Hello and happy New Year! I hope everyone had enjoyable and healthy holidays. This issue I am reemphasizing the importance of living in accord with the colder season, and I've written about how to see the post–holiday months less as the "doldrums" and rather as one of the most wonderful times of the year. It's also impossible for a health counselor to have a new year's newsletter and not think of New Year's resolutions, so many of which often have to do with health. So I've written a short article on this practice of making resolutions. Finally, I thought it would be a good time to write about my stance on the healthiness of animal products. As always, please write back and let me know what you think.

One thing I wanted to mention for this month is that I will be holding workshops and classes on the weekends in my apartment. The events are listed on my website at www.livefreenutrition.com. If you are in the area and would like to attend, email or call me and I will see if we can arrange it.

I publish this newsletter as a part of my private practice as a Holistic Health Counselor, in which I help people get healthier and happier by guiding them through positive diet and lifestyle changes. I work with my clients either over the phone or in person in individual six–month programs. I also lead group workshops and group programs, and work with schools, corporations and other communities to improve their overall health and wellness. I also give free health history consultations. If you'd like to spend about an hour talking with me about your goals for your health and life, simply send me an email!

The Virtues of January

The post–holiday, post–solstice time is when many people begin to feel low energy, depression and tiredness. The weather is colder, the days are short, we're exhausted from our parties, and spring seems like a long way away. Colds and coughing are widespread. It's that time of year when people get sick. Millions of Americans are said to suffer from "Seasonal Affective Disorder," a phenomenon where we feel generally unhappy for no obvious reason.

Is it supposed to be this way? I don't think so. This is a time of year that we can look forward to and celebrate just as much as any other. It's true that in the harsh and cold season of winter our bodies and minds are more vulnerable than at other times. We're likely to have eaten more junk because of the holidays and we're not getting as much time outside in the sun. So if you tend to lead an unhealthy lifestyle, this is when your body will start to say "I've had enough." In my opinion, "SAD" is often nothing more than the above. To avoid getting sick or depressed, we must make more of an effort to really take care of ourselves during the winter months. The body is meant to always function well with proper care. If you've been under a lot of stress, and have been eating a lot of sugar or other unhealthy food (two things that often happen around the holidays), your body will probably take this time to get sick and eliminate the excess toxins created by the stress and the food. This is a natural, healthy process of the body. Fevers, coughing, and other symptoms of sickness are signs of the body trying to clean you out. Unfortunately, not all of us have the leisure to let ourselves go through this process, and end up medicating ourselves in order to postpone the healing process. I recommend taking time off if you get sick, relaxing, and letting your body heal itself as much as you can. But if this isn't easy for you, the best plan is to try and stay healthy in the first place.

A good way to look for clues to what it means to be healthy in the winter is to think about what's going on in nature. Animals are hibernating; seeds are staying warm deep underground. This is a time for planning and preparing, and protecting your energy. Sleeping more and scheduling less is a good idea. Keeping as warm as possible is also important. Exercising will get your blood flowing and help you save on heat bills. Taking an alternating hot and cold shower in the morning does the same thing. Don't forget to wear plenty of layers when you go outside.

In terms of cooking, warm foods and drinks are the best. I would not recommend eating a lot of raw, uncooked food and fruit at this time of year. Making soup is an excellent idea; so is roasting or baking your food in the oven. I also drink a lot of herbal tea with warming spices such as ginger. It's common to eat more protein and fat at this time, such as meat, grains with beans, roasted nuts, and fried foods; but make sure you eat plenty of vegetables, especially root vegetables: onions, beets, carrots, radishes, burdock root, parsnips, turnips, potatoes, and winter squashes, so that you get enough vitamins and minerals.

The organs to nourish at this time of year are the kidneys and the bladder. To keep them healthy, always have a source of clean drinking water around you at work, home, or when traveling. You may want more salt on your food in the winter, but try to use sea salt, because sea salt still has natural minerals in it. A moderate amount of salt nourishes the kidneys, but too much can stress them out. I also recommend taking this time to try cooking some sea vegetables. They are available at the health food store, and the companies who sell them always think to include some recipes on the package. Sea vegetables survive in very cold conditions in the ocean; they will help you fight off the winter cold. The main ones are kombu, arame, hijiki, dulse, nori, and wakame. They come dried and, except nori, should be soaked before being eaten, but after that, they go wonderfully well with beans, in soups, stirfries, or as condiments.

Some people have been known to feel less depressed in the winter by sitting in front of light boxes that simulate sunlight. In my opinion, best of all is to try and get half an hour of sunlight every day. We don't spend much time in the sun even during the rest of the year, so when the days get shorter such that we're inside for all the daylight hours, we get no sun at all. This is probably one of the reasons why the winter season is associated with depression. Try to sit out in the sun during lunchtime or whenever else you have a free moment during the day, and your mood will probably improve regardless of how happy you are normally. This is less expensive than a light–box, comes with fresh air, and you know it's authentic sunlight.

The time of year we're in now can be just as pleasant and special, in its own way, as any other. I look forward to the changes in lifestyle and diet that come with January, and I enjoy hibernating as much as I can. Quiet, internal activity is the order of the day. You may want to start planting some ideas for the future. Most importantly, though, get some rest, and do things you enjoy.

If you do get sick, I recommend a ginger compress. The compress facilitates and speeds the healing process, rather than fighting against it. Making one is very simple.

Ginger Compress
This recipe is from Aveline Kushi's Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking. The compress stimulates blood and body circulation, helps loosen and dissolve stagnated toxic matter, and soothes and relieves various internal organs, aches, and pains. Especially good for the kidneys, stomach, and intestines. Place a handful of fresh grated ginger in a cheesecloth and squeeze the ginger juice into a pot containing 1 gallon of very hot water. Keep the water below boiling or the power of the ginger will be diminished. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Then dip the middle part of a cotton hand towel into the ginger water by holding both ends. Wring the towel to squeeze out the excess water and apply, very hot but not uncomfortably hot, to the area of the body needing treatment (such as the kidneys). A second, dry towel can be placed on top of the wet towel to reduce heat loss. When the wet towel cools, remove and replace with a fresh hot towel. Repeat this every few minutes for about twenty minutes, or until the skin becomes very red.

Animal Products

One of my recommendations for winter weather was to eat more fat and protein. For a non–vegetarian, animal products are among the best sources of these macronutrients. They are filling and strengthening, and possess plenty of iron and B vitamins. Good quality animal food also contains omega-3 fatty acids. Very active people benefit especially from animal foods and so do those who spend a lot of time in the cold. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of rightly deserved controversy surrounding the consumption of meat and other animal products. It's been said that these foods are inherently unhealthy and lead to fatal diseases such as heart disease and cancer, as well as to related problems such as high cholesterol, strokes, and osteoporosis (see the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, as an example). It's also been said that there's nothing wrong with animal products themselves, in fact, that they ard a traditional and integral part of a healthy diet, but that factory farming and other industrial techniques severely diminish the quality of the animal foods, as well as being responsible for animal cruelty and environmental waste (for a corresponding example, see the Weston A. Price Foundation). So what is the reality?

It's true that almost all traditional societies have had some animal foods in their diets. From the Eskimos to the Celts to various African tribes and South Sea islanders, practically everyone ate meat or fish in some form or other. The animal foods they ate have been credited with helping them build muscle and develop proper bone and facial structure (including perfect teeth — there was no need for modern dental techniques until the 20 th century, and this is attributed to the end of the traditional consumption of raw animal fat). Animal foods also gave people enough stored protein and fat to survive periods of famine, helped them absorb vitamins and minerals, and enabled them to remain both warm and nourished in the winter. However, these people consumed these foods very differently hundreds or thousands of years ago from the way we do now. All the animals were organic, free–range, grass– and insect–fed, and were never given hormones or antibiotics. The most highly prized and sought after parts of the animals were not the muscle tissues that we eat now, but the organs that held all the vitamins and minerals. The liver, the heart, the kidneys, even the blood were essential parts of the diet. Eating the healthy organs of the animal nourished these organs in the person, making them much stronger against heart disease, liver failure, kidney stones, etc. Some of this tradition has come down to us in the practice of taking cod liver oil medicinally, even though this too has fallen out of favor.

Meat not being as readily available as it is now, people also ate smaller and fewer servings. People in warmer regions especially, with less active lives, needed to eat a lot less meat. The Eskimos could get away with eating tons of fatty animal foods, but, of course, they also lived in freezing cold igloos. The main problem with eating animal products the same way today, though, is that most animals are raised in factory farms where they live very brief, very unhealthy, very unhappy lives. Their organs are filled with toxins from the pesticides and chemicals in the food they eat, which includes not just a ton of corn and soy (common allergens for a good reason), but leftover ground up animal products from the unused parts of other animals. There are antibiotics to keep them alive in cramped living conditions that would otherwise kill them off, and hormones to make them constantly grow bigger and fatter. I don't think I would want to eat a liver that has to process all that stuff, let alone a raw liver! No wonder they warn you to cook the meat to death — you're cooking some unhealthy bacteria to death too. Even the muscle meat of these animals is nutritionally far poorer because of the diet that they are fed. Cows are meant to eat grass, which has vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids. Cows that eat nutritionally empty food are correspondingly nutritionally empty on your plate. Finally, I don't approve of eating animals that have been subject to needlessly cruel treatment, in which they are mutilated or artificially inseminated without any thought to the way they are naturally meant to live. I would not be surprised if there are additional health ramifications for eating an animal that led an unhappy life, or if there turns out to be a connection between the depression that afflicts so many Americans and the depression that exists in the animals they eat.

So, are animal foods healthy and good for you? I think they certainly can be, but you can see it depends on a number of factors, one of the most important of which is whether the animal itself was healthy and happy, and on a healthy diet of its own. Given that the meat, milk, eggs, or cheese did come from a health animal, we should also take into account how much we eat, whether we balance it with enough vegetables and other foods, and whether we're just eating a lot of steaks or occasionally trying something like the liver. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of heart attacks out there went significantly down if people switched to organic, grass–fed, free–range meat with omega-3 fatty acids, which act like antifreeze in your arteries, and therefore balance out the saturated fat of the animal.

Some organic meat is available from health food stores and supermarkets like Whole Foods. However, I think it's best if you can find a local farmer. The website www.localharvest.org has a national database of farmers selling their own locally grown animal products from family farms. The Weston A. Price Foundation has a section on their website where they list local providers of high–quality animal food: go to http://www.westonaprice.org/localchapters/index.html.

Sometimes it may seem like organic animal products are very expensive compared to their conventional counterparts. However, for conventional animal products, there is a "cost" of selling so cheaply: that cost is the practice of factory farming and all its flaws. The difference in price between the two is made up in the overcrowding of the conventional animals, the poor quality feed, the environmental waste, and the animal cruelty. These are practices that the manufacturers of the meat industry (they really do seem like manufacturers, not farmers at all) implemented in order to beat the competition and sell their meat at an artificially low price. What I recommend is eating fewer animal products but buying higher quality. I would also note that if you go out to a restaurant and order a steak, it's not going to be organic, but you still pay about as much for that steak as you would for an organic steak at the supermarket that's twice as big. Plus, at most restaurants they probably overcook it. One last advantage to point out with organic, free–range meat: because it's been raised in healthier, disease–free conditions, cooking it a little more on the rare, juicy side isn't cause for worry — just for pleasure.

New Year's Resolutions

For writing this article, I decided to do some research on Americans' most common New Year's resolutions. I discovered that, without exception, they were all health–related. Some of them more explicitly so, for example: exercising more; losing weight; eating better; quitting smoking; quitting drinking. Others were: spending more time with family and friends; getting out of debt; reducing stress. These latter are health related because, when not followed, they take a toll on a person's energy, happiness, and even strength against disease.

These are all excellent resolutions. It's commendable for anyone to have goals like the above, which have clear positive ramifications for yourself and for those around you. But there's more to the story. Most of these resolutions do not last. We joke about how quickly we go back to our old habits, and resolve to try again next year. Laziness, or lack of willpower, is often seen as the culprit. Sometimes, no matter how earnest the resolution, we simply don't see the way to make it happen.

I think that most of these resolutions are resolutions in the first place because they are difficult — otherwise, we'd just do them! They are difficult because there's something about our current way of life, which we say we'd like to change, that we nevertheless can't afford to give up. Whether it's smoking, working too much, eating a lot of sugar, or whatever, each of these "bad habits" has its advantages. That's why so many of the solutions offered by companies are designed to help you change without giving up the advantages. They come out with foods that are healthier but nevertheless taste as deliciously unhealthy as the sugar– or fat–laden food you're trying to quit. There's something about that taste that we need. Or, in terms of spending more time with the family, maybe we don't have the option of working less. Maybe we don't even know what it would mean for us if we "exercised more." We're a little too quick to blame ourselves for failing at our resolutions, without thinking about just why we're struggling.

I know that for me, and for clients I've helped, eating healthy food, to take an example, is no longer something we have to "resolve" every year. That's not because we've finally conquered our stubborn resistance and can force ourselves to do it. Once you have a little practice cooking, and get to try eating better for a while, the body's cravings change. You want brown rice instead of white rice, and you miss the flavor and peaceful feeling it gives you when you don't eat it for a while. Eating junk food becomes something done out of habit more than out of real desire. But this sort change can only happen when the healthy diet is well–rounded and balanced enough to give the body everything it needs.

My philosophy of cravings is that a behavior like smoking, drinking, or unhealthy eating is not the problem, but rather our attempt to find a solution to different problem. Most people I know who eat too much sugar (including me) eat it during a time of stress. If there wasn't the sugar, what would we do about the stress? It probably wouldn't be very pleasant to watch. Sometimes the first step towards changing those bad habits is to ask yourself: how is this bad habit helping me? Maybe the original problem isn't even there anymore, but the addictive quality of the substance keeps us on it regardless.

I think we make these resolutions because we know in the end they will make us feel good, live longer, and be happier. But we can't just ignore what got us into these bad habits in the first place. Through a superhuman effort someone may be able to cram regular exercise into an already busy life; but they might be better off wondering why they are so busy in the first place and what in life they can get rid of. Sometimes it's scary to start addressing the real source of your cravings. Actually, it's almost always scary, and that's not necessarily bad. The thing I would suggest is to talk to someone about it. One of the best steps you can take is find someone to support your desire to change and improve your life. Don't talk to people who discourage you (and these sorts are everywhere); find someone who thinks what you're doing is great. Broken New Year's resolutions aren't a sign of personal weakness; it may just be a sign that it's time to look more deeply into what's getting in your way.

As a health counselor it's my job to support people who wish to make many of the changes listed above. If you feel that it's a good time to review your health goals and look into new strategies for making them attainable, call me and I will be happy to do a free consultation with you. Any time is a good time to start getting happier and healthier. Wouldn't it be great to say that this was the year you kept all your new year's resolutions and never felt better in your life?

Recipes

These recipes are for dishes that are warming and healing at the same time. Gomashio is actually a condiment that you can use like salt, but is much healthier. Nishime vegetables are made with a lot of warming root vegetables and give you a chance to try sea vegetables. Potato pancakes are�well, it doesn't have a fancy Japanese name, so I probably don't have to explain it. These delicious fried pancakes (oh my God, a fried food!) make a great breakfast with homemade applesauce.

Gomashio

Gomashio is a condiment made from roasted sesame seeds and salt ground together. It is a healthier alternative to plain salt and the roasting adds a delicious, warming flavor! This recipe is also from Aveline Kushi's Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking. You will either need a Japanese mortar and pestle (called a Suribachi), or a normal mortar and pestle will do.

1 cup sesame seeds
2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons sea salt

Wash seeds in a very fine mesh strainer and let them drain. Any seeds that float to the top during washing should be discarded. Dry–roast the sea salt in a cast–iron or stainless steel frying pan for a short time. Roasting the sea salt releases moisture in the salt and helps to make fluffy gomashio. Roasting also releases a strong chlorine from the salt. The salt is roasted when it becomes shiny.

Roast the sesame seeds after the salt has been roasted, ground, and set aside. Always roast the sesame seeds when they are wet. They will cook more evenly. Dry seeds burn easily. Use medium heat to roast the seeds. Do not roast too many seeds at once or some will burn, while others will not be roasted enough. Add only enough seeds to cover the bottom of the frying pan. While roasting, push the seeds back and forth in the pan with a wooden spoon. Shaking the pan occasionally will also help to roast seeds evenly and avoid burning. The seeds are done when they crush easily between the thumb and index finger — about 5 – 10 minutes. Do not overroast the seeds as they tend to become a little darker from internal heat after they have been removed from the frying pan. The seeds will also begin to pop and give off a nutty fragrance when done.

Place the roasted sea salt in a suribachi (or mortar) and grind until it becomes a fine powder and all small lumps are dissolved. Add the hot roasted sesame seeds to the roasted, ground sea salt. Hot seeds grind more easily and should always be added after the sale has been ground. If seeds are ground first, they will turn darker when the salt is added. Slowly grind the seeds in an even circular motion with a wooden pestle, making sure to use the grooved sides of the suribachi (if you have one) to grind against instead of the bottom of the bowl. Grind until each seed is half–crushed and thoroughly coated with salt. Do not grind into a powder. If you grind gently, the gomashio will taste sweeter. Allow the gomashio to cool when you have finished grinding and transfer it to an airtight glass or ceramic container to store. Gomashio will keep fresh for several weeks. Sprinkle on foods such as cooked vegetables, grains, beans, meat dishes, generally anywhere you'd use salt as a condiment.

Nishime Vegetables

These vegetables combine a lot of unusual ingredients such as tempeh, hijiki, and burdock root. So it's a good chance for you to try a lot of strange food! Goes very well with gomasio and especially good for vegans or vegetarians.

Ingredients:

Sesame oil
1 large onion
1 package of tempey
1 cup dry hijiki sea vegetable (aka a big handful)
2 – 3 carrots
2 tablespoons chopped or grate ginger
1 burdock root
2 or 3 other root vegetables: parsnip, turnip, daikon radish

Directions: in a wide, flat, saucepan, or a frying pan with a lid, saut� the onions in sesame oil. When they are soft, add the carrots, tempeh, burdock, ginger, and any other roots. You want them all chopped about the same size — the smaller or thinner, the faster they will cook. Saute these until they become mostly soft as well, with the flame on medium high. While this is happening, soak the hijiki in warm water for 15 minutes. Afterwards, pour out the water and rinse the hijiki. It will have expanded and grown soft. When the vegetables and tempeh are ready, add the hijiki, stir it all around, turn it down to low, add enough water to cover the bottom of the pot, and then cover for about 15 minutes. The ingredients will steam and become soft. After 15 minutes sprinkle with tamari and perhaps some brown rice vinegar, stir, and cover again. The soft they are, the more they soak up the tamari and oil. The Hijiki/tempeh combo has a lot of protein and this is a very strengthening dish. Goes well with brown rice and greens.

Potato Pancakes (latkes) with Applesauce

How about some fried food for the winter? I used to have potato pancakes every year around Hanukah. I don't eat them too often, but they're delicious for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, especially with homemade applesauce (a good source of cooked fruit for the winter). This is a modified recipe from the Joy of Cooking.

Ingredients:

2 cups coarsely grated potatoes
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon grated onions
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup olive oil or butter

Grate the potatoes into a bowl and wring them out as much as you can with a towel or cheesecloth. Try to get all the moisture out. Combine in a bowl with the eggs, flour, onions, and salt. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat until hot with the olive oil or butter. Drop spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the skillet, and spread them into three–inch wide cakes about � of an inch thick. Fry until browned on the bottom, reducing the heat to medium if necessary. Cook 3 to 5 minutes on each side; drain briefly on paper towels. Serve with applesauce (below).

Ingredients:

2 apples, peeled
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon sugar

Slice the apples into small pieces and sauté in a pot with the cinnamon stick and a little water until they are soft, about 15 minutes. Add the sugar and stir around with a wooden spoon, mashing them a bit until you have the texture of sauce. Perfect on the pancakes!

Forward to a Friend

It's such a pleasure to help those closest to us become happier and healthier. Please forward this newsletter to friends, family members or colleagues who might be interested and inspired by it. If you received this newsletter from someone else, but would like to be sure to receive it again, email me with your address and I will include you on my mailing list in the future.

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February Newsletter

Digestive Health

Sea Vegetables

A Review of "Unhappy Meals"

Recipes

Introduction

Welcome to February! It's a cold, windy time of year, so make sure you stay warm and hydrated. In this issue, there are three articles—one on digestion, another on sea vegetables, and the last is a short review I've written of Michael Pollan's New York Times Magazine article "Unhappy Meals". Digestion and sea vegetables are two important topics that are going to be the subject of a workshop and a cooking class, respectively, at my home in Alexandria this month. The dates, times and location are listed on my website here. During the events I'll expand on the information listed in the articles, provide food samples, take questions, and talk about strategies for getting healthier. You are welcome to come to either or both of these events—just send me an email to confirm! Attendance is free, though space is limited.

I also have a new section on my website: testimonials. Check this page to see what my clients who have completed their programs have to say about the improvements in their health and happiness.

As always, I look forward to hearing back from you. Best wishes for a healthy February!

Digestive Health

Digestive concerns are among the most common health problems in America. They range from minor, if chronic, concerns like stomachaches, gas, and heartburn to serious conditions such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and there are many disorders in between. Pain, diarrhea, constipation, cramps, and bloating are all common symptoms. Sometimes poor digestion is, like other health concerns, a result of eating unhealthy or imbalanced meals. Many foods that are digestive aids have disappeared from the average American diet, and many foods that are very difficult to digest have been added in. Over time these foods put stress on the digestive system, and it can lose much of its ability to fulfill its basic function: metabolizing food into the proteins, sugars, fatty acids, and nutrients that are essential for life.

Digestion is special because, often, what you eat isn't the whole story. It's also important to take into account how you eat. When you're eating under the proper conditions, even a supposedly unhealthy meal—like a high–fat meal—can pass through you causing relatively little damage. The reverse is also true: even a supposedly healthy meal may not do you much good unless you're conscious of how you are eating it. By the "how" I mean things such as: whether you're relaxed at home or rushing to get somewhere; whether you chew your food or gulp it down; whether you're stressed or sociable; whether you combine the different food groups properly and eat foods in the right order; and so on.

The conventional recommendations for digestive problems are medications like steroids, antibiotics, and antacids. These substances often have side effects that are debilitating in themselves, and they represent the point of view that there is something innately and mysteriously wrong with the sick person's digestive system. The body is malfunctioning, and the medication will fix it (if taken forever). In my experience, though, the problem is that as a society we've gotten accustomed to eating in a way that stresses the digestive system. Everyone I've worked with has seen their digestive problems begin to clear up for good, all because of making some simple changes in diet and lifestyle. In what follows, I'll make some specific recommendations which highlight the difference for digestion between the traditional diets and the modern, and the way we ate then vs. now.

1. Maintain a healthy bacterial environment. The digestive system contains trillions of individual bacteria—more than there are cells in the body. They are responsible for much of the metabolism that occurs in the small intestine and elsewhere, because they secrete acids that help us absorb vitamins and minerals. They also aid the immune system by making the digestive system an inhospitable environment for disease–causing microbes. With a weak bacterial environment, we are both more susceptible to disease and have difficulty digesting our food. Many people have lost large amounts of their good bacteria through the use of antibiotics, which kill both good and bad bacteria indiscriminately. Antibiotics have saved many lives, but because they are so often prescribed (and not always with good cause), many people develop digestive problems and a weakened immune system as a result of overuse of antibiotics. The most direct way to replenish the intestinal flora is to take supplements (called Probiotics) that allow you to ingest large amounts of bacteria in capsule form, and I recommend them for those who have taken many antibiotics in the past. There are two strains of bacteria to take: Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacteria bifidum. You can easily find them in the supplements section of the health food store.

I rarely recommend supplements, because I think it's important to get all of our nutrition from food. However, there are some people who have lost large amounts of bacteria through medications, and probiotics can help return a person to normal faster than bacteria–containing foods. Once your digestive problems clear up, you won't need to keep taking these supplements.

Eating well and living a happy, healthy lifestyle is the best thing you can do to avoid being in a situation where antibiotics (and subsequently probiotics) are necessary. There is a food group that we can eat from for the purpose of maintaining digestive health: the fermented foods.

2. Make fermented foods a staple of your diet. Fermented foods have been eaten for thousands of years and should form a separate food group of their own in any respectable Food Pyramid. Controlled fermentation (probably discovered by accident) served as a way to preserve food for long periods of time. It was also soon discovered that fermented foods were very good for the digestion, and fermenting was done for this reason also.

Fermenting or culturing is a process in which bacteria are allowed to feast on a food (such as cabbage for making sauerkraut) and transform its sugars, or carbohydrates, into acids such as lactic acid. This is what gives many fermented foods a slightly sour taste. The reason why fermentation works as a preservation method is because the increased acidity prevents pathogenic bacteria from contaminating the food.

Fermented food is easier to digest because the bacteria have already done some of the work in digesting it for you. You can therefore access its nutrients much more easily and quickly. Another advantage of fermentation has to do with digestive enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that are catalysts for chemical reactions in the body. Without them, it's impossible to metabolize food. Enzymes also are very important for eliminating toxins from the body. Many raw foods, including raw animal products, come with their own enzymes that are more easily accessible after fermentation. This is why yogurt can be tolerated by lactose intolerant people: the enzyme lactase converts the indigestible lactose sugar into lactic acid.

Cooking or baking, and pasteurization, will destroy both enzymes and bacteria. The advantage of cooking is that it's also a form of metabolism making foods softer and easier to digest. A healthy diet will contain mostly cooked foods but also some raw fermented foods. These include dairy products like yogurt; pickles like pickled cabbage (sauerkraut) and other pickled foods such as umeboshi plums, pickled ginger, and plain old pickles; vinegar; and fermented soy foods like tamari soy sauce, miso, and tempeh. These foods have many digestive enzymes and live bacteria that make it possible to digest even very heavy, fatty food. It's been theorized that part of the reason why we suffer so much from clogged arteries, overweight, constipation and poor digestion in this country is not necessarily because we eat too much meat and fat, but because all the fermented foods we used to eat are now either no longer part of the diet or heat–treated to destroy the very bacteria we need to be healthy.

3. Maintain an acid–alkaline balance. The overall pH of the body is meant to be just above 7.0 (slightly more alkaline than the pH of pure water). At this level of acidity, our immune system and our body's metabolism work most efficiently. A balanced diet has a roughly equal amount of alkalizing foods and acidifying foods. Too much of one or the other can result in health problems. A good analogy for pH is temperature. Your body is always working to maintain a temperature of around 98.6. A few degrees too hot or cold and the body can't survive. Similarly, the body is always working to maintain a pH balance. The average American diet, though, contains an excess of foods that make the body overly acid. This leads to a lot of health concerns like acid reflux and Crohn's disease. Too many acidifying foods can also deplete the body of buffering minerals like calcium, because these are used to help excrete the acid. Coca–cola, with all its phosphoric acid, is a good example of an extremely acidifying food that may be partly responsible for health concerns like osteoporosis.

In general, acid–forming foods are meat, oils and fats, coffee, and most grains (both whole and refined), and other refined carbohydrates like sugars and alcoholic drinks. Since these foods are so prevalent in our diets, it's no wonder we have so many excessive acid–related health concerns for which they sell antacids. But what's best is to introduce more alkalizing foods into your diet, which means (as you may have guessed) fruits and vegetables. Some of the most alkalizing foods are onions, radishes, sweet potatoes, the aforementioned umeboshi plums, limes, tangerines, pineapples, grapefruits, broccoli and other green vegetables, and of course salt, though because salt is so extremely alkalizing it should be eaten almost as moderately as sugar. Sea salt and sea vegetables also contain many trace minerals that replenish those that the acidifying foods deplete. One of the best ways to get more alkaline quickly is to drink some lemon juice or water with some apple cider vinegar, or a teaspoon of umeboshi paste; these remedies will help with acid–related digestive problems very quickly. But if in general you balance out grains, fat, and meat with fresh vegetables at a meal, your digestion will improve.

4. Combine foods well. Sometimes problems like gas, stomachaches, and poor assimilation of nutrients are a result not of the ingredients in our food, but how we combine them. Since different kinds of foods break down at different times in different ways, eating them all randomly at once will cause problems. The combinations that work best are heavy foods like meat with vegetables (a sort of Atkins–like diet; no grains or beans, but also not a whole lot of fat); grains and beans with fats and cooked vegetables (rice and beans are both made more palatable and smoother to digest with the addition of some fat; like meat, they also go well with vegetables). Fruit is best eaten alone and not combined with any other foods, unless cooked, in which case it goes well with grains. Raw foods are also best eaten with other raw foods or alone, and not in the same dish as cooked foods. In general it's important to avoid making recipes with too many different ingredients. A good experiment if you're having digestive troubles such as those listed above is to try following these rules of food combining (having meat and vegetables for lunch, and a more vegan meal for dinner, and raw fruit as a snack).

Even more important than combining, though, may be the order in which you eat your foods. We have a custom of always eating our salad, or vegetables, as an appetizer at the beginning of a meal. This is precisely the dish we want to eat at the end! Refined grains, oils and fats, and animal foods don't have fiber and have a tendency to stick in your digestive system without breaking down, causing weight gain and constipation, and sometimes they are assimilated into the bloodstream undigested, which can also cause serious problems. If you eat vegetables and whole grains last, they will push through these heavy foods and aid the digestive process. The foods that really should be eaten first, or at least alongside the heavy foods, are the fermented foods with enzymes like miso and sauerkraut. They will prepare the body to break down the fat and protein while the vegetables come in later to finish the job.

5. Eat mindfully. Even if you follow all these recommendations, your digestion may still suffer, unless you eat with awareness. Many people don't even give their bodies a chance to focus on the job of digestion. We often eat under the worst of conditions: while stressed out, while driving, while watching TV or a movie, while working, or while doing any number of things that distract our attention from the food in front of us. Stress in particular draws resources away from digestion to deal with threats, real or imagined; digestion is effectively halted and stomachaches or headaches are often a result. Let's say you are paying full attention to the meal in front of you. You might say a word of thanks before you begin, or start with a toast. You're able to smell your meal and see it, perceptions that signal your body to be ready to receive the food. You'll also taste it fully. I recommend always eating with this sort of mindfulness, if you can. Eat slowly, chew your food, and share the meal with someone; don't eat alone. It's very likely that even a high–fat diet (like that of the French, who typically take long social lunch breaks) will not cause as many problems if eaten in a relaxed and meditative mood. The best part is that when you're paying attention, you'll hear the automatic signals your body sends when telling you that it's full. We don't hear this stuff when we're eating out of boredom or occupied with something else; and I recommend, even if you don't change your diet at all to include bacteria or enzymes or more vegetables and alkalizers, that you at least slow down and enjoy your meals in good company.

This is a big topic, too much for me to cover in one article, but these recommendations are a basic foundation for how to overcome digestive problems and many health problems that are related (such as arthritis, osteoporosis, migraines, heart disease, autoimmune diseases in general, eczema and fatigue). As I mentioned above, I will be giving a workshop on this subject this weekend (February the 11th) at my home in Alexandria, in which I'll discuss the above concepts in more detail and also discuss some others I didn't have room for in this article (including more information about dairy products and digestion, chewing your food, pungent vegetables, further recommendations for eating mindfully, and recommendations for specific digestive concerns. I'll also have samples of some of the more exotic foods I mentioned for people to try). Everyone is welcome to attend this workshop—if you are in the area, send me an email! I encourage you to come.

Sea Vegetables

I've always known that sea vegetables are among the best foods for your health. I grew up eating all the different species—nori, kombu, hijiki, arame, dulse, wakame. I was so familiar with them that their names even sounded normal to me. So when I started attending classes at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I couldn't wait to hear my teachers extol the virtues of these unusual ocean–dwelling plants (or weeds, to use a less euphemistic term). To my surprise, sea vegetables were not placed front and center. Even the school's founder said that it took him a long time to get into them. Later I realized that my teachers were trying not to alienate the majority of the student body by telling them that a healthy diet was all about eating the oddest and most exotic foods you could find. And they're right—you can certainly be healthy without sea vegetables. Many traditional peoples settled and thrived in places where they weren't available. But because sea vegetables do have so many nutritional benefits, and because they taste quite delicious even in quick, simple recipes, I think it's important to devote some time to them, especially at this time of year, when their warming, salty qualities balance the harsh winter.

Because sea vegetables come from the ocean, they are coated with a wide variety of different minerals that are naturally present in the sea. These include calcium (ten times as much as an equal amount of milk), iron, magnesium, phosphorus, iodine, chromium and zinc, to name a few. Because of contemporary agricultural practices, the soil that our conventional food is grown in is often less rich in minerals than it used to be. Sea vegetables are therefore a good way to get all your minerals without having to buy expensive mineral supplements (which are not as efficient; minerals are much better absorbed when digested alongside plant tissue). Because of their salt and mineral content, they are even more alkalizing than other vegetables. Because they are plants, sea vegetables also contain a lot of vitamins such as A, C, and many of the B vitamins. Because they thrive in cold ocean environments, they especially help strengthen people in the winter. They are very good for people with serious health conditions like cancer because they carry toxic and radioactive waste out of the body.

Finally, because of their abundance of nutrients, sea vegetables will do amazing things for your skin and hair. Hijiki, arame, and wakame especially help promote beautiful glossy, shiny hair and prevent hair loss. Because they are so detoxifying, sea vegetables naturally promote healthy clear skin.

Most sea vegetables can be eaten in soups, as snacks, or in salads or stir–fries. The brands sold in health food stores always include on the packaging several recipes, because they are well aware that very few people have experience cooking these strange, and strange–looking, foods.

My sea vegetable cooking class, mentioned above, will be held on February 25 th. It's a way for anyone interested in introducing these bizarre and wonderful foods to their diet to learn how to prepare them easily and quickly. If you'd like to come, send me an email and I will reserve your spot!

A Review of "Unhappy Meals"

The New York Times recently published a long article by Michael Pollan, a journalist who's written widely on health food and nutrition, about how nutritionists and food manufacturers have combined (perhaps deliberately) to confuse us about what we should eat. It's a good article and I recommend it. There are also some points I want to make in response.

Pollan's main argument is that over the last 20 years, nutrition has stopped being about real, whole foods, and is now all about "nutrients": proteins, carbs, fats, vitamins and minerals, fiber, cholesterol, etc. Instead of going to the store to get bread or eggs, people go to get fiber and omega-3s; they get foods that have been altered and modified so that they are low–carb or low–fat or high in antioxidants. Pollan says that our understanding of food as a collection of nutrients began because food manufacturers didn't want specific foods (such as meat or dairy) to be identified with health problems. The culprits instead became invisible substances like cholesterol and fat. This way food manufacturers could still sell low–fat or lean meat, instead of having people change their diets or eat less; and makers of processed food could pump high–sugar, trans–fatty food full of nutrients like B vitamins and added fiber and claim they were healthy. As nutritionists and food manufacturers encourage people to go food shopping for nutrients, rather than real, whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, Americans continue to get fatter and unhealthier. This is partly because food scientists and nutritionists are constantly finding out they're wrong about what nutrients are good and which ones are bad (does fat make you fat? Or is it carbs? Could cholesterol actually be good for you? What about fat, and which kind of fat? Has anyone ever actually seen a carbohydrate?). The tests and health studies that are done to determine these things suffer from many uncontrollable variables.

As Pollan also points out, scientists discover more nutrients all the time. For every B vitamin or omega-3 fatty acid that food processors insert into the foods they manufacture, there may be dozens of other nutrients in natural, whole foods that we haven't discovered, that have countless health benefits, and are left out. And how do we know if something like beta–carotene is good for you on its own, when it may be only beneficial when eaten in the context of a carrot?

In my opinion, the real problem began post–WWII. Increased efficiency in science, technology and manufacturing led to better hygiene, better sanitation, better medications and a better standard of living for many people, and as a result many diseases such as polio and tuberculosis were practically eliminated in America. For this reason we now live longer than we used to. Unfortunately, these changes in our society led to the chemicalizing and processing of food, as well as to the increased abundance of food, such that we can all eat many more calories than our ancestors, and far fewer nutrients (even with all the emphasis on them). We're spending much less on food than we used to (lower quality food is cheaper) but buying more. As a result, people suffer from "diseases of affluence" like heart disease, cancer, digestive disorders, overweight, arthritis, depression, osteoporosis, diabetes, and many, many more of the most common health concerns. Thus we get to the situation that Michael Pollan illustrates: instead of responding to this crisis with the answer that we should eat less (but better quality) food, and balance heavier foods with more fruits and vegetables, food scientists and manufacturers blamed invisible nutrients, and worked the situation to sell even more unhealthy food.

While some nutrition science may have its value, the best choice you can make with regard to your diet is to eat the way that your ancestors ate (as Pollan puts it, don't eat anything your great–great–grandmother wouldn't recognize as food, such as non–dairy creamer. I would include even something like pasteurized, homogenized, non–organic milk). I often recommend eating something based on its vitamins and minerals, but the real test of whether a food is good for you is if it makes you feel good (not just tastes good, but also makes you feel calm, happy, and energetic afterwards). Paying close attention to what you eat and how you feel later on will help you make more informed choices about what food is good for you. Then you won't have to depend on a so–called expert who knows nothing about your body type, lifestyle, or perhaps even the true properties of food itself, to tell you what you should eat.

Note: Pollan does have a very good list of 9 recommendations at the end of his article that I also throw my weight behind. Try them and see if you feel healthier—that's the best way to judge.

Recipes

Some hearty soups and a hearty grain for breakfast or dinner!

Borscht
—a warming, filling, hearty Russian beet soup (recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking).

Scrub clean 2 or 3 medium sized beets. Wrap them up in aluminum foil and roast them in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour and a half (until easily pierced with a fork). Let them cool, then peel them and cut them into strips.

While the beets are roasting, lightly coat 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of organic free–range pork spare ribs (cut into single ribs) with flour. In a 4 quart soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil, put in the meat, and brown it on all sides to sear in the juices. Add 4 1/2 cups of water and 1 lb of chopped plum tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes. The meat should be just about tender.

Stir in:

1/2 a cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped (optional)

Simmer again, partially covered, until vegetables and meat are tender, another 30 minutes. Stir in the beets, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice, 3 cloves of garlic (minced), 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste), 3/4 teaspoon black pepper. Simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes. At this point you can take out the bones and separate the meat, chop it up, and return it to the soup (optional). Once the beets are tender, the soup is done. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with�

Buckwheat (Kasha)
—a hearty Russian grain.

Buckwheat can be found in the bulk section of health food stores. You want the roasted variety, which is a rich brown in color. To prepare, first rinse a cup of buckwheat in water, drain it, and then dry–roast it in a pan for a few minutes until it is dry. Boil two cups of water. When the water is boiling, add the buckwheat, along with a teaspoon of salt, stir, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Wait 20 minutes, or until the buckwheat has absorbed all the water. It is now ready to eat. It goes well with salt and pepper, and butter, olive oil, or yogurt. It can be eaten for breakfast or dinner, and keeps well in the refrigerator, so you can make a lot and have it for a few days.

Simple Miso Soup
—a very hearty vegetarian soup, which makes use of a fermented food! Miso paste is kept in little tubs in the refrigerated section of the health food store alongside tofu, cheese, orange juice, and butter.

Bring a pot of water to boil. While the water is heating, put a strip or two of kombu in the water. Cut up into bite–sized pieces whatever vegetables you feel like and/or have in the house. Usually we include two or three carrots, a daikon radish, celery, burdock root, potatoes, and shiitake mushrooms. What and how much depends on what you feel like and what you have room in the pot for. All these go into the pot together. Probably at this point the kelp has become huge and flexible, so you can take it back out and cut it into bite–sized pieces—and then put the pieces back in, of course. Also going into the pot is a one–pound package of tofu. I recommend cutting it into smaller–than–bite–sized cubes, as the tofu swells a little as it absorbs water.

So the vegetables and the like are all boiling furiously in the pot. Once the veggies are soft, turn the heat way down. You want a low, low simmer—nothing close to boiling. While you're waiting for it to stabilize, ladle some of the broth into a little bowl and let it cool a little. Then take a big spoonful (again, depends on taste—I recommend a heaping tablespoon to start) of miso paste and dissolve it in the little bowl of broth. Make sure you get it all dissolved; keep scraping the spoon along the bottom until no more big clumps of miso come up. The best way for dissolving is to squish and tap the miso against the side of the bowl just at the level of the broth. Once this is done and you notice that the simmer is low enough (no bubbles!), you can pour your miso broth back in. Do not let the miso boil, because this destroys the live enzymes. It's so cool to watch at this point. There won't be bubbles, but you'll be able to see the miso circulating around because of the heat. You can let it simmer like this for as long as you can stand it—the longer you can leave it simmering, the better it will taste (this is probably the most important step). Somewhere between 15 minutes to an hour is good.

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March Newsletter

The Transformation of Milk

Weight Loss Diets

Spring Cleaning

Recipes

Introduction

Welcome to the March newsletter! Winter is almost over, and it's time to start thinking about spring cleaning. I've written a short article on the importance of organizing your home, simplifying your responsibilities, and focusing yourself for this season of growth. Since the equinox doesn't really come until near the end of the month, I'm waiting until the next issue to write about cleansing and detoxifying diets. In the meantime, I've also written an article on a food to avoid in the spring—milk. Milk can actually be very good for you, but it's undergone some of the worst processing of all foods. Finally, there's an article on weight loss diets that is a sort of sequel to my last weight–loss article from December. I'm holding a workshop on weight loss on March 25th, which will combine information from both these articles and include some new stuff as well, and I encourage you to come! See details at the end of the article below. And, as always, please write back if you'd like to comment on these articles or have any questions.

I publish this newsletter as a part of my private practice as a Holistic Health Counselor, in which I help people get healthier and happier by guiding them through positive diet and lifestyle changes. I work with my clients either over the phone or in person in individual six–month programs. I also lead group workshops and group programs, and work with schools, businesses and other communities to improve their overall health and wellness. I also give free health history consultations. If you'd like to spend about an hour talking with me about your goals for your health and life, simply send me an email!

The Transformation of Milk

Milk is the first food that we consume upon being born. It is also one of the most highly nutritious, as long as the mother is eating a healthy diet. Breast milk is so well balanced nutritionally that infants are able to survive and thrive on it alone for six months to a year. Long ago, various indigenous societies discovered that the milk of their domesticated, grass–feeding animals, such as cows, sheep and goats, was an efficient and healthful food source. Milk consumption led to the discovery of butter, cheese, yogurt, and various other dairy products that are so well known to us today. In India, the Middle East, and Europe, dairy products were consumed as excellent sources of protein, enzymes, antibodies, saturated fat, fat–soluble vitamins A and D, calcium, phosphorus, and a moderate amount of cholesterol. When soured or fermented, such as in yogurt, they also provided lactic acid and healthy bacteria. Cow's milk is not quite as suited to the human body as human milk, but still abounds in health benefits.

For over two thousand years, cow and goat milk consumption continued as a standard and even essential part of human life. There are many allusions in literature that reference the importance and value of milk in society. For example, just take a glance at those old standbys, the Bible ("land of milk and honey") and Shakespeare ("milk of human kindness.") But over the course of the 20th century, thanks to modern processing and manufacturing methods, the quality of milk has greatly decreased, to the point where many of the health benefits it used to provide have been replaced by health risks. In this article, I'll talk about the difference between milk and dairy products in their natural, traditional state and the way they've been transformed into the processed dairy products that we find in most supermarkets.

1. Raw vs. pasteurized. Pasteurization, named after its inventor, the famous scientist Louis Pasteur, is a process by which food is heated to the point where most microorganisms present in it are killed. This invention was subsequent to Pasteur's initial discovery of microorganisms and germs as disease–causing agents. In the late 19th and early 20th century, pasteurization of milk became more common in conjunction with the growth of urban areas. While in the past people had lived close enough to rural dairy farms that it was possible to get fresh, raw milk from grass–fed cows, as the populations and scope of cities grew this became more difficult. Some urban dairies were formed but their cows were more likely to suffer from health problems as a result of crowding, poor diet (not being pasture–fed; in fact, they were often fed on the leftover swill from distilleries next door!), and bad hygiene. These cows gave milk that was of poor quality and sometimes diseased. Pasteurization was a way to prevent the disease–causing microbes in the milk from harming people. This solution was much cheaper than improving the health and living standards of the cows themselves, and therefore improving the quality of the milk.

As dairy farms consolidated into large corporations, these corporations developed factory farms with assembly–line procedures as a way to produce milk more economically. Just as in the case of the urban dairies, the health of the cows in these factory farms suffered, since they had little opportunity to exercise, were packed in tightly together, and were fed a fattening carbohydrate diet of grains instead of nourishing grass. Also, since most milk production had been consolidated into a small number of these massive factories, in many cases milk now had to be shipped across the country to reach the consumer. The possibility of the fresh, raw milk enduring all these conditions and still ending up disease–free, and then on top of that surviving a long trip to the supermarket without putrefying, was very slight. By the end of World War II, pasteurization of dairy products was federal law.

In the time since then, however, it's become evident that pasteurization does more than just kill off harmful bacteria. In my February article on digestion, I wrote about the importance of digestive enzymes for digestive health. Raw milk, even without being fermented, has over 60 enzymes, some from healthy bacteria, that help us digest both the milk and other foods as well. Digestive problems such as stomachaches and constipation are eliminated in the presence of these enzymes. When raw milk is deliberately fermented, it gets even healthier, with more lactic–acid producing bacteria and therefore more enzymes (which is why controlled souring, giving us yogurt and sour cream, seemed like such a good idea thousands of years ago).

One function of these digestive enzymes is that they help the body absorb calcium. Everyone's heard about the high calcium content of milk and how therefore milk is a good food for healthy bones and preventing osteoporosis. But if we don't have the enzymes to absorb it, the calcium won't do us any good. To worsen the matter, the high protein content of milk means that it makes the blood more acidic. If the blood becomes too acid, the body uses its own calcium stores to neutralize the acids. In this way too much milk can actually contribute to osteoporosis. In raw milk, the absorbable calcium balances the acidifying effect.

We're also all familiar with lactose intolerance. Lactose is a sugar in milk that many people have trouble digesting. The enzyme lactase, naturally present in raw milk, converts lactose into lactic acid, which is very easily digestible. Usually people who are lactose intolerant are those who are descended from races of people who did not drink milk historically. Those whose ancestors did have milk as part of the diet can usually handle the lactose, but would handle it even better if lactase was also present.

Digestive enzymes also help us digest fat. One of the most appealing and delicious qualities of milk is its high fat content. Milk fat contains vitamins A and D, which are also very important for overall health. Without the enzymes, the fats don't digest well and contribute to heart disease and obesity. The hundreds of reduced–fat milk products out there would not be necessary if our milk was raw.

Finally, the healthy bacteria in raw milk also help us build a healthy bacterial environment, such that if bad bacteria do show up in our food, our own antibodies are strong and numerous enough to fight them off.

It makes sense intuitively that mother's milk, whether it is from a cow or a goat, a whale or a cat, or a human being, is perfectly balanced and healthful in its natural state. It has to be a complete food for the child who nurses on it. Pasteurization is just one of the many ways in which milk is processed into an unbalanced food.

2. Homogenized vs. non–homogenized. In a container of natural milk, the fat or cream separates and rises to the top, and what's left (mostly water) stays on the bottom. Homogenization is a process by which milk is forced through tiny orifices under high pressure, breaking the fat globules into tiny fragments that are very dense and much less likely to cream together and float to the top. Homogenization was originally introduced as a way to evenly distribute cream in a large quantity of milk before the milk was divided into gallon and half–gallon jugs. It was only cost–effective for large producers of milk because of the expense of the homogenization machinery. It also had the added benefit of eliminating from sight a residue of dead white blood cells and bacteria that sank to the bottom of milk containers, post–pasteurization. Unfortunately, this high–pressure blasting of milk through tiny holes makes the finished product even harder to digest. The human body does not expect the fat in milk to be in tiny hard globules and has trouble digesting it. Homogenization in milk has been linked to the clogging of arteries in heart disease. Non–homogenized milk tends to taste better, though it does need to be shaken before drinking.

3. Organic vs. conventional. The label "organic," in the case of milk, refers to a set of standards for the cows' diet. Organic milk comes from cows that have been fed organic feed (that is, feed not sprayed with pesticides or contaminated with artificial fertilizers). Organic, in the case of animal food, also means that the animals have not been treated with antibiotics or growth hormones. The chemicals, antibiotics and hormones, like pasteurization and homogenization, are generally employed for economic reasons. Artificial pesticides and fertilizers are cheaper and more efficient than their natural counterparts when it comes to growing the vast quantities of grain need to feed the cows in factory farms. Antibiotics help cows survive the unhealthy environment of the factory farm, which procedure, again, is more cost–effective than simply giving cows space and freedom to move. Hormones can artificially force the animals to produce more milk than they would otherwise, which is another benefit for the manufacturer. Unfortunately, many of these substances—chemicals, antibiotics and hormones—end up in the finished product and can have debilitating effects on the human body, including allergies, decreased fertility, a weakened immune system, and increased susceptibility to cancer. Milk from cows so sick that they need a constant diet of antibiotics doesn't sound very appealing in any case.

4. Grass–fed vs. grain–fed. Although the requirements for cow's milk to be labeled "organic" include "access to pasture" for the cow, that doesn't always mean the cow actually gets to spend most of its time out on the pasture, feeding on grass, clover, and other green plants. Look specifically for milk that says that the cows are grass–fed. Cows' stomachs are designed to handle the job of breaking down these tough vegetables. Although they can eat grains, cows tend to get overly fat on them, and grains are not as nutritious. Milk from grass–fed cows contains more vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids, which makes the milk much healthier for the person who drinks it. Just as important as eating your vegetables is making sure the cows that produce your milk are doing the same thing!

I emphasized above how pasteurization, homogenization and so on were introduced for economic reasons. There's nothing wrong with making such choices, but in this case it doesn't seem like the consumer has a good deal, even with the current low price of milk, because of the decreased nutritional value of the milk. To recap, some of the health concerns associated with conventional milk include digestive disorders such as gas, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, and Crohn's disease; osteoporosis; arterial blockage; reduced fertility or infertility; allergies; lactose intolerance; decreased immunity; and cancer. Considering how much money is spent on health care, it seems like we would save money in the end by paying a little more for locally produced traditional milk from small family farms.

Traditionally, the milk we drank was always raw, non–homogenized, organic, and grass–fed. Raw milk can be dangerous if the cow that it came from was sick or dirty. Modern sanitation technology, however, has made it much easier to maintain good hygiene on a small dairy farm. Raw milk, if it comes from a responsible farmer, may be healthier than it ever was before. Nevertheless, its sale is still illegal in most states. For the time being, what I recommend is looking in the health food store for organic, grass–fed, non–homogenized milk, butter, yogurt, and cream (Cheese made from raw milk, sold by Organic Valley, is also available in some stores). Even if pasteurized, dairy products can still be healthy foods, supplying fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and a sense of happiness and contentment. To balance out the lost bacteria and enzymes, just make sure to include in your diet some of the raw fermented foods I mentioned in my February article on digestion. This is especially important if you are descended from races of people that did not traditionally consume milk.

One reason why I chose to write this article now is that spring is almost upon us. Since milk is a cool and damp food, it's best to cut down on it as much as you can during the spring, which is a time of year that is also cool and damp. Just as the snow is melting outside and rivers are swelling with water, similar processes are happening in your body, with increased production of mucus from natural detoxification. Dairy products in the spring are associated with colds, congestion, ear and sinus trouble, and the like. Summer, being hot and dry, is the best time for milk; in the cold and dry winter, milk can be good when it's cooked in foods or seasoned with warming spices such as cinnamon and ginger.

Considering its status as an outlaw, I'd like to clarify that I am not writing about how great raw milk is just to discourage people. Conventional milk, in moderation, and balanced with other foods, won't kill you. However, pay attention to your consumption and see if it is correlated to any health concerns you may have. In the meantime, people are finding ways to bring back raw milk availability. Right now, one of the most effective strategies for acquiring raw milk is called a Cow Share. You're allowed to drink raw milk if you own the cow yourself, so some small farmers offer people the opportunity to buy "shares" in their cows, and thereby have access to the raw milk. If you really like milk, you can probably find a cow share program near you. Two websites, realmilk.com and rawmilkfacts.com, both have more information and databases of where cow share programs are happening. eatwild.com is a database of local, grass–fed meat for the large part, but they also list farms that have raw dairy products.

Judging by the remarkable progress and popularity of organic food, I believe won't be long before traditional, raw milk is as common and widespread as it used to be. By that time, I won't be surprised if we see a decrease in the incidence of many of the health concerns listed above. The average person will be able to enjoy dairy products both as delicious, high–fat foods and as health foods, just as our ancestors did. Note: that goes for raw milk ice cream as well.

Weight Loss Diets

Diet advice is everywhere you look: television, books, magazines, and the internet. Almost always, the advice is juxtaposed with advertisements for fast food and restaurant chains, sugary drinks or candy, convenience meals, and trans–fatty snacks, which all feature happy, healthy models. Just the fact that the average supermarket magazine will have countless weight loss tips (ones that really work—not like those other weight loss tips), while at the same time featuring recipes that rely on processed foods like trans fats and refined flour, is significant. Maybe there's a subliminal message here: these gorgeous models have found a way to eat high–fat, high–sugar foods and still look great. You, obviously, have not figured it out yet; hence, the need for the latest special diet, or a special exercise regimen, or some kind of weight–loss medication. The truth is that weight loss happens most naturally when people find a way to eat more whole foods in place of processed foods. Most mainstream diet advice, on the other hand, is about starvation.

Many of the most well–known diets encourage starvation in two ways: either they insist that you restrict the amount of food you eat (portion control, eating small meals, counting calories and points, etc.) or they make you eliminate whole food groups altogether (fat or carbohydrates). Each of these practices has consequences for how the body metabolizes food. Although most of us have never had the experience of going months with very little food to eat, it did happen occasionally to our ancestors. In a time when we're deprived of food, the body becomes much more efficient at saving it. The more stressed out you are, and the less food you allow yourself to eat, the more tightly the body holds on to the fat it does have, because it senses that you're famished. This is the reason why many people can quickly lose some weight on a starvation diet, but then find it very hard to lose as much as they need to and often gain it back again.

Many diets do hold out a sort of Holy Grail to dieters, that "you can eat as much as you want and not get fat" on their diet (as long as it's certain foods). This message sounds so appealing because so many diets say you can't eat as much as you want. People who are always struggling with starving themselves are dying to feel full and satisfied.

What's remarkable is that the Holy Grail is out there—but it's not in any kind of pill, diet plan, or food that anyone can manufacture and sell to you. Nature already provides all the food that we need to be satisfied and healthy (like milk, in its natural state). Modern–day society is set up so that if we want to be healthier and happier, and lose weight permanently, we have to go against the tide. We have to cook more for ourselves, clean out our kitchen of processed food, and make time to eat three balanced meals a day. In other words, we have to become independent around our food. Once that happens, those pounds just disappear until you've reached your natural weight. The only reason why it works so well is because truly healthy eating (not healthy eating in the sense of bland, fat–free, carb–free restricted diets) is addictive. Suddenly, your body starts sending you a flood of messages about how much it likes what you are doing. With a little practice in cooking, you're making food ten times more delicious than what you get from the restaurant or pizza place, such that you're wondering if you're eating this way to lose weight or just for pleasure. My clients who are transitioning to a whole foods diet lose a pound or two a week, but it's almost an afterthought to all the other health benefits they're seeing. The extra time it takes you to take care of yourself is returned to you with many more years of life at your natural weight and a chance to think about things other than your health.

I'm going to deliver a workshop on this subject, incorporating elements from the article above and also my previous article on weight loss, at my home in Alexandria on March 25th. The location and time are listed here. The workshop will be about an hour and a half and provides you with an opportunity to ask questions, meet other people interested in the same approach, and share your experiences. Everyone is welcome to attend this workshop—just send me an email to confirm that you'd like to come. I look forward to seeing you there!

Spring Cleaning

It's been almost a year since I started writing this newsletter, and this is my first chance to talk about spring. In this issue, I'll writing about the lifestyle changes that go hand–in–hand with the coming of spring, and next month I'll write about spring diets: detoxes and fasts. An important part of spring is the time–honored tradition of "spring cleaning." The change in the weather enables changes in many other ways: we can change our wardrobe, change our activities, and generally reorganize ourselves for the period to come. One thing I've noticed when working with clients is how they find it much easier to accomplish their goals when their surroundings encourage it. Having a healthy and supportive home environment is very important for spurring you to take on new challenges, or even just to keep doing what you're doing in a peaceful setting. A good general rule to follow when spring cleaning is Thoreau's message from Walden: "Simplify." In other words, I recommend that you pack a bag and depart for a small cabin in the woods with a pond nearby. But if, by chance, that's not feasible for you at the moment, I have some less rigorous recommendations.

Clean out your kitchen. It is so much easier to eat healthy if you have counter space and healthy food in your refrigerator. Put away almost every kitchen tool and box of food that you don't use every day until you have a good amount of clear counter space where you can prepare food. Even if you don't prepare food, having clear space is important because it gives you more possibilities and peace of mind. Unless you are a Zen Buddhist, leave a few often–used tools out. Too much clear space can also signify an under–used kitchen. I also recommend looking through your refrigerator and cupboards for processed foods that contain high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or any ingredients that you have trouble pronouncing, and tossing those in the wastebasket. These foods can cause health problems like weight gain and arterial blockage, and many others. The same with any food you know you're not going to eat. Throw it away! Don't eat it to use it up, if you know it's not good for you. That's treating your body like a wastebasket.

Include more fresh air and green things. We are all healthier with more oxygen. As the air starts to warm up, open the windows more often and let some fresh air in. You may feel surprisingly more clear–headed and positive than usual. Plants also provide oxygen through photosynthesis, and they look nice.

Cancel some projects. Spring is a good time to grow and thrive, not to become overburdened with responsibilities. As a way of simplifying, let go of some things that you don't enjoy any more or that you feel like are just obligations. You want to focus your energy on a few things that are really important to you, and enjoy them to the fullest.

Plan out what you want to do. Some people find it helpful to have a written record of what their goals are, especially those of us who tend to think too much. As I said before, spring is a time for growth and cleansing. Plants are always trying to grow towards the sunlight (which accounts for the odd shapes of some trees). Figure out what direction you want to grow in; whether you want to improve your career situation, increase your family, improve your health and eating habits, start exercising, learn something new, or grow spiritually. Once you've figured it out, do a few things towards this goal every day and enjoy yourself the rest of the time.

Follow the principle of fasting. Spring is a time when many people follow detoxifying diets, or fasts, of just vegetables, fruit and vegetable juice, or just water. As I said, I'll write about these diets next time—right now, in my part of the country, it's too soon to start doing a fast. However, you can fast in more ways than just "food fasting." If you can, take some time, at least a few days, to abstain or withdraw from all the demands of life, and clear your head. Detoxify yourself of thoughts and emotions that may be leading you in an unproductive direction. Just as important as releasing stored toxins from unhealthy foods is to release stored stress and emotional tension.

One final note about spring cleaning: make sure you wait until spring is really here to follow a detoxifying diet. Sometimes we can be too eager and eat a very light diet while it is still winter time. Keep eating filling and satisfying meals up until you're really sure it's spring; that way, when you do fast, your fast will probably be much healthier and last longer.

Recipes

Red Lentil Sauce
Serves two generously, and is easily doubled. Definitely a comfort food!

Wash and slice carrots, daikon radish, celery, burdock root, and (occasionally) a potato. Use whatever you have, but go for a variety of colors—total amount of vegetable should be about 3-4 cups all chopped up. Saute them, along with 3 or 4 cloves of minced garlic, in a few tablespoons or olive oil in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until vegetables begin to soften, about 15 minutes.

Add 3/4 cup red lentils (washed and soaked), 3 cups water, and a strip of either kombu or wakame sea vegetable (once this has softened and expanded, it can be taken out, cut up, and added back to the pot). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15󈞀 minutes (until lentils are cooked through). Stir occasionally.

Remove from heat. Add salt, pepper, cumin (about 2 tsps), coriander (about 1 tsp), and paprika (about 1/2 tsp) to taste. As it cools, sauce will thicken a little. Let cool for at least 10 minutes (it will be hot!), then ladle over bowls of brown rice. Enjoy!

Hijiki Salad
This is a recipe from Paul Pitchford's Healing with Whole Foods. Hijiki is a black sea vegetable that comes in small strands that are easily sautéed and stir–fried. Hijiki is very high in calcium, iron, iodine, and various vitamins. It is good for normalizing blood sugar, building bones and teeth, and balances hormone levels.

Ingredients:

1 cup hijiki, soaked
2 tablespoons oil (sesame or olive)
2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
2 medium carrots, grated
Sea salt to taste
Chopped salad greens (spinach, argula, etc.)

After soaking hijiki and draining the water, saut� for 15 minutes in oil, until soft. Mix together with carrots and vinegar and serve on a bed of raw chopped salad greens. Chopped scallions as a garnish are optional.

Molasses Crinkles
A not–to–sweet updated version of a childhood favorite of my wife.

3/4 cup cultured/European style butter or Earth Balance, softened
1 cup loose brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses (lots of vitamins and minerals!)
2 1/4 cups flour (We usually use half and half whole grain—
wheat, spelt, or rye—and all–purpose.)
2 tsps baking soda
2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
a little evaporated cane juice (sugar) for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and brown sugar (the mixture will lighten in texture). Add egg and molasses and mix well.

Combine the rest of the ingredients (except sugar for decorating) in a separate bowl. Add half at a time to the molasses mixture, mixing well each time.

Roll dough into little balls (1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter), roll each in the sugar (light coat!), and place at least two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10󈝹 minutes (longer for larger cookies), and let the cookies cool on the sheet for a minute before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. If they last that long...

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April Newsletter

Spring Cleaning, Part 2

What is Processed Food?

Healthy Snacking

Recipes

Introduction

I can pinpoint with certainty the day spring arrived for me. It was the day I started sneezing all over the place. Yep, the air is full of pollen, and that's just one of the many changes going on in accordance with the seasons. Warmer weather, melting snow and April showers all make this a very watery time of year, and your body is going to respond by flushing out all the toxins that have accumulated and hibernated all winter. One of the articles in this issue, "Spring Diets and Detox Diets," describes how to adjust your diet to encourage this cleansing process and make sure that you have a healthy spring. Colds, sinus trouble, allergies and asthma are all common this time of year, but are totally preventable. A lot of the healthy snacks I've written about in my article "Healthy Snacking" are also good for spring, so be sure to check that article out as well. My Healthy Snacking Cooking Class, which coincides with the article, will be on Sunday, April 22nd, and you're welcome to attend! Further details can be found at the end of the article.

Also in this issue is an article entitled "What is Processed Food?" Since I'm constantly warning of its dangers, I thought it would be a good idea to spell out what I'm talking about. Read the article to gain an understanding of what processed foods can be good, which ones not so good, and how to tell the difference.

If, like me, you also sneeze and suffer from allergies during the spring, go to the health food store or farmer's market and pick up a jar of local, raw honey. The pollen in this honey will act like a vaccine, such that you will no longer reject the pollen in the air. Eat it by the spoonful until your symptoms diminish. I sneezed for one day, ate almost a whole jar of honey, and now I feel fine. I can actually smell the grass, which is quite nice, and something I'm still getting used to.

I publish this newsletter as a part of my private practice as a Holistic Health Counselor, in which I help people get healthier and happier by guiding them through positive diet and lifestyle changes. I work with my clients either over the phone or in person in individual six–month programs. I also lead group workshops and group programs, and work with schools, businesses and other communities to improve their overall health and wellness. I also give free health history consultations. If you'd like to spend about an hour talking with me about your goals for your health and life, simply send me an email!

Spring Cleaning, Part 2: Spring Diet and Detox Diets

As I mentioned in the Introduction, during the month of spring the body naturally kick starts its own cleansing and detoxing process. The food that we eat, and the lifestyle that we live, can either aid or hamper this process. More cleansing and nutritious foods will make it easier for you to detoxify, while on the other hand eating cold, damp and heavy, fatty foods will make detoxifying more difficult and will induce colds and sinus trouble. Some people like to undergo a fast during spring as a way of making the cleansing process more total. This can be great idea, but is not a substitute for eating healthy during the rest of the year. In other words, if you decide to fast, don't "retoxify" when you're finished; eat a balanced diet instead. If you take care of yourself for most of the year, you don't end up in a position where you need to seriously detoxify in the spring.

Whether you're fasting or not, the best spring diet is going to be more low–fat than diets corresponding to the other seasons. That means cutting down on fatty foods like dairy products, nuts (peanut butter), processed foods with hydrogenated oils or vegetable oils in general, and meat that has a high fat content. This is not to say there is something intrinsically wrong with fat, but at this time of year a lot of fat interferes with the natural cleansing going on in your body, which doesn't expect a lot of fat to still be around after a cold winter. So this is the one time of year when a low–fat diet makes sense. Note: this does not mean low–fat versions of normally high–fat foods. Just eat smaller amounts of high–fat foods at their normal fat content. Fat cravings are not as common in the spring, although if you feel like you need some fat, then go ahead and eat it. Now, what about the foods that are good for the spring? A discussion of the spring diet follows below, and at the end of this article is a section on fasting.

The Spring Diet . The best foods for spring are dried foods left over from the winter and the fresh young greens and sprouts that are just beginning to grow. These greens have a high amount of chlorophyll, which is healing and cleansing for the blood. The greens usually have a bitter or pungent flavor, which is just what you need to break up accumulations of fat in the body. The dried foods, on the other hand, help balance the spring body's high water content. Below is a list of nutritious spring foods, divided by food group, partially adapted from John Douillard's The Three–Season Diet.

Type	Food	Healing Property
Fruit	Dried Fruit	Drying (of course)
	Lemons	Sour (liver cleansers)
	Limes
	Grapefruit
	Sour apples
	Strawberries	High in antioxidants
	Raspberries	High in antioxidants
Vegetables	Asparagus	Stereotypical spring food
	Brussels Sprouts	Very alkaline, nutrient rich
	Cabbage
	Cauliflower
	Celery
	Spinach
	Sprouts
	Swiss Chard
	Carrots	Balances bitter vegetables

	Chili Peppers	Hot, breaks up mucus
	Cilantro	Spicy/bitter, very cleansing
	Mustard Greens
	Parsley
	Watercress
	Collards	Bitter, detoxifying
	Kale	Bitter, detoxifying
	Dandelion Greens	Very bitter, detoxifying
	Corn	Slightly sweet, goes well with greens
	Endive	High in fiber, also cleansing
	Lettuce	High in fiber, also cleansing
	Garlic	Pungent, burns up fat
	Ginger
	Onions
	Radishes
	Turnips	Slightly pungent
Grains	Cooked Amaranth, Barley, Corn, Millet, Quinoa and Brown Rice are all good, but reduce wheat. Granola is a good dry cereal.
Beans	All dried beans and bean sprouts are good, especially kidneys, lentils, split peas and mung beans.
Nuts/Seeds	Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are best, lowest in fat.
Dairy	Dairy is usually too cold and thick, but some butter and yogurt is okay.
Meat/Fish	Low–fat protein like chicken and fish is best; dried meats like naturally preserved beef jerky are okay too.
Oils	Olive oil is best, but reduce consumption of oil to below winter levels.
Sweeteners	Raw, local honey is perfect! If you have cravings for sugar and fat in the spring, combine honey with yogurt and berries.
Beverages	Water, Green Tea or Black Tea are good. So are pungent teas such as peppermint, dandelion and ginger.
Spices	Use lots of pungent spices when making rice and beans—especially black pepper, cayenne pepper, ginger and garlic.

In general, as you can see from above, what's recommended is a mostly vegan diet, with a lot of whole grains, cooked beans and bean sprouts, fresh vegetables, dried fruit, and bitter, pungent and sour flavors. This is the diet that will help you feel the best in the spring and enhance the cleansing process. In regard to fruits and vegetables, some of the above don't become available until later in the spring. Look for what is freshest and was grown locally. The foods that naturally grow at this time of year have the most healing properties for spring. Also, remember that low–fat doesn't mean low–protein. Don't just eat salads, but have plenty of rice and beans and enough chicken and fish to keep from getting too cold. It's not summer yet!

The Detox Diet. Eating only the foods listed above is already going to be highly detoxifying. However, some people like to take a few days, a week or even two weeks in the spring to seriously cleanse their bodies. Fasting is a very old tradition, and is an important part of many different religions. Sometimes fasting can be an emotionally or spiritually cleansing experience on top of being a physically cleansing one. I think it's worth trying out just to see what the experience is like. If ever you don't feel well, you can always just go back to your normal pattern of eating.

There are obviously different levels of intensity in fasting. Just eating cooked whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruits—the foods listed in the table above—would be the most relaxed fast. Presented below are some different options for fasting:

1. Whole Grain fast. You could also call this the "Bread and Water" diet. Essentially, it involves eating cooked whole grains such as millet and brown rice, chewed very thoroughly, with water as your sole beverage. The whole grains can also be combined with mung beans that have been cooked with kombu. This diet purges toxins from the body while still providing a lot of energy in the form of carbohydrates. Better for people on the thin side who can't afford to lose a lot of weight.

2. Steamed Vegetable fast. This diet is good for people who would like to lose weight but can experience symptoms of coldness from time to time. Eat two or three different cooked vegetables combined at a time for your meals, and no other foods. Drink water or herbal tea if thirsty.

3. Raw fruit and vegetable/fruit and vegetable juice fast. This diet is good for those with symptoms of heat who want to lose weight and detoxify. Combining fruits and vegetables at the same meal is not always best, so alternate eating fruits and vegetables. As always, chew your food very thoroughly—even chew the vegetable and fruit juices to mix them with alkaline saliva. Beware of fruit and vegetable juices that have added sugar, which will cancel out the cleansing effects.

4. The Master Cleanser. This diet consists solely of water and a drink called the "Master Cleanser"—no food. One glass of the Master Cleanser consists of 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, a pinch of cayenne pepper and a cup of water. Mix together and drink 8-12 glasses a day. Always drink a glass of water with the master cleanser to rinse out your mouth afterwards. Drink as much water as you like. Lemon juice helps detoxify the liver, while the hot pepper breaks up fat and mucus in the body. This diet can be followed for a day, a few days, or a week—continue for as long as you would like, but listen to your body and eat if you feel like you have to.

Some people can get too obsessed with fasting and fast against their body's wishes. Remember that it is not an alternative to a healthy everyday diet, but it can be very helpful if you feel you need to cleanse yourself of toxins accumulated over a long period of time. Finally, if you choose to fast, remember that your body may not be able to sustain a high level of activity. Don't work out too hard, and get plenty of sleep.

What is Processed Food?

I don't think I rail against anything more than processed foods, in my gentle and non–authoritative way. There's nothing "evil" about these foods; they are just not the healthiest and will in fact cause health problems in many people. But I need to explain what I mean by processed foods, because there are definitely some foods that undergo processing and are still very healthy. Processed foods are defined in opposition to whole foods, which are fresh fruits and vegetables, dried grains and beans, nuts and seeds, spices and herbs, meat and milk. Processed foods are made from these fresh, whole foods. So let me start by explaining some kinds of food processing that I think are helpful and necessary.

The Great Processed Foods. Some foods need to be processed so that they can be digested better or preserved longer. For example, the grinding of grains of wheat (called berries) into flour to make bread is a kind of processing. Wheat berries are so hard that it is counterproductive to cook them like you would brown rice or quinoa. All natural, whole wheat bread is not quite as nutritious as cooked whole grains, but is still a healthy food when eaten in moderation. Another food that needs to be processed to be digested is the soybean. Soybeans, like wheat berries, are very hard and take forever to cook. That's why they are soaked and fermented to make tempeh, miso, and soy sauce.

We also process food to make it last longer. The modern processing methods that have this purpose in mind can be very destructive, but traditional ways of preserving food also preserve its nutrients. These traditions include pickling and fermenting, smoking, drying, salting and curdling. Eating foods that have been processed according to these methods (in other words, pickles, cheese, yogurt, butter, smoked and salted meats and fish, beef jerky, dried fruit) is just fine.

The Good Processed Foods. A second tier of processed food that's still okay is that of whole foods that have been frozen, canned or combined to make another food. For example, take ice cream. It's great if you can make your own ice cream using the best quality milk and cream, but there are also ice cream brands available at the store that use pretty high quality ingredients. The same thing is true of many other foods available at the store: sauces, dressings, fruit juices, chocolate, pasta, condiments, etc. These are foods that you could make yourself but might not have the time. In that case it's okay to get something that's not whole. The key, again, is to read the ingredients. Look for things that don't belong. Peanut butter should just have peanuts and salt, not sugar and hydrogenated oil. Tomato sauce doesn't need sugar either. If you're eating mostly whole foods, you don't need bread that has added niacin, lecithin or other vitamins and minerals (whether you even absorb them in this form is questionable). We don't know why manufacturers put in all this extra fat, sugar and artificial chemicals, but these are the exact things that accumulate in your body and are dying to get cleansed out in the spring. Look at the ingredients and make sure the ingredients used to make what you're buying were whole foods.

Regarding frozen and canned foods, neither, unfortunately, are nearly as good as fresh vegetables. They're definitely better than eating no vegetables. Some people develop a dislike for vegetables because they eat them frozen or canned too often instead of fresh. Frozen vegetables are better because they preserve more nutrients. Canned vegetables and canned beans often have high amounts of sodium, so keep that in mind if you choose to get them.

The Okay Processed Foods. These are foods that are largely made from other processed foods, like cookies or crackers or cereal made from flour and sugar. I would also put in here foods like potato chips cooked in a high amount of oil. These foods really don't have much nutrition in them, though they provide some energy (usually in the form of a blood–sugar spike). The tipping point here when you go from the okay to the bad is whether they use artificial ingredients or hydrogenated oils (trans fats). Stores like Whole Foods and other health food stores sell loads and loads of these processed foods, but the ingredients are at least all natural. Up to this point, all the processing, though it has decreased the nutritional value of the food (whether because you're not eating fresh, the ingredients are refined, etc.), there are no ingredients that have been manufactured in a laboratory.

The Worst Processed Foods. These are foods that contain either artificial chemicals such as artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, sorbitol, saccharin), chemical preservatives like sodium nitrite and potassium sorbate, flavor enhancers like MSG, fat replacements like olestra, "modified food starch" and polydextrose, or they contain natural ingredients that have been modified in some way, like hydrogenated vegetable oils and high fructose corn syrup, or, finally, they contain natural compounds extracted from foods and other sources that are not nutritious on their own, such as glucose, fructose, and soybean oil, hydrolyzed soy protein, ammonium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, and other chemical compounds. Almost all conventional snacks contain these preservatives, sweeteners, fat substitutes, thickeners, colorings, leaveners, firmers, stabilizers, emulsifiers and flavor enhancers. Fast food, junk food, candy, soda, pastries that can sit on the shelf at a highway rest stop until they're covered with dust, etc., all contain these ingredients in abundance. There are many more such ingredients, but you can recognize them by the fact that they are hard to pronounce. These ingredients are often used to cover up the fact that the main ingredients are past their prime or of poor quality. Some of them are also used for their addictive properties. These are the ingredients that are closely linked to weight gain, digestive problems, headaches, colds, stomachaches, and serious illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, and many other concerns for which we take medication.

In summary, some processed foods can be healthy, while others will lead to health problems. That doesn't mean you can never have them, but try to make sure you balance the unhealthier ones with whole and cleansing foods, like those mentioned in the Spring Diet. Also, avoiding the worst processed foods doesn't make you healthy automatically, thought it will make you feel a lot better on a day to day basis. Even if you eat all whole foods, it's still necessary to have a balanced diet (for example, just eating a ton of salads all year is not a great idea for most people). If you run out of time for food preparation, stick with the "Good" and "Great" processed foods and try to avoid the ones that are just okay or worse. Remember that the foods with artificial ingredients and flavor enhancers are addictive, and it can take a while to switch off of them. A good first step is to get rid of the two most pervasive unhealthy ingredients: high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oil. Just by taking that step, you'll start feeling a lot more cleansed.

Healthy Snacking

As I said in the last article, many of the worst processed foods are snacks. People often snack during the day if they don't have the time or knowledge to make satisfying meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes people snack because they're trying to lose weight, and so they starve themselves during the times when they really should be eating. Then they get hungry and have to eat something right away. Unfortunately, snack foods are usually the highest in calories. So normally I do not recommend snacking. I think it's best to eat filling, satisfying meals, even if that means including a good deal of fat. But nevertheless, snacking is often fun and satisfying, and there are plenty of foods that can serve as healthy snacks if you need them. Circumstances such as work, travel, or movie–watching often dictate the necessity for snacks, so here are some ideas that are both satisfying and healthy. I'm really enamored of tables this issue (much to the lament of my webmaster, aka my wife): here's another one for you. Some of the suggestions here are adapted from a handout I give to my clients, which was written up by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Notice the fact that snacks are broken down according to whether they are sweet, salty, or crunchy, because when we snack it's often one of those three things we're looking for. You can combine suggestions from the different categories to satisfy multiple cravings.

Category	Food	Comment
Crunchy Snacks	Apples (alone or w/ nut butters)	Healthy and filling at the same time.
	Rice cakes	Not as healthy as real cooked brown rice, but better than constantly eating stuff made from whole wheat.
	Popcorn	One of the best snacks! Pop it in a pot with some olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and melted butter.
	Carrots (with hummus)	Satisfying crunchy/smooth combinations.
	Celery (with peanut butter)	Satisfying crunchy/smooth combinations.
	Nuts and seeds	Also a nutritious snack.
	Granola	Much better than commercial cereals, though I still recommend cooked whole grains.
Sweet Snacks	Fresh fruit	Mangoes, berries, oranges, bananas, pears, etc.
	Dried fruit	Raisins, goji berries, papaya, whatever you like.
	Frozen yogurt	Be sure to use high–quality, organic ingredients when making snacks with dairy products, especially in the spring.
	Homemade ice cream
	Smoothies
	Fruit juices	Not to be used in place of water, but can satisfy a sweet craving.
	Raw honey	Good by itself or spread on something else. Excellent for pollen allergies.
	Lemonade	Best for the spring. See the "Master Cleanser" above.
	Dark chocolate	Perfectly all right in moderation.
Salty/Sour Snacks	Olives	A good source of both salt and fat.
	Pickles or Sauerkraut	The sour, refreshing kick from these foods will put an instant end to any sweet craving.
	Cheese	Good for staving off hunger; not a meal replacement though.
	Hummus	See recipe below.
	Sardines or oysters	Excellent source of protein if you're going on a long trip.
	Corn chips with guacamole	See recipe in last year's June issue.
	Noodles with soy sauce	If you're hungry late at night but don't want to eat something that will not digest well, quickly boil some soba or udon noodles (available in the Asian section of most grocery stores) and have them in a broth with some soy sauce. It should satisfy your hunger for the evening.

Interested in getting together to prepare and snack on some of these snacks? My Healthy Snack Cooking Class is on Sunday, April 22 nd, at 2:30. We'll either make or have available a selection of the snacks listed above, so that you can come and try them and learn how to incorporate them into your individual lifestyle and situation. Just by cleaning up your snacking you can really start to make inroads into accomplishing your health goals. If you are interested in coming, send me an email to let me know! The address and information about other events is listed on my website here.

Recipes

Hummus
Beans are a great spring food and one way to have them as a snack is by whipping up some hummus, a pureed bean spread made from chickpeas. This recipe is extra pungent for the spring. Hummus is perfect with pita bread or carrot and celery sticks. Note: the recipe is adapted from The Joy of Cooking.

Directions: Rinse and soak 3/4 cup dried chickpeas overnight or longer, then boil with a strip of kombu seaweed for an hour and a half to two hours, or until very soft. Drain and save the cooking water. Dump the chickpeas into a food processor along with:

3 tablespoons Tahini
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 or 3 large cloves of garlic

Puree until smooth. If not creamy enough, add some of the cooking water. Add salt to taste, and a few tablespoons olive oil. Optional: add a pinch or two of cayenne pepper. Excellent warm or cold.

Spring Salad
I mentioned a ton of healthy greens for the spring in the Spring Diet article above—now what do you do with them? Putting together a raw salad would take the least preparation, and provide the most nutrition. You're welcome to pick and choose what ingredients you like from the list, and adjust the proportions; here's how I would do it.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, grated
Alfalfa or bean sprouts
2 medium celery sticks, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro and parsley
Fresh arugula, mesclun, endive, spinach, and lettuce, mixed
3/4 cup chopped daikon and red radishes

Top with balsamic or rice vinegar and olive oil. Eat at the end of your meal.

Cornbread
Wheat is too glutinous to be a good grain for the spring, but the dry, crumbly nature of corn makes it perfect! This recipe is also from The Joy of Cooking. Have I recommended that you get this cookbook already? This recipe is very quick and satisfying.

Directions: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. In a heavy cast–iron 9–inch skillet, place 1 tablespoon of butter. Whisk together in a large bowl:

1 3/4 cups stone–ground cornmeal (blue or yellow)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

In another bowl, whisk 2 large eggs until foamy, and whisk in 2 cups buttermilk (if you only have regular milk or soymilk, include a teaspoon or two of white or rice vinegar). Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together until just blended. Place the cast iron pan in the oven and heat until the butter smokes. Pour in the batter all at once. Back until the top is browned and the center feels firm when pressed, 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately from the pan, cut in wedges or squares, with butter. Wrap leftovers in foil (and a plastic bag! since this dries out so quickly left out)to reheat in the oven later.

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May Newsletter

Understanding Fat

Review: Michael Pollan's "You Are What You Grow"

Recipes

Introduction

This month's issue is devoted to one of the most interesting and controversial topics in nutrition: Understanding Fat. For as long as the concept of "health food" has been around, fat has been the enemy. Not only does fat make you fat, the conventional wisdom goes, but it clogs your arteries and leads to heart disease. More recently, some nutritionists and diet theorists have argued that there is good fat as well as bad fat, and a smaller number claim that you can, and should, eat all the fat you can get your hands on. Because fat is so comforting, rich and delicious, we find it difficult to believe it could be good for us. We've long been taught that to be healthy, we must suffer a little and deprive ourselves of appetizing food. And yet, even after a half–century of low–fat and reduced fat dieting, heart disease is still the number–one cause of death in America, and obesity rates are skyrocketing. This isn't because people aren't trying to eat healthy, but because we've been misinformed. Below you'll find an extremely thorough article that explains the health benefits of fat, the history of the fat scare, the scientific understanding of fat, and the difference between good and bad quality fat. After having read the article, you'll have a complete understanding of how to incorporate plenty of fat into your diet in a way that leaves you both satisfied and healthy. In other words, you'll "get" fat. In a good way.

In my opinion, the real culprits behind the prevalence of obesity and heart disease in this country include two ubiquitous processed foods: high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Have you ever wondered why these ingredients are in absolutely every packaged food you find at the store? Recently, the journalist Michael Pollan wrote an article for the New York Times on The Farm Bill, which authorizes the government to heavily subsidize just a few crops, including corn, wheat, and soybeans, to the detriment of all others. Read my summary of the article below to understand more about how these subsidies make it much more likely for Americans, especially lower–income Americans, to consume an overabundance of calories and develop health problems.

I publish this newsletter as a part of my private practice as a Holistic Health Counselor, in which I help people get healthier and happier by guiding them through positive diet and lifestyle changes. I work with my clients either over the phone or in person in individual six–month programs. I also lead group workshops and group programs, and work with schools, businesses and other communities to improve their overall health and wellness. I also give free health history consultations. If you'd like to spend about an hour talking with me about your goals for your health and life, simply send me an email!

Understanding Fat

1. Health Benefits of Fat

Fats are acids that are not soluble in water (hence the phrase "like oil and water" for things that do not mix well together. Oil is simply fat in liquid form). Edible fatty acids, or "fats" for short, are essential to the human diet. Examples of edible fats are animal fats from meat (lard, tallow, etc.), dairy fat (butter, cream, cheese), and vegetable fats (olive oil, sesame oil, coconut oil). People have been eating fat as long as the human race has been around, and with good reason. Fats provide long–lasting energy, because they are high in calories but are slow to digest. They contribute to the formation of cell membranes and hormones in the body. They also contain and transmit the fat–soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and assist in mineral absorption. Without enough fat in the diet, many of us cannot properly assimilate our nutrients. This is one reason why taking vitamin and mineral supplements by themselves is not as healthy as, say, having a salad with olive oil.

Fats also provide warmth and insulation to the body and provide a layer of protection around our organs. They help us feel full so that we do not overeat. Some kinds of fats have antimicrobial properties that help strengthen the immune system. Fat also relieves stress, which is why it is thought of as a comfort food. When human beings did not have as much access to food as we do now, fat was highly prized for the heat and long–lasting energy it provided; for this reason it plays a major role in traditional diets.

It's clear that having enough fat in our diets is extremely important. Without it, we can become weak, deficient and cold. We're also more likely to get stressed out and anxious when something goes wrong. Without enough fat, we'll turned to refined carbohydrates like sugar and white flour for energy, which won't fill us up even though they are high in calories. We won't make the most of our vitamins and minerals, which makes our immune system weaker. Unfortunately, though, many people are uncomfortable about including more fat in their diets. People stick to low–fat or reduced–fat foods as a way to lose weight, and think they're doing something sinful when they eat a lot of cream or butter. It's important to acknowledge that fat can be dangerous if it's not good quality. In the following section, we'll see how the introduction of low–quality and processed fats contributed towards giving fat a bad name.

2. History of the Fat Scare

As I said above, people have been eating fat for just about forever without getting sick. So why did studies come out in the 1940s and 1950s saying that fat made you fat and clogged your arteries? In the beginning, it was a particular kind of fat that got all the negative press: saturated fat. This is the fat that is found in animal products like meat, milk, eggs, butter and cheese. Researchers noticed a correlation between a high amount of saturated fat in the diet and heart disease and obesity. You might wonder why foods that had been widely consumed for millennia were suddenly linked to health problems, but that question did not really get asked. The studies did provide the opportunity for food companies to sell more reduced–fat products that they could specially process. The studies also created a market for an alternative to natural saturated–fat animal products: polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Cheap vegetable oils had first been sold as alternatives to butter when Crisco, the vegetable–oil shortening, was put on the market in 1911. As more people thought they should avoid butter, food manufacturers sold vast quantities of margarines, liquid vegetable oils that had been hydrogenated to make them solid at room temperature. A massive financial incentive existed for food companies to encourage people to be afraid of natural, whole animal fats and to buy their processed trans fats or low–fat alternatives instead. It was more profitable for food companies to encourage misunderstanding of the real consequences and meaning of the saturated fat studies.

There is a tendency in nutrition to pinpoint a food as good or bad, a "superfood" or a poison. In reality, what's much more important for eating healthy is balancing your diet properly and making sure the foods you eat are of good quality. The reason why high consumption of saturated fat was linked to health problems was twofold: not only was the saturated fat of poor quality, but it wasn't balanced enough by other foods.

Poor quality: Around the time these studies were done, animals raised for meat and milk were much less likely to be fed a healthy diet than they had been in the past. Instead of letting animals feed on grass and insects and roam on pasture, factory farmers crowded them into manufacturing plants and fed them cheap grains such as corn. Because these animals didn't eat their vegetables, their meat and milk lacked important vitamins and minerals that would have helped us to process the saturated fat in it. More importantly, the animals didn't have access to the omega-3 fatty acids that are in grass and insects. Omega-3 fatty acids are a kind of polyunsaturated fat that cleans out our arteries and helps our brains function (see the extensive article I wrote on them a few months ago here). If you eat the meat or dairy products of an animal fed on grass, you'll get both saturated fat and omega-3 fat. The omega-3 fat will cancel out the artery–clogging effect of the saturated fat. In other words, it wasn't saturated fat that was the problem; it was the absence of omega-3 fat. Unfortunately, the study did not make that clear. In conclusion, poor quality saturated fat from unhealthy animals that did not get their omega-3s will cause health problems.

Imbalanced diet: The studies done on people eating a diet high in saturated fat didn't take into account what other foods they ate. In the 40s and 50s, it wasn't uncommon for a family to eat a lot of meat but few vegetables, except perhaps peas and potatoes. Vegetables are very important for balancing our fat intake; they provide water, fiber and nutrients. We should be eating at least as much vegetable food by volume as we eat animal food. If you're not eating your vegetables, too much fat will be a problem. Again, it's not a single nutrient in isolation that's good or bad, but what you eat with it. Instead of continuing to avoid vegetables and then also avoiding saturated fat, people should eat plenty of both.

What we're finding out now is that the reason why heart disease and obesity haven't decreased is because the processed foods that replaced saturated fat—sugar and hydrogenated vegetable oils (aka trans fats)—are much worse. To understand why, we'll need to move on to the final two sections of the article, where we talk about the science and chemistry of fats, and the quality of fat.

3. Fat Chemistry

There are three different kinds of fat molecules: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Polyunsaturated fat can be further divided into other fatty acids, including omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The names are completely unintelligible because they connote characteristics on the molecular level. Fats are chains of carbon atoms whose bonds are completely or partially filled by hydrogen atoms. Saturated fats are called that because they have their bonds completely filled, which makes them very stable and unlikely to undergo any chemical reactions. Because they are stable, they pack together well and so are solid at room temperature. Monounsaturated fats are missing two hydrogen atoms, so they are less stable and liquid at room temperature, but solid in the refrigerator. Polyunsaturated fats are the least stable and should be kept away from heat and light so that they don't undergo a chemical reaction such as oxidation, which makes them rancid.

The fat that we eat and that exists in our bodies is in the form of triglycerides. A triglyceride is three of these fatty–acid chains attached to a glycerol molecule. We can raise our triglyceride levels by eating more fat but also by eating sugars (carbohydrates) which the liver turns into triglycerides if we do not use them for energy. This is the body's way of storing calories in case we need them later. Extremely high levels of triglycerides in the blood have been clearly linked to heart disease, but it's very hard to build those high levels by eating fat. Fat is so filling that there's only so much we can eat at one sitting. Sugar, on the other hand, is not very filling but still very high in calories. Since we're unlikely to be able to use all those calories, the leftover sugar will be converted into excess triglycerides, which will then just accumulate. The number one thing you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease is to reduce consumption of refined sugar.

Given that eating high–quality fat is not going to result in dangerously high levels of triglycerides, and that it has so many health benefits, how do we incorporate it into our diets? We need a balance of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats (omega-3 and omega-6). Most foods contain a combination of each, but a predomination of one. For example, butter is about 70% saturated fat, while the rest is unsaturated. Sesame oil is about 40% monounsaturated and 40% polyunsaturated. Below is a breakdown of which edible fats fall into which categories:

Saturated fat: Foods with a high amount of this extremely stable fat are dairy products (butter, milk, yogurt, cream, cheese) animal fats like beef, pork and chicken fat (tallow, lard and schmaltz), and tropical fats like palm oil and coconut oil. Butter, animal fats, and tropical fats are the ones that you should use when you are cooking with high heat, whether stir–frying, deep–frying, or saut�ing for long periods of time. Once softened a little, they are excellent for spreading on bread or other grains and grain products.

Monounsaturated fat: These are the fats that are liquid at room temperature but will sometimes solidify in the fridge. They include olive oil, avocado oil, and the oil from nuts such as almonds, pecans, cashews, macadamia nuts, and peanuts. These fats are a little lighter and less filling than the saturated fats. You can do some light cooking with olive oil or peanut oil, but monounsaturated fats are best eaten raw, whether you're eating nuts or olives, olive oil dressing, or nut butters.

Polyunsaturated fat: These are the least stable of the fats; not only are they liquid at room temperature, but even in the refrigerator. Polyunsaturated fats include omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are found either in green plant foods or in animals that have eaten a lot of green plants, whether from sea or land. Fish oil and cod liver oil is very high in omega-3s because fish feed on algae and plankton. Eggs, butter, meat and cheese from grass–fed animals also has plenty of omega-3 and omega-6 fat. Omega-6 fat can also be found in seeds such as sunflower seeds and flax seeds, soybeans, corn, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, pistachios, and sesame seeds. In most cases, plant foods will have equal amounts of omega-3 and omega-6. Avoid purchasing polyunsaturated omega-6 oils such as soybean oil, walnut oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil and safflower oil. Stick to just eating walnuts, corn, soybeans, sunflower seeds, and the like.

To be healthy, we need to eat some of all of these fats. Right now, saturated fat is recovering from a bad reputation, monounsaturated fat like olive oil is thought to be pretty good, omega-3 fatty acids are considered a miracle food, and omega-6s are just starting to get hated on. We already saw that the case against saturated fat was flawed. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids actually must be eaten in a 1:1 ratio for good health; the former is only thought of as better because we weren't eating it at all, and we were eating too much omega-6. The reality is that all these fats are good; just eat some of each on a day–to–day basis. They balance each other within your system and are all needed for optimum health.

By itself, though, balance is not all you need to have a healthy fat intake. The final subject we need to take up is fat quality. Balancing the different kinds of fats in your diet is no good if the fats are rancid or toxic. Just as you wouldn't buy wilted or rotten fruits and vegetables at the store, you must avoid low quality fat.

4. Fat Quality

Most of us don't eat fat straight from the source; we go to the store and buy butter or olive oil or bacon or canola oil. Even if these foods are healthy in the ideal, natural state, how do we know if the specific fatty foods we buy are good for us? To answer this question it will be helpful to break down the different kinds of fat once again.

Saturated fat: Since this kind of fat mostly comes from animals, the key question is whether the animals were healthy. As we've already discussed, if an animal is grass–fed, its meat and milk will contain both saturated fat and omega-3 fat in a healthy ratio. Organic meat and milk is important as well because often toxins from pesticides and artificial fertilizers in the animals' feed will be stored by their bodies in fat cells. The best quality saturated fat comes from an animal that's been feed on organic grass and had room to move around.

Dairy products such as milk, cheese and butter should also come from a cow or goat that's been able to feed on organic feed and grass and roam freely. Most dairy products are homogenized, which is a process that breaks up fat molecules so that they don't collect together at the surface. Homogenization turns fat from a very healthy macronutrient into a dangerous one. See my milk article for a more detailed explanation. Pasteurization also kills bacteria and enzymes in dairy products that make it easier for us to digest fat. In addition to looking for non–homogenized milk, try also to find cheese made from raw milk, and butter that has had a bacteria culture added back into it. The nice thing about these better quality dairy products is that there really isn't any limit on how much you can eat; just continue until you feel full. At the very least, avoid any dairy products or ice cream that are reduced fat; instead, have the whole–fat kind, but consume less.

Monounsaturated/Polyunsaturated Fat: Because these kinds of fats are less stable, they are more sensitive to heat and light. The first priority is to try and find vegetable oils that are made from organically grown vegetables. But also important is to buy oils that are carefully preserved on their way to the store. When unsaturated fats are exposed to light and other sources of heat, the heat will catalyze a chemical reaction in which the fat molecules react with the air and become oxidized. This is also known as rancidification. Rancid fats are very bad for us because they contain free radicals. Free radicals are molecules that contain extra oxygen. Once they are in our system, free radicals attack and break down the cells of our own body as a way to become neutralized. Symptoms of consuming foods with many free radicals include poor skin (wrinkles, age spots), a weakened immune system, and stagnant/damaged cells that can turn cancerous.

Almost all the commercial vegetable oils you can consume, whether they're sold in clear plastic or glass jars at the store, or listed among the ingredients on a packaged, processed food, are probably already partly rancid and contain many free radicals. Serious oxidation can occur just from jars sitting on the shelf under fluorescent light all day. But most of it happens during processing. Almost all oil manufacturers extract vegetable oil from seeds by crushing the seeds while simultaneously heating them. The heat, light and oxygen that the oil is exposed to all contribute to its oxidation. Chemical solvents are also used to separate oil from seed pulp, traces of which still remain in the final product. Natural preservatives in the oil that prevent rancidity, such as vitamin E and other antioxidants, are also destroyed during processing.

It is possible, although perhaps not as efficient, to cold–press seeds as a method of extraction. Cold–pressed or expeller–pressed oil will contain far fewer free radicals, and will also contain natural antioxidants that neutralize free radicals. It is also possible to process oils without using a chemical solvent. These oils are called "unrefined" oils and contain a slight residue that signifies the presence of vitamins and other nutrients. Unrefined, cold–pressed vegetable oils sold in opaque jars are, like cultured, grass–fed butter, healthy fats that you can eat to your heart's content (literally).

Trans fat: It's worth it to devote special attention to the one kind of fat we consume which doesn't occur in nature. Trans–fatty acids are those created when polyunsaturated vegetable oils (usually soybean oil, already rancid from its own extraction process) are mixed with a metal catalyst, usually nickel oxide, and put in a hot, high–pressure reactor with hydrogen gas. A forced chemical reaction occurs between the liquid oil and the hydrogen gas to create hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is solid at room temperature. The newly created trans fat molecule is indigestible and toxic to the human body, but our body will try to assimilate it anyway, upon which it interferes with normal cell metabolism, leading to overall physical dysfunction that includes a weakened immune system, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, birth defects, sterility, difficulty in lactation, sexual dysfunction and cancer. It's obvious that there is no such thing as good quality trans fat, ever. Trans fat is found in most processed, packaged foods (just look for fully or partially hydrogenated ___ oil among the ingredients), and in most fried foods that you get at restaurants.

Our government has made it legal for food companies that make products with trans fat to list "0 grams trans fat" on the nutrition facts label when the serving size is small enough to contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fat. However, if you eat multiple servings, those grams will definitely pile up. In other words, you can't trust the nutrition facts; look at the ingredients for hydrogenated oil.

5. Conclusion

Fat is an essential part of every person's diet. How much of it you eat on a daily basis is something that you can let your body's natural wisdom dictate; you don't always have to consult an expert. As I've said before, eating too much is rarely a problem when it comes to something as filling as fat. Consuming fat only becomes a health risk when we're eating poor quality fat, or if we're not balancing our fat intake with other healthy foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains and beans. Eating some of each of the different kinds of fat is important as well (saturated, monounsaturated, omega-3 and omega-6). Avoid polyunsaturated fats that are rancid or hydrogenated (trans fats), and try to cut down on saturated fats that are from grain–fed animals. When push comes to shove, though, always choose a saturated fat like butter over a hydrogenated vegetable oil, regardless of quality, and remember to eat plenty of highly nutritious, antioxidant–laden fruits and vegetables no matter what you do. Not only will you be healthier after adding more good–quality fat into your diet, you'll probably be a lot happier too!

Review: Michael Pollan's "You Are What You Grow"

You're probably fully satiated after reading so much about fat, but I think it's important to finish this newsletter by summarizing an important article written for the New York Times by Michael Pollan, a journalist who writes about food economics and whose articles I've quoted before. The article, which is about the Farm Bill, is entitled "You Are what You Grow" you can find it on Pollan's website. The Farm Bill is a piece of legislation renewed and updated every five years that authorizes the government to subsidize farmers' crops. The beneficiaries of the subsidies are a small number of very large farms that grow primarily wheat, corn, soy, rice and cotton. These farms provide almost all of the nation's food supply, whether in the form of processed foods that contain corn, wheat and soy as primary ingredients, or in the form of corn, wheat and soy feed given to farm animals raised for meat and dairy. Due to these subsidies, food manufacturers can sell foods containing the above–mentioned commodities, or meat that has been fed on them, at artificially low prices. Farmers who try to grow other crops such as green vegetables, root vegetables or even fruit are largely shut out, and the prices for their crops seem abnormally high. As Pollan points out in his article, a dollar spent at the supermarket can buy 875 calories of soda (essentially water and liquid corn sugar, aka high fructose corn syrup), but only 170 calories of a natural food, orange juice.

Look at the ingredients of almost any processed food and you're likely to find wheat flour, high fructose corn syrup and soybean oil among the ingredients. There's nothing wrong with wheat, corn and soy, but manufacturers have processed valuable nutrients and fiber out of them, so that they are low–density but high calorie. In other words, they don't make you full, but they do make you fat. Lower–income people who can't afford fresh fruits and vegetables often have to turn to these high–calorie processed foods whether they like it or not, which can condemn them to both obesity and diabetes. They're stuck buying meat and milk from animals that have been fed on corn and soy instead of grass, and they are stuck with poor quality vegetable oil. Even the middle class have to seriously budget if they want to eat plenty of good quality fat and meat.

If the government were choosing to help out farmers who are trying to grow other kinds of vegetables, who are growing fruit, and who are feeding their farm animals grass, everyone would be able to afford as much healthy food as they wanted to, in a second. Other societal problems might clear up as well. The artificially low price of our major crops, particularly corn, messes with other countries' economies when we choose to export these commodities. Part of the reason why illegal immigration is such a problem, as Pollan illustrates, is that millions of Mexican farmers have been thrown out of business and off the land due to the fact that they can't compete with the fake low price of imported excess American crops. Nevertheless the farm bill continues to reward massive farms based on the quantity of the crops that they grow that make us sick.

Some might say that the government has no business influencing the price of crops and ultimately food in this way. At one time, when most farms were small and could go under from just one bad year, it made more sense for the government to help them out. In the 1930s, there were six million individual farms. Now only 157,000 farms account for 72% of farm sales. These massive farms continue to influence government policy so that they keep getting their subsidies. As a result, people who buy food (that is, everybody) are not getting the option of participating in a true free market. The government is interfering in a way that makes it very hard for us to influence what farmers grow by spending our money on what we want.

Consumers are not powerless, though, and have already done a lot to change things; in many cases just by avoiding foods made with corn, wheat and soy altogether because we know they're not good for our health and not a bargain at any price. As more people stop drinking soda and eating junk food, food manufacturers will stop trying to force these crops on us. For now, do your best to support local farms, whether through a farmer's market or CSA, and fill up on foods that are not so high in calories but are still very filling. Although the farm bill doesn't support it, good quality food will always be more satisfying than high quantity.

Recipes

Kidney Bean Casserole
(adapted from The Joy of Cooking.)

Rinse and soak overnight 1 1/3 cups dried kidney beans. Rinse the soaked beans well, then transfer to a heavy saucepan. Add water until beans are covered about 2 inches, and add a strip of kombu sea vegetable. Once the kombu has expanded, it can be removed, cut up into pieces, and added back to the pot. Bring to a boil, then change to a low simmer and cover for 1 1/2 hours, checking the water level occasionally. Make sure the beans are tender, then take off the heat. Let cool a little, then drain the beans and set aside.

Have ready 4 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese (preferably raw cheese from Organic Valley).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and oil a 2 quart casserole dish.

Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin cold–pressed olive oil in a large skillet. Add 1 cup chopped onions and 2 cloves finely chopped garlic. Cook, stirring, until onions are golden, about 12 to 15 minutes (don't let the garlic cook this long if you are omitting the onions).

Stir in 2 teaspoons chili powder (don't be afraid!), and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the cooked kidney beans, along with 3 or 4 medium tomatoes, chopped coarsely, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper. Remove from heat.

Spread half of the bean mixture into the casserole dish, and sprinkle with half of the grated cheese. Add the remaining bean mixture and top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, until the top is browned, about 25 minutes. Serve hot. Great with fresh homemade cornbread and mustard greens.

Basic Brown Rice
Brown rice is probably the most moderate, calming, peaceful and gentle sustaining food on the planet. It has a perfect balance of carbohydrates, fiber and nutrition, and it will help you to reduce stress while providing you with solid, consistent energy. It's also very easy to prepare!

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1 cup brown rice
Salt
Pepper
Butter or olive oil

Directions: Place rice in a bowl and fill with water. Rinse rice and strain water (you're washing the dust off). Place rice in a pot with two cups of water and bring to a boil. Stir and reduce heat to low. After about 30 minutes, the rice should have absorbed all the water; if not, let it go a little longer, but not too long, otherwise it will burn. You may burn it the first time around, or the second, which is normal; just get it out of your system and keep practicing. When the rice is finished, season it with salt, pepper and butter or olive oil, as much as you want of each. For Japanese–style seasoning, try tamari soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil. Eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner; it'll keep you full from one meal to the next!

Mustard Greens with Onion and Garlic
Mustard greens are often overlooked, but they're quite delicious; a little more pungent than kale or collard greens, but less bitter. They're very high in vitamins A and K, fiber, and chlorophyll. Here's a recipe that's more interesting than just eating plain greens:

Ingredients

1 bunch mustard greens
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
salt
pepper
olive oil

Directions: Bring a pot of water to a boil. While water is heating, rinse the greens and chop them into strips perpendicular to the stem. Also, pour some olive oil into a frying pan and add chopped onions and garlic. When water boils, add greens and a teaspoon of salt. Stir so that greens are immersed. When the water boils again, greens are finished; pour them into a colander. When onion and garlic are cooked, add some greens and stir, allowing the greens to be coated in olive oil. After a few minutes they're finished!

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June Newsletter

Understanding Carbohydrates

Review: "Your Money: More Advice Graduates Don't Want to Hear"

Recipes

Introduction

Welcome to the June newsletter! This is a special issue for me, because June marks my one year anniversary of putting out this monthly newsletter. Last year, the June issue had an article on seasonal eating; check it out to refresh yourself on what fruits and vegetables are currently in season. This issue, I'm following up my article on Understanding Fat with Understanding Carbohydrates. High-carbohydrate foods have been accused of making us fat. In fact, they're even starting to supplant high-fat foods as the real culprits behind our national unhealthiness. I guess we should be thankful that both fat and carbohydrates were not found guilty at the same time, because otherwise we'd have nothing left to eat but protein powder. In my opinion, though, there's nothing wrong with high-carbohydrate foods, as long as they are part of a balanced diet. In the following article, you'll learn about the difference between good and bad carbohydrates and how to incorporate a healthy amount of carbs into your diet.

Part of the impetus for my articles on fat and carbs was a desire to help people see that the real danger in our diets was not either of these macronutrients (people have been eating high-fat and high-carb foods forever, without a problem), but rather processed, artificial foods like hydrogenated oil and high-fructose corn syrup. These are the kinds of "foods" that lead to health problems in the long term. Sadly, real awareness of how we can eat in a way that supports a long, healthy and happy life is still lacking among the majority of Americans. My second article for this issue is actually a review of an article published in the New York Times, entitled "Your Money: More Advice Graduates Don't Want to Hear." The article is about how college students should save their money now so that they can pay for, among other things, inevitable health care costs in the future. Are young people already fated to be sick in their old age? Read on to get my opinion on how to make a true investment in your future health.

I publish this newsletter as a part of my private practice as a Holistic Health Counselor, in which I help people get healthier and happier by guiding them through positive diet and lifestyle changes. I work with my clients either over the phone or in person in individual six–month programs. I also lead group workshops and group programs, and work with schools, businesses and other communities to improve their overall health and wellness. I also give free health history consultations. If you'd like to spend about an hour talking with me about your goals for your health and life, simply send me an email!

Understanding Carbohydrates

As I mentioned in the introduction, carbohydrates are the current culprit for obesity. Back when the conventional wisdom dictated that fat, especially saturated fat, was bad for you, many food companies started to extensively promote low-fat foods such as pasta, cereal, crackers, chips and even pastries as the "healthy" alternatives to foods such as meat and dairy products. Because people were afraid of butter and cream, food companies avoided those ingredients. What did they add back in to keep their food products interesting? Usually it was sugar and white flour, both low in fat but high in carbohydrates. But even though they avoided fat, Americans didn't get any thinner.

One of the lone voices dissenting from the low-fat philosophy was Dr. Atkins, whose "Atkins diet" claimed that it was carbs, not fat, that made you fat. A few years ago, the Atkins theory, which was backed up by other low-carb diets like the South Beach diet, really caught on, such that carbohydrates are currently thought to be as bad as fat once was. Some alternative nutritionists now argue that we weren't even meant to eat starchy carbohydrate foods at all but should stick to our primal, hunter-gatherer origins and eat meat, berries and roots. What has been the result of all this theorizing? Food companies have jumped on the low-carb craze and come out with lots of low-carb foods, just like they did, and are still doing, with the low-fat craze.

As always, the goal of food companies (sometimes working in tandem with nutritionists and diet-book authors) is to convince you that you can only eat certain foods � that is, the ones that they produce and sell � and then get you to buy them. They argue that the foods made naturally � whether it's butter, or bread made from whole wheat � are not good enough, and need to be refined and then enriched or replaced entirely with artificial creations. In my opinion, however, there is nothing wrong with natural sources of fat or carbs; in fact, some of the healthiest foods are high-fat and high-carb foods. In the last article, we talked about natural, healthy sources of fat and how to include them in your diet. In this article, we'll talk about healthy, natural carbohydrates and how to get enough of them to stay full and satisfied without gaining weight.

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are molecules made up of the atoms carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Much of the food we eat consists of carbohydrates. Grains, including wheat, rice, corn, millet, buckwheat, barley and oats, are the most well known high-carbohydrate foods. However, fruits and vegetables are also made up mostly of carbohydrates, as are beans. In fact, one of the most ubiquitous carbohydrate foods, sugar, is derived from fruits and vegetables. Not all of these carbohydrate foods are identical, though; there are three distinct kinds. The first group of carbohydrates is sugars. Foods that are mostly made up of sugars include fruit, sweet vegetables, and the pure sugars derived from them, such as maple syrup, corn syrup, and cane sugar. The second group of carbohydrates is made up of starches. Whole grains, bread, beans, and potatoes are foods that are mostly starch. The third group of carbohydrates consists of foods that are mostly fiber, like green leafy vegetables. None of these foods are 100% sugar, starch, or fiber. However, it is possible to process foods down to that point. White sugar, also known as sucrose, is indeed pure sugar. It comes from sugarcane or from beets, which, while they contain sugar, also have some fiber and starch. You can also get fiber supplements at the store, but a high-fiber food, like collard greens, also has a little sugar and some starch in it, particularly in the stem. So don't make the error of thinking of a food as a "sugar" or a "starch"; most foods have some of each kind of carbohydrate.

The difference between these three groups is really only one of degree. Sugars, which include glucose (the kind of sugar in our blood), fructose (the kind of sugar that is in fruit), and sucrose (the aforementioned white sugar) are the simplest forms of carbohydrates. They are also known as monosaccharides and disaccharides. Monosaccharides can be absorbed into the blood without any metabolism necessary. Disaccharides have to be broken down into monosaccharides to be absorbed, but their metabolism is extremely quick. The more simple sugars a food contains, the more quickly we digest it and absorb it into our blood.

Starches are made up of long chains of glucose saccharides. For this reason the digestive system needs more time to metabolize them and absorb them into the blood. Starches, again, come from plant foods like grains, beans, squash and potatoes. These "complex carbohydrates," also known as polysaccharides, are created by plants as a way of storing glucose energy. Enzymes in the human digestive system break them down into disaccharides and then into monosaccharides.

The final category of carbohydrates, fiber, is also a polysaccharide, but so complex that it cannot be broken down by the human body. There are two kinds of fiber. Insoluble fiber passes directly through the intestines without being absorbed. Because it attracts water, it softens the stool, making bowel movements easier. The other kind of fiber, soluble fiber, ferments inside the large intestine and yields beneficial short-chain fatty acids. Most plant foods contain both soluble and insoluble fiber; beans, grains, fruits and vegetables all provide us with abundant fiber.

What are carbohydrates good for?

Because carbohydrates are easy for the body to metabolize and quickly absorb into the blood, they are an excellent source of energy (calories). Carbohydrates are to our body almost like gasoline is to a car. Following the development of agriculture and the subsequent growth of human populations, most people have depended on high-carbohydrate plant foods to get them through a physically intense workday. Since meat was traditionally not widely available, most people around the world for thousands of years depended on a combination of grains, beans and starchy vegetables like yams and potatoes to provide most of their sustenance, and ate highly prized meat and fat when they could get it.

What happens when we don't eat carbohydrates? The body still needs energy from glucose to function properly. If it doesn't have carbohydrates (the most efficient source of glucose), it will burn fat for energy. It will even break down muscle tissue and draw on protein stores if desperate. This process is known as ketosis. It's a way for us to survive even in periods of famine. Many low-carbohydrate diets make use of ketosis as a way to help people lose weight. In my opinion, though, starvation is not the best way for people to lose weight; a moderate diet with the right kind of carbohydrates is a much more sensible option.

Carbohydrates are not just important for providing us with energy to undergo physical activity. Glucose is also the fuel that the brain needs to function. If you starve yourself of carbohydrates, you can slow down your brain's ability to function properly and lose your ability to think clearly.

In sum, sugars and starches are important for keeping both your body and mind running. Fiber helps you to digest your food more easily and provides us with short-chain fatty acids that contribute to a number of important physical processes. Including some of all these kinds of carbohydrates in your diet is very important.

What kind of carbohydrates should I eat?

Many people are now cautious about carbohydrates because they're linked to weight gain. I grew up on a high-carbohydrate diet: the Macrobiotic diet. The diet is mostly whole grains, with a ton of vegetables, some fruit, and occasionally beans. Fat hardly ever puts in an appearance (except for a little sesame oil here and there), and protein is pretty low (you get some protein from combining grains and beans, but high-protein animal products are out). Everyone who goes on this high-carbohydrate diet loses weight like crazy, no matter how much food they eat (and sometimes it's a lot, because the diet is not very filling).

Why didn't macrobiotic people get fat on carbohydrates? It's because not all high-carbohydrate foods are alike. There are two kinds: carbohydrate foods that occur in nature, which contain not just carbohydrates but also vitamins and minerals; and carbohydrate foods that have been processed to the point where they are just pure sugar or starch. To understand what the difference means for your body, we'll have to talk a little more about food chemistry and what happens when you digest carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates start being metabolized in the mouth, when acted on by the salivary enzyme amylase. They are broken down into their simplest form, that of glucose monosaccharides, in the small intestine. Glucose molecules are small enough to be absorbed through the intestine into the blood, where they can be used for energy (a process called catabolism).

When we eat a natural, whole form of a carbohydrate food, such as brown rice, quinoa, black beans, carrots, onions, apples, bananas, etc., we digest not just pure carbohydrates, but also other compounds such as vitamins, minerals, other nutrients, and water. Natural foods like grains, fruits and vegetables are constituted such that all of their components combine for gentle and steady digestion, which results in a gradual, consistent flow of glucose into the blood and therefore a calm, steady energy level.

What kind of carbohydrates should I avoid?

Unfortunately, many people don't get their carbohydrates from whole, natural foods, but rather from refined, processed foods. The two kinds of carbohydrates that are in most processed foods are sugar, or high fructose corn syrup, and white flour. These two foods are pure sugar and pure starch, respectively. They constitute most cereals, breads, pastas, chips, candies, bagels, pastries and crackers. What happens when we eat these foods? Because they contain pure carbohydrates and little else, they are digested very rapidly. This means that our blood gets a flood of glucose all at once. Having high blood sugar levels gives us a lot of energy, but it's dangerous for your body's health. To keep blood sugar within safe levels, the pancreas secrete the hormone insulin, which stores glucose in the cells in the form of glycogen (a polysaccharide) and in the form of triglycerides (fatty acids). Responding to dangerously high blood sugar levels, the body overreacts and takes too much sugar out of the blood, leaving us fatigued and irritable. At this point we often reach for more pure sugar and white flour-containing foods, and the cycle begins again. If this happens too often, a person's insulin production can become exhausted, which is the condition known as diabetes.

Diabetes is not the only side effect of eating too much sugar and white flour, though; every time the body is flooded with too much pure sugar, it has to draw on its own nutrient stores to properly handle the sugar and remove it from the body. Since most foods that are high in sugar and white flour don't contain vitamins and minerals, then not only does the body use up its supply, but that supply doesn't get replenished! If our body doesn't have enough nutrients, it loses the ability to undergo its most basic functions. The immune system is weakened and can't protect us. The brain does not function as well, leading to depression, bipolar disorder, or other irrational behavior. Osteoporosis, tooth decay, and kidney damage can all occur as a result of mineral deficiency. Sugar and white flour create an over-acidic condition in the digestive system, leading to candida, acid reflux, and other digestive disorders. The list goes on.

What about weight gain? When sugar is removed from the blood via insulin, it is stored as triglycerides � fat molecules. Since most foods with white flour and sugar are low in density (they don't contain or water of fiber, and so are not very filling), it's easy to eat a lot of them � and since they're pure carbohydrates, they're very high in calories. Sugar and white flour are the real culprits for high triglycerides and hardening of the arteries. Not only do these simple carbohydrates get stored in our bodies as fat, making it very easy for us to gain weight, they make it very easy for us to succumb to a heart attack. Nevertheless, you'll be hard-pressed to find a bread product that contains 100% whole wheat flour, instead of white flour, or to find any food product at all that doesn't contain sugar, high fructose corn syrup or some other form of sugar.

A good way to distinguish between natural carbohydrate foods and processed ones is to refer to them as "complex carbs" and "simple" carbs. The former include whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables. Whole wheat flour is a complex carbohydrate because, even though the wheat has been ground into flour, the fiber and wheat germ have not been processed out. Fruit and vegetable juices, even though they have been processed a little (fiber has been removed), still contain a lot of water, vitamins and minerals.

Simple carbohydrates are white flour, sugar (in all its forms), and the foods made from these ingredients. You don't have to avoid them 100% of the time; in fact, how much you choose to eat simple carbohydrate-containing foods is up to you. But if you notice symptoms of fatigue, poor digestion or depression, if you have an erratic energy level, if you're gaining a lot of weight, or if you're at risk for heart disease � in fact, if you have any health concern at all � I suggest you reduce your intake of these foods and observe whether your health improves.

What if I like sugar and white flour?

Because of the high energy and mood boost they provide, sugar and white flour are tough to kick. A good place to start is to use more whole wheat flour and natural sweeteners (raw honey, barley malt, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, maple syrup and molasses). Here you have sugar and starch in a form that digests pretty quickly, but not so quickly that your blood is flooded with glucose. Whole grains, starchy vegetables and fruit are not as sweet as most processed foods, but you'll soon crave them for the balanced mood and energy they give you and you'll begin to notice their more subtle flavors.

Another group of foods you can eat to control your craving for simple carbs is the high-fat foods. Many of our cravings for pastries and pasta come from the fact that we've eliminated fat from our diets, and so we don't have a satisfying, long-lasting form of energy. Adding in more fat will actually make us more satisfied and cut down on the number of calories we eat in the end. Refer to the Understanding Fat article from last month for a guide to including fat in your diet.

5. Conclusion

Even though carbohydrates are healthy when found in whole, natural foods (in which condition they are known as "complex carbs"), they will cause weight gain and other health problems when eaten in the pure forms of white flour and sugar ("simple carbs"). I should point out that I don't completely abstain from simple carbs. If I'm actually going to be using the energy they provide, then they're not as bad. In the summer, when we need less food and prefer food that is less dense and heavy, more pasta and bread is okay. Let's not forget that sugar really is delicious, even though I've essentially accused it above of being America's No.1 killer. What's important is that if you eat some simple carbs, make sure that you also eat some highly nutritious foods like whole grains, fruits and vegetables. These will keep your system healthy and help your blood sugar stabilize. Sugar and white flour are still natural foods in the sense that they come from grains and vegetables (sugar is far, far better than artificial sweeteners that the human body cannot digest); they're just very extreme foods that can put your body out of balance. Making sure that your diet is balanced and that your intake of simple carbs is moderate is key for living a long, healthy life at your natural weight.

Review: "Your Money: More Advice Graduates Don't Want to Hear"

While scanning the New York Times, I came across the following financial advice column by Damon Darlin. In the column, Mr. Darlin writes about how we recent college graduates ought to save more money so that we're better off when it's time to retire. Most of the advice for saving, I found very sensible � buy used items, avoid solicitors and advertising, don't purchase high-tech products you don't really need, and, most importantly, don't borrow money for a depreciating asset. What struck me, though, was what Mr. Darlin predicted we'd need our savings for: out-of-pocket medical expenses. From the article:

"There may be another compelling reason to save and that is that while many aspects of retirement savings are predictable, the big unknowable is health care costs�projections based on the Health and Retirement Study , a survey of 22,000 Americans over the age of 50 sponsored by the National Institute on Aging found that by 2019, nearly a tenth of elderly retirees would be devoting more than half of their total income to out-of-pocket health expenses."

The professors and studies cited by Mr. Darlin take it for granted that when we're old, we're going to need extra money to pay for "wheelchair lifts, private nurses and a high-quality nursing home." In one particularly morbid example, a professor states that money is most useful when you're old because it makes all the difference whether you have to wait for a bus in the rain to get to the doctor's appointment or you ride in a cab.

I have no doubt that the research cited in this article is to be taken seriously. While on the one hand the average American life span is approaching 80 years, for many people, those final thirty years are spent struggling with debilitating health concerns. In this sense, the retirement period of life is not just about retirement from work, but also can entail a forced retirement from many enjoyable activities. Older people are more likely to have to deal with decreased mobility, arthritis, alzheimer's, cancer, strokes, digestive disorders, incontinence, osteoporosis, vision and hearing loss, and other concerns. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity can occur early on in life but can continue to have ramifications into old age.

The medical care that Mr. Darlin specifically refers to seems to take the form of helping the retired to persist through debilitating health concerns, rather than helping them either to recover from these concerns or to avoid such health problems in the first place. In other words, medical care enables us to live longer despite the fact that we're sick; it doesn't necessarily improve our quality of life. In my opinion, the onset of so many health concerns after the age of fifty is at least partly a result of poor diet and lifestyle. Although aging is a natural and essential part of life, it is not necessary that it involve losing your hearing, eyesight, mobility and memory, piece by piece. If we nourish ourselves properly with healthy food and a healthy amount of activity, then, although we might lose some stamina as we get older, we will be much less likely to suffer serious, chronic health concerns.

Mr. Darlin does acknowledge the importance of taking care of yourself at a young age in order to be healthy by the time you reach your retirement. He suggests losing weight, cooking for yourself, and also finding a partner and sticking with them. But missing from his article is the fact that all the health problems listed above are hastened by a diet low in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Spending time now to really learn how to eat a balanced diet that you enjoy will result not only in an immediate improvement in your energy and happiness, but it will give your body the nutrition it needs for a long and healthy life.

Many people don't turn seriously to a healthy lifestyle until they're already nearing retirement and at risk for disease. But young people are starting to develop an interest in how to be healthy now, not just because they want to feel good, but also because it is an incredibly wise investment in our health. Spending a little more now to eat better food, or to get some nutritional guidance, can ultimately save you tens of thousands of dollars, or more. Combine the money you've saved with the healthy body you'll have in retirement and you'll really be ready to enjoy those later decades!

Recipes

This issue, I decided to provide three recipes that combine together to make a complete meal. A basic balanced meal will have some fat, some carbohydrates, and some protein. It'll also have a good balance of colors, smells and tastes, and provide plenty of nutrition!

Fried Chicken

Fried foods are okay once in a while if you use good-quality oil. Always have plenty of vegetables with your meal to help you digest fried foods. Fried chicken is very filling and satisfying, and will keep you from being hungry between meals!

Directions: Dry out completely 2-3 slices of whole wheat bread by placing them in an oven at 200 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes. Crumble bread by placing in a Ziploc bag and beating with a mallet or crushing with a rolling pin. Mix breadcrumbs with two tablespoons of cornmeal and a teaspoon of paprika, as well as salt and pepper to taste.

Wash 1 � pounds of boneless chicken breasts and/or thighs, then pat dry. Coat each piece with whole wheat flour. Beat an egg and place in a bowl. Coat chicken pieces in egg and then in cornmeal/breadcrumb mixture. Transfer to a skillet with heated olive oil � inch deep. Fry on each side over medium low heat approximately 4 minutes; check the middle of each piece to make sure it is cooked through. Place on paper towels to dry. Season with some lemon juice.

Garlic Bread

Along with getting some carbohydrates and fat from this buttered bread and therefore some long-lasting energy, you're also ingesting some powerful healing compounds when you eat garlic, especially allicin, a sulfur-containing natural antibiotic that dissolves fat (helping you digest that chicken) and kills bad bacteria (aiding your immune system).

Ingredients:

4 slices whole wheat bread
6 cloves garlic
6 tablespoons butter
Basil, salt, and pepper to taste

Directions: Mince garlic and stir together with butter, basil, salt, and pepper until smooth and spread-able. Spread on bread, making sure to cover the entire surface of the bread. Turn on broiler. Place bread on a cookie sheet and place sheet in broiler. Check bread after 2-3 minutes; the garlic should be golden brown and the bread should be crispy around the edges. Bread is usually done in 3-4 minutes.

Mustard Greens with Corn, Leeks, and Bacon

Greens, though very healthy, are bitter and take some getting used to. If we add some fat in the form of bacon and a sweet flavor in the form of corn, the whole dish becomes much more balanced. This recipe is taken from the book Greens, Glorious Greens!

Ingredients:

1 pound mustard greens
2 to 3 bacon strips
2 teaspoons bacon drippings
1/2 cup thinly sliced leeks, white and light green part only
1 cup fresh corn kernels
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Wash the mustard greens and strip or cut leaves from the stalks. Discard the stalks. Roughly chop the leaves and set them aside. Broil or fry the bacon until cooked. Drain on paper towels, cool, and crumble. Set aside. Save two teaspoons of the fat.

Heat a large skillet that has a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat. Add bacon drippings and swirl to coat pan. Reduce heat of necessary to keep leeks from sticking to the pan. Add corn and cook over medium-high heat to brown slightly, about 2 minutes.

Add mustard greens, with the water still clinging to the leaves. Stir to coat with the oil, cover, and cook over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add additional water if necessary to prevent sticking. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and serve hot, garnished with the crumbled bacon.

Dessert: Fresh Strawberries

Directions: Rinse, then eat!

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July–August Newsletter

Cooking with Whole Foods

Nutritious Herbs and Spices

Looking Forward to that Cookie

Recipes

Introduction

Welcome to this month's newsletter! I'm only putting out one issue for the months of July and August because I've been busy with our upcoming move from Alexandria, VA to Gaithersburg, MD. Katy and I are very excited about our new apartment and we're looking forward to being closer to many of our friends and family!

In this issue I reemphasize the importance of home cooking. While it might seem like you don't have time to cook, cooking can be so enjoyable and relaxing and beneficial for your health that after you make it part of your regular routine you'll feel like you have more time and energy than you ever did before. The first article, Cooking with Whole Foods, explains how to substitute whole foods for processed foods in cooking from recipes. The second article, Nutritious Herbs and Spices, discusses the healing power of ten different popular herbs and spices. Vegetables and fruits have a good reputation due to their high vitamin and mineral content, but herbs and spices contain many beneficial compounds of their own that greatly improve your health in addition to adding flavor to a meal! Finally, I've written an article entitled Looking Forward to that Cookie. As you might guess, it's about acknowledging the difficulty of getting off junk food and explores how processed food might be helping us just as much as it hurts us. I hope you enjoy this newsletter and I'd love to hear your comments on it!

I publish this newsletter as a part of my private practice as a Holistic Health Counselor, in which I help people get healthier and happier by guiding them through positive diet and lifestyle changes. I work with my clients either over the phone or in person in individual six–month programs. I also lead group workshops and group programs, and work with schools, businesses and other communities to improve their overall health and wellness. I also give free health history consultations. If you'd like to spend about an hour talking with me about your goals for your health and life, simply send me an email!

Cooking with Whole Foods

Introduction

One of the biggest obstacles against eating healthier is learning how to cook. The meals you make yourself, where you can choose fresh ingredients and prepare food from scratch, are usually the healthiest. But home cooking has become rare in our culture, and has been supplanted by restaurant food, take–out food, and processed food from supermarkets. It's not just that we don't know how to cook; we're also too busy. There are two sacrifices we make when we cook less. One is that we're not as healthy, which ultimately leads to us not being able to live our lives and do what we're meant to do as much as we'd like. The second is that we lose out on one of the great pleasures of life. And by pleasure I don't just mean what we get out of a great taste and wonderful smells. There's also the pleasurable feeling you get when you've eaten food that heals and supports your mind and body, improving your mood and your energy.

Why does home cooking do this for us? Well, putting your own energy and personality into your food is already a step in the right direction, even if you're not using super–healthy ingredients. Cooking sends a message to your body that you're taking the time to feed it. This is not only a loving thing that you do for yourself but it also gets your body ready to digest food in a way that just ordering some fast food does not.

Cooking can be a great social and family activity, and it can be a therapeutic one as well. Cooking, like art, requires mindfulness. You have to be focused on what you're doing to make it come out right, but the smells and colors and anticipation all combine to make it a pleasurable experience.

Although it takes some time to learn how to cook, you end up saving a terrific amount of money in the process. Meals you buy cost far more than the ingredients they are made from. Basic ingredients like fruit, vegetables, grains, beans, and meat are very inexpensive when compared to takeout or boxed, processed food.

Most importantly, home cooking allows you to prepare your meals with fresh and healthy ingredients. Most processed foods are made with dozens of unpronounceable artificial and chemical ingredients that don't really belong in your body. You also don't know how fresh the natural ingredients used in them were. Nor do you really know about the quality of ingredients and the cleanliness of most restaurants or fast food places—or maybe you know more than you would like. In cooking for yourself, you have the opportunity to create a really healthy, balanced meal from fresh, natural ingredients, a meal that tastes better than anything you've ever bought.

Ingredients

Cooking turns ingredients into a form that can be consumed. There are definitely different levels of cooking. Even if you just boil some pasta and add a jar of tomato sauce—that's cooking. It's a big improvement over simply ordering pizza or Chinese food because you can at least read the ingredients. In the kind of cooking I recommend, to use the same example, you would go a step further and try making your own tomato sauce from scratch, using whatever ingredients you like (for me, that would be onions, garlic, pepper, basil and olive oil in addition to fresh tomatoes). One step beyond that would be making your own pasta. But, uh, unless cooking is also your full–time job, such an undertaking can probably be saved for special occasions.

In general, then, my recommendation is that you try to make from scratch as much of your food as you can while relying on just some knives, a cutting board, some pots and pans, and maybe a food processor. Do your best to bake your own desserts and cook your own meals 51 percent of the time, and you'll notice a huge improvement in your health and happiness.

Cooking with whole foods means having on hand the following ingredients: fresh vegetables, whole grains and whole grain flour, beans, nuts and seeds, meat (if you're a meat eater), dairy products like milk, butter, and cheese, eggs, natural sweeteners, fruit and dried fruit, and most importantly, herbs, spices and condiments. Healthy food without seasoning is just�bleh. In fact, it's not even that healthy; your body won't be able to work itself up to digest bland food.

Cooking

Cooking is vast art that incorporates many different ingredients and techniques. Huge cookbooks contain thousands of recipes and exhaust every last detail about food. I can't come close to reproducing that. But I do have some suggestions for incorporating whole foods into what you already know. Most cookbooks have recipes that use refined, processed, and prepackaged ingredients. Instead of tossing out the many good cookbooks we have because they don't rely exclusively on whole foods, we just perform some substitutions to make our recipes healthier. Below is a list of helpful steps you can take to improve the health and flavor of any recipe.

1. Use brown rice instead of white rice.

Even though it's becoming common knowledge that whole grains are much better for you than refined grains, many cookbooks still rely on white rice. White rice doesn't add any nutrients to your body, and worse, the nutrients you already have are used to digest it. Too much of this refined food and you can get malnourished. Worse, since it's not filling, you can eat way more calories than you need. Those calories are turned into extra fat. It's very easy to substitute brown rice; it just takes a little more water and a little more cooking time. See the recipe here for basic brown rice. If you are making something like a pilaf that requires the rice to be cooked with other things, and the recipe calls for white rice, you can half cook the brown rice (that is, get it to soak up half the amount of water needed for it to be done) and then use it in place of the white rice, just like your recipe says.

2. Substitute some whole wheat flour or other grain flours for white flour.

White flour has the same flaws as white rice. However, many baked goods need at least some white flour to maintain their texture. We usually take a recipe that calls for 100% white flour and make it 50% white, 50% whole wheat. Spelt flour and rye flour can also be used in place of whole wheat, and they provide some nice variety.

3. Use less sugar or use natural sweeteners

Many recipes that call for sugar call for a lot more than you actually need. When it comes to cookies or other baked goods, try removing a third of the sugar and see if you notice any difference—you probably won't. Sugar, like white flour and white rice, is an extreme food that can drive your blood sugar wild. Reduce the sugar and you'll have steadier energy levels after eating without sacrificing a sweet taste. You can also substitute liquid natural sweeteners for white sugar. Maple syrup, barley malt, brown rice syrup, molasses, honey, and agave nectar are all excellent natural sweeteners. Usually, the natural sweetener comes in a jar with directions on what proportions to use in substituting for sugar—but you may also just want to experiment and see what works for you!

4. Soak and add kombu to your beans first.

Beans are a healthy food and I recommend that you cook with them often, but the problem is that they are difficult to digest, and most cookbooks don't tell you how to prepare them so that they can be digested. Before you include beans in a recipe, first soak them for 4 to 8 hours or overnight. Soaking helps them release an indigestible compound called phytic acid; this is the compound that causes gas. Also include a strip of a sea vegetable called kombu (also called kelp) to beans as they cook; kombu furthers digestibility. Vinegar provides similar benefits as kombu, but add it near the end of cooking. Don't add salt until the beans are completely cooked, as salt hinders the cooking process. Try to reduce using canned beans, as they have a ton of added sodium (and they probably haven't been soaked to reduce phytic acid).

5. Use fresh vegetables instead of canned or frozen.

Fresh vegetables have incalculable advantages over their canned or frozen counterparts; they contain much more nutrition, provide better energy, taste better, and are brighter in color and more pleasant to look at. It might take a little more time to cook your own vegetables, but in turn they will provide you with the increased energy you need. In my opinion, it's not about how much time we have; it's about whether we have the energy to make efficient use of our time.

However, canned or frozen vegetables are better than no vegetables at all, and frozen are better than canned. Don't let this recommendation be an excuse for not making vegetables a solid part of your diet.

6. Use organic produce and grass–fed meat.

Good cooks use good quality ingredients. It's not possible to use organic meat, dairy and vegetables all the time because of the cost (cooking mostly with whole foods is a big step in itself), but the absence of chemical pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics and hormones in your food leads to a better feeling both during and after eating.

7. Add greens.

You can usually find good recipes for most other vegetables, but with the exception of broccoli and spinach, dark leafy green vegetables tend to get the shaft. Unfortunately, these greens are the foods that will probably make the single greatest difference in your health. So just cook them separately as a side dish and add them to whatever else you're doing. Kale, collard greens, mustard greens, bok choy, swiss chard, cabbage and arugula are all good choices. Just chop them up, lightly boil them and they are ready to serve.

8. Don't skim off the fat.

Many recipes advise using low–fat ingredients because they think that's what health–conscious people are looking for. However, reducing fat can actually be dangerous to your health—see my extensive article on fat. Recipes aren't just made better by including brown rice and greens—they're improved by making sure you have plenty of fat! So stick with whole milk, cream, real butter, cheese, etc., whenever you can; just try to get your dairy products from grass–fed cows. Usually, low–fat foods substitute sugar for fat, and since sugar is more addictive that it is satisfying, we end up eating far more calories worth of low–fat food than we did of high–fat foods, which makes us fatter and our hearts less healthy in the end. Also take a look at my article on omega-3s, a culprit in the indemnification of saturated fat.

9. Include a variety of flavors.

One reason why people resist healthy eating is because they think it's going to be bland. "Eating healthy" means no fat, no salt, no sugar, no spices, in other words, no flavor at all. You might as well be eating cardboard. However, the view that healthy cooking means leaving out flavor is just a popular misconception. Healthy eating is really all about balance. If you follow the above steps—that is, if you use whole grains instead of refined grains, natural sweeteners more than sugar, good quality meat and fat, and plenty of vegetables, then plenty of salt, spices and fat and sweeteners are the perfect complement. The only reason these things were ever given a bad name is because processed foods contain excessive amounts of poor quality fat and sugar (corn syrup, hydrogenated oil) and pure, mineral–free sodium. If you're cooking with whole foods, you absolutely ought to add flavor from healthy sources.

10. Keep it simple.

In popular media cooking is often looked at as something that is either done by a professional or as a hobby. But in my opinion, cooking is as natural to every family as working and sleeping. That means that cooking doesn't always have to be some gourmet delicacy with specialized ingredients. It's something that's straightforward, but eternally refreshing due to the endless simple variations that are possible. The animated movie Ratatouille, in addition to being funny and touching, has an excellent perspective on cooking. The main character is a rat living in the French countryside who has a natural talent for cooking. He refuses to just wolf down garbage like his friends and family. Eventually, he winds up in a famous French restaurant in Paris that is on the decline, and after befriending a garbage boy who works there he sets to work secretly improving their recipes. Plenty of complicated gourmet dishes are whipped up over the course of the movie. But what stands out is his appreciation for good food made from fresh, whole ingredients, and his willingness to experiment. Cooking takes some practice, and you're liable to mess things up when you don't follow the instructions. But if you're willing to try cooking for yourself, you'll soon reach a point where every meal increases not just your health but your happiness as well.

Nutritious Herbs and Spices

Including herbs and spices is vital for making your home–cooked food taste good. But there's more to it than that; herbs and spices contain some of the most powerful health benefits of all plant foods and are often used as medicine just as much as they are used for flavor. Below is a list of 10 of the most nutritious herbs and spices!

1. Cayenne Pepper contains a compound called capsaicin, which is responsible for its hot and spicy flavor. Capsaicin is a very powerful anti–inflammatory and can reduce pain from arthritis, psoriasis and other inflammatory conditions. The stimulating heat of capsaicin also induces sweating, breaks up congestion in the body, and helps you burn calories, so it's good for losing weight and eliminating toxins. Bright red cayenne also contains a high concentration of beta carotene, which supports the immune system. Include it in your cooking if you are often congested or have inflammatory pain. Use it to spice up beans, hot chocolate, saut�ed vegetables and bitter greens. Also mix with lemon juice to make the master cleanser.

2. Cinnamon, one of the most popular spices, is also one of the greatest medicines. Like cayenne, cinnamon is anti–inflammatory and helps break up blood clots. The "power compound" in cinnamon is its essential oil, cinnemaldehyde, which is anti–microbial; it kills bad bacteria and fungi such as Candida. Cinnamon is excellent for people with diabetes, as it reduces sugar cravings and triples insulin's ability to metabolize blood sugar. Finally, cinnamon makes you smarter! Studies have shown that the scent of cinnamon stimulates brain function, including memory and visual–motor speed. Cinnamon is excellent in baking, as it balances out the sugar of most desserts, and on hot breakfast cereals. It also goes well with ground meats and beans.

3. Cumin contains high amounts of iron, which is especially beneficial for menstruating women, and it improves digestion by stimulating the secretion of pancreatic enzymes. Like cayenne, it breaks up blood clots and reduces cholesterol in the blood. Cumin is also known to have anti–cancer properties, in that it neutralizes free radicals in the body and enhances the liver's detoxification capabilities. Cumin combined with black pepper and honey is reputed to be an aphrodisiac. It also goes well with black beans, guacamole, falafel, hummus and fish.

4. Garlic may be the strongest of all healing herbs. Its potent, pungent healing effects come from sulfur–based compounds known as thiosulfinates, of which the most notable is allicin. The superstition that garlic wards off vampires is symbolic of its ability to kill off bad bacteria and viruses. Garlic reduces blood pressure, eliminates free radicals, reduces plaques, and is perhaps the most powerful antioxidant, anti–inflammatory, anti–microbial, anti–viral natural substance you can eat. A clove of raw garlic can usually knock out any approaching sickness. Garlic also reduces your risk for cancer and promotes optimal overall health. When it comes to cooking, garlic is standard for improving the flavor of almost any dish, especially when combined with onions and olive oil. Good roasted with root vegetables and meat, cooked in soups, saut�ed with vegetables, toasted on bread, etc., etc.

5. Ginger, actually a root, is highly effective at reducing all forms of gastrointestinal distress, including cramps, stomachaches, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and even motion sickness and nausea. Ginger is yet another powerful anti–inflammatory that reduces arthritis pain, especially in the knees. It's also been shown to kill off ovarian cancer cells. Ginger boosts the immune system by producing heat that encourages the expunging of toxins through sweating. Grated ginger is excellent added to lemonade, rice and bean dishes, saut�ed or baked fish, baked goods (such as ginger cookies), and as a salad dressing with tamari, sesame oil and garlic.

6. Parsley,, like cinnamon, contains volatile oils that inhibit tumors and neutralize carcinogens; it also contains many antioxidant nutrients such as vitamins A and C. It helps reduce urinary infections and can be useful for breaking down and expelling gallstones and kidney stones. Parsley adds some spice to pesto and hummus; combined with garlic and lemon juice, it goes well with meat dishes. Its bright green color makes it an excellent garnish for soups and other dishes; just don't forget to eat it!

7. Rosemary just plain smells good, and its distinctive smell has the same memory–strengthening properties as cinnamon. One of rosemary's most distinctive health benefits is its ability to improve blood flow and circulation, especially to the brain, and is good for those with low blood pressure and any other circulatory weaknesses. It is also an anti–inflammatory agent and an antioxidant. Rosemary is great as a seasoning for roasted chicken, in omelets, added to tomato sauce, and to roasted vegetables.

8. Saffron, which has a cameo in the movie Ratatouille, inhibits the growth of tumors and it also stimulates T cells (immune system cells) to reproduce, thus supporting the immune system. It turns everything a golden yellow and is used in rice dishes such as paella.

9. Thyme's specialty is reducing disorders associated with the chest and lung area, and can reduce coughs, bronchitis, and congestion located in the chest. It also helps expel intestinal worms and destroys bacteria and fungi. It contains an essential oil, thymol, that is a strong antioxidant, and it is also high in iron, manganese and calcium. Thyme can be used in cooking pretty much just like rosemary, and is also especially good with poached fish.

10. Turmeric may be second only to garlic as one of the most powerful anti–inflammatory and anti–cancer seasonings. Add it to your food to reduce inflammatory pain, especially from inflammatory bowel disease, and to reduce the risk of cancer, strokes and heart disease. Its healing strength comes not just from its volatile oil, but the compound that gives it its orange–yellow pigment, which is known as curcumin. Curcumin is as powerful an anti–inflammatory as some over the counter drugs, but has no side effects (unless you count reducing or preventing chest pain, bruises, colic, menstrual difficulties, prostate cancer, leukemia, alzheimer's, and even inhibiting the spread of HIV. Wow!). Curcumin is pretty strong; you'll notice that everything cooked with turmeric becomes the color of turmeric. It goes well with eggs, brown rice, Indian foods such as lentils and cauliflower, and roast chicken.

Looking Forward to that Cookie

Do you ever feel like you read this newsletter just to find out how unhealthy you are? At the same as I'm writing about foods to eat and foods to avoid, I think it's important to acknowledge that for many people it's the "unhealthy" foods—like coffee, sugar, ice cream, processed junk food, even alcohol and cigarettes—that give them something to look forward to and help them get through the day. While being healthy is nice, if it means giving up the one thing that really helps you to handle life, then you're not going to want to do it. This is not just because these junk foods have highly addictive properties (they do). Processed junk food also creates balance in our lives, and balance is one of the most fundamental characteristics of health. If you stopped eating sugar, but still had to deal with all the stress of your life, what would you do? You would be unbalanced, building up tension without releasing it, and probably, you would explode in a bad way. So junk food is not really the problem—it's the solution. It helps us find balance.

The downside is that processed foods weaken the body and leave you vulnerable to serious sickness. They're also only a short–term solution; they make you feel better for a little while, but then once the effects wear off you feel even worse than before, and you need more (hence the addiction). Nevertheless, what I recommend is that you go ahead and embrace your junk food of choice. Don't let health and nutrition gurus make you feel bad about it. Junk food may have its disadvantages, but it serves a purpose. Feeling guilty about something you actually need in order to create balance in your life just unbalances you all over again and creates more stress. High–sugar, high–fat foods are meant to be enjoyed, so that's what you should do when you eat them.

There's still the nagging question of your health and energy—of how to break the cycle of eating junk that eventually makes you feel worse and makes you crave more junk. What I suggest is that you focus less on giving up your favorite foods and just experiment with including more healthy foods in your diet. They don't have to replace the junk food, but they can help neutralize the effect. For example, if you drink soda and coffee, that's fine—but try having some fruit juice or water first. You may have less appetite and less need for the junk food than you thought. Or, if you really want something deep–fried and covered in butter, go ahead and eat it, but eat some vegetables too.

What happens to my clients is that once they start adding foods to their diet that are healthier and more balanced, they start to prefer those foods to the food they were eating before; they lose their taste for the junk food. They expect a big struggle with giving up their sugary snack or potato chips, and then they realize they just don't want it any more. Once they develop a balanced diet that includes plenty of whole grains, vegetables, fat, natural sweeteners, and protein, they don't want to return to the cycle of a stress high, followed by a sugar high, followed by a sugar low, which leads to a stress high, etc. So, ultimately, my recommendation is this: stick to your junk food and continue to love it unconditionally, but make room for some more whole foods, and just see what happens. Don't be surprised if you end up looking forward to brown rice at the end of the day!

Recipes

Pesto Sauce

Place in the work bowl of a food processor:

2 handfuls of fresh basil leaves
1 handful of pine nuts
� to 1/3 cup parmesano reggiano
2 to 3 or 3 to 4 (for the brave) cloves of garlic

Process until smooth–ish (it will still be grainy). Drizzle olive oil through the lid dispenser while the food processor is running until a smooth and creamy consistency is achieved. Add salt to taste.

This sauce is excellent on fresh–cooked pasta, but it also serves as a great pizza topping (with sliced fresh tomatoes) in place of tomato pizza sauce. It's also great when spread on bread, especially as part of a mozzarella and chicken sandwich.

Stir–Fried Chinese Cabbage/Napa Cabbage with Ginger

Chinese cabbage, also called Napa cabbage, is a sweet Asian variety of cabbage that is a good alternative for those who want to include green vegetables in their diet but don't like a bitter taste. This recipe is from the excellent cookbook Greens Glorious Greens!

Ingredients:

1 small head Napa cabbage (6 to 7 cups, chopped)
1 carrot
3 scallions
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
Pinch of sea salt
1 handful cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions: Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters. Thinly slice each quarter on the diagonal. Cut the carrot on a sharp diagonal into rounds and chop each round into matchsticks. Thinly slice scallions on the diagonal.

Heat a wok or other deep frying pan over high heat. Add sesame oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the ginger and stir–fry for 30 seconds. Add the carrot and stir–fry for 1 minute. Add the cabbage and a pinch of salt. Stir–fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until the cabbage has wilted but is still crisp.

Remove frying pan from flame and toss in scallions and cilantro leaves. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the top. Serve immediately.

Fresh Peaches

Peaches are in season right now, so local peaches are at their juiciest and sweetest! Load up on peaches to get a sweet flavor along with plenty of nutrition during the summer. Peaches are good for the skin and are good at balancing hot, dry weather and dehydration (note: this does not mean you can drink less water).

Directions: Wash. Eat.

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September Newsletter

September Diet: The Vegetable Harvest

Explaining Yin and Yang

Autoimmune Diseases, Parts 1 and 2

Recipes

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to the September issue of my monthly health counseling newsletter. My wife and I now live in Gaithersburg, MD and will be holding some cooking classes and workshops at our home in the near future, so if you live nearby don't forget to check my website for upcoming events! This month's issue features an article on Eating in September, which will bring you up to date on all the wonderful foods being harvested this month and how you can plan your diet in accordance with the changing seasons. In conjunction with the article, my wife and I are holding a Vegetables Cooking Class in our home Sunday, September 30th; see the conclusion of the article for details. My second article, Explaining Yin and Yang, discusses this traditional concept of duality and how it can be used to balance your diet and lifestyle. The newsletter concludes with the first two parts of a comprehensive article titled Autoimmune Diseases: A Holistic Perspective, in which I argue that autoimmune diseases have their origin in a diet of processed foods. In the third and last part of the article, out in October, I outline a way for anyone with an autoimmune disease to get back into a state of health. This is a very relevant topic for today's world, and if you or anyone you know has an autoimmune disease I recommend that you pass the article on to them so that they can get the information they need.

I publish this newsletter as a part of my private practice as a Holistic Health Counselor, in which I help people get healthier and happier by guiding them through positive diet and lifestyle changes. I work with my clients either over the phone or in person in individual six–month programs. I also lead group workshops and group programs, and work with schools, businesses and other communities to improve their overall health and wellness. I also give free health history consultations. If you'd like to spend about an hour talking with me about your goals for your health and life, simply send me an email!

September Diet: The Vegetable Harvest

Every time the seasons change I like to remind everyone to change their diet accordingly. We're healthiest when we eat the foods that are being harvested in the present, and in the area where we live, whenever and wherever that may be. Currently, it's late summer, soon to be fall, and if we want to maintain our health and ward off illness, we should be eating late–summer fruits and vegetables like, well, almost every one you can think of. Along with August, September is the big harvest month in this part of the world, which means it's a good time to have a nutrient–rich, vegetable–heavy diet. When the cold part of the year sets in, you'll be glad you did! Most farmers' markets should have at least some of the following available: string beans, beets and beet greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, kale, lettuce, leeks, mesculn, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, radishes, scallions, spinach, summer squash, swiss chard, tomatoes and turnips. Blueberries, cantaloupes, peaches, plums, raspberries and watermelons should still be available, and apples are ready now.

Later in the year some vegetables will still be available, like winter squash and pumpkins, root vegetables such as turnips, beets, and carrots, and hardy leafy greens, but there won't be the same abundance there is today. Sure, you can go to the supermarket and get any vegetable you want, but it won't have been grown locally. Instead, it will have been flown hundreds of miles from a warmer part of the world to get to you, it won't be as fresh, and it will have used up a lot of fossil fuels along the way. In fact, it's my opinion that the widespread prejudice against vegetables partly stems from the fact that we don't eat them fresh, local and seasonal; instead, they're canned, frozen, or shipped halfway across the world. All these processes diminish the flavor and nutrition of vegetables, and they increase the likelihood that we'll eat them out of season, when our bodies aren't even expecting them.

Late summer is a short season and a time of transition; the fulcrum that balances summer and winter. It is a brief window where many different foods are harvested at once. In traditional Chinese medicine, this time of year is associated with the Earth element. The digestive system (stomach, spleen, pancreas) and female menstrual cycles are also associated with the Earth element, so this is a good time to bring those systems into balance. The foods associated with Earth, sweet vegetables, dairy products, and natural sweeteners, can make or break proper digestion and menstruation. The refined carbohydrates we consume, such as high fructose corn syrup, alcohol, and white flour, overwork the pancreas and create an over–acidic environment in the digestive tract; diabetes and acid reflux are among the consequences. Pasteurized milk with added hormones is often responsible for the severe cramps and extreme mood swings in menstruating women. At this time of year especially, do your best drink either organic or raw milk and to consume complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, the sweet vegetables being harvested now, and natural sweeteners like raw honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, barley malt, and molasses. You'll definitely have a much more peaceful transition to fall!

One major obstacle we run into when trying to include vegetables more is finding out ways to cook them. Vegetables, if cooked and seasoned properly, can be the most delicious part of your meal. Don't believe me? Well, this month I'm holding a Vegetables Cooking Class to support my claims. The class will be held Sunday, September 30th , from 3:00 to 4:30 PM, at our new apartment in Gaithersburg, MD. You'll learn to make dishes using every different kind of vegetable, including greens, root vegetables, squashes and cucumbers, and nightshades like tomatoes and potatoes. All this will be done using a variety of cooking methods including pickling, oven–frying, saut�ing and boiling in soups! Class is free, but please notify me if you plan on coming, and I'll send you directions.

What is Yin and Yang?

While we're on the topic of Chinese medicine and of balance, we have a good opportunity to discuss the concepts of Yin and Yang. Yin and yang is a system of complementary opposites; although they are antitheses of each other, they are not in conflict like, for example, good and evil. Rather, both are necessary in a healthy existence. The value of this concept is using it to balance your own life. Yin and yang can be applied to nature, lifestyle, and diet. The original terms mean essentially "shady" (yin) and "sunny" (yang). While it's hard to define them any more than that, yin is associated with darkness, nighttime, passivity, femininity, the moon, winter, negativity, coldness, receptivity, softness, grace, etc. Yang is the opposite—light, daytime, heat, summer, masculinity, positivity, aggression, growth, objectivity, hardness, etc. These distinctions apply to human activity as well. Most kinds of work, physical activity, and creation are considered yang. Sleep, rest, reading, and other passive behaviors are considered yin. Men and women are not exclusively yin or yang but contain some balance of each. The whole point of yin and yang is that one is not better than the other, but that they are perfectly equal and mutually dependent. Any time there is too much of one or the other, an imbalanced and unsustainable situation is created.

In American society, yang is emphasized much more than yin. Americans work long hours and take few vacations, and they usually work during their vacations. Our economy is based on constant growth and fears recession. In politics, an aggressive attitude is generally seen as the best. Sleeping, relaxing, reading, mediating, praying, and other passive or submissive activities are seen as ones that we "don't have time for." Since yang cannot exist without yin, though, yin still shows up where it can: in television or movie–watching, internet surfing, and drugs: cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, and hard drugs. Drugs are probably the most extreme of all yin substances—they help us to release all the tension built up during the day. However, because they are so extreme, they leave us worse off than before. They exhaust the body rather than soothe it. Not as serious as drugs, but similar to them, are very yin foods, especially sugar and sugary foods like candy, doughnuts, cookies, and ice cream. These foods relax us for the moment by flooding us with energy, but they mess up our blood sugar and put us on a yin–yang pendulum swing. To be healthy, you need to be in the middle of yin and yang—not swinging back and forth.

Many people who have uncontrollable cravings for sugar, snacks, coffee, and so on, would probably find those cravings reduced if they slept more, meditated more, and found other ways to relax. Another strategy is to try moderately yin foods like the aforementioned sweet vegetables and natural sweeteners. Note that one source of yin cravings can be too much yang food (highly salty snacks, deep–fried foods, excessive red meat). Simply observing and acknowledging your cravings and behavior as being guided by a need to create yin–yang balance can be very helpful in all areas of your life.

Autoimmune Diseases: A Holistic Perspective

Parts 1 and 2 out of 3

1. What Are Autoimmune Diseases?

An autoimmune disease is a condition where an organism fails to recognize one of own parts as belonging to itself. As a consequence of this failure, the organism's immune system moves to attack the part of the body mistakenly identified as a foreign substance. The immune system response is to send blood vessels, antibodies, and other healing agents to destroy the supposed pathogen and repair the damage. We're familiar with the swelling, redness, pain and heat that surrounds an infected bite, a cut, burn or other wound on our bodies—it's a process known as inflammation, and it signifies the action of the immune system. This type of inflammation is known as acute inflammation. But if the inflammation does not cease when the infection is healed, it can proceed to a cycle of cell destruction and attempts at repair known as chronic inflammation. During the process of an autoimmune disease, inflammation occurs on the part of the body that has been mistakenly identified as dangerous. As long as the body keeps getting the signal that a part of itself is bad, it will chronically continue to inflame the area, while simultaneously trying to repair itself. In some cases, this can lead to lesions—that is, abnormal cell tissue that has been permanently damaged—forming on the affected area. In most cases, the part of the body that has been attacked is unable to perform its job, which leads to totally separate health concerns.

Autoimmune diseases afflict 5 percent to 7 percent of Americans, or about 15 million people. The most common are Type 1 diabetes, Crohn's disease, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, most forms of hypothyroidism, and rheumatoid arthritis. Other diseases that are linked to autoimmune diseases are fibromyalgia, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and schizophrenia.

Generally, these diseases are treated with medications, and, if necessary, with surgery (in which the inflamed body part is removed, as if it's responsible for the problem). Scientists and doctors are generally agreed that no one yet knows what causes these kinds of diseases. They tend to show up without warning, and are found to be lifelong. Susceptibility to an AD is thought to be genetic, but not everyone in the same family comes down with one. There is, however, an AD that is linked to diet: Celiac. It is well understood that celiac disease is a condition in which the attempted digestion of wheat gluten triggers an autoimmune reaction: inflammation in the small intestine.

In this article, I make the argument that all autoimmune diseases are, like celiac, the result of problems digesting food. In my experience working with clients, the severity of autoimmune disorders (the term disease is, in fact, not really accurate; but I will continue to use it for convenience's sake) significantly decreases once the intake of indigestible foods decreases. What follows is my theoretical argument for why this happens. In part 3 of the article, to follow next month, I include specific recommendations for healing the major autoimmune diseases.

2. How Diet and Lifestyle Can Trigger Autoimmune Diseases

Some autoimmunity is a good thing, and occurs normally. This has been compared to young animals play–fighting—although they're on the same side, they practice on each other in the event of a real threat. However, severe, chronic autoimmunity is definitely not natural and not helpful to the body. How does it happen? In a healthy body, the immune system has a certain level of what is called immunological tolerance. This means that it can distinguish between what belongs in the body and what does not, and it "tolerates" what does belong. Only when there is a loss of this tolerance does the autoimmune disease occur. As I stated above, my opinion is that the loss of tolerance occurs when the level of indigestible food particles in the digestive system or elsewhere accumulates to an unsupportable level. The immune system reacts to destroy these particles wherever they may be accumulated, and in doing so can often destroy the organ or system where they are located through continued inflammation that occurs as a person continues to eat the same foods.

Everyone who eats food they have trouble digesting reacts to it according to their genetic heritage. Some people are born with a sensitivity towards having an autoimmune reaction; which autoimmune reaction also depends on their genetics. But while the sensitivity will always be there, the actual presence of the autoimmune disorder is conditioned by diet and lifestyle.

The human digestive system is designed to break down food into its constituent parts so that it can fulfill a variety of uses. Food provides carbohydrates and fat for energy, protein for tissue and cell growth and repair, and nutrients for many vital functions. These are the "macronutrients" we always hear about in mainstream nutrition: protein, carbs, fats, vitamins and minerals. What we rarely hear about are the equally important digestive enzymes and beneficial bacteria. Enzymes and bacteria are what make the digestive process actually happen. They break down food into its constituent parts and keep the intestines clean and healthy. Traditionally, people ate small amounts of raw, fermented foods on a regular basis; these foods had enzymes and bacteria aplenty. Now, it's not so common for us to eat those foods. But it's not just the absence of natural digestive aids that can lead to autoimmune disorders; it's also the introduction of many highly processed, hard–to–digest foods into our diet. In an ironic twist, many of these processed foods are the traditional raw or fermented foods that are now no longer raw or fermented. The situation is made even worse when you realize that these foods were raw or fermented for a reason: they were hard to digest otherwise. So what are the hard to digest foods?

Pasteurized dairy. I wrote an article on raw milk several months ago, which you can find here. To put it briefly, we are meant to consume milk in its raw state, as we have for thousands of years, in which state it is rich with beneficial bacteria, digestive enzymes (including lactase, missing in lactose intolerant people), and even white blood cells. Fermented raw milk products such as yogurt and cheese are equally good for us. In pasteurized milk, these beneficial components have been deliberately destroyed by heat. As a result, our digestive systems have to do the difficult work of digesting cow's milk sugar (lactose) and cow's milk protein (casein) all by themselves.

Unfermented wheat. Since wheat is one of the toughest of all grains, it is usually ground into flour to make bread. Traditionally, all leavened bread was sourdough, while unleavened bread was often made with wheat berries that had been sprouted before being ground into flour. Both of these traditional processes—fermenting and sprouting—made what more digestible. Fermented dough contains plentiful healthy bacteria that break down starches in bread prior to baking. Sprouting grains before grinding them into flour conveys similar advantages. During a grain's sprouting process, enzyme inhibitors are disabled, proteins are broken down into amino acids, carbohydrates into simple sugars, etc., all for the purpose of providing the now–growing plant with nutrition. It is part of the defensive mechanism of a grain to be indigestible if it has not yet sprouted, so that it has an opportunity to land in the earth and grow.

In modern times, wheat sprouting and fermenting are cast aside by large food companies in favor of artificial processing methods that emphasize efficiency over digestibility. Almost all bread products are made with white flour, which has a longer shelf life than whole wheat, but is all un–germinated starch and gluten, and lacks the nutrients that aid digestion.

Unfermented soybeans. All beans contain compounds that are difficult for us to metabolize and digest, which is why they can cause gas. Soaking beans and cooking them with kombu, a sea vegetable, is usually sufficient to break down the tough compounds. Soybeans, however, are probably the toughest of all beans and usually need to be fermented in order to be digested. Soybeans were traditionally consumed in Asia, where they were fermented with bacteria to produce such products as tempeh, miso, and tamari (soy sauce). These fermented bean products contained the necessary digestive enzymes to be tolerated by our digestive systems. But modern food manufacturers put soy products—such as soybean oil, soy lecithin, soy flour, soy protein isolate, and whole soybeans—into almost every processed food, without first properly soaking and fermenting the soybeans.

Rancid vegetable oil. As a result of the anti–saturated fat trend, food manufacturers use vegetable oil, such as the above–mentioned soybean oil, as well as cottonseed oil, safflower oil, and others, in almost every processed and fast food. They are also used to make margarine, a saturated fat substitute. Because these oils are not saturated, they are sensitive to light and heat and can go rancid quickly. Rancid oils contain free radicals, which destabilize cells in the body. Margarine is made from vegetable oil that is not only rancid, but "hydrogenated"—forced to undergo a chemical process that makes it solid, like butter, but also makes into indigestible "trans fat."

Chemicals and toxins. Many of the commercial foods we buy contain artificial ingredients as well as natural ones. Milk contains antibiotics and artificial hormones. Bread is leavened with "bread improver," a combination of chemical compounds (including sodium metabisulfate, hydrochloride, and ammonium chloride, and formerly a carcinogen, potassium bromate). Many artificial ingredients are added to bread to increase its shelf life. Soybeans and hydrogenated oils are treated with many chemical agents during processing. Non–organic processed foods have all been sprayed with artificial fertilizers and pesticides, and nitrites and nitrates have been used to preserve them. The human digestive system may not be capable of breaking down these many artificial compounds. Food manufacturers claim they are digested without trouble, but few, if any studies are done to support such claims.

When science does turn its attention to the effects on the human body of synthetic compounds such as fake butter in microwave popcorn or artificial colorings and preservatives, it usually finds that those products are dangerous. No study has been done to observe whether the above listed hard–to–digest foods are linked to autoimmune diseases. However, that connection is borne out both in theory and in experience. Theoretically speaking, it is plausible that an autoimmune disease is the result of the human body trying to defend itself from a critical mass of indigestible compounds that have accumulated in the digestive system and elsewhere (depending on where such indigestible food is stored by the body). Genetic differences account for why some of us develop autoimmune diseases, while others experience depression, fibromyalgia, psoriasis and other skin conditions, chronic fatigue syndrome, constipation, migraines, and other health concerns related to poor digestion. The departure of natural fermentation from our food processing methods and its replacement with pasteurization, artificial leavening, and chemical processing has created a perfect storm for the weakening of our digestive systems.

Fortunately, there is hope. Just as we damage our digestive systems through our diet, we can restore them to health by eating the right foods. In the interest of being comprehensive, I've written specific recommendations for each autoimmune disease, but due to considerations of length I will save that final part of this article for next month's newsletter. However, if you have a particular interest in this subject, contact me and I will send you the rest of the article along with doing my best to answer any questions you may have.

Recipes

Ratatouille

This French vegetable stew was the featured dish in the eponymous animated movie, but their recipe was far too gourmet to be included in a homely newsletter like this one. The easy–to–follow directions below will yield a great summer side dish that's delicious and filling. The vegetables should all be sliced into approximately equally–sized pieces. Note: a food processor makes slicing and pureeing much easier.

3 to 4 medium tomatoes, pureed
� a large eggplant, quartered and thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, halved and thinly sliced
1 medium yellow summer squash, quartered on the large end and halved on the small end, and thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, quartered and sliced
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
Dried parsley, thyme, and basil
Dash of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir together pureed tomatoes, onions, garlic, and some of the herbs. Spread mixture along the bottom of a 13�x9� pan. Toss the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and pepper and pour over the tomato mixture (don't worry about laying it out piece by piece. Remember, we're not going with the gourmet version). Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with remaining herbs (the more the better—as many as two teaspoons total), plus salt and pepper to taste. Cover and bake until vegetables are tender, about 50 minutes.

Pickled Cucumbers with Dill

Raw pickles, made from raw vegetables mixed with salt and kept under pressure for months at a time, contain healthy bacteria and digestive enzymes that can really improve your health. Learning to make pickles in this way is time–consuming, however, and buying raw pickles is expensive. A quick way to get at least the digestive enzymes is to add good quality vinegar to raw vegetables and store in the refrigerator; you can have a small serving of the pickle with lunch and dinner. It only gets better tasting over time!

Ingredients:

2 medium cucumbers, cut lengthwise and chopped into half–moon slivers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Sea Salt to taste
Organic brown rice vinegar to taste

Stir together cucumbers, garlic and dill and add salt and vinegar until the pickle tastes strongly salty and sour. Place in a glass jar with a lid and store in the refrigerator. Keeps for several weeks. Feel free to double or triple the recipe, depending on how much jar space you have, and how many cucumbers you have to use up! Other vegetables can also be "quick–pickled" in this way, but it's best to briefly boil them first so that they are soft enough to absorb some vinegar.

Oven Fries

Ever thought that being healthy meant giving up the crusty, oil–soaked goodness of French fries? Actually, both oil and potatoes are quite good for you. But since fast food joints fry their fries in unstable vegetable oil, the oil goes totally rancid over the course of the day, and that's not good. If kitchens went back to frying their fries in all–natural lard, we'd be okay, but they won't in the near future, because of the prejudice against saturated fat (and because all–natural lard is hard to find). The best compromise is to make your own fries in your own good–quality oil. But since deep frying equipment and good quality oil are both expensive, make your fries in the oven. Amazingly, this recipe from the excellent magazine Cook's Illustrated produces fries that are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and sufficiently oily, despite being baked in the oven and only calling for a small amount of oil.

Ingredients:

3 lbs Russet potatoes, rinsed and scrubbed clean
5 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice potatoes into � inch wedges and soak them in a bowl of very hot tap water for 10 minutes (DO NOT omit this step!). Drain water and thoroughly dry fries with paper towels. Toss the potatoes with one tablespoon olive oil. Set aside momentarily. Spread the other 4 tablespoons of olive oil on a large, heavy–duty baking sheet with sides. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the pan and spread the potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake, covered, for 5 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 15 minutes, until fries start to brown. Use a spatula to flip the fries over, keeping them in a single layer, and bake for 10󈝻 more minutes, until evenly brown. Put fries into a bowl layered with paper towels, add more salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

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October Newsletter

Autoimmune Diseases, Part 3

Recipes

Introduction

This month's newsletter includes the third and final part of my autoimmune diseases article, which focuses on how you can change your diet and lifestyle to begin healing your disease. Originally the article focused just on diet, but I was reminded over the last month how stress can be an even bigger factor in triggering an autoimmune disease. Finding a way to be comfortable with the sources of stress in your life can be your most important step for health. Note: if you did not receive the first two parts of the article, email me and I will send them along to you.

Also included in this issue is an excellent recipe to get you through the colder months: cottage pie! Also known as shepherd's pie when lamb is the main ingredient, this pie is a warming mixture of beef, potatoes and nutritious vegetables.

I publish this newsletter as a part of my private practice as a Holistic Health Counselor, in which I help people get healthier and happier by guiding them through positive diet and lifestyle changes. I work with my clients either over the phone or in person in individual six–month programs. I also lead group workshops and group programs, and work with schools, businesses and other communities to improve their overall health and wellness. I also give free health history consultations. If you'd like to spend about an hour talking with me about your goals for your health and life, simply send me an email!

Autoimmune Diseases: A Holistic Perspective

Part 3

3. Remedies for Autoimmune Diseases

Doctors generally tell their patients that autoimmune diseases cannot be cured; the best thing the patient can do is spend the rest of their lives taking medications to reduce their symptoms. Conventional treatments include: immunosuppressive drugs, which partially prevent the immune system from reacting to the buildup of indigestible food, but also can prevent it from reacting to infections, and can interfere with other medicines and weaken the liver and kidneys; and steroids, which reduce the inflammation caused by the immune system, but cause problems such as weight gain, osteoporosis, adrenal exhaustion and hyperglycemia. There are also some non–steroidal synthetic anti–inflammatories which can cause rectal bleeding, nausea and diarrhea. Finally, there are remedies specific to individual autoimmune concerns—such as insulin shots for type 1 diabetes, and thyroid tablets for hypothyroidism.

Doctors are correct in saying an autoimmune disease cannot be cured, insofar as an autoimmune disease is not really a disease at all, but a reaction to foreign substances in the body. Anyone with such a disorder will be always be more sensitive than the rest of us to foods that are hard to digest. Since such foods don't even taste as good as their more natural counterparts, this is not such a terrible fate. However, the symptoms of autoimmune diseases are often terribly debilitating, since the part of the body that is attacked by the immune system, whether it is the pancreas, the intestines, the nervous system, or any other, can be severely damaged. The recommendations below are for reducing the autoimmune response and for healing the part of the body that is attacked by the immune system.

Generally speaking, anyone with an autoimmune disease should try to avoid the above–mentioned hard–to–digest foods, the ones which cause the autoimmune response—we could call them the "inflammatory" foods. This means replacing pasteurized milk with raw whole milk, commercial white bread with all–natural whole wheat bread (sourdough if possible), margarine with real butter, and conventional foods with organic. Many of these healthier foods are either hard to come by or they cost more than their counterparts. However, they make such a noticeable difference in health that it is always worth the extra cost and effort expended.

The most important foods to add into one's diet are raw, fermented foods. These foods contain the beneficial bacteria and digestive enzymes that are needed to clean up the digestive system and start breaking down the compounds that are causing the inflammatory response. These foods include pure bacteria (probiotics, taken in tablet form), raw sauerkraut, yogurt, raw cheese, raw milk, Asian fermented foods such as tempeh, miso, tamari soy sauce, and umeboshi paste, raw and organic vinegar, and a Korean pickled vegetable condiment called kimchi. Eating some of these foods on a daily basis will start bringing your body back to a state of health.

A second important group of foods to add are leafy green vegetables, which are the highest in nutrients of all green vegetables and are also very high in fiber. These vegetables will provide the digestive system with much needed nutrition for processing food, and the fiber in them will make for easier bowel movements.

The third important group of foods for everyone to add are anti–inflammatory foods. While they won't necessarily clean up the digestive system, they provide a natural way to reduce pain and inflammation while you're in the process of healing. They include fish, cod liver oil, grass–fed meat and eggs, flax seeds, walnuts, and other foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids; and herbs and spices such as cayenne pepper, Echinacea, ginger, goldenseal, and turmeric. In what follows, you'll read about ways to address each individual major autoimmune disease.

Spleen/Pancreas disorders—Diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is where the immune system inflames the pancreas, killing off the cells that produce insulin. The resulting symptom is hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), which can lead to death if not treated. Conventional treatment consists of insulin shots and careful blood sugar monitoring; no attempt is made to help the pancreas retain its function. In addition to the above recommendations, eliminate refined carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour, as these require more insulin to process, and replace them with sweet, complex carbohydrates that contain the minerals necessary to regulate blood sugar. These include natural sweeteners, whole grains (especially oats and sweet brown rice), carrots, squash, parsnips, pumpkin, turnips, radishes, sweet potatoes, chickpeas and black beans. Pungent vegetables and spices such as onions, leeks, black pepper, ginger, garlic and nutmeg stimulate the pancreas to heal, and cinnamon triples insulin efficiency. Sour fruits such as grapefruit and lemons in particular reduce blood sugar levels. Whole grains have the minerals that regulate blood sugar levels (chromium, zinc, silicon, manganese). Were it easier to find, I would also recommend organic, grass–fed beef or pork pancreas—one of the best ways to heal an organ is to eat that same organ from another animal.

Stomach–intestines disorders—Crohn's, Celiac, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ulcerative Colitis. Autoimmune inflammation is most common in the digestive system because that is where undigested food typically accumulates. Surgery is sometimes needed because the inflammatory response happens without warning and can be severe enough to destroy parts of the intestine. In addition to following the recommendations above, and avoiding the inflammatory foods, adopt a diet of very soft cooked, watery foods and soups such as chicken soup, miso soup, soft cooked whole grain porridge, cooked carbohydrate vegetables like carrots, squash, cabbage and other complex carbohydrates listed above for diabetes. Organic yogurt mixed with honey and bananas is a good sweet food. In cases of celiac, since the immune system may now be conditioned to still react negatively to sprouted and fermented wheat, choose non–glutinous grains such as rice, millet, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, and oats.

Tendon and nervous system disorders: Rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Both of these disorders are the result of what in Chinese traditional medicine is called Liver wind, and probably an autoimmune reaction due to toxins in the liver. The "wind" concept refers to the loss of mobility that is a consequence of the immune reaction—which in the one case attacks the joints and tendons, in the other the myelin sheath that covers the cells of the nervous systems. In each case the body has a chance to heal, but the autoimmune reaction must be stopped and therefore the inciting substance eliminated. This is especially true in the case of MS, where there is a natural repair process for the nervous system called remyelination; if the inflammation ceases the healing can begin. Follow the general recommendations above, but also eat foods to cleanse the liver, including organic animal liver, sour foods such as lemons, limes, grapefruits, vinegar and pickles, berries, celery, basil, sage, ginger, oats and radishes. Try to avoid alcohol, refined sugar, and coffee, as these foods create mineral deficiencies that worsen arthritis; to re–mineralize, emphasize green vegetables, sea vegetables, miso soup, and cold–water fish such as sardines and salmon. At night, drink a glass of the Master Cleanser.

Thyroid disorders: Hypothyroidism. This is a disorder where the immune system inflames the thyroid gland such that the thyroid cannot produce sufficient thyroid hormones. Common symptoms include fatigue, weight gain, headaches, anemia, acne, psoriasis, and menstrual disorders. The multiple concerns that arise are a consequence of the many functions that thyroid hormones fulfill, but particularly blood flow and oxygen utilization. Conventional treatment is to introduce thyroid tablets to the body. In addition to reducing processed foods, introduce sea vegetables to your diet, as they contain high amounts of iodine, which improves thyroid function, as part of a balance of other minerals. Garlic, radishes, eggs, whole grains, mushrooms and sprouted seeds and beans are all said to help.

To sum up, there are three strategies for healing your autoimmune disease: first, eliminate the provocative food—typically an unnaturally processed food or an artificial ingredient. Second, add foods that aid digestion. These are foods high in beneficial bacteria, digestive enzymes, fiber, vitamins and minerals—they will help your body break down the compounds that are causing problems and flush them out. Finally, add foods that heal the inflamed part of the body. Whether it's the thyroid, the nervous system, the pancreas, etc., each area of the body that is inflamed needs to be healed. Specific foods help heal each of these parts of the body, so include them in your diet as often as you can, and you will reap the benefits of this mild, but effective medicine.

Based on my research in this area, and on my experience in working with clients suffering from Crohn's, Type 1 diabetes, and irritable bowel syndrome, I have seen that someone with an autoimmune disease can, by changing their diet, greatly reduce their symptoms, decrease their medication, and experience overall positive changes in energy, mood and fitness, not to mention the freedom that comes from having your health back. If you know someone who suffers from one of the above concerns, pass this article on to them or put them in touch with me. We all have the chance to feel great, rather than sick, on our food; all that's necessary is to get the message out there.

Addendum on Stress

This article has focused on a dietary approach for healing autoimmune diseases. However, it's important to remember that one of the most common triggers for an autoimmune flare–up is stress. The immune system is set up to protect us from harm, and stress sends a message to the immune system that we are in danger and need help. For this reason, if you have a genetic sensitivity to autoimmune disorders, then even if you eat properly, stress can still trigger or prolong autoimmune symptoms. Equally important to improving your diet is healing any emotional or spiritual wounds that you suffer from. Your inflammation will probably continue as long as the stressful situation remains unresolved. Often dealing with stress can be more of a challenge than just changing the food that you eat. However, it can also make even more of a positive difference. Aim for not just physical health, but holistic health!

Recipes

Cottage (Shepherd's) Pie (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

This recipe has two parts. The first tells you how to make the mashed potato mixture, the second explains the meat filling that goes underneath. First start the potatoes boiling, then move on to the second part of the recipe. Finish mashing the potatoes while the meat and vegetables are cooling off.

Mashed Potatoes:

� lbs. potatoes (red are best), peeled, quartered and well rinsed
1 tbs. butter
� cup milk
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Place potatoes in a large pot of cold water on medium heat. Boil until tender (about 15 minutes). Drain potatoes and mash them. Add butter, milk, salt and pepper, and beat with either a spoon or electric mixture until fluffy.

Meat & vegetables:

1 medium onion
2 carrots
� daikon radish
1 celery stick
2 to 3 gloves of garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef or lamb
1 tbs. flour
� cup beef stock, vegetable stock, or water
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. rosemary
1 pinch nutmeg
Salt and black pepper to taste

While potatoes are boiling, chop vegetables and garlic and cook in olive oil over medium low heat, stirring, until softened, about 15 minutes. Add 1 pound raw ground beef or ground lamb. Break up meat into bite sized pieces with spatula or spoon and cook, stirring, for another 10 minutes. Add 1 tbs. flour, cook and stir for another 2 minutes. Add � cup beef or vegetable stock or water, as well as 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme and dried rosemary and a pinch of ground nutmeg. Also add salt and ground black pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the broth thickens a little (about 5 minutes). Take off heat and allow to cool while preparing mashed potatoes. When potatoes are mashed and whipped, place meat mixture in a 8x8 baking dish or 9 inch round cake pan. Spread mashed potatoes over the top of the meat, and on top of the potatoes, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cold butter, cut into small pieces. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, until potatoes are browned. Let cool slightly, then serve directly from the baking dish.

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November Newsletter

Thanksgiving Weight Loss Tips

Recipes

Introduction

This Thanksgiving, many people will be taking a welcome break from work or school in order to spend time with family and friends, and to enjoy an extensive home–cooked meal. The holiday has become more special over the years as it becomes rarer for families to make a regular practice of sitting down together for a homemade dinner. Such an activity is thought of as a "Thanksgiving tradition," rather than just as a daily tradition. As a result, I've been reading about the many food industry–sponsored "Thanksgiving hotlines" that you can call to get tips on roasting turkeys, making cranberry sauce, baking pumpkin pie, etc. We're out of practice when it comes to cooking and need special assistance.

You might get the impression from reading food and health sections in your newspaper that it's actually better this way. After all, the Thanksgiving meal is reputed to be the start of the annual holiday season weight gain. Imagine if we ate those home–cooked meals every day, they say—we'd all be obese! Consequently, they give us a lot of tips out there on how to get through the Thanksgiving meal without packing on any more pounds. These tips might sound familiar. For example: Eat low fat (cut out the turkey skin, choose the white meat, use less gravy and butter, use low–fat milk in mashed potatoes). Arrive at the table full (eat between meals so you don't overeat during dinner). Eat low–carb too by choosing a reduced–carb bread for stuffing. Just use willpower to eat less. You might not enjoy your dinner as much, but it's worth it, right?

As you might have guessed, I completely disagree with the perception of the Thanksgiving meal being a weight–gain risk. But to be fair, I think there is some good advice mixed in with the bad in the mainstream media. So, I've prepared my own list to clarify the best way to get through Thanksgiving without gaining weight (physical and mental) that you don't need. Enjoy your holiday!

Thanksgiving Weight Loss Tips

1. Eat high–fat. Fat may have calories, but it's also very filling. There's a limit to how much of it you can eat before you feel full. In fact, if you eat some foods containing fat, you may end up consuming fewer calories overall, because you won't be as hungry later. So, if you're going to have a turkey, go ahead and eat the skin, the dark meat, and the gravy, and if you eat dairy, use whole milk and cream in your cooking. See my article on Understanding Fat for more on this subject.

2. Look for an organic, free–range turkey. If you eat meat and poultry, it's important that it come from a healthy animal. Most turkeys are raised on "factory" farms where they're crammed into small cages with hardly room to turn around. These animals, which don't get their exercise, are fed on corn and soybeans instead of their natural diet. Because they're sick, weak, stressed out, and overfed, they're given lots of antibiotics to keep them going. It's cheaper to raise turkeys this way, but it's not very humane or healthy. Free–range turkeys are much less prone to sickness and more likely to eat their natural diet (which includes plants and insects), which means that they have a healthier fat profile. You also don't have to overcook them out of fear of bacteria! See my article on Animal Products for more information.

Organic turkeys can be more expensive because they're farmed on a small scale, so it may not be feasible for you to get one. However, if you can make room in your budget, it's definitely worth the extra cost.

3. Include plenty of vegetables. It's not just what you don't eat, it's what you do eat that counts. Vegetables contain fiber and natural compounds that help us to burn and break down fat. Onions, garlic, greens, green beans, celery, daikon radish, leeks, cabbage, etc., are all great vegetables that can serve this purpose. Save some of your vegetables for the end of your meal, because that way they can help break down the heavier food you ate first.

4. Complex carbohydrates over simple ones. Simple carbs include white flour, corn syrup, and sugar, and products with these ingredients. Complex carbs include whole grains like brown rice, whole wheat, cornmeal, quinoa, millet, barley and buckwheat. They also include sweet vegetables like sweet potatoes, winter squash, carrots, beets, parsnips and turnips. Potatoes are complex carbohydrates too, but not quite as nutritious as the sweet vegetables. Complex carbohydrates are more filling, digest more slowly, and give you steady energy. Simple carbs get absorbed into the blood all at once, are stored as fat, and leave you hungry for more. Try using whole grain bread or real whole grains for stuffing (see recipe below), and include a side dish or two with naturally sweet vegetables.

5. Don't use processed foods that have added sugars; instead, make your own dishes. Most simple carbs and other processed ingredients come in pre–made food like stuffing or pumpkin pie mixes. This is where the real weight gain comes in. Food companies process foods to make them less filling and more addictive, deliberately guiding you towards overeating. Whenever you can, make food from scratch using real, natural ingredients. See my article on What is Processed Food? to learn more.

6. Don't eat between lunch and dinner. Or breakfast and dinner, depending how soon you're eating the main meal. Most people gain weight by snacking in between meals. That's when we're most likely to eat processed foods, and to eat a lot of calories without realizing it. Wait to eat until you're sitting down to a balanced dinner that includes something from every food group. Trying to fill up before dinner is the worst thing you could do—the homemade, balanced meal is what you want to save yourself for! You won't overeat at dinnertime, even if you're hungry, because you'll be eating food that's truly filling.

7. Chew, eat slowly, and enjoy your food. Sometimes it's hard to tell when we're full. So eat slowly and enjoy every bite. The more you chew, the less work the rest of your digestive system has to do, and you will get more nutrients out of your food (this means you'll actually benefit from what you're eating). By going slow, you'll give your body a chance to tune in to whether it's full or not. If you really savor your food, you'll get the important taste satisfaction—without it, you may keep eating whether you're hungry or not.

The above is my challenge to those who claim that the one time you sit down to dinner with your family over a home–cooked meal is when you're going to gain weight. Nonsense! It's only when processed foods and snacks take predominance over the actual Thanksgiving meal that the weight gain starts. So, instead of trying to cut down on the main dinner, indulge in that and cut down on everything else. You'll feel fuller and be lighter at the same time!

Recipes

Cornbread Stuffing

Stuffing is one of the dishes where processed carbohydrates can easily sneak in, since most people either use store–bought bread or a packaged stuffing. This stuffing recipe (adapted from the Joy of Cooking) uses homemade cornbread made from whole cornmeal. The advantage of cornbread stuffing is that cornbread is super fast and easy to make compared to whole wheat bread! Makes 8 servings.

You can make the stuffing up the day before, but if you do, then save the final baking for Thanksgiving day.

Cornbread

Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl:

1� cup stone ground cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

In another bowl, whisk until foamy:

2 large eggs

Whisk in:

2 cups buttermilk

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and whisk until just blended. Take a 9 inch cast–iron skillet or 8x8 inch glass baking pan and place 1 tablespoon of baking fat or butter in the pan, and put the pan in an oven preheated to 450 degrees, until the fat smokes. Take the pan out and pour the batter in all at once, and bake until the top is brown and the center feels firm when pressed (20 to 25 minutes).

Cornbread Stuffing

Cut cornbread into bite–sized cubes and put them in a large bowl. Set aside. Heat in a large skillet, over medium–high heat, until foam subsides, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter. Add and cook, stirring, until tender (about 5 minutes):

2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
2 to 4 cloves minced garlic

Remove from heat and stir in:

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. dried thyme
3/4 to 1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Add to bowl with cornbread cubes and add 1/2 to 1cup raw cashews. Toss everything until well combined, and stir in 3/4 to 1 cup chicken stock and 1 large egg. Turn into a large, shallow, buttered baking dish. At this point, you can cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for the next day. For the final baking, preheat the oven to 350. Bake until stuffing is heated through, 30 to 40 minutes.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes, as I mentioned above, are a healthy complex carbohydrate. But most recipes call for covering them with corn syrup, excessive sugar, or marshmallows, which are all simple carbs. This recipe (also adapted from that excellent resource, the Joy of Cooking) uses maple syrup instead to achieve a result that's both sweet and satisfying. As with the stuffing, you can save the final baking until the day of the meal, when both stuffing and sweet potatoes can bake in the lower shelf of the oven for the last 40 minutes that the turkey is roasting. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Boil 3 lbs scrubbed sweet potatoes until nearly tender when pierced with a knife, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let stand until cool enough to handle. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13x9 inch baking dish. Peel, then chop the potatoes into bite–sized cubes. Spread in the baking dish. Season with:

Salt and pepper to taste
3 to 4 tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces
� cup maple syrup

Toss briefly to evenly distribute syrup. Add 1/3 cup water, then cover and bake until well glazed and very soft, about 40 minutes.

Kale or Collard Greens

A hearty green vegetable is an important part of a fully balanced meal. To make greens, first rinse the greens and then chop perpendicular to the stem into small strips. Place the greens in a pot of boiling water with a tablespoon of salt. Stir and submerge the greens in the water. When water begins to thoroughly boil again, the greens are done; just pour them out into a colander. To season, try drizzling with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

With turkey and cranberry sauce, these recipes make a very balanced Thanksgiving dinner. And don't forget that the most important part is to just enjoy the time with your family. Have a happy holiday!

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