Welcome back to Nik’s Picks: a round up of the newest wellness trends, things I love, and the latest novel products that are coming to market. Enjoy!
Learn: As a Nutritionist, I always get asked: What can I do starting now to be healthier? So I put together 5 tips on how to make your food more nutritious starting now.
1. Prepare Your Foods Correctly: How you prepare your food can drastically alter the vitamins and nutrients inside of them. Take garlic and broccoli for example: if you let them rest after chopping them, you significantly increase their power to fight cancer and heart disease!
2. Avoid Artificial Sweeteners of Any Kind: There are many, many ways to say “sugar.” Say away from anything with the following words: agave, corn (unless it’s whole corn), cane, malt, and usually syrup (make sure you know what is exactly in your coffee order!).
3. Eat the Rainbow: Veggies and fruits use their colors to signal which beneficial substance they contain (almost like it’s their language or the plant kingdom!). Think of this next time you’re grocery shopping: Our ancestors ate more than 800 varieties of plants, many of all different colors, during their forages. That’s a lot of plants.
4. Buy Frozen Berries: Not only are frozen berries cheaper, but they also have higher levels of nutrients because you usually are picked ripe and frozen right away. Fresh fruit is often picked too soon and transported long distances.
5. Shop Local, Organic, and Seasonal When You Can: Health food stores offer organic fruit from local farms closer to you. Buying your food local, organic, and seasonal will eliminate many dangers of pesticides (it also can help reduce your carbon footprint). Huge tip: Take a look at EWG’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists to know when to buy organic and when to save some money!
Sources: Hyman, Mark. Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? Little, Brown and Company, 2018.
New & Noteworthy: Using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) allows you to have real-time and historical data about your metabolic health. After gaining a better understanding of what glucose values mean and how your habits affect them, the next step is to optimize. This is why I love my Nutrisense CGM!
Click here to read our full blog post: Understanding and Optimizing the Four Pillars of Glucose Control AND click here to receive $25 off your own Nutrisense CGM!
Try: Got Tech Neck from slouching over your computers or phones too much lately? The Muscle Relief Cooling Cream and Full Spectrum Hemp Extract from Aspen Green will work their magic to relieve tension, pain, or stiffness. Use code: ‘TECHNECK’ for 10% off your entire order when you purchase both products together!
Read: If you haven’t read it already, Untamed by Glennon Doyle should be on your next-to-read list. This memoir explores discontentment and letting go of society’s expectations and make-believe confinements. Let this book inspire you to live your truth. See all my favorite books on my Amazon storefront here.
Eat: Healthy Super Bowl Snack: Kale Chips and Homemade Ranch 🏈 Adding some greens and this tangy, fresh ranch to your game day spread will be nothing short of a touchdown.
Kale Chips ingredients
1 bunch of kale
Olive oil
Sea salt
Instructions
1. Wash and dry bite sized kale pieces.
2. Drizzle olive oil and sea salt on kale and mix to coat evenly.
3. Bake until edges are brown or about 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Instructions
1. Wash and dry bite sized kale pieces.
2. Drizzle olive oil and sea salt on kale and mix to coat evenly.
3. Bake until edges are brown or about 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Homemade ranch ingredients
1/2 cup of plain green yogurt
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of onion powder
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of water
Instructions
1. Combine and mix well.
2. Dip chips in ranch & enjoy!
Attend: When it comes to the journey of recovery, accountability is everything. However, in today’s new “normal,” it may be something that feels increasingly difficult to maintain. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Join us on February 17th 12 PM EST along fellow ED warrior, @laltoldmeto to hear her story of recovery and courage.
This workshop is for anyone with an eating disorder, folks in recovery or recovered, disordered eating, questioning if you have one. All are welcome. Must register at NAO Wellness and we’ll send you the Zoom link.
That’s it for this week. Stay warm & stay tuned for next week!
Wishing you health and happiness,
Nikki Ostrower
