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Portion Control… also key to good health

Sometimes we eat more with our eyes than with our stomachs… we miseducate our bodies into believing more food equals more health and that is an erroneous notion. it is not the quantity of food, but its quality, that creates a positive equation for our long-term health.

Eating more than we should brings a slew of issues – obesity or being over weight, digestive issues like reflux disease, which might bring forth other issues like insomnia, lack of restful sleep, lethargy, lack of energy, indigestion, etc.

Let’s re-educate ourselves into eating more healthful portions:

Serve yourself in a smaller plate… the plate will be full with less food and you will train your brain into thinking this amount of food IS ENOUGH for you.
Learn to fill yourself up with fresh salads. If you still feel a small plate is too little to start your transition, complement your small plate with fresh veggies which carry lots of phytonutrients. Also, add fresh fruits to your breakfast or even as snacks…
When eating out, order a 1/2 portion – many restaurants offer 1/2 portions. Ask for them… And if even that is too much share a meal with someone or only eat half of it now and save the rest for later.
Take a walk after a meal. This will increase your physical activity, help your digestive system do its job faster and increase your overall health. When people eat large meals and immediately stay at rest or even take a nap it prevents the digestive system to do its job promptly because you’ve ordered your whole system to rest,,, so all that food stays in your stomach to ferment… not fun!
Do not eat a full meal too late at night – for the same reason as above.

Let’s take control of what we eat and the quantities we eat and over time you’ll see it in your health and possibly even your waistline…

Tags: food, half portions, healthy weight, portion control, restaurants, tips, vegetable, vegetarian

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Categories healthy thoughts, MY EDITORIAL

Food… your most powerful medicine

7 Aug

Sometimes, we give so little thought to what we eat… most people just think of the taste and the immediate gratification, with very little consideration of the impact of what they put in their mouth has on their immediate, mid and long-term health.

It is not a right of passage to be sickly when we get older!! To grow older should be a sign of accumulated wisdom, experiences, freedom… instead people become a repository of ailments, sickness and limited mobility. We’re so lucky our physical bodies are so resilient despite the poor fuel we give it.

People have come to believe that arthritis, inflammation, gout, heart diseases, diabetes… all are diseases you acquire due to age. Older people get these ailments because it’s the way it is. But people don’t stop and consider how all the “gustitos” or “little sins” – all the white bread, candy, refined sugars, meat, fatty foods, fast foods, artificial colorants, etc. – played a role in their current state of health.

Make a conscious decision to put more thought and be more mindful of what you eat every day. Consider how your food will either contribute to your health or your lack of it in years to come. Start choosing everyday to eat and fuel your body as if you will last 120 years. I am one that wants to last 120 years… but I want to be an active, productive and independent 120 year old some day. It can be done… that’s what our physical bodies are designed to endure. It all depends on how well we take care of ourselves…

Tags: ailments, ann wigmore, conscious, food, medicine, mindful eating, mindfulness, poison, sickness, vegetarian

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Categories healthy thoughts, MY EDITORIAL, Veggie Bites of Wisdom

What to buy when traveling to Peru…

31 Jul

As you know, to me the best kind of souvenirs are edible souvenirs… something to eat and reminisce about the place I am traveling in.

In Peru, these are my recommendations on what to bring home to remember your trip by:

Lay’s Perurísimas Potato Chips – Peru prides itself for having 1,000+ potato varieties. We had the chance to taste some of them during our dinners. But for munchies, the best potato chips I’ve had in a while are Lay’s Perurísimas. These are similar to a Terra chip, but made with several varieties of Peruvian potatoes. With a very light sea salt touch. De-li-cious!!! I wanted to bring back several bags of these… I will be campaigning for Lay’s to distribute these in the US and Puerto Rico.

Maras Salt, the Peruvian Pink Salt – Near Cusco there’s a place called Salineras, where Sal de Maras is harvested. Sal de Maras is a pink, very flavorful salt only available in Peru. You can buy it in any supermarket in the area. And I suggest you do so, because if you decide at the airport, you’ll be paying a hefty premium for forgetting it while you were buying your Perurísimas chips.

Maca – Lately, I’ve been hearing about all these add-ons you can add to your morning smoothies to make them more nutritious. Among these add-ons is maca powder. Maca is a Peruvian root, similar to a radish, which has been cultivated for many, many years. It is many times eaten as a cooked vegetable but for us outside of Peru, is more convenient to have it as a powder. Maca is said to help with anemia, boost energy, improve athletic performance and memory and even help with the symptoms of menopause. It’s also used for weak bones, depression, boost the immune system, erectile dysfunction and even to arouse sexual desire.

When I went to buy this at Whole Foods and saw it was a Peruvian thing… I waited to purchase it during our trip. I was lucky enough to find organic maca. I tried it first in a blended juice drink where they added maca to it. The taste is a tad bitter, but that may be a factor of the amount of maca they added to the drink. I only plan to add a tablespoon to my morning smoothie. Will report about the effects of it later on… OK??

Selva Brand Orange Juice – I have told you about my love for Orangina… so imagine this Selva Orange Juice is like Orangina, but without the fizz. It’s sweet and tart at the same time. It’s light and delicious. We bought a few bottles along the trip to have in our room to snack or to have for breakfast. I wish I could’ve brought a few bottles home with me. I would have if I had brought with me the super large Ziploc bags to make sure there wasn’t any spillage in my suitcase.

Oatmeal Cookies from La Gran Fruta – I’ve told you about La Gran Fruta… and these cookies make the best gifts for friends at home. Have them taste a little piece of Lima thru these cookies. They might crack into pieces, but no-one will care after they taste their deliciousness.

Ají Amarillo – My friend Mara is from Peru… and she urged me to bring home some ají amarillo, the one used to make salsa huancaína to serve with potatoes or sweet potatoes. I did not get a lot of time at the supermarket right before returning home, so I bought a packet of Ají Mirasol. I hope I bought the right thing. But in the near future I will ask my other Peruvian friend, Lucy, to share with me her papas a la huancaína recipe. We had a chance to have it at her Lima home and it was THE BEST papas a la huancaína we had the whole trip.

And in a completely unrelated to food topic… I also bought myself a nice little knitted hat made from alpaca wool. It’s the Peruvian wool of choice. I bought it in a little town called Chincheros from the nicest and funniest Peruvian lady ever. She should have her own stand-up comedy show… so I do sometimes buy stuff that is not edible. Just so you know… 😉

Have you been to Peru also?? What did you bring as a souvenir?

Tags: ají amarillo, alpaca, cookies, food, La Gran Fruta, Lay's, Maca, maca powder, oatmeal, Orangina, Peruvian Pink Salt, potato, potato chips, Sal de Maras, Salineras, Selva juice, vegetarian, wool, yellow ají

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Categories MY EDITORIAL, Travel

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Veggie Bites of Wisdom #38

23 Jul

Tags: food, Kevin Nealon, SNL, vegetarian, veggie burger

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Categories Veggie Bites of Wisdom

Coca Tea to avoid altitude sickness…

18 Jul

It’s tradition… it’s what people tell you immediately after you say you’re traveling to see Machu Picchu… so, will you be having coca tea??

As the word says… coca leaves are the raw material to make cocaine. Yep… cocaine, the drug. But coca leaves are also the natural remedy of choice to acclimate to the 11,000 feet above sea level altitude where Cusco resides. For centuries, Peruvians have chewed on coca leaves to help them deal with the side-effects of being so high up in the sky, no pun intended.

Altitude sickness can be very debilitating – headaches, difficulty breathing, disorientation, dizziness, among others. For perspective, you only reach 10,000 when traveling on an airplane. When you’re traveling to Cusco, you need to incorporate some down and easy time to get used to the altitude and not allow it to get the best of you and your trip.

I was not sure if I would have coca tea or not… I’ve never been in the presence of the drug and have no interest in ever trying it. But because of the novelty, and because I did not want to bring down my group my feeling sick on a trip, I gave it a try. This will be the closest I’ll ever be to getting a hit in my life… so let’s enjoy the experience, no??

Coca tea tastes very similar to linden tea. I sweetened it with brown sugar and it was a very enjoyable experience… one that I could certainly get somewhat addicted to. 😉 I only had it twice… as our Guruji told us it really has a substance that hinders your spiritual growth. After we had the experience and acclimated well to the altitude there was really no real need for it anymore.

Coca remedies for altitude sickness come in various presentations – the raw leaves, in traditional tea bags and even in candy form. These are only to be enjoyed in Peru. I do not believe any of these are permitted to bring into the US, for obvious reasons. So this is something that can only be experienced when you visit these parts of the world.

After a few days, we also learned there is yet another remedy for altitude sickness which is sometimes even more effective, but not as notorious as coca tea… it’s Muña Tea. Muña is an Andean mint leave, very pretty and very fragrant. Cusqueños offer muña tea as a welcome drink to visitors. I had the chance to taste muña tea a few times and it’s a delicious, caffeine-free way to deal with altitude sickness and the cold up in the Cusco mountains.