Omega Sprinkle Recipe + Myriad Plant-Based Omega Sources + Continued Plant-Strong Opiate Free Healing
This is such a framework! Add in whatever you desire: the biggest thing is to make sure you’re keeping in the flax seeds.
Today was the first day of remote learning, the 6th day of healing with a respectful sloth pace, and the evening has “My Octopus Teacher” blowing our minds in the background, so this will be brief.
Continue for: our Omega Sprinkle Recipe; plant-based omega sources; continued Plant-Strong surgery recovery (navigating the days after an umbilical hernia surgery without opiates and a wholllle lot of oatmeal); plus 3 days of this family showing you how to thrive on plant-based whole-foods: the most environmentally friendly, cheapest, healthiest feasting there is.
Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward!
Blend in a processor, blender, or grinder until sandy textured.
Tastes like graham cracker topping when put on oatmeal. <3
Note that per ounce, walnuts are even higher than salmon.
If you’re going to use your platform to make any manner of nutritional statement you better make sure it’s actually based in physical health and be backed by leading organizations, otherwise you’re simply spewing harm and more planetary destruction. So, as much as Q and I love “Rainbow Land” for its positive vibe and forward-thinking lilt; I was dismayed to hear Miley Cyrus had gone on the Joe Rogan horn to spew nutritional ignorance about Plant-Based diets. Why would this irk me?
You can get omegas safely and kindly through the above plant-based sources (and the ones through that link), and rather than do the slightest bit of research she broadcast to millions pure lie & myth (and as seen above the reprocussions have an environmental, compassionate, lack-of-health ripple.)
I’ve been seeing an equal amount of doctors and trolls respond to the “I needed to eat fish / I need to eat for my brain type” claim with the first half responding via evidence-based facts, information on how to easily/safely get enough omegas through a plant-based diet, and references to nutritional guidelines; and the other half trolling themselves merrily toward an early grave.
For anyone who hadn’t seen my previous posts about omegas, here’s also Dr. Frank Sacks (professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health):
There's no reason to do so [<—even take DHA/EPA supplements!!!] if you eat plenty of ALA-rich foods such as flaxseed, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and soybean or canola oil. Green vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, spinach, and kale also contain small amounts of ALA.
And if clicking away to links isn’t your thing, here’s a whole swell explanation from Dr Michael Greger:
According to two of the most credible nutrition authorities, the World Health Organization and the European Food Safety Authority, we should get at least a half a percent of our calories from the short-chain omega-3 ALA. That’s easy: My Daily Dozen recommendation for one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds takes care of that. Our body can then take that short-chain omega-3 and elongate it into the long-chain omega-3s EPA and DHA found in fish fat.
Why not supplement with omega-3 fish oil or just eat fish, though?
Fish oil pills have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, thanks in part to the American Heart Association’s recommendation that individuals at high risk for heart disease should ask their physicians about omega-3 fish oil supplementation. But what does the science say?
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at all the best randomized clinical trials evaluating the effects of omega-3 fats on life span, cardiac death, sudden death, heart attack, and stroke. These included studies not only on fish oil supplements, but also on the effects of advising people to eat more oily fish. Overall, the researchers found no protective benefit for overall mortality, heart disease mortality, sudden cardiac death, heart attack, or stroke.
After putting all the studies together, researchers concluded there was no longer justification for the use of omega-3s in everyday clinical practice.
Fish oil, even purified (“distilled”) fish oil, has been found to be contaminated with PCBs and other pollutants. The concentration of dioxin-like pollutants in fish oil is so high that when taken as directed, salmon, herring, and tuna oils can cause the average person’s overall daily intake to exceed the tolerable limit of toxicity. This may help explain the studies that found adverse effects of fish consumption on cognitive function in adults and children.
Thankfully, you can get the benefits without the risks by getting long-chain omega-3s from algae instead, which is where the fish primarily get it from to begin with. By getting EPA and DHA directly from the source at the bottom of the food chain, you don’t have to worry about pollutant contamination. In fact, the algae used for supplements are just grown in tanks and never even come in contact with the ocean.
This Omega Sprinkle recipe is a good way to start. One tablespoon of it contains your recommended daily does of your short-chain Omegas, and if you sprinkle this on the top of your oatmeal it has the consistency and taste of graham cracker topping: but it’s feeding you essential fats and fibers.
Your brain and your body will thank you…and our environment will thank you for avoiding the needless/cruel round-up of fish.
All around win and positive path forward!
The Green New Deal should definitely be on our path forward.
Individually, though, our food choices have an incredible impact. Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined. Shifting Plant-Based considerably reduces your personal impact on the environment, and greatly benefits your health.
Breakfast had been the oat pile photographed prior (served with a blueberry/strawberry/mango sauce and a little peanut butter.)
Plant-Based Whole-Food Lunch? A scalloped potato delivered by Crystal (made with her own homemade PBWF sauce), homemade marinara made out of a tomato medley, and pickled peppers.
Oh Hey, that topping is a hemp-heart shake that it’s like shredded parm. You mix hemp hearts, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, paprika, and a little black pepper. Boy HOWDY. Tastes like toasted parm and is giving you healthy omegas and not dangerous dairy.
Another Omega option: spirulina smoothie.
This one is blueberry, mango, oatmilk, and spirulina. (<—Vibrantly green algae that is super good for you and you don’t taste a speck when mixed with enough fruit. :-) )
Plant-Based Whole-Food Family Feasting: a black rice and brassica (broc & cauliflower) casserole, served with heirloom marinara, pickled peppers, kale, and corn and bean salad delivered by his grandparents.
Fiber and Antioxidants <3
Filling myself up with fibrous food like the above is what kicked my system into gear post-surgery, and didn’t send me to the bound up realm I wailed in post c-section.
Plant-Based Whole-Food Breakfast: homemade oat/teff/tapioca bread, berry sauce, peanut butter, and a pear.
I spent the morning on my feet testing out new recipes and trying to keep myself mobile while not over-doing it.
Here seen, the beginnings of a lemon chia pudding.
Plant-Based Whole-Food Lunch: lentil loaf nachos (diced up lentil loaf and then season it taco style in a pan with water or a little veg oil, and garlic), cashew queso, ten-minute tomatillo sauce, a kale salad, and some of that corn and bean salad.
Crust Bar, Overnight Oats, Lemon Pudding (with a little added spirulina), diced up cantaloupe/mango/mint/lime.
This was the first day where I spent the bulk on my feet: moving slowly and trying to keep active, but not to over-strain. Here seen: I’m making another batch of oatbread, and it looks like I’ve already made a new batch of berry sauce too.
The recovery of this surgery feels similar to the recovery post c-section, and I remember vividly how foreign and discomforting opiates felt in my body (they bound up my whole GI system —which is at the center of your whole health—) and being numbed to what was going on in my body didn’t seem to communicate well to the thought that I needed to know what was pain/too-much/the-wrong-angle/etc so I could learn and adjust accordingly.
It means accepting a little more pain at the onset, but it has helped me (<—this is just my own tale, do not take this as medical advice!) heal better and has also recognized in me a strength I didn’t know I had. My last ibuprofen was Tuesday around dinner time, and I was able to navigate my son through his first day of school and then settle into my great-grandfather’s chair and start typing out missives about omega fatty acids.
Prior to having, Q I was generally thought of as weak (family and friends made regular jokes about this) and I would have gladly given myself the same self-deprecating description; but something shifted in me during the pain-killer free 20+ hours of active labor; the 3 hours of every 90 second pitocin contractions (still without the pain-killers); and then coming home, taking a breath, refusing the medication that made me feel numb to what felt like a whole lot of raw and ready-to-be-absorbed data, and I was swept into this PRESENT and strong swirl I’ve been in for the last 5 years.
Bringing another soul into this world made me stronger because it woke me up to all the responsibilities beyond myself and showed me how I was wasting a whole lot of time an energy on weakness. It also made me realize that humanity wastes a revolting amount of time on social constructs, appearances, and nonsense that absolutely does not matter in the grand scheme, all the while we are gobbling up the futures of our children, ruining the habitats of millions of species, and ruining this planet for every species/soul on it.
There is no time left to waste in stupor standstill, so in this realm life is now about feeling and growing forward with what's received.
More PBWF Healing Feasting: summer squash bisque, whole oat bread, black rice brassica casserole, easy avocado, and corn on the cob.
Homemade bread, berry sauce, peanut butter, tiny apple, and tiny pear.
Low Resource Breakfast: me eating the last of the overnight oatmeal out of the pan to save a dish.
Quillan making us tea <3
Tostada Tuesday: diced up lentil loaf (season it taco style in a pan with water or a little veg oil, and garlic), cashew queso, ten-minute tomatillo sauce, pickled summer squash, and corn salad.
Q Tacos: diced up lentil loaf (season it taco style in a pan with water or a little veg oil, and garlic), cashew queso, ten-minute tomatillo sauce, pickled summer squash, and corn salad.
Setting up for remote learning.
Family Feasting (Ian took this photo and prepared these for us <3) Summer Squash Bisque, kale and balsamic tomato salads, and cornbread I’d made that afternoon.
What’s the most impactful thing you can do as an individual to help your kin, community, millions of species, and planet? Transition as plant-based as possible.🌎♥️
Why? Plant-Based foods are environmentally imperative 🌎. They also promote ideal health💪 (which takes stress off our overburdened health care system), are inexpensive🙌, delicious🤤, & compassionate. 💕
Why imperative, though? 🤔We’re approaching (& have crossed) climate tipping points that will doom our kin & millions of other species. 😱📣Reducing/eliminating animal products is the *most impactful thing an individual can do* to prevent worse. 🌎🔥
Why? Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined, it’s tied to water waste/loss/pollution (<-- freshwater is our most precious resource💧), land loss/deforestation (<-- exacerbates climate change by reducing our ability to sequester carbon🔥🌎), ocean acidification (<-- FYI 50-85% of earth’s oxygen originates from oceanic plankton🌊) & vast species loss/extinction/suffering💔📣🌎
Plus, consuming animal products is tied to increased risk of cardiovascular disease❤️🩹, diabetes👎, cancer👎, and chronic disease👎; whereas Plant-Based feasting is linked to preventing/reversing some of our most common diseases (<— like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer); plus it promotes ideal health & robust strength (ie Olympians, Weightlifters, Endurance Athletes are thriving via PBWFs too). 🎉🙌♥️
What organizations are promoting plant-based diets for best health and environmental stability? National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Yale, the United Nations, Harvard School of Health, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Kidney Foundation, even the Parkinson’s Foundation.
We’re all overwhelmed in one way or another, but for the sake of our kin (and the millions of species we share this planet with) we need to start pivoting forward. As someone who once rarely ate green things & used to eat animal products at every meal, I can assure you that is possible, affordable, enjoyable, & purposeful to pivot Plant-Based. In fact, our whole family is now healthier/stronger than ever. 🙌♥️
Anecdotally, our son had failure-to-thrive, was also plagued with perpetual ear-infections/sinus-infections, and had an omnipresent runny nose. What was he eating? Grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, eggs from organic-fed/well-loved chickens from a neighbor, every meal came with vegetables, and we limited junkfood. He was healed via a plant-based diet: he’s launched out of that diagnosis and the last time he had a sinus-infection (or was sick at all) was in 2019 when he had some cheese at a school Christmas party. Before shifting to PBWF’s he was sick every month, and how he’s a robust, vital, thriving kiddo. 🙌🎉♥️
If you think any of the above sounds over-reached/absurd/impossible, please go read the links above. I understand the inclination to hackle-raise (<—because I was once totally there) but the science is clear: any step we make forward is imperative (<—and again “STEPS” is the focus. Don’t leap, just start making steps!). It’s as simple as starting with one meal a week and growing from there.💕
We have the ability (deliciously, healthfully, kindly, inexpensively) to *preserve/protect* the planet we share with millions of species & our kin. How are we going to use that power today?✌️🤟🖖
