Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer in America.   Here are the best ways for everyone and anyone to take care of their heart starting today and to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke.  Plus, the best meal for a good time in the bedroom! 

According to Cardiologist, Professor, and Fellow at the American Heart Association Dr. Masely, the best things a person can do to reduce arterial plaque and protect their heart is through diet and lifestyle.  Here are is top things to add or change-

• Add healthy fats-  omega 3s, avocado, olive oil, nuts, seeds, dark chocolate
• Increase fitness level- not necessarily the amount of time or duration but intensity is more important
• Add fiber to every meal in the form of colorful fruit and vegetables, beans and nuts
• Get control of your blood sugar
• Specific nutrients to make sure you are getting enough of and good sources-
  • Magnesium- kelp, almonds, cashews, molasses, brewers yeast, buckwheat, Brazil nuts, dulse, millet 
  • Potassium- avocado, asparagus, lima beans, potato, tomato, peach, chicken, flounder, salmon, banana
  • Vitamin D3- cod liver oil, sardines, salmon, mackerel, tuna, egg, beef liver, supplement needed for most people
  • Vitamin K- leafy greens, green tea, cabbage, asparagus, oats, green beans
• You want more big fluffy cholesterol and less small cholesterol (yes, size matters!)
• Healthy beverages- filtered water, green tea, smoothies
• Add flavor to your foods with lots of spices and herbs

If you are looking to jiggy with it tonight in the bedroom witn your sweetheart here is what Dr. Masely recommends to ensure the most enjoyment and best performance-

Circulation and how food directly impacts that is key.  Eat a meal of steak and heavy mashed potatoes and see your circulation and performance go down immediately.  Instead, choose those heart healthy fats discussed above, clean protein meaning grass fed pasture raised, a good amount of fiber, not too much sugar to curb inflammation, and to stay hydrated but not too much alcohol. Foods with a lot of zinc and arginine help boost dilation and circulation.  Foods such as oysters, shrimp, lobster, game meat, and dark chocolate are perfect. Yum!

Dr. Masely says FOOD is still the number one thing he recommends for heart health at his cardio clinic!  Take care of your heart today and everyday!

Heart Healthy Chocolate Truffles – 

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir and slowly add water until you get the desired consistency of your protein ball (only add water if needed).
2. Mold the dough into little balls. Roll them in shredded coconut (or raw cacao) to coat and place them on a plate, cookie sheet or wax paper.
3. Place in fridge for 30 minutes or freezer for 15 minutes to form. Store in refrigerator.

❤️Dearest Gastrointestinal Tract ❤️

You are amazing.

You are the interface and boundary between the outside world and everything that goes on in my inside world. You are so much to me including my primary barrier of defense, a food digester, a food and nutrient absorber, a waste excreter, a home to healthy bacteria that I depend on, a home to most of my immune system, a major player in hormone and neurotransmitter health, and you even communicate with my brain regularly. I am grateful for all you do and how you function.

You do so much for me and I know it is based on how I treat you.

I will continue to work with you from top to bottom. I will take my time eating, making sure to think about my food, smell it, chew it and be grateful for it therefore stimulating the important cephalic stage of digestion. I will not take drugs to decrease my stomach acid as I understand that I need a very acidic stomach. Instead I will sip lemon and/or apple cider vinegar water every day.  I won’t put too much in my stomach at once making sure you can properly sort, churn, and break down my food. I will drink plenty of water to keep things moving and support my mucosal lining. I won’t pop unnecessary Ibuprofen that can make my small intestine excessively permeable and in result activate my immune system.  I will eat probiotics to help maintain the proper balance in my large intestine. I will consume plenty of live, raw and sprouted food to provide ample digestive enzymes to help break down my food properly. I will consume plenty of soluble fiber so toxins can hitch a ride out of my body and plenty of insoluble fiber to keep my transit time appropriate. I will cut out processed foods which depletes my body of vital nutrients as well as stresses my liver in its effort to detox.

I understand that in addressing any health condition I need to start with tending to my gut.

If you keep doing your important job protecting me and keeping me strong I promise I will do these things to keep you strong and protected. We are an amazing team that will grow old together and stay resilient if we take care of each other.

Thank you for your work and efforts. I am grateful for all you do.

Below is a recipe I thought you might enjoy to help warm up and nourish you on these cool winter nights.

With love,  Yours Truly

Healing Bone Broth Chicken “Noodle” Soup-
From MindBodyGreen www.mindbodygreen.com

Benefits: Bone broth, the gut super healer, contains many building blocks for your enterocytes, your gut-lining cells. The natural blend of gelatin, glucosamine, glycine, and minerals found in bone broth can help calm leaky gut syndrome, diarrhea, constipation, and food intolerances.

Ingredients for the bone broth
Whole organic chicken
6 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 inch of ginger root

Ingredients for the soup
4 to 6 cups organic chicken broth
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 to 2 cups chopped onions
1 to 2 cups chopped carrots
3 to 4 small to medium zucchinis
2 cups shredded organic chicken
2 to 3 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
Himalayan sea salt to taste

Preparation
Bone broth:
1. Rinse the chicken, and place it in the pot.
2. Fill your pot three-quarters full with water, and add the herbs and vegetables.
4. Cook on medium-high until bubbling, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer covered, at least 8 hours, up to 48 hours, to taste.
5. Allow to cool, then pour stock through a strainer and transfer to Mason jars to store in the fridge.
Soup:
1. Sauté the onions and carrots in coconut oil until onions are soft.
2. Add bone broth and bring to a boil.
3. Make the zucchini into noodles. Slice the zucchini into your desired size of strips, either thick or nice and thin (more like actual noodles) with a julienne slicer.
4. Once the carrots are tender, add the zucchini and simmer (covered or uncovered) until tender. The time will vary depending on the size of your zucchini “noodles.”
5. Add the chopped chicken and garlic, bring back to a boil, and then turn heat off. Cover and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

If I were responsible for making the food pyramid I would have and entire category for booster foods.

This is such an awesome category because it is NOT about depriving ourselves but instead about what we can ADD!   

Booster foods are an awesome and easy way to give your cells and body what it needs to function its best.

I love keeping these foods on hand and easily visible so I remember to sprinkle them on throughout the day.

Your body is made of cells and those cells are affected by the environment, the life, and the food you expose them to.   We need our cells working to function and feel our best.  Things that damage your cells and if left unchecked can ultimately create chronic and debilitating conditions are: toxic exposure, blood sugar instability, inflammation, oxidative damage by free radicals, hypoxia (lack of oxygen), and insufficient macro/micro/phyto nutrients (due to impaired digestion/absorption, decreasing nutrients in our foods, or lack of consumption).  In other words, our lifestyle and what we eat directly affects our cells and how well they work for us and how fast they age.  Let’s give them a boost!

Booster foods give you a ton of nutrient bang for your buck.  They provide many of precursors that your cells need to function properly and do their jobs and in result keep you healthy.   They are full of antioxidants, minerals, phytonutrients, vitamins, probiotics, protein, and more- things that are critical to long term health for your body.  

My favorite BOOSTER foods are:

• • Nutritional Yeast
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Greens powders
  • Algae and seaweeds (chlorella, spirulina, dulse, kelp, sea palm, hijiki, etc)
  • A variety of Spices and Herbs – add as many as you can to your snacks and meals! Dry or fresh but add them- cilantro, oregano, thyme, sage, peppercorns, cumin, parsley, cardamon, dill, ginger, garlic, basil, etc.  I love mixtures like the one from Braggs.
  • Herbal teas such as lemon balm, chamomile, alfalfa, dandelion, red clover, peppermint, etc
  • Seeds – flax seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, sunflower, pumpkin.  I have these in easy to reach for jars in my fridge and even have a mix of ground pumpkin/sunflower to easily sprinkle on wherever I can.
  • Nuts such as brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews, etc
  • Sprouts such as alfalfa, broccoli, clover, etc.
  • Fermented foods (sauerkraut, miso, kumbucha, apple cider vinegar, etc)
  • Beverages- mineral broths, bone broths, green tea, coconut water, filtered water, golden milk, herbal teas
  • Edible Medicinal Mushrooms- shitake, lion’s mane, turkey tail, chaga, etc.
  • Super berries- I love these and use them mostly in powdered form- Acai berry, camu camu, acerola, mullberry,
  • Cacao
  • Maca
  • Clean protein powders- whey, hemp, pea, brown rice, collagen, bone broth
  • Rainbow fruits and vegetables
  • Bee pollen
  • Kelp flakes
  • Olive oil
  • Bone broth

Which ones are you going to try? Or which ones do you use?  This picture is our booster box at home that we keep accessible for kids and adults to sprinkle on their foods.

Put these important foods in your cabinet or fridge, place them where you can see them, and add them to your daily diet as much as you can.

Enjoy! Janel

Best welcome home discovery after a week on vacation? Fermented Kimchi that’s all ready!  I was finally brave enough to try my hand at this fermentation style and I am thrilled I did.

After a week on the beach in Mexico indulging in many foods that don’t work for me I was pumped to come home and find my first batch of homemade kimchi ready to enjoy and start the repair.  Adios stomach cramps, constipation, and restless nights.

We all know that gut health plays a primary role in practically all of our body systems functioning properly, including hormone and neurotransmitter production, mitochondrial function,  brain health, our immune system, and more.  One of the best things for gut health and a balanced micro-biome are probiotics.  While  taking capsules work well, you cannot beat the strains in the real whole food version, including sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, and kefir.  Plus, its super rewarding to prepare it yourself, patiently wait, and then indulge in all the microorganism goodness.

Here is the recipe I used that rocks

• 4 cups of shredded cabbage (Napa, Chinese, etc)
• 1 cup of grated carrots
• 1 small red onion minced
• 2 sliced green onions
• 4 cloves of garlic (less if you don’t love garlic)
• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 2 TBL lemon juice
• 1 TBL sea salt
• optional 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and squeeze/mash with hands.  Let sit for 30 minutes covered with a towel.  Transfer the ingredients to a wide mouth mason jar.  Push the mixture down as much as you can each time you add a spoonful and at the end.  Once all in the jar and its pressed down make sure that it is all off the sides and under the brine line (so covered in the liquid).  I put a small glass weight on it but you can also use another smaller mason jar filled with water or a rock, etc.  Cover with a cloth and wait as the magic happens.  Might take 5-12’sih days.  Taste it after 7 or so and see how it tastes.  Mine took 12 days this time.  Go on, be brave and try it! People have been enjoying it all over the world for generations.  Enjoy!!!

Wildly, Janel