Megan Rand

Category: Healthy Habits

Staying healthy is not just about food. Maintaining positive relationships, trying new things and feeling connected are all what we consider ‘primary food’.

  • Adrenal Fatigue Friendly Gummies

    Adrenal Fatigue Friendly Gummies

     

    There are many things that I do to maintain my adrenal health (or more specifically, my hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal health) on a regular basis. After struggling with adrenal dysfunction for years it is an aspect of my health that I stay consistently committed to. Working for myself and owning my own business is incredibly rewarding but can also be stressful and draining. Taking note of how many stressors are present in my life can help me realize when I need to ramp up my adrenal health support.

     

    I keep many foods on hand to maintain my adrenal health such as bone broth, various hormone-health-promoting teas, and several notable juices. But, as with everything that we do for our health, staying with these practices can take some time and effort, and it can be really easy to start making excuses for why you can’t do them. “It’s too hot in the summer for bone broth or hot tea.” “I have way too much on my plate to think about adding beneficial juices to my water every day.” (Sound familiar? I’ve totally been there!)

     

    In an attempt to simplify life, this recipe–which incorporates a wide spectrum of adrenal fatigue friendly ingredients–was born. Helping out your adrenals (and your hormone health overall) by eating some gummies after dinner? That’s something I can stick to!

     

    The Players

     

    So what makes the gummy ingredients so good for adrenal and hormone health? As it turns out, this crew helps out our endocrine systems from many different angles.

     

    Raspberry leaf tea has long been used for addressing hormonal imbalances (we’re talking centuries!) thanks to its incredibly high mineral content that can aid in appropriate hormone synthesis. Likewise, lavender tea has been used throughout the world for its stress-reducing properties, which therefore also aids in adrenal fatigue. But it wasn’t until recently that several studies came out suggesting that lavender works by helping to decrease cortisol production when it rises at inappropriate times.

     

    Both pomegranate juice and fresh squeezed lime juice are loaded with Vitamin C, which is crucial for sex hormone balancing. Most notably, vitamin C has been researched as an aid in increasing progesterone levels. Progesterone levels usually plummet the most with adrenal dysfunction. Since low sex hormone productions negatively impacts feedback loops to the hypothalamus and the pituitary, and therefore the adrenals, addressing these imbalances is equally important when you’re struggling with adrenal dysfunction.

     

    Additionally, pomegranate juice helps increase glutathione levels in the body, a very important antioxidant, which can help lower inflammation and help support good liver function. While these processes again can seem unrelated to adrenal fatigue, the proper functioning of these bodily functions is integral to attaining and maintaining hormonal balance. In fact, detoxing is so incredibly important to hormone health, that I offer seasonal group detoxes and suggest that anyone trying to balance hormones considers this crucial step first.

     

    As you can see, adrenal fatigue can be incredibly nuanced and requires the interplay of a lot of moving parts to truly overcome and improve. That’s why I strongly recommend that people with adrenal and hormonal problems get guidance from health care providers who can order the appropriate labs and consequently come up with a holistic plan to address all the different aspects of health.

     

    Check out this easy recipe for a simple way to start supporting your hormonal balance.

     

    Adrenal Fatigue Friendly Gummies

     

    Ingredients:

     

    • ½ tablespoon raspberry leaf tea
    • ½ tablespoon lavender tea
    • 1 cup water, boiled
    • ½ cup pomegranate juice, room temperature
    • 1 tablespoon gelatin
    • 1 tablespoon raw honey
    • fresh squeezed juice from 1 small lime

     

    Steps:

     

    1. First, you’re going to be making a tea blend out of your raspberry leaf tea and lavender tea. Start by placing the loose leaf teas into a tea strainer (or cheesecloth, if that’s what you have) and then steeping it in your cup of a hot water for about 5 minutes. (If you just have tea bags, I recommend steeping 2 of each kind of tea in your cup of hot water)
    2. While your raspberry leaf and lavender tea brews, place the tablespoon of gelatin into a small pyrex mixing bowl.
    3. Add the ½ cup of pomegranate juice to your gelatin and stir well until everything is combined.
    4. Once your teas have brewed, add the hot tea into your pomegranate juice and gelatin mixture. Stir well again.
    5. Let everything cool for about 5 minutes. (This is so that the boiling hot water doesn’t degrade the vitamin C in the lime and the enzymes from the raw honey)
    6. Add in the raw honey and lime juice and whisk everything together well one last time.
    7. Pour your almost-done gummies into a 9-by-9 baking pan and refrigerate overnight (or until the gummies have set).
    8. Cut into squares (bonus points for cutting them into cute shapes!) and enjoy.

