Spring Nutrition & Wellness

Breakfast taco Whole wheat taco, arugula, avocado, scrambled tofu, taco sauce, dairy free cheese. Sooo good.

This Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Bowl is full of antioxidants from the pumpkin and the pomegranate. To make, freeze pumpkin puree (mini ice cube trays work well), and blend with a half a frozen banana, 1/2 cup of milk, dash of pumpkin spice, and your favorite vanilla protein powder. Top with your favorites!

Today is World Mental Health Day. If you are not struggling check in with a friend, you never know who is. And if you are struggling, reach out. We support you. There should be no stigma in struggling with mental health. It is a health condition like any other, one that needs awareness, treatment, and compassion.

We are now able to accept Capital Blue Cross! We are still offering virtual at discounted direct pay, but we are also setting up office visits for August. Let us know how we can serve you.

Exciting announcement! 1 week from today, at 6pm, July 14th, we will be joined by Alexa Tsiolis for a Root Chakra Meditation for Calm in the Chaos. Alexa is a Mental Health Counselor, Yogi, and Meditation Specialist. Cost is $9 @ can be made payable via Venmo. To sign up please comment here or private message, and we can direct you for payment and you will receive the class Zoom link.

As a Nutritionist I have long been aware of disparages in health by race for a long time but only ever discussed it when it related to a client's health. Now is a time when everyone should be aware. And outraged. Blacks in America are at a much higher risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, obesity, cancer, and glaucoma. They have a lower life expectancy, receive worse quality of healthcare, or lack access to healthcare, and many lack access to healt...hy foods and are exposed to more environmental pollution. Black expecting mothers are 3.5 more times to die during childbirth. How is this possible? Well, even when taking into account education, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle, these numbers still persist, and most of the reason why can be explained by racism. The daily chronic stress of having to be hyper-vigilant and aware, of experiencing overt or covert racism, of functioning within an oppressive society, all contributes to the Allostatic State. This refers to the wear and tear that accumulates on the body from stress. This is linked to chronic inflammation which leads to other conditions, and it is also linked to searching for coping mechanism that can harm health like smoking. Racism is a trauma that not only damages the health of those experiencing it, but studies show that trauma can be passed on through genetic changes to offspring and can stay within a family for generations. Make sure you are playing your role to stand up against racism. Art by Sacrée Frangine See more

Now is not just a time to stand on the sidelines and say you support the black community, or that you are not a racist. Now is the time to join with them as an anti-racist. Be an ally, listen, speak up when you see or hear something that is not right. Be a catalyst for change.

In case you were interested in the salad from our previous post, here is the recipe.

Microgreens can be more nutritious gram for gram compared to their fully grown counterparts, up to 40x’s greater in fact. Some more so than others, Red Cabbage, Green Daikon Radish, & Red Garnet Amaranth for example. However, it is key to remember that gram for gram matters. For instance, an entire package of microgreens (~4 ox.) is about a little over 100 grams. That is due to their very light & delicate nature. 1 serving of a fully grown vegetable is about 100g. and we easi...ly eat more than 1 serving a day of those a day. So simply due to portion size, the potency of microgreen nutrition in terms of vitamins can quickly become less impressive for a lot of them, especially if you are only treating them as a garnish. However, I think it is a mistake to get hung up on the actual vitamin content, because they have other health benefiting properties to offer: phytochemicals like chlorophyll, sulforaphane, phenolic compounds, anthocyanins, and glucosinolates. They also can have really potent flavors that can taste spicy, bitter, and astringent. These can act almost like bitters and get your digestive enzymes going which could lead to a better digestive experience including nutrient absorption. So even though microgreens might not take the place of a multivitamin, they can incorporate a lot of nutrition that is best obtained from live plants. If you want vitamins out of them, you need to treat them as more than a garnish and use them more like you would a leafy green like Arugula or Spinach. Here is a salad created with 25g Microgreens.

First few days experimenting with Valley MicroGreens and doing some research. Before getting into the nutrition I just wanted to highlight some microgreen basics. They are different from sprouts in a few ways. First they are grown differently. Sprouts are grown hydroponically in a humid environment and the entire plant (sprout & seed) is harvested for consumption. Microgreens on the other hand are grown in soil and harvested at a later stage than sprouts, and just the plant (...not the seed) is harvested. These two methods make a big difference. Due to the environment needed to grow sprouts, they are more prone to bacterial overgrowth and just like some other foods prone to bacterial issues, may not be recommended during pregnancy. Second, due to being harvested later than sprouts, the plants have had more time to build up nutrients and are more nutritious, and have developed a lot of flavor. Microgreens vary in taste wildly depending on the plant type and also on the micronutrients they contain (more to come on that later). Unlike traditional farming, you do not need a large farm to produce a crop. They are therefore a very sustainable model and may be key in feeding the population as it continues to grow. So far I have experimented with them on salads and stir-fry. They definitely add a lot of flavor & texture. I look forward to continue experimenting with them and sharing their nutritional value.

A couple days ago we received our first shipment of microgreens from Valley MicroGreens. They are so incredibly fresh (check out the harvest date - same morning as delivery!) and we just can't wait to start learning all about them and sharing that information with you! Follow along over the next few days to learn about the health benefits they have to offer. Let us know in the comments down below if you have experience with them, and you favorite ways to use them.