Annie, Author at Annie B Kay

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Edible Flowers: Nature’s Colorful Delicacies

Jun 5, 2024 | Heal with Nature, Plant Medicine

My garden’s filled with edible flowers and herbs, and when it starts to go off, my salads and dishes explode in technicolor! Edible flowers aren’t, however, just a colorful addition to your plate; they’re a vibrant, nutrient-rich ingredient that has been used for centuries around the world. Beyond their fragrant and aesthetic appeal, edible flowers offer nutritional benefits.

This post explores the world of edible flowers, delving into their health benefits, identifying specific flowers you can incorporate into your meals, offering tips on how to gather them safely, and culinary tips to elevate your dishes.

Health Benefits

Edible flowers are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Here are some key benefits they offer:

edible flowers are…Rich in Antioxidants

Many edible flowers, such as marigolds and nasturtiums, are high in antioxidants, which help combat free radicals in the body and reduce oxidative stress.

Anti-Inflammatory Properties

Flowers like calendula and chamomile have anti-inflammatory properties, which can help reduce inflammation and soothe various ailments.

Vitamin Boost

Edible flowers such as hibiscus and rose petals are rich in vitamins A, C, and E, which are essential for maintaining healthy skin, boosting the immune system, and improving overall health.

Digestive Health

Flowers like dandelions and lavender can aid digestion. Dandelions act as a mild laxative, while lavender helps reduce bloating and gas.

Calming Effects

Chamomile and lavender are well-known for their calming effects, making them excellent for reducing anxiety and promoting better sleep.

10 Common Edible Flowers

Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus)

- Flavor: Peppery, similar to watercress
- Health Benefits: High in vitamin C and antioxidants
- Uses: Salads, garnishes, stuffed flowers
Marigolds (Tagetes spp.)
- Flavor: Citrusy and slightly bitter
- Health Benefits: Contains lutein and zeaxanthin, which are beneficial for eye health
- Uses: Soups, rice dishes, as a natural food dye
Pansies (Viola tricolor)
1. Flavor: Mildly sweet to slightly grassy
2. Health Benefits: Anti-inflammatory and rich in vitamins A and C
3. Uses: Salads, desserts, as decorative garnishes
Borage (Borago officinalis)
1. Flavor: Cucumber-like
2. Health Benefits: High in omega-6 fatty acids and acts as a diuretic
3. Uses: Salads, beverages, soups
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
1. Flavor: Sweet, floral, with hints of mint and citrus
2. Health Benefits: Calming properties, aids in digestion and sleep
3. Uses: Desserts, teas, savory dishes
Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa)
1. Flavor: Tart and cranberry-like
2. Health Benefits: High in vitamin C, aids in lowering blood pressure
3. Uses: Teas, jams, sauces
Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale)
1. Flavor: Sweet, honey-like
2. Health Benefits: Diuretic, aids digestion, rich in vitamins A and C
3. Uses: Salads, soups, teas
Rose Petals (Rosa spp.)
1. Flavor: Sweet, perfumed
2. Health Benefits: Rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, aids in digestion
3. Uses: Desserts, syrups, salads
Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
1. Flavor: Peppery, tangy
2. Health Benefits: Anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial properties
3. Uses: Salads, soups, as a saffron substitute
Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)
1. Flavor: Sweet, apple-like
2. Health Benefits: Calming effects, aids in digestion
3. Uses: Teas, desserts, as a garnish

How to Gather Safely

Gathering edible flowers requires care and knowledge to ensure they are safe to consume. Here are a few tips to help support a pleasant edible flower experience:

Identify Correctly: Make sure to correctly identify the flower. Use reliable guides or consult with an expert to avoid consuming toxic flowers.
Organic Sources: Always gather flowers from organic sources, free from pesticides and chemicals. Avoid roadside or industrial area flowers.
Time of Harvest: Pick flowers in the morning after the dew has evaporated but before the sun is too strong, as this is when their flavor is most concentrated.
Healthy Specimens: Choose flowers that are healthy and free from spots, molds, or pests
Preparation: Rinse flowers gently under cold water to remove dirt and small creepy crawling insects. Pat them dry with a paper towel before use.

Culinary Tips for Using Edible Flowers

Incorporating edible flowers into your cooking is a sensory joy – they smell great and are just gorgeous. Here are some tips and ideas to inspire & get you started:

Salads: Add fresh, colorful petals to salads for a burst of color and flavor. Nasturtiums, pansies, and calendula work well.
Desserts: Use flowers like lavender and rose petals to infuse syrups, creams, and baked goods with floral notes.
Teas and Infusions: Brew flowers such as chamomile, hibiscus, and lavender for soothing herbal teas. Fresh or dried petals can be used.
Garnishes: Decorate cakes, pastries, and cocktails with vibrant, edible flowers like violas and borage for a stunning presentation.
Herbal Butters and Oils: Mix finely chopped petals of flowers like chive blossoms or marigolds into butter or oils for a unique flavor twist.
Candied Flowers: Preserve the beauty of flowers like violets and rose petals by candying them with egg white and sugar, perfect for decorating desserts.
Soups and Stews: Add flowers such as calendula or marigold towards the end of cooking for an extra layer of flavor and color.
Jams and Jellies: Incorporate petals from flowers like dandelions and roses into homemade jams and jellies for a unique taste.

Edible flowers are a nutritious way to enhance your meals. From their diverse health benefits to their stunning aesthetics, they are a versatile ingredient worth exploring. By identifying the right flowers, gathering them safely, and using creative culinary techniques, you can elevate your dishes and enjoy the benefits these blossoms provide. So, next time you’re planning a meal, consider adding a touch of nature’s elegance with edible flowers.

In this blog post, we’ve covered the health benefits, specific types of edible flowers, safe gathering practices, and culinary tips to help you incorporate these delicate delights into your diet. Whether you’re a seasoned cook or a novice in the kitchen, edible flowers can add a new dimension to your culinary adventures, enriching both your palate and your health. Enjoy!

Sources

Edible Flowers: Antioxidant Compounds and Their Functional Properties
This review explores the antioxidant compounds found in edible flowers, emphasizing their bioactive profiles and potential health benefits. It discusses the phenolic compounds, flavonoids, carotenoids, and other antioxidants that contribute to the health-promoting properties of edible flowers.
Prabawati, N.B., Oktavirina, V., Palma, M., & Setyaningsih, W. (2021). Horticulturae, 7(4), 66.

Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties of Edible Flowers
This study compiles data on the chemical composition and antioxidant properties of over 200 edible flowers, detailing their phenolic content, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity. The research highlights the significant health benefits these phytochemicals provide, particularly in reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Kandylis, P. (2022). Applied Sciences, 12(19), 9937.

Edible Flowers Used in Some Countries of the Mediterranean Basin: An Ethnobotanical Overview

This review looks at edible flowers in Mediterranean countries, where they are widely used. MottiR, PauraB et al. Plants. 2022 Nov 28;11(23):3272. doi: 10.3390/plants11233272.

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Forget Resolutions – Set Intention Instead

Set Intention

Wise life coach Marcia Goldberg once wrote, “Intention is the thread on which the pearls of our life experience are strung”. If we go through life without intention – without consciously knowing what we want to embody – we are more likely to have haphazard experiences in life.
There’s a balance between going with the flow and setting the agenda. Intention speaks to why – the motivator – of your actions that can help you know when to let go, and when to lean in.

Finding that balance is a fun and fascinating experience, if you also hold a sense of being open to the odd ironies of life that surround us. First, however, get clear on your why – set intention.

How To Set Intention

As you vision your life unfolding over the next year, consider what you’d like to have more. Peace, abundance, fun, balance? How about taking some time to visualize what it would feel like to embody a life with more of what you vision – can you open your senses to explore how it might feel to be living your intention? What would you be doing most days? How would you be feeling physically, emotionally, in your bones?

Your intention speaks to what you are seeking in life. It speaks to the why behind your actions. When I hear, for example, that someone is interested in addressing metabolic (weight-related) health – things like high blood sugar or high blood pressure – I always ask why. Why do you want to be healthy? That’s when I hear – “I want to see my son graduate from college”, or “I want to see my grandkids get married” – I can feel the energy behind the intention. That’s motivation!

From there, your practices for the year are grounded in and fired by the motivation of intention. In my own life, this adds meaning to my planning and what I choose to do to each day. If I can take some time daily, reminding myself of my intention – the why, it directs my conscious and unconscious being in the direction I’m aiming.

Intention Rather than Resolutions?

New Year’s Resolutions – our declarations about doing this or that, being this or that in the New Year, are designed to fail. “Lose Weight!” “Get Healthy!” “New Job!” These are missives and there is nothing wrong with a declaration. Resolutions fail when they are not rooted in intention and do not follow up with a plan. When it is just a declaration without the why or thought of how, well, that’s when, in March, for forget what your resolutions even are.

So, this year, try something new.

What is your intention for the New Year?

You can see that I have a free transformation workbook available to you to help you find your intention, and then to power it with some mantras and affirmations. This is the type of work that can be fun and helpful in supporting real change. Give it a download.

In the coming year, I plan to continue to cover the connections between nutritional science, spirit, and wisdom and to grow our community with online opportunities (personal & professional!) to learn together.

Hopefully, as the year unfolds, I will see many of you in person at some of our favorite gathering spots. Much of my year, however, will center on online offerings.

Thank you to those of you who have commented, dugg, stumbled, twittered and otherwise reached out.

My wish for you is that you enjoy health, happiness, and the light of your truest self.

Namaste!

Please please share your intentions for the New Year in the comments!

6 Benefits of Mindful Eating

Updated 10/12/2023

Mindful eating – using the tenets of mindfulness meditation while eating, has done nothing less than transform mind-body nutrition. Practitioners everywhere are incorporating it because it helps our clients change what they eat. Simple as that!

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is a type of meditation wherein you focus your attention on the sensory and other aspects of eating with an attitude of non-judgmental awareness. In essence, you slow down, eat with all five senses and stay curious about the process, about the food, and about your own relationship with food.

When I work with an individual, I almost always combine clear steps to bring food and lifestyle into balance (the what of lifestyle) with mindfulness (the how of lifestyle).

Since I’ve become a student of mindful eating myself, I enjoy my food more, often eat less, and am more satisfied. It takes longer to eat, (and to do the dishes as I really slow down), but I’m happier. Thich Nhat Hanh (who said he’s happier when he washes this teapot as though it were the baby Buddha or Jesus) is right.

The Science

The research community agrees that mindful eating is an effective tool. It can help promote a healthy natural weight (1) and curb destructive emotional eating (2). While the science is still young, it is evolving quickly – we are learning more about it all the time.

For emotional eating, mindful eating has been found to be most effective when combined with other behavior change techniques like coaching with a qualified nutrition professional. For effective weight management, again, mindful eating is most effective when it is done within a more comprehensive nutrition program and delivered by a well-trained professional.

6 Benefits of Practicing Mindful Eating

Enjoying your food – First off, when people slow things down – and eating is a dramatic example – they tend to taste and enjoy their food more. It might seem ironic, but eating slowly is more interesting and enjoyable, once you get the hang of it.
Epigenetic benefits – Epige-what? Epigenetics is the impact that choices have on gene expression. When you choose to eat a plant-based diet or move your body, you actually impact your gene expression, which in turn builds a more resilient future for you. It’s some of the biggest news in lifestyle medicine now.
Neurobiology benefits – Mindfulness manages stress. When you slow down and breathe – particularly when you extend your exhale – you activate the whole rest-and-recover side of your nervous system. That not only manages stress but can improve digestion.
Turn down the external messages on what and how much to eat. Face it, modern life is filled with messages from the media – commercials for fast food, billboards – it’s just everywhere. We are told we need to be eating basically all the time. It’s hard to ignore, but mindfulness can help you un-hook from those messages. That helps you to begin to find your own way.
Tune in to your internal guidance system – instead of responding to cues from the outside, mindful eating gets you more in-tune with your internal guidance system – to if you are actually hungry, and when you are satisfied.
Improve your relationship with what you eat. Eating is a two-way conversation. Mindfulness is an excellent way to tune in to the conversation. Beginning a mindful eating practice can bring up some uncomfortable aspects of your relationship with food. But, if you stay with it, keep your heart open as best you can, and practice compassionate self-observation, it can be a pathway to profound peace and self-compassion.

An Awareness and Caution

One caveat – this practice can uncouple eating and satiety. It can help you eat less, but it can also help you undercut your nutritional well-being if your emotional eating has evolved into a more serious condition like an eating disorder. This is not a practice to help you stop eating or to eat less than your body actually needs. But, it can be misused in this way. Don’t do it – it won’t end well for you. You can avoid that risk – here’s how.

In addition to mindfulness, use nutrition guidelines for adequacy – adequate protein and energy needs – for your body. For example, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM, formerly the IOM), a non-governmental nonprofit affiliated with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which among other things tracks the research on dietary needs and creates recommendations, suggests that most humans need about 50 gm of protein to be reasonably healthy. I’ve found that a reasonable screen – is a starting place, for someone. A qualified nutritionist can help ensure that you are getting the nutrition you need to be who you want to be – strong, energetic, and healthy.

So How Do I Start?

Here is a free tip sheet to help you use mindful eating through the holidays.

Here’s another post: Mindful Eating: The Art & Science of Eating Better

Ready to practice? Check out my Mindful Eating Mini-course: How to Eat. Do it on your own, or bring me in to help.

References:

O’Reilly GA, et al., Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Obesity-Related Eating Behaviors: A Literature Review, Obesity Reviews, Published online 2014 Mar 18. doi: 10.1111/obr.12156
Katterman, Shawn, et. al., Mindfulness meditation as an intervention for binge eating, emotional eating, and weight loss: A systematic review, ScienceDirect – Eating Behaviors, Volume 15, Issue 2, April 2014, Pages 197-204, doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2014.01.005

Ready to Practice?

Check out ‘How to Eat’: Mindful Eating Mini-course

Holiday Stress? Mindfulness Can Help

Updated 11/9/2023

Here it comes – the wave of winter holidays.

Time seems to speed up now, and the season can seem a bit sugar-coated and a bit stressful. Suddenly so much to do! Decorating, attending gatherings, figuring out if you should send cards or get gifts for the people in your life, and dealing with extended family can be overwhelming. If you have a business – double the decisions!

It doesn’t have to be quite so stressful. Holiday cheer doesn’t require weight gain (here’s a study from the National Weight Control Registry (1) about what works). Mindfulness can help you enjoy the holidays a little more, and stress a little less.

If you find yourself feeling holiday-rattled and you’re not basking in a glowing sense of cheer, the practices of mindfulness might help you take a break from expectations and reconnect with the reason for the season.

Can Mindfulness Really Help?

The short answer is yes. Practicing mindfulness – both the meditation practice and taking a more mindful attitude toward the activities of the holiday – can help. Mindfulness can provide that little shift in attitude that can be the difference between feeling overwhelmed and feeling excited about the holiday.

Mindfulness practice and attitudes can help you become more aware of your own needs as you move through the season of giving. It can make you more aware of your choices and give you space to choose in a more thoughtful way. Mindfulness can also help you to be a little easier on yourself for being human should you not create holiday perfection or if you over-indulge.

How does Mindfulness Manage Stress?

A mindfulness practice can help you step away from the fire, mentally and emotionally, and practice the power of pause – of taking a breath when things get overheated or overwhelming. When we get triggered by an unkind or unintended nastiness, or feel that we are not up to the job of holiday bliss, pausing for a breath tends to help us take a step back and see things in a little less pressured light. Then, we can respond in a wiser, kinder way. This takes practice, my friends, but it is interesting how quickly the attitudes around mindfulness – kindness, compassion – can make life better and ease the tension of the holidays.

With a mindful attitude, we become more aware of the results of our choices – how our choices impact how we feel, and how our lives unfold. Eventually (with practice, self-compassion and awareness) the practice of mindfulness can be a framework within which we begin to choose to feel a bit better, then make the choices that will create that result.

As it happens, this particular time of year is excellent for cultivating quietness and a meditative mindset. It may be one reason that we can feel so overwhelmed with our over-commercialized holiday – that this season is, naturally, a time of slowing down and turning inward. The winter solstice is akin to the end of the exhale for the earth – a time of dark and quiet and reflection before the next year begins. In the Celtic wheel of the year, this is a time when the veil between worlds is thin – when you can “see” or imagine your way into your future, and “see” and appreciate your past. It is a great time of the year for honoring and integrating what has unfolded for you, and for visioning what may come. Mindfulness practice can help with that.

So, What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a meditation practice, and it is also the attitudes and mindsets that a meditation practice encompasses. In mindfulness, you:

Adopt a meditative mindset. We humans have the capacity to change our consciousness from our everyday distracted state to a calm, clear relaxed and open one. With this change, you focus attention inward and relax.
Pay attention to what is happening moment by moment. Mindfulness is meditation while…(whatever you are doing). So, you get curious about whatever you are doing – be it walking or eating. Slowing the process down so that you can get fascinated enough that you lose yourself – you lose track of time – is mindful meditative absorption.
There is a particular attitude of mindfulness called non-judgmental awareness. As you practice, you become aware of judgments like comparisons (this food is healthy therefore good, that food is less healthy, therefore not so good, for example). In mindfulness, while eating, for example, you aim for a direct, sensory relationship with what you are eating. Cultivate an attitude of kindness – toward yourself and others.

How can I Practice Mindfulness this Holiday?

There are limitless ways to practice through this particular season.

Here are just few ideas:

Start or re-charge your morning meditation practice. If you are just beginning, start with just 5 or 10 minutes to sit in a quiet place, with music or not, and get quiet. You can focus your attention on your breathing – on the expansion of the inhale, and letting go of the exhale. Alternatively, you can focus on your thoughts – noticing your thoughts as they arise, label them “just thoughts” and let them float away.

Practice mindfulness meditation while eating.

Practicing mindful eating can help you explore your sensual relationship with food as well as your hunger and satiety (fullness) indicators. When I see people eat more of their bites as a mindfulness meditation practice, they begin to recognize that their eating patterns are tied more to external signals – things like getting home from a stressful day of work or seeing one of the endless food-porn ads on TV. Over time, the practice of mindful eating tends to help people tune in more deeply to their internal guidance system with regard to hunger, fullness and how much food is enough.

Here’s my post on how that can unfold.

Mindful Eating: The Practice of Eating Better

It’s difficult to practice mindful meditation while socializing – meditation just doesn’t work that way! But, you can be mindful of your breath, mindful of something kind you would like to say to someone or practice appreciation of your friends and family. With regard to food, can you simply practice what I call the power of pause – and take in the visual beauty of the holiday food?

Another practice you might play with this year is the mindful practices of kindness and of contentment. How might you be kind to yourself and others through this season? Is there something that you do, or way you are through the holidays, that doesn’t really serve you anymore?

In yoga contentment is a practice – one of my wise teachers used to say “Try less”. What a great motto for life!

Can we practice – intentionally – being content with things as they are right now – in their perfect imperfection.

References

Olson, Kayloni et al, Strategies to manage weight during the holiday season among US adults: A descriptive study from the National Weight Control Registry. Obesity Science and Practice. 2021 Apr; 7(2): 232–238.

Quickeners Podcast Episode 4: Not Your Fault. Now What?

In psychology there the idea that “it’s not your fault that you…”. We did not personally create many of the dysfunctional parts of our life. Many of our struggles are rooted in early events and our of our control.

But that’s not the end of the conversation of change. In yoga philosophy, not your fault is only part of (half of?) the conversation. The other part is – now what? Once you realize that you didn’t create these situations, one option is to take responsibility to clean it up anyway because it will likely make your life better to do so.

This dichotomy and the tension in the dichotomy is an aspect of life – it’s the dance of action & embodiment, of being & doing, of masculine & feminine, Shakti & Shiva. In yoga philosophy we need both – we need to accept that it’s not our fault, yet we have the capacity to shift, renew, embody our own experience.

In this episode I’ll tell stories and give examples, and then a 3-step process to navigate from doing to being.