Anita: 0:00

But we've got to do it in a way that doesn't make us crazy and hate the way we got there. Because if you hate the way you got there, you're never going to be able to do that for the long haul. You've got to build a way of living that is going to work for you that you enjoy. If you don't enjoy, it is not going to work. That's why we can't talk about Hey there, Sunshine. Welcome to the Power On Plants Podcast, where your host, Jarrod and Anita Roussel and we're absolutely head over heels for whole plant foods, and helping you navigate this incredible plant based journey. That's because our lives have been completely changed by plant based goodness, we used to struggle everyday with excess pounds and low energy, vascular disease, joint pain and lack of sleep, just to name a few. And even though we're medical professionals, we still weren't getting practical answers that actually worked. So we dug into the research, we started living what we learned. And now we both have our wives back. And that's what we want for you to the truth is you can do this, and it's not hard, you just need a way that will bring real and lasting change. And that path, it has to be simple and enjoyable. And it's got to be delicious, too. So are you ready to live your life to the fullest, then you're in the right place, because Living without limits. That's what power plants is all about. So pull up your chair, grab a matcha latte, and let's get started. Well, hello, Sunshine, we are so glad to have you back again with us today, we have just come back from being across the street, we have this neat little area where Jarrod and I like to hang out and just talk through ideas. And we always get great inspiration over there. And we've been planning out the next podcast episodes that are coming to you. And let me tell you, there's some more amazing ones coming your way, you are not going to want to miss this information. These are the game changers. These are the ways that we changed our lives by eating more whole plant feed a lot of times, you know, I need more fruits and vegetables in my life. But you just wonder how do I get those in a way that's doable with real life. And that is what Jared and I are all about. Because if you can learn simple ways to make this work with your real life, on a day to day basis, you can heal disease, you can prevent disease, you can make yourself feel amazing enough to do all the things you want to do. But your body needs the nutrition it needs the fuel that it requires to help you get to where you want to go. In your career, in your personal life. You know, there were memories I wanted to make with my kids. And there were business goals that I wanted to reach that wasn't able to do because my body just couldn't give me the energy. It couldn't support me in the way that it needed to. And we don't want that to be your story. It doesn't have to be trust, as we have walked on this journey for years and years. It's been a total game changer for us, our clients and people all over the world. And that's why we're so passionate about getting this information into your hands. So today, we are talking about a champion among the net factory, why are we talking about this, then that factory? You know, sometimes I feel like I belong there for fun. But this is the real thing. Why do we need nuts on a regular basis? You know, won't that make me fat? You know, that's make you fat. The interesting fact is that studies show and Jerrica tell probably more about the studies that we've looked at. But what studies actually show is that you can add calories to what you normally eat if those calories are nuts. And you actually will maintain or even sometimes lose weight, if nuts or the added calories, correct?

Jarrod: 3:33

Yes. And the studies they even had people lose a few pounds. But in one study, in particular, over the course of that entire length of study, they had added 35,000 calories, but the people didn't add the weight.

Anita: 3:45

I want you to think about how insane that is. So do you need to be counting calories? Absolutely not. That's not the answer to losing weight. And to getting your life back. We've got to get these nutrients in. But we've got to do it in a way that doesn't make us crazy and hate the way we got there. Because if you hate the way you got there, you're never going to be able to do that for the long haul. You've got to build a way of living that is going to work for you that you enjoy. If you don't enjoy it is not going to work. That's why we can't talk about playing bass joy all the time. It's got to breathe. Yeah, and you got to get loose of the free the fees that have a hold on you, right? This champion today that we're talking about is Brazil nuts. Now, when I don't want you to do after this episode is walk away and go, ooh, now I've got one hack, and I'm going to do this hack my whole life and it's gonna help me yes, this tip is going to help you and it can help you your entire life. But I don't want you to get so zoned in on finding these hacks. What I see is people that I just My heart goes out to these women who are we're all trying to just figure out what to do. What do I do and then you see all these hacks and things out there for to get this one vitamin or this one nutrient and the truth is whole plant foods. are filled with the things that your body requires. So you just want to find more delicious ways to get those. But what we want to do is inspire you with ideas and give you some of the why behind it. Why this food? Why that food? Why do whole plant foods work better for my body on a regular basis, getting more of those? Alright, and we're not going to get so sidetracked here right now I was about to start talking about something else. I've got to stay focused. So we're going to talk about Brazil nuts. And why is it so important that you get these you know, I didn't like these growing up, I'm just going to be honest, I've never really cared for Brazil. And some may even think I don't even know what a brazil nut is. But if you recall back to whenever Well, I know when we were kids, and we had this planter peanuts Party Pack. Say that. It had the big nuts in it. Those are Brazil nuts. Are they always the ones that are kind of pushed to the side when you guys bought them? I mean, were they just kind of left in the bottom?

