Eating for Stress

Zap! Stress be gone!

I'm not a doctor or a trained nutritionist. I've done a lot of research and found a diet that works for me. I don't suggest it works for everyone and I recommend folks do their own research to find a solution that works for them.

The last few months have been very stressful. VERY stressful. Stress is often unavoidable and it's toxic. Higher stress levels are tied to higher incidents of illness, inflammation, and is thought to be linked to cancer. That's all well and good but life happens! I have been trying a lot of different things to help me maintain productivity at work, avoid picking fights or responding inappropriately to confrontation, and avoid having a lupus flare up. A large portion of that effort goes into what I eat.

Even institutions like the American Cancer Society and MD Anderson recommend diet alterations to help reduce the risk of the return of cancer and to avoid feeding cancer cells. Many of the recommendations are practical for people with auto-immune issues and inflammation (this includes allergies....). I went to a cancer treatment center that also treated auto-immune conditions and received brief counseling on what to avoid. The list included white flour, processed sugar, milk, red meat, white rice, alcohol, and potatoes. These foods are often eaten in excess, don't have a lot of nutritional value, are tied to inflammation and weight gain, and are really starchy.

Additional foods that are good to avoid:

• Meat - animal rights aside, red meats are high in iron, which feeds cancer cells. Animals are usually confined in unnatural conditions and spend their lives stressed out of their minds, and I have to imagine it's not a huge leap that all of those hormones and chemicals don't do a body good. Cured meats contain nitrates which have been correlated to stomach cancer. Burned meat contains mutagenic compounds. Then there's farmed fish.
• Fried Foods - Mmmm...acrylamide. A by-product of frying that's also used as a neurotoxin and a known carcinogen.
• Gluten - especially if there's a possibility you're intolerant, although doctors are starting to admit that intolerance is more common than previously though and only extreme intolerance is caught by current testing. A good way to find out if it's really what's causing you to be tired? Avoid it for 2 weeks and then eat it again.
• Canned foods - Cans are usually lined with resin, which is high in BPA, which leeches into your food.
• Sugary Drinks - I'm not buying the "Corn Sugar is like any other sugar" commercials
• Sulfites - they are in a LOT of foods. Capers, many vinegars, kalamata olives, and many sandwich shops use it as a preservative.

How can you be stressed surrounded by puppies? (We still just
have the two....baby sitting)

Even though I am gluten free and vegan, I'm a sucker for baked goods and comfort foods, just like anyone else. If I bake, I eat, so my recipe development has suffered. However, I'm getting really good at making salads, smoothies, and cooked veggie dishes. I'm trying to exceed the recommended "balanced plate" recommendation of 2/3 of the plate filled with fresh fruits and veggies. A typical morning starts off with a smoothie, I have salad and miso soup for lunch, and usually cooked veggies and either brown rice or quinoa for dinner. There's more variety, but that is a typical day. I make all of my own food, and it's not nearly as daunting as people think, even with a chronic illness and a full time job. Salads have very low prep time (compared to cooking something, especially), and what's easier than throwing a bunch of ingredients in a blender? If I don't even have time for salad, I grab some dried wakame or kombu, a jar of miso, and dice some onion. Add hot water, and you have instant soup.

Curries are fantastic. Turmeric and curcumin are antioxidant power houses.

Smoothie Base:

• 1 heaping TB Warrior Food (hemp & brown rice protein - Vanilla is my favorite)
• 3 TB Tocos Plus (vitamin E supplement)
• 1 tsp Premier Research Lab Max B-ND (vegan B complex supplement)
• 1 tsp Maca
• 2 TB ground flax or chia
• 1 TB flax, chia, pumpkin, or hemp oil (I rotate through these)
• 1 banana
• 1/2 lemon juiced or buffered vitamin C (helps to absorb healthy properties of the oils)
• 1/2 cup ice
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp chlorella or blue green algae

Optional Additions:

• 1 cup of berries and 2 cups of greens
• 1 cup of berries
• 1 heaping TB cacao and 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup orange juice and a pinch vanilla bean

So many options! Mangoes, oranges, pineapple, oh my!

Easy Salad Dressings

Miso Dressing
1 heaping TB non-soy Miso
2 TB Olive Oil
1 TB Apple Cider Vinegar or 1/2 Lemon, juice
1 TB onion, minced
pinch of dried ginger

Nut based "Ranch"
1/3 c macadamia or cashew
1/2 c water
liberal amount of dill
1/2 lemon, juice
garlic powder to taste
onion powder to taste
pinch salt

Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. For easier mixing, soak the nuts for 15-30 minutes beforehand.

