It's a NEW YEAR! The Daniel Fast, Dry January, and improving your Healthspan

  

Holistic Habits by Cheryl A. Mothes, Ph.D. Natural Health Nutrition Counselor

Content is a daily radio script from my KHIS radio spot - tune in at 6:15 (CST) every morning to Justin and Meredith’s morning show on 89.9 FM.

 The hope and excitement of a new year often come with new goals centered around health.  We again want to mention the Daniel Fast and "Dry January" - this is how a whole food, plant-based people eat every day, but it is a big departure from the Standard American Diet.  For 21 days, the fast helps you detox and reduce addictions to sugar, salt, meat, alcohol, dairy, and processed foods.  And "Dry January" means giving up alcohol for the month.  You will experience the benefits of a stronger immune system, more energy, clearer thoughts, lower blood pressure and so much more.  Stop at either Fresh Healthy Cafe location to get copies of information and recipes and have a marvelous Meatless Monday everyone!

 We all want to feel younger and reversing the aging of our cells is scientifically possible - if our cells age slower, we will feel better longer.  Instead of talking about "lifespan" - the years we live, many are talking about "Healthspan" - the years we spend in good health, free of disease and disabilities.  Sadly, on average, we spend the last 11 years of our lives in poor health, dealing with issues that are for the most part lifestyle related.  Diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and other conditions are a result of the food choices we make and our sedentary lifestyle.  It's exciting to know that only 10 to 20% of those issues come from our genes.  Improve your Healthspan by getting the Plantation Project QuickStart Guide - it's perfect for a new year and your wealth of health, and it's free online!  Have a terrific Tuesday!

 

 Those retirement years, the "golden years", we are finding out are many times spent in poor health - on average 11 years of not being well - not too golden.  What we eat and how much we move are key drivers in our health, so much more so than our genes.  We can take responsibility for our health and our futures, one forkful and one step at a time!  It's a new year and a great time to turn our trajectories toward health!  The key to eating healthy is to ramp up fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.  Check out the Daily Dozen at Nutritionfacts.org and get the app or the great eating guide - all for free!  You can start living longer and stronger, today!  Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

 We've been talking this week about improving our Healthspan - the years we feel great - and reducing inflammation through diet, exercise, and stress management is key.  Excessive inflammation accelerates cellular aging, and stress is like gasoline on the fire of aging.  Take de-stress breaks every two hours, meditate 20 minutes a day, find ways to reduce your pace and load of responsibility, and eat healthfully to combat the effects of stress.  Diet is the most critical factor in our health, and we can control every bit of it!  Don't worry about finding a list of superfoods - improve your health on the shelf by purchasing whole foods that are plant-based and drinking only water and green tea and giving away everything that isn't.  Sounds easy but it's a big shift for many of us.   A new year is a great time to make that shift!  Happy 2023 everyone!

 It's Fix-it Friday and we should eat 3 servings of beans each day to have optimal health, starting with one serving then working your way up to three is ideal - and lentils are more digestible than other beans so throw them into smoothies, toss on salads and add to soups.  Here's a health-packed Carrot Mushroom Red Lentil Soup from Be a Plant-Based Woman Warrior Cookbook:

 Ingredients:

1 large, chopped onion

6 chopped cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

pink of cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

6 oz tomato paste

6 cups vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups dried red lentils

5 diced large carrots

3 cups chopped Swiss chard

16 ounces sliced mushrooms

2 T lemon juice

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1 T balsamic vinegar

 In a large pot, sauté the onion in 2 TBSP water until it's softened then stir in the garlic, cumin, chili powder, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.  Add tomato paste, vegetable broth, lentils, and carrots, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat for 10 minutes or until the lentils and carrots start to soften.  Add the Swiss chard and mushrooms and simmer for another 20 minutes.  Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and balsamic vinegar then garnish with cilantro and it's a nutrient-packed party in your mouth!

 Resources:  The Plantrition Project, NutritionFacts, Natural Awakenings, be a Plant-Based Woman Warrior Cookbook

 More from the past:

 In the winter it's common to think about how dry our skin is, and how dry the air is, but we need to always be mindful of how dry we are internal.  Boosting our hydration is important all year round because we Americans live in very dehydrated states - and it's highly related to what we eat and drink, not just that we don't drink enough water.  "Drink your food" is a great way to think of it - consider all that the standard American diet promotes salty, dry, crunchy, buttery, meaty, fried, cheesy - it is all dehydrating.  OF COURSE, if you eat fruits and vegetables and great smoothies made with them, you'll boost your hydration tremendously.   Have a marvelous Monday and always check out meatlessmonday.com for great recipes and tips!

 We encouraged everyone to think about better hydration through food choices yesterday, and you may know that Dr. Cheryl is a Natural Health Nutrition Counselor - if we can focus on eating foods in their natural state, nature is cool about making things perfectly right for us.  Roasting and frying things of course dehydrate them, but it also damages their healthy compounds, reduces their nutrients, and leads to the formation of toxins.  Foods become "denatured" when they are heated or roasted, especially when using oils.  And don't forget that many times salt is added in the process - even more dehydration!  Remember the "no SOS" rule - no added salt, oil, and sugar - to power up your plate, and ALWAYS make it plantified!  Have a terrific Tuesday!

 

 Yesterday we talked about not roasting foods - that it denatures them, which reduces their nutrients and adds toxins.  So, if roasting "downregulates" the nutrients, how can we "upregulate" them?  By soaking them and sprouting them!  Soaking nuts and seeds do many things - it increases their hydration, reduces acids, neutralizes enzyme inhibitors to produce more good enzymes, and increases the amounts of vitamins.  Sprouting grains and seeds is FUN for your family and adds the health benefits of germination- which breaks down starch, increases the nutrients, and makes them easier to digest.  You can order seed sprouting kits to live longer and live stronger.  Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

 More today about hydration - all week we shared information to help you eat hydrating foods, not dehydrate your foods, how to soak nuts and seeds and sprout grains and seeds, and of COURSE, it's important to drink water and limit all other beverages to green tea, milk thistle tea or other herbal teas.  When we drink is also important - drink water before meals and wait 2 hours after.  Our amazing bodies produce enzymes and gastric juices to perfectly digest, upload and super-power us with energy from the nutrients we consume.  Watering them down doesn't help.  Enjoy a wealth of health and have a great day!

 It's our last day of talking about the importance of hydration and how to not live in a chronically dehydrated state.  Yesterday we talked about drinking water and tea, and it's just as important to talk about what NOT to drink:  everything else.  Soda, juices, and anything with alcohol is not only dehydrating but harmful nutritionally in many ways.  Sodas are loaded with chemicals if they are dieting, and sugar plus chemicals if they aren't dieting.  Juices are denatured fruits that have lots of added sugar.  And alcohol is highly inflammatory to our cells, usually has lots of bad carbs and sugar, is a depressant, and is highly correlated to breast cancer and other cancers.  So, clear out and clean up the health on your shelf on this fantastic Friday by trying some great new teas and getting rid of everything else!