Live Free Nutrition newsletters are back! In the eight months since I last put out an issue, a lot has happened. On November 23rd, 2009, my wife Katy gave birth at home to a beautiful little girl, Caroline Esther, who weighed an amazing 10 pounds and 6 ounces. In the weeks that followed, we didn't get a whole lot of rest, but it wasn't long after that that Carrie began sleeping through the night. The real challenge was breastfeeding. We wanted very much to breastfeed for a number of reasons, from the nutritional benefits of breast milk to the joyful bond shared by Katy and Carrie from the act of breastfeeding itself. But Carrie's shallow palate, combined with Katy's severe engorgement in the first few days after birth, caused a series of difficulties that it took us six months to overcome. Though Carrie got breast milk the whole time regardless (thanks to Katy's continual, and valiant, pumping), it was a tough experience for all of us. Now Carrie nurses with just a nipple shield, and she's in excellent health, a blessing for which we are all grateful.

In the meantime, we've decided to make a few changes to my newsletters such that they are more accessible and consistent. Gone are the days when I published a short book every six months. Newsletters will now be published weekly (on Mondays) and feature shorter articles. When I do write a longer article, it will be published in installments. Writing shorter pieces will enable me to focus more on what's most important and relevant in giving health recommendations to my readers, and publishing more frequently will give me a chance to make timely comments on the many developments that are occurring in the field of natural health.

In the near future, I will also be offering a new service: teleclasses. Teleclasses are simply hour–long group health counseling workshops that are conducted by conference call. More details will be available in a few weeks.

Finally, over the next few weeks I will be making several updates to my website, including posting all the newsletters that have not yet been put up (the last two years' worth…yes, it's been that long), consolidating the recipes and articles, adding new testimonials, and more. I hope you enjoy these changes and I look forward to your feedback!

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!

How to Control Your Cravings

Did I get your attention with the title of this article? Who doesn't have at least a few food cravings they wish they could control? I'm afraid, though, that my title is nothing more than an attention–getter, because I'm not actually a believer in controlling cravings. Food cravings do not arise spontaneously, and they are not just a product of your genes. They arise from your body's deep–seated desire for nourishment. Whether your particular craving is for a specific flavor of ice cream, coke or pepsi, potato chips, M&Ms, white–flour pasta, coffee, or any of the other usual suspects, that craving is actually a sign of your body crying out for some type of nutrition. That's why controlling your cravings doesn't work. Even though we know on an intellectual level that junk foods are not good for us, those foods have been designed to appeal to the body's desire for nutrition and balance. Our bodies crave salty foods like French fries because the body thinks saltiness is an indicator of high levels of essential minerals. We like sodas with high amounts of caffeine because they make us feel detoxified and re–energized. In other words, you have these strong cravings for junk food precisely because your body wants so badly to be healthy. While your mind may be saying "I know that's not good for me," your body is responding "Are you nuts? Eat that or else! We need it to survive!"

While it may be technically possible to control your cravings for a limited time through sheer will power, the only effective, long–term solution is to meet your body's needs with foods that are truly nourishing, rather than foods that simply appear nourishing. The former bring you into a ongoing state of balance and satisfaction; the latter are satisfying for a very brief time but then leave you in a state of even greater neediness. Sometimes it's not just nutrition that is lacking—for example, a craving for caffeine is usually a result of not getting enough sleep. A craving for sugary foods could be from a series of stressful events in your life. Just yesterday, I found myself starting to devour a bar of chocolate after a long and stressful day. However, I realized that the real problem was not the bar of chocolate, or my craving for it, but that at that moment I was unwilling to focus my attention on resolving the source of stress in my life. Once I did that, my cravings vanished. And in fact, that did take a little willpower—but the key is that it was willpower applied in a productive direction.

My recommendation for you is not to control your cravings, but to analyze them. Ask yourself where this craving is coming from, and what kind of need your junk food is meeting (however temporary a solution it may be). That method will put you on the right path to the heart of the problem, instead of leaving you stuck focusing on the symptoms. Maybe your body is craving junk food because it really needs whole grains and green vegetables, but isn't familiar enough with those foods to crave them (and believe me, once your body gets used to well–prepared brown rice, you're likely to crave it daily). Maybe you're just looking for a physical sensation to block out the pain from some frustrating events in your life, and it's really those events that need to be attended to. Once you have taken some steps towards understanding your situation, rather than simply feeling guilty, you'll find that it's a lot easier to "control" those cravings than you would ever have believed.

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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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July 26 Newsletter

Introduction

Hello all! This week's newsletter continues the "weight loss" theme with an article on how eating more is actually an important step on the road to losing excess weight for good. Also, there's some more information on the teleclasses that I am offering starting next month. I hope you enjoy this week's issue and I look forward to your feedback!

Eat More…Weigh Less

If there is a Holy Grail of dieting, it's any technique that would make it possible for us to eat as much as we want without gaining weight. Anyone reviewing the most popular diets of the last few decades will see that almost all claim to have found such a technique or strategy, and to be able to deliver miraculous weight–loss results. And while weight loss is all well and good, the real appeal of such strategies is the promise that we won't have to starve ourselves to obtain the weight loss. You don't see many diet books out there that focus purely on shedding pounds. "Chapter 1. Eat less." No, that wouldn't really fly. The truly crucial section of any diet book is the part where it tells you how you can lose weight without actually dieting.

The reason why just eating less is so hard was addressed in last week's newsletter on cravings. We eat because the food we crave is either supplying a real need, or it's making our bodies think that it is supplying one. We already know that just controlling our cravings and eating less is extremely difficult and involves ignoring all of the body's messages. So diets of all kinds make the promise to us that we can indulge and still lose weight. Without that promise, the diet would not have much appeal.

The irony, however, is that most diets that make this promise are already planning to break it. An Atkins–type diet promises that we can indulge in fat– and protein–rich foods, but limits carbohydrates so much that our bodies may go through ketosis, a type of fat–burning process that isn't supposed to take place unless you are truly starving—and which can make you binge on carbs like crazy. The old high–carb diets told us that while we couldn't eat fat, we could happily indulge ourselves on carbohydrates, and without fat to make the diet more filling, people ended up being hungry all the time even after eating way more carbs than they could burn. Other diets rely on artificial sweeteners or other artificial starches, as well as fiber and textured protein, to make foods seem sweet and filling but without providing any real nutrients, ultimately leaving their adherents malnourished. The natural consequence of following one of these deprivation diets—all of which advertise themselves as satisfying—is that while we lose weight (because we are in one way or another eating less) we still have uncontrollable cravings. After a few months, the diet becomes unsustainable, we stop trying, and we gain the weight back.

What many people do not realize is that our "fallback" diet—the Standard American Diet (SAD) in which we eat all we want and continue to gain weight—is in itself a type of deprivation diet. Because the diet does not contain enough nutrition, such as the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients contained in fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbs, and natural fats, people who are on SAD eat constantly but are never satisfied. The human body doesn't know how to ask for B vitamins, retinol, or magnesium, for example—but it expects to find those nutrients in sweet foods, fatty foods, or salty foods. So that's what we end up craving, and if we go for processed foods with those flavors, we don't actually get the nutrients, just the calories. Consequently, even though we have more calories than we could use, the cravings come right back.

hen it comes to losing weight, is "eat less" the answer? Absolutely not. It's true that if we starve ourselves, we lose weight. But starving oneself is very unhealthy, not to mention ineffective in the long term (to put it mildly). The good news is that there's a way for the very act of indulgence itself to be a factor in achieving a healthy weight.

If you are eating a balanced diet of whole foods, you will naturally approach your own personal healthy weight (faster or slower depending on whether you can also include physical activity in your schedule). Whole foods have just the right balance of calories and nutrition, so you only crave as much of them as you really need. In fact, once your body is used to properly cooked natural, whole foods, it will recognize their value and prefer them to junk food. The problem is that if your body isn't familiar with these foods, it won't naturally crave them. So what's the solution? Like the title of the article says: eat more…weigh less. If you want a weight loss diet that actually works, it's pretty simple: add healthy foods.

