Is the most common question I get as a Naturopathic Physician.

I typically believe the average person that doesn’t eat “perfectly” ie:

• Eats the “Basic American Diet” (BAD) of white refined, processed foods
• Doesn’t consume 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies daily
• Eats Fast Food several times a week

Superfoods! I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz. But what exactly is the buzz all about anyway? What are superfoods? Do you really need to eat superfoods? What are the benefits? How do you choose which superfoods are best for you? Well, wonder no longer. Lets get right to the answers…

No surprise to anyone is the fact that humans today are busier and have more on their plate, so to speak, than ever before. We eat on the run, often literally standing up. We grab ready made meals as we rush to our next appointment. We finish meals in minutes, gulping down food that not only have we not been fully present for as we chew but have barely even chewed fully before swallowing.

Eating healthy on the cheap can be tough, but if you stock your kitchen with the healthy cheap essentials it should save a great deal in the long run.

I buy certain staples like organic cheese and organic butter when they are on sale and keep them in the freezer.

Consider buying your organic meats, eggs, and fish in bulk and store in a larger freezer out in the garage.

Remember we have to pay for our health one way or another. Prevention is key. The food that graces your kitchen table is the best disease prevention money can buy. President Obama thinks that we will never fix the National Deficit until we fix the Health Care Crisis, I think we will never fix the Health Care Crisis until we fix the crisis at our kitchen tables.

Here are my favorite cheap health foods:

Introducing favorite superfoods and their recipes is an occasional feature here at the Kitchen Table. By gradually “making friends” with the most healthy foods from nature and learning how to incorporate them in to your diet you should notice a remarkable improvement in your health.

Most superfoods are simply high in anti-oxidants and thus slow down the natural destructive process of the tissues in our bodies. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants will help to prevent aging as well as a myriad of other chronic complaints and inflammation.

Other superfoods are super because they are rich in certain vitamins, minerals or other nutrients that benefit the body in a significant way.

My Uncle Ron is a great guy, and at our last get-together he said, “You always are sharing all this wisdom from your Dad and even your brother-in-law on your blog…..don’t you have something wonderful to say about your Uncle Ron?”

Of course I have a ton of wonderful things to say about my Uncle Ron! First and foremost, anytime you go over to visit Uncle Ron he is quick to make you feel welcome by offering you a drink. He always has a great variety on hand.

In honor of Father’s Day I would like to recognize all the great father figures in my life, along with my own fabulous dad. Thank you all for being such amazing role models, and for always just being there. My Uncle Ron wins the hospitality award!

The other day I joked on Twitter, “Oh my gosh I got so busy Twittering I forgot a baby on the scale! BRB (be right back)” and my doctor and nurse friends all thought that was pretty funny, because some days in a family practice or pediatrics setting we get so busy we literally feel like this.

Don’t worry… I am on a break from seeing patients while I prepare to move  down to Arizona.

A decade ago, I spent my first week medical assisting in pediatrics for the hospital, I weighed and measured so many babies that I would have nightmares that one would roll off the counter and fall on the floor. I would wake up in a panicked cold sweat from the new responsibility of parents entrusting the care of their precious child in my hands.

• Best Alternative Medicine Plan for Weight Loss
• Know your fat burning zone so your exercise counts.
• Ride the Wave or find a new fun toy to help you burn a few extra calories and stretch out those hips from sitting around the office all day.
• Sleep: Studies show if you don’t get enough sleep that is a cause for weight gain, and during these “Tough Economic Times” we need to use all the freebies we can snatch up!
• Calcium: Are you getting enough calcium? Research supports calcium supplementation for weight loss. Woo hoo!! This is a simple and cheap thing we should be taking anyway. I am not a fan of calcium carbonate as commonly used in many antacids, because we actually need acid to absorb our minerals, therefore I prefer calcium citrate. Non-menopausal adult women should get about 1200mg in daily divided doses to prevent osteoporosis and help control weight.
• Fiber: Best source for fiber is fruits and veggies. I also use these chewable fiber tablets by Enzymatic Therapy, add ground flaxseeds to smoothies, and typically don’t recommend psyllium fiber as it can make some people really gassy….especially if I have to be around them!
• Chomium Picolinate: To help balance cravings try 200mcg of chromium twice daily.
• Multivitamin: If you are restricting your diet be sure to make sure all your bases are covered by taking a high quality multivitamin.
• Make a Zero Zone: Your fridge feng shui is Uber important. Zero calories and guilt free snacks like fruits and veggies should be readily available and accessable. Hide the non-whole food treats for the “out of site out of mind” benefit.
• Make it a Gym Date: Whether catching up with a girlfriend over the stairmaster, or strutting your stuff on an actual date at the gym, suggest healthy alternatives to the typical dates that consist of sitting around and overeating, overdrinking, and over-overing in the Standard American Diet (SAD) fashion.
• Reading: Join our book club just by staying tuned, or subscribed. Bobbie Laing will be writing about many different

The combination of a low-saturated-fat, total-fat, and low-cholesterol diet, physical activity, and weight control can have many positive effects on overall health.

In addition to lowering the “bad” LDL cholesterol, they can raise the “good” HDL cholesterol.

The body naturally makes cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol is found in foods that contain animal products (butter, milk, cheese, chicken, beef, eggs, etc.). Plant products do NOT contain cholesterol. There are many good things cholesterol does in the body, including: