family health advocacy

Basil Pesto Recipe

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Here’s my simple, quick and tasty basil pesto recipe.  It’s sure to get your mouth watering and please any crowd.  The recipe listed below is based on two people.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 30g fresh basil
  • 4 tbsp Grana Padano grated
  • 4 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
  • 3 small garlic cloves
  • 2 tbsp pine nuts
  • 2 tbsp raw almonds
  • cooked pasta of your choice

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1.   Cook pasta according to package directions.
  2.   Peel the garlic cloves.
  3.   Add all ingredients (except the pasta) in a food chopper and blend until smooth.
  4.   Toss the hot pasta with the pesto in a large bowl.
  5. Serve and ENJOY!!

Looking for more tasty treats?  Click here for my Orange-Walnut Macaroons recipe

and be sure to follow me on instagram @c_you_coaching

Simple And Healthy Yogurt Parfait

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Make breakfast special with this appealing Breakfast Yogurt Parfait.  This is a very easy, yet effective way to impress the family or house guests.

As a child, an Ice-cream or Yogurt Parfait were our special treat if we behaved well enough while eating out in a restaurant.

I decided to recreate this childhood memory as a healthy breakfast option by using yogurt, fresh fruit, nuts, and seeds to create the same beautiful eye-catching layers.

A good quality, nutty granola can also be used for the crunchy layer.  Use any of your favourite seasonal fruits for the fruit layers.  I especially like seeded cherries or lychees, or chopped up peaches or apricots in my yogurt parfait.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup plain dairy or coconut yogurt
  • 1/4 cup fresh berries of your choice
  • 1/2 small mango, cubed
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts and/or seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Simply start with your yogurt layer then add a layer of your fruits, nuts and/or seeds, followed again by another layer of yogurt.  Then repeat.  Decorate the top with extra fruit, nuts and/or seeds.  You can also add a drizzle of raw honey or maple syrup to add some extra sweetness.

Looking for another breakfast idea?   Click here for an amazing breakfast egg muffin!

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies taste as good as they look!!  Parent and kid approved, they are a great mid day snack to treat your taste buds and fuel your body right.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup gluten free oats
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp cashew butter
  • 1 tbsp flaxseed
  • Handful of vegan chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Mix wet ingredients first and then add in dry ingredients
  2. Add in the chocolate chips
  3. Freeze dough for 10 minutes
  4. Roll dough into balls and flatten with hands
  5. Bake 350 for 10 minutes
  6. ENJOY!!

Looking for more vegan snacking idea’s?  Click here for my Gluten free Vegan Fat Bombs!

Blueberry Coconut Cashew Bread

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This blueberry bread with coconut and cashews is one of my favorite recipes to date.  You can be extremely flexible with what you choose to add to and all together it makes a great combo! The texture perfectly consistent and also low in sugar!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 2/3 cup oat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1tsp cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup apple sauce (I made my own homemade and it was mouth watering delish)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp of maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 3 tsp of nut milk
  • 1/2 cup organic blueberries
  • Coconut shreds
  • Cashews

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Add all ingredients together in a bowl
  2. Mix and place into a bread pan
  3. Add toppings of your choice
  4. Bake 350 for 30-35 minutes

ENJOY!!  Let me know how you made this blueberry bread your own by sharing your favorite substitutions.  Looking for another tasty treat??  Then these vegan cornbread muffins are the perfect fit for you!  Try them straight out of the oven with some vegan butter for a little extra indulgence.  Click here for the full recipe.

Orange-Walnut Macaroons

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These orange-walnut macaroons are perfect for this time of year!  Not only are they in season but they’re packed with vitamin C and other minerals and antioxidants.  It’s because of this that baking with oranges is always a smart idea.  Don’t wait and treat yourself (and your loved ones) with those delicious macaroons.  Perfect for your afternoon snack as well.  Do you know the difference between a macaron vs macaroon?  Click here to find out!

