04.28.08
Posted in Discussion at 5:37 am by drkristen
I’m having some scheduling issues lately, and haven’t had much time to post, but I thought I’d take the time to talk about an amazing book I’m reading right now - Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It’s a non-fiction story about the writer and her family moving back to Virginia to live off their land. It’s been wonderful to read this beautiful story by someone who can actually write! The trials, the excitement, and the willpower to not buy any non-seasonal or non-local food is astounding. What they don’t grow, they only buy at local farmer’s markets, or barter with community members. This includes meat! It’s just a great read, and I recommend it to anyone who feels the frustration of how far we’ve gotten from our food. It also comes with recipes 
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Posted in Discussion at 1:54 am by drkristen
With Mother’s Day growing near, I just wanted to remind everyone that your typical flowers are riddled with pesticides. So, to protect yourself, your family and your pets, try getting some organic flowers for your dinner table, your friends and family!
I’ve found a great flower delivery called Organic Bouquet. They not only use sustainable, harvested flowers and plants, but they are USDA Organic! They also have a rewards program where the more you by, the more you earn towards free flowers.
Check them out at http://www.organicbouquet.com/Index.aspx
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04.16.08
Posted in Health News & Tips, Discussion at 9:38 pm by drkristen
Now, I’m not one of those evil docs who threatens that you can’t be healthy if you drink coffee. I think that 1 cup or 1 coffee drink per day is ok, as long as it stays in moderation. However, there are some times when you want to wean yourself off, for whatever reason. For me, I love a good latte first thing in the morning. I try to be good, and alternate between soy and hemp milk, and I always use organic, sustainable espresso. With this structured diet I am stepping towards however…no more lattes for me, unless I want black coffee or a shot of espresso (yuck!).
So, I searched for a good way to wean off the coffee, and I found one that isn’t bad at all. Now, it doesn’t taste exactly like coffee, because it’s not coffee! But it was tasty, roasted goodness along with my frothed hemp milk this morning! This product is called Teeccino, and it’s a mix of roasted roots and fruits. I am also working my way off fruit completely for a while, so I won’t be able to do this long, but for now, I think it’s ok It really was good, and the great thing about it is that you can brew it however you normally brew your coffee. For me, I used it in my espresso machine - 1 scoop espresso, 1 scoop Teeccino. Even if you don’t want to wean off coffee, I think this would be a good alternative to mix with your coffee to help cut down on the acid or caffeine.
The only issue I could find was that it does have barley in it, so this is not for those of you with gluten sensitivities! Otherwise, it was great, and I look forward to working towards that full 2 scoops of coffee-free goodness!
If your local grocery doesn’t carry it, I added it to my Amazon Recommendations page. Try it out!
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04.15.08
Posted in Discussion, Recipes at 6:13 pm by drkristen
As I sit here eating my new favorite breakfast of champions - eggs and spicy collard greens - I just learned a new tidbit on cooking greens that I thought I’d share with you. If you cook with greens a lot, you know they are best sautéed in olive or coconut oil, with a little garlic and maybe some onions, shallots or leeks. I also like to drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on my greens, especially with chard. With collards, I like to drizzle a little hot sauce! Mustard greens have enough spice on there own, and…ok, I’m rambling. Sorry. Back to the tip I just read about in Greens, Glorious Greens by Albi and Walthers - most greens do better with a 3-4 minute blanch before sautéing, especially if you have a palate sensitive to the bitterness of greens. Next time, try bringing a couple cups of water to a boil, then adding your chopped greens for 3-4 minutes, strain and then add to the sautée pan. I tried it this morning and my collards did seem more tender. Blanching it for this short amount of time still holds in the nutrients of the greens, plus it gives you pot likker! In the South, that’s what it’s called anyways - whenever you boil collards (or any other green for that matter) you can drink the the water you boiled it in for a healthy elixir! My great grandma used to drink it just about every morning, and she lived well into her 90s!
So try some greens today if you haven’t already - I still have some kale and chard in the garden from my winter crops! You can even plant some now if you live in a area that’s not going to get too hot until June/July. They’re super easy to grow, and go well with each meal, even breakfast!
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04.11.08
Posted in Research, Health News & Tips, Discussion at 7:54 am by drkristen
With all the latest research about red wine and its high antioxidant health benefits, I wanted to clear up a few things on alcohol and health. Yes, red wine is probably the best choice, because of the higher antioxidants from the darker grapes. However, many people do not know that alcohol turns to pure sugar inside your body. So they wonder why they can’t lose weight, or why their diabetes keeps going uncontrolled, when in fact, they have not cut down on their alcohol intake. Hard liquor is the worst, sugar-wise. Of course, when you add all the fru-fru goodies like grenadine syrup, fruit juice, a sugared rim, whipped cream, etc, it all just becomes empty calories. Then there’s beer…and I live in the most popular microbrewing area of the country and microbrews have significantly more calories then say your typical watered-down light beer. Regardless, they are still sugar to your system.
Another huge misconception is the amount of alcohol consumed. I had a patient tell me once that he didn’t drink alcohol. As we were trying to get his blood sugar and cholesterol down, we just kept hitting a wall. I couldn’t understand why my diet and exercise recommendations weren’t working, not to mention the few supplements I had him on that always seem to do the trick. Finally, I found out why. He actually drank between 8 and 14 beers per night, but just didn’t consider that as drinking alcohol. He simply thought I meant hard alcohol! Now of course, I always ask - beer, wine or hard liquor?
So, what is a moderate amount of alcohol? Well, it differs by sex. According to the CDC, for women, drinking in moderation means no more than 1 alcoholic beverage per day and for men, it’s no more than 2 drinks per day. In fact, anything over this is considered heavy drinking by health standards. What is considered “one drink?” Well, here is a standard guideline:
One drink typically means
- 1.5 oz hard liquor (this is for 80-proof, so if the proof is higher, the serving size is less)
- 12 oz beer
- 5 oz wine
- 9 oz malt liquor
Here is an interesting recent article:
Topic: Alcohol Intake Linked to Colorectal Cancer
Reference: “Alcohol intake and colorectal cancer: a comparison of approaches for including repeated measures of alcohol consumption,” Thygesen LC, Wu K, et al, Epidemiology, 2008; 19(2): 258-64. (Address: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. E-mail: lct@niph.dk ).
Summary: In a study involving 47,432 men, consistent moderate to high intake of alcohol was found to increase the risk of colorectal cancer. Subjects completed questionnaires on alcohol intake and were followed up from 1986 through 2002. During that time, 868 of the subjects were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. A moderate increased risk of colorectal cancer was associated with consumption of more than 30 g/d alcohol. A weaker increased risk was associated with consumption of less than 30 g/d alcohol. The hazard ratio for baseline alcohol intake was 1.07 per 10 g/d increase in alcohol intake. Alcohol frequency was also positively associated with cancer risk in men consuming at least 15 g/d alcohol. These results suggest that consumption of alcohol may increase the risk of colorectal cancer in men.
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04.10.08
Posted in Discussion at 5:29 pm by drkristen
Not to get fussy or anything, but I’m having issues with LOTS of patients on what a vegetarian diet consists of. I’ve decided I’m going to create a new word…it’s called carbacheezatarian! So many people are saying they are vegetarian, when they actually don’t eat many vegetables at all! Mac and cheese, bean and cheese burritos, ramen noodles…we all did it in college at some point! But I just wanted to remind people that vegetarian means you eat veggies, and the carbacheezatarian eats simple carbs and cheese, with the occasional beans, corn or potatoes!
…thank you for letting me rant
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04.09.08
Posted in Health News & Tips, Discussion at 4:25 pm by drkristen
…And by diet, I don’t mean weight loss! There is so much stigma around that word. But in the naturopathic community, diet simply means a nutritionally therapeutic, structured way to eat. Here in Portland, everything is starting to come out of it’s winter sleep…the cherry trees are blooming, the forsythia seems brighter than ever…and my nose seems endlessly running. Allergy time equals no food allergens for me. And when I avoid my food allergies, then my environmental allergies are barely noticeable. Many people (mostly family members) ask me if it’s really worth it to go most of the year without dairy, my major food allergy. And my response is a resounding YES! When I do eat dairy on a daily basis, I wake up in the morning swollen and sneezey, and I mean SNEEZEY. We’re talkin’ like 37 sneezes in a row, right out of bed! When I avoid dairy, I may get a couple of sneezes in the morning, but at least I can breathe! So yes…it’s worth it to me. This doesn’t mean I don’t sacrifice some sneezes for a fresh bowl of clam chowder when I can get out to the coast! But for the most part, I avoid it until the holidays in winter, and I seem to do much better.
Some new health issues have come into light for me recently, and I will be doing a much more strict therapeutic diet - no sugar of any kind, no simple carbs, not even fruit or starchy vegetables! Basically, just meat and leafy greens for a couple months. I have discovered what many people struggle with in this part of the country…I have mold issues! So, not only am I fixing up my exposure issues in my home, but I’m helping my own health from the inside out at the same time. This is very structured, and very strict. So, I thought I would share some of my menus along the way for those of you who may ever find yourselves on the yeast-free, sugar-free therapeutic diet for any period of time.
