Know Your Oils

I often get asked about oils, and what the proper oils are for cooking, salad dressings, baking, smoothies, and everything else. There are a few simple rules to follow with oils:

1. Don’t rely on only one oil for all of your needs. They have different smoke points and health benefits, and it is important to understand the differences so you get the most out of your oils.

2. Always purchase the highest quality oils you can find. Organic, cold-pressed, extra-virgin… you want the least processed form of the oil. The more processing the oil goes through, the fewer nutrients it will retain.

3. Store your oils properly. Some oils are hard at room temperature and can be kept in a cupboard. Others are sensitive to heat or light, so should be in darker bottles and kept away from the stove. For example, olive oil is very sensitive to heat and light. Yet, many people store it right next to their stove for easy access, or in a cupboard over the stove. The heat will spoil the oil and make it rancid, eliminating many of its important health benefits. Oilve oil should be kept in a cool, dry cellar or even a refrigerator if you live in a warmer climate. Flaxseed oil is another one that spoils easily and should be refrigerated.

4. Keep all fish oil supplements in the fridge as well to keep those healthy fats in tact.

5. Know the smoke points of your oils. Many use olive oil for cooking. However, did you know that its smoke point is only 325 degrees F? That means that heating olive oil to anything over 325 degrees F will begin to generate free radicals (cancer-causing agents you read about often) and change the chemical structure of the oil such that nutrients are destroyed. If you know the smoke points of your oils, you can use proper oils for cooking, salad dressings, and drizzling over pasta or veggies.

6. Myth: Oils will make me fat. This is NOT TRUE! As long as you are purchasing high quality, healthy oils such as extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil; extra virgin coconut oil; and organic flaxseed oil, they can only benefit your health. They are great for weight loss, hormonal balance, increasing metabolism, clearer thinking, energy levels, improving intestinal bacteria and health, and more. Healthy fats make up our cell walls, and when we avoid them, our cells become clumsy and sluggish, leading to weight gain and other unwanted symptoms.

2.

The Spectrum Organics website has a great chart for the different smoke points of oils (found HERE). I recommend printing this out and hanging it in your kitchen. Try a few new oils this month. When you buy high quality oils, they contain many essential fats and other nutrients that can help keep you and your family healthy!

Stress: Nutrients to Help You Cope

Earlier this week, I talked about the stress response that we all experience from time to time. As you learned, there are many diseases that are closely related to chronic stress levels and what the stress does to our internal balance. So, let’s all make an effort to lower our stress through our lifestyle and diet decisions.

Despite increased cravings for salt, sugar and carbs, focusing on nutrition is extremely important during stressful situations. The following nutrients are beneficial for someone who is experiencing short-term or chronic stress:

Vitamin C: Improves the capacity of the adrenal glands to adapt to stress; normalizes cortisol levels; increases immunity; acts as a powerful antioxidant. Food sources: fresh fruits and vegetables.

Thiamin (Vitamin B1): Provides energy; protects the nervous system and the heart. Food sources: Calf’s liver, nuts, brewer’s yeast.

Magnesium: Helps reduce cortisol levels after exercise; also known to help with strong chocolate cravings (many who crave chocolate are actually deficient in magnesium). Food sources: Nuts and seeds, leafy greens, salmon.

Zinc: Normalizes adrenal metabolism; important for bone health and immunity. Food sources: Calf’s liver, oysters, shellfish, beef, seeds.

Calcium: Deficiency associated with elevated cortisol production; critical nutrient in metabolism. Food sources: Dairy, leafy greens.

Riboflavin (Vitamin B2): Used in many metabolic processes including energy production. Food sources: Calf’s liver, leafy greens, seafood.

Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5): Used in energy production; plays a central role in adrenal-cortex function and cellular metabolism; sometimes known as the “anti-stress” vitamin. Food sources: Calf’s liver, egg yolk, fresh vegetables.

As you incorporate these important nutrients into your anti-stress diet, remember to eliminate foods that strain your adrenals and internal balance: caffeine, alcohol, refined carbohydrates, sodium, refined sugars, and any foods you may be allergic to.

In addition to focusing on good nutrition while under stress, don’t forget about the other lifestyle practices that can help significantly with stress reduction. Regular exercise, plenty of sleep, and taking time for yourself each day are all extremely beneficial. Even just taking a few deep breaths when you feel yourself getting worked up can really make a difference.

Enjoy the weekend!

Stress: Cortisol, Blood Sugar & Disease

I know I promised this stress information last week, but I had too much going on and could not find the time to post. Normally I’d try to squeeze it in, but given the topic, I figured it was better to let it go and revisit it this week when I have more time.

We experience stress when life’s demands exceed our ability to meet those demands. Each of us has a different capacity to handle stress – this is an important thing to remember. One person may be able to juggle a full-time job, family, cleaning the house, volunteering, and cooking meals all without issue, while another may experience severe stress and fatigue with a full-time job and no family to worry about. Another important point: stress can be physical (such as a knee surgery), emotional, psychological, or social; short-term or long-term; and real or imaginary/perceived.

Acute stress is the body’s initial response to stress, otherwise known as the “fight-or-flight” response. Remember, fight-or-flight refers to a series of changes that rapidly occur inside the body when we encounter a stressful situation. These specific changes actually prepare the body for quick thinking and fast-acting behavior so we can optimize our response to the stressful encounter. Energy reserves of fat, protein and carbs are rapidly mobilized through tissue breakdown, and this energy is transferred to our arms and legs so we can move quickly. Adrenaline levels increase, heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, body temperature increases, and we become very alert. The idea is that we will deal with the situation and then our body will quickly return to its normal balanced state.

Chronic stress, however, interferes with the natural fight-or-flight response. When someone is under chronic stress (and I think it’s safe to say we’ve all experienced chronic stress), cortisol levels increase. Cortisol is a hormone that helps the body respond to stress. It is useful in small amounts but very damaging in large amounts. The chronically high cortisol levels contribute to muscle loss, fat gain, and accelerated breakdown of bones and tissues. Symptoms of too much cortisol include weight gain, fatigue, blood sugar fluctuations, increased appetite, carbohydrate cravings, muscle weakness, low immunity, anxiety and depression, and low sex drive. Eventually, chronically high cortisol levels lead to inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease and arthritis.

Research has made it clear that there is a strong relationship between chronically elevated cortisol levels due to chronic stress, and long-term health. One of cortisol’s original roles is to encourage the body to refuel after responding to stress. However, when we have chronically high levels of cortisol, we are always hungry and craving certain foods, because our body thinks we need to refuel. This can lead to over-eating, and the fat tends to accumulate in the midsection – so it is readily available for the next stress response. This type of abdominal fat is associated with heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Finally, I want to share the connection between chronic stress, elevated cortisol levels, and blood sugar imbalance. Insulin is another hormone I’ve talked about occasionally. Insulin’s primary role is to regulate our blood sugar levels. Other roles of insulin are to store fat in our cells, store sugar in our liver and muscle cells, and instruct proteins to build muscle. Someone with healthy insulin levels and insulin responses will optimally utilize the hormone and have internal balance.

During the stress response (fight-or-flight), all of our cells are instructed to ignore insulin, so as to keep the energy (fat, proteins and carbs) in the blood for rapid mobilization and use as our body responds to the stressor. Cortisol sends a message to the cells that rather than storing energy, they should break down their stored energy and send it into the blood. This is quite effective when we are actually facing a stressful situation, because we suddenly feel a surge of energy and can move quickly.

However, with chronic stress and chronically high cortisol, the body is continuously told to ignore insulin, which leads to insulin resistance. This is when our body becomes desensitized to insulin and therefore we have too much sugar in our blood, leading to weight gain, increased appetite, carbohydrate cravings, and diabetes.

Later this week I will talk about some important nutrients for someone who is under a lot of stress.

"The Year of the Vegetable"

Happy New Year! After a couple of weeks off for some family time, I am back in school and ready to spend the next 3 ½ months learning about Clinical Nutrition and Reproductive Health & Nutrition – two of my last classes!

Right now we are learning a lot about stress. It’s one of my favorite topics, because it is so strongly linked to many different diseases and symptoms. I know I talk about stress often, but it’s good to revisit because we all experience it and are constantly trying to manage our stress. Next week I will go into more detail on stress, the science behind it, and the nutrition to help you cope with it.

Today, I want to leave you with an article that I really liked from Monday’s Opinion section of the Wall Street Journal, called “2011: The Year of the Vegetable.” It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but I appreciated the writer’s approach of holding parents accountable for what their kids eat. Click HERE to read the full article. To summarize: Childhood obesity is clearly a rising problem (and not only that, but all of the diseases and symptoms that accompany it – from ADHD to anxiety to diabetes in children). Basically, George Ball is saying that parents cannot expect their children to make healthy choices on their own. They live in a world that hands them bad food: school lunches, birthday parties, vending machines. It’s up to their parents to model healthy choices because – as we all know – kids imitate their parents. This goes beyond just serving a vegetable with dinner each night. Parents must work to get their kids excited about trying new foods. Growing vegetables in the home and including kids in cooking are some ways to do this. Parents must also recognize and appreciate the fact that liking vegetables is an acquired taste. Don’t give up – be patient with your kids and continue to model healthy choices and behavior. If it takes 2 years before your child tries a piece of celery, that's okay! At least you persisted and he's now eating celery.