Let's say you have chronic sugar cravings, and that you snack on cookies in between meals (like I tend to do when I'm in a state of imbalance), while at the same time, because you're trying to lose weight, you've reduced the size of your meals such that you're eating small salads for lunch. When you're following the Live Free Nutrition Weiner Diet Plan, you'll allow yourself to snack on all the cookies you want, but each time you have a cookie snack break, you'll first have a glass of water, or a handful of cooked greens, or a piece of fruit, etc. When you get to lunch or dinner, and you're actually having some homemade and healthy food, eat all you want (don't forget to include plenty of healthy fat). Then, go for the dessert without guilt. Try this a few times, and suddenly you will find that you're not quite as much interested in your snacks, or your dessert, even if you still eat them for a little while out of habit. Your body is getting what it actually needs first—and suddenly you are finding your cravings diminish without having had to control them at all. That's right, you don't have to restrict your diet one bit!

The biggest challenge in approaching weight loss this way is psychological. Because it's a bit of a paradigm shift, it requires a change in your thinking. You may have been telling yourself for years that you just have to stop eating so much, while at the same time having such strong cravings that you can't help yourself. Now you will be telling yourself that you need to try and eat more, while feeling full all the time. But even if thinking differently is a challenge, losing excess weight with this diet is not—and that's as it should be. We were never meant to constantly starve and deprive ourselves just to be healthy. A healthy, fit person is a person who is satisfied and contented with their diet—who enjoys eating and still feels good 30 minutes (or even three hours) later. It all starts with eating more healthy foods, rather than trying to cut back on the junk food; after that, just relax and trust your body. As they always say, "You'll be amazed by the results!"

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August Newsletters

August 10 (Lose Weight Eating Chocolate. Ask Me How.)

August 16 (Baking With Whole Wheat Flour)

August 23 (How To Have Beautiful Clear Skin...Indirectly)

August 30 (Modern Day Malnutrition: Anemia)

August 10

Weight Loss Teleclass Reminder

Lose Weight Eating Chocolate. Ask Me How.

Introduction

Hello all! This week's newsletter contains a brief reminder about my upcoming series of weight–loss teleclasses, and some more observations on dieting garnered while my family and I were on a much–needed vacation last week. I'm also happy to announce some excellent updates that have been made to my website! The last few years of newsletters have been uploaded, so you can now access all of my published newsletters from 2006 to the present. In addition toviewing the newsletters chronologically, you can view a list of all my articles separately, and a list of all our recipes, without having to search through the newsletters for them. As described in the note below, you can also sign up for teleclasses online. There's even a new picture of me and my daughter Caroline. If you're new to this mailing list, take some time to browse the older newsletters for articles and recipes that speak to your individual health concerns.

Weight Loss Teleclass Reminder

There's only one way to reach your proper weight and stay there for good: by adopting a diet and lifestyle that is both healthy and satisfying. Many people have short–term weight loss success with deprivation diets, but they later gain the weight back because such diets are not sustainable. Long term weight loss success requires a holistic approach that incorporates a whole–foods based diet, some moderate physical activity, and resolution of stress and other factors that influence our cravings. An approach like this is its own reward: you'll not only approach your natural weight, but also see your health improve in many other ways, and you'll be able to experience great pleasure, and rid yourself of guilt, in both cooking and eating.

Live Free Nutrition Teleclasses are a way for you to get the knowledge, counseling and guidance you need to start making these changes in a group setting and at a price that is affordable for today's economy. A teleclass is a workshop in conference call format in which members of the class call in over the phone to participate. During each segment, you'll get to hear a talk given by me on an aspect of weight loss, as well as ask questions, participate in group discussion, and receive some individual counseling. For further details, including pricing and schedule, check out the teleclass description on my website, or simply email me with any questions. Teleclasses, which take place on Sunday afternoons, start August 15th, so sign up soon! This is the lifelong weight–loss opportunity you don't want to miss.

Lose Weight Eating Chocolate. Ask Me How.

I saw these words on a bumper sticker of a car that I passed as our family was driving home from vacation, and they immediately caught my interest. My first instinct was to catch a glimpse of the driver in order to see how healthy he or she looked (answer: not terribly). After all, isn't it a rather dubious claim that one could eat chocolate in order to lose weight? But of course that's where the "ask me how" part comes in. Whatever issues we struggle with—health, finances, relationships—we're always on the lookout for an expert who can promise a solution that doesn't require us to change anything about ourselves. While chocolate can be part of a healthy and balanced diet, people who eat it to excess due to sugar cravings are likely to put on some pounds. What if there was a way to get one's "fix" without any consequences? It's in our nature to seek out purported solutions of this kind, but we know deep down that they don't really work. Resolving our problems involves making some tough choices. For this reason, there's another group of people that argues that we just need to toughen up. "You want to lose weight?" they say. "Stop eating so much!" In fact, we tend to be tough like this on people who struggle with things we find easy, while at the same time seeking out miracle cures for our own particular weaknesses.

