029: Food Knowledge is Self Knowledge: Interview with Real Food Grocery Guide Author Maria Marlowe

Namaste. It is Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. Today I'm going to share with you an interview that I actually did in June that I have yet had the time to put up. But it's an interview that's really special to me because it's with my dear friend Maria Marlow, who you've heard me talk about before. She is the friend that introduced me to my literary agent and has been such a light in my life. And I'm so excited to share with you her book, the Real Food Grocery Guide. It has everything you need to know about labels, how to store food, where to buy it, all of these things. So if you've ever been in a grocery store totally confused with like organic, natural, USDA certified, what all of these terms mean, then this episode is 100 present for you. And a special announcement that I want to add is Maria and I have been filming a series of videos called Healthy Girl Problems where we make fun of all the things that we totally do as well, but just a little healthy things that, you know, we do at boutique fitness classes and Whole Foods is and the way we order at restaurants and things like that. So it's really poking fun at ourselves more than anything. And all of us who are in this kind of wellness community and just brings a light on the subject because sometimes we take these things too seriously. And I mean it matters, of course it's your health, but at the end of the day we want to have fun with it. So I'm really excited to share with you the Healthy Girl Problem videos. I'll be posting them on my Instagram as soon as they are ready. And dive into this interview. You're going to learn a lot, take a lot of notes and make sure to get the Real Food Grocery Guide. It's on Amazon wherever books are sold. It's a must have if you've ever been confused, which I think is just about everyone. Enjoy the episode.

Maria, welcome.

Thanks for having me.

So the first question I like to ask everyone is what makes you your highest self?

My sort of insatiable desire to learn and just to kind of keep growing and never be content with where I am and always kind of seek more and taking care of my body all the time, you know, feeding it right, exercising, putting the right thoughts in my mind and just kind of always nourishing my body.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I think there is such a connection between the body and the mind. That people are just picking up on and people are realizing, oh, well, when I eat all these healthy foods, I'm like mentally feeling different. And then it's like the evolvement totally.

You know, your mood is different the way that you think, you know, you think differently. Everything changes with food.

So how did you get on this journey? Like, what made you interested in it?

So I always, you know, people always laugh because they see how I eat or how I live now, and they think that I just grew up this way. But that could not be further from the truth. I, you know, come from a family that, you know, I was raised on the standard American diet. Most people in my family are obese. There's a lot of cancer in my family and just like a lot of sickness and just people not being well. And so I also had my own issues. So I had acne really bad. I was about 20 pounds heavier than I am now. I was sick all of the time.

Can't imagine.

Yeah. Oh, my God. I just found a photo of me from like high school and my face is just like covered in acne. I can't even believe I let anyone take this photo. But yeah, so it's so crazy. But yeah, so. So I had all of these issues. Obviously, the acne was probably at the time that was the most traumatic for me because it was like, it was also affecting my self esteem at the time. And so I just, you know, for a long time I was relegated to the fact that I was either, you know, cursed, I had bad luck, I had bad genes, maybe bad karma, something I, you know, was wrong. But I didn't, like, think beyond that for a long time. And so I eventually got to college and one of my classmates was like, hey, you know, it might be what you're eating. And like, there I am, like at lunch eating an entire box of chocolate chip cookies from Entman's. Like, that was my lunch. And I was like, you know, that's kind of funny. I've been to all these dermatologists and doctors and no one has. No, no one ever asked me what I was eating. But I was like, you know what? It's a novel idea. I've tried everything else. I've tried over the counter things. I've tried prescription medication. They wanted to put me on Accutane, and it's like, side effect, severe depress depression that will lead to suicide. And I was like, yeah, I probably don't need that right now. So I just was like, okay, fine, I'll try changing my diet. I read some books on the subject, and cut out a lot of the foods, most of the foods that I was eating, added in vegetables and other things that I was not eating at the time. And lo and behold, my skin finally cleared up. And so for me to be able to see that in the mirror so visually was just like the light bulb went off. And I became very, very interested in nutrition and health and just sort of went down this rabbit and never emerged or never came back.

Yeah. And now helping us all get into it too, right?

Because I realized, you know, no one, when I discovered this, I said, you know what? Why isn't anyone teaching us this? And, you know, it could have saved me so many years of misery if someone would have just told me this sooner. And so I decided, like, if no one else is going to be teaching us, then I would be that person.

And I like how it kind of comes down to the theory of, like, free will, that like, you actually were creating your skin based off of the.

Foods that you were eating.

It was like your action. So many of us were like, well, I'm just cursed. I have bad genes. Like, I have bad skin, I'm meant to be fat. And it's like, yes, some of us are more likely to have acne or weight issues, but at the end of the day, it's your own free will and it's what you put into your body. And what if you're willing to like, maybe give up those cookies for lunch?

