Congratulations for formulating a fantastic whole food multivitamin at a reasonable price we can afford!

Today I will be discussing why I chose the whole foods “Purple and Green Pops” as the best, so that everyone can understand what key features to address while shopping for a multivitamin.

“Do I need a multivitamin?”

Everyone that doesn’t eat perfect, or is under stress, or has a chronic disease should be on some form of a multivitamin. First of all, our soil is not as nutrient dense as it once was, second of all I don’t know anyone that eats perfectly every single day, and at every single occasion, and is never under any form of stress.

Drinking alcohol, stress, and eating white refined foods actually depletes our bodies of vital nutrients.

Most importantly though a high quality whole foods multi is a great “insurance policy” that all of our necessary vitamin and mineral cofactors are always topped off for optimal biochemical functioning.

For most patients I recommend a standard wellness program that includes a whole foods multi, Omega 3 oils, enzymes, probiotics, and glucosamine for older and more active folks.

The nice thing about “Pops” whole food multi is that it comes complete with enzymes and probiotics, so my wellness program just got that much simpler. I don’t know about you, but I hate taking pills so prefer efficiency when at all possible.

Without vitamins and minerals our bodies can’t do the work they need to do each day. Most people aren’t actually deficient in one or two nutrients, most people are deficient in a myriad of nutrients because what they are REALLY deficient in is nutrition, and that deficiency of whole food nutrition is compounded by the fact that most Americans are not properly digesting their nutrients.

What features should a great whole food multivitamin contain?

• Organic and pesticide free or eco-harvested whenever possible.
• No tablets! Capsules are the best and help us avoid chemical binders and fillers.
• No food coloring! If your multivitamin has food coloring in it, it is hype, or it is garbage. Phase it out and find a food coloring free alternative.
• Minimal excipients and stabilizers. Check the labels and see if there other artificial ingredients such as food coloring. These are typically the last ingredients listed.
• A full spectrum of all the colors found in nature. We need to “eat by the rainbow” to get the full spectrum of nutrients found in nature. The most important colors being green, purple, and the yellow/oranges found in the carotenoid family.
• No synthetics or synthetic isolates. I am obviously not a fan of synthetic vitamins, as the biochemist in me knows to only trust nature and never man, but I am also against the consumption of isolated nutrients taken in high quantities. Nature intended for us to get our vitamin C from foods like oranges and broccoli, not chewable candies. Whole foods come complete with bioflavonoids that further help vitamin C work to heal and repair damaged tissues. While a synthetic vitamin can promise you 1333% of the USRDA, it can’t promise you a dose of healthy nutrition that your diet is likely lacking. We don’t just need vitamins, we need nutrition. Obviously children and pregnant women need standardized doses of specific vitamins and minerals, but the majority of us looking to prevent disease, just need a comprehensive spectrum of daily nutrition to cover up for those inevitable times that we fall off the whole food wagon.
• No plastic bottles. In an effort to reduce the amount of plastics that are added to our environment annually, I will avoid recommending products that are packaged in plastic bottles when there are better alternatives such as glass bottles, and blister packs that minimize plastic waste put in landfills.

Why are Whole Food Nation “Pops” a great choice?

• Potent antioxidants. The formulators of this product have smartly taken all of nature’s finest superfoods and placed them in to two blends. An AM energizing/weight loss/antioxidant herbal blend or “Purple Pops” and an evening calming herbal food blend found in the “Green Pops.” Antioxidants are the foundation to every healing and anti-aging program.

• What they DON’T have: No food coloring. no sugar, no synthetic product stabilizers, no binders (easily avoided by purchasing only capsules.) Regardless of what multivitamin you choose to use, you should never be taking a daily dose of these artificial chemicals.

• Natural vitamins. These are not synthetic vitamins, or even vitamins isolated from foods. These are whole food nutrient concentrates, brought to us by nature’s finest superfoods, and in the form that nature intends that we take them. With that being said be sure to take this supplement with food so that the vitamins and minerals can be properly digested and utilized.

• More than just vitamins. Do you get confused about the latest new hot nutrient that scientists have “just discovered?” Well these nutrients have existed in nature for centuries, and just because a scientist discovers them in a lab, doesn’t mean that we need to suddenly start taking them in a high dose supplement. We should be taking these healing plant pigments, cofactors and coenzymes in our food on a daily basis, and if we don’t eat perfectly we should supplement with a whole food multi, not one that contains only the vitamins that scientists are currently capable of recognizing. Twenty years ago we only recognized about twenty vitamins and minerals as “essential,” but think forward to the next twenty years. The best way to ensure you have everything in your system that is “essential” is to take a whole food multivitamin, or start juicing. Or if you really want to feel awesome-BOTH!

• Enzymes aid digestion. You aren’t just getting whole food nutrients, you are getting plant enzymes that will help you digest, break down, and absorb your food better.

• Probiotics. Acidophilus helps us digest our food, metabolize hormones and vitamins, and is killed off by antibiotic use. Most cooked and processed foods we eat are deficient in probiotics and is vital to our health that we supplement them daily or consume in yogurt, kim chee, sauerkraut, kefir and other fermented foods.

• You Need Greens! Have you had 2-3 servings of leafy green vegetables today? Greens are important because they are rich in magnesium. The chloryphyll molecule is shaped just like the hemoglobin in our red blood cells, the only difference is that an iron molecule sits in the middle of the hemoglobin ring, and magnesium sits in the center of a chlorophyll ring. This is why all green foods are particularly healing to those on the Standard American Diet (SAD), as the SAD diet is deficient in minerals such as magnesium found in green foods.

• You Need Purples! If you peruse all of my treatment plans you will see that a cup of frozen blueberries a day is recommended pretty consistently throughout, as blueberries are a featured food on the anti-inflammatory diet. In addition to fighting inflammation, purple plant pigments known as proanthocyanins are especially healing to the skin, blood vessels, and cardiovascular system. Be sure to eat a cup of purple/red/blue foods everyday!

• No Plastic Bottles! Plastics are destroying our ecosystem, and we need to use glass and paper alternatives when available.

• Capsules NOT Tablets: To form tablets natural ingredients have to be attached to binders and mechanically pressed in to a tablet which may alter their molecular stability and thus efficacy. Avoid tablets and take capsules. You will have to take a couple more capsules to equate what is super-compressed in to tablets, but it is well worth it.

• Great Environmental Shipping. My product arrived within two days, was packed in recycled boxes and recycled paper. I can’t tell you how many times I have stopped purchasing a great product because my values did not align with their shipping methods. Kitchen table only promotes companies with firm environmental efforts.

• Great Company Business Model. You know something is good when you ask to try it for free and the company is happy to send you free samples. A company confident in their product knows you will become a customer, and they were right. This is the multivitamin that I have chosen to take myself every day. I also signed up for their mailings, and couldn’t agree more with the great advice from the Harvard grads that put the whole food “Pops” together. I typically find companies that oversell annoying, but the weekly newsletters are clearly designed to educate. Really a good product sells itself, and the formulators of this whole food multivitamin are smart enough to know that.

To read more about Whole Foods Nation you can visit sign up for their free report:

“Are Your Vitamins Safe?” or visit www.WholeFoodsNation.com

Thank you to Whole Food Nation for donating a portion of sales to our free publication and expert product reviews at the kitchen table!

The Kitchen Table Award for best Omega-3 supplement goes to Biogenesis EPA/DHA.

If you can’t stand drinking fish oil, capsules of EPA/DHA are the next best thing! Shopping for a great fish oil product can be tough because quality is an issue. A quality fish oil has been independent laboratory tested to be free of dioxins, PCB’s, mercury, lead, and other pollutants found in our oceans.

I have always been a big fan of Biogenesis products because they are high quality, and come in glass bottles-not plastic.

I think this is a great price for a pharmaceutical grade fish oil. Be sure to always take fish oil with food for optimal digestion and absorption.

Benefits of EPA and DHA in fish oil:

• Promotes a healthy cardiovascular system.
• Inhibits platelet aggregation and promotes improved circulation.
• Lowers serum triglycerides.
• Aides in normalizing heart rhythm.
• Suppresses cancer cell proliferation and promotes cancer cell apoptosis.
• Suppresses cancer cell metastasis.
• Important nutritional factor for normal neurodevelopment, visual acuity and behavior.
• Encourages normal brain development and cognitive function.
• Enhances a healthy balance of Dopamine and serotonin.
• Low levels of EPA/DHA may be predictive of impulsive behavior.
• Encourages normal insulin action.
• Promotes normal glucose metabolism.
• Reduces proinflammatory eicosanoids, cytokines, interleukin 1b, and tumor necrosis factor.

References

This product is available through HealtheGoods or your local Naturopathic Physician.

Thanks you to HealtheGoods for donating a portion of sales to our free publication and expert product reviews!

~Dr. Nicole Sundene
Naturopathic Physician

Related Reading:
Flax vs Fish Oil
How to Stop Burping Up Fish Oil

The kitchen table award for best glucosamine is awarded to Biogenesis Glucosamine Sulfate!

When shopping for a high quality glucosamine be sure that it is “sulfate” and not glucosamine “HCL”. Most studies showing efficacy for pain reduction and long term arthritis management have been done on glucosamine sulfate.

There are some extremely overpriced glucosamine blends out there and for those of you needing to take the recommended 500mg three times daily to prevent or treat arthritis can be easily overwhelmed by cost.

When looking for a great glucosamine we want to avoid the most expensive brands as much as we want to avoid the cheapest brand. The best glucosamine is usually priced somewhere in between, and this one by Biogenesis happens to be on sale right now!

I like this glucosamine sulfate by Biogenesis because it comes in glass bottles, is in the form of capsules and not tablets, and is a pure pharmaceutical grade product free of the typical excipients, additives, preservatives, and processing plant allergens. I can always count on Biogenesis to make pure pharmaceutical grade products.

Glucosamine benefits:

• Nutritionally supports joint health and function.
• Nutritive support for joint regeneration.
• Supports healthy range of motion.
• Helps reduce symptoms of pain and stiffness.
• Promotes relief from overworked joints.
• Treats the joint area - not the symptoms.
• No cortisone or other steroids.

For those with severe joint pain, I would recommend ArthroGenX over plain glucosamine, as this formula is designed to further reduce inflammation and pain in the joints. Just check with your doctor before combining with any prescription medications as their may be drug-herb interactions.

ArthroGenX may seem a bit pricey, but being in pain also has a high price to bear. This high quality formula is well worth the investment for those in chronic joint pain.

Joints take time to repair as they are “avascular” meaning without any blood supply. I would give a good joint repair formula three solid months to work before trying something else, although most people will see results in a matter of weeks. Whether you decide to manage your arthritis symptoms naturally or with prescription means, daily glucosamine intake is important for the long term health of your joints.

If you do not notice improvement in your quality, quantity, and severity of pain after three months you may want to consider a different formula as I have discussed in my article “Glucosamine, MSM, or Chondroitin?” and Dr. Benjamin Lynch discusses in his article “Glucosamine vs NSAIDS.”

Biogenesis Glucosamine Sulfate and ArthroGenX are available through HealtheGoods or your local Naturopathic Physician.

Thanks you to HealtheGoods for donating a portion of sales to our free publication and expert product reviews!

~Dr. Nicole Sundene
Naturopathic Physician

Contrary to popular belief Thanksgiving Dinner is actually quite healthy.

When we remove all the notorious “white foods,” such as white refined flours, sugars, and other carbohydrates devoid of nutrients we are actually left with a very colorful whole food fare.

Of course you should never try a new recipe while entertaining, but I have given each popular dish a “whole foods makeover” so that you can try a healthier option next time. There should be a next time–in just a few weeks. We should try to eat a turkey dinner more than once a year! Baking a whole turkey is a fantastic healthy and frugal way to optimize your grocery budget, and turkey is the hottest trend this winter. Plus it just makes the house smell good. I freeze carcasses until I have enough to make into a great turkey wild rice soup.

Here are the top eight superfoods found in our traditional American Thanksgiving spread.

1. Turkey

Renowned for its high tryptophan content, turkey has the potential to lift our mood and/or make us sleepy. It really depends on how we choose to pair up the amino acids in turkey. When turkey is consumed in conjunction with refined carbohydrates found in mashed potatoes or dinner rolls, the tryptophan converts to serotonin, and in low light conditions the excess serotonin converts in to melatonin, the nighttime hormone that makes us feel sleepy. Serotonin gives you that good “Turkey Buzz” and Melatonin is what sends you straight to the couch for a nice nap. If you are depressed you should work turkey, cottage cheese, and salmon in to your weekly rotation so you can benefit from my other favorite high tryptophan foods, or you can also just try some 5-HTP.

When we eat turkey in the absence of carbohydrates the amino acids that increase energizing catecholamines are able to cross the blood brain barrier and the result is an energized good mood. If you aren’t a breakfast person try a bit of salmon, cottage cheese, or turkey to start your day, support your adrenal glands, and keep you energized until lunch.

Turkey Makeover: Hold the butter, skip the stuffing and go straight for olive oil and lemon as your poultry flavorings of choice. If you bake your turkey at 320F you will be well below the smoking point of olive oil.

Stuffing the cavity of the turkey with whole lemon halves will also give the turkey a “salty flavor” so you can use the least amount of organic sea salt necessary. Stuff some garlic cloves and thyme under the skin of the turkey, and in the cavity along with the lemons.

Medical geeks like me can get crafty and inject herbal seasonings mixed with your basting solution of olive oil and lemon straight in to the meat with syringes (yes you can buy meat syringes at the store too.) Then just baste and bake as usual. Salt and pepper your turkey mainly on your dinner plate, not in the oven. Salt always loses flavor as it cooks and the best flavor comes from that final sprinkling. Salting your meat while cooking also dries it out, so really it is not just healthy but smart.

