National Women’s Health Week ~ May 12 to May 18

 Aging, Heart Disease, Nutrition  No Responses »
May 162013
 
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In honor of of all women, I want to share with you a few tips I have learned even recently about women and their health.  (These tips can apply to men as well).

Did you know that 80% of the healthcare decisions made in the home are made by women? I definitely knew that from my own experience in raising a family. And their needs always came before mine, something that we know will eventually catch up with us!

Although I have always been interested in nutrition and healthy living, it was not until I faced my own health issues that I began to realize that in order to keep myself in optimal health and to avoid the common debilitating diseases, I would have to design my own plan for a healthier lifestyle and keep to it.

Fortunately, at that time I was introduced to natural supplements. This provided a preventative maintenance program which I am on to this day and at 70 I find myself full of energy and prescription free. I would have to add to that program exercise. (I also believe exercise reduces stress, a factor that can often lead to heart disease because of high blood pressure).

Dr. Weil states in his book Why Our Health Matters the toll of preventable disease ~

  • Chronic diseases cause 70% of deaths in America and are responsible for 3/4 of health-care spending
  • Half of all American men and 1/3 of all American women will develop cancer
  • One in twelve Americans will have asthma
  • One in fourteen Americans will have diabetes
  • One in seven Americans will develop Alzheimer’s disease

Weil does not feel that these chronic diseases are inevitable consquences of growing older and that to maintain health and vigor into the late nineties and beyond, environment and lifestyle factors can actually modify genetic expression and influence risk for age-related diseases.

Regarding the environment I have chosen to use only non-toxic products in my home.  If the air outside is bad, at least I can do whatever I can to keep the air inside my home as clean as possible since it increases the risk of respiratory diseases of all sorts, weakens our immune system and even makes us more susceptible to cancer  And we are not even yet discussing the threat to the health and welfare of the whole planet by affecting the earth’s protective ozone layer.  I also try to  buy  organic when I can.  A great list of 10 foods to definitely buy organic can be found here ~ rmdy.hm/kam

In the June 2013 issue of Oprah, Dr. Oz shared some interesting healthy tips, one of which included checking your pulse. Before you get out of bed, press your index and middle fingers against the inside of your wrist below your thumb; count the beats for 30 seconds.  Then double that number.  A 2010 study found that compared with a resting rate of less than 60 beats per minute, a rate of more than 90 triples a woman’s risk of dying from heart disease.  If your heart rate is high, consider adding more omega-3 fatty acids to your diet.  Adding omega-3 fatty acids from sources like olive oil and nuts and fish may help improve lipid levels as well.

Another tip he included was making sure to get enough magnesium (about 265 mg for women).  Apparently nearly half of Americans do not get this.  Magnesium helps to relax blood vessels and may lower blood pressure by as much as 5 points in people with mild hypertension.  (Try cooked spinach and pumpkin seeds).

With the high price of health care than any other people in the world, we need to educate ourselves on more safe and effective alternatives to drugs.  Shifting our health care efforts from disease intervention to disease prevention and health promotion is a mission we all need to have.

One of the tips on the National Women’s Health Week website included the following infographic which I found very informative:  NWHW-Infographic-508

I would love to hear what you are doing in creating a more preventative approach to your own health,

 

 

 

Why Are Our Children’s Skin and Food Allergies Increasing?

 Immune System, Nutrition  No Responses »
May 052013
 

imagesA few years ago when our granddaughter was attending kindergarten,  she was coming home every day with terrible rashes on her hands.  When her mother investigated as to the cause she found that each child was required to wash their hands several times throughout the day using antibacterial soap. Not only that, all parents in that school had been required to purchase large containers of Chlorox Wipes for the school as they were used so often by the teachers.

When I read that a  new government study from the Center For Disease Control revealed a sharp increase in food allergies and skin disorders such as eczema in the last few years (which basically  means that  1 in every 20 children will develop a food allergy and 1 in every 8 children will have a skin allergy), I immediately thought about my granddaughter’s reaction to the chemicals constantly put on her skin. My daughter had to fight to keep these chemicals off my granddaughter by providing non-toxic soap for her to use when she was required to wash her hands.

Another study published in JAMA suggested that foreign born children who move to live in the U.S. have a lower risk of allergic diseases.  However, the longer they live in the U.S., the greater their risk for these conditions becomes.

According to experts,  the rise in the skin and food allergy issues  include the “hygiene hypothesis” that allergies are tied to reduced exposure to pathogens, ( meaning our body’s ability to fight back has been weakened by too clean of an environment),   insufficient vitamin D,  and dietary factors.  Just in today’s news came a report about Triclosan, a popular antibacterial chemical that has been on the market for more than 40 years and found in everything from soap to body washes,  but recent studies raise concerns that it might be doing more harm than good.   The FDA actually states that it has no proven benefit in using it ~ just use plain soap and water.  The obsession we all have to use these anti-bacterial soaps could be just one more piece to the puzzle of why allergies, etc. are on the rise.

It does seem as though our modern living has something to do with this rise.  Our foods have become much more processed, we exercise less and spend more time indoors.  According to a study published in the journal Thorax, fast food fare is linked to an increased risk of asthma, eczema and rhinitis among kids and teens. The study also found that eating fruit could protect against these disorders among all age groups.  Eating fast food meals at least three times a week was linked to a 39% increased risk of severe asthma in teenagers and a 27% increased risk among children between ages six and seven. Fruit, on the other hand, seemed to have the opposite effect on asthma symptoms; three or more servings of fruit was associated with a 11% decrease in severe symptoms in teens and a 14% drop in severity of suffering in kids.

Dr. Doris Rapp, a board-certified pediatric allergist and specialist in environmental medicine, states, “One of the primary reasons for allergies in children, as in adults, is a poorly functioning immune system. If the immune system is inadequate, we can develop allergies and environmental illness. One way to strengthen the immune system so that your child is less prone to environmental illness or allergy is by using various nutrients.” A well known nutritionist, Barbara Lagoni, recommends nutrients beneficial to helping with allergies in this report. 
Taking the following preventative steps may be a great beginning in helping to curb this rise:
  • Avoiding fast food
  • increasing our intake of fruits for their beneficial antioxidant properties
  • including Vitamin D supplements with our daily vitamins
  • using less antibacterial soaps and chemicals that touch our skin
  • building up our immune systems with a healthy diet as well as supplements

Do you have allergies and skin problems with any members of your family?  What are your solutions?

 

 

 

Remembering Those In Need

 Stress and Mindfulness  No Responses »
Apr 172013
 

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SEED OF RISING HOPE ~ “No matter how dark the night, somehow the sun rises once again and all shadows are chased away.” ~ David Matthew

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims as well as those who displayed so much kindness this past week in Boston

 Posted by at 9:38 am

Food Revolution Summit ……….. An Education About The Food We Eat

 Environment, Functional Medicine, genetically modified foods, Nutrition  No Responses »
Apr 112013
 

imagesI recently read the book, The Food Revolution ~ How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World and found the information to be carefully researched and life-changing. I thought, if every patient in every doctor’s office read this book, it could revolutionize the health of America.

The author, John Robbins, author of numerous bestsellers, including Diet for a New America, serves as a director of many nonprofit organizations concerned with the environment, health, world hunger, genetic engineering, and the welfare of all species. He is a popular speaker, founder of EarthSave International, and chairman of Youth For Environmental Sanity (YES).

I just learned that he and his son have put together a “Food Revolution Summit” from April 27th ~ May 5th with revolutionary visionaries and thinkers that can literally put the power into your hands when it comes to the food you eat.

Paul McCartney “The planet is under pressure and our choices have never been more important. The Food Revolution Summit is an informative and empowering platform which highlights ways to set a new pattern for the future of the planet.”

If you care about your health, and you want the truth about your food…
Then you’re invited to join The Food Revolution! Cutting-edge information, shocking facts, and inspirational wisdom! (and it is FREE and without having to leave home) I’m definitely going to join in and hear what they have to say ~ go here to learn more.

Heart Disease and and Cancer Linked to Processed Meats

 antioxidants, Heart Disease, nitrates, Nutrition  No Responses »
Mar 312013
 

imagesI remember my father’s breakfast every morning ~ 3 strips of bacon and 2 eggs, over easy. He never deviated. And he died of a heart attack at 52. Could that bacon really have been part of his early death?

According to a multinational group of scientists tracking the health and eating habits of bacon-loving Brits, as well as residents of seven other European countries ~ almost a half-million people in all ~ they found that people who ate a lot of processed meats ~ more than 20 grams a day, the equivalent of one thin strip of bacon ~ were much more likely to die of heart attacks and stroke, and also had a higher cancer risk. The more processed meats they ate, the greater the risk. So, perhaps that bacon and egg breakfast every morning did play a part in my Dad’s early death.

So what is included in the list of processed foods? Bacon, hot dogs, sandwich meat, packaged ham, pepperoni, salami, and pretty much all of the red meat used in frozen prepared meals. And they are normally manufactured with an ingredient called sodium nitrate, considered to be a carcinogenic ingredient and put into the packaged meat to make it look fresher by turning it into a bright red color.

Reactions in the stomach then yield nitrosamines, also considered to be carcinogenic. This happens when these compounds are subjected to high heat, i.e. when bacon is cooked. Did you know that Vitamin C can block the formation of these carcinogenic compounds? People whose diets are rich in Vitamin C have been found to be less prone to stomach cancers. Pretty important information!

One of the leaders of the above study (which was just published in the journal BM Medicine), Sabine Rohrmann, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Zurich, attributed the risk of cancer in processed meats to the salt, smoke and nitrates used as preservatives as well as the amazingly high amounts of fat found in many of the salty, fatty meats, reminding us that some salamis contain as much as 50% fat!

And then there is that famous study involving lots of olive oil, nuts, fish, and veggies, and very little red meat ~ shown to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

So what is a consumer to do? Give up that all-American breakfast of bacon and eggs forever? The World Cancer Research Fund, after conducting a review of over 7,000 clinical studies covering links between diet and cancer, would have you do just that! Its conclusion? Processed meats are too dangerous for human consumption. Consumers should stop buying and eating all processed meat products for the rest of their lives.

My choice at this time would be to include vitamin C-rich foods and supplements in my diet and encourage family members to choose nitrate-free choices if they want to have that bacon with their eggs! What about you? Do these studies affect your eating habits?

What’s Your Eating Style?

 Aging, Nutrition, Vegetarian Diet  No Responses »
Mar 112013
 

images (7)It seems that every time our family sit down to eat a meal (particularly our extended family), we all come to the table with a different agenda ~ some don’t eat meat, some love meat, some are trying to eliminate sugar, some want to cut out dairy, others cannot digest wheat ~ it can get challenging for meal planning!

I found it very interesting that the theme for National Nutrition Month March 2013 is “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day,” encouraging personalized healthy eating styles, recognizing that food preferences, lifestyle, cultural and ethnic traditions and health concerns all impact individual food choices.

I think the important message here is that each person is on his or her own path to not only enjoying the meal but feeling good about (and when) eating it.  With the wide variety of frozen dinners, dairy-free ice creams, soy meats, etc., it seems that our modern technology has literally taken a lot of us out of the kitchen. Unfortunately, this often means taking away fiber, adding fats, sugar, sodium, fake flavorings ~ the list can go on and on. With our modern emphasis on nutritionally empty, highly processed, and additive-rich foods, it is no wonder that we have epidemics of heart disease, cancer, and degenerative disorders.

No matter what the preference is in one’s eating style, choosing simple real foods such as whole grains, beans, fresh veggies, grass-fed beef, wild salmon and free-range chicken, are definitely better choices for a healthier diet.

I have just recently acquired a wonderful book, The Chopra Center Cookbook, Nourishing Body and Soul by Deepak Chopra, M.D. (“poet-prophet of alternative medicine”), David Simon, M.D. (Medical Director and cofounder of the Chopra Center), and Leanne Backer (Executive Chef of the Chopra Center).

Considered a nutritional guide to renewal, this book features recipes that are served at the world-famous Chopra Center for Well Being, a healing place where people come from all over the world to learn how to nurture and transform their bodies, minds, and souls through nutrition, meditation, and mind-body practice.

It features the world’s most ancient health system, Ayurveda, which recommends that we all partake of the six tastes of life ~ sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent ~ and the recipes in this book are balanced to appeal to all six tastes for the optimal digestion and enjoyment. Although the recipes are vegetarian, quite low-fat yet rich with marvelous spices and herbs to add amazing flavor, the option of adding fresh fish and chicken is available.

Ayurveda is a holistic approach to health that is designed to help people live long, healthy, and well balanced lives. The term Ayurveda is taken from the Sanskrit words ayus, meaning life or lifespan, and veda, meaning knowledge. It has been practiced in India for at least 5,000 years and has recently become popular in Western cultures. The basic principle of Ayurveda is to prevent and treat illness by maintaining balance in the body, mind, and consciousness through proper drinking, diet, and lifestyle, as well as herbal remedies.

I am excited to try these easy-to-make recipes for entrees, soups, stews, quick meals, breakfast dishes, snacks and desserts and learn how to eat in healthy ways so the need for nutrition and the need for enjoyment are both satisfied. I love Ayurveda’s emphasis on helping people live longer, healthier lives. And, yes, I will continue to satisfy all of those special needs that are brought to the table! (minus, of course, fast food, chemicals, food additives, etc.)

March Nutrition Month is a great time to reflect on all of this and perhaps introduce some new dishes to the family!

What about you? Do you eat differently than the rest of your family?

My Seven Steps Of Prevention That Have Led To Better Health

 Aging, Nutrition, Positive Thinking, Toxic Chemicals, Vegetarian Diet, weight loss  No Responses »
Feb 262013
 

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I turned 70 today. It is a real milestone for me, especially since when I look back to turning 50 (which was a big milestone as well) I was facing some real serious health issues. Fortunately I took responsibility for my own health and began reversing some unhealthy habits and taking steps that made the difference. Today I feel younger than I did at 50, am prescription-free and full of energy! So I feel empowered to enter the next decade prepared and full of excitement, feeling much stronger and healthier than I ever have felt before.

So what are these seven “steps” that made the difference? Here goes…….

(1) I replaced all household toxins from my home ~ no more bleach, ammonia, formaldehyde, phthalates, butyl cellosolve… any household cleaners that were “outgassing” toxic odors and fumes into the home (including laundry products) with nontoxic, concentrated biodegradable cleaners and fragrance-free laundry concentrate. This really helped my husband who is highly allergic to dust and strong chemicals.

(2) I replaced all of my personal care products with nutrient based, pH balanced, hypoallergenic (never animal tested) healthy beauty products, formulated without parabens, FD&C or D&C dyes, propylene glycol, animal products or by-products, mineral oils or petroleum, sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate and phthalates. Basically my skin care products include only antioxidants and nutrients my skin craves (nutrition therapy skin care system). My soaps are “soap-free” – containing soothing oatmeal, vitamin E and wheat germ oil that softens my skin. It is also biodegradable and pH balanced.

(3) I eliminated all meat from my diet and concentrated on lots of vegetables and fruits, preferably organic and legumes such as lentils and black beans. I still occasionally eat wild salmon. Avoiding highly processed and refined foods and concentrating on more nutrient-dense foods has become my mission. This, of course, leads me to purchase primarily perishable food rather than prepackaged food. I start each morning with a nutritious shake with 24 grams of protein, 6 grams of dietary fiber, lactose free, low glycemic index, gluten-free, with 35% of the DV of 21 vitamins and minerals. It also contains Leucine which helps me retain muscle, not fat. This has enabled me to drop almost 25 pounds this past year. This program is helping me to be at a more healthy weight and body mass index.

(4) I avoid cans and plastic as much as possible because of the BPA (bisphenol A) which is a hormone-disrupting chemical that mimics estrogen, a cancer causer in lab animals, and possible source of hyperactivity and other behavioral disorders in children. The plastic containers marked with a number 7 on the bottom can leach BPA, making them a no-no. If I use plastics in the kitchen I look for those marked number 1, 2, 4 or 5. These are the safest ones. A good resource to use to learn more is the Green Guide, the Web site run by National Geographic Magazine (thegreenguide.com). Just click on the section called “Buying Guides” and then click on “Plastic Containers” under “Kitchen.” I have found my choice is to use glass containers in the kitchen.

(5) The water I drink is always filtered with a water system that uses a refillable carbon-block filter system, (filtering 80 gallons of water per filter). It saves me money and gets rid of the chemicals such as pesticides, heavy metals and industrial pollutants that can be in our drinking water. Since the body is made up of about 70% water, water is linked to all the body’s functions. In the colon, it is essential to flushing out waste matter and toxins.

(6) I literally replenish my cells each day with nutrient-dense foods such as broccoli, kale, dark leafy greens, cabbage, tomatoes, etc. Unfortunately food is not as nutritious as it once was (According to data collected by government agencies in the U.S. and U.K., modern harvests are lower in many nutrients than those in the 1940s and 1950s because of poor soils and synthetic fertilizers) so I have chosen to supplement with products that are tested for harmful contaminants resulting in products of the greatest purity and potency possible. I supplement daily with multivitamins (that support overall nutrition and may help prevent chronic illness by simply providing the basic micronutrients often missing from modern diets), Omega-3 fish oil which help reduce inflammatory conditions and protect against heart disease, cancer and other chronic illness, and calcium, vitamin D and magnesium which helps to protect my bones (with vitamin D helping to decrease the risk of some cancers. I also take a liquid dietary supplement that contains the power of both resveratrol and a proprietary phytonutrient blend that improves cell defense, increases cell energy, promotes cell repair and optimizes cell performance.

(7) I have incorporated exercise into my daily routine. Most studies do agree that for optimal health it is important to exert yourself aerobically for 30 to 45 minutes at least 3 to 4 times a week. Even dividing this into several smaller increments has shown to be beneficial. I have joined the YMCA and love the water aerobics program they offer. I actually lift weights and “kick-box” in the water 3 days a week. This has really helped me with my weight loss as well.

So there you have it! It is interesting that Time Magazine, just this week, (Vol. 181, No. 8, 2013) published an article called Bitter Pill ~ Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us by Steven Brill, which is a powerful examination of America’s health care costs. It is actually frightening to read and I am so happy that I chose, 20 years ago, to take charge of my health and practice prevention. It has enabled me to lead a much healthier and more robust life and I look forward to reaching my 80′s and 90′s with the same vigor!

A Lifestyle Choice That Can Make A Difference For Your Heart

 Heart Disease, Nutrition, Pharaceuticals, Vegetarian Diet  No Responses »
Feb 112013
 

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 We are celebrating “heart” month during February so let’s talk about some interesting information about how we can work on making our hearts healthier.

We all are aware that heart disease is the nation’s #1 killer. But is it irreversible? Is it possible that changes in lifestyle alone such as reducing stress as well as fat, can effectively reverse heart disease?

An interesting study, one the largest ever conducted in the UK, almost 45,000 volunteers which included 34% vegetarians, compared rates of heart disease between vegetarians and non-vegetarians, and suggested that a vegetarian diet could significantly reduce people’s risk of heart disease. These new findings were just recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The risk of hospitalization or death from heart disease is 32% lower in vegetarians than people who eat meat and fish, according to this new study from the University of Oxford.

‘Most of the difference in risk is probably caused by effects on cholesterol and blood pressure, and shows the important role of diet in the prevention of heart disease,’ explains Dr Francesca Crowe, lead author of the study at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford.

Another risk factor for heart disease is high blood pressure. Dr. Dean Ornish, in his book Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program For Reversing Heart Disease states, epidemiological research studies conducted to date tell us that people who eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol vegetarian diet (in other countries or in subgroups in the United States) have low blood pressure and low blood cholesterol levels in childhood that remain low as they get older, and they have very low rates of coronary heart disease. People who eat a typical American diet have low blood pressure and low blood cholesterol levels in childhood that tend to increase as they get older, and they have high rates of coronary heart disease.

Ornish further states that two-thirds of the world eat a low-fat vegetarian or near-vegetarian diet. Many anthropologists believe that our ancestors were primarily vegetarians. Our teeth are designed primarily for plant-based foods, and our intestional tract is long to allow for the slow digestion of high-fiber plant foods, rather than the short digestive tract needed to process meat and dispose of the resulting toxic wastes quickly. Did you know that as early as 1900 two thirds of the protein in the typical American diet came from plant foods, whereas today two thirds of our protein comes from animal foods?

The video below is an interesting comment about this subject. Enjoy!

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