Tuesday, March 20, 2012

My Morning Cocktail

Beware it's a little thick, but if you can handle it, it's a good way to get your nutrients! I put 2 teaspoons running food, and one of each moringa and maca in a small container with a little water, shake well to mix-and voila, a little shot to get your day started!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Mellow Mood Juice of the day

Today's juice was very good, and very green...
1 bunch red chard
1 bunch nettles
big piece of Aloe (direct from my plant)
big piece of ginger (about 3 inches)
1 lemon
Handful of Kale
5-6 carrots
was actually quite tasty, even Kenzie liked it!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Todays Breakfast

This recipe will give you maximum nutrients and fill you up and only takes minutes...

Im Blender:
Half banana
3 kale leafs
2 green cabbage leafs
Teaspoon of Maca powder
Small handful raw organic Cacoa beans
3 inches of aloe (can buy at store or use your household plant)
A cup of blueberries
Cover halfway with water
Blend and enjoy!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

My Kale Obsession

If Popeye was still around he'd trade in his Spinach for Kale, hands down because Kale is the new king (if you ask me). I have recently become obsessed with it and use it at least 3 times a day in everything you could imagine. What's also pretty cool is that my 6 year old daughter also loves it, but even if she didn't I could hide it quite well and will tell you how in case you have picky eaters.
In my researching it's benefits I thought I would share some of the greatness to try and persuade you to love it as much as I do! Kale is one of the stand out vegetables, it packs a ton of Fiber (1 serving alone provides 10% of your daily intake of it), and it's daily value of Vitamins A, K, & C are off the charts. It has a huge cholesterol lowering ability (more if steamed, but good raw as well) and has been shown to lower the risk of at least 5 types of Cancer (bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate). It is also recognized as providing support for the body's detoxifying system-even at a genetic level. Researchers have now identified over 45 different flavonoids in kale. With kaempferol and quercetin heading the list, these flavonoids combine both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits that give kale a leading role in maintaining both inflammation and oxidative stress. Along with all these nutrients come the great side effects of being a fantastic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, so eat your little heart out!
Now for the fun part...my suggestions for consumption:
  • Put a handful in ANY type of smoothie - this is a great way to hide from your picky eaters
  • Put at least a handful or a few leafs in any juice you are making
  • Steam for 5 minutes and eat plain or with a little vinegar
  • Put it in any soup, stew or chili you are making
  • Eat raw in salads
  • Chop it up and put in mashed potatoes
  • Throw it on the grill with some salt and pepper
  • Saute alone or with other vegies as a nice side dish or addition to salad.
 

The Kale Obsession


vitamin K
vitamin A354.1%


vitamin C88.8%


manganese27%


fiber10.4%


copper10%


tryptophan9.3%


calcium9.3%


potassium8.4%


iron6.5%


magnesium5.8%


vitamin E5.5%


omega-3 fats5.4%


vitamin B25.2%


protein4.9%


vitamin B14.6%


folate4.2%


phosphorus3.6%


vitamin B33.2%


Calories (36)

just 146 reasons Sugar is the Devil!

Oh Sugar Sugar Sugar, you think it's so inncent yet...
1. It can suppress the immune system.
2. Upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. It can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
5. Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases).
6. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function, the more sugar you eat the more elasticity and function you loose.
7. Reduces high density lipoproteins.
8. Leads to chromium deficiency.
9. Leads to cancer of the ovaries.
10. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
11. Causes copper deficiency.
12. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
13. Can weaken eyesight.
14. Sugar raises the level of a neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
15. Can cause hypoglycemia.
16. Can produce an acidic digestive tract.
17. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
18. Sugar malabsorption is frequent in patients with functional bowel disease.
19. Can cause premature aging.
20. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
21. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
22. Sugar contributes to obesity
23. High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
24. Sugar can cause changes frequently found in person with gastric or duodenal ulcers.
25. Sugar can cause arthritis.
26. Sugar can cause asthma.
27. Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
28. Sugar can cause gallstones.
29. Sugar can cause heart disease.
30. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
31. Sugar can cause multiple sclerosis.
32. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
33. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
34. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.
35. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
36. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
37. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
38. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
39. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E (alpha-Tocopherol in the blood.
40. Sugar can decrease growth hormone.
41. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
42. Sugar can increase the systolic blood pressure.
43. Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
44. High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar bound non-enzymatically to protein)
45. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
46. Sugar causes food allergies.
47. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
48. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
49. Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
50. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
51. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA
52. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
53. Sugar can make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen.
54. Sugar can cause cataracts.
55. Sugar can cause emphysema.
56. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
57. Sugar can promote an elevation of low density lipoproteins (LDL).
58. High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
59. Sugar lowers the enzymes ability to function.
60. Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson’s disease.
61. Sugar can cause a permanent altering the way the proteins act in the body.
62. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
63. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
64. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
65. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
66. Sugar can increase the body's fluid retention.
67. Sugar is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.
68. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
69. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
70. Sugar can make the tendons more brittle.
71. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraine.
72. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
73. Sugar can adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders..
74. Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves.
75. Sugar can cause depression.
76. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
77. Sugar and cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
78. Sugar can increase your risk of getting gout.
79. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates.
80. Sugar can increase the insulin responses in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets.
81 High refined sugar diet reduces learning capacity.
82. Sugar can cause less effective functioning of two blood proteins, albumin, and lipoproteins, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
83. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
84. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness.
85. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance; some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.
86. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
87. Sugar can lead to the hypothalamus to become highly sensitive to a large variety of stimuli.
88. Sugar can lead to dizziness.
89. Diets high in sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
90. High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.
91. High sugar diet can lead to biliary tract cancer.
92. Sugar feeds cancer.
93. High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
94. High sugar consumption can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents.
95. Sugar slows food's travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
96. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon. This can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
97. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
98. Sugar combines and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult.
99. Sugar can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer.
100. Sugar is an addictive substance.
101. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
102. Sugar can exacerbate PMS.
103. Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.
104. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
105. The body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.
106. The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
107. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
108. Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
109. Sugar can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
110. Sugar has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.
111.. I.Vs (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain.
112. High sucrose intake could be an important risk factor in lung cancer.
113. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
114. High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
115. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
116. In Intensive Care Units, limiting sugar saves lives.
117. Sugar may induce cell death.
118. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
119. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behavior.
120. Sugar can lead to prostrate cancer.
121. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
122. Sugar increases the estradiol in young men.
123. Sugar can cause low birth weight babies.
124. Greater consumption of refined sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia
125. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the blood stream.
126. Sweet food items increase the risk of breast cancer.
127. Sugar is a risk factor in cancer of the small intestine.
128. Sugar may cause laryngeal cancer.
129. Sugar induces salt and water retention.
130. Sugar may contribute to mild memory loss.
131. As sugar increases in the diet of 10 years olds, there is a linear decrease in the intake of many essential nutrients.
132. Sugar can increase the total amount of food consumed.
133. Exposing a newborn to sugar results in a heightened preference for sucrose relative to water at 6 months and 2 years of age.
134. Sugar causes constipation.
135. Sugar causes varicous veins.
136. Sugar can cause brain decay in prediabetic and diabetic women.
137. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
138. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
139. Sugar ingestion by pregnant women increases neural tube defects in embryos.
140. Sugar can be a factor in asthma.
141. The higher the sugar consumption the more chances of getting irritable bowel syndrome.
142. Sugar could affect central reward systems.
143. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
144. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
145. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell carcinoma.
146. Sugar can cause liver tumors.
Stay tuned for ways to avoid it and what to substitute for it if you HAVE to have something sweet, there are alternatives!
Thank you Dr. Appleton for some fabulous research!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Super Herbs

I've been finding all sorts of new ways to use some classic old spices, and with that I always find myself geeking out finding out about all the health benefits that come with them, if I do this it's way easier to keep myself reminded about how food is medicine, and really makes it easier to eat clean. Some of my favorites that you might not realize are so powerful are...
  • Cayenne: super good pain reliever (not as good as morphine, but much safer and cleaner), does things as amazing as kills cancer cells in the prostate, lungs, and pancreas. Used for high blood pressure and also cleans the arteries, helping to rid the body of the bad LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Can also stop a heart attack in 30 seconds-Considering that heart disease is the number one killer in America, this is pretty significant. You can also use it to calm your stomach and digestive tract, sounds rough, but is even great for ulcers! But be careful-it's hot! So hot in fact some herbalists have been known to use it to help heal and rebuild flesh due to frostbite.
  • Ginger, one of my favorites for juicing, I've been grating it and adding to a lot of soups and stews and it's been lovely. Along with adding punch and flavor to your recipe its also great for pretty much any type of stomach upset, including morning sickness, naseau, and motion sickness. It also boasts tons of anti-inflammatory effects making it great for those with athritis and other types of joint deseases. It's also got huge immune boosting powers and has been linked with reducing cancer cells in ovarian cancer patients.
  • Sage, smells so good and is actually in the same family as Rosemary, they're said to be cousins! It also has some great anti-inflammatory properties, and is a great anti-oxidant. Not only that, but it will most definately reduce hot flashes for menopausal women, as well as night sweats for anyone. These are all fabulous, but my favorite is that it is an outstanding memory enhancer. Sage helps provide better brain function-who doesn't need and want that?
  • Thyme, I've been finding all sorts of fun varieties, my favorite is a pretty yellow plant called lemon sage I got at Trader Joes. A great anti-oxidant, this herb is packed full of germ killing properties and has historically been used as an expectorant and antiseptic-great for colds, coughs, and bronchitas.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

New Paddle FIT Site

Check out the new Paddle Core FIT site, and join the email list or like on Facebook for upcoming classes in an area near you!
www/PaddleCoreFIT.com