Balance Between Healthy Food, Fitness and Wine
Slow Cooker Chicken Stew Serves 6 Ingredients: 1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil Salt/pepper (to sprinkle on chicken) 1 large onion, diced 3 large carrots, sliced into ½ inch chunks 2 celery stalks, chopped 3-4 garlic cloves, minced 1 …
Key Ingredients to Support a Healthy Immune System Research shows that nutrition can help to up-regulate your innate and adaptive immune function, supporting your body’s ability to fight off pathogens. Nutrition also plays a large role in decreasing low grade, chronic inflammation. Because of bio-individuality, …
Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon avocado oil
2 leeks, white and light green parts only; trimmed and roughly chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 head large cauliflower head, cut into florets
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 ounces prosciutto, sliced or torn into small pieces
1 1/4 cups unsweetened canned coconut milk, full fat
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
Directions:
1. In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the avocado oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the leeks and onion and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower, chicken broth and sea salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 15 to 18 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the prosciutto and cook for 3 minutes per side or until crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Add the coconut milk to the soup and stir to incorporate. Blend the soup with a stick blender or in a blender.
4. Ladle into bowls and top with crispy prosciutto and parsley. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
Leftovers: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to three days. Freeze for up to three months.
Serving Size One serving is equal to approximately 1.5 cups of soup.
More Flavor: Add black pepper or your favorite herbs and spices to the soup.
No Prosciutto: Omit, or use crispy bacon instead.
Make it Vegan: Use vegetable broth and omit the prosciutto.
Roasted Vegetable & Lentil Salad Serves 4 Ingredients: 1 medium sweet potato, diced into 1 inch cubes 1 red beet, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes 1 small delicata squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds scooped out and cut into 1/2 moons 4 cups …
Falling temperatures and shorter days can zap your energy during the winter. Most of us struggle with the dreaded 3pm energy slump, but in winter, it can feel as though this lasts all day long. If it’s a major struggle to get out of bed …
Did you know that winter is the perfect time to detox? Going about it in the right way helps your body prepare for spring, lose any weight you’ve started to gain over the holidays, and feel fitter and healthier.
Winter also brings changes for your hormones, metabolism, and circulation —all of which can have a direct effect on toxins and wellbeing. A winter-specific detox helps removes some of the toxins that have built up from the summer and lets your body prepare better for the changing seasons. The end result? You can enjoy better energy and wellbeing, even if you only do a full detox for a super short period and follow the basic principles during the rest of the winter months.
What springs to mind when you think of a detox? You’ll likely conjure up images of juice cleanses, smoothie detoxes, and salads, right? These are great for detoxing during the summer, but they’re not super effective in winter. An extreme cleanse can also promote toxins and create imbalances in your body — definitely not the result you were looking for from a detox!
A detox that works well in winter is a whole heap different to one that serves you well in summer. During the winter, gravitate towards warming foods that are super easy for your body to digest.
Try these tips for resetting your diet and lifestyle with a winter detox:
When you’re choosing what to eat for your winter detox, go for foods that have natural detoxification properties.
Fiber-rich foods help get rid of toxins — they make it easier for them to move through your body and be eliminated through bowel movements.
Eat plenty of nutrient-dense winter foods as part of your detox reset. Root vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, eggs, healthy fats, bone broth soups, grass-fed beef are great examples of this. They’ll provide a ton of nutrients for your body. Low-fat carbs such as sweet potatoes and oatmeal also offer winter comfort without.
A few more tips for winter detoxing includes:
Bitter greens (and greens in general) are super important for winter detoxing too — not least because they’re great for giving your liver function a boost and helping your liver to remove toxins. They’re also highly anti-inflammatory, which is another major goal of detoxing.
Think kale, collards, turnip greens, arugula, and watercress. Team them with other nutritious greens such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, and artichokes.
Bitter greens have a reasonably strong taste that can take some getting used to. Make them more palatable by blanching them or combining them with garlic or spices. This is super effective for taking the bitter edge off the taste.
Beets are a great addition to a winter detox. They’re hugely warming and have liver detoxing qualities too.
Cauliflower contains indole-3-carbinol, which is super important for liver cleansing. Eat it in place of potato or use it in soups to get the benefits.
Add in warming and immune-boosting herbs and spices are another winter detox tactic. Cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, and garlic all work great.
And what should you look to ditch for your winter detox? Some people remove all gluten, dairy, sugar, and meat from their diet, but you don’t need to go as far as this.
Most of us eat a ton of sugary foods in the winter and see a noticeable decline in energy levels as a result.
A sugar detox is a super important part of a winter detox. Sugar is a toxin in itself, so it’s definitely one to avoid when you’re on a detox plan. It’s also linked to huge blood sugar spikes and crashes, and the energy loss that comes with this.
If you can’t do without your sugar hit, swap it for honey or maple syrup in the short term while you wean yourself off the white stuff.
If winter tends to bring out excess mucus, try cutting back on or ditching dairy. It can encourage more mucus to be produced.
Diet isn’t the only way to detox this winter. Resetting other elements of your lifestyle and routine can ramp up your detox efforts: