organic nut butter

Nut Butter

organic nut butter

The other day I ate a Reese’s Cup and instantly regretted it. It tasted nothing like the peanut buttery goodness of my youth. In fact, it tasted nothing like peanut butter. And that’s when everything I’ve learned about food additives and sugar and other food chemicals came rushing back to my brain, and I instantly knew why the taste was so different. And that’s what we’re talking about in this episode, nut butter.

Listen to the episode here

 

Product Recommendations

Almond butter:

Artisana Organics Raw Almond Butter

MaraNatha Organic Raw Almond Butter

 

Peanut butter:

MaraNatha Organic Peanut Butter

Trader Joe’s Organic Peanut Butter

Santa Cruz Organic Peanut Butter

 

Seed butter:

Gopal’s Organic Raw Sprouted Sunflower Seed Butter

Sun and Seed Organic Raw Sunflower Seed Butter

Episodes Mentioned

Listen to the GRASS episode here.

Listen to the ORGANIC FOOD episode here.

Sources

https://www.whatsonmyfood.org

https://www.momsacrossamerica.com

https://www.healthline.com

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

The other day I ate a Reese’s Cup. I really didn’t want it, but then I did, and because I was likely lacking any semblance of self control that day, I ate it. And in just the first bite, I instantly regretted it. It tasted nothing like the peanut buttery goodness of my youth — from what I could remember. In fact, it tasted nothing like peanut butter. And that’s when everything I’ve learned about food additives and sugar and other food chemicals came rushing back to my brain, and I instantly knew why the taste was so different. And that’s what we’re talking about in this episode, nut butter.

When I eventually do an episode on refined sugar I’m going to talk about what sugar does to the brain and what I’ve learned about sugar addictions. But in that moment of eating that Reese’s Cup, I knew why it didn’t taste like peanut butter.

And it’s mainly because conventional peanut butter — whether it’s in candy or sitting on the shelf in a jar — isn’t actually peanut butter. 

The reality is that it’s a whole cocktail of additives, oils and other junk used to keep the peanut butter from separating, to preserve its shelf life or simply to make it taste better or be more addictive to eat.

The truth is: whether it’s peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower butter or something else, the only ingredient in a jar of nut butter should be nuts. And maybe sea salt.

While you’d think that’s common sense, if you pull out a jar of the nut butter from your pantry and look at the ingredient list, you may be surprised to see how much more is listed on the label.

From hydrogenated oils like soybean and cottonseed to palm oil to added sugars, it’s more common to find a whole lot of extra ingredients in nut butter than just nuts.

Here’s an example of the ingredients label on a jar of Jif Simply Peanut Butter: Roasted peanuts, fully hydrogenated vegetable oils (Rapeseed and Soybean), Mono and Diglycerides, Molasses, Sugar and Salt.

Even the Jif (so-called) “Natural” Peanut Butter lists Sugar, Palm Oil and Molasses as added ingredients.

And it’s not just Jif — other no-stir peanut butters like Peter Pan, Skippy and Reese’s contain added hydrogenated oils that are loaded with trans fats linked to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Even healthier-seeming brands like Justin’s or Barney’s almond butters include Cane Sugar and/or Palm Oil.

So again, when buying any type of nut butter the only ingredient on the label should say the type of nut.

But then there’s the issue of nut butter brands that don’t use added oils but they’re not certified organic. And if you can go the extra step with buying organic, then it’s worth it. Because unfortunately, conventional nuts are highly treated with pesticides — especially if they’re grown in the U.S. 

According to a study by the USDA Pesticide Data Program, conventional almonds and peanuts can be contaminated with pesticides that are linked to liver damage and classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a possible human carcinogen. Glyphosate (or Roundup) is a herbicide that I’ve talked about in the Grass episode and Organic Food episode and is used on conventional peanuts and other nuts — as a reminder, it’s known to cause cancer. The food products themselves are not usually tested for these chemicals by our government, but a third-party study showed residues of glyphosate found in Skippy Natural Peanut Butter. 

And if you really want to go above and beyond, raw nut butter is healthier than roasted nut butter. Until I started researching this episode, I didn’t know to prioritize raw nut butter over roasted, but the reasons are compelling enough to me to make the switch:

  • Many times, “roasted nuts” are fried in oils and not actually roasted. 
  • Roasted nuts contain fewer antioxidants and nutrients like Vitamin E — if you’re going to eat something, might as well get the full benefits, right?
  • Roasting can also damage the healthy fats found in nuts. The healthy polyunsaturated fats they contain can oxidize and generate free radicals that damage the cells in the body.

The only exception to roasting is peanut butter but raw peanut butter is not widely available anyway. Roasting peanuts prohibits the production of aflatoxin, which is a cancerous byproduct of a mold found in peanuts, so roasting may make peanuts safer to eat. Also, the fat found in peanuts is pretty heat resistant, making it less likely to oxidize and generate free radicals.

If nut butter is an important staple in your own pantry, then I’ve linked the healthiest and safest nut butters widely available in grocery stores. They range from peanut butters to almond butters to seed butters and can all be found on the show notes page at cleanlivingpodcast.com/nutbutter

Does this mean I need to record a jelly episode?

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, have you left a review yet? Good reviews help more people find out about this podcast and would really mean so much to me. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

organic milk in a glass jar

Milk

organic milk in a glass jar

In the years leading up to the “Got Milk” campaign in the 1990s and early 2000s, U.S. milk consumption was at an all time low. The American dairy lobby knew they needed to do something to stay relevant and survive, so with enough persistence (ahem, money) it convinced the federal government to step in. Here’s what happened…

Listen to the episode here

 

Product Recommendations

How to Make Oat Milk from the Minimalist Baker

How to Make Almond Milk from Detoxinista

Sources

http://www.pcrm.org

https://www.washingtonpost.com

http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com

http://wcrf.org

https://www.opensecrets.org

https://drhyman.com

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://jamanetwork.com

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

I should probably be embarrassed to admit this but I’m going to tell you anyway. When I was in high school there was an entire wall of my purple bedroom covered in Got Milk? Ads. I remember my mom would get People Magazine hand-me-downs (like her friend would give them to her after she was done reading) and then I would go through and cut out the pages of the different celebrities making goofy milk-mustached faces. And yes, this went on long enough for me to collect an entire wall’s worth of ads. If that isn’t a testament to an amazing marketing campaign, I don’t know what is… and that’s what we’re talking about in today’s episode, milk.

In the years leading up to the Got Milk Campaign in the 1990s and early 2000s, American milk consumption was at an all time low. There were more options for beverages than in the 1970s and people were turning to sodas and fizzy drinks instead of a glass of milk with dinner. 

The American dairy lobby knew they needed to do something to stay relevant and survive, so with enough persistence (ahem, money) it convinced the federal government to step in. In 1993, the mass marketing effort of milk-mustached celebrities took over in an effort to convince more Americans to drink milk.