The reality is that while solving problems does require meaningful change, it also requires practical strategies and support, not just toughness. Eating right, budgeting our finances, or successfully interacting with people are all skills that require practice and knowledgeable guidance to acquire. The good news is that when you're willing to commit to meaningful change, the battle is essentially already won. After you start eating better, you not only feel healthier and more energetic, but you enjoy your experience of eating more, and you actually find it difficult to go back to your old habits. It's not a matter of ongoing will power, but of initial willingness. One client of mine, for example, called me up to ask for a healthy alternative to caffeinated soda. He wanted to have the extra energy but without the negative effects on his health. I had to explain that there is no healthy form of a "quick fix"—that the only healthy thing to do was to give his body what it really needed. In this case, that meant extra rest, such as a short nap during the day. To his credit, he was willing to give it a try, and started substituting the real rest for the soda. After a week, he had more energy than before, without needing to sacrifice his health, and had lost the craving for caffeine.

Can you really lose weight eating chocolate? Of course, as long as it's just one part of a balanced diet of whole foods. But my emphasis on eating more whole foods is not a "toughen up" type of recommendation. If you are really eating healthy, not only will you love it, but any junk food that you used to crave will no longer have the same hold over you. All that's required is the willingness to take that first step towards real, positive change.

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August 16

Baking With Whole Wheat Flour

Introduction

Hello all! My weight loss teleclass has started up and is going great! Remember that you can sign up now for the upcoming teleclass on heart health, which starts October 10. You're welcome to read my previous article on heart disease, cholesterol and high blood pressure to get an idea of my approach to healing this endemic health problem. This week's newsletter will be of practical benefit to anyone struggling with weight gain or with heart health issues, as it contains a guide to baking with whole wheat flour instead of white flour. I hope that the tips listed below are helpful to you in your transition towards eating more whole–grain foods! If you have any questions, or would like further information, feel free to contact me.

Baking With Whole Wheat Flour

If you've been reading this newsletter for a while, you know that white flour is a major contributor to weight gain (not to mention heart disease and diabetes). Does that mean that in order for your health to improve, you have to give up delicious foods like cakes, pies, cookies, and bread? Not at all! If you've been reading for a while, you'll also know that adding healthy foods is much more important than subtracting unhealthy foods. But is it possible for baked goods to be healthy? Absolutely! It all depends on the quality of the ingredients. Traditionally, baked goods were made with whole–grain flour, which, unlike its refined counterpart, contains nutrients and fiber in addition to carbohydrates. Not only are baked goods made with whole grains more nutritious and filling than those made with white flour, but they possess a richer, more complex flavor, and provide you with steady, lasting energy rather than a brief carbohydrate high followed by a sudden crash. So what's the catch? Well, it's been so long since baked goods were commonly made with whole–grain ingredients that most people no longer know how to do it. To alleviate this problem, we've provided some useful tips you can rely on for substituting whole grain flour when you're using a recipe that calls for white flour (your local health food store will carry the whole–grain flours to which we refer):

–Often a recipe will call for all–purpose flour, which is more or less equal parts bread flour (high gluten) and pastry flour (low gluten). As a substitute for all–purpose flour, just mix equal parts whole wheat bread flour and whole wheat pastry flour.

–When making something that requires structure and rising time, like bread, a recipe usually calls for bread flour—so use whole wheat bread flour. When making something that is more tender and flaky, and doesn't require structure, like biscuits or scones, use whole wheat pastry flour.

–To vary the flavor in baking (especially in the case of bread), other kinds of flour, like rye or buckwheat flour, can be substituted for part of the whole wheat. Remember, however, that these flours have too little gluten to create structure, so only use about 1 part of these flours in bread compared to 4 parts whole wheat, otherwise it won't rise much. While whole wheat bread will never be as light and fluffy as white bread, it will be far more satisfying; you'll come to prefer it because of how good it makes you feel and because of its hearty flavor.

–Whole wheat flour requires a little more moisture than white flour. Be prepared to add more liquid about a tablespoon at a time to achieve the proper consistency.

–If baking bread with added yeast, increase the yeast from the usual 2 1/4 teaspoons to a whole tablespoon for whole wheat bread.

–For making baked goods that require very low gluten, like pie crust or cake, substitute whole spelt flour for part of the whole wheat pastry flour. Two parts spelt to three parts whole wheat pastry is a good ratio for pie crust and for cake recipes that call for cake flour (super–refined and bleached white flour). If your cake recipe calls for both all–purpose flour and cake flour, use pastry flour instead of all–purpose flour and spelt instead of cake flour.

–To alleviate the greater heaviness of the whole grain flours in cake and cake–like pastries, use the ribboning method. First, have your butter extremely soft, cut into pieces, and set aside. Put the eggs and sugar into a mixing bowl and really whip them with an electric mixer. The mixture will lighten in color and become fluffy. Beat until it is increased in volume and fluffy (if you stop the mixer and lift out your whisk and move it over the surface of the mixture, it will drip a steady stream that stands out on the surface briefly—a “ribbon”). The sugar is working like tiny whisks that introduce extra air into the batter, increasing overall lift. At this point, add the butter a tablespoon at a time, beating for about 10 seconds after each addition. Essentially, instead of beating butter and sugar together and adding eggs, you're beating eggs and sugar together and then adding butter. You can proceed with your cake recipe from there.

Regarding sugar in sweet baked goods, it's still a necessity, but you can use brown sugar instead of white for a little more nutrition. Don't mess with the amount of sugar in cake recipes, but for cookies you can usually reduce the sugar up to half without really noticing much difference. Once you start eating a healthier diet and cut out the harsh processed flavors, you'll have less craving for extra sugar anyway. Whatever you do, don't turn to artificial sweeteners.

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August 23

How To Have Beautiful Clear Skin...Indirectly

Introduction

Greetings to everyone! This week's newsletter features an article on the holistic way to develop beautiful, clear skin without needing to rely on a barrage of skin care products. I hope you find it helpful! In other news, you can still sign up for my upcoming teleclass on heart health, which starts October 10. You're welcome to read my previous article on heart disease, cholesterol and high blood pressure to get an idea of my approach to healing this endemic health problem. If you have any questions, or would like further information, feel free to contact me.

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!

How To Have Beautiful Clear Skin...Indirectly

Each year, people spend millions on products designed to improve the appearance of their skin. This is understandable, as the condition of our skin strongly influences our physical attractiveness and self confidence. However, those who focus only on how their skin looks are fighting a losing battle; it's what is on the inside that matters, and in more than one way. To be more concerned with our physical appearance than our conduct towards others is to invite more stress into our lives, and stress contributes to acne, eczema, and other skin disorders. And to apply products to our skin to clean it up is to ignore the nutritional deficiencies and other health issues within us that are contributing to those disorders in the first place. Just as focusing on losing weight, rather than on health, will either result in failure to lose weight, or in success at the expense of health (e.g. anorexia), focusing on skin care, rather than overall health, will only result in a temporary abatement of poor skin, and a lifelong dependence on care products, rather than lifetime freedom from skin disorders.

The skin is one of our organs of elimination. When there is any excess of toxins in the body, some of them will be carried out of the body by means of sweat, acne, or skin rashes such as eczema. If you eat a diet high in processed foods and low in nutrients, and are not very physically active, your body will come to contain an excess of toxins, some of which it will attempt to remove through the skin, resulting in continual skin eruptions. Excessive hormone production (which occurs during adolescence, menstruation, and during periods of stress) also contributes to skin disorders, as the hormones produced result in clogged pores that slow the elimination of toxins. Clogged pores can harbor bacteria and become infected, further worsening the condition of the skin.

If you would like to have beautiful skin naturally, the approach is simple. Take whatever you might have been spending on skin care products, and devote it to your food budget instead. By adopting a balanced diet of whole, natural foods, you will provide your body with the nutrients it needs to detoxify quickly and easily, while reducing the number of toxins that are going into your system. Reducing stress and increasing physical activity will also speed the process.

