From the category archives:

Cleanse

The Most Powerful Spring Foods… are on the way

EARLY SPRING is an opportune time to take advantage of some of the most cleansing, beautifying and healing foods around. Here’s a detailed list from my Spring Cleanse that you can review now so you a can be on the lookout in your local farmer’s market and health food stores. Consider how you might make use of their unique cleansing and healing properties. (Pay special attention to Stinging Nettles!)

Note: Some of my workshop and VIP clients might find this list familiar… use it as a review and a reminder of the powerful beautifying properties of these special foods.

Asparagus

High in Folic acid
Diuretic cleanser = flushes out the kidneys
Reduces blood pressure
Reduces Water retention

Dark Leafy Greens

Green is associated with spring, the time of renewal, refreshment and vital energy. In Asian medicine, green is related to the liver, emotional stability and creativity.

Very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc and vitamins A, C, E and K.
High in fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll and many other micronutrients and phyto-chemicals.
Blood purification
Cancer prevention
Improved circulation
Strengthened immune system
Promotion of healthy intestinal flora
Promotion of subtle, light and flexible energy
Lifted spirit and elimination of depression
Improved liver, gall bladder and kidney function
Cleared congestion, especially in lungs, by reducing mucus

Broccoli, bok choy, Napa cabbage, kale, collards, watercress, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, dandelion, green cabbage, arugula, endive, chicory, lettuce, mesclun, wild greens.

Stinging Nettles

Nettles are one of the most nutritious greens on the planet. Cooked, blanched or dried they lose their sting.

The entire plant can be used.

Highest levels of beauty producing silicon in any food.
Vitamins A, C, beta-carotene
Chlorophyll
Immune system builder.
High Iron content
They’re unusually high in protein (40%) for a plant
Nutrient-dense, they make a good overall tonic for strengthening the body.
Useful in treating anemia, high vitamin C content ensures that the iron is properly absorbed by the body.

Uses:

The juice of roots and leaves, mixed with honey or sugar, relieves both bronchitis and asthma.

Weight Loss:

Increase the function of the thyroid gland:
Increase metabolism—helps burn away fat while increasing energy.
Relieves mucus in the colon allowing for the release of excess waste.
Mineral rich, which helps satisfy hunger. Overeating often is a search for minerals.

Blood Purification:

High caliber blood purifier.
Diuretic properties help flush the blood and cleanse thru the action of the kidneys.

Other known uses:

Combat and relieve allergy symptoms (especially hay fever)
Anti-arthritis or anti-rheumatic agent,
Used as a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory,
Used as a lung tonic for ex-smokers
Helps skin heal from eczema, or hives
Bursitis,
Tendonitis,
Laryngitis,
Kidney stones,
Lowers blood sugar naturally
Relieves the symptoms of sciatica and PMS

EXCELLENT FOR: toxicity, poor skin quality, weak nails loss of overall luster.

Use Nettles Greens, as a juice, tea, or in powder forms

I love to make Nettles into a pesto, which I freeze for use the whole year. Here’s my recipe (scroll down you’ll see I post about Nettles every year – yes, I’m a nettles super-fan).

Beets and Beet Greens

(while detoxifying limit beets but use the greens- as they have a high sugar content)

Loaded with nutrients
Blood purifier
Used for centuries as folk remedies for Anemia, Menstrual problems/imbalances, Kidney disorders
Antioxidant
Detoxify the liver
Protect against cancers of skin, lung, colon
Evens the ratio of HDL: LDL (bad) cholesterol levels
Beet greens are loaded with iron and beta-carotene

Fennel

Fennel is great all year round and full of beneficial nutrients including

Vitamin C – helps protect your body from free radical damage
Fiber – helps to reduce cholesterol levels and remove cancer-causing toxins from your colon
Antimicrobial and helps immune system function
Potassium
Folate
Niacin
Calcium, magnesium, iron, and copper.

