What’s For Breakfast?

People have asked my husband and I, how do we stay so trim while surrounded by food all day long? For me, perhaps it starts with my breakfast. I have to nourish this body of mine, and the more high-quality nutrients I get in each day, the better. It’s just good fuel. So I start the day with my Flax Seeds, ground in my little coffee grinder (this way the flax meal is fresh/ no rancid oils). Everyone knows how Flax Seeds are loaded with that alpha linolenic acid (ALA), right? It’s an omega-3 fat much like the form of omega-3 found in fish oils (called eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA). Most people can convert the oil found in the flax seeds, into a useable form of omega-3 (although diabetes and alcohol can interfere with that conversion). So you can generally substitute flax seeds for fish oil, if you’re not a big fish eater, and still get plenty of health benefits. Flax Seeds have such a great effect on health, I can hardly list all the positive effects, but you can…(Click here for a great reference page.)

By the way, if you’re shooting for healthy, make it worth the effort. Get one of those ten-dollar mini-coffee-grinders (as pictured above, on the left), and grind your flax seed up fresh. The oils are so delicate, and can go rancid fast, making a pre-ground flax seed meal less that ideal. Also, the seeds themselves are just a bit too tough to break down well if you ingest them whole, so don’t bother with that either! Go for fresh-ground!

I put my ground flax seeds in a container with a lid on it, along with my “VitaMineral Green” (Order it here). This green powder is loaded with super foods (no man-made vitamins included)… I add a cup or so of water, put the lid on, shake, and drink. A few friends were watching me drink this green goo for breakfast last weekend at a women’s retreat, and wondered… “Why?!” I had to explain about my propensity for anemia, and all that entailed. My prenatal doctor (twenty-some years ago) prescribed an iron supplement for me that did no good at all; I have since learned that iron is often ill-absorbed by many of us. Those iron pills often have annoying side effects (like constipation) as well. But this prenatal doctor was quite concerned that my iron levels weren’t going up. So I consulted with my friend at the health food store. She put me on a diet rich in dried apricots and beet juice crystals… My doctor was amazed! Ever since, I’ve looked for ways to get natural forms of iron that will be readily absorbable. The green stuff fits the bill! Not that it’s the tastiest thing in the world, but it’s very nourishing, and it also doesn’t corrupt my taste buds. Just imagine how good the next healthiest foods taste, after downing that!

I top off that power drink with some Mangosteen Juice. It’s not cheap, but the Adams’ brand (check their site here) gives you the most for your money. It’s straight Mangosteen juice (yes, with the pericarp included), and for the same price as other brands, you get a pure, undiluted product, not blended with cheaper juices. Oh, and, “Why Mangosteen?” you may ask. You can look it up, but to sum it up, it’s off-the-charts loaded with antioxidants and other nutrients. Like, more so than pretty much any other food you could eat. Talk about “super food”. I love it!

I used to imagine that nourishment could come easily. I wanted to take a “One Daily” Multi-vitamin/mineral supplement, and be done with it. I have since found that, even with whatever health complications any one of us might suffer, or be genetically disposed to, there’s not much that can compete with excellent nutrition, as a proactive step we can take. With the toxic environment we’re so often exposed to, the food we put in is one thing we can personally have some control over. Now that’s a comforting thought.

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Jennifer Cote’s cookbook, From the Land of Milk and Honey, is available online at Winepress Books. (Or at Amazon.com)

Sign up for Jen’s newsletter at the PC Cuisine Home Page.

Jen also blogs about her Christian walk at Recipe for Life.

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