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      May 14, 2017

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      April 27, 2017

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      April 13, 2017

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      March 24, 2017

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      March 20, 2017

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  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
    • All Breakfast Dessert Drinks Main Dish Sides Soups
      Featured

      Meat Sauce

      May 30, 2017

      Breakfast

      Clare’s Greek Yogurt Treat

      April 27, 2017

      Featured

      Steamed Broccoli In Light Brown Garlic Sauce

      April 18, 2017

      Drinks

      Bulletproof Green Tea

      April 13, 2017

      Breakfast

      Clare’s Greek Yogurt Treat

      April 27, 2017

      Dessert

      Clare’s Greek Yogurt Treat

      April 27, 2017

      Drinks

      Bulletproof Green Tea

      April 13, 2017

      Drinks

      Bulletproof Coffee

      March 20, 2017

      Main Dish

      Meat Sauce

      May 30, 2017

      Sides

      Steamed Broccoli In Light Brown Garlic Sauce

      April 18, 2017

      Sides

      Sautéed Spinach Al Dente w/ Red Onions

      March 30, 2017

      Sides

      Sauteed Zucchini

      March 20, 2017

      Soups

      Hearty Vegetable Soup with Ground Pork and…

      March 29, 2017

  • Blog
    • Blog

      FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT

      May 14, 2017

      Blog

      What’s Wrong With Sugar?

      April 27, 2017

      Blog

      Green tea- the secret to staying young

      April 13, 2017

      Blog

      What is Ghee??

      March 24, 2017

      Blog

      Welcome to Clean Food Long Life

      March 20, 2017

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FeaturedMain DishRecipes

Meat Sauce

This is the perfect recipe for a Sunday meal with the family or friends. I like to make this simple recipe while I’m at home and have the afternoon to slow cook this sauce. If you don’t have the time and still want to make it, you can throw it in a slow cooker or instant pot.

In the past, I used to use olive oil to cook my sauces but only to learn that it’s not good to cook olive oil in high heat. Using it fresh to drizzle on food is best. So I have replaced olive oil with beef tallow or lard and it tastes great!

I like to use grass-fed ground beef with 15% fat for this sauce but you can always use organic ground turkey or heritage ground pork as well.

Chop onions and garlic.

Grate carrots. You can use a cheese grater. If you don’t have grater, you can fine chop them.

Heat a large pot on low. When the pot is hot, add lard or tallow and butter to melt. Throw in the onions, garlic, carrots and a teaspoon of sea salt. Sauté for about 10 minutes or until the onions become translucent. Add the thyme, crushed red pepper and cayenne pepper during the sauté.

Add the ground beef and 2 teaspoons of sea salt and raise heat to med-high and sauté for about 10-15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Add the bone broth, crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for the next 3 hrs or so. Stir occassionaly so that the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If the sauce gets too thick, you can always add a little filtered or spring water. If you don’t have the time to nurse the sauce for the 3 hrs, you can always throw in a slow cooker after the sauce reaches a boil. If you are using an instant pot, throw it in there and heat manually for 35 minutes.

When the sauce is done, add more sea salt to taste if needed and drizzle fresh olive oil when served. Serve over zoodles, veggies, miracle noodles or gluten free pasta of your choice.

Ingredients:

2 lbs grass-fed ground beef or heritage ground pork or organic ground dark meat turkey

1.5 medium carrots

2 medium or 1 large onion

12 cloves of garlic

2 boxes or cans of crushed tomatos (28 oz cans)

2 cups of bone broth

1/2 cup filtered water (if needed)

2-3 tbsp of fresh thyme

3-4 teaspoons of sea salt

1-2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tbsp of heritage lard or grass-fed beef tallow

2 tbsp of grass-fed butter or ghee

Fresh basil to top sauce

Olive oil for drizzle

Instructions:

Chop onions and garlic. Grate carrots. You can use a cheese grater. If you don’t have grater, you can fine chop them. Heat a large pot on low. When the pot is hot, add lard or tallow and butter to melt. Throw in the onions, garlic, carrots and a teaspoon of sea salt. Sauté for about 10 minutes or until the onions become translucent. Add the thyme, crushed red pepper and cayenne pepper during the sauté. Add the ground beef and 2 teaspoons of sea salt and raise heat to med-high and sautee for about 10-15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Add the bone broth, crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for the next 3 hrs or so. Stir occassionaly so that the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If the sauce gets too thick, you can always add a little filtered or spring water. If you don’t have the time to nurse the sauce for the 3 hrs, you can always throw in a slow cooker after the sauce reaches a boil. If you are using an instant pot, throw it in there and heat manually for 35 minutes.

When the sauce is done, add more sea salt to taste if needed, add fresh chopped basil and drizzle fresh olive oil when served. Serve over zoodles, veggies, miracle noodles or gluten free pasta of your choice. Serves 6-8. You can always freeze leftover sauce for later. Reduce ingredients to half if you want to make less but I like to make more and store in freezer. It’s easy to heat up for a quick dinner.

