Category: Food

The Second Brain

12/6/2021

It has been said in many publications that the intestines and the brain are deeply connected. The fuel we take in (food) can directly affect our overall health. Many youth feel that they are invincible. They are young, they have lots of energy, they are slimmer than their parents, and their metabolism is really fast. I know from being a parent that my kids can indulge in junk food and be fine the next day, whereas I will feel sluggish, bloated, and have more phlegm in my throat. Sometimes I will get a headache. As a mama and a researcher, I feel obligated to explain the gut-brain connection.

Food intake can send signals to the brain, and sometimes the brain sends information to the intestines before the food is even eaten. Our emotional state can send chemicals to the stomach and intestines, causing butterflies or pain, nausea or elation. This is especially true in cases where a person experiences gastrointestinal upset with no obvious physical cause. It is difficult to try to heal a distressed gut without considering the role of stress and emotion.

If you are suffering from gastrointestinal upsets regularly, try these tips, but always reach out to your health practitioner.

Address anxiety with mindfulness and meditation. There are plenty of free classes and apps on the internet.
Slow down your scheduling. We humans tend to be on the run all of the time, overscheduling activities, afraid to miss out on something. It is ok to say no.
Practice just a few minutes of slow stretching or yoga daily. The asanas (poses) in every type of yoga are meant to marry the mind, body, and breath. The breath we can control, unlike a lot of automatic functions in the body like the heart beating and the blood flowing through the veins.
Eat healthy! It really is a simple answer, yet we get tempted by so many media ads and discounts from fast food chains, junk food being on shelves at eye level, and impulse shopping when we are hungry...

Blessings,
KJ Landis

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Whole Food Protein vs Protein Supplements

9/21/2014

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There is a great variety of protein sources available these days. We can eat animals, plants, or a derivative of these in powders, bars, and shakes.

When we are in a hurry or do not have the time to cook and pack good protein snacks, it is perfectly ok to bring a can of sugar free protein drink. The bars without sugar and artificial flavors are good too. I love Quest protein bars for their flavor profiles and protein content per gram. We can add gelatin powder to almost any soup, stew, or smoothie for the collagen and protein benefits.

By far, the protein sources that are the most natural to humans come from animals. There is a complete protein source with all the essential amino acids when it comes from animals. Some plants, like hemp, have a high rate of bio-availability to the body. That means the body can absorb and use the protein hemp provides.

Really, it comes down to flavor. I have bought and tasted all sorts of yucky protein bars and powders. I have spent lots of money on healthful, organic, grass fed, nasty tasting stuff. When choosing, go with what you usually like, in terms of flavor. If you don't like peanut butter, don't choose peanut butter chocolate protein bars. You will be disappointed, no matter how many great ingredients are inside.

The highest portion of your protein consumption should come from land and sea animals, grass fed and wild caught, of course! Happy eating!

Comment, leave your email for upcoming events, let's chat!

Blessings,
KJ Landis

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Food Affecting Age Related Disorders

9/8/2014

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FOOD AFFECTING AGE RELATED DISORDERS

As I write this, I am feeling a whirlwind of emotions: Angry that I didn't know enough of the correct scientific data about nutrition earlier on in my life, grateful that my mama made it to 87 years old so far, selfish that I want to have her around for a few more decades, happy that I figured out how to heal my own broken metabolism so that I may live longer with full vitality, and sad that my mama doesn't live closer to me so that I could perform a full nutritional healing of her conditions.

Growing up, we five children had lots of homemade foods, with recipes handed down for generations from Russia, Hungary, Rumania, Moldovia, China, Spain, Israel, and England. Add to that the newly created convenience foods of the 1970s and 1980s, and we thought we were eating well,growing stronger, and living healthier. The abundance of cheap and convenient foods, manufactured industrial vegetable oils, processed packaged, canned items were adding to our health problems. This was just the opposite of the promises the USDA, FDA, and AMA made to us as they marketed these items to the world.

It is my belief that the canned foods and horrible oils my parents ate for decades, and cooked in aluminum pots and pans, were large contributors to their age related disorders.

My papa is almost 93. He lives in a wheelchair in a nursing home. He has had memory loss for decades. His dementia is so severe that when I call him on the phone, he thinks the phone is a chocolate bar and the nurses have to take it away from him. I finally was able to catch him awake on the phone for the first time in almost a year and he didn't really know who I was. I kept saying my name and spoke of the moments we had together during my life and his, but he really was not present. I kept saying, "I love you." Two times in an hour-long one-sided conversation, he replied, "I love you, honey." I knew that spark was him, truly him, for that moment. Or maybe he was just repeating what I said. Either way, it made me well up with tears of bittersweet energy.

My mama has rapidly declined in her memory recently. She cannot make sense of digits or instructions. She thinks that she must pay the government back her social security check and she is worried "they" will take her away if she doesn't give it back. Her memory loss creates her to not remember which of her medications she has taken or not, so many days she will overmedicate. Then that creates her to sleep about 20 hours, not eat or drink water, and the vicious circle of health decline continues.

Since they are so aged, what would the quality of their life have been if they had been eating only grass fed, grass finished meats, wild caught fish, healthy dietary fats, and non-GMO green leafy vegetables? What if Twinkies, Ho Hos, Fanta, Coke, TV dinners, bagels, and other highly processed foods were not part of their lives? Maybe at this age they would have been still thriving instead of surviving on a thread of the majestic tapestry they once were. Hindsight is always 20/20.

My dear readers, this makes me even more passionate about helping others reach their superior health state. Eat well, and we can fix the insides. Then the outsides pretty much take care of themselves. We will look better because we will feel great, and we will have the energy and health markers to prove it. That being said, we still may get hit by a bus when crossing the street to put the letter in the mailbox.

So, before you leave the house, say I love you to everybody there. Before you go to sleep, say I love you to everybody there. Life is a huge challenge, and nobody gets out alive. Spread love and joy like splatter paint wherever you go, so that when you do go, the world is painted with your essential colors.

Blessings,
KJ Landis

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Organic vs Non-Organic Foods

8/31/2014

6 Comments

Sometimes we just cannot afford organic produce and meats. I get it, I totally do. I am a server in a restaurant relying on the generous tips to provide for my family's needs.

When we are making changes from processed, refined foods to a more natural and healthy eating protocol, keep in mind that the best quality food that you can afford is what counts. You do not have to give up your goals if you cannot buy butter that is raw, organic, and $18.99 for a tub. It is far healthier to buy veggies, fruits, meats, and seafood within your budget, than the former Standard American Diet.

So, we can let go of the guilt that we cannot afford all organic all the time. There are many farmers who grow organic and sell at farmers markets, but they cannot afford the organic stamp on their products. Ask around the next time you go to a farmers market.

Make small steps. Perhaps the focus for your shopping will be non-GMO foods. When we stop buying packaged, processed, refined foods, we may find ourselves with more money to buy some things organic. After all, when cereal is $5.00 or more a box, and it lasts less than a week, we can see how processed food costs can add up very quickly, even if we buy in bulk.

Swap out unhealthy oils for one healthy oil. For example, stop buying peanut oil, canola oil, soy oil, corn oil, regular butter, etc. Then replace those with one super food, like coconut oil. Coconut oil has medium chain triglycerides for fuel (and fat burning!), can handle high heat, mixes well with vinegar for dressings, and is very inexpensive, even at the raw, organic level. That's one oil replacing many, therefore saving you money in the long run.

Sit down for a minute and list five types of foods that you want to swap out. Research local grocery stores, food co-ops, and the internet for cheaper, but healthier alternatives. Believe me, if I can do this on a server's salary, then anyone can do this!

Write to me! Tell me one thing that you did to shift into a more healthy lifestyle, and how long it has been assisting you on your journey.

Blessings,
KJ Landis

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IODINE THERAPY

8/17/2014

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Iodine therapy... I have been reading up on thyroid hormone output , menopause, slow metabolism , etc.

My symptoms of menopause have been the usual plus I'm usually cold in the wrists and hands.

Experiment has been successful! I used Lugol's 5% liquid iodine in water twice a day. I drink it up. I think the hot yoga helped too. I'm not cold anymore, my sleep is deeper, my dreams are better, and I'm less fatigued. Iodine is linked to balancing hormones and the effects that has on the body's systems .

Everybody is unique in their mineral needs. Please tweak any experiment to your individual body to see what makes you feel great and perform at your superior self!

Also, read and research the minerals, vitamins, and herbs that we receive from food to heal us rather than always blindly popping a pill. food for thought...

Blessings!
KJ Landis

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DID PALEOLOITHIC MAN HAVE ALLERGIES?

7/28/2014

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So, I was jogging yesterday, and my inspirations and questions to the universe get pretty deep when I jog. I breathe in and out deeply, I feel my heart beat, and I am zapped with bright ideas! The bright idea I thought about was whether or not our caveman ancestors had allergies or food sensitivities. I think the body is physiologically designed for survival. Therefore the body probably had no allergies way back in the olden times, otherwise our species could not survive. I think they ate the most nutritious fresh food possible, because there was no alternatives. There was no fast food, grocery stores, pollution, gases, radiation, cities, etc. to muddle things up. They weren't spending hours on end soaking beans and grains for further processing. I think that allergies and food sensitivities are a relatively recent phenomenon. What do you think? Did we create our own set of allergic and sensitivity problems? Please let me know and join the conversation.

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Superior Self's Fast Start Guide to Wellness From Within

4/21/2014

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You are welcome here! Some folks are not ready to make a drastic change all at once, so I have developed slower, smaller shifts in the dietary behavior that one makes with 100% commitment.

The plan for you is week by week. If this is still too fast, then change week 1 to month one, etc. Add the next week's shift to the one already in place. By the end of the program, you will feel great and look great, so that you may have more energy to do more and serve humanity more. It really is a win-win situation.

I suggest:

Week 1, increase water to a gallon a day.
Week 2, give up all wheat products and still drink a gallon of water a day. Week 3, give up all grains and still drink a gallon of water a day.
Week 4, reduce fruits to 1-2 times a day, always keeping previous changes.
Week 5, reduce fruits to 1-2 servings a week.
Week 6, change your oils to only healthy fats I mentioned in Superior Self with KJ Landis posts.
Week 7, no more added sugar, in any form: no honey or agave or date sugar, etc. Buy Lakanto or XYLA on amazon or Whole Foods.
Week 8, purchase raw dairy and pastured eggs if you regularly consume them.
Week 9, give up beans and legumes.
Week 10, write to me and share your experience! I know you can do this.
superiorselfwithkjlandis.com
Superior Self with KJ Landis on Facebook
kjlinsf@hotmail.com
SuperiorSelf on YouTube

In all of the weeks (or months), pay particular attention to how you feel rather than how you look. Sometimes flu and cold symptoms, headaches, and general fatigue may plague you. You may suffer acne or a rash for a little while. These are symptoms of the body detoxifying as it gets used to the cleaner fuel you are providing it with. Fear not, and keep moving forward with the process. Moving toward superior health can spur us on to our true superior self. Just think about how clear, attentive, helpful, and generous we can be to others we love when we have taken care of our own essential biochemical needs.

Practice, practice, practice. Eventually your eating choices and preparation of meals will shift to a healthier format and it will become easier. For me, it has not yet become entirely easy. It requires becoming present and conscious at each meal. remember that you do not have to feel alone. Surround yourself with like minded individuals. Seek out thought provoking materials to stimulate your journey and spark continued interest in your superior self.

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FREE Wellness Workshop Proposal San Francisco Area!!

4/14/2014

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SUPERIOR SELF WITH KJ LANDIS WORKSHOP PROPOSAL

Greetings! My name is KJ LANDIS and I host a blog on Facebook called Superior Self with KJ Landis. Superior Self is a pathway for folks to reach superior health in order to find their Superior Self. It takes work of the mind, body, and spirit. This is my first attempt at creating a website and blog, so bear with me. My website is also called superiorselfwithkjlandis.com.

I provide scientific information and spiritual hope to those suffering in health and wellness. I include anecdotal evidence as well as practical tools to help people get started without overwhelming them with too much information.

I lost 50 pounds in 60 days in 2012 and have kept it off. When my family and friends witnessed the rapidly melting of fat right off my body, the calls came pouring in for help. How could I say no? I am coaching people all over the world to find their superior selves. It is FREE and if somebody wants to have me coach them 24/7 in San Francisco, then I charge a nominal fee.

I research daily all things health and wellness married to spirituality and inner strength. My passion to reach a large audience even prodded me into writing a book, soon to be published.

My life has been blessed and I desire to share the blessings by providing a FREE workshop to your community.
We will wake up to our possibilities by having me talk a little, play an interactive game, and I will leave the participants with a few handouts. The FREE workshop takes about an hour to complete.

Please contact me if I may be of further assistance. To your health!
Blessings,
KJ LANDIS
Superior Self with KJ Landis
on Facebook
superiorselfwithkjlandis.com
kjlinsf@hotmail.com
(415)572-5550

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Happy?

4/8/2014

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What are some common things we see and feel when we are around happy people? I see and feel their intangible but very real radiant energy. It feeds me a little bit and I'm hungry for more.

Likewise, when we eat nutrient dense foods and move our bodies, we gain energy and begin to shift our world a little into a more positive space. Then we become the person with energy, energy, energy! The more energy we have, the more we have to give. Isn't that great? Share your thoughts on this.
Blessings,
KJ Landis
Superior Self with KJ Landis on Facebook
superiorselfwithkjlandis.com

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The Second Brain

Whole Food Protein vs Protein Supplements

Food Affecting Age Related Disorders

Organic vs Non-Organic Foods

IODINE THERAPY

DID PALEOLOITHIC MAN HAVE ALLERGIES?

Superior Self's Fast Start Guide to Wellness From Within

FREE Wellness Workshop Proposal San Francisco Area!!

Happy?

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