Eat More Grains

My favorite grain is brown rice, but I find I can eat it for days before I realize that variety is the spice of life. Brown rice is balanced, but other grains offer a nutritional punch not unlike brown rice's balancing tone, yet with a wider array of content.

Take teff for example. You may have had teff and not known it if you have eaten Ethiopian food, where the bread, injera, is made out of teff flour (though not gluten free, in most restaurants). Teff is gluten free. Teff is also good for the heart, since it is red-toned (specifically chocolate-colored) a species of lovegrass from Ethiopia believed to have originated between 4000 BC and 1000 BC. The tiny seedy grain has an attractive nutrition profile, being high in dietary fiber and iron and providing protein and 17 times more calcium than whole wheat or barley.

And for those with celiac, there is good news! Thanks to a test developed by the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) it has shown that Teff is completely gluten-free, meaning it can probably be accommodated in the diet of patients suffering from celiac disease. Teff is a healthy wheat alternative, and there are ways to make it delicious. Featerued above is basic teff, flourished with avocado slices and cilantro, with a side of boiled collard greens and adzuki-squash soup. The entire meal has: 420 calories, 16 grams protein, 10 grams fat

Basic Teff:
1/2 cup teff
2 cups water
pinch sea salt

Bring water to a boil, add teff and sea salt. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes.
*this can also be made into a porridge for breakfast, add some molasses and slivered almonds.
Makes 2 servings
Nutrition Facts:
1 serving
Calories: 103
Fat: 1 g
Fiber: 2 g
Carbohydrate: 20 g

Radiant Health

I don't know about you, but health starts with me. I have to be centered in my self before I can get out their and do my work. I have learned this the hard way many times, and I am living testimony to how to use your own inner guide to heal yourself. I struggled with stress, over and undereating, depression, anxiety, and feeling confused for much of my life. Until I started practicing principles inherent in each of us as children, yet with time and trauma, we train ourselves to reside outside of our bodies, where we are not fully safe.

So I left my body at a young age, and decided I was not worthy of happiness or success. I went on a 12 year long journey exploring how not to eat, take care of myself, be happy and healthy. I struggled to feel strong, integrated, yet I kept seeking.
I know now what I didn't know then...what my body needs, how to give myself what I am looking for, and the art of meditation when I feel confused.

There are specific ways to find perfect health now, and if that feels overwhelming, then give yourself 24 hours.

Sleep. Always an option. I recommend sleeping when the lights go out, when the sun goes down. Making it a priority to go to sleep at a reasonable hour--10 pm, and certainly no later than 11pm. If you are reading this, you are most likely looking to feel better, and I guarantee you that making sleep a priority and giving yourself enough sleep in the optimal hours will enhance your radiant health more than anything. Your metabolism and hormones will love you for it, and your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual bodies will be able find balance and serenity when you sleep well.

Eat. That is not only when hungry. If you are struggling with your health, then more than likely you are disconnected from your true appestat (inner radar system for when to eat, how much to eat). Eat optimal amounts of protein and essential fatty acids. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks in between, if you find yourself thinking about food or worried about food. Eat and get over it. Move forward with radiant energy and create a healthy and happy life.

Breathe. Easier said than done. Especialy if you are still alive, you are most likely still breathing. Learning to breathe deeply will change your life. Yoga can help with this. So can doing anything that relaxes you (and does not involve the internet or tv). Meditation can help, especially as you focus on your breath, and let go of anything else.

Love. Start with yourself. Give yourself the love that you are looking to find. Treat yourself as your own best friend. Cut ties with the relationships that are holding you back. Learn to open your heart, and do what it takes to keep it so. Try yoga. Try walking in nature. Drink water. Soothe your heart, relax your mind and fall in love with the life you are creating.

Deepak Chopra has a guide on creating Perfect Health, available here
Although we experience our bodies as solid, they are in fact more like fires that are constantly being consumed and renewed. We grow new stomach linings every five days, for instance. Our skin is new every five weeks. Each year, fully 98 percent of the total number of atoms in our bodies is replaced. Ayurveda gives us the tools to intervene at this quantum level, where we are being created anew each day. Ayurveda tells us that freedom from sickness depends on contacting our own awareness, bringing it into balance, and then extending that balance to the body.

Perfect Health provides a complete step-by-step program of mind body medicine tailored to individual needs. A quiz identifies the reader's mind body type: thin, restless Vata; enterprising, efficient Pitta; tranquil, steady Kapha; or any combination of these three. This body type becomes the basis for a specific Ayurvedic program of diet, stress reduction, neuromuscular integration, exercise, and daily routines. The result is a total plan, tailor-made for each individual, to reestablish the body's essential balance with nature; to strengthen the mind body connection; and to use the power of quantum healing to transcend the ordinary limitations of disease and aging--in short, for achieving Perfect Health.

