This is a guest post from my dear friend Dee Holden and her friend Dori.

“I work in a health food store and am being asked often for advice on how to proceed and protect ourselves from the possiblity of nuclear fallout from Japan.

May we all digest the information provided to us and look within to find our own truth in regards to how to proceed. Regardless of whether you feel concern the recipes and info below are certainly good medicine. My sweet sister Dori, a gifted intuitive healer has shared this wonderful article. Thanks Dori!” Read more…

What’s the best approach to healthy eating and losing weight? Well, that depends on you as an individual. However, understanding the Glycemic-Index is an important aspect to inform whatever nutritional approach you take.

Read this simple article to discover why low-glycemic foods support health, while high-glycemic foods create weight gain and often lead to dis-ease.

The Glycemic Index

One of the keys to evaluating both your overall diet and any weight loss program is to understand a measurement called the Glycemic Index. This Glycemic Index rates foods on how quickly your blood sugar rises once you’ve eaten them.

When certain foods cause your blood sugar to hit the roof, your body’s response is to spike insulin levels which thrusts the sugar into your cells. Then the crash comes, and all of a sudden you’re hungry again. If you continue to consume high glycemic foods, the vicious cycle not only makes you eat more, but the blood sugar roller coaster is really hard on the body. Read more…

You’ve likely heard how important it is to eat with the season. Well, I thought I’d share my perspective on the subject.

Your body is incredibly intelligent. It will crave certain things that you need so listen to your body and clue in when it’s talking to you. At the same time, it’s important to know healthy ways to interpret your cravings.

For instance, if you’re craving something sweet, rather than assuming your body is asking for cookies, you may be needing the antioxidants and vitamins that fruit brings. Or you may be craving the benefits of honey. And, yes, dark chocolate can be very good for you, but the key is that it needs to be in moderation. Like two or three squares, not half the bar.

If you’re craving hearty food, rather than going for high glycemic breads and pastas, use brown rice and root veggies to nourish and nurture yourself. Roasted veggies are especially nice. Sprouted bread is also a good lower glycemic alternative to white or wheat bread.

Personally, in summer I’m drawn to eat more fruits, green smoothies, fresh salads, and salad wraps.

As it gets colder and winter sets in, I eat a lot of soups, stir-fries, steamed veggies and greens, and roasted veggies. Read more…

To get the most out of your Yoga Boot Camp experience, it’s essential that you eat immediately after class.

Not 30 minutes later, not “Oh, I’ll just go home and make myself a meal” – bring your shake with you. Your body needs the nourishment right away.

Yoga Boot Camp is about empowering yourself and strengthening your body.

Boot Camp is early, I am sure you know, and that’s awesome. Exercising first thing in the morning is an incredible way to get in shape fast. But, if you don’t eat right after class you could be working out for nothing, and that’s no good.

Seriously, if you’re not eating till lunch, you can kiss good by any results you hope to achieve.

Skipping meals or not eating after workouts trains your body to go into starvation mode and hang on to fat. You don’t want this. After a while, your metabolism will slow down. This is why the American Dietetic Association calls breakfast the most important meal of the day.

After boot camp your body is thirsty for nutrients; you have just completed an incredibly effective workout and all your fat and carb fuel sources will be used up.

The only thing left to keep you going is muscle, and if your body starts to burn muscle as energy that’s not going to help you achieve the body that boot camp brings.

Muscle is what keeps you lean, so you don’t want to lose it! Read more…

For a little girl, I eat a LOT! More than my share, to be honest. (I’m only 5 feet tall and I often eat as much as my boyfriend.) It’s one of the reasons I need to work out and do a lot of yoga – to try to make up for my appetite.

But I’ve also been working on not eating quite so much. One of the things you’re supposed to do as a practitioner of yoga is eat moderately. Heh. Practice, practice.

I know you might struggle with overeating as well. Food can be so good! And addicting.

But even healthy food isn’t good for you when you put far more in your belly than you need.

So I thought I’d put together some suggestions for you and I to try in the pursuit of finding moderation.

Tips to not over eat: Read more…

This is one of my favorite soups, both for flavour and convenience. This morning I actually had it for breakfast, as I was craving something warm and hearty to complement the misty morning.

Generally my soups take an hour or so to prepare, but this one is as instant as a healthy soup can be, making it ideal for when you need to eat right away, or just don’t have a lot of time to cook.

Veggie Miso Noodle Soup

Preparation time: about 12 minutes. Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients: Read more…

This post is from my dear friend, Dee Holden. She is a plant intuitive and a great person to learn from when it comes to all things green and good.

Connecting with Plants

Eating flowers is one of my favorite things to do in the Summertime. They share their healing vibrations with us when we eat them. The flowers of these plants are edible: alliums, bee balm, borage, calendula, cornflower, dandelion, johnny jump ups, lavender, lilac, nastursium, pansy, rosemary, wild roses, violets, squash blossoms and sooo sooo many more.

Remember to identify the flower exactly and eat only edible flowers and edible parts of those flowers. Never harvest flowers growing by roadsides or flowers sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals.

Flower salads and calendula pancakes are yummy, healing and certainly beautiful, yet there are also ways to experience the healing effects of the whole plant: heart, body, soul and spirit. Read more…

It’s always so delightful to find a new recipe for enjoying salad, especially one that includes the medicinal benefits of shiitake mushrooms!

Shiitake mushrooms are considered one of the most important mushrooms in the East, and are used to boost the immune system and support healing for many conditions.

I get mine from Michael’s Mushrooms at the Kamloops Farmer’s Market, and they are so fresh and delicious!

For many people, the idea of a bunch of lettuce isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but there are ways to make salad absolutely scrumptious!

In fact, many (possibly most) of my meals at home are different variations of salad. Salad wrap, veggie sandwich, rice or quinoa salad, etc. It’s easy, it’s quick, and SO nutritious.

So here’s my latest creation:

Farmer’s Market Salad with Shiitake Mushrooms

Feeds 2-4 people. Approximately 15 minutes to prepare. Read more…

“You are what you eat” has a lot of truth in it, on many levels. The food you choose builds your body based on what the body can do with it. At the same time, anything else you take into your body (what you read, watch, listen to, etc.) also affects your thoughts, mood, and energy.

Fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, sprouts, seeds, nuts and whole grains are the foods that offer the most nutrients and nourishment. Unfortunately, the majority of the diet most North Americans eat is not focused around these foods.

When the body isn’t getting enough of what it needs, it keeps saying “I’m hungry – nourish me.”

Read more…

A salad with yummy sprouts!

The following article is by my dear friend Denise Holden. I’ve been meaning to post about sprouts for a while now, as they are a prominent part of my diet. They’re such a great way to eat fresh, live, nutrient rich food. Here’s what Denise has to say about them:

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During the winter season, sprouts are an excellent source of fresh vegetables.

Sprouts represent the point of greatest vitality in the life cycle of a plant. During sprouting, vitamin and enzyme content increases dramatically. The sprouting process predigests the nutrients of the seed, making it easier to assimilate and metabolize: starches are converted into simple sugars, proteins into free amino acids, and fats into free fatty acids. This explains why grains and legumes, many of which are common allergens, often do not cause allergies when sprouted. Read more…