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Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranates and Pecans

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This is a simple, but delicious, nutritious, and easy recipe that is perfect for holiday gatherings. Brussels sprouts are in season and the colors of this dish are just downright festive!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound brussels sprouts, rinsed and dried (I do this days to hours in advance. Just rinse them and let them air dry in a colander on the counter.)
  • 2 tablespoons olive or avocado oil (I use Chosen Foods avocado oil as it has a higher smoke point than olive oil)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate arils (You can buy just the arils/seeds, or you can hack into a pomegranate yourself. It’s easier than you’d think – just YouTube it!)
  • 1/2 cup pecans
  • 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • pinch of black pepper

Instructions:

  1. Peel and mince the garlic and mix in with the oil. Let it sit while you cut the Brussels.
  2. Trim the end off of each sprout and cut into 2 or 4 pieces.
  3. Toss the sprouts with the oil so that they are evenly coated. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. (Start with less salt and then taste after they are baked and add more as needed.)
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once about halfway through. You want them to be tender and starting to brown. (If you aren’t sure, try stabbing one with a fork.)
  5. While the brussels sprouts bake, chop the pecans and toast briefly in a dry skillet on low heat. Watch them carefully and stir often – you’ll know they are done when you start to smell them! (Toasting is optional, but does bring out the flavor!)
  6. Remove the sprouts from the oven, and add the pomegranates and pecans just before serving.

Hope this adds some flavor, color, and nutrition to your holiday table!

brussels sprouts with pecans and pomegranate



What Are Endocrine Disruptors (and why you should care)?

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As with most body systems, the endocrine system is fascinating and it is complex. The endocrine system is one of the body’s communication systems (the other being the nervous system) — it translates messages between the brain and other systems in the body.

One of the biggest takeaways I’ve learned while studying the endocrine system is the impact that certain chemicals have on the body. You may have heard these chemicals referred to as endocrine disruptors. But what does that mean? And how might they impact your life?

A little background on how hormones work

To understand endocrine disruptors, you first need to understand some basics about the endocrine system and how hormones work:

  • Hormones are chemical messengers produced by specialized cells in the different glands of the endocrine system (like the pituitary, thyroid, adrenals, female ovaries, and male testes).
  • Hormones speed up or slow down our body’s chemical reactions through the messages that they send. There is a feedback mechanism between the various hormones and the glands in the body.
    • For example, when the body senses stress, the pituitary gland secretes adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and the body’s stress response is initiated (more on that in another post!).
  • Hormones would not function if there were not specific matching receptor sites on our body’s cells for them to attach to, similar to a key that fits one specific lock. This binding of a hormone to target cell initiates a response from the target cell.

What do endocrine disrupting chemicals do?

The problem with endocrine disruptors  is that they mimic the hormone that is produced within the body so that they fit into the receptor site and take the place of the hormone that is trying to send a message in the body. Essentially, they trick the body into thinking that they are the hormone. The hormone mimic (which is exogenous, or coming from outside of the body) blocks the naturally-occurring hormone (which is endogenous, or produced from within the body) from binding to the receptor site. The normal signal then fails to occur and the body fails to respond properly.

How are we exposed?

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are in many common items such as cosmetics, sunscreens, cleaning products, soaps, food (as pesticides), food packaging (plastics), and tap water. They can even be present in things like electronics, furniture (as flame retardants), automobiles, and building materials.

Some remain in the environment for many years and can build up in our bodies. Others do not, but are always in us due to constant exposure. Research shows numerous endocrine disruptors in most people who are tested, including newborns.

What happens when you are exposed?

Research is constantly being performed to better understand the effects of endocrine disruptors, but here’s what we do know: endocrine disruptors can impact:

  • The body’s response to stress: they can cause neurological and behavioral changes, and can reduce the body’s ability to handle stress (by impacting the steroid hormone, cortisol)
  • Immunity: increased levels of cortisol cause a reduction in the immune system’s inflammatory response which decreases resistance to infection and response to allergens.
  • Reproduction: endocrine disruptors can mimic male and female sex hormones, therefore blocking the intended messages from being received and affecting reproductive health
  • Metabolism: endocrine disruptors can interfere with thyroid function, which helps to regulate the body’s metabolic processes

What can you do to avoid them?

  1. Avoid buying and using products that contain known endocrine disruptors: Not sure where they are hiding? Check out the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Skin Deep Guide to Cosmetics. The EWG is the same organization that puts together the Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen lists of pesticides in produce that I reference in this post about buying organic vs. conventional. Also, the Think Dirty app lets you scan products in stores to get a safety rating and comments on potentially-harmful ingredients.
  2. Filter your water: The EWG also has a Tap Water Database that allows you to search the chemicals present in your tap water by entering your zip code. You can search the different type of tap water filters, from a countertop pitcher to a whole-house system. I personally have the Soma countertop pitcher.
  3. Support companies that aim to exclude harmful chemicals from their products: This is why I use and support Beautycounter. The last legislation around safe cosmetics was put into place in 1938, well before many of the current-day chemicals were introduced. Beautycounter’s has banned more than 1,500 questionable or harmful chemicals from its products (including over 1,400 chemicals banned or restricted in personal care products by the EU). And if you’re thinking back to #1 in this list, all of Beautycounter’s products have the lowest ratings in the EWG Skin Deep Database.
  4. Limit your use of plastics: This means plastic water bottles, #3 and #7 plastic food wrap and containers, etc. If you can’t exclude them completely, try to avoid heating food or water in plastic (heat can cause more chemicals to leach out).
  5. Clean up your diet: Of COURSE I threw this in. But for good reason. Buying organic can limit your intake of endocrine disruptors in the form of pesticides on fruits and vegetables. Check out this post for a discussion of which produce to prioritize buying organic. When it comes to meat, you ideally want the animal to to eat a pesticide-free diet. Why? Because those pesticides and any other toxins ingested by the animal are stored in its fat, and ultimately ingested by you. And finally, avoiding processed and refined foods means that you avoid all of the chemicals and additives that they contain (can you pronounce the ingredients?). Plus, the lack of fiber and added sugar common in these foods can overwhelm your body and disrupt digestion so that circulating hormones are reabsorbed by the body rather than eliminated.

You can’t avoid every single potentially-harmful chemical that your body absorbs, so just try to control those that you can and not stress about the rest.




Kale chips that will make you like kale

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Kale chips

I recently had to do a recipe demo for nutrition school that included a discussion of the benefits of each ingredient in the recipe. It had to be nutritious and delicious. The first thing that came to mind? Kale chips! These aren’t just any kale chips. They are a super-flavorful, nutrient-dense, light snack that is a good source of plant-based protein and healthy fat. They also happen to be vegan, gluten-free, and paleo-friendly. So if that’s your jam, you’re welcome!

If you’re a kale skeptic, hang with me. These have convinced plenty of people that kale can actually be tasty. My dog (a golden retriever) even ate an entire batch of these (yes, 2 heads of kale!). No joke. She’s never grabbed food off the counter, and routinely ignores all veggies (except carrots) that fall on the floor while I cook, but she managed to snag these from a plate in the middle of the counter and devour the whole thing.

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Avocado Cashew Caesar Salad Dressing (vegan and paleo!)

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I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes for vegan and paleo caesar salads lately and I recently had one at a restaurant here in Denver. It was delicious, and since I like to add avocado to my caesar salads, I thought I’d see what happened if I put the avocado in the dressing rather than on the salad. Turns out, it’s DELICIOUS.

No cheese, no dairy, no crappy oils. Just plant-based protein and healthy fats. I played around with a lot of different combinations of ingredients and the final result is a big fat WIN.

Ingredients

Dressing3 Free Meals

  • 1/2 cup (2 oz.) cashews, soaked and drained (*see note below)
  • 1 avocado (I also tried this with 1 cup of frozen mashed avocado and it worked!)
  • 3 tablespoons hemp seeds/hemp hearts (tip: as with many nuts, grains, and seeds, they are cheaper to buy in the bulk section!)
  • 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. water
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 tsp. salt (more to taste)
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper (more to taste)

Salad

  • 2-3 heads romaine, washed and chopped (or a mixture of kale and romaine if you want to mix it up!)