At Live Free Nutrition we believe in subtraction by addition, so here are some tips for what you can add into your life to help improve the health (and consequently the appearance) of your skin:

–Eat more foods that are full of nutrients and aid in the process of detoxification: leafy green vegetables (especially cabbage, and the broth made from boiling cabbage), cucumbers, carrots, squash, pumpkin, celery, onions, garlic, sea vegetables, whole grains (especially brown rice and millet), sprouts, and any and all fruit.

–Eat more good quality fat, particularly organic butter, chicken skin from healthy chickens, raw milk and cream, avocados, olives and their oil, eggs with deep yellow yolks, and coconut oil. Skin is mostly made from fat, and fat is necessary for you to digest fat–soluble vitamins A,E, and K, which are essential for skin that is not just blemish–free, but also vibrant and glowing. Eating more good quality fat will help you avoid poor quality rancid fat from processed foods, which contains free radicals that contribute to wrinkles and the general breakdown of skin cells.

–After introducing healthier foods, you will experience a brief increase in skin disorders as your body takes advantage of the added nutrients to thoroughly detoxify. To get this stage over with quickly, apply tea tree oil (a natural antiseptic) to inflamed, infected areas of the skin, and powdered French green clay (mixed with water and daubed on the affected area) to acne in general, as it will draw toxins out more quickly. After the initial detoxification, if you maintain a healthy lifestyle, you will rarely need these products. Some other recommendations:

–Brushing your body in the shower with a stiff skin brush can help the elimination–action of the skin.

–Generally trading in all conventional skin care products, soaps, and shampoos for organic ones or ones without any artificial or chemical ingredients will cut down on toxins, and will probably also eliminate rashes and many other skin problems.

–Ocean bathing, if you can get it, is very soothing to the skin.

–If you can't find tea tree oil, lemon juice is also a natural antiseptic, and less expensive.

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August 30

Modern Day Malnutrition: Anemia

Introduction

Hello all! This week's newsletter features an article on anemia as an example of how malnutrition can still exist in the developed world despite our abundance of food. I hope you find it informative and helpful! In other news, you can still sign up for my upcoming teleclass on heart health, which starts October 10. You're welcome to read my previous article on heart disease, cholesterol and high blood pressure to get an idea of my approach to healing this endemic health problem. If you have any questions, or would like further information, feel free tocontact me.

Modern Day Malnutrition: Anemia

In a country as wealthy as the United States, with food so abundant and affordable, it seems strange that anyone could suffer from malnutrition. And yet, not only is malnutrition a common occurrence, even the most well–off of our citizens are susceptible to it. The same goes for other developed nations. But it's not happening because we're not getting enough food. Developed countries rarely, if ever, have famines and food shortages. Rather, it's the nature of our food that is causing this problem. Thanks to modern food processing methods, developed countries produce a plentiful supply of food that is high in calories—sugar, white flour, corn syrup, and animal products from animals fattened up on soybeans and corn. While in centuries past, many people died for want of calories, we have more than we could ever eat, and at an affordable price. Unfortunately, those same modern processing methods, though they give us cheap calories, eliminate much of the nutrition from foods. Nutrients are just as important for survival as calories, so with too much of the latter and not enough of the former, it's easy to end up both overweight and undernourished. You can be eating too much and not enough at the same time! It doesn't help that, thanks to the structure of our society, high–calorie/low–nutrient foods are the cheapest and the most convenient.

Anemia is a good example of the malnutrition that runs rampant despite the prosperity of our country. Anemia is a blood disorder with symptoms including fatigue, pallor, depression, headaches, lower back pain, dizziness, easy bruising and slow healing, loss of sex drive, brittle nails, hair loss, thin and dry hair, dry skin, and, in extreme cases, shortness of breath and palpitations. The disease is most commonly caused by a lack of dietary iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12. Iron is necessary for the production of hemoglobin, a protein that makes it possible for red blood cells to carry oxygen to our tissues. Folic acid and vitamin B12 are essential nutrients for the formation of the red blood cells themselves. Though such nutrients are readily present in whole, natural foods, anemia affects an estimated 3 to 6 million Americans.

One reason why such deficiencies exist even in people who can afford whole foods is simply a lack of knowledge. Most doctors don't receive a thorough education in nutrition, let alone the average American, and most people don't realize that eliminating the cause of their symptoms could simply be a matter of eating better. Another reason is that our society is structured so that processed foods are cheaper and more convenient than more nutritious whole foods. Nevertheless, it would be difficult to find even one anemia sufferer who would really rather endure fatigue, depression and back pain than make some changes in diet and lifestyle that would not just eliminate those symptoms, but make for a more satisfying mealtime as well.

If you are (or think you may be) anemic, nutrient deficiency is very likely the cause. To increase your intake of the nutrients you need, try these recommendations:

–Add more leafy green vegetables to your diet. These include kale, collard greens, cabbage, bok choy, swiss chard and spinach. Leafy greens contain both iron and folic acid, as well as manganese, another important nutrient for iron absorption. They also contain chlorophyll, a nutrient similar to hemin, the pigment that forms hemoglobin when combined with protein.

–Add more iron rich red meat, such as lamb and beef, to your diet. These meats also contain vitamin B12 and the protein needed for forming hemoglobin. However, meat should be from grass–fed animals. Animals that did not eat their greens will have little iron in their own blood, and the meat from anemic animals won't help you very much to overcome your own anemia. Especially rich in nutrients are organs such as the liver and kidneys, and since blood is formed from the bone marrow, try making a soup with beef soup bones containing marrow.

–Seafood is another good source of iron, B12 and protein, but it should be wild caught. Organic eggs and dairy products from grass–fed cows can also provide the same nutrients.

–Other foods that contain the nutrients you need: whole grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, and especially sea vegetables such as nori and kombu.

Whether you're anemic or not, eating more of these foods will without a doubt increase your energy and improve your mood, and since they contain such a wide variety of nutrients, they will address other types of deficiencies as well. So give it a try, and email me with any questions!

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September Newsletters

September 13 (Health Food Store Shopping List)

September 13

Health Food Store Shopping List

Introduction

Hello all! This week's newsletter contains a selective guide to the health food store. Health food stores have changed greatly from their humble beginnings in the 70s and 80s, and while they now carry a much wider selection of healthy foods than they once did, they also carry more not–so–healthy foods. The article below summarizes the most important foods carried by the health food store so that you can easily prioritize your shopping list. In other news, you can still sign up for my upcoming teleclass on heart health, which starts October 10. You're welcome to read my previous article on heart disease, cholesterol and high blood pressure to get an idea of my approach to healing this endemic health problem. If you have any questions, or would like further information, feel free to contact me.

Health Food Store Shopping List

In the old days, health food stores were small, grungy, lovable, hole–in–the–wall establishments that carried a few basics for health food nuts: organic carrots, tofu, brown rice, sea vegetables, carob chips, etc. As healthy eating became more popular, these stores multiplied to the point where almost every major town in America had a local health food store. With that multiplication came expansion: in addition to rice, beans and greens, you could also acquire healthier versions of the chips, crackers and cookies carried by conventional supermarkets.

In recent years, the health food store market has been cornered by Whole Foods, a mega–chain that drove many smaller stores out of business. While Whole Foods has made health food more accessible for many people, it may have missed the point of the original health food store. At many Whole Foods stores, it has become almost impossible to find bulk brown rice, or macrobiotic foods, within the countless aisles of organic soda or breakfast cereal made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. While those processed foods are better than the counterparts you'd find at the local Walmart, they signify that just because a food is sold in a health food store doesn't mean it's healthy. What follows is my slimmed–down guide to the essential foods you need from your local health food store:

Fruit. The best tasting and most nutritious fruit is fresh, local and organic, qualities which you can usually only find in a health food store or at a farmer's market. Make local and in season your priority, followed by organic. Fruit can be expensive, but it's worth the cost. If you need to, shop at a conventional supermarket for fresh fruit rather than go without entirely.

Vegetables. Health food stores carry a wide variety of fresh, local and organic vegetables. When purchasing vegetables, you should try to incorporate a variety of different vegetable groups, which include greens (such as kale or collards), roots (like carrots and beets), bulbs (ex. onions or celery), gourds (squashes), and nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, etc). Vegetables should generally be stored in the crisper at the bottom of your refrigerator. Greens need to be kept in a plastic bag with the air pressed out, and they should be wrapped in a paper towel or two first so that the water on them is soaked up. Greens can be kept until they turn yellow (which takes about a week or two). Other vegetables will stay good for several weeks but generally it's best to use them quickly, as they lose nutrition over time.