Jarrod: 5:56

I actually kind of liked them. So I would actually get them. But I think most people would go for the peanuts, which 95% of what was in it was peanuts, because they were probably less expensive than Brazil nuts. But each canister would have I don't know 2, 3, 4 in there, and I actually would reach for him because I liked...

Anita: 6:11

That's interesting.

Jarrod: 6:12

So we didn't have it that much. So it was a treat before I really understood what Brazil nuts were.

Anita: 6:17

Yeah, I never knew that about you. There's always something new to learn.

Jarrod: 6:21

And we've been married 28 years, so. And we're still learning new stuff about each other.

Anita: 6:25

And I honestly I did not like them growing up, I didn't care for them. But I would just always sit and kind of try to eat them straight. And I just had other preferences that wasn't that I hated them or thought they just don't taste good. I had other preferences. It's like today I was in the store we were we went to the farmers market. And then there are these cute little seaside stores right by that. And so we went walking into some of the stores, there were a couple of ladies. And we started talking about just eating nuts on a regular basis. And they were talking about how with Brazil nuts, they just didn't care to really reach for those there was weren't their favorites. And so we started talking like we're going to talk with you today about what are some of those ways that you can get them and why are they an important nut when you're talking about eating the foods that fuel you? Well, so why Brazil nuts Jarrod? What do you think are some of the most important reasons that people need to get these into their life? I think the first thing that sticks out is the fact that it is an excellent source of selenium. Absolutely. It's actually the number one source in the plant realm to get selenium into your life. And it's it's such an easy way because you have to eat so few of those. And we're going to talk about what how many, you know, how many do you need to eat on a regular basis. But why is selenium important? I mean, we look at all these nutrients and these micronutrients and things like that, and minerals and things like that. And we will we want you to understand the general of why they're important, but not worry about I've got to get my selenium, I've got to get my this or that we want you to eat a variety of great tasting plant foods. So with Selenium, why is it important and why? Why are most people not getting enough,

Jarrod: 7:54

it has a number of different functions in the body. But one of the most notable is the effect that it has on your thyroid gland. It actually will help to prevent damage within the thyroid gland as it's producing some of the thyroid hormone. I mean, we'll we'll keep it simple here. But as your thyroid gland is making thyroid hormone, there are peroxides. Well, the Selenium binds to a molecule that helps to get rid of that very quickly. If it doesn't, then those peroxide stick around and think of whenever when you were younger and you had a cut or scrape and you poured a little peroxide on it fizz. Well, that's what would happen if you didn't have the Selenium, and then that can create damage.

Anita: 8:34

Speaking of damage, it also helps with preventing oxidative damage,

Jarrod: 8:38

correct? Yes, that's what I was thinking to oxidative damage in general also damage to DNA. So think about whenever your cells are growing and splitting and creating more new cells and well with your body healing and just doing what the body does. If there's damage to the DNA, what could happen? Well, in some scenarios, some cases it can become a cancer cell, right? So selenium is known to help prevent that

Anita: 9:05

from happening. Well And speaking of DNA, not only does it help with protecting your DNA, it also plays a role in the creation of your DNA. Did you did not mention that in the creation now say? Yeah, so that's really important to know. And then it also helps you fight infection they found specifically that it helps to fight viruses, it helps with cognitive function, it helps to lower inflamed inflammation or the inflammatory process in your body. So if you're dealing with pains and aches, inflammation, things like that and you're trying to get rid of pain and that's why you want to eat more whole plant foods will this is a great way to do that.

