Wellness Beets – Episode 2: What We Eat, Adrenal Fatigue, and Preserving Veggies

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Our Current Diets:

  1. Always put whole foods first, as close to the farm as possible. Consider the processing of your food and your digestive capabilities. 
  1. We focus on organic produce and sustainably raised, appropriately fed meats and seafood. You can start out as simply as going to your local grocery store or Whole Foods to look for grass fed meats in the beginning but it’s fairly easy to find a local Food Coop or Farmers Market to make a connection with local farmers.

►Park Slope Food Coop – foodcoop.com

eatwild.com – for help finding a Community Supported Agriculture in your area, sustainable raised meats and wild caught seafood  

  1. We both eat all varieties of vegetables, eggs (smaller quantities for Alex), fish (especially sardines! Here’s why and here are recipes), wild caught seafood, variety of meats, fruit, some white rice, occasional legumes like black beans for Brittany, fermented foods, bone broth (Brittany’s recipe and Alex’s recipe), and lots of healthy fats (coconut oil, lard, bacon grease, butter/homemade ghee for Alex).  We both enjoy dark chocolate (70% or higher) and fruits for dessert. Occasional baked goods. Lots of tea, sparkling water, and Alex likes a cider every now and then.
  1. Brittany avoids dairy because of an allergy, most grains other than rice, nuts and seeds b/c they’re too difficult for her to digest, caffeine because of sensitivity, and soy. Alex avoids gluten (so most grains), moderates eggs, nuts, and dairy. 

We both generally agree on this summary of what to eat, with individual differences for intolerances.

 

Adrenal Fatigue 

Look out for the Adrenal Fatigue Blog Series up on digprimal.com; part 1 is now up and parts 2 and 3 will follow shortly!

How the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis words and how the system can become imbalanced.  
Common symptoms: fatigue, insomnia, altered energy levels throughout the day, reduced strength/slow recovery from workouts, libido problems, headaches, weight loss/weight gain, skin problems, GI distress.

 

Veggie Preservation: 

►Certain fruits, like bananas, give off ethylene which speeds up ripening.  You can use this to your advantage too by storing foods you want to ripen with them but taking care to keep them away from other fruit. 

►You can wash leafy greens, tubers, peas/green beans, hard fruits ahead of time. Delicate herbs, mushrooms, broccoli, berries should be washed closer to eating. If you’re washing any plants ahead of time, dry them well and wrap in paper towels to absorb extra moisture. 

►If your veggies have gone limp but don’t have any discoloration or growth, use them as stocks and soups instead. 

►If you cut veggies, they’ll lose nutrients faster.  Use a processor or mandoline to make the chopping process easier so that you can do it more times per week. 

►Organic fruits and vegetables and those grown by smaller farms that have less of a chance of depleting the soil will have higher nutrients to start out with.  So even if you lose some, you’ll still have more than you would have with non-organic produce.

Plants lose their nutrients faster or slower so prioritize eating the plants that lose nutrients faster earlier after your shopping trip.

►Sign up here to get the free cheat sheet sent to you.  We suggest keeping it on your fridge for reference! 

►Veggies like carrots and celery can be stored submerged in water in a container in the fridge. 

►Keep herbs in a vase in the fridge, before they go bad, tie them upside to let hang dry in your kitchen then store in mason jars. 

►Freeze hearty greens such as kale and collards in the fridge if you don’t have time to cook them. Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet to freeze, then store in a plastic freezer bag. 

►Freeze berries and stone fruits in the summer to prepare for winter. Store in plastic bag in freezer.

►Ferment vegetables to make sauerkraut or kimchi – it’s a very easy process and really only requires some salt and sugar. Use this base recipe for guidance but you can add in all sorts of veggie combinations for extra nutrients.

 

We love questions! Send us yours at [email protected]

 

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Wellness Beets – Episode 1: Meeting Your Hosts, Emotional Eating, Dry Skin, and Kelp Noodles

Come Chat with Us on Social Media!

