Go Foods, Yup- Foods That Help You Go

this wasn't backward (squatty) when we were filming

I'll write about recipes and books another day. Today I have our latest embarrassing Youtube video. I don't even know if it's embarassing because we like tackling touchy topics. And "going" is something we're asked a lot about. Going matters.

I know more about nutrition than taking screenshots .

In this video, we introduce five of our top 10 foods that help "make shit happen" (I can't help myself this is bringing out my inner six year old). For the other five? You have to sign up for our January Whipping Weeks. Spaces still remain. For more information and to start 2016 on track, email info@foodtrainers.net with Whipping Week in the subject line.
What are your go to "go" foods? Any topics you want us to cover?

I play for team butter

Byrdie asked for my 2 cents on butter. The writer said, “I know you’re team butter” but will you answer these questions? “Team butter”, could there be a better team-ever? The full butter article can be found here but thought I’d add a few factoids Byrdie didn’t focus on.

So it’s outdated thinking that saturated fat in butter leads to heart disease.
The butter tide is turning or should I say “churning” (ha). There’s a hierarchy in every food group and hallelujah butter is a good guy. Please skip butter alternatives or alternatives/substitutes for any whole food. Do you want to see the understudy or the lead? I hadn’t even contemplated margarine in eons until I was asked about it.

But butter isn’t only better than “alternatives” it’s good for you. Grass fed butter contains omega 3’s but also a vitamin called K2 you might recall K2 from my brie post. K2 and vit D in butter make it a key pregnancy food too, should you be expecting. Grass-fed butter also contains CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). I will be honest some studies show CLA helps metabolism, some do not. Regardless, CLA has strong anti cancer properties. Grass fed butter is also higher in certain vitamins than basic butter. Grass-fed is key not just because grass feeding is good but corn and soy and GMO ingredients in conventional dairy are not so good. I can’t green light all butter; I have high standards. So organic/grass-fed butter and ghee are A+ choices, I adore Kerrygold which is grass-fed but not certified organic.

In terms of how much? The article said “everything in moderation” which isn’t a phrase I favor, what’s moderation? We work with 1 Tbs added fat per meal and suggest mix of butter, ghee (butter with lactose removed, OMGhee amazing brand, swoon) coconut oil and we’re also not in the anti olive oil camp.
Thankfully we’re distancing ourselves from calorie counting and looking at foods that leave us feeling satiated, whole foods that taste good. And even a little good-quality butter tastes so freakin’ good.


Are you on team butter? What butter do you use? Or are you still fat phobic? How can I recruit you to the other (better) side?

Expo East: 5 of our Favorite Finds

I haven’t been down to Natural Products Expo East in a couple of years. My general rule with food expos is to talk but not taste. I learned early on as an RD if you take a taste, bite or sample size of many, many different items digestive distress ensues. So what did I do when confronted with hundreds of booths to sort through and see? I tasted everything in sight. I could blame this on the brevity of my trip (I only had a few hours in Baltimore) or the enthusiasm of our Snack Queen Joanna Li, at her first expo, who decided it was her “dream day” before we entered the convention hall or but I will fess up- I was in the mood to taste test.

From jerky to juice, smoothies to soup we sipped (and here and there spit out), crunched and

conversed with company reps. Here are some favorites.

Kimchi chips- I’ve written about Food Should Taste Good before. In fact, when we stopped by their booth I wasn’t paying that much attention thinking been there, snacked on that until I saw these Kimchi chips. These aren’t any wallflower, run of the mill snacks; they’re one of the most memorable spicy, vinegary bites I had all day.

I’m an admitted smoothiehaulic and coffee addict and it seems I’m not alone in my dual dependencies. Enter AmazingMeal Café Mocha. I know, I know coffee, greens and hemp protein don’t sound like anything you’d seek out but this was really good. We sampled it mixed with rice milk, I can’t wait to introduce it to the Vitamix, some ice, maybe even a little more cacao. Each packet or serving has 10 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber delicious.

Iced tea is usually either laced with sugar (or nastier substitutes) or bland and boring. These iced teas from Ayalas are unsweetened and delicious. And as with their herbal waters the flavors are interesting too. I went for nutmeg, cacao, cardamom while Joanna enjoyed the cinnamon rose rooibos (rooibos tea is fantastic for your skin).

Popcorn and coconut oil figured prominently at the expo this year. Joanna beelined it for BoomChickaPop, I fell in love with Ziggy Marley’s flavored coconut oils.  Seems the Marley family had some hemp seeds lying around. I’ve seen their seeds sold (great packaging) for some time but curry and orange, almond infused oils? Cinnamon Orange Almond Popcorn? Coco’mon it is.

As we rounded the corner of the last row of booths, my stomach was rumbling. I think it was a tiny spoon of ghee that didn’t sit well. I was done. And then we saw an adorable booth with a bubbly girl telling us about her juice company that launched that day. I have green juices everywhere and only tasted it because I thought perhaps it would settle my stomach?  So I took a sample sip of her “Duke of Kale” juice, Joanna did too.  We looked at each other nodding, this wasn’t a dirty, too-green juice or a fruit fest. It was refreshing and interesting (I recall dandelion greens). The company is so new that I cannot even verify the other ingredients. Look for Love Sam juices at stores near you.  I will be can’t say the same about that ghee.

Have you tried any of these products? Which sound interesting? How do you do with situations where there are lots of different types of food?