Welcome to a new episode of The Diet of Common Sense Podcast!
The Diet of Common Sense is a common-sense approach for active people to stay healthy, improve energy and mental power! It’s the nutrition of entrepreneurs, busy professionals and other active people who lack time, but value their health and well-being.
Here’s the place where nutrition and research meet common sense.
The Diet of Common Sense Podcast brings you simple and actionable information to help you make the best decisions for your health and well-being, despite your limited time. Healthy Living, Simplified.
In this podcast episode, we’ll talk about How to Thrive with Real Foods. How to look and feel at your best by making even small changes to your daily habits. Whether you want to have more energy, be more vibrant and optimistic, lose weight, choose to EAT TO THRIVE!
Listen to the full podcast episode or read the transcript below:
Research has shown that the ideal diet is one that is mostly plant-based, including a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthful animal products.
Not all foods were created equal, and we cannot get everything right every time with our food choices – because either we are busy, or we have cravings, or simply it’s more convenient to eat unhealthily. Needless to say, some unhealthy foods taste amazingly well – think bacon or French fries, making bad eating habits even more difficult to break.
The good news is there are easy ways to make healthier choices. So eating healthy should not be too hard. There are concentrated superfoods and supplements that help balance the nutrients intake, give a quick energy boost, help us lose weight or build muscles, or support us when we’re always on the go.
But first, let’s get this word „superfood” right. They are definitely called superfoods for a reason, but how much can we realistically expect from these foods?
We may imagine a powerful food with special abilities like promoting weight loss or healing disease. There’s no scientifically based or regulated definition for a superfood, but generally, a food is promoted to superfood status when it offers high levels of desirable nutrients, is linked to the prevention of a disease, or is believed to offer several simultaneous health benefits beyond its nutritional value.
A superfood is defined as “a food (such as salmon, broccoli, or blueberries) that is rich in compounds (such as antioxidants, fiber, or fatty acids) considered beneficial to a person’s health. Or how to achieve more with less, in an easy and practical way.
Superfoods can be a good entry into healthy eating, or great time savers.
Popular superfoods include whole-foods that you can use in your smoothies, shakes or eat them as such. They are rich in fiber and nutrients, antioxidants in particular that give fresh fruits and vegetables that vibrant color. And needless to say, they have many health benefits such as fighting off free radicals known to promote a wide range of diseases, they also have anti-aging properties.
These superfoods include:
Berries – blueberries in particular, but also strawberries, raspberries and cranberries, rich in antioxidants.
Greeny leaves – such as spinach, kale, different types of sprouts – also called microgreens. One study found that microgreens have up to 40 times more nutrients compared to their mature counterparts.
Cruciferous vegetables (Kale, cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts)
Salmon and other Omega 3 fatty fish, beans and whole grains, quinoa, brown rice, seaweed, ginger, turmeric, matcha, oats, avocado, eggs, garlic.
Cocoa, spices, some exotic fruits such as dragon fruit, or pomegranate.
Various nuts and seeds – these are loaded with healthy fats such as omega 3 and make excellent snacks. Including here chia seeds, Brazil nuts, hemp seeds, almonds, walnuts and others.
Green tea and natural, freshly grounded coffee also have powerful antioxidants.
You can get them fresh from your local market, supermarket, from local farms, or specialized groceries stores.
There are also home delivery services such as the Whole Foods Market program – powered by Amazon, or meal delivery services such as Hello Fresh – America’s Most Popular Meal Kit that can help you outsource shopping for ingredients and cooking too.
For more information and more services, you can check my blog post:
Resource Page: Meal Delivery Services, Cookbook Recipes and Supplement Brands You Can Trust
How to use them?
Many of these foods can be found year-round, and can be easily incorporated into your meals — in surprising and diverse ways.
Most of them can be included in your smoothies, shakes, and juices and make nutritious meals, healthy snacks or support your workouts.
To get some ideas on how to use them, check The Diet of Common Sense recipes ebook. You can download it for free here:
Healthy eating has never been easier!
And remember when in doubt about healthy eating, eat the rainbow! (which means a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables).
Eat your greens!
As mentioned before, „greens” include greeny leaves such as kale, spinach, or different types of sprouts, or cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli that you can eat as such – this is the recommended, easier way. However, they do not taste particularly nice, some people may not like their taste.
Boring super green smoothies or juices? Add some color and texture with colorful superfoods or natural powders!
In this case, consider to enrich their taste and look with other superfoods – whole fruits and vegetables, or protein powders.
For example you can use Rainbow Superfood Powder Variety Pack (Dragon Fruit Powder, Blue Butterfly Powder, Matcha Green Tea Powder) – to make amazing colorful smoothie bowls, yogurt, raw desserts, dressings, ice creams, cakes, and other food creations. Have fun while taking your nutrients!
You just need to put the ingredients in a blender, mix them, put the composition in a bowl and decorate it with fruit and nuts. The whole process will take about 10-15 minutes, they can make an easy breakfast or a healthy snack for busy people. If you’re not a morning person, you can prepare the mix in the evening and leave it in the fridge overnight, however, it’s best to consume it fresh to avoid losing the powerful antioxidants.
How do you get the specific colors?
You can get the powerful neon-like colors directly from the fruit (like berries) or with 100% natural food dye powders.
• yellow: blend coconut vegan yogurt with Curcuma, frozen banana, and maple syrup.
• green: blend green matcha with vegan coconut yogurt, frozen kiwi and agave syrup.
• blue: blend blue spirulina with vegan coconut yogurt and frozen blueberries.
• orange: blend vegan coconut yogurt with carrot juice, orange juice, maple syrup, and frozen dates.
