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Nuts and seeds and the truth about digesting them . . .

Nuts nuts nuts!

Are they a health food or stopping your gut from healing? How many is good and in what combination is best?
People who have had inflammatory bowel disease or leaky gut or suffer with a gut-brain connections such as (depression, autism) generally do not digest fats well because they lack the enzymes needed to break them down, I was no exception and the low carb high fat diet nearly killed me! Then moving away to a gourmet raw vegan diet. . . I still overloaded on raw desserts and nut cheeses and pates as I was living a gourmet raw diet trying to recreate cooked dishes that were so high in fats and hard to digest foods and fancy gourmet dinners.

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This is what I’ve learned and why I now eat a simple diet with simple combinations and a small amount of  seeds germinated here and there.

High- protein, fatty and oily foods must be minimised, especially during the first year of gut recovery or you will plato and cause long term damage. Learning to eat within your digestive limitations is so important for healing no matter what your mind wants and your eyes see. Fat intake must be increased gradually only in accordance with what you can properly digest good overt healthy fats are essential in the diet but must be stopped or minimised at first to get the healing. Overeating on overt healthy fats like nuts, seeds, coconuts and avocados will, typically, stress the digestive system and create a toxic condition indicated by gas, foul, putrid bowel odours, stomach acidity, constipation, fatigue, etc., which can trigger an inflammatory bowel disease flare up. None mind bad fats, them you just need to steer well clear off.
• One to two ounces of nut or seed or nut butters eaten with one dinner (away from fruit) in a salad meal once per day, may be all the fat that anyone can digest effectively after healing inflammatory bowel disease. Or 1/4-1/2 of an avocado may be your digestive limit per day.
• Raw (ungerminated) nuts are difficult to digest; but, when eaten in small quantities (one ounce per meal, once per day, one to three times per week, depending on your digestive strength (I can not even cope with that much without getting sluggish and tired) and of course chewing them well with lettuce, celery or cucumbers, then they might digest ok and give healthful benefits. The masticating action (chewing) of our teeth is not capable of effectively breaking down hard nuts and seeds to particle sizes small enough to be completely digested by our stomach acids. We are not squirrels! Stomach acid can only act on the outer surface of the nuts particles; if acidic digestive enzymes are not able to act on the protein within the particles, the protein will pass through the system unused and without giving you its nutrients and will putrefy in the bowel causing bloating, gas and wind. Activating your nuts and seeds helps with this.
• Raw nuts and seed smoothies (made with water, citrus fruit (only) or vegetables in a blender) and raw nuts and seed butters -made in good blenders and or available in jars from health food stores, not mass supermarket brands. Are much easier to digest than unprocessed whole nut and seeds, and are, therefore, recommended to eat. Still, they are very rich in oily fat which can cause problems if eaten beyond your digestive capability and you know how fast a bag of nuts goes or a jar of nut butter. So go easy on them with small amounts in the right food combinations and always the freshest highest quality. Food combining and why is it essential for health!-chart. I would suggest having smoothies with fruits, greens and water with NO NUTS OR SEEDS ADDED.

 

• “Living” nuts and seeds, i.e., raw nuts such as almonds germinated/sprouted in water for 12 to 24 hours then sprouted in room temperature air, are more digestible than ungerminated (raw) nuts. The soaking and germination process hydrates and softens the hard fiber and reduces complex proteins into readily digestible amino acids. Germinated nut and seed blends (cheeses or patés) are perhaps easiest on the digestive system—an easy salad dressing is to blend one to two ounces of nuts or seeds with water, fresh-squeezed orange juice, a slice of orange or a tomato in a blender, then use this as a salad dressing or dip for vegetables.
• Experiment making nut and seed milks. Soak raw nuts or seeds in purified water for 2 to 24 hours, rinse well, blend at high speed with purified water in a blender, then strain and slowly drink the milk, mixing in your saliva. Chew chew chew even liquids!

