These cookies have been my favorite for a long time. They are so healthy, you can eat them any tme of the day. I often have them for breakfast! I use organic agave syrup for a lower glycemic version. My original recipe was made with pure maple syrup.
THUMBPRINT COOKIES
1 cup whole grain flour - wheat, spelt, rice, quinoa - your choice
1 cup raw rolled oats - ground in coffee grinder
1 cup ground nuts or seeds - almond, walnuts, sunflower - whatever - I prefer these 3
1/2 cup agave or pure maple syrup
1/2 cup cold-pressed or expeller pressed safflower or canola oil
100% fruit spread
Combine the first 5 ingredients.
Use about a walnut-sized amount of dough and roll in a ball.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
With thumb, press and indentation in center of dough ball.
Put 1/2 - 1 tsp of fruit spread in the indentation.
Bake at 375* for 15 minutes or so - depending upon desired crispness!
ENJOY!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Almond Milk
Many of my patients have been looking for alternatives to cow's milk, soy milk, and rice milk. Almond milk or other nut or seed milks are good alternatives.
Almond milk is very easy to make at home. It will stay in the fridge for a few days. Use it on cereal, in tea or coffee, or in baking.
ALMOND MILK
2 cups water (for the milk itself)
1 cup whole, raw almonds
1 tsp vanilla
pure maple syrup, agave syrup or honey (optional)
Put about an inch of water in a frying pan and bring to boil. Add the almonds. Blanche for about 1 minute or until the skins pop off easily. Pour in strainer and rinse with cool water. Pop the skins off and discard. Put the almonds in a blender with the 2 cups of water, vanilla, and sweetner if desired. Blend thoroughly. Strain the almond pulp. You can use the pulp by itself as a snack, in yogurt, in oatmeal or whatever. I have also used it as a scrub in the shower! This is especially effective if you left the skins on.
Options: 1) If desired, you can just use the almonds raw and not blanche or skin them. 2) You can leave the milk unstrained. This I only recommened if you are using it on cereal because the pulp will settle to the bottom in a cup of tea.
ENJOY!
Almond milk is very easy to make at home. It will stay in the fridge for a few days. Use it on cereal, in tea or coffee, or in baking.
ALMOND MILK
2 cups water (for the milk itself)
1 cup whole, raw almonds
1 tsp vanilla
pure maple syrup, agave syrup or honey (optional)
Put about an inch of water in a frying pan and bring to boil. Add the almonds. Blanche for about 1 minute or until the skins pop off easily. Pour in strainer and rinse with cool water. Pop the skins off and discard. Put the almonds in a blender with the 2 cups of water, vanilla, and sweetner if desired. Blend thoroughly. Strain the almond pulp. You can use the pulp by itself as a snack, in yogurt, in oatmeal or whatever. I have also used it as a scrub in the shower! This is especially effective if you left the skins on.
Options: 1) If desired, you can just use the almonds raw and not blanche or skin them. 2) You can leave the milk unstrained. This I only recommened if you are using it on cereal because the pulp will settle to the bottom in a cup of tea.
ENJOY!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Miso Soup
Miso is a great, live food that helps to restore the health of your digestive tract, thereby affecting the rest of your whole body. It is a type of probiotic - similar to the supplements that are so popular. Miso is a thick paste made from fermented whole grains and soybeans. When something is fermented, it is naturally partially broken down, so it makes it easier to digest and assimilate, even if you had previously had a difficult time with that particular food. Miso comes in dark, medium, and light varieties. The dark misos should be eaten in the colder winter months. Use the medium in the spring and fall, and the light varieties in summer.
The easiest way to eat miso is in soup. It is very easy to prepare and quite delicious. Since miso is a live food; meaning it has live, healthy microorganisms, like lactobacilus, it should NEVER be boiled.
MISO SOUP
1 1/2 cup water, or soup stock (fish, veggie, chicken)
1 1/2 cup mixed, chopped veggies (broccoli, sweet potato, carrots, kale, collards, onions, seaweed - whatever you like)
~ 1 TBSP miso - to taste
Put the water or stock in a sauce pan and add the harder veggies. Bring to boil, then reduce to medium. Add the softer veggies and cook till all veggies are BRIGHT in color - not dead. So, the carrots and sweet potatoes might take 7-8 minutes, where the broccoli and onions about 5, and greens about 2-3.
While veggies are still cooking, take about 1/4 cup of the water out and put into a seperate bowl. Add the miso. Stir till dissolved. Take the soup off the flame. Add the miso, stir, and enjoy!
The easiest way to eat miso is in soup. It is very easy to prepare and quite delicious. Since miso is a live food; meaning it has live, healthy microorganisms, like lactobacilus, it should NEVER be boiled.
MISO SOUP
1 1/2 cup water, or soup stock (fish, veggie, chicken)
1 1/2 cup mixed, chopped veggies (broccoli, sweet potato, carrots, kale, collards, onions, seaweed - whatever you like)
~ 1 TBSP miso - to taste
Put the water or stock in a sauce pan and add the harder veggies. Bring to boil, then reduce to medium. Add the softer veggies and cook till all veggies are BRIGHT in color - not dead. So, the carrots and sweet potatoes might take 7-8 minutes, where the broccoli and onions about 5, and greens about 2-3.
While veggies are still cooking, take about 1/4 cup of the water out and put into a seperate bowl. Add the miso. Stir till dissolved. Take the soup off the flame. Add the miso, stir, and enjoy!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Biological Aging Markers
There is a difference between chronological age and biological age. When calculating your biological age, they use parameters like how often you exercise, blood pressure, diet, stress management, and other markers. A more detailed way is to actually measure the length of the ends of your DNA, called telomeres. As we age, they shorten with each DNA replication.
