chronic diseases Archives - Real Food and Drinks

Podcast Episode 25 – Got Stress? Let’s Deal With It

In Episodes 21 thru 23, we discussed tips from Stormie Omartian’s book, “Greater Health God’s Way’ about how making simple food choices can become healthy food goals. Yet, today, we thought it just as important to discuss stress and how stress can affect our healthy goals overall. We also talk about what we can do about stress. Many of these points come from Chapter 1 which is titled “Peaceful LIving”.

We want to come alongside you, as well, as we all continue moving toward a positive direction to support our healthy lifestyles. If there are any specific ways that we can be of assistance, please contact us through our contact form or send a verbal message through Speakpipe.

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We invite you to listen and share your perspectives with us too. Send us a recorded message through Speakpipe. We may use your message in an upcoming episode, therefore, please leave your name if you would like it to be noted during the podcast. Leave an email address if you would like a personal response or feel free to use the contact form.

Show Notes:

“Greater Health God’s Way” by Stormie Omartian

Stormie’s book is a great overview of how to live in a healthful way. The last copy of the book was published in 1996, yet the information is still very relevant to today. She explains 7 steps to greater health: 1. Peaceful LIving 2. Pure Food 3. Proper Exercise 4. Plenty of Water 5. Prayer and Fasting 6. Periods of Fresh Air and Sunlight and 7. Perfect Rest.

We will definitely be discussing more areas of this book in addition to completing the 15 helpful hints/tips for making food choices in upcoming podcasts.

See Stormie Omartian’s Book Greater Health God’s Way: Seven Steps to Inner and Outer Beauty (on AMAZON).

More Resources:

Episode 1 – COVID-19 and Stress

De-stress, Dealing with Stress (Covid-19 Pandemic)

A Healthier Lifestyle

The Need for Exercise

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

Search real food and drink recipes using this link.

Transcript:

Transcript

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[00:00:00] In episodes 21 to 23, we discuss tips from Stormie Omartian's book, Greater Health, God's Way, about how making simple food choices can become healthy food goals. Yet today, we thought it just as important to discuss stress and how stress can affect our healthy goals. Overall, we also talk about what we can do about stress.
[00:00:37] Hi, and hello. Welcome to the Real Food and Drinks Lifestyle Podcast. We're building a community to talk about nutrition, lifestyle choices, and just feeling better. This is Shonda and this is Patryce. Let's just be real.
[00:01:04] Disclaimer, we do not professionally practice in any of the various subjects that we discuss. We are only sharing our personal experiences with you to a healthier lifestyle. Please do your own research before taking part in any of these practices.
[00:01:21] Patryce: Well, I just thought it was interesting during our last podcast, we talked about healthy habits that were offered by Stormie, and it was interesting how she did end all that, uh, talking about stress.
[00:01:35] Shonda: Right.
[00:01:36] Patryce: And how important it is to identify stress and minimize stress.
[00:01:42] Shonda: So I remember my food journey is like, okay, I'm doing all this stuff. Right. I got the right food. And, but now it's causing stress. Even when I became assured that, okay, yeah, I've got this down. I'm doing a good job. I saw it was still something missing and I knew it and that may have just been God telling me, Hey, you're not done yet. And you have to deal with stress. So I, I did recognize that. I went for food first, but then, you know, soon after I discovered it's not all about food, because like she says, "do all the food and exercise properly but if stress is there", I mean, that's, that's the big thing that we have to be concerned about.
[00:02:22] Patryce: Exactly. We could be doing all this in vain if we're not managing stress. Because like it's been documented that 90 plus percent of all illnesses are related to stress. And even if the cause of these illnesses is not stress certainly stress will worsen any illness we have.
[00:02:46] Shonda: Right. Exactly. Um, that's a good thing, but that is key, but I also don't want to diminish the role of food and exercise in there, because if we're, there are two things. If we're improperly eating, that's a stressor on our body. And if we're in properly exercising, that's another stressor. You know, whether we're not exercising that's stress or, you know, causing our body to have to pump more and harder, because you know, we're not circulating our blood or we can over-exercise and cause stress too. So that's just something I wanted to mention there. I think most of us do recognize the general feelings of being stressed. You know, we, we were irritable, just frustrated. Maybe we can't think straight. You know, low tolerance of, of life events, you know, just, I mean like the day to day life events, you know, that that's a signal that we're in a stressed state.
[00:03:48] Um, because I have thoughts of remembering I'm feeling stressed, but I can't pinpoint what this stress is. What is around me that's causing stress? If you look at my life from the outside in it's like, okay, what, what's it going on? There's nothing going on to be causing this stressful feeling, so then I realize, okay, this is coming from myself.
[00:04:12] You know, it's coming from my thoughts about day-to-day work or, oh, I have too much to do or, you know, uh, the floor isn't clean or something. I mean just causing my own stress in my own mind.
[00:04:27] Patryce: And I guess it also goes back to knowing yourself and knowing your body. Knowing your body, your mind, your body, you know, uh, so that you can identify, uh, signs of stress. Because she has a lot in here, but she also pointed out that everything we do produces some stress.
[00:04:48] So that's why not only knowing the signs of stress, but realizing there are two kinds of stress, right? Hm. Talk about positive and negative stress because the point being made that we do have both, because anything can cause stress, but is it negative stress or is it positive stress? Because the negative stress is what we've got to, to minimize and really identify the signs of, whereas the positive stress, we may not realize as much the signs of it because it could even spur us onto to do a better job at something. Right?
[00:05:26] Right. I mean, yeah. Okay. So we're, we're talking about there's positive stress, but I think negative stress is the one that, um, we need to take note of more so, because you know, these are things that start physical ailments, you know, not just I'm feeling stress, but they start, you know, like high blood pressure, stomach problems, ulcers, heart disease and cancer. If we are really overloaded with stress, these are the outcomes of stress on our bodies. Our bodies start to break down.
[00:06:00] Okay. Well, yes, you're right. And so I guess focusing on the signs of stress so that we can identify when we're getting stressed is that...?
[00:06:10]Shonda: We need to recognize stress in our lives before it gets serious and take specific steps to alleviate it.
[00:06:17] So before we get to hypertension, blood pressure, heart disease, ulcers, we want to tackle it right there. You know, it's time today. Let's just start. You know, no matter where we are, if we're experiencing these things or we're not experiencing them yet, let's get proactive in this at no matter what stage we at, no matter what age we're at, let's just start working on alleviating stress.
[00:06:43] So those were the signs of stress and things like that. But yeah, there are different sources of stress. And so we can break those further down. You know, there's environment, poor diet, lack of exercise and our attitude, which I touched on just a little bit ago, but you know, we can talk about the environment.
[00:07:02] Patryce: For sure, for sure.
[00:07:04] We, we, we live in such a fast paced and honestly, very polluted environment in many ways. And I'm not just talking about chemical pollution. We also have noise pollution. Okay. We're overloaded with that. And just, um, so many ways, too much noise pollution, too many people, traffic, um, competition. It's all can add up and, and not be good for our body and mind.
[00:07:33] Shonda: Yeah. That's what I was thinking. I really thought you were about to say people pollution, you know, that just kind of reminds me of someone who, you know, may bring a lot of negativity, you know,
[00:07:44] Patryce: Toxic people, toxic, and that's a real issue. And, uh, it is a real source of, of stress.
[00:07:52] Shonda: Yeah. For many, for sure. Yeah. So, uh, poor diet.
[00:07:56] We want to eat real food. Food that's vibrant, full of life, and comes straight from the ground as much as possible. And, you know, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains.
[00:08:10]Patryce: All the GBOMBS,
[00:08:11] Shonda: Right. Because you know, all the other foods are stressors. They're just pulling us down. It's taking more energy to digest these foods that in return are given us nothing.
[00:08:21] Patryce: That's true. Nothing on your return for sure. So yeah. Poor diet can be definitely a source of stress. And then, um, coupled with that is a lack of exercising.
[00:08:32] Shonda: I like to remind people that we're not talking about beat yourself up exercise, you know, panting, running, you're out of breath. I'm just talking about a simple walk for 20 minutes a day.
[00:08:44] Patryce: That's a very good point. It's not that we're saying there's a certain type of exercise. We're just saying find, find some type of exercise and do it on a regular basis.
[00:08:56] Shonda: And exercise can be fun. You know, it can be fun. Uh, whether you like playing a sport with someone or a walk or dancing, uh, yardwork.
[00:09:07] Patryce: That's a good one yardwork. Because I think you were just outside earlier and going along with exercising, complementing any exercise with the sunlight. Yeah, that's great.
[00:09:17] Shonda: That's a good point. Sunlight. While we're outdoors. So let's try to exercise outdoors. Yeah. And I like to get a return on my, um, exercise. So that's why I do yard work. But I mean, we're getting a return, but I get a double return. Let's just say that.
[00:09:34]Patryce: Interest
[00:09:35] Shonda: Oouuh, triple return out in the sun, I'm getting work done, and my body's benefiting just from movement.
[00:09:41] Patryce: Ding, ding, ding!
[00:09:43] Shonda: Okay. Any other form of exercise you enjoy?
[00:09:47] Patryce: I haven't really pursued yoga, but I know you have, and I've heard more and more people talk about the benefits they have found to practicing yoga and something called Tai Chi.
[00:09:58] So again, it doesn't have to be, like you said, the type of exercise, always where you're panting or super aerobic, not to say that that's not good exercise, but if that is not the form that you take to well, then there are other options out there.
[00:10:12] Shonda: And so we're back to our attitude. I've already talked about my attitude. I had to learn that. I really did have to learn that my attitude was a source of stress. I mean, you, you can really lift yourself up out of that. You can really choose, choose your attitude and you will start to feel better automatically. Okay. That's my little input there and I believe in it and I've seen it happen in my own life.
[00:10:40] Patryce: I totally agree.
[00:10:42] And this is silly, but I I've even told, been known them to tell people my kids, myself, that if you're not in necessarily good mood or you need to call someone, you have a difficult conversation or need to break the ice, smile. Even if no one sees you when you're smiling and you're speaking, it will come through more, in a more positive light than just frowning.
[00:11:08] And it's all about positive. You know, seeing the glass half full. Versus half empty. I know it's a cliche, but it's true. Something I'll just read straight from Stormie's book, it says, "we have already said that it's not so much what is happening to you. It's not so much your, what your circumstances [are] but your reaction to your circumstances that make a difference."
[00:11:31] Shonda: Yes. Our reaction, taking control, watching our attitude, watching what our thoughts are.
[00:11:39] Patryce: Definitely our thought life is so important. And so, um, that's another thing we can't minimize is our thought life leads a lot to...to a lot of the stress. Yeah.
[00:11:54] You mentioned how we need to be proactive about managing and minimizing our stress.
[00:11:59] And I can't agree with you more because more and more people at a younger age, even our children are reporting that they are stressed. Elementary age.
[00:12:11] Shonda: Yeah, it's so true. And I, and I have to say that we as parents play a role in that, you know, I have played a role I know in some of the attitudes that I've seen in my children and their stress.
[00:12:23] And so now that I know better, you know, they're, they're adults and, you know, they were young teenagers. I mean, I have tried to display a different attitude for them so that they can learn that that behavior is learned and that behavior can be changed.
[00:12:40] Patryce: It can be changed. I love how you... you just made that statement. That behavior can be changed. Because so often you hear someone saying, well, that's just how I am. Well, no, maybe that's how you are now. That doesn't mean you have to always be that way.
[00:12:58] Shonda: So there's two choices, right, in dealing with stress? Uh, We can do something to change the situation, or we can be content with whatever circumstances there are and that's Philippians 4: 11 and decide to accept it and move on. Or what, what do you think?
[00:13:18] Patryce: Wow. I think similar to what you were just saying, we can choose to embrace our stress or choose to minimize it.
[00:13:33] Shonda: Yeah. I mean, uh things, examples are just coming to my mind, like, okay, I'm stressed out in the morning because I'm driving to work and there's so much traffic and I'm late and you know, all these different things.
[00:13:47] Well, so what can we do?
[00:13:50]Patryce: Change our attitude? I was in that situation, Shonda, my commute went from 35 minutes to maybe an hour and 10 minutes on a rainy day. And so I loved to listen to books. So I used to get audio... the CDs...books on, on tape back then, or books on CDs, audio books. And I found my attitude changed.
[00:14:13] And then also the type of music. I know at one point, yeah, much younger in life, I just, whatever the latest was, or I just went with whatever genre and, and nothing to say, we all have different preferences, but I've just found it ,to me, listening to praise and worship music regularly helps change my mood. I'm meditating on the Lord.
[00:14:36] Shonda: Yeah. Um, so you took the steps to change your attitude, to do something good with the time that you were spending there, you know, so you wouldn't feel like you're wasting your time. And I mean, of course, yeah we could get up earlier so that we won't feel stressed when we're, you know, that close. Like, oh man, I'm like running 10 minutes late, you know, because there was a stalled car or something like that. So we can decide to make room for dealing with stress. We can change situations. There's things we can do. I mean, so...
[00:15:12] Patryce: That's a very good point too. You can change the situation. And I know it may seem radical, but I changed to the point where I did not work outside the home for a given period of time, because the jobs, they took such a long commute. They involved such a long commute that it was do I want to complain and continue to be late picking up my kids, even though I'm leaving earlier and earlier for work? Or do I want to make a change? We can look as a family to see what can I do. Can I get a job closer to home? Or if it's, if we're in a position, I just stay at home and I'm able to do all those things for the kids at school. Um, we may cut back on some other things, but long-term, I am so thankful that at that time we made that choice.
[00:15:54] Shonda: And it sounds like that was a good choice. So, um, Stormie also talks about ways to deal with stress. The first thing she says is make a list of your stress sources. Like, do we ever think about that to sit down and say, okay, what's stressing me out? You know, and write it down and look at it and, you know, start to analyze our life.
[00:16:17] Right? That's being proactive. Let's see what we can do about these things. And so that would be one, you know, Uh, the morning commute is really stressing me out. I mean, that would be something you put on your list, you know.
[00:16:30] Patryce: I love the list idea. I never thought about doing that. It's like you just find yourself stressed and complaining, but why not sit in the beginning, be intentional and make that list? I loved that.
[00:16:42] Shonda: Yeah. The next thing she, uh, suggests is, um, well look at that list and is there anything that can be changed to alleviate the problem? And if so, take those steps immediately. Get that stress out of there.
[00:16:55] Patryce: I ended my job assignment.
[00:16:58] Shonda: So the last thing it says is if you can't change the situation, do some thinking and research about how you can fortify yourself mentally and emotionally to survive the stress in your life.
[00:17:10] Patryce: I love that point because you may be a single parent. Um, and you need that job. For right now that is the job you have. So good advice.
[00:17:21] Shonda: So, yeah, I mean, just taking that example. That's the job I have. So you begin to appreciate that job instead of thinking about it's a stress and you change other areas of your life around the job so that it won't be such a stressor. You know, find some help from family maybe that can help pick up kids.
[00:17:42] Or do something different. Like if you're late, you know, maybe have a plan for a quick and easy meal, you know, involve the kids, you know, maybe ya'll do something different. You know, don't let that stress enter your life. Let's make it fun. Let's go, okay this is a late night let's have a taco bar or something. Have a plan. Yeah. And have a backup plan for when the day doesn't go right and the evening meal comes in. And you know, I'm always thinking about food or I always want to help with food.
[00:18:15] So, you know, we, we can decide how we're going to look at the things, the stressors in our life. What can we learn from them? How can we change our attitudes? What can we do about it? And you know, of course, when all else I'm not going to say fails, but let's put it in alignment with prayer.
[00:18:35] You know, let's pray about it. Prayer brings wisdom, peace, and a strong mind. And that's exactly what we need when we're stressed.
[00:18:43] Patryce: And who doesn't want all of that? So next time, let's focus on prayer, the power of prayer.
[00:18:50] Shonda: For our life, stress, exercise, everything
[00:18:55] Patryce: For everything. We certainly can. So let's talk more about that in our next podcast.
[00:19:00] Shonda: Sounds like a plan. We'll see you all next time.
[00:19:03] Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy today's podcast. Remember you can catch show notes and additional details at RealFoodAndDrinks.com under the podcast menu. Also subscribe to our podcast if you aren't already a member of our community. And if listening through Anchor, please send us a message of topics you would like to hear us have conversations about .
[00:19:30] Until next time.
[00:19:31] Patryce: Let's just be real.

