Experience Three Healthy Snacks in Honor of National Nutrition Month
By Melanie Albert, Guest Blogger March is National Nutrition Month, a month dedicated to nutrition and education. National Nutrition Month was created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, focusing on the importance of making informed food choices and healthy eating habits. So the perfect way to kick off this month is with some fun, healthy snacks! This is a great time to add three delicious healthy snacks, primarily inspired by a vegan and raw food way of eating, to your life. Have fun this week trying superfoods including raw cocoa and goji berries, and make your own almond butter. Take a Look at Some favorite Childhood Snacks “As a kid one of my very favorite snacks was red licorice. I think one of the reasons I love goji berries is because they are red and chewy, just like the licorice I used to love as a kid.” – Melanie … Read More
Melanie Albert, Passionate Nutrition Coach and Intuitive Chef
Thirty years ago, Melanie Albert stopped eating meat. This wasn’t a decision based on politics or personal beliefs about animals. She simply didn’t like the way her body felt after consuming meat. “My body was feeling full when I ate meat and I felt as though I could not digest it,” Melanie says about her longstanding decision to eliminate meat from her diet. Shortly after eliminating meat, Melanie began to focus on intuitive eating; listening to the cues her body was giving her about food and making decisions about what food to consume. Little did she know that a few years later, nutrition and intuitive eating would be a daily part of her life and her work. After leaving meat behind, she began to eat organic, “way before it was popular in the media,” she says. Although her decision to go organic baffled some of her friends and family, Melanie … Read More
Tasty Tips to Spice Up Vegetables
By Melanie Albert, Guest Blogger “Eat your vegetables,” is a common phrase that most of us probably heard from our parents growing up. Many people, especially children, believe that vegetables are boring, or that they have no taste. That only “health nuts” eat raw or plain steamed vegetables. This is where “finishing vegetables” comes into Whole Food S.O.U.L. Food cooking techniques. Read on for tips and recipes about how to make veggies fun and delicious for the whole family to enjoy! Add Culinary Interest to Your Veggies Finishing steamed vegetables with organic oils, toasted spices, fresh herbs, toasted nuts and seeds, and finishing salts adds delicious taste and culinary interest, with beautiful colors, textures and aromas. Steam carrots, cauliflower or broccoli in a bamboo steamer and then finish them with different combinations of oils, seeds, salt or spices to create exciting, tasty dishes! Use nut oils such as almond nut … Read More
The Perks of Plant Protein With Two Quick & Easy Organic Lentil Soup Recipes
By Melanie Albert Protein, along with fats and carbohydrates, is an essential macro nutrient which we must eat everyday with every meal. Protein is a building block of our body and helps to buildthe foundation of our bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood. No Meat for 25 Years I stopped eating red meat 30 years ago because my body could not digest it. I was a runner and felt like the meat made me sluggish. Then 18 years ago when my Mom was diagnosedwith breast cancer, I learned about antibiotics in poultry and stopped eating chicken and turkey, which I loved at the time. My family was worried for years that I was not eating enough protein, but while I was studying nutrition, I learned so much about good plant protein, and now I’m honestly not worriedabout eating enough protein. Today, I love educating people about good sources of plant … Read More
Experiment With Green Tea & Matcha
Discovering Green Tea I began drinking green tea ten years ago when I started working with best-selling author and integrative medicine pioneer, Dr. Andrew Weil, who has been a long-time advocate for drinking green tea. At first, green tea was a little odd to me. I was not accustomed to the green, grassy taste of high quality green tea. Over time, I’ve grown to enjoy drinking it. Now the ritual of preparing and drinking high quality green tea and matcha tea are part of my daily life. I’m sure many of you at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA) campus see me drinking my matcha tea throughout the day. Why Green Tea is Good for You ECGC, the antioxidant in green tea, is an anti-inflammatory. Research has found that green tea benefits heart health, brain health and cancer prevention. Full of catechins and polyphenols, which help the brain to … Read More
Eat Omega-3s Today with 2 Simple Wild Alaskan Salmon Recipes
