Finding a New Primary Care Doctor

A Big Thanks To Leslie at Wellparents.com for this great advice Thanks to Leslie at Read more

The Rollercoaster of Life

Grandma: "I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like Read more

Sheltering at Home/Covid 19

Never in the last two decades of my career as a physician would I have imagined that we would be using the same mask to see patients all day and then sterilizing/recycling them at the end of the day. Read more

Turmeric Health Benefits

Have you ever wondered what the paste is applied to the bride and groom's faces and arms in Indian weddings?  It's actually the spice turmeric.  Turmeric is the ingredient in curry that gives it a vibrant yellow color.  Actually, Read more

COVID 19 Precautions

With the scare of COVID here in the USA now, I wanted to post a little info about boosting immunity to prevent contracting the virus. Here are some important facts about Covid-19 It is spread by contact with Read more

Natural Tips for Avoiding Colds

This cold and flu season is still upon us and unfortunately, many patients are still being plagued by these nasty viral symptoms.  Here are a few tips to try if you feel like you are coming down with something. Of Read more

Sherry's Story

Sherry has a great story.  She has been diabetic for years and she has made some massive changes!   "I have been on a lifestyle change. It has been a year following a ketogenic food plan.  When I started this journey Read more

Pharmacy to Farmacy

Many of you may know Erin-- the fabulous Pharm D that worked in our office a few years back.  Erin is a phenomenal gal and we embarked on the journey  into natural medicine around the same time.  As we both Read more

Body

The Best Prescription

Need I really say more?

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, Exercise, Humor, Nutrition, Spirit, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Common Diet Denominator

There are several brand name diets I’ve tried: Atkins, South Beach, Ultimate Weight Loss Solution, Weight Watchers, Pink…also low calorie, low-fat, vegan. With the exception of the Atkins Diet which I think should be more aptly called the “Fast Track to Coronary Disease” diet, all of the diets I’ve tried have some things in common that are really very logical. If you throw them all into a concentric circle chart, you’ll see that they all focus on this: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and water. If you’ve had a chance to watch “Forks Over Knives”, you know the shocking statistics on how eating a plant-based diet can help to reverse cancer, type two diabetes and hypertension.

In this documentary, the thing I found most interesting is a chart that shows three diagrams of the stomach. In three different scenarios, you can see what eating 500 calories of plant-based foods does to fill the stomach and to trigger receptors to let your brain know you’re full, compared to eating animal and dairy products that are calorie-rich but nutrition dense. That’s really what it’s all about. The reason that fruits and veggies are the superheros of the nutrition world is that they are jam-packed with vitamins, minerals, plant proteins, complex carbs, good fats, antioxidants…all with relatively low-calorie counts. Just for fun, I decided to see what a person could eat in one day for 1200 calories — the same number of calories as a McDonald’s Big Mac, fries and a coke. (Did you catch that? ONE lunch at McDonald’s is the equivalent of a full day’s worth of calories). Here is what you could do with 1200 calories instead:

  • breakfast:  1 C rice milk, 1 C strawberries, 1 banana
  • lunch:  4 oz. chicken, 1 C long grain brown rice, 1/2 C black beans, 4 T salsa
  • snacks:  1 C apple, 1/2 oz. almonds, 4 oz. yogurt
  • dinner:  4 oz. salmon, 1/2 sweet potato, 12 romaine leaves, 2 T salad dressing

 

 
 

Posted on by Angela in Body, Call to action, Diet, Green Living, Guest Blog, Nutrition, Organic, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Juicing

I am frequently glanced at oddly in the hallways of the hospital when people see me carrying in my ball jar full of juice for breakfast.  If it is green, I get eye rolls or mysterious lurks.  Since my staff and I are all experimenting with juicing and recipes for tasty juice, I thought I would explain the differences between juicers.

Centrifugal vs Masticating

Centrifugal juicers work at high speeds and tend to be noisy.  They are wonderful at juicing fruits and vegetables quickly and are easy to clean.  However, they can juice green leafy vegetables but are not as efficient as a masticating juicer.

A masticating  juicer is especially good at juicing the green leafy vegetables such as wheatgrass, spinach, parsley, cilantro, kale, Swiss Chard.  One benefit of a masticating juicer is that it requires less veggies to create more juice than a centrifugal juicer.  It can also be used to make baby food, pasta, nut butter and ground meat.

I have a centrifugal juicer now since I am still a novice.  Eventually, I may upgrade.  I found my Omega 3 juicer at Georgetown Market for under $150.  There are juicers that are much less expensive and work well.

Tonight–I will be adding Kale and Parsley to my juice and disguising it in a colored glass so my kids will try it before they realize that it is green.  Baby steps and devious manuevers are required by this mom to change our family’s diet

 This is my juicer–so far so good although it is rather loud.

 Here is a link to a great article that is much more in depth on the differences in juicers —please check it out

 http://www.juicingwithg.com/types-of-juicers/

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Sugar, Sugar, Sugar

Thanks to my fabulous patient Annie for sharing this with us!  Sometimes a picture says more than words.

What A Unique Way To Present This

 

 

4.2 grams = 1 teaspoon of sugar = 1 cube !


Someone ought to get an award for this. We know the facts, but this
brings it into perspective quickly, doesn’t it?

Each cube is a teaspoonful.

Now someone needs to do this with salt!

‘When someone shares something of value
with you and you benefit from it, you have
a moral obligation to share it with others.”
So send it on!!         

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Organic Chicken

Dee–after I watched Food INC, something connected in my tiny little brain.  If  Tyson is injecting all their chicken with penicillin, why am I giving it to my daughters that are allergic to penicillin?  If they get hives, vomiting, and diarrhea when they take that antibiotic, why aren’t they getting physically sick from eating that chicken?  Well, they are-by eating very small doses regularly they don’t immediately have a reaction because they are young and healthy.  However, if I keep feeding them that for the next 10 years–they are going to be sick!  They will develop diabetes, heart disease, arthritis or even worse, an autoimmune disease.  That inflammation created at my dinner table is eventually going to make my babies sick!  Ignorance is bliss, until you educate yourself and find out you are poisoning your own kids!

 

Dee tried organic chicken and lived!  Read today’s post—

A few months ago,  I was on my way home from work and had to stop for something for dinner. The grocery is not on my direct route home, but a natural food store is so I stopped to find something. I bought a package of organic chicken that looked disgusting. It was vacuum-sealed so the packaging was wrinkled and the chicken itself was darker than what I usually buy, and smaller. When I cut it up, I noticed that the texture was strange, it was much more tender and didn’t need trimming. I decided to put it in a skillet with no oil and just salt and pepper. Even though the chicken breasts were smaller, they didn’t shrivel up like other chicken. I later learned that it’s because most chickens are plumped with water that cooks off when heated. The taste is like nothing you’ve ever tasted, it’s delicious! I have since taken the time to spread the word to people about the difference in the taste of chicken without hormones or antibiotics. One time (sorry in advance for the insensitive remark) someone rolled their eyes and said, “but it’s so expensive” and I replied “so is chemo.”

Interested in learning why organic chicken matter? Watch Food Inc. through this LINK

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, disease, Family, Green Living, Guest Blog, Nutrition, Organic, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

New Favorites!

Thanks Dee–

I used to think my sister-in-law was crazy for raising chickens.  I educated myself on nutrition and realized that what Atticus Finch told Scout in, “To Kill a Mockingbird,”  was a prediction of the future.  He said not to judge a person until you had heard their story.   I now realize that I was ignorant and superficial in those days.    We have to keep ourselves realistic because we are all products of the society  in which we were raised.   We don’t know everything, we know what we are told.  Atticus was right;  As was, Hippocrates when he said , “Let food be the medicine”.  Thank you for this post because we all need to educate ourselves and not judge others–they may just be two steps ahead of us!

Dee writes:

Continuing on with what I can eat, here are some things I’ve not only learned to like, but I actually look forward to eating them.

I used to think people who were vegetarian were strange (no offense) and I thought that veganism was half-crazy. Now, I am deeply remorseful for my hasty judgement. With all I’ve learned about plants as food lately, it seems as though they have had the last laugh.

Falafel with Homemade Tzatziki

First favorite – soy milk in coffee. What a blast of fantastic flavor. I first tried it as a shot of soy in my Starbucks espresso. It was heavenly and I doubt that I’ll drink coffee any other way. Putting dairy milk in my morning coffee was the last bit of regular milk I had failed to give up…milk’s off my list.

Beans, lentils, legumes, peppers, onions! For lunch today, I made falafel with tzatziki. Last weekend, lentil soup. Tonight, my sister’s recipe for Chicken Marbella. Black beans go in my salad, refried beans with salsa are a quick hunger cure, chickpeas in a salad…good all around.

And finally, as a grand gesture apology to all my vegan friends – silken tofu! It is amazing when blended with non-dairy milk and fruit. Check out this recipe from one of my favorite food blogs: Strawberry Mango Fruit Ice.

Remember that protein plays a key role in providing energy and feeling full. The reason we are told to stay away from “the white stuff” like sugar, white pasta, white bread, white rice and potatoes is that these foods are quickly digested, simple carbs made with one or two sugar molecules, they lack fiber and pass quickly into your bloodstream. Complex carbs contain a string of sugar molecules that digest slowly and keep blood sugar stable, full of fiber and filling. Because they are found commonly in whole plant foods they are high in vitamins and minerals.

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, disease, Nutrition, Organic, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

What can you eat?

When you get the blues, it’s often a comforting thing to focus on what you have, not what you lack. There is a saying about a man who pitied himself because he had no shoes until he met the man who had no feet.

There is a similar thing when transitioning to a healthier diet. As a result of watching recent documentaries, I have decided to make a major step toward a plant-based diet. I would rather make a reasonable step that is feasible than a 180-degree change that I will surely fail. Step one for me is to give up beef, pork and milk. I’ve already given up sugar, white flour, white rice, pasta and white bread…almost. I did enjoy a few slices of a semolina Italian last weekend and it was heavenly. When you decrease the amount of meat in your diet, you should be mindful of getting other kinds of protein. Non-dairy milks are a good source of protein, and yogurt and beans/legumes and nuts. Don’t avoid nuts just because they are high in calories, but do watch your portion size with nuts. Beans and legumes are an all around great choice. Today I decided to make a big pot of lentil soup for the week, stepping up the normal amount of carrots and celery for extra vitamins. You should have smelled my house. There are about 150 calories in a cup of the soup and it’s loaded with health benefits. The protein in the lentils makes you feel full. Remember too that color is a simple way to gauge the nutritional value of food. See “All About Color.” For example, in yesterday’s blog picture the color of the lunch from McDonald’s. The only color in it is the bit of lettuce and tomato on the Big Mac, and guess what the only part of that meal that is healthy is? Brown burger, brown bun, brown fries and brown Coke.
Posted on by Angela in Diet, Guest Blog, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Hell has frozen over and pigs can fly!

No, I don’t have a fever.  Am I still alive?  (Pinch-OUCH-guess so!)  I am so proud of Dee!  She actually listened to me and rented the video!  I had 2 other patients this week that did as well.  It must be a full moon or I’ll have to accept that people may actually be starting to listen to my rants and raves!

Here’s what Dee had to say about the documentary…

When I started this challenge to spend 90-days getting healthy through a better diet and exercise, Dr. Angela mentioned a few documentaries that were very powerful in hammering home the grave consequences of the Western Diet — a diet rich in animal proteins, dairy, refined grains, sugars and processed foods. One of the documentaries, “Forks Over Knives”, has some staggering statistics that demonstrate the global impact of nutrition over the centuries. For example, the average American is 23 pounds overweight with forty-percent falling into the obese category. I myself, at 5 ft. 7 in. and 190 pounds am on the overweight/obese borderline. This year, 460,000 women will die of heart disease and stroke and we are seeing dramatic increases in diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis and prostate cancer. Diabetes and hypertension are becoming diagnosed in children as young as four with one in every four preschoolers reaching obesity. This generation may well be the first generation of children who are outlived by their parents.

