THURSDAY BASICS: Lemon water to start your day

Good Thursday to you! We continue on this revamping of the 2016 series I called Monday Health Basics. 52 new ideas to implement in to your daily life, one good thing at a time.

This one’s a gooder, especially if you have lost your morning appetite, or need some liver lovin. It’s also great to help wake up a sluggish digestive system. Plus, it tastes pretty darn DELICIOUS.

This week’s topic: Lemon Water to Start Your Day

THE COLES NOTES:
1.  Get a bag of lemons, and blitz together in to a paste.
2. Freeze in ice cubes.
3. Take one out at night, drop in a glass, leave on your nighttable for first thing tomorrow morning.

Now go forth and support vitality, will you? 

---

This weekly-easy-upgrade-for-better-health is a pretty simple one. It takes all of 3 minutes of prep once every two or three weeks, and a little forethought every night before hitting the hay.

We're talking the pros of starting your day with a glass of lemon water.

Omit the ice cubes for improved benefits. I just liked the colour here.

There are so many benefits to kicking your day off on the right foot with this lemon water business. This recommendation is one that just about every client I see on an individual basis will get early on in our work together. The benefits are many, as you will see by the list below.

But first, the how-to:

There are a few ways to do this. It's a good-better-best kind of deal if you simply add a tablespoon of bottled lemon juice to a glass of room temperature water first thing upon waking in the morning. Upgrade that to a freshly squeezed half lemon for even more benefits in the same glass of water.

Want to really knock this one out of the park? Purchase a bag of organic lemons and run the lot through your stand mixer or food processor in order to reduce them to a mushy paste. Yes, skin, rind, seeds, pith and all.

Pour this paste into ice cube trays and tuck in the freezer for easy retrieval. Before heading to bed at night, pop one of those lemon ice cubes out of the tray and toss in a glass of filtered water, and set on your night table so that come morning, that lemon will be melted into the water. Down the zesty drink first thing before even getting up, and you've done your body a good deed already. And your feet haven't even touched the floor yet! GOOD WORK.

Now go about your morning routine, washing up, getting dressed, packing lunches, feeding others, and preparing your breakfast. Getting the water down the hatch first thing will allow your body to absorb that water and give a good 30 minute buffer before your breakfast is ready to eat. This buffer means that the water will not dilute your hydrochloric acid, and thus will not hinder your digestive prowess first thing in the morning. Again, GOOD WORK.

But why?

The reasons for implementing this daily ritual are many. First things first: after a good night's sleep, your body can be leaning towards dehydration as it hasn't consumed any water for a long period of time. Starting the morning with room temperature water will help rehydrate, and the added lemon will get your digestive system started. As our body does its restorative work during our sleep, starting the day with this bitter beverage will induce the liver to do a very gentle cleanse first thing, flushing out toxins and getting bile flowing. (Truly, the only ‘cleanse’ you will ever hear from me.)

Water is the main component of our lymph system, and so by consuming this glass of water in the morning we are further supporting our body's natural detoxification job in moving toxins and antigens out.

As is well documented, citrus fruits are also good source of Vitamin C: this crucial antioxidant plays an important role in supporting the liver, a main player in immune and a necessary nutrient for supple skin and health for connective tissue (we need it to make collagen in our bodies).

And let's not forget the adrenals, they too rely on Vitamin C and so think of this as a good support for you to better be able to handle stress. Vitamin C is also a big player in keeping free radical damage at bay, and so of good support to skin. 

As an added bonus, citrus fruit have been well documented to contribute to reducing overall inflammation be it systemic, chronic or acute in nature. What's not to love?

Extra tips

Make sure your glass of water is either at room temperature or a bit warm, as cold water will shock your system and reduce the benefits you may be seeking here. This is part of the reason why I recommend you prepare this morning wake up the night before, to ensure the temperature won't slow down the benefits we're seeking here.

If you're worried about any negative effects on the health of your teeth when consuming lemon water on a daily basis, you may want to consume your water through a straw, bypassing your teeth entirely.

Just adding this one easy task to your morning routine can bring support to your liver, lymph system, skin, digestive system, connective tissue, reduce inflammation, neutralize those free radicals and help rehydrate your body. It's really an easy add-on with myriad benefits, including supporting a balancing of hormones too. Try this one out, and let me know how you feel one week in!

THURSDAY BASICS: Switch to Filtered

Every Thursday here, we dive in to a new concept (rather, a revisit of a series first published in 2016). This is one I just about put at the top of the year, the first thing I’d recommend you put in place if you haven’t yet incorporated the ideas presented in this Thursday Basics series thus far.

On Water.

COLES NOTES
1. Our water in Calgary is pretty dang clean - Lucky Us! BUT.
2. Chlorine + Fluoride mess with your microbiome.
3. Chlorine + Fluoride mess with proper thyroid function.

Switch to filtered, kittens.

---

In this Monday Basics Series, I have touched on the importance of water consumption and the timing around that consumption. We’ll dive in to more as the year progresses, but today it’s about one of the first and most basic changes you can make for which you will reap great rewards: SWITCH TO FILTERED.

We're talking water, of course.
We're talking nix the straight up tap water, instead filtering it so it's of gentler support to your body.

There are lots of reasons, first and foremost because of chlorine. This chemical is found in our tap water and thank goodness it is – to be clear, this prevents our water supply from contamination. This means it saves us from disease and infection from bacteria that could be found in our water supply. (I don’t need the trots, thanks very much!)

Adding chlorine to our drinking water means we can prevent getting sick from water-borne diseases like cholera, E.coli and Giardia. Really quite brilliant, yes. But all of this disinfecting comes with a price.

CHEMICAL REACTIONS

Chlorine reacts chemically with other substances naturally found in our water or ones that are in our bodies to form dangerous toxins that have been linked to certain human illnesses like asthma, eczema, cardiovascular disease and bladder issues and linked to damaging effects of many organs and systems including the heart, kidney and central nervous system. These byproducts contribute to free radical buildup and damage in our bodies too, which can contribute to cell damage and setting the stage for cancer.

We are all biochemically unique individuals, and so how much each person is affected by the chlorine in our drinking water differs from one person to another.

FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR MICROBIOME

Another big concern with chlorine is that it is just that, a bacteria-erasing chemical. Your guts have microflora or probiotics or good gut guys, whatever you want to call them. Good work!

HOWEVER.

This chlorinated water is going to eradicate the microbiome you are trying to cultivate. Having good microflora in our gut (or a balanced microbiome) is essential to overall optimal health and immune support.  So by filtering our water, we will be ensuring a more hospitable environment where our gut microbiome can thrive and in turn, look after us. Win-win, kids, win-win.

(Not sure yet what is this mysterious microbiome? Look no further.)

As well, the chlorine (and when it’s there, fluoride) in water has been shown to have a negative effect on the thyroid. In the body, the chlorine molecule looks a lot like the iodine molecule; if you look on the periodic table of elements, chlorine and fluoride are in the same column as iodine, and the same one as bromine. Studies now show that ingesting these chemicals can run interference with organs that depend on iodine, chiefly the thyroid. There is even some suggestions to add a chlorine filter to our shower heads! 

SOURCING OUR WATER

As water is fundamental to our body's function and living, it is imperative we ensure our water source is the cleanest possible, and that we pay attention to limiting the negative effects of some of the chemicals that can be found in our water.

Our best choice? For drinking water, go with spring water as this natural unprocessed water source is controlled and measured for any volatile compounds or contamination from local agricultural or industrial sources.

But ensuring spring water as your main drinking source is not a possibility for everyone; my second best recommendation would be to invest in a good water filter. There are many options out there, find the one that will best fit your budget. Shop around, ask friends what they like.

Check to see if your refrigerator's water supply came with a filter! If it did, make sure you're changing your filter on a regular basis.

If you're going for a stand-alone filtering system, there are jugs or stand systems with charcoal filters that are great at removing chlorine, some particulate matter and some of the heavy metals as well as some bacteria, parasites and most viruses. But these carbon filters can be a breeding ground for bacteria: make sure to change your filters on a regular basis. They do remove the majority of chlorine but won't take out fluoride. Not a concern in Calgary, as our city has since removed the fluoride that used to be added to our water. For those in Calgary who would like to know more about our water supply, follow this link. 

Reverse osmosis systems may be the way to go for some, as it takes out 100% of all organic matter including the minerals; know that you should consider re-incorporating minerals into that water for drinking purposes. Adding a pinch of sea salt to your jug of RO water may be just fine, or running it through a system that will re-introduce minerals may work for you too. What system you choose is a personal choice; do your own research to find which one best suits your needs and budget.

Because your thyroid, your gut called and your immune system all called. They say thanks, in advance.

I often have gut and thyroid based talks on the go, make sure to check on the Events page to see if something is on the horizon. You might find the information presented useful!

For those who ferment at home, getting a water filter of sorts will be of great benefit to you, as chlorinated water also halts or may hinder the fermentation process. Think of the doors that will open up with this new filter in your life!

THURSDAY BASICS. Today: w a t e r

This first month of revisiting the Monday Health Basics series is up, and we have one more idea to implement this month.

See, in case you’re new to these blog posts, every Thursday this year, we will be diving in to one idea a week to work at implementing in your life. The idea here is to build on the good practices to help put optimal health in place — which is code for reducing inflammation. When you work at reducing inflammation, you support quality and quantity of life, and keep those chronic diseases at bay. Yeah Prevention!

One idea a week is posted, and this time, we’re going through them in a bit of a better order.

This week’s topic: ON WATER. (Originally, the very first post in the series!)

THE COLES NOTES:
1.  You are 60% water, kittens. It is key in so many roles in the body. Good tips on ways to go about keeping the water flowing over the course of the day here.
2. Mind good digestion and stop drinking water 30 mins before a meal
3. Wait for 1 hour until after the meal to start drinking again

Now go forth and drink up (but only at appropriate times), will you? #quest4vitality

---

I'm starting a new blog series for this new year, and it's a simple thing, really. It's called Monday Basics and it's meant to be a quick read for your Monday mornings on one manageable thing you can add to your day / your life / your regimen, one simple and effective change in order to help you achieve optimal health. It won't be complicated; there may be some recipes involved at times. Oh sure, some posts may involve a bit more work, but I guarantee you balance with some easier to achieve tasks, some simpler things to make it all work. Most of these posts will delve into food and nutritional things, but I promise to veer off the path to include some simple lifestyle changes that may be of support to you. How much you take in is up to you. So check back here every Monday morning for the weekly post on how to up that nutritional ante.

This week's post is one of the most basic things, one of the easiest things you can add to your regimen and perhaps one of the most over-looked things we can do in order to best support our bodies. Today we're talking WATER.

This is one of the foundations of my practice, recommending water to each and every one of my clients. Adults are 60% water, and newborns up to 80%! Our body needs water for blood, sweat, tears, urine, saliva; it is necessary for digestion, injury repair and getting nutrients to where they need to be, but my favourite part is that we need it for elimination. It helps get the colon rollin (yes I just said that) but also helps to flush out toxins from every nook and cranny of our body: it is a main component in our lymph system, that mysterious part of our body that looks after taking our body's garbage to the curb.

Drinking water is a fairly easy and inexpensive thing you can do; there is evidence that we as adults should aim for 2 litres a day. This two litres includes herbal teas and things like meat stock or other beverages you consume, other than caffeinated teas and coffees and alcoholic beverages.

To help you get enough in in good time, you may want to download an app that reminds you to have a cup of water every hour on the hour, or use your timer on your phone to give you a nudge to down a glass every ninety minutes.

You can fill a glass 1L jar twice a day, aiming to consume the contents by supper hour.

You can buy yourself a fancy new water bottle to entice you to carry it with you wherever you go, or if your work keeps you in the air or unable to have a glass handy, a hiking camel-type container you can keep on your back might be of use to you.

The most important part of today's write up
is the timing around your water consumption.

In order to best support your digestive system, it is recommended you stop drinking water 30 minutes before a meal and that you wait a whole hour until after the meal to resume your water consumption.

Minimize or eliminate beverages with your meal, unless they are filled with protein like milk, or bone broth / meat stock.

If you do choose to drink water with your meal, make sure it is room-temperature and don't have more than one cup. Any cold beverage can slow down your stomach's digestive function thus impeding the digestion of protein in your meal.

Consuming too much water before or during a meal can dilute the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which can hinder your ability to digest protein and this can have a long-term impact on your body's overall function.

This is where we start, my food-loving friend. I hope you enjoy this wee series I have dreamed up, and that you will come back for more. Every Monday morning from here until the end of 2016 (and now Thursdays in 2019!), I promise you one easy add-on or swap in order to best support your sweet self towards optimal health. Let's do this.

(Oh yes we will talk what kind of water later, and may delve in to other things about water as the year progresses. For now, just work on getting your consumption up, and working on the timing. Bonne chance.)

#mondayhealthbasics

Customize your own Beet Kvass Brew

This past weekend, I had the good fortune of participating in our city’s first Fermentation Festival. What a brilliant way to spend a weekend day, hanging out with fellow Gut Geeks to talk nerdy about the microbiome. It really felt like a celebration of all things I love - culture, community and the power of good food.

I caught a very enlivening and inspiring workshop from Mike Doiron at Living Soil Solutions, talking about the microbiome of the soil, and its role in our overall health. The soil is really the earth’s gut it would seem; the bugs its microbiome. I highly recommend catching Mike at a talk somewhere down the line to help invigorate your comprehension of the power of good soil, and how that has the potential to mitigate carbon emissions, foster better agricultural practices, inherently ending in better health for the soil, the earth, better mineral and micronutrient profiles in the foods we grow. This can only lead to optimal health for all - the earth, the people and the community!

I had the good fortune to kick off the day in the Microbiome Room, diving in to the beauty and health benefits of the ever brilliant Beet Kvass. Many thanks to those who came to hang out and talk about the importance of looking after the microbiome via the good brew. We dove in to the science of the microbiome, its role in our body’s overall health and wellness. We also talked about how to GO SLOW if you are new to fermenting, and what signs to look for if your body is asking you to go even slower.

If you are new to making Beet Kvass, I will point you to this blog post: it features a recipe and video to walk you through how to make your own brew at home. Couldn’t be easier!

I took the chance at this class to jump into one of my tenets - PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD. My hope in putting together this hour on Beet Kvass was to inspire you to come up with your own combinations of extra flavours to add in to the mix. The idea here was to help you choose roots, shoots, herbs + flavours to reach for to help support you with your own specific health goals in mind.

To that effect, I had a request to post on the blog a roundup of ideas and ingredients one could add in order to build flavours according to certain health concerns.

Know this:

Chasing Flavour will always serve you well.

SPICES

• dried spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom pods, nutmeg, star anise

• flavours like fennel, fenugreek, caraway, cumin, coriander seeds, peppercorns

• dried herbs like dill, tarragon, sage, thyme, dill seed, nettle, etc.

• fresh herbs like dill, parsley, lovage, nettle, rosemary, etc.

ROOTS

• dried roots like dandelion, burdock, nettle root, chicory

• fresh roots like ginger, turmeric, galangal, lemongrass stalks

• medicinal roots like astragalus, rehmannia root, eleuthero

FRUIT

• make sure they are unsulphured or organic

• dried like goji berries, raisins, cranberries, dates, figs, barberries

• superfood dried fruit like elderberries, shizandra berries, jujube dates

• dried lemon or orange peel

• fresh fruit like any berries, pomegranate arils, slices of citrus fruit

• fresh or dried foraged berries like rose hips, silver buffalo berries, saskatoons, sea buckthorn berries, hawthorn berries

VEGETABLES

• garlic, green onions, chives

• onions, horseradish root (horseradish leaves work well too!)

• veggie remnants like cabbage wedges, radish peels

• dried veggies like hot peppers, chipotle peppers

HERBS + FLOWERS

• think loose leaf tea ingredients

• labrador tea leaves, nettle, holy basil, raspberry leaf, rooibos

• foraged goodies like spruce tips, pine pollen

• flower petals like rose, borage, red clover, heather, calendula petals, chamomile, hibiscus

MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS + SUPERFOODS

• always add a piece of seaweed to each batch (kelp, kombu, dulse, wakame, etc.)

• reishi slices, chaga, cordyceps, maitake, lion's mane

• shiitake mushrooms (dried)

• astragalus roots, rehmannia root

COMBINATION AND FLAVOUR IDEAS

I built a list of flavour combos targeting specific health concerns, and wanted to share these here. Use them as a jumping off point to brew your own combo!

Know that Beet Kvass always supports the liver and improves detox, helps reduce inflammation, improves digestion, loves up the microbiome and takes care of the heart. Beet Kvass has been shown to bust gallstones, kidney stones, dissovle uric acid to help reduce gout flare ups. So really, a basic brew of beets + salt + time is a great place to start. Anything else on top of that is just bonus.

Build from there! Use what you have on hand to start with, and build your pantry slowly over time. And know that a shot glass is what you're working up to, before meals. TAKE YOUR TIME.

IDEAS

IMPROVE DIGESTION: fennel / fenugreek / caraway (strong flavours to wake up the digestive fire)

REDUCE INFLAMMATION: chamomile + turmeric + ginger + medicinal mushroom

GUT HEALTH: cabbage wedge + calendula + fresh dill

DETOX SUPPORT: burdock or dandelion root + goji or jujube dates

BONES + CONNECTIVE TISSUE: chaga + ginger + nettle

BRAIN + NERVOUS SYSTEM: lion's mane + turmeric root + rosemary

HEART: garlic + goji berries + hawthorn berries + hot pepper

GALLBLADDER: chaga + dried lemon peel + rose hips

LIVER: garlic + ginger + turmeric root + mustard seed; caraway + fennel; cardamom + clove + burdock

KIDNEYS: heather flower + dried cranberries + hibiscus

ADRENALS: rehammnia root + dried fig + fennel

THYROID: cordyceps + eleuthero root; chicory root + ginger

SKIN: shizandra berries + rose hips + fennel

IMMUNITY: astragalus root + elderberries

LYMPH: calendula petals + red clover + burdock root

BALANCE HORMONES: nigella or kalonji seeds + red clover

BALANCE BLOOD SUGARS: maitake mushrooms + true cinnamon + spruce tips

HEALTHY PREGNANCY: ginger + raspberry leaf + rooibos + rose hips

SLEEP: chamomile + nutmeg + dried cherries

Remember to Chase Flavour. What kind of brew will you make?

MONDAY BASICS: flavour your water.

The heat is coming back to the prairies this week. I'm sure it's close to cranking up where you are at as well, dear friend. When the thermostat starts going up, it's time to increase the water intake, mon amie. This is to replenish those fluids lost in sweating, in order to keep our temperature in the safe zone.

Never mind the heatwave, water is just all-round good for you. But sometimes plain water just doesn't cut it. Today's #mondayhealthbasics post explores good alternatives to plain-jane-water in order to wake up those tastebuds and inspire you to guzzle the good stuff.

First and foremost, let's be clear: water is so very good for you. My very first #mondayhealthbasics post touched on the importance of consuming water in your day, talking about the timing of your intake as well. You can find MHB post #1 right here. (Key point: stop drinking 30 minutes before a meal, try to reduce your water consumption in meals to none at all, and wait one hour afterwards to resume your drinking.)

It should also be noted that reaching for filtered water or spring water will be of benefit to you, as opposed to tap water. Find that MHB post here.

The third time we explored the importance of water, it was in the spirit of supporting your liver and detox function. Find that nugget here.

For this fourth time talking about this most integral component of our body's functioning, necessitating its daily consumption, we're going to look at easier ways to get that stuff down the gullet.

I personally love water, but I do find aiming to consume two litres per day can sometimes feel like a bit of a chore. Spiffing up the flavours of the water encourages my daughter to reach for a beverage more often.   ...   OK truth be told, not just her. Let's go over some ideas then, to get you started. I look forward to hearing the flavour combos you will dream up!

 

Stretching The Strawberries

Berry season is upon us, and who doesn't love gorging on these delicious fruit when they are at their peak? I am a frugal one, and so this is how I like to stretch this abundant season, using up every morsel: after I wash the berries and before consuming them, one needs to trim the tops off, yes? I simply pop those in a jar, and top up with filtered water and tuck the jar in the fridge. Next day, yummy strawberry-flavoured water awaits.

You can also add other fruits or herbs to the mix here, fresh or dried. Imagine strawberry and basil, wouldn't that be yum? You can toss in a few chopped cherries to the mix too, a pinker hue shall ensue.

Minty Cuke Refresher

This combo is perhaps one of the most popular ways of adding zing to your plain-jane-water. Simply toss a few leaves of mint at the bottom of your jar, up to 1/4 cup if you are going for a full litre of water. Using the back of a wooden spoon or a proper muddler, bruise the leaves in order to release those volatile oils; this is the trick to really enhancing the flavour. Add in half a cucumber cut into rounds, and fill up the brim with filtered water and again, tuck in the fridge overnight. Tomorrow morning's water will have everyone at the office jealous of your tastebuds.

I grow a few different kinds of mint every year for just this purpose. It isn't too late to add a pot to the deck, and pick up a few interesting flavours of mints at your favourite local garden centre. This year, I planted Pineapple Mint, Chocolate Mint and Orange Mint. Yum!

 

Liver Loving Lemon + Citrus Delish

It may seem tried and true, but it's a stalwart for a reason: lemon is probably one of the most refreshing flavours out there. Double bonus, you get to take in some additional vitamin C whenever you add citrus to your drinking water! Lemon is a great liver-lover, helping you detoxify as the day goes on. (Remember that MHB post?) A good rule of thumb is to aim for about half a lemon per litre of water. You can juice it yourself, or slice the fruit up into quarter or rounds.

If you want to try something new, add some lime slices to your beverage. Or switch it up and toss in a few rounds of orange slices. Better yet, toss in all three and make it a citrus-y kind of day! Wouldn't grapefruit be incredible here? Best combo for the hottest day of the year, or for toting around to the events at Stampede or for Folk Fest.

 

Watermelon Quencher

I have a friend who used to bring her water bottle filled with watermelon to yoga classes. I was always jealous, and then I tried it myself. And realized sheesh it's as easy as pie, why hadn't I thought of this before?

Slicing up some watermelon, honeydew or cantaloupe into cubes adds an almost ice-cream kind of flavour to the water. You will get bonus points for adding fresh basil or mint to this combo.

The Tropical

So the heat is rising, and you start to wonder if you haven't ended up in the tropics: there's a drink for that. To your litre-sized glass jar, add a handful of fresh pineapple cubes along with your water, and allow to mellow in the fridge before consuming.

Want to jazz it up a bit? Grate some fresh ginger in the mix. Or toss in some cucumber here too. Could be a fool-proof way for your littles to get the water down in order to save them from heat stroke, keeping them cool!

 

The Sun Infuser

You don't have to simply use fresh things and allow them to meld in the cool of the refrigerator. Why not add a few dried hibiscus petals to your litre of water and allow to brew under the heat of the sun on your back deck for the day? Pop it in the fridge to cool it down, and consume this zinger over the course of the next day. Bonus again here, extra vitamin C for your sweet self. Why not try this way with any kind of flavoured tea brew or herbs? One of my favourites these days is the Okanagan Rooibos blend that I purchase at my favourite local health food store. It screams summer, mon amie.

 

The Ice Cube Method

Another option might be to blitz some fruit together a bit until chunky, and toss in an ice cube tray in the freezer. When fully frozen through, pop them out and tuck into a freezer bag and when you are ready to consume, simply toss a cube or two in some water first thing in the morning, allowing them to melt right into the water. A great way to prep for 5 minutes for a week's worth of flavoured water.

Combos I'm thinking of right off the top of my head: frozen mango and raspberries; lime and blueberry; peach mint and blackberries. The flavours are only limited by your imagination! I have some rosemary growing on the deck, I wonder what kind of fruit will work with it... rhubarb maybe? I'll have to report back. What about adding edible flowers to your ice cubes? Violets are gorgeous, and yummy.

 

Fizzy Water

There are no hard and fast rules here, other than aiming towards that 2-litres-of-water-a-day rule. Sure you can use filtered water or spring water, but why not try some mineral water for extra fizz? Might just hit the spot, plus give you that mineral boost.

And why stop at fizzy? Coconut water might be a delightful vehicle as well.

It is my intention to present you with some frugal and delicious ideas in today's blog post, in order to help veer you away from those powder packets they sell to you to add to your water. They're full of chemicals and sweeteners or 'alternatives' to sweeteners which really, are just chemical poop-storms.

This post is hopefully enticing you to also try something as an alternative to pop or juice; they too are full of added chemicals and white refined sugars. Say nay friend, to those nefarious drinks and say yay to the infused waters. Your body has been asking for you.

Go play with your bevvies!