Food Friday: Smoothies Galore

Pink Power Smoothie

I am on a bit of a smoothie kick as of late so I wanted to share just a few recipes with you to help you feel energized for the day and cool off from this humid weather. Smoothies are great since you can combine several delicious and healthy foods in one colourful drink. Struggling to get enough greens or veggies in your diet...throw them in. Aren't sure where to add ground flax seed to your diet...throw it in. Many potential combination are at your finger tips! 

I have always enjoyed smoothies, mostly in the warmer months since I am prone to being cold. However, my magic bullet just wasn't cutting it through school, so I upgraded to a Vitamix this past year, and my life changed! Well...not really, but sometimes I like to think so :). Fret not, health nuts, there are several good blenders out there that won't break the bank. Some examples are the Nutribullet, Ninja or Cuisinart blenders. 

Pink Power Smoothie (ohsheglows.com)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water or coconut water (I like coconut water)
• 1/2 medium avocado, pitted
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 1 cup strawberries (frozen preferred)
• 1 small/medium beet, ends trimmed and roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced (about 3 tablespoons or so)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 4 large ice cubes
• 1 apple ( if sweeter smoothie is desired - optional), cored and roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp hemp hearts (optional - my addition for 10g of protein)

Directions:

1. Steam beet if necessary before starting. This is not necessary with more powerful blenders.
2. Add all ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend on high until smooth. 

Glowing Mojo-ito Green Monster Smoothie (Oh She Glows cookbook...surprised?)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup watermelon cubes (frozen is ideal)
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach or other leafy greens
• 1 cup water or coconut water
• 1 large sweet apple
• 3 tbsp avocado
• 1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice, to taste
• 5-10 large mint leaves, to taste
• 5 ice cubes
• 3 tbsp hemp hearts (optional)

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend on high until smooth.

Glowing Green Smoothie (adapted from Nutritionist Kimberly Snyder)

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• 1/2 pear
• 1/2 -1 banana (optional)
• 3-4 handfuls spinach or other leafy greens (I mix a few)
• 1-2 stalks celery
• 1/4 cup parsley or cilantro (optional)
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 in ginger, peeled (optional)
• 1.5 cups water, adjust if necessary
• hemp hearts

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. This smoothie will really stimulate liver detoxification.

These recipes will yield about 2 smoothies. Other ingredients I tend to use are blueberries, frozen mangos, peaches, ground flax seeds, chia seeds, cashews, almond/coconut/soy milk and non-whey based protein powders. They all have their own health benefits.  

Happy blending!

In health & happiness, 

Dr. Karen

Bloating be Gone: A guide to digestive health Part 1

It is that time of year when we become both excited and stressed about the sunshine and bathing suit season. Even with all the confidence in the world, it can be a scary thing to de-robe by the water. We want to look our best but bloating may be one thing standing in our way. Does your stomach commonly feel hard and distended later in the day, your pants feel a little tighter after work, still hungry but can't think to eat anything in fear of making it worse? Yes, bloating is a pain and never makes you feel good! Well, let's start to get to the bottom of it...

Common culprits:

• Food sensitivities - There are some foods that our bodies just aren't able to process.The most common food sensitivities I see that cause bloating are dairy, gluten, eggs, and red meat. You may not be sensitive to all of them, or it may be something different, such as prolonged exposure to processed foods, but eliminating them for 3 weeks, monitoring symptoms, and re-introducing them one at a time may give you some answers. (More on food sensitivities and elimination diets at a later date.)
• Low stomach acid - In most cases I see, heartburn is due to low stomach acid instead of high stomach acid. Yes its true...mind blown! Your digestion starts mostly in your stomach and therefore if it is impeded here, it can lead to issues further down, such as bloating. 
• Low digestive enzymes - Your stomach and pancreas are the main organs that secrete necessary digestive enzymes, such at pepsin, protease and lipase. If there are not enough enzymes, food does not get digested as completely causing issues.
• Dysbiosis - A fancy term that means an imbalance in your gut between the good and bad bacteria. Probiotics (the good guys), have many health benefits, including regulating your bowels and decreasing inflammation.
• Stress - All of these issues can lead back to stress. It goes back to the "fight or flight" and "rest and digest" idea of our nervous systems. If we put all our energy into fighting stress, we prevent adequate blood flow to our digestive system, which can lead to inflammation, poor organ function and a "leaky gut". Organs that can be affected are your stomach, liver, gallbladder and intestines. 

