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Today I've been spending my snowy day off planning my trip home to Vancouver Island over Christmas break. I am excited to escape the cold, dry prairie winter to a mild and wet island "winter". I took the above photo at Miracle Beach on my last visit. I love that someone arranged the rocks on the beach <3.

 

This snowy weather reminds me how important it is for us in Northern climates to consider supplementing with quality Vitamin D. Due to the angle of the sun this time of year (October-March) our bodies do not synthesize Vitamin D from the sun. I wrote a full post all about the importance of Vitamin D here. 

 

Another thing I did today was create an account on the site Bloglovin', so that I can follow my favorite blogs and others can follow me as well;

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Why Gluten Free?

Why Gluten Free?

You probably never even heard the term "gluten" 10 years ago and now you hear and see it everywhere, right? Although I don't cut it out completely, I do try to avoid it most of the time. I made this decision because I feel better with out. I used to have a lot of gut issues and skin irritation. My doctor suspected celiac disease. My test results came back negative, but suggested I might have a sensitivity and experiment with out it for a couple weeks. I did that and I learned I am better off without it. After limiting my gluten intake not only have my gut issues disappeared, but I feel lighter and I have more energy. I also no longer have any skin irritations, but I believe that was a combination of issues that caused it, not gluten alone (a blog post for another day!). I still indulge in varieties of gluten containing foods here and there with out any adverse effects, but my diet is at least 85% free of gluten.

There is a reason why you hear about gluten sensitivities and celiac disease so much more now than years ago. It's because the sources of gluten are different than it was back then, in the sense that they have been genetically intervened. Gluten is a protein found in many grains, most notably wheat. It has a sticky consistency that makes it great for binding and texture... perfect for bread, pastries, and processed foods. Wheat being the most popular choice, is often deamidated to make it water soluble to make it mix and bind better. Wheat is also often hybridized to be drought and bug resistant, and faster growing. It's these mutations in the grain that are a big cause of the intolerances and inflammatory responses that are only becoming more common.

I'm not saying that whole-wheat (or any other gluten containing grain) is not a healthy choice.. there are many health benefits to these whole grains and encourage you not to deprive yourself of anything that makes you feel good.. within moderation, of course ;) Try to choose the ancient grain varities, which haven't been genetically altered so many times through out the years. 

With anything you eat, keep in tune with your body and how it makes you feel. We all have different nutritional needs and responses and what works one does not always work for all.

Here's a list of gluten free alternatives. Whether you are gluten free or not, these choices will benefit your health help add some variety to your diet;

• Buckwheat
• Amaranth
• Quinoa
• Millet
• Cornmeal
• Brown or Wild Rice
• Oats (certified GF)
• Almond flour
• Coconut flour
• Popcorn
• Lentils
• Sorghum
• Teff
• Black Bean Noodles
• Soba Noodles
• Brown Rice Cakes
• You can find all kind of gluten free goods at your local health food store, farmers market, or bakery. Read the ingredients though. There are lots of good products out there, but many gluten free products are just as processed as the gluten containing variety as well.

Cosmic Cookies

If you haven't had Cosmic Cookies from Planet Organic, you are missing out! Luckily, they are so generous to share their recipe with the world, so anyone can make them at home. My boyfriend thinks these cookies are just the greatest. He's had a run or bad luck lately and been sick, so I wanted to buy his favorite cookies for him. I forgot to buy them while I was at the store earlier, so I found the recipe online and pretty much had all the ingredients (with a few nutritionisty variations), so decided to have a go at it! To be honest, I think these are even better than the original ones! :) But please use the original recipe if you wish.

 

  

Cosmic Cookies

This recipe yields 24 (huge) cookies (so I halved it).

 

Ingredients;

• 2 cups spelt flour
• 2 1/4 cups quick oats
• 1 cup  sunflower seeds
• 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds (meal)
• 1 cup xylitol (or coconut sugar)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups carob chips (or dark chocolate)
• 1 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)
• 1/4 cup  water
• 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
• 3/4 cup  coconut oil
• 1 cup  almond milk

 

Directions;

• Preheat oven to 350 Celsius.
• Mix all the dry ingredients together (ingredients listed flour through cranberries)
• Melt the coconut oil and then add the other wet ingredients (water, molasses, and milk).
• Mix all the dry and wet ingredients together until combined.
• Lightly grease cookie sheets with coconut oil or use parchment paper.
• The batter will make about 24 large cookies
• Bake one cookie sheet (with 12 cookies) at a time at 350 for 25 mins.

Fight the first signs of the cold/flu

I live in Edmonton, Alberta, and it's that time of year we transition (quickly!) in to the Winter season. As the temperatures drop we often find an outbreak of cold and flu viruses going around. I recently had a bout of my own with the flu a few weeks ago; the first time I had been sick in nearly 10 years (I swear my immune system has super powers), but as I learned the hard way, the cold weather is not the only thing that brings viruses... and healthy eating alone can not prevent it from infecting you. I had definitely not been getting enough rest and was stressed out with taking too much on in my life. I can not stress enough how much that stress can effect your health, physically as well as mentally. So, if you are starting to feel run down or feel something "coming on" here is a list of things you can do to kick your immune system in to full force;

• Relax. Take 5. Be still and breathe, clear your mind. It doesn't matter when or where, but put aside 5 minutes for yourself.
• Get a good sleep. 8 hours (minimum) of continuous sleep is a must if you want to fight off being ill.  
• Eat a healthy balanced diet, including; fresh veggies and fruit, lean protein and fish, nuts and seeds, eggs, and legumes.
• But don't eat sugar, dairy, or processed/refined foods... they produce mucous. Limit or avoid alcohol too.
• Take supplemental vitamin C; 500mg every couple hours. Your body uses vitamin C much more rapidly during illness.
• Take supplemental zinc; 40mg/day.
• Take fish oil (DHA/EPA); 2g/daily
• Take a probiotic supplement in the morning before breaky and again in the evening before bed.
• Drink warm water with ginger, lemon, and honey.
• Drink lot's of (filtered) water.