Take a Pause with Menopalz
The journey through Menopause and how to laugh through it with a community of women who want to talk about the pause.
Take a Pause with Menopalz
Episode 52 with SharonLove Pochay Calaguas-Larsen a Holistic Chef
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Explore the role of inflammation, holistic nutrition, and cultural foods in menopause health with holistic chef Sharon. Learn practical tips on anti-inflammatory diets, food preparation, and understanding your body's signals during menopause. Join us as we explore the art of mindful cooking, the healing power of herbs and spices, and how small dietary shifts can significantly impact menopause symptoms and overall health. Sharon shares expert tips on cooking methods, nutrient preservation, and creating a nourishing kitchen routine.
Disclaimer: This is general information and education. This is not therapeutic or medical advice.
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Hey everyone, and welcome to Take a Pause with Minute Pals, where we will talk about the pause in all of her glory and not so glory, but the conversations will always be real, you know, a little bit funny and um honest. And sometimes honesty is really that can get you sometimes. But what do they say the best medicine? It is the best medicine, I guess. Um today I'm so excited. We are going to be talking with a um holistic chef. So, girls, get out your uh tablets if you can and start writing down stuff because we'll talk about how inflammation and the foods we eat and how things change during menopause, which is interesting. And I'm so happy to have my uh partner in menopause today, Raquel, with us. Hello, girl. Hello. And we are happy to have um Sharon with us, who is a holistic chef, and I'm just so excited. And Raquel, you know, Sharon, I had the pleasure of meeting you when I came out in March. So yeah. So welcome. Welcome, Sharon.
SPEAKER_04Thank you. Nice to see you, lovely ladies again.
SPEAKER_01Same, same. So we are so excited because we know that our body feels like it's changing every second of every day, which it is. I wake up and it's always a surprise, like, whoo, how do I feel today? And then I reverse engineer that thought process and I go into, oh crap, I ate this. Oh, that probably had a little more sugar than I thought it did, you know, depending on like how my hands feel, if they're swollen or not.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and just the puffiness, yeah. Like the just the like you feel bloated and you ate the same thing that you've been eating, but evidently, no, it's the inflammation.
SPEAKER_01Inflammation, yeah, yeah. So yes, let's talk inflammation. Yes.
SPEAKER_00That's all you, girlfriend. We're here to ask Sharon. We feel inflamed. All the women out there, what is something that we can do? And then first, before we get into that though, we always like to be like, hey, how are you? How's your journey? And where did you get to where you are? And what is a holistic chef? Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_04Um start there. Um well, it's pretty simple. Um I am a holistic chef, not because I wanted to discover what holistic chef is. It's because I I wanted to go back and reconstruct myself from where I was already. I was already in the holistic foundation where I came from, my heritage, my culture, my practice, everything. And then when you travel from one portion of the globe to another, there is that shift. And you never know that in uh during time, um, you you create a different path away from what your body needed. Um and I I I felt like you know, during that time I was getting sick. Uh Raquel during that time as well shared me what happened to her. She was MIA during our friendship, and so she emerged and she's like, girl, this is what happened to me. And so that thought process, and I work for the school, and I notice more kids are becoming seriously allergic to something, intolerant to something, you know, to uh sensitive to something. And and and I I studied and researched what's going on, and I said to myself, I need to go back to the right path. I think I was lost, you know. And so I went and searched and searched, so finally I got the actual learning back and the foundation back. And I said, you know what, this is the advocacy that I wanted to do from now on. You know, I removed myself from bioagriculture, um, not because it doesn't count, but because I wanted to focus more on the cultural and uh the ethnic food um that brings in the holistic part of it. So it's like a step, you know, I step. I gathered all my learning and I created my entire career uh molded into that.
SPEAKER_01So that's which I can testify to because Sharon, I have been friends with you for I don't even know how many years, and I have watched you through the years. One thing I've always appreciated about you is that every holiday you come up with a different, you know, ethnic group to make for their food, you know, like that's your Thanksgiving dinner. Like I think you one time you had like an Yes! Oh my gosh, I loved it. Like she just does like, you know, traditions around the world. I think one time you did like an Ethiopian dinner, and I was just like so, oh my gosh, because I love different foods, but I think you were in that chefing space, and then as like I got sick, it really opened your eyes to things that like you're how your body reacts, and you're so close to food, and like you are so passionate about making sure people get the right food, the right ingredients, zero waste. And for me, like I was just like blown away that you just dove back into like the holistic side. I was like, go girl.
SPEAKER_04It's it's it's the awareness, and you I can use like you. I really would love and in my platform. Uh, I've done three podcasts um we recorded, and I actually use your situation um during the time. So when you again a word the word emerged from your MIA, um and you said girl, I'm really craving for carrot cake. Remember that? I do. I still think about that carrot cake. You called me in November, you wanted a carrot cake in December. Now, this is where the holistic part comes from. Yeah, every single so-called gluten-free bake shop or pastry chef, they would be like, This is the recipe for gluten-free, this is what we're gonna do, this is the list, this is what we're gonna follow. And I'm like, No, that's not how you do it. It should be customized to the person suffering for certain things. So Raquel is like, okay, gluten-free. She just got out from this situation. Her papillae should be very uh sensitive, uh, texture, taste, and everything. She probably lost that um the the salivary gland, the mastication part of it. So on that list, I bought seven different books and you know, books. I don't Google, um, very rare. Uh, I bought seven different books, laid out every single gluten-free um recipe. And I was like, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong. And so it says gluten-free flour. And I was like, Your gluten-free-free flour will be very sticky, very dense. Yes. You need to sift this. And I sifted it five times, and I tested the carrot cake before. That's why I said to you, give me time, I will perfect it. So sifted it five times. Like, no, that's not enough. Sifted it, you know, seven times. Like, okay, that's enough. And then my raisins and whatnot, you know, um macerated. She probably created, you know, uh an allergy with um, you know, grapes or red wine and stuff like that. I'm not gonna use that. So I use something like bourbon and whiskey and you know, things like that, massive, uh macerate it with that. Um baking, the baking part of it, everybody would be like, oh, pop it in like 350. I was like, no, because it's gonna be this texture. So you add the simmer. Anyway, so the whole thing.
