Gluten...Friend or Foe?

Most of you have heard of the gluten free movement by now. I am sure some of you have tried out this super trendy health regiment while others have shied away not knowing WHY this would be worth your time and efforts, or HOW you could ever survive without this food in your life. There are many questions when it comes to deciding if gluten free is for you. READ ON and you can make an informed decision if GLUTEN FREE LIVING is the right thing for you ~ the EATER.

Because the gluten free trend is so popular, many people are choosing to eat gluten free as a personal choice, not related to a specific allergy. Gluten is known to be an inflammatory food, and because it is found in SO MANY foods, including sauces, breads, Chinese food, grains, fried foods, salad dressings, and even soy sauce and tamari, it is often over eaten creating over exposure, inflammation and digestive distress.

Allergy, Intolerance and True Celiac Positive Tests

There are many ways to discover if you have a food allergy, food intolerance or a celiac positive situation. Having tested this on hundreds of patients using various methods, I must say that it seems critical to get your blood tested if you are seeking a scientific approach. When I administer a food allergy panel, the lab tests for fast reacting (food allergy), slow reacting (food intolerance) and celiac positive are all investigated.

This information is priceless. So often I see clients who are struggling with digestion, skin issues, chronic headaches, auto immune disease and many other issues and they are testing out the gluten free thing! Honestly, often it is NOT gluten that is the problem. So many times the results are surprising and even baffling with anything from almonds to eggs to dairy showing up and Negative gluten. WE CAN HELP! If you need this type of support simply reply to this email.

You can try to eliminate gluten for a month or so (100%) to see if you feel better and test it out in what we call the elimination/re-challenge method. You may see interesting symptoms appear, it may be as clear as day that gluten is a culprit to your health issues. This method requires a diligent removal of gluten so your body has a break from it completely. Follow up the elimination with a re-challenge so that you are confirming both the allergy and the symptoms related to the allergy.

If you do decide to go gluten free, there are many many resources available from on-line blogs and groups to on-line programs that educate you on cooking, food prep, menu-planning and product recommendations.

Gluten Free Resources Gluten-free-girl -We love Shauna! Who knew there were so many options! Gluten-free Goddesss -Karina takes really lovely photos of her gluten-free treats, and when we're looking for a gluten-free recipe, this is where we start. 101 Cookbooks -Heidi takes you on a journey through her writing, photography and recipes Oh she glows -Angela writes about her recovery in her relationship with food.  She is working on her first cookbook and shares inspirational, delicious, healthy recipes. Sprouted Kitchen - A whole foods focused blog by Sara with the intention of encouraging people to eat real foods. Elana's Pantry - Elana has written two books now on gluten-free baking, and her recipes always look fabulous!! Gluten Free Mommy - Natalie blogs healthy, family-friendly food with a gluten-free emphasis. A Gluten-Free Day - Emilia lives in Finland and posts recipes with photos that always make you want to cook and bake. Gluten-free or not, this is a must-read blog.

You can also seek the support of your nutritionist or health care practitioner. If this decision is RIGHT for you, find your support systems and build up your resources so you are set up for success.

Gluten free is not for everyone, but gluten AWARENESS is! Here are a few tips: Be sure you are not over eating refine carbohydrates and letting gluten infiltrate into every area of your diet ~ You CAN develop an allergy with over exposure of a food. Be sure you rotate your foods and eat primarily a plant based diet based in whole foods. If you are eating GLUTEN FREE, be aware of putting too many "GLUTEN FREE" products that are not whole food based into your diet. Use them sparingly so that your "go-to" are unrefined unprocessed foods.

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RASA ~ The Taste of Life!

 

How is the end of your summer?  Is your life delicious these days?  This is my favorite time of year, with the cooler nights and a lot of delicious summertime abundance in it's fullest explosion.  We get to taste life's fullness all round us.

The word RASA comes from the Sansrit language and is often translated into definitions such as “divine nectar”, “taste”, “essence”, or even “juice”. RASA includes many different flavors that we experience sparking the distinction between a sweet summer peach, a bulb of garlic and a cooling sour lemon.

Given your uniqueness and individuality you can determine the balance of RASA for your character while also balancing the flavors on your plate and your personal experience of life.  Customized RASA for feeling and flavor.

The Traditions Chinese Medicine regards each of the 5 flavors (bitter, salty, sweet, pungent and sour) as a dynamic representation, not only a specific geography of your tongue and palate but also a larger geography of your life in its constitution and balance.   Awakening to the taste of food and the taste of life can guide you to more mindfulness with meals and wakefulness with your own hunger for life.

With each of the 5 flavors take some time to investigate which flavors you are drawn to, such as the  ones you overeat, as well as the flavors you shy away from.  Practice balancing your plate with something from each flavor to come up with the perfect balance for you.  Within this balance, it is often noticed that we also balance out our own hunger cues, empower ourselves with our usual cravings and enhance our inner experience with our meals.

Sweet

Grains, milks, fruits, and nuts provide a whole body sweetness.  Sweetness is the most nourishing flavor, all the way from breast milk to a homemade desert.  Sweetness nourishes the body to the highest degree and sings to the heart’s strength and longevity.   This flavor is the most over eaten and out of balance in our culture.  Often people get all the way through lunchtime without any other flavor other than sweet on their plate. Sound familiar?

Salty

Salt, seaweed and cheeses deliver salt to the body.  Salt maintains electrolytes in the body while the salty flavor increases courage and fearlessness.

Pungent

Foods such as hot peppers, garlic and ginger diffuse pungent.  Pungent clears the sinuses and improves circulation. Pungent foods are known to increase passion and excitement ~ Oh Ya!!

Bitter

Bitter is experienced in foods like kale, spinach and chocolate.  Bitter foods purify and cleanse the body, especially the liver.  Bitter is the most lacking in the Western World's diet, even though bitter foods often offer the most health benefits and spiritual enhancement.

Sour

Citrus, green grapes, vinegars and pickles offer the sour flavor.  Sour is energizing and aids in digestion.  The sour flavor is known to increase spiritual fire and passion for life. Most of us would fancy a little more of that!

As you fine-tune your RASA you will wake up to a more sensual, descriptive and exciting experience with your relationship to food.  You have the opportunity to bring more attention and awareness to eating that will refines the senses and wake you up to the moment.  The taste of life and the true experience of food connect body with soul, and heart with mind.  Practice the art of a little more RASA and begin to taste your life to the fullest.

Enjoy the late summer days and nights, and bask in your own gratitude for life and all it's flavors.

Be a SUPER HERO in your own life!

Feeling our most energetic, powerful, and strong selves is what most of us are looking for. Our lives these days seem more full than ever before, and are demanding more attention, awareness, and multi-tasking then any other time in history to date. For example, the amount of mail we receive in a week has grown exponentially from the times when we would receive just a few letters in the mail, snail mail that was , when there was no email at all, to now where we literally skim through hundreds of mailings per day.

Many of us have a very full schedule, a busy home life with children and family, and a social life that is calling us to keep the pleasure meter rockin.

Here is the thing, I am a person who is looking for a way to give back in my own life on a global scale.  I seek to celebrate the small ways I serve my family and business while also giving back in the largest ways I can.

It takes a lot of energy to balance all we want and need to accomplish in our lives while still staying centered, balanced, and well fueled.

If you want to be a SUPER HERO in your own life, check out some of Boulder Nutrition’s favorite SUPER FOODS below. You will likely find more energy and SUPER POWER than you even knew you had with just a few of these specialized ingredients. These potent foods are most often right at your finger tips…check them out. You will be SO glad you did!