As a further display of support, the US Department of Agriculture updated its dietary guidelines to recommend three servings of dairy a day, despite the fact that one in four Americans can’t physically digest milk.

What people didn’t realize at the time is that drinking three glasses of milk per day doesn’t actually protect against bone fractures or osteoporosis as we were told. In fact, all of the nutrition in milk, like calcium, potassium, and protein, can be found in greater amounts in foods like black beans, kale and broccoli.

The problem was that these other foods couldn’t, and still can’t, compete against the dairy lobby. Black beans, kale and broccoli don’t have industry groups giving millions of dollars to people in Congress and lobbying for influence over the nation’s nutrition recommendations. 

So, yes, the federal government has been paid off to tell us that milk is the perfect food — in spite of an ever-growing body of research showing its lack of benefits and sometimes awful side effects for the one in four Americans who are lactose intolerant. 

As doctors, nutritionists and scientists have continued to speak out — they agree that yes, milk is the perfect food… for a baby cow.

There is no evidence that we need milk to strengthen our bones (if that’s hard for you to believe, I will link to all of my sources in the show notes). And yet, upon the recommendation of our government, many American babies are told to drink cow’s milk before they’re even given water.

Any parent who has brought their kid to the pediatrician has been given the one-page pamphlet with food and beverage suggestions for toddlerhood. We’re told to try to stay away from sugary juices and that for healthy fats, proteins and calcium, the child should be given cow’s milk.

When we tell people that our son is being raised vegan, from the time he stopped breastfeeding until now, very well-meaning friends and family members are visibly concerned and confused. “How is he going to get any calcium?” they ask us.

And then I go on to explain that there’s actually more calcium in arugula than there is in milk and he eats an arugula salad 3-4 times a week. That’s in addition to the black beans, broccoli and leafy greens that he also loves to eat.

So yes, if you can look past the massive big dairy marketing machine, you’ll actually hear scientists and nutritionists warning that even if you’re not lactose intolerant or sensitive to dairy, milk shouldn’t be a major part of your diet. 

According to several of the sources I’ll link to in the show notes, “Dairy fat in your bloodstream helps to breed viruses and bacteria. It’s also mucus producing and a major cause of inflammation and allergies. Even if it’s organic and free-range. If you’re buying conventional milk, then you’re drinking something produced by an animal that’s given hormones, antibiotics, GMO corn and soy and gluten.”

I’ll say it louder for the people in the back: Dairy and milk products do not promote healthy bones. According to a large meta-analysis, published on Pub Med, milk did not reduce risk of fractures. Other studies have shown it actually increases fracture rates. And the countries with the lowest milk consumption have the lowest risk of osteoporosis. 

Okay, so if I haven’t put you over the edge yet: we’ve established that milk does not contribute to growing strong bones, as we’ve been told. But it does seem to contribute to growing cancer cells. Milk increases the hormone called IGF-1 or insulin-like growth factor, which doctors describe as a “Miracle-Gro” for cancer cells. Dairy products have been linked to prostate cancer and cows are even milked while pregnant (yes, even organic cows), which means their milk is filled with reproductive hormones that are potentially cancer-causing.

Dairy also increases the risk of type 1 diabetes, is a well-known cause of acne and of course, it causes millions around the world to suffer digestive distress because of lactose intolerance. It can cause intestinal bleeding in infants leading to iron deficiency, as well as allergy, asthma and eczema.

So, yeah, dairy, can you believe all of those celebrities were lying to us?

If cheese is your favorite food, like it is my husband’s and you can tolerate dairy, then try to stick to goat or sheep milk. The casein in goat’s milk is not inflammatory, unlike the casein in most cow’s milk that creates allergies, eczema, gut issues and acne. Goat’s milk is also easier to digest so it doesn’t cause stomach discomfort. For babies and kids who are recommended cow’s milk, goat’s milk is the closest animal milk to human breast milk and a far better choice for their developing gut microbiomes.

Again, friendly disclaimer that I’m not a doctor and your doctor will probably tell you something very different, so this is me encouraging you to do your own research.

So, what about nut milk? If you can look past the massive amounts of water that are used to grow nuts like almonds, there are still some things to be aware of.

Most popular non-dairy milks, like almond, coconut and oat milk, contain added sugar and flavors. You want to make sure you’re looking for certified organic non-dairy milks to avoid synthetic pesticides but don’t assume that all organic nut milks are healthy. Look for brands without sugar, natural flavors or carrageenan and make sure to avoid thickening agents like gellan gum.

I love a splash of oat milk in my coffee or oatmeal and I’ve started making my own in the past year — it’s shockingly easy so I’ll link to a recipe for both homemade oat milk and almond milk in the show notes at cleanlivingpodcast.com/milk

Did you know I have an email list where you can subscribe to get a weekly recap and reminder of the week’s episodes? I also share my favorite picks and recommendations for clean living with this VIP list. You can subscribe to get on the list at cleanlivingpodcast.com — I only email once a week and it’s always thoughtfully curated for you.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you’re enjoying this podcast or finding it helpful, please share it with a friend or family member– Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

organic fruits and vegetables

Grocery List

organic fruits and vegetables

It’s the first episode of the new year and today’s topic was requested by a listener — she wanted to know what my weekly grocery list looks like and some of the food brands I recommend. So, for today’s episode, here is my grocery list…

Listen to the episode here

 

Grocery List

PRODUCE

*Assume everything is organic unless specified

  • 1 carton each of blueberries, blackberries, strawberries
  • 7 bananas
  • 3 apples
  • 1 big container of spinach
  • 1 small container of arugula 
  • Green onion
  • Bell pepper
  • Cucumber
  • Bag of mini peppers
  • Bag of carrots
  • Bag of red onions
  • Bag of lemons
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • Bulb of garlic
  • Ginger root
  • 1 carton of cherry tomatoes
  • 4-8 vine tomatoes
  • Bag of oranges
  • 4 avocados (will buy conventional if organic isn’t available)

DRY GOODS

  • Cashews (bulk section)
  • Almonds (bulk section)
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Aurora Naturals Brazil nuts
  • Aurora Naturals dates
  • 365 Organic Old-Fashioned Oatmeal
  • Lundberg Basmati brown rice
  • 365 organic pinto beans
  • 365 organic black beans
  • Truroots sprouted lentils
  • 365 organic dry red lentils
  • Bob’s Red Mill organic farro
  • 365 organic vegetable broth
  • Jovial gluten free brown rice pasta
  • Organic capers (in a jar)
  • Organic sun-dried tomatoes (in a jar)
  • Organic quartered artichokes (in a jar)
  • Organic black olives (in a jar)
  • Organic avocado oil (reference cooking oil episode)
  • Organic olive oil (reference cooking oil episode)
  • Organic unrefined coconut oil
  • Frontier Co-op assorted spices (especially turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, chili powder and curry powder)
  • Himalayan pink sea salt
  • Navitas Organics cacao powder
  • 365 organic almond butter
  • Dave’s Killer Bread
  • Traditional Medicinals organic Darjeeling tea
  • Yogi Super Antioxidant Green Tea
  • Y.S. Organic Bee Farms organic raw honey
  • Organic, Fair Trade coffee beans

