Transitioning Good Health Into Spring!
I’m sure this finds most of you very busy and back to your daily activities after the New Year. With the year beginning with long nights, dark days, and cold temperatures, we encourage you to regularly take time to care for yourself. This is a time of finding your inner light and allowing yourself to trust your intuition. It may be hard to find our inner balance during this time. When we are off balance, doing too much and pushing ourselves, our body tells us through symptoms that enough is enough. Read more below about how to help your immune system with food!
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Welcome Janelle Bombara MS RDN to our team!
We are very excited to announce the addition of our new and talented experiential food and culinary expert and therapeutic Nutritionist! Janelle is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who strives to empower and support you on your unique path towards optimal health.
Specializing in interactive and immersive nutrition and culinary education for children, families, and adults she believes that building confidence in the kitchen and grocery store is an important tool for healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Janelle also makes our delicious and robust bone broth. We make 1-month batches for our clients so you can pull them out on these cold and damp days.
Janelle’s enthusiasm is contagious as she helps you transform your confidence in the kitchen. She meets you where you are at and collaborates with our staff to create a personalized and functional nutrition experience.
Janelle is excited to offer her wealth of knowledge and expertise with Simplicity Nutrition and looks forward to meeting you in the kitchen! She is available for support services such as:
- Personalized Meal Planning
- Eating Disorder Support (grocery tours, challenge meals, meal planning support, stocking and portioning food, cooking lessons
- In-home Therapeutic Cooking Classes
- Pantry Overhauls
- Grocery Store Tours and Guidance
- Educational Workshops
- Facilitation of Support Groups
- Homemade Bone Broth (Chicken or Beef)
- Vegan Immune Boosting Stocks
To learn more about Janelle, please visit our website and/or call to schedule any of the services listed!
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The cold and damp; yes I do actually love this time of year...
It’s a reminder to take very good care of yourself and to do this all year round! But...isn’t this the year we come down with the flu or a virus? Flu season is no fun—especially when you have children to tend to and the whole house is sick. Yeah, no thanks. No matter what way you look at it, feeling under the weather is no fun at all. However, it is a reminder that self-care, nutrition is incredibly important all year round, not just when you’re sick. Here are some tips to keep you on track!
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How can we help support our immune systems to maintain health and balance?
Normal everyday behavior can help strengthen and maintain our immune system. Research has shown that the most important factor is good nutrition. Nutritious eating provides the immune system the nutrients it needs to be ready and functioning properly when necessary.
80% of our immune system in located within our intestines. Our immune system is created by the good bacteria in our gut. This bacteria creates white blood cells and viola...the magic of our amazing body! Everything we eat and digest helps to feed our probiotics (good bacteria) and our probiotics create our white blood cells; the building blocks of our immune system.
What we eat impacts our ability to fight opportunistic bacteria and viruses. Here are some key elements to focus on.
Essential nutrients with real food sources greatly support the immune system:
PROTEIN - High-quality, complete protein, such as that found in grass fed beef/bison, pasture raised poultry, pasture raised eggs, wild cold-water fish, and shellfish.
OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS - Wild-caught cold-water fish such as salmon, halibut, sardines, pasture raised eggs and grass fed beef, flaxseed oil, walnuts, sea algae (Spirulina and Chlorella).
VITAMIN C - Citrus fruits, leafy green vegetables such as spinach and kale, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, strawberries, spirulina and papaya.
IRON - Heme iron (better absorbed) found in red meat, non heme iron (increased absorption when paired with Vitamin C containing foods) found in lentils, vegetables. Bone broth, bone marrow, liver are also amazing!
VITAMIN D - Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines), shellfish, and fortified foods such as milk, orange juice, and cereals.
ZINC - Oysters, crab, lean meats, poultry, baked beans, yogurt, asparagus, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, garbanzo beans, lentils, cashews, and chickpeas.
ANTIOXIDANTS & PHYTONUTRIENTS - In season fruits and vegetables, especially vibrant colored foods like berries, cherries, carrots, herbs, seaweed and sea algae, elderberries, sweet potato and winter squash.
HERBS/SPICES/OTHER MEDICINAL FOODS
- Bone broth - is a powerful healer of the gut and thus the immune system. I would recommend sipping bone broth regularly (1-2 cups per day) throughout the cold/flu season and at least 3-4 cups per day if you start to feel unwell. I have included a recipe for homemade bone broth below, however, you can more easily buy pre-made bone broth from Simplicity Nutrition...Just let us know!
- Elderberry Syrup (Recipe included) - Elderberry syrup is a delicious remedy for wintertime and is touted for its antioxidants, potassium, beta carotene, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin C. For children under two, add the syrup to hot water to kill any microbes in the honey. Drizzle the delicious syrup over pancakes, yogurt, or ice cream!
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Aged garlic - one of my favorite remedies to prevent and treat a sinus infection is to consume oxidized/aged garlic. All you need to do is buy a few garlic bulbs, remove a clove and cut it into 4-6 slices. Let the slices sit for at least 10 minutes for the therapeutic phytochemical to develop. Then, using bone broth to wash it down, swallow (don’t chew) 2 slices whole every 3-4 hours.
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Raw local honey - packs a powerful antimicrobial punch and can easily be added to teas, soups, or sauces to add a lovely sweet flavor and medicinal properties. 2 Tbsps per day will do the trick in your favorite herbal tea.
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Ginger - bagged tea or raw root made into tea or added to soups or stir fries or fresh raw juice.
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Turmeric - combine with a healthy fat and/or black pepper to dramatically boost absorption---Our winter warmer shot which combines ginger, garlic, raw honey, and more into a tasty, super immune boosting drink
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Unpasteurized apple cider vinegar - good source probiotics, helps with digestion of protein and wards off opportunistic bacteria. Take 2 TB before each meal in ¼ cup water.
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Coconut kefir and cultured coconut yogurt - a great dairy-free choice to increase your intake of immune boosting probiotics.
- Bee propolis - a fabulous immune boosting addition to smoothies or chia puddings (see freezer aisle at PCC).
- Fermented foods - ¼ cup a day is enough to boost and support healthy immune function paired with a balanced diet.
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Our immune system is more vulnerable to the common cold and the flu during the autumn and winter months. Elderberries have been shown to help avoid these illnesses and speed recovery in those who already have them. If ingested before infection, they prevent infection. And, if ingested after infection, they prevent the spread of the virus through the respiratory tract.
Elderberry syrup provides the concentrated immune-supporting benefits of black elderberries in a healthy, easy, great-tasting way. If made at home, the recipe my combine other herbs and nutrients for an extra immune boost. It can be made at a fraction of the cost of purchasing through health food stores and can be fully customized based on your needs and flavor preferences.
INGREDIENTS
- 2/3 cup dried black elderberries (3 ounces). You can order organic on Amazon or Mountain Rose Herbs
- 3 1/2 cups of water
- 2 Tablespoons fresh or dried ginger root
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves or clove powder
- 1 cup raw honey
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Elderberry Syrup
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Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour, 5 mins
Yield: 1 quart
PREPARATION
- Pour water into medium saucepan and add elderberries, ginger, cinnamon and cloves (not honey).
- Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 45-60 minutes until the liquid has reduced by nearly half.
- Remove from heat and let cool some.
- Mash berries carefully using a spoon or other flat utensil. Pour through a strainer into glass container.
- Discard the elderberries and let the liquid cool to lukewarm. Then, add 1 cup of honey and stir well.
- When honey is well mixed into the elderberry mixture, pour the syrup into a quart sized Mason jar or 16 ounce glass container.
- Store in refrigerator and take daily for its immune boosting properties.
- Standard dose is ½-1 tsp for kids and ½-1 Tbsp for adults. If cold or flu does strike, take the normal dose every 2-3 hours instead of once a day until symptoms subside.
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