🐉 Dragon Fruit Delight: The Surprising Benefits of Pitaya for your Skin + Gut

Are you tired of eating your boring old bananas and fruits? Well, then say hello to pitaya, also known as dragon fruit! This spiky pink fruit is not only visually stunning; it is also packed with amazing health benefits that can do wonders for your skin and gut.

Dragon fruit benefits the skin

Let’s start with the benefits to our skin. Dragon fruit is the perfect fruit to combat ‘dragon skin’. Pitaya is loaded with vitamins such as vitamin C, which helps to promote healthy skin and wound healing. Because pitaya is rich in antioxidants such as betalains and flavonoids, it can which help to protect cells from free radical damage, reduce inflammation, and slow down the signs of aging. Say goodbye to fine lines and wrinkles and hello to youthful and glowing skin! Not to mention, the fruit’s high water content helps to hydrate your skin from the inside out. Yes, please!

Pitaya is a gut superhero!

Its high fiber content helps to promote digestion and prevent constipation – essentially, pitaya helps you poo! Plus, the fruit’s probiotic properties help to maintain a healthy gut flora, which can boost your immune system and improve your overall well-being.

Dragon fruit helps your heart and nervous system too

Pitaya is a good source of magnesium, an essential mineral that plays a role in heart health and nerve function. The iron contained in dragon fruit is responsible for red blood cell production and oxygen transport in the body. It also contains potassium, which is an essential electrolyte that helps regulate blood pressure and fluid balance along with calcium which aids in muscle and nerve function.

Now that you know what pitaya can do you for your body, make sure you put this fabulous fruit on your grocery list!

How to eat dragon fruit + ways to incorporate it into your diet

Now, we know what you’re thinking. “How do I even eat this funky-looking fruit?” Well, fear not, friends, for there are countless ways to include pitaya into your culinary creations.

First up, smoothies! Simply blend pitaya with some fruit, non-dairy milk of your choice, nuts or protein powder. Here’s the 🦄 Pink Unicorn Smoothie ✨ to try

A variation of this would be a pitaya smoothie bowl which you could top off with your favorite granola, such as DIY Hippie Granola, and fresh fruit. Voila! A nutritious, Instagram-worthy breakfast.

But wait, there’s more! You can also slice up pitaya and add it to your fruit salad, mix it with some coconut water (or a margarita) for a refreshing summer beverage, make it into salsa, or even grill it for a unique and flavorful taco ingredient.

The possibilities are endless with pitaya, so get creative and enjoy this versatile and nutritious fruit in any way you like!

There you have it, folks. Pitaya, the superfruit that not only looks good but tastes delicious and also benefits your skin, gut, and heart. So go ahead, give it a try, and thank us later!

5 Immunity Boosters: Foods & Herbs

Herbs and spices have been used since antiquity and are time-tested natural remedies for a variety of illnesses and diseases, including viral infections. There are therapeutically active constituents of these plants which exhibit anti-viral action and protection.

Sometimes science takes awhile to catch up with proving the healing benefits of plants. A simple example here is that cranberry juice helping urinary tract infections was considered an “old wives tale” until scientific research a couple decades ago found it to be true – cranberries have a property that prevents the adhesion of pathogens (e.g. E. coli) to the bladder wall.

Because of lack of interest in funding research on non-patentable compounds, be aware that the research on benefits of some herbs may be scant and have limited human research.  On the other side, many of these herbs and spices have been studied for a few millenia (far longer that most pharmaceuticals) so…

Do your due diligence. Research and consult with your healthcare provider as certain health conditions and potential drug-interactions need to be evaluated. And now, without further ado…

Garlic

Garlic has a special place in our hearts. Ever since we were broke college students, we have relished the power, ubiquity and inexpensive nature of this plant. It has antibacterial, anti-viral, and anti-parasitic properties (to say nothing of its ability to ward off vampires). It also acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. Garlic a common ingredient and easy addition to a variety of dishes. For about a cost of only fifty cents per bulb, it’s a worthy purchase.

Elderberries

The plant family ‘elder’ is also known as sambucus. Native American tribes and even ancient Egyptians used this plant to treat infections and heal the skin. Today these elderberries are most often found available in the form of syrups and lozenges and are used to ameliorate cold and flu symptoms. A mouse study published on PubMed found that concentrated elderberry juice exhibited a “beneficial effect by the stimulating immune response and preventing viral infection” while in a review of human studies, “supplementation with elderberry was found to substantially reduce upper respiratory symptoms [emphasis added].” Is anyone else Team Elderberry right now?

Ginger

Zingiber officinale, also known as ginger, is found in its whole form and in products such as teas, lozenges, and tinctures. Being helpful to pregnant women experiencing nausea is just one of ginger’s impressive resume qualifications. Its potent plant compounds, including gingerols and zingerone, contribute to ginger’s impressive antiviral activity. If ginger were a person, we wouldn’t let this coronavirus-related recession stop us from hiring him/her as an essential employee of our anti-viral unit.

Licorice

Whether you love or hate the taste, licorice has some tools to help keep you safe from viral infection. Used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and elsewhere for hundreds of years, licorice root contains active antiviral compounds called glycyrrhizin, liquiritigenin, and glabridin (say those three times fast, geez). In vitro (test-tube) studies show licorice root’s effectiveness against herpes virus, HIV, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and, wait for it……..SARS-associated coronavirus infection.

Echinacea

Very popular in herbal medicine, Echinacea is one of the best all-around plants because of its extensive healing properties. The entirety of the plant is used – roots, leaves, flowers- in a variety of natural remedy preparations. It’s also a beautiful, purple plant that you may see roadside or in a metro park. Another trusted and time-tested plant used by Native Americans, it has been used to allay a number of conditions, including viral infections, and is immune-modulating. Several in-vitro studies found that a variety of types of echinacea plants (including E. pallida, E. angustifolia, and E. purpurea) effectively knock-out herpes and influenza viral infections.

Remember, these foods and herbs can only really work their ‘magic’ within the context of a body otherwise supported by good nutrition. A diet high in added sugars, mucous-producing foods, and low in vitamins and minerals won’t help your immune system power-up and effectively take on coronavirus or any other infections.

Ready to talk more to a nutrition expert and lay firm foundations for your health for the short- and long-term? Schedule for your complimentary 20-minute Discovery Call and take control of your health and wellness.

Thank you, Flu

Wondering where we’ve been? Well, first Arizona, and then, during the week where writing a blog was at the top of the list, something happened. Whether it was a delayed on-set from exposure to recycled airplane air or just from another silently contagious human, the flu caught up with us.

An early morning of feeling super-slow, as though walking through molasses, and strange aches made us call a meeting short. Thinking we could still rally and celebrate a friend’s birthday dinner, we decided on a nap. It was only upon awaking that the sad truth set in, with its fever and chills, achy joints, headache, and congestion. The flu.

Too tired and weak to drum up a will to fight, we chose an opposite approach. Giving in. It was decided: instead of trying to force ourselves to feel better and continue working (at least from home), we would do what animals tend to do – including slowing waaaay down. The first day we didn’t eat, the second day was spent in the cave-like bedroom allowing sleep to take over whenever tiredness hit (which was basically all day). Though we couldn’t eat much at all, we took a look at our mental diet…what would we watch or read that would make us feel better? (It ended up being Netflix’s Kindness Diaries and Queer Eye, both rather inspiring and heart-warming). For someone whose stomach rules her life, it was odd not to feel hungry and day 3 brought back a little hunger and ability to enjoy a favorite Mediterranean meal. Here are some silver linings from the experience:

1. Slowing down – the experience showed the wisdom of not running ourselves into the ground all the time
2. All of the delicious vacation meals (including homemade Butterfingers and coconut ice cream) put some weight on, which was promptly removed by the flu.
3. Seeing people in life care and bring wellness remedies, food, and even humor to the situation.
4. Gratitude for health increased dramatically; how we take it for granted when we’re well!
5. A nice surprise: sugar cravings went away! It felt like a whole-body reset after a few days of tea, remedies, lots of water, and rest.

Though it was wise to take time to heal, it was more than a bit frustrating to have to scratch all of our appointments and goals for the week. So if getting sick is something you don’t have time for, take time for keeping yourself well. Here are some tips to do just that:

1. Wash hands thoroughly; clean door handles on a regular basis
2. Get enough sleep; skimping here will lower your immune system’s ability to fight off illness
3. Healthy diet; this should go without saying. Proper nutrition is critical to protecting the body and keeping it well.
4. Stay hydrated; it is easy to over-look the benefits of getting enough water
5. Laughter: it boosts the immune system!

Stay well, friends!