Meatsauce

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Serves: 6-8 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 3.5 hrs

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs grass-fed ground beef or heritage ground pork or organic ground dark meat turkey
  • 1.5 medium carrots
  • 2 medium or 1 large onion
  • 12 cloves of garlic
  • 2 boxes or cans of crushed tomatos (28 oz cans)
  • 2 cups of bone broth
  • 1/2 cup filtered water (if needed)
  • 2-3 tbsp of fresh thyme
  • 3-4 teaspoons of sea salt
  • 1-2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp of heritage lard or grass-fed beef tallow
  • 2 tbsp of grass-fed butter or ghee
  • Fresh basil to top sauce
  • Olive oil for drizzle

Instructions

Chop onions and garlic. Grate carrots. You can use a cheese grater. If you don’t have grater, you can fine chop them. Heat a large pot on low. When the pot is hot, add lard or tallow and butter to melt. Throw in the onions, garlic, carrots and a teaspoon of sea salt. Sauté for about 10 minutes or until the onions become translucent. Add the thyme, crushed red pepper and cayenne pepper during the sauté. Add the ground beef and 2 teaspoons of sea salt and raise heat to med-high and sautee for about 10-15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Add the bone broth, crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for the next 3 hrs or so. Stir occassionaly so that the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If the sauce gets too thick, you can always add a little filtered or spring water. If you don’t have the time to nurse the sauce for the 3 hrs, you can always throw in a slow cooker after the sauce reaches a boil. If you are using an instant pot, throw it in there and heat manually for 35 minutes.

When the sauce is done, add more sea salt to taste if needed, add fresh chopped basil and drizzle fresh olive oil when served. Serve over zoodles, veggies or gluten free pasta of your choice. Serves 6-8. You can always freeze leftover sauce for later. Reduce ingredients to half if you want to make less but I like to make more and store in freezer. It’s easy to heat up for a quick dinner.

Meat Sauce was last modified: May 30th, 2017 by Sung
Meat Sauce was last modified: May 30th, 2017 by Sung
May 30, 2017 0 comment
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FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT

Fat does not make you fat. What? Seriously? For as long as I can remember, I was told fat would make you fat. We grew up on low fat this and non-fat that. As a teenager, I chose foods specifically low in fat: non-fat frozen yogurt, low fat or skim milk, low fat muffins, low fat cream cheese, low fat cookies, margarine, low fat frozen meals, etc. I always stayed away from heavy cream, blue cheese dressings, half and half, cut extra fat off steaks, removed skin from chicken, avoided red meat, tried being vegan on various occasions (for multiple reasons), tried being vegetarian. The list goes on.

When I was in my 20’s living in NYC, after a night of drinking and clubbing, I’d come home and order greasy burgers and fries. I put on a good 10-15 lbs which was a lot on my small 5’ 4” frame. For some reason, my intuition told me to stop eating bread and pasta. I also limited the amount of rice I ate and stuck to vodka. In about a few months, I dropped the extra weight but whenever I started eating bread and pasta again, I’d gain back the weight pretty quickly. So eliminating the carbs seemed to be the answer but I never understood the reason behind it. I just knew it worked. Then the Mediterranean diet was in the news and I had heard that healthy fats make you burn fat and that had made sense to me because when I eliminated the carbs, I didn’t eliminate the fat and still lost the weight. So, I wasn’t afraid of avocados and olive oil but I was still in that mindset being raised low fat that I would continue drinking coffee with low fat milk and opt to get non-fat frozen yogurts.

In the early 2000’s, the Atkins diet became the latest craze. Many of my friends started eating lots of protein, fats and almost zero carbs. A lot of us were alarmed and worried for our friends’ health but they were actually losing a lot of weight. We still wondered, how were their arteries? But Dr. Robert Atkins was really onto something.

Contrary to what we were told that saturated fat makes you fat, raising cholesterol levels and contributing to heart disease, saturated fat along with other healthy fats don’t make you fat nor unhealthy. It’s the exact opposite. There’s so much science supporting this that it makes me angry how we were told the wrong thing for so long and that millions of people have wrongfully died through this belief. What actually makes you fat and unhealthy is a low fat diet high in refined carbohydrates. The diet that the American Heart Association still to this day says is the diet that will prevent heart disease.

Sugar/refined carbs are actually what’s unhealthy and causes weight gain. Getting our blood sugar regulated should be our primary health concern. Refined carbohydrates turns into sugar in the body. White bread has a higher glycemic index than ice cream. What drives triglycerides up (the marker to pay attention to for cholesterol) is excess sugar/carbs in the blood.

When Americans had the lowest rate of heart disease, around the early 1900’s, they were eating lots of butter. It was when man made hydrogenate oils came into the picture and people stopped eating butter, that heart disease actually rose. A doctor named Ancel Keys started researching and based on his limited research, he thought saturated fat was the cause of heart disease. This lead the food industry, the medical world and the government informing us through the media and biased research that saturated fats were terrible for us and that a low fat diet limited to vegetable and hydrogenated oils only along with a high carbohydrate diet would prevent heart disease. Out with butter and in came margarine. Out with the red meat and in came chicken.

Fats are very important to maintain health in the human body. They provide energy much more than carbohydrates. Consider it like a log in a fire. While kindling is the carbs for energy, which burns through much quicker, the log is an even study burn that lasts longer. They are building blocks for cell membranes and hormones while aiding in absorbing fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. They protect our organs by lining them. Fats are also beneficial for optimal brain performance and memory. They aid digestion and also help you stay satiated. And very importantly, they taste so darn good!

The low fat diet causes digestive issues making us mal nutritious. When the food industry jumped on board with demonizing saturated fats, they produced low fat foods. However, without the good tasty fat, they needed to add more sugar and they added lots of it. I just mentioned earlier that excess sugar/carbs causes high triglycerides, the marker to look at when checking for cholesterol levels for heart disease.

