Hello, and welcome to spring! I am putting out my newsletter on an intermittent basis this year, but with the advent of the equinox I thought it important to draw our attention to a couple of Spring–related health topics, sickness and detoxifying. Spring sicknesses are common, but they're not a bad thing. Your body is just trying to get rid of toxins it may have accumulated all winter. This "spring cleaning" is something you want to encourage every year, even if it means you have to cut back on your other activities for a short while. To aid the detoxification process, reduce your intake of processed foods, eat natural foods that are harvested in the spring, and drink plenty of water. Be careful, though: if you have a lot of detoxifying to do, you could experience severe symptoms from the release of all those toxins. You can read more about specific foods to try in this article from last year. The articles this month are about changing the way we look at sickness and health in general, with a focus on a particular chronic health concern: migraines. Enjoy the issue and feel free to email me with your thoughts.

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!

Sickness and Detoxification

Is getting sick good or bad? Maybe that seems like a silly question to you. After all, being sick certainly doesn't feel good. Congestion, fever, diarrhea, cough, sore throat, nausea, inflammation, headache and other common symptoms of sickness are all decidedly unpleasant. We always sympathize with someone when we hear that they're sick, or have been sick (while keeping our distance, in case it's contagious). There are tons of medicines at the pharmacy that we can take to reduce our symptoms (even though the medicines themselves sometimes have side effects) so that we can feel good again and go on with our normal lives. Headaches and fevers and so on are seen as these blights that can sort of come out of nowhere and have to be defeated or cured. Nevertheless, it's notoriously difficult to make them just go away. They usually come back. We're still trying to find a cure for the common cold.

Having read all the above evidence for sickness as a bad thing, you've probably guessed what I'm going to assert: yes, that getting sick is actually good for you. I have to be careful how I express myself here, however. I don't mean that getting a virus or pneumonia or a real disease is good for you. Those things can kill us. It's the symptoms of getting sick that are good for you. Unpleasant though it may be, your diarrhea is a sign of your body fighting back against the virus, bad bacteria, or other toxic enemy. Same with coughs, fevers and so on. It's inaccurate to say that you've got a cough, if you're implying that the cough is the sickness. The cough is your body trying to get rid of something that doesn't belong there. What we think of as getting sick is actually getting healthy.

Unfortunately, the medicines we usually take when we're sick work against our body rather than the toxins it's trying to get rid of. Cough suppressants, fever reducers, anti–inflammatories, etc., all tell the immune system to take a break. The positive side is that we feel better. The negative side is that whatever was causing the immune response is still there. So we're probably going to "get sick" again sooner or later. But next time the immune system will be weaker and the body more toxic. And some people will have to move on to stronger and stronger "medicines" as time goes on, because they have worse and worse symptoms.

Sometimes we do need help from pharmaceuticals, because the immune system can become too zealous in fighting the bad guys. You don't want your fever to get too high or your headache too painful. In those cases, some pharmaceutical medicine is okay—but just enough to help you get to sleep. Then, when you're sleeping, it will wear off and your immune system will go back to work. It's when you're sleeping that organs like the liver and kidneys do most of their detoxifying work.

In fact, the best thing you can do when you get sick is to get to sleep early, drink plenty of water, and avoid any strenuous activity. The more you interrupt the healing process, the longer it will take to get fully healthy, and the less productive you'll be in the end. I say this because there is a lot of pressure on people to take medicines which shut down the immune system so they can still feel good enough to show up for work every day. But if you have sick days, then use them; consider them "health days" rather than sick days, and remember that we all need health days, exclusively for detoxifying, from time to time.

There are many natural foods out there that aid and support the immune system's proper function. If you'd like to learn more about how to naturally help your body detoxify by applying a healing diet, you can contact me for an initial health consultation.

Migraines and Caffeine

Headaches are among the most common symptoms of detoxification. The most severe kinds of headaches, migraines, affect about twelve percent of the population (28 million people). The mainstream medical community identifies migraine as a neurological disorder in itself. However, I think that migraines, like normal headaches, are actually a consequence of the body's attempt to heal itself. This doesn't mean that there isn't a genetic component to it. The way your body deals with toxins has a lot to do with your genetics. But it doesn't mean you're necessarily doomed to have migraines; it just means you need to detoxify. The only way to get rid of the symptoms for good is to figure out what's causing them and to eliminate it.