George Ball is chairmen of Burpee Co., which sells vegetable seeds and plants that can be easily grown inside the home (for those who don’t have a garden or are too overwhelmed to create one). Check them out HERE. Start small: Maybe just grow 1-2 vegetables this year. But include your kids and see how they react to the process.

Have a great weekend!

Staying Healthy Through the Holidays

Most of you probably have at least one holiday cocktail party or dinner over the next week or two, whether it be with co-workers, friends or family. With the mountains of cookies, boxes of chocolates, and bottomless drinks, the holidays can leave you feeling bloated, fatigued, and ready for a fresh start. And while I love people who get energized about being healthy and active, why wait until January 1^st? (Secretly, I get so annoyed with the people who suddenly show up at the gym for the first time in months and crowd my treadmill and pool and yoga classes in early January!). There are a few easy things you can do to stay balanced over the next week or two that will help you enter 2011 feeling great.

If you have a holiday cocktail party or happy hour, enjoy the people more than the food and drink. If you make the people your focus, you will be less likely to continuously snack on cookies and candies and dips, and more likely to leave feeling energized. It may help if you decide ahead of time how many drinks you will consume. Offer to drive a group of friends, as this will automatically limit you to one or two drinks. Or, just give yourself a limit and sip slowly. Alcohol contains not only empty calories but also a lot of sugar, which can lead to increased snacking on those cookies!

For holiday dinners, my best advice is to treat it like a regular meal. Many people like to “starve” themselves all day so they’ll be nice and hungry by the time they get to their dinner, and then they overeat and feel uncomfortable for the remainder of the night, and possibly into the next day. When you cut back on food all morning and afternoon, your blood sugar will be out of whack and your judgment will be impaired due to extreme hunger. In addition, your metabolism will slow because it thinks you are starving. Give your body what it needs: a healthy breakfast that includes protein, complex carbohydrates, and some fruits or vegetables; a well-rounded lunch; and possibly a snack in between of some fresh veggies with hummus or an apple with almond butter. That way, by the time you get to your dinner party, you will comfortably snack on a few appetizers and then enjoy the meal without overdoing it. And, your metabolism will be nice and fast from your consistent eating throughout the day, so you're more likely to burn off those calories and sleep well.

Don’t let exercise get lost in all the commotion of the holidays. No matter how busy you are, I challenge you to find time each day this week to exercise. IT ONLY TAKES 15 MINUTES!! A walk in the snow with your family; playing fetch with the dog in the yard; cross-country or downhill skiing; snowshoeing; or even escaping to the gym for a quick swim or yoga class will really benefit you. Holidays are fun but also can be stressful. Take some time for yourself and enjoy the outdoors, no matter what the weather is. Your body burns extra calories when you exercise in the cold weather, so go for it!

My last piece of advice is simply to enjoy some of the “excess” that comes with the holidays. Even though I’m an advocate of being a conscious eater and taking control of your health, I also believe in enjoying your food and drink. If you come home from a party feeling like you had one too many cookies, brush it off and start fresh the next morning. No need to completely deprive yourself!

Merry Christmas!

Twink Designs!

Happy Friday!


Many of you have commented on the grapefruit that I use as part of my logo. My mom painted it for me, and she actually runs her own business. She paints, and then turns her paintings into everything from business cards to wedding save-the-dates and more! She even does commissions for people. Anyway, she has a great new website and Etsy site (if you haven’t discovered Etsy yet, I highly encourage it… just make sure you have hours of free time!).


She has some really great Christmas cards so if you’re still looking for some, check out her work! She also can do any type of customizable work – just e-mail her to get started. Her website can be found HERE and her Etsy site HERE.


On Monday I’ll talk about some tips for healthy eating through the holidays… so check back then!

Hormones, Part 3: Rebalancing

As you read on Wednesday, when our cortisol, adrenaline, and insulin levels are out of balance, our health suffers. It starts with minor symptoms and can progress to more serious issues.

So what are some ways to rebalance these hormone levels? I’ll give you one guess… nutrition! Oh, and exercise, stress management, and other lifestyle choices will help too.

