My article from my last Resolve…. more about food. It must be winter time!

Enjoy!

Simple Tips to Optimizing your Nutrition Without Compromising the Yum Factor!

by Gay Landeta

There are many small ways you can improve your diet, here are a few I find work well for me and my clients. Try them and see what works for you, even small changes can have big results!

1. Listen to your body

Listen to what your body calls for. But learn to listen deeply, for example not to the call for a sugary treat but to what that could mean. Energy, comfort, low blood sugar, an endorphin hit; what is really being asked here? How can you respond to that in the most healthful way?

2. Try new foods

Lots of us don’t like new tastes. Did you know it takes up to 15 tastes of a new food to start to enjoy it?

Kids, in particular are notorious for being difficult. I had two boys, one loved the most exotic food, the other hated everything. By the time he was 7, I was over it. We made a deal that he would try 1 mouthful of everything and I would cook one thing he liked in each meal.

He gradually expanded his likes and by 10 was a varied eater. He had also discovered his favourite food in the world, Mount Everest Soup from the Tibetan Kitchen which, at 22, he still has at least once a fortnight.

He often laughs at what we would have missed out on had I kept pandering to his hatred of anything spicy, peppery, or with meat, vegetables, beans, herbs, or if it was to hot or cold, or a yucky texture…

3. Organic and Local

Organic is great! I always feel much better when I eat organic, but also consider the distance the food has travelled. Local fresh is also good. Try farmers markets, and ask if it really is the farmer’s produce. People like Farmer Ian at Coorparoo Markets (find him at facebook!) grows the veggies himself or knows the person who does.

Be especially aware of food brought in from overseas, whether frozen or fresh. Other countries have very different standards and the food may have more additives or be less clean. And that is aside from the giant carbon footprint. Saying that, I do like Aldi who are committed to no additives in any of their food.

4. Healthy Vegetarian and Vegan diets

If you choose no meat (and this is a valid choice; my grandmother, a vegetarian for 50 years, still cycled 20 miles to pick pecans at 80) please make sure you don’t just take meat out of your diet. It does supply essential vitamins and minerals so you need to replace these.

Don’t rely on soy and gluten convenience foods for your protein and always combine your non animal protein sources (grains, beans, etc) to ensure you get the complete chain of amino acids. Be aware that the more you exclude from your diet the more vigilant you must be in what you eat. Make every mouthful count. Include whey or protein powder and eggs in your diet if you can.

5. Add boosters to your diet

There are lots of vitamin, mineral and protein packed foods and food supplements. Many we already eat, or could easily eat every day.

Some of my favourites include Tahini, pumpkin (pepitas) and sunflower seeds, Flaxseed oil, Cider Vinegar, parsley and other herbs, nuts, cruciferous veggies, eggs, spirulina, green powders and â€^~super foods. Have a look at my blog post http://gaylandeta.com.au/booster-for-your-body/ for ideas on how to use these.

A great way to find out how to boost your diet is to ask your local health food store. I often send people over to Nereda Wills and the staff at Sun and Earth on Brunswick Street, New Farm for a bit of booster education. She does food tours in the shop and has a 15% off day on the 2nd Friday of the Month, plus 10% off on every saturday for Club members : http://www.sunandearth.com.au/

6. Consider the wisdom of Chinese Traditional Medicine

I love TCM and have used their food wisdom many times to support my health. For instance I solved my 3yr olds constant loose stools with a weekend diet of congee.

I have posted a great article by Rod Williams on my blog http://gaylandeta.com.au/spleen-energy-support-get-more-energy/ If you are feeling tired or having trouble with energy have a look.

I hope you enjoy these ideas, and please, if you are experiencing ongoing physical dis-ease such as fatigue or digestion issues or any unexplained health concerns make sure you see you do check with a doctor to rule out any other factors.

© Gay landeta 2011 : all rights reserved.

June 1st, 2011

more on food……. these tips were written by my client Rod Williams of Bodyworx. In Chinese Medicine the spleen is responsible for just about everything…. I love this cos it is so easy to incorporate this into your life! So if you are experiencing fatigue, low appetite and immunity, weakness in your limbs or even loose stools your spleen might need a bit of a boost. And, if you like this article and ideas email him on rod.bodyworx@gmail.com for the full article or friend him on his soon to be published Facebook like page.

The Spleen likes:

- Warm, nutritious, nourishing foods / drinks (ginger tea, rice porridge, soups and broths, dahl, etc)
- Regular meal times  (eating every couple of hours)

The Spleen dislikes:

- Cold raw foods / drinks (salads, cold fruit out of the fridge, cold water, etc)
- Irregular eating (having long breaks between meals)

The most important meal of the day is breakfast, so if you only make 1 change, then this is it. According to Chinese Medicine, between 7-9am is the time when the chi is strongest in the Stomach meridian, and 9-11am it is strongest in the Spleen Meridian.  Therefore, we should aim to eat our breakfast between 7-9am so  that we can best digest and converted it to energy.  Below are some meal examples in line with nourishing the Spleen:

The Ultimate Breakfast!

3/4 cup Organic Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Blueberries
1 tbsp LSA mix (linseed, sunflower, almond) / Chia seeds
1 scoop WPC (whey protein concentrate powder – this is a great tonic, high in immunoglobulins also!)
1 tsp Cinnamon (great for the Spleen)
Rice Milk
Grated ginger (optional)
Honey to taste

Soak the oats over night in water or rice milk.  In the morning add warm water or rice milk and mix all the ingredients together.

Quick, tasty, nutritious, cheap, prepared in 5 mins…

Eggs and Mushroom on Toast

Self explanatory, but use a good quality heavy bread like rye or sour dough.  Add spinach, tomato or anything else that you like.

Lunch and Dinner Examples:

Rice Chicken and Veges

Steam some organic, australian grown basmati rice in chicken stock in a rice steamer (Foreign grown rice is fumigated when imported and is therefore a dead food, unlike Aust grown rice which will actually seed!)

BBQ some organic free-range chicken breasts and shred up,

Stirfry your favourite many coloured veges,

Add all cooked ingredients together and eat with a smile!

Congee (rice porridge)

Add rice, veges, chicken / meat / fish to a deep saucepan, along with onion, ginger, garlic, etc and simmer for a couple of hours.  Consistency should be thick, liquidy like porridge.

Savoury Mince Wraps

Use lean organic mince, add some beans / lentils and vegetables, and spices to flavour.  Wrap with lettuce in a quality bread wrap such as mountain bread.

Dahl – popular Indian lentil dish

Add some ghee and black mustard seeds in a frypan and heat until the black mustard seeds pop.  Add some Garam Masala, chopped ginger, onion, asafatida. Stir until aromas released.  Add washed red lentils, water to cover over the lentils, 2 barks of cinnamon, 2 bay leaves.  Simmer for 30-60 mins, topping up with water as needed so that lentils remain covered.  Add Turmeric and Himalayan Rock Salt before serving. Serve with Basmati Rice and a side of steamed veges.

enjoy!!!

Gay

May 31st, 2011

Lately nutrition and food in general has been on my mind. I know the impact that not eating well has on our bodies but I also love food in general, not just the ‘good for you’ stuff. Over time I have come to the conclusion that tweaking the diet is the way to go for those of us who want good nutrition and who love yummy food. Here are some of my favourite ways to boost my diet:

• Tahini :

sesame paste, packed with calcium and other goodies. Use on its own or try it mixed with a little lemon and garlic and water and used as a sauce or try it mixed with Miso (a fermented soybean paste) as a yummy substitute for vegemite or mixed through rice or veges.

• Pumpkin and sunflower seeds :

great raw, soaked and baked or (my favourite) stir fried in tamari (soy sauce) and garlic and sprinkled on salads or in pasta.

• Flaxseed oil :

Vego alternative to fish oil – great in salad dressings but don’t heat it and keep it in the fridge.

• Cider vinegar :

Wonderful for the digestion and very alkalizing for the system; have a ½ a teaspoon or so in water half  an hour before you eat. Also makes a very tasty salad dressing. Make sure you buy one that has the ‘mother’ in it (from health food stores or in the health section).

• Parley and other herbs :

Chopped over anything. I used to love pasta with pesto; now I have Soyaroni with piles of Continental Parsley, finished with a big handful of pumpkin, seeds stir fried in tamari and garlic with a dollop of flaxseed oil added just before serving.

• Nuts : EEspecially Brazil nuts, Walnuts and Almonds. If you have trouble digesting them try ‘activating’ them. This removes the enzyme that inhibits early sprouting and makes them more digestible. To activate soak 12 – 24 hours and then dehydrate in a very low oven (40 degrees) for another 24 hours.

• Cruciferous veggies :

Broccoli, cauliflower, brocilini, brussel sprouts, kale (my favourite), try different ones in different ways to find your favourites.

• Eggs :

An amazingly power packed food, I  suppose because it has all the building blocks for a little chicken. Health warnings on cholesterol have been rescinded and 6 or 7 eggs a week are now perfectly fine. Even more depending on other factors. Hardboiled, they are the perfect transportable snack.

• Spiralina and ‘green powders’ :

These can be sprinkled on your food or added to smoothies.

• Superfoods :

You can do a search on ‘superfoods’ and come up with a ever changing array of items. Some of them are a bit pricey, other options are cheaper. Many are yummy and easy to add to your diet.

What are your favourite ways to pump up the nutrition in your diet?