Home Archives for HEALTH TOPICS GENERAL
June 10, 2015

Safe Sunscreen

Safe sunscreenAs a redhead with blue eyes, I have to be very careful about going into the sun. I don’t tan; I burn!

I’m very wary about the chemicals that are used in typical sunscreens. Many of these chemicals, such as oxybenzone, vitamin A (retinyl) palmitate, fragrance, parabens and phthalates, cause endocrine or neurological damage.

However, I believe it’s important to get some sun so I can activate the cholesterol in my skin and turn it into vitamin D. There’s a vitamin D deficiency in this country that is especially high in kids with autism as well as other autoimmune diseases.

The trick is to get a little bit of sun for maybe 10 minutes or so, right before my skin turns pink, and then put some safe sunscreen on.

How do you know if you have a safe sunscreen? Check out the Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Sunscreens. The EWG is my go-to source checking the safety rating of personal-care products, cleaning products, cellphones and produce.

About two thirds of the sunscreens tested contain toxic ingredients!

 

Filed Under: AUTISM / PDD-NOS, CARCINOGENS, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, HEALTHY HOME, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, TOXINS
July 17, 2014

Turmeric and Ginger: Two South Asian Power Foods

Turmeric and Ginger: Two South Asian Power FoodsOne of the great discoveries I made in my health-recovery journey was learning that food can be medicine. Ann Wigmore said it best, I think: “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.”

You’re either eating foods that are health-supportive or health-destructive. The Standard American Diet (SAD)’s processed foods are not only virtually void of any nutrients, but they are also typically full of harmful ingredients like artificial colors, artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives and additives like MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and other neurotoxins.

If you’ve read my blogs before, you know that I believe that whole foods are health-supportive. Whole foods are ones that look very much like what they did when they were alive and growing.

For example, instead of thinking that whole-wheat bread is a whole food (it’s not), think instead about where the flour came from: the wheat berry.

For a health-supportive diet, a whole-foods diet is the basis for feeling better. I recommend that, in addition to this, you look at foods that are anti-inflammatory in nature. These are typically herbs and spices, as well as brightly colored fruits and vegetables.

Traditional Diets

In my love of cooking and search for health for myself and my family, I have also discovered that traditional diets are very health-promoting. Think about it: before people had refrigeration and preservatives, how did they eat?

They ate foods that had been preserved with salt, fermentation or by drying. They also ate foods that were only in season, which is a core tenet of the macrobiotic diet. And they also prized herbs and spices not only for their strong flavors, but also for their medicinal properties.

In fact, most, if not all, ancient medicinal traditions use herbal medicine. Some of these herbs and spices are ones that are eaten daily, and some are used for medicinal purposes only.

Anti-Inflammatory Spices

South Asian foods from India are examples of foods that contain a lot of two of my favorite anti-inflammatory spices, turmeric and ginger.

Turmeric is not only anti-inflammatory, but it’s also anti-fungal, anti-aging, anti-cancer (anti-mutagenic), anti-diabetic and lowers symptoms of dementia. It’s great for the pains of arthritis and headaches, protects against damaging effects of radiation, protects against heavy-metal toxicity.

What’s not to love about turmeric besides the fact that it’ll stain your hands and clothes yellow if you’re not careful?

Ginger is another powerhouse food that has been used in both Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years. In Western cultures, we typically think of ginger as a nausea reliever, but ginger is a powerful anti-inflammatory spice as well.

Ginger also reduces symptoms of dementia seen in Alzheimer’s (likely because of its anti-inflammatory properties), and it’s also anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic and anti-viral. In addition, it decreases the pain from working out too hard as well as from migraines. Consumption of ginger has been proven to lower blood pressure, too.

You don’t have to eat South Asian foods to get these spices into your diet, although I will say I love Indian and Asian food! To get you started in incorporating turmeric and ginger into your diet, I’ve provided a couple of my favorite recipes:

Filed Under: ALZHEIMER'S, ANTIOXIDANTS, ARTHRITIS, CANCER, FOOD AND NUTRITION, FOOD CHOICES, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, INFLAMMATION, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, OTHER DISEASES, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, STANDARD AMERICAN DIET (SAD), TYPE 2 DIABETES
July 12, 2014

Emotional Stress Impact on Health

I think a lot of people underestimate the emotional stress impact on health. Stressful emotions like anger, frustration and hopelessness can cause immune dysfunction and inflammation.

I experienced the effects of this personally a few years ago when I no longer had help for my two young sons, the older of whose Sensory Processing Disorder became severe because he was so stressed at having to share me with his baby brother.

My older son’s constant, and I mean non-stop, crying and screaming sent me over the edge.  I couldn’t deal with the fact that no matter what I did, he couldn’t be consoled.  That’s when I really began to know that there really was something wrong with him; he wasn’t just having normal tantrums.

The frustration of not being able to help him left me feeling rather hopeless, and it was made worse by the fact that no one I knew had a child going through this.

That’s when I developed severe irritability, middle-of-the-night insomnia, shingles (twice), bronchitis, recurrent infections, a case of poison ivy so bad I needed steroids (or thought I did at the time; now I know better), irregular cycles, severe adrenal fatigue, ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids, all within the space of a year or so.

Yes, stress can really do a number on your health!

The good thing is that I’ve learned how to overcome these health challenges and get my health back, but I will tell you that stress can cause all of these problems and more because it causes a constant “fight or flight” feeling that screws up your hormones, causes inflammation and leads to severe nutritional deficiencies and immune dysregulation.

I recently read the book “Healing the Gerson Way:  Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases”, and there was an interesting point made in there:  that typically, but not always, there is an extremely stressful event that occurs in a person’s life 18-24 months before they develop cancer.

I can think of a real-life example of that in a woman I know who recently developed breast cancer.  A couple of years ago, her house burned down, and she lost everything.  Although her family built a gorgeous new house, that was still a lot of stress for her to go through.

The more I learn about health, the more I understand that it’s not just about eating whole foods, although that plays a primary role in maintaining and/or recovering health:  Health is also about having the tools to cope with emotional stressors in our lives, whether that’s having a strong support network, a spiritual and/or meditation practice, exercise and a purpose in life.

Filed Under: ADRENAL FATIGUE, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, STRESS
April 18, 2014

Bone Broth Benefits

Bone Broth BenefitsBone broth is one of the staples in my kitchen, and I’m hoping to make it that way in yours, too.  Our ancestors knew about bone broth benefits, but we’ve gotten so out of touch with traditional foods that we don’t realize how healing something as simple as bone broth can be.

Minerals

“Good broth will resurrect the dead” is a South American proverb.  The reason is that animal bones are full of minerals.

So many people are mineral deficient these days, especially those who eat a Standard American Diet full of processed foods that are typically void of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

Minerals are necessary for proper functioning of our adrenal and thyroid glands, which help us to deal with stress.  If you’re mineral deficient, you’re likely having a hard time managing stress.

Gelatin

When broth cools, the gelatin in it congeals.  Gelatin contains the amino acids glycine and arginine.  Glycine is helpful for achieving deep, restful sleep as well as for making glutathione, the body’s master antioxidant.  Arginine helps heal coronary blood vessels, keeps the plaque off of arteries and minimizes clotting.

Gelatin also helps heal the lining of the colon, and is especially helpful for anyone with digestive issues.  It’s great for building up hair and nails and because it contains collagen, it’s great for keeping your skin from sagging.

Gelatin has been found to increase cartilage in the joints, so it’s helpful for someone with arthritis.  Not only that, but gelatin is anti-inflammatory, so it can help reduce the pain of arthritis, as well as that of other conditions.

Deep, Hearty Richness

Bone broth is the magic ingredient I use to give my home-cooked meals a satisfying and rich flavor.  Anyone that’s eaten my food knows that it has a deep, hearty richness that comes from my homemade bone broths.

You can’t buy this flavor from a package in a store or even find it in most restaurants, as they use factory-made bases containing MSG or other free-glutamate “foods”.  You really need to make it yourself to taste the difference.  I use it for reconstituting grains and legumes, for sauteing and braising meats and vegetables and for the base for sauces and soups.

Be sure to use bones from pasture-raised or grass-fed land animals or from wild-caught (not farm-raised) fish.  When I buy meat, I buy it with the bone in and skin on.  Fat from the skin is full of fat-soluble vitamins and gives dishes another depth of flavor that’s impossible to duplicate with store- or restaurant-bought food.

I save the bones and store them in the freezer until I have enough to make a batch of bone broth in my slow cooker.

Here are some easy recipes for you to incorporate into your daily routine so that you, too, can realize bone broth benefits.

I wrote this blog post for Dr. Henri Roca, a functional-medicine MD.

 

Filed Under: ADRENAL FATIGUE, FOOD AND NUTRITION, FOOD CHOICES, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, STRESS
April 7, 2014

Book Review: The Diet Cure

Now, you might think it strange that I’m writing a book review for “The Diet Cure” by Julia Ross.  While I am a health coach, I don’t specialize in weight loss.  Instead, I specialize in helping people recover from symptoms of chronic neurological and/or autoimmune issues like autism, ADHD, allergies, asthma, SPD, lupus, fibromyalgia, Lyme and more.

But I don’t like throwing the baby out with the bath water, so I read the book to see what’s in it for my clients.  There’s a lot!

In the book, Ms. Ross teaches us about adrenal, thyroid, yeast-overgrowth, nutritional deficiencies, fatty-acid deficiency, food sensitivities and blood-sugar issues, which are all common in my clients (both the children and their mothers) and how many of these issues can be controlled with diet (food choices) as well as amino acid therapy.

She recommends a whole-foods diet for all of these issues, as well as an Atkins-ish diet especially for those with blood sugar issues. It’s about the elimination of sugar with an emphasis on protein and fats to keep you full.  For anyone that’s ever done the Atkins diet, you know that one piece of bread will send you into a carb-lover’s binge-fest.

Ms. Ross provides us with the missing links for why the Atkins diet is not successful in the long run:

  • “Dr. Atkins did not know that carbs could be more addictive than cocaine.”
  • “Dr. Atkins specifically did not recognize the addictive power of grains, particularly wheat, for many people.”

The key to overcoming carb and sugar addiction is the addition of the amino acids that Ms. Ross recommends.

The book goes step-by-step into explaining how the factors I mentioned above as well as depleted brain chemistry and malnutrition from chronic dieting make it almost impossible to stay at a healthy weight.  Ms. Ross also shows us how to correct these imbalances.

Given that Ms. Ross has headed up the Recovery Systems Clinic for many years, she has dealt with the full gamut of different types of addiction (drug, alcohol and food).  She writes that the reason her clinic is so successful is because of the use of amino acid therapy to correct these biochemical imbalances in the brain and elsewhere.  It’s not willpower; it’s biochemistry.

When I read this book, I took a step back and looked at it from my perspective of not only a health coach but also the media director and a board member of Epidemic Answers, a non-profit that lets parents know that recovery is possible from autism, ADHD, SPD, allergies, asthma, autoimmune and more.

We let parents know WHY there is such an epidemic of children’s chronic illnesses:  it’s a perfect storm of the Standard American diet that is nutritionally deficient, the overuse of antibiotics, toxins in our environment, stressful lifestyles and gut dysbiosis (an imbalance of good vs. bad gut flora).

But when I read this book, I thought, “Huh.  All those women that have been on nutritionally deficient diets for years since at least the 1970’s are having kids, and those kids are being born with nutritional deficiencies that are compounded by gut dysbiosis, toxicity and stress.  No wonder we’re seeing such epidemics of autism, ADHD, allergies and more.”

Moms being on nutritionally deficient diets isn’t the only reason for this epidemic, but it certainly plays a key, overlooked role.

I’ll be hosting Ms. Ross on my upcoming webinar on April 23, 2014 at 1:00pm ET.  We’ll be discussing these imbalances and how to correct them with amino acids and diet, and you can sign up for your chance to ask questions here.

 

Filed Under: ADHD, ADRENAL FATIGUE, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, BOOK REVIEWS, CANDIDA, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, FOOD AND NUTRITION, FOOD CHOICES, GENERAL, GLUTEN SENSITIVITY, GUT DYSBIOSIS, HEALING FATS, HEALTH TOPICS, LEAKY GUT, LYME DISEASE, LYME DISEASE, MEDIA, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, STANDARD AMERICAN DIET (SAD), TOXINS, YEAST INFECTIONS Tagged: , , ,
March 2, 2014

Inflammation

What’s so important about inflammation?

Discover 12 Powerful Ways to Reduce Inflammation - small3Inflammation causes pain, swelling, heat, redness and loss of function. Left untreated, it can lead to bodily tissue destruction, fibrosis and necrosis. Remember, pain is a signal that something’s wrong.

Who has inflammation?

Inflammation is a root cause of many chronic illnesses such as autism, ADHD, allergies, asthma, eczema, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, type II diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Help!  How do I reduce it?

Sign up for this free report!  In it, I’ll show you many simple things you can do with the foods that you’re eating to reduce inflammation.  And when that happens, you may not have as much pain, stiffness and swelling.

 

Filed Under: ADHD, ALLERGIES, ALZHEIMER'S, ANXIETY, ARTHRITIS, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, BIPOLAR DISORDER, CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, DEPRESSION, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, FIBROMYALGIA, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, INFLAMMATION, LEARNING DISABILITIES, LYME DISEASE, LYME DISEASE, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, OCD, OTHER DISEASES, PANDAS, PARKINSON'S, RETAINED REFLEXES, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, SCHIZOPHRENIA, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER, TYPE 1 DIABETES, TYPE 2 DIABETES Tagged:
February 7, 2014

Formaldehyde in Johnson and Johnson Products

Formaldehyde in Johnson and Johnson ProductsFormaldehyde in Johnson and Johnson products? For decades, Americans have come to believe that Johnson and Johnson’s products are perhaps the best choice for their babies.  I know that when my boys were little, I was given lots of little samples of their shampoos, body washes and powders for babies.

Now, Johnson and Johnson is finally yielding to pressure and changing the formulas of their personal-care products to remove known carcinogens:  formaldehyde (released by the ubiquitous quaternium-15) and 1,4-dioxane.  WHY WERE THESE ALLOWED TO BE IN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

I think it’s because we’ve collectively fallen asleep at the wheel.  I think most Americans assume, as I used to, that if it’s sold in a store, it must be safe because surely the FDA has tested it for safety.  NOT TRUE.

Most people don’t know that ingredients applied to your skin bypass the liver, meaning that those toxins are free to float around your baby’s body and inflict harm.

The sad thing is that we’ve placed our trust in this and other companies because we’ve been led to believe, by millions of dollars spent on marketing and advertising, that their products are safe.

The really sad thing is that our children are being born pre-polluted, and adding known carcinogens to their personal-care products is only hastening the time that they reach toxic overload.  This is one of the, if not THE, main reason why there is an epidemic of children’s chronic illnesses today, such as autism, ADHD, allergies, asthma and autoimmune.  As Jon Stewart said, “And that’s just the A’s”.

Filed Under: ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, CANCER, CARCINOGENS, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, HEALTHY BABY, OTHER DISEASES, TOXINS Tagged: , ,
January 23, 2014

How Do I Use a Neti Pot?

How Do I Use a Neti Pot?If you have a cold or sinus infection, using a neti pot is one of the best things you can do to relieve your congestion and infection. You’re probably wondering, though, “How do I use a neti pot?”

Salt is anti-microbial, so it’ll help kill the virus causing your cold and the bacteria giving you an infection.  My doctor in New Orleans told me a long time ago that gargling with warm salt water is one of the best things you can do for your cold, and he was not wrong.

Salt is also very drying.  That’s why we put it on eggplant and squash to dry them out before roasting.  It pulls out the moisture in these vegetables, and it does the same for your nose and sinus cavities.

There are a couple of caveats to using a neti pot.  One is that using it can cause a sharp sting in the sinus cavities in your forehead, like the kind you got when you were a kid in the swimming pool and breathed in too much water too fast.

The other caveat is that you MUST boil the water in a cooking pot and then let it cool down before using it.  Boiling it will kill brain-eating amoebas and other nasty pathogens hanging out in your drinking water.

I don’t bother with buying the special salts sold with neti pots because they are a rip off.  All you need is a good sea salt or land salt, and you’re good to go.

What about you?  Have you tried one before?

Filed Under: EAR INFECTIONS, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, SINUS INFECTIONS
January 23, 2014

Birth Practices and Breastfeeding Practices

Birth Practices and BreastfeedingI interviewed Jennifer Margulis, author of “The Business of Baby:  What Doctors Don’t Tell You, What Corporations Try to Sell You, and How to Put Your Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Before Their Bottom Line”.

In this webinar, you’ll discover how many common pregnancy practices, birth practices and infant care practices are driven, many times without safety studies, to keep you and your baby as a profit center.  Sign up below for the webinar replay:

Sign up to find out about:

  • The link between ultrasounds and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism
  • Why the maternal death rate doubled in the U.S. between 1990 and 2008
  • Why the C-section rate is so high now and how you’re more likely to have one if you have good medical insurance and at a for-profit hospital
  • Fetal induction and its role in emergency Cesarean sections
  • The link between C-sections and autism, allergies and asthma
  • The link between early cord clamping, anemia and neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD
  • How birth practices and breastfeeding practices can be linked to children’s chronic illnesses and neurodevelopmental disorders

When I was on the way to becoming a new parent, I was like most people out there, who assume that doctors and the healthcare system are looking out for us and have our best interests at heart.

Jennifer (Dr. Margulis, PhD) shows us how this just isn’t so. She shows us how pharmaceutical companies and medical-insurance companies are not only shaping for the worse what our healthcare choices are but also how there is a revolving door between them and federal government that drives federal healthcare policy.

You and I are looked at as long-term profit centers by the healthcare industry. Food and prevention don’t make a lot of profit, so they’re ignored. I love Jennifer’s quote, “You won’t see a farmer going to a doctor’s office with free kale in the hopes of getting pregnant patients hooked”.

Filed Under: ACID REFLUX (GERD), ADHD, ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, AUTISM / PDD-NOS, AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, BIRTH TRAUMA, DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, ECZEMA, GENERAL, HEALTH TOPICS, HEALTHY BABY, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS, PRENATAL HEALTH, SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER
January 9, 2014

Sugar and Health: Cut Out the Sugar!

Sugar and HealthI’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  Sugar is as addictive as drugs!  Sugar activates the same pleasure centers in your brain that hard drugs like morphine and heroin do, and you get a dopamine rush from consuming it.  No wonder it’s so hard to give up!

Sugar is pushed on us by an agricultural policy that subsidizes corn and sugar, making it a cheap and addictive additive to processed foods.  Fifty years ago, the average American consumed about 20 pounds of sugar per year; these days, it’s around 130 pounds.  No wonder we’re an obese nation!

I think by now, we all know that sugar and processed foods can lead to diabetes and obesity, but here are some other reasons why you’ll want to cut out the sugar if you’re looking to improve your health.

Sugar and Health

  • Sugar feeds cancer.  Sugar in all of its forms, including high-fructose corn syrup, maple syrup, agave, etc., feeds cancer because it causes angiogenesis, the growth of blood vessels that feed a tumor.
  • Sugar suppresses the immune system.  Glucose, fructose, sucrose and other simple sugars cause a 50% reduction in the number of white blood cells that engulf pathogenic bacteria.
  • Sugar feeds Candida and other intestinal pathogens.  Candidiasis is a systemic, whole-body infection with the Candida albicans yeast.  Sugar feeds Candida and other intestinal pathogens, which in turn suppress the immune system.
  • Sugar causes inflammation.  Sugary foods cause an increase of inflammatory cytokines. An overproduction or inappropriate production of certain cytokines by the body can result in diseases like heart disease, cancer and autoimmune diseases.
  • Sugar ages your skin faster.  Wanna know why I look 15 years younger than I am?  I don’t eat much sugar.  The free radicals caused by its inflammatory actions age the skin (as well as what you don’t see on the inside).
  • Sugar uses up valuable nutrients to process it.  For example, it takes a LOT of magnesium to process sugar, and magnesium is both woefully deficient in the Standard American Diet and necessary to calm the central nervous system.
  • Sugar causes adrenal fatigue.  Cortisol, made by your adrenal glands, controls blood-sugar swings. Too much sugar can cause excess cortisol production, leading eventually to adrenal fatigue, where your adrenals can’t make enough cortisol to get you through the day with enough energy.
  • Sugar decreases your ability to concentrate.  A high-sugar diet leads to a lack of attention in children (and adults, too!) as well as an increase in adrenaline.
  • Sugar increases your appetite.  Sugar doesn’t tell your brain that you’re full and that you should stop eating, which is why you can scarf down a whole box of crackers or cookies and still be hungry.

Giving up sugar is hard, and sheer willpower probably won’t be enough to do it.  I’ve found that cutting out processed foods while adding in foods made from scratch and whole grains helps.

Let me be clear on what I mean by “made from whole grains”.  I mean food made with the whole brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats grain/kernel, not flakes or flour made by grinding up these grains and seeds.  I mean food made with the whole wheat berry, if you eat wheat, not bread or cookies or waffles or pancakes made from whole wheat flour.  I mean whole oat groats, not oatmeal.  Grinding a grain into flour increases its glycemic load, meaning it can raise your blood sugar very quickly.

Looking for some dessert recipes that aren’t too sweet and don’t have too much sugar?  Try out these favorites:

Filed Under: ADRENAL FATIGUE, CANCER, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, DIGESTIVE ISSUES, FOOD AND NUTRITION, FOOD CHOICES, GENERAL, GUT DYSBIOSIS, HEALTH TOPICS, INFLAMMATION, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, OTHER DISEASES, STANDARD AMERICAN DIET (SAD), SUGAR, TYPE 2 DIABETES
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