A 100% organic diet is ideal, but due to the cost and availability of many organic items, it is simply unrealistic for most of us. Eating a mixture of organic foods, and foods produced with fewer pesticides may be the next best thing.
The Environmental Working Group investigated pesticide contamination of conventional produce and found that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 80 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead.
The “dirty dozen” include: peaches, apples, pears, bell peppers, celery, carrots, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce and imported grapes.
A few months ago I was forced to have an intervention with myself.With my busy schedule, I found myself dining out far too often and my diet and pocketbook were suffering.
In the interest of personal health and wealth, I sat myself down and vowed to make home cooked meals at least 6 nights a week and pack my lunches for work every day.I made a weekly chart and put myself to the task of coming up with a weekly meal plan.
The first few weeks, I planned different dinner fare for each night, but found it impossible to cook nightly meals with my tight schedule.So instead, I decided to cook larger dishes at the beginning of the week so I would have leftovers to eat each night.Success!
I tend to be a simple eater, and finding healthy recipes that will last for several days has proven to be a bit of a challenge, but I have managed to find a few.
Here is one relatively healthy recipe that fits the bill.It is a variation of Ellie Krieger’s Mom’s Turkey Meatloaf recipe.I usually serve it with a large mixed green salad or some other veggie.
Ingredients
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup milk (I use soy milk)
2 pounds free-range ground turkey breast
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Chop the red bell pepper, onion and garlic.Sauté in olive oil until soft.
In a large bowl, stir together the oats and milk and let sit for a few minutes.Add the turkey, egg, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, sautéed veggies, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Mix just until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and shape into a loaf about 5 inches wide and 2 1/2 inches high. Pour the tomato sauce over the meatloaf. Bake for about 1 hour or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees F.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to15 minutes before slicing.
In these advertising-driven times, it can be hard to get down to the truth about what a healthy diet really looks like. So many highly processed products are labeled as health foods, but are they really good for us?
Blogger Sarah Pope shares with us an interesting history of butter and the marketing machine: The Untold Story of BUTTER
Knowledge is power- now it’s time for you to decide!
Researchers from the Oriental Hospital at Kyung Hee University Medical Center in South Korea found that acupuncture may be more effective than drugs or herbal medicines for the treatment of menstrual pain.
The results, which were published in the latest issue of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, came from analyzing 27 studies that involved nearly 3,000 women.
“Compared with pharmacological treatment or herbal medicine, acupuncture was associated with a significant reduction in pain,” they reported.
“There is convincing evidence on the effectiveness of using acupuncture to treat pain as it stimulates the production of endorphins and serotonin in the central nervous system,” they added.
They stressed there were methodological flaws in some of the studies reviewed; but nevertheless, there was “promising evidence” of acupuncture’s effectiveness for treating menstrual cramps.
On a more personal note…Some of my patients may know that beyond being an acupuncturist and herbalist, I am an amateur dog trainer and compete in agility with my border collie Piper.
Last weekend, I competed with Piper at an AKC agility trial in Ridgefield, WA.After our runs, I was a little disappointed.We made a few mistakes and didn’t qualify.I was discouraged that I didn’t have anything to show for all of my hard work.After a long day, I drove home tired and a little deflated.
Piper running with full abandon
The next morning, I loaded the video of our runs onto my computer to see what our problems were.Watching the video of Piper in action overwhelmed me with a deep sense of gratitude.Our runs were beautiful, even with our novice mistakes.I was so grateful that such an amazing and talented dog could find such joy in running with me and playing my game of agility.
I can’t believe that I ever felt even the slightest tinge of disappointment in her and myself.I have always known that agility is about the fun of it, not titles or awards, but for a moment I lost sight of that.
This experience reminded me of how important it is to find joy and gratitude in your life, even when things do not go as you plan.I could have held on to my disappointment, eventually transforming it into bitterness and regret, but instead my heart is filled with thankfulness for life and all of its opportunities.
This morning, I was reading Susan Garrett’s blog, and the entry Lessons in Gratitude struck me.Susan is a world-class agility competitor and a truly marvelous dog trainer, and I think she owes that in part to her ability to focus on the positive.Reading her thoughts inspired me to share my own.
