on the blog . . .
5 Reasons Why Organic Food Could Save You! (Part 1)
I love food. I always have. Ever since I was tiny, I could always be counted on to have a healthy appetite and maybe that's why I grew to have my 6-foot-1-inch frame! I grew up eating a fair bit of organic food thanks to my parents having at least some awareness of its importance, but I never really knew why eating "organic" food really mattered. I tried my best to eat well but didn't think twice about chowing down on fast food now and then - especially when I had to regain the 30 pounds I lost in the hospital while I was bedridden and fed through a feeding tube! It's only in recent years that I've learned why organic food and organic farming is so critically important if we want to stay healthy.
I love food. I always have. Ever since I was tiny, I could always be counted on to have a healthy appetite and maybe that's why I grew to have my 6-foot-1-inch frame! I grew up eating a fair bit of organic food thanks to my parents having at least some awareness of its importance, but I never really knew why eating "organic" food really mattered. I tried my best to eat well but didn't think twice about chowing down on fast food now and then - especially when I had to regain the 30 pounds I lost in the hospital while I was bedridden and fed through a feeding tube! It's only in recent years that I've learned why organic food and organic farming is so critically important if we want to stay healthy.
Produce, meats (except fish) and processed (packaged) foods can be labeled as organic but for this post, I'm focusing on produce (plants) alone because organic meat is a whole other subject that I'll tackle in another post and processed food just isn't real food, organic or not. Organic candy is not healthy!
Modern agriculture's technology has allowed us to grow food in volumes that were impossible in the days of small family farms, but bigger is not necessarily better. We've distanced ourselves from where our food comes from and convenience foods have trumped knowing how to cook. There is a push happening to take us back to knowing where our food comes from but it's not an easy change to make when our food system works very hard to keep us in the dark, and we're constantly bombarded with messaging that junky convenience foods are better, easier and preferable.
They're not!
Fresh organic produce from my local grocery store.
"Organic" is a term regulated in the United States by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and in Canada by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. In order for food to bear the organic label, it must meet specific criteria. According to the USDA, , "Organic is a labeling term that indicates that the food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods. These methods integrate cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used."
Sound good? Here are 5 reasons why you can love it even more!
• Buying organic can save you money!
An organic strawberry
Seriously! I know people think "organic food is so expensive!" but if you buy fresh or frozen whole fruits and veggies and you buy fresh produce in season, it packs a nutritional punch so you don't need to eat as much. Junk food offers almost no nutritional value so we eat tons of it and are often still hungry when it's all gone. We feel like crap and we just spent a bunch of money of seemingly "cheap" food, and for what? Buying in bulk saves cash and if you can't eat or use it all before it spoils, did you know you can blanch (plunge it in boiling water for about 30 seconds, then ice water to stop it from cooking) and freeze your own veggies? I haven't tried freezing my own fruit yet. We freeze our vegetables when we have more peas and beans than we can eat from our garden! If you have a local farmers market, food direct from the farmer can be a lot cheaper than the grocery store and many farmers now offer CSA programs where you get a bulk box of produce or meats fresh every week or month.
Don't you feel better knowing it doesn't have anything toxic sprayed on it?
• Buying organic food can save you from exposure to toxic pesticides that could harm your health!
A recent study confirmed that if you eat organic food, you will reduce your exposure to pesticides! A pesticide called 1,3-D used on conventionally grown strawberries, for example, is believed to cause cancer.
Most pesticides are not selective and can be toxic to nontarget species including humans, and many of these cause neurotoxicity. Major pesticides (insecticides, herbicides and fungicides) are actually more toxic to human cells than the declared active principle (AP). For example:
"Ethoxylated adjuvants found in glyphosate-based herbicides were up to 10.000 times more toxic than the so-called active AP glyphosate and are better candidates for secondary side effects. This may explain in vivo long-term toxicity from 0.1ppb of the formulation and other toxicities that were not explained by a consideration of glyphosate alone. These adjuvants also have serious consequences to the health of humans and rats in acute exposures"
Not every produce item NEEDS to be organic though and you can see the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen" on the EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce.
• Organic foods can provide more nutrition than their conventionally grown counterparts, saving your health and your wallet
Studies showed that organic tomatoes have higher levels of polyphenols and flavonoids (both antioxidants), and not only tomatoes - a study by Newcastle University shows higher antioxidants in organic food across the board. Organic milk has been shown to have higher levels of Omega-3s, a beneficial fatty acid, because cows producing organic milk must be grazed on pasture for at least 4 months out of the year, whereas cows on conventional dairy farms typically eat grains like corn year-round which does not raise Omega-3 levels in the milk. More nutrition equals more bang for your buck!
• Organic foods can save the health of your kids
Developing children are far more sensitive to the toxic effects of pesticides than adults. Infants' still-developing kidneys and liver cannot remove pesticides from the body as well as an adult, and babies and children may be exposed to higher levels of pesticides because they breathe faster, are closer to the ground and tend to frequently stick their hands in their mouth.
• Organic farming supports wildlife habitats for the bees, birds and butterflies we love to see, saving the pollinators of our food
Organic food matters.
Since it's been in the news a lot lately, you're probably aware of bee colony collapse and the decline of birds and butterflies. Monarch butterflies have been hit hard by increasing herbicide use wiping out the milkweed they need to breed. Milkweed is the ONLY plant a Monarch's larvae will eat. Bees' numbers are declining rapidly and although the bee deaths' cause hasn't been definitively named, many signs point to pesticides for having "sub-lethal effects" on bee colonies. Birds are being affected, too, with a certain class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (that has also taken a lot of blame for killing bees), being blamed for the decline of 14 species of birds.
Organic farming, on the other hand, supports the habitats of these little fliers, and other wildlife. Scientists from Oxford University say organic farms support 34% more plant, insect and animal species than conventional farms!
For my fellow Canadians, Canada's organic regulations are not clearly stated for consumers like those in the US, and it required some digging. Thankfully, the CBC did a bit of that in 2011, but instead of clearly stating what organic means in Canada, the regulations are buried in this document. The procedure of organic certification states, "A certification body shall certify an agricultural product as organic if it determines, after verification, that...the substances used in the production and processing of the agricultural product are those set out in, and used in the manner described in, CAN/CGSB 32.311"
CAN/CGSB 32.311 is a list of permitted substances in organic food production. Reading quickly through the list, it doesn't look like Canada permits anything crazy or much different from what's allowed in the US but man, talk about creating some major legalese that is not immediately clear to consumers! Basically what they're saying is, certified organic in Canada means that the food has been produced using ONLY the substances on their "permitted" list. So to know what that really means, you'd have to go read the whole thing, and then check it periodically to see if it has changed.
So way to go, Canada. Way to make the law dense and impossible for consumers to quickly understand.
Real food is so pretty.
In the US, the use of the term "natural" on food only means something on meat and poultry packaging. The USDA states that "natural" meat and poultry means, "A product containing no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed. Minimal processing means that the product was processed in a manner that does not fundamentally alter the product. The label must include a statement explaining the meaning of the term natural (such as “no artificial ingredients; minimally processed”)."
But for other foods, the term is not regulated by the USDA or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the FDA says only, "FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives. However, the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances."
The term is equally ambiguous in Canada.
Do you have questions about organic food? Natural versus organic? Do you think organic is worth it or a waste of money? I'd love to know what you think! Leave your comments and questions below!
And if you like the photos, I added some to my photography site.
xoxo Maggie
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Something in the Water
I love water but it probably comes as no surprise that most of us (including me) don't drink as much water as we should. Here in North America, most of us have access to clean drinking water right out of the tap, but if we live in a city or a town, that water is usually treated with chemicals like chlorine and fluoride. So what do those chemicals do to our bodies and our health when we drink and bathe in it every day?
I love water but it probably comes as no surprise that we don't drink as much water as we should. Here in North America, most of us have access to clean drinking water right out of the tap, but if we live in a city or a town, that water is usually treated with chemicals like chlorine and fluoride. So what do those chemicals do to our bodies and our health when we drink and bathe in it every day?
According to the Institute of Medicine, men should consume 3.7 liters (about 13 CUPS) of water through food and drink every day, and for women, it's 2.7 liters, or about 9 cups - more if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. If we work out or sweat a lot on a hot day, we need more. Even mild dehydration can cause headaches, fatigue and make you feel a little bummed out.
When I learned the volumes of water used, and contaminated by, hydraulic fracturing, and saw the documentary, Tapped, I realized how precious and rare clean, drinkable water is. Access to clean water is becoming increasingly scarce.
Ideally, we could all drink filtered water and bring it with us in use reusable bottles when we're away from home. I love my glass "Tap is Terrific" and stainless steel Klean Kanteen bottles.
Drinking clean tap water isn't an option for everyone, though.
Bottled water seems great in theory. Clean and convenient, easy to grab and go, available in pretty much every grocery or convenience store... but the bottled water industry is controlled by very few (large) companies, and they TAKE the water from nature and sell it right back to us.
It's a booming business. We pay 2000 times the cost of tap water to buy it in a bottle.
In Tapped, the film opens by showing how Nestle came into the small town of Fryeburg, Maine, under the name Poland Springs, and mined their water using eminent domain. Jim Wilfong, former Assistant Administrator in the Clinton Administration, lives in Maine and is interviewed in the film. He says, "Nestle and other large water barons are out trying to tie up the rights to water...It's all about control." Nestle's Chairman of the Board, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, does not think we have a right to our water.
In 2016, Nestle outbid a small Ontario town in Canada for the rights to their well, to ensure "future business growth."
"The Nestle well near Elora sits on the traditional territory of the Six Nations of the Grand River, 11,000 of whom do not have access to clean running water.''
I don't know about you, but that's not OK with me!
(Click to sign the petition)
Not to mention, the plastic bottles used for bottled water have also been shown to leach over 24,000 endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals into the water they contain! And we pay 2000 times the cost of tap water to drink that chemical soup.
My filter showerhead
Tap water is typically chlorinated and it has allowed most of us to rely on having drinking water that won't make us sick because the chlorine kills most waterborne bacteria that can cause disease.
But it doesn't kill all of the harmful bacteria all of the time, or remove any other contaminants. The chlorine itself isn't the best thing for us either since it can react with organic matter in the water and form trihalomethanes, or THMs. One THM we all know, actually, is chloroform.
Your know, that old-school chemical used to knock people out? Yeah, that. It's also a probable human carcinogen.
You know the smell of chlorine when you're near a chlorinated pool, but did you know the allowed levels of chlorine in tap water are higher (4 ppm) than what's recommended for a pool or spa (1-3 ppm)? I grew up with a well in the country and naturally clean water, but now, like many people, the water we get comes to us chlorinated from the city water system. Necessary, I'm sure, but I don't want to drink or bathe in chlorine now that it's done it's bacteria-killing job.
So what do I do? I use these:
Since we get more exposure to THMs like chloroform through bathing and showering than we do through drinking chlorinated water, I make sure to use these every time I have a bath or shower! They don't eliminate all the bad stuff because no consumer filter can, but they help.
On the left is this stuff called Pure Bath which is essentially just ascorbic acid (Vit. C) that reacts with and neutralizes the chlorine in the water. Add a scoop to my bath water, no more chlorine.
On the right is a filter showerhead that removes most of the chlorine in the water. I could smell chlorine when I showered before I got this filter, but now, no smell at all.
And just to be sort-of scientific, I picked up chlorine test strips at Home Depot to test my bath and shower water. I used a Water Quality Test by Pro-Lab. The images have slightly different color casts due to being photographed in different light. Sorry! I had to be quick. See the images below:
The results chart and unopened test strip.
Tap water test strip on the right next to the results chart; water treated with Pure Bath according to instructions on the left. The difference is subtle (great to discover my tap water is not heavily chlorinated!) but the Pure Bath clearly eliminates the little chlorine that was there. It also made the water slightly more acidic which makes sense because ascorbic acid was added!
This is the result of water collected from my shower that ran through the Culligan shower filter! Also, no more chlorine, no matter how little, and like I said, I could smell it before I got the filter and I can't smell it now. It also reduced the water hardness a touch, which the filter says it does (reduces scale).
