Healthy Living Tips

Most people want to eat healthy but admit they have a difficult time trying to figure out how to regularly and consistently prepare healthy food. Eating (and drinking) healthy does not have to be complicated or even time consuming.

Soft drinks are loaded with high fructose corn syrup and empty calories. Worse yet, diet soda is loaded with artificial sweeteners and provides no nutrients for the body. Sparkling mineral water, such as San Pellegrino or Perrier, is an all-natural healthy alternative. It provides hydration the body needs with zero sugar, zero calories, zero artificial ingredients, zero fat, and zero carbohydrates. Sparkling mineral water also provides bubbly carbonation making it a great substitute to soda.

Try some of these additional tips:
• Add lemon, lime, orange, kiwi, peach, or berries to add flavor
• Feeling fancy – drink mineral water using a wine glass
• Purchase small bottles to take with you to a BYOB event
• Drink in place of alcohol and save yourself that morning hangover!

Do you need substitutes for grains? Try substituting cauliflower for rice!

Lightly steam cleaned and separated organic cauliflower flowerets. It is important not to over or under steam the cauliflower. They should be cooked just enough to warm them throughout, but not soggy. Place warm flowerets in a food processer and pulse for a few seconds until the cauliflower resembles the consistency of rice. The cauliflower can be pulsed a bit longer to resemble couscous, if desired.

The riced cauliflower can be eaten as is, with a bit of seasoning, or topped with anything normally eaten over rice. The riced cauliflower can also be used as a substituted in various recipes, but use caution as the cauliflower contains water and rice absorbs water. Therefore, be sure to add the cauliflower when no additional cooking or absorption is needed.

The taste and consistency of riced cauliflower are very similar to rice with a fraction of the calories and carbohydrates!

Cauliflower is an excellent source of Vitamin C.

Try this healthy living tip for quick and easy guilt free comfort food!

Steam one head of cleaned and separated organic cauliflower flowerets until tender to a fork. Place flowerets in a bowl and blend with a hand mixer for about one minute to desired consistency. Add spices (salt, pepper, etc.) and/or a dollop of plain Greek yogurt if desired. Enjoy!

Cauliflower is an excellent source of vitamin C.

The taste and consistency are identical to mashed potatoes with a fraction of the calories!

Instead of loading your baked potato with all kinds of unhealthy fats, next time try an avocado! Avocados are delicious and a great source of vitamin K and vitamin B6. Although avocados have a high fat content, it is primarily the healthy monounsaturated fat. Additionally, avocados are the most natural source of fat possible as nothing is altered prior to consuming it. Even healthy olive oil needs to go through a process prior to consumption, but not an avocado. It is simply picked from the tree and eaten as nature intended.

Additional tips:
• Want a bit more flavor? Also add fresh garlic, salsa, Dijon mustard, or a dash of cayenne pepper along with the avocado
• Want even more vitamins? Dice up tomato, bell pepper, or onion and add them to your potato for extra vitamin C

In the area of alternative health, there are claims that juicing raw vegetables and fruits helps to cure all sorts of ailments from acid reflux to cancer. Controversy does exist as to what juicing can and cannot do, but most nutrition and wellness experts agree that in addition to eating whole vegetables and fruits, there are benefits to adding fresh raw juice to the diet, including:

• Raw vegetables and fruits contain many critical vitamins and minerals that enhance health. Juicing benefits the body by providing the most concentrated and readily absorbed source of these substances.
• When drinking fresh raw juice, the body is able to absorb larger amounts of nutrients than it would if the entire vegetable or fruit were eaten, making it possible to consume and digest the optimal amount a body needs on a daily basis.
• Although vegetables and fruits contain many vital nutrients, they are trapped within the fiber. The body needs fiber and it is important to include many whole vegetables and fruits in the diet, but adding fresh raw juice where the nutrients have been extracted from the fiber enables the body to more readily absorb them.
• Vegetables and fruits contain enzymes which are critical for the digestion and metabolism process of converting food into body tissue and energy. Because enzymes are destroyed by heating food, juicing raw vegetables and fruits is a great way to ingest a large amount into the body.
• For those with impaired digestion (which many people have from years of poor food choices), the body becomes limited in its ability to absorb all the nutrients from the foods eaten. However, because the body does not need to digest juice, more nutrients can be absorbed by the body.
• Because more nutrients are absorbed from fresh raw juice, the body may be in an overall healthier condition.

Important! It is critical that only organic vegetables and fruits be juiced. The conventional types leach additional pesticides into the juice and body.

Most people enjoy a healthy treat every now and then. The problem is that most candy is full of high fructose corn syrup and other unnatural ingredients which are harmful to the health. However, there are healthy alternatives that are equally satisfying.

Arrange on a small plate:
• Good organic dark chocolate
• Dried fruit such as cranberries, raisins, or apricots
• Raw nuts such as walnuts, almonds, or pecans

Then simply pile a piece of each together and enjoy!