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Podcast Episode 20 – Dairy Alternatives

In today’s episode, we discuss dairy alternatives for milk, cheeses, yogurts, snacks, salad dressings, cookies, and ice cream. Wow! There are many places where we can make substitutes that will lower our cholesterol and fat intake and allow us to avoid antibiotics and hormones in our food choices. We share store-bought and homemade options for most of these categories.

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DAIRY ALTERNATIVES (Show Notes)

One important note: Plant-based alternatives do provide an excellent choice for avoiding hormones and cholesterol in your diet. Also, many of the calories are have lower amounts of fat per gram. Plus, in most cases, you will get added fiber which is a great benefit. Yet, if you are desiring to lose weight, you still must be careful that you do not overdo calories by using too much salad dressing or still eating too many ice creams, too many snacks, too many cheeses, etc – even though you are choosing plant-based options.

Store-bought options: (Aim to avoid high amounts of sugars, added oils and preservatives/stabilizers.)

Milks: Most local stores will have plant-based options. One popular brand is Silk – look for their organic varieties. HEB stores (Texas) have their own line and so does Wal-mart. The switch to non-dairy milks are it’s pretty easy these days because you have so many alternatives like soy milk, almond, oat, pea, coconut, rice, cashews, and Macadamias as well as hemp milk and quinoa milk.
Cheeses: CREDO and SIETE Cashew Quesos, M I Y O K O S Quesos and Dips; DAIYA Brands – sliced and shredded (Simply search ‘vegan cheese brands’ to find so many more.)
Yogurts: Silk and So Delicious are popular brands. HEB Stores (Texas) have their own line too.
Salad Dressings: Annie’s Organic Cowgirl Ranch
Snacks: HIPPEAS organic chickpea puffs
Ice cream (Search ‘vegan ice cream brands’. These are plentiful.)

Homemade Dairy-Free Recipes

Milks: Praline Milk , Basic Milk Recipe: Blend 1/3 cup well-soaked nuts plus 1 cup of water (straining is optional.) Buttermilk Recipe: Add 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (raw, with the mother) to 1 cup of plant-based milk. Allow it to sit on the countertop for a few minutes.
Cheeses: Not-So Cheese Sauce (You can use a cashew nut butter if you don’t have a high-speed blender), Tex-Mex Cheese (Oat Recipe), Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Tofu Ricotta cheese
Yogurts: (Homemade recipe coming soon)
Salad Dressings: Cashew Cilantro Cream Sauce
Snacks: Kale Chips, Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ice cream: Real Food Rocky Road Ice Cream, Avocado Drink with Basic and Mint, Starbuck’s/Wendy’s Knock-Offs

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

US Dietary Guidelines
https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-2025.pdf

Fight COVID-19 with Food Tuesday, Jan. 19 – Tuesday, March 9, 2021, 4-5 p.m. ET (1-2 p.m. PT) Weekly on Tuesdays with class recordings available on-demand for registrants https://www.pcrm.org/nutritionclass