Not all fats are created equal though. The vegetable oils and hydrogenated oils (primary source for trans fats) that Ancel Keys said would reduce heart disease in fact contributed to heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases and so on and so forth. The rise of such health issues in America has risen significantly since we started using canola oil, margarine, and replaced lard for hydrogenated oil such as Crisco in cookies, chips, cakes, donuts and other snacks. Cooking in these oils is incredibly toxic. These vegetable oils are not stable and so when they are heated, they become toxic. They also become rancid just left on the shelf over time and that includes olive oil. Saturated fats on the other hand have stability and are solid at room temperature. The density gives them a high heat point making them perfectly safe to cook with.

There are three classification of fats: saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. We need all of these fats in our diet to maintain balance. Some fats have all three of these fats like grass-fed red meat. Eating predominately fats heavy in saturated and monounsaturated is the healthy goal. Here is a list of some recommended healthy fats:

Saturated Monounsaturated  Polyunsaturated (Omega 3’s and 6’s)
Grassfed Ghee/Butter Heritage Pork Lard Walnuts
Raw Dairy Olive Oil Sunflower Seeds
Coconut Oil Avocado Oil Almonds
Palm Oil Olives Pumpkin Seeds
Grass-fed Beef Tallow Avocados Hemp Seeds
Pasture raised animals Macadamia Nuts Wild Atlantic Salmon
Pili Nuts
Sesame Seed Oil (equal amount of Polyunsaturated Fat)
Macadamia Nut Oil
Wild Sockeyed Salmon

 

Eating more polyunsaturated fats like nuts can throw you off balance and can affect weight loss. Keeping that below 10-5% is optimal. However, each person differs in this so the recommended amount can change for each individual. For more information on the different kinds of healthy fats, Chris Kesser, an important figure in functional medicine explains this in detail. This is Chris’ fat pyramid that’s very helpful.

Important to note: not all fats are equal for cooking! This is very crucial to understand because some fats do not have high cooking points so should be avoided at all costs. And whatever you do, ALWAYS avoid Canola oil and any hydrogenated oil which means man-made oil. These oils are toxic to the body. The fats I use to cook are: grass-fed ghee/butter, coconut oil, beef tallow and lard. I do not cook with olive oil as it does not have a high heat point and you also lose the taste once you cook with it. I heavily use fresh olive oil after I cook with another fat. And it’s important to note that you should always get a high quality olive oil in a tinted bottle or can. Olive oil sitting on a shelf long enough can go rancid. And same with Flax seed oil. It’s perfectly fine when you open it but halfway though its use, it becomes rancid so I avoid Flaxseed oil entirely.

Currently, I am studying to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner attending NTA and one of the reading materials is this book is the New York Times best seller The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz. I first came across her in this interview from Ben Greenfield podcast and couldn’t wait to read the book. I was thrilled to see that her book was on my school reading list. This is a history book that is quite tragic about the decline of health in the modern American diet and the world. For a book about fats and how we were mislead, it was quite the page turning book. I was glued to 340 pages of information I had not known. It helped me understand how most of the diet fads that I went through were manifested.

When I was sick with Rocky Mt Spotted Fever, my naturopath told me I needed to eat organic meats or else I wouldn’t heal. I was dumbfounded because I thought the vegan diet was most healthy for you only to learn in the NTA program that scientifically that is not so. Robert Atkins was looked down upon the medical community thinking that he was promoting heart disease by his high fat minimal low carb diet but in actuality it promotes weight loss and health. There was a scientific study done on his diet and it was proven that it did not affect heart disease. The Big Fat Surprise goes into detail about the research and the story. I highly recommend reading this book as it’s filled with an incredibly thorough research about how it all went wrong and a detailed explanation on the science and valid research on why saturated fats are good for you.

Now that I’ve given you some info about fat, don’t go pouring it all over everything and eating a stick of butter. Everyone is different and how much fat one needs depends on your own bio individuality. And if you are going to eat a bagel and smear it with grass-fed butter, that will not help you lose weight or help you to be healthier. Replace sugar with healthy fats and eat enough fat to help you stay satiated.

We live in a society where people are imbedded with the thought that fat makes you fat. How we were misled is very disturbing and the damage has been done but I am hopeful that things are changing. There’s a lot of misinformation and fear around red meat and fat. The American Heart Association still recommends a low fat high carb diet. Skim and low fat milk is still more popular than whole milk. Non-fat frozen yogurt shops are still popular. Chicken is still the preferred meat when it has the least amount of nutrition of all the meats. And not to mention, in the past, chickens were raised only to give us eggs, not to eat them.

Writing about fats in the hopes of helping someone get healthy has been a great joy. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Your health is important. It’s the basis of everything. Hope this information helps and would love to hear from you if you’ve got anything to share.

FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT was last modified: May 14th, 2017 by Sung
May 14, 2017 0 comment
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BlogFeatured

What’s Wrong With Sugar?

The urgent message I want to relay to my friends and family are the facts behind sugar and how it’s making us all so sick in the body and mind. We are living in a time where sugar is killing many Americans. Cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, auto-immune diseases and Alzheimer’s (also known as type 3 diabetes) are at an all time high. Diabetes has become an epidemic with more than 29 million adults and children diagnosed in the US and over 400 million people worldwide. The American Diabetes Association has listed these numbers with the total cost of diabetes being a staggering $322 billion in the US in just one year. Never before in the history of mankind has there been an emergency need to lower blood sugar. We are inundating our bodies with sugar and refined carbohydrates. The average American eats 140 lbs of sugar per year! More people are dying today from sugar than the total amount of soldiers that died in World War 1 and 2. Just think about those numbers!

My personal experience with refined sugar and eliminating it from my diet was truly eye opening. Detoxing from sugar was intense and difficult. It wasn’t easy but I am grateful that I went through with it and continue to abstain from it as best as I can. With the constant respiratory infections I was getting from Candida and my chronic fatigue I was struggling with after my Rocky Mt Spotted Fever infection, I had no choice but to get rid of sugar in my diet or really suffer the consequences. I was also hypoglycemic (as a result of high sugar consumption growing up) and had been diagnosed since college so whenever I ate anything sweet, I would always crashed and pass out which I did often. My grandparents on my dad’s side had type 2 diabetes and I knew if I wasn’t careful, I would eventually become one. I was also suffering from depression and constant mood swings that were bi-polar which are all symptoms of high sugar consumption.

My naturopath told me to stop sugar for 90 days and for the first 30 days that included fruit and refined carbohydrates (which turns into sugar). I had to detox my body and so I pretty much locked myself up for a week and went through with it. It sounds like I was detoxing from drugs. Well, sugar is a drug and is highly addictive. It’s just as addictive as crack and just as difficult to get over. The endorphins go up high from sugar and not too long afterwards, endorphins drop down further than normal so you need more to get high again and it becomes a vicious cycle. Our body creates natural endorphins and sugar depletes that when absent from it causing anxiety and mood disorders so the need for more sugar becomes urgent and most of the time, we are not even aware of that. It’s quite cunning.

My body went through aches, sweats, chills, headaches and fever during the detoxification process. It felt like I had the flu. I remained mostly in bed and slept a lot because I was in a lot of pain from the detox. But by the end of the week, I felt much better. I was baffled at how radicle this detox was. I’m not a person that eats candy or lots of sweet things or so I thought! But when I got honest with myself, I realized every day, I ended my evening with one vegan, gluten free chocolate chip cookie. I had thought to myself, well it’s vegan and gluten free so it must be somewhat healthy and definitely healthier than your regular cookie. But I was wrong. It’s not really healthier because it has loads of sugar.

My diet before going sugar free was your average modern day American diet which included Starbuck’s soy lattes, protein bars, bagels on the weekends, turkey burgers, condiments such as ketchup, pasta, salads with dressing, occasional soda, muffins, vegan chocolate chip cookies, low fat vegan ice cream (cuz I thought that’s the healthier version), low fat frozen yogurt like Pink Berry (cuz if I eat this, I will have a better chance of losing weight than eating real ice cream), etc. Every single food on this list has sugar and much to my dismay I learned that sugar is everywhere. Because of this, we all have blood sugar dis-regulation in various degrees.

It is crucial to drastically lower sugar intake in order to maintain balance and health. Our cells need glucose to make energy in our body but when there is more than what our body needs, the excess glucose gets stored as fat and runs down our primary organs that regulate blood sugar: the liver, adrenals and the pancreas. As a result, many symptoms occur such as metabolic syndrome, weight gain, obesity, heart disease, depression, bi-polarity, adrenal fatigue, high triglycerides, cancer, hypoglycemia, diabetes, alzheimer’s, auto-immune diseases, thyroid disfunction, insomnia, anxiety, tooth decay, etc. High blood sugar is also devastating to other parts of the body like the eyes, kidney, feet, brain, etc. Sugar also depresses the immune system and prematurely ages the body. It feeds bacteria, viruses, parasites, yeast, fungus and cancer.

Our body only has one hormone, insulin, which is known to lower blood sugar but in actuality, the main purpose of it is to facilitate the transport of glucose into our cells to make energy that our body needs. When there are high levels of sugar, an abundance of insulin is formed to bring the glucose to the cells but because there’s always sugar in the blood, they eventually become down regulated, which causes insulin resistance. In simplest terms, the cells become resistant to insulin because it’s always being produced and therefor not bringing in the glucose it needs. As a result, sugar levels stay high in the blood and the cells don’t get the energy it needs and this is where the system breaks down. Meanwhile, we have 3 other hormones: cortisol, epinephrine and glucagon that elevate sugar levels to maintain homeostasis when our sugar levels drop.

There is a reason why we only have one hormone to bring down glucose levels. Refined sugar was only created in the 1600’s. Mankind has been around for 2 million years and it’s only been a couple hundred years where refined sugar has been in the diet. Paleolithic men thrived on meat and fat, which is how our bodies are made up of. From an evolutionary sense, we only had one hormone for that reason. But we have a bunch of hormones to raise blood sugar so our primary evolution problem was to raise blood sugar, to give our brains, our nerves and our red blood cells enough glucose to survive. And the consumption of sugar that we are at now (which is the highest) has only been the last 30-40 years and it’s no coincidence that our illness is at an all time high. Our bodies were meant to not have excess sugar.

The food industry and the politics surrounding the system of food giants are the reasons why we consume so much sugar. Sugar is in every processed food we eat because it is cheap and it’s an easy sell. It’s everywhere and made so easy for you to consume. But you have a choice and you can take matters into your own hands. If we can all eliminate refined sugar in our diets, the world would be in a much better state. Think about where healthcare would be today if we did that. You can make a difference in your life by learning a few facts about sugar.

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Fructose, found in vegetables and fruits are mixed with naturally occurring fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and beneficial phytonutrients. When we consume more than what’s needed, the rest gets stored as fat. For example, 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories stored as fat. The excess is turned into free fatty acids, VLDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Therefor, consuming fructose is fat producing.

High fructose corn syrup is probably one of the worst things to ingest in your body. It is most prevalent in most processed foods because it’s cheap, easy to transport, produce and store. It’s also produced from genetically modified corn. Just to name a few, it’s in soda, candy, soups, sauces and even salad dressings. One should avoid it like a poison.

Here are the hidden names of sugar: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Disaccharides, Molasses, Succanat, Polysaccharides, Sucrose, Fructose, Invert Sugar, Dextrose, Sucrose, Glucose, Lactose, Sorbitol, Mannitol, Barley Malt, Malt, Malt Extract, Maltose, Rice Extract, Golden Syrup, Brown Rice Syrup, Evaporate Cane Juice, Fruit Juice Sweeteners.

Here are is a list of different types of sugar: Brown Sugar, Raw Sugar, Organic Sugar, Powdered Sugar, Turbinado Sugar, White Sugar, Cane Sugar, Beet Sugar, Corn Sugar, Date Sugar, Maple Sugar, Coconut Sugar

Over a century ago, before sugar was invented, your average person consumed through vegetables and fruits (from origin) about 15 grams of fructose per day. That’s equivalent to one modern apple. Here are some facts that will help you read labels to determine how much sugar is in most of the food we eat.

In one teaspoon, there are 5 grams of sugar.

Soda has 39 grams of sugar

Apple Juice has 28 grams of sugar

Orange Juice has 23 grams of sugar

Yogurt with fruit has 27 grams of sugar (almost as much as soda!)

3 Oreos has 13 grams of sugar

Protein Bar has 11-18 grams of sugar

Frappuccino has 31 grams

The simplest way to avoid refined sugar and carbohydrates is by eating whole foods and eliminating all packaged foods. This is much easier said than done but having gone through it myself, I am so glad I’m not a prisoner of sugar anymore. Having eliminated it, I can taste the natural fructose in vegetables. My taste palate has improved vastly. Full fat greek yogurt without the fruit is naturally sweet to me. I can taste the sweetness in unsweetened coconut cream/ milk, cucumbers, tomatoes and avocado. Berries in the summer time taste very sweet. In the past, I used to add sweeteners to berries because it wasn’t’ sweet enough.

Every once in a while, I will have dessert with refined sugar and the impact of the first bite is shocking to my taste buds and my body. I can immediately feel my blood rushing. The taste is too much for me. And the next day, I wake up craving for bread or think about what kind of sweets I can have for dessert. It’s maddening so I try to abstain as much as I can. What I appreciate most is that I don’t have the anxiety, depression, the mood swings and physical illnesses anymore. When I lived my life dependent upon sugar, I couldn’t live to my fullest potential.  Today, my life  by far supersedes how I was living before.

What’s Wrong With Sugar? was last modified: April 30th, 2017 by Sung
April 27, 2017 1 comment
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BreakfastDessertDessertFeaturedRecipes

Clare’s Greek Yogurt Treat

If you don’t have an intolerance to milk, full fat Greek yogurt made with grass-fed organic milk is amazing for you. It has healthy probiotics and it’s also a get source of healthy fats. But if you are intolerant, you can always do yogurt made with coconut milk. 

Whenever I feel like I need a dessert, this is my go to. It’s also great for breakfast because yogurt has a good amount of protein.  I named it after my friend Clare. She loved this recommendation so much that she has it for breakfast every day.

Ingredients:

¾ cup Organic Grass-fed Greek yogurt or Coconut Milk Yogurt

1 teaspoon of Cacao Nibs

2 teaspoons of Swerve or 1/2 teaspoon of Stevia (These sweeteners are optional.)

3 raw almonds crushed

a couple of walnuts crushed

**For Breakfast you can add a scoop of Collagen Protein for added protein and essential amino acids.

Instructions:

To the yogurt, add sweeteners, powder and mix. Then top with rest of ingredients and serve.

Clare’s Greek Yogurt Treat was last modified: April 28th, 2017 by Sung
April 27, 2017 2 comments
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FeaturedRecipesSides

Steamed Broccoli In Light Brown Garlic Sauce

This dish was inspired by a Japanese restaurant, Raku in NYC. I could never eat it because it’s drenched in soy sauce which has the wheat gluten so I decided to make a healthy version of it. This is a very simple dish that is so nutritious and delicious.

Broccoli is one the the healthiest vegetables to eat. It’s a cruciferous vegetable that is rich in vitamins A, C and folic acid. It is also thought to have anti-cancer properties. There are some B vitamins, minerals, potassium, calcium and iron.

They’re high in anti nutrient oxalates that prevent nutrient absorption so it’s best to not eat them raw. Oxalates bind with calcium ions in your body which weaken muscles, cause pain and possible brain problems. Cooking them will significantly reduce these substances.

Always use organic broccoli since they are readily available in most grocery stores. About 2 large heads make up 4 cups of chopped broccoli. I like to chop them somewhat small pictured here. I try to use some of the stem as well.

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Place in steamer basket with one cup of water and boil water and steam for 3:30-4 minutes (from when you start the heat) depending on how well you like it cooked. This time frame is for al dente which is soft on the outside and crunchy on the inside.

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In a small sauce pan, melt ghee or grass-fed butter and saute the garlic for about a minute or 2 until slightly soft. Then add the coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar, cayenne pepper and water. Bring to a simmer and shut off heat. Add black pepper, MCT oil and sesame oil. Then throw in the steamed broccoli and toss. In a side dish, place a cup of broccoli and add the sauce with garlic all over so that the plate is slightly covered with the brown sauce. Add a few pinches of sea salt to taste. Squeeze fresh lemon juice and serve!

Ingredients:

4 cups chopped organic broccoli

3 cloves chopped garlic

1 tbsp of grass-fed butter or ghee

3 tbsp of Coconut Aminos

3 tbsp of spring or filtered water

2 tsp of Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbsp of MCT Oil

1 tbsp of Sesame Oil

1/8 teaspoon or big pinch of cayenne pepper

A few pinches of sea salt to taste

Black Pepper to taste

Lemon Wedge for juice

Instructions:

Chop the broccoli into small pieces including some stem. Place in steamer basket with one cup of water and boil water and steam for 3:30-4 minutes (from when you start the heat) depending on how well you like it cooked. This time frame is for al dente which is soft on the outside and crunchy on the inside.

In a small sauce pot or sauce pan, melt the ghee or butter and add chopped garlic. Sautee for 1-2 minutes until a little soft. Add all the liquid ingredients and cayenne pepper. Bring to a simmer and shut off heat. Add black pepper, mct oil and sesame seed oil. Then add the steamed broccoli into pot and toss.

Place a cup of broccoli on a side plate and pour garlic sauce on top to slightly cover the plate. Add some pinches of salt to taste. Squeeze fresh lemon juice and serve!

One of the healthiest vegetables to eat- steamed broccoli in light brown garlic sauce. Check out the recipe on my blog and why eating raw broccoli is not the greatest thing for you. Always cook your cruciferous veggies. .
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#foodismedicine #broccoli #organic #glutenfree #sugarfree #foodie #healthyfoodie #instafood #foodporn #keto #healthyfats #paleo #bulletproof #whole30 #lchf #holistic #holistichealth #cleaneating #theketokorean #ketokorean #cleanfoodlonglife @ntatraining

Broccoli in Light Brown Garlic Sauce

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Serves: 2-4 Prep Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 cups chopped organic broccoli
  • 3 cloves chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp of grass-fed butter or ghee
  • 3 tbsp of Coconut Aminos
  • 3 tbsp of spring or filtered water
  • 2 tsp of Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 tbsp of MCT Oil
  • 1 tbsp of Sesame Oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon or big pinch of cayenne pepper
  • A few pinches of sea salt to taste
  • Black Pepper to taste
  • Lemon Wedge for juice

Instructions

Chop the broccoli into small pieces including some stem. Place in steamer basket with one cup of water and boil water and steam for 3:30-4 minutes (from when you start the heat) depending on how well you like it cooked. This time frame is for al dente which is soft on the outside and crunchy on the inside.

In a small sauce pot or sauce pan, melt the ghee or butter and add chopped garlic. Sautee for 1-2 minutes until a little soft. Add all the liquid ingredients and cayenne pepper. Bring to a simmer and shut off heat. Add black pepper, mct oil and sesame seed oil. Then add the steamed broccoli into pot and toss.

Place a cup of broccoli on a side plate and pour garlic sauce on top to slightly cover the plate. Add some pinches of salt to taste. Squeeze fresh lemon juice and serve!

Steamed Broccoli In Light Brown Garlic Sauce was last modified: April 19th, 2017 by Sung

 

Steamed Broccoli In Light Brown Garlic Sauce was last modified: April 19th, 2017 by Sung
April 18, 2017 3 comments
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Green tea- the secret to staying young

Green tea has been a staple in my life since 2004 and I do believe this has been the one of my main reasons for staying relatively healthy even when I was not paying attention to my health. I was biohacking myself by drinking this tea without even knowing it.

Green tea originated from China but is now produced in many other Asian countries. The benefits of green tea are so amazing that I can’t imagine not ever drinking it. Did you know that it’s one of the 50 secrets of the longest living people? It’s been the drink of choice for the long lived people of Bama, China and Okinawa, Japan

Green tea has the most antioxidants than any one food type. It contains powerful catechins like the compound Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) as well as another powerful antioxidant polyphenols that reduce free radicals in the body. Free radicals play a role in cell damage, which is part of the aging process and promotes diseases.

 

Here are some health benefits:

-Lowers risk in cancer

-It has the amino acid L-Theanine which reduces anxiety and stress

-Balances hormones

-Has a lower amount of caffeine than coffee and does not give you those jitters when you drink too much. Since it has L-theanine, this combination has synergistic effects, which also improves brain function as well.

-It aids in weight loss and fat burning as it boosts metabolism.

-It has loads of vitamin C and E

-It’s anti-inflammatory

-Improves skin cells because of the antioxidants and promotes glowing skin as well as reducing the aging process of the skin.

-It’s antibacterial, killing bacteria and viruses as well as improving dental health and reducing bad breath.

