Blueberries are famous anti-oxidants, they help protect the body against free radical damage.  They protect your brain (anxiety therapy!), eyes, heart, and colon.  Blueberries are also high in manganese which helps us combat stress and fight anxiety / panic.  Plus, they taste so delicious!

I love apples because the are low glycemic like blueberries (won’t spike blood sugar) and they are high in soluble and insoluble fiber.  This in turn helps balance our blood sugar levels and takes stress off of our adrenals.

Coconut oil, well … it’s just awesome!!!  Coconut oil has a rich taste but it also helps balance blood sugar levels, combats candida (yeast overgrowth), and regulates the thyroid. It’s like putting a long, slow burning log in the fire and gives us high quality fuel to burn.

I love almonds, they are a great source for tryptophan. Tryptophan is what turns into serotonin in our body, which is the “feel good euphoric” brain chemical. Most of us who have experienced depression, anxiety, panic, or sleep problems are often low in serotonin.

Then there are the YLTG (Young Living Therapeutic Grade) oils. These aren’t the kind you find in health food or grocery stores. These are true medicinal grade and can be eaten SAFELY.  Commercially found stuff cannot and should not be ingested!   Besides tasting great, they offer health benefits.  Cassia increases insulin receptor sensitivity. Clove is one of the highest anti-oxidant substances known on earth. Onycha is anti-inflammatory and soothing.  You can find them at http://www.anxietytherapyremedies.com or contact me at Jen@NaturalAnxietyTherapy.com.  The onycha and cassia are only found in the 12 Oils of Ancient Scripture Kit.

Blueberry Apple Cobbler Recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:

Topping:

½ pound or 8 ounces of salted roasted almonds

¼ cup of coconut flour – sifted.

¼ cup ground flax (freshly ground is the best)

1 tsp salt

½ cup coconut oil or butter – melted (warm, not hot)

1 egg

1 drop YLTG cassia

1 drop YLTG onycha

Partial drop of YLTG clove oil

½  c. of Grade B Maple Syrup (two ¼ cups: one for dry mixture and one for drizzle)

Fruit Mixture:

3 small golden delicious apples

2 c. fresh blueberries (1 pint)

½ lemon

Instructions:

Core apples and slice them into eighths.  Then chop slices into smaller bite sized pieces.  Put into a 8 X 8 X 3 inch baking dish along with the pint of blueberries.  Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the fruit.  Set aside

To prepare the almonds, finely grind half of them. The other half, chop in the processor so they are chunky small pieces. (The size of peanut chunks that are used to roll caramel apples in.)

Place all of the almonds in a medium sized bowl.  Add the flax, coconut flour, and salt.  Mix ingredients together and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the melted coconut oil (butter), egg, cassia, onycha, and ¼ cup of maple syrup. Mix with hand mixer until evenly blended. Add clove oil by using a toothpick to dab the top of the bottle, stir this into the liquid mixture. One whole drop is overkill!

Make a well in the dry mixture of nuts, flax, and coconut flour.  Pour in the liquid mixture and stir enough so the dry mixture is completely wet.  Do not over mix. Sprinkle it over the top of the blueberries and apples so it’s evenly distributed.  Then drizzle the remaining ¼ cup of maple syrup over the top right before putting it in the oven.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the blueberries are bubbling up through the topping and top is golden brown.

THEN ENJOY!!!!

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I love tuna salad, but not your momma’s version with mayo, onions, and celery.  My recipe is chock full of veggies that will nourish your body, balance your blood sugar, and help heal your insulin resistance.

You may have heard, tuna can have mercury in it and should be eaten twice a week MAX.  I only eat tuna once or twice a month, just my pre-caution (See the EPA’s INFO). But, I do have a strategy with my recipe design – surprised?   I add a BUNCH (no pun intended!) of cilantro.  Cilantro is known the chelate (take out) mercury from the central nervous system.  Tomatoes being high in Vitamin C helps get the mercury OUT of the body.  The vitamin E in the olive oil helps protect your brain too!   Ahhhh, foods are always the best medicine.

“Now THAT’S a Tuna Salad” Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cucumber

¼ onion or 3 scallions

1 medium tomato

2 cans of tuna

1 bunch of cilantro

4 stalks of celery

2 tblsp olive oil

1/3 cup Latin Lemonaise (from The Ojai Cook)

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Chop up cucumber, tomato, celery, cilantro, and onion (scallion) and add to a bowl.  Flake apart tuna and add to vegetables.  Dress with olive oil and mayo. Mix all together so dressings are evenly distributed.  Salt and pepper to taste.

* Latin Lemonaise is readily available in local grocery stores, often found in the health food section.  If you do not have access to this brand, zip up regular mayo or Vegenaise with chili, jalapeños, cumin, garlic, mustard, cayenne, and some freshly squeezed lemons and lime.

Anxiety therapy comes best when it’s comes in the form of great food!

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So what’s the deal with supplements?  There is so much information all over the internet via articles and we get varying recommendations from our health professionals.  Some people believe we need tons of supplements while others believe we can get 100% of what we need from our diet.  What about when we have anxiety, panic attacks, or depression?  Are supplements a critical component for recovery and a “must” in our anxiety therapy?

My opinion? It depends on how strong or weak your digestion is and the quality of food you eat.  Unfortunately, when we are under stress and depleted our digestive systems shut down.  The adrenals are in charge of maintaining the mucosa and peristaltic (muscular contraction) of the intestines.  When the adrenals are fatigued, the integrity of the intestines is compromised and digestive problems arise like irritable bowel, leaky gut, constipation, and food allergies.  Result: foods we eat will not be digested and absorbed no matter how organic and nutritive dense they are and nutritional deficiencies occur.  Period.

In cases where this is happening, supplements are helpful and probably necessary.  For me this was absolutely the case. I ate nutrient rich organic and home made foods, but I wasn’t digesting or absorbing nutrients. My body was starving!  This was evident when my lab results showed severe deficiency and imbalance with all amino acids, low B12, and debilitating food allergies.   On the exterior my body starving appeared as panic, anxiety, 55 lbs. overweight, rashes, no sex drive, erratic periods, asthma, and uncontrolled hypoglycemia.  The primary way I have healed my body and eliminated all of these symptoms was via diet modification and supplementation.

My strategy was to supplement to get my levels back to normal range. I had a custom amino acid formula made for me via my M.D. from Metabolic Maintenance.  Neuroscience (via my M.D.) also recommended aminos to get my neurotransmitter (brain chemicals) back to normal.  I used essential oils from Young Living to balance and support may adrenals, pituitary, and keep my out of sympathetic overdrive (over the top fight or flight anxiousness).  My adrenals were nourished from a myriad of adaptogens: Ningxia Wolfberry, eleuthero, rehmannia, ashwagandha, Chinese Fire Yin formula, and Chinese mushrooms.  Vitamin C, magnesium, trace minerals, and my super smoothie were also added for adrenal / endocrine support. I strengthened my intestines by eliminating damaging allergens and introducing a super strength probiotic and copious enzymes with meals.  I balanced my blood sugar and healed insulin resistance via nutritional changes, liver support, essential oils, minerals (vanadium & chromium), gymnema sylvestre, and coconut oil.  (You can find the full “How to and why” in my ebook Let’s’ Get Physical: Anxiety is NOT All in Your Head).

Exhausted by looking at what I had to do? It was what was needed to get better and it worked.  I refused to be sick and demanded my body heal itself. I had the mindset that I would do what it took to get better – no if’s, and’s or but’s.  I figured that for a period of time (maybe a year or so) I would have to “hit it hard” and supplement like crazy.  As my body healed I could slowly eliminate or cut down on supplements. This proved to be true.  I no longer need mitt-fulls of pills. I eat well, supplement what’s needed, and feel fantastic. All the effort and self discipline paid off.  No price could be put on gaining back my health and sanity! Every bit of it was worth it.

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How could I give you the green tomatillo recipe and not the red tomato version?  I wouldn’t do such a thing!   Tomatoes are a FANTASTIC source of nutrients to help combat insulin resistance.

If you’re not familiar with how insulin resistance and blood sugar issues are related to anxiety and adrenal fatigue, be sure to check out my posts under the Blood Sugar an Adrenal categories!

Tomatoes are full of vitamin C, which supports adrenal function.  Healthy adrenals allow our body to feel relaxed, combat stress, fight illness, and feel mentally terrific!  They also have significant chromium, which helps regulate insulin function.  Tomatoes are also high in the super anti-oxidant lycopene which has been shown through research to protect us against cancer.  If you want 3X the lycopene protection, choose ORGANIC tomatoes!!!

FIREY HOT RED TOMATO SALSA

Ingredients:

4 medium tomatoes

1 small bunch of scallions

½ c. cilantro

½ jalapeno

¼  tsp cumin

½ lemon

Salt

Instructions:

Half the tomatoes and squeeze out most of the juice and seeds in the trash.  Chop the tomatoes into eighths (big chunks). Add to food processor.   Finely chop scallions, jalapeno, and cilantro; add to the tomatoes.  Squeeze in the juice of the lemon. Sprinkle in the cumin and add a pinch of salt.  Pulse the food processor four or five times, just enough to mix well and break up the tomatoes a bit more – making them juicy but still chunky.  If you like a “smooth” salsa, blend until you reach the consistency you prefer.

*Add more or less jalapeno depending on your heat index tolerance! If you remove the ribs and seeds from the jalapeno, it will be less “hot”.  The flavor can be varied by adding chipotle, cayenne, or habenaro peppers.

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About a week ago I saw Drew Carey on The Price is Right and gasped, I couldn’t believe how much weight he had gained. All I could think was, “He’s a walking heart attack!”.  Then I saw a post on Facebook that said he had lost 80 pounds and cured his own diabetes – I didn’t even recognize the skinny him in is picture.  In the past, I always wondered because of his bloated face and big belly of he was having some type of severe insulin resistance problem.

I didn’t know that Drew Carey had diabetes.  I am ecstatic he figured out what to do – get rid of high glycemic fat causing carbs.  Using the words ” low / no carb diet” is actually deceiving. Carbs are in just about every food, but some are higher than others. I prefer to say I follow a “no grain” or “no starch” diet.  Even if Drew was eating vegetables, he was still getting carbs. But if he cut out all the pasta, corn, potatoes, and bread – he would be eliminating the empty fat causing / diabetes stimulating trouble makers.

Drew also did something else right – he exercised.  Exercise is a proven way to increase insulin resistance. This helps repair blood sugar problems over time.  I started out borderline diabetic back in 2007. My insulin resistance problem was so bad that my blood sugar would swing into the 200′s and drop under 50 – all in the same day.  Not good. The result: SEVERE PANIC / ANXIETY ATTACKS & 55 POUNDS OVERWEIGHT.  Not to mention the hormone imbalance, candida overgrowth, and bad attitude!  I’m sure Drew had none of those issues either, right?

Diabetes poses greater risk of depression and other mental disorders.  Well, it makes sense because blood sugar levels are directly impacted by neurotransmitters (brain chemicals adrenalin and nor-adrenalin) and hormones (cortisol and HGH).  So, if Drew did experience “the blues”, he may now have a much more uplifted outlook on life now he’s got his blood sugar levels under control.

I must sound like a broken record, blood sugar balance  the most effective and least expensive form of anxiety therapy.

Sometimes I wish I was born into a family that made Latin cuisine all the time because I just love the food. A more recent discovery that my palate enjoys is the tomatillo. It’s a green little fruit that is a variation of gooseberry also known as the Mexican green tomato.   It technically is in the tomato “nightshade” family.  They are tart with a hint of sweet, I just love them!!!   I like to use them as a source of carbohydrate in my diet because this type of fruit is low glycemic and won’t aggravate my insulin resistance.

Enjoy this quick and easy green salsa recipe.  I love it on eggs and fajitas!  If you go back and read my posts on blood sugar, you’ll find my strategy for eating that repaired my severe insulin resistance.  When the insulin levels are erratic (spiking and crashing), this is very hard on the adrenals and can lead to “adrenal fatigue”.   Adrenal fatigue was the #1 reason for my severe hypoglycemia problem and panic / anxiety attacks.

Got anxiety? Heal the adrenals!!!

GREEN TOMATILLO SALSA RECIPE

Ingredients:

4 tomatillos

2 scallions

½ jalapeno

¼ c. cilantro

1/8 wedge of lime

1/8 tsp of cumin

¼  wedge of lemon

Salt

Instructions:

Chop tomatillos into eighths (big chunks) and place in food processor.  Finely chop scallions, jalapeno, and cilantro; add to the tomatillos.  Squeeze in juices of lemon and lime.  Sprinkle in the cumin and add a pinch of salt.  Pulse the food processor four or five times, just enough to mix well and break up the tomatillos a bit more – making them juicy but still chunky.  If you like a “smooth” salsa, blend until you reach the consistency you prefer.

*Add more or less jalapeno depending on your heat index tolerance! If you remove the ribs and seeds from the jalapeno, it will be less “hot”.

Many recipes call for agave as a sweetener and deem it as “SAFE” for hypoglycemia, diabetes, and insulin resistance.  I have read new reports saying that it is jacks up the liver because it’s pure fructose and many of the harvesting/processing methods are questionable (See Mercola.com).  I don’t know if all that is true. All I know is when I use agave my blood sugar flies all over the place; I can’t regulate it.  When I stopped using agave the I was able to really heal my insulin resistance issues. Remember, my panic and anxiety attacks were directly associated with blood sugar spikes and crashes.  So not only did my blood sugar regulate, the panic and anxiety improved.  Agave is NOT anxiety therapy!

This is why I choose maple syrup, it’s sucrose not fructose.  The higher the grade the better, A is lightest and C is darkest.  Grade B and C syrups taste wicked good, are full of minerals, and they have a low glycemic index of 54. BUT, it has a high glycemic load. Which means the blood sugar rises and can crash down if the there is not enough fat, fiber, and protein on the back end of the food to stabilize levels.  I love this recipe because it has a ton of fat, fiber, and protein which don’t make you fat, it’s the spiking and crashing of your blood sugar that does.

Another trick I do is cut back on the main sugar type sweetener and add stevia. For this recipe, I use Young Living’s stevia. It is the true extract, not the clear stuff you find commercially. It is sweet, but it is also high in minerals and has the blood sugar balancing health benefits of the stevia herb due to it’s high level of chromium.

The flour that is used is coconut, which is 58% fiber and 15% coconut oil.  Bran is only 27% fiber! Very few people are allergic to coconut, so it’s considered hypoallergenic.  I love the taste and when baked goods made with it are fresh, it is not cononutty.  Coconut flour is now found in many grocery stores in the health food section.

So what’s YLTG oils?  They are Young Living Therapeutic Grade essential oils. I use them medicinally for myself and in my practice. However, they taste great too!  I would never, ever, ever recommend using a store bought oil for ingestion. So please, if you make this recipe use Young Living’s Oils only.

The best part about this cake is that it is rich and satisfying.   The texture is like a pound cake and it is very moist.  Each piece has the equivalent of one egg in it!!!  So enjoy and don’t feel guilt with this wonderful treat.

THE CAKE ITSELF:

Ingredients:

¾ C coconut flour – sifted

¼ c Dutch coco powder – sifted

1 teaspoon Redmond RealSalt

1 tsp baking soda

10 eggs

1 cup grapeseed oil

1 cup Grade B maple syrup

½ tsp stevia (English Toffee and Vanilla Crème flavors can be used also)

1 tblsp vanilla extract

10 drops of YLTG orange oil

2 drops of YLTG Abundance oil

Instructions:

- Grease two 9” round pans with butter or coconut oil.

- In a small bowl mix the coconut flour, coco powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside

- In a large bowl add the 10 eggs. Whisk lightly to break the yolks. Add the grapeseed oil, maple syrup, stevia, vanilla, orange oil, and Abundance oil.  Blend with hand mixer until thoroughly combined.  Make sure the maple syrup is mixed in, because it is heavy it has a tendancy to settle at the bottom.

- Immediately add the dry mixture to the eggs. Blend with a hand mixer until smooth and even.

- Bake at 325 for 30 to 40 minutes.  Half way through, rotate the cake pan 180 degrees to ensure even baking. Check with a tester to ensure batter is completely cooked. Cake will be spongy and firm.

- Remove from oven and place in a well ventilated area.  Cake will pull away from edges and be easy to remove when completely cool in the pans.

THE SIMPLE & SINFUL FROSTING:

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup of semi sweet chocolate chips (Enjoy Life makes allergen free)

¾ cup of grapeseed oil

2 tablespoons of Grade B maple syrup

¼ tsp of stevia

2 tblsp of vanilla

Pinch of Redmond RealSalt

10 to 15 drops YLTG Abundance oil (15 drops is strong, but yummy!)

Instructions:

- In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and add grapeseed oil.  Do not allow to boil or “cook”.

- Turn off heat and wisk in maple syrup, stevia, vanilla, salt, and Abundance oil.

- Place pan in freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to cool.  Do not allow to cool solid, it will not fluff up and be spreadable.

- Remove frosting from freezer when cool.  Mix with hand blender to add air. This will increase volume and make it easy to spread.

- Place about 1/3 of the frosting on top of the first layer of cake. Spread to the edges.  Place the top layer over the bottom.  Spread on the remainder of frosting.

Enjoy!!!

Super yummy with ice cream. We recommend Breyer’s Natural chocolate or vanilla – it’s not full of man made junk. Or, Turtle Mountain’s coconut ice cream!

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What’s normal for an eating schedule?  We hear everything from snacking every few hours with a couple of bigger snacks for meals to eating a big protein meal in the morning and only carbs at night. What are you to believe? What’s right?  In reality, who knows!  There is no right way, only a right way FOR YOU.  Figuring out your own nutritional / dietary needs can be the challenging part!

I can only share with you how I eat to achieve for optimal brain function and anxiety relief.  Eating on a schedule that my allows my body to operate at its best also has yielded other benefits such as losing 55 pounds, increased and ‘mojo’, and age reversal!

My meals include a morning smoothie, mid-morning snack like half an apple with raw almond butter, mid afternoon snack (the other half of the apple with almond butter), dinner that consists of a protein/meat and tons of non-starchy vegetables, dessert is typically a few strawberries or blueberries, and a snack right before bed like a handful of nuts with Ningxia wolfberries.

Eating this way balanced my blood sugar and 6 reasons why I love to eat this way:

1) never becoming ravenously hungry and over eating

2) the adrenals healed by not overworking as they tried to manage erratic blood sugar levels

3) since I like eating, having a snack right around the corner all the time made me feel happy! Yeah, it’s that simple.

4) repairing insulin resistance

5) stopped panic/anxiety attacks

6) losing weight because my cortisol levels were no longer elevated from not eating enough.

Play with your eating schedule.  It took me a long time to figure out my groove. I tried eating two or three hours in between snacks. Then I tried eating my heavy meal in the morning and light the rest of the day. What worked for me that set my body right for the day was the super smoothie first thing. If I don’t do that, my hunger levels are all over the place and occasionally I will still have a massive crash!

SUPER SMOOTHIE RECIPE

2 scoops Power Meal

5 drops YLTG grapefruit oil for the taste, chemo prevention, bloating (lymph support)

2 drops YLTG  nutmeg oil for the adrenals

¼ tsp of Redmond Real salt for the adrenals

1 heaping tblsp of coconut oil for thyroid, blood sugar, and yeast (candida)

1 raw egg for the protein, fat, and vitamin A (1/2 an avocado can be used instead of eggs)

Stevia extract to taste

About 10 ice cubes in the blender 1^st, add ingredients.  Then fill up with enough water so it will blend until smooth. Blend super well so it gets fluffy and the coconut oil and ice cubes are no longer chunky.  Add Young Living’s stevia extract to taste.  It’s not only for the sweetness, but stevia is known to help balance blood sugar and decrease cravings.

Sometimes I add 1/4 cup of blueberries, raspberries, cherries, or strawberries to this. Nothing else. NO BANANNAS OR PINEAPPLE – although delicious they are very high in sugar.

If you are at work or on the road and can’t take time out with a blender, just do Power Meal as a snack. It taste goods even on the go by just adding water.

In the summer time I will often crave ice cream. By slightly tweaking the recipe above by adding a few more ice cubes and 1/2 an avocado – the smoothie will be very thick and can be eaten with a spoon. Yummy and health … PERFECT!

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Recipe time!  Another yummy one has been birthed from the kitchen with ingredients chosen “mindfully”.   Eating like this will not only help you’re brain feel fabulous, your pants will become looser too!   My recipes will typically not contain a starch (corn, potato, rice, pasta, bread, etc). This is because I use vegetables as my carbohydrate source due to my blood sugar issues (swings are what caused the severe panic/anxiety attacks). Eating this way also helps repair the “crazy blood sugar swinging” caused by severe insulin resistance.

Any protein can be chosen for this recipe – seafood, poultry, or meat.  I also choose Bragg’s Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce because it has way less sodium, uses non GMO soybeans, has no MSG, is gluten free, and I just plain like the taste better.  Bragg’s also contains these essential amino acids:  arginine, aspartic, lysine, glutamic, serine, threonine, alanine, glycine, praline, isoleucine, methionine, valine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and leucine. Many of these are my favorites for balancing blood sugar and supporting feel good brain chemicals!

Simple Stir Fry:

Ingredients:

2 small onions (small diced)

3 large carrots (julienned)

1 large broccoli floret (coarsely chopped)

½ of a lemon

1 pound of protein cut into bite size pieces (your choice – we did steak!)

¼ cup of coconut oil (melted if not already liquid)

¼ cup of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

Mrs. Dash Seasoning – Lemon Pepper

2 drops ginger oil (Young Living ONLY!)

2 tablespoons of tapioca flour

Prep a few hours before cooking the meal:

Marinate protein with Bragg’s and coconut oil.  Sprinkle heavily with Mrs. Dash Seasoning (approx. 1 tsp).  Mix together and set aside for a few hours.

When it’s time to cook:

Saute meat in a wok or fry pan.  Scoop out meat and leave juice in pan. There should be about ¾ to 1 cup of liquid in the bottom, if not add water to increase the volume (add a few squirts of Bragg’s if you’re feeling saucy!).  Add in the vegetables and cook until al dente.

Remove about ½ cup of liquid and add the 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour and 2 drops of ginger oil – whisk until fully blended.  Put back into vegetable mixture and heat until thickened.



Remove from heat, squeeze lemon juice over the vegetables, and mix in the meat.

Now it’s done!  Enjoy.

You can read more about how your diet is related to you “BRAIN” by reading “Can You Really Eat Your Way to Happiness? The Mood Food Connection”.