Transcript

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Shonda and Patryce: [00:00:57] Hi, and hello. Welcome to the real food and drinks lifestyle podcast. We're building a community to talk about nutrition, lifestyle choices, and just feeling better. This is Shonda and this is Patryce. Let's just be real.
Here's our disclaimer. We do not professionally practice in any of the various subjects that we discuss. We are only sharing our personal experiences with you to a healthier lifestyle. Please do your own research before taking part in any of these practices.
Shonda: [00:01:52] Okay. So, Hey Patryce, I'm glad we were together once again to discuss a very important topic that can help power our community make the transition from, you know, consuming so much dairy.
Patryce: [00:02:09] Good subject. Very good subject. I know I had to convert myself years ago.
Shonda: [00:02:15] Right. And I did the same in order to avoid the seasonal allergies. It's been a real blessing in my life to give up dairy.
So I know many people may not be able to believe that, but you know, or experience those same things. But, um, I'm just hoping that by sharing these alternatives today to, uh, dairy. Well help someone, um, realize the benefits, you know, dairy has high amounts of calories, fat, even some antibiotics and hormones, many times in dairy.
So we just don't need those things and, you know, our diets are better without it, and there are great alternatives to dairy these days, even more than, you know, a few years back. And so probably what we're going to end up doing is I know that, um, you shop a lot and you observe in the grocery stores, you know?
So I thought maybe you can share more of the like store-bought items that you find or packaged things and, I can maybe suggest some homemade options too.
Patryce: [00:03:24] Sounds like a plan.
Shonda: [00:03:26] Okay. So, hey, let's first. Let's just talk about the milk.
Patryce: [00:03:30] Wow there's a lot of, you know, nowadays milk is advertised for those, like you said, in an earlier, previous podcasts as lactose free.
And I think some people consider that well, you know, that's good enough. But we're talking about leaving the cow's milk altogether and seeking out all these wonderful alternatives. Can I just list some of them with, with the switch from dairy cows, dairy goat, dairy, all those dairy products. The switch to non-dairy milks are... it's pretty easy these days because you have so many alternatives like soy milk, almond, oat , pea, coconut, rice, milk made from nuts, cashews, and Macadamia as well as you have hemp milk. And lastly, I wanted to share there's quinoa. Quinoa milk might be newer to most people, but it's... it's quite tasty. So when it's on sale, I, I have picked it up because I like to try different things.
Shonda: [00:04:35] Wow. Yeah. I've never even seen quinoa milk. And so I've never tried it. Uh, I can't imagine, I don't know. I have no idea what it tastes like. I don't, I don't think I would like quinoa milk, but, um, you know, I'll just have to give it a try one day.
Patryce: [00:04:50] Yeah. It's nutty and a little sweet, but a nuttier taste. And I do like quinoa itself.
So you got to try it one day.
Shonda: [00:04:58] Okay. So, hey there, I mean, that's a pretty extensive list, you know, uh, somewhere in there you're bound to find one that you like that it's agreeable to your palette, right? And they, the prices range, you know, uh, there's uh, there are organic options and they would likely raise your price.
But you know, many of those foods really aren't required to be organic because they may not be, you know, as highly sprayed with pesticides and things. So that's something you can consider, um...
Patryce: [00:05:38] Just to piggyback off what you said about price now that you mentioned it, there is, there is a price range. And honestly, what I've observed is that almond milk you can find on sale or even not on sale, less than for example, the quinoa or the nut milks. The other nuts, the cashew macadamia, will be more expensive, just like the Macadamia nut itself is more expensive.
So the milk is usually a little more expensive, but what I have found that many go on sale, so maybe one week you're getting a lot of almond milk and then the next week there's coconut milk for sale with whatever's on sale.
Shonda: [00:06:14] You know, there are good reasons to make that change too, because you're getting a different, a different nutrient profile.
So why not, you know, switch it up and buy what's on sale this week, you know, it just makes, um, different foods, you know, the more delightful. You know, different change in tastes and things. And you know what? I, my daughter just bought some oat milk for the first time. We've never tried oat milk. And she said that she likes it.
You know, I have never, um, made homemade, uh, oat milk. Now, you know, I just recently made the, we'll talk about a little later. I'm just going to give it a plug here, uh, the oat cheese, but I've never done oat milk. But I just want to remind everyone that you can make milk at home too, using your blenders or using your food processors, you know?
Um, and there are many, uh, juicers these days that have that function on them to make nut milks. So that is an option. And I find that like, if I'm making a nut milk, one-third cup of almonds to one cup of water is the ratio I usually go for. And you can even do it with coconut flakes to make your own coconut milk.
Um, what else have I done? I'm going to have to try that oat milk and see what I find. And, um, if, if I get approval, I will be sure to share that with everyone, but homemade milk alternatives are just as possible, you know, to do it yourself.
Patryce: [00:07:51] I'm glad you brought that up because not only is it,,,it less expensive, most likely, if not always.
Uh, it also helps you to avoid the added sugar. And that's one thing I would just... a heads up when you're buying these different milk alternatives. Make sure you don't. Make sure it's not with the sugar added. Make sure it's not with the sugar added. And regarding the nutritional makeup, uh, one thing I will say is that if you see a formula with the B12 added, that might be something you consider.
If you're low in B12, uh, apparently. Well, people lacking in B12 sometimes can get the B12, which is added into these different milk options.
Shonda: [00:08:35] And one more tip. Uh, I like to add is that, um, if you need buttermilk, like for making your pancakes or something like that, you can add, I think it's about a teaspoon, maybe a teaspoon or tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to one cup of these plant-based milks in order to get that buttermilk flavor.
And I'll be sure to link a recipe for that below, too. Hey, let's go ahead and move on to, um, plant-based cheeses now. Alternatives. Do you have any particular ones that you like to use or do you really use them or not? What do you think about that?
Patryce: [00:09:14] Well, we actually do, uh, because in our family we're big fans of nachos, so that would be that queso cheese.
So, uh, I have found there's, there's a cheese queso type, um, dip that's offered at Trader Joe's. That's really good. And it's made with potato, some nut. It doesn't have any dairy in it. So, uh, yes, we, we do do cheese alternatives. And I will say though, with that, that's something you really, to me, you have to experiment because some sound great when you read the labels, but the taste just is not there. It's not working for us or at least myself. But one other brand that I can say we, the family seems to like , I think it is, is SIETE cashew. queso the other queso is CREDO, C-R-E-D-O. And it's also made with cashews, but the interesting thing is it has these white beans in it. So it's delicious.
Um, you can just, that could be a whole meal, the little container of that, but yeah, we do use some cheese alternatives. But it..., you have to experiment because if you're trying to do pizza and melt it, I would say some brands are better at melting than others. And then some brands have a different texture than others.
So those are the two brands I feel comfortable sharing one other brand. That I'm aware of and have tried our we've tried ourselves is Myokos I believe. And it's spelled M-I-Y-O- K-O-S. And this is not a queso cheese, but they have slices. They have shredded. And that one, someone recommended when I was in the store, she told me herself, she liked it.
We've tried it out and we find it tasty too.
Shonda: [00:11:09] Okay. So are you you're into the con dips and...
Patryce: [00:11:13] Yes. That one comesin in a the dip. You know how we, people like the spinach cheese dip or the cream cheese with the chives? Well, they make some money and similar.
Shonda: [00:11:25] Are these on the shelf or are they in the cold food section? Where do you go?
Patryce: [00:11:31] Great question. They're in the refrigerated section.
Shonda: [00:11:35] The last time I was at Trader Joe's, I was kind of looking around, I didn't see any of this at all, you know, so I guess you really have to look because...
Patryce: [00:11:44] Well, I honestly, these are mainly from Whole Foods. I don't generally go there on a regular basis, but I will say HEB for sure. And some other stores from time to time, from time to time, we'll have these same brands. But for sure Whole Foods does. Trader Joe's has one that... they have about two, um, brands or two, two offerings. But you're right. You can't, you don't always see them everywhere. And I'm glad you brought that up because there's another store called A-L-D-I... ALDI's.
And although they don't always have the same thing every,. Every... every time when they do have it, um, it's usually the best price.
Shonda: [00:12:27] So yeah, that's good. So I hear you saying Whole Foods, so... that's why we need to make our own because like, even me, I don't even shop at Whole Foods. It's not convenient. It's not close by. The prices I know are much higher and there are so many things you can do at home, you know, with the blender or stove top to make cheese alternatives. Now I do know that at HEB, they have... And Kroger and your general grocery stores do have like cheese slices. You know, and cheese shreds and things like that.
So, you know, that's a possibility. So I don't go to any of those because they, for me, they have, they still have too much fat in them and too much oil. So all the cheeses that I make are usually... the oils naturally come from the, uh, fat in the nuts when I make a nut cheese. Um, and I have two really good nacho cheese ,um, recipes that I... that are my go-to. And one is the cashews is the cashew sauce that's made in the, in the Vitamix. Or you can do it with a regular blender, as long as you soak the cashews long enough. And that is an excellent recipe. I'll be sure to. Link that below. And recently I have the oat cheese and I like the oat cheese because it, I don't know, it's a bit thicker. It's it's, you know what, I'm really going to have to put them side by side and do a taste test, but the oat cheese is much cheaper than making the cashew cheese. So that is just, yeah, that's something to consider if you're trying to decide which one to try first.
And recently, I also made a tofu ricotta cheese.
Hmm that I used in a lasagna, and that was really tasty. Uh, what I did was I made it and I let it sit overnight instead of like making it and then using it. And it was so very flavorful and I mean, it, it kept the consistency or the texture just like ricotta. It looked like ricotta. It tastes like it because of the nutritional yeast that was in there.
So it was really good. And as far as pizza goes, uh, recently, and I'm looking forward to making it again, was when I made the spinach artichoke dip and I actually spread it on the pizza as the cheese sauce portion. And that was really good. So I'll be sure and link all of those below for everyone to take a look at.
So there, we have it, as far as cheese alternatives, there are just so many out there. And if you'd like to shop, um, just start looking at... or you, you've probably already found them already. I'm just not sure, um, where to find them exactly, but we will definitely list some in the show notes. And along with some homemade recipes, as far as cheese goes
Patryce: [00:15:26] And Shonda regarding your homemade recipes, which are delicious by the way, the ones I've tasted. Um, are you using your Vitamix for that? Or can you just use... for those of us who don't have that type of machine that goes to the point where it heats up. Can you use the regular blender? Because there may not everyone listening may not have...
Shonda: [00:15:48] Yeah, uh, like you just want to... if you're doing nuts, because that's the one that's difficult, you just have to soak them overnight and then you can use any blender to mix/to to blend, but you do want to so... I would say soak them overnight to have the softest, uh, texture of the nuts then.
Patryce: [00:16:06] And if you don't have a blender right now, but have a food processor, you should still be able to make that right?
Shonda: [00:16:12] You should be able to. Um, it depends on the food processor that you have. If it's a tight fit, you know, you don't want all this liquid sloshing around in there, you know what I mean? And so these are pretty liquidy. Uh, one other thing that I think would be helpful, especially if it's a hot sauce, like a nacho cheese sauce, and you want it warm. If you were to do this on the stove top, you could use an immersion blender.
Patryce: [00:16:38] Ah, good idea. A lot of people have that even if they don't have the other, the other things.
Shonda: [00:16:44] Yeah. You may have to do some straining a little bit. You know, you may want to make the, um, you may want to make the cashew milk first and then strain it. To get all the bits that didn't get -- blended by the immersion blender.
But, um, one other alternative is you want to do cashew milk. You could start with a cashew butter, a cashew nut butter for that recipe. So I think I I'll make sure that I list all those possibilities on making that cashew sauce. But, you know, most people do have blenders, so
Patryce: [00:17:19] True. The blender they do have, yeah. A lot of people have blenders, but they're in between blenders and they don't hurry out and when it breaks down, they don't always get it right away. So I liked the fact that you brought the immersion blender too, though.
Shonda: [00:17:33] Yeah. Okay.
Patryce: [00:17:34] What's next?
Shonda: [00:17:35] So, um, I thought next we could just mention a few yogurt alternatives.
I'm not really big into yogurt. But there are times when I do like to use yogurt for instance, like, uh, when I'm making an Indian dish, like, you know, like a curry or something, and to be able to stir a really tart, like you want sour cream or yogurt in, in with the curry, you know. Although coconut, canned coconut milk does wonders in a curry. I mean, it is my top recommendation. And I like to, I do like to get my coconut milk at Trader Joe's because it's the only one that I can find without the added gums and stabilizers and things like that. I've never found it. Yeah. I've never found it anywhere else but trader Joe's. So usually when I make that trip, I buy like five, six cans of coconut milk at a time.
Um, but so back to yogurt, um, pretty much in any grocery store, you know. Walmart, there's a coconut yogurt, there's a soy based yogurt. I'll be sure to list the name of the names of those below. But again, just like in the milk you want to be careful about. Added sugar. So I would go for the plain and add my own, you know, you can add your own honey, your own, um, fruit, your, you know, your own things.
If, if yogurt is something that you're used to using in the morning, right? Um, as for a breakfast option, then, um, it's very easy to make that replacement. And I will say, I do know that if you buy a bigger jug, that you will get the better price.
Patryce: [00:19:18] That's a good tip too. And going to... speaking of yogurts, I used to be a big time yogurt person, but so many of them... that the dairy yogurts have the sugar and all these different things. But I, I will say all the different non-dairy yogurts again, like the milk, the milk alternatives. You really just have to say. I see which ones agree with your palette and a popular one for me is the Coco-yo living coconut yogurt here. It's, I get the, um, they offer the plain and I'm reading the ingredients. It's raw young coconut, raw young coconut water prebiotic cultures. And that's it. Delicious. It has a bit of a tanginess to it, but that is delicious. And like you said, Shonda adding the blueberries and your homemade granola on that is delicious.
Shonda: [00:20:11] Yeah, that sounds good. Well, the only other thing I can think of where many people eat, uh, dairy would be. Well, there were a couple of more, one is, um, like a salad dressing, like a ranch salad dressing or something like that. So I have a couple of recipes that I can suggest. I'm sure there are some, oh yeah, there are on the aisle there... I've seen those. The dairy alternative ranch dressings on the condiment aisle.
Um, but you have to be careful there because they've replaced those things with, you know, probably high fat and salt and sugar and all kinds of stuff to, you know, to make it more palatable. I don't know. What, what have you found?
Uh,
Patryce: [00:20:55] I'm a recovered ranch dressing user. And, uh, there was a cow girl ranch dressing that they have by Annie's that was really good, but I can't always find it. So to be honest, I've pretty much, I go more for the vinaigrettes now. And you got me onto the tahini. You can do tahini with some garlic, some... I use tahini because it has, it's not a ranch per se flavor, but it gives that same creaminess and I've now been converted.
So I just say, look at some of the other type of, you don't have to go with ranch, maybe look at something based on tahini or, uh, at Trader Joe's I get the ones based off of almond butter. They're... they're delicious. And, uh, just finding alternatives that are not necessarily the traditional ranch. But now I think, uh, any type of homemade, like you make so many homemade dressings and I see more and more people on YouTube doing it, and you can have fun with it. It'll taste good. And you know what you're getting? Cause like you said, That traditional ranch. It's not good for you.
Shonda: [00:22:05] Right. Um, you know, and now I want to do a comparison. I want to show what's in there. What's in what? And what's not in a homemade dressing.
Patryce: [00:22:13] Interesting. Yeah.
Shonda: [00:22:14] So I, I do like doing those type of things.
So, yeah, for sure. I'll post some dressings and we... I do have the idea to make a playlist on YouTube and list more on the website about dressing alternatives. Because I think when people try to go, uh, eat more plants and like eat more salads, unfortunately those salads are high in calories and fat because of the dressings that they put on, you know, on top of the salad to make it. taste good. There's just ways that you can make your salad dressings that are lower in fat, lower in calories so that you're not overeating in those areas.
Patryce: [00:22:58] Exactly. Or if you're getting... added... an addition to what you're saying, if you're going to get fat from your dressing, have it be good fat. Avocados as a base for salad dressing and these different butters almond butter.
Um, yeah, it's a healthier fat for you, but yes, I'm one of those rare, like I said, I used to eat more dressing. It seemed than salad.
Shonda: [00:23:20] Right? Yeah. I see that a lot. Yeah.
Patryce: [00:23:22] Not any more though, I've come a long way.
Shonda: [00:23:26] Well, that's good.
Patryce: [00:23:28] There's one other thing I want, the last thing I thought we might discuss are dairy free alternatives to butter.
Or just oils period, because I was looking at butters and I've gotten some good brands in the store. And I know in the past you used to use ghee and make ghee and you can buy ghee, which is a clarified butter. But then I, I was reminded that, you know, what, the things that we traditionally used to butter for, I noticed now, and [that] we can just substitute other things instead of butter. So, instead of the butter use avocado oil, or use olive oil, a pumpkin, pumpkin, or mashed bananas, coconut oil, um, these are all... and applesauce. You see some baked cake recipes or baked goods, good recipes. And that... they use applesauce as a substitute for oil.
Shonda: [00:24:22] Yeah. And you know, there was, uh, I had a chocolate chip cookie recipe. And I would add cashews or macadamias or pine nuts just in small amounts because they give it that buttery flavor, you know? Yeah. So there's your butter right there. And it's full of nutrients and vitamins. You know, and fiber instead of just empty calories and things that your body's like, yuck, let me get rid of this anyway.
Patryce: [00:24:54] That's a good point because a lot of the, uh, marketed butter alternatives, I'm not even sure some of them are good for you at all. Now we know,for the most part, I, there's not margarine as readily available. Uh, I do. I still have seen some recipes that call for that, but I'm like, well, I don't even know if you can buy it, but that would be an example of what, what we're saying is that just because it says not butter you need to look at the label.
Shonda: [00:25:20] Yeah, that's a very good point. Okay. So let's move on to somewhere else that we normally find butter sneaking in. You know, even if we don't even know it. There sometimes. Now we know, so we're talking about snacks. So we know, you know, like if it's a sour cream chips, we know that there's probably some milk in there. And on the ingredient list is going to say contains milk, but there are some other flavors that you may turn it over and says contains milk but, but these are barbecue chips. So why do they have milk in them? Whatever.
Patryce: [00:25:55] That happened to me, I was showing Grady .I got the root chips. They are made from sweet potatoes, the different color ones and other potato, and I was shocked to see that there was milk on the back.
Shonda: [00:26:07] Yeah. They use milk as a flavor enhancer. Yeah. So there are alternatives. Of course, if you buy a chip that says vegan. So I'm not pushing snacks. But I know that, you know, a lot of us want them need them sparingly. You know, um, yeah, so there's chips, there's crackers there are um, I don't know other, I suppose, cookies that would have dairy in them.
So do you have some go-to snacks now that you...
Patryce: [00:26:42] I do. Definitely in high school, I was that Dorito girl and Cheeto. And then I graduated to the healthy Cheetos, but now that I'm dairy free, I don't eat either them. I eat now something called Hippeas and they have two or three flavors. One is a vegan white cheddar, and they're made from chickpea flour and they're delicious. Yeah.
Shonda: [00:27:08] A lot of great uses for chick pea flour, for sure.
Patryce: [00:27:13] It is good. Yeah. It's all about the crunch and being able to bite down on something. So that's what I've noticed. It's about the mind for me when it comes to snacking. Now I try to do that. So, um, yeah.
Shonda: [00:27:26] Yeah, I know, like for, um, popcorn, we can, uh, just put the nutritional yeast on the popcorn to give it a cheesy flavor for those who like cheesy popcorn, that's an option
Patryce: [00:27:40] And celery I know people used to put the cream cheese sometimes in it. Uh, for celery, but you can just put some nut butter. And now that you mentioned celery and carrots, instead of dipping your vegetables in ranch, you can dip it in hummus.
Shonda: [00:27:53] Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And I'll be sure... there's one other thing that I used to make quite a bit ...it was like a cheesy flavor, kale chips, but it requires a dehydrator or baking in the oven at a really low temperature. So it does require some work, but they are delicious. And I have even taken them and, uh, I'll crumble them over popcorn, eat them together with the popcorn. So, well, I think that's all we have today.
Um, wait, I can hardly believe it. We forgot to mention ice cream. I think that's because Patryce and I really no longer eat ice cream or even think about it. The fact is that even vegan ice cream in the grocery stores have way too much sugar. So unless it's just an occasional treat, it's not something that you want to eat very often.
So instead, I invite you to take a look at the recipes I've posted in the show notes. These recipes, use fruit in place of cream to make "nice" cream and one popular one that you may have already heard of is banana "nice" cream, but you can also make something like a sorbet or something similar to that. So please check out those recipes if you're craving something cool, creamy and delicious.
But, you know, as always, if any of you out there have any alternatives that you would like to share with us in the community, please send those into us and we'll be sure to share them.
I'm still thinking about you all and I'm just out there searching for your fiber posts on social media. Remember to tag them with real food and drinks (#realfoodanddrinks) and I'll be looking for you. And I hope you're out there adding more fiber to your diet. So that's a reminder to go back to episode 19, to listen to ,uh, ways to add more fiber to your diet.
And then actually episode 18 was when we talked about the health concerns for dairy.
So be sure to check those last two episodes of the podcast out. Also.
Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy today's podcast. Remember you can catch show notes and additional details at realfoodanddrinks.com under the podcast menu. Also subscribe to our podcast if you aren't already a member of our community.
And if listening through Anchor, please send us a message of topics you would like to hear us have conversations about. Until next time let's just be real.

