You want to start with the Turtle Caramels the day before. It helps you speed up prep time when you make this and the Chocolate Fudge Sauce a day before baking the bars.

Turtle Caramels:

Ingredients
50 pecan halves or Tigernut Slivers to make them allergy-free and school friendly
3 Tbsp (45 ml) vegan chocolate chips
3/4 C (180 ml) brown sugar, packed (can use Coconut Brown Sugar and sub 1:1 for brown sugar)
1/2 C (125 ml) vegan butter, cubed
1 can (300 ml) sweetened coconut condensed milk (buy it here. I recommend getting the motherload amount for the upcoming holiday season)
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) vanilla extract
Sea Salt (Grinder), to taste

Directions
1. Arrange your pecans and a few chocolate chips in each of the 25 molds in the Perfect Petites . Place on a Sheet Pan.
2. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan set over high heat, stir together brown sugar, butter and condensed milk until sugar melts, and mixture comes to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium (ensure mixture still vigorously bubbles); stir constantly until thick and shiny, 8-10 min.
4. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into pan; grind salt over top. Refrigerate or freeze until firm.

Once you have your Turtles done you will keep nine of them for the Caramel Bars! You are going to love these!! This recipe will make 16 bars

Turtle Caramel Bars:

Ingredients
2 vegan eggs or pastured eggs for ova-vegetarians
1/2 C (125 ml) vegan butter, melted
1/4 C (60 ml) water, non-dairy milk or cooled coffee
1 pkg Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownie Mix
9 OMG Turtle Caramels, cut into thirds
1/2 recipe prepared Chocolate Fudge Sauce, chilled

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 350° F. Line an 8” square pan with parchment paper.
2. In large bowl, whisk eggs; whisk in melted butter and water. Add brownie mix; stir to combine.
3. Scrape half the batter into prepared pan; bake for 10 min.
4. Scatter caramel pieces over baked brownie; gently press in. Scrape remaining batter overtop and smooth; bake until edges are firm and center is set, about 30 more min.
5. Meanwhile, using a hand mixer, beat chilled fudge sauce until light and fluffy.
6. Refrigerate to cool brownies completely, about 1 hour.
7. Spread fudge icing over top. Cut into bars or squares.


And you will have a second package of the gluten-free chocolate brownies that are made out of chickpeas, and then you can make a triple threat of decadent chocolate brownies. You will be the hit of every party! Using your portion cookware makes it easy to eat more than one. So just try to have some composure.

What's the secret you have been missing?

I have been intuitive for as long as I can remember, but didn't move into energy work until just several years ago. What I have found as I have worked with and studied what the most tuned in beings are doing differently is that invite energy into their lives, without a guarded fear.

What about you? Do you feel yourself spinning those energetic wheels, being lack luster about life, body, money, relationships and living in the realm of "just doing the best I can"?

Your energy is scattered.

Those that are energetically aligned and aware already know and practice something very different from what you have been taught, and it has been held like the Willy Wonka golden ticket ... the secret that takes you into a space that has always existed, but you just haven't known how to get into.

You are invited to leverage my knowledge and learn about how to find your spirit guides, release stuck energy, use various modalities to clear and transmute it when you want to create more joy, more abundance, more fun.

I know what it is like on the hamster wheel, running and running and feeling like you are overwhelmed, too connected, and overdrawn in your energy account. You know where you want to go, but you can't get there. You know you are tuned in, but it feels scary, it your body pushes back against it.

Do you know what that is? It is being highly sensitive, but misunderstanding of the function of energy. Energy is just peptides, messengers that carry the frequency of your being, emotions and beliefs.

What I truly want is for you to get that, and start using it. To stop holding onto EVERYONE else's energy, because you are a not a garbage can, you are a being in a very special body. The time now is yours to develop this ability that I have come to connect to in my every day life, and see what you have been missing.

The beta group goes live Sept 1st. I am already messaging those that have wanted to take part in the webinar that I will be holding on Sat, Aug 24, 04:00 PM PST. The web link is on my website, www.awakentranscendence.com/

If you haven't yet connected, post below about why you would like to know more about how to connect to your energetic self to better create your future. I would love to hear more!

