It’s here my friends, a little earlier this year, but time goes so fast and it’s time to make a plan for our gift giving this season! Gift giving is very special to me, I love making thoughtful gifts as much as I love receiving them and I had so much fun compiling this Plant Paradox approved gift guide. My husband and I are very thoughtful when choosing gifts, and never buy things just for the sake of buying. We try to feed each other’s passions and give gifts that keep on giving.
This article is a continuation of my first lectin-free lunch box feature (Part 1), which is linked below. I started this feature because I always get requests from parents for ideas of meals for their children. I also know that is hard to come up with new meals every day, and keep it healthy and nutritious at the same time. These lunch boxes are lectin-free because that happens to be the lifestyle I follow, but beyond the labeling they are just ideas of healthy food choices for your kids (and for you too).
Preparing healthy lunches for your family all year round not only requires time and incredible dedication to keeping your family healthy, but it might put your creativity to the test. I remember my mom, who always cooked food at home, from scratch (and still does), asking us all the time: ‘What do you want me to cook? I’m out of ideas.’ Unfortunately we were not of much help, we knew she will come up with something good. That’s why I’m starting a regular feature where I’ll share with you healthy, lectin-free lunch box ideas that will make our lives a little easier.
Eating and cooking healthy food doesn’t start and stop with the quality of the ingredients we use. Changing the food we consume is a big important step, but for optimal health there are other few disruptors we need to pay attention to. In the Plant Paradox book, Dr. Steven Gundry lists the seven deadly disruptors that are wreaking havoc on our gut health: broad spectrum antibiotics, non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, stomach acid blockers, artificial sweeteners, endocrine disruptors, genetically modified foods and the herbicide Roundup and blue light. Plastic goes under the endocrine disruptors category, chemicals that interfere with the normal functioning of our hormones.
For the most part, we take our brains health for granted. Even if we are on a health journey, we never think about the brain (or not in the past, anyway). We attend to all other organs of the body, not to the brain. But recently the brain health paradigm is changing. There is compelling evidence that the brain is connected with the gut and the heart, and cognitive decline conditions such as Alzheimer’s are no longer mysterious conditions that come out of nowhere due to simply genetic predisposition. The new paradigm is that cognitive decline is a lifestyle, autoimmune condition, with a complexity of root factors that need to be addressed. The bad news is that living a classic western lifestyle is most probably leading us to neurodegeneration, but the good news is that we can do something about it before it happens. And sometimes is as simple as changing your diet or making sure you sleep better. Sometimes is more complicated, that’s why I decided to gather all the information I came across so far and put it in this article in a form that easy to digest and to make you take action (I hope!). Disclaimer: these are not my personal opinions, these are conclusions taken by pioneers, scientists, medical experts who have studied cognitive decline in the past two decades.
Every single time I shop a rutabaga in Whole Foods, the cashier asks me what that is. The problem is that I can never pronounce it the way Americans do, so we always need a little time to figure out how to add it. The thing is I really love to cook with this root vegetable, also called ‘swede’ in Europe, so I wanted to share the ways I enjoy it.
Let’s start this one by saying that tacos must be the most loved food in the world. And I think that besides the taste of a good taco, the reason people love them is the experience of eating them. When eaten at home, it can be a fun sharing experience, and everyone can add their fillings and toppings of choice. And I don’t know about y’all, but I love eating food with my hands. Of course, there are many other popular foods that requite a wrap or a base, such as hot dogs, burgers, rolls or sandwiches. This list includes my favorite lectin-free, grain-free wraps and my favorite ways to use them. They are a blessing if your are following the Plant Paradox lifestyle.
If you are reading this, chances are you have started the Plant Paradox protocol and you are confused about what chicken or poultry is Plant Paradox compliant and where to get it from. Or, you are just looking for more ideas on how to make lectin-free, Plant Paradox approved recipes using pasture-raised chicken. I’ve been following the Plant Pardox protocol for 1.5 years (since August 2017), and this is one of the most frequent question I see in forums and on social media. I hope this article will clarify most of your qustions related to chicken and poultry and will help you cook some yummy food.
Do you want to adopt a healthy(-er) lifestyle, eat better, feel better but you are confused and overwhelmed by all the information out there, some of it even contradictory? Well, that was me 1.5 years ago, before I started the Plant Paradox program, in August-2017, so I totally get it. I was in my late 30s, in fact in 2019 I’ll be 40, and although I was relatively healthy all my life (or so I thought) the past few years I started to have all sorts of problems I was puzzled about: gaining weight and looking puffy despite eating ‘well’ and exercising, doing yoga, being active in general. So what was I doing wrong?
It’s mid November and we did not expect it, but temperatures yesterday in Dallas were at freezing point, so I decided it’s time to give a lectin-free chili con carne a try. I followed my intuition and did some modifications to the recipe, but the backbone is already awesome and all the credit for how fabulous this dish came out goes to Dr. Gundry.