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Step by Step – Making Nut and Seed Milks.
• Avoid old rancid nuts and seeds that’s any that come from a supermarket or in packets, they can be 1-3 years old—these tend to feel soft, taste cheesy with no sweetness and appear darker in color than when they are fresh. You are not getting nutrition from these just toxins and more mucus being formed.
• Heated or roasted nuts and seeds are very toxic and must be avoided. Avoid roasted and salted nut and seed butters. Never cook with nuts!
• Peanut butter is not recommended because: 1. In raw or heated form, it is difficult to digest due to its high protein and starch content which we know doesn’t digest well; 2. In roasted form it is highly toxic; and 3. Peanuts are one of the most heavily pesticide-sprayed crops even in Australia.
• Organic, whole, raw peanuts can be eaten in moderation if they have been sprouted (soaked in water and allowed to germinate for several hours). However, these are subject to a toxic, yellow mold and must be carefully inspected and eaten with caution. Peanuts are actually a legumes and not recommend for gut healing as they are hard to digest.
If you are to eat nuts I would suggest choosing high omega 3 nuts like walnuts, pistachios, Macadamia, Brazil nuts which are great brain foods, over the higher omega 6 almond if you can. I do not suggest the raw nut desserts the are so hard to digest and are high in fats and rancid oils. Once you’ve done the healing work add them in as an occasional treat or different texture!

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Food combining and why is it essential for health!-chart.

Why is it so important?

Food combining has been increasing in its awareness in the last decade but was brought to our attention by Dr H Shelton in the 50’s and 60’s. It is recognized that our stomach digests foods at different rates and by using different enzymes to digest each food. If we desire to have optimum health and wellness, we must know the importance of maintaining a properly “balanced diet” in relation to the acid/alkaline diet. Without proper food combing principles our diets will eventually lead to indigestion and acidosis. This will rob us of our cellular energy required to attain an overall healthy body.

Instead of looking at food as “Calories” look at it as fuel that if our bodies are able to assimilate them with ease we get energy. If your stomach is unable to digest the foods properly it doesn’t matter how much nutrition is in the food or what the diet is called, because your body isn’t absorbing any and you become malnutritioned, most of the western world is fat but malnutritioned. We are fat and starving!!

The good thing is when you’re combing food properly your body will reduce weight, eliminate bloating, feel good overall, and get the most out of the foods you eat and will keep your gut healthy. And the energy goes to running your brain and healing your cells.

So how do we do this food combining thing?

1. Never Eat Carbohydrates with Acidic Foods in the Same Meal.

Do not eat bread, potatoes, peas, beans, bananas, dates, or other carbohydrates with lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, tomatoes or other sour fruit.

The enzyme, ptyalin, acts only in an alkaline medium; it is destroyed by a mild acid. Fruit acids not only prevent carbohydrate digestion, but they also favor their fermentation. Oxalic acid diluted to one part in 10,000, completely arrests the action of ptyalin. There is enough acetic acid in one or two teaspoons of vinegar to entirely suspend salivary digestion.

Tomatoes should never be combined with any starch food. They may be eaten with leafy vegetables and fat foods. The combination citric, malic and oxalic acids found in tomatoes, (which are released and intensified by cooking which is why I do not suggest cooking tomatoes ever!), is very a detrimental to the alkaline digestion of starches in the mouth and stomach. They should not be used on salads during a starch meal.

In cases of hyperacidity of the stomach, there is great difficulty in digesting starches. Much discomfort is caused by eating them. They ferment and poison the body. Acid-starch combinations are very rare in nature—the sour apple coming nearest to being such a combination to which we natural spit this out . . .

2. Eat Fruits First

Fruit is a food that digests best when eaten alone. While you’ll read in (4.)  not all fruits digest best together, it has the fastest exit rate of the stomach as fruit does not digest in the stomach, therefore fruits should be eaten first or alone. For those concerned about their blood sugar or candida, as long as fruit is eaten without fat and/or with leafy greens, blood sugar will remain stable. So fruity raw deserts are a disaster on the digestion. fruit is abundant in nutrients, anti-oxidants, and water, fruit is an excellent snack that is easily digested by the human body but needs to be eaten first, starting with acid fruits then moving on to sweet fruits and proteins after all fruit has been consumed!

