Coco-licious

I arrived in the States on Monday to visit friends and family. Zurich has very good food, don't get me wrong, but the one thing it doesn't have is variety and an infinity of stimulating and tantalizing food choices. I felt like I needed a cigarette after my recent trip to Whole Foods.

Let me cut to the chase: now available is yogurt and ice cream made out of coconut milk (!!!!). I make no secret of the fact that I am highly suspicious of dairy in general, but I am never really interested in dairy-type products that are not made from milk because they are usually made out of soy of which I am also very suspicious.

So back to the product - they're "So Delicious" yogurts and ice creams made from a company that first started making nondairy products from soy. Now they do coconut milk too which is absolutely brilliant. http://www.sodeliciousdairyfree.com/

If this is old news to people, I apologize. I have obviously been living in a cave.

If you want to know more about why coconut is the shizz, you can go to the July archives in this blog where I offered up a bit of info.

Safer Ways to Reduce Your Cholesterol

Happy Saturday! Unfortunately I got my fingers caught in a fan last night so typing is slow and difficult. Not a good idea to try to fix a fan in the dark while it's on!

Here are some easy alternative ways to both prevent and treat high cholesterol/cardiovascular problems. Diet and lifestyle, possibly a few supplements, will do wonders.

Watch what you eat.
You are expecting me here to say stop eating milk, cheese, eggs, and beef because they contain high levels of dietary cholesterol. That is definitely not what I’m saying! As reader Jamie pointed out in the first post on Tuesday, studies show that egg consumption has nothing to do with high cholesterol levels.

However, I am suggesting that reducing animal based foods and replacing them with plant-based foods will provide many benefits that will naturally keep your cholesterol in check. Plant based foods contain a lot more antioxidants that could prevent artery damage.

By eating a largely plant-based diet, you would also be consuming more B-vitamins which help keep homocysteine levels down. Again, homocysteine is known to be an independent risk factor for CVD. Grapefruits have been shown to be exceptionally effective in lowering homocysteine.

It is also wise to identify any food sensitivities. The most common foods that people are sensitive to (not allergic as in when their throats close up) are eggs, milk, wheat, soy and corn. By not recognizing food sensitivities, you could be subjecting your body to systemic low-level inflammation that I explained a few days ago is related to poor cardiovascular health.

Eat as little processed foods as possible. The funky chemicals can cause inflammation in the body. Worse, trans-fats actually cause your cholesterol to go up. Margarine claims to have "no cholesterol" but you sure will if you keep eating it!! Also look out for things like Skippy or Jif peanut butter and most commercially produced baked goods.

Consider following the Mediterranean Diet. http://www.mediterraneandiet.gr/

Increase consumption of garlic and onion.

Exercise:
It lowers blood pressure, increases blood flow to the heart, lowers LDL, and raises HDL.

Don’t smoke.

These supplement recommendations for high cholesterol come directly from the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine:

• Flaxseed oil – 1 Tbs daily
• Niacin (as inositol hexaniacinate) – 500 mg three times per day with meals for 2 weeks, then increase dosage to 1,000 mg three times per day with meals. (Talk to you doctor if you are going to use niacin because it does have side effects that should be monitored. These side effects are in no where near those of statin drugs, and niacin has been shown to be a lot more effective in comparison. It is used in Europe all the time. I included more information below.
• Garlic – minimum of 4,000 mcg of allicin per day (allicin is the stuff in garlic that has the cholesterol-lowering effects)
• Vitamin C – 1,000 mg/day

More on niacin: This is the medicine (which is actually a B vitamin) that was used for high cholesterol since the 1950s and is still used in Europe. It is also used in the U.S. but to a much lesser extent, despite the better results. Here are some interesting numbers that also came from the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine: Studies show benefits like the following:

After 26 weeks of niacin therapy or lovastatin (Mevacor):

LDL Reduction:
Lovastatin: 32%
Niacin: 23%

HDL Increase (you want high HDL):
Lovastatin: 7%
Niacin: 33%

Lp(a) Reduction:
Lovastatin: 0
Niacin 35% (!!)

Niacin has long lasting effects so even after it is stopped, cholesterol levels remain low for a much longer time than statin drugs.

So to conclude on the topic of cholesterol, here are the important things to remember – high cholesterol is only a small part of the picture as it relates to overall heart health. Make sure to look into other risk factors like levels of homocysteine, Lp(a) and C-reactive protein. Before agreeing to any cholesterol-lowering drug, research it thoroughly because it is likely unnecessary and also very dangerous. There are other methods of reducing high cholesterol such as niacin and changes in diet that are safer and more effective.

If anyone wants me to dig up studies or further information for them, I’d be happy to!

Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs – Oh, the Dramz!

Here is the story. In the 1970s and 80s statin drugs and other types of drugs were being developed to lower cholesterol by inhibiting the production of a chemical in the body that is used to produce it. It was a brilliant idea that some guy in Japan came up with. The drugs were tested and the results showed that while they did lower cholesterol as predicted, they were also pretty dangerous. After just a few short years of testing, these drugs were causing cancer in animal studies. In humans, there was no change in mortality (meaning that people didn’t live longer because they were taking them). But it was still such a good idea so people weren’t willing to drop it. Fair enough.

