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

whole foods

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, Indian traditional beauty secrets are handed down by ancestors to young women for skin radiance and hair removal using turmeric paste.  Interestingly, turmeric has multiple health benefits and is a real power spice. Turmeric’s health benefits lie in the active ingredient curcumin.  Curcumin has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, stomach soothing, and heart/liver protective qualities.  It is thought to reduce histamine levels and stimulate the adrenal gland to decrease inflammation.  It is often used to ease joint pain associated with arthritis.  It is rich with antioxidants which are disease fighting substances that bind up free radicals (oh yes, cousin Joe that wacky guy) which are responsible for premature aging and cancer as well as destroying your marriage (see previous post on free radicals).  Some animal studies even show that turmeric may benefit liver health and protect the liver from damaging toxins like alcohol (which cousin Joe definitely needs with his strong affection for Sun King).  It may even harbor anti platelet activity which reduces the body’s ability to form blood clots and ultimately improve circulation.  As always, you need to do your research if you are interested in taking a turmeric supplement and should check with your doctor first.  However, I do have patients that have begun cooking more with turmeric and have seen some decrease in their arthritis symptoms.

Please be careful using turmeric since its deep color can stain.

Here are a few suggestions for cooking with turmeric–

1.  Add it to egg salad

2.  Mix brown rice, raisins, and cashews with turmeric, cumin, and coriander

3.  Add it to steamed cauliflower or green beans

4.  Add it to lentils

Turmeric 2 tsp:

15.58 calories

0.24mg of manganese

1.82mg of iron

0.08mg of vitamin B6

0.93g of fiber

111 mg of potassium

******One interesting tidbit is that if you add a spoonful of turmeric to the water in water-cooled radiators, it will stop leaks!

Many patients are currently taking 500mg of turmeric twice a day and claiming that it is really helping with joint pain!

I have linked an excellent article on the benefits of Turmeric HERE

Feel Free to check out Lyfebotanicals.com to learn more info on the benefits of botanicals!

You can also find excellent brands of supplements at FULLSCRIPT

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

Magnesium-the unloved mineral

Do you remember watching Wild Kingdom as a kid?  Did you happen to notice that the animals attacking their prey would immediately eat the organ meats.  I never really thought about why until I listened to Morley Robbins explain the importance of magnesium.  Magnesium is the Rodney Dangerfield of the mineral world.  It gets “No Respect”  I have been so remiss in not learning the importance of this underutilized mineral.  Magnesium is a mineral found in oysters, must, seeds, almonds, cashews, pumpkin, pistachios, kelp and organ meats.  You can also get it from wheat grass.  The strange thing about magnesium is that nobody really talks about its importance.  We speak ad nauseam about calcium and vitamin D–but magnesium is the missing component in this triad.  It turns out that we may be enduring an epidemic of magnesium deficiency.

First a little history, our ancestors lived in a very magnesium rich environment.  It was in the water, food, root vegetables and organ meats that we consumed.  Around 100 years ago, the environment flipped.  It became a calcium rich, magnesium poor environment.  It became much more acidic with toxins.   We started refining salt from its natural form (sea salt) which contained a natural balance of magnesium and sodium. Sugar cane started being refined which removes all the magnesium.  So now, living in a calcium rich environment we have developed problems lack of the stabilizing magnesium particle.  Calcium that isn’t regulated by magnesium causes massive inflammation.  Hence (spoiler alert) the inflammation forms free radicals and oxidative stress which progresses to chronic disease states –with heart disease being very significant due to calcium deposits on the arteries.

 

Uses of magnesium:

Stabilization of bones–magnesium gives bones resilience

Regulates calcium in the body

Vital for support for muscles in body (remember the heart is a muscle)

 

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Here is a link to a great tutorial on how to make magnesium lotion—check it out!

http://creativechristianmama.com/how-to-make-magnesium-oil-lotion/

 

 

Posted on by Angela in disease, Mind, Uncategorized 5 Comments

Hungry for Change

Hey guys!  Now is the second chance for all of you that didn’t get the opportunity to watch the full length documentary “Hungry for Change.”    If you are one of my current patients, you probably  being forced you to view the trailer to this film at your last physical. Then I inundated you with big stacks of healthy eating handouts and sent you on your way.  Well, a some of you opted to not Deep Six the stuff and actually read it.  Many have lost weight and gotten off of their chronic medicines!  Hooray!   This film exposes the hidden additives that are found in our food supply today.  It also features Jamie Oliver, aka The Naked Chef from Food Network, exposing the amount of sugar found in kid’s school milk.  It is definitely worth watching once and sharing with your family.  Even your kids should watch it.  It may subliminally implant the idea of being conscious of what is being put in and on your body.  Lord knows they probably aren’t going to listen to their parents any more than my family listens to me when I evangelize to them ad nauseam.  Think–this film may just save your life or someone’s close to you.

Click HERE  to purchase your own copy of the DVD.  Share with friends and family.  It is a powerful way to get the word out.  We all need to know this stuff.  It’s life saving46021227412386600_jVpk6Tc3_b

 

 

Here is the trailer

 

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

You are what you eat!

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

The Perfect Storm

Thanks to Dr. Chris Nagy—-Please read his great article and feel free to share—
“Good health. Will America ever see or experience it again? No — not if we continue on our current path.The perfect storm of failing health and a failing health care system is upon us. We’re on a crash course with the collapse of optimal health in this country. The solution to reversing course doesn’t lie with the medical profession, medical system or some outside entity.

It lies with each of us. All Americans must do what is necessary to protect their families and themselves. There is no other option.

Here’s why. We’ve been addressing the urgent in our lives versus the important, often ignoring our own health in the process.

We’ve delegated the role of educating and caring for ourselves to those who “know better.” We no longer trust our intuitive intelligence about what is necessary to sustain optimal health.

That’s a growing concern because powerful forces are present that make and keep us patients and contribute to illness.

These forces act to limit the available facts necessary to travel the path to health.

When raw milk produced under sanitary conditions is illegal while thousands of chemicals, dyes and poisons are allowed into the food supply daily, there is a problem.

Next, consider this. The body of scientific research clearly demonstrates the path to health — yet, the conclusions are frequently skewed by opinion, financial motives and government regulation.

Publication bias demonstrates that research studies with positive findings are published while studies with negative findings are hidden from public view.

Evidenced-based medicine sounds good in principle, but when the evidence is often flawed or skewed by statistical manipulation, there is little benefit to the findings.

Bottom line: Our current research system is not always set up to find the absolute truth, but often to demonstrate a positive result supporting the use of a drug.

Our medical system is not designed to prevent disease. The current system is primarily based on managing and treating disease, not necessarily preventing or curing it.

We have worshiped at the altar of medicine for too long and need to question its fallibility if we are to improve the system.

The cure for many modern diseases is possible, but the current state of medicine is not structured to support it. We focus too much management, as if cure is not possible.

Physicians are often reticent to admit or even consider the possibility that there is something beyond what the medical profession teaches.

Asking the current medical system to cure disease is similar to asking the government for advice on the best way to save money and reduce waste.

When a system encourages the consumption of medication, but doesn’t encourage the consumption of vital and necessary nutrients, there is work to be done.

We need a marriage of science, medicine and facts to guide us in the right direction.

You cannot medicate your way to health.

Promoting health while ignoring prevention is no different from rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Soon, we all will have access to care—but if it is poor care, are we any better off?

What you need to know. Good health occurs by addressing the following five areas.

• Proper nutrition

• Activity/exercise

• Youthful hormone balance

• Nutrient optimization

• Stress levels

Each of these areas must be optimized to support and improve health. There are many key considerations when addressing these powerhouse five areas.

Each serves as a starting point for maximized health.

We are digging our graves with our teeth. The root cause of modern disease is based on the foods we eat. Our food supply is adulterated on so many levels that many of us go through the day consuming edible food-like substances rather than any real food.

Unless we understand the value of eating real food, improvement will be limited. Superior health starts with the proper nutrition.

Patients are frequently told that diet plays a minor role in disease, its improvement or progression.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

You cannot fully heal a part of the body without healing the whole body—and diet is a major part of that.

Nourish health and disease will disappear as a side effect.