     

    Note: this recipe isn’t overly sweet so the kiddos in your house may not be very interested. If they are, it’s best for them to stick to a portion every now and again but I wouldn’t let them go overboard.

     

    Ready to balance and support your hormones and adrenals?  Are you interested in group coaching? Alex at Dig Primal and I will be offering a 12 week Healthy Hormone Group Program starting April 2016. You can sign up for notifications here.

     

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  • Natural Gatorade Electrolyte Elixir

    Natural Gatorade Electrolyte Elixir

     

    Today we have an awesome guest post from Laura at Radical Roots!!  Have you been to her website?  It is fabulous, so check it out if you haven’t already! She shares a detox friendly recipe that is a great addition to the seasonal detox programs.

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    Laura is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and a Certified CrossFit Trainer.

     

    She has a passion for educating, and absolutely loves teaching others about nutrition, functional movement, and the power each has to set the foundation for health, wellness, and true quality of life. The ability to thrive is not just a product of the way we eat and move, though; nutrition, mindfulness, daily movement, and regular play are the integral parts needed for a healthy, happy life. Asking questions, digging deep, speaking up, and living a little radically each and every day are necessary to grow strong, and the growing never ends, no matter how old we get (and neither should play).

     

    Laura and I see eye to on the way that we approach health and that is why I am so excited to have her share her recipe for her Electrolyte Elixir.

     

    Check out today’s guest blog post by Laura —>

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    As an active part of the CrossFit community and a life-long athlete of pretty much every team sport available to me as a kid, I have seen my fair share of sugary sports drinks, advertised, purchased, and handed out for their electrolytes and performance enhancement. The reality? It’s all hogwash.

     

    Just 32 ounces of you average electrolyte drink sold for it’s “healthy” properties and performance enhancement abilities contains 280 calories, 220 milligrams of sodium and 76 grams of sugar. It’s “a ‘sports drink’ marketed to appeal to Olympic couch potatoes” (Katz). This is enough to make me crazy, and I haven’t touched on the issues that the seemingly endless supply of plastic bottles creates for both our health and the environment.

     

    Now, not all electrolyte drinks are created equal. There is a benefit to staying hydrated and to fueling up with nutrient dense, electrolyte providing elixirs. A high quality elixir can improve immunity while replenishing lost essential minerals during physical exertion, periods of detox or sickness, childbirth, or any sort of trauma.

     

    The drink I’ve created below is the latter. With ingredients such as hibiscus, coconut water, pure organic orange juice, raw local honey, and Celtic sea salt, this replenishing concoction has all kinds of beneficial properties. The biggest benefit? It tastes good too without all of the crap they put into drinks like Gatorade.

     

    Kick the sugar, dextrose, citric acid, “natural flavor”, salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, gum arabic, sucrose acetate isobutyrate, glycerol ester of rosin, and yellow 6 (actual Gatorade ingredients) to the curb and replace them with the beneficial ingredients below for a delicious drink that will keep everyone happy – mom, dad, grandma, the family athlete, and those rambunctious kiddos too.

     

    So let’s talk about what’s in this:

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    • Hibiscus Herbal Tea – is filled with antioxidants and has been used traditionally to maintain normal body temperature, support heart health, keep skin healthy, and promote circulation.
    • Organic Orange (juice and peels) – provides Vitamin C and regenerative glucose for the liver (and has been a huge hit with Ginger Newtrition’s adrenal cocktail creamsicle)
    • Raw Local Honey – the raw aspect provides minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and powerful antioxidants and has been shown to boost anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties; while the local component keep local allergies at bay
    • Organic Pure Coconut Water – The naturally occurring potassium, an essential electrolyte, keeps the body hydrated and provides vital minerals that are lost during any kind of physical exertion (from a tough CrossFit or a full day in the garden to a suffering from a bad cold or stomach flu)
    • Celtic Sea Salt – provides 84 essential minerals that the body need to function properly (NOTE: this is very different from iodized table salt, which can be quite detrimental)

     

    Bonus points for the fact that this is so easy to make which is especially important because it doesn’t last long at our house. With warmer weather approaching, and all the adventures of spring and summer to look forward to, whip up a batch or two of this electrolyte elixir and toss the Gatorade in the trash.

     

    Recreate. Share. Enjoy… and as always, Live Rad!

     

    WHAT YOU NEED:

    •  4 organic hibiscus tea bags
    • Juice and the peels from 1 organic orange or 2 organic mandarins
    • 1 cup filtered or spring water
    • 1-2 TB raw local honey (depending on how sweet you would like it)
    • 1/2 cup organic 100% orange juice
    • 1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
    • 2 cups organic coconut water (no additives or sugar added)

     

    WHAT YOU DO:

    • bring water to a boil, pour over tea bags and orange peels in a glass cup, cover and let steep for 1 hour
    • strain the liquid and put it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to allow it to cool to room temperature
    • in the meantime, put the raw honey, fresh orange juice and salt in a large glass measuring cup, and stir until the honey has dissolved (this can take a few minutes)
    • add cooled hibiscus tea and coconut water to the orange juice mixture, and stir until all ingredients are incorporated
    • store in the refrigerator, and enjoy fresh within 3 days

     

    On a warm day, this is great over ice or mixed with some sparkling water if you want it to be less sweet. To the moms out there – this is a great choice for you to give the kiddos when they need to replenish!

     

    Let me know what you think! Have you kicked Gatorade (and the like) to the curb yet? What have you used as a replacement? Leave comments below. Happy adventures, everyone. And as always. Live Rad.

  • My Favorite Life Hacks

    My Favorite Life Hacks

     

    There is one thing that I am more obsessed with than health and nutrition. I bet you didn’t think that was possible! Although I have a health blog and am always talking about nutrients, hormones and functional lab work, I absolutely love to research life hacking.

     

    My definition of life hacking is finding the most stress-free and streamlined process for everything that you do during the day. What’s makes you feel the best and operate the most smoothly? What allows you to produce specific focused results without entering a state of stress? What helps you have the time left over in the day to be with the people that you love or take time to refuel with a good book or a jog.

     

    When I work with busy moms, one of the most life and health changing concepts (once actually taken to heart and put into action) is scheduling time for themselves first. It is easy to end up last on the list and sometime this is even worn as a badge for the good mom award.

     

    The problem is that, as the stewardess will gladly remind you, if you don’t put the air mask on yourself first you aren’t going to be much help to your children. A hormonally imbalanced, overtired mom who is constantly battling the kid’s latest cold is not going to be able to bring their best self to their family, their job or their passion.

     

    Here are some of my favorite life hacks.

     

    Schedule time for yourself: I schedule everything that is important to my health. I schedule my exercise first. Having an appointment with a trainer also adds the accountability factor. I schedule time for grocery shopping, time for meal prep and time for cooking. I also schedule time with my family and friends. My hours to work are 9-4 (with the occasional evening call or webinar) and then I am done. I even schedule time for social media, time for clients and time for working on bigger projects that require a block of time to focus.

     

    Technology Blackout: When you are working on a project, turn off your phone or put it in airplane mode. Turn off the ding that notifies you that you have a new friend or a new comment. Pick a time (that is on your schedule!) to use social media or surf the web and give yourself a limit. After that, remove yourself from the addictive drip of social media.

     

    Multitasking: Don’t do it. Enough said. You don’t know how excited I was to finally be reading books and research about how much time we lose in the process of switching from one task to another. I have never been a good multi-tasker and had always seen it as a flaw but now I have a different view.  In The One Thing by Gary Keller (I highly suggest this book if you haven’t read it!) he says that “multitasking is a lie”. He later goes on to explain how we think that we are doing two things at once but that our brain is actually bouncing back and forth between the tasks, “people can actually do two or more things at once, such as walk and talk or chew gum and read a map; but, like computers, what we can’t do is focus on two things at once.  Our attention bounces back and forth.”  And as Steve Uzzell says “multitasking is merely the opportunity to screw up more than one thing at a time.”

     

    Batching: Batch activities together that are similar and do them all at once. If you get emails that you need to answer every 20 minutes save them until the end of the day and answer them all at once. This also applies in relation to food and cooking. When you return from the grocery store, try washing and preparing your vegetables all at once before you put them away. Cook double or triple batches of staples in your house and then keep some in the freezer to easily pull out in a pinch.

     

    Streamlining & Upgrading: I have to thank my old supervisor (well he isn’t actually old at all but you know what I mean) for insisting on constantly improving the process flow of our design work. We were required to take 10-15 minutes at the end of each project to upgrade something for the next time. We used an excel spreadsheet and checklists so that if one engineer made a mistake or learned a lesson we would be sure to pass that knowledge onto the others. When you find yourself doing something more than once it is time to look for a system. How many times have you sent a similar email or make the same grocery list? Create a template that you can pull from and update or personalize as needed.

     

    Everyday I am changing my workflow to see what is most efficient. It is a never-ending process of upgrading and tweaking that I really enjoy. Finding your flow will leave you energized at the end of your day or project instead of depleted. When we feel unorganized and pulled in many directions we are living in a state of dis-ease.

     

    I would love to hear what tools and strategies that you have found work best. Please share them in the comment section!

  • Tongue Scraping and Clues to Health

    Tongue Scraping and Clues to Health

     

    Today I have my first guest post on my blog by Alex, founder of Dig Primal. I love Alex’s take of health because she has an amazingly detailed understanding of the body since she is anesthesiologist in training, but also has a passion for looking at health from a holistic standpoint.  By combining her traditional medical training with her own journey to find the root of her chronic health conditions she has the tools to help others really find optimal health. I participated in her Nutrient Bootcamp last month and I LOVE the concept.  We focused on adding in a certain number of diverse nutrients per day instead of focusing on what we couldn’t have.

     

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    Check out today’s guest blog post by Alex —>

     

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    I got a tongue scraper a while back and I was super excited to use it, but it hasn’t been that satisfying.

     

    How come? I’ll explain that in a minute.

     

    First, I want to talk about why tongue scraping matters.  You can just use a brush, right?  Meh, I guess you can theoretically,  but it’s kind of like using paper towel to push the dirt around on your floors when a good old-fashion mop and pail clean so much better.

     

    What’s the idea behind tongue scraping?  The tongue is another source of toxin removal from the body.  Although this is not commonly discussed, your tongue is simply a part of the digestive tract. As we know, our digestive tract functions to collect and expel waste from the body.  In addition to toxins, the tongue collects food debris, bacteria, and the byproducts of metabolism. (A collective “ew” on the count of 3?)  Whether it’s our gut, kidneys, our armpits, or our feet, our bodies have ingenious ways of collecting expelled waste and getting rid of it in a safe way. The tongue is simply one of the venues.

     

    The problem with the tongue is that in order to rid the body of the toxins that it has collected, often these toxins are re-swallowed in hopes that the gut and liver will get rid of it.  In an ideal world, we would have a minimal toxic load entering the body and a robust GI tract that would make this process smooth like butter…but let’s face it, that’s not most of us.

     

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    I’ve recently become some a huge fan of tongue scraping because it is an easy resource to help your body function optimally.  It is a metal or plastic object that costs about $6 on average, takes up virtually no room in your bathroom, and is widely available.

     

    As a bonus, when you’re talking about removing toxins, fighting bad breath (halitosis is one of my top 10 favorite medical words), and promoting good gum and dental health, using a tongue scraper for 1 minute a day seems like a pretty high-yield thing to do for your health.

     

    But this post is about more than just tongue scraping and really about how we can become an amazing health detective by learning to watch for changes and signs.

     

    The very helpful, albeit sometimes frustrating, thing about the body is that no processes are ever without signs.  There is almost always something visible that manifests when an inward process is happening.  If we are paying enough attention we can use that information to intervene and make a difference in our health. The downside to these clues is that it takes effort.  It is so much “easier” to wait until we develop overt diseases and try to band aide a solution together later (of course, this rarely works).

     

    There are many ways that our body can clue us into what is going on inside the body.  A lot of the long-term manifestations are ones that we talk about all the time, things like fatigue, changes in bowel habits, acne, sugar cravings, etc.

     

    What I wanted to touch upon today are the changes in our bodies that we can observe in the short-term.  It’s like getting a quick snapshot into our health right now.

     

    Turns out, our mouths can be a really good source of quick feedback. (Of course, our mouths can tell us a lot in the long term as well as evidenced by the links between gum disease, dental carries, and cardiovascular disease…but that’s for another post.)

     

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    Here are My Top 4 Oral Cues to Monitor for Your Health:

     

    1.) Tongue Coating. First, and in the context of talking about tongue scraping, it makes sense that we address the coating on our tongue.  Traditional Chinese Medicine focuses on this quite heavily (this is a particularly comprehensive article on the subject).

     

    I tend to break it down much more simply: is a coating there or not?

     

    I’ve noticed that when I’m in a healthy state, the coating on my tongue goes (or nearly goes) away. This is why I said above that tongue scraping has been a bit unsatisfying lately. My efforts with maintaining major nutrient support through Nutrient Boot Camp, detoxing, maintaining good gut health, and managing stress levels have all been been paying off.

     

    On the other hand if I get exposure to a little bit of gluten at a restaurant, get majorly stressed out at work, or skimp on sleep a couple nights and drink too much coffee to compensate, my tongue always shows me that something is going on. Since I use my tongue scraper every day, regardless of what my tongue is doing, I’m forced to pay attention to what that coating is telling me.

     

    2) Check Your Tongue Veins. Next, I’ll check out under the hood of the car, so to speak. There are two big veins that run along the underside of the tongue that can often become swollen when there is an acute process happening.  It can mean a myriad of things but traditionally, the engorgement of the veins has been viewed as a sign that the liver isn’t functioning optimally.  Personally, I have found this to be true and I use it as a barometer for my general detoxing efforts.  (Next time you choose to imbibe, if enjoying a few drinks is your thing, check out under your tongue the next morning and see what you find.)

     

    I have also found that allergen exposure in my food will trigger this effect.  This is extra helpful because since I get both acute and delayed reactions from certain foods, checking out under my tongue is a quick way to see that something I’ve recently eaten is bothering me.

     

    3) Tongue Swelling.  This is a less common sign but can still be a good tool to keep in your arsenal.  I check this when I’m tongue scraping so it really isn’t any more work to keep it on my radar.  I’ll notice that my tongue gets swollen because I can see the indentation of my teeth along the edges.

     

    For me, this is usually a sign of stress. Now, most of us know when we’re stressed…but it’s so easy to lie to yourself and ignore what’s going on. A physical manifestation can be a kick in the pants reminder that the stress you’re pretending to ignore is not going unnoticed by your body.  Even if the stressor can’t be removed, a good session of troubleshooting about how I’m dealing with the problem(s) goes a long way for me.

     

    4) Cracks in the corner of the mouth. Lastly, cracks in the lips and corners of the mouth can be a marker of internal health.  For some, this can be a long-term manifestation but I’ve found that when I’m having a problem with malabsorption of nutrients (example: if I had a gluten exposure and it killed off a whole bunch of my intestinal villi), my lips definitely let me know pretty quickly.  When I see this, I jump wholeheartedly into my go-to gut healing protocol, complete with tons of homemade bone broth, l-glutamine, gelatin and probiotics.

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    Let me make clear that this list is just a few signs that that our oral health can show us about our current state.  You may have some, all, or none of the above signs…but it is my hope that by thinking through some of the thing that I’ve noticed for myself, you can begin to pay attention to what your body is signaling to you and use it to improve your health overall.

     

  • My Two Favorite Recipes for Chia Seeds

    My Two Favorite Recipes for Chia Seeds

     

    I see chia seeds everywhere now. They are in drinks, in the bulk aisle, in cereals and baby foods. But, it wasn’t always like this. When I was first introduced to chia seeds by my running coach in Hawaii it was not available in the local stores yet and I would order it online. At the time I had to order 20lbs of it in bulk! That is a lot of chia seeds.

     

    Luckily among our running friends chia was a hot commodity. The book Born to Run inspired this love for chia seeds since we all wanted to be able to easily run 50-100 miles like the Tarahumara. Chia was a dietary stable of the Tarahumara, the Native American people of northwestern Mexico who were known for their long-distance running ability.

     

    I can’t say that the chia seeds made running a marathon easy, but I was munching on chia during my one successful marathon in Honolulu. I was enjoying the chia seeds, but my running partner wasn’t quite as pleased since she had the “ch-ch-ch chia” tune in her head for the last 15 miles! Hey, whatever you have to do to stay distracted, I think I might have done her a favor.

     

    If you aren’t convinced yet, here are the top reasons why I love chia seeds:

    • According to Dr. Andrew Weil, chia is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids and provides fiber as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc.
    • Great for travel. They don’t need to be ground, so you can pack them in your suitcase and have them readily available to make chia pudding for breakfast or a snack in your hotel room. You can also pack travel size containers of almond milk (if checking luggage), as well as nuts and just pick up fresh fruit in your destination city.
    • Hangover Cure. Had a little too much to drink? 1-2 Tbsp of chia seeds in a glass of lemon water before going to bed does the trick for me. Not only are you rehydrating, but the chia seeds help absorb and flush out the extra alcohol.
    • Can help pull excess estrogen out of the body. You can read more about the anti-cancer effects of chia (and flax seeds) here by Dr. Furhman.

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    My Basic Chia Water

    For 1 serving:

    • 2 cups water
    • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
    • ½ lemon, lime or tablespoon Cranberry Concentrate

     

    Add water to a large glass first and then chia seeds. Stir or shake (I like to use a jar with a lid) the mixture until the chia seeds are fully hydrated. When fully hydrated they will be evenly suspended throughout. This should take about 10 minutes. Add your lemon, lime, Cranberry Concentrate (or all 3!!) and enjoy!!

     

    Not sure that you want to drink this? Chia seed pudding is also a good option and is much more delicious than it sounds!

     

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    Chia Pudding Recipe

    For 1-2 servings:

    • 1 cup coconut, almond, or hemp milk
    • 2-3 tablespoons chia seeds
    • 1 banana
    • ½ cup strawberries (frozen are OK)
    • Handful of almonds or walnuts, if desired
    • Cinnamon, to taste

     

    Mix all the ingredients together and let them sit in the refrigerator for a few minutes. Stir after a few minutes, as the chia seeds are “gelling” into a pudding-like consistency. Let it sit in the refrigerator about 20 minutes or until ready to eat.

    If you find the pudding too thick, you can add more milk or a little water. If you find the pudding too thin, add more chia seeds or any of the other ingredients to make it thicker. You really can’t go wrong with chia pudding, which is why I love making it so much.

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    Are you singing ch-ch-ch-chia right along with me?

     

    What are your favorite recipes for chia seeds? We’d love to hear!!

  • How to Stay Healthy While Traveling (Especially If You Have Food Sensitivities)

    How to Stay Healthy While Traveling (Especially If You Have Food Sensitivities)

     

    I once burst out crying in a restaurant over an acai bowl. The only thing on the menu that I presumed was gluten free, dairy free and egg free arrived to the table for my daughter and turned out to be a big bowl of yogurt!

     

    A seemingly simple task of nourishing my child became a daunting obstacle when traveling. 

     

    When traveling for work or for a family visit during the holidays, set yourself up for success before your next trip. Whether you have food sensitivities or know that the conference you are going to will have horribly unhealthy choices, being prepared will make a world of difference.

     

    Here are my favorite travel tips:

     

    • Look up restaurants in the area ahead of time. Use an app like Yelp or Urbanspoon to scout out the restaurants in the area. I like to search for farm to table, organic or gluten free. This gives me a good idea of the restaurants that might be accommodating
    • Don’t be afraid to ask. We often try so hard not to be high maintenance, but a simple question to the waitress about the acai bowl would have helped avoid my meltdown.
    • Pack digestive enzymes. Taking digestive enzymes with your meals can help avoid the bloating and belly aches that may occur from eating foods and oils that your body isn’t used to.
    • Find fresh green juice or smoothies. You can find a juice bar almost anywhere nowadays! Find one that is vegetable based.
    • Ginger root. You can easily find hot water at a hotel to make yourself ginger tea. Ginger tea is a soothing way to start the day, or can help with discomfort felt after overeating. Ginger can also help with motion sickness if you find yourself in turbulence or on a swaying ferry.
    • Have an arsenal of snacks. Avocados, almond butter, fruit, seaweeds snacks, veggie sticks, sweet potato chips, hard-boiled eggs & nuts (whichever of these that you aren’t sensitive to!). Having a small snack with balanced fat, carbohydrates & protein in the morning will help set your blood sugar up for a stable day.
    • Get your greens in. If you end up overindulging in too much sugar or processed foods make sure to replenish your minerals. Bringing a greens powder with you while traveling is an easy fix.
    • Chia seeds! A small bag of chia seeds can go a long way. Headed out for a work cocktail hour? Premix a water bottle with 1-2 Tbsp. of chia seeds and make sure to rehydrate before bed.
    • Bring a selection of teas. On my last trip I brought a mixture of teas. Nettle to replace the minerals that were stripped from a high sugar or high processed meal, dandelion root to support the liver after bombarding it with restaurant additives & preservative, and fenugreek for digestion.
    • Need to sweeten your tea or coffee? Keep sweetener in your purse. Coconut sugar packets or liquid stevia are small enough to carry with you.   Upgrade your hotel coffee or tea by avoiding refined sugar.

     

    Happy Travels!! I hope some of these tips keep you from crying at breakfast.

     

    Have any other ideas? I would love to add them to the list.

  • Top 10 Reasons Why My Dad is a Health Rockstar at Almost 70 Years old

    Top 10 Reasons Why My Dad is a Health Rockstar at Almost 70 Years old

     

    My dad, Steve Rand, is about to turn 70 next month but you would never guess it. On a recent visit to NH I had an interesting encounter with a family friend. She asked “What has your dad been doing in the last 6-9 months? He looks and acts 10 years younger. I want to know what tricks he has up his sleeve.”

     

    What changes has he made lately?

     

    We started off the summer with a so-called “cross-country cleanse” when he joined me and my 3 yr old on a drive from Arizona to Chicago. This involved a drastic cutback on his coffee intake, no gluten, and a lot of ginger green juice. He ended the summer following the official Ginger Newtrition 15 day elimination plan, finding exactly what foods do and do not work for him.

     

    Is it his diet that makes him so healthy? Nope.

     

    As much as I would love to take credit, the truth of the matter is that the lemon water, coconut oil and green smoothies are really only a small piece of the puzzle. Here are the real reasons that my dad is such a healthy guy at 70 years old.

     

    1) Exercise. When my dad turned 67 he ran his first 10K and now runs consistently 3-4 times a week. When he is not running, he is golfing, hiking or swimming. Finding movement that you love helps maintain a healthy weight, regulate your sleep and gives you some extra endorphins to boost your mood.

     

    [image url=”http://gingernewtrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Ginger-Newtrition-babysitting-Lily-219×300.jpg” raw=”true” alignment=”left” margin_left=”0″ margin_right=”8″ margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ width=”219″ height=”300″]2) The Power Nap. Want to have enough energy to take on a new project mid afternoon? 20 minutes is all it takes. The trick is to sit upright in a chair so that you aren’t too comfortable, otherwise you might enter deep sleep and end up feeling groggy.

     

    3) Community & Volunteering. Recent research shows a strong correlation between volunteering and health: those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer. My dad is so involved in the local community that some people like to call him the Mayor of Plymouth. He is always working on a new project in town, from the local Rotary, Historical Society, Christmas Parade to raising money for the Youth Center.   I believe, that the strong connection he has to his town and many organizations is the biggest secret to his health.

     

    4) Master of the Tuck and Roll. Being able to fall and not hurt yourself is an important strategy in my dad’s long term health.

     

    5) Laughs a lot. Like father, like daughter. Laughter is fun and infectious but also has deep health benefits such as relieving stress, boosting the immune system and increasing blood flow to help protect the heart.

     

    6) Tries New Things. Can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Not true here. At 67 my dad started running races and now at 70 he is taking up sculling. How many almost 70 year old men do you know are willing to try their daughter’s hippy new-age detox? Being flexible and adventurous in life keeps the brain active and you feeling and looking young.

     

    7) Eats the whole plant. My dad takes eating the whole plant to the next level. When eating an apple finishes the entire thing off, core and all! (note: I am not suggesting anyone start eating the whole apple!)

     

    8) Social Connection. I am not talking about Facebook. My dad has strong ties with many groups of very different types. Every other Monday you can find him hosting a men’s group at his house, discussing philosophy or religion, and on Sunday he is out bonding with his golfing buddies. Social capital is an important predictor in health and longevity, especially as we enter the senior age. Stay connected, in person.

     

    9) Laid Back Attitude. He is a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. Oops, we are driving the wrong way down a one-way street? He won’t let that mess with his mood or cortisol output. Since I routinely check my client’s cortisol levels, I can attest that being uptight and stressed out daily will lead to hormone imbalance and most likely chronic diseases.

     

    10) Family & Love. My dad has a lot of love for his family and his family has a lot of love for him. Having a partner that motivates him to stay healthy, try new things and just be the best that he can be keeps him young and happy daily.

     

    Bonus secret weapon? He had a ginger mother AND has a ginger for a daughter. Being surrounded with that much red-headed love has to be good for you!!

     

    What do you think is the biggest predictor of living a long and healthy life? We would love to hear your ideas!