Jarrod: 9:46

Now we're not saying that eating selenium is going to magically make everything better but this is one of the many things that you get from plant foods that will help to control inflammation and give you the energy the the pain free life that you're

Anita: 9:59

after. I'm telling you pull a few plant based works, it just works and says, These nuts are part of that. And if you're not getting Brazil nuts, why not? Well, maybe you don't know how to use them. And we're going to tell you how to do that in just a minute. But I want you to know some of the other amazing properties that are in Brazil nuts, things that you need on a regular basis, fiber, all whole plant foods have fiber, animal products have no fiber, zero, zilch, nada. Okay, so you are not getting the fiber that you need. If you ate a lot of meat and dairy products on a regular basis with your little side of vegetables. It's just not enough to keep things moving. And I'm telling you, things are gonna change for you and amazing ways. And it's, you're just gonna feel so much better. You think about things sitting in your digestive tract for days and days and days not being able to clear out the garbage. Okay, just think about garbage sitting for days and days and days. That's what that's happening on your inside when your digestive system can't keep things moving, because you're not getting enough fiber, and you're not getting enough liquids. So you need that fiber on a regular basis. And trust me, you will tell a difference when you start increasing your whole plant foods. And that includes Brazil nuts. So then also, what else do you have? Do you have an increased protein in these nuts? I mean, fried nuts have a lot of protein in them at plant foods. Don't worry about your protein, no, they all have enough protein. And if we've said it once, we'll say it 1000 times you are getting enough protein if you're getting enough of the calories you need on a daily basis. And most of us don't live in a calorie deficit.

Jarrod: 11:43

No, we really don't. So you know, you were saying it having a lot of protein and a lot of nutrients, we'll think of it, it's a seed, it is designed to create a brand new plan. So the seed gets in the soil, and then it has to have the nutrients in the beginning to get the roots into the soil. initially put up a little chute with some leaves on it, until it can start making the energy that it needs start getting the nutrients from the soil. So it has to have all of that in there. But when you're eating the seed, you're getting all of that goodness in your body in one big concentrated source there,

Anita: 12:19

you're going directly to the source. Think about when you studied food chains in biology, if you can go back that far, transport yourself back, okay, if you're cutting out the middleman here, you're not getting a processed nutrient, you're getting a nutrient straight from the source, when you eat a plant, you're not eating an animal who ate the plant. So you're getting already just such an incredible amount of nutrients compared to what you'd be getting. If you ate the meat. We're not even talking about the damaging effects that may can have on your body. What I'm talking about is just going to the source. This is really important to understand. Now, high end copper, okay, selenium, copper, protein, fiber, all these things are amazing. But let's talk about copper for a second, why is that important for you? Do you have a family history of osteoporosis? Did your grandma habit Did your mom have it? Have you been trained to think that's because you don't drink enough cow's milk that is based on advertising. But I want you to understand this, there are a lot of other things that play into osteoporosis. We know this based on scientific research and evidence. And so what I want you to understand is, these are the types of things that you can do to prevent yourself from facing these genetic things as you get older, because some of the things, many of the things that we think are just genetic, and if my grandma had it, I'm just gonna have it, you have a lot more power over that than you believe. So this is one way just getting these Brazil nuts on a regular basis that you can help to fight osteoporosis because low Copper has been associated with osteoporosis. So if you're getting these plant foods, like Brazil nuts that have high levels of copper in them, you are going to be getting what you need to help fight osteoporosis. And it tastes great. I mean, if you know how to incorporate them that tastes great. There's one other thing I want to talk about that's in Brazil nuts that was really interesting to me is L arginine. Do you remember about alarming?

Jarrod: 14:16

Yes, well, that's an amino acid that gets converted to L citrulline. And in that process, nitric oxide is released, which helps to relax blood vessels. And you may be thinking great, my blood vessels are relaxed. What does that mean? What does that do for me? It's so important. It makes everything it allows for more blood to flow through them. So allows for them to relax to increase blood flow. And that affects everything blood flow is everything in some of these studies that even showed that it helped with hair loss. Well, why you may be thinking well because it's a it's an amino acid in the proteins with hair. Know what they were finding in the study is that it helped to increase blood flow to the hair follicles so the hair follicles were getting the nutrients they needed, and it's able to Do not die. And this helps prevent hair loss. That's what you're saying. Yes. And they've also linked it with Shawn your hair. So if you want to have beautiful hair, you need to be in a few Brazil nuts every week, we're going to talk about so let's go into how many do you need? Now the US RDA is 55 micrograms per

Anita: 15:17

day. Is that day? Yes. Okay, from age 14 on into the rest of your adulthood. 55 micrograms per day. Okay, and one ounce of Brazil nuts has over 500 micrograms. 55 micrograms is the RDA. One. Let's see one ounce of Brazil nuts. Yes, has greater than 500 micrograms. Think about that for a second. Okay. So you might think, how do I figure out how many nuts that is? Well, I'm going to tell you, it's eight, medium Brazil, that's not the huge ones. If you're in a big one, it might be something like five or six. That's, that's 500, compared to the 55 that you actually need. So if you start thinking about that, you really only need a few a week to get what you need. And how could you get those into your life? Well, we're

