Sunday, February 15, 2015

What's for breakfast?

Sometimes the easiest way to introduce a new food into an unhealthy nutrition practice is to "wedge in fiber".  My patients don't need an extra hour of food 101 and they can figure out what along the periphery of the grocery store has fiber in it-fruits, veggies and grain.  Personally I have tried to move away from cereal and bread.  I did do a gluten fast last year for about 2 months to experience what my patients go through and it was not too bad.  Took a little planning ahead but truthfully, this is mindful eating.  To have what I call a healthy nutrition practice really takes planning your meals for a day or two ahead.  If you wait and try to satisfy last minute hunger cravings, the tsunami of hormones released by the brain to hunt for quick energy sources will drive you to the closest fast food chain.  "Just this once", "I'll make up for it tomorrow", "I deserve it"......there is never an excuse good enough to trump- "Should have planned ahead".  I have Go-Bags ready to go if something comes up and I can't prep my meals for the day.  My bug-out meals are very no frills but satisfies my calorie requirements for the day and reminds me of the importance in prepping flavorful meals for the next day.







I used to move more toward "whole grain" or "multi grain" bread instead of the Wonder White Bread from my childhood, but realizing that most of the brown colored bread "grain" breads are just white breads with molasses for coloring.  Even as I pay more attention to the healthy breakfast cereals that come in smaller boxes with Non GMO or Organic labels....sugar and carbohydrate content is still sky high.




NON GMO
NON GMO/Organic


My son's morning pick me up

Sugar/high glycemic index foods/healthy wrapping.         Sugar/High GI/kid wrapping

One of the good premises of the PALEO diet (popularized by Lorain Cordain) is that is cuts out sugar, white flour and refined carbohydrates.  Unfortunately it also cuts out whole grains which I believe are helpful for fiber, lignans and some B vitamins.  Likewise, no beans or legumes.....of which tempe, edamame, tofu and miso are excellent sources of plant protein found in the Okinawan diet, one of the highest concentrations of centenarians on the planet.

Going to a non pulverized grain is probably easy to find since you have to work with it.  Clean and rinse, boil, then toast or sauté in oil/garlic to bring out an olive oil kinda nutty flavor with a hint of garlic.  This with a protein source (fish/egg/tofu/lean meat) makes me satiated. So regarding finding a grain source....my Dad's oatmeal with some fruit in the am is not satisfying to me.  I am used to eating with Jasmine rice so switching over to another whole grain source is easy.  I think if you are used to eating cereal, McMuffins, Donuts, Croissants with a 20oz coffee splashed with dairy....it will be a tough switch.  Bottom line is it has to start somewhere, 30-40 years of living the same way have put most Americans in the predicament of Pre Diabetes, High Cholesterol, White Coat Hypertension or the largest waistlines on the planet.  Get used to eating healthful meals and sleep will be better: get used to sleeping better and work solving skills will improve: get more efficient with work and more free time will open up: with more free time you can develop a form of recreation therapy: with more activity you won't crave crappy food. The circle of life.

Clockwise from Black=Forbidden Rice, Millet, Farrow, Tricolored Quinoa, Buckwheat, Spelt, Barley Hulled
Center =Hemp, Jasmine Rice

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Should you trust your doctor?



I remember in Family Medicine residency there was an ENT doctor who let us shadow him during his office hours.  These specialists will take care of nose and ear issues but also splinter off to do head and neck surgery (cancer).  During office hours he would have us come back to his room after seeing a patient to discuss the case......and then light up a cigarette!!  He is still alive and practicing medicine but I'm not sure if the tobacco use led to anything bad (hope not).  So comes the controversial idea, "should I listen to a doctor that looks unhealthy".   Judging someone is never good by the way they look alone...there is always a back story.  If what you uncover is someone that has an unhealthy lifestyle practice....you can decide on your own.  As for me, I have seen the best surgeons in the area display horrible manners in the operating room, throwing instruments, shouting, temper tantrums....alot of bad energy while the patient is asleep.  Also heard some counter arguments that the yelling in the operating room is for the benefit of the patient.  Bullshit!! That is adult age bullying!!  My energy healers will know the truth that practicing with poor compassion for a patient, staff, innocent bystanders....reveals true feelings/intentions from the heart.  A doctor may have outstanding surgical skills or very specialized rare problem solving but would you trust your care to a healer or an "un-healer"?

Knowing a back story, is important: to find out what the obese doctor was in weight 5 years ago, or where the smoking doctor is going for counseling.  Judging a book by its cover is poor practice but getting empowering advice from an unhealthy human seems bad practice as well.  I like an ancient saying:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting. psalm 139: 23-24

