Friday, December 30, 2011

What to drink.......

New Year's Eve is a holiday for drinking it seems, but what should you or shouldn't indulge in?  There's no problem in toasting with some champagne, but there are many other choices to make as well.   Drinking too much alcohol means you'll likely be feeling less than optimal on New Year's Day.  So minimize the alcohol and try some other choices.

Red wine is the one "healthy" choice you can make as far as the alcohol goes.   The antioxidants in red wine are linked to heart health benefits, reduced stress, and even preserving memory.  One to two glasses is plenty.  Better yet, mix a little red wine with some sparkling water for a bubbly mixture perfect for New Year's Eve!

Another idea for mixing with sparkling water is some cranberry or other juice.  Buy the unsweetened version and add just enough for color and flavor.  Mix and match for color and fun!  Depending on the juice you buy, you can have anti-oxidant benefits and the benefits of the fruit's vitamins.  Cranberry juice is great for the urinary system, carrots for vitamin A, lemons for vitamin C....the list goes on.

Make plain, filtered tap water your go to as a fill-in throughout the day and night - try to get in 4-5 glasses.  Flavored sparkling waters are always my beverage of choice as a special treat.  Have different flavors on hand just to try a different one and match up the flavor with a frozen fruit as garnish in the drink.  Try raspberry flavored water and sprinkle in a couple of frozen raspberries.  Or, lemon/lime flavored with a lime wedge.

It's not as hard as we think to enjoy a healthy New Year's celebration!  Check last week's post for advice on healthy eating as well!  Happy New Year and New You!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011


One good way to approach New Year resolutions is to utilize visioning.  Visioning is a technique that in action can vary greatly, but in principle is the same - "what is it you want to feel and know within when you reach your future?"  Trying to will ourselves into a goal or a future by simply assuming that goal will make us happier and healthier, is missing a very important aspect of success - your heart and soul - the deep emotions that govern our lives.

Without your heart and soul behind your push toward the future, you won't get there.  Will power isn't enough.  The explanation behind this "heart and soul" concept is really the brain.  We all have a survival mechanism in the brain - I call it the lizard brain as do many others - and this part of the brain is strongly based in memory, the senses, and the emotions (particularly fear).  It has to be - the lizard brain's job is to sense danger and react.  Will power, saying to yourself, "I want to quit smoking" "I will lose 30 lbs." "I will exercise everyday" simply isn't strong enough to overcome the lizard brain.  If you have a survival instinct, a fear response, a deep emotional connection, to smoking, to eating, to avoiding the gym, that instinct, that response, that connection will be stronger than willpower.

How do we make our willpower stronger?  We create emotional and sensory connections to the goal that with time and work become more powerful than the lizard brain.  Sometimes people are able to do this without a lot of time and effort.  This happens when a fear response is strong enough and the lizard brain connects to the change that needs to occur - we see this when people quit smoking easily or when dietary changes are made after a health diagnosis.  Many others can not make these changes and the reasons are complex - the brain is complex!

However, it is possible to retrain the brain in the direction you want to go!  Visioning is a great process.  Begin by identifying your goal, your future.  Then, go deep into what this will feel like, look like, taste like, smell, like - get the senses as involved as possible.  Show your brain how wonderful this future will be, how amazing it will feel......  You can do this with meditation - just sit and create the images and feelings in your head.  You can do this with creative processes - paint, draw, cut out magazine pictures and words, make music, chant.....there are many possibilities as long as the process creates the feelings and images for your brain to know  your future.

Now, you need to do this for 30 days minimum.  That may seem like a lot, but if your brain has been forming deep connections to a habit you want to change, these are going to take time to over-ride.  It doesn't mean you paint a new picture everyday, or create a new song everyday, but you spend time with it and in that state of mind and feeling everyday for 30 days


Share how you will vision your future......

Friday, December 23, 2011

Holiday Eating

One of the most annoying recommendations I read in magazines giving advice regarding holiday eating is "don't go to the holiday party hungry."  What!?  Of course, I am going to the holiday party hungry!  I don't have time to make myself dinner and get everything else done and go to the party!  Plus, why not enjoy some party treats!?  It's the holidays!

So, here are my recommendations:
~  If you need to bring something, make or buy what you bring delicious and healthy.  The 2 can go together, I swear!  Find something you can enjoy and not feel guilty about!
~  Think about your plate or your choices as a pie.  One half of the pie is fruits and vegetables - eat or take these first.  The second half split into quarters - one quarter for proteins such as nuts, meat, cheese or dips (hopefully made from cream cheese, yogurt, or cottage cheese), make the last quarter for breads and crackers or pasta (hopefully, whole grain, but don't sweat it, it's the holidays).
~  Make the dessert choices you indulge in something really special and wonderful and savor every bite.  Don't create the mindset that you can eat one whole serving of everything because it's the holidays.  Create the mindset, that you can enjoy what will give you the most pleasure and choose those treats.
~  Don't overeat.  Give yourself a gift and eat mindfully and with pleasure - not with gluttony, making yourself feel bloated and uncomfortable.  You deserve the gift of feeling great and enjoying!
~  On that same note, don't drink too much alcohol.  You want to feel good, sleep well and enjoy right?!  If you drink too much and regret things later either because you feel physically unwell or because you said and did things you regret, where's the fun in that?

What will you enjoy and savor this holiday season?

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Are you sabotaging your life?

There are times when we set out for the day and it seems we hit all the green lights and things go smoothly on the commute and there are times when nothing seems to go our way and every intersection is red.  I have 2 friends who would pipe in on differing ends of the spectrum as to what might be going on.  The first would say, "Everything happens for a reason, there's a lesson for you in that......."  The second would say, "Come on! Life just happens, that's just life!"  So, which friend is right?

I think they both are right!  Life does just happen.  Lights turn red just because they do.  Construction is going on along your route, just because it is.  Copy machines break down, because that seems to be what they do on a regular basis.  Cars, phones, refrigerators, etc. all do the same thing......  We make mistakes, forget, drop things, etc. simply because we're human.  Right?

Well, when does it go beyond that?  When do you begin to create, to ignore, and even to wallow in the annoyances of life and being human?  We're getting into the Law of Attraction territory and this can be pretty tricky, because many would say it's pure baloney.  Maybe, maybe not.  The Law of Attraction states that whatever energy or vibration you put out to the world, you will attract that same energy or vibration.  If I create the energy of lack and fell like I never have enough time, money, love, etc. then that is what is returned to me.  Some of us can believe that and some of us can't - the physicists will have to hash out the science for the doubters. 

Doesn't matter, because there's also some brain science behind this.  Your brain is set up to wire strongly to those things you spend time on.  To make it simple, if you spend time with math, you will have stronger connections and wiring and faster connections and wiring to math things.  Let's take it to the original scenario - if the lights are turning red on your commute and you drop your keys getting out of the car, then bump your head as your stand up  and decide today is going to be a bad day, the things you see and notice will be negative and will back up your position.  Today is going to be a bad day, puts your brain on alert to look for all the bad things it can around you!  Therefore, that is what you perceive.....

Some folks try this - they wake up in the morning and say today is going to be a good day and they think they are telling the brain to see the good in the day, but they don't really BELIEVE it.  Sometimes, it's too big a jump, too big a change to get yourself to believe in seeing the good, the positive, the fun, the loving, etc.  You might need to take baby steps and just say, my time with so-and-so will be fun, after work will be peaceful for me, when I no longer have to drive I will find calm......  As you get used to doing this, it will become easier until you can believe that you are setting your mind up for just seeing good things - you will find then that when life happens and the red light stops you, or the copier breaks down, you are less likely to feel upset or angry or frustrated.  You are able to shrug it off!  You might even be able to laugh about it!

How will you stop sabotaging yourself this week?

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Feeling stuffy? Update!

I recommended using the neti pot recently for stuffy noses, colds, preventions of infection, etc.  There has recently been a story about 2 people who died using the neti pot.  The story is that tap water can contain an amoeba which can cause a very rare infection that affects brain tissue.  This can also occur using recreational pools and lakes where the amoeba can be ingested through the nose.  30 people have died from this infection - almost all through recreational swimming sources.  If you are concerned about this possibility when using the neti pot, use sterile water (can be purchased as water safe for infants) or boil your water ahead of time.

