Chocolate Avocado Pudding

I was in the mood for a quick chocolate-y snack this afternoon and just my luck I had a perfectly ripe avocado so I whipped this up in my mini food processor. Serves 2  (or 1 very generously).

Bee Pollen: A healing superfood!

This weekend I visited Evergreen Brick Work’s Farmers Market with my girlfriend. Since I was getting low on bee pollen (and I use it in my smoothies), I thought it was the perfect opportunity to pick some up from Bees Universe. I got chatting with the owner John and told him that Walker and I want to give all the guests at our wedding in September a jar of raw honey (to spread the love of course). He jokingly suggested I come and work on his farm for two days, but I actually think I might do this. Then I can share the photos and info I learn with all of you.

Now let’s talk about this superfood bee pollen because you may have noticed I put it in my smoothies and mix it into sheep’s milk yogurt often. Bee pollen is often referred to as nature’s most complete food. It is truly a healing superfood so let me give you the joyous info on this amazing food!

What is bee pollen?

Bee pollen is the male seed of a flower blossom which has been gathered by the bees and mixed with the honeybees own digestive enzymes. It is literally the food of the young bee. It takes one bee, working 8 hours a day for 1 month to gather. Each pellet contains 2,000,000 flower pollen grains and 1 teaspoon contains 2.5 billion grains of flower pollen! One pollen granule contains from 100,000 to 500,000 pollen spores each capable of reproducing its entire species!

Nutrients in bee pollen.

Bee pollen is considered one of nature’s most complete foods for a variety of reasons.

• High level of phenolic constituents (total phenols, phenylpropanoids, flavonols and anthocyanins) and antioxidants as found in many studies including this study.
• Rich source of protein: About half of it’s protein is in the form of free amino acids that are ready to be used by the body. Amino acids are building blocks of your 50 trillion cells!
• Source of energizing vitamin B12 and folic acid among other B-complex vitamins.
• Excellent antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties.
• One of the most interesting facts about bee pollen is that it cannot be synthesized in a laboratory. When researchers take away a bee’s pollen-filled comb and feed her manmade pollen, the bee dies even though all the known nutrients are present in the lab-produced synthesized food. Ah-ha! The power of REAL food.
  
• The percentage of rejuvenating elements in bee pollen remarkably exceeds those present in brewer’s yeast and wheat germ.
• According to researchers at the Institute of Apiculture, Taranov, Russia, “Honeybee pollen is the richest source of vitamins found in Nature in a single food. Even if bee pollen had none of its other vital ingredients, its content of rutin alone would justify taking at least a teaspoon daily, if for no other reason than strengthening the capillaries. Pollen is extremely rich in rutin and may have the highest content of any source, plus it provides a high content of the nucleics RNA [ribonucleic acid] and DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid].”

Translation? Bee pollen is a superfood that has incredible health benefits. It has been used in many cultures around the world for hundreds of years including ancient Chinese medicine to heal, restore and repair the body along with a healthy diet.

If you would like to read more about bee pollen because I’ve barely scratched the surface, check out Mercola’s article.

Health Benefits of this superfood!

• Immune system booster: Researchers found that bee pollen strengthened the immune systems of mice, improved their resistance to x-rays, and has antibacterial and antiviral properties. Bee pollen prevented the development of cancerous tumors in mice.
• May be cancer-preventative. Read more here.
• Bee pollen causes an increase in physical and mental abilities, especially of concentration and memory ability, activates sluggish metabolic functions, and strengthens the cardiovascular and respiratory systems according to G. Liebold, a holistic physician and psychologist of Karlsruhe, Germany.
• Energizing and revitalizing due to B-complex vitamins and excellent source of amino acids.
• Prevents seasonal allergies but you need to start taking it 5-6 weeks prior to hay fever season. It actually helps the build your immunity against the very flowers that cause you to have a runny nose and itchy eyes.
• CAUTION: If you suspect you have a bee allergy, then do not take it.

How to use bee pollen?

As mentioned, I used it in my smoothies, so here’s what I had for breakfast today!

Bee Pollen Energizer!

• 4-5 lettuce leaves
• 1 tsp bee pollen
• 1 tsp almond butter
• Half banana
• 1/2 cup blueberries (I used frozen wild organic)
• 1 scoop plant based protein powder
• Filtered water to desired consistency.
• Raw cacao nibs sprinkled on top

Combine all ingredients into your blender, give it a whirl and when fully blended enJOY!

Serves 1 generously.

You could also mix 1 tsp into sheep’s milk yogurt like I did yesterday.

What is your favourite way to use bee pollen? Share below!