Here are a few quotes she shared:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”~Melody Beattie
“When we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present…. we experience heaven on earth.” ~Sarah Breathnach
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…it’s about learning to dance in the rain!” ~Vivian Greene
“At times when our own light goes out, it is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”~Albert Schweitzer
Today I am grateful that my life is abundant and my heart found its way back to gratitude.
A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that acupuncture may help relieve joint pain and stiffness in women treated with aromatase inhibitors for early breast cancer.
Aromatase inhibitors are used to suppress the production of estrogen in women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.
The study divided 43 women taking an aromatase inhibitor for early breast cancer and experiencing musculoskeletal pain into two treatment groups.One group received true acupuncture, while the other group received sham acupuncture (superficial needle insertion at nonacupoint locations).Treatment was given twice a week for six weeks.
Women treated with true acupuncture experienced improvement in joint pain and stiffness over the course of the study. No such improvement was observed among women treated with sham acupuncture.
The results of this study suggest that acupuncture may help women manage joint pain and stiffness associated with aromatase inhibitor treatment.
In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s annual meeting in Chicago, researchers found that acupuncture may be an effective treatment for depression during pregnancy.
“Depression during pregnancy is an issue of concern because it has negative effects on both the mother and the baby as well as the rest of the family,” says Dr. Schnyer, one of the study’s authors.
The evaluator-blinded randomized trial divided 150 pregnant women diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder into three treatment groups: a depression specific acupuncture group, a control acupuncture group and a massage group.Twelve treatments were given over a period of eight weeks.
The results showed that the women who received depression specific acupuncture experienced a significantly greater decrease in depression severity compared to the control and massage groups.
Schnyer says “The results of our study show that the acupuncture protocol we tested could be a viable treatment option for depression during pregnancy.”
As consumers become more nutrition savvy, clever food manufacturers are changing their labels to reflect consumers’ values. Phrases like “all natural,” “made with whole grains,” and “a good source of fiber” are common sights in the grocery store, but these slogans can be misleading.
Tara Parker-Pope of New York Times Health exposes six common meaningless claims on food labels.
For an authentic, 100% natural diet, avoid all prepackaged and processed foods. Eat a diet rich in fresh organic produce, whole grains, nuts and local farm raised meats. Simple, whole foods are not only better for your health, but they are usually easier on your wallet than their “natural” processed and prepackaged counterparts.
According to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, winter is associated with the water element, and is a time for preservation and storage.
The water element corresponds with the kidney system in the body. The kidneys house the root of our energy and substance - the energetic fire and water that feed our bodies’ functions.
Cold winter weather drives our kidney energy deep into our bodies, making the kidney system more vulnerable and open to damage if care is not given.
In Chinese medicine, a weakened kidney system might manifest as:
Bladder and kidney infections
Low back pain
Knee pain
Cavities in teeth
Weak or broken bones
Infertility
Low Libido
Premature gray hair or hair loss
Ringing in the ears
Increase of phobias or fears
With just a few simple adjustments, you can protect your kidney energy and maintain your health during the winter and throughout the year:
Stay warm!Bundle up when you go outside and avoid cold drafts.Take extra care to keep your head, neck, feet and mid-section warm.
Eat cooked seasonal foods and hot soups with warming spices such as fennel, cinnamon and ginger.Avoid raw and cold foods.
Follow your natural tendency for winter energy storage: go to bed earlier and rise later.
Exercise, but in moderation.Avoid strenuous exercise that causes heavy sweating, as this consumes yang energy that should be stored.Try more internally focused exercise such as tai qi and qi gong.
Get plenty of sunshine.The sun provides vitamin D and warming yang energy that help to balance the cooling yin energy of the winter.In dark places such as the Pacific Northwest, a vitamin D supplement can be helpful.
Certain foods are more nourishing to the warming energy of the kidney.Include some of these foods in your daily diet:
In order to experience the lively, dynamic energy of the spring (the time of re-birth), it is important for us to allow our bodies to slow down and experience our roots in winter (the metaphorical death). When we are in harmony with the seasons, we are naturally healthier!
If you are already experiencing symptoms of kidney imbalance, acupuncture and herbal medicine can be used to strengthen the kidney system and prevent further damage.