SNACKS

  • Mary’s Crackers
  • Lundberg organic red rice & quinoa thin stackers
  • Cedar’s organic hummus
  • 365 organic yellow popcorn kernels (for stovetop popcorn)
  • Yellowbird Organic sriracha hot sauce
  • GimMe organic seaweed snacks (avocado oil & sea salt)

FROZEN

  • Food for Life Ezekiel English muffins
  • Food for Life sprouted brown rice tortillas
  • Dr. Praeger’s Supergreens veggie burgers
  • Dr. Praeger’s Heirloom bean burgers
  • 365 organic mango
  • 365 organic mixed berries
  • 365 organic edamame, cauliflower, broccoli & green beans

 

Episodes Mentioned

Listen to the BEANS & LENTILS episode here.

Listen to the COOKWARE episode here.

Listen to the ORGANIC FOOD episode here.

Listen to the COOKING OIL episode here.

Resources

Cookie + Kate recipes

Oh She Glows recipes

Food Babe Kitchen cookbook

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

It’s the first episode of the new year and today’s topic was requested by a listener — she wanted to know what my weekly grocery list looks like and some of the food brands I recommend. I will be fully transparent and say, we grocery shop about once per week and spend between $150-200 for a family of three. I don’t know how that shakes out in comparison to your own weekly grocery bill, but our philosophy is to splurge on clean, healthy food whenever possible, save on other expenses like the latest new gadgets and online shopping, and hopefully save on medical bills down the road. So, for today’s episode, here is my grocery list… 

First, I’ll go ahead and set the scene. I am not what you would call a “good cook.” I grew up with my mom making three course meals every single night of my life and I was never interested in being in the kitchen or learning to cook.

In college, I would eat lean cuisines, cans of soup or deli sandwiches (this was before I became a vegetarian) and then after college, I lived with roommates where the deal was that they would do the cooking and I would do the dishes. Then I moved in with my now husband and we both got used to making the same 4-5 dishes in rotation over and over again and if I’m perfectly honest, he took on the majority of the cooking.

So, it really wasn’t until the past couple of years that I have gotten more into cooking because I’ve gotten so interested in clean eating. I finally started to understand that food is medicine and that the way you eat dictates the way you feel. So, if you’re one of those people like me, who would rather do the dishes than do the cooking, there is definitely the opportunity for change. 

For me, it started by finding the Cookie and Kate website and sticking to her vegetarian recipes. Then, once I exhausted those, I felt more ready to explore other cooking blogs like Oh She Glows and clean-eating-specific cookbooks like Food Babe Kitchen. I imagine this will continue to evolve as my confidence in the kitchen grows and I start to finally get the ratio of turmeric to cumin right.

Before I get into my actual grocery list, though, I want to share some of the things that I feel sets me, and my kitchen, up for success each week. The first is… 

  1. Sprouting: As I mentioned in the episode I did on beans and lentils, which you can listen to at cleanlivingpodcast.com/beans, I sprout a bag of dried beans or dried lentils at the beginning of the week. Every single meal I make consists of either beans or lentils, although the type and variety changes. The second thing is… 
  2. Meal planning: I remember watching my mom write down the list of the meals she would make for the week right before she went to the grocery store. I did not appreciate at the time how much effort that takes. But I now see why it’s necessary and worthwhile. If you want to start cooking more at home, then meal planning is the first place I would start. The third thing is… 
  3. Batch cooking: Cooking a healthy meal from scratch is a lot of work. Whenever possible, I double the recipe so that I have plenty of leftovers that can be eaten for lunches throughout the week. We’re very lucky that my son eats (just about) anything so spicy curry for dinner can be his lunch the next day. Batch cooking saves so much time and makes all of that effort go a lot further.
  4. Mason jars and glass storage containers: To be successful with batch cooking, you need to have plenty of storage containers. As I mentioned in the episode on cookware, I recommend steering clear of plastic at all costs because of BPA so we have all different shapes and sizes of mason jars, Pyrex and OXO storage containers stored on the bottom shelf of our pantry. The fifth thing is… 
  5. Advance prep of produce: Whenever possible, I cut up fruits and vegetables and store them in the fridge in glass containers. This makes it easy in the morning to pack my son’s lunch and snack for the day. And it works really well for things like strawberries, cucumbers, peppers, carrots and broccoli that last longer when stored in glass anyway.  

Okay, so now I’ll share my grocery list, including some of the brands that I buy in case they’re also available to you. You can also assume that everything I buy is organic when possible. We live in Boston for half of the year and San Diego for the other half and I’m basing this grocery list on shopping at Whole Foods in Boston since that’s where I am right now when writing this. Obviously, some brands will change on the west coast where we shop at Sprouts and the amazing Wednesday’s farmers market we have in the town.

As a reminder, this produce list is for a family of 3 for about a week.

PRODUCE

*Assume everything is organic unless specified

  • 1 carton each of blueberries, blackberries, strawberries
  • 7 bananas
  • 3 apples
  • 1 big container of spinach
  • 1 small container of arugula 
  • Green onion
  • Bell pepper
  • Cucumber
  • Bag of mini peppers
  • Bag of carrots
  • Bag of red onions
  • Bag of lemons
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • Bulb of garlic
  • Ginger root
  • 1 carton of cherry tomatoes
  • 4-8 vine tomatoes
  • Bag of oranges
  • 4 avocados (will buy conventional if organic isn’t available)

DRY GOODS

  • Cashews (bulk section)
  • Almonds (bulk section)
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Aurora Naturals Brazil nuts
  • Aurora Naturals dates
  • 365 Organic Old-Fashioned Oatmeal
  • Lundberg Basmati brown rice
  • 365 organic pinto beans
  • 365 organic black beans
  • Truroots sprouted lentils
  • 365 organic dry red lentils
  • Bob’s Red Mill organic farro
  • 365 organic vegetable broth
  • Jovial gluten free brown rice pasta
  • Organic capers (in a jar)
  • Organic sun-dried tomatoes (in a jar)
  • Organic quartered artichokes (in a jar)
  • Organic black olives (in a jar)
  • Organic avocado oil (reference cooking oil episode)
  • Organic olive oil (reference cooking oil episode)
  • Organic unrefined coconut oil
  • Frontier Co-op assorted spices (especially turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, chili powder and curry powder)
  • Himalayan pink sea salt
  • Navitas Organics cacao powder
  • 365 organic almond butter
  • Dave’s Killer Bread
  • Traditional Medicinals organic Darjeeling tea
  • Yogi Super Antioxidant Green Tea
  • Y.S. Organic Bee Farms organic raw honey
  • Organic, Fair Trade coffee beans

SNACKS

  • Mary’s Crackers
  • Lundberg organic red rice & quinoa thin stackers
  • Cedar’s organic hummus
  • 365 organic yellow popcorn kernels (for stovetop popcorn)
  • Yellowbird Organic sriracha hot sauce
  • GimMe organic seaweed snacks (avocado oil & sea salt)

FROZEN

  • Food for Life Ezekiel English muffins
  • Food for Life sprouted brown rice tortillas
  • Dr. Praeger’s Supergreens veggie burgers
  • Dr. Praeger’s Heirloom bean burgers
  • 365 organic mango
  • 365 organic mixed berries
  • 365 organic edamame, cauliflower, broccoli & green beans

A note on dessert, we really don’t have any sweets in the house. Every once in a while, my husband will come home from the grocery store with Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy peanut butter cookies ice cream but that’s really it. I stock coconut sugar, raw sugar and almond flour for the twice a year time I bake cookies or muffins. My husband and I aren’t big sweet tooths but we do eat way too much stove-top popcorn — that’s our go-to for an after-dinner snack. Everyone has their vices : ) 

I’ve included this entire shopping list on the show notes page for this episode at cleanlivingpodcast.com/grocery. So you can reference back to it for your next grocery shopping trip.

And again, this episode topic came from a listener, so that’s a friendly reminder that there is a survey on The Clean Living Podcast website where you can request your own episode topics that you’d like me to cover — just go to cleanlivingpodcast.com/hello and scroll down to the survey link.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you’re enjoying this podcast or finding it helpful, please share it with a friend or family member– Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

Glass of wine overlooking a vineyard

Wine

Glass of wine overlooking a vineyard

You may recall from the episode I did on organic food that the Environmental Working Group ranks grapes as #3 on the dirty dozen list due to high levels of pesticide residue found on conventionally grown grapes. Grapes are also, obviously, the main ingredient in wine. So that begs the question, do you need to be drinking organic wine, too?

Listen to the episode here

 

Product Recommendations

Dry Farm Wines

Episodes Mentioned

Listen to the ORGANIC FOOD episode here.

Sources

https://www.rand.org

https://www.getvinebox.com

https://naturalmerchants.com

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

Quick trigger warning here: If you are sensitive to conversations about alcohol, are currently pursuing your own recovery or are making strides to stay sober, please skip this episode.

Okay, so there has been anecdotal evidence since the start of the pandemic that alcohol consumption has increased dramatically among women — no surprise there. Until the end of September they didn’t have any actual data, but a study has now confirmed that alcohol consumption has gone up by 19% among people over 30 years old. So, if many of us are drinking more, and it’s no secret that alcohol isn’t great for us, the purpose of this episode is to help us to consume it in a less harmful way. Today we’re talking specifically about wine.

You may recall from the episode I did on organic food that the Environmental Working Group ranks grapes as #3 on the dirty dozen list due to high levels of pesticide residue found on conventionally grown grapes. 

When it comes to the dirty dozen list, I encouraged you to buy organic specifically for those foods in order to limit your glyphosate exposure, as well as your exposure to other toxic pesticides and herbicides. 

Grapes are also, obviously, the main ingredient in wine. So that begs the question, do you need to be drinking organic wine, too?

As of 2018, organic grapes account for only an estimated 5 percent of total vineyard acreage worldwide. Spain, France and Italy represent 73% of all organic vineyards in the world while the U.S. only makes less than 2% of organic-labeled wines. (This will be important to remember later on in the episode).

Here are the issues with conventional wine to be aware of:

  1. The grapes are typically grown using genetically modified organism (or GMOs), pesticides and herbicides
  2. Dyes and synthetic additives are often used to improve the color of conventional wine — this includes concentrated wine additives like Mega Purple, and flavoring agents such as malic acid and caramel color. (I talked about why you want to stay away from synthetic dyes in the episode on “Food Dyes”)
  3. Non-organic wine manufacturers add extra sulfites to make sure their wine lasts longer on the shelf
  4. All grapes naturally have sugar but some winemakers choose to add more sugar to improve the wine’s taste
  5. Conventional wine typically has higher alcohol content which can contribute to worse hangovers than drinking organic or biodynamic wine

Based on those factors, you can decide for yourself why you may want to avoid conventionally-grown wine but here’s the best news of all:

Organic wines typically cost less than regular wine because the fermentation process is quicker, which means the growers don’t have to age it in barrels and charge you for all of that time. 

It wasn’t until recently that I found this out. One night my husband came back from a grocery run with a bottle of USDA-certified organic cabernet. The price tag said $7.99 and I looked at him like he was insane. I opened it, fully expecting it to taste like cough syrup, and it was — in a word — delicious.

I am by no means a wine connoisseur so it’s not like my standards are high, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how good such a cheap bottle of organic wine could be. And now I know why it was so inexpensive.

So while drinking organic wine may at first sound bourgeois or elitist, in most cases, it’s actually cheaper to seek out the cleaner, more sustainable option.

A quick note here: if the wine is made from organic grapes, but fails to receive organic certification during the winemaking process, then the wine can still carry the label, “Made with Organically Grown Grapes.” While it’s still great to farm organically, if you’re looking for the real thing, make sure to check your labels.

So, in this episode’s segment of “This for That” I’m going to encourage any wine drinkers listening to seek out organic or biodynamic wine instead of conventional wine. If you don’t live in an area where organic wine is available in your local liquor store, I can recommend online ordering from Dry Farm wines which seems to be all the rave in the clean living corner of social media.

Dry Farm wines can be ordered in boxes of 6 or 12 bottles (the quantities may even go up to 24) and all of the wines share natural farming practices, including organic or biodynamic farming. Every bottle is handcrafted in small batches with minimal intervention, meaning limited or no added sulfites, sugar, food dyes, chemicals or other enhancements. As a bonus, every bottle is lab-tested to be sugar free, low in sulfites (it’s impossible to avoid them entirely in wine) and lower in alcohol. 

I know this probably sounds like an ad but I assure you I’m not getting paid to tell you about this. Although, Dry Farm Wines, if you hear this feel free to send a bottle or two my way : ) 

I already ordered a box of six reds for the holidays and while the price per bottle is definitely more expensive than the $8 USDA organic wine my husband brought home from the liquor store, I was really excited about Dry Farm wines being sugar free. That was enough to make the extra price per bottle worth it to me.

If you’re at a restaurant and want to order a glass of wine but there aren’t any organic-certified options on the wine list, then a good rule of thumb is to order wine from Spain, France or Italy where they’re less likely to be grown with pesticides but may just not be certified with an organic label. Generally, you want to avoid ordering wine from the U.S. unless it’s USDA certified.

Enjoy responsibly. Cheers!

