Immunity Boosters

English: Various cells that participate in immune functions. Note that even though hematopoietic stemm cell, erythrocyte, maegakaryocyte and platelets are found in the blood, they do not participate in immune functions. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How do you stay healthy and fight sickness? Your immune system, its’ job 24/7 is keep you well. It wrestles with  fungi, viruses, bacteria, battles pathogens and any foreign invaders while cleaning up cellular debris. Sounds exhausting and it is, that is why as we age the immune system loses its steam. Nourishing the immune system will keep it strong and you healthy.

Eat:

All vitamins, 5 main minerals (zinc, copper, selenium, manganese and iron), all protein but especially arginine, http://jn.nutrition.org/content/137/6/1681S.abstract, and glutamine, http://jn.nutrition.org/content/131/9/2515S.full, fat (lower Omega 3 and 6 ratio to less than 1:4) and fiber.

In order to consume all these nutrients, you must eat a variety of low glycemic fruits, a colorful assortment of vegetables, protein from whole eggs (The yolk has choline a precursor to phosphatidylcholine which helps repair cell damage.), fish and grass-fed beef (also contain more Omega 3 essential fatty acids) turkey, sources of arginine (pumpkin/sesame seeds and almonds/cashews) and glutamine (cottage cheese and plain 2% Greek yogurt).

Drink:

tea-white (anti-bacterial and viral), elderberry and green

water with lemon

Green drinks, http://greensplus.com/index.php, any that contain sea vegetables

Practice:

Healthy habits and hygiene. Washing your hands and brushing your teeth is as important as keeping active and avoiding obesity as a study from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine found that in comparison to normal weight mice obese mice were unable to fend off flu and other types of infections, http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr05/beck040405.html.

Stress reduction techniques can also boost immunity.

Understand:

Just because these nutrients are immune enhancing, does not mean excess amounts will be helpful. In fact, too much omega 6 fat, iron and vitamin E will actually have detrimental effects on your immune system. The same is true for some medications, such as antibiotics or corticosteroids.

Supplement Foods with Herbs and Spices

Herb and spice supplements boost immune system and protect against aging too.

Curcumin, cloves, basil, garlic, oregano and ginger all ward of sickness and can specifically help in preventing colds and flu.

Reminder:

Avoid consuming products that have been shown to weaken your immune system like soda, alcohol and sugar (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published results of a study that found lowered immunity for up to 5 hours after eating 100 grams of sugar or 3 cans of soda).

Maintain gut acid-base balance with proper foods (vegetables) or a probiotic supplement

Avoid allergic or sensitivity reactions as they produce inflammation

Stay healthy!

 

Eat Foods With Fat: What is your Response to Carb Overload? (3) Continued

Irritability is not the only emotionally related issue linked to a “fat free, higher carb” diet, depression, is another factor tied into not eating enough or the right balance of fat.

This is true especially if you are a convenience food consumer.  Why? Because, trans fat (the ingredient used to replace real fat in real foods so you are not deprived of foods that taste good) has also been linked to depression, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/215021.php.  Here are some links if you want to find out where trans fats are lurking, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/06/trans-fat-foods_n_1130573.html and http://www.acaloriecounter.com/trans-fat-foods.php, http://www.acaloriecounter.com/fast-food-trans-fat.php. 

Fat is involved in nerve impulses, the production of brain chemicals and hormones (for both men and women). So when you avoid fat, risks for ADHD and many other brain health issues as well as eating disorders because the nerves, hormones and brain chemicals may not function correctly.

Fat soluble vitamins: A, D, E and K, along with vitamin B6 and B12 (abundant in red meat and fish) are important for  growth, immunity, cell repair and blood clotting and so much more. If you’re not eating enough fat to for these fat soluble vitamins into your body, they will be excreted, and you may be at risk for a vitamin deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency alone has been linked to:

• Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Cognitive impairment in older adults
• Severe asthma in children
• Cancer

In fact, research suggests that vitamin D may play a role in the prevention and treatment of type1 and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and multiple sclerosis.

Additional health conditions that are catapulted by high carbohydrate foods that directly impact insulin and blood sugar spikes are:

Metabolic syndrome

Heart disease

PCOS

Cancer (Colon, breast, and prostate) are associated with low intakes of essential fatty acids

Yeast overgrowth

Dental caries

Advanced glycaction endproducts (AGE’s), contribute to the aging process as a result of excess sugar (again I remind you, 100% of carbs converts to sugar) http://www.prevention.com/node/23567#ixzz24u7nJ8SU. 

Adrenal dysfunction and defects with cortisol release

As I realize that there is just so many reasons to limit carbs, I am going to ask that you read the information that was written in 2004 by Kent Rieske entitled, “Scientific Proof Carbohydrates Cause Disease” posted on Dr. Mercola’s website, http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/01/03/carbohydrates-age.aspx.

 And now I am off to write more on this and will move on to reasons # 4 and 5 to “Eat Foods With Fat”.

 Related articles

How Fructose Turns on your Fat Switch, http://lewrockwell.com/mercola/mercola220.html.

 

60 Minutes And The War Against Carbohydrates

Low carb heaven, now where was I? Here’s a link: http://valerieberkowitz.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/60-minutes-confirms-all-calories-are-not-equal/, to last weeks blog if you are interested in how 60 minutes started all this .

Let me continue summing up from last week:

REFINED carbs and sugar, most REFINED foods created by food companies to reduce food cost and incresae profit coupled with the “best of intentions”  message from science research, “cut out fat to improve your health” has created huge health concerns for all of us. We eat 130 pounds of sugar/person/year and this has led to;

1. Cancer

2. Food addiction

3. Diabetes

4. Heart disease

5. Obesity

6. Fatty liver disease

7. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs are created from carbohydrates, both simple and complex.  Carbs are absorbed by your body to  affect your blood sugar levels.  Blood sugar is then glycated to form AGEs.

8. Kidney disease

9. Alzheimer’s disease

10. Skin, nerve and eye diseases

Now people are getting paid to figure out how to reduce all this damage, for what? It really is not rocket science.

Wanna cut off glucose supply to cancer, wanna reduce your cocaine-like addiction to sugar, wanna reduce your risk for diabetes, obesity, heart disease… just don’t eat sugar and foods that are made up mostly of carbohydrate containing foods.

It really seems prudent to eat balanced low carb whole food, paleo diets to help you live a long healthy life!

 

60 Minutes Confirms All Calories Are Not Equal

Public relations of high-fructose corn syrup (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So many people have told me about this and finally I had the time to watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta‘s report for 60 Minutes, http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n&tag=mncol;lst;4.

You know, I’m not sure why Dr. Lustig was chosen for this piece. His comment about high fructose corn syrup being just as bad as sugar is so off the chart wrong it’s almost criminal. But I agree, processed foods including sugar, high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin…should be avoided.

I’m happy that he is on this campaign and more professionals are finally admitting that what has been promoted as healthy, “Eliminate fat and you will not be fat”, IS NOT necessarily true. Kimber Stanhope, a nutritional biologist at the University of California, Davis has actually changed her own diet as she observes the results of her study.

Here’s a piece on high fructose corn syrup I wrote awhile back. It is worth a quick read, http://valerieberkowitz.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/buyers-beware-hfcs-may-soon-be-a-wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing/.

One of the BIG messages I believe is so true and if so, I am way before my time (LOL). It is a mantra that I repeat to my clients all the time. “All calories are NOT equal”. If sugar is addicting and leads to health complications when you eat it, how is that the same when you eat the same amount of calories from a satisfying and nourishing piece of fish?

Three major points:

1. Many of the main health diseases (obesity, diabetes, cancer) are related to over sugar consumption (this means carbs too).

2. When sugar is consumed changes in the brain occur similar to that of cocaine addiction.

3. You probably do not realize how much sugar/carbs you are eating because we have been trained to think eat carbs not fat.

There is so much to talk about, I’m in low carb heaven . More points on this next week.

Related articles

• Americans Are Killing Themselves With Sugar (revolutioninmedia.com)

 

Cereal is NOT a Food I Typically Recommend

I enjoyed this and wanted to share it with you. Think twice before you reach for the box of cereal in your cabinet.

This picture kinda sums it all up!

http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/artist-creates-cereal-stunt-at-los-angeles-supermarket?GT1=47001

I hope you enjoy!

 

Buyers Beware HFCS May Soon Be A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Image via Wikipedia

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is used as an ingredient in almost every food you consume. For years it has slowly crept into our food supply. Now there is a lot of controversy over its effects on health.  Oh yes, we are all human guinea pigs!

58% of consumers are concerned about the link of high fructose corn syrup with diabetes, heart disease, obesity…It’s no wonder the Corn Refiners Association (The BIG GUYS behind HFCS: Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Tate and Lyle) petitioned the FDA to rename HFCS, “corn sugar”. See the Big Battle, consumerist.com/2011/04/big-sugar-sues-big-corn-over-corn-sugar-ad-campaign-for-hfcs.html

Now I’m not a fan of excess sugar in my food but I’d take real sugar cane over high fructose corn syrup any day. I suggest keeping sugar to a minimum by selecting fresh or frozen produce, but with this issue, I side with the sugar companies that are spending the big bucks to prevent the association of sugar with HFCS or its alias “corn sugar”. Huh, maybe they know something we don’t.

Even for those of us who believe HFCS may be harmful, unless you do a “kitchen” makeover, you have no control over what cheap products companies decide to use as ingredients for their products.  

This is a quick list of how to shop differently and make better food choices:

http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup

http://cleanerplateclub.wordpress.com/2007/06/20/take-the-high-fructose-corn-syrup-challenge/

http://parentingtips365.com/2010/01/19/how-to-remove-high-fructose-corn-syrup-from-your-diet/

So for all my label readers’ out there, if you are shopping one day and you see an item that does not contain HFCS, check again for the “Wolf in sheep’s clothing–corn sugar” just to make sure you are not fooled by the Corn Refiners Association.

 

Andrew Weil:”Saturated Fat IS NOT associated with an Increased Risk of Heart Disease, Stroke or Vascular Disease.”

For many years I’ve been trying to educate people on the importance of fat in our diets. I try to explain that, one, fat is not the devil and , two, not all low fat-high carbohydrate (sugar) foods are good for you.

I admit, I’m not pushing the right buttons to be seen by the big guys but now Andrew Weil, one of the big guys, has spoken and I am sooooo happy to see that saturated fat is not being vilified as usual.

Here’s what Dr. Weil has to say, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/healthy-eating_b_629422.html.

Two points that stick out and should be considered:

He is not promoting meat consumption and that’s fine be me. Hey, I’m all with eating meat that are grass-fed and natural vs. those pumped with antibiotics. Read my book, The Stubborn Fat Fix and you’ll understand how the food supply affects our health, http://www.amazon.com/Stubborn-Fat-Fix-Metabolic-ebook/dp/B002E6IJWY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1292253814&sr=8-2 . However the reason most people avoid meat is to cut saturated fat from their diet. If there is no link between eating red meat and heart disease then we can start eating meat to help supply our bodies with important vitamins and minerals like iron and B12 that we are not nourishing our bodies with when we omit red meat from our diet.

The other point worth paying attention to is that he underscores the fact that carboydrates can upset hormonal balance, fructose and glucose can overload the liver and raise insulin levels and “refined carbohydrates, starches and sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease and diabetes.”

Now that you know that saturated fat is not a one way ticket to death and that sweets/added sugars and sweeteners are at the top of the evil food list, what foods will you choose to consume?

 

Vitamin Water: Another “UN”Healthy Food in Disguise

In my efforts to avoid high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), I started drinking Vitamin Water. I divide the bottle into thirds and add water so the amount of sugar is not high and the HFCS is replaced with crystalline fructose (CF). The name Vitamin Water implies that this beverage is healthy but really there are less than 5% of minerals. So, in essence vitamin water is really sugar water worse yet, fructose water.

It seems I have been seeing CF in more products lately and did a little research on this new ingredient that is seemingly popping up in “healthier” foods. Here’s what I found:

Crystalline fructose is worse than HFCS! Why? Because it is composed entirely of processed fructose vs. 55% processed fructose in HFCS. Do not get my message confused. I am not suggesting you stick with HFCS. I am saying stay away from both!

Processed fructose has been linked to numerous unhealthy risk factors (high triglycerides, high blood sugar and insulin levels) and poor health conditions including: fatty liver, diabetes, heart disease and cancer;

I guess on a more positive note, CF is 20% sweeter than sugar so if you are looking to cut calories you may be inclined to use it so that you can cut calories.

But I will keep reminding you, it is not about calories. It’s about the type of metabolic activity that the calories produce. If the calories follow healthy metabolic pathways, you will avoid ill health. If your calories are metabolized and trigger unhealthy responses and increase hunger signals, you will pay with your weight and health. Vitamin Water and crystalline fructose are two perfect examples of this.

My message is to always read the labels for ingredients while you focus on eating healthy products while lessening your attentiveness on just the calories and fat. It is more important to know which ingredients your calories come from than to obsess with a 100 calorie marketing seal of approval.

 

Nutrition Optimization

In order to optimize the nutrition you feed your body, utilize healthy food substitutions. You may think you have heard this before but I’m going to raise the bar.

As you may know I am not fat phobic, so I will not repeat many of the discussions you have heard so many times before. You know… cut the fat, substitute whole fat for non-fat or skim products, use 2 egg whites instead of 1 whole egg. My firm belief is that food should be used in its natural state not after it has been modified, processed, or stripped of its G-d given nutrients and yes that includes fat!

Quite frankly, I’m not sure if products that are sold with added vitamins and minerals are as healthy and as good of an idea as it seems because if you start loading up on vitamins and minerals without thought to balance or whether an imbalance in other nutrients are occurring you could be causing a whole different set of problems.

“Au Natural” food choices are the best way to go. When I describe nutrition optimization, I mean substituting foods that have few nutrients with other foods that have greater nutritional value yet maintain a similar taste and texture.

Here are a couple of examples:

1. Mash up avocado and use it as a spread or dip instead of mayonnaise when you make chicken salad. Avocado naturally has more nutrients than mayo so you will be optimizing your nutrition, especially fiber, folate and potassium; http://www.avocado.org/healthy-living/nutrition

2. Use 2% Greek yogurt instead of non-fat/low-fat yogurt and sour cream. To tell the truth I do not taste or see much of a nutritional difference between brands of Greek yogurt. By making this switch you will bulid your nutrition profile by reducing sugar, adding protein and live active probiotic cultures. By nature yogurt is a dairy product when companies process non/low-fat yogurt they add artificial sweeteners sugar cornstarch etc…needless to say before Greek yogurt became convenient to buy, yogurt was not a part of my food plan. Things have changed now. Here are links to low/non-fat and Greek yogurt, so you can make your own ingredient comparisons. http://www.breyersyogurt.com/fob.html, http://www.dannon.com/pages/rt_healthy_what_in_our_yogurt.htm, http://www.chobani.com/products/c/lowfat

I would love some creative ideas from you!

Next time I will share a super delicious snack recipe that is more tasty. fulfilling and packed with more nutrients than in its original state.

 

Breast Cancer, Diabetes and Insulin: What you Know Could Save Your Life

Happy Columbus Day to you all! We celebrate Columbus Day today in remembrance of the discovery of America in 1492. So today, I thought it apropos to write about something that was not discovered today but that could have just as great an impact on our lives. In my last blog, I spoke of early detection of diabetes using insulin instead of current methods using blood sugar. Moving forward, I will introduce the link between insulin and other medical conditions that may be as valuable as the discovery of America because it may save your life!

So on the day we celebrate discovery and the month we celebrate breast cancer awareness (this month marks the 25th anniversary of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month), I am going to write about something everyone should know: The link between insulin and breast cancer.

What we know about higher insulin levels:

1. A link exists between high insulin levels, overweight and both diabetes and breast cancer. Women with diabetes are 20% more likely to get breast cancer than women without diabetes. http://www.diabeticcareservices.com/diabetes-education/breast-cancer-and-diabetes

2. High insulin levels are linked to increased breast cancer risk for all women but especially true for post-menopausal women
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709170819.htm

3. High insulin levels contribute to breast cancer recurrence, http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/100/8/530

4. Higher insulin levels indicate a lower rate of breast cancer survival regardless of weight. Both overweight and thin women with high insulin levels have a lower chance to survive breast cancer. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/320/7248/1496/a

Help yourself live a healthy life. Eat foods that do not provoke blood sugar spikes to help keep insulin levels in normal levels.

1. Non-starchy vegetables
2. fish, poultry, meat
3. nuts and seeds and nut butters
4. low glycemic fruit
5. legumes
6. Misc., shredded coconut, avocado, olives, real butter, ghee

We know that some carbohydrates are converted to sugar rapidly in our bodies and insulin is automatically released to bring blood sugar down. Avoid foods that have this affect on our bodies.

1. Sweets, desserts and commercially prepared foods that contain partially hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup or corn syrup, maltodextrin, sugar
2. high glycemic carbohydrates, potato, pasta, rice, cold cereal
3. large meals

A nutrition team at the University of Connecticut has supporting evidence of the link between eating high carbohydrate food and insulin responses http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/134/4/880 and health experts agree, http://www.ultraprevention.com/healing/insulin_resistance.htm.

So I urge you to speak to your doctor about checking insulin levels as part of your annual check-up. Howard Strickler, M.D., M.P.H. believes that checking insulin levels to screen and identify breast cancer early would prove to be a useful tool in breast cancer prevention. “It is also possible that screening non-diabetic postmenopausal women for high insulin levels could prove useful in identifying individuals at high risk for breast cancer,” says Dr. Strickler, http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-01/aeco-hil010909.php.

There is a common denominator amongst breast cancer and diabetes and insulin is its name. This advice could save your life or the life of someone you know, act now. Get insulin levels tested! If you want to take a quick test to determine if you may have high insulin or hormone levels, check out my book on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Stubborn-Fat-Fix-Metabolic-Exercise/dp/159486828X.