7 Satisfying Vegan Salads

/ Amber Maron Nutrition/
7 Satisfying Vegan Salads

As spring forges ahead and the temperatures heat up here in Southern California, I find salads are the way to go for a quick and healthy meal. Eating more plants is the simplest and most effective way to improve your health. Those who eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables have lowered risk of chronic disease, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and even some types of cancer. Vegetables increase your fiber intake, vitamin and mineral intake, and increase the amount of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties in your diet. You’ll increase your good gut bacteria, improve detoxification, and improve your energy levels, skin health, and immunity, among many other benefits.

The following salads are some of my favorite combinations of vegetables, plant based protein and healthy fats that will nourish you and leave you feeling satisfied.

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Reducing Chronic Inflammation for Better Health

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Inflammation has been shown to be a factor in a number of chronic illnesses, including type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma and Alzheimer’s.  Researchers are still investigating the causes and processes involved, but it has become apparent that our lifestyle choices have a huge role to play in the development, management, and prevention of disease. To me, this is empowering. Our health is not singularly predetermined by genetics, as once thought, but we actually have some control over how we feel.

First, let’s take a moment to appreciate our bodies and all that they do for us. Even though things may go awry, inflammation is really the body trying to protect us. When there is a perceived threat, the immune system kicks into gear to try and localize the injury and prevent greater damage. This activation can be caused by a number of things, including pathogens, allergens, stress, injury, toxins or free radicals.

So if inflammation is meant to be helpful, then why are we interested in reducing it? The danger comes from unresolved, chronic inflammation. Our inflammatory response is mean to be acute - reacting to the threat, activating the necessary pathways, and then resolving the issue and returning to normal, or homeostasis. When the inflammation is not resolved, or the perceived threat does not go away, our body stays in this constant state of immune activation and inflammation. This may be due to an underlying medical issue such as infection or autoimmune condition, or it may be related to environmental toxins, food allergies or sensitivities, or even stress. This ongoing inflammatory response can damage tissues and contribute to many common symptoms, including eczema, fatigue, brain fog, weight gain and even mood disorders.

So what can we do? It is reassuring to know there are changes we can make and daily habits we can create that will help reduce inflammation and support the bodies’ natural healing processes.

 
Leafy green vegetables and blueberries, colorful food provides antioxidants and are are part of an anti inflammatory diet.
 

1. Take a look at your food. Everything we eat has the potential to help us or hurt us. Some foods trigger the inflammatory cascade in our body, others can help to calm and reduce inflammation. An anti-inflammatory diet is a based on real, whole, unprocessed food without toxins and added chemicals. It includes lots of different plant foods, including vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices. It is low in sugar, alcohol, processed foods, refined grains, damaged fats and preserved meats.  

2. Don’t stress. When we experience stress, whether real or perceived, it has physiological effects on the brain and body, one of which can be to activate the inflammatory response.  Again, this reaction is meant to protect us. Think of fight or flight - we run from the bear that’s chasing us, and either get away or get killed. We fight the bear, and either win or get killed. In either scenario, the stressor goes away and the issue is resolved, allowing the body to return to its normal state (assuming the bear didn’t kill us).  However in modern life, this is often no longer the case. Work, relationships, constant stimulation and pressures, can keep our stress response constantly activated, and this can lead to both mental and physical stress related diseases. Daily stress reduction techniques such as conscious breath work, meditation and journaling can be hugely beneficial to our health.  

3. Move your body. It has been said that sitting is the new smoking. We spend so much time driving, at our desks, looking at our phones and not moving, and our bodies are suffering. It doesn’t mean you need to go to a crazy hard spin class or high intensity workout, especially if you’re already experiencing high levels of inflammation.  Start by just trying to move more regularly, throughout your day. Studies show that as little as 20 minutes a day can reduce inflammatory markers. Take a walk at lunch. Have a dance party while you’re making dinner. If you work at a desk, stand up and stretch every hour. Take the stairs, park farther away, go for a bike ride, and find little ways to incorporate more movement into your day. 

 

There are a number of other lifestyle factors that impact our levels of inflammation, including sleep habits, smoking, and medication. While we can’t live in a bubble and not everything is within our control, many things are, and learning how to manage our health is empowering and necessary.

 

Never Make a Boring Salad Again

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Never Make a Boring Salad Again

A bowl of veggies usually just isn't as popular as other more flavorful (but probably unhealthy) food. Most people think having a salad as a meal won't be filling enough, worry they won't feel satisfied, and they just want something heartier and more, well, interesting. If you go to a restaurant, the solution to this is to add a protein, usually meat or fish, occasionally tofu at the more vegetarian friendly places. And while that's always an option to help your salads be more filling, there's so much more we can do to actually get us excited about having all those veggies we know we should be eating!

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How to Support Your Immune System and Get Sick Less

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It happens every year. The weather gets colder. The holidays come. We spend more time going out, eating poorly, drinking alcohol, and sleeping less. Our healthy habits fall by the wayside. And then, we get sick. From a holistic health perspective, its not at all surprising. Of course if we don't rest, eat crappy, and drink a lot, we get sick. When we aren't supporting our bodies and especially our immune system, it just can't do its job effectively.

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Holiday Survival Guide

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Oh man, the holiday season is almost here!  Are you ready? Ugly sweater parties, cookies, cocktails, office parties, dinners, shopping, family parties, baking, wine, and did I mention parties? Many of us have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. It's great getting together with friends and family to celebrate, but it can also be really stressful, physically exhausting and emotionally draining. For those of us that are trying to eat healthy, it can seem almost impossible to stay on track. I hear people say things like, "Well I'm giving up now, but I'll get back on track after Christmas", or "There's too much going on, I can't commit to eating well until after the New Year".  It doesn't have to be like that - why let the holidays derail you and your health?

Here are 6 ways to stay healthy and still enjoy the Holiday Season!

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Eating for Energy

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While there are a variety of reasons and health issues underlying why we may experience low energy, there are some simple things we can all do to address the foundations of energy. Clearly, getting adequate sleep is essential, as is exercise, stress management and simply just learning to say no. These are all very important issues, and could each easily make up their own blog topic. For the sake of brevity, this post will focus on the nutritional requirements and advice for giving your body what it needs (and eliminating what it doesn’t) to run optimally and provide us with the energy we want to live life to the fullest!

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How to Eat Healthy (And Still Keep Your Family Happy)

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How to Eat Healthy (And Still Keep Your Family Happy)

Tell me if you can relate: You’re serious about being healthy, you’ve gotten rid of the processed food and stocked the fridge full of fresh produce, and you’ve just made a super nutritious meal for your family to enjoy together. Unfortunately, no one else is impressed. Your kids don’t want to eat veggies, your husband doesn’t want to try anything new, or maybe whomever you’re sharing a meal with just has really different tastes than you.

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Mindful Eating

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I think we can all agree that eating well is important to our health. Extremely important. But sometimes just as important as what you eat, is how you eat. Most of us don't put a lot of thought into it, we just get the food in our body and move on. However a lot of digestive complaints, and subsequent health issues, stem from improper digestion caused by the way we eat. 

Our bodies do a lot of work when we consume food. They release hormones, secrete enzymes, move muscles, and communicate to other cells to digest the food, assimilate nutrients, and store energy from our meal. All of this happens without any conscious participation from us. This happens thanks to the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). The ANS has three branches, enteric, sympathetic, and parasympathetic. We won't get into the enteric nervous system now, but its also really important for digestion.

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