Snacking on traditional cereal bars often means opting for syrupy sweet flavors, which just isn’t for everyone. Enter a new line of healthy, gluten-free, soy-free bars from renowned New York-based KIND that offers a 10-gram serving…
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Whether it’s skiing, running, or pushing the pedals on the road or single track, your body needs fuel to keep moving. As much as we’d like to nosh on a burrito during a long ride, it doesn’t exactly travel well. There’s no shortage…
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With lofty goals set firmly in their sights, nutrition supplement maker and healthy living advocate ALOHA launches today, 19 November with two products for daily consumption: a whole-food powder green…
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Pep up your pup’s health with a daily dose of powdered vitamins
Though new to the market as a clever way of thinking about canine supplements, K-10+ seems like a product that should already exist. The line of dog-friendly vitamins is the brainchild of NYC-based photographer Ryan Singer, who developed the range after realizing how difficult it is to get a dog to eat a pill. The single-serving powder formulas are “basically like Emergen-C for dogs”, he tells us.
Depending on the dog’s weight, you simply drop the contents of one packet into its water bowl or mix it into its food for a quick and seamless immunity boost. Currently K-10+ makes calcium, glucosamine, omega 3 and multi-vitamin formulas, and each are concocted with human-grade ingredients and designed to be odorless and tasteless.
Each box—designed by Paul Darragh of Manhattan Born—contains 28 packets for a month’s worth of daily nutrition doses for your pup. Pick them up online for $35 a box.
A flavor-neutral milk alternative with the healthful benefits of oats
One of the most exciting finds at the winter 2012 Fancy Food Show came in the form of a non-dairy milk made from oats. Oats? Milk? Yes—and the result outshines other alternatives like soy and almond because of its neutral taste and dairy milk consistency. Plus, Simpli Naked Oat retains many of the vitamin and nutritional qualities of the oats. The beverage is available unsweetened, or lightly sweetened and flavored with vanilla.
Simpli also makes the creamier dairy-free, gluten-free OatShakes, which are available in chocolate and tropical fruit flavors, offering a new snack option that can be served cold or warm. As part of Simpli’s mission to encourage healthy lifestyles, they offer an extensive list of gluten-free baking tips and recipes on their website. Both Simpli Naked Oats and OatShakes are available through Amazon where a 25oz box sells for around $5, and at retailers nationwide.
New sweet-and-salty flavors from the better-tasting nutrition bar brand
When you’re out and about, pumping iron or just running a busy schedule, it’s nice to have a nutrition boost handy. Next time you’re in a spot, give NuGo’s above-average bars a try. Their use of pure natural ingredients comes through in their taste, giving them an obvious edge over the competition. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that the brand’s commitment to quality is even stronger. For their chocolate-covered bars, they go so far as to make their own chocolate in-house.
The latest additions to the Dark collection, peanut butter cup and chocolate pretzel flavors, introduce a sweet-savory mix to the line. These delicious new options, like all Nugo bars, can be enjoyed guilt-free. Each contains 10 grams of protein and contains all-natural dairy-free ingredients. On top of that, the bars are also low fat, vegan, and certified kosher.
For those looking for a gluten-free snack, NuGo bars have a rice-based version too, selling for $19 per box (includes 12 bars) on their website. They have low-fat and high protein organic and vegan bars as well to suit a variety of dietary needs.
A delicious mocktail loaded with lime, mint, honey and healthful benefits
What we affectionately call a “weekend smoothie,” the Greeno Mojito is best for when you have a little more time to put into a detoxifying drink. We upped the healthful benefits of ours using the metabolism-revving
Revive shake packet from Eleven Eleven Wellness Center, whose Janice Lipman recently stopped by to share her recipe.
The combination of lime, mint and honey is a tasteful balance of tang and sweetness. Avocado adds to the distinct flavor with a rich texture that gives the smoothie a thicker, more substantial consistency without resorting to dairy. To make your own Greeno Mojito Smoothie, see the full list of ingredients and instructions below.
1 packet Revive shake powder (optional)
1/4 avocado
3-4 ice cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
Juice of one lime
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup coconut water
Sweeten to taste with raw honey, and blend
NYC’s urban gardening supply store with a mission
Behind the many verdant closets and kitchen-corner produce installations increasingly tucked into NYC apartments, you can often find the expertise and passion of urban gardening advocate and entrepreneur Aaron Moore. Splitting his time between his two City Hydroponic supply stores in New York’s Bronx and Brooklyn boroughs, Moore not only supplies the growing green gardening movement but proactively tackles the challenges of sustainable indoor farming with a focus on low-income neighborhoods, working to increase access to fresh produce and education about healthy living
The staff of socially-responsible gardeners and urban growers at City Hydroponic can help with any indoor or outdoor gardening needs, whether growing with soil, water or nutrient mist. Stocked with all of the equipment necessary to set up functional hydroponic (growing solely with water and no soil) or aeroponic (spraying exposed root systems with a nutrient mist) farms in any space, ranging from a studio apartment to a suburban home, the shops are fully committed to the craft, stocking the highest tech tools in the trade. They offer a full line of fluorescent, HID, metal halide and high-pressure sodium lights, full hydroponics and aeroponics systems, nutrients, fertilizers and knowledgeable employees who will gladly explain everything from potting soil to building drainage systems.
For budding urban farmers feeling intimidated by all the lights and gadgets, City Hydroponic periodically offers month long sessions of free hour-long classes on Saturdays. The comprehensive course starts with the basic concepts of hydro and aeroponic gardening and proceeds with how to produce and maintain a functional farm.
Moore, a huge advocate of food justice, feels education is as important as access, and by delivering these free classes to the community he hopes to push the green movement forward. “We need to generate a market from a grassroots level by educating our consumers, giving them confidence so they can partake in the green movement, and help them be successful in it.” His agenda includes increasing knowledge about where your food comes from, why quality is important and how creating your own fresh produce empowers you as an individual.
While Moore’s goal might be lofty, it’s also relatively simple. The concept was born from bearing witness to the poor dietary habits in his neighborhood and the urban landscape at large. “In the communities that we are in there is an abundance of food but there is not an abundance of quality food,” he says. Rather than attempt to reverse gravitation toward what is available—typically highly-processed foods with grave nutritional consequences—his work comes down to changing what is available by creating a DIY supply chain that’s doesn’t price residents out. “We are trying to bring quality food to the masses, to all neighborhoods, not just those that can afford it. We want to make it more affordable in general, to teach people whats good food and what’s not—and if its not readily available, show them how to grow their own!”
As food culture in America continues to diversify and the importance of healthy living becomes more apparent the movement will push this type of localized urban agriculture to the forefront of nutrition. Moore shows how anyone is capable of creating fresh organic produce right in their home, reducing carbon waste, soil and water usage and generally promoting a sustainable, self-sufficient way to stay healthy.
Detox and cleanse with Dr. Frank Lipman’s easy-to-use programs
Since 1992
Dr. Frank Lipman and his Eleven Eleven Wellness Center in New York City have been the go-to practice for those seeking wholistic care. A South African M.D. who studied Eastern medicine in China and a practitioner of
Integrative Medicine, Dr. Lipman looks at the whole of a person’s health rather than focus singularly on a specific symptom or illness. Having written
several books and articles on health, wellness and nutrition, he’s a growing voice in the Integrative Medicine community.
Over the years Lipman has worked with thousands of patients, tailoring programs to address their particular issues. Oftentimes he created regimens of various vitamins and supplements, meticulously-sourced and increasingly manufactured to his specifications—requiring patients to mix powders and take a custom assortment of pills multiple times a day. Eventually, he noticed that many had similar issues and found assembling the assorted supplements burdensome. In 2010 he created three easy-to-use kits that address the concerns he treats most frequently: detoxing and cleansing the body to perform optimally; reviving your body’s metabolism to function optimally; and sustaining it with a balance of vitamins and supplements. The kits include pre-measured powders that mix into liquid to create shakes and vitamin/supplement packs that make following the programs extremely easy. Another benefit of the kits is their low price and accessibility to both current patients of Lipman’s practice and those who’d like to take part but don’t have easy access.
Last year, a visit to Dr. Lipman (who I’ve seen for many years) ended with the suggestion of following the Remove and Revive programs. Several others at CH HQ also decided to give it a try and six weeks later we were feeling great and enjoying a weight loss of around 10 pounds each. Read on to learn what we did.
We started with the
Remove program, an aggressive but manageable two-week program geared at detoxing the body’s organs while replenishing it with a range of beneficial nutrients. Three shakes and three supplement packs a day plus two meals produced the desired results. We found this pretty easy, but some may find the removal of gluten, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, dairy and many animal proteins more challenging. Following the program at home was a breeze, meals out were usually easy enough to assemble, and because you aren’t limited by volume (of the right foods) we were’t ever hungry. We all saw some weight loss and a noticeable improvement in energy, though not without a few rough days from caffeine withdrawal and a few days when we would have loved a drink from the well-stocked CH bar.
The Revive kit, a four-week program similar to Remove, was next. You start the day with a shake and a supplement pack, and follow a less restrictive diet. The addition of more animal proteins and foods we missed made this painless, and eating out became even easier. We all continued to see benefits—more weight loss, sustained balance in our energy levels and we made an effort to work out more than we had been. Most importantly we began to integrate a lot of what we learned into our post-program daily routines.
Sustain, a twice-a-day supplement pack created to help your body fight stress and ensure you power up with essential nutrients, is the last and least hardcore of the kits.
Dr. Lipman’s Remove ($200 for the two week kit), Revive ($230 for the four week kit) and Sustain ($130 for the four week kit) all sell online from the
Eleven Eleven Wellness site.
Exotically-flavored teas pack in twice the health benefits
Just when you thought herbal tea couldn’t get any healthier, The Republic of Tea’s Raw Green Bush Tea is the USA’s first unoxidized version of rooibos tea, lending an even bigger dose of vitamins and antioxidants. Keeping the plant in its raw form preserves natural enzymes, and in turn doubles the amount of antioxidants found in traditional green teas.
All low in tannins, the five caffeine-free varieties—Plantain Coconut, Orange Red Carrot, Black Currant Cardamom, Mango Chili and Natural Organic—are vegan-friendly, curiously flavorful and packed with nutritious herbs, fruits and veggies.
In addition to the salubrious selection of raw teas, the health-conscious purveyors also added Organic Turmeric Ginger tea to their roster of green teas. Known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich properties, turmeric is thought by medical experts to help fight cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
The new additions to The Republic of Tea sell online or at health food stores, as either full-leaf loose tea or in unbleached tea bags. Prices begin at $10.
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