So then the drugs, specifically lovastatin (Mevacor) and gemfibrozil (Lopid – not a statin, but another type of cholesterol lowering drug), were being reviewed by the FDA for approval.

Apparently FDA approval of new drugs is similar to court. People have to testify if they feel the drug up for approval is safe or dangerous. These people are scientists, some of whom work for the pharmaceutical companies that are trying to get the drug approved. There is an advisory committee (we can consider that the jury), and the group that ultimately decides whether or not to approve it (the judges). In the case of lovastatin and gemfribozil, there was overwhelming evidence that the safety of these drugs were unclear. They could cause cancer and other serious problems. The jury agreed and recommended that the drugs not be approved. The judges overruled the jury in this case and approved them anyway, even though they normally wouldn’t approve something that showed so much potential danger. And if FDA approval process is like court, then it let white-collar criminals loose to distribute dangerous substances! Worse, now the pharmaceutical industry is like a giant cartel with lots of "soldiers" dealing their goods – doctors!! Doctors push these drugs ALL the time now. Millions of prescriptions are written per year and you are never supposed to stop taking them once you start…. Hm…..

This sounds like a far fetched analogy, but look it up for yourself. It’s all true! I’m not a conspiracy theorist but I do believe that people will do some effed up things for money. We all saw Erin Brockovitch. And regardless of our political views, everyone has at least considered the possibility that the whole Iraq War was for cash. (I’m just saying). We know that people aren’t always honest and when there’s billions of dollars at stake, people can be tempted to cloud the truth a little.

What exactly is the problem with taking cholesterol-lowering drugs? They lower LDL but not necessarily your risk of heart disease. They also cause horrific side effects that would kill you faster than your cholesterol would. They may lower your total LDL, but not your Lp(a) which was already established as the type of LDL that causes the problems.

Side effects include:
Liver damage
Kidney damage
Cancer
Depression (because remember that cholesterol is needed for healthy functioning of the nervous system)
Impotence (yep!)
CoQ10 deficiency (you need it to LIVE and FUNCTION)
Stomach ache, tiredness, headache, etc.

Remember – no one knows what the long term effects are of taking these drugs for a lifetime, like what is recommended. If you start taking a statin when you are 75, it might not be a big deal. But what if you are a 25 year old guy? What do you think will happen after taking the drugs for 15 years? The truth is that people don’t know the long-term effects. What is probably the most tragic of all is that now, statins are being recommended for overweight children. Sigh….

If you love yourself, and more importantly, if you love ME, reconsider your use of cholesterol-lowering drugs if you are currently taking them. If they have been recommended to you by your doctor, please do extensive research before agreeing to take them. You may decide it is the right option for you but you owe it to yourself to be informed.

Don’t believe me. Try to prove me wrong. Call me an unqualified know-it-all jerk. Just please read the information that is out there!!

There are other alternatives to both lowering your cholesterol and your risk of heart disease which I will get into tomorrow.

Here is some stuff to read to get you started:

Note: My brother-in-law says you should never read what is on the Internet. Below are 2 peer-reviewed articles that appeared in normal hard-copy medical journals before being available online. The other two are articles that are just someone’s opinion, but they provide links to more peer-reviewed articles that support their positions.

"Crestor and Other Statins: Are They Really Worth the Risk?" http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/11/08/crestor-statins.aspx

"The Dangers of Statin Drugs: What You Haven't Been Told About Cholesterol-Lowering Medication"
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/07/21/statin-drugs-part-four.aspx

"Low Cholesterol and Nonatherosclerotic Disease Risk: A Persistently Perplexing Question"
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/151/8/748

"Statins - Similarities and Differences"
http://www.ajmc.com/files/articlefiles/A01_121_2001PedersenS132.pdf

Cholesterol Found in Sticky Situations...

Right. So where were we? Next on my list was to mention important factors related to cardiovascular disease that could be more important than simply the amount of cholesterol in your body. In fact, most people agree that there is some other factor that causes the cholesterol to build up in your arteries.

Lp(a). Like I mentioned yesterday, this is specific type of LDL cholesterol. It is not usually tested for in a normal cholesterol test (I think you’d have to request it) but most researchers agree now that it is the type that actually gets clogged in your arteries. It is very "sticky". But why does it stick in some situations and not others? One answer that has been proposed is that arteries of the heart are highly susceptible to damage from high blood pressure. After being subjected to constant stress from high blood pressure they develop lesions and weak spots. The Lp(a), in addition to other cells like platelets and proteins, stick to the site of damage as a protective mechanism, like a scar. The problem is that these scars can build up and either block the artery or cause a clot to form which eventually breaks off and gets clogged somewhere else. The solution: reduce blood pressure, strengthen artery walls by getting enough vitamin C (necessary for collagen production which keeps blood vessels strong), and lysine supplementation. For more info, look up the Unified Theory of human cardiovascular disease.

Homocysteine: This is an amino acid that is considered an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. That means that even if you have low cholesterol, if you have high homocysteine levels you are at risk of heart disease as well as other diseases. It hasn’t been completely proven why this is so, but one theory is that homocysteine interferes with oxygen utilization in the body, causing a build up of free radicals. Free radicals then damage the lining of blood vessels, and we have a situation again where cholesterol and other cells try to come to the rescue and end up causing clots and narrow vessels. In addition, homocysteine promotes the growth of smooth muscle (which is what your blood vessels are made out of) and that eventually can cause a hardening and thickening of the arteries that characterizes cardiovascular disease. What causes homocysteine levels to rise? A few things could – imbalance or deficiency of B vitamins, hormones, or it could be genetic. Homocysteine is included in blood tests when you go to the doctor if you have other risk factors such as high cholesterol or if you are a middle aged male. It also can be lowered.

Inflammation: Not like when you sprain your ankle and it swells up. I’m talking about low-grade systemic inflammation. This is an unhealthy state that suggests your body is fighting something like a virus, a food sensitivity, or the effects of chronic stress. The cause is not always obvious you may not even feel like anything is wrong. To explain it better, here is a quote from the American Heart Association’s website:

"The major injurious factors that promote atherogenesis [clogged arteries] — cigarette smoking, hypertension, atherogenic lipoproteins, and hyperglycemia — are well established. These risk factors give rise to a variety of noxious stimuli that cause the release of chemicals and the activation of cells involved in the inflammatory process. These events are thought to contribute not only to the formation of plaque but may also contribute to its disruption resulting in the formation of a blood clot. Thus, virtually every step in atherogenesis is believed to involve substances involved in the inflammatory response and cells that are characteristic of inflammation.

In addition, there is also research that indicates an infection — possibly one caused by a bacteria or a virus — might contribute to or even cause atherosclerosis. The infectious bacteria, Chlamydia pneumoniae has been shown to have a significant association to atherosclerotic plaque. The herpes simplex virus has also been proposed as an initial inflammatory infectious agent in atherosclerosis."

There is a protein that elevates in your body when you have inflammation – C-reactive protein (CRP). There are tests for it. It obviously does not cause heart problems but it is an indication of artery-damaging inflammation. Then of course you have cholesterol and other fibers trying to heal the damage… you get the drift.

I will summarize my thoughts for the day by saying that yes, cholesterol does in fact have something to do with heart disease. But it is most likely not acting alone. Since this is probably the case (as so many studies have shown), then it is not fair to blame cholesterol for all heart problems, is it? Logic would lead one to the conclusion that lowering cholesterol to unnecessarily low levels won’t really fix the problem.

Tomorrow: Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs – Oh, the Dramz!

Cholesterol Week Cont'd.

Helloo there. Yesterday I was just generally talking about what cholesterol is – basically an ingredient of your cells that is responsible for holding your cells together, maintaining normal neurological function, and manufacturing other substances like bile and hormones.

Why is it considered so bad, then? Well over the past several decades, the medical community was trying to figure out what caused cardiovascular disease (heart attacks, strokes, etc.). Then scientists discovered a way to measure cholesterol in the blood. So they started measuring and doing studies and the studies were linking cholesterol levels to cardiovascular problems. A link doesn't mean that LDL causes cardiovascular disease, just that the two tend to occur together.

At first, total cholesterol levels (LDL + HDL) were considered "normal" if they were around 240. Then in 1984 there was a Cholesterol Consensus Conference where everyone agreed that what should be considered "normal" needed to be lower, around 200. If a patient gets blood work done now and his or her total cholesterol is 200 or above, chances are he or she will be advised to lower it, possibly through medication. (I’ll get to that). Apparently 180 is now a good number.

Remember how I said that there are different types of cholesterol? Well these cholesterol numbers you get from a blood test normally don’t include a breakdown of the different kinds with the exception of differentiating LDL from HDL. This is a problem because it is becoming pretty clear that LDL alone is not the "bad" type of cholesterol. It is a certain type of LDL – called lipoprotein (a) aka Lp(a) that actually causes the problems in your arteries. This is not part of a normal lipid profile test. I am getting a physical soon so I am going to ask if that can be included in my test (just to see if it’s even possible).

Another thing that needs to be considered when looking at your cholesterol numbers is the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL and the ratio of LDL to HDL. This is normally calculated for you when you get a blood test. Numbers should be:

Total cholesterol: HDL should be 4 or under
LDL:HDL should be 2.5 or under

Getting your cholesterol numbers is only a small part of the picture. Even though they doesn’t necessarily mean much, this is what doctors focus on. Why? I don’t know. But despite all the attempts at telling people to lower their cholesterol, the problem of cardiovascular disease (CVD) hasn’t gone away and only seems to be getting worse. That is because other factors besides cholesterol have been identified that contribute to CVD. They just aren’t being acknowledged right now by regular medical peeps.

