The Chemistry of Cravings!

I created this free e-book ‘Freedom from Cravings’ primarily as a tool to support those who were trying to lose weight.  I now use this e-book with all my clients to aid them in understanding ‘dopamine’ the little devil that can thwart our efforts of combating cravings.  I hope you enjoy reading it and find the information helpful.  Whether your quest is to lose weight or simply regain your health, vitality and live life to your full potential I am sure you will find the information beneficial.

According to the U. S. Food and Drug Administration, Americans spent an estimated $30 billion a year in 1992 (the last major study) on all types of diet programmes and products, including diet foods and drinks. Market data, a market research firm that has tracked diet products and programmes since 1989 estimates that the figure in America has now reached over $60 Billion.  Weight loss is big business. Every few months a new diet plan is launched but they must not be working since the business is growing rather than shrinking (just like the waistlines).

Originally this interest has been for cosmetic reasons, with everyone wanting to look like a fashion model or to get into last year’s swim suit. But the larger issues of health are gaining increased attention. Excess weight gain and obesity are very real health problems. Excess weight is a precursor to so many other serious health issues, from diabetes and heart disease to some cancers.

Because this is a serious health issue we need to understand why the programmes, the pills and the products don’t seem to provide consistent and sustainable results. Here is what I have found out:

• Most weight-loss programmes don’t work in the long run because they don’t emphasize being healthy. Most dietary programmes are actually harmful since the way they produce weight loss is through malnourishment or starving the body.
• If you are improving your health, your body will reduce in size to its proper proportion.
• Any food-based programme for weight loss without some sort of an exercise component is destined for long-term failure.
• Starvation and “cleansing” or “detoxification” purges are short-term distractions unless part of a comprehensive programme.

One of the reasons I created Weight Loss Nature’s Way was to introduce people to a simple, inexpensive and effective way to achieve healthy weight loss. I wanted to demonstrate how a healthy diet was delicious and sustainable and how you could lose weight, not be hungry, gain vitality and stay that way.

As clients began to use the programme one of the first things they mentioned was how surprised they were that the cravings they experienced in the past didn’t seem to be such a problem. Well, there are good reasons for that and while I will not guarantee you will never crave a bar of chocolate again (or even have one) it is important that we understand the psychology and the biology of cravings and how to diminish their hold over what we eat.

 THE CHEMISTRY OF CRAVINGS

Wouldn’t it be nice if logic and common sense ruled our food choices? We could simply do the research, think things through and get on with eating healthy food and enjoy every minute of it.  We would eat the foods that help us lose weight, never be hungry and stay healthy with no looking back. After all, what’s stopping us?  We all know the answer to that question – habits and cravings.

I see so many men and women lose faith in their ability to change their eating habits because they feel helpless when cravings set in. The lure of that sugary dessert calls out to them from across the room and they can’t resist or they emerge from a mental fog and realize they just ate a thousand calories of pizza. The result of these setbacks is that there is a loss of confidence, a sense of futility and often-diminished self-worth – that sinking feeling that we are simply not up to the task. This can lead many to give up and simply tuck into another bar of chocolate or have another fizzy drink.

The simple issue of cravings is the most common reason that people fail to keep to dietary changes. Well, we don’t need to throw our hands in the air and give up. There are simple and practical strategies that can help us diminish and even cancel those pesky and destructive desires but it is important that we understand where these urges come from. They didn’t simply fall from the sky. After all, knowledge is power.

Our connections with food encompass nutrition family, culture and sensory pleasure. Trying to “tough it out” works for some people but not everyone has the steel will to simply put the cravings to the side and stick to the programme. Cravings have both emotional and physical qualities and they are closely related. Perhaps the most important connection is the biology of cravings, it is a primary factor and is tricky since it works below our level of awareness.

The body keeps close track of the nutrients you need and how to use them on a cellular level.  It is also very clever in the ways it stores some things for later use and does its best to excrete anything that could be harmful. Your body may crave more protein but never requests a hamburger. This is important; there is no burger demand system. Your mind may translate protein into hamburger but that simply has to do with past experience not a specific request.

There are some foods that do produce a chemical reaction that is addictive in nature. These addictions are about physical health they produce mental or emotional responses that either give us pleasure or stimulate us. Caffeine is a good example.  We may feel that we need that double latte but the body doesn’t really need it. In fact the caffeine may be a primary reason we cannot make it through the afternoon without a stimulant, but our experience is that the coffee opens up those weary eyes and gives the boost to soldier through. We don’t stop to consider that one of the criteria of good health is to be alert and energetic. Our push for a short-term fix overrides our consideration for a long term and more healthy solution.

Trying to second-guess your body’s needs with supplements or the latest fad food is a waste of time and money. Your body is a miraculous organism that is constantly focused on creating health, our job is to give it the basic building blocks and let it function. This involves a little training. The body develops habits the same as the mind. The habits of the body are expressed in chemical reactions and often involve the hormonal system. The results of these chemical reactions affect our brain and are fundamental to many physical habits – or we could name them correctly and say addictions.

Tasty food is one of life’s big pleasures, why not? The problem is that our taste buds are easily tricked and can be numbed by the onslaught of many modern foods particularly snack foods. The food industry has learned how to layer their products with just the right, scientifically determined amounts of salt, fat and sugar to produce what they call “super-palatable” foods.  These foods are easy to identify, they include anything where you open the package for “just a couple” and end up eating the whole bag.  The food industry makes its money by tricking our mind into thinking we are eating something we aren’t and tricking our taste buds with advanced food technology.

The high levels of sodium, sugar, and/or fat in processed food reduce your ability to taste these flavors naturally. This is most dramatic with sugar. Most people are not aware of the number of foods that have sugar added to them as a hidden flavour. Many soups, snacks and sauces in addition to most fast foods have huge quantities of sugar along with a strange mix of other artificial ingredients. Let’s take a simple lunch at MacDonald’s for example.

A Big Mac contains 69 ingredients containing 840 calories, 1,880 mg of salt and 56 grams of sugar (that’s 11 teaspoons). McDonald’s fries contain 530 calories, 350 mg of salt and 56 grams of sugar (that’s another 11 teaspoons). We estimate that a Big Mac and Fries contain more than 5,000 mg of salt and 150 grams of sugar. A Coca-Cola contains 140 calories (supersized 410 calories), 39 grams of sugar and 40 grams of fructose (that is just under 16 teaspoons).  So, that lunch would have you consuming at least 38 teaspoons of sugar alone! Try to imagine 38 teaspoons of sugar in a bowl, quite a bit.  This meal comes in at just under 600 calories.  If you weighed 150 pounds it would take about an hour of rope skipping or step aerobics to burn off those calories.

Since the body stores what it cannot use this is where the trouble begins. We are challenging our body and creating biological stress by eating foods that we cannot use. If you were an Olympic athlete who was burning off those calories you would not be storing them – you would be using them. That doesn’t mean that the “happy meal” makes your body happy, simply that the calories consumed have to match the calories being burned. That seems fairly straightforward but there are other issues aside from calories. The big question is, “If I know this why would I still want a hamburger and fries or a pint of ice cream?” The answer to this question lies in a very primitive response that is built into the body.

As part of our evolution we developed the ability to “remember”, on a cellular level, things were pleasurable in our past experience.  Part of this facility hinges on the function of a peculiar little chemical called Dopamine; it is an essential but sneaky little devil.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a substance released by nerve cells to signal to other nerve cells, dopamine is a “good news” messenger. If something is pleasurable dopamine gets excited and stimulates pleasure centers in the brain. The problem is that dopamine hasn’t got a clue if the pleasure is harmful or not. Dopamine gets busy with drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine as well as with alcohol. It simply remembers the first experience of pleasure and stimulates the desire for more. I often hear people say that they are addicted to chocolate, or diet drinks or any number of foods, they say it as a joke but the reality is they are right.

Let’s start with our relationship with sugar as an example since it is one of the most common food addictions and one of the most damaging of all the cravings.  Early in our evolution there were some foods that were scarce, but contained concentrated calories.  Since we were in “survival mode” we developed a heightened sensitivity to these foods. Simple sugars were paramount; the strong sweet taste indicated energy density. Remember this all occurred long before 400-calorie snack foods. Foods such as ripe fruits and honey were greatly prized.  Since we have a unique ability to start digestion of complex sugars in the mouth foods such as primitive grains and some root vegetables also gave us the sugar message.

Sweetness is one of the five basic tastes and is almost universally regarded as a pleasurable experience. Sweetness has the highest taste recognition and is detectable in very small concentrations. To a certain degree, the hunger for “sugars” is hard wired and has an ancient source. After all, we run on sugars, carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for both the body and the mind. The problem lies in two facts:

1. Processed or refined sugars are not used in the body in the same way as the sugars we are programmed to seek out. They are damaging to our health
2. Eating refined sugars trick the brains “reward” system and push us to seek out more
3. Eating refined sugars desensitize our ability to taste the full range of more complex and subtle sugars in other foods

There are very few people who have not received the memo regarding the dangers of refined sugar consumption so I am not going to spend much time on that issue. Simple sugars that are not used quickly (as in exercise) are stored as fat. It is important to remember the distinction between complex carbohydrates such as those in whole grains and root vegetables and refined or simple sugars such as fructose, white or brown sugar, molasses, maple sugar, honey or agave. These refined products have a negative nutritional value, create a spike in blood sugar that places a stress on the pancreas and are usually converted into body fat. In addition to these problems, regular use of sugar undermines our ability to control our diet and eat healthily as well as damaging and desensitizing our taste buds.

The brain’s ability to sniff out calories in the form of sugar depends upon sugar’s drug-like effect on the dopamine-rich reward centre in the brain. This is a tiny structure called the nucleus acummbens, a structure known to be involved with “reward activity” for all addictive drugs.  The scary part of this addictive quality of sugar on the brain is that you don’t even have to be aware that something is sweet for the dopamine effect to trigger your desire for more, the pasta sauce with sugar in it or the French fries with sugar as an ingredient will still push you to want more.  This is where the scary science fiction music starts to play – it seems like a Frankenstein plot. And we wonder why we cannot seem to pass up the dessert?

In an article in New Scientist, Dr. De Araujo, one of the scientists in the study of dopamine by Duke University and The University of Porto (Portugal) stated, “even when you do not stimulate the sensory pathways in the mouth you still have this reward signal in the brain.” So, when you smell a food that one time gave you pleasure there is literally part of your brain that cries out, “Eat me”.  This is part of the learning cycle of the brain. Even when you know (logically) that something is destructive this primitive function rebels and wants you to repeat the old behavior. It is the bio-chemical equivalent of the “inner child”, it stomps its feet, screams or sulks till it gets its way.  It is important to note that the dopamine doesn’t make the experience more pleasurable – it simply wants you to repeat it.

I have focused here on sugar but the exact same response can happen with any food.  Our love affair with sugar is the most common and most dramatic. Unfortunately this love is more like a Fatal Attraction than a nurturing affair of the heart. We naturally want pleasure and we often use pleasure to balance out feelings such as sadness, anxiety or depression. Here is where pleasure/comfort aspect of dietary change comes into focus. The question then is how can we change this destructive cycle and create a healthy reward system.

EMBRACING HEALTH AND DISCARDING THE CRAVINGS

1. CREATE A NEW NORMAL

Since the dopamine reward system works around pleasure, simply making healthy choices that make you feel good can rewire it!. This little trick usually takes a few weeks to get into place but it is worth the trouble. This is the process of creating a “new normal”. As you get good results and begin to achieve health benefits of your actions they cease to become disciplines and begin to become rewarding.

As we all know humans are creatures of habit. The best way to change unproductive habits is to create new ones’. Getting that reward system under control requires understanding the triggers that set the old cravings in motion. Our dopamine rewards are often associated with social or emotional triggers that transform our firm resolve into a weak-kneed zombie dance. A little consciousness goes a long way.

If you are used to having a cup of tea with two teaspoons of sugar and a doughnut during the morning break with your office associates, guess what? The first time you go to the break your little dopamine reflex cries out for sugar.  That means it is a good idea to make a list of the kinds of places where you are most likely to binge and eat foods that do not suit your long term weight and health goals.

This does not mean that you have to avoid those situations; it simply means you need to be prepared to manage them. Have healthy drink options (herbal tea bags, rice malt sweetener maybe a healthy snack) to take to your morning break. Plan to win.  Do you have lunch dates with friends? Make sure to have a quick check that the restaurant offers a nice salad or a healthy vegetarian option, something that fits your needs. If it doesn’t, suggest another location.

Don’t feel the need to suit other people’s desires first. If you eat at work start making yourself lunches that are in line with your diet and have healthy snacks handy both at work and at home. (You will see some healthy options at the end of this booklet)

You simply need to avoid the harmful calorie packed foods and give more healthy options. The dopamine reward will change its alliance and start to be satisfied with the new options. After all the dopamine system is really not very smart, it simply wants to feel good. Snacking late at night is a habit that can keep the pounds on. Have only healthy options available.

2. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE

Many diets fail because the foods are boring the answer is diversity. I have learned quite a bit about health through my studies of Chinese Medicine; one of their theories regarding food has to do with the importance of the Five Tastes.

There are five tastes – Salty, Bitter, Sweet, Pungent and Sour. If you are having all of these tastes in your food you tend to not overeat or have wild cravings. This is one of the reasons why I stress this way of cooking in my weight loss programme. It is possible to have delicious meals every day and not spend all your time in the kitchen. Quick healthy meals include a variety of tasty treats and so the dopamine switch starts to have some new pleasures to play with.

Many of the meals in Weight Loss Nature’s Way give you the option of freezing some food for later use or rotating foods through to the next day with some additional ingredients.  (If you will excuse a little shameless self-promotion you could go onto amazon and order my book, Macrobiotics for All Seasons. It has over 200 delicious and easy recipes in it.)

Research suggests that Iron, Vitamin B6, Folate and Vitamin E are key to maintaining healthy levels of dopamine and dopamine receptors in your brain, so you get the proper reward you deserve from eating a healthy diet that is nutrient dense not simply calorie dense.

3. ENJOY YOUR FOOD

A big part of cutting down the cravings and feeling happy with your new food choices has to do with changing habits. We associate the “way” we do things with the “what” we do. If you want to dance differently you have to change the rhythm. How you eat can be just as important as what you eat. You can’t change your life without changing your life!