The United States spends 2.2 trillion dollars each year in health care, five times the budget for national defense and half of the US population is taking some type of prescription drug. Every minute, a person dies of heart disease….you get the picture. This 90-minute documentary is well-worth your time to watch. It is available on DVD, Netflix online and Hulu Plus.

“Let food by thy medicine.” — Hippocrates

“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” — Thomas Edison

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, disease, Exercise, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Pink Slime and the 26 Ingredient School Hamburger

A big thanks to Jamie Oliver from The Food Network for finally raising some public attention and encouraging us to be savvy in inspecting the ingredients in the foods we are eating. I have to say that I have been just as ignorant as the rest of the public about what I’m actually putting in my body! Nutrition isn’t taught in medical school. Unfortunately, I have had to go back and relearn everything about healthy eating that I wish I would have learned as a child. I hope these posts are shocking but helpful so that you don’t have to spend hours seeking out the right information.

The Following Foods Contain over 25 ingredients!

Combos, Chocolate Cereals, Cheez Whiz, Frozen Waffles, Snicker’s Peanut Butter, Pringles, Breakfast Bars, Lunchables, and Big Mac Sauce

 

 

 Dear Lunchable,

Sidney and Emma are breaking up with you!    You are taunting them like candy from a rapist van!  Stay away before I really have to go all mama bear postal on you!

Keep your nasty ingredients to yourself!

Cherry Flavored Water Beverage With Other Natural Flavor: Water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, sucralose (Splenda brand sweetener), natural flavor. Cooked Ham–Water Added–Chopped And Formed–Smoke Flavor Added: Ham, water, contains less than 2 percent of sodium lactate, potassium chloride, modified cornstarch, sodium phosphates, sugar, salt, sodium diacetate, sodium ascorbate, flavor, sodium nitrite, smoke flavor. Pasteurized Prepared American Cheese Product: Milk, water, milkfat, milk protein concentrate, whey, whey protein concentrate, contains less than 2 percent of sodium citrate, salt, lactic acid, sorbic acid as a preservative, cheese culture, enzymes, oleoresin paprika (color), annatto (color), with starch added for slice separation. Artificially Flavored Candy: Sugar, invert sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, tartaric acid, citric acid, natural and artificial flavoring, yellow 6, red 40, yellow 5 and blue 1. Crackers: Unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate [vitamin B1], riboflavin [Vitamin B2], folic acid), whole grain wheat flour, soybean oil, sugar, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, salt, leavening (baking soda and/or calcium phosphate), whey (from milk), soy lecithin, natural flavor

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, disease, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food 2 Comments

The Reality of the Intrusion of Red Dye #40

Ok–hold on because it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

The following foods contain the infamous Red Dye #40:

Cereals—Kix, Lucky Charms, Reece’s, Trix, Fruit Loops, Fruity Pebbles, and Captain Crunchberries

Yogurts–Dannon, Yoplait, Breyer’s, Colombo, and Trix

Juices and drinks– V8, Hi-C, Minute Maid, Gatorade, Sunkist, Hawaiian Punch, Koolaid, Crystal Light, Pepsi, Ocean Spray , and Lipton iced tea

Sauces and dressings— bullion cubes, BBQ sauce, Catalina dressing

Snacks—Nutragrain bars, Poptarts, Jello pudding, Little Debbie products, granola bars

Cakes and doughs—Pillsbury/Duncan Hines cresent rolls, frosting, pie crusts, cake mix, quick breads

Candy— Brach’s, fruit snacks,Jolly ranchers, Twizzlers, M&M’s, Starburst, Skittles, Lifesavers, Altoids, Smarties, Trident, Tootsie Rolls

ETC ETC ETC—This list is incomplete!  Please visit  http://www.red40.com/  for the complete details. 

Remember:  This small dye changed Susan’s life for the worst ( see post When I let go..)  and eliminating it changed her life back for the better.  Do you believe in miracles?–I do now!

Posted on by Angela in Diet, disease, Green Living, Nutrition, Organic, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment