I took the Dr. Oz microwave flax muffin recipe and came up with this: 

1/4 Cup Chia Seeds 
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/4 tsp agave syrup (a bit of a cheat but I didn't have anything lower on the glycemic index in the house!) 
1 tsp cinnamon 
A pinch of pumpkin pie spice 
1 egg 
1 TBSP red palm oil 

Mix it all in a coffee mug. Then sprinkle some hemp seeds on top. 

Zap it for 1 minute on high in the microwave (I'd love to hear oven options!) 

Dump it out of the cup, spread with pure peanut peanut butter or butter or jam ... you've got options! 
Enjoy!

I found this a little dry, I might add a milk alternative next time....  But this was SUPER filling - I could only eat 1/2 of it :)

Everybody knows how much I love Green Vibrance!  It replaces your multivitamin, your vitamin D, some of your calcium, your fiber, your acidophilous, plus it's very nourishing and cleansing!  

Here's a few ways to enjoy a dose every day:

Green Vibrance Smoothie:
1 Banana, 1 Cup Berries, 1 Scoop Green Vibrance
Top up with Coconut Water 
Blend in the Magic Bullet
OPTIONAL:
  - Sprinkle Cinnamon
  - Dab of Vanilla, or Use 1/2 Vanilla Milk Alternative & 1/2 Coconut Water to top up

Green Vibrance Banana Milk:
1 Scoop Green Vibrance
1 Large Banana
Top up with Vanilla or Chocolate Milk Alternative

Green Vibrance Orange Julius:
1 Scoop Green Vibrance
1 Orange (peeled)
1 Banana
Top up with Vanilla milk alternative

Green Vibrance Straight Up:
1 Scoop with 8 ounces of liquid
(Try water, apple juice, orange juice, grape juice, milk alternatives)

Wanna try it?  Shoot me a message!

I hear from a lot of my clients - how can I get ALL that water into me?  I'm here to tell you - you can.  It's not that hard, and it only takes about 2 weeks for your body to adjust - and then start craving - all that water! 

Don’t forget that we as humans can absorb our water from many sources!  So here are some tips and ideas about where you can get those 8 – 15 glasses of water a day from and still enjoy getting them into your body!

Best tip – Herbal Teas, Infusions & Healthy Add Ins:

1)     Drink it at a different temperature – warm, or hot, but only ice cold in the heat of summer.

2)     Add a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon to your water – this is especially helpful first thing in the morning as it gets the liver and gallbladder going, speeds up and improves your metabolism and improves the cleansing abilities of your body.  You can do the same with any citrus fruit – and by using fresh fruit you’re giving both vitamins and enzymes to your body.

3)     Add a few slices of cucumber to your glass – this is a tonic to your lymphatic system (which is your detox highway)

4)     Add a few grains (just a few!) of unrefined Himalayan sea salts – this will boost the mineral content of the water providing your body with necessary electrolytes.

5)     Add a slice of ginger – this adds zing and it’s a great immune supporting herb.  It also increases the circulation and thus increases your metabolic rate.  Add it to ho water and drink as a tea.

6)     Add some fresh herbs - mints, lemongrass, or parsley are great for adding aroma and a hint of green to your water. If you want to release the flavor you can crush the plants a little bit before putting them into your water.  Every herb has medicinal properties – so by adding these herbs you are adding those properties as well – worth looking into before you drink a ton of any one kind of herbal infusion!

7)     Fresh or frozen berries – it’s the same concept as the citrus fruit – but you get the added punch of antioxidants as well.

8)     Herbal Teas – just brew and enjoy – either hot or cold.  Herbal teas should be brewed for at least 5 minutes – better 10 - to get all the benefits from the herbs.  Remember that herbs are medicine, so again be sure or what you’re drinking.  Chamomiles, mints, rooibos’ are all great and very safe options.

Next best option – from your food:  Soups, Juices and liquid-y foods all contain water.

1)     Count soups to the best of your ability – if it’s a straight broth you can count it one for one as water.  If it’s a thick creamy soup – maybe one cup only = ¼ water – you’ll have to make a judgment call here – and be fair with yourself!

2)     Milk is counted about 1 – ½.  So if you drink 1 cup of milk you’ve ingested about ½ cup of water.

3)     Juice is counted about 1 – ¾.  So if you drink a cup of juice, you’ve had about ¾ cup of water.  The added benefit of juices is all the nutrients they contain.  Freshly squeezed is by far the best option with enzymes and vitamins still active and available to you.  Pasteurized juices are great for vitamin C – but that’s about it.

Happy Hydrating Everyone!

Why Alkaline?  (From Santevia's Website)
1. Stay Healthy
2. Be Stronger
3. Live Longer We all want to Stay Healthy, Be Stronger and Live Longer so how do we do that? 

It’s all about BALANCE!  Our body is slightly alkaline (7.35pH) and we need to keep it that way to stay in homeostasis which is where our body can heal itself. 

So let’s talk about the BIG 3 things we need to do:

1.    Eat Alkaline (GREEN)
2.    Exercise to get rid of Acid
3.    Drink LOTS of healthy Alkaline Water

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is loaded with processed foods, meat and bread which are acidic, so it isn’t a big surprise that many of us end up with acidic bodies which can lead to acidosis and inflammation.  Add to that our sedentary lifestyle and it isn’t a wonder that type II diabetes and childhood obesity are rising threats to our society.  

What can I do?
1.    EAT your GREENS
2.    WALK for 20-30 minutes every day
3.    DRINK 8-10 glasses of clean, mineralized and alkaline water EVERY DAY!

Here’s a list of items tested for in our water: 

Alkalinity, aluminum, arsenic, barium, boron, cadmium, calcium, total organic carbon, chloride, chromium, cobalt, true color, apparent color, conductivity, copper, fluoride, hardness, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, ammonia, Nitrate, nitrite, nitrogen, pH, potassium, total dissolved residue, selenium, silver, sodium, sulphate, turbidity, zinc, Total and fecal coliforms (Escherichia coli). 

There are acceptable levels of these toxins that are allowed to remain in our water supply, plus the distance between the water plant and your tap is not tested or monitored.   

Also not tested for - all those other microbes: bacterium, viruses, and parasites????  Plus – who’s testing for all those drugs we’ve been hearing about getting into our water like estrogens and antibiotics?  Yuck!

So that’s why so many people choose to filter their water. 

How can you filter your own water?  There’s a lot of options here!

Store bought:  Well there’s a lot of options but you can really boil it down to tap water or natural spring water that’s been filtered and bottled in a plant, and then transported in plastic to you.  Big carbon foot print!  Plus if those plastic bottles have been heated in any way during transport – that plastic is leaching into your water – cancer alert!!!

At home you have a lot more control over what happens and its impact on yourself, your family and your environment. 

You have the options of the Brita-type System (activated carbon filters), the Santevia - type System (imitates nature’s filtering via layers of rock and sand - http://www.santevia.com/ ), or Kinetic Degradation Fluxion (KDF) with Carbon Block Systems (http://www.aquasmart.com/aboutus.html).  The last two are my favourite options. 

Activated carbon filters do not kill all bacteria, viruses or parasites and they aren’t great at filtering out chlorine.  But – if they are your only option I’d at least start here.  You can boil your water for 10 minutes to kill any microbes that may be in the water after you’ve filtered it – this will also boil off the added chemicals – but it’s a lot of work.  In the long run this is also your most expensive method since you need to replace the filters at least every 2 months (more often than recommended by the manufacturers please!!!), plus it creates a lot of garbage. 

Solid Carbon block filtration is a very effective filtering system, and the most cost effective – you only need to replace the block every 6 – 8 months.  Solid carbon block filters effectively treat age-old contaminants such as lead, TCE, chlorine, benzene and several contaminants found in drinking water supplies today like MTBE, chloramines and PCBs. They also likely will be proven capable of significantly reducing contaminants that may be found in drinking water supplies in the future such as antibiotics and other drugs.

Kinetic Degradation Fluxion process medias are patented high purity copper-zinc formulations which eliminate or reduce contaminants from water by using electrochemical oxidation reduction.  These mediums were designed for removing and reducing chlorine and water-soluble heavy metals, to control scale, bacteria and algae even in hot water.  KDF 55 and KDF 85 process media can remove up to 99% of water-soluble lead, mercury, nickel, chromium, and other dissolved metals. They are ideal for use in granular activated carbon (GAC) beds, ion exchange resins, carbon block filters and in-line filters.  Basically this is an additive used with carbon – based filters to further reduce the contaminants in your water. 

While water ­filtration is important to yield clean, contaminant reduced water – it is merely one element of organically complete water. Unlike many high-tech water fi­lters, Gravity Water Systems clean your water without using chemicals, arti­ficial ­filter media, water pressure, or electricity. These systems use all-natural compounds including earthenware ceramic, coconut carbon charcoal, volcanic Zeolite, and silica sand.

Gravity Water Systems recreate the Earth’s process of purifying, mineralizing, alkalinizing and vitalizing water with out the use of electricity. Each drop of ordinary tap water is gravity dripped, resulting in long-contact exposure to earth-derived elements transforming it into vital and complete pure water.  Because this system naturally alkalizes the water, microbes are not able to survive in the water – so any that do get through are unable to get you sick. 

With all this in mind - I hope that you’ll consider filtering your water for a healthier, happier you!  We have a Santevia Gravity System in our home and we use it to drink, cook, water our plants and feed our pets - we love it!

Keep Hydrated!!!

I have found that of all the things I can suggest to people digestive enzymes are by far the most important.  If you’re not digesting your food – what’s the point of eating?  And what’s the point of eating right? 

If you think about it – how you process your food really determines everything about you – whether you have the nutrients required to build the neurotransmitter that allows you to feel joy for example. 

Let that one sink in for a second … 

Everything we do, feel, and think is based upon complex chemical reactions within our bodies and when we don’t have the materials necessary for those reactions to occur, we just don’t experience those things – or we experience them in a warped way.  Those materials come from our diet. 

BUT – even if you eat the most nutritious clean diet in the world, if your system is not functioning properly – you still won’t gain the benefit from that diet!  The first step then is to help our bodies break down our food in a useful manner – it all starts there. 

How do we do that?  We take ENZYMES. 

The following is gleaned from the Enzymedica website, the company I buy many of my enzymes from.  I’ve found them to be the best quality enzymes around – especially for specific concerns. 

On their website they have a fantastic test that discovers the enzyme (s) you are deficient in and I use this test during all of my nutrition intakes. 

Consider taking the test yourself, and then if you’re wanting to try enzymes – give me a call!

http://www.enzymedica.com/takethetest/

What Are Enzymes?

Enzymes are energized protein molecules found in all living cells. They catalyze and regulate all biochemical reactions that occur within the human body. They are also instrumental in digestion. They break down proteins, fats, carbohydrates and fiber making it possible to benefit from the nutrients found in those foods while removing the toxins. Enzymes turn the food we eat into energy and unlock this energy for use in the body. Their presence and strength can be determined by improved blood and immune system functions.

Types of Enzymes

There are three types of enzymes. Our bodies naturally produce two types, digestive and metabolic enzymes as they are needed, while food enzymes can only be consumed orally.

Metabolic Enzymes speed up the chemical reaction within the cells for detoxification and energy production. They enable us to see, hear, feel, move and think. Every organ, every tissue, and all 100 trillion cells in our body depend upon the reaction of metabolic enzymes and their energy factor. Metabolic enzymes are produced by every living cell. However, the liver, pancreas, gallbladder and other organs play a vital role in their production.

Digestive Enzymes are secreted along the digestive tract to break food down into nutrients and waste. This allows nutrients to be absorbed into the blood stream and the waste to be discarded. Human digestive enzymes include ptyalin, pepsin, trypsin, lipase, protease, and amylase. The body does not make cellulase, an enzyme necessary for proper digestion of fiber, so it must be introduced through the raw foods we eat.

Food Enzymes are introduced to the body through the raw foods we eat and through consumption of supplemental enzyme fortifiers. Raw foods naturally contain enzymes, providing a source of digestive enzymes when ingested. However, raw food manifests only enough enzymes to digest that particular food, not enough to have any support systemically. The cooking and processing of food destroys all of its enzymes. Since most of the foods we eat are cooked or processed in some way and since the raw foods we do eat contain only enough enzymes to process that particular food, our bodies must produce the majority of the digestive enzymes we require.

For these reasons it is recommended that we supplement our diet with enzymes.