Grains and Beans. Whole grains and beans are kept in bulk bins, and are very inexpensive when purchased this way. You can get much of your calories and protein from these foods, which take some time to cook (especially beans, which need to be soaked and then boiled), but they last a long time and once cooked, can keep in the fridge for several days. Uncooked dry beans and grains keep for a year or more.

Nuts and Dried Fruit. These are good choices for snack foods, but they are not meal replacements. Only snack between meals if you're still hungry despite having had a solid breakfast, lunch and dinner. These foods can also be expensive. Don't try to cut back on fresh fruit, vegetables, or all–natural animal products so that you can buy snack foods.

Dairy Products. Raw dairy products from healthy cows are best, but in most states these cannot be sold in stores. Cheese is an exception—choose unpasteurized cheese when it is available. If you don't have a source of raw milk, grass–fed organic pasteurized milk is the next best thing (non–homogenized is good too). Butter is best when cultured and unsalted. Yogurt should have no added sugar; add your own natural sweetener (such as raw honey) instead.

Fish. Fish is very good for you if it is wild caught, rather than farm raised. Wild caught fish is more expensive, so you may have to have it only occasionally, which is okay, especially since mercury in many species of fish is a concern. Sardines are a low–mercury, less expensive option.

Poultry, Pork, Beef, Eggs. Meat and eggs can be an important part of your diet and a good source of protein and fat; the meat must come from a healthy animal. For poultry, choose organic and free–range (or at least free–range), and hormone and antibiotic free. Pork should be organic if possible. Beef should be organic, but more importantly, grass–fed. Eggs should be from organic and free–range chickens. Be sure to check out local options.

Herbs and Spices, Salt, Natural Sweeteners. All of these condiments should be staples in your kitchen. Start building up a collection of herbs and spices and natural sweeteners (esp. raw honey), and use sea salt instead of regular salt. Buying herbs and spices in bulk is more cost–effective and you can buy less of the ones you won't use as much. Most health food stores have a bulk spice section separate from bulk grains and beans.

Macriobiotic Foods. The original standbys of the health food store, these foods can now be difficult to find. However, they are usually grouped together, and include tamari (a natural form of soy sauce), brown rice vinegar, umeboshi plum paste, tekka, gomashio, and sea vegetables (nori, kombu, wakame, arame, hijiki). In the cold section you can also usually find the macrobiotic foods miso, tofu, tempeh, seitan, and mochi. These foods originate in the traditional Japanese diet and are all very nutritious and beneficial to health.

Oils, vinegars, sauces, nut butters, pastas, pickles, etc. Not all foods you buy need to be whole foods. It's not convenient to buy your own olives to make olive oil, or grind your own peanuts for nut butter, for example, and you wouldn't necessarily come up with a better quality product. In this sense some pre–made foods are perfectly fine, as long the ingredients themselves are whole foods. Peanut butter that contains peanuts and salt—fine. Peanut butter containing peanuts, salt, and hydrogenated vegetable oil—not so good. Pasta that is made from whole wheat is much better than pasta made from white flour. Olive oil should be unrefined and unfiltered rather than filtered and refined. Generally, the fewer ingredients—and the more whole–food the ingredients—the better.

Bread. People are always confused about what bread to buy, but the answer is fairly simple. Choose bread that is made from 100% whole grain flour (i.e. whole wheat, whole rye, etc.). If it says simply "wheat flour" or "whole wheat flour and white flour," skip it. 100% whole grain flour molds quickly, since it is so nutritious, so keep it in the refrigerator or freezer. In fact, many whole grain breads are kept in the freezer section of the health food store. Don't be afraid to try something new!

Supplements. If you eat the foods listed above, you really don't need supplements. You may occasionally benefit from certain herbs, if you happen to be sick. But the most important thing is to be eating a good diet so you don't get sick in the first place. When it comes to injuries such as bruises, cuts, stings/bug bites, and burns, the supplement section has some effective remedies such as arnica, calendula, stingstop, and aloe vera.

If any of the foods listed above catch your attention, in that you've never heard of them or at least have no idea how to incorporate them into your diet, then be sure to contact me with your questions!

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