Sugar Cravings Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Anti-Inflammatory Eating Diet Plan For Any Age or Body Type

After many moons and decades, anti-inflammatory eating has caught on like wildfire for the health-conscious. I remember when gyms cropped up like micro greens, and healthy living in the U.S. was focused on getting fit through cardio exercise.

…And was less focused on healthy eating to prevent inflammation and disease.

…While all along heart and cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers are still the leading causes of mortality in the U.S. (CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm)

So, then we shifted to a healthy diet as the core strategy for preventing diseases, providing energy and nutritional medicine, and the #1 answer to losing weight.

I watched daily the evolution of this through my management lens working in catering and as an event meal planner… kinda like subscribing to and watching a YouTube channel, except social media didn’t exist back then.

Today, the health-conscious are tuned into anti-inflammatory eating, with plant-based whole foods, quality protein, healthy dairy, and good heart oils. Just in time as cognitive decline and diabetes rates are on the fast rise.

A food’s nutritional composition, low glycemic index, and synergistic food impact on the mind-gut connection have never been so celebrated.

And, that makes me happy because I’m a foodie who loves good-tasting healthy food… and maybe you do too!? 🎂

Whole, plant-based foods are greatest when they’re at their seasonal best and the star in a flavorful-exciting meal.

Today we know our energy in old age (longevity) is heavily influenced by our lifestyle and healthy eating pattern choices. (Harvard Study: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/following-a-variety-of-healthy-eating-patterns-associated-with-lower-heart-disease-risk/)

Through lifestyle choices, we get to play a big role in our physical and mental health destiny, and in the mind-body connection. It’s realistic to aim for a goal of being active at 💯. 🎯

Anti-Inflammatory Eating Goals No Matter What Age or Body Type

Anti-inflammatory eating works for all ages and body types. It’s a healthy eating lifestyle that embraces food variety (biodiversity) and includes sustainable everyday foods where you’re rewarded with feeling good and a body you’re comfortable with… and that helps so you don’t have to switch into different clothing sizes in-between seasons.

You can have food sensitivities and substitute those food items or brands with another highly nutritional equivalent.

Anti-inflammatory isn’t a diet, but it can be a lifelong food plan and THE DIET you stick to, to maintain a consistent healthy body.

…And It’s probably the only anti-anything I live for these days as I believe in peace when at all possible. 😊

In anti-inflammatory eating, there’s generally not a need for elimination diets when the body is running smoothly; and if it’s not, specific anti-inflammatory foods can help restore you back.

Meal planning with daily anti-inflammatory foods (as top of mind), you support your efforts to prevent preventable health issues down the road and chronic inflammations that can mysteriously show up one day.

When you’re younger you may not think about these maturing signs, but older and wiser, we feel our internal body changes by the quality of our daily life activities.

No matter what AGE you are, anti-aging and anti-inflammatory can be your healthy targets, as you look and feel your best today and in your bright, promising future.

We know it’s never too early to start naturally reversing any damage.

There is no downfall to anti-inflammatory eating…

I suppose you can eat too many carrots, but you’d probably grow bunny ears too. 🐰

…Anything is possible, but not likely.

And if you’re on the Vata body side of the spectrum, you appreciate all the variety 🌈, and not eating the same thing every day.

And if you’re on the Kapha end, your healthy, lighter food moves can usually get heavily rewarded, spilling over into other complex body systems winning you bonus points.

Below are the different body types according to Ayurveda in case you’re not sure what your type is.

You can see which one (and sometimes a cross between two) of the Ayurvedic body types you most resemble. By going through each of the 10 statements, you choose the one that most accurately describes you and your body.

Then total up the count for each column seeing which one you have the most check marks in. That’s your dominant body type.

It’s your natural way and the body you’ve gotten used to. Usually, one type is more dominant, but you can have a close second or a tie.

Plus, the types fit more like in a circular pie (or percentage pie if you like math descriptions), where the 3 fit as 3 slices.

Everyone has traces of all 3 types even if one type is just a small sliver or a few crumbs (…can you tell I like food descriptions?).