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. Did you know that you can find out your own clean living score? I have a quiz on the podcast website where you can learn where you are in your clean living journey. Just go to cleanlivingpodcast.com and scroll down to the quiz. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

Organic fruit on white background

Organic Food

Organic fruit on white background

I understand that organic food is more expensive, less accessible in so-called “food deserts” and sadly, it has the reputation of being only for the privileged. But I hope to convey in this episode why it’s so important to start to transition into buying partly organic if you’re not buying any right now. And how small steps are better than none at all.

Listen to the episode here

 

Episodes Mentioned

Listen to the GRASS episode here.

Listen to the SHAMPOO episode here.

Listen to the 80/20 episode here.

Sources

https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.ecowatch.com

https://www.ewg.org

https://www.ewg.org

https://www.ewg.org

https://www.ewg.org

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

In the few weeks leading up to Halloween, like many parents, I was looking around for a pumpkin patch. Here in Massachusetts it’s not hard to find apple orchards and farms across the state, but I wasn’t looking for just any farm. If you’ve already listened to the episode on grass you can probably see where this is going. Today, we’re talking about glyphosate again but this time I’m focusing on how it relates to food.

To be honest, before I started this podcast, it was so much easier to turn a blind eye every once in a while. I’ve told you the Pantene Pro-V story in the shampoo episode, I’ve shared my perspective about the 80-20 rule in another episode but with other things, especially when it comes to my kid, they’re harder to ignore.

Whereas last year, we were eating apples off the trees at an orchard here in Massachusetts, I just didn’t feel like I could do that again this year without knowing more about the farming practices — specifically, the use of pesticides and insecticides.

So, the morning we were supposed to go to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard, I spent 30 minutes calling all of the farms within a 40 minute radius of our house. And the conversations I had with the employees or owners of each farm was fascinating. All of them started like this:

Me: “Hi, we were thinking about coming to pick apples and pumpkins today. I just have a quick question: do you use any pesticides or herbicides on your farm?”

What was interesting was the variation of answers I heard, even though they all said the same thing — just in different ways.

The first woman told me to look up the Massachusetts state farming regulations. When I said, “Oh, okay, I mainly just want to know if you use glyphosate” — she said, “It sounds like you’re really passionate about this so like I said, I encourage you to go look it up online.” When I pushed her further, she still wouldn’t answer.

Which boiled down to PR speak for yes, we do use Roundup.

Another man who answered the phone said, “Glyphosate? What is that like Roundup?” When I said yes, he matter of factly said, “Yeah, we use Roundup.” After the first conversation, I appreciated his honesty.

With the rest of the calls I got a combination of PR answers, non-answers and some flat out “yes’s.” But the answers were all the same, I couldn’t find one pumpkin patch or apple orchard that didn’t spray the herbicide Roundup.

And I shouldn’t have been surprised, as I mentioned in the Grass episode, glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world, especially here in the U.S. I think I just had wishful thinking that it was mainly used in big agriculture — not on these little farms where kids go to pick a sack of apples.

For anyone who is local, we did end up going to an organic farm in Winchester called Wright-Locke farm. We had been there before, and there weren’t any apples or pumpkins, but there are goats, chickens and lots of woods and land to explore which seemed just as good for a two and a half year old.

Was it worth calling all of those farms and having a less fall festive farm visit? I think the answer would be different for everyone, but for me it was worth it because I now know too intimately just how bad Roundup is for our health and how often we’re exposed to it without even knowing. It goes back to that adage “ignorance is bliss” — like last year, when I kind of knew but could still look past it. 

The truth is the use of glyphosate has been banned or restricted by 40 countries (besides the U.S.) because of its proven harm to humans.

And yes, the people who bear the brunt of glyphosate’s effects are farmers, landscapers and the people who work closely with the herbicide. But as consumers, we are exposed to it every day in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe and even in the rain.

Which brings me to organic food as a whole. I understand that organic food is more expensive, less accessible in so-called “food deserts” and sadly, it has the reputation of being only for the privileged. But I hope to convey in this episode why it’s so important to start to transition into buying partly organic if you’re not buying any right now. And how small steps are better than no steps.

Several years ago, there was a common marketing message that organic food wasn’t worth it because it’s not more nutritious than conventionally grown food with pesticides.

And that’s true in some ways — the reason to buy organic isn’t because the food itself is necessarily more nutrient dense (although I’m sure some organic farmers would argue that). The main reason is to reduce your exposure to pesticides and herbicides that are known carcinogens and toxins that can cause reproductive harm, respiratory distress, endocrine disruption and other long-term health risks.

Let’s look at strawberries, as an example. According to the Environmental Working Group:

“Conventionally grown strawberries tested by scientists at the Department of Agriculture in 2015 and 2016 contained an average of 7.8 different pesticides per sample, compared to 2.2 pesticides per sample for all other produce.”

The USDA’s strawberry tests found that:

  • Almost all samples – 99 percent – had detectable residues of at least one pesticide.
  • Some 30 percent had residues of 10 or more pesticides.
  • The dirtiest strawberry sample had residues of 23 different pesticides and breakdown products.
  • Strawberry samples contained residues of 81 different pesticides in various combinations.

You may be thinking, “Well, how hazardous are these chemicals used on strawberries? They can’t all be bad.” And you’re right, some are fairly harmless. But others are linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental damage, hormone disruption and neurological problems. And yet as disturbing as these findings are, they do not violate the U.S. laws and regulations for pesticides used on the foods we eat.

When it comes to certain foods, like strawberries, the extra cost of buying organic is a small price to pay compared to what you’re avoiding.

You may have heard the term, “Dirty Dozen” before. I didn’t come up with it but this is the list of 12 foods that have the highest amounts of pesticides and herbicides and are worth buying organic.

You can pause to type out this list on your Notes app so you’ll always have it at the grocery store. Otherwise, I’m linking to the full list on the EWG from the show notes page at cleanlivingpodcast.com/organicfood

DIRTY DOZEN 

  • Strawberries
  • Spinach
  • Grapes
  • Kale
  • Nectarines
  • Apples
  • Peaches
  • Cherries
  • Pears
  • Tomatoes
  • Celery
  • Potatoes
  • Hot peppers

An easy way to remember the dirty dozen list is that generally speaking, all of these fruits and vegetables have thin skins that you don’t peel.

There is also a list called the Clean 15 (again, I didn’t come up with this) but it’s a list of produce that are safer to eat when conventionally grown.

CLEAN 15

  • Avocados
  • Sweet corn (although a lot of corn in the U.S. is grown with GMOs)
  • Pineapple
  • Onions
  • Papaya
  • Frozen sweet peas
  • Eggplant
  • Asparagus
  • Cauliflower
  • Cantaloupe
  • Broccoli
  • Mushrooms
  • Cabbage
  • Honeydew melon
  • Kiwi

There are some exceptions here, but generally, the clean 15 is made up of fruits and vegetables that have thicker skins that you peel.

There are some other foods that aren’t on these lists that are high in pesticides that you’re better off buying organic and those are: bell peppers, oats, beans and legumes, herbs and rice and wheat.

So in this episode’s this for that segment, if you’re not already buying organic, I’m going to encourage you to start buying organic only for the “Dirty Dozen” list. That will be one significant step towards reducing the amount of pesticides and herbicides in your food.

As just a quick ending note on this: I was listening to a podcast interview with a naturopath in Encinitas, California who runs a hospice center. She told a story about taking over the hospice center, switching all of the bed-ridden patients onto a whole foods, organic diet, no processed food and in less than a month they were all out of bed. These were people who were on their literal death beds. 

Of course this is just one story but it really shows just how powerful the food we eat is for the healing of our bodies. And that food truly is medicine.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. Did you know that you can find out your own clean living score? I have a quiz on the podcast website where you can learn where you are in your clean living journey. Just go to cleanlivingpodcast.com and scroll down to the quiz. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

Colorful macarons dyed with food coloring

Food Dyes

Colorful macarons dyed with food coloring

There is a common ingredient in our food (often associated with sugar) that I think is worth tackling this holiday season — especially since it’s avoidable once you recognize it. So, in this episode we’re talking about food dyes.

Listen to the episode here

 

Product Recommendations

Super Natural Kitchen

India Tree

Nature’s Flavors

Let’s Do Organic

Sources

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://cspinet.org

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

I haven’t worked up the courage to do an episode on refined sugar yet — it’s a staple of the American diet, we already know it’s bad for us, and yet we continue eating it and letting our kids eat it. It’s a big subject to tackle, and I would never want to make anyone feel bad, so I’m not going to go there yet. However, there is a common ingredient in our food (often associated with sugar) that I think is worth tackling this holiday season — especially since it’s avoidable once you recognize it. So, in this episode we’re talking about food dyes.

Who hasn’t gone up to the bakery window in your grocery store and stared at the sheet cakes? How do they get the red frosting to look so perfect when spelling out “happy holidays”? And those blue dreidels and yellow menorahs? They look real. The colors, the frosting, the mouth-watering thought of slicing into the cake… 

It’s a festive, beautifully delicious disaster for your body. And again, I’m not talking about the sugar right now — I’m talking about the color. 

Artificial food dyes should not be ingested by any living thing. But not surprisingly, artificial colors and dyes are in way more foods than we realize: breakfast waffles and cereal marketed to kids, sodas and juices, salad dressing, candy like M&Ms, Cheetos, Doritos and other snack foods, and yes, many cakes, cookies and dessert.

So, what’s my issue with food dye? To start, artificial colors are man-made in a lab with chemicals derived from petroleum. As a reminder, petroleum is a crude oil product, used in gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt, and tar.

Bleh.

If you’re thinking, well, if it was that bad the FDA wouldn’t have approved it and it wouldn’t be allowed in our food. But these same artificial colors and dyes require a warning label in countries outside the US and have been banned in countries like Norway and Austria. They’re hardly ever used in the UK and the rest of Europe. And yes, the FDA has approved it for us.

Okay, so artificial colors are made from crude oil. What else?

According to PubMed, a dot gov website, “During the past 50 years, the amount of synthetic dye used in foods has increased by 500%. Simultaneously, an alarming rise has occurred in behavioral problems in children, such as aggression, attention deficit disorder (ADD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The ingestion of food delivers the greatest foreign antigenic load that challenges the immune system.”

In other words, artificial dyes and colors have been found to disrupt the immune system, cause an increase in hyperactivity in kids (even those who aren’t diagnosed with ADD or ADHD) and are linked to negatively impacting a child’s ability to learn.

These artificial colors are also contaminated with known carcinogens and have been linked to long-term health problems such as asthma, skin rashes, and migraines.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with known carcinogens. Another dye, Red 3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply.

And do you know the worst part about this? Artificial coloring is used for nothing more than marketing. The only purpose of adding carcinogenic, toxic crude oil into our food is to make it more eye-catching on the shelf. To entice your kid to say, “Look, mom! That ketchup is purple! Purple’s my favorite color — can we get it?”

The manipulation of these food corporations knows no bounds.

So, during a time and season when it’s more important than ever to keep our immune systems strong and during a time when our already very distracted kids are forced to sit on Zoom for hours, my suggestion is to actively avoid any type of artificial food dye or coloring.

These dyes will be on the ingredient list of the food label and what you’re looking for is: Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 (these are the most popular), as well as Blue 1, Blue 1 Lake, Citrus Red 2 and Orange B. But really if you see anything on the ingredient list that’s a color then put it back on the shelf.

My son is still little so we haven’t quite gotten to the time of going to birthday parties yet, but I honestly already have anxiety just thinking about it. Artificial coloring runs rampant in kid’s birthday cakes — and there are plenty of people who will say, “Oh c’mon, let kids be kids. It’s a right of passage — it’s fine in moderation.” But for the average kid, it’s not moderation — let’s say your kid is invited to one birthday party per month or a student brings in cupcakes to school once per month, then there are the holiday parties — you’re looking at 12-15 times a year minimum that your kid is ingesting a crude oil containing known carcinogens. I’m not saying to ban birthday cakes but can we all agree the food dye isn’t necessary?

If you’ve listened to this podcast long enough, then you know I almost always have a better alternative to suggest to you. If you were looking forward to decorating gingerbread houses with your kids or making holiday cookies, and I’ve just taken the wind out of your sails, don’t worry! I’m going to link to some non-GMO, artificial-food-dye-free options in the show notes at cleanlivingpodcast.com/dyes

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you learned something from this episode, please make sure to click Subscribe so you don’t miss an upcoming episode. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

Bowl of hummus with bread

Hummus

Bowl of hummus with bread

In my mind, hummus is the perfect snack — it’s filling, can be spread or dipped onto any number of foods and it’s a great source of protein. So when I saw a study released by the Environmental Working Group about glyphosate levels in hummus and chickpeas, my throat dropped into my stomach.

Listen to the episode here

 

Product List

Cedar’s Original Organic Hommus

Whole Foods Market Original Organic Hummus 

O Organics Traditional Organic Hummus

The Perfect Pita Traditional Hummus

Episodes Mentioned

Listen to the GRASS episode here.

Sources

https://www.ewg.org

https://brandongaille.com

https://www.ewg.org

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

I don’t know about your family, but mine eats a lot of hummus. Between the three of us, we’ll go through a large container of hummus in the week. In my mind, it’s the perfect snack — it’s filling, can be spread or dipped onto any number of foods and it’s a great source of protein. So when I saw a study released by the Environmental Working Group about glyphosate levels in hummus and chickpeas, my throat dropped into my stomach. And it’s these findings and alternative hummus recommendations that I’m going to share in today’s episode.

So, first, let’s do a quick refresher on glyphosate. I talked about glyphosate as it relates to lawns, gardening and farming back in the episode titled GRASS. I’ll link to it in the show notes for this episode.

Glyphosate is a herbicide that is found in the most widely-used weed killer, Roundup. It’s sprayed on conventional, non-organic foods across the world, but most notably in the U.S. Studies have shown glyphosate causes cancer and both Monsanto and Bayer have paid out millions and millions of dollars in court settlements to victims of this chemical.

Until I started doing deeper research for this podcast, I naively assumed that if I was buying everything organic then there wouldn’t be any glyphosate in our food. But studies updated in July 2020 from the EWG have found levels of glyphosate in both conventional and organic hummus, canned chickpeas, dried chickpeas, dried lentils and garbanzo flour.

So, does that mean I’ve stopped eating hummus and you should too?

No. Hummus is still a nutritious food to include in your diet. Chickpeas are an excellent source of dietary fiber, high levels of vitamins A, E, and C, folate, magnesium, iron and potassium, as well as aids to weight control and reduced cholesterol. What it does mean is that you have to be more careful about the type of hummus you buy.

So, first let’s look at the results of the study: the EWG found glyphosate in 90 percent of all chickpea and hummus samples.

The brands that were tested include Sabra, Whole Foods Market, Harris Teeter, Simple Truth, Trader Joe’s, Boar’s Head, Tribe, Nature’s Promise and more. I’ve linked to the article with the full list at cleanlivingpodcast.com/hummus

The hummus with the highest levels of glyphosate is Whole Foods Market Original Hummus (the conventional kind not the organic version) and is over 15 times the EWG benchmark of acceptable levels of glyphosate. Harris Teeter store-brand hummus had the second highest glyphosate concentration.

Among different hummus brands, six of nine conventional Sabra samples THAT WERE tested exceeded EWG’s benchmark. Sabra is the leading U.S. hummus brand, with more than half of the hummus market.

It’s important to note here that this version of hummus has a Non-GMO symbol and label on the packaging — so that’s a reminder that just because something is non-GMO doesn’t mean it’s organic.

I also want to point out that the price difference between conventional hummus and organic hummus is between 45 cents to one dollar.

By law, organic farmers are not allowed to apply glyphosate or other pesticides to grow and harvest crops. So it’s suspected that levels of glyphosate can be found in some organic foods depending on if the farming site is located close to conventional farming where pesticides are being sprayed and then running downstream through the water runoff.

When it comes to testing food for glyphosate, the most commonly used pesticide in the U.S., the EWG says the federal government makes it a point to look the other way.

In 2018, the USDA collected more than 500 chickpea samples for pesticide tests as part of its Pesticide Data Program. However, the program did not include glyphosate testing. Although the FDA has tested some foods for glyphosate, the tests did not include foods known to be sprayed with the chemical.

So, that begs the question — which brands of hummus are safe to buy? According to the EWG’s study, the following hummus products were below the limit of quantification or non-detectable: Cedar’s Original Organic Hommus, Whole Foods Market Original Organic Hummus, O Organics Traditional Organic Hummus, The Perfect Pita Traditional Hummus (which is notably conventional and not organic). As always, I’ll link these product recommendations in the show notes at cleanlivingpodcast.com/hummus 

I know that was a downer of an episode, but this is a perfect example of how knowledge is power. If you love hummus, you don’t have to give it up — you just need to know which brands to buy to keep you and your family safe. And now you know.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you learned something today please leave a positive review as it helps more people find out about this podcast. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

Yellow lemons on white background

Lemon

Yellow lemons on white background

I’ve become a little obsessed with natural ways of boosting my immune system. To be honest, it hadn’t really dawned on me before the pandemic hit how important it is to be preventive and not just reactive about getting sick. So today, I’m going to share one little food hack that is as simple as squeezing a lemon.

Listen to the episode here

 

Sources

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com

https://www.ahajournals.org

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.mayoclinic.org

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

I’ve become a little obsessed with natural ways of boosting my immune system. To be honest, it hadn’t really dawned on me before the pandemic hit how important it is to be preventive and not just reactive about getting sick. So today, I’m going to share one little food hack that is as simple as squeezing a lemon.

I had always heard that drinking hot water with lemon first thing in the morning (before breakfast, coffee or anything else) was one of the best things you can do for your digestion and health.

But for whatever reason, it was a really hard habit for me to get into. A few times a week I’ll make it a point to put on the kettle and drink my lemon water first, but I’ve had to find other ways to incorporate this miracle fruit into my diet.

Okay, but before I get into that, what is so great about lemon?

The most obvious answer is that it’s an amazing source of vitamin C. But the nutritional benefit that I’m more interested in is its source of antioxidants and flavonoids. These are two key nutrients in fighting disease within your body — anything from colon cancer to heart disease.

Let’s look at some of the studies:

  • A 2012 study found through data over a 14 year span, that of the 700,000 women studied during this time the women who ate the most citrus fruit had a 19% lower risk of stroke than the women who consumed the least.
  • One 2014 study found that women in Japan who walked regularly and consumed lemon every day had lower blood pressure than those who did not.

There is also evidence-based research that ingesting lemon helps with the formation of collagen which creates healthy-looking skin and reduces wrinkles, prevents frequency of asthma attacks, boosts the immune system and increases iron absorption.

The iron absorption benefit is a significant factor that I want to point out because so many women are unknowingly anemic or iron deficient. When you don’t get enough iron, then you often feel tired, weak, get shortness of breath or headaches, cold hands and feet or longer term health effects. 

By squeezing lemon on the iron sources in your diet (like salad, green smoothies, beans and lentils), the high concentration of vitamin C in the lemon helps you to better absorb these iron-rich foods. The difference is so significant that I’ve gotten in the habit of not eating a salad, lentil soup or bean curry without squeezing a lemon into the dish first.

Here are a few other ideas for incorporating lemon into your diet:

  • Combine fresh lemon juice with olive oil, sea salt and pepper for a salad dressing or drizzle over warm pasta
  • Squeeze lemon into soup, stews or curry after cooking is complete and you’re about to serve
  • Squeeze lemon on fresh fruit or avocado to prevent browning
  • Add into smoothies or green juice
  • Combine with seltzer water and a dash of bitters as a mocktail

If you’re worried about the citric acid in lemons wearing down the enamel on your teeth, you can drink beverages containing lemon with a straw or rinse your mouth out with water after drinking. 

Incorporating more lemon into my family’s diet is truly one of the easiest and cheapest hacks to get more nutrients out of our food. I don’t leave the grocery store without a bag of lemons in my cart anymore.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr.

White bowl full of cloves of garlic

Natural Immune Boosters

White bowl full of cloves of garlic

Depending on where you are in the world, winter has arrived… which means it’s more important than ever to strengthen our immune systems. In this episode, I’m going to share three cheap and easy foods to add into your cooking that will naturally boost the immune system of you and your family.

Listen to the episode here

 

Sources

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com

https://www.healthline.com

https://www.healthline.com

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

Depending on where you are in the world, winter has arrived… temps have definitely dropped here in Boston which means it’s more important than ever to strengthen our immune systems. In this episode, I’m going to share three cheap and easy foods to add into your cooking that will naturally boost the immune system of you and your family.

Fresh organic garlic cloves are hands down one of the best ingredients you can cook with. Forget about the bad breath, there are so many benefits that outweigh that one con. This magical ingredient not only boasts long-term benefits of lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, AND decreasing the risk of heart disease, but it has actual medicinal properties. Not only does it help to strengthen your immune system, but it can ALSO be used to treat cold symptoms.

There are so many amazing benefits to eating both raw and cooked garlic that I should probably dedicate an entire episode to it. But I do want to tell you about two other ingredients so for now, I’ll link a few sources in the show notes where you can read more about the benefits of garlic — the show notes link is cleanlivingpodcast.com/immune-boosters

Here are some easy ways to incorporate garlic into your diet:

  • Mince a raw garlic clove and throw into some olive oil for salad dressing
  • Put full cloves on a baking sheet with organic cherry tomatoes and roast in the oven (add to rice pasta or farro)
  • Mince a few cloves and add them to vegetable soup or curry

Oh, man I’m getting hungry…

Alright, the second natural immune booster to add to your diet this winter is ginger root. Like garlic, this is not something I’m mentioning just because it’s “good for you.” Ginger root goes back centuries in traditional chinese medicine as having actual medicinal properties.

You’ve probably heard of it being used for nausea, with morning sickness or motion sickness, but gingerol, the bioactive substance in fresh ginger, can help lower the risk of infection by stopping or reducing the growth of many different types of bacteria. 

My son had RSV, which is a respiratory virus, the past two winters and one of things I started him on in October was drinking ginger tea a couple times a week. To make it, peel the skin off a two inch chunk of ginger root and then chop the root into smaller chunks. Add the ginger to a pot of filtered water, bring it to a boil and then let simmer for about two hours. 

Because ginger tea can be spicy, I diluted the first few cups that I gave my son with half filtered water but now he’ll drink it as is and even asks for it after dinner. Fingers crossed that an increase in ginger to his diet will get us through the winter without any major illness.

And the third natural immune boosting food is red onion, which I didn’t know about until a few months ago. My son was starting back at daycare, and my husband and I always get sick when he goes back to the petri dish. So a week before school started, I was boiling red onion skins and lemon peels to make immune boosting tea — it was pretty gross to drink but none of us got sick. So, it was worth it…

Red onion is one of the best sources of quercetin, a potent flavonoid, and antioxidant that has antiviral properties as well as histamine regulating effects. In other words, it is an amazing home remedy for improving your gut microbiome and strengthening your immune system. It can also be used to treat coughs, sore throats and even a high fever.

Disclaimer that I’m forced to say: I’m not a doctor so none of this is meant to be medical advice — I’m just telling you what I’ve researched.

Here’s the great news, though, you do not have to drink onion tea like my husband and I did to get the immune-boosting benefits. 

Sauteed onion works delicious in virtually any dinner you can cook. Throw some raw red onion on a salad, add a few rings of onion to your veggie burger. The options are virtually endless…

And yes, we’ll all be walking around with bad breath but that’s what toothpaste is for. If you haven’t listened to the toothpaste episode yet, that’s important one to catch up (just go to cleanlivingpodcast.com/toothpaste)

Now more than ever it is our individual responsibility to strengthen our immune systems and gut microbiome so that if we do come in contact with a virus, our bodies are able to fight it off and recover quickly. So next time you make a grocery run, make sure you have these three ingredients at check out.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you learned something today please hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.

 

Mason jar overflowing with chocolate milk shake

80/20 Rule

Mason jar overflowing with chocolate milk shake

When it comes to clean living, there are people who are purists. They don’t stray or slip up or treat themselves every once in a while. And that’s great, kudos to them. I admire their dedication. But for most of us, it’s far more realistic to know from the beginning that we’re not going to do everything perfectly…

Listen to the episode here

 

Sources

http://cleanlivingpodcast.com

https://bodyhealth.com

http://cleanlivingpodcast.com

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on iTunes here.
Subscribe on Spotify here.
Subscribe on Google Podcasts here.

Transcript

I have something a little different for you today as we continue our quest for clean living. I was inspired recently as I was eating a plantain burrito from my favorite taco shop. This burrito, let me tell you, I don’t even know if I have the words honestly, but this burrito is what dreams are made of. I think I would honestly choose it as my last meal if I had to. But as I was eating it, enjoying it, loving every bite, I also had this little nagging voice in my head telling me, “Shannon… these ingredients are definitely not organic…” So yes, today we need to talk about the 80/20 rule.

When it comes to clean living, there are people who are purists. They don’t stray or slip up or treat themselves every once in a while. And that’s great, kudos to them. I admire their dedication.

But for most of us, it’s far more realistic to know from the beginning that we’re not going to do everything perfectly. We’re not going to be able to eat 100% organic, we’re not going to have non-toxic everything in our homes, our wardrobes aren’t going to be 100% sustainably made.

Our busy, complicated, modern-day lives generally do not allow for that type of rigidity and I’m here to say, that’s okay.

My husband will often say to me, “Shannon, do you think maybe the stress of freaking out about the hot food going into the plastic container is actually worse than the food actually going into the plastic container?”

And to his question, my answer is always no, the stress is not worse than BPA releasing into the food we’ll ingest.

But, I get his point.

The 80/20 rule (when it comes to clean living) is this: Let’s aim to live clean and non-toxic and organic and sustainable 80 percent of the time. But let’s also account for slipping up, or things being out of our control, or treating ourselves, 20 percent of the time.

Because if that 20% is going to give us 20% more joy, then it’s probably worth it. It means that I can still have that delicious burrito and highlight my hair 2-3 times a year and order takeout and know that there are going to be products I buy that aren’t perfectly clean but that I’m still learning and still trying.

So, that’s where we are. Let the purists be purists and we can strive for that level, maybe one day. But for right now, let’s know that we’re all doing the best we can, with what we’ve got. 

Because even small, gradual changes can have SUCH a significant impact — simply switching to a clean shampoo is going to decrease the levels of industrial chemicals in your body. Buying 75% organic food instead of 10% is going to reduce the amount of glyphosate in your gut microbiome. Sprouting dried beans instead of buying canned will increase the amount of disease-fighting nutrients you and your family are eating.

So, while yes, going down the clean living rabbit hole can be overwhelming, we need to remember that the goal isn’t perfection — it’s progress.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Clean Living Podcast — I’m your host Shannon Lohr. If you learned something today and enjoy this podcast, please leave a review  — it will help other people find out about the show and I’d appreciate it so much. Here’s to creating a cleaner, more sustainable world for all of us.