Author: DIANA ZATT

Hi everyone! It's no secret. I'm pretty addicted to eating clean and leading a healthy lifestyle. I am a registered nurse and chronic condition educator (diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, obesity & COPD). Nothing excites me more, personally and professionally, then helping others take control of their health. It really is a passion of mine. That's why I created this blog! When I am not in the kitchen creating healthy eats or digging through scientific literature, I enjoy hiking, biking, gardening and spending time with hubby Dennis. Oh and I am a mother to a loud mouthed parrot named Pickles, a 20 year old black cat named Charlie and about 50,000 honey bees.

Rutabaga and Parsnip Soup

I am going to be honest. If you asked me 2 years ago what a rudabega or parsnip was I would tell you I haven’t a clue – other then they are vegetables. Well one day while talking to my son Steve he mentioned he bought some rudabega and parsnips but wasn’t sure what to do with them. Thank goodness for Google to shed some light on what these foreign vegetables were. I told him to come over because we were going to experiment and make Rutabaga and Parsnip Soup. It turned out to be the best doggone soup and fun little project on that cold dreary November day. Soup warms the heart and soul. Making it can be a very creative endeavor, as satifying to the cook as it is for the recipients. This soup has turned out to be one of my favorites. I hope you make it and feel the same way.

Ingredients

  • 6 small rutabagas peeled and cubed
  • 3 parsnips peeled and cubed
  • 2 large carrots peeled and cubed
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2 stalks celery diced
  • 3 cloves garlic sliced
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ground cardamon
  • 1 tsp black pepper

Directions

  1. Place rutabaga, parsnips and carrots on a cookie sheet lined with silicone matt or parchment paper. Spray with water. Season with pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly browned. Turn halfway thru, spray with water and season with pepper.
  2. Sautee onions, celery and garlic in a pot with some water until soft
  3. Add the roasted vegetables to the pot, pour in vegetable broth and add the thyme, nutmeg, cardamon and black pepper. Bring to boil then simmer for 30 minutes.

A Deep Dive into the Health Benefits

Rutabaga and parsnips are vegetables that are often passed by in the produce section of grocery stores. Few people know about and appreciate these vegetables. Almost always when I buy them the cashier will look at them strangely and ask me what they are.

Rutabagas are a root vegetables and a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. They belong to the same plant family as cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Being cruciferous they are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber.

When eaten raw, rutabagas taste bitter but when roasted the flavor becomes rich and sweet. They are low in calories (66 cals/cup) and lower in carbohydrates then a potato (12 grams / 1 cup compared to the same amount of potatoes clocking in at 31 grams).

Parsnips are also root vegetables and closely related to carrots and parsley. Parsnips are also loaded with antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, potassium, calcium and fiber. Roasted parsnip, like rutabaga, sweet taste but it also has spicey nutmeg flavor to it. Both rutabaga and parsnip can be a great low carbohydrate substitute for mashed potatoes.

Rutabaga
Parsnip

Chive Potato Waffle Sandwich with Avacado-Dill Crema Sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 small potatoes
  • A few sprigs cut up chives
  • A few slices onions cut in rings
  • A few tomato slices
  • A few lettuce leaves
  • 1 very ripe avacado
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/2 tsp dried dill

Directions

  1. Grill the onion slices by placing in a pre-heated waffle iron sprayed with a little water for about 2 minutes
  2. Make a criss cross slit in both potatoes, wrap in a moistened paper towel and microwave until soft
  3. Place 1 baked potato (skin on) in the waffle iron, close the lid and smash the potato. Cook for 2 minutes, slowly lift the lid and sprinkle chives on top, close lid for another 2 minutes or until crispy. Repeat with the remaining potato.
  4. Whip the avacado, almond milk and dill together on high speed until creamy
  5. Place sliced tomatos, lettuce and grilled onions on one of the potato waffles. Spread some avacado-dill sauce on top. Cover with remaining potato waffle.

Spraying the waffle iron with a little water helps prevent sticking.

A Deep Dive into the Health Benefits

Potatoes often get a bad rap and it’s unfair. Potatoes are an excellent source of fiber especially with the skins on. Fiber helps to keep cholesterol and blood sugar in check. Potatoes are a great source of potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and vitamins B1, B3 and B6. Potatoes also contain antioxidants which play a role in preventing certain cancers and age-related diseases. There are only 130 calories in a baked potato with skin on and they are naturally low in fat.

It’s not potatoes that are bad. It’s the way many people eat them that are. I had lunch with a friend who claimed to be on a “diet” so was choosing a healthy lunch. The “healthy” lunch consisted of a baked potato loaded with bacon bits, butter, chedder cheese and sour cream. So we went from 130 lean calories to approximately 592 high fat calories. I had no words. No words at all. What about deep fried french fried potatoes with ketchup and plenty of salt? What about mashed potatoes with whole milk and butter? What about au graten potatoes with milk, butter and cheddar cheese? What about sour cream potato chips? Again, it’s not the potato that’s bad. It’s the way people eat them that is.

With all that said, you do need to know that potatoes are mostly starch that is broken down into glucose rapidly as they are digested. This means a rapid spike in blood sugar. This is important to know if you have issues controlling blood sugar.

To understand how a complex carbohydrate food like a potato effects blood sugar you would need to know its glycemic index (GI). GI is a scale that ranks foods on a scale of 0 – 100. The higher the GI the faster it raises blood sugar. Low GI foods release sugar slowly into the bloodstream giving it more time to use appropriately for energy.

-High GI foods 70 – 100

– Medium GI foods 55 – 69

– Low GI foods 55 or lower

Potatoes have a high GI of 111. That’s about the same as drinking a can of cola. But the method of preparation changes the index. A baked potato is 110 but a boiled potato is 82. That makes sense when you consider you boil off then drain the starch. But if you choose a sweet potato or yam the GI is down to 64 – a much better deal! But even still it doesn’t mean you can’t ever have white potatoes. It simply means you need to control the amount that you put on your plate.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds 4 Ways

After finishing my Roasted Pumpkin and Apple Soup with Toasties recipe I went into roasted pumpkin seed mode. It was great activity to do on a gloomy rainy Sunday. They made great little snacks for the football game.

The above picture is pretty expanatory for what I did. I laid my rinsed pumpkin seeds on the silicone matt which I placed on a cookie sheet. For the black pepper and cayenne/garlic powder seeds I simply sprinkled on the seasonings. For the miso brine I soaked the seeds in miso paste mixed with a little water. I Roasted the seeds in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes until browned. I flipped them over half way through, sprayed with a litte water and added a little more seasoning. Easie peasey! If you have a favorite no salt, oil or sugar recipe for roasted pumpkins seeds let me know.

Roasted Pumpkin and Apple Soup with Toasties

I love pumpkins. So much that this summer I tried to grow them for the first time. Happiness was watching my three healthy pumpkins get bigger and bigger by the week. Sadness was the day I went out to my garden and saw the scant remains of the fruits of my labor. My three babies were eaten by, more then likely, raccoons. Damn darn those cute little third degree felonists! Next year better fencing.

My addiction to pumpkins typically starts to manifest early October. Everytime I pass a pumpkin patch I try real hard to keep on driving past but my car seems to automatically put the turn signal on, slow down and then the next thing I know I’m turning into the parking lot. I need to take it to the dealership to get that checked out. Anyway, to date I have a total of 9 pumpkins. My husband says, “what are you going to do with all these pumpkins?” The answer is simple – pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin nice cream, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin custard and my most favorite of all – pumpkin soup – and lot’s of it!

Now before I got smart about the WFPB way of eating I bought a lot of Heinen’s Pumpkin and Roasted Apple Soup. Pumpkin and apples are healthy right? Roasting is healthy right? I’m eating vegetarian right? Then I got smart and realized one cup was loaded with 630mg of sodium, 11 g of saturated fat and 28 g of total carbohydrates. Well that ended my relationship with Heinen’s soups. I discovered that I could make my own healthier version of pumpkin soup without the added sodium, fat and carbohydrates and have my kitchen smelling awesome in the process!

