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Archive for month: June, 2018

You are here: Home » Blog » 2018 » June

3 Foods I Prep Each Week to Keep My Healthy Diet On Point.

June 24, 2018
June 24, 2018

1) Roasted Vegetables – A large sheet pan of roasted vegetables make it really easy to get vegetables in daily. When I am pressed for time I raid the salad bar for pre-cut veggies or purchase pre-cut bags of carrots, cabbage, and butternut squash to use for the week. 20-30 minutes in a 400 degree oven and I have 10-14 servings available to use as a vegetable hash, side dish for dinner, or to add to a filling soup.

2) Veg Crudités – veg and hummus is a mainstay snack for me midweek. Hummus is rich in fiber and quite filling when paired with fresh veggies. Mini peppers, snap peas, baby carrots, and cucumber slices all show up as hummus vehicles. With 1 cup of raw veggies being a serving, it’s easy to get 2 servings at snack time.

3) Breakfast Frittata or Homemade Sausage Patties – One of my favorite frittata recipes comes from PrepDish, a fantastic food plan subscription service that I lean on during busy weeks to make food prep easier, this frittata recipe has become a favorite: Mediterranean Frittata

Homemade Sausage Patties are a great, portable protein source for grab and go food in the morning. You can prep the meat and freeze it for up to 3 months, thawing and cooking enough to get you through as many days as needed. Here is a tasty recipe you can try that I adapted from RealSimpleGood.com:

 

Ingredients
  • 1 lb pasture raised ground pork or turkey
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground sage
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp paprika (use smoked paprika or hot paprika to kick it up a notch)
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 small onion, diced
Instructions
  1. Place the ground pork in a medium sized bowl.
  2. Mix onions and garlic into ground pork.
  3. Mix the seasonings together in a separate bowl, then pour the seasonings in with the pork and mix together well. Make sure the seasonings are evenly incorporated throughout the pork.
  4. Shape the sausage into 4-6 patties.
  5. Heat a pan over medium heat then add the patties, cooking until completely done, about 5 minutes per side.

This recipe is easily doubled or tripled, and can be frozen in patty form either uncooked or cooked.

 

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0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Aimee Gallo, Vibrance Nutrition

Why I Aim for 10 a Day

June 24, 2018
June 24, 2018

My goal every day is to get 10 servings of vegetables.

I know – that sounds insane, right? Especially if, like 87% of Americans, you aren’t meeting the government recommended 5 a day.

When I began studying nutrition over 25 years ago, it was to justify my position as a vegetarian to concerned family members. It was the first time the concept of ‘food as medicine’ had ever been presented to me. I was blown away that this was not common knowledge, not discussed, and that so much suffering (both animal and human) could be avoided.

While I am no longer a vegetarian I have never wavered from my interest in how we can use food to prevent, mitigate, and recover from disease. Food is still the most potent medicine we have available to us, and yet it is still the most overlooked for much of the population. Whether or not one is a vegetarian or vegan, plants remain the most potent, healing foods available to us.

Researchers who study populations are now saying that the 3-5 a day that is recommended is not enough if our goal is to be healthy and vital for the duration of our lives. They are now recommending 10 servings a day of fruits and vegetables. The populations who regularly consume this much are the ones who have the least risk of disease and live the healthiest into their elder years. While the industrialized nations have looked to science and technology for sustaining life, those in traditional, poorer cultures have maintained what we long for by consuming abundant produce. Once you get past the challenge of clean water, proper sewage and the immediate dangers of war, the key to a long, happy life is community and a diet rich in vegetables.

A study published in 2010 demonstrated that just 4-6 servings of produce reduced your risk of stroke by 32%! So if you get your 5 a day, as recommended by the USDA, you are doing very well! You are making a definite impact in your quality of life, and probably feel that benefit. These same researchers also looked at folks who consume 6 or more servings of produce daily. Their stroke risk was reduced by 69% over those who consumed less than 3 servings a day. There’s similar, consistent evidence for vegetables preventing 9 of the top 10 causes of death in the United States (the exception being unintentional accidents). The more produce we consume, the less chances we’ll die from Alzheimer’s, heart disease, stroke, chronic lung disease, kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, even pneumonia and suicide. The research is there.

None of us know how much time we have on the planet. I want as many years as possible to be vital, mobile, alert, and pain-free. The diseases that knock out most of us are expensive, chronic, and take decades to finally kill us off. Those last 15-30 years are not easy ones….and the new generation is being diagnosed with some of these diseases (like type 2 Diabetes) before they are even old enough to vote. I’d rather avoid such diseases altogether, and like my great-grandmother, remain active and engaged in my community until mere months before I pass.

Do I get 10 servings of vegetables a day? Sometimes. When I am aiming to, I reliably get between 7 and 10 servings. When I get caught up in life I get about 4-6. However, before I committed to seeking out 10 a day getting caught up in life meant I only managed 1-2 servings in a day. The difference I personally feel maintaining a minimum of 4-6 instead of 1-2 is remarkable. My clients express the same outcome. It shows up differently for different people – most of us find our digestion to be more regular and, dare I say it, delightful. Some also get the added benefit of improved moods and better energy. Some find chronic pain disappears. Others are able to come off blood pressure meds and find their blood sugar back within normal limits. One of the adventures of taking people on a journey to increase their veggies is that we don’t know what the outcome will be – only that it will be good. It’s a fun trip to take!

 

Regardless of whether you ascribe to a vegan, paleo, Mediterranean or even ketogenic diet, you need an abundant of produce to thrive. And nearly all dietary modalities attributed to reversing chronic disease, such as heart disease or multiple sclerosis, have their root in a diet high in produce. Vegetables provide antioxidants that protect cells from pollution as well as the wear and tear of daily life. They provide fiber to help regulate bowels and feed the beneficial bacteria that produce certain vitamins as well as help regulate the immune system, mood, and maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

 

 

Park, Y. (2010). Intakes of vegetables and related nutrients such as vitamin B complex, potassium, and calcium, are negatively correlated with risk of stroke in Korea. Nutrition research and practice, 4(4), 303-310.

 

0 Comments/in Functional Medicine, Functional Nutrition, Nutrition /by Aimee Gallo, Vibrance Nutrition
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A Vibrant Life

I've studied nutrition and fitness from a variety of experts for over 20 years. In this time I've come to understand that no diet, nor exercise plan, is right for every body. Your body has a unique set of needs, and by listening and exploring, you and I can learn the language of your body and begin giving it what it needs, so that greater energy, vibrancy, health and happiness can be yours!

A healthy body is a platform for an abundant, vibrant life. It's all yours for the taking. Are you ready for it?

-Aimee

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