And this is good to know …especially if you don’t like your body type diagnosis here. I’m sure you also fall into some of the descriptions in the other types or in different times of your life 😉

These come from the learnings I had back in 2008.

No matter which BODY TYPE you have, each one of us can benefit from daily anti-inflammatory eating.

Eating anti-inflammatory is like cardio exercise. …in that, we reap healthy benefits as we have a heart that runs better with our healthy moves.

So, then armed with this information, you can better plan your daily anti-inflammatory “eat from the rainbow” meals that can become your established eating-being way.

Enter The Healthiest Combination: Ayurveda Habits and Anti-Inflammatory Eating

In my relationship with food, I choose anti-inflammatory foods when grocery shopping, and then make easy home meals based on what balances my dominant Vata sweet tooth-to-salty craving body.

And I use food as natural “medicine” to help restore my Ayurvedic imbalances—Kapha, Vata, Pitta, or a combination of them that get out of whack for any of us at any time.

Gradually getting off-balance is part of natural order in our organized, but seemingly chaotic world at times.

Think of the 3 body types in us like colliding earth, wind, and fire (…and like the timeless rock band who still plays in harmony… and just this past weekend).

…Do you remember (the 21st night of September)?… 🎸🎺🎤🎶

…So anyway, with all the chaos brought into our bodies, layering anti-inflammatory foods and balancing them with Ayurvedic food choices is a good way (and I think the best way!) to smooth out undesired moods like anxiety, depression, anger, and any shades in between.

These mood types that linger as undercurrents or that are obvious to us (and others), can cause chronic stress leading to inflammation and debilitating diseases already mentioned.

But the good news is… subtle food changes can change our subtle moods (…nice tongue twister there 😊).

This is true for all ages, types, and sizes as we all can carry off-balance moods seasonally or from time-to-time.

Even though my size is usually consistent year-round, I have a big Vata sweet tooth and too much sugar irritates my skin. That’s a sign of a Pitta body imbalance.

With The 2 A’s (Anti-Inflammatory and Ayurvedic) approach I know I’m doing everything I can to support my prized health and honor the body that was given to me… and that can be your intention too.

So, I put together a list of 200 anti-inflammatory foods so you know easily what to grocery shop for (and shortcut to the checkout line).

The healthy and anti-inflammatory shopping lists help you decide what to grocery buy and fill your kitchen with when you’re lazy or feeling a ‘lil Kapha… and you want to make easy choices… and not have to search high and low in your fridge and cabinets trying to figure out your next meal when it can be made deliciously in minutes or in one bowl with ideas on-hand.

Plus you can overlay the Ayurveda food lists provided, so you have all the researched nutritional food knowledge and references, food lists, and meal ideas all in one place and at your fingertips…. and have the food knowledge I acquired from my decade of event meal planning working with chefs. You can use the list of ingredients and take the flavor ideas to make similar simple, tasty meals that impress you and those you’re feeding.

Another benefit to anti-inflammatory eating that I’ve learned is that your at-home healthy practice can change your sugar.

What do I mean by this?…

At home, you can control the ingredients you eat.

Since 2020, I took up baking regularly. I built a deeper relationship with ingredients and food. I learned to modify bakes without refined sugar (or any white sugar-type substitute) that irritates the skin. And in other body types, sugar can add to insulin resistance and wreak other body havoc.

I do make a few exceptions, but pretty much I’ve learned to enjoyably swap what I once loved (sugar!) with sweet anti-inflammatory ingredients that I now prefer the taste of… because taste is super important to me, as it is to you! 😋

These days, I’m choosier with flavors and I think that makes for better-tasting and healthier bakes.

I’m sure if I got a taste of something super boozy sweet now like in a restaurant dessert with an oozing middle, I would probably only be able to take a small bite without thinking it was too sweet.

So, what you eat regularly changes your body desires and tastes to match your diet.

You are what you eat (and you can become what you eat).

…So that’s another benefit of making the healthy switch!

Your healthy desires catch up to your habits and routines.

That’s good hope for sugar cravings or any other unhealthy weak-in-the-knees food cravings (like the FF word 🍟).

…And if you were to offer a diabetic person, a sugar-free yummy cookie, they probably wouldn’t want it, but if they did, they wouldn’t enjoy it the same way they would if they had the taste of sugar regularly.

So, our tastes also change to help us out.

That’s some good inspo if you want to cook or bake more today or into this year.

And, I’d add... if you have pantry ingredients close on hand, you’re more likely to pick up this handy life skill sooner if you want. You can decide to keep a good shelf-life food pantry, in addition to shopping regularly for fresh ingredients or meals.

You could also keep a secondary “food as medicine” kitchen cabinet that includes spices like I do.

If that’s far from what you do today and you’re not there yet, but wanna be… be encouraged that your desires change. Like in my home cooking journey…

I rarely turned on the oven or stove at home when I planned menus all day at work as a catering sales manager. I came home tired and had a couple boxes of pasta and tomato sauce in my cupboard… nothing for me to get excited about even after I re-charged my energy.

Grocery store shopping was my personal foodie food event. Cooking was the last thing I wanted to do being around food conversations all day.

And in your case, you may be dead dog tired by the end of the work week, overwhelmingly busy season, or just had a Pitta day, that all cause you to want to stay away from the stovetop oven… yes/right?

But you could change your mind and ways when you get used to sniffing and reading ingredients that you have on hand at home a few steps away from the couch that you can check out on your way back from the bathroom or reaching for a snack 😉… and that way you can see that you can actually make your own this-and-that just as easily as going out or to the store.

A factory doesn’t need to supply all the combined ingredients in a package for you to enjoy. Food was available before we had modern machinery.

So you can put ingredients together yourself in seconds or minutes and without all kinds of convenient gadgets and kitchenware.

And those mindful minutes can be very therapeutic.

That can lead you to want to learn more about different types of interesting ingredients available out there.

That’s when cooking or baking starts getting fun! 🎉

And can inspire you to experiment …plus then you’ll have all this extra energy from your enhanced healthy anti-inflammatory eating lifestyle you’ve adopted, that can take you to explore the local farmer’s markets for seasonal produce.

That can be as enjoyable as your other travel excursions without all the hassles. I LIKE TO DREAM HEALTHY BIG…and you can too!

Btw, Happy International Yoga Day today (as awareness mentioning)! As planners, we love when dates stay the same every year like this June anniversary. 😊

Biohacking Your Sweet Craving With Baking Substitute Tips

While you don’t need sweets to survive and would be better off without sugar, biohacking your sweet craving works if you work it.

And it works well when you bake your own goods and proof your own dough (like in the sweet veggie umami pizza that you can read about below).

I’m living proof it’s doable 🤗

…I’ve had a super sweet tooth since I was a child… candy, cookies, ice cream, you name it. Going to the dentist became so familiar, that now as an adult, I don’t have any dental office chair anxiety. That’s the good news.

…And I think that’s one of the places early on where I realized that no news is good news.

The happy sugar on the tongue and mind keeps dentists and doctors in business. Most (not all) people have a daily sweet hankering that’s hard to shake off (well, maybe with a milkshake or a rich smoothie!).

Especially us Vatas who love sweets. And if you get in the habit of eating sweets because those around you (or you) bring it in the house, then below are some biohacking your sweet craving tips that I use.

Plus, ingredients you could consider adding or substituting (and my personal faves!).

…Especially over the past few years, people have been more cooped up indoors snacking, and sugar is everywhere and part of irregular stress eating patterns, that lead to increased weight and growing health issues.

Health is what got me to change my sweet ways. But I feel like I haven’t missed a beat in sweet enjoyment making a few adjustments. You can change your tastes because of healthy desires.

Chocolate cake, for example, wasn’t one of my fave flavors and now is. It’s one of the healthier cakes that I call Cocoa Cake.

Because it’s mostly made with cocoa. It’s healthy without the rich buttery decadence we’re used to associating with chocolate cakes. I bake with unsweetened cocoa and a flour blend that includes gluten-free flour and probiotic Greek yogurt, almond milk, unsweetened applesauce, and eggs.

Some of those ingredients are healthy, especially without full-on fat and sugar. A ‘lil dab of the bad will do you… or better yet, you could substitute with healthy fat and fruits that have fructose sugar…

Your sweet spot is “in moderation” relative to your body’s tolerances for healthy goodness. If you have a Kapha body imbalance you want to reduce sugar, and if you’re daily “getting addicted” to sugar. It’s common sense + building good habits.

You can use nuts, higher in fiber and protein. And you can use coconut oil or light EVOO that I use as baking oil to give a batter moistness, and also make consuming daily fat-soluble vitamins more bioavailable to the body.

And my personal favorite is fruit zests and spices to add sweetness. It’s not cheating… it’s being smart with your health and calories.

And here’s a savory example that most of us have a weakness for: french fries. Without frying oil, potatoes are healthy sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

So when roasting or cooking our potatoes, they’re then healthy. And even better if we add spices like turmeric, oregano, and pepper. Or my personal fave: tarragon. And if you add proteins and veg to your plate, then you’re off to the races.

…Speaking of races, I’m still getting goosebump chills over the Kentucky Derby win over the weekend… the least likely to win (80-1 odds) horse, won. Maybe he got his winning oomph from the healthy grass diet too.

…Which btw, we too could graze on more plant-based foods for our human sustainable energy. And for world sustainability.

That’s what I did with this untraditional plant-based pizza. Or a pie, that we called it when I was a teenager working in a pizza-pie shop. 🍕

…And where I learned pizza-making techniques for 4 years. Most of the pies had tomato sauce, but occasionally, customers would order no sauce, light, or extra sauce. This pie has no tomato sauce.

It’s loaded with eating-from-the-rainbow goodness and flavors. It has beets, sweet potatoes, white cannellini beans, ricotta (goat or buffalo cheese also would be good too!), cilantro, garlic, and truffle oil baked into a whole wheat crust. Then it was drizzled with balsamic vinegar for a sweet-umami flavor that “hit the spot” for lunch. I didn’t need a side dessert or sugar.

So this brings me to the first tip I have for biohacking your sweet craving:

When you eat less sugar, you crave less of it; and when you crave less, you eat less. So, you can use the cycle to your advantage.

And then your body resets to a “new normal” for the better, which helps you, your health goals, and prevents glucose spikes.

And you can more easily achieve this by baking and cooking that help change the way you look at the foods you eat. Because then you decide what ingredients to add and how much.

You get more choosy about what you put in your body and that can help you make healthier choices.

You end up making the extra effort and time when you know the health and tasty benefits. That’s what this girl did.

Besides the sweet-savory veggie truffle pie, I baked a pan pizza with spinach, tomato, and ricotta that was just as easy to make. Oh, Vata me… I forgot to take a photo. Next time.

There’s also a time for other options for all of us like selecting pre-made convenience, eating out, or ordering out.

The big healthy difference is many packaged goods have more than 30 ingredients (some you’ve never heard of and are hard to pronounce). And you really only need 2-4 ingredients to make a healthy meal or bake a whole cake. (That’s another category of whole food.)

With fewer healthy ingredients, then you change your taste buds one bake and bite at a time.

Today, if someone handed me a sweet something, it’d have to be pretty darn good for me to eat an entire serving because of the changes I made and how I see food in general.

For sweets, a smaller bite is all that’s needed to be sweet and happy if ya know what I mean. That’s true for most. At a grocery store or during any food shortages, you’ll never hear, there needs to be more sweet options.

Overall if we bought less processed foods, then the big companies would make more of the good-earthbound healthy-happy packaged goods. I wouldn’t mind some healthy strawberry licorice …anyone else? 😉

And biohacking your sweet craving with baking substitutes is another good way to change your sweet tooth.

For baking, these are some ingredients I use just about every week. These are a mix of healthy ingredients and iffy in-between ones I use in moderation.

Applesauce

*Berry Jams

Cardamom

Cherries, Maraschino

Cinnamon

Cocoa, unsweetened

Coconut, shredded

Coffee/espresso

Dark chocolate morsels

Ginger

Greek yogurt

Fruit zests

Fruits, Dried (currants, dates, apricots, raisins)

Fruits, Whole

Honey, Raw (instead of maple syrup)

Orange pulp and peel

*Pineapple chunks

*use sparingly

Switching up your ingredients does your body good (encouraging a diverse healthy gut microbiome that is also a gateway to our brain health). Our gut wants to be happy and healthy like we do.

If a recipe calls for refined sugar, say ¾ cup, and it’s great for emulsifying like in ice cream, I only use about ¼ cup or substitute with monk fruit sugar. You can always zhugh it up later or to individual tastes.

You can also make your own sweet sauce, dips, glazes and frosting. These are a few other ideas:

Balsamic-chocolate sauce: mixing balsamic vinegar and melted to liquid chocolate is quick and easy.

Coconut cream frosting: Long gone for me are days of grocery shelf frosting and powdered sugar icing. You too can make your own frosting with coconut cream. When you buy a can, the thick part can also be used for ice creams, and keep the liquid parts for your soups. After you open it, you can freeze what you aren’t planning to use within a few days.

Extracts: I used to add vanilla extract to everything sweet, but I usually skip the step unless it’s the dominant or only flavor, like in vanilla ice cream. Zests and spice flavors come through best, and mixing them together, and changing them up is even better.

The fun part of experimenting with less sugar and healthy bakes is creating your own faves. Variety is the spice and zest in life. 🧡

And if you want to take it up a level from biohacking your sweet craving to biohacking sweet breakfasts, healthy eating, and fasting, then stay tuned to future blog posts.

Once upon a time, I couldn’t do without a non-sugary breakfast growing up on fortified cereals, and these days that’s all changed… and that was one-step at a time easy and something you can do! 🥣

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Fresh Orange Juice and Low-Sugar Fruit Juice Recipes

orange juice

Orange juice is a popular, year-round favorite. In the winter, oranges are in season, so you can find an abundance of oranges.

That’s also when most people load up on Vitamin C that they associate with orange juice, and why orange juice grocery shelves can be full or running empty. I share below how you can optimize an entire orange in homemade freshly squeezed juice.

I also wanted to mention a healthy smoothie place I go to when I’m out. Last week I had a nice surprise. I heard I won a giveaway from South Block, a smoothie bowl place down the block that’s grown to about 10 or more stores, a perfect number for a 10-year anniversary milestone they’ve hit.

…So fast forward a few years later and I learn I’m celebratin’ with them for making strides, thriving sustainably as local retail businesses got hit hard especially last year when our new normal was new.

They get extra props because they’re surviving the toughest societal times we’ve had and that I’ve lived through. Coming from a food-hospitality work background, I can empathetically appreciate the efforts.

I was super excited because I’d never won anything before…and this happens to be my favorite local healthy-inspired food place! They do something special — they create dreamy-colorful, smoothie bowls with ingredients that taste fresh and not like chalky powders or marinated-preserved berries. The cold and made-to-order details were just higher quality.

And I found out the whimsical blue color comes from an ingredient called blue majik (that’s the magic in the blue bowl I was talking about). They also use ingredients like camu camu and maca root wheere you feel like you’ve been invited to a new array of rainforest superfoods shipped from an exotic locale in the world and infused in your made-to-order bowl or smoothie.

OK, I could go on and on excited!…

But, today I also wanted to share some house-made fruit and orange juice recipes I do at home. I’ve become supersensitized to how much sugar I consume (and maybe you’re aware too?).

I almost wish when you were a kid they told you, enjoy all this sugar now before you grow up…

Because the sweet tooth fairy can follow you around as you get older, like she did for me, lol.

But, I’ve learned from the wisdom fairy (Fairy Godmother?) to use fruit (fructose) for any sweetness, and maybe a dash of ‘lil honey or dusting of the white, brown, or powder sugar. When you buy unsweetened ingredients and make your own drinks and bakes, then you can measure and control your sugar intake and contribute to your better health. After all, we only get our only body to take care of in this life.

And that hopefully inspires you to eat healthy at least most of the time (as it does for me).