Brittany’s Facebook               Alex’s Facebook 

Brittany’s YouTube              Alex’s YouTube

Brittany’s Pinterest               Alex’s  Pinterest 

Brittany’s Instagram               Alex’s Instagram 

 

About Brittany and Alex

Read all about Brittany by clicking here.

Read all Alex by clicking here.

Our Whole Health Philosophies

We’re believers in whole body, big-picture health. We’re convinced that the connection between the mind and the body is inarguable and stress management is as important as what’s on your plate. Additionally, we agree that both alternative/function medicine and conventional medicine play a role in disease management and overall health.

Much more on this in future episodes!


How to make good food choices and emotional blocks to eating healthy

There are lots of factors that play a role in our food choices. Bad decisions can stem from habits, a history of wrong choices, a sense of failure, a lack of impulse control, and family/peer pressure.

That’s why having tools to help you with your decisions are is important!


Brittany’s Tools:

  1. Ask a list of questions before you eat anything. ►Is this food rich in nutrients? ►How will I feel after I eat this? ►Is this food a part of my health values?
  1. Food Journal – list what you’re craving and the emotion tied to it.
  1. Breath, Meditate, Affirmations – an example: “I accept how important it is for me to eat healthfully in order to feel my best.”
  1. Remember how you felt after you ate the unhealthy food last time.
  2. Have an alternative snack ready that you know will keep you distracted from the unhealthy food. Dark chocolate, plantain chips, homemade treats, apple chips.

Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

Homemade Marshmallows

Chocolate Meringues

 

Alex’s Tools:

Details are up on the blog: 5 Questions That Can Help You Make Better Daily Food Choices

  1. Did I eat a variety of colors at each meal today?
  2. Did I have some carbs/fats/protein at each meal? Good balanced meals set you up for feeling full and satisfied.  The ratios you need are so individualized…pay attention to what feels best for you.
  3. Did I eat something that benefited my gut?  Examples include sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt, kombucha. 4. Have I eaten the same stuff over and over for the past several days? And what could I be missing?
  4. If I eat a treat, am I crowding out other better food choices?

Other considerations:

►Food cravings as a sign of nutrient deficiencies

►Decide whether it’ll work best for you to go cold-turkey or to transition to more healthful dessert options before decreasing.

►A no-deprivation but nutrient dense dessert: Maple Encrusted Bacon Wrapped Figs

►Set your absolutes: Brittany can’t do nuts or dairy and Alex avoids gluten like the plague.

►L-glutamine supplement – Talk with your health care provider about it! But we each take about 1 gram in between meals for sugar cravings and gut health support.

 

Dry Winter Skin

►Hydrating from the inside out by drinking enough fluids, eating enough fats in the diet

►Omega 3s from fatty fish (sardines!), coconut butter

►Oil vs water hydration, use both water soluble and oil soluble things

►Details are up in the post How I Use Oils to Moisturize

►Best oils for providing nutrients: coconut, sweet almond, argan oil, etc.

►Best oils for sealing: coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, and my favorite, castor oil.

►Homemade lotions: you can tweak the oil to water ratios depending on how much hydration you need.

►Find Alex’s favorite lotion recipe here

►Homemade Facial serums: Super Smooth Face Serum and DIY Skin Brightening Serum

►Best store bought lotions: Alaffia lotions and Jason lotions (have gluten free ones as well)

►Humidifiers

 

Food Swap Suggestion
What is the quickest gluten free noodle option?

Kelp Noodles and shiitake noodles. (Found at local grocery stores and Asian Food Markets.)

When transitions individually or for families: transitioning slowly is good! You can start with rice or buckwheat noodles before getting to the more veggie based ones.

 

 

We love questions! Send us yours at [email protected]

 

Did you enjoy this podcast?

If so, please leave a review for us in iTunes 

and subscribe to get the latest episodes!

We are super grateful for you helping us get the word out!