Beck Anderson Yoga & Wellness Hammock

I experimented with a paleo rhubarb recipe, and immediately fell in love. Here is an amazing rhubarb crisp recipe that limits sugar and has no grains! Thus, why we call it Paleo. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did (pert near ate the whole pie myself!).

Paleo Rhubarb Crisp

Makes 1 pie

Ingredients

Filling:
3 C Chopped Rhubarb
3/4 C Raw Honey
5 drops Stevia
1 T Cinnamon

Crumble:
1/3 C Coconut Oil
1 T Cinnamon
2 C Almond Flour
1 tsp Pure Vanilla
1 tsp Salt
1/4 C Raw Honey

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Mix filling ingredients in a bowl, and pour into a pie pan.
3. In the same bowl, mix all crumble ingredients until the mixture has the texture of wet sand or a little lumpier.
4. Bake filling ingredients at 350F for about 30 minutes until they are bubbly
5. Remove dish from oven and spread crumble over top of filling ingredients.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 30 minutes removing foil in the last 10 minutes to crisp up the topping.

And then tell me, what do you think?

Since I’m trying to deplete our freezer (we’re moving soon!) I was really digging deep today and came out with a goodie: a large gallon bag from a friend’s friend’s apple tree from 2012.

Big dilemma. (Not!) Since today is my refeeding day (more about that later) I made apple crisp! Lucky me! And lucky you! If you try this out, let me know what you think.

A few notes: it won’t be the same texture as conventional apple crisp, but the taste is wonderful.

Paleo Apple Crisp

Makes 1 pie

Ingredients

Filling:

6-12 Apples, enough to fill a pie pan (peeled, unpeeled or both), cored and sliced
1/2 C Dried Currants
1/4 C Raw Honey
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 T Almond Flour

Topping:
1/3 C Coconut Oil
1 T Cinnamon
2 C Almond Flour
1/2 C Chopped Walnuts
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Salt
1/4 C Raw Honey

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. Mix filling ingredients in a bowl, and pour into a pie pan.
3. In the same bowl, mix all crumble ingredients until the mixture has the texture of wet sand or a little lumpier.
4. Spread crumble ingredients evenly over apples, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
5. Remove foil and bake additional 20 minutes or until apples are cooked through.
6. Remove from oven and serve.

What do you think? Worth making again?

On the phone today a friend mentioned that she’s wearing her mala beads as she’s on her way to her mammogram appointment. I [nearly] panicked.

Breast health – including massaging for abnormalities – is something we hear about as females from teenage years, but consider it a “for my future self” suggestion. I never could find the time to massage myself due to, well, oh-so-many other things I’d prefer to do first.

Since both my grandma and my aunt passed away from breast cancer (paternal side, though) breast health is not something to be completely ignored. Well, maybe until I’m closer to 40. :0)

So, we’re going to quickly answer the following questions: What is a mammogram? What are the associated benefits? What are the associated risks? What is thermography? What are the associated benefits? What are the associated risks?

What is a mammogram?

Google tells me: “An image obtained by mammography.” Uh, ok. My friend’s 4-year-old could have told me that. A mammography, then, is a technique using X-rays to diagnose and locate breast tumors.

What are the associated benefits?

“Mammograms can detect some breast cancers when they are small, before they have spread and become incurable. Treatment for breast cancer is more effective if breast cancer is found when it is small and localized. There are differences in the benefits of mammograms according to age.

“There is good evidence that mammograms decrease deaths from breast cancer in women aged 50 to 69 years if breast cancer is adequately treated after discovery by a mammogram” (source).

What if, for example, a 40 year-old-woman gets a mammogram every year (like her doctor suggests) until she is age 50-69 and finds out she has breast cancer (yay! I found out early on because I get mammograms every year). Can we safely say the mammogram didn’t trigger the breast cancer No. We can’t. So I’m not sure if there are benefits.

What are the associated risks?

The “hazards most often associated with exposure to x-ray radiation include increased risk of cancer and increased risk of genetic effects in exposed populations” (source). So that answers that. Yes, because of the exposure to the x-ray which increases the risk of the very disease a mammogram is trying to detect. Also, read here the Dangers of Mammography.

What is Thermography?

“The use of thermograms to study heat distribution in structures or regions, for example in detecting tumors.” (I love google.) Or, in the words from breastthermography.com:

The use of Digital Infrared Imaging is based on the principle that metabolic activity and vascular circulation in both pre-cancerous tissue and the area surrounding a developing breast cancer is almost always higher than in normal breast tissue. In an ever-increasing need for nutrients, cancerous tumors increase circulation to their cells by holding open existing blood vessels, opening dormant vessels, and creating new ones. This process frequently results in an increase in regional surface temperatures of the breast. DII uses ultra-sensitive medical infrared cameras and sophisticated computers to detect, analyze, and produce high-resolution images of these temperature variations. Because of DII’s extreme sensitivity, these temperature variations may be among the earliest signs of breast cancer and/or a pre-cancerous state of the breast.

And you can also read this woman’s amazing testimony about how she changed her diet, supplements and stress to avert cancer that appeared to be forming in her breasts. Complete with before and after photos!

What are the associated benefits?

No radiation from x-rays.

Unlike a mammogram, a thermogram doesn’t hurt!

“The most promising aspect of thermography is its ability to spot anomalies years before mammography” (source).

What are the associated risks?

No risks.

Interested in finding a thermography center near you? Follow this link.

I could sleep until noon every day and still wake up tired. In fact, I don’t ever remember a morning in my life when I woke up feeling chiper and well-rested.

There are many reasons why people feel fatigued: low thyroid, huge sleep debt, anemia, sleep apnea, depression, low vitamin D and more. The most obvious cause would be not getting to sleep early enough the night before.

What is important about the 8+ hour sleep night? Tim Ferriss, in The Four Hour Body, points out that of those 8 hours we only get 2 REM cycles. So 6+ of our sleeping hours, scientists don’t even know why we are unconscious, Ferriss says. Cute sleep fact: humans, rabbits, pigs, and guinea pigs are the only mammals that “need” 8 hours of sleep.

Sleep Hacking is training the body to polyphasic sleep instead of monophasic sleep. Or sleeping multiple times per day instead of once per day.

Polyphasic sleep can help people who suffer from insomnia (which, I found out once, in not a ball of joy like I thought it would be). But it can also help people who just want to be able to function on less sleep (hello!) or be more productive.

One study Ferriss mentioned is a person who took 20-minute naps throughout the day for a whole year. Imagine what you could accomplish if you only needed to schedule 6-8 20-minute naps to get your sleep requirements!

When you’re moving from monophasic sleep to bi- or polyphasic sleep, the first week or so is hard, tiring and sleepy. It can’t be much harder than adjusting to an overseas time schedule, I’m sure.

I’m not going full-on polyphasic, but I am trying biphasic sleep. So at 2:00 PM every day I’ll be taking my first sleep.

I haven’t ruled out thyroid issues, anemia or low vitamin D, so factors like those might have an effect on my sleep — or, rather, my feeling rested when I wake up. However, after a month or more, I hypothesis that I’ll be able to sleep less than 8 hours and wake up feeling more rested.

When I first met him, he was 315 pounds and approximately 5’10″. He was pre-diabetic, had high cholesterol, using acid blockers, blood pressure medication and a sleep machine.

I’ve been consulting him since September. Eight months.

A conventional nutritionist or doctor would prescribe a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet and say the prescription drugs are helping his body stay healthy. At the worst, they would add a statin drug to his medication routine.

A conventional nutritionist would say nothing about cod liver oil, high vitamin butter, sea salt, or grass-fed meat. Heaven forbid they would suggest a probiotic or the GAPS (Gut And Psychology Syndrome) protocol.

But I did.

We spent hours in his kitchen removing processed, boxed “food” items with soy, hydrogenated oils, colorings and additives. I felt a twinge of guilt when I donated two laundry baskets of food at the food shelter: less-fortunate people shouldn’t be subjected to that “food” either.

We restocked his kitchen with nutrient-dense, full-fat foods. We found grass-fed protein, pulled in organic produce and talked about balancing blood sugar levels (super important for pre-diabetics).

Despite the nay-sayers and the calorie-in/calorie-out advocators, he stuck to our plan. He changed his lifestyle to a point that was slightly uncomfortable – but, as in every business takeover, there has to be a significant lifestyle change to prove that something is going to happen.

And something [good] did happen.

The first few week he spent eating through the six stages of the Introduction Diet to the GAPS protocol (purpose: to heal his gut). He lost a significant amount of weight all at once. Afterwards his lifestyle food plan is about healing his body on the inside. The excess weight is a symptom of what is wrong on the inside. So dietary changes are NOT about losing weight, although excess fat will not be sustained.

Now he’s wavering between being strict about what form nutrients take as they enter his body (generally a GAPS diet) and being a bit more indulgent. It’s a balancing game.

Now, eight months after we began, his blood test shows normal triglyceride and glucose levels. His doctor is helping him wean from his blood pressure medication. After more weight comes off, he’ll be able to wean off his sleep machine. He has Barrett’s esophagus and knows it is essentially a precursor to esophageal cancer. He knows the acid blocking medicine is not something to be ambivalent about and (soon!) he’ll be ready to begin the road of weaning off the acid blocker too.

He knows the road will be long, but he’s made a long-term committed to his health.

My husband’s whole family and I took a week long vacation in Costa Rica last week. The sun soaked through our clothing and the humidity hung in the air. In other words, the weather was muy perfecto!

The rainy season is just starting now so we did experience a massive rainstorm one day… and, naturally, we were on a low-edged boat in crocodile infested waters.

We found a gorgeous water fall at the edge of a rainforest that we were able to climb up to and stand under the spout of water flowing over the edge. We saw monkeys — one was laughing at us when the 20+ person van got stuck in the mud and the men had to push it out — and iguanas and ant eaters and birds (no Tucans though) and baby coyotes and bull riding and tasted amAZing coffee. We learned how to surf and, most importantly, we chilled by the pool and swam in the ocean at our resort and spoke Spanglish.

It was, simply put, pura vida!

I just got back from a 15 minute walk around the block, and am now attempting to eat a super health egg salad before my next meeting. Who hates Monday? Not me!

What do you do to make your Monday awesome?

Easy Egg Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 hard boiled farm fresh eggs
1/2 C mayo
Salt and pepper to taste
dash cayenne (optional)

Directions

1. Peel eggs and smash with a fork
2. Stir in mayo, salt and pepper. Add cayenne to taste.
3. To serve, scoop on top of a bed of spring greens.

When last week’s e-newsletter was sent out, I realized I made a big mistake in the measurements of the Chocolate Chia Pudding! I wrote 1/4 C raw milk and 1 C chia seeds and really it should be flip flopped! (I’ve since corrected the recipe online.)

I apologize if you tried the recipe and it didn’t work. And if you haven’t tried it yet, give it a try! It’s quick and easy and tasty!

Eggs.

Love ‘em.

When I was at the grocery store a few weeks ago (right after I had a mini panic attack when I used my last local, free-range egg) I was shocked to see $7+ for a dozen Organic Valley eggs. Part of it is that our area — Menominee, MI — is considered an economically depressed area. So I’m guessing many people most likely do not buy organic because they are counting their pennies (or spending them on the bar tab). I’m guessing organic eggs don’t sell well, so the store hikes up the price. When 5-10 dozen eggs go past their “sell by” date and are thrown out, at least those 3 dozen they did sell pays off the bunch.

My egg-laden, protein-rich coconut flour bread would be super expensive if I was reliant on store-bought OV eggs!

Organic, free-range eggs feed our brains and body with healthy fat, protein and other vital nutrients. Eggs from hens raised on pasture show 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as supermarket eggs (source).

Moral of the story? Find a local farmer. Organic eggs (and free-range) are definitely worth it.

If you’re in the Menominee/Marinette area, check out Smax Farm. Their eggs sell for $3/dozen and you can sign up for a regular weekly pick-up.

If you already have an egg source, how much do you pay per dozen?

Photo Credit: www.wisegeek.org

I have a bit of a sweet tooth when it comes to rich, creamy foods like cheesecake, rice pudding and… well, all puddings in general. Which is a challenge for someone who tries to eat healthy most of the time. So when I heard about someone making pudding from chia seeds, it was Game On.

Chia seeds are an old food; evidence shows that humans began using chia seeds around 3500 BC. They have nutritional benefits including fiber, omega fatty acids, calcium, antioxidants and more – even protein.

The texture is slightly chewy (unless a handblender is used) and can be a satisfying, bitter chocolatey taste or sweet chocolate, depending on how much honey you add.

Chocolate Chia Pudding

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 C Raw Milk (or coconut milk)
• 1/4 C Chia Seeds
• 3 Tb Cocao Powder
• 1-2 Tb Honey
• 2-5 drops Stevia

Directions

1. In a jar with a lid, measure the milk and chia seeds. Let soak for 15-30 minutes, stirring or shaking the jar every 3-5 minutes to avoid clumping.
2. Then, in a medium size bowl, stir cocao powder with the thick liquid until well mixed.
3. Add raw honey and stevia to taste.
4. Option: use a hand blender to make the pudding smooth.