It also provides these other good-for-you benefits:

Reduces inflammation
Helps prevent cancer
Protects liver from damage caused by chemicals
Folate: Fennel is also a good source of folate, a B vitamin that helps convert the dangerous homocysteine molecule (which can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke) into a harmless compound.

Ramps

Ramps are an early spring wild onion/wild leek. They possess a powerfully pungent, spicy aroma and flavor very similar to that of garlic or shallots. Many chefs consider ramps to be the best-tasting member of the entire onion family

The foliage, stems, and bulbs can be used raw or cooked
Member of leeks, garlic and chive family:
High in Vitamin C, helpful for Hypertension, and high cholesterol

Radishes

One of the highest veggie sources of Vitamin C
Play a role in connective tissue formation.
The mineral silicon and sulfur work with vitamin C to create glowing skin
Also High in Folic Acid.
They cut and dissolve mucus in the digestive tract formed from eating starchy carbs.
Stimulate the liver
Expel and prevent gallstones
Increase digestive fires.
Used in Russia for both hyper and hypothyroidism.
Great kidney cleansers
Decrease water retention

Beans

A very nourishing vegetable food.

High fiber= blood sugar levels don’t rise rapidly – keeps insulin from shooting up.
Low-fat, low-cal, dense source of fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals
They resonate with the paired organs of the body: brain and heart, lungs, kidneys, ovaries and testicles.

Reduce wind by soaking them overnight before cooking.

Strawberries

(usually late spring/early summer)

Just 5 Strawberries can give you half the RDA of Vitamin C
Vitamin K rich – for healthy bones and blood clotting
Antioxidant
Curbs inflammation in eczema-asthma-arthritis
Helps protect the brain form age-related decline

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How do we Soothe Ourselves?

This morning I woke up at 3:30 and could not get back to sleep. My jaw was tense, I felt a general feeling of unease, and so after 30 minutes of tossing and sighing, I just simply got up and started my day. In fact, I’m writing to you now form my meditation spot in an effort to stay focused and clear.

The turning of the seasons naturally hold a lot of change. And recently, all over the world change, movement, and shifting is what’s on the menu. In just one week on the east coast we’ve had an earthquake and a hurricane, and of course we see what’s happening elsewhere around our country and the globe.

This got me thinking about how we soothe ourselves. If we look at children and how they seek soothing through breastfeeding, thumbsucking, pacifiers, temper tantrums (release), we can perhaps reflect on how we choose to (consciously or unconsciously) soothe ourselves. Some are temporary foxes that end up exacerbating our tension and stress, and there are others that really help us leap to the next level. Here are a few that some to mind:

These habits keep us stuck in stress and tension:

Tuning out and getting lost in Television
Watching the news
Drinking, drugs
Eating comfort foods (childhood foods, sugar, heavy foods for grounding like pasta, meats, cheeses)
Caffeine and Coffee (also a drug – “America runs on…”)
Creating drama and arguing with loved ones
Pavlovian attention to smart phones, email, Facebook (this takes us out of the present moment)

Here are a few habits that while sometimes challenging to start, help to ACTUALLY SOOTHE:

Meditation
Yoga, or simple gentle morning/evening stretches
Deep, belly breathing
Qi Gong (this is very slow Thai Chi)
Wandering in nature or for a walk with no particular destination
Cultivating an herbal tea connoisseurship
Dancing
Drinking water (we are approximately 70% water)
Sitting and watching anything that has life force: birds, trees, wind, people
New earth comfort foods (dark leafy greens (life force energy), green drinks like Green Magma barley grass powder (my current favorite), E3live (amazing microalgaes), root vegetables for grounding (sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, burdock root)
Gentle cleansing with foods
Spending quality time with loved ones
Making more love (literally – both physically and emotionally)

The concept here is to be in your body, be present in the moment as much as you can. We are really just very tall children who desperately need some free play. There’s this odd thing going on in our culture which takes us not only out of the present moment – into the future or past – but into a virtual world – a playground of the mind (Facebook, email, etc). This keeps us disconnected from our bodies — our first house.

Yes, you read that correctly. This is similar to the concept of Body as Temple, but different in that I hope this metaphor helps you connect more deeply back to your Self. Our first house is our body. We literally inhabit it. And yet we forget how to care for it properly. Or rather, we weren’t given the maintenance manual that many ancients had. We tossed that information out around the time of the industrial revolution.

Here’s the thing, as you come back into your body and remember/ relearn how to listen to what it has to tell you, how to care for it, how to love and appreciate it NOW, you will find that life is completely different. When you know how to soothe yourself in a deep and intuitive way, you will actually become soothed.

I know that when I wake up early with tension and stress that I actually need to spend some time soothing myself. This morning, I understood that something was creating tension, something in my body or mind was overstimulated. I decided to soothe myself. I did some yoga, some meditation and deep breathing, drank my green barley grass, cultivated a state of gratitude for choosing those things, and then this topic came to me. I try to keep my posts short and sweet, but apparently this one needed some space to breathe.

So, the questions I have for you are:

Where do you need to breathe space into your life?
Where do you need to breathe? (what is weighing down on you?)
What is your default soothing mechanism?
What is one new soothing habit would you like to cultivate?

Email me back or post to the blog, I’d really like to know.

Personally, I am recommitting to meditation. I’d like to show up and sit every morning for 10 minutes or so. I do guided meditations – which are easier for me, they allow me to shut off my brain chatter. I’m a much better person with daily meditation practice, more intuitive, connected, less reactive to stress, in general – more happy.

Off to enjoy my morning tea…

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Rawkos! A travel food.

Happy Labor Day weekend! It’s time to celebrate all the toil and sweat you’ve put into you’re year.

Here’s a fantastic recipe that will keep you in the summer mode. This is a popular favorite from my Seasonal Cleanses (Join me in September for a healthy kick-start)–It’s great food to travel with and requires NO COOKING. Rejoice the Rawko! It’s like a taco but it’s raw – not raw meat – raw foods (means no cooking, more enzymes, more energy).

Wraps

Bunch of collard greens*, rinsed and de-stemmed – leaving 2 halves (depends on how many people are eating– figure 2-3 wraps per person)
Pat those dry

Sweet Cucumber Salsa

1 apple – peeled, cored, diced
1 cucumber – peeled, seeded, diced
1 medium sweet yellow onion – diced
parsley and/or cilantro – washed and diced
a few pinches of Celtic sea salt (this is a high mineral salt- very good for you)
Fresh squeezed lemon
Add all ingredients together, then add in salt and lemon – make sure it really gets on that onion! Toss, let sit.

Rawko “meat”

First, let me say, I am not anti-meat, I am pro sustainably-raised, grass-pastured meat*. I am pro health for our bodies, and health for the planet. So why the non-meat tacos – er- rawkos? Because they are delicious. Because raw foods pack an amazing amount of energy and vitality, and because everyone loves new and exciting foods that make them feel good with no negative repercussions. So here you go:

1 -2 cups of raw organic walnuts (again, depending on how many people you are feeding)
2-6 TBS of gluten free tamari (go easy on this — it can get real salty quick)
Add to a high speed blender or food processor and blend it up

Making Rawkos

Lay your collard wrap on a flat surface
Spread 1-2 tsp of the rawko “meat” onto the wrap length-wise
Add some salsa (this offsets the heavy flavor of the walnuts nicely)
Here, I added some sunflower sprouts for some more green and texture
Roll up and enjoy.

You can pre-roll these and eat them on a car ride — or pack the ingredients separately and take to work, beach, or party.

*When I travel I also make an organic turkey and goat cheese wrap that you can eat in the car. Just add shaved onions and apple. Divine.

Let me know what you think. Happy Labor Day Weekend.