I also recently read about this same problem occurring when using tap water to rinse contacts and contact storage devices.  A very rare infection can occur if the eye is exposed while the contact is in use.  They recommend not swimming, bathing, or showering with contacts in.  Again this is VERY rare and pre-boiled or sterile water can be used instead - as well as saline, of course.

I do not take back my recommendation to use the neti pot or the steam method.  Should we all stop swimming?  Should we all wear protective goggles and nose protection when showering or bathing?  My recommendations are for quality of life, so make your individual choice based on risk and based on how you want to live and what you want to worry about - that's what good health and wellness is all about.  Keep yourself informed, look at your sources, learn who and what source to trust, and move forward.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Dairy is very......healthy?not healthy?confusing?

There are a lot of mixed messages out there regarding dairy.  Bottom line on the question of dairy being healthy or not is losing the either/or labeling.  It is a complicated food category and there are things to consider in choosing to keep it in or out of your diet.

Let's start with the cons:  Non-organic milk is filled with hormones and antibiotics.  This is true.  They load up the cows for the greatest levels of production in the least amount of time and the most cows they can squeeze into one space - this means the cows are heavily medicated to keep them healthy and these all transfer to the milk.  I will not consume non-organic dairy unless I am assured it is hormone and antibiotic-free.

In addition, there is a lot more intolerance and allergy-like symptoms in people than is being diagnosed or that we are as yet capable of clearly diagnosing.  Some symptoms include mucus production which, for some, may lead to sinus, nasal, and ear discomfort, illness, infection, etc.  Gas, bloating, digestive discomfort including diarrhea and constipation, are also well-known symptoms.  Inflammation causing general aches and pains can also be present.  Again, this is more common than we think it is - it's not just lactose intolerance, but a more general lack of ability to tolerate dairy.  The only way to really know if you have symptoms is to stop ingesting dairy for a couple of weeks and see your results.  There is some allergy panel testing that can be done, but it is not as conclusive.

And, what about the fat?!  Dairy products can be consumed in a low-fat or no-fat version.  If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol or have heart disease, high blood pressure, etc. it is best to avoid the fat in dairy products.  Otherwise, moderation is always the key!

Pros:  The nutritional value of dairy is strong and this is where the mixed messages come in.  When we study the nutrition in a food and don't study the ingestion of the food, we see benefits as they might be rather than as they actually are.  This occurs with all foods.  Yes, there's a lot of calcium in that glass of milk, but what does it turn into when I consume it?  Am I absorbing it?  If I am, is my body using it to create strong bones?  This is what our researchers are now able and beginning to do.  It seems to me the country that consumes the most dairy in the world should have the lowest or one of the lowest rates of osteoporosis and yet that is not the case.  Might be due to other dietary factors......we just don't know for sure.

However, that being said, you need to have all the info. to make your decision:  Organic milk is able to provide omega-3s which are really important and lacking in our diets.  Kefir which is a milk product similar to drinkable yogurt contains really good and healthy bacteria to the gut.  It can be drunk as it is or used as additive to soups, smoothies, cereals as you would use milk or yogurt. Yogurt also has good bacteria. Cottage cheese is high in protein as is Greek yogurt, a version you'll see more and more of in your dairy section.  The process of making Greek yogurt is slightly different, so there's less liquid whey and more protein, you'll find the taste similar.  Chocolate milk is getting some attention lately. If there is a choice between the chocolate milk and the Gatorade, I'll take the milk - it is restoring protein and carbohydrates after a workout and is not empty calories.  Most other products have little value nutritionally - they just add taste and texture.

Make this decision with information that fits your individual body and lifestyle needs.  This is not an either it's healthy or it's not kind of food category.  Consider your options and choose wisely.  Try dairy substitutes - there's a dairy substitute for almost all dairy products now - some better than others and some better than the actual dairy (coconut ice cream is AMAZING).  Experiment and try things out, get to know your body after consuming dairy and make the right choice for you!

What dairy substitute will you try this week?

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Feeling Stuffy?

Getting a cold or flu at this time of year is no fun.  Oftentimes, we get past the aches and pains only to find ourselves miserable with the stuffy nose and the post-nasal drip.  Yuck!  There's not a lot you can do, because this is your body's way of expelling germs and bacteria.  You have to let it do so!  Those over-the-counter antihistamines are doing you no good, if you are trying to stop the mucus.  They only stop the natural process the body takes in making you well.

You can help the process, however, and work with your body.  First is to drink lots of fluids.  This helps your body create that nice moist environment and gets the mucus moving - which is what you want - move it and the germs and bacteria OUT!

Second, try a bit of steam.  Boil some water on the stove, adding a few drops of eucalyptus oil or peppermint oil.  These can be bought in many health food stores, co-ops, bath stores, and pharmacies.  Take the water off the stove and hold you head over the pot at a comfortable distance.  Place a towel over your head as a tent to hold in the steam and inhale through the nose.  Keep your eyes closed and don't try this if you have asthma.

Third, take a bath.  Place some peppermint oil (5-6 drops) in the bath, close the door or curtain and breathe in the steam.  Also, this allows you to relax the muscles which will create some space and ease in breathing, allowing the mucous membranes to release and move the mucus out.

Fourth, try the neti pot - not a spray, a pot.  A neti spray may shoot the bacteria and germs into the system, rather than expelling.  Use the pot 2-3 times a day and help the mucus move out!  Mix an 1/8 to a 1/4 tsp. salt with your water.  This process can be gross, but mucus is not pleasant, so sometimes the solution is not pleasant, but works well!

Take care of yourself and your body will do the same.  Work with the body, not against it.  How will you keep yourself well this week? 

Friday, December 9, 2011

Soup's on!

How about taking all the very nutritious and delicious vegetables we’ve discussed in past weeks (or some of them) and throw them into a big pot, add liquid and voila!  You have soup.  It can be nearly that easy.  Soup recipes are sometimes complicated, but I have learned to just wing it and use what’s in the pantry, the freezer, and the crisper.

It starts with the base to the soup.  My favorites for making a homemade base which I often do, because they are THAT good, come from The Moosewood Cookbook.  I have a few, but the best for soup recipes is Moosewood Restaurant Daily Specials – only soups, salads, and breads.  Each recipe has suggested combinations with a salad and a bread.  The soup base or broth recipes are just as good as the full soup recipes themselves.  If I am really looking to make my life easy, I skip making the broth and use V8 juice (usually a spicy version).

Simply pour some oil – a tablespoon or 2 into a soup pot, sauté your hard to cook vegetables like carrots, onions, celery, and add garlic at this time as well.  Then, the other veggies like mushrooms (I almost always add, just because they are so flavorful), green beans and zucchini.  I then add canned tomatoes (in their liquid), the V8, and if I want a less tomato-ish sauce, some broth made with a powder I buy in bulk – any broth you favor will do.  Once things get to simmering, I’ll add sliced cabbage, kale, spinach or chard.

Once all the veggies are cooked, you can add pre- cooked beans, rice, pasta, or other grains and proteins.  Once I make this very veggie base, I change it up throughout the week, depending on my mood.  When I heat up a meal, I can add frozen corn, cumin, chili pepper, and a tsp. of lime and broken tortilla chips to make a southwestern soup.  I can add some basil, pasta and kidney beans with a sprinkle of parmesan for minestrone.  I can add chili beans, chili pepper, some fake meat, rice and shredded cheddar cheese for a bowl of chili.

All of the goodness of the vegetables as they cooked stays right there in the pot.  All the delicious flavors mingle and meld.  The warmth of a bowl of soup can create a filling, low calorie, very healthy meal.  You don’t have to worry about whether you are getting this vegetable or that – they’re all right there!

What kind of soup will you try this week?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

News! Fast!

We are a society with news and information literally at our fingertips 24 hours a day.  Does this make us well-informed, smarter, wiser?  Why have such easy access to so much of the news - just because we can?  Why watch it, seek it out on our computers, and phones as often as we do?  Why read it, listen to it, watch it at regular intervals on a daily basis?  What aspects of the news are actually important to know?  What details?

I ask people these questions often - usually in reaction to their shock that I do not watch the news, I do not read the news, and I don't often seek it out on my computer or phone, although occasionally, I do.  I ask them "why do I need to know that?" when they inform me of some tragic accident, a brutal rape, a horribly sad story of addiction and subsequent death.  Because it's important...  Because it's necessary to be informed...  Because I need to know what is going on in the world...  I get these and other similar responses.

So why do I choose to live this way?  It started over a decade ago when I read Spontaneous Healing by Andrew Weil.  In his weekly recommendations toward health and wellness (an 8 week plan, also included in 8 Weeks to Optimum Health), he recommends a news fast.  In this case, for this week, it was really strict and I adhered to absolutely NO news for one week.  It stuck!  I liked it.  Short news clips of tragic events and negative discussions left me feeling heavy with negative emotions, hopeless, and often lacking faith in my fellow human beings.  Efforts to make the news positive and tell stories of the good going on in the world were often sappy and did little to alleviate the negativity of the rest of the news cast.  Same for the newspaper and radio.  I felt better when I avoided the news.

According to Weil, "taking periodic breaks from the news can promote mental calm and help renew your spirits. In this way, the anxiety and over stimulation catalyzed by the media may be minimized, and your body will function better." The affects of thinking in a negative direction, be it anxiety, depression, sadness, etc. are increasingly being proven as deleterious to health - the immune system is weakened, healthy cardiac functioning is decreased, digestion is affected, and much more.

The idea is not to become uninformed and ignorant, the idea is to understand how you are affected and what you can do to control the amount of news you are exposed to and in what fashion you are able to hear it, read it, or see it.  Start by doing a few days or a week without news and then add in some things you think you can handle - experiment with yourself!  We do things so unconsciously, we don't notice the effects until we start to make changes.

I know there are rapes, killings, tragedies, wars, and natural disasters everyday, all the time.  The details of which I can live without.  How I keep informed is multi-faceted.  If there is something going on nearby that directly affects me, my house, my safety, there is always a neighborly discussion to inform me of what I need to know.  If there is a city-wide or state-wide discussion of an issue happening, I will over-hear it or be included in it and can then make a decision to access a news source or 2 for the information I want.  If I want to be up to date on politics (rare indeed!), I usually listen to or watch a comedy news source or an informational news program on NPR which is more likely to discuss rather than report the news.  If I care about a sports score, I can look it up on my computer.  If I need to know the weather, I look it up. I also read books and magazines on the topics I choose to be exposed to......There are so many ways to stay informed at a level that I control.
How will you experiment with your level of news exposure this week?

Friday, December 2, 2011

Ogres are like onions!

After a discussion yesterday regarding the fact that some things (including Shrek) are layered and much more complicated and deep than their surface may at first appear, I have been inspired to write about onions this week.  Recently, I wrote about leeks which are in the same family (the alliums) and have the some of the same benefits, although to a lesser rate because leeks are less strong.  The stronger the allium in taste and smell, the stronger the benefits.

Yes, as Donkey in the first Shrek movie states, onions are smelly and they often make us cry.  These are good things in that the smell and the chemicals that make your eyes water are sulfides - compounds believed to lower blood lipids and blood pressure.  You can chill the onion for 30 min. before you cut it to decrease the smell and the eye watering.

Onions are great cancer fighters.  The risk of stomach and esophageal cancers are lowered with onion consumption.  Have you heard of the Vidalia onion?  The rule is that one can only be called a Vidalia only if grown in Vidalia Georgia.  These sweeter and often eaten like an apple onions are consumed in this area at greater quantities than in the normal population.  The result?  Vidalia, GA has a 50% lower stomach cancer mortality rate than the rest of the nation - likely due to those stinky, layered veggies!

A more surprising benefit to onions is that it seems to help build stronger bones.  Further study is needed to see how many onions would create this benefit, but eat up in the meantime!  Onions also help with heart health - decreasing mortality from heart disease by 20%!

Onions contain quercetin.  This chemical is in the flavonoid family and these are being researched more and more for their great health benefits in many important areas - heart health, cancer-fighting properties, immune function and more.  It is likely that it is because quercetin and flavonoids in general have anti-inflammatory affects.  Reducing inflammation also will help with asthma, allergies and chronic pain.

I often post a favorite recipe, but onions are a part of so many tasty dishes.  They are seasonal now as they are easily stored and can handle cold.  Make onions a part of as many meals as you can throughout the day - cooked or raw.

How will you eat your onions this week?