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Over-night our bodies naturally detox, and our digestive system gets a well-deserved rest! Each morning we get a new chance to support that detox by setting ourselves up for the day ahead in the best way possible. This is also why the first thing we put into our body is so important. I believe that creating a morning and evening routine can help you to achieve optimal health. I will create another post on everything I do in my morning routine but for now I want to explain to you how I first start my day and why. Water! It sounds so simply and yet so many of us forget to drink water before caffiene. I personally keep a glass of room temp water by my bed to remind me to drink it as soon as I open my eyes. The next best thing is warm lemon water and or lemon and ginger. Once I'm up and preparing breakfast for the kids I always boil the kettle and fill a mug of hot water. I let this cool whilst doing other things and then I add a big squeeze of lemon and drink this whilst getting myself ready for the day. I prefer to add ginger in the winter months because it is very nourishing on the body and can help support your immune system, which we all need a little extra of in the colder months! Lemon is full of vitamin c and naturally supports our detoxification system because it is very cleansing on the body. In many cultures warm lemon water has actually been used to start the day for centuries! I recently found out that this is also an old tradition in my Greek ancestry, but unfortunately it has been lost along the way, so I will try my best to bring it back and remind people of the benefits! In chinese medicine warm water is favoured over cold water because it is the most effective way of removing a build-up of toxic impurities from the digestive tract. The warmth from the hot water supports your circulatory system, allows for more effective elimination and improves sluggish digestion. Warm lemon water first thing in the morning also keeps you hydrated, aids in weight loss, prevents oxidation, provides a potassium boost, and helps prevent kidney stones! The benefits are endless and I hope you can try adding this simple yet effective addition to your morning routine and let me know how you feel. Lemon/ginger water: 5 slices of fresh ginger ½ a fresh lemon squeezed 1 cup hot water Add your ginger slices to a mug and pour hot water from the kettle over them. Leave the ginger too steep for 4-5 minutes. When your water has gone from hot to warm squeeze in your lemon. This is important, you don’t want to add your lemon to boiling hot water as this will kill all the goodness and health benefits from the lemon. Ginger works differently, you need hot water to extract all the flavour from the ginger to receive the benefits. Sip and enjoy! I hope you enjoyed this post and a little snippet into how I start my morning routine. I promise to write a separate blog post on my whole morning routine for you soon. Wishing you all a beautiful, happy & healthy day. Love & light, Jasmine.
The winter months are creeping upon us and it is important to keep our bodies warm from the inside out. It is normal to gain weight at this time of year as we naturally want to eat more as the weather gets colder. I am always searching for new ways to nourish myself at this time of year and I have found warm drinks to be one of the best ways to keep warm and to avoid constant snacking. It is also common to catch a cold as the seasons change as our immune system can be weaker, however we are able to support ourselves through nutrition and immune boosting elixirs to feel strong again! I have really been enjoying one of these warm elixirs daily, between meals as a snack or before bed to calm the mind and decrease inflammation so you can sleep better. The healthy fats from plant-based milks and the herbs and spices added each have different immune and health boosting properties. Try some of the recipes below and let me know what you think and how you feel after drinking one. IMMUNE BOOSTING TURMERIC LATTE 1 cup plant-based milk of choice, I like to use almond and the kids like coconut. ¼ tsp turmeric powder 2 fresh ginger slices 2 cardamom pods 2 small cinnamon sticks A few dried rose petals (optional) Sweeten as needed with raw honey or coconut sugar Add all ingredients to a small pan, bring to the boil and then lower to a simmer for 10-15mins. Strain, add your sweetener of choice, and enjoy! Tip: try adding 1 tsp of maca powder for some added hormonal balancing benefits. All herbs can be found at your local health food store. Benefits of Turmeric: 1. Strong anti-inflammatory compounds known as curcuminoids 2. Supports the upper respiratory tract 3. Eases joint and muscular pain 4. Boosts skin health 5. Eases digestive distress and helps with other digestive disorders 6. Has a positive effect on various diseases: Type 2 diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer 7. Helps with arthritis and may even outperform common arthritis drugs! 8. Works as a natural pain reliever 9. Acts as a natural antidepressant SLEEPY LAVENDER BEDTIME ELIXIR 1 cup of plant-based milk of choice or organic whole cows milk 2 small cinnamon sticks ½ tsp dried lavender 1/5 tsp ground ginger powder 1 tsp of raw honey or coconut sugar to sweeten Add all ingredients to a small pan and simmer for 10-15mins. Strain and enjoy! Benefits of Lavender: 1. Calms the nervous system 2. Relaxes the body 3. Promotes healthy digestion 4. Balances your mood 5. Decreases inflammation in the body 6. Is naturally antibacterial and antifungal 7. Relieves anxiety 8. Has antidepressant properties SPICY GINGER COLD FIGHTING ELIXIR 1 cup hot water 1-inch grated ginger ½ lemon squeezed ¼ tsp turmeric 1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar (ACV) 1 tsp raw honey Add hot water to a small pan with the grated ginger. Bring to the boil and then add the turmeric. Strain and add the lemon, acv and honey. We leave the lemon, acv and honey until after straining the mixture because boiling these ingredients can cause them to lose their health properties. For example, the dose of vitamin c in a lemon can decrease and the acv can lose some of its probiotic benefits. Benefits of Ginger: 1. Contains many bioactive components that help fight disease 2. Helps fight cold and flu symptoms 3. Eases nausea 4. Helps with headaches and migraines 5. Decreases hypertension 6. Eases digestive distress including acid reflux and can help to digest foods 7. High in antioxidants 8. Has cancer fighting compounds I look forward to you trying each of these recipes and reaping all the health benefits! You can also mix and match the recipes to your liking. Remember to tag me in your posts @jkyriakounutrition. Wishing you all a beautiful day. Love & light, Jasmine.
Hello everyone and welcome! This is my very first blog post. I am so happy to have a place where I can share my knowledge on all thing’s natural medicine. My goal with this blog is to introduce you to nutrition and living naturally or simply tp add to your knowledge of it. I hope you all enjoy what I have to say and learn something new with each post. What are Probiotic foods? Probiotic foods are actually fermented foods that naturally contain probiotics. Probiotics are the good bacteria that positively feed our gut microbiome helping to fight off bad bacteria when you have too much of it, improving digestion of foods, and keeping the body healthy and working well. Types of probiotic foods you can add to your diet: 1. Kefir -similar to yoghurt this is a fermented dairy product drink made from milk and fermented kefir grains. 2. Sauerkraut -made from fermented cabbage and other probiotic vegetables, think pickled vegetables but the healthy version. 3. Yoghurt -stick to plain whole full fat when purchasing to avoid added sugars or for a dairy free alternative choose coconut yoghurt. 4. Miso -a traditional Japanese spice, miso soup is famous worldwide! 5. Kimchi -similar to sauerkraut it is the Korean version of cultured vegetables. 6. Natto and Tempeh -made from fermented soybeans. 7. Kombucha -a fermented drink made from sweetened tea and ‘SCOBY’ a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts. Be mindful of kombucha drinks as they can be full of added sugars which will cancel out the probiotic benefits. 8. Apple cider vinegar -stick to raw unfiltered organic with the ‘mother’ when purchasing. 9. Brine-cured olives. What are Prebiotic foods? Prebiotic foods are a group of nutrients in food that feed the intestinal microbiota (probiotics), helping to multiply the good bacteria in your gut and further enhance your health and wellbeing. When used in conjunction with probiotics the health results are significant. You probably already include a number of these in your diet without realising as they are mostly found in fruits and vegetables. Types of prebiotic foods you can add to your diet: 1. Asparagus 2, Beetroot (beets) 3. Garlic 4. Dandelion greens 5. Chicory 6. Onions 7. Leeks 8. Cabbage 9. Jerusalem artichoke 10. Bananas 11. Apples 12. Radishes 13. Sweet potatoes 14. Shitake mushrooms 15. Tomato 16. Oats 17. Cocoa 18. Burdock root 19. Flaxseeds and hemp seeds 20. Apple cider vinegar (this wonderful product includes both pro and prebiotics) 21. Legumes 22. Seaweeds and microalgae How will these foods help improve my gut health? The gut is our second brain. I don’t know if you are aware of how important the health of our gut is, but keeping it healthy it is one of the strongest solutions to fighting off disease. There are approximately 100 trillion micro-organisms, most of which are bacteria, but also viruses and fungi, that live in our gastrointestinal tract. Evidence supports the fact that gut microbes are key to many aspects of our health including immune, metabolic, and neurobehavioral traits. The gut undergoes numerous challenges daily: helping us to digest our food, produce short chain fatty acids, gases, acids, and rid the body of toxins. The more diverse our microbiome the more benefits to our health. We can simply change our health through food alone, which is so easily accessible and cheaper than any supplement, so why not try including some of these foods daily and see how you and your gut start to feel. Nutrition Tip: Start off slow as you can overload the gut if you consume too many pre and probiotics foods too quickly which will result in symptoms such as bloating and gas. To avoid this stick to what you have already been eating and add in a few new foods each week. When adding sauerkraut or kimchi to meals start off with 1 teaspoon and slowly build up to 1 tablespoon or what you feel you can tolerate. Good luck! I hope you found this post interesting and that this information will help to improve your gut health and overall well-being. Love & light, Jasmine