Tomorrow I will write about research that implicates other factors besides just high LDL in cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, if your total cholesterol is above 200 or if you enjoy a piece of cheese on occasion, don’t sweat it for now. Wait until you can talk to a health professional that won’t push medicine on you.

Cholesterol Week

I’m designating this week to be "Cholesterol Week". This topic is very important to me because many people are taking dangerous cholesterol-lowering drugs without even fully understanding what cholesterol is and how these drugs can be extremely harmful. It makes me very concerned.

Today’s topic will be "What is Cholesterol?"

Cholesterol is a general term for the molecules in your body called lipoproteins. "Lipo" means "fat", so a lipoprotein is a fat and protein stuck together. There are different kinds of lipoproteins but their function is to transport fat molecules to the places they are needed in your body.

For example, our cell membranes are made up of fat. So the lipoproteins (cholesterol) brings the fat to your cells so that it can maintain a healthy membrane. Healthy membrane = healthy cell.

Your brain is also needs a regular supply of cholesterol because it is made up of a lot of fat.

Cholesterol is an ingredient in bile, that stuff you may have noticed while throwing up on an empty stomach. Besides burning the lining out of your esophagus, it actually has an important purpose of helping you digest the fat you eat.

As you can see then, cholesterol is completely useful and necessary.

You can eat cholesterol and it is also made naturally in your liver. If you don’t eat enough, your liver will make extra. When you have too much floating in your body, your liver takes some back and uses it for making bile or hormones. In other words, your body is designed to regulate its own cholesterol levels.

Like I mentioned, there are different types of cholesterol. You may have heard of "good" and "bad". I’m not here to judge, but what is normally considered the "bad" cholesterol is the low-density lipoproteins aka LDL. The "good" cholesterol is high-density lipoprotein aka HDL. The HDL is considered good because it can remove LDL from the blood. There are different types of LDL and HDL that have different effects on your body which is beyond the scope of this post. But just so you know.

Standard advice is to keep your LDL under 130 and your HDL as high as possible, preferably around 60. The numbers refer to milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) of blood.

Tomorrow I am going to write about what cholesterol has to do with heart disease and why everyone is making a huge deal about keeping it low.

Bye for now!

Veggies as a Meal

Getting the recommended number of vegetables a day doesn’t have to be as hard as we think. If we make it a habit to enjoy some meals made only of veggies, it’s completely possible. A lot of people around the world just eat veggies for a meal. Not only do they live through the ordeal, but they really benefit! Here is a quote from our favorite chef-crush, Jamie Oliver:

"In Britain and the U.S., we tend not to eat enough veg, and when we do we always feel they need to be eaten with meat or fish. However, in Italy huge amounts of vegetables and greens are served… and the Italians are a damn sight healthier than us. So listen up. Let’s be like them and big up the greens. Cook them nicely, dress them with care and you’ll be laughing."

(I included his recipe below).

Think of the benefits...

• Save money because veggies (especially if seasonal) are cheaper than meat or processed food
• Become full faster due to the water and fiber content of the vegetables
• You can put some extremely healthy olive oil on it – so healthy and your body will love you forever
• A squeaky clean colon
• Lots of phytonutrients to boost your immune system, fight off nasty diseases, and keep your skin looking great.
• And my favorite benefit: A total superiority complex at the grocery store. Many times when I am in the check out line at the store, I look (in horror) at what other people have in their carts. Then I admire all the beautiful produce that I laid out on the rolling thingy and I know that I made much better food choices. While I imagine they are looking at my food in envy, WISHING they knew my secret to grocery shopping, they are probably just hoping I am not paying with change or something. But hey, it’s my twisted little game.

Jamie Oliver’s recipe:
Get a large pot of salted boiling water on the go, with a lid on. If you’re cooking Swiss chard, the stalks will need to be removed first and added to the water first. When they’ve softened you can add the leaves, which need only a minute or who in the boiling water. If you’re cooking broccoli, or Romanesco broccoli, don’t cook it al dente but don’t overcook it either – you want it somewhere in between. How do you check? Take a piece out of the water and eat it. You can also use asparagus, or cabbage leaves like Savoy Napa, or zucchini.

Cook the greens with your full attention, then drain them well in a colander and lay them paper towels to soak up any excess moisture. Leave them for a few minutes to let the steam escape. While they’re still warm, dress them like you would a salad, with lemon juice and 3x as much good extra virgin olive oil, and season carefully with salt and pepper to taste.

Rachael Ray’s recipes (I know…):

Spinach with Nutmeg and Garlic:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 bag triple washed spinach (10 to 12 oz), stems trimmed
course salt and pepper, to taste
2 pinches ground nutmeg
Heat garlic over medium heat. Add spinach and turn in pan until leaves wilt. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a couple of pinches of nutmeg – it’s delicious with any dark green.

Swiss Chard with Golden Raisins:

½ medium white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 bunches chard, red or green, stems trimmed away, tops roughly cut
¼ c golden raisin, left to soak in 1 c vegetable broth
salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg, to taste

Heat the biggest skillet you’ve got over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic in oil for a minute or two. Add the greens and turn in pan as they begin to wilt. Add raisins with broth, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove cover and turn greens out onto serving dish. Makes 2 meals or 6 side dishes.

