Monday, July 15, 2013

If you want to let food be they medicine, have to take "it" daily


We are bombarded by food claims. Some foods improve exercise recovery, others ease PMS, there are ingredients that help with metabolism and a few even actually help reduce belly fat. The first step is to sort through the research or consult an expert to find our which claims hold up. The second, often missed, step is to consume the foods regularly in order to ease symptoms or make a noticeable difference.  If a doctor prescribed a blood pressure pill, would you ever take it once or whenever you think about it and expect it to work? I hope not.

I recently talked about sun protective foods. If you're as concerned about sun damage as I am these days, put walnuts, wild salmon and cruciferous veggies on list each week and seek out recipes that utilize them. This is our new meatless monday dinner, in my opinion the perfect kale salad (with walnuts too). I love a cookbook from Melissa Clark Cook This Now because it's organized by month.  Green beans with walnuts and walnut oil (tarragon really makes this). green beans and walnuts
There was also a great article on wild salmon in the times last week (it is worth it to go wild) with this recipe I have on our menu for this week.
If you have GI issues or have been struggling with sub par immunity up your probiotic foods. Include at least one probiotic food daily. Have you seen Evolve's Greek Kefir? Kefir boasts 10x the probiotics of yogurt, I also adore my Siggis Coconut skyr and Bubbies' sauerkraut (no "dog" needed).


I am a believer in the power of linoleic fatty acids and belly fat but you'll need to snack on sunflower seeds daily, put hemp seeds or protein in your morning smoothie or add pine nuts to your salad.


Yes, there’s a value in eating a variety of healthy foods daily but if you are utilizing a food for a specific function, it needs to be consumed regularly for enough time. Start with 4-6 weeks. In some areas- GI pain or body fat you'll be able to see a difference. The bonus? Oftentimes when we're really getting what's called a therapeutic dose of a certain nutrient, there are other "side effects" such as better skin or digestion. Hippocrates was one smart guy.
Have you ever added a food into your diet for the sake of improving a condition or health issue? How long did it take to notice a difference? Do you take vitamins? Have you ever though of seeking out the same nutrients from food?

4 comments:

  1. When I was trying to lose a large amount of weight, a wonderful doctor, who believed in holistically treating the patient (instead of telling them the trite phrase "diet and exercise more"), saw my struggle with losing weight, even doing all the right things, and decided to test my magnesium levels - they were low. Now, even though I'm not a huge Kale fan (I know, I know..), I eat large servings a day - a good amount in a smoothie, and with a mix of spinach in salads (before I would have just had romaine or spring mix). I also take a magnesium supplement as well - what a difference!!! Further, I drastically cut my consumption of soy, as my hormone levels were very imbalanced and my soy protein habit was a likely culprit.

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  2. Such good points here. People think you can just "eat hemp seeds" and all these miraculous things will happen. No, you have to be consistent! Even then, it's not miraculous, but you'll probably feel better if there truly was a reasons for you to include them in your diet.
    Funny, I haven't added much to my diet for therapeutic reasons, but I've certainly taken things out! And, after 5 year, I feel great!
    I need to try that Evolve kefir.....
    Oh, and I read about carageenan in TD this month. I think I read about that theory FIRST on your blog. Your ahead of the times!

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  3. such good point Gina, the same goes for taking things out of your diet. took me a while to really feel differently from having soy/gluten out.

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  4. magnesium such a biggie..might need to post about that. And if you read, you know how I feel about most soy. Thank you for sharing.

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