It is often true that we get hungry and eat faster. This leads to poor digestion, dissatisfaction and weight gain. Eating slowly is a habit worth developing. Become aware of the pace of your eating and consciously slow down.  When we slow down we usually chew our food more completely.
Chewing well means better digestion, more enjoyment and appreciation of what we are eating.  It is a great tool for portion control. Chew more to weigh less. Chewing your food 40 times (instead of the average 15 times) can help you eat about 12 per cent less food, says a new study from China published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study found a direct correlation between chewing more and lower levels of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin and higher levels of CCK, the hormone believed to reduce appetite.  Cutting your calorie intake by only 12 per cent may not sound like much, but that translates to a loss of almost 25 pounds over 12 months.

Eating smaller meals more often is a good idea. There is no reason to go hungry and then grab anything handy when we are ravenous.  A good breakfast followed by a mid-morning snack, followed by a healthy lunch and an afternoon snack means that your blood sugar is more apt to stay at a stable level and cut down on unhealthy urges. The same is true in the evening. A smaller dinner of healthy food followed by an evening snack works much better than trying to skip meals! If you are making good food choices, chewing your food and eating slowly there is no reason to starve. You will never be hungry and the weight will start to fall away.

It is important that you pay attention to the quality of the food you eat. Most manufactured foods are filled with chemical additives that flavour, emulsify, preserve and colour our food. These substances are all there for commercial reasons, not to enhance the health benefits. This includes the use of artificial sweeteners.

One of the results of eating highly processed foods is that they desensitize our tastes so that we can’t appreciate the flavour of simple foods.  We start to crave the complexity. When we wean ourselves off the chemical diet our body has a chance to get the enjoyment of simple foods again.

4. READ THE SMALL PRINT

Food manufacturers are the masters of dopamine. The next time you feel yourself being magnetically pulled to eat a particular food, just know that there is some mad food scientist smiling somewhere, eager to line his pockets at your expense. Get your revenge by turning your back. It is easy to be tricked if you don’t read the labels of your food. This is true of so called “diet” products or “health” products as well as conventional food items.

Think about this, have you noticed that an overlapping flap in the packaging now conceals the ingredient lists on so many foods? As consumers get smarter, manufacturers have to become more devious. They will do anything to distract you from knowing what you are eating. The methods of manipulation are several. One has to do with dazzling you with language.

Manufacturers have to list ingredients used in greatest amounts listed first. Since everyone knows that simple sugars are toxic you need to split them up so they seem different things. Listing sugar, fructose, dextrose, lactose, maltodextrin and dehydrated cane juice as separate ingredients they try to conceal that fact that you may be holding a product that is 60% simple sugar. You probably think I was traumatized by sugar as a child but I only focus on it because it is so harmful – Sugar is the Killer.  Another simple ploy is to leverage popular health myths.

Words like “natural”, “wholesome”, “natures best” or even “healthy” are meaningless on a food label, you still have to check the ingredients. Many people buy snack size pots of yogurt as a healthy snack, tasty and obviously good for you. Everyone knows that yogurt is a health food. Most never wonder at the delicious fruity goo in the bottom of the container that must be stirred in and make it so enjoyable. What is that stuff? What makes it so sweet? Has it even got any fruit in it? We will never know till we read the list. If we don’t – we will be kicking off the dopamine rush and wonder why we never seem to lose the weight.

5. DON’T FEED THE EMOTIONS

The use of food for emotional comfort is very common and not difficult to understand. After all, food can give us pleasure and it doesn’t talk back. It is a short term and temporary relief that produces no real benefit. The fact is that using reward foods in times of emotional discomfort can make them worse. It is common for many men and women to try and use alcohol or sugar as self-medication, a route that generally not only leads to weight gain and diabetes but also increases a sense of despair and lack of self-worth.

These ways of coping are not a sign of stupidity or weakness. We simply want to feel good and don’t know how to do it in a way that is healthy.  Loneliness requires friendship and social interaction not a pint of ice cream. Look at your daily activities and make some changes, schedule in things you like to do. A long walk is a better solution to feeling depressed or sad than by having a toasted cheese sandwich. Simply slow down, relax and replace. Learn some simple relaxation exercises or practice deep breathing.

Remember this, comfort food may feel good for a moment but is only going to promote tomorrow’s discomfort.

6. GET REGULAR EXERCISE

Next to diet, exercise has been seen to be an important factor in healthy weight loss. Many more enlightened doctors encourage their patients to exercise daily. If you get no exercise in your daily life a simple walk for half an hour daily can improve general health and get the pounds moving. It has been shown that more vigorous exercise increases health in even more dramatic ways.  When you have food cravings get up and move. Do something different.

Exercise also helps to reduce unhealthy cravings since it increases circulation and aerobic health.  When we are adding to our muscle tone and reducing body fat there is an improvement in hormonal balances in the body, more regulation of blood sugar levels and greater feelings of vitality. People who exercise regularly find that they start to crave it! Well you see that dopamine can learn to behave if a little tough love is used for a short period of time.

7. AVOID SABOTEURS – LOCATE ALLIES

Making changes in our way of life has its challenges and we can all use all the help we can get. Keep on the lookout for people who are also interested in creating a healthy life, and form some partnerships. Go walking together; share health goals, support each other in your adventure. We can all learn from each other and it is good to know that you are not alone in your quest for a more healthy life.

Dealing with other people’s scepticism needs to be addressed. How many times do you hear someone say, “Oh a little bit won’t hurt you” or “Don’t be a killjoy, have a drink”. If you are going to live a healthy life, be aware that others may not understand your actions. A good sense of humour and some humility are called for.

Sharing food, drink and amusement are part of social bonding. If you start to refuse certain foods or drinks, it can be interpreted as an act of arrogance or judgement. It is your responsibility to keep it light. Remember that weight loss is a health issue. Being healthy doesn’t mean you can’t live in the real world, it also doesn’t mean you run blindly with the crowd. Everyone has their own decisions to make in their own time. Having said that, there will always be the friendly saboteurs!

The friendly saboteur most commonly comes in two varieties. The first is simply concerned for your well-being. When someone starts to try something new, there are questions. Is this safe; are their hidden dangers; is this some cult behaviour? The concern is genuine; there is simply an information deficit. They will be concerned that there is not enough protein in your diet, or that you might get scurvy or any number of imagined problems. They simply need information.

The second variety of saboteur is perhaps more defensive than friendly. They may feel threatened by your decisions to change routine. They are sometimes family members. They will tell you that what you are doing is nonsense, that it’s dangerous, that it’s anti-social. They may try to convince you that your problem is genetic. In fact, what they are doing is attempting to justify their own behaviour. After all, if what you are doing is valid, what does that say about what they do? If you want different results you have to do things that are different.

SOME REPLACEMENT FOODS FOR A HEALTHY TRANSITION

In addition to the above suggestions it is a good idea to use replacements for some of the foods we crave. It is a good idea to consider not only flavour but also colours and textures in finding replacements for foods you are used to.

Breads and pastry are popular snack foods. Try out the selection of fresh breads made at traditional bakeries; sourdough or real wholemeal breads are usually a good choice. Commercial breads are often loaded with sugar, additives and colouring agents.  If you are on a serious weight loss journey you will want to try and avoid all breads for a while till your weight goals are in sight. Refined grains such as flour are more difficult to digest and tend to slow down weight loss; the same is true with pastry.  Your best bet is to only use homemade breads and pastry.  You know what’s in it.

Coffee and black teas are a usual craving and are easily replaced by some of the natural teas or herbal beverages. Bancha twig tea is a hearty flavoured tea that can be purchased in tea bags as can Rooibos tea or any number of herbal teas.

Dairy foods are not helpful at all when losing weight. As far as milk goes, the use of rice milk, almond milk or oat milk is good choices if you want something to use on a sugar free breakfast cereal. For use in hot drinks it is the oat milk that will serve you best or soya milk. I usually don’t recommend soya milk since raw soya is so difficult on digestion.

Tofu is a much-maligned product but is very versatile especially when used in desserts. It can add a creamy texture to puddings and sauces you will find many recipes for using tofu creatively even in making “mock scrambled eggs”, a favourite of mine. Baked and smoked tofu products have a strong cheesy taste and are easily available in health shops.

We have talked quite a bit about the sweet tooth but sometimes we need a little sweetness in our diet. Fruit is obviously the best choice with more northern fruits such as apples or pears being the best. Having some raw apple slices as a morning or afternoon snack can really take the edge off a sugar craving. In cooking you can use brown rice syrup or barley malt as sweeteners with a more subtle effect on blood sugar.

If you have cravings for meat or the meaty taste try some of the soya based products from the Far East. Foods such as Seitan (wheat meat), Tempeh (fermented soya cake), Tofu or even bean dishes will do the trick. Using the fermented soya bean paste called miso or using naturally fermented soya sauce also add a savoury taste to soups, stews or sauces.

I hope all of this is helpful but it all depends on you. If you aren’t sure what you want to do you probably won’t do it. If you want to lose weight and create a better state of health then make some goals and focus on a healthy diet.  Don’t make your goals unreachable but make them challenging. Know how much you want to lose and what your time frame is.  You can kick the weight gain habit but it takes a certain focus to re-educate the body.

If you are on the Weight Loss Nature’s Way programme we figure that two to three pounds of weight loss per week is a healthy goal. You don’t want to lose weight too fast or you will gain it right back.  This healthy weight loss means you are burning fat and not simply passing fluid.  You may lose more weight, especially in the first few weeks and that’s all right but not through starvation. It is not uncommon that in the course of a month you can have a reduction of about ten to sixteen pounds.

A client I am currently working with is over the moon with her current weight loss of 33lbs in 8 weeks.  She has had great success removing sugar from her diet and week after week she emails me to say that she cannot believe she has had no sugar cravings.   She was into sugar hook line and sinker 24/7.  She has kept a daily food journal throughout her programme and believes 100% that her two spoonful’s’ of apple/pear puree, morning, afternoon and evening (recipe below) has been her saviour.   Talk about a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!!  Could be ‘the song’ needs re-written!!

So on that happy note, enjoy this delicious naturally sweet dessert along with some of my favourite ‘healthy snacks’ below.

APPLE/PEAR PUREE

Apple/Pear Puree topped with oat cream & roasted slivered almonds. This is Mr. Tara’s favourite dessert!  – I always have this tasty dessert in glass jars in the fridge.  This is a great dish for taking the edge of any sugar cravings.

4 organic apples

4 organic pears

Pinch of sea salt

Wash the fruit and top and tail the pears, slice them into bite size chunks. Use an apple corer and remove the core from the apples and slice them into similar size pieces as the pears.

Place in a pot with a little water and add a pinch of sea salt.  Simmer on a very low heat until the fruit is soft, approximately 10 minutes.  Blend to a cream in an upright blender or use a stick blender.   Serve in a martini glass. You can top with some oat cream and chopped nuts if desired.

Pears are a high-fibre, low calorie snack, and they contain twice as much fibre as apples.  Slice into salads, roast or bake whole for dessert.

Toasted Seed Bars

2 cups sesame seeds

2 cups pumpkin seeds

2 cups sunflower seeds

2 cups pine nuts

½ cup desiccated coconut

½ cup brown rice syrup

Teaspoon vegetable oil

In a dry pan, toast the seeds, nuts and coconut together at a low-medium heat.   When the seeds start to pop, turn off the heat and add the rice syrup until you achieve a sticky mixture.  Spread the oil onto a baking sheet add the mixture and flatten it down to achieve a thickness of about two inches.    Leave to set then cut into small bit size squares.  These are delicious to use as a healthy snack.

Chestnut Balls

2 cups cooked and peeled organic chestnuts
1 cup roasted and finely chopped hazelnuts
Pinch of sea salt
2-3 tablespoons rice syrup
1 tablespoon hazelnut butter or peanut butter
1 teaspoon of natural vanilla essence
4 tablespoons cocoa powder

Blend the hazelnuts until very fine in a blender. Add the chestnuts and blend together until they start to combine into a paste. Add 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon hazelnut butter and a pinch of salt and mix in. Gradually add 2-3 tablespoons of rice syrup and the vanilla essence, adjusting to taste. Fill a bowl of cold water and wet your hands. Take a small amount of the paste and roll into a walnut-sized ball.

Pour the remaining cocoa powder into a container.  Place the ball in the container and shake to cover with the powder.    Alternatively roll the balls in rice or malt syrup and cover in desiccated coconut. Leave to set for a couple of hours before serving.

In good health

Many years ago when I wrote my first book, I included a paragraph or two about sea vegetables and shared a fantasy of mine.  That fantasy would be to witness sea vegetables being advertised on T.V. ! They have not quite reached ‘super stardom’ status yet but it is certainly heading in that direction. Many health magazines and websites are filled with information about this wonderful food and for good reason.  Food companies are now manufacturing all sorts of ‘seaweed snacks’ and you can even buy a seaweed pizza!

Packed full of goodness, you can enjoy crisp seaweed snacks anywhere, anytime, be it at play, at work or while you are travelling. Crispy Seaweed is now readily available in thin crispy strips that can be consumed as a snack or as a supplement to your meals, with rice, in sandwiches, with soup, or on its own; it is simply irresistible and delicious. I have been using seaweeds for decades and always have some delicious tasting snacks with some seaweeds added.  See recipe below.

Seaweeds break down and digest slowly compared to processed foods. Seaweeds are also nutrient dense, and loaded with minerals; (when your diet is rich in trace minerals you have less cravings).  Seaweeds contribute greatly to hormonal balance too. Research shows that seaweed speeds up weight loss by blocking fat intake and promotes fat burning. Alginate the natural fibre found in sea kelp blocks the body from absorbing fat far more effectively than anti-weight treatments currently sold over the counter. A 2010 study by Newcastle University demonstrated what has been known for centuries in the Far East – Sea Vegetables are a powerful tool for weight loss as well as being amazing for your health.

Seaweed Nut Crunch

¼ cup sesame oil

½ cup rice syrup

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup sesame seeds

6 sheets of nori seaweed, torn or cut into tiny pieces

1 tsp. shoyu

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Pour oil and rice syrup in a large pan.  Bring to a frothy boil and add sliced almonds, stir, and add sesame seeds and nori pieces.  Sprinkle in shoyu. Continue stirring until everything is coated. Pour into one layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool and cut into slices.  Bill and I enjoy these as a healthy snack with a cup of bancha tea.

