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Mood Food

Here are some non-medical strategies for treating depression and anxiety:

Eat fresh, unprocessed nutritious food.

People who eat a diet high in fresh vegetables, fruit, fish, and whole grains are significantly less likely to be depressed or anxious than those who eat highly processed, sugary and fried foods and refined grain and drink beer and other alcohol.

Take supplements such as omega-3 fish oil. You need enough to get around 1000mg of EPA (eicosapentaenoicacid) a day.

A combination of zinc, vitamin B6 and magnesium is important for mood.

Get some sunshine – vitamin D – every day for a mood lift.

Get your heart rate up at least three to five times a week by doing uphill walking, dancing or fast yoga.

Accomplish something every day – something you’ve been putting off, like paying a bill.

Give yourself a treat every day – watch a movie, have a bubble bath, go for a swim or a walk.

Create a gratitude diary.

Dehydrated food for tramping

pexels-photo-357743.jpeg

War paint in the forest

Calorie Creep 

Are you piling on pounds? 
The culprit could be calorie creep.
This is the sneaky extra calories that food manufacturers pack into their products.

High-calorie ingredients like palm oil and refined sugar are one instance. But, portion size is another. For example, a single cookie bought from a store is four inches across (much larger than the ones our grannies baked.) 

Granted,  some manufacturers are reducing portion sizes and high-calorie ingredients to attract health conscious customers.

But, the fact remains that many packaged foods today are higher-calorie than a few decades ago. 

So, how do you keep those extra calories from creeping in? 

One way is to limit your snacks to one hundred calories.

Here are some calorie rescue tactics:

  • A piece of fruit (approx 50 calories)  Tablespoon of Greek yoghurt (30 calories) 1 tsp maple syrup (20 calories)  topped with toasted shredded coconut & sunflower seeds.  Total: 100 calories.  
  • 2 cups home-made popcorn (cooked in oil) is 100 calories.  Top with Tamari & bragg’s yeast.  Be sure to measure 2 cups, it’s easy to go overboard!  
  • Rice cake with miso and avocado topping.  Rice cakes are not nutrient dense but at only 35 calories a pop it makes a great base for toppings that are.  Miso is fermented and The biggest benefit of miso is that it’s brimming with probiotics. Because miso is fermented, it’s filled with beneficial, live probiotic cultures that have many upsides. You can think of probiotics as the “good bacteria” that inhabit our gut environment and balance “bad bacteria” that we obtain from poor-quality foods, toxins in the environment, contaminated water, pollution and so on. Make sure it’s organic!  1 tbsp of miso yields 34 calories.  Topped with thinly sliced avocado would total 100 calories.  

Choc Mint Slice 

Base

1 cup coconut  desiccated

1 cup ground up sunflower seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardimin (optional)

1 tbsp cacoa

1 tsp Tahini (optional)

1 cup dates

1 + 1/2 cups pitted prunes

2 tbsp chia seeds

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

Topping

1 cup cashew nuts

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup water

Bunch of mint

1/2 tsp Vanilla essence

1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Directions

Make base first.  Freeze.  Then add topping layer.

New Study Links Protein in Wheat to Inflammation

doctor-shrug-1-600x400              The verdict is out.

A protein in wheat is responsible for inflaming the gut. In the past, scientists have focused mainly on gluten and it’s effect on digestive health.

But, according to research presented at one of the world’s most prestigious gastroenterology conferences (UEG, or United European Gastroenterology) in October 2016, the spotlight is now on a protein called AMI (it stands for amylase-trypson inhibitors).

Let’s just call it the culprit. It appears AMI can inflame not only the gut but through it the kidneys, lymph nodes and even the brain.

Why is this knowledge important? It’s because anything that causes inflammation in the gut has a negative effect over time on the mind.

Luckily we are living in an age where we have many choices besides wheat.  I’ve written about a few here.

My clients are shocked and dismayed when they take stock and discover how much wheat and wheat based products they are eating.

Learning to read food labels is a great first step.

The real adventure begins when you decide to stop doing the ‘same old, same old’ and start exploring tasty and nutritious wheat alternatives.

 

There’s a New Wave Coming…

Catch the wheat free wave! 

  • 1/3 of Americans say they are trying to eliminate wheat from their diet.
  • Restaurants in the USA confirmed two million “wheat free” dishes were ordered last year.    
  • Gluten free items doubled in sales in the past five years.   
  • 15 billion dollars were spent consuming gluten free food.  

Which zero calorie sweetener is best for your gut? 

If you want a sweetener with zero calories, choose Stevia.  Why?  Stevia is chemical free and does not inflame the gut. As a bonus, it also helps regulate blood  sugar levels.

Read more here.

How did this happen?

hunter gatherer collectin honeyWell, it seems that hunter gatherers have the gut-brain advantage. They may only have the clothes they stand up in and primitive weapons, but they lead the way in gut-brain health!

Check out this article to learn more about a mad keen anthropologist who radically changed his gut health in just three days of eating as a hunter-gatherer with Africa’s Hadza tribe.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/05/health/hunter-gatherer-diet-tanzania-the-conversation/index.html?utm_content=buffer9e07d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

The good news is you don’t need to go back to the Stone Age to get your gut-mind connection working properly!

This excited me so much that I embarked on a month-long gut health program.  If it excites you as well, like me on face book because I will be dishing up lot’s of tips and tools to get your gut-brain connection working as smoothly as a hunter gatherer.