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Food, Mood and Women's Health – Be your healthiest, look and feel great!

rooibos

Rooibos tea with a chocolate twist

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chocolate-rooibos

I’ve discovered a new rooibos tea and love it and want to share it with you! It’s rooibos tea with a chocolate twist: Numi Organic Tea – Chocolate Rooibos with smooth vanilla notes.

When I shared this image on facebook here are two comments I got:

  • I drink Numi’s Rooibos everyday, but I didn’t know they made CHOCOLATE!
  • CHOCOLATE…I’ll have to find that one!

Notice that both people wrote CHOCOLATE in upper case! I have no doubt that the word “chocolate” will get many more people trying this healthy herbal tea. But I must give you an advance warning – the chocolate taste is very subtle. And if you’re sensitive to the caffeine in chocolate like I am you may find you can tolerate this – I certainly can.

You may recall my interview with rooibos researcher, Dr. Amanda Swart, in season 1 of the Anxiety Summit: A Functional Food in the Management of Stress. We discussed the role rooibos plays in the maintenance of normal cortisol levels, the influence of rooibos on cytochrome P450 enzymes, and the amazing array of polyphenols and flavonoids found in rooibos. Wow, a simple beverage that can help reduce stress and anxiety! And so much more!

Here is some new rooibos research:

chocolate-rooibos-description

Just read the description on the back of the box and see if you can resist it:

Smooth South African rooibos is enveloped by creamy vanilla beans, sweet honeybush and rich cacao. This sensual treat is a delightful, soothing beverage you can melt into.

The vanilla gives it a naturally sweet taste which you may need if you don’t enjoy straight rooibos (an acquired taste for some)

Let me give you a few more reasons why I recommend this product – other than the delicious taste and wonderful health benefits:

  • It’s organic
  • It uses fair trade ingredients
  • It uses non-GMO biodegradable tea bags
  • It’s a herbal tea so is caffeine-free
  • It doesn’t have any artificial or even natural flavors

I’m a skier and Brad snowboards and I like to be prepared with “padkos” (South African for food-for-the-road) and one nice treat is hot herbal tea for the drive up and for the drive home. For the trip up to the ski resort, I make it in a large stainless steel mug with lid and we sip it as we drive. I take an extra teabag and a thermos flask of boiling water and make a new batch to sip on the trip home. It’s so yummy and so warming, plus it keeps us well-hydrated which is important with all that exercise. 

Check out the Numi site. I love this company and their vision: “Numi inspires well-being of mind, body and spirit through the simple art of tea. Our company is rooted in the principle of creating a healthful product that nurtures people and honors the planet. In all of our company initiatives, we strive to foster a healthy, thriving global community while bringing you the purest, best-tasting organic tea.”

 

Tastes of Africa: some of the foods I’m eating here in South Africa

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papaya
Delicious pawpaw from tropical Durban, South Africa

I’m visiting my family in South Africa and it’s been lovely catching up, laughing, hugging and eating some really good food! One night we had roast lamb, steamed Brussel’s sprouts and baby marrow (zucchini) and a delicious creamy cauliflower dish.

The other night we had a yummy Paleo-type pasta-free lasagna from the new Tim Noake’s book “The Real Meal Revolution.” I’ve also been eating lots of paw paw/papaya – my favorite fruit!

I even managed to fit in some work and loved having the opportunity to present at my sister’s Stroke Support Group. There is a big connection between stress/anxiety and heart disease/stroke.

We ended up having a healthy discussion about real food and how far off track we’ve gone:

  • We fondly remembered having real full-fat milk being delivered to our doorstep – milk with thick cream on top!
  • We also talked about buying good quality meat from a butcher we knew.
  • Many of them remembered eating liver as kids and their moms cooking with lard!
  • I remembered the vegetable/fruit truck driving around the neighborhood selling fresh produce

We need to get back to basics and eating like we ate as kids and how our grandparents ate.

I’ve been eating plenty of avocados, biltong/jerky, and butter, and drinking rooibos tea

Avocados after a trip to the beach – big ones!
Avocados after a trip to the beach – big ones!

 

Beef biltong/jerky hanging to dry Chopped beef biltong/jerky
Beef biltong/jerky hanging to dry                                         Chopped beef biltong/jerky

 

Rooibos herbal tea
Rooibos herbal tea

 

Cultured butter
Cultured butter

There is a food revolution happening here in South Africa right now and it’s wonderful! Before I leave I promise I’ll share a recipe or two.

The Anxiety Summit: Rooibos – A Functional Food in the Management of Stress

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amanda_swart rooibos

Amanda Swart, associate professor from the Department of Biochemistry at Stellenbosch University in South Africa was interviewed on the Anxiety Summit by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Rooibos: A Functional Food in the Management of Stress

  • The role rooibos plays in the maintenance of normal cortisol levels
  • The influence of rooibos on cytochrome P450 enzymes
  • The polyphenols and flavonoids found in rooibos
  • Other health benefits of rooibos

I am such a research nerd, and I like to keep up with the latest research on anxiety and stress and mood. I immediately contacted the author when I came across this study, “Rooibos Influences Glucocorticoid Levels and Steroid Ratios In Vivo and In Vitro: A Natural Approach in the Management of Stress and Metabolic Disorders.” For you research nerds out there, this was published in March this year, 2014, in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

Here are some great gems from my interview with Amanda:

The plant world is amazing, that’s where our medication comes from usually. The drug companies base most of their drugs on what is available in nature, and they just change structures a little bit.

If you can remember… back in the seventies and eighties, people weren’t really that stressed out yet. Stress is a very modern disease.

In the human study, they drank rooibos for six weeks, and they had six cups and they soaked the teabag for ten minutes. We didn’t see that cortisol levels decreased significantly, but what we did see is that the ratio of active to inactive was vastly improved.

If the ratio active cortisol to inactive cortisol is high, this is normally associated with metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Here is a link to the rooibos publications on Amanda’s ResearchGate site

Here is the prostate cancer study that Amanda discussed – how one of the adrenal androgens – 11 hydroxy androstenedione, may be implicated in castration resistant prostate cancer. (This in unrelated to rooibos consumption but Amanda’s rooibos cortisol work lead her to this work)

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here www.theAnxietySummit.com

UPDATE: the summit concluded on Tues 6/24 – season 2 of The Anxiety Summit will be in November 2014. If you’d like to be on the notification list just sign up here www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts + interview highlights and listen when it suits you

The Anxiety Summit day 1: stats and trends and reinventing psychiatry

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 anxiety-summit-affbanner

The Anxiety Summit kicks off next week with my introduction addressing: “Stats, trends and gems.” Get ready to hear some shocking trends that we are seeing in mental health!

One of them is: kids with autism are being prescribed benzodiazapines for their anxiety! This is truly shocking and is just one reason why we need nutritional solutions for anxiety, panic, social anxiety and OCD.

Our first expert is Dr. Kelly Brogan M.D., Holistic women’s health psychiatry. Our topic is “Misunderstood and Mistreated: Reinventing Psychiatry.” Here are a few gems she shared:

  • there are multiple root causes of mood disorders: low blood sugar and low thyroid issues, and food intolerances with inflammation playing a major role.
  • there is no clinically significant difference between SSRIs and placebo
  • women should not take statins – ever! (I wholeheartedly agree!)

We respectfully disagreed on the role of serotonin in anxiety and depression (she doesn’t believe low serotonin plays a role!). Hopefully we’ll be able to convince her one day.

Here is the incredible speaker line up and their topics – for the first week:

  • Dr. Felice Jacka, PhD, “The research: food for the treatment and prevention of anxiety and depression?”
  • Esther Blum RD, “How to Live Gorgeously and Rock Your Inner Cavegirl”
  • Julie Matthews, CNC, “BioIndividual Nutrition for Anxiety: How special diets and avoiding certain foods can support individuals with anxiety”
  • Mira Dessy, NE, “How additives in your food can make You anxious”
  • Amanda Swart, PhD, “Rooibos: a functional food in the management of stress”
  • Dr. Stephanie Seneff, PhD, “How aluminum and Glyphosate (Roundup) collaborate to cause anxiety, depression, autism and celiac disease”. I blogged about this last week and shared that:
    • “Deficiencies in tryptophan, tyrosine, methionine and selenomethionine associated with celiac disease, match glyphosate’s known depletion of these amino acids” … contributing to anxiety and depression.
  • Margaret Floyd, “Comfort food or sweet misery? How sugar controls your mood and how to get it out of your diet”
  • Julia Ross, MFT, “Eliminating Anxiety: Amino Acid Therapy and Adrenal Balancing”
  • Dr. Hyla Cass, MD, “The Addicted Brain and How to Break Free”
  • Dr. Josh Friedman, PsyD, “Integrative Psychotherapy: My Journey from Psychoanalysis to Whole Person Mental Health”
  • Trudy Scott, CN (yours truly!), “How zinc and vitamin B6 prevent pyroluria and social anxiety”
  • Dr. Anna Cabeca, DO, “The role of our hormones and neurotransmitters in anxiety”

Join us on The Anxiety Summit to hear 20+ experts share research, nutritional pearls, food advice and protocols.

The Anxiety Summit is a free online virtual event that runs June 9 to June 22 and will be bringing together experts from all over the world – to share nutritional approaches to end anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks and OCD. Get access to the interviews here www.theanxietysummit.com

UPDATE: the summit concluded on Tues 6/24 – season 2 of The Anxiety Summit will be in November 2014. If you’d like to be on the notification list just sign up here www.theAnxietySummit.com