Good news, though! Omega 3 fatty acids and chinese tea have been shown to actually preserve the telomere length, thereby slowing the aging process.
So, keep drinking your chinese tea - Black tea can be drank first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Green and oolong teas are natural fat emulsifiers, so are best drank with meals.
Good sources of Omega 3s are ground flax seeds, walnuts, edamame, cold water fish, and of course Omega 3 - EPA/DHA supplements!
Good news, though! Omega 3 fatty acids and chinese tea have been shown to actually preserve the telomere length, thereby slowing the aging process.
So, keep drinking your chinese tea - Black tea can be drank first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Green and oolong teas are natural fat emulsifiers, so are best drank with meals.
Good sources of Omega 3s are ground flax seeds, walnuts, edamame, cold water fish, and of course Omega 3 - EPA/DHA supplements!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the 4th most common cancer among males. There are 400,000 new cases diagnoses per year and this type of cancer accounts for about 4% of all cancers.
Studies done in Uraguay, Italy, and Sweden all show the same thing: dairy, meat, and animal fat consumption increase the risks of prostate cancer, while increasing fruit, especially tomatoes, and Vitamin # and Selenium intake decrease the risks.
The connection between dairy and the cancer may be due to the way the calcium in the dairy disrupts tne Vitamin D balance, the increase in IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), or the effect of dairy on testosterone. Either way, the message is clear: decrease or eliminate your dairy consumption.
Changing protein sources from animal to plant types have a beneficial effect on IGF-1 levels. This is good news for diabetics. Although we have been conditioned to think that diabetics need lots of animal protein, they can be assured that they will be getting enough protein from plant sources and cleaning up their blood risk factors for the disease. I covered concept in my "Balancing pH" class.
Isoflavones in soymilk have been shown to decrease cancer cell growth in humans as well.
One study in Greece showed that by increasing olive oil and tomato consumption reduced the risk of prostate cancer by as much as 41%!
In my observation, you can't go wrong with increasing fruits and veggies while decreasing the amounts of animal products in your diet. There is ALWAYS a benefit!
sources: http://www.pcrm.org/, and Dr. Ted Morter's "The Book of Nutrition", "Correlative Urinalysis", and "Nutrition Homestudy" tape series.
Be Healthy!
Studies done in Uraguay, Italy, and Sweden all show the same thing: dairy, meat, and animal fat consumption increase the risks of prostate cancer, while increasing fruit, especially tomatoes, and Vitamin # and Selenium intake decrease the risks.
The connection between dairy and the cancer may be due to the way the calcium in the dairy disrupts tne Vitamin D balance, the increase in IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), or the effect of dairy on testosterone. Either way, the message is clear: decrease or eliminate your dairy consumption.
Changing protein sources from animal to plant types have a beneficial effect on IGF-1 levels. This is good news for diabetics. Although we have been conditioned to think that diabetics need lots of animal protein, they can be assured that they will be getting enough protein from plant sources and cleaning up their blood risk factors for the disease. I covered concept in my "Balancing pH" class.
Isoflavones in soymilk have been shown to decrease cancer cell growth in humans as well.
One study in Greece showed that by increasing olive oil and tomato consumption reduced the risk of prostate cancer by as much as 41%!
In my observation, you can't go wrong with increasing fruits and veggies while decreasing the amounts of animal products in your diet. There is ALWAYS a benefit!
sources: http://www.pcrm.org/, and Dr. Ted Morter's "The Book of Nutrition", "Correlative Urinalysis", and "Nutrition Homestudy" tape series.
Be Healthy!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Good info for your Liver
Check out these tasty recipes!
http://www.liverdoctor.com/index.php?page=newsletter&id=28&article=130
http://www.liverdoctor.com/index.php?page=newsletter&id=28&article=130
Calcium
A commonly asked question is, "How can I get enough calcium if I don't drink milk?"
While there is lots of calcium in milk, it is not the best absorbable form for humans. Cow milk is meant for a baby cow to double its birth weight in 30 days. Human milk is meant for a baby human to double its birth weight in 6 months. The nutrient composition is very different. Mother cows get all their calcium from the grass they eat. We, as humans, can get all the calcium we need from the vegetable kingdom as well.
The following is a list of vegetable-based sources highly absorbable calcium: Low-oxylate greens (bok choy, broccoli, kale, chinese cabbage, and collard greens), juices fortified with calcium citrate malate, calcium-set tofu, sesame seeds, and almonds.
Also, keeping your animal protein consumption low, no more than about 40 grams per day, will decrease your body's need to pull calcium and other alkalinizing minerals out of the bones to neutralize the acid generated by those proteins.
For more information, go to
http://www.pcrm.org/health/diabetes/pdfs/ADAVegetarianPositionPaper2009.pdf
While there is lots of calcium in milk, it is not the best absorbable form for humans. Cow milk is meant for a baby cow to double its birth weight in 30 days. Human milk is meant for a baby human to double its birth weight in 6 months. The nutrient composition is very different. Mother cows get all their calcium from the grass they eat. We, as humans, can get all the calcium we need from the vegetable kingdom as well.
The following is a list of vegetable-based sources highly absorbable calcium: Low-oxylate greens (bok choy, broccoli, kale, chinese cabbage, and collard greens), juices fortified with calcium citrate malate, calcium-set tofu, sesame seeds, and almonds.
Also, keeping your animal protein consumption low, no more than about 40 grams per day, will decrease your body's need to pull calcium and other alkalinizing minerals out of the bones to neutralize the acid generated by those proteins.
For more information, go to
http://www.pcrm.org/health/diabetes/pdfs/ADAVegetarianPositionPaper2009.pdf
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