Heart Palpitations and Magnesium

Hi Dr. Ben,

Question:I am currently pregnant and have been experiencing heart palpitations. My midwife told me to take magnesium. I have been taking a drugstore brand of magnesium oxide 250mg pills, but I don’t think I’m absorbing as much as I should because I am still having palpitations before my next dose.

So, my question is which of your products will best suit my needs? Thanks so much for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Answer: Magnesium is a tricky one and companies typically use poor forms of magnesium as it is less expensive to produce. Many magnesium drugstore products contains poor ingredients. Magnesium Oxide , Cellulose Gel , Croscarmellose Sodium , Magnesium Stearate.

Magnesium Oxide is the worst form of magnesium to take as it has the least absorption. To make it worse, the magnesium is in tablet form making absorption even less.

You may consider doing a few things to enhance magnesium absorption:

• Mag Phos 6x 1000 tab cell salt works on a more cellular level than the typical magnesium supplement. It is easiest to put 25 tablets in 1 liter of water and drink throughout the day – every day. This way you are getting water and magnesiumm – both key to proper health.
• Low electrolytes may cause numerous symptoms and taking the full range may assist in reducing palpitations. The recommended dosage of E-Lye Electrolyte Concentrate is ½ an ounce of concentrate to 8 oz. of water, or 8 ounces into 1 gallon of water or milk. Drink an 8 oz. serving 1-2 times daily, or as directed by your physician or HCP.Add this to the 1 liter of water and drink throughout the day along with the Mag Phos cell salts making it easier for you to remember.
• Taking additional Magnesium of one type will likely lead to diarrhea or GI upset. So it is recommend to take a product with 3 forms of magnesium in it for optimal absorption. Tri-Magnesium offers this. Recommend dose is 1-2 caps per day.
  I would use this product over the drugstore product. I would actually throw the other product  in the trash. I do not see how it can provide much benefit given the ingredients and tablet form.

These three may reduce your heart palpitations if it is due to a magnesium deficiency.

Also increase green vegetables in your diet, as the chlorophyll molecule is rich in magnesium. Read “America’s #1 American Mineral Deficiency.”

One thing to keep in mind:

Magnesium and Calcium compete with each other. So make sure you are consuming products high in Calcium – like Organic dark leafy greens and Chia Seeds. Just two ounces of Chia seeds contain 600 mg of Calcium, compared with 120 mg for milk.

If you’ve further questions, please do inquire.

Have a healthy pregnancy and enjoy your little one when they arrive

In health,

Dr Benjamin Lynch CEO of  www.HealthEGoods.com

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

The 17 Grooviest Green Foods

#1 Cabbage: Of course since we are celebrating St. Patties Day we MUST celebrate cabbage! Recently I went to an Irish Pub and ordered corned beef and cabbage, and was horrified to find out that the beef is “corned” because it is brined with corn sized pieces of salt!

Hold the corned beef, but keep the cabbage because it is a powerful cancer fighter thanks to the indole-3-carbinol content. This is also a great breast cancer preventative for women as it decreases the “bad estrogen” and increases the “good estrogen.”

Meaning that the estrogen known to increase reproductive cancers is eliminated.

#2 Olive Oil: I cannot speak highly enough for the virtues of using olive oil as your primary cooking oil in your kitchen. When baking or cooking at temps greater than 340F switch to canola oil. Otherwise, olive oil is a RICH antioxidant source as I stated in my article, “Olive Oil Prevents DNA Damage.” If olive oil is NOT green….it is NOT good. Read more

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Superfoods! Superfoods? And Superfood Supplements?

By Dr. Jody Stanislaw, Naturopathic Physician

Superfoods! I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz. But what exactly is the buzz all about anyway? What are superfoods? Do you really need to eat superfoods? What are the benefits? How do you choose which superfoods are best for you? Well, wonder no longer. Lets get right to the answers…

No surprise to anyone is the fact that humans today are busier and have more on their plate, so to speak, than ever before. We eat on the run, often literally standing up. We grab ready made meals as we rush to our next appointment. We finish meals in minutes, gulping down food that not only have we not been fully present for as we chew but have barely even chewed fully before swallowing. Read more

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Cheapest Health Foods

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

Eating healthy on the cheap can be tough, but if you stock your kitchen with the healthy cheap essentials it should save a great deal in the long run.

I buy certain staples like organic cheese and organic butter when they are on sale and keep them in the freezer.

Consider buying your organic meats, eggs, and fish in bulk and store in a larger freezer out in the garage.

Remember we have to pay for our health one way or another. Prevention is key. The food that graces your kitchen table is the best disease prevention money can buy. President Obama thinks that we will never fix the National Deficit until we fix the Health Care Crisis, I think we will never fix the Health Care Crisis until we fix the crisis at our kitchen tables.

Here are my favorite cheap health foods:

Read more

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Organic Food Gardening Beginners Manual: Review

By Bobbie Laing

For anyone wanting to plant an organic fruit and vegetable garden, Julie Villani‘s book, Organic Food Gardening Beginners Manual is an excellent resource. Whether you are a beginner or just want some advice on your existing garden, you will find step-by-step instructions and some valuable advice on every aspect of home gardening in this manual.

Having your own produce allows you to enjoy healthier, more delicious food right from your own back yard. I remember running out to the back of our property, while preparing dinner, to pull up some very luscious green onions. They were great with almost any meal, and my family loved them.

No, I’m no gardener. The previous tenants of our three-acre plot in the country planted these onions, as well as some other delicious things.

I’m sure you have heard the old adage, “If I knew then what I know now”. Well, that about sums up my feelings about that property and all of the potential it held.

You see this was some twenty years ago, before I realized the dangers of the chemicals found on our fresh produce in the grocery store. Convenience was my impetus in regard to these wonderfully organic fruits and vegetables.