When asked if it bothers me that I don’t eat like everybody else, my response is, “Not when I see how poorly everybody else is doing.” It’s time to grow up nutritionally.

The path to health has been hidden for many reasons. It is incumbent upon us to uncover the path and do what is necessary to reclaim our right to optimal health.

It’s not difficult. It’s merely a change of mindset. Change your mind and the body will follow. It all starts with the brain.

There are numerous resources available for those interested in creating an abundant, healthy life.

Dig deeper, uncover the truth, find a trusted confidante and share the journey. Health multiplies everything, better relationships, more confidence and more peace.

Continuing to rely on and follow the many established consensus thoughts and opinions on health will lead to more of the same.

Trust the innate wisdom of our grandparents and ancestors prior to the introduction of modern, industrialized food. You’ll live a better, healthier life, not one subject to modern disease, many of which are becoming more prevalent in our society.

The health care change you need . . . starts with you.”

Chris K. Nagy is the Chief Medical Officer of Cenegenics Carolinas in Charlotte

 

Posted on by Angela in Mind, Spirit, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Homemade V8 Juice

I love V8 Juice–my mom made me drink it every morning before school.  (Thanks Mom).  It was the perfect combo to my usual breakfast of chocolate donuts!  I think of the commercial “I should have had a V8!”  as I peel the little label off that can!   This last weekend, the kids and I went on a mission to reproduce a V8 juice using our new juicer.  Don’t get me wrong– V8 from the store is incredibly better than soda or an artificial reproduction of a fruit juice.   Please don’t feel judged if you do drink it–it’s a great choice.  We just needed a project.  It certainly became a project quickly (Imagine a 5-year-old cramming veggies in a juicer at lightening speed)  and it turned into a real ordeal.   It’s amazing that we survived with fingers and kitchen intact.

Fooducate gives it a B rating so no–it’s not all that bad.  However – please note the Maltodextrin, Salt, Flavoring???, and Ascorbic/Citric Acid. in the ingredient label.  That is way more ingredients than we like to see!  TOXIC!.

Maltodextrin is made from starch,  primarily corn in the US .  Maltodextrin applies to any starch hydrolysis product containing less than 20 glucose units.  It serves as an artificial sweetener in most foods in which it is added.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/502241-the-risks-of-maltodextrin/#ixzz2QTR6RTCd

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Here is a list of the V8 juice ingredients -the store-bought version–

Tomato Juice From Concentrate (Water, Tomato Concentrate), Reconstituted Vegetable Juice Blend (Water and Concentrated Juices of Carrots, Celery, Beets, Parsley, Lettuce, Watercress, Spinach), Maltodextrin, Salt, Ascorbic Acid, Flavoring, Citric Acid.

Here are our homeade ingredients:

Our Homemade Version–

• 6 medium-sized carrots
• 1 small beet (washed thoroughly)
• 3 large tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• A bag of baby spinach
• 1 green bell pepper
• ¼ slice of sweet onion
• 3 stalks of celery
• ¼ head of fresh cabbage
• Half clove garlic
• Kale leaves, chili pepper and salt to taste

 

Unfortunately, ours turned out quite palatable but had a very unpleasing brown color–Let me know if you try this and have better results.  (I’m not posting the end product for that reason)

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

ShopNoGMO

 

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.

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.

Posted on by Angela in Body, Diet, Exercise, Nutrition, vegan, Whole Food 2 Comments

Dee knows what to eat

Here’s another great post from Dee!!
As promised, here is an expanded narrative on focusing on what you can eat, instead of what you can’t. Let me start with an example of how one’s day goes on a diet. Let’s say there was a family gathering over the weekend and your neighbor’s half-eaten chocolate cheesecake was leftover in your fridge. You go to work on Monday with your cooler of veggies and mid-morning you start saying to yourself “I won’t eat that cheesecake, I won’t eat that cheesecake, I won’t eat that cheesecake.” After a nice, lunch of spinach salad and berries you start to think of your evening plans and again recite your directive of “I won’t eat that cheesecake…and on, and on. Guess what happens when you walk into your kitchen that night! You have practically brainwashed yourself on NEEDING to eat that cheesecake because it has been incessantly imprinted on your brain all day.

Right now, in order to gain better health, I have decided to not eat sugar, flour, potatoes, rice, pasta, fried food, fast food, high-fat food. That said, I cannot eat some of my favorite happy foods: Buffalo wings, pizza, egg rolls, baked Brie, loaded potato skins. (See where the need to change eating habits came from?)

Sounds like there’s nothing left to eat if I take away all of my favorite comfort foods. But let’s be honest. For the short list of what has to go away as I adjust to some better choices, here are some great things that I can eat: eggs, oatmeal, yogurt, pineapple, bananas, strawberries, oranges, kiwi, apples, blueberries, grapes, pomegranate, pecans, almonds, cashews, wheat tortillas, wheat pita, salsa, hot sauce, marinara sauce, spinach, avocado, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, tuna, turkey, chicken, salmon, ginger, tilapia, shrimp, lobster, filet Mignon.

True story: yesterday I had nothing planned for dinner and started thinking that maybe my kids would like a pizza because when Mama diets the whole family diets. That pizza notion turned into thinking maybe I would make a homemade flatbread pizza with turkey pepperoni. Then I thought maybe a turkey burger instead, no wait, a black bean burger on a bed of lettuce and tomato. By the time I pulled into the drive, I was actually craving a black bean burger and that’s what I had for dinner. It was delicious! Lucky for my kids and husband they had all gone out for Mexican before I got home.

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

Another book about what I can’t eat

All I need is one more book telling me how everything that I eat is so bad for me.  It’s incredibly frustrating.  One day I’m convinced I need to be vegan, the next I’m gung-ho paleo and then I get thrown another loophole.  So we have said along that we aren’t endorsing any particular diet.  I am 100% confident that processed and GMO foods are off-limits.  But, let’s be realistic–it’s almost impossible in today’s world to eat like this all the time.  Somedays I feel like –what the heck–why don’t I just go on a fast food binge and throw in the towel.  I have felt defeated and discouraged.  But then–just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to sustain this real food life style—I read “Rich Food-Poor Food” by the Calton’s.  They have created an invaluable guide to shopping and substituting the right brands for all your food desires.  It really is amazing the amount of research and work they have put into this book.  What you may not know is that Mira had a debilitating case of advanced osteoporosis that she was able to reverse by changing her diet to include more micronutrients.  I am certainly a sucker for that kind of testimonial.  This is a must have guide on how to get the most nutrient rich food for the buck!Dr-Terry-Wahls-rich-food-poor-food

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

Against the Grain—part 2

So in the last 3 weeks I have been putting on weight and belly fat like crazy.  I didn’t figure it out till this morning when I was putting together this post on wheat—-Bingo (light bulb)– A few weeks ago I got the crazy notion to add some goldfish crackers on my salad at lunch.  My obsessive compulsive habits had me eating those little heathens daily.  Despite eating primarily PALEO, that little bit of wheat has started that vicious wheat belly cycle all over again.  Needless to say, I will be eliminating those today.

So here is the part 2 of the dreaded wheat conundrum–wheat is a drug!  Crack if you must.

Wheat actually acts like an opioid in the brain.  Like all opioids, wheat can stimulate appetite.  In 1981, the glycemic index was first introduced and ironically wheat had a higher index than sugar and white bread.  Wheat elevates sugar levels which in turn elevate insulin levels.  Insulin resistance can then ensue which can lead to diabetes.  Wheat has a component called amylopectin A which can really elevate insulin levels.  Not to mention that it contains the protein Gliadin which can cross the blood brain barrier.  It actually unlocks the intestinal barrier which can allow foreign antigens to enter the blood stream.  This leads to Leaky Gut Syndrome.  But, more on that to come……

 

 

Symptoms of Insulin Resistance

general fatigue, after meals

difficulty losing weight

always hungry

need for sweets after meals

cravings for sweets are not satisfied after eating them

frequent urination

waist circumference is equal to or greater than hips

irritability between meals

excessive thirst

More detailed information can be found in Dr. William Davis’s book–“Wheat Belly”

and by visiting http://www.wheatbellyblog.com

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