Salad Blends

I'm not beneath saying that I eat a ton of greens in one sitting. As in a full head of romaine. Plus sprouts and other toppings. The saying that lettuce has low nutritional value is a farce. Leafy greens, including romaine lettuce, are nutritional power houses that have compounds that fight stress, are high in essential vitamins, and contain amino acids that are the building blocks that we refer to as protein. Costco now carries large bags of baby kale and arugula. Arugula has to be my favorite because of that peppery kick it gives. It goes really well with my vegan "Ranch" dressing. Kale pairs really well with the miso dressing. I like to use multiple greens in one salad. Arugula, spinach, and romaine are my favorite. Kale is great with romaine for the more robust dressings.

Kale, lettuce, and spinach are all part of the "dirty dozen" or the fruits and vegetables that have the highest pesticide ratings when grown conventionally. It's best to buy organic and soak them in a large bowl of water with apple cider vinegar or food grade hydrogen peroxide (it only takes a few teaspoons) to help clean off bacteria and parasites. I choose to eat sprouts, but douse them with liberal amounts of food grade hydrogen peroxide and rinse thoroughly to help prevent getting ill from food borne bacteria.

Sprouts, a couple tablespoons of almonds, and a mixture of kale and romaine make a tasty salad

Parting Thoughts

Food is a large aspect of what has been keeping me energized and sane during this time period, but supplements and exercise have played an equally important role. I had a period of extreme nausea and dizziness and started supplementing with even more vitamin B12, and within a week, I felt my energy and balance come back. I have always struggled with maintaining balance in my GI tract, and was dealing with B12 shots and supplements well before I became vegan. B complex, buffered vitamin C, MSM, and several of the supplements listed in my smoothie base are tools I use to help ensure I'm lowering inflammation levels in my body. I'm going to add curcumin and turmeric, and am hopeful that these will help as well.

I try to make it to the gym every work day and garden, walk the dogs, and Zumba on the weekends. On days I feel lazy and have to drag myself down to the gym, I'll be content with 45 minutes on the recumbent bike or elliptical, but usually I'm mixing cardio with balanced weight training. There are mornings when I want to go running out of my office building and not come back - I go to the gym for an hour and all the sudden things are in a new perspective and more manageable. My boss encourages me to take time to work out because he has seen a dramatic increase in productivity and focus, especially in the afternoons, and he has been not-so-blunt about the fact that I'm just more amiable. I was reading Oxygen while on the bike yesterday, and I can't say I was too surprised that exercising just one hour can elevate your mood for 12 hours!


Is there anything better than finding something beautiful in nature to study for a few moments? I'm making a new resolution to try to get outdoors and enjoy my surroundings more. I'm lucky to live in Seattle, within short driving distance of 2 mountain ranges and scores of hiking trails.

I hope everyone finds a Zen moment and finds a working balance that works for them.

Some Resources:
Livestrong - Top 5 Cancer Causing Foods (Livestrong was a great resource when my family was helping my brother deal with cancer):
http://www.livestrong.com/article/81614-top-cancer-causing-foods/

Raw Vegan Source - Supplements and Reading Materials:
http://www.rawvegansource.com

Gone Raw - Raw vegan community forums and recipes:
http://www.goneraw.com

Chickpea Salad and Dried Beans

We had the family over for Christmas Eve dinner and I prepared chickpea salad, sauteed kale, Brussels sprouts, and made a batch of sugar cookies. I had some picky eaters in the crowd, so I didn't make a whole lot of food knowing that my family was bringing meat they cooked in their oven and salad. My grandfather isn't too adventurous when it comes to food, especially when it comes to "weird vegan" food. When he had seconds of the chickpea salad and raved about how good it was, I knew I was on to something! This was inspired by a recipe I tried by vegan and so forth found here.

Chickpea Salad

2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

1 large carrot, diced

3 stalks of celery, trimmed and diced

3 scallions/green onions, sliced

Salad Dressing

1/3 cup macadamia nuts

4 T water

1/2 tsp spicy mustard sauce

1 tsp dried dill

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

squirt of Agave (1 tsp or to taste)

You can use canned, cooked chickpeas, but try to make sure the can is BPA free (if it isn't labeled as such, assume it isn't. Food cans have a resin lining, which leeches into the food). I took the time to peel the chickpeas because I originally thought about making hummus, but it's certainly not necessary. Mash them lightly with a fork. You don't want a paste - leave some texture. Chop the green onions, carrot, and celery. I included the celery leaves because I think they add a pleasant flavor.

Put all of the dressing ingredients into a high speed blender or soak the macadamia nuts before attempting this in a food processor to achieve better texture. Taste the dressing and adjust spices and water as needed. You want the dressing to be thick enough to cling to your ingredients, but not so thick it won't come out of your blender. Combine the dressing and salad ingredients and sprinkle some fresh cracked pepper over the top.

