Eating "an apple a day" will most definitely help keep the cardiologist away. Current studies suggest that eating apples regularly reduces the risk of stroke and chances of dying from a heart attack. Apples lower total cholesterol and triglycerides. It's not clear which compounds are responsible, although flavonoids (which are antioxidants) and fiber are possibilities. Although whole apples have more fiber than juice, both forms probably benefit your heart. 

And as I wrote about in a Blog several months ago,  a healing agent since Biblical times, apple cider vinegar is now known as a superfood by many nutritionists and other health professionals around the globe. It is said that Hippocrates, the Greek “father of medicine," relied on apple cider vinegar as a standard remedy. The current scientific literature and users of apple cider vinegar, which is rich in enzymes and potassium, have corroborated its ability to help in the healing of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, acid reflux, achy joints, allergies, vaginitis/yeast infections, sore throats, and many other conditions.

There’s a difference between the raw, organic, unfiltered and undistilled apple cider vinegar sold primarily in health food stores and the distilled, clear vinegar that turns up on grocery shelves. The latter lacks the “mother of vinegar” — the cloudy sediment that proponents say contains most of the health-promoting enzymes, acetic acid, bacteria, minerals, and other nutrients from the apple, but which lacks “eye-appeal” to the general public. For more information on the many health benefits of apples, my favorite apple cider vinegar drink (SlenderCider.net), and how to use apples to help ripen stone fruit, continue reading.

Take Loving Care of Yourself: Using Sprouts & Raw Foods to Detoxify, Heal & Rebuild Your Body

In this series of articles on the health benefits of sprouts, live foods, and healthy living, you are learning about why sprouts are my all-time favorite superfood and my passion for educating others about their life-giving attributes. I learned about the nutritional benefits of sprouts from my grandmother as a teenager and have also gathered much information from the premier company for all-things-sprouting — HandyPantry.com. Before I highlight some more benefits of sprouts, let's take quick look at how miraculous is the human body and its ability to heal itself, if given to right food and loving care.

What happens when you cut your finger? It heals itself. It's a miracle to me. Sometimes though — due to our carelessness — it festers, becomes infected, and begins to give us pain. Pain is our body's signal to us that it needs help. With a cut finger, the course of action is obvious. Clean it and disinfect it. But what about tiny, invisible "cuts" that we can't see, which are happening inside our bodies all the time? What do we do about subtle messages of pain comiing from them? Too many of us reach for the nearest chemical "pain-reliever," when we could be doing something more — and better. There is a sword stabbing inside our bodies. A sword which is cutting a swath of ill health in millions of Americans and people worldwide.

Our bodies are being damaged inside, invisibly and mercilessly, by toxic chemical reactions. Toxic chemical additives and hazardous wastes in our air, water, and food supplies will continue to pervade our living and working environments. These toxins are returning to us in everything we eat, drink, and breathe. Thankfully, though, much of the internal damage they do heals automatically, like that cut on our finger. However, when our body is not adequately nourished, it can't neutralize and expel these poisons fast enough, as I write about in my booklet/CD combo Detoxify & Rejuvenate: Dr. Susan's Gold-Star Secrets to Beautiful Skin, a Leaner Waistline & Energy to Spare (which you can get as a Bonus Gift when you purchase my new 2-book set Walking on Air and The Joy Factor through the Penn Herb Company numbers at the end of this article). They build up in our body, and so does the invisible damage they do. Toxic build-up can severely damage our immune system. So how do sprouts help heal the body?

Reasons to Grow Sprouts in Your Home

In the last blog, I introduced you to the wonderful world of sprouts. I will continue this blog series on homegrown sprouts and all of their benefits in the hopes that you, too, will catch the passion for growing and consuming more life-giving, nutrient-rich sprouts. Growing and eating sprouts has been one of my greatest passions for decades and I am never without fresh sprouts growing in my kitchen. Besides their nutritional advantage that I wrote about in the previous blog, sprouted seeds, beans, and grains have several other sterling attributes that make them an ideal addition to your regular diet and a prime food source in times of need. Sprouts are economical; ecological; toxin-free; easy to store; low in calories and fat; tasty and versatile; and simple, easy, fast to grow. Below I will write in more detail about all of these categories. I have also devoted an entire chapter (Sprouting Your Way to Vitality) to the wonderful world of sprouts and how to grow them in my full-color recipe and nutrition book Recipes for Health Bliss: Using NatureFoods & Lifestyle Choices to Rejuvenate Your Body & Life. If you are interested in learning more about sprouts, losing weight, looking younger, boosting energy, and preparing healthful, delicious meals the entire family will love, then this celebrated recipe book is perfect for you. It has over 150 color photographs in the book and is beautifully designed — every page — in magnificent color. Louise Hay, world-renowned author and publisher said about this book: "It's the most beautiful health book on the planet."

Check out this YouTube Video of a truck driver who grows wheatgrass and other sprouts in the cab of his truck as he's driving across the country. After seeing this short video, you'll have a better idea of how easy it is to grow sprouts in the comfort of your kitchen and other rooms of your home. Also, here's another interview I did on the wonderful world of growing sprouts, which you can listen to if you click the playbar below:

With all of the media work I do on sprouting-related topics — including radio and TV talk shows — I am always asked where I recommend purchasing supplies. I highly recommend the Handy Pantry Company — the premier source for organic sprouting seeds and supplies such as sprout-growing kits, wheatgrass kits and wheatgrass juicers, microgreen kits, herb kits, and so much more. For more information or to order organic sprouting seeds and other supplies, please visit their website or call them: HandyPantry.com or 1-800-735-0630 (US & Canada) or 801-491-8700 (Intl), both MT.