• black: blend vegan coconut yogurt with activated charcoal, frozen bananas, and blueberries.
• pink: blend coconut vegan yogurt with frozen raspberries and pomegranate seeds and frozen strawberries.
• purple: mix pink and blue together.
Have fun while experimenting with colors and food textures! Many ways to become creative with your foods while eating for your health and wellbeing and making smarter food choices.
You can start by checking my blog post: Rainbow Colored Smoothie Bowls – The Superfoods Fiesta – just follow the link in the podcast description below.
Or let’s have a look at some books featuring more recipes! For example this one:
A Rainbow of Smoothie Bowls: 75 Wholesome and Vibrant Blended Creations. Featuring over 100 amazing creations and more than 40 gorgeous full-color photos, A Rainbow of Smoothie Bowls serves up flavorful treats that are as nutritious as they are beautiful. Follow the recipes in this book to combine colorful fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds into delicious bowls.
For example this blueberry Kiwi bowl: Make a base from a frozen banana, half a cup of blueberries, 1 cup almond milk – put all the ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
Then add your toppings- add kiwi slices to center and line border of the bowl with raspberries on one side and blueberries on the other.
You can also consider variations – for a more tropical twist, you can add shredded coconut or half a cup of sliced pineapple.
Here are some Book Reviews:
„What a killer introduction to smoothie bowls. I love everything I’ve tried. I’ve gotten these at restaurants before and it seems so silly to me that you need a recipe (I’ve tried to make them at home), but you REALLY do need a recipe sometimes!! It’s so ingenious! And delicious. I am so happy I have this on hand to add to my cookbook collection. It really spices up a breakfast or lunch or even dinner on a hot summer day I bet.”
„This book was my excellent introduction to smoothie bowls, and I’m loving every bowl I’ve made so far. Some things I look for when I cook are: ease of cooking, healthy food, and, of course, taste. These smoothie bowls deliver all that and more. The preparation is really easy – just throw some food into a blender! The recipes are all very healthy *(my fruit consumption has skyrocketed), but they don’t feel healthy in that gross kale-like way. What’s more they all taste great. The many combinations of seasonal fruits have been a delightful addition to my taste buds, and I always get filled up by these meals. The book itself is easy to read and the pictures make the food look even better than it is – which is hard! Give it a try. You, or anyone you make a smoothie bowl for, won’t regret it!”
“This is such a wonderful cookbook! It’s made my mornings so much easier and healthier – I can just flip through the book and decide what delicious way I want to start my day. All of the recipes are so creative (sweet potato sage bowl, anyone?) and so many of them are perfect for winter. I made the Peppermint Mocha Bowl today and it was AMAZING – and it took, like, 2 minutes from start to finish. If you need a quick, super healthy breakfast (or dessert) book, buy this one!”
Another book with wonderful colorful, vibrant creations:
Simple Superfood Smoothies: A Smoothie Recipe Book to Supercharge Your Health
130 superfood smoothies—made super easy. Mix incredibly healthy and colorful smoothies into your life. Blend health into every day with a smoothie recipe book featuring a whopping 130 recipes that feel like you’re drinking liquid goodness.
Discover how many basic and affordable ingredients at your local grocery store are actually superfoods and learn the powerful differences each one can make in your smoothies—and in your health.
SAMPLE RECIPE: Anti-Inflammatory Cherry-Berry Smoothie
1. In a blender, combine the water, cherries, raspberries, blueberries, and almond butter. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides so everything is fully incorporated.
2. Pour into glasses and enjoy!
How easy and delicious!
Here are some Book Reviews:
“If you are a smoothie lover or you know someone who is, this is a wonderful recipe book for them to explore new and different flavor combinations while providing a drink and meal in one!”
“There are a lot of really nice recipes in this book and just browsing it is very interesting. There are smoothies for energy, fiber, digestive health, better skin, weight loss, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging and more. Some are just for overall health or for taste. I also liked the fact that most of them don’t have too many ingredients, thus keeping it simple”
Other ways to get introduced to healthy eating and superfoods is with infused beverages, for example:
Infused coffees and teas – there are beverages like tea or coffee infused with ginseng, Garcinia Cambogia extract, Maca powder, spirulina, cinnamon, and other vitamins and minerals.
More to Discover:
*** A selection of superfoods to help you save on your health, not waste your money on drugs. Practical solutions to make your life easier while helping you introduce more healthy habits in your busy life.
*** Useful tools like blenders & juicers – perfect for busy, active lifestyles. They help with your juices and smoothies, help you make great breakfasts that you can even enjoy on the go with a portable blender (such as Hamilton Portable Blender).
To find out more about these resources, check the links in the podcast description below.
That’s all for this episode!
What other topics would you like to hear about in the Diet of Common Sense podcast? Please let me know your questions or comments on Twitter or on my Facebook group: join here to connect and share your ideas.
Please rate and review the podcast to help improve the show experience.
To your health and success,
Sarah
For more resources, check my blog posts:
Resource Page: Meal Delivery Services, Cookbook Recipes and Supplement Brands You Can Trust
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Vegetable powders for your juices and smoothies:
Curcumin Powder – gives your smoothies and shakes the yellow color. It’s a powerful antioxidant that supports your body functions. Check out this Maximum Strength Organic Curcumin Powder.
Activated Charcoal Powder – use it to give your culinary creations the black color. Check the benefits and how to use the activated charcoal powder here.
Spirulina and Blue Majic and Green Matcha powders – to give your foods the blue-green colors.
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Studies and Research:
https://www.livescience.com/34693-superfoods.html
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/leafy-green-vegetables
https://www.dietofcommonsense.com/rainbow-colored-smoothie-bowls/