In good health

LIVE BELOW THE LINE

Below is a list of recipes I created for my 5 day challenge.   If you feel you could spare a pound or two to donate to this cause I would be very grateful.  Simply click on my profile page (link here) and add your name and pledge.

Daily Breakfast for Five Days

Breakfast Porridge

(Short grain brown rice) (10 X PORTIONS) 5 for breakfast – 5 for dinner

• 500 gram pack £1.29 – (I found this superb purchase in my local Asian market).

This is the king of grains delivering the largest diversity of nutrients; Of the three macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) carbohydrates are needed in the largest amounts. This is the reason why I have chosen to have wholegrain morning and evening to keep my energy levels up.  As I will be eating less food than I normally would for 5 days it’s the perfect choice.  Here are seven reasons complex carbohydrates have such superstar status.

• They are the main source of fuel for your body
• They are burned most efficiently as a fuel source
• They are required by your central nervous system, brain, (your brain runs almost      entirely on glucose and can’t use fat or protein for its energy needs) muscles (including your heart), and kidneys
• They provide glucose to all of your body’s cells and tissues for energy
• They can be stored in your liver and muscles for future energy needs
• They can be found in whole grains, grain products, beans, vegetables, sea vegetables,      fruits, nuts and seeds.

Recipe for Pressure cooked wholegrain

500g short grain brown rice (rinsed and soaked overnight)
Pinch sea salt
Water

Discard the soaking water. Place the rice in a pressure cooker and add 5 cups of water and a pinch of sea salt.  Bring to full pressure then reduce flame and cook for 25 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let the rice continue to cook for a further 25 minutes.  Remove the lid, place the rice in a glass container and store in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days. Obviously if a pressure cooker is not an item you have, simply follow the instructions and cook in a normal pot. To make your breakfast porridge, simply split your rice into 10 portions.  Take one portion for breakfast, place in a pot and add some water, simmer for 5 minutes to make a creamy consistency and sprinkle with sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

My Breakfast Porridge

50g cooked brown rice                                          12p
Tbsp sunflower seeds                                              3p
Tbsp pumpkin seeds                                                3p
Cup hot water with slice of lemon                         1p

TOTAL DAILY SPENT ON BREAKFAST 19p

Lunch Days One & Two

Green Soup

Nutrient Dense Soups pack a powerful punch at lunchtime. Here are my two favourites that I used over the 5 days.Green foods are rich in chlorophyll AND they have a relaxing effect on the liver. Thought this was a good choice in case I became ‘grumpy’ (as if) !! with hunger pangs.

½ vegetable stock cube 4p
3 cups filtered water 0p
1 leek finely chopped 20p
3 green beans chopped 5p
½ courgette finely chopped 10p
1 stalk celery chopped 5p
1 onion diced 10p
1 tablespoon crushed garlic 3p
Small handful of chopped parsley 3p
Juice from fresh ginger root 3p
Toasted Flaked Almonds 1p

TOTAL FOR GREEN SOUP 64p divided x 2 = 32p per portion

Mix the stock cube in 3 cups of warm water and place in a soup pot along with the chopped vegetables. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until vegetables are soft.

Using a hand blender, or upright blender, blend until creamy adding water as needed to create the required consistency.   Grate some fresh ginger and squeeze the juice into the soup, approximately one tablespoon.  Top with some toasted flaked almonds.

• I purchased a bag of dessert apples (6 in the bag for £1) daily apple 16p
• The green soup above served me for two days lunches’ i.e.  32p

TOTAL SPENT ON LUNCH – Monday and Tuesday (EACH)  48p

Lunch Days Three, Four, & Five

Roasted Squash, Sweet Potato & Garlic Soup

4 cups filtered water 0p
1 stock cube 7p
1 sweet potato (Asian market) 12p
1 butternut squash 54p
Olive oil for basting 3p
4-5 cloves garlic 12p
1 large onion, finely diced 10p
Parsley for garnish 2p

TOTAL SPEND FOR SOUP FOR THREE DAYS £1.00 = 33p per portion

Apple 16p Total for Lunch Wednesday, Thursday & Friday        49p

Pre-heat the over to 190C/375F. Mix the stock cube with 4 cups of boiling water from the kettle and set aside. Cut the sweet potato and squash in half lengthways.  Brush the cut sides with the olive oil.  Place the vegetables cut side-down in a shallow roasting tin.  Add the garlic cloves (in their paper).  Place in the centre of the oven for about 40 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

When cool, scoop out the flesh from the potato and squash, peel the garlic and add the cloves to a saucepan with the stock along with the vegetables and the diced onion.  Bring to a boil, covered and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using a hand blender, puree until smooth. Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with some parsley.

And So To Dinner!

I used the short grain brown rice as the main staple for my evening meal and built vegetables and beans around that. I purchased a large bunch of spring greens for £1 and used some leaves every night at dinner.

Evening Meal Day 1

Red Lentil Stew

3 cups water                                                                                           0p

1tbsp olive oil                                                                                         1p

50g red lentils                                                                                     10p

½ onion, finely diced                                                                           5p

1 carrot cut into rounds                                                                       2p

2 large leaves of spring greens finely chopped                               5p

Zest and juice of ¼ lemon                                                                  4p

1 tablespoon miso paste                                                                      6p

TOTAL SPEND ON DINNER                                                  33p

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat.  Sauté the onion for 1 to 2 minutes or until translucent, add the greens, then the carrot, cooking for a few more minutes.  Add the lentils and the lemon juice and zest.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes.  When the lentils are soft, add the miso, mix well and turn off the heat.

Serve garnished with chopped parsley if desired.

*Legumes are a class of vegetables that include lentils, peas, and beans. Common types of lentils include all dals, mung dal, toor dal, masoor dal. Beans – Chickpeas, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, etc.

Pulses and lentils are the ripe edible seeds of a wide range of pod-bearing leguminous plants. They are high in fibre and will help you feel fuller longer. Lentils are great as they have the power to really satisfy your hunger without packing your body with loads of calories and fat – that’s often why lentils feature heavily as a meat substitute – they can make you feel like you’ve had a meaty dish minus the calories and saturated fat that come with eating meat.  Again like celery, lentils are full of fibre and foliate so as well as giving you the full feeling, they are great for digestion and healthy cell growth.

Evening Meal Day Two

Spring Green Bean Burritos

1 tablespoon olive oil                                                                              1p               

50g cooked brown rice                                                                          12p

1 clove crushed garlic                                                                              3p

½ onion cut in half moons                                                                    5p

50g kidney beans (cooked)                                                                    5p

Splash of natural soya sauce                                                                 2p

2 large leaves of spring greens (steamed whole)                               5p

TOTAL SPEND ON DINNER                                                     33p

Heat a wok or heavy based pan and warm the olive oil.  Add the garlic and sliced onion and sauté for a few minutes until the onion is translucent.  Add the cooked kidney beans and a good splash of natural soya sauce and mix well. Pop on the lid and let cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile steam the two large spring green leaves until bright green and slightly tender.

Remove the lid from the sauté pan and mash the bean mixture with a heavy based spoon.  Lay the spring greens flat and split the mixture between them both.  Roll them into a cigar shape and enjoy.

Evening Meal Day Three

Brown Rice Stir Fry with Garlic and Ginger served on a Bed of Steamed Greens topped with crushed walnuts

1 tablespoon olive oil                                                                            1p

50g cooked brown rice                                                                       15p

1 carrot cut julienne style                                                                     2p

1 clove crushed garlic                                                                           3p

1 x 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, finely diced                                    2p

2 large leaves of spring greens, thinly sliced                                   5p

6 walnuts crushed                                                                                 7p

TOTAL SPEND ON DINNER                                                  35p     

Warm a pan and heat the olive oil.  Add the garlic and ginger along with the carrot and sauté for 2 or 3 minutes.  Stir in the rice and add 2 tablespoons of water cover and simmer for a few minutes.   Bring a small pot of water to the boil.  Add the greens to a steamer basket and steam until bright green.  Place the greens on a plate top with the stir fry and garnish with the crushed walnuts.  Finish your meal with a cup of hot water and a slice of lemon.

Evening Meal Day Four

Grain Burgers with French Fries

2 tablespoon olive oil                                                                            2p

50g cooked brown rice                                                                       15p

1 carrot, grated                                                                                      2p

½ onion finely diced                                                                            5p

¼ tsp turmeric & paprika, sea salt                                                    1p

1 heaped tbsp flour                                                                                1p

1 potato                                                                                                  7p

1 tbsp mayonnaise                                                                                 2p

TOTAL SPEND ON DINNER                                                   35p

Mash grain in a large bowl along with the onion and carrots then add the herbs and salt.  Add 1 heaped tablespoon of whole-wheat flour and press the mixture together with a wooden spoon. Wet your hands and take a heaped tablespoon of mixture and form into burger shapes.  Warm a heavy bottomed frying pan, add some sunflower frying oil and fry until golden brown on each side (4-5 mins).

French Fries – Preheat oven to 450oF (225c)

Slice potato lengthwise into half inch thick slices.  Cut the slices into half inch thick spears just like French fries.  Toss them with the olive oil to coat the potato pieces.  Spread in a rimmed baking sheet, avoiding overlap and bake, uncovered for about 15 minutes, until browned and crisp, stirring occasionally to ensure even browning.  Remove from oven and toss with a light seasoning of salt.

Evening Meal Day Five

Rice Pilaf

50g cooked brown rice                                                                          15p

Pinch of sea salt                                                                                        1p

1tbs olive oil                                                                                              1p

½ cup of chopped onions                                                                      5p

½ cup chopped mushrooms                                                                 5p

2 tbsp minced fresh parsley                                                                   1p

Spring Greens thinly sliced                                                                    5p

1 Carrot cut on the diagonal                                                                   2p

TOTAL SPEND ON DINNER                                                      35p

In a large pan, heat olive oil and sauté onions and mushrooms with a pinch of sea salt.  Add the cooked rice, cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and sprinkle with parsley. Bring a small pan of water to a boil, pop in the carrots and steam for 5 minutes – add the sliced greens and steam until bright green, 2-3 minutes. Serve as a base with the rice pilaf piled high on top.

* WATER

‘Drink eight glasses a day. Water is a natural appetite-suppressant. Water is the cheapest, simplest way to curb appetite and keep your body functioning properly. ‘If you’re dehydrated, your metabolism will slow down,’ Add slices of lemon, lime, cucumber, fresh ginger or a few drops of juice to make it more appealing.  Water is the only vehicle to remove toxins from your system, it’s a must.  Try adding a few drops of lemon and ginger juice to a morning cuppa of hot water.  In the evening have a cup of hot water, your body and skin will love you for it.

Simply drink water throughout the day to keep hydrated.  My hot beverage for the 5 mornings and evenings was one cup of hot water with a slice of lemon.

It’s important to really shop around and look for the best ‘bargains’ at your local supermarkets.  I found three different prices for a 500g bag of short grain brown rice ranging from £1.89 to £1.29.

In good health

August 30th – September 13th 2013
Penninghame House, Newton Stewart, Scotland www.penninghame.org

It is exciting to note that more and more people are waking up to the need for healthy living and they need someone to guide them through the fads and confusion. Are you up to the challenge? Would you like to learn how? Become a beacon of health and knowledge for those around you. Become part of a growing community of people who are tired of being confused by all the wild claims and promises made by the latest health fads.  Help yourself, and help others, with the wealth of timeless knowledge and information you’ll receive in this truly comprehensive coaching course!

The dramatic rise in degenerative disease attributed to diet and lifestyle has created a demand for solutions to disease prevention and personal health maintenance. Health coaching is a specific process of helping clients to identify health goals, provide a practical plan of self-generated action and offer support in the achievement of those goals. Our Health Coach Intensive will prepare you to fill this need.

Our course is founded on the principles of modern macrobiotic health care and represents a unique blending of ancient wisdom and modern insight. Students will receive training in Macrobiotic Nutrition for Health and Recovery, The Principles of Human Ecology, Oriental Diagnosis and Health Assessment, Natural Foods Cooking and Home Remedies, Basic Shiatsu Massage, Body Energy and Movement as well as Practitioner Training.

The full course is comprised of over 100 hours of class time offered as a residential two week programme.   The course includes a full complement of workbooks and assignments for home study. Our teachers are experts in their field and represent a personal minimum of thirty years experience in their area of expertise.

Student comments:

“You’ve got it all with Bill and Marlene: mind, body and spirit.  The first steps towards the “great life” to which we all aspire.”  Kenneth Miles Stermer – Paris

“A huge thanks to Marlene and Bill for a fantastic course.  ‘I didn’t know’ that there was so much ‘I didn’t know’ about creating good health.  I feel I have been given new eyes to see with since completing your Macrobiotic Health Coach Programme. I now have the knowledge to create a wonderful healthy life for myself and my family and the tools to help others to renewed health.  My accolade to you both!  – You two are simply the best, better than all the rest!”  Carin Falkholt – Sweden

Teachers of cooking, yoga, personal development or any of the helping professions can use these skills to add value and dimension to their practice. It will also serve dedicated individuals who simply want to increase their knowledge of health for themselves and their family.

The fabulous cooking school at Penninghame allows students to cook at their own stations.  Great fun!  We have some superb folks registered from different countries and look forward to welcoming you on-board.

 Your course teachers will be Bill Tara and, Marlene Watson-Tara.

For a detailed curriculum, costs and the registration form: please contact us at marlenewt@hotmail.co.uk or wwtara@msn.com

We look forward to welcoming you all and exploring together ‘the deeper meaning of health’.

Well! there is more than one type of garden to grow and the most important one is right inside us.

When we eat, we are simply feeding the microorganisms that live in our GI tract.  It’s that simple!  The natural and beneficial flora in a healthy gut keep the pathogens (the bad bacteria) at bay.   Diets rich in processed and junk foods feed the pathogens at the expense of the beneficial flora so the bad bacteria proliferate and cause nutritional deficiencies and ill health.  It’s important to note that the micro-organisms in your body outnumber the cells in your body by ten to one and are mostly in your intestinal system.

