Preparation for Winter
There are so many things we can do to stay healthy through the winter season. On the food front, eat healthy, live foods, including garlic and onions. Don't forget the salads! Wholesome foods can be made into stews, soups, and stir frys. Drink plenty of pure room temperature water and herbal teas such as ginger, green tea, and peppermint to name only a few. Take extra Vitamin C, a good multi vitamin/mineral, essential fatty acids, and extra Vitamin D. If you feel like you are coming down with a virus, Echinancea, Vitamin C, Vitamin D and Vitamin A may just ward it off, drink lots of fluids and get proper rest. To help with influenzinim prevention, there is a reliable homeopathic approach, using Homeopathic Influenzinum and Thymuline. Don't forget the exercise and fresh air components! Do a couple of minutes of bouncing every day, even if you don't own a cellerciser or rebounder. This keeps the lymph moving and one of its responsibilities is removing toxins from the body.
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Recipe -- South Indian-style Vegetable Curry
(taken & adapted from "Fine Cooking", Oct/Nov 2010 issue)
This is an amazing dish with lots of flavor, easy to prepare, and has been a huge hit with my family - enjoy!
2 Tbs. canola oil (I use organic coconut oil)
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated = 1 Tbs.
1 Tbs. ground coriander
1.5 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 Tbs. tomato paste
2 cups lower-salt chicken or vegetable broth (I use organic)
1 cup light coconut milk
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small cauliflower, broken into 1.5 inch florets = 4 cups
1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes = about 3 cups
2 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded and coarsely chopped = about 1.5 cups
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds = about 1 cup
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or use organic chicken instead)
4 oz. baby spinach = about 4 lightly packed cups
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. finely grated lime zest
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
In a 5 - 6 quart dutch oven or pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium or lower if necessary and cook until the onion is richly browned, 5-7 more minutes. Add the garlic and ginger; cook, stirring for 1 minute to blend the flavors. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne, stir for 30 seconds to toast the spices. Add the tomato paste and stir until well blended with the aromatics, about 1 minute.
Add the broth, coconut milk, cinnamon stick, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low or low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the cauliflower, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots. Raise the heat to medium high and return to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 20-25 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.
Stir in the chickpeas, spinach, lime juice, and zest; cook until the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes more. Season to taste with sea salt. Serve garnished with the cilantro.
**I use organic products, where available, and I serve it over a bed of brown rice. This would also be yummy with jasmine or basmati rice.
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Homeopathic Remedies for Colds, Coughs and Flu
Key Remedies to consider for Colds: Aconite, Allium Cepa, Pulsatilla, Kali Bichromicum
Key Remedies to consider for Coughs: Bryonia, Drosera, Spongia, Antimonium Tartaricum, Phosphorus, Ipecacuahna, Pulsatilla, and Ferrum Phosphoricum
Key Remedies to consider for Flu: Oscillococcinum, Gelsemium, Arsenicum Album, Baptisia, Belladonna, Bryonia, and Nux Vomica
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The Chia Seed
This is a tiny seed, high in omega 3's, similar to flax seed and an ancient grain that has been around for centuries. Chia seeds are considered to be a superfood! It is the richest plant source of Omega 3 fatty acids, even beyond flax seeds. It is high in both insoluble and soluble fibre and is almost a complete protein on its own.
Chia seeds can be ground and placed in a protein shake or smoothie, in yogurt, on salads or cereals.
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Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol)
We are hearing so much these days about the power of Vitamin D. Even the medical community are waking up to the recognition that we need more than 400 IU daily in Canada. This vitamin is often referred to as the ‘sunshine vitamin’ because that is the best way to get it and use it, as long as we get 10-15 minutes a day without sunscreen, do not let our skin burn nor take a shower for at least a few hours. Vitamin D is made in the skin, gets to the liver where it is activated into a hormone called calcitriol. However, as we approach winter in our region this is not as possible.
There is a small amount of Vitamin D found in eggs, fish, and milk but not enough. As we age, we also make less Vitamin D, even more reason for supplementation. You need optimal Vitamin D levels to enhance your immunity and to prevent cancer especially of the breast, male and female reproductive organs, the colon and skin. Without Vitamin D, you can not properly absorb and assimilate calcium. Vitamin D has been shown to help in the prevention of heart disease, muscular-skeletal pain including rheumatoid arthritis, bone health, multiple sclerosis, cellular damage, depression, osteoporosis and more. Certain drugs can interfere with Vitamin D absorption including steroids, anti-coagulates, anti-convulsants as well as alcohol and smoking.
Vitamin D may not be absorbed as easily if you are overweight or of a darker skin pigment. If you are uncertain of your Vitamin D levels, you can ask your medical doctor for a 25-hydroxy D test. Doctors like to see the result being 75 nmol/L or more but ideally 100 or higher should be the goal.
I personally supplement with 4,000 - 5,000 IU daily commencing in the fall until summer, whereby I reduce to 2,000 - 3,000 IU a day and depending on how much I am in the sun, I may further reduce that amount. Using 35 IU of Vitamin D per pound of body weight is suggested. For example, if you weigh 130 pounds, you would require 4,550 IU daily. If you have questions about the optimal amount to take, check with your health care practitioner.
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Weight Management and New Year’s Resolutions
How many times have you promised yourself on the crest of a new year that you would lose weight? Understanding that losing weight is about what you are eating, how you are moving the body, how you are emotionally connecting to food and how you think - forms the key parts to healthy weight management. And there is another one -- a healthy endocrine system. So many times we are going against our own flow. It isn’t that we are eating poorly or doing all the wrong things but sometimes there is more to it. We need to look at metabolism and what is going on with the hormones. Sometimes people will say “I think it is my thyroid” and it may or may not be the case. Weak adrenals can also play a part, as well as liver imbalances, insulin excess, blood sugar imbalance, and so on.
If a client assures me that they are doing all the ‘right’ things and still not losing weight we also look at the emotional component that stems from the subconscious mind. What are you feeding when you are eating those snacks or less than healthy foods? This can come from a time in your life when you don’t even remember the connection to it. Eating is often done unconsciously so we don’t have to be aware of what we are eating or why we have chosen that particular food. Sometimes eating is about numbing out and this aspect goes way beyond just eating, drinking and exercise to support healthy weight. I use the Lifeline Technique and/or Emotional Freedom Technique to tackle this side to weight issues. These are techniques that help to tap into the subconscious mind that runs a repetitive loop over and over.
On January 22nd, 2011, 10 - 11:30 a.m., Tania Wlotzki from Mrs Wlotzki’s Natural School of Cooking and I will be presenting a workshop “Weight Loss Made Fun & Easy” at Moncion’s Independent Grocery store at 685 River Road in Riverside South. I will talk about healthy food including superfoods, body movement and emotional connection, while Tania presents some easy and delicious recipes that will support my information. Register by January 8th directly with Moncion’s at 613-822-4749. If you need information about the workshop, my email is healing@elizabethwiggins.com and Mrs Wlotzki's Natural School of Cooking can be reached at schoolofnaturalcooking@gmail.com You can also email Tania to sign up for her newsletter to get more food for thought, including events, recipes, healthy tidbits, etc.
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Book of the Season
This season I am choosing "The Power of Infinite Love & Gratitude" by Dr. Darren Weissman. This book is about looking at every challenge as an opportunity to heal and become whole. It is also about recognizing that our bodies are self-healing organisms. Dr. Weissman explains the power of our supreme intelligence and by using The Lifeline Technique it helps to find and correct the root cause of imbalance that shows up as symptoms, disease, stress, etc. which are really internalized, denied, or disconnected emotions that are stored in the subconscious mind. Darren states "when life experiences move freely through the subconscious mind, the body is able to heal. Energy in motion is literally E-motion." His most recent book "Awakening to the Secret Code of Your Mind: Your Mind’s Journey to Inner Peace” is a continuation of this work.
Health, Healing and Blessings,
Elizabeth
