Some assorted health and nutrition information for you!

** Yogurt may be one of the greatest foods on Earth.

The bacteria in yogurt break down the food in your gut into smaller molecules and nutrients. Then our bodies digest foods more efficiently and successfully. The results are amazing.

This may sound strange, but when you eat yogurt you’ll save money on toilet paper because you’ll use less of it!

Why?

Your stools are formed almost perfectly when you eat yogurt regularly.

I recognize that point might not motivate you to eat yogurt, so how about this point: people who eat yogurt live longer.

Yogurt even cuts the risk of cancers like bladder cancer. Eat it plain without all the sugar added. I like it best mixed with berries and a small portion of nuts.

** Here’s what nuts can do for you:

Walnuts improve the fats in your bloodstream, lower LDL (bad cholesterol) and raise HDL (good cholesterol).

Almonds protect against dementia with natural vitamin E.

Pecans protect against cardiovascular disease.

Peanuts (OK, OK I know they’re legumes) contain resveratrol, which prevents heart disease.

Pistachios lower cholesterol and have chemicals similar to those in leafy green vegetables, lutein, for example.

Cashews help support your immune system.

But be careful about portion sizes. Nuts are calorie-dense because they’re high in fat (fats have more calories per weight than carbohydrates and protein). So do what I do and eat only a handful a day of mixed nuts.

** Stop using the “white toxins” immediately!

White flour, white sugar, and white rice are all poor food choices.

They are converted into blood sugar quickly, releasing a chain effect of hormonal chemicals into the body. This chain effect leads to inflammation, aches and pain, and may lead to disease processes.

That’s why I call them the white toxins. Take these out of your diet and see if you feel the difference. I’m guessing you will!

*** Real men don’t eat soy.

Not unless they want to grow fatty breasts.

It turns out soy protein contains genistein and daidzein, which are known phyto-estrogens (plant-produced estrogens). High levels of estrogen (the hormone that makes women look and act like women) in men cause reduced levels of testosterone, loss of muscle tissue, increase in body fat, and a decrease in libido and sexual function. If the men in your life eat a lot of soy-based products, encourage them to check out this information.

shelli

What would you answer if I asked you this question?

What is the #1 exercise in the world that you can do in 12 minutes?

Let me give you a hint.

You can practice it most anywhere and anytime: in your work clothes, your gym clothes or even in bed.

It’s simple to do and takes little time. Just 12 minutes would be enough.

If you want to quickly improve your health and happiness, this practice does it. The best part is it takes very little effort. Paradoxically, the less effort you exert, the more benefit accrues.

Any guesses what it is?

It’s meditation.

Over the years, I ask people who don’t do it, why not?

Many people say they still believe meditation has religious connotations. While it is true many devout people invoke this technique when they pray, you do yourself a disservice if you think about meditation only in religious terms.

Yes, the physiologic process of meditation happens during quiet times and times of prayer, however you don’t have to practice any specific religion (or any religion at all) to enjoy the health benefits of this process.

In the 1970’s, a cardiologist named Herbert Benson studied meditation and wrote a book called The Relaxation Response. The ‘60s and ‘70s began a new era in health. It was a time when medicine and its scientific method wrestled with the world of alternative and complementary healing. Back then, meditation was something done by strange, bearded men.

At that time, the concept of personality led researchers like Benson to uncover statistical correlations between so-called “type A” people and heart disease. But as medicine and science advanced in the 1980s, few leaders in health care investigated a natural, simple, cheap solution to help these folks. The focus of medicine was on finding silver-bullet pills to cure disease, and pharmaceuticals were thought to be the answer to most every question.

To my way of thinking, this is a lazy way of looking at science and potential cures. As one of history’s greatest inventors, Thomas Edison wrote years ago;

The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human body, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.

A century later, his message is still true.

Swallowing pills and medicines are not the answer to everything. Many simple, common-sense activities promote good health and prevent disease.

That’s where meditation comes in.

The power of meditation comes from the “relaxation response” it elicits. Meditation actually changes our physiology.

During meditation, our brain waves convert to a pattern that is as deep, and in some ways deeper than sleep. It is also more restful and recharging than a nap.

Meditation releases chemicals that are the direct opposite of the so-called “stress hormones.” These chemicals and hormones trigger pathways of healing and regeneration.

A regular meditation practice lowers your heart rate and increases both your blood’s oxygen saturation and the delivery of oxygen to tissues. This is the exact same benefit of exercise.

A Scientific American article from 1963 showed yogis can actually lower their heart rates to one or two beats a minute by invoking this “relaxation response.” Now that’s what I call relaxed!

Perhaps the best part is that meditation has benefits identical to exercise but without the wear, tear, and stress on your body that comes with training too hard. Meditation can also:

• Increase your powers of concentration
• Help you live longer
• Improve your fertility
• Boost your immune system
• Increase your serotonin (the chemical that counters depression)
• Lower blood pressure more than any known drug

Of course, as with any lifestyle change, it is only effective if you do it!

There are many forms of meditation.

Twenty years ago many people first learned to practice meditation by studying Transcendental Meditation (TM). Since then many variations of TM have emerged and you can find out about them by reading about meditation, relaxation, and awareness.

You can look at the works of writer Jon Kabat-Zinn, who is famous for popularizing the phrase “Mindfulness Meditation”.

Again, to reemphasize some of the benefits, just like exercise, regular meditation improves your body’s ability to use oxygen and actually lowers your resting heart rate, too.

Meditation even increases the serotonin in your brain. This is the chemical that antidepressant drugs try to increase.

I encourage you to start today and do it every day for 10-15 minutes. After a week, I guarantee you’ll feel better.

Here’s what I do:

I sit upright in bed, or on the floor. Prop yourself up with pillows if you need to, but don’t put one behind your head. I try to keep my head nearly perfectly balanced on my neck, so that if I’m absolutely relaxed, my head won’t tip over.

Next, I begin saying a mantra. Choose any two-syllable word and repeat it silently to yourself throughout the process. I try to time my breath with each syllable. Inhale with one and exhale with the other.

Stay focused on relaxing and letting your breath slow down, but also stay lightly focused on the mantra sound.

I find that suddenly my mind will wander to all the things I need to do, or things I’ve forgotten to do. When those thoughts flood in, I slowly turn my focus back to my breath and the mantra.

Soon after a few attempts, I find my breath and thoughts slowing. Occasionally, I find myself taking a super-deep, slow breath.

Yet again, I’ll turn back to my breath and my mantra.

After 15 minutes or so, I quietly and slowly take a few minutes to start to move my toes and fingers and then arms and legs as I come out of the “relaxation state.”

That’s it… It’s that simple.

You can take a class if that better suits you. A teacher will show you how to meditate and give you a specific, personalized mantra to get you into your state of meditation.

So enjoy adding meditation to your healthy lifestyle routines, and let me know how it goes!

shelli

Almost every time I write an article or post a blog piece with suggestions about eating healthier, eating more fiber, or eating less sugar, I receive dozens of emails asking me for some recipes.

Since it’s been a while since I’ve posted some recipe ideas, I thought today I’d give you three GOODIES!

1. Have you ever eaten or even heard of a CHERIMOYA?

I first discovered them about 12 years ago. In southern California they grow on trees in people’s yards, but in most cases you’ll have to go to a grocery store to try them.

Cherimoyas are a subtropical fruit. Its fragrant creamy flesh tastes like
many fruits combined: pineapple, pear, banana, and mango.

A cherimoya is ripe when it is slightly soft and its pale green skin turns a dull brown-green. Once it’s ripe act quickly because it’ll usually last only for a day or two.

Cut it in half and scoop out the flesh. Make sure to pick the seeds out; they are not edible.

**Here’s a recipe for cherimoya with chile lime shrimp.

It serves two and takes 20 minutes to prepare.

1/4 cup each fresh lime juice and orange juice
1 tbsp brown sugar (optional to taste)
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
2 tsp oil (use whatever oil you prefer)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 lb peeled, cooked medium shrimp
1/4 Hawaiian papaya, peeled and cut and diced
1/2 ripe cherimoya, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tsp chopped cilantro leaves

1. Combine juices, sugar, chile, oil, and salt in a small saucepan and boil over high heat, stirring often, until golden brown and reduced to 1/3 cup.
2. Divide shrimp and fruit between two plates. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with cilantro.

Yes, I know cherimoyas can be hard to find and expensive, but do give it a try and let me know what you think. I personally really enjoy them.

2. Here’s a fun recipe for dandelion greens.

When you’re buying dandelion greens look for what’s actually an Italian chicory. Look for young, tender leaves.