Next time you think about orange juice, before you a mad dash to the OJ grocery store aisle, consider making your own orange juice from whole oranges.

Fresh Orange Juice

organic navel orange peel for fresh homemade orange juice. — Look for heirloom, organic, or local farmers market produce as in season (free of pesticides, good for us and the environment)

Oranges are one of my favorite fruits.

They are good for anxiety and if you’re leaning into the Vata mind-body ways. If you can’t get the work life balance or life is stressful, keeping an orange near you to sniff and that will help you! And a fresh orange juice will help too.

And if you feel it in your nervous digestive tract, try an orange elixir like this recipe.

organic navel orange peel for ayurveda drinks

Orange Anxious Digestif Beverage

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Ingredients

1 orange (pulp, zest, peel)
Apple cider vinegar (amount adjustable to liking)
5 Spice blend (Five spice is star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, and black pepper) - (amount adjustable to liking)
water (dilute as needed)

Instructions

Zest and peel an orange. Keep all the parts. Tip: use navel, Cara Cara, blood, or heirloom oranges. They are good for the calming (and good for parasympathetic nervous system also affecting good digestion).
Squeeze the pulp into your orange juice container (or enjoy).
Add your zest and peels to the container.
Add five-spice blend.
Add apple cider vinegar
Fill up with water. Shake and refrigerate. Enjoy when you have an upset stomach.

There are so many varieties, and I love the Cara Cara sweetheart orange variety (common around Christmas) that can be juicier and sweeter than a California navel orange that’s in season a little earlier.

The scent of an orange is known to have a calming effect and is good for aromatherapy. If you’re feeling anxiety, keep an orange near you (…it could help your anxious mood).

In the kitchen, I’m always excited about freshly squeezed orange juice.

There are commercially sold machines you may have seen that crank out fresh orange juice from whole oranges. You may have seen one of these at selective grocery stores if you live in a larger metro area. Fresh orange juice definitely ruined me for any added sugar orange juice that comes from a carton (like I grew up drinking).

High sugar is harsh on your stomach, and especially if you have a routine to drink caffeine that’s very acidic in the morning. Processed orange juice and coffees aren’t a stomach’s friend (and can give you that acidic heartburn feeling), but they can provide desired taste and energy satisfaction.

Hmm, so what’s the alt choice? Continue reading “Fresh Orange Juice and Low-Sugar Fruit Juice Recipes”

Food Allergies, Eczema, and Chronic Inflammations

Food allergies is something I became deeply aware of first when I worked with groups planning parties that had gluten sensitivities. When I started in catering, there were only vegetarians.

And then over the years that grew to nut, dairy, and other food category allergies. And finally, my journey of discovering eczema that is reduced with low refined sugar and processed flour (that was at first hard to swallow as a baker hobbyist). 🧑🏻‍🍳

And as we evolve, moving toward lower gluten isn’t a bad idea in general with all the environment factors and chemicals we have no control over in the current state of food manufacturing processes.

And even well-intended “healthy” baking pasta with plain flour is great for occasions, but finding gluten-free alternatives can be better if you are sensitive. And there are so many more nutrient-dense, plant-forward alternatives that’s a win for our bodies and our earth. See spaghetti squash recipe below. 🍴🍝

food allergies

Your lifestyle and food choices impact your healthy and daily running Body. You can experience Body inflammations that become chronic, and where seasonal and food allergies play a role. In awareness, you can optimize your your healthiest body for the set of conditions you’re given.

Keeping anti-inflammatory foods (and including Mediterranean Diet foods) in your meals can help. It won’t hurt to eliminate as much processed, sugary foods, and alcohol as you can, that are part of the modern culture way, far from paleo-lithic consumption.

Reducing junk foods and excess from your diet can help reduce and potentially eliminate inflammations like I had in a recent experience…

I had purchased a bag of lollipops on a whim last summer when our “new normal” society life began, that I later regretted.

You see, the small seemingly harmless Tootsie Pop purchase mistake caused a hand rash to develop, and I didn’t know the cause initially.

One theory I had was that I related the hand rash to a heat rash I also had from laying out in the sun.

