Now that the season has changed into summer, I am sure a lot of you are looking for ways to “healthify” your diets. The warm weather has finally arrived and with its arrival, I encourage all of our patients to take a close look at their eating habits and simplify their diet. Try concentrating on consuming foods that make your body feel best and cutting back on saturated fats, refined carbohydrates, sugar, salt and processed foods.

For a fresh start to your summer, slice your fat intake in half. Foods high in saturated fat such as whole milk dairy products, meats and butter increase your “bad” LDL cholesterol levels which can pack on the pounds and damage your arteries, ultimately leading to an increased risk for heart disease. Try to avoid animal fats and swap them for healthier unsaturated fats from plant foods like nuts, avocados and olive oil.

When trying to eat clean, avoid eating refined carbohydrates such as white bread and pasta, white rice, fruit juices, and all sweeteners, such as white sugar, corn syrup, fructose, and cane juice. I recommend that patients aim to only consume whole grains when eating carbohydrates. Examples of whole grains include breads made with 100% whole wheat flour, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, popcorn (unsalted and non-buttered), oatmeal, quinoa, millet, barely, couscous, whole wheat pitas and tortillas. Choose whole grain wraps, crackers or bread, aim to find options with 0 grams of sugar and at least 3 grams of fiber.

Most of us eat too much sugar. The average American consumes 30 teaspoons of added sugar a day, which is more than 400 extra calories! The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons (24 grams) of added sugar a day. To limit your added sugar intake, check labels on processed foods. Most processed foods have hidden sugars in them; opt for choosing items with < 5 grams of sugar per serving. When buying yogurt try to avoid brands with fruit on the bottom. The fruit in yogurts are fruit concentrates, which is just a hidden name for simple sugar. Sweeten your yogurt with fresh or frozen fruit to cut out added sugars and reap more nutrition. Another way to cut back on added sugars is to substitute sparking water with a squeeze of lemon for your daily sodas. All of these changes can go a long way when trying to detox your body!

A little bit of spice goes a long way! Ditch the salt and rely on healthy flavor packed ingredients, such as herbs and spices to enhance the taste of your food. Most restaurants are accustomed to adding salt during the cooking process so try to prepare food within your home so that you can control your intake of sodium at meals. Lastly, it is important to read labels! The magic number to aim for is less than 500 mg of sodium for a meal and less than 150 mg for a snack.

The last tip to clean up your eating is to cut down on processed foods with loads of ingredients. By cutting out processed foods, you can easily minimize your intake of saturated fat, refined carbohydrates, added sugars, and salt! Go through you cabinets and apply the following guidelines to determine if you’re consuming too many unhealthy convenience foods:

Rules of thumb for selecting healthy food items:

Sugar < 5-8 grams per serving

Fiber > 3 grams per serving

Sodium < 240 mg per serving

Total Fat < 3g/100 calories

No Trans Fat

Ingredient list: avoid partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, food coloring/dyes; limit artificial sweeteners

Now, who would have thought a 5 step detox could be this easy. Happy summer!

Simple Cold Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast

Makes 3 servings

• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 4 scoops vanilla Whey To Go protein powder (optional, available at whole foods)

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly until protein powder has dissolved.
3. Portion, equally, into 3 mason jars.
4. Cover mason jars and place in the refrigerator. It is best to let them sit for 60 minutes before eating so that the oats can soak up the liquid, overnight is better.

Strawberry Avocado Smoothie

• ¼ Cup fat free milk
• ¾ Cup Greek yogurt
• 1 Whole banana
• 1 ½ Cup frozen strawberries
• ¼ avocado
• ¼ tsp Vanilla extract

Directions

Pour the milk onto the blades of the blender, followed by the yogurt. If you want a thinner consistency, add more milk. Add the peeled banana and avocado, and then blend the mixture. When the mix is completely blended, add the frozen strawberries and blend until smooth.

Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup Greek yogurt
• 2 Tbsp All Natural Peanut Butter
• 1 Banana
• 1/8 Cup milk
• 3/4 Cup ice

Directions

Add the milk, yogurt, and banana; blend. Add the peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) and blend again. Lastly, blend in desired amount of ice; the more ice, the thicker the consistency.

Broccoli Blueberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup of steamed broccoli
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened cranberry juice
• 1/2 cup of plain non fat Greek yogurt

Directions

Blend and combine to make 1 smoothie. Add strawberries or blackberries for an additional burst of nutrition.

Sweet Veggie Smoothie

Ingredients:

• ½ cup apple juice
• 1 cup of sliced apple
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup of cucumber (peeled and sliced)
• 2 cups of ice
• 1 dash of nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Blend this vegetable smoothie until smooth. Adding the nutmeg and cinnamon will give it great fragrance.

Berry Berry Good Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 raspberries
• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1 cup fat free milk
• 2 cups ice
• 1 small shredded carrot

Directions

Blend until smooth

An Apple A Day Green Smoothie

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup yogurt
• 1/4 fat free milk
• 1 apple, cored
• 3″ cucumber (about 1/2 cucumber)
• 1 cup spinach
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg, cardamom, allspice (optional)

Directions

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender
2. Start on a low speed, slowly increasing to high
3. Blend until smooth

In this age of search engines one can easily find hundreds of thousands of articles, forums and blogs about nutrition. However, making use of a limitless source of information isn’t as easy as it sounds. With so much misinformation out there, how do you know what you can trust? Where can you start?

A great way to find your starting point is by watching credible documentaries. Over the last decade there has been a barrage of documentaries that place the spotlight on various aspects of our food industry.

Have you ever thought about where the meat in your cheeseburger comes from? How about the tomato in your salad? Do you question the long term affects of consuming too much added sugar? If you find yourself wondering the answers to these questions then I highly encourage you to view these influential documentaries. Each documentary unveils eye opening footage, provides one-one interviews with multiple health professionals and undoubtedly motivates viewers to make healthier choices in their lives.

1. Forks Over Knives: The feature film’ Forks Over Knives’ examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods.”

2.  Food Inc.: This documentary takes a look inside corporate America’s food industry.

3.  Hungry for Change: ‘Hungry For Change’ exposes shocking secrets the diet, weight loss and food industry don’t want you to know about. Deceptive strategies designed to keep you craving more and more.

4. Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead:.100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, Joe Cross is at the end of his rope and the end of his hope. ‘ Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead’ is a documentary that follows the 60-day journey of Joe Cross across the United States as he follows a juice fast to regain his health under the care of Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Nutrition Research Foundation’s Director of Research.

5. Food Matters: ‘Food Matters’ features is a hard, fast paced look at our Nation’s current state of health. ‘Food Matters’ seeks to uncover the business of disease and at the same time explores the safe, cheap and effective use of nutrition and supplementation for preventing and often reversing the underlying causative aspects of the illness.

Spring is officially here and it is a good time to reflect on your health goals and progress made for the year so far. It is time to look forward to warmed weather and longer days. It is also a good time to clean up your life, both physically and mentally. Spring cleaning is not just for your home anymore – it’s just as important for us to clean up other parts of our lives, especially our diets!

Greens are associated with spring – a time to renew and refresh vital energy. They aid in purifying the blood, strengthening the immune system, fighting depression, clearing congestion, improving circulation and keeping your skin clear and blemish free. They also are important for improvements in liver, gall bladder, and kidney function.

Some foods in season for the spring are listed below. Eating seasonal food does not have to be boring or bland. It also does not have to be complicated with long hours of prep-work. Start small and try to cook 1 new recipe per week. Experiment and crowd the diet with spring foods, and notice how your body feels. Soon you will begin to wonder how you ever lived without them! Right now is a perfect time for cleansing and detoxing from the long and cold winter months.

Vegetables in season include:

• artichokes
• asparagus
• peas (garden, snap, and snow)
• rhubarb
• sprouts
• turnips

Greens in season include:

• collards
• kale
• mustard greens
• swiss chard

Fruits in season include:

• apricots
• berries
• blood oranges
• grapefruit
• kiwi
• lemon
• pomegranates
• strawberries

Recipe of the month:

Kale Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head of kale, chopped into bite-size pieces
• 2 Tbsps mint, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsps peanuts, roughly chopped
• 1-2 scallions (green parts only), thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp all-natural, organic peanut butter
• 2 Tbps tamari
• 2 Tbsps mirin
• juice of 1 lime
• dash of cayenne

Directions:

Add the kale, mint, peanuts and scallions to a salad bowl. Massage the mixture a bit with your hands just to soften the kale. In a blender or food processor, combine the peanut butter, tamari, mirin, lime juice and cayenne.  Pour the dressing over the salad and combine so all of the greens are saturated. Refrigerate and allow it to marinate in the dressing for up to 30 minutes before serving.

© Integrative Nutrition

Do you find yourself at times overeating until your plate is cleared and your stomach is stuffed? Many of the habits that drive overeating are unconscious behaviors that people have repeated for years. The process of mindful eating allows a person to wake up and be aware of what they’re doing. By following the principles of mindful eating, you can help yourself improve your current eating behaviors, induce weight control, prevent chronic disease and foster a healthful relationship with food.

Our dietitian, Theresa Shank, likes to use the Mindful Eating Cycle as a guidance tool to help her patients become conscious of their eating patterns that are causing them to overeat. Next time you sit down to eat a meal, ask yourself the following questions…..

• “Why do I eat?” may include an exploration of triggers such as physical hunger, challenging situations, or visual cues, which often spring from stress, fatigue, or boredom.
• “When do I want to eat?” The answer may depend on the clock, physical hunger cues, or emotions.
• “What do I eat?” examines the factors people consider when choosing food, such as convenience, taste, comfort, and nutrition.
• “How do I eat?” Is eating rushed, mindful, distracted, or secretive? In our technological, on-the-go society, exploring the process of eating can be eye-opening.
• “How much do I eat?” Quantity may be decided by physical fullness cues, package size, or habit.
• “Where does the energy go?” Eating may be invigorating, cause sluggishness, or lead to guilt and shame. How is the energy used during work or play?