PS. While I was at Brick works, I also got some very very yummy fresh and flavourful kale salad from vegan chef Doug McNish.

PPS. Be sure to check out Eat Clean Body Lean. Time is running out to sign up for this amazing 21 day clean eating and booty moving program!

As you might have noticed, we have a few hundred people doing the Eat Clean Body Lean online program otherwise known as 21 Days of clean eating and exercise. On the meal plan, there is a recipe for a gluten-free, dairy-free rhubarb crisp because even when you are eating clean, you should still have some sweetness in your life.

Last night I decided to mix up the recipe a bit based on what I had in my kitchen. The nice thing about crisp toppings for fruit is that you don’t have to be precise with your measurements. Thank goodness for that because I am not a fan of measuring. However, I will do my very best to give you accurate measurements for this topping because it was soooooo lovely — sweet, crunchy and the perfect topping for my organic rhubarb and apple.

One of the participants in the Eat Clean Body Lean program posted her version of the crisp on our facebook page. See below.

What’s your favourite topping for fruit crisp? Share below! I would love to hear other delicious and nutritious ideas.

Ditch the bloated belly, improve your digestion and feel absolutely fabulous! Time is running out to sign up for Eat Clean Body Lean. Once you’ve signed up you have the ebook forever, same with the videos and you can continue to follow the program as long as you like, but it’s only available to buy until May 31st. Don’t miss out!

On that note, I put together this blog post (and I am going to aim to do this every 2 weeks) to share the top stories that are not only in my mind but I know they are in yours too because I get asked questions that pertain to these topics often in workshops, on my facebook page and on twitter.

Here goes! I hope you enjoy my first joyous health roundup:

1. Cholesterol: The most important thing you need to know.

Heart disease is the number one killer in men and women in North America but unfortunately for the last half century we have been extremely misinformed by mainstream medicine on how to take care of our heart. I’m not saying ALL doctors have misguided us, but the large majority have. This article and many like it on this blog share the indisputable scientific evidence that the very foods we are advised to eat less of and those foods we are advised to eat more of, may in fact be putting us at a greater risk for heart disease.

2. Stevia: Is it good or bad?

I use stevia a couple of times per week, only in liquids like homemade lemonade for a sweet kick. The increase in questions from clients and students over the last two months about stevia motivated me to share this article. It provides a great review of this sweet herb.

3. Join David Suzuki’s 30×30 Challenge. 

Now I realize it’s nearly mid-May and this challenge technically started on May 1st, but I still think you should participate and commit to spending 30 minutes in nature each day for 30 days. Did you know that research has shown that spending time in nature fires up the areas of the brain associated with love and  empathy and may lower blood pressure, heart rate and rates of depression. You can read all about it in this amazing book: Your Brain On Nature.

4. Coca-Cola pledges to fight obesity.

Yet again (yawn!). This is just another slick public relations campaign to try and save their image and boost sales. I am sure you won’t fall for it!

5. Five Ways to Whiten Your Teeth Naturally.

It’s kinda funny that every time I go to the dentist they remind me that I have a free teeth whitening kit available to me should I wish to do it before I get married because heaven forbid my wedding photos don’t have blue-white teeth. HA! I won’t fall for it, but I do love these tips in this article.

Is there is a particular topic you are interested in learning more about? Please post below and I will do my best to answer via a blog post or via my Youtube channel.

As a melanoma survivor, I feel pretty strongly about not just wearing sunscreen, but wearing the right sunscreen. I’ve previously written for Joyous Health about just how important it is to choose a mineral-based, physical sunscreen with non-nano zinc. Even Dr. Oz agrees with me!

But not all zinc-based sunscreens are terribly pleasant to use. Some are unbearably thick, some are greasy, and most will leave you looking like Queen Amidala.

I’ve been searching for the perfect face sunscreen for years, so I was pretty excited when Consonant invited me to test drive their aptly named The Perfect Sunscreen.

First, the pros: The ingredient list is really clean, as promised. While the sunscreen isn’t currently ranked on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database, all of their currently ranked products score between a 0 and a 2 (lower score = cleaner product), and none of the ingredients in this sunscreen ranked higher than a 3 (and there were only two that scored that high). It also has an SPF of 30, which makes it a safer bet when enjoying the summer sun than many of its lower-SPF competitors.

Consonant’s answer to the perpetual whitening problem associated with zinc sunscreens is a natural mica tint that really does help make the wearer less pasty. (Or, at least, it works for pale-skinned wearers like me. I’d be interested to hear in the comments if those with darker complexions have the same experience.) It’s thick, but not too thick, and the pump container means you’re able to squeeze every last drop of product out of the bottle without too much effort, as opposed to thicker sunscreens that come in tubes, where near the end, you need the grip strength of the She-Hulk to get the last of your sunscreen to come out.

Overall, this is a sunscreen that just feels really nice to wear. It’s not greasy, but neither does it have an excessively powdery finish, so it stays smooth as you wear it and doesn’t pill or flake. It even stayed on through my morning jog. (But I still reapply once I start sweating!) In my opinion, it’s a very good product.

And now, the cons, because there’s no such thing as perfect: At $45 for 50mL, this is a rather expensive sunscreen. I think it’s worth the extra money, but its steep price tag may put it out of the reach of some sunscreen shoppers. My only other issue with this product is that it’s not terribly portable. The tint and thickness of the sunscreen mean that you need to apply it in front of a mirror, or you run the risk of looking streaky. And while I love the pump bottle, the cap was always coming off in my purse. Luckily, nothing in my bag was heavy enough to push the pump down.

Conclusion: While there may be no such thing as the perfect sunscreen, Consonant’s The Perfect Sunscreen comes closer to perfection than any face sunscreen I’ve used to date. You can find out where to buy it here.

Kate McDonald Walker is a holistic nutritionist and yoga teacher and passionate advocate of integrative approaches to wellness. She believes in making the journey to lasting health and wellness as straightforward, sustainable and enjoyable an experience as possible. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and WordPress.

1. What were your main health goals?

My main health goal was to eat a more balanced vegetarian diet. I remember emailing you about symptoms I had been experiencing for what seemed like forever (i.e. shortness of breath, runny nose, increased breakouts, moodiness) and you said that it sounded like I had some food allergies so I was      hoping that you could help me with these symptoms as well.

2. What were the top 3-4 changes you made to your diet?

 I cut out refined wheat, dairy, refined sugar, and soy. I made   sure to drink Lemon & water on an empty stomach every    morning.  I also bought organic foods and eating less packaged food and takeout.

3. Were there any lifestyle changes you made?

I went off birth control, began using clean products to clean my house, and “joy approved” organic, clean products on my skin and body.  I also started taking the vitamins you recommended.

4. What are the effects of those changes?

I’m just going to list the effects of the changes because there are so many:

• Shortness of breath, runny nose GONE! When I went to my doctor prior to seeing you, I was told that nothing could help my shortness of breath so I was prescribed an inhaler which never worked, and I was also prescribed a nose spray for my runny nose instead of figuring out why I had the runny nose.
• Keeping a food journal allowed me to recognize that I had a runny nose, breakouts and difficulty breathing whenever I had soy.  Getting an allergy test (skin test) confirmed that I reacted badly to it.
• Acne breakouts under control.
• Regular periods (My periods were NEVER regular off the BCP)
• Helping me go off birth control without having my face break out
• Brain fog – GONE! My ability to function at work has improved.  Instead of writing sticky notes to myself and having difficulty remembering the simplest tasks, I can remember them on my own.
• Increased energy – I used to drink a venti-sized coffee (20 oz) every morning and a grande (16 oz) at lunch.  I now don’t even finish my morning coffee (a small mug) and I have green tea now instead of my afternoon coffee. No more hitting the 3:00pm wall.
• Increased libido
• Increased confidence – While trying to find a before and after pictures, I noticed that my social media profile pics were either of me walking away from the camera or of my cats.  I didn’t realize until then that I hated looking at photos of myself.
• People tell me I’m just glowing – definitely not moody anymore.
• I don’t need to snack as much – used to crave potato chips daily
• No more inflammation – wheat belly has disappeared.
• Hair is silky and shiny – skin is less dry.

 Anything else you’d like to share?

Before I met with you, I wasn’t convinced that cutting out certain foods would make all of my issues go away.  I thought that if medicine couldn’t help me, nothing could but I had to try.  I now admit I was completely wrong.  Not only does food affect how you feel, it affects your every day.  There was a day where I “cheated” and ate a non-joyous meal and after eating it, I instantly felt awful!  My husband also feels like he has more energy, and eating better has definitely helped him out too.

I love the food plan that you created for me – even though you eliminated the bad foods that I liked eating, you found better versions of them for me.

If I were to give any of your future clients any sort of advice, it would be to just follow your advice.  When I try to thank you for changing my life and my husband’s life for the better, you never take the credit… so I don’t think you should take all of the blame if it doesn’t work.  The reason why I feel the way I do and the reason why it’s worked for me is because I took every suggestion you made for me, and I did it.  Even though you will tell me that it was all me, I do sincerely thank you for everything that you’ve done!

Dear Joyous Readers,

I love helping you achieve your most joyous health so I have a special giveaway for you!

You can win 1 “eat well” session (value $150) to be used any time this summer. You can come see me in-person, Skype or phone — no matter where you live, you can enter to WIN this session.

4 ways to enter to win:

1. Post your comment below and tell us how you plan to have a joyously healthy summer!

2. Share this from the joyous health facebook page. We’ve just posted it there but you must “like” joyous health on fb and then click the “share” link so we can count it as an entry.

3. Sign up to become a joyous insider (get awesome perks) and be subscribed to Dose of Joy newsletter.

4. Forward the Dose of Joy Newsletter to a friend. If you are on the newsletter list, we will remind you in the next newsletter you receive.

You can enter all 4 ways and you can forward to as many friends as you like which means you can increase your odds of winning this session with Joy!

We will randomly select one person from ALL entries received on May 21st, 2013.

Good luck!

Crunchy Raw Wraps

Dear joyous readers!

I’m personally always looking for creative ways to incorporate more raw foods into my diet other than salads. While dreaming up new ways to do just this, I created these wraps with ingredients I know go together joyously well for the dip. I hope you love them as much as I do.

The spring is a wonderful time of year to eat lighter as our bodies naturally crave more raw foods. At least in this part of the world where the days are finally getting longer (hurray!) and the air is slowly but surely getting warmer. However, even my joyous readers in Australia will surely enjoy this recipe because the almond sauce is comforting and precisely what makes these light wraps meal-worthy.

Benefits of eating raw?

Oh gosh, there’s so many, but here are the top reasons:

• Super easy preparation. Talk about fast-healthy-food!
• Vegetables reduce the risk of many forms of cancer, says study. (Like you didn’t already know this
• Eating more vegetables is a quick and easy way to get more nutrient-dense and fibre-rich foods into your belly.
• Anecdotal benefits (what people tell me and what I’ve noticed personally):
  • Better skin: Glowing, hydrated, healthier looking skin. Less prone to excessive oil and dryness.
  • Improved digestion: Improvement in elimination – better bowel quality movements.
  • Increased energy and vitality.

Now of course there are many foods that when cooked are more beneficial nutritionally, such as is the case with tomatoes as tomato paste is higher in lycopene. However, you really can’t go wrong with eating more raw and variety is the spice of life! Mix up your diet with both raw and cooked.

Caution: If you have inflammation in your gut, you need to be careful with a lot of raw foods and roughage can be damaging to your delicate intestinal lining. Also, if you currently eat a lot of cooked and processed foods, introduce raw foods slowly so that your gut can get used to the increase in fibre.

Let’s get right to this delicious recipe! I had some as an appetizer before dinner and then again for lunch – yummy!

Crunchy Raw Wraps

Raw Wrap Ingredients

Method:

Thinly slice (julienne) red pepper, zucchini, carrots, spring onions, avocado. Roughly chop cilantro. Boil filtered water. Pour water into a large baking dish about a 1/4 inch deep. This is the water to dip your rice wraps into. Follow the instructions on the package to make rice paper wraps pliable.

Place wrap on a plate and assemble wraps per photo. Roll/fold together like a tortilla wrap by folding up the bottom, rolling and folding the top. Easy peasy!

Place all the ingredients for the dip into a food processor or blender and combine until smooth. Give it a taste test. When I made this sauce, I didn’t measure anything, so I’m doing my best to give you a basic idea of proportions. However, you can’t really go wrong with these ingredients!

Serve as an appetizer or have 3 or 4 for a quick and healthy lunch!

Look at those vibrant beautiful colours!! Assembling the wrap below:

You can also assemble them so the top is open, as per photo below:

EnJOY!

For more clean eating recipes like this, join our online Eat Clean Body Lean program now. It’s available until May 31st and once you’ve got the ebook, you can do it anytime!

Have a joyous day!

Joy

Great news! The Environmental Working Group has just updated the dirty dozen and clean 15 list for 2013.

What is the dirty dozen?

It’s a list of the 12 (plus 2 more) fruits and vegetables that have the highest levels of detected pesticides after being washed. There are changes to take note of including:

3 changes to the Dirty Dozen – these have been added:

1. Cherry Tomatoes
2. Hot Peppers
3. Summer squash ie. zucchini

Which means 3 have been removed: lettuce, blueberries, green beans.

What is the Clean 15?

It’s a list of fruits and vegetables with the lowest pesticides detected.

There has been 1 change to this list: Watermelon has been removed and replaced with papaya.

Here is the updated list which you can download JoyousHealth_ShopClean_2013-download. Print it off and take it shopping with you!

Here is a video from Dr. Alex Lu, Harvard talking about exposure to pesticides in produce.

Hopefully you are already filling your grocery cart with delicious and nutritious foods, including most of them organically farmed.

Farmers Market season is upon us, so here are some tips to make your shopping experience as joyous and budget-friendly as possible http://www.joyoushealth.ca/2012/06/25/10-farmers-market-shopping-tips/

Have a joyous day!

One of my students Nicole, made these awesomely delicious and moist gluten-free muffins. I asked her if I could share them with you all because a recipe as yummy as this MUST be shared. Lucky for us, she said yes!

You can find Nicole’s blog at nicolehunter.ca and find her on twitter @sproutedhealth

Natural Thickener

Bananas are one of the most popular ways to thicken a smoothie, but they are not the only way! If you are like me and you enjoy a milkshake-like consistency then you have more options, aside from bananas. Plus the fact, it’s becoming more and more common to have a banana food sensitivity (SAD FACE) Here are some great options for thicker consistency:

• Ripe avocado.
• Kefir: A fermented product often referred to as the “champagne of yogurts”. Most commonly found at grocery stores is cow’s milk kefir, higher in bacteria and far more digestible than your standard cow’s milk yogurt. Be sure to buy organic. Now if you are sensitive to dairy, you can use coconut kefir instead. Here’s a recipe on how to make coconut kefir, or you can buy it at most health food stores.
• Oats
• Nut butter: Almond, sunflower seed butter, pumpkin seed butter, coconut butter (different than coconut oil).
• When in doubt, add ice. Make sure your ice cubes are always made from filtered water.

Superfoodify it!

You can really up the ante on your smoothie when you add nutritonal superstars to boost the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Here are some of my favourite ways to superfoodify a smoothie:

• Bee pollen: B-vitamins, amino acids, immuno-building properties, enzymes.
• Acai or camu camu powder: Mega-watt dose of antioxidants including vitamin C and anthocyanins, omega 3 fatty acids including both oleic and linoleic acids.
• Greens powder: As you might have guessed, since it is on my Joyous Approved page, Greens+O is my fave greens powder which boasts 6 servings of veggies in one scoop! Plus it’s the most clinically researched greens food supplement on the market. It’s been around 20 years — tried, tested and true.
• Raw cacao nibs: My fave brand is Giddy Yoyo. They are raw, wild and heirloom — can’t get much better than that when it comes to raw chocolate.
• Hemp seeds
• Matcha powder
• Maca root powder: More details here.
• Goji berries: Immuno boosting, extremely high in vitamin C.
• Pomegranate powder or seeds: Per above.
• Spirulina: At 62% protein this blue-green algae is an amino acid wonder!
• And of course, protein powder — an essential smoothie component. I prefer plant-based protein powder blends. Here’s a great post from guest blogger Adam on Choosing A Protein Powder.

Naturally sweeten it.

• Fruit
• Raw honey: A wonderful all natural sweetener full of nutrition — B vitamins, enzymes, amino acids.
• Real maple dark syrup (in moderation of course)
• Stevia (grow the leaves yourself or use a liquid). This is my favourite herbal zero-calorie sweetener that will have no effect on your blood sugar. Use 5-10 drops — add slowly and give it a taste test.
• Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, peppermint, vanilla
• Dates: Full of fibre, use 2 pitted dates per serving.

Milk, but please not cow’s milk!

Here are a variety of options!

• Coconut water. Next time you are at the grocery store, buy a coconut and use a Chef’s knife to carefully chop off the top of the coconut for the freshest coconut water ever. Waaaay better than the pasteurized stuff you get in a carton.
• Pomegranate juice or any dark berry organic juice with no additives in a glass bottle.
• Nut milks: Almond or coconut. If you don’t make it yourself, look for brands that have as little additives and possible. Try and avoid carraageenan.
• Seed milks: Flaxseeds, hemp (my fave)!

Fibre and REAL FOOD

The bulk of your smoothie should be fresh fruits and veggies. Frozen is fine too. Chose organic for the “dirty dozen“.

• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen dark berries
• 1 cup of spinach or kale
• 1/2 cup tropical fruit — make sure you have protein and good fat in your smoothie to balance the sugar in tropical fruit
• Sprouted chia and flax. Organic Traditions is my fave sprouted chia/flax mix.

Here are 5 smoothies all in one convenient post: http://www.joyoushealth.ca/2013/01/14/5-smoothie-recipes/