Went out for a walk today, and I could not believe how much everything has grown… All it takes is a few days with rain and then a few days with glorious sunshine and, Voila! Even our windowsill tomatoes and peppers has had a growth spurt, and they are sitting on the inside?
As you know I have been dreaming for a while now, of having my own piece of land. And to see this sudden burst of edible things out in nature just fuels this desire… Do you think it’s a natural instinct? To be able to provide for oneself and ones family?
Our window sill garden is growing…and there is so much more I would like to add. But the next seeds are going to be Rocket, can’t wait to eat my “own” rocket. If you are not a rocket fan, try rocket on pizza or pasta. It tastes so good! I love it with most things at the moment. Why not try a cheese and ham sandwich with rocket… Staple lunch in this house. As a matter of fact, had it today.
Rocket has as many other salad greens high vitamin A and C content and it has a very positive effect on liver function. Which could prove useful for detoxing. Apart from the above it’s also packed with other nutrients like; iron, calcium, folic acid and vitamin B.
Let me know what you think about Rocket, as I know this is one of these “love or hate” foods.
Organic food is good for the soul.
Is the reason for all disorders like allergy, eczema and others, that we putting the wrong things in our mouths? Refined carbohydrates, sugars and fats? Or is it because of all the traces of toxic substances that we get in our bodies through the food we eat, from food treated by pesticides or grown in a heavily polluted area.
If something you eat makes you feel good you are likely to keep eating it and vice versa. This is an indication that the food is good or bad for you. With one huge exception, if you are addicted to a substance. As then the body has already moved past this first stage in the Adaptation process.
In my mind twenties, I was drinking a lot of tea, drank alcohol regularly and on top of that enjoyed spicy food. I often complained about stomach cramps, which eventually was diagnosed as stomach ulcers. This was caused by the combination above; caffeine, alcohol and spicy food? The ulcers only appeared long after my habits where set, when my body was not able to protect my body anymore, it was total overload.
My doctor advised me to avoid all three for a while to let my stomach recover. From then on I converted to herbal teas, eased of on alcohol and opted for milder curries. And it did work wonders. Today I do drink a “normal” cup of tea once in a while, but if I have two in the same day, I get stomach ache straight way, same goes for spicy food and alcohol. So I do strongly believe that your body sends out signals to help you choose what’s best for you. We just need to tune in…
This is known as the “General Adaptation Syndrome”
Stage 1: Initial Response
This is your first response to any event or substance is the best indicator of whether or not it suits you. Great example is the first “puff” on a cigarette.
Stage 2: Adaptation
The human body adapts quickly. Straight away the body starts working on protecting it self from the damaging substance, and it is doing so in an unseen state of stress.
Stage 3: Exhaustion
The body’s immune system is depleted and the body is not able to cope. Not able to adapt any further.
Stage 4: Recovery
It is necessary to avoid or greatly restrict the offending substance. Only this can give the body the time to recover.
Stage 5: Hypersensitivity
When recovered you may react to substances you have never reacted to before. As the body is now back to where you started, before you started taking any substances that did not agree with your body. Which mean you can get more sensitive to other processed foods and similar.
For many years there have been a belief that, some foods make us ill, while others gives us optimum health.
Already in 1923 there was a meat advertising campaign stating: “90% of the diseases known to man are caused by cheap food stuff.”
Our traditional way of farming, does include many kinds of toxins, which so far seems to be a small price to pay for the food companies, to get the crop they expect every harvest. They do this without taking any account to the toxins that enter all the crops they grow, that we will eat, and that will then enters our system and overloads us with toxins that give us a variation of side effects.
Many studies have been done on pesticides used in agriculture. According to Professor William Rea, Director of the Environment Health Centre in Dallas, Texas, pesticides exposure is linked to asthma, eczema, migraines, IBS and rhinitis. But it has also been associated with depression, memory decline, aggressive outbursts and Parkinson’s disease. It is also believed to have cancer causing agents.
It’s even more important to avoid when it comes to children, they are extra vulnerable as their bodies and brains are still growing. Pesticides can contribute to slow development, behaviour problems, hyperactivity and learning difficulties in children.
So what could we do to avoid this and improve our health?
More and more people have realized the huge benefits of organic foods. Which is the most natural and beneficial way of eating, for optimum nutrition and health. There is less, if none, toxins and been proved to consist much higher levels of nutrients.
This has not been proved on paper, but in actions and wellbeing.
Research made on rats by the Danish institute of agricultural science in Feb 2005, showed pesticides below detection levels for both traditionally grown foods and organic grown,. But the rats fed on organic food was noticeable healthier, slept better, had stronger immune system and where less obese.
You can see this in the influx of organic products in most shops, as that’s what the general public wants, they don’t want to feed their children toxins.
It can also be seen in the masses of people opting for self-sufficiency and the huge interest in growing their own vegetables.
The Environmental Protection Agency compiles a yearly report of the foods with highest level of pesticide residues, it’s called the “Dirty Dozen” report. See below for the 2010 Dirty Dozen report;
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Blueberries
Nectarines
Bell peppers
Spinach
Kale
Cherries
Potatoes
Grapes
So if you can only buy limited organic food, make these your top choices.
In 2006 the European commission stated:
“Long term exposure to pesticides can lead to serious disturbances to the immune system, sexual disorders, cancers, sterility, birth defects, damage to the nervous system and genetic damage.”
The European commission’s statement dates from 2006. Why have we not seen more incentives to help the traditional agriculture to become more environmental friendly and steer them into a more balanced way of farming. And more research to invent something more sustainable than pesticides? Is ill-health the price we have to pay, for “cheap” and ready-available food all year round?
While doing my research I came across many cases where, individuals have become ill with life threatning diseases, only to find that with optimum nutrition free of toxins, they have miraculously recovered. This is enough for me to believe that food is our medicine.
Nutrition education is not a lifestyle hobby; it should be compulsory fixture on school curriculums all over the world.
A colorful autumn.
Here’s the recipe I promised, I made this soup last weekend and it was delicious.
Serves 4
Cooking time: 50 minutes
25g (1oz) Butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
225g (8 oz) sweet potato, diced
1 small butternut squash, diced
1/4 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1/2 red chili, finely diced
750ml (26 fl.oz) vegetable stock
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese, finely grated
125 ml (1/4 pint) double cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
-Melt the butter in a pan, add the garlic, sweet potato and butternut squash, stir, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
-Add the smoked paprika and red chili, then cook for 1 minute.
-Add the stock and bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until vegetables are tender.
-Allow to cool a little, then stir in the mustard and parmesan. Blend until smooth.
-Return to the pan, add the cream, season to taste, then gently reheat for 2 minutes and serve.
Recipe is taken from the book; New Covent Garden Food Co, Soup for all seasons.
http://www.newcoventgardenfood.com/
Enjoy!
I made one batch without chili for my children, they loved it. So just as nice with chili as without.
Have a lovely weekend!
Pumpkins
I was diagnosed with a sinus infection, and had to take antibiotics for a week. So when I said my common cold was a bit more stubborn I was on the right track. It took me another week after finishing the antibiotics to get over it… So my fitness routine is none existent, and that was just as I had finally got into one! But such is life, and I blame my immune system. So why was my immune system not up to scratch?
It could be many reasons, stress, not enough sleep, in combination with all the germs that my children carry from nursery and back and I have to admit probably not an optimum diet. So I have ended up putting too much stress on my body, without fueling it with the right nutrients to cope with the stress.
It has been very frustrating to not be able to go back to the gym, but I have made an effort to eat more “super foods” and tried to sit back and rest a bit, to give my immune system time to recover.
My super foods of the month: Sweet Potato and pumpkin.
Made a lovely Pumpkin, Sweet potato and Chili soap yesterday, by The Covent Garden Soup Company. Delicious! I will add the recipe tomorrow.
Nutri People have a great thorough list;
http://www.nutripeople.co.uk/general-health.asp?articleid=757
Tomorrow I’m finally going back to the gym. Jay!! Body Pump here I come!
Get your daily intake of vitamins from organic fruit and vegetables.
Today has been a beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine… Guess what I got up to? Went to the doctor for an appointment, which had been reschedule without anyone bothering to inform me. Then I ended up on the sofa with the worst headache I have had in years. This headache business was with all certainty, apart of my “common cold”, which I have now decided is a “not-so-common-cold”. I have been dragging this cold along with me now for weeks, and instead of getting better it seems to be getting worse.
So yesterday I got this advice from a friend of a friend; Chop up an onion and leave it on a plate on your bedside table over night. apparently it is supposed to help unblock your nose. You can imagine my disappointment when I woke up and couldn’t breathe through my nose. But as the day went on, I was suddenly able to actually blow my nose. If this was the onion or pure coincidence no one will know. But it’s worth a try! I have opted for a big cup of hot water with lemon and honey tonight.
So what are the best tricks in the book to get rid of a common cold?
1. Make sure you catch up on sleep and get enough rest. Have you ever as a parent noticed how you get a cold as soon as you have had a couple of late nights with your little ones? Your immune system goes down with not enough rest, and you are more vulnerable to viruses.
2. Drink lots of water, you get dehydrated from having a cold. Water is the best body cleanser, keep in mind that the adult body is 50-60% water. It is used in most functions of the body, without it we would not survive. So drink a little bit extra when unwell.
3. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables, not only are they full of vitamins and nutrients, but they have a high content of water. Which can both help you fight your cold.
4. De-stress, stress is as bad for your immune system as sleep deprivation. Keep calm and relaxed. If you don’t have a relaxing hobby. Learn a simple meditation routine to help you relax.
These are no miracle advice, just common sense. When I find a miracle cure I will be sure to let you know!
We have had one of those fantastic August days today, a blue blue sky, a slight breeze and the smell of dry soil.
I took my children for a little stroll in the country-side, our short stroll ended up being a two-hour adventure. We saw dragon-flies, lizards and butterflies. The neighbour hood is full of edible things, there where nearly ripe pumpkins, grapes on the vines, pears on the trees, even the oranges has started to take shape, although they still look like limes rather than oranges.
There where fields that just have been ploughed and ready for its next job, soils so dry and hard that it looked like a field full of rocks.
I get so much pleasure out of seeing all these fantastic things in our neighbourhood, agriculture is the main source of income in this area, like most of Portugal. I am smitten…I dream of an organic farm of my own. This is coming from me, who has still not been able to figure out how to keep my pot plants alive!
I do believe this is a great way of getting the best food possible and look after the environment at the same time. But I sure have the work cut out for me, I first have to saw some seeds in pots to see if I really can learn how to do it…
Anyway, back to my lovely walk with my children… we ended it by the old-fashioned water pump for a refreshing splash!
If you don’t have country-side to turn to for de-stressing, how do you do it?
I have of late been working on my goals for the next 12 months. One of the things that I have on my list is to try ONE new recipe a week. I don’t know about you, but we always seem to just eat the same things…and if you eat the same things nothing will change.
I found a mouth-watering recipe for Spinach pie, which I cooked on Thursday. It was surprisingly easy, I found most ingredients in the shop (this is not common practise over here.) and I really enjoyed the process. And it was a success, even my five-year old loved it! Mission accomplished.
Here’s the recipe;
Spinach Pie
For two persons
1tbls olive oil
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
300g Spinach, washed and chopped
20 olives, pipped and chopped
1tbls finely chopped mint
1tbls finely chopped parsley
1 whipped egg
200g Feta cheese, crumbled
1 tbls Sunflower seeds
8 sheets phyllo dough (I used normal pastry)
Method:
Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a pan and soften the onion and garlic for about five minutes. Add the spinach and stir, then pour it into a big bowl. Add the olives, herbs, egg, feta and sunflower seeds and stir well to mix it all up.
Put the phyllo dough in a pie dish, at about 25 cm in diameter. Leave the dough to hang a bit over the edge and brush every layer with olive oil. Pour the filling in the dish, then gather the ends of the dough to create an edge. cook the pie in the oven until the filling has set and the phyllo dough has got a nice color, that will take approximately 30-35 minutes.
Enjoy!
This recipe is taken from a lovely book; Super Health with natural food (Superhälsa med naturlig mat) by Natalie Savona.
Your youth and wellbeing is all down to what you put in your mouth.
If you where only to eat exactly what your body needs, your body would work at an optimum level. The energy levels in the body would be outstanding, as the body does not have to do additional tasks like clearing clogged veins, getting rid of additional waste products etc. This would avoid putting pressure on the body, which often leads to disease.
To reap the benefits we need to eat a balanced diet which compromise carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins and water. These are the vital ingredients for correct nutrition. But the amount needed of the various components vary from individual to individual.
The mind
Your mental health improves with optimum nutrition. That is why it is so important to feed our children the right foods to be able to learn and improve them selves and to be able to concentrate. If you want to keep your memories in old age, you should be taking notice of what you are eating, as it is scientifically proven that optimum nutrition is the key. Mood swings that you might for example experience in conjunction with PMS will be history. You will feel more alert and it has also been said to lessen depressions.
Sleep more sound, and you will give your body the chance to “run all their repairs”, this will put less stress on your body, as it will not have to both digest food and do repairs while you are still awake. To help with this you need the amino acid Tryptophan, it helps create the brain chemical melatonin, which keeps the bodies night and day rhythm. Tryptophan is found in bananas, figs, eggs, halibut and milk to name a few foods. Sleep will improve, which will lead to other benefits like more energy, you will feel more relaxed and happy as a result. When you get into this happy relaxed frame of mind you can reap further benefits, as this will limit stress, diseases and make you more confident. This will lead to more positive outcomes, in other areas of your life. This will lead us to the law of attraction, if you are positive, positive things will happen.
The physical body
The most important is of course that it will help you keep a steady weight, so like with the benefits of the mind here we can also add being more confident and happy. Do keep in mind that the best way to keep your steady weight is a combination of optimum nutrition and regular exercise.
With the right balance on your diet, you are able to perform at your physical peak. You will be able to part take in sports and other activities, and reap the benefits from this too. We could take a look at any world athlete’s food diary and see them eating a personalized diet for optimum nutrition. We might not be world athletes, but we should take a page out of their book and follow their lead, as this will give us the energy we need to take on our life with a bit more spring in our steps and of course get more out of life.
Our bodies will be more resistant to infections and disease. Imagine being able to wave goodbye to the flu and colds, with optimum nutrition this is possible. With the right kind of food we can get our immune system back in top shape. If we feed our body the right food, we should in theory never have to go to see a doctor again or take any conventional medicine. We may have to supplement with some minerals and vitamins in tablet form, depending on the quality of our food. For some of us this may only need to be done for a specific period to get the right balance. Then continue top this up with help of our correctly balanced diet. We will regain energy with only feeding the body the food it needs to fulfill all the bodily functions. This way we will also by-bass all the repair procedures from eating the wrong foods and empty calories.
Youth
Studies done during the last thirty years have all come back to the same result, that our health and longevity is directly connected to our diet. With keeping our weight stable we are able to continue being active as we grow older, this will then help us keep younger for longer, as we will be using all our body functions the way they were meant to. This is only one of the benefits, as a good diet will keep our skin elastic and renewed, which will be another aspect of how we will keep ourselves looking radiant and young.
It is very important to keep hydrated for good young looking skin, as this will flush out all the toxins. Both water and tea is recommended for this. Silica is a very important mineral to improve your complexion; you find it in plant-based foods like cucumber and celery. Keep in mind that silica is often found in the strings and peels that many of us discard. We also need to keep in mind, that we have to adjust our optimum diet as we age, our need changes with our age. The right food will not only keep us looking younger, we will feel younger too. An important ingredient in the optimum diet is antioxidants, as they balance out the free radicals; they stop the destruction of cells. Abundance of antioxidants in the body will slow down the aging process. Colorful fruit and vegetables tend to be very rich in antioxidants, like blueberries, red grapes (yes, even red wine), cranberries, broccoli and dark leafy greens. For an example Vitamin C is involved in the formation of collagen, which binds cells and tissues together.
Clinical nutritionist Samantha Heller, MS, RD said; “Everything you eat becomes a part of not only your inner being, but the outer fabric of your body as well. The healthier the foods are that you consume, the better your skin will look”.
The old theory; “you are what you eat”, is proven over and over again in scientifically research every day. Eat a correctly balanced diet and you will start to sleep sounder, have energy left for exercise at the end of the day, feel more happy and relaxed and you will forget what it is like to have the flu.
With eating the right foods, we will be looking after ourselves in the best possible way, and reap all the above benefits and more. Your body will be doing exactly what it was created to do and we will feel and look the best we possibly can.
Remember food is medicine.
Filed under: Nutrition
I have recently been trying to get my goals in order for the year (yeah I know a bit late, but as they say it’s never too late) and where I want to take my nutritional studies. Done some research, and to take it to the level I am dreaming of. I will need to find an “apprentice” job with a willing nutritionist/dietist, but that is not all, I also need to find out the laws and rules for practicing in Portugal. This is not an easy task, it have led to many frustrations and doubts.
Searching high and low for good motivational advice to keep going, I don’t want to give up now.
Why is it so easy to know everything theoretically, but when it comes down to actually doing it, it is so much more challenging.
As I mentioned in an earlier blogg, my goal is to practice what I preach, optimum nutrition. At the moment it is proving very very difficult. Since my last pregnancy, a year ago, I am stuck with a sugar craving.
On a good note, this month I have finally managed to get back into a fitness regime, and averaging about 3 workouts a week.
But back to the sugar cravings, how do I get rid of it? I don’t want to go cold turkey as I want to be able to enjoy a coca-cola or a bar of chocolate occasionally. Is that impossible?
All regimes seem so strict and hard to follow. But I have decided from tomorrow, no more sugar on my weetbix, only fresh fruit… That is at least a start in the right direction.
Here are some good advices I have been given that I would like to share with you;
Exercise: When you move and increase your oxygen consumption, then you will naturally raise your serotonin levels.
Water: You might just be thirsty, so drink a large glass of water and keep yourself busy. Your craving might be forgotten about.
Protein: Eat protein at each of your three main meals, and you will stay fuller for longer and not crave anything extra including sugar.
No Caffeine: Drinking caffeinated drinks will lower your serotonin levels over a period of time, so you will start craving more sugar.
Xylitol: This is the only sugar substitute that you should even consider.
Stop Stressing: Stress raises your cortisol levels, which in turn lowers serotonin, and that will make you crave sugar.
I will continue my search for the best tools and advice to get back on track. I will keep you up to date with my progress. Watch this space.