Nutrition

• Never skip meals! When you do, your blood sugar gets out of whack and you tend to experience increased cravings and mood swings. Not to mention your metabolism slows down because it’s waiting for the next time you eat.

• Focus on whole foods and avoid processed or refined foods whenever possible. Whole foods supply us with the vitamins and minerals we need to sustain the processes inside of our body. When we don’t get enough of these important nutrients, our organs and tissues suffer, leading to health symptoms.

• Make sure that each meal and snack you eat contains a balance of proteins, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. All of these components are needed for balance. So, for example, instead of having an apple for a snack, try an apple with almond butter for dipping and some whole grain crackers.

• Include fresh fruits and vegetables into your nutrition plan.

• Drink plenty of water each day! Remember, the minimum is half of your body weight in ounces, each day. Increase this if you exercise, live in a dry climate, drink caffeine, consume sugar, or consume alcohol.

Stress Management

This is something that all of us probably need to work on. Why does managing stress aid in balancing the hormones? Because hormones are often secreted in response to stress, which contributes to an excess inside of the body. Make downtime an important part of each day. It can be something as simple as spending 5-10 minutes reading a good book each afternoon, or listening to music before you fall asleep at night. When you are feeling overwhelmed, practice deep breathing to keep yourself centered.

Exercise

It is important to include a variety of exercises into your routine: flexibility and calming exercises; resistance training; and cardiovascular or stimulating exercises. Rather than just running every day or lifting weights a few times a week, try a combination of running, walking, yoga, pilates, and swimming, for example. However, remember that exercising too much can wear the body out and lead to poor health by the buildup of oxidants. It is important to find the right balance and not overdo it.

Lifestyle

The last component to balancing your hormones is your lifestyle choices. Try to make decisions that will add to a healthy environment. Educate yourself on how toxins affect your hormones and your health, whether they are coming from things like lotions or shampoos, laundry detergents, or your food.

There are many components to finding a balance, and if you can work slowly in each category above, you WILL notice a difference in your mood, energy and overall health.

Hormones, Part 2: Cortisol, Adrenaline & Insulin

Now that we know about biochemicals and that hormones play an important role in keeping the biochemicals balanced, let’s learn more about these specific hormones.

Cortisol

Cortisol’s many functions include preventing blood sugar from falling too low, aiding the liver in energy storage and new sugar production for energy, mobilizing energy to the brain so we can think and act more efficiently, and fighting inflammation throughout the body. All good things! However, too much cortisol can lead to a serious imbalance within the body. Cortisol production can become out of balance as a result of STRESS: emotional stress, nutritional stress, chemical stress, physiological stress, or hormonal stress. When we have excess cortisol production, we use up our structural and functional biochemicals very quickly and become depleted. This leads to symptoms such as depression, memory loss, loss of lean body tissue, bone loss, type II diabetes, high cholesterol and triglycerides, redistribution of fat to midsection, high blood pressure, weakened immunity, and inflammation throughout the body.

Adrenaline

Adrenaline is also known as the “fight or flight” hormone, which I write about every now and then. It is secreted in large amounts when we are under any type of stress, and is secreted in smaller, more regularized amounts constantly to help the body do things like maintain heart beat, access biochemicals, break down food for energy, and break down old cells to rebuild new ones. High adrenaline levels can be addicting in the short-term, because they demand the use of all of our biochemicals which leads to a false sense of optimal health. This is why people may experience a “high” or energy burst when they are under tight deadlines or when they are in a dangerous situation and must act quickly and smartly. However, over time too much adrenaline production can lead to the body using up its storage of biochemicals faster than it can rebuild them. This leads to any of the following symptoms: agitation, anxiety, nervousness, bladder urgency, blurred vision, emotional intensity, excessive sweating, heart palpitations, inability to fall or stay asleep, loose bowels, headaches, mental exhaustion, and flulike symptoms.

Insulin

I write about insulin often in relation to blood sugar imbalances. Insulin is another very useful hormone, as it helps keep the body from using up too many biochemicals and is a major rebuilding hormone (assuming one is eating the proper nutrients). However, lifestyle-based insulin disorders are caused by the under- or over-secretion of insulin due to daily poor nutrition and/or lifestyle habits. These can include a diet too high in refined carbohydrates or processed foods; over-exercising OR not enough exercise; over-consumption of alcohol; smoking or drug use; and more. High levels of insulin lead to oxidation, which is the forming of free radicals inside the body. Eventually one will become insulin-resistant, which causes chronic high insulin levels. The following are symptoms of insulin-resistance: fatigue, brain fog, heart palpitations, difficulty sleeping, irritability, anxiety, loose bowels or constipation, panic attacks, severe sugar cravings, acne, depression, infertility and/or irregular menstrual cycles, and weight gain. If left untreated, insulin resistance will eventually lead to poor health and disease, including things like high cholesterol, high triglycerides, hypertension, type II diabetes, coronary and cerebral atherosclerosis, and even cancer.

