Category: Food

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What about probiotics?

There has been a lot of interest in probiotics recently, and I often get questions from people about them:  what are they, are they really good for you, and do I use them.  This is a brief look at probiotics, what are, how they benefit you, and why I regularly use them, and how you might incorporate them into your diet.

Basically, probiotics are beneficial bacteria (live) that are thought to have a positive effect on several aspects of your health.  In simple terms, you can think of these as the bacteria behind many of the fermented foods we eat: yogurt, kefir, and raw sauerkraut.  You can also obtain probiotics in pill form, which can be helpful for travel or situations where you may not have access to a natural source.

The beneficial bacteria in probiotics are believed to have many positive effects on one’s health; that’s the reason for the recent and renewed interest in probiotics.  Among other things, there seems to be a strong link between consumption of probiotics and a number of health issues including:  diarrhea, constipation, overall gut health, gas, indigestion, and an overall boost to the immune system.  There are numerous other health benefits attributed to probiotics – enough to warrant your own use and see how you benefit.

I use them for all these reasons – and to help keep the proper balance of bacteria in the gut.  Stress, antibiotics, travel, and exposure to pathogens are just some of the things that can throw off the balance of good/bad bacteria in your system.  I use them regularly at home and carry some probiotic capsules with me when I travel.  I personally like the Enzymatic Therapy brand (Pearls), but there are many other good ones available too.  These are readily available online and at many mass market retailers and drugstores.

You can incorporate probiotics into your diet on a daily basis in a number of ways.  Yogurt with live cultures and Kefir are two easy ways to get a daily helping of probiotics.   I personally drink a cup of Kefir daily for the boost it gives me.  There are even yogurts and yogurt drinks with increased levels of beneficial bacteria to help provide a greater boost.   You can also use raw sauerkraut or other vegetable based probiotics to your diet (raw because cooking kills of the beneficial bacteria) as a delicious way to add probiotics to your diet.

 

As with everything, I recommend that you make this a part of a healthy lifestyle – something you do regularly to benefit your healthy.   This way you’ll always get the protective benefits and the boost that probiotics can bring.

 

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Get Juiced

Healthy juice is something that should be a part of your healthy diet and lifestyle all year long, but it especially makes sense during the warmer months of the year.
Juice is quick
With a high quality juicer like a Vitamix or a powerful blender, you can quickly make healthy juice from such a wide a variety of fruits and veggies.   It’s easy to quickly make a drink that’s packed full of antioxidants, cool, refreshing, and filled with the flavor of all of the fresh fruits available.   Typically, 30-60 seconds is all you need to thoroughly blend all your ingredients.

I recommend a Vitamix if you’re in the market for a juicer, but any powerful blender should do an adequate job of liquifying everything quickly.   If you don’t already have a juicer or blender, consider a blender from Vitamix.   This type of blender retains all of the pulp and fiber, and will quickly liquify all ingredients, including ice.   See our special offers page or use the button to the right for free shipping if you decide to order one.
Juice is cool and refreshing when you don’t feel like eating
In the warmer months, it’s easy to fall into the trap of not eating because you don’t want to heat up the stove, kitchen, or grill.  The problem is that many people tend to snack on what is convenient or what might be on the counter or in the pantry (tip – don’t even buy junk food in the first place and you won’t have it to snack on when you’re tempted).
Instead of reaching for a candy bar or chips, cookies or whatever your typical snack might be – whip up a quick juice drink and get the benefits of whole raw food.
Juice makes healthy options even easier
The next time you blend up some juice – throw in a celery stick or some kale or some fruit that has a texture you “don’t like”.  I’ve posted in the past about adding some vegetables to your fruit juices balance the sugar content of the fruit.
It is easy to incorporate a stalk of celery, or some kale, or chard or fruits like mango or pineapple into any juice.  Throw in a handful of sprouts or a tablespoon of chia seeds for an added nutritional boost.