With the produce found in grocery stores, you will find that not only are there potentially dangerous chemicals clinging to the fruits and vegetables, but some of the chemicals they use actually rob them of their nutrients.

“…Chemical fertilizers used by commercial growers produce lush growth by swelling produce with more water. On a per-weight basis, organic food has more “dry matter” (i.e. real food). Partly because of this, organically grown foods contain higher levels of nutrients.”

So, convenience and nutrition are just two of the many benefits of having your own garden. Not to mention the environmental benefits of eating locally grown produce.

Inside you will find things like,
· How to eliminate the use of chemical pesticides – no need to spray anything nasty in your garden again
· How to start your own organic food garden with simple, easy to follow steps – great for beginners
· How to provide the freshest, nutritious, most delicious foods for your family
· The basic tools you’ll need to get started.
· How easy it is to convert your current gardening practices (if you garden already) to organic gardening practices

Happy Gardening!!

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

The Tough Economic Times Diet

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

Jay Leno joked last night that “the economy was so bad that women in LA had to resort to diet and exercise to look good.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that one.  Because the REAL dark irony is that a whole food diet and lifestyle will help you look a million times better than anyone botoxed or pumped full of collagen. Trust me, I assisted the dermatologist back in the day.

During these Tough Economic Times (TET) times we can at least laugh because laughter is still free AND it burns calories.

Despite the “Obesity Tax,” politicians have yet to tax us for laughter.  Perhaps I shouldn’t give them any ideas!

Feel free to leave your frugal “TET Diet” tip in the comments section.

As with everything, going with the flow seems to be the most logical cure for this economic crisis.

As we learn to move away from “Unfulfilled Consumerism” and make choices that are healthier for the environment as well as our pocketbooks, we can certainly remind ourselves of some great dieting tips brought on by these “tough economic times.”

Weight Loss Tips We can Learn from these Tough Economic Times:

1.  Drink a cozy warm mug of water in lieu of your expensive latte.  Warm water gives your intestines a bath, aids elimination, while still making you feel like you have a warm drink to comfort you during the traumatic morning time (well for me).  For more detox on the cheap just add a squeeze of fresh lemon.

2.  Eat less. Yes! I am guessing that since 1/3 of America is obese and many of us are overweight that we can just eat less. I love the Swedish Proverb, ““Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours.”

Maybe it is just because I am Swedish, or maybe it’s because it’s great advice.  But longevity studies indicate that the less we eat (within reason) the longer we live.  Never starve yourself as that slows your metabolism down.  Instead try eating five small meals a day.  Focus on whole foods and simply stop  bit before you actually feel full (more on this later).

3.  Chew chew chew your food! If we are eating less we need to be chewing more so that we can spend our time eating and not feeling like we are deprived because we are eating less. Spend the same amount of time eating less food. It works.

4.  Take a break. Everyone needs a break, especially your poor stomach. At the beginning of your meal, visually or physically divide your plate in half.  When you reach that half way point, take a little break.  Let your body digest for a few minutes, it takes about twenty minutes to register that we are even full so give yourself some time to ENJOY your food, and you may as a result spend less time eating.  That is more leftovers for later, remember “The Doggie Bag” is the hot new trend of 2009.

5.  Share your food. Not only will you look cool while you feel generous, but you’ll be reminded of how much you actually have, while secretly saddling those around you with those unnecessary calories.  We all know that the easiest way to look thinner is to fatten up those around us *wink*

6.  Split your food. If you aren’t the sharing type then visually split your food in half and eat the next portion of it the next day. Restaurants have trained us to think that a normal portion size is over 2-3 times of what it truly is.

I try to make three meals out of every restaurant meal.  A habit I got in after waiting tables and throwing pounds and pounds of food away after clearing tables all day. It was such a waste!

It may not have been cool before to ask for that “to go” box, but it sure is now.  Set the example.  Take the doggie bag, and remember that you can also save money on kibble by feeding your dogs leftover meat, veggies, cottage cheese, yogurt (non-sweetened), potatoes, and rice.  Just don’t give them too many grains, bread, wheat, sweets, etc.

7.  Focus on disease prevention. Staying healthy and eating the basic boring whole foods diet is exactly what prevents disease, and it is cheap!

8.  Walk everywhere. I know gas prices are down but still, it is really fun to challenge yourself with basic exercise errands around your urban area.

9.  Find a walking buddy. If you live in suburbia and can’t challenge yourself with walking to your errands, find a walking buddy (aka free counseling.) Since no one can afford real counseling during these tough economic times, remember that nothing makes people vent their stress like a nice long walk. Walking means burning calories, and spending time that we could be wasting eating.

10. Make it a Gym Date, as Fitness Trainer Bonnie Pfiester reminds us. You will be a cool role model, and for just a ten dollar guest pass, you can keep your date busy for several hours.

11. Drink water and only water. If your only beverage of choice is filtered tap water you will save oodles on both your pocket book and waistline. We never want to drink our calories. Read “One Soda per Day Can Change Your Waistline.”

12. Stressed? That is great, try eating less instead of eating more. It is not normal for us to be “running from the proverbial bear” while we are trying to digest a double bacon cheeseburger, curly fries, and a chocolate shake.

Under stress, our digestive systems essentially shut down while blood and oxygen are shunted to our muscles and cardiovascular system. The more stressed you are, the more you will benefit from a nourishing diet eaten while you are calm and sitting down.  Try a few minutes of breathing exercises before your meal. Over-indulgence is not your friend during TET times.

13. Plant your own food. Spring is the time to start thinking about cheap food you can plant and grow to enjoy later.  I love planting zuchini, squash, potatoes, onions, garlic, and so forth because they are so simple to grow as I mentioned in my article “The Top Eleven Laziest Foods to Grow.” If you don’t want to grow your own, make your kids do it by “Planting an Organic Kids Garden,” and that teaching activity should help kids eat more veggies. Don’t forget to let some “Berries Run Wild” on your property.

14. Grow your own herbs. Do you need to take stock in the tons and tons of supplements you are paying top dollar for in your cupboards, when the herb growing season is about to start? Many healing plants chock full of the antioxidants you are paying top dollar for, literally grow like weeds in your back yard! If you don’t spray your yard with pesticides you can use rosemary, dandelion, stinging nettles, garlic…and if you aren’t sure what to do with an herb growing in your yard…just ask me! If you are stressed you can easily grow lemon balm and lavender as I mentioned in, “The Fifteen Most Fabulous Herbal Sedatives.”

15. Eat at the Kitchen Table! If you can afford to eat out, then by all means please go out and stimulate the economy.  But for everyone on the TET Diet, eating out is bad for our wallets and our waistlines.  When we eat out at poor quality cheap fast food, fried, fatty places we are likely causing disease and not preventing it.

You should at least be eating one meal a day at the kitchen table if not two.  Kitchen Table time is important family bonding time, improves posture, digestion, and saves us in both the long and short run.  If you can make three meals at the kitchen table a day then you get  gold star!

What is your TET Diet tip?

Dr. Nicole

Related Reading:
Best Weight Loss Diet 2008
The Best Long Term Weight Loss Plan

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Why Pomegranate Juice is Wonderful

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

When the Pomwonderful people asked me if they could send me some of their juice to taste and report on, I was thrilled because I am already a huge fan, as I mentioned in my articles on “How to Make Your Own Sports Drinks” and “Healthy Herbal Cocktails.”

Plus all my readers know how I shamelessly love free stuff.

Heck even Oprah loves free stuff.

Although I don’t typically recommend any juice in lieu of whole fruits, a few juices such as pure pomegranate, blueberry, and cranberry and such are my exceptions to that rule.

The reason is that they are magical juices chock full of antioxidants. Now, be sure to read the labels and make sure they are PURE and not diluted with apple juice or grape juice, or even worse, the evil High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Pomwonderful is 100% pomegranate juice and thus does not contain the evil HFCS.

As I discussed in my article, “Trifecta of Red Wine, Tea, and Chocolate Shown to Improve Cognitive Function in the Elderly,” we need as many flavonoids in our diets as possible because these antioxidants fight the daily damage caused by free radicals that age us.

Although I was aware that pomegranates were a potent inhibitor of cardiovascular disease and a therapeutic food for gingivitis through its antioxidant mechanism (more potent than red wine or green tea according to the ORAC). After reading the literature, I learned that it also is important in prostate health and erectile dysfunction.

Antioxidants are the key to men’s health as I stated in my diatribe, “Chocolate Chips Better than Viagra?” The key to preventing disease is drinking pomegranate juice, and eating a diet rich in whole foods and other antioxidants.

When I asked my “normie tester” aka “normal person that doesn’t typically like ‘Bastyr Fear Factor’ healthy stuff I eat”, to taste the juice for me he said, “It tasted healthy and refreshing, but still had some sweetness to it. It didn’t have that “bitter” taste to it that other pure juices sometimes have. The bottle could be bigger though.”

I informed him that eight ounces was the therapeutic dose stated in the research trials was all he needed daily to prevent cardiovascular disease, prostate problems, and erectile dysfunction he said, “Give me 16 ounces a day!”

Try my PomWonderful challenge: 30 days of 8 oz of pomegranate juice daily and let me know how you feel.

PomWonderful is the only juice company that has invested $25 million in medical research. You may find the juice to be a bit expensive but it is really worth every cent. And if you are already paying $40 a bottle for Mangosteen Juice, you should switch to Pomegranate or blueberry to save you money.

They actually make a pomegranate blueberry blend that is my personal fav.

My only complaint with Pomwonderful is that I can’t seem to find the green tea/pomegranate juice glass jars anywhere anymore and those make for the best travel jars for hot beverages, soups, and such.

My mom even came over and said, “Where did you get these great glasses?” And I replied, “Free with my Pomwonderful Iced tea!”

Pomwonderful juice is available in nearly every grocery store, and if you are looking for the fountain of youth I suggest you pick some up. This is one of my favorite healthy indulgences to recommend! It is 150 calories per 8 oz so keep in mind that this healthy “vice” doesn’t come without calories, but in my weight loss lifestyle plan I use it as the rewarding healthy indulgence that it is.

For more information about the research discussed visit: Pomwonderful.com
If you have a healthy product you would like me to taste and report on please contact us to make arrangements.

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Pesticides: The New Dirty Dozen

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

There is a new dirty dozen out by the Environemental Working Group.

Check out the top 12 dirtiest most pesticide ridden foods we should buy organic and the “Clean Fifteen” that we don’t have to worry about so much.

Although we should always take a spin around the organic foods section even if we are on a budget, it is nice to know what foods are safe to eat non-organic.

Still organic foods are not always pricier than the pesticide grown alternatives. Pesticide free is good for the environment as well as our health.

I know everyone is strapped during these tough economic times, but remember that your money counts as ballots and the more you spend on organic, the more you support organic farmers, and the cheaper organic food will inevitably become, if not the standard.

And along with everyone else, organic farmers are likely suffering more than anyone because no one can afford pricier food.

Stop by http://www.foodnews.org/ to download the latest guide. And if you make a donation to the efforts of this group of scientists who are independently working to tell us what the FDA, and EPA won’t…you get a groovy magnet of the Dirty Dozen to put on your fridge.

You can download the guide for free.

Or just bookmark this page!

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Scientists Discover How Cranberries Prevent Bladder Infections

By Rod Newbound, RN, Anti-Aging Expert

Although it’s been known for several years that cranberries can prevent urinary tract infections, up until now, the exact mechanism has remained a mystery. But in a newly published study, scientists at Worcester Polytechnic Institute say they’ve discovered the secret.

They found that virulent bacteria, like the kind that create urinary tract infections, have hair-like projections called fimbriae that attach to the wall of the bladder. Their studies showed that even low concentrations of cranberry juice created a thermodynamic energy shield that keeps these nasty creatures from getting a foothold.

No Harm To Friendly Bacteria

Because the good bacteria don’t have these fimbriae, they aren’t affected. This is important, because our bodies have billions of good bacteria that provide protection from such gut wrenching disease organisms like Clostridium difficile.
Unpublished work also shows cranberry juice has potent effects on disease-causing bacteria, but that the effect is temporary. This suggests that in order to have continuous protection; you will need to consume some form of cranberry regularly – perhaps daily.

Cranberries, a Superfood You Should Enjoy Year Round

• Cranberries are higher in antioxidants than strawberries, spinach, broccoli, red grapes, apples, raspberries, and cherries. With 8,983 total antioxidant capacity per cup, only cultivated blueberries outrank them.
• Besides being naturally high in Vitamin C, cranberries also contain calcium, folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sulfer, vitamin A, vitamin B-1, Vitamin B-2, vitamin B-3, vitamin B-5, vitamin E, and zinc.
• Rich in a dozen phytochemicals (phytonutrients). Phytochemicals work in a number of different ways to prevent disease, even cancer.
• Proanthocyanidins present in cranberries are responsible for their anti-adhesion properties. In addition, these proanthocyanidins promote dental health since they inhibit the bacterial growth that causes plaque.
• A 2001 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry revealed this red berry (in its pure form) contained the highest quantity of disease-fighting phenols, a type of antioxidant that is thought to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke and heart disease.
• Cranberries are also a good source of resveratrol, the component of red wine that makes it so good for you.

How to Get Your Cranberries Without Terrorizing Your Body With High Calorie Sugars

• Sugar is not only highly addictive; it’s absorbed directly into the blood stream from your stomach, which upsets the natural chemical balance of your body. In addition, sugar has zero nutrient value.
• Pure fresh cranberries have only 45 calories per cup, but when sugar is added, the result tips the scale…
• 140 calories from 1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries. Note: Craisins (by Ocean Spray) is sweetened with sugar, but Eden Foods offers dried cranberries sweetened with apple juice. Same amount of calories, but better for you.
• 130 calories from 8 oz. of cranberry juice cocktail (sweetened with sugar)
  5 calories from 8 oz. of Ocean Spray diet cranberry juice cocktail (sweetened with fruit juice and Sucralose). Note: Since research has shown Sucralose can cause the thymus gland to shrink, I wouldn’t recommend it. The thymus is important to your immune system.
• 258 calories from 1/3 cup of jellied cranberry sauce
• After an exhaustive search, I finally found unsweetened dried cranberries at Purcell Mountain Farms.

Action Plan: Add the Thanksgiving fruit to your weekly diet. Try them in salads, muffins, pancakes, breads, cheese spreads, on peanut butter sandwiches, etc. You can find unsweetened cranberry juice at some health food stores.

Since it’s very sour, you can either sweeten it with honey (heat them in a sauce pan until the honey dissolves into the juice), dilute with equal parts of pure blueberry juice (blueberries prevent bladder infections likely through the same mechanism) or make cranberry vinaigrette to serve on your salads.

Rod Newbound is a 58 year old Registered Nurse who teaches his patients how to live longer and better. Stop by AntiAgingHacks.com for more great Anti-Aging Tips!

“Healthy longevity – the adventure of your life.”

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Best Chewable Fiber 2008

The best fiber sources obviously come from whole food dietary sources.

However, occasionally we need a little something something to “cheat the system” and this is my favorite weight loss trick, as I have mentioned the importance of utilizing fiber for satiety and stable blood sugar in my “Favorite Weight Loss Diet of 2008″.

You should never take fiber with your vitamins or minerals as it will absorb them and defeat the purpose, however, two of these chewable fiber pills pack 4 grams of the needed 25 grams (if not more!) of recommended daily fiber. Don’t forget to take these chewable fiber pills with an eight ounce glass of water, as we never take fiber without water.

Fiber is therapeutic for those with diabetes, high cholesterol, hypoglycemia, in need of losing weight, and detoxing or in need of liver support. Fiber binds with cholesterol and toxins in the bowel and prevents the cholesterol and toxins from recirculating into our blood stream as I explained in my natural cholesterol lowering plan. Instead we eliminate the toxins and cholesterol out.

No, these chewable fibers aren’t as delicious as candy but they do satisfy the sweet tooth and come in both vanilla and chocolate Even better, they are not a psyllium based fiber, as many people do not tolerate psyllium (found in Metamucil) very well, and it can make them extremely gassy or constipated.

Most Americans only get about 9 grams of fiber each day, according to the latest studies. If you want to increase the “satiety index” (the amount of time you feel satisfied before you get hungry again) of your meal or snack and decrease the “glycemic load” as I recommend for weight loss, diabetes, and anti-aging simply have a few of these fiber pills with your meal!

I also have a few fiber pills when I am stuck in that inevitable bad eating situation, and fiber at the very least helps to mop up excess saturated fat that we consume, or when I am out running errands and want to make it home to eat instead of eating out.

I buy a bunch of these bottles and stash them everywhere: in my car, in my purse, by the fridge, etc. An ounce of weight loss prevention is worth a pound of cure and fiber is a fantastic way to manage hunger.

Between meals these fiber pills can be used as a little sweet snack. Remember they are not free of calories, and two tablets have 25 calories, but they are free of a lot of the other typical refined garbage that goes in to supplements.

Of course my purest friend Dr. Ben would recommend chewing on chia seeds as the best chewable fiber, but sometimes I just need a little something sweet to get me through the rough patches and prevent me from grabbing some McInflammation in a mad hungry hypoglycemic rage.

The Enzymatic Therapy line was established by naturopathic physician Dr. Michael Murray and is a great widely available trusted supplement brand.

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

The Healing Power of Thanksgiving

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

Related Reading:
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

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Anti-aging Tip: Eat Dates!

Today’s anti-aging tip is brought to us by the author of AntiAgingHacks.com, Registered Nurse, Rod Newbound.

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

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Why We Should Like Bugs and Worms

Do you like bugs and worms?

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

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Chocolate Chips Better than Viagra?

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

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

The Raw Foods Diet

Ever wonder what is going on with this new “Raw Food’s Diet” everyone is talking about?

Well actually the diet isn’t all that “new” it is simply a snapshot of the way our ancestors ate before the advent of factory refined foods.

Don’t worry you don’t have to be a vegetarian to benefit from raw foods eating, raw foods can and SHOULD be enjoyed by EVERYONE! And…no this is not about gnawing on a nasty raw piece of chicken or steak. I do NOT recommend the consumption of raw meats. Instead enjoy more raw fruits and vegetables fresh picked and full of nature’s abundant energy. A raw foods diet can also be done as a quick detox if you are feeling sluggish and need an easy “pick me up”.

You don’t have to go 100% raw either, you can benefit from this diet simply by eating less cooked “dead” foods and more fresh foods that are full of life.

To help you get the basics down I interviewed the mother of raw foods eating herself…Earth Mother, the author of “In the Raw”.

What is “Raw Food” eating?

Ask 10 different people that question, Doc, and you’ll likely get 10 different responses. So, I’ll tell you what “raw food eating” is for me: eating food in its natural state, not refined, not processed. That means, I consume a primarily plant-based diet, consisting of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouts.

Do you realize that we are the only animal on the planet that cooks its food? Strange, huh? We are living beings, yet we consume food that is dead, or cooked. Nutrients and enzymes are heat sensitive and destroyed at temperatures above 118 degrees. So, 85-90% of my plant-based diet is uncooked, or raw. By choosing to eat this way, I am infusing my body with live enzymes.

What made you decide to go raw?

The short answer? I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, all the time.

While at the local library, a book on the “New Arrivals” shelf jumped out at me: Crazy, Sexy Cancer by Kris Carr. What possessed me to check that book out, I’ll never know, but I am so glad I did. Kris’ story of being diagnosed with an extremely rare, incurable cancer and her journey toward health and healing is so inspirational. A big part of her healing journey has been adopting a raw foods lifestyle. The back of the book is loaded with resources and I started checking out websites and other books. The more I learned about eating raw, living food, the more sold on the idea I became. It was when I read The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose that I thought, “I can do this!”

What were the biggest challenges of adopting the raw foods diet?

It was a big change for me. BIG. I grew up in a Hungarian household, where I was weaned on chicken paprikash and stuffed cabbage. Vegetables were potatoes and corn. Not too many salads, because Dad thought “they taste green.” As I grew into an adult and began living on my own, I couldn’t be bothered with cooking. Convenience was key — get more, faster. So, I ate food in packages and racked up frequent flyer miles at the drive-thru windows. I thought the four food groups were Starbucks, cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes.

There was the whole emotional component around food too. I’ve had to change my relationship to food. I used to live to eat. Now, I’m learning to eat to live.

What changes have you noticed in your health since switching to a raw foods lifestyle?

I’m really glad you said “lifestyle.” Diet implies something you start and then stop when you reach your goal (or fizzle out). Lifestyle, on the other hand, is the way in which someone chooses to live and reflects their beliefs and values.

The changes to my health have been amazing. Gone are the debilitating headaches, the fire-breathing dragon heartburn, the constant fatigue, the edema, the chronic depression, the joint pain…oh, and 62 pounds! My energy level is through the roof. I sleep like a baby at night. My skin is smooth, clear and radiant.

I have a mental clarity today that I have never experienced in my life. I don’t quite know how to describe it, but it feels like I have broken a long-term drug addiction. It feels almost like I was walking around before under the constant influence of alcohol, and then suddenly becoming alcohol-free. The thing is, I had already been sober for 18 years!

Who should NOT be on a raw foods diet?

Can’t think of a single person who would not benefit from incorporating more raw, living foods into their diet. But, if you do not want to feel better, strengthen your immune system, reverse the effects of aging, stop counting calories, fat grams and carbs forever, then by all means, do not eat a diet high in raw plant foods.

***Dr. Nicole pops in and says: Pregnant women and rapidly growing children should work with their doctor before continuing a strictly raw foods diet to ensure that the required amounts of iron, B12, protein, zinc, and omega -3 oils are attained. Also people with a history of disordered eating should be cautious before implementing any restrictive diet plan.

Who should benefit from a raw foods diet?

Everyone!

People have reversed heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, cancer, fibromyalgia, autism, depression, arthritis, and a host of other illnesses by consuming a raw, vegan diet. And the thing is, you will begin to feel the benefits almost instantly.

Really. Look, we live in a society that craves the quick fix and wants instant gratification. When you start to feel and look so much more healthy and vibrant, it’s a great motivating factor. Start where you are. Begin now.

Intimidated? Natalia Rose lays out a simple, safe program that anyone can follow in “The Raw Food Detox Diet”. It doesn’t have to be traumatic. You don’t have to change your lifelong eating habits overnight and go 100% raw or vegan tomorrow.

Can you give us a snapshot of your diet for the past 24 hours?

Sure. Let’s look at yesterday.

• 1 quart fresh juice (kale, cucumber, sweet pea sprouts, apple, ginger)
• 2 bananas
• 1/2 cantaloupe
• large salad w/raw ranch dressing (mixed greens, yellow bell pepper, cherry tomato, red onion, cucumber, avocado, dried cranberries, spicy sprouts)
• raw harvest butternut soup
• 1 quart fresh juice (purple cabbage, carrot, apple)
• Asian salad w/carrot-ginger dressing (baby romaine, baby bok choy, sugar snap peas,mung bean sprouts, fresh basil and cilantro)
• Pad Thai (purple cabbage, carrot, zucchini, young coconut, raw cashews) w/raw “peanut” sauce, served over seaweed noodles
• 2 dates

Please share your favorite recipe.

Oh gosh, only one? Keep it simple is my motto, so here’s a super easy and super delicious “pasta” dish.

Zucchini Fettuccine with Sesame Mango Sauce

• 2 zucchini
• 4 mango diced
• 1 lemon juiced
• 2 Tbsp raw tahini
• 1/4 C water
• chopped mint leaves for garnish
• black sesame seeds for garnish

Spiralize the zucchini into fettuccine noodles, using a spiral slicer or a regular vegetable peeler. To make the sauce: blend mangoes, tahini, water, and lemon juice in blender until smooth. Top the zucchini noodles with sauce and garnish with chopped mint leaves and sesame seeds.

How can people learn more about The Raw Foods Diet?

Enroll in the University of Google and go wild! Just doing a search on “raw food diet” ought to keep you busy for a while. Visit your local library and start reading. Besides Kris and Natalia’s books, I’d recommend “Rawsome: Maximizing Health, Energy and Culinary Delight With The Raw Food Diet” by Brigitte Mars. “Green for Life” by Victoria Boutenko is another great place to start.

I think besides educating themselves, one of the most important things a person who is transitioning to a raw foods diet can do is to connect with other individuals who are living this lifestyle. A wonderful cyber community of raw foodies that I belong to is Raw Fu. You’ll find loads of support from folks who have been eating this way for years and years, as well as newbies. There’s an upcoming Holliday Mini Challenge you can get involved in or sign up for the 100 Day RawFu Challenge that kicks off on January 1st!

To participate visit Raw Fu: http://www.rawfu.com/

What a great idea for detoxing after the holidays! Thanks for being a guest at my kitchen table Earth Mother! For more great tips and recipes ideas for eating raw please visit Earth Mother at: http://earthmother-intheraw.blogspot.com/.

More Raw Food Resources:“5 Simple Steps to Transition to a Raw Food Diet”, “Raw Food FAQ”, FREE Raw Food Weight Loss Report, Delicious, Simple Raw Food Recipes and Pictures

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Squash: Autumn’s Cheapest Super Food

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

Right now squash is the HIT super food of the season.

Squash is not only a CHEAP food, it is also a highly nutritious lower glycemic complex source of carbohydrates that can be enjoyed by dieters and diabetics when paired with a lean protein source.

Whether you are growing pumpkins, butternut squash, or acorn squash in your garden you can easily turn any squash in to a nutritious soup to boost your immune system during the cold and flu months.

Because of the beautiful orange and yellow pigments, squash is a rich source of beta carotene and other important carotenoids that prevent cancer.

Growing your own food is not only rewarding, but also is a cost-effective way to provide your family with fresh organic produce.

Eating seasonal produce is a simple way to improve your health by increasing variety in your diet. Now is the time to pick up some squash at your local farmer’s market, or find it on sale at your super market.

Kitchen Tip: Steam squash till tender, then drizzle with olive oil and give a sprinkle of sea salt. You can also mash it up for a great healthy substitute to mashed potatoes. Try baking squash in the oven at 350F 20-40 minutes until done (recipe depends on how thickly you cube or slice the squash). You can also take cubed cooked squash and blend with coconut milk to make a delicious anti-viral soup recipe!

Please feel free to share your favorite squash recipe in the comments section. Foodies are always invited to leave links to their squash recipes on this page for all to enjoy.

Happy Healthy Autumn Everyone!

~Dr. Nicole

Naturopathic Physician

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Organic vs Commercially Farmed Food

By Stephen Cox

A while back here in Australia there was a sudden storm of information in the media regarding studies into the differences, if any, between organic food and “regular” commercially farmed food.

At the time I was unaware, but later I was informed by my mother, who is a manager in a major supermarket chain here in Australia, that the release of the research findings and the media interest coincided with the major supermarkets testing consumers response to new organic products in their stores.

The results of the studies showed that there was no additional nutritional value in the more expensive organic produce. However, I have since learned that there are a number of rather underhand tricks so-called scientific studies in this area use to produce the results they want. For starters I would always advise caution regarding accepting the conclusions of any scientific study until you have ascertained some key information for yourself first.

The first question to ask is who paid for the research to be undertaken? Scientific research is big business and costly to undertake. Often the people paying the bills have vested interests and many things are open to manipulation so that desired results can be achieved. Imagine if your boss gave you hundreds of thousands of dollars for a project and you produced the exact opposite results he or she wanted. Chances are you wouldn’t have a job for long much less a successful career.

The second key point when it comes to accepting the findings of research is to ensure you take a close look at exactly what the process the researchers undertook to produce their results was. You will also want to take a look at the actual results pre the drawing of final conclusions by the researchers. I’m amazed at how often researchers make seemingly discontinuous leaps in their conclusions that do not appear to be supported by the results of their own study.

If all that seems a bit like too much effort then let me break down some of the things researchers have done to skew the results of their organic vs. commercially farmed produce studies. A number of years ago there were only a handful of organizations certifying organic producers. If you are going to pay for organic produce you need to ensure it is certified by an organization that requires stringent audits and at least a three year transition period during which only organic farming methods are used. This ensures any lingering residues from past farming practices are no longer present.