3. Protein and Starches do NOT mix

Is it a common occurrence to consume a heaping serving of mashed potatoes next to a large portion of meat and/or dairy? This is one of the worst food combinations ever, but can easily be improved. Because the human body requires an acid base to digest proteins and an alkaline base to digest starches, this can lengthen the time of digestion and cause fermentation in the gut. This can lead to bloating, indigestion, and stinky bowel movements as the food putrefies in the gut.

To correct his, it is best to eat proteins with non-starchy vegetables and especially leafy greens. Starches can be consumed on their own or with other vegetables, but not with protein. Proteins that are cooked renders the protein particles in it useless for the body, and cooking demonises it making it unable to be digested fully.

4. Eat Melons Alone-ALWAYS!

Have you ever had the mistake of consuming watermelon after a dinner? Most likely you experienced gas, a slight blood sugar drop, and/or nausea. That is because melons are the type of fruit that digest completely different than other sweet treats. For optimal digestion, melons should be consumed alone and on an empty stomach first thing and then not eaten again in the day. Remove them from your mixed fruit salad.

5. Greens, Greens and More Greens

Greens are easily ruled as one of the best foods for mankind. Loaded with amino acids (building blocks of protein), essential minerals and nutrients (B vitamins, magnesium, iron, and more!), along with fiber (great for digestion). They combine well with all foods, and therefore should make a regular appearance on your plate. If you’re not consuming your 3 – 5 cups of vegetables a day then adding a cold pressed Barley Grass powder it to water, juice, or your favourite smoothie can help keep your mineral up!

For example, a salad is a great contribution to every meal and the live enzymes will help your other food digest smoothly. Eat your salad before any other food on your plate for maxima digestion.

6. Fats & Oil

While overt healthy fats combine well with everything (except fruit!), they should be used in limited amounts as they are very calorie dense and slow down digestion and when used with fruits cause bacteria and yeasts breakouts. Oils should not be consumed as they are not a whole food and when cooked become indisputable and poisonous to the body. Therefore, save your meal with fats like avocado or nuts for dinner or allow your body at least 4-5 hours to digest a dense lunch before eating again.

7. Probiotics (Friendly Bacteria)

You should only take probiotics 30 minutes before a meal not during. Mixing probiotics with a meal may decrease some absorption. The reason is that the probiotic ends up spending more time in the stomach. Another reason to take them on an empty stomach is because before the journey to the intestines, the bacteria will have more difficulty surviving the harsh stomach acid during digestion, affecting their potency.

Don’t take them after a meal! Probiotics that are taken after a meal have even more difficulty surviving stomach acid levels as this is when your stomach acid is at its peak. A study from 2013 found that when a probiotic supplement was taken after a meal, extremely low levels of bacteria actually survived.

A recent study in the Journal of Beneficial Microbes showed that probiotics are optimally absorbed when taken prior to a meal and were absorbed almost as well when taken with a meal containing fats. If you are however eating vegan plant based diet, high in complex carbohydrates and fruits and low in fats you should not need Probiotics. 

What is a ‘Health Coach’ and how can they help you achieve your goals?

8. Timing is Everything

Because foods digest at different rates, you can lessen the pressure on your body by waiting until the previous food has left the stomach and is being digested in the intestines. Wait the following amount of time between foods that don’t combine:

  • Two hours after eating fruit
  • Three hours after eating starches
  • Four hours after eating protein
  • If you eat proteins no water for 4 hours after.
  • If you eat starches no water for 2 hours after
  • If you eat fruits no water for 30 minutes after
  • If you eat vegetables no water for 1 hour after.

This is chart for you to put on your fridge and follow to the T!

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Check out my gut healing protocol here:Hannah’s Gut Healing Protocol.

 

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Raw Grain Free Bircher.