To benefit from the tryptophan in turkey don’t over do it with your carbs….that is unless you are heading straight to bed! To boost your mood opt to pair your turkey with the “slow carbs” found in fruits and veggies. Skip the dinner roll and the mound of mashed potatoes.

If you are adventurous, you can also go outside for a little walk after you eat your turkey to stay energized. The full spectrum light will prevent the melatonin formation that makes us all so sleepy.

The moral of the turkey story is that tryptophan converts to serotonin which makes us happy, and in the presence of excess dietary sugar and darkness serotonin converts to melatonin, and melatonin makes us drowsy. That is why all of us in Seattle are so darn tired all the time and left with no choice but to hang out at Starbucks or stare at a light box.

Got that? Fabulous. Moving on.

2. Thyme

Did you ever wonder where that traditional flavor of Thanksgiving came from? You may not know if you haven’t ever prepared the meal. That certain flavor comes from the herb thyme that we traditionally use to flavor our stuffing. Thyme is a fantastic healing herb as it is antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal just like most of it’s relatives in the “laminacea” or mint family.

Thyme is used in making “Listerine” mouthwash, or at least it traditionally was. The aromatic oils in thyme are also fantastic for indigestion, no wonder this is the key point herbal medicine of our great American overeating day!

Stuffing Makeover: Just lose the stuffing! Stuffing although delicious is one of the biggest calorie mongers on the menu. If this is your favorite thing you will need to cut back somewhere else on your plate. The trend of white bread went out with eating McInflammation. The new America is a whole foods America.

Whatever you do, please don’t bake your stuffing inside the turkey, this makes it that much more fattening, and sets people up for food poisoning if not adequately cooked through. You HAVE to check the temperature of your stuffing AND your turkey.

Instead try a stuffing in your crockpot of brown rice or quinoa, thyme, raw nuts and seeds, dried fruit, garlic, and your favorite stuffing spices instead of the traditional white food fest. At least experiment with healthy stuffing alternatives for your non-holiday feasts. I will allow everyone to eat stuffing one day a year on my whole foods diet. If you can “just say no to stuffing” then you get bonus points and will immediately benefit by feeling good about yourself and not overstuffed from stuffing.

3. Cranberries

Delicious and healthy antioxidant rich fruit that fight aging, inflammation, and bladder infections.

Why are berries all the latest rage? In my Mangosteen Scam tirade I discussed that all deeply pigmented fruit skins are high in antioxidants. From a botanical standpoint the plant smartly creates these antioxidant polyphenols known as “proanthocyanins” to protect the skin of the fruit from the sun. The fruit cannot use sunlight to produce energy in the manner that the leaves of the plant do, so the antioxidants are “nature’s sunscreen”. Without their protective antioxidants, berries would shrivel and burn under the sun’s harsh rays.

The ingenious antioxidant protection devised by the plant also kindly protects us from the free radical damage that results from the reactive oxygen species we are constantly exposed to in our polluted stressful environment. The skin, eyes, and blood vessels are especially protected by the proanthocyanins in berries.

Most people know that cranberry juice is good for bladder infections. E. coli, the bacteria that causes most bladder infections is unable to adhere to the lining of the bladder thanks to cranberry.

What most people don’t know though is that there is not a therapeutic cranberry juice out there that really tastes that good! If you are drinking a “delicious” glass of cranberry juice every day then you are probably not doing much to prevent a bladder infection. You should read the label because you are probably drinking a delicious glass of high fructose corn syrup(HFCS) and food coloring.

When shopping for cranberry juice, be sure to read the label and purchase only 100% pure cranberry juice. The HFCS juice trend faded out in the nineties. And a cranberry juice loaded with grape juice, apple juice or heaven forbid high fructose corn syrup is simply not going to be effective for preventing disease or bladder infections. To make cranberry juice more palatable, mix with 50% pure blueberry juice. Blueberries are also fantastic antioxidants that prevent bladder infections and aging.

Cranberry Sauce Makeover: Try experimenting with healthier natural sweeteners like agave, brown rice syrup, and stevia for homemade cranberry sauce. Adding a bunch of refined sugars and other refined pollutants to cranberries defeats their protective healing purpose.

4. Yams

Because of the beautiful orange and yellow pigments, yams, sweet potatoes, and even that delicious pumpkin pie are all a rich source of beta carotene and other important carotenoids that prevent cancer and support a healthy immune system.

Yellow and orange foods are particularly protective to the lungs, reproductive system, and eyes.

No, carrots probably don’t improve your vision, but the carotenoids in them have been shown to be protective and preventative for both cataracts and macular degeneration. So they may not perfect your vision, but they will prevent its degeneration. Certain antioxidants have affiliations for certain tissues in our systems. Be sure to eat something yellow and orange every day, and I’m not talking about circus peanuts! Eating by the rainbow is the diet for the new millennium. If you are struggling with this new trend you may need to grab my favorite Whole Foods Multi that just happens to be “Buy One Get One Free” right now.

Yam Makeover: Lose the marshmallows! Marshmallows are completely out of style. Less is more now. “More is more” went out five years ago, and for some of us a few months ago when the stock market crashed. Try your traditional whipped yam recipe without the marshmallows. Garnish with pecans instead, or just let them stand alone as the amazing super food they are. Try healthier sweeteners in your candied yam recipe like brown rice syrup, agave, or stevia and flavor with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, or pumpkin pie spice.

Baked yams as pictured are delicious and simple! Try roasting yams in the oven at 350F 30-40 minutes until fork tender. You can also steam yams till tender, drizzle with olive oil and give a sprinkle of sea salt for a regular dinner side dish. The peel of vegetables is where all the nutrients and fiber lies. Buy yams organic if you are going to eat the peel since they are a root vegetable. All root vegetables are naturally riddled with pesticides as they absorb and concentrate them from the soil. But, since yams and sweet potatoes are dirt cheap, they are worth the extra splurge. Everyone that is “cool now” is eating yams and sweet potatoes, so hopefully that includes you.

For a healthy wheat free “sweet potato pie” scoop out freshly baked sweet potato just like what is pictured here, sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice, drizzle with honey, and top with shredded coconut! Without the pie crust you have earned the calories to add a small dollop of your favorite organic vanilla ice cream. It sounds weird, but it is truly delicious. Who has the time to bake an entire pie anyways when you can just toss a couple sweet potatoes in the oven? Isn’t healthy easy? That is why it is so stylish.

5. Green Beans

Green beans are loaded with fiber, beta carotene, B-vitamins, calcium, and potassium. Eating any beans are a fantastic diabetic trick for lowering the glycemic load of a meal. Beans truly are the “magical fruit” for a reason. Now eating too many beans may not make you too popular, but at least they will make you more attractive and youthful and trim your waist line.

Green Bean Makeover: Lightly steam your green beans, they are done when they turn bright green, don’t boil them in to a nutrient devoid lifeless brown mess. We just don’t boil vegetables anymore. If you boil them you should drink the water too as that is where all the vitamins go. It is just wrong on so many levels, and the kind of thing that only belongs in the “worse dressed” section of the tabloids. Canned green beans went out with acid washed jeans. Always opt for fresh or frozen before grabbing for cans.

I don’t mean to sound bossy, but you have to lose the white canned cream of mushroom soup garbage, and dress your beans with olive oil or your favorite olive oil based salad dressing. If you have to defy me and use a cream based soup then grab an organic one, as most cheap soups are the worst of the worst processed food fests.

Now add carmelized REAL onions, not those fake canned crunchies that were SO 1981. It is important that you keep up with the latest trends. Almond slivers should be RAW to maximally benefit from the cancer fighting phenolic acids and healthy fats, and of course that also is the stylish thing that everyone else is doing. Especially celebrities. This is how celebrities eat on their “designer diets” so if you want to send me a thank you check you are welcome to make a donation.

6. Mashed Potatoes

If you keep the peel on the potatoes before you mash them, then I will give you permission to eat them.

Potatoes get a bad wrap because we don’t eat the peel. Buy organic potatoes and mash them WHOLE. The peel of the potato contains fiber, vitamin C, thiamin, and potassium.

Some people with arthritis don’t tolerate potatoes well, if you have arthritis, potatoes and foods in the solonacea family like eggplant, peppers, onions, and so forth just may not be the right choice for you.

Mashed Potato Makeover: There are a few great makeover tricks you can implement to freshen up a rather dead ugly lifeless food like mashed potatoes. Definitely stand by ready and loaded with your garlic press and press about a clove per large potato. Garlic supports the immune and cardiovascular systems. Garlic also prevents and kills parasites.

I always add cottage cheese to my mashed potatoes to give them that creamy consistency, this protein bump also decreases the glycemic load for dieters, and diabetics. Cottage is also rich in mood boosting tryptophan. Remember we have to eat protein, and fiber with EVERY meal to prevent diabetes, blood sugar crashes from hypoglycemia, and obesity. Plus all the cool kids are doing it.

Try olive oil instead of butter, try adding some steamed arugula or spinach in at the end to create a gourmet effect, and if you HAVE to have that buttery flavor from organic butter (please don’t EVER use margarine if you learn anything from my nags. Please just go throw out your tub of margarine in the garbage where it belongs, and never buy it again, or any other hydrogenated oil product that serves no other biochemical purpose in life but to rapidly age you, clog your arteries, and make you unnecessarily fat. We want to be the least amount of fat right? Your body can’t use margarine so it converts it to fat storage…) just add some low fat buttermilk in lieu of regular milk if you must do dairy and NEED that butter flavor. Sprinkle with sea salt and organic pepper. Enjoy!

7. Minced Meat Pie

Are you terrified of minced meat pie? Well most of us are, until we discover that modern “minced meat” is just a fruit sauce made of dates and other dried fruits and not some leftover cafeteria meat concoction.

Well the beauty of this is that dates, figs, prunes, apples, and most dried fruits score high on the ORAC, meaning they have extremely high free radical fighting potential. Antioxidants=Anti-aging. Memorize that. Aging isn’t just about vanity and outer appearance. Your organs and blood vessels are aging on the inside as we sit here. If it doesn’t look good on the outside it doesn’t look good on the inside either. True beauty is an inside out job. Eat more antioxidants to prevent disease and you will be rewarded with a continuously youthful glow.

Let me be the first to announce that Minced Meat Pies are now the HOTTEST trend for fall. Don’t worry they only show up on the whole foods runway once every 50 years.

Minced Meat Makeover: Opt for a whole grain crust and use organic butter rather than margarine (heaven forbid.) If you really want to impress those avoiding gluten with your gourmet skills, you can add a dollop of your favorite organic minced meat filling to half a sliced date and top with a splash of real whipped cream. Dates are also delicious stuffed with various nut butters, and chocolates as I just recently learned from RN, Rod Newbound.

8. Red Wine

“Yes! Dr. Nicole says I can have a glass of red wine!” Just remember that is only ONE to two glasses of red wine–max. That is one drink per day not per hour–and no you can’t save them all up for the end of the week. It just doesn’t work that way. The benefits of the cancer fighting, anti-aging polyphenols in red wine known as resveratol go down as you burden your liver with alcohol. As with everything, moderation is key. Even too much water will kill cause hyponatremia and kill you.

Red Wine Makeover: Remember that one glass is better for you than the entire bottle. Opt for an organic alternative like our Kitchen Table 2008 Favorite, Badger Mountain. Remember to never drive while you are drinking. The most stylish people always have a driver…er…cab driver. Even one glass of alcohol impairs your judgment enough to put an end to your happy holiday–or worse yet–someone else’s.

Please always be considerate to the safety of others when imbibing during the holiday season.

Hope you all have a Happy AND Healthy Thanksgiving! Have fun wowing all your friends and family with this questionably boring kitchen table talk of the Thanksgiving superfoods and how to give them makeovers. Let me know if you manage to pull it off and keep them interested! Feel free to share any of your healthy Thanksgiving recipe tips in the comments section.

Thanks much for sharing my whole foods tips with your friends and family.

~Dr. Nicole Sundene
Naturopathic Physician

References: Medical Nutrition from Marz by Dr. Russell Marz, Medical Herbalism by Hoffman

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The Healing Power of Cauliflower
The Healing Power of Music
The Healing Power of Positivity
The Healing Power of Mexican Food
The Healing Power of Stinging Nettles

Although the exact origin of the date palm is lost in antiquity, it is known to have been used in construction of the temple of the moon god near Ur in Southern Iraq (Mesopotamia) as early a 4000 BC.

Dates were considered very important in both the Jewish and Islamic religions, and were believed to be a curative for many ailments.

Ancient Phoenicia was known as “the land of palms” and no doubt dates sustained them as they sailed around the Mediterranean and became the predominate maritime trading culture of the time.

Nutritional Powerhouse

Dates are one of the most nourishing natural foods. Containing 3,000 calories per kilogram (2.2 lbs.), just a handful taken with a glass of milk, can provide all the nutrition a person needs for the entire day. And because the natural sugars in dates are fructose and glucose, diabetics can safely consume them.

Dates are also high in dietary fiber and low in sodium and fat. They are also a valuable source of antioxidants (ranked #11 out of 100 fruits and vegetables in ORAC score).

100 grams (about 3 ½ oz.) of dates contains

• Carbohydrates 75 gm (including 63 gm sugar)

• Dietary fiber 8 gm

• Protein 2.5 gm

Full to the brim with super-healthy benefits this dry fruit is a must-have in your kitchen.

Cancer Fighter

Fresh, dried, or semi-dry dates pack a nutritious punch when it comes to getting your daily requirement of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and especially magnesium.

One study indicates that 64% of men and 67% of women fail to get enough of this important mineral. Bone density, blood pressure and insulin activity are just some of the things affected by magnesium levels.

A Swedish study, conducted over 14.8 years among 61,433 women showed that a diet high in magnesium rich foods cut the risk of colon cancer by 34%. And the evidence is clear that a high fiber diet is very important in the prevention of colon cancer.

