This post is part of FoodRenegade’s Fight Back Fridays, a blog carnival promoting the Real Food Revolution

Herbs have been used for centuries to not only flavor our meals, but to provide powerful medicine to keep the body healthy and strong. Below are some of the medicinal properties of herbs commonly used in cooking. Growing fresh herbs in your home is a wonderful way to not only give your food spectacular flavor, but boost your immune system, prevent food poisoning, and give your body powerful plant medicine!

Bon appetite!

Oregano: oregano is a strong antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal. The aromatic oils in this herb offer natural food preservation due to these qualities, and have been used for thousands of years to treat bad breath, arthritis, cough, wounds, and bacterial & fungal infections. Oregano also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant qualities as well and may prevent cellular damage.

Basil: Basil is great for cardiovascular health, promoting lowering of cholesterol, stable blood sugar, and supporting the body’s ability to cope with stress. It contains triterpenoids (similar to ginseng, eleuthero) giving the body resistance to internal and external stressors. It has sedative, calming qualities and is often prescribed to alleviate anxiety (Holy Basil specifically is renowned for this). Traditionally it has been used for stomach aches, nausea, mouthwash, headaches, urinary complaints, and healing infection. Like oregano, it contains many antimicrobial properties and has powerful amounts of antioxidants.

Rosemary: a natural mood booster and energizer, rosemary has been used in aromatherapy for centuries to facilitate memory and boost mood. Medicinally, this herb have been used to soothe and facilitate the digestive tract and reduce anxiety. In ancient times, many Western cultures wrapped their meat in rosemary to retard spoilage. Rosemary can also be added to oils and used to massage achiness out of sore muscles.

Sage: Crushed leaves can be applied to wounds to speed healing. Sage is also reputed to be a powerful antiperspirant. It is the sacred cleansing herb of the Native Americans and is used to cleanse both body and environment of physical and spiritual impurities. Sage tea helps regulate menses and the herb in cooking helps reduce inflammatory conditions (arthritis, asthma, arterial damage). It also has been shown to improve brain function (citation)

Cayenne: as anyone who has tasted it knows, cayenne is potent! It has a strong ability to bring circulation and movement to the body, benefiting the joints (it’s an ingredient in many arthritis creams), heart, and speeding healing. Cayenne can be sprinkled in your socks on a cold day to keep your feet warm and is an essential addition to natural cold and flu therapies. It helps expel mucus from the body, kill infections and stimulates saliva and stomach secretions to improve overall digestion.

Cilantro: this herb is commonly seen in salsas and guacamole. Like the other medicinal plants listed here, cilantro is a great digestive assistant and reduces gas. It has been used traditionally to ease anxiety and (for what it is worth) one study with mice supports this. (Can we rule out the placebo effect here?) In the United States, the leaves of this plant are known as cilantro, its seeds are known as coriander.  Dodecenal, a compound found in the fresh leaves, is shown to kill the Salmonella bacteria. It seems logical that its popularity occurs in regions where heat (Mexico, India) cause rapid spoilage.

To get started on your own indoor herb garden, click here!

According to the most recent statistics offered by the American Heart Association, one in three American adults has one or more types of cardiovascular disease (high blood pressure, angina, heart attack history, heart failure and/or stroke). Over half of these individuals are under the age of 60. I personally find this information shocking and saddening. Heart disease is largely a disease of lifestyle choice – choices we make on a day-to-day basis culminating over time. The amount of suffering for these individuals and those who care about them cannot be measured.
Our culture has not been set up to combat this disease effectively. Reliance upon extreme measures (surgery and drugs) remain the norm and well-supported by current health plans, while remedies which have been proven to be the most effective (diet and exercise changes) remain ignored and unsupported in our culture.
There has been a call to step forward and begin to take responsibility as a nation on many levels. Our health is just one area which can make a profound difference and have a powerful ripple effect nation-wide – stemming from our personal sphere of family, friends and co-workers to a more national level of insurance policies, health care plans, and the medical and food industries.
Begin with small, powerful changes to improve your heart health. The shift that can happen for you is beyond transformational. It requires simple steps, but it can be difficult to implement within the context of one’s day-to-day life. This is where support from your health providers, family members, a personal trainer and various communities becomes essential. As a friend of mine says, “Together, we can do better.”