Note:

I did not add sugar in the recipe because the vanilla yogurt is already sweetened.  I also recommend buying organic oranges because we need the zest and the outer skin may contain pesticides in conventional ones.  To learn more about whether always need to buy organic click here!

This recipe makes 18 pieces:

Ingredients:

  • 100g whole wheat flour
  • 1 orange (juice + zest)
  • 1 egg
  • 85g almond flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp baking soda
  • 120g Vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 3 tbsp chopped walnuts (+ some for the topping)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 370°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a bowl, combine whole wheat flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and the chopped walnuts.
  3. In another bowl, add the orange juice and zest, vanilla extract, egg and yogurt. Mix until well combined.
  4. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the other bowl and stir until combined.
  5. With a small cookie scoop (or 2 spoons), scoop the macaroons into small balls. Place on the baking sheet.
  6. Place a walnut on the top of each macaroons.
  7. Bake for about 25min or until macaroons are lightly golden on top.

Enjoy!!

Effects Of Stress – Stress Can Be Good For You?!

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Yes you read that right! Stress can be good for you!  As a Naturopathic Doctor, I spend a lot of time talking with patients about stress.  Usually, we’re talking about how to best manage and reduce stress as it tends to be an aggravating or even causal factor in so many ailments.  But what if the solution to managing stress is actually stress itself?  I know, it sounds counterintuitive right?  How can you reduce stress with more stress?

Acute vs Chronic Stress

Well first, I want to make an important distinction between acute stress and chronic stress. Acute stress is the body’s short-term response to something stressful.  For example, if you were going to an important interview or giving a big presentation, acute stress would be that heart-racing, sweaty palms, nervous feeling you might have before or during the presentation.  This happens because your sympathetic nervous system is activated and your body goes into fight-or-flight mode.  However, once the presentation is over, things calm down and your parasympathetic nervous system is activated allowing your body to rest and recover.  This is your body’s normal response to stress and usually doesn’t cause any long term issues.

However, issues arise when your body is not given time to rest and recover.  This is where we get into chronic stress.  Chronic stress happens when you are repeatedly exposed to stressful situations.  For example, an overburdening work schedule or a stressful home environment.  This is the stress that lends itself toward many of the health issues that have been associated with stress.  Click here for more information on Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes.

Acute Stress Can Make You Cope Better

It turns out stress is not necessarily a bad thing.  It’s more about how we cope with stress that affects our health.  Research has shown that experiencing tolerable levels of that acute stress we talked about can actually lead to an improved resilience to stress overall.  What does this mean?  It means experiencing small stresses that don’t harm us can actually make us better able to cope with the inevitable stress that life may throw our way.

For example, choosing to do more things that force us out of our comfort zone.  Like giving that presentation or going to that interview that makes us nervous, can make us better able to cope with bigger life stresses.   The stress of a loved one falling ill or the stress of losing a job.  The key is to make sure we’re giving our bodies time to rest and recover in between stressful events.

What Can You Do With This Information?

Build your resilience to stress!  Try stepping outside of your comfort zone once in a while. Maybe make it a goal to try one new thing that makes you a little nervous every day. Challenge yourself while remembering to take time to rest and recover.  Click here for 5 Tips You Must Know to Destroy Stress Today!

Check out this month-long “Step outside your comfort zone!” calendar for ideas.

Sources

1. Oken, B. S., Chamine, I., & Wakeland, W. (2014). A systems approach to stress, stressors and resilience in humans. Behavioural brain research, 282, 144-54.

Vegan Cornbread Muffins

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Looking for the perfect comfort food that is savory and a little sweet?  Then these vegan cornbread muffins are the perfect fit for you!  Try them straight out of the oven with some vegan butter for a little extra indulgence.

INGREDIENTS:

Dry Ingredients:

  • 2 cups organic cornmeal
  • 1 cup organic unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt

Wet Ingredients:

  • 2 cups organic non-dairy milk (room temperature)
  • 2 teaspoons organic apple cider vinegar
  • 1/3 cup organic coconut oil (melted/liquid)
  • 2 tablespoons organic maple syrup

Instructions For Vegan Cornbread Muffins:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Prepare the wet ingredients – Add the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar to a medium-sized bowland whisk together.  Add the melted coconut oil and maple syrup in and whisk again until the mixture is foamy and bubbly.  Adjust the sweetener to your preference.
  3. Prepare the dry ingredients – Combine the dry ingredients together in a medium-size bowl and stir until well combined.  Transfer the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
  4. Transfer the mixture into muffin cup and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until the top is golden.
  5. Add blueberry jam as a tasty topping and enjoy!

Like what you see?  Check out more of my healthy recipes by clicking here.

Clean Living Basics And DIY Cleaning Solutions

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Many people when doing a cleanse or detox usually think of eating organic food and taking herbs.  Although this can be an amazing thing for your body and well-being, it is even more important to also use safe cleaning products for your home (this is where you spend a significant amount of time after all!).  In other words, by practicing clean living and using safe cleaning products you are benefiting your lungs and liver.

A 2003 study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry showed that levels of antioxidants and other cancer-fighting compounds were over 50% higher in organically grown food than in food grown conventionally.  Also, Organic foods do not contain cancer-causing pesticide residues either.  Click here to read an article about Antioxidants – Can They Be Boosted With Chiropractic Care?

The following list are tips on how to incorporate more antioxidant rich foods in your diet.

Love That Limonene

Citrus juices and peel contain flavonoids and limonene, natural anti-oxidants that inhibit the growth and proliferation of cancer cells.  Orange and lemon peels are the most powerful of the citrus fruits.  Add organic citrus peel to your diet by grating a little over your salad or using the peel in your tea daily.

Be Raw

Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures higher than 50°C so we should focus on eating foods rich in enzymes, including raw fruits and vegetables.  Many vitamins are also destroyed through heating.  If digestion is an issue, you can lightly steam vegetables. JUICING is a terrific way of getting in many raw veggies.  Eating 50% of raw veggies and fruits per day is a good balance for most people.

Beneficial Brassicas

Particularly potent healing vegetables include members of the brassica family.  This included cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, bok choy, kale, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabagas, radish and watercress.  We can enjoy this family by eating cole slaw several times per week.  Adding cabbage to soups and salads and adding broccoli and cauliflower to main dishes and salads (not to mention dipping them in hummus!)  The cancer-preventing phytochemical in this vegetable is indole-3-carbinol.

Click here to get an easy to make veggie dip recipe.

Super-Seaweeds

Seaweeds include nori, arame, kelp, dulse and kombu.  Seaweeds also contain calcium and B12.

Click here for clean eating recipes to reset and refresh your body.

Tips For Home Cleaning

Use Natural household cleaners.  The toxins in various household products are toxic to our livers and expose us to cancer-causing.  Many household cleaners also contain hormone-disrupting chemicals–This is especially important if you are trying to conceive or have little people crawling around on the floors.  Click here to read ‘Are You Poisoning Your Family?’ for more information on the hazards of common house cleaners.  Below are some tips to replace common chemical cleaners:

Floor Cleaner:

Use washing soda and a bit of borax in water.  Use white vinegar in your rinse for a natural shine.

Furniture Polish:

Use filtered water to dampen a cloth and place a few drops of olive oil on the cloth.

Kitchen/Bathroom Cleanser:

Use ¼ cup borax with ¼ cup washing soda and minimum water to clean in the kitchen and bathroom.  Use dry washing soda to scour.

Laundry Detergent:

Use ½ cup of borax per load and combine with washing soda for extra cleaning powder.  For stubborn stains, try rubbing with bar soap first and/or rub with alcohol, vinegar or baking soda.

Oven Cleaner:

Scrub with baking soda on its own or mix 1 cup of pure soap, ½ cup lemon juice with 1 gallon of water and scrub.  Rinse with water.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner:

Pour 1 cup borax powder into toilet and let sit overnight. Scrub with a brush and flush. For faster action, add ¼ cup lemon juice or vinegar to the borax. Wait a few hours before scrubbing.  Alternatively, open 2 vitamin C capsules and drop them into the bowl, letting the sit overnight.  Scrub and flush.

Window Cleaner:

Mix 2 tablespoons vinegar in 1L of water in a spray bottle.  Clean your windows using newspapers.

Car Fresheners:

Please avoid artificial car ‘fresheners’ as these are toxic.  Purchasing an essential oil diffuser for your car is perfect for adding some uplifting natural scents to purify the air.  Bergamot and mint are wonderful cleansing scents.

For more information on how you can detoxify your home or yourself, please click here and contact me today!  For further reading click here for an important article about ‘This Common Ingredient Has Been Linked To Cancer’.

The Myths About Cholesterol

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Mainstream media is still fixated on “fat is bad” and “high cholesterol is bad” myths.  Let’s face it, for a long time science has shown that these hypotheses were correct.  But did you know that these myths were not always accepted wisdom?  It wasn’t until the 1950’s that fats were demonized, and carbohydrates were vindicated.  Before that, the case against either was hotly debated.  But that’s another story (1)  So here is what you need to know about cholesterol, the good and the bad and the ugly!

LDL VS HDL

Even today, if you search google for cholesterol and heart disease you might find this:  

“When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries, causing a process called atherosclerosis, a form of heart disease … If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by a blockage, the result is a heart attack. (WebMd)

Most people are familiar with or have heard of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. This is what is being referred to in the above excerpt.  The other type is called HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.  

In your body, only about 20% of your cholesterol comes directly from what you eat. Roughly speaking, your liver and intestines make the other 80% of the cholesterol you need to stay healthy.  Here’s a great diagram from Harvard Health, – a bit technical, but some of you like that stuff.

How Cholesterol Works

Here is an easier way to understand how cholesterol works.  Imagine that LDL is a happy-go-lucky cholesterol molecule (simplifying, so bear with me).  It’s travelling around your blood like a hotdog vendor at a hockey game coming down the aisles yelling, “I got cholesterol, who wants cholesterol …”.  A cell sitting in seat H45 yells, “Hell ya, I need a cholesterol” and so the hotdog vendor gives the cell a little cholesterol and the cell does what cells do with cholesterol … (that’s a different article).

Now imagine at the end of the night, there are still a bunch of hotdog vendors with lots of extra hot dogs.  In comes the manager (HDL) and he takes all the leftover hot dogs and does what managers do with the extra hot dogs.  He recycles them.

“HDL collects cholesterol that is not being used by cells and brings them back to the liver to be recycled or destroyed.” The Ketogenic Diet and Cholesterol (2)

What you want is a good mix of hotdog vendors and managers.  In one arena, there might be more hotdog vendors, but there are more managers, and in another arena fewer hotdog vendors but also fewer managers.  That’s why the cholesterol number you are given is a ratio: vendors divided by managers.  Seems simple, right?

Science Proves Size Matters

In the past, doctors and researches would worry that there was too much LDL (vendors) in the blood and when they looked at narrowing arteries, they found that LDL cholesterol was what was narrowing the arteries and that it could eventually block the artery and cause a heart attack or a stroke.  It was right there in black and white (most scanners didn’t show color back then).

Then scientific testing got more precise.  It was realized that LDL was not all uniform and that there were big hot dogs and medium-sized hot dogs and small hot dogs (let’s not get into vendor pricing, he charged the same for each one in my story).  Further research came up with some startling results.  It turns out size matters!  And this is how we get to ketones, the ketogenic diet and fat.

The bigger particles, research shows, are good for us. So, the “bad” cholesterol has parts that are good. The medium particles are not good or bad and the small, dense LDL is the ones causing the problems (and clearly if the hot dogs are the same price, who wants the small ones?).