It is known that date consumers in Saharan areas have the lowest incidence of cancer, which is attributed to the high magnesium content of dates.

Top 5 Things to Know About Dates

• Fresh dates are a useful source of Vitamin C and when dried, they are richer in potassium than bananas.

• Dates can have a mild laxative effect, making them ideal for children and convalescing adults who need to clean up their intestines.

• Dried dates are a rich source of niacin, copper, iron and magnesium. Just drinking a juice made of dates soaked overnight in water will strengthen the heart and purify the blood.

• Certain cultures use dates to provide all the body’s necessary nourishment by stuffing dry dates with nuts and raisins to use as a snack during fasts. This is an easily made treat for those suffering from low blood sugar. Eating just two stuffed dates can quickly raise your blood sugar to normal levels.

• Dates are also rich in calcium, and date syrup added to milk strengthens bones. Even breast-feeding mothers can benefit from dates, because it is known to enrich the milk and boost the child’s immune system.

Caution: Use moderation. Eating too many dates at a time could lead to dental caries and gum disease as the sugar in the dates is fermented in the mouth and forms plaque. Dates are also known to trigger migraines in some people.

Quick and Easy Ways to Use Dates

• Chop and add to the dough when you are making cookies or brownies

• Put some in your milkshake instead of sugar or honey

• Dice and serve with ice cream or yogurt

• Blend with milk and use as syrup

• Stuff with nuts and a chunk of cheddar cheese

• Add to hot cereal to punch up the nutritional value

• Dice and put in your pancake or waffle batter

• For a super healthy snack, stuff with raw chocolate nibs

More exotic dishes include Moroccan tajines (a slow-cooked spicy stew) and ka’ak bi ajwa (an Arab cookie filled with ground dates). In Manila, a cake similar to fruitcake made with nuts and dates is called “Food for the Gods”.

It is estimated that there are 100 million date palm trees growing today. And because of that, you can easily enjoy one of the most nutritious and sustainable fruits in the world without traveling to Mesopotamia.

Stop by AntiAgingHacks.com for more great Anti-Aging Tips!

Rod Newbound is a 58 year old Registered Nurse who teaches his patients how to live longer and better.

“Healthy longevity - the adventure of your life.”

Read More Anti-aging Tips:
Raw Foods Diet
Olive Oil Prevents DNA Damage
The Best Berries to Let Run Wild
Anti-aging Chlorine Shower Filter

Author of Don’t Ask Stupid Questions - There Are No Stupid Questions

I was talking to somebody the other day about fluff. I’m not referring to the stuff that finds its way into your belly button, but book fluff or filler. I could easily distill several of the seminal self-development books into a few paragraphs if I was so inclined.

The thing is though, nobody spends $20 on one piece of mass produced paper no matter what words of wisdom are printed on it. So writers have to bulk their books out to deliver perceived value and get people to hand over their hard earned cash.

I’ve decided to unbulk the coaching process and invent a new word into the bargain. Here are ten tips that if you follow will guarantee an improvement in the quality of your life, or I’ll give you your money back.

#1 Align With Your Values

Unless you know what your core values are you will struggle with blocks in your life. All your decisions are based around your values and what you consider imperative to your life.

For example, if you have a number one value of integrity and work for a business that rips off its customers (even if you are not involved in the actual process) then you will feel uncomfortable either consciously or unconsciously.

There are also away from values, things that you move away from at all costs and again you should know what these are as they can frequently be the reason why you just can’t follow through with somethings no matter how hard you try.

#2 Happiness is Internal

Yeh, yeh, yeh, I know, it’s a cliché. I don’t care though because it’s true. Chase money, possessions, titles as much as you want, but realize that they wont bring you happiness. You already have that if you can be bothered to dig around and look for it. Being in complete alignment with your values will help you find happiness.

#3 Beliefs Aren’t Real

Your belief system is something that you’ve built up over your life. It comes from your parents, your friends, your colleagues and many other sources. It is evolving and changing all the time.

You probably believe in the tooth fairy, but somebody told me only last week, she really doesn’t exist. Disappointing though that is, especially as I have been stock piling my new puppies teeth for a big payday, we just have to accept reality and change the belief.

What false beliefs about your abilities are you holding onto that are holding you back? When you know they are, undermine them, look for counter examples and replace them with more empowering beliefs. After all, if you think you can, you probably can.

#4 The Map Is Not The Territory

This is a presupposition of NLP and critical to understanding and making changes. Just because you view something one way doesn’t make it so. Everybody has his or her own map and theirs is just as accurate as yours. Adopting that one belief will remove conflict from your life.

#5 Use Perceptual Positions

If in moments of introspection you can take a step back and view your life or any given situation from a watchers point of view you will often see things that you can’t see from your angle. It can also be useful to take the 2nd person position, which involves seeing you through the eyes of the person you are talking to or involved with. Most people resist this especially when coming under attack, be different.

#6 Write it Down

Whether it is goals or simply ideas you have on trying to improve your life put them on paper. The sheer act of writing something down sends a message to the unconscious mind that you are serious about what you are doing that it need to get to work on bridging the gap between where you are now and where you want to go.

#7 Every Action has a Positive Intention

This is another NLP presupposition. Even when you do what sometimes seem like ridiculous things there is always a positive intent behind it. It may take some digging to get to it but it is there.

Taking smoking as an example. It can seem self-destructive and often smokers that want to quit will refuse to see the benefits, but they are there. By accepting that your actions are not there to harm you (even self-harm fits into this category) you are infinitely more likely to be able to make changes

#8 Model

If you are unsure how to do something copy somebody that is proficient. This is how children learn to speak and it is how we get good at something quickly. Too many people are frightened of asking for help because they think it makes them look weak. In my not so humble opinion, not asking for help makes you look stupid.

#9 Make Mistakes

Mistakes are feedback, they are nature’s way of telling us we need to adjust to take stock and reconsider. They do not mean we are failure as a person just that we failed at a task. Relish mistakes, hug them, caress them and thank them for dropping by because they are helping you to learn.

#10 Be Kind To Yourself

This is so important to get a handle on. There really is no need EVER to beat yourself up, be kind to yourself like you would a loved one. We all make mistakes, even the super successful make mistakes, try and learn from them and move on. Too many people seem to be great at beating themselves up and terrible at praising themselves. Give yourself some credit from time to time, you deserve it!

Tim Brownson is a UK qualified Life Coach, NLP Master Practitioner and certified Hypnotherapist and author of Don’t Ask Stupid Questions - There Are No Stupid Questions.

He coaches both face-to-face in Orlando and over the telephone with clients all over the United States, Canada and ‘back home’ in the UK.

Subscribe to Tim’s free life coaching blog, and stop by his bookstore for more life coaching motivation.

Related Reading:

What is a Life Coach?
How to Quit Smoking
How to Transform Fear

Well if you do, you can feel vindicated by today’s topic, and if you don’t you may change your mind after reading today’s guest post. This is also a great teaching topic to share with your children. Won’t you sound so smart next time you are outside with your kids looking at bugs in the garden? Teach them about the microscopic bugs at work in our soil, and the important agricultural role they play.

Remember, even the Hobo Spider deserves his place in the environment, and we just need to respectfully avoid encounters without going on spider killing rampages.

Please enjoy part II in the series of “Organic vs. Commercially Farmed Food” by Stephen Cox.

Within any healthy soil are billions upon billions of microorganisms. Some microorganisms live in a symbiotic relationship with plants. For example a certain type of microorganism actually puts out a protective net around the plants roots in the soil and the net is covered with a type of glue.

When, along comes a microscopic parasitic worm, it gets caught in the net. Other microorganisms, which also live symbiotically with the plant punch a hole in the invader’s body, liquefy its organs, which are the most nutrient dense part, and feed that to the plant.

With commercially farmed produce the fields in which the foods you eat are grown, have been repeatedly sprayed with chemical toxins that kill the microorganisms in the soil. It’s not dissimilar to chemical warfare because pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and other chemicals resemble neurotoxins. And the food you’re eating is growing in an environment where tons of this toxic waste is being dumped. It would be naive to believe that it is not somehow finding its way into our food, our water and our general environment.

With little to no microorganism in the soil to support plant life commercial farmers turn to chemical fertilizers. Have you ever wondered why it is we hear on the news that someone used fertilizer to blow something up? That is because the chemical fertilizer the food we’re eating and using very closely resembles gunpowder.

After World War II ended the governments of the day were left with all these munitions factories. So they spent millions of dollars (at the time it was a colossal amount of money) to convince farmers that if they weren’t using this stuff they were stupid. This was not a decision made with the best interests of health and wellbeing in mind. We’re talking straight economics.

Organic Solution

I grow some of my own veggies – carrot, spinach, broad bean, broccoli (incidentally a cup of broccoli contains 205% of the necessary daily intake of vitamin C and just 43 calories), rocket, onions, lettuce and herbs. All in a very small patch of land just 1 meter wide by 2 meters long. No pesticides. No chemical fertilizer.

Growing your own vegetables is a great way to boost your health and wellbeing. You’ll be giving the environment a helping hand at the same time. The vegetables you grow for yourself will not need to be harvested by large machinery and then shipped thousands of miles to a location where they may be kept in cold storage for weeks, even months. All those activities produce greenhouse gasses and contribute to global warming.

Growing your own food has other benefits.

It really grounds us and connects us as human animals with nature and our world.

Sometime we get disconnected and forget that we are part of something bigger. Disconnection can be a powerful source for unhappiness and depression.

The process of energy exchange as you plant, tend, water and harvest your own plants is something that really needs to be experienced.

It is a process of caring and love as opposed to rampant destruction for meaningless profit. You’ll gain joy just from watching the plants burst with life and growth in the sunshine after each rain.

Plants can take our stress much like they take our carbon dioxide. I find they help me to let go each afternoon when I spend a few moments giving them attention. It is in every sense a very holistic activity. If you have children I couldn’t imagine a better project you could enjoy with your children. Children are constantly learning and they can learn a lot from tending a garden.

Organic Conclusion

Life feeds on life. There is a constant cycling of energy transference. First the microorganisms support plant life. Plants are consumed by herbivores and omnivores. Carnivores and omnivores in turn consume the herbivores. All produce waste (even plants drop leaves), which is food for the microorganisms, and all die which also feeds the microorganisms. And so, on it goes.

The disruption of the energy transference cycle at its very root, by killing microorganisms through commercial farming practice, means the life that feeds on the life before it cannot possible be naturally healthy. Human and animals that eat sick plans will not themselves be well. Nor humans that eat sick animals.

Do you still want to kill all those bugs and worms in your garden?

Read Part I of this series “Organic vs Commercially Farmed Food”

For more great articles by Stephen Cox you can visit BalancedExistence.com. Stephen is a graduate student in Australia. Read more articles by our featured writer, Stephen Cox.

Related Reading:

On organic farming and global warming

Organic farms produce same yields as conventional farms

Can organic farming feed the world?

The Top Eleven Easiest Foods to Grow

How to Get Your Kids to Eat More Vegetables

How to Make a Green Bean Teepee

Berries that Should Run Wild

Are chocolate chips better than Viagra? According to Journal of Nutrition’s latest September and October issues, chocolate has some pretty exciting therapeutic potential.

If you want to avoid being on “the little blue pill” you should consider taking a daily dose of the little brown pill.

That’s right—50-200 chocolate chips a day may prevent the cardiovascular damage that is a leading cause of erectile dysfunction. ¹

According to recent studies, the flavonoids in dark chocolate naturally enhanced natural nitric oxide levels. The drug Viagra works mechanistically as a phosphodiesterase inhibtor to enhance nitric oxide. Our bodies also synthesize nitric oxide, and nitric oxide works on our blood vessels to dilate them and increase blood flow. With psychogenic etiologies ruled out, erectile dysfunction is typically an issue of blood flow. Increasing blood flow is how Viagra manufacturers have made a fortune.

In September of 2008, Journal of Nutrition published an Italian university study investigating the therapeutic potential of chocolate and found that, “Flavanols from chocolate appear to increase nitric oxide bioavailability, protect vascular endothelium, and decrease cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors….our findings suggest flavanol-rich, low-energy cocoa food products may have a positive impact on [cardiovascular disease] risk factors.”

Now as a women’s health physician, I typically avoid topics such as erectile dysfunction like the plague, so I am going to drop my men’s health commentary today and then run for dear life… Working as a family practice medical assistant for eight years throughout medical school taught me an important early lesson about men’s health. Most men simply DON’T care about cholesterol, blood pressure, atherosclerosis, diabetes, blood sugar, antioxidants or inflammation.

The second you start to nag about this stuff their eyes just glaze over. You can nag and nag and nag about cholesterol and blood sugar lab values, and still no changes will be implemented.

Eventually I realized the secret to men’s health while working as a urology assistant, the only way to get men to care about their health is to hit them below the belt with the facts that matter. Women are typically all about vanity and men are all about virility. These are the motivators I rely on to market and sell my preventive medicine concepts.

Doctors know that all of the aforementioned health issues contribute to erectile dysfunction. But, what most men don’t know is that without a properly functioning cardiovascular system, things below the belt aren’t going to function either.

It’s all about blood flow and elasticity. We would never leave our garden hoses to freeze out in the cold of winter, we instead take the time to properly care for them to insure they don’t harden and become permanently dysfunctional. Although garden hoses cannot auto-repair, our arteries do by making scar tissue, and the similar type of destruction from high blood pressure, cholesterol, inflammation, and diabetes is repaired by the body by throwing down scar tissue and inflammation.

The more scar tissue and inflammation in your arteries the less elastic they are, and thus the narrower their diameter. Blood pressure just continues to escalate and the damage to your arteries continues in a vicious cycle. Viagra and similar medications such as Levitra and Cialis all work to enhance blood flow.

They are designed to promote the elasticity of those frozen old er…stiff garden hoses. Viagra is a phosphodiasterase inhibitor which increases levels of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide causes our blood vessels to EXPAND. Eventually arteries become damaged and hardened to the point where they will no longer respond to nitric oxide. Keep in mind though that a “garden hose” left out in extreme harsh “winter conditions” will inevitably lose it’s elasticity, and the hose will have to be replaced. How many “winters” have you left your body out in the cold, not caring about diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, and inflammation? This is why many men with erectile dysfunction don’t find benefit from Viagra. Blood vessel expansion is the premise of which Viagra has made millions.

I am going to instead give away my natural medicine tips for free, and if the Toll House Chocolate Chip Company wants to send me a billion dollar thank you check, they are more than welcome. What is more important to me is that TODAY you feel inspired and motivated to prevent problems that will inevitably occur down the road TOMORROW.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”—right?

If you don’t have erectile dysfunction now wouldn’t you like to prevent it from happening? Medicine’s used to treat ED are expensive, have multiple side effects and drug interactions, and are not as well tolerated as the commercials on television make them out to be.

When I worked as a Urology assistant the main complaint was always headaches and that “it just didn’t work”. Well after a while when disease has advanced too far, no medication will be able to work. Think back to the garden hose example. You want your arteries to be elastic and healthy, not hardened from the “harsh winter conditions” of sub-optimally controlled high blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol.

So why chocolate chips?

Well chocolate chips are fantastic prevention because they are DARK chocolate and the darker the chocolate the more nitric oxide enhancing flavonoids.

A study was done on Italian men and found that Italian men that ate an ounce of dark chocolate had healthier lab markers.

Keep in mind that 50 chocolate chips or roughly an ounce of dark chocolate is the minimum amount needed to prevent disease according to that study.

I weighed them out and found that 48 chocoalte chips= 1oz. But you have my permission to throw in two extra chips for preventive measure!

Another study cited previously, showed therapeutic benefit with 100 grams of dark chocolate which is about 200 chocolate chips! Is this not the best news ever for chocolate lovers?

Remember though that chocolate as a medicine is not free of calories, cocoa butter, or refined sugar. Pure cocoa products are a great alternative as an ounce of chocolate chips have 140 calories. While 200 chocolate chips pack a whopping 500 calories!

But, for those of you that are already eating too much sugar and saturated fat, chocolate chips are a fantastic way to transition to a healthier dessert diet. I know most of you are probably eating fattening desserts anyways (I mean we do have to enjoy life a little bit right?) so dark chocolate chips are a healthier alternative and I like that they conveniently come in little bits that can be savored throughout the day.

But, chocolate chips are not the only foods that contain disease fighting flavonoids. So here is the bait and switch. Most fruits and vegetables are also rich in flavonoids.

Berries are chock full of proanthocyanins, citrus is a fantastic source of hesperidin and rutin, and onions are an excellent source of quercetin. Fruits and vegetables are likely going to prevent the need of Viagra too!

Yes–really this is just a giant strategically planned nag on my part to inspire the consumption of more whole foods, especially those rich in flavonoids. And yes it really was too easy to grab your attention with chocolate chips and Viagra and then turn this in to a fruit and veggie nag. But, my point with this “gotcha” is that preventing disease is where it is at when it comes to ED. Winter is coming, and it is time to think about your preventative plan for your “garden hose.”

A healthy dose of fresh fruits, raw or lightly steamed veggies, raw nuts and seeds, and chocolate will work synergistically to prevent the cardiovascular damage that causes disease.

I think any man suffering with ED reading this article would absolutely agree that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

For diabetics that want to gain the flavanol benefits of chocolate chips, simply enjoy them with a small handful of raw almonds to decrease the glycemic load and increase phenolic compounds (anti-oxidant/anti-inflammatory/anti-cancer). Almonds are also high in fiber, and fiber consumption also is protective to the cardiovascular system. So add about ten raw almonds to your 50 chocolate chips or make a healthy trail mix with your other favorite raw nuts and seeds.

I don’t want to leave women out of this nag, so chocolate chips are good news for women too as Dr. Christiane Northrup in her latest book “The Secret Pleasures of Menopause” also emphasizes the importance of naturally enhancing nitric oxide levels through diet and lifestyle to improve sexual function. Grab the book through Amazon, if you care to learn more about ways to naturally enhance nitric oxide.

Those in need of losing weight should also benefit from this simple chocolate chip tip as eating a few chocolate bits throughout the day should help you feel satisfied for sweets and prevent those binges brought on by extreme deprivation and yo-yo dieting that sets the stage for binge eating.

Stick with me, subscribe to my feed, and I will teach you how to be healthy & enjoy life.

Dr. Nicole Sundene

Want more tips for preventing and treating erectile dysfunction through diet and lifestyle?

Try: Exercise, The Low Glycemic Index Diet, The Anti-Inflammatory Diet, Kegels for Men, Cholesterol Lowering Diet, Hypertension, Low Sodium Diet, Antioxidants, Anti-Inflammatory Diet and subscribe to my feed as we discuss the therapeutic potential of other healing foods and natural supplements for cardiovascular health and erectile dysfunction.

References

1. Grassi D, Desideri G, Necozione S, et al. “Chocolate and Blood Pressure” J Nutr. 2008 Sep;138(9):1671-6.

2. Romina di Giuseppe, Augusto Di Castelnuovo, et al. “Italian Men that eat Dark Chocolate are Healthier” J. Nutr. 138:1939-1945, October 2008

If you have diabetes you could use the empathy, and if you are currently free of chronic disease you may want to read and feel motivated to take better care of your body NOW to prevent disease.

Do you ever wonder what it is like to live with diabetes? Ever wonder how your friends or family members are secretly doing day to day with this difficult disease?

Today I will be interviewing Joe, otherwise known as “Crotchety” to all the readers of his widely read, popular and hilarious humor blog, “Crotchety Old Man Yells at Cars” about living with diabetes.

You can only imagine my terror when I first saw that some website “Crotchety Old Man Yells at Cars” was linking to Kitchen Table Medicine. I thought for sure we were under some sort of blog terrorism attack, until I realized that he just was reading my blog, and had added it to his list of favorite sites. Phew! Disaster everted. For professional reasons today I will of course refer to Crotchety as “Joe” throughout the rest of the interview. *wink*

I invited Joe to lead the discussion of what it is like to live with diabetes because he always tells it exactly how it is, and I don’t want diabetes to be sugar coated–no pun intended. I appreciate his incessant honesty and that is why he is so darn funny over there. If you need a daily dose of Rated G or–er? PGish humor to keep you laughing each morning you can subscribe to his blog.

He also has a site called “Diabetes Destroys” and has posted some very graphic pictures (don’t look at those if you are eating right now) of his latest skin infection from diabetes. You may just want to bookmark the page and take a look before you decide to have another ice cream sundae today, especially if diabetes runs in your family. These days Type II diabetes is epidemic though, and runs in nearly everyone’s family. Please welcome to the kitchen table my dear friend Joe!

Hi Joe, How did you feel when you were diagnosed with type II diabetes?

Joe: I’ve been diagnosed for over 20 years, probably closer to 30. Kind of silly that I don’t remember, but thinking about it, that probably points to what I felt about the disease.
I had failed badly in taking responsibility for my health. I was told that it was unlikely that I would ever make it to 30, and rather than scaring me, it made me not care at all.

So, diabetes was just one more thing I would be taking pills for. Big deal.

What was your diet and lifestyle like before diabetes?

Joe: More or less, I treated my body like an amusement park. I did what I wanted, partied pretty heavily at times (lots of beer and alcohol…ok, lots was an understatement.)

I drank more in less time than any one of my friends. Most days, more than any 2 of them. I often went out with 2 of my friends, and the first round was 2 beers, and 6 screwdrivers. They each had one beer, I had all 6 screwdrivers.

We never had less than 2 such rounds, usually 3 if we stayed a second hour. I ate lots of fast food, nearly every day. Never exercised, just drank heavily and ate a lot of junk. Weight became a major issue, but I didn’t care because I was going to die by 30. I was pretty pissed when I didn’t.

What is your diet and lifestyle like now?

Joe: I still don’t exercise enough because I’m pretty lazy. But I do eat a fairly healthy diet. I’m far from perfect. My metabolism is unbelievably slow, as I eat very little most days, yet can’t seem to lose weight. I don’t eat a lot of substitutes as I firmly believe they are junk.

Most are either empty calories or poison.

For instance, I don’t rely on diet sodas or drinks with sugar substitutes. I drink mostly water or green tea sweetened with either a few ounces of juice or plain. I may have one regular soda per week, maximum. And not a big Gulp or anything like that. Either one Snapple Peach Tea or one 12 oz. Jones Cream Soda. I’d love to be perfect, but that isn’t going to happen.

Most of my food choices are whole grain, and I do limit amounts. Back in the day, the Mrs. and I would get, at most, two meals from a pound of spaghetti. And, to be honest, the second meal was a bit skimpy. Today, one pound lasts us 3 or 4 meals, sometimes more.

Most meals are heavy on vegetables, and very light on carbs like potatoes and breads.
I also don’t have a lot of animal protein. Maybe 3 times a week, and nearly dairy free.
I should exercise more, but at least I feel guilty about that, so that’s a good sign, I guess.

What were/are your biggest challenges with a diabetic diet and lifestyle?

Joe: The biggest challenge is thinking about what I’m eating.

I’d love to start out my day with a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese and a quart of chocolate milk. And then gulp down a large Coke with a couple double cheeseburgers and fries, and maybe an apple pie. And then have a pizza for dinner with extra pepperoni.

But if I were to eat that way, it would make me feel sick for days. I always consider what I’m eating and what comes next. If I don’t make a good choice for breakfast, I have to be careful to not follow it up with a bad lunch and dinner or else my sugar will skyrocket and take days to get back to normal. And I’ll feel terrible the whole time. I try to make good choices all the time, but life happens. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s working for me. I don’t give myself free reign, but by the same token, I realize that I don’t live in a vacuum.

As far as lifestyle, well, it has pretty much put a serious crimp in mine. At least 4 times I have been hospitalized for a couple months at a time. It’s tough to have a job remain open when I take off for 4 months to sit in a hospital and rehab. That and I have some serious ambulation problems now. It stinks when they start to cut off parts.

What has living with diabetes taught you?

Joe: It’s taught me that there is no magic pill. I have to take responsibility for myself. While some medicines do help control sugar, and some people need insulin, the majority of help comes from within.

If you had a friend that just learned they were diagnosed with diabetes today what would you tell them?

Diabetes is an insidious disease. It moves slowly and destroys you in ways that aren’t visible. No pill, no food, no exercise will ever take over for learning to care properly for yourself. Every illness that I have had over the last 20+ years can be traced, in some degree, to diabetes. It can not be cured, but it can be managed.

I often ask someone which glass will break first, one with a crack or one that is perfect? They always say the perfect one. But I contend the cracked one will last longer because one takes better care of it.

What are five simple things every person reading this article can do to prevent type II diabetes?

Joe: It is pretty simple.

1. Get proper rest
2. Get proper nutrition and maintain a healthy weight (diabetics are always hungry, it seems, and empty calories just make it worse)
3. Get sufficient exercise
4. Laugh (You do know I write a humor blog, right?)
5. Take responsibility for your life

Thanks for a great interview Joe, I am sure everyone has really appreciated your honesty around this tough disease. Stop by “Crotchety Old Man Yells at Cars” or subscribe for a daily dose of candid humor, and “Diabetes” Destroys” for more support and information around living with diabetes. If you have any questions for Joe or would like to share your own story with diabetes please do so in the comments section of this article.

Read more: Diabetes Category

FREE Diabetes Diet: Low Glycemic Index

“The Importance of Home Water Filters”

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

Have you ever wished you could filter more than just the water you drink?

I mean there are shower water filters out there too but that still doesn’t decrease the amount of pollutants and chlorine your children, pets, and clothing are exposed to. Chlorine free is especially important for anyone with asthma, skin problems, multiple chemical sensitivity or “perfume allergy,” and those with newborn babies and young children.

We are bathing in chlorine, cooking with chlorine, washing our already dry hands in chlorine, and constantly inhaling the chlorine fumes in our homes that derive from our shower water, kitchen, and laundry rooms. The things we do to get clean are ironically making us “dirty” on the inside. Chlorine not only gives the liver an extra workout, but it also ages our cells making for a shorter over-all lifespan and youthful appearance.

A while ago an environmental medicine professor at my school highly recommended just filtering the water straight from the main source. I mean it sounds a bit expensive and extreme, but when you think about all the other stuff we spend our money on in the name of health and beauty, we should seriously consider purifying the water we drink and the steamy fumes from our showers, laundry rooms, and kitchens. Actually what could be simpler?

Even if your municipal water is free of every other possible contaminant, it is still full of chlorine, and chlorine ages us. Reducing chlorine is an important part of my anti-aging program.

I was checking our new kitchen table partner AquaSauna the other day and was excited to see that they carry entire home water filters!

Of course you can just filter your kitchen sink tap water (which I always recommend filling up your own recycled glass bottles instead of drinking bottled water). And of course you can filter your shower water which you should do because one shower equals the total chlorine of drinking eight glasses of municipal tap water. But the best thing most home owners, parents, and pet lovers can do is just filter it straight at the source. Is that not a dream come true? Clean chlorine free water throughout your entire house? How liberating! Especially since one system is supposed to last for 3 years or 300, 000 gallons–I think it also saves the headache of having to keep up with all the replacing all the various water filters in your home.

I had heard initially that these ingenious systems run around $3000 dollars to have this set up but according to Aquasauna’s page it really is only $799 plus the price of installation (okay I know many plumbers charge more than heart sur