Cleaning up my diet has been a process. I made a conscious decision to transition to mostly vegetarian, but I’m not ready to totally eliminate animal products. First, I love organic goat cheese and eggs I use in cooking. Finding some things hard to substitute, I enrolled in an online cooking school, which is inexpensive and very interesting.

In our Conscious Eating section titled “Nourish the Heart: Foods That Promote Cardiac Healing,” by Steven Masley, M.D., we look at the right food choices to prevent heart disease, shrink artery plaque and nourish the heart. The following cardiac-healing foods are recommended: fiber (vegetables, fruits, beans and nuts); healthy fats (seafood, extra-virgin olive oil, avocados, seeds, nuts and dark chocolate); clean protein (beans or animal meats that are hormone- and pesticide-free, grass- and organically-fed and wild or open-pastured); beneficial beverages (pure water, tea and coffee in moderation, fiber- and protein-rich smoothies, up to two servings of wine and non-sugary drinks); and probiotic foods (yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, pickled veggies and miso). With recipes for frittata with spinach, mushrooms, and cheese; ratatouille; and cioppino (Italian seafood stew).

In Green Living: “Baby Steps to Living Greener: Tips for Lowering Toxins in the Home,” by Tom O’Bryan, M.D., daily exposure to invisible household toxins can cause serious health consequences. The average person is exposed to 700,000 to 2 million toxins each day, and some of these are “forever chemicals” that never leave the body or take decades to be expelled. This huge toxic burden compromises human health, sometimes leading to autoimmune diseases. Room-by-room, recommendations include air filters and houseplants for cleaner breathing; organic cotton bedding, solid wood furnishings and reduced Wi-Fi exposure for better sleep; reverse osmosis water purification; glass, stainless steel and cast-iron cookware; non-plastic food storage containers; and elimination of chemicals in bath products. Small, incremental actions around the house can have a powerful cumulative impact on the mind, body and planet. 

I have been working on the greening of my home for several years. Focusing on clean water, clean air, and removing products that contain unhealthy additives, in everything from what I use on my body to condiments, which in many cases is the same additive and I do the same for my fur babies. This has been a process. 

Choosing to go down a healthy new road, the learning is stimulating and the process daunting, but once we push past the daunting part, the reward is great. Now is the time to push ourselves into a new year of good health and wellness to discover the best reward ever! 

To conscious living,

Pamela Gallina, Publisher