Nutrition Matters for Your Mind; Fasting; Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans and Gremolata

Health Tip:

I’m passing on some great information from another chiropractor who has literally written the book on fasting…for women!  Her name is Dr. Mindy Pelz and she has a YouTube Channel FULL of valuable information on fasting for women.  Guys, you can get good info from her as well, but she is handling some special differences that women have.  Men have a 24 hour hormone cycle but women have a 28 day cycle!  Women need to fast differently!  Here are the names of 2 of her books: “Fast Like a Girl” and “The Menopause Reset”.  I’ve read most of “Fast Like a Girl” and just could not wait to share until I finished both of her books.

Monthly Article:

Nutrition Matters for Your Mind

Did you know that what you eat or don’t eat has a significant effect on your mental and emotional wellbeing?  The number of times that this comes as a surprise to patients actually surprises me!  We really ARE what we eat!  If we nourish our body well, we end up nourishing our BRAIN as well, which is of course part of our body.

We have seen a dramatic increase in mental issues over the last several decades.  So much so that now some of them are being seen as normal variants.  I DISAGREE!  I do not believe that these are personality disorders or any kind of normal.  These issues are your body and brain crying out for help and real nourishment! 

Some of the more common mental issues that are out there are:

• ADD/ADHD— A syndrome, usually diagnosed in childhood, characterized by a persistent pattern of impulsiveness, a short attention span, and often hyperactivity, and interfering especially with academic, occupational, and social performance.            (Syndrome— A group of symptoms that collectively indicate or characterize a disease, psychological disorder, or other abnormal condition.)

• Anxiety/Panic Attacks— A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties./The sudden onset of intense anxiety, characterized by feelings of intense fear and apprehension and accompanied by palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, and trembling. Also called anxiety attack.

• Depression— A psychiatric disorder characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, loss of appetite, anhedonia (loss of ability to feel pleasure), feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness, and thoughts of death. Also called clinical depression.

Wellness is actually defined as “The condition of good physical and mental health, especially when maintained by proper diet, exercise, and habits.”  Your mind is part of you and must be a part of wellness.

Here are just a few things that can contribute to mental changes.

• Dehydration can cause depression, stress, and anxiety.

• Diets high in refined carbohydrates and trans fat and low in essential fatty acids (like Omega 3s) can lead to depression.

• B vitamin deficiencies can cause major depressive disorder.  Severe symptoms include confusion, memory loss, depression, and dementia.

• Low norepinephrine/Epinephrine (neurotransmitters) can cause addictions, cravings, fatigue, intolerance to exercise, depression, and loss of alertness

• High norepinephrine/Epinephrine can cause feelings of stress, aggression, violence, impatience, anxiety, excess worry/hypervigilance, insomnia, paranoia, increasing tingling/burning, loss of memory, pain sensitivity, and heart palpitations.

• Dopamine (neurotransmitter) is needed to make norepinephrine and epinephrine. 

• Low levels of dopamine can cause depression, addictions, cravings, apathy, pleasure seeking behaviors, increased sleepiness, impulsivity, tremors, low motivation, fatigue, and low mood. 

• High dopamine can cause agitation, insomnia, mania, hyperactivity, hyper-focus, high stress, anxiety, and addictions/cravings/pleasure seeking (to maintain high levels)

• Low Melatonin (neurotransmitter) can cause anxiety and mood disorders, lowered basal body temperature, insomnia, elevated estrogen/progesterone ratio, and immune suppression associated with cancer.

• Low Serotonin (neurotransmitter) can cause depression, mood problems, anxiety, sleep problems, digestive problems, suicidal behavior, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and panic disorders.  Serotonin is 95% made in your gut by your microbiome!

Here is the basic way to make sure you are taking care of your mental health and wellbeing from a nutritional level. 

• Make sure you eat whole foods!!  Lots of vegetables, fruits, and clean meat.  Cut out the processed foods. 

• Make sure to add fish, nuts, and the healthy fat veggies as well to boost the good fats (avocado, olives). 

• Make sure you are drinking at least 64oz of water each day. 

• Try to get 30 different plants in per week as this will give your microbiome the diversity it LOVES to feed good gut bacteria that will flood your body will all the feel-good nutrients! 

Several of the neurotransmitters can be assessed using the DUTCH test if you are interested in seeing if this is an issue for you.

Here is an article from which is FULL of more detail on this subject if you’d like to dig in deeper!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2738337/

Recipe of the Month:

Roasted Chicken with Spiced Citrus Sweet Potatoes and Balsamic Green Beans with Olive and Caper Gremolata 

This is a weekend meal to help kick-off your new diet. One reason why . . . leftovers . . . and also to have you try a few different techniques that will be helpful to have in your cooking arsenal. The first technique, roasting, is a great way to cook both meat and veggies, because the browning process brings out natural flavors. The next technique is parboiling, which is to partially cook with boiling. Using this technique with the green beans will lock in the color and flavor of the beans, while making the sauté time shorter. This meal is also packed with GI-friendly nutrients like carotenoids from the sweet potato, and spices known for their GI support like cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger.  

