DIY Gift for a WFPB Mom

It's Mother's Day weekend and time to show appreciation for all the women in our lives who've mentored and nurtured us.  What better way to express our gratitude than with a gift that will show how much we value having "mom" around for many years to come? We know that eating a low-fat, whole-food plant-based (WFPB) diet is one of the best things we can do for health and longevity. Why not let our gift reflect those values?

One of our crafty staffers here at the office created this LÄRABAR bouquet for her sister. She simply followed the directions from a YouTube video on making candy bar bouquets, substituting healthier LÄRABARs for the junkfood. It makes a quick and colorful gift that tells mom "I love you" and appreciate all you do to take care of your health! 

LÄRABARs are delicious! In fact, they're so yummy that now I automatically know that I've got to be careful with them. Before I learned to be suspcious about foods with a high "yum factor," I might have been tempted to eat two or three of these little bars in one sitting. Thanks to Doug Lisle, PhD, I've learned that I should check the ingredients and the processing whenever I encounter even a "healthy" food that tastes absolutely wonderfully DELICIOUS. 

As I explain in my video Why We Do What We Do? (preview below), our brains react to foods that have high concentrations of sugar, fat, or salt. So even though I applaud the makers of LÄRABARs for giving us a whole-food plant-based alternative to refined, heavily processed foods like cookies, crackers, and most granola bars, I still have to be careful with eating them. LÄRABARs are a concentrated food. Their wonderfully simple ingredient list for all their many flavors includes whole foods like dates, nuts, and coconut. Dates are dehyrated and so their sugar is concentrated. Nuts are rich and delicious because they naturally contain high amounts of fat. And coconut is so naturally high in saturated fat that I steer clear of the LÄRABAR flavors that include it. Although they sound marvelous, I also avoid all of the flavors that contain chocolate because chocolate is a source of the methylxanthine stimulants theobromine and caffeine. (Maybe Lara will give us a carob flavor ... hint, hint!)

I like LÄRABARs for special occasions. For me, they make a perfect travel food. If I've got one, I can resist the temptations of an airport Cinnabon when I'm traveling to speaking engagements. With a gift like a LÄRABAR bouquet, maybe a mom who is still struggling with a temptation for an unhealthy food will also discover a satisfying substitute. Or maybe she'll just enjoy the sweetness of someone who thought enough of her to give a gift that guards her health as well as shows the appreciation she deserves.

To all the moms and nurturers in the wonderful WFPB family, Happy Mother's Day!

Cover Photo by Sean Carney