Recipe: General Tso Chicken – Performance Edition

Athletes understand that nutrition is the cornerstone to the building of their physique and peak performance. However, like the rest of us, they crave the same fast, tasty, not so healthy indulgences, and often while they can afford the calories, are also left with hampered performances due to nutrient lacking food.

Here is a sample of how you can have your favorite meal and know you are doing your body some good. The chicken can be made in advance, as can the sauce – and you can throw it in a stir fry pan or wok with fresh veggies of your choice, as your brown rice cooks and have an incredible meal at home. Great for last minute guests, or to keep on hand frozen for quick preparation during a busy week.

Everyone loves General Tso Chicken. Eating it with brown rice, does not negate the bad found within the tasty morsels and savoury spicy sauce.

Here is our performance version which is not only healthier, but pretty damn tasty too!

This dish happens to be gluten, nut, soy, egg, and dairy free!Continue reading→

Superfood: Magic Mushrooms

Mushrooms have long been a “love it” or “hate it” food. Their culinary history is steeped in both truth and fiction, but one thing is for certain, they are definitely magical. Here is a brief overview of why they should be a part of your diet. As with all fruits and veggies, please source local and organic where possible.

What mushrooms do:

• Support immune function
• Promote cellular growth
• Protect against environmental stressors
• Help the body’s detoxification process
• Preserve cellular structure
• Support healthy gut flora
• Aid digestion

Other Miracles of Mushrooms

Help in the Fight Against Cancer
Current research shows that a diet that includes plenty of mushrooms can help slow down the development of certain cancers, including breast cancer, which is 70% hormone dependent. Mushrooms are one of the very few non-meat sources of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has been shown to block aromatase, a protein necessary for producing estrogen in women. CLA is also found in dairy products, beef, and lamb.

A Great Source of Key Hard-to-get Nutrients
An average Portobello mushroom has 21% of the daily required intake of selenium and 33% of copper; it has as much potassium as a medium-size banana. Other varieties are just as rich in minerals and mushrooms retain their nutrients when stir-fried, oven baked or grilled.Continue reading→

Food Allergy Testing – What You Need to Know

Food allergies have increased by up to 500% since the 1990s based on data collected from hospital visits. There is also a dramatic increase in other allergic conditions including asthma, hay fever and skin conditions.

This blog aims to give an overview to food allergies – an otherwise, very complex and individual issue.

These days, a lot of people simply believe they are gluten-intolerant due in some part to the popularity of gluten-free life style news in the media and products on grocery store shelves, but the bottom-line is – until you are tested, your symptoms could be one of 100 or more possibilities.

A food allergy is a hypersensitivity reaction resulting in an abnormal immune response to a substance (allergen) that should be harmless. Food allergies have been identified as being mediated by a specific antibody (IgE), but new research and testing is now encouraging doctors to explore the role other types of antibodies may play in disease, specifically IgG and IgA.

IgE-mediated responses are quite severe and usually need hospitalizations, while IgG and IgA-mediated responses are often less severe, and symptoms often seem more generalized. Symptoms from IgG-mediated allergic responses may manifest as skin and complexion issues, headaches/migraines, nervousness and irritability, fatigue, joint aches, immune compromise, gas and bloating, inflammatory bowel disease, and other more common allergic responses such as itchy watery eyes, runny nose, and swelling.Continue reading→