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Transcript

Lucky Charms · Divas That Care Network

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's Divas that Care Radio.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Divas That Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is a global movement for women by women engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: To find out more about the movement, visit divas that care.com after the show.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm a stay, and welcome to the Divas That Care Network.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Gia Raquel Rose, owner of Airs Above Yoga, and you are listening to Above the Ground Podcast.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: If this is your first time tuning in, our network is going into its 16th year and is listened to in over 30 countries.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: I would like to personally thank you for giving me the gift of your time.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: As always, it is my honor to hold space with you.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And today we are going to dive into with in keeping with this idea of steady forward progress.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, asanas that support that, which we talked a little bit about, and also creating that safe space within yourself so that you start to train your body that that safe space is your true space, is that is no matter what's going on around you, uh cultivating that idea of ease within you to revisit and come back to if and when you wind up feeling more or less out of alignment with yourself, knowing that you can consciously go back and listen to that meditation will help you to come back to your center and breathe into that space of I am safe in the here and now, I am present.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: This feeling is always available to me and is where I will be able to cultivate the best sense of self, source of creativity, and ability to, I'll say manifest, because I know that's that's big in the world right now, and I'm certainly a proponent of believer.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, a lot of people say you need to be in out of scarcity mode or out of fight or flight.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so that meditation is kind of just helped helps to give a tangible way to begin to train the feeling of removing the flight or fight or flight mentality, pardon me.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so, in keeping with that, you know, the funny thing is as I was researching this nutrition episode, I started to realize that, you know, sometimes the universe, God, whatever, can kind of beat you over the head with the facts.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I've talked a lot about, you know, the paleo lifestyle, obviously.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked a bit about Ayurvedic practices, um, we've talked a bit about vegetarian and vegan practices.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, I think everyone kind of knows the basics, eat more vegetables, right?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's kind of the most important thing.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: But for our purposes today, I really wanted to dive into food for you know, brain health and focus.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we've talked a lot in the past.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: We've talked about foods for your chakras, they, you know, eating eating foods that are in the same color scheme as the chakras, which can literally be as simple as that.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and talking about seeds that are anti-inflammatory or, you know, going into the whole omega-3, omega-6 balance in the body.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, as we start to talk of talk about brain health, or we're focusing on the focus aspect of how best to feed your brain, foods that serve your cognitive functions, foods that serve your, you know, even the parts of your brain that you're not paying attention to, the subconscious and the kind of the parts of your body that respond are breath, right?
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Our organ functions, those automatic systems in our body that we take for granted, probably more often than not, and that run through our systems, keep us functioning, keep us moving, you know, they're reliant on our brains and our spinal cord and our nervous system to kind of keep keep the skin bag, if you will, moving forward in a positive and healthy trajectory.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do we best support our body and our mind and our brain health in an effort to keep those systems operating at as optimal a level as possible?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And in addition, you know, not feel like we're just chasing down cardboard um all the time and actually enjoying our lives.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And again, the funny thing that I kind of, as I'm going through the research, and I'm saying, all right, well, this all tracks, this all sounds good, you start to realize that I start to sound a little bit repetitive.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: And why is that?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's because essentially, I feel like as human beings, we kind of know the deal.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And it's about choosing, choosing to make those healthier choices in our in our habits and with our meals and with our day-to-day living.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I know I've spoken on that as well, but essentially when it comes to optimizing brain health, optimizing things that are going to support your cognitive function, your brain's ability to keep you on purpose, to keep you on brand, to keep you moving forward in the way in which um, you know, will best serve you, getting better sleep, um, you know, being able to have those top of mind moments, those flashes of insight, starting to kind of cultivate that severe concentration, that ability to, you know, get up, and I don't want to use the word grind, but get up and focus, right?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Focus is really what it's all about, keeping on target, keeping consistent, keeping disciplined, keeping your goals in mind, keeping, you know, little things that you can build on every day to get yourself to that place of I'm taking care of myself, I'm making better choices for myself.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: I am better today than I was yesterday.