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

toxins

8 GMO Foods to Avoid

What is a GMO?

A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the product of a lab process that takes genes from on species and inserts them into another species to attain a desired trait.  Viruses or bacteria are used to infect animal or plant cells with the new DNA.  The DNA is coated with tiny metal pellets and shot into the cells.  Then, the new DNA is injected into fertilized eggs and electric shocks create holes in the membranes of sperm forcing the new DNA into the holes.  Although, no research on humans has shown detrimental effects from eating GMO foods, numerous studies on animals have shown immune damage, pre-cancerous cell growth and many unexplained anomalies.

For more information on the history of GMO’s visit HERE

Here are the top 8 GMO foods to avoid

1.  CORN– corn is the most prominent genetically modified crop here in the US.  Please know your farmer if you want good fresh sweet corn–and ask what type of seeds he uses.

2.  SOY–90% of soy is genetically engineered to be resistant to Monsanto’s Roundup.

3.  SUGAR–since 2009, genetically modified beets have been used to make beet sugar.

4.  ASPARTAME -not only is one of those toxic food additives, it is actually made from genetically modified bacteria.

5.  PAPAYAS—yep, this wonderful fruit is exported here from Hawaii since 1999 and is genetically modified to be resistant to the Ringspot virus.  They are banned in all European countries.

6.  CANOLA– canola is made from rapeseed which is one of the most chemically modified and adapted oils.

7.  DAIRY–  1/5 of all dairy cows are injected with rBGA growth hormone from Monsanto—Drink organic or plant-based.  Remember that 93% of all soy is GMO— Silk Brand Soy milk is non-GMO.

8.   ZUCCHINI AND YELLOW SQUASH– most are genetically modified to resist viruses.

Luckily, Connecticut and Maine have recently passed laws requiring manufacturers to label all products with Genetically Engineered ingredients.

4 Tips to avoiding GMO

1.  Buy organic–labels saying 100% organic or made with organic ingredients

2.  Buy Non GMO–labels saying “artificial hormone free”

3.  Avoid high risk ingredients–corn, soybean, canola, cottonseed, sugar beets, corn syrup

4.  Download shopping guide and get the app “ShopNoGMO”—a great app with plenty of good information and specific products to avoid.BagofNon-GMOGroceries

Posted on by Angela in Call to action, disease, Nutrition, Organic, Whole Food Leave a comment

Pit Paste and Coconut Butt Oil??? Really???

This is a great clip on the dangers of the top 4 personal care product ingredients that we really should avoid.  I had no idea that the average woman puts up to 300 chemicals on her body before she leaves the house in the morning.  Failing to remember that the skin is the body’s largest organ, we forget that we absorb what our skin contacts.  I think Christa states that it enters our bloodstream in like 24 seconds—now that’s scary.  I am still primarily focused on what I am eating and putting into my body on my own personal health journey.  This clip kicks it up a notch to a whole new level.  And YES–I do use coconut oil as a moisturizer but haven’t tried it on the booty yet!  Talk about a whole new level——-EEK!

Be sure to visit Sean Croxton’s site http://www.undergroundwellness.com

and Christa Orecchio’s site http://www.thewholejourney.com

Remember—visit the skindeep site to rank your favorite products and substitute some cleaner ones.

Posted on by Angela in Body, Green Living, Organic, Whole Food Leave a comment

The Teflon Man

Teflon—the most common source of PFOA is found in non-stick cookware.  It is also found in greaseproof food wrappers and popcorn bags.  Sadly, PFOA has been linked to obesity, cancer, kidney and lung disease.  Yet, I use non-stick cookware every night to cook up some delicious healthy noms for my family.  Scary to think I am actually slowly poisoning them as this PFOA leaches into all their food.  What is even worse is that most of my non-stick cookware is scratched and chipped.  They tell you to throw them away when they get like this but it is damn expensive to buy all new cookware!!!  Surprisingly, when you buy a bird at a pet shop, they tell you to keep your bird away from the non-stick cookware.  I thought that was because you didn’t want bird droppings in your food but it is actually because Teflon kills birds.  EEK!

I am saving up for some stainless steel cookware and I found a great deal at http://www.stainlesscookware4u.com

Posted on by Angela in Call to action, Diet, Nutrition, Whole Food Leave a comment

Personal Care Products

As you know, the skin is the largest organ in the body.  Because it is responsible for absorption, it is also a great detoxification organ.  However, I pay very little attention to what personal products I use because I have been more concerned about what I eat and put into my body.  I forget that what we put on our bodies can be just as toxic.  If you read one of my earlier posts about cleure cosmetics you also read about how parabens, found in many cosmetics, have recently been found in breast tissue of breast cancer patients.  These parabens act like hormone mimickers thus feeding hormone based cancers.  We use aluminum containing antiperspirants that have been linked with neuron degeneration.  Many shampoos that we wash our hair with contain propylene glycol (antifreeze).  There is a great website www.cosmeticsdatabase..com that ranks the toxicity of personal care products on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most toxic.  So this weekend, I will be spending an exciting Friday or Saturday night on the SKIN DEEP website logging all my personal products and replacing any of them that have a score of 5 or higher.  Fun stuff!!!

Posted on by Angela in Body, Green Living, Nutrition, Organic, 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