Tips On How To Eat More Raw Foods...and More!

Tips on How to Eat More Raw Foods:

1) Focus on eating raw more often, versus an all-in approach

2) Start your day with a green smoothie

3) Stock the fridge with delicious raw food

4) Fill your pantry with tempting nuts, seeds and dried fruits

5)  Make it fun by adding hummus or other raw-dips to your meal

6) Pull out your food processor and blender to spark kitchen creativity

7) Check out a raw food cook book for some inspiration

Why You Should Incorporate More Raw Foods Into Your Day:

Go on and choose to eat a few more nuts, seeds, beans, fruits or vegetables in your day. Research studies have found that those who eat a diet rich in raw, plant-based foods have lower cholesterol levels and high carotenoid levels. Such foods are naturally low in sodium, saturated fat and calories. Plus, they are rich in fiber and enzymes to promote digestive health. Oh, and don't forget foods in a raw food diet tend to be alkalinizing too. 

Nutritional Pitfalls to Watch Out For:

Be sure to seek out foods that are rich in protein, iron, calcium, vitamin B12 and lycopene as research shows these tend to be low in long-term raw food vegetarians. Good sources of these foods include nuts, seeds, beans, dark leafy green vegetables and supplements (vitamin B12, iron and calcium are important for raw vegetarians).

My Confession:

The more I read studies about the benefits of eating fresh whole foods the more I crave salads, trail mix and a big juicy apple. Plus...they just taste good! Mmmm.

References (if you're interested):

Long-term strict raw food diet is associated with favourable plasma beta-carotene and low plasma lycopene concentrations in Germans. British Journal of Nutrition 2008;99:1293-1300.

http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FBJN%2FBJN99_06%2FS0007114507868486a.pdf&code=92f9b194fbd6085fe332fec41a70bb64

Zhou B, et al. What influences appetite more: eating approaches or cooking methods? J Med Invest 2014;61(1.2):118-25.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24705757

Koebnick, C. et al. Long-term consumption of a raw food diet is associated with favourable serum LDL cholesterol and triglycerides but also with elevated plasma homocysteine and low serum HDL cholesterol in humans. J. Nutr. October 1, 2005 vol. 135 no. 10 2372-2378

 http://jn.nutrition.org/content/135/10/2372.short

Fontana, L et al. Low bone mass in subjects on a long-term raw vegetarian diet. Arch Intern Med 2005;1165(6):684-689.

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=486478

High Cholesterol: Cutting Out Dairy

So, you have high cholesterol? Or, perhaps high triglycerides? As such, you've been advised to make changes to your diet and lifestyle. The idea is to cut down on such fats in your blood stream so they don't cause damage that can lead to illness including heart disease or stroke. You may have been told to avoid high-fat dairy (whole milk, cheese, yogurt). But, does cutting the fat out of your dairy intake make a difference on your bad blood fat?

Dairy is a source of many saturated fats, including cholesterol, as well as some helpful fats like CLA. There could be benefits to cutting out whole fat milk if you're trying to consume less saturated fat. But, how effective is it?

A recent study published in the April issue of Nutrition Journal, suggests that restricting your dairy intake may not be an effective means to improve blood fats. The study was conducted by New Zealand scientists who admit it's not perfect and had limitations: a randomized study with about 180 patients who increased or decreased their dairy intake, which was reported on dietary forms. The study did not see very large changes in the levels of bad fats in people's blood streams after they restricted their dairy intake. Here's the study: The Study: http://www.nutritionj.com/content/13/1/32

...As such, it's important to look at other ways to improve your blood's fat profile.

Helpful Ways to Eat Your Way to Better Triglyceride and Cholesterol Levels:
- Eat more fibre
- Consume omega-3 and -6 fatty acids
- Promote growth and colonization of Lactobacillus Probiotics in your gut
- Beta-sitosterol
- Garlic
- Eat more fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds
- Eat less processed, baked and fried foods

My Confession:
High cholesterol is a family trait that I've been struggling to keep in check through a diet rich in whole foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans), omega-3s (particularly fish), grains with fibre and...trying oh, so hard to stay away from fried and baked goods (even though they taste soooo good!!!).

Going Green: 5 Easy Tips

It’s not always easy being green. Sure, we can recycle, buy local and use public transit – but, we’d all like to do more. Here are five easy things (you may not have thought of) that you could do to make a big green impact.  

1. Carry A Cup

FACT: One million paper coffee cups and 200,000 water bottles are sent to landfill from Toronto alone each day. We all love to enjoy a little beverage during our busy days – have it be a steaming cup of java from the local coffee shop or a cold, refreshing bottle of water while you’re on the go.  Put a reusable cup or bottle in your purse or car. Almost every java stop will gladly fill your reusable cup for you. This small, green gesture can really add up! 

2. Savvy Green Cleaning

There are hundreds of magic cleaning products that claim to solve all your household problems in a squirt or swipe. But, what happens to these chemicals once they go down the drain? 

Choosing to buy ‘green’ (environmentally friendly) chemicals to clean your house is a great way to reduce the amount of disruptive chemicals our lakes and rivers are exposed too. Plus, it’s healthier for your family. But, be wary of ‘greenwashing’ – products making unregulated claims and vague promises like ‘natural’ or ‘green’.  How do you find the truly green clean?  Look for the EcoLogo symbol. The EcoLogo certification is one of the most recognized stamps of ‘green’-approval. It certifies that a product and its company follow stringent environmental standards – and, you can smile with pride as the EcoLogo was developed by the Government of Canada.

3.  Make a List

FACT: The average person wastes more than 20 pounds of edible store-bought meat each year. Make a list and check it twice.  When you head out to your local health food store, take a list with you. Plan out your meals for the next few days and purchase what you need.  By planning ahead, you can reduce your food wastage. Making a list is an easy way to go green…but, don’t fret – if you don’t follow our list use the freezer to avoid having spoiled meat.

4. Buy Bigger

Ever stopped to think about the amount of packaging used to transport your vitamins and other healthy goods home? Ever thought about buying big instead? Buying larger sizes may reduce the amount of packaging you throw out – for example, consider buying the bigger size of your favorite multivitamin. As for soaps, consider refilling the containers at your local health food store. These are great ‘green’ ways to reduce the amount of packaging tossed to the curb on garbage day.

5. Beautifully Green

FACT: The average adult uses about nine personal care products per day. Do you know what’s in them? Carcinogens, reproductive toxins and other nasty chemicals can be found in many cosmetics. And, you put those on your skin! Yuck. Buying mineral-based cosmetics, soaps made with natural ingredients and skin creams without parabens are some beautiful ways to go green. 

Reminder: Earth Day is April 22

My Confession: 

I'm a big user of "clean" cosmetics. And, those mineral eye shadows are lovely, or in the words of my preschooler "so shimmery and shinny".  Worried about your skin? Wondering, "How do I stop wrinkles?" One of the easiest things to do is stop putting harmful chemicals on your skin. 

Healthy Easter Treat Ideas

Hippy Hop,here comes the Easter bunny. What's in his basket?  Sugar, chocolate and artificial colouring? Hop your family to some healthier Easter treats.

"Oh, but Mom! I just LOVE those easter eggs." It’s no wonder we (and, our kids) love sugar - it can be addictive: eating sugar causes dopamine release in the part of the brain associated with reward and motivation. Plus, sugar can make a kid act sort of crazy. 

The Science: That Kid 'Sugar-High'

We have all witnessed children on a ‘sugar high’, but historically the ability of sugar to effect the brain’s functioning has been based solely on rumours. Today, sugar’s interaction with the brain is more clearly understood thanks to new research in 2012. Researchers at the University of California trained rats to successfully navigate a maze, then replaced their water with 15 percent fructose syrup (soda is typically 12 percent). After six weeks of the fructose syrup, the rats were slower to complete the maze. Furthermore, when the rat’s brains were dissected the researchers discovered the sugar disrupted synapses (relay chemical messages), ultimately effecting the ability of the brain to form memories. Of note, this study also experimented with omega-3 fatty acid intake and found when the rats’ diet were supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids they could complete the maze faster. 

Looking for some healthier ideas for your Easter baskets this year? Try these:

1) Non-chocolate/candy Easter Egg Hunt
Grab some plastic easter eggs at the dollar store that open. Fill them with healthier alternatives like a box of raisins, or real-fruit gummies (and, I mean real-fruit like Annie's Bunnies), nuts or pretzels. At our house we fill them with stickers, mini-stamps, temporary tattoos and hair accessories - the kids LOVE it!

2) Get Crafty
Stickers, colouring books, sidewalk chalk and crayons are always a great surprise for kids to find on their easter hunt. Plus, it helps keep them busy at the family dinner. Not to mention every kid love stickers!

3) Make it Fun

Change the focus from getting a bunch of chocolate and candy to the annual easter egg hunt. Depending on the age of your children, either hid eggs in the open, in hard to find places...or, for your more savvy hunters you can create written clues as to where the next egg is hidden.

My Easter Confession?

This year we've found all sorts of exciting new healthy Easter treats to try with the kids instead of chocolate and candy: small packages of Play-doh in the shape of chicks and bunnies, PlayMobile filled eggs, Easter-themed books and much more! Hope your feeling inspired to hop your family to a healthier Easter. 

3 Reasons You Can Eat Macaroni Guilt-Free

Okay, so you're thinking I've fallen off my rocker. How am I suggesting that deep-fried macaroni and cheese is a healthy choice. Don't worry - I'm just having fun with my friend Cyra's latest adventure.*

*(Cyra Belbin is a finalist on the show Recipes to Riches tonight on CBC here in Canada. She's created these absolutely "Yum!" (yes, I'm quoting her) Mexi Mac n' Cheese Bites - now a President's Choice product. And, yes I've tried them...they really are tasty.)

Getting On Point...
It's important to your mood and waistline that food is fun. Yes, of course you MUST eat your vegetables and get enough omega-3 into your diet but, a little cheat every now and then may be good for you. Researchers have found that calorie-restricted diets offer many healthy benefits and may even prolong life. However, calorie-restricted diets can also make you feel depressed and lethargic.

1) On calorie restricted diets you produce less leptin (a hormone responsible for maintaining our energy balance) which makes you feel lethargic. Studies show that eating a carbohydrate-rich treat (such as macaroni) increases your leptin levels giving your metabolism a short-term boost. But, be careful eating too much of a treat can tip the scale. You need to balance between calories consumed and calories burned. Possible solution? Share your cheat treat with friends!

2) Macaroni and other carbohydrate-rich foods also boost dopamine levels. Dopamine is a feel-good hormone. (Ah-ha...that's why kids give you an ear-to-ear grins when served pasta).

3) They are fun - Cyra's Mexi Mac n' Cheese Bites are crispy on the outside and gooey, creamy cheese with noodles on the inside. I've never eaten something so silly and fun.

Tonight, perhaps I'll toast my friend's efforts with a glass of red wine. Why? Red wine is not only known for its heart-health promoting abilities and anti-aging antioxidants, it also boosts leptin levels helping increase your metabolism and mood.

My Confession:
I'm a cheater! I know way too much about food and what it does to my body causing me to eat a very healthy and restricted diet about 95% of the time. But, what I find fun is to indulge in a cheat on occasion: eat something that was created because it makes my mouth and brain go wild. (Yes, I'm talking about that amazing combination of fat, salt and sugar used by all processed food developers to make us love their food products). But, I only cheat on occasion - a healthy body needs nutrients and doesn't function well when fuelled by too much junk food.


GOOD LUCK CYRA!!!! #TeamCyra


Want to Read the Studies I'm Refering Too? Here they are...enjoy!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17670801

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11126336?ordinalpos=47&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Top 6 Allergy-Busting Foods

Certain nutrients support the immune system, helping your body to more efficiently respond to insults - including pollen, dust and other nose-tickling allergens. 

Some nutrients can reduce inflammation associated with allergies, ultimately helping improve your symptoms. Here are my top 6 allergy-busting spring foods:

Rhubarb (Vitamin C)

A spring favourite and great source of vitamin C (as are strawberries). Vitamin C has an anti-histamine effect.

Yogurt (Probiotics)

Probiotics are helpful microbes that live in and on your body. Along the lining of your gut, probiotics can talk to your immune system which lies just underneath the lining. In fact, probiotics are such good friends to the immune system, they help calm it and support it. In other words, probiotics help get your immune system to stop over-reacting to allergens and launch a more appropriate assault that doesn't leave you itching and sneezing.

Spinach (Magnesium)

A source of magnesium and vitamin E, which helps with the growth and transformation of B-lymphocytes, and promotes antibody production respectively.

Mushrooms (Selenium)

A source of many minerals including selenium which is required for antibody formation, as well as zinc which supports lymph tissue and T-cell populations.

Fiddleheads (Vitamin A)

An excellent source of vitamin A needed for thymus and spleen health, which are both locations for white and red blood cell formation.

Chia Seeds (Omega-3s)

A low allergy alternative source of omega-3s. Omega-3 fats are converted into a hormone-like substance called prostaglandins, which affect the immune system - including the ability to help control allergic manifestation by blocking the release of inflammatory products from mast cells.

My Confession - each blog I like to add a little personal tid-bit. Perhaps an "ah-ha" moment or just a little secret about myself that reminds everyone that even the "experts" in nutrition are everyday people with imperfect lives that include giving into guilty-pleasures on our plates. As for allergies, I don't suffer from them but I know people who do. It's like having an endless cold - pressure in your head, a runny nose, the agonizing desire to itch places in your nose you just can't itch...argh! To all with allergies, I send my sympathies.

Paleo Diet: The hottest diet but, is it good?

What was the hottest diet last year? The Paleo Diet topped the list of most Googled diet of 2013. The Paleo diet (short for Palaeolithic) is based upon the concept that an optimal diet is one to which the creators of the diet believe we are genetically adapted too. The diet encourages you to eat grass-produced meats, fish/seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, nuts, seeds and healthy oils meanwhile avoiding the consumption of cereal grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugar, potatoes, processed foods, salt and refined vegetables oils.