Ingredients:

Roasted Chicken 

·         1 whole roasting chicken (about 5 pounds) 

·         1 lemon or meyer lemon, halved 

·         1 bundle of lemon thyme (5-6 sprigs) 

·         5 garlic cloves, peeled 

·         olive oil  

·         paprika 

·         onion powder 

·         salt and pepper 

Spiced Citrus Mashed Sweet Potatoes 

·         3 medium sweet potatoes 

·         3 tablespoons butter, or soy-free vegan alternative spread 

·         1 large navel orange (which yields 1/3 cup of juice and 2 teaspoons of orange zest) 

·         2 teaspoons minced garlic 

·         ½ teaspoon lemon pepper 

·         ½ teaspoon cinnamon  

·         ¼ teaspoon ground ginger 

·         ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder 

Green Beans with Olive & Caper Gremolata 

·         4 cups of green beans, cleaned and halved 

·         ½ large sweet onion, sliced thin crescents  

·         2 tablespoons olive oil 

·         1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 

·         1 tablespoon minced garlic 

·         ¾ teaspoon dried oregano  

·         ½ teaspoon paprika 

·         salt and pepper 

Olive & Caper Gremolata 

·         ½ cup pitted kalamata olives, finely chopped  

·         ½ cup non pareil capers 

·         3 tablespoons olive oil  

·         2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped 

·         2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated 

·         1.5 teaspoons lemon juice 

·         ¼-½ teaspoon garlic, minced  

·         salt 

Directions: 

1.       Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2.       While the oven is heating, scrub the sweet potatoes and poke a few holes in each with a fork. Place onto a small baking sheet and slide into the oven. This should take about 1-1.5 hours to roast. They should be soft to the touch. 

3.       Remove the chicken and pat dry and remove the giblet bag from the cavity. Discard the bag or save it for another dish.  

4.       Salt and pepper the cavity, then add the lemon, lemon thyme, and garlic cloves. 

5.       Tie the legs together with the butcher’s twine. 

6.       Brush the skin with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt, then evenly shake on the other dried spices. Lightly rub the spices into the skin to make the mixture uniform around the chicken. 

7.       Place in the oven on a roasting pan to roast for around 1.5 hours. Internal temp should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit (at thickest part of the thigh) if using a meat thermometer, or juices should run clear when cutting between the darkest parts of the chicken (leg and thigh). Once done let it sit, tented with foil, for 20 minutes to rest. 

8.       Make the Gremolata by combining all the ingredients listed above, stir, and let sit to incorporate flavors. 

9.       Wash, trim the ends, and then halve the green beans. After the green beans are prepped in a medium-to-large saucepan begin boiling water.  

10.    While the water begins to boil, prep the ½ large sweet onion. Cut off both ends of the onion, split the onion along its long axis, and then carefully slice thin crescents by cutting along the short axis (horizontally). 

11.    Parboil the green beans for 5-6 minutes or until the beans have a vibrant green color. Once achieved, drain the green beans in a colander and place the colander in a bowl of ice water to rest. 

12.     In a large pan, add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Once oil begins to glisten, add in the onions, garlic, and some salt and pepper to sauté, stirring every minute or so until the onions begin to clarify.  

13.    Add the greens beans to the pan with some salt and pepper to sauté, stirring every minute or so until the desired cooked level for you is achieved (some like a crunchier green bean than others). 

14.    To finish, add the herbs, balsamic vinegar, and some salt and pepper. Quickly stir the green bean/onion mixture to incorporate and coat. Remove the mixture and plate on a serving plate. Top with the olive and caper gremolata. 

15.    Carefully peel the hot sweet potatoes, which is done easiest by cutting them in half and lifting off the peel. If roasted thoroughly, then the skin should slide right off. Place the flesh of the sweet potato in a large bowl and lightly mash with a fork. 

16.    Add in the butter or spread, juice, zest, and spices. From here you can finish mashing. Stir the blend a little vigorously at the end to make sure everything is evenly incorporated. Taste, then salt and pepper, to taste. 

17.    Carve the chicken and plate the sides.

Variation: Not a fan of capers? Switch over to ½ cup of pitted castelvetrano oils instead. Get the pitted version to make life easier. Add these in finely chopped.

This recipe was found on Thorne’s website: https://www.thorne.com/take-5-daily/article/10-simple-recipes-ideas-for-a-whole-food-diet

Upcoming Activities and Announcements:

• Roots to Health talk Tuesday, October 17 at 6:15pm; Saturday, October 21 at 10am.  Please sign up at the front desk.  Bring a friend and write a question!  This is a casual time to learn about the real Roots to Health!

• A note on same day appointments: as Dr. Smith is getting busier, same day appointments are getting harder to accommodate.  Remember that our goal is for you to have WELLNESS and to do so, regular check-ups are recommended so that you don’t get into crisis.  As a quote on the internet says, “If you don’t make time for your health today, you will have to make time for your sickness later.”

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