The post Non-Toxic Personal Care Products appeared first on Amie Valpone.

This article was sponsored by Telula. All opinions are my own.

If you’re anything like me and most of my clients, you don’t have time to make your very own cold-pressed juice in your kitchen.

Trust me, I don’t have the time or the patience.

Cold-pressed juice is exhausting to make and requires a fancy machine to do the job. A machine you and I don’t have because it’s super expensive and ain’t nobody got time for that. Right?

Instead of trying to make your own cold-pressed juice and making a mess in your kitchen (and then having to clean your juicer etc. = exhausting), I discovered an amazing brand that I am so in love with and I can’t wait to share with you how CLEAN and PURE Telula cold-pressed juices are. They’re the real deal. No added sugars. No preservatives. No junk! Just cold-pressed juice, made from organic, non-GMO fruits and vegetables. I don’t know of any other brand in the world that’s making cold-pressed juices like this so I’m really excited to share with you what I’ve been sipping on throughout the last few months.

I know you’re going to love them, too.

So, what IS cold-pressed juice and why do you need to know about it?

Good question.

Well, when you use a regular juicer in your home, you juice the fruit and veggies and you have to drink the juice right away because if you don’t, oxygen and microbes will spoil it! Cold-pressed juice refers to the way juice is extracted from fruits and veggies. Cold-pressed means the juice was squeezed out of the fruit and veggie with a press. In addition to being cold-pressed, Telula juices also use heat pasteurization, which makes them shelf stable, meaning that Telula lasts longer than a juice you made with your juicer. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

I thought so.

I was so excited when I heard about this USDA Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified brand and tasted it last year for the first time because their cold-pressed juices are not-from-concentrate! They’re made from pure organic fruits and veggies. Plus, they’re super affordable farm-to-bottle delicious goodness!

I’ve spoken about juicing for years but it’s SO important to make sure you are drinking organic juices so that you are not drinking condensed pesticides and herbicides. That’s why I love Telula because they don’t add additives, preservatives or any other unnatural ingredients, plus they’re free of toxic pesticides. And they don’t add any sugar, unlike so many other juice brands that add refined sugar (their Spicy Lemon blend is the only juice that has a touch of organic honey, so that’s the only one with added sugar)!

Since tasting Telula last year, I’ve been drinking it and serving it to my clients because it’s so smooth, pure and clean- it’s so incredibly tasty and is ideal for an afternoon pick-me-up with a snack or a morning boost before lunch.

The BEST part about these Telula juices is that they’re shelf-stable, so until they are opened, they can be stored outside of the fridge until the best by date on the cap. Each blend comes in a glass bottle. It’s BPA and toxin-free. DOUBLE bonus! And each bottle is 100% recyclable. These juice blends come in 32 oz and 14 oz bottles so you can purchase the large size for entertaining or traveling this summer (like for your road trips or picnics) or the smaller size for individual use when you’re thirsty throughout the day.

Telula has 10 blends — Six Fruit & Veggie Blends and Four Chia Blends. What I love about their chia blends is that they feature omega-3’s, which I talk about a lot with all of you because of their anti-inflammatory properties. The Telula Blackberry juice (the purple bottle shown at the bottom of this post) is full of chia seeds for a boost of protein.

These pretty cold-pressed juices can be found in the juice aisle at Whole Foods, Walmart, Publix, and Kroger stores. And for a limited time at the end of May, you can find Telula at ALDI (hurry, they’ll sell out quick). They can also be found at independent grocery stores and convenience stores. So, head on out and stock up on these delicious juices just in time for the holiday weekend. You know your guests are going to want something other than soda for Memorial Day! These juices are the perfect beverage to serve. I hope you love them as much as I do. They’re surely keep you hydrated and satisfied all summer long.

Enjoy!

xo

This post was sponsored by Telula. All opinions are my own.

0 comment(s)

The post My Favorite Cold-Pressed Organic Juices {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan} appeared first on Amie Valpone.

Ahhhhhhh cranberry juice. It’s one of those things that makes me think of my childhood. Ocean Spray® Cranberry Juice Cocktail was always in my home growing up. Actually it still is in my parents’ home every time I head down there fore a visit. My mother loves this cranberry juice and has been drinking it since as long as I can remember. My father, too, will have some juice every now and again mixed with water. So, when Ocean Spray® reached out to me about this opportunity to create awareness for antibiotic resistance, I jumped up and down and couldn’t wait to share this with all of you. Why? Well, it’s easy for me to sit here and tell you what’s going on in our world with antibiotics and share my personal story of 10 years of chronic illness, which was exasperated because of antibiotics. But, when a major brand is behind a movement like this, it gives me goosebumps and makes me realize that there are so many incredible companies that actually do care about our health and well-being.

Here’s how I use cranberry juice in my daily routine. Try one of these today for an easy cranberry-flavored pick-me-up.

Cranberry Seltzer

This is an easy way to serve yourself a tasty beverage anytime of the day. Pour equal amounts of cranberry juice and seltzer in a glass with ice cubes and enjoy.

Cranberry Tea

I love serving this on a cold, winter day. Pour 1 cup of cranberry juice and 1/2 cup water into a small pot with 2 cinnamon sticks on the stove top over medium heat and bring to a boil. Transfer to a tea cup and serve warm.

Cranberry Dressing/Marinade

Pour 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into a small bowl with 4 Tbsp. cranberry juice, 1 tsp. honey or pure maple syrup, fresh lemon zest, fresh basil leaves, sea salt and pepper to taste. Use as a dressing for roasted veggies and salads or a a marinade for mushrooms and other proteins desired.

Cranberry Scent

Pour 3 cups of cranberry juice and 1 cup water into a small pot with 4 cinnamon sticks and the peel of 1 orange on the stove top over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes or until your home smells delicious! Then discard or drink.

Antibiotic Resistance & UTIs

I recently spoke with Dr. Jennifer Berman about the cranberry’s role in addressing this worldwide health challenge. Antibiotic resistance is when bacteria stop responding to the drugs designed to kill them. It is possibly the single most important infectious disease threat we face today. The best way to slow the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant infections is for each of us to improve the way antibiotics are prescribed and used. We risk turning back the clock to a world where simple infections could kill people as they did a century ago. We need to take better care of the antibiotics we have today by taking antibiotics only when necessary. Dr. Berman said, ‘…this is a major global health risk at this time- more than 2 million people in the United States are getting infected with germs that are resistant to antibiotics. What this means is that the bacteria are mutating, transforming and changing so the antibiotics we’re trying to be treated with aren’t working, which puts us at rick and also puts the elderly and imune-compromised and pediatric population at more risk with these antibiotic resistance bugs”.

Why Cranberries Help

Antibiotic resistance threatens people’s health around the world and research shows that consuming cranberry juice daily can reduce symptomatic UTIs, and may be a useful strategy to decrease worldwide use of antibiotics. The key to cranberry’s benefit is consuming a glass of juice daily to help avoid the infection altogether. Most people wait to drink cranberry juice until they have a UTI, but once the symptoms start they’ll likely need a course of antibiotics. Why wait until something goes wrong when you can have a sip of cranberry juice a few times a week to protect yourself with the power of cranberry juice? If you’re not a fan of drinking straight up cranberry juice, no worries, there are a ton of other ways to use the juice in dressings, marinades, sorbets and more. The main goal is to help reduce UTIs and decrease antibiotic use by being mindful of the choices you make everyday with the food you eat, the beverages you drink, your stress load and the way you treat your body. Years ago I took antibiotics for everything that ailed me but now I wouldn’t go near them unless I was in a life or death situation, like I was with C-diff colitis. The fact is that we have the power inside of us to stand up to our doctors, demand better care and take better care of ourselves so we don’t get in these situations to begin with. Dr. Berman said, “UTIs are extremely common. 60% of women will experience at least one UTI in their lifetime. There is a 50% resistant rate to the antibiotics used to treat UTIs, so anything we can do to minimize the overuse of antibiotics will help prevent resistant organisms.” I was curious about the connection with UTIs and cranberries so I talked with Dr. Berman about this and she mentioned that “…there is a component in cranberry that prevents the bacteria from being able to stick to the bladder wall, which is how the UTI infection starts (bacteria attach to the bladder wall). It’s important to be proactive about this global health risk because once you have a UTI, it’s too late to treat with cranberry juice. There are risks with antibiotics so it’s key to look at how we can prevent infections such as UTIs and keep ourselves healthy instead of getting into a situation where we’re faced with resistant bacteria.”

Drink to Defend

We can all take part in reducing antibiotic consumption by using natural alternatives, such as cranberries, to avoid infections in the first place. It’s time for us to get smart about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance; you can visit www.cranberryhealth.com and use the hashtag #DrinktoDefend when you are searching social media for more info.

I hope this post helped spread some light onto the subject of antibiotic resistance for you. Big hugs! xo

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ocean Spray®. The opinions and text are all mine.

0 comment(s)

The post Getting Smart About Antibiotics appeared first on Amie Valpone.

I received compensation in exchange for writing this review. Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own.

0 comment(s)

The post Choosing Healthy: One Step at a Time appeared first on Amie Valpone.

Tickets are selling out quickly and we only have a certain number of books and spots available.

You can RSVP here for the Book Signing and Tasting.

Hope to see you there!

xo

2 comment(s)

The post Join Me on April 25th for My Cookbook Tasting appeared first on Amie Valpone.