Nutrition Archives - Real Food and Drinks

Podcast Episode 43 – Top 5 Toxins – Food (Part 1 of 5)

Today we are taking our first deep dive into the top five sources of toxins that can be making us sick. Unfortunately, food is at the top of the list. The very substance that should be keeping us alive and healthy can be the very substance that is making us sick.

Here is the list of the top 5 toxins:

Food
Water
Environment
Beauty and personal care products
Stress and negative thinking (This Episode)

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:

The Article that prompted this discussion

Links to the podcasts/articles about stress:

Podcast Episode 1 – Covid-19 and Stress
Podcast Episode 25 – Got Stress? Let’s Get Rid of It!
Podcast Episode 26 – Praying for a Peaceful Lifestyle
De-stress, Dealing with Stress (Covid-19 Pandemic)

The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen:

The Dirty Dozen
The Clean Fifteen

Glyphosate: Round-up week killer sprayed on grains used in Quaker Oats, Cheerios, etc

Best Foods For Gut Health | Dr. Will Bulsiewicz Live Q&A on The Exam Room (Starting at 24:57, there is a discussion about glyphosate and what it does to gut health.)

Food Additives:
Foods to Avoid for Healing Chronic Illness: natural flavorings, canola oil, processed beet sugar, artificial flavorings/sweeteners, etc
Potassium Sorbate is a preservative that can trigger allergic reactions
The digestive fate of dietary carrageenan

Also available on YouTube:

Transcript:

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Hi Patryce. Hi Shonda. How are you? Good. How are you doing? Well, thank you. I'm excited about our topic. Yeah, we have a lot to talk about, right. And. We're definitely going to break this up, but, I guess I'll go ahead and just talk about, what we're, we're headed, , today, or today and in the next few podcasts.
[00:00:22] So, we're gonna try our best to take a deep dive into the top five sources of toxins that can be making us sick, you know? It started with a website. It was whatsadetox.com. I'll put that in the show notes. And so let's see, why should you detox? It's a great question. Our bodies have the ability to eliminate toxins and unwanted matter naturally various organs, such as the liver and the kidneys aid in this toxin removal.
[00:01:04] But these organs become overwhelmed over time. So we want to do something about not overwhelming our organs over time. Right. Honestly, I was just glad you brought this up because I see detoxing everywhere.
[00:01:23] Yeah, it's been, a subject for a long time and, you know, I think, I think there's, a right way. Well, let me say there's a, there are drastic ways of doing detox and then there are more simple ways of detoxing and we're just talking about helping your body to do what its normal function is to do, which is to detox. And so if we've overwhelmed though, those organs, that detox, then we may need a little help. You know, we may need to try to avoid toxins so that those organs can work better. You know yeah. Let's concentrate on a specific time of removing toxins and avoiding toxins so that we can heal better during that time.
[00:02:15] And that's why I thought it was so great that we're going to just talk about what are some of the main top toxins, right? Yeah. Okay. So the last point that this website makes is the accumulation of excess toxins caused by poor lifestyle choices and environmental factors. So we're going to be talking about all of those.
[00:02:35] You want to, um, introduce those five sources that we're going to be talking about today and few. Okay. Let me see if I can remember them. If not, I'll look at my notes, but, uh, I think the first was food and then water. And then environment.
[00:02:52] And then the fourth one was uh, the personal care and beauty products. Now that I think about how could I forget? And then last but not least at all would be our mind, our thought life, for sure. Yes. I kind of want to jump into that right away, but you know, we can put a link. We've talked about that a little bit in some segments. So I'll put a link there, but we will talk about that in detail, in an upcoming podcast, you know, uh, and in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that.
[00:03:28 ]We just wanted to discuss ways to minimize our exposure to toxins. Right. And so today let's talk about food toxins. Okay. And there's so much there. you're welcome to start. Wow. Well, you said it well, there's a lot, there's a lot there and there's just so many directions.
[00:03:50] You can go with that, but just from the simplest standpoint, the more we get away from food in its natural state, the more toxin it could be. And what I mean by that is if we're eating food in containers and preserved food with long shelf lives, we have toxins to contend with. And then another toxin that you pointed out is before it even gets to the store, it was grown out in a field.
[00:04:27] And we'll talk probably at more length about the environment. Perhaps, well, we know use of different chemicals being used on crops, so that's another toxin. Um, so there's just different, different angles from which toxicity can be discussed regarding food. Where did you want to start?
[00:04:49] Yeah. Um, well, I want to reference, uh, EWG, the environmental working groups website, because they have a lot of helpful articles there. They have a lot of helpful databases that you can look up products to see what type of toxins are there and what levels of the toxins are there.
[00:05:11] You know? So I really like that. And I've known for a while, but I think you are the first person that pointed that out for me was the dirty dozen, yeah. The dirty dozen, I believe that originated from EWG and I believe it's still on their website and it's the dirty-dozen of fruits and vegetables that have the highest amount of pesticides.
[00:05:35] Yeah, I think they have the clean 15. These have the least amount of pesticides on them... I haven't seen that, but I'm glad to hear about that list too. Yeah, I'll definitely find that in post that below in the show notes.
[00:05:53] So I guess number one is we want to avoid pesticides, right. And another good way when we're looking at that list, a little better way to avoid pesticides would be to choose organic when possible, because there aren't supposed to be pesticides sprayed on organic foods. But there is something that we do have to be aware of when we're going to talk about later the environment, but certain crops are sprayed with pesticides. But hey right across the road, we can have an organic farm.
[00:06:34] That's going to get that same, you know, pesticide residue on it. So, this is just a fact of life, but, uh, it's going to have less pesticides if we choose organic, you know, this is just all possibility. And I don't know to what depth EWG has listed, these pesticides, the contamination amounts. They've done studies. And there is one one, one particular, one that I really want to talk about though.
[00:07:07] And yeah, the chemical that's sprayed very often is glyphosate. Okay. So we spell that G L Y P H O S a T E. And it is something that I learned about a really long time ago. They have many articles dating back as far as 2013, probably even before then. But I found a new article and, um, they're trying to make the public aware, but these are in our children's foods such as cereals Cheerios.
[00:07:46] Is a brand that has a lot of this glyphosate in it. And so does Quaker oats. So I will definitely link that below, but that is really something that we need to think about and what it is is it's the Roundup weed killer. Oh, okay. I've heard of Roundup. You've heard of Roundup. It was specially manufactured for GMO crops and it's soy and wheat and corn, and I don't know, I'm going to have to look up the specifics, but one thing to note about soy is all the soy tofu that's on the shelves. They are non-GMO. But the crops that's being sprayed is that's the soybean for the soybean oil.
[00:08:41] So that's just something to consider. So we really want to avoid soybean oil in our food. So that's an ingredient that would be on the back. Now, glyphosate would not be on the ingredient list, but, um, soybean oil is one.
[00:08:57] What are some other things that you think about avoiding when ... if you are looking at packaged foods? Do you have any specifics? One that comes to mind now that you've I mentioned it and I've seen it more in drinks, especially when the kids did track the Gatorade, the Powerades, and even the track coach used to say, "Hey kids, if you're going to use Gatorade instead of water, water, or coconut water, which is really good, um, please avoid the red Gatorades."
[00:09:26] He would always say, drink the clearest in color that you could, if you're going to drink Gatorade. Because I mean, on the labels that says like FD, different numbers for colors. that's what I've noticed a lot in some of the drinks, but I'm sure in some of the food, there are colors or dyes as well.
[00:09:46] And those are not good either. Yeah, so when we're, when we see colors, F D and C number, whatever there's, yellow, there's blue there's red take note that preservatives are probably included in that food too. I've just noticed that when one's in there they just throw everything in there and, you know, they do that to extend shelf life of those foods. Wow. Okay. Yeah. The colors. And now that you mentioned it, the other thing I've seen is natural flavoring.
[00:10:20] And I always just thought, oh, well, it's natural. But I read somewhere, and I haven't looked it up, but those are not natural really at all. Um, there are things to avoid. You're so right. Yes. I've definitely seen that.
[00:10:34] And we definitely need to put a link to more information about that. And because I have seen lists of what those natural flavors are actually. Yeah, so, okay. There's just so much there, you know, and one that I know... potassium sorbate, that's a preservative and I'll put a link to that and what what's bad about it.
[00:10:57] And these are just some things that I just remember seeing, hydrogenated oils, Although they're supposed to be a move to get those out, but they're just replacing it with something else, you know, some other preservative because they need the food to last on the shelf.
[00:11:12] Right? True. Yeah. So we want to avoid preservatives. We want to avoid colors. We want to avoid all these, you know, oils like specifically soybean oil and there are a few others, I think, canola oil, unless it's listed as non-GMO. Um, wow. Because you know what?
[00:11:37] Like I'm just going to have to call it out the uncle Ben's rice. You know, those little packets that you can get for microwave, which I don't recommend. I know the microwave anyway. Okay. I won't go there. I try and warm up everything in the oven or stove, but those microwave packages of rice.
[00:11:57] If you look closer, these days you'll see manufactured with genetically modified ingredients"- is on that package. Oh, wow. I did not notice that, but I, I'm not surprised. And now that we're going through some of these things to avoid. I don't know if they're in the same category that we're speaking of, but an overabundance of sugar is not good period.
[00:12:23] And, and I, you know, more and more studies are showing that we probably need to detox from sugar sometimes because we just have too much going on in our products, all kinds of sugar from, yeah and then the artificial sugars, which I've read that those may be even worse than the cane sugar.
[00:12:42] I'm sure they're worse than the cane sugar because they're not natural sugars. So the whole idea of just all the sugars, definitely the ones that are the artificial sweeteners, we probably don't want to do a lot of those. Yeah. The others too. The like the ones you said that in the O-S- E. Those are not natural because they have been refined, you know, they're removed from their natural state. And I do want to say though, a lot of the sugar that listed, unless it says organic, that sugar that's listed on many items are from GMO crops. Oh, well, see, I would not have known that. Oh yeah. They're from GMO crops. Beets. Beets is a GMO crop. Yeah. Unless it's organic. Most sugar on products today are from beets and they're GMO beets. Wow. Well, I knew at trader Joe's, once we went to inquire about the corn chips or different chips that were made from corn, , they sit all of our chips are non-GMO.
[00:13:50] So I wonder if. Hold true for everything at their store. I don't know, but I, I will find out because I had never, I just see beets. I'm not thinking non-GMO beets or not. So, um, anyway, that's good information Shonda.
[00:14:04] We do want to let people know that, you know, we're talking about all these things to avoid, and it could sound like a lot. It can sound overwhelming, but it's just a matter of just educating ourselves and making changes. Making changes that make sense for our family and part of making changes that will be healthier for us is eating a more plant-based whole food diet versus more of a standard American diet. So then if you're doing more of a plant-based whole food diet, you won't have to worry as much about these different toxins, um, because you hopefully know where you're getting your food from.
[00:14:46] But, what would you say to that? Because I know when I was a young mother and I start reading all this stuff and learning more and and having a smaller budget. And at one point I did get a bit overwhelmed, to be honest, um, with a young family.
[00:15:00] The only thing I, I would say is don't become stressed out about this. You know, you pray. We know God provides for us our health and our provisions and, and also resources like EWG. If, you know, there are some fruits and vegetables that have more of the, um, the pesticides, then you can go to the other ones that don't.
[00:15:21] So I love how we're providing the EWG link. And on there, it sounds like not only are they telling you which ones to try to avoid, but they're telling you go to these 15 and those are good to go.
[00:15:34] Yeah, you said it exactly. That's exactly a good thing because we don't want to become overwhelmed because that takes us back to creating toxic stress, you know, in our, with our thinking and things like that. But yeah, we are just bringing this to you so that you can become more aware and you can make some wiser choices, you know?
[00:15:55] Um, Just for better health. And like you said, go for more whole foods and it's easier to avoid all of this if we're eating whole foods, you know, and I like to add that whole foods can be made into some really delicious scrumptious food. You know, if, if, if that's what you need to do, I mean, it takes a little bit more work.
[00:16:19] It does, but if that's what you need. Sugar, you know, dates, use dates, you know, and, and just, there are lots of great recipes that use whole foods to make the same food that you may be used to eating, in the standard American diet. You know, you can make cobblers using dates and oats and apples and peaches, you know, there, there's still ways to do this, but you know, it takes learning a different method.
[00:16:52] I mean, just think about it. Well, you learn to bake that cake, you know, you had to learn, if you're making a cake from scratch, I suppose, you know, you learn the steps to make that. So it's just about learning a different method, you know? Exactly. Exactly. I love that encouragement. And, and now with the internet, Hey, you can Google anything, find a video, find people doing it.
[00:17:15] You can have fun watching someone prepare something a new way, and then you can do that and then put your own spin on it. But, um, so we can be encouraged by these different videos out there and, and the food doesn't have to be boring because we're eating it in its whole form.
[00:17:32] Uh, there's just so many things for, for example, carrots, I just like chewing on a carrot, just like it is, but if that's not enough for you, my sister told me. She and her husband chop up the carrots and they cut up the dates that you just mentioned and sprinkle a little salt and that caramelization in the oven, when you bake it with just a little salt... delicious. Sounds like a dessert.
[00:17:58] Yeah. Yeah. For some, yeah. For some, it could be dessert and it could just be a side or something just new to try, right? Yeah okay. That's all great stuff. They're just some really good reference material out there to help get you started. And remember, just start slowly and, and make a little change here and there, and to not be overwhelmed, but just think about, you know, I made a change. I made a positive change and it's good.
[00:18:30] And I'm gonna benefit from it and, and carry on, right? It's all good stuff. I love the idea that we're sharing resources. And if anyone else has any resources, please share them with us because that's part of building a community and encouraging one another. That like you said it's one day at a time.
[00:18:49] It's one day at a time. Yeah, definitely, one day at a time. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. We'll see you all next time.

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Podcast Episode 42 – Raw Foods vs. Cooked Foods

Today the conversation is about raw foods vs. cooked foods. We share an article (see below), our experiences, and a few tips.

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SHOW NOTES:

Raw Food vs. Cooked Food: A Nutrient Analysis (Article referred to in the podcast)

Please refer to these YouTube Episodes by Dr. Baxter Montgomery concerning ‘Juicing for Raw Food Benefits’:

Main Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Also available on YouTube:

Transcript:

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Shonda: So I was thinking about raw food and the benefits that it has .
[00:00:04] You know, it was just on my mind to want to express to the community how important raw food and fresh foods are. I'm talking more like salads and, you know, eating fresh fruits and things like that. You know, mostly , I mean, I can't stop talking about juicing. Of course, I do like to juice. That's a raw food option.
[00:00:27] Um, but it was on my mind and then you sent me this article and it's like, oh, okay. So that's what we're talking about today. And it's raw food versus cook food. It also talks about nutrient analysis, but I don't think it goes as deep into nutrient analysis as I thought.
[00:00:45] So we'll just kind of talk about just general raw food versus cooked, and I guess our experiences, and we can talk about what the article talks about.
[00:00:57] Patryce: Excellent. Yeah, it was, it was an interesting article. And when I sent it, the fact that you were thinking about the same subject was awesome. So I haven't eaten mainly raw or a lot of raw but I definitely, even as a kid, I've always gravitated to like the raw carrots and well, like you said, most of our fruits are raw. Apples. How many kids don't like a good apple and especially with almond or peanut butter on it?
[00:01:27] Yeah. This is a very interesting article because it does talk about raw versus the cooked food diet. And, um, I think it starts off by saying that raw versus cooked the answer isn't very clear because there are many different ways of preparing food to start with. Because you can bake it, you can steam it, you can roast it, you can fry it. So. Even if you're cooking it, depending on the way you decided to cook, it can really impact your nutrition.
[00:02:00] And one thing I saw it, I don't know if it was here, but the fact that it didn't seem like boiling your vegetables is the most ideal in most situations.
[00:02:09] Shonda: Yeah, you're right. I think I did read that in this article too. And I know, you know, some people believe that you shouldn't raise the temperature of your foods above a certain point. , But yeah, and just like frying, you know, we're against frying, that's a really high temperature. So, um, you know, some believe that destroys all nutrients in the food when you fry it. So, yeah, but you know, there's a lot of things there there's differences in the way you prepare your food and some nutrients are unlocked by certain cooking methods.
[00:02:42] I know there's a difference between like cooked tomatoes versus not, you know So, you know, it has its benefits. And I think in general, and this is the way I eat. I eat in just a variety. Cooked and raw or fresh foods. And I try to get that all in a same day.
[00:03:03] I try to not eat all cooked foods for an entire single day, you know? And so we can't do that if we are eating fruit, because hopefully we're eating fresh fruit and not just, you know, apple pies and cobblers, somethings like that. So, yeah.
[00:03:23] Patryce: Yeah, I think that's a very good point. You brought up about variety.
[00:03:27] Um, I, I love to do that myself. If you're having some warm food or cooked food. Well, it's good to compliment that with some raw food. And I think most of us do that, um, have some vegetables or the salad. Those are not usually cooked or often the vegetables like carrots may not be and definitely salads are usually not cooked. And it's good to have that kind of variety. And the thing I do want to say is just the reminder that when we're eating raw foods, although they're excellent for us to make sure we thoroughly wash them.
[00:04:02] Shonda: Yeah. Yeah. That is important. Um, especially if we didn't grow them in our own gardens.
[00:04:08] Sure.
[00:04:11] Patryce: Okay. And we can Google different ways to do that because I mean, we can rinse them, but I think baking soda, there, there are different things that you can use just in your pantry to help get a more thorough washing if you want, but definitely rinse them thoroughly. And, um, it's not being finicky. It's just being careful because of diseases. And then let's be honest, the manure, you don't necessarily want to eat that. Yeah.
[00:04:40] Shonda: You don't remember that vegetable has been, so yeah, let's wash our vegetables, even if we're going to cook them, but especially if we're not going to cook them, let's wash them. Yeah. That's a good thing.
[00:04:52] So the, the article will be linked below. You can go and read about all these things: antioxidant differences and vitamin differences. It's a really short, it's like five minutes, really, I think. Um, but. I think it did summarize there's a bottom line here. And like we've talked about before, , it says, and I'm quoting "numerous research studies show that eating more plant sources of foods, vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and seeds, and legumes is a key strategy to improve health and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer".
[00:05:35] Patryce: I'm glad you highlighted that. And, and, and I'm sorry, I couldn't help, but mentioning that, not only does it help her overall health part of that overall health is our oral health.
[00:05:45] And maybe we can talk about it another day, but, um, you know, our teeth, our mouth, our gums, that's a big part of our overall health and a more plant-based diet will be better for that as well.
[00:06:00] Shonda: Right? Yeah. I think we've both seen that in our lives and our visits to the dentist . Yeah, we both get good dental reports. Right. So that is something it is for your overall health. But yeah, just recently we both visited the dentist. So we just want to share that with you.
[00:06:18] So what else do we want to talk about? I know what else we can mention here before we let you guys go. We can talk about how we stir steam, our vegetables instead of using oil. So that removes frying... no longer frying vegetables. But we stir steam them and you can do that on a very low temperature. And it only takes one pan and a little bit of water.
[00:06:46] And a lot of times the lower temperature that you use, the less water you need because vegetables have their own liquids. And, they'll taste sweeter and things like that just as if you bake them. I know there are, there is an option to bake and the lower temperature that you bake the better too.
[00:07:04] It's just all about preserving nutrients in the food. So let's try to go for the lower temperatures, especially when we have more time to cook and it's more relaxing to take it at a slower pace and love your food so it can love you back.
[00:07:22] Patryce: I love that love your food so it can love you back. And to your point about the lower temperatures, it did mention in this article about dehydration.
[00:07:31] And if you have a dehydrator or you can pick one up at the garage store or find one on, on a good, for a good sale, you can do that for your kale chips or your fruits. And, um, if you don't have a dehydrator and not investing right now, like you said, just a low, low temperature in the oven should give you similar results.
[00:07:51] Right? Right. Yeah.
[00:07:53] Um, so yeah, this is just. Pretty short article. And, and like you said, the bottom line is regardless. We're not saying that there's only one way to eat your vegetables. We're just concurring that let's eat our vegetables and eat plenty of them.
[00:08:11] Shonda: Yeah. There's a variety of ways to eat vegetables and yeah.
[00:08:16] To make them more enjoyable or just enjoy a different variety. So that's what I try to do.
[00:08:23] Patryce: I do too. Yeah. And, and also for your, when you have young kids, you know, maybe your kids say, oh, I don't like carrots, but then that's because they've only had them a raw, but then maybe you steam some carrots or even bake them.
[00:08:39] And then the kids are like, oh, I really liked those. So just encouraging the parents that if you've baked your carrots and the kids are like, I don't like it. Don't despair. Try to give them to them in another form. Maybe then you give them to them crunchier by giving them raw carrots. So especially with children and when they're young, let them experience the vegetables in different forms.
[00:09:00] Shonda: Yeah. Yeah. That's good. That's another take on raw versus cooked. Yeah, that's a good one.
[00:09:05] Patryce: Another way to incorporate our raw vegetables would be smoothies. You mentioned juicing, but also smoothies and soups.
[00:09:15] There's some, some cold soups, but, uh, that's another way we can enjoy our raw veggies or just enjoying the vegetables again is through smoothies and, uh, soups.
[00:09:27] Shonda: Like for me, I notice a difference of when I don't eat raw food in a day, you know? , but I noticed a difference in energy levels.
[00:09:36] If I don't, if I skip out of raw, fresh food in a day, my energy level is much lower.
[00:09:45] Patryce: Wow, that's powerful. And I think that's good to share because we don't know who out there is, like lacking energy, big time or fatigue, big time, and they've tried everything else. And so there are people who do juice feasts and, and things like that.
[00:10:00] So maybe for that person, who's like no energy. They've tried everything they may want to try just some staight raw vegetables or some juicing, uh, to see if that does up their energy level. I think that's, that's great. And that's worth mentioning, um, because everyone's body is different and I think you've brought it up before that.
[00:10:21] Uh, you can explain it better than me, but it's live, Right?
[00:10:27] Shonda: It's living. It's still living when it comes out of my fridge. It's still living when I consume it. So it's live food, giving life. And you know, when we juice, we get a compressed amount
[00:10:43] of nutrients. Because we're taking two pound of carrots, which I can't sit here and eat two pounds of carrots but I can drink two pounds of carrots.
[00:10:50] So I know a lot of people are worried about the sugar in there and stuff like that. And that's a whole other thing and I'll just have to refer you to Dr. Montgomery. But, um, I've never had problems with that.
[00:11:01] I've noticed a difference. Some people don't. Some people do. If you're lacking energy, try juicing some vegetables and see how it affects you..
[00:11:11] Patryce: Exactly. Great. I'm glad you brought that up because uh real quick, I had an example where we were traveling somewhere and, and just could not find a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, raw foods raw vegetables.
[00:11:25] And it was a very big difference in how I felt. After a day of not being able to eat any raw or fresh fruits and vegetables. So I think people might underestimate how nourishing that can be to your body. So again, I would just encourage you if you've tried everything else, try juicing and, or try just some raw foods for a couple days, uh, and see if you feel better.
[00:11:54] Shonda: So I really liked the bottom line of this article because, um, you know, that's the bottom line. Um, we're talking about upping our plant intake, right? And whether you do it raw or cooked, we recommend that you do both.
[00:12:16] Patryce: True. I love that bottom line.

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Podcast Episode 26 – Praying For A Peaceful Lifestyle

At the end of Episode 25 (Got Stress? Let’s Deal With It), we decided it was important to talk about prayer. Prayer is very helpful in dealing with stress because it gives us direction and purpose as we seek God for help. So today we’re talking about daily prayer and we touch a bit on prayer and fasting.

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SHOW NOTES:

Prayer Books by Stormie Omartian

See Stormie Omartian’s Book Prayer Warrior (AMAZON Affiliate LInk). She has many more books available that are good guides to praying. Some are specific for wives, some for husbands, some for parents, and even grandparents.

More Resources:

