Let's Chat - About Health and How Easy the Basics Can Be

In prior articles we discussed shopping, the idea of meal planning prior to shopping to assist our finances and budgeting, as well as over all ease of health and well being.

In this series, let us explore some basic foods that support well being, what types of foods would increase health and a couple recipes to demonstrate an example and stimulate creativity and inspiration.

Foods provide their best support for our bodies in their whole form, as when they grow and attain their nutrients in their process from the earth (when not chemically modified & nutritionally balanced as in organic gardening and farming; natural or natures whole state of processing) and from the sun and environment -we consume those whole nutrients that our body needs to sustain, regenerate/heal and energize itself; i.e. vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, fiber and protein. The more that we modify (process, place by-products, chemical flavor enhancers and dyes and even over cook) our foods, we lose the nutrients our body needs to function properly; i.e. maintain its energy, regenerate/heal and sustain itself -thereby being susceptible to illnesses and even diseases since the body cannot increase its immune system without the appropriate tools -the nutrients from healthful, whole foods.

Taking simple small steps, as demonstrated in the ease of our shopping inexpensively in our prior series of "Lets Chat -About health" will help our selves and our families to retain and improve our health as we desire.
Lets now explore how and why a little further.

An example of how well our vegetables can provide for us and what we need in our bodies to help sustain good health and well being is taking a look at what we need in fiber daily and what dark green leafy vegetables have to offer. "According to the USDA, each person should get 26-31 grams of fiber per day. The average American consumes about half that daily requirement: 15 grams per day." (1) Generalizing, the average American is consuming foods that are high in trans-fats and low in fiber. A healthful solution would be to consume 3.9 grams of collard greens for example, which is full of fiber. A quick and easy healthful solution to start your day would be to make a very tasteful smoothie made from 4 cups of collard greens (approximately 1 bunch) or 1 bag of organic spinach and a seasonal fruit, such as blueberries, strawberries and/or raspberries and peaches and you would have your daily fiber before you even began your day, as well as a nutritious and tasty breakfast, that even the kids would love.

One other detail we may not have realized either, is protein is found in our other foods, along side the obvious animal proteins because "there are several hundreds of thousands of different kinds of proteins. These proteins are constructed as long chains of hundreds of thousands of amino acids of which there are fifteen to twenty different kinds." (2)

This is why one of the greatest misconceptions has been the belief that protein and/or amino acids only came from one source, whereas they come from meat, fruit, soy/plants and in other words vegetables as well. The realization is that "green leafy vegetables contain the largest amount of protein of all plant foods. By eating a diet rich in greens, our bodies can continue performing such tasks as repairing tissues, building muscles and bones, and creating enzymes and hormones." (3)

Now that we have discovered something new about our fruits and veggies, we'll move on into sharing of some recipes.

Here we are introducing a Spanish (raw food) Garden Burger:

Ingredients -

1 cup walnuts (preferably organic)
¼ cup ground flaxseed
3 cups chopped carrot
1 cup chopped medium/small red onion
2 large cloves of garlic
½ large lime -juiced
¾ Tbls onion powder
1 Tbls paprika
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp malt vinegar
½ tsp cumin and/or cayenne pepper

~Additional ingredients after burger preparation:

1 head romaine lettuce (preferably organic)
1 medium tomato, chopped
½ bunch green onion, diced
1 small avocado, sliced or diced

Blend all above garden burger ingredients in the food processor. Use romaine lettuce leafs as your "buns" and fills with the Spanish garden burger; garnish with your tomato, green onion & avocado & top with romaine lettuce leaf; may serve 3-4. (For those who do not care for the additional "kick" in spice; you can tone it down and still have it full of flavor by omitting the cumin or cayenne and even malt vinegar.) Enjoy!

Now for those enthusiasts who are not ready to venture into a "raw food" meal, however, enjoy the creativity of healthful meal planning and simplicity, as well - let us venture with another option.

Here we are introducing the Albacore Salad stuffed Tomato:

Ingredients -

2 extra large (big boy) tomato (preferably organic), top cut off & inside scooped out & saved for salad
2 -5oz cans Albacore (dolphin safe, packed in water), drained (this may be substituted with 14 oz can of Salmon)
2 Tbls horseradish
½ tsp non-MSG Seasoning Salt
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbls ground flaxseed
¼ cup chopped walnuts (preferably organic)
¼ cup dried cranberries or cherries or raisins (preferably organic; if sweetened -only with honey, not refined sugar)
½ a lemon
1 avocado cut in half, remove pit
2 mint leaves

Combine the albacore, horseradish, seasoning salt, pepper, flaxseed, walnuts, chopped insides from the tomatoes and cranberries in a bowl until well blended. Fill both hallowed tomatoes until slightly heaping; squeeze lemon over top of both, garnish with mint leaf and avocado on the side and serve; serves 2. (Wish to serve more, simply double or triple the ingredients. Want to spice it up a bit, add more horseradish and a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce or a couple pinches of cayenne!) Enjoy!

Sometimes our challenge is first thing in the morning, so we would like to just throw something together or know what we could put together in advance so we can grab it each morning and still know that we have taken care of our selves and our families health and well being. With that in mind, lets venture together a couple of ideas here and how they can benefit us.

We were discussing earlier about a smoothie that could benefit our fiber intake and be tasty and quick too, first thing in the morning. Lets review some other wonderful things that having these dark green veggies can do for us, such as -from the fiber aspect; it promotes weight loss, slows down sugar absorption, decreases chances of diabetes and improves prior diagnosed cases, prevents cancer, reduces cholesterol, keeps bowels working properly, prevents hemorrhoids and ulcers, and strengthens the heart. In relationship to foods rich in chlorophyll (which is also dark green veggies), this benefits by increasing the red blood cell count, preventing cancer, making the body's pH levels more alkaline, boosting the immune system, improving vision, reducing inflammation and counteracts environmental toxins. (4)

Then, of course, we reviewed the wonders of how much these plants really do provide us with protein as well. So they are quite amazing in what they have to offer us as a whole food, when we consume them consistently. Eating them within a balance of our other foods and we have provided our body a happy balance and compliment to wellness.

Since we are going to share a blend of items in a tasteful smoothie, let us talk about the benefits of one other food as well - blueberries. Not only is a sweet treat to our taste buds, but also a wonder to the body too. These tasty little wonders are a great source of vitamin C; "in fact 1 cup, 14 mg serving is almost 25% of the daily requirement for vitamin C needed for the formation of collagen and to maintain healthy gums and capillaries. It also aids in the absorption of iron and promotes a healthy immune system. Blueberries are also a good form of dietary fiber. They are an excellent source of manganese, which plays an important role in the development of bones and in the metabolism of protein, carbohydrate and fat. Blueberries contain substances that have antioxidant properties. Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals which are unstable molecules linked to the development of a number of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease and other age-related conditions such as Alzheimer's. According to the USDA database of the antioxidant activity of selected foods (ORAC values), blueberries rank among the highest on a per serving basis." (5)

Now that we have learned a great deal about a couple of some amazing ingredients, let's move forward to that tasty treat.

I am introducing here the Morning Energy Smoothie:

Ingredients -

1 bag Spinach (preferably organic) or 4 cups fresh
1 cup frozen blueberries (preferably organic), unsweetened
½ cup frozen mangos or pineapple (preferably organic), unsweetened
1 cup orange juice
½ - 1 cup organic vanilla soy milk (personal preference how thick you desire smoothie), may use sweetened or unsweetened (*may prefer unsweetened as fresh & frozen fruits already provide heightened sweetness, as does adding the orange juice)

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. This can serve 2-4 and store in the refrigerator up to 1 ½ weeks for your enjoyment.

Your best results are to use a high powered blender, called an emulsifier. It is a kitchen appliance that has the ability to rotate at a high enough speed and has strong enough blades to handle frozen ice, chopping and even creaming nuts, etc -to make a proper smoothie and other healthier food items for you. A couple examples of this equipment is called a Vita-mix or Blendtec.

Stay well and healthful on your journey and see you again in our next chat!

(1) "Fresh: The Ultimate Live-Food Cookbook" by Sergei Boutenko

(2) "The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health" by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II

(3) "The Healing Power of Chlorophyll from Plant Life" by Bernard Jensen

(4) "Fresh: The Ultimate Live-Food Cookbook" by Sergei Boutenko

(5) http://www.blueberrycouncil.com/nutrition.php