LISTEN TO EPISODE 29

Food Focus: Foods Providing Vitamin B12

• calf’s liver, braised
• snapper, baked/broiled
• salmon, chinook
• beef tenderloin, lean
• lamb loin, roasted
• scallops, baked/broiled
• shrimp, steamed/boiled
• halibut, baked/broiled
• yogurt, low-fat

Although an article by Dr. Gina Shaw says otherwise on animal foods giving you B12. Read more…

Food Review: Kinni Kritters Animal Cookies

• These cookies are gluten free, wheat free, dairy/casein free, egg free, trans fat free.
• Eight cookies have 2 grams of sugar. In one oreo cookie it is 14 grams of sugar.
• Its very light and taste like animal cookies.

Affirmation of the Week: I design my life through thoughts and beliefs.

Tip of the Week: Reduce Stress

• Spend 30 minutes a day doing something you enjoy. (i.e.spending time with friends, walking, listening to music)
• Count to ten before losing your temper or getting aggravated and BREATH.
• Avoid difficult people when possible and surround self with positive people.
• Surround your desk with things that make you happy (i.e. family photos, jokes, affirmations, quotes)

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LISTEN TO EPISODE 27

Food Focus: Carrots

Benefits:

• excellent source of vitamin A.
• great source of vitamin K, biotin, and fiber
• good source vitamins C and B6, potassium, and thiamin

Carrots are an excellent source of antioxidant compounds, and the richest vegetable source of the pro-vitamin A carotenes. Carrots’ antioxidant compounds help protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer and also promote good vision, especially night vision.

Carrots are delicious eaten raw or cooked. Beta-carotene is not destroyed by cooking; in fact, cooking breaks down the fiber, making this nutrient and carrots’ sugars more available, thus also making them taste sweeter.

Source:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=21

Food Review: Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta

As you know I am alwasy searching for new gluten free products I came across this pasta that is made out of brown rice, rice bran and water.

And it’s even wheat free, gluten free. It’s not mushy and when you cook it, it comes out just right. It taste great and now you can still have pasta.

Source:

http://www.tinkyada.com/index.asp

Affirmation of the Week: I allow a life of happiness

Remember to repeat with interest and desire.

Tip of the week: Cravings at night

I suggest to incorporate some baked carrots into your diet. Maybe as a light snack or during lunch. Adding this vegetable will not only give you the nutrients we discussed today, but the satisfaction of having something sweet. They are delicious and get sweeter when baked. Another vegetable you can incorporate to help with these sweet cravings is sweet potatoes.

Sponsors

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LISTEN TO EPISODE 26

Food Focus: Persimmons

• Season: October thru December, and most abundant during the month of November.
• The persimmon contains almost twice as much dietary fiber and useful trace elements as the apple does.
• Persimmons are also rich in sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and manganese.
• Warning: diabetics should avoid consuming persimmons as they are known to be high in natural sugars.

Source:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Health-Benefits-of-Persimmon

Food Review: Nature’s Path Organic Corn Flake Cereal

Gluten free and wheat free cereal. Since it’s so simple and there is no highly processed ingredients it’s a great cereal to make your own. Add in different fruits, nuts, seeds to satisfy your taste buds for a healthy alternative for cereal.

• Ingredients: Organic corn meal, organic grape and/or pear juice concentrate, sea salt
• Produced in a facility that uses peanuts, tree nuts, and soy.
• ¾ cup there are 3 grams of sugar.

Source:

http://www.naturespath.com/products

Affirmation of the Week: I am healing. Remember repeat with interest and desire.

Tip of the Week: Joint Pain and Food

If you feel you have a lot of joint pain there can be several reasons for it. It can be from different activities you are doing, it could be stress, but there is another thing to consider which is the intake of foods. There are foods that are designated as the nightshade vegetables which include tomatoes, potatoes (not including sweet potatoes), eggplant and peppers, which are known to cause or enhance joint pain. Try to keep it to a minimum.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 25

Mind Focus: Meditation

Meditation has been around for so long, but not many people take advantage of its many benefits. A few are:

• Stress reduction, which can lower the chance of high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack.
• Improved ability to focus and concentrate. Richer, deeper experience of quality of life.
• Bringing a person’s attention more to the present day so you can enjoy what’s happening now instead of being stuck worrying about past problems.
• Leads to a deeper level of relaxation.
• Decreases muscle tension (any pain due to tension) and headaches
• It increases serotonin production which influences mood and behaviour. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression, obesity, insomnia and headaches.

Sources:

http://www.healthandyoga.com/HTML/meditation/objectives.html

http://www.ineedmotivation.com/blog/2008/05/100-benefits-of-meditation/

http://www.meditationoasis.com/

Food Review: Annie’s Naturals Salad Dressings

What I particular like about their dressings is that they use ingredients that you can understand. As I always preach it’s so important to understand all the ingredients of products you buy off the shelf because this is what you are actually putting in your body.

Ingredients: Water, *Expeller-pressed Canola and/or *Expeller-pressed Sunflower Oil, *Garlic, *Lemon Juice Concentrate, Salt, *Spinach, *Parsley, Xanthan Gum. (*Organic Ingredients)

Also, what I like about Annie’s dressings is a lot of them are gluten free as well as soy free.

My only flaw is when there needs to be a sweetener they use organic sugar where I would love to see agave in their ingredients as I’m starting to see this in other condiments. I know it’s more expensive but so much better for the body. I can tell you though majority are not so high in sugar as the grams per serving are very low

Source:

http://www.anniesnaturals.com/

Affirmation of the Week: I condition myself for success by tuning my mind to the positive.

Remember to repeat with interest and desire. A lot of people talk about how we must think positively, but thinking positively and actually believing it makes such a difference. You must understand that the way you think and believe in your thoughts creates your realty. We must remove the doubt and fear and instead operate on faith.

Tip of the week: Understanding Your Body

The best way to truly understand your body is to keep track of how your body reacts to certain foods. Start a journal or a document on your computer or iphone where you jot down what you eat for each meal and then how you feel afterwards. Once you start to practice being aware you will be amazed at how certain foods may give you a burst of continuous energy where some may give you a lethargic feeling.

Sponsor for this show:

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LISTEN TO EPISODE 24

Food Focus: Oats

Grains are very important part of our diet especially during the fall and winter. Brown rice in particular has many benefits which I have already discussed in Episode 2 and oats which we will be talking about today are a great grain to incorporate into your diet as long as you don’t have a gluten sensitivity. If you do I do know that Bob’s red mill does has oatmeal that is gluten free.

They are loaded with manganese, which:

• Help your body utilize several key nutrients such as biotin, thiamin, ascorbic acid,
• Keep your bones strong and healthy
• Help your body synthesize fatty acids and cholestorol
• Maintain normal blood sugar levels
• Promote optimal function of your thyroid gland
• Maintain the health of your nerves
• Protect your cells from free-radical damage

Other Benefits:

• Known to lower cholesterol level
• Help reduce risk of cardiovascular disease
• Known to help prevent heart failure
• Help boost your immune response to infection
• Good source of dietary fiber
• Also this gives you protein

Source:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=54

http://www.eatmoreoats.com/health.html

Fit Review: Gyrotonics

Yesterday I helped out at a de-stress workshop and it was my first time being exposed to Gyrotonics. Angi and Janna demonstrated this beautiful form of exercise. I felt like I was watching a synchronized performance.

This form of exercise focuses on circular movements with each movement coming from the core. Gyrotonic circular movements are possible in limitless directions allowing rehabilitating clients to stimulate injured areas.

Gyrotonics addresses neuromuscular coordination, breath control, cardiovascular stimulation, flexibility, strength and internal regeneration.

What’s so great about this is it helps you understand the flow of your body and the movement it is capable of. It can help you understand how to use your body when doing certain activities like kayaking or dancing, or anything that has movement.

Since you are understanding your body better than you will have more energy where you can last longer in certain activities.

To find a studio near you visit Gyrotonic.com. If you live in the California Bay Area then I highly recommend the Mind Body Connection Studio in Emeryville.

Source:

http://www.mindbodyconnection.net/methods/gyrotonic.html

http://www.gyrotonic.com/

Affirmation of the Week: I always contribute in healthy ways to my body.

Remember to repeat with interest and desire. Some people tend to not put there health at the top of their priority list and this is to affirm to yourself that you will take care of your body regularly.

Tip of the Week: Helping acne

A lot of people focus on the topical products to heal their acne problems where the root of the problem usually stems from within. I have helped my clients achieve a natural glow just with the change of what they consume. Most people don’t take this into consideration.

One of the safest ways to treat acne is by changing the foods you eat and your fluid intake. There are foods that can cause outbreaks and each person is different. One way to decrease your chances of acne is increasing your intake of vegetables and fruits and to eliminate things with refined sugar and dairy.

Sponsor for this show:

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LISTEN TO EPISODE 23

Food Focus: Almonds

I can’t believe I haven’t discussed the benefits of almonds yet, but I’m glad to be going over this today. The recommended serving of nuts a day is about 1 oz, which is approx. 23 almonds.

Benefits:

• They are loaded with calcium and antioxidants.
• One serving has nearly ½ the recommended daily allowance of vitamin E and as much antioxidant power as a cup of green tea.
• Known to lower LDL-cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease
• Known to provide double-barreled protection against diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Tips on how to get the benefits from almonds:

• Spread some nut butter on your morning toast or bagel.
• Fill a celery stick with nut butter for an afternoon pick-me-up.
• Sprinkle a handful of nuts over your morning cereal, lunchtime salad, dinner’s steamed vegetables.
• Or just enjoy a handful of lightly roasted nuts as a healthy snack.

Source:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=20

Kitchen Gadget Review: Immersion hand blender

I’ve never done a kitchen gadget review, but I thought it was important to incorporate these into my podcasts because there are so many gadgets out there, but what are the benefits of them and why should we have them in our kitchen.

What I love about this tool is it’s so great to make smoothies real quick without having to use a big blender for your own personal smoothie.  It’s great for making sauces. Most importantly with it being fall and winter just around the corner…we know we all love having a bowl of soup to warm us up.

This gadget is the perfect tool to make soups. A lot of recipes call when making soups to boil the ingredients then transfer it to the blender or food processor. That is a lot of work especially with everything being so hot.

All you do is keep the ingredients in the saucepan and place the immersion hand blender in the saucepan and blend until smooth. There you have it your soup all ready without having to transfer and transfer ingredients. The key is to keep it low and not raising it up so much as you may experience some splatter.

Affirmation of the week: I am a powerful person because I always live in the present moment.

A lot of us have the tendency to plan and plan and when things don’t happen the way we planned we get so disappointed. Try living within the present moment and letting life take its course. You’ll be amazed at how wonderful life is full of surprises.

Tip of the week: Dealing with stress

We know we all experience stress one way or another in our lives but stress is not a good thing for our health. It can lead us to overeating, weight gain, different ailments and more.

Some tips to dealing with stress are:

• Write. It can help to write about the things that are bothering you.
• Let your feelings out. Talk, laugh, cry, and express anger when you need to with someone you trust.
• Do something you enjoy. A hobby can help you relax. Volunteer work or work that helps others can be a great stress reliever.
• Take a deep breath in and let it out. As you exhale, release all the negative that you are holding in. Repeat 3 times.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 22

Food Focus: Grapes

American varieties are available in September and October while European varieties are available year round.

We can say that grapes are about 70-80% water and 15-30% sugar (fructose and glucose).

• In my research I have read that the darker purple grapes are a bit more beneficial than the green. Grapes with higher flavonoids, usually come from grapes that are vibrant and stronger in color like purple grapes, grape juice and red wine.
• Grapes are also known to be good for the blood. As they help reduce platelet clumping and harmful blood clots.
• It’s also known to help cases of constipation, gout, skin and liver disorders.
• This fruit is alkaline and helps decrease acidity from the body, helping the kidneys greatly.
• Grapes also seem to be very good cancer fighting fruits.
• And as the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a glass of wine with your evening meal may help with high blood pressure.
• Grapes are also known to contain reservatrol, which is a natural antioxidant that can help heart disease, the risk of cancer and even brain disease like Alzheimer’s.

Sources:

http://www.the-perfectshape.com/2007/09/15/best-4-health-benefits-of-grapes/

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=40

http://hubpages.com/hub/Health_Benefits_of_Grape

Fit Review: Jump Roping

Jump roping is a great way to exercise that is often forgotten. There are 5 reasons why jump roping is so great:

1. Easy to Learn
2. Fun – incorporate music or your own pattern of jumping
3. Inexpensive – rope can cost from $8-$20
4. Portable – if you travel a lot great way to exercise especially if you don’t like the gym
5. Great for the family – everyone can exercise together and you can even incorporate some double dutch.

Did you know that jumping rope can burn up to 1000 calories per hour, making it one of the most efficient workouts possible. Plus it tones the muscles in your entire body, developing long, lean muscles in all major muscle groups, both upper and lower. Also, Jumping rope optimizes cardiovascular conditioning and maximizes athletic skills by combining agility, coordination, timing, and endurance.

One routine you can do for 15 minutes is stand in front of a clock or timer and jump rope for 3 minutes to warm up then rest for 30 seconds then jump rope quickly for 60 seconds and then you repeat until the 15 minutes are done or you can continue.

Source:

http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Jump-Rope-Workout-to-Lose-That-Last-Bit-of-Stubborn-Body-Fat&id=352016

Affirmation of the week: Change it up this week. I have been so inspired by this quote that I wanted to share it with my listeners.

The quote goes like this. “Your task is not to seek for success, but merely to see and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ~Rumi

Replace success with love, career, relationship, etc. We are the one that puts up all these barriers and until we can push those barriers down what we are seeking will not come to life.

Tip of the week: To get all the nourishment your body needs.

We all like our staple foods, but in order to have optimal health we need various nutrients. If you eat the same type of greens each week you are not getting the benefits of the other nutritious greens out there. Play around and experiment. You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no single food supplies them all. Your daily food selection should include a variety of foods like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, some source of protein that works best for your body. Explore and try all the varieties of each out there.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 21

Food Focus: Winter squash

The most common varieties of winter squash include acorn, buttercup, butternut, pumpkin, spaghetti, and turban.

Benefits:

• Excellent source of vitamin A and C.

• Great source of fiber, potassium, and manganese.

• Good source of folate, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B1, copper, and vitamin B6.

• One of the most abundant nutrients in winter squash, beta-carotene, has been shown to have very powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

• Studies have also shown that a good intake of beta-carotene can help to reduce the risk of colon cancer, possibly by protecting colon cells from the damaging effects of cancer-causing chemicals.

• The folate found in winter squash may help to prevent certain birth defects if taken by women before and during pregnancy.

Source:

http://www.puritan.com/vf/healthnotes/HN_live/Food_Guide/Winter_Squash.htm

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=63

Food Review: Mariposa Baking Pizza Crust

There pizza crust is gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free. I’ve purchased there plain pizza crust and made my own pizza at home plus I’ve tried there pre-made veggie pizza and baked it at home. I have also seen so many people purchase a slice or two at their bakery for lunch. So if you are in the Oakland area check them out as they have other gluten free products along with their delicious pizza crust.

There crust contains: GF flour mix (organic brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour), water, yeast, organic agave nectar, guar gum, apple cider vinegar, salt, olive oil, and oregano.

Source:

http://www.mariposabaking.com/products/breads/pizza.html

Affirmation of the week: I can change anything I want about my self or life any time I choose.

Remember repeat after me with interest and desire.

Tip of the week: Food for strong bones

To prevent osteoporosis try adding these calcium-rich foods to your diet: dark green vegetables (kale, broccoli, collard greens, bok choy), black-eyed peas, sesame seeds, almonds, and figs.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 20


Food Focus: Buckwheat

Benefits:

• The protein found in buckwheat contains the eight essential amino acids.
• Buckwheat is rich in B vitamins as well magnesium and manganese.
• Buckwheat is a good oil source of Alpha-Linolenic Acid, which is one of the two essential fatty acids we must have to be healthy.
• Buckwheat is high in fiber. A single cup of cooked buckwheat groats contains over 4 grams of dietary fiber.
• Buckwheat contains a rich supply of flavonoids.
• Buckwheat lowers glucose levels and is beneficial for managing diabetes.
• Buckwheat has been found to lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol.
• Owing to the quantity of magnesium contained, buckwheat has a relaxing effect over blood vessels, improving circulation and decreasing blood pressure.
• Good for your cardiovascular system.

Storage Tip:

Buckwheat should be stored in an airtight container, which is kept in a cool dry place. Buckwheat flour should be always stored in the refrigerator, while other buckwheat products should be kept refrigerated if you live in a warm climate or during periods of warmer weather. Whole buckwheat can last up to 1 year if stored properly. Buckwheat flour will keep fresh for several months.

Sources:

http://www.healthyreader.com/2006/07/19/the-health-benefits-of-buckwheat/

http://www.liveandfeel.com/medicinalplants/buckwheat.html

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=11


Food Review: Mary Gone Crackers Sticks & Twigs

I reviewed Mary Gone Crackers before in Episode 6, but I recently tried one of their newer products Sticks & Twigs. They remind me of those stick pretzels but since I have a gluten-sensitivity I stay away from pretzels now a days so these are a great alternative.

On the front they say that they are light and crunchy which they are and that they are wheat free, gluten free and whole grains.

This snack is kosher, vegan, contains 550 mg of omega 3 fatty acids per 1 oz serving. Manufactured in their own facility which is in California and nut free.

It has 0 grams of sugar. These have a lot of different grains and seeds in the ingredients from brown rice, flax seeds, sesame seeds, amaranth, millet, quinoa, chia seeds and then seasoned with wheat free low sodium tamari and sea salt.

Source:

http://www.marysgonecrackers.com/ns/intro2.php


Affirmation of the week: I know I can be successful as I make up my mind to be.

Remember repeat after me with interest and desire.


Tip of the week: Don’t deprive yourself

Deprivation is not the solution. The lifestyle change of eating healthy is to be an enjoyable experience where you can add in the good foods which eventually crowd out the not so healthy foods. When one deprives of food they love they only have a chance of sabotaging themselves. I know so many people who were on diets who end up going back to their old ways because they found it so hard to give up. It shouldn’t be about giving up.


Benefits of working with a holistic health coach article.