Fat Bomb? What in the world is that?

Have you ever been told by someone that you should be eating low fat yogurt? To stay away from eggs? To stay away from fatty cuts of meats? For most people, the answer to all three of these questions would be “YEP, YEP and YEP!”.

For decades we have been told that fat is bad and to eat as low fat as we can. Just take a walk through your local grocery store and see how many “low fat” labels you see. But not all fats are bad! The important thing to remember when it comes to food is that not all foods are created equal!

Fat from an unhealthy, low quality source will yield “bad” fat. FAT FROM A HEALTHY, HIGH QUALITY SOURCE WILL YIELD GOOD FAT!

We need fat to help regulate our hormones, for growth and development, cellular repair and transporting certain vitamins. These are just a few examples of why we need fat. Heck, 60% of our brain is fat! So if you’re not feeding your body good healthy fats, what are you building and growing your brain on? Hopefully not air 😉

Not only is consuming healthy fats going to keep your body functioning the way that it should, but it will also help curve your cravings! Eating healthy fats has been shown to curve sugar cravings. That’s right, instead of eating your high fructose corn syrup treat, you can eat a healthy fatty treat instead! What a marvelous idea.

People constantly ask me how to best incorporate healthy fats into their daily diet. To incorporate more healthy fats into your diets, start by increasing your intake of nuts, seeds, coconut oil, avocados, eggs, and grass-fed butter.

Below, you will find a simple recipe for what I call a Healthy Fat Bomb. This recipe is completely customizable  and I encourage you to play around with different ingredients!

 

How to make a Healthy Fat Bomb:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of coconut oil

• 2 cups almond butter

• 8 oz grass-fed butter (room temperature)

• 2 scoops of Dynamic Fruits & Greens Chocolate flavor (optional)

• 1 cup of almonds

• 1 1/2 tbsp of raw honey

 

 

I usually have whole almonds at my house, so the first step would be to crush your almonds and set them aside. Take your room temperature butter and whip it until it is nice and smooth. Once the butter is smooth, add in the coconut oil, dynamic fruits and greens and almond butter and whip the ingredients together.

 

 

A bit of a side story: If you leave almond butter in the pantry long enough, the oil from the almond butter will rise to the top and you have to stir the almond butter to get it creamy again. Well, I thought I would just pry the almond butter out of the jar without stirring it… big mistake! Don’t do what I did (which is break my wooden spoon), please stir your almond butter 🙂

 

 

 

Add in your raw honey and crushed almonds and mix the ingredients.

 

Pour your treat into a parchment lined 9×13 pan and freeze for about 2 hours (or until it hardens).

 

 

 

 

 

Take your healthy fat bomb out of the pan and cut into desired size. Mine are roughly 2’x1′. Freeze the treats in a ziploc bag and snack on them whenever you want. I have these in the freezer at home and at my clinic. So whenever I’m craving sweets or an entire bag of chips, this is what I reach for. Not only is it full of good fat, but with the dynamic fruits & greens, I get some fruits and vegetables too! That’s a win for sure 🙂

You guys, it’s the bomb, literally, when it comes to getting in a quick treat. It’s a creamy, fatty, chocolate treat with some crunch. Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your friend in health,

Dr. Christelle Vang

 

 

Some side notes: I do NOT claim to be a photographer or a food blogger, just a chiropractor who loves life 🙂 Also, if you have EVER heard me talk about nutrition, you know that I DO NOT count calories! I’m a huge believer in eating good quality food and controlling your portions. Eat responsibly!

Also, I have to thank Melissa for giving me the idea for making a fat bomb a few years ago!

We all know that vitamin D is good for you and you get plenty of it if you spend time out in the sun. However, what would you say if someone asked you what vitamin D is? Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that also acts a precursor to a steroid hormone. That sounds pretty fancy right? That’s because vitamin D is essential to our body!

What is the purpose of Vitamin D?

Vitamin D has numerous functions in our body, however, its major role is in the metabolism and maintenance of calcium. Vitamin D goes through multiple conversions in the liver and kidneys. Once it has been converted, vitamin D manage the amount of calcium in your blood, bones and gut! Other functions of the body that vitamin D aids with include:

• Immune system, which helps you to fight infection
• Muscle function
• Brain development
• Anti-cancer effects
• Respiratory system

Reasons you may be deficient in Vitamin D:

• If your body needs more vitamin D than usual, i.e. you are overweight or pregnant
• If you have darker skin tones
• If you don’t get enough sunlight, especially if you live in the Northern regions
• If you cover your skin all the time
• If you are elderly

It is estimated that approximately 40% of the population is vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D deficiency can be determine by getting a 25(OH)D Blood test to determine the levels of vitamin D in your blood.

How do you get the necessary Vitamin D?

The two main ways to get vitamin D are exposure to sunlight and vitamin D supplementation. Getting regular skin exposure to sunlight will help build up your vitamin D levels. For those needing to supplement with vitamin D, a high quality vitamin D3 is best as this is the type of vitamin D that your body produces in response to sun exposure.

There are few foods that naturally contain vitamin D, here are the top 5:

• Cod liver oil
• Wild caught salmon
• Wild caught mackerel
• Wild caught tuna
• Wild caught sardines

 

Your friend in health,

Dr. Christelle Vang

 

Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Thank you all for an AMAZING day!

Opening Empowered Health Chiropractic & Wellness, LLC has taught me so many things! From personal strength to business sense, it has been an amazing journey! On September 10th, 2015, we had our Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting!

A BIG thank you goes out to the MetroNorth Chamber of Commerce for hosting our Ribbon Cutting! Being a member of the Chamber has open a lot of doors for Empowered Health Chiropractic & Wellness. We can’t wait to continue getting to know and to work with the Chamber and all of its members

As some of you may know, I come from a VERY food oriented family. Food means bringing family and friends around the table and enjoying each others company. Therefore, it only stands to say that HEALTHY FOOD equals HEALTHY FAMILY 🙂

This clinic is up and going because of the support and love of everyone surrounding us! We can’t wait to make a positive impact on our community and the lives that we touch!

 

Your friend in health,

Dr. Christelle