Individuality in Holistic Nutrition

The more I relate nutrition to individuality the more it’s evident that there is always an exception to every rule and an argument for every study. It’s forced me to adapt how I apply nutrition to the individual.  While one person may be able to smoke and drink to live to 101 another may succumb to disease at 35 to that lifestyle. I truly believe to each their own when it comes to nutrition.  The key is for people to take accountability for how their body is reacting to their lifestyle.  If you have no complaints then what you are doing is producing health!  If you’re complaining or there are symptoms to disease developing then you need to use nutrition to adapt your lifestyle to alleviate the results of your current lifestyle. 

After a year and a half of trying to reduce the fat I put on my mid section during my pregnancy, I realized that my high-carb, low-fat, low-protein plantbased lifestyle wasn’t producing the immediate results I needed to feel better. Carrying extra weight causes issues for me with my hip so in order to reduce my pain levels and help with my mobility, I needed to lose at least 6% of my body fat. Along with changes to my physical therapy and fitness routines, I would need to change my nutrition to a restrictive diet for a short course of time. I tried doing plant based low carb but the amount of soy that I would have to eat would not be good for my long term health since my family has a history of estrogen based cancer. While reducing the fat on my body is for health, I always have to take into consideration genetics. After doing research on different types of protein and what diseases they’re linked to, I decided that an 8 week course of:

   1. adding egg; 3 times a week

   2. soy protein; 2x a week 

   3. vegetables high in proteins 

This change to my nutrition, as well as reducing my carbs, would still keep my risk levels of developing disease low, produce the desired result with the nutrition and hopefully not add any inflammation to my body.  

Now I completely understand the backlash I may receive for my choice not to be completely plantbased in my nutrition!  I only added eggs and no dairy or any other animal product which I don’t feel has any relation to the development of cancer and disease, if only consumed 3 times a week. As someone who has lost 100Lbs twice and recently 41 pounds I can tell you my focus is human health and well-being through nutrition and lifestyle. 

I am 8 weeks into the manipulation of my nutrition and changing my fitness routines. I have completely controlled my nutrition by not eating out. I know exactly what I’m eating with zero variables except for what I prepare. I have reduced my body fat by 6% and have lost 14 pounds. While I am seeing the weight loss results and do feel lighter on my joints, I am starting to see an increase in my inflammation.  I am starting to have issues with my mobility and pain so now that I’ve accomplished my immediate health issue, I will need to manipulate my nutrition back to completely plantbased to help combat my current issues because that is the only way for me to achieve improvement. 

     I’m very fortunate to have amazing doctors who work with me to slowly work on what we can do see improvements where we can make them using east meets west!  What’s most notable for me during this is how easily we can control our health by using nutrition and holistic means. We truly are what we eat and our health is definitely in our hands, we just have to do the work. 

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger

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2 cups cooked/mashed sweet potato 

1 cup cooked unsalted black beans, rinsed and well drained 

1 - 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

1/2 cup finely chopped Walnuts (optional)

1/2 cup finely diced green onion

2 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper (to taste)

1 tsp Liquid Smoke 

1 tsp Chipotle Powder

2 Tsp Maple Syrup (optional | for added sweetness)

1/2 cup Walnut Meal

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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

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Prep: Bake Sweet Potatoes at 400 for 30 minutes and Cook Brown Rice at the same time. Each take approximately 30 minutes to make.  Once the potatoes are cooked reduce oven to 375 degrees.

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Mash the black beans and sweat potatoes together well, then mix in the remainder of the ingredients. If the mixture is too wet add more Walnut meal. It should be a little moist but able to hold how you mold it.

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Lightly grease a baking sheet with expelled coconut oil and line a 1/4 cup measuring cup with plastic wrap. Fill the measuring cup with mixture and pack down, then lift out and transfer to the baking sheet and gently press down to form burgers. The thinner the burger, the faster they’ll cook. A gentle press worked fine.

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Bake burgers for a total 30-45 minutes, flip carefully 20 minutes in for even cooking. Bake them longer for a firmer and drier texture. Mine were perfect at 40 minutes!

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Serve on a whole wheat bun with endless topping options!  I went with a spicy sweet Jalapeño Mustard, Lettuce, Tomatoes, avocado and marinated red peppers!

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This is a very versatile recipe. You can leave out the Maple Syrup and add some Green Curry Paste and top with Cilantro and Onions for a spicy burger or add the Maple Syrup and take out the chipotle Powder for a sweeter burger. Use this as a base recipe and make all types of delicious plant based burgers!

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