Archived News of the Week

Stress Eating, GMO's, The Paleo Eating Plan, Weight Gain, and Other Stuff

11 super foods for stress relief: Sometimes I just wander around the house looking for something to eat. I tend to do this out of boredom, or not really getting hold of the day in a productive way, like writing a newsletter, making a stew, starting a new book, doing a couple loads of laundry, cleaning out the bookshelves or my closet. You know those days. Can't really settle down or grasp what you want to do or when you want to do it. Anyway, it matters what you chow down on, so if you are going to EAT!, then make it less harmful to your precious body and eat these foods: Green leafy vegetables, organic turkey breast, fermented foods, wild caught Alaskan salmon, blueberries, pistachios, dark chocolate, nuts and seeds, avocado, and technically not a food, sunshine. I could tell you WHY you should be snacking on these foods, but just take my word for it  they all have something special and good for a bored, depressed or anxious person.

Why do we gain weight? The answer this time is not food. There are 9 other causes: 1) Lack of sleep: Because insomnia alters hormones that regulate hunger 2) Sitting too much, or as it is now being called, "sittosis": Sitting stops the circulation of lipase, an enzyme that absorbs fats. 3) Intrauterine and childhood programming. 4) Depression: Obesity and depression have a reciprocal relationship. 5) Certain medications: Like corticosteroids, neuroleptics, antidepressants, seizure drugs, birth control pills, diabetes drugs, and blood pressure drugs.

6) Portion sizes: Eat on small 8" plates and you can control this easily. Never eat the whole muffin you buy at Starbucks either, because all foods including sodas have doubled and tripled in size since 1970 7) Obesity can be a symptom of several things, too, like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), thyroid disorders, cancer, CHF, Cushings, depression, diabetes, lupus and metabolic syndrome. 8) Pollution can be stored in your tissues and cells and create weight gain. See me about a cleanse to release all the acquired poisons from living in today's world. 9) And lastly, you could have a virus! Some obese adults have something called AD-36 which is a form of an adenovirus.

Giving up GMOS. It's not hard to give up GMO's. All you have to do is this: Skip all non-organic varieties of meat, eggs, farmed fish, dairy, packaged food, restaurant food, corn, soy, sugar, canola, zucchini and papaya.

Modern Paleo vs. Early Paleo: Yes, there is a difference. Early Paleo is quite strict and allows only meats, organ meats, bone broth, seafood, eggs, vegetables, nuts and seeds and fruits and berries. Modern Paleo allows all of that and includes raw, grass-fed dairy, non-gluten grains like quinoa, tubers and potatoes and soaked legumes. Certainly modern Paleo is much more inclusive and friendly and I would condone that you eat the modern Paleo way if you are not allergic to dairy and are inclined to eat in the Paleo way in the first place.

What is a whole food? We are always told to eat whole foods, but do you really know what a whole food is? Here is a short definition for you: A whole food typically comes from the ground, a tree or an animal. It does not have lists of ingredients. For example, the only ingredient in an egg is . . . an egg. Whole foods require some preparation, as in cleaning, washing, slicing, cooking, etc. Lastly, whole foods do not contain preservatives, food coloring or artificial flavors. If you build your diet around such foods, your body will be energetic, well-nourished and super happy that you are treating it so nicely.

Dirty oceans: As concerned worriers about the filth in our oceans, the Pope and I are not sure if this is good or bad news but according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Journal by an ecologist at the Univ. of Cadiz in Spain, ocean garbage from plastic sources is mysteriously disappearing from the ocean. That bit of news makes the Pope and me happy, I think. They theorize that the big plastic surface junk is breaking down into tiny particles less than 5 mm in size (undetectable) and are sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Now, that can't be good, can it? But they seem to be happy about this, because most of the interaction of marine life and ocean occurs on the ocean's surface and now all the awful, big detritae from ocean liners are tiny and on the bottom of the ocean. I will reserve judgment on this until after I confer with the Pope, although I can't imagine that it's good. (Unless of course, it's the same altruistic aliens at work  the ones that are making all the wonderful crop circles. Could they be saving our oceans. . . ?)

Cholesterol leads to longer life: What a horrible lie disseminated to the American Public! That high cholesterol levels lead to heart conditions and early death. This, I think, is one of the most egregious crimes committed by Big Pharma in the name of their bottom line. Statin drugs are prescribed to more than 13 million Americans and almost all men over the age of 60. However, research published in April of 2015 in the Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism, a Japanese study showing that people with the highest cholesterol levels had the lowest mortality rate from heart disease. In fact, the report states that "mortality actually goes down with the higher total or low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels." Go figure. . . why are statins still as popular as they are, even in the medical community that dispenses them? Aren't they reading their medical journals anymore? Or are they forgetting about keeping up with the latest medical research and just taking their expensive Big Pharma golf vacations? (Please forgive my snarkiness.)

Pharmacogenetics: Now, there's a new word for you, and an important word for you to remember because it will arm you with information (and information is power) against bad drug reactions, as this is a study of how genes affect a person's response to drugs. It's a new field and, I think, a necessary one since there are over 770,000 injuries or deaths due to drug reactions per year in the United States. Some of us have something called polymorphisms which either do not allow us to break down a certain drug or which breaks down the drug too fast. In any case, a certain drug may not be the drug for you, especially if you have a very bad reaction to it. See the big number  770,000  above. Whether you have the pathway for a particular drug rests solely in your genes, and now we have pharmacogenetics to figure this out for us.

Imagine if you had a family member who needed a pain killer? Wouldn't it be nice to determine immediately which one would work the best? What if you had a family member who is depressed and needs to go on an anti-depressant for a while? Wouldn't it be nice to know if they have the pathways to break down Prozac or Lexapro or Celexa? Ask your MD if s/he has this testing available especially if you are looking at surgery or have been prescribed painkillers or antidepressants.

Carrots and Vitamin A: I have been craving carrots lately. Do I need vitamin A? Tired of eating them plain, I dug out an old recipe I thought you might enjoy. Shred some carrots in your food processor. Start maybe with 4 carrots and don't use the S-shaped blade, but the shredding one. The one you probably lost somewhere down the line, like I thought I had. Look for it. Put your shredded carrots in a big bowl. Dice a few stalks of celery and put in with the carrots. Get another smaller bowl and put about ¼ to ½ Cup of almond butter in it. Then get a small can of pineapple  not the chunks, but the looser, other kind whose name I forget. Put about ½ the can in with the almond butter, some of the juice, too. Then mush it about until it's saucy. Add to the carrot-celery mix and mix it all up. EAT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT! It's delicious and great for one of those healthy snacks I mentioned above.

No statement or content in this web site shall be construed as offering diagnosis, cure, mitigation or prevention of any disease. Anyone having questions regarding the content of this site should contact their own health care provider for verification.