Category: Healthy Eating Habits

The Amazing Process of Digestion

Part of eating mindfully involves understanding how your body digests food. Once you grasp this, it brings a whole new awareness. It’s essential to fully comprehend what the food you eat, and the way you eat it, does to your body. While you might think digestion is a boring subject, gaining knowledge about it is important to change your relationship with food for the better, and achieve optimal health.

So what is digestion?  It is simply the breakdown of large food molecules into small food molecules that are more easily absorbed into the blood stream.

How to Improve Your Digestion

Every step in the digestion process requires energy. The more energy you use to digest food, the less energy you will have available to do all the other things you need your body to do, such as healing and regenerating itself. In her book Body Ecology, nutritionist Donna Gates recommends following the 80/20 principle. Basically, you eat until you are 80 percent full and leave 20 percent of your stomach empty to allow for proper digestion.

You can also help your digestive system by doing the following:

  • Drink a good supply of the right kind of water daily.
  • Eat a good balanced diet with the right mix of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, high fiber foods, and a healthy supply of vitamins and minerals.
  • Chew your food until it is liquefied. This is very important.
  • Enjoy your food. Eat slowly and mindfully.
  • Avoid stressful eating. If you are overstressed, your body is so busy dealing with your stress that it has no time to deal with digestion or absorption of nutrients. You can stress or digest; you cannot do both.
  • Do not overeat. This is less likely to happen if you slow down your eating.
  • Avoid exposure to artificial food additives, colorings, and preservatives.
  • Take a digestive enzyme supplement with your meals to boost your digestive juices and alleviate all the typical digestive problems. Digestive enzymes are produced naturally by your body; however, these enzymes often become depleted, particularly if you are older.
  • Drink a glass of water while you are cooking to stimulate your digestives juices. Do not drink while you are eating your meal as it can dilute your digestive enzymes that need to be emulsified while you chew.
  • Try adding a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to four ounces of water fifteen minutes before you eat a meal to increase the production of hydrochloric acid which is necessary to break down protein in the gut and may aid cellular absorption of glucose.

Digestive Aids

Probiotics

Probiotics are live microorganisms that help fight bad bugs in your gut, improve intestinal health, and are important to any discussion about digestion. There are many different strains of  these beneficial organisms that reduce the risk of infection by conquering dangerous organisms and suppressing inflammation. Probiotics promote the function of the intestinal inner lining to act as a barrier to potentially dangerous organisms and chemicals. Many problems can arise if the organisms in your gut are not balanced, including inflammatory bowel disease, heart disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, asthma, allergic disorders, and even obesity. Pollution, stress, overuse of antibiotics, and the simple fact of aging all assist in the breakdown of a healthy gut. Probiotics can help restore the balance and treat lactose intolerance, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel diseases, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Tracy Piper is a cleanse and internal fitness expert to many celebrities and offers her insider’s secrets in her book The Piper Protocol. A fabulous read that includes the best guide I‘ve ever seen on probiotics. Tracy believes that “the more species of probiotics you take, the better,” and it’s a good idea to rotate them. She points out that “there are also a broad number of species and strains that do specific things in the body so you can customize your probiotic supplements.” You really need to purchase Tracy’s book to get the full list along with a lot of really interesting information. Tracy offers a few other great tips on probiotics:

  • Look for a list that outlines the genus, species, strain, and the number of probiotics; fifty billion is ideal. Avoid if you see “proprietary blend” or “synthetic” enteric coating.
  • For best results, take probiotics every day, ideally on an empty stomach first thing in the morning.
  • Your mouth has more bacteria than anywhere else, so break open a capsule, mix with a little water and swish between your teeth and into your gums on a daily basis.
  • To increase your strength and muscle mass, take an additional probiotic with your protein. It will enhance protein utilization.
  • For better preservation, all probiotics should be refrigerated even if they say no refrigeration and keep out of extreme heat.
  • You can take probiotics as often as three times per day.
  • Fermented foods were around long before probiotic supplements ever arrived on the scene and are excellent. Ideally you want to find brands with no added sugar, coloring, bindings or too much salt. This is covered more full in the “Fermented Foods” section of The Power of Healthy Living.

