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

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Kiss My Face Fragrance Free Lotions

by Kat Lee

Kiss My Face Olive and Aloe

My hands are not normally very dry, for which I am thankful; but when winter hits, my hands get dry and start to itch. And of course, every year, I scratch them. I know I shouldn’t but I do. Then, when I decide to put on some lotion, what happens? They BURN! Like fire. And brimstone (whatever that is).

I’ve tried unscented lotions before but for some reason, they still burn (and the lotion still smells). My husband already deals with dry skin, so in the winter it’s even worse. He just deals with the fact that most lotions will burn. I said “most”, because I’ve found one lotion that does not.

Kiss My Face makes a fragrance-free lotion called Olive and Aloe that I have found works fabulously. Featured in Elle Magazine in May 2008, the main ingredients are… (drumroll please)… olive oil and aloe vera. I’ll bet you wouldn’t have guess that, eh? All kidding aside, olive oil and aloe vera are two very soothing emollients that make this lotion an absolute dream for wintertime. The lotion also contains lavender and chamomile, both known for calming the skin. And while it does contain these oils, you cannot smell them at all; it is very literally “fragrance free”.

Ingredients:

• Aqua, Stearic Acid, Isopropyl Palmitate, Vegetable Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Sodium Borate, Aloe Barbadensis (Leaf Juice), Olea Europaea (Olive Fruit Oil), Avena Sativa (Oat Protein), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower Seed Oil), Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria Flower Extract), Foeniculum Vulgare (Fennel Extract), Sambucus Nigra (Elder Flower Extract), Calendula Officinalis (Flower Extract), Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange Flower Extract), Salvia Officinalis (Sage Leaf Extract), Achillea Millefolium (Yarrow) Extract, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond Oil), Xanthan Gum, Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A Palmitate), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Allantoin, Lecithin, Cetyl Esters, Polysorbate 80, Squalane*, Titanium Dioxide, Trisodium EDTA, 1,2 Hexanediol (and) Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbic Acid, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange Peel Oil), Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange Peel Oil), Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon Peel Oil), Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit Peel Oil), Evernia Prunastri (Oakmoss Extract), Viola Odorata (Flower Extract)
  *Olive derived

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™

Olive Oil: New Research Shows it Prevents DNA Damage

Wow! Olive oil prevents DNA damage, how exciting.

Why should we care about this?

Because DNA damage caused by inflammation is essentially the biochemical mother of all disease.

In an article recently published in the August 2008 “Journal of American Nutrition”, researchers concluded that olive oil likely prevents cancer and aging by protecting DNA from damage.

The “phenolic compounds” in olive oil were studied and determined to inhibit the initial stages of cancer formation caused by “oxidative stress” (unstable molecules in our bodies that destroy healthy tissues resulting in inflammation and disease).

Damage to our DNA is exactly what causes both cancer AND aging, along with a myriad of other chronic conditions. The phenolic compounds in olive oil are shown to have a protective effect in vitro to our DNA. The more antioxidants we can include in our diet, the more we can PREVENT disease.

The good news about this “in vitro” or test tube study is that researchers believe that the amount of olive oil needed to prevent cancer is easily achievable in “in vivo” or real life doses!

Researchers concluded that, “Overall, these results suggest that [phenolic compounds] may efficiently prevent the initiation step of carcinogenesis in vivo, because the concentrations effective against the oxidative DNA damage could be easily reached with normal intake of olive oil.”

Hooray! What a wonderful, delicious cancer fighting treat for us to include in our diets. We already know that olive oil in the diet is important for preventing cardiovascular disease and inflammation, now we have yet another reason to make olive oil a major source of fat in our diet.

So how can you get more olive oil in your diet?

First of all, I always recommend buying extra virgin olive oil, the greener the better.

Next, keep in mind that olive oil is not good for baking as much as it is good for drizzling on already cooked foods such as breads, steamed veggies, salads, soups, and popcorn (yes it is delicious with organic sea salt and nutritional yeast).

To achieve the maximum anti-cancer and anti-aging benefits be sure to keep the temp below it’s smoking point of 350F. Best yet, avoid cooking it when at all possible.

Today’s Kitchen Table Fix: Put olive oil on your bread and veggies instead of butter. Always make your own salad dressing with olive oil and lemon or balsamic vinegar.

Reference: “Oxidative DNA Damage Is Prevented by Extracts of Olive Oil, Hydroxytyrosol, and Other Olive Phenolic Compounds in Human Blood Mononuclear Cells and HL60 Cells” J. Nutr. 138:1411-1416, August 2008.

What is your favorite use of olive oil? Feel free to leave your links and ideas in the comments section.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen table!

~Dr. Nicole Sundene

©KitchenTableMedicine.com, LLC ™