apples, pears, and carrots are very nutritious when consumed whole, but if you consume too many of them juiced, the amount of sugar and fructose you are adding to your diet could be over the top. Too much natural sugar can affect insulin levels pretty dramatically. Treating green juice like a meal: Juice isn’t a meal replacement, rather it is a meal enhancer or snack.