A Vegetarian Travel Guide™ Exclusive Article The Natural Approach to Optimal Beauty by Angeliéa Delate

Having been a vegetarian and a customer in health food stores for over 25 years has given me an abundance of information I'd like to share with you. The most pertinent piece of knowledge is to understand the maxim: "You are what you eat." So, to begin with that basic truth, one must start by feeding oneself healthy, organic foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, sea vegetables and grains. After many years of experimenting, I have found that optimal health requires at least 65-70% of your foods be eaten daily in raw, uncooked form. Your body easily accepts the life force found in plant foods and effortlessly assimilates the fragile phyto-chemicals, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other as yet underdiscovered nutrients that feed and nourish your entire system.

In addition to eating a well-balanced natural food diet, you can use supplements such as organic, cold-pressed flax seed, wheat germ and primrose oils. These edible oils are loaded with the richest known sources of essential fatty acids such as Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), and Linoleic acid (LA). In addition, these oils have high amounts of naturally occurring vitamins A & E. These oils are the "good" fats necessary for giving your skin it's vibrant glow.

If you have been diagnosed or suspect that you have candidiasis, a proliferation and overgrowth of candida organisms in the gastrointestinal tract and the body, you should avoid sweets including sweet fruits, and "yeasty" and fermented foods such as breads, crackers, cookies, baked goods, soy sauce, pickles, and alcohol beverages. Candidiasis can make one feel disoriented, weak, "spacy," and based on the severity, makes it difficult to carry out ones daily activities. Nowadays, there are many "non-yeast" substitute products on the shelves today. Great non-fermented substitutes for soy sauce are Jensen's Vegetable Broth and Bragg's Liquid Aminos, which will give your food a salty flavor.

Dairy foods are extremely clogging to many of the major systems in the body (circulatory, digestive, etc.), and many experts and health-conscious individuals including myself, have found them to be a major contributing factor to colds, flus and other illnesses. Overeating high-fat foods such as cheese, ice cream, sour cream, butter, milk, etc., has been linked to the major degenerative diseases of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, among others. This too is avoidable, as there are myriad and sundry delicious assortments of "non-dairy" substitutes of soy and rice that taste as good as, if not better than the real thing. I have not had a cold in decades because there is no need to eat dairy when new and exciting alternative products are continually being offered in todays ever growing marketplace.

A wonderful adjunct and boost to your diet is the ingestion of some type of pure "green" food in the form of algae, chlorella, wheat grass, spirulina, barley greens, etc. I personally have been taking blue-green algae from Klamath lake and Hawaiian-grown spirulina for many years and I believe that this has contributed to a stronger immune system for myself and others. These foods can be mixed in yummy smoothies, swallowed in pill or capsule form, or sprinkled over salads, greens, or fresh fruit. These easily assimilated foods are not like taking man-made vitamins, which can act like drugs and throw off your body chemistry.

To enhance proper digestion, especially if you're not eating enough fresh produce, I suggest supplementing you diet with pro-biotic friendly bacteria cultures such as acidophilus, bifidus, as well as plant enzymes and perhaps Swedish bitters. This will help bring the intestinal flora into a healthy balance.

It is important to take in enough fluids, because you may be dehydrated without realizing it. Dehydration can be lead to fainting, low blood-pressure, and fatigue. All bodily functions depend on sufficient water intake. Drinking plenty of water and fluids is vital, as it enhances the efficiency of your organs.

My advice for an optimal healthy flowing body is to keep it all very simple. Eat only pure, organic essential foods and eat only when you're truly hungry. And then expect to live to 120 years, if you so desire!