Posts Currently viewing the tag: "soy free"

It’s crazy – I say that the detox process is crazy because we live in a completely different world than even a decade ago. Today, the detox process requires more focus on filling up on the good stuff and getting rid of the bad stuff. Just for our daily support, it is necessary to combat…(Read More)

Frustrated over $8 strawberries and blueberries? I know I feel ya. I’d love to eat fresh berries year-round (which is why I’m trying to grow my own strawberries and also have been making a lot of smoothies with frozen berries #hack). But the reason your strawberries are $8 over the past few months is that they’re out of season!

That’s the problem when it comes to eating seasonally. But eating with the seasons can actually help boost your gut microbiome. So, your craving for strawberries and blueberries can wait!

When you eat seasonally, you can welcome great prices and quality taste on things like apples, asparagus, avocados, bananas, carrots, celery, kale, kiwi, citrus fruits, strawberries, pineapples, spinach, turnips, and the like with the upcoming spring months.

What does it mean to eat seasonally?

Eating seasonally means to change one’s diet in accordance to the foods readily available by nature.

Consequently, not only will eating seasonally save you some money on your grocery budget, but it will also provide you with the most delicious, freshest, belly- (and environmentally) friendly foods.

Benefits of Eating Seasonally:

Best Flavor

This is because the fruits and vegetables that are in season are fresh. Also, the fully ripened produce has the best flavor, texture, and color. It is just how it is meant to be.

Superior Nutrition 

Compared to getting picked early or grown in less natural conditions, the foods that are truly ready in each season have a higher nutrient value. The reason behind this is because they’ve been given the right amount of time to grow and obtain nutrients from the sun and soil.

In relation to this, on average, produce travels anywhere from 2,000-6,000 miles to get to us and our supermarkets! The nutrient density of the foods declines as soon as they are harvested so you can imagine what we are left with. Studies have shown upwards of 70% of nutrients being lost by time we get to it.

Abundance = lower price 

When certain foods are plentiful, the price won’t be as high. Say goodbye to your $8 strawberries whenever they are in season! It’s also cheaper for farmers to produce. Cash in on this.

Local/Organic 

Seasonal food is more likely to get grown closer to home. This then allows you to know where your stuff came from! 

It being local or organic also reduces the use of pesticides, herbicides, and genetic modification because it doesn’t need as much ‘help’ to grow or transport.

Variety 

Eating seasonally allows your taste buds to explore new flavors. As a result, it helps you pick things you may never have tried, and get creative with incorporating them into your dishes!

Diversity 

Eating seasonally allows you to provide your gut microbiome with a diverse array of foods – which it loves. Therefore, having diversity in the gut helps boost the immune system.

Harmony  

Once we begin to eat and live by the tune of how nature intended, not only do we become more aware, appreciative, and connected to our food supply, but our bodies thank us.

In conclusion, the foods that are ready during specific seasons provide exactly what the body needs: detoxification from the long winter of heavier foods (as seen in the plethora of leafy greens in the spring), hydration (as seen with more berries, watermelon, cucumbers in the summer) and cooling (as seen in the emergence of apples in the fall to help rid the body of heat to prepare for winter).

These foods were here before us and will remain here after us – they must be on to something.

Below are a list of foods and their corresponding seasons. Print these and put them on your fridge or shopping list!

image from SNAP-Ed

To eating with the seasons and happy bellies!

xos

Healthy eating while traveling? You may think it’s difficult to do because you can’t have the same healthy meals you cook at home. Now that your bags are packed, all shoes, jewelry, children are accounted for, you double-checked if your toothpaste is in the bag, everything is set. That’s what you…(Read More)

Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts Try this powerhouse side dish that not only will help boost our digestive process, but also show our liver some love. In order to best process and detoxify our bodies, we need to support and love on our liver with the foods we eat daily. This dish provides phytonutrients and chemical…(Read More)

Your pants don’t fit by the end of the day. You are soo uncomfortable after you finish eating. You feel like you’re 6 months pregnant. Intimacy? No way. “Not when I feel like I have a balloon in my belly.” Feelings of discomfort and when you don’t recognize yourself are more than…(Read More)

Would you believe me if I said you’re only a few days from feeling better? Not feeling tired when you wake up or throughout the day. Not craving and thinking about food all the time. Not feeling achy, congested, a little depressed. Do you find yourself feeling bloated, attacked by allergies, always tired, have…(Read More)

If you follow me on #instagram, you may have seen my latest InstaStory regarding collagen peptides. If you didn’t, you need to get to following me (@amandarigbyRD) because you’re missing out! Anyway… “Colla-what???” was >75% of your responses as seen in my poll where I asked if you had any idea…(Read More)

Today, March 14, is recognized as National RD Day and it’s my first, official one to celebrate! Let’s be honest about the real picture of what it looked like walking out of that exam…because it was not that! #Sweaty #Crying #NotBreathing I remember last year on this day still having the thought…(Read More)