Many different foods and activities have been recorded as "triggers" for migraine headaches. But in a healthy person, natural, whole foods should not trigger any headaches. Nor should mild stress. Only if your body is very sensitive will it respond to such normal phenomena with such a debilitating reaction. The real cause of the migraine is probably not the "trigger," but rather an overly toxic condition that leaves us vulnerable to being triggered by foods and situations that we'd be able to handle if we were healthy.

Toxicity occurs from a diet high in processed and artificial foods and low in whole, high–nutrition foods. A stressful lifestyle with little sleep and no true rest increases the toxins and free radicals in our bodies and cuts down on our opportunities for rejuvenation. How does this lead to headaches or, worse, migraines?

If you have been consuming too much sugar, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, white flour, rancid fat, hormones (such as from birth control pills), and other processed foods and chemicals, you're giving your liver a lot of work to do. The liver works at night while you're sleeping, so if you're not getting enough sleep, it has even less time to get its job done. If the liver is overloaded, the endocrine system takes over, helping the detoxification process. The endocrine glands, some of which are located in the head, swell with blood as a result, and a headache will occur.

The best thing to do at this point would be to get rest and sleep, drink water, and stop putting processed foods into your body. But what most people do at this stage is rely on headache medicines that contain high amounts of caffeine. In fact, caffeine is regularly prescribed for chronic migraine sufferers. Why does caffeine help? On a molecular level, caffeine interferes with the normal operation of a neurotransmitter called adenosine. Adenosine is what lets us know we need to stop what we're doing and rest. One of its functions is to lower blood pressure by causing the blood vessels in the head to dilate. This results in increased blood flow to the head, which causes pain.

Caffeine, by blocking adenosine, keeps blood pressure high. This reduces the headache, but prevents the natural detoxification process. Your body, in an effort to be healthy, will restart the process as soon as the caffeine is metabolized, and you'll get another headache. Thus the pain becomes "chronic." The only way to make the headaches go away is to stop essentially procrastinating and to gradually let the healing process occur.

Using caffeine as a medication for headaches is not so different from the way the average person uses it—as a medication for fatigue. When we experience the normal and helpful signal of tiredness and exhaustion, we're supposed to rest and go to sleep. Then the liver can go to work. But instead, we try coffee, coca–cola, chocolate, green or black tea, mountain dew, or other sources of caffeine. The reason why caffeine helps in this case again has to do with the way it competes with adenosine. Adenosine inhibits another neurotransmitter, dopamine, which is what causes our positive mood, as well as improving our cognition, motor skills, alertness, etc. Caffeine, by preventing adenosine from shutting down dopamine at the appropriate time, makes it possible for us to experience false feelings of energy, happiness, etc., which do not accurately reflect our health.

Meanwhile the body is still constantly trying to send us the message to rest. It creates more adenosine receptors so that adenosine can get through and do its job. We experience this as our "increased tolerance" for caffeine; the same amount of caffeine isn't working any more, so we need to increase the amount we drink. The added caffeine moves in to the new adenosine receptors. Now, what would happen if we stopped the caffeine? Suddenly there would be all these unused adenosine receptors—all very sensitive to adenosine. We'd have a huge drop in dopamine, resulting in exhaustion, depression, etc., and our blood vessels would dilate, causing high blood flow to the head—and a massive headache.

Now, if you don't want this to happen, you can always try more caffeine. But this means that the detoxification process gets sidelined yet again. And if the body didn't send a strong enough signal with the migraines, it may have to react even more strongly next time. On the other hand, if you want to get rid of the symptoms for good, you may have to endure the detoxification process. The good news is that once you're finished, not only do you feel great from your abundant supply of natural energy, your symptoms of toxicity are gone!

The medical costs of migraines, and the costs to the US economy in missed work and lost productivity, probably measures in the billions. Employers and employees feel pressured to work more than ever, so we use drugs like caffeine to create artificial energy for ourselves, borrowing against our own health. Eventually we have to pay that debt back, and are ultimately less productive, have worse quality of life, and may not live as long. If we can balance work and play, on the other hand, we have such good energy that we can get our work done in far less time than it would have taken if we were running on empty.

If you choose to start detoxifying this spring, take it slowly. Removing all the processed foods and caffeine from your diet can resulting in an overwhelming array of symptoms as your body starts the cleansing process. Cut down gradually on these substances while simultaneously introducing more whole natural foods, and you will experience a more mild and sustainable transition to health. If you would like guidance through this process, again, feel free to contact me for an initial consultation. Good luck with detoxifying this spring!

Recipes

Brown Rice and Lentil Pilaf

In the winter eating more heavy protein and grass–fed saturated fat is important for maintaining our health. But as spring rolls around, your body is generally happier on lighter sources of protein and fat such as beans, grains and olive oil. Because this is a transitional time, you don't want to eat just salads or other super–light, summery foods. This dish is a good way to get some warm, cooked food in you without feeling greasy and overstuffed.

Pick over, rinse and soak for at least 4 hours 1/2 cup of green lentils. Stir them into a medium saucepan of boiling water (discarding the soaking water). Boil, uncovered, for 10 minutes; drain (save the cooking water).

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over low heat. Add 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, and cook until just sizzling, about 1 minute. Add the lentils along with 1 cup half–cooked brown rice (boil 1 cup dry rice in one cup of water until all the water is absorbed; this is what makes it "half–cooked"). Stir to combine. Add 2 cups lentil cooking water, � teaspoon salt, and � teaspoon cumin powder.

Bring to a boil. Stir once, cover, and cook over medium–low heat until the water is absorbed and the rice and lentils are tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover and let stand for 5 minutes.

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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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May Newsletter

Food as Medicine

Allergies: Entering the Land of Milk and Honey

Recipes

Introduction

For this issue of the newsletter, it's back to basics. The two articles below contain valuable information on the power of food to heal our common health problems. As Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. Whoever gives these things no consideration and is ignorant of them, how can he understand the diseases of man?" Many people are led into the fallacy of thinking that health and wellness comes from taking a particular drug, a particular nutritional supplement, or even the latest exotic "superfood." Rather, it's the natural, whole foods we eat every day that will keep us feeling healthy and vital, and they're the same foods that will help us get better when we're sick.

These are also the foods that we end up craving the most strongly once our bodies are introduced to them—so it's no challenge to eat a healthy, balanced diet once we give it a chance. If your experience has been otherwise, you may need to revisit whether your diet was as healthy and balanced as you thought. There are many nutritional myths out there that can lead us astray in regard to what's healthy and what's not. But you can rely on the foods listed below both to taste good and to make you feel good. Don't hesitate to give some of them a try next time you need to medicate any common ailment—you'll be amazed at the power of food to heal.

Food as Medicine

You've heard that eating a healthy, balanced diet can help you lose weight, increase your energy, and reduce your risk of disease. But did you know that some foods have such strong healing properties that you can use them as you would medicine? And that these foods don't have the negative side effects of man–made medications? Relying on medicinal foods to combat health problems such as stomachaches, headaches, chronic pain, fatigue, colds, fevers, sore throats, sinus problems, constipation, diarrhea, and many more, is not only effective against those individual problems, it also makes your body stronger and healthier than it was in the beginning. When you start to feel under the weather, make medicinal foods your first remedies, and you may not even need to resort to medications.

Ten Great Medicinal Foods

1. Miso is a paste made from fermented soybeans, which can be dissolved into hot water to make a salty and flavorful broth. Miso broth can be used to flavor a soup or just drunk by itself. It has a warming and grounding effect (due to salt and the long aging process), and contains beneficial bacteria and digestive enzymes (the result of fermentation). Miso's digestion–enhancing properties help relieve stomachaches, inflammatory bowel and intestinal pain, constipation, and diarrhea. Because it is so warming, it is effective against colds and congestion. Its grounding nature can help reduce headaches from ice cream, sugar and alcohol, and it helps to calm down nervous and anxious people.

2. Brown Rice is a whole grain that contains an excellent balance of complex carbohydrates, nutrients, and fiber. It is the perfect food for getting back on track when you haven't been eating well, whether you've been having too much sugar, fried food, meat and dairy or whether you've been missing meals and haven't eaten enough. When you really need to make up for a week's worth of poor food choices, go with a bowl of brown rice and you will feel so much better afterwards. Even better, eat it fairly regularly and you won't find yourself in that position!

3. Garlic is, strictly speaking, an herb, but as a widely–used culinary herb I think it's almost a food. Garlic is a very powerful antibacterial and antifungal agent. If you are starting to come down with any kind of virus or bacteria–related illness, even if it's just a simple cold, garlic can help immensely. Garlic also breaks up congestion and helps us detoxify. It is most effective when eaten raw. If you do choose to eat it raw, you will undoubtedly experience a burning sensation in the mouth, a tearing up of the eyes, and a general feeling of being on fire. What you're feeling is the sulfuric compounds in the garlic doing their work. Even though it's a little unpleasant, it doesn't last long and is far better than being sick for three or four days. If raw garlic is too much for you, though, simply increase your consumption of cooked garlic.

4. Leafy green vegetables, or Greens, are everyday foods that nevertheless have strong healing powers. Their high fiber and nutrient content make them very effective in healing any digestive problems (such as stomachaches, constipation, diarrhea), and they have been showing to have a very healing effect on the lungs and sinuses. Eat them to help reduce stuffy noses, coughing, sneezing, and mucus discharge. Greens also help reduce the fatigue that is a result of malnutrition. Usually when we get malnourished it's a result of eating foods like white sugar and white flour that contain no nutrients and use up the nutrients we do have stored in our bodies. So eat greens as a way to recover from these foods.

5. Raw Sauerkraut is simply fermented cabbage that has not been pasteurized. Pasteurization kills the beneficial bacteria that make sauerkraut as healthy as it is. These bacteria populate the digestive tract, and help us digest heavier foods such as meat and fat, thus reducing stomachaches, ulcers, heartburn and all digestive health problems. They also eliminate candida and other parasites, bad bacteria and fungi. Raw sauerkraut contains, in addition to bacteria, enzymes that aid the pancreas and reduce or eliminate pancreatitis.

6. Ginger is a root that is commonly eaten in its powdered form, as a spice, but can be purchased fresh and whole. Like many other healing foods, it relieves gastrointestinal pain, reduces or eliminates gas and bloating, and reduces symptoms of motion sickness such as dizziness, nausea and sweating. Like miso, it is very grounding and will help you recover from too much alcohol, sugar, and white flour. Ginger's anti–inflammatory effects also reduce pain and swelling from arthritis.

7. Raw Vinegar is a remarkably versatile healing food that has been shown to help with low energy, chronic pain (from anywhere in the body—back pain, arthritic pain, eye pain, joint pain, etc), colds, sore throats, infections, type 2 diabetes, and more. The reason for this is because the acids in vinegar are highly effective at promoting liver function. The liver is what controls the detoxifying and cleansing process in our bodies, and many of the symptoms that we feel, especially symptoms of pain, are a result of the struggle to detoxify. Vinegar is sort of like a power food that kicks the liver into gear and encourages rapid detoxification. However, do not rely on it for your health—first and foremost, eat a balanced diet and try not to build up toxicity in the first place. Note that the raw vinegar you purchase should be listed as "unpasteurized," "organic," and "unfiltered." The commonly available distilled white vinegar does not have the same healing properties, due to the way it is processed.

8. Chicken Broth has had a reputation as a healing food since ancient Egypt. Why is it so effective? Broth made from boiling a whole chicken contains nutrients leached from cartilage, tendons and bones, such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains glucosamine, which helps reduce arthritis (and is sold as an expensive supplement), and also has gelatin, which facilitates digestion, treats ulcers, improves joint health, and even helps treat infectious diseases. Chicken broth made with herbs and garlic is an especially warming, decongestant food that helps the immune system fight sickness.

9 & 10. Raw Milk and Raw Honey round out my list of medicinal foods. But rather than discuss them here, I've devoted an entire article to them—see below.

If you have any questions about how to employ these remedies, or have a specific health concern not mentioned here which you'd like to treat using medicinal foods, feel free to send me an email requesting more information.

Allergies: Entering the Land of Milk and Honey

At this time of year, many people are afflicted with seasonal pollen allergies. I first wrote on this topic a couple of years ago, and I think it's worthy to revisit it for all those who have signed on since then. This time we'll talk about not just pollen allergies, but allergies as a whole. Allergies are simply hypersensitive reactions of the immune system to specific kinds of food or environmental substances (collectively known as allergens). Allergies are becoming more prevalent in our society, with the most common allergens being foods such as milk, wheat, corn, soy and peanuts, and substances such as pollen, dust, dog and cat hair, mold, etc.

I believe that there are two sides to what causes allergies. One lies with our own immune systems; the other with the allergens. To begin with the latter, we do live in a more toxic environment than ever before, and synthetic, chemical substances are mixed up with the organic matter in our environment in such a way that there's much more out there for our immune systems to find threatening, if they happen to be sensitive systems. As for food allergies, it's no accident that the most common allergens are the most prevalent, and processed, foods in our diets. Pasteurized milk, white flour, corn syrup, soy protein isolate, and heavily sprayed peanuts are all difficult to digest and can set off warning signals for the body as a result. Too much of these foods will provoke an immune system reaction.

Speaking of the immune system, it gets a lot less work these days than it ever used to. Just as we're more exposed to toxins, we're less exposed to natural substances like bacteria, pollen, dirt, viruses and other things that would have provided training ground for our immune systems. As we get less exposure to these natural threats, we have more sensitive immune systems that will overreact to more benign substances. It's been found that people in Europe who were raised on farms (with all that dirt) are 1/10th as likely to have asthma and allergies as their urban and suburban counterparts.

So what can you do if you have allergies? Playing in the dirt is a good idea (for you and your kids), especially if it's organic dirt. But more practically, the best thing is to get your immune system acquainted with the allergens in a way that lets it know they're not dangerous. For pollen allergies, eat raw honey by the spoonful. This is honey in its natural, unprocessed state, with little bits of pollen still included. Simply eat a few spoonfuls a day until the allergies diminish. It's vitally important to get raw honey that has been harvested close by, otherwise you won't get the local pollen. For those living in the Washington, D.C. area, Really Raw Honey is a good company to get your honey from. Raw honey also treats stomach ulcers, skin burns and rashes, cold sores, and sore throats—a highly medicinal food indeed!

Another way to build up immune system strength is to drink raw, unpasteurized milk. This is what those farm kids are drinking. Unpasteurized milk still has all the beneficial bacteria and immunoglobulins that make your immune system strong. It even has some pollen—since the cows we get raw milk from are fed on grass. If you have milk allergies (like I do), you will probably have no problem with raw milk nevertheless, since raw milk is so easy to digest. Raw milk can heal by providing sustenance and nourishment to anyone who feels weak, sickly, diminished and underfed. If you need assistance in finding a source of safe, healthy raw milk, let me know and I will give you a hand.

Whole milk and raw honey (by the spoonful)—two foods that have signified abundance and health since biblical times. Who knew that eating right could be so much fun?

Recipes

Vegetable Soup

How about combining some of our medicinal foods into one dish? This vegetable soup has greens, chicken broth, garlic, and a little vinegar. You can have it by itself or with brown rice on the side.

Ingredients:

2 medium carrots
1 daikon radish
1 large onion
3 celery stalks
1/3 bunch kale
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic
2 cups organic chicken broth
Dash of vinegar

Directions: Start heating about 4 cups water in a saucepan. Wash and chop carrots, radish, onion, celery and garlic, adding them to the pot as you go. Boil thoroughly for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, chop parsley and kale (use or discard the kale stems as you please). Reduce the boil to a simmer, add parsley, kale, chicken broth and vinegar. Allow to simmer for another 10 minutes. Season with fresh herbs, salt, and pepper to taste.

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Fall Newsletter

Are You Malnourished?