Toppings – whatever you like on your salad!

  • Grilled chicken
  • Salmon
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Grilled veggies
  • Tofu
  • Quinoa
  • Croutons (try making your own with hearty whole grain bread!)

Instructions

  1. Chop and wash romaine (I chop first and then throw it in a salad spinner.chopped romaine
  2. Drain water from cashews and put in blender or food processor with all other dressing ingredients (I love this mini chop processor for this and other dressings).
  3. Blend all dressing ingredients until smooth (it will be thick). Add salt and pepper as you like. avocado cashew caesar dressing
  4. Toss the romaine with the dressingvegan paleo avocado cashew caesar salad dressing

* To soak your cashews, just measure out the amount you need and put them in a small bowl. Add just enough water to cover and let sit. Allow them to soak at least 30 minutes, but they can sit overnight covered in the fridge.

soaked cashews

I hope you like this dressing as much as we do. Give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments below!

I tried it: the Peloton bike

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You may have heard of it. The at-home bike that allows you to stream live or recorded cycling classes from your home. It’s called the Peloton Bike. Peloton just opened a showroom in Denver, and was offering free test rides in the showroom for opening day, so of course I had to check it out. Note: this post is not sponsored. I’m just sharing my honest experience.

The store experience

My first thought when I first walked into the store was “this is going to be awkward”. Why? Because it was a small space, and it was packed full of people. And I was going to be riding in the middle of it all. There were 4 bikes fit into a pretty small room, surrounded by racks of apparel, salespeople clinging to iPads, and a LOT of interested customers. It kind of felt like an Apple store the week of Christmas. But with bikes and sports bras.

An employee got me set up on a bike (of course the one literally in the

peloton Denver showroom

Peloton Denver showroom

window of the store), a bottle of water, towel, wireless headphones, and cycle shoes (I brought my own, but I have the wrong clips for the Peloton – I have SPD, they require LOOK Delta).

I had a few minutes to warm up before the live class started so I just perused through the different offerings on the attached computer screen (more on that later). Once I put on the headphones and class started, that was it. No more awkwardness. I was fully immersed in the class and gave exactly zero shits who was walking around me both inside and outside of the store, probably staring while I rocked out to the music and dripped in sweat. This surprised me—a lot. I was not expecting such an…experience.

Interface

When I was warming up, I played around on Peloton’s interface, which shows up on the big computer screen attached to the bike. I knew nothing about it before getting on the bike, but it really didn’t need much introduction. It’s pretty intuitive. You can filter recorded classes by instructor, class length (20- to 120-minutes!), music genre, etc. The biggest surprise was the “Beyond the Bike” section. Here they have short (5- to 20-minute) non-cycling workouts like 5-minute abs, 10-minute strength, and 20-$35 Off Mealsminute HIIT). This is a pretty huge draw for me. I love variety and I could totally see myself heading to the bike 10 minutes before a ride to get a little strength hit in.

The screen also shows a bunch of data during your ride. I love the data. You’ll see resistance, RPMs, output (a combination of those two), and even a ranking of the other people in the class so you can see how you stack up (and push harder if you’re the competitive type!). If you have a bluetooth heart rate strap, the bike will connect to the bike and display your heart rate on the screen. (If you don’t have one, Peloton will gladly sell you one for $49).

Instructor

All the instructors are based out of the NYC studio. I had Jess King. I loved her energy, her music, her vibe. Loved it all. To be clear, I love any instructor that drops an F bomb during class (as in “you’re only here for 45 minutes, this isn’t the time to F around”). Don’t ask me why, it’s just somehow motivating and hilarious to me. And when an instructor has that style, I feel like we’re instantly friends.

Video Quality

This one gets a rating of decent. The video cut out twice for about 20 seconds each time. That really kills the fun, energetic vibe. I overheard an employee telling someone else that it was because they had multiple bikes all streaming from the apparently slow wifi. I guess that makes sense. But this is a company that just created the most high-tech bike around. So it seems like they could figure out wifi, doesn’t it?

Price

The bike itself costs $1,995 (as of June 2017). Yep, you read that right. While that seems hefty, compare it to other home fitness equipment. Treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, rowers, etc. You’re unlikely to get in under $1,000 for a nicer model. And that’s with no instruction.

And then there is shipping and in-home set-up. That’s another $250.

And then there are the extras. It’s like when you buy an iPhone. Now you need a nice case. And maybe a screen protector. With the Peloton, you’ll also need cycle shoes. Regular tennis shoes don’t work. Peloton sells their shoes for about $125 (they’re just cycle shoes, but they say Peloton, and that matters when you’re working out alone in your basement, right?). Or you can find a pair of no-frills cycle shoes with LOOK Delta clips for closer to $75. If you want to take a class that includes arms, or do some of the “Beyond the Bike” workouts, you’ll also need a set of weights. Peloton sells them for $25 and they fit nicely behind the seat. (I’m pretty sure Target sells them for more like $10). And then if you don’t want to trash your floor, you’ll probably want the $59 mat for under the bike. I can attest: it’s good at catching sweat.

And finally, there is a monthly fee of $39 (at time of writing) which gives you access to the live streaming and all previous recorded classes.

So let’s say you buy the bike (with shipping and tax is $2,416), mat, and weights, and of course the mandatory monthly subscription. And say you use the bike for a year. You’re looking at about $3,000, or $250 per month. If you have a family member or roommate that will also use the bike, it’s $125 per person. At two years, you’re looking at a total of $3,436. That’s $143/month for one person and $71/month for two people. If you hang on for even longer…you get the idea. Compare this to other other boutique studios (Pure Barre, Soul Cycle, CorePower, Flywheel, Orange Theory), and the numbers actually aren’t as bad as they first seem – as long as you don’t mind committing mostly just cycling. 

Bottom line: it’s not cheap. At all. But for a boutique fitness experience (assuming you actually use it!), it really isn’t a bad value.

Sales experience

After my test ride I was pleasantly surprised that nobody was standing there ready to give me the hard sell. I hate pushy salespeople. As I was wiping down the bike, one of the NYC instructors who came to the opening approached me and asked how long I had my bike. I told her I didn’t have one, and she seemed surprised (but super friendly), saying “oh, I thought you were one of our riders!”

Later, after chatting with some other people in the store, I learned that Peloton invited local bike owners to come ride during the opening to help amp up the excitement. Maybe this is why nobody had approached me, even to ask how the ride was, but it seemed odd that they weren’t more curious about the experience and whether I wanted to buy a bike. While I appreciate the lack of pushy salespeople, the lack of interest in selling gives off a bit of an arrogant vibe. Yes, you could just go buy it online, but it still seemed a little odd.

Conclusion

I was really impressed with the test ride experience. Ultimately, the decision to buy comes down to your monthly sweat budget, your desire for cycling vs. other activities, and whether you think you’ll actually use the bike. Oh, and if you have space in your home. If you have a showroom near you, I’d highly recommend checking out a bike. If not, hopefully this post gives you a little taste of the experience!

If you’ve tried the Peloton, I’m curious to hear what you think—leave a comment below!



I tried it: meal delivery services, compared

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Ever wonder if all of those meal delivery services really live up to the pretty social media ad hype and promises of fresh healthy food that is quick and simple to make?

Well wonder no longer, because I tried them. Well, three of them. Here’s the scoop, in my opinion. To be clear, this post is not sponsored. These are my completely honest opinions.

Green Chef

This one is based near me, in Boulder Colorado, so I felt all warm and fuzzy supporting a local player.

    • Options: Green Chef gives you the option to pick your diet preference, from Paleo, gluten-free, omnivore, carnivore, vegetarian, or vegan. I opted for Paleo, since those options all had high quality proteins with lots of veggies (note: I do not follow a Paleo diet).
    • Packaging: Very eco-friendly. The meals arrive in a recyclable or reusable cardboard box and the insulation is made from 85% recycled material that is commercially compostable (we have a composting service that comes with our weekly trash pick-up in Denver, which is super-convenient). The ice packs are reusable and recyclable. All ingredients are thrown together into one box. Each ingredient is color-coded by meal, but it’s a little annoying to dig around the fridge for the right color bag.
    • Food quality: Excellent. I mean really excellent. Ingredients are organic, mostly local (they source from suppliers around you, so my produce likely comes from a different supplier than someone across the country), and arrived fresh. Certain ingredients, like sauces (e.g., parsley chimichurri) were prepped ahead of time, which saved time. The recipes for those sauces are available on the Green Chef site so that you know what you’re eating and so that you can recreate them if you want. I love that.
    • Nutrition: Excellent—very well-balanced and nutritious. Calories are reported on each recipe and full nutrition content is available online.
    • Food taste: In a word, awesome. Super fresh and flavorful. My husband and I both loved all 3 dishes and will likely recreate all of them.
    • Price: Price ranges from $10.49 per plate for vegetarian (“diverse, nutrient-rich dishes”) to $14.99 for Paleo (“grain-free dishes packed with protein and veggies”). They also charge $9 shipping per order. Yep, you pay for that quality. It isn’t cheap.
  • Ordering experience: You have until one week before your meal delivery date to skip, which is pretty generous. One annoying thing about choosing your options is that you have to go to your profile and change your diet preference (and commit to getting all of that type of meal) and then go back to your menu options to see how they change. I like variety. I’m not strictly vegan or strictly Paleo. Both can be healthy and delicious, so I’d rather just pick the 3 most appealing options available. I’d prefer for all of the options to be laid out rather than committing to a diet type and then have to take extra steps to view different options.

Conclusion: I loved the meals. I love the flavor, quality, and transparency of ingredients and recipes. But it’s pricey, and I wish the ordering process were more flexible.

Try it: Four meals free with this link

Hello Fresh

Hello Fresh has the vibe of being super simple and very approachable with crowd-pleasing recipes.

    • Options: Hello Fresh gives you at least 7 meal options each week. They are all laid out for your choosing and identify characteristics of each recipe—stuff like gluten-free, nut-free, and “spicy”. You can pick any of the options there. Unfortunately, even of the 7 options I was given for my first box, none of them had me too excited.
    • Packaging: Well, I came home to my Hello Fresh box on my porch with a soaked bottom and raw meat juice oozing out of it. Ew. The good thing is that the meat was on the bottom of the box covered by ice and then topped with 3 individual kits containing the non-meat ingredients for the rest of the meals. Great organization, but still, ew. Raw meat really grosses me out.
    • Food quality: Meh. Everything did seem fresh, but there was no focus on local or organic produce or meat, and there was less transparency about ingredients. Two of the recipes had a small packet that just said “vegetable” —apparently some kind of stock concentrate. I reluctantly looked inside to find a thin brown liquid. No ingredients or description was listed. Just “vegetable”. I didn’t use it.
    • Nutrition: With Hello Fresh, you’re cooking with whole, real foods. Could they be more nutritious (like using brown rice, not white), absolutely. But are they better than hitting the drive through or heating up a frozen pizza? Absolutely.
    • Food taste: Not great, but definitely not bad. The recipes are available online, but I won’t be saving any of them to make again. The recipes were simple and basic, so for a person new to cooking or with a family of varied tastes, I think these could be solid choices.
    • Price: I opted for the classic plan of 3 meals per week for 2 people at a cost of 9.99 per meal. Delivery is free/included in the price of the food.
  • Ordering experience: Ordering and skipping is easy and quick. You have until midnight, 5 days before meal delivery to change or skip. Pretty generous and flexible, I think.

Conclusion: I don’t plan to use Hello Fresh again. I was underwhelmed with the quality and taste of the food. Again, it is

n’t bad, just doesn’t suit me. I think that I could make healthier, tastier meals at home for the same price, in just about the same amount of time. But the bigger reason I will likely not use Hello Fresh again is the customer service. I have yet to hear back from them about the raw meat mess that the leaking box left on my porch (I reached out, was promised a response within 24 hours, got no response, got a survey about my customer service experience, gave negative feedback, still nothing.) I didn’t know if I could safely use the leaking meat, and I get annoyed every time my dog stops to sniff that spot. (We cleaned the porch, but you know, dogs.)

Try it: Get $40 off your first meal delivery using this link

Sun Basket

    • Options: Sun Basket gives you at least 10 meal options each week. They are all laid out for your choosing and identify diet types for each (Paleo, vegetarian, etc.). There is also always a breakfast item to choose if you want to do a weekend brunch or BFD (that’s what we call breakfast-for-dinner around my house)
    • Packaging: 100% compostable and recyclable. Nuff said. Meals are sorted into individual paper bags for easy organization. 3 Free Meals
      Meat is kept separately.
    • Food quality: Excellent; ingredients are mostly organic, local, and arrived fresh. Certain ingredients were prepped ahead of time (like a lemongrass paste), which saved time. The ingredients for those pre-prepped items are available on the
      Sun Basket website, but the exact recipes for them are not. All of the ingredients are whole, clean, real ingredients, so I love the transparency, but I wish they were actual recipes so that I could recreate them.
    • Nutrition: Excellent. Sun Basket has an in-house nutritionist who approves the content of each meal. I’m obviously particular and Sun Basket is legit. Full nutritional information is available for each recipe.
    • Food taste: Delicious. We’ve now gotten three Sun Basket boxes and have both really enjoyed all of the meals.
    • Price: $11.49 per serving (for the 2-person plan). Shipping is $5.99 per box (first delivery is free).
  • Ordering experience: All changes to your menu must be made by noon on the Thursday prior to your meal delivery.  (Sun Basket will default you 3 popular items if you do nothing). I also like that rather than skipping a week, you can choose to donate your meal and Sun Basket will send your meal to a family in your area as identified by Feeding America.

Conclusion: Sun Basket was my favorite: it offers the best price to quality ratio (that’s my nerd way of saying that I think Sun Basket is the best value). The quality of ingredients, variety of options, taste of the meals, and ease of ordering and skipping makes it a huge win for me.

Try it: Your first three meals are free using this link.

And in conclusion…

Overall, I liked the meal delivery from Green Chef and Sun Basket more than I thought I would. Actually, a lot more. They forced me to try new recipes and my husband and I definitely cooked together more than we typically do. And by that I mean…we actually cooked together!

I also saved more time picking recipes and shopping than I expected. I always say “constraints are liberating,” and it is a lot easier to pick from 3 dinner options than a million that I’ve late-night pinned to my “recipes to try” pinterest board.

I won’t order from Sun Basket every week, but it’s a nice option to have in case I know it will be a busy week, or if I’m out of town over the weekend and can’t get to the grocery store. I’ll leave my Green Chef account open, too. I’d like to try some of the other options.

In general, the packaging does seem like a bit of a waste, even if recyclable or reusable. I wish that these meal delivery companies would allow you to leave a cooler with ice packs out on your porch so that they could just drop the meals in without having to transfer so much material and ice. To be fair, I’ve seen the packaging waste (SO much cardboard) in the storage and receiving areas of grocery stores, so the packaging of food I buy at the grocery store is likely just as wasteful, it is just out of sight when shopping at a grocery store.

Have questions? Have you tried any of these? What was your experience? Is there another meal delivery service you recommend I try? Drop me a note below, I’d love to hear from you!


Help your immune system keep you healthy

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Tis the season for all things germy. The good news is that your body is actually designed to fend off these germy invaders. Yep, I’m talking about your body’s immune system. The even better news is that the foods you eat can help support your immune system so that it is better equipped to defend your body against disease-causing microorganisms, or pathogens, that will make you sick.

First, a little lesson on the immune system

The immune system has two types of defense mechanisms:

    • Innate – this includes the mechanical barriers that cover the body (a fancy way of saying skin) as well as the cells and chemicals that are the “first responders” to a pathogen that has made it into the body. The innate defense mechanism is also called the nonspecific defense mechanism because all human bodies come equipped with essentially the same innate “system”. It is not specific to your individual body.
  • Adaptive – this line of defense provides protection against specific antigens (toxins, bacteria, and other substances that are recognized by the body as foreign) and activates the immune system. The adaptive defense mechanism is also called the specific defense mechanism because these defenses are specific to your body and the encounters it has previously faced with specific antigens. In other words, if your body was previously exposed to a virus, your adaptive immune system knows the virus better and is more equipped to fight it than it was the first time it was exposed.$35 Off Meals

Within these defense mechanisms are three lines of defense. The first and second lines of defense are innate and the third line is adaptive.

    1. First line of defense – this includes the skin as well mucous membranes and their secretions (things like your saliva and mucus in your respiratory system)
    1. Second line of defense – this comes into play if the first line of defense is compromised. It includes cells and chemicals like: phagocytes (specialized white blood cells), natural killer cells (pretty descriptive name: they can kill infected body cells and some tumor cells), your inflammatory response, antimicrobial proteins, and fever (yep, that’s right, a fever is a sign that your body’s defense system is working!)
  1. Third line of defense – this comes into play if the first two lines of defense are unable to effectively fight an invader. The adaptive nature of this line of defense is why the immunity of a newborn is much lower than that of a young adult – because this line of the young adult’s immune system has had several years to adapt to specific antigens and “learn” how to better fight them, whereas an infant has had little exposure.

Support your immune system through FOOD

Now that you understand generally how the immune system works, you’ll better understand why certain foods support the proper functioning of your immune system:

    • Vitamin C – this is the poster child for immunity. Why? because it increases the production of white-blood cells and antibodies (antigen-fighters). What is misunderstood about vitamin C, however, is the thought that more is better. The truth: your body can only absorb so much at a time, so don’t bother with the mega-doses. A good target is 150-200 mg per day. As a reference, a medium orange has about 70 mg.
      • Sources: oranges, broccoli, bell pepper, strawberries, leafy greens (spinach, kale, chard), kiwi
    • Vitamin D – helps to regulate the innate and adaptive immune responses
      • Sources: sunlight (go for a walk outside!), salmon, egg yolks
    • Vitamin E – stimulates the production of natural killer cells
      • Sources: sunflower seeds, almonds, leafy greens
  • Zinc – increases the production of white blood cells and helps white blood cells release more antibodies
    • Sources: pumpkin seeds, beans (white, kidney, garbanzo), nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios

Aim for real food sources of these vitamins and minerals rather than supplements!

Studies suggest that certain other foods benefit immune function

    • Probiotics – several studies have linked gut health to overall immune function
      • Sources: kefir, sauerkraut (and other cultured vegetables), apple cider vinegar, kombucha, miso
  • Adaptogens – adaptogens are a class of plants that are understood to help your body adapt to certain stressors
    • Examples: Ashwaganda, Ginseng, Astragalus root, and mushrooms like Chaga, Reishi, and Cordyceps
  • Natural “antiseptics” – these foods have natural antibacterial, antimicrobial, and/or antiviral properties and are believed to help fight off certain infections
    • Examples: Apple cider vinegar, garlic, coconut oil

Lifestyle choices can also impact immunity

    • Hygiene – one of the best things that you can do is so simple: wash your hands! This is arguably the easiest way to prevent illness. If germs can’t get in your body, your body doesn’t have to fight them.
    • Sleep – sleep is your body’s chance to rest so that it can go to work protecting you from illness; a lack of sleep disrupts this
    • Smoking – smoking decreases the production of natural killer cells and reduces the number of circulating antibodies (remember, we like antibodies, they fight antigens). It also makes for an easier entrance of bacteria into the bronchial and lung tissue by damaging the cilia, which work to keep invaders out
    • Exercise – exercise increases body temperature, stimulates the lymphatic system, and reduces stress

Don’t wait until you’re sick to start implementing some immune-friendly choices into your life. Pick one nutrient or habit that seems most approachable for your lifestyle and tastes and keep adding more from there. Your immune system will thank you.

Sources:
  • Tortora and Dickerson, Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th edition.
  • Marieb, Elaine, Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology. Tenth edition.

Support your bone health through nutrition

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Did you know that your bones are constantly regrowing? It’s true. The process is called “remodeling” and it happens continuously so that the bone is able to better withstand external forces. This is triggered by two factors:

  1. Calcium levels in the blood
  2. The pull of gravity and muscles on the skeleton

So what can you do to help the bone remodeling process (and support bone health)?…

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