Something Smoothie: Inflammation the necessary “EVIL”.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACUTE AND CHRONIC INFLAMMATION IN THE BODY
I think I can confidently say I have drank smoothies, juices, even developed recipes that promoted anti-inflammation in the body.
Despite the unpopularity it has gained inflammation is the necessary “evil” in the role it plays in the immune system. There are two types of inflammation acute and chronic.
Acute inflammation is necessary and is the bodies way to protect tissue from injury, infection, or heat. You can see and feel this type of inflammation most of the times.
The swelling and redness that you experience for example when you have been stung by a bee, means that the body is sending all the necessary stem cells, blood, plasma etc basically flooding the body with healing agents. Acute inflammation is temporary.
Chronic Inflammation on the other hand is the type you want to avoid. This type is caused by diet, lack of physical activity, smoking, stress and constant exposure to pollutants and chemicals.
Bloating, brain fog, sore joints fatigue, anxiety, digestive issues are some of the symptoms of chronic inflammation.
With Chronic inflammation your body is always in fighting mode, the healing agents that your body constantly sends in this case, do the exact opposite they start to break down the healthy cells. Inflammation of this type can last for weeks to months to years.
Research shows that what we put in our body is essentially what is displayed on the outside. Consuming a high sugar diet full of heavy starches and processed foods will produce bloating, constipation, and flare ups such as rashes, these you can often see and feel.
Foods such as leafy green vegetables help with cell function and protecting your immune system, spices like Turmeric, ginger and fruits like pineapple help decrease inflammation in the body.
This Pineapple Turmeric Smoothie is a great way to squeeze in those anti-inflammatory properties.
Download PDF Recipe Card Here Pineapple Turmeric Smoothie
The Green Danger: Common Green Smoothie Mistakes
Green smoothies are well documented as being the one thing people should consume for the benefit of their health. Their leafy green goodness making for a nutrient packed snack.
Not switching up your greens is a common mistake with green smoothies . Consuming too much of one green leafy vegetable is said to be harmful.
Kale affects the thyroid negatively and spinach affects the kidney negatively, due to the oxalic acid content in it which is said to increase the risk of kidney stones.
Unless you are at risk or have thyroid issues or had a case of overdosing on oxalic acid this would not be a concern for. What to eat and what not to eat will always be a debatable topic, but one thing we can all be sure of is that increasing your intake of fresh vegetable and fruits will always do your body good.
A Green Smoothie is the exact thing to add to increase your fruit and vegetable intake.
Whether it’s milk based, fruit juice based or water based this is the right place to be for all your smoothie recipes!
Download PDF Recipe Card Here Green Machine Smoothie
Download PDF Recipe Card Here Apple Smoothie with Oats
Staples: Building Your Food Bank
With the recent unrests that has happened in KZN, it highlighted that food stability and eradication of poverty is still to be achieved. The aftermath of the looting and burning were long queues and panic buying, the fear of not having enough food to eat became a reality.
The importance of a Staples Kitchen Cupboard or what’s popularly known as a pantry is important in any situation volatile or not.
When I think of a Staples Kitchen Cupboard I see it as a safety net, when I want to whip up a quick dinner there will always be a can of chickpeas or when I want something sweet , the cupboard will always have oats to make, granola bars.
Building up a Staples Kitchen Cupboard is a journey, you don’t have to buy everything at once.You can figure out what you consider as food staples according to your household and then start storing.
Here are some of the things I store in my Staples Kitchen Cupboard and a general guide of what should be in it.
We will start off with Oils & Vinegars:
Vegetable Oil
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar
With these ingredients you can make a salad dressing, bake and use them as natural remedies.
Baking; usually I keep oats around for baking mostly, and some flour , these are your baking staples
Flour
Oats
Baking powder
Yeast
Vanilla Essence
My personal favourite chocolate chips!, yes this is a staple to me.
With all of these you can make bread and a really good batch of cookies.
Next your Spices and Seasoning, curry powder to me is a staple, it adds flavour and the perfect heat to food, these are also other seasoning staples I store.
Salt
Pepper
Spices, these will be stored according to which ones you use the most when you cook.
You always need something sweet in the house, so these are the sweetener staples,
Honey
Sugar
Canned Goods; Another personal fave, when you don’t want to cook, canned goods are a great shortcut.
Chickpeas
Butter beans
Tomatoes
Coconut Milk
Coconut Cream
Rice and Grains
Beans, we keep sugar beans and butter beans around, they are a family favourite.
Rice
Maize Meal
Lentils
Oats, please not quick oats
Pasta
Vegetables;
Onions
Potatoes
Garlic
With this food staple guide, you will be able to weather any storm.
Meatless Monday may not be a new thing, but I definitely got my inspiration to start sharing recipes every Monday ,from Joey a fellow plant eater. Her Instagram page is full of delicious recipes that show you, that going meatless just once a week, does not mean just eating boiled vegetables.
I got a chance to ask her a few questions on why eating plants is beneficial for our body.
Tell us a little about yourself and your page.
Just an aspiring vegan, trying my best to make conscious decisions daily to avoid animal products. For the love of the environment, animals and most importantly my health. To encourage as well as help others to change their mind sets that eating vegan/ vegetarian is not boring, difficult or expensive. Start by just changing one day of the week or just one meal of the week to meat free and see how fun it can actually be to experiment with different foods.
What makes eating plants the best?
There are so many benefits in eating a plant based diet. Plants contain all the essential vitamins and minerals our bodies need except for vitamin B12 (can be obtained from supplements). Plants are literally nature’s medicine there’s so much healing power in eating plants. Plants not only benefit our health in general but are also great for our gut health. Having a healthy gut helps with a healthy immune system, boosts mood and helps with better absorption of nutrients from food. Apart from all the health benefits plants are also the best because they are quick and easy to prepare.
Favourite meatless Monday meal you have made?
That’s a hard one but I think it will have to be the vegan burrito bowl.
Check out her page @mojo_joe for plant based recipes Healthnuts
This Weeks Recipe For Meatless Monday is the Mushroom,Cherry Tomato Rice, Joey gave me a great tip , substitute the cream for coconut cream to make it vegan friendly!.
Download PDF Recipe Card Here Mushroom, Cherry Tomato Rice
Download PDF Recipe Card Here Chickpea Curry Recipe Card
Avocado Spinach Pesto is this weeks recipe suggestion for Meatless Monday. I am a huge fan of fast simple dinners and this pesto sauce is exactly that , blitz all the ingredients in a blender pour over your cooked pasta and you have a meal!.
This was last nights dinner, I made the famous ticktok feta pasta and coated the spaghetti with this creamy pesto sauce.
It makes for a nutritious rich meal, avocado loaded with heart friendly fats, the leafy green spinach for fiber , tomatoes not added just for colour but for their vitamin k and calcium , which are both good for bone health.
To make this meal vegan do not add the Parmesan cheese from the recipe.
Download Recipe Card Here for Avocado Spinach Pesto
Download PDF Recipe Card Here Butternut Squash Curry
Download PDF Recipe Card Here Broccoli Alfredo
This Spinach Pesto Sauce is not only easy to turn it into a vegan option, but it’s great for a make ahead meal because you can freeze it!. Just pop it into your ice cube tray to freeze solid, it can be frozen for 3 months. When you need a quick meal just defrost. Download PDF Recipe Card Here Easy Spinach Pesto.
