May Newsletter 2024

We hope you all had as much fun as we did with the walking challenge. For those of you who were following, Stephanie did win her mini-household-challenge! Shame on those who doubted her! JK! We were so excited to to hear the feedback that you enjoyed being outside and felt much happier being more active throughout the month. We know that you all know that walking is good for you, but we love when you apply what you know and actually feel the positive rewards in your body. Our goal is to bring topics to your consciousness to help you create good lifestyle habits. At Paradigm360 Wellness, we strive for progression, not perfection.

Monthly Challenge: Meal Prep May

Do you ever feel like you are being pulled in all directions at the exact same time? You go to work then have to rush home to get the kids to soccer practice on time, only to then rush home to help them with their homework and then you have to do nighttime routines! The whole day feels like it flies by and you just want to sit and relax. The first thing that people get rid of in order to free up time in their schedule is cooking. It seems to be so much easier to stop and pick something up in between errands than to cook something for your family after a long hard day. But did you know that almost all restaurants cook their food in harmful seed oils? They tend to use cheaper forms of chicken and beef that are full of antibiotics and hormones. They also almost always choose fruits and vegetables that are covered in pesticides and often time GMO products. We all want to nourish our families and ourselves, but how do we find the time?!

That brings us to our May MEAL PREP Challenge. In the month of May, we want to encourage you to take the time once a week to prepare nourishing foods for your family to enjoy ALL week.

The first step to accomplishing this task is knowing your schedule. A household calendar comes in handy when you are trying to meal prep. You should be able to see which days will be the most busy and which days you will have a second to breathe by looking at your family communal calendar. Once you have an idea of how the week is going...you start planning!

We wouldn't leave you to struggle with this challenge alone. We have a Meal Prep Guide eBook available upon request to help guide you through the ins and outs of getting your family fed at home and saving time doing it! Simply message us and say...Please send me the eBook!

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Movement of the Month: Rucking

Child-like and natural movements are essential to keeping our bodies young and agile.  If we looked at  how our ancestors lived long ago, we know that they had to do much more physical work/movement in order to survive.   There weren't massive trucks bringing supplies into their dwellings and there wasn't running water available to quench their thirst or wash the dirt off their bodies.   Did they have modern day luxuries like Uber Eats or Door Dash to get their food for the day?   Nope!  So how did they get all of their needs taken care of?  They would have to CARRY what they needed, whether it was food, water, or supplies, from place to place.  This leads us into our movement of the month...Rucking!

What is rucking?

Simply put, rucking is the act of walking while carrying weight; typically on your back. Why on earth would we want to do this?  Carrying things is powerful.  There are so many physical and mental/emotional benefits to incorporating rucking in your daily walks (we know you will continue with the April challenge and keep getting those miles in!).  

For starters, It burns more calories than walking alone, leading to greater occurrences of weight loss.  It helps to strengthen your back and shoulders while improving posture.  It strengthens our bones, and we all need that as we age!  Another bonus is that it is easier on your joints than running. Basically, rucking is powerful because it makes you powerful.    It makes you a stronger hiker, runner, paddleboarder, weightlifter, etc. by building strong muscles, improving cardio abilities, and it trains lower and upper body at the same time.  

On top of all of that, if you incorporate rucking in your daily walks, you are getting that outdoor exposure.  Outdoor workouts improve our  moods and help you attain quality sleep.  Rucking is for anyone because you can adjust to your strength level and requires minimal equipment.

Starting is simple!  You don’t have to go out and buy anything to get you out there and working.  You may even realize that you are doing your own version of rucking daily!  Load a backpack with canned goods and carry it with you on your daily walks.  Start small and add more when you are ready.  And for all of you parents out there….Carry your child or your child’s diaper bag rather than putting it under the stroller when you are out and about.  Bringing awareness to where you can squeeze these natural movements into your day are little steps to make big changes.

Health Events in Our Area:

May 4-- National Play Outside day and National Fitness Day

• May 11-Be Well 2nd Annual Wellness Fair

• May 6 and 20--Free Yoga on the Creek
  

• Weekend Pearl Farmer's Markets

Recipe of the Month

Have you had any experience using the spice, cardamom?  Cardamom is a plant that grows in parts of Asia and is included in many traditional Indian dishes to help enhance flavors.  The plant pods are dried and ground into a powder to use as a spice.   Cardamom has been used in ayurveda healing practices and there are health benefits of incorporating cardamom into your diet. 

Cardamom has antibacterial properties which can help inhibit the  growth of certain types of infections such as staph, candida, and even salmonella. These antibacterial properties have also been noted to promote good oral health by inhibiting the growth of bacteria on the teeth and gums. In fact, you can find cardamom in many tooth powders for brushing. It also has anti-inflammatory properties that can have positive affects on all parts of the body.   With the rise of diabetes, we need to be looking at natural ways to help regulate our blood sugar and reduce inflammation.  A study in 2019 published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture found that supplementing with cardamom reduced A1C levels in type 2 diabetic participants. It has been noted in studies to help cardiovascular health by reducing the triglycerides in participants.  Triglycerides are a form of fat that lead to plaque build up in blood vessels.  

There are supplements that include cardamom that you can purchase through our Fullscript Dispensary, but we always want to encourage our friends to try to incorporate as much as you can into your food.  Cardamom can be bought in the spice section in the grocery store.  Our best advice is to purchase and experiment with using it!  Here is a cookie recipe to get you started!

Cardamom Thumbprint Cookies:

Ingredients: 2 ½ cups almond flour, ½ tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp sea salt, ½ tsp ground cardamom, ¼ cup melted coconut oil, 3 Tbsp organic maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract,1 Tbsp gelatin powder, 3 Tbsp hot water, unsweetened or fruit-sweetened fruit jam

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

1. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of hot water in a small saucepan. Once it begins to steam, sprinkle gelatin powder over top. Turn off heat. Allow gelatin to sit and “bloom.” Then whisk briskly until foamy and dissolved.  

3. Add coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to gelatin and whisk to combine.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly, until dough forms.

5. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll a small amount of dough in your hands to make a 1-½ inch ball. Repeat with remaining dough and place on cookie sheet.

6. Use your thumb to create a shallow well in the center of each dough ball and fill with ½ teaspoon of fruit preserves.

7. Bake 8-12 minutes, until edges are golden. Allow to cool slightly and enjoy! 

Recipe Adopted From:  Functional Nutrition Alliance

Research & Reviews:

Last month, we took a look at the Pottenger Cats and explored the findings from Dr. Pottenger's inquiry on how diet affects the health of future generations. What he noted was that a diet that was nutrient deficient has a huge impact on the health of the next 2 generations. We, Paradigm360 Wellness, always say that everything we put into and onto our bodies matters! This study shows that it doesn't just affect your health...but the health of your children and your grandchildren!

But listen....it’s NOT all Doom and Gloom!  In yet another extension of the his original cat study, he observed and documented “Regenerating Cats”.  These cats were 1st or 2nd generation  cats on a deficient diet that are returned to a diet of raw meat (optimal diet).  Though it took 4 generations to regenerate to a state of normal health.  Improvements are made along the way.  So that gives us all HOPE!  

He says, “One of the experiments more startling discoveries is that, once a female cat is subjected to a deficient diet for a period of 12 to 18 months, her reproductive efficiency is so reduced that she is never again able to give birth to normal kittens.  Even after 3 to 4 years of eating an optimum diet, her kittens still show signs of deficiency in the skeletal and dental development.”   But wait….there is more to this quote!  “When her kittens are maintained on an optimum diet, a gradual reversal and regeneration takes place.”     again….HOPE! That give us a whole lot to think about.

Another path of experimental study brought him to “Variation Cats”–  These cats were fed on an alternating schedule of Raw meat and cooked meat 

Kittens were fed the optimum diet, but for 6 months of their lives (coordinated with teenage years)  they were switched to have cooked food. Can you think of why he would do this?

One finding was that Female cats on this diet have kittens with deficiency symptoms even though she appears to be in good health.  As long as her kittens receive the optimum raw diet, their health improves ….again…HOPE!

I think that the biggest take aways from this part of his research is that we have more control over our health than we may think. Our genes can be manipulated and we can improve our health through diet and lifestyle. If you are ready to start changing how you feel, click on our link and sign up for a Discovery Session with us! We would LOVE to help get you started on your "Regenerating" life style.

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