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Serves 2:
4 tbs chia seeds
4 grated apples
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup hemp seeds.
Cover and leave overnight or at least 30 minutes.

Then add:
1/2 cup goji berries
1/2 cup activated pistachio nuts
1/4 cup activated pumpkin seeds

And 4 passionfruits cut open, which I add on the side as my boys like to scoop them out themselves.

The pistachios are high in omega 3 fatty acids, the pumpkin seeds high in zinc and loads of fiber, vitamin C and protein from the chia seeds. This is a nutrient dense breakfast that will feed their brains, fuel their body’s and give them energy!

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Berries and kiwi chia breakfast bowl.

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Serves 2.
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup hemp seeds
2 cups coconut water
1 cup defrosted berries
1 cup finely chopped kiwi fruit
1/4 cup coconut flakes

Leave for 15-20 minutes to soak up the water. Add more if you require.

Add chopped fresh strawberries and kiwis on top with more seeds and coconut.

🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓

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Green brekkie bowl . . .

Brekkie bowl packed with goodness to set my boys off to school with full bellies and fuelled brains, so they can play learn and grow 🙌🏻

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4 ripe large bananas
3 dates
1 tbs barley greens
1 cucumber
2 sticks celery
1 small lettuce
1 kale leaf

Blended and decorated with love
💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

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What does “Mindful Eating” really mean and how can it help your food intolerance?

For years I put everything into what I was eating and the quality of the food without ever thinking about the words I used around food and the way I spoke to my self when I ate that food or even prepared my food. Now I truly know the power of words and thoughts and how they can effect everything you eat and how your body responds to the food on a cellular level and if it will react to it or not.

So how the hell does a word effect if you react to tomatoes or not? Well in one way it doesn’t . . . but in another way it does. By using positive words, mindful eating and affirmations daily you raise the vibration of your body and when you are vibrating at a higher frequency your body heals it self. Your cells rejuvenate faster, repair more efficiently and cope with foods better as it’s not in a state of inflammation.

So what is “Mindful Eating” it’s banded around so often in blogs, but what does it really mean?

 

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What it means is to slow down when eating and take some care over what you fuel your body with. When you are busy and running around at work or with kids or shopping, your in fight or flight mode, most of us live in this state 90% of the time. We are at a very anxious level all day and can not switch off. Then when we eat we inhale our food throwing it in our mouths. So not only do we not digest in fight or flight but also as we have eaten to fast it puts an added burden on our bodies. To digest our food we must switch back into our parasympathetic nervous system ‘repair and digest” or there is not point eating at all, as all it does is laden the body with a burden you don’t get the minerals and benefits from eating food.

wen you cook your food think about how much it went through to get to you. Thank the farmers, the animal that sacrificed it’s life, or the earth, sea or tree for providing it to you. When you have it in front of you touch, taste and smell it to start appreciating it. When you eat it, smell it to start the saliva in your mouth, which tells the brain to start activating the juices in your stomach, and prepare your body to start the digestion process. An example of the reverse of this is inhaling a burger in a few bites and that burger sitting in your stomach unable to be digested, as the body has had no warning signs it was coming. But if you cut ripe water melon and smell it and lick your fingers, your body is aware of what your about to eat and it gets excited as it pulls up that memory of eating it. You feel grateful for this watermelon and say to yourself ‘this will replenish my body and hydrate me, this is exactly what I need right now’ your body will digest this very easily.

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How you talk to yourself and feel makes a big affect on your digestion system and how the body takes nutrients to the cells too. An example of this is: ‘This food will heal me’ ‘This food is nourishing my body’ or ‘I’m so grateful for this food’.

The opposite to this is: ‘This isn’t very good for me’ ‘I shouldn’t really eat this’ or ‘I’ll have to pay for this tomorrow and have to go to the gym for 2 hours’

One is telling your body this is great food to eat and the other is saying don’t digest this it will harm you and the body will send out white blood cells to eradicate it. Now this doesn’t mean you can eat junk food with positive affirmations, as junk food is junk food at it serves no purpose in your body and causes inflammation . . . but it means not to beat yourself up when you have an indulgent healthy treat as that will be worst than the treat on the body and your everyday food should be eaten with appreciation and in a slow mindful manner. CHEW CHEW CHEW!! Oh and CHEW!

