Dear Nutritionist, I enjoyed your recommendations last year. I’ve added the chia seeds into my morning porridge and tried dosa. Do you have any new foods/ health products to recommend we try this year? Thanks, Carmen
Dear Carmen,
I’m so glad you liked the chia seeds. They are incredibly easy to use, as salad toppers or cereal toppers, or as part of a wet recipe like pancakes. And they are chock full of protein and Omega 3s. They uniquely create a mucus when wet that is superb for digestion. In addition they help lower blood sugar, so you won’t regret finding ways to add them to your diet.
So last year I recommended readers to try chia seeds, hemp nuts, raw apple cider vinegar, natto, and dosa. This year I’ve fallen in love with hot pot soup made from a long simmering bone broth, collagen powder, MCT powder, a greens powder from Costco, and a nervine / adaptogen tea. These are incredibly easy to add to your routine if you feel they will benefit you. Let me tell you a bit more about each.
Hot Pot Soup:
This soup hails from China and is composed of a very flavourful and nutritious broth with fresh foods you place in the pot in increments to cook, then scoop out to enjoy with a variety of condiments. Typically these include small pieces of select meats and seafood, leafy green veggies, mushrooms, noodles or rice wafers, and dumplings.
The benefits of bone broth are incredible for health and this is an exceptional way to use it. As a meal, the setup is similar to fondue in that individual items are cooked then scooped out of a pot with a burner under it. I’ve seen it done with a coleman under the pot or with an electric pot. I suspect a slow cooker could work if it’s on the hot setting and brought to the boil, as well.
In case you aren’t familiar with the benefits of bone broth let me elaborate. Humans need minerals and microminerals from our diets. If we don’t we suffer many degenerative ailments, which we can see most clearly manifest in dental health, as these are the exposed bones of our bodies. When the soil is depleted of natural compost matter, as it is with industrial farming practices, the plants do not yield food that is high in mineral content. As such, we lack it in our diets. And we typically prefer our meats now cooked without the bone in and without a gravy, so we further reduce the minerals we take in.
Minerals we get from the store only simulate real minerals. They are chelates - which are essentially minerals from rocks coated in protein to trick our bodies to absorb them. They are completely unnatural and not optimal for our health. Two ways to get natural (organic) minerals are deep spring water that has run through rocks and been imbued with the minerals and bone broth that is made of slowly simmering bones until they degrade and the mineral content from them is imparted to the soup.
I leave mine simmering two to three days in the crock pot for this to happen, but it can be done more quickly in an instant pot. When it’s done the bones are so soft they will crumble between your fingers. At this point you strain the broth off and discard or use the rest for dog food or plant food.
I find the flavour is best by using a variety of bones and roasting them with seasonings first. I put them in the oven covered in spices that work with the dish I’m making. I then roast until they are browned. At that point I place them in a crock pot with water and some apple cider vinegar to help pull the minerals from the bone. Only a little is needed. When it’s complete the bones crumble to the touch and you can further mash them before straining to release more nutrients. All the minerals leave the bones and are suspended in the broth. This is how humans have traditionally gotten their minerals if they don’t live by the sea.
Bone broth is an incredibly sustainable food, as well, since it uses up the knuckle bones and joints that otherwise go to waste. How many other recipes call for chicken feet and neck, oxtail, and cow’s knees? Any bone that is covered in cartilage is ideal, as this gives the soup body and gives us collagen that promotes healthy joints, hair and skin. This recipe makes use of these leftovers that are very economical and nutritious. It promotes nose to tail eating, which is better for health and sustainability.
For my broth I also add miso and bouillon to ensure it is richly flavoured. This is what flavours all the ingredients you add. A typical hot pot might include some very thinly sliced pork or lamb or beef, some shrimp or scallops or squid or other seafood, some mushrooms, followed by some finely sliced Chinese napa cabbage or bok choy, then some rice wafers or lotus root or noodles in the end. Each ingredient is dropped in the soup one at a time to cook and further flavour the broth then scooped out with a little mesh basket to be served on personal plates. Condiments include sauces like chili sauce, soy sauce, sacha sauce, Chinese vinegars, sesame paste, and more. There are a cornucopia of variations to make this soup your own!