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Podcast Episode 19 – Eat More Fiber

We need at least 40 grams of fiber. The more the better. But 97% of Americans do not even eat 40 grams. In today’s podcast, we dive more in-depth into how and why we should be eating more fiber. We also list 10 high-fiber foods that can easily be incorporated into our diets. This episode is a spin-off of the Video, “3 Major Reasons to Add More Fiber | Improve Your Health This New Year!” (The video link is listed below in the show notes.)

OTHER WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN:

EAT MORE FIBER (Show Notes)

Some content for this podcast was compiled from Shonda’s “take-aways” of this online interview by PCRM: https://youtu.be/qIY1TQIH0jc?t=1060
Dr. Will Bulsiewicz | The Gut Health MD
“Results from a meta-analysis of 13 case–control studies have suggested that increased dietary fiber intake is associated with decreased risk of colorectal cancer” https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/93/7/525/2906521
3 Major Reasons to Add More Fiber | Improve Your Health This New Year! (YouTube Video)

Recipes Loaded with Fiber:

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Oatmeal Options

Oatmeal Bars with Berries and Seeds

Black Bean Stuffed Sweet Potato

Chickpea Salad Spread

Chickpea Tortillas (Make gluten-free tortillas using chickpeas)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

US Dietary Guidelines
https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-2025.pdf

Links to the G-Bombs series (which also includes some recipe videos):

