Healthcare Starts In The Fridge: At Home with Nutritionist Brigid Titgemeier

Food is the most incredible gift that has been given to us by nature as a way to feed our cells, improve functionality, create health and decrease our dependence on disease management.

"Healthcare starts in your refrigerator, not necessarily in your doctor’s office."

How you choose to vote with your fork and dollar for every single meal matters more than you can even imagine. The foods that we purchase are the best way for us to take a stand for the health of our bodies, regenerative farmers that support soil quality, organic foods, and nutrient dense, colorful produce. How we stock our kitchens is an opportunity to change the state of our health and support those who are creating necessary change in the world!

Your needs and preferences won't necessarily look like mine, but I’m honored to be able to share some of my favorite kitchen staples! 

ALWAYS IN MY FRIDGE: Sauerkraut or kimchi (love feeding my gut microbiome), fresh ginger root, wild salmon (I store this in the freezer and move to fridge to thaw), broccoli sprouts, quality condiments, broccoli or cauliflower, rainbow chard, dairy-free creamers, blueberries, greek almond yogurt, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, and brazil nuts. 

These are staples but I am a big proponent of switching things up and getting varied food sources to help increase the diversity of your gut microbiome. 

7 RECIPE STAPLES ALWAYS ON HAND: Extra virgin olive oil, citrus (lemons & limes), tahini, liquid aminos or tamari sauce, garlic, eggs, redmond real salt

MUST-HAVE MUNCHIES: I love crunchy and salty snacks! Pumpkin seeds; gluten-free crackers and hummus (we actually don’t have any gluten in our house because of my gluten intolerance); grass-fed beef sticks or venison sticks; lupini beans; olives; and roasted chickpeas. 

FAVE CONDIMENTS: Buffalo sauce--especially Primal Kitchen Buffalo Sauce! I pour it on everything I eat. I try to avoid vegetable oils in all condiments (ie: sunflower oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, corn oil, etc.) so I love that this buffalo sauce does not contain those. 

INGREDIENT THAT MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER: Fresh ginger or almond butter--not necessarily together but it’s too hard to pick just one! 

FAVE VEGGIE: Broccoli sprouts are the best because they are so easy to make and also easy to add to foods to enhance the nutrient density and get a big burst of sulforaphane in a small dose! I also love rainbow chard, especially the crunchiness of the stems! Since rainbow chard includes several different colors, it packs in a variety of phytochemicals, in addition to tasting delicious! 

GO-TO PROTEINS:

Venison sticks (from a deer hunted by my husband)
Organic turkey deli slices
Canned sardines
Wild salmon
Lentils
Lupini beans
Grass-fed whey protein powder 

BEST LABEL-READING TIP: Take a food is medicine approach to label reading, which means consider the nutrient richness of the food you are purchasing. This makes the caloric information less important. Focus on the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), real colors (nature-derived), dietary fiber, proteins and healthy fats that are included in the product.  

DAIRY OR NON-DAIRY FAVES: I love Primal Kitchen Vegan Ranch & Lemon Turmeric Dressing on salads, Nut Pods in my matcha green tea, and Kite Hill Unsweetened Greek Yogurt. 

SKIP LABELS THAT READ...Include a lot of added sugars, vegetable oils, artificial colors and flavors, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, enriched flours, artificial sweeteners and chemical additives (carrageenan, potassium bromate or calcium bromate, etc.). 

FAVORITE SPLURGE:Dark chocolate with nut butter! We occasionally make gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and my banana bread recipe. Sometimes we will buy a cashew cream ice cream and occasionally I love getting frozen custard! I generally love all things peanut butter and dark chocolate! 

FOR LAST MINUTE ENTERTAINING:
My Kale Pear & Lemon Chicken Salad is our go to. I also bring this salad to cookouts (minus the chicken) and always get tons of requests for the recipe! 

FAVE PLACES TO SHOP: Local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and farmers markets (although you always have to be careful and ask where the farm is located because sometimes the produce at farmers markets comes from the same farms you will find in the grocery store). I also love Thrive Market, Butcher's Box, Nuts.com and Trader Joe’s. 

SIMPLE GO-TO RECIPE: Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding! This is the easiest recipe and we make it every single week and keep a big batch in our fridge!

The post Healthcare Starts In The Fridge: At Home with Nutritionist Brigid Titgemeier appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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