Jarrod: 16:02

going to talk about that in just a minute. But what so what how many specifically, we've heard different people recommend different things, what we're thinking is maybe if you can get just one or two a day, one or two a day, you don't have to eat them every day. So not only have to, because your body does actually store them, or store the Selenium, it stores it inside the muscle tissue, as well as other body tissues. But if you were to eat a few nuts on one day, and you're getting more than the 50 micrograms, but then you have a day where maybe you're not getting as many, it's okay, it's all going to balance out. The one thing you want to really be aware of is that you don't want to have that attitude of if a little is good, more must be better, right? Because if you're eating 20, Brazil nuts a day, you can get too much selenium,

Anita: 16:50

right. And then this is the other thing, if you're eating too many of those, and you're filling up on all the results, and they're fatty, or more filling foods, which isn't a bad thing, unless you're eating a whole bag, one sitting every day, right and then you're blocking out, you're stopping the chance that you'll eat other plant foods, and you need to get a good variety. And so if you're not getting the other nutrients from the other feeds that have you're not getting a balance, you're not getting what you need. So don't go crazy on one thing. You know, if you eat cashews all the time, all we're saying is starting Simran ZIL nuts in the place of those cashews. You know, if you eat pecans all the time, same thing, or if maybe you never get pistachios, but some of those into this is how we want you to start thinking and this is just one new habit that we want to see you start implementing in your life. Eat a few, a couple of times a week, in some way. How can you do that? Easy ways are chop them up finely and put them in your salad, they make a great crunchy addition. Maybe you're trying to not eat so many white breads like a lot of croutons are made out of you wanting more of the whole plant foods and whole grains. So you want crunchy things in your salad. I love crunch, chop them and put them in your salad. What about nut creams? Do you make cashew cream if you don't even need to say and but I want to tell you something that I figured out from living this lifestyle. And we'll talk about this a little more probably on a later episode, because I'm very passionate about some of these new things I've been trying out lately. But you don't have to use cashews and cashew cream. start substituting some different nuts in there. I ran out of cashews not too long ago. That's what I did. I'll talk more about it later again, but it works great. So Brazil nuts are some of the nuts you can throw in there to set for your caches. Sometimes I'll throw about three of those in place of some of the caches that I put in a cashew cream, and I'll blend it with other nuts. It works great. So get that in there in place of your cheese and dairy. Okay, what about in your smoothies? Do you drink smoothies? Well, you're always trying to power up your smoothie with protein powder, which honestly, really isn't generally necessary. Okay. So why don't you power up your smoothie with a couple of Brazil nuts. Instead, you're going to feel a lot better. You're going to be getting the Selenium, you're going to be strengthening your hair strengthening your body opening up your blood vessels. All these things we talked about today. Start throwing a couple and your smoothie a few times a week. All right. What about power bites? Do you ever make little power bites with nuts and dates or dried fruit that you just blend up in your blender that kind of stick together you roll them into a little ball, pop those in a little bag and put them in your purse to carry around. If you know you need to well Brazil nets make an excellent addition to those power baits. So think about chopping some of those badly and getting those in your next power bite recipe that you make. These are just a few of the simple ways you can start getting these incredible life giving foods into your life. Why are we so passionate about this? Number one is changed our life number two we see has changed our client's life number three It makes you feel amazing. Number four, you're going to be able to do all the things you want to do on a regular basis. But right now you're having to say, I just don't feel like it. No one should ever have to say that. I lived my life saying that for years him coming home may sit on a stool clicking dinner, take the kids, I have no energy, if you want any hope of having dinner, it was not at one time it was day after day after day. I mean, I lived my life that way. Could I go to the concert? Could I go out on date night? Could I build the business? I wanted to even just go for a walk around the neighborhood at that time, we were in a neighborhood that was kind of hilly. I mean, it was just enough just to get out of bed. I mean, to think about walking around a block where there was this hilly aspect to it, right, forget about it, it wouldn't have happened. So if you find yourself in a place where you feel hopeless and frustrated with your health, maybe you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, do you feel exhausted, and you feel like you have no hope? Trust me, 10 years ago, I was in the same place. If it happened for me, it can happen for you one step at a time, or in this case, one Brazil met at a time. But there's so many things you can do. This is just one thing. What I don't want you to do again, is to start thinking about all the specific nutrients and what foods do I need to get this and that and this and that. Just start implementing this, do it for a couple of weeks, just getting a couple of Brazil nuts in. And it's going to be a habit. We had one morning habit from something else we've talked about in the podcast. And before long your life is different. It works that this is just what happens with whole plant foods.

Jarrod: 21:36

Well, in the case of the Brazil nuts, start with just getting a bag, just get a small bag of Brazil nuts and put it in your pantry. That way, it's there, you'll see it and like you said a couple times a week, throw a couple in your smoothie. Now, you just mentioned about high cholesterol, we would be totally remiss in our duties. If we did not mention this one aspect of Brazil nuts that was actually pretty impressive. About 10 years ago, they did a small study, they looked at a group of 10 men and women. And they found that whenever they gave them Brazil nuts, and it was just for and the study they said the maximum benefit was for I think they had done it for a day or a week. It was for a month. It was four nights one time now they also gave eight nuts, but found that it didn't seem to work as fast for some reason, as whenever they ate just the for Brazil nuts. But within nine hours, their cholesterol levels had dropped 20 points. Yeah, statins and work that fast. And statins take about four days before you start noticing any effect. And this was in nine hours. That is straight up amazing. And they looked at the levels five days out, there was still benefit, they looked at 30 days out and the cholesterol levels were still lower. Now they didn't look beyond that. So you know, maybe 60 days, 90 days out. But the thing about it is is it was a small study. So it's harder to draw good conclusive evidence. Now if you had 10,000, that would be different. But there's no harm in eating for Brazil nuts a month

Anita: 23:07

helped me think about how simple that is to do. It is so much easier than taking a medication that has all the side effects and benefits. And you have the chance of it lowering your cholesterol 20 points. What if you ate for Brazil nuts and my sister, it lowers your cholesterol 20 points. And then you add the next thing we've talked about. And then you add the next thing we talked about? Look, we have almost 140 podcast new episodes where well this is episode number 138. So yes, we're at almost 140. So there you go. Go back and listen. And just take one point from each episode. Just one point that we talked about, we talked about more than one point in every episode. But just take one thing that you can do, it will change your life. First, you got 20 points down. Now you've got 50 points down under blood pressure, because you've done three more things. I mean, you start adding this up and it will change your life. I'm talking we are 50 Today we were 4010 years ago, that's when I was having all my struggles. I would not even think about going away from healthy plant based not only because I feel amazing, but because it tastes great. It's the easiest way to prepare food that you'll ever try. And I mean we get messages like this all the time. We get message really well this week. We just got a message. I just got your cookbook. I just got your cookbook and I have made it my mission to cook through the whole cookbook. And she said I'm so excited because I've just tried supertest Conner, it is amazing. It tastes great. And I'm so excited about this and I've tried the matcha and I'm about to try it hot. Her name's Sarah, if you're listening Hey Sarah, and we were just so excited to meet her because she's excited she's on this journey and we know standing on the other side and how she's gonna feel just down the road. It just is such a game changer. Point two, you're saying that you're going to feel great, but it's going to, it's not going to be as long as you think. Because you're going to enjoy what you're doing

Jarrod: 25:08

right? Does it feel like an eternity like die? Oh, it's not going to feel like oh my goodness, I feel like I've just been through a month's worth of suffering for this. No, you're going to love the food, you're gonna start feeling better,

Anita: 25:20

I think faster than what you may realize. You're gonna enjoy it. And it's just, it's gonna go by faster than you realize that's that's the takeaway. It's a great takeaway, because this is how you change your life and make it last. This is why diets don't work. None of us want to do something that's miserable for life. We want our lives to be enjoyable. We want the food for crying out loud, to taste good. Give me something that tastes good that I can sink my teeth into and smile about and look forward to that I don't have to spend an eternity of my life in the kitchen. Hello, girls. We got places to go people to see and things to do. We've got a mission in this world and we want to help you accomplish your mission in life. That is why we're here. That is what we're passionate about. If we can help you in any way, reach out to us. Reach out to me, Anita power on plants.com. I will get back to you. I look forward to hearing about your journey. Tell us just shout out what do you need? What can we help you with? What questions do you have? We'll make a podcast about it to let you know what steps you can take to start on this amazing journey. Maybe you've been on the journey for a while and you just don't know what to do next. You feel like you're stuck. We can help with that too. All right. We have had so much fun hanging out with you again. We cannot wait till next time. We look forward to hanging out with you again on power on plants.