My own fav:
½ pound of string beans, already cooked to a medium consistency, sauteed with olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes.

Calcium Info for the Ladeez

Some people have been asking me lately about the importance of calcium supplements. As young adult women, it is recommended that we consume 3 dairy products a day to meet our calcium needs of 1,000 mg. It is also recommended that if this amount dairy is not consumed we should take calcium supplements in order to protect ourselves from developing osteoporosis. Calcium supplements are one of the top selling mineral supplements in the U.S. But do we need them?

First of all, I don’t want to get too in depth about my feelings on dairy but there are many, many other ways to get dietary calcium. The dairy industry is like any other industry – it wants to sell its product so it uses good advertising. Sure, milk is a good source of calcium but I definitely would NOT recommend eating 3 servings of pasteurized dairy products per day as an adult. (I promise to eventually give a good explanation).

So as for the question of whether or not we need calcium supplements, the answer is that there is no definitive evidence that calcium supplements taken as pre-menopausal adults prevent osteoporosis. There are other more effective ways to protect your bones.

Our bones develop like this: as a kid and teen, you need lots of calcium (and other vitamins and minerals) from your diet to help build your bones because they are made up of mostly calcium. Then when we reach about age 25, our bones are as strong as they are ever going to be. You can’t build on them anymore. After menopause, the dip in estrogen causes demineralization of your bones and it is during this time that people experience a loss in bone mass of 3%-5% per year (at this point, studies show that supplements do help).

What seems to be more important than taking calcium supplements is to PREVENT bone loss during your young to middle adult years. This is relatively easy to do:

• Do get calcium through your diet to maintain a positive calcium balance. Dairy is not necessary. I’ll list some good alternative sources below.
• Make sure you get the recommended amount of vitamin D. The current recommendations are to get 400 IUs of the vitamin per day but evidence is beginning to mount that we actually need more, especially if we are dark skinned or don’t see the sun too often. Why vitamin D? You need it to absorb dietary calcium and other minerals. As it turns out, a vitamin D deficiency is the most common cause of secondary osteoporosis.
• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. They contain the vitamins and minerals needed to keep bones strong and they help create a friendly, harmonious environment in your body. An analogy – if your body were a party, the fruits and veggies would be the Libra guests.
• Cigarettes weaken your bones so don’t smoke.
• Don’t drink colas. The high phosphorus content sucks the calcium right out of your bones. BAD.
• Keep alcohol and caffeine consumption to a minimum
• Exercise. Weight bearing activities help prevent bone loss.
• Don’t get too skinny – if you are underweight, you are more likely to have bone loss later. You want to have a BMI of about 19%-24%.

Good non-dairy sources of calcium: almonds – 400 mg for ½ cup; cabbage – 426 mg for 1 head; mixed dried fruit – 111 mg for 1 ¼ cup; cooked spinach – 244 mg for 1 cup; blue crab meat – 136 mg for 1 cup; canned salmon – 880 mg for 1 can. Just some examples. Sometimes juices and bread products have calcium added to them also.

There is nothing wrong with calcium supplements but people should definitely not rely on them for ensuring strong bones. Studies don’t show that they are effective. Studies do show, however, that protecting the bones in the ways listed above are effective for preventing osteoporosis-related problems in the future.

If you are pregnant, a supplement is probably necessary. The parasitic little dude will leech all the calcium it needs from you whether you have enough for yourself or not!

The Mick Jagger Fitness Program

Can’t get no satisfaction with your current fitness program? Try Mick Jagger’s method! Turn on music and go BANANAS. NUTS. Don’t even hold back. Rhythm is not necessary and is actually discouraged. Use all of your limbs at the same time.

HIGHlights:
 One of the few fitness routines that can be performed while drunk
 Guaranteed to shed most of your body weight, unwanted or otherwise
 Flexible clothing options. Examples: feather coat, a national flag of your choice, knickers

This is NOT interval training, you’d be working at full intensity for the entire time. Calories burned per hour: 9,431.

For more inspiration, rent Shine a Light when it comes out which captures all of the Mick madness. It’s the Rolling Stones documentary by Martin Scorsese. (Not worth spending the $ to see it in the theater – has some pretty camera shots but otherwise not very interesting unless you are a diehard fan).

Weston Price

In the 1930s, there was an American dentist named Weston Price who started noticing a serious decline in dental health. He was perplexed and soon realized that not only were people’s mouths unhealthy, but there was a drastic spike in many chronic diseases that hadn’t previously presented much of a public health problem. These were diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, and cancer, for example. (All of the diseases that nowadays we expect to get as part of the natural aging process, for which there is no real cure, right?) He couldn’t understand what the problem was, why people’s teeth and bodies were breaking down at accelerated rates.

Dr. Price also noticed that a patient’s dental health correlated to his or her physical health. In other words, if someone had healthy teeth with few cavities, he or she was also generally healthy. If the mouth was filled with cavities, decaying gums and diseased roots, chances were that the patient was suffering from chronic or degenerative health problems.

Since he was already a gazillionaire from having a successful dental practice, Dr. Price and his wife set out for a tour that would last several years in which they would travel the world to observe and examine the eating and lifestyle habits of other populations. Were other populations experiencing the same decline in overall health?

Negative. In fact, the cultures that maintained their traditional eating habits had the fewest occurrences of chronic degenerative disease. They went everywhere – Europe, Africa, Alaska, the Pacific Islands – and it seemed as though the groups’ specific diet was less important than the fact that they consumed absolutely no processed foods. (It was during the early 1900s that processed food started making its way into everyday diets in the U.S.). For example, Swiss mountain people ate mostly full fat dairy products* like cheese and rye bread. Eskimos ate meat and fat, that’s pretty much it. A Gaelic group never had any dairy products but did eat a lot of fish, fish organs, and oats. Chronic disease was not an issue in any of these places and people’s teeth were immaculate even though brushing and flossing was not usually a part of their daily routines.

Despite the differences between diets, there were some similarities: Everyone ate meat to some extent, everyone had a fermented food as a staple, and nothing NOTHING was processed or treated with chemicals. Dr. Price’s point was that the health of Americans was in a downward spiral because these crazy new processed foods were replacing the natural healthy foods that have been eaten for centuries. By "crazy new processed foods" I mean refined grains, sugar, caffeine, pasteurized dairy and artificial preservatives and sweeteners, for example.

This research really hasn’t been given much attention because Dr. Price wasn’t a medical doctor or research scientist. His work just really consisted of reports, possibly biased, on his observations and the 18,000 photographs he took (really!). It is considered a politically incorrect topic, I guess because generalizations are made about populations of people.

Deciding what to make of this theory as a present day American is difficult. I suppose you can look at your ethnic roots and figure out what your ancestors ate and try to emulate that. But what if, for example, your mom is Japanese and your dad is Swiss? Most people have a complicated blend of ancestry. Besides, it’s hard to find time to hunt caribou these days, especially since the whole season of Gossip Girl is going to be replayed this summer (thanks for the tip, Alexis!). I don’t have the answer here but the obvious starting point is to make sure your food is not processed, chemically treated or refined.

Here is the website for the Weston A. Price Foundation – http://www.westonaprice.org/. I HIGHLY recommend it, it talks about so many important topics. I basically paraphrased an article from Dr. Stephen Byrnes for this post so I’m sure you could do an internet search on him and find some other good stuff.

*Unpasteurized. A topic for another day.

Grapefruit Juice - Not the Best Hangover Beverage

I used to drink a container of grapefruit juice if I was suffering after a late night. It was a favorite of mine because it was tasty, hydrating, and high in potassium which I would have depleted while drinking. Turns out that I might have been inhibiting my liver’s ability to detox.

Grapefruits naturally contain a significant amount of the flavanoid naringin. Naringin has been shown in numerous studies to reduce the activity of the cytochrome P450 system, the system responsible for cleaning out booze and medicine. The result is that the toxins stay in your body longer.

It is also important to realize that naringin interferes in the metabolism of 60% of currently marketed pharmaceutical drugs. Some examples of drugs are calcium channel blockers (for high blood pressure), statin drugs (for high cholesterol), and sedatives. If you currently are taking any medication you could go to http://www.drug-interactions.com/ to see if your drug is on the list.

I am a huge fan of grapefruits though and they are so healthy for lots of reasons. If I am having a rough morning now, though, I just drink another type of juice. Cheers!

A Thrilling Twist on Summer Pops

June’s issue of the magazine Body and Soul (http://www.wholeliving.com)/, had these three VERY EXCITING popsicle recipes. Besides the artificial colors and horrendous sweeteners you are avoiding, you are getting lots of vitamins and minerals. And the flavors are so odd!…aren’t you curious?

For each of these recipes below, combine the fruit, herb or spice, and a dash of salt in a blender on high for 30 seconds, until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for six hours.

Honeydew-Basil
Mix 4 cups of honeydew melon cubes with ¼ cup of chopped fresh basil and ½ cup organic frozen lemonade concentrate.

Pineapple-Cinnamon
3 cups of fresh pineapple chunks, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, and ¼ cup fresh orange juice.

Mango-Parsley
Combine 1 ripe mango and ½ cup loosely packed chopped parsley. If the mango isn’t ripe, add ¼ cup organic frozen lemonade concentrate.
(I have a suggestion – use 2 mangos, same amount of parsley, and ¼ to ½ of the lemonade concentrate even if the mangos are ripe. This way the pops come out juicier rather than like a frozen mango.)

I tried the honeydew-basil pops which were my favorite. I also tried the pineapple-cinnamon flavor but my blender didn’t blend it properly so the texture was weird. The flavor was very nice though and I am sure they would have been delicious if my blender cooperated. The mango ones were interesting and I would change the recipe slightly like I mentioned above.

