The Hormone Diet Review

September 27, 2014 Lauren Bolanos Leave a comment

I finally finished The Hormone Diet by Natash Turner, ND and although it’s a crazy long book, it’s filled with tons of great material and is still accessible to a reader without a science or medical background (such as myself). I do recommend that you browse through the book, and look through the index for what interests you the most. This information does not need to be read in order for it to be valuable. Her book encourages a low glycemic mediterranean style diet, which actually pushed me toward eating a paleo diet as a way of reducing my intake of sugar.

Reducing sugar will prevent the release of excess insulin, which is a hormone that regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. Excess insulin has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Reducing sugar will also help keep your liver healthy. Since the liver also controls the production and breakdown of different hormones including cortisol, an overburdened liver may cause hormonal problems. The liver also aids in detoxification, and toxins can cause hormonal imbalances as well. This book has tons of great advice and resources for detoxifying your home and work space.

Another thing I loved about this book, was her in-depth explanations of supplements and how it effects your different hormones. If you are considering taking a supplement to improve your hormonal health, I highly recommend you consult this book. Supplements are not regulated like prescriptions, and it’s important to get a quality product that is recommended by a doctor or naturopath. In her book, you can find both the brand names she recommends and the correct dosage.

In conclusion, I really liked this book as a comprehensive guide to understanding your hormones and how it relates to symptoms and disease. I was not a fan of the diet recommendations and recipes, but I did appreciate her explanations for avoiding sugar, alcohol, and caffeine. Check out The Hormone Diet by Natash Turner, ND if you are serious about your hormonal health. If your not serious, you should be. According to Turner, “Hormones are powerful chemcial messengers in the body, controlling everything from the reproductive system to mood, sleep, and appearance” They play an important role in metabolism and injury recovery, as well as many diseases related to aging including diabetes, osteoporosis, and heart disease. Excess estrogen (unnaturally found in our environment) has been linked to thyroid disease, obesity, and breast and prostate cancer. Just to name a few 🙂

Dinner

Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili

September 17, 2014 Lauren Bolanos 2 Comments

I love cincinnati chili, and I love my slow cooker, so that makes this recipe doubly lovable. You can eat this just as a plain bowl of chili, or you could put it over spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes or white rice. All these options are considered safer starches and will help you feel nice and full. I actually ate this with japanese sweet potatoes last night, since that’s all they had at Whole Foods. We don’t have that much fall produce in LA yet. It’s crazy hot here right now and and the weather keeps geting hotter and hotter. I wanted to do a cold weather recipe anyway, since pinterest has me craving fall classics. So, I decided to blast the AC while my slow cooker was heating up my apartment. It kind of worked.

Anyway, I was really happy with way this recipe turned out. It made leftovers, which is always a good thing and it tasted delicious. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that spicy, so consider it a good base for a mild to medium chili, and add in extra cayenne pepper if you need to.

Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

5 hours

Total time

5 hours 5 mins

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef
2 white onions chopped
2 tbsp chili powder (frontier blend)
½ tsp of allspice
2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp of cacao powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp of paprika
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 cups of vegetable broth
16 oz jar of tomato sauce (I used Amy's Organic Marinara)
½ tsp cayenne pepper
(optional) ⅓ cup of scallions chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Cook ground beef in olive oil until it is no longer pink. Then transfer to slow cooker.
Add the rest of the ingredients to slow cooker. Set it on high for 5 hours, or low for 7-8.
(optional) garnish with chopped scallions.

Notes

Add more cayenne pepper to increase spicy flavor. It's currently a mild to medium chili.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 4-6

Sides

Chorizo with Chimichurri and Olives

September 13, 2014 Lauren Bolanos 2 Comments

You’ll think you’ve died and gone to Spain with this chorizo side dish. The olives and chimichurri dressing keep it light and fresh, while the chorizo makes this nice and spicy. I got the idea for this dish when I visited my family in New Jersey. There is an awesome restaurant called Fornos, in the Ironbound district, where there are tons of Spanish restaurants. It was an appetizer on the menu, but I ate it for dinner (with some gazpacho). Honestly, this dish is so versatile it would taste delicious hot or cold. So feel free to pack it up for a picnic or lunch and watch your friends and coworkers drool. It would also be great at a party with some toothpicks on the side. Who doesn’t appreciate some pastured pork with their olives?

If you can, find some locally sourced and pastured chorizo. I know it’s hard! My mom has a farmer who raises pastured pigs, so before I left New Jersey, we paid him a visit at the farmer’s market and stocked up on pig. If you follow along with this blog, you know I’ve done this before. And no I don’t ship it, but make my husband carry a bag of frozen meat through the airport. (To Shameer: thanks hun!!! Hope your dinner is worth it 🙂 )

Chorizo with Chimichurri and Olives

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

20 mins

Ingredients

.75 lbs of chorizo (3 links)
¾ cup of pitted green olives
1 tbsp of coconut oil
1 cup of firmly packed flat leaf parsley (I included the stems since I'm lazy)
2 tbsp of fresh oregano (no stems, not enough room in measuring spoon)
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of raw and fermented red wine vinegar (Eden Foods)
3 cloves of pressed garlic
1 tsp of sea salt
¼ tsp of fresh ground black pepper
¼ tsp of red pepper flakes

Instructions

Saute chorizo in a large pan with coconut oil, about 9-12 minutes or until skin is brown. Cut through to make sure inside isn't pink.
Mix with olives on a dish, set aside.
In a food processor, mix parsley, oregano, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sea salt, garlic, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Drizzle chimichurri over chorizo and olives, and serve hot or cold.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2

Health & Wellness

What You Need to Know to Stay Hydrated

September 9, 2014 Lauren Bolanos Leave a comment

Staying hydrated is an important part of any balanced and healthy lifestyle. However, it’s a simple one that is often neglected. I am particularly bad at keeping track of how much I drank, and how much more I need to drink to fill my daily quota. It can also be confusing about what beverages count towards these goals, and why these goals need to be met in the first place. Hopefully, this article will aide you on your health and wellness journey, and help you achieve your hydration goals.

First, it’s a good idea to set your hydration goals. According to the Hormone Diet by Natasha Turner, “To calculate how much water you need, multiply your body weight in pounds by .55. Divide the result by 8 to determine the number of cups you need to drink each day” (Turner 379). Sue Hitzmann, author of the MELT method is recommends you, “take your body weight in pounds and divide it in half to get the number of ounces you should drink” (Hitzmann 149).

Secondly, factor in beverages other than water. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends roughly three liters of fluid for men, and 2.2 liters for women. Fluid being the key word. Coffee and tea can still count towards your goals. According to Web MD, the diuretic effect does not offset the hydration benefits. However, alcohol is very dehydrating and you should drink one glass of water for every glass of alcohol you consume. Fruit and vegetables also contain water, so include your smoothies and juices on this list of hydrating beverages. Soups and bone broth are also great sources of hydrating fluid and should be counted toward your daily total as well.

Lastly, here are some tips and tricks I’ve used in the past to meet my daily hydration goals. There is a free app called Water Your Body Lite, which helps you keep track of how much you’ve drank. JewelPie has a great DIY water bottle project that helps you keep track of how much water you should drink each hour. This is perfect if you want to drink consistently throughout the day. Or you could buy the Zing Anything Water Bottle which is BPA free, and has a filter on the bottom makes great flavored water at only $15. This is a great option for people who prefer sugar drinks over the taste of water. The Bobble Water Bottle is another great option that comes with it’s own water filter, so you can always have filtered water wherever you happen to refill your bottle. Hope these awesome tools, will help you drink more water! Now go achieve your hydration goals.

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