A super food smoothie, or is it a dessert?

This a an adaptation of raw foodist ​David Wolfe's super food smoothie. I adapted and shaved off about 10 ingredients out of the 16+ from the original recipe, including a bunch of Andean herbs and Chinese medicinal tonics. I guess the result is a less super food smoothie but still jam-packed with nutrients and anti-oxidants that is filling enough to be a meal, yet tastes unbelievably like a dessert, especially if you are a chocolate fan!

Step 1:​

A good blender. I don't have a Vitamix, but meet this little guy - ​Nutribullet. It is an excellent alternative if you don't want to spend over $100 for a blender. I used it to make almond milk this morning and it was fabulous!

Step 2:​

A base liquid. I am using the almond milk I just  I made. You don't have to do this! Wolfe suggests water, coconut water, any nut milk or tea concoction you prefer.

Step 3:​

Add chocolate and berries. According to Wolfe, cacao is the number 1 anti-oxidant. Cacao and berries together is like the marriage of a power couple whose union multiplies the anti-oxidizing, anti-inflammatory superpower of each other. I am using raw cacao powder, a mix of frozen berries and unwanted strawberry stems from my daughter's breakfast. I recently discovered the Chinese berries I grew up with, my mom gives me bags and bags of each time I go back to Hong Kong, are the Goji berries (fructus lycii)  everyone raves about these days. So I am also throwing those in!

Step 4:​

A dash of coconut oil to add body and hold it all together. Almond butter is also a good binding agent.

Step 5:​

A half to a teaspoon of maca - a high altitude crop from the Andes that is often compared to the Chinese ginseng. It is supposed to be an adaptogen, a herb that increases the body's ability to adapt to stress and changing situations. It regulates endocrine health and ​gives you the energy boost that coffee does without the caffeine. You can also sprinkle it on cereals, as I was told by a native Peruvian.

Step 6:​

Add honey as a sweetener.​

​Enjoy! Play with the proportion of the ingredients. Mine is not too thick, not too sweet, just the way I like it! 

Asako's Soba Making Party

This is one of the perks of enrolling to a nutrition school, especially in NYC. You get to meet ​people from all cultures who love food and are eager to share with you their cooking and very special dish from home. Thank you, Asako!

What do all Centenarians have in common?

My very youthful parents who are not quite there yet....​

​....but almost 80 and going strong!

Are you a vegetarian? A nutritarian maybe? Or a flexitarian? Ever considered becoming a centenarian?

I was at the Integrative Nutrition Annual Conference last weekend. Out of all the 15 plus amazing speakers ​ranging from MDs to nutritionists to life coaches, the one talk that really struck a cord in me was Dan Buettner's Blue Zones' Diet.

Dave Buettner was funded by National Geographic to travel to the Blue Zones all over the world - the regions that have the most Centenarians and uncover the secrets of their happiness and longevity. He nailed downed five places - the Barbagia region of Sardinia, Ikaria in Greece, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Okinawa in Japan and Loma Linda, a town 60 miles east of Los Angeles.​

Why am I so obsessed with the stories of these people?

Maybe it has something to do with turning 40, a few years ago. I have recently attended a few turning 40 big birthday bashes and am surrounded by friends and peers who are all of a sudden awakened by how big the number 40 is, although even a 4 year old can tell you it is only a number that follows 39.

What is so significant about the number 40?​

This is how I see it. We are standing at this junction - we can either do nothing, complain about the rapid decline and accept the inevitable demise, or take a turn to go the other way.

What inspires me about these centenarians is not that they live till a hundred years or more, sure who needs quantity if there is no quality? ​These people are happy, vibrant and healthy till their last breaths.

What are their secrets? If you ask them this question, they would think you are mad because none of them tries to live past 100 years, they just live. They celebrate aging instead of running away from it and they all have these in common: 

1. They move naturally. They don't go to the gym or run marathons. Physical activities are etched in their everyday routines.​
2. They all have a purpose in life. The Okinawans call it "ikigai" and the Nicoyans call it "plan de vida". Both mean a reason to wake up in the morning.​
3. They have great anti-stress strategies - ​prayers, ancestor remembrance, taking naps and (even) happy hours!
   
4. They eat a plant-based diet with beans and nuts being the cornerstone of their nutrients.
   
5. They stop eating when they are 80% full, eat the biggest meals early in the day and smallest meals or nothing  in the evening.
   
6. They all drink moderately (except the Adventists).​
7. They all belong to a faith-based community.​
8. They all put their loved ones first and maintain strong family ties.
   
9. ​They hang with the right tribe. They all have strong social circles that support the same healthy behaviors.
   

Maybe it's not too late to take the right turn? 

I highly encourage you to check out these cool, vibrant beings from the Blue Zones website.

My utterly non-glamorous but surprisingly delicious lunch salads

When it's about lunch time, this is what I do these days, I open the fridge, put together a salad from whatever leftover vegetables, grains and proteins I had the night before, with a few fresh add-ons.  The result is astounding - no matter what I do , it never comes out nasty, not once, even with the most unimaginable combinations. It requires no cooking, no prepping, only assembling!

Here is one example:​

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1. Massage kale with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt  (A fresh add-on!)

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2. Add left-over broccoli sauteed in garlic.

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3. Add left-over avocado and tofu salad dressed in sesame oil.

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5. Add millet.

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6. Finally top with hijiki with carrots.

There! It is utterly non-glamorous but essentially effortless, powerfully nutritious and surprisingly delicious!

Back to School!

Happy Spring!

With the arrival of a new season, the blooming of magnolias and cherry blossoms everywhere, I am also entering a new phase of my life - I am back at school, studying nutrition and getting certified to be a health coach.

When I was looking into courses on nutrition, a topic of study which I thought would enrich my skills as a yoga teacher, the term "health coach" kept coming up. What exactly is a "health coach"? Why do I want to make the leap from being a yoga teacher to a health coach? And how do I even know if I am healthy enough to tell people what to do with their own health?

What I have learned so far, a health coach is someone who empowers others to reach their health and life goals by making sustainable dietary and lifestyle changes.  It is sort of a cocktail of a personal trainer, yoga, meditation teacher, nutrition counselor, personal organizer all rolled into one. 

I love food, I have educated my daughter to like kale, I am obsessed with health, I practice meditation, I am a yoga teacher already and have been doing the work of teaching people to be well, so....why not?  And if I may just take a moment to reflect, I am in my mid 40's. I am definitely getting wrinkles and a few grey hair, but physically, I feel stronger than ever! Every morning when I practice my sun salutations, I ask myself "can it get better than this?"

Thanks to my yoga practice - the single most consistent and influential force in my life for the last 20 years.  Being a yoga teacher, I have had the luxury of time and space to practice self-care - exercising, meditation and eating well.

It is overwhelming how much there is to learn in the nutrition field, all the opposing dietary theories, new studies coming out every day telling you what the healthiest oil is or whether gluten is really so bad for you. But I also know that I know a lot already, almost intuitively, what it takes to be well, to get older and not have to be weak and sickly, to age vibrantly and gracefully.

Here is to Spring and an amazing year of health!​