Your posture can play a part in this too up right strong and happy or slumped tired and unhappy? Choosing a positive mindset

Another level of this is: choosing the right “diet” or way of eating for your body. There are so many celebrities out there who indorse their way of life. But we have all got different bodies and our bodies all react differently to food, environment have certain genes are switched on or not. Just because it worked for that celebrity it may not be right for you. So how do you know what “diet” I hate that word . . . is right for you?

Well if you eat meat and your body feels heavy, sluggish and you feel guilt for eating an animal, then maybe that’s not right for you no matter what fade “diet” is in at the time. Or maybe you eat meat and it gives you so much energy and makes you fit and lean and you have no issue eating an animal, then maybe it is right for you.

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Your mindset when going into a new way of eating is so important. If you believe in it and feel it is right than it most likely will be right, as your mindset is in alignment. If you go into a new fade diet and you say to yourself ‘this will be a hassle’ or ‘it will be hard and I wont be able to stick to it.’ Or something I hear all the time ‘my kids wont eat that!” . . then you guessed it, it will be hard and not work as you have set your self up for failing before you started you are sending out that vibration and you and your kids will pick up on that. Go in to any thing in life with the right mindset and alignment and things will fall into place and work for you.

The food it self is vibrational and a plant just picked or a fruit just picked will have a high vibration that will help to keep your body vibrating at a high level and running efficiently. If you choose food that is void of vibrations and a dead food like an over cooked burger which hold no life force in it at all. All it will do is dull your body’s energy and flow of life force, over time this plays its price on your body and inflammation and disease.

So is it mambo jumbo or scientific fact? Try it and see! Think about the way you talk to your body and how you feel when you eat a food and they way you talk to your self after eating a food and see if you can twist it positively and see any changes. I used this to overcome my fear of food as so many foods I used to react to. I just kept saying before I ate a food ‘oh I will react to this’ and low and behold I did! When I started to say ‘I love this food and I’m going to eat it and have fun and be relaxed’ suddenly foods I couldn’t eat caused me no problem. Even some foods I eat everyday might cause a reaction if I’m in the wrong mindset as my conscious ego pops up and says ‘oh don’t eat that your eyes will come up’ NO NO NO they won’t hahahah!

Positively and positive words raise Serotonin and reduces Histamine in the body. Help regulate the glands and lowers the white blood count. I.e. inflammation!

So how do you actually eat mindfully?

You need to prepare your body for food. Shovelling food into the body and not chewing properly stops digestion and if the body is working hard on digestion it will take energy away from other functions and you will feel sluggish and tired and bloated after you eat . . . (Christmas dinner anyone?). You are supposed to feel energised and light after food. If you are not re think the food you are eating!

So do the following before you eat always!

  • Take 10 deep belly breaths
  • Be grateful for the food
  • Smell your food
  • Touch your food
  • Thank the farmers or who ever made it for you

By this stage your mouth will be watering sending signals to the gut to start the digestive juices and the enzymes that are needed to break down the food. Digestion starts in the mouth!

CHEW CHEW CHEW CHEW CHEW 30 times each mouthful!

  • Savour each mouthful
  • Thank your body for digesting this food.
  • Be grateful for how lucky you are for having great food and the time to eat it-if you have not got time to eat re think your priorities and work on the balance in your life like what we spoke about earlier.

The other side to mindful eating is knowing where your food comes from and looking after the planet.

  • How was it raised and killed?
  • What part of the world did it come from?
  • What has it been through to get here?
  • What the life force or vibration of this food?
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What is a ‘Health Coach’ and how can they help you achieve your goals?