Enzymes

Like probiotics, enzymes are important to digestion and are either produced by your body or introduced to your body through the food you eat. Enzymes break down food to absorb the available nutrients. You can be eating a perfectly healthy diet, but if your body does not have enzymes, your body is not equipped to absorb all the goodness from the food. According to Tracy Piper, enzymes also metabolically “repair and digest unwanted debris in the blood and body, like bacteria, cellular debris and viruses.” If this is not happening, you can get sick and feel older and less energetic. Avoiding stress, living a healthy lifestyle, eating the best enzyme-rich foods, and taking good-quality supplements will keep an abundant supply of  enzymes in your body. Fresh, whole, raw, sprouted, fermented food that is still alive will have the most plentiful supplies of enzymes. The closer to nature the food is, the better. Cooked, processed, or dead food is devoid of enzymes. If eating too much raw food is a real chore for you, try juicing and blending to incorporate enzymes into your diet.

There are many different enzymes that are necessary for breaking down food. They fall into three major food groups: lipase for fat, amylase for carbohydrates, and protease for protein. Your body should produce these enzymes naturally; however, this unfortunately doesn’t always happen, often because of not properly chewing your food or eating too much processed food. Getting older also lessens your body’s ability to produce enzymes for the simple reason that your body does not function as well. Finally, a diet that is not properly balanced with sufficient supplies of vitamins and minerals can hamper your body’s ability to produce adequate enzymes. Changing all of these habits may still provide an inadequate supply of enzymes. I try to remember to take digestive enzymes right before each meal. If I’m going to make the effort to eat the perfect food, I want to make sure my body is getting maximum benefits from the nutrients.

For more detailed information on Digestion, pick up your copy of the Recipes for Life Boxed Set.

Access your complementary recipe here.

 

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.
Sign up for their health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

Organic Vs. Non-Organic

How many times have you heard that organic foods do not contain more nutrients than non-organic foods? So why bother paying all that extra money for organic? Well, putting aside the nutritional component of organic produce for a moment, the chemicals and pesticides you are eating when you ingest non-organic foods have been associated with cancer, nervous system disorders, and other serious health problems.  We appreciate TV host, speaker, chef, author, Andrea Beaman’s take on it.  She says these chemicals kill bugs and the only difference between bugs and us is size.  Eventually they’ll kill us too.

Are you still wondering, “why bother?”now?!

Best organic choices:

Here is a list of the foods most likely affected by pesticides:
(originally referred to as the “Dirty Dozen” but now there are more than a dozen!)

  • Green Beans
  • Leafy Greens (kale, collard greens)
  • Potatoes
  • Blueberries
  • Cucumbers
  • Lettuce
  • Spinach
  • Grapes
  • Nectarines
  • Strawberries
  • Peaches
  • Red Peppers
  • Celery
  • Apples (THE WORST!)
  • Teas and Spices

What you can get away with:

These “Clean Fifteen” foods are those, least likely, to hold pesticide residues:

  • Asparagus
  • Avocado
  • Cabbage
  • Cantaloupe (domestic)
  • Eggplant
  • Grapefruit
  • Kiwi
  • Mangoes
  • Mushrooms
  • Onions
  • Pineapple
  • Sweet Corn
  • Sweet Peas
  • Sweet Potato
  • Watermelon

How to avoid toxins all together?

To avoid toxins and pesticides, the best of all bests is to plant your own garden if you have the time and space. If this isn’t possible, the next best option is to buy organic and in season from local farmers. If this is out of the question financially, buy as much organic as you can, keeping the Dirty Dozen in mind; and check out the section on “Detoxification” in our latest book The Power of Healthy Living. You’ll find there are many ways to help eliminate some of these toxins from your body.

Researchers have started tracking the nutrient components of organic versus non-organic produce, and the findings weigh very heavily in favor of organic. For example, tests show that organic tomatoes have as much as 55 percent more vitamin C than non-organic tomatoes. In 2005 a team of Newcastle University researchers found that organically produced food had higher levels of specific antioxidants and lower mycotoxin levels than conventional samples. The study found organic crops are up to 60 percent higher in a number of key antioxidants than conventionally grown ones. Professor Carlos Leifert, lead author of the study, said in the October 2014 issue of What Doctors Don’t Tell You, there are “statistically significant meaningful” differences between organic and standard produce, with organic having from 19 to 69 percent more antioxidants. One other study showed substantially higher levels of minerals.

Organic is not only better for your body, it’s also much better for your planet. Studies have shown that organic farming uses less energy, less water, and no chemicals. That means less erosion, maintained soil quality, and more conserved biological resources. As well, new reports show that current yields from some organic crops are exceeding those of non-organic crops.

For more detailed information on Organic Eating, pick up your copy of the Recipes for Life Boxed Set.

Access your complementary recipe here.

 

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.
Sign up for their health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

Genetically Modified Foods

Right now in the United States, about 60% to 70% of the foods on our grocery store shelves contain GMOs, and there is absolutely no labeling to indicate this. As a result, we cannot always be certain whether the foods we are consuming are GMO or not, and the number of GMO foods is growing. This is absolute craziness.

The affects of GMOs

Animal studies on the effects of GMO foods have revealed all kinds of issues, including infertility problems, immune system complications, accelerated aging, insulin issues, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. Most of this research is funded by industries with a vested interest in finding no negative effects, so outcomes are always in their favor! And there have be no studies done on the long-term effects …

The Non-GMO Project is a nonprofit organization committed to preserving and building the non-GMO food supply, educating consumers, and providing verified non-GMO choices. Here is their response when asked if GMOs are safe:

“Most developed nations do not consider GMOs to be safe. In more than 60 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs. In the U.S., the government has approved GMOs based on studies conducted by the same corporations that created them and profit from their sale. Increasingly, Americans are taking matters into their own hands and choosing to opt out of the GMO experiment.”

There are positive steps you can take to avoid GMOs and it starts by buying organic foods that contain the 100 percent USDA certified organic label.  GMOs are not permitted in organic products. If you cannot afford organic, then look for Non GMO Project seals. Buying local is also a great way to avoid GMOs; ask questions of your vendors about the lifecycle of the product and the philosophy of the producer.

Organic or Non-GMO?

Max Goldberg is one of the nation’s leading organic food experts and keeps us well informed on his website. Some of his readers tend to confuse the terms organic and non-GMO. So here’s the deal: non-GMO is not better than organic. Look for 100 percent USDA certified organic because all organic food should be non-GMO. Non-GMO is always second best to organic. If the product you want to purchase comes in a box, a can, or a jar, read the labels and check every single ingredient.

Here are some at-risk ingredients to avoid because they are probably genetically modified:

  • Beet sugar
  • Canola rapeseed
  • Corn ingredients and products
  • Cottonseed oil
  • Soy ingredients
  • Papaya
  • Peas
  • Potatoes
  • Rice
  • Yellow squash
  • Tomatoes
  • Zucchini

Actions you can take to ensure a non-GMO future for food production:

  • Stop buying GMO and processed foods. In the 2014 documentary Origins David Wolfe suggests you “vote with your money.” If you stop buying processed foods, there will be no market for them.
  • Get involved. Insist that your governments conduct their own studies on the safety of GMOs rather than relying on studies conducted by biotech companies who are only in it for the money. 
  • In April of 2014, Vermont was successful in passing a no-GMO bill, yet the very next month, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) confirmed it would sue in an attempt to overturn the bill. Jackson County in Oregon is the only other state that has had some success in banning the growth of GMO crops.
  • Stop supporting junk food restaurants. We were delighted to read that McDonalds reported a 30% drop in revenues for 2015 and is closing 700 locations. We’re sure it’s because of these revenue drops that McDonalds announced that they will be launching their first organic hamburger in Germany. Yay! If we continue to send the McDonalds’ of the world the message that we don’t want to eat unhealthy food, they will be forced to incorporate new, healthier, affordable choices into their menus if they want to survive.
  • Ban these brands from your grocery cart:
    • Pepsi Cola
    • Nestle
    • Kraft
    • General Mills
    • Naked Juice
    • Gerber
    • Organic Boca Burgers
    • Cascadian Farms
    • Simply Frito-Lay

You can be proactive. Even if all you do is a sign a petition, it’s a great place to start. And please, let your governments know that what they are doing to our food supply is totally unacceptable. Make them accountable by asking them why they subsidize junk food, making it so affordable yet not organic food?

More Resources

For more detailed information on GMOs in your food, pick up your copy of the Recipes for Life Boxed Set.

Access your complementary recipe here.

 

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.
Sign up for their health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

Food Identity Theft

Are you mindful and intentional about your daily eating plan? Most people live on autopilot and don’t even think about what they will snack on during the day. Even the healthiest people can get sidetracked by spontaneous decisions in all aspects of life. Eating is certainly one of them. When it comes to the foods you choose, you have to be focused on planning and preparation in order to make the right choices. Be intentional. Be mindful that the foods you eat and the way you eat them are part of an entire ecosystem of health, from the health of your planet to the health of each person on it.

A great place to start is to encourage food producers to abandon their deceptive practices and focus on supplying healthy, organic foods that are not genetically modified, mislabeled, or misrepresented. We don’t want to dishearten you; we simply want to make you aware of how the decisions about what you eat can contribute to a more positive, mindful future for our planet.

So many foods have suffered from identity theft. News stations are reporting more and more on how the food we eat contain fraudulent ingredients, and in no small amount. One report for example found that pepper contained stems and starches, paprika contained synthetic industrial dyes that mimic the color, and saffron is actually black pepper cut with stems and cheap spices.

As if that isn’t enough, reports have found:

  • Extra virgin olive oil diluted with cheap vegetable oil
  • Caviar that did not come from sturgeon eggs
  • Dog food that contained no meat
  • Pomegranate juice containing cheaper juices, mostly grape and pear
  • Whole wheat crackers made primarily from processed and refined white flour
  • Teas filled with fern leaves and lawn grass (even some organic teas contained fern leaves, lawn grass, weeds, and goose foot)
  • Sheep cheese that was not sheep cheese
  • Jars of so-called 100 percent lemon juice that, when tested, only had 10 to 35 percent of actual lemon juice

Reports like this really make you realize how far some companies will go to make a buck.

The website www.FoodIdentityTheft.com is sponsored by Citizens for Health, a nonprofit consumer action group that keeps consumers informed about food threats. They report that sometimes companies try to mask ingredients by changing the names of them.

While the culprits add ingredients we don’t want, other companies claim their products contain certain items that aren’t even there! An example of this is the blueberry scam, where you think the product you are buying contains nutritious, antioxidant rich blueberries and surprise: not one blueberry can be found in the entire package! Health Ranger, Mike Adams, is a research director, food scientist, food activist, and outspoken consumer health advocate who is founder and editor of www.NaturalNews.com. His investigations found that McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets contained mysterious fiber hair-like structures, pasteurized milk contained pus, and Vitamin Water contained more sugar water than vitamins in the water. Even Coca-Cola’s own attorney has publicly admitted that Vitamin Water is not a health beverage.

Another health food advocate worth noting is Vani Hari who started the website www.foodbabe.com to help consumers understand what is actually in the food we eat, how to make healthy buying decisions at the grocery store, and how to live an organic lifestyle. It was Hari who led the charge to convince Subway to remove a controversial ingredient in their bread that was used to make yoga mats after receiving 50,000 signatures in twenty-four hours on her petition to the chain. Hari also investigated Jello, which has a warning label in Europe but not in the United States and Canada, noting that the “fun” food contains gelatin from animals in factory farms, artificial flavor, red #40 made from petroleum and is contaminated with carcinogens, artificial food dyes, GMO sugar and preservatives, and BHA linked to cancer that are banned all over the globe.

Moral of the story? Be intentional. Be mindful that the foods you eat and the way you eat them are part of an entire ecosystem of health, from the health of your planet to the health of each person on it.

For more detailed information on Mindful Eating, pick up your copy of the Recipes for Life Boxed Set.

Access your complementary recipe here.

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.
Sign up to their health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

Nourishing the Soul

Jon Kabat-Zinn, creator of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health, and Society says:  “Mindfulness is a love affair with life and a gateway into the full dimensionality of being human.”  This applies to all areas of your life including how you choose to nourish your body.

This month we will take you from the macro (how to make ethical and healthy choices about food) to the micro (how food moves through your digestive system). When you begin to be mindful of food in this holistic way, it will lead to better health and a more profound connection with your food and your world.