I am on both a vegan egg and sweet potato binge. Making everything from Vegan No-avocado Toast to Sweet Potato Lasagna. Sweet potatoes are a very healthy carbohydrate that for athletes, faster or especially for women that are lower carb on a regular basis, this tops off your glucose and feeds your gut microbiota to keep your hormones balanced out.

The sweet potato lasagna was modified from an Epicure recipes, and includes a lovely hemp tofu ricotta using the Tempt Hemp Tofu. You could sub in regular tofu if you wanted to. Many of my recipes call for my small 8-cup blender, chopper food processor or you can get away with a 4-cup blender, chopper food processor. However if you go to small you may find a recipe you have that is larger than your processor. I highly recommend you one of these in your kitchen arsenal because it really saves me time. Thankfully, this is not one that you have to spend a lot of money on.

Sweet Potato Lasagna 

Ingredients:






What was so great about this recipe beyond that fact that it just tasted so great, and was quick to make, is that is made leftovers for my meal plan. Now I have three more servings to use as leftovers. I actually also made a modified Speedy Lasagna for my family using a pastured ground pork, and in 45 minutes I had two full lasagnas and three happy bellies.

Have a sluggish liver? Your liver does about 85% of all methylation reactions so it is one of the first organs to get negatively affected in your body by circulating unmetabolized folic acid. So what about that circulating folic?

Effect of Folic Acid Supplementation on Plasma Concentrations of Unmetabolized Folic Acid
3.3.1. Adherence to Multivitamin Supplementation

Adverse events were reported by  37% of the clinical research group over the course of 30 weeks of multivitamin supplementation, including nausea, constipation, abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, difficulty swallowing, and heartburn.

The majority of the women (79%) did not have usual dietary folic acid intakes that exceeded the threshold dose for the appearance of unmetabolized folic acid in plasma; none consumed more than 400 μg/day, which has been shown to produce a sustained appearance of folic acid in plasma. Most prenatals in the US contain 800  μg/day.

There is limited information on the effect of folic acid supplementation on plasma concentrations of unmetabolized folic acid. Their preliminary data from a series of small trials evaluating the effects of 10 to 12 weeks of daily supplementation with 0.4 to 5 mg of folic acid in adults in the United States after fortification included both men and women of varying ages and ethnicities. Plasma concentrations of unmetabolized folic acid at baseline were, on average, 0.5 to 0.7 nmol/L. At the lowest dose tested (i.e., 0.4 mg/day), plasma folic acid increased approximately twofold over 12 weeks of supplementation. With higher doses (i.e., 1 mg/day, 2.5 mg/day, or 5 mg/day), plasma folic acid concentrations increased approximately threefold.

In this study, we found that unmetabolized folic acid is present at low levels in the majority of women who do not consume folic acid supplements but who do consume folic acid-fortified foods. FORTIFIED FOODS and VITAMINS people. Start looking at your labels as this unmetabolized folic acid.

Ben Lynch says, "The Annual Review of Nutrition published an article in 1990 states, “A major class, the high-affinity folate-binding proteins, show a preferential and tight binding of folic acid relative to reduced folates . . . Soluble forms of the high-affinity binders are present in serum and [breast]milk. [Folate binding proteins] serve to accumulate and stabilize reduced-folate compounds in milk and they may also facilitate the absorption of folates by the intestinal mucosa of neonates.”
If high-affinity folate binding proteins are bound to synthetic and inactive folic acid, what benefit is there to the developing baby? In fact, it would make sense that harm would occur as reduced folates are needed for DNA production, balance methylation and support neurological development.
How can reduced folates get into the intestinal mucosa of the baby if they are not bound to the folate binding proteins? Are we setting up our new generation with weakened intestinal linings? Food allergies are definitely on the rise.
Autism is definitely on the rise and we all know those with autism have significant gut issues." 

You may not have the mutation, but your spouse may have given your child the mutation... folic into breast milk, not a great thing for those up to 40% of the population with reduced folic enyzmes.

So what can you do?  (also modified from the above)

1. Throw out all folic acid enriched foods. These are processed foods such as cereals, breads, pastas, energy bars, drinks, snacks. Learn to make healthy meals instead.
2. Throw out all folic acid containing supplements.
3. Eat folate rich foods. Note that when I state folate, I mean naturally-occurring folates first and then those naturally occurring additions such as dihydrofolate, folinic acid and methylfolate - which I prefer as short term healers.
4. Lightly steam or eat uncooked leafy greens (more you cook greens, the more folate gets destroyed and raw greens can be tough when you have digestive issues) are the way to get natural folate. I can share a couple of healthy ways to do this with both low processed whole food supplementation and share some tips on how to retain the nutrients when cooking with a good quality steamer and NO water. Water leaches nutrients. Steaming in the microwave is not what you think. It's not radioactive. There are EMFs in the microwave so getting a few feet away during the microwaving is essential. Do an EMF check on your microwave to make sure it isn't leaking. Get a new one if it is. Your microwave has the same amount of EMFs as your smart phone. Clean your steamers with vinegar and put the food your microwave into a different container after it is done.
5. Also rich in folate are various beans such as lentils, pinto, garbanzo, black, navy, kidney and lima. Make sure you prepare your beans properly to reduce the phytic acid and lectins. I have info on that in my Paleo Vegeo group.
6. Opt for supplements containing whole food folate and active folates, always!
7. You can test your methylation pathway with your physician to see which forms of folate you are low or high in – then work to correct it.
8. Test your own genetics like I did and see where you may have blocks in your folate pathway. Knowing this is useful as you can be proactive in bypassing these blocks with various nutrients, avoiding various medications and increasing certain whole foods.
After you test your genetics via 23andMe there are a number of places you can run the raw data through. (get your test here  http://bit.ly/2peur9n)

If you have this mutation that folic acid will 'float' around  and eventually break down into reduced folates but it takes time and is dependent upon other nutrients being available and the folate reducing enzymes functioning as they should be.

Remember that that above we stated the folic in the liver? At any one time, we have anywhere from 30 to 50 mg of folate stored in our liver. Ensuring that your liver function is good is important and making sure you are moving bile out of your gall bladder is also important. Supporting a sluggish liver will help to move it along, but again it takes time. Digestive bitters, and liver healing foods and cold-pressed juice are all things I have found to be supportive of the liver, as well as both sauna and vibration plates are so helpful. A study was done with whole‐body vibration (WBV) for patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease provided benefit with respect to halting progression of NAFLD via reducing ectopic fat deposition in the liver and intra‐abdominal sites, as well as improvements in muscle morphology and function. In addition, WBV reduced hepatic stiffness and its related inflammatory markers that may contribute to enhanced innate immunity and dysregulation of signaling pathways in NAFLD. In short, these results demonstrate the usefulness of WBV as an exercise option for patients with NAFLD who have difficulty engaging in regular exercise.

According to one paper, “radiolabeled folic acid to a single female subject and observed substantial catabolism and fecal excretion in folate turnover with an apparent half-life (t1/2) of ∼100 days for the primary folate pool.”

So you have at least 200 days for all of that to work it's way out of your system and to be bound to folate binding proteins and folate receptors thereby reducing the binding of active folates. So let's get started now.

I have some openings in my schedule next week if you want to start with your coaching session. Or let me know and I will pop you into a free group for healthy support.

(1) https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ogi/2012/485179/
(2) http://mthfr.net/folic-acid-awareness-week-2014-want-awareness-here-you-go/2014/01/08/
(3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6513769/

I don't eat eggs and my daughter and SIL can't eat eggs. So today I went to work to create this amazingly simple Eggless Frittata modeled after the Epic Life Challenge frittata from Epicure for all of us for meal prep. Throw a little salsa or 🥑 on top and you have morning joy! And baby bok choy makes me happy every day of the week. My garden can't keep up. I am grateful 💚 that Organic Girl has the #notkalenotsorry pack. You can get Justeggs at Coscto now and Daiya Foods shreds just about everywhere. (Or sub in a melty vegan cheese of choice) 😀 My teen gave this recipe the thumbs up of approval. The spices I used are non-gmo, nut-free, kosher, gluten-free and not irradiated 👍 I think with a nice cup of chai this may make some girls very happy, too. They are currently available in Canada but will be available in the USA 🇺🇸 by the middle of next month. Let me know if you have an interest. Eight minutes prep to plate.