Stay tuned for updates (and challenges!), and of course, I will still be posting other topics as usual!
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Posted in Discussion at 2:31 am by drkristen
I just found out about this brand called Organic Bistro. They have frozen meals that can shipped if a local store doesn’t carry it, and they are organic and gluten-free. Great for those of you constantly on the go. I know I always like having a few frozen meals at home for those times when I’m just too exhausted to put something together!
Anywho, check ‘em out here!
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04.06.08
Posted in Discussion at 5:50 am by drkristen
Well, last week I was asked to join a fellow ND on cable access to talk about cancer for an hour. It was a blast! We even took callers and answered their questions! Of course, we did get some crazies since it was live TV and April Fool’s Day. Now, despite my previous life as a stage actor, I’m actually terrified of public speaking. This however, was kind of nice - no faces staring, but just 3 cameras that would light up when I looked at them. Of course, it also helped that my colleague did all the work coming up with an excellent powerpoint presentation that unfortunately didn’t work with the station equipment! Anyway, it was a great experience and I hope to do more in the future…and wear a LOT more make-up!
If you’re in the Portland Metro area, check out Tualatin Valley Community TV, channel 23. The show is called Nature’s Ways and it will be replaying all month.
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Posted in Research, Health News & Tips, Discussion at 4:54 am by drkristen
With the dwindling amount of minerals in our soils, even whole foods may not contain the proper amount of minerals that we need for whole health. Zinc is a common deficiency in today’s lifestyles. Zinc deficiency has been indicated in many conditions, including autism and ADHD, acne and eczema, increased occurrences of bacterial and viral infections, prostate issues and more. One of the most common symptoms of zinc deficiency is loss of taste/smell. Zinc is proving to be more and more important when it comes to chronic disease as well. Check out this piece of research:
Topic: Low Levels of Zinc Found in Women with Breast Cancers and Ovarian Cancers
Keywords: CANCER, BREAST CANCER, OVARIAN CANCER - Zinc, Mineral, Nutritional, Nutriceutical, Nutraceutical
Reference: “Evaluation of zinc status in whole blood and scalp hair of female cancer patients,” Memon AU, Kazi TG, et al, Clin Chim Acta, 2007; 379(1-2): 66-70. (Address: Tasneem Gul Kazi, Center of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 76080, Pakistan. E-mail: tgkazi@yahoo.com ).
Summary: In a study involving 65 female patients with breast or ovarian cancer, level of zinc in whole blood and scalp hair samples were found to be significantly lower that levels found among 50 healthy age-matched controls. The authors conclude, “There is an association of Zn with biological samples in different types of cancer in females.”
And this:
Topic: Levels of Zinc, Iron and Copper in Heart Attack Patients
Keywords: HEART ATTACK, MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION, HEART DISEASE - Trace Elements, Copper, Iron, Zinc
Reference: “Distribution of zinc, copper and iron in biological samples of Pakistani myocardial infarction (1st, 2nd and 3rd heart attack) patients and controls,” Kazi TG, Afridi HI, et al, Clin Chim Acta, 2008; 389(1-2): 114-9. (Address: National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, 76080, Pakistan. E-mail: tgkazi@yahoo.com ).
Summary: In a study involving 130 myocardial infarction patients (77 male, 53 female) between the ages of 45 and 60 years, and 61 healthy, age-matched controls (33 male, 28 female), levels of zinc (in whole blood and scalp hair samples) were found to be lower in myocardial infarction patients, as compared to the healthy controls. Of the 130 myocardial infarction patients, 32 registered after the third heart attack. Of those 32, 78% died after the third heart attack. Compared to subjects who survived the third heart attack, those who died after the third heart attack were found to have higher concentrations of iron (0.83% higher in scalp hair and 9.7% higher in blood) and copper (3.12% in scalp hair and 22.5% in blood). The authors conclude, “Deficiency of zinc and high concentration of copper and iron may play a role in the development of heart disease.”
Again, I want to educate people on how to get what they need from whole food rather than taking too many supplements. So, what foods are high in zinc?
- beef and lamb
- crimini mushrooms
- spinach, summer squash, asparagus, collard greens, chard, broccoli
- sesame, pumpkin and mustard seeds
Check out World’s Healthiest Foods for more info!
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