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4 Ways to Detox

Did you know your body has a continuous detoxification process to repairs and heal? But when your body’s detoxification systems become overloaded, toxins can remain active longer than your body can handle. This can cause symptoms such as:

  • Bloating and digestive discomfort
  • Skin issues
  • Brain fog and mood swings

When toxins stay longer than your organs can handle, it can lead to chronic disease such as heart and autoimmune conditions, mental ill-health and/or cognitive decline.

Here are four effective ways to help your body detoxify  after the holiday season with all its goodies, beverages, excess food and stress. Build them into regular habits to strengthen your immune system, and improve gut health and help protect your brain.

Flush out the Toxins

Make a Morning Detox Tea
Lemon Tumeric Tea – Nourish Move Love

Hydrate,  detox and boost your immune system. Ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and cayenne pepper are anti-inflammatory and high in antioxidants. This tea is an excellent way to prevent/address colds and flus.

Apple Cider Detox Tea – Tasteaholics

Did you know that apple cider vinegar (ACV) has been consumed for thousands of years? Historical records show that apple juice was fermented into vinegar more than 5,000 years ago. ACV has antibacterial properties as well as health-promoting probiotics and enzymes. In addition to helping your body detox, using ACV regularly:

  • Stabilizes blood sugar
  • Lowers cholesterol
  • Improves skin health
  • Can relieve acid reflux

Prep a Pitch of InfusedWater 
Here are 5 refreshing detox recipes from Posthood  to get started. Or simply add about 1/4 – 1/3 cup of the following to a pitcher of water

  • Cucumber, sliced
  • Lemon, lime or grapfruit sliced
  • Mint, chopped
  • Grapefruit, lemon, lime,

Experiment with other herbs and fruits. Add sparkling water. It’s an effective way to replace sodas and diet beverages. In addition to hydrating and cleansing you will:

  • boost your metabolism
  • ease digestion and constipation
  • enhance your energy level and focus
  • help your skin

Dry Brush to Activate Your Lymphatic System
Think of your lymphatic system as the housecleaner of your immune system. The lymphatic system is a network of nodes, vessels, glands and organs. It carries the waste out of your tissues and into the blood stream to be filtered through your spleen.

Your skin is your largest eliminative organ. If it is clogged with dead skin cells and/or other impurities, its ability to eliminate toxins is handicapped.

Dry brushing is an ancient ritual that stimulates blood circulation and lymphatic system. It helps flush out waste and toxins. Keeping your lymphatic system functioning properly contributes to a better, more resilient immune response . It is directly related to your overall health.

How to Dry Brush?

  • Use a natural bristle brush either a long handle or a grip so you can easily cover all areas of the body.
  • Begin with the soles of your feet
  • Using circular motions brush vigorously in this order: feet, legs, hands and arms, your back, and abdomen.
  • Brush over each area several times, about 5-10 times.

Dry brushing exfoliates the skin. A nice benefit is minimizing cellulite. This happens by increasing blood circulation to the skins. It softens fat cells under your skin helping to release toxins from within

Take an Epsom Salt Bath
The two main ingredients of Epsom salt are magnesium and sulfate. Soaking in an Epsom salt bath is a mild form of magnesium therapy. Magnesium is an essential mineral that plays a role in over 300 enzymatic reactions in your body  ranging from regulating blood pressure and supporting metabolism to keeping blood sugar levels stable and removing toxins. Sulfate can strengthen the walls of your digestive tract and make releasing toxins easier. The combination of both ingredients (magnesium and sulfate) stimulates detoxification pathways.

Heat is an excellent resource while cleansing. A warm bath promotes sweating, which may help your body draw out toxins from within releasing them through your pores.

It’s an ideal way to end the day. Healthy magnesium levels also  boost brain neurotransmitters that are responsible for inducing sleep and reducing stress.

For More Empowerment

Detox Made Safe and Simple – Dr. Mark Hyman

Apple Cider Benefits and Uses – Dr. Axe

10 Holistic Treatments for Your Lymph – Chalkboard

10 Detox Bath Recipes – Dr. Axe

Originally posted January 2022

4 Detox Salads

Your body is constantly detoxifying — literally taking out the toxins. The problem is that it is often overwhelmed by inflammatory foods.

By eating more of these salads more regularly, you displace inflammatory foods on your plate and in your diet. Loaded with nutrients to help remove toxins and waste, these salads will aid your digestion and elimination.

General guidelines for a nutrient dense salad that supports your body’s natural detoxifying processes:

  • Shred a whole cabbage (or broccoli or Brussels sprouts) in the food processor. (Or buy it already shredded).
  • You can mix with leafy greens — lettuce, spinach or arugula — especially if these nutrient dense salads are new for you
  • Make it a complete meal adding hummus, canned salmon or sardines, or other proteins and fats (avocado, nuts, seeds). You need good fats to absorb essential vitamins A, D, E and K, and to obtain essential fatty acids necessary for building cells, hormones and fueling your heart and brain. You need the protein as building blocks for your tissues, enzymes, antibodies, as well as insulin and glucagon that regulate your blood sugar.
  • Or make it part of dinner alongside meatloaf, chicken or other protein side dish
  • BONUS – Use what you need for the salad. Save the remainder to use as a base for a grain bowl or stir fry. Make a lunch wrap with hummus or guacamole. Add it to soup.

One of my superpowers is crazy delicious, nutritious salads.

My kryptonite is that I can’t seem to write down the combinations and concoctions that come out of my kitchen every day.

So here are 4 recipes to use as building blocks for 2023. Rich in nutrients – vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals oh my! – you will also improve your immune system.

Use them as building blocks for meal planning throughout the year. As a start, pick one of these salads to make each week for the next four weeks.

CAVEAT! – Every body is unique. A mega dose of salad may not be best for everyone. If you have gut health issues all these raw veggies may be too much for your system. This is where mindful eating and a Food and Mood Diary come in. Eat a small serving. Pay attention to what you eat and how you feel. For at least 5 – 7 days write down what you ate and how your body feels.

Seriously Delicious Detox Salad – Gimme Some Oven

Variations

  • Use dark leafy greens (spinach, arugula, red leaf lettuce) instead of kale
  • Shredded beets or apple instead of carrots
  • Other nuts instead of almonds

Rainbow Power Greens Black-Eye Peas Salad – Cotter Crunch
This salad is similar to the previous one. I share this one

  • because of the collard greens – so important to expand beyond eating the same greens ones over and over. Each one has different nutrients though they may look the same
  • for the combination of beans and quinoa, an easy and powerful way to boost nutrient-density!

Variations

  • Add green onion or some finely sliced or chopped red onion; the synergy of greens and onions boosts your immune system
  • Use other dark leafy greens instead of collard greens – Swiss chard or kale
  • Switch out black-eyed peas for other beans (black beans, cannellini beans, even lentils)
  • Use other grains (brown rice, barley, faro)
  • Add herbs – parsley, cilantro are easy options

Kale Detox Salad – Well and Full

I share this one for the roasted vegetables and the pesto. Easy to make with leftover roasted vegetables and store bought pesto. You can use any herb to make pesto; cilantro helps remove heavy metals and protects against oxidative stress. Make a double batch of pesto and use it:

  • On roasted fish, on chicken breast
  • On a wrap with roasted veggies, chicken, fish or even steak
  • Mix into goat cheese, for snack with veggies and seed crackers
  • Add to a vinaigrette and make it into a salad dressing

Variations

  • Change out the veggies. I use sweet potatoes rather than fingerling because that’s what I usually have
  • Add additional roasted veggies; I always double up when roasting any vegetable to use in salads or wraps later
  • You can skip the rice unless you have leftovers, or use other leftover grains: quinoa and barley are my favorites

Super Food Detox Salad – Fit Foodie Finds

Yes, I chopped this by hand. For me cooking can me a mindful meditation practice. It’s a major mind shift to go from cooking being an obligation to considering it a privilege. Far too many people go hungry each day.

I share this salad for its Brussels sprouts. Often people who don’t like cooked Brussels sprouts discover they like them raw.  And sharing for the almonds too. Almost all my salads have nuts or seeds -one of the most nutrient dense food categories – and loaded with vital brain nutrients.

Variations

  • Having highlighted the Brussels sprouts, it seems contradictory so suggest another cruciferous vegetable, but a) they are not always available and b) there are only so many Brussels sprouts salad even the most enthusiast eater can eat – so, switch them out for shredded cauliflower or broccoli
  • Blueberries are a summer food, so in winter use pomegranate or shredded beet
  • Use dried cranberries instead of raisins
  • Any nut instead of almonds (or seeds — pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)

30 Healthy Salads – Dinner at the Zoo

A fabulous collection of delicious, nutritious salads – make one each week and you have 34 weeks of salads.

Let’s make it a delicious, nutritious year!

Which salad will you start with?

Updated from January 2022 post

January is for Detoxifying

January is an opportunity to “reset” for health and habits. December always brings excess sugar and flour, stress and craziness – happy crazy but crazy nonetheless. Smart eating, routines, and exercise go out the window. So how do I reset this first month of the year?

  • From the inside: Detoxify my body and my family through renewed menu planning and cooking.
  • On the outside: Detoxify my kitchen. Remove the candy, cookies, processed treats etc that crept into my pantry from Halloween to December. This “outside” detox, makes possible the inside detox and sets the playing field for healthy eating throughout the year

Detox sounds like a trend. But the human body has a miraculous capacity to detoxify and eliminate waste. The problem is the  explosion of processed and fast foods over the last century AND exposure to environmental pollutants humans never experienced before. “Detox” is a necessary conscious choice to support a natural process.

In a healthy body, the process of detoxification runs smoothly. But we’re exposed to a staggering amount of toxic chemicals in the air, water and our food (pesticides). Add to that, from Halloween in October through New Year’s Day we pile on excessive sugar, white flour (same inflammatory effect as sugar) and stress.

When excessive toxins build up,  our livers get overwhelmed;  toxins remain active longer than our systems can handle. This impedes normal metabolism, causes fluid retention, bloat, and puffiness. As waste builds up, we get fat and sick. Did you know that most environmental chemicals like pesticides and plastics are stored in our fat tissue?

“We are exposed to 6 million pounds of mercury and 2.5 billion pounds of other toxic chemicals each year. Very few have been tested for their long-term impact on human health.” Mark Hyman, 10 Day Sugar Solution

Why Detox?

Nearly every chronic disease is linked to toxicity, including food allergies, and digestive issues, dementia, heart disease, and autoimmune disease.

When our detoxification system becomes overloaded we start developing symptoms and get sick.  It may take years of accumulated toxins and stress to get to that point, but why take the chance of chronic, possibly fatal disease?

So January rings a bell in my head to recommit to a nourishing eating lifestyle. I know from experience that detoxifying makes me feel better, more vibrant, happy and full of energy. Adios fatigue, brain fog, headaches and lethargy!

Let’s reboot! Detox drinking water (half your body weight in ounces of water and with simple, delicious foods.

Foods that help detoxify

Focusing on plant-rich meals, quality protein and fats from nature. These are foods not only detoxify our body but can reignite our metabolism and reduce inflammation.

“70 to 80 percent of all major chronic diseases are lifestyle diseases, so the only way to treat them effectively, and even reverse them, is to change the lifestyles that led to them in the first place. Primarily that’s what we put in our mouth. The number one cause of death in the United States — and the number one cause of disability  — is our diet. Cigarettes now only kill about a half million Americans every year, whereas our diet kills hundreds of thousands more. Food — what we eat three times a day — is killing more Americans than cigarettes. Michael Greger, How to Not Die.

I’ve posted many times about the importance of phytonutrients (natural chemicals in plants to for survive against pests and infection). These phytonutrients can help detoxify our bodies, strengthen our immune system and help us function better. Eating organic food provides higher concentrations of these protective detoxifying, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory compounds.

So what to eat?