Fats Are Essential While the media has made us afraid of fats, they are actually required in order for our bodies to function properly. For years during the low fat, no fat craze I thought fats were bad and I stopped eating some of my favorite foods, nuts and olives. Now I’ve learned that fats are good for us and that our bodies require about 30% fats in our diet each and every day, for each and every meal. Plant based fats like nuts, seeds, avocados and olives are a healthy fat source. Today, we are focusing on cold water fish, which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Why we must eat Omega-3s: Reduce inflammation Reduce risk of heart disease: lower blood pressure, triglycerides (blood fat) and cholesterol Reduce risk of cancer Reduce risk of diabetes Boost brain health Help treat depression, autism and ADHD Reduce joint inflammation and pain … Read More
Why We Need Carbohydrates
Like many in my generation, for most of my life I only knew white rice. Although I heard about whole grains I did not incorporate them into my daily eating until I was learning about whole grains about eight years ago. At that time I decided to get tested for food sensitivities and found that I’m sensitive to gluten, the protein in whole grains including wheat, barley and rye. I stopped eating most food with gluten and now find that when I do eat gluten, I almost immediately get hives. Last year, I was also tested for celiac disease, a serious autoimmune condition in which our body does not absorb nutrients. Fortunately, I do not have celiac disease. I’m glad that I’ve had these experiences as I can now share gluten-free eating with my clients and in my writing. Why We Need Carbs People are confused about carbs and about … Read More
6 Culinary Tips to Enjoy Whole Food S.O.U.L. Food with 2 Simple Recipes
When we cook and enjoy eating real whole foods we have the opportunity to create a wide variety of tasty, beautiful, colorful, local, in-season dishes. Cook with variety. You can cook the same foods different ways – raw, steamed, roasted, blended – and enjoy very different, delicious meals. Eat with the Season. When we eat real whole foods, we have the opportunity to eat in tune with what’s in season, and enjoy the food that nature naturally creates for us in the geographic area where we live. Eat with Color. By incorporating whole foods into our life, we easily enjoy the infamous “rainbow of fruits & veggies” that we hear about so often, getting a variety of nutrients and phytonutrients (natural plant chemicals). 6 Culinary Tips to Create Beautiful & Tasty Whole Food S.O.U.L. Food Buy as fresh as you can. Shop at local farmers’ markets and eat local and … Read More
Buy Local, Eat Healthier: Shop at Farmers’ Markets
Eat Local. Shop at a Farmers’ Market. Buy a CSA. Enjoy a Simple Roasted Roots Recipe In Arizona where the Southwest Institute of Healing Art (SWIHA) campus is located and where I live, many of the local farmers’ markets will be re-opening for the season after our “dry heat, hot summer”. Fortunately, we do have a few farmers whose produce is available during the summer, so I’ve been having fun shopping from a few farmers for our Whole Foods Cooking Classes at SWIHA this summer. 4 Great Reasons to Eat Local Locally grown produce is fresher, tastes better and lasts longer.. Most produce in conventional grocer stores is picked well before it’s ready to be picked. Some of the methods used to ripen the food in warehouses and in trucks include methane gas. Food that is allowed to ripen on the vine absorbs many of the flavors and nutrients they … Read More
Top 5 Healthy Dessert Ideas: Tasty Recipes Included
Plus tasty recipes: Experience Nutrition™ Vegan Chocolate Avocado Pudding & Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownie What do Sweet Potatoes, Bird Seed, Grass Seed, Dark Chocolate & Avocados have in Common? Healthy Dessert Night at Whole Foods Cooking Class!!! Within the Whole Foods Cooking Class at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts we really enjoyed “Healthy Dessert Night” creating delicious whole foods gluten-free and dairy-free desserts with special unique ingredients. The students passionately and creatively cooked desserts including Vegan Chocolate Avocado Pudding, Millet Cake, Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownies, Agar Agar Gelatin, Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie and a Spicy Apple Crisp. Top 5 Ways to Create Tasty Healthy Desserts with Unique Ingredients Enjoy dark chocolate. Consume Dairy Eat dark chocolate with at least 60-70% cacao or use raw cacao powder in your dessert recipes. The more cacao, the less added sugar. Shop for chocolate with no added dairy. Try gelled chia seeds (grass … Read More