Thursday, August 25, 2011
CNN Article on Heart Disease, the #1 killer in America!
Hey Y'all! In case you missed the documentary Sunday night that I blogged about last week, check out CNN.com. On the left side of the page are some great stories on preventing, treating, & REVERSING heart disease. If you know someone that passed away from a heart attack or is living with heart disease, wouldn't you love to go back in time and share this information with them?
Friday, August 19, 2011
The Last Heart Attack
Watch CNN Headline News Sunday night at 8pm EST. There is a documentary called The Last Heart Attack (Dr. Sanjay Gupta), that talks about how heart disease, the #1 killer in america is basically a food born illness and how food can be used as medicine. This pretty much coincides with all of the books, articles, and documentaries that I have been watching over the last 5 months. I am excited to see that this message is going more and more mainstream! America can be healthier and our healthcare costs, which are already stretched far beyond what they should be, could go down if everyone would heed advice from the experts & make their health their focus.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Easy Steps to Cancer Prevention
In my quest to find out everything I can about cancer prevention, I have researched many, many websites, watched several documentaries, and have read countless articles and a couple of books. The one common denominator that all of these resources have is that americans eat way too many animal based products. This information comes from all different backgrounds - cancer research, vegetarians, and doctors. I purposely researched in this way, so as not to have a bias opinion from one specific type of group. Did you know that heart disease, the number one killer in America, can be arrested, and in some cases reversed just by going to a plant based diet? Now before you think I've fallen off of my rocker, I'm not suggesting that you suddenly give up all of your meat, dairy, & eggs. Remember what I said last time...baby steps! Some of the healthiest cultures in the world eat little to no meat. Rather than have their sides revolve around their main course of meat, they use very little meat to season a particular dish. Since going to a plant based diet in June I have listened to people comment that I won't be healthy due to my protein intake or that my meals won't be balanced. Often, these people have not educated themselves about diets around the world and which diets rank healthiest. (By diet, I mean lifestyle diet, not weightloss). Several cultures do not include any meat at all and this has been their tradition for hundreds of years. Interestingly enough, they have some of the healthiest populations on earth. Cutting back on your animal in take is not as hard as you may think. Every little bit helps, so start small.
Last week I gave three tips to get on the road to a healthier you. Here are three things to help you build on that foundation:
1. Eat two pieces of fruit per day. This is an easy one. Grab a banana in the morning for breakfast and have a different type of fruit in the evening for dessert or have a fruit salad with your dinner. Fruit is loaded with vitamins & antioxidants that will support your overall health.
2. Replace your dairy milk with a non-dairy milk. Although I've drank almond milk for a long time, my favorite is a relatively new product made by Silk. It's called Silk Almond Milk. In my opinion, it has a better consistency than other almond milks that I have tried. Also, it's really easy to find because most mainstream grocery stores carry it.
3. Try making one vegetarian dish per week. I found that the easiest one to start with is an asian stir fry. You can pick out the veggies that you like to stir fry. Then add a sauce, such as teriyaki sauce to give it some flavor. My family really like this because the sauce gave it a "meat flare" without actually having meat. I also added some udon or chow mein noodles (not the fried ones, the ones that are like traditional pasta). If you really want to be fancy, you can also add some baked egg rolls to the menu. They are super easy to make and bake in just a few minutes. You can find the egg roll wrappers in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. (This is where you would find the noodles as well.)
That's it for this week. Remember, each step contributes to a healthier you, so sit back, relax, and enjoy your body transformation! Good luck and God bless!
Last week I gave three tips to get on the road to a healthier you. Here are three things to help you build on that foundation:
1. Eat two pieces of fruit per day. This is an easy one. Grab a banana in the morning for breakfast and have a different type of fruit in the evening for dessert or have a fruit salad with your dinner. Fruit is loaded with vitamins & antioxidants that will support your overall health.
2. Replace your dairy milk with a non-dairy milk. Although I've drank almond milk for a long time, my favorite is a relatively new product made by Silk. It's called Silk Almond Milk. In my opinion, it has a better consistency than other almond milks that I have tried. Also, it's really easy to find because most mainstream grocery stores carry it.
3. Try making one vegetarian dish per week. I found that the easiest one to start with is an asian stir fry. You can pick out the veggies that you like to stir fry. Then add a sauce, such as teriyaki sauce to give it some flavor. My family really like this because the sauce gave it a "meat flare" without actually having meat. I also added some udon or chow mein noodles (not the fried ones, the ones that are like traditional pasta). If you really want to be fancy, you can also add some baked egg rolls to the menu. They are super easy to make and bake in just a few minutes. You can find the egg roll wrappers in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. (This is where you would find the noodles as well.)
That's it for this week. Remember, each step contributes to a healthier you, so sit back, relax, and enjoy your body transformation! Good luck and God bless!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Healthy Pizza Recipe
Crust:
1 pack of active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm (not hot) water
3 cups flour
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
Toppings:
1-2 tbs olive oil
onion sliced thin
mushrooms
black olives sliced
artichoke hearts
sundried tomatoes
Daiya mozerella style vegan cheese (found at most healthfood stores)
Mix first three ingredients in a large bowl and let it set for about 5 minutes until it becomes frothy. Add half of the flour, salt, & olive oil and start mixing. (I use an electric mixer with a kneading hook, but you can also do this by hand.) Add in the rest of the flour a half cup at a time until it is all mixed in. Continue kneading for 3-5 minutes until the dough is smooth but still a little tacky. Next, coat a large bowl with olive oil, then place the dough in the bowl and cover it with a towel. Let rise for 1-1.5 hours, then roll out and place in a pan sprinkled with corn meal. (Crust recipe given to me by my friend, Michelle Rutledge).
For toppings, lightly coat the unbaked crust with olive oil, then sprinkle cheese to cover. Next, add the toppings listed above in the quantities that you prefer. Then bake at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
Because this pizza is loaded with veggies and not a lot of fat, it's delicious and nutritious! No feeling guilty about this indulgence!
1 pack of active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm (not hot) water
3 cups flour
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
Toppings:
1-2 tbs olive oil
onion sliced thin
mushrooms
black olives sliced
artichoke hearts
sundried tomatoes
Daiya mozerella style vegan cheese (found at most healthfood stores)
Mix first three ingredients in a large bowl and let it set for about 5 minutes until it becomes frothy. Add half of the flour, salt, & olive oil and start mixing. (I use an electric mixer with a kneading hook, but you can also do this by hand.) Add in the rest of the flour a half cup at a time until it is all mixed in. Continue kneading for 3-5 minutes until the dough is smooth but still a little tacky. Next, coat a large bowl with olive oil, then place the dough in the bowl and cover it with a towel. Let rise for 1-1.5 hours, then roll out and place in a pan sprinkled with corn meal. (Crust recipe given to me by my friend, Michelle Rutledge).
For toppings, lightly coat the unbaked crust with olive oil, then sprinkle cheese to cover. Next, add the toppings listed above in the quantities that you prefer. Then bake at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
Because this pizza is loaded with veggies and not a lot of fat, it's delicious and nutritious! No feeling guilty about this indulgence!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
It's so overwhelming! Where do I begin?
Turn on the TV or radio. Practically everyday you hear about all kinds of things that have adverse effects on your body and mind. There are so many things to consider...where do you begin? Baby steps! Many topics means many opportunities! Implement one thing at a time. The way that our family started was by recycling. Helping our environment means less pollution on our planet, which in turn helps our air & water quality. These are vital things we cannot live without that are getting worse everyday.
Next, we started shopping for organic groceries. What is organic? The organic food industry is heavily regulated. The USDA has very specfiic requirements for a product to be labeled organic. Organic foods are produced using methods that do not involve the use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and do not contain GMO's (genetically modified organisms), nor are they allowed to be processed using industrial solvents, chemical additives, or irradiation. Why is this important? The fact of the matter is that you pay the farmer now or the doctor later. There are loads of studies out there about the effects of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, etc. in our food supply. Practically every bite that you put in your mouth has been treated with chemicals at some point before it became a finished product. These chemicals add up and can have devastating consequences on the human body.
Now I know what you are thinking..."But organic is so expensive!" Eating organic is not as expensive as you may think. We have a family of four and we eat almost exclusively organic. Our grocery bill last week was $114 and our bill this week was $80. We eat very well balanced, nutritious, tasty, FRESH meals. But, before you go running to the frig and pantry to throw everything out that you own, remember that I said baby steps. Here are three steps to help you get started:
1. Recycle everything that you can!
2. Replace items with their organic equivalent as you run out of them. Look for the USDA Organic seal.
3. Make an edible centerpiece for your table and be sure to rotate the produce in and out of it. This step turned out to be crucial in our family. As soon as I started keeping an edible centerpiece on the table my kids started taking in more fruit and stopped asking for junk food when we went shopping.
Next, we started shopping for organic groceries. What is organic? The organic food industry is heavily regulated. The USDA has very specfiic requirements for a product to be labeled organic. Organic foods are produced using methods that do not involve the use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and do not contain GMO's (genetically modified organisms), nor are they allowed to be processed using industrial solvents, chemical additives, or irradiation. Why is this important? The fact of the matter is that you pay the farmer now or the doctor later. There are loads of studies out there about the effects of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, etc. in our food supply. Practically every bite that you put in your mouth has been treated with chemicals at some point before it became a finished product. These chemicals add up and can have devastating consequences on the human body.
Now I know what you are thinking..."But organic is so expensive!" Eating organic is not as expensive as you may think. We have a family of four and we eat almost exclusively organic. Our grocery bill last week was $114 and our bill this week was $80. We eat very well balanced, nutritious, tasty, FRESH meals. But, before you go running to the frig and pantry to throw everything out that you own, remember that I said baby steps. Here are three steps to help you get started:
1. Recycle everything that you can!
2. Replace items with their organic equivalent as you run out of them. Look for the USDA Organic seal.
3. Make an edible centerpiece for your table and be sure to rotate the produce in and out of it. This step turned out to be crucial in our family. As soon as I started keeping an edible centerpiece on the table my kids started taking in more fruit and stopped asking for junk food when we went shopping.
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