To wrap up this three part series on foods that heal, we will be looking at nutrients on the micro level. Say What? Vitamins and minerals are the topic today. With processed and fast foods being basically devoid of any nutrition other than sugars, trans fats and other garbage, what to do? Well, if you read the previous two blogs, you should already have a reasonable understanding of where to start. All of us have good and bad food days, it's the things we do to make up for this. Supplementation is a great solution, but there are many ways to do this. Lets put them in three categories in accordance to nutrutional value. Fresh, dehydrated and encapsulated.
FRESH
By fresh I mean juices, smoothies and microgreens. These are a great way to get nutrition on the fly. Although juicing can be painstaking, and messy, it really is worth the effort. You can juice anything with a decent machine. And the combinations can be made to suit your needs for energy, specific illnesses or any other thing.
Juicing has the ability to provide the body with a healthy source of vitamins and minerals that could otherwise be missing from your diet. In case you haven’t thought about it in a while, vitamins and minerals are good for you! They help us grow, think, work, and so much more.
If your body is lacking several of the main vitamins and minerals, that could mean your body isn’t working to its full potential. If you’re not a fan or get sick of eating your whole fruits and vegetables, juicing is a fun way to incorporate them into your diet – while also gaining all the vitamins and nutrients your body needs.
The benefits of smoothies are similiar but there's more; check it out here!
Microgreens are amazing and underutlilized. Microgreens are young vegetable greens that are approximately 1–3 inches (2.5–7.5 cm) tall.
They have an aromatic flavor and concentrated nutrient content and come in a variety of colors and textures (1).
Microgreens are considered baby plants, falling somewhere between a sprout and baby green.
That said, they shouldn’t be confused with sprouts, which do not have leaves. Sprouts also have a much shorter growing cycle of 2–7 days, whereas microgreens are usually harvested 7–21 days after germination, once the plant’s first true leaves have emerged.
Microgreens are more similar to baby greens in that only their stems and leaves are considered edible. However, unlike baby greens, they are much smaller in size and can be sold before being harvested.
This means that the plants can be bought whole and cut at home, keeping them alive until they are consumed.
Microgreens can be grown from many different types of seeds.
The most popular varieties are produced using seeds from the following plant families (1):
Brassicaceae family: Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, watercress, radish and arugula
Asteraceae family: Lettuce, endive, chicory and radicchio
Apiaceae family: Dill, carrot, fennel and celery
Amaryllidaceae family: Garlic, onion, leek
Amaranthaceae family: Amaranth, quinoa swiss chard, beet and spinach
Cucurbitaceae family: Melon, cucumber and squash
DEHYDRATED & ENCAPSULATED
The types of things I am referring to here are tablet or capsules of vitamins, minerals, etc and superfood green powders. There are numerous other things that could fall under this broad category such as Chinese or Indian medicines, teas made from any variety of things and so on...
VITAMINS AND MINERALS
This is a blog on it's own, read this article for more information.
SUPERFOODS
One walk down a supplement aisle and you will be sure to find a sea of green powders, beetroot powders, and many many other powders on the shelves.
I use these on a regular basis, and there are really only two products I recommend; Greens Plus and Vibration Greens. The former is my new favorite, all the benefits at a really good price point. The only advantage to the Greens Plus is the addition of probiotics in the blend, which when compared to just consumming these seperately the cost is still better with Vibration greens.
What is a superfood? While there is no official definition, many food companies use the term to describe items that offer a powerful nutritional benefit, like being rich in antioxidants or loaded with vitamins and minerals.
Made of ingredients like spinach, kale, spirulina, goji, cacao, and more, superfood powders are naturally chock-full of healthy goodies. And while specific ingredients vary from brand to brand, many also contain additions like adaptogens, probiotics, and prebiotics.
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