Chia Pudding with Simple Fruit Salad (df, gf, vgn,veg)
Serving: 2 I Setting time: 30 mins (for chia pudding to set) Preparing time: 5 mins I df, gf, vgn, veg
How you cut and assemble the ingredients counts to making your meals satisfying. Hence take the time (it doesn’t even take that long) to evenly slice the banana, dice the apple and dress it with lemon and cinnamon. When you top it with the chia pudding, you can taste the various textures, the fresh sweetness and tanginess of the fruit and the smooth cool chia pudding. Delicious!
Tip: Prepare the chia pudding the day before and to let it set in the fridge overnight. In the morning, you can assemble the fruit salad for a quick breakfast!
Firstly, a little education of the importance of managing blood sugar levels for proper hormone function:
Every time you have a meal, your food is converted into energy called glucose. A hormone called insulin is then released to bring the glucose from our blood into our cells, muscles, tissues and organs to be used for energy or stored as fat.
When we consume any sort of sugar or carbohydrate dense food such as a bowl of pasta, bread, fruit juice, fruits smoothies etc, a surge of insulin is pumped out of our pancreas, more than usual to help our body reduce the sugar-load in our bloodstream. Because having high blood sugar levels is unstable for the body. It causes inflammation, plaque build-up and increases the risk of a range of heart diseases, along with Type 2 diabetes and a range of other hormonal imbalances.
Having high glucose in the blood also creates stress on the body which is taxing to our adrenal glands, the organ that modulates our stress hormones which if in excess, has been shown to prevent or delay ovulation and prevents the release of adequate progesterone which has a significant role in the second half of the menstrual cycle and worsens PMS symptoms.
Consistently eating highly refined sugars and carbohydrates overtime, can cause insulin resistance a common feature amongst women with hormonal conditions such as PCOS where the role of insulin is impaired resulting in elevated sugar levels in the blood. This causes an array of hormonal imbalances creating a vicious cycle of menstrual irregularities, PMS symptoms, inflammation in the body and worsens our health conditions.
Therefore, remove processed foods, sugar, refined carbohydrates and high glycaemic index foods best you can. Stick to complex carbohydrates and low glycaemic foods which don’t spike your blood sugar levels as high.
My 2 cents..
I do not omit carbohydrates from my diet because I thrive with healthy amounts of natural carbohydrates in roasted vegetables, rice and fruit and include them in each of my meals. When consuming fruit, I like to pair it with a healthy sources of protein and fat and fibre like chia seeds so that way, fruit can be more slowly digested, absorbed and provides a more stable and sustained release of sugar for the body to effectively utilise it for energy. I also include a generous amount of cinnamon when eating fruit as cinnamon has been shown to assist in helping the transport of glucose in the blood to be more readily utilised in our muscles and cells. Cinnamon also offers a beautiful sweetness, minus the sugar and compliments the flavour of banana and apples.
Chia Pudding with Simple Fruit Salad (df, gf, vgn,veg)
Serving: 2 I Setting time: 30 mins (for chia pudding to set) Preparing time: 5 mins I df, gf, vgn, veg
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp chia pudding
9 Tbsp water
1 banana
½ peeled apple
½ lemon
1 tsp cinnamon
Handful blueberries
Method:
In a glass bowl with a lid, place the chia seeds and water and thoroughly mix together for a couple minutes until the chia seeds start thickening in the water.
Place the bowl in the fridge over night to set.
In the morning, in a serving bowl, evenly slice the banana, dice half an apple and blueberries.
Squeeze half a lemon on top and add the cinnamon.
Gently combine until the fruits are well dressed with the lemon together.
Take out the chia pudding and place ½ the chia mixture in the bowl of the fruit salad. Or you can scoop the chia pudding in another bowl and then place the fruit on top.
For more simple, healthy and delicious recipes that you can incorporate every day in your lifestyle check out- The Eating for Healthy Hormones E-book which includes in-depth education on women’s hormones, holistic strategies when eating to support our body’s natural ability to heal, regulate and optimise how we function and to develop a healthier and loving relationship with your body.