In this recipe I use sugar pumpkins which are smaller, softer and sweeter. The larger carving pumpkins taste bland and this soup will not be the same using them. I add a honey crisp apple for a delicate sweet-tart balance. The fresh ginger is what makes this soup pop! I love the peppery sweetness that it adds and OMG the pungent spicy aroma will knock your socks off. Feel free to add more ginger if you like. I erred on the more conservative side for the posting of this recipe. Four cups vegetable broth will make a nice thick soup. Feel free to add more broth or water if you prefer a thinner outcome. Be creative and have fun with your garnishes! I like the pepitas and chives but have also used black cumin and parsley. But please do not omit the toasties! Speaking of the toasties I use Ezekiel bread which is, in fact, the only bread I eat (other then what I make). It is flourless, very low in sodium, and made from a vareity of whole grains, legumes and seeds. It has no peservatives which is why it is kept frozen.

Roasted Pumpkin and Apple Soup with Toasties
A little dabble of zero fat, zero sodium, 1 gram carbohydrate / 2 tbsp Reddi Wip adds a little creaminess and turns it into a “Roasted Pumpkin and Apple Pie” soup.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 4 cups sugar pumpkin
  • 1 small honey crisp apple and cut in wedges
  • 1 small white onion finely chopped
  • 3 garlic toes finely chopped
  • 1 thumb sized piece fresh ginger peeled and grated
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
  • 1/4 cup raw pepitas (hulless pumpkin seeds)
  • A few sprigs fresh chive
  • 2 slices Ezekiel flax bread (found in freezer section of grocery store)
Sugar pumpkin, garlic, white onion, honey crisp apple, vegetable broth, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, chives, pepitas, Ezekial bread

Directions

  1. Carve off top of pumpkin around the stem. Place pumpkin in the microwave for 5 minutes to make it easier to cut. Cut in lengthwise sections and remove seeds and stringy pulp (see below).
  2. Peel the apple and cut into wedges
  3. Place pumpkin sections and apples wedges on a cookie sheet covered with a silicone matt (or parchment paper). The silicone matt eliminates the need for oil. Food will not stick to the silicone matt. Spray water over the pumpkin and apples. Place in a 450 degree preheated oven and roast for about 20 minutes until slightly browned. The pumpkin skins will easily peel off.
  4. In a large soup pot sautee the onions and garlic in 1/4 cup water. Let the water cook-off and allow the onions and garlic to brown. Add a few more tbsps water to prevent them from burning and repeat 2-3 times until they are soft and deep brown.
  5. Add the roasted pumpkin, apple, vegetable broth, ginger, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
  6. Place in food processor (small portions at a time) and puree until smoothe and creamy. Transfer everything back into the pot and simmer for 5 more minutes.
  7. Using kitchen shears cut the Ezekial bread into small pieces and place on cookie sheet lined with the silicone matt. Place in 450 degree oven for approximately 5 minutes until toasted.
  8. Garnish soup with papitas, chive and toasties
Microwaving for 5 minutes makes the pumpkin much easier to cut
Gorgeous roasted pumpkin and apples smell amazing. Look at the bright orange color of the pulp.
It’s so magical how the skin lifts right off!

A Deep Dive at the Health Benefits

The star ingredient in this soup is pumpkin. The bright orange color of pumpkin screams health and nutrition. Pumpkins are loaded with beta-carotine which is an important antioxidant and what gives them their vibrant color. There are evidenced based studies suggesting that diets rich in beta-carotine reduce the risk of certain cancers, heart disease and protects against the degenerative aspects of aging. The body converts beta-carotine into vitamin A which supports eye health and prevents macular degeneration. Lastly, pumpkins are an excellent source of fiber. Fiber slow the rate of glucose absorption in the blood and promotes regular bowel movements.

Is canned pumpkin as nutritious as fresh? Typically fresh foods have a higher nutrient content then their canned counterparts. In the case of pumpkin, however, they are both cram packed with vitamins A, C and E, potassium and iron. If you buy canned just make sure it is 100% pure pumpkin and not the pie mix which has added sugars.

Food and Mood

Anxiety and depression are two conditions that few of us will escape in life. While sometimes the etiology is unclear, anxiety and depression can be triggered by traumatic life experiences, chronic stress, caregiver responsibilities, chronic health conditions, drugs and alcohol – to name a few. But can anxiety, depression and overall mood also be triggered by our dietary habits and overall nutrition? Conversely, are there certain foods that can positively effect our mood and behavior? In other words, do certain foods have natural anxiolytic and antidepressant abilities?

Well to address the first question, a diet high in refined carbohydrates (white rice, white bread, pop, donuts, pastries) causes sharp elevations then sharp drops in blood sugar. In addition to screwing up the regulation of insulin, this can lead to a decrease in energy, irritability and a general feeling of yuck. But it’s even worse than that. Diets high in refined sugars are actually harmful to the brain. There are many studies concluding that refined sugar impairs brain function, contributes to and even worsens mood disorders like depression.

Junk, fried and processed foods (fast foods, frozen meals, processed meats) have been the focus of many studies. It appears as though these foods alter gut bacteria which effects the immune system and leads to inflammation throughout the body and brain. This chronic inflammation has widely been tied to poorer mental health in adults and children and most notably depression. The SMILES trial of 2017 (Supporting the Modification of Lifestyle in Lowered Emotional States) compared the effect of eating an anti-inflammatory diet to supportive counseling in 67 patients diagnosed with depression. The conclusion was the patients who received the dietary intervention showed a significantly greater improvement compared to the counseling group.

So to address the second question. Diets high in anti-inflammatory type foods (nuts, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and oily fish) are known to balance neurochemicals within the brain and help to regulate mood and cognition. Antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C and E as well as natural plant compounds reduce free radical damage to the brain which effects mental health. Folic acid, a B vitamin found in legumes, green leafy vegetables, asparagus, beets, brussel sprouts, broccoli, nut and seeds, bananas, papaya, blueberries, fortified grains and yeast, is necessary for the production of serotonin which is a brain chemical responsible for mood regulation.

In my research on specific plants that have been studied for their effect on mood I found the following interesting information. The National Institute of Health (NIH) published a study on PARSLEY with this conclusion:

“Parsley, a culinary herb used worldwide, presents enormous health benefits and through this study it has been known to have remarkable antidepressant and anxiolytic activity especially in the dose of 100mg/kg body weight. In the search for an effective medicine with few or no side effects parsley could be a well-placed alternative.” The study encourages daily consumption. I love how they classify parsley as a medicine!

According to the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, BASIL has anti-anxiety and anti-depressant properties that are comparable to diazepam (valium) and antidepressant medications. People who took 500mg of basil extract each day felt less anxious, stressed, depressed and more social. This is one of the reasons I have a huge valium basil plant in my house!

An article written in Scientific Wellness states BLUEBERRIES have been shown to have a positive effect on mood within two hours after consumption. Blueberries increase blood flow to the brain, increase monoamine oxidase which is an enzyme needed to produce serotonin and dopamine and binds to benzodiazapine receptors for anti-anxiety effects. I eat a half a cup of blueberries every day – that’s right – 7 days a week for this very reason.

While prescription medication certainly has its place in cases of diagnosed clinical depression and anxiety, sometimes all that is needed is a prescription for good nutrition. The food-mood connection is not hokey pokey. Nutritional psychiatry is a very real thing. We are what we eat and also what we don’t eat!

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28137247/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33916097/

https://www.scientificwellness.com/blog-view/blueberries-improve-mood-within-hours–597

Creamy Potato Leek & Tarragon Soup

There is no better comfort food then a steamy bowl of soup especially in the thick of Autumn. It really warms the heart and soul. This recipe is one of my favorites. I whipped up a batch last year for new nurses during their orientation. I really took a chance on this one seeing that none of them were whole food plant based eaters that I recall. It was either going to be a home run or I was going to be benched the rest of the afternoon. It turned out to be a home run! We even had leftovers the next day.

Not only is this soup comforting and delicious but it is loaded with antioxidants. And as my CDE dietician friend commented when I first put this recipe on Facebook, “Hail to antioxidants they rule the country!” Well said Maryellen. I couldn’t agree more.

So it’s 32 degrees today in Northeastern Ohio and I have this soup on my mind. As I’m preparing the ingredients it is snowing yellow and orange leaves outside my kitchen window. The wind is gusty. My tall purple Monkshoods are swaying in breeze. Yes, it’s November and they are still in bloom. The dark clouds are rolling in. It won’t be long before my entire kitchen will be filled with the aroma of this healthy and hearty soup. It’s things like this that make me so happy!

Creamy Potato Leek & Tarragon Soup

Ingredients

  • 6 – 7 potatoes (peeled and cubed)
  • 5 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 can cannellini beans (rinsed)
  • 2 cups leeks cut in small pieces
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 2 garlic toes minced
  • 3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (more or less to your tasting)
  • 2 tsp. ground tarragon
  • 2 tsp. black pepper
  • 2 bay leaves
Potatoes, vegetable broth, leek, onion, garlic, cannellini beans, tarragon, black pepper, bay leaves (not pictured) and apple cider vinegar

Directions

  1. Cut the roots and the green parts of the leek off. The parts you want in your soup will be white or very pale green. Thoroughly rinse the leeks under water to remove the grit and sand. Cut the leeks lengthwise and then make crosswise cuts. I prefer to use kitchen sheers for the crosswise cuts. Then place them in a collander and rinse, rinse, rinse. Use your hands to agitate the leeks in order to dislodge the debris that tends to stick to them. Tip: Hold on to the dark green parts of the leek. They are great to add to other vegetables when making homemade vegetable broth.
  2. Sautee the leeks, onions and garlic in a small amount of water
  3. Add the vegetable broth, potatoes, cannalini beans, terragon, black pepper, bay leaves and apple cider vinegar. Bring to a boil then simmer on low stirring occasionally until potatoes are soft (approximately 20 minutes).
  4. Place the mixture in a food processor, small batches at a time, and puree on high. Place back into the cooking pot and simmer on low for 10 more minutes. Classic potato leek soup is thick but, if you prefer thinner, adjust by adding more vegetable broth or water. Feel free to add more black pepper or apple cider vinegar according to your liking. Remove the bay leaves before serving.
Soup is on! Did you know potato leek soup is a classic French soup. They call it Soupe Vichyssoise. It is served warm in autumn and winter and cold in spring and summer.

Matcha Breakfast Ice Cream

Every morning like clockwork for the past three years I wake up and prepare a green tea shake. The shake is nothing more than almond milk, Matcha powder and ice whipped up in a blender. I swear by this shake. Well really it’s the Matcha that I swear by.

Well one morning I woke up to a near empty carton of almond milk. OMG!! Not enough to make my shake and, like a junkie, I need my Matcha fix. I had to figure something out. That’s when I thought about the bag of frozen cut up bananas that I always keep stocked in the freezer and, low and behold, the evolution of Matcha Breakfast Ice Cream! I love how negative situations can lead to unexpected and delicious outcomes.

Matcha Breakfast Ice Cream

Ingredients

  • 2 over ripe bananas
  • 1 tsp. Matcha green tea powder (go slow due its strong flavor)
  • 1 tbsp. almond milk
  • Cocoa nibs (optional)
Pure Matcha green tea powder. I order online from nuts.com

Directions

  1. Cut up and freeze a few ripe bananas
  2. Allow frozen bananas to thaw slightly
  3. Put bananas, almond milk and Matcha powder in a blender and whip until creamy
  4. Top with cocoa nibs

A Deep Dive at the Health Benefits

Green tea is know for its antioxidant powers. Green tea powder (Matcha) has 137 times more antioxidant power then regular green tea. That makes sense when you consider with green tea you steep then throw away the leaves. With green tea powder you are literally ingesting the young green Tencha leaves. Tencha leaves are grown in the shade and give the powder its rich deep jade green color.

So what is an antioxidant anyhow? Antioxidants are substances that slow down or prevent damage to cells caused by free radicals. Free radicals are unstable oxygen containing molecules that the body produces, often as a result of metabolic processes and environmental stressors. The more free radicals lurking in our body the greater the chance of mutations and erroneous cell growth. This means things like cancer, progression of aging, wrinkles and hardening of the arteries.

Antioxidants are free radical scavengers. The polyphenols in green tea have potent antioxidant powers. Other free radical scavengers include a-tocopherol (vitamin E), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), b-carotene (vitamin A) and selenium.

As though all this wasn’t enough, green tea is considered a superfood. That’s right! Green tea detoxifies the body, increases immunity and metabolism, boosts energy and promotes focus and calm. It is right up there with coffee in terms of caffeine content but the L-theanine in Matcha gives a nice energy boost without causing nervousness and jitters. All of this is why I swear by my Matcha every morning!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3679539/

Spicy Green Chile Black Bean Dip

Looking for a healthy dip for entertaining or snacking? This is the dip! It is ridiculously easy to make and completely WFPB no SOS compliant. You can whip this little number up in 5 minutes. It is tasty cold or warmed up. Serve it with cut up veggies, baked tortilla chips or my famous pepita, sesame and flaxseed seed crisp crackers. Leftovers store well in a closed container. Hope you enjoy!.

Spicy Green Chili Black Bean Dip

Ingredients

  • 1 15oz. can rinsed black beans
  • 1/2 medium red onion
  • 1 tomato diced
  • 2 large garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1 tbsp. canned chopped fire roasted green chili peppers
  • 1/2 lime

Directions

  • Chop the red onion, tomato and garlic toes in a food processor
  • Add the black beans, green chilis, cumin and juice of the lime and puree until smooth and creamy. If you want more kick add more green chilis.

Salt Sense

Ninety percent of Americans eat way too much salt. The average American consumes approximately 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day. That is the equivalent of about 1 1/2 teaspoons.

The FDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 recommends that individuals 14 and over consume no more then 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. The American Heart Association is even more conservative and recommends no more than 1,500 milligrams per day “ideally” for most adults especially those with heart disease.

A healthy active body needs only 200 to 500 milligrams of sodium per day to maintain proper fluid and electrolyte balance, conduct nerve impulses and contract and relax muscles. This computes to only 0.216 to 0.540 teaspoon per day.

Did you know that whole foods contain salt naturally? That’s right. A stalk of celery may not taste salty but it contains just over 30 milligrams of sodium. One cup of artichokes contain about 160 milligrams. One half cup of cooked carrots contain 45 milligrams. One cup of tap water contains 9 milligrams of sodium. Sodium is found in the earth naturally so it makes sense that it exists in foods that get nutrients from the soil. Even if you never add another speck of salt to your food you will not be sodium deficient by eating a balanced plant based diet.

I knew there was a reason why, after all these years, I never got rid of the old Himalayan and sea salt. It came in handy for this blog photo. Trust me I do not use them!!

High blood pressure is the most common consequence of diets high in sodium. When we eat too much salt, the body holds on to extra water to balance things out. This extra fluid increases blood volume which then increases blood pressure. Increased blood pressure over time narrows and damages the delicate inner lining of the arteries. A low sodium diet centered around plant based eating seems to be the best way to bring down blood pressure.

But hypertension is not the only consequence. Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine found a connection between high salt diets and decreased nitric oxide levels. Nitric oxide is an essential molecule necessary for cerebrovascular health. Low levels of nitric oxide cause protein plaque deposits in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease. So reducing our intake of sodium may be all it takes to prevent dementia.

If dementia wasn’t enough to convince you to shake the salt habit maybe cancer will. Excess sodium intake has been linked to stomach cancer. In fact, it seems that the risk is on the same level as heavy alcohol use. How is this possible? Well it appears that excess sodium damages the delicate lining of the stomach causing lesions which, over time, can turn cancerous.

There’s more bad news. Eating too much salt can cause calcium to be leached out of the bones leading to low bone density and osteoporosis. High blood pressure can also lead to osteoporosis by increasing the rate that calcium is lost from the bones. For every 100 milligrams of sodium you consume above and beyond the recommended, you urinate out 1 milligram extra of calcium.

In addition to adopting a diet that is centered around plant based eating pay attention to nutrition facts on food labels. A general rule of thumb is to choose foods that have no more then 1 milligram of sodium per calorie.

I sincerely hope this article has been helpful. As always I love comments and questions. Lot’s of them!

I created these sodium visuals to help my patients understand how much sodium is in certain food choices. This was several years ago before the AHA lowered their recommendation to 1,500 milligrams or less (test tube #1). Look at how much sodium is in that frozen meal (test tube #2)? That’s double the daily recommendation in just one meal. Yikes!! Look at how little is in the apple and potato?

https://news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2019/10/high-salt-diet-promotes-cognitive-impairment-through-the-alzheimer-linked-protein-tau

Pepita, Sesame and Flaxseed Crisp Crackers

These crispy and tasty crackers are a cinch to make, completely fat-free and super healthy. They essentially are just flax seeds, water and whatever other seeds and spices you care to add. That’s right, you are the author of how you want your crackers to taste. In this recipe I added pepita and sesame seeds, garlic and onion powders, and lots of black pepper. Not a fan of sesame seeds? No problem. Substitute for chia or poppy seeds or whatever else excites your taste buds. Play around with the seasonings. The sky is literally the limit.

I use a silicone pad on my baking sheet so I don’t have to use any oil. This pad may not look very pretty but it works like magic. TRUST ME NOTHING STICKS! And guess what? I bought it at Dollar General in the baking section. That’s right! And it was $1.00 and completely reusable. You can also use parchment paper if you prefer.

Are you wondering what pepitas are? Well it’s a type of pumpkin seed but not the kind with shells that you scoop out of pumpkins when making jack-o-lanterns. There are actually a variety of pumpkins called Lady Godiva, Naked Bear and a few others whose seeds have no hull- and these are called pepitas! The pepitas are the signature ingredient in these crackers. They give them an earthy and nutty flavor that will make you want to dig in for seconds.

Pepita, Sesame and Flaxseed Crisp Crackers

Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cup ground flaxseed
  • 1/2 cup pepitas
  • 1/3 cup sesame seeds
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp whole flaxseed
  • 1 tsp black cumin
Ground flaxseed, pepitas, sesame seeds, whole flaxseed, garlic powder, garlic pepper, black pepper, black cumin seeds, water

Directions

  1. Mix and stir the first 7 ingredients
  2. Pour the mixture over the silicone pad or parchment paper on the baking sheet
  3. Spread evenly over the silicone pad or parchment paper using a rolling pin. Dough should be 1/8″ thick. Tip: because my rolling pin is large I usually roll the mixture on the silicone pad first and then transfer the pad to the baking sheet.
  4. Using a pizza roller score the dough into bite size pieces (squares or triangles)
  5. Sprinkle the whole flaxseeds and black cumin over the top
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Test the centers with a tooth pick. If the centers are still soft continue baking until crackers are crispy but not burnt.
This is the dough spread on the silicone baking pad and cut into squares. The pieces do not need to be perfect. The only thing that should be perfect is the taste!
I love eating mine with my tasty Chili Black Bean Dip but they are tasty enough to just eat plain