Try New Things

If I hated you I would speak about a diet of deprivation, we would simply remove the bad stuff from your diet and add a few boring bland vegetables. Good thing that’s not what this is all about. I want you to live your best life.

I’m a digital nomad who works from anywhere and I need to eat healthy to fuel my lifestyle.  I outlined a few of my fav healthy and powerful foods.

This is a journey that is meant for you to enjoy. At the end, you should have a few new recipes in your arsenal, ingredients in your pantry and moves to help tone your body. But, the best part is you’ll be walking taller, feeling stronger and you’ll be addicted to feeling good and living healthy!

The ingredients listed below are a few that might be new to you, but I don’t want that to stop you. Learn a little more about them, but most importantly, taste them before you decide whether they’re right for you. 

Bragg’s Liquid Aminos – Normally, I shy away from recommending brands in my recipes, but in this case, Bragg’s is a unique product. It is a fermented soy product that can be used in place of soy sauce, shoyu or tamari. The benefit is that it is significantly lower in sodium. It is also rich in amino acids (hence the name). If you can’t or don’t want to use Bragg’s, you can use regular soy sauce in any of my recipes.

Nutritional Yeast – Nutritional yeast is yellow in color and has a very nutty and kind of cheesy flavor. Just like edible mushrooms, it is a fungus. It is made by culturing yeast with sugarcane or molasses, so it is a natural product. 

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar – I try to use raw apple cider vinegar as often as possible because I believe it really is the healthiest option. It is usually made from organic apples (so no pesticides), and it isn’t processed like other oils, so it retains more nutrients and natural enzymes from the fruit. 

Grapeseed oil (vs. olive oil) – Hands down, if you’re making a salad, olive oil is the healthier choice. It is richer in omeg-3 fatty acids (which are the “good” fats). But, cooking with olive oil can be a problem. Every oil has what is called a smoking point. This is the temperature at which it becomes unstable (and forms free radicals). Olive oil has a lower smoking point than grapeseed oil, so grapeseed oil is a better choice for cooking – especially at high temps. Canola oil also has a high smoking point, but it isn’t a natural product. I personally don’t recommend using it.

Stevia, rice syrup & date sugar – These are all alternatives to refined white sugar (which spike your blood sugar levels) and synthetic sugar replacements (which have been linked to cancer). Stevia extract comes directly from a plant, so you don’t have to worry about chemicals. You should know that it is super, super sweet, though. So, use it sparingly. Rice syrup and date sugar are other natural sweeteners, which are made from rice sugar and dates, respectively. 

Coconut oil – Coconut oil has an even higher smoking point than grapeseed oil, so it’s best to use if you’re cooking with very high heat. It does impart a nice coconutty flavor to whatever you cook with it, but it also is high in saturated fat – so use it sparingly. 

Flaxseed oil – Flaxseed oil should never be used for cooking (very low smoking point), but it’s great for salads and anywhere else you would use cold oil. Flaxseed oil actually has a higher omega-3 content than olive oil, but it is definitely more expensive. 

Asafetida – This is an interesting ingredient that is used often in Indian dishes. It’s a great alternative to onions and garlic, if you must exclude those foods from your diet. It comes in the form of a powder, and you’ll notice that it has a very strong odor: don’t let that put you off. It will add a nice flavor to the dish. If you can’t find asafetida, you can substitute garlic or onion powder. 

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