Is Gluten bad for Non-Celiacs?

Should a Non-Celiac be gluten-free?  
This used to get you laughed out of a doctors office but the idea that gluten sensitivity is real has recently received some validation the in research.  Which is great news for all the Non-Celiac’s who have been telling their doctors this for years.  This past Sunday a gluten expert panel spent an hour covering these ideas and more common questions about gluten. 

The panel was hosted by an FDN named Ameer Rosic and featured Dr. Tom O’ Bryan, Nora Gedgaudas  and Steven Wright.  Dr. Tom is an amazing doc who founded the Gluten Practitioner Program.   

For those who want some of the most in-depth training available to date on gluten check out this program on gluten sensitivity. 

No Celiac, No Care?
The burning question that so many of us have:  
"I hear that gluten is bad for you, but I feel fine if I eat a little now and then.  So do I need to worry about completely eliminating gluten?   In other words, if my body was having trouble with gluten, would I be able to tell?"

The more you listen, the more it sounds like none of us can really digest gluten, regardless of whether we have noticeable symptoms.   And trying to wiggle around this, by eating other things like sprouted bread or ancient species of wheat, is not going to fool our gut.  It's still wheat.

If you’ve never taken time to read any of the research studies on gluten then this video can save you about 6 months of your life as it covers most of the highlights.

Mark Hyman TedMed Talk: The Future of Medicine

Awesome talk from Tedmed 2010.  This is what it's all about!

"Our current approach to treating disease is like using hacksaws to treat trauma...

You can take the green pills and the red pills and the blue pills, and go to specialist after specialist and get diagnosis after diagnosis,
Or you can step into twenty first century medicine and look at the causes that connect everything together...

Functional medicine is a disruptive technology that's going to overthrow the tyranny of the diagnosis"

Inspirational!

Stress And Aging: 5 Ways Chronic Stress Can Affect The Aging Process

NOTE: At FDN Health, we would add the following note to this great article on stress and aging:  Stress isn't just from outside your body.  There can be lots of underlying health issues stressing out your adrenals without you knowing it.   Work with an FDN, and take extra stress off your body!

Chronic stress has been shown to have a number of negative health impacts, from insomnia to weight gain to an increased risk for heart disease -- not to mention impairing the immune and digestive systems as well as the central nervous system. And when it comes to aging, we've all heard that worrying will give you wrinkles, but is the science there to back up the idea that stress accelerates aging? Although more research is still needed on the exact mechanisms by which psychological stress contributes to biological aging, what we do know is that stress can be a contributor to premature aging.

“When we’re under ongoing stress, it creates that fight-or-flight reaction in an unrelenting way, and as a result, stress chemicals are released into the body. What we know so far is that the release of those stress chemicals creates biological changes,” Dr. Vivian Diller, PhD, tells the Huffington Post. “It’s very possible that if you have a life filled with that constant stress, little by little the body is breaking down.”

To determine what those biological changes actually look like, Diller explains, we have to go down to the cellular level, and research is beginning to shed light on this process. Scroll through the list below for five ways that stress can impact the aging process. 

1. Job Stress Can Damage Cells, Leading To Early Aging.
A 2012 study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, found that work-related exhaustion can can have a harmful effect on critical DNA in the cells. Researchers measured the length of DNA sections called telomeres, and found that individuals with the most job stress had the shortest telomeres -- and when telomeres become too short, the cells can die or become damaged. Those who did not experience work exhaustion had longer telomeres. Telomere shortening has been linked to Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, the study notes.
“We know that the telomeres [wear down] over time, but possibly anxiety and stress may expedite that," says Diller. "That is the closest we’ve gotten to understanding the relationship between stress and how our body may age faster.” 

2. Even The Anticipation Of Stress May Accelerate Cellular Aging.

UC San Francisco research found that the mere anticipation of stress can increase an individual's risk of age-related disorders. In the study, 50 women (half of whom were caretakers for a patient with dementia, and therefore presumably deal with daily stress) were told that they would have to engage in public speaking or math problems. The study found that those who felt most threatened by the anticipation of the stressful event exhibited greater signs of aging on the cellular level. The researchers proposed in a university release that greater anticipated threat levels in daily life may promote cellular aging in chronically stressed persons. There's still research that needs to be done ("The science is a little grey here," says Diller), but already it is beginning to pinpoint some ways that stress affects the aging process. 

3. Stress Ages The Brain.
Chronic stress has been shown to contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease, and recent research has shown that greater stress may be the reason that some women's brains age more prematurely than men's. UC Berkeley scientists found that the pattern of gene activation and deactivation that occurs as the brain ages seemed to progress more quickly in women.  "A higher stress load could be driving the female brain towards faster aging-related decline," researcher Mehmet Somel told New Scientist. 

4. Stress Can Lead To Vision & Hearing Loss.
In addition to speeding up heart rate and increasing blood pressure, production of the stress hormone adrenaline can also lead to temporary vision and hearing loss.
"With prolonged and repeated adrenaline production, that’s when we see a constriction of blood vessels, which may relate to a decrease in hearing and vision," says Diller. “We don’t know if these are permanent losses, but we definitely begin to behave and feel less vital if adrenaline is constantly pumping.” 

5. Chronic Stress Can Contribute To An Unhealthy Lifestyle.
"What stress does -- aside from these brain changes, bone changes, and chemical changes -- is that people tend to take care of themselves less," says Diller. "People who are under stress are known to eat more poorly, exercise less, drink more, and probably rely on medication. All of those things are going to show up on your body."

Developing healthy habits is critical to aging well. Regular exercise protects the aging brain, and conversely, sleep deprivation can accelerate aging. And as you get older, good nutrition becomes increasingly important in how the body ages, according to WebMD.

The takeaway? Cultivating a less stressful lifestyle may not only promote healthy aging in its own right, but also by setting the foundation for other habits that are crucial to successful aging.

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Gut Bacteria May be Key to Weight Loss

CBS News 3/29/13
Normally we shudder when we think of bacteria, but a new study reveals that some of these microorganisms may be able to help us lose weight.

The study, published in the March 27 issue of Science Translational Medicine, showed that bacteria in the guts of mice changed after they had gastric bypass surgery, a procedure in which surgeons divide a person's stomach and connect the small intestine directly to the smaller walnut-sized portion. When these different microbes were transplanted in sterile mice who did not have the surgery, those animals lost weight quickly. 

 "Simply by colonizing mice with the altered microbial community, the mice were able to maintain a lower body fat, and lose weight - about 20 percent as much as they would if they underwent surgery," senior author Peter Turnbaugh, a Bauer Fellow at Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Center for Systems Biology, said in a press release.

For the experiment, the researchers performed the gastric bypass surgery on a group of obese mice and recorded their weight loss, metabolic performance and gut microbe levels. They then compared their progress to other obese mice who had placebo surgeries and stayed overweight or had placebo surgeries and then were placed on a lower-calorie food diet.

The mice who had the gastric bypass surgery lost about 30 percent of their body weight in three weeks and had different bacteria in their stools than the other two groups. The mice who had the placebo surgery and didn't go on a weight loss diet regained the weight they initially lost by the end of three weeks. That suggests the surgery, not the weight loss, changed the microbes in the mice.

To further confirm the results, lean, germ-free mice received gut microbes from one of 
the three groups. Those that got the bacteria from the gastric bypass mice lost weight and fat, while the others did not.  Turnbaugh said that though the numbers seem high, weight loss could have been even greater.

Because the mice who received the bacteria weren't on a special diet to increase their weight, there could be an even more drastic weight loss if the mice were eating high-fat or high-calorie food, he said.The study shows that gastric bypass may be successful for weight loss for more reasons than just simply making the stomach smaller and shortening the area where the body absorbs calories. But, scientists don't exactly know why or how the bacteria changes just yet.

"We know the effects of bariatric surgery are not just mechanical and we don't know the full reasons why it works so well, especially in the resolution of diabetes," Dr. David Haslam, associate professor of pediatrics and molecular microbiology at Washington University in St. Lewis, told the BBC. "There is more to it than meets the eye."

It's still a long way before this process is replicated in humans, but the researchers hope that one day they will be able to use this method to help dangerously obese people lose weight without surgery. One of the problems with the study is that the bacteria was able to be transplanted in germ-free mice, but it will be hard to do that for humans, Jeffrey Cirillo, a professor with the department of microbial and molecular pathogenesis at Texas A & M Health Science Center, explained to HealthDay.

However, for people who just need to lose a few pounds here or there, Turnbaugh still thinks hitting the gym is their best option.

"It may not be that we will have a magic pill that will work for everyone who's slightly overweight," he said. "But if we can, at a minimum, provide some alternative to gastric bypass surgery that produces similar effects, it would be a major advance."

"We need to learn a good deal more about the mechanisms by which a microbial population changed by gastric bypass exert its effects, and then we need to learn if we can produce these effects - either the microbial changes or the associated metabolic changes -- without surgery," senior author Lee Kaplan, an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, added in a press release. "The ability to achieve even some of these effects without surgery would give us an entirely new way to treat the critical problem of obesity, one that could help patients unable or unwilling to have surgery." 

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Adrenal Dysfunction Video with Reed Davis

Reed Davis, Founder of FDN, talks about adrenal dysfunction, an extremely common hormonal imbalance that often lies at the root of health challenges. Unfortunately, most doctors completely ignore it.  Testing for adrenal dysfunction is one of the cornerstones of FDN.

Watch this video on Youtube

Walk, or Run, to lower Heart Disease Risk, Results are Similar

A brisk walk may be just as good as a run for keeping the the heart healthy.
That’s encouraging, considering less than half of Americans meet the government’s recommendation of at least 2.5 hours of moderate to intense aerobic exercise a week. A new study published in the American Heart Association (AHA) journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology found that walkers lowered their risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes as much as runners.

Researchers studied 33,060 runners who were participating in the National Runners’ Health Study and 15,045 walkers enrolled in the National Walkers’ Health Study over six years. All the participants were between the ages of 18 to 80, with most in their 40s and 50s. The exercises answered questionnaires about their physical activity, and the researchers calculated how much energy they expended based on the distance the volunteers reported walking or running. They also recorded any doctor-diagnosed heart conditions.
MORE: A Daily Walk Can Reduce the Power of Weight-Gaining Genes

The scientists found that while vigorous running required slightly higher levels of energy than moderate intensity walking, both translated into a parallel drop in incidence of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or heart disease over the study period. And the more the participants walked or ran, the greater the benefit in lowering their heart disease risk.
Although walking isn’t as intense as running, the study authors say both target the same muscle groups, which could explain why their results in improving heart health are so similar. The results suggest that the type of exercise may not be as important as how much people walk or run.
Here’s what the researchers found:

• Running significantly reduced the risk for being diagnosed with hypertension by 4.2% while walking reduced the risk by 7.2%
• Running reduced the chances of having high cholesterol by 4.3% and walking by 7%
• Running lowered risk of diabetes by 12.1% while walking dropped the risk by 12.3%
• Running reduced coronary heart disease risk by 4.5% compared to 9.3% for walking.

The results are encouraging since walking may be a more appealing and sustainable for more people than running. Because running is a more intense form of physical activity, runners are able to burn more calories and exercise the heart to higher levels within a shorter period of time, but the results support the idea that any physical activity, as long as it’s consistent, can have lasting benefits. Last summer, the Centers for Disease Control released a report showing that more Americans are walking for exercise, and that those who walk are three times more likely to meet the recommended level of physical activity.
The TIME story on the report detailed the benefits:

What’s more, people who walk are significantly more likely — three times more likely on average, in fact — to meet the government’s physical activity recommendations. Overall, the survey data showed, more Americans were meeting that goal in 2010 (48%) than in 2005 (41%), and more walkers (60%) than non-walkers (30%) met the guideline. The more people walked, the more likely they were to meet the exercise requirement: compared with non-walkers, those who walked 10-19 minutes a week were 34% more likely to meet the standard; those walking 20-29 minutes a week were 52% more likely; people who walked 30-59 minutes a week were 80% more likely; and those walking more than hour a week were nearly four times more likely to get the minimum amount of recommended exercise.

MORE: An Easy Way to Get Enough Exercise: Take a Walk

More data will likely continue to compare intense activity such as running with more moderate exercise like walking for everything from weight loss to longevity, but more studies show that for many, particularly those who are relatively sedentary, walking may be a healthy and effective way to start increasing physical activity. And research also supports the idea that for the heart, it’s not the quantity so much as the consistency of exercise that may keep atherosclerosis and high blood pressure at bay.

Thirteen Health Benefits of Walking


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Bad Sleep "Dramatically" Alters the Body

BBC 2/25/2013 

A run of poor sleep can have a potentially profound effect on the internal workings of the human body, say UK researchers.  The activity of hundreds of genes was altered when people's sleep was cut to less than six hours a day for a week.  Writing in the journal PNAS, the researchers said the results helped explain how poor sleep damaged health.

Heart disease, diabetes, obesity and poor brain function have all been linked to substandard sleep.  What missing hours in bed actually does to alter health, however, is unknown.  So researchers at the University of Surrey analysed the blood of 26 people after they had had plenty of sleep, up to 10 hours each night for a week, and compared the results with samples after a week of fewer than six hours a night. 

More than 700 genes were altered by the shift. Each contains the instructions for building a protein, so those that became more active produced more proteins - changing the chemistry of the body.

How to get a better night's sleep

• Try avoiding key things that make it hard to sleep such as too warm a bedroom
• Creating a personal sleep profile can help you manage your body clock effectively
• Discover what disturbs your sleep the most

Meanwhile the natural body clock was disturbed - some genes naturally wax and wane in activity through the day, but this effect was dulled by sleep deprivation.  Prof Colin Smith, from the University of Surrey, told the BBC: "There was quite a dramatic change in activity in many different kinds of genes."  Areas such as the immune system and how the body responds to damage and stress were affected.

Prof Smith added: "Clearly sleep is critical to rebuilding the body and maintaining a functional state, all kinds of damage appear to occur - hinting at what may lead to ill health.  "If we can't actually replenish and replace new cells, then that's going to lead to degenerative diseases."
He said many people may be even more sleep deprived in their daily lives than those in the study - suggesting these changes may be common.  

Dr Akhilesh Reddy, a specialist in the body clock at the University of Cambridge, said the study was "interesting".  He said the key findings were the effects on inflammation and the immune system as it was possible to see a link between those effects and health problems such as diabetes.  The findings also tie into research attempting to do away with sleep, such as by finding a drug that could eliminate the effects of sleep deprivation.  

Dr Reddy said: "We don't know what the switch is that causes all these changes, but theoretically if you could switch it on or off, you might be able to get away without sleep.  "But my feeling is that sleep is fundamentally important to regenerating all cells."

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Sources: Mental Health Foundation and BBC Science

Aging with Vitality and Energy

Joyful, energetic aging - I say YES!   

I realized quite awhile ago that my thoughts and attitudes determine most of my reality.  This is why I have decided that the typical negative belief system regarding aging (namely physical and mental decline) is no longer a part of my mindset. 

“Isn’t that naïve?” you might ask.   Not so much… obviously, nobody’s getting out of here alive!  Studies are showing that those who live long, healthy lives are typically ones who have a positive view on aging, have worked at minimizing stress, eat and live close to nature and make a conscious decision to be happy! (1)  So the real question is, who will you choose to be, as an aging person?

Since we are all going to age and eventually pass, the choice we do have is clear:  which path will we take for the rest of our journey? Will it be one of worry, chronic illness, stress and obsessing about getting older?  Or, will it be a path of joy, abundant energy, good health and fun?

If we followed the bad examples we see in the media:  celebrities and those poor housewives on the reality TV shows, manically attempting to look younger, we’d be in bad shape.  Going to extreme measures, obsessing about looking young while being fearful of the natural process of aging binds us to the falsehood that our value as human beings (and especially as women) lies in our external appearance. 

“Aging”, as Betty Davis once said “is not for sissies”, and she was right!  It takes a certain boldness to turn from the externally-focused fear of aging mentality that dominates our culture, and instead embrace the new possibilities and positive aspects of aging.   When we chose to focus our attention on loving ourselves at any age, optimizing our health with whole foods and exercise and creating positive thoughts and attitudes, the wisdom, rich perspective, self-love and gratitude that can come with age become our rewards.

Studies show that individuals who live long, healthy lives:

• Have a positive view on aging
• Have worked at minimizing stress
• Eat and live close to nature 
• Make a conscious decision to be happy!

Inspired by the advice of healthy-aging experts such as Christiane Northrup, MD and Andrew Weil, MD and the tips conveyed by the much admired 84 year old successful, happy and healthy author Louise Hay, here is a list of suggestions to help us all feel our best as we move healthfully and gracefully through the aging process.

Tips for Happy-Healthy Aging:

1. Quiet your Mind  As an advocate of healthy eating and exercise, you would think that listing health- promoting, whole foods and supplements would top my list of happy, healthy aging tips.   However, I have seen people consume the most nutritious food in the world and take the best supplements and still be unhealthy and miserable.  When self- defeating or destructive thoughts run rampant in our minds, our bodies feel the impact.  The long and short-term stress caused by our negative thought patterns contribute to dis-ease and various illnesses.  Excess cortisol, a hormone released from the adrenal glands in response to mental or physical stress causes elevated blood sugar, deposits of fat in our lower abdomen, raises cholesterol, elevates blood pressure and can contribute to hormone imbalance.

Whether it’s a formal spiritual practice or just a few minutes set aside each day to “follow the breath”, slowing down our thoughts and experiencing the calmness of a still mind has tremendous physical and mental health benefits (2).

2. Choose Happiness:  I believe to the idea that happiness is a choice and must be practiced.   “Pain is part of life, suffering is optional” are words that remind us that although we all will undoubtedly experience multiple challenges and endure pain and grief in our lives, learning to let go and not carrying those burdens and hardships with us is incredibly helpful.  In addition to practicing the art of letting go, when I find myself feeling negative, lost or down, I remind myself that I can replace my current thought patterns with more positive ones.  For instance, the simple act of finding something I am grateful for and expressing it will lift my emotions to more positive ones.  It’s empowering to know that we do have a choice as to which thoughts (and people) we give our attention to.  Forgiveness is another very powerful technique.  You can forgive anyone for anything, anytime.  They don’t need to be present, or even alive!  If you need more support in this area, check out

3. Whole Foods and Supplements:  Every bite you put into your precious body temple is a vote for health or not.  Becoming conscious of each choice is a great place to start.  Work toward a whole foods diet, including lots of veggies, small amounts of organic protein, plenty of good fats, and drink lots of pure water.  (more details on what to eat at the end of this article).   Dump the processed snacks, breakfast cereals, premade salad dressings and sodas from your pantry and start making your own – easy, delicious, and saves money, too!  Not sure where to start?  Buy yourself a copy of NourishingTraditions by Sally Fallon.

Move your Body every day.  Have an exercise routine that includes some cardio, stretching like yoga and some resistance work, and do some movement every day. Researchers at the Aging Research Center in Sweden found that those who exercise at least twice per week reduced their risk of dementia by more than 50% and of Alzheimer’s’ by 60%.

Perform brain stimulating activities.  Learning new dance steps, video games or a new language are fun ways to keep the mind sharp.

Get a good night’s sleep This means good, solid rest in a dark room (7-9 hours) If you can’t get this, work with your medical practitioner or an FDN such as myself,  to figure out why! (5)

Maintain and enjoy social connections with family and community. 

Take targeted supplements   

• Take 2000-5000 iu’s a day of vitamin D to keep your levels above 50.  People with healthy vitamin D levels have decreased incidence of dementia, heart disease and cancer.  Retest every 6 months.
• Supplement B vitamins as an extra “insurance policy” for extra energy and vitality, particularly in women. 
• Supplement high quality, mercury free fish oil for Omega 3 fats – keeps cells and brain flexible
• Make sure calcium and magnesium, zinc are sufficient. 
• Consider adding COQ10, Resveratrol, Curcumin – read up about these super-supplements!

Support your Adrenals.  Many of us, through years of mothering, fathering, overwork, underlying health problems, or just life’s stresses, have exhausted our adrenals.   If it isn’t as easy to cope with life as it used to be for you, your adrenals may have stopped being able to make enough cortisol to keep up with your needs.  Work with a certified FDN practitioner to make sure your adrenals are properly supported.  This isn’t aging.  This is adrenal fatigue, and it can be repaired.  Ignoring it can lead to more serious health issues.  Repairing it can help you feel vital and young, for many more years!

Balance your hormones: Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy done correctly can be tremendously helpful in increasing energy, stabilizing moods and improving overall health.  See the article “Has Anyone Seen My Hormones?” online at www. WNCWoman.com January 2013 isssue.

Know your Genetic Risk Factors - Knowledge is power.  These days, with the advent of $99 genetic testing, there's no excuse for not knowing what your big risk factors are.  Get your genetics done by 23andMe, or one of the other labs, and read about your bigger risks.  This is a simple saliva test that will unlock loads of useful information and research relevant to your health.  Make logical changes to your diet and supplementation to minimize your individual risks.  Genetics are information, not destiny.  Your genes express themselves based on your diet and other factors, way more than your ancestry.  If you don't wish to know some parts of your risk factors because you think it would bother you too much, you can selectively lock some illnesses.

B12 is one of the most common vitamin deficiencies we develop as we age.  This is due to the fact that it is a difficult vitamin to absorb as it requires stomach acid (which diminishes with age and is blocked by acid-blocking medications ).  It also requires a special protein called Intrinsic Factor which is made in the stomach and absorbed in the small intestines.  Blood testing is not always a reliable indicator of need.

Joyous, energetic aging is not about looking 40 when you are 60 or 60 when you’re 80.  It’s more about applying common sense strategies in order to stay sharp, minimize the odds of developing heart disease and cancer and doing what we can to keep our bones and immune system strong.  More importantly, it’s about feeling vital, having fun and enjoying life!  Contrary to what most of us have been conditioned to believe, now more than ever, healthy aging is a real possibility!

So, while we practice positive thinking, meditate, exercise, pop our vitamins and eat our colorful veggies, it’s also good to remember that laughing (even at ourselves trying to stay young) is definitely the best way to be happy and healthy at any age!

ADDENDUM: WHAT TO EAT 

Eat a high quality plant-based diet including 4-5 cups of organic vegetables and fruit per day, organic protein sources (eggs, cold water salmon, chicken, soaked nuts and seeds, buffalo, grass fed beef etc) and good fats such as olive oil, coconut oil and butter provide our bodies with the nutrient support and antioxidants necessary for optimal health and longevity. Europeans spend 16% of their income on food and have much lower incidences of chronic illness as they age.  In the US, where up to 60% of the population suffers from one or more chronic illness, we spend 6% of our income on food.  Investing in a nutritious diet is one of the wisest ways to spend our money and protect our health.  Eat well to age well! (3)

Water: Consume plenty (6-8 glasses) of pure water (improve your health and save money by getting a good water filter and drink from stainless steel or glass bottles instead of plastic).

Intestinal Health:  “All disease begins in the gut” - Hippocrates… Consider

Fiber - Taking in adequate fiber (at least 25 gms, preferably 40gms per day). Good sources are: ground organic flax seed, soaked nuts and seeds (especially pumpkin seeds), fresh veggies, whole fruit etc.

Support the garden (good flora) - Adding a high-potency probiotic (which is a source of good friendly bacteria that keeps our intestines healthy, keeps the bad pathogenic organisms at bay and creates B vitamins).  It is also critical to have a good bowel movement at least once, preferably twice per day.

Eat Consciously - To minimize digestive issues such as gas and bloating, its important to sit and relax when eating, chew food well, not consume liquids with a meal and consider taking a high quality digestive enzyme to assist in the breakdown and absorption of nutrients.  Digestive enzymes contained in food are destroyed when food is heated beyond 118 degrees. Additionally, our body’s production of digestive enzymes declines as we age. 

Fats are a concentrated source of energy, necessary for the absorption of Vitamins A, D and E and building blocks for our cell membranes and hormones and because the brain is composed of 70% fat, be sure to consume adequate amounts of healthy sources such as: organic coconut oil (great for cooking at high temperatures), cold-pressed olive oil, avocados, soaked nuts such as almonds, pecans, walnuts and organic butter.  Avoid processed foods, which often contain unhealthy fats.

Get off the blood sugar/insulin roller coaster ride by eating foods that have a low glycemic  index (meaning they raise your blood sugar gradually instead of causing a surge of insulin which causes weight gain and leads to inflammation-an underlying cause of many chronic illnesses.)  Foods such as nuts, seeds, veggies, protein and good fats have a low glycemic index and tend to balance and maintain blood sugar levels which in turn stabilizes our moods and energy levels.

Minimize the intake of acid-forming foods and drink such as: meat, soda, coffee and sugar.   When the body becomes too acidic (from these foods as well as from stress), it is more prone toward illness.  Additionally it leaches calcium from the bones to balance the PH of the blood making women more vulnerable to conditions such as osteopenia and osteoporosis.   Alkalizing foods are: green leafy vegetables, lentils, Kambucha, citrus fruits etc.

Consume some super-foods such as:  Acai, organic berries, and pomegranate as these colorful, antioxidant rich foods help ward off chronic illness.  Here’s your healthy justification for small amounts of organic dark chocolate and red wine!  

Enjoy at least 2 cups of green tea per day (a new study shows in addition to all other health perks associated with green tea, it can also help protect against glaucoma and other eye disease). (4)

Spice up your foods and decrease inflammation by adding pinches of cayenne, turmeric and other anti-inflammatory herbs.

References:

1.Levy, Becca et al, Longevity Increased by Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002, Vol.83,No.2,261-270
2. Dusek, JA, Benson, H, Mind-body medicine: a model of the comparative clinical impact of the actute stress and relaxation responses.  Minn Med. 2009 May;92(5):47-50
3. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/eat_well_to_age_well_tips_for_older_adults
4.  Green Tea Catechins and Their Oxidative Protection”, Science Daily
5.  Bad Habits Can Age You by 12 Years, Mercola 5/11/10
6. Noordam,R et al, Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in familia longevity:the Leiden Longevity study CMAJ, 2010 DO:10:1503/cmaj.120233

Additional Reading:

HealthyAging: Andrew Weil, MD 
Secretsto Longevity, Hundreds of Ways to Live to be 100 by Dr Mau Shing Ni

Sneaky Engineering: Junk food is Designed for Addiction

When it comes to processed food, excessive amounts of sugar and hydrogenated fats  is the rule rather than the exception. It is no secret anymore that there is a very distinct thread linking the increased consumption of such foods, coupled with relentless advertising campaigns and the epidemic proportions of diabetes and obesity in all age groups on a global scale. In fact, if current trends continue, it is estimated that by 2030, more than 86% of Americans will be either overweight or obese. For some people, this picture looks dreadful enough already, but the truth is that it barely scratches the surface of the problem.

Neurobiology research has shown that food can cause serious addiction, the kind that addictive drugs do. Dr Nicole Avena and her colleagues from the department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, report that the consumption of sugar not only alters brain function and behavior, but it also elicits the same type of withdrawal symptoms like opiate drugs do. In other words, sugar affects the opoid receptors in the brain, which are recognized by natural (endogenous or not) opioid substances. On the other hand, foods rich in fat seem to affect the brain in a different way, although they cause withdrawal-type symptoms as well. Many studies show that there is a unique relationship between emotional balance and fatty acids.

For example, a study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation in 2011 tested the effects of fat consumption in healthy people while experiencing experimentally induced sad feelings. Within minutes the sad feelings were significantly alleviated and the subjects reported improved mood, while MRI scans confirmed the expected brain response. This study is important because it shows that fat actually does not even have to be properly digested in order to modify brain functions. The mere presence of fat in the gut triggers the release of gastrointestinal hormones, which regulate neurological and emotional responses within very few minutes.

The above studies prove that junk food, high in fat and sugar, is so much more than excessive calories. It truly creates addiction on a biochemical and neurological level. It would be naive to believe that the richness of junk food in these specific compounds is an accident. Michael Moss explains in his incredible book "Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us" that the amount of secretive research invested by Big Food Giants in finding the right combinations of the cheapest and most addictive ingredients for their products, is tremendous.

What neuroscience is only now starting to understand and elucidate, food companies knew it all along. And they have capitalized hard on it by selling processed food especially designed to bypass appetite control and neurological security valves of any unsuspected victim. Due to the complexity and interconnectedness of the biological functions in the human body, the overall impact of processed food on human physiology, health, life expectancy and quality of life in this generation is still hard to estimate.

But again the full extent of this slow, but efficient, genocide cannot be not fully appreciated if the impact on the future generations is not assessed as well. Latest research shows that the diet during pregnancy has a significant impact on the nutritional choices of the offspring. It is now confirmed that when the expectant mother follows a high-fat diet, her baby shows a measurable preference for sugar. However, this is not just a behavioral trait casually passed on to the next generation by means of mimicking the behavior of adults. On the contrary, as a result of the maternal diet, the DNA and subsequent expression of genes encoding opioid and dopamine receptors in the brain of the child is altered in a manner that promotes addiction.

This is no surprise, since repeated use of certain drugs has been well documented to cause enzymatic DNA modifications (epigenetic changes) which disrupt neuronal gene programs and support addictive behavior. This scientific fact explains why the kids of obese mothers are heavier with increased fat mass and have elevated insulin and glucose levels in their blood in comparison with control groups. Experiments show that the genetic disruption induced by maternal junk food consumption during pregnancy has long-term effects on the child's behavior and neurological responses.

In a twisted way, the new generation is genetically pre-programmed to be addicted to junk food, even before they are born. This perfect self-feeding loop guarantees long-term profits for the food corporations and chronic debilitating disease for humans, for generations to come. By designing and selling addictive, low quality and disease-promoting products, Big Food has achieved the unthinkable: to create a dedicated army of health-compromised, addicted fans, whose cognitive, biochemical and even genetic potential to break free of their addiction is hijacked before birth.

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References

• Avena N., Gold J., Kroll c., Gold M. 2012. Further Developments in the Neurobiology of Food and Addiction: Update on the State of the Science. Nutrition. 28(4): 341–343. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3304017/
• Van Oudenhove L, McKie S, Lassman D, Uddin B, Paine P, Coen S, Gregory L, Tack J, Aziz Q. 2011. Fatty acid-induced gut-brain signaling attenuates neural and behavioral effects of sad emotion in humans. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 121(8):3094-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=21785220
• Ong Z. Y. and Muhlhausler B.S. 2011. Maternal "junk-food" feeding of rat dams alters food choices and development of the mesolimbic reward pathway in the offspring. FASEB Journal. 25(7): 2167–2179. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3114523/
• Vucetic Z, Kimmel J, Totoki K, Hollenbeck E, Reyes TM. 2010. Maternal high-fat diet alters methylation and gene expression of dopamine and opioid-related genes. Endocrinology. 151(10):4756-64. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20685869
• Page KC, Malik RE, Ripple JA, Anday EK. 2009. Maternal and postweaning diet interaction alters hypothalamic gene expression and modulates response to a high-fat diet in male offspring. American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory Integrative Comparative Physiology. 2297(4):R1049-57. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19657097
• Moss M. 2012. The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food. New York Times. Available online at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
• Vucetic Z, Kimmel J, Reyes TM. 2011. Chronic high-fat diet drives postnatal epigenetic regulation of μ-opioid receptor in the brain. Neuropsychopharmacology. 36(6):1199-206. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21326195

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Food Rules, according to Terri

By Terri Mykland

This is my big “Eat this, not that” list…

Fruit and Vegetables - Eat LOTS, particularly veggies!  Most of your weekly  shopping should be for vegetables, with a little for fruits and other ingredients.   Try to start each meal with vegetables and have them be at least half of all the food you eat.  

Look at the dirty dozen lists to see what needs to be organic - some basic ones include all the thin-skinned fruits, berries, potatoes, celery, tomatoes.   Prefer organic generally, whenever you can get it, because of the superior mineral profile and better odds that the produce was taken good care of.  Do not buy produce of any kind that's already been sealed in a bag, organic or not.  This is the kind of product associated with the majority of food contamination issues, e. coli, etc.  Don't forget frozen vegetables.  They are almost as good as fresh nutritionally, and are a good fall back when you aren't feeling up to the big stir fry or your pantry is bare.  I always keep some frozen veggies around.

Eggs – Organic only.  Organic eggs have better vitamin A and fatty acids.  Also, conventionally raised chickens are very badly treated.  Eat plenty of eggs, they are great inexpensive protein and healthy fat.  Eating cholesterol in eggs sends the signal to your body not to make more of it, which helps with heart health.

Nuts – Probably not so important to buy organic, because they have such hard shells (hard for pesticides to penetrate), and not much surface area.  Also because we do not eat them in large volumes.  Peanuts aren’t so good for your health as they contain aflatoxins and are an allergen.  I try to limit peanuts.  Nuts in small quantities are a great snack, as they contain lots of healthy fats, minerals and protein.  I carry around little snack-size ziplock bags with 1 ounce of nuts in them, for portion control.   If you’re looking for a substitute for wheat flour in baking, I highly recommend almond flour from Nuts.com and Elana’s Almond Flour cookbook.
 
Dairy- Organic only, full fat preferred, grassfed preferred.  The animal fat in dairy concentrates toxins, so that’s one reason you only want to eat organic dairy.  According to scientists, dairy is one of the foods we may not have evolved to digest well yet. Northern Europeans sometimes digest it better than other ancestries.  If you react to dairy at all, remove it from your diet. Milk is usually the hardest kind of dairy to digest.  Many people digest cheese, yogurt, etc. better than liquid milk.  If you really can’t afford organic, get the kind made with no antibiotics and no growth hormones, and eat less of it.  Try to eat real organic butter – it has great fatty acids and a bunch of other health benefits.  Much better than the highly-processed butter substitutes many people are eating for “health”.  Raw milk is more healthy than organic, but if you're not used to it, you may not digest it so well.  You may also not be able to buy it in your state.
 
Meat – Buy only organic, no antibiotics, grassfed preferred.  Try to use meat more like a condiment than a major part of your meals.  Animal fat is where toxins are highest, so buy  only organic, grassfed, or pastured, no hormones, no antibiotics, please!  Do not buy meat (or anything else) labelled “natural”.  "Natural" does not mean anything, and is used in sneaky ways on poor quality foods.  My suggestion is to emphasize vegetables, eggs, organic dairy and nuts  in your diet, and eat small amounts of really excellent meat.  This is healthy, and saves money too.   If you cook organic or grassfed meat properly, it can be healthy, as the saturated fat in meat is needed by your cell membranes and brain.  Skipping the meat entirely is not a good idea, as you will miss out on critical vitamins such as B12 and lots of other nutrients that are most easily available in meat.  

Please do not eat prepackaged lunchmeat.  If you need sliced meat, go somewhere where you can get organic meat and they slice it for you at the meat counter.

Cooking Meat: Panfry only at low heat, do not "char", as this introduces carcinogens.  Preferable cooking methods include steaming/poaching, sauteeing in water, medium-temperature stir fry in good oil or baking.   Remember that homemade bone broths and organ meats are packed with minerals and other nutrients, and include them in your diet, also.

Fish – Buy Pacific or Alaskan Salmon, wild, which has not been frozen.  This is a delicacy, and does cost money.  It is also available canned, which is a little more affordable.   I eat this as my only fish, as it’s delicious, packed with good fatty acids, and great for brain and heart health.  There are a few other white fishes such as sole, that are healthy, and make great weight loss food.  If you’re thinking about eating any fish, check mercury levels first, and eat wild, not farmed.  These days, I'm buying my canned Salmon from Vitalchoice.com.  It's tons better than what's at the store, and not much more money.

Grains - Avoid wheat flour in particular.  It's a simple carb, turns into sugar, and goes through your digestion way too fast.  Yep, avoid bread, pastry, cookies, sandwiches, pizza crust.  I know it's a big change of lifestyle.  This is probably the biggest one for many people.   Some of us can digest wheat, many of us (especially white europeans!) really cannot.   Many of us find that our healthiest way of eating is actually wheat-free, gluten-free or grain-free.  Figuring out your best diet will be part of your journey to optimal health.  Other notes with regard to grain:  Conventional corn and rice are major GMO's.  So if you buy corn or rice products, make sure they're organic.   Another danger with rice is arsenic.  I trust Lundberg Brand, as they publish their arsenic numbers.

Oils - Your body needs some good fats.  Fats help your brain and your cells, and they do not make you fat - although they do add calories and not many nutrients.  So please add a little fat to your food.  Oil is not a nutrient-dense food - just use enough to cook.  Butter has more nutrients, but does add a lot of calories.  Nuts and nut butters are a good source of healthy fat with fiber and nutrients.  

We could talk all day about oils.  Here's the short version:  Coconut oil, butter and olive should be your daily cooking oils.  Bacon grease and lard are good if they come from organic meats.  None of the vegetable oils should be heated really hot, or they can get damaged and turn into "bad" oils, and of course butter burns easily.  So cook on low heat, and use these oils.  If you must cook at high heat, you can use lard or peanut oil.  

On salads, skip the oils and make your own dressing from nutrient rich  fats like peanut butter, tahini or  cream and acids like balsamic or rice wine vinegar or lemon juice, along with plenty of flavor from organic soy sauce, salt, pepper, stevia, garlic, cayenne, etc.

Never use the following: shortening (crisco), margarine (even the "health" margarines), anything with trans fats in it (read the label).  

FIRST CHOICE: coconut, butter, olive, avocado, macadamia, lard
AVOID ENTIRELY: shortening, all margarine, corn oil
SECOND CHOICE: avocado, macadamia, sesame, organic peanut oil (for high heat)

OK: organic canola, safflower, grapeseed

Soy - I'm not a fan of soy.  Soy products contain estrogen-like substances that can make your body more estrogenic, which means more vulnerable to cancer.  If you've been told to eat a lot of soy to avoid certain cancers, I'd suggest reading further.  Soy is like health junk food.  Not the kind of nutrient-dense food you want to put in your body.  The only soy product in my kitchen is organic wheat-free tamari sauce.  If you do eat soy, buy organic only, to avoid GMO's.

Sweeteners - You may have figured by now that sugar is pretty much out.  We have sugar in our house because when I make pancakes, the girls like to eat them "swedish" style, with sugar sprinkled on them.  That's just about the only time the sugar comes out.  My sweetener of choice is stevia, in packets, without xylitol or splenda or any of that stuff with it.  We also have agave, honey and grade B maple syrup, for other sweetening needs.  Get in the habit of counting grams of sugar in your food, and work toward 0 added sugar, and just add a touch of sweetener when you really desire it.  I add a little stevia to my plain yogurt with strawberries, and also to homemade salad dressings or stir fry sauces sometimes.

Sauces - I want to empower you to stop buying premade dressings and sauces, and make your own.  These are notorious places where extra sugar and salt and junk calories hide out, and your sauces can taste so much better when you make them.  It's super easy.  To make a sauce taste good, add something salty, something sweet, something sour, and optionally, something bitter like mustard.  Add some good oil to make it even better  Common ingredients for my sauces include: tamari sauce,  lemon juice, stevia, agave, maple syrup, garlic powder, dijon mustard, sesame oil, coconut milk, coconut oil, curry powder, tahini, ginger.  I'll try to post some simple sauce recipes that I like sometime soon.  I'm not amazing with spices yet, but if you are, you can add whatever strikes your fancy! 

GMO's - GMO's are something to worry about, and lucky for us, still not too hard to avoid if you you know what to look for.  The main sources of GMO's are corn, rice and soy.  At the present time, "organic" does mean "non-GMO".  So PLEASE buy organic of these three things,  and you will not be consuming GMO's, the large majority of the time. 

Processed Foods - It's important to minimize processed foods in our lives.  The closer you buy your food to how it came off of a plant or an animal, the better.  You will know what you're eating, and it will taste fresh and amazing!   You'll also know that you won't crave it because some food company engineers manipulated your taste buds.  Let's think about what constitutes a processed food.   Here are some common types of processed foods you might not have noticed: 

1. Protein bars
2. Protein shakes
3. Frozen healthy dinners (I don't include frozen veggies in this).
4. Yogurt
5. Kefir
6. Kombucha
7. Iced tea (from the store)
8. Cultured vegetables
9. Ketchup
10. Salad dressing
11. Mayonnaise.  
12. Breakfast cereals
13. Mixes - cake mix, pancake mix, etc.

But many of these are healthy foods, you may be thinking.  Yes, perhaps, but they are still processed foods, and for any processed food, it's worthwhile to think about what it's made of and see if you can make it yourself or buy it less processed.  Buying a processed food is counting on a food company not to put things into it that you might not want to consume, and not to manipulate your taste buds to make you dependent on it.  

EXAMPLE #1: Yogurt.  Do you eat the kind with fruit in it?  Why?  It's awesome to buy plain yogurt, and put in your own fresh fruit and a sweetener if you wish it, and saves you eating old, processed fruit that's already over-sugared.  

EXAMPLE #2: Protein bars (which should be a last resort, not a daily diet workaround).  They can have a lot of fillers, preservatives and extra sugars in them, sit on shelves for months, and definitely aren't fresh food. 

PROCESSED FOOD SUGGESTIONS:

1. When you do buy processed foods, aim for short, simple ingredient lists that you understand, with good ingredients in plain English, not fillers, not excessive salt or sugar or MSG, "natural flavors" and other squirrelly ingredients like that.   
2. Snacks are a common type of food that people buy processed.  Work on finding some snack foods that you can either make from scratch or buy simpler, more real-food brands of.  Be conscious of your snack choices.
3. If this sounds fun to you, make less-processed food experimentation a cooking project.  In my own kitchen, I've been able to make my own mayonnaise, kefir, dried nuts, dehydrated veggie/nut snacks, corn tortillas... all things that previously I bought as processed foods, and now I prefer to make my own most of the time. 

THINK ABOUT WHAT GOES IN YOUR BODY
EAT REAL FOOD!