* Move a little bit every day: Park further away, take an after dinner stroll for 10 minutes, take the stairs instead of the elevator, enlist the help of a personal trainer. 30 minutes a day or more. It doesn’t have to be all at once! Alternatively,use a pedometer to keep track of how many steps you take in a day – aim for 10,000!
* Eat Your Greens! Green foods are powerful heart protectors. They are full of fiber, antioxidants and are low in calories, helping to shed excess weight. I have written much about greens and different ways to get them into one’s daily diet. A great book to get started is Greens, Glorious Greens.
* Reduce Meat Consumption: The frequency of and quality of our animal food consumption
in this country is not supportive for the health for our bodies or the planet. If you have cardiovascular disease, multiple sources of research point to the benefit or reducing or eliminating consumption of beef, pork, and even chicken from your diet. Traditional cultures with low risk of disease use animal foods as a condiment and flavoring rather than a main course. Try eating a vegetarian diet 50% of the time (or more) and reserving meat for special occasions. There are many ways to do this that can be satisfying, nutritionally-sound, and even decadent! The work of T. Colin Campbell, Dean Ornish, and John McDougall may be of interest to you. Also, take a vegetarian cooking class to learn more about how lovely meat-free eating can be!

* Stop Smoking: If you are a smoker, quitting smoking alone will radically improve your health. Do what you can to kick butt, being certain to implement stress-reduction techniques to help you stay smoke-free for the rest of your life.

* Bring in Reinforcements for Those Weak Spots: I have found in my practice that many people are diligent about one aspect of their health, but struggle with others. The expert dieter has a heck of a time sticking to an exercise regimen and the exercise enthusiasts struggle to keep their food streamlined. Regardless of your preference, it’s likely that you struggle with work-life balance, emotional nourishment, and adequate restoration. All these factors play into restoring your heart health. Reach out to those around you for support. If you need additional help, hiring a health professional or personal trainer to facilitate this transition can be a richly rewarding and empowering experience.

I just received a piece of bliss in my mailbox.
It looks like this:

This guide is a must-have for anyone with multiple food sensitivities. It takes the guesswork out of the initial search that must go into creating a new lifestyle. I wish I had it last year, but I am so grateful to have it now — it will be a great asset in maintaining an optimal eating structure.

Small enough to fit into your purse, this indispensible guide contains over 10,000 sources of GF/SF/DF items in grocery stores. Is ice cream on your list (or wish it was)? You have no less than 17 brands to choose from, including easily accessible sources like Coldstone Creamery, Dreyers/Edy’s and Safeway Select.

I am so excited to have this guide, and am looking forward to having it as a guide for some of my food-intolerant clientele!
For those of you with food intolerances, what other sources have you utilized to help you navigate the grocery store?

(This post is part of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays, a day where bloggers come together and share their thoughts on returning to a more natural, wholesome diet. Check it out !)

The Fat Free Phenomenon has got to stop.

Seriously. As a nation, we have not gotten more svelte and lithe with the advent of Snackwell’s have we?

Instead, by consuming fat-free, sugar-free, reality-free food, we have grown larger and larger. We are hungrier and hungrier. Why is this?

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Gifted a large box of apples, I could not help but try my hand at apple pie. The recipe I found called for a combination of whole wheat flour and ground oats. Because I am sensitive to wheat, I opted to experiment with just oat flour, knowing that the lack of gluten would affect the integrity of the crust. I did not realize the extent to which it would become a gummy, gooey mess.

Below is a picture of the pie. It tastes all right. I’m not too keen on the crust, but the filling is really tasty.

Rather than be excited about the filling, I was pretty bummed about the crust. I then realized that part of my identity is wrapped in being a good cook and I had some fanciful expectation of being able to turn out a pie crust – nay, a wheatless pie crust – my first time as though I was a pro.

But hey, I still burn my rice sometimes. I still make disasters in my kitchen. It’s all part of the fun of trying new things. Next time, with this new knowledge under my belt, I’ll do a bit more research into the baking of a crust, and opt for a truly gluten-free version, since oats are a poor substitute. And when I do, I know I have a killer filling to put inside it.

May your messes provide as much joy as your successes!

Slowly, the pantry is being taken over by kombucha.

Since my original kombucha post, many batches have come and gone. I have not been diligent in scientific record-keeping, but each batch is unique. Some are sweeter, some more vinegary depending on length of fermentation. I have used green tea, black tea, blackberry sage tea (yum!) and am fermenting a batch now with pomegranate green tea. I am going to start recording days brewed, flavor, and differences with different teas used. I am also going to start branching out with utilizing honey, agave, and other sweeteners.

Yesterday I received a call from Terri P. in New Orleans. She had gotten my name and number through the world wide web and knew I brewed kombucha. We talked a bit about SCOBYs, brewing, and the differences she has noted since beginning a regular kombucha consumption in April of this year. She drank two bottles a day before brewing her own. Changes she has noted is an increase in fullness and thickness of her hair. Her daughter recovered from torn ligaments and tendons quickly enough to become a follower, and her friend Glenn, who introduced her to kombucha, eliminated 20+ years of adult acne by drinking it. She also spoke of someone she had spoken to who gives it to his two year old, and the child has had no seasonal illnesses since, despite being in daycare. Now THAT is a miracle!

Her enthusiasm rekindled my own, and now I am set to experiment with more flavors, variations, and options. I have kept to my original recipe, although have not been exact in measurements. My SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast) has not suffered. In fact, I have begun the process of giving away “babies” to interested parties. I typically drink my kombucha with frozen berries because I am all about convenience. The berries add a hint of flavor and I do not get the Vitamix dirty.

Upcoming experiements will be posted here. I am glad to have become part of a nationwide kombucha following. I highly encourage everyone spending more than $20 a month on storebought kombucha to begin brewing your own. It really is quite easy!

Searching for a tasty gluten-free bread used to be an expensive hit and miss. Up until a few years ago, there were very few options and most of them were so unpalatable it was best to just go without.

Food for Life has done an excellent job of creating a variety of breads that are satisfying, unique, and versatile. Among my favorites of the company’s options is their millet bread; it is the only one I can eat without toasting (although I still prefer it toasted).

Food for Life’s Millet bread is moist and slightly sweet with bits of crunchy whole grain millet embedded in the loaf. It is the perfect carrier to the cashew butter ginger jam breakfast sandwiches that are a mainstay in my home. I nearly always gravitate to this loaf, occasionally seeking variety in the Raisin Almond Loaf or the China Black Rice Loaf.

If you are working on a gluten-free diet, give Food for Life’s Millet Bread a whirl. If you have a personal favorite that you use, please share it here!

I’ve spent a great deal of time in airports and other states and have become very familiar with finding food while traveling. Since my travels have mostly been via plane to metropolitan areas, it has been easy for me to pack what I need or find something reasonable in an airport.

Last month, a new challenge came my way — healthy eating while traveling via roadway, cross-country.

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Most sources indicate that over half the U.S. population is not getting enough magnesium. Magnesium is a key mineral essential to bone formation, cardiovascular health, energy production, and muscular contraction. Low levels of magnesium can affect your risk of developing or exacerbating a chronic disease, such as heart disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes.

The current RDA for magnesium is 400mg, although it has been suggested that this recommendation is well below optimal intake.  Magnesium stores are depleted with cola and coffee consumption, diuretics, and high-stress environments (whether real of artificially created through stimulants) Populations at risk include diabetics (it is excreted with sugar in urine), heavy exercisers, and individuals who consume appreciable amounts of white flour, salt and sugar.

Some signs you may not be getting enough magnesium:

• muscle soreness
• TMJ
• tension headaches
• sensitivity to bright lights and noise (without eye disease)
• menstrual cramps and premenstrual irritability
• constipation
• numbness, tingling
• anxiety, panic
• restlessness and hyperactivity

The best way to make sure you receive enough magnesium is to include magnesium rich green leafy vegetables and whole grains in your diet. If you suspect you may be deficient in magnesium, you may benefit from extra supplementation. This often leads to a reduction in muscular cramping and soreness, improved sleep, and calmer moods are seen soon after beginning magnesium supplementation. Magnesium is safe at relatively high doses; an excess will induce diarrhea (remember Milk of Magnesia?) High doses are meant to be taken for a limited period of time and under medical supervision.

It’s playtime in the Dream Kitchen!

On April 25th, VIBRANCE Nutrition and Fitness teamed up with Design Kompany to do a educational lunch and work party for solopreneurs. Design Kompany provided the space and I came in and demonstrated how easy it is to make a quick, healthy lunch in under 20 minutes. Here is shortened video footage of the event: (more…)