Enjoy A Cookout Without Guilt

Many Americans celebrate July 4th with cookouts and fireworks. Some eagerly anticipate these gatherings, while others may find the typical spread to be fraught with challenges.

Whether a basic or extravagant cookout, there are often healthy food choices to be found. Here are a few recommendations that are consistent with an anti-inflammatory diet. Read more

Have You Explored the Roots?

What is the normal pattern of your visits to the doctor? You notice symptoms and make an appointment. Once the doctor joins you in the exam room, he or she asks what your major complaint is, perhaps asking a few clarifying questions, and then offers a prescription to ease the symptoms.

If you were to equate the process with care of a tree, what part of the tree have you addressed? Read more

Dump the Vegetable Oil!

For the past four decades, the U.S. government has warned that eating cholesterol-rich foods and saturated fat would promote heart disease. In that time, low-fat and fat-free foods have become more prominent on the grocery shelves. But have these changes made a difference in our overall health?

Dr Christopher Ramsden, of the National Institute of Health, unearthed raw data from Keys’ largest, most rigorous trial of its kind. Analysis of the data clearly showed that lowering cholesterol by consuming vegetable oils instead of saturated fat actually raised the risk of death from cardio vascular events. Read more

Spice Up Your Holidays – and Your Health!

whole-spicesYou may consider this week as the home stretch for the holidays, or are you may just be getting warmed up with Christmas, New Years and then the buildup for Mardi Gras? How are you faring thus far? Remembering to care for yourself?

One way that you can care for yourself is to incorporate spices into your food, or even a cup of tea, to support your body with the benefits they offer. My list of possibilities is pretty long, but let me offer a few options to get you started. Read more

Another Holiday Sugar High?

halloween-candyWhat scares you most about Halloween – images of scary costumes and horror movies, or the effect that the sugar overload will have on the children you know?

When I was a child decades ago, candy was a part of birthday parties and holidays scattered throughout the year, but it wasn’t a daily source of calories as it is for children today. Few children come home from school each day without having eaten some sort of chocolate, lollipop, or sugary substance. It may even have come to them as part of their school lunch in the form of fruit juice or chicken nuggets with ketchup, to name a few options. Read more

Time to Change the Oil!

1415890We’ve lived with messages promoting eating low-fat or fat free foods for decades. Saturated fats seem to have drawn the majority of disparaging remarks, and many doctors continue to echo the theory that they should be avoided, despite many studies disproving the idea.

Would you like to feel free to consume foods containing fat without fear that you will get fat? Read on, and I will share what fat sources are beneficial, what to avoid, and how to ensure that they are able to be used properly for fuel in your body. Read more

Edit For Next Level Benefits

Clean MealIf you have been incorporating the edits that I have shared with you over the recent months, you are eating better and should be reaping the benefits. Are you satisfied where you are, or would you like more?

Let’s explore additional ways you can take the nutrition of your meals to the next level. Doing so will involve adjustments related to choosing, cooking and serving.

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Edit Your Sweetness

Sweet TreatsHave you ever been put on a bland diet for medical reasons? Perhaps you had surgery or your digestive system needed a break, I have no doubt that you found the foods you were allowed to eat to be less than exciting.

Let’s face it. We like favor. Food manufacturers focus on that fact, often using it against us by creating foods with chemical additives that are designed to make us want to eat more than normal. This would include products with slogans such as “nobody can eat just one.”

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Edit Your Choice of Liquids

Lemon and WaterNo matter what your ancestry, blood type, height or personality, there is one prominent feature that your body shares with all humanity. Your body is 50-65% water. How simple could it be?

Water is a primary feature in your body’s many functions. That makes it vital for your health.

What do you drink on a regular basis? Most of us would say that all of our beverages are water-based. Coffee and tea are made with water. Even fruit has a high percentage of water, so fruit juice has a water base. These fill the need, right? But are all beverages recognized by your body as water? Read more

Edit Your Food Additives, part 2

Parsley Sage Rosemary ThymeWe’ve been talking about different ways you can edit your foods, as well as the way you approach meals, for a while now. Most recently, the topic has been ways to edit the flavor of your food beyond using the salt and pepper shakers that are commonly found on our tables. What edits have you tried recently? Have you found a new flavor you like? Let’s explore some more options ….  Read more