by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Apr 25, 2013 | Elimination Diet, Food, Health, Nutrition, Recipes
Spring is (finally) in the air! For me that means long walks outside with the dog, time spent reading outside a cafe and, of course, fresh fruits and vegetables! While globalization does provide us with fruits and vegetables year-round (who doesn’t love watermelon in January? Kidding), there is nothing like the taste of in-season, deliciousness. When fruit and vegetables are fresh and local, not only are they better for us and the environment, they require little seasoning and dressing because they are packed full of flavour and nutrients all on their own. Warming temperatures also mean that our bodies are gaining increasingly powerful digestive fire, allowing us to digest raw vegetables again. The dampness of spring can make us feel tired and sluggish, while eating raw, crunchy foods, like this salad, helps us retain feelings of energetic lightness. Salad is back in season! (more…)
by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Apr 23, 2013 | Cooking, Dessert, Diet, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Healthy Baking, Nutrition, Recipes
So, you’ve probably heard of black bean brownies before. However, just like “therapist”, black bean brownie is not a protected title. There are just as many varieties of recipes as there are hits for “black bean brownie” on google. Some have flour, some barely contain beans, some are full of sugar to disguise their “healthy-ness.” However, I hope this recipe, which I created as a modified version of the White Bean Blondies, is deserving of Black Bean Brownie certification.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Apr 11, 2013 | Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Dessert, Diet, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Nutrition, Recipes, Student
Our last day of Primary Care, a third year course that is both the most educational course of the year and the bane of our existence, our group decided to have a pot luck. In the spirit of bringing something healthy, guilt-free and yummy to get us through our last weeks of class, I decided to try making these guys: chocolate chip white bean blondies. In true naturopathic spirit they are made of whole foods and are grain-free, dairy-free, contain no eggs or preservatives and are low in sugar. It’s important to chow down in a guilt-free manner from time to time.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Apr 2, 2013 | Diet, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Health, Nutrition, Paleo, Recipes
Health food needs to be grab-able. I believe that, if people are going to make lifelong changes to their diet and health, eating should be made as simple as possible. I think that many of us start the day off right and, because we forget to plan our snacks, we reach for that bag of salty, greasy potato chips to keep our blood sugar up and keep us going through a long, stressful day. That’s why it helps to have a snack list: a list of things that we can easily prepare and eat when we’re hungry and the only thing we’re crunching is time.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Mar 14, 2013 | Dessert, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Health, Nutrition, Recipes
Have you ever been invited to a dinner party and charged with the task of bringing dessert to one of those groups of people who always seem to be onto the next dietary fad? If not, you probably don’t have any naturopathic friends. If you have been in this situation,forced to peer at food labels, wondering how many words there are for “dairy”, I have a solution for you. This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, raw and dairy-free, so it should satisfy everyone. In fact, the list that these things don’t contain is way longer than what they do, which are: coconut. nuts. dates. Unless you’re date-free, you can eat these. And, let’s face it, if you’re date-free you’re probably looking anyways, right? 😉
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Mar 5, 2013 | Dessert, Diet, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Health, Nutrition, Recipes
Being on a diet makes it hard to snack, especially when on the road. Any true Canadian will tell you that no road trip is complete without a stop at Tim Horton’s, our favourite roadside coffee hub. And, of course, no Tim Horton’s coffee is truly satisfying without a delicious box of “Timbits”, or assorted doughnut holes, by its side. Every Friday, while teaching English in the summer, I would bring in a box of Timbits for my students to sample some “authentic Canadian cuisine”. They loved them, not surprisingly. Sadly, most people on a naturopathic diet – whichever naturopathic diet you follow – can’t eat Timbits, which are basically little balls of gluten and sugar. But don’t despair, this snack makes a delicious grain-free, whole foods substitute. And the best thing about these coconut-covered balls? They’re good for you!
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Mar 1, 2013 | Cooking, Diet, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Nutrition, Recipes
This recipe is based on the one provided to me by my colleague Amy, who is currently putting together a cookbook. It’s a fabulous idea for a good-for-you flatbread made of 3 simple ingredients. When my cousin came to visit from Calgary, she brought homemade focaccia made with rosemary and olives. Not being able to eat gluten, I was tortured by that bread for the entire weekend. The sense of deprivation inspired the need to create a gluten-free version of her forbidden bread, using Amy’s grain free recipe as the bread base.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Feb 11, 2013 | Dessert, Detoxification, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Nutrition, Recipes
I first heard about chia pudding, where else, but among my colleagues, fellow students of naturopathic medicine and self-professed health nuts. Chia seeds are chock full of fibre and omega-3 fatty acids. When placed in water and left for a while their fibre begins to form a gel, creating a “pudding”. I love pudding, but there are few things less naturopathic than the traditional store-bought pudding cups. Here is a great way to get your fibre, omega-3’s and to quench your cravings for soft, comforting pudding.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Feb 8, 2013 | Cooking, Detoxification, Diet, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Nutrition, Paleo, Recipes
My family and I have been doing Natasha Turner’s Hormone Diet for the past few weeks. The diet mainly consists of eliminating all sources of starch (grains and root vegetables, mostly), sugar, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods, and eating a whole foods diet. While we thought it would be hard – there are a lot of rules to follow – it’s not too bad. We’ve helped each other get through it as a family, taking turns cooking and preparing meals. And as a family, we’ve become healthier: I feel lighter, more energetic and have experienced less cravings for sweets or “unhealthy foods”. I also find that my blood sugar is more stable throughout the day.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Feb 6, 2013 | Anti-aging, Beauty, Gifts, Home Remedies, Recipes, Skin health
Of all the cosmetics to make, lotions are one of the hardest. The reason is basic grade 6 science: oil and water don’t mix. This lotion recipe, however, contains no water, just fats. It goes on smoothly, leaves no greasy after-feel and keeps skin soft for days. The best part? Any botanical or skin-healthy oils can be added to it for extra nutrient-rich punch. I adapted it from this recipe, on wellnessmama.com, a great site for finding DIY beauty product recipes that can be easily made at home.
DIY Natural Nutritive Lotion
Just like the rest of our body we need to feed our skin. While good skincare starts on the inside, sometimes it’s helpful to apply nutrient-rich lotions and moisturizers to give skin a vitamin boost. Antioxidants, vitamins and minerals can help heal skin of a variety of conditions, such as acne, the signs of aging, uneven tone, wrinkles, sun damage, dryness or allergic conditions. Rather than investing in expensive creams and lotions that have limited effects, create your own lotion that will last you forever, is far more cost-effective and only contains ingredients that are good for your skin, no fillers or preservatives.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of a light oil, such as olive oil, apricot kernel oil (which has excellent moisturizing and anti-aging properties), grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, etc. For extra skin-healing powers, I used 1/2 cup of my calendula oil infusion. Calendula is anti-inflammatory and healing for skin. To create a botanical-rich lotion you can create an oil infusion with calendula, camomille or even green tea and add it in here.
1/4 cup of beeswax pellets (to help lock in moisture)
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1/8 cup shea butter (2 tablespoons). Shea butter is packed full of skin-healthy vitamins that help moisturize skin and neutralize free radicals that can cause aging.
1 tsp vitamin E oil (an antioxidant that is very nutritive to skin)
Optional: Any skin-healthy items you want to add. I added 20 drops of sea buckthorn (a hot ingredient in natural skincare that is a potent skin antioxidant and helps nurture and heal skin cells) and 20 drops of neem oil, which is great for skin that is prone to acne or allergic conditions. Watch out, though, it can be drying.
Optional: essential oil for fragrance, if that’s your thing. Adding a few drops of vanilla extract makes this lotion smell like cookie dough. However, if you’re going to apply it as a face lotion, I’d refrain from adding fragrance.
Directions:
In a double boiler, add the shea butter, beeswax and oils together, stirring until they’ve melted.
Remove from heat and add in the rest of the ingredients. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature while stirring frequently to keep the lotion airy and light.
Sea buckthorn gives the lotion a yellow colour. It should only be applied within a lotion, never directly to the skin, as it will turn you yellow! The lotion has a soft and creamy texture once applied and may give skin an oily sheen. It absorbs nicely, however, and keeps you moisturized for the entire day. It’s also a great base for creating a super lotion: packed full of whatever healing ingredients your skin needs.
This recipe makes 1 cup of lotion, which should last you a long time. There’s just one disclaimer: this product was tested on animals. I rubbed some on Coco’s paws!
