Is Your Money Going Down The Toilet?

I really want to talk about this little thing called vitamin C. Everyone seems to always be pushing vitamin C because of its immune protection powers, as well as its overall health benefits. Many people take vitamin C supplements, or powders to try to get enough vitamin C.

For a while, I took Emergen-C which is a powder that you add to water and drink. It has 1000 mg of vitamin C which, according to the nutrition facts, is 1,667% of your Daily Value. Although it does have some other nutritional supplements added to it, it also has an enormous amount of vitamin C. (it also has non-nutritional additives such as "natural" orange flavorings and tapioca maltodextrin)

You can't have too much vitamin C, right....?

Wrong. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, meaning our bodies only absorb a certain amount at a time, and the leftovers just get peed out. This is much different from fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) which their leftovers get stored in the body for later use.

Women need around 75 milligrams per day, while men need around 90 milligrams a day. Which as you can see, is well below the 1000 mg dosage in a packet of Emergen-C.

So what should you do if you don't think you're getting enough vitamin C in your diet?

Well, personally, I would try my best to get the most vitamin C from your diet, incorporating foods like oranges, kiwi, dark left greens like kale or spinach, peppers, broccoli, or peas. All of these will not only provide you with large amounts of vitamin C, but they also provide many other nutritional benefits (they are all low in calories as well).

But if you just can stand the taste of any of these foods, and still insist that a supplement is what you need to keep your immunity levels up then supplements are fine, just take them in SMALL doses. Taking small doses of vitamin C powders, or pills will keep you from wasting money. So if you enjoy Emergen-C, take only half a pack in the morning, and the other in the afternoon. Or buy vitamin C pills that have less than 100% of the Daily Value of vitamin C and take one pill in the morning and one at night.

But like I said before, save your money on supplements and EAT vitamin C from natural sources, because not only will you reap the vitamin C benefits, but also the benefits from all the other nutrients in the foods.

Orange Ginger Smoothie

Thanks to Earth Fare, I got a free bag of oranges that I need eat. So after a long workout today, I decided I needed a smoothie that would rehydrate me and would be super sweet.....and this is what I came up with. 

Disclaimer: use frozen bananas, I didn't have any bananas that were frozen, so it wasn't as creamy. 

What you'll need:

• three small juice oranges (or two large oranges)
• two bananas (USE FROZEN, it is seriously so much better!) (also, make sure the skins are as spotty as possible!)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk- homemade is definitely better, but I didn't have any made :( 
• ginger root- this is optional, but I think it gives it a little zing, plus it has tons of health benefits!
• personally, I don't eat dairy, but if you, you can add in up to 1/2 cup of yogurt (plain/greek is suggested)

First....

    get all your ingredients together, obviously..

    also, the minion is optional, but I mean who would want to leave him out?!

Second....

Peel your oranges and remove the seeds. The little orange peeler I have is from Pampered Chef and is only 1 dollar! Definitely a great investment!

 Third....

Grate in your ginger. To use fresh ginger root, simply take a knife or vegetable peeler and remove the skin, then use a grater to grate the ginger. Fresh ginger can be stored in the freezer in a ziploc bag to keep it nice and fresh.

Fourth.....

Pour in your almond milk. I didn't really measure it, but guessed it was about a 1/4 cup. Also, if you'd like for it to be a little colder, add in some ice at this point as well. 

Fifth....

Put in your two bananas, and blend it all up!

Sixth....

Pour it into a jar, and enjoy! Yummmmmmm....

FAQ Vegetarian Questions

This is sort of a continuation of my "My Journey: Becoming Vegetarian" post. But I really wanted to share some of my answers to the many questions I get about being vegetarian. 

I usually get asked about...

How long I've been vegetarian? 

     Since Thanksgiving day 2010.

Do I eat fish?

     No, one being that I don't really like fish, and was never raised eating it. Also, being vegetarian means not eating any meat, and fish is meat..so....yeah.

What do I miss about eating meat?

     I don't really miss anything about it that much, if I did I would've gone back to eating it. But I guess if I missed anything it would be the availability and the accessibility, most of the time it's a hassle to have to order vegetarian or eat vegetarian when I go to other people's houses, but in the long run, it's really not that big of a deal.

Why did I become a vegetarian?

     I kind of answered this in my other post, but basically it was because I wanted a change in not only my diet, but in my life. Also, I always thought being vegetarian was fascinating and wanted to just give it a try. 

Where do you get your protein?

    Sigh....this question gets me every time. I get my protein from fruits and vegetables, and some from beans. I eat enough fruits and vegetables that I get plenty of plant based protein. 

So can you only eat vegetables? (literally have been asked this multiple times)

     Being vegetarian does not mean that you only eat vegetables, although the name is somewhat deceiving. But a vegetarian diet is not eating meat, thats it. Personally, I choose to eat a primarily plant-based vegetarian diet. But that doesn't mean that's the only way to eat vegetarian. You can eat a wide range of foods that don't include meat.

Can I eat meat in front of you? (again, get asked this all the time)

     Yes, of course. I have no problem with meat, people eating it...or even me cooking it. There are some vegetarians that can't stand to even look at it, but I honestly have no problem with it, I just choose not to eat it. 

and for the final question....

How can you not eat bacon?!?

     Well, as good as bacon is....personally, its not worth it for me. Of course, I enjoy the smell of bacon, and that's about enough for me. 

  

     

What's Up With Trans Fats?

Some of you may have heard the word "trans fats" and most of you probably know that it isn't a healthy fat....but do you really know what they are and why they aren't good for you? Well when I learned about what they were and why our bodies hate them, I just had to share it with someone!

So basically trans fats come from the processing (hydrogenation) of fats to make them shelf-stable. Some great examples of foods with trans fats are: processed foods (with dairy products as main ingredients), shelf-stable coffee creamers, refrigerated dough products, margarines and shortenings, and of course sugary treats like doughnuts, cookies, etc. Basically anything that is packaged has some trans fats, and that is because trans fats are only a result from the processing of fats.

Now, that you know what has trans fats....why are they so bad for us? Well our bodies actually can't recognize a trans fat, and therefore our bodies don't know what to do with them. We can absorb, use, or gain any benefits from trans fats.

So the photo above is a photo of a cis fat, which is what the fat looks like before it gets processed. Our bodies recognize these, and know what to do with them....but a trans fat looks like this

See how the two hydrogens are on opposite sides? Our bodies literally can't recognize this. 

To truly understand this hold up your left hand like you're about to give someone a high five....do it, do it right now. Is your hand up? Okay, good. Now put your right hand up to it too, like you're giving yourself a high five, but your palms aren't touching. See how you're thumbs don't line up? Your hands are the same shape, but can line up properly. Well that is what it is like when you eat a trans fat, your body doesn't have the recognition of a fat shaped like that.

So from now on, try to check for trans fats on nutrition labels, or better yet....avoid processed fats! The FDA is slowly aiming towards the reduction of trans fats, but knowing the FDA it may be a decade before any changes get made. Make it easy on your body, and avoid the trans!!

Almond Milk

Recently, I've been making my own almond milk. After realizing how easy it was, and how much more natural it is, I am hooked. Most store bought almond milk contains thickeners, like lecithin and carrageenan (made from seaweed, that can lead to digestion problems) both are unnecessary additives. So by making my own, I get to control the ingredients, which makes me feel better about what is going into my body.

Now onto the almond milk process....it usually takes about ten minutes altogether, not including the time the almonds take to soak (overnight). So this is really easy to do in the morning before making breakfast.

First...
Soak natural (organic if you'd like) almonds in filtered water overnight, or for at least twelve hours.

Second...

Pour the almonds into a blender and add four cups of water for every one cup of almonds. I like to use the water that the almonds soaked in as part of my four cups of water. 

Third...

Add-in whatever you would like! I put a couple teaspoons of Stevia, but you could put in a few dates, or cinnamon. 

Fourth...

Blend in a blender for about a minute, or until it looks milky and combined.

Fifth...

Set up a strainer over a bowl with a towel inside to strain your milk.

Sixth...

Pour the mixture into the strainer and use a spatula or spoon to stir it around to help the liquid separate from the almond grounds.

Seventh...

Gather the towel and squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can.

Eighth...

Pour into a glass container and enjoy! Make sure to keep it in the refrigerator, and it usually lasts about a week and a half. 

And that is all! Super simple, and easy to make!