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

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wheat belly

Can Diet Changes Regulate Your Hormones to Lose Weight?

I have been recommending “The Hormone Cure” book by Dr. Sara Gottfried with some amazing patient results!  Jessica (our guest author) graciously offered to write a post explaining the science correlating hormone balance and weight loss.  Be sure to visit her site as well!  We have been talking about limiting grains in the diet for prevention of blood sugar issues so keep that in mind as well.  EAT YOUR VEGGIES!

Jessica writes:

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Can Diet Changes Regulate Your Hormones To Lose Weight?

Modern research suggests that it is possible to modify your daily diet to bring about changes in the ways your body hormones are functioning. Dietary changes will influence hormone levels and help you lose weight. So, weight loss is not only about shedding calories or having a strong willpower; it has quite a lot to do with the way your hormones behave. Although it sounds strange, what you eat can actually regulate your hormonal functions.

Hormonal imbalance is responsible for different forms of ailments, ranging from cancers to amnesia. Studies show that nearly 40 chemicals actually work to influence one’s appetite. When your hormones are not in control, your weight loss efforts can suffer a setback even if you are following a healthy well-balanced diet. Since hormones are produced when the body has enough cholesterol and good fats, it is important to have these foods as part of your everyday diet in order to release important hormones.

How diet changes can affect hormone functions:

  • Control omega-6 intake: Cortisol hormone leads to heightened appetite particularly for comfort foods that are sugar-rich and fattening. If you can avoid the omega-6 polyunsaturated fats you can protect yourself from inflammation. These fats are unstable and get oxidized easily, causing mutation and inflammation of arteries. Instead, you should focus on including monounsaturated fats and saturated fats because these benefit health. So, vegetable oils, peanut oil, margarine etc are best avoided; it is wiser to opt for real butter, coconut oil and olive oil.
  • Limit caffeine consumption: Excess caffeine can adversely affect the endocrine system especially when you are already feeling the effects of other hormone stressors. You can switch to drinking herbal teas.
  • Limit toxins: Toxins are present in household chemicals and plastics, and pills for birth control likewise can play havoc with your hormones. When you already have hormonal imbalance or trying to get pregnant, you need to stay away from such toxins. You should avoid storing foods in plastic containers and choose organic produce and organic meats.
  • Coconut oil: Coconut oil can work wonders for your hormones by providing the building blocks for their production. Therefore, it helps in weight loss, reduces inflammation and has anti-bacterial properties.
  • Increase fiber intake: When you eat more fibers like raw fruits and vegetables and whole grains, you can not only lose weight but improve the release of old estrogen from your body. This in turn leads to an improved overall hormonal balance.
  • Increased meat and carb intake: When you include more carbs and meat in your daily diet, you get more energy for hormone production. For instance, seafood that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids or low-fat meats is an excellent source of fiber which can contribute to weight loss.
  • Eat more vegetables: You can include  fibers and vegetables in the diet to control leptin resistance. Veggies contain important vitamins and antioxidants that reduce inflammation which interferes with leptin secretion. This in turn improves the body’s fat-burning power and helps to reduce your cravings.
  • Opt for meal delivery services: You can consider joining reputed weight loss meal delivery services that deliver portion controlled meals. As they prepare meals especially to lose weight, the above said factors would be well imbibed in their diet plans. Moreover you need not bother about counting calories or cooking healthy meals each day when you join such programs. For instance, Nutrisystem is a popular weight loss meal delivery service which delivers nutritionally balanced and portion controlled meals to their dieters. The meals are usually low glycemic, low-fat, low carb, low sodium and are devoid of trans and saturated fats. So, considering the diet services is one of the wisest options to lose weight.

These are some easy dietary changes which can help in the release of important hormones that allow you to maintain an optimal weight. Weight loss is guaranteed to happen when your hormones are working optimally and your diet is well-balanced.

Author Bio:

 

Jessica Robert Keenly blogs about weight loss ideas and diet tips. She runs a simple blog displaying helpful articles on easy dieting methods and weight loss ideas.

Image link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/inspiredhomefitness/8753895157/sizes/z/

 

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, Weight Loss, Whole Food 1 Comment

Getting Glutened—Episode 3

 

Thanks Sandy —for sharing more of your gluten free adventures with us!

“So last night, I got some cereal boxes mixed up and accidentally may have eaten some gluten. It was honey nut cheerios, but I wasn’t paying close attention and thought I picked up honey nut Chex. You’d think I might have noticed the difference in size and shape of the cereal in the bowl, but I had my head elsewhere and didn’t notice. (Some of you may have guesses as to where my head was, so I’d like to clear that up right now…it was in a book….that place my mother was always telling me to get it out of…turns out she may have been right.)

When I realized my error, I read the label and thought “Ah, that’s okay. This is mostly oats.” I chose to ignore the part at the bottom of the ingredients list that said “may contain wheat.”

I enjoyed my bedtime snack, read a little longer, and went to bed, thinking “that’s okay…not that big a deal…you probably won’t notice any difference.”

Until about 3:30 this morning when my guts woke me up with their cramping. Really? Really?! More evidence, I guess, that gluten-free is the path for me. I haven’t had that happen in a couple of weeks now.”05a903eecbbabcb6bd2e3d855edd80c7

 

Here are a few tips to recover from

getting

glutened!

1.  Cleanse your system quickly:  This includes hydration above and beyond your usual requirement of 1/2 your body weight in ounces.  A great way to hydrate and detox is to use coconut water –it also contains electrolytes that can be lost via vomiting or diarrhea (It’s nature’s Gatorade)

2.  Try some digestive enzymes:  they speed up the breakdown and absorption of nutrients.  Make sure you get one that contains the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase(DPP-IV) which specifically breaks down gluten

3.  Decrease inflammation with omega 3 fatty acids, ginger, or turmeric –these supplements all have fabulous anti-inflammatory qualities.  I take THIS

4.  Heal your gut using probiotics.  I would recommend doubling up on your probiotic (up to 100 billion units/day) for about a week after gluten exposure.  I take THIS

5.  Use bone broth that is high in glycine and proline.  The gelatin heals  the mucosal lining of the gi tract.

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, Weight Loss Leave a comment

The Gluten Summit

05a903eecbbabcb6bd2e3d855edd80c7Ok guys–I know you are annoyed with all the Gluten-Free posts and don’t really understand this crazy fad any more than I do!  Here is our chance to check out the science behind the madness!  This is a great opportunity to learn anything and everything you need to know about Gluten.

www.freeglutensummit.com <– Register Here

This is my Gluten-Free God’s (Dr. Tom O’Bryan) free educational summit that will give you everything you need to know and more.

This could change your life –I’m not joking when I say that I’ve had more than a handful of patients tell me they turned their life around by eliminating grains from their diet.

Have a great week all!

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, Whole Food Leave a comment

Gluten Issues –with the Gluten God!

What about all that GLUTEN????

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I absolutely love the Underground Wellness Site and always refer legitimately interested patients there to learn about nutrition and it’s healing effects on the body.  The body never ceases to amaze mean and the way that we are all so intricately woven together from system to system makes me marvel at the body’s resilience to its mistreatment.  I wasn’t ever aware of how perfectly in tune my mind, body, and spirit all were until these last few years and I am thankful to my awakening.  I’ve played this video in follow-up to the Wheat Belly video that many of you have watched during your office visits.  I am amazed at how little it takes to cause such an uproar in the body–This one is short and worth a one time viewing.  Tom O’Bryan is like the “Gluten God” to me and Sean Croxton has many resources on his site and podcasts that are filled with incredible science, tips, and transformation stories.  Please dig deeper if you are interested at all!

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Angela in disease, Nutrition, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Going Against the Grain: Part 1

I had the fabulous opportunity to listen to Dr. William Davis speak at the World Conference on Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine.  He presented his thoughts on wheat in an incredibly logical and understandable format.  I have decided to give you my dumbed down synopsis on why WHEAT is not the healthy grain with which educators inform us.  I have to plead ignorance on this subject and am grateful to read and learn more everyday to help educate you to the dangers of our food supply.  Remember, nutrition isn’t taught in medical school!

 

Wheat dates back to the Roman Empire when grain was traded for land.  Around 850 to 900 BC , huge glacier melts raised global temperatures allowing wheat to be grown more readily.  Thus ensued the first consumption of grain by humans.  Initially, the seeds of the grain were intolerable to the human gut and caused severe diarrhea.  Therefore, the seeds had to be cooked or heated to make  human digestion possible.  This dramatically changed the culture from the hunter/gathering model to a cultivation model. Hence, birth of agriculture changed our food supply.  When we started consuming grains on a regular basis many changes happened.  The jaws and facial structures of humans decreased because of less need for mastication.  Dental decay increased.  We lost height and bone size. Also, iron deficiency was born.  So ironically, wheat started causing disease this early in the evolutionary path.  Spoiler alert—it’s only going to get worse.

This original wheat was called Eiknorn wheat that contained 14 chromosomes.  I won’t bore you with the intricate science that ensued and will refer you to the book for the specific details but this original wheat was then mated with wild grass multiple times to evolve to the 19/20th century version of wheat called Spelt which then contained 42 chromosomes.

In the 1960’s, the fear of world population explosion caused a push by the government to fund the development of high yield crops.  We then started to increase the yield of wheat crops in hopes to feed the starving population.  The wheat then underwent repetitive hybridization with other wheats and grasses to yield a crop with big seeds and heads and a much smaller stalk.  This modification allowed for a heartier plant that was much more resistant to climate changes, susceptible to fertilizers, and yielded larger seeds.  Now remember–what did the wheat seed originally do to humans? (make them sick???)

Many people say that it is unethical to not eat bread.  I mean what did Christ do at the last supper?  He broke bread–but his bread isn’t the bread we are eating today!  His bread was much closer to what God placed on this earth.  Humans have modified that original grain so dramatically that we have made ourselves ill!

Please consider reading Dr. Davis’s great book for more information.  More to come on the whole Gluten/Gluten Free issues in following posts.  He also has some great grain free ideas and recipes at his site http://www.wheatbellyblog.com

More blog posts to come as I continue to read and educate myself on the dangers of wheat.

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, Organic, Whole Food 1 Comment