As it can be any one, or all of the above, its best to understand your digestion from the start. So...

Let's start at the very beginning...A very good place to start.

Digestion actually begins even before you take your first bite. Salivation, stimulated by hunger or smell, sends signals to your digestive track to start producing enzymes, stomach acid etc. You then take your first bite...yum! However, if your stomach is not able to produce enough stomach acid, or HCl, digestion is impeded. Heartburn is a common symptom of low HCl. At the end of the esophagus is a sphincter (an elastic band per say), and it opens and closes to let food into the stomach. Ideally, adequate stomach acid sends a signal to the sphincter to tighten, preventing any acid and food from irritating the esophagus while breaking down your food. This sphincter can become weak or lazy due to low acid (but also such things as overuse of ant-acids, stress, obesity and pregnancy), and symptoms may arise.  Protein is broken down first by HCl. Have difficulty digesting red meat? This may be why! If food is not broken down properly in the stomach, your intestines have to work harder and inflammation can arise, causing bloating. 

What can you do?

Bitters, such as the herb Gentiana lutea, will initiate digestion and help eliminate bloating very successfully. However, one of the best at home remedies for bloating and heartburn is organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar. Instead of suppressing stomach acid, it actually stimulates your bodies natural ability to produce stomach acid, while prepping your body for digestion. Even 1 tsp in water 10 minutes before meals will do the trick. Note that apple cider vinegar will not give relief if you have an ulcer or too much stomach acid. An HCl challenge, with your ND, is a useful tool to decipher if you have high or low stomach acid. 

If you have any questions about elimination diets, testing stomach acid, using apple cider vinegar or your bloating concerns please don't hesitate to book an appointment with me or your local ND. (More to come on bloating in the coming month.)

In health & happiness,

Dr. Karen

Food Friday: "The Best Kale Salad Ever!"

I was lucky to head home for a short vacation this past weekend, to celebrate Father's Day with my whole family. With a couple of us living in different provinces/countries, we really appreciate the time we can all spend together. 

One perk about heading home is having my mom take the reigns on family meals. With more experience in the kitchen, there are much fewer mistakes (and mess!) than I tend to make. She is always trying new things like me and has great resources for finding new recipes. As a side salad for dinner one night, she prepared this delicious kale salad, rightfully named "the best kale salad ever." It combines many things I love, including ginger, apples, avocado, nuts and of course the superfood kale (skipping the trendy brussel sprouts for now :)). This salad is great as a side salad for dinner, or as a main dish for lunch topped with grilled chicken or salmon. Not only does it taste great, the ingredients are all healthy, doing the name justice.

What's all the fuss about?

Kale - Green leafy vegetables are definitely something I stress to include in a daily diet. They are packed full of nutrients, such as vitamin A, C and iron, and a source of antioxidants. Its insoluble fiber also helps to eliminate toxins through your digestive system and regulate bowels.

Garlic - Allicin, the active ingredient in garlic, is an antioxidant and immune stimulant. It helps decrease blood pressure, fight off infection and and much more. Although adding it to food for flavour is not quite as effective as chopping up a clove and swallowing it raw! Not as scary as it sounds...although my sister would beg to differ :)

Ginger - Another powerful antioxidant, and carminative (calming to the digestive system).

Apples - Apples are a source of quercitin, a natural antihistamine, and blood sugar regulator. They also provide you with insoluble fiber. 

