Foods and Herbs for Radiation Protection
I get a lot of questions around the lines of “I’m scared. How do I protect myself from radiation from Fukushima?”
Below is my answer on how we can take a balanced, empowered action-based approach to using diet and herbs to strengthen our bodies and protect against any radioactivity we may be receiving here in North America and beyond.
‘Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.’ ~Michael Pollan
Food and Herbs For Radiation
We don’t need to live in fear, but we can use diet and lifestyle to protect ourselves from what has happened at Fukushima. This also has added benefits such as general health, disease prevention, vitality and well-being (yay!)
To protect against radiation and general toxicity make sure you are eating an organic whole food PLANT based diet (real food. not in a package.). Meat and dairy are at the top of the food chain and accumulate a lot more radiation and other harmful compounds.
Include foods with calcium, potassium and other radioprotective compounds in your diet (spinach, beets, cruciferous veg-broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale-, garlic, ginger, avocadoes, bananas, lentils, carrots, sweet potatoes, miso). Apple pectin also binds to and removes radiation.
Sea vegetables are safe to eat if you are getting them from a tested, non japanese source and contain iodine which protects your thyroid from radiation. Brown seaweeds containing fucoidan are especially great. This is a really good way to protect yourself. There’s lot of research out there about how seaweeds detoxify radiation and render it into harmless compounds. Thank god there’s lots of it in the ocean. Now put some in your body!
Spirulina and Chlorella both protect and heal the body from radiation. These are two HUGE things to consider taking. You can make a green smoothie, drink in juice or water, blend it into salad dressing, or take capsules. These blue-green algaes are also packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The benefits are kind of endless and I won’t go into them all here, but look it up (a good website is natural news), or just trust me.
Other herbs for radiation that have been shown to protect and nourish the body areĀ holy basil, ginseng, nettles, burdock and red clover. Drink them in a tea, take a tincture, or cook with fresh or dried nettles instead of spinach. I’m thinking nettle spanakopita. YUM.
Adapotogens, herbs and food medicines that protect and strengthen your body against a wide variety of stressors are very important here. Ginseng, Maca, Licorice, Holy Basil and Ashwaganda are some examples of adaptogenic herbs and can be found in our Eastern Sun Tea (Nettles, Licorice, Ginseng), Krishna Tea (Holy Basil, Ashwaganda) and Organic Maca Powder.
Drink green teas or Yerba Mate. Antioxidants. Big time. Clean energy. Get naturally decaffeinated if you can’t handle caffeine like this highly sensitive girl.
Medicinal mushrooms like Reishi are huge. “Medicinal mushrooms, in particular Reishi, Chaga and Cordyceps, protect tissues from radiation-related anoxia (oxygen deprivation), oxidative stress and inflammation, while collecting toxic materials from the body. Due to these actions and their critical support of the immune system, these and other medicinal mushrooms can play an important role in protection from radiation exposure. Clinically, medicinal mushrooms are used to prevent tissue damage from radiation therapy, which poses dangers similar to radioactive fallout exposure. (Check out our Chaga Chai Here! ) Finally, it is important to consume a diet high in potassium rich foods and dark leafy greens, bulky fiber and plenty of pure water.” ~sourced from: http://doctornalini.com/
DRINK PURE WATER. Lots. Buy a good filter.
Well I will leave it at that. Hope this inspires you to level up your diet!!
Head over to our store to learn more!
Looking forward to your comments.
Love, Nikki
Harmony Herbals