Pray. You are living a prayer. If your life feels limiting, notice the conversations you are having with yourself. Do what it takes to be the blessing that you are to the world by going within, finding serenity and sharing from that place of inner stillness, receptivity and love. When you judge others, it is like drinking poison while waiting for the other person to die. Own your gifts and accept that we are all in this together. When you see someone who has what you don't want, trust that you can only see in them what is perhaps dormant in you. Integrate your shadow to own your radiance.

I am in a video available here by Debbie Ford, including Deepak Chopra and Dr. David Simon, which will guide you through the process of owning your shadow in order to discover the light within.


Keep coming back to learn more ways to create radiant health. Let me know what's working for you, and what you'd like to read about in learning about achieving radiant health.

African Delight

I spent a semester in college in Africa. Upon flying into Nairobi, Kenya and looking for common ground between me and the rest of the unfamiliar world, I was soon greeted by a crew of 11 otther "majungos" (Swahili for "white man") to journey into the African bush. I could not have predicted the intense and invigorating adventures we endured.

We were chased by a herd of elephants. This is the type of thing that you hear about in the movies. It did indeed happen to us on the first week of bushwacking through the bamboo forest. (FYI: it is difficult to predict what lies ahead when trudging through the bamboo) All of a sudden we heard "Coooowee!" from an accompanying Masai warrior, and a clearing opened up as the bamboo went leaning on it's side to make way for the majungos in the front of the line.

"Drop your pack and run like mad." I had no idea, but I felt in my heart that this was not a false alarm. So I followed order, and was not quite sure where I would end up. I was so delighted to have the 85 pound pack off my back, that I felt lighter in my toes than expected and so could really run. And run we did, until we got to the clearing and could see, and hear the elephants in the distance rearing up. Fortunately for us, they were corned with the option to run up a hill or have to forge the bamboo, and so frighteningly confused. Elephants are basically big babies, I learned on that day. They can hear and so follow, but they can't really see. Imagine someone who has a gift for music, they may not be so concerned with being able to see the performance, but the listening is what guides them. Same with the elephant, they can hear with their big, droopy ears, but they sure aren't too concerned where they step.

I went windsurfing off the coast of Kenya. This sounds like a luxurious experience, but for one month we lived on a "dhao", a century-old sail boat carved out of a mangrove tree. We slept on the planks, fished for whatever white fish we could find, and combined that with ungawi "African cake", which was a very basic white grain, cooked over a ticky fire, made tasty with African tabasco sauce. Mmm. Yum. Eating with your hands was required on the boat, as was following orders by the pirates (or muslim sailors). So was taking risks and jumping off the boat at times. We carried in the boat the equipment for windsurfing, and I loved trying it. On one particular afternoon, I was engrossed in the opportunity to sail away in the African sea, and the deep red sunset was drawing me in until I heard a yell from far off. I looked away from the horizon and towards one of the sailors, who I will refer to as Bob. His name was Bob, but he could not speak enough English to say his own name, and so stuck with one word: "Spaghetti."

I heard Bob yelling in his own language. I fell over and suddenly I found myself in the deep and dark African ocean, being carried by massive waves. He was on his own surf board, and I assumed perhaps he wanted me to come back to the boat. I was alone in the big sea, and all I could to do to get back to the boat was to ride the waves on the surf board. This encouraged me to become preficient in windsurfing, where otherwise I was a bit imbalanced and slightly uncoordinated. As I rode back that evening, I felt free. I feel like I have just broken the law, and no one needed to know about it, but I knew I had been where I would never go again, and perhaps where no one near me had ever been. When I got back to the boat, I discovered that I had crossed the Kenyan border and was in Ethiopia. No wonder that afternoon seemed so magical.

Ethiopian Red Lentils

2 T ghee* (or olive oil)
½ cup red onion, small dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, mince d
1 tsp. turmeric
1 cup red lentils, soaked for one hour
3 cups butternut squash, cubed
3 cups water

Melt the ghee in a large pan.
Sautee the red onion in the ghee for about a minute, and then add the garlic and ginger. Do not let them turn brown, but allow them to soften a bit.
Add the turmeric and stir.
Next, add in the red lentils, stir, and pour in the water.
Once the water comes to a boil, add in the butternut squash.
Let the lentils and butternut squash simmer for about 30-40 minutes, and then season well with salt.

*Ghee is a clarified butter common in Ethiopian (and Indian) cooking. It is sold in most supermarkets, and definitely in organic food stores.

Calm Your Sweet Side

Fall is the time of year when the sweet taste is in season. You may notice yourself craving more sweets, and also be aware of the foods that are starting to be in season are round, sweet foods (ie apples, onions, squashes)
It is important to keep yourself fed with the sweet taste, so that you are satisfied and not at risk to eat the gallon of ice cream or box of cookies. The tips below are certain to heal your body and calm your mind to continue living a sweet life.

5 Steps for Beating Sugar Cravings:

1. Eat Whole Grains and sweet vegetables.
2. Chew Well
3. Give up restricting yourself and pick up enjoying life.
4. Try natural sweeteners (see below)
5. Be patient with yourself. Love yourself. Spend time with sweet people.

Natural Sweeteners

Maple syrup is an excellent substitute for sugar. It is high in trace minerals like zinc and manganese, which can assist in heart health and in balancing cholesterol levels. The light “Grade A” or “Number 1 can contain formaldehyde runoff from the first extraction of the syrup under certain processing conditions. All the other grades are safe, but Grade C (the darkest amber syrup) is the best.

Honey is another item that’s often presented as a healthy alternative to refined sugar, but it is sometimes controversial. People who react to sugar as a “brain allergy” (especially common in children, for whom it can trigger ADD/ADHD symptoms) may react to honey the same way. It is high glycemic, and hits the body as a hard sweet. Raw, unpasteurized honey is rich in elements which can help with wound healing, kill bacteria, soothe sore throats and digestive upset, and decrease local allergy symptoms. Honey is also sweeter than sugar by volume, so you need less in baking or cooking.

Agave is a sweetener extracted from a South American cactus, and traditionally used to make tequila. Often called “honey water,” the agave nectar or agave syrup is light, both in taste and colour. It is runnier than honey and tastes much milder, but is in fact sweeter so even less is required in cooking. Agave is extraordinarily low glycemic – it has almost no impact on blood sugar, making it an ideal sweetener for diabetics and those who are sensitive to sugars.

Blackstrap molasses is a sweetener that is actually good for you. Unlike refined white sugar and corn syrup, which are stripped of virtually all nutrients except simple carbohydrates, or artificial sweeteners like saccharine or aspartame, which not only provide no useful nutrients but have been shown to cause health problems in sensitive individuals, blackstrap molasses is a healthful sweetener that contains significant amounts of a variety of minerals that promote your health.

Brown rice syrup is a liquid sweetener with the consistency of honey. It can be substituted for honey in baking. It has a unique caramel-like flavor that can be used to enhance a recipe, but it will disappear if used sparingly in a recipe. Brown rice syrup metabolizes slowly but does have calories and carbohydrates. Diabetics and low-carb dieters should use it with caution. Brown rice syrup is considered to be one of the healthiest sweeteners in the natural food industry, since it is produced from a whole food source and is made up of the simple sugars.

Foods to emphasize:

• Whole Grains
• Beans
• Miso
• Sweet Vegetables: Carrots, onions, winter squash, cabbage
• Brown rice mochi

Snack Ideas

• Dates stuffed with almond or walnut
• Apple with nut butter
• Rice cake with agave, jam or brown rice syrup
• Tea with molasses
• Carrots with hummus
• Handful of almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds

Recipes for Radiance


Azuki-Squash-Kombu
Makes 4 servings

Soaking time: 8 hours or over night
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 2 + hours

Ingredients:

1 cup azuki beans, washed, and soaked in 2 cups water

1 cup hard winter squash (such as butternut, buttercup or kabocha), cut in large cubes

1-inch square piece of kombu

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

water

parsley, chopped, for garnish

•Place the kombu on the bottom of a heavy pot.
•Add the soaked beans with soaking water and, if necessary add enough water to just cover the beans.
•Bring to a boil over a medium flame. When it comes to boil, cover the pot, reduce the flame to low, and simmer for 1 hour.
•Add a little water occasionally, as needed, to keep the beans just covered. Do not add too much water, as the less water there is the more rich the flavor of the beans will be.
•After 1 hour, place the squash on top of the azukis, re-cover the pot and continue simmering 1 hour more. The beans and squash should both be very tender at this point.
•Add the salt by sprinkling over the top of the beans and squash. Stir salt in a little, very gently so as not to break up the squash piece, and cook 15 minutes more, uncovered to reduce the liquid. If there is still a lot of water after 15 minutes you can continue simmering uncovered as long as you like, just keep the flame very low and check regularly to make sure it does not scorch.
•Serve hot garnished with parsley.

Leftovers will keep refrigerated up to 3 days.