Are you a chocolate lover?  Is it because you appreciate chocolate for its health properties. If you know chocolate can be healthy, did you know that its because of the cacao (cocoa) beans its made from, and that healthy chocolate needs to contain at least 72% cacoa.  Cacao  contains flavonoids that have high levels of antioxidants, which can boost your immune system.  Chocolate can also protect you from heart attack and stroke by lowering blood pressure, reducing inflammation and improving your mood.  Did I mention that chocolate can be used as a homemade beauty recipe to improve your skin?

So if you want to feel healthy and look fabulous, try these two homemade chocolate recipes.

Homemade Chocolate Facial Beauty Remedy Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp cacao
• ½ tsp honey
• 1 tbsp sour cream or yogurt / kefir or 1 tbsp avocado
• 1 tsp oatmeal powder

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Apply on the face, gently massaging it so that oatmeal can start exfoliating the dead skin cell layer. Leave it on for about 20 minutes and rinse off with luke warm water.

Healthy Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound (about 250 grams) of good-quality semisweet chocolate (72% cocoa content)
  
• 1/4 cup all purpose cream (or whipping cream) 
• 1 teaspoon strong coffee
• Cocoa for dusting

Directions:

Melt the chocolate. Warm up whipping cream in a saucepan. Add one teaspoon coffee to cream, stir, and remove from heat. Mix all the ingredients and stir well until thicken. Put into refrigerator for at least for thirty minutes and then form into truffle-sized balls. Roll the truffles in the cocoa. Lay out on waxed paper and refrigerate again before serving, but serve at room temperature.

Don’t forget to breathe, smile and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Counselor and Coach

NaturalCounselorBlog.com

Because we are what we eat, during the winter it is important to eat more winter super foods. 

Fantastic Winter Super Foods to Stay Healthy and Feel Fabulous

I. Whole foods rich in anti-stress vitamins and minerals can fight stress illness and you should try to incorporate them in your diet to have less stress.

Magnesium
It has been found that people who exhibit stress illness have low magnesium levels. A deficiency of magnesium interferes with transmission of nerve and muscle impulses, causing irritability and nervousness.

For more magnesium, eat more apples, dried apricots, avocados, brown rice, garlic, grapefruit, lemons, leafy vegetables, millet, nuts, sesame seeds, salmon (wild caught).

Calcium

Our body needs a proper balance between magnesium and calcium to have a healthy stress response. Healthy foods rich in calcium are almonds, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, figs, kale, kelp, mustard greens, oats, prunes, sesame seeds, salmon, seafood, sesame seeds, tofu, plain yogurt / kefir.

B6.
Studies show that people who are depressed have low levels of B6 and serotonin. Eat more avocados, bananas, fish, spinach, walnuts to get more Vitamin B6.

B12.
As we know, B12 deficiency can contribute too many anxiety disorders caused by stress, such as hormonal imbalances, blood sugar fluctuations, chronic fatigue, depression, irritability, moodiness, nervousness. To eat more salmon, seafood, sea vegetables (if we don’t eat meat) will help.  A detailed plan with suggestions for reducing stress overload you can find in my eBook “ DeStress-101-Survival Kit for Busy Women”

II. The second step in helping us feel better and be healthier during Winter is to boost our immune system with winter holistic detox.

For a quick detox drink, drink more water (filtered of course!) – it helps us eliminate more toxins. You can also drink teas with Dandelion, Nettles, Ginger, Burdock Root.

Also, try sifting from the most congesting foods (sweets, diary products, bread, fats, fried foods, refined flours, meats, hydrogenated fats, drugs) to the least (fruits and vegetables, grains, nuts and legumes), which can help with holistic weight loss detox cleansing of your body to bring it into balance.

And we don’t need an excuse to wait for spring to a herbal cleanse of our bodies, because we can use healthy detox super foods, such as apples, beets, celery, squashes, garlic, carrots, onions, green leafy vegetables, lemons, oranges, parsley, seaweed, beans as well as detoxifying spices like turmeric, coriander, fennel, cumin right now.

We need to include these fantastic detox whole foods in our routine and use one or two every day. Why? Because these detox foods can purify our blood, purify and protect our liver, and cleanse our intestines. More on Super Simple Detox – in the detox eBook “Detox – 101“

Never forget that it is also very important to avoid certain foods if you want to stay healthy and not to get colds. My article “Super Unhealthy Foods to Avoid...” has a list of foods to stay away from.

It is Winter, so slow down, relax and enjoy.

Meanwhile, breathe, smile and be happy,

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition and Relationship Expert

The Holidays are the most stressful time of the year.  You may experience one or more to the following: holiday anxiety and stress, seasonal depression, colds and flu, and financial stress. My suggestion: let’s hug!

Are you a hugging person? Actually it doesn’t matter, because if hugging is a challenge for you, it may be even better – we all need challenges from time to time, am I right?

So give hugs to people you love and people you know, and maybe even people you don’t.

I would like to share with you an excerpt from an article about hug therapy stress relief by Michael Clutton.

Hugs are good for any occasion: birthdays, holidays, greetings, good byes or sometimes just because you want to. When you get a hug, you feel warm, fuzzy and complete.  The hug of another person expresses a certain feeling of union and caring.  They’re a friendly way to express appreciation of another person.

There are group hugs, tender lover hugs, around the waist hugs, kissing hugs, sweet and tender hugs and yes, even the grab-ass hug.  There is the awkward “lean in” for the timid and the breathtaking squeeze-you-till-your-eyes-pop hug.

As a stress relief tool, hugging can help us boost our immune system, fight  colds and flu, increase our energy level and avoid seasonal depression.

Let us hug, breathe, smile and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor and Coach

I would like to share with you one of my favorite immunity boosting recipes that can to help you stay healthy during the cold winter months.

You can use this recipe on a regular basis to boost your immune system. during the winter or all year round.

You will want to mix all the ingredients and put into a container or a glass jar in a dark cabinet. Every time you cook, prepare this mixture to sprinkle on your vegetables, rice or any dish: sautee one teaspoon of mixture in one tsp of ghee (purified butter; you can find it in Whole Foods or any Health Store) for a couple of minutes until you can smell the aroma, but be careful and don’t burn the spices. Season with sea salt if needed.

All Season Immunity Boosting Spice Recipe

• 1/4 part ground cinnamon
• 1 part ground black pepper
• 1 part ground dry ginger
• 2 parts ground turmeric
• 3 parts ground cumin
• 3 parts ground coriander
• 6 parts ground fennel

Click to listen to Pamela Reilly, Naturopath & Raw Food Life Coach on How to Boost Immunity During Cold and Flu and Stressful Holiday Season.

Click to listen to Carolyn Akens, a Health Coach and Raw Food Educator on Healthy Eating with the Seasons: Healthy Fall Recipes to Boost Our Immune System.

Don’t forget to breathe, smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Counselor