Birch sap - our very own superdrink

Photo courtesy of www.madaracosmetics.lv

Looks like the rest of the world is going crazy this spring about the "drink" Latvians and other Northern European nations have been using for hundreds of years - birch sap. It is such a common and well known spring cure ritual around here that nobody has even tried to look for a medical or scientifically proved beneficial explanation on that. It is just a common knowledge and tradition - spring comes, when the weather gets warmer it is time to drill a tap in a birch tree and collect the sap, drink it fresh, drink it naturally fermented, make a sparkling wine out of it etc.

Turns out that birch water is very similar to its coconut cousin but with a couple of impressive nutritional extras. It is also infused with natural sugars, protective antioxidant vitamins, hydrating electrolytes (nutrients like potassium that help the body to rehydrate itself) and trace minerals such as copper, calcium, zinc and magnesium. What makes birch stand out from coconut water are the saponins it contains. These can be useful in maintaining healthy blood cholesterol levels as well as immune supportive properties. Birch water has been associated with having anti-inflammatory effects, reducing LDL cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, having diuretic ‘flushing’ and detoxifying effects and as a beauty tonic. The other super-ingredient that birch water boasts and coconut water does not is xylitol - a sweetener with 40 per cent fewer calories than sugar - 18 calories per 100ml.

Latvian organic cosmetics company MADARA uses birch sap as a replacement for water in a range of their products which are GREAT by the way! And another thing - of course birch sap can be used instead of water or any other liquid substance in our beloved daily smoothies.

So off I go to have another glass of birch sap (my friend brought me 10 l from the country side) and say - cheers to you all, spring, nature and health!

Colour For Each Day

As I've been drinking green smoothies each morning for almost 4 months now at some point I just became bored with THE GREEN - the colour I mean. Even though I tried to blend in different colour fruits green always took over, best or worse case scenario it became brown. Not to mention that green was taking up the biggest part of my plate for lunch and dinner as well... Not that I don't like the colour but I desperately wanted MORE colours.

Recently Dr Amy Myers was organising a summit on autoimmune diseases and thus I came across Dr Deanna Minich who advocated so called rainbow diet meaning that one should 'eat as many colours as possible' each day as each colour in plants is there because of certain phytonutrients - natural chemicals which help to protect plants from germs, fungi, bugs, and other threats and have disease preventive benefits for a human body as well. And it rang the bell. My body was telling me the same thing, especially during the detox when I could not eat any of the nightshades which are the typical 'add colours' veggies.

I gave it a thought and came up with these five colourful smoothies for each day of a working week but my only concern is that one should use as organic, as seasonal and as local ingredients as possible. I used celery stalks in almost all of the smoothies but actually it is one of the top vegetables on 'dirty dozen' list for pesticides, at least in US and Israel (here you can find a very thorough list) so try to use organic, I don't think washing really helps...

So here we go

WHITE MONDAY

Serves two

1 celery stalk

1 banana (should be replaced with other if on detox)

1/2 pear

1 glass of water

1 tablespoon of coconut oil (for smoothies I prefer the one with flavour)

1 teaspoon of hulled hemp seeds (great source of protein and omega acids)

A splash of sea buckthorn juice

ORANGE TUESDAY

Serves two

1 persimmon

1 apple

1 handful of soaked raisins

1 handful of cranberries

1 glass of water

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 teaspoon of hulled hemp seeds

GREEN WEDNESDAY

Serves two

1 celery stalk

1 handful of spinach

1 pear

1 apple

1 glass of water

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

A splash of sea buckthorn juice

Decorated with hulled hemp seeds

PURPLE THURSDAY

1 celery stalk

1/2 avocado

1 pear

2 big leaves of purple cabbage

1 glass of water

Some dried dates and basil leaves

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

PINK FRIDAY

Serves two

1 celery stalk

1 handful of soaked raisins

1 handful of cranberries

1 pear

1 apple

1 glass of water

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 teaspoon of hulled hemp seeds

Well, as for the weekend you have to figure it out yourself :) but I guess I will come up with some ideas. Enjoy!

Pumpkin - The Autumn King

Without any doubt I crown this magnificent, tasty and healthy berry as the king of the autumn. It is also one of the most famous berries in the world.

Did you know that 100 g of pumpkin provides just 26 calories and contains no saturated fats or cholesterol? However, it is rich in dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, minerals and vitamins. Pumpkin is a rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium and phosphorus. It is also an excellent source of many natural poly-phenolic flavonoid compounds such as α, ß carotene that convert into vitamin A inside the body which is a powerful natural anti-oxidant and is required by the body for maintaining the integrity of skin and mucus membranes. It is also an essential vitamin for good eyesight and immunity in general. 

You can benefit from and use every bit and piece of this berry be it a seed, skin or a flower. 

Pumpkin seeds contain a lot of minerals, too, like magnesium, phosphorus, iron, selenium, zinc. You can eat them fresh, dried or roasted. Seeds help to eliminate the intestinal parasites, improve functioning of the joints, disinfects the mouth and protects teeth.

To promote the growth and health of your hair, nails, teeth and bones you can use ground pumpkin skin adding it as a supplement while cooking an omelet, pancakes, soups etc because pumpkin skin is a great source of calcium. 

Pumpkin flowers can be dried and used in teas or soups to improve the immune system, but fresh pumpkin vines will help with different heart conditions. Pulp will improve functioning of your brain, eliminate cholesterol, lower the blood pressure and make you more optimistic in general. 

Fresh pumpkin juice will help to get rid of kidney stones but when adding a honey will help against insomnia. Pumpkin juice is good for facial cleaning and pulp helps to lessen the wrinkles.

I guess there is no need to remind you that any heat treatment reduces the benefits of this wonder berry and superfood. And when carving a pumpkin on 31 October don't throw away anything :)

Wheatgrass juice

Few weeks ago I had a chance to spend a couple of days with a wonderful lady who used to teach raw food classes for five years in Florida and to show her around my beautiful city. Of course we had a lot of discussions on healthy nutrition and not so much on the architecture :) She said that from her own experience the key superfood to a healthy life is a wheatgrass juice. Simple as that. An early pioneer in the use of wheatgrass juice and living foods for detoxifying and healing the body, mind, and spirit was a Lithuanian holistic health practitioner, nutritionist, whole foods advocate, health educator, author and co-founder of Hippocrates Health Institute Ann Wigmore.

So what is this magical elixir? It is a powerful concentrated liquid nutrient. Two ounces of wheatgrass juice has the nutritional equivalent of five pounds of the best raw organic vegetables. Wheatgrass has as twice the amount of Vitamin A as carrots and is higher in Vitamin C than oranges. It contains the full spectrum of B vitamins, as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium and potassium in a balanced ratio. Wheatgrass is a complete source of protein, supplying all of the essential amino acids, and more. It has about 20% of total calories coming from protein. This protein is in the form of poly peptides, simpler and shorter chains of amino acids that the body uses more efficiently in the blood stream and tissues. Wheatgrass is also a very powerful detoxifier. The wheatgrass juice must be consumed fresh - within fifteen minutes of juicing for the best results as nutrients quickly begin to oxidize (break down) shortly after juicing. The juice should always be taken undiluted and on an empty stomach so the nutrients can be absorbed more efficiently.

Among other things wheatgrass juice is particularly high in chlorophyll. Wheatgrass cleanses and builds the blood due to its high content of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the first product of light and therefore contains more healing properties than any other element. Drinking wheatgrass juice is like drinking liquid sunshine. Chlorophyll carries high levels of oxygen (among other things) which is especially powerful in assisting the body to restore abnormalities. The high content of oxygen in chlorophyll helps deliver more oxygen to the blood. This marker is a key indicator of health recovery for abnormalities, ailments and disease. Oxygen is vital to many body processes, especially for the brain which uses 25% of the oxygen supply.

In Riga you can have a shot of wheatgrass in Raw Garden for only EUR 2,30 (you can also buy a tray of wheatgrass for EUR 9 there and juice it yourself) but sure it is far less expensive to grow your own wheatgrass. Harvest time is crucial and that is typically around one week after you germinate the seeds at what is called the “jointing stage.” Nevertheless you have to buy a special juicer to juice it which is quite expensive but all worth it I guess.

I am drinking a shot of wheatgrass juice a day for two weeks already, I love it, I have no problem with the taste of it, I feel great and energetic. Though I have to mention that I have been doing dr Alejandro Junger's Clean Program for more than a month already (and don't seem to be willing to give up on it) so wheatgrass juice is an additional value and probably I didn't feel the effect of detoxification so drastically as I would if I had not been "on the clean path" for some time in advance already.

So hopefully a wheatgrass juice shot a day will keep the doctor away! :) Cheers and stay healthy!

Information sources: Hippocrates Health Institute
                       "Green for Life" Victoria Boutenko

Kale

I don't think this leafy green needs an introduction as it has officially become one of the world's superfoods (you can read more here). Apparently even more beneficial when steamed for 5 minutes but advised also raw. This is a healthy stand-in for potato chips when cooked in the oven and some of my friends who have kids say it is a great success. Tried it out myself today and it was highly approved :)

So you just take kale leaves, wash them, then remove the thick rib in the center tearing leaves into small pieces. Stems are very hard therefore not to be used. Same thing applies when making a smoothie. Then just put kale leaves in a big bowl, sprinkle with olive oil and salt and mix them for a while so that all the leafy parts get oily. Spread them evenly on baking pans covered with baking paper.

Preheat the oven at 140 C and put those beauties in for around 12-15 min. Some say 7-10 min, but mine came out pretty raw still. Just watch out not to burn them. And that's it! Your healthy snack is ready! There are some variations, some put cheese on instead of salt, some add lemon or lime juice on the top. That's up to you and your taste buds.

You get much more out of that bowl than this though. Sneaky fingers :)

Then another yummy thing to make is a smoothie. I did one with:

•  two handfuls of kale leaves (removing the rib in the center)
• one avocado
• two nectarines
• glass of water
• a splash of almond milk
• little bit of lemon juice

It's good to taste it after adding each ingredient to see what other taste you want to add or strengthen. It made 4 delicious servings.

Enjoy! Stay healthy and be inspired!

Health On A Plate

More than two years ago I came across the concept of Alkaline nutrition. Things I read on it rang the bell and made so much sense for me. Since then I've been giving up on sugar, soda drinks, packed juices and most of the processed foods. Of course it is not a crime to break the rules once in a blue moon but even introducing some of these things in my everyday life has changed a lot (gradually losing 10 kg without much of an effort might tell something). It is true that at the beginning you might think that there is nothing much left to eat, but with time you come down to eating more of simple and whole foods. It is also true that nowadays we are surrounded by so much information often a contradictory one when talking about food (or anything else for that matter) and it becomes hard to understand where the truth is but your own body might tell you a lot as well. Problem is that nutrition science is still in its' diapers (as some clever people say) therefore none of the nutritionists can tell you the absolute truth about anything in a long run, food industry is using and inventing new chemicals to grow and to make their produce. If we look back like 50 years ago some things scientists said were good turned out to be bad and vice versa. And we don't have to look back even that far. As my Chinese acupuncturist said - Listen to your body more often!, (unless you're eating junk food which is full of substances to make you crave for more :)) after I've been drinking at least two liters of water a day which was supposedly a healthy thing to do but not for my body constitution. So it really boils down to fusion of gathering the information and knowledge, analyzing it, trying it out, observing and listening to your body and dropping it or carrying on with it respectively.

My very recent discovery and favourite thing is quinoa but I will have to experiment with it for a bit longer to come to a legitimate conclusion and to become its' advocate :) Grapefruit has been my great friend and immune system booster for at least a year already - having it as a fruit or squeezed in juice, though one has to take care if taking some pills at the same time because it is proven to interact with medication. And then of course avocado which I love and consume a lot. Nevertheless I have to mention that I also believe that eating traditional, organic and locally grown whole food is essential, best if grown by yourself. As I once mentioned in one of my posts - it can be done even on your balcony or windowsill.

This is as local and organic as one can get - bilberries from Latvia's forests :) I think Latvians are one of the few European nations who can still call themselves 'gatherers' as we use our natural food resources a lot be it a wild berry or a mushroom or herb in the meadow. So - go out in the nature more often and benefit from it!

When I am in the shop I always read labels on products and avoid the ones which contain more than five ingredients (and of course checking what those ingredients are) following the suggestion of great Michael Pollan. His book Food Rules is a book to have in your handbag.  In Defence of Food is a more extensive version of Food Rules but as interesting and down to business. He depicts quite clearly the problem of modern society - us that is in many aspects, not just the nutrition.

And in the video below Michael Pollan speaks on his new book, food history and anthropology:

And here is another one which touches upon many important issues:

Better Than Ice Cream

can be only your self-made ice cream. I was watching Mr Jamie Oliver with his 30 Minute Meals and there it was - fast to make, healthy and tasty. My little niece being "no day without an ice cream in summer" type of individual was my target "group" in order to make her addiction/habit a notch healthier and as she headed back to the kitchen for the second round I was rejoicing.

So here it goes:

(frozen) berries approx 500 g

(in our case all organic picked by our own hands in a garden 

50 m from the shore of the Baltic sea)

natural yogurt 500 g

3-4 tablespoons of honey

That all goes into blender, then in an appropriate container and then into the freezer. And it is exactly that simple. 

And this is how it might have looked if it was made from blackberries and if I had my camera with me. Pinterest comes in handy.

The only critical comment I could pay was that I didn't like the ice flakes forming in the ice cream but maybe if I'd put a sour cream with higher fat percentage instead of yogurt (any other suggestions, folks?) that would not be the case so this is to try out.

Ticket To Heaven

As I am scouting around Riga these days to discover and check out the new (maybe just for me) places to bring my friends to when they will come visiting in the next months I have to point out couple of recent finds.

EcoCatering's terrace called TELPA where you can rave through their abundant and delicious organic food buffet just for 5 lats (which is approximately 7 euros). A perfect hide-away place for a hot summer day when you're tired of the sun and crowds. On Wednesdays they organize jazz evenings, then it is recommended to make a reservation.

And yet another great place I discovered today is a bustaurant (haha) called Ticket to Heaven which is situated on the banks of our river Daugava in front of the yacht club and port of Riga in Andrejsala. According to the concept of the development of this area it is going to face a lot of changes in the coming years. Hopefully TTH will not have to move anywhere though it should not be a problem for them as they are quite mobile having four wheels :)

  

Andrejsala brings together this creative vibe with glamourous lounge bars along the riverside. Will see how this concept works in the future and will check out the posh places as well soon enough. 

Conclusion of today - my city is so damn beautiful! Inspired!

Garden In The City

These last months I've been doing a lot of research on healthy nutrition (which will be the topic of another post) and I think this is a common tendency in the world lately that people start being very conscious of what they eat. So when I was visiting one of my friends who lives in a private house in Latvia, raises two beautiful kids and grows nearly everything in her garden, I tried delicious pesto she had prepared for me from the basil she's been growing herself, and it got me thinking that I could start my own little herbal garden on my terrace as well. So I began. Not only I enjoyed the process of sowing and observing how it all grows (I guess I am getting old - joy in gardening is a big indication for me :) ) but was also happy about going organic.

In the meantime I came across one interview with some Latvian landscape designer who suggested people should make their little gardens on the terraces of their apartments as he claimed that from one plant of summer squash for example it would be possible to harvest up to 80 pieces of this vegetable (unbelievable). Then I started searching and found out that gardening on one's terrace or balcony has become really popular and even trendy. For example this guy - Mike Lieberman who has created his own urban garden on the fire escape of his apartment in New York City believes that by growing some food of your own, it will help to cut back on the intensive resources that go into food production and transportation and also help you to re-establish your connection with food.

Well, I sure established a very good connection with my herbs as you can see - pesto made of basils from my very own urban garden :))

Autumn

The Indian summer days are over, so not only on paper has it come, but its everywhere - the air is crisp, the first frosts set in, leaves are starting to fall and cover the streets, people are wearing knittings and suede, the world is adjusting to autumn's saturated and earthy colour pallet. It is time of a very particular sensation, some kind of bitter-sweet melancholia, like what evening is for the day - time for reminiscence. The season of harvest and transition.

Apart from the flu (I am being a victim now) I love everything about autumn. It is time for long walks, cups of hot chocolate, pies and stews, pumpkins and apples,  golden-daisies and rowan-tree berries, ponchos and berets, cosy evenings at home crawling under the tartan blanket, reading a great, thick book or watching a nice movie. Yes, movies by the way - which is your autumn movie? Mine is "You've got Mail" for some reason (though it actually covers all the seasons but for me it is an autumn movie).

And speaking of stews, here is the recipe of a very tasty vegetable stew I made yesterday:

• carrots (approx.8)
• cabbage-head (medium size)
• potatoes (1 kg)
• canned green peas
• sweet cream (200 ml)
• flour (1 table spoon)

 (of course the proportions depend on the mouths you want to feed and you can always improvise with the ingredients)

So you chop carrots, put them in a pot and add some water (not too much, remember it is not a soup we are making), after a little while add the chopped cabbage-head and mix every once in a while so that it doesn't get burnt, add some more water if needed. When carrots and cabbage is almost done, add chopped potatoes and after a while peas. Don't forget to mix it and check the water level, add some salt, pepper if you want and some sugar to make the taste milder. When all the veggies are ready, pour the liquid from the pot into a bowl and add the flour and mix it well, then pour this liquid back in the stew and add the sweet cream. Mix it all in, keep on the range for a little more and your stew is ready. Healthy, tasty and rather light food.

So,  bon appetit, be inspired and enjoy this beautiful season!

Valērija's Apple Pie

Returning from another Saturday at the Apple Festival I wanted to share  the  recipe of this tasty apple pie, which I learned from Valērija, hoping she would not mind :) So here we go:

• 2 eggs
• 250 g of sugar
• 250 ml of kefir or Greek yogurt
• 400 ml of flour
• vanilla sugar
• baking powder (one little package of Dr. Oetker's)

You need to stir it all, pour it into a greased baking pan and lay slices of 5 apples on the top of it. Then top it with stirred:

• 3 table spoons of sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tea spoon of sugar
• 2 pinches of cinnamon

After pouring this over the apples' slices you can still spread some cinnamon on the top of it. Put it all in a pre-heated stove at 200 degrees and let it there for 25-30 min. And there you go - enjoy the delicious apple pie! And, Valērija, thank you on behalf of everybody! :)

P.S. Concerning the information given in the previous post about the fact that apple cider equals apple wine I have to withdraw it as tested on me, myself and I - NO, IT IS NOT THE SAME THING. But still tasty :)

Apples, more apples, plenty of apples

Last Saturday we went to Steinsel's (a town in Luxembourg) surroundings for the Apple Festival which has become a MUST GO over the years for many here and serves as one of the tourist attractions as well. And I have to admit - well deserved. It takes place on the last weekend of September and the first two weekends in October. This was my first time around since my stay in Luxembourg (bad, bad girl) but I got so excited that we are going again this Saturday :)

Firstly it is a great outdoor activity for you and your family and friends, secondly you get really beautiful fruits (and cheap I have to mention), you can also buy many other good things there, like pumpkins, potatoes, cheese, honey, different spirits, even sweatshirts (but those were quite ugly I have to say) and apple juice and hard cider but there is a trick about the cider - you have to ask for the apple wine because apparently this is how they call it here and if you'll ask for the cider they will shake their heads saying - nein, wir haben kein. That was what was recommended by the English speaking community members on one of the local radio stations :) Though I have to remark that  my apple juice has become a hard cider over the days staying in the fridge but I am not really sure one should consume it :)) 

It is getting quite crowded during the day therefore I recommend on going earlier unless you are a competing type :) After collecting the apples and all the other goods you can enjoy a drink and some food and the great weather there on the spot as well.

You can find all the necessary information once you 'google' Steinsel apfelfest or for those who understand some German this can serve as a site of the reference: http://www.eistuebst-usuebscht.de/produzent4.php.

Madara

I was happy and proud at the same time to discover that Gwyneth Paltrow has included Latvian cosmetic company's MADARA product among her favourite ones in her last week's newsletter on natural and organic skincare in her lifestyle blog GOOP.

It is possible to buy their products pretty much all over the world (also in Luxembourg) so check out their web page. As from 1 May it is going to be possible to buy their "travel&trial" skincare sets so that one can figure if MADARA products are good for their skin or not.

And I could not resist  but posting some of their beautiful advert photographs shot by one of the most popular young Latvian photographers Iveta Vaivode.

It almost brings out the scent of a summer day in Latvia :)

 Sweet dreams and sleep well!

Can't Wake Up?

I've never been an early bird so regular office hours is a real challenge for me. And especially when it is dark and rainy outside it's rather difficult to drag myself out of the bed. So I tried to find out the best practices to wake up more easily.

Of course one of the conditions for waking up easily in the morning is a healthy and sound sleep during the night.  So one of the things recommended is not to eat and drink too much before going to bed. Then you should also keep your  bedroom  window open during the night so that exhaled carbon dioxide can float away and the fresh air come in. Nevertheless you should take care with having a normal body temperature during your sleep, not to be hot or cold , therefore  you should choose the appropriate clothing and blanket otherwise it will disturb your sleep. It is advised to try to cut out the possible noises around you because the stress your body is experiencing while being woken up by disturbing noises when asleep is actually very harmful for your health  (especially heart), therefore probably you should also choose some softer alarm tune to wake yourself up with.

Apparently it is important to have consistent sleeping hours - to go to bed and to wake up more or less at the same time every day (yes, even on the week-ends :S).

Getting up straight after your alarm has went off is advised, not to snooze it over and over again (maybe this carpet alarm clock would be the answer :)). But  you shouldn't get out of bed without stretching your body. My cat always does it with pure thoroughness after sleeping and it  is something I should  make a habit myself, too.

As Matilde already mentioned in her earlier posts about her morning routine it is recommended to drink a glass of water on an empty stomach because it wakes up the metabolism of your body and makes yourself alert. Some exercises and few deep breaths while listening to the music you like would do good. After that you should eat a proper breakfast.
And of course having something exciting to look forward to during the course of the day is a very stimulating thing as well. If you can not think of anything then just remember what The Buddha had said that every time you go to bed you should consider that you won’t wake up. That way, when you wake up you will be especially grateful for the day you have ahead of you. Instead of seeing the day as a burden that you have to “get through” you will see it as an opportunity to do something meaningful and beneficial.
Yes, in deed, there are too many things we take for granted, starting with  the waking up in the morning.

So good night and sweet dreams! And enjoy waking up in the mornings! :)

References: 17 ways to wake up feeling fresh in the morning