Lifestyle & Nutrition

In light of Earth Day, I thought I’d join the email bandwagon with some environmentally-friendly options for your health…a few days late.  By now I am sure you have heard about the recent scare with plastic water bottles.  While the media has been focusing on baby bottles, the truth is that plastic water bottles are harmful - to the environment and to your health - a double whammy!
 
Did you know that plastic water bottles take 700 years to even begin to decompose in landfills - yes, seven hundred years.  Yikes.  And if you think reusable plastic water bottles are better, researchers are now finding that these bottles leak BPA (bisphenol A) into your water. These chemicals are being linked to neural damage and may produce free radicals in the body from toxic stress.  Read an interview I gave recently to the Reno, Nevada Gazette-Journal on antioxidants and how to avoid free radical damage.
 
So, what should you carry your water in?
 
I was using glass water bottles for awhile, until I dropped one on the ice-crusted, frozen-rock-solid, Wisconsin ground this winter. Luckily no blood was shed! The best bottle to use is a SIGG Water Bottle.  I have posted them on my website because so many people have been asking me where to get them.  Click here to check out all of the colorful and unique SIGG bottles for kids and adults.  I love these!  I even bought one for each of my family members for Christmas this year.  Some were more excited than others. 
 
If you’re looking for safe baby bottles and options for kids, read this Article on baby bottles which mentions some great options.  Also check out my friend Deanna’s online shop Freckle Face Boutique where you can find Wee Go baby bottles.  Very cute, trendy…and safe!
 
If you still have more questions on plastic water bottles, this article may be helpful:  Read this article.

Happy Water Drinking!

Suzanne Monroe
Real Life Food

“Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can’t buy
That’s true love and home grown tomatoes.”
John Denver, “Home Grown Tomatoes,” from a song written by Guy Clark Take it All Off - Raw Foods

As we have rounded the corner of the spring equinox, the days are getting longer and the sun is getting warmer. We are emerging from beneath our thick winter layers of wool and winter coats—plus a little extra flesh—that kept us warm during winter. We are delighting in wearing short sleeves and allowing the warm sun to touch our skin with its warmth, antiseptic properties and vitamin D. Did you know that sunlight converts our cholesterol to vitamin D?

We can allow our bodies to become more naked, and we can allow our foods to become more naked. In other words, we can enjoy more raw foods now that the outdoor temperatures are warming up. Raw foods impart more nutrients than cooked foods, as they contain more enzymes. Members of the Hunzu tribe live well into their 100’s; they attribute their longevity to a diet of 80 percent raw foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables, of course, are the perfect raw foods.

But sometimes in winter it’s difficult to enjoy a diet consisting of mostly raw foods, as the body desires warm, cooked foods to help maintain its temperature. Also, sunlight is a necessary ingredient in the recipe of basic existence for most of Earth’s creatures, including humans. When we eat more in the winter, our bodies are trying to recover trapped solar energy.

Now that it’s spring and the air feels light, so do we. Our caloric needs decrease as we come closer to the sun during the warmer months of the year. You may have noticed that you naturally eat less in the summer than you do in the winter. That’s simply because your body doesn’t have to work so hard to stay warm and to recover solar energy. Spring is the perfect time to luxuriate in more raw foods.

Food Focus: Tomatoes

Tomatoes are actually a fruit, not a vegetable. Many people mistake tomatoes for vegetables because they are not as sweet as other fruits. Tomatoes are high in vitamin C and the antioxidant lycopene. Tomatoes are a wonderful warm-weather food. Tomatoes are also quite easy to grow, if you have an area in your yard with a minimum of six hours of full sunlight every day. For small urban lots, cherry tomatoes can easily be planted in planters. Tomatoes come into season in mid to late summer. Tomatoes love what we love about summer: the sun on their skin and the warm nights. Tomatoes are so versatile, they can be sliced and added to sandwiches, diced and added to all manner of salads, or just popped into your mouth for a flavor explosion! Local and/or organic tomatoes impart the most flavor. Hydroponic tomatoes are the next best choice in a normal grocery store. Look for deep color and a little bit of give when you squeeze them. Do not choose hard tomatoes; they will be mealy and flavorless.

Recipe of the Month: Garlicky Gazpacho

Prep time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

5 large, ripe, plump tomatoes—your choice of red or yellow—chopped

1 bell pepper—red, yellow or orange—chopped

1/2 medium golden onion, quartered

1 cucumber, sliced

5 large cloves of fresh garlic

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

½ cup cilantro leaves

Two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice

Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place half of the tomatoes, bell pepper and cucumber in a blender and puree. Place the pureed mixture in a separate large bowl. Place the remaining ingredients in the blender and chop, leaving some texture. Add the chopped mixture to the puree, and stir them together. Pour into individual serving bowls garnish each with some leftover whole cilantro leaves. Enjoy at room temperature or chilled.

This recipe is wonderful in late summer with your own or local homegrown tomatoes. Serve chilled on those days when it’s too hot to even look at the stove!

Suzanne Monroe is a Food Coach and owner of Real Life Food. For more recipes or a free food coaching session, visit www.reallifefood.com

By Suzanne Monroe, Food Coach, Real Life Food Have you ever said to yourself “Today is the day I am going to start eating healthier!”? I think we have all said this to ourselves at one time or another. But why don’t we stick with it? One of the problems is that we often think that eating healthier means eliminating foods that we crave, like chocolate chip cookies or the tempting bag of your favorite snack. When I talk with people about their cravings, everyone usually has at least one thing that seems to be standing in their way. Most people, in attempt to eat healthier, tell themselves “I am never going to eat that again” or “I shouldn’t eat that”. But then suddenly they find themselves with an intense craving for the very thing they are trying to give up. Have you ever thought about why this happens? Think of your mind like a magnet. Whatever thoughts come into your mind circulate around and around and cause you to feel and act a certain way. When you focus on not eating something, you place a lot of attention on what you are not supposed to be doing. Whether it’s a positive or a negative thought, either way you are focused on it. Your thought “I will not eat cookies” rings in your brain as “cookies, cookies, cookies”. So how can you possibly stop eating cookies when all you are thinking about is not eating cookies? There is a better way to eating healthy and it’s not about depriving yourself or denying yourself of your favorite foods. When you deprive yourself, you wind up feeling dissatisfied which can lead to more cravings, over eating, and feelings of guilt. Let’s throw guilt out the window! It’s not fun and you don’t need it in your life. Instead of focusing on what you can’t eat, flip it around and focus on what you can eat. There are many methods I use for helping people to eliminate their cravings, and this method is called “Crowding Out”. By adding in all of the delicious, nourishing food that you can have - the food that you enjoy and that is healthy for you - suddenly the food that makes you sick seems to disappear. Your body will recognize this change and say “THANK YOU!” Keep adding in nutrient-dense foods, and watch your cravings for processed, sugary foods diminish. And you won’t even have to arm wrestle with yourself in the kitchen! Try this exercise: List all of your favorite foods that are full of nutrients. (a.k.a. “healthy and tasty”). Next, decide on different meals to add these foods in during the week. Then make a commitment to focus on these nutrient-dense foods for one month. Make sure you are adding them in each day. Post your goal on your refrigerator. If you are have a craving for something “unhealthy”, examine your list and decide if something on the list will do instead. If not, sit down and enjoy your treat without guilt. Here are a few examples of Nutrient-Dense Foods that will leave you feeling satisfied: Beans – Garbanzo, Pinto, Kidney, Lima, Cannellini and many more. Beans are loaded with fiber and will add a sensation of feeling full. Vegetables – The more green vegetables you eat, the more you will want to keep them in your daily diet. They are loaded with minerals and nutrients. Berries – Loaded with antioxidants, berries of all kinds have cancer-preventing power. They are also a great fruit choice for weight-management. Wild Alaskan Salmon – Full of Omega 3 Fatty Acids, a serving of salmon will leave you feeling satisfied. Nuts – Walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, and other nuts are a healthy source of fat. They make a great snack or just top them on your salad. Recipe: Jumpstart SmoothieThis smoothie is delicious for an easy breakfast or a tasty summer drink. Prep time: 5 minutesServings: 2 Ingredients:1 cup berries1 banana1 /3 cup organic yogurt2 tbsp almond butter or ¼ cup ground almonds1 tbsp flax seed oil¼ cup aloe juice¾ cup liquid of your choice (water, juice, chilled herbal tea)2 tbsp whey protein powder or spirulina powder – optional Directions: Mix all ingredients in a blender and serve. Enjoy as a healthy breakfast shake or as a refreshing summer drink. Suzanne Monroe is a Food Coach and certified holistic health counselor. Her company, Real Life Food, helps busy people finally answer the question, What do I eat? For a free report on Eating for Energy, visit www.reallifefood.com.

Spring is an exciting time of year! I love the first days of Spring when the cold finally breaks and you can just smell the warm weather. It as if Spring is Summer just trying to break through. It makes me think of when you are on the brink of a good idea, something really big and you are about to burst as the idea comes to fruition. Spring symbolizes this same magic, a renewal that takes place not just in nature, but within our own bodies. Do you ever get the sense that you just want to start cleaning out your closet? It’s this desire to declutter that marks the advent of spring within us, not just outdoors. When it comes to food and our bodies, that same desire to declutter is happening inside all of our organs.

Many people ask me about detoxifying during this time of year. Spring is a perfect time of year to detoxify and cleanse the body. Many cultures have engaged in spring cleansing throughout history. The process of cleansing helps us clean out all of those winter comfort foods and prepare ourselves for lighter days. There are many ways to cleanse, including shelf after shelf of detox supplements at your health food store. While these products can sometimes be effective, there are easy ways to detoxify with food that everyone can do. If you want to keep it simple this Spring, you can start your own Spring Cleaning with one easy step: Eat more greens. Dark leafy greens are absolutely vital to optimum health. When you add ample amounts of greens to your diet, they simply crowd out all the overprocessed, nutrient-devoid foods that deplete you of energy. Dark leafy greens are much more delicious and nutritious than iceberg lettuce, which contains very few nutrients. Conside trying swiss chard, broccoli, broccoli rabe, bok choy, collards, green cabbage, kale, nappa cabbage, mustard greens and watercress. Or toss up a salad with various wild greens such as arugula, chicory, mesculun, and endive. My mouth is watering thinking of one of my favorite recipes, my Power Salad. Beside being chocked full of vital nutrients, greens act as cleansing agents and help you move toxins out of the body. They reduce mucus, clear congestion, encourage healthy intestinal flora, purify the blood and boost the immune system. So, welcome Spring this year with a bowl of your favorite greens.

For more tips on Spring Cleaning the Body, tune into Fox 6 Milwaukee’s Wake Up News on March 31^st where I will be discussing how to transition into this season with spring foods. You can also click here to learn about my Spring Cleaning Manual or Spring Cleaning teleseminar.
 
Try this tasty Greens recipe:
Arugula with Toasted Walnuts & Goat Cheese

• 7 cups arugula, rinsed and dried (or other mixed greens)
• 2 oranges
• ½ cup goat (or feta) cheese, preferably organic or imported
• ½ cup walnuts

Dressing:

• ¾ cup walnut oil or olive oil
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread walnuts on a baking sheet and place on a middle rack. Bake for 8 minutes to lightly toast walnuts. Peel an orange, and section it into small pieces. Combine arugula, oranges, cheese and toasted walnuts in a bowl. Pour dressing over salad and toss.

Dark chocolate fulfills the palate and the soul! Plus, it’s heart-healthy. Dark chocolate contains flavonoids that have cardioprotective properties, namely epicatechin and gallic acid. If you regularly eat small servings of dark chocolate, it can decrease your risk of having a heart attack. It’s important to note that dark chocolate with a minimum 70% content of cacao exudes the most health benefits. Also, opt for dark chocolate that is not alkalized as this negates dark chocolate’s health benefits.

Try these delicious recipe:

Prep time: 5 minutes
Freezer time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6-(or 4 chocolate addicts!)

Ingredients:

1 ½ bars organic dark chocolate, minimum 70%
(My favorites are Dagoba Eclipse 89% or Green and Blacks Extreme Dark 88%.)
8 oz. mixed nuts, raw, unsalted, and preferably organic

Directions:

Break chocolate bars into squares into a small saucepan. Place over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring. Turn off heat and dump nuts into melted chocolate. Stir so that all nuts are well-covered.

Fold a large piece of wax paper in half, and place it on a plate that will fit into the freezer. The wax paper should cover the plate. Dump the chocolate and nut mixture onto the wax paper. Spread the mixture as necessary to flatten it , but ensure that there are no gaps between nuts.

Place the plate with the mixture in the freezer for 30 minutes. In the meantime, enjoy licking the spoon and saucepan!

When the mixture has hardened, remove it from the freezer. Use a butter knife to chop the mouth-watering brick into bite-sized pieces. Place the pieces in a ceramic bowl to serve, and discard the wax paper. Enjoy!

For more tasty, healthy recipes, visit Real Life Food.
Happy Valentine’s Day!

February is Heart Health month, and a perfect time to focus on nourishing the heart with healthy food and activities. The heart is a very special organ as it is the center of joy, love, appreciation, gratitude and generosity. You don’t say, “I love you with all of my kidney”, do you? Nurturing the heart on all levels is important for wellness.

In Eastern traditions such as Hinduism, Traditional Chinese Medicine and even in many Native American tribes, it is understood that the body contains primary locations where life energy flows. These may be called chakras (”shock-rahs”), gateways or meridians. One such area is the heart chakra. We give and receive love from this area of our bodies. Some traditions envision the color associated with the heart area as pink, while others envision green. This heart area touches others’ hearts when we exchange hugs–literally. When an upset child or a grieving loved one needs consolation, we instinctively draw them to our heart.

To nurture the heart, it is important to give love and to receive love. And you don’t have to be in a romantic relationship to do it! Here are some heart-warming ways to nurture your soul:

- Give your friends a hug every time you greet and say goodbye to them.

- Watch the movie Chocolat.

- If you tend to slouch or have poor posture, you may be trying to protect your heart; you may have difficulty trusting or opening up to others. Pretend that an invisible string is attached to your heart, gently pulling your chest area open and expansive. This will help you feel more self-love as well as love from others. Yoga poses such as Mountain, Cobra, Triangle and Side Plank can also help open up the heart area.

- Make sure that you are equally giving and receiving in all areas of your life: relationships, career and parenting. If you give too much in life, or if your relationships are one-sided, disease can develop near the heart area of your body. Ask your partner for a back rub; take a nice, hot bath after a long day with the kids; spend enough weekend time rejuvenating your soul instead of volunteering too much.

Have you ever run out of toothpaste? You squeeze the tube from every angle, roll it up from the bottom, just trying to pinch the last bit out. The amount of energy you have each day is a lot like your toothpaste: it’s an essential part of taking care of yourself. With toothpaste, though, if you run out, you know how to get more. When you run out of energy, it’s hard to know what to do. Many people try to restock their energy by reaching for a mid-morning sweet or an afternoon latte, but what they don’t realize is that learning to eat for energy can radically change how they feel each day. Energy can be purchased at the grocery store, if we know what we are looking for. Without a doubt, we are searching for it in many of our purchases. Americans spend millions of dollars each year on energy drinks and energy bars. While these quick fixes give us a temporary lift, lasting energy comes from only real nourishment. What is real nourishment? Real nourishment comes from foods and activities that feed our body and soul in a way that create more energy. Many foods do the opposite. Sugar and caffeine, the two most common culprits, decrease our energy. We use them as a quick “pick me up,” although they may give an initial burst of energy, they are nothing more than “fake fuel”. The sugar and caffeine send us soaring for a little while, but as they are processed in the body, they send us crashing. Ouch! It doesn’t feel too good down there, so we reach for more sugar and caffeine to temporarily solve the dilemma. This constant up and down is an energy roller coaster. I rode that roller coaster until I decided it was time to get off. If you want to jump off the ride and experience sustained energy, the following tips will get you started.

Choose water instead of ‘energy’ drinks, caffeine and sugar-filled juices. Your body is made of water and needs to be replenished. When you do not consume enough water, you become dehydrated, which decreases your energy as your body tries to cope. Drink two full glasses first thing in the morning to jumpstart your energy.·

Incorporate whole grains instead of processed, refined grains. Processed grains are in many of the foods on our grocery store shelves, like baked goods, cookies, crackers, quick cooking rice, white pasta, and many breakfast cereals. When a grain is processed, it is stripped of the wonderful minerals and nutrients that provide lasting energy. For breakfast, replace your cereal with whole rolled oatmeal topped with dried fruit and nuts.·

Think green! Green vegetables are the number one food missing in most American diets. Somehow, we thought that eating French fries counted as our vegetable for the day. Green vegetables cleanse the body of toxins and impurities, giving it more energy. Experiment with some new green vegetables this fall and winter, like kale, Swiss chard, collard greens and bok choy. These amazing dark, leafy greens are filled with the vitamins and minerals our bodies crave.·

Relax your body and mind. If your mind is always racing, consider yourself normal. Our busy lives often cause our thoughts to show up as worries, fears or endless to-do lists. A racing mind sends a stress response to the body. Put yourself first by starting the day with at least five minutes of “Me Time.” Focus on breathing, meditation, prayer or positive visualization to quiet your mind. Consider incorporating yoga or other forms of movement to increase energy in the body.

Eating for energy means adding in foods that are both nourishing and delicious to our body. Does that mean we have to give up our favorite sweets or stop going to our favorite restaurants? No! But it is fascinating to notice that as we add in healthy foods that give us energy, the unhealthy foods we crave diminish. The goal of eating for energy is to fuel our lives, not deprive ourselves. When we give our body the energy foods it desires, it will return to us an abundance of energy for life.

Suzanne Monroe

Food Coach - Real Life Food

www.reallifefood.com