April Simple Pure Whole Favorites: Health | Lifestyle | Happiness
April favorites to support healthy stress management, happiness and nutrition: maca, mindful eating, recipes for Swiss chard and more!
This month on the blog I have been focusing on sharing strategies and habits for building a centered, meaningful life where stress does not take over. This is a topic that is so important to me and is a crucial component of a Simple Pure Whole Solution for lasting wellness and the foundation of The Whole Cure. From real food solutions to help balance the body and combat stress, to powerful superherb adaptogens that support the body’s physiological stress responses to powerful Simple Pure Whole strategies to manage stress in everyday life, there are many ways we can avoid overwhelm and stay balanced.
If you are committed to changing your mindset and taking a new approach to stress, I invite you to join us for the upcoming The Whole Cure Lifestyle Transformation Mindset Module one of my most popular online group coaching programs for lasting transformation and meaningful stress management that can shift your entire life! Join the next group online program from the comfort of your home anywhere in the world! Commit to yourself now!
Other upcoming opportunities for Simple | Pure | Whole Wellness include:
FREE Stress Management Guide with a preview of The Whole Cure and several wellness exercises to get you started building your toolkit of habits for a more balanced life!- My most popular program, The All Natural Simple | Pure | WholeTM Recharge Experience guides you in choosing whole, real foods to support your optimal digestion, manage stress, enhance energy and gain overall health! It is a fantastic way to reset your metabolism and experience what it is feels like to purify your body and cleanse your entire system of stored up toxins that have been weighing you down for years. Join us for the next 28-day group online experience!
- My books, The Simple Pure Whole Wellness Solution and The Whole Cure guide you in exploring foundational habits for a centered, meaningful life where stress does not take over.
- Breathe: Guided Relaxation & Breathing Exercises to Help You Find Your Whole Cure is now available! This special resource will support you in bringing The Whole Cure to life! The individually-available breathing exercises and guided relaxation experiences (starting at $0.99!) can be used anywhere, at any time of day. Try using them when you feel panic, stress, anxiety or just want a few moments of calm in your day. They are also helpful for coping with pain and helping the body prepare for rest and relaxation.
- 3-Month Simple | Pure | WholeTM Wellness Solution Essential Lifestyle Coaching Program! Get personalized one-on-one attention and transformational coaching to address your physical and emotional body, lifestyle and habits with customized virtual transformational wellness coaching!
Simple Pure Whole Opportunities!
In the meantime, check out my favorite healthy recipes/foods/products/links/exercises/inspiration from the past month. My Favorites feature is a regular part of the Simple | Pure | WholeTMBlog allowing me to share some great healthy solutions with you each month!
I only share resources that I have personal experience with and can therefore recommend without reservation. Remember that each person is unique so check with your health care provider before making any major changes to your diet or lifestyle. This is not intended as medical advice. This post may contain affiliate links. Prices are the same for you and affiliate commission helps to support the maintenance of my blog so I can continue to bring you free, value-filled resources. Thank you for your support!
Here are some of my Simple | Pure | WholeTM Healthy Favorites for April!
Favorite Ingredient: Maca Powder
This month I explored how real food and adaptogens can help balance, restore and protect the body by normalizing physiologic function and enhancing the body’s resiliency to stress.
Maca is a potent superfood and adaptogen traditionally used by Andean societies in Peru for thousands of years. It is prized for its adaptogenic qualities that enable it to nourish and balance the body’s endocrine and nervous systems. It is thought to naturally energize without jitteriness or crashes and is traditionally used to aid in reproductive function to support fertility and balanced hormones.
Maca Powder is loaded with vitamins, minerals, amino acids and plant sterols, including vitamins B1, B2, B, C, D, E, iron, potassium, copper, magnesium, selenium, phosphorous and calcium. It also provides a boost of fiber and plant protein along with fatty acids.
Simple Pure Whole Solutions
- Traditional preparations of maca include use as a gruel with milk and cooked with potatoes, apples, oats, quinoa or fava beans.
- Maca powder has a pungent and sweet nutty taste with hints of butterscotch flavor. It can be mixed into smoothies and juices or added into baked goods. One delicious way to enjoy maca is by adding some to your favorite pancake batter for an energizing breakfast!
- Maca works well in many raw treats such as this raw vegan maca fudge from One Green Planet and these decadent raw chocolate maca truffles from This Rawsome Vegan Life!
NOTE: As with all adaptogens and herbs, these are powerful plants which can impact the body in a variety of ways. Adaptogens have not been adequately studied for safety in pregnancy nor in conjunction with other medications that impact the immune system. Every body is unique so be sure to check with your health care professional before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Please be sure to check with your doctor before adding any new foods or herbs to your routine. This information is for not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease and should not be considered medical advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
Favorite Inspirational Article: How schools are using ‘mindful eating’ to help prevent eating disorders
I was honored to share my article on The Mindfulness Diet on Chopra.com this month, discussing the link between mindfulness, blood sugar and weight. Mindfulness offers an alternative strategy for losing weight and having a healthy relationship with food. Approaching food mindfully involves paying attention to your own physical and mental processes while eating. The awareness that emerges through paying attention, on purpose, in a non-judgmental manner, can allow you to remain in the present moment, dismantle old patterns, connect with your true internal motivation, and break the cycle of losing and regaining weight.
While considering how mindfulness can impact our nourishment decisions, I came across this article from the Washington Post as well, which explores how mindfulness training can help prevent eating disorders. Researchers have found that programs that teach mindful eating can help prevent children from developing eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder.
As one student in the program stated:
“Mindful eating helps me respect the food that goes into my body. I can make better food choices,” she says, “because when I slow down to eat, I can tell which food is filled with fake ingredients and which foods are organic.”
Mindful eating teaches us how to connect with our body signals, and learn how to eat intuitively. While mindful and intuitive eating has been used in medical settings and eating disorder treatment centers for years, bringing the practice into the classroom as a preventative tool is a new and promising concept.
Simple Pure Whole Solutions:
- Bring more mindfulness to your meals and teach your children to appreciate meal time. Sit down and unplug during your meals. Instead of making eating another item on your to-do list, give your mind and body the break they need to be truly nourished. Enjoy your food without distractions. Avoid multitasking when eating. Turn off the television, computer, and phone during meal time. This will allow you to be more relaxed and focused on the act of eating and enjoying your food.
- Reconnect with a more intuitive way of eating by enhancing your understanding of your true nutritional needs in my ecouse What to Eat? An Eater’s Guide to Conquering Cravings and Reconnecting to an Instinctual Way of Eating and with the Simple Pure Whole Nourishment Journal.
- Be your own hunger expert. Instead of searching for the answers from outside experts, get in touch with your body’s needs. This will help tell you what food and how much your body truly needs instead of how much you think you should be eating. You are your best expert, and only your body can tell you what and how much you need to consume.
Favorite Farmer’s Market Find: Swiss Chard
There are so many great choices for late winter/early spring veggies that provide nutrients to nourish and relax the body.
My favorite stress-busting and delicious foods are greens! Greens like spinach, chard, kale and arugula are rich in so many phytonutrients and antioxidants including magnesium, a crucial mineral for calm and relaxation.
Swiss Chard is one of the most beautiful greens and has a delicate, sweet flavor which works well in place of spinach or kale in a variety of recipes. It is a favorite of students in my Glorious Greens for Great Health Workshop where I incorporate it in many healthy, gluten-free recipes!
In addition to relaxing magnesium, some of the antioxidants found in Swiss chard include carotenoids such as beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which are crucial for eye health; and flavonoids, like quercetin and kaempferol, which act as antihistamines to reduce allergic reactions and inflammatory responses. Swiss chard is also one of the best sources of water-soluble pigments called betalains which have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties.
The nutritional benefits of Swiss chard make it especially useful for preventing and treating diabetes. Swiss chard helps regulate activity of an enzyme called alpha-glucosidase, which helps to balance blood sugar by aiding in the slow release of glucose into the blood stream.
Simple Pure Whole Solutions:
- Young Swiss Chard which is prevalent at this time of year at your local farmer’s market is perfect in my Perk-Up Ginger Smoothie
- You can also try swapping Swiss Chard for kale or using both greens in my Braised Kale with Apples and Carrots and my Hearty Spiced Vegetable Soup for the Soul.
- This Scilian Swiss Chard over quinoa from Vegetarian Times is a lovely way to enjoy beautiful rainbow chard with sweet, nutty flavors of pine nuts and raisins.
This Month’s Favorite Quotes:
April’s Features from The Simple | Pure | WholeTM Blog:
Have you used maca?
What is your favorite way to prepare chard?
How do you practice mindful eating?
Please let me know in the comments below or on Facebook or Instagram if you have tried any of these or if you find something new you love so I can check it out!
If you enjoyed these healthy tips, I welcome you to join my free Insider’s Community for special offers, members-only opportunities, wellness news, recipes and more!
Your Simple Pure Whole Wellness Plan!
- Glorious Greens for Great Health Virtual Workshop and Cookbook: This virtual workshop will introduce you to the facts and science about leafy green vegetables and provide simple and nutritious recipe ideas to help you easily incorporate these nutritional powerhouses into your diet. You will discover vibrant health through knowledge and flavorful real food recipes!
- My most popular program, The All Natural Simple | Pure | WholeTM Recharge Experience guides you in choosing whole, real foods to support your optimal digestion, manage stress, enhance energy and gain overall health! It is a fantastic way to reset your metabolism and experience what it is feels like to purify your body and cleanse your entire system of stored up toxins that have been weighing you down for years. Join us for the next 28-day group online experience!
- FREE Stress Management Guide with a preview of The Whole Cure and several wellness exercises to get you started building your toolkit of habits for a more balanced life!
- The Whole Cure Lifestyle Transformation Mindset Module one of my most popular online group coaching programs for lasting transformation and meaningful stress management that can shift your entire life! Commit to yourself now!
My books, The Simple Pure Whole Wellness Solution and The Whole Cure guide you in exploring foundational habits for a centered, meaningful life where stress does not take over- Breathe: Guided Relaxation & Breathing Exercises to Help You Find Your Whole Cure is now available! This special resource will support you in bringing The Whole Cure to life! The individually-available breathing exercises and guided relaxation experiences (starting at $0.99!) can be used anywhere, at any time of day. Try using them when you feel panic, stress, anxiety or just want a few moments of calm in your day. They are also helpful for coping with pain and helping the body prepare for rest and relaxation.
- 3-Month Simple | Pure | WholeTM Wellness Solution Essential Lifestyle Coaching Program! Get personalized one-on-one attention and transformational coaching to address your physical and emotional body, lifestyle and habits with customized virtual transformational wellness coaching!
Simple Pure Whole Opportunities!
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: Amazon and other merchants offers a small commission on products sold through their affiliate links. Prices are exactly the same for you if your purchase through an affiliate link or a non-affiliate link. I never, ever endorse a product or service that I would not purchase myself. I only share resources that I have personal experience with and can therefore recommend without reservation. Affiliate commission helps to support the maintenance of my blog so I can continue to bring you free, value-filled resources. Thank you for your support!
This post was shared with: Create and Share DIY Party, Thinking Out Loud, Healthy Living Link Party, Family Fun Friday, Create It Thursday, Weekend Retreat, Friday’s Five Features, Savoring Saturdays, Link Love, Healthy, Happy, Green & Natur
Comments
Deborah Davis
Thanks for reminding me to start using Swiss Chard. I often eat a lot of the same green veggies so I need to mix it up. I have not used Maca yet so it is time to try this superfood too. I am so delighted that you shared your smart, helpful and healthy Simple Pure Whole Favorites: Health | Lifestyle | Happiness with us at the Healthy Happy Green Natural Party! I’m Pinning and sharing this!
Dr. Jennifer L. Weinberg, MD, MPH, MBE
Thank you Deborah! This is a great time to enjoy Swiss Chard. Hopefully you can find some beautiful local spring chard near you as I have been enjoying here lately.
Raia
I’m just starting to try adaptogens. Haven’t tried maca, yet. 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us Savoring Saturdays!
Dr. Jennifer L. Weinberg, MD, MPH, MBE
Thank you Raia! Hope you are finding the right adaptogens to work for you!