Easy Winter Chicken Casserole

Slow cookers or the old fashioned term, crockpots are seeing a resurgence in modern cooking. This recipe is really easy  (fool-safe), will boost your immune system and ward away winter chills and infections. The best part is you come home from a busy day to the house filled with the delicious aromas of tonight's dinner already cooked for you!

Nutrients are destroyed when food is cooked too fast or at high temperatures so using a slow cooker makes the food easier to digest, highly nutritious and quick to prepare when you have little time. I make this at least once a month for chilly nights. It tastes amazing with the chicken literally falling off the bone and makes enough to feed the whole family or keep in the fridge as leftovers for the next few days/nights as I do.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole organic chicken - not just free range as they are still fed grains that are sprayed and genetically modified soy to fatten them up, ask your local butcher, markets or Coles/Woolworths sell them now at reasonable prices. Using a whole chicken means you have the bones and ligaments as well as the chicken meat which provide numerous minerals and nutrients - always preferrable!
• 1/4 cup of pearl barley - very warming and adds extra low glycaemic carbohydrate for winter in the form of whole grains, contains gluten so if coeliac substitute with millet, rice or sweet potato
• 1/3 cup of quinoa - South American seed that is now grown in Australia, is gluten free, high in protein like lysine as well as calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Choose whichever colour appeals to you - white, red (higher iron content), black and rinse with water before use.
• 1 strip of Kombu seaweed - high in minerals, especially iodine which is low in Australian soils (Hence the high level of hypothyroidism in Australia), helps remove heavy metals and toxins from the body
• Fresh sprig or 1 tsp dried thyme - adds flavour to chicken, anti-bacterial for lungs and all winter respiratory infections
• 1/2 Japanese pumpkin - easier to cut and more flavour than Butternut or Gray pumpkin, lots of betacarotene for your eyes and all body cells
• 1 brown onion - onions are perfect antidote for any coughs and colds - you'll realise how potent they are when you chop it up! 
• 1Tb of apple cider vinegar - the acid helps breakdown the bones and meat to secrete the minerals we need making it easier to digest. Apple cider vinegar is naturally fermented so it still retains its natural antimicrobial and healing properties
• Any other vegetables you like or have in the fridge to use up - carrots, celery, parsnips, etc. As there are already carbohydrates with the barley and quinoa, I would not suggest adding potatoes but you could substitute instead
• 1 bunch of parsley - add at the end once taken off the heat as so delicate to add extra minerals especially iron
• Miso paste - stir in 1 Tb to crockpot if serving all for dinner or 1 tsp to individual plates if going to keep some and reheat at a later date as it is destroyed by cooking. Adds flavour, salt and minerals. Easily digested as traditionally fermented. Use whichever type you like but the lighter the colour, the cooler the effect so dark brown barley miso is generally for very cold climates. If you skip the miso, the add sea salt and pepper!

Method:

Rinse barley and quinoa with water quickly by swirling in pot and throwing excess water out. Place in crockpot and chop Kombu seaweed into 2cm strips with scissors into pot. Rinse chicken and place whole into pot. Throw in thyme, chopped pumpkin into 3-4cm chunks, diced onion, apple cider vinegar and add enough filtered water to cover chicken. Cook on low heat with lid on for at least 8 hours but sometimes I leave it for 12 hours and it has been fine so long as there is enough water, it never dries out. 

Remove from heat and gently cut up the chicken in the crockpot into quarters - should just fall away from the bony carcass by now. Mix 1 Tb of miso paste in cup with hot water and stir into crockpot if serving it all for dinner or 1 tsp to individual plates if going to keep some and reheat at a later date as it is destroyed by cooking. Also stir in 1 bunch of chopped parsley for extra fresh greens. You could even add spinach or baby spinach here instead as the heat in the casserole will wilt it perfectly without needing extra cooking. You can experiment with your own flavours eg adding lemon rind/halves, lentils, etc

The beauty of slow cookers or crockpots is their ease to use without slaving over a hot oven or when you are time poor with all the nutrition still kept in tact and easily digestible. Most come with a small recipe book so you can experiment with tagines, breakfast porridge, soups, stews, desserts and curries. They sell them at Kmart, Target, David Jones and all major department stores from $60. Winter bargain!

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Accentuate The Positive Radio Show 

with presenter Karen Swain 9.45am Saturdays

Claudette is now a regular guest on Accentuate The Positive radio show every Saturday morning 7-10am, giving the latest nutritional research and health tips to make you want to spring out of bed every morning!
Latest talks include the health wonders of beetroot, nuts to bring out the smile in you, why water is the elixir of life and more...

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Butter or Margarine - which is better?

There is so much conflicting media about whether it is better to eat butter or margarine or even to decipher which is which, with the multitude of "spreads" on the supermarket fridge shelf. When margarine was invented it was seen as the revolutionary health product with a big HealthyHeart tick to promote it but recent research now shows otherwise.  

Margarine is made by passing hydrogen gas through liquid oils in the presence of a metal catalyst of nickel and aluminum to make a semi-solid state to which yellow colouring is added to make it look like butter. Many margarines claim they are rich in Omega 3 oils, essential fatty acids, made from healthy olive oil but even if they start with these products, the hydrogenation process destroys these beneficial fatty acids, converting them into trans fats. The finished product is low in Omega 3 oils, high in trans fats. Trans fats are synthetic fats that are fairly new to our food chain due to modern processing methods so we are only seeing the effects on our health in recent years. They cannot be broken down and used by the body but instead cause free radical damage to our cells. Trans fats make platelets sticky, increasing the likelihood of a clot in a small blood vessel causing strokes, heart attacks or circulatory occlusion. They can also increase blood cholesterol levels by up to 15% and blood fat levels up to 47%. Unfortunately, the HealthyHeart criteria is simplistically based upon the out-dated research of saturated fat content without any measurement of trans fats, creating enormous misleading confusion for the public. Also in Australia food companies are not required to list the amount of trans fats on the nutrition label so we have no way of knowing how much trans fat we are eating. There is no upper safety limit for the recommended daily intake of trans fat, simply that “it should be as low as possible”. However, New York City Council has been very proactive, passing laws a couple of years ago to limit the maximum amount of trans fats in all foods cooked and sold in NY city. To demonstrate this imminent health concern, adding 1 steak to your diet everyday, you increase your saturated fat by 5%, which increases your risk of a heart attack by 17%. By adding one teaspoon of margarine to what you normally eat each day, you increase your trans fats by 2%, but your risk of a heart attack increases by a shocking 93%.

Butter has received an enormous amount of flack in the past 30 years since margarine was invented but the tide has changed in recent times as more research is done into different type of fats and their function and effects in the body. Butter is mainly saturated fat, 9% steric acid, 19% oleic acid, 38% palmitic acid and low in Omega 3 oils. In excess these acids can interfere with the beneficial anti-inflammatory effect of omega 3 oils. There was also concern about the cholesterol content of butter as 100gm of butter contains about 250mg of cholesterol. However, recent research shows that only 20% of cholesterol comes from a diet of high cholesterol foods, while the other 80% of cholesterol is made in your body to carry around sugars and poor quality fats, such as trans fats, from processed foods. The good thing about butter is it is easily digested being a natural product, helps improve some strains of good bacteria in your gut for digestion producing butyric acid and being a solid at room temperature, it does not oxidise or go rancid easily with high temperatures, causing damaging free radicals in the body cells when eaten. Therefore it can be used in frying and other high heat applications. Of course, it needs to be eaten in moderation (1tsp/day) and yes, it is difficult to spread unless it is at room temperature or spread on hot toast! You can blend your butter with olive oil at home to make your own spreadable butter or try alternatives like mashed avocado, humus, drizzled olive oil, tahini, nut spreads.

If there is one thing you do for your health, do not consume margarine or any other "olive oil spread". Despite millions of dollars of marketing to convince us otherwise, the fact remains that butter is a natural product made from cow's milk, while margarine does not exist in nature and has to be made in a laboratory. Would you rather eat synthetic chemicals or food?

Feel Like It's All Work, No Play?

Time is the essential commodity nowadays as we realise that the work/life balance it crucial for both health and happiness. Life without the play factor is pretty dull, unfulfilling and deadening. Personally, I had always thought that the solution was to do everything faster, with time as my enemy, so then I would have more time for personal interests like sport, relaxation, friends and family, until I read a quote from The Universe, TUT's Adventurers Club:

"The trick to blending work and play lies not in what you do, but in how you view what you do. See work as play and see play as important - very important"

This hit me like a brick - I get it! I've always been passionate about my work and practice but even still there are always areas that you don't like doing, like your tax for instance, so rather than feeling trapped in a never-ending cycle which you can't get out of, it was to change my attitude and feeling towards it instead. It didn't change what I had to do but this simple reminder took an enormous pressure off and turned my work into enjoyment. I now have this stuck to the wall above my desk and if I ever feel myself groaning over any aspect of my business, I look at this and I feel the shift inside so it suddenly seems to become easier, certainly more fun and I get it done faster too.

Obviously this is easier said than done when you have spent years ingraining a habit or our inner critic that I like to call the “gremlin”. At the The Conscious Club the other week I heard the neuroscientist, Dr Joe Dispenza from the movie What The Bleep Do You Know? talking about breaking the habit of the mind and recreating what you want in life. As he reiterated, the key is the combination of thought and emotion which makes it so powerful. Once you have the feeling, the action follows more easily. This applies both for the positives and negatives in our lives. It creates choice between your thoughts and emotional reactions. But if you've never known what it feels like to sing from the rooftops, it can be difficult to visualise and feel the joy that would accompany this. This is where I have found the ThetaHealing comes in as a tool to retrain the brain what these feelings feel like http://www.claudettewadsworth.com.au/thetahealing/ Simply repeating any affirmation or goal is not going to get you anywhere very fast - the key is to visualise and feel like you've already achieved it now in your life!

Prioritising play is also a fairly new concept as most of us were brought up in a society where play was seen as frivolous that should be placed well after work. However, research shows that employees who work less hours to enable more free time for relaxation and families, get the job done faster and more efficiently because they're more motivated, relaxed, happier and thereby, feel more fulfilled in their jobs. Hence the saying, if you want a job done, give it to a busy person - they've got less time at the job but they actually achieve more. Interestingly, more high profile executives are putting this into practice such as Facebook's CFO Sheryl Sandberg who leaves work at 5.30pm everyday to be home for her children. 

What can you do to bring more play into your life?

Question whether you are taking on too much and preventing others from doing their fair share. You may be blaming them unnecessarily for not taking on more responsibility or beating yourself up for not getting everything done, although it maybe unrealistic. Be clear with your boundaries and learn to say No. Doing things you don’t want to only creates stress so change what you do or change your attitude as stress is the number cause of most health problems I see in my practice. Ask yourself these questions: What am I most grateful for in my life right now? Who do I love? Who loves me? What am I committed to in my life right now? What am I most happy about in my life right now?  What am I proud of in my life right now? What am I most excited about in my life right now? What do I enjoy most in my life right now? It does not have to take loads of time or money to have fun. Smiling and laughing occasionally is a start and helps to keep the "gremlin" at bay.

Yoghurt Boosts Sexual Performance

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have made a surprising discovery that yoghurt boosts sexual performance of male mice and even increases the size of their testes! This was an unexpected result as they were actually studying the influence of probiotic diets on obesity. However, the yoghurt eating mice had 10x the active follicle density - giving them thicker, shiny hair, 5-15% heavier testes, faster insemination of their partners, and even developed a "male swagger" pointing their testes outwards. Females eating the yoghurt gave birth to larger litters and were more efficient at weaning their pups. Now researchers at Harvard University are studying the link between yoghurt intake and semen quality in humans with similar results. Source: The Week.

The Pill - What All Women Should Know

The Pill is a convenient and effective contraceptive of synthetic, powerful hormones (various combinations of oestrogen and progesterone) used to override and suppress the body’s own production of these hormones. As a result, ovulation does not occur as the ovaries are suppressed and the eggs unused. These hormones are involved in cell replication, bone density and the body’s production of other hormones, such as DHEA and testosterone.

What many women don't know are the unwanted side effects of the Pill which are more common than women realise and become accumulative in nature as most women stay on the Pill for years at a time. These include:
• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies. I advise all women taking the Pill to take a multivitamin each day but unfortunately the Pill actually affects how these are absorbed as well. Palan PR et al, American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2006 v194:e35-e38
• Increased copper and vitamin A storage, so that there is a risk of toxicity from too much.
• Increased risk of blood clots and high blood pressure: do not smoke whilst on the Pill!
• Increased pigmentation of the skin, causing brown skin marks.
• Decreased liver clearance ability, impairing liver function, causing a build up of toxicity in the body
• Increased risks of reproductive cancers. Meta-analysis of case-control studies has found that use of oral contraceptive drugs is associated with an increased risk of premenopausal breast cancer, especially with use before first full-term pregnancy in parous women. Kahlenborn C, Modugno F, Potter DM et al. Mayo Clin Proc 2006; 81 (10): 1290-1302.
• Reactivation of the body’s production of hormones upon cessation of the Pill may be delayed or dysfunctional, causing hormonal irregularity and imbalance as well as infertility
• When used for purposes other than contraception, it does not correct the underlying causes of the hormonal dysfunction that will reemerge once the Pill is stopped.
• Increased tendency to develop vaginal infections including candida.
• Can trigger or exacerbate migraines and/or headaches.

Cautions to be aware of:
• Antibiotics, anti-epileptics, anti-fungals, vomiting, severe diarrhoea decrease its effectiveness: additional contraceptive measures should be employed during this time!
• Do not smoke whilst on the OCP as blood clotting is increased significantly by both the Pill and smoking. Spontaneous, fatal heart attacks and strokes of seemingly healthy women in their 20-30 years have been reported when using both drugs.

FemCap

A women's hormone-free, safe, effective and easy-to-use contraceptive that actually works! FemCap is a reusable, latex-free, FDA-approved contraceptive cervical cap. It’s easy to insert and remove yourself, not as bulky and more effective than a diaphragm and doesn’t need to be fitted by a gynaecologist. It’s not sold in Australia yet as our market here is so small but easily available with comprehensive notes & DVD by post.  www.femcap.com

Natural Contraception

Claudette also teaches Natural Contraception using temperature and cervical mucus charting together with your lunar dates. From her clinic, Claudette sells the Natural Fertility Management kits for both conception and contraception as well as helping women re-establish hormonal balance and regular cycles again after coming off the Pill, breastfeeding, around menopause and other hormonal conditions affecting the reproductive system such as PCOS, endometrisois, fibroids, period pain, fertility problems or a total absence of periods. http://www.claudettewadsworth.com.au/womenshealth/

High Cholesterol - Try these Tips

High Cholesterol

Cholesterol is essential in the body to carry around fats and sugars and to make hormones. It is only a problem if there is too much as it gets deposited in arteries. 80% of cholesterol is made by the body to carry around excess fats and sugars; only 20% comes from diet. Therefore, it is usually not high cholesterol foods in the diet which is the problem, eg eggs but poor quality fats and sugar. Research now says it is safe to have 6 eggs a week. Similarly, if your cholesterol is too low, this will cause problems such as depression, violent behaviour, aggression and increased risk of cancer.

Cholesterol foods to avoid: organ meats eg. brain, kidney, liver, caviar, crustaceans eg. prawns, lobster, oysters, crab, too much dairy especially butter, cream, cheese. 

Increase Omega 3 oils which boost HDL good cholesterol, lower Triglycerides and have a platelet unsticking effect in arteries: cold water deep-sea oily fish (salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, cod, mullet, sardines) eat 3/week; nuts and seeds: a handful/day to sprinkle on cereal, salads or snacks: walnuts, almonds, pecans, Brazil, linseeds (avoid peanuts); cold pressed oils to use raw in salad dressings (not commercially processed salad dressings) or drizzle over vegetables: flaxseed oil, extra virgin olive oil 1Tb/day; avoid canola or vegetable oil and use avocado on bread instead of margarine or butter.

Avoid Trans fats which are synthetic fats that are fairly new to our food chain due to modern processing methods but they cause free radical damage to our cells,. They are formed when vegetable oils are hydrogenated as in margarine, hardened in shortening eg. packet biscuits and pastries, or, in oils that have been overheated as in deep frying, or, oxidized oils which are rancid oils. They harden and thicken the food product so it will not go soft or go off quickly but remains crisp for months on your pantry shelf. But they also do this to our cell membranes and arteries once we eat them. Avoid margarine, hot chips, French fries, deep fried, doughnuts, packet biscuits, commercially-produced muffins, pastries and rancid oils. 

Many companies use trans fat instead of oil as it is less expensive, improves taste and texture of food product and extends storage shelf life. Unfortunately, food companies are not required to list it on the nutrition label so we have no way of knowing how much trans fat we are eating. Also, there is no upper safety limit for the recommended daily intake of trans fat, simply that “it should be as low as possible”. 

However, by adding one steak to your diet per day, you increase your saturated fat by 5%, which increases your risk of a heart attack by 17%. By adding one commercial muffin to what you normally eat each day, you increase your trans fats by 2%, but your risk of a heart attack increases by 93%! Trans fats make platelets sticky, increasing the likelihood of a clot in a small blood vessel causing strokes, heart attacks or circulatory occlusion. They can increase blood cholesterol levels by up to 15% and blood fat levels up to 47%.

Other cholesterol lowering tips:

• 1 Tb of psyllium husks and 1/2 squeezed lemon in glass of warm water on rising
• Add 1-2Tb flaxmeal or ground linseeds to cereal or in smoothie each day
• Eat artichokes and replace meat with vegetable proteins occasionally: chickpeas, lentils, borlotti beans, etc - mix through salads, add to soups/stews
• Drink roasted Dandelion root tea or green tea instead of coffee as coffee raises cholesterol and blood pressure. Try fresh sprigs of rosemary in hot water as a tea - excellent for the liver!
• Reduce all sugars, sweets, chocolate, fruit juice, soft drink, dried fruit and limit your fresh fruit to a maximum 3 pieces per day
• Avoid white flour products and increase your fibre by eating wholegrain bread
• Reduce alcohol: moderation means 2 glasses every 2nd night for men and half this for women
• Drink vegetable juices which help flush out the liver and are full of antioxidants eg. carrot, celery, beetroot, ginger, spinach
• Smoking: 70% increase in death rate and 3-5 times increase in risk of heart disease
• Decrease stress: stimulates more cholesterol production as cholesterol is the precursor to the stress hormones: try deep breathing, meditation, massage, yoga, tai chi, relaxing hot bath, time out in nature
• Exercise: 1 hour 3x week - whatever you enjoy!!

3 Easy Steps to Prevent Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis OA is caused by a depletion in bone density, called "porous bones" so that they become weak and brittle with age, resulting in fractures. However, if there are adequate nutrients to support their structure and repair as well as favourable environmental conditions for the bone formation and restructure, your bones will provide enough strength and support throughout your life. The foundations of your bones are laid down early in life but they are being constantly remodelled all the time and it is never too early to start taking preventative steps. Post-menopausal women are at higher risk of OA due to the hormone changes but there is much that can be done to prevent excessive loss if healthy changes are made early enough.

Diet & Sunshine

Vitamin D is one of the most important nutrients for bone formation. Make sure you have a blood test with your doctor to check your levels (at least 100mmol/L) as I find many clients today are deficient as they are either working inside all day, are overly conscientious in avoiding the sun or live at a latitude where there simply is not enough sunlight exposure. The Vitamin D producing UVB rays are absent all day in winter at latitudes south of 35 degree which is everything south of Canberra! Being a fat soluble vitamin, food sources include cod liver oil, butter, oily fish eg. sardines, mackerel, salmon and milk. Most people are not consuming enough though so you will need sunlight exposure everyday in the morning without sunscreen or sunglasses or to supplement. The recommended dosage is 1000 international units (IU) of vitamin D every day but if you are already deficient, then this maintenance dose will need to be increased.

Calcium sources include soups made with bones, seaweeds, full fat dairy (you need the fat to absorb the calcium properly), vegetables like kale and broccoli, almonds, tahini and oily fish mushed up with the bones eg. sardines or salmon. The recommended dosage is at least 1,000 milligrams (mg) of elemental calcium (1500mg for post-menopausal women) every day. You need other minerals as well which work with the calcium which come from a broad healthy diet with lots of vegetables and salads.

Soft drinks, especially Coke, coffee, sugar, sweeteners, diruetics, alcohol and cigarettes all leech calcium and minerals out of the body. Research shows that junk food and carbonated drinks in teenage years are a primary cause of osteoporosis.

Exercise

Weight bearing exercise is essential to deposit the minerals into the bones. This includes walking with hand weights, jogging, squats, lunges, push ups, resistance exercises, yoga but does not include swimming unfortunately! Our bodies are made to move every day so include some exercise into your daily routine with duration being more important than intensity.

Stress  

Stress hormones strip the body of vital minerals and create acidity in the body which accelerates bone demineralisation. In our stress-driven modern world, relaxation is vital for everyone. Relaxation is different to sleep and uses different brain waves. Choose a method that suits you and make a commitment to yourself to spend to spend some time every day practicing relaxation. eg. meditation, drink chamomile tea, stretching, yoga, gardening, spend time in nature, remember to breathe, counselling, massage, creativity: writing, art, cooking, singing - especially in the shower, dancing - even around the room for 10 minutes is a great release!

10 Foods for an Einstein Brain

To boost your mental power and speed up your memory recall, include these foods in your diet:

1. Eggs Eggs contain choline which is essential for boosting memory. They are also an important source of cholesterol which is the building block of hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain so having very low cholesterol can be just as damaging as high cholesterol. You only obtain 20% cholesterol from your diet so 2 eggs a day for 5 days won't raise your cholesterol that much. Buy organic, not just free range! Best eaten with a runny yolk either boiled or poached - yum!

2. Bananas Our brains need potassium to help keep them alert, B vitamins to nourish the nerves and magnesium to keep us calm and relaxed. The perfect post-workout snack or try a banana smoothie for a fast nutritious breakfast.

3. Walnuts Full of Omega 3 oils for brain and nervous system development - just take a look at a whole walnut kernel - remind you of something...

4. Blueberries We've all heard how blueberries are antioxidant superfoods, rich in flavonoids, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and macular degeneration. However, new research at the Harvard Medical School found that those who ate blueberries experienced slower cognitive decline by up to 2.5 years.

5. Oily Fish Oily fish like sardines, salmon, mackerel contain Omega 3 oils and good quality protein which are both essential for brain development and function. Unfortunately our seas are so polluted nowadays that it is essential to source smaller fish to avoid heavy metal accumulation such as mercury. Avoid larger fish: tuna, swordfish, flake (shark), marlin, catfish, orange roughy (deep sea perch). 

6. Coconut The common myth that coconut oil is bad for you has been widely dispelled by current research advocating the numerous health benefits of coconuts. Coconut oil contains medium-chain fatty acids which are heat-resistant so it is the safest oil for cooking as it doesn't turn into harmful hydrogenated fat that elicit damaging free radicals that attack brain and body cells.

7. Avocado Good oils like vitamin E and Omega 3 oils make this creamy fruit a delicious addition to any salad or smoothie - antioxidant and nourishing for brains all round!

8. Spinach Popeye may have looked all muscle but he obviously had some brains too. Spinach is rich in iron to improve energy and concentration levels as well as antioxidants to prevent ageing of the brain.

9. Almonds New research has found 30gm daily of raw nuts including almonds boosts serotonin levels, making you feel happier and decreasing hunger. Source: Journal of Proteome Research

10. Water A lack of water is the number 1 trigger for fatigue with a mere 2% drop in body water triggering fuzzy short-term memory problems, trouble with basic mathematics and difficulty focusing on the computer screen. Keep a jug of water on your desk or carry a bottle with you - the Elixir of Life!