Collagen Powder:
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. As we age, we tend to need more to line our joints and the matrix below our skin. It’s essential for forming the connective tissues of the body, including tendons, ligaments, skin, and muscles. It provides structure and elasticity. It strengthens bones and enables fibres to stretch and bounce back. When skin sags as we age, that is largely from a lack of collagen.
This year. Jennifer Aniston has started promoting a collagen powder she likes and it has since got a lot of buzz. There are a number of collagen powders on the market, but you want to find one from grass-fed bovine. I like collagen peptides and the brand I use has type I and III collagen in it. It has 11g collagen per serving. I stir it in my morning coffee and add it to smoothies. It’s a tasteless, flavourless powder so it’s easy to incorporate in your diet. I find it blends easily and leaves no aftertaste or film.
A weekly hot pot soup will also ensure you are getting a good amount of this superfood, as bone broth made from cartilaginous bones is full of collagen!
MCT powder:
This is another product I add to my morning cup of Joe. This one changes the texture of the coffee to make it richer, creamier - very much like coffee mate. It looks like coffee mate powder, too - a white powder that has no flavour. This supplement is made from medium chain triglyceride extracted from foods. You can get this fat from coconut oil, as well, but I detest the coconut oil slick in my coffee, and find it flavours dishes so it’s not always the fat I choose to cook with.
Why would you want to take it? Medium chain triglycerides are known to be super beneficial to health. They are unique in that they bypass the liver to be digested far more easily than other fats due to their small size. As such, they are an excellent source of energy that is released quickly. I find the powder provides a quick energy boost and helps with fasting and appetite suppression. It’s also known to reduce inflammation and to help you get and stay in ketosis. What’s not to love?
For this product I recommend you find one that is organic and pure. Mine is 70% C8, which is a specific type of MCT. It’s Vegan, Paleo, and Keto friendly, as it’s made from palm and/or coconut oil.
All Greens:
This is a product I get from Costco. I have tried a variety of green powders over the years to facilitate getting my full daily spectrum of nutrients, and this is one of the best tasting and most economical ones I have tried. A container has 100 servings and it doesn't taste or smell fishy, like a lot of green powders do. It’s sweeter than many others, as it has a number of fruits in it, but it doesn’t seem to spike blood sugar in clients. Even kids like the flavour of this and it blends well into water or smoothies. I take mine with a smoothie or with my psyllium husk to help get that down.
It’s non-GMO, sugar, dairy, gluten, and soy free and contains:
- 65 detoxifying nutrients sourced from mostly organic products
- Green superfoods
- Bioactive fruit
- Cruciferous veggies
- Bioactive sea veggies
- Digestive enzymes
- Good bacterial cultures
- Herbal extracts
- Vitamins and minerals
For a full list of ingredients, go here.
Nervine/ Adaptogen Tea:
If you haven’t heard of or tried one of these yet you are going to be wowed. This is a herbal tea blend that contains a class of herbs that strengthen and support the nervous system (nervines) and a class of herbs that are known to help the body adapt to stress better (adaptogens). Some of these herbs can be sedating, like valerian root or chamomile, while others are more energizing like Astragalus, which combats fatigue. Here are a few you may have heard of and may want to try. Some are both nervines and adaptogens, like schizandra, ashwagandha, skullcap, lemon balm.
- Chamomile
- Hops
- Skullcap
- Valerian
- Damiana
- Passionflower
- Kava kava
- Lemon balm
Adaptogens:
- Astragalus
- Schizandra
- Ashwagandha
- Maca
- Cordyceps
- Gogi berry
- Ginseng
- Ganoderma
- Jiaogulan
I recommend clients to explore these individual herbs and try the combination teas that contain them or make their own combination. My favourite includes Astragalus, jiaogulan, ganoderma, and skullcap or lemon balm, but there are many combinations you can try. You can find many of these herbs online or contact me if you’d like a custom blend created and delivered to your home. This can come in the form of a tea or a tincture.
As always, if readers have their own health questions, I welcome them! Just send me an email at [email protected]. And if you’re looking for more specific health information check out my website and sign up for my free newsletter at askthenutritionist.ca. Upcoming events are posted in the newsletter, as well as delicious recipes that are guaranteed to be sugar and gluten-free to help you take control of your health. I hope all my readers have had a blessed holiday season and enjoy good health and prosperity in the new year!
Namaste!
Nonie Nutritionista
