"I was amazed that over Skype, Mary could see me and tell that I had been eating a lot fruits and vegetables lately, by the 'glow of my hair and skin', as she described it. That blew me away, that she was so in touch to be able to look at people and see where they are with their diet.  She gave me helpful ideas for healthy (and tasty!) 

One more thing - since my sessions with Mary, I have been bringing gluten-free, organic food for my work lunches every day, and the whole year before that I bought my lunch every day in the cafeteria at work, so that was a great big change that was actually really easy to make after our 2 sessions!  Thank you!"

Since we all know milk is not the healthiest choice anymore- yes, even organic milk or lactose free milk, unfortunately. The pasteurization process, hormones, chemicals, living conditions and food given to the cows all add up to equal poor choices for the animals and is therefore transferred to humans too, especially little ones. Milk has been shown to be a major food allergen and even contributes to the creation of other food allergies in the body. 

For many of us, milk causes unwelcome congestion, not just in the nasal passages, but throughout the body and also contributes to elevated cholesterol. And it's not from the fat in the milk, even skim milk milk is a leading cause of major health issues- diabetes to name one.

So the question is, where do we get calcium if milk is only an occasional treat? When eaten in small amounts, organic unsweetened yogurt (yogurt has beneficial bacteria and the lactic acid versus lactose makes it less mucus forming than milk- add your own honey or maple syrup) is a great choice but plant foods are the best choices to eat in larger quantities. 

Five plant foods with a good dose of calcium are:

• dark leafy greens
• sesame seeds
• chia seeds
• seaweed
• chickpeas (whole or ground into hummus)

Those that top the list are: collard greens (great for wraps) cabbage, mustard greens, broccoli, watercress, seaweed such as dulse, kelp and nori.

Try this calcium packed savory snack:

Wrap up a collard green, romaine leaf or kale leaf (can steam kale or collard green lightly if raw is too tough for you- or I like to rub raw kale lightly with olive oil and a bit of lemon to soften it) and add in some hummus, sprinkle with some dulse or kelp flakes (Maine Sea Vegetables sells handy shakeable containers at health food stores) and top with some thinly sliced English cucumber and sliced carrot, sprinkle on some sesame seeds before wrapping it up and munching away.

One of the restaurants down the street from my little Costa Rican bungalow, Kaya Sol, makes a smoothie similar to this without the cacao, spinach and chia seeds- I added the chia and spinach for nutritional density and the chocolate because it blisses me out...this treat is so delicious, filling and is naturally sweet! And you don't taste the greens! For the little ones or if serving for dessert after dinner, take out the coffee beans. Add water to thin it out to make it more of a drinkable smoothie versus a spoonable pudding.

Ingredients:

• 3 small bananas or 2 regular ones
• 2 avocados
• 2 Tablespoons cacao nibs or powder
• 2 Tablespoons chia seeds
• 2 heaping tablespoons coffee beans
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (cold if possible)
• dash of cayenne and sea salt (optional)
• 5 leaves of spinach (optional)
• 4 ice cubes

Directions: 

Add all of these to your blender/VitaMix/Blendtec, blend up and spoon in!

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