Avoid Smelling Like This Guy...

No one appreciates dog breath and Dentyne can only get you so far. Bad breath can result from many different things including:

• Bad oral hygiene
  
• Gum disease


• Gastrointestinal issues like constipation, indigestion, or too few "friendly bacteria" in the colon


• Dieting or fasting (body breaks down the fat and protein in your body where toxins are usually stored)


• Sinusitis
  

Assuming that the underlying reason for bad breath is not a serious health problem (such as kidney or liver disease), there are safe and easy ways to reduce your poisonous emissions.

Having regular dental cleanings and maintaining proper dental hygiene is a no brainer.

Maintain regular digestive function. This may require you to incorporate more fiber into your diet and to drink more water. This will help keep toxins from building up in your body. Any source of chlorophyll, such as wheatgrass or alfalfa liquid, will also help remove toxins.

Probiotic supplements will help restore the proper balance of good to bad bacteria in your intestines.

Zinc supplements (not exceeding 100 mg/day, read directions on label) has an antibacterial effect and can reduce sulfur compounds which often causes bad breath.

Eating herbs such as parsely, fennel, cloves, and anise after a meal can help.

And the very best way to help us all breathe easier is to incorporate more good quality, minimally cooked fruits and veggies into your diet. By doing so, you are guaranteeing that you are getting the vitamins and minerals needed to maintain healthy teeth and gums, the fiber to eliminate toxins, and the nutrients to keep up a healthy immune system.

A special thanx to Horatio the Pug! xo

Cooking with Coconut Oil

Many people consider coconut oil to be the black sheep in the cooking oil family. Coconut oil did not earn this reputation - it was just a victim of vicious lies and rumors (probably started by a vindictive cousin like walnut oil!). There are several good reasons to give coconut oil another chance and let it back into your kitchen cabinet.

Coconut oil is a saturated fat. We are told to avoid or limit saturated fats as much as possible. That warning refers to animal fats, however, not coconut oil. The reason is that animal fats are LONG CHAIN fatty acids, while coconut oil contains SHORT and MEDIUM CHAIN fatty acids. They are different and have a different effect on your body and your metabolism.

So yes it is true that coconut oil is a saturated fat, but not one you should necessarily avoid. Saturated fats (of all kinds) are more stable during the cooking process. This means that when cooked, less lipid peroxides are formed. (Lipid peroxides are toxins, like free radicals). Compared to an unsaturated fat that is commonly used for cooking – canola oil – coconut oil produces just a fourth of the lipid peroxides. Why is this important? Lipid peroxides are toxic and can lead to diseases like cancer. They also make your skin age faster, similar to the effect of sun exposure.

Going back to its effect on metabolism, since coconut oil is made up mostly of short and medium chain fatty acids, it is given preferential treatment by your liver for burning. In other words, it can actually help you burn fat. Here is a quote from the book The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, "[Short and medium chain fatty acids] have actually been shown to promote weight loss by increasing the burning of calories (thermogenesis); some research suggests that they lower cholesterol as well".

Unsaturated fats, like olive oil, are still important. These oils, however, are better suited for salad dressing rather than being exposed to heat.

BE SURE YOU GET VIRGIN COCONUT OIL. Everything stated above refers to virgin coconut oil (that can be purchased at a Whole Foods store or similar). Hydrogenated coconut oil is very, very bad for you and is usually found in processed foods.

Finally, it is recommended that no matter what type of fat you choose to use, it should only make up about 30% of your total daily caloric intake.

Here is more interesting info on coconut oil and fats in general - http://products.mercola.com/coconut-oil/. This guy states it better than I ever could.

A Tie! Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest - Part 2 of 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvudKRzHQsQ

The excitement reached new heights yesterday at Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. For the first time in Coney Island history, the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest went into overtime. Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi had a 5 dog eat-off after they each tied with 59 franks, leading Joey Chestnut to his second consecutive victory. Poor Koby’s mouth still hurts but he promises to be back next year in top form.

My girl "The Black Widow" finished in fifth place with 34 hot dogs.

We have to give props to these guys because they suffer after the event – but they do it for us anyway. According to AP writer Adam Goldman, the competitors will "likely suffer nausea, bloat, headache, and possibly high blood pressure for several days as the body slowly digests the food".

God Bless America. God Bless the Mustard Yellow Belt.

Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest - Part 1 of 2

The 4th of July – the day of our great nation’s independence – provokes memories of holidays past and makes us reel with anticipation of the annual traditions that make this day so special. Traditions are different for all of us. My friend Natalie likes to race two live lobsters across her floor before boiling them. I do my best to avoid fireworks but sob uncontrollably when avoidance fails. My family barbecues. No matter what makes this day different for each of us, there is one tie that binds us all as a nation – the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Last year proved to be a banner year for America, as Joey Chestnut claimed the Mustard Yellow Belt, winning it back from Takeru Kobayashi of Japan. Not only did Chestnut bring the title back to the U.S.A., he broke the world record by eating 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes. (He is also the 3-time winner of the asparagus title.) Kobayashi (Koby) was the favorite to win but apparently succumbed to discomfort related to a jaw injury he suffered shortly before. Joey Chestnut and Koby will go head to head again today as they both qualified for the contest in first and second places, respectively.

A notable contestant, and one of my personal favorites, is 105-pound Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas (photo above). While never winning the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, she holds several world records including: Armour Vienna Sausage, cheesecake, hard-boiled eggs, and baked beans (the long course; apparently there was controversy during the short course with regards to the temperature of the beans). The Black Widow broke the female world record in hotdog eating in last year's Nathan's Hot Dog Contest with 59 hotdogs. This will be participating again today, having qualified in fifth place.

Techniques:

• Water dunking – dunking the food in a cup of water before eating it to soften and lubricate


• Breaking the food into small pieces which reduces necessary chewing time


• Solomon Technique or Japanesing – Koby’s technique of breaking the hotdog in half and eating both halves at the same time

Check back tomorrow for a run down of the 2008 highlights! (Due to the time difference between Zurich and Brooklyn, I won’t see results until the evening).

http://people.howstuffworks.com/competitive-eating1.htmhttp://www.ifoce.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonya_Thomas

Caffeine Makes You Tired

Wait, what? That makes no sense. Actually it does! It turns out that if you always feel tired, eliminating caffeine from your diet can significantly improve your energy levels. There is actually a medical condition called "caffeinism", characterized by symptoms of depression, nervousness, irritability, recurrent headaches, heart palpitations and insomnia. It can occur in people that ingest as little as 250 mg of caffeine per day (about the amount in 2 cups of coffee), but the amount can be higher or lower depending on the individual.

This means that for many people, drinking caffeine provides a short-term temporary zip with ugly long term consequences. Habitual caffeine intake stresses the adrenal system and can induce a situation of chronic fatigue. While it may seem insane to eliminate caffeine from your diet if you always feel exhausted, it has been shown to dramatically improve and stabilize energy levels.

There is a popular study involving mice that is always cited when this topic comes up: Mice were given a dose of caffeine and it improved their swimming capacity. After six weeks of receiving this same dose of caffeine, however, their swimming capacity was actually reduced. In other words, the long-term effects of caffeine are actually counterproductive to the reasons people drink it in the first place.

If you’re skeptical, just try it! See what happens. Make sure you gradually reduce your caffeine intake otherwise you will have a serious headache and a Frankenstein-like demeanor. After a few days or maybe a week, you should really start feeling good!

I just want to point out that caffeine isn’t ALL bad, it’s just bad for people who are always tired, who have high blood pressure, who may have depression or anxiety, or who get wicked PMS*.

Good things about caffeine (if ingested only on occasion):

• Really helps alleviate a migraine headache or hangover
• Comes in extremely tasty beverages
• Mildly stimulates the metabolism
• Helps flush out excess water if you’re bloated (which can also lead to dehydration, so be careful)

*Trust me on this one.

Beach Bag Checklist: Sunscreen, iPod and ALMONDS!

My skin is holding a deep grudge against me lately. I’ve been spending about 2 hours a day sunbathing by Lake Zurich with minimal sunscreen. I am now of an age where preservation of my youthful appearance should be my priority but my lack of anything better to do is tempting me to have a tanning contest …with myself. I think I am both the winner and loser in this sorry scenario.

Anyway, I got to thinking of ways I can protect my skin from the inside. There is lots of advice to make sure you get your "anti-oxidants" to protect your skin from sun damage. Many forms of anti-oxidants exist, and all are important, but there is one that I wanted to emphasize – tocopherols (aka vitamin E). It is usually recommended in topical form to protect the skin but it also works from the inside out. Through its free-radical scavenging activity, it protects the skin from damage caused by ultraviolet light AND also helps protect the eyes from light-induced diseases including cataracts and macular degeneration.

What a fantastic excuse to eat NUTS! Nuts and nut butters are rich sources of vitamin E, especially almonds. Olive, canola and sunflower oils are also good sources. I personally think the best way to eat your almonds is raw (since roasting them can dry out their oils), but apparently studies don’t show a difference between the effects of raw vs. roasted nuts. Just avoid the ones that are roasted with hydrogenated oils. (Worried about the fat content? Just don’t eat them by the pound and you’ll be fine. How many people do you know are overweight because they ate too many almonds?).

Since almonds are my favorite, I am including "quick serving ideas" that I got from The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray:

• Almonds provide a little crunch to plain yogurt
• Enhance your next vegetable stir-fry with ½ cup sliced almonds
• Add two tablespoons of almonds to your morning bowl of oatmeal
• Make an open-faced sandwich of almond butter and bananas drizzled with a little honey
• As a side dish, saute 1 ½ cups blanced almonds with 2 Tbs. olive oil (more vit E!), 1 tsp. coriander powder, ½ tsp crushed cayenne pepper, and a dash of salt.
• Or just eat them.

I am going to continue eating my vitamin E rich foods and I’ll post an update in about 10 years to let you how they did in preventing the aging process!