Power Food: Swiss Chard

Many years ago, I purchased a vegetarian cookbook that contains a number of delicious and time-consuming recipes. Because the cookbook was written in the UK, a number of the foods that are referenced are ones I had never heard of before. I could tell from pictures that courgettes and aubergine were British English for zucchinis and eggplants. But the elusive silverbeet? I had no idea, but the name made me think of these disgusting little bugs known as silverfish.

Not exactly my favorite source of protein

As it turns out, the silverbeet, known in other circles as Swiss Chard, is one of the most nutritious foods you can eat. I have never tried it before and, in fact, didn't even know what it was until a couple of days ago. I was reading through (okay, obsessing over) different ways to continue with my latest gardening passion by planting second season crops. A number of sources suggested I plant chard in my fall garden. So many, in fact, that I decided to run to the market and give it a shot.

Both the leaves and the stalks of swiss chard are edible. Young leaves are used in salads or on sandwiches, like any other greens. The flavor is lightly bitter, which makes them excellent choices to accompany sweet salads. I love to make salads with blue cheese, nuts, diced apples, and dried cranberries. As it turns out, chard is a tasty alternative to other fresh greens.

Swiss Chard

Once chard ages, it is still edible, but is better when it is cooked. Some sources have said to use the leaves along with or instead of cooked spinach. Others have said that the stalks can replace asparagus. Because I love both spinach and asparagus, I'm anxious to try it this way.

As for the health benefits of chard, there are many. The vegetable is high in vitamins, nutrients, and minerals. It is also high in antioxidants, including syringic acid, which can help to regulate blood sugar.

Health Benefits of Swiss Chard 
Serving Size: 1 cup, 0 grams of fat, 35 calories
Vitamin K: 572.77 mcg
Vitamin A: 10717 IU
Vitamin C: 31.5 mg
Magnesium: 150.5 mg
Manganese: .58 mg
Potassium: 960.75 mg
Iron: 3.96 mg
Vitamin E: 3.31 mg
Fiber: 3.67 g
Calcium: 101.5 mg
Protein: 3.29 g
Folate: 15.75 mcg
as well as trace amounts of Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6

Are the health benefits of swiss chard not enough? Also consider what swiss chard does for your garden. I have no proof of this, but I have read that chard is an excellent companion to crops like beans, tomatoes, onions, cabbages, and even roses. The natural magnesium and potassium in the plant makes it a good addition to a compost pile and may even help to keep your tomato leaves from turning purple before your soil has had a chance to warm up. Speaking of warm, chard will grow well into the summer and can withstand colder temperatures as well. Or so I've read. I'm going to find out this fall. When I do, we will hopefully have a surplus of swiss chard to share with all of our friends and neighbors, or at least enough to try some of the delicious silverbeet recipes I have, until now, been afraid to try.

The HCG Diet: Good or Bad?

For the last couple of years, I have been hearing a lot about the HCG Diet. The diet, as with all fad diets, offers quick results with little to no effort. Often, HCG comes in the form of injections, but it can also be ingested in pill form. Along with medical therapy, patients are often advised to follow an extremely limited diet of 1,000 to as little as 300 calories per day.

Though the HCG diet has been around for several decades, it has only recently come into mainstream usage. My initial reaction was one of shock, then horror. I was treated with HCG when I was undergoing my struggles with infertility and, in my experience, it is nothing to be trifled with. HCG is the pregnancy hormone. It is created by the placenta in pregnant women and is also present in some cancerous tumors. When used as a fertility booster, side effects can include serious abdominal pain, swelling, muscle tenderness, depression, and weight gain. I experienced all of these and could not imagine someone choosing HCG voluntarily knowing the risks. HCG has not been proven to be an effective weight loss method, though those who continue to take the injections beg to differ. Of course, if this is followed by a restrictive diet, the reason for the HCG Diet's effectiveness is not surprising.

If you follow this blog, you know that I am on a quest to live as healthfully as possible. I have been eating clean foods for the past few months, exercising regularly, and constantly researching the best choices for my life. I am not perfect. I make mistakes. Often, these mistakes are on purpose and are largely centered on chocolate. However, filling my body with hormones in order to promote weight loss is not a mistake I will ever make.

According to the Mayo Clinic and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, HCG is not only not effective as a weight loss method, it is also a threat to human health. The diet has been linked to gallstones and irregular heartbeat. Furthermore, weight loss that hinges on severe caloric restriction is not sustainable over the long term. The FDA has declared over-the-counter, homeopathic HCG drugs to be illegal. Those that are still sold in stores are likely not "true" HCG drops, and are simply amino acids disguised as HCG. 


If you are considering using HCG drops for weight loss or HCG injections for weight loss, reconsider. The "diet" will cost you significantly - a month long plan can cost as much as $500. Instead, opt for a healthier caloric intake of 1,200 to 1,500 per day and increased exercise. You may not lose 30 pounds in your first month, but the weight you take off will stay off. The Mayo Clinic, and common sense, says that losing weight with a restricted calorie diet not only is unsustainable, but also can cause metabolic problems making it even more difficult for you to take off the weight you will invariably regain.

10 Tips for a Healthy Detox

I am a part of the Columbia Slimdown Challenge and my team is doing great! We are currently in 9th place out of 656. Not too shabby. I have done my part by, so far, losing 12 pounds. However, I feel that I need a boost to my energy and to my overall physical feeling. The best way I can think to feel healthy is through detox.

I do a detox a couple of times a year, but unfortunately, I usually do so in an unhealthy way. I will cut out all foods except for water and fruit and I'll end up getting sick for a few days because my defenses have completely weakened. This week I'm very closely monitoring my nutrition so that I can continue to detox without fear of the repercussions.

10 Tips for a Healthy Detox


1. Ditch the Extreme Diet
Detoxing is not about starvation. It is about ridding your body of harmful toxins that can happen from eating foods that are processed, filled with sugars, or contain additives that are not good for anyone. Choosing to fast instead of choosing to eat healthy foods leaves you vulnerable to disease and feeling too fatigued to exercise.

2. Remember to Hydrate
You should always take in a minimum of 64 ounces of water each day regardless of whether or not you are in detox mode. However, during detox days, it is particularly important to hydrate. Many people, during detox, experience a loss of fluids. It is vital to your health and well-being that you replace any fluids that are lost.


3. Namaste
Detox week is a great time to start a new yoga routine. This form of exercise helps you to experience a whole body approach to healthy living. When your mind and your body are able to work together, you get the best benefit from your exercise.


4. Sweat it Out
Yoga is great, but nothing rids your body of toxins like a good sweat. Get your heart pumping with some cardio, then pump some iron. Plan for this at least a couple of times a week and don't forget to drink plenty of fluids.

5. Factor in Rest and Relaxation
We all lead busy lives, but the ideal detox includes proper amounts of rest. Ideally, an adult should get about eight hours of sleep per day. For many of us, this simply isn't possible. However, you should at least give yourself an occasional 15 minutes to close your eyes and give yourself a mental break - even if that means locking yourself in the bathroom while the kids watch Yo Gabba Gabba.

6. Spice it Up
One of the best ways to detox is through the use of spices. Add carminative spices to your fresh fruits, vegetables, or smoothies. These help to reduce gas and bloating. Carminative spices include anise, basil, rosemary, dill, ginger, and peppermint.


7. Hush the Grumble
The digestive system works food through the body at a rate of about every two hours. Those rumbles you hear when you're hungry? They also happen when your stomach is full. However, when the stomach has food inside of it, the noise is quieted. Quiet the rumble by eating very small meals or snacks throughout the day instead of focusing on two or three shakes that leave you feeling hungry, tired, and weak. Just make sure those snacks are nutritious and free from preservatives.


8. Detox Your Life AND Your Food
Who says detoxification is only about food choices? For a true whole-body approach to detox, try to limit the number of chemicals you encounter throughout your day. Use homemade cleaning products, limit artificial scents and additives that may come from air fresheners and cosmetics, and stay away from places where you may be subjected to second-hand smoke.


9. Evaluate Your Choices
If your detox plan makes you feel fatigued, you are probably not making the best choices. You should feel energized and invigorated by your efforts at whole body health. You should not feel as though you have been hit by a truck. If you find yourself feeling worse instead of better, look over your nutritional needs and make sure they are being met.

10.  Reward Yourself
Schedule a massage or a body wrap during detox week. Some use these as rewards for getting through the week. Others consider it simply part of the detox process. Whichever you choose, a massage is a great way to remind yourself that you and your body should be friends instead of enemies. When you treat your body right, it will reward you.

Breaking Through a Plateau

I have been struggling with the same two pounds for about three weeks now. Today is my weigh in day and I can already tell you, I am remaining even keel. This is the moment that I need to figure out how to break through the plateau and start losing again.

Currently, I am eating super healthy. I get loads of fruits and vegetables all day long, none of them fried, cooked either in olive oil or a dry skillet. I don't eat lots of dairy or sugar and all grains are whole grains. When I do eat this food, I tend to not eat too much. I do sneak the occasional Hershey's Kiss because they're there and chocolate is so good.

Exercise-wise, I'm honestly working out probably as much as I'm going to for at least the next couple of weeks. I'm not sedentary at all. I walk about four miles each day, I lift weights and I am spending loads of time outside in my garden. About twice per week, I get in a really horrendous workout along with the rest. I want to amp that up, but it's not happening until after we get back from our vacation in a couple of weeks. Then we'll wait and see.

However, my goal for the next weigh in is to have broken past this plateau and how I am going to do it is going to be startling to all 10 of you who are reading this because, I'm guessing, you managed onto this page by accident and your computer froze. I am going to NOT CHEAT ON MY DIET OVER THE WEEEKEND. Amazing, right? It's the weekend that kills me and I'm determined to make it work this time. If we go out to eat, I'm ordering water and a dry salad, hold the cheese and croutons. No beer. No ice cream. No Hershey's Kisses.

Next weigh in is next Friday. If I'm not down by at least one pound, I'll go back to the drawing board.