My Favorite Fats # 2: Avocados!

I can not even begin to count the number of times that I have had clients say that they stay away from avocados because of the fat content. Oddly for me, the avocado is one “fattening” food I haven’t ever feared; I think it’s partly because I feel so good after eating avocado. These days, I especially love it sliced on sprouted bread, with a little olive oil drizzled over it and some hot pepper flakes sprinkled on top! When I first met my husband, he turned me onto avocados; adding avocado and mango to a salad gives it so much life! It’s undoubtedly delicious even to those who are salad skeptics.

Avocados are high in oleic acid (also known as Omega 9), a mono-unsaturated fat that research has shown to help prevent heart disease and even cancer! As if that isn’t enough good news, avocados can actually help increase the absorption of nutrients from other vegetables! This is a concept I call nutrient fusion. For instance, a salad with lettuce, carrots, some spinach, and salsa is rich in carotenoids (example: beta carotene), which are extremely health-promoting. Add an avocado in your salad, and you automatically increase your body’s ability to absorb those nutrients! Why? Because these catotenoids are lipophilic (which means they are soluble in fat, not water); if you eat them along with a healthy fat, like avocados, you enhance their bioavailability! A 2005 study published in the Journal of Nutrition proves this point. Adding avocado to salad increased absorption of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein 7.2, 15.3, and 5.1 times higher, respectively, than the average amount of these carotenoids absorbed when avocado-free salad was eaten. Amazing stuff, isn’t it!

Supermarket Blues

Usually, I write enthusiastically and I attempt to inspire and encourage you all to jump on the healthy lifestyle bandwagon. I apologize in advance that this blog entry is more of a blues-song-type entry. It’s going to be a free-write of complaints, but knowing myself, I may just be able to turn it around in the end.

I hate grocery shopping; I really do! If I had my druthers, I’d live on a farm and grow my own food and would barter with nearby farmers for various organic goodies. But, we can’t all live that way; it’s quite unrealistic. And the urbanite in me would miss the city!

Why do I hate grocery shopping though? Because I’m CONSTANTLY reminded of how our food is so chemical-based, so industrialized. I’m sorry, but the thought of eating food that’s packaged in an assembly line grosses me out. I want food that is as natural as can be; that’s given to us from Mother Earth. Food is supposed to nourish us, not poison us!

I cook almost all of my meals and I do get the majority of my food from the farmer’s market, but like you, I’m busy and I need some easy options. The other night my husband mentioned this cannellini bean, collard green, and rice recipe I used to make with Trader Joes Goddess Dressing. Well, we no longer live in driving distance to a Trader Joe’s. I can’t tell you exactly what’s in Trader Joe’s goddess dressing, but I’m a manic label reader so when I used to get it, it had to have been of decent quality.

My search for a healthy goddess dressing, or ANY dressing for that matter was so horribly disappointing! Soybean oil as the first ingredient---c’mon, if we want non-homemade dressing, we have to poison ourselves with genetically modified soy? And if it did not have soybean oil, it had canola oil, which is such a scam. Canola isn’t even a plant; this oil comes from the rape seed and the company who created it (Mazola) created it in Canada, so they called the oil a more appealing name, canola oil! What happened to good ol’ heart-healthy olive oil? To my dismay, I had to make this dish without goddess dressing, but it still tasted delicious with dulse and herbes de Provence sprinkled in it for flavor!

That was such a disappointing trip to the super market. And don’t even get me going about breads. High-fructose corn syrup? Enriched wheat flour? How much more processed can they get? I stick to the bakery for now, but I’m inspired to go back to my bread-making days! And all the pre-packaged hummus out there is made with canola oil! C’mon! I remember when they used to make it with olive oil! But canola (ummm…I mean rape seed) is genetically modified, government subsidized and cheaper, so they use that instead! So, needless to say, I have befriended my food processor and make my own hummus again!

It’s hard, isn’t it? When you prioritize your health, you have to devote a lot of time to it! BUT if we consumers keep demanding QUALITY, maybe we will see the tide turn! Maybe we can start a revolution!!! Please join me in these efforts! And if you know of a non-homemade quality goddess dressing or hummus, comment here and let us all know! And all you Californians and residents of super-eco-conscientious communities, I envy you! I even miss my NYC days and the abundance of natural health resources!

My Favorite Fats #1: Olive OIl

As I promised back in December, I will be blogging about my favorite fats in 2010. I have tons of favorite fats, so hopefully that will translate into tons of interesting blogs for you all!

Let me first give you a brief background of my history with fat. I used to be terrified of fat! I have been a competitive runner since the age of 12 and all throughout my adolescent years, I abhorred the idea of eating fattening food: my diet was extremely unhealthy basically consisting of bagels and bananas. Through college, my repertoire expanded a bit, but still, I would steer clear of fat. I remember dining out with a professor and several students who were in my honors class and I ordered a salad without dressing. It was at that point I realized I had a problem. I wasn’t full-fledged anorexic, but my eating was certainly disordered!

With the encouragement of my boyfriend at the time, I invited more food into my life. He was a fantastic cook and introduced me to homemade hummus. I loved it so much. And the ingredient that made it so delicious? Olive oil, of course!

I soon became an olive oil snob of sorts. I would buy specialty bottles of olive oil and began making salad dressings with it. I started cooking with it. I would even dip bread in it for a snack! To this day, I use olive oil almost daily. My husband and I go through a large bottle every 4-6 weeks.

Let me tell you something. When I first began eating olive oil and incorporated more fat and protein in my diet in general, I felt far less fatigued. I felt focused and strong. A few years ago, my mom found out she had alarmingly high cholesterol levels. I convinced her to stop frying food in corn oil or butter and use olive oil. That was the only major health change she welcomed and guess what? Her cholesterol levels are now within a normal range! For that, how can I NOT love olive oil?

Himalayan Salt Lamps for Mood Balance

I love the color orange. It's so soothing; my husband and I are currently looking for the perfect shade of orange for our living room! We've sampled three so far and will be sampling a fourth before we make our final choice. It will sure be an improvement from our pesto green colored wall that came in our home!

Himalayan salt lamps are a nice shade of orange and it is not only the color that produces positive effects on mood, but it is also the composition. Salt emits negative ions. In order to understand how negative ions can uplift your mood, think of nature's sources of negative ions: moving air in the mountains, the air after thunderstorms, crashing surf at the beach, waterfalls, and other moving bodies of water. All scenarios seem to create a feeling of peacefulness.

I recently wrote an article about Himalyan salt lamps for N.E.E.D.S. It's a great way to brighten up your dull office or cubicle. I suggest plants too! Bring some life into your office space and watch your mood elevate! It's a great thing to do this time of year for all of you in the North East when winter drags you down!