My hair and skin thank me for using filtered water, too. They are much healthier without the dryness that plagued me before I used these products. The filter that goes in the showerhead need to be changed every six months, so I have it as part of my "subscribe and save" items (see image at right) that I order on Amazon and it's scheduled to be shipped to me every six months so I never have to remember! The images without "My Whole Healthy" on them are Amazon links if you want to investigate further or purchase.
So that takes care of bathing. What about drinking water? For several years now I've used a Cuzn undersink filter that filters out both chlorine and fluoride. I purchased it from Friends of Water.
Finally, the chlorine test for my Cuzn undersink filter! No chlorine in its filtered water. Unfortunately these tests do not test for fluoride. I will look for a way to test my water for that and update this post if I can do it!
Why filter out the fluoride you ask? Isn't it necessary for healthy teeth?
Filtered drinking water from my undersink filter. We drink and cook with this water only.
Probably not. And the fluoride that's currently added to our drinking water is industrial waste from phosphate mining. It's often contaminated with arsenic.
Studies also show that fluoride is a neurotoxin.
My brain has enough to do without having to deal with neurotoxins, so I choose to filter it out of my drinking water, and use a fluoride-free toothpaste. My dental check-ups are great and I haven't developed cavities since my water or toothpaste switch. I do make sure to floss every day though and brush thoroughly. I have a Sonicare electric toothbrush.
Despite being unhappy with the treated water I get, I shouldn't complain. There are a lot of people who don't have a well in the country, or access to a city or town water system. Did you know that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, one in three Americans get their drinking water from streams that are vulnerable to pollution?
Tapped lfocuses on the bottled water industry and its frightening actions and power, but if your water is polluted, maybe your only option IS bottled water! And you're stuck paying exorbitant prices for it.
We need water to live, it's imperative to good health and we should drink more of it, but it's pretty clear to me that we need to stick with tap water, remove the chemicals, work to clean up and protect our polluted stream and rivers, and use reusable bottles to bring water with us when we leave the house. Water is just too important to be ignored or assume "ah, it will be fine." Because it won't.
Do you buy bottled water? Do you bring your own? Do you filter your tap water? Do you drink enough or do you struggle with that? I'd love to know what you do and any "water woes" you may have. Let me know in the comments below this post!
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The Worst Exercise You Should Never Do!
Ah, the problem with attention grabbing headlines. The exercise in question is NOT "the worst exercise you should never do," unless you are doing it wrong (pictured above), or have specific exercise needs that prevent you from doing it correctly. See, I read this article the other day that states, "It’s about time everyone knew the truth about crunches and why they aren’t the exercise for you." The headline, Six reasons you were right to hate crunches, definitely grabbed my attention, as my post tile here probably grabbed yours, but upon finishing the article and discussing it with my personal trainer and mentor, the piece left me with some serious concerns as both a certified personal trainer, and a journalist, and I want you to know the actual truth.
Ah, the problem with attention grabbing headlines. The exercise in question is NOT "the worst exercise you should never do," unless you are doing it wrong (pictured above), or have specific exercise needs that prevent you from doing it correctly. See, I read this article the other day that states, "It’s about time everyone knew the truth about crunches and why they aren’t the exercise for you." The headline, Six reasons you were right to hate crunches, definitely grabbed my attention, as my post tile here probably grabbed yours, but upon finishing the article and discussing it with my personal trainer and mentor, the piece left me with some serious concerns as both a certified personal trainer, and a journalist, and I want you to know the actual truth.
The article outlines six "reasons" why crunches are basically the worst exercise ever, but the reasons given describe ways of doing a crunch that are incorrect to begin with, and it does not give real direction for how to perform the suggested alternative exercises properly. I would like to show you how to do a crunch correctly, because a crunch done correctly can be useful for many (but not all) people! I'll also show you how to correctly perform some abdominal crunch alternatives, too.
This is a sit-up, not a crunch, done badly, and this could cause injury. Do not do this.
Since I am more than halfway through my pregnancy now, it IS unsafe and uncomfortable for me to do most crunch-type exercises but my wonderful husband volunteered to demonstrate for you! Above he is showing you a sit-up, done badly. His abs are not engaged correctly, he has let his pelvic floor go, he is straining his neck and letting his lats (shoulders) go. In the article, the author describes,
"When performing a crunch, the work is being done by the superficial muscles in the abdomen and the hip flexors, which shorten and tighten with each repetition...Next time you are at the gym, watch people doing crunches and pay attention to their abdomen – you will notice the tummy pooches outward, which is the opposite of the so-called purpose of this exercise. You will also notice that the shoulders round, the head tucks forward, the butt tucks under and the breath is often held. This is disastrous to the core and pelvic floor and only serves to exacerbate the terrible posture we live in all day."
What she is describing is what my husband is doing here. THIS IS NOT A CRUNCH!
A crunch, performed correctly, is a very small movement with minimal spinal flexion. To do one, you lay on the floor with your feet also flat on the floor, hip-width apart, and your finger tips behind your head in line with your ears. Placing your whole hand behind your head may make you apply pressure to your head and strain your neck so please avoid doing that.
First, you want to engage your lower abdominals - you can lightly press your lower back into the floor, drawing your belly-button in toward your spine and your ribs down towards your hip bones, to feel the correct muscles engage.
Then, using just your abs, still drawn in and engaged, lift your shoulders off the floor while keeping your shoulders away from your ears, aiming for a small crunch movement that does not make you curl your spine or use your hip flexors - those muscles at the front of your hips between your hip bone and the tops of your thighs. Your tummy stays engaged and flat, and the movement is not forced. Like this:
How to do a crunch correctly. Fingers light on the back of the head, abs fully engaged, feet remaining flat on the floor, shoulders lifted slightly off the floor. It is not a big or exaggerated movement.
Lifting the shoulders off the floor while keeping all of your abdominals and your lats engaged is very challenging. By keeping the movement small and focusing on using all of the correct muscles, you can also keep your pelvic floor engaged (it's part of your core! Ladies, think Kegels. Gents, the muscle behind your man parts that your can feel tense and move up like an elevator going up into your pelvis), preventing the article's fear-inducing description,
"Crunches only weaken your core, mess with your alignment and set you up for back pain and pelvic floor dysfunction."
The author listed, in small print at the bottom of the article, is, "Kim Vopni, known as The Fitness Doula, is a certified pre/postnatal fitness consultant, co-founder of Bellies Inc. and owner of Pelvienne Wellness Inc." Given that little detail, most of the author's experience is likely with pregnant or recently pregnant women who definitely have special exercise needs. The article does mention women a lot, but nowhere specifies that she means crunches are a bad choice for women only, pregnant women or women trying to get back into shape after pregnancy. I'm pregnant right now and I'm all too familiar with the modifications that need to be made in my workout program, but the article paints the exercise with too broad of a brush.
A crunch done correctly can be a useful exercise for building core strength and may be necessary for someone like a soccer player who uses their abs with spinal flexion when doing a throw-in. If you decide to work with a certified personal trainer, the key here is the word "personal." The workouts I, and any good trainer, would give you are targeted and tailored for you! Whatever your ability, desires for fitness and physical requirements, you would be given an exercise program designed to help you reach your goals and feel better. Every exercise contains some risk but so does walking out the front door. It's a good trainer's responsibility to give you exercises that you can complete successfully and will help you safely reach your fitness goals.
If you still want alternatives to the crunch, one fabulous exercise is called the plank, or "prone iso-abs." There are several modifications of this exercise so it's very versatile. To perform this exercise, move into a pushup position with your hands directly under your shoulders, shoulders pulled away from your ears, and your toes on the floor behind you, putting your entire body into a "plank" position with your abs pulled in and engaged to keep your back neutral and your hips in a direct diagonal line with your shoulders and feet. Once in position, hold for as long as you can maintain good form. To improve core strength, try to hold it a little longer each time you perform the exercise.
Plank done in a push-up position. If this is too difficult, it can also be done from the knees with the feet lifted off the floor. In either position, imagine a straight line running from the top of the head, through the neck, down the spine and through the tailbone. If on your toes as pictured, extend that line through your legs to your feet. If on your knees, the straight line would end at your knees on the floor.
This exercise requires that all of your abdominal muscles are engaged and held in an isometric way (tension without contracting the muscle) in order to maintain the position and prevent your back from arching, or your hips from either raising up too high or falling to the floor. If you can't feel where you need to be, try having someone spot you or do it in front of a mirror on the floor so you can look over and see where you need to be.
In the more advanced version, or the true prone iso-abs exercise, you would perform this from your forearms with your elbows under your shoulders. Here, gravity plays a bigger role and makes maintaining the plank more difficult.
Another increasingly challenging core exercise is the ball roll-out. For this exercise, you do need a stability ball and the smaller the ball, the harder it will be. The larger the ball, the more upright you will be and thus, the easier the exercise. An inch or two can make a big difference! To perform this exercise, kneel and place your forearms on the ball in front of you, then lift your knees to get into a plank position with your arms on the ball instead of the floor, allowing your back to flatten into a neutral diagonal line from shoulder to ankle.
Ball roll-out starting position.
It's ok and good to bring the ball in close to you with your forearms under your chest to start. The point is not to hold this position, but to extend the forearms away from your body as far as you can while keeping the abdominals engaged and the spine neutral, without allowing your low back muscles to take over. You will not be able to extend your arms very far. Try rolling out and in five or six times, or as many times as you can maintain good form.
As you can see, my husband is very strong and this was challenging even for him. Beyond the abdominal work of holding the plank position and extending the arms, the ball introduces instability that must be overcome as well. I would not attempt this alone unless you are certain you can do it safely.
Most exercises incorporate using the core muscles in some way. If you aren't sure how to find or engage your core muscles, you can start with small movements to increase your awareness of them. While standing up, take a deep breath and let your ribs open and flare out. Then as you exhale, think about drawing your ribs back in and down, engaging your core. If you do it in front of a mirror, you may be able to see the difference when you use your core muscles.
Going back to the article, as a graduate of journalism school maybe my expectations of publications delivering news are higher than can be expected these days but this article was published in The Globe and Mail, a national Canadian newspaper, so I expected a heckuva lot more context and basis for the authors dismissal of this staple exercise. A crunch done correctly should not do any of the awful things she describes.
Maybe most people at the gym don't know how to do a crunch correctly and may be doing themselves real harm. Most gyms have personal trainers available, so if you have a question about an exercise, just ask! They may try to sell you a personal training package though so be prepared for the upsell. And if their direction makes you uncomfortable or leaves you feeling unsure, just skip that exercise until you are confident you know how to do it correctly!
If you are interested in working with a personal trainer, always look for someone who will listen to your needs, train your safely and not discount any fears or questions you may have. I am not accepting new clients yet but if you're in Southern California, I will announce when I am in my newsletter! Sign up for that below or above right. If you are not near me but are looking for a trainer, I'd be happy to try and answer any questions you may have about how to find the right one!
Do you hate crunches? Do you look for other ways to strengthen your core? Do you know how to use your core correctly? How does your body feel? Let me know in the comments below!
Big thanks to my hubby for posing for pictures. Happy exercising!
xo Maggie
If you're looking for a high quality stability ball (balance ball, yoga ball, fitness ball... they're all the same thing) that won't break the bank, we use SPRI balls at my gym! I love them and if you take care of them, they will last. The next level up in durability (anti-burst properties) is Duraball but they are pricey. Below is a link to the 65 cm SPRI ball. The ball my husband is using is one I've had for ages and wouldn't really recommend. The quality's not great but I'll use it until it bites the dust!
65 cm is a good size ball for MOST people but it depends on your height. When sitting on the fully inflated ball, your feet flat on the floor, your knees should be level or just below the hips, with your leg bent at a 90º angle or slightly greater. If you're knees are higher than your hips, the balls is too small.
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Bonus Blog! My Q&A with Bethany
I met Maggie a few months ago when she stopped by the farm to pick up an order. Her bubbly, inviting personality made it super easy and fun to chat with her. After a little while, she opened up to me about her incredible story (which we’ll talk about below). It completely blew me away!
I had the honor to be interviewed by Bethany at From The Pasture this week, and I want to share it with you! We go a little deeper into my story than I've written here on the blog, and it sheds a little more light on who I am and what brought me to this place in my life.
I'd love for you to read it! Feel free to leave comments below, or over at From The Pasture.
"I met Maggie a few months ago when she stopped by the farm to pick up an order. Her bubbly, inviting personality made it super easy and fun to chat with her. After a little while, she opened up to me about her incredible story (which we’ll talk about below). It completely blew me away!
I was so imporessed not just by what Maggie had been through, but also by her positive outlook and persevering spirit. Ever since then, it’s been a joy to keep in touch with Maggie and see all of the amazing things she’s doing to empower and inspire others to live healthy lives. She even started a blog about it (check it out at mywholehealthy.com)! I hope you’ll enjoy learning about Maggie and her story as much as I have!
Let’s start from the beginning. Can you give us a bit of background on where you were at in life before the accident?
First of all, I just want to say thank you for having me on From The Pasture! It’s no secret that I love your blog and the Primal Pastures farm. I’m honored to be interviewed by you!
So the accident happened in Nov. 2007 and the summer before, I was living in the San Diego area and working..."
READ THE REST BY CLICKING HERE!
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Make The Best Smoothie Ever!
I love green smoothies. Real, raw, whole food, organic glasses full of delicious, healthy, green goodness. Not fast-food cups full of sugar and artificial ingredients, or even smoothie bar, "all natural" (not organic), smoothies that are overpriced and way too sweet. My husband still teases me about drinking "swamp water" but I love how they make me feel and I think their vibrant green color is gorgeous! Making them at home is definitely the way to go and I'll show you how.
I love green smoothies. Real, raw, whole food, organic glasses full of delicious, healthy, green goodness. Not fast-food cups full of sugar and artificial ingredients, or even smoothie bar, "all natural" (not organic), smoothies that are overpriced and way too sweet. My husband still teases me about drinking "swamp water" but I love how they make me feel and I think their vibrant green color is gorgeous! Making them at home is definitely the way to go and I'll show you how.
I love the green smoothies I make myself because they give me the nutritional punch my body needs, I can control exactly what goes into them, they're easy to make, and they taste like happiness! By using fresh (and fresh-frozen) ingredients, I swear I can feel the smoothie boost my energy right away and it feels like my cells are celebrating when I drink it.
I started out by juicing and even though I compost, I hated seeing all that leftover pulp get thrown out, along with the fiber and nutrients it contains. Fresh juice IS delicious and packed with nutrients but by eliminating all the fiber, juice's high levels of natural sugars get absorbed by our bodies very quickly, and that can have a just-as-bad effect on the body as eating refined sugars. Unless you juice all green vegetables, things like beets, carrots and any fruit you add are very high in the natural fruit sugar, fructose. You can read more about the trouble with sugars here.
I love smoothies because they keep all the fiber, along with the nutrients, and actually fill me up! Plus, I can pack way more veggies into a smoothie than I could ever sit down and eat in one sitting, so they help me get the nutrition I need. To digest the smoothie well, it's good to hold the smoothie in your mouth for a few seconds before swallowing so the enzymes in your saliva have a chance to work! It's food, not just a drink to chug down. Remember amylase from high school biology? It starts the breakdown of carbohydrates and that all starts in the mouth.
Some people think you need a bunch of specific or fancy ingredients to make a smoothie, like cashew milk or greek yogurt, but I never do that. All you need is water, fruit and fresh greens like spinach, collard greens, kale, etc. If you're brave and want a noticeably earthy flavor, beet greens and chard are amazingly healthy leafy greens, too! Try different kinds and see what you like.
The only thing I'd highly recommend investing in is a high-power blender like the VItamix or the Ninja. Those babies really make the difference because they're powerful enough to pulverize your fruit and veggies and make a deliciously creamy smoothie. Who wants texture and chunks in their smoothie, right?
These blenders can be pricey but the smaller, less professional versions cost less and if you don't need to do any hardcore blending, and are willing to chop your fruit and veg into smaller pieces before you blend it, they work just fine. My mum has a small Ninja that's perfect for making single serving smoothies.
I made this smoothie with about of cup water, big handfuls of organic baby kale and baby spinach, a granny smith apple, a frozen banana saved from when it started to turn brown and I didn't want to throw it away. This is a great way to save bananas you don't get around to eating! Then I added half a bag of frozen tropical blend fruit (sliced banana, pineapple chunks and strawberries). That's it. Water, greens and fruit. And it was an AWESOME 30+ ounces of healthy, delicious lunch, no loss of fiber or nutrients, in a giant mason jar mug.
I like adding a stalk or two of celery, a whole cucumber, and even an avocado instead of a banana for creaminess if I want a more veggie-focused smoothie with less sugar sometimes, and different fruit like blueberries, blackberries, mango, peaches, oranges, a little lemon, or whatever suits my mood at the time.
I also try to rotate my greens, using different kinds week to week so I, number one, get flavor variety, and number two, avoid overloading my body with a plant's naturally occurring oxalic acid and alkaloids, etc. These are the plants natural defenses against the bugs that eat them, and in very concentrated amounts, they can be harmful to us. It's why we don't eat rhubarb leaves (they contain these things in very high concentration and they ARE poisonous ). I've never heard of anyone getting sick from using only spinach or kale week after week, but I just want you to know that the possibility exists so you can get the most out of your smoothies. You can read more about it here, here, here and here.
And always, always use organic produce because leafy greens and fruit typically retain high levels of pesticide residues, according to the Environmental Working Group's independent testing. My body has been through so much already, I'm always aware of what I'm feeding it because I know my brain is still healing in many ways and my cells need food that helps them function, not toxic chemicals that make their functioning harder.
I prefer using frozen fruit because it gives me the most choice during the winter, even in California, and my blender does warm up my smoothies a little bit from all the friction happening during blending. I've seen a lot of info circulating on the internet about heat destroying the enzymes in raw foods, and cooking certainly changes which vitamins etc. we are able to absorb from different foods, but I can't find a definitive source that says the warmth from blending deactivates or destroys beneficial enzymes. But I like to keep my smoothies cold because they just taste better! Let's face it, warm smoothies are gross.
Frozen fruit isn't QUITE as nutrient dense as fresh fruit (fresh meaning picked by you or your farmer that day and eaten right away - fruit in the grocery store has often come from hundreds/thousands of miles away, picked before it's fully ripe just so it will make the trip and it's not fully mature when you buy it) but frozen fruit is frozen immediately after being picked, usually at peak ripeness, locking in those nutrients, and I love the variety and the convenience it provides. We've got to find what works for us because it's not good for us if we can't be bothered to make it and it never gets in our bodies!
I want to mention that smoothies and fresh juice are also naturally very acidic, and can be very sweet if they contain a lot of fruit, so I try to swish some fresh water around my mouth when I finish drinking my smoothie to help protect my teeth. I lost all but one of my front teeth in the accident and they were replaced with dental implants, so the natural teeth I have left are very precious to me. And it's pretty counterproductive to drink green smoothies to boost my health but destroy my teeth at the same time. Green smoothies have a lot of beneficial fiber and nutrients but I try to use common sense, I don't drink them every day and I change it up.
Smoothie ingredients
Earlier in this post I mentioned my 30 oz. mason jar mug and I know that's a BIG smoothie. I love those mugs though because they often come with lids, so if I can't finish my smoothie, I screw the lid on and stick it in the fridge for later. I always finish my smoothie at the latest the next day because the longer it sits, the more it oxidizes and loses nutrients as the vitamins and enzymes do break down.
You may have also noticed the straws I'm using! I never use plastic straws anymore because of the chemicals they contain that I don't want in my body (chemicals in the plastic can leach into the beverage your drinking as you suck on the straw). Plus, they're wasteful and I really believe the health of the planet affects our health directly. Instead I always use reusable stainless steel or silicone straws that don't leach any unwanted chemicals into my beverages, and can be washed and reused. Don't worry, they don't add any funky tastes to what I'm drinking and they're a much healthier way to go!
So give a green smoothie a try and tell me what you think, or if you drink them already, leave your favorite flavor/ingredient combo in the comments below! Maybe I'm missing out and you know something I don't know!
xo Maggie
PS - Add a clean boost to your smoothie with my favorite vegan protein!
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