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Shonda: Hey today, we're talking about fiber. Back in December, well, on December 31st, or just about, I released a video. It was titled three reasons why you should add fiber to your diet and make it your new year's resolution. I thought that adding fiber was the most important thing that you could do to help your health. So that's why I chose that as a new year's resolution to give you some good ideas. Because 97% of Americans do not get enough fiber.
[00:00:39] (Music & Introduction)
[00:01:37] Shonda: 97% of Americans do not get enough fiber.
[00:01:41] Patryce: That's unbelievable.
[00:01:42] Shonda: Yeah, that is. And we're supposed to get at least 40 grams of fiber per day. And it's really not difficult to do, especially if we're eating lots of plant foods.
[00:01:56] Patryce: That's true.
[00:01:57] Shonda: Yeah. So there's a lot reasons to do so, but I'm gonna repeat the same ones that I discussed in the video that you can refer to, but hopefully we can get a little bit, even more in depth here in our discussion.
[00:02:15] So one reason. That I gave for increasing fiber is to increase longevity . Well, okay. I eat more fiber. I live longer, but why? But the reason is because we know that the top diseases that result in death are cancer, especially colon cancer, heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. They are very high causes of death here in America where we live.
[00:02:52] But still further, you know, avoiding cancer, how ? And so I looked into that a little bit further and, it's by improving the intestinal transit of food and waste. So fiber cleans up our intestines.
[00:03:07] It grabs toxins. So it's helping grab those toxins and get them out of our body. So it's not just staying there in our blood system . We want to have fresh new blood and chemistry to work with.
[00:03:20] So fiber helps your body by eliminating carcinogens because carcinogens are toxins or toxins are carcinogens. So that's how we can avoid cancer by eating more fiber.
[00:03:36] I saw this post and it said that a meta analysis published in the journal of the national cancer Institute examined 13 studies and found that the risk of colorectal cancer decreased as fiber intake increased.
[00:03:52] Patryce: Mm. So, Good information.
[00:03:56] Right? Yeah. We're hearing more and more about colon cancer. Yes. In light of the recent passing of the actor Chadwick Boseman.
[00:04:07]Yes. That's really been highlighting what we need to know, some of the risk factors. As well as some signs, but that is one of those diseases that you often don't find out you have it in until it's more far gone.
[00:04:22] Right? So this is important to know that fiber can be part of our preventative medicine.
[00:04:30] Shonda: And you're going to talk later about the foods, but I'm just thinking and fiber tastes so good. You know, I just enjoy eating plants and fiber .
[00:04:38] So another that I mentioned earlier was diabetes.
[00:04:41]So in cases of diabetes, fiber helps by keeping blood sugar levels steady. And helping you keep a healthy weight that may even prevent diabetes altogether.
[00:04:59] Patryce: That's important. Yes. As that is another thing, not only in America are more people having diabetes, but worldwide.
[00:05:09] Yeah, I know in Asia it's become something very much on their radar as a country in Singapore. And they're taking steps to help the public not take in as much sugar through their consumption of fast foods. Yeah.
[00:05:24] Shonda: Fast foods is definitely the culprit with a high sugar, fat, but low fiber fiber. Right.
[00:05:35] Okay, so I'm going to go ahead and move on to reason number two that I talked about in the video . High fiber foods feed the healthy bacteria that improve immune function, reduce inflammation and chronic disease and even help elevate mood. And that is important because certain fibers are prebiotic foods that help us produce healthy gut bacteria. And that too sort of explains how we're getting rid of the toxins and things like that.
[00:06:07] But we're getting more specific. It's the prebiotics, which produce the probiotics . It's just like building upon itself, you know . It's removing toxins while the prebiotic fiber is producing probiotics that we know that we hear about all the time. You know, take your probiotics, take your probiotics.
[00:06:27] Well, The Gut Health MD always talks about get your prebiotics and you're feeding your probiotic bacteria by filling up on the prebiotics.
[00:06:42]Patryce: What about those probiotics that you see marketed all the time? The pills and some of them are refrigerated. Some not. You're saying focus more on, on getting your prebiotics?
[00:06:51] Shonda: You should focus more on getting your prebiotic foods.
[00:06:55]So that's why it's important to get all the prebiotic foods and Patryce is going to be discussing what those prebiotic foods are in just a bit.
[00:07:07]So the third reason I mentioned in the video, just getting more specific, is that eating high fiber produces these short chain fatty acids.
[00:07:20] And I think they are just like, the winners , the key or the prize that you get from eating your fiber. Okay. This is what helped to convince me to eat fiber. Although I was dealing with IBS. And, you know, with IBS, certain fibers just really put your stomach in like a crazy state, you know, the bloating and the pain and all these things because your body is not accustomed to all this fiber.
[00:07:54] So my body had to relearn how to adjust to fiber is really what was happening.
[00:08:01] Patryce: Interesting. Interesting.
[00:08:04] Shonda: And so when I learned about short chain, fatty acids, specifically butyrate, which is a short chain fatty acid. That was one that I was like, okay, science says this. I am going to give it a try. You know, I was always my own Guinea pig.
[00:08:23]Short chain, fatty acids help with inflammatory bowel disease, IBS , acid reflux and several other gut disorders. Okay. So that's why this helped me. And it really does help guys. Listen to this. If you have any of these issues, just take it really slowly. And eventually you will reap the benefits of doing this . Because this specific one , butyrate, it repairs leaky gut it. So it helps with the integrity of your gut lining. I mean, I even heard about leaky gut 10 years ago when I was diagnosed with it, you know, you have leaky gut and this and this and that, and they were trying to give me all these supplements and these different things, but, you know, I mean, all I had to do was boost up my fiber and let my body heal. And so that's what we're all talking about is we're talking about supporting our health with real food and letting real food and the nutrition that we get from it help our bodies heal.
[00:09:31]The only other thing I wanted to add on when we have leaky gut, there's a disruption in the gut brain barrier. When I had leaky gut I experienced a lot of brain fog. And that's like all these toxins transferring over into your blood and you know, your blood's going through your brain. The gut disruption in the gut brain barrier is linked to Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and many auto-immune diseases and including ADHD.
[00:10:04] Oh, so that's what studies are showing now. I mean, it's been proven, it's been studied. Leaky gut, or disruption in the gut brain barrier leads to these diseases. So that was my takeaway from when I found out about fiber. And that's why I wanted to share it with everyone.
[00:10:26] It's such an amazing thing. It's such a beautiful thing. And that's the thing that I hope to spread to everyone within our hearing. That they will hear this and believe this and be empowered to do this.
[00:10:39]Patryce: How encouraging.
[00:10:40] That's very encouraging that our body can heal with the foods that we choose to eat.
[00:10:45] So glad that we are sharing this. Like you said, people take it to heart and it doesn't hurt to give this a try. Eat more fiber.
[00:10:57] And with that said, we have some foods to share with you to meet that goal of eating more fiber.
[00:11:05] Shonda: Okay, good. I'm excited to hear about those. See if there's anything else I need to add.
[00:11:10] Patryce: Well, I will say all the foods I was familiar with, but there were one or two where I didn't realize that they had so much fiber. And so of the 10 that I'm mentioning today. Begin with raspberries. Okay. Berries have a lot of fiber, but raspberries seemed to have the most fiber of all the berries.
[00:11:33] So raspberries, for example, have nine grams of fiber per cup.
[00:11:39] Wow. Okay. Oh, and yeah. And our goal is 40. Okay. So that's almost a fourth there already.
[00:11:49] Yeah, that's exciting. And, and of course, you know what, the berries, you also get the vitamin C, but not to say that the strawberries, blueberries and all those others aren't excellent berries.
[00:12:00]Then we move on to black beans. Black beans have eight, about eight grams for about one third cup.
[00:12:12] Shonda: Wow. Okay. You said eight, for a third. Yes. So anyone eating a cup of beans is already halfway there.
[00:12:22] Patryce: Exciting.
[00:12:23] And with that, I do want to mention, you're also getting in your protein because we know black beans or beans are just high in protein.
[00:12:31] And I don't want to forget to mention, we've talked about, and you can go look at our past podcasts about the GBOMBS. Because GBOMBS include what?
[00:12:45] Shonda: Include beans? Yes.
[00:12:48] Patryce: And then number three, I just didn't realize avocados had so much in the way of fiber and they do, they have about seven grams of fiber for a whole avocado. That's pretty exciting because we know we can eat them sliced, diced, and put them on top of foods, salads or potato, or we can eat them in our smoothies. I know we've done a lot of smoothies with mango, avocado, spinach... whatever the combination. Smoothies are made even creamier with an avocado added.
[00:13:22] Shonda: Yeah, that sounds good. Okay. What else you got?
[00:13:27] Patryce: I have number four...artichokes now that's the one I didn't realize had as much fiber.
[00:13:34]Maybe because I just don't eat them as much. I love them, but I don't really eat them as much as I probably will going forward because they have about six grams of fiber per cup.
[00:13:46]Shonda: Per cup. Okay. And artichokes also are prebiotic . Ah, yeah. And, and for those interested, there is a link to an artichoke spinach recipe. And also we have a video available, so be sure to check those out.
[00:14:07] Patryce: That's exciting. Yeah, that's exciting because I used to love that dip, the old dip, but I'm not into dairy anymore. So I'm looking forward to trying out your recipe and then also realizing that artichokes have a lot of potassium as well.
[00:14:23] I didn't realize that. I just wanted to add that. So you're getting fiber and potassium with your artichokes.
[00:14:29] And then we have coming in fifth, lentils. And of course at eight grams per half a cup, gosh, you can get 16 grams of fiber with just one cup of lentils.
[00:14:43] And I can eat that in a day. Eating lentil soup or stew, what have you. It's exciting stuff.
[00:14:50] Shonda: Right? Right. Let's just think about what we've talked about already. You talked about some berries, artichokes and two different kinds of beans, really so far. But if we eat those in a serving size, we're almost at 40 grams. We are already.
[00:15:09]We're about halfway there.
[00:15:11]Patryce: So we're halfway through the list and almost halfway there.
[00:15:14] And I'm sure when you hear the other half of this list, folks will see that it's very easy to get in the recommended 40 grams because the next item listed are sweet potatoes. Yes. At five grams of fiber per a medium-sized sweet potato, apparently. Yeah. And then right after the sweet potatoes. You have whole wheat pasta for those who really liked our pastas and maybe you're putting some beans and other things with the pasta. But the pasta alone, for a half a cup serving, you're getting about seven grams of fiber.
[00:15:54] Shonda: And we know everyone eats more than half a cup of pasta.
[00:15:57] Patryce: Well, yeah, you're right about that. So you can really pack it in with the pasta. You're right. Probably easily a cup of pasta. So you're at 14 grams with just your pasta and then you have chickpeas and another bean six grams of fiber for half a cup there. Yeah.
[00:16:17] And what was interesting? The next item is oatmeal. Now, before I did this research, I just assume oatmeal would have been like one of the top. Okay. Oh no, it's still great. You get five grams for a half a cup, but I realized now I can go to some of these other foods and get just as much if not more fiber.
[00:16:38] Shonda: Yeah. Okay.
[00:16:41] Patryce: And the last thing on the list of the 10 were green peas with about two-thirds cup of green peas you're getting about six grams of fiber.
[00:16:53] Shonda: How many cups?
[00:16:54] Patryce: Just two-thirds cup.
[00:16:56] Shonda: And we know a lot of people like green peas. That's one of the first foods that we have when we're toddlers, right?
[00:17:04] Patryce: Yes, you're right. That's one of the first ones to be introduced the little ones too.
[00:17:08] But you know what, it's just funny. Many of us, if not, all of us have heard of the saying "an Apple a day keeps the doctor away." The truth is that is healthy because apples have fiber too. They weren't on my list.
[00:17:22] Shonda: Yeah, all these other foods, right, had more fiber than the apple.
[00:17:27] Patryce: True. True. So that's exciting that after hearing about the benefits of adding more fiber to your diet, we see how easily it can be done.
[00:17:38] Shonda: Yeah. It can really be. An easy thing to do.
[00:17:41]I thought maybe when you were talking about oatmeal, did you have more to say about oatmeal? Because I remember someone who had high cholesterol told me that he put oatmeal daily in his diet and his cholesterol went way down or maybe even down to normal.
[00:18:01] So
[00:18:03] Patryce: I, I don't have anything about that. But now that you shared that I've heard similar stories over and over again, over the years, about people who have chronic diseases or cholesterol and just other issues. And they find incorporating oatmeal daily has been awesome. So there must be something to that oatmeal.
[00:18:28]Shonda: Yeah. You know, I push oatmeal for breakfast. It's just the easiest thing. I eat it every day. I mean, I rarely go away from oatmeal during the week.
[00:18:39] Yeah. you can add your raspberries to the oatmeal, you know, other fruits and just, yeah. Nuts and seeds and yeah. So oatmeal is just a wonderful thing. But I hope you all are, are being encouraged that you can easily, so easily increase your fiber intake by eating more fruits. ,vegetables and beans. Yeah. I think they're like the top of the list. Fruits, vegetables, and beans. Well, yeah, fruits and beans, maybe, maybe really at the top.
[00:19:18] Patryce: Definitely fruits and beans are at the top. You're right about that.
[00:19:22] You know what? Part of being a human being is elimination. Okay. Whatever you want to call it. And I have been surprised, well, more and more people I've discovered over the years. Somehow it comes up about constipation.
[00:19:37] Shonda: Yeah. Well, we can't get rid of our toxins and our carcinogens and the fiber is helping that.
[00:19:44] I mean, it's not just grabbing it and going nowhere. We have to eliminate it. Right. We have to get it out. So we cannot be constipated. We need the fiber to help us. Eliminate the toxins yeah. So it, it, I mean, it, it all works together. You know, it works out. We eat the fiber, it grabs the toxins and then it brings it out of our body.
[00:20:09] Patryce: Well, I just want to throw that in there because I want to promote that this is a natural way, instead of so many of the go-to over the counter recommendations... why not just increase your fiber intake first?
[00:20:25] Shonda: Yeah, exactly. Very agreeable.
[00:20:30]Oh, so we did not talk about one last thing we want to add to that is about how fiber fills us up.
[00:20:39] Patryce: Yeah. I thought we talked about that, but yeah. And when you spoke about the oatmeal, which I know you love, it definitely fills you up.
[00:20:48] So for, for anyone trying to not overeat, that is a great way to start your day. Start your day with your own way of doing oatmeal, like customize it. Like Shonda has said so many times you can do what ever with your oatmeal. You can add berries, and nuts and seeds, and other fruits too. Yeah. So when you're trying to maintain a healthy weight, and feel satisfied, without eating a lot of food start off with oatmeal. And maybe , maybe you already gone through the day and you're just very hungry and it's closer to dinner time. I'm one of those people where I don't have to eat certain foods certain times of the day.
[00:21:33] So I think it's fine to have oatmeal for your evening .
[00:21:37]Shonda: It sure is. Yeah. So, yeah.
[00:21:42]Patryce: Wow. This is all good. So I hope that more people will eat more fiber and tell more people to eat more fiber.
[00:21:54]Anything else to share about fiber, Shonda?
[00:21:56] Shonda: No, I think that's it, but we can just summarize it by saying the goal is 40 grams of fiber per day. And there are a lot of apps that will allow you to track that. Track your fiber intake to actually see how much you're getting. To make sure you are meeting those 40 grams per day. ' And if you're not, that means that you're not eating enough plant foods.
[00:22:23] Patryce: Great. Well, that's a great suggestion . And again, as Shonda said, there's a wonderful challenge to start this year, eating more fiber.
[00:22:34] Shonda: Yeah, that was definitely I guess, a challenge. And I'll also put a lot of other links of recipes and YouTube videos that can help increase your plant-based foods.
[00:22:49]All right. So until next week eat more fiber. Yes. And we'll check in on you.

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Podcast Episode 18 – Health Concerns About Dairy

Wondering what health concerns there are surrounding dairy? If so, then the facts that we discuss regarding dairy are sure to interest you. We share some of our personal experiences while discussing a fact sheet that was released by The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. (See below for the link to download this document.)

We hope to share helpful and healthful information, especially during these times of COVID. Let’s make sure that we have a robust immune system and then share that knowledge with others.

OTHER WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN:

If you haven’t done so already, download the Delicious “No-Fail” Salads Guide – another great way to eat those GREENS!