I believe no one is exempt from living to your best potential (which starts with Thinking/Eating/Activity) but sometimes we have to be scrutinized by a "third party" and guided on living a better way -and this includes doctors.  I don't like getting check ups, but I still go to providers to make sure I am doing the best I can (to prepare for my heart attack, stroke, or cancer.....I pray it's not diagnosed until my 90th birthday but if it comes up sooner, at least I tried my best).  So ....should you take my advise about a diagnosis and start treatment-NO!.  I always invite my patients to learn about their diagnosis by watching my educational videos, asking questions, and reading from the best authors.  I invite second opinions all the time, but it has to be from someone with equal experience.  Even if I send patients to cardiologists after an ER visit, I would send to a cardiologist who went the extra mile and trained in nutrition and complementary healing.  Don't get me wrong, all MD's and DO's in the US have to pass a gauntlet of emotional distress, sleepless nights, poor nutrition, caffeine abuse and in some .....marriage failure (the reason I backed out of being a surgeon was the divorce rate of the residents was too high to risk losing my sweetheart from med school)   Medical training is to learn an ocean of diseases and treatments, then fine tune knowledge and skills to match the population we are responsible for.  Hopefully if you feel healthy, look healthy, have a strong family unit, contribute to society and get checked yearly- your doctor is expert in preventive medicine and will "lead you in ways everlasting".  But what if the doctor looking out for your future, isn't trained in preventive health care.....or doesn't update him/herself with new information.....or the information s/he gets is biased and misleading.    Then I have a problem with that.   I don't have a problem with sharing normal range test results with patients, but I do have a problem telling an obese smoker the the chest X-rays and blood tests are OK this year so everything is "all clear" till next year.   (Most patients that have bad habits, may not be willing to change at that point in time....but there will come a day in every ones life when the trigger to change present and there should be plan in place to start the emergency response-even if it just means, call when you are ready).  I have blogged in the past - if you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.  I believe all doctors should better themselves with up to date information on the evolving horizon of nutrition and wellness.  Just getting information updates from the good looking drug reps that give free lunch is not the way.  In fact it is the opposite IMHO, the studies funded by drug companies are very biased to praise the drugs they sell.  If only the Statin companies were forced to pay for promoting a whole food mostly plant based diet/ the Ritalin companies were forced to pay for nature/relaxation therapy/ the Weight loss companies were forced to pay for adult activity retreats.  (Hey why not, we forced tobacco companies to pay for Truth advertisements and smoking cessation programs!!)

At the least, if doc listens, then they may be able to scrutinize potential problems and either design a lifestyle change or get you to the appropriate healers who can guide/construct/critique the current unhealthy trajectory.  If there is no nutrition fund of knowledge, no time to listen and no healers to "outsource care"-your on your own.  But short of the most remote portions of the US,  I have a large family of well trained, well informed modern day healers just waiting to turn you around (link to find a doc)

Friday, January 30, 2015

Emotional Accelerators




If you have a rock solid spiritual practice, the things I call emotional accelerators will catapult you to a level of peace and nirvana that mimics the bliss of nature, birth of a baby, falling in love.  On the other hand, if all you have is a solid stress response available, emotional accelerators will (by statistics) bring on early morbidity/mortality.  Humans are born with fully functioning sympathetic (stress response) and parasympathetic (relaxation response) systems.  It is in growing up, going to school, spending time with family that we cultivate both of these systems so they suit our needs as we age.  Problem is American schooling doesn't support relaxation practice-used to be in some schools we would pray (a form of the relaxation response) but now it can only be found in catholic private schools.  Detention is a way to embrace the relaxation response (quiet/solitude/reflection/writing words repetitively on the blackboard....oops...dating myself) but it is a punishment practice given to those with very aggressive stress response practice.

Does lack of relaxation practice hurt?.....in theory it does.  No retrospective studies on this however  about 10 years ago a study found 80% of those diagnosed with an auto immune disease were found to have been exposed to a form of abuse in younger years.  (hints at an association between stress and disease).  Some people will listen to the ego and claim stress response carried them to be CEO, top athlete, best in school.... if you take the argument that your personal reliance on stress response is what catapulted you to the current level of society, I still disagree.  All the firefighters, police officers, military personnel, martial artists, athletes I have helped- hands down agree that the level of functioning amplifies when the relaxation response is developed.  Accuracy improves, problem solving is better under stress, anticipation and reaction is quicker, listening to body cues during competition is heightened to know when injury is about to happen.

So what are negative emotional accelerators?
-gun
-angry mob
-a vehicle (from Monday morning minivan to teenager in a loud 300+hp muscle V8)
-social media
-any weapon
-alcohol
-any drug
-untreated mood disorder
-terminal diagnosis (denial)

What are positive emotional accelerators?
-friends
-baby
-a rescue team
-group meditation
-nature
-meditation
-arts and crafts
-quiet
-yoga
-falling in love
-serving your true purpose in life
-terminal diagnosis (acceptance)

To become "bomb-proof" to negative accelerators takes practice (sometimes up to several years-I am coming up on my 5th year of practice via the Chopra Center and my Integrative Medical Training and I still feel like a beginner).   Until one harnesses the infinite power of the relaxation response, I would try to avoid everything listed above as negative.  Yes, if you go through the list, you will probably be losing weight, lowering cholesterol, bringing blood pressure down, improving sleep/sex and ditching the anxiety/depression medicines.  There will be a little withdrawal from it all but the rewards are so heaven-sent once you realize what you have been missing.  Bad habits seem to accumulate inconspicuously and we become so used to them, its as if they aren't so bad (...individually!) But if you looked at accumulated damage of where you are now and where you were in younger years....very depressing.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00535/common-stress-triggers.html

In the corporate world its called Normalization of Deviance.  You kinda look at the dust in the corner and figure, its OK, will take care of it later.  This is what happened to the Challenger catastrophe.  That multimillion dollar project and the lives lost all because of cheap o-rings (that where thought to be "enough")   Or a mechanic that doesn't tighten the wheel lugs to proper torque....they just slowly get looser and looser until.....  The pounds, the blood pressure, the cholesterol, the sugar, the falling hair, the postponed date nights, all become lower priority.  It takes a little bit of a fast to get back to basics.  I think of it as a News Fast, a Noise Fast, a Nutrition Fast, a Negative Neighbor Fast, a Non-Activity Fast.   Just like the bible, you need to remove yourself from these things for a short time to realize the beauty of life without these crappy things.  Once you get there, your gut works better, brain thinks faster, DNA fights stronger.....just like the times of youth, impervious to everything.