At its most basic, eating is what humans do to satisfy hunger. Although, in our food-obsessed culture, eating is a loaded activity that comes with a host of emotional, social, physiological, spiritual, and environmental baggage. Not surprisingly, some of us rely on food to fill us up emotionally as well as physically. Let’s face it, we live in a culture that encourages us to eat and drink. For anyone who loves eating out or entertaining, it can be difficult to follow strict dietary guidelines. Plus, the temptation of junk food is everywhere. It’s fast, cheap, quick, and easy to eat at fast food restaurants.

In Michael Pollan’s books The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Food Rules, and his most recent Cooked, he points out that three times a day you are able to express your values through your food choices. So how do you bypass all of the unhealthy cultural messages you are bombarded with? One way to do this is to learn to eat mindfully. Mindful eating is eating with intention. It’s about slowing down and being conscious of the effect food has on your body. When you eat mindfully, you learn to enjoy food the way it is meant to be enjoyed rather than just trying to fill a void. You choose foods that truly support your body. This approach inevitably leads to developing a healthier relationship with your food and puts you in the right frame of mind; your body will feel the benefits. Eat slowly and focus on what you are eating. Chew your food until it is liquefied and think about how every mouthful is nourishing your body. Smell it, savor the taste, and enjoy the experience. Your mindset is extremely important.

Michael Pollan believes “cooking is an expression of love” and “meals are sacred occasions” where you should honor the sacrifice of the food you are about to eat. It’s a good idea to take a few deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth to prepare your digestive system for the food your body is about to metabolize. It lowers those stress hormones whose goal is to encourage you to store fat when you eat. You certainly don’t want that.

By being mindful of the foods you buy, the brands you choose, and the stores you shop in, you become part of a groundswell of people who are striving to stop the unscrupulous food producers, pesticide manufacturers, and GMO proponents from severing our vital connection to nourishing foods.

Tune in next week to learn more about the foods in the world around you. And enjoy this complementary recipe, meant to be eaten slowly and enjoyed to it’s maximum!

Access your complementary recipe here.

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.
<style=”text-align: left;”>Sign up to their health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

Sample
Menus

Hello!   Here is a sneak peak at the type of Menus you will be able to create using our Recipes:

 

New Year’s Eve Dinner

  • Winter Salad with Pomegranate and Fennel
  • Seafood Chowder
  • Mocha Pudding Cake

Vegan Supper

  • Portobello Mushroom Pizzas
  • Asian Beet and Avocado Salad
  • Zucchini Spaghetti “Zoodles”
  • Banana Gelato

Picnic Party

  • Southwestern Quinoa Salad
  • E’s Crunch Salad with Hard Boiled Eggs
  • Coconut Slaw
  • Comfort Cookies

Spring Celebration

  • Steamed Artichoke
  • Coconut Lime Beurre Blanc on Wild Salmon
  • Bok Choy with Shiitake Mushroom Sauce
  • Açai Cheesecake with Fresh Berries

Italian Night

  • Watermelon Gazpacho
  • Butter Lettuce with Shaved Asparagus and Truffle Vinaigrette
  • Rustic Tomato Sauce on Quinoa Pasta
  • Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Burger Night

  • Bountiful Burgers
  • Coconut Coleslaw
  • Sweet Potato Salad

Low-Carb Night

  • Kale Caesar Salad
  • Lasagna-Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
  • Frozen Fruit Platter

Deck Dining

  • Grape and Watercress Gazpacho
  • Seafood Louie with Guacamole
  • Apple and Pear Crisp

Brunch Buffet

  • Great Green Juice
  • Watercress and Blueberry Salad
  • Powerhouse Frittata
  • Hummingbird Breakfast Muffins

Big Winter Warm-Up

  • Vitamin A Soup
  • Classic Roast Chicken
  • Cauliflower Rice
  • Sauté of Super Greens
  • Holiday Pumpkin Pie

 

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives. Sign up for their weekly health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

Top 10 Foods to Avoid

We hoped you enjoyed last week’s 10 Basics of Healthy Eating. It was full of great tips, tricks and insights into how you can get jump-started on healthy eating right away! This week we have for you a list of the the top foods you should eliminate from your diet, or at the very least, consume in moderation!

  1. Avoid gluten and grains whenever possible. If you don’t buy into all the stories of the negative effects gluten has on the body, read Wheat Belly by cardiologist Dr. William Davis.
  2. Avoid dairy unless you can find a safe, raw, and unpasteurized source. Besides the fact that not everyone can properly digest dairy, studies have found that countries with the lowest rates of dairy (Africa and Asia) have the lowest rates of osteoporosis. So, contrary to popular wisdom, the less dairy you eat, the better your bones will be.
  3. Avoid genetically modified foods (GMOs) at all costs. There have been copious amounts of research done on the damaging effects of GMOs, so don’t mess with this.
  4. Stay away from artificial sweeteners and eat all natural sugars in moderation, including fruit.  The less sugar or sweeteners you consume the better.
  5. Avoid processed food, junk food, and food with additives and preservatives: a lot of condiments fall into this category.
  6. Avoid soy products unless they are fermented because they can actually affect your hormone levels and not in a positive way!
  7. Eliminate foods labeled low fat, because low fat means added sugar. Don’t be afraid to eat healthy fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, and healthy oils. Fat makes you feel more satiated.
  8. Avoid foods cooked at high temperatures with low-smoking-point oils.
  9. Do not eat anything grown in a factory farm. There have been plenty of in-depth investigations showing the terrible cruelty to animals practiced on factory farms. You sure don’t want all this negative energy transmitted into your body.
  10. Avoid hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils are either semi-solid or solid at room temperature and are only one molecule away from plastic; plastic does not break down, as you can imagine. This oil can create thicker blood with a gummy substance that flows through your blood and can easily lodge in your arteries and build up arterial plaque. It doesn’t take anywhere near as much time as you may think for this to occur. Some studies have shown that negative health effects of eating processed foods occurs within only minutes of consuming such foods.

So stay away if you can… and refer to the 10 basics of healthy eating for what you can be doing.

For more detailed information on Healthy Eating and Choosing the Right Foods For You, pick up your copy of the Recipes for Life Boxed Set.

Access your complementary recipe here.

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.
Sign up for their weekly health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

Shopping List I

Ok, so still no recipes quite yet! That’s because you need to set up a healthy pantry first! Here is a Shopping List that will fill your fridge and your cupboards with all the ingredients and nutritious foods you will need to make our recipes.

Baked Goods: Ezekiel bread, Manna bread, Coconut meat paleo wraps

Baking Ingredients: Baking powder (aluminum-free), Baking soda (aluminum-free), Cream of tartar, Flour, Almond, Amaranth, Buckwheat, Chestnut, Coconut, Hemp, Millet, Oats, Quinoa

Beverages: Coconut water (raw, fresh), A variety of teas (Chaga Mushroom, Dandy Blend Dandelion Tea, Green tea, Horsetail, Matcha tea, Nettle, Reishi, Ron Teeguarden teas)

Boxed Goods: Vegetable broth (organic), Meat broth (organic, low sodium chicken, turkey, or beef)

Canned Goods: Unsweetened applesauce, Artichokes in water, Beans (Kidney, Garbanzo, Black), Coconut cream, Hearts of palm, Pumpkin, Wild sockeye salmon with no salt added, Sardines

Cereal and Breakfast: Sprouted buckwheat groats, Ezekiel granola with cinnamon and raisins, Holy Crap, Jules’ Fuel, Quinoa flakes, Steel-cut oats (gluten-free)

Crackers: Mary’s Gone Crackers, Vegetable crackers (raw)

Dried Fruit: Apricots, Cherries, Cranberries, Dates, Figs, Goji Berries, Incan Berries, Mulberries, Prunes, Raisins

Dry Goods: Açai powder, Bee pollen, Blue green algae, Camu camu, Cacao nibs raw, Cacao powder raw, Chlorella/spirulina powder, Coconut raw shredded unsweetened, Maca, Marine phytoplankton, Mushroom powders, Noni, Phycocyanin blue pigment from Longevity Warehouse, Physillum flakes, Protein powders, Royal jelly, SeaSnax seaweed, Seaweed (nori, dulse, wakame, kelp), Seaweed soup by Truth Calkins from Longevity Warehouse, Sundried tomatoes, Vanilla powder

Frozen Beverages: Raw coconut water

Frozen Fruits: Açai Sambazon, Berries mixed, Blueberries, Coconut meat, Cranberries, Goji berries, Mixed berries, Raspberries, Strawberries

Frozen Vegetables: Corn, Peas, Spinach

Frozen Treats: Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss ice cream – great non-dairy frozen dessert!

Grains, Beans, Noodles and Rice: Amaranth, Beans all varieties, Buckwheat groats, Noodles, Bean noodles, Quinoa noodles, Rice noodles, Soba noodles, Quinoa sprouted and non-sprouted, Mung beans sprouted, Rice (black rice, sprouted brown rice, wild rice

Jarred Goods: Aloe Vera Gel, Anchovies, Unsweetened Applesauce, Artichokes, Organic Capers, Fish Sauce, Horseradish, Lemon Juice, Lime Juice, Olives, Tomatoes

Nuts: Choose organic,  non-roasted,  and  non-salted (sprouted if possible): Almonds, Brazil nuts, Cashews, Hazelnuts, Macadamia nuts, Pecans, Pine nuts, Pistachios, Sacha inchi, Walnuts

Stay tuned!  The rest of  your shopping list is coming next week!

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.

Sign up for their weekly health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

The 10 Basics of Healthy Eating

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!  Let’s start at the beginning and think about some everyday choices that are simple to do and can make a big difference. Incorporating the following actions into your nutritional plan will lead to some profoundly positive changes in your physical health, energy and mental well-being.

  1. Eat as close to nature as possible: This means eating whole foods, such as organic vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds in their most natural state. Try to avoid pre-cut and prepackaged vegetables. Every time you cut up a fruit or a veggie, nutrition escapes, so the less slicing of fruits and vegetables you do, and the sooner you eat them, the better.
  2. Opt for organic foods: It’s a known fact that organic foods have a higher content of phyto-nutrients and antioxidants. It always cracks us up when we read the odd article on the front page of the newspaper, declaring that it makes no difference if you eat organic or non-organic foods. We can tell you without a doubt that eating foods that are sprayed with chemicals does make a difference. Even though it might not show up immediately, eventually it will play havoc with your overall health. “My Potato Project; The Importance of Organic” is a great video on YouTube that will change the way you think about organic food.
  3. Eat locally and in season. The fresher the better. It’s better to buy food from your own backyard than food imported from a foreign country. This is not only for environmental and economic reasons. Eating local food puts your body in tune with your immediate environment and compensates for the nutritional demands the weather puts on your body.
  4. Reduce animal protein: There’s plenty of evidence to show that reducing meat on a daily basis is a good choice (see end of blog for list of resources). If you can’t live without meat at each meal, start with baby steps, and incorporate a few vegetarian meals a week into your diet. When you do eat meat, keep serving sizes to one third the size of your hand and make sure they are organic and from happy, well-fed animals.
  5. Eat tons of raw, colorful vegetables. Almost all diets include lots and lots of vegetables, and the rawer the better. Although there are a few vegetables that are better eaten cooked, most vegetables lose nutritional value through cooking. As well, eating a rainbow of vegetables and fruits is a simple and fun way to ensure you get the variety of nutrients you need for optimum health.
  6. Include fermented foods, sprouted foods, and fresh green juice in your diet.  All of these foods boost nutrition and are excellent for your digestive health.
  7. Supercharge your diet: Add some nutritionally packed super-foods, like aloe vera, coconut, goji berries, blue-green algae and acai into your diet. However, don’t get carried away with this.  These need to be eaten in small amounts.
  8. Keep lots of healthy snacks on hand: Vegetables that are cleaned and ready to grab are one of the best. Whenever you leave home, carry a bag of food and a glass bottle filled with healthy filtered water. If you’re going to a movie, make your own popcorn and grab an apple, or bring your own goji berry and nut mixture, complete with raw chocolates, or whatever is handy. If you don’t bring your own food, you might be tempted to make bad food choices, and that food is usually loaded with sugars, horrible fats and additives.
  9. Find the right percentages: Try the 80/20 and the 90/10 rules. The 80/20 rule is eating until you are only about 80 percent full so you don’t overtax your digestive system and allow it to work far more efficiently. The 90/10 rule is eating healthy 90 percent of the time and cutting yourself a little slack 10 percent of the time. If you have to cheat, go for it and suffer no guilt.
  10. Calm inflammation by slashing the sugar and refined carbohydrates and balancing the fats by increasing omega 3s.

The key is to just focus on adding healthy foods to your diet, rather than taking things away. Eventually, your taste buds will change, and you’ll be less inclined to eat foods that aren’t good for you.

Resources:

The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell

No Happy Cows: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Food Revolution by John Robbins

Dr. John McDougall

The Amen Solution by Dr. Daniel G. Amen

Sugar Impact Diet by JJ Virgen

 Access your complementary recipe here.

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.
Sign up for their weekly health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health and exploding taste buds.

Best Practice Recipe Tips

There’s no complementary recipe quite yet, as first we want to give you some tips and tricks to prepare for successful recipe making!

Here are some Recipe Tips to consider when starting any cooking process or when you are approaching a new recipe.  Try incorporating these 15 tips into your cooking routines, and you will be on a path to a happier, healthier, and more delicious life right away.

  1. Realistically determine how much time you have and whether you have enough time to cook a specific recipe.  Otherwise it’s stress not cooking.
  2. Start with fresh produce, and think about what’s available locally and seasonally.
  3. Be mindful of how you are feeling. Your body might be craving a type of vegetable or a soup, for example. You will feel much more nourished if you eat a dish that satisfies your craving.
  4. Check to make sure that you have all the right kitchen equipment for the recipe.
  5. Read through the entire recipe to make sure that you have all the ingredients on hand and know how long it will take you to prepare the recipe.
  6. Shop economically.  Here are a few examples.  Try saving money by going to the bulk section and just buying the small amount of an ingredient you need for a recipe rather than a whole package of that ingredient.  Split a large wholesale package up between friends.   The least processed and packaged a food is, the cheaper it will be. Compare the price of frozen vegetables to fresh vegetables when shopping out of season. Vegetables that are frozen are always frozen at their peak of freshness which means they are very nutritious.
  7. Save yourself a trip to the grocery store.  Innovate, be adventuresome, that’s what good cooks do!  If you can’t find the right herb or ingredient think about what else you have on hand that you could substitute.
  8. You can substitute dried herbs for fresh herbs.  Please note that if you are using dried herbs, you only need 1/3 of the amount of fresh herbs called for in the recipe.
  9.  Consider making a double recipe and freezing any leftovers.  This works when cooking savory foods like soups and casseroles (as long as you have a big enough pot!) but do not do this when you are baking.  Baking is more of a science, and measurements need to be precise for your recipe to turn out properly.
  10. Taste the dish as you cook, to make sure you like the way it is seasoned, you can add more salt, pepper or spice to it if you like.
  11. If a recipe calls for gluten-free flour, you can choose buckwheat, quinoa, or any gluten-free baking mix you like.  The baking mixes mimic the texture of wheat flour in baking nicely, but check the ingredients as they are often filled with garbage ingredients, high in carbs and high in calories.
  12. For sweeteners, yacón syrup can sometimes be hard to find and is expensive, but is a great substitute for maple syrup or honey. I like using organic raw honey and organic maple syrup occasionally , as they each have their own nutritional properties, but beware they will affect your blood sugar.  Lakanto is also awesome because it is just like granulated sugar, it substitutes well in baking, and won’t affect your blood sugar. Stevia is a good option too, but be careful with proportions, you only need to use a tiny bit, or it can be overly sweet and have a funny after taste.  Avoid artifical sweeteners.  
  13. Olive oil is a personal favorite for cooking.  When oil is heated it loses it’s nutritional properties, so when you can, try sautéing your vegetables or proteins in a little vegetable or chicken broth, and add the olive oil at the end of the cooking process to add flavor and fat to your recipe.
  14. Engage your families and friends in the cooking or cleaning- up process – have fun with it. Put on some music, sip some wine.
  15. Lastly, remember to take the time to sit down and enjoy what you’ve made! Chew slowly, be present, enjoy your company and be thankful for the food that is nourishing your body.

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.

Sign up for their weekly health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.