If you have heard the term “Health Coaching,” or “Wellness Coaching” and find yourself wondering what a health coach does and how engaging health coach can help you, then this is the answer . . . Health Coaches support people to help them work towards un-achieved goals in all areas of life, they keep you moving forward not in the past talking over old hurts. Health coaching is different to life coaching which is often solely goals based and does not look at you holistically. It may be nutrition, career, overcoming autism or auto-immune conditions, finance, relationship, exercise and health or any other aspect of their life that they do not feel fulfilled in. It’s my belief that all aspects of your life have to be in balance for true happiness and healing to occur. If one aspect is out it can throw out the others I have tools and personal experience that helps you see this and we work through it together. How I do this is by guiding and creating an environment for you to be empowered to achieve small steps toward your goals. Anything is possible with the right mindset and a supporting guide!

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I work by empowering my clients to embark on this journey to health for themselves, for you to feel excited by Nutrition and see the importance of loving your body enough to fuel it correctly, and take charge of healing YOUR own body, mind and spirit. I teach you the skills to build your mindset with daily practices to become able to deal with any of life’s up’s and down’s and not need another person, place or thing to “fix” you.

Goals and lifestyle changes I can help with are:

  • to empower you to achieve your goals
  • to up-skill you
  • to show you ways that have worked for my family in healing
  • help you find a pathway to heal autism or and auto-immune conditions
  • to save you the 7 years of study and personal ups and downs I had
  • to build up your self esteem and teach you how to love yourself
  • to advise you on your bio-individual nutrition needs
  • to teach you how to use professionals to get results
  • to work alongside your doctor or naturopath to understand result and treatment options
  • to support your whole family and there health and work on getting everyone on board
  • to improve your self-management
  • to teach you how to stay motivated
  • to show you how to live mindfully and a chemical free lifestyle
  • to understand the reason or blockage of why your not where you want to be in life
  • to give you tools to improve your wellbeing
  • to be someone to talk too and someone who will listen un-judgmentally to you
  • to believe and encourage you
  • to have a positive body image just the way you are
  • to strengthen your mind
  • to be someone to make you work hard on your goals
  • to teach you how to incorporate meditation and mindfulness in to everyday busy life

But a Health Coach is not:

  • a shrink
  • a personal trainer
  • a gym teacher
  • a yoga instructor
  • someone telling you what to do
  • someone telling you what your goals should be
  • someone who will make magic happen without hard work from yourself
  • someone who know it all

Only YOU can heal your body. I am just guide to help you see your own power!

Bio-individuality is the most important key to health and wellness. We are not all the same and one lifestyle will not fit us all. This belief leads to despondency and disappointment when you try a diet or exercise and it does not give you the results you wanted. How I work at ‘Nourish To Health’ is to mentor you find your path and to work through your goals in a safe confidential way. I recommend Plant Based Nutritional science based diets, lifestyle choices and exercises that suit your needs at that given time. I work with you to emotionally unblock painful situations that could be causing you to keep failing in your goals and teach you how to plan realistic, manageable goals and achieve them over a time frame we plan together. I do not do the work for you but empower you to achieve them with me guiding you. If you choose to work with me I would take you on a journey to achieve your goals working closely with you on a one to one or via Skype.  I recommend working together between 3-6 months, as there is always highs and lows in a wellness journey and often you get despondent after an initial excitement and need to be encourage to stick to health goals. Weight loss, food intolerances, and depression or nutritional deficiencies take time to correct as does lifestyle changes that are needed to achieve these. I look forward to hearing from you and helping you achieve the health and wellness you deserve. Much love and successes on your health journey and I hope we get to work together when your ready.

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If you connect with my message and approach and feel I could help you on your health journey please email me today on hannah@nourishtohealth.com.au and we can arrange a free 20 minutes Skype consultation to see how we fit together and I will create a plan for you. I work globally via Skype 🌏

Please also join my ‘Detoxing Families – supporting ASD & Behaviours with Raw Foods’ private group too for more advice and a safe sound board to ask questions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/974279649338594/

Blessings and love on whatever path you are on, and what ever stage of the journey you are on . . . we all must start somewhere! 🦋

Hannah Miles

x x x

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Why no GRAINS you ask?

