Eat2Prevent

Preventing the Flu

2011-10-05T10:50:00.006-04:00

At this point in the year, it is time for everyone to make an important decision: to get the flu shot, or not to get the flu shot?

Not surprisingly, I am an advocate of the latter. Let me present the evidence and you can decide for yourself.

1. The flu vaccine is an inexact science.
First of all, the flu vaccine only contains three strains of the flu, which means it will only protect you from those three strains, which are sometimes not even going around. In fact, only about 15% of people who think they have the flu actually have it. There are so many colds, germs, and viruses floating around that it's very difficult to choose flu strains that will actually affect the most people. (CNN agrees!)

2. The flu vaccine contains harmful ingredients—seriously harmful.
Here's a rundown of the ingredients in your average flu shot (as researched by the Centre for Research on Globalization in August of 2009):

Egg proteins: including avian contaminant viruses such as avian leucosis
Gelatin: known to cause allergic reactions and anaphylaxis - usually associated with sensitivity to egg or gelatin proteins
Polysorbate 80 (Tween 80): can cause severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis
Formaldehyde: a known carcinogen
Triton X100: a strong detergent
Sucrose: table sugar
Resin: known to cause allergic reactions
Gentamycin: an antibiotic
Thimerosal: 49.6 percent ethyl mercury, a known neurotoxin (still in multidose vials)

The Global Vaccine Institute reports: "Every year, just prior to the impending "flu season," the CDC and their acquiescent media pawns terrorize the American public with false claims regarding annual flu deaths. The CDC boldly asserts that 36,000 people die every year from the flu. Such scare tactics are calculated to increase flu vaccine sales. However, according to the CDC's own official records documented in National Vital Statistics Reports, only a few hundred people die from influenza (flu) on an average year. And many of these deaths occur in people with preexisting conditions, weakened immune systems, and the elderly."

As for the elderly, people who have had 5 or more flu shots are 10 times more likely to develop Alzheimers!

3. You can prevent the flu!

If you are getting sick every season, there are ways to boost your immune system naturally and easily without getting the flu shot. The trick is overall wellness, not a magic pill or shot. Try several or all of these preventive measures and see if your immunity and overall health don't skyrocket!

Try an alternative doctor. Most alternative health practitioners provide preventive services as well as sick care. Acupuncture is a great whole-body approach to not only improving your immune system but healing imbalances in the body. If you're in Charleston, I highly recommend Re-Soul Acupuncture. Amy Jo Gengler has been my acupuncturist for the last year, and her treatments have made so much difference in my physical and mental health and well-being. Similarly, The Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research and the World Chiropractic Alliance report that chiropractic care reduces instances of flu and colds by 15%. If you live in Mt. Pleasant, consider getting regular adjustments from Dr. Brian Class of Life Essentials Health Center.

Improve digestive health. In addition to eating whole foods, reducing processed foods, and eating locally, making sure you take a high-strain probiotic to support your intestinal bacteria is important. It may surprise you to learn that getting plenty of good saturated fat, which has antiviral and antimicrobial properties, is also key to digestive health. Good saturated fat includes organic butter (preferably from grass-fed cows), organic extra virgin coconut oil, and animal fats from grass-fed organic meats or wild fish. Finally, raw or lightly cooked organic greens are wonderful for alkalinizing an acid stomach and cleaning out the digestive tract.

Supplement Vitamin D. Most people are unable to get sufficient levels of vitamin D from the sun. The recommended dosage is 1000–2000 IU daily, but some doctors recommends up to 5000 IU daily if you think you might be deficient. Cod liver oil is by far the best food source of vitamin D.

Avoid antibacterial soap. Using antibacterial soaps and hand rubs can actually make you more susceptible to germs, and they kill the good bacteria on your skin as well as the bad. (Hint: Antibacterial soaps can't kill viruses, only bacteria, so they are useless against the flu.)

Reduce sugar and dairy. Sugar can accurately be called "the enemy of your immune system," and the sugar in dairy can often make colds worse and increase mucus production. In addition, the casein in dairy is an irritant to the immune system.

Support your liver. Your liver filters toxins and viruses and aids in the digestion of fats, so the more you can eliminate food toxins like trans fats, preservatives and additives, as well as caffeine, alcohol, and over-the-counter medications, the better your liver will work for you. Eat foods that support and detox the liver, like cruciferous vegetables, onions, and garlic.

Get some exercise and fresh air. A walk or bike ride around the block is always a great place to start—gyms are unfortunately a great place to catch a virus—and also provides time together as a family. If it's not too cold, consider taking your shoes off; going barefoot releases the electrical charge our bodies accumulate over time, which has been linked to emotional and mental stress and even physical illness.

Get enough rest. When your body and mind aren't properly rested, your immune function dips, sometimes severely. This is the reason the days grow shorter in fall and winter—we need more rest for better immune function. Adults should aim to go to bed between 10 and 11 p.m. and get 8-9 hours of sleep. Elementary school age children should be in bed between 8 and 9 p.m.

If you do get sick: There are alternatives to over-the-counter or prescription medications. Assess each situation based on its seriousness, and try these healing methods which have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years.

Lemon water. Lemon has been called an "everyday superfood." It's full of vitamins and minerals, and is ideal for balancing acid and alkalinity in the digestive system. Drinking freshly squeezed lemon juice in water is the easiest and quickest way, but you can also squeeze a lemon over your salad or add it to hot tea for an additional throat soother.

Essential oils. These are a great alternative to antibacterial soaps, and they protect and fight against not only viruses but bacteria and fungus. Because each batch of essential oil is unique (the benefit to a natural remedy as opposed to a chemical one), viruses can't become immune to them, so they work time and time again. You can dilute them in butter or olive oil and rub into your skin, dilute in water and drink them, burn in an incense burner, or simply inhale out of the container. Oregano oil is great, or try the Immune Blend at your local health food store.

Garlic: Garlic is also strongly antibacterial and antiviral. The best way to eat garlic is to crush the clove and wait 5 minutes before eating or cooking. You can swallow raw if you have a strong stomach, but garlic does not lose its benefits through cooking.

Colloidal silver: Colloidal silver has been used as an effective antimicrobial (antiviral and antibiotic) for thousands of years. There are absolutely no harmful side effects. Sovereign Silver is a great brand.

Other homeopathic alternatives. From olive leaf extract to elderberry syrup to marjoram tea to neti pots, there are an abundance of natural herbal and homeopathic symptom remedies and immune strengtheners that can do wonders for your symptoms and help your body heal. (Regular over-the-counter and prescription meds only manage symptoms, and they stress your liver, which is already busy trying to filter out the virus.) The Prescription for Nutritional Healing and Prescription for Natural Cures are great sources of further information

What Is Prevention?

2011-09-17T23:16:00.009-04:00

In the spirit of a more specific focus for Eat2Prevent, I want to define preventive foods. All whole, organic foods prevent disease. All of them. Not just kale and blueberries, but grains and animal protein as well.

However, if the body is already in a highly diseased state, certain foods may need to be eliminated because the body just can't handle them. That is why you hear of heart disease being reversed by raw or vegan diets. Cancer, for instance, thrives on sugar, so cancer patients on a healing diet plan are often told to avoid all grains and fruits, not just processed sugar. Patients taking warfarin or other medications related to blood pressure are sometimes told to avoid leafy greens, which can interfere with the medication's effects—in my opinion a very sad consequence of relying on prescription drugs.

It's amazing that the body can be healed by simply eliminating certain foods. However, this does not mean that meat, grains, or fruit are bad. Meat especially has a bad reputation right now as a "bad" food, primarily because it contains saturated fat. In another post, I'll go into what a beneficial food saturated fat is, but for now suffice it to say that it is the high concentrations of harmful substances found in mass produced, non-organic meat that make it harmful, not the meat itself or the fat it contains. Saturated fat is highly essential to absorbing certain vitamins and can itself be a source of vitamin D, making it a disease-preventing food.

It also means that avoiding beneficial foods can cause the body to become diseased. Since all whole foods are preventive, the lack of them removes much of the beneficial protection they offer against many common, chronic, and deadly diseases. It's not simply a matter of cosmetic weight loss; changing your diet directly impacts your likelihood of getting sick.

Each blog from now on will be dedicated to a particular food, its disease prevention properties, and how you can realistically get it into your diet! Remember, if you want to be healthier, don't try to eliminate "bad" foods before you add in the good. It will be much easier, and it will be a choice you want to make rather than one you feel forced to make.

Eat2Prevent: A New Focus

2011-09-16T11:08:00.004-04:00

Since I now have a blog at my new website, http://greenapplefoodtherapy.com, I'm changing the focus of Eat2Prevent to more closely reflect its name: preventive nutrition. I'm going to focus solely on what foods prevent disease and why. I'll still provide recipes to help you get these beneficial foods into your everyday diet.

For more recipes plus my thoughts on why we eat the way we do and how to change it, visit Green Apple Food Therapy or follow me on Facebook.

How to Budget In Organic Food

2011-06-30T16:56:00.000-04:00

I spend a large percentage of my income on food. This is partially due to the fact that I love food, and it’s one of my great pleasures, whether eating out, cooking, or just snacking. It’s also due to the fact that I shop almost exclusively at Whole Foods and Earth Fare because they have the largest selection of organic items, and because I consider it an investment in my future. In my opinion (and I think in a lot of people’s experience) it’s worth it to pay more to avoid pesticides now and diseases later.

The Institute for Integrative Nutrition calls this “the high cost of cheap food.” However, when you’re on a very limited budget, this argument is much less immediate, and sometimes completely irrelevant. When I run into the claim that it’s cheaper for to buy fast food, packaged food, and non-organic food, I’m frustrated by the question of how to make healthy, unprocessed, organic food available to lower income households and individuals.

That’s why I was intrigued when a friend sent me an article called “Eating Healthy and Organic on $7 a Day.” The gist of this article is that 73% of Americans buy organic at least some of the time, including households with an income of less than $50,000. And if you eat less animal protein, you can save a lot of money and spend more on organic veggies. The article suggests eating meat twice a week, and fish and dairy once a week each. Fruit is also a luxury, being much more expensive than “peasant” vegetables like carrots, cabbage, and broccoli, with the exception of apples and bananas.

The article suggests that your meals should be divided like so:

1/4 protein
1/3 vegetables
1/4–1/3 starchy carbs

(Obviously there are some fractions missing. You are supposed to fill in the rest of your plate with whatever you like best, along with healthy fat.)

How do you like my pie chart?

Now, because I’m a staunch omnivore, I’m more inclined to split my meal into thirds: 1/3 protein, 1/3 vegetables, and 1/3 carbs. You can make your own fractions if you’re less inclined toward animal products or are just getting started with vegetables.

All this talk of food fractions engendered the following thought in my brain: If my meal is going to be divided by fractions, then my budget should reflect those fractions.

So, if my food budget is $99 per week, then I have $33 to spend on protein, vegetables, and carbs, respectively. To keep it simple, bunch veggies and fruits together (so if you love fruit, you can have more of it), lump dairy in with protein, and include condiments and other packaged foods in the carb section.

If your food budget is considerably less than mine, you can choose one item to buy organic in each category each week. Rotate your meat and dairy, and even if you don’t eat a lot of them, prioritize those products in your budget as non-organic versions are full of nasty stuff. In terms of vegetables and fruits go organic for the Dirty Dozen:

celery
peaches
strawberries
apples
blueberries
nectarines
sweet bell peppers
dark leafy greens like kale, spinach, and collards
cherries
potatoes
grapes
lettuce

This produce has a much higher pesticide load than the “Clean Fifteen,” which you can buy non-organic with less worries:

onions
avocados
sweet corn
pineapples
mango
sweet peas
asparagus
kiwi fruit
cabbage
eggplant
cantaloupe
watermelon
grapefruit
sweet potatoes
sweet onions

Also buy organic zucchini, crookneck squash, and Hawaiian papaya, which may be genetically modified.

As for carbs, here’s a good rule of thumb: even if you don’t buy organic, avoid genetically-modified foods. You can do this by staying away from anything containing corn, soy, cottonseed, canola oil, sugar from sugar beets, and alfalf, as this product probably contains a GMO crop. GM foods have been linked to reproductive issues, sterility, and toxic load, as well as being bad for the environment. You can download a non-GMO shopping guide here.

Not a food shopper? Contact me to receive my Meal Planning Tips & Tricks free!

Hugh Laurie, Common Sense, and the Lesser of Two Evils: My Manifesto*

2011-06-28T21:05:00.002-04:00

I have realized lately that I kind of view my body as a science experiment. By that I mean I like to test out the effect various substances have on it. In that I am much like Hugh Laurie's character Gregory House, who does things like taking unapproved drugs for muscle regrowth and then has to cut tumors out of his own leg. However, I only consider risk-free beneficial substances for my experimentation. For example, I don't test what effect antidepressants have on me because I am A) not depressed and B) aware of the numerous detrimental side effects of antidepressants, and I have no desire to experience them.

But I like to see how long I can stay out in the sun and not burn. Like I said, last year it was a lot. This year, not so much. My first two conclusions were that either the sun was hotter (which maybe means it is getting closer) or that I didn't build up enough of a base tan early in the year because A) it was cold and B) I have been planning my wedding and I'm busier than a New Yorker. However, further research led me to conclude (in a recent post) that I was deficient in vitamin B. So I started taking it. And while I have gotten a little red on occasion, I have not peeled at all.

Now, the not peeling could be due to the fact that I've also been putting on lots of aloe cream (making sure it has no unnecessary chemicals in it—I like Burt's Bees After Sun Soother and Alba Botanica's Kona Coffee After-Sun Lotion, which I tried because Whole Foods was out of Burt's Bees for an entire weekend! Not cool). So you see, my scientific experimentation on my body is not very scientific. But it is a lot of fun. And as far as I know vitamin B and aloe can't hurt you, and if they do it's the reversible kind of discomfort rather than some horrible debilitating disease that shuts down your organs. And as for the sun being harmful, read my post "An Apple a Day Keeps the…Sunburn Away?"

My dad also recently challenged me on statistics to back up my support of the claim that America is the sickest richest nation. While I've found many statistics and trends that support this claim, at least in my mind, I've also realized that my view of health has a whole lot of belief involved in it—to an almost religious degree. Now, I don't replace spiritual practice with alternative health care. In fact, I think a relationship with God is absolutely essential to my health, physical and otherwise. But I do have an affiliation to just believe alternative health claims. This may sound naïve, and I'm sure it is to a certain extent, but hear me out. I have two very logical reasons for this:

Common Sense. I may be lacking common sense in some areas (like how to put together furniture from Ikea or which way is East and which is West), but it makes sense that things that have been around for thousands of years (like the sun and plants and, yes, animal meat) are good for us. Unreservedly good? No, of course not. But a whole lot better than genetically modified, preserved, or artificial substitutes. Same with drugs. Why would you take a prescription chemical when you can try herbs or acupuncture or exercise? Well, because your doctor told you it was the only option. Well, it's not.
Lesser of Two Evils. The instances of people being actually permanently harmed or killed by alternative medicine practices or by eating whole foods are quite rare. Yes, people do stupid things without following the directions, and yes, there are quacks out there. But the instances of people being harmed by modern medical practice are not only scientific fact, they are rampant. If there is controversy over whether some newfangled drug or procedure or diet is good for you, then I don't want to be on the wrong side of that. I am not a guinea pig for Big Pharma or the government or health insurance companies that won't pay for alternative, less invasive, preventive procedures. I am a guinea pig for myself.

Generally, if someone is making a lot of money off something new, I don't trust it. I realize that this makes me susceptible to a medical form of Ludditism. However, I also apply it to fads in the alternative health industry. I do not put much stock in superfoods. I don't try to figure out a way to eat mila. I was very suspicious of coconut oil for a long time simply because it was popular. (However, it does seem to be very, very good for you.) And I felt so justified when agave nectar turned out to be not so very good for you.

Now, when you combine Common Sense with Lesser of Two Evils, you can really get somewhere. For example, the corn industry claims that high fructose corn syrup is safe because it's been FDA approved for 40 years. Well, what has happened in the past 40 years? Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke are on the rise; we have rates of obesity we never dreamed of, and we now have a whole category of diabetes to include children. Is that a good track record? Um, no.

I'm not saying that HFCS is totally or even primarily responsible for obesity, or that any new technology or development is solely responsible for our poor health as a nation. But these are all part of a system that has been introduced into our society in the last century, and the results are not good. This system includes GM foods, mass production of meat and dairy using hormones, chemicals and preservatives added to our foods, fast food, soda, the development of food substitutes, and prescription drugs. These things, at first glance, appear to improve our quality of life—and they do, for a short time, on the surface. Then the consequences begin, and sometimes they are devastating. And rarely is the responsibility placed where it belongs. It is the result of a quick fix, instant gratification mindset that is the seedy underbelly of capitalism and affluence—neither of which are bad in and of themselves.

But when the government starts blaming the sun for skin cancer, I get really mad. And when there are walks and fundraisers to find a cure for cancer, I want to scream, "The cure is prevention!" And when I hear of someone else in their thirties or forties who is taking blood pressure medication, which is a main ingredient in rat poison and which prevents you from eating leafy greens, I want to march on Washington. None of which helps. And none of which is to judge or criticize people who get sick or want to support a cause. No one gets sick because they deserve it. We do get sick because we are being told so many lies, even by the government that is supposed to protect us, and because billions of dollars are being spent yearly psychologically convince us that we need foods and drugs and lifestyles that do nothing but harm us.

And so, once again, we must take personal responsibility. When it comes to health and nutrition, question what you are told. Do some research. Get a second opinion. Try a little common sense.

But remember—disclaimer—do nothing without consulting your doctor first.

*I'd like to dedicate the title of this blog to my bestest friend and fabulous fashion blogger Emily Crews, who inspires me with her creative blog titles. (You should check out her blog Sartoriography.)

Why Are We So Sick and Tired?

2011-06-25T16:54:00.000-04:00

Human beings are rational creatures. We have a strong survival instinct that, along with our reasoning and communication capabilities, has established us as the dominant species. So why is America, with its vast pool of resources an opportunities, the sickest richest nation on the planet?

Are we so far removed from our evolutionary roots that we no longer have the urge to survive?

I believe that our survival rationale as human beings is stronger than ever—and that it is being attacked with more fervor than ever before, but also more secretly and silently. There is a reason we so resist following dietary rules and developing “lifestyles.” There is a reason we self-sabotage our relationships while rising to the top of the career chain. There is a reason antidepressants are the number one prescribed drug for adults ages 20 to 59.

There is a reason over one million Americans die each year of heart disease and cancer combined—so-called silent killers whose signs we continuously ignore. There is a reason we are dying of chronic preventable disease. There is a reason 8 million Americans have an eating disorder, which has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

We are not unaware of the reasons. We fight against them every day in a battle for survival. Given a lack of viable options, we will choose the lesser of two or three or a hundred evils to get us through the day, the week, the illness, the divorce. And we don’t even realize it. We say, “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I…? I have no self-discipline. I have no willpower. I must be crazy.”

We have forgotten how to listen to ourselves. And yet our bodies and minds keep making decisions for us, day after day, keeping us alive.

Food therapy, my interpretation of the health coaching training I received at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, addresses this disconnect. It addresses the reasons in our lives that we are not in communication with our bodies, even though they are shouting at us. It addresses the reasons we do things we know are bad for us, or don’t do things we know are good for us. It’s not because we’re ignorant, weak, or pathetic. It’s because we’re constantly given conflicting information. It because we’re told we not only can do it alone, but we’re supposed to do it alone. It’s because we do not know how to listen, and we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be listened to.

Sound vague. It’s not. It’s concrete, simple, and very, very individual. But not independent. Want to know more?

Not All Vitamins Are Created Equal

2011-06-23T16:53:00.002-04:00

Why Some Doctors Tell You Not to Take Your Vitamins

Back in my not-so-healthy days, I remember pausing in the grocery store vitamin aisle to grab a bottle of Centrum multivitamins. My thought process at the time was, I’m not doing anything else good for myself, so I probably ought to be taking a multivitamin. Surely this is better than nothing. And I swallowed every one of those hard, Day-Glo orange pills.

Years later, I heard about doctors finding whole, entire vitamin pills that were months old inside of a person’s intestines during surgery. I don’t know if this is just urban legend (I wasn’t able to find corroborating evidence on the internet), but one thing is fact: most of the “synthetic isolates,” which are the common drug store variety of vitamin, are a waste of money.

I was put in mind of the vitamin issue today in an e-mail from Dr. Mercola. If you haven’t heard of him, he’s a licensed physician and surgeon I consider to be an authority on alternative health and medicine. While his blog titles often sound sensational, they are always backed up by hard facts and science. His is one of my favorite blogs.

I’d like to share a few of his reasons for shunning cheap isolates and instead making sure you’re getting an absorbable, whole food vitamin. Dr. Mercola defines isolated vitamins as “partial vitamins combined with other chemicals. They’re a low-end alternative to whole, real complete food.”

He says there are four problems with synthetic vitamins…

Nature intended for you to consume food in WHOLE form because all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes are together in one package. They work synergistically to give your body the nutrition it requires for optimal health.
Your body only absorbs a small percentage of an isolate form of vitamins and minerals—and it utilizes even less. You get the best bioavailability in whole food form.
Synthetic vitamins often give you massive quantities of some nutrients (usually the most inexpensive ones) and insufficient quantities of others, not balance.
You can experience side effects of synthetic isolates from the additives and the unnatural state of the synthetic supplement.

But should we avoid all vitamins all the time? It’s difficult to get enough nutrients from the food we eat, mainly because we don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables and when we do they have often traveled long distances and lost a good portion of their nutrition—not to mention soil depletion of minerals from over farming and pesticide use. So here are some viable Day-Glo vitamin alternatives:

Juice Plus. A 100% whole food vitamin made only from organic fruits and veggies and with all sugar and salt removed. I have tried this vitamin myself and love it! If you can afford the $40/month subscription, it is truly worth it.
MegaFood One Daily. I currently take these vitamins, which I get at Whole Foods, and they are excellent. They have a multivitamin + probiotic that works well and cuts back on having to buy and take two pills.
Natural News recommends Garden of Life multi. I haven’t tried these but I’ve heard about them and they seem to be high quality.
Dr. Mercola also has his own Whole Food Multivitamin. Prices vary on his website.

Essentially, most “whole food” vitamins are your best bet for maximum nutrition. You don’t have to pay through the roof, but you also don’t want to get the bottom shelf brand; most of the time you are getting what you pay for.

And don’t forget to eat your dark leafy greens, which are the most nutrient-dense vegetable! Here’s another of my favorite greens recipes:

Multicolored Vegetable Saute

1 small shallot, diced
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chicken broth (optional)
2-3 organic carrots, diced diagonally
1 cup summer squash, sliced
2 cups lacinto kale (approx half a bunch)
2 cups red kale (approx half a bunch)
1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence
2 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp salt

Saute shallot in olive oil on medium heat for two minutes. Add carrots and saute for three minutes, covered, then add summer squash and saute another three minutes. Add more olive oil, chicken broth, or water to help the veggies cook and keep them from sticking to the pan. Finally, add kale and stir frequently for another 2-3 minutes until lightly cooked. Sprinkle with Herbes de Provence, coriander, and salt. Serves 4.

An "Apple" a Day Keeps the...Sunburn Away?

2011-04-28T16:15:00.001-04:00

Last summer I got one sunburn. It was in Key West, where the sun is apparently much hotter than in Charleston, SC. Ironically it was at the end of the summer, after I already had a great base tan. My boyfriend and I went out to the beach a little too long that day, and I got a little cooked.

This was, of course, because I wasn't wearing any sunscreen. You might think that's a pretty stupid thing to do, but I had a good reason behind it: I hadn't worn any sunscreen all summer, except for a little coconut oil from time to time, which has about SPF 4 in it, and is also a tanning aid.

The sun is the new saturated fat, and while I'm fully in support of getting screened for skin cancer, it's not because of how much sun you get. It's because of what you're eating, and in many cases because of the sunscreen itself that you're using. Therefore, I'm going to tell you how to avoid sunburn, sunscreen, and skin cancer in three simple steps:

Step 1

Sunburn is related to three things:

B vitamins
antioxidants
omega-3 fatty acids

Making sure you are getting enough of these nutrients will drastically reduce your need to wear sunscreen, and possibly eliminate it altogether. Of course, you'll have to build up these nutrients in your body, and don't test this out on an all-day trip to the beach; spend short amounts of time in the sun and build up, especially if you are light-skinned.

Natural Health online did an article about this called "Eat Your Sunscreen" that offers some great dietary specifics for natural sunscreen: colorful fruits like tomatoes, strawberries, and watermelon; cold-water fish like salmon, or a fish-oil supplement; dark chocolate (raw cacao is best); polyphenols in green and black tea (coffee also contains these antioxidants); and my fave, green leafy veggies!

I'd also like to add that B vitamins are found in red meat, fish, eggs, poultry, milk, and cheese. These foods should NOT be avoided, unless you have chosen to be a vegetarian or vegan and are closely monitoring your nutrition intake. However, they should be consumed from quality sources and in moderation. (A serving size of meat or fish is 3–4 ounces, not 6. But that's another post.)

Step 2

Now try this on for size: many researchers and doctors are arguing (pretty convincingly) that sun exposure is not the major cause of melanoma. In fact, many common sites of skin cancer are found on under-exposed areas of the body, such as the soles of the feet or even between the toes.

Sun exposure actually reduces your risk of skin cancer and other cancers, as well as heart disease and inflammation. Vitamin D is a big deal, folks! And so is consuming enough saturated fat to absorb the vitamin D and other fat-soluble vitamins: A, E, and K. (In case you couldn't tell, I'm obsessed with saturated fat! And green leafy veggies!)

So getting out into the sun is a good idea. However, if your diet isn't the greatest or you're on antibiotics or other prescription medications, which can increase the risk of sunburn, be smart about it. Having a beach umbrella to retreat to or at least a hat is a good idea.

: These people all have the right idea.

Step 3

Get rid of that sunscreen! Most commercial sunscreens and sunblocks are chock full of toxic chemicals, including known carcinogens! They also block vitamin D absorption.

Of course, you may be vain like me and want to protect your face from the sun in order to avoid wrinkles, or you may genuinely need some extra protection to avoid sunburn. The Environmental Working Group offers a list of recommended sunscreens that are your best bet for true skin and body protection. If you're a purist, Dr. Mercola recommends his own sunscreen blend that completely avoids questionable chemicals.

Also keep in mind that other stuff you put on your skin can leech chemicals that can cause unpleasant reactions like cancer. This goes for shampoo and conditioner, face and body lotion, and makeup and makeup removers. You can rate the products you use at SkinDeep and find recommended replacements if necessary.

Finally, if you're a video person, this is a charmingly awkward but very informative video, "The Truth about Cancer, Sunlight, and Vitamin D."

Go Green!

2011-02-18T18:28:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited to announce the launching of my new website, GreenAppleFoodTherapy.com!

Why "green apple"? Well, first of all, there's the concept of "an apple a day." If you can make small decisions on a daily basis that support your health over time, you're much less likely to develop a chronic illness. Food therapy

As for the "green," I'm referring to the number one missing food in the American diet: those in the green leafy vegetable category. When some people hear “green leafy vegetables,” they often think of iceberg lettuce, but the ordinary, pale lettuce in restaurant salads doesn’t have the power-packed goodness of other greens.

Numerous studies suggest that Americans aren't eating their vegetables—for two reasons:

It's too time consuming to buy and prepare fresh vegetables.
They just don't taste good!

Let me offer a different perspective: Learning to cook and eat greens is essential to creating health. And in the scheme of things, it's far easier and quicker to pick up a bunch of kale on your way through the grocery store than to run for an hour every day, go to the doctor twice a month, or wait in line for your prescription to be filled—as well as numerous other time-consuming strategies people employ in the never-ending quest to lose weight and be "healthy."

Reasons to Eat Your Greens

Greens contain more bioavailable calcium than milk. They also are very high in magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc, and vitamins A, C, E, and K. They are crammed with fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll, and many other micronutrients and phyto-chemicals.

Some of the "side effects" from eating dark leafy greens are blood purification, cancer prevention, improved circulation, strengthened immune system, promotion of healthy intestinal flora, promotion of subtle, light, and flexible energy, lifted spirit and elimination of depression, improved liver, gall bladder and kidney function, and cleared congestion, especially in lungs, by reducing mucus.

Could you use any of these benefits during cold and flu season? Dark, leafy greens are in season now!

Still Not Convinced?

When you nourish yourself with greens, you will naturally crowd out the foods that make you sick—and fat. Because they are nutrient-dense, greens satisfy your body and reduce cravings for unhealthier foods. They also clean out your body, enabling it to burn fat more effectively.

Take Your Pick

There are so many greens to choose from: broccoli, bok choy, napa cabbage, kale, collards, watercress, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, dandelion, arugula, endive, chicory, lettuce, mesclun, and wild greens are can be consumed in any creative way you enjoy. Spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens are best eaten in moderation and cooked with olive or coconut oil or butter to balance their higher quantities of oxalic acid, which depletes calcium. Try them all; if you don't like one, move on to the next.

Try this tasty recipe and rethink your perspective toward greens!

Spicy Greens

1 bunch kale or other dark leafy greens, chopped
1 bunch broccolini or broccoli florets, chopped
1 red onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1 lemon
cayenne pepper to taste
salt to taste

In a large fry pan, sauté garlic in olive oil 2 minutes over medium heat. Add bell pepper and sauté another 2 minutes. Turn up heat to medium high and add broccolini, kale, lemon juice, cayenne, and salt. Stir and cook for 3-5 minutes until kale is bright green but not wilted.

Variations: instead of red onion, use red bell pepper or sun-dried tomatoes.

New Vegetarian Recipes!

2011-01-22T15:15:00.005-05:00

After much avoidance over the holidays, I am back to blogging! This is gonna be just a few recipes I've been enjoying during doing the Daniel Fast with my church. The idea is to eat only fruits and vegetables, specifically avoiding alcohol, sugar, meat, dairy, and wheat, though you can choose to eat other grains. Thus I've been challenged to eat vegan/vegetarian with a few more limitations.

Fasting is an incredible way to maximize the body's ability to clean and heal itself, as well as removing mental and spiritual clutter and making room for literal "soul" food. In addition to better sleep, digestion, and a revitalized spiritual life, I've found both of these recipes incredibly satisfying.

Sweet Potato, Red Kale, and Quinoa

The sweet and savory flavors of this dish make it quite complex and very satisfying.

2 medium sweet potatoes
1 bunch red kale pieces
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 tsp coriander
1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil

Dice sweet potatoes into triangles and roast for 15-20 minutes with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, until soft. Heat olive oil on medium in a large skillet and add kale. Stir for about 2 minutes, add quinoa, sweet potatoes, and remaining seasonings and stir until everything is hot and mixed, about 4 minutes.

Easy Coconut Curry
I don't have a picture of this, but the fat in the coconut milk combined with some starchy vegetables provides nutrition that satisfies. Once again, the sweet-salty combination fulfills the desire we have for a variety of tastes so many modern meals are lacking. I've kept this curry simple, and the combination of umeboshi vinegar and soy sauce makes the curry milder yet brings out a variety of flavor.

1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves or tsps diced garlic
1 can coconut milk
1 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbsp curry powder
2 turnips or rutabagas, peels and chopped
1 cup cabbage (or napa cabbage), chopped
1 cup daikon radish, peeled and sliced
1 cup carrot, peeled and sliced
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 can green beans, drained
2 Tbsp umeboshi vinegar (ume plum vinegar)
2 Tbsp soy sauce (nama shoyu if you can get it)

Saute the onion in coconut oil on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes; add garlic and saute 1 minute. Add coconut milk and veggie broth, bring to a boil, add turnips or rutabagas and reduce heat to medium. Chop cabbage, daikon, and carrot and add along with the curry powder, stirring to mix it in. You may need to add a little more broth if the curry is too thick.

After vegetables have cooked about 5 minutes more, toss in chickpeas, green beans, and umeboshi vinegar. If you're using regular soy sauce, add this now; if you're using nama shoyu wait until you are ready to eat to include it to get the maximum benefit of it as a raw, fermented food. You shouldn't need to add any salt because the vinegar and the soy sauce will provide it.

Simmer curry for at least twenty minutes, longer for more flavor, and serve plain or over quinoa or rice.

For the Love of Saturated Fat

2010-12-10T11:44:00.002-05:00

I realized that I've never spelled out my thoughts on fats based on the research I've done. I'll admit I'm a subscriber to the Weston A. Price Foundation and Sally Fallon's perspective, and if you are a vegetarian there are still some great options for you.

Saturated Fat

When it comes to fat, mainstream science is focused on the kind, which is sort of important, instead of the quality, which is very important. Studies on saturated fat do not focus on the quality of meat consumed or its level of processing, nor do they take into account the amount of sugar and processed oils also consumed, both of which have been linked to high cholesterol and clogged arteries.

While everyone needs different levels of saturated fat, it is by far the most beneficial fat you can consume from high quality sources. Despite popular belief, saturated fat is not only heart-healthy, it is essential to good digestion, a strong immune system, strong bones, and even prevention of cancer. Studies showing that saturated fat is bad for us don't take into account the quality of the saturated fat or the amount of sugar or other kinds of fats consumed at the same time.

Saturated fat enables the absorption of vitamins A, E, D, and K, and minerals such as calcium. It is also absorbed directly into the bloodstream, reducing stress on the liver and other organs. The brain is primarily nourished by saturated fat, which also influences optimal nerve communication regarding hormones and metabolism. And saturated fat contains microbial agents that protect our digestive tract and therefore boost immune function.

While you might be concerned about the calorie content of saturated fat, both studies I've read and my own experience teaches that consumption of high quality fat actually aids in weight loss. This is largely because saturated fat enables the body to absorb more nutrients, which means it becomes satiated much sooner, which means cravings and usually portion sizes naturally reduce without much effort on the part of the eater.

Saturated fat is highly stable at high temperatures, meaning that will not go rancid with exposure to heat, light, and oxygen. Therefore it is ideal for cooking. Our ancestors cooked with butter and lard for thousands of years without the health issues we have today.

Saturated fat to increase: Organic chicken (whole or with skin and bone are the best options), organic grass-fed beef (again, on the bone is good), wild caught fish, extra virgin coconut oil (a great option for vegetarians!).

Saturated fat to reduce: Non-organic meat of all kinds, bacon, sausage, lunchmeat, pork and ham, and other highly processed meats or meats with nitrates/nitrites. Obviously if you can find these items organic and minimally processed, they don't have to be completely eliminated.

Vegetable Oil and Trans Fat

The fat that actually deserves saturated fat's reputation is vegetable oil. These polyunsaturated fats are not much better than trans fats, or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which have been conclusively linked to heart disease and cancer. They clog arteries, provide an overload of omega-6, confuse the body, and turn rancid with exposure to heat, air, and/or light—which often happens before we even purchase them—creating an abundance of free radicals.

Vegetable oils are cheaply produced in mass quantities, often from genetically modified corn and soybeans (GMO foods have been linked to reproductive issues and sterility in lab tests.)

Vegetable oil to increase: Extra virgin organic olive oil, a relatively stable monounsaturated fat that can be used to cook with at medium temperatures and is great for salad dressings. Be sure to store in a cool, dark place and use up quickly to prevent rancidity. Peanut oil is also stable at high temperatures, though it is high in omega-6, which we get plenty of from other sources. Small amounts of sesame oil, hemp oil, and flax oil can be used raw but should not be used to cook with, as they break down and turn rancid very easily.

Vegetable oil to reduce: Soybean, corn, canola, safflower, cottonseed, and generic vegetable oils; all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, including margarine and shortening (Crisco).

If you have a question about a particular fat I haven't mentioned here, send your inquiries my way!

The Primal Diet: An Interview

2010-12-08T23:15:00.006-05:00

Recently I caught up with an old friend of mine, who informed me that she has discovered the Primal Diet and is loving it. I have heard only a little about this new eating lifestyle, so I asked her to give me a little info for people who might be interested, and she very kindly agreed.

First of all, she says, "I hesitate too much to say, 'I'm Paleo' or 'I'm Primal.' There's a tendency for people to resemble religious fanatics when they define themselves by the way they eat. I don't want to adhere to the orthodoxy, I just want to be healthy. I really encourage people to do their own research, both in what a nutritious diet is and what goes into your food."

I couldn't agree more! Orthorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that has been identified in recent years with obsession over eating a certain way, whether that way is healthy or not. Many people develop this condition while trying to be healthy—in fact, almost every diet is an example of orthorexic behavior.

Below is an excerpt from our interview.

What made you consider the Primal Diet?

I started by reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. It really opened my eyes that what "everybody" knows about nutrition is based on some really bad science. The next book I read was Protein Power by Drs Mike and Mary Eades. It applied low-carb/no grain to weight loss. Following their sources, branching out from their blogs I found a lot more information.

Some blogs I follow:

Basically it finally boiled down to biochemistry and common sense. The common sense part is that humans have been eating veggies, meat, and fruit for millions of years; we've only had agriculture for 10,000. Clearly we are more suited to these natural—primal if you will—foods.

Besides, do you know what they feed cows to make them superfat? Grain. (Cows are supposed to eat grass, not grains.) If grain can make a vegetarian cow into a complete lardass, it'll do the same for omnivores like us.

I'll add that there is a very important point here: The natural food of cows is grass. I've discussed this in previous posts on my blog and on Skirt.com, but in short, grass makes beef high in omega-3 fats and vitamin D, both of which are sorely missing from our diet, while grain makes beef high in potentially harmful and highly prevalent omega-6 fatty acids.

What has following the Primal Diet guidelines done for you?

My joints don't ache. I have more energy. I have more libido. I think I'm more cheerful. I'm more driven. My skin cleared up. My weight dropped. No colds or flu since I started it. I don't really sunburn anymore. I'm sleeping better. I can skip a meal and not have a blood sugar plummet. I'm gaining muscle. The low level congestion I'd always had disappeared. My sense of taste has really improved.

What's the best part of eating this way?

Bacon, chicken skin, duck fat. Seriously, I suppose I should say the health benefits are the best part, but it's the food. Lifting weights is my second favorite part. I know that's not "diet," but strength training is an incredibly important part of good health.

What's the hardest part?

Cooking for myself is fine, eating out is never a problem. But when somebody makes "Grandma's special cookies" turning them away can seem like an insult. People have a lot of emotion tied up in food. That's why I really don't want to buy into food orthodoxy. People bond over food, they express love with food. I have a hard time turning away food that other people offer me.

I'll add that I think the point that "people bond over food" is so true. "Food orthodoxy," another term for orthorexia, deprives us of more than food we want to eat. It deprives us of interaction with others, and sometimes makes what we are putting into our bodies more important than our relationships. That's why primary food is so key to healthy eating.

Finally, if you're interested in a healthier way to eat grains, check out my blog on soaking them, and also The Nourished Kitchen is a great resource for recipes and tips.

If you've tried the Primal Diet, or something similar, I'd love to hear about your experience!

What Do Potatoes and Twinkies Have in Common?

2010-12-02T18:05:00.008-05:00

Well, the short answer is that you lose weight if you eat nothing but either of them.

In two (I must say) fascinating articles recently e-mailed to me by a friend, two separate men embark on journeys consisting almost solely of Twinkies (and other "convenience store" junk food) and potatoes, respectively. Both men lost weight, as well as experiencing lowered BMI, cholesterol, and even blood sugar, in the case of the potatoes.

I find this both appalling and fascinating. Evidently, losing weight makes a big difference in your health. However, I disagree with this statement by Dawn Jackson Blatner, a dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association:

"When you lose weight, regardless of how you're doing it -- even if it's with packaged foods, generally you will see these markers improve when weight loss has improved."

I would challenge the Twinkie professor to follow this diet for longer than 10 weeks. Say, a lifetime. After all, Morgan Spurlock's dangerous health numbers made an unexpected improvement toward the end of his 30 days eating only McDonald's on an increased calorie diet.

Also, one-third of the Twinkie professor's food was a multivitamin pill, a protein shake, canned green beans, and celery. Not the most nutrient dense food, but he was getting protein and a very few antioxidants. In addition, he was watching his calorie intake.

As for Chris Voigt, the head of the Washington State Potato Commission, he ate only potatoes and seasonings for two months to protest the USDA banning potatoes from the approved WIC foods.

I looked up the list, which you can find at the link above. No organic foods are allowed. This is understandable considering the improved cost of organic food, but it still sucks. Whole milk is not listed as an approved food (though it isn't listed as Do Not Buy), and soy milk is approved. The fat in whole milk is best for nursing mothers and young children, which is why it was traditionally reserved only for them. And I've already addressed issues with soy milk.

Finally, whole wheat bread was listed as approved, but since most of it includes high fructose corn syrup, that doesn't really seem like an improvement.

That said, the WIC approved list does do a pretty good job of limiting packaged foods or additives. However, while white potatoes are definitely not the most nutritious choice, they are far from harmful in the way that packaged, processed foods are.

"There are things we can't measure," said Blatner, questioning how the lack of fruits and vegetables could affect long-term health. "How much does that affect the risk for cancer? We can't measure how diet changes affect our health."

Well, actually, we can. In the past sixty years, the health of Americans has declined drastically, and instances of chronic disease (heart disease, diabetes), cancer, heck, virtually everything have risen just as drastically. We may have wiped out smallpox and polio, but we are seeing a brand new range of debilitating health issues: ADHD, autism, chronic fatigue syndrome, and Crohn's disease.

I think most poignant for me is the claim of "CornSugar.com" that "high fructose corn syrup—corn sugar—has been used in the food supply for more than forty years..."
I can only assume that this is supposed to be an argument for the safety of HFCS. However, in the last forty years we have seen U.S. cancer deaths rise from 330,972 in 1970 to 554,740 in 1996 to a projected "leading cause of death" in 2010 at over 7 million worldwide.

"Despite dramatic medical advances over the past 50 years, heart disease remains a leading cause of death globally and the Number 1 cause of death in the United States," reports a 2008 article.

Once called "adult onset" diabetes, type-2 diabetes is now affecting children as young as four. This is entirely caused by lifestyle and diet, and is entirely reversible. "The odds of developing diabetes increased by 40% from the 1970s to 1980s and then doubled between the 1970s and 1990s."

Is this all the fault of high fructose corn syrup? Of course not. But it's not a great track record for foods introduced in the last forty years. And it's not a great argument for eating potatoes and/or Twinkies to lose weight. I find it amazing the lengths to which people will go to prove a pointless point, when indicators that dietary changes will majorly and positively impact disease in America are staring us all in the face. Just goes to show what can happen when money is involved.

Beef Stew over Mashed Sweet Taters

2010-11-30T23:32:00.005-05:00

So once again I had to get creative with a kitchen disaster, and the result was phenomenal! I bought a couple of grass-fed beef roasts only to find them tough and gristley. I had been planning to serve them with mashed sweet potatoes, so I rummaged around in the refrigerator and decided a beef stew would work just as well, and topped the potatoes with it.

Emily's Beef Stew
1/2 shallot, minced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp arrowroot flour (a gluten-free thickener)
1 lb stew beef, preferably grass fed with some fat or bone
1 24-oz can fire-roasted plum tomatoes
1/2 bottle of red wine
4 bay leaves
dash half-and-half
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 turnip, peeled and chopped
half a bag of baby carrots
1 carton organic chicken broth
1/2 package mushrooms, sliced
1 head of broccoli, chopped
salt and pepper

Saute shallot and garlic in butter in a large pot on med-low heat for 5 minutes. Add arrowroot flour and stir briefly to make a roux. Add beef and brown on medium-high heat, about 3 minutes, salting and peppering liberally. Add tomatoes, wine, and bay leaves; if you are using fat or bone add at this time. Add half-and-half, just one swirl around the pot, mix, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and drop in parsnip, turnip, and carrots. Simmer for about an hour (or longer, the longer the better), then add chicken broth, broccoli, and mushrooms and cook for another 15 minutes. Remove fat and bone if used, remove bay leaves, and serve over mashed potatoes.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
I like to mix in one or two white or red potatoes as well. Leave the skins on—it's good fiber, and I don't trust mashed potatoes that don't have lumps!

4-5 sweet potatoes
1-2 white potatoes
dash half-and-half
2 Tbsps butter
1/2 shallot, minced and sauteed

Wash and cut the potatoes in half. Boil them in enough water to cover them for 15-20 minutes or until easily pierced by a fork. Mash in a large bowl and add enough half-and-half to thicken without being soupy. Add butter and shallots (use some leftovers set aside from preparing the beef stew) and mix thoroughly. Salt and pepper to taste (or add a little beef stew juice) and serve under Emily's Beef Stew, or as a side dish for any meal.

Mashed Butternut Squash "Potatoes"
I also made some of these inspired by a recipe from Rosebank Farms. Unbelievably delicious, and possibly the easiest way to prepare butternut squash.

1-2 butternut squash, peeled
dash half-and-half
4 Tbsps butter
salt and pepper
1/2 shallot, sauteed

Cut the butternut squash in half and remove seeds with a spoon. Place cut side up in a glass baking dish with half an inch of water in the bottom. Reserve 2 Tbsps butter and divide the other 2 Tbsps between the squash, placing a pat inside the cup of each and along the stem. Roast in the oven on 350 for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and drain any excess water (you may need to add water partway through the baking process). Mash squash in a large bowl with shallot, half-and-half, and remaining 2 Tbsps butter. Salt and pepper to taste.

When It Comes to Health, Community Is Key

2010-11-22T21:59:00.005-05:00

So many times in my food therapy practice I hear about how someone is struggling to do something they know is good for them but just can't convince themselves to do. Losing weight, exercising, quitting smoking, making dietary changes, setting aside personal time, etc. For instance, I know I need to start doing yoga in order to get some exercise and improve my flexibility. But I haven't done it.

This kind of thing is so common, and I think it is because we are all isolated in our own lives. We don't have real "community" anymore―at least, a lot of us don't. We're not surrounded by our families and extended families, so we're raising our children alone. Once we get out of high school or college, we don't have a "posse" anymore―people who's time is spent doing the same things we're doing. We may have a community at work, but even there work is usually the only thing that coworkers have in common, and conversations revolve around the workplace.

In contrast, think about how we used to live, in a "tribal" system where everyone cooked and ate together, traveled from place to place together, endured hardship and danger together. As much as we might crave our own space or time for ourselves, it's hard to find that time and space when we are doing everything for ourselves. Very few people enjoy cooking just for themselves, but there's something fun about preparing a meal for someone you love, or making a dish to share at a friend's potluck. Most people enjoy exercising with a friend, or at least find the motivation in someone with a common goal.

Because we are made for community. For sharing. That's why relationships are so important.

So how to find a community? I'm not sure there is a good answer.

I met my current group of friends and my boyfriend playing kickball in a community league. We have a blast gettin together for potlucks and cookouts and beach outings, but slowly the group is dwindling as people move away or move on to the next phase of life. We've also recently been blessed with some new neighbors who are great at getting everybody together and have introduced me to some cool new people.

Attending a place of worship is probably the closest thing to community that we have right now. At Seacoast I've found that getting to be a part of a life group is essential to getting to know people at the church. So is volunteering. But even bolstering yourself to begin doing these things can be intimidating, and ultimately people have their own lives and families and agendas and priorities, and rightly so. It's healthy and normal to prioritize the immediate family; it's just that in this day and age the immediate family is a lot smaller.

I guess that's one of the main reasons to start a family of your own. And I like to think that when I do, it will become a big family, full of all my kids' friends and their parents, the neighbors, my own family members, and my friends. We'll get together and play neighborhood sports and grill out and support each other and be honest with each other.

Sounds a little bit like utopia. But impossible? I hope not.

Sausage & Bean Stew

2010-11-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

This is a most delicious dinner inspired by a recipe by Real Simple. The peppers and eggplant are entirely optional but add delicious flavor and hearty texture to this awesome winter stew. It's quick and easy, too; it's ready in 30 minutes, or you can make ahead of time and simmer longer for added flavor.

2 Tbsp coconut oil
4 organic chicken sausages, sliced
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 medium eggplant, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 quart low sodium chicken broth
1 28-oz can spicy diced tomatoes
1 can cannelloni beans

1. Saute sausages in coconut oil for about 3-4 minutes.
2. Add peppers and eggplant, and saute for another 3-4 minutes.
3. Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add broth, tomatoes, and beans, and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes to 4 hours.
5. Turn off heat and mix in kale 5 minutes before serving.

Breakfast Blog: Egg Sandwich

2010-11-13T12:09:00.005-05:00

First of all, I have to say I am SO excited that Queen Street Grocery down the street from my house is carrying raw goat's milk from Burden Creek Dairy. I bought a bottle yesterday (only $4.99) and tasted it: no weird goaty flavor, lots of fresh milk flavor. I usually only drink a little milk in my coffee, and I don't think I'll start drinking it regularly now, but I am SO happy to feel good about this option.

A friend did point out that humans are not supposed to drink animal milk. While this is technically true, there are a few exceptions: traditional cultures gave raw animal milk to children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers due to its high nutrient content and high amount of saturated fat, which is essential for brain development, among other things.

Also, we are a dairy-ridden society, so asking people to simply give up milk is not always easy, and the alternatives are not always an improvement (soy milk) or an easy substitute (coconut milk, baking, etc.). It is much better to have non-homogenized, non-pasteurized, predigested raw milk available.

This morning it was really cold in my house, so I wanted a hot breakfast. Having been without eggs for most of the week since I used them up in my quinoa brownies, I was really craving a fresh egg. I was also missing my sister, who is out of town, so I made a variation of her signature breakfast: the egg sandwich.

To make an egg sandwich, you will need:

2 pieces of Ezekiel bread
1 egg
tomato
2 pieces turkey bacon
mustard

I fried the egg, broiled the bacon, slathered the bread (Ezekiel) with mustard, and sliced up a fresh tomato from Rosebank Farms. I also had two pickled okra that my mom made to make it feel really gourmet. I have the most awesome mother! Served it up with some coffee laced with raw goat milk, and voila! A delicious, filling breakfast.

Pro: Local organic egg and additive-free turkey bacon provide some quality protein and fat, combined with quality carbohydrate and fiber from the sprouted bread.

Con: This is a fairly acidic, and therefore inflammatory, breakfast: meat, mustard, tomato, and coffee are all acid-producing, so if you are prone to acid reflux or upset stomach this is not a great choice.

Pro: A relatively quick breakfast, I had everything cooked, toasted, and slathered in about 10 minutes.

Con: This is a fairly dish-heavy meal: broiler pan for bacon, pan for egg, plate, mustard knife.

Primary Food*: Holidays and Health

2010-11-11T14:32:00.007-05:00

I have been seeing a lot of advertising lately with this message:

"Are you booked for the holidays? Are you so busy going to parties you don't even have time to shop for clothes to wear to them?"

The unspoken message here is "Don't you want to be booked? Wouldn't you feel happier and more successful if you were that popular person invited to all these parties?"

I think this is a very negative perspective, and I would suggest a different one.

Instead of being "booked" this holiday season, I am planning time with people I love and care about spending time with: my family, my boyfriend's family, and good friends, who may or may not be having parties. And following several weekends full of wonderful celebrations—a wedding, a girl's night in, dinner potlucks, and out of town travel—I'm refusing to make plans this weekend. I'm going to enjoy some free time.

There is nothing wrong with being social, enjoying parties, or meeting new people. But if you're actually stressed out by your party schedule, as retail stores seem to indicate it's OK to be, just remember that they're trying to sell you something. If you find yourself tempted to fill your holidays up with networking, social events, and shopping simply for the sake of seeing and being seen, consider where those messages are coming from. Often you'll find they're not even your ideas—they are placed there by carefully worded messages from people trying to sell you something by making you feel inadequate without it.

My love of Madmen aside, I don't think we need to perpetuate the glamorous lifestyle so prevalent in the media, which ultimately turns out to be self-destructive. It's fun to watch; it's empty and painful to live. And if you really need a glam fix, you can always Madmen yourself.

*Primary food is a concept licensed to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

The Stinky Cheese Man, and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

2010-11-10T16:21:00.008-05:00

*Warning: I get a little political in this article, and more than a little philosophical.*

I had to steal my blog title from the children's book of the same name, simply because it was too appropriate to this article in the New York Times, which a friend pointed out. I'll sum it up thus:

The US Dept of Agriculture (read: our government) created a "Dairy Management" organization to boost cheese sales. Their big client: Dominoes, which was encouraged to create a pizza with 40 percent more cheese to boost sales. It worked. People like cheese on their pizza.

Does it bother anyone else that there is an entire part of our government devoted to promoting dairy? I mean, really? And that they PAID FOR A $12 MILLION DOLLAR MARKETING CAMPAIGN for Dominoes? (Their annual budget is a whopping $140 million.)

This is where our taxpayer dollars are going.

If you think about it, the whole idea of marketing food is ridiculous. We have to eat. We'll die if we don't. Nobody has to convince us we need food. But when government subsidizes an entire food produce industry in return for that industry's financial backing, marketing becomes a little more understandable.

All that aside, I want to take issue with a couple of points:

Point 1: "One slice [of Dominoes cheesier pizza] contains as much as two-thirds of a day’s maximum recommended amount of saturated fat."
If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll know I don't think much of government recommendations for daily intake of anything. They are highly influenced by industry concerns, which are very different from health concerns. Saturated fat is an area of contention for the USDA and FDA. In their desperate attempt to appear concerned for the health of the American public, which is decidedly at odds with the food industry making any money, they have vilified saturated fat due to some dubious studies.

While processed cheese slathered on pizza is not a great source of saturated fat, the fat is not really the issue. Nor is the cheese. It's the processing. And the fact that $12 million is being spent to convince Americans to eat more fast-food pizza, which essentially has zero nutritional value.

Let's take a look at another side of this issue:

Point 2: "Urged on by government warnings about saturated fat, Americans have been moving toward low-fat milk for decades, leaving a surplus of whole milk and milk fat."

Cheese is now the number one source of saturated fat in this country. This is because we've all been conditioned to be afraid of fat in milk and beef.

Again, this is a fallacious fear, and not only that, but it is hurting us. Saturated fat in animal products allows for the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K, which cannot be absorbed without fat. Saturated fat greatly increases the absorbability of calcium, magnesium, and other essential minerals for healthy bones. Drinking skim milk is not the same in terms of nutrients as drinking whole.

Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health and a former member of the federal government’s nutrition advisory committee, says it better than I can:

“The U.S.D.A. should not be involved in these programs that are promoting foods that we are consuming too much of already. A small amount of good-flavored cheese can be compatible with a healthy diet, but consumption in the U.S. is enormous and way beyond what is optimally healthy.”

Point 3: “When eaten in moderation and with attention to portion size, cheese can fit into a low-fat, healthy diet,” the [Agriculture] department said.

Why yes, it can. However, a low-fat diet isn't necessarily healthy. It's often full of sugar and processed vegetable oils. Also, beef and dairy that isn't organic and grass fed isn't good for us whether it's lean or not. Finally, saturated fat isn't bad for us! Humans have been eating it for thousands of years. It's highly nutritious and contains vitamin D and antibiotic and antimicrobial properties (which support immune function) in healthy, grass-fed or wild-caught animals.

The Weston A. Price Foundation is a great resource for information about fats and other nutrients. Co-founder and president Sally Fallon's cookbook, Nourishing Traditions, is available online.

Point 4: "While warning about fat, U.S. pushes cheese sales."

This is the title of the article itself, and kudos to the NYT for calling the U.S. government to task. We are getting mixed messages from our government, which is trying to promote itself as a concerned parent while behaving like a money-hungry corporation. As I've said in recent posts about the egg recall, GMOs and Frankensalmon, and McDonald's, we have to take full responsibility for our own health. Asking the government to do it for us is not only irresponsible, it's dangerous.

Don't let the government dictate what you eat! Their concerns, as in the health care/pharmaceutical industry, are widely swayed by money, not your health.

Breakfast Blog: Pros and Cons

2010-11-09T12:36:00.001-05:00

Eggs with Mushrooms, Kale, and Red Pepper

Since so many people (including myself) have difficulty figuring out what to eat for breakfast, I've decided to blog what I eat for breakfast and give pros and cons.

This slightly blurry but delicious breakfast I had this morning involved the following:

coconut oil
minced onion
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
handful of chopped mushrooms
2 large kale branches
2 eggs

Pro: It took less than 10 minutes to make this breakfast.

Heat 1 Tbsp coconut oil in large saucepan on medium high heat.
Chop red pepper and toss into oil with 1 tsp minced onion and mushrooms.
Crack two eggs into a bowl. Stir pepper mix and move to one side of the pan. Pour in eggs.
Wash kale and strip from stems, tearing into bite-size pieces. Toss on top of eggs and peppers, close the lid, and cook for about 2 minutes.
Gently stir ingredients to make sure kale and eggs are cooked. Serve.

Con: It takes at least as long to eat this meal as it does to cook it, since due to the kale you have to chew thoroughly. This is good for your health but bad if you're late.

Pro: This is a healthy meal full of zinc, calcium, fiber, and antioxidants. If you need something a little more filling (this kept me plenty full until lunchtime), add a piece of Ezekiel bread toast with goat cheese.

Pro: This meal only used one pan, one plate, one bowl, and one cutting board.
Con: That's still four dishes to wash. (Did I mention my dishwasher is broken?)

Overall: If you plan to wash your dishes, you'll need at least 20 minutes for breakfast. If not, you can probably make it out the door in 15.

Time-savers: the night before, dice the pepper and wash and strip the kale and put into a tupperware. If you have whole mushrooms, chop them. Then you just have to toss everything, and no cutting board is needed.

What's Your Food Philosophy?

2010-11-08T17:01:00.006-05:00

In blogging about nutrition and food there is a temptation, I think, to make every post "marketable" in easily accessible formats like lists. This isn't to say lists are bad. One of my favorite bloggers, Danielle LaPorte of White Hot Truth, frequently posts lists of books or steps or things she's learned, and I love her stuff—she's authentic and inspiring.

But every now and then I really want to indulge my penchant for the philosophy of food and health. In pursuit of my goal to officially launch my food therapy business Jan 3, 2010, I've been examining some marketing angles to communicate how important this program is and to make it appealing, since nobody's ever heard of "food therapy" (because I made it up).

A good friend and marketing guru asked me today what my mission statement was. Normally when people ask me what I do, I say, "I counsel people to help them resolve their food and lifestyle issues."

Which is true. But kinda vague. So as I was thinking about "what is the problem I'm trying to solve?" it came to me that two kinds of people would most benefit from food therapy:

people who basically know how and want to be healthy but can't make themselves implement what they know into their lives

Darn it! I failed again!

people who want to be healthy but don't know what to do because there is so much conflicting information

Enough already! I'm overwhelmed and confused!

I think everyone on the quest for health has fallen into both of these categories at some point. When I started out at Integrative Nutrition, I fell into the second category. Since then I've been empowered to examine conflicting information and make decisions for myself. I still fall into the first category in some areas, and I think I always will, because implementation of good information is a lifelong process.

But recently, in my love of "facts," I've overlooked the beauty of this program, which is that everyone gets to develop their own philosophy—AND action plan. You get to decide what works for you and what doesn't, you become empowered to learn about what you're eating and how you're living and make an informed decision.

For me this means that I'm anti vegetable oil, pro saturated fat, pro soaking grains and relatively anti dairy, though I eat cheese and love half-and-half in my coffee. Other people might be more anti-wheat. Some may do better as vegetarians. There is an answer for everybody and until you discover it and own it, you'll be dissatisfied.

This goes for your life, too. Not everybody wants to be a food therapist, and not everybody should be. But it's my passion and purpose—what makes me most satisfied, happy, fulfilled, and whole. I also truly believe I wouldn't have discovered this career if it weren't for my relationship with God and an almost daily spiritual practice. I rely on Him every day to guide my decisions, my inspiration, and my attitude. If I had to do this on my own strength, I would have given up long before now.

So some people will decide to quit their jobs. Others will need to discover the purpose in them. Most everybody will need to delve more deeply into a spiritual practice, which as a nation we've lost touch with that side of ourselves and our deep need to rely on something bigger and more powerful than us. Some might find they are exercising too much, or relying too much on a romantic relationship to make them happy.

All this starts to become clear with food therapy. And as a result, more than just what we eat changes. Our whole lives change.

What's your food philosophy? What's your nutrition lifestyle?

Come find out.

Fall Recipes: Warming, Soothing, Healthy and Easy!

2010-11-05T13:30:00.008-04:00

Even though I always deviate from recipes, I usually need to start off with a recipe for inspiration—at least inspiration to go grocery shopping! Below are links to some basic fall recipes with a lot of flavor but not a lot of work. And they're good for you!

One Pot Chicken Recipes

From chicken soup to cumin chicken with black beans, these are great cold-weather dinners from RealSimple. (photo by Marla Robledo)

Beet-Carrot-Parsnip-Fennel Extravaganza

Don't be afraid of the "exotic" ingredients in this one; it's a great fall vegetable recipe with only simple prep.

Swiss Chard and Potato Frittata

A delicious Saturday morning treat—or a great dinner recipe. The Nourished Kitchen also delves into the nutritional value of ingredients. (photo by Nourished Kitchen)

Roasted Bru ssel Sprouts

This simple and surprisingly delicious preparation may make you rethink this veggie's reputation! (photo by Jacob's Kitchen)

Black Rice Porridge with Coconut

If you're tired of oatmeal, give this amazing breakfast dish a try! (photo by Coconut & Quinoa)

As always, these recipes are free of trans fats and high-fructose corn syrup.

What Do You Crave?

2010-11-02T22:19:00.007-04:00

Ever wonder why you crave pickles or coconut or a ham sandwich? Chocolate and ice cream cravings make sense to many of us because they taste so good. But that's not the only reason!

We all experience cravings, some more than others. If you start to pay attention and maybe even keep a food diary, you can sometimes recognize patterns. Cravings can be emotional, but a lot of times they are your body's way of demanding a certain nutrient. That's why it's important not to deny your cravings, but to figure out what they mean and how to meet them in a healthy way.

First, Try These Simple Steps

1. Drink water. A large percentage of all cravings can be satisfied by hydrating your body.

2. Use a tongue scraper. Clearing your palate of sensation will reduce cravings and prevent eating something to get rid of a "bad taste."

Craving dairy?

A craving for dairy, whether cheese, milk, ice cream, or something more specific, can mean that your body is in the market for fat. Healthy fat, contrary to popular belief, does not make you fat. In fact, it's essential to losing weight, as well as brain function and absorption of nutrients (which makes you feel satisfied and full sooner).

Try these healthy fats.

They key here is to avoid polyunsaturated, omega-6 rich vegetable oils (soy, corn, safflower, and canola) at all costs and go for saturated fats. If you don't use fat to cook with, now is a good time to start. Cooking with olive oil at medium temperatures and coconut oil at any temperature does adds taste and nutritional benefit to your food that makes the additional calories negligible. Try it, and you'll find that it's easier to lose weight and keep it off.

Animal fats are also incredibly beneficial, despite popular belief that saturated fat is bad for you. Actually, saturated fat is the most stable fat, meaning that it does not break down and become rancid at high temperatures, like polyunsaturated fats do. It also contains vitamin D and beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.

Do make sure that you are eating organic meat, and that it has been pasture raised and grass fed (cows) or caught wild (fish). Organic butter from grass-fed cows is also highly beneficial. If you eat dairy, be sure to eat full-fat products, in which the nutrients and minerals (including calcium) are more absorbable, and which satiate you more. Raw dairy contains many health benefits.

Finally, monounsaturated fats (olive oil, nuts, avocado) are also highly stable and beneficial, though nuts can be high in copper and are best soaked overnight before consuming.

Craving sugar?

Sugar is addictive, so it's easy to fall into a cycle of needing more and more of it. Using sugar-free products containing aspartame is not a solution; it's a gamble with your health, as calorie-free sugar substitutes have been linked to nervous system dysfunction, among other things. And while new-fad sweeteners like agave nectar claim to be healthy, their processing makes these supposed benefits are highly controversial.

Try sweet vegetables, fruits, and natural sugars.

To satisfy the sweet urge, sweet vegetables such as winter squashes (acorn, delicata, spaghetti, butternut), sweet potatoes, beets, rutabegas, turnips, radishes, cabbage, corn, carrots, onions, beets, parsnips, daikon radish, and burdock root.

Fruit can also be beneficial, though stay away from fruit juices because the natural fiber in fruit helps balance out blood sugar.

Also consider natural sugars such as raw honey (try to buy local if possible), date sugar, Rapadura (dehydrated sugar cane juice that still contains B vitamins and other nutrients to help regulate blood sugar), and maple syrup (buy organic and make sure it has not been processed using formaldehyde).

Craving potato chips?

Craving a salty snack can indicate a nutrient deficiency, so nutrient-dense foods are your best bet.

Try dark, leafy greens.

This may not sound very satisfying at first, but kale, collards, broccoli, arugula and other dark leafy greens are packed with vitamins, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, iron, potasand phosophorus. Not only that, but these minerals are much more absorbable than those found in pasteurized dairy products. In addition, greens require a lot of chewing, even when cooked, so this will satisfy the texture craving for crunchy foods like potato chips and pretzels.

Craving coffee, chocolate, or beer?

Cravings for these foods indicate a stressed liver. When the liver is blocked and overloaded, it may cause cravings for these bitter flavors that cause temporary movement and relief; however, alcohol and caffeine only cause more blockage in the long run.

Try foods that support the liver.

There's nothing your liver loves more than raw foods, so organic vegetables and fruits are your number one friend here, especially garlic and onions, apples, lemon, cruciferous vegtables, and dark leafy greens. A lemon juice and olive oil dressing further promotes liver support and maximum absorption of nutrients. Dandelion and milk thistle tea can also be beneficial to the liver, and if you need a caffeine fix, green tea is a great substitute that still provides energy along with antioxidants.

I wouldn't dream of asking you to give up chocolate, but try organic dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate or conventional candies, which are usually laden with sugar and preservatives. If you can find it, raw cacao is actually a superfood with many health benefits.

Craving your favorite creamy beverage?

Vanilla or chocolate soymilk may seem like a healthy treat, but think again. Non-fermented and genetically modified soy have serious side effects, among them links to reproductive issues, sterility, and breast cancer. By the same token, lattes are usually made with non-organic dairy, which means antibiotics and added hormones.

Try coconut smoothies and rooibos tea.

If you're looking for a cold, creamy drink, a smoothie made with coconut milk, natural vanilla flavor, and a frozen banana is a surprisingly delicious, healthy sweet treat. (Add a tablespoon of raw cacao if you want chocolate.) If you need something hot and comforting, rooibos tea is full of antioxidents with a rich flavor. It's caffeine-free, and many varieties are naturally sweet. My favorite is Yogi Chai Rooibos.

Craving entertainment, comfort, or movement?

Many times when we are bored, stressed, or lonely, we fill the void with food. Becoming aware of what we are really wanting can help reduce emotional eating. If you are lonely, call a friend, attend a local cultural function, or take yourself on a date to a movie you've been wanting to see or dinner with a good book. Go out for a walk or sign up for an exercise class you've never tried before, or treat yourself to a few sessions with a personal trainer. Fulfill a creative passion from your past: maybe you used to play an instrument, paint, or hike.

Also, when we are dissatisfied with a certain area of our life, such as a job or relationship, we turn to food to "feed" us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. This can never create satiation, for while food can create a sense of emotional well-being, it is physical sustenance. Create balance by journaling, meditating, practicing yoga, attending a place of worship, or developing a spiritual practice. Evaluate your career and passions, and try to match them up. Let go of unhealthy relationships, or agree to work on them together. This takes time, so be patient with yourself.

What do you crave?

Post your craving or e-mail me at emily@eat2prevent.com, and I'll help you deconstruct it!

Home Cooking away from Home

2010-10-19T17:12:00.007-04:00

Two weekends ago I went up to Pittsburgh and got to see some of my oldest and dearest friends. KD, LX and I prepared the meal above: salmon with onions and brie, my spicy greens recipe, beet salad, and roasted butternut squash. A colorful introduction to fall!

Since then, however, I've been "catching up." Workload has been high, and I haven't felt much like cooking, or even going grocery shopping. This has been frustrating, since I was on such a cooking kick recently and felt really inspired.

But all in all I've been wanting to eat out more lately, and giving myself permission to do so has been a hard road (though a necessary one, since I've been subsisting on Annie Chun's soup bowls and Ezekiel toast with almond butter). Today after my acupuncture appointment with Amy Jo of Re-Soul (and let me tell you, every visit is a soul renewal!) I biked down to Fast and French and treated myself to a turkey plate with gazpacho and a lot of mustard.

Fast and French (or G&M, or whatever you want to call it) is one of my favorite places to eat in Charleston, not just because the food tastes good but because I feel good after I eat it—like I've just eaten something homemade from scratch. Having a repertoire of these homemade "comfort food" places is important when you're feeling too busy or tired or lazy or uninspired to cook—or just when you need a treat.

I did find a fun way to motivate myself to cook this weekend by hosting a pot-luck dinner party. My friend Lili brought Korean food, John brought tortellini salad, Ashleigh brought a veggie plate, Mike brought chocolate and ice cream, TJ brought wine, and I made Serbian Ground Beef and Potato Bake along with an apple crumble. A good time was had by all!

So if you're having a hard time motivating yourself to cook, go out! Find a healthy, delicious restaurant and treat yourself. Or invite some friends over and tell everyone to bring their favorite dish.

How Long Does a Hamburger Last?

2010-10-13T09:28:00.000-04:00

The latest attack on McDonald's involves photographer and blogger Sally Davies's experiment with a Happy Meal, which she left to sit out for sixty days, apparently with no effect on the food.

McDonald's spokespeople seem very offended and insist that their hamburgers are made with "100% USDA-inspected ground beef" and cooked with "salt, pepper and nothing else -- no preservatives, no fillers" and that their buns are made with "common government-approved ingredients" (which basically means nothing considering that the government has approved trans fats and artificial sweeteners). Notice they say nothing about what the fries are made with.

But let's give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's say that this is true. What it means is actually scarier than if McDonald's was using preservatives.

First, it says that "USDA-inspected ground beef" is already so full of preservatives and chemicals that it is not a food. If I didn't have neighbors, I would cook a pound of the USDA beef and a pound of organic, grass-fed beef and let them sit out and see which went bad faster.

Second, what McDonald's doesn't mention is that both hamburger and fries are cooked in some kind of vegetable oil, which is itself "preserved" at high temperatures, making it rancid without any symptoms. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that cooking food in rancid vegetable oil will "preserve" it into a state of plasticity.

McDonald's deserves props for switching to trans-fat-free cooking in 2008, though this was a delayed reaction. However, under their "Nutrition" web page, the motto reads "It's all about delicious choices."

Really?

Of course people want their food to taste good. And those who eat McDonald's say that it does. But that is not what "nutrition" is about. I'm treading on thin ice here, because nutritious food should also taste good. However, this seems to indicate that taste is more important than nutrition; that it really doesn't matter what you're putting in your body as long as it tastes good and you get a variety.

How about "It's all about not getting heart disease" or "It's all about putting things into your body that benefit and nourish it"?

If I haven't convinced you, maybe this will.

So what are you supposed to do with this? Just be aware. You don't have to stop eating McDonald's. I'm not trying to make a point to ruin anybody's good mood. But you deserve to know what you're putting in your body and to make an informed decision. And if you get sick, you deserve to know that what you ate probably contributed to it, because knowing this empowers you to heal yourself by making changes.

Ignorance is killing Americans. It's not McDonald's fault, though they share some of the blame. It's the fault of deliberate and innocent deception and unawareness. And it's my passion and my goal to change that.