With Cinco de Mayo, Mexican Cuisine comes to mind! In the United States Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage and I want to highlight how to navigate your shopping to find healthy Mexican cuisine.
When I think of Mexican cuisine, the first three foods that come to mind are hot peppers, cilantro, and corn. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love heat – finding healthy and creative ways to spice up our meals has become my specialty. There is no bland food that a little cayenne can’t fix!!
Hot Peppers
Did you know that hot peppers actually stimulate a stagnant liver?
Some of my favorite hot peppers are cayenne, habanero, jalapeno, poblano, bird’s eye, and super chili. These peppers have incredible healing properties as they contain dozens of phytochemical compounds that are helpful for the liver. For example, the compound capsaicin enables the liver to heat itself without negative effects. The liver welcomes the heat that is initiated by hot peppers because it helps to create a reset.
How does this liver reset occur?
A liver reset occurs when heat is initiated by capsaicin instantly throughout the liver. This influx of fresh blood helps the liver fight inflammation caused by toxins and pathogens.
I use cayenne pepper on just about everything. Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but truly I use it a LOT.
Cayenne pepper is excellent for flu’s, bronchitis, and any viral condition because it is high in vitamin C. It is also excellent for heart health because it boosts circulation which increases cardiovascular ability, while regulating blood pressure. Furthermore, cayenne helps the body create hydrochloric acid (HCL) in the stomach. Equally important, cayenne can help stimulate peristaltic action, and help rebuild stomach tissue, when taken with meals.
Cilantro
Another incredible healing food used frequently in Mexican cuisine is cilantro. This herb is a powerhouse of healing, particularly when it comes to toxic heavy metals. The living water found in the stems and leaves of cilantro has an amazing detox effect in the brain. It is able to travel past the blood-brain barrier because of this magical living water, filled with minerals such as sodium, potassium, and chloride. Cilantro removes the heavy metal toxicity in the brain, making it possible for neurons to fire on all cylinders.
Cilantro also removes heavy metals from other parts of the body as well, including the liver. In addition, cilantro is one of the best adrenal supporting herbs, it helps balance blood sugar, AND helps to fight weight gain.
“And just when you thought cilantro had enough fare and flash, it’s also antiviral – cilantro helps keep down levels of the Epstein-Barr virus, shingles, HHV-6, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and other herpetic viruses in all their various forms, as well as HIV.”
Anthony William, Life Changing Foods
Hot peppers and cilantro are truly impressive healing foods (check out this recipe that pairs hot peppers and cilantro together beautifully: my Pomegranate Guacamole). There is one staple of Mexican cuisine, however, that is harmful. This ingredient is corn. Unfortunately, corn is used in so many products these days.
Corn
What makes corn so harmful?
Today’s corn has been genetically modified (GMO) to a very large extent. About 85% – 90% of all corn production in the USA is of GMO corn. Viruses and bacteria that make us sick were raised on this GMO corn. Therefore, if we eat corn or any foods made with corn, we can cause our feed the viruses in our body.
Genetically modified foods contain aggressive toxins that entered our food supply in the 1970’s. GMO corn is actually designed to produce its own pesticide that is 1000 times more pesticide than that which is sprayed on the corn.
The pathogens inside our body are so used to feeding off GMO corn, that if you were to eat a good organic ear of corn, the pathogens will not recognize that it is organic because they are only trained to recognize corn as a food source, they now recognize any corn, not just GMO.
To learn more about the dangers of GMO’s, check out my Masterclass:
As a fan of Cinco de Mayo & Mexican cuisine, I am always on the lookout for healthy alternatives to corn chips, tortillas, etc that are often at the heart of my favorite Mexican dishes. Check out my Amazon Store where I have many options for healthy alternatives to all sorts of food items that typically use processed corn.
¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
To your health & happiness,
Muneeza
