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

disease

Thank you Kevin!

he Diet Soda Hoax

“They may be free of calories, but not of consequences.”

In one study, people who drank two or more diet sodas a day had five times the increase in waist circumference over a 10-year period compared to people who didn’t drink any diet soda.

I think this topic is extremely relevant for summer time. Sodas and sodas mixed with alcohol are a summer time staple for many people. I respect people who don’t let their diet or nutrition plan interfere with their social life. I think there is something to be said about having a healthy balance between eating well, watching what you drink and socializing. Food and drink should never control your life. With that being said, there is a difference between smart choices and misinformed choices. The best example I can think of is people who buy diet soda or have  diet soda with alcohol because they are “watching their weight.”

The Science

  • Artificial sweeteners in diet soda could have the effect of triggering appetite but unlike regular sugars they don’t deliver something that will squelch the appetite
  • Sweeteners can inhibit brain cells that make you feel full. So while you may be saving calories in comparison with regular soda the artificial sweeteners will trigger your appetite and cause you to overeat in some other fashion.
  • Psychological licensing effect -If a person thinks that they are doing something that is benefiting them, they will be more prone to do something that may be potentially harmful, creating some sort of psychological balance. For instance, many people will work out for an hour or more, and then eat something unhealthy because “they earned it.” The same effect can be seen with diet sodas. People may think that diet sodas are more healthy, and they therefore drink more diet soda than they normally would. This will increase any negative effects beyond what they may expect from an infrequent consumption of cola.
  • Artificial sweeteners trigger byproducts in our gut called “short chain fatty acids” which can decrease satiety signals. (The component that relays messages to your brain to tell if you are full are interfered with as a byproduct of artificial sweeteners.)

What To Drink Instead

Honestly, the only things I ever recommend that people drink are water, black coffee, tea, unsweetened almond milk, and alcohol in moderation. If these don’t satisfy your cravings than opt for something that doesn’t contain artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, or large amounts of sugar.

Examples

1. 100 percent pure juice from fresh fruit, not from concentrate, with no additives of any kind. ( I always recommend whole fruits over juices but there can be some compromise.)

Apple Juice

2. Fresh Vegetable Juice (Again, I always recommend whole vegetables but juicing vegetables can be a great alternative.)

3.100 percent pure fruit smoothie. ( I don’t trust any commercial smoothie joints just because you can never be sure what kind of sweeteners they use but do-it-yourself smoothies make for a great snack and thirst quencher.)

Conclusion

The jury is out. Diet soda is not a healthy alternative to regular soda. Not to say you should revert back to drinking regular soda where you know the sweetness you taste is actually real sugar and sugar additives. This is by no means better than artificial sweeteners. In my mind they are equally as bad and the decision on which to choose is a coin toss.  My suggestion is to play it safe and avoid all sodas and opt for water.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any comments or questions.

From South Bend,

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

Food Additives: Read the Label Part 2/10

Considering that a typical household in the USA spends 90% of their food budget on processed foods, we are exposed to a multitude of food additives that have negative health side effects.  Since Susan was cured by eliminating red dye # 40 from her diet–consider what ailments you could cure yourself of by eliminating your unknown nemesis?  The long term consequensces and cumulative effects could be your silent killer!

 

The top five food additives to avoid:

Artificial Sweeteners

Aspartame is a high intensity sweeter that has hit the market at an alarming rate in food items entitled “diet” or “sugar-free”.  It is classified as a carcinogen and is highly neurotoxic!  Headaches, dizziness, confusion, migraines and seizures can all be caused from it.  Allergy and Asthma suffers should avoid it as well.  Check out the documentary Sweet World: A Poisoned World to learn more.

MSG

MSG is an amino acid used as a flavor enhancer in many soups, salad dressings, chips, and frozen entrees.  Yes, it’s in a lot more than just Chinese food.  The real trick is that the FDA allows 20 other pseudonames for MSG to be used in package labeling!  MSG has the ability to affect neurological pathways in the brain and neutralize leptin’s (hormone that controls appetite) ability to tell our bodies to stop eating.  That’s why it’s virtually impossible to eat just one or two Cheetos!

High Fructose Corn Syrup

High Fructose Corn Syrup is a highly refined sugar that is derived from the processing orf corn.  It is mainly used in prepackaged food.  Since these types of foods are the primary source of calories for most Americans, it is one of the greatest offenders!!!  HCFS contributes to weight gain more than any other substance.

Food Coloring

Food coloring is found in meats, soda, juices, and salad dressings.  It may contribute to behavior issues and play a significant reduction in a child’s ability to learn.  This may be while I had a 2 hour drag out protest from Emma last night when I told her it was bath time!  I caught her drinking a diet coke when I got home from work.  Ironically, most of the dyes used in our foods have been banned in most other countries including Norway, France, and Sweeden.

Trans fat

Trans fat is one of the most dangerous substances to consume.  It is used to enhance the shelf life of food products.  It is found in margarine (yep–still one molecule from plastic), chips, baked goods, and fast foods.  Trans fat increases LDL levels and lowers HDL (good cholesterol) increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, inflammation, and diabetes.

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, Exercise, Weight Loss Comments Off on Food Additives: Read the Label Part 2/10

Deception in the Food Industry

Watch this little tidbit!  Very informative!

Posted on by Angela in Body, Call to action, Diet, disease, Nutrition, Uncategorized, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Breast Cancer and Parabens

How many have someone dear to their their heart who has either had breast cancer or had their life changed by this wicked disease?   I’m guessing many people hold this close at heart .  This article may enlighten you.

 

 

Dr. Mercola reported this week on a study published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology  that 99% of 160 breast tissue samples tested from mastectomies contained Parabens.  (n-propylparaben, methyparaben, n-butylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylaraben).

Parabens are found in the vast majority of skin care products.  They contain a synthetic estrogen that is the major factor seen in the growth and development of breast cancer.  EPA testing concludes that ingredients in skin care and personal care products are reaching havoc on our hormone levels.  Chronic long-term low dose exposure to these chemicals will accumulate in the body and eventually settle into practice of mutating cells and creating free radicals.

DON’T LET THIS—–

CAUSE THIS—–

Http://www.cleure.com is a company dedicated to making products without additives

Dr. Flora Stay has been in the wellness industry for over 30 years.  After graduating from University of California at San Francisco with her doctor of dental surgery degree (D.D.S.), she knew her path was clear towards health and wellness.  She became passionate about helping others take responsibility towards their health.

She is an author (Secret Gateway to Health), speaker, practicing dentist and professor at University of Southern California. Dr. Stay noticed the need for a truly safe and effective toothpaste in 1993.  Since then due to popularity of her dental products and demand from loyal customers, the Cleure line has grown to include personal care, skin care and makeup.

In Her Own Words:

My background has influenced my passion towards developing healthy toothpaste, skin care and personal care for everyone. I come from a family of doctors: three brothers (cancer specialist, pathologist, internist), and my father was a university professor with 3 PhDs in science, who discovered many medicinal plants and wrote 20 volumes of botanical books found in most universities.

As I listened to my brothers, especially the cancer specialist Dr. Kooros Parsa (Ventura County Hematology, Oncology Specialists), talk about the yearly alarming increase in numbers of patients, I began to research why cancer was on the rise.

There are many possible causes for cancer, but we can minimize the risk with our lifestyle.

Safer choices in using skin care, personal care and cosmetics lead to a healthier life. I believe you can be beautiful without added toxins in daily used products.

Cleure Mission:

My promise is to develop safe and effective (salicylate free, fragrance free, ecologically responsible, hypoallergenic formulas) non-irritating products, reasonably priced, without animal testing.  You can enjoy youthful, radiant, beautiful and healthy skin, hair and a beautiful smile with Cleure, without added questionable toxins.

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

Free Radicals

 

One small point that Dr. Chris makes in this anti aging lecture is my big take away point.  He describes a Free Radical (an unpaired electron) in terms that I can actually wrap my small brain around.  In a nutshell, my husband and I go to a couples party one evening.  Because I am a sap, I decide to bring cousin Joe that just got divorced because I feel sorry for him.  Well, cousin Joe is slightly depressed, drinks a few too many Sun King’s, and hits on everyone’s wife!  Hence CHAOS ensues and healthy paired couples are broken up!  Cousin Joe is a free radical!  He is a toxic cell that breaks apart healthy paired cells and reproduces with them chaotically to cause disease.  It’s that simple.  That being said–don’t invite Joe to the party!  Don’t create chaos in your own body, mind, or spirit.

For more on anti-aging from Dr. Christopher Nagy visit:  http://yourpersonalwellnesscenter.com/

Thanks to Chris for allowing http://www.angelamd.com to share his wonderful lecture.

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, Guest Blog, Humor, Organic, Whole Food 1 Comment

Dee’s Flatbread

Time: A bout 45 minutes, largely unattended (longer for resting, if time allows); NOTE: the recipe on the website doesn’t list water as one of the ingredients but it is listed in the instructions for preparation
1 cup whole wheat flour or cornmeal, or chickpea flour (also called besan; sold in Middle Eastern, Indian, and health food stores)
1 1/2 cups of water
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil (see the headnote)
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves (optional)One thing on in my new eating plan is to use whole grain breads. My grocery, Publix, makes an Italian Five Grain baguette that I could eat completely by myself in one sitting. It’s soft inside with a crunchy crust, topped with sunflower, sesame and poppy seeds. It has 90 calories in a slice though, and I know that most really good whole grain breads are a combination of whole wheat flour and enriched wheat flour or white flour. That’s why they taste good. I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I am looking for a good flatbread recipe because when I buy it pre-made it tends to have a short shelf life. There are so many things you can do with a good flatbread or pita: top it with sauce and veggies for a pizza, dip it into hummus, spread it with tuna or tzatziki, use it instead of croutons in a salad or make breadcrumbs with it for turkey meatballs.There are about 400 calories in a cup of whole grain wheat flour so that will give you an idea of the calorie count for this recipe. It’s about 50 calories per wedge plus a bit for the oil.

 
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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

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

The 2012 Mother’s Day Anthem!

Thanks Dee—

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day–I spent it laughing with true belly laughs doing mundane chores with my kids and family.  I appreciate the blessings I have been given and especially take the time to think about them on these holidays! I’m lucky that my Mom is there to support me and not afflicted by disease— however, many people are and are not so lucky.  I am more than thankful that Dee is a fabulous mom despite her woe for her own mother’s ailments.  She has learned from the best example that keeping God or Kindness as your king will always lead you in the right direction.

Dee writes today:

“Mother’s day anthem for 2012.  It was a great day. All that ever matters to me is getting to spend time with my mom and my daughters. Over the past few days, I’ve been in touch with my brother and sister more than usual and we were all three reminded of how close we are and how great our appreciation is for our mom. She currently lives in a nursing home after suffering a stroke when a brain aneurysm ruptured 20 years ago. She is wheelchair-bound and after surviving breast cancer a year and a half ago, she also was admitted to and then discharged from hospice for failure to thrive.

Today’s visit with her was, at her request, lunch at Bob Evans. She ordered a side dish of sausage gravy and biscuits, only eating half. From the time we picked her up she started thanking us for the “treat.” Then she stated and reiterated how blessed she is, for having a good home with fun activities, good food, and a lot of friends.  When I walk into a nursing home and look around, just being there briefly is more than I care to be there. Her food is ground up in a food processor to make it easier to chew and it seems to be bland and flavorless. People around her moan and call out into thin air. And even though it is a very clean place, relatively, it sometimes smells like an outhouse.

God actually, is everywhere, often in the shape of mothers!

And yet, my dear mother whose left breast is missing, and has no use of one leg or hand, is perpetually blessed. I’m blessed just to know her.”

 

I read a post on Facebook the other day–it said that giving up complaining is one of the 15 things that will make you truly happy.  Apparently your mom is a step ahead of the rest of us.  My father had a stroke a few years ago and was fortunate that it did not leave him paralyzed.  It did affect his balance and he had to spend a few weeks in a rehabilitation center.  It was a difficult time for all of us and we are blessed that he is doing well now.  I think my vow in honor of your mom tomorrow will be to go an entire day without complaining about anything.  It may be rough and I may have a really interesting post for you tomorrow –but, I will try.  The best way to change the world is to change yourself!

Posted on by Angela in Benevolence, Body, cancer, disease, Guest Blog, Mind Leave a comment