Tasty Tidbit: Nibble on Nuts

A handful of nuts may just be the perfect snack. They're portable when you're on the go, and they satisfy the "just need something to crunch" urges we all get from time to time. Tree nuts are a great source of protein and fiber and they provide important phytonutrients like lutein (pistachios), ellagitannins (walnuts), and polyphenols (almonds). Walnuts and almonds are also high in the anti-inflammatory Omega 3 oils that are so important for maintaining good health and avoiding and treating chronic diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

Nuts contain oils that oxidize fairly quickly so store your nuts in the fridge or freezer to increase shelf life. I toast mine then store them in freezer bags, keeping just a small container in my pantry to nibble on. Next time you have the urge to munch, grab a handful and nibble on some nuts.

Oven-Roasted Beets and Kale with Feta

I have a confession to make. Before I started my natural treatment program for rheumatoid arthritis I could count on one hand the number of times I'd eaten beets. They were of the pickled variety (my mom's fave) and I didn't like them. In fact, I loathed them. So it was with some trepidation that I purchased my first bunch of beets at Central Market for juicing. I had to give them a try, I knew there was no way around it. I had learned in my research that beets are super nutritious and detoxifying and my main problem with my health was toxicity, so...

Much to my surprise the beet juice was super delicious and added a lovely sweetness to the greens and turmeric I was juicing with them. Still, it was several weeks before I was brave enough to try cooked beets. I decided to oven-roast them. Past experience with other veggies had taught me that the process would produce a tender, al dente internal texture, while allowing the exterior to caramelize. The result was spectacular. It was life-changing. I kid you not, it was practically a spiritual experience.

It's safe to say now that beets are a regular player in my diet. I toss them with lots of other veggies and grains but my absolute favorite beet dish is the one below. This recipe is the perfect combination of flavors, the sharpness of the feta balances the sweetness of the beets. The textures are interesting too, the soft beets against the crisp kale leaves and the crunch of the toasted walnuts. I swear my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Oven-Roasted Beets with Kale and Feta

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

3 small or 1 large red beet, washed, peeled and cubed (you want about 2 cups cubed)

4 kale leaves, washed, ribs removed, torn into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees with the baking sheet in the oven so it gets nice and hot before you add the beets.
2. Toss the beets with the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small bowl. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and spread the beets in a single layer. Return to the oven until tender and beginning to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Shake the pan now and then to cook evenly.
3. Meanwhile, toss the kale leaves with the 1 teaspoon olive oil in the same bowl used for the beets.
4. Add the kale leaves to the baking sheet with the beets and bake until crispy, about 8 minutes.
5. Add the walnuts to the baking pan for just one minute to warm through.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Add the feta and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

TIPS:

• Always toast nuts before using them in cooking or baking, it gives them so much more flavor. Instead of toasting for each recipe as I need them, I toast the whole bag when I buy it, then store the toasted nuts in the freezer. Just pull out what you need when you need it. Time saver.
• You can substitute golden beets in this recipe but the reds are so gorgeous against the green kale and white feta. We eat with our eyes too!
• You can use any type of kale here. I often use the "dinosaur" or Liconato variety, but this time I used the purple curly leaf kale and it was divine.
• If you're dairy free you can omit the feta and the dish is still delicious. I only just added goat cheese back to my diet again in last 2 weeks. I was off all dairy for months, and I ate this dish without it and didn't miss it. That being said, now that feta is back in my life, I'm not sure how I lived without it!

Soup Season! Let's Make Mirepoix Y'all!

Hallelujah and yee-haw y'all, it's finally soup weather in Texas! We Texans have had enough of the blasted record-breaking heat this year and the arrival of Fall weather this week has us all dusting off our boots and sweaters, and loading our shopping carts with lots of yummy soup ingredients.

I personally have been longing for soup weather for months. Nothing is more comforting than soup. It's my go-to food when I need a little self nurturing. To make the souping process easier, do what I do and make your mirepoix in advance and store it in the freezer. Mirepoix is the flavor base for many soups, stocks, and sauces, so it's a good basic to have in your repertoire. It's easy enough to make but it's time-consuming with all the chopping and the slow cooking process. To save myself time I make a big batch and freeze it in 1 cup portions so I can pull out as much as I need for a particular recipe, saving myself at least 30 minutes each time I make soup, stock or pasta sauce.

The Barley Bean Soup recipe below is a family favorite. It's my own twist on a recipe from Whole Living Magazine. This soup is high in fiber, protein and iron, and thanks to the addition of the collard greens it's also rich in vitamins K, A and C. The garnishes of non fat Greek yogurt and basil pesto make the soup taste deceptively decadent without sacrificing healthfulness. I make this soup in two batches, one for my family as the recipe states and a second for myself using rice in place of the barley since I don't eat gluten. Both are delish.

Mirepoix ingredients ready to go

Mirepoix cooked and cooling

Basic Mirepoix Recipe

3 tablespoon olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
6 large carrots, peeled and sliced
6 celery ribs, sliced
salt and pepper

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, carrots and celery and stir to coat with the oil.
3. Add several cranks freshly ground salt and pepper (about 1 teaspoon each)
4. Cook, stirring every 6-7 minutes, until tender and caramelized. Don't brown the veggies but a little golden color is desirable and will add flavor. Veggies should be tender but not mushy.
5. Spread the finished mirepoix on a large plate or baking sheet to cool. Pack in one cup portions into zip lock freezer bags, squeezing out the air and flattening the bag to fit easily in your freezer.
6. Freeze for up to 2 months. To use, remove from freezer and place into your stock pot over med heat to thaw then continue with recipe as instructed.

TIPS:

• Technically speaking this recipe would be called a soffrito which is the Italian version of the French mirepoix because I'm using olive oil instead of butter, but the two have become virtually interchangeable, and mirepoix is the more commonly used name.
• This is the quantity you'll need for the soup recipe below but if you want to make extra for future recipes you can scale it up as many times as you can accommodate in your pot, or make multiple batches.
•  The exact measurements on the ingredients are not important, you can make any quantity that you want, just keep the proportions of the three ingredients more or less equal.
• You can oven-roast your mirepoix rather than cooking on the stove top. Place the veggies on a sheet pan drizzled with olive oil and roast in a hot oven (400-450 degrees) until tender and golden, about 20 minutes. Watch closely and shake the pan every now and then to cook evenly.

Bean and Barley Soup with Basil Pesto

Mirepoix, use recipe above (about 2 cups)
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup collard greens, washed and sliced in chiffonade (thin ribbons)
1 cup pearled barley (if you're gluten intolerant like me omit this ingredient, see note following recipe)
6 cups vegetable stock
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can (15.5 oz) cannellini beans
1/4 cup non fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup basil pesto

1. Make your mirepoix or pull 2 cups frozen mirepoix from the freezer and place in stock pot over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 8 minutes or until the frozen mirepoix is warmed through and the garlic is tender.
2. Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to boil and blanch the collard greens. Drop greens in boiling water for one minute then plunge into an ice bath immediately to stop the cooking. Set aside.
3. Add the pearled barley (see note below if you're gluten free) and 6 cups stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes or until barley is tender.
4. Add the beans and collards and cook for about 10 minutes or until the beans are warmed through.
5. Serve with a spoonful of non fat Greek yogurt and pesto.
6. This soup freezes well. Store in air tight containers for up to 2 months.

TIPS:

• This soup is a great basic and tastes fab just as it is but you can change it up and make it your own. Swap out different beans or grains, use spinach instead of collards, add chicken sausage if you're a meat-eater, etc.
• Barley contains gluten, so if you're on a gluten-free diet like me you can use rice instead of the barley, or even quinoa. The rice will most closely resemble the original texture of the barley and the quinoa will give a more nutty texture.

Healthy Cooking Fake Out: Bacon Flavor Without the Oink

I admit it, I used to be an "everything's better with bacon" girl. In fact, I was that girl until just a few months ago, when I decided to take my health into my own hands and treat my rheumatoid arthritis without drugs. Bacon is not on my arthritis diet for a number of reasons. First, my anti-inflammatory diet is low in protein and allows no beef or pork. Second, foods containing nitrosamines and other curing agents are off limits. And lastly, my nutritional research has led me to make some personal choices about what I'm eating. While I'm not technically vegan since I eat fish and pastured eggs, I have given up all "meat with feet".

But the foodie in me still craves that rich, meaty, "umami" flavor in my dishes, so I started doing some experimenting to recreate those flavors in another, healthier, form. I found the answer in, believe it or not, shiitake mushrooms! Cooking sliced or diced mushrooms at relatively high heat until browned and crisp, and adding coarse sea salt at the end of cooking produces a fantastic "fake out" bacon. Now, this isn't going to stand in for bacon on your breakfast plate next to your pancakes, but added to pasta, vegetables, quinoa, omelets, etc, you'll never notice the difference. And the bonus is that shiitake mushrooms are super healthy, containing antiviral and anticancer properties.

I eat shiitake nearly every day so I always have them on hand, but you could substitute crimini or baby portobellos although the result will be more meaty than crispy unless you slice very thinly. Skip the white button mushrooms as they are nutritionally inferior. Measurements are not included here because you can make these in whatever quantities you need for your particular dish.

Fake Out "Bacon" Mushrooms

olive oil

Shiitake mushrooms, sliced or diced (see Tips below)

coarse sea salt

1. Heat oil in saute pan over medium-high heat. You want just enough oil to lightly coat your pan (see Tips below). If your oil starts to smoke, turn down the heat a bit.
2. Add the mushrooms and saute until browned and crispy. Don't move the mushrooms around too much or they won't brown properly, just give them a shake or stir every minute or so. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits as they cook, there's lots a flavor in those bits so you want them in your finished dish, not on the saute pan to be washed down the drain.
3. When finished cooking add freshly ground course sea salt and toss together.

TIPS:

• Don't wash your mushrooms or they will absorb the water and become soggy. Take a clean kitchen towel or a piece of paper toweling and brush any visible dirt from the mushrooms.
• The thinner you slice your mushrooms the more crispy they will be when sauteed. If you like your "bacon" a bit meatier then slice your mushrooms thicker.
• Make sure your pan is hot before you add the mushrooms or they will get soft before they brown.
• You don't need much oil here, just enough to lightly coat the pan, we're not frying. 
• Mushrooms are about 80% water and that water comes out as they cook and then is reabsorbed. If you add salt during the cooking process it will be reabsorbed with the water in the later stages of the cooking process. We want our salt on the outside of our mushrooms so wait until the very end to add it.
• I add these mushrooms to just about everything: pastas, veggies, quinoa and rice, salads, bean dishes. They also make a wonderful garnish for soups. I often add toasted walnuts to the same dishes, the flavors complement each other very well.

Last night I added my Fake Out "Bacon" Mushrooms to sauteed broccoli, roasted garlic and toasted walnuts. Yum!

The Tasty Trio

The next time you find yourself making the same ole, same ole chicken or pasta or veggies, boost your meal's flavor with The Tasty Trio: roasted garlic, capers, and pine nuts.

The sharp pungent capers are tempered by the mellow, rich flavor of the roasted garlic, while the pine nuts add a nice textural contrast. Just toss them together and add to the dish toward the end of cooking. You can add The Tasty Trio to almost anything- pasta, quinoa, couscous, chicken, salmon, tuna, veggies.

Last night I added it to pan roasted cauliflower and broccoli. Yum!

Cade's Fave: Sweet Potato Chip Crusted Salmon with Edamame

I'm a lucky mom because I don't have to force my son to eat healthy foods. In fact, his favorite dinner is about as healthy as it gets: Sweet Potato Chip Crusted Salmon with Edamame. I credit his healthy eating to a positive attitude in our house toward health in general and healthy food in particular. You'll never hear me say to my son and step-son "just eat it, it's good for you".  I'll say instead, "try this, it's SO delicious, and it's good for you too".

Sometimes a favorite recipe comes from a collaboration. In the case of this salmon recipe it started with a dinner Cade had at a friend's house. He raved about the potato chip crusted chicken his friend's mom had prepared and asked if I could recreate it. I had to agree that it sounded pretty darn tasty. But healthy? Well... I knew I could do better. I swapped out the chicken for salmon and bumped up the health factor in the breading with a sweet potato chip version. Cade's verdict? Let's just say that any time I let him choose dinner, this is his first choice. Every time.

 

Sweet Potato Chip Crusted Salmon with Edamame

serves 4

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 wild Alaskan salmon filets, boneless and skinless

juice of 1/2 lime

2 teaspoons organic agave 

1 1/2 cups sweet potato chips

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper
2 cups frozen edamame

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a large saucepan of water over high heat to boil.
2. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on the bottom of a large casserole dish then place salmon filets in the dish.
3. In a small bowl, crush the sweet potato chips with your hands, add the panko and season with a couple of cranks of salt and pepper. Drizzle in the remaining olive oil. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl place the lime juice and agave, whisking to combine. Using your finger tips or a pastry brush, gently apply the mixture to the top of the salmon (if you used a large lime you may not need all of this mixture), you want to just dampen the salmon not soak it.
5. Sprinkle the chip and panko mixture over the filets and gently press down to adhere the crust. 
6. Bake salmon in the middle of a 350 degree oven for 8-12 minutes (see tips below). When salmon is cooked through turn on the broiler and broil the salmon for about 2 minutes or until the crust just crisps and browns.
7. When saucepan of water comes to a boil add the edamame and cook 2-4 minutes or until the edamame float. Drain.

TIPS:

• Which salmon is best? According to Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, wild caught salmon from Alaska is a "Best Choice" and is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. Download Monterey Bay Aquarium's smartphone app to guide you in your choices.
• Don't over-bake your salmon. Over-cooked salmon is tough and dry and guaranteed to put off any diner, especially kiddos. Your salmon is done when it's flesh changes color, becomes opaque, and flakes easily when a fork is inserted.
• Panko breadcrumbs are found in the Asian aisle of the supermarket. Read the labels as some panko includes hydrogenated fats which you should avoid like the plague. Panko contains wheat so if you follow a gluten free diet you will want to omit this ingredient.
• Salmon and edamame are both power foods so this meal packs a one-two punch. You could also pair the salmon with rice noodles, quinoa, whole grain pasta, or another veggie such a green beans or broccoli.

Pan Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon and Capers

Since I started treating my Rheumatoid Arthritis with whole foods, I practically live on veggies. I'm always looking for new combinations of flavors so I don't get bored. Lemon and capers add a real "pop-zing!" to anything you add them to so they are an integral part of my cooking arsenal. Pan roasting is a favorite cooking method for veggies because the direct heat causes them to caramelize on their exterior while keeping the overall texture al dente. I could never, would never, eat a mushy vegetable, and you shouldn't either. Caramelization increases the flavor profile too, so say good bye to bland veggies!

This recipe is flexible. If you don't like cremini mushrooms then substitute shiitakes or just don't use them. If capers are not a favorite then pick another flavor-packed aromatic or toss in some red onion. If walnuts aren't your thing, try pine nuts instead. This recipe is equally delish with broccoli instead of cauliflower. But if you've only had cauliflower raw at the salad bar, or over-cooked and mushy, please give it another try cooked with this method, it's SO GOOD! Don't get locked into the recipe, use what you have on hand, use ingredients you love, but follow the basic method for pan roasting.

As far as quantities, you can scale up for a larger batch, just make sure you don't crowd the pan (see TIPS, below). I would eat this entire recipe myself for dinner, but it would serve 2 or more as a side dish. If you can eat sheep's milk cheese, Pecorino Romano is the perfect finishing touch, grated right over the top.

Pan Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon and Capers

2+     Tablespoons olive oil, separated
10     Cremini mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
6       Liconato Kale leaves, washed, stems removed and chopped
2       Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1       Tablespoon capers
3       Cups cauliflower florets, bite sized pieces
1/4    Cup walnuts, coarse chop
6       Cloves oven roasted garlic (substitute 3 cloves fresh garlic if oven roasted is not available)
         Salt & Pepper to taste
         Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano, if desired

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until browned, stirring every minute or so. Meanwhile, combine the kale, lemon juice, and capers in a small bowl and set aside while cooking your veggies. Heat the remaining olive oil in a second pan over medium heat and add the cauliflower (or do this after the mushrooms finish cooking, using the same pan). Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid to hold in the heat, shaking the pan to move around the cauliflower every couple of minutes. After five minutes remove the lid to make sure your cauliflower is starting to brown, adjust the heat if necessary. Add the garlic and continue cooking until cauliflower is nicely caramelized and fork tender but still al dente, about 15 minutes depending on your pan and burners. Toss in the nuts and allow to cook uncovered for about 2 minutes. Transfer cauliflower to serving bowl, add the kale mixture and the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, toss everything together, and grate some fresh Pecorino over top if desired. Enjoy!

TIPS:

1. The amount of olive oil specified is a guideline, use a bit more if you need it.
2. Your veggies will not brown and caramelize properly if you are constantly moving them around, so only shake or stir about every minute or so.
3. Keep the lid on to hold in the heat so you cook the veggies on the inside as well as browning them on the outside. 
4. Don't crowd the pan. A single layer of veggies that can move when you shake the pan is what you want for proper browning. Use two pans if necessary.
5. I use toasted nuts in EVERYTHING. To save myself time I will oven-toast a large batch and then store them in the freezer. This way I can toss them into the pan at the very last minute just to warm up. To toast: spread out on a sheet pan in a single layer, place in a 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes or until you start to smell them, shake the pan around half way through to toast evenly.
6. I use Liconato or "Dinosaur" Kale but you can substitute any kale you like. Kale tends to get pretty dirty so wash each leaf individually under running water just before using. Kale is a power food, it's loaded with good-for-you nutrients.
7. For a protein punch, add some beans (chickpeas are particularly good with cauliflower) or toss in some cooked quinoa. Of course, if you're not vegetarian you could always add some cubed, cooked chicken.

       

Drug-Free Rheumatoid Arthritis Program Part 1: "What's Eatin' You?"

So, what's eatin' you?

If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis or any other chronic illness, this is a very important question to ask yourself. When I was first diagnosed with RA I knew there would be important lifestyle and diet changes that I would make to support my treatment. But it was several months before I realized that the lifestyle and dietary changes would BE my treatment. It was several months before I realized it wasn't just what I was eating, it was what was eatin' me.

I spent those months struggling through the initial phases of what I can only call "the mourning process". Learning you have an incurable, chronic illness is a bit like dealing with a death. I'm not trying to be melodramatic here, if you've been through it you'll understand. There's the denial phase, the bargaining phase, the anger phase, and finally, acceptance. I got stuck in anger. Really stuck. Really angry. I won't digress into all the details of what I was angry about, I could write about that all night. I only mention it because in hindsight I realize it was a very useful time for me. Anger is an "active" emotion, it's energizing, it's motivating. Anger propelled me towards an understanding of the cause of my illness, namely a malfunctioning immune system. Anger fueled the hours of research. Anger made me look for a fix for my immune system. Anger forced me to ask myself, "what's eatin' me"?

The single most important aspect of my drug-free RA program is my diet. I'll say it again: You. Are. What. You. Eat. Think about it. Junk in, junk out. Toxins in, toxins out. If you're eating foods that offend your immune system then your foods are EATING AT YOU. If you don't believe me just give this program a try for a couple of weeks. But I warn you, it's not for the faint of heart. Oh no, you gotta have balls to do this. You gotta be committed. You gotta want to heal. But I figure, if I can do it, anyone can. You see, I live for food. I'm a foodie. I've been in the food industry for nearly 20 years now and part of my anger was tied up in the realization that I would have to give up certain foods that I love.

I did the research, I read the books (Dr. Weil, thank you very much!), I frequented the chat-rooms. I decided to go on the most restrictive anti-inflammatory diet I could find. I would eliminate ALL of the potential arthritis triggers for one month, and then, one by one, add them back to see which were offending my body (this is called an "elimination diet" and you can find lots of info about it online). That was the plan anyway. After a couple of false starts (this was NOT an easy transition) I was on my way. Two weeks into it I felt dramatic improvement. My joints moved freely and my pain was greatly decreased. I desperately missed the eliminated foods, especially gluten and corn. But I felt so good that I resisted cheating. I kept telling myself that those foods were poison to my body, it really helped me psychologically. After a month I was free of symptoms completely. It felt like a miracle to have my body back.

The time had finally come to add something back to my diet. This was the moment I had waited for! But I couldn't decide which potential offender I would try first. And then I had a thought, "what if it makes me sick again?", "what if the pain comes back?". I decided I was feeling too good to risk it so I waited another week. And another. And another. I was two months along when I decided to test gluten. Fail. Within 8 hours of eating a tiny slice of whole grain bread my wrists tightened and became sore. Ok, no gluten for me. Ten days later I tested corn. Fail. Again, my body let me know very quickly that it did not want corn. That was enough for me. So here I am, still on the super-restrictive diet, completely symptom-free (and 10 pounds lighter, I might add). And here I will stay. It may take several more months to heal my immune system to the point of being able to reintroduce those foods, or several years, I honestly don't know. I do know that this diet is powerful, that it is healing my body, that it has changed my life for the better. Not only am I free of RA symptoms but I sleep better, have more energy, think more clearly, and have lost 10 pounds. My body feels like a perfectly functioning machine for the first time in my life. And just to reiterate, I take NO MEDS. None for RA, none for allergies, none for pain, none for acne, etc, etc. I am completely med free. I support my body with supplements, Chinese herbs, homeopathic treatments, and acupuncture, all of which I will detail in upcoming posts.

So here's the nuts and bolts of my eating program. Make sure you clean out your pantry of offending foods and stock up on the good stuff. Buy a juicer if you can, they are good as gold. Prepare yourself mentally too. It's not easy at first, but it does get easier as you go along. For me, the first 4 days were pretty hellish. But seriously, 4 days of feeling deprived isn't a terrible price to pay for the miracle of healing.

The No's

No processed sugar

No gluten- wheat flour, spelt, barley, rye, triticale, bulgur, farina, semolina, durham, graham

No oats unless specifically labeled gluten free

No peanuts

No dairy

No corn

No citrus

No eggs

No nightshades- tomatoes, potatoes (sweet potatoes are ok), peppers, eggplant

No red meat or pork

No alcohol

No caffeine 

No artificial anything, no MSG, nothing fried, nothing you can't pronounce

I know what you're thinking. "What the hell do you EAT"? I eat LOTS of vegetables and fruit, beans, rice, quinoa, nuts and seeds, salmon and tuna. I have found that I can cheat on a couple of these too. I have never given up my morning coffee, I just couldn't wrap my head around facing caffeine withdrawal on top of everything else. I don't have any other caffeine the rest of the day, just the one cup in the morning. I also have a glass of red wine now and then, but for the first 6 weeks I abstained completely. Only one glass, a couple of nights a week. Any more than that and I feel dull, foggy and sore. The other cheat is citrus. I use lemon and lime juice in my cooking, in small amounts for flavor balance, but I don't drink citrus juice or eat the fruit.

The Yes's

Eat vegetables, especially leafy greens like kale, mushrooms, ginger and turmeric

Eat fruits, especially berries

Eat beans (and Beanitos Chips)

Eat quinoa (this is a seed but is treated like a grain in the kitchen. it's a complete protein)

Eat salmon (VERY important! you need lots of omega 3 oils to fight inflammation)

Eat rice (including rice noodles found in the Asian foods aisle)

JUICE DAILY (veggies mostly, but some fruit too, see my "BACK to health blend")

Push your flavonoids (spinach, blueberries)

Push your quercetin (apples, onions)

Push your omega 3's (salmon, walnuts, flax seeds)

Push the turmeric and ginger

Drink lots of filtered water and green tea

Goji Berry Tea

 

What I Eat (or juice) EVERY SINGLE DAY

beets

apples

carrots

kale

ginger

turmeric

brocolli

shiitake mushrooms

onions and garlic

salmon or tuna

beans

walnuts or flaxseeds

Beanitos Chips

Mrs Mays Cran-Blueberry Crunch or a Kind Macadamia & Apricot bar

turmeric tea 

Ready to make dinner!

Ok. So there you have it. Give it some time to sink in. It's not an easy program to follow at first but when you start feeling the benefits it gets so much easier. I've discovered new foods and flavors, and have challenged myself in the kitchen like never before. I spend time perusing aisles at Central Market that I used to skip over, specifically the Asian section and the bulk bins. It can get a little boring if you eat the same things every day, so mix it up. I can make broccoli 10 different ways now and all are absolutely delicious. And if the thought of beets makes you go "eeewwwww...", all I can say is don't knock it until you try it prepared properly! Oven-roasted beets are heavenly! And yes, I'll share my recipes with you in future posts.  

For now, I'm signing off, it's time to head to Central Market for fresh kale, mushrooms and beets. And remember, you are what you eat, so don't let your food eat at you!

 

Toxic? I'm not toxic!

Well yes, actually, I am, and so are you. Sorry, but it's true. Toxicity is a natural product of living, breathing and eating. We take in toxins all day every day from the foods we eat, the air we breath and the water we drink. Our bodies have a built in detox system that eliminates toxins naturally, it's not something we have to think about or work at. Unfortunately, our modern lives expose us to much more toxicity than most of our bodies can handle. And to make matters worse, many of us have "elimination systems" that are functioning far below the optimal level.

Our bodies eliminate toxins through the kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymph and skin, or to be really blunt, through sweat, urine and poop. If your body does not eliminate efficiently you can develop a whole mess of health problems that range from mild (constipation and allergies) to life-threatening (cancer and autoimmunity).

So how do we help our bodies? Below are suggestions based on my own detox program for rheumatoid arthritis.

• Breath deeply. Most of us breath inefficiently, focusing on the inhale rather than the exhale. It's the exhale that eliminates carbon dioxide. Yoga is a great way to learn to breath more deeply and efficiently, but you can practice better breathing anywhere, anytime. Simply direct your attention to your breath and slow it down a bit, then focus on exhaling for at least as long as you inhale, giving a little "push" at the end of your exhale. Do this for about 8 breaths.
• Sweat. Without a doubt the most efficient way to sweat out toxins is by taking infrared saunas. I take saunas three times a week for 30 minutes at a time. I was sure I would hate this, after all, I practically melt every summer in Texas, but I have come to actually crave my saunas for the immediate benefits I feel. Exercise is another great way to eliminate toxins through sweat. Make sure you drink lots of water before, during and after a sauna so as not to become dehydrated.
• Eat clean. Consume plenty of fiber-rich veggies, fruits and whole grains, and drink at least 2 quarts of filtered water daily. If you're not poopin' every day you're not eliminating enough toxins. If you have constipation consider drinking aloe juice in the morning and at night. Try George's Aloe Juice, it tastes like water, 1/2 cup morning and night.
• Juice. And I mean that as a verb not a noun. Make juicing part of your daily routine, or go on a 2-3 day juice fast for more intense results. I juice every day, usually in the morning on an empty stomach, but an afternoon juice is a great pick-me-up too. A good juicer can be had for under $200 (check out amazon.com). I have a Breville juicer that I love (pic below). My morning juice blend is detailed below.
• Don't mess with your liver! The largest organ in your body carries out many functions critical for health, one of which is metabolizing toxins. At the onset of my RA symptoms I was shocked to be told by both my acupuncturist and my rheumatologist that my liver function was off. To get my liver back on top of its game I follow an anti-inflammatory diet (Dr Weil offers great guidance on this subject), I avoid caffeine and alcohol, I drink plenty of water and green tea, I take saunas, I avoid all drugs including over the counter meds, and I take a number of supplements and Chinese herbs.

My "B-A-C-K to Health" Juice Blend

The exact measurements here are not important, so adjust for your taste or what you have on hand. The ginger and turmeric are optional, I add them for my RA, but they do add a nice punch of flavor to balance out the sweetness of the beets. Buy organic whenever possible, especially the kale since you can't peel it. If your carrots, apples and beets are not organic then peel them before juicing.

2 red or golden Beets

2 green Apples

6 Carrots

6 Kale leaves

2 inch segment of fresh ginger root, peeled (optional)

2 inch segment of fresh turmeric root, peeled (optional)

other optional add ins: basil, cucumber, lemon or lime, romaine lettuce

Juice all ingredients and drink immediately. Get ready to feel the rush!