  • Organic green tea in the morning instead of coffee (green tea boosts liver detoxification)
  • Half your body weight  in filtered water a day (for example if you weight 140 lbs, aim for 70 oz of water); prepared herbal detoxification teas are a nice option
  • Avoid white sugar and white flour
  • Eat detoxifying food: 8 to 10 servings of dark leafy greens and colorful produce daily,  (kale, spinach, arugula, Swiss Chard etc), cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower), garlic, berries, celery, cilantro and rosemary
  • Eat clean. Focus on organic produce and high-quality animal products to eliminate the toxins, hormones, and antibiotics in our food
  • Add lots of detoxifying and anti-inflammatory herbs and spice like turmeric, cayenne pepper, thyme, rosemary, chili powder, cumin, sage, oregano, onion powder, cinnamon, coriander, cilantro, paprika, and parsley – hello ethnic foods! …curry, chili, tagines…)
  • Fast at least 12 – 14 hours from dinner to the first meal the next day

Food choices help enable important normal detoxification mechanisms. Fasting signals our immune system to discard old cells and waste, shifting our body into a mode of maintenance and repair.

“The body has detoxification mechanisms that are working all the time, both healthful eating and intermittent fasting accelerates those processes. The body enhances the removal of toxins when not digesting food and burning fatter for its energy needs. Our fat supply stores toxins, and when we lose body fat we release more toxic waste simultaneously. The body also needs adequate phytochemical and antioxidants for the liver to most effectively process fat-soluble toxins so they can be excreted via the urine. Fasting stimulates autophagy, an important self-repair process. Autophagy removes damaged components from cells and tissues.” Joel Fuhrman, How To Live

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS

Breakfast

3 Breakfast Smoothies: Antioxidant, Digestive Healer and Energizer

Golden Tumeric Chia Pudding

Overnight Oats for a Gentle Digestive Cleanse

Overnight Date Oats with Berries

Cozy Pumpkin Porridge

Soups

African Coconut Garbanzo Soup

Spicy Kale and Garbanzo Soup

Tumeric Broth Detox Soup

Oh She Glows Green Soup

Chili and Curry 

Red Lentil Curry

Golden Yellow Lentil Dahl

Dinners

Baked Paleo Meatballs with Kale Pesto

Veggie Loaded Tikka Masala

Quinoa Kale Pesto Bowl

Salads

Kale, Apple Salad

Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad

Probiotic Beet and Red Cabbage

Master Green Detox Salad

 

For More Empowerment

Dr. Hyman: The Truth about Detoxification

Includes 10 Simple Steps to Enhance Detoxification

Dr. Hyman: 7 Reasons to Detoxify

Dr. Hyman: Ultimate Detoxification Foods

Dr. Axe: Detox Diet

24-Hour Ginger Detox Cleanse Meal Plan

Eating Clean: The 21 Day Plan to Detox, Fight Inflammation and Reset Your Body

 

Originally posted January 2019

4 Holiday Anti-Inflammatory Soups

‘Tis the season of overeating.  Delicious, nutrient-dense soups help flush out toxins from your body and reduce inflammation. The anti-inflammatory and immune-protective micronutrients in rainbow foods and spices support your body’s natural detoxifying and defensive abilities. These soups are also an effective great way to prevent:

  • constant cookie nibbling
  • waylaid dinner plans

Ahoy the marvelous combinations of GBOMB nutrient-density stars Greens, Beans and Onions!

[su_expanding_quote_book alignment=”right” source_author=”Joel Fuhrman, MD” source_title=”Super Immunity” full_quote=”GBOMBS – an acronym that you can use to remember the best anti-cancer, health-promoting foods on the planet. These are the foods that you should eat every day, making up a significant proportion of your diet. They are extremely effective at preventing chronic disease, including cancer and promoting health and longevity.” short_quote=”GBOMBS – an acronym that you can use to remember the best anti-cancer, health-promoting foods on the planet. These are the foods that you should eat every day, making up a significant proportion of your diet. “]

Yay for mighty spices! Ounce for ounce the flavor compounds in spices have more anti-inflammatories and antioxidants than any other food group. Make or buy spice blends to pack an extra power in each bite. Spice blends

  • increase your intake of essential micronutrients
  • enhance the anti-inflammatory benefits
  • provide a balance of flavors for great tasting food

Think global “flavorprints” – herbs and spices associated with cuisines from different parts of the world

  • Asian
  • Mediterranean
  • Middle Eastern
  • Moroccan

Double these recipes to enjoy throughout the week. Or after the first meal, freeze in mason jars for individual servings to defrost as needed.

[su_expanding_quote_book alignment=”right” source_author=”Rebecca Katz” source_title=”The Healthy Mind Cook Book” full_quote=”When using dried herbs and spices add them at the beginning of the process. Heat, especially in combination with a bit of fat, like olive oil, breaks down the oils in the spices and releases them into the food. These oils carry much of the taste and with it the healing benefits of the spice. Fresh herbs like cilantro, mint and parsley are best added at the end to retain maximum flavor and color.” short_quote=”When using dried herbs and spices add them at the beginning “]

Winter Detox Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup –  Little Spice Jar

The Moroccan flavorprint (cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric) makes a powerful anti-inflammatory combination. And a sensory delight. Inhale the aromatic fragrance while it is cooking. Hold the warm bowl in your hands knowing it will warm you up from the inside out. Savor each bite for its texture, its flavor and its nourishment.

This recipe is for a slow cooker, but you can make it in a pot on the stove. It’s ready in 45 minutes.

Variations:

  • Use pre-diced butternut squash chunks in place of sweet potato
  • Use (organic) canned beans (garbanzo, cannellini or kidney beans) instead of brown lentils
  • Add ground beef or turkey at the beginning when cooking the onion.
  • Top with chopped nuts (pistachio for an extra treat!) and mint or parsley

Tumeric Broth Detox Soup – Feasting at Home

Did you know tumeric is used in Ayurveda to calm, soothe and aid the body in balancing and healing itself?

The Indian flavorprint (chilies, cumin, curry, garlic, turmeric, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, anise seeds, cloves, mustard seeds) loads this soup with powerful inflammation fighters that give the liver (I see you holiday cocktails!) a little help.

This is an awesome base recipe that can be changed up many ways:

  • Add greens and legumes or basmati rice and lentils
  • Add leftover chicken, rice and spinach
  • Add shrimp and rice noodles

Green Goddess Soup – Gimme Some Oven

Ever since she was a toddler, my daughter would ask for sopa verde (green soup). To this day it’s still one of her favorites.

Bursting with a triple dose of mighty greens, onions and beans. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower are in the greens category of GBOMBS. They are loaded with health enhancing enhancing power, including boosting our liver detox enzymes. The lemon really makes a difference both for flavor and detox assistance. Zest the lemon for an extra health boost.

Add toppings for contrast in texture and more nutrient density

  • chopped cilantro (or parsley)
  • sunflower seeds (pumpkin seeds or chopped nuts)
[su_expanding_quote_web alignment=”full” source_site=”Well and Good” source_url=”https://www.wellandgood.com/lemon-peel-benefits/” full_quote=”The lemon peel contains small amounts of calcium, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. They’re good for your immune system and digestive system. ” short_quote=”The lemon peel contains small amounts of calcium, vitamin C, potassium”]

Ginger Garlicky Chicken Soup – Rebecca Katz

Chicken soup is my everlasting comfort soup. Variations roam from a simple pot with only a whole chicken, onions, garlic, carrots and celery to putting in an enthusiastic, robust range of rainbow vegetables, herbs and spices.

This recipes is an especially anti-inflammatory recipe. Rebecca Katz is one of my all-time food gurus. She truly is THE master at maximizing flavor, nutrient-density and health boosting properties in every bite. Her books The Healthy Mind Cookbook, and Cancer Fighting Kitchen are some of my go-to resources on global flavor prints and culinary pharmacy.

What are your favorite  soup recipes?

For More Empowerment

25 Foods for Detox: Eat This Not That

The Ultimate Detoxification Foods: Dr. Mark Hyman

Originally published December 2020 

4 Tips to Minimize Holiday Sugar Overload

Cookies and candy, holiday goodies and cocktails oh my. Sugar is everywhere! How to navigate the sugar overload that will keep coming all the way into the New Year?

Here are 4 tips to minimize monumental weight gain and the health hazards of holiday inflammation.

Drink water

Did you know that water is the #1 nutrition deficiency in the U.S.?

  • Drink water first after waking up. While you are sleeping, millions of processes in your body are hard at work repairing cells, removing toxins, literally cleaning up and moving waste into your eliminations systems (hello large intestine and colon!).  Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to help your body detox.
  • Drink half your body weight in ounces throughout the day. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, drink 70 ounces of water (8 – 9 eight-ounce glasses).
  • If plain water is not your thing, add fruit, sliced cucumber, herbs (mint, basil) for an infused water.
  • Drink a glass of water in between each glass of wine/holiday cocktail.
  • Track your water intake. There’s a difference between what we think we do and actually do.

This is especially important to help your liver process the holiday foods/beverages onslaught and to help flush your body of excess indulgences.

Remove temptation from your kitchen

  • Processed snacks (chips, goldfish, graham crackers etc.)
  • Baked goods (bread, bagels, store-bought muffins etc.) and granola bars (unless they have 5g of sugar per serving)
  • Put homemade Christmas cookies in a tin out of sight

Skip the snacks

But if you can’t go without, stock up nourishing ones

  • Hummus, guac, goat cheese, cottage cheese, almond butter
  • Blue corn chips, pita chips, pretzels
  • Plantain chips
  • Rice cakes (no added sugar)
  • Seaweed snacks
  • Seed crackers (Nut Thins or Mary’s Gone Crackers)

Remember to always “dress your carbs”. Enjoy the pita chips, pretzels, rice cakes etc. with good fats  (hence the hummus and other options at the top of this list.)

Eat mindfully

  • Only at mealtimes
  • Take few deep breaths before eating. This gives your body time to activate the digestive processes — saliva, stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes etc –  to break down food into nutrients.
  • Eat away from digital devices, the news and distractions. Pay attention to what (and how much!) you are eating.
  • Focus on chewing until food is liquid before swallowing. Your body will be overworked the next several weeks; breaking down food thoroughly reduces gastrointestinal stress, and lets your body absorb the nutrients.
  •  Slows down while you eat. It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain it is full. When you eat too fast, you are likely to overeat.

Take these tips into the new year and build sustainable habits. Your body will thank you by performing better!

4 Ways to Detox Your Kitchen

How to avoid temptation? By keeping it out of your house. Transform your kitchen into a place of nourishment and healing. Create an environment where you can make wise choices automatically.

Would you like me to help you do a pantry rehab? We can Zoom! Let me know in the comments.

Rehab Your Pantry

  • Get rid of Halloween candy, Christmas chocolates, all foods that contain sugar (including juices)
  • Take out any packaged foods with artificial sweeteners, additives, preservatives, food coloring/dyes– check the ingredient label. If you don’t recognize the ingredient, your body won’t recognize it as food
  • Remove all hydrogenated oils such as vegetable oil, corn, soybean, safflower oil
  • Swap out junk food for better options (chips, crackers, snacks and granola bars)

Stock Up

Fill your pantry with foods that help the detoxification process and give your body more nutrients.
Foods rich in omega-3 fats:

  • salmon
  • sardines
  • chia seeds
  • hemp seeds
  • flaxseeds
  • walnuts

Foods rich in fiber:

  • lentils and beans (dried and canned)
  • whole grains such as old-fashioned oats, barley, quinoa, brown rice etc.
  • canned tomatoes
  • nut butters

Healthy oils

  • coconut milk
  • olive oil
  • avocado oil
  • coconut oil
  • sesame oil
  • ghee
  • flaxseed oil (keep refrigerated)

Herbs and spices contain powerful anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting compounds that give you many health benefits. Adding spices to your food is a way to get your extra dose of nutritional medicine. Here are 5 core spices for their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties

  • Tumeric (always use with a pinch of black pepper to activate it)
  • Cumin
  • Rosemary
  • Cayenne
  • Cinnamon

Join a Farmer’s Co-op or Shop the Weekend Farmer’s Market
Load up on foods that can help your body detox – foods rich in B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin C and antioxidants and phytochemicals. These foods are especially kind to detox processes:

  • Cruciferous vegetables such as bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower
  • Dark leafy greens like collards, kale, watercress
  • Lemons and limes
  • Garlic and onions
  • Cilantro and Parsley

Eating nutrient-dense whole, real foods is a foundation for health. They reduce inflammation, boost your detoxification processes, immune system  and metabolism.

Stock Your Freezer

I always have frozen veggies of some sort, usually edamame, spinach or broccoli, riced cauliflower or sweet potato hashbrowns.  Stock up on your family favorites. Lots of options for precut, shredded veggies to jumpstart meals. Combined with pantry staples, I’ve made many a last minute meal this way.

Protein staples are grass-fed ground beef  (or bison or turkey) and shrimp.

For More Empowerment

Dietitian’s Top Fridge, Pantry, and Freezer Foods – Dietetic Directions

Ten Foods to Help You Gently Detox – Culinary Nutrition

Choosing Healthy Cooking Oils – Culinary Nutrition

4 Nutrient Dense Coleslaws

What? Did you know cabbage, and other cruciferous vegetables, have powerful properties protect against brain disease and strengthen your immune system? It’s a vegetable I used to avoid – blech.

Cabbage was cultivated going back 6,000 years. It was grown chiefly for medicinal purposes in ancient times. Today science is proving its brain-protecting, cancer-fighting, immune-boosting properties.

[su_expanding_quote_book alignment=”full” source_author=”Joel Fuhrman MD” source_title=”Super Immunity” full_quote=”Cruciferous vegetables are twice as powerful as other plant foods. They contain an array of compounds with powerful immune-boosting effects which can serve to attack microbes such as viruses; heighten resistance to viral infection, enhance defenses against bacterial infections, and have natural antimicrobial effects that can boost natural cellular defenses. A 20% increase in cruciferous vegetables intake corresponds to a 40% decrease in cancer rates. ” short_quote=”Cruciferous vegetables contain compounds with proven and powerful immune-boosting effects “]

Cruciferous vegetables also contain sulphorophane, a powerful phytochemical that effectively reduce the occurrence and severity of  Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke while also enhancing stem cell growth.

Well! That certainly motivated me find a way to not just to eat cabbage but to enjoy it.

That’s when I discovered coleslaw. When I realized coleslaw doesn’t have to be slathered in mayonnaise, I discovered a whole new salad world.

Coleslaw from Dutch term koolsla (kool is the Dutch word for cabbage and sla part is Dutch abbreviation of salade). Dutch settlers brought their recipe for chilled cabbage salad to New York in the late 17th century.

Boring white cabbage is fun when tossed with other shredded cruciferous

  • red cabbage
  • Brussels sprouts
  • broccoli
  • cauliflower

Double the fun, flavor and nutrient density by adding other plant foods:

  • spinach
  • shredded carrots, or beets
  • apple or jicama matchsticks
  • chopped cilantro or parsley
  • toasted nuts or seeds
  • luscious chunks of avocado, seasonal mango, peach or pear for delightful textural contrast

Suddenly coleslaws aren’t just immune-boosting, brain protective arsenals, but also bright, beautiful, delicious, and gratifying.

Do you have a favorite coleslaw recipe?

Here are some of mine

Crimson Coleslaw

Purple cabbage has extra health benefits. The purple color comes from anthocyanins –  part of the flavonoid family of phytochemicals. Studies show they may improve blood flow, cognitive function, and help maintain thinking and memory by reducing inflammation and by inhibiting DNA damage in the brain.

Colored Coleslaw

This of this as a base recipe and change it up

  • mix two different color cruciferous vegetables – shredded Brussels sprouts or broccoli
  • swap the kale for spinach or another leafy green
  • use pumpkin seeds or other nuts
  • toss in a handful of seasonal fruit

Bell Pepper Coleslaw

The red, yellow, orange bell peppers change up the flavor and increase the nutrient density with carotenoids.

Crunchy Cruciferous Salad