Eat Greens, Every Day

Eat greens, every day.

A study published in the Dec. 20, 2017 issue of Neurology, by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found some impressive results correlated less cognitive decline with eating more green, leafy vegetables.

People who ate one serving of leafy green vegetables daily performed substantially better on cognitive tests so much so that it would put them at an equivalent of 11 years younger than others their same age who were not eating greens on a regular basis.

The Staggering Costs of Diabetes

Pay the farmer now or pay the doctor later.

I’d rather pay the farmer now! How about you?

Buying Local Honey

Eating local food is great for the community and the environment but also for your health. Many people suffer from seasonal allergies (also known as hay fever or allergic rhinitis) especially in the spring when trees and plants start to release pollen and mold spores into the air.

When these tiny particles come into contact with your immune system it creates an allergic reaction inside most people's body leading to the sneezing, runny noses, sinus congestion and other allergy symptoms.

When bees fly from plant to plant collecting nectar to make honey they also collect pollen and mold spores on them. While making honey, small amounts of these particles are in the honey. Eating honey that contains these small particles can mildly stimulate your immune system preparing it for other pollen or mold particles that you might come into contact with in the air. If you do have an allergic reaction, this can help to reduce or eliminate the symptoms you are having.

For honey with health benefits, buy honey that is made as close to where you live so that the bees are in contact with the same plants you are in contact with.

Where do you purchase locally produced honey?

The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Produce

                                  
                                      Save this image to your phone to reference while shopping. 

Every year the Environmental Working Groupreleases a list of produce with the most (Dirty Dozen) and least (Clean Fifteen) pesticides. It can help you prioritize what fruits and vegetables to buy organic, as nearly 70% of the produce sold in the U.S. comes with pesticide residues, according to EWG. Strawberries topped the list, so be sure to prioritize buying organic. 

Or better yet -- shop at your local farmer's market and talk to the farmers directly about how they grow their fruits and vegetables. 

(This list is sorted alphabetically for quick reference, not in order of greatest pesticide residue.)

Depression, Anxiety and Nutrient Deficiency

Depression, Anxiety and Nutrient Deficiency:

Our bodies require certain nutrients from healthy foods to function properly. When we replace those foods with processed junk food we start depleting our body of those vital nutrients.

Anytime your body is lacking nutrients you will start to feel different, and not in a good way. This feeling usually comes across as depression, anxiety and just feeling blah. Your body then tells you to eat more food because it needs more nutrients but eating more junk food that has no nutrients will only magnify the problem leaving you more anxious, depressed and deficient but now you start gaining weight! The cycle only stops when you change what you are eating.

The best way to fix this ASAP is to overload your body with healthy food and to take a natural anti-inflammatory and a multi-vitamin. I find that smoothies loaded with greens and berries are an excellent way to do this along with reducing processed carbohydrates and drinking lots of water.

The Benefits of Grass-fed Butter

Butter was given a bad rap in the 1950s when Americans started their fat-phobia phase. This inspired a common, but untrue, belief has been that butter causes heart disease, cancer and obesity.

But if this were true, how would some of the world's healthiest populations have always had butter as a continuous staple in their diet? It just doesn't make sense, or does it?

There is a huge difference between grass-fed cow's butter and grain-fed cow's butter. It is like calling a golf cart and a Cadillac the same thing just because they both have a motor.

Cows are meant to eat grass. When they eat grass, they are healthy and produce healthy butter. It also means they are getting exercise and living in an environment that they should be living in. Grain-fed cows are fed an unnatural diet, typically don't have much room to move around and are at a higher risk for disease. This, in many cases, causes acidosis in the cow leading to liver problems, nutrient absorption issues, digestive problems, dehydration and many other issues that can be fatal. Grain-fed cows do not produce healthy butter.

One of the main differences between grass-fed butter and grain-fed butter is the Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio. When you have more Omega-3's compared to Omega-6's, it helps to reduce inflammation. Grains increase the amount of the unhealthy Omega-6's leading to excess inflammation. Cows that are fed grass have 50 percent of their fat in the healthy Omega-3 form, while cows fed grains have almost none. This makes grain-fed butter very inflammatory, potentially leading to many health issues from fibromyalgia to cancer.

Eating grass-fed butter on a regular basis can have many health benefits:
• Full of Omega-3s: reduces inflammation, therefore reducing pain and disease.
• High in CLA: has been shown to help with weight loss and to prevent cancer.
• Contains Vitamin A: provides positive benefits for your eye health. Vitamin A is what gives grass fed butter the bright yellow color.

The next time someone tries to tell you butter is bad for you, you are welcome to teach them about the differences between grass-fed and grain-fed cows. And don't even get me started about margarine and other fake butter... it is even worse than butter from grain-fed cows.

McDonald's Removes Artificial Ingredients From Burgers

Every time you purchase something you are voting for that product. Companies watch these trends and make decisions based on what the consumer wants.

McDonald's knows that people want healthier food and this is a step in the right direction, a small step but it's still a step.

If everyone protested and said they would only eat pasture raised grass fed meat then McDonald's would carry exactly that.

Source: https://www.wsj.com

Grass Fed Meat vs. Grain Fed Meat

Grass fed meat versus Grain fed feedlot meat

Whatever something (humans or animals) eats determines how healthy it is. Cows are meant to eat grass not grains and when they eat grains it changes their nutrient density and makeup. Feeding cows grains is good for the farmer because the cows get to full size much faster allowing the farm to have a bigger turn around time and more profit. However, this is not good for the cow, the consumer of the meat and the environment.

Healthy meat should have close to a 1 to 1 ratio of Omega 6's to Omega 3's. However, grains are highly concentrated with Omega 6's which are very inflammatory for humans and cows and will throw this ratio out of balance to around 8:1 Omega 6's to Omega 3's. This promotes inflammation and typically causes the cows to get sick and to require antibiotics and or medication to stay alive long enough to get processed.

Try to find local farmers raising grass fed beef, you can talk to them to see how the cows are raised and even visit the farm to verify and know where your food is actually coming from. Buying grass fed beef in bulk from the farmer is the cheapest option if you have the freezer space.

#EatLocal #EatLocalMi #GrassFedBeef

Fast Food Is Not Cheap

Fast food isn't actually cheap, the costs are front loaded and paid for by our taxes.

As taxpayers we pay 20 billion dollars per year for farm subsidies in the US.

This money is primarily (70%) going towards production of corn, wheat and soybeans that end up coming back into our food products especially as fast food and junk food. Not only are these things inflammatory and unhealthy for us they are creating a massive price distortion in the market.

When a salad is 10 dollars and a fast food meal is only a few dollars people are going to go towards cheaper food which is only going to continue to throw gas on a massive fire we have burning in the United States.

This article is a great read, take a few minutes to read it.

Full Article: https://www.aier.org/article

Almond Flour Crepes Recipe

Eating healthy doesn't mean eating food that doesn't taste good. Most people should be eating 100 grams or less of net carbs per day. (Total carbs - Fiber = Net Carbs) 

Replacing flour with almond flour is a simple way to reduce net carbs and still make delicious breakfasts. 

Recipe:
4 eggs
½ cup almond flour*
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together, heat pan on medium with coconut oil. Add crepe mixture and cook for one minute on each side or until brown.

Remove crepe from pan, load it up with blueberries and roll it up, add a few blueberries and sprinkle cinnamon on top!

You can also drizzle local raw honey on top.

An Avocado a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

An avocado (or two) a day keeps the doctor away!

Avocado's are loaded with healthy fat. Fat is the most satisfying thing you can eat so when you are trying to cut carbs and lose weight you need to make sure to increase healthy fats like avocados. 

Moderate to high fat diets have consistently shown to be the most beneficial when it comes to weight loss. Many experts suggest getting anywhere from 40-50% or more of your daily calories from healthy fats. For someone eating 2,000 calories a day this would equate to 88-111 grams of fat per day. Most people are nowhere near this and if they are it's not healthy fat. 

One avocado has around 21 grams of fat.

Eat More Vegetables

Simply eating more vegetables would resolve a massive amount of health issues for people. It seems so simple but very few people eat enough vegetables on a daily basis. Instead they run to the doctor to get medication to cover up an auto-immune problem or an "itis" caused by the unhealthy food they are eating. 

Start eating vegetables with every meal, especially leafy greens and broccoli!

-Make smoothies and load up on the mixed greens
-Steam broccoli and put Kerrygold USA Grassfed butter on it

Fruits and Vegetables

As you are filling your grocery cart with fruits and vegetables it is important to know how to store produce correctly so it lasts as long as possible, especially if you buy organic.

Avocados can be ripened quickly if put in a brown paper bag with a banana. Whereas if you want to slow the ripening process, put avocados in the fridge. 

To store bananas long term, peel, slice and store in the freezer in a plastic bag. They will keep for awhile in the freezer and they work great for smoothies.

The Truth Behind Red Meat

Another study on the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showing red meat consumption has no impact on cardiovascular disease risk factors. (blood total cholesterol (TC), LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, ratio of TC to HDL cholesterol (TC:HDL), and systolic and diastolic blood pressures)

"Conclusions: The results from this systematically searched meta-analysis of RCTs support the idea that the consumption of ≥0.5 servings of total red meat/d does not influence blood lipids and lipoproteins or blood pressures."

Typically when someone is eating red meat, which for most people is a hamburger, it's coming with lots of processed carbohydrates (The bun, the french fries, a sugary drink, appetizers), which research has well documented to be correlated to cardiovascular disease.

And this study isn't even taking into account the difference between grass fed animals and grain fed feed lot animals which are loaded with inflammatory fats, drugs and hormones. 

Full Article: https://academic.oup.com

City Market in Bay City - interview with Matt Meehan

City Market in Bay City is coming soon! I got a chance to chat with owner Matt Meehan.

Eat Real Food

Real food is not made in a factory.
Real food does not have an ingredients list.
Eat real food -- the easiest rule to live by when trying to get healthy.

Top 10 Sources of Calories in the U.S. Diet

After looking at this list it's no wonder we have an obesity problem in the United States. There are only two (maybe 3) things on this list that are potentially healthy. So 80% of our diets are coming from processed junk food. 

1. Grain-based desserts (cakes, cookies, donuts, pies, crisps, cobblers, and granola bars)
2. Yeast breads
3. Chicken and chicken-mixed dishes
4. Soda, energy drinks, and sports drinks
5. Pizza
6. Alcoholic beverages
7. Pasta and pasta dishes
8. Mexican mixed dishes
9. Beef and beef-mixed dishes
10.Dairy desserts

If you don't want to look like the rest of America, stop eating like the rest of America. Reduce processed carbs, increase protein and healthy fat.

Source: www.health.harvard.edu

Saturated Fats Will Not Kill You

Saturated fat does not cause heart disease, inflammation does. 

Cultures have been eating high saturated fat foods forever with no complications. It wasn't until highly processed carbohydrates became more prevalent that heart disease skyrocketed.

Every class we teach focuses on tips to reduce inflammation naturally. The less inflamed you are the less your risk of every disease. 

Repeat after me:

Saturated fats won't kill me

Eggs won't kill me

Butter won't clog my arteries

Lard won't kill me

Red meat isn't an unhealthy food

Processed carbohydrates increase inflammation and cause heart disease

Obviously you want to find grass fed sources of these things to maximize their health benefits!

Source: bjsm.bmj.com

Delaney in the garden

Delaney working with her Grandpa, Al Thieme, in the garden learning where real food comes from. She's even doing a little barefoot grounding while she's at it.

She doesn't look too excited about it yet, but she will appreciate it later in life!

#barefootbaby #nofreerides

Say no to GMO's

Did you know that many GMO's (genetically modified organisms) are not only registered as a food but also as a pesticide? 

Many GMO's produce their own pesticides to kill bugs that might try to eat the plant. 

I don't know about you, but thinking about a plant being genetically changed in a lab to produce toxic chemicals to kill bugs so that WE can then eat it is a pretty scary thing.

Would you ever spray pesticides on your food before eating it?