SPEAKER_01Can you just start making gluten-free bread for people out there? Because all I'm hearing is like you learned how to perfect that flour, and it's really hard.
SPEAKER_04Remember when I gave it to you, the frosting, the texture, everything. And you texted me at like 3 a.m. and she's like, I am still dreaming about your carrot cake. And I'm like, Oh, okay, well, I guess I didn't give you enough. And her family did not even get the chance to have some. Not a morsel. Everybody tasted. I was like, nope, I finished them all. And then I heard you said we have those big shops here in Reno, yeah. Uh in in my part of town, but all of them feel sandy and scratchy on the tongue and stuff like that. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01It's very dense, so dense. I mean, and you feel really heavy after you eat it, and that just stinks.
SPEAKER_04And so I felt like, okay, this is my advocacy, this is what I'm good at. This is the type of chef I am. Not only when you said you're gluten-free, the first thing I ask you, are you gluten-free or are you gluten-friendly? Those are two different things. You said I am gluten-free. And I said to you, girl, give me time. I have to clean my house for two days. Remember?
SPEAKER_01And I never feel unsafe when I know you're making food. I'm like, Sharon is a clean aholic.
SPEAKER_04And that's basically what other people do not understand. They claim even the the joint, uh, the pizza joint that I I worked at prior while I was doing the the you know, the culinary um arts, they claim that they are gluten-free. And I look at the board, we are gluten-free, and then I look how we prepare food. And as I take this down, you can't put gluten-free. You're not even gluten-friendly. And I protested that every day I come to work, and I would even come to work late, and I would be like, Well, I'm not coming to work on time until you remove that gluten-free on your board.
SPEAKER_01I love it.
SPEAKER_04You know, they've been advocating forever, and they needed me because I am their chef. And so I'm like, Yeah, I'm late because your gluten-free is up there. So you need to remove it. And they're like, fine, we're removing the gluten-free. I was like, Yes, because we're not gluten-free, you know. You don't claim something, you're a poser, and then next thing I know, the year after she's trying to sell me her joint. So she's like, Can you buy the pizza joint? And you know, I was like, No, I'm not interested. Yeah, anyway.
SPEAKER_00You could have made it really gluten-free. Right, right.
SPEAKER_01So there are those certain things, you know. There are certain things that we're doing. People understand in shit, like in just like a culinary kitchen that's not holistic. I don't think they understand like airborne, right? Or cross-contamination. Those are really big words. And I'm not discounting every chef out there or saying like you don't understand that that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying, like, a lot of times, like I have talked to a lot of weight staff that's like, oh yeah. I mean, is this gluten-friendly enough for you? And I'm like, no, no, no. Like this is a real thing. Like, I actually needed to ask, you know? And I have had those conversations. And you like for me as somebody with celiac, I decide to not eat if I don't feel safe. And so I think increasing this awareness, increasing the education so people come off more confident and make you feel confident and you understand in the back, you know, the back of the house that things are wiped down or gloves are changed, or they're not frying your calamari with something like a wheat type of product, you know.
SPEAKER_04Cross-contamination and things like that. And when we were doing our cooking together, remember, we we've got to be able to get a bunch of the gloves, you know, and we're like, okay, for me, it's a false sense of security. Why is that? You didn't wash your hands, you just put a gloves on. Why don't you just not use your gloves? Just wash your hands, you know, things like that. These are the common considerations in the kitchen. When when you say something, it's integrity, you have to do it. You know, where did you keep your gloves? You kept it along with the cleaning materials. It's not supposed to be that, you know, things like that. So that's basically the whole foundation of culinary and holistic culinary. And I think I have so much passion on advocacy for that for toddlers, teens, kids, adults, all the way, you know.
SPEAKER_01Well, and that's where it starts, right? Like good eating habits start at home, and you have to start laying that foundation now because I didn't have that foundation growing up, so I had to learn. I mean, I you know, we got the have eat your vegetables, here's a salad lecture or whatever, but like I didn't understand like certain calories or like you know, the difference between soluble fiber and regular fiber and plant-based fiber, you know, like there's so many things that I didn't know. Or like if you chop your garlic in advance, like that, you know, gives it time to like do its activation process.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the allicin in that garlic, you need to wait at least a good five minutes to get that fully bolded uh and and and created, you know, because that's the time that it's trying to extract its own allicin. You know, you don't chop your garlic and throw it in the the oil right away. Well, that's what I do, Sharon.
SPEAKER_01You know what drives me crazy is I see those people with those big jugs of like pre-chopped garlic, and I'm like, I just don't know that I could do that.
SPEAKER_04Right, right. It oxidized already. I mean, for a lot of people. I feel like that, yeah. I mean, you know, it's not that it's bad, it's just that it's not giving you what you need anymore. And what's the purpose, you know, of food. Right, now that's just flavor. Yeah, food is always intentional. Food always has a purpose. Yes, you know, uh the way you cook it and what you it it always has a purpose, you know. So, and and that's the great part, you know, that's the great part of of of me doing what I do, you know. And I guess to answer your question, really I don't have a one particular answer, but it's just that, you know, it's it's it's what comes from the heart, you know, it's my passion, you know. That's right. And and the you when you were talking about right now, you said, you know, you didn't really grow up knowing this and knowing that. And the reason why I took anthropology as part of my my you know, my um my education is because this is when I tie in culinary and anthropology. And a lot of people cannot put that two and two together, but there is because you may not know what are you Scandinavian? You probably don't know that your health depends on the Scandinavian diet. Um you're probably getting sick and whatnot because you're not adding um, you know, your juniper berries, or you're not eating, you know, your fish, putting dill weed on it, and things like that. You know, are you are you Irish? You know, things like that. So I put that together and as I researched that along the way, it has to do a lot with where you come from. Your DNA speaks a lot. Um all this, you know, the stress around and the the environmental toxin and stuff like that. That is not only affecting you, it's affecting your gut, your nervous system, and everything. Yeah, so you bring up a great point. Yeah, now you need to go back. Where did you really come from? What's my ancestry? How am I gonna fix myself? You know, things like that.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, it's true because I'm um part Greek, and I would say I'm half Greek, but um the way I've heard you speak Greek, I would say that at least three quarters. Um my um I'm more at home with like the Mediterranean diet. Like any time that like I go off of that. And when I was, you know, in my late 40s when I was starting perimenopause, it I didn't realize it or know it, but I was having GI issues, and uh so I went gluten-free and eating that way was so against how I normally would eat because I would eat bread with bread. And I was like, Yep, I'm having, you know, and but I like tried to like incorporate every time I do a different type of diet, I incorporate the Mediterranean, and then I was like, What? Let me just stick with the Mediterranean diet because it works the best with the oils and the olives and the lemon olives, lemon, oh my god, lemon and dill and oregano. My favorite. Oh my god. I never ever leave, I don't have I never am out of that at my house. Yeah, yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01I text you, and I think I got some dill weed from you at one point. Yes, I did.