Get creative – you’ll discover it’s easy to come up with healthy combinations that are quick to make, delicious, refreshing and packed with nutrition.    I like to use pineapple, blueberries, strawberries or melon as the base for most of my smoothies; from there I add in some veggies, sprouts and enjoy.   I find it’s nice to add a splash of icewater with some crushed ice for a nice consistency.   Tip:  freeze your blueberries and strawberries when they’re in season and enjoy them in your smoothies.   A powerful blender like a Vitamix will have no trouble pulverizing the frozen berries.

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Diet or Exercise – which is more important? Part III

Diet or Exercise – which is more important?

If you’ve read the previous two posts about this question, you know by now that the answer to the above question: diet.  However, it’s not about going on a diet, and exercise plays a crucial role as a part of a healthy lifestyle.

It’s important to remember that diet is not about going on a diet – it’s about having a lifestyle that consists of consuming good, nutritious foods and avoiding processed foods, additives, toxins and pesticides.

Let’s look at a few reasons why diet is even more important than exercise

1.  If there were ever a case of garbage in- garbage out; this is where it applies.  Your body is made from the stuff you eat.  Whether or not you exercise, or how hard you take exercise, your body is in a constant state of renovation.   Cells are dividing, new cells are being formed, and old ones are being cleaned up and disposed of or recycled in some manner.  Think about the fact that your body is made up of approximately 100 trillion cells.

Simply ask yourself if you want to be built from good things or bad things, from the best components or from things that are “good enough”.   Is it OK to throw some chemicals and pesticides into the mix, or do you want to guard against the toxins that go into your body?

The Presidential panel on cancer issued a statement in 2010 that stated “the true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated” and advised the President “to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.”

2.  There will be days and times of your life when you can’t exercise.  You should exercise every day; we were made to move and be active.  There will be times when because of illness, travel or other things that come up that you won’t be able to exercise.  However, your body never stops the process of creating and repairing cells, and cleaning up damaged and dead cells.  This goes on every day, for as long as you live.  As a matter of fact – in the times of stress when it’s most likely that you won’t be able to exercise, your cells are under the most stress.

Give your body the fuel to run optimally and you set up the potential for good things.
Think about your car – it wouldn’t make much sense to wax and polish and detail the outside of your vehicle, but be careless about changing the oil, maintaining the mechanical systems and filling it with good fuel.
Just like you wouldn’t put water or sugar in the gas tank of your car (you know that nothing good would come from that) – you should guard against putting junk in your fuel tank; the end result of that won’t be good either.

3.  I believe you should try to maximize your intake of fresh raw foods to maximize the nutrients and enzymes you get from your food, try as much as possible to eat organic foods to avoid exposure to pesticides, avoid processed foods, and use vitamin and mineral supplements wisely.  I’ll examine each of these in more detail in future posts, but here are the high points.  You may not be able to make a complete change to your diet all at once, but start with one thing or one area and go from there.  If you don’t do anything else, try to avoid processed foods and focus on fresh raw foods.   Avoid things in boxes and bags, and try to eat things that are picked, peeled, grown, harvested.   One easy thing to do is shop from the outer aisles of your grocery store.  This is where the fresh things are.

4.  You only get one body – treat it carefully.

For most people it’s easier to build on success, and the success of feeling your body begin to respond to regular good diet is motivational.   It doesn’t take too long after you make good nutrition and regular exercise a part of your lifestyle that you will probably start to look for ways to make additional improvements – because you will begin to feel better! 

You can trade in a car, buy a new house, but you don’t get a new body in this life – take care of it!  Even if this didn’t have an effect on how long you live (though I think it will), you’ll enjoy the journey of life and feel better along the way.   What price can you put on feeling good?  I know many people who “just don’t feel good” every day.  On the other hand, most of the people I know who focus on good nutrition and regular exercise feel great almost every day and seem to have boundless energy.   Which sounds better to you?   You have a tremendous amount of control of which one of those groups you end up in.  Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not here yet –  but you have control of the choices you make today, and you can begin to make a change today and build on it tomorrow, and for the rest of you life.

 

This is a complicated subject that may leave many people with questions or wondering how to begin to make changes.  If you have questions, comments or any other feedback, please use the form below to contact me.  I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

 

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What is your goal?

What is your goal?

What do you want your health to be?