A Healthier Lifestyle

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Shonda: Hello, this is Shonda. At the end of episode 25, which was regarding stress, we decided it was important to talk about prayer . Prayer is very helpful in dealing with stress because it gives us direction and purpose as we seek God for help. So today we're talking about daily prayer and we touch a bit on prayer and fasting.
[00:00:32] Shonda and Patryce: 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.
[00:00:59] 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.
[00:01:17] Shonda: This is Shonda. And Patryce is here and she's going to lead our discussion on prayer.
[00:01:22] Patryce, what did you have for us today about prayer. I'm eager to hear it and learn, because I know you have presented prayer to others before, so I'm eager to hear your presentation.
[00:01:33] Patryce: Wonderful. Well, I'm eager to share. And, um, I think as we've mentioned before, I'm sharing from the perspective of being a Christ follower and as such, we talked on our last podcast about stress. And we've talked about different ways to relieve stress and manage stress and one major way in our lives, uh, as Christ followers, and just how myself and I think I can speak for you too, Shonda, uh, we deal with stress is through, through prayer, our prayer life. And, um, so that's what, what we just basically wanted to share. About our prayer lives and just the power of prayer. We can start with what is prayer?
[00:02:23] Prayer is essentially talking with God and by talking with God, drawing nearer to Him. And it's something we can do any time, anywhere. And that alone helps with minimizing stress because that's when stress can occur anytime, anywhere. So we always have the power of prayer to turn to.
[00:02:46] And, um, you know, I, I, maybe not everyone listening to the podcast has the practice of praying, but I'd like to encourage you to just listen to our podcast and, and reflect on just some of the things we're wanting to share from the heart.
[00:03:03] And, um, I guess I would, would begin with talking about saying grace, because we do talk about food and drink here. Uh, and many people are aware of saying grace.
[00:03:16] And what is saying grace? It's just the practice of thanking God for food before a meal. And, uh, it is... it can be as simple as just thanking Him. Or it can also be a little lengthier and be a time of Thanksgiving for all of his provisions. Maybe it's a bigger meal with more people. And so I'm, I'm thinking of Thanksgiving for example, of a time where the pre-meal prayer, uh, might be a little longer than the everyday prayer before a meal
[00:03:51] Shonda: Here in the U S Thanksgiving meal is not too foreign of an idea for praying before receiving that meal.
[00:03:59] Patryce: Definitely. Yeah. That's a very good example. And, um, so I know that for some people, yeah. It can be intimidating or complicated, but I think if we try to simplify it and just like we, like, we started with think of it as just talking to God, God who provides everything for us and, and blesses us, then it becomes more natural to think well, I'd like to thank God and that's at every meal time. And then ask Him to bless the food as well, because we have only so much control over things in life, including the food preparation and, and just all those things. So, um, I definitely feel strongly that asking the Lord to bless my food is something that also minimizes stress and brings about peace.
[00:04:55] So anything you wanted to add to that Shonda? Uh, about the prayer time at meal?
[00:05:00] Shonda: I know that, um, at one time when I was having the most difficult time with digestion that, um, I made it a true practice to pray, um, because I was seeking God for relief from that. And also it was a time that I could calm my body down and to prepare it for, for eating, you know, to switch from, um, the busy-ness of the day to sit before the Lord and pray and receive peace before eating food.
[00:05:29] Patryce: I love that. I love that that's proactively praying and, um, and being intentional. Yeah. So thank you for sharing that. And, and also I was thinking also, you know, we have also prayers that we, we pray in the middle of any situation or daily activity, similar to what, what you were just sharing Shonda, and then maybe even a practice when you're about to go out to eat. And you're used to making your own meals at home, and you've been on this, this lifestyle change and it works for you, but you're going somewhere else. And, and you you're, you're going to have fellowship with other people and a good time, but you want to avoid temptations. So I've heard it called arrow prayers. Just little prayers that you say, Lord, on your way into the restaurant. Lord, help guide me on my food choices today. And my, and just my interaction with food today, or even when you're going to shop and you forgotten your shopping list, or don't have one asking the Lord to just remind you of what it is that would be best for your body or what, what to include in your basket, um, when, when doing your grocery shopping.
[00:06:43] So again, it's just the practice of knowing we can go to the Lord at any time about anything.
[00:06:48] Shonda: Wow. That's a really good point for grocery shopping. That's a really good idea
[00:06:53] Patryce: It's been helpful for me. So that, that was just what I wanted to begin with. The, these are just, um, just a reminder that we need to have personal daily communication with God.
[00:07:04] And that's why praying during our mealtimes is, is definitely a good way to put this into practice because we're, we're eating on a daily basis usually.
[00:07:13] Shonda: So why not add prayer to that time? Right.
[00:07:16] Patryce: Exactly. Exactly. And then also with, with prayer, it's setting aside time with God and making that a part of your routine, and that will lend itself to a healthy lifestyle.
[00:07:31] It's an opportunity to... it's something we shouldn't neglect. And it's an opportunity to, to be intentional about our personal, quiet time with the Lord. Is this something that you do as well?
[00:07:43] Shonda: Yeah. And I try to probably pack too much into my mornings. Well, it's usually at the beginning of the day or the end of the day is where it would happen. If I do not have personal quiet time in the beginning of the day, because, you know, I slept too late and I've got to get to feed the dogs and it's just going later later, and there are things piling up, you. I'll usually do so in the evening. Try not to late in the evening, but in the evening while catching a little sauna, I like to sit in my sauna and read the Bible and do my study and pray. You know, it's just so warm for me.
[00:08:21] I just likewarmth and being warm in the presence of God is what I enjoy.
[00:08:26] Patryce: That sounds ideal. Sounds really good. Yeah. So just be encouraged everyone that we should each find time, set aside time, whether it be in the morning or evening or both morning and evening to, to be in the presence of the Lord.
[00:08:43] Shonda: I was just going to say, I think sometimes in the morning it is more like an arrow prayer, you know, I stop and acknowledge God, you know, in the morning if I'm not spending any amount of time, you know, to listen and to be quiet before him.
[00:08:59] But also I was just thinking about, I think it's important to have particular spaces that you, you know, spend quiet time alone too.
[00:09:08] Patryce: I agree. I agree that just lends itself to you being able to keep up the practice of it and enjoying that and looking forward to that time. And I, it can be it certain chair, it could be a closet, whatever it is.
[00:09:22] And I have found for myself, I do like to do this in the morning and I actually, yeah we have technology, so with my phone, there's certain YouTubes where they have, um, prayers, uh, targeted prayers that I listened to. And it's just so comforting to listen to those. And then myself, um, just start my day in prayer, asking the Lord to guide me and to lead me and, and, um, To to show me what it is He would have me to do that day and to put Him first. So it's a great way to start our day. And then also to end our days.
[00:10:02] Shonda: Some days it is like right after I feed the dogs, like, let me just get them off my mind and then I'll come, you know, or whatever I had to do in the kitchen. Just get it off my mind and then come back because yeah, God does honor that.
[00:10:15] And I feel less stressed going throughout the day once I've spent that time. Less stress like, well, this really isn't important. Or, you know, my days better ordered and goes much smooth--smoothly.
[00:10:28] Patryce: I agree. It it's just less stress. It seems even if things don't go perfectly, which they never go perfectly.
[00:10:35] I know that my perfect God, um, has heard my prayers. And it's leading me and directing me and, and also, um, I know he will forgive me. And so, um, starting off the day that way, surrendering to Him, is-- it does help with minimizing stress and, and just bring about a peace. Yeah. That can only come from Him. And, um, so anyway, that that's like our individual alone time type, type praying.
[00:11:06] And then I, I had not learned about this until later in life. Something referred to as corporate prayer. Where I think this is another way that we can deal with stress, help minimize stress and corporate prayer just means praying with two or more people. Meaning that two or more of us, I'm sorry, are praying.
[00:11:27] So instead of praying, individually or solo, it's you one other person or maybe a whole group of people, uh, praying together. And there's no set way to do that, but I think just the whole process of praying with other people who are seeking and thanking the Lord. Um, it's just a very freeing and stressful relieving, um, activity.
[00:11:55] And, um, I've been blessed by different ministries. And one, I have to put out there is Mom's in Prayer. It's an international ministry and you can Google it, but they have so many prayer resources and just encouragement, but they shared something that I've found, um, very helpful in my prayer life. Um, Even to this day and, and that's that when we pray, there's no set way to pray, but there's certain components that are, that are helpful to incorporate in our prayers with other people and beginning with praising God. So just remembering that we're praying to God. And there's so many things to praise him for, but to just praise him, to acknowledge who He is, takes the focus of, of us and our circumstances and puts the focus on who we're praying to.
[00:12:46] Shonda: I think, uh, praise is, um, part of what some people think of as, what are you grateful for?
[00:12:53] Patryce: Amen. What are you grateful for? I love the way... Yeah.
[00:12:57] Shonda: When we should acknowledge that, what we're grateful for does come from him so that that's why it's praise.
[00:13:04] Patryce: Yes. I love how you added that. What we are grateful, grateful for comes from Him. For example, we are grateful that He is sovereign because only He, He is sovereign and sovereignty is from God. He is sovereign. So we can praise Him for that. Or He's mighty or just different... There's so many things to praise Him for. And that we're grateful for, like you just said. Um, so I love how you just put that.
[00:13:29] And then also, you know, when I've prayed with other people, just spending a few minutes, a couple minutes in silent confession, because we all stumble. We all do because none of us are perfect and life isn't perfect. But again, God is so gracious and so merciful and He, He loves us and He forgives us.
[00:13:57] But to be forgiven, we have to confess. So it's been a beautiful thing to be reminded that yes, I am praising God, but I'm also taking time out to silently confess my sins to Him because He is faithful to forgive.
[00:14:10] Shonda: Yeah. And like when you're saying He's faithful to forgive us, and then that reminds me to forgive others around me during that time too. If I have unforgiveness in my heart. Yeah. And that will definitely bring peace and release stress.
[00:14:26] Patryce: Yes. That's a very good, very, very good point about extending forgiveness to others. Yes.
[00:14:32] And then, um, then thanking God, um, A little different from praising Him, but being very specific or just being specific about things that have just happened that day or that week that we want to thank God for, because He, He hears us when we pray and he wants to, to be... He wants a relationship with us. So He loves to hear what we're thankful about. So that's just another thing when we're praying with others to not forget, to share what we're thankful, things that are on our heart that we're thankful for. And that too will, uh, again, take us from just dwelling on ourselves.
[00:15:14] Shonda: I may have miss--, uh, spoken too early about praise, but actually Thanksgiving is the part where we're grateful, right? Where we're expressing our gratefulness.
[00:15:23] Patryce: True. True. But sometimes praise and thankful thankfulness. They sometimes overlap.
[00:15:29] I don't think it's...
[00:15:30] Shonda: I don't think He minds.
[00:15:32] Patryce: No. Not at all, not at all.
[00:15:35] And then, um, so again, this is all praying with more than one person, and then we are going then into a time of interceding. That's when we're actually taking our petitions to Him and, and crying out to Him and seeking His help and, and just praying for specific things that are on our heart. And it's our, it's a time where we can, we have the privilege to pray for others, not just ourselves, but for others as well, but it's a time to intercede on behalf of others.
[00:16:08] And, um, I love this because I know, especially when I was a, a baby Christian or just earlier my faith, um, praying a lot, especially in college. (Oh yeah.) Praying a lot. But it was always God, this God that, give me this, please give me that. Or, um, and then I realized. Yeah, I never really praised him or thanked him or didn't I, anything else confess or anything. I was just always asking God.
[00:16:37] But yeah, just intercession is the opportunity to then, um, not only ask for yourself, but ask for others, praying to God on behalf of others, as well as yourself. And, um, just considering it a privilege, but realizing that you've also acknowledged God for who He is and, and, and ask for forgiveness for your sins and thanked Him before you've just gone into... do this for me, please, or help me here.
[00:17:04] Shonda: Right? Yeah. So, yeah, I think I was thinking earlier about, um, you know, when you ask, this is a time to ask for what your needs are. So we are asking God to relieve us of stress or show us how to be relieved from this stress, you know, what do we need to change? What? You know?
[00:17:23] And He does point that out to you, you know, and I was thinking, this is also a time, you know, to think about guide me. And like you said earlier more in depth guide me in my food choices, guide me in my health plan, guide me, you know, in the lifestyle and, whatever need ...Changes need to happen. Show me the way.
[00:17:43] Patryce: Exactly. Actually, I love that. That, that is a great example of speaking specific on God, tell me, help me show me, and He is faithful to do that. Yeah, I think that's about, about it, um, regarding praying with more than yourself or praying with other people.
[00:18:04] But, um, the last thing to talk about is coupling prayer with fasting and with, with regards to fasting
[00:18:13] um, I don't know if many people listening, know what fasting is, but it it's abstaining from all or some kinds of food or drink and, uh, usually associated with your, uh, uh, religious practices. And so Shonda probably you can probably speak to this more because I I've done more fasting from not necessarily food or drink, but I know often people will fast from, uh, social media, anything that has become a stumbling block or anything that's just taking over your life or has not been healthy or is adding stress to your life. Let's just put it like that. For example, it's, it's not wrong to watch the news or, or to be on some social media platforms.
[00:18:59] But if that is like what you wake up to everyday and go to bed to every day and then you're stressing about what the content wow. Then try, I would encourage you to, to try abstaining from a period, for a period of time. I don't know if it's 21 days or whatever period of time you'd like from whatever that is and news or social media. And I think you will be so pleased with how freeing it is.
[00:19:28] Shonda: And guess what we can do with that extra time? Prayer.
[00:19:32] Patryce: I love that. Yes. Prayer. We sure...Yeah, we can pray and we can also plan our food, our meals, and other things that we say we don't have enough time for. I'm glad you brought that up because I don't even think I'm one of those people always on certain things, but when I have done... fast from say social media, because I don't watch news that much, but say social media. Um, yeah, I do find, I have a lot more time. So when I said, Oh, I don't know how to plan my meal, or I don't have time to play my meals. Uh, I, I do have more time. It's just, I've been spending it on all other things.
[00:20:07] So it can be an eyeopening experience and, uh, yeah, it can add to your peace.
[00:20:13] Shonda: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um, so yeah, I know ,that that fasting allows your body to recuperate. I usually have never fasted really without food or drink for a long period of time. But I have done short, fasts. Um, I used to do a regular, you know, regularly, weekly, um, but, um But my purpose was healing.
[00:20:42] My, my purpose there was healing. So I did pray or I would read a certain passage during that, but really my focus was healing on that. So I think prayer and fast fasting together is about seeking something. So when I was going through healing at that time, you know, that's what I did. I did pray and fast.
[00:21:07] No, I haven't been on a regular basis something that I really incorporate as a lifestyle, let's say. I'm considering that because the Bible does tell us when you pray and when you fast, you know, so, you know, that may be something that we need to look further into, but I do know that it does have a healing effect on the body and it does have a spiritual connection to God.
[00:21:34] So, you know, the prayer, that's the spiritual connection, the fasting, that's the healing part of the body. And I know many times when I have, uh, gotten sick, I don't eat during when I'm sick. So I'm giving my body time to heal. So I am fasting, but usually I'm doing it with juice, you know, I'm the juice girl.
[00:21:55] So yeah, I usually don't eat when I'm sick. And the last time was at the beginning of March 2020 whatever, what was that? 2020 that we were in. Yeah. So, you know, I may have you know, been in contact with COVID. I don't know. That was the last time I was sick and, um, it was for three days and I did not eat, I think one day during that, I think I ate oatmeal cause I felt a little hungry, but I did not eat and I did the saunas and stuff.
[00:22:23] And um, so I know a lot of people do fasting because, uh, or maybe in line with detox, you know, maybe people think of it as a detox, but wow. Just to compound it with prayer, you know, um, to put that time that you would be spending in eating, you know. I think it reminds you, I'm not eating. Why am I not eating? I'm not eating because I want to pray instead, I want to be connected to God. So when the thought of like, okay, I'm not eating my thought immediately goes to God, what are you showing me? God, what. You know, what, what can we do? I'm seeking you, you know, in my mind is like, okay, God, I'm not eating. I'm seeking you and a moment to listen, you know?
[00:23:08] Um, so that's what I think, you know, at those times like, oh, it's time to eat. No, we're not eating today. We are thinking on God and, you know, asking for guidance.
[00:23:19] Patryce: So I love that. That's so good. And I love how you brought up healing and there's healing of our body that takes place when fasting and then detox, and you mentioned detoxing. And detoxing physically of our body, but with both healing and detoxing, as you were speaking, I thought these also apply to healing of our thoughts and our mind and yeah.
[00:23:44] Shonda: Spiritual and physical are highly connected. So yeah, that's right.
[00:23:50] Patryce: That's what I'm thinking. You said it well, spiritual and physical. So spiritual healing and physical healing, but also physical detoxing and spiritual detoxing, because you know what? We need to also rid our minds of the garbage or the excess and, and not to say again about the news or social media, but sometimes let's be honest we have an overload. We have an overload of things that are not moving us closer to the Lord and ultimate peace, but further away and crowding our mind. So I love that visual. I found myself going to after you were, while you were speaking that, that detoxing is not just physical, but it's also spiritual. So Thank you for that.
[00:24:36] Shonda: Hey God knows. Hey, prayer and fasting, you know, he created us, He created, created prayer and fasting. So yeah, we just need to continue to seek Him to learn and put into practice, um, tools and life that he has given us.
[00:24:52] Patryce: I think that's so key. So I hope people listening to this podcast will be encouraged to put into practice, try out prayer and fasting at some level.
[00:25:05] Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoyed 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.
[00:25:34] Let's just be real.

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Podcast Episode 24 – Health Coaching & Cooking Lessons from a Nurse

Today Deitra Dennis and Shonda have a conversation about Deitra’s journey to a plant-based lifestyle. She is a Registered Nurse and National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Health Coach who has a heart to help others live at their optimal health. After the death of a young patient, she began her path to take her nursing care from the bedside to the sidelines as a health coach and the table side as a nutrition/cooking instructor. Deitra’s new journey is one of dedication to educate and empower her clients to sustain a healthy lifestyle.

OTHER WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN:

Show Notes:

Full Circle Health Coaching, LLC – https://fullcircle.coachesconsole.com/

African Heritage Power Plate – https://fullcircle.coachesconsole.com/african-heritage-power-plate-booklet.html

Oldways Africana Soup In Stories – https://fullcircle.coachesconsole.com/oldways-africana-soup-in-stories.html

Cultivating Seeds of Health – https://fullcircle.coachesconsole.com/cultivating-seeds-of-health.html

The Invisible Vegan – https://www.theinvisiblevegan.com/

Homecoming…Sometimes I am Haunted by Memories of Red Dirt and Clay (Movie Preview) – https://itvs.org/films/homecoming & http://newsreel.org/video/HOMECOMING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DXoKkdOCrU

Homecoming: The Story of African-American Farmers (Paperback Book) – https://amzn.to/3e81K8h

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

Search real food and drink recipes using this link.

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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[00:00:00] Shonda: Today, I would like to introduce you to Dietra Dennis, she's a registered nurse and national board certified health and wellness health coach who has a heart to help others live at their optimal health. Deitra's journey is one of dedication. And her mission is to educate and empower her clients to sustain a healthy lifestyle.
[00:00:23] And that's exactly clean what we love here.
[00:00:36] (Intro): Hi and hello. Welcome to the real food and drinks, lifestyle podcasts. 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.
[00:01:02] 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.
[00:01:21] Shonda: Good morning, Dietra I'm glad to have you here with me today to share your knowledge and things that you have for our community.
[00:01:30] So again, thank you for being here today.
[00:01:33] Deitra: And thank you for having me.
[00:01:34]Shonda: So Deitra, um, you have a very interesting story to share about why you named your health coaching service, full health coaching. From our previous conversations I learned this about you, that your family had a great impact on your choice to become a huge promoter of plant-based foods and even for your choice of a profession.
[00:01:56] Okay. So yeah, I remember you saying it all started when you were a child and you can just start there... sharing your journey with our listeners.
[00:02:04] Deitra: Oh, sure. Well, first I know you wanted to know about the name Full Circle Health Coaching, LLC. So the reason that I thought about full circle health coaching, LLC, and I value coaching so I have a coach myself, um, a life coach. And so in one of our coaching sessions, she asked me, and she's a business and life coach, and she asked me, "You know, what, if you were standing on stage, what is it that you would want for those who are in the audience? What would you want for them? And, you know, and I had to sit and think, I said, you know, I really want for peopleto, um, go back to where we were in a time and space when we were healthy. At that time, the name didn't come, but it was during my quiet moments, that full circle came to mind because full circle means going back to the original position. And so that's how full circle health coaching came to be. And then later on, I have a signature program called" Back to the Root" and back to the root again, refers to going back to the original and "Back to the Root", the nutrition program is specifically for people of color, uh, for us to go back to our African food ways are to the root of that in order to root out all the chronic conditions that we tend to lead in. Um, so that, that's how that came about.
[00:03:31] But yes, when I was about nine years old, I had a cousin that, um, passed away from complications of obesity, she had a heart attack, but from the complications of obesity. And can you imagine, you know, I'm standing there looking at my mom on the telephone when she received a call and just to see the expression on her face, you know, change from her smiling to, you know, just sadness, um, in her demeanor.
[00:03:59] And I'm like, as a child, you don't want to see your parents upset or anyone upset. And so, you know, from that, I started being very observant about, you know, what was going on around me with my family members. Um, I had an uncle who was diagnosed with diabetes and he was blind. Um, you know, complications of the diabetes. Had family members with amputation, on dialysis... and all of those things. As a child I remember verbalizing saying, I have to do something about this because this can't be normal. This can't be right. And I want to be [ um] the solution to help change this in not just my family, but the community at large. So that led me going into the nursing profession. Um, and so that kind of what began my path on this journey.
[00:04:53] Shonda: Wow. And as a child, you know, I know that many of us probably experienced those same things, but never really thought about it that early in life about, you know, wanting to make a change. That's something to say. Cause I say for myself, it was in retrospect looking back on childhood. So yeah. But what were your next steps then as you grew up?
[00:05:16] Deitra: Yeah. So after going into nursing and again, my passion for helping others, you know, you know, it's still with me. But one of the things, when I was in nursing school, then we had the pinning ceremony and we had the Nightingale pledge and the one part that stood out to me is that I am devoting myself dedicated to the wellbeing of those assigned to my care.
[00:05:42] I take that with me today to heart. Still today, even though I'm not at the bedside anymore. I still take that with me to heart because I really want those assigned to my care, and to me, the community is assigned to my care and I desire for everyone to live at their optimal heart health. Um, so that, you know, stayed with me.
[00:06:06] And so once I started in my nursing career, I, again, being observant, seeing patients coming back frequently and what we call in the, um, healthcare a frequent flyer, meaning the person is coming in frequently. It's like a revolving door. They're coming in frequently for the same thing, many of the times. And for me, I'm like, okay, well we're not helping them be well. How is this, you know, really helping someone, even though I knew for me, when I'm going in with patients, I came with my best self because I wanted to extend love to them in my care and compassion.
[00:06:44] But I had one patient and quite a few of my patients had an impact on my career, but I had one patient that really, um, kinda changed my trajectory, if you will. He was in his twenties. And if I didn't mention my cousin, um, back in my, um, when I was talking about my family, my cousin was in her twenties that passed away. And here again, this to me was another full circle moment. Um, because this young man, he was in his twenties, he was morbidly obese. He was well over 500 pounds. He was really close to six or 700 pounds. And, you know, having this guy as a patient, he required a lot of care and attention. I worked at night during that time. And, um, you know, in the caring for him, I spent a lot of time in his room and it was coaching before I knew what coaching was, because I would ask him several questions. Nothing to judge him, but just to ask, you know, how did you get to this point? What was it that led you to being where you are in this state right now? And then asking him, you know, what will you do different in order to live a healthy lifestyle? And so, um, this young man he was in the hospital for a long period of time, but he finally was discharged and went to rehab because he had to learn to walk again. Upon discharging from rehab he went back home and unfortunately he went back to his old way of eating. And as a result, this young man, I'm sad to report, you know, at a very young age, he passed away. You know, again, in his twenties. And so I had that same feeling as that young girl saying I have to do something. I had that same feeling again, saying, okay, there has to be more to this. And I would love to be able to help people sustain a healthy lifestyle.
[00:08:41] And so that, like I said, it changed the trajectory of my career, taking nursing care from the bedside to the table side, the nutrition and cooking, um, and then on the sidelines as a coach. Because a coach, really what a coach does is kind of draw out, what's already in you and helping you guide you along the way to get you to your desired goal.
[00:09:06] And so, um, growing up, I'm from Macon, I'm a Southern girl, um, and Macon, if you're not familiar with, you may know the late Richard Penniman, or you may know him as little Richard. He was from Macon and so making is about 150 miles from Atlanta. So I relocated, um, the young man passed away in 1998 and I relocated in 1999 to Atlanta.
[00:09:29] And one thing that I do know that my life, even as a young child, um, to this day and forward, I know that I'm guided and directed to be in the right place at the right time, meeting the right people, and being offered the best opportunities. And so through the course of time, I've been able to meet different people to help me get to where I am today, so that I can be that vessel to help guide others to live at their optimal heart health.
[00:09:59] Shonda: That is a great insight into living and into giving of yourself in this space is just amazing to me to hear your story. I enjoy hearing your story. So, from that point. I mean, is that when you started, it was so I guess it was in Atlanta or, well, in Macon, Georgia? Or what led you to plant based?
[00:10:21] Deitra: So, that journey... so, like I said I moved to Atlanta in 1999 and that, first of all, I felt that, you know, a lot of healing needed to take place for me. Um, so, you know, just some things from my childhood, you know, I was able to do some self reflection. And so it was, um, and then in 2001, I had the opportunity to meet a young lady who now is a dear dear friend. Um, she, um, was here in Atlanta and she and her husband had a lifestyle center and she, you know, was sharing her story of how she reversed an aggressive form of breast cancer by, you know, going plant-based as well as other lifestyle principles.
[00:11:08] And immediately I said, well, okay, you know, I can do that, but you know, I'm just gonna continue to eat my cheese. I, I admit at that time, and many other people... cheese is addicting, and I just did not want to let that cheese go. So I went vegetarian, lacto-ovo, so I was still, you know, eating eggs and I only ate cheese. I didn't drink the dairy milk anymore. I had switched that, but I was vegetarian from 2001 until 2016. And so, um, and looking back at myself, I was like, okay, well, Dietra, you're not a small person here. You you're, you're leaning towards, you know, obesity yourself. So I love music, and so the song that stood out to me at that time was Michael Jackson, "The man in the mirror", or the woman in the mirror.
[00:12:03] And I said, Deitra, if you're wanting to change lives, you have to be it first, you have to be the example before you do your life's work. And so, you know, again, the vegetarian part was there for me, you know, that I followed. And during that course of 2001 to 2016, I can say, I may have lost 10 pounds. My highest weight was 235 pounds and I am five, seven and a half. Don't forget my half.
[00:12:31] And so, um, then, like I said, the max I may have lost was 10 pounds. And so.
[00:12:38] Shonda: Yeah. Um, I'm wondering, do you think that it's because you met her, she had a miraculous story, but you weren't faced with breast cancer at that time.
[00:12:49] Deitra: No.
[00:12:49] Shonda: So you weren't thinking about even avoiding it because you hadn't...
[00:12:54] Deitra: Yeah.
[00:12:55] Shonda: Is that, do you think that's why you just like, well, I'm just going to do this little part and didn't do the full part...that she had done?
[00:13:02] Deitra: Yeah. Well, I felt, okay, well, this is a way, you know, and I will even say, and being in a health care industry. I knew the importance of having fruits and vegetables. And then growing up, we had gardens. So we had fruit and vegetables, but we still had meat on a plate. But I felt, okay, this is a way. You know, that was, I felt, okay, this is the path to help me do what my desire is to help people live a healthy way. But I just didn't want to give up the cheese.
[00:13:30] I didn't start, um, teaching, um, until 2017. Yeah, I didn't. Um, but I was gathering information of what can I do? Um, you know, in that time I started my business in 2013. Um, back to the food, but Donna's food was just delicious. And it was familiar food. Um, because many times when patients are, you know, in, in the community at large, I would say when you think of eating healthy, many times, people think, okay, it's going to be bland, I have to give up, you know, traditional foods or generational foods. But now knowing no, you can modify it and still have those flavors and not sacrificing the taste.
[00:14:19] Uh, but then...
[00:14:20] Shonda: You had a story from your family about that.
[00:14:23] Deitra: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So when I went vegetarian , you know, I was still excited to share it with my family. So, um, being overzealous, I decided, okay, well, Thanksgiving I'm gonna just, you know, make this cornbread dressing and I'm going to take it... didn't mention anything. My aunt Mary is my mom's, um, older sister and she passed away, um, April 8th, 2020. And she's a dear, was a dear heart to me because, uh, my, my mom's mother, Emma, aunt Mary's , you know, they, their mother had passed away and my mom was a baby, so I didn't have my maternal grandmother. So my aunt Mary was like grandmother to me.
[00:15:03] And so, um, I didn't even, and she aunt Mary, did all the cooking for whatever occasion, she did all the cooking. And so, I just said, okay, I'm going to take this. And when I got there, Thanksgiving, and with my little dish in hand, all excited, like, okay, I'm going to help my family transition to eating healthier.
[00:15:24] And she tasted it and she said, "No, this tastes like stuffing", and no offense if someone, you know, calls it stuffing, but in her mind, stuffing means bland. And so, you know, my little feelings were hurt and I'm like, okay. But I'm trying to help us live healthy, now. So I had to put myself in time out and really have a conversation with myself to say, okay, she's been cooking much longer than you just asked what can I do to improve the recipe, to make it flavorful orlike her cornbread dressing. So I went back and I asked her and she gave me some tips, like, you know, adding, um, mushroom soup to it. And now I know how to make it vegan, but fast forward now everyone loves my food and ask, okay, so what are you bringing?
[00:16:15] What are you bringing Thanksgiving? What are you bringing Christmas? You know, things like that. So, yeah.
[00:16:20] But, so my tip is if you are introducing a new way of eating to family, number one, don't force it. Number two, if you're going to the... ask the host, if it's okay that you bring a dish. Um, you know, tell him that you're embracing a new lifestyle or what have you, you know, can you bring a dish?
[00:16:41] Um, just do that part. And again, if some... don't force it on anyone, meet people where they are. If they ask you about it, don't discuss it at the table. Just say, okay, we'll talk about it after we finish eating kind of thing, but that that's a tip. I would say, don't do what I did, you know, with that, because that, wasn't a great experience.
[00:17:01] Shonda: Wow. Thanks. Thanks for sharing that with us because, you know, I know I've probably done it wrong in the... I'm sure I have done it wrong in the... in some cases. Um, but yeah, that's, that's really good insight to sharing our new found food. Right? Okay.
[00:17:19] Deitra: So 2013 was when I started the business. And so, um, Full Circle Health Coaching, LLC was born and we are a health and wellness of solution offering evidence-based and culturally relevant services.
[00:17:33] You know, that specializing in heart health for women of color. And we do that through coaching nutrition and cooking.
[00:17:41] Shonda: For those of you listening, the contact information is below in the show notes. So I know you had some stories, some history about African-Americans and traditional foods. And we'll talk about a little bit more about "Back to the Root", if you have just a little tiny bit to share there, whichever one of those you'd like to start with.
[00:18:05] Deitra: Uh, well, going back to how our ancestors ate prior to enslavement. They ate primarily plant-based. They ate meat, but it was on occasion, like a celebration or a ceremony. It was not the star of the plate when they did eat meat.
[00:18:24] And so at that time, following that way of eating, they were truly the epitome of health. It wasn't until after enslavement, when our ancestors were brought here to America and you know, were given scraps to create a meal with where soul food came about. And the term soul food didn't come about until the sixties, because it was a way of saying that our community has culture.
[00:18:52] And so in the soul food, again, it was more of survival. Food. It wasn't the traditional way of eating. And so that's how "Back to the Root" my, my, uh, nutrition, my signature program came about, because I want us to go back to the old way. I mean, because you know, Shonda in thinking about, you know, when you hear about chronic conditions, who is normally leading with those diagnosis? It's our community.
[00:19:22] And so if we can go back to the way our ancestors ate, who were the epitome of health, that is how we will then go back to living at our optimal health, by going back to the root and we can root out, um, all of those chronic conditions. And so in my program, I share a little bit with that. Um, and like I said, I am revamping it.
[00:19:46] It was a two week jumpstart. Um, but I felt that I was overwhelming people with all of the information I was sharing, because it was a lot, um, to, to take in because it was involving coaching, cooking, and there were many elements of it, of how to adopt a whole food plant-based way of eating. So I am in the process of revamping it and it will be a little longer.
[00:20:11] Um, we still will talk about meal planning, grocery shopping on a budget, resetting your, um, kitchen, um, you know, with making sure you have the correct foods in your home. Because if we take it back to the heart of the home, we can heal our heart by doing that. And the heart of the home is the kitchen. And we also talk about meal prepping and things of that nature, and many other things of how to live a healthy lifestyle. Not only, you know, nutrition, but every aspect of lifestyle, um, nutrition is about 50% of getting lifestyle, right, so that's why I spend a lot of time on nutrition. But it's important to get the rest. It's important to have the sunlight, getting, um, you know, out in the environment, taking a deep breath, stress reduction, social connection, um, being at your optimal weight. And like I said, nutrition is a part of it so... And physical activity.
[00:21:04] So, you know, it's all of those components that will be included in the new program that will be launched.
[00:21:13] Shonda: Yeah, that sounds good. I, and I was thinking about back to the root. I mean, you know, we got lots of sunlight, just like you said, and you know, we were moving around more than, than we do today, so yeah. Yeah, that's, I'm sure that's a really good program that you've created, so I'm eager to see it.
[00:21:34] So that was so intriguing to me when you were talking about the rice put in the hair for the African-American. Oh well the Africans, when they came over.
[00:21:44] Deitra: Yes. So, um, actually, so, um, when we were talking about tracing the path of our ancestors, so those who knew the women who knew that they were going to, you know, be enslaved, um, they were very innovative.
[00:22:03] And just thinking back just about the rice. The women were the ones, um, in the motherland that cultivated the rice farms, they were the rice farmers. And so, because they wanted to maintain legacy and wasn't sure what was going to be here in the new land. They wanted to be able to bring food with them and bring something that was familiar.
[00:22:28] So what they did was the rice seeds, and as I studied more, it was also bean or pea seeds as well. They put it in their hair and braided them like in the corn row, because if they move their head, it didn't matter how they moved it, those seeds were not going to come out. And so they brought that here, um, to the American South with them.
[00:22:50] And I'm not sure if you're familiar, but in South Carolina, the Gullah, or Geechee, community, they still maintain the traditions of West Africa and they dostill have the rice and cultivating the rice there, um, in South Carolina. And so, yeah, that was what, um, our ancestors, I mean, who would have thought to do that?
[00:23:13] I feel that they were very innovative, um, in that one maintaining legacy and then two like, okay, we need to eat so we can still do that when we get to wherever we're going.
[00:23:25] Shonda: You know, and, and listening to that about, you know, just thinking about blacks or African-Americans farming, I recently saw an article from EWG, the Environmental Working Group, the link was to a webpage they had dedicated, and they were talking about the decline of African-American farmers.
[00:23:46] There's a documentary, um, called "Homecoming" that was created. It was based in Montezuma, Georgia, which is uh, not too far from Macon. Um, but the young lady was sharing... so what would happen is that, you know, again, when the enslaved, um, our enslaved ancestors came the, um, slave owner would give them a small piece of land and I can speak to my grandfather was a peanut farmer. But what would happen when it was time, you know, to pay the taxes or what have you, and when the black farmers would try to go, it was a lot of barriers that were placed in their way in order to, you know, pay the taxes that they needed to do. And so they ended up losing the land. So it was, you know, they would go and they would say, well, you don't have the right whatever. Um, so you know, they go back and get what they need and then they'll tell them, well, it's too late. You've missed the deadline. So then they will lose their land.
[00:24:48] So it was, it was a lot of barriers. Um, that were put in our ancestors way, you know, in order to maintain what they were used to ...farming, you know. So yeah, it was, um, is very, you know, it's touching, but they still were resilient, you know, they did the best they could with what they had. And so that's how it ended up being, you know, they were given the scraps, um, and they made do with what they had. You know, and so, um, again, um, honoring them for the ingenuity to say, okay, well, what we have, we're going to make the best of it and make it very flavorful. And one other thing that many of the, um, you know, again, when they, then the ancestors came over and if they worked in a restaurant and they had recipes, many times, they didn't write it down and some did, but in order to work in a restaurant, they had to give up their recipes in order to work there.
[00:25:50] And from there, the restaurant owner may have written a cookbook and it was the ancestors' recipes, but they didn't acknowledge them at all. And so that's why now I'm not sure if you've had like your grandmother, or, you know, um, an elder in your family, that's like, no, I'm not giving you that. I'm not writing it down. They didn't write it down because it was stolen from them for so long. It's like, okay, I'm going to keep this, like, okay. But I'm your family though. You can tell me, but you know, that is that, you know, some other things that came about from that as well, but. Those again, I just say that they were very resilient and we owe it to them to honor them each and every day, not just uh black history month, um, in the food ways.
[00:26:39] Um, you know, in many ways, but food ways is what we're talking about now. Um, just to really honor our ancestors.
[00:26:47] I see that you have many books, booklets, pamphlets, and things. So can our listeners find these from your website? Like the African Heritage Power Plate booklet. Is that out there?
[00:27:01]Deitra: It is. So if you go to my website and you click on, um, books, you'll see them all there. And the African heritage power plate booklet is downloaded. You can download it in PDF. Um, there is another booklet now it's not totally vegan, but there are a lot of vegan recipes. Um, it's called Oasis. It's the old ways, again, going back to how our ancestors ate. And so I share a little bit more about my story with my aunt Mary, um, for, for my recipe that's in there. So that's on there is Oasis. Um, so that one is there. Um, And then one for if, if someone is in the healthcare profession, um, "How to bring this to your patients". It's a new book that just came out. It's about seeds of health. And so that one was new, that was released in 2020. So that one is there as well.
[00:27:53] But if you just go to my website and click on books, you can see all of those and that one you can purchase on Amazon.
[00:28:00] Shonda: I'm just thinking. And, you know, we have some listeners that are likely new to plant-based living. Um, you know, or creating that plant-based plate. You have shared with us if we're new and how to share with others, but I guess what would keep us motivated? You know, you mentioned how important it is, the energy that we put into our food.
[00:28:23] Deitra: Yes. It is very important that when you're preparing your food, that you are in a great space, you have a right attitude. Don't be upset. Don't be tired, you know, or it's like doing it as a chore. Because that comes out in your food, especially when you're talking about plant foods, because you know, when the food is picked, it may still be in his process of ripening. So it's alive. So just like, you know, you speak life into things, you know, you want to be able to have the right energy when you're preparing food. And as our ancestors who say you cook with love. Right? So you want that to come across on the plate. And I would say the same thing when you're eating, be present with your food, don't be preoccupied with other things, but really take in and enjoy your food as you're eating it.
[00:29:16] Um, and I'll give you an example. There was one time I was really tired and you know, was trying to cook when I was tired. And the food just did not turn out right at all, because it was just like, okay, I'm just doing it because I'm tired, but I know I need to eat. Um, but when you're not in the right frame of mind or not having the right, feelings, you know.
[00:29:37] I cook to music. I always have music on when I'm cooking. Um, because that brings me joy and therefore I'm adding that joy and love into the final product that I'm either cooking for myself or cooking for others. So yes, it is so important to have the right energy when you're cooking, you know, and again, you are preparing this meal, not just for satiety or to feel satisfied, but this is, you are fueling your body with health.
[00:30:06] So, you know, think of it that way and you present it in a beautiful way, you know, make it pretty on the plate because if it's pretty on the plate, it will go on the fork and you will eat it. If it's not pretty, you know, nobody probably will touch it.
[00:30:20] Shonda: That's true. I'm just thinking. Yeah. You're, you're preparing it in love, right? To share, or to love yourself, do this. And then you just, you just talked about making it pretty. I have this lady that I shared, you know, eat more colors. So now she texts me her plates all the time and they are beautiful plates. You know, she's decorated them and she's, you know, she goes that extra... Just puts that little extra thing in it. And she is really enjoying it. Her health has improved and it's just, um, amazing to see it. Yeah.
[00:30:53] Deitra: I certainly agree. And the other part where you were asking, you know, what will help a person stick to it? So if you don't mind, if we can start back, if someone is very new and don't know where to start, I always say start small.
[00:31:07] If you start with one day a meatless Monday. There are so many resources out on the Meatless Monday website, if you want it to do, just start on a Monday with eating meatless. Um, taking one of your traditional recipes that you really, really love, veganize it. And what I mean by that have that recipe and how can I take away if it has meat in it? What can I substitute in its place? If it has dairy in it, what can I do to substitute in its place? I'll give you an example. I love corn bread and corn bread goes with collard greens because they are a dynamic duo not to be separated. And so with my collard greens, growing up, how my mom and aunt Mary and my grandmama, um, my dad's mom would make them, of course they use pork to season it. So, because I love the greens like that. I said, okay, let me think. What does the pork give it? The pork gives it smoke. Okay. Well, I can substitute that with liquid smoke and smoked paprika. Okay. Pork also gives it fat. I don't use oil, but I use just a little bit of coconut cream to give it that fat. And going back to Africa, they season their greens with peanut butter in it. And you can find, because we want to keep things low fat, you can find the powdered peanut butter, and you know, mix that up and it'll have the same consistency as this regular peanut butter. So you can use that as your fat. And the other thing that the pork gives you is the salt. And so if you're using salt, you can put a little bit of salt in there, and that is how you veganize that.
[00:32:48] Corn bread, corn bread, normally in the south we use buttermilk. Okay. I can substitute that, by using a plant-based milk. So one cup of a plant-based milk and you add an acid to it. I like putting apple cider vinegar in it, that a tablespoon of that, and that makes it buttermilk, if you will, or sour milk. Instead of oil or butter, I put, um, apple sauce, and you, that's a one-to-one ratio. So if you were putting a fourth cup of oil in there, you put a fourth cup of applesauce. That's a one-to-one ratio. So I did do put a little bit of that coconut cream in there just to be, have that fat in there for the field on your mouth. That's cornbread. And so that's how you do that.
[00:33:34] But before doing any of that, what will sustain you in this lifestyle is knowing your why. Having a strong enough why, knowing your why will help you in the how?
[00:33:46] My, why is one. I want to be an example, and I want for my community to live at their optimal health. So that is why it has sustained me in my choices to say, okay, this is the lifestyle for me. So knowing your, why will help you in the how.
[00:34:05]Shonda: Wow. That's really great insight and an encouragement for us to carry on. Uh, many of us want to be, you know, helpful to those around us.
[00:34:15] Well, I just want to thank you for taking time out today of your busy schedule. Cause I'm looking at your full list here of all the things you're involved in. And, uh, I'm just thankful that you came to share with us. I will be following you and keeping track of what you're doing so that we can invite you back to hear more about what you have going on and what you're sharing and how you're sharing. Because I think how you're sharing it is really the, uh, important link, you know, the important way. And I just thank you for, for doing what you do.
[00:34:51] Deitra: Thank you so much Shonda for everything that you are doing as well. Um, and bringing this to the community, you know, a support system, if you will, because the support is important.
[00:35:04] You know, you may not have anyone in your family that you know, is on this journey with you, but to be able to have that support and connection is very helpful. So thank you for all that you're doing as well.
[00:35:17] Shonda: Well, thank you. Yes. We want to build a community, a place for everyone to come and feel comfortable and welcome.
[00:35:24] So, um, thank you. Thank you, Deitra. And we'll be talking again soon.
[00:35:29] Deitra: Okay.
[00:35:29] Shonda: Thanks everyone!
[00:35:32] 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.
[00:35:52] And if listening through Anchor.fm, 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 23 – Making Simple Food Choices (Part 3 of 3)

Photo by Nadine Primeau on Unsplash (Colorful Salad)

Today we complete the discussion of the 15 helpful hints from the pure food chapter in Stormie Omartian’s book “Greater Health God’s Way”. Today’s hints 11-15. See below for the full list.

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SIMPLE FOOD CHOICES (Show Notes)

Helpful hints and tips: (Items discussed today are in bold text.)

Always ask yourself, “Is this man-made or God-made?” and “How pure can I get this food?”
The fewer items in a meal, the less you are tempted to overeat and the easier it is to digest.
The more natural the food, the more healthful it is, and the harder it is for you to overeat.
The less active your life or work, the less you need to eat.
Space your eating to put five or six hours between each meal. A possible schedule could be: breakfast at 7 am, lunch at 12 pm, and dinner at 6/7 pm.
Eliminate one or two foods from the foods-to-avoid list every week and add from the foods-to-include list.
Don’t eat overcooked or processed foods.
Eat foods ripe and in season.
Drink water, herbal teas, and freshly squeezed juices.
Don’t eat fried food.
Eat simply and plainly.
Don’t overeat.
Chew well.
Read labels.
Fifty percent of every meal should consist of raw or properly cooked fruits and vegetables.

Foods to Include:

Natural sweeteners such as honey, blackstrap molasses, maple syrup (or at least unrefined sugar) – used sparingly
Foods sweetened with natural sweeteners
Whole-grains/flours: oats, millet, buckwheat, brown rice, etc.
Whole-grain products: such as pasta or bread
Natural fruit juices, substitute sparkling water/drinks for sodas (or even fermented drinks)
Natural nut butter made without added oils and unsalted is best
Fresh and/or frozen fruits and vegetables
Beans and legumes
Fresh herbs: cilantro, parsley, basil, thyme, rosemary, etc.
Springwater, herbal teas, and freshly squeezed juices

Foods to Avoid:

White and refined flours
White and refined sugars
Refined food products: cakes, candies, cookies, pies, cereals, fruits canned in sugar
White rice and white pasta
Soft drinks/sodas
Highly salted foods: potato chips, nuts, pretzels, crackers, etc.
Hydrogenated oils and saturated fats (such as margarine and those found in many fried chip products)
Processed meats (and try to remove overeating meats if you are a meat-eater)
Most processed foods

Adding more raw foods to your diet: Smoothies & Salads

Adding more properly cooked foods (that are not processed): Soups

“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).

Podcast Episode 1 – COVID-19 and Stress

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

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

Search real food and drink recipes using this link.

Transcript

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Shonda: Welcome to episode 23, making simple food choices. Part three of three. Today, we complete the discussion of the 15 helpful hints from the pure food chapter in stormy. Oh, Martin's book greater health. God's way. Today's hints are numbers 11 through 15.
[00:00:30]Shonda and Patryce: 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.
[00:00:56] 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.
[00:01:16] Shonda: So we're back to discuss part three, which is the final part of making simple food choices. And today we're going to be discussing items, ten through 15.
[00:01:28] Patryce: I'm excited about this list because like the ones we've already discussed, there are some additional good tips here, starting with number 11, eat simply and plainly. Shonda you can comment on that. I'm sure.
[00:01:43] Shonda: Okay. So we were discussing this earlier and I have a lot of other things to do and preparing food is not on my agenda at that moment. I mean, even sometimes. I have to make a meal out of fruit, nuts and some water. No, I mean, really it can be that simple or a meal without the sauce., But you were talking about brag seasoning?
[00:02:08] I mean, something like that. I still consider that simple, you know, if I were having rice and beans and I wanted to put a little brags on it, I mean, I think that's still a simple food choice ... beans and rice.
[00:02:19]Patryce: I hear you. Okay. Well, and also just to piggyback off of what you're saying, I think it goes back to do we live to eat or do we eat to live?
[00:02:34] And as simple as that may sound, I definitely can attest to being more in the camp of. Living to eat especially in my twenties and, and just, just having such a, just liking the taste of food and liking to eat. And not that I don't like to taste food now or eat food now. I do see though, that it's more important to eat to live. My meals not the be-all end-all and you know, I have to have it just so and all this it's, it's, it's more of a mindset now for me, and I think it's been more that way for you for a long time to eat, to live versus to live, to eat.
[00:03:18]Shonda: Yeah. And I think that it's, it was easier for me, of course, because I had the reactions immediately after eating, I would know did that food do anything for me or does it make me feel horrible? So having a simple food especially during those earlier times, allowed me to know what was working for me and what was not working for me.
[00:03:41] So that's one benefit of eating simply and plainly. Is this food good for you? Is it giving you energy? Or is it taking away from you and pulling energy away from you?
[00:03:55] Patryce: So true being intentional about what we're eating and also just to observe how we feel after we eat. I think that's a great point, great point that you brought up.
[00:04:06]But I don't know if this is going into too many details or just going on a rabbit rabbit trail, but my husband and I . We were just looking at commercials the other day and the commercials definitely are not advocating eating simply and plainly when you see not only pizza commercials like usual, but now it's not only cheese on top of the pizzait's in the crust. Right?
[00:04:35] All these other things that just seem a little over the top. Yeah. So anyway, I don't know how much that plays into our selection of food, but I wonder how much people are impacted by advertising.
[00:04:51] Shonda: Yeah. I think when we aim to eat simply and plainly it's more like it's more on purpose.
[00:04:58]Patryce: Intentional, purposeful. That's right. That's good point. Okay. What's the next one?
[00:05:05] Shonda: The next one number 12 is never overeat. So yeah, I mean, do we know when we're overeating?
[00:05:15] I mean, I do personally. I think everyone has the same result, right? When you overeat there's a little ache in the tummy, or feeling tired again, the food is overwhelming. I don't know?. What do you think ? Or time for a nap?
[00:05:34] Patryce: I think I am more sensitive to the fact that I'm overeating, whereas in the past, I either didn't realize it or flat out ignored it because I liked what I was eating and there was still more there, so I was able to just eat it. So yeah. That's an interesting question.
[00:05:52]Shonda: If we're not eating real food, we could be eating food that has chemicals in it that are drawing us to the food, you know, more so than we're being drawn to the nutrients and things that are provided in the foods.
[00:06:07] So. Yeah, commercially prepared foods could easily cause us to overeat.
[00:06:15] Patryce: Such a great point because I believe there have been studies about the french fries at some of the most popular, fast food joints and how they have such high sodium content on purpose so that people keep wanting more. And same with sugar.
[00:06:33] Hm, these types of additional sugar and, and fake sugar and artificial sugar they lend themselves to people becoming even borderline addicted, right?
[00:06:44] Shonda: Yeah. So go back to eating simply and plainly because sugar, fat and salt may cause you to over eat for sure.
[00:06:53] Patryce: Great points.
[00:06:56] Shonda: All right. Let's move on to number 13. And it says to chew well.
[00:07:03] Patryce: Wow. That's very important. And I, just feel like I'm a perfect example of before and after, because I'm still working on it, but I definitely did not chew well in the past. And I remember the kids even being in a track club. Where the coach during say a celebration and he would observe the kids eating and he would start explaining to them chew at least so many chews before you swallow.
[00:07:32] He was very adamant that we need to slow down when we're chewing so that we can process our food better, digest it better.
[00:07:42] Shonda: Wow. Yeah, I think you've mentioned him before. What a good coach. Yeah, I think so. I mean, there are times when I too, have maybe waited too long to eat and I finally get a plate of food and I just start eating without even pausing before eating.
[00:07:59] I mean, taking a pause is a good thing to remind ourselves, you know, the purpose of eating... to be thankful for eating. And then, I think if we slow down in that process, we will chew well. And it's important to chew well, because we can savor the food . So yeah, that's all, that's, that's a very good tip. Enjoy your food. And you can do so by chewing well.
[00:08:27] Patryce: I love how you said, enjoy your food. And you also mentioned the thankfulness. I think, as we're chewing and being more intentional to chew well, we are able to reflect on, you know, I am thankful for this food.
[00:08:41] I'm thankful for how it was provided and how it was sourced. There, there is a farmer somewhere helping to grow this food. Yeah.
[00:08:50] Shonda: And I'm thankful for the way it tastes and for the nutrients given to my body.
[00:08:55] Oh, okay. So here's number 14 is something that we stress too. Read labels.
[00:09:01] Patryce: Definitely definitely . We need to read the labels. That will lend itself to not over eating, because if you read some labels, you're like, oh, I can't eat much of that. And reading labels lends itself to eating more simply and plainly and yeah, reading labels is so important.
[00:09:21]Shonda: Yeah. Yeah. It's very important. And of course, Ideally, we want to eat foods that don't really have labels. We want to get most of our food out of the produce department. But let's say in the frozen food section, there's a package of vegetables.
[00:09:38] Are those vegetables plain? Or are they loaded with salt? And perhaps butter, other seasonings, hydrogenated oils? We have to go for the plain packages.
[00:09:52] Patryce: So true because you're right. The more we can just stick to the produce the better, but it's not a bad idea to get the frozen fruits, especially for your smoothie making, but make sure you're not getting, for example, the Acai packs. We like to add those to our smoothie. But there are different ones. There are some that are truly just the acai, but there are others that have Acai with additional sugars added. Where you want to be able to monitor your sugars by adding your own, like a banana or whatever it is. So again, the labels are, are key. Key to knowing what we are putting into our bodies.
[00:10:28] Shonda: Yeah, definitely. Even though we're going for plain fruit or plain vegetables, make sure they're plain read those labels because they can be deceiving.
[00:10:41] Patryce: Great tip.
[00:10:45] Shonda: Okay. So we've come to item number 15, which is 50% of every meal should consist of raw or properly cooked fruits and vegetables.
[00:10:59]Patryce: Wow. Wow. That's an easy one for those who are plant-based heaters or vegetarians, vegans. And but this is a great tip for you. If that's not the lifestyle you've chosen and you, you do incorporate meats and seafoods. Being intentional about 50% of that meal consisting of fruits and vegetables and even raw fruits and vegetables is something to remind ourselves of.,
[00:11:29] I think this is a great tip as well, and this can help people who are in the process of wanting to maybe go more plant based or wanting to become vegan.
[00:11:42] Shonda: Yeah for example, for breakfast, you know, you may have cooked oatmeal, but on the side you can have fruits, you can do a fruit smoothie . If you're going for the breakfast foods or just go for vegetables in the morning,. I like greens and polenta for breakfast. And just make sure that those are in 50/50 portions.
[00:12:04] Patryce: And I'm reminded of say, you're, you're still incorporating meat in your foods, but maybe you want to start with having at least one or two meals a day without meat at all. And so one substitute for breakfast, I've noticed in other countries it's very popular to have beans. Beans for breakfast. Yeah.
[00:12:27] Shonda: There's no reason why we shouldn't. So as we move on to a lunch or a dinner meal that can easily be done through the use of salad, either a side salad or making the entire meal your salad. Most of my salads do contain raw and cook foods. Cooked foods, such as a rice or quinoa added to the vegetables.
[00:12:54] And even some, some fruits such as raisins or slices of apple and things like that. And of course, we know that avocados are fruits and they make the show a good dressing. Yeah.
[00:13:07]Patryce: And the more I think about it, it's a great way to maybe transition to a different type of eating... different way of eating.
[00:13:16] Shonda: Yeah. I think these can be great guidelines. Great guidelines for healthy eating.
[00:13:28]Patryce: I do notice I that in Stormy's book here, she does end this particular chapter with God's way... a way of life. And so these 15 tips or hints that we've gone through the last three podcasts, it really does go back to God's way. Because God ultimately is the one who's provided all that we have to start with.
[00:13:59]Shonda: Be secure in what you know of the way God made food. And she says, don't jump on any food-fad bandwagon. There always be one. Mm.
[00:14:13] Just make sure we're eating basic simple foods and prepare them in simple ways. And she's not saying without flavor, but simply prepared. Natural seasoning, spices, herbs. Those all can be used to wake up a dish. Or wake up your taste buds.
[00:14:37] Patryce: You know, we've gone through these excellent tips, but we do not want to forget the importance of also minimizing stress because even if you're doing all these things, but you're living a highly stressed life constantly, perpetually. That's not going to be good.
[00:14:56]And we've talked about stress before. We're just saying these things are important, we also want to be mindful. Always trying to minimize our stress, be aware of our stress levels and we can ask God to help us with that.
[00:15:09]Just like he made the vegetables, he made all these things. He made it, I think so that we wouldn't be stressed out, but we do that to ourselves.
[00:15:16]I just hear more and more people you know, more and more opportunities to allow ourselves to get stressed. Maybe I'm speaking only from my own experience, but and yeah.
[00:15:26]Shonda: I'm glad that Patrice brought up this point about stress. We can do all of these 15 tips properly. Yet. If we are stressed, they just may not benefit us as well until we get stress under control. It just so happens that it was our first episode in which we discussed stress. So I invite you to go back and take a lesson.
[00:15:49] Also. We will definitely be revisiting this book by stormy sometime in the near future. And if you're looking for help in experiencing greater health, why not try God's way.
[00:16:02]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.
[00:16:16] Also subscribe to our podcast if you aren't already a member of our community. And if listening through Anchor [Anchor.fm], please send us a message of topics you would like to hear us have conversations about. Until next time... let's just be real.
[00:16:41]

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Podcast Episode 22 – Making Simple Food Choices (Part 2 of 3)

Photo by Sara Scarpa on Unsplash

Hi, this is Shonda and I’m back to continue the discussion from Episode 21. Patryce and I were discussing 15 helpful hints from the pure food chapter in Stormie Omartian’s book “Greater Health God’s Way”. We only discussed hints 1 – 5 and so here I will be sharing with you hints 6 – 10 and giving a bit of my input and thoughts. Stay tuned for tips 10 – 15 in a future episode. (See show notes below for more information about the book. (See show notes below for more information about the book.)

OTHER WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN:

SIMPLE FOOD CHOICES (Show Notes)

Helpful hints and tips: (Items discussed today are in bold text.)

Always ask yourself, “Is this man-made or God-made?” and “How pure can I get this food?”
The fewer items in a meal, the less you are tempted to overeat and the easier it is to digest.
The more natural the food, the more healthful it is, and the harder it is for you to overeat.
The less active your life or work, the less you need to eat.
Space your eating to put five or six hours between each meal. A possible schedule could be: breakfast at 7 am, lunch at 12 pm, and dinner at 6/7 pm.
Eliminate one or two foods from the foods-to-avoid list every week and add from the foods-to-include list.
Don’t eat overcooked or processed foods.
Eat foods ripe and in season.
Drink water, herbal teas, and freshly squeezed juices.
Don’t eat fried food.

Foods to Include:

Natural sweeteners such as honey, blackstrap molasses, maple syrup (or at least unrefined sugar) – used sparingly
Foods sweetened with natural sweeteners
Whole-grains/flours: oats, millet, buckwheat, brown rice, etc.
Whole-grain products: such as pasta or bread
Natural fruit juices, substitute sparkling water/drinks for sodas (or even fermented drinks)
Natural nut butter made without added oils and unsalted is best
Fresh and/or frozen fruits and vegetables
Beans and legumes
Fresh herbs: cilantro, parsley, basil, thyme, rosemary, etc.
Springwater, herbal teas, and freshly squeezed juices

Foods to Avoid:

White and refined flours
White and refined sugars
Refined food products: cakes, candies, cookies, pies, cereals, fruits canned in sugar
White rice and white pasta
Soft drinks/sodas
Highly salted foods: potato chips, nuts, pretzels, crackers, etc.
Hydrogenated oils and saturated fats (such as margarine and those found in many fried chip products)
Processed meats (and try to remove overeating meats if you are a meat-eater)
Most processed foods

Episode 3 – Immunity – Drinking Teas

Podcast Episode 4 – Immunity – Water (Drinking and Bathing)

Water as a Nutrient – What options are there? (article)

FDA Bans Trans-Fat Linked to Heart Disease

“Greater Health God’s Way” by Stormie Omartian

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).

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

Search real food and drink recipes using this link.

Here is a link to the Instant Pot Duo Crisp Pressure Cooker 11 in 1, 8 Qt with Air Fryer, Roast, Bake, Dehydrate and more that I mention in the podcast. (This is an affiliate AMAZON link.) It does amazing things: air fry, dehydrate, makes yogurt, pressure cooks, etc. You should check it out, especially if you do not already have one.

Transcript

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Episode 22 - Simple Food Choices (Part 2 of 3)
And I'm back to continue the discussion from episode 21, Patryce and I were discussing 15 helpful hints from the pure food chapter in stormy Omartian's book, Greater Health God's way. We only discussed hints one through five and so here I will be sharing with you hints six to 10 and giving a bit of my input and thoughts.
[00:00:35] 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.
[00:01:01] 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.
[00:01:21] Helpful hint, number six. Eliminate one or two foods from the foods to avoid list every week and add from the foods to include list.
[00:01:34] Now I realize you don't have that list right in front of you, but I definitely will be posting these two lists or most of what's included in these lists on the website. And you can get to that through the show notes. This book was written for someone who is trying to make a change. Therefore, anyone who's trying to make a change... we need to consider a way or manner to do so. And I think that tip number six is very helpful. And you know, it's not like we have to go and do it all overnight... toss out that whole pantry and bring in all new foods and you know, that can be a bit drastic. So I think this is a very helpful hint. I didn't think that that's what I was actually doing, even though I was doing that.
[00:02:24] I didn't have any guidelines. Like I didn't do it every week or so, but I was just slowly looking into, okay, what can I change? And when I get that down, you know, what can I improve upon? You know, what's, um, thing that I need to get rid of, or what's a new cooking technique or what's a new food I need to try out?
[00:02:43] So item. Uh, number six on this list, I think is very helpful. And there are just many ways that you could go about doing that.
[00:02:51] The next helpful hint, number seven, is don't eat over cooked or processed foods. So yeah, we're always talking about processed foods here on the real food and drinks lifestyle podcast.
[00:03:05] And that is one of our major goals is to help you eat real food and not go for the processed foods. I'm in total agreement with this of course. I just think it's really helpful that we look at food this way, you know, real food versus processed foods. Real foods are full of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, fiber, all the things that we need to nourish our bodies with and process foods are usually very lacking and void in these things.
[00:03:39] Also stated in this hint is to not eat over cooked foods. So when I think of over cooking foods, I kind of think about burning food or, you know, maybe cooked on a grill for too long and just way too charred. I know there's lots of debate over pressure cooking or steaming. And cooking on high temperatures, but I'm not sure that's what they're talking about here.
[00:04:07] Ideally. Yes. You just don't want to burn your food and ideally yes, it is good to cook your food at lower temperatures. So I think I would take number seven to saying,,"Hey, why don't you try lightly steaming your vegetables, maybe leaving a little crunch there because, um, that can be very delightful in a dish, especially crispy vegetables or I won't say crispy, but more like crunchy vegetables served in a bowl of rice or a different grain. Yet. I think it's perfectly okay to long stew vegetables or even fruits on the stove top or in a crock pot or something like that.
[00:04:53] I must say that I do a lot of high pressure cooking, which is supposed to preserve nutrients, especially if you drink the water that the vegetables are cooked in. So it's ideal for soups and stews. At least the food is not burned to a crisp.
[00:05:13] So let's move on to item number eight in the list. It says to eat foods ripe and in season. And this is one that I really enjoy for many reasons, because when we eat foods that are ripe and in season, first of all, they taste great. Um, they're usually sweeter. But not only are fruits delicious when ripe and in season, but vegetables are also delicious when in season. They make great salads and [when] you're purchasing at the grocery store they're usually the ones on sale. They have a good price because they're not being shipped from so far away.
[00:05:57] And one great way to find foods, though, that are ripe and in season would be to visit a local farmer's market. And that is ideal. And that can help you figure out what is in season and what is not in season.
[00:06:13] Item.Number nine in the helpful tips list is to drink water, herbal teas and freshly squeezed juices. I believe this is very crucial because our body needs water to carry out its body functions. Our body composition is highly made of water and it requires water to function. So we want to give our bodies the best water that we possibly can when we consume water. There's an article written on the real food and drinks website that will help you make water decisions.
[00:06:51] And personally I prefer spring water because it's naturally filtered and not man-made water. If you go and visit that article, which will be linked below in the show notes, you will see [that] for a while I was drinking reverse osmosis water. And that water was void of minerals and did not help with the electrolyte processes that needed to happen in my body.
[00:07:17] But you know, one other great thing to do is to drink herbal teas. In episode three, we go a little deep in to learning about herbal tea. So I invite you to take a listen to episode three. It's full of great information. Patryce and I both learned some things during that discussion. That will also be linked in the show notes below.
[00:07:44] Some things to note mostly about herbal teas is that most are caffeine free. They have many immune system boosting properties. I think something great to note to note about teas is that they can be warm or hot. So if you need a warm drink, drinking an herbal tea would be a great option. You can also make teas out of spices, such as turmeric and ginger and cinnamon and all these things help with reducing inflammation and just boosting the immune system overall.
[00:08:20] So tea can be made from an actual tea plant or a tea could be an infusion of spices into water.
[00:08:30] She also mentioned freshly squeezed juices here. And so when I think about the most beneficial thing, the quickest and easiest beneficial thing could be like squeezing a lemon or lime in your water. And that helps with digestion also.
[00:08:48] It helps the water to become more alkaline. And we have an upcoming episode where we're going to talk about alkaline foods. So please stay tuned for that one. I enjoy fresh homemade juices. Yes, using a juice machine. I think that taking the fruits and the vegetables, putting them through a juicer, gives my body a great deal of vitamins and nutrients ...more so than I could get out of taking any pill or supplement.
[00:09:20] And so last in today's discussion is item number 10 on the list, which is, do not eat fried food. Definitely when speaking about fast foods or fried foods that you get out at a restaurant that oil has been used over and over and over again. And so that oil has been over processed.
[00:09:44] It's mentioned in item number seven, do not eat over processed foods. So if that oil has been used all day to fry foods, it is definitely over-processed. There's something that happens to oil when it is cooked at high temperatures that has a negative effect on the body. I'll definitely link some items below in the show notes.
[00:10:08] So what are the alternatives? The alternative is to stir steam, your food. That's one option. If we're talking about creating a stir fry, you can stir steam by stirring your vegetables, using water broth or juice and slowly adding enough liquid so that the food does not burn while it's cooking.
[00:10:33] I recently have purchased an air fryer and I think it is a really great thing. So to make any food fried, like, um, the air fryer works really great. You can bread, whatever you would normally fry and then cook it inside of the air fryer without any oil. Or even, I know some have to take a baby step by baby step and you use maybe a little bit of oil, but you are not deep frying foods using an air fryer.
[00:11:07] And the best thing that I eat almost every day are potatoes or French fries made inside of the air fryer. And it's really yummy. Now I want to give a plug here for InstantPot, because I feel like I searched far and wide looking for the perfect air fryer, but I found that InstantPot - even though they make an individual air fryer, they also make one that's a combination of an air fryer and a pressure cooker and a yogurt maker and a dehydrator. And I just said that was the one, even though I [already] had an InstantPot I went ahead and purchased this option because I thought it provided much more options for me. So if you do not yet have an air fryer or any of those other items that I mentioned, the InstantPot version would be ideal for you too.
[00:12:07] Well, there we have it. Items six through 10 on the pure food helpful hint list by Stormie.
[00:12:16] And I hope this has been helpful for you. In the next episode, we will follow up with the last five helpful hints from this chapter. So I invite you all back next week as we complete the last pure food helpful hints in this chapter.
[00:12:35] 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.
[00:12:49] Also subscribe to our podcast if you aren't already a member of our community. And if listening through Anchor [Anchor.fm], 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 21 – Making Simple Food Choices

In today’s episode, we discuss helpful hints and tips when making food choices. We found these tips in Stormie Omartian’s book, “Greater Health God’s Way”. The main goal is to eat pure food (or real food is the term we like to use). In episode 21, we discuss tips 1 – 5. Stay tuned for tips 6 – 15 in a future episode. (See show notes below for more information about the book.)

OTHER WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN:

SIMPLE FOOD CHOICES (Show Notes)

Helpful hints and tips:

Always ask yourself, “Is this man-made or God-made?” and “How pure can I get this food?”
The fewer items in a meal, the less you are tempted to overeat and the easier it is to digest.
The more natural the food, the more healthful it is, and the harder it is for you to overeat.
The less active your life or work, the less you need to eat.
Space your eating to put five or six hours between each meal. A possible schedule could be: breakfast at 7 am, lunch at 12 pm, and dinner at 6/7 pm.

“Greater Health God’s Way” by Stormie Omartian

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).

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

Search real food and drink recipes using this link.

Transcript

Email Download New Tab

Introduction with music: Today we are discussing 15 helpful hints for making food choices from a book titled "Greater Health God's way" by Stormie Omartian.
[00:00:11] 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.
[00:00:36] 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.
[00:01:08] Shonda: So stormy listed 15 helpful hints. In her pure food chapter. So we just want to discuss those 15 helpful hints and see what we think. Right?
[00:01:21] Patryce: Exactly. And I'm not sure we'll get to all 15 today in depth, but it's a great starting point we thought for the month of February.
[00:01:33] Shonda: Yeah, that'd be good. So what is our first point? It says when choosing food always ask yourself, is this man-made or God-made and how pure can I get it? That's pretty deep.
[00:01:48] Patryce: That's a great question because how pure can I get? It reminds me of this whole community, of real food and drinks. It's about being real food and pure food. And before that, asking the question, is this manmade or God-made. And I wonder Shonda, if many of us ask any question at all when we choose food or do we just go through the process of choosing food and we're not intentional.
[00:02:22] Shonda: Yeah, I think though, but we can be more intentional. I think I'm more intentional when I actually go to the grocery store, the food that I'm bringing into the house, so that when I'm at home, I don't really have to think about, is this man-made or God-made because I have brought mostly God-made foods back home from the grocery store or the farmer's market.
[00:02:47] Patryce: Good point. You're right. We can be more intentional and that's a great way. And another great way to, to become more intentional is to actually make a list. And I know in the past I've been inconsistent, but when I consistently have that list, even if it's a running list of the staples, I will be less tempted to just grab other things.
[00:03:10]And I stay more on the outer perimeters. And not lured into those inner aisles like I have been because I just like to shop for groceries period. But I think having a list helps don't you?
[00:03:23] Shonda: Yeah, I would think so. When I go on my general grocery shopping, I know what I get from that store and I just go and get it, but , if I'm going back to the store in the middle of the week, I always take a list, but I'm not a shopper. So I just go for, , the basics, get out of there. Cause I have other things to do. I don't want to be in the grocery store. But yeah. So I think that's a really good thing though.
[00:03:52]Maybe when we're going out to eat. , was it man-made or God-made made. Did this come out of, , how was this process? How was this food created or whatever. So, yeah, that, that's a really good thing.
[00:04:05] Patryce: That is a very good question. And I guess that's one reason I stay on the outer perimeter more than the inner, because that's where more, the God-made foods are the less processed foods.
[00:04:15]Shonda: So helpful hint number two is what? The fewer items in a meal, the less you are tempted to overeat and the easier it is to digest.
[00:04:28] Patryce: Hm. I want you to comment on that one first.
[00:04:32] Shonda: Okay. So let's say, yeah, I'm thinking when, when I just know that I just need something to eat, and this is me because I have many other things I want to do other than eat many times.
[00:04:50] So if I need a dinner, like I may just make some Keene wall and some beans and throw some greens in there or a green salad and I am done . So that's like three items . I mean, additionally, I probably season the beans with some onions and a little spices and stuff. But I can eat very basic foods. And I think it is easier to digest because your stomach doesn't have to ,decode all the different foods you have in there.
[00:05:21] Patryce: That's that's good. I like what you shared and I definitely can see the benefit of having fewer items and it coming to our digestion. Making it easier to digest if we have fewer items. I guess for me, I was looking at that statement, the fewer items in a meal, the less you're attempted to overeat.
[00:05:43] I don't really know if I put a lot of items. I do tend to garnish my food a lot. So say I have a salad. So I consider that salad one item, but my salad might have a few other items in 'em like cucumbers, carrots all these other good things, but I guess that's not what they're talking about.
[00:06:04] The salad would probably be considered one item. So I would think this is a good tip.
[00:06:09] Shonda: Yeah, actually I think the salad is considered multiple yeah. Items. Oh, I think, yeah. Yeah.
[00:06:16] Patryce: And then I totally go against this thinking in some, when it comes to my salad eating, I will say that I will put beans on my salad. I will put carrots on my salad. I would put cucumbers ...a few items.
[00:06:28] Shonda: So I don't think that's overeating because for one thing, You're eating mostly raw foods. Okay. And a salad. Most of it, it probably at least half or even more is a raw food .
[00:06:42] It could go so many ways. I mean, you could make your salad too big and really shouldn't be eating that much salad, ?
[00:06:49] Like, so let's say you, you want to eat what an eighth of a cup of every food you put in that salad? Like if you want 10 items. Yeah. This is going to get to be a pretty big salad, , but if you're just like, I'm going to do five items at an eighth of a cup, then the salad is going to be smaller, ?
[00:07:08] Patryce: That's a good point.
[00:07:09] Shonda: Yeah. Yeah. So I just think the more items, the bigger your plate's going to get, that's a good point.
[00:07:16] Patryce: Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
[00:07:17] Shonda: So, yeah. Did you have any thoughts on her helpful hint, number three?
[00:07:21] Patryce: The more natural the food, the more healthful it is and the harder it is for you to overeat. Yeah, I think that, again, the more natural, the food that goes back to just the more real, the more healthy it’s going to be. And we've talked about that in many of our podcasts that real food, natural, more pure food, less processed, is healthier because the more it's processed, the less healthy it is. So I totally understand that. And the harder is for you to overeat. So. I guess even if you were to overeat with, with your plate of more natural or real foods, it's still less overeating than a plate of processed food, which will have more empty calories.
[00:08:10] Shonda: Yeah. Right. You're probably going to get less calories if you're eating natural foods and because there's more fiber in there you will get full much quicker than if it were a refined food. So that's a good, a good hint. A good tip.
[00:08:30] Okay. So tip number four is the last act of your life or work the less you need to eat?
[00:08:39] I wonder how many people take that into consideration? Yeah. I think we have to be aware of if we're really hungry, because some people are in the habit of I need to eat breakfast, I need to eat lunch. I need to dinner, and that's just kinda ingrained in our society. I've been very busy this morning and I have had nothing but water. I had a little bit of cashews and raisins together so far. I would be eating ... my stomach's growling. It's ready. So as soon as we're done, I will go eat, but I'm just saying, when I wake up in the morning, I'm not hungry.
[00:09:16] So drink some water, stay well, hydrated and move on about the day. And then when you start feeling hungry, go ahead and eat. Don't let it go too long because then you may overeat. But , I think still, if I eat by one o'clock I still have time to get one more meal in before the end of the day.
[00:09:37] Patryce: Wow. That's great. That's great that you shared that. And I would just say each of us have to find what works best for our body, because I know my friend, she wakes up very early, like five o'clock or six is late for her. So she's definitely had something to eat way before 11 o'clock because of her timing and her sleep schedule and her waking up.
[00:10:03] But for me, I need to start eating earlier again, even if it's just some fruit , or my yogurt, because I need to try to avoid eating late at night. But to go back to this point of the less active your life or work, the less you need to eat. I totally agree with that thinking about it now. Because it's not even just less to eat. For me it's not just the less, but it's what I eat. And so people have asked me, , why do you choose to do more plant based? And for me, it's because I'm not a person who's working out vigorously, or I don't have an intense workout routine.
[00:10:41] So honestly, when I had not as much of a plant-based lifestyle with eating and that with not working out as much, then I tended to gain more weight. But I came to the realization I don't need to eat as much, and I don't need all those heavier foods because I'm not an athlete or I'm not someone who's doing a lot of strenuous activity on a regular basis.
[00:11:10] Shonda: And the heavier foods do bring more calories. You're right. So, but I know that if our community has not seen yet the game changers documentary, it's about weight-lifters and bodybuilders who have chosen plant-based foods. So plant-based foods can be heavy or they can be light also. And, of course we're here pushing plants all the way. So it is still about, if you are expending a lot of energy, you need a lot of calories. So you need a lot of potatoes. You need a lot of whole grains, , go ahead and go for that because you're hungry and you need those calories and those carbohydrates to give you the energy that you need.
[00:11:56] But , I'm looking ahead here and we have to get to number five because ... if she really knows what she's talking about, then I'm doing it all wrong because let me tell you, number five says "space you're eating to put five or six hours between each meal. So check. Okay. I got that. No problem. A good schedule would be breakfast at seven. I'm not even awake at seven, so that's not going to work lunch at noon or one. Okay. So I would be way behind schedule and dinner at six or seven. A bad schedule is breakfast at 11, which is normally what I do lunch at half past one. Yeah. And dinner at 10. So I'm more like lunch at three or four and dinner it depends on what I made. I don't know, but I'm still, even after 10 o'clock, I'm still usually awake three more hours. ,But sometimes, , I don't have three meals a day. I'll have only two meals. I'll have a smoothie and two meals. So I may be okay. What do you think?
[00:13:02] Patryce: Honestly, I think what she's prescribed here or suggested is a good suggestion. Now the dinner time, I would, I would say that that's unique to each person because to me, 10 is a bit late for eating dinner and we also have to keep in mind, we have different metabolism rates.
[00:13:20] And I can just speak for myself that eating dinner consistently at 10:00 PM would not be the best for me. Definitely not, but I do think the whole breakfast at say seven is telling me that I need to get more sleep or go to sleep earlier. So if I were to go with her schedule, I probably would change some other habits too, for the better.
[00:13:44] So I actually like the suggestions. I am totally on board with what she's saying. I not always doing this, but I would, I would agree with this.
[00:13:53] Shonda: Yeah, it sounds good. But I could never eat breakfast at seven in the morning. I'm just barely waking up. I'm drinking water. I'm doing my exercises like I said, I think we have to go back to, are you hungry? That's just it, , are you hungry?
[00:14:09] Patryce: But Shonda that question? Are you hungry? What about all the people who skipped breakfast consistently? I would say, they're not asking themselves, are they hungry? Or even if they do ask and they say, no, they should still maybe have something. What do you think about that? Whether it be fruit or smoothing skipping breakfast consistently, it just seems like it's opening the door to be tempted, to eat something, a bigger lunch, maybe even a more processed lunch. You're going to be giving into hunger pains earlier. Especially for someone combating weight.
[00:14:44] Shonda: Yeah. Someone combating weight. Yes. And I think it depends on you and your schedule, , like if you're going to be at work and you didn't take your lunch or you didn't take any food and that's going to be more likely that you going to get off of your meal plan then yes.
[00:15:01] I recognize when I'm hungry. So for me, , I don't think my body digests well if I eat and I'm not hungry,. My body's not ready to digest food. So, , it just depends. I think it depends on the person, but yeah, the it's an important thing would be to be prepared.
[00:15:22] If you're going to be leaving, , pack some food with you, because maybe you don't know when that hunger's going to come.
[00:15:29] Patryce: I love the insight you shared it, it all depends on your situation. But I do remember vividly working outside the home and those days where I was rushed, rushed, rushed, and busy with young kids, or just a busy time of life going to work, not eating breakfast, and then when it came to lunch, everything looks so good standing in line. And then getting probably a larger lunch than I really needed.
[00:15:52] Shonda: Right. And that's the thing where you have to know yourself, because for me, I'm out, there's nothing for me to eat. I will not eat. I will not eat just to eat. Because no, it's just not good for me to pick foods that are outside of my diet.
[00:16:07] So if I didn't prepare and take foods with me, I'm going to not eat. There are some of us that will just not eat and I will starve myself. Yes, I will starve myself. When I get home, I'm just going to eat.
[00:16:21] Patryce: Well, I can just speak for myself, but I think there are a lot of people who... We're just not at that point. I'm not as disciplined. If I just get hungry. And especially, I keep thinking about that busy, season of life outside of the home, working where there's just so many temptations. If you haven't packed your lunch, you're going to be in that line. You're going to be at that line at the fast-food restaurant, or even if it's not fast food, it will be food that seems healthier, but it has added oils.
[00:16:48] We just, we just don't have as much control over how it's prepared. So I guess that's why I see the best of both worlds for that person having something earlier in the day would maybe stave off you overeating for lunch or making bad choices for lunch?
[00:17:08] Shonda: Yeah, definitely for that person, they need to prepare ahead of schedule because, okay.
[00:17:14] So are you saying I'm just in the minority? Cause I just, I learned my lesson, I guess too, too soon and I just will not eat just to eat and I can't, , I can't, I can't.
[00:17:25] Patryce: You're in the minority. Okay. I'm just telling you that because especially, and I know everyone has different kinds of jobs, but very often a part of lunchtime while working outside the home.
[00:17:36] It's a very socia lhour. So ...
[00:17:39] Shonda: Girl, please no,.See I'm in the minority because I like to eat lunch by myself. Okay. That's my time to decompress. I have never eaten lunch at a social time. I did have one friend I remember we would make like a lunch date, like once a week. But even then I would take my lunch and she would eat at the restaurant.
[00:18:02] Patryce: Okay. You're in the minority. And because oftentimes maybe because of my industry, we had lunch brought in, or it was part of the month to...
[00:18:11] Shonda: Girl I've been in meetings where there are food brought in. No. Shonda has her pack on the side of her and she is eating from her foods. I don't care. That is me. That is. So, hey, I want to encourage some of you out there. Hey, bring your lunch like I did. And don't care about what other people think. You're taking care of you. Bring enough to share with other people and bring in some good vibes and some good food.
[00:18:41] Patryce: That's a great shout out for packed lunches.
[00:18:46] Okay. Well, I think we'll cut it off there but we will follow up with other tips. I guess very soon.
[00:18:54] Yes. I'm looking forward to it. These are some good ones.
[00:18:57] Okay. Sounds good.

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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.

OTHER WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN:

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

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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SHOW NOTES:

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

SHOW NOTES:

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

SHOW NOTES:

Prayer Books by Stormie Omartian

More Resources:

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

Show Notes:

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

Transcript:

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

SIMPLE FOOD CHOICES (Show Notes)

Helpful hints and tips: (Items discussed today are in bold text.)

Foods to Include:

Foods to Avoid:

Adding more raw foods to your diet: Smoothies & Salads

Adding more properly cooked foods (that are not processed): Soups

“Greater Health God’s Way” by Stormie Omartian

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

SIMPLE FOOD CHOICES (Show Notes)

Helpful hints and tips: (Items discussed today are in bold text.)

Foods to Include:

Foods to Avoid:

“Greater Health God’s Way” by Stormie Omartian

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

GET STARTED WITH THE REAL FOOD AND DRINKS LIFESTYLE

SIMPLE FOOD CHOICES (Show Notes)

Helpful hints and tips:

“Greater Health God’s Way” by Stormie Omartian

Plant-based “Simple” Recipes:

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