Squashing Nutrient Deficiencies

Recipes

Introduction

Welcome to fall! This is a time of year when so many great fruits and vegetables are being harvested in abundance. Of course, you can expect the health counselor to praise fresh fruits and vegetables. Doesn't every nutritionist think that you should eat nothing but apples, carrots and celery? Well, not really. Nothing but fruits and vegetables isn't a balanced diet. However, those foods are an important part of a balanced diet. Among other things, they provide vitamins and minerals that are essential to life. In this issue, you'll learn about the physical and emotional symptoms of being deficient in vitamins and minerals, and what foods you can eat to put nutrition back in your body.

In keeping with this theme, I've written another article on a vegetable that epitomizes fall: the squash. Although many people are unfamiliar with squash (except by way of pumpkin pie), it's a delicious and sweet source of both complex carbs and nutrition. Adding more squash to your diet will help you to improve your energy, lose weight, and cut down on cravings for sugar and white flour.

Are You Malnourished?

We live in a country where almost everyone can afford all the food they need. In fact, food here is so plentiful and cheap that we are more likely to eat too many calories than too few. In this day and age, famine is the least of our concerns. And yet, even with all that wealth at our disposal, we're not rich in health. Many people, even though they get their calories, still don't get enough nutrients. They become malnourished and subsequently develop health problems. What could explain this strange irony in our modern society? How is it that we, with all the food we need at our disposal, can still get sick from nutrient deficiency?

The problem is that the most ubiquitous, most heavily advertised, most addictive, and least expensive foods available to us are processed foods containing mostly white flour, sugar, and artificial or rancid fats. These foods are high in calories and low in nutrition. Don't think that calories are a bad thing. We can't live without calories, and lots of them. But we can't live just on calories either.

The only reason we can get so many calories and so little nutrition from processed foods is because they've been processed. Natural, whole foods contain the right balance of calories and nutrition. In the old days, as long as you got enough food, you were certain to get all the nutrients you needed. But food processors have gotten so adept at separating the nutrients from the calories, and at packaging and selling them separately, that even if we get both junk food and vitamin supplements, we benefit from neither.

When we eat processed foods that are low in nutrients, instead of eating nutritious foods, two things happen. The first is that we stop adding nutrition to our body's supply, giving it less to work with. Another is that we force it to use up what little it already has in the process of digesting, assimilating, and eliminating the processed and toxic foods. Foods and ingredients that result in a net nutrient loss include white flour, white sugar, corn syrup, soft drinks, caffeine, trans fat, pasteurized milk, artificial sweeteners and any other artificial and synthetic substances. Eating mostly these foods is a form of self–starvation; it makes us malnourished.

Being malnourished isn't bad merely in an abstract, theoretical sense. It causes a variety of very real health problems. In fact, the way we discovered nutrients in the first place was by cutting them out of our diet and getting sick as a result.

Fortunately, it's easy to address nutrient deficiencies. Simply add into your diet the foods that contain the missing nutrients! This is how, in the 19th century, ship captains such as James Cook addressed outbreaks of scurvy (which comes from vitamin C deficiency) on long voyages. Cook took barrels of high–C sauerkraut with him, added it to the sailors' diet, and didn't lose a single man to scurvy.

Scurvy is fairly rare in our time, but there are many other common health problems that can come from nutrient deficiency. Review the "symptoms of deficiency" for the vitamins and minerals listed below to see if any of them apply to you, and try adding the recommend foods to take care of your symptoms. Some foods, like leafy green vegetables and sea vegetables, help with almost every deficiency because they are so high in so many different vitamins and minerals. Use them to take out multiple deficiencies at once! If you have any questions about how to add any of these recommended foods to your diet, send me an email.

Symptoms of Deficiency in Major Nutrients

Calcium: Osteoporosis (bone loss), fragile/brittle bones and nails, frequent dental problems, joint pain, arthritis, irregular heartbeat, and hypertension. See also Magnesium.
Foods to eat: spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, swiss chard, kombu (a sea vegetable), celery, sesame seeds, brazil nuts, almonds, yogurt, raw milk, raw cheese, blackstrap molasses.

Iron: Anemia, fatigue, pale skin, weakness, brittle nails, pica (appetite for non–foods), constipation, depression.
Foods to eat: green leafy vegetables (mustard greens, collard greens, kale, cabbage, broccoli, spinach), medium rare red meat (grass–fed), naturally raised pork, liver (organic), seafood, sea vegetables, beans, nuts, eggs, dried fruit.

Magnesium: skin inflammation, allergies, anxiety, asthma, attention deficit disorder, diabetes, heart disease, and calcium deficiency symptoms (magnesium is needed for the absorption of calcium. Without magnesium, calcium forms deposits in soft tissue, including heart valves, increasing the likelihood of heart disease). Foods to eat: green leafy vegetables, pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts, other nuts and seeds, whole grains, beans and tofu, seafood, sea vegetables.

Potassium: fatigue, or chronic fatigue syndrome, myalgia (muscle cramps and pain), constipation, high blood pressure/hypertension. Foods to eat: green leafy vegetables, potatoes (with skins), sweet potatoes, winter squash, tomatoes, beans, bananas, and almost all fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin A: poor vision, dry eyes, eye inflammation, dry mouth, dry/wrinkled skin, allergies, dandruff, weak immune system, cancer. Foods to eat: organic grass–fed butter, raw milk, organic liver, cod liver oil, eggs, carrots, pumpkin seeds, sweet potatoes, leafy green vegetables, winter squash, peaches, cantaloupe.

Vitamin B complex (B1: Thiamin, B2: Riboflavin, B3: Niacin, B6, B9: Folic Acid, B12): Lethargy, fatigue, severe weight loss, hypoglycemia, beriberi (B1); chapped, cracked lips, mouth/tongue inflammation, sensitivity to sunlight, bloodshot/itchy/watery eyes (B2); pellagra, weakness, sensitivity to cold, lack of appetite, skin infections, high cholesterol, alzheimer's (B3); anemia, depression, high blood pressure (B6); anemia, birth defects, depression, anxiety, fatigue, heart disease (B9); pernicious anemia, fatigue, diarrhea, muscle spasms (B12) Foods to eat: Whole grains, liver, eggs, asparagus, cauliflower, potatoes with skin (B1); raw milk, raw cheese, leafy green vegetables, organ meats, beans, almonds (B2); whole wheat and other whole grains, beans and peanuts, mushrooms, sesame seeds, fish, meat (B3); whole grains, seafood, meat, leafy green vegetables (B6); leafy green vegetables, beans, sunflower seeds, whole grains, root vegetables (B9); all animal products, esp. liver, shellfish, raw milk, and eggs(B12).

Vitamin C: scurvy (incl. bleeding gums), weak immune system, asthma, respiratory problems, allergies, frequent colds and infections, slow healing wounds. Foods to eat: Leafy green vegetables, sour fruits (strawberries, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, limes, raspberries, pineapples), melons, kiwis, papaya, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cauliflower, celery, asparagus.

Vitamin D: Rickets, osteoporosis, other bone disorders, depression, seasonal affective disorder, schizophrenia, periodontal disease, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Foods to eat: The best source of vitamin D is actually sunlight, by means of which we synthesize the vitamin. If unable to get adequate sunlight, you must rely on animal products from fish (particularly cod liver oil) and from animals that got enough sunlight, including grass–fed, free–range beef, pork, raw milk, chicken and eggs.

Vitamin E: Cancer, leg cramps, wrinkles, parkinson's disease, alzheimer's disease, glaucoma, cataracts, heart disease, neurological disorders. Foods to eat: Whole grains, esp. whole wheat, olives and olive oil, nuts and seeds and their oils (such as sunflower, sesame, walnut, almond, and hazelnut) leafy green vegetables, asparagus, cucumbers, seafood, and raw milk.

Squashing Nutrient Deficiencies

The star of the fall vegetable harvest, in all its many colorful varieties, is the winter squash. Its name probably comes from its hardy ability to survive a long winter storage without spoiling. Winter squash has just the right kind of energy and the right nutritional profile to help you acquire the hardiness needed in winter. It is one of the best foods you could eat at this time of year.

Many people are familiar with only one kind of winter squash: the pumpkin. And some are more accustomed to decorating with pumpkins than eating them. But squash can be so delicious, and make you feel so good, that once you add it to your diet, you won't want to let your squashes sit around for long. Pumpkin pie is just the tip of the iceberg.

The most common varieties of squash besides the pumpkin are the acorn squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash, delicata squash, hubbard squash, kabocha squash, red kuri squash, and spaghetti squash. There are sub–varieties of these varieties (like the Cinderella pumpkin) but we won't get into those. For now, there's plenty to choose from!

As you could probably have guessed, squash is nutritious. Squash is high in vitamin A (which gives the interior flesh its bright orange color), vitamin C, potassium, and folic acid (B9). It also contains moderate amounts of other B vitamins and of essential minerals such as manganese and copper. Like all vegetables, it has plenty of fiber. Its healing properties include improving the health of the spleen and pancreas and reducing inflammation and associated pain. And finally, squash is high in calories. Not so high that you can eat more than you really need, but high enough that you'll get that extra bit of heat energy you need during the winter, which you wouldn't get from spring and summer vegetables. As with whole grains, potatoes, and other starchy whole foods, the calories in squash come from complex carbohydrates that are metabolized gradually so that you get a steady flow of energy in addition to the nutrients that you need.

Squash is a mildly sweet, calming and pleasant food that creates a cozy atmosphere in the kitchen. It combines well with fat (including butter, olive oil, sesame oil, and bacon fat), which increases vitamin A absorption and balances the carbohydrates. Add a little salt or tamari soy sauce to squash and you'll bring out the sweet flavor even more. Squash is good with pumpkin pie spices (obviously) such as cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, all of which set off the mild nature of squash and provide additional heat energy. Squash is also an inspiration for many great desserts, in which you can use natural sweeteners such as maple syrup, raw honey, and agave nectar.

d more squash to your diet this fall and winter and I guarantee you'll have better energy and experience visible improvements in your health. And when your body develops those squash cravings, you may have to find a new ornament to grace your front step!

Recipes

Squash Soup (adapted from Williams–Sonoma Bride and Groom Cookbook)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. butternut or other squash
6 Tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
1 Tbsp dried sage, or 4 fresh sage leaves
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
4 cups water or stock (chicken or vegetable)
1/2 tsp. ground mace
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions: Preheat the oven to 375. Use a heavy sharp knife to slice the butternut or other squash in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and pulp with a spoon. Coat the cut surfaces with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Roast the squash in the oven until the flesh is tender to the touch, 40 to 50 minutes. Let the squash cool, and then peel off the skin and discard. Chop the flesh coarsely and set aside.

Heat the rest of the olive oil in a soup pot over low heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add butternut squash, water or stock, mace, cloves, salt, and pepper. Whisk until soup is blended. Simmer, stirring often, for about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool slightly for easier handling. Ladle into a food processor or blender and process until very smooth. Return the soup to the pot and add water to thin to the desired consistency, if necessary.

When ready to serve, reheat the soup over low heat and stir in the cream. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt. Serve at once.

Squash Pudding (adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease (w/ butter) a shallow 3 quart baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk until light 4 large eggs. Whisk in 1� cups pumpkin or other squash puree. Whisk in 2 cups of buttermilk (or, alternately, sour raw milk), � cup maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener, like agave nectar), and 4 Tablespoons melted butter.

In another bowl, whisk together thoroughly 2� cups whole wheat pastry flour, � to � cup brown sugar, 1� teaspoons baking powder, 1� teaspoons baking soda, 1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, � teaspoon cloves, � teaspoon nutmeg, � to 1 teaspoon salt (to taste).

Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and whisk until well blended. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You may want to put a cookie sheet or other baking pan on a rack underneath the baking dish, just in case the pumpkin batter spills over a little.

If you would like to make your own squash puree, then use an organic 3 to 5 pound pie pumpkin. Using a large, heavy, sharp knife, slice the pumpkin in half longitudinally (top to bottom, through the stem). Scoop out the seeds. Lightly oil the cut edge of the flesh. Place the pumpkin halves cut side down in a baking dish, cover them with foil, and bake at 400 degrees for about 1 hour, until soft and easily pierced with a fork. Wait until thepumpkin halves cool off; then scoop out the flesh and puree in a food processor or food mill.

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