The Wonders of Oatmeal

Oats are one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet.  Originating from the wild red oat from Asia, oats are mostly grown in North America and Europe.  Having been cultivated for over 2000 years it originally was used for medicinal purposes.  Hippocrates said it right with "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food".  Whole oats are the only source of a unique group of antioxidants called Avenanthramides which have protective effects against heart disease.

  

Other benefits of oats are:

*Lowers blood pressure.

*Lowers cholesterol.

*Stabilizes blood sugar levels.

* High in fiber which helps in weight loss and lowers risks of colon cancer.

*Athletic performance enhancer. Being a great source for carbohydrates and protein gives it a long lasting energy source.

*Enhances immune response to disease because of its unique fiber called beta-glucan.  B-glucan helps white blood cells get to the sites of infection and inflammation areas quickly.  This helps in eliminating bacteria for quicker healing.  

Starch is the single biggest component of oats.  The main types of starch in oats are:

*Rapidly digested starch (7%) which is quickly broken and absorbed as glucose (energy).

*Slowly digested starch (22%)slowly broken down and absorbed (sustained energy).

*Resistant starch (25%) which functions like fiber. It escapes digestion and improves gut health by feeding "friendly"gut bacteria. (For more info read the 5-part series on: Gut Health).

At the end of the day, oats are among the healthiest foods you can eat.

One of the quickest ways to enjoy oats in the morning are creating your own overnight oats recipe.

By preparing the night before there is no excuse for not having a healthy breakfast ready to take "on the go".

Here are 10 Easy Overnight Oats Recipes by The Daily Burn

My recipe is:

1/2 cup organic rolled oats.

1/2 tsp cinnamon.

1 tbs each of ground flax and chia seeds.

1 tbs of hemp protein powder

1/4 cup frozen mixed blueberries and raspberries.

1 cup coconut or almond milk.

Shake it all up and refrigerate overnight.

Its ready to go the next morning.

Have a great week.

Be kind.

Judd 

Sleep and Health

Your body, especially your brain, needs good quality sleep.  While we sleep, our bodies do much needed maintenance on our "operating systems".  Our cortisol (stress) levels drop, our immune system gets stronger and our bodies releases growth hormones and testosterone.  Growth hormones contribute to healthy protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism.  Although some people say they can "get by" with just a few hours of sleep, we should get a minimum of 8 hours of a very restful sleep. 

When not enough sleep is obtained we are kept awake and alert by adrenaline, which is a stress hormone.  The stress hormones wreak havoc on our immune system, memory, and our bodies ability to remove toxins.  This can lead to degenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.  

According to research, more than 50% of us get less than 7 hours of sleep per night.  It should take 10-20 minutes to fall asleep; any quicker OR longer means we are moderately sleep deprived.  So, are we functioning from pure energy or energy from stress hormones?  

I can fall asleep in the normal time range, but my issue is I twitch while falling asleep.  This becomes quite an issue with Kris because it startles her and keeps her from getting a good nights rest.  For the past week, I have been implementing some new practices before bed so we can have some restful nights.  The good news is that it is working!  About 30 minutes before bed I will have a glass of Calm.  It works very well to calm your mind and muscles to help you relax.

Next, I do a nasal irrigation using a neti-pot.  It helps to clear the sinus, 

which in turn improves breathing.  

Finally, I do some yoga poses designed for relaxation and sleep.  Here are a couple of articles on sleep poses: 10 Poses for Better Sleep, 5 Yoga Poses for Better Sleep.

Restful sleep, exercise, healthy eating, stress reduction and 

sharing your love make for a wonderful life.

SLEEP.

Have a great week.

Be kind.

Judd

Eat More Fruits and Veggies

It should be a no-brainer that we need to fill our plates with fruits and veggies.  It doesn't matter what type of diet you choose: Plant-based, Paleo, Mediterranean, Low-Carb High Fat, Bulletproof etc., the center of it should be a large amount of fruits or veggies.  Even the USDA Food Plate and the better version from the Harvard School of Public Health recommends at least 50% of every meal from fruits and veggies.  A survey by the American Heart Association states that only 1-1.5% of American children and adults achieve a healthy eating pattern.  

For optimal health we should strive to have 10 or more servings per day. 

Researchers analyzing 95 studies of two million people found that those consuming 2.5 servings of fruits and veggies lowered their risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer and premature death by 13-15%.  Those who consumed 8-10 servings lowered it by 24-35%.

The best foods to fight heart related diseases are:

*Apples

*Pears 

*Citrus

*Leafy greens

*Broccoli

*Cabbage

*Cauliflower
*Green Beans
*Spinach

Along with those, to help combat cancer eat yellow and red veggies like:

*Carrots

*Peppers

*Beets
*Squash

EAT THE RAINBOW

Here are some easy ways to up your intake of fruits and veggies:

*Make your main dish a salad: use dark leafy greens, seeds, beans, avocados, chickpeas, raisins to add a lot of color.  Top it with a healthy dressing.

*Top a baked potato with black beans or salsa, which is full of fiber and protein.

*Have a Smoothie for breakfast.  Use frozen blueberries, bananas, hemp protein powder with kale or spinach.

*Enjoy a veggie wrap using a whole wheat tortilla or a steamed collard green and load it up with hummus, veggies and salsa.

*Snack on grapes, carrot sticks, bananas, celery with almond butter, broccoli florets.

*Make Grilled Veggie Kabobs, with bell peppers, onions, zucchini and even add fruit like pineapple, apples and peaches.

*Make up a batch of Beet/Black Bean burgers topped with romaine lettuce, tomato, avocado and Trader Joes Organic Butter Pickles.

*Have fruit for dessert, like frozen grapes or homemade Banana Raspberry "Nice" Cream.

*Cold-pressed juices can be found in many grocery stores.  Just make sure they aren't all fruit and aren't high in sugars; get the ones that have veggies in them too!  If you are lucky enough to have a "Juice Press" near you, well good for you, because I don't.  Don't rub it in!

Eating 8-10 servings of fruits and veggies a day is the best insurance against illness and obesity.  Even the most unhealthy of meals is made better when you add vegetables.  

For some delicious quick and easy recipes, checkout The Happy Pear on Youtube.  

Have a great week.

Be kind.

Judd

Is Intermittent Fasting Right For You?

Our bodies were built for periodic cycles of "feast and famine".  Fasting has a number of health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, gene repair, longevity and reduced cancer risks.  When we are always eating (feast mode) our body forgoes much of its repair and rejuvenation programming.  This is done primarily while we sleep.  While it might seem that to "starve" our bodies over a long term fasting cycle is a good idea, it is actually the opposite.  We begin to store "fat", thinking we are in the "famine" mode.  However, intermittent fasting mimics the cycles between feast and famine, which produces a number of biochemical benefits and helps our bodies operate.

Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting:

*Normalizes insulin and leptin sensitivity, which boosts mitochondrial energy.

*Normalizes ghrelin levels (also known as the hunger hormone).

*Promotes HGH (human growth hormone) production.

Research has shown fasting can raise HGH in women by 1300%, in men by 2000%. HGH is plays an important role in health, fitness and slowing the aging process.  HGH is also a fat-burning hormone, which explains why Intermittent fasting is so effective in weight loss.

* Lowers Triglycerides and reduces Oxidative stress.

Most people think they cannot go without eating for very long.  One of the easiest, most effective and safe ways to fast is the 16/8 fast.  Using your sleep cycle as the kick start, finish dinner around 6 pm and don't eat anything until mid-morning (10 am).  Of course don't forget to keep drinking your water!  You can also have tea or coffee but try to limit the sugar, so that insulin and leptin sensitivity can work properly during the fast.  According to Dr. Amy Shah, women need only fast every other day for the best results.  Read more on that here.

While Ayurveda recommends that everyone should go for 12 hours without eating between dinner and breakfast for optimal health, intermittent fasting can be done once a week or one weekend per month.  Of course, this is all depends on  if you are in good physical health to do so and you know your predominant "dosha", which you can read more about in this article by Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary.  Dr. Chaudhary has written a well respected book called The Prime, which I am anxious to read.  

Remember that the digestion process takes up a lot of your body's attention and energy.  When we are constantly eating and digesting, we have less time and resources to focus on maintenance and repair.  A body that is healthy and working efficiently makes it easier to lose weight and keep it off.

Please do your own research and consult your trusted health care practitioner before making any dietary changes. 

Have a great week.

Be kind.

Judd

The New Comfort Foods

All over the world when people are going through a stressful period or feeling nostalgic we reach for comfort food.  Something that maybe our parents or grandparents would feed us when we were feeling down.  The only problem is most comfort foods are characterized by its high caloric, high carbohydrate level and its simple preparation.  Which means its probably not the best thing to eat when you are feeling down.  

According to experts at Pinterest they see comfort foods moving in a lighter direction.  And with more than 4 billion food and drink "pins" they should know.  Things like lettuce instead of bread on sandwiches, cauliflower "rice", spiralized zucchini or spaghetti squash instead of pastas.  Even Jackfruit in place of pork, beef and chicken.  One of the fastest growing comfort foods is the Buddha Bowls, which are healthful, colorful, nutritious and easy to make.  Buddha bowl pins shot up more than 200% last year, making it one of 2017's top food trends.

Here are a few "comfort food" recipes we have listed on the blog:

The most requested is Baked Mac-n-"Cheese".

Vegan Cream of Wild Rice and "Chickin" Soup.

Butternut Squash Soup.

For breakfast:  Vegan Hash Brown Casserole.

For treats:  Banana Raspberry "Nice" Cream.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies  (Don't eat too many! A lot of sugar).

 If you are looking for comfort food because you are stressed out there are other options than pigging out on food.  Go for a walk, get outside, exercise, meditate.  Here are 2 articles which might help: 

Meditation and Heart Health

10 Natural Tips To Beat Chronic Stress

Are These 5 Eating Habits Sabotaging Your Healthy Relationship With Food?

It is very easy to become overwhelmed with all the crazy things going on in the world today.  

"Receive hope and courage when a great dilemma is present, for the solution must also be... commit to being the solution."  Guru Singh

Have a great week. 

Be kind. 

Judd

Sustainable/Eco Friendly Lifestyle

The world is changing very quickly and we are being bombarded everyday with many toxic chemicals in the food we eat, the cleaning products we use and even the air we breathe.  Thankfully some governments, businesses and individuals around the world are beginning to take actions to going more green.  From opting for alternative energies such as wind, hydro and solar power and switching to lower emission transportation uses, making life more environmentally friendly simply makes sense.  Denmark's wind power generates 140% of its electricity leaving enough to send to Germany, Sweden and Norway.  In Vancouver, B.C. its goal was to be entirely powered by clean energy by 2050- not just electricity, but transportation and heating as well.  The city adopted a goal of 50% sustainable mode share by 2020- half of all trips in the city would be taken by walking, biking or transit rather than autos.  They hit the target in 2015!  Watch the video here. 

We can decrease the amount of toxins we consume through eating, cleaning and
even through the air we breathe in our homes by making some small changes.

*Food Choices- Buy organic: apples, grapes, potatoes, spinach and cucumbers are very high in pesticide residues.  Some food with low pesticide residue are avocados, pineapples, organic corn, cabbage (a great probiotic), eggplant and cauliflower.  See the full list here.

*Cleaning Products-There are many natural products you can use for all the cleaning around the house.  By using these you have reduced the amount of toxins your body is exposed to. White vinegar with lemongrass or wild orange essential oil will clean all your counter tops, bathrooms and leave a clean fresh aroma throughout the house (mix equal parts white vinegar with water and add 10-20 drops of essential oil into a spray bottle).  You can use the same mixture in cleaning your toilets by pouring into and leaving it while you clean the rest of the bathroom.  Then brush and flush.

*Laundry- Ditch the dryer sheets!  Instead, use Woolzies, available online, at Whole Foods, Target etc.  These wool balls last for 1000's of loads and when used with a few drops of essential oil, make your clothes smell awesome, and with no toxins!

According to the author of The Brain Wash, here are the seven most common chemicals found in dryer sheets and their effect on the central nervous system:

1. Alpha-Terpineol causes central nervous system disorders. Can also cause loss of muscular coordination, central nervous system depression, and headache.

2. Benzyl Alcohol causes central nervous system disorders, headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, central nervous system depression, and, in severe cases, death.

3. Camphor on the US EPA’s Hazardous Waste list. Central nervous system stimulant, causes dizziness, confusion, nausea, twitching muscles, and convulsions.

4. Chloroform on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list. Neurotoxic and carcinogenic.

5. Ethyl Acetate on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list. Narcotic. May cause headaches and narcosis (stupor).

6. Linalool causes central nervous system disorders. Narcotic. In studies of animals, it caused ataxic gait (loss of muscular coordination), reduced spontaneous motor activity, and depression.

7. Pentane causes headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, and loss of consciousness. Repeated inhalation of vapors causes central nervous system depression.

Those Woolzies are looking like a wise choice, aren't they?! 

*Air Cleaning- Houseplants( make sure they are pet-friendly) are one of the easiest ways to clean up the quality of the air we breathe in our homes.  Plants like Bromeliads, Dracaenas, Spider Plants and Jade Plants are the top "cleaners".  Removing up to 80% of toxins from the air.  Also by using an Essential Oil Diffuser instead of candles or air fresheners, you are reducing more toxins from the air you breathe. 

*Drink Water-And not from a plastic bottle!  Invest in a "Swell" bottle: they keep your water cold up to 24 hours and liquids hot for 12 hours.  They are beautifully crafted and have multiple design options available.  Kris wanted me to say that if there are any Lilly Pulitzer fans reading, you can purchase a Lilly Print Swell Bottle at your local Starbucks (if you're lucky enough to find them in stock), and beginning February 28, you can purchase them online at Starbucks.com.

We use ours every day!

If our day-to-day actions are more environmentally friendly we not only help the environment, but we can benefit financially, physically and mentally as well.

Have a great week.
Be kind.
Judd

Forgotten Fiber...

Did you know that only 3% of Americans are meeting the RDA intake of fiber?   That means 97% aren't eating enough!  Fiber is something our body needs, but never digests or absorbs it.  We need two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble.  Soluble dissolves in water and helps to slow down digestion and lowers blood sugar and cholesterol levels.  Citrus, whole fruit, carrots, peas, oats and barley are some examples of foods that are rich in this type of fiber.  Insoluble is NOT digested and is responsible for moving food through our systems, which in turn helps prevent constipation and more importantly, colon cancer.  Whole grains, as well as nuts, seeds, potatoes, beans and cauliflower, are rich in insoluble fiber.  Whole plant foods are the only natural source of fiber.  Eating plenty of  rich high fiber foods is the number one way to lose weight, lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.  Simply put, processing food strips out the fiber!  Refining grains like rice removes the outer coat of the grain (the fiber rich part of whole foods).  Even pulp free fruit juices lose most of their fiber in processing, so just eat an orange instead! 

 Remember, you can't put the original healthy fiber back in stripped foods.  Fiber supplements are lacking in vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals.  The only way to make sure you're getting the fiber you need is to eat whole plant foods.  For men under 50 the recommended daily allowance is 38 grams; over fifty, 30 grams.  Women over fifty need 25 grams; under fifty, 21 grams.  To make sure you are getting enough is simple: avoid processed foods, and stick to plant-based whole foods.

*Eat more beans.

*Choose whole grains.

*Don't peel your fruit (apples, peaches etc).

*Eat more veggies (they all contain fiber).

*Snack smart (whole fruit, raw veggies, nuts and seeds)/

Drink a lot of good quality water.

For more on fiber, read this article by Dr. Michael Greger.

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We have now been blogging for six years!  In the past two years, we have tried to post something new every week. Thank you to those of you who have just started reading and those who have been with us since the beginning.  We hope that our content has been useful.

In closing, I strongly urge you to get a copy of  Superlife by Darin Olien.  I have read this book numerous times and consider it to be my "Health Bible".   Darin explains in an easy to understand way how our bodies work and what we need to do to live a "super life".

Have a great week.

Be kind.

Judd