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Did you know that an average person tries 126 diets in their life according to a recent survey? *

Yet, an effective way to lose weight is at your fingertips, literally.

It’s called fibre, a substance which you find in whole plant foods.

Naturally this may not sound as sexy, as saying to your friend “I’m on a diet”, but it WORKS!

It’s fibre, which you find in an apple, broccoli or a potato which is your biggest friend when it comes to slimming down, keeping weight off and thriving. Fibre keeps you satiated without adding any calories.

Isn’t that the ultimate dream?

Nature packed it abundantly into every plant you set your eye on, which perhaps is the reason why we tend to overlook its amazing weight loss benefits.

Let me explain…

Fibre creates volume, but cuts down calories

My favourite part about fibre is that it adds bulk to your food without adding calories. After all the number of calories in fibre is zero!

Imagine fibre is like a sponge on your kitchen sink. When the sponge is dry, it’s light, when you make it wet, it becomes heavy.

In the same way plants are naturally filled with water (can you picture a juicy tomato or a baked sweet potato?) and when you combine water and fibre which is already present in the plants you eat, together they create bulk.

And even though bulk has zero calories (neither water nor fibre have any calories), it’s bulk what fills you up! Then your stomach stretch receptors register you are full and send signals to the brain so you stop eating.

Fibre feeds the good bugs

Fibre isn’t good only for you, it’s also good for your friends, the good bacteria living inside your gut.

The truth is you can’t digest fibre but who can and in fact need it in order to thrive, are your good bugs. The more fibre you feed them, more of the good bacteria you have.

As they digest fibre, they produce short chain fatty acids, special miracle substances which protect your health and help you with weight loss.

For example, acetate, one of the short chain fatty acids, works extra efficiently as it helps you absorb less fat from food and it also makes your body more efficient at using fat from fat stores. (study)

In short you store less fat and burn more! It’s almost like winning the lottery, right?

Fibre balances hormones

What goes in must come out.

Naturally, so there is no surprise that fibre creates bulk not only in your stomach but also in your colon, making your bowel movement really worth while ???? .

This is fabulous as it allows your body to capture any extra hormones, like oestrogen,  circulating in your blood, so you can send the excess out.

Oestrogen supports fat storage as well as cell growth and having too much circulating in your body makes it really difficult to lose weight.

It can also lead to painful and heavy periods among other things. Enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables, bean casseroles and baked potatoes is the key to balancing your hormones. In other words once hormones work with you instead of against you, you found an effective way to lose weight.

Fibre balances blood sugar

Fibre is crucial to help you balance blood sugar, a necessity when it comes to staying lean and healthy. I mean how many times have you grabbed a bar just because you felt shaky and irritable – a clear sign your blood sugar was all over the place?

Getting a fix to numb cravings keeps you stuck at higher weight than you’d prefer.

So is there a shortcut – something that delivers the most bang for your buck when it comes to fibre and it’s effect on your blood sugar?

Beans!

Yes, beans deliver the most fibre per bite – 1/2 cup cooked beans contains 5 – 7gr of fibre and due to their “second meal effect” they can keep your blood sugar level steady well beyond one meal.

Studies have shown that even 1 change alone – adding 5 cups of cooked beans weekly to your menu (equals about 0.75 cup per day) reduces waist circumference and significantly improves blood sugar balance. These effects were equivalent to people cutting out 500 Kcal from their diet daily. (study) Isn’t that amazing?

Fibre helps you eliminate calories

We often focus too much on how many calories we eat. When in fact when it comes to weight loss, it’s more about how many calories we absorb and eliminate. And as you’d expect fibre helps you eliminate a significant amount of calories.

For example when you add fruits and vegetables to your diet even without reducing the total Kcal of your meals, you end up losing weight. (study) Yes, that’s right!

How is that possible?

Calories are trapped inside the cell wall and inside the cell of plant foods making it more difficult to absorb.

It’s the fibre which traps extra calories (similar as waste hormones and other metabolites) and you just flush more calories down the toilet than you normally would.

How much fibre should you eat?

RDA – recommended daily amount of fibre is 25gr /day for optimum health, disease prevention and weight loss.

But since our ancestors were eating close to 100gr fibre/day, your motto should be eat as much fibre as possible.

Eating fibre in the form of whole plant foods truly is magical as the benefits go well beyond your waistline.

So, the next time when you think about trying another fad diet, reach for an apple and make yourself a lentil stew instead.

A plate filled with fibre-rich plant foods offers freedom from dieting once and for all.

As I say the secret to a healthy, lean body and a happy mind lies with plants.  So love them all and they’ll love you back.

Cheers to you and a delicious way of living 🙂

Lenka

*survey done by www.onepoll.com

If you have been dairy-free for a while, you may catch yourself wondering how to get enough Calcium on a plant-based diet.

It’s a natural and legitimate question, especially since you’ve always been told that milk is the richest source of Calcium from foods which are available to us.*

What matters more however is how much Calcium you absorb and when you look at Calcium from this angle, green vegetables take the lead!

For example would you believe you absorb 50% of Calcium from Pack Choi versus 30% from cow’s milk? (source)

You may be surprised but repeated studies have shown that dairy consumption isn’t associated with stronger bones or fewer fractures (study, study, study)

It get’s better…

Not only does eating a variety of grains, potatoes, fruits, vegetables and legumes supply your body with sufficient amounts of Calcium, you also get other nutrients like Magnesium, Manganese, Boron, Silica, vitamin K, to name a few, all of which you need for your bones to be strong and flexible.

Plus there are other benefits.

By cutting dairy out you significantly reduce the amount of saturated fat, animal protein and salt (especially in cheese), all of which challenges your immune system triggering inflammation inside your body.

How much Calcium do you need?

RDA (daily recommended amount) is between 500 – 800 mg as per recommendation from World Health Organisation (source, source) when following a whole food plant-based diet.

When you eat a varied unprocessed plant-based diet, you’ll get this amount comfortably and so much more!

It’s when you focus on nourishment over fuel, your whole body starts to thrive.

It’s from the powerful stream of phytochemicals, antioxidants, fiber and other nutrients you get with each meal, when you build strong bones, immunity, detoxify well and allow your body to work like clockwork.

7 ways to get enough Calcium on a plant-based diet

1. Eat whole plant foods at least 80% of the time.

When you eat mostly unprocessed plants, a cornucopia of nutrients especially from fruits and vegetables keep your blood ph in a healthy range. This means there is no need for your bones to let go off calcium to balance acidity from animal protein.

In reality it can be really easy and quick.

You can have for breakfast porridge, overnight oats, chia pudding, snacking on fruits ( 2 oranges have 100 mg Calcium*) and having as your mains grains or potatoes with lentil chili.

2. Greens a day keeps the doctor away.

Don’t call it a day until you’ve had at least 1 full cup filled with green vegetables rich in Calcium. Good choices are collard greens, kale, Pack choi, broccoli, mustard greens, or cabbage.

You can eat them steamed, or raw and if you are stuck for time, there is nothing easier than making a green smoothie with a few servings of greens to get an extra boost.

3. Have a minimum of 1 cup of cooked beans a day.

Legumes rich in Calcium are pinto beans, Edamame, kidney beans and navy beans and are so much fun to use!

Apart from the obvious addition to your mains, get adventurous and play around with making different dips.

For example navy beans are gorgeous with garlic and fresh herbs. Or how about making a little treat from kidney beans, coco powder and dates and making a delicious chocolaty spread?

4. Seed it up – a little goes a long way.

Seeds are very nutrient rich, after all a whole plant grows eventually out of them! That’s why adding 2 sources of seeds to your menu daily is a great way to boost health of your bones.

You can add 1 tbs of ground flax or chia seeds to your smoothie, morning breakfast or salad dressing. The second source can be a handful of mixed natural seeds or whole natural almonds served with your lunch.

And since a good source of Calcium are also sesame seeds, how about adding tahini paste to your home-made hummus?

5. Watch out for salt.

Too much salt in food makes your body excrete calcium in the urine together with sodium and that makes bones weaker.

What are the main sources of salt?

Processed foods of any kind including crackers, bread, condiments and sauces, crisps etc. It’s also worth reading food labels as even tinned beans often have extra salt added to them. To keep salt at healthy levels instead of cooking with salt, add it on your plate, rinse tinned beans and keep condiments, sauces and crisps to a minimum.

6. Treat caffeine as saffron.

Caffeine leaches Calcium from your bones making them weaker.

That’s why rather than boosting your energy levels with afternoon coffee, it’s much better to go for a walk (which will further support the health of your bones).

Having 1 cup of coffee a day isn’t the end of the world but also do watch out for hidden sources of caffeine like energy drinks, fizzy drinks or energy boosting powders or vitamin supplements which often have caffeine added.

7. Walk, climb, dance.

Keeping active, ideally in the fresh, outdoor air is one of the most important things you can do for your bone health.

Putting your body under healthy stress coming from exercise, makes your bones rebuild themselves to be stronger. It needs to be weight bearing exercise (something where you overcome gravity) like walking, running, or playing tennis in order for that to be effective.

And while you move your body, make it count for two and get some sunshine for vitamin D also. Vitamin D is essential to keep Calcium inside your bones, so cheers to your next climbing trip! ????

We are naturally programmed to worry about deficiencies.

That’s simply how we evolved. But don’t let fear stop you from pursuing the most nourishing, compassionate and rewarding lifestyle there is.

Plants are your friends and as long as you keep your food natural and as close to it’s original state as possible, you are getting plenty.

Source: * https://cronometer.com/

Chocolate.

I love it, need it, can’t be without it!

But how to eat chocolate guilt free?

Chocolate has the power to make you feel guilty. It can also nourish your body, give you an extra boost of energy and has antioxidants.

So where to draw the line?

Guilt-free chocolate for health?

The main ingredient in chocolate is cocoa. At least it should be because that’s what makes chocolate, the real thing. Cocoa contains magnesium, manganese, iron, some zinc, potassium and calcium. It’s rich in polyphenols which help your blood vessels dilate so your blood flows smoothly to your legs, heart and to your brain.

When you eat cocoa regularly, it has the power to decrease blood pressure, prevents blood from clotting and even increases HDL, the good cholesterol as shown in this study.

While cocoa can be good for your blood flow, it can potentially give you break outs on your skin. (study) Especially if you happen to be prone to acne, you should avoid even treats made from pure cocoa powder.  (study)

 Fatal attraction

Any chocolate lover will confirm that you can get hooked very quickly.

And to be honest it’s not only the addictive effect of combining sugar and fat which gives you so much pleasure. It’s also the chemical composition of the cocoa powder which makes it so hard to stay in control.

Cocoa powder naturally contains caffeine, theobromine (similar to caffeine) and phenyl ethylamine (amphetamine like chemical) which may be one of the reasons why chocolate can be triggering migraines in some people.

Then when you also add the effect of sugar and fat, it’s no wonder chocolate has such a strong pull and you easily find yourself torn between having just one and finishing a few bars in one sitting.

How to eat chocolate guilt free

Stage 1: Start where you are at

As with everything you need to know where you are at in order to improve your health and get in control of eating chocolate.

If you are hooked and don’t feel right when you skip a daily dose of a chocolate bar, try to replace it with a healthier version. Swap milky bars for some dark chocolate.

The higher the cocoa content, the more antioxidants and more ‘buzz’ it has. As you get to the levels of 65% – 80%, you’ll find it becomes more bitter. Your taste buds will adjust however, so just be patient.

Reading labels is important though. Manufacturers often add lot of sugar to mask the natural bitterness of coco powder. Here is an example of a better-quality chocolate you can find in a store. Always make sure to check the added sugar on a label and try to stick to no more than (or around) 25 gr of sugar in 100 gr chocolate bar. (1/4 of a bar equals sugar)

Stage 2: As close to nature as possible

When milky and sugar loaded chocolate bars become history, it’s time to take another step. See if you could move as close to nature as possible and create your own cocoa powder-based treats to satisfy your love for chocolate.

In this way you’ll control the sweetness and richness of treats avoiding unnecessary calories. Especially if you can share these with your family, it’s also a great way to portion control ????

By using coco (cocoa) powder, combining it with dates for sweetness and some nuts for healthy fats, you turn a dessert into a super-nourishing snack. Plus by making your own, you are being mindful and more present – another good thing when watching your waist line and health.

It doesn’t need to take too much time either!

See some quick coco fixes to satisfy sweet tooth:

• Add cocoa powder or raw cocoa nibs to your porridge/ grain bowl (to counteract the bitter flavour add a banana, pears or some other fruit)
• Make coco coated truffles from dark kidney beans, dates, cocoa powder and handful of walnuts
• Make a hot chocolate from plant milk and coco powder
• Chop up banana, cover it with soy yogurt and sprinkle with cocoa powder
• For a nutritious dip process cocoa powder with cannellini beans, dates and walnuts
• Add cocoa powder to smoothies

Stage 3: Set yourself free

This is not a popular solution, I know. But incredibly liberating! The addictive nature of chocolate (sugar, fat, caffeine) has the power to grow on you. Without even realizing you easily start increasing your dose. And from making a healthy coco treat once per week it becomes twice per week and before you know it, it’s every day. Especially if you have a sweet tooth and are susceptible to binging or getting “addicted” to certain foods.

As a chocoholic myself, I linger between stages 2 & 3 and every time I manage to free myself from coco treats, I feel so much calmer and happier. I feel I become my true self. My family feels the benefits too as my patience with everybody is suddenly so much greater ????

And I wish you had the chance to feel this for yourself.

Especially if you are a naturally anxious person, worry a lot or are short-tempered. Moving away from stimulants like chocolate and cocoa powder will bring you peace and calm your world down. So it’s really worth giving it a try.

Whether you choose to start reducing the amount of coco treats at first, skipping days or just cut it out cold turkey, it comes down to your personality, experience so far and frankly to your daily schedule.

Can you drop inflammation instantly and have less pain, swelling and even shift some weight?

Absolutely!

And, you don’t even need to overhaul your entire diet.

Your health isn’t only about what you get rid of but it’s also about what you ADD in. Focus on adding more colour, flavour and texture coming from plants and you start creating an anti-inflammatory environment inside you, inviting health in.

Changes can be small, in fact these are often easier to stick to.

So let’s start:

1. Eat legumes 3 days a week ( minimum 😊 )

The more plant swaps you find for meat, the bigger the drop in inflammation. But it doesn’t need to be all or nothing. Already swapping 2 servings of red meat for legumes 3 days per week, drops inflammation by 33% in 8 weeks (study).

This is not surprising since inflammation is triggered by saturated fat and animal protein, both of which you’ll find abundantly in meat.

The next time you’re planning on having a chicken curry, have a chickpea curry instead.

Opt for lentil Bolognese instead of the ground beef version or baked lentil-bean loaf instead of pork chops.

Keeping it simple is the key. So just use your old meaty recipe, your favorite spices but light it up with the anti-inflammatory power of beans and lentils.

2. Cashew cream instead of dairy

If you haven’t tried cashew cream, you are missing out. It’s a perfect swap for a dairy creamer into curries or also as a topping on your home-made pizza!

This simple tweak will help you drop inflammation as dairy and cheese, particularly, are the major source of saturated fat in our diet (study). Moving away from any source of saturated fat and specifically the ones found in meat and dairy, and replacing it with healthy fats from nuts will help drop inflammation instantly.

To make cashew cream, cook cashews in a bit of water for 5 minutes. Then, process into a cream and add to meals which call for more creaminess. It’s even better than coconut milk, since coconut is also rich in saturated fat (one of the few plan- based sources), so let’s stick with lighter cashews instead.

3. Green smoothie to break your fast

You owe it to yourself after a night’s sleep and fasting to start the day the best you can. You just went through detoxification, repair and needs a boost of nutrients, which will alkaline your body and move you into an anti-inflammatory state.

Green smoothie is the perfect way to flood your body with potent anti-inflammatory compounds stored in green vegetables, especially the cruciferous kind. It is phytochemicals like Sulforaphane in broccoli, potent anti-inflammatory omega 3 fats and antioxidants like beta carotene, zeaxanthin and lutein in greens as well as quercetin in apples and oranges, which work on balancing your body and bringing inflammation down.

They also supress oxidative stress – another contributor to inflammation.

The beauty of smoothies is you can create your own favourite blend that you absolutely love.

To get the maximum anti-inflammatory power, use at least 2 cups of tightly packed greens or cruciferous vegetables (kale, broccoli, cabbage, rocket or pak-choi) in your smoothie. Then, add sweetness with fruit and some ground flax to drop inflammation even further.

4. Flax it up

Flax is the new gold! It has 4 times more omega-3 fats (the anti-inflammatory kind) than omega-6 fats (these drive inflammation up). Processed foods, oils, dairy, meat and even healthy foods like other nuts and seeds are abundant in omega-6.

That’s why it’s so easy to fall short on omega-3 fats and move your body into a pro-inflammatory state.

That’s when flax or chia seeds come in.

Their strong anti-inflammatory power doesn’t come only from omega-3 fats but also from their high nutrient content. As whole foods they come packed with minerals like Zinc, Magnesium, Calcium, vitamin K, B vitamins, all of which your body needs for healing.

Flax also contains lignans and flavonoids which help neutralise oxidative damage of cells – working on the repair of your body literally from the inside out.

Already 2 tbs a day added to a weight loss promoting diet can have a significant lowering effect (25 – 45%) on the inflammatory markers like CRP and TNF- alpha (study)

Flax seeds are a true superfood and they make a great addition to smoothies, home-made muffins, pasta dishes or sprinkled over your salad. Always use them ground and if you are new to them, start with 0.5 tablespoon a day and work your way up to even 4!

5. Date a dessert

Refined sugar is not only about empty calories and difficulties to portion control. It’s also about inflammation. When you eat a chocolate bar, conventional cookie, cake or pastry, your blood sugar spikes and that triggers a release of insulin.

This rapid reaction will make you feel shaky, irritable and looking for more sugar soon after. Overtime, this leads to insulin resistance (linked to inflammation) as well as weight gain. And any extra pounds will generate pro-inflammatory chemicals which will end up circulating in your blood. (study)

In addition, refined sugar also feeds the bad bacteria in your gut, which are responsible for more inflammation. (study)

That’s why make a date with a date!

Using dates as a sweetener in place of refined sugar is a great solution to nourish your body while feeding the good bugs and reducing inflammation.

Dates are high in fiber making the good bacteria more efficient in working against the bad guys and inflammation starts to drop.

Dates are satisfying and a much better choice when you are concerned about the health of your joints, gut and weight too.

Are you afraid of eating fruit?

Don’t be!

It’s one of the best ways to hydrate, detoxify, be in a great mood, have sharp thinking and even have a good workout.

For myself, I’ve always loved fruit but thought I shouldn’t eat too much. The widely spread message that you need to watch out for sugar, including fruit, got to me also.

Little did I know that fruit is the most loving, supporting and satisfying food you can eat. And innocent!

Yes, innocent.

It gets blamed for diabetes, extra pounds, for cravings, when in fact it’s the solution, not the villain.

Keep on reading to see why that is and that you can truly enjoy it in abundance.

Fruit is easy to digest

Fruit is made mostly of water and of simple carbohydrates which are easy to digest. It takes only a couple of minutes to digest apples, bananas or oranges. This means that it delivers instant energy to your muscles and to your brain.

It’s the perfect food when you need to focus on work solving a problem, study for an exam or solve a sudoku puzzle. Our brain uses up about 25% of total calories we consume and fruit delivers them very efficiently.

For this reason fruit is a fabulous fuel to fight fatigue and to replenish glycogen stores in your muscles.

Fruit heals

Since fruit is so easy to digest, your body needs to expend very little energy on digesting a bowl of grapes compared to a bowl of oatmeal for example. (That’s why some people may feel an energy dip after having a cooked meal, even though it’s made of healthy complex carbohydrates) As a result you can use all that conserved energy for detoxification and healing.

Ripe fruits like bananas, melons, mangoes, pears are like a feather which gently touches the digestive tract and delivers comfort and soothing to an often irritated gut lining.

Also since fruit contains anywhere between 75 % (banana) to 95% (watermelon, cucumber) water, it profoundly hydrates your body.

I love looking at fruit as the purest way of hydration. Why? Because this water hasn’t been touched by water altering chemicals (unlike tap water) or hasn’t been exposed to plastic, like bottled water.

Water in fruit is created during the process of growth and is drawn from the soil by a tiny seed, which was exposed to the sun, rain and wind. This water is mixed in together with fibre, phytochemicals, antioxidants and other nutrients, all nicely packed into a whole fruit.

Fruit is fast

Fruit is the ultimate fast food nature intended us to have. Think about it. Is there anything easier than peeling a banana or biting into an apple?

In seconds you can deliver to every cell in your body a huge amount of energy needed to thrive. So, instead of having a cup of coffee, the next time you feel droopy in the mid-afternoon, the best thing to do is enjoy a large bowl of grapes or couple of apples.

Fruit is satisfying

With it’s natural sweetness, eating fruit is the perfect way to satisfy cravings.

It is the ultimate food to lead you out of the refined sugar trap. With it’s high fibre, water and nutrient content it satisfies hunger, delivers nutrients, tackles fatigue and hydrates you at the same time. It essentially tackles a few reasons for sweet cravings at the same time including your biological need for carbohydrates.

The taste buds on the tip of our tongue are for carbohydrates – for the sweet flavour. Today, we’ve got used to satisfying these cravings with bread, crackers, biscuits and chocolates instead of fruit.

I dare to say, if you have a craving for sweets, you haven’t eaten enough fruit!

Fruit gives us hope

I know this one sounds a bit strange but fruit makes everything taste delicious. For me personally fruit was a gateway to kale! Really 😊

When I went all in and started  eating apples, bananas, grapes, pineapples, mangoes, kiwis, berries etc. I eventually started to make salad dressings from fruit.

Mango or pineapple has the power to turn even bitter tasting kale into a delicacy.

Bitter tasting greens mixed with fruit (as a smoothie or a salad dressing) will start altering your taste buds. Before you know it, you’ll start craving the very same foods. Even your greens!

Before you fruitify, keep in mind…

Fruit really is magical. It’s not a cause of a disease, it brings us healing, joy and satisfaction.

However, if you are new to this idea, there are a few points to keep in mind to get all the benefits and avoid bumps on the road.

At first, eat fruit on its own  – This way you’ll avoid potential fermentation and gas. First start by making a delicious smoothie bowl or a fruit packed smoothie. Later, experiment with adding acidic fruits like oranges, tangerines and pineapple to your greens as these digest well together

Eat fruit without added fat – fat interferes with the work of insulin, the hormone which gets the sugar from your blood into your cells. When you add a tablespoon of peanut butter (fat) to your smoothies, you can feel shaky afterwards. It’s because that fat is makes insulin less effective allowing sugar from fruit to circulate in your blood for too long instead of getting into your cells. This process can lead to insulin resistance and eventually also to weight gain.

Mixing fat and fruit can also give you gas and bloating because both are digested at different speeds. The best way around this is enjoying fruit on its own and keeping nut butters, seeds and nuts for salad dressings to eat with your greens.

Follow a low fat diet overall – as mentioned above, if you have too much fat in your diet (more than 20% of your total daily calories) you are likely to be insulin resistant. This means your body needs to produce too much insulin to clear the sugar from fruit from the blood and send it to your cells. This condition in itself is a risk factor for diabetes. That’s why, start reducing the overall amount of fat in your diet WHILE increasing fruit to give your body a chance to adjust.

Eat enough – if you are making a fruit-based meal – 2 bananas aren’t going to be enough. It takes at least 4 – 5 or even 6 pieces of fruit (depending on your activity level and hunger) to make yourself satiated at breakfast or lunch.

That’s it.

These are the main things to watch out for while transitioning to a fruit rich diet effortlessly.

And I really hope that you feel motivated now to include more fruit than you have been.

Start slow and low and build yourself up. Start with a fruity snack then try a fruit-based breakfast here and there and see how you feel.

Every bite is worth it.

Your body wants it, your body needs it and your mind knows it. 😊

Enjoy eating fruit in abundance and you won’t look back.

Cheers to a fruity life!

Lenka