Recently, results from a two year randomized trial on the effects of a Palaeolithic-type diet in obese postmenopausal women were published. The results suggest that a Palaeolithic-type diet may have beneficial effects on body fat mass, abdominal obesity and triglyceride levels in obese postmenopausal women. Yet, in the same month another study, published in Cell Metabolism, cautions the use of a high-protein diets in older adults, an age range which includes postmenopausal women.* 

The  study compared dietary data from 6381 men and women, aged 50 and older from the NHANES III study (a national dietary survey in the United States), with mouse and cellular studies to understand how the level and source of protein in the diet affected aging, disease and mortality. The researchers concluded that high protein intake increased cancer death risk four-fold in adults aged 50-65 (interestingly, this risk was soothed if the protein was plant derived). Conversely, in adults over 65, when protein intake can help prevent weight loss and frailty, a high protein intake decreased cancer risk.

Both studies have potential weaknesses suggesting caution to drawing conclusions from the research until more is known. However, it does raise the question as to the long-term health effects of high-protein diets on health. 

Caution

With every diet there are potential pitfalls. Whenever you restrict your diet, in other words you avoid eating certain foods, you can fail to consume sufficient amounts of nutrients found in the foods you're avoiding. You ALWAYS need to have caution when using any diet to ensure you aren't developing a deficiency in any minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids, fibre, protein, etc. 

Why Diets Work

Diets cause you to stop, rethink and change your diet. That alone will make you eat better and lose weight. Whether the "new" diet you are on is "better" in the long run - well, that's debatable. But, it can never hurt to rethink what you're eating and try to eat better.

My Confession

I've never done a "diet" before. I know - that sounds crazy but, I haven't. Nope, not even the low-carb craze that literally everyone tried. With every new fad diet that comes and goes I'm just too skeptical to try them, particularly the diets that cut out entire food groups or categories. I truly believe that eating a diet rich in a variety of whole foods is the best "diet" there is. And, most importantly, eat what makes you feel good (and, I don't mean that "good" feeling from stuffing your face with a sugar-coated donut). 

Want to Read More? 

Mellberg, C. et al. Long-term effects of Palaeolithic-type diet in obese postmenopausal women: a 2-year randomized trial. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 350-357 (March 2014) doi:10.1038/ejcn.2013.290

Gerlic, M. et al. Low Protein Intake Is Associated with a Major Reduction in IGF-1, Cancer, and Overall Mortality in the 65 and Younger but Not Older Population. Cell Metabolism, Volume 19, Issue 3, 407-417, 4 March 2014.

http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(14)00062-X

Strawberries Reduce Cholesterol and other Blood Lipids

Oh, man. This is exciting. Imagine a craving you're supposed to give into! Red, juicy, mouth-wateringly sweet and tangy strawberries. Mmm, just the thought of them makes me crave them and according to new research out this month I can indulge without guilt. New research has found eating strawberries daily can lower blood lipid levels (cholesterol, triglycerides) and thus offer heart healthy benefits.

The Study: (Journal of Nutrition Biology - March 2014) Italian researchers reported that when study participants ate 500g of strawberries daily for a month they experienced a 9% drop in total cholesterol levels, 13% reduction in LDL cholesterol levels and 20% reduction in triglyceride levels. This suggests that eating strawberries beneficially lowers blood fat levels, which is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. In addition, eating strawberries resulted in higher levels of vitamin C and other antioxidant in the participants. Antioxidants are thought to be the fountain of  youth - antioxidants fight damaging inflammation, offer heart healthy benefits, reduce wrinkle formation and much more!

Want to read the study - click here:
http://www.jnutbio.com/article/S0955-2863(13)00249-0/abstract

As you can bet, I'm off to pull on my snow boots and dredge over to the store for some organic strawberries. If those aren't available (which is common here on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean under a blanket of snow and ice), then I'll bring home the most "local" strawberries I can, pull out my fruit and veggie wash and spritz those little berries to remove some of the yucky pesticides on them. My mouth is literally watering as I'm typing this - so excited!

My Confession: Despite knowing a lot about food and how it reacts with my body, I'm not perfect. Heck, I'd never suggest that I am. I do like to have my cake and eat it too. So, as you can guess this research is close to my heart - I have high cholesterol. Yep, thanks Dad for passing on those genes. So, when I read research that supports eating healthy (and did I mention delicious) foods to naturally keep cholesterol levels low I get really excited. Off to the store I go to stock up on some strawberries - organic, of course. Till next time, enjoy health!