Your digestive system is responsible for about 80% of the function of your immune system.  Your mind and your mood are also controlled by the functioning of a healthy gut.  We are all familiar with the term ‘gut feeling’! that’s because the serotonin (happy hormones) cruising your body are found naturally in the human brain but primarily produced in your gut.   It is also found in a variety of plant sources, including vegetables, fruits, and even mushrooms. Categorized as a neurotransmitter, it is important in transmitting nerve impulses. The amino acid tryptophan is credited with producing serotonin in the body.

Serotonin can be considered a “happy” hormone, as it greatly influences an overall sense of well-being. It also helps to regulate moods, temper anxiety, and relieve depression. It is also credited with being a natural sleep aid. It even plays an important role in regulating such things as aggression, appetite, and sexuality.

What are the ways you can ensure you have good bacteria in your gut? 

One of the most powerful things you can do is to remove sugar and foods that convert to sugars very rapidly from your diet because they act as nourishment or ‘fertiliser’ for the pathogens (bad bacteria).  That is what the pathogens feed and multiply off.  Environmental and lifestyle factors as we all know contribute of course to good health but the vast majority of clients I see are severely lacking when it comes to good probiotic bacteria, throwing their gut flora ratio completely off kilter and causing  an array of health disorders.

So what’s the solution?
A wholefoods plant based diet with plenty of organic vegetables is an amazing source of nutrients and fibre that create a happy home for our little friends. When we feed the ‘good guys’ they will take care of the ‘bad guys’ on their own. We think we are feeding ourselves when we eat but really we are feeding our little friends.

Eating foods such as miso, pickled vegetables, sauerkraut, umeboshi plums, that have been cultured with different bacteria grow and reproduce in your system.  The fermented foods such as those mentioned here are known as ’Probiotics’, they support life.  A probiotic is a live microbial food that beneficially affects the host animal by improving its intestinal microbial balance.  A Macrobiotic diet is very high in fermented foods and potentially high in healthy bacteria.

Poor food choices combined with stressful living is a recipe for disaster. Stress can also have a great impact on healthy intestinal flora. When we are stressed out with a 24/7 lifestyle we increase acid levels in the stomach that can pollute our internal garden and reduce the number of healthy bacteria.   Eating fermented foods with alkaline forming foods will then help enrich our intestinal bacteria.

To reduce stomach acidity make this amazing tea;

Ume-Sho-Kuzu

This tea helps with sickness or digestive problems and is simple to make.

1 teaspoon kudzu*

1 Umeboshi plum 

Several drops of Shoyu

Dissolve one teaspoon of pure kudzu in 2 or 3 tablespoons of water.  Add 1 cup of cold water to the dissolved kudzu.

Bring to a boil over a very low flame, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to avoid lumping, until the liquid becomes translucent, for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the pulp of 1 umeboshi plum that has been pitted and finely chopped.  Reduce the flame to low.  Add several drops of shoyu and gently stir.  Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.  Drink and eat while hot.

* KUDZU – Macrobiotic home remedies based on kudzu drinks are widely used, as they help in a number of common ailments.  These are made from the starch of kudzu, a gigantic root that is bigger than an average man, typically growing to about 100 kg per root. It is widely used in both traditional Japanese and Chinese medicine.  Available from most natural food stores.

I encourage you all to get involved in growing a healthy garden inside you by eating foods that will support healthy bacteria.  Your digestive system and overall health will love you for it.

In good health

Time to haul out the big guns? No! Detoxing is ever so simple!

Spring is the time when the earth comes alive; light rains and more sun (I clear my throat here because in Scotland hmmm) my darling hubby says there is a distinct lack of this yellow ball in the sky!  However, life does come back to the surface as nature comes alive.  One of the many things I am passionate about is introducing seaweed baths to my clients and students.  Here is my lovely sister relaxing and enjoying a deep restorative seaweed bath that aids in detoxing the system.

Spring is the time of year when the liver and gallbladder present themselves for an annual service.  The flavour most often associated with this season is the sour taste, and the relevant vegetables are fresh new-growth greens.  These are foods that are seen to promote a gentle cleansing of the liver.  Yes, this is the time of year when your body really wants to detox naturally.

Spring is the best time of year to lose weight and lighten the energy of the body.  Nature shows us what is needed.  It is the use of the new sprouts of greens and foods which release more fats and relax the body that is most beneficial.  Since winter foods are more likely to have more fats and protein, the use of raw foods and sprouts, along with a lighter approach to cooking, allows the body to release stagnation.  This is the perfect time to let go of poor nutritional habits that we might have let get out of hand in the winter months when we were seeking warming comfort foods.  In many cultures you will find that times of fasting take place in the Spring.   It’s the time for renewal, time to clean the house and cleanse our bodies.

This Dried Daikon Soup below is a perfect liver cleanser.  Simply incorporating sensible spring energy into the daily diet and eating well on a daily basis will produce better long term results than using extreme approaches. Have steamed greens daily topped with some sprouted mung beans or alfala sprouts.   My windowsill looks beautiful with my mini sprouter bursting at the seams with mung beans, alfalfa and broccoli sprouts.  In tall glass jars I have a large bunch of parsley and coriander/cilantro always at hand for adding to soups and bean dishes. All of these nutrient dense greens aid in constant discharge that allow the body to find it’s healthy equilibrium.

Dried Daikon Soup

Half cup dried daikon

3 dried shitake or maitake mushrooms

2 small onions diced

4 cups water

1 tbsp. shoyu or tamari

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Soak the daikon and mushrooms for 20 minutes, discard the water and finely dice both vegetables. Bring the water to a boil and add the diced onions and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the daikon and mushrooms and and continue to cook for 20 minutes on a low heat.  Season with shoyu or tamari and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes.  Serve warm with chopped parsley.

In good health

The Natural Woman and the Macrobiotic Approach to Diet

The Macrobiotic approach to health reflects thousands of years of experience, observation and research in Asia. The medicine of the Far East understood that the body is a self-healing organism when treated well. Our bodies are designed to strive toward a special balance referred to in Western science as homeostasis. Macrobiotics is about stimulating the body’s natural desire for well-being and capacity to heal itself rather than attacking the symptoms of ill health and disease. In this process of self-generated healing every aspect of life is considered to play a part. The food you eat, the type of physical activity, the emotional state, family relationships and spiritual outlook are all-important aspects of the healing process.

Many clients that I see have some serious ailments before, during and after menopause. I sailed through it by eating a hormone balanced diet i.e. ‘a wholefoods plant based diet’ without the many debilitating symptoms that these women suffer from.  Weight gain, night sweats, mood swings, low energy, low sex drive, skin complaints, insomnia and much more. Menopause as you know is a totally natural stage in the reproductive cycle. It’s when changing oestrogen levels produce both physical and mental changes and can result in changes to cholesterol levels and bone density to name but a few.

Every woman is unique and the menopause has a different impact on each individual.  Many believe that dietary differences may be influential.  Nutrients called isoflavones have been shown to be beneficial to menopausal health. However, while ‘eastern’ diets deliver between 20-50mg of isoflavones a day, the typical ‘western’ diet provides only 2-5mg of isoflavones a day.

Previous studies have suggested that Soya-rich foods can help cut women’s risk of developing breast cancer. Soybeans contain isoflavones. Although isoflavones are found in other plants, they are most concentrated in soybeans.  They are believed to prevent breast tumours developing by blocking the cancer-causing effects of oestrogen.

Isoflavones are a specific group of plan oestrogens or phytoestrogens – chemicals found in plants, which mimic the action of the female sex hormone oestrogen that are found only in legumes, such as chickpeas, lentils, soybeans (NON GMO) and red clover that can help to maintain health and well being during and after the menopause.  The highest amounts of soy isoflavones can be found in tempeh.  Try some of my ‘tempeh recipes’ and make this a regular food in your diet.  Another natural source of isoflavones is red clover.  Caffeine (coffee, tea, alcohol, smoking, warm environments and stress are all known to make it harder to manage the menopause.

Red Clover Tea

Red clover blossoms can easily be used fresh or dried to make herbal tea. Red clover tea has traditionally been drunk to treat the following ailments: breathing problems, problems of the female reproductive system such as menopause and heavy bleeding, cancer of the female reproductive organs, and to purify the blood. Red clover tea is also used externally to treat itchy skin conditions.

Fresh Red Clover Tea

To prepare herbal tea from fresh red clover blossoms, steep 3 fresh blossoms in 1 cup of hot water for 15 minutes.

Dried Red Clover Tea

To prepare herbal tea from dried red clover blossoms, steep 2-3 teaspoons of the dried herb in hot water for 15 minutes.

It’s important to take care of yourself always but even more important to safe guard your health as you journey through menopause.

In good health

I like to think of myself as an ‘information broker’ and share what I learn in the hope that those who read what I write pass it on because ‘Knowledge is Power’.  As more information is released about ‘what you could actually be subjecting yourself to by eating animal products, let alone the cruelty that is inflicted upon the animals.  It’s important to be on top of what is surfacing here.  Sure, jokes have been banded about of late since the horse meat scandal, that dogs and cat burgers are next, well……… read the full article below!

An article released a few days ago claiming that stray and abandoned dogs taken from the  streets of Spain may have ended up in pet food and farm animal feed!!!!!  Again I am horrified and disgusted.   Like many of you I am a huge lover of all animals, I have owned horses and ponies, living in the country, I was surrounded by sheep, lambs and cows. My two golden labs, Molly and Tess above were my family, they lived with me and had a wonderful life for 14 years.  I rasied money when Bill and I lived in Spain for the local dog and cat shelter and I am vegan because I chose not to eat animal foods from exactly this perspective.

The article goes on to say that the authorities in Spain have not ruled out  the possibility that protein or fats from the carcasses may even have been used  in some processed human food!!!

Britain’s Food Standards Agency says it is  aware of the investigation and it is liaising with its counterparts in Spain.  A spokesman said: ‘We are aware of these  reports and are in contact with the Spanish authorities about their investigation.  ‘We are currently not testing food for meat from dogs. Our priority is to test beef products for gross contamination with  horse meat because that is where the problem clearly is.’  Yes!!!!! and so much more is what I feel to be true!

The best way to end this suffering is to simply stop eating animals. It’s easy, kinder and healthier, too! Go vegetarian or even better  go vegan.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2289682/Stray-dogs-Spain-used-make-pet-food-farm-animal-feed.html#ixzz2NM0t7YTm

There are over 200 delicious vegan recipes in my book; Here is one of Bill’s favourites, Enjoy;

Rissole Patties

1 cup cooked wild rice
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 small red onion, finely chopped
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped toasted pecans
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking patties
2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
½ brick of tofu (crumbled)
1 cup Japanese rice cakes (crushed)
¾ cup chunky cranberry sauce (recipe below)
Sunflower Oil for frying

Stir together wild rice, brown rice, onion, dried cranberries, pecans, oil, sage, thyme, and rosemary in large bowl. Mix in the tofu then cracker crumbs and season with salt and pepper if desired. If the mixture is not binding together add a little flour.  Shape mixture into small patties. (At this point, rissoles can be chilled up to 24 hours.)

Heat 2 tbsp. of sunflower oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add 4 patties to hot pan, and cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until browned and crispy on one side. Flip patties, and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, or until browned and crispy on second side. Repeat with remaining patty mixture.  Serve each patty topped with 1 tbsp. cranberry chutney.

Cranberry Chutney
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Kuzu
½ tsp dry mustard
4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
½ cup dried cranberries
1 cup rice syrup
¾ cup ruby port
1tbsp freshly grated ginger juice
2 tbsp grated orange zest
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Whisk together orange juice, lemon juice, kuzu and mustard in a small bowl, set aside.

Combine cranberries, rice syrup, port, dried cranberries, ginger juice, orange zest, lemon zest, cloves and a pinch of sea salt in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring.

Stir in kuzu mixture, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, or until sauce thickens and berries have burst.  Cool, serve chilled or at room temperature. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

In good health,

The issue of weight gain and loss are really important to me. I have seen so many people who try diet after diet with no or only short-term results. This is a problem that has direct health implications as well as undermining self-confidence and self-image. I am committed to helping people to get off the diet treadmill and into healthy eating.  I will be sending out a series of emails concerning weight loss over the next months.

During the last few decades, I have witnessed countless clients turn their health and their lives around by using the simple directions that I have given them.  I prefer to think of myself as an ‘information broker’. It is my pleasure to pass along all the valuable insights and practical actions that I have learned from my studies and experience. This digital course provides video cooking classes, educational tutorials, recipes and practical health tips that will produce consistent and sustainable results. To give the gift of health is one of the most rewarding aspects of my work.

What you gain from this course can bring positive benefits for the rest of your life! Learn how to use the power of healing foods to transform your health. Self-care is the best form of health care. Enjoy.

I look forward to guiding you on the journey.

Yours in good health,

Tofu & Blueberry Layered Dessert will become a favourite ‘naturally sweetened’ treat that you can make anytime of the year for family and friends.  Use ‘frozen’ blueberries if they are not in season.   It is so simple and quick to make and tastes delicious. 

Most of what has been said about fresh vegetables can be repeated for fruit, with the expection that – fruit is deliciously ’sweet’.  The fresh taste and sweetness of fruit are a real bonus to our diet.  Fruits can be seen as the gift to the sweet tooth and has a relaxing influence in the diet.

The sweet taste is an important one; it gives us a great deal of pleasure.  When we eat a diet that is filled with simple sugars, we often lose the ability to appreciate the sweentess in natural foods.  Fruits are usually eaten raw, but it is also healthy to have some cooked fruit.  I constantly make applesauce.

Make the tofu cream as follows

1 pack silken tofu

1/3 cup rice syrup

1 tbsp olive, sunflower or safflower oil

1 tablespoon soymilk

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Whip all ingredients together in a blender until very smooth.  Refrigerate at least two hours before serving.

Make the blueberry sauce as follows

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/3 cup rice syrup

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp Kuzu

Set aside one cup of the blueberries for topping the dessert.  Place the remaining 3 cups of blueberries in a pot with the rice syrup and lemon juice. Dissolve the kuzu in two tablespoons of water and add to the pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for 4 minutes. Stir in the kuzu and simmer until the mixture starts to thicken.  Transfer to a blender and blend to a cream. Pour into a bowl allow to cool. Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Using pretty glasses layer some blueberry sauce in the bottom and tofu cream on top.  Continue this process of layering until the glass is full and then top with some of the blueberry’s to finish and some toasted flaked almonds.  Enjoy.

In good health,