Working with Dried Beans

I purchased dried beans because I was tired of spending so much money on the canned beans that are BPA free. It's also a better environmental choice with far less packaging waist and more can be shipped at a time, so less carbon footprint per bean. I just knew that all of my vegan cookbooks had to have sections on working with dried beans. Guess what? The authors assumed I had been doing this all my life apparently and knew how long to soak beans before cooking them.

Why Soak Beans?

We dread when certain family members eat beans because it definitely means gas. Or does it? When I soak dried beans, it helps remove the oligosaccharides that cause gas. Oligosaccharides are very complex carbohydrates that are enzyme inhibitors, preventing the bean from sprouting too early. If the beans are not soaked, those oligosaccharides travel through your stomach and small intestines, feeding the bad bacteria in your colon. The bad bacteria causes fermentation and gas, which is why beans are known as the magical fruit. Jack in the Beanstalk, eat your heart out.

Another important reason to soak beans is to reduce their cook time. The less time something needs to cook, the less nutrition we boil out of them. I do not use the water beans have cooked in because that water also contains oligosaccharides in addition to some of the nutrients cooked out of the beans. I'd rather lose some nutrients than feed bad bacteria.

How Long Do I Soak Beans?

Before I go into how long I soak beans, I want to point out that they need to be rinsed during the soak process. For example, if I start soaking beans in the evening, I rinse them before bed, then again in the morning before work, then very thoroughly before I cook them for dinner. Today I am taking the day off of work, so i will be rinsing them around lunch time as well. Ideally, rinse the beans 3-4 times per day.

For a handy soak chart, click here. I tend to soak my beans for at least 24 hours. Lentils will start to sprout by this time, which certainly only enhances the nutritional content. I don't bother to sprout other bean varieties except adzuki. Adzuki and lentil are the two easiest to digest and sprout (Coincidence? I think not.). Cooking times vary and can also be seen on this chart. When I cooked garbanzo beans it took about 45 minutes. Lentils take around 20 minutes. Adzuki somewhere in between.

Is It Worth All That Work?

Soaking really isn't very hard to do, it just takes a little planning ahead. The beans sit on the counter and shed those enzyme inhibitors for you, so they're doing almost all the work for you! It's not as easy as opening a can and dumping it into a curry, but you also don't have to worry about what else came out of that can.

Vegan Mofo Day 9: Flying Apron and Ginger Maple Dressing

Seattle Vegan Bakery Review

Today was a bit long and I'm more than a little bit tired, so this will be a short post. This morning I stopped by The Flying Apron on the way in to work. Actually, it wasn't so much a stop by on the way as it was me getting bored of sitting in traffic. I'm glad I did. I haven't been in the shop in a while. My favorite cinnamon rolls were just as good as ever and I decided to pick up a kombucha while I was at it. I had never had the kombucha brand before and was sorely disappointed to discover (after drinking 3/4 of the bottle! Arg!) that it was not vegan (raw honey) and it had ingredients like "Natural Coloring" which is made from who knows what. I really hope the bakery starts brewing their own kombucha. I should have read the label because it is a good practice to keep when you have allergies and they do offer dairy for their espresso/coffee. The brand wasn't that great - I'll stick to Chaco Canyon and Synergy I think.

You will have to excuse the photographs - they were taken with my cell phone. Flying Apron does have some mighty tasty gluten free vegan cinnamon rolls. The one I grabbed was still a little warm, and it was easy to eat at my desk. How they get such a yummy glaze on those rolls, I guess I will never know. Actually, I probably already have the recipe in the cookbook I purchased written by the owner of the Bakery, so I will have to check that out. I do enjoy many of their items and the frosting on their cupcakes and cakes is amazing. Some of the recipes are heavy on the garbanzo bean flour, which is a taste I don't particularly care for, so I tend to stick to my favorites there. The staff is always very helpful and friendly. There was a time when my husband and I lived in the neighborhood and were recognized regulars.

On to the recipe...

Sunday I purchased some wonderful looking arugula at the Sunday Farmer's Market in Capitol Hill. I whipped up a quick dressing to go with it, mixed in some romaine and mushrooms, and we both had huge salads with our dinner.

Ginger Maple Dressing
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
3 Tb sesame oil
2 Tb maple syrup
3 Tb coconut vinegar
pinch of salt

This is a very simple dressing that just requires some grating (ginger) and a quick whisk before pouring over your salad. It pairs very well with the peppery bite of arugula. I would play with the proportions to suit your taste. This may be a bit too sweet for some, so I would up the ginger and vinegar.


Time for me to go to bed. Crossing my fingers and hoping this post makes sense...