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Tasty Harvest and Seasonal Eating

Harvest season is upon us – the time when our foods need the least amount of effort to prepare and bring us the most taste and delight. I’m talking, lightly steamed or raw, a little bit of olive oil, some herbs, a dash of salt – yum. Check out my mid-summer bean salad recipe.

We’re only a few short weeks until September and the journey into the colder, darker months begins. As the seasons turn, our bodies begin to crave different foods. If we’re listening, we can keep step and stay healthy, fit and emotionally balanced through the coming months.

There are a few simple techniques you can use to tune in, slim down, and stay healthy.

1. Understand how to eat with the seasons

2. Cleanse at the turn of each season

1. Seasonal Eating At-a-glance

The most simple way to understand this is to visit Farmer’s Markets, farms, and farm stands. Take a look at what’s for sale and you’ll know what is being harvested at the moment. Right now in the northeast, we’re beginning to see the heartier summer vegetables, corn, beans, and summer squash. We’ve got tomatoes, herbs galore, and delicious peaches and plums. Check out this mid-summer bean salad recipe.

As the grasses change from green to gold, we’ll be seeing even more squash, potatoes, and starchier vegetables. As the weather turns colder our bodies crave more fat, we like to eat it and then hang on to it for the colder seasons. Which brings me to number 2.

2. Seasonal Cleansing

As we pass from the sweet fruits and watery vegetables of summer in to the more dense, heartier vegetables of fall, our bodies benefit greatly from seasonal cleansing.

It’s a way to create a pause and reset, to shed the heat of summer and prepare it for fall. It’s a way to cycle down the sweet and the heat and ready ourselves for the fattier heartier foods that bring us comfort and satisfaction in fall and winter.

It helps build our immune system and readies us for a healthy winter season. We shed excess weight and are ready to take on the new season.

If you’re feeling like a reset is in order, and want to stay slim and healthy through winter, join me for a fall cleanse. I’ll be writing more about it in the coming weeks, but just wanted to plant the seed with you.

About Cleanses

There are many different cleanses and detoxes on the market. The programs I’ve created are food centered — that means you can get the health benefits and weight loss while eating. I made these two cleanses for busy busy people, and everyone finds them fairly simple and gets great results.

This September I’ll be offering a 10-day reset and a 4-week body changer. They both rock. Think about what resonates with you and send me an email.

Noticing What Your Body Craves

Until then, take notice of what you are craving. What are your default foods? What is your go-to meal? How are you feeling in your body? Are you ready for fall? What is your diet abundant in? What seasonal foods are you enjoying?

Enjoy the Harvest and Get Creative

Mid-Summer Bean Salad Recipe

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Mid-Summer Bean Salad

Fresh, filling, delicious and energizing. Seasonal eating is at it’s peak right now. And we have a good harvest season ahead of us. Beans are great for stabilizing blood sugar, supplying protein, energy and fiber. They help reduce cholesterol, support the kidneys, heart, and promote good gut health.

Mid-Summer Bean Salad

1-2 cups organic white navy beans (or beans of your choice) cooked (or canned if you’re pressed for time or if cooking beans is a dark mystery)

1 fresh summer onion – these are no in the markets, they have long green shoots growing out of their tops

1-2 cups fresh green beans (this time of year they are sweet and crisp)

handful of chopped fresh herbs – Use what you love, dill, parsley, cilantro, sage, thyme, basil, mint – whatevs.

Extra virgin olive oil – 1-4 TBS depending on who big your salad is

Generous squeeze of lemon

A few pinches of Celtic sea salt (high mineralized salt)

Additions:

Cucumber – peeled, seeded, chopped

Goat cheese – crumbled

Apple – peeled, seeded, chopped

Directions:

1. rinse beans if canned

2. in large mixing bowl add olive oil, lemon and pinch of salt, and chopperd herbs

3. wash chop, prepare all other ingredients

4. add to bowl and toss

5. add more oil , lemon, salt to taste

6. for best results let marinate for 20 min to an hour to let flavors mingle and the lemon and salt to turn the onion

7. enjoy it alone, as a side, with eggs, or over a bed of mixed greens

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Amazing 4 week cleanse will launch soon!

