There are some nudges/switches/changes that you make to the food that you eat that truly impact your health in an enormously positive way. The impact to your health is far greater than the effort required to make a change.
This is the low hanging fruit of health and wellness and when we see the recommendation we should jump straight on the train and implement.
I am thinking of simple changes to our lives like switching out coffee for Matcha to reduce cortisol in the body, increase the number of antioxidants in your day, lift your mood and reclaim your sleep; or adding coconut oil to a morning latte to calm the brain from anxiety, balance the microbiome, help with healing and sealing the gut lining by reducing gut inflammation, supercharge metabolism to burn calories more easily throughout the day and support the release of belly fat from the body.
Get it?
Small change/big impact.
I feel the same way about opening the refrigerator door and slinging all of your jarred and bottled salad dressings into the garbage can and vowing to make all your own dressings moving forward.
Simple action, big positives for health.
Let’s unpack this and find out why you need a jam jar of olive oil and lemon juice in your refrigerator more than you need anything with a label on it.
The processed food that we buy from the store is made with the cheapest ingredients and packed with sugar, additives and preservatives.
We know this, but why is it so important when it comes to an innocent jar of salad dressing?
The cheap seed oils used in bottled salad dressings such as cottonseed oil, safflower oil, corn oil, sunflower oil and canola oil are not only heat treated, bleached and striped of all scent and flavour using chemicals but are rich in omega 6 fatty acids.
Omega 6 fatty acids are detrimental to the body as they DRIVE inflammation and are actively pushing our bodies towards chronic disease when we are eating a ‘healthy’ bowl of salad!
It is understood that a healthy ratio of omega 3 fatty acids to omega 6 fatty acids in the human diet should be 1:4 but we live in a terrain packed with take-out, fast and processed foods and the majority of us in the western world have a ratio of 1: between 10 and 20.
Omega 3 fatty acids calm the nervous system, support brain health and contribute to a healthy cell wall in every cell of our body. They are essential for our cardiovascular, brain and tissue health.
When we make a dressing with hemp, pumpkin, walnut, flax or cardiovascular protective olive oil, we are kicking inflammatory oils out of our diets and loading health promoting, anti-inflammatory nutrition into its place.
Olive oil is especially beneficial as it is mono saturated and supports cardiovascular health by reducing inflammation, reducing the oxidation of bad cholesterol and lowering blood pressure.
Once you switched out the oil, it is just a case of adding even more nutrition to your dressing. Heart protective garlic, thyroid supporting sea salt and vitamin C rich lemon juice.
This herb dressing is absolutely packed with dense nutrition as you have a anti-inflammatory oil driving away chronic disease paired with microbiome supportive apple cider vinegar and the fantastic vibrant green of fresh herbs which bring, our relaxation mineral magnesium and a big dose of vitamin C and iron.
When you add the optional egg yolk and capers and anchovy you are not only amplifying flavour but adding choline for brain function from the egg yolk and MORE omega 3 fatty acids and a delicious umami taste as you throw in the anchovy.
Ingredients
1 bunch Parsley roughly chopped
1 handful Basil
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 heaped tsp Grainy mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste
Optional
1 egg yolk
1 anchovy
1 tbsp capers
Instructions
Add all of the ingredients to a blender and whizz until you have a smooth and emulsified dressing.
Pour over EVERYTHING! Salad, potatoes, salmon and chicken.
