Flirting with Baltimore’s Flavors
Last week I went Flirting with Flavors in Baltimore at the Natural Products Expo East. It’s the East Coast’s premier trade show and conference for the natural, organic, healthy living industry. I ate all day long! Chobani yogurt for breakfast. Banana peanut butter for lunch. And clearly the food industry has picked up on the health benefits of coconut.
There was coconut in everything! I had to stop by the Coconut Bliss display to have my favorite treat on the planet, Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream, made from coconut milk instead of dairy! Chia seeds were a huge trend at the Expo as well. They were used in everything from yogurt to chips, and they have all kinds of health benefits including lowering blood pressure and helping you lose weight!
Highlights
Here are some of my favorite products (and people!) from the Food Expo:
Microgreens are Everywhere!
I am always interested in healthy trends and it seems like much of the country is becoming more aware of making healthy food choices as well. There was even an article in the New York Times last week promoting the ‘normalcy’ of a vegan diet.
We still have a long way to go- with so many eating fast processed foods – but I feel like we are on the right track. I’m munching on a crunchy kale salad as I write this….. not only do we need to eat our greens, but we can drink our greens too! I have a fruit and veggie smoothie for breakfast every morning and it sets me off on the right foot!
I like to indulge occasionally, so the rest of the time I am really careful with what I eat. I try to maintain an alkaline diet which researchers have shown limits inflammation in the body (and we know that inflammation leads to all kinds of disease including heart disease), and I limit the sugar in my diet. When I do eat sugar, I try to use agave or stevia in my own cooking instead of white sugar. It’s hard sometimes to resist temptation, but this is the only body you have! Take good care of it which means eating more greens, fresh fruits, and lean protein and cooking more often!!