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The month of May is a great time to go organic. Outdoor Farmers’ Markets are a great place to purchase locally grown organic fruits and vegetables. For many people, going organic may be hard to do especially if the food budget is tight. Why not increase the percentage of organic food in your diet by choosing organic versions of just a few foods that you eat often. This will reduce large changes to your food budget spending.

Strategize your organic purchases. Studies show that commercially-framed fruits and vegetables vary in their levels of pesticide residue. Fruits and vegetables with peels, such as bananas, oranges and avocados, have low levels compared to other fruits and vegetables. Here are a few foods you can buy organic for you and your family:

1. Milk: Many of our children consume large quantities of milk. Avoid the large levels of antibiotics, artificial hormones and pesticides found in conventional milk by switching to organic milk.  

2. Potatoes: Most “American” diets consist of meat and potatoes.  It is known by a U.S.D.A test that 81% of potatoes still contained pesticides after being washed and peeled. Potatoes have one of the highest content of pesticides amongst all the fruits and vegetables.

Romans 12:4-6 reads “For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office: so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another. And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, [let us prophesy] according to the proportion of our faith;” God created us to be diverse in image and gifts. Yet, almost all of us have a hazy image of our body, often due to the significance our culture places on outward appearance and the aggression of media images of airbrushed models and celebrities. On a daily basis, we talk to ourselves in ways we would never speak to another. Imagine speaking to a child the way you speak to yourself about your body. It would destroy and squash a child. It affects you likewise, causing stress and emotional pain in your body, which can make improving your health or losing weight even more complicated. Imagine of all the brainpower, vision and time you use on improving, altering and judging your outward appearance. Who would you be and what could you accomplish if your valuable resources weren’t used this way? Constant emphasis on the external makes us discount the great presence and intelligence that is housed by the body. It makes us forget that we are the glory of his divine workmanship, supernatural power, of our Lord and fail to acknowledge the perfect creation He made us to be. The body you have right now is incredible!

Wow! The holidays are here!! Thanksgiving holiday is upon us and Christmas is around the corner. Who doesn’t feel the pressure of planning - holiday food menus, gift lists, guest lists, etc. This is a season when we begin to amplify activity. We run here and there, and end the day exhausted. I don’t know about you, but over the years, this season has had me full of tasks, and obligations; busyness that have become a way of life. We spend our time doing things we don’t really want to do, yet feel we should. We’ve come to believe that being productive and crossing things off our to-do list is the ultimate goal. We must stop that behavior now!!

The truth is life is a gift from God. Our time here is short and each moment is precious. We must make good use of our time. We must live out a balanced and healthy life. We need to lessen our weight and enhance our relax time. This means simple scheduling less in a day. We must seek God more. The Bible makes it clear in Matthews 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” We must learn to prioritize God and de-prioritizing those things that are hindrances.

God created our bodies with many parts. We refer to the parts as systems. We see in Romans 12:4, 5, the diversity and unity obtained in the body of Christ where the believers are several members, as the systems in the natural body. The systems depend on each other for the whole body to function properly.

Let’s look at our digestive system. It is an enormous complex piece of equipment that keeps our body fueled and functioning. The digestion system works with the nervous, cardiovascular, lymphatic, endocrine, urinary system to move whole food down and out. Digestion starts in our mouths. However, our brain tells our body that food is coming so saliva production starts before food enters. The whole food that we put on our plate must be mashed up – almost liquefied in our mouth in order for it to split up into the parts: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. 

Here are a few practical tips - We must Keep It Super Simple (KISS)- to get in God’s perfect body balance:

-Slow down! Do not eat fast. Taste your food. Chew your food longer to break down into smaller piof vitamins  eces so the body can absorb easier.

- Talk Less and Chew More! Premature swallowing is caused by lack of chewing while talking. This hinders food being broken down into small pieces and affects the absorption of vitamins and minerals.

- Take Care of Your Teeth. Your teeth are used to chew and grind foods in your mouth to be swallowed.