Caffeine Addicted?

June 7, 2018

For many of us, coffee has become a ritual. Coffee has been named a superfood and more recently in the news, a carcinogen.  Whatever you believe about coffee, the truth is that the high caffeine content can lead to negative health outcomes overtime. A regular cup of coffee often has around 100 milligrams of caffeine, but the smallest Starbucks coffee has around 180 milligrams and the largest contains 415 milligrams!

Regularly consuming caffeine creates an addiction or dependence, which leads to needing more caffeine over time for the same effect. This dependence can be harmful to your adrenal health. When you drink a caffeinated beverage, your adrenal glands poor stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol into your body. This activates your “fight or flight” response and over taxes your adrenal glands.

Your adrenal glands are responsible for secreting important hormones that help your body handle stress. Under high stress, your adrenals secrete higher amounts of stress hormones. When stress is a regular occurrence or when you consume caffeine, the adrenals get over worked and eventually become unable to keep up with the demand. This leads fatigue throughout the day (making you crave coffee), weakened immune functions, less restful sleep, lowered insulin sensitivity, and increased blood lipid levels.

Instead of reaching for that cup of coffee, soda, or energy drink, try to figure out why you are craving the caffeine in the first place. There are many lifestyle changes that can be made to increase your energy and reduce adrenal fatigue. Here is a list of questions to ask yourself to when trying to liberate yourself from caffeine addiction:

  • Are you sleeping 8 to 9 hours a night?
  • Do you keep a regular sleep schedule throughout the week? (even on the weekends)
  • Are you eating healing foods such as fresh fruits and veggies, leans meats, whole grains?
  • Are you limiting foods with added sugars, artificial ingredients and preservatives, such as junk food/fast food/refined white flour products?
  • Are you getting regular physical activity?
  • Are you making time for relaxation and renewal?
  • Are you limiting your alcohol consumption? Alcohol may feel like a stress reducer in the moment, but remember it is a toxin. It negatively affects your health, sleep quality and your bodies ability to handle stress.

To test to see if coffee or high amounts of caffeine are negatively affecting your health, try to eliminate it for 1-2 months. After that time slowly add it back and notice how your body reacts. How is your energy level throughout the day after the caffeine, does it affect your sleep, your eating patterns, etc.

Enjoying a cup of coffee is not a crime, but needing it to get through life is not sustainable or good for your health. If you are looking for an alternative drink for your morning ritual, try these out…


Energizing Chocolate Breakfast Smoothie
Blend the following ingredients and enjoy!!

  • 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
  • ½ tablespoon nut butter (I use almond butter)
  • ¼ frozen avocado
  • ½ frozen banana
  • 1 cup milk or milk alternative (depending on your blender you may need more milk)

 
Turmeric Latte

  • ½ cup milk of choice
  • ½ cup canned coconut milk (the light version will be less calories, but full fat will provide more flavor)
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of black pepper
  • Pinch of ginger, nutmeg, or cardamom (I use all 3)
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon honey or maple syrup (can substitute a small amount of stevia for a sugar free version)

Directions
Add all ingredients to a small pot. Whisk mixture and simmer for about 5 minutes (whisk while cooking). Poor into a mug and enjoy!!

Quick Alternatives:
Dandelion root tea
Mushroom Tea (Four Sigmatic is a tasty option)
Teeccino Caffeine-free Herbal Coffee

 

Earth Day

April 22, 2018

Today everyone is talking about sustainability, reducing waste, and being greener. Together, we can keep the momentum going throughout the whole year! Below are a few tips for reducing your carbon footprint.

Have Google meal nights
Instead of going to the store and buying more food for dinner, choose a few food items that you have in your fridge or pantry and enter them into Google. For example, type “recipe with beans, frozen broccoli, tomato sauce, cheddar cheese.” Scroll through the recipes and pick something that sounds fun! This is a great way to use cans of food or re-purpose leftovers.

Drop 10 pounds in 1 day.
Clean out your pantry and donate the food to your local food bank. Check out www.foodpantries.org to find donation spots in your area.

Make more meatless meals
Red meat can be a great source of protein, but the methane produced by the livestock contributes to America’s greenhouse gases. Choosing plant-based sources of protein for your meals a couple days a week is not only super healthy, it is also more sustainable for the environment. According to the Environmental Working Group:

  • If you eat one less burger a week for a year, it’s like taking your car off the road for 320 miles or line-drying your clothes half the time.
  • If your four-person family skips meat and cheese one day a week for a year, it’s like taking your car off the road for five weeks or shortening everyone’s daily shower by three minutes.
  • If your four–person family skips steak one day a week for a year, it’s like taking your car off the road for almost three months.

Shop at the Farmers Market
We have mentioned many times, buying local food is extremely beneficial. Shopping locally can save you money, provide you and your family with nutrient dense great tasting food, and support our local farmers!!! Check out our blog posts to learn about eating seasonally and local farmers in the area. Here and here and here.

Grow your own Food
Growing your own food is the perfect way to live more sustainability. To get started check out our blog post

Recycle!!
If you are in the Fredrick Country area, check out this site for recycling tips and regulations. For Winchester City, check out this site.

 

Resources

https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/frequently-asked-questions/#question_8

www.Foodpantries.org

https://www.winchesterva.gov/public-works/refuse

http://www.fcva.us/departments/public-works/recycling

 

 

Refresh Your Body and Mind with Spring Foods

March 24, 2018

Spring is a time for renewal and rejuvenation. Our ancestors used this time to eat cleansing foods to get ready for the hot summer weather. Nature provides foods such as sprouts, berries, leafy greens, asparagus, chard, and dandelion greens to help enhance the body’s natural detoxing processes.

During this time it is also important to reduce heavy, warming foods such as dairy, excess protein and grains. These foods are great for keeping your body warm in the winter, but do not do well in the spring and summer.

To help get you started, here are a few fun recipes to try!

Lemon asparagus pasta with feta & mint

Sweet Curried Kale with Caramelized Shallots

Spring salad with raspberry vinaigrette

Spring veggie enchiladas with cilantro, lime, jalapeño yogurt sauce

Grow Your Own Food

March 23, 2018

If you have never grown your own food, now is your chance!! Growing your own produce is a great way to add fruits, vegetables, and healing and flavorful herbs to your meals. It doesn’t take much, just a small container of herbs in your kitchen is a great start. Don’t worry, your garden doesn’t need to be perfect and you don’t need to be a master gardener to grow great tasting produce. The key is to just get started!

You can start from seeds indoors, or wait and buy already sprouted plants to put straight into the ground once the weather warms up.  Indoors, you can start spinach, lettuce (and lettuce mixes), chard, and kale 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onion, and potato seeds can be planted in the ground at the end of March (snow permitting).  According to garden.org, the frost-free growing season starts around April 29th in the Shenandoah Valley. This will be the time to get your outdoor garden growing!

A few resources you can use to get started include:

Tower Garden  is a great way to grow fresh food inside in the winter or on your porch in the spring and summer. The initial cost is easily recuperated by the short grow cycle and great tasting produce you get from using this system.

Herb and veggie companion planting is a great way to improve soil, eliminate bugs, and add flavor to vegetables and herbs.  This is a guide from Mother Earth News that lists plants that grow best together.

Square Foot Gardening is a great way to maximize small spaces to get the most yield. I used this method once and the garden would have done excellent except for the fact that I placed the raised bed under 3 shade trees… I hope you have better luck!

Seeds Now is a great resource for seeds, but also has tons of free info to help get you started. This site provides grow zones to determine which plants grow best in your region, along with planting calendars, weed management, watering, composting and so much more.

Whichever plant you decide to start with, I wish you the best of luck. Let use know how it goes in the comments below.

Now get out there and grow!

Eating Seasonally is Easier on Your Wallet

March 22, 2018

As the weather changes so does the fresh produce. Spring is a great time to begin eating seasonally.

When you buy produce that is out of season, it has to be shipped from around the world to get to you. As a result, factors such as the time, the distance, and the number of people involved to get the food to you, will push the price up.

When you buy what’s in season, you buy food that’s at the peak of its supply, and therefore it costs less for farmers to harvest. When the produce is locally sourced because it’s in season then traveling expenses and storage are not required therefore reducing the production costs that are then passed onto the consumer.

One of the most common reasons for people to not purchase organic produce is because of its high cost. Farm-fresh produce is less likely to be as costly. It is competitively priced with commercially-grown produce, and in some cases can be less expensive.

Many farms in the spring and summertime offer CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). CSA is a way to get farm-fresh produce, and whatever produce is in season, delivered on a weekly or bi-monthly basis for an average price of $7-10 per week. Another great reason to become part of a CSA is that it’s a great way to support your local economy.

Finally, eating seasonally reduces the demand for out of season produce which supports local farming which means less transportation, less refrigeration, less hot houses, and less irradiation of produce. Which means eating seasonally is environmentally friendly.

Spring is Allergy Season

March 20, 2018

3 Tips for natural allergy relief:

To minimize exposure to allergens take these steps:

  • Keep your car’s ventilation system on re-circulate. This will prevent some of the pollen from entering the vehicle. Some cars have a pollen filter. Make sure you change it before and after each pollen season.
  • Change your in-home furnace filters to the HEPA type. Also clean and/or change them often during the pollen season.
  • Purchase a HEPA filter, and let it run continuously during the pollen season.

Spring means beautiful warm weather!  It’s a great time to get out of the house and enjoy all sorts of outdoor activities.  That is unless you’re plagued by springtime allergies.  It’s really hard to enjoy any of the great weather and activities when you’re sneezing, coughing, and just feeling miserable from the itchy eyes, runny nose and congestion that comes with  allergies.

Often you depend on over-the-counter allergy medications, prescription drugs and inhalers just to get through this season.  These medications can cause undesirable side-effects like foggy-thinking, fatigue and a dull, drugged feeling.

If you suffer from spring allergies, and don’t want the side-effects of the medications, there are natural alternatives that may help relieve symptoms so you can enjoy the season!

Before the season starts consider doing a detox or spring cleaning of your body. A good and gentle detox to consider is this Purification Program. 

My 2 other favorite supplements for allergies are Allerplex and Antronex. 

Allerplex
Sometimes the only product that you use to support your body’s mild allergy reactions. Allerplex with the help of vitamin A and C complexes, Allerplex supports the body’s immune response to handle seasonal, environmental, and dietary allergies.
 Antronex

This supports the body’s natural ability to remove excess histamine.  A great addition to Allerplex if allergies are Moderate

 

Get Moving!

January 12, 2018

When the weather gets below freezing it is hard get motivated to stay physically active. I know, the couch always sounds much better me too. But, winter is the most important time to stay active and get outside!

Staying active and getting natural sunlight will decrease your chances of winter weight gain and Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. SAD is a disorder that causes depression to some individuals during a certain time frame, such as fall and winter. During winter months, we tend to get less sunlight, which may disrupt our circadian rhythm (or internal clock). Reduced sunlight can cause a decrease in serotonin and melatonin levels, affecting your mood and sleep patterns. To help prevent this from occurring, you can get natural sunlight or you can purchase a 10,000 Lux energy light lamp (that is the most inexpensive one I have found online). You can use this light within the first hour of waking to help balance your circadian rhythm. You can also go for a walk outside, which is free! Another very important prevention tip is PHYSICAL ACTIVITY!!!!

How do you stay active and get movement during the winter? Use the same ways that you stay active during the summer. During work, take the stairs, walk the long way to the bathroom, go for a 15 minute walk before or after you eat lunch. If you start to feel tired, instead of grabbing for something sugary, get up and walk around. Whether you are at work or at home, set an alarm for every 20 minutes to get up and walk around or to do 25 jumping jacks. Clean, do laundry, play with pets or kids. JUST MOVE!!!! 😊

 

Resources
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/seasonal-affective-disorder/index.shtml
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3020104/

Come Together Right Now, Over Soup!

January 7, 2018

oignons

It’s officially the slow-down season. January is when social activity begins to fall off and rightfully so – we all need time to reflect and replenish ourselves. As winter drags on though the cold and darkness can sometimes feel isolating. To cheer yourself back up, round up a few friends and neighbors for a soup night party. Just like big fluffy socks and loose sweaters, there’s something about soup that speaks to coziness and comfort. Soup is generally healthy, inexpensive and fairly easy to make. It’s also easy to expand recipes for more servings. For all of those reasons and more, soup can be a wonderful way to reconnect with those you care about.

Savvy Soup Party Tips

Keep it potluck style: Call or email a few friends and explain the idea. Ask if they’d like to participate and bring something to the gathering. They could bring salad, good bread, snacks, wine, soup toppings or even more soup. Another fun idea is to ask guests to bring their own soup spoon and bowl.

Make it in advance: The last thing you want to have is soup day stress. Plan ahead and make your soup a few days in advance and reheat it the night of the party. This will make things much easier for you and soup always tastes better a couple of days after it was made.

Offer a couple of options: Whether it’s you whose making all of the soup or a couple different friends, be sure to consider your guests eating habits and offer at least two different soups for the evening.

Encourage Comfort: You could have some cozy slippers or fluffy socks on hand for guests as they enter but an easier way might be to encourage them to bring them along and to dress comfortably. Stretch-wear permitted. A soup night party isn’t for glamour and dazzle. A soup night party is about communion. It’s about catching up and reconnecting with friends.

Keep it fun: To keep the conversation flowing you might try any number of conversation games. You could also just make your own. Check out this website for tons of great questions. Print some off, clip them, and place in a basket. Pass the basket around the room having each guest select one and answer. Another idea might be to ask each guest to bring a book and have a book exchange. Have them all speak about the book they brought and why they enjoyed it.

When hosting a soup night party the most important thing to remember is to keep things stress free and simple. A snug night in with delicious and healthy food, great friends and fun conversation is guaranteed to refresh you and your guests with the resilience to continue on into the remaining days of winter.

This recipe for a hearty chicken and brown rice soup is simple to make and always a hit!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup uncooked short grain brown rice, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp butter
2 bay leaves
½ tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
4 chicken thighs
12 cups chicken stock
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Add butter and oil to a large dutch oven and heat over medium. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper then add to pot and brown on both sides. Remove chicken and set aside. Add the onion, celery and carrots to the pot and cook till onion is translucent and vegetables are slightly cooked. Add in the rice and stir to combine. Add in the garlic and stir to combine. Place chicken and juices back in the pot. Add in the bay leaves, thyme and stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer until chicken is cooked through…about 35-40 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside to cool and continue cooking the soup. Once chicken is cool enough to touch, chop meat and add back into the pot. Discard skin and bones or save for stock. Continue cooking soup until the rice is tender. The longer you cook it, the more the rice will absorb the liquid so just add in additional stock as desired. Remove bay leaves and taste for additional seasoning prior to serving. This amount will serve 6.