Vegan Eggless Fritta:

Ingredients: 1 Container of Organic Girl greens (small container) or fill steamer up 2/3 of the way. (no water needed)
Diced tomatoes - I used a large handful. Organic Extra Virgin Olive OIl - drizzle 10 tbsp JustEgg (can add the whole container if desired with adjusted cook time)
5 tbsp Daiya Mozzarella shreds (can sub in alternative non-dairy shreds if they are melty)
1 - 2 tbsp of Guacamole Spice (based on your desire. More means more salty flavor)
1 - 2 tbsp of Pico Spice (based on your desire. More means more salty flavor) Coconut oil spray

Directions:
1.Spray or coat Multipurpose Steamer and add greens. I like the extra fats in the coconut oil. Steam greens for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and drizzle olive oil and add diced tomatoes. Return to microwave for 45 seconds. 2. Mix in JustEgg and non-dairy shreds. Stir. Add in spices, mix until fully blended.
3. Return to microwave for 5 minutes (more 'eggs' more microwave possible). Take off the lid. You should still see a tiny amount of JustEgg liquid around the edges. Take off the lid and return to microwave for an additional one minute.
4. Cut into fourths, and add any additional fresh toppings and enjoy your vegan frittata.


Music: My Summer Love URL: https://icons8.com/music/

I also used the vegan eggs on my Vegan No-Avocado Toast, which I will make sure to get on the blog this week.

I saw this interesting blog post about quinoa crispies and had to see what I could do. I can eat the I Heart Keenwah organic hot cereal, but regular quinoa seems to be a nightmare for my gut.

Lately I have been having the Vigilant Eats Superfood Cereal, since I can prep and go to summer camp. It has no soy, no dairy, no additives, no preservatives and no refined sugar. It is also organic, gluten free, vegan, non GMO and kosher.

Several months ago I purchased my dream... and infrared sauna blanket. I had wanted so badly to get a sauna for years, but space is limited, and I am not really prepared yet to go all out remodeling the house in order to have the most amazing infrared sauna room.

So why a sauna blanket? The right Infrared Sauna Blankets detoxify the body and boosts your metabolic rate so you burn calories like you’re working out, without working out. This can be so supportive when your body just won't budge, but you perhaps can't workout. Wouldn't you love to get that elated workout feeling, you know that runners endorphins, without the exhaustion?  Infrared sauna therapy has been shown to significantly decrease pain and other symptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome, a chronic disorder that is characterized by widespread pain with localized tenderness. It researchers are just beginning to study these effects of infrared sauna therapy on pain and stiffness caused by different autoimmune diseases, showing in four weeks those with rheumatoid arthritis showed improvements in pain, stiffness, and fatigue.

However if you are an athlete, you get the benefit of that “hyperthermic conditioning”. This is the idea of using your sauna as a biohack to your next performance as when you use the sauna it optimizes blood flow to the heart, skeletal muscles, skin, and other tissues because it increases your plasma volume. This hyperthermic conditioning session then leads to endurance enhancements in your next workout or physical activity, when your core body temperature is once again elevated.

On top of that I find it supports me in getting a great sleep. Many of you know that I have battled with my adrenals for years, and as such my cortisol levels can spike in the evening and keep me wide awake when my body really craves sleep and renewal. Infrared has been show to increase feel good chemicals and lowers cortisol.


So think about the idea of relaxing into the soothing, yet stimulating heat in the evening, as those infrared rays also trigger your brain’s happiness chemicals. That's where the idea of the healthy, rejuvenating experience that leaves you feeling euphoric, Higher Dose, comes into play.

Of course I didn't want just any sauna blanket. This blanket has healing amethyst which deepens benefits of infrared, a tourmaline layer that generates negative ions and a charcoal layer to amplify detoxification process. It also has a medical grade magnetic strip for improved blood circulation and is made from premium non-toxic interior and exterior fabrics. I loved that this was model designed in part by Dr. Raleigh Duncan, Founder of Clearlight Saunas.

So when I asked in my sauna group about it, everyone was like, you need a low EMF heating device. Of course, this is. I even bought an EMF detector to test it out because EMFs are so dangerous that I even mention them in my book, Exploring Aromatherapy.

EMF is the flow of electrons, and low frequency EMFs are those that come from human-made electrical machines. These low frequencies cause an energy disruption in our energy fields because it is the natural order of energy. Aromatherapy, smoke cleansing, sound therapy, energy work and anything that helps to increase your higher vibrations will help with keeping us aligned. However they are not something that will keep the EMFs from doing what they do, and so it’s a constant battle of balance. Over the last 30 years the concern that daily exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields, considered to be 1 to 300 Hz, might be harmful to human health. 

 So I tested it, and my vibration plate since it was nearby... and then in the second video my computer. This was put together for the guy that runs the sauna group, because he will only promote items that are low EMF. Listen, the guy sits naked on his deck daily for the Vitamin D... he's serious about his wellness.

Many celebrities including Selena Gomez swear by these blankets, as she recently told Elle.com, Selena said, “It's changed my skin, it's kind of changed my body as well, so it feels really good." Many sports professionals also travel with it, because it's compact and lightweight enough for taking on the road, but FYI, not probably something you want to check in baggage so better for road trips.

The group I am in highly touts infrared sauna for the deep detox as it is seven times more detoxifying than using a traditional heat for cleansing.

They say that it is anti-aging and can boost collagen and produces a healthy "glow". I get the healthy glow idea, but I find that if you overdo your sauna without replenishing moisture to your skin, the effect is drying. So I always use my mixture of facial oil and moisturizer before bed, especially after a sauna session. When I am looking to detox I follow the niacin protocol several hours before my sauna, and then when it heats my tissues several inches deep, the infrared vibrates those water molecules pulling toxins out that are stored deep within your fat cells. I've talked a lot about the "whoosh factor" and my Fat Activation program, because we have to lose the mindset of "losing fat" and instead engage in activating our fat to be it's healthiest. When we are enveloped in infrared heat, our body will go into full relaxation mode without resistance, which allows toxins to be more easily released. Of course I follow my sauna with a cold shower, and a good binder, or two, to make sure I am grabbing those items I've released to help them along their way.

Once there were three non-gmo/organic food based direct sales companies in the market. I'm not talking about my favorite supplements, I am talking about companies focused in on getting you to eat more whole foods. The North American diet is making us sick, overweight and tired. Too much sugar and salt, combined with processed ingredients and over-sized portions are driving chronic illnesses—diabetes, obesity, hypertension—to all-time highs. It’s time to change the way we eat, to change our lives; and, good food and recipes utilizing whole, real ingredients, not processed alternatives is the solution.

There was Wildtree, and for some reason (full of things I am allergic to) I never got on board with them. As I have gone through this last week with the US launch of another company, I am patting myself on the back for listening to my inner intuition. Wildtree will be closing shop at the end of July. They got on board with the paleo thing, but they never quite connected with the "eat more plants" view point that I have.

Second one was BlendFresh the Blendtec company. I loved them! Of course I was in the midst of daily green smoothies and that was their groove. However, they also closed up and when affiliate marketing when they realized that they weren't quite in the space of building a successful direct sales company.

So finally there is Epicure, which is a 23 year old Canadian company. They are so different. I love that they are totally focused on getting people to cook, to eat whole foods, and to get out of the box mindset. I also love that they offer products that are 100% gluten free, peanut and tree nut free, sugar & sodium-conscious, Kosher certified, where applicable, and easily prepared, from raw-to-ready, in 20-minutes or less. I love that over 90% of their product line is already Non-GMO Project Verified with more coming in the future.


I have been a part of the $70 billion dollar diet industry in North America for the last decade as both a nutritional and fitness coach. The problem is, this industry isn’t the only thing growing. As a nation, or even on the global market our waistlines are getting bigger. Even for myself I found at the end of last year, with that change in life, I crept back up to where my size 12 pants were awfully tight. This is more than just about fad diets, cleanses, etc. I was stressed, which aren't we all. I was also dealing with more issues from my own autoimmune issues. You all know that chronic illnesses are on the rise in a big way. A holistic cardiologist says that 90% of heart attacks don't have to happen. Research shows that twenty percent of adults in the US are currently suffering from heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. Celeste McGovern discovered that heart disease isn't caused from high cholesterol, but inflammation and insulin resistance. But the media isn't talking about the fact that eighty percent of chronic illnesses can be prevented by a healthier lifestyle.

You have heard me talk about how this current generation is the fourth generation that isn't cooking whole foods, and they are actually expected to have a shorter lifespan than that of the generation above ours. This statistic is directly related to our current lifestyle choices. There’s a myth that I bought into a decade ago that healthy food needs to be SUPERFOODS and that is will take hours to prepare; come from Whole foods, or be blended into a smoothie. And the truth is that gluten-free is not longer just cardboard that tastes like stale bread. We don't have to buy expensive $200 shakes, nor do you have to change the favorite foods you love. You just need to be aware of how the food was grown, and cook it in the most simplistic manner.

So we have to seek out the way to remove the toxins that are causing inflammation and eliminate insulin spikes in our diet. With my clients I have found that it is easiest when they are following a simple protocol, and when they eliminate the NEVER EVER list.


That is why I was thrilled to join this mission to change lives through good food. You can be a part of the driving force to help people get healthier by bringing Good Food. Real Fast to every table while providing life-changing business opportunities for entrepreneurs.Using a proven lifestyle system, easily prepping your weeknight meals, customizing recipes to work for you, meal prep & prep tips.. This is for everyone.

For those entrepreneurs wanting to live their #EpicLife while being rewarded generously for the good they do. Be part of our mission, join a community of people changing lives through good food, and enjoy unlimited earning opportunities, rewards and recognition. We just launched the USA enrollment, but until August you must enroll with a consultant, like myself. You can feel out my form and I can call and get you enrolled. Gain early access to this epic opportunity and grow with us right from the start.
​
Looking forward to working with you and building a great team across the USA & Canada!

When I first leaned into veganism it was because after reading The Veganist, frankly I was just too disgusted to eat any animal products. I had been eating a traditional diet with pastured animal products, but I couldn't live with that any longer for myself.

When I first leaned into a paleo diet it was because I wanted to lose some extra weight. I was slowing down in my metabolism and I wanted to make some changes to my body. Giving up the grains while being non-soy, no tree nuts, and with my avocado allergies was tough. I slowly figured that out, but when I was at my lowest weight in years my adrenals crashed. And they crashed hard. I didn't realize that the missing healthy fats in my diet were actually harming my body, not helping my body. On top of that I was using synthetic nutrients to try to secure the deficiencies and it wasn't helping.

When I went into talk to my first ND, all of the levels that point to my entire endocrine system being in the muck were very low. My iron stores, or ferritin as it is tested for, were almost non-existent. I wasn't getting enough nutrition - especially the B vitamins my body was craving. The B vitamins I was getting, were not being used by my body. My intestinal inflammation that started in my teens and went crazy like a demon on a roller coaster took place in my early twenties. So I probably wasn't absorbing most of my micronutrients anyway.

I did the ND supplements of selenium, kelp, B complex (which I tossed because it made my anxiety sky rocket like mad), compounded thyroid, testosterone and progesterone, and of course iron. I felt a little better, but it was nothing that was an extreme life changing shift. And my adrenals were still pretty shot. I also was still gaining weight despite working out, despite eating Paleo Vegeo and doing an almost exclusively Whole30 style vegan eating. I still had increased appetite, major cravings, a poor ability to build muscles even with the exercise. What I realized was that this lifestyle had to be about finding out the truth of what my body needed. This lifestyle had to be about reducing the inflammation in order to reduce my leptin resistance. It had to be about gaining vitality, reducing toxins, and getting back a sense of happiness and energy.

One of the things that vegans always forget about is the way nutrition impacts our bodies in functional manners. Eating enough carotenoids to get the lutein and zeaxanthin is essential this time of year. The highest levels of these two micronutrients in fruits and vegetables are from corn and eggs. We don't eat those. However if you increase your intake of vegetables and fruit, you increase the opportunities. Those orange peppers, grapes, spinach, fresh pressed orange juice, zucchini  and different kinds of squash all have some relatively high content of lutein and zeaxanthin. Just shoving extra leafy greens into your smoothie does do it as those dark green leafy vegetables have 15-47% of lutein, but a very low content (0-3%) of zeaxanthin. According to the American Optometric Association we really need these two nutrients to filter out any harmful wavelengths of the sunshine we are exposed to daily, and when you have adrenal fatigue getting those valuable rays is very important.

Speaking of eyes, in a study in the UK, and published in the journal Ophthalmology, found that women who ate vitamin C rich diets including two servings of fruit and two servings of vegetables per day, were about 20 percent less likely to have cataracts than those who skimped on fruits and vegetables. Those fruits and vegetables phyto-nutrients may help preserve the macula of the eye, which is responsible for clear central vision. I have one of the genetic variants that makes these nutrients really important to me. So any diet where we are skipping all of those healthy plants, can be very damaging in so many ways.

I gave up the W30 and core Nourished in 30 monthly lifestyle and started to learn more about what nutrients my body needed in order to be healthy. One first step was adding in the right supplements starting with whole food micronutrient dense capsules, and vegan complete omegas. I took into consideration what nutrients would I be lacking. Selenium is a big one, iodine when put on my skin is absorbed and gone in about two hours, vitamin C (can we really ever get too much... ha ha... well of course but I still love it), vitamin D+K, prebiotics and a different type of probiotics, and then I tweaked things as I needed to. Like currently I am battling with candida, and I will talk more about that in another post.

So I started to feel better, much better than I had in years. However the adrenals still were up and down. My weight didn't budge, much. It went up and down the same 10 pounds, but I know that hormones at my age have a lot to do with that, as does water retention.

A research study was done to look at biochemical, metabolic and behavioral responses were evaluated following eight weeks on one of three diets: (1) a monounsaturated HFD (50%kcal olive oil), (2) a saturated HFD (50%kcal palm oil), or (3) a control low-fat diet. Weight gain was similar across the three diets while visceral fat mass was elevated by the two HFDs. I could tell you that every time I tried keto with high vegan saturated fats, I not only failed but my gut felt the pain. Heavy saturated fats were not digested, and my liver felt it, so my gallbladder felt it, and acid reflux felt it. Diets fail because they don't address the science and the key hormones that are essential. By eating these healthy plant-based monounsaturated fats what you may see is normalized blood sugar and cholesterol levels. I dropped my bad cholesterol by almost 50 points in three months, and also dropped my L(p)a score and these reduced levels can indirectly boost our adrenal gland function.

I saw another study that showed that high intake of monounsaturated fats and fiber, olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids consumption, vegetable protein intake, fruit, coffee, moderate alcohol consumption and vitamin C supplementation exert a protective role over gallstone production. No wonder I felt better when I ate this way and left the coconut oil and MCT oils off the table. I don't seem to have this problem with Brain Octane oil, maybe because of the part of the oil it is missing.

Now why would I dig into more plant based fats and not dig into nuts? It is not just because of my food allergies. My dad died of lung cancer, and recent studies show that while saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid intakes were not significantly associated with lung cancer risk, the total PUFAs intake was inversely associated with lung cancer risk. PUFAs can perhaps be a problem for many other reasons. As I have said before about almond flour, first it's very high in calories comparably to other options out there. Raise your hand if you went Paleo, started using almond flour and started gaining weight? Almonds do contain high levels of polyunsaturated fats. The omega 6 in almonds stays protected from oxidation from it's surface skin and vitamin E, and so many people love to nosh on them. Now go ahead and grind them up and you remove that protective shell and increase the surface area exponentially, which makes the nut oxidize. if you then mix up that flour and stick it into a nice hot oven, baking usually at 350 F or more for an hour, or maybe more...Can you say "rancid PUFA's"?

The lipid composition of the adrenal cortex is influenced by diet. So when I increased these healthy mono-fats, it was so interesting how much more energy I had. I am still on a journey, but this is restoring so much for me. I also feel like I am maintaining muscle, and unblocking a lot of the generation DNA blockages. It's been a blessing in disguise. On the way, I am realizing that for every one person that does the normal keto diet, there is several more that have failed. I believe it is that lack of nutrients, and inflammatory norm that most people follow. Can't wait to keep you updated on this journey!! I am paleo, I am vegan, and I am keto in my own way.