In the last couple of years organic certification bodies have sprung up all over the place. Some are little more then websites that require the farmer or company pay a fee before they then send out an organic certification. Such certifications are little more then a bad joke compared to legitimate organic certifiers who require rigorous on site audits and a transition period of three or more years before organic certification is awarded.

The end result is a situation where a large farming corporation or conglomerate of commercial farmers purchases a small test farm from some broke small time farmer. Then they buy a bogus organic certification for the farm, grow produce that by any decent standard isn’t organic and send that produce off to the researchers who are undertaking a study sponsored by that very same corporation. The results of the study are rather unsurprisingly that “organic” produce is no different to regular commercially farmed produce. In reality of course the results are completely bogus.

Other studies have made use of real organic food but transported it thousands of miles to research facilities at which time the quality of the food had degraded sufficiently for it to be declared no different to fresh food of the regular commercially farmed variety. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence could have predicted such an outcome given the facts.

In the second part of this article coming soon we will take a look at what factors actually do play a role in the nutritional and ultimate health value of your fruit, vegetables and animal products. We’ll examine some commercial farming practices and I’ll introduce what I feel is a very important idea – that for us to be healthy the food we eat, be it animal or vegetable, must itself also be healthy.

For more great articles by Stephen Cox you can visit BalancedExistence.com. Here are a few of my favorite must reads: “Juice Causes Diabetes”, “Are You Becoming Dumber?”, “How to Overcome Daily Fatigue and Tiredness”.

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Kitchen Table Cliffnotes: The Very First Edition!

Welcome to my new weekly feature, “Kitchen Table Cliffnotes” designed to teach you everything you need to know about various topics in health, nutrition, disease prevention, and personal development in just TWO SENTENCES OR LESS!

This idea was born recently upon the request of my brother-in-law as he is busy working all the time and asked if I could give him the “Cliffnotes version” of what I am talking about.

Since I too am constantly seeking efficiency (er…combatting laziness…I mean taking more time for my “self” now), I have conveniently summarized the “take home message” of each recent conversation we have had here at the kitchen table.

Most of my med school friends will love this I’m sure, as I was always in the habit of making cliffnotes for everyone to study off of back in the day.

Since most of you listen to me like I am God …er…am nagging you contantly, I will not be droning on and on today for very long.

My hope is that these cliffnotes serve as a simple and fun way to quickly convey many great health and wellness tips. Then we can all move on with our days and spend less time in front of the computer.

I’m all for that!

Welcome to the First Addition of Kitchen Table Cliffnotes, to read the full article simply click on the title link:

Nutrition: Make it a habit to have one smoothie each day that includes frozen fruit, freshly ground flaxseeds, and yogurt to ensure healthy digestive functioning. A simple trick to keep you energized for your day, focused and fabulous!

Diet Tip: The food you are addicted to is just a bad “ex-lover” and it is time to BREAK UP! It’s time to think about what you are getting out of this unhealthy relationship and put an end to it once and for all.

Recipe Makeover: Coffee was just recently given a makeover so that you can enjoy it without all the guilt! The secret is simply vanilla flavored Almond Breeze and organic espresso–delicious–and better for your body and the environment!!!

Vegetarians: Aside from protein, you need to watch out for B12, iron, omega-3 fats, zinc, and calcium, and even more so if you are vegan.

Weight Loss: Eat more sources of vegetable proteins in your diet to lose weight, balance blood sugar, reduce inflammation and slow the aging process. Beans, legumes, raw nuts and seeds, whole grains, and veggies are your new best friends, so go spend some time with them figuring out how to enjoy them.

The Latest Research: Olive oil was just recently shown to prevent damage to DNA, and researchers believe that can be easily extrapolated to real life “in vivo” cancer fighting and anti-aging potential. Hooray, lets all pour olive oil on everything we eat, in lieu of butter or (heaven forbid) margarine, the evil villain of the kitchen table.

Kitchen Table Foe: Hot dogs are implicated in increasing your child’s risk of leukemia and certain cancers due to the nitrite content. Watch for “sodium nitrite” on labels, buy kosher or organic lunch meats when at all possible.

Sleep: The best bedtime snacks for insomniacs are light proteins paired with a high fiber source. Don’t wake up in the middle of the night because of low blood sugar, instead use the therapeutic properties of various amino acids to lul yourself asleep.

Employee Medicine: Let your work pay you to take your vitamins, floss your teeth, drink water, and exercise. Trust me, you will save them a ton of money in the long run by running up and down the stairs all day.

Environmental Medicine: Watch out for funnel shaped spider webs, as they are likely hobo spiders. Please don’t freak out and go on a spider killing rampage, just clean up messes carefully in your garden and garage to prevent a potentially toxic type of spider bite that should warrant a trip to the doctor.

Exercise: Fitness Trainer, Bonnie Pfiester reveals EXERCISE to be the best cure for cellulite reduction. Exercise burns fat, and increases lean muscle mass which together fight the look of unsightly flab.

Mental Emotional: Stop worrying! Learn to train your mind not to worry, use logic, accept the worry and let it go. Stop playing out scenarios in your head, and certainly stop procrastinating to put an immediate end to the vicious cycle that is worrying, a great article thanks to our friends at “The Daily Mind”.

Stress: Having a hard time? Need someone to talk to confidentially, or teach you better coping strategies? Maybe it is time to think about some counseling, or make an online visit to my friend Dr. KC.

Zen Habits: Put an end to “micro-addictions” those little annoying habits that clog up our days like obsessively checking email, always having the television on, and other silly habits that get in the way of our success and state of zen. Instead, set limits, change your environment, be persistent, and stay consistent to your values to overcome the annoying micro-addiction.

Life Coaching: If you know what you should be doing, but just aren’t doing it for whatever reason, think about hiring a life coach. Actually, just stop reading this right now if you already know everything you need to do to get healthy, and focus your attention on DOING it!

Attitude: Fear of embarrassment and criticism is likely robbing you of your initiative, stick to your core values; those criticizing you needlessly may need to stop by and pick up a new more positive attitude at Ya-ttitude.com! Tell them “Dr. Nicole thinks they need a visit to Camp Ya-ttitude”.

Happiness: Lori, at “Between Us Girls” brilliantly reminds us of the top 12 secrets to happiness: Gratitude, optimism, avoiding rumination and social comparison, building social communities, practicing kindness, improving coping strategies (or developing them), practicing forgiveness, increasing “flow”, savoring joy, setting goals, engaging in spirituality, and developing both body and mind. Wow, I feel happier just reading that!

Soul Food: Shilpan reminds us through the movie “Forest Gump” that when life is like a box of chocolates, and we bite in to that nasty flavored unfavorite thing–that we can still claim confidence, do something for others, always give our best effort, and maintain integrity–amongst other great tips to make the most of it.

Peaceful Living: Jennifer encourages us “to take more time for fun – to play, to laugh and not to take life so seriously.” I think we can all handle that!

Organization: Unclutterer teaches us how to use a vacuum sealer and deep freezer to make the most of your grocery dollars. You can buy and freeze half an organic grass fed cow, or stock up on fish in season to save money (Wild Alaskan Salmon is the best).

Something Fun: The Author of ZenPlease.com thinks you need to go outside and play on your day off. You can easily burn a bunch of calories by walking your dog, playing sports outside, golfing, scuba diving, or just ride some rollercoasters–screaming burns calories too.

If you have a GREAT Kitchen Table Cliffnote to share, please leave a summary of the article in two sentences or less along with a link in the comments section below!

As for my readers, that is PLENTY mind/body/spirit news for now. If you are overwhelmed, then just pick a couple things, or the easiest thing, or the most important thing to focus on. The most beneficial habits develop gradually over time. Be patient while you give yourself the needed time to grow!

Have a great weekend, I hope you all get outside to exercise with your pedometers and heart rate monitors. 10,000 steps a day is all I ask, the average office worker only gets 4000 steps. You can do better than that I’m sure.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen table!

Dr. Nicole Sundene

http://KitchenTableMedicine.com

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Dairy Free Banana Ice Cream Recipe

If I can make this easy whole foods recipe then anyone can!

This recipe for dairy free banana “ice cream” is a piece of dairy free cake to make for those that are allergic or intolerant to dairy. If you long for something cold and creamy, banana ice cream should surely satisfy.

Eating bananas instead of fattening ice cream is also a healthy whole foods way to lose weight and feel better.

Although bananas have been given a bad rap by dieters when you weigh in the average 100 calories in a banana next to a large fattening bowl of ice cream, the banana is going to win hands down! Plus bananas have all the fiber, potassium, vitamins, and minerals that ice cream can’t compete with.

Ingredients: Frozen Bananas

Directions: Peel, chop in large chunks, and freeze overly ripe (not brown) bananas. Place in Cuisinart food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Enjoy alone or add some organic chocolate sauce for garnish! If you are dairy intolerant be sure to use dairy free chocolate sauce or other alternative topping.

Variations: If you are lazy (er… efficient and REALLY busy) like me, or don’t have a Cuisinart then you can just chop the frozen bananas up and enjoy with some organic chocolate sauce, raspberries, or strawberries. See what other kinds of frozen fruits can easily be made in to “ice cream”. If you have a child that is allergic to dairy, giving them fresh fruit “ice cream” is a fun way to get more whole foods in to your kids. Be sure to call it “ice cream” so they are excited to eat this whole foods treat!

To save money I purchase bunches of bananas when they are on sale and then chop in thirds and freeze for smoothies and other healthy treats.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen table!

~Dr. Nicole

Naturopathic Physician

www.KitchenTableMedicine.com

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

The Adam & Eve Diet Plan

When I consider all the diets on the market, I can’t help but wonder how Adam and Eve ate.

I mean, there was no paparazzi to capture them eating at the trendy “Garden of Eden Café” nor were there tabloids exploiting Eve’s hot body and her latest “In the Garden Workout”.

Diet and exercise as we know it didn’t even exist.

Deep fryers weren’t even invented and the closest thing to fast food was picking an apple off a tree. High calorie foods simply were not as easy to come by and exercise was a just way of life.

No one had to tell Adam and Eve to workout, they got plenty of exercise with their standard daily duties. I bet we’d burn a lot more calories and eat a lot less if we had to live like they did.

With that in mind, I really doubt obesity was much of an issue. Eve couldn’t have just gone to Publix to pick up a few groceries. Collecting food took time and energy. Since there was no refrigeration, it was essential the food was fresh for each meal so the chores were never-ending.

I don’t know about you, but I think God is pretty smart. We humans are the ones who goof everything up. He created a lifestyle complete with everything we need to eat and live healthy.

We are the ones who not only have turned eating into entertainment but we’ve become greedy and impatient. We want to get the most food for the money and there better not be a long wait.

If that was not bad enough, we’ve created a ton of shortcuts in life to actually avoid burning extra calories. We circle parking lots to avoid extended walks and wouldn’t dare get up from the couch to change the channel.

If we were to go on “Adam & Eve’s Diet and Exercise Program”, we’d eat more fresh whole foods, take fewer shortcuts and increase our activity. It all makes since. Like I said, I think God’s smart and His original design was a pretty good one.

~Bonnie

Bonnie Pfiester is a Personal Trainer and owner of the health club Longevity Fitness. You can enjoy more of Bonnie’s fitness and beauty articles at www.BonniePfiester.com

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

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