SPEAKER_04I supplied her, I supplied her with all the the herbs and the spices. How am I gonna use it? Here's a little grater. You great that nutmeg. And then we talk about cinnamon, you know, cinnamon sticks. Is this the right cinnamon stick? I was like, no, girl, that's fake.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Or I'll send her a picture, like I have a package of chicken, and she will send me a whole list of like 15 different ways you could do what's said chicken. And I'm like, oh, okay, I wouldn't have thought of that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And she's like, saffron, is this the right sapron? I was like, no, you got, you got, you got gym. It's not saffron, it's sunflower. You know, things like that. So it's I mean, yeah. So I'll be your sort of like guide, you know, like, hey, Raquel would be like, What's this? What's that? I was like, I'll be telling her, like, okay.
SPEAKER_01Like a food connoisseur, yeah. Or a concierge. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Well, you know, and I think too for like people with autoimmune disease, like it's so important to understand what like an anti-inflammatory diet looks like, you know? Yeah. I I've I've talked about this a lot. Like, I know when I was super sick, like I was really looking forward to having an appointment with this nutritionist. And I was like, I was thinking, oh my God, you know, like I've just been diagnosed with celiac. I've been practically on death's door for like nine months. Like I wasted away to about a hundred pounds. Like, I'm gonna have somebody now that I have a diagnosis that's gonna tell me what to do. That did not happen. It was the most disappointing phone call. So then I felt even more alone and even more like isolated and even more uh depressive, you know, because it was like if the the expert can't tell me, then who's gonna tell me? How do I learn this? You know? Right.
SPEAKER_00It is a definite learning curve too. Like to cook, not only, first of all, to be gluten-free, not friendly, and to, you know, when I did it, as I'm sure we call you to, the supermarket became like a two-hour um experience because you're reading every and there is gluten median in everything. And chapstick and soy everything. Yes. Yes, you know, so it's like just learning that and then trying to figure out what is an anti-inflammatory and what can I eat that I like that will seem normal. You know what I mean? Because you always want to try to find some normalcy in whatever diet you try. And yeah, what what can you you find that yeah, so it so it is a struggle. Right.
SPEAKER_04When you talk about anti-inflammatory and then menopause, and these are segmented of different things. Uh, and you know, textbook professionals always think like, oh, you're you you have this problem anti-inflammatory because you are in perimenopause or you are in menopause. It's like it's actually the other way around. I mean, because we're talking about textbook professionals, you know, and as you know, our our ancestors are the very first um uh the very first doctors, and back in the days they were called the quack doctors and stuff like that. But really, if you dissect it, they actually know more before we prove it with science. So, okay, so let's take about um inflammation, you know, um and let's talk about inflammation and menopause. Um inflammation is our body's response. So we already know this. This is textbook, you know. Inflammation is our body's response to stress and injury.
SPEAKER_01You know, there's two kinds of inflammation, some proteins that we've input to them and things like that.
SPEAKER_04Which is, you know, when uh your your your swell and your redness and all that pain reacting to let's say a cut or an infection. That's called short term, right? That that kind of inflammation helps the body heal. So that's fine and all. It's short term. Now let's talk about what if it lingers. When it starts lingering, this is what we feel, and this is how we're now connecting it to menopause, you know. So when it starts lingering, it becomes what we call chronic uh inflammation. And this is a long state, longer state that is, you know, uh basically triggered um by ongoing stress, poor diet, and environmental toxins. So this chronic inflammation is what quietly disrupt your body's rhythm. So it basically quietly destroys you, it destroys how you feel, how you move, and how you age, right? So basically inflammation happens regardless of menopause. Now, this is the thing we hear about this from our professionals and say, Oh, you're a menopause, therefore you have to expect inflammation. No, that's not true. Inflammation exists regardless of your stage or transition. Inflammation had already been existing since you were a kid. It uh it's a trigger point. And menopause has nothing to do with it, and menopause is just a small part of that picture. But inflow inflammation plays the greater role in that story. Um, inflammation acts as the body's amplifier during that stages when your transition is happening. And I again we talk a lot of this before. I called that transition the second metamorphosis. Uh, I don't know if you guys remember. Um that for me is what menopause is. Um you know, so basically on your second metamorphosis, when your estrogen drops, then the the inflammation has that ability um to rise.
SPEAKER_01It definitely increases.
SPEAKER_04There is that yeah, there is that because you know. much estrogen drops your your anti-inflammatory um protection you know which is very much what happened to me I was I think my body was sustaining it was struggling menopause hit estrogen dropped inflammation skyrocketed and it landed me in acute liver failure right there's like cytokins you know cytokins is the one that destroys everything that's when you know when you start having the hot flashes you know your mood swings uh fluctuation of emotions and things like that so that's basically what it is so while you're on menopause uh inflammation is actually in charge menopause does not we know yeah we do yeah it's actually the one we got we know who's in charge these days and it's not us some gut health gut health I had no idea yeah you know before uh perimenopause or before the estrogen really left the building for me you know yeah you do you do have gut issues you know you're like oh I didn't but it would always go around your period right like I was just gonna say it's always like that right it's always around the period so it's always around the hormones and everything it always has been and then when estrogen leaves it's like ooh now right just me now look at all this havoc I can like cause and you're like oh boy right right they dominate the inflammation dominates as estrogen drops so but I guess the deeper understanding of that is do not blame menopause. Menopause is a beautiful thing you know it's a second transition it's a second metamorphosis.
SPEAKER_00It's just that you're still wonderful.
SPEAKER_04Yeah it sounds wonderful Sharon the way you say it but it's so beautiful and eloquent we're forgetting we're forgetting to blame the actual catalyst we're forgetting to blame the root cause villain you know that's true we're right we're we're we're blaming we're blaming our we're blaming our transition yeah but transition really has a deeper meaning to it uh really it's not supposed to be the one that we should blame on what's going on with us it's a signal you know it's a signal of what your body's telling you and what you have to do about it you know um so things like that you know very true if you look at it no I yeah I very true we just don't like to be told that you know food's the reason I'm just messing around well okay we love food I love Oreos I'm with you girl there is no diet listen I have done everything I have done a macrobiotic diet I have done anti-inflammatory cabbage cabbage ooh girl Mediterranean like what whatever like high um that FOD map or whatever everything right fermented the one thing that stays in Oreos no matter what I don't care will they still be will a package still be around and not moldy in 3000 years from now yes and will I still eat it yes yes absolutely same I have very little joy pieces in my life these days and Oreos are staying because they have a gluten free Oreo out there in some friends yes and it is a gluten free that tastes as close to the normal the normal yes yeah I mean happiness when I peel open that slack oh god the new bag yes it's so good now I know if it's like it's all about honoring your transition. So if Oreo gluten free has to stay that's for de honors it and I'm also accepting carrot cakes. Yes but only sharing carrot cakes we should go ahead and label that and just but just like my husband I'm trying to get him into this you know this this um diet because he he got out of the hospital I mean Raquel knows what happened. Yeah yeah um and and we were eliminating a lot of things and he was like we can't eliminate twinkies honey yes we can you know and it's like well if I'm good 99% of the time can I have that little percent and keep Twinkies and so you know and we're like okay you know what it's it's it's an awareness you know it's not yeah it's not good exactly you know it's it's an awareness it's a deeper understanding of nourishment it's so we're we're gonna go do that. We're gonna go ahead and give certain things.
SPEAKER_01And I like what you say a deeper understanding of nourishment like that is such a huge like that actually is really powerful because understanding how I always tell my kids it's like a car because you know they're boys and so they understand this terminology. I'm like would you put crappy oil in your vehicle and they're like oh my god no I'm like well why would you put crappy food in your body? Because your body is the vehicle like you need to think that through boys and they're they're you know they're in their 1820 range so they're kind of like yeah mom whatever we're gonna live forever but I I do have you know those conversations and I feel like those conversations are like sinking in you know they all know if you have a headache get water like don't come to me and ask me why I have a headache because I'm gonna just tell you you're dehydrated you haven't drank enough water because I see that you know how they they've sucking out of soda or they haven't had a glass of water in about five hours and I'm like no wonder you have a headache. Your body is telling you otherwise right right and we always forget you know really we always forget food is our very first medicine and our oldest memory um we forget that you know so uh when we cook with care we choose the right food we choose the right ingredients the right herbs the right spices um we really honor again I will repeat that our bodies transition you know um and and again menopause is not the end of vitality it is the beginning of a deeper nourishment this is the time yeah when we deeply think about the two things our guts and our nervous system those two things when we feed them correctly it heals us because again food is the very first medicine before we even created everything else yeah yeah everything we needed is in the right food and a lot of medicines are derived from food like the derivative of a lot of medications is food like what are we not connecting with that you know what I mean as a society like it just it baffles me but before I forget I want to ask because I'm sure everybody else is kind of curious too when you sifted that flower and now you know because now I personally have to know because maybe I'm gonna do this what what what changed that what changed the like consistency or in the flower to make it more light and fluffy by sifting it like I don't I didn't I'm not getting that so remember when I say you know when we go summits and stuff like that you would see more physicists and chemists um and not chefs you know you will only see like 10% of chefs um and it's based on that molecular structure and it's based on that physical transformation um every atom of that flower you know you remove the gluten on that right all uh on that non-gluten flour so the fact that you remove that gluten in in in is simply a sterm you remove the bouncy you know you remove the bouncy and the rice on that flour so you need to incorporate you will have to fake its environment so again we're talking about chemistry form you're talking about the physics of it you know you're flowing it from its dense mode because you remove that gluten and you start it's a simple it's a simple transformation and a lot of Easter chef does not get that I was like dude that's a common sense you know we don't need I didn't get it but I'm not really a baker.
SPEAKER_04No I'm saying I'm not saying I don't think it's so you know I'm saying my co oh I get it I get it I just so you're just making it lighter you're just you're incorporating more air you're you know you're you're removing um scientifically I really can't say the transformation because I have to have my cheat sheets and whatnot for my textbook but in the right space we can't remember things too so don't feel bad about that. How you aerate your flour gives you that kind of result. So if even sardo how you need your flour how much you need your flour how much you beat your flour gives you certain different results. So you have different bakery not one of them are the same to be honest with you. So back to the carrot cake you know you aerate it how many times you aerate it gives you different results um the kind of liquid you put you know what did you put you did you put wine uh alcohol then you have more chances of dehydrating your flour because again um alcohol evaporates um you put milk on your on your flour how is this gonna affect in the end it's gonna be a little bit more fluffier because you're putting that you know you're putting that um pH back together because you're putting the case in it and you're not just putting water so those are different things. Uh I'm sorry I overexplained when you asked me about the flour no you're totally fine I was like oh yeah okay this all makes sense what would you um how what are some easy inflammatory or anti-inflammatory things to add into someone's diet okay so when we talk about a while ago um again menopause is not the end of your vitality and it's the beginning of your deeper nourishment I put groupings um we were talking about what is the list you know what's the list we shouldn't look list as a control we group them in according to what our body is screaming for okay so let's group the food okay and we can talk about it okay so what are we what are we expecting or what are we uh experiencing okay so here's the grouping and I make the list um you have your hormone balance and hot flash is relief okay so these are food these are food rich in omega 3s and phytoestrogens you're talking about your flax seeds you're talking about your salmon talking about your walnut soy chickpeas and again we talk about the turmeric the yeah the curcumin reduces the uh inflammatory uh markers and may lessen hot flashes and joint discomfort so that's the first number two uh another group you're talking about gut health and mood regulation so we are talking about fermented foods and again uh lacto fermentation uh a very uh subtle uh fermentation or pickling so you're talking about your miso um natto I don't know if you guys have tried natto but it is an amazing Japanese um soybean food you add it on top of your rice you know um you have yogurt um kefir um different nation has different fermented food different uh lacto fermentation process you know everything pickled you're talking about the gardenia mix the Italians and the Greeks you know the broccoli and I'm sorry cauliflower and the the carrots in the bell pepper pickle jar you know things like that uh kimchi uh uh I don't know if I mentioned saurkraut you know um so what's the difference what is that kefir ice oh I love kefir what is that is it I've had somebody ask me is it a yogurt or very Scandinavian uh that is actually more of the European uh uh kefir has a milder gut um acceptance uh kefir is another type of dairy um kind of like um another dairy fermented product yeah um so it's like drinking a yogurt basically it's kind of got that aftertaste of a yogurt I love it in smoothies it it really like adds consistency and thickness to my smoothies so I want to compare kefir with okay so kefir is european and uh I don't know if you know about this um product called yakult it's a lactobacilli and it's Asian so kefir and lactobacilli Asian Yakult so those are the the the synonymous um together they are all um good for your gut microbiome um this are they gluten free um yeah they're gluten free interesting yeah the only problem with when we talk about gluten free is nowadays we have the innovations we have the warehouses the facilities that make them right not all of them are isolated as gluten free so now they have this whole standard they say produce in a non-gluten free warehouse so you just have to be careful with that you can make it your own it is so easy to make kefir it is so easy to she always says this to me I was sitting there I see let me just tell you about me and Sharon shopping day so we went shopping we shopped for basically the entire day for food that we were going to prepare and in my head I thought oh this is wonderful we'll have it we'll wake up early tomorrow we'll cook because I'm exhausted right no no no we cooked till like 11 o'clock that night like five different meals like full on meals like we made what how do you say the noodle put pun punsit pun sit yeah so we made pun sit we made dessert I mean we made a full like Filipino style meal it was delicious all gluten free all gluten free and God bless her I was seriously like oh I didn't know we were going like ham today she wasn't expecting it because I thought she was as tired as I was well you were in those times during those times you were thinking oh god I'm gluten free everything is limited and I wanted to show her girl there is a wonderful whole global gluten free food that you don't know it is gluten free to despite the movie destroyed our food you know so I showed her everything and she's like that's gluten free I was like yeah this is gluten free we have so much but we go to the Asian stores together the Asian markets together and we will just shop and have the best time she'll show me all these ingredients and explain them to me and like everybody needs a Sharon when it comes to and I explain I explain you know you have to know in order for you to really appreciate and stick in the head like this is really what I want to eat you know and that's why I take the effort to explain where it came from culturally my heritage where it came from globally the the the medicine that you needed from it the you know the the benefits that you can get from it and how you're able to cook it and be able to enjoy it in your palate uh starting with your eyes your nose and your senses you know so all that flows in just one whole mold in order for you to really enjoy you know what you're eating. Yeah because it's really attached to you you know you have to be mentally present you know it's it's really not control it's awareness you know so when you have that great awareness of what you're eating um every meal has to speak with you you know every meal you eat is a conversation between your body your senses and the earth and when you're doing that you're basically saying to yourself this is the beginning of the healing process. Yeah I'm not just eating I'm not just eating for survival and sustenance this is the beginning of my healing process.
SPEAKER_00And I think that's what people forget. Like I I truly do you know what I mean because you get so busy you know like at when I'm at work you you get a half an hour lunch. That is the time you leave the room that you're at, you know, walk up the steps go to the go to the you know the um lounge get your lunch out of the fridge eat yeah warm it up in the microwave blah blah blah you sit down now you're like you're at 20 minutes at best you know and you're like oh damn you you'll have to go to the bathroom you have to go and you just eat to eat. I just eat to eat lunch and sometimes I'll be like oh what somebody will ask what'd you have for lunch I'm like what did I have for lunch and I'm like oh my god Mayor it was an hour ago how could I have forgotten but you I'm not taking the time to look at it to enjoy it and when you miss that I do think you do miss the whole experience. Like your body does not get excited for it. You're just gonna like woof it down and doom.
SPEAKER_04Well when I was when I was younger you know when I was I don't know the path that I was taking I I had to be collective with everyone else. I mean you've I've I've I've shared with you with Raquel you know where I came from you know I wasn't raised I was trained and part of that is you eat at a certain amount you know you got five minutes you have to eat sometimes standing you have to eat sometimes when you're in the field or or or you know in the jungle whatever you know but now that I own my own time regardless if I'm working for a company I literally would take my time I would come in and I would be like late and it's already time for exercise and they would be like Shen where are you? I'm taking my time my gut needs to heal. Yes and I they could not even write me up because I was like you know um part of menopause really is very forgotten. I was like doing the whole Raquel and Mayor thing you know we are gonna put this as a bill you will sign this and you will take care of us. You know so when I walk slowly because I let my food digest and I don't exercise right away with you then I'm doing myself a favor. You know I am not gonna be um an associate that is going to the do the injury report on you. And that could not figure me out but I'm like you know what let's just leave her alone.
SPEAKER_01I love that you advocate for yourself though. I mean at least you like say hey no I need this extra two minutes like I'm not gonna participate.
SPEAKER_04Yeah I'm not eating on the go. I'm not gonna rush because I need to be able my mastication my my sa my salivary gland needs to really chew my food and it needs to work for me.
SPEAKER_00So true so true.
SPEAKER_04Yeah yeah um yeah I'm I'm I'm I'm someone they cannot you know get rid of but at the same time they can figure out perfect so oh um so you asked about what type of food can I continue that yes oh yeah yeah okay so number three because I said um in order to help all of us understand I made that grouping list okay so we have the joint and muscle discomfort during menopause so these are the anti-inflammatory spices again we talk about turmeric but there's more that we don't even know um black sesame seed um tulsi I don't know if you guys have have we um I think when we went to the Asian market um I did um show you uh Tulsi or um holly basil you did uh basil seeds and I said hey we can make lassie and you're like what's a lassie you know we can make mingle lassie put in some basil seeds in there fenugreek fenugreek is great fenugreek seeds great for your gut awesome for your gut a lot of people don't even know what fenugreek looks like you know we need to kind of like let everybody know about that coriander star anise you know yeah star anise not only smells really great you know uh the Chinese five spice of star anise oh yes I make Chinese five spice all the time I love it right and again black pepper everybody thinks black pepper is just a you know a sidekick to salt when you are on your dining table but no black pepper really play a great role especially with turmeric right it's the push to everything you know it's it's really by itself it's a healing component by itself I trust me not only I put um in my in my chocolate drink um uh when I buy my actual chocolate and I make my own not only I put cayenne pepper on it I also put black pepper uh a lot of people get weirded out but really how those are things work and again we're talking about chemistry in it yeah yeah so uh these actually are good for your bone health um you know um this supports your bone health and this counter um this counters the menopause um what do you call that the menopause related inflammation yeah and the risk of osteoporosis not very many people know that all you need is herbs and spices and all these great spices to counteract osteoporosis you know it's not just milk and calcium you know you add the right herbs and the right spices to your food in addition to some really good exercise that comes along with that I mean I was at a summit over the weekend and we just talked about like how even just jumping helps improve your bone like bone growth regrowth right and I just thought this is so w when you call all this right and you you add this is what is the the best options like for do you steam it is it microwaving okay like does something does microwave kill it does the steaming enhance it like where do we because I know like I I get fresh vegetables and you know you saute them and sometimes they're a little too crunchy and then you're like you know and I was like well I don't like boiling it so it's too limp they're too limp yeah I'll roast it and then I was like oh should have taken that out five minutes later that's like my broccoli looks like a dead tree so never good a little crunchy no big crunchy so let's talk about cooking cooking method okay so our body are our nutrient machines and I call that we call that all the time in culinary your body is your nutrient machines how you cook affects how these nutrients are synthesized all right so I also made the list so we have poaching um we have poaching and gentle steaming okay reason why I said that gentle steaming is because now we're talking about the phytonutrients and the antioxidants with poaching and gentle steaming you're actually creating that and not destroying that it's the denaturing of denaturing and bad denaturing um so the the the antioxidants and phytonutrients are the ones that fights the inflammations so number two uh sauteing and stir frying now I didn't say deep frying I said stir frying right yes yep which is a huge difference this is where oils matters a lot okay I don't know if you guys have experience when you guys sears your when you guys sear your steak and then you cut your steak you eat your steak all of a sudden you have this choking um you know you have this choking sensation and you're like oh the the steak is still tough and then you drink your red wine you make it worse all that are wrong oil matters now let's talk about olive oil you know um olive oil can only take it is only meant for drizzling it's an after you know dipping your bread drizzling your salad making your salad dressing or um it's uh an aesthetic you know for your whole plate oil has a temp ability and anything higher than the temp ability you are already letting that hazard um what's called um gosh I forgot what's called hold on it's uh it's another form of aldehyde it's a very um oh gosh hang on I'm forgetting the word and it's really important for everybody to know it's another um it's a combustible um aldehyde it's acrylin um it's a toxic aldehyde so let's say you're doing the searing in your mellow temperature you hire up a temperature even one degree higher you already form that aldehyde and that aldehyde really gives you that I I get it a lot when I was in in starting my culinary school I get it a lot and I get corrected all the time and I was like it doesn't matter and then when I started realizing it why don't I like my steak because yeah I messed up the oil temperature especially with olive oil so now I cook with olive oil and now I focus on the temperature and what kind of oil. Now I paid attention in my class when the instructor is teaching us I paid attention to the heat resistant and what type of oil. Okay so that's just a perfect example right there. Okay.
SPEAKER_00So you know sauteing and stir frying in healthy oils you know um if you do it incorrectly you're already forming a choking hazard uh quick cooking with again olive oil avocado oil um um coconut oil and even ghee um that gentle that gentle sauteing uh prevents oxidation and keeps the fat stable so that's fine a gentle saute with the olive oil the avocado is gentle saute gentle is the key word you know you don't want to use olive oil for deep frying it's a known no but I sometimes I will do my like my garlic that I chop two seconds and throw it in there I'll do the garlic you know the onions the peppers I'll put that in the olive oil and sometimes it does escape me because I'm tired and I'm like carrying up to cook dinner. So I'll do it higher and then you do you get a smell like it smelled and I was like oh I think I'm like you smell burning it. You know what I mean? And I'm looking down I was like well the the vegetables aren't burning but it's my oil that's burning I guess the olive oil is right right interesting.
SPEAKER_04Yeah cooking really you know cooking really requires patience in order for that medicinal portion of your food notes I'm learning those I'm learning those like patience I think I had them at some point pre-minop perimenopause. Yeah they left everything hit me like a brick and now I'm still like do I have them no yes no yes you know yeah how you you know what you cook and how you cook it really matters. So again you know uh gentle heat clean oils and patience yeah really matters a lot uh it protects the medicine in your food uh if you are in a hurry and you scorch your food uh we lose that healing power from your food you know uh cooking again I I will have to repeat it cooking is chemistry uh cooking is chemistry cooking is care uh cooking is patience you know cooking is meditative and a lot of people when I say that they laugh at it I was like do you honestly meditate I do don't meditate it's meditative yes it's absolutely I agree that because I am not a baker I would rather cook and when I start and you cook and it's like just methodical you're cooking you're chopping the peppers or the onion you know you're getting it I I do that is very relaxing. But um I will definitely uh work on the so what's that oil for high oil high heat oil yeah peanut oil that peanut oil can take high heat peanut uh you know start with peanut oil um uh there's a lot of gazillion list but what you don't want are the most uh lighter we call it in the lighter portion you know like olive oil avocado oil even coconut oil yeah you know um there is um it's very controversial when you say soybean oil or vegetable oil um but it is what it is we have to use them the only the only one that you want to stay away from is what's called the hydro hydrogen I wouldn't even say the word you know the hydrogenized it's the over it's the one that we overheat the overclasses oil because that already had been removed and stripped off of anything that we need and added to the caustic effect that you add into your food and I'm like why we need it then then avoid it you know we go ahead and either I'm gonna either steam my food simmer my food and poach my food rather than me frying my food. Food is food and I need the healing power not just the major flavor on it because I can enhance the flavor in a different way.
SPEAKER_01Right a lot of times I won't even use oil when I'm sauteing vegetables. I'll just start with like the like the onions or something that I know that's gonna release a lot of like liquids and then I'll put the other things in like the garlic later because I don't want to use the oil I want to try to avoid that if possible.
SPEAKER_04Right. So I particularly as I made those changes for my family I see myself actually poaching steaming still stir frying because of course I'm Asian. Yeah um I bought the biggest walk you've ever seen I love a stir fry honestly a stir fry is it's the best I mean it truly is I mean we still in fact I'm thinking about making that tonight now that we're talking about it I'm like hmm right I mean it's just the mindfulness you can still fry you can still deep fry you can still you know you can still grill of course I love barbecue and stuff like that but you know roasting in moderation I mean when you roast you are roasting you're not burning so when you're doing roasting 350 to 375 that's it you don't really need to roast at like 500 degrees that's not really uh helping you know things like that um taking all nutritional value out of it because it's like yep right again back to the denaturing you know how do you denature your food and strip it away strip off the medicine out of it you know the the beneficial um content out of it um slow cooking and simmering um you know we do a lot of tea and slow cooking and simmering uh you have your collagen your herbs and spices that's the time that you harmonize everything and this is actually beneficial in your gut um balancing uh you know you'll you'll see you'll see me in the future when we probably do a demo on how to properly simmer your white fungus uh with your juju bee with your um you know um goji berries and I can't wait to do our next cooking course for you guys same same seriously and there's nothing better than doing a live cooking course in your own kitchen with friends and you're having these conversations because honestly it has helped me evolve my cooking skills by a hundred percent being friends with somebody like Sharon who cares about food cares about the nutrition that you're getting and like that that those are the things that I that made a difference for me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah well thank you I'm glad that I was able to be a part of that and same I can hardly wait because you know you you try like you're like okay I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do this is uh you know phytoestrogen I'll do this and then I'm going and burning my damn olive oil like what in the hell what the hell do it together we'll do it together.
SPEAKER_04So remember uh during the first portion of our our talk you started saying oh I woke up and you know I feel like I'm stiff I got bloated and stuff like that. So going back to how we cook and what we make or or or or the food that we make um and then you said something about oh I might have had a lot more sugar last night or something. Right. So now let's go back to what kind of food. So you're talking about you know uh energy and sleep restoration. So you're talking about complex carbohydrates you know um at nighttime food that we eat matters a lot because this is the time that your cortisol wants to elevate and you don't want that. So you're talking about eating the proper one which is quinoa um you're talking about getting sweet potatoes instead um you know lower down to sweet potatoes mushrooms Rishi mushroom um put some ashwagandha powder in your in your I have ashwagandha tea tea yeah ashwagandha tea green tea longen fruit seaweeds every different kind of sea plants um chamomile you know things like that magnesium I I I don't know we went to Asian store and I told you about the mung beans that's my favorite um magnesium rich greens you know you're talking about eating dinner with um not only let's say you seared salmon don't just search salmon put some kale on the side collard greens oh and not only that collard greens put some miso soup on the side you know like right yeah right now my husband just reminded me oh by the way I have the mustard greens because that's so big in my family you know we eat fish always with miso soup and and mustard greens and that's always like a typical dinner dinner and so you kind of like wake up you're like oh I'm not as bloated you know because that's the food that you ate the night I do notice the difference I especially as you start to dig in and you get a little bit deeper as to like identifying how your body's feeling or what what changes but I think um I think we need to identify some dates for cooking classes and I think we need to identify some dates to get you back on and talk further about all of the I do because we didn't even so this is yes so we spoke for an hour I don't know already. I know so our takeaway so if if somebody in in like one thing that somebody needs to change before our next episode with Sharon what would it be for for um inflammation okay so the best place to begin is where you're at the best place to begin is small okay two words sensory and familiarity okay um you don't need a full pantry overhaul okay you don't need a although I did that yes we don't we don't all have a Sharon okay she can't go shopping with me to my Asian market I will take you we will do we're gonna do a group trip we're doing shopping like that crazy lady's in aisle four she's talking to somebody on the phone we get stopped we get stopped in the store honest to God people will stop us and ask her questions while she's teaching me yeah yeah it's perfect perfect so you know you don't need that overhaul you don't need that entire pantry overhaul but with uh just a small mindful shift as a beginning yeah um maybe replacing your creamer in the morning with a turmeric spiced oat milk uh replacing your staple yeah replacing your quick run and go food French fries into a roasted vegetable uh adding chia to your yogurt adding the basil seeds to your yogurt um adding mango uh fruit and make it as your dessert you know um things like this adding lentil or red cabbage to your boring broth you know things like that so healing doesn't happen with restriction it's not like you know um it begins with awareness you know that's the keyword it begins with awareness and it's an extremely intrinsic thing right right you have to have the inner want right when you're doing this small shift you know you you're you're noticing how your body feels after meal um choose one ingredient that brings calm and not chaos um because inflammation feeds on chaos yes I really like that I do notice like yeah over time you know over time those small changes becomes rhythm of care not control so a lot of people get overwhelmed right away it's like oh yeah I'm gonna be going this big change and then boom you fail because you wanted an entire change overnight no you do small step as a as a time at a time you forgive yourself you're very mindful you're very present you're talking with your senses and that's how long term should be it's not like an overnight diet it's not even a diet it's an approach it's a mindset it's a yeah it's a mindset and a lifestyle and so when you said about that I'm sorry Sharon the turmeric I'm I'm caught on this because now I'm like I'm envisioning my coffee tomorrow it's like a life I don't have oat milk but I do have a non-dairy creamer that I use can I put turmeric my turmeric spice and cinnamon in that in the coffee or will it kill it? No no uh like I said um method of cooking and denaturing is what would kill the medicine in your food but how you combine your food in order to get all the the the benefits out of it is another story you know I drink and I put it on my Facebook I my son grew up on golden milk. Do you guys know that right um see the thing is we forget there's not just golden milk we got a turmeric what else do we have we have matcha we have sweet pea flour we have beetroots powder um gosh what else is behind me um I have my pumpkin seed powder um you know things like that i mortar and pestle literally dried raishi mushroom dried part of this I have seen this yeah she is very old school and very grassroots about how she cooks in her preparation yeah it's similar because I for a while I was doing an Aravedic or an Aravedic oh yeah and that's how I learned all about the Lassie and like the golden milk and everything like that and the chai and oh my God stop doing that I don't know where the hell that went but I can tell you I'm gonna bring that book out because I do have them I have a cupboard if you ran out I have a lavender we had the lavender festival I went to that my entire bag of my I don't know if you can see it that entire bag I collected every single lavender dried that lavender I'm willing to pound that lavender when I ran off lavender tea so seriously right Mayor we get the granular with this cooking scene I thought that was good I get the botanicals uh tea bags that are lavender mint excuse me hello I don't board and pestle fortunate I'm ahead of the game she was eating oranges right and she was like throwing away the orange peel and I was like what are you gonna do with that orange peel?
SPEAKER_01And she was like throwing it away I was like girl dry I'm like eating it I'm like like looking she's like what are you gonna do with that orange peel I'm like I was just gonna throw it away because we were at an event and she was like what do you dry it like what do you she gave maybe give her those orange peels. You dry it and you grind it orange says ground she weighs like garlic peels like the clover of the garlic or like the peel that comes off the garlic you can dry that you can make that into your garlic powder.
SPEAKER_04You're throwing away a lot of the actual nutrients that comes from the pick and the peel apples orange lemons lime you keep that because that's all the phytoestrogens the phytonutrients all that green and that orange doesn't work it you take that back your body needs that you know the onion peel the garlic peel you just don't throw it away where do you think this all flavored bagel came from we make our own our in our culinary we put wakami sesame seed um orange uh the the onion peel the garlic peel we likely roast that we grind it seasoned with pepper uh salts uh sea salt and pepper we have our own bagel um topping we don't even buy it you know these are the things that really just come from your kitchen and the flavor is so much better intense oh yeah yeah your kitchen is your first laboratory your kitchen is your first hospital your kitchen is your first everything you know um you just need to actually think before you throw away things you know what else is in here you know what else am I missing here you know things like that so well Sharon I can tell you you again like the last time you spoke blow my mind with the cooking and everything because I to all our listeners did not know that you had to add pepper to the turmeric and I was like wait what but yeah yep so now we know why because it just enhances it like it activates it like in chemistry and I can hardly wait we will have a numerous episodes and cooking classes out there for everybody listening.
SPEAKER_00So definitely take take a look and watch for those and it's it's perfect. I can't I we're going to have to unfortunately stop for now but you always like a good sitcom right you stop and you leave them wanting for more right so people are going to be like wait they they left us at the orange peels and we're like we are we're gonna leave you at the orange peels and we'll pick up from there on how you can yeah don't waste because I think now especially with times being like everything's so expensive yeah you know it's a good reminder to go back to I believe orange is literally like one or like two a day or every other day like and the peel you just throw it away.
SPEAKER_04Maybe so now I will definitely go keep it because yeah I mean that's there's there's more I can share with you in my pocket honestly and just you know just you hold on to your little polypocket because we're ready to cock next and and just a strong point and I and I'd like to share and this is how I believe right menopause is a it it it's not a loss. It's it's a it's a it's a it's a part of Our evolution. It's a natural part of evolution. It's never a loss and it's never supposed to be a burden. Menopause is our second beauty. It's the second beautiful stage. And that's how we're taught. We are taught to eat in preparation for menopause. So as we go forward, eating for menopause as our second beautiful stage. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's going to be the title of the next episode. Eating for menopause.
SPEAKER_04I feel more beautiful now than ever, to be honest with you. Honestly. So thank you.
SPEAKER_00And you guys as well. Thank you. Thank you. I I can't, Raquel, seriously. I I'm like, I'm so thankful for this conversation. Yeah. As I know other women are too, because you just don't know. And like you said, you get told, well, go have an anti-inflammatory diet. You go take everything out of your pantry, and then where do you even start? You don't know what to do with it. So I enjoyed this. I thank you. And I thank if everybody continue to follow us on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. And thank you to our affiliates, uh, partners of uh Good Day Chocolate, Parlor Games, Hello, Small Picks, uh, Isogenics, and Pantry products. And they're everything that we say that we we've actually tried, everything. So that's the beauty of it.
SPEAKER_01So you can find our links for the affiliates in our pod, yeah, in our YouTube link.
SPEAKER_00Yep, and in the YouTube link and in the notes. So I thank you again, and we'll have another one very shortly. Um, because now I'm intrigued to continue after the same orange peels. And as as we like to say, Raquel, we will see you next Tuesday.