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not in competition with anybody but myself.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: These are the kinds of things that, you know, we want to start to cultivate in essence to become a better human being again than we were the day before.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And when it comes to diet and nutrition and the way to advance that, shocking, spoiler alert, it's a lot of foods that we've already talked about.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: And the big heavy hitters are omega-3s and your idea of kind of the leafy greens, the fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: These are all these are all case in point.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And starting a little bit with the omega-3 conversation.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I've mentioned multiple times how I struggle with the ethics of eating um animal-based foods, and you know, how I try to mitigate that by choosing responsibly sourced, you know, ethically raised, as happy, you know, as I've said before, a great life and one bad day, as we're all gonna have here here in this existence.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, a lot of the the one of the main foods that comes up across most of the uh health food conversations is gonna be salmon.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and you know, there's arguments to, I'm not gonna get into the entire ethics of sustainable harvesting and you know, the atrocities that can happen from overfish, like what like I know, and that's why we choose the word ethical.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, being privileged enough to be able to make those choices because they include a choice for your wallet, too, right?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Generally speaking, when you are purchasing ethically raised animal products, they are a few dollars more than their, you know, potentially abused counterparts.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, we talk about uh again things that I'm not going to get into.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Why we are here is to focus on the health benefits.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And two of the big ones that come forward for brain health are eggs and salmon or you know, fatty fishes, sardines, that type of thing.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I personally am not much of a like fish in a can kind of person or any sort of animal product in a can kind of person.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: It kind of gives me a pause, if you will.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, lunch meat is about the closest thing to that as I can comfortably, you know, tolerate.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but eggs are one of the options for people who don't have any issues with them.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And they are technically, I mean, eggs are super food.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I I hope to I hope that we're all in a position, or many of us are in a position where they can choose, you know, humanely raise chickens, humanely raise eggs.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um but again, these are top top foods for cognitive function, for overall body function.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you can have the whole cholesterol debate within the egg conversation as well.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, as I've said across any and all nutritional-based episodes, if you need to have a different diet than the things that I suggest because of your own body condition, your chemistry, your makeup, issues that you may be navigating, struggling with, although I don't like to phrase it negatively.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna say navigating, or issues that you have, you know, to work around, right?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like I prefer to be vegetarian, but I have the thyroid issue.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: So beans and grains are supposedly not good for me, according to many, many um articles, research-based books.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's just a whole host of ways that you can support whatever it is that you need to support for your own body.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I encourage you to consult with your doctor, with a nutritionist, um, you know, anyone and everyone aside from the internet and chat GPT, um, that will help you cultivate a balanced, attainable, achievable diet that you can follow that will make sure that you start to feel healthy, better, satisfied, and supported.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's the goal.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so again, we come back to the fact that these foods are, you know, I it's a little bit out, it's a little bit overdone, but they're super foods, right?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And some of them are meat products, right?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Organ meats are a huge, huge, huge health benefit.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it pains me to say it, right?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: It pains me to say it, but it's true.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: You can receive many nutritional benefits from organ meats.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: And while I personally, much like much like canned fish, kind of can't wrap my head around them.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I feel like a lot of people, a lot of people have that kind of like, no, doesn't sound great idea.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, it's just one of those things where they do pose a lot of health benefits for the human body.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a little bit challenging to fight some of the science that backs that up.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: So there are schools of thought across the board, and again, I fully support everyone in their choices, um, whether you hold food plant-based, wink, wink, nod, nod, or whether you do support, you know, again, ethically sourced um animal-based proteins, there are there are there are ones that are better.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: There are there are things that support the body more than other things.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so keeping that in mind always at top of mind when you're making these choices, and there's a whole spiritual aspect to that as well, when we think about um how animals are raised and how animals are transmuted for consumption, is how I'm gonna say it, or unalived for consumption, is how I'm gonna say it.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of makes a difference.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's a whole school of thought about how the animal passes and internalizing that fear or internalizing that um state of being, and then you consuming that animal, and you're spiritually consuming that fear or that, you know, negativity that came along with that.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, again, that indulging me in my woo-woo, and I appreciate that always.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I do believe that, you know, there's there's science.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: There are people that have done research that have created, you know, ways of again ethically analybing the animals to limit their fear so that the the meat that is produced by them is um healthier and even you know more spiritually embodying, if you will.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so again, these are conversations that I have with myself and I have with you about how best to, you know, take care of yourself and and still live within your ethical standards, your belief systems, and you know, those that have some people don't care.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: I have plenty of friends that that don't care, and you know, people that are like, well, you know, it tastes good, and so I'm gonna eat it, and that's their mentality, and and bless them, right?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's totally fine.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's I have nothing but respect for people honoring their choices and their decisions.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: But again, when it comes to the idea of how this, how these foods serve our bodies, that is where we kind of have this running theme that you're gonna find a lot of the same foods in a lot of the same places, those lean proteins, specifically for for brain function and for focus, it is generally fish and eggs.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the two top heavy hitters.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then you do have, like I said, organ meats as well, which you know, you can find powders.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: There are plenty of things online where if you are someone who is a proponent of getting that, the health benefits of organ meats, and a little bit like me, are turned off by the idea of said organ meats.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: There are powders, there are there are supplements, there are ways that you can make that happen.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's a whole idea behind, especially in alignment with paleo, about um bone broth, collagen, right?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like all of these things are serve your body and serve the processes in the body.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where we need to make sure that we are trying to support ourselves in the best possible way.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: So always keeping in mind why we're doing this, why we are making these potential sacrifices, how we are supporting our own health and well-being over the long term.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it is, it comes down to, you know, a little bit of an experimentation of what works for the body and what doesn't.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: You may have an allergy to a to a particular food that happens to be very, very healthy in in theory for the masses, right?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but there are certain vitamins, minerals, nutrients that come to us um through the foods that we eat, right?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that is so important that we kind of have that idea.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And for brain health, you know, we're talking about, we talked about omega-3 as we talk about um vitamins and minerals that support brain health, your magnesium, your iron, right?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Things like that.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: And especially if you do have any thyroid issues, there's a big iron conversation to have, which I'm not gonna dive too far into today.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but these are the building blocks, and then you have things like vitamin B and vitamin E, vitamin K.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so again, to sound as though I'm I'm beating a drum a little bit.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Where do you find some of these?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Where do you find the vast majority of these vitamins and minerals?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: You guessed it.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Leafy greens, leafy greens.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: So your mom told you to eat your greens, right?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Little kids don't like Brussels sprouts.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: I could go into all the all the back and forth over, you know, the fact that we know these things already.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: We've been told these things since we were small children, um, more than likely.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's just about acknowledging and accepting them, um, and you know, finding ways to make this food delicious so that you actually enjoy it, right?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so your leafy greens, your eggs, your salmon, your nuts and your seeds.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And specifically um for brain health, when we're talking about nuts and seeds, you know, there's there's other ways to get this in.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I really do go back to the the supplements.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: And while there's the the two kind of train tracks of thought on this, and the one is you know, you want to stay away from as many processed foods as you can, right?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to purchase things that have zero ingredients.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: You go to buy eggs and you just buy eggs, right?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: You you go to buy spinach and it's just spinach.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: You buy walnuts and they are just walnuts.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: There are no other ingredients, maybe maybe salt, but that's a whole other conversation that we're not gonna get into today because it's not in keeping with why we're why we're having this discussion.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: What is is the fact that when we are talking about things like organ meats or things like pumpkin seeds, for example, are one.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and sunflower seeds are another.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we're into that omega-3, omega-6 balance in the body and how that starts to, you know, support brain health and other, obviously overall body health, right?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but one of the protein shakes that I that I I shouldn't say shakes, one of the protein powders that I lean on heavily, which is a vegan protein powder, is um epic protein.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: And they have pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds as one as the base of their of their protein powder.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so, you know, a lot of times there are ways to get these things into your diet that if you're not thinking that I feel like sitting around and scarfing, you know, a handful of pumpkin seeds, then this is another way that you can go about it is by saying, okay, well, these are the kind of things that are in alignment with what I want.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: And here are the different methods I can I can do that.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: I can eat a handful of walnuts because I like them, right?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Or I can, if I don't love sunflower seeds, find some sort of protein powder that combines them in and starting to think a little bit outside the box in how we consume our food and how we can make sure that when we do, A, we're enjoying it, or maybe if we're not so much, at least we know that we are getting the nutrient benefits that we need from it.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so, you know, I just came up with, and I can't even say I came up with, but I was, you know, the other day I have an affinity for guacamole and I, you know, avocados in general, guacamole as well.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I really I was hungry and I didn't want to just sit there and eat guacin chips.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I had, you know, the makings for coleslaw and I made what, you know, I will dub as guaclaw.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure I didn't come up with this.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure that other people have done this in the past, but I took the guacamole and I mixed it with all of the coleslaw, and I still had a couple chips, and frankly, it was stinking delicious.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, do I already have a little bit of a different lean for my taste buds after, you know, having this diet for you know going on about two years?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Probably.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Might other people think that sounds gross, potentially.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: But for me, it was really, really good.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: It added another layer of texture to the guacamole.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: It certainly got a lot of vegetables in.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: It helped me my my red cabbage, my green cabbage, my carrots, which I don't particularly like carrots, even though I know that's a little bit crazy.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: I've never been a huge carrot fan, but I know they're good for me in certain capacities.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one way to get them in.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just again about getting creative with these foods, because like I said, spinach is a huge one, right?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: I eat tons of spinach, eggs, cauliflower.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: While it's not a dark leafy green, it is still a cruciferous vegetable.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we're talking about your broccoli or your kale, your collars, right?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: These are are there are different ways to make make all of these dishes, Brussels sprouts.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can make them delicious.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: I love a Brussels sprout.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, you make them in a way that tastes delicious.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: I made an absolutely lovely cauliflower hummus.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because I miss hummus, because I loved hummus.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was able to find coconut yogurt and I blended, I roasted cauliflower with shallots and some, you know, kind of, I'll say, I'll say, nah, I don't even know if it's basically some spice like spices, almost think like a Sicilian cauliflower.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it had that orange depth, earthy flavor, a little bit of a kick to it.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I roasted them and I put them in a blender and I added some olive oil and I added the coconut yogurt, and it came out the consistency of hummus, and it even had a little bit of a taste of hummus towards it, to be completely honest.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it was delicious.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's about looking up recipes, finding things that suit your body, suit your diet, that you can consume and playing, you know, get creative with it, get find ways to enjoy the process of taking care of yourself, right?
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this is about self-care.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is about making sure that you are loving on yourself, taking the best care of yourself that you can, and taking the best care of the people around you, that your loved ones that you can.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that, you know, being Mediterranean, being Spanish and Italian at heart, you know, I just said the other day, you know, if if if I'm around people, I'm gonna bring them, bring them, bring them around me and feed them.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of like that's the gist, right?
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: The kitchen is the heart of the home.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: And having this I having this idea of enjoyment and of the ability to really cultivate a diet that not only tastes good, but that supports you.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: And while you're doing that, supports your body and the different ways that you can do that.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: So we've talked a little bit about the the the ethical conversation.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: We've had a little bit of our leafy green and healthy vegetable conversation.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then another big one when we're talking about um brain health and the uh the ability to focus, right?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because this is all about keeping us on track, keeping us on brand on target for our goals and that slow, steady, deliberate, achievable process.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, one of the easiest ways, especially if you have uh, you know, if you're feeding small children andor picky eaters, pesky eaters, if you will, berries, you can't ever go wrong with your strawberries and your blueberries.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many antioxidant benefits that support not only brain health but heart health.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they are just again, you're thinking red, you're thinking purple, you're thinking in alignment with the chakras.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they support your energetic body, they support your physical body.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: Always, if you can, buy organic, obviously.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: We want to avoid the pesticides as much as possible when we purchase foods, but again, thinking of whole foods and foods without ingredients, foods that are less processed, or when they are, they're processed with a purpose, like organ meat, like bone broth protein powders, like seed protein powders, right?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: There are all these ways to consciously make choices so that when you come home and you have a full cabinet, with hopefully you are blessed to have a full cabinet, it's full of things that are going to serve you.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: And even if you decide to pick out on guacamole and chips, you can throw some cabbage in there and make it just a little bit healthier.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: While we're on the subject of fruit and berries, avocados are one of the brain focus benefit superfruit foods.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason for that is because of the healthy fat that is in avocados.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, they're a little bit more high calories.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: But if if I've, you know, I've always it's always shocked me when people don't enjoy an avocado, and I just I feel for them because it is probably it is a staple.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know that I ever don't have some form of avocado in my refrigerator or on my countertop because it is just so versatile, and especially as you start to switch switch away from dairy um or you start to try to eat clean, quote unquote.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Air quotes for those of you who are not watching, um, you know, avocados are a great substitute for mayo, as I mentioned in like a coleslaw.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I remember there was a local restaurant around me that was, you know, a foot focused on farms table clean eating, and they made a an avocado chicken salad that was to die for.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: It was absolutely delicious.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm fairly certain it was literally just avocado, red onion, chicken, and a little bit of uh I'm probably gonna say lime or lemon juice in there to keep the avocado from turning.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: So again, there are just their ways to experiment with these food substitutes, which is huge for maintaining these diets when you kind of get to the point where all you're eating is meat and vegetables.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of meat and vegetables, I'm not gonna lie, or it's a lot of eggs and vegetables and finding ways to sneak in healthy carbohydrates.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: And while we're at it, I will say for those that are not on a paleo diet, they're you know, your whole grains for people that can tolerate them, for people that don't have um systemic or inflammator inflammatory responses in their body, there are those whole grains that are highly beneficial.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: And they are generally your quinoa's, right?
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they are your brown rice, as long as that's something that you can tolerate, um, you know, your complex carbohydrates, if you will.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: So as I have have relatively soared off of them, um, you know, they are available as for people who are on that vegan diet, um, to just make sure that you're getting the complex carbohydrates and not, you know, the wonder bread style um of carbohydrate that is just an empty calorie.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, as we're talking about that, the potato, which I know I've referenced is my my guilty pleasure and my favorite cheat food, um, the potato definitely falls into the paleoacceptable, in quotes again, um, version of an empty carbohydrate, but the sweet potato does not.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's about picking your healthy habits and having those little cheats.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: And the good news is that while the potato may be bad, my other favorite quote-unquote cheat, which is not really, that also attributes to brain health, is dark chocolate, over 70% dark chocolate, preferably closer to your 85% dark chocolate.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: But dark chocolate cacao is a wonderful superfood across the board, and especially for brain health, it is also has antioxidant benefits.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: In addition to that, it tastes very, very good.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: And for any of those, those of you who meditate with me or on your own, it also is a great grounding practice after a meditation session or a Reiki session.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of times, if I've worked on someone doing Reiki, I will have some a little bit of dark chocolate after to ground myself back.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: So just as a little aside, because again, we're going into the place where I have to keep my woo-woo up and make sure that we are talking about all of the ways that you can enjoy.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: And in addition to that, I'd like to bring up caffeine, the double-edged sword of caffeine.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, definitely the last vice that I cling to, I would say, insofar as um my dietary cleanse that I've done over the years and my, you know, my restrictions down to what I hope to be a relatively healthy um on track alignment.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but caffeine is one that I haven't given up on.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also has some benefits for brain health, for focus, obviously, right?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: It kind of gets your gets you in gear, kicks you up, gets you, gets you out of bed in the morning.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but specifically coffee, green tea, um, matcha.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: I put matcha in my protein shake.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Vital Proteins makes a great green matcha, green tea, matcha, collagen powder that tastes delicious, actually goes pretty well with the chocolate protein powder as well.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I get that in every day.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, when you are talking about different ways to go about bringing these things into your diet, into your into your realm, there's there's lots of ways other than just drinking matcha tea, which obviously is another great way to do it.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: So when you think about how to incorporate these things into your diet, remember we talked about our our nuts and seeds, we talked about our caffeine, we've talked about our our top picks um for fruits and vegetables.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, another one that pops in when we're talking about fruits and vegetables and we're talking about you know matcha tea is citrus.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I I'm more of a drink your citrus kind of girl than an eat your citrus kind of girl.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I always have grapefruit juice and lemon juice in my refrigerator, and the you know, the not sweetened comes in a glass jar from the health food store kind.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, lemon water in the morning, I've always been a huge proponent of, and I've mentioned that the lemon water, apple cider, vinegar beverage that you can make to kind of kickstart your body and get your day going.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: But all of these different ways support the body, and you can pick and choose, and you try and you find what works for you.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: And hopefully, if you just start to implement these little changes every day, you get to a place where you have a strategy that works, you have different options that you can swap out, and you wind up with an overall demeanor, a healthier brain, a healthier heart, a healthier body, and the ability to focus and continue optimizing on your goals.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: So again, without kind of, I feel like I already have blood to the point, and that's probably kind of where we are with it, but it's all it's all very much in alignment with itself.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I find so beautiful about it.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: When we have these conversations, a lot of the health benefits or the specific targets of these foods overlap.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason for that is because it kind of is that simple.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Your mom was right.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: Eat your vegetables, eat your fruits, and you know, leave the lucky charms on the on the table in the grocery aisle, as delicious as your lucky charms.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: They were my favorite when I was little.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: My mom never let me have them.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: But leave the lucky charms and and you know, opt for one of my staples recently.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: And while it is not, I will, you know, full confession, um, it is not on the list of brain healthy foods, technically, uh, but is just a simple banana and some Justin's dark chocolate hazelnut spread, which is also has some almonds in it as well.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: So you're getting your nuts.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: It might not be walnuts, but you're getting your nuts.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: You're getting your dark chocolate, and you're getting, you know, the the I'll say healthier carbohydrates, um, so that you're not, you're still giving your body some some sugar, uh, some fuel.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, that's my that's my favorite pre-workout.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Stop, eat it really fast, jump in the car, head to the gym, kind of kind of mentality with that.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: So all of these different ways, all of these different foods are available.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: And frankly, some of them are even more cost effective than others.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: So look at what you bring home when you go to the grocery store.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Pardon me, and try to make these choices for yourself that are uh that you're able to maintain, that you can be consistent with.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the day, that is what it's all about.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: The ability to remain consistent, the ability to remain disciplined, the ability to have some variety, and the ability to joy enjoy what it is that you're putting into your body without harming yourself in the process.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I thank you as always for giving me the gift of your time.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want to tell you how much I appreciate each and every one of you for sharing this space with me.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I ask that you please feel this free to share the same with your loved ones.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: For more goodness, follow me on all the socials at Above the Ground Podcast and visit my website, airsaboveyoga.com.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: As always, don't forget to check out my others' episodes and my amazing sisters at divas that care.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: You can find us on Spotify, Odyssey, Apple, Amazon, iHeartRadio, or anywhere else that you might feel guided.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: Again, my name is Gia Raquel Rose, owner of Airsabove Yoga, and you are listening to Above the Ground Podcast, where every day is a good one.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: This show was brought to you by Divas That Care.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: Connect with us on Facebook, on Instagram, and of course on divas that care.com, where you can subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss a thing.