The Factsheet – Health Concerns About Dairy https://p.widencdn.net/mwhzyu/Health-Concerns-About-Dairy-Fact-Sheet

US Dietary Guidelines
https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-2025.pdf

Links to the G-Bombs series (which also includes some recipe videos):

Transcript

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Shonda: Hi, Patryce.
[00:00:02] Patryce: Hi, Shonda.
[00:00:04] Shonda: I know that, you know, dairy's been on our mind a while, right, to talk about? And we both pretty much given up. I've totally given up that dairy. And you're just about there, there, or
[00:00:17] Patryce: 99.5.
[00:00:19]Shonda: Okay. And so there's a reason for that. Right? We recognize that it was caused an issues in us.
[00:00:25] We recognized how it made us feel, you know, not that we had really began to have any of these Issues or conditions that it can also produce, but, you know, we just recognized it right from the beginning. So I'll just say my recognition was I had seasonal allergies, mostly in the fall. I could not be around any kind of dry grass at all.
[00:00:52] And it was really horrible. I mean, You know, a 15- minute exposure and I couldn't see out of my eyes, you know, they were so watery and I was coughing and congested. I mean, I would just have a real reaction, you know, and not just going out, sitting on a haystack, I just couldn't walk outside.
[00:01:11]You know, what I began to hear a lot of is that , your body isn't in optimal condition or like Dr. Baxter Montgomery says is you have a low functioning immune system. So that's why you can't go outdoors.
[00:01:25] I mean, people have been going outdoors for as long as we've been on this earth. Right. Now, all of these things are getting worse and worse. The pollen has been there, but you know, we're calling it out like, oh, that bad pollen, you know, the pollen, isn't the issue.
[00:01:40] The pollen has a job to do, you know, in nature. Right? So it has to happen, but , we have to make sure that our internal body systems are functioning so that we can continue to enjoy nature as Go d planned it for us . So that was the one that was my first thing. I was like, no, there's something wrong with me.
[00:02:03] You know, it's not nature, there's something wrong with me. So what do I need to do? How can I improve my immune system? I knew I already had problems with wheat because I would almost have immediate reactions with it. And I was just hearing wheat and dairy, they kind of go together, you know, you kind of want to get rid of both of these things.
[00:02:21] And so I had already let the wheat go, you know, years before that. And then, so I was like, okay, this dairy thing. Cause I grew up eating and drinking a lot of milk and cheeses and things like that. Yeah, you too, right?
[00:02:35] So really what happened was one spring, I was having issues with the pollen. I had never had issues with pollen before. And I was like, Oh no, I can't do this. Spring is my favorite time of the year. Fall, you know, it's cold I'll stay inside no problem. Spring I want to get outdoors. And that was the first time I ever had problems.
[00:02:56] And I was like, no. And so I stopped the dairy and I don't know if it was immediate or what, but I know that by that next fall, I did not have any issues. I had had this all my life.
[00:03:09] Patryce: Wow. That's awesome.
[00:03:11] Shonda: You know, this is a problem that I can remember having, and it was just getting worse and worse.
[00:03:18] That's, that's why I've given up on dairy and reading over this fact sheet. Did we say what fact sheet it was yet that we're going to discuss? .
[00:03:28] Patryce: No we sure didn't, but it's the health concerns about dairy by the physicians committee for responsible medicine. Excellent information.
[00:03:39] Shonda: Okay. Yeah. So we found this and we both looked over it and we just want to go through the points here and hopefully that you will take a look too.
[00:03:48] We're going to link it in the show notes. I didn't realize all these other benefits that were things that I could be avoiding by giving up dairy. So I've done enough talking right now.
[00:04:01]Patryce: Hey, I have to say, I, I understand and relate to so much of what you said, and, and it's great that we're talking about this. I just want to say I understand or recognize everything you're talking about because in America, a lot of people consume a lot of dairy products and like you, I grew up eating and enjoying ice cream, milk and cheese.
[00:04:28] I mean, that's like the American way it seems. But this article, really help cement for me why I have given up dairy as well.
[00:04:36]I just wanted to start with the MythBuster. That the only way we can get our calcium is through dairy. That's not true. And we do need calcium and oftentimes the dairy products are advertised as being where you can find your calcium.
[00:04:55] Because calcium is an important mineral, but there are other ways to get our calcium. And I think that's what we're going to end up talking about, but just to begin with calcium is a mineral and it helps to keep bones strong. That's one thing we hear all the time and that is true. It is essential to bone health.
[00:05:17] And one thing that the article pointed out pretty early on, is that even if you're consuming calcium, you have a diminished return on how much calcium you consume. Meaning for example, you might consume a thousand milligrams of calcium, but really the body only needs 600 milligrams of calcium per day.
[00:05:41] And so we can achieve that amount of calcium in our diets without any dairy products. Or supplements if we are intentional about the other foods that we eat. And I think we'll talk a little more about foods. Well, I can talk about right now. One of the main foods are greens and we've talked a little about that or a lot about that in other podcasts about the different greens. Kale, broccoli, and other greens that are high in vitamin K as well as calcium.
[00:06:13] Shonda: Okay. So that is a great MythBuster.
[00:06:17]Yeah. Okay. So another thing it did talk about also under bone health was vitamin D.
[00:06:26] Okay. So I've found it interesting. I highlighted in 2005 review published in the journal of pediatrics shows that drinking milk does not improve bone strength in children. And also in a more recent study researchers track the diets, exercise and stress fractures rates of young girls for seven years and concluded that dairy products and calcium do not prevent stress fractures in adolescent girls. So, yeah, there's proof. I mean, they did prove that it didn't have an effect on that. So, okay. Let's go ahead and talk about vitamin D. Okay. So yeah. Vitamin D we know is necessary for bone health, and let's not forget to talk about it's also healthy for building your immune system.
[00:07:23] Patryce: It is.
[00:07:24]Shonda: In fighting against COVID-19 or certain seasons as we are in.
[00:07:29] But I found here that it says milk does not naturally contain vitamin D. And you know, I think we grow up thinking. Right.
[00:07:41] Patryce: I did, I did vitamin D I've gotta drink, my milk to get my vitamin D. That's how I used to think. It's just
[00:07:50] Shonda: It's just an added thing. And it's artificial pretty much.
[00:07:55] I mean because we're supposed to naturally get vitamin D from the sunlight.
[00:08:01] Patryce: Yeah. And did you realize, I mean, the article highlighted that too, that it's only five to 15 minutes of midday, sun exposure that we really need to meet our vitamin D needs.
[00:08:12] Shonda: Yeah. Yeah. That's why I'm committed even though it's cold here. You know, it was probably not as cold as we're some are. I do not like the cold, but I am committed to every day that there is sun. I am going on a 20 minute walk.
[00:08:27] Patryce: That's a great, that's a great goal.
[00:08:29] Shonda: Yeah. So it doesn't take much five to 15 minutes a day. And. Just get out there and get it. And it feels so good. Right?
[00:08:39] Patryce: It does it feels invigorating and it just makes you feel alive. Yeah. That's sunlight. Yep.
[00:08:48]Quickly, it did also mention right before the vitamin D that.
[00:08:53] Healthy bones need more than just calcium. For example, they also need vitamin K, which is also important to bone health, but most dairy products contain very little of this vitamin K, but guess what does contain vitamin K? Greens! Very much so. Yes. The greens like kale and broccoli are very beneficial to your bones because they have both calcium and vitamin K
[00:09:21]Shonda: Okay. So other ways to protect your bones. They talked about eating less salt. There's a reference here and we didn't go to the reference, but it is here and everyone can read it.
[00:09:34]Eating more fruits and vegetables and ensuring adequate calcium intake from plant foods. Again, such as kale, broccoli, and other leafy greens, vegetables and beans. And beans. Yeah. I know beans have a high amount of calcium also. What else was there? Oh, exercise. Well, I just kind of mentioned that, so that 20 minute walk is not only getting sun exposure, but also help being to strengthen my bones as I walk.
[00:10:01] Patryce: That's a very good point to make. And not only we as the adults, but let's make sure we get our children out there as well as, especially these days. So many of the kids, and I understand they're on electronics and oftentimes it's a requirement almost now with schoolwork, but they too need to be out for the vitamin D.
[00:10:23]From the sunlight, but also for their bones, just being out there and exercising.
[00:10:29] Shonda: Yeah. Let them turn some cartwheels. They'll get their arms in the action too. True. And so, yeah, , I'm thinking about like what we used to do when we were kids. I know it's really different now, but we just need to instill some of those things, like you say, back into our children these days.
[00:10:46] Patryce: For sure.
[00:10:47] Shonda: Yeah. Okay, so let's move on.
[00:10:49] Let's talk about the fat content and heart disease.
[00:10:53] Patryce: Wow. This was one of the reasons why I was deciding not to do dairy among other things. I really liked ice cream and the more indulgent, the Ben and Jerry's, the more flavor, the more nuts and stuff in it, the better tasting, but it wasn't better for me.
[00:11:11] But yeah, I did not realize not just the fat. Which there was a lot of it, but there's a lot of sugar in it, too, where I'm going a little off course here, but definitely a lot of fat and not just in the ice cream I liked, but like they listed in the article cheese, milk, butter, and a lot of these yogurts, they have fat, you can get some low fat ones, but those again, have a lot of the sugar in there.
[00:11:35] Yeah, definitely. And let's not forget that when they're animal based it contains cholesterol, which is you know, and these things can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. So that's something to consider,
[00:11:50]That is so true. And then on the flip side, the low fat plant-based diet, which eliminates dairy products in combination with exercise smoking and not smoking and managing our stress can help prevent heart disease and may even reverse it.
[00:12:09]Shonda: Yeah. And so, but we're not asking you to give up, you know, desserts there's plant-based desserts that of course you can buy if you're just starting in here and I like to make a banana ice cream and just put a frozen banana in a blender with, you know, even some little sweetener or a date or something and you have a nice treat, just like ice cream.
[00:12:36] Patryce: That's a great idea. And you're, you're right about those dates. I just I was sharing with my cousin. She's only nine years old, but I was seeing this grain-free granola made with dates and nuts and it has some chocolate and I said, Oh, you want to try it? She said, sure. And she kept asking for more. Can I have more chocolate?
[00:12:55] Never told her it was dates in there.
[00:12:58] Shonda: Well, that's good.
[00:12:59] Patryce: Yeah. Really enjoyed it.
[00:13:01] Shonda: Yeah. That's great. Okay. So you want to move on to next section?
[00:13:07]Patryce: Yeah, cancer. It said that the consumption of dairy products has also been linked to higher risk for various cancers, especially those cancers related to the reproductive system.
[00:13:19] So that's another reason to just take it off your list. Just don't eat it.
[00:13:25] Shonda: And we were talking about prostate cancer, which we know is rising even more and then there's breast cancer, ovarian cancer. You know, these are all the reproductive system cancers and dairy is contributing to that.
[00:13:41]You know, I saw how some of the yogurts have like the Susan Komen thing on there.
[00:13:48] Patryce: That that's almost misleading.
[00:13:51] Right. Yeah. A lot of it is, but, you know
[00:13:55] But is it any more misleading than growing up thinking that the only way I can get my vitamin D for my strong bones is to drink some milk. It's just the same kind of irresponsibility.
[00:14:09] Shonda: Yeah, I agree. Okay. So, was there anything else we wanted to mention about the cancers?
[00:14:18] Patryce: Oh yeah. About the studies. Remember the studies, there was one with over 1800 ladies. 1,893. Women were diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and it revealed that they had been eating more high fat dairy products. And that's a very telling fact there. Yeah. Wow. And then a second large study of 1,941 women found that women who consumed the highest amounts of cheddar,.
[00:14:47] American and cream cheeses had a 53% higher risk for breast cancer. That blew me away. Yeah. That's I know so many women like myself before I did away with dairy. I ate cheddar cheese all the time and I liked cream cheese. What do you call it? That dessert? Cheese cake. Oh, wow. I really enjoyed myself some cheesecake, but yeah, reading this I'm like, wow, that was not good.
[00:15:18] And then the grilled cheese sandwiches too, I was just all about the cheddar, all about the cheese and all about the dairy.
[00:15:25] Shonda: Oh well, but it's a good thing that you've learned now, what you've learned, you know, and. So I'm proud of you because, you know, I mean, I know you told me you had a little bit of like, maybe some mucus formation sometimes when you would eat dairy, but you know, it wasn't obvious and you really had to make the decision that I'm going to stop this because I'm learning these things and I want to better my health. So.
[00:15:53] Patryce: That is so true. And I have to put in that plug or just for women out there the dairy products, if you're having monthly cramps that seem especially uncomfortable, you may want to experiment with no dairy, at least that time of the month.
[00:16:11] I've noticed a great reduction in menstrual cramps.
[00:16:15]Shonda: Well, it talks about how it promotes, you know, things going wrong and possibly cancer with the reproductive system. So that's definitely a factor. Okay. So yeah, reminder, we will link this document. It's about a four page document, I believe, and five with the extra notes or so.
[00:16:37]But for now, we'll just carry on and talk about what else is in there. So let's move on to lactose intolerance.
[00:16:44] Patryce: Yeah. A lot of people are lactose intolerant, aren't they? Yeah. They broke it down according to ethnicities 95% of the Asian American 74% of the native Americans and 70% of African-Americans 53% of of Mexican-Americans and 15% of Caucasians are lactose intolerant.
[00:17:06] I found this very interesting having lived in Asia for just a little while, but until recent times, I mean, back in even the nineties, you were hard pressed to find pizza places and ice cream places. They just didn't have a lot of dairy in their diet.
[00:17:22] Shonda: Yes. Yeah. I think, you know, that's something to talk about here is that most cultures did not have a lot of dairy, you know, or were more plant-based than we are, you know, animal-based these days. And it's just because we're producing them too much. And, you know, just because everyone wants it. But naturally you know, naturally no one ate this much of animal-based products and naturally is just not sustainable.
[00:17:57]Okay. So, yeah, but I mean, that is very interesting lactose intolerance. But you know, the part that gets me upset and I have to say it really does get me upset is that the dairy industry said, well, Hey. you have lactose intolerance? We'll just remove the lactose. You can still drink your milk without any problems. So you don't have that trigger that's saying, Oh, I have an upset stomach. I can't drink the milk, but it's just kind of going down more smoothly because they added a lactase enzyme in order to help digest it . And so, yeah, I'm angry about that because that's just so misleading. It's like, well, let's just take away this little part that everyone notices and they'll just continue to drink the milk. That's deceiving.
[00:18:46]Patryce: It's like masking the symptoms and not getting to the root cause that dairy in itself is just not what we're made to really take a lot of in, if any. I think we may be the only mammals that persist on having milk after the weaning period.
[00:19:04] Shonda: Yeah. And it says that children, nursing children make the enzymes to break down the lactose, but as we grow up, we lose it. I mean, it's only meant for that purpose because you cannot eat solid foods. So let's replace it with the solid food, right?
[00:19:21] Patryce: Yeah. That's a good point. I do think that what you just brought up about the, the advertising again, that's a very big issue throughout the food industry. False or misleading advertising.
[00:19:35]Shonda: So next, it talks about all the other additional contaminants in milk that most people don't even know about because, you know, I think some people, if they do take the time to read the label and it's not listed on there, they believe it doesn't exist. I've never seen antibiotics listed on the milk, but undeniably it is in the milk.
[00:20:01] Patryce: I haven't seen it listed either, but I'm sure it is because they are given to the cows that the milk is taken from.
[00:20:08] Shonda: Yeah. So that is passed into their body fluids and it's comes right out into the milk. Right. So antibiotics is something that we want to avoid consuming through our food.
[00:20:26]So antibiotics is a reason to avoid milk.
[00:20:31]Patryce: About the hormones. Did we already mention that?
[00:20:34] Shonda: No, we haven't. There's a lot in the, in the contaminant section.
[00:20:37] Patryce: Oh, yes. The hormones that they give to the animals, then get transferred to the milk that we eventually start drinking. And especially for the kids drinking it.I have known for years now about children going into adolescence at a much earlier rate. And at first I only learned from our friends and relatives about the young ladies, you know, now starting their cycles as young as nine . 10 being very common .
[00:21:07] Shonda: We know that's not natural.
[00:21:10] Patryce: Yeah, but even the young men, even the boys, I had a friend whose son, he was just some of these signs and she was just trying to figure out what's going on. He was only nine or 10, a young young boy, and it turned out the doctor said it was puberty coming on early. And I do recall that from that day on, she started getting the organic milk because if you're persisting on drinking milk, at least you're getting milk that should not have these hormones included.
[00:21:39] Shonda: Yeah. That growth hormone
[00:21:41]Patryce: I think that's a real issue though.
[00:21:43] Shonda: That is so true. And , you know, even if you take a vaccine, there's a little warning that comes along with that. I think there should be a little warning that comes along with milk drinking too. I've never thought about it like that Shonda. But I think that could be a good point.
[00:21:59] Patryce: And, and I don't know how far reaching I'm going with the hormones, but there are a lot of people Getting pregnant is a challenge in fertility or just fertility issues. And now I'm thinking, could this have played into it to a certain degree too? I just don't know what all these hormones can do.
[00:22:16] Shonda: I would think so, but it's not just hormones. Look, look further. There's pesticides. And, and the PCBs, you know, the things from the plastics, the things that the milk is stored in, there are just so many contaminants which are really toxins that build up in our body over time.
[00:22:35] Patryce: And it can't be good.
[00:22:36] Shonda: Yeah, and it does say here eventually this can harm immune, reproductive and nervous systems.
[00:22:43] Patryce: Wow I missed that part, but not just the reproductive and immune, but the nervous systems. And I'm not a doctor at all, but this leads me to wonder if it could even be related to some of our mental health.
[00:22:55] Shonda: Oh, for sure. Because, you know, cholesterol and fat blocks our arteries and that's known now to be a big factor in mental health. But yeah, toxins, brain fog, messing with your brain, you know. And that's why we want to bring this to our audiences attention is this there's just so much out there. And we want to make sure that we eat as clean of foods as we can. And even if we cannot buy organic, we can avoid a lot of things by avoiding certain foods that are more likely to have toxins and things in them.
[00:23:34]Patryce: So true is Shonda. And should we not? shouldn't we mentioned. There are a lot of alternatives. We understand that you may miss your milk and I did too. And definitely for making smoothies, I use milk substitutes and I know you did too Shonda, like almond milk or quinoa milk. There are so many. Now I use pea milk made from pea protein.
[00:23:56]But there are so many different alternatives I'd say to your cows milk. These are I would say healthier choices to make, to drink instead of the cows milk. And even with the cheese, I know we still like to eat our nachos. And I have found more and more plant-based nachos.
[00:24:15] I think I had some made from fava beans recently, which was good. And then you have a wonderful recipe. For . Oat, cheese. And then there's also the cashew cheese that I remember your daughter really likes every time I would make that one. She liked that one too. So I really, I need her to taste it, this other one and do a comparison test and let me know which one she likes or prefers.
[00:24:39] I'm sure she'd be glad to do that one day.
[00:24:41]Shonda: So the last thing I wanted to talk about were , there are actually two things here. But, one, it talks about milk proteins and diabetes.
[00:24:51] Patryce: Oh, I missed that.
[00:24:52] Shonda: Yeah. So there's not much here, but it does say that in 2001, there was a Finnish study of nearly 3000 infants with genetically increased risk for developing diabetes showed that early introduction of cow's milk, increased susceptibility to type one diabetes. Wow. And though recently, for the first time they have recommendations that children under one should not drink cow's milk. I'll make sure to list it below.
[00:25:30]Patryce: That's a good thing. That's a good thing.
[00:25:33] Shonda: So are y'all hearing that out there? Hey, if you're not any longer breastfeeding time to introduce some fresh juices and smoothies, and get a real punch of nutrition.
[00:25:44]Patryce: Wouldn't that be amazing to introduce your young child to fresh green juice?
[00:25:49]Shonda: Oh, that would be so great. I wish I could do it all over again.
[00:25:54]Patryce: Oh, I can't believe they've actually done something good.
[00:25:57]Shonda: So. But this is in relation to babies it says that colic is an additional concern with milk consumption. So it says pediatricians learned long ago that cows milk was often the reason.
[00:26:12]Patryce: For colic?
[00:26:14] Yes. That's what this document says. And it has some references here, right?
[00:26:20]Shonda: So even cow's milk proteins can pass through the mother's bloodstream into her breast milk and into the baby causing symptoms and some infants. And I'm sure that was my children's problem right there, because they had a really hard time. So there we go.
[00:26:39]The conclusions are: Milk and dairy products are not necessary in the diet . It's best to consume a healthful diet of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, and lentils, and replace cows milk with non-dairy milks, like almond, soy, or cashew milk. These nutrient dense foods can help you meet your nutritional requirements with ease and without the health risks associated with dairy products.
[00:27:06]Patryce: I'm glad we've taken this opportunity to talk about dairy, because I know in previous podcasts we probably have said here and there, we don't do dairy. Or we've said things that may sound like we're villainized, we're demonizing dairy, or what have you, but this is our opportunity to take time and share why.
[00:27:25] Shonda: Yeah. And, you know, there was another reason that I forgot to mention that dairy products have carrageenan in it and it causes issues for some people and my daughter would have lots of respiratory issues.
[00:27:41] But when she would have the dairy without the carrageenan it wasn't a problem. It was so bad. She was on a nebulizer, from about age two to four.
[00:27:52] Patryce: Wow. That's something else. But also a lot of children have like rashes. I don't know if it's eczema or skin challenges or conditions. And I think sometimes when they've removed them from dairy,
[00:28:06] Shonda: Right. I'm surprised is that it's not listed here, but I'm sure that there's just so many things that it contributes to, that they just couldn't go over everything.
[00:28:16] Patryce: But that was one reason why I went dairy free too, is I just felt like my skin was more congested whenever I had dairy
[00:28:23] Shonda: So, yeah. Well, when we took milk out Leslie and Janelle, had eczema and it went away.
[00:28:30]Patryce: Oh, wow. That's a good, that's a big plug though, because there are a lot of people with eczema and yes, I think there are some natural creams and so forth, but so often when you go to the doctor, the first thing, even for children, they want to prescribe are steroids, which is definitely not natural.
[00:28:48] So if you could just take away the dairy so that there is not the eczema to treat to start with. Yay.
[00:28:55] Shonda: Yes, we need to learn these things so that we can help our children grow healthy, happy, and strong, and not have to deal with all these things like allergies and eczema and, and things.
[00:29:09] So we just invite you all to learn more and you know, continue to meet us back here on This podcast. And we definitely try to put as much notes as we can in the show notes for you. To help you get through all of this information that you may feel that's coming at you
[00:29:30] Patryce: and we're also here. Anytime you have any questions or, or anything you'd like to share, please contact us.

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Podcast Episode 17 – It’s Time to Heal – A Message from Patryce

Perhaps you have realized that it’s time to heal. Have you thought about really taking the time to get to know yourself in 2021? When we reflect on who we are we can begin to make the changes necessary to become who we want to be. Taking care of our body and mind are important steps in this process and finding a community to support you along the way is an integral part also.

Patryce shares some important thoughts on these matters with the hopes of inspiring and encouraging you along the way in this new year. Happy New Year to each and every one of you!

In light of COVID, let’s make sure that we have a robust immune system and then share that knowledge with others.

OTHER WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN:

If you haven’t done so already, download the Delicious “No-Fail” Salads Guide – another great way to eat those GREENS!

Follow Chef AJ’s Livestreams – Chef AJ shares expert interviews, healthy recipes, and her weight loss journey. She has been streaming multiple times daily since 2021. So much content for you to enjoy.

Physician’s Committee for Responsible Health
YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/PhysiciansCommittee/featured
Website – https://www.pcrm.org/

The Barnard Medical Center (The Barnard Medical Center is now offering telemedicine appointments, allowing patients to consult with caregivers online through their computers or phones. Available to residents of California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C.)

Dr. Baxter Montgomery’s Montgomery Heart & Wellness Program
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOEQWbsZyc3ygIlRB5HQmqw
Website:

Fight COVID-19 with Food

Links to the G-Bombs series (which also includes some recipe videos):

Transcript

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Episode 17 - It's time to heal message from Patryce_2

Patryce: There are so many things that are not within our control, but the foods that we choose to eat are more in our control.

[00:00:18] Hi,

[00:00:19] Shonda: and hello. Welcome to the Real Food and Drinks Lifestyle Podcast. We're building a community to talk about nutrition, lifestyle choices, and just feeling better. This is Shonda

[00:00:33] Patryce: and this is Patryce. Let's just be real.

[00:00:45] Shonda: Here's our disclaimer. We do not officially practice in any of the various subjects that we discuss. We are only sharing our personal experiences with you to a healthier lifestyle. Please do your own research before taking part in any of these practices.

[00:01:03] Patryce: Hello, this is Patryce. Happy New Year, everyone.

[00:01:08] And I just wanted to begin with talking about how important it is to get to know our bodies more, to get to know. What foods agree or disagree with us to get to know our emotions better just to get to know ourselves. So I hope that you're encouraged in this new year to do things, to be more in tune with who you are.

[00:01:33] And when you discover, there are things that you don't like or want to improve, then make steps to do that. And so with that said, I'd like to talk specifically like Shonda about the healing that we should promote within our own bodies and within our own communities. And especially with COVID still very much around.

[00:01:55] The reality is the best defense is a robust immune system. So what can we do to improve our immune systems? Well, I think one is focusing on preventative care, be our own advocate. That means with regards to our health, being our number one advocate for ourselves, and that begins with what can I do to prevent from getting ill or having chronic illnesses appear?