3. Here’s a recipe that uses sweet potatoes. It’s called:

Sweet Potato Salad with Chili-Lime Dressing

Makes 6 servings and takes 15 minutes to prepare.

2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped (you can also use parsley if you prefer it to cilantro)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 medium sized red bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper

1. Place sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender (7-10 minutes). Drain and transfer to a large bowl. While potatoes are cooking, make dressing: in a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin and cilantro. Add red pepper and scallions to drained potatoes, and toss with dressing. Add salt and pepper. Serve warm OR refrigerate and bring to room temperature before serving.

I love cooking and enjoy it even more when I’m trying out some new, interesting recipes. I hope these three fit the bill!

Enjoy!

shelli

Did you know that there are effective ways to burn up to 300 more calories every day by eating certain foods?

For some of you this may sound strange, although I’m guessing
many of you have either heard or read something to this effect but didn’t really know what it meant.

When you want to lose a lot of weight, do you think you should cut
calories for long periods of time?

This is a common myth, but it’s WRONG.

All this does is create nutrient deficiencies in your body. And if you ever tried this you know it also results in intense cravings.

Why?

Because your brain sends emergency “Help, I’m low in nutrient” signals to your stomach to eat more food.

Rather than eating nutrient dense foods however, cravings often result in
exactly the opposite causing you to eat JUNKY foods.

And if you’ve ever cut calories for long periods of time, your body will fight
back HORMONALLY, decreasing your calorie burning hormones and increasing your hunger hormones.

Without going into too much hormone science here, let’s just say that the result will be that your weight loss will come to a complete STOP.

You could at this point (in order to keep burning fat) reduce your caloric intake even more, and/or do MORE exercise, but I hope you can see what a dangerous strategy that would be.

So what’s the alternative?

Getting your calorie burning furnace stoked and humming along by eating the right kinds of foods.

Calories from different types of food act very differently once inside your body.

Let’s take a closer look.

FATS

Quality sources of good fats include oils such as flax, olive, and coconut along with avocados and nuts like walnuts, almonds and pecans.

We also can include on this list seafood sources like wild salmon
and tuna, just to name a few.

Don’t be fat phobic.

You’re aiming for a FABULOUS fatty diet with the fabulous fats as your source.

In this case, since we’re looking at fats for their metabolic fat burning effects, we need to ask how much these fats increase our fat burning effect.

Do you know the answer?

It’s approximately 5%.

This means that for every 1,000 calories of fat you eat, your body will burn only 50 of its own calories to digest and process the fat you just consumed.

That’s not nothing, but not very much either.

CARBOHYDRATES

Stay away from the processed carbs.

You know, the ones that are highly processed and void of their nutrients. Examples of foods that contain “wrong” carbohydrates include soft drinks, candy bars, ice cream, donuts, cereals, processed corn byproducts, and processed “white foods” like breads, pastas, and rice.

These will keep your fat locked into place!

Instead, stick to natural carbohydrate choices such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.

So again, let’s see what kind of fat burning effect we get from these foods.

When you eat carbohydrates, your metabolic rate will increase by up to 10% .

It’s less for refined carbs like sugar (because it’s easily digested),
and more for high-fiber carbohydrate choices.

This means your body uses 100 calories to digest and assimilate 1,000 calories of carbs.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

PROTEINS

Protein has the highest digestive need for caloric burning of all foods,
increasing your metabolism by up to 20-30%.

Why?

Because protein is a very complex nutrient. For every 1,000 calories of protein you eat, your body will use up to 300 calories to digest and process this nutrient.

This means you’re only netting about 700 calories for every 1,000 calories you eat of protein.

It’s almost like you’re getting 300 “free calories.”

Protein also helps to build muscle (along with exercise). And remember,
for every pound of muscle you add, you burn approximately 50 extra calories per day. Five pounds will burn 250 calories per day.

See how the numbers start to add up?

I’m not suggesting that you eat ONLY protein in an attempt to increase your metabolism.

However, make sure not to forget your protein with every meal.

By combining protein, slow-absorbing healthy carbohydrates, and a portion of good fat, you will help boost your metabolism, conquer cravings brought on by nutrient deficiencies, and drop unwanted stomach fat.

You’ll be able to eat MORE healthy food, but with a lower calorie impact.

I like to eat, so I enjoy eating what’s good for me and gaining the metabolic advantages as well!

Hope you do too!

shelli

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