Your state of health today is the result of decisions you made over the period of days, weeks, months and years preceding today.

Even this morning, you made choices about breakfast (or not), whether or not a donut was a good idea, or if you should reach for something healthier.

Coffee, tea, milk, or Coke (?!!) for breakfast – whether you stopped to ponder it, or went by default to your usual morning beverage; it was because of a decision you made, probably some time ago, about what was important to you.

You can start to make changes today – start by choosing one thing that’s important to you, and work back from there.  If you want to weigh less than you do now (reduce body fat), you need to start to make changes to the way you eat and the amount of physical activity (exercise) that are a part of your daily life.

Sleep, fitness, changes to your body fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure- even your overall demeanor and the way you feel every day – all of these can be impacted by the foods you eat and the activity of exercise you get.

You can’t change the choices you’ve made in the past, but you can change the things you do today.  Yesterday is gone, and you’re on the way to tomorrow, but it’s not here yet – you do have today though!   The health choices you make today will start to affect you today and have ripples into your tomorrows – you just need to start.

Choose one thing, and start from there; you might be surprised at how the changes can ripple through your life from one area to another.

You can start anywhere – but if you’re not sure where, start with a healthy breakfast of healthy whole foods.  Skip anything processed, and go for something that doesn’t come in a box or package.

Skip the poptarts, bacon, sugary pastries and other packaged or processed itmes, and go for real food instead.  If you’re in a hurry, use a blender (or better yet – a Vitamix) and make yourself a smoothie.  This is a quick way to get some good, healthy whole food even if you’re pressed for time.

Need healthy breakfast ideas or have questions or comments about anything in this post?   Leave me a comment below – I’d love to hear from you!

 

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Going green!

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Going green!

I’m not talking about environmental though.

I’m talking about getting your greens in your diet; things like kale, beet greens, dandelion, collards, and others.

Need a few good reasons to make sure you take in plenty of leafy greens regularly?

Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll – the molecule that gives plants their green color is found in abundance in greens.  Chlorophyll is a natural wonder – it can help detox your system.    Watch for dark green leafy matter to get the highest amount.

 

Fiber

Greens are an excellent source of fiber, and can actually contribute very little to your carb intake.  Fiber is essential to the proper functioning of your digestive system, and to help transport toxins out of your body.   Fiber can help you feel full longer so you wont be as tempted to snack on unhealthy foods.

 

Vitamins and Minerals

Greens are also a powerhouse of nutrients.   Again, the darker the leafy greens, the more packed they are with chlorophyll and other nutrients.  Calcium (in a form readily available for your body!), magnesium, potassium, Vitamins C and K are a few of the important nutrients you’ll gain from consuming greens.

 

One of the best benefits is all that by taking in greens, you’re not only getting good things into your system – you’re also getting bad things out.    Greens have a remarkable ability to help detox your system.  By taking in greens you can help reduce damage and remove toxins from your system.

 

Keep in mind that greens are also relatively low calorie.  This puts them high on the “bang for the buck” ratio – even a large bowl (or glass if you juice) of greens won’t push you into a larger waist size.   You might find that not only are they low calorie, but they are very satisfying and will help defer other cravings as well as displace other unhealthy foods in your diet.

You can choose to add your greens as a side to other dishes, use them mixed in a salad, or blend or juice them.   Juicing is my favorite; I use a Vitamix to completely blend greens with some lemon (sometimes a little pineapple or other fruit thrown in) – delicious, and easy to take in the equivalent of a large salad in a large glass or tumbler.

 

But you have to eat (or drink) them to get all these great benefits.

Add greens to your shopping list the next time you head to the grocer –or even better, find them at your local farmers markets.  As always – try to get organically raised greens if possible.

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An apple (or two) day ….

There are so many reasons to make apples more than just a regular part of your diet.
Here are a few reasons you should try to eat one or two apples every day.

Fiber

Apples are a good source of fiber.  While they don’t rank among the highest fiber foods, the fiber in apples brings some unique benefits.  The pectin in the apples is water soluble and can also bind with fatty acids in the bloodstream.  This brings special benefits (see below).  Most Americans consume much less fiber than recommended eating an apple or two can help with that.