Now that we know a little more about these three important hormones, we need to know how to rebalance them! On Friday, I will address this issue, including nutritional protocols for rebalancing the hormones.

Hormones, Part 1: The Biochemicals

One of the things I love about holistic nutrition is that when people switch to a whole foods-based diet and significantly reduce or eliminate things like processed foods, trans fats and refined sugars, they experience relief from many symptoms, not just the one they were originally targeting. For example, a client may start to lose weight (the original goal), but in addition they have more energy, begin sleeping through the night, have their acne clear up, or eliminate chronic constipation. This creates a cycle of increased self-awareness and more consistent healthy eating!

These changes take place because whole foods have the power to alter the balance inside the body to a more favorable, healthy state. Hormones are partially responsible for this conversion. Hormones keep our body in (or out of) balance, and many external factors affect this balance.

The first thing to understand is what our body’s biochemicals are. Biochemicals are the different chemicals inside the body that keep it functioning well. They are constantly undergoing chemical reactions and being used up. Nutrients from the food we eat provide the materials needed for rebuilding our biochemicals – a process called regeneration. Metabolism is the sum of all of these reactions. So, without biochemicals, our metabolism slows and we begin to feel symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, digestive distress, anxiety, stress, food cravings, skin rashes or acne, and more. Things like alcohol, processed foods, refined sugars, and stress use up our biochemicals rapidly. But with a whole foods-based diet, we are constantly replenishing our biochemicals and allowing our systems to function more optimally.

There are structural, functional, and energy biochemicals. Structural biochemicals include our cells, organs, glands, teeth, hair, skin, nails, muscles, bones, and tissues. Our functional biochemicals include hormones, neurotransmitters, enzymes, cell mediators, and antibodies. Finally, our energy biochemicals include sugar, triglycerides, and glycogen.

One way to keep our biochemicals replenished and functioning properly is to keep our hormones in balance. Later this week, I’ll talk about three hormones that are crucial for internal balance: cortisol, adrenaline and insulin. These hormones are commonly out of balance and are partially the cause of many negative health symptoms that people experience.

Date Sugar

My little sis lives on her own now, and she frequently calls or texts me from the grocery store to ask about a certain food or new product. She is a conscious shopper, which is something I encourage everyone to be. She also isn’t afraid to try new foods. This is so important – if you get into a routine of buying the same things at the grocery store each week, you will never learn about new foods and eating becomes more of a chore and less enjoyable.

This week, sis asked me what I think about date sugar. Although I have baked with dates, I have never tried date sugar before (new food!), so I had to do a little research. What I found is that date sugar is simply dehydrated dates, and it is used as a sugar for sweetening or baking – similar to the way you’d use brown sugar. Bob’s Red Mill makes date sugar, and this is a company that has very reputable products that are minimally processed.

Date sugar seems like a good sugar alternative if you like the flavor of dates. However, IT IS STILL SUGAR! That is the key point I want to make. Just because the sugar comes from a date does not make it any healthier or react any differently inside the body. Keep in mind that most of the regular white sugar we see comes from beets – a root vegetable! But that doesn’t mean we’re eating veggies when we consume sugar.

My advice on sugar is this: if you like something sweet every once in a while, choose something that is made with REAL ingredients: butter, eggs, whole wheat flour, and – most importantly – a form of real sugar. This will be more likely to satisfy your craving, and then you can get back to your healthy diet. Artificial sugars have countless side effects to our body and its many systems, including neurological, psychological, gastrointestinal, and endocrine issues. Since our body does not recognize “fake” sugars, they are not processed like real food and instead are deposited into our tissues, where over time they build up and cause symptoms. While symptoms may start small, such as occasional headaches, they can quickly progress to much more serious health issues.

But consuming too much real sugar isn’t great either. Which leads me into my topic for next week: hormones! We have been learning a lot about hormones and it’s one of my favorite topics, because it seems that balancing hormones is one of the major components of health and well-being. Next week I’ll talk more about hormones – specifically adrenaline, cortisol and insulin – and the important roles they play in the body.