Lemon juice - Stimulate digestion, and your overworked liver to work optimally.

Avocado - A great source of healthy fats, which will slow down digestion, keep you full for longer and avoid a spike in blood sugar. 

Ingredients:

2 bunches washed and dried kale

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 whole ripe avocado, peeled and chopped

1/2 medium red onion, chopped

1 medium apple, cored and chopped

2 tsp minced fresh garlic

2 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp tamari (a wheat free alternative to soy sauce, with a slightly different flavour)

1/2 cup raw, chopped cashews

Preparation:

Remove the large stems and then chop the kale; place in large bowl. Add the lemon juice and avocado. With your hands, mix together until the avocado is smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Serve immediately. (Serves 6)

(This recipe is taken from the cookbook "More Vegetables Please!", passed onto my Mom through Wellspring's Holistic Nutrition Class.)

I hope you enjoy this salad as much as I did. You may want to add less ginger and/or garlic, depending on your preference. 

In health and happiness, 

Dr. Karen 

(Photo credit: MindBodyGreen.com)

The Mind-Body Connection

Namaste Nova. Photo cred: Tamara Cox

Happy June my fellow health nuts!

I am feeling very grateful this week as I was lucky to bring in this month at a Yoga Retreat, put on by the wonderful Michelle of yogabeyondthebody.com. We gathered at Namaste Nova, about 45 minutes outside of Halifax, and what a beautiful and peaceful place! Check it out if you are interested in doing a wellness retreat. They are known for Body Talk, a holistic therapy working with animals, and also offer weekly yoga classes in their yurt...yes a yurt! 

The Mind-Body Connection

I see many patients who are always on the go, who suffer from insomnia, who hold tension somewhere in their body, and so on, so I tend to always stress the importance of the mind-body connection. It is inevitable that our bodies will suffer in some way if we continue to live in the "fight or flight" portion of your nervous system, instead of the "rest and digest" portion. For that reason one of my "at home remedies" I suggest to patients is of course yoga. What a wonderful holistic form of medicine. 

I sometimes forget how good yoga makes me feel – physically, mentally and spiritually. That is exactly what I felt after my yoga retreat. As Michelle taught us, there are different forms of yoga - not only moving our body, but using mantras or working through exercises to better understand ourselves. Since it does such good things for me, I wanted to remind you of some of the many benefits of practicing yoga. Whether you are young or old, male or female, flexible or not, it has similar benefits for everyone.

Meditation – One of the best ways to calm your mind, reflect and bring your body into parasympathetic mode (“rest and digest”) is through meditation. It can simply be conscious breathing. Like most, my mind tends to wander, so bringing my attention back to my breathe is helpful. This is especially helpful after a busy and stressful day. Stress can create tension in our bodies, and breathing helps us relieve that tension. I suggest taking time for 10 deep breaths during the day, at yoga, or when lying in bed at night. Meditation and breathing is such a simple tool, yet so powerful.

Flexibility – Sitting at a desk all day, exercising in one position (eg. biking), and stress are all reasons why our bodies may be in contracture. This can lead to poor posture and injuries. Improving flexibility by stretching will lengthen muscles, relieve tension (both physically and mentally), and reduce the likelihood of injuries. So whether you can do the wheel, or a simple hamstring stretch, your body will benefit. You'd be surprised what a slow moving Yin class can bring up and release...I know I was! 

Balance – Back in my ballet days, balance came much easier to me. However, over the years of sitting in classes and getting sucked into reality TV, I wobble slightly more than I would like. Yoga is a great way to increase balance with several poses such as tree or half moon. Balance becomes even more important as you age, to prevents falls and more harmful injuries.

There are many more mental and spiritual benefits of yoga that you can explore and will come to love.

For whatever your reason, step on that mat and thank yourself for practising. I believe you will be better for it! 

In health & happiness, 

Dr. Karen