October 2018

Halloween snacks

Halloween Snacks

Halloween will be here before we know it, and the kids are definitely excited about their costumes, and their loot. But, you want to avoid sugar overload! So, the video showcases some great Halloween snacks for kids – and adults, too!

Children have a very high need for protein and fat to support their development. And with their high energy output, they often need more carbohydrate than adults do. Unfortunately, we often buy refined, processed food-like substances, which not truly nourishing!

A smart way to fuel kids is to pair a fiber-rich, whole-food carbohydrate with a natural fat, such as strawberries in coconut milk.   Or peaches and cottage cheese, or apples and almond butter.  Even grapes and cheese.

Here are 10 creative Halloween snacks for you:

  1. Kids like colors, so you can use beet puree to color plain hummus. By using a bell pepper to serve it in, the bowl is edible, too!
  2. Purple ice pops can be made by blending Greek Yogurt & blueberries
  3. Kids like to dip their food. Try guacamole with baked sweet potato slices!
  4. If you’re worried about portability, you can grab condiment cups & baggies. Fill them with sunflower seed butter and celery sticks.
  5. For a change from peanut butter or hummus, you can use tahini. Sesame tahini dip goes great with sugar snap peas.
  6. You can make your own trail mix by combining pumpkin seeds, nuts, coconut flakes, goji berries.
  7. Instead of grabbing fig bars, just give the kids figs, or better yet, figs and brie cheese. Or dates and goat cheese.
  8. Instead of cottage cheese, you can use ricotta, which has a really good protein, fat, carb ratio. It’s yummy with raspberries.
  9. With baked cheese & beet slices, you can make mini “cheese – burgers.”
  10. Hard-boiled egg & grape tomatoes make a bright combination!

With winning combinations like these, you can eat them year-round!

 

in Food & Cooking
feeling foggy, fatigued and inflamed

Foggy, Fatigued, and Inflamed

Are you feeling foggy, fatigued, and inflamed? This cluster of symptoms is common in many conditions from blood sugar imbalance to infection. But, autoimmunity is perhaps the least recognized of these conditions. So, learn to reverse and prevent autoimmunity by knowing more about brain fog, chronic fatigue, and inflammation.

Do I Have Autoimmunity if I am Foggy, Fatigued, and Inflamed?

Having these 3 symptoms does not mean you have an autoimmunity. For example, you can experience brain fog when your blood sugars are too high or too low. Further, you can feel fatigued because of insomnia, stress, or nutrient deficiencies. Additionally, both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis cause inflammation, but only the latter is an autoimmune condition.

Although autoimmunity is difficult to diagnose, it usually causes other symptoms besides brain fog, fatigue, and inflammation. Here are some tell-tale signs:

  • anxiety
  • trouble sleeping
  • forgetfulness
  • racing or fluttering heart
  • depression
  • digestive issues

In addition, many who suffer from autoimmune conditions complain of:

  • swollen glands
  • chemical sensitivities
  • food allergies
  • headaches

Why Feeling Foggy, Fatigued, and Inflamed is Dangerous

First, you may be oxygen-deprived if you can’t think clearly and are excessively tired. Second, your fatigue may be a sign that your immune system is not keeping up with clearing toxins from the body. Third, when your inflammation causes water retention, puffiness and pain, it suggests that you might have  gut dysfunction.  Like the tip of the iceberg, fog, fatigue, and inflammation are not the problem themselves. Together, they are the indicator that you have a bigger, deeper issue.

Clearing Your Fog, Fatigue and Inflammation

Briefly, you have to remove your triggers AND strengthen your barriers. Triggers can be:

  • Things to avoid (food and airborne allergens or emotional stressors).
  • Substances to detoxify (heavy metals).
  • Nutrients that are deficient (essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals).

Because these are so tricky to identify, you may want to work with a health practitioner to identify them.

You strengthen your barriers when you heal your gut. Start by removing the most-damaging elements: sugar, stress and environmental toxins. Then, add these Super Six Gut Enhancers:

  1. Water: Staying hydrated helps you make gastric juices and purge waste and toxins. Water aids digestion of soluble fiber, which in turn feeds your healthy gut bacteria.
  2. Anti-Inflammatory Nutrients: Omega 3 Fish and Krill oils turn on anti-inflammatory processes. You might consider a high-quality fermented cod liver oil. Also, turmeric and enzymes such as bromelain and papain help turn off inflammation.
  3. Probiotics: You enhance your gut and immune system both with probiotic supplements and probiotic foods.
  4. Bone Broth: Glutamine, glycine, and cysteine are all amino acids that help rebuild your gut lining. Bone broth contains all these amino acids.
  5. Vitamin D: This essential immune-boosting vitamin has a positive effect on the good bacteria in your gut. It works best when you take it with magnesium, which may help relieve anxiety.
  6. Minerals: Zinc, selenium, manganese, and molybdenum assist the enzymes that help you digest, detoxify, build up the gut lining, and squelch inflammation. Putting trace minerals in your drinking water helps your body absorb what it needs.
in Education
Don't let spooky high blood sugars ruin your healthy Halloween

5 Healthy Halloween Tips

Don’t let spooky high blood sugars and a hypoglycemic hangover ruin your healthy Halloween this year! Try these 5 tips to avoid sugar overload.

1. Load Your Candy Bowl With Toys

You say the candy is for the kids, but before you know it, you’re dipping into the bowl yourself! That gooey chocolate, the fun colors, and the tricky triggers from your childhood sneak up on you. Even if you intend to refrain, pretty soon urge overcomes willpower. Your next thought is, “Just one won’t hurt.” Then you can’t stop because you’ve awakened your brain’s pleasure center.

So, why not give stickers, bracelets, glow sticks, super balls, spider rings, glow-in-the-dark fangs, and other well-loved trinkets instead? You will help others have a healthy Halloween as well, and I’m sure many moms will thank you!

2. Host a Harvest Party

You can shift the focus of the evening from treats to whole foods by staging a potluck. Roast a turkey and invite friends to bring seasonal garden side dishes. Or stir up a delicious soup  which you can serve in a pumpkin. Games such as hunting for mini-pumpkins and tossing rings around pumpkins will keep the kiddos entertained. End the evening by telling stories around a campfire with steaming buttered apple cider.

Make it a healthy Halloween by including loved ones, time outdoors, laughter, and nourishment.

3. Choose Healthy Halloween Snacks

Plan ahead so you don’t end up in a hunger crisis that will have you diving for the treats. Fueling throughout the day with a combination of complex carbohydrates, natural fats, and high quality proteins will keep your blood sugars level. Then, you won’t have an emergency to eat just as you are donning costumes to go trick-or-treating. Here are just a few ideas:

  • guacamole and spicy chicken wings
  • cottage cheese and vegetable dippers
  • fruit and cheese
  • nuts, pumpkin seeds and dried fruit
  • hard-boiled eggs and grape tomatoes
  • olives, hummus, and whole grain pita bread
  • crackers and smoked fish

4. Indulge Deliberately

If you choose to eat sweets, why not select something like an 85% cacao dark chocolate bar? One study suggests that individuals will consume less junk food after eating dark chocolate than after eating milk chocolate. You’ll feel you are eating something decadent, and getting the antioxidant health benefits all at the same time!

5. Learn From Your Mistakes

Don’t use a slip-up as an excuse to dig a deeper hole! Human nature says, “You’ve failed; there’s not use even trying now!” Instead, you can use your experience to plan how to do better next time. Remember, we’re all on a diet continuum, not a diet plan! Your healthy Halloween last year likely will look much different from your healthy Halloween next year if you keep applying what you have learned and keep making the effort.

 

 

in Lifestyle