 

Natural statins

The fiber in apples has been shown to act as a natural statin.   It binds with cholesterol and helps to move it out of the body.  There are other foods that do this too, but it’s another nice benefit of regularly eating apples.

 

Low calorie

At 100 calories or less for a typical apple, an apple is a great substitute for other sweet snacks, especially in place of candy bars, pastries, or other processed food snacks.   The texture and fiber of the apple also help make it a great snack. Chew each bite or slice thoroughly, and you’ll find that an apple will stick with you much longer than a typical candy bar or pastry; that sense of fullness can help keep you from eating other things with a lot more calories than an apple.

 

Mouth health

The same fiber that makes apples filling and provides the fat and cholesterol reducing benefits also gives apples their crunch.  This is what makes them good for your teeth and gums too.  They can help clean your teeth (you should still brush your teeth though), and give your gums a healthy workout.   In this respect too, apples are far superior to candy, cookie or pastry snacks.

 

Nutrition

Apples are a great source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.  Along with the benefits listed above, you get the healthy nutritional boost that comes with each apple.  The antioxidant boost provides multiple preventative benefits, including protection from cancer.  The antioxidants can help neutralize the bad effects of free radicals.  Free radicals are atoms or groups of atoms with extra electrons that can cause cellular or dna damage.   The antioxidants in apples provide protection by interacting with and neutralizing free radicals.

 

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Three positive strategies for healthy eating

boy thinking over a healthy snack or a dessertHere are three simple things you can do today to make a positive impact on your health and improve your diet. No matter where you are in terms of a healthy lifestyle, whether you have already finely tuned your lifestyle – or if you’ve just decided you want to eat healthier.

1. Eat an apple a day.
There really was something to the old adage – “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. We now know that apples are very effective at lowering bad cholesterol. They are also an excellent source of fiber, an important part of a healthy diet. And you can use that apple as a substitute a candy bar or cookies or some other sweet snack. Besides that – apples are cheap! You can get a whole bag of apples for the price of a few candy bars.

2. Drink an extra couple glasses of water each day
The health benefits of drinking water are many, and you can also tackle a couple of unhealthy diet habits by increasing your water intake. One great strategy is to have a glass or two of water before a meal. Another great strategy is to have water with your meal instead of soda or some other sugary or sweetened beverage. Most people could benefit from drinking more water, and by substituting water for soda you’ll get the added benefit of dropping soda. See our previous post about one of the most important things you should do for a healthy lifestyle.

3. Skip that candy bar, pack of cookies, or whatever that sugary snack is that you always pick up, take with you, or buy from the vending machine. This one is super easy – use the first two suggestions above to help get you there.
By eliminating the extra calories and substituting with water and an apple (you can use carrots, celery, or some other fruit or vegetable if you want some variety) you’ll ditch the bad calories and gain some fiber and good nutrients that you wouldn’t be getting from the processed snack. If you usually have savory snacks like chips or pretzels this still applies – skip the processed stuff for a fruit or vegetable and some water.

Stick with these every day for a couple of weeks and you’ll find that you’ve incorporated a couple of new habits as part of your lifestyle. You’ll find that you’ve added some good stuff to your regular diet and dropped a few things that really don’t add more than calories to your diet.

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Juice! A great way to start the day

Juicing is a great way to get all of the nutrients of the fruits and vegetables in a quick and delicious manner.  With the right juicer or blender, the process of both making your juice and cleanup can both be done quickly – allowing for a quick nutritious meal.  This is an easy and quick way to start the day.  Generally, you should never skip breakfast (covered in more detail in another post), and juicing helps with that – especially if you’re short on time.

For breakfast juices I always like to include fruits and vegetables together.   By using a whole food juicer or blender, you will be sure to get all of the nutrition and fiber of the foods you’re juicing.   I highly recommend a Vitamix, but use a blender if you don’t have access to a Vitamix.

Fruits with vegetables are a good idea in order to get a good balance of nutrients, and to avoid a juice that’s too high in sugar (fructose or fruit sugar).   Add enough water and or ice so that you end up with a nice juice, not a thick sauce.