Hey there, just a quick note about the 4 week cleanse I’m busy putting the finishing touches on. This is a fantastic and proven way to shed weight, release toxins, clear up skin, eliminate bloating, calm digestion and improve metabolism. This is a food based cleanse and it works really well. Early bird clients have lost weight (10-18lbs), reduced their cholesterol, revamped their relationship to food and eating habits. If this is resonating with you and you’d like to get on the cleanse *hot-list*, send me an email and you will be entered into a drawing for an incredible gift (that’s all I can say for now).

Here’s a quick overview of what’s in store:

Week 1:

Release Cravings, habits, common allergens

Coffee- sugar- caffeine – wheat – dairy – nuts

Week 2:

Deepening the Cleanse

Adding in deep cleansing foods, teas

Week 3:

In the groove

Raw foods balancing basics

Week 4:

Super Fierce

Super foods

How to transition off

Tips for maintaining your new metabolism and figure

Extra goodies include:

recipes
action worksheets
How-to tips and tricks
Exercise tips
Cutting edge stress-bursting techniques

Sign up early by getting on the hot-list and enter the drawing for an incredible gift!

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Almost Spring-time Easy Broccoli Soup

On the east coast we’ve had a little winter Revisit. However, Spring is just around the corner! Try this super easy Broccoli soup to get your green on and warm up at the same time. As we go into Spring, we can follow mother nature and eat lots of greens. Greens have low caloric density and tons of nutrients and fiber.

Here’s a recipe form my 4 week cleanse. This is a soup you can indulge in and still shed your winter weight.

Almost Spring-time Easy Broccoli Soup

All measurements are estimates, play around and use your instincts.

You’ll need:

baking dish

high speed blender or food processor

toaster oven or oven

Ingredients:

2 broccoli heads and most of the stem – washed and roughly chopped
4-6 cloves of garlic – whole
3 TBS olive oil
1 cup of vegetable stock (or water)
salt to taste
1/2 tsp onion powder
Eden Shake to taste and for garnish

Directions:

Wash and roughly chop broccoli. Trim the woody part of the stem, use the rest
Add broccoli florets, stems, and peeled garlic to a baking dish with water still on them
Coat with olive oil
Add some salt
Roast in toaster oven (or oven if you prefer) on 250º for about 30 minutes– we do this on low because of the olive oil. Olive oil can become damaged in high heat and create free radicals in our bodies, so when heating be gentle and use low heat
Remove from oven and transfer to blender or food processor
Add in vegetable stock or water, salt to taste, and onion powder
Blend until smooth.
Garnish with Eden shake or parsley — or just eat as is. As much as you like.

Enjoy!

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Fibroids, Cysts, and PMS

Join me and my colleague Rebecca Curtis, of Green Gem Health for a workshop tomorrow on Fibroids, Cysts and PMS.

PARK SLOPE FOOD COOP

782 Union St., Bkln, NY 11215 (btw 6th & 7th Av.) • (718) 622-0560

FREE

Non members Welcome

Tuesday, March 29

7:30 p.m. at the Coop

Participants will learn five effective, natural ways to eliminate fibroids,

cysts and PMS. We will explain underlying causes of hormonal

imbalance, how to resolve them and how to boost energy and clarity

through beneficial diet, appropriate exercise and the use of natural

supplements. This class will provide the supportive environment

participants need to identify and implement the changes

that will improve their health.

Advanced registration suggested: call Rebecca Curtis at 646-483-4571

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Reason #3 Sugar is Messing with You [Video Post]

Reason #3 covers an area that may come as a surprise to you but is extremely common.

What resonates with you?
Are you a chips or a chocolate lover?
Is it bread or sweet honey buns?
What are your triggers?
Where is sugar lurking?
What are you going to do about it?