Then, in researching the two body inflammation areas for about a month, I got an a-ha… the rash was exacerbated from excess sugar (and not Vit-D rich sun rays).

Here I had been researching everything from poison ivy plants to dry, heated skin, applying cortisone lotions and aloe, preparing a daily snack Ziplock size ice bag, and trying to figure out why I had an itchy backhand that started up sporadically every day that summer.

In my trying out recording different changes I made and checking for any positive effects, I tested out moving away from too much daily sugar, listening to that inner wisdom voice sending whispering suggestions, “hmmm…could sugar be the cause?”

So I switched from emptier calorie and excessively sweet snacks (most foods have sugar), to healthier almonds and eating more filling lean proteins to curb snacking in between meals.

I went back to foods like chickpeas with rice, hummus dip, and lean proteins, and then gradually going back to not skipping breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Then one day, the itchy hand saga disappeared just as easily as it had appeared. I continued reducing my daily sugar intake. While I don’t think I have a sugar-allergy, getting back to my healthiest eating habits helped.

I noticed my original inflammation-free life was suddenly back and my health was gratefully uneventful again.

How interesting and easily we can forget the inconvenient dealings we had the previous day unless they cause more issues. Such as with any and all allergies that can develop at any time.

This is a good mind-body lesson for better eating habits for prevention. And in hindsight, this was actually reinforced in a book I had been referencing for years.

The Inflammation Free Diet for Food Allergies

The book I had been using as a guidebook for preparing meals, The Inflammation-Free Diet, re-entered my memory after my inflammation episode and in my mindfulness. I realized that there was a connection bridged between spiking sugar inflammation and foods.

And that there are very few perfect foods, and even my beloved bananas have a high glycemic index that can add to inflammation.

In making healthy food choices, moderation and choosing to balance good back-to-earth foods seems to be the better ageless answer to healthily feed our bodies.

Just like your body keeps score, your mind can keep a rough tally of what you consume over a week or month, that has a healthy, tasty, and enjoyable balance, so you don’t have to always jot down every food eaten.

This natural way of preferring healthier variety and mixing up foods is one perk of being a Vata and someone who loves food. ♥

But if you do want to add new foods and be mindfully healthier, keeping a daily food diary or list is a good way to see and evaluate what you want to add or subtract out.

If you have episodes like acid reflux, heartburn, or a sensitive stomach, by writing down your meals you can discover what food allergies, patterns, and combinations don’t sit well together in your stomach. This is how I figured that pizza tomato sauce and yogurt are not good to have back to back.

(And one theory as to why Italians never have milk drinks or cappuccinos after 11:30 am where they could start their tomato-based lunch siesta.)

Or that garlic or coffee can be difficult for heartburn.

You could discover you need more astringent or bitter foods when you note what’s missing from your diet.

Every healthy food ingesting micro action you take eventually adds up, and can help towards your physical health as you also evolve and change habits.

You may find certain food allergies or excess can affect your moods and mental health and can change over time and quantity.

In moderation, all can be good, but you don’t know the exact limit your body has before a warning is issued through inflammation and flair ups.

Parts of your mind influenced by your senses are telling you to consume, when it’s better if you just stop, knowing there’s a lag time in mind-body communication. Just like there can be lag audio time over conference calls.

That’s why it’s better to pause eating before you’re full so your body can catch up and notify your mind, “whoaaa… no more please!”

A yummy piece of cake to the body is neutral until it starts breaking down and processing the ingredients. The pleasure is up in the mind.

So referring to my above story about my summer inflammation… the incident was comparatively minor compared to what could’ve happened.

And yes, it could have been worse and I could’ve added to that if I didn’t become aware and take healthier action.

If you have similarly unknown flair ups you’re still wondering about, they could be from similar specific ingredients, sugar, gluten, or other food allergy intolerances that you have always had or developed as you’re aging. Continue reading “Food Allergies, Eczema, and Chronic Inflammations”

Creative Smoothie and Dessert Tea Ideas For the Sweet Tooth

Creative Smoothie ideas is one way to celebrate that we have beverage variety choices. This can give you a new reason to be happy today.

Your body, balance, and sensitivity to tastes and smells change all the time. What’s good for you in this season may change in the next or even tomorrow.

You can come up with your own creative smoothie ideas like I did below. That keeps life interesting!

As a natural Ayurvedic Vata, I was born with a sweet tooth, so if I think a dessert is too sweet, then believe me… it has waaay too much sugar, so that’s why I came up with less sweet, healthier options!

Especially in America, where foods are loaded with sugars, our healthy taste buds and sense can be off track. The average American consumes over 70 grams of sugar a day, when 25 grams of maximum recommended added or processed sugar is agreed on by both the FDA and American Heart Association.

While fruit sugar (fructose) is a better kind of sugar, it’s still sugar at the end of the day.

Going From Morning Frappucino and Coca Cola to Black Coffee, Tea, and A Creative Smoothie

In our American diets, we can go over the recommendation in just our breakfast beverage choices alone! If you like Frappuccinos like many of us do, whether your drink has added whipped cream or not, you’re looking at 50 grams of sugar or more for a 16-ounce drink.

That’s okay once in a celebratory while, but if you order a Starbucks Short size beverage (regular 8-ounce glass size drink), you’ve used up all the recommended sugar for the day… and it may not even be 10 am yet!

And actually, you can see most Americans carrying around the Tall or Grande size beverages (or larger). Our small is often a super size large in other countries.

The healthier order option with no sugar is black coffee or tea. So then, getting back to basics, the only safe beverage out there is water, as pure and healthy… but are they all?…

You can clearly taste the difference between purified waters and artesian waters like Fiji brand water. The water variety is all sold in plastic bottles and available on grocery shelves, but the cost difference gives you an indicator of the quality difference. And you can clearly taste the difference between Evian and purified water.

In America, you can commonly buy a water bottle case (24-16 ounce bottles) of purified water for under $4. They’re usually advertised “on-sale” and you can find them in the front of the store when you first walk in.

Higher-end, luxury water brands you can find in the water aisle selections also, but you can expect to pay closer to a dollar or more a bottle. The good news is most tap water in America is drinkable and many households use a Brita pitcher with a filter or similar.

So as we question drinks such as basic water, we have to wonder about other consumable beverages. Coca-Cola is known for its evolving trends as society changes and as a popular beverage consumed around the world.

There’s even a Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta, GA where you can taste different versions of Coke served all around the world. As you can imagine the American Coke version is loaded with sugar (too scary to even mention how many sugar grams per can, but you can look it up!).

In my late 20’s I used to drink sodas for breakfast when it was trendy and corporate offices stocked their refrigerators full of soda cans for employees and invited visitors to grab.

I quit the unhealthy soda habit after a few years in healthy awareness. I traded caffeinated sodas for healthier morning teas, coffee, and smoothies as better choices with redeeming health benefits, and hopefully, you can do the switch if you haven’t already!

If you want more energy and vitality, getting off sodas and high-sugar drinks is a good move. And also adding more water, that can seem boring to taste, but that’s what our bodies want and will reward you for.

Despite some of our generally unhealthy cultural habits, Americans have made drinking water, chic and cool, as we carry around water bottles to our work and of course to our workouts and yoga.

It’s a comparison observation I made when I was in Rome in 2019 and saw that even though all the public water sources and fountains are deemed clean and drinkable, you won’t easily find reasonably priced water bottles around. …how funny is that?

So, we’ve gotten better at drinking water regularly and not just taking a vitamin supplement or while we work out. We know that drinking proper water amounts prevents kidney stones, keeps our bodies functioning and our skin looking young.

So on that healthier level, we can make healthier breakfast drinks like a smoothie easily with the Magic Bullet gadget or a blender. You can add protein powders or if you like bananas, they’re a good smoothie staple.

Bananas have a higher glycemic index that can spike inflammation, but they are rich in fiber, potassium, and B vitamins, so they’re still a good natural super food good for filling an empty or upset stomach.

Keep reading for 7 creative daily beverage ideas…

Continue reading “Creative Smoothie and Dessert Tea Ideas For the Sweet Tooth”