Continuing our smoothie episode, Chef Cat and Nurse Bridgette talk about ways to eat delicious, nutritious food as part of a sustainable plan to live healthy. Transcript below.
Watch the first half of this episode here.
Nick:
Welcome to the Ascend Health Show. I’m your host, Nick Angeles. And you’re so confused right now as far as why am I drinking a smoothie? A really good one too. I’m here with Chef Cat and Nurse Bridgette from A to Z Living well solutions.
Cat:
Hello.
Nick:
And you probably missed our last show, which is where these were made, but we thought it was such a good time that we would just continue and talk about a few more things until we run out of things to talk about. So from a health center where I’m one of the owners, I’m a nurse anesthetist, we deal with mental health, we have psychiatry counselors, we do Ketamine infusions, Spravato, which is a similar nasal spray and also transcranial magnetic stimulation, which right now you’re thinking, well, I don’t understand what smoothies have to do with any of that. But the idea is that of a holistic health care. So sometimes all you need is a smoothie and then you’re done and you don’t have to take pills. And then other times you do need intensive medical treatments until you get to the point where the nutrition does make a quick difference in your life. But because it requires a holistic approach and any patient or client, it’s hard to say immediately like, Oh, this will fix you because we’ve all seen those websites like the Grapefruit Juice or our special no offense to what you said in the last episode, but our special stevia blend or this or this is the key and you can waste a lot of money doing that or you can just simply narrow it down to exactly what you need.
Cat:
Well, that’s why you need A 2 Z, right? Living well solutions. So we are the proud co founders and owners of A to Z living well solutions. We’re based in Akron, Ohio and we serve all over northeast Ohio with box lunches with a healthy message. And our goal in life at this point right is really to edge you cater and do you want to talk a little bit about what educating means to A to Z?
Bridgette:
Yeah, absolutely. So just to add what Nick, you were saying about it takes a team approach and obviously we have three very unique positions here. We’ve got a nurse next artist. I’m a anti-inflammatory nurse, holistic nurse and we have chef Cat here. And so three different areas of life, but they’re all very important. So we’ve got the health domain. But then Chef Cat here, she’s got the food category here and they all have to work together. And so what we do is educator’s education and catering mix and we like to educate people on what they’re eating, why they’re eating it, how to swap out harmful ingredients and get yourself the proper nutrition so that you can enjoy life.
Nick:
Absolutely. I remember I had a patient once who said, you know, I wasn’t depressed anymore when they put me on Geodon, but I also wasn’t awake. So I talked to the psychiatrist and I was like, I think this is cheating. I’m not depressed. I was like, No, no, no, you’re not suicidal. This is great. And sometimes it’s that way with our food where we’re like, okay, I’m sad, but I’m eating this bland food and I know I should be healthy and I feel that doesn’t really count as health. This very cautious like, okay, I’m doing everything I’m supposed to. Maybe I’ll live for a long, sad life. Like that’s not the goal of any of this.
Bridgette:
No, no, no.
Cat:
No, no. You want vitality. You want longevity. And a lot of foods, actually, when you sit down with the right intentions, as I like to say, and you produce a meal, there’s so many emotions that go into it and you should have an experience when you’re cooking or when you go out to eat and such. And that’s why I think that being connected to your food in some way is really important. So we kind of say give professional tips. We call them pro tips, but basically a lot of those pro tips are focusing on how to live your best life while eating a meal, while preparing the meal while even at work. If you go out for lunch and you come back really sluggish, well, your employer is not going to be too happy either. So we really we cater to corporations, schools and institutions and we really bring them healthy food, but not like.
Bridgette:
We’re not giving you a celery sticks and calling it a day.
Cat:
We don’t call it granola crunchy. You know, some people call it like that. We call it really restaurant quality food that makes you crave and enjoy it. But also when you’re done eating it, we consider that as food, as fuel.
Bridgette:
So yeah, we want you to feel energized from the food that you’re eating. And we’re choosing specific menus designed to give you the maximum nutrition, but also to give you the most bold flavors. And that’s where Chef Kat really shines.
Nick:
So does it need to be a subtle change Or for example, I think during the Obama years where they changed the school lunches and Ahmet was like a bunch of kids threw away peaches. That was what happened. But at the same time, if you’re giving a similar if it’s a similar food, it’s just healthier ingredients. Is that like a better segway or.
Bridgette:
Yeah, I would completely agree. Okay. Our whole premise is that we know people like eating comfort foods. You know, there are people enjoy chocolate smoothies like the banana smoothie you’re eating. But we just want to swap out different ingredients. Like instead of adding, you know, chocolate and sugar and chocolate sirup and stuff like that, we’re going to add a dandelion blend that gives a cocoa mocha flavor. But you’re going to get all these nutritional values added and not have all that extra sugar.
Nick:
And it’s also energizing like when I’ve had dandelion mochas, like I’m sure some of it’s a placebo effect where it smells like coffee, tastes like coffee. Oh, I feel the caffeine. But it is almost a different kind of plant energy where you just feel your cells working a little bit better. Exactly. Exactly. Plus there’s that whole like pat yourself on the back, like, right.
Bridgette:
You did a really good job for drinking that smoothie.
Nick:
But is there a limit to that too? I know we’ve talked about this before, Bridget, of where people get so intense into their health that I think our our last discussion is because I just listened to it again yesterday and we made the point of like that person at the party who’s eating the kale chips. That’s what I.
Bridgette:
Was thinking all along, like in the corner by themselves eating the celery sticks and and.
Nick:
They feel good and they’re proud of themselves, but like everyone around them is like, I don’t understand what’s happening here.
Bridgette:
Yeah, yeah. No, we want to give a good balance between the two extremes because we don’t want you eating processed foods all day long every day because that’s your body’s going to turn into a donut, basically. But we don’t want you sitting in the corner by yourself eating a celery stick and segregating yourself because they’re eating processed foods. So that’s where we like to bridge the gap between health and food.
Cat:
I was going to say wealth, but that’s.
Bridgette:
Wealth is it’s intertwined.
Cat:
It’s intertwined because when you feel good, you just have a stature about yourself. You have confidence and such. And so we have some things that we’ve established in our business called Guiding Wellness Principles, and those kind of just bring us back to what are we really after here? And one of our guiding wellness principles is understanding what is the sad diet. And we want to lead you to glad. Okay. So that’s why I said health and wealth. It’s all about rhyming A to Z, you know, we’re really trying to get and I’m Irish it here, you know.
Nick:
There you go. We’ll just do limericks like straight limericks for everything.
Cat:
So so anyways we we really try and show people you know we’re you’re above average you’re more than standard so you should eat above standards And the standard American diet for a long time has given a dis construed way of picking out what are the best foods for your body. And I like to think that everybody’s body is different. And so we use the sad and then we go to Glad and the Glad diet is really just about focusing on good, ample, nutritious foods. And we go through that with all of our clients, but I’d love to invite them to visit our website. Perhaps that would be a great way to get in touch with us.
Nick:
Yeah, it’s A to Z living well.com, correct? Yes. Don’t even have to look at it.
Cat:
Yeah got it. A to Z living Well dot com. Right.
Nick:
So what if because you you mentioned from health to wealth what if they say well what about my wealth, Do I need to give up all my wealth so I can eat healthy Because that’s obviously a concern that a lot of people have of like, I just can’t afford it. Gas prices are up. My broccoli costs too much. So what do you say for.
Bridgette:
Well, one of our most famous sayings that we used to say is you’re going to spend it now on your food or you’re going to spend it later in a hospital bed.
Nick:
Oh, so you’re saying that they can see me in a little bit or they can visit you now, Right. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense.
Cat:
I think there’s everybody’s got a place. Okay. So there are times that people will need certain services health wise. But if you could grab rein and control of your health from even wherever you’re at, we meet you where you’re at to say, Hey, are you drinking only soda every single day? Well, let’s start incorporating some really good filtered water. Are you snacking after midnight? Well, how about you eat like the way that you eat Very heavy in the morning, lighter at lunch and then even lighter at dinner time. So your digestion track has a way to catch up. Some people choose different ways to do the intermittent fasting and such, so there’s various approaches to health, but it’s just starting one step at a time.
Bridgette:
And that’s the key is that we don’t expect everybody to change everything immediately, clear out their cupboards, you know, go go crazy and only buy organic and non-GMO everything. Now that’s that’s later in the future. And you know, even if you if you even get there but just like Chef Cat is saying, you know, let’s start with the most basics. What’s your main source of water? Is it pop? Is that how you get your water in? Can we switch that? Can you start drinking more water and maybe one pop a week or something like that? And so Chef Kat mentioning the small steps in the right direction are eventually you’re going to stack on those small steps and you’re going to have a big result. And also to add to your, you know, discussion with the health and the wealth, you know, Chef Cat in the episode previous was mentioning about the the abundance of our land that we have and we’re coming into the springtime and the summertime and there’s farmers markets, there’s local farms driving around. You know, in Wadsworth I know there’s some farms around here. You pick berries and fruits and things like that. So sometimes you’ll be able to get them cheaper or buy them in bulk.
Nick:
Right? And you’re also saying it’s not inevitable. Like you don’t have to start on this journey and then at some point you’re going to be like, what’s what’s the name of those of those pumpkin seeds if they didn’t have individual names, I’m not interested. But if we listen to our bodies, we can know, okay, this is enough for now or this is because that’s what I think is the most fascinating about diets is there’s so many ideas, but you simply have to even if something resonates with your brain, your body might say you know what, this isn’t working for me, Sorry. And then you have to no matter how how much you’re like, this is a philosophy that I really like that it really makes sense for my body, right? If we pay attention to our bodies, that’s where we can tell like, no, this this isn’t working for me.
Cat:
Well, your Greek, right? It’s all Greek to me. But the Greek word for diet is dieta. And the true meaning of that where it originally intended was lifestyle. And so that’s what we try and really share about is how to take hold of your lifestyle, not just Monday morning, you know. Right. It’s about understanding that there’s a lot of days in the week seven maybe some say and I don’t know why I said that but you know there’s no.
Bridgette:
Don’t like Mondays. Yes they don’t really count.
Cat:
I can’t Mondays but with every day that ends in Y we’ll say it that way there’s an opportunity to make a good choice. So it’s not you know, it’s great when you get on a program and you want to clean some things out and you want to call Nurse Bridget or hopefully it’s before you get to Nick. But Exactly. But he’s a good Segway. It’s about really living with intention every day. So if you want to have that special treat on that one day, there’s still three other meals, mostly right to choose a better option as the day progresses. So the more you kind of attack not a diet, it’s just so regiment although there’s times and places for it, it’s really great to understand that diet means lifestyle and how are you choosing to live one bite at a time.
Nick:
Right now that makes sense because Greek Italian cultures, they are like, Let’s eat a lot, let’s eat together. Someone would be offended if you don’t eat all this food, right? And so if you start cooking a bit more healthy, then you can kind of get into that without because I know my parents, they get confused because let’s say a gained weight and they’d be like, don’t eat that much. But but our culture says you need to eat a lot. So it was just a really funny thing to watch where they wanted us to eat all this food but also not eat all this food. Yeah, yeah.
Cat:
It’s that monitoring that that daily balance, I guess, right?
Nick:
So no, that makes a lot of sense for sure.
Bridgette:
And working through the confusion, you know, to also understand that every second that you everything that you put to your mouth, you know, the smoothie, it’s a good smoothie. Very good. That’s a choice that I’m making. And I’m choosing to eat this right now. And I can choose, you know, on the earlier show I could choose to drink this sugar water that says cranberry juice on it. Or I could choose to get my sweets from fruits, you know? So every single meal that you have is a choice. Every drink that you have is a choice. And maybe, you know, you make three not so great choices, but then you make three better choices. So I mean, are you where are you at in that?
Nick:
And probably eating with intention with mindfulness can start with a smoothie because a lot of times there’s plenty of research that if. You slow down when you eat, when you really pause and that the food itself is more nutritious. But you can’t go from eating McDonald’s to like, well, why don’t you bake yourself some shepherd’s pie and really think about each bite? So a smoothie is a really good transition. You can for those five minutes, you’ll have that. Okay, I’m paying attention to this and then slowly you can grow into more. Right? Right, right. Yes. Yes.
Bridgette:
That’s you know. Okay, So I have a funny story now. So it’s I grew up on fast food. I’m not going to lie. That’s that’s pretty much all my parents fed me. They’re wonderful parents. I love them very much. But that’s what they knew to feed me. Right? And it was quick and easy. And so I remember going to a fast food place with my dad and he got his food and we’re pulling it out of the parking lot and he’s already got the wrapper ripped open. And like the it was, it was a taco and the taco was gone within like two minutes of getting it in the car. And I remember like looking at my dad like, wow, you really ate that fast. Why did you eat that so fast? And he’s like, Well, if I don’t eat it fast, it doesn’t taste good. And that I mean, I was a little girl when he said that and that stuck with me like, why do we have to scarf down our food? Right? For it to taste good when we can sit here and savor certain things and really enjoy each flavor? You know, our tongue knows quality, right? If you really give it a chance to think about what it’s eating.
Nick:
So then the mindfulness doesn’t work if you’re eating something terrible because then your brain is like, Wait, what are we doing? Yeah, why.
Bridgette:
Am I eating this nasty tasting.
Nick:
Thing? I can eat a lot. So I know you guys were really nice with brand names and all that, but I won’t be. So I went to IHOP because they had this great pancake all you can eat special and literally about, I don’t know, 20 pancakes in or something. My body almost audibly was like, “We’re done here, you need to leave now. We refuse to put another pancake in our belly.” I was like, “I’ve got room for one more pancake.”” But it was almost an audible voice with like, “No, we’re done.”
SPEAKER: S4
You are done. This is God speaking Exactly.
Nick:
Like is that is that my cholesterol? Like what’s going on here?
Cat:
Well, it’s about balance.
SPEAKER: S4
So that’s what we’re balance.
Nick:
Yeah, but it’s challenging too, because a lot of times like I am sharing with you, Bridgette, how I did a study on all the insure and those kind of protein drinks and now even in surgeries we’ll give them preoperatively patients and the patients do great. Instead of going 8 or 12 hours without anything to eat or drink before surgery, they better wound healing. They don’t need as much pain medicine and someone doesn’t even make sense. But it is Well, this is what the body uses for fuel. It’s food. And if you don’t have it, you’re not going to heal as quickly. Right? But then even if you modified corn, proteins can do that for us. Imagine if you actually spent the time to make something like this. Yeah.
Bridgette:
You give your body real raw nutrition, right?
Nick:
And for some people that is like a first step of, okay, let me have a nutrition drink. But then it’s that is one where you can’t really stop there. Like what I said earlier about I think people are more willing to start if they realize, okay, there’s not some destination where I’m saying like, Look, I know that cauliflower is on sale. It’s a really good deal, but I’d better get the organic one instead. Yeah, I think if you have more flexibility, yes.
Cat:
One of our mentors says health is a journey, not a destination. And I think that’s important to keep in mind is that you’re really it’s just a day by day thing.
Nick:
Absolutely. So if people want to reach you, they can go to your website. Correct. And oh, I did have one question from the last episode. You had mentioned how you can freeze foods individually. Yes, everyone’s confused right now, but this whole all this show is is me trying to learn things. So do you take like I’m really here for you? It really it’s.
Cat:
It’s Nick Shell.
Nick:
Yeah. It’s it’s really embarrassing since I showed up late for the last one. But anyway, so do you take, like the blueberries individually or like, how individual are we talking about this?
Cat:
The blueberries individually you put them on just like single layer.
Bridgette:
Just a single layer.
Nick:
That makes sense. Yes. And then once they’re frozen, you can do whatever you want.
Cat:
Then once they’re frozen, they’ll just pop right off and put them in, putting them in bags. I use a lot of little parchment layers so I can you know, it kind of prevents them from clumping once they’re in the freezer, right? So I have a YouTube video.
Nick:
I’m going to have to watch it because I’m unfortunately I’m the opposite where sometimes I’m like, Well, I guess I should take this fork out of the Tupperware before I toss this in the freezer.
SPEAKER: S4
So yeah.
Nick:
So that’ll be a bit of a change, but that makes a lot of sense.
Cat:
And our YouTube page definitely has some tips that are just sometimes silly and fun that is just cooking at home, how you can become faster, how you can become more efficient and have, of course, tasty food, right?
Nick:
Absolutely. And then if you want to reach us at Ascend Health Center, it’s simply AscendHealthCenter.com. Our phone number is (330) 754-4844. And we treat a lot of anxiety depression. We do some pain management. On opioid. And really we’re good for a lot of those confusing disorders where you’re not really sure what it is. Migraines, fibromyalgia, even some long COVID sort of issues because that’s a lot of what happens when you aren’t eating the right foods. Your body is unsure of what messages to send. You can’t even tell what your symptoms are. So we’ve we have a lot of patients that have been to six, seven, eight different specialists and they’ll tell me like, oh, it’s all covered by insurance. It’s like, well, it’s partially covered. It’s basically like a really bad Groupon. So what’s happened here.
Cat:
That’s real funny.
Nick:
And so but and so that’s why it makes sense to find substitutes to eat healthy because no matter what’s wrong with you, you know, it’s going to start getting better as you eat, right? Even if it’s subtle and you still need some other sorts of medical treatment, you know that, you know, sugar and simple carbohydrates and the wrong kinds of fat are not going to help you. So.
Bridgette:
Well, speaking of that, I’m sure you’ve seen nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. That is something really curious that’s becoming more and more problematic. Right. An and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease for those of us who may not know is basically the liver is turning into fat. Right? It’s getting clogged up, turning into fat. Typically we saw that with just alcohol use, but now we’re seeing it with the processed foods. And, you know, that’s that’s something that we have to be aware of that if we’re eating too much sugar in general, organs could be shutting down because of what we’re eating. Right. You know, and. Yes, you’re going to help with things that we don’t know what’s happening. But also, you know, every single food option that you’re eating is fuel for that body that you’re feeding, you know?
Nick:
So absolutely, food is medicine. And you’re right because I work in a lot of places and it’s almost an epidemic at this point. Yeah. Where it’s simply like because it used to be when people in holistic medicine used to talk about detoxifying and we got to support your liver, that the usual medical response was like, this is ridiculous, your liver taking care of all this. But that’s a case where your liver is like, No, actually I can’t handle this.
Bridgette:
It’s getting overburdened, right? And I remember the first time seeing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the clinical practice and it was a 30 year old man. He was a police officer. And I was like, are you sure you’re not drinking? Like, are you sure there’s something that you’re not telling me about?
Nick:
I did the same thing. Like, like I didn’t believe it. Like, there’s no way. Like he’s just lying to you.
Bridgette:
And he, he’s like, No, I swear I don’t drink alcohol. And I’m like, okay, I got to really think about this here because I’m seeing an alcoholic liver. But as we’re finding out, it is more problematic and people really do have to pay attention to what they’re eating.
Nick:
Absolutely.
Bridgette:
And starting with the smoothie is a good option.
Nick:
Well, I think this is a good time to end the show because I’m almost done with my smoothie. I’ve been drinking it. You better catch up the whole time just so I won’t get taken away from it. But thank you all for joining us again. This has been ascend health center and easy living well solutions and we’ll see you on our next show. Thank you. Thank you.
Voiceover:
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