There is a lot of talk about grains and why we should or should not eat them. So what’s the truth?

Well the truth is some people can cope with them when they eat fermented, well soaked and properly cooked grains and sprouted beans to the tractional methods of cooking. But the majority of people do not eat there grains like that. When I was a vegetarian my diet was 60% grains, legumes and beans and I know I didn’t prepare them correctly like eating canned beans, processed crackers and lots of breads, cakes and biscuits and it caused me a lot of damage in my gut. Grains should be eaten away from fats and starches only be eaten on there own and need lots of digestion time. Food combining and why is it essential for health!-chart.

Most peoples grain consumption is very processed and grown with pesticides, herbisides and a host of other harmful chemicals. This makes them an inflammatory food that causes damage to the gut and can reak havoc with weigh gain, low energy, IB, fertility, mental illness and thyroid function. Not to mention those grains containing gluten and we know most people can’t tolerate gluten. Grains, seeds, and beans contain anti-nutrients such as protease inhabiters, saponins, lectins and prytoetrogens which can cause ‘leaky-gut syndrome’ and physic acid which blocks absorption of minerals like iron, zinc and copper which are essential for the body to be strong.

Seeds like quiona and some beans and legumes when cooked properly can be highly nutritious and full of protein, but again if you have any digestive symptoms like bloating gas or pain avoiding all grains and grain like seeds and beans is advised till your gut is healed. And there are more easily absorbed foods that give you just as much protein and minerals-Like Fruit and Greens!

By soaking or sprouting grains, seeds and legumes your body can break down this process and make them easier to digest and absorb the nutrients. So once your gut is healed and you have had along period without inflamitory foods you maybe be able to digest small amounts of grains, beans and legumes prepared properly and in the right food combination. But they should not make up more than 5% of your diet and not from processed foods like shop brought crackers and breads. And ideally be young sprouted legumes and beans not dried, cooked or canned.

Nora Gedgaudas is the worlds leading expert on why grains should be avoided for most of us. She goes in to the history of our eating and how mass agriculture only came in to our history 200 years ago  and only 100 years ago chemicals started arising in our farming practices changing us from sometimes nutritious foods to a food thats in every product we buy and eat. We feed it to the animals and we costume max amounts of it daily. Did our ancestors eat that much? Has our bodies involved enough to cope with the speed of the agriculture?  . . . she answers all of that below.

http://www.primalbody-primalmind.com/what-is-gluten-and-why-should-we-care/

Using activated nut flours, seeds and coconut flours you can make breads, crackers, wraps, cakes, biscuits and most food you love but these are still not ideal for digestion and lacking in nutrients as they have been cooked and processed. Many restaurants serve grain-free foods now too. Once you learn not to add rice or pasta with everything you start adding more vegetables to your plate and the aim is to have 80% or more of your diet from plants!

It may seem a long way off but start with removing one grain meal a day and in 2 weeks you would have halved your grain consumption. Then in month most grains would be slowly out of your diet. Swap your bread for a lettuce wrap or seed wrap. Swap your biscuits for homemade walnut meal ones. Swap your cereal for a smoothie, your pasta for zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice. See you can do it!!

It will take you about 3 months for all the gluten to rid it self from your body theres a phrase gong around that says you can’t be a little bit pregnant . . . and so you can’t be a little bit gluten-free or a little bit grain-free, once you have removed it from your diet stay off it for at least 28 days to see the real benefits.

Let me know how your feel . . .

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Getting your child to drink green juices!

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This may seem very far off for you to imagine, or you might be ready to add more greens in to their current juices that they drink now. Either way be mindful that green juice is something that takes more caution when giving it to children. Because greens are very nutrient rich and a potent detoxifier, our bodies naturally begin detoxifying a bit quicker with greens then other juices. Not that this is bad and when you are trying to heal Autism this is essential, but it can make you/them feel ill if you do it too fast. If you feel that your child needs to detoxify, their bodies will naturally do it through a good diet full of fruit, herbs and vegetables combined with fresh green juices and or green smoothies over time and a chemical free happy environment. But start slowly and build up so they are used to the taste and their bodies get used to detoxify anything that needs to come out. With my boys we started with carrot, cucumber and celery juice and built up to removing all root vegetables and now they have a few different greens like spinach kale, celery, lettuce and cucumber with lemon, and sometimes ginger and turmeric . they have this most mornings before their breakfast. In the afternoon they might have a beetroot or carrot juice but we personally don’t add fruit as they find it sweet enough and I like them to eat their fruit on its own with out mixing with vegetables, this helps their bodies digest it better. As with my smoothie post go slowly and build them up.

The truth about fruit . . .

The difference between a smoothie and a juice, is when you make smoothies they contain fiber which means you can only eat a certain amount at each meal before feeling full (we need the fiber so keep making them!) That is the reason I do not suggest fruit juice  as it doesn’t have any finer in it. Even cold pressed organic fruit juice.

How to get your child drinking and loving ‘green smoothies’ . . .

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But with juicing you can include a large amount of greens that you normally would not be able to fit in to your body in one go. A juice is a large amount of vegetables and it’s a nutrient dense shoot of goodness for the gut and each and every cell! Would your child sit down to a large green salad? Maybe not but a green juice sweetened with some apple might go down well.

Here are a few suggestions that taste yummy and mask the bitter flavour some greens can have.

  • I recommend starting with fruit and wining them off fruit till it is just vegetables as fruit spikes the blood sugar level and causes hormonal crashes. Coconut water is a better option to add with greens.

These recipes are for 1-2 glasses of juice

Carrot Celery:

  • 2 carrots
  • 2 celery sticks
  • 1 cucumber (with skin)

Beetroot Apple:

  • 1 small beetroot
  • 1 celery stick
  • 1 cup spinach
  • Cucumber Apple:

 

Cucumber Pear:

  • 1 cucumber (with skin)
  • 2 pears
  • Small handful of kale

Cucumber Orange Grapefruit:

  • 1 cucumber (with skin)
  • 1 small handful of spinach greens
  • 1 orange peeled
  • 1 grapefruit peeled

Broccoli Pineapple:

  • 4 broccoli florets and stalks
  • ½ pineapple
  • 1 small bunch of parsley

Broccoli Apple:

  • 8 broccoli florets and stalks
  • 1 small bunch of parsley
  • 3 apples

Green Citrus:

  • 1 small handful of spinach
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 1 handful kale
  • 3 oranges or 1 lemons peeled

Cucumber Watermelon:

  • 1 cucumber (with skin)
  • 1 thick slice watermelon
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 1 lemon peeled
  • 1 handful mint
  • 1 handful of parsley

Green Bullet!

  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 sticks celery
  • 1/4 lemon
  • hand full of coriander
  • hand full of parsley
  • 1 cup coconut water

Simple Green:

  • 4 sticks celery
  • 2 cucumbers
  • 1/4 lemon

Melon fantastic:

  • 1/4 water melon
  • 1/4 cantaloup
  • 1/4 rock melen
  • 1 hand full of fresh mint

Why Leafy Greens are so good for you and the Nutritional breakdown.

Enjoy trying them all and play with what your child likes!

Tips: I suggest finding glasses and cups that are fun and even using flowers on top to diguse the colour so they try without making assumptions. Also get the kids involved in chopping and making them it will encourage them to want to try it more.

Good luck and remember they sense your fear and emotions – if you are hesitant and scared they will not go for it. Be confident and set an example by eating well yourself. Monkey see monkey do. Kids can not buy their own food, so only stock the best at home and choose only the best when you are out. If you are suffering with self sabotage and food binging and cravings. Contact me to coach you to break free of these . . . like I did.

Much love and Thanks Hannah xx

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