Sara Rocks Nutrition

My mom is an amazing cook. She is like MacGuyver in the kitchen. She walks in with a bag of a flour and paperclip and comes out with a delicious dinner and a plate of cookies. Seriously, it's magic and tastes that way too! I also have two kitchen magicians in my Grandmothers who both taught me so much about cooking and baking. Not my mom's, but they look magical! I like baking. I like baking a lot. I have a sweet tooth, so making a fun dessert is super fun for me. Sometimes for breakfast, I make these Swedish Cardamom Buns that are delicious. Depression Cake is called that because it was popular during the Depression. It can also help snap you out of a depression because it tastes fantastic. I bring this up because as much as I like baking, I really don't like cooking. I do it at home because I am scared that my husband will burn down the house. This isn't "traditional gender-role" nonsense. He is just a little scary. Like he will measure out the amount of w

  What is optimum health? What does it mean to be "well"? These are loaded questions and aren't easily answered. Health and Wellness aren't a destination, but a journey. It isn't as if you get to a point and you say, "oh, I'm healthy, I can stop now." Your health is constantly evolving and changing and that makes it hard to answer. Not only is your own body changing, but the science is changing as well. Years ago, low fat was the answer. Now, we know that some fat is good and is an important part of our diet. Who knows what we will learn in the future?  While health and wellness can be overwhelming, it's important not to dwell on the minutia. So, let's take a deep breath and learn some basic things that you can do to increase your health.   Take In Vital Nutrients One of the most important parts of nutrition is, nutrients! Yes, you could focus on making sure that you have exactly 78 grams of protein per day and 1000 mg of calcium while making

I watched a pharmaceutical commercial for a new anti-depressant that you take when your existing anti-depressant isn't working. This new pill is a supplement to the existing one, so two anti-depressants. As someone who has been on medication to regulate my brain, this doesn't jive with me. We know that food can be used to cure a lot of our physical ailments, such as a bowl of soup when we have a cold. But, there is emerging science about using food to help us with our  mental health .  Magnesium mmmm...Chocolate... Magnesium does a LOT. This mineral is responsible for ensuring that your heart beats normally, helps keep your immune system strong, and creates energy and protein. Over 100 years ago, it was discovered that it can also help with depression. Eat almonds, pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate and kale for an extra punch of magnesium in your diet.  Vitamin D 🎶You are my sunshine, my only sunshine! You make me happy when skies are gray!🎶  emojis IRL This

Do Soybeans have a feminist agenda? The title of this post is inspired by my brother-in-law, but the spirit behind the message is something that I have heard time and time again: Soy has estrogen and that makes it bad for you. This myth stops NOW. In reading an article from the Boston Globe about Impossible and Beyond Burgers, I found the sentence that perfectly sums up everything that we hear about soy: “Soy contains estrogen-like compounds called isoflavones that some findings say can promote the growth of some cancer cells, impair female fertility and mess with men’s hormones.”  That this article snuck this in without any backup shows their bias, and I hate to show mine, but this is nonsense. So, let's break this down and look at the fun part, science!  Yum! A bowl full of genistein and daidzein! Estrogen-like Compounds Soy contains phytoestrogens, genistein and daidzein, which act like estrogen, but very weak versions. What is interesting is that these phytoestrog