Boulder Nutrition's Top 10 Favorite SUPER FOODS

1.  RAW HONEY

“Bee-lieve” it, the benefits of raw honey rise above the myths of agave or your average wildflower honey.  Local, raw honey has higher nutrition value since it is not heated past 105 degrees and can assist in diminishing allergies.  If honey is raw it can scrub impurities from the body.  Raw honey is known for its anti-viral and anti-bacterial making is also a great immune booster. (Warning: Reports from Food Safety News groups have reported that three-fourths of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores isn’t honey)

2.  KALE

A simple green packed with nutrients that can be prepared and enjoyed in thousands of ways.  Kale is a form of cabbage with green or purple leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head.  Kale is high in Fiber and great for digestion.  Try adding it to your next smoothie or massaging it with sesame oil then sprinkling it with some almonds and diced peppers.  Often known as the most nutritious of all the veggies, give your kale a try - and a hug.

3.  DARK CHOCOLATE

Do you crave sweets like I do? Feel less guilty by indulging in a bite of dark chocolate.  The cacao bean contains more than 400 chemicals, and many of them affect human health.  Dark chocolate if rich of flavonoids and studies have shown antioxidant activity, endothelial function, lower blood pressure and assistance in blood clot formation. It is also known as a food to induce high amounts of pleasure.  Try a little...

4.  GOJI BERRIES

Goji berries have been used in India and around Asia for thousands of years to support sleep, energy, aging, vision, liver and kidney function.  These tasty and trendy little berries are life force inducing, easy to snack on, and one of the most potent berries found to date.  Mix them into trail mix, throw them on top of oatmeal, or just much away on there own for a sweet and sassy snack.

5.  TUMERIC

Super food, super spice. Turmeric ranked number 6 of the top 100 high ORAC value antioxidant foods.  Turmeric is a spice most commonly found in curry but it’s medical benefits are golden rich.  Some of the most amazing demonstrated properties include: destroying multi-drug resistant cancer, destroying cancer stem cells, protecting against radiation-induced damage, reducing unhealthy levels of inflammation, protecting against heavy metal toxicity and preventing and reversing Alzheimer’s disease associated pathologies.  Add tumeric to your food, take it as a supplement (commonly known as curcumin) or make it into a delicious tea.

6.  COCONUT

Coconuts are a wonder food on planet earth. Coconut is so important to stabilize blood sugar; lower cholesterol; hydrate; and even replace blood plasma in an emergency.  In ancient India, the coconut palm has been recognized as a top immune booster, antifungal, antibiotic, antiviral and antibacterial remedy for thousands of years.  Coconut oil, water, and milk can all be used as delicious ingredients to many dishes.

7.  CHIA SEEDS

Chia seed is highly nutritious, medicinal see that has been used for centuries for its beneficial properties. Chia was a staple for Incan, Mayan, and Aztec cultures. High in essential fatty acids alpha-linolenic and linoleic acid, made up of 30% protein, Vitamins A, B, E, and D, and a wide array of trace minerals. Chia ia a wonderful addition to your snacks and meals.  Chia is filling, it has a fun texture, and it is a great way to increase your omega's with a plant based source of omega 3!  Add CHIA seeds to water, smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt for a little extra “CHI” in your life.

8.  BEET JUICE

Beetroot juice has recently been given recognition as one of the top recommended superfoods. The juice of this delicious root vegetable is rich in antioxidants and naturally occurring  healthy nitrates. When consumed, the body converts nitrates to nitric oxide, a compound that enhances blood flow in the vessels and helps lower blood pressure. Because of these beneficial attributes, beetroot juice can increase exercise performance and support heart health. Cheers to beetroot juice!

9.  MACA

Maca, a Peruvian superfood grown high in the Andes mountains, has been used for thousands of years by the Incas. Since maca is in the Brassicaceae family, it is related to the more commonly known root vegetables such as radish and turnip. Loaded with vitamins, minerals, protein, and phytonutrients, maca is purported to have a number of health benefits. These include increasing energy and stamina, balancing hormones, repairing adrenal function and enhancing sexual function. Ooh la la!

10.  LOVE

LOVE is the ultimate superfood. In our busy worlds, we are so often rushing through meals, disconnected from our food, it’s source and how it has landed on our plates. Learning to put love, reverence and intention into both the food as we eat it and our food as we prepare it makes a tangible difference in how your body assimilates the nutrients, and how your body metabolizes the food into energy.

Add some LOVE into your meals. Experiment! See how you feel when you have dinner with a loved one, or sit down on a lovely fall day in the park to enjoy your lunch. Light a candle while you cook, chant while you simmer your soups, and give thanks for the abundance you have on your plate.

Every other superfood pales in comparison to LOVE in your experience with food.  

Most of all LOVE your self with every bite.

When the SUN stands still in the SKY - Happy Solstice

Ever since I was a little girl, the summer solstice has been my most favorite day of the year.  Somehow the concept of the most light + the longest day of the year always inspired me.  Living in Canada as a child I remember camping in the Canadian Rockies where it would stay light until after 11pm.  It felt magical.  Today I still honor these prominent celestial holidays.

Along with the winter solstice, we have these two high holidays to mark what we came into the new year with back a few months ago, and how it is unfolding.  How are you continually manifesting the life you want, and where have we forgotten to focus or be diligent with (as all humans do)?  What seeds in your life were planted in the darkest nights of winter and are now growing into full bloom?

Awed by the great power of the sun, civilizations have for centuries celebrated the first day of summer otherwise known as the SUMMER SOLSTICE.  The Celts and Slavs celebrated the first day of summer with dancing and bonfires to help increase the sun's energy. The Chinese marked the day by honoring Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light.

SOL + STICE derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still."  As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.  I ask you this beautiful solstice day, to STAND STILL and pause to ask yourself the following questions:

1.  How am I living my potential?

We all know life is very precious.  What would it be like to be honoring and celebrating your life each and every day by living your calling?  When we live in the manner of passion and purpose, we have more energy and feel connected to an inner force within us driving us to our potential.  The life force with in us is flowing freely.  We are ignited in our own lives.

2.  Do I feel connected to the earth?

The seasons and the rhythms of nature have a bigger force on our own personal health and inner rhythms than we may realize.  Sometimes, rather than thinking of ourselves as living close to nature, (which is a wonderful way to think), I think of myself as being PART OF nature.  We ARE nature, therefore we are part of it's web.  Living with this in mind, especially on a day like today, the SUMMER SOLSTICE, we can match our rhythms and synchronize ourselves with the expansion of summer.  This can also lend itself to more life force, and an organic quality to how we move through life.  In the summer we are more expansive, active and move with a different pulse than the darkness of winter.  Sync yourself back up this SOLSTICE Day.

3.  Am I respecting myself?

One of the most important ways we can honor our health and well being is through self love.  This means we eat with self love, we think of ourselves with self love and we move in our world with self love.  When this is happening it is a lot easier to give love and act in a loving way towards others.  It starts from the inside out.  When we slow down and listen to our thoughts many of us are surprised at how critical and hard on ourselves we can be.  As the SOLSTICE is the lightest day of the year, I invite you to use it as an opportunity to bring in more light to your life.  Move towards loving thoughts, nourishing your body with love and staying in the light as much as possible.  YOU DESERVE IT!

Having practiced yoga for many years, I still bow to the sun every time I set foot on my yoga mat.  Today I bow, to the light in each of you.

Launch your Localicious Summer + Colorado Localicious Summer Guide

....and Learn 3 secrets that will change your relationship to food for good!

I know many of you have heard the term "localicious" before, the term referring to eating local + delicious.  Some of you may have even explored eating local, buying organic and upgrading your diet to a more healthful, and nutrient dense style.  What you may NOT have heard is how eating local can change your relationship to food and your body.

Here are a few specialized BOULDER NUTRITION secrets that will transform how you THINK about your food from here forward.

These 3 small do-able TWEAKS will transform your summer.

Start now...  REClAIM your health once and for all.

PLUS, click here and --> download your free LOCALICIOUS guide today and you will be ready to ROCK your summer ASAP!

1.  The Secret is in the SOURCE

Have you ever tried a recipe passed down from your mother's Italian grandmother, or made yourself a garden salad that you and your children planted seeds for on mothers day?  Better yet, have you ever watched your child pick carrots from the local community garden and then smack their lips and open their hearts in joy?  There is something very magical that happens when we connect with our food, the places it grows, and the love that goes into it.

There is no mistaking that a current lack of connection is a primary root cause to our countries health and obesity issues.  When we buy the majority of our food in vacuum sealed bags, large wholesale quantities, or eat fast food on the run - we lose the connection.

The food-heart connection is one secret that permeates many layers into your relationship with food.  This connection literally can shift OVER EATING, BINGING, and EMOTIONAL EATING patterns.  Eating local is a wonderful place to start.  When you sit down to a meal full of a heart connection to your plate, a totally different savoring occurs.  Just like the age old Italian grandmother's recipe, eating local allows us to treasure, enjoy and feel the love being passed down from our forks to our fondness.

2.  LOVE your Farmer, LOVE your self

The organic farmers of today remind me of good kings (or queens).  They rule the land with care, they nourish the people of the kingdom (community) and they ensure good health for all. Good kings ward off the evil villains (a.k.a. Monsanto) while protecting the lineage and age old traditions for generations to come.  Sound familiar?

Loving your farmer provides a vital link between eaters and the importance of protecting our precious farmland.  Loving your farmer directly translates into self love with every bite of fresh local food that nourishes you directly down to a cellular level.  Famers love support from the local community and YOU feel supported by your own health choices.

3.  Eating for a GREATER CAUSE

Just like anything we do, when we do it in service, it juices us up and raises our vibration.  Running a race for a cause, buying concert tickets to raise money for a global mission, or eating to support the health of our communities raises the COLLECTIVE vibration.  When every bite has meaning and passion, we then have more pleasure and gusto with our food.  Truthfully, it is more ETHICAL to eat locally.  In addition to being fresher and riper, the food hasn’t cost an ecological fortune in fossil fuels coming across the continent.  We are making an impact with our food choice for a happier planet.  Eating for a greater cause changes the dynamic between you and your plate.

YOU can do this!  The Free Download-localicious summer guide will help you to navigate your recipe book, cruise your kitchen, the local section of the grocery store and local farmers' markets with confidence.  Make this summer a localicious movement that changes your health and relationship to every bite.

GMO Roulette ~ With Expert Tips to GMO-Free Shopping

With the March against Monsanto going on world wide, and the day-to-day political, and health and wellness choices we continually face at this time in the world, I thought it was particularly important to share some facts, tips and check in with you about what is REALLY going on with GMOs. We spend our dollars on food for ourselves and our families each week, but do we know where we are putting our money, do we know what we are actually buying?     

The GMO current situation may be one of the biggest challenges of our time and we are being called to become aware, to educate, and to act in what each of us consider a mindful way navigating this GMO roulette.

Today we are going to explore what is currently happening and what YOU (and I) can do to take action, protect and be wise navigating around this potential health disaster.

Stay tuned, as this information is critical to share! Also, to give you a little hand holding, we created a guide to the grocery store, our handy grocery store tips to avoid/bring awareness to GMO free food.  Hungry for Change ~ NON-GMO shopping guide

What is a GMO?

GMO foods are the product of a high tech cell invasion that uses bacteria and viruses to forcefully break a cell's natural defenses to allow genetic material to enter and create the genetically modified food.  Genetic mutations can permanently turn genes “on” or “off”.Virtually all commercial GMO foods are engineered to withstand direct application of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide. Despite biotech industry promises, none of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit.  Meanwhile, a growing body of evidence connects GMOs with health problems, environmental damage and violation of farmers’ and consumers’ rights.

What are the impacts of GMOs on the environment?

Over 80% of all GMOs grown worldwide are engineered for herbicide tolerance. As a result, use of toxic herbicides like Roundup has increased 15 times since GMOs were introduced. GMO crops are also responsible for the emergence of “super weeds” and “super bugs" which can only be killed with ever more toxic poisons like 2-4-D (a major ingredient in Agent Orange).  GMOs are a direct extension of chemical agriculture, and are developed and sold by the world’s biggest chemical companies. The long-term impacts of GMOs are unknown, and once released into the environment these novel organisms cannot be recalled.

How do GMOs affect farmers?


Because GMOs are novel life forms, biotechnology companies have been able to obtain patents with which to restrict their use. As a result, the companies that make GMOs now have the power to sue farmers whose fields are contaminated with GMOs, even when it is the result of inevitable drift from neighboring fields. GMOs therefore pose a serious threat to farmer sovereignty and to the national food security of any country where they are grown, including the United States.

Who is MONSANTO?

Monsanto is a global agricultural biotech company – mostly know for genetically engineered seeds.  Monsanto has become the center stage for the destruction of our seeds, our diversity, our food and our freedom.  Upheld by the supreme crt, Monsanto protection act making it immune from protecting diversity and contamination.

The only way consumers are going to win this crisis is if the mainstream demands to know what is in our food.  Labeling is important!!  That is the main goal of the march against Monsanto.

The non-GMO project

Thanks to the non-GMO project we are still (but maybe not for long) able to see which products are non-GMO.  The GMO free verification seal indicates that the product bearing the seal has gone through a strict verification process. The verification is an assurance that a product has been produced according to consensus-based best practices for GMO avoidance.

Hungry for Change ~ NON-GMO shopping guide

This is critical information of our time!  It is important to act, not just upon our health, but also upon our freedom. Our freedom to choose is something we often take for granted, and in the Monsanto Protection Act and the GMO movement in general, we are seeing this right slip away.  Making small changes in how you shop, what you eat, and where your dollars go is a great place to start.

Foodism for the Health Food Junkie

5 Tips for the Health Food Junkie

1.  Start by shopping the perimeter of the store looking for the most beautiful and local produce you can find.  This will inspire you creatively and connect you back to seasonal eating, and rhythms of nature.  The more connection we have with the food we cook, the more intuitive and wise we are with our eating.  Stock up your house with some fresh exciting ingredients that you want to explore.
2.  Check out the local farmers markets in the surrounding areas to where you live.  Talk to the farmers, try different ingredients, and trust that this connection back to nature and your farming community will heighten the vibration you bring to your table for you and your family.  Feel free to include some local wines, fresh cheeses, and of course vibrant produce.

   

3. Search out the Farm to Table organic restaurants in your town.  These restaurants define themselves by bringing you the best and most fresh nutrient dense ingredients, organic meats, and local delicacies.  You will be blown away by how these top quality ingredients can cultivate a palate explosion, fit for any foodie!
4. Download, google, and find the best recipe apps that will inspire your home cooking.  We are the generation of information, and there are so many websites, you tube videos, and sources that can hold your hand in your culinary adventures.  Pick a day each week to try something new. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Locavore

 As soon as you start this app, it finds your location and displays a list of local fruits and vegetables currently in season (and what’s coming up soon).

It also incorporates a farmer’s market finder, which quickly found several locations near home. Oh, and when you eat locally you can use Locavore to share on Facebook, and show off just how awesome (you think) you are.

Free

• Harvest – Select the Best Produce

 With a simple yet attractive interface, the Harvest Produce Guide shows you how to select and store your fruits and vegetables. It also indicates a typical “pesicide load,” so you can see at a glance which foods are most important to buy organic.

$1.99

• Seasons

 Seasons covers fruits, vegetables, lettuces, herbs, mushrooms, and nuts. It support the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Western and Central Europe. It lets you search by “local” and “imported” season. It also includes an international Farmers’ Market finder, which makes this app perfect for the traveling local foodie.

$1.99

       5.  Finally, have a little fun.  Invite some friends over to share cooking projects, host a potluck, a recipe party, or a localicious dinner adventure and dive into the courageous adventurous part of your personality. When we step out of your comfort zone, brilliant things can happen.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it sure can spark something new in you!