-Helps to keep blood sugar stable

-It helps with heart disease as it keeps the arteries from clogging

-Lowers risk of Alzheimers and Parkinson’s

Properly making green tea is important in order to receive all the great benefits. Two important steps in making green tea is using the correct water temperature and steeping no longer than 1 minute. Not following those two steps can alter the effects of green tea by making it less effective. Even if you are using a tea bag, don’t steep longer than 60 seconds or else it will taste very bitter. Most people tell me they don’t like the bitter taste of green tea and this is the reason why. When you steep 60 seconds or less the taste is very soothing and mild.

One of my favorite ways of drinking green tea is by making it Bulletproof. Here’s a simple recipe for my Bulletproof Green Tea.

 

Green tea- the secret to staying young was last modified: April 13th, 2017 by Sung
April 13, 2017 1 comment
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What is Ghee??

Friends ask me what ghee is all the time. As my first official blog post, I’m excited to share about this wonderful food that is essential to any healthy diet. Ghee is also known as clarified butter which originated from India and is referred to as ‘Liquid Gold’. Ghee comes from butter but it’s healthier and many say tastes better. The taste is more buttery, if that makes any sense. It’s the main ingredient for many Ayurvedic medicines. Ghee is one of the best healthy fats to ingest. I was inspired to write this because of my recent trip to Costa Rica a few weeks ago. One of the reasons why I loved my stay in Nosara was that Ghee was readily available and made me fall more in love with ghee.  It’s amazing on vegetables, gluten free bread, blended in coffee, bone broth, soup or smoothies.

Besides it being healthier, why ghee when you can just have butter? Well, butter comes from milk and the reason why I avoid dairy is because I’m allergic to milk. Then how can I consume butter or ghee? Isn’t it considered dairy if it comes from milk? Butter and ghee are ok because there is minimal to no protein. When one has an allergy or is intolerant, it’s from the protein in the food. That protein in milk is called casein.

When I was sick from Rocky Mt Spotted Fever, my naturopath tested me for a few allergies and milk was one of them. It really was no surprise to me when I found out. For a long time when I drank milk or ate cheese, I would bloat and have digestive issues which when I think about it, was every day because I had drank milk daily growing up and often had cheese. I lived life thinking this is just the way I was built until I found out I was allergic to milk. Then it explained everything.

Butter is mainly the milk fat. There’s only 1% of milk solids (protein) in butter so it’s usually tolerable to most people that are intolerant. However, for some people, even that 1% can cause inflammation and digestive problems. And if it does affect you, what’s the next best thing? Ghee! Ghee is stripped of all the proteins and water and is pure fat that heals and aids your body. It has healing benefits both inside and out because it promotes mental and physical purification. The vitamin content is higher in fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K2 which are beneficial for bone loss, heart, brain and immune system. There’s more medium and short chain fatty acids than butter, which means it’s used immediately as energy (keeping you more satiated) and not easily stored as fat. This is a healthy fat that will helps you burn fat. Like coconut oil, it aids in weight loss. Ghee also has a very high smoke point so it’s heathy to cook with like sautéing meats and veggies. Ghee has butyrate that aids digestion and reduces inflammation in the gut. It can reduce tumors, lower cholesterol and body fat. Unlike butter, you can travel with ghee because it doesn’t need to be refrigerated. It has a shelf life for a couple of months!

Home made ghee recipe!

Ghee seems too good to be true. Besides all the health benefits, it tastes so darn good. I basically have ghee daily and add it to many things. When you have ghee, there’s no excuse for not eating your veggies. I like to pour it all over my steamed veggies, sprinkled with some sea salt and it’s simply delicious. The only issue is that buying pre-made grass-fed ghee is costly. Something to note here is that Ghee will not be as beneficial if you don’t use grass-fed butter. Regular butter is less nutritious and comes from cows injected with hormones, antibiotics and fed genetically modified corn. Plus, ghee from grass-fed cows have conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) which aids in weight loss and is an anti-carcinogenic.

Homemade ghee is very easy to make and costs half of what you’d spend at a grocery store. Plus, it tastes much better. Here is a simple recipe for ghee that anyone can make. It only takes 30 minutes of prep and cooking time plus another day to let it sit.

If you haven’t tried ghee yet, go out to your nearest health food store or you can get it on line. Make sure it’s organic grass-fed ghee. (I recommend these 2 but there are other good grass-fed options. ) Or even better, make some homemade ghee. It tastes better home made and it will surely feed your soul.

What is Ghee?? was last modified: July 19th, 2017 by Sung
March 24, 2017 2 comments
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FeaturedRecipes

Grass-fed Ghee

Known as ‘Liquid Gold’, ghee tastes so much better home made. Why spend double the money when you can spend 30 minutes at home to make this? I mean, I would prefer to buy something already made so I don’t have to spend more time in the kitchen but when ghee is so simple to make and it tastes so much better, I will always make ghee. The most important and only ingredient in this recipe is butter. Always use grass-fed organic  unsalted butter. Here, is 4 sticks of butter which equals 1 lb.

Processed with VSCO with g3 preset

The tools you need: cheesecloth, fine mesh strainer, spoon, small or medium sauce pan. And a 16 oz mason jar or any glass jar that will hold 16 oz.

Cut up the butter into cubes so the butter melts more easily and evenly (cuts down time too.)

Place butter in pot and melt over medium heat. Stir a few times. Soon the butter will start to foam and then it will start to simmer. At this point, reduce heat to medium low and let it simmer without stirring for about 5-10 minutes. As the bubbles start to emerge, the foam will start to go away and the bubbles will increase and become clearer.

The milk solids will start to sink to the bottom and the butter will take on a nice golden color. At this point, start scraping any milk solids that are on the sides of the pot and the bottom so it doesn’t burn. About 20-25 minutes into the whole process, a second foam will happen. That is when you know your ghee is ready. Remove from heat and let sit and settle for a few minutes. Line your fine mesh strainer with a few layers of cheese cloth. Place on top of a bowl and pour the butter into the strainer. Milk solids will be left on the strainer. (Pictured here below on the right)

From the bowl, pour into your jar and there you have your liquid gold! Cover lid loosely and let sit in the fridge for about a day or until it becomes opaque.

You can store in fridge or in the pantry, whatever your choice is. Ghee lasts for a about a month room temperature. Longer in the fridge. This jar will last me a couple of weeks at best.

Ingredients:

4 sticks of grass-fed unsalted butter (will make 16 oz of ghee) = 1 lb of butter

Tools:

  • Medium bottom heavy sauce pan
  • Wooden spoon
  • Unbleached Cheesecloth
  • Fine wire mesh strainer
  • 16 oz Mason Jar
  • Large bowl

 

Instructions:

  • Cut up into 1 inch cubes so the butter melts more easily and evenly (cuts down time too.)
  • Place butter in pot and melt over medium heat
  • Stir just a few times in this process
  • Soon the butter will start to foam and then it will start to simmer. At this point, reduce heat to medium low and let it simmer without stirring.
  • As the bubbles start to emerge, the foam will start to go away and the bubbles will increase and become clearer.
  • The milk solids will start to sink to the bottom and the butter will take on a nice golden color. At this point, start scraping any milk solids that are on the sides of the pot and the bottom so it won’t burn.
  • In about 20-25 minutes into the whole process, a second foam will happen. That is when you know your ghee is ready.
  • Remove from heat and let sit and settle for a few minutes
  • Line your fine mesh strainer with a few layers of cheese cloth.
  • Place on top of a bowl and pour the butter into the strainer.
  • Milk solids will be on top of the strainer
  • From the bowl, pour into your jar and there you have your liquid gold!
  • Cover lid loosely and let sit in the fridge until it becomes opaque. At that point you can store in fridge or pantry. Whatever your choice is. Ghee lasts for a few months. This jar will last me a couple of weeks at best.

Makes 32 tbs servings

 

Grass-fed Ghee was last modified: May 27th, 2017 by Sung
March 24, 2017 2 comments
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Welcome to Clean Food Long Life

Welcome to Clean Food Long Life was last modified: March 27th, 2017 by Sung
March 20, 2017 0 comment
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FeaturedRecipes

Grass-fed Steak!

One of my favorite meals to make is a good juicy steak. I started making steak back in the 90’s when I first dined at Union Square Cafe and had one of the best steaks in my life. I got their cookbook and have followed their recipe since. Over the years, it has been revised and now that I eat grass-fed meat, cooking method definitely needed to change. Grass-fed beef has less fat because the cows are allowed to roam free and eat grass and whatever is around. They are not fed GMO corn and forced to become fat and injected with all sorts of hormones. So it needs a little help with extra fat in the cooking process. This is a very simple dish but just so fantastic. I will also share the special ingredient to making steak amazing.

Along with the nice choice of grass-fed beef, these are all the essentials you need. The key is a good cast iron skillet!

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbs of good kosher sea salt (Aztec is a great one.)
  • 1 tsp of Beef Tallow
  • 2 tbs of Grass-fed butter
  • 12 oz of any kind grass-feed steak. Rib-eye is best. The one shown here is a Trip steak from Butcher Box.
  •  2 wedges of organic lemon

Instructions:

  • Let steak sit for over an hour at room temperature before cooking. The key is the not cook steak when it’s cold.
  • Heat cast iron skillet at medium high heat until hot.
  • Heavily coat both sides with kosher sea salt. (Don’t be shy with the salt. Steak tastes best when it’s seasoned well.)
  • Melt beef tallow in skillet
  • Place steak on one side in skillet and reduce heat to medium low to not char the meat.  Cook for 5-6 minutes for rare and 6-8 minutes for medium rare. All depending on how thick your steak is. 1 inch steak should take about 5 minutes for rare so you can base it on that. Do not move the steak around. Let it sit.
  • Flip and do the same on the other side. If your steak is very thick, you can flip onto the sides for 2 minutes each. The trip steak I used here required that because it was very thick.
  • Remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes with butter on top. This is very important. In those 15 minutes, the steak still cooks and gets juicy. This is where all the juice starts to flow. (see above pic)
  • Slice and sprinkle with fresh lemon juice. This is the special ingredient that brings out the flavor of the meat.

Serves 2

Grass-fed Steak! was last modified: April 5th, 2017 by Sung
March 20, 2017 1 comment
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About Me

About Me

Welcome to Clean Food Long Life! My name is Sung Yun Cho and I started this site to share information and recipes to my friends and family.

My friends always ask why I eat, drink and live the way that I do. Based on my experience through my own struggles with my health and recovery, I’ve decided to share what I know about healing, food, self-care and how to be the best that I can be. I’m very passionate about all this because it’s changed my life for good. I have become a healthier, stronger and happier person and as a result, I want to help spread the awareness. Read More

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