Book Review: Eat & Run

Eat & Run By Scott Jurek

I read this book after I read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall who wrote about Scott Jurek, his running career and his plant-based diet. Scott Jurek's book is about his running career and how he believes that a plant-based diet (and a strong will) contributes to his success. He believes plant foods are a natural anti-inflammatory, they help you recover faster and allow you to feel better to begin with.

Scott also talks about his ability to maintain mentally for such long running distances from 50 miles up to 167 miles in 24 hours. Even if you are not a runner this book will help you understand how a great diet, exercise and determination can bring you to things that you might never think that you could accomplish.

Chopped Spinach & Carrot Salad

This is a quick and easy salad is so simple and delicious. It makes a great healthy side dish or a flavorful  sandwich spread.

Coarsely chop 3 small to medium or 2 large organic carrots.
I use organic because they are so much sweeter (& healthier).
Put chopped carrots in a food processor. 
Add a large handful of organic baby spinach leaves, 
a small handful of walnuts, 
a tiny pinch of salt
and 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.

Process lightly to leave small chunks of carrots.

Go Juice! (Healthy Gatorade replacement)

First of all, put the gatorade down. 

Most people who drink it don't ever exercise enough to warrent the so called benefits. Gatorade is not good for you, it is junk! It has artificial colors (mood disorders),  artificial flavors (also known as natural flavors) and High Fructose Corn Syrup (addictive and Liver damage) and BVO.
Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) is used as a flame retardant. It's banned in Europe and Japan and has been shown to cause skin disorders, memory loss, nerve disorders, reproductive and behavioral disorders.
You don't need it even if you are an extreme endurance athlete. The only people who think that you do is the company itself (Pepsico) and they spend million of dollars in advertising to get you to believe it.

Put this in your sports bottle instead....

Istiake is a drink that the Raramuris drink for energy during endurance running. The Raramuris are a Mexican tribe isolated from the modern diet also known as the Tarahumara (the running people). They run distances of 50 miles+ in sandals in a diet mainly consisting of corn, bean and chiles and they drink Iskiate as the energy drink.

This is their recipe for Iskiate

It taste like Limeade!
Mix 1 tablespoon of organic Chia seeds in about 12 oz of water.
Add the juice and pulp of half to 1 organic lime.
Add 1-2 teaspoons of maple syrup or agave nectar.
Shake and drink!

I call it my Go Juice!

Book Review: Born To Run

I am definitely at a stage in my life where this has become one of my favorite books. I put this on my Amazon account in the save for later section last year and I finally moved it to my buy section when I needed enough to make $25 for my free shipping.
I'm glad I did. It's a page turner for sure! The author Christopher McDougall tells the story of the running people in the Copper Canyons in Mexico as a result of his writing career and seeking out some answers to why runners are always injured (it's the shoes!)
It's highly motivational, educational and if you are a runner or even a walker, after reading this book you will through out your running shoes and buy some new barefoot (minimalist) sneakers. May be you'll become the athlete that you never thought you could!

Ultra Runner Scott Jurek

Ultra runner Scott Jurek believes eating a plant-based diet contributes to his success.
http://scottjurek.com/bio/

More than just a champion, Scott is a true student and ambassador of the sport, known to stay at finish lines cheering until the last runner crosses. A passionate advocate for vegetarianism, he follows a 100% plant-based diet, which he credits for his superior endurance, recovery and overall health. He believes that everyone can run an ultra and everyone can access their body s innate capacity to heal. Through writing, public speaking, and consulting, Scott takes joy in encouraging people of all fitness levels to take the next step toward vibrant health.

Scott grew up hunting, fishing, and running through the wooded trails of his native Minnesota. His first passion was Nordic skiing, and he began running as cross-training for the ski season. Everything changed in 1994, when Scott ran his first Minnesota Voyageur with his friend and training partner Dusty Olson. In his first 50-miler, Scott came in second and discovered a hidden taste for ultra long distances.

While completing his Master s Degree in Physical Therapy from the College of St. Scholastica, Scott continued running and soon began competing worldwide. His growing conviction that processed, low-quality food was keeping his physical therapy clients sick led him to adopt a vegetarian diet in 1997, and a purely plant-based one by 1999. From 1999 to 2005, he notched his unsurpassed string of Western States 100 victories, all on plant-based fuel. In 2001 through 2003, he had the honor of representing the United States on the winning teams in the OXFAM Hong Kong Trailwalker 100K and the Hasegawa Cup Japan Mountain Endurance Run.

Book Review: Fat Chance

This book was given to me by a client who's wife was recently diagnosed with cancer. My client's family decided to go 100% percent plant based and low fat to fight this disease and this is a book that he came across listening to an NPR broadcast.

One point of the book is that our issues with obesity is a result of our environment. I agree with the author after reading this book. He also clearly explains the medical professionals, the medias and the governments involvement in our current health care and growing obesity and metabolic issues.

Although I don't completely agree with his diet advice, I do recommend this book to understand why we age growing fatter and fatter at a incredible rate and nothing has been successful to change this.

Why It's So Hard To Lose Weight

By Catherine Cleveland Feb 21, 2013

As you know that waist lines are getting bigger and bigger in this country every year and now it is happening around the world making obesity a pandemic.

But why is it that we can just cut back on calories and move more? It's calories in/calories out right?

Here is a way to look at why it's so hard to loose weight in todays culture:
environmental - biochemistry - behavior.

Environmental
We live in a mass media culture where the food industries are ruling. We are constantly bombarded with false information on what is considered healthy. As a result we are misinformed about our healthy food choices.
Most of our so called "healthy" foods are genetically modified (not in the chemical form that nature intended) and grown in chemically infused soils and finished off with a coat of pesticides. This creates illnesses, food resistances and allergies that are new and more popular every year.
Our restaurants are profiting on high fat, sodium and sugar which enhances flavor and keeps you wanting and eating more. 
Our grocery stores are filled with chemically produced food like substances that our bodies cannot possibly process on a daily basis and they eventual result is metabolic syndrome including cancers, diabetes, heart disease, behavioral disorders, skin problems and Alzheimer's (to name a few). Most food retailers don't stock healthy alternatives especially in the inner cities and rural areas. And the are few and far between any restaurants that aren't loading everything even there vegetarian choices with fat.
Families that eat unhealthy teach their kids to eat unhealthy so our kids are now suffering from adult age onset nutritional diseases.

Biochemistry
As a result of our environmentally limiting food choices. Our biochemistry changes which can alter our eating behaviors.
This is the insulin - leptin - dopamine effect.
Insulin is a peptide hormone that increases when you blood sugar rises. 
Leptin is a protein hormone that signals the body that it is satiated and it's time to stop eating and move.
Dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter that is responsible for reward-driven learning. It is the good feeling sensations we get from eating yummy unhealthy foods.
When your insulin increases, it shuts off the leptin's ability to say "I'm full, stop eating" and as a result your body thinks that it is starving even after consuming a significant amount of calories. Dopamine also makes you eat more because it gives you that satisfying reward that we seek. Unfortunately, dopamine is what drives addiction because each time we eat (or take drugs) we continually need more to reach the same reward.

Behavior
Because of our unhealthy food choices, it changes our biochemistry which modifies our behavior. The more we eat unhealthy food the more we eat unhealthy food. When we restrict calories (Weight Watchers) but are still eating unhealthy foods it can't last (or make us healthy) because our biochemical reactions kick in and tells us that we are starving so we eventually lose the weight loss battle. 
Addiction to sugar and unhealthy foods can be overcome understanding the consequences are so extreme (obesity pandemic) and expensive (high cost of health care), but not everyone is able to kick the bad eating habit no matter what the consequences are just like not all drug addicts and alcoholics will kick their habits even with help.

This is the cycle that we are getting trapped in and why our waist lines and health issues are growing at an alarming rate.

Understanding how to get off the high fat and sugar and increasing real fiber (not the crap in your processed GMO breakfast cereal) is the place to start to get your health and weight and where it should be. 

For more information contact me at www.nundanutrition.com

Chemical Allergen Free Holiday Candy!

It's Almost Valentine's Day and you might want to buy some chocolate for your sweetie (or for yourself!). Chocolate candies are generally not good for you, even the high priced specialty chocolate is loaded with chemicals and all that bad stuff that we are so good at avoiding.

I found this website that has great candy options such as chemical free, vegan, gluten free, allergen free, etcetera.

Here's the link: http://www.naturalcandystore.com/?a=Kvpriz
So check it out and maybe have a little less guilt holiday treat!

The Differences Between Tea

Mmmmmm......

Hot tea is so good, especially in the winter months. It's a great beverage that has no calories as long as you leave out the sugar and the milk.

We are told that herbal teas have health benefits meaning nutrients. Unfortunately not all teas are created equally. 

If you buy a brand that is not certified organic ("made with organic tea" is not 100% organic), no matter how fancy the label is or what they claim the health benefits, what you are getting are teas that are grown in chemically infused soils, sprayed with pesticides that are not legal in this country and they are genetically modified (GMO, meaning limited health benefits if any and promotes allergies).

So..... when you buy your tea make sure that the label has a "certified organic" stamp, Or.........
do what I do and make homemade tea like lemon, lime and orange tea.

Buy an organic orange, lemon or lime, cut it into 8 wedges (give or take depending on the size of the fruit. Squeeze in one wedge per cup of tea. store the rest in a zip sealed bag in the fridge. 8 cups of yummy organic healthy tea!
how easy!