Try experimenting with combinations of strawberries, apples and celery.   Berries have high levels of antioxidants; apples and celery both contribute a healthy amount of fiber. I always like to include a lemon and alfalfa sprouts as well.   The lemon really brings out the flavor of the strawberries, and the sprouts are just plain good for you!  Sprouts are a great source of nutrients and enzymes that you probably wont get anywhere else in your diet.

If you have a Vitamix or a good blender, you can also throw in a handful of raw rolled oats (oatmeal) for added fiber.   With a Vitamix, it takes only about 30 seconds to transform this into a delicious juice, and about another minute to clean up.  That’s less than two minutes including cleanup to have a quick and healthy juice for breakfast!

Questions or comments?    I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

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Obesity trends are bad news for everybody

Bad news about obesity

The CDC released a study showing that more than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese and that currently not even one state has met the nation’s Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15% (no state is even below 20%).  (Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health,; the standard measure is when Body mass index (BMI) is greater than 30 kg/m).

As a New York Times article pointed out: “The billions that we are spending to treat diabetes is money that we don’t have for education reform or retirement benefits …, it’s estimated that the total cost of America’s obesity epidemic could reach almost $1 trillion by 2030 ….”

It’s certain that even if you’re fit and of a healthy weight you either know or have family members that are a part of this trend.

For everyone’s good – What can you do about this?

  1. Encourage people to make healthy eating choices.  Many people don’t think about the effect of what they eat on their body and their health.   A former coworker lamented to me about his inability to lose weight, but always had a mid-morning snack of a can of Coke and a pack of frosted pop-tarts.   We worked through healthy alternatives that could be just as filling, last longer and not have all the bad effects of Coke and pop-tarts.
  2. Educate your family members about why you make the food choices you do.  Don’t be annoying or a know it all, but I believe that as people learn about healthy delicious alternatives and taste how good they are, they are more likely to make a healthy choice rather than dismiss healthy food as  “leaves and twigs”.
  3. Share your healthy foods and habits with others.  Whether it’s break time at work or a get-together with friends, provide good foods for friends to share with you.   Once people try ripe cherries, juicy mango, fresh ripe peaches, fresh cruchy apple slices, and other healthy choices some of the unhealthy choices don’t that much better than the healthy ones.

Questions about anything in this post?  Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear from you.

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“should you jump start a weight loss program with a cleanse or a juice fast?”

Today’s post answers a question that was submitted about a strategy for weight loss

“Should you jump start into a weight loss program with a cleanse such as a colon liver cleanse or a juice fast?”   This is an excellent question with a three part answer:

  1.  Jump start into a weight loss program – not a terrible idea.
    If you’ve decided to make a change to get healthier and lose weight – you can do a couple things to jump start the process.  It’s important to understand that it is just that – jump starting the process.Even more important is to begin to make sustainable lifestyle changes that will lead to a healthier you.   If you make temporary changes and just go back to the lifestyle habits (diet, exercise, sleep, etc.) that got you there in the first place, you’re likely to “rebound” and end up heavier and in worse shape than when you started.
  2. Colon or liver cleanse
    Great idea – if you’ve not focused on a healthy diet then you probably do have some junk in there to clean out.  There are a number of quick cleanse routines available that can help you get “junk” out and perhaps help you process fats and lose weight more efficiently.
  3. Juice fast
    Another good idea – but best if you incorporate some whole juices as a part of a new healthy lifestyle.
    There are several different ways to do this.  I recommend that you focus on fruit and vegetable juice combinations or various vegetable juice combinations.   You need to be careful with fruit and fructose in particular.   You body will store extra fructose as fat – the opposite of what you want when you’re trying to lose weight.

Finally, remember that you need to focus on changes as a part of a new healthy lifestyle.   Changes that you can’t sustain long term as a part of your lifestyle probably wont result in long term changes in your health and weight.

Focus on a healthy lifestyle, take small steps to improve your diet and make sure you incorporate exercise and physical activity and the weight loss will happen.

Questions about anything in this post?  Leave a comment below!