Benefits of Nutrient-Dense Juice

Juicing is one of the best ways to easily assimilate whole fruits and vegetables.  When juicing, 90% of the nutrients and minerals are taken to the cells of the body within 15 minutes.  This allows your body to use less energy required for digestion and allows the liver to detoxify or cleanse as the body takes rest, which helps to enhance your body’s natural detoxification system.

It is also a natural beauty enhancer from the inside out.  Everything lies in the gut and when you drink nutrient-dense fresh pressed juice, your body is cleansed, detoxified, and beautified.  The chlorophyll that is found only in plants has a special structure that encourages the body’s ability to produce hemoglobin, which aids the delivery of rich oxygen to your cells. When your body is filled with rich oxygen, it shows!  Health Warriors juice up!

Small but Mighty!

Spicy microgreens with homemade avocado and artichoke dressing. Microgreens possess significantly higher nutrient densities than mature leaves. You can grow them outside or inside, with the right tools. I can’t say enough about these little green goodies! I can feel the nutrients flowing through my body every time I eat them. Cheers to microgreens! #mustard #arugula #radish #amaranth #eatclean #vitamins #vegetables#medicine #healthy #nutritionishealth#healthiswealth #yourtemple #antioxidants#immunesystem #energy #mtbecker#livegrowsustain #share #receive

Perfectly Pickled

Pickled Burdock root is not only delicious but bursting with nutrients! This root is known to detox the blood, defends your body from diabetes,  heals skin issues from acne to psoriasis, combats cancer and it gives your hormones a natural boost. I could go on and on about this root!

I plan on pickling more this growing season. I went to an Asian grocery store to find these, but I am going to grow my own. The recipe is so simple(see below). I kept mine raw but you can also cook them before pickling.  You can eat them alone or add them to some greens as a salad.  The pickling process creates probiotics, which is an added healthy bonus.  Have you tried pickled Burdock root?

PICKLED BURDOCK

Ingredients:

  • 8oz peeled burdock root, sliced into 1/4 in coins or like pickles
  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 teaspoon Pink Himalayan salt
  • 1/4 cup Apple Cider vinegar
  • Aromatics, like garlic, herbs, etc

Method

  1. Place the sliced and peeled burdock in a pot with the water and salt.
  2. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer with a cover on to prevent water from evaporating for about 15-20 minutes, until the burdock root has the texture of a cooked artichoke, soft and yielding, it will still have a slightly firm texture, it’s ok.
  3. Add the vinegar to the burdock when it is cooked through, cover with wax paper, sealed with a mason jar ring(see my picture), and let sit in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Grandma’s Greens

I can’t be without my greens! It’s something about how they make me feel. My mind is clearer, my thoughts are fluid, and my body is energized. It doesn’t matter if it’s one of my favorite greens juices, Green Goddess, or a plate full of sauteed collards. I need to eat something green almost every day. I blame it on my grandmother. When I was about 3 or 4, she would cook a huge pot of spinach. I mean HUGE!! We would eat it until we couldn’t eat anymore along with some hot water cornbread. Talk about good clean eating.

I believe that is why my body has become used to experiencing the joy that they bring. When I don’t feed my body nutrient-dense foods my mind is foggy, my thoughts are shallow, and my body feels drained. Juicing leafy greens always gives me a mind, spirit, and body reboot. I can’t wait to grow my own this season. Thanks, grandma for prepping me for the lifestyle that I live today!

Who or what inspires you to eat nutrient-dense foods?

Don’t Believe The Hype!

I always get asked the question, “Tie what kind of juicer should I buy?” There are so many out there promising great results, but the proof is in the juice!  When I first started on my juicing journey, I bought the Jack Lalanne. Once I used that, with unsatisfactory results, I ventured out and discovered the Breville. I love my Breville! Even though it isn’t a cold-pressed juicer, I still love it. I love the large feeding chute.  This feature saves you a few minutes of prep time. Because it is a centrifugal juicer,  you may have a lot of pulp after juicing but you can always throw that back through the juicer or blend it up to get the fiber.
My second love is the Omega 8000 series.  I have the 8006 and 8009 editions. These are cold-pressed juicers. The pulp is extracted at a slow speed, it generates less heat, and preserves more enzymes. And the cleanup time is amazing! This juicer changed the juice game for me! It is a little more expensive than the Breville but well worth every penny. Also, the warranty is for 15 years compared to 1 year for the Breville.
So, to answer the question, you are going to reap nutrient dense benefits whichever juicer you decide to buy. How much money you decide to invest in your health journey is up to you. Just remember, juicers are beginning to be like cell phones, there’s always a new edition coming out.  So try not to get caught up in the hype. Get caught up in the health and wellness of being a Health Warrior!

Your Gut Is Your Glory!

You all have heard me talk about how important food combination is for a healthy gut. This is a very good article from the blender girl. What do you think?

Food Combining

Food combining is an approach to eating that works on the premise that our bodies can only digest one concentrated food at a time. Concentrated foods are defined as starches and proteins. So, to simplify it, anything foods other than fruits and vegetables.

The digestion of starches (grains, potatoes, and many other roots) requires alkaline conditions, whereas the enzymes that digest proteins thrive in an acidic environment. So, if we eat a starch and a protein together, we’re asking our digestive systems to be alkaline and acidic at the same time. It’s not possible. Unfortunately, many of the typical Western food combinations ask the body to do just that.

Here is the lowdown on food combining, and how you can pair foods to improve your digestion and have more energy.

Table of Contents

Poor Food Combinations 

There are many examples of poorly combined foods in popular Western dishes.

  • Meat + Potatoes
  • Chicken + Biscuits
  • Spaghetti and Meatballs
  • Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
  • Fish + Chips
  • Hot Dog
  • Hamburgers

And the list goes on.

Eating any of these combinations requires the starch and protein digestive processes to work at cross-purposes.

What essentially happens is that they neutralize each other. Neither the protein nor the starch gets digested properly, leading to fermentation, which feeds yeast and fungus.

This chain reaction disrupts the digestion of all the foods we eat.

Symptoms or poor digestion 

Common symptoms of impaired digestion include:

  • stomach pains
  • bloating
  • gas
  • indigestion or heartburn

Sound familiar?

Because poor digestion is so common that we accept these symptoms as a normal part of life.

It is not.

And, with proper food combining you can eradicate these symptoms.

Proper food combining not only eradicated my stereotypical vegetarian “lentil gas”, it also improved my assimilation and absorption of nutrients, giving me more energy.

Do you ever feel tired and lethargic after you eat?

Digestion is like an athletic endeavor and can demand more energy than strenuous exercise. If we help it along, we don’t feel zapped. Poor digestion leaves less energy for vitality. Worse, it puts a strain on the liver, our all-important regenerative and detox organ, which we want working at its best.

A flexible approach to food combining 

I find food combining to have broad-reaching success. However, some people are more sensitive to certain food combinations than others. For example, the saying, “melon on its own or leave it alone” refers to not combining melon with any other food including other fruits. Melon goes through the body faster than any other food. So, eating melon with others foods (as we often do) can cause extreme digestive issues and fermentation.

I believe in bio-individuality and in building habits based on experience as well as on received information. I pay attention to how foods combine, but I’m not dogmatic. I cook and dine out with as much abandon as the next person.

Food combining isn’t quite as simple as distinguishing concentrated foods from everything else. There are also subcategories of food that combine best with certain others.

I’m not a food-combining fundamentalist. Rigid rules just aren’t much fun. But, employing some of these strategies has really helped me.

Keeping a few of these principles in mind, you may want to experiment.

Principle #1: Eat only fruit until noon 

Food-combining purists say that fruit is best eaten on its own. Your liver works hardest to eliminate toxins between midnight and midday.

Digesting fruit doesn’t require action by the liver, so to support optimal cleansing, traditional food combiners consume fruit alone in the a.m. hours.

Fruit is a great replenisher of fluids after a night of rest and moves quickly from the stomach into the small intestine. A fruit breakfast leaves the stomach ready for a more varied lunch.

As extreme as this sounds, I have found eating fruit for breakfast works for me.

But, I combine fruits with protein fats and leafy greens.

As a general rule, sour or acidic fruits (grapefruits, kiwis, and strawberries) can be combined with “protein fats” such as avocado, coconut, coconut kefir, and sprouted nuts and seeds.

Both acid fruits and sub-acid fruits like apples, grapes, and pears can be eaten with cheeses; and vegetable fruits (avocados, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers) can be eaten with fruits, vegetables, starches, and proteins.

I’ve also found that apples combine well with raw vegetables. Leafy greens (spinach, kale, collard greens), along with the vegetable fruits noted above, are my go-to staples. They are the magic foods that combine well with every food on the planet. I blend them together in green smoothies, cold soups, and salads.

As melons digest faster than any other food, a food-combining motto is “melon on its own or leave it alone.” I find I tolerate melon with other fruits, but discover what works best for you.

Unfortunately, sweet fruits do not combine well with concentrated starches and proteins, which typically take three to five hours to digest. Fruit is often recommended for cleansing, but when it’s trapped in the longer digestive cycle of concentrated food, fruit ferments and produces acid and alcohol, which feeds yeast, fungus, and bacteria.

After you eat a starch or protein meal, it’s best to wait at least five hours to have fruit.

Principle #2: Pair proteins with non starchy vegetables or sea vegetables 

When we consume concentrated proteins (meat, fish, eggs, tofu, tempeh), the stomach cranks up the hydrochloric acid and the protein-digesting enzyme pepsin. As noted above, this is not a good environment for the digestion of starches.

Proteins are best combined with non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, onions, and broccoli, or with sea vegetables (nori, kombu, wakame, arame, hijiki, and dulse), all of which happily digest in both a protein or starch-friendly environment. Leave 4 to 5 hours between a protein meal and a starch meal.

Principle #3: Combine grains and starchy vegetables with non starchy vegetables or sea vegetables 

Non-grain starches like potatoes, corn, fresh peas, winter squashes, and artichokes can be combined with rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, and other grains.

These starchy foods also work well with non-starchy vegetables like leafy greens and sea vegetables.

Classic combos like vegetable curry with grains, pasta with tomato-based sauce, and baked potatoes with salad or coleslaw go together not only for flavor and texture, but also for health reasons.

Principle #4: Protein fats go with non starchy vegetables and sea vegetables 

The protein fats include avocado, nuts, seeds, cheeses, and olives.

These combine best with sea vegetables and other non-starchy vegetables and with acid fruits.

I put avocados in green smoothies, use them with nuts and seeds to make desserts, and serve them in salads with non-starchy vegetables.

Principle #5: Protein starches are difficult to digest so consume sparingly

Beans (including legumes), classified as “protein starches” (both a protein and a starch), are difficult to digest.

Soaking beans or dried peas with a strip of kombu helps alleviate some of the gas.However, even with every strategy in the book to reduce the inherent gassy quality of beans, these protein starches are still problematic, and are best kept to a minimum.

If you are going to eat them (they are delicious and loaded with plant-based protein), combine them with non-starchy vegetables and sea vegetables for the most efficient digestion.

This may all sound like a hassle, but there are flavorful foods that combine well with everything: vegetable fruits and leafy greens.

Non-starchy foods, including sea vegetables, also combine well with most things.

Note: A major reason that processed foods have so many adverse side effects is that most contain sugar. Sugar combines well with nothing.

Food combining is less restrictive than it seems. It calls for a bit of thinking (and rethinking) about how and when and what you eat. But, give it a try. You may be amazed at how effective it is and how much better you feel.

GOOD FOOD COMBINATIONS

  • PROTEIN + NON-STARCHY VEGETABLES OR SEA VEGETABLES
  • STARCHY VEGETABLES + NON-STARCHY VEGETABLES OR SEA VEGETABLES
  • PROTEIN FATS (NUTS AND SEEDS) + ACID FRUITS
  • PROTEIN FATS + NON-STARCHY VEGETABLES OR SEA VEGETABLES
  • PROTEIN FATS + SEA VEGETABLES
  • PROTEIN + FATS OR OILS
  • LEAFY GREENS – ANYTHING

FOOD CATEGORIES

Food Combining Stars (foods that pair with anything)
  • avocado
  • cucumber
  • leafy greens (spinach, kale, arugula, lettuces, chard, beet greens)
  • lemons
  • limes
  • tomato
  • zucchini and summer squash
  • wheatgrass

Fruits
  • apple
  • apricot
  • banana
  • berries
  • blackberries
  • blackcurrants
  • blueberries
  • cantaloupe
  • cherries
  • cranberries
  • dates
  • figs
  • grapefruit
  • grapes
  • honeydew
  • kiwi
  • kumquat
  • lemon
  • lime
  • lychees
  • melons
  • mango
  • mulberries
  • nectarine
  • orange
  • papaya
  • peach
  • persimmon
  • pineapple
  • plum
  • pomegranate
  • prunes
  • raspberries
  • strawberries
  • tamarind
  • tangerine
  • watermelon

Vegetable Fruits
  • avocado
  • bell peppers – red, green, orange yellow
  • cucumber
  • tomato
  • squash and zucchini

Protein Fats
  • avocado (also a fruit)
  • cheese
  • coconut (also a fruit)
  • kefir
  • nuts
  • olives
  • seeds
  • yogurt

Protein
  • animal (meat, chicken, fish, eggs, yogurt)
  • beans (both starch and protein)
  • nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts)
  • seeds (hemp, chia, flax, pumpkin, sunflower, watermelon, sesame)
  • tempeh
  • tofu

Non-Starchy Vegetables
  • arugula
  • asparagus
  • bamboo shoots
  • beet greens
  • bok choy
  • broccoli
  • brussels sprouts
  • burdock root
  • cabbage
  • carrots
  • cauliflower
  • celeriac
  • celery
  • chives
  • collard greens
  • cucumber
  • daikon
  • dandelion greens
  • endive
  • escarole
  • fennel
  • garlic
  • green beans
  • jicama
  • kale
  • kohlrabi
  • lamb’s quarters
  • leeks
  • lettuce
  • mustard greens
  • okra
  • onion (white, yellow, purple, green)
  • parsley
  • red radishes
  • shallots
  • spinach
  • sprouts
  • swiss chard
  • turnip
  • watercress
  • zucchini (a vegetable fruit)

Grains and Starchy Vegetables
  • amaranth
  • buckwheat
  • millet
  • quinoa
  • artichokes
  • corn
  • jerusalem artichokes
  • lima beans
  • peas
  • potatoes and sweet potatoes
  • rice
  • water chestnuts
  • winter squash (acorn, butternut, kabocha, pumpkin)

Sea Vegetables
  • agar
  • arame
  • dulse
  • hijiki
  • kelp
  • kombu
  • nori
  • wakame

Recommended Reading

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

I love making soup in my blender! It’s so easy, packed with nutrients, and delectable. These days a warm bowl of creamy soup is all my body needs. Check out the recipe below and let me know what you think if you decide to wrap your taste buds around all these spices.

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen butternut squash..you can use fresh but I said this recipe was easy!

1 can of Thai Kitchen unsweetened coconut milk or 1 cup of vegetable broth if you prefer not to use coconut milk

2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp. of mild curry powder

1/2 tsp. of cinnamon

1/2 tsp. of ground cumin

1 tsp. of coconut oil or 1 tsp. or 1 tsp. of olive oil

Pinch of Himalayan salt and pepper..more to taste when you heat it up

Place all of your ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.  If you prefer a thinner consistency, add 1/2 cup of water.  Place soup in a saucepan on low heat. Or if you have the option to make soup with your blender, DO IT!  Stir occasionally, adding more spices if necessary.  Let simmer for 10 minutes and that’s it. I added a few red pepper flakes. But toasted pumpkin seeds are also tasty.

Breathe with the flow of life!

“Where do you get your protein from?

 

This is a frequent question that many people ask me.  Have you ever noticed that many of us take a very broad and complex subject and somehow filter out one or two aspects of that subject fixating on them and ignoring the rest of the particulars?  We grab onto one thing and don’t spend the time to investigate further.  I have been asked this question throughout my journey and my answer with a big smile as always was, ” The same place that the “meat” that you eat gets its protein from, GREENS!!!!”  Many of the animals, such as chicken, pork, beef, and turkey, that people consume don’t eat other animals, they graze on greens and/or grains. Okay, pigs eat some of everything so maybe they are the exception, lol.  Have you ever met someone who was diagnosed with a protein deficiency? But I have met people who have been diagnosed with too much protein in their urine.   The recommended amount of protein for women is about 46  grams a day and men about 56 grams a day.  Take your weight and divide it in half then subtract 10 from it is the formula that I got from a nutritionist. Too much protein is known to be dangerous to your kidneys, especially those that have kidney disease.

So what is protein??? Is it the meat or is it the essential nutrients that the meat is composed of?  Protein is made up of 100 or more different amino acids. These complex amino acids contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.  I won’t go into Chemistry 101, but I had to give you an overview. Okay, so the body requires twenty different amino acids of which eight to ten are referred to as essential amino acids.  There are two types, essential amino acids, which are the ones that our bodies cannot make and non-essential amino acids, which are ones that our bodies can make. The non-essential are just as important, but they form from compounds that are already in the body at a rate that meets the needs of normal growth and tissue repair.  The essential amino acids are: Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Valine, and Histine, which is only essential for babies.  There are fourteen non-essential amino acids, but I will spare you with the names;-)

My point is that you do not have to eat meat to get all of your essential amino acids.  You just have to be more aware of the food that you eat to make sure that you are getting a complete protein, all of the essential amino acids, which is something that I had to learn to do over the years.   Green vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds, have more protein per calorie than some meat and they are also easier to digest as well as provide disease-fighting nutrients. It is a known fact that green veggies are about 1/2 protein, 1/4 carbs, and 1/4  fat.  One hundred calories of broccoli have about 11.2 grams of protein plus fiber versus a 100 calorie steak which has about 5.4 grams of protein no fiber.  I know that this is an eye full, but let’s learn to dig a little deeper before we start projecting. Please seek your own truth.  Research, research, research!                              Breathe with the flow of life.

I want to be strong as a gorilla!

Eating Consciously

B.A.S. (Big Awesome Salad) for lunch! Spring mix, arugula, portobello mushrooms, cucumbers, sun dried tomatoes, and kelp noodles. I forgot how good I feel when I consciously eat more raw foods. My energy is through the roof! I can’t live without my greens. For real, for real. Your body doesn’t have any other choice but to feel good when you are living a nutrient-dense lifestyle.  What’s your current health and wellness lifestyle?