The Good And The Bad And The Ugly

When your body is making 80% of your cholesterol, it is making the bigger particles from fat and it is making the smaller, dense particles from refined carbs and sugars!  It’s these smaller LDL particles that are clogging your arteries!

“Smaller, more tightly packed LDL has an easier time getting into arteries.” (Harvard Health) (3)

“The key dietary change for improving LDL size is to cut down on refined carbohydrates — that is, sugary or starchy foods. It isn’t necessary to go on a very-low-carb diet — just moderate your carb intake and choose healthy, high-fiber carbs.” (Berkley Wellness) (4)

“Very low carbohydrate ketogenic diets (<20g Carbs) increase HDL levels substantially ….”
“If your HDL is low and you are eating a high amount of carbohydrates, lowering carbohydrates consumption can increase your HDL cholesterol back to healthy levels.  You can accomplish this through a variety of low-carbohydrate diets, including the ketogenic diet.” (The Ketogenic Diet and Cholesterol)  (2)

Want to learn more about the role of ketones?  Click here to read how This One Thing Has Been Linked To Almost All Diseases.

What Is The Takeaway?

Well, other than making you hungry for hot dogs, your body needs fat to make the good-bad cholesterol (LDL).  Also, your body needs fat to make the good-good cholesterol (HDL).  So in conclusion, your body NEEDS fat!  Even the 20% cholesterol that you eat!  Did you know that dietary cholesterol from eggs increases HDL? (5)

All that said, your body DOES NOT NEED refined carbs and sugar.  In fact, it needs you to stop eating them or at the very least, substantially reduce them.  Otherwise you make bad-bad cholesterol and if you keep doing it, you will have a heart attack and die (sorry no research to back that up conclusively).

And who wants that???

—–

As always, if anything I have written resonates with you, leave a comment.  Send me an email at [email protected] if you have any questions or would like more information about drinking ketones, making ketones or healthy eating.

I am here to serve! (I just won’t serve you dessert ? )

Follow me on Facebook: facebook.com/therealketojack/ and Instagram @ketojack

Jack Lauzon, B.Sc. Honours Physics, Health Educator

Additional info:

1.

The Study Heard ’Round the World:

Wilson, Jacob. The Ketogenic Bible: The Authoritative Guide to Ketosis (p. 28). Victory Belt Publishing

2

The Ketogenic Diet and Cholesterol:

https://www.ruled.me/the-ketogenic-diet-and-cholesterol/

3

Should you seek advanced cholesterol testing?

https://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/should-you-seek-advanced-cholesterol-testing-

4

Berkley Wellness:

http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/diet-weight-loss/article/cholesterol-size-matters

5

Dietary cholesterol from eggs increases plasma HDL cholesterol in overweight men consuming a carbohydrate-restricted diet

Mutungi, G., J. Ratliff, M. Puglisi, M. Torres-Gonzalez, U. Vaishnav, J. O. Leite, … and M. L. Fernandez. “Dietary cholesterol from eggs increases plasma HDL cholesterol in overweight men consuming a carbohydrate-restricted diet.” Journal of Nutrition 138, no. 2 (2008): 272–6.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies are sure to make any mouth water! Not only are they easy to make, they’re also a healthier than other cookies.

INGREDIENTS:

-1 cup & 2 tbsp of almond flour
-2 tbsp coconut flour
-1 organic egg
-1/4 cup raw honey
-1/4 cup avocado oil
-1 tsp vanilla
-1/2 tsp pink salt
-1/4 cup almond milk
-Desired amount of chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.Mix together egg, honey, avocado oil, vanilla, salt, and almond milk
2.Add almond and coconut flour mix. MIX WELL.
3. Add in chocolate chips
4.Place in fridge for 20 minutes
5. Form into balls with avocado oiled hands. Press flat
6. Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes. Let cool. Cookies will look slightly “doughy”

Lastly enjoy every single satisfying bite of these thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies!