PlantsGiving is coming! Holidays are a time for us to reflect and show gratitude to those around us. Do the holidays trigger stress eating, which inevitably causes your Good Gut to flair for weeks afterward? Though these days are meant to be holly, jolly, and happy, they also at times test our patience! It can be hard to avoid 100% of the people and events that trigger you. You know, the ones that make you want to say f^($ it, I’m eating the cake/ cookies/ super rich or oily dish). We are not immune to this! What are our best strategies for combating self-destructive behavior to maintain a Good Gut?
1. We take some time and take a mini breather- a walk, a quick trip to the grocery store, a few minutes of alone time in a bedroom.
2. We breathe!! Taking deep belly breaths helps to take you out of the sympathetic ‘fight or flight’ state and put you back into the parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ state. 🏽Reducing stress to the best of our ability (this can be a challenge in today’s world), doing our best to spend time each day re-centering, checking with ourselves, and engaging in at least 1 outlet for those pent-up emotions
3. We bring a healthy dish to enjoy AND a healthy appetizer to munch and crunch on. Nothing relieves stress like crunching on a carrot or radish when your relatives are criticizing your new hair cut or parenting style! if you have any food restrictions or intolerances and are trying someone else’s dish, ask if it includes any of the things you are intentionally avoiding.
4. We channel our energy in an upbeat, positive way! Rather than competing for attention or who looks best, compete with your family and friends over who wins this round of Rummikub!
5. Whether a partner, friend whose family does not live nearby, or a coworker who doesn’t celebrate on a day you do, bring someone who can help you enjoy the day that much more.
6. We get in proper hydration - hydrating abundantly with water, herbal teas, smoothies, and veggie juices. Trying to limit or avoid refined sugary beverages, which can weaken the gut-immune system
7. We fit in sufficient sleep - at least 7 hours per night, hopefully uninterrupted to restore every cell and microbe in our bodies!
Always remember, the best thing you can do for your Good Gut is say NO! To things, people, food, & situations that don’t make you feel your best.
Whatever you choose, we recommend finding an alternative outlet that doesn’t send you running to the toilet 🚽, Emergency Room 🏥, or your doctor’s office 👩🏻⚕️.
We try to enjoy these holidays without making them 100% about food. Treatyoself, don’t beat yoself. Food can feel like one of the only reliefs right now, which has led many into binge eating, stress eating, and over-indulging these months. Looking to upgrade your traditional Thanksgiving entrees into a fiber-filled, #GoodGut Plantsgiving fare? We got your back (and your gut!) with our PlantsGiving recipes. It’s our mission to help you and your fam, ‘Heal With Each Meal’™ and when is a better time than the gatherings with those you love most to do so?!
These recipes are all whole food plant-based meaning not only are they vegan (no animal products), but they also do not contain any:
Refined Sugar
Gluten
Artificial Coloring
Artificial Flavors
Lean Lentil Loaf
Save a turkey and have a flavorful, fiberful star of the show instead! This dish offers a wide variety of seasonal veggies, protein, and fiber to feed your gut and body with nutrients. You’ll definitely want to gobble, gobble this up!
Caulipower Mashed Potatoes
Step up your tater game by leaving the fiber-filled skin on your potatoes and adding in some caulipower! Enjoy this fiber-filled skin on potatoes with oil free gravy for a #goodgut flavorful addition to your Plantsgiving feast!
Marvelous Mushroom Gravy
Mushrooms are an underrated superfood. They have tons of B vitamins, Selenium, Potassium, Copper, and one of the rare plant foods that can have vitamin D, all nutrients to support your #goodgut!
Perfect Pumpkin Curry Soup
Loving everything pumpkin spice and everything nice? We love transforming this perfect holiday gourd into a savory meal that is as delicious as it is adorable.
Savory and Sweet Fall Salad
Sweet and savory fall flavors come together in this crunchy, creamy salad!
Craveable Cranberry Sauce
Holidays are a time where sugar is abundant and in almost everything you eat. This is a time when immune systems are low, weather is cold, and the body needs all the help it can get. Cranberries are a great source of antioxidants to help support the immune system, along with the vitamin C in oranges. Their efforts won’t be thwarted by refined sugar, as dates are used to giving a sweet kick to balance out the tartness of cranberries, without a dramatic blood sugar spike.
Good Gut Pumpkin Loaf
Love everything pumpkin spice, but not all the sugar and synthetic ingredients that often accompany it? Want to enjoy a festive Holiday food made with ingredients that are great for your #GoodGut? We love this moist, comforting bread as part of breakfast or a snack, even better when paired with a plant protein!
Makes 16 servings
Ingredients
1 can pumpkin purée
2 very ripe bananas
20 pitted Medjool dates (24 if you’d like it very sweet)
1.5 cups oat flour
2 cups buckwheat flour
1.5 Tbsp baking powder
1.5 Tbsp pumpkin spice seasoning
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1.5 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 bar dark chocolate (we used alter eco total blackout 100% dark chocolate)
1 tsp coconut oil
Directions
Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients (oat flour, buckwheat flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice)
In a blender, blend the wet ingredients (bananas, pumpkin purée, dates, applesauce, vanilla extract, and soy milk)
Chop the chocolate in small morsels
In the large bowl, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly
Fold the chocolate morsels into the mixture
Oil the sides of the pan with the coconut oil
Put the mixture into the oiled pan
Bake shallow pans less than 2” for 33 minutes (if the pan is narrow and deeper, bake for 45 minutes. We recommend using a 2” pan for best texture and consistency).
To ensure it is thoroughly cooked, poke with a toothpick before removing the pan from the oven.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Enjoy with unsweetened plant based milk.
We are not only Integrative Registered Dietitians who work with patients on a daily basis to reverse and prevent disease, we are a family who lives a full and fun life. Foods that heal can be eaten every day and every holiday in a tasty and easy way. We hope these recipes bring you and those you love most health, happiness, and vitality to thrive.
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References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, September 14). How much sleep do I need?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 9, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html