I think it's, it's both a scary and a freeing thought at the same time. Right. Because we are sort of raised with this notion that a lot of, of things like illness, weight, whatever, acne, these things are gene based. And if we believe that, then it's very easy to say like, oh, just throw up your hands and be like, oh, I could eat whatever I want, do whatever I want, because it's my genes anyway. So it doesn't matter if I eat healthy or I do this or the other thing. And it's sort of like you're giving up. But, you know, the science and the research shows that actually very few of all of these things are actually genetic. So I think with acne in particular, I think it's less than 3%, something like that. It's a very minute amount that is like genetic.

Our grandparents, I don't think they had acne.

Oh, no.

I mean, you could look at like.

Other, like Asian countries, for example, like in Japan, there was. Acne was pretty much unheard of until American restaurants and American food started Opening there. Yeah.

So what do you think is like the. One of the most, like, acne causing foods, like fried foods, would you say?

Fried foods are very bad for. Sure. Sugar, anything that's high glycemic, that's implicated in acne. Dairy is also a really common one. And, you know, everyone. Everyone's body is different. So foods that might break me out might not break you out and vice versa. But those are, I would say, probably some of the more common ones.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, absolutely. Like, when you're eating all this fried foods, you don't realize, like, in those crispy chicken wings or whatever, that's pure oil. Like, how much oil is probably in that. Right.

And it's not even good oil.

Right.

It's bad oil. It's. It's, you know, anything fried is like doubly, doubly bad for us. So it's basically, it messes with your hormones as well and. And can definitely, like mozzarella sticks all the time. So did I. Oh, my God. All the time.

I was like, I'm just gonna have an appetizer for dinner.

Yeah, right. I know.

Marinara sauce. And it's like fried cheese. Like poor quality cheese too.

Oh, yeah, it was. Yeah, I know. I used to get, like, frozen ones and microwave them.

Yeah. And I've heard you say this before and like, another interview, you have listened to that. Like, your sister always had an issue with weight and you always had an issue with skin. And I was like, thinking about that and I was like, wow, that's actually so true. I always see kind of like, people who have, like, maybe weight issues have better skin and people who are naturally thin have acne. And then I also related it to the doshas because, like, kapha people are, like, naturally just, like, heavier, but they have, like, better skin. Like, for me, skin has never been a problem for me. I could probably put dirt on my skin. Nothing.

I know. Your skin is like porcelain.

But wait, I eat one wrong thing.

I will gain five pounds instantly. Yeah.

And then like, vata people, like, you think of, like, the skinny, like, nerdy boy in school, but he has acne.

Right? So that's so true. Yeah. And even. Yeah. Looking like, at my family members and like, lining up the doshas, that makes sense.

And I think it could be related to, like, digestive fires, because when you have, like, a lower digestive fire, your body's not even producing as much oil because it's just not as much in production. But then when you have, like, a higher one, your body's metabolizing food fast. But then a lot of that can, like, show up on your skin.

Interesting.

Yeah. Because when I heard that, I was like, that's like, such a trend I see everywhere.

Yeah, so true.

And I know, like, women when they get older, my mom's always like, well, I don't want to lose too much weight because, like, it shows on your face, like when you're older, like, plumper woman look.

Yeah.

It's interesting how, like, that all is connected.

Yeah.

Yeah. So let's talk more about food. So your real food grocery guide. I think what's really cool about this guide is it breaks down basically every. The questions to your questions to your questions. So I know, like, probably the most confusing thing is, do I need to buy organic foods? If so, what are the ones that I absolutely must splurge on? Because sometimes it makes a huge difference.

For sure. Yeah. This is super common question. So in an ideal world, everything you would eat would be organic. It just. Organic. What that means is that for produce, it's grown without the use.

It's real, basically.

Right. It's grown without any sort of chemicals, or I don't want to say any sort of chemical because they still use some, but more natural ones and clays and things inorganic. But they're. They're grown without toxic agricultural chemicals. And so. And in terms of meat, it's just that the. The meat or the animal is raised in a more natural way and they're fed typically a better diet that's free of GMOs and so. So organic again, ideally, everything you eat would be organic. That being said, it's not always available and it's not always economical. So when it comes to produce, I. There's something. The Dirty Dozen list, and that's put out by the Environmental Working Group each year. I actually have the chart in here. And so what that. What this group does is they basically, they take all of the produce on the market and they test it to see which ones have the most pesticides. And so the Dirty Dozen list, those are the ones with the most pesticides. But something super interesting. Well, first I'll say so, like, apples have typically been number one, but actually strawberries have sort of knocked them out of the number one place in 2017. So it's strawberries and apples.

And when you go like, to a random smoothie place, probably they're not using organic.

Oh, they're not using organic. Yeah. For them, unless they say they're using organic, they're definitely not using it. So, yeah, strawberries apples, nectarines, peaches, celery, grapes, cherries, spinach, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. So those are all on the dirty summer foods. A lot of summer foods. And a lot of the foods that you sort of eat directly. Right. That you don't have to peel those. Those tend to be the ones.

Are all the berries like the same or are strawberries just like the. The worst?

Strawberries seem to be the worst. Based on the environmental working groups research here. I personally tend to only eat berries if they're organic.

Right. And you can get organic frozen berries for way cheaper.

For way cheaper, yeah. One interesting thing though that I want to point out is in the past couple years, the environmental working group started putting out the Dirty dozen plus list. So they added two more things to the list. Because these two foods don't have the most in number of pesticides. They have the most toxic. And those are hot peppers and kale and collard greens. And so yeah, so anything on the dirty dozen or the dirty dozen plus list, those are things that I would really always strive to buy organic.

So if you're at Whole Foods and it's like that section where it's like all the produce is like, you know, where the water is. Is that all organic or no?

It depends. Like it will say next to it.

You know, if it's organic, pick up the kale. Like I'm just kind of assuming it's organic.

Yeah, Just definitely always check the label. Usually they do group the organic stuff together. Another just like little cheat tip is if you look at like the, I believe it's called the PLU number on the produce on the little sticker or on the little tag. If it starts with a number nine, then it's organic. If it doesn't start with nine or if it starts with like a four.

Four is conventional, eight is like something in between.

I feel like eight is like a toss up. I know three can sometimes is.

Is because it can be con. It's like you could be conventional but not organic or like GMO but not organic. There's like a lot of.

Right. So I've heard. Although, like, there's sort of conflicting sides to this. I've heard that starting with a 3 is is GMO and then a 4 is conventional and then a 9 is organic. So and then the, the one with the nine, it's five numbers. So it'll be like a longer number. And then the ones with like that's conventional would just be four numbers.

So most of what I see out is four. So it's, I guess not gmo, but it's also not organic. What would you say about that?

So it depends what the food is. So again, any of those dirty dozen foods, I would always buy organic. And then for other things, you know, things like avocados or melons where you're not eating the skin, those, you know, are not necessarily like as important, I would say especially like for budget or if it's just like not available, I would say those are things where it's okay to get conventional.

Yeah. Because I posted about that and one of my followers was saying that something that they spray avocados with goes through the skin.

Well, this is definitely true. Like even though pesticides are sprayed on the outside of foods, they do still like, seep in. So for example, even with sweet potatoes. Right. Which are in the ground and not necessarily sprayed, you know, a lot of the agricultural chemicals will seep in. I want to say it's like 70%. It's a high number. Don't quote me on the number, but it's a high number. Like percentage of the chemicals that actually seep into the skin. So yes, like peeling, it will get rid of, you know, a decent amount of it, but it will still seep in to some extent.

So organic sweet potatoes.

I think so organic sweet potatoes, especially if you want to eat the skin. And the skin is very often the most nutritious part, the most fiber rich part of produce. Yeah, for sure.

Yeah.

So, so again, ideally everything organic, but if it's not possible, then, you know, some things are better than other. And then buying frozen I think is a great option. I know in Ayurveda that's a little bit controversial, but in terms of saving money, I think it's a great way and it could be great.

And in some ways, I know, like traditionally in Ayurveda you're not supposed to have anything that's more than 24 hours old. They also didn't have refrigerators. I.

Right.

You know, it's like very, very different. And I was just reading an article and it's like the modern Ayurveda versus the traditional. And like the traditionalists are like, it doesn't matter if they don't have refrigerators. It's the bacteria on it. But I'm like, well, when you freeze it, it's actually more nutritious to have something that's picked at its peak ripeness and frozen than to have something that's maybe been in transit for a week or two. But it's not frozen. If you're so afraid of that freezing process.

Exactly. And that's the thing. When, typically when produce is at its ripest, that's when it's at its most nutrit. And the frozen stuff, it's picked when it's ripe, flash frozen, so it's locking in most of those nutrients. Whereas the stuff, like in California, it's different. If you go to the farmer's market, they picked it in the morning, you know, it's perfect. But here in New York, you know, our produce is coming from California, so they pick when it's not ripe yet. So it's not at its most nutritious. Not all foods ripen after they've been picked, like, for example, oranges. And so, you know, it's trucked here, it's put in warehouses, it could be one, two more weeks old. And yeah, it's not. It may not actually be as nutritious as we think.

And a lot of times, like foods even at the farmer's market are not organic. I mean, there, there's multiple reasons. It's because they don't have the money to pay for the whole soiling process, but also just because it's just not. And people assume just because it's the farmer's market, it's organic. So would you say that it's better to buy something that's frozen or organic or something that's fresh and maybe not organic?

I always revert to the dirty dozen list. So if it's on the dirty dozen list, I want it to be organic. I need that, like, seal of approval. That being said at farmers market. So sometimes it is too expensive for like a small farm to apply for everything. But they. I think that you should always ask them because sometimes they'll say no spray, no pesticides, and they'll use organic methods. But they might not have paid for the certification. So if that's the case, and if you feel like it's a farm you can trust, I feel like it's still okay. But you always want to ask and they'll be honest with you. I mean, at least I found. And you know, if they spray something, they'll say that they spray it. So. And some farms will and some farms won't. So always ask.

Another thing I want to ask about these labels is okay. So every time. So for my boyfriend, he would always eat chicken and I wouldn't eat it and I would make it for him, and then I started eating it, which we'll do another video about. But I'm so confused. At Whole Foods because they have organic and then like chickens that are not treated with something and like all of these things. Like do you think for chicken for example, it should always say organic or these other labels mean for something.

So, so great point that you meet that you bring up. So for animal products, I think hands down, like they should always be organ. Our conventional standards I don't think are up to par. And so I think it is really important to have organic on our animal products when it comes to chicken. So this is where it gets like very confusing because each different animal product, whether it's beef or dairy or chicken or eggs, they all have their own different terms or buzzwords I call them that go with it. So in terms of poultry, words like pasture raised and free range tend to be better because. Because that indicates that the animal was given more of a natural lifestyle. Pasture raised means that they were able to forage. Yeah. For eggs or even. Yeah, even for chicken they're able to like forage for their own food and you know, had time outdoors on the pasture. And so when you have a animal that has a more natural lifestyle and has a more natural diet, they're typically going to end up being healthier, which means the meat or the product that they're giving you is going to be, be more nutritious and healthier as well.

So, so for chicken, what is the other label that's commonly on it?

Cage free. Okay, so cage free. Cage free is a little bit, is not, is not the best. Not the best.

We're like not treated with rgbh.

Yeah. I mean, I think that if an animal, like a farm producer wants to do it right. The best way to do it is just to go organic. So yes, it's, it's okay to have like, you know, not treated or cage free and stuff, but those are actually kind of standard now, like the cage free and the not treated with like, you know, hormones. So really the highest standard is going to be organic. Yeah.

And I think what most people don't realize is when you buy the ready made chicken and salads and stuff at Whole Foods, it's not organic.

Oh, Whole Foods is the worst in that respect. They use canola oil in everything. Oh God. Vegetable oils. Vegetable oils are not healthy. And canola oil in particular, even a.

Real vegetable, they trick you by even calling it a vegetable oil.

Right. It's rapeseed oil. Right. Which first of all sounds terrible to begin with, but the problem with canola oil and similar oils like it is, they're typically chemically that the oil is extracted like via chemicals, because when you press it, you're not really going to get a very high yield. And then these chemicals that they're using end up in your oil. Like hexane, for example, is pretty toxic. And that ends up in a lot of vegetable oil oils. And then also it's. They tend to be like bleached and deodorized. And like if you look at the oils, right. If you look at like a really good olive oil, it's like almost like this green, like thick, beautiful thing. And it's in a glass bottle, a dark glass bottle. If you look at vegetable oils like canola oil, they're typically in plastic and they're like this clear, clearish, yellow and odorless taste. Odorless. Tasteless, exactly. And so think about all the processing that has had to go on.

Lemonade, canola oil.

Yeah, well, because canola oil is cheap, you know, and so it's unfortunate. And a lot of these, like vegetable oils can be pro. Inflammatory. Right. So something like olive oil is great and it's touted for its health benefits because it's anti inflammatory. But a lot of these vegetable oils actually promote inflammation.

Right. And just heating up that oil to that temperature makes the oil become rancid and that's how it becomes a carcinogen, it causes cancer. So.

Right, yeah. And so that's why it's also really great to be cognizant of smoke points of oil. So for example, olive oil, this could be kind of confusing sometimes that olive oil is a healthy oil. Right. If you have extra virgin olive oil, you know, people always talk about this, antioxidants, etc. If you cook with olive oil, if you put it on your stovetop and we've all done this, we forget the pan on there and then it starts smoking.

Right.

That's when you basically start oxidizing that oil. And when you take a good oil and basically turn it bad. So when that happens, you definitely want to carefully dispose of that and start over.

So what about like, if you're making something like eggs, you're not like smoking it, but it's definitely cooking.

Yeah. So I would recommend using different oils. So I think extra virgin olive oil is great for cold preparation. So drizzling it on salads or in dressings, things like that, or like very, very, very minimal low temperature. But I think if you're really going to be cooking eggs or anything like that on the stovetop, or roasting things, you want to either use coconut oil or avocado oil. So avocado oil. Avocado oil. Avocado oil is really great for high temperatures, especially if you're roasting things. And I like it because it is basically the only oil that can withstand high temperatures that is not chemically extracted. It's just, you know, pressed, which is what you want. So, you know, I talk about in the book, you know, what's the difference between like a healthy oil and an unhealthy oil? In my opinion, it's, you know, the extraction method is like a big part of it. So the cold pressed oils, those are going to be a lot healthier than the chemically pressed crust.

Absolutely. And with the coconut oil, the kind that they have that's like, like tasteless and odorless, what is that called?

The refined one?

Yeah. Is that still as healthy as regular coconut oil?

So I always, like, I always vote for the unrefined. Anytime you refine anything or start processing anything and things start breaking down. In my opinion, you're, you're taking away some of the goodness of it. So I, I will use the unrefined coconut oil. I think we, that's better. Some people don't like the taste of it. If you don't like the taste of it, then definitely try avocado oil because that is actually pretty flavorless compared to anything else. And so the avocado oil would be like a better thing if you don't like the coconut smell or flavor.

Right? Yeah. Because I've been seeing that and I'm like, well, I wonder what they do to the coconut. So it doesn't have a smell anymore.

Yeah, that, you know, they can deodorize it. You know, they do all sorts of things to oil that you wouldn't even, you know, think they could. Right. Like bleaching it, you know, so it's, it's definitely in my opinion, best to go with like the unrefined oils.

And coffee is another big one that should be organic.

Yeah. So coffee is one of the, the most heavily sprayed crops that we have on this planet.

Crazy.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I mean, most people will go to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts or something like that, and maybe Starbucks has an organic one, but I'm assuming most of their, their coffee is not organic.

I would imagine not. Yeah.

So I like, when I do drink coffee, I'll buy like an organic cold pressed one. Like, there's a lot of brands that do it. And I just noticed it's like, I don't get like the same jitters that I do with regular coffee.

Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. And shade grown is great as well. That's sort of becoming trendy because that is how coffee is naturally grown. Like it grows well in the shade and when you take it out of the shade, that's when it becomes harder to grow and then that's when they end up spraying it and you know, with a lot more chemicals. So organic and shade grown are really two, two great things to look out for on coffee.

Are there any shade grown coffee brands that you recommend?

I honestly, I don't know off the top of my head because I don't personally drink coffee.

But yeah, yeah, I just did like this like blood test, like the pinner test, and it told me the number one thing I'm allergic to is coffee. I was like, really?

That's interesting.

Yeah. But apparently it's just a very common one that you're like, like blood reacts to. I haven't felt any different when I drink it or when I don't. But something cool to look into.

Right, Interesting.

So talk about fish. That's another thing that a lot of us love and a lot of people who are shifting in between eating maybe a meat based diet, they want to be more plant based. That's fish. Or maybe they were vegan and they want to do that. It's like fish is kind of the like thing that's the gateway.

Yeah, yeah. So fish can definitely be a part of a healthy diet. Like you hear, you know about wild salmon all the time and the Omega 3s and it's so great. But, but there are a couple of things that you want to keep in mind in terms of fish. So definitely Mercury and PCBs are a concern. So you know, even like the government sort of recommendations is like for pregnant women to limit their intake of, of seafood. Right. Which is kind of scary.

You can't even eat fish.

Right. Exactly. Because. And then it's like, okay, like if you're pregnant and you're eating for another baby, you know, another body, then you shouldn't eat it. But okay, it's like, what about when I'm just eating for myself, you know, so, so Mercury and PCBs are, you know, problematic. And there are a couple ways. So wild fish tend to be lower in Mercury and PCBs than the farmed fish. Also when you're choosing fish, like we all know, for example, tuna is sort of notorious for being very high in mercury. Tuna is a huge fish. It's very big. And so you want to choose fish that are the size of a dinner plate or smaller. Just kind of keep that in mind. And those fish are typically younger. They've had less time in the water, and so they've had less time to circulate those toxic through their. Through their gills and through their body. So that's just a great kind of tip to kind of keep in your head when you're out, like, at a restaurant or even, you know, at the grocery store, try and choose the smaller fish.

People say, like, eat the sardines and the anchovies. Like, I don't want to eat those fish.

Yeah, well, they will tend to be the. The least in mercury and pcbs, but.

You can still, because they're also, like, in a can, and I don't know.

Well, you can get them in. In jars, you know, in glass.

They're just so salty.

Do they add salt to it, or.

Is that just how it is to preserve them? They typically, you know, do. Which you could wash off some of it.

But, like, if I eat fish, I eat salmon. But what I'm so confused about is, like, they say now the oceans are more toxic than the farm rays are, like, which ones to even get.

Well, in everything that I've read, the wild or, like, line caught. Okay. So there's basically a few different ways. So farmed is kind of the conventional, like, most common type of fish that you're gonna find out.

And Atlantic salmon is typically farm, or.

I want to say farm, but I don't really know, to be honest with you. Yeah. Because if it's wild, it will say wild.

As you see the texture, the color, it's different than wild.

Yeah. And so, interestingly, okay, so we have the farmed fish, and then we have wild fish, which isn't exactly wild the way that we would think of wild. Like a fisherman just going out in open water is. And catching a fish while they're still typically grown in some sort of enclosed area. And it could be in a, like, a real body of water, like a lake or a river, but it's, like, netted in. And they're not given antibiotics. So farmed fish are actually given antibiotics. You know, they could be given pesticides. So, for example, I believe it's salmon. They typically get lice. And so in order to kind of, like, save the. The crop or whatever you want to call it, they will give them, like, pesticides. And so they're usually raised in, like, very overcrowded conditions. And, like, fish get nervous when they're, like, overcrowded. And so it's Just like a less healthier anxiety. It's just crazy. And then, so then the wild, you can't give them the antibiotics or pesticides or anything like that. And so they're growing a bit more naturally. And then the best option, which is like this is like when you go on vacation in the Caribbean or something and you're ordering like the catch of the day, it's like line caught or, or pole cod. Those are what you probably think of when you think of a fisherman. It's like out on a boat in open waters, you know, catching the fish. And so I would say the wild is the one that you're going to be able to find more easily. But line caught, like wild, like smoked.

Salmon a lot of places. But it's hard to find like the wild. I mean, it ends up being super expensive.

It is, it is definitely pricey. But I mean, the thing is, so the recommendation, like even the US Government recommendation is to have fish no more than two times a week and a three to four ounce serving. So if you're only having it that much, even though it's, you know, it's expensive if you're not eating it every single day.

Right.

It kind of like balances out. But yeah, it's definitely, and in my opinion, I think it's worth the added price to have the higher quality animal product like across the board. Yeah.

Because I mean, it's like I always, you know, sometimes in your head you're.

Like, oh, it doesn't really matter, like, you know, Fukushima.

But hearing about the antibiotics and the possible Xanax and everything in your head, it's like, oh my God. And I also like read some article that they found all of these like antidepressants and drugs in the fish. And the reason was because we're, we're taking it and cocaine and we are taking it and we're peeing it and.

Then, then it's in the water. Yeah.

Which is so scary.

I know, I know. It's, you know, sometimes you could drive yourself crazy once you really start digging and you're like, oh my God, I can't eat anything. You know, and I, I think it's a balance. So, you know, making sure that a, you're not eating any food just like exclusively or eating it every single day or just all the time. Like it's really good to always vary your diet. Like, so even with vegetables and greens, like, yes, it's great to eat greens every day, but vary them to have different ones. And so I think that, you know, when we look at, like, the bigger picture, as long as you're eating your dark, leafy greens and herbs and your vegetables and stuff, they help our body kind of detox and everything kind of balances out.

Yeah, and I love that. Like, guys, if you knew Maria, she's like, not like an obsessive. Like, this is not organic. Like, you're not one of those people. You, you eat carbs, you eat fats, you eat everything, but you're just, you just have that awareness, but you're not like, like, it doesn't rule your life. So I think it's really good that you also have a healthy relationship with food as well as knowing the healthy food.

Oh, for sure. Yeah. I think one of the worst things we can do is be dogmatic. And I have. There have been points in my life where I have been like that, and it just doesn't serve us at all. And I think that what ends up happening is we become so obsessed with this idea of a way that we, we think we should eat that we stop listening to our body. And so I'm all about listening to the body. And, like, you know, if you have some sort of signs, whether it's your skin or your nails are breaking or your hair is falling out or your, you know, whatever, whatever's happening, your period is disappearing, then it's like, okay, well, maybe, you know, this diet that you thought was amazing is not actually amazing for you right now. So I think it's, yeah, really important to, you know, kind of live your life. And I believe in this sort of 80, 20, or 90, 10 rule where it's like, the majority of the time, 80, 90% of the time, you're eating your organic and your whole clean, clean foods. But the other 10, 20%, it's like you're going out on your friend's birthday and you're gonna eat whatever is at the restaurant, you know? Yeah.

And toxic thoughts are just as toxic as GMOs, so. Yeah, I think that's really amazing. And I know that you're familiar with Ayurveda. She went. You went to an Ayurveda center? Where was it?

It was in Iowa, so it was very interesting. I did panchakarma. I have, like, an Ayurvedic practitioner here in New York City that I go to, and she's like, magic. And so I had wanted to do something a little bit like, like deeper. And so I did. One week, I did a Panchakarma cleanse, which was quite interesting. I, I, it's Rough Panchakar is not.

For the faint of heart.

I mean, yeah, it was like there was a lot of ghee everywhere. Like every, anywhere they could stick ghee. They stuck it. Let's just put it, put it, just put it that way. But I felt like really clean and light and great after that. Actually I had. Before I went. One of the reasons I went is because I. I was like in a very stressful period in my life. And so I had broken out for the first time in my life. I had had like eczema on my face, actually like by my eyes. And I was like, what the heck is going on? It was just like this intense stress and then nothing was like making it go away. And then when I went there. And they also tell you like in between treatments and stuff, like you're not allowed to do work. You know, they don't even really want you to read books. Like, they just kind of want you to chill and just like live and just be, which was very for me. But at the end of the five days, my. The eczema was actually completely gone and never came back again. And I felt, I just felt more at peace and more calm and just better able to deal with stress.

Totally. Yeah. I mean we're always doing and we're doing. We're not healing.

Right.

Even just like the little thing of like answering emails on your phone, it takes your body away from this healing mode. And so like, basically that's why sleep is the most healing thing we have. It's the only time that we're not doing something.

Oh, I love sleep. I love sleep so much.

I slept for like 10.

Like, oh my God, sleep.

It's so important.

It's my favorite thing.

Totally. So like.

Yeah.

So let's say someone's like a vata. You're probably a vata, right?

Yeah.

They're at the grocery store. Like, what do you think are some good things?

Well, I know. So I know from being told, Right. That we're not allowed to have like air producing foods. So for example, cauliflower, flour, which is something that I love, was not able to have. Or what were some of the other things? I think cashews, I think they said weren't great.

Yeah. So I mean anything that's like raw, like, like too many, like leafy green vegetables as a salad.

Yeah. Cooked is better.

We were talking about like you do a meal delivery program and the salad. Sometimes you cook.

Yeah, totally. I. Yeah. One thing that I really learned and loved from like doing Ayurveda is Like, really, like, cooking my food. And I was eating, you know, a long, long time ago, I actually wanted to write a book. This was, like, years ago. I was like, I want to write a book called Salad is not a side dish and just talk about, like, salads, you know, could be a whole meal and stuff. But I found, like, after time, like, just too much raw just did not agree with me. And cooking my food, I loved, like, I love cooked.

And eczema is a side effect of too much cough, of too much vata as well.

Interesting.

It's dry, it's rough, it's scaly. It has all of the qualities of vata. So maybe you're eating more salads and smoothies at that point.

I know. I'm pretty sure that was the boyfriend I was breaking up with at the time.

Well, he's very.

Vata can cause the imbalance. Yeah.

That's so funny. So. So vata is definitely staying away from the air inducing food. So air. Too much air in your body is gassiness.

Right.

A lot of people, they feel that they eat cauliflower and they're like, they feel bloated and whatever. So about cooking that. So pittas do you know a little about pitta?

So that's fire. So I know they're not allowed to have, like, spicy food. Is that right? Yeah, yeah.

Spicy foods and then pungent, like onions and garlic.

Yeah, yeah. And actually, the one thing that was interesting that I learned there is they. They. And when you're doing panchakarma, they don't put onions or garlic in anything because they say it messes, like, with your meditation and your clarity of mind.

Yeah. They say people who are on a yogic path, they're going towards satzva, which is, like, feelings of clarity and inner peace. When you have. When after you eat onion or garlic, you're tasting it, and when you become very, very sensitive to energy, you're tasting it for days. So, like, I know for me, I notice I still eat things with onion and garlic. Not that much, but I will crave chocolate after. It's because my body's like, ugh, I don't like this taste. And it's like trying to get something to mask it.

Interesting. Yeah.

Because sweet is the opposite of, like, pungent.

I feel like that too, I guess.

Wow. Notice anytime I eat something, like, even something with a garlic sauce or onions, I need dessert after.

Interesting.

So that's why I'm like, okay, brush your teeth. But it's still. It's still there. So it's your body basically trying to like self regulate. So yeah, like anything onion and garlic creates feelings of rajas, which is like anger. So that's why they don't recommend it. But yeah, pitta, because like leafy greens would be really good for them. Anything cooling mint, cauliflower. It's like the opposite cauliflower crust. Pizza.

Yeah. Yeah, love that. And what about for kapha?

So kapha is very earthy and grounded. So they don't want to be doing too many of the fruit, vegetables and the sweet potatoes, but they want to be doing more like spiced foods. So like the peppers and like, like stir fries but also warm foods as well. They don't want be to doing the cold foods. So yeah, we should. We'll definitely do a video together of like grocery shopping for you for each dosha.

Yeah, that would be fun.

Okay, amazing. So yeah, so tell us a little bit more about how we can use this book at the grocery store. Like how can this be our companion?

So the Real Food Grocery Guide. I wrote this to really be the most practical, user friendly guide to grocery shopping. And I feel like there's no other books out there on this subject. You know, there's books around, you know, maybe just packaged foods or, you know, vegetables or whatever, but there's no guide to actually shopping the grocery store, which is where I feel like we need the most help when, when we're there. And so each chapter is a different aisle of the grocery store. And I mean, I think personally it would be a good idea to kind of read it through, you know, first and so that you kind of get a general idea or overview, but then you can really kind of, you know, go back and pick and choose. Like, okay, if you're choosing eggs, okay, these are the kind of words that I want to look out for. This is how you select them. And you could bring it to, to the store with you, you know, the first couple times so you have something to refer to. But then after that I feel like once you know, you kind of know and then you have all that, that knowledge.

So when you prepare the foods, like what is like your go to way of like making these foods.

So I eat a lot of vegetables and I, I do, I saute a lot. You know, I'm the stove top. I just feel like that's really easy. And then I roast things a lot in the oven as well. So I try to like, my meals are usually pretty quick. I try and get them done in like 20 minutes or less, you know, and I just I use, like, a lot of spices as well because not only do they make the food taste better, I think they're. They're also, like, very medicinal. And so, yeah, just pretty cook things pretty simply. Roast it, saute it with, like, oil and spices and pink salt and call it a day.

Yeah, And I think it doesn't need to be super complicated. Like, I love recipes, but when I'm cooking for myself, I never follow recipes.

Right, Exactly. I just take whatever I have, you.

Know, stir fry everything, put it in the oven. It's gonna taste good.

Right? Exactly. Yeah, I do the same.

Awesome. So are there any last tips or tricks that you'd like to share?

Well, I, you know, I. Speaking of spices and superfoods, I have a whole, like, free guide to spices and superfoods and also my favorite, my brand picks guide on my site. It's mariamarolo.com Real Food Guide link in.

The show notes as well.

Yeah, so that's. So that's available. And just, you know, I guess my. My biggest tip that I can say is. Yeah. To not let healthy eating or healthy living overwhelm you. You know, take it one step at a time. And small changes add up to big results over time. So, you know, focus on one area and then, you know, figure that out, turn that into a habit, and then move on to the next.

What do you think is, like, the first thing people should, like, look out for? Like, they know they're going the right direction. What do you feel first?

I think the most important thing that will, like, significantly change and improve your life and your health is simply to fill up half of your plate with vegetables at as many meals as possible. If you do that, great things will happen for your digestion, for your skin, everything. So, yes, when you're in the grocery store in particular, spend as much time as you can in the produce section and, you know, try new things. And if you, you know, if you see a new vegetable or something that you don't know what it is or how to cook it, usually just stir frying it or roasting it with spices or even garlic, which we talked about, it's not the best ever, but, you know, and salt and pepper, it tastes good for Kaphas.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I think they should just change how grocery stores are. It's like the produce should all be in the middle because that's what we should be eating. And then, like, the other stuff is, like, things you just add to the produce. Whereas, like.

Right.

It's like the opposite. It's like, the produce is kind of on the side and like the main thing is like the canned.

Right. Exactly.

When I travel and I leave like LA and like New York and I go to just like even a town a few hours over, it's so different.

Right.

They don't have options. I went to this, I was on the way to like Coachella or something and I stopped at this grocery store. There was a candy store in the middle of the produce section.

Oh, my God.

It was like, literally like, it's like, oh, do you want some, like, apples? And it's like candy. And there were so many aisles of canned foods.

Yeah.

I think, like, that's really just what needs to change. Like the awareness and if we demand more fresh foods, they will provide them more for us.

Us, right. Yeah. It's so easy to forget living like in a big city like New York, la, that, yeah, there are places that don't have as much access to fresh food and, you know, hopefully that will change. I know that there are a lot of mail order businesses now for, for example, like, meats and wild seafood that you can get them delivered to your door. And so hopefully there will be some, you know, for produce.

People are growing their own food now too.

That is ideal. I wish I could do that. I'm like, just dying from backyard so I could have a garden.

Yeah, yeah, there's. I mean, there's these shared gardens now in New York and la and I know in like, Davis, they've created this like, residential area that it's like this massive garden in the middle and all of the homes are built around it. And as part of your home, you collectively own a piece of this garden. So everyone there, like, takes turns and like, grows the food and like, you exclusively get the food from your own.

That's so cool.

I need to move there.

Yeah, yeah. Okay. We could be neighbors.

Yes. We could go touch at UC Davis. Well, thank you again, again, so much. So we can find you@mariamarlo.com download your free guide to superfoods, your free food brands. I'm excited to check that out because that can be the most confusing part, like, which brand is good? Which one can we trust? So thank you for doing all of that work. And we're going to do some more videos.

Yes.

About all sorts of topics. We're going to do a Facebook Live, which we'll announce on both of our Instagrams. Hers, Maria Marlo. Mine is Eat, Feel Fresh. So, yeah, lots of more fun collaborations. She has her book signing event this Wednesday, which will have passed by the time time this is up. But her book is out on Amazon right now, so go get it at Barnes and Nobles. All the places. Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us.

Of course. Thank you for having me.

Of course.

Bye, guys.

Bye, Kata.