Cheap & affordable organic buys!

I really want people to read this post so I’m going to keep these explanations short.
I do like the eat organic food if I can because:
a) It’s better for the environment if natural methods are used so no unintentional  wildlife gets killed which could have a dramatic impact on agriculture
b) When multiple pesticides/herbicides are used on a product they can have a synergistic effect (this means they can make the effects of the others worse/stronger)
c) Pesticides/herbicides/added antibiotics are chemicals that our body does not need and as our bodies are already under a lot of stress I prefer to keep mine as clean/chemical free as possible
d) Organic food can in some cases be more nutritious, e.g. higher in antioxidants  or in regards to meat/ dairy, these have more beneficial anti-inflammatory omega 3 fats than non-organic versions but may have a little less iodine in dairy, so monitor your levels at the start if you make this change:
 
Cheap & affordable organic buys! Advice Health

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Buzzwords- Why I check twice

Over the years as I’ve become more educated on ingredients and what proper food is, I’ve started to see that it’s so easy to be fooled into thinking you’re buying something good by the buzzwords on the packet.

When I first developed my troubled acidic stomach, one of the suggestions I was given was to cut out potential allergens to see if they were the trigger. So I began with gluten free, then dairy free, then both together, but at that point I wasn’t well educated on proper food and my cooking skills were woeful so I turned to using packaged free from products. What I noticed was that there was no difference in my symptoms when I cut it all out, so why did I still have symptoms and hadn’t gotten any healthier while eating these so called “healthy” gluten and dairy free packaged foods?

As I learnt more about food over the following years I noticed this was due to that although something may have the words “gluten free” or “vegan” across it, doesn’t necessarily mean it is healthy. When I began cooking from scratch and making a lot more of my own food from natural wholesome ingredients, this was when the changed happened. Now, in full honesty, my symptoms did not totally, 100% clear up but they did make a significant and welcomed improvement, even though some of the foods naturally contained dairy or gluten such as plain yogurt or rye sourdough.

Buzzwords- Why I check twice Advice Health

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Flexible foodie with benefits!

Note: This is my own personal view & not for those who have medical/belief related eating styles
I love my food, I like to eat good, proper, natural food but I wouldn’t say that I’m restricted to a specific eating style/diet/plan. I take enjoyment from all food (I eat bread, pasta, dairy, butter, eggs, meat, gluten and chocolate, but I also love green smoothies, veggie burgers and porridge, I genuinely do!) and so I would refer to myself as a flexible foodie. What I love about this is that I can dip into different styles of eating at any time which makes me more creative/inspired and able to use ingredients in new ways or a food that I wouldn’t otherwise eat. Plus I now know that wholegrain, vegan, gluten free food etc doesn’t mean it tastes like cardboard.
Furthermore, it allows me to enjoy food with people who need a specific diet & means I know how to accommodate friends with dietary needs when they come over.
Flexible foodie with benefits! Advice Health Uncategorized

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Upgraded ingredients

During my journey to eating better I have slowly moved from commonly processed ingredients/food to purer versions which I can honestly say I love just as much if not more (especially as I know they’re better for me). I’ve outlined a few of them below and why/how I use them.

 

Cacao- Upgrade to this from regular cocoa powder, you can also use cacao nibs in place of choc chips, plus they add some crunch to dishes too which is great on dishes such as granola. I love using cacao as it is much less refined than regular cocoa and doesn’t have any added nasties, there’s no dairy, sugar etc, and most brands haven’t been heated too much meaning that you’re getting much more of the beneficial compounds than the processed stuff. I’ve posted in more detail on the benefits of cacao before, it can be found here

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My latest health challenge

As research is always developing and me being a person who loves science and food, I am always learning new information about food/nutrition and applying this as best I can to my life.
Now this isn’t always easy and sometimes when I find out something unpleasant about a food that I adore, it makes me want to bang my head off a wall. . . . but I resist and do my best to minimise whatever it is so that I can still enjoy my food without being extremely restricted (as I feel this creates a bad relationship with food) but also to maximise my health.
My latest health challenge Advice Health Uncategorized
source: harrypotterpuppetpals.wikia.com

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Bountiful Baobab Balls

Bountiful Baobab Balls energy balls Grainfree Health snack vegan
I love baobab (pronounced bay-oh-bab) and after reading about the #MakeBaobabFamous attempt, I really wanted to promote it so that African families can get a better income.
Incase you don’t know what baobab is I’ll briefly describe it here.
Baobab is a powdered fruit that grows in Africa which tastes sweet and citrusy. Personally I find it so versatile as I can use it in porridge or smoothies and one of my favourites is mixing it with coconut oil and lemon juice to make a lovely citrusy baobab frostingThe biggest nutritional punch in this fruit is the Vitamin C and antioxidant capacity mainly found in the pulp. Per 10g of baobab (depending on the brand/batch) it has approx. 28-37% of your RDI of vitamin C!! The leaves and other parts of the fruit contain other nutrients eg. magnesium and calcium but it is mainly the pulp that forms most powders.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10408390701856330?journalCode=bfsn20I also think it’s a great ingredient that adds depth of flavour to food and increases diet variety, so I encourage anyone to consider consuming organic baobab powder & not to be afraid of it because of its funny name. Remember, the more we demand good, natural products from companies the more the supply will have to increase, making it easier in the future for healthy products to be more readily available, plus you’ll be helping African families get a better income.  

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