[00:02:29] So with the word preventative, I'm talking about of course food. There's so many things that are not within our control, but the foods that we choose to eat are more in our control. So why not focus on foods that we eat, because that is more in our control than other things. So I am ...I I'm hoping that in 2021, we are encouraged to try to do better.

[00:02:59] And with that said, I'm reminded of a podcast. We did not so long ago on G-BOMBS. And I was encouraged by that podcast myself and ever since then, I've noticed each day I'm incorporating more and more of those foods that fall into the G-BOMBS categories. And I have found it folks so easy, for example, to have a salad where I have greens, spinach, kale, arugala, and then I actually put some black beans on there.

[00:03:34] And then sometimes, often I put some seeds on there and maybe some nuts and lately even mushrooms. So I have most of the G-BOMBS just in one meal. So be encouraged that. We can do so many things in the way of preventative care, starting with how we eat and how we think. I think more and more, we need to pay attention to our thought life because depression is real.

[00:04:03] There are many people stressed out and. Uh, for so many reasons, there are so many things going on in our world, but it's how are we dealing with these emotions? And along with food, we need to consider our emotional health because that going unchecked and just going South can actually affect or impact negatively our physical health.

[00:04:29] So we have to be mindful of our emotional health too. So to help prevent the deterioration or onset of chronic diseases, we also want to keep in mind working towards a strong and healthy, emotional wellbeing. And sometimes we need help with that. So don't be afraid to reach out, reach out to loved ones, reach out, to help lines, reach out to your community, reach out to your family, your friends, your church.

[00:04:59] Whoever you can, if you feel that you need help with your emotions. So we talked about preventative. I wanted to talk about empowerment. By deciding to change habits or creating good habits we are empowering ourselves to live our best life. Another way to empower ourselves is to avail ourselves to all the different information out there.

[00:05:28] For instance, there are many, many documentaries in the way of, of different foods and how our different foods are processed are made available to us in America? There are documentaries on plant-based eating on the pros and cons to dairy. Um, there's just a lot of documentaries out there. I'm not telling you exactly which ones to watch, but I will say that's part of what catapulted my journey was watching some documentaries and then taking to heart what I learned in these documentaries. Knowledge is power. And so part of empowering ourselves is to read up, obtain knowledge. Be open to hearing different things and finding out what works for us. And when we do find new knowledge that is beneficial, share it, share it with someone else, share it with your communities.

[00:06:24] And then lastly, I did want to talk about what are some tangible, practical, next steps. So it's 2021. It's a new year. And so often we hear people talk about resolutions, nothing's wrong with that, or making big changes, but what, what does that look like? So I just want to speak a moment about how might you identify next steps with regards to a healthier lifestyle overall?

[00:06:50] And I would say. Do a self evaluation start a journal. And if you're not big writer, that's okay. Do a video journal or do an audio journal. I know a lot of our phones have it where you can just record your voice. So just do whatever it takes to...But do something to start reflecting on your life and what's working and not working.

[00:07:14] And then when, as you identify these things, then you can make adjustments. So the first thing is to do a reality check, be real with yourself, ask yourself, you know, what am I doing right now? How am I feeling right now? Where am I excelling? And where am I falling a little short? And after doing that real evaluation and specifically speaking with what you're eating right now, then the next step is how do I start changing?

[00:07:44] And maybe it is just one change at a time. For example, maybe it's trying to do the G-BOMBS as much as you can each day, certainly more than once a week. Making sure you have, if not everything, part of the G-BOMBS, just some of those G-BOMBS in the beginning, and then identifying any bad habits and one by one, changing from those. Getting rid of those.

[00:08:09] So those are just a couple suggestions on tangible next steps and be encouraged. There's this community. And many other podcasts, YouTube communities. I know myself and Shonda. We listened to Dr. Baxter. Montgomery's YouTube each Monday night, 7:00 PM central standard time. And he, uh, a cardiologist here in the Houston area, along with several other doctors are just sharing about different subjects each week with anyone who's willing to listen. So I would encourage between documentaries, different podcasts, different you tubes to reach out and listen and grow from learning from different communities. They're here to encourage you such as ours.

[00:08:59] I hope that you've heard our hearts to just help you to realize that this can be a time of healing. Let's focus on how do we get better and in light of COVID, how do we make sure that we have a robust immune system and then share that knowledge with others? So I was looking and was reminded of the word of God, because at the end of the day, I seek God's wisdom and try to abide in his truths and his word for peace.

[00:09:37] Because at the end of the day, I think we all want peace, but hopefully it's not just the peace of this world you're looking for, because that is so fleeting. But in Christ Jesus we have eternal peace, real peace, but I just wanted to leave you with one scripture that came to mind from the book of Proverbs in the Bible. In Proverbs 17 that's chapter 17 in the 22nd verse.

[00:10:04] It just reads a joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. And all I want to bring that up for is I think it would be easier to have a joyful spirit if we have a well taken care of or better taken care of body and mind. So with that said, I hope you're encouraged to know that day by day, step by step, we can grow.

[00:10:34] We can improve. We can create good habits. Separate or depart from our bad habits. Be encouraged and share that encouragement with someone else to build a stronger, healthier community. Thank you. I hope that you found something in this podcast helpful, and that you will share with your friends and family, this podcast, and our past ones. Be encouraged.

[00:11:01] This is Patryce for Real Food and Drinks.

[00:11:07] Shonda: Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy today's podcast. Remember you can catch show notes and additional details at RealFoodAndDrinks.com under the podcast menu. Also subscribe to our podcast. If you aren't already a member of our community. And if listening through Anchor, please send us a message of topics you would like to hear us have conversations about.

[00:11:34] Until next time... let's just be real. .

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Photo by Shashank Sahay on Unsplash

Podcast Episode 16 – It’s Time to Heal – A Message from Shonda

It’s Time to Heal especially due to COVID-19. For this reason, we must try to be our healthiest and strengthen our immune systems.

I didn’t want to ignore that it’s a new year and that many are looking to make health improvements. It is really a great time to do so because it will be more likely that you can find someone else to join you while you help encourage one another on the journey.

OTHER WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN:

If you haven’t done so already, download the Delicious “No-Fail” Salads Guide – another great way to eat those GREENS!

Physician’s Committee for Responsible Health
YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/PhysiciansCommittee/featured
Website – https://www.pcrm.org/

Fight COVID-19 with Food

Dr. Baxter Montgomery’s Montgomery Heart & Wellness Program
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOEQWbsZyc3ygIlRB5HQmqw
Website:

Links to the G-Bombs series

Transcript

Email Download New Tab

Shonda (00:00): Hey everyone. This is Shonda here, and I just wanted to take this time to bring you a happy new year message and the message is it's time to heal.

Shonda (00:24): Hi and hello. Welcome to the real food and drinks lifestyle podcast. We're building a community to talk about nutrition, lifestyle choices, and just feeling better. This is Shonda and this is Patryce. Let's just be real. [inaudible] Here's our disclaimer. We do not professionally practice in any of the various subjects that we discuss. We are only sharing our personal experiences with you to a healthier lifestyle. Please do your own research before taking part in any of these practices.

Shonda (01:09): We've had a pretty rough and tough 2020, and it has flown by due to COVID still causing many issues and problems in our life. I just thought that it would be a very good time to focus on our health. Very often, that is a new year's resolution. And I think it's a really great one, especially due to the circumstances that we find ourselves in. Now is the time to heal because it's time to take our health seriously, you know, especially those that are knowingly dealing with a chronic disease. It's time that we do the research that we need, that we seek others to see what they've done to solve the problems. There are solutions and whatever it takes, we need to convince ourselves that it's possible for us and that we can do it just like others have done. We can also do the same and heal our bodies.

Shonda (02:09): Okay. The COVID-19 virus has revealed that many are not in a healthy state. So yes, in addition to those who are knowingly fighting against a chronic disease, there are still some who are not in a healthy state and maybe don't quite know it yet. And here are some things to consider if you're not quite sure, do you have digestive issues? Maybe these digestive issues aren't enough to have you going to the doctor, but they're troublesome. Perhaps you have seasonal allergies. Perhaps you have rashes that are showing on your skin, but you're just dealing with all these things. And it's no big deal. Well, hey, these many times are big deals and they're just the precursor to other chronic diseases. This is just the first step, a hint that lets us know that something is going wrong. What about an additional step that can help us deal with the chronic disease so that we're not in as much trouble if we have to face COVID-19,

Shonda (03:17): The medications are dealing with the symptoms, they are not solving the problem. The problem is still happening. You can't see it and you can't feel it, but it's still there because as soon as you stop taking those medications, it's very evident. Okay? So from my point of view, there is a lack of quality health care. Doctors are prescribing meds to take care of symptoms, but ignoring the true problem, which is our diet, our Western American diet. Did you know that many cultures prior to being introduced to our Western American diet had diets that were heavily loaded with plant foods? And just a bit of animal foods scattered in there. If at all, you know, we live in a country which is for many abundant and it's abundant in meat products and cheese products, you know, milk and dairy. But that doesn't mean that we should be consuming these products in the quantities that we're consuming them.

Shonda (04:21): So my question to you is, do you really want to continue to take prescription meds to support a diet that is not serving you well? Okay. So is it that you don't believe in the power of food because the power of food can heal. The power of food can cause these illnesses or it can cause healing. Or is it just that you don't want to give up your current foods that are causing the issues? I'm asking you this in the most loving way that I know, perhaps you have never even thought about this. Perhaps you just feel stuck or like there is something that you cannot do to help yourself. That's tell our doctors, Hey, I'm about to do something to get off these medications and I'm going to need your help. And if the doctor isn't willing find another doctor.

Shonda (05:11): There's a doctor network through the physician's committee of responsible medicines. They also are accepting tele-health calls. So I just urge you. We cannot wait on a vaccine. We want to be healthy, instead. We don't want to depend on a vaccine. I'm not saying don't take the vaccine. But what I am saying is if you're going to take the vaccine, we also need to take steps toward health that can help us fight the COVID-19. Make it, make our immune system even stronger. So this is just an introduction to the new year. There's a link below. Tell us what you need. Tell us what kind of recipes you need. Tell us what kind of resources you need to find in order to make the next step, because your next step can start right now today. It can start with your next meal, by taking a daily walk, by getting more sleep, by seeking more education about COVID-19 and all your health concerns.

Shonda (06:11): There's information out there. And when you start looking for the truth, you will find the truth. So I want to urge you to take it in your own hands. Be... Be your own healthcare advocate, decide that you want to know the truth, decide that you're going to try to make a difference in your own health care. Our hope is that you will begin to research healthy alternatives. In addition to conventional medicine, as a reminder, there are links below to get you started. And also we should just that you begin to follow some of these plant-based doctors. So you don't miss their content. Be a student of theirs. Listen, to find truth within what they have to say to us. We want you to be healthy, to experience freedom from fear, to feel confident, to feel empowered. It's not that we do not respect COVID-19 yes, we must do what we can.

Shonda (07:11): We will continue to wear our mask and social distance. This is a way that we love our neighbors. We love those around us because we don't want to spread the disease, especially to someone who's going to have a difficult time fighting the disease. But we want you to also feel and know that you're doing the best that you can in order to build up your immune system. And that's all that we can do. And then we leave everything else in God's hands. So Happy New Year, and let's make this the best one ever. It's time to heal. Thank you all for joining me today. Next week, we will have part two of "A time to heal", which will be a message from Patryce.

Shonda (07:58): Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy today's podcast. Remember you can catch show notes and additional details at realfoodanddrinks.com under the podcast menu. Also subscribe to our podcast, if you aren't already a member of our community. And if listening through Anchor, please send us a message of topics you would like to hear us have conversations about until next time. Let's just be real.

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Photo by Shashank Sahay on Unsplash

Show Notes:

“Greater Health God’s Way” by Stormie Omartian

More Resources:

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

Transcript:

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

DAIRY ALTERNATIVES (Show Notes)

Store-bought options: (Aim to avoid high amounts of sugars, added oils and preservatives/stabilizers.)

Homemade Dairy-Free Recipes

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

EAT MORE FIBER (Show Notes)

Recipes Loaded with Fiber:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE