Stop Muscle Cramps With This Common Ingredient

Keeping cool in the heat of the triple digit summer temperatures and high humidity is pretty darn difficult. The key thing that helps our bodies adjust and adapt to physical activity in high heat is sweating. And for athletes…

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Keeping cool in the heat of the triple digit summer temperatures and high humidity is pretty darn difficult. One of the key things that helps our bodies adjust and adapt to physical activity and high heat is sweating. And for us athletes, it seems we spend a lot of time working and perspiring out in those sweltering temperatures.

Training outdoors in the heat of the summer can be tricky and downright dangerous. Key is to keep from overheating and avoid dehydration. Read more about that here: “What athletes NEED to know about heat and humidity”.

The other big factor that comes out of working out in the heat is muscle cramps. Muscle cramps generally can come from two things:

  1. Extreme fatigue from overexertion in a particular muscle.
  2. Electrolyte imbalance and/or dehydration, often from sodium loss.

The common solution when someone else complains of muscle cramping or a ‘Charlie horse” is to eat a banana. Bananas are known to be fairly high in potassium, and this always seems to be the ‘go-to’ food for cramps. This may or may not help.

Another common one is that cramping is due to a loss of magnesium and calcium.

Perhaps…

Electrolytes are tricky. It isn’t usually one solution for everyone.

If you have a better understanding of how electrolytes work, you may have a better idea of how to keep them in the right ratios for your optimal performance.

Your body’s electrolytes must be in the correct balance and in the right ratios for the body to function correctly. If you have an excess of one electrolyte, it will throw off the other electrolytes that need to be in the correct balance.

For example, an excess of calcium in the diet or in supplements will throw off magnesium levels, meaning that your body will need more magnesium to balance out the calcium. Low magnesium levels can cause cramping and twitching in muscles.

Potassium and sodium also must maintain the correct balance, so an excess of potassium will throw off the sodium balance and vice versa.

Properly controlled muscle contractions require a very close balance in the interstitial fluid (the fluid surrounding the cells), and an imbalance will lead to excessive muscle contractions, which can manifest as cramping.

Trying to ‘fix’ muscle cramping can be tricky, but since cramps are usually attributed to an imbalance of electrolytes, once you can correct the electrolyte issues, you will find relief.

Fluids lost through sweat contain mostly sodium and chloride, or salt. Muscles tend to hold on to potassium, calcium and magnesium over salt, so your best bet to cure cramps or fatigue from heat and excessive sweating would be to try to replace the salt first.

People lose varying amounts of fluids through sweat, with some folks being very prolific ‘sweaters’, and others who sweat very little.

The amount and concentration of salt in sweat varies from person to person as well. Some people are very salty sweaters and others are not. One athlete might only lose a gram or two of sodium during outdoor activity, and another athlete can lose 20 or more grams of sodium.

Sodium is an important mineral that works with nerve signaling and enabling movements in the muscles, so losing too much salt will make muscles irritable, and can make you dizzy, foggy headed and tired feeling as well.

When you combine a loss of salt and fluids with intense physical effort in the heat, muscles can start contracting uncontrollably, leading to cramping and early fatigue, even bonking. I call it a ‘heat bonk’.

In a case study reported in The International Journal of Sports Nutrition (Bergeron, 1996),

“…an elite tennis player was found to lose more sodium in his sweat during several hours of play than he consumed throughout the entire day. During intense play that resulted in sweat loss of 3 quarts an hour, the player knotted up with the cramps. It was recommended that the player add salt to his diet and sports drink. The addition of sodium reduced subsequent cramping episodes. Whenever the player felt cramps coming on in a game, he drank a sports drink with salt, and the cramps ceased.”

Let’s talk for a minute about salt. For many years, we have been told that salt is BAD for us, that it makes our blood pressure go up and that we should avoid it. However that is NOT true. We need salt. And some of us, depending on our diet, lifestyle and other factors need more than others. Probably way more than you’d think. Check out this most recent article in the New York Times on salt consumption and health issues.

And, Paleo dieters or those on a lower carb diet lose large amounts of salt and fluids through the more efficient filtering of the kidneys. That’s one of the reasons that people who go on a low carb diet immediately lose a lot of water weight. The kidneys are simply more efficient and process out fluids quicker.

That means Paleo and low carb dieters need more salt in general—whether exercising or not. And for those transitioning over to a lower carb diet, salt is very important just for everyday functioning to avoid fatigue and dizziness.

For athletes, the need for salt is even more crucial.

Without enough salt in the body, blood volume will fall short, and during activity in hot weather, your body will not have enough fluides for sweating or to adequately circulate your blood well enough. In essence, your blood becomes thicker, causing your heart to work even harder to pump this thick stuff through the body. This causes dizziness and intense fatigue, and ultimately cramps and dehydration.

Cramping can also be a result of dehydration. That may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many athletes don’t drink enough water during the day and during training/competition. You may be shocked at how much water and fluids you need to replace on a hot day! Yes we need salt and electrolytes, but most of what comes out in sweat is just plain water.

The sodium-potassium balance is an important factor in cramping for athletes. However, remember that too much sodium can cause cramping as well, so if extra sodium does not help, then add in potassium.

Fluids containing sodium and potassium are retained in the body much better than those that don’t.

Ever get dehydrated and drink a ton of water to replace the fluids lost and immediately urinate it all out, but still remain thirsty? Well this is because without sodium and potassium, your body will not retain the needed fluids.

Electrolyte balance can get complicated, but if you remember it’s a balancing act, then a little educated trial and error will help you maintain the right balance.

For salt to be effective it must be added to drinks an hour or so prior to any training or competition, and also during the competition. Too early and it does no good.

So next time you venture out in the heat of the summertime, add in a pinch of sea salt to your pre-training drink, and add some into your drinks during the workout as well. Generally about a 1/3 to a half of a teaspoon (give or take) will help replace the sodium lost in sweat. Experiment with this a bit and see how you feel.

If the salt doesn’t solve the cramping problem, next add in more potassium. Potassium can be found in abundance in many foods including: potatoes, oranges and orang juice, bananas, avocados, cantelope, kiwi, beans, spinach, any dark green leafy vegetable, tomatoes, asparagus, lettuce and mushrooms to name a few.

I am not a huge fan of commercial sports drinks. Generally I think they have way too much sugar or, even worse, corn syrup and citric acid in them, along with artificial colorings and a host of scary chemicals, to even be effective. The citric acid alone has been proven to actually eat away at tooth enamel. And the corn syrup–yuk–don’t get me started!

I often make my own sports drink with about half and half water and orange juice (high in potassium), and a pinch of sea salt. For a great instant sodium-potassium replacement, try a V-8. Coconut juice or coconut water is also an excellent electrolyte replacement drink, but remember you still may need extra sodium. My latest drink concoction was half coconut water, half regular water, the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of sea salt. I felt great!

If these two electrolytes don’t work, or if you find you are waking up in the middle of the night with ‘charley horses’, you may need to supplement with magnesium. Over 80% of the population is deficient in this mineral and if you are an athlete you are even more likely to be deficient, as some of this is lost in sweat.

Besides eating a lot of leafy greens, nuts, and pumpkin seeds, you can take a magnesium supplement before bed to help relax the muscles. Because magnesium takes longer to be absorbed into muscles, supplementing with this mineral should be done several days ahead of any training or competition to be entirely effective. And watch the dose and start out slowly or get a slow, time-release type of magnesium because it can cause diarrhea.

Other health issues like diabetes, neurologic or vascular problems can also play a part in getting cramps. And supplements or over the counter medications like sudafed, creatine and caffeine may bring on muscle cramps as well. If cramps suddenly occur without a prior history, check with your doctor to rule out more serious causes.

So follow these things when outside in the heat to avoid cramps and dehydration:

1. Drink plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise

2. Replenish sodium lost from sweat (a half teaspoon, more or less)

3. Eat more healthy carbs to fuel high intensity exercise

 

Till next time,

Stay Healthy and Hydrated!

 

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back-to-basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years researching diet, health and nutrition.

Her book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” has sold over 100,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

References:

Bergeron, M., Heat Cramps During Tennis: A Case Report. International Journal of Sport Nutrition 6:62-68, 1996.

Craig Horswell, Ph.D., Gatorade Sports Science Institute

Steve Phinney, “Low-Carb preserves Glycogen better than High Carb”, 4/14/11

 

My Quest for Good Tasting Gluten Free Beer

I have been on a quest to find gluten free beer since I went totally gluten free about 12 years ago. I’m no big beer snob, but I do like a full bodied beer that has some degree of good flavor. And I’ve actually found some really good ones out there…

Ok, so I have been on a quest to find gluten free beer since I went totally gluten free about 12 years ago.

The first to appear about three years ago were New Grist and Redbridge. Redbridge is a product of the former AB, now InBev company.

Having gone so many years without a beer to drink, the first offerings in the gluten free beer fare were welcomed with some excitement. I’m no big beer snob, but I do like a full bodied beer that has some degree of good flavor.

I was not overly impressed with either Redbridge or New Grist. Gluten free beers most often have to rely on alternate forms of grain for brewing, and in doing so tend to lose a lot of the full-bodied flavor that most beers have. New Grist and Redbridge are made from sorghum. While I find Redbridge is a drinkable beer, and somewhat welcome in ice cold form on a hot day, I do not enjoy New Grist. I find it too sweet, lacking in any sort of character and a poor substitute for a beer.

St. Peters beer is another sorghum beer that I did NOT like. It was bitter and hoppy with little flavor to enjoy. Not worth trying other than the fact that it comes in kind of a cool bottle.

Branching out a little, I found Bards which, too is made from sorghum, but has a little more of a full bodied taste. It however tastes a bit too molasses-y and sweet for me, but it isn’t bad, and definitely has a different taste.

Daura, from Spain was a fairly recent find, and pretty darn good tasting. I like the fact that it tasted a little different, a little more like a real beer–full bodied and flavorful, with a slightly chocolate aftertaste. I can drink this!  Daura is actually made from a gluten free formulation of a barley malt, so it may taste a bit more like a real beer to those who really miss regular beer. While this process leaves microscopic amounts of gluten in the beer, it is classified according to international standards of “gluten free” which is only 20 ppm of gluten. Good if you are gluten sensitive or avoiding gluten for other reasons, but I would probably avoid it if you are extremely gluten sensitve.

My favorite discovery was Green’s line of beers. Here are some tasty viable alternatives for lovers of craft beer. These are beers from Belgium (they do know their beer there!) and consist of three, well-flavored and full-bodied beers. Green’s uses buckwheat in their beers, giving it less of a sweet taste and a little more of that roasty, toasty ‘real’ beer taste. Their line includes Green’s Discovery, an amber beer—and my favorite;  Green’s Endeavor, a Dubbel–WAY too sweet, malty and heavy for me, and Green’s Quest–a kick you in the butt Tripel beer with good flavor and a high alcohol content.  Be careful with these beers. Not only do they come in a larger, craft beer sized bottle, but they contain pretty high alcohol content, so you are getting twice the beer that you would get in a regular sized bottle. Quest carries a hefty 8.5% alcohol content, with Endeavor at 7%, and Discovery at 6%.

And…[drum roll please!] new on the St. Louis scene at bars, restaurants and Whole Foods is the newest addition to the gluten free lineup of beers. This one is actually supposed to taste great and will taste much like a regular (real), good tasting lager or pale ale.
This new beer is the result of several years of formulation by an Oregon microbrewery, Craft Brew Alliance.  These beers are actually brewed with malted barley (normally an off-limits grain for Celiacs), yeast, hops and water in a special process that removes the gluten from the barley. The chief executive of Craft Brew Alliance was actually diagnosed with celiac disease along with his wife, so he has a personal reason to find a good gluten free drinakable beer.  He has worked hard at developing a good tasting gluten free beer, and it looks like it’s here. “Omission” will make its appearance on the shelves at Whole Foods in Brentwood this Friday, June 22, and at other stores and restaurants in the area as well. I will be one of the first in line to taste this new concoction!

So that’s my basic take on gluten free beers. I may not have covered all of them and there are some great regional gluten free beers,  but these are generally the selection we have here in St. Louis. There is a life after going gluten free, and beer is one of the things you don’t have to suffer without.

You may however,  have to look around for your favorite gluten free beer, and when find what you like, stock up on your home supply, because restaurants have so far been a little slow in catching on to the gluten free beer trend. Email me if you’d like to have a list of places that carry gluten free beer—it’s an ever changing list, and I will do my best to keep track of what’s out there. And keep asking stores and restaurants if they carry gluten free beer or other items. At some point some of these places may realize they will lose business if they don’t get on the gluten free wagon.

P.S. Just got the Omission Pale Ale and I felt guilty drinking it! It tastes like REAL beer! I have to say, even those who are not gluten free will like it.

Till next time,

Stay healthy and lean and refreshed!

Look for my new book, “The Flat Belly Kitchen” out on Amazon Kindle soon!

 

DSC 6815 e1335982388100 Never Give Up!! Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

Never Give Up!!

I just wanted to share this really inspirational message with you. It’s awe-inspiring. If you have ever had obstacles to overcome and thought them too big, just check this out. It’s a great example of what you can do if you really, really want to. All it takes is the right mindset. YOU can do it. Go forward, one step at a time.

I just wanted to share this really inspirational message with you, from my friend, Mike Geary. It’s awe-inspiring.

If you have ever had obstacles to overcome and thought them too big, just check this out. It’s a great example of what you can do if you really, really want to. All it takes is the right mindset.

YOU can do it. I believe in you!! Have confidence in yourself and go forward, one step at a time.

And NEVER give up!

Enjoy.

Click here for an awesome inspirational story.

Till next time,

Stay Healthy, Lean and Inspired!

 

Look for our new book, “The Flat Belly Kitchen” out on Amazon Kindle soon!

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

Dirty Secrets of the Bottled Water Industry

Drinking lots of water is supposed to be healthy right? Well based on the massive growth of the bottled water industry worldwide, it certainly seems so. Don’tt be fooled by those crystal clear streams and waterfalls on the label…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drinking lots of water is supposed to be healthy right? Well based on the massive growth of the bottled water industry worldwide, it certainly seems so. And if you read much, the horror stories of what lurks in your tap water are enough to make anyone want to drink that seemingly pure water that comes in the plastic bottle.

But don’t be fooled by those crystal clear streams and waterfalls on the label. It may actually be worse than your tap water…

That bottled water that you just purchased may have been bottled straight from a tap, or could be from an untested, and contaminated ‘spring’ somewhere in an industrial complex’s property. Or even worse, according to some reports, taken from a community that depends on its clean water aquifer for survival.

We Americans spend over $11 BILLION dollars a year, on tap water, and worldwide that amount is estimated to be $100 billion by some accounts. While bottled water is a luxury to us, the United Nations estimates that if just 1/6th of that money spent annually on bottled water ($15 billion) were spent on clean water sources for some underdeveloped areas, they could cut in half the number of people who need access to clean water.

And since bottled water is 1900 to 2,000 times more expensive than tap water, you would have to assume that bottled water is not only more safe and pure, but that it must have to adhere to stricter purity standards. Not true.

Regular tap water in the US must adhere to very strict standards of purity, while bottled water does not.

In two tests—once conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council and another by the Environmental Working Group found that over 22% of the bottled water brands tested contained arsenic, lead or other cancer causing organic compounds, 17% had higher than normal levels of bacteria, and 20% contained industrial chemicals.

In addition, the EWA found that 23% of bottled water brands contained no source information on either their labels or websites. The EWG concluded:

“Nearly a third of the bottled water labels we examined, including leading bottled water brands such as Dasani Purified Water, and Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water, offered no information about their water’s source… Until recently… Aquafina also fell into this category…after extensive pressure from Corporate Accountability International and other consumer groups, Aquafina agreed to modify its labels to say that the water is sourced from unnamed public water supplies.

A third of the labels we inspected included partial or vague source locations, providing the consumer with little or no useful information. [Example] Aquamantra Natural Spring Water, as the name implies, sourced from a spring identified on the label as in zip code 92707, and Voss Artesian Water and Meijer Natural Spring Water identify their water sources as “Vatnestrom, Norway” and “deep within Michigan’s countryside,” respectively.

Did you realize that about half the bottled water you buy and drink is just tap water that hasn’t been any further purified?

Out of the ten brands of bottled water tested, an average of eight chemical contaminants were found, including: Disinfection byproducts (DBPs), Tylenol, nitrates, industrial chemicals, fluoride, arsenic, and bacteria.

If you freeze your water bottles or leave them in your hot car, dangerous chemicals leach out of the plastic into the water. The worst one is bisphenol A. BPA is a known xeno-estrogen (chemical that mimics estrogen) and endocrine disrupter. BPA is thought to be associated to obesity, some types of cancer, neurological issues, thyroid problems, male and female reproductive issues, diabetes, birth defects, and breast cancer.

Plastic bottles used for water are also responsible for massive worldwide environmental pollution as massive usage of natural resources such as water and petroleum.

According to the International Bottled Water Association and Beverage Marketing Corporation statistics, over 200 billion water bottles are discarded yearly, and only about 10-15% of those are recycled. That means over 80% end up in landfills or elsewhere, leaching toxins into the ground, the air, or our oceans. These water bottles and other discarded plastic have formed a huge trash island floating in the Pacific that is estimated at least twice the size of Texas, and by some reports as big as the continental United States.

All this disintegrating plastic has entered our food chain.

And sadly, it takes more than 5 liters of water to produce every liter of bottled water. Does that make any sense at all?  It also takes 17 million barrels of oil to produce the plastic bottles needed to package the water.  That would fuel 100,000 cars for a year!

And manufacturing plastic water bottles also releases about 2.5 million tons of poisonous carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, then there is the extra fuel and air pollution it takes to transport all those water bottles around the world.

This has the makings of environmental catastrophe. For water? That’s crazy!

Consider seriously cutting back on the buying and consuming bottled water—unless absolutely necessary. Purchase an inexpensive charcoal filter water pitcher for use at home to filter your tap water (if you don’t have your own well) or attach a filter to your water faucet, although these do not filter out fluoride, they do filter out most other impurities.

I personally use the filter on my refrigerator water dispenser (but then you have to replace the filters), although I know it does not remove the fluoride from my water.  For drinking water, I get the large 5-gallon containers with reusable bottles from a nearby spring water facility.

Since the average American spends somewhere around $400 a year on bottled water, your best bet is to save your money and purchase a reverse osmosis (RO) water filter.  Contact a local plumbing supply company or check the hardware store.

Break the bottled water habit, save the environment, and conserve our natural resources. Carry your own (filtered) water in a reusable glass or metal container.

Sources
Lisa Margonelli, “Tapped Out”, New York Times, June 15, 2008

Dr. Joseph Mercola, “Is Bottled Water Really Pure?”, August 01 2009

Chris Baskind, “5 reasons to not drink bottled water”, Mother Nature Network, March 15, 2010.

Peter H. Gleick, “Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water” 2010, Island Press.

Jospeh Mercola, “The 6 Worst Brands of Bottled Water You Can Buy” Jan 21, 2011

Environmental Working Group, “Tap water source disclosure: short, simple, informative”
http://www.ewg.org/health/report/BottledWater/Bottled-Water-Scorecard/Where-Bottled-Water-Comes-From

My Favorite Top 55 Flat Belly Foods

 

My good friend, health and fitness specialist and co-author of The Fat Burning Kitchen, Mike Geary has a great list of his (and Mine) favorite Flat Belly Foods.

I thought you’d like to check out what he says–it’s a good way to put together a healthy grocery list.

Check it out here–

Mike’s Top 55 Flat Belly Foods

 

Till next time,

Stay Healthy and Lean!

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

Dangerously ‘Doctored’ Foods to Avoid to Stay Healthy and Lean

While we generally don’t hear a lot about them, genetically modified foods could have some serious consequences on our health.
While there have been no ‘official’ studies done on humans, some of the effects GM foods have on animals is pretty frightening. The thing is, GM foods are not just for animals. In fact over 80% of soy, corn and cottonseed are now genetically modified.

I have sort of ignored all the noise about Genetically Modified foods, thinking it didn’t apply to me, etc. Well, once I started researching this particular subject, I realized how scary this stuff could be.  I will be sure to totally avoid all genetically modified foods from now on.

While we generally don’t hear a lot about them, genetically modified foods could have some serious consequences.

While there have been no ‘official’ studies done on humans, some of the effects GM foods have on animals is pretty frightening. The thing is, GM foods are not just for animals. They are well entrenched in our food supply. In fact over 80% of soy, corn and cottonseed are now genetically modified.

Animals fed genetically modified grains or seeds like corn, soy and cottonseed end up with problems with infertility, immune function, accelerated aging, insulin instability, and unhealthy changes in organs, including the GI system.

Genes have actually been added to some soy as a built in insecticide. But these genes are thought to be able to transfer themselves into the DNA of our intestinal flora, so when ingested, they may keep functioning. What you could end up with is something like a human pesticide factory within your GI system, long after the genetically modified food has been eaten.

Here are a few of the reactions that animals have had to some genetically modified foods:

•    Female rats fed genetically modified soy lost most of their offspring in less than 3 weeks.
•    Mice fed genetically modified soy had altered sperm cells and DNA structures, and their offspring had changed DNA as well.
•   When male rats fed were fed genetically modified soy their testicles changed from a healthy pink to dark blue.
•    Sheep died by the thousands after grazing on genetically modified cotton. Autopsies showed severe irritation and black patches in the intestines and liver, well as enlarged bile ducts.
•    Buffalo died in three days after eating GM cotton plants for the first time.
•    Thousands of farm workers have had severe allergic reactions from working around GM cotton.
•    Buffalo fed GM cottonseed had premature deliveries, abortions, infertility, and uterine problems. Most calves died, and the cows and bulls became sterile.

Because GM foods contain increased amounts of phyto-estrogens or plant estrogens, they could contribute to excess weight gain, gynecomastia (“man boobs”), and stubborn belly fat as being a factor in some cancers and other serious health issues.

Because genetically modified foods contain modified proteins they can be responsible for more allergic reactions in people. Genetically modified soy contains a protein that can cause severe allergic reactions. When GM soy was introduced in the UK, allergic reactions to soy increased 50% or more.

Genetically modified foods now contain new and unknown substances that have never been present in nature before.

Do you want to trust this? I sure don’t. We have no way of knowing what kinds of ill health effects they can produce in humans, especially if you look at some of the negative reactions that animals have had to GM foods.

Similar to so many other chemically altered foods, there have been no long-term studies done on the safety of GM foods. Looks like once again we will be the human guinea pigs.

The big biotech companies that produce genetically modified foods have been allowed, in the US at least, to govern their own work, and the government has stepped back and allowed it. My guess is that the big biotech companies care less about our welfare and more their bottom line.

So this leaves it up to you, to protect your own health and avoid these biological experiments.

How do we escape the possible health consequences of genetically modified foods?

The most common genetically modified foods are:

•    Soy
•    Corn
•    Cottonseed Oil
•    Canola Oil

Around 80% of these foods are now genetically modified, unless they are organic.

And that’s not all the genetically modified foods:

Rice–Allegedly, there are reports of rice varieties containing human genes to be grown in the United States. Genetically modified rice can cause allergic reactions and gene transfers.

Tomatoes–Tomatoes have been genetically modified for longer shelf life. In studies on animals, the animal test subjects died within a few weeks after consuming GM tomatoes.

Rapeseed or Canola Oil—Canola oil is often used in cooking oil and margarine spreads. A variety of canola oil developed in 1998 is considered to be the most disease- and drought-resistant variety of rapeseed to date. Today about 80% of the acres sown are genetically modified canola. Honey often comes from GM canola plants as well.

Peas—GM peas contain a gene that functions as a pesticide inside cells, and could cause an an allergic response when eaten.

Conventionally raised meat, dairy products, farmed fish and eggs—These animals are fed with genetically modified feed. Buy “organic,” wild caught, or from “100 % grass-fed” animals.

NutraSweet and Equal—According to some reports, these artificial sweeteners are created with genetically modified microorganisms. While this stuff is bad for you in many ways, here is just one more reason to avoid it.

There are also zucchini, crook neck squash, Hawaiian papaya, and sugar beets (used for making table sugar) that are now genetically modified as well.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly do not want this stuff in MY body!

Besides the health issues that have appeared in animals, who wants their DNA altered? Eating genetically modified foods could cause weird forms of cancer and other deadly diseases—and some new diseases that modern medicine has never seen before. That’s a dangerous gamble I’m not willing to risk with my health.

A biotechnology scientist had this to say about GM foods:  “For the first time in the world, we’ve proven that GMO’s are neither sufficiently healthy nor proper to be commercialized. […] For all three GMOs, [soy, corn, cotton] the kidneys and liver, which are the main organs that react to a chemical food poisoning, had problems…”

How do we avoid genetically modified foods and their potential health problems?  It’s easy if you follow a natural, healthy diet.

Avoid the packaged, processed foods, especially those containing soy, corn, sugar and vegetable oils. These foods are terribly unhealthy, full of chemicals, and cause inflammation and fat storage anyway.

Remember these three things to avoid genetically modified foods:

1.    Eat organic—Foods labeled “Organic” or “Certified Organic” cannot be genetically modified in any way.
2.    Look for “Non-GMO” on the label. Many food companies label foods as “non GMO” or add this phrase to the label,  “Made without genetically modified ingredients.”
3.    Avoid any food or food additives that contain the most genetically modified ingredients. These are: soy, corn, cottonseed, canola, and artificial sweeteners.

Genetically modified foods look exactly like any other foods, so you can’t tell by looking at them if they are or not.

Produce like tangelos, seedless watermelons, seedless grapes, low acid tomatoes, and other new varieties of fruit and vegetables are created by natural breeding, not genetic modification, so these foods are fine to eat.

The bottom line is that genetically modified foods have not been tested and we don’t really know whether these foods are safe to eat or not.

We may probably never really know the real harm genetically modified foods can cause, because of the length of time it may take diseases to develop. If you take a look at the health problems that genetically modified foods are causing in animals, it should be a fairly easy assumption that they can and will cause serious, and often deadly health issues in humans as well.

Just one more reason why paying attention to the food you eat, and eating a diet of only REAL, natural foods is extremely important.

Till next time,

Stay Healthy and Lean!

 

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

 

Jeffrey Smith, Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Spring 2008.

www.Foodmatters.tv, The truth is out on GMO foods and it’s not pretty. May 2009.

Aurora Geib, GMO alert: top 10 genetically modified foods to avoid eating, Natural News, May 2012.

How to Deal with Your Child’s Weight Problem While Maintaining his Self Esteem

Editor's Note:

 

Today's post is from Nicole Harris. She has some great tips on how to help keep your child from becoming an unhappy, overweight adult. Starting with better habits now will go a long way towards helping your child avoid obesity, diabetes and many other chronic diseases. 


 

Fear that you may have to buy plus size costumes for your 6-year old boy this Halloween? You can see that your child is getting overweight but you aren't so good at convincing him to quit the soda and the cookies that he is so fond of.

You may also need to get him off the couch and start exercising.

But what if you point out these things and he doesn’t listen? Or, worse, it brings down his confidence irreparably?

You don't want your child to have self-esteem issues. Then how can you address this issue without any of these negative effects? The only way to tell your child all these things without hurting his self-esteem is by tackling it as a family, and making sure he/she feels loved and accepted the way they are. 

You have to tempt your child with healthy foods that also taste good and find a fun, enjoyable program for him/her. Better yet, maybe you should join in too! It is not only healthy for him but also healthy for you.

You will be surprised at some of the changes in diet that your child is willing to make to lose his weight if you involve him in all the decisions. Remember that children are very sensitive and you must be careful that you don’t damage the child emotionally by pointing out his flaws.

Below are a few tips to help your child lose weight by involving the whole family in this weight loss program:

 

1.         Make the meal attractive – There are a lot of online tools that will help you to plan a healthy meal. Plan a colorful mean that looks attractive. Plan a balanced diet or all parts of a healthy meal and then ask your child to fill in the different colors that appeal to him. Sit down and discuss what healthy foods you can add that will match the color of the diet chart. This exercise involves the child and the entire family in planning a healthy meal.

2.         Add New Foods – You can ask your child to help you select a healthy recipe and then shop together for the recipe. This will be a fun exercise for the family and the child will enjoy it. This also works with snack foods. There are a great many healthier options other than chips or cookies. Try apples and peanut butter, or peanut butter and celery, or some tasty trail mix.

3.         Kitchen Time With Your Child – Your child loves cooking with you and this should not surprise you. Give him tasks that are appropriate for his age. He will love helping you in the kitchen and meal times will be looked forward as fun time. You can ask him to pack his lunch and your lunch too. Make him feel that he has chosen the lunch for both of you. He will eat all the healthy foods that he is given and has helped to cook.

4.         Avoid Second Helpings – Don’t set the pot on the dining table. Instead, serve single helpings on the plates and carry them to your dining table. Make sure that everyone has only one serving.

5.         Exercise Together – Exercising can just as much fun as choosing healthy food and recipes is. There are so many things that you can do together. Go for walks or jog together or you can play tennis. Another good option is to join a gym. You may even get a discount when the whole family joins it. This will also limit time before the computer or the Television.

 

Children today are aware of health issues and the dangers of obesity. All they need is some understanding and a gentle push in the right direction. Support them by being a part of their endeavors and your child will soon be happy and fit like you always wanted.

 

Nicole C Harris is a personal fitness trainer and a freelance writer. In her free time, Harris loves partying with her friends and recommends that you should buy themed birthday party supplies online to get great discounts. 

3 ‘Healthy’ Foods to Stop Eating

 

Historically, humans consumed over 80,000 species of edible plants, animals, and fungi, but in our modern dietary world, the average American gets almost 70% of their caloric intake from THREE foods!

And those foods have been pushed as ‘healthy’ but they are actually leading us to multiple chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes–as well as obesity.

What are these so-called ‘healthy foods’ we need to stop eating?

3 ‘healthy foods to stop eating

You’ll see in that article what these 3 foods are, and why it is NOT a good idea to obtain 67% of your caloric intake from only 3 foods. 

This article also has 7 great tips on how to how to eat to get lean for life from fitness and nutrition specialist, Mike Geary.

 

3 Healthy Foods to Stop Eating

 

Till next time,
Stay healthy and lean!

 

cat A Superfood That Improves Athletic Performance and Recovery, Burns Fat, and Helps Your Love Life Too!

DSC 6815 A Superfood That Improves Athletic Performance and Recovery, Burns Fat, and Helps Your Love Life Too! Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.  

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

 

 

 

 

A Superfood That Improves Athletic Performance and Recovery, Burns Fat, and Helps Your Love Life Too!

 

 

I tend to think of most superfoods as being dark green, bright red, orange or yellow, but this particular superfood is actually comes in a dull white, tan or brown color.

Mushrooms deserve “Superfood” status for lots of reasons—many scientists are just in the beginning stages of discovering some of the many amazing things they can do.

 

While particular varieties have abilities unique to their own type, mushrooms in general contain over twenty vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, along with some potent fat burning, immune-enhancing and cancer-fighting phyto-chemicals.

 

In Asia, the Chinese and Japanese have been using different types of mushrooms as powerful medicine for the last 3,000 years. And mushrooms were used by the Pharaohs in Egypt, the Greek warriors, the Romans, the Aztecs and the Mayans.

 

The two most common mushrooms that we use, the white ‘button’ mushroom and the ‘Crimini’ or brown mushroom contain a particular chemical that inhibits excess estrogen production.

 

In women, excess estrogen is responsible for easy weight gain (esp in hips, thighs and stomach), loss of interest in sex, and can lead to a susceptibility to certain estrogen related cancers like breast and ovarian cancer.

 

In men, excess estrogen causes weight gain, loss of sex drive and ambition, and the dreaded “manboobs”, along with certain cancers.

 

Excess estrogen is very dangerous to health, and a major factor not only in weight gain, but also in cancer and tumor development.

 

The “aromatase inhibitors” in mushrooms also help men reverse age-related decline in testosterone, and help them convert free testosterone into the more potent androgenic hormone, DHT, which aids in building lean muscle and fat burning.

 

This also benefits women in a similar fashion, in that it helps build lean, muscular bodies. (No ladies, do not worry, you will NOT grow hair on your chest and turn into big burly men.)You will just get leaner, svelte, and firm.

 

Testosterone is definitely boosts libido for both men AND women.


Other more exotic mushrooms, including the maitake, shiitake, enokitake and oyster mushrooms, contain powerful medicine-like qualities that stimulate the immune system to effectively help it fight off bacteria, viruses, and even cancer.

 

You can easily build up your immune system simply by eating a variety of mushrooms.

Mushrooms also help those with allergies and calm allergic reactions as well.

 

Mushrooms are highly effective athletic performance booster as well as helping with muscle growth and recovery post workout.

 

In studies done on thoroughbred race horses, Cordyceps mushrooms boosted  running speed, and also acted as a calming agent, increasing alert focus and attention. These benefits translate to human athletes as well, helping both speed and concentration.

 

While you can get some of the benefits of mushrooms by taking an expensive supplement, it’s more beneficial to eat them as a whole food.

 

Sauté some along with some chopped, fresh garlic in grass fed butter, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper. Or throw them in whenever you are cooking eggs, vegetables, soup or stews. The subtle, earthy flavor enhances the flavor of many recipes.

 

Mushrooms also provide copper–an important mineral for energy metabolism–B vitamins, and selenium.

 

If you like to eat your mushrooms raw, make sure they are organically grown, since they absorb toxins from the air and soil.

 

And unless you are an expert I don’t recommend going out in the woods and hunting for them yourself. There are too many varieties of mushrooms that are highly toxic or deadly. Your local farmers’ market is a good source of mushrooms in the spring and fall.

 

Till next time, Stay Healthy and Lean!

DSC 6815 Never Eat These Fruits and Vegetables! Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.  

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

 

 

 

 

Charles Bankhead, Mushrooms Play a Role in Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment, WebMD Medical News, December, 1999

 

Joseph Mercola, The “Antioxidant Superstar” Chinese People Eat Daily, November 2011. Mercola.com

 

Charles Mateljon, Crimini Mushrooms, World’s Healthiest Foods, WHfoods.org.

Never Eat These Fruits and Vegetables!

The Dirty Dozen

We see the organic produce in the grocery store and farmer’s markets, but is it really worth the higher price we have to pay?

Aren’t we just paying for expensive food?

Choosing organic foods is a wise decision not only because these foods are lower in harmful pesticides which can be neurotoxins, lead to cancer and other diseases, and mess up our hormones; but also because organic foods contain more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and not genetically modified.

A new report issued by the President’s Cancer Panel even recommends organic produce to lower the risk of cancer and other diseases.

Fruits and vegetables can sit in a field for up to six months during their growing phase so that anything that is sprayed on them will actually get soaked up into the roots.

You cannot wash off many of these pesticides and chemicals.

While it would be nice to purchase and eat everything organic, sometimes this can become an expensive venture. For those of us who must stick to a budget, avoiding the worst offenders is a better answer.

The “Dirty Dozen” list is put together every year by the Environmental Working Group shows the fruits and vegetables that are the most highly sprayed. The group analyzes data from the Department of Agriculture about pesticide residue and ranks foods based on how much or little pesticide residue they have.

When conventionally grown, the fruits and veggies on this list showed at least 47 different chemicals, with some having 67 or more.

Do you want to eat poison? No thanks.

Researchers say eating certain types of organic produce can reduce the amount of toxins we consume on a daily basis by as much as 80 percent.

So next time you go grocery shopping, avoid these conventionally raised fruits or vegetables at all costs:

Apples
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet Bell Peppers
Cherries
Potatoes
Imported Grapes
Lettuce and Spinach
Kale and Collard Greens    

However, the following list are vegetables and fruit that are relatively safe if even you purchase the conventionally grown, non-organic type.

Onions
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet Peas
Asparagus
Kiwi fruit
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Grapefruit
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Onions

Buying locally grown produce also helps to cut back on pesticides, plus you get fresher fruits and vegetables.

And buying local and in season is your best bet for the safest, freshest, and best tasting produce, and the least expensive option.

Till next time, Stay Healthy and Lean!

 

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.  

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

 

 

Should you Eat Eggs?

Whole eggs, especially the yolk (not just egg whites) are an incredibly good source of usable protein and the healthiest essential fats. Egg yolks contain more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, choline and B12, and panthothenic acid of the egg.


Whole eggs, especially the yolk (not just egg whites) are an incredibly good source of usable protein and the healthiest essential fats.

While egg whites are one of the highest quality sources of protein available, the egg yolks are actually the healthiest part of the egg!
That’s where most of the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants (such as lutein) are found. Egg yolks contain more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, choline and B12, and panthothenic acid of the egg.
In addition, the yolks contain ALL of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K in the egg, as well as ALL of the essential fatty acids like omega 3 fats.
And, the protein of whole eggs is more bio-available than egg whites alone due to a more balanced amino acid profile that the yolks help to build. Just make sure to choose free range, organic or pastured eggs instead of the ‘factory-farmed’ grocery store eggs.

There is a huge difference!

Similar to grass-fed beef, and wild caught fish, the nutrient balance of healthy omega 3 fatty acids and the less healthy omega 6 fatty acids is controlled by the diet of the chickens. So free range, organic eggs are by far the healthiest choice for good fats and high levels of nutrition.  ‘Pastured’ eggs, which means the chickens were allowed to roam freely outdoors and eat bugs and grubs and worms are the healthiest of all eggs. Check your local farmers’ market or health food store for this kind of egg.

Of course we all know that eggs contain a powerful amount of protein and essential fats, but new research has found that they also contain antioxidant properties that are known to prevent cardiovascular disease as well as cancer and other diseases.

When eggs are fried or boiled, the antioxidant properties were cut in half. The loss of  antioxidants was the worse when heated in a microwave, which destroys many of the nutrients in any given food! So healthy, clean raw eggs contain the most nutrients.

Eggs are so versatile.

You can add them to so many things, like smoothies, or sauces; eat them alone, or make high protein meals by just scrambling eggs with a bit of grass fed dairy butter, and your favorite veggies.

Season with salt and pepper and add extra antioxidants and nutrition by sprinkling in some turmeric, curry, hot peppers, garlic, cilantro, etc. Top with raw dairy grass fed cheese or fresh salsa, and viola, you have the perfect, filling, high protein, and fat burning meal!

Read more about healthy fat burning foods in The Fat Burning Kitchen Ebook,

cat How to Enjoy Holiday Treats and NOT Feel Guilty, or Gain Weight

 

DSC 6815 How to Enjoy Holiday Treats and NOT Feel Guilty, or Gain WeightCatherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.   

                        Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

          Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.


Does this ‘Healthy’ Food Make you Fat and Sick?

 

Is Corn Healthy or making you sick and overweight?


by
Cat Ebeling and Mike Geary, co-authors of The Fat Burning Kitchen

Contrary to popular belief, corn is actually a grain, not a vegetable, and is really not appropriate as a dietary staple for several reasons:

1. "Anti-nutrients" in corn (and other grains too)
2. Inflammatory omega-6 fats in corn products
3. Corn products make blood sugar skyrocket, then crash

Did you you know that when civilizations such as the Mayans and Native Americans changed their diet to a corn-based one, rates of anemia, arthritis, rickets, and osteoporosis skyrocketed?

Our bodies were not made to exist on such a high quantity of grain-based foods as is present in the modern western diet.  This evidence shows up in the archeological records of our ancestors. Scientist looked at skeletons of native Americans in burial grounds, who ate corn as a primary part of their diets and found 50% more malnutrition, four times as much anemia,  three times as much infectious disease, compared to the hunter-gather natives, who primarily ate meat and vegetables instead of grains.

We are not just talking about corn-on-the-cob (sweet corn) here… we are also talking about corn cereals, corn chips, and all the other corn-based foods promoted by food companies as “healthy”.

Just why is corn a problem?

•    Corn contains lots of starches and sugars, which raises insulin levels, causes you to be hungrier and causes your body to store calories as fat. Don’t be mistaken, just because corn does not taste obviously sweet, doesn’t mean it isn’t full of sugar. Once eaten, your body quickly turns most corn based foods into glucose.  Even the starches in corn products can spike blood sugar levels, causing cravings for more carbs.

•    Corn is also a poor source of protein, usually deficient in 3 of the 8 essential amino acids: lysine, isoleucine, and tryptophan. The essential amino acids are so-named because they must be obtained from the diet, since the body is unable to manufacture them.

•    Corn contains a high amount of phytate, a chemical that binds to iron and hinders its absorption by the body. So, a diet high in corn can make people more likely to have iron-deficiency anemia and fatigue. Phytate is also a nutrient blocker (an anti-nutrient) and prevents vitamins and minerals from being digested properly or used.

•    Corn is a poor source of certain minerals such as calcium and some vitamins such as niacin (B3). Deficiencies of niacin can result in a condition known as Pellagra, which is common in civilizations that eat a lot of corn. It can cause a variety of symptoms such as dermatitis, diarrhea, and depression. Since we are now a nation of corn-eaters, many of these health issues are most likely caused by corn.


•    Corn oils are also used in most processed foods (along with soybean oils).  Both corn oil and soybean oil are excessively high in inflammatory omega-6 fats and low in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats.  This leads to many degenerative diseases and also weight gain.  In addition, corn oil and soybean oil are highly refined with high heat and solvents, which oxidizes and damages the fragile polyunsaturated oils, and makes them even more inflammatory when you ingest them in processed foods.  Read this article to find out the truth about healthy vs unhealthy cooking oils.

It's not just people who eat too much corn based foods. A large amount of the nation's corn crop ends up feeding cattle, which are cheaply fattened on corn and other grains before slaughter. Not surprisingly, beef from corn-fed cattle have higher ratios of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids than grass fed beef which contains more healthy omega-3 fatty acids.  Most meat in supermarkets comes from grain-fed animals and not healthy grass fed animals.

Because corn and other grains are an unnatural diet and difficult to digest, cattle raised on corn develop higher stomach acidity, which is a breeding ground for the dangerous E. coli O157:H7, the deadly strain of the bacteria. E-coli is rare in healthy grass fed meat.

While eliminating refined grains such as corn and wheat (yes, it seems they are in everything!) can seem a very daunting task, the reward is a return to wonderful health, sparkling eyes, clear skin, clear thinking, and less body fat as the body is once again able to extract appropriate nutrients from food, reduced inflammation caused by grain based foods, and a resolution of nutritional deficiencies from the lack of absorption. 

Do yourself a favor, and try at least 2 weeks with no grain products at all.

I guarantee you will see some drastic improvements in your weight, energy, and general outlook! 

This is easier than you may think… For example, instead of having pasta with sauce and meat for dinner, a better alternative would be to have just grass-fed meat, sauce, and veggies, topped with a little parmesan cheese.  It’s delicious and grain free. Or try spaghetti squash instead of pasta.

Another example would be breakfast… instead of cereals, bagels, or muffins, try to base most of your breakfasts on cage-free organic whole eggs with lots of veggies and perhaps some bison sausage or other nitrate/nitrite-free turkey or chicken sausage.

If you're very active and need a little more carbs with your breakfast, instead of grains, a small piece of fruit or some tea with a little bit of raw honey can be great additions to the egg/veggies based breakfast.  This is a delicious and satisfying breakfast that will control your blood sugar, balance your hormones, and eliminate the problems with antinutrients found in most grains.  Those are just a couple examples, but I think you get the point of how easy this can be.

I know it may not be realistic for everybody to give up grains fully, so the most realistic plan for many people is to only eat grain based foods (bread, pasta, cereals, etc) on their one cheat day each week, and save 6 days per week to be grain-free.  Your body with thank you!

Please email this article to any of your friends and family to help them eat healthier and live better.

Check out the special sale we're having on the super popular Fat-Burning-Kitchen book.  This is a MUST-read if you're interested in how to eat to get a permanently lean body and vibrant health for life!

Stay healthy and lean!

 

DSC 6815 Quick and Easy Salmon Patties (Gluten Free too!)

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back-to-basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled "The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation" that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.   

                       Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

               Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

What Do Migraines Have to Do with Acid Reflux Medication?

 

It’s called, “Heartburn, indigestion, acid reflux or GERD” and, like millions of other people, if you have gone to a doctor about this, most likely they have prescribed medication to reduce stomach acid. Medications like Nexium and Prilosec are some of the most popular proton pump inhibitors. 

Proton pump inhibitors reduce stomach acid.

But there’s one problem.

The acid in your stomach is there for a reason. Stomach acid digests the foods you eat, and turns them into essential nutrients your body can absorb.

If you reduce the acid in your stomach you reduce its ability to break down and digest food, and extract nutrients.

This in turn, causes serious nutritional deficiencies including vitamin B12, folic acid, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc.

And when your body fails to digest and absorb the foods you eat effectively, your chances of developing any number of chronic degenerative diseases is almost inevitable.

Even relatively minor vitamin and mineral deficiencies can cause fatigue, irritation, anxiety, depression, migraines, dizziness, mania, pychosis and memory loss.

In addition, deficiencies can also cause muscle weakness, tooth decay, bone fractures, hearing loss, osteoporosis, heart beat irregularities, high or low blood pressure problems, hair loss, mouth sores, neuropathy (unexplained weakness or numbness in the arms and legs), and more.

Is it worth it?

Long term, B vitamin deficiency can potentially cause severe and irreversible damage to the brain and nervous system.

And because the acid pH in the stomach as been increased, you lose the ability to fight off certain dangerous bacterial infections such as h.pylori, which is responsible for stomach ulcers, Clostridium difficile, which causes severe diarrhea, salmonella poisoning, a common type of food poisoning, and contagious pneumonia.

Suppressing stomach acid does not treat the disease, it only treats the symptoms, and at a very high cost too, as you can see.

And, once you start taking acid reducing medication, it becomes very hard to stop. It is physically addictive. 

This type of medication causes a severe “rebound” effect. You start taking acid reducing medication to help a reflux condition, and although your doctor may say it is temporary, when you stop after a few weeks, it causes your stomach acid to go into overdrive. As a result the reflux comes back with a vengence.

So what do you do? Go back to taking the reflux medication.

Now you’re stuck…

Did you know 35-45% of the population experiences heartburn? That’s close to half the population! Heartburn or GERD is most profitably treated diagnosis in America. Prescription medications are given out by doctors like candy. Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid are some of the top selling prescription drugs in the world.

It is not normal to have heartburn in spite of the huge numbers who do have it.

What exactly is gastritis or acid reflux?

It is acid that rises from the stomach and irritates the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), the valve that separates the esophagus from the stomach.

Gastritis is inflammation, irritation, or erosion of the lining of the stomach. Any of these can be chronic or acute. Acid reflux usually feels like a burning pain in the middle of the chest or stomach. It’s most bothersome at night, when lying down. Sometimes it can even feel like burning or pressure in the chest.

 Over time, this acid wash can damage the lower esophageal sphincter, and lead to a condition called Barrett’s Esophagitis, which is usually considered a precancerous condition. Anybody with chronic reflux or heartburn should be checked out by a GI doctor, to rule out any other serious health conditions.

The interesting truth is, for many, acid reflux is not a result of too much stomach acid, but too little acid, or ineffective enzymes to digest particular foods.

When we don’t have enough of an enzyme to digest a particular food, the body responds by sending out more acid in an attempt to digest it. Taking antacid medication further compounds the problem. If the foods that cause this are foods that are eaten frequently, which is often the case, soon the acid becomes an ongoing chronic irritant to the stomach, and can cause real damage.

There are two ways you can help acid reflux.

One is by taking a good digestive enzyme with meals. As we age we lose some of our digestive enzymes, and also our ability to digest certain foods. The best enzymes to supplement digestion are “Full Spectrum” and include pancreatin. Enzymes should be:

-protelytic (for proteins)

-lypolytic (for fats)

-amylytic (for carbohydrates)

You also want to make sure your digestive enzyme supplement contains betaine hydrochloride (or HCl). It’s plant-based hydrochloric acid which helps your body absorb calcium, among other important nutrients.

In many cases, food allergies or sensitivities can be one of the main causes of acid reflux. So eliminating food allergies is the next step.

Food allergies result when the body’s immune system launches an attack against the offending food item. Some of the most common allergenic foods are: milk, wheat, soy, eggs, peanuts, nuts, shellfish, and citrus. 

Severe symptoms of food allergies tend to occur with in a few minutes of eating the allergenic substance.  Symptoms can include tingling in the mouth or throat, swelling of the throat, difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, cramping, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, eczema, hives and asthma attacks. But don’t rule out food allergies even if you don’t have reactions that severe.

Food intolerances or sensitivities (including gluten intolerance) are also often allergic reactions as well, but do not have the dramatic and sudden onset. They often share similar GI symptoms to food allergies but they do not involve the same immune system response. 

The biggest offenders are often commercially prepared dairy products, wheat/gluten, corn and soy.

The best way to find out if your digestive problems are the result of food allergies is to go on an elimination diet. Remove all wheat, gluten and dairy from the diet for a minimum of ten to fourteen days or more, and see if the reflux symptoms subside. Be vigilant and read labels carefully. Lots of gluten and dairy sneak into processed foods under other less obvious names.

For more information on gluten-containing food ingredients, check here: http://www.the-gluten-free-chef.com/foods-containing-gluten.html.

After you have eliminated the offenders, add the gluten and dairy back in, one at a time. Wait 2-3 days between each food trial, and write down all reactions in a food journal. Oftentimes though, it may take a month or more of avoiding the offenders before the acid reflux and gastritis is resolved, so be patient.

Other contributing factors that can cause heartburn/gastritis and GERD are:

* Certain foods cause the lower esophageal sphincter to relax, thus leading to heartburn. These include peppermint, coffee, alcohol and chocolate. 

* Hiatal hernia: This is a physical condition where part of the stomach protrudes through the diaphragm.

* Low Acid Production: Ironically, low stomach acid levels can result in heartburn. This is much more common than increased acid.

* Medications: Many medications cause heartburn as a side effect, including, ironically, several acid blockers. These include:

     o Prevacid, Prilosec, Zantac, etc. 

     o Asthma inhalers (beclamethasone, flovent, etc). 

     o Corticosteroids 

     o Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and      naproxen. 

     o Antianxiety medications, such as diazepam (Valium) and lorazepam (Ativan). 

     o Osteoporosis drugs such as alendronate (Fosamax).

* Overeating

* Pregnancy & Obesity: These are related in that both put pressure on the stomach, decreasing its volume and forcing food and acid upwards.

* Stress: Stress can be the sole cause of heartburn, but often it is exacerbating other causes.

* Smoking: Smoking also causes the lower esophageal sphincter to relax, leading to heartburn. 

You may have to make some lifestyle changes and keep a close eye on your diet.

Eating large amounts of processed foods and sugars is a certain way to worsen acid reflux, as it will upset the bacterial balance in your stomach and intestine, as well as being hard to digest.

A note about proton pump inhibitors: PPI’s are very popular because they work. However, these drugs create both tolerance and dependence on them, so stopping them suddenly can have serious repercussions.

NEVER stop taking proton pump inhibitors cold turkey. Wean yourself off them gradually or else there can be a severe rebound of symptoms, and the problem may end up being worse than before the medication.

Ideally, get a lower dose, and then gradually decrease your dose. Once you get down to the lowest dose of the proton pump inhibitor, you can start substituting with an over-the-counter medications, Then gradually wean off the H2 blocker over the next several weeks.

 

Till Next Time,

Stay Healthy and Lean!

DSC 6815 A Deadly Epidemic You Can Avoid

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back-to-basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.   

                       Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

               Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

Sources:

 

Dr. Joseph Mercola, Why You Should Get Off Prescription Acid-Reducing Drugs ASAP! Mercola.com, September 09, 2009.

 

Center for Food Allergies, Innate Health Group. www.CenterforFoodAllergies.com, 2006.

 

Tracy Davenport, Health Central, Acid Reflux Connection.com, July, 2007.

 

Dr.Allen Spreen, The hidden dangers of stomach-acid reducers, July 2007.

 

Diabetes–A Deadly Epidemic You Can Avoid


On a recent trip to the grocery store, I noticed several magazines devoted entirely to diabetes. An entire magazine devoted to a disease?

Why?

The number of Americans with diabetes is expected to DOUBLE in the next 25 years — from the current 25.8 million to 48.3 million in 2050. That is 1 in 3 adults in the US with diabetes, it is predicted. 

Of course, annual health costs for treating those patients are expected to soar, doubling from the current $174 billion to some $350 billion and crippling the health care system.

This latest information on the diabetes trends in the United States are pretty convincing proof that the food pyramid, conventional medicine, and the food industry are very wrong in their diabetes diet and lifestyle recommendations.

Those numbers should be DECREASING not increasing.

Obesity is the number one most preventable risk factor to avoid diabetes.

Besides the rapidly growing numbers of diabetics are those with ‘pre-diabetes’, who are well on their way to having full-blown diabetes.

Nearly one out of four people in the US have a condition called ‘pre-diabetes’.
What is ‘pre-diabetes’?

Pre-diabetes is a condition of elevated blood levels higher than normal, but not quite high enough to be diagnosed as full-blown diabetes. Similar long-term damage to the heart and circulatory system is already happening during the pre-diabetes stage.

Physicians can use three different tests to check for pre-diabetes conditions:

•    The A1C test
•    The fasting plasma glucose test (FPG)
•    Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

Both diabetes and pre-diabetes are becoming so common, it’s almost easy to overlook how serious this disease is. It increases your risk of early heart disease and fatal and non-fatal heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events, as well as significantly shortening your lifespan.

The additional health complications include:

·       Heart disease and stroke
·       High blood pressure
·       Blindness
·       Kidney disease
·       Nervous system disease
·       Amputations
·       Dental disease
·       Pregnancy complications

The fact is that diabetes can be preventable and curable.

No you won’t hear this from mainstream medical practice, or pharmaceutical companies, because treating diabetics is incredibly profitable. But a real cure can come from YOU — by changing your lifestyle, your diet and increasing exercise.

Drew Carey did it and countless others have done it too.

Conventional treatment focuses on treating the symptom of elevated blood sugar, rather than addressing the true causes of the underlying disease. Treatments that concentrate merely on lowering blood sugar while raising insulin levels can actually worsen the actual problem of metabolic miscommunication.

Lifestyle Changes Can Get Rid of or Drastically Improve Diabetes

Diabetes is actually not a difficult disease to prevent or reverse because it’s not really an affliction that takes over randomly.

Even the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine concludes that “the majority of cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented by the adoption of a healthier diet and lifestyle”.

The results of a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine show that intense lifestyle changes including diet and exercise demonstrated significant decreases in body weight and lowered blood pressure and A1C blood glucose readings. Cardiovascular health also improved as blood pressure was reduced and HDL cholesterol levels increased.

Diet is the single most important factor which leads to metabolic dysfunction, rising blood sugar, insulin control issues, and excessive levels of triglycerides which then become stored as abdominal fat.

Following a natural diet which excludes all sugar, processed carbohydrates, grains and hydrogenated fats in favor of grass fed meats, wild caught fatty fish, free range chicken, and plenty of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables is the best and healthiest way to regain your body’s natural balance, prevent diabetes and related cardiovascular disease.

1.    Eliminate Grains and Sugars
For the last 25 years, many people have been following the nutritional recommendations dictated by the food pyramid, uninformed physicians, and the food industry of consuming a high carbohydrate diet and avoiding fats. The end result has been a several hundred percent increase in diabetes—so this route is obviously NOT working.

Eliminate foods that cause an insulin response in your body–this includes all types of sugars and grains–even so-called “healthy” grains such as whole, organic grains promote an insulin response. Avoid all breads, pasta, cereals, rice, potatoes, and corn (which is in fact a grain not a vegetable and highly glycemic). You may even need to avoid most fruits until your blood sugar is under control.

Stop eating all refined sugars. This means totally avoiding made with HFCS (especially soda) or other refined sugars, including regular table sugar, syrups, honey, fructose, agave and more. This means reading labels carefully and HFCS has been snuck into many foods you would not suspect—catsup, sauces, soups, mixes, etc.

Do NOT substitute with artificial sweeteners. These sweeteners are very harmful and will cause more health problems in the long run. In addition, they do not help keep blood sugar and insulin levels in check—contrary to what you may have been told. Best to use Stevia—an all natural low calorie sweetener that will not affect blood sugar levels.

2.    Eat real, whole foods.

Refuse to eat refined or processed anything. That includes packaged foods, processed meat (which strongly promotes diabetes) and commercial dairy products. This alone will reduce sugars and lower blood sugar, in addition to giving your body more valuable, disease fighting nutrients.

3.    Get plenty of omega 3 fats in your diet.
There is clear evidence supporting the link between fish oil and diabetes relief. Administration of EPA (a component of omega 3 fats) decreases blood sugar and clotting factors, as well as lowering LDL cholesterol.

A large study on the omega 3 fats and the diabetes link found that taking one gram of omega 3 a day reduced cardiovascular mortality by 30% and the risk of death by heart attack by 45%.

4.    Optimize Your Vitamin D Level
More than 70% of white Americans are vitamin D deficient. That number rises to an even higher percentage among those people with darker skin pigmentation. Vitamin D deficiency promotes diabetes (and cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, immune suppression, and more).

Boost your vitamin D levels with either daily sunshine or quality vitamin D3 supplements. Interestingly, optimizing your vitamin D levels can not only help improve type 2 diabetes if you have it, but can likely eliminate the risk of type 1 diabetes in your children if you are pregnant.

Ideally the best way to receive vitamin D is to get it from the sun, but if you live in colder climates in the winter, it is often hard to do. In that case, you may want to use an oral vitamin D3 supplement.

5.    Exercise
Exercise is an absolutely essential factor, without which you’re highly unlikely to get this devastating disease under control. It is clearly one of the most potent ways to lower your insulin and leptin resistance.

Regular exercise reduces the demand for medication by 20% in diabetics and checking the blood glucose levels before and after exercise can be a motivator to continue the exercise regimen. The benefits of exercise include:

•    Control of blood sugar: Glucose is the source of energy in our body. Physical activity uses glucose and helps to reduce the blood sugar levels. Physical activity also decreases insulin resistance. A few studies have also indicated that activity increases the insulin receptors in the red blood cells.

•    Improved cardiovascular function

•    Psychological benefit: Physical activity is associated with an increased sense of well-being, a positive attitude and improved quality of life.

•    Weight control: Physical activity helps obese/overweight individuals to lose weight and also helps them to maintain a healthy BMI.

Serious lifestyle and dietary changes mean making a huge commitment to implementing and maintaining the changes. However, you can and will greatly improve your health, your quality and length of life if you follow these guidelines. Don’t be a diabetes statistic!

Till next time,

Stay healthy and lean!

cat Healing Chicken Soup

DSC 6815 Healing Chicken Soup

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back-to-basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.   

                       Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

               Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 
Sources:

Time, “Why so Many of Us are Getting Diabetes” November 27, 2009

Elbert S. Huang, MD, MPH1,    Anirban Basu, PHD1,Michael O’Grady, PHD2 and James C. Capretta, MA3, “Projecting the Future Diabetes Population Size and Related Costs for the U.S”. Diabetes Care, December 2009, vol. 32 no. 12 2225-2229

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, “How I cured diabetes in five steps, and why one-third of U.S. adults will have diabetes by 2050” Natural News, October 23, 2010

Dr. Joseph Mercola, “Diabetes Epidemic Expected to Double”, December 15, 2009.

Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Lipids
Glycemic Control in Type II Diabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome and on Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Renal Disease, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, and Osteoporosis, http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/o3lipidsum.html.

 

Eat Your Depression Away

The Holidays are over, the decorations put away, and a huge pile of bills sits waiting for you.

Short, gloomy, dreary, cold winter days ahead. 



Enough to make you depressed? 

You are not alone. 



Although depression can make you feel alone, at least 20% of Americans live with depression. 



Women are almost twice as likely to become depressed as men. This is partly due to monthly menstrual hormonal swings, puberty, and pregnancy as well. And because women are often the caretakers of the family, they may feel overworked, stressed, and neglect their own wellbeing. 



Many men go undiagnosed, and fail to recognize depression or to seek help for it. While men can have the typical symptoms of depression, many actually become irritable, angry and hostile instead, and try to self-medicate with alcohol, marijuana or drugs. Suicide is more serious risk for men with depression, who are four times more likely to successfully attempt suicide than women. 



Did you ever stop to think that the pile of cookies you ate last night in front of the TV, or the carton of ice cream you ate after a stressful day, may actually be making you more depressed? 



The causes of depression can vary, but doctors usually never even consider that diet plays a huge role in our mental and emotional wellbeing.

While physicians tend to hand out anti-depressant drugs like candy, these drugs often can have very negative side effects.



Wouldn’t it be better to find natural cures for depression?
While you may not think so, what you eat has a very definite effect on your mood and outlook on life.

We truly are what we eat. 



There are some surprising and very effective ways to fight the ‘blues’ with diet, lifestyle changes and supplements, and you can avoid the trap of having to turn to medical antidepressants with their unpleasant, and sometimes tragic side effects.  



Your brain must have the right chemical balance in order to function optimally. Eating the wrong types of foods will not only alter the brain’s chemistry, but many processed foods have synthetic chemicals, preservatives, and other unnatural additives that confuse or distort your brain's natural chemistry. 

Brain chemistry can actually be changed significantly for better or worse by a single meal.

Some foods like sugar and caffeine can create a seemingly positive effect on brain chemistry immediately, but actually have the reverse effect in the long run. 
So knowing how certain foods can affect your brain chemistry and your mood can be very helpful in figuring out what to eat or avoid.



Did you know that a deficiency of any one nutrient can actually alter your brain function and lead to depression, anxiety, irritability, ADD, and other mental disorders? 



The natural chemicals in the brain that govern your mood are neurotransmitters. The ones that play a role in depression are serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. 

In depression, there are primarily reduced levels of serotonin. Serotonin has a lot to do with your feelings of wellbeing and is involved with emotional control, mood, arousal, and even appetite. 



Along with decreased serotonin, there are lower than normal levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in depressed people as well.

These energizing neurotransmitters create a sense of alertness and excitement, and help you take action. 

Antidepressant medications help mostly by helping to preserve levels of serotonin in the brain, but when you change your natural brain chemistry with medication, you get side effects such as anxiety, drowsiness, irritability, nausea, diarrhea, and dizziness. Antidepressants can take away interest in sex and cause weight gain, as well as increasing thoughts of suicide.



Yes, antidepressants can actually increase the risk for suicide. 



These drugs have very dangerous side effects if you quit them cold turkey too. 

But there are ways to help our bodies naturally make more of these neurotransmitters, and avoid the harmful side effects and feel better too.
 


Many of the building blocks of our brain’s neurotransmitters are made from the amino acids in the protein in our diets.

The amino acid tryptophan or l-tryptophan as it is sometimes called, is a precursor to serotonin while the amino acid, tyrosine, is a precursor to dopamine and norepinephrine. 

Eating foods rich in protein will help to increase the amount of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in your brain, and serotonin is absorbed better by eating foods that are rich in complex carbohydrates. 



BUT, not all sources of carbohydrates will work for raising the serotonin level.



This is KEY. 



Sugar molecules in complex carbohydrates are bound together by fiber and must be broken down and digested in the small intestine in order to release the sugar into the blood. Because these sugars must be broken down during digestion, they are released into the bloodstream steadily and slowly. 

So the complex carbohydrates found in fresh vegetables, fruits, and starchy root vegetables like potatoes, help your body maintain high levels of serotonin. 



Refined carbohydrates on the other hand, are simple sugars with no fiber, that enter blood stream immediately after the first bite without the long process of digestion. So, blood sugar instantly goes up, creating a quick burst of serotonin (this is why you feel good immediately after eating sweets).  

Simple sugars are burned very quickly and the end result is low blood sugar. When blood sugar levels drop, so does serotonin.

So a diet of sweets and simple carbs actually will make you MORE depressed.

Besides depression, low levels of serotonin also contribute to sleep disturbances, hostility, aggression, and irritability. 

While certain foods act to raise serotonin and prevent depression, other foods can actually trigger depression. These include processed foods, sugary foods or foods containing hydrogenated oils. Alcohol can also contribute to depression, by causing hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). And while caffeine is a stimulant, too much of it causes anxiety and nervousness. 



So the bottom line is, when you are down and think that going on a drinking binge, or eating a pile of cookies and ice cream to help you feel better, you are wrong.

It will actually make you feel worse, besides what it does for your waistline.



Molecules of certain types of partially digested foods actually affect the body’s chemistry and can definitely have an effect on mood. In many people these foods are not fully broken down during digestion, and the proteins and peptides from these partially-digested foods leak into the bloodstream through the intestines. 

Research on people with celiac disease (gluten intolerance) shows that their lack of the right type of digestive enzymes may cause this kind of situation. And depression and irritibility are commonly symptoms of gluten intolerance or celiac disease. 



Casein, (the protein in diary products), is very difficult to digest and can definitely be one of the primary undigested food substances that leak into the bloodstream. These substances affect the amounts of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine levels in the brain, and in turn affect mood. Incomplete breakdown of both casein and gluten leaking into the bloodstream can easily become a source of depression, anxiety, irritability or mood swings, affecting normal levels of brain chemicals.



[Note: casein, the protein molecule in dairy products primarily causes problems when the dairy products have been pasteurized—as most commercially produced dairy produts are. Raw dairy products like raw, aged cheeses or raw milk do not usually cause this reaction.]



It’s not surprising to conclude that intestinal permeability, and digestive enzyme deficiencies can also found in many folks suffering from clinical depression, the once in a while ‘blues,’ and mood swings. 

So if you are suffering from depression, it may be a function of your digestion, food intolerances, and intestinal permeability.

I know I am so sensitive to dairy, and all it takes is a bite to feel really depressed the next day. Try avoiding dairy and wheat gluten entirely for a week or so and see if that helps you feel better mentally and emotionally. 



A diet to prevent or cure depression is rich in natural, unprocessed foods.

Especially plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and organic, or grass-fed meats, organic poultry and eggs. 

Foods like beans, seeds, nuts, and legumes are also rich in protein and contain tryptophan which is what you need to make more serotonin, as well as dopamine and norepinephrine.

Just remember to get some complex carbs with your tryptophan as well. 



Consider that five servings of beans, a few portions of cheese or peanut butter, or several handfuls of cashews provide 1,000–2,000 mg of tryptophan, will work as well as prescription antidepressants—but don't tell the drug companies. 



Tryptophan is really quite easy to get from the foods listed below (in mg):

Lentils 215
Dried peas 250 
  
Navy 200   
Pinto 210  
Red kidney 240     

Soy 525 
Brazil nuts 185
  
Cashews 470   
Filberts 210 
  
Peanuts 340 
 
Peanut butter 330 (natural, not commercial) 

Pumpkin seeds 560     
Sesame seeds 330     
Tahini (ground sesame seeds) 575    
Sunflower seeds 340
Cheddar 340   
Parmesan 490   
Swiss 375
Eggs 210    
Poultry 250    
Brewer's Yeast 700



And, grass-fed beef, as well as fish and other seafood are very healthy, high-protein, dopamine and norepinephrine boosting foods, in addition to their contributions of Omega-3’s, CLA and zinc that help healthy brain function.
 
People suffering from depression generally are missing some important nutrients.

The most common deficiencies are:



Folic Acid (Vitamin B9)

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B6


Omega 3’s


Vitamin C
   

Sunshine or vitamin D3



Folic acid and vitamin B12 are essential B vitamins and work together in many biochemical processes.

In studies of depressed patients, at least half were found to be deficient in folic acid. 
Depression is the most common symptom of a folic acid deficiency. 

A vitamin B12 deficiency (more often a problem in vegetarians) can also cause depression. Correcting a folic acid and vitamin B12 deficiency with supplements or diet will quickly result in a dramatic improvement in mood. 



Food sources that are rich in folate include beef liver, pumpkin seeds, leafy green vegetables, and yeast. Vitamin B12 is abundant in animal products such as red meat, fish, poultry, milk, cheese and eggs. 



Vitamin B6 is another B vitamin that is often low in many depressed people. The best food sources of vitamin B6 are protein-rich foods such as red meat, fish, and eggs. Other good sources of B6 are quinoa, brown rice, oats, lentils, peanuts, and walnuts. 



The latest research also shows a strong connection between depression and low levels of omega 3 fatty acids.  And the more severe the depression, the lower the level of omega 3 fats. 

Omega 3 fatty acids are an essential part of brain cell membranes in healthy individuals, and a component of the myelin sheaths, which cover nerves and transmit messages properly. Omega-3 fats are generally found in grass-fed meats as well as wild caught fish and organic eggs, or as supplements.  



A depletion of the neurotransmitter called norepinephrine may result in poor memory, loss of alertness, and clinical depression. To make norepinephrine,  amino acids from our diet are changed into dopamine, which then turns to norepinephrine. To do this, it requires a large amount of vitamin C. 

Physicians have had great success reversing depression with large doses of vitamin C, and is a very safe and inexpensive approach to try.



Sunshine or vitamin D3 helps banish the blues as well. When we can’t get enough sun exposure in the winter, obviously a trip to a tropical island would certainly put a smile on your face, but since we can’t all do that, just getting out in the sunshine when you can, and supplementing with vitamin D3 will definitely help brighten your mood as well as protect your health.

And, my favorite natural (very effective) antidepressant is Sam-E.

SAMe (known formally as S-adenosylmethionine) is not an herb or a hormone. It's a molecule that all living cells, including our own, produce constantly. To appreciate its importance, you need to understand a process called methylation. It's a simple transaction in which one molecule donates a four-atom appendage—a so-called methyl group—to a neighboring molecule. Methylation occurs a billion times a second throughout the body, affecting everything from fetal development to brain function. It regulates the expression of genes. It preserves the fatty membranes that insulate our cells. And it helps regulate the action of various hormones and neurotransmitters, including serotonin, melatonin, dopamine and adrenaline.

And without SAMe, there could be no methylation as we know it. Our bodies make SAMe from methionine, an amino acid found in protein-rich foods, then continually recycle it. SAMe breaks down to form homocysteine. Homocysteine is extremely toxic. But with the help of several B vitamins (B6, B12 and folic acid), our bodies convert homocysteine into glutathione, a valuable antioxidant.

High homocysteine is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. During pregnancy, it raises the risk of spina bifida and other birth defects. And many studies have implicated it in depression.

How does SAMe improve a person's mood? Scientists are not really sure, except for the fact that it really works well.

Since the 1970s, researchers have published 40 clinical studies involving roughly 1,400 patients. And the findings are remarkably consistent. In 1994 Dr. Giorgio Bressa, a psychiatrist at the University Cattolica Sacro Cuore in Rome, pooled results from a dozen controlled trials and found that "the efficacy of SAMe in treating depressive syndromes… is comparable to that of standard… antidepressants." Without the side effects of regular medical antidepressants.



Our brains do not require antidepressant medications to function properly.

Instead of masking the symptoms with a drug induced haze, is far far better to find the underlying cause of depression, and diet is KEY. 



Amazingly, a healthy diet not only reduces or eliminates the symptoms, but it also prevents the occurrence of depression by keeping those important brain chemicals in balance. 



The quick fix may be tempting, but in the long run, you will feel drastically better following a healthier diet—without the side effects—and have improved health and well being. 



Studies show our mood and physical bodies favor traditional foods that our ancestors ate. These foods include grass-fed meats, organic and raw dairy and butter, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables.



Avoiding processed, packaged foods with refined flour, sugars, or corn syrups, and preservatives and chemicals is extremely important for those of you with depression.



Don’t go for the quick fix, when you can permanently change your life and health for the better. 



REAL Happiness is just around the corner!


 
Till next time, stay Happy, Healthy and Lean!

 

 


Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back-to-basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled "The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation" that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.   

                       Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

               Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

References:
Andrew Saul, Depression, Doctoryourself.com, 2007. 
Food Allergies and Depression,
Ron Hoggan M.A. & James Braly M.D.,About.com
Food and Depression,
http://sulcus.berkeley.edu/mcb/165_001/papers/manuscripts/_9.html
WebMD, Depression and Diet, Jan 2012

How to Enjoy Holiday Treats and NOT Feel Guilty, or Gain Weight

Editor's Note:

I know I've neglected to post blogs for the last month, but I've been really busy!

I just finished an awesome 290 page book that includes over 125 superfood, fat burning, delicious recipes with full color mouth-watering luscious photos.

You are going to love this book! So please look for here any day!! I can't wait to let you get your hands on this book.

Meanwhile, here is a way to enjoy all those great yummy holiday treats and not feel guilty about eating them. Happy Holidays! 

Feeling deprived this Christmas, trying to avoid all those sweet, yummy holiday treats?

Or have you said, "the heck with it, I'm going to enjoy the holidays and deal with it later!" Only to find that come the new year, you have about 8-10 unwanted pounds that have crept on your body, while you were busy eating and drinking and enjoying yourself.

Well guess what? There is a way to enjoy some of those special treats of the season, not feel deprived, and still burn fat.

Really?

You can actually incorporate 'cheat days' into your diet plan and not get totally off track.

In fact, cheat days may help you lose weight. Cheat days can actually reset your body's metabolism, and actually kick start your body's fat burning ability. And you get to eat some of those ‘taboo’ foods without totally derailing your healthy diet.

There are actually real physiological and hormonal benefits to cheating.

And of course, you can take a break from the somewhat strict confines of your diet and eat what you may be missing without feeling guilty.

How does this work, you ask?

Well it has a lot to do with a recently discovered hormone called, Leptin.

Leptin, is synthesized mostly in your fat cells, along with some coming from your muscles and brain. The amount of leptin you make is controlled by both the quantity and the size of your fat cells. When you eat, and your brain signals that you are full, your leptin levels rise. That tells your body it is ok to go into full gear and rev up the metabolism.

Everything is fine and dandy, right?

Until you are trying to lose weight and cut back on your eating, especially if you cut out carbs…

When leptin levels start to fall, as they do when you’re on a diet and losing fat, they send a signal to your brain to eat more. And unfortunately leptin levels can fall by about 50-60% in just 6-8 days of dieting.

When those leptin levels are low, your primitive brain thinks there must be a famine, and your metabolism slows down. This is where many dieters stall. Weight loss slows, and appetite and cravings go up.

Soon, you may be devouring everything in sight, especially carbs and sugar and anything else, to satisfy this monster.

So how do you fight this?

Enter ‘Cheat Days’.

The goal here, is to periodically increase your leptin levels and avoid those intense cravings, and the slowed-to-a-crawl metabolism.

What do you eat on cheat days? Well, basically those things you’ve been craving, but have previously been off-limits.

Ok, but that means it’s ok to eat a FEW cookies, not the whole plate of beautifully decorated and iced Santa Claus cookies. Savor that baguette or croissant, but don’t eat a dozen. Allow yourself that doughnut you’ve been longing for, but try to avoid eating 10 of them.

The best foods that work for a cheat day are actually carbs, and some suggest that simple carbs (as in doughnuts, bread, pasta, cookies, etc.) are actually the ones that raise leptin levels the best.

In theory a cheat day will:

Increase your thyroid hormone output. The thyroid is the hormone that governs your metabolism. Which in turn, increases your 24 hr calorie output-by about 10% or more. All of this means, then you start burning fat better again.

The big thing about cheat days is that they are a DAY. Not a week, not a month.

A DAY.

And the best way to get the most out of a cheat day is to eat a very low carbohydrate diet the day following your cheat day. Some recommend fasting, but I think this is a bit extreme.

So here we are at the Holiday season, and wow, yes it seems like there is a party every weekend. So choose your party, line up your cheat day and enjoy those hors d’oveures and those frosted Santa cookies, along with a slice of pecan pie.

And keep burning that fat.
 
Enjoy the holidays and stay healthy and lean!

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled "The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation" that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.   

                        Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

          Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.


How to Avoid Colds and Flu


Ah yes, it's autumn again. Cooler temperatures and changing leaves.

But, unfortunately that also means cold and flu season is upon us as well. It's not inevitable that you get sick, and you don't have to resort to a chemical-laden flu shot to stay healthy either.

I generally don't get sick. How? Well I avoid sugar, try to keep stress out of my life as much as possible, get regular exercise and eat a healthy diet.

Can you really avoid getting sick? Absolutely.

Check out this great article from my friend, Mike Geary, fitness and nutrition expert and best-selling author of The Truth About Abs:

 

7 Tips to STOP Getting Sick

Understand the REAL cause of sickness, and strengthen your immune system with these unique tips

by Mike Geary – Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-selling program:  The Truth about Six-Pack Abs

 

Note: The tips in this article can work anytime of the year to keep you healthy, strengthen your immune system, and prevent you from getting sick…not just in the winter months!

First of all, let us clear up a HUGE misconception about why more people get sick in the winter compared to warmer times of the year.  Let's talk about cold temperatures first.  You should realize that there's no such thing as "catching a cold".   I can't believe how many people still have this huge misconception that cold temperatures can make you sick…

This is blatantly false… Cold temperatures do NOT make you sick!

In fact, did you know that there are multiple studies that actually show that exposure to cold increases your immunity?  It's true!  One study I read recently even showed that cold therapy such as ice water baths or other cold water exposure (such as cold water swimming) stimulates an improvement in your immune system.

What about so-called "germs"?

So are there really more germs and cold & flu viruses floating around in the winter?  No, of course not!  In fact, some medical articles I've read have indicated that there might actually be a slightly larger amount of cold and flu viruses all around us in the summer due to more favorable conditions for their survival on surfaces.

So then why do more people get sick in the winter?  Well, I'll give you a hint… it's not the temperature, but rather the strength of the suns rays, and how this affects your health… In winter in the northern hemisphere (Canada, US, Europe, etc) sicknesses spike, but at the same time, it's summer in the southern hemisphere (South America, Australia, New Zealand, etc), and while sicknesses are spiking in the northern hemisphere, sicknesses are at their lowest point in the southern hemisphere since it's their summer.

And then when we're in summer in the northern hemisphere and most sicknesses go away, it's winter in the southern hemisphere, so colds, flu, and other sicknesses spike in the southern hemisphere.

So is it the warm temperatures that decreases sickness?  Nope… It's actually all about the strength of the suns rays, and how much vitamin D your body produces due to the UV rays on your skin!

There are 2 theories that many people pass around as to why more colds, flu, and sickness occur in the winter depending on which part of the world you're in…

Theory 1.  It may have to do with people generally spending more time indoors in the winter and thereby being exposed to more germs in enclosed buildings.  It's a nice theory, but people are generally still in offices from 9-5 all week long whether it's summer or winter.  As you'll see, theory 2 is the REAL culprit!

Theory 2.   The reason people get sick more in the winter is mostly due to a drastic reduction in their body's production of Vitamin D, which is directly responsible for how strong their immune system is. 

The suns rays are too weak in the winter generally (depending on the latitude that you live), and therefore, Vitamin D levels in the body drop significantly, which reduces immunity. Most people don't realize how important sunlight and Vitamin D levels really are towards so many functions inside their body, including immune system and hormone production and balance.

Even for people that get outdoors in the winter often, if you live in the northern hemisphere to the North of an imaginary line from approximately Atlanta to Los Angeles, the suns rays are not strong enough in the winter months (approximately November through end of February) to stimulate any significant Vitamin D production inside your body.

This aspect of lack of Vitamin D production and lowered immune strength in the winter months is what is actually the REAL reason why more sickness goes around in the winter.  So you can silently chuckle to yourself the next time that someone tells you to "bundle up" so you don't catch a cold.

So how can you boost your immune system so that your body fights off sickness before it takes hold of you?

So here is my little ritual that I have been using for a few years now and really seems to keep me from getting any colds, flu, or any sickness at all.

As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I was legitimately sick. I think it's been 6 or 7 years since I've actually been sick.  How many times have you been sick in the last 7 years?

Every time I feel a cold or something starting to come on, I do this ritual, strengthen my immune system, and my body always fights off the cold or sickness before I actually get full-blown sick.


1. Focus on Vitamin D (but NOT in pill form or "fortified" foods)

This is probably THE most important of all of these tips! 

When it comes to Vitamin D, you need to be careful about artificial forms of vitamin D in many vitamin pills, as artificial vitamin forms are almost always either ineffective or possibly even detrimental compared to natural forms.

For this reason, you need to get your vitamin D naturally. The sun is the best source, and leads to a powerful strengthening of your immune system when your body can naturally produce Vitamin D from moderate sun exposure. Here is a previous article I did on how to get sun exposure in a healthy way without damaging your skin

I know not everybody can take a tropical vacation every winter, but if you can, it's best to try to take it right smack dab in the middle of the winter (when your vitamin D levels have dropped to their lowest)… getting even a few days of good sun closer to the equator in the middle of winter can really help increase your vitamin D and strengthen your immune system.

Remember that this does NOT mean getting burned in the sun… it means getting a moderate amount of sun on large portions of your body (not just your face) for approx 15-40 minutes per day WITHOUT sunscreen on (since sunscreen blocks the UV rays that directly stimulate the vitamin D increase in your body).   Also, as a warning about sunscreens, see this article here about why sunscreens can cause cancer and increase body fat.

Everybody is different based on their skin tone… very pale skin tones may only need 10 minutes or so in full sun in the middle of the day to get adequate vitamin D before any skin damage occurs, but darker skin tones may need a slightly longer time (sometimes 30-40 minutes) in the sun to produce adequate vitamin D. 

To protect your skin, it's essential to get enough sun without sunscreen on, but NOT get burned. 

In general, the UVB rays are only strongest from about 10 am to 3 pm to trigger Vitamin D production in your body (depending on time of year, latitude, and altitude).

With that said, I understand that a tropical vacation in the winter is not possible for everybody's schedule based on either work or finances, so…

Since you may not be going on a tropical vacation this winter, how can you still keep Vitamin D levels from falling dangerously low in your body?

Well, the best food sources of natural Vitamin D are egg yolks, fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel, organ meats, and some mushrooms (some portobella mushrooms and maitake mushroom are fairly good sources of vitamin D).

But what I do to make sure I'm at least getting a decent amount of the best absorbed vitamin D is to take a SMALL dose of cod liver oil daily in the deepest months of winter to make sure my vitamin D levels don't fall too low.  Make sure to take only small doses of cod liver oil (enough for 50% to 100% DV of vitamin D), as large doses can give you an overdose of Vitamin A.   I take about half to 2/3rds of the recommended dose on the bottle.

I'm also a big fan of Prograde Nutrition's natural VGF-25 multi-vitamin, which derives it's vitamin D from natural fish liver oil instead of a synthetic form of vitamin D.  All of the other vitamins in VGF-25 (which stands for "25 veggies, greens, and fruits") are naturally derived too instead of most multi-vitamins that you find at your corner store that are synthetic.

By the way, fortified milk has added synthetic vitamin D, so it is NOT a good source.  In fact, I don't trust any "fortified" foods at all, including crappy breakfast cereals which claim to be good sources of vitamin D… not so!  Also make sure to read this article, which explains how our food supply has been modified in recent decades and now lacks the vitamin D that it used to contain.

2. Garlic to strengthen your immune system!

Garlic is one of the most potent of all superfoods!  Not only does high dose garlic go back thousands of years for treatment of sickness, but recent studies back up the legendary claims for garlic boosting your immune system.

What's best though — "aged" garlic pills, whole garlic in foods, capsules, etc?  I can't seem to find a consensus on this one, so what I simply try to do is use a variety of sources, including garlic powder on a lot of my foods, fresh chopped garlic in meals, and also a garlic capsule or two each day.

If I feel a possible cold or sickness coming on, I really start loading garlic into my foods heavily and I take a few extra garlic capsules that day too. 


3. Kombucha tea (and other probiotic drinks) strengthen your immune system

Kombucha tea is a fermented tea (naturally effervescent) that contains billions of friendly gut organisms (probiotics) that help to strengthen your immune system by bolstering your levels of good organisms in your gut.

Remember that 70% of your immune system lies in your gut and the health of the friendly organisms in there to protect you against pathogens and sickness.

You can find bottles of Kombucha tea at health food stores such as Whole Foods.

When I feel any sickness coming on, I start loading up on Kombucha tea or another probiotic drink, drinking it throughout the day. It has a strong taste, so I mix it with my normal iced teas at 1/3 Kombucha and 2/3 regular iced tea.  I've started seeing other probiotic drinks on the market recently too, so just make sure to look for one that has very minimal sugar per serving (3-6 grams per 8 oz serving is acceptable, but much more than that is too sugary).


4. Green tea, Chamomile Tea, and other teas

There is evidence that green tea and chamomile tea can help aid in strengthening the immune system.

Even if the effect is small, you can't go wrong because both are loaded with powerful antioxidants unique to each tea.

For that reason, I try to drink a couple cups of green tea with a small bit of raw honey early in the day, and then at night, I have a couple cups of chamomile tea.

This isn't a bad idea even for a regular habit, but it's even more important when you feel a sickness possibly coming on.  I also drink a lot of other teas too such as Rooibos tea, which is thought to be even higher in antioxidants than green tea.

 
5. Loading up on antioxidants

We already know how important antioxidants are to overall health as well as immune system support.

For this reason, I make sure to really load up on antioxidant-rich fruits, berries, teas, unsweetened cocoa (in smoothies, etc), and veggies to help prevent sickness.

I also make sure to take my daily Longevity Antioxidant blend from my friends at Prograde, which is a powerful synergistic antioxidant mixture of green tea, wolfberry, acai berry, Biovin grape, coffeeberry, and pomegranate.

I get that here:  Prograde Longevity Synergistic Antioxidant blend

6. Light exercise (yes – light exercise, not hard)

When you feel a sickness coming on, a super-high intensity workout is not a good idea, as hard training forces the body to do a lot of recovery, this at a time when your body needs all of it's efforts on trying to fight off the oncoming sickness.

Although I usually recommend high intensity training, when sickness might be coming on, it's just a good idea to get some light exercise instead.

Personally, I like to get outside for some fresh air and go for a hike or go snowshoeing in the winter. These aren't very strenuous for me, so they won't cause my body to be forced to do a lot of recovery… but just getting out in the fresh air and getting the circulation going I feel is good to help the body fight off the sickness.


7. Avoid ALL processed foods and sweetened soft drinks

If you're serious about your health and getting lean for life, this should be an everyday rule for you anyway (except maybe for cheat meals)…

However, when you might have a sickness coming on, this is no time to bombard your body with processed foods, inflammatory omega-6 oils (soybean oil, corn oil, etc), fried foods, high fructose corn syrup, refined sugars, and chemical additives.

All of these force your body to do extra work to deal with all of this junk and the internal inflammation that they cause in your body.  And by the way, grain-based foods like bread, cereal, muffins, pasta, and bagels are a big culprit in causing internal inflammation and disrupting normal gut function, so avoid grains as much as possible.  In case you're new to the science of Paleolithic nutrition, humans don't actually need grains to survive…grains were never a part of the ancient human diet until agriculture came around just a few thousand years ago.

Instead, (especially when you might be getting sick) you need to give your body only wholesome unprocessed foods that are only 1 ingredient and that we were meant to digest most efficiently…fruits, berries, veggies, eggs, nuts, seeds, grass-fed meats, etc.

I also have a daily serving of immune system boosting Athletic Greens, which is surprisingly delicious, plus contains loads of probiotics and antioxidants, and other immune supporting superfoods.

These 7 tips will go a LONG way to helping to ward off that sickness that is trying to get a hold of you… Here's to a healthy strong body!

Note: I'm not a doctor, and none of these tips are prescriptions for any individual person… they are simply the steps I've personally used over the years to successfully fight off sickness pretty much every single time.  Again, I haven't been legitimately sick in at LEAST 6 or 7 years now that I use these steps!

 

If you liked Mike’s information, click below to see more great nutrition and fat burning information from him:

 5 Foods That Fight Abdominal Fat

 

Till next time, stay healthy, happy and lean!

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled "The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation" that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.   

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

My Favorite Superfood, Kale

Kale is part of the cruciferous vegetable family with broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and collard greens. These vegetables contain powerful compounds that prevent or reverse many cancers…

Hippocrates once said, “Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.”

Eating healthy foods not only helps to prevent many of the most prevalent diseases of our modern world, but some superfoods are actually almost medicinal in their ability to reverse and heal many diseases, without the unpleasant and dangerous side effects of certain drugs.

Superfoods can help you easily lose weight, fight cancer, improve your digestive function, counteract osteoporosis, reverse heart disease, improve your mental outlook and help your brain function, stop the aging process, and give you boundless energy and wellbeing.

Here is one of my all time favorite superfoods:

Kale, Superfood Extraordinaire

Often used as a garnish in salad bars, this super-powered dark green leafy cruciferous vegetable contains more powerful nutrition than the whole salad bar combined!

Kale is part of the cruciferous vegetable family much like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and collard greens. These vegetables contain powerful organosulphur compounds that have been scientifically proven effective at preventing or reversing many cancers, including stomach cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Scientific studies have shown that these compounds can actually shrink tumors or stop their growth.

Eating kale is like popping a multivitamin and mineral supplement in your mouth—except way better, since it’s a whole food!

Kale has large amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, B6, manganese, calcium, copper, and potassium!

A serving of kale provides almost 200% of the daily value of vitamin A, and 100% of your recommended amount of vitamin C.

The manganese in kale is an important trace mineral that works with fatty acids in the body to produce sex hormones, maintain the nervous system, and metabolize and utilize energy from protein and carbohydrates, making it the perfect fat-burning food.

Kale’s minerals are great for bones and far better than milk or dairy products. When combined with the vitamins A and K, it is easily utilized in the body, and works to strengthen and maintain the calcium in bones and teeth.

Kale also protects your eyes with the carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin. These phytochemicals work to prevent cataracts, and age-related blindness.

And kale maintains your brain health as well!

Kale and other green leafy vegetables can slow age-related mental decline in Alzheimer’s by a whopping 40%!

Kale contains a unique phytochemical called indole-3-carbinol that not only protects against estrogen-related cancers (like breast and ovarian cancer), it also counteracts unhealthy chemical forms of estrogens (xenoestrogens) in our environment that contribute to cancer, infertility, impotence, (undesirable female characteristics like ‘man boobs’), weight gain and belly fat.

Kale is a dark, blue-green leafy plant with curly-edged leaves. Select kale with smaller leaves or the more tender dinosaur kale for the best taste.

Try kale chopped up and added raw to salads or smoothies (you can’t taste it, just throw in a handful), or cooked lightly with a little water, olive oil, grass fed butter, and a squeeze of lemon and garlic.

[Just a note:  frozen kale has far less vitamin K than fresh kale does.]

Here is one of my favorite ways to enjoy kale: Lightly saute`chopped kale with a little olive oil and with chopped green apples. Drizzle with some balsamic vinegar and serve with walnuts or almonds sprinkled on top.

Be sure to include this superstar on your plate on a regular basis!

Stay tuned for more superstar superfoods and recipes…

 

Till next time, stay healthy and lean!


Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

               Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

       Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep

 

 

Recently I struggled with a bout of insomnia for several nights.

As I lay in bed watching the clock tick off the minutes, for the third night in a row, I pondered all the things that can cause sleepnessness.

There are several things that can bring on insomnia. Some of them are obvious and some not-so-obvious.

Daily exercise does help one to become more sleepy and to sleep deeper at night, but exercising  too late in the day can actually elevate energy and metabolism to the point where it becomes difficult to fall asleep right away. Growth hormone (even for adults) is secreted during sleep, so inadequate sleep can actually sabotage your fitness when you exercise too late at night.

We all know caffeine will keep us awake, but caffeine in coffee drinks, teas (even flavored ones), sports drinks, and GU or Shot Bloks can be sneaky culprits. And pay attention to certain pain killers, they often contain caffeine as well. It’s easy to inadvertently consume caffeine too late in the day, and our bodies may not metabolize caffeine as quickly as we think.

Caffeine has a six hour half-life.

That means that the 100mg in a cup of coffee is still 50 mg of caffeine in your body 6 hours later. That’s still a pretty significant amount of caffeine. And that means, a whole six hours after that (twelve full hours after initial consumption) 25 mg still remains. So if you are a fairly caffeine-sensitive person, having that lunchtime espresso or energy drink in the afternoon will definitely keep you from feeling sleepy at 11pm, or later.

Keep in mind, an average glass of iced tea contains about 70 mg or so of caffeine, so that’s almost as much as a cup of coffee. And soda contains about 50 mg of caffeine. Try cutting off any caffeine by noon or so, and see if that helps your sleep.

Dehydration from exercise, alcohol, medications or just not enough liquids can keep you awake.

On a warm summer day, replacing the fluids that are lost in sweat is key. If you are outside exercising, remember to drink every 15 minutes and to drink about twice as much—or more—than you regularly do.

But don’t overlook drinking plenty of fluids in the cooler fall and winter months either. The dry air of winter can dehydrate your body as much as a hot sunny day.

Alcohol may seem just the thing to help make you sleepy can often disrupt your sleep.

But beyond a couple of drinks, the alcohol will dehydrate you and cause sleeplessness as well as its ability to mess up your normal sleep cycles.

If you are taking cold or allergy medicine, realize that it, too, may be drying you out and bringing on dehydration.  

Ok, so just what does dehydration have to do with sleep, you ask? Good question.

When you are dehydrated, your blood volume drops. Our bodies are made to function optimally with a specific amount of blood volume, and slight variations in the volume can have a big effect.

If that optimal amount of blood volume drops, then the heart must pump harder to distribute a the blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. For example, if you combine a hot day, not enough to drink, and too many diuretic substances (caffeine, alcohol, antihistamines, etc), you have, in effect, reduced your blood volume, and caused your heart to work harder.

Result–when you try to relax, your heart may be pounding as it tries harder to distribute blood through your body and this makes it harder to sleep.

Your diet can and does affect your sleep.

Eating foods that are starchy or sugary right before bed elevates your blood sugar too much, then there is a resulting crash in the middle of the night. Not only does that cause you to store fat (you don’t burn those calories off while asleep) but the buzz you may get from the sugar high may also keep you awake instead of sending you off to dreamland, and you awake groggy, tired and irritable in the morning.

Often a heavy meal eaten shortly before bed will also cause problems as lying down makes digestion difficult and slower, and the increase in gastric fluids may cause heartburn as well. Do you best to eat at least 2 hours prior to bedtime.

Other foods can actually help you sleep better. And deeper sleep will, of course, translate into feeling more rested and having more energy.

One of the most noticeable substances in food that aids sleep is tryptophan. Serotonin, an important brain chemical that helps with moods, can only be made from the amino acid tryptophan. Since tryptophan is the only thing that can make serotonin, low tryptophan levels equals increased rates of depression and sleep disturbances.

Dairy products actually contain tryptophan, along with naturally raised beef, (best sources are grass fed dairy and beef products), and turkey contains the most tryptophan (free-range turkey has the most).

Tryptophan is a component in protein. The high quality animal protein is the best source of tryptophan. So meat eaters tend to get more tryptophan than vegetarians who get their protein from beans, grains, nuts, and soy, which are poor sources of tryptophan.

But, unfortunately, conventionally raised animals are fed tryptophan-poor grains as feed. Grass is contains more tryptophan than grains. So grass fed cattle contain higher amounts of tryptophan than conventional grain-fed cows. The majority of poultry, meat and fish consumed in America is grain-fed, so unless you are eating grassfed meat, you probably aren’t a decent level of tryptophan. And similar for chicken and turkey. Free range and pasteured chickens and turkeys have much more tryptophan that the grain fed birds.

Did you know the right kinds and ratios of fats in your diet can have a significant effect on sleep?

How so?

New research shows the positive effects omega 3 fats have on sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition where a sleeper has short periods of not breathing. Major symptoms include loud snoring and daytime sleepiness. People with sleep apnea often wake several times during the night, so instead of sleeping soundly and waking refreshed, they wake up groggy and tired.

Among the 320 adults in the most recent study, it was found that those with most severe sleep apnea also had a diet higher in omega 6 fats.

A similar study found that people with sleep apnea had the lowest amounts of omega 3’s in their blood.

Eating more omega 3 fats, such as those found in grassfed meats and wild-caught fish or supplementing with fish oil capsules, the study concluded, will help contribute to a better night’s sleep and improve sleep apnea episodes.

Choline is another important nutrient in food that plays a role in sleep. It’s the primary building block for acetylcholine … the neurotransmitter that affects thought, memory, sleep … even muscle control and balance. Lots of acetylcholine helps make your mind sharp, your memory clear, and gives you energy.

As you age, though choline drops, and one of the most noticeable symptoms of low choline is problems with falling asleep and staying asleep. Other symptoms include lack of energy, brain fog and confusion, irritability, and memory loss. Women need at least 425 mg a day, and men need 550 mg.

Choline is found in these food sources:

·   Whole eggs–Go for free-range WHOLE eggs without antibiotics or hormones. Be sure to use the yolk, they contain a lot of choline.

·   Chicken and turkey livers–Be sure to get organic, free-range chicken and turkey livers. These are also very rich in vitamin A, CoQ10 and iron.

·   Pork and beef—The best choice here is organic, grass-fed meats for the proper balance of fats, zero hormones and antibiotics.

Beyond food issues, it is important to make sure you (and your partner, if you sleep with someone else) are getting adequate magnesium.

Magnesium is an important relaxing nutrient. Twitching, muscle cramps, tossing and turning, jumpiness and restless leg syndrome are all symptoms of inadequate and magnesium. Taking this supplement right before bed helps maintain the levels that are effective for restful sleep.

And if you are a middle-aged female, it is quite possible that your sleep issues may be due (at least partially) to hormone imbalances. The body’s natural progesterone and estrogen levels drop and fluctuating levels of estrogen can cause hot flashes at night, as well as restlessness.

Progesterone is a natural relaxing hormone, so when these levels drop, sleep quality goes as well.

And for men, as testosterone levels fall with middle age and beyond, sound, deep sleep begins to decrease as well. If you are middle aged, have your hormone levels checked. It may be time for a supplement.

For both men and women, thyroid problems can cause jitteriness and nervousness or, excessive fatigue and sleepiness during the day. Have your thyroid levels (T3 and T4) checked and take the thyroid medication that best suits your needs.

If taking simple measures like reducing your caffeine intake, changing your diet, and checking hormones don’t seem very effective, try a natural sleep aid like Melatonin. Melatonin is a natural substance the body makes in the dark (sleeping in as dark a room as possible helps production of this important hormone) and as you age you make less.

Melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant and helps regulate several body functions. Dosages vary. Try the smallest amount first and work up to a stronger dosage.

Here’s to a restful night’s sleep!

Till next time, stay healthy, lean and rested!

 

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled "The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation" that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

               Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

       Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

References:

Vaughn Gray, 10/08, Nutrition, Energy and Mood, Viewed 08/18/09. ReEvolution 2008. http://www.reevolution.com/html/nutrition_energy_mood.htm

Martha Kerr, 10/08, Omega-3 Fatty Acids Inversely Related to Sleep Apnea Severity, Viewed  08/17/09, Medscape 1994-2009. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/582688

 

 

Do Not Be Afraid of These Saturated Fats

Saturated fats can actually keep you lean and healthy.

I am a strong believer of including a variety of healthy oils and fats into your diet. I know some people are still really afraid of fat, especially saturated fat, but trust me, healthy fats can truly be good for you and actually help you burn fat.

Fats work with other nutrients to supply your body with the building blocks for metabolism, longevity, hormone balance, heart health, vision, skin and energy.

And, saturated fats are actually NECESSARY for your good health.

Healthy essential saturated fats include fat from organic grass fed beef, grass-fed butter, coconut oil, and even lard. These fats are heavy in omega 3’s, Conjugated Linoleic Acid, cholesterol (yes I said cholesterol, which is good for you and important for your body), vitamins A and K, and monounsaturated fats.

Twenty five years ago, animal fats became the enemy, based on one doctor’s flawed research findings.

It’s odd, though, that human civilizations have survived and thrived for years on high fat diets, but in our world today, we eat far less butter and lard than we did at the turn of the century, and heart disease, cancers, inflammatory diseases, depression and obesity rates have skyrocketed!

Could the doctors and the food pyramid be wrong? Yes.

We are actually suffering from an inadequate and unbalanced fat intake.

Medical research shows that it is the sugars, starches, excessive omega 6 fats, and trans fats from refined foods that increase the inflammation in our cells and blood vessels.

Our bodies send out cholesterol to mend these inflamed blood vessel walls, and then you have cholesterol buildup.

Fat actually is a more efficient and longer lasting fuel for energy, which keeps blood sugar stable and helps to prevent fat storage, as long as you are avoiding starchy processed grains and sugars.

And what about butter?

Butter has actually been used as a part of the diet for thousands of years. In fact, the first written reference to butter was found on a 4500 year-old limestone tablet. People around the world have prized butter for its health benefits.

Butter is a completely natural food essential to your health – especially when you eat organic, grass fed butter, high in CLA and one of the only sources of vital Vitamin K2.

Some of butter’s many benefits include:

  • Butter is the most easily absorbable form of Vitamin A necessary for thyroid and adrenal health, both of which are essential to fat burning and energy.
  • Butter contains lauric acid, important in treating fungal infections and yeast infections.
  • Butter contains lecithin, essential for proper cholesterol metabolism.
  • Butter contains antioxidants that protect against free radical damage.
  • Is a great source of Vitamins A, D, E and K.
  • Is a very rich source of a very important mineral, selenium, which is a powerful cancer fighting nutrient.
  • Butter contains conjugated linoleic acid, which is a potent fat burner, anti-cancer agent, muscle builder, and immunity booster.
  • The vitamin D found in butter is essential to absorption of calcium, the immune system and overall wellbeing.
  • Contains a special anti-stiffness factor, which protects against calcification of the joints.
  • Is a source of iodine in highly absorbable form-highly recommended for adequate thyroid function and fat metabolism.
  • Is a source of quick energy, and is generally not stored as fat.
  • Contains Arachidonic Acid (AA) which plays a role in brain function and is a vital  component of cell membranes.

Coconut oil is another important healthy saturated fat and is often preferred by athletes, body builders and by those trying to lose weight.

Because it is quickly and easily converted directly into energy and is not stored as fat, coconut oil helps in boosting energy and endurance, and enhances athletic performance. Coconut oil actually raises the metabolism and is excellent to burn fat as well.

Make a point to include healthy saturated fats into your diet, while eliminating sugars, grains and starchy products. Your cholesterol levels, triglycerides and blood sugar will improve for the better.

Don’t be afraid of saturated fats anymore.

Till next time, stay healthy and lean!

 

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled "The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation" that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

               Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

       Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

Agave-A Healthy Sweetener or Fat Fuel?

Is Agave the New “Healthy” Sweetener?

Agave syrup has been advertised as a new “healthy” sweetener that is low glycemic, good for weight loss, and better for you than either regular sugar (sucrose) or high fructose corn syrup.

And sales of agave syrup have skyrocketed in the last few years.

But is it really that much healthier? No, not so much.

What is agave?

Agave is an exotic plant that is a member of the yucca family that grows in the tropical heat of Mexico. It has been used for thousands of years by the Mayans in herbal remedies to help with indigestion, bowel irregularity, and skin wounds. Fermented agave juice is the familiar alcoholic beverage, tequila.

The agave industry would like you to think that agave nectar is a very natural product that goes straight from the plant to a jar and is a healthy, natural sweetener great for weight loss, but this is not really the case.

Agave syrup has been deceptively marketed as a ‘health food’ and it most certainly is not.

The truth is, agave nectar or agave syrup is not a natural sweetener at all, but a highly refined type of fructose sweetener—very similar to the common sweetener, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Depending upon where the agave comes from and the way it is processed, agave syrup can be anywhere from 50-90% fructose!

Guess what?? High fructose corn syrup is about 55% fructose, the rest glucose.

Yep, you heard that right–almost the same exact composition as agave syrup! So that doesn’t make agave syrup a good choice if you’re hoping to avoid the high levels of fructose in HFCS (high fructose corn syrup).

Ok, so what is wrong with fructose?

Isn’t that the sugar that is found in fruit? Well yes, and no.

There is a huge difference between how our bodies handle the natural fructose in fruit and the highly refined unnatural fructose in sweeteners. The fructose eaten in the form of fruit is in its natural form along with lots of fiber, vitamins and antioxidants, and is way different than the concentrated, refined fructose in agave syrup.

When fructose is extracted from fruit, concentrated and made into a sweetener, it wreaks havoc with your metabolism.

Don’t be fooled by agave syrup’s reputation as a great weight loss sweetener. It is not low calorie—in fact it has about the same number of calories as regular table sugar. And while it is often marketed as “low glycemic”, it still contributes to weight gain.

According to most research, fructose, more than any other kind of sugar, contributes not only to insulin resistance, but it raises blood levels of triglycerides (a risk factor for heart disease) in both obese and healthy people.

Triglycerides are a form of fat in the blood, and are stored in the body as excess body fat.

Elevated triglycerides (a key marker for heart disease), contribute to clogged arteries and increased inflammation. Fructose also has a greater propensity than other sugars to increase abdominal fat, which then elevates the risk for diabetes, heart disease and metabolic syndrome.

And the fructose, like that in agave, is most often linked to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

So, if you need to lose weight, fructose is a sweetener you will definitely want to avoid, especially in its refined form.

And if that’s not enough, here are a few other good reasons to avoid agave:

• Eating sweeteners in the form of fructose (both agave and HFCS) doubles advanced glycation end products, (AGE's), which are harmful chemical byproducts that age (no pun intended) the human body.

• Yucca species, together with other agaves, are known to contain large quantities of saponins. Saponins are toxic steroid derivatives, and should be avoided during pregnancy because they might contribute to miscarriage.

These toxins have negative effects on non-pregnant people as well. They can destroy red blood cells, and are especially harmful to people taking statins (cholesterol medicine) and high blood pressure drugs.

• Poor quality control and pesticides. There are very few quality controls in place to monitor farming and production of agave syrup. Most agave sold in the U.S. comes from Mexico. There is concern that agave producers are using other more toxic species of agave plants due to a shortage of blue agave and the agave is heavily sprayed with pesticides.

• Some agave syrups contain a contaminant called hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF, also called 5-hydroxymethyl furfural), an organic heat-formed compound that forms during the refining process of both agave syrup and HFCS. HMF has possible toxic and carcinogenic effects on humans. HMF is also extremely toxic to honey bees.

• Agave syrup is not a whole food–it is refined and processed; devoid of the nutrients contained in the original, whole plant.

Bottom line—agave syrup or agave nectar is NOT the healthy alternative to high fructose corn syrup or sugar.

Nor is it a good sweetener for fat burning or weight loss.

If you are looking for a low calorie, healthy and natural sweetener, use Stevia, or  use raw honey or maple syrup (although not low calorie) in small amounts.

 

Till next time, stay healthy and lean!

 

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled "The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation" that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

               Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

       Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.


 

Sources:

Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS, Jeannette Bessinger, “Agave Health Claim Doesn't Match Its Hype;

Prickly Health Problems Arise from Agave Nectar Sweeteners” Bottom Line’s Daily Health News, March 8, 2010. Bottomlinesecrets.com

Joseph Mercola, “Agave: A Triumph of Marketing over Truth”, July 2, 2009. Mercola.com Joseph Mercola, “Shocking! This 'Tequila' Sweetener is Far Worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup”, March 30, 2010.

Mercola.com Joseph Mercola, “Is this Popular Natural Sweetener Worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup?” July 3, 2010.

Mercola.com Morell SF and Nagel R. , "Agave nectar: Worse than we thought," April 30, 2009